What plant species has just been discovered but is almost gone? Bidens meyeri–a just discovered flowering plant from the small South Pacific island of Rapa, […]

The post New South Pacific cliff flower is critically endangered appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

A newly discovered Hawaiian tree recently had the distinction of being added to the International Union for the Conservation of Nature’s Red List of Critically […]

The post Newly named, Hawaiian tree species already critically endangered appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

Many public school students receive little or no exposure to the theory of evolution, the most important concept in understanding biology, says a new guidebook from the National Academy of Sciences (NAS).

Young adults ages 18-26 should be viewed as a separate subpopulation in policy and research, because they are in a critical period of development when successes or failures could strongly affect the trajectories of their lives, says a new report from the Institute of Medicine and National Research Council.

The ocean plays a critical role in climate and weather, serving as a massive reservoir of heat and water that influences tropical storms, El Nin~o, and climate change.

Improved understanding of the coupled natural-human coastal system will help promote resilience of coastal communities and ecosystems under rapidly changing environmental conditions and support informed decision-making, says a new report from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine.

The supercritical water oxidation (SCWO) system is a secondary waste processing reactor of the Blue Grass Chemical Agent Destruction Pilot Plant (BGCAPP). It is perhaps second in importance behind the agent neutralization reactors, which perform base hydrolysis of chemical warfare agents stored at the Blue Grass Army Depot.

As a novel coronavirus spreads throughout the world and the number of cases and deaths continues to rise, almost no country or community remains untouched by this rapidly evolving threat.

A recent study has analysed risks to European renewable industries from the Chinese supply of critical raw materials. The offshore wind sector was found to be the most vulnerable of the renewable industries to supply risks. EU and industry strategies should be able to deal with these supply risks in the short term, but there are potential long-term risks to solar and wind sectors. The development of alternative technologies less reliant on these raw materials, and methods to recycle these materials is, therefore, a priority.

A new study lists 10 factors to help create a closed-loop supply chain for critical materials. However, interviews with key actors in supply chains for photovoltaic (PV) panels and wind turbines suggest that manufacturers and recyclers hold different perspectives on these factors. The research highlights the importance of cooperation between supply-chain actors, as well as investment in technologies and infrastructure for closed-loop supply chains.

Amid the covid 19 crisis, the Global Inhouse Centre of Canadian financial services company, Sun Life Financial Asia Service Centre India, is baselining projects that can be accelerated, re-scoped and deferred.

Curefit, which has come under fire from several of its staff that were laid off, is one of the many startups whose business has been directly impacted due to the virus outbreak

In the automobile industry, the development and manufacture of increasingly complex technological components — catalytic converters, LEDs, electric motors, batteries — requires increasingly complex and diverse raw materials with specific qualities. The technological and economic importance of these materials, combined with their vulnerability to supply shortages and likelihood of supply interruptions, indicates their ‘criticality’. This study uses a new methodology to explore the criticality of 27 key metals used in the automotive industry and other sectors, and highlights six that are especially vulnerable: rhodium, dysprosium, neodymium, terbium, europium and praseodymium. The researchers found there was limited recycling and substitution of these metals and a high possibility of restrictions to their supply.

A large proportion of ships are recycled on the beaches of developing countries in Asia. This study considered shipbreaking in Bangladesh, using critical scenario analysis to explore different futures for the industry and its workers. The paper suggests that a radical shift in socioeconomic and political structures is needed to enable environmentally sound practices while retaining employment opportunities for local people.

The German Renewable Energy Sources Act was introduced in 2001 to encourage an increase in renewable energy supply. Since then, supply has increased from 7% (in 2001) to 37% (in 2017. Wind energy is an important part of Germany’s renewable energy production — but deploying sufficient turbines to achieve the climate goals requires a large amount of raw materials, many of which are metals in limited supply. This study found copper and dysprosium to be the most critical of these metals, as they could face future bottlenecks and are essential elements in present and future turbine design.

Increasing population, overconsumption and technological development have depleted many of the world’s natural resources, with profound impacts on the environment. This study applies the concept of criticality, which determines whether a resource may become a limiting factor to future development, to water.

Machines can protect systems in a way humans just can’t and, for that reason, advanced automation is going to be the way forward as companies look to protect their estates in a battle-ridden landscape.

A case study in Sweden has shown that critically endangered European eels are being lost when they are sucked into the local nuclear power station???s cooling system. A process to pump the eels back into the sea could be beneficial to this species, the researchers conclude.

A number of policies have been developed to protect the critically endangered European eel (Anguilla anguilla). Italian researchers have developed a model of the long-term population trends of the eel to assess the effectiveness of these measures and prevent further decline of this ecologically and economically important species.

Wild plants closely related to crops, or ‘crop wild relatives’, contain genes that could be useful for developing resilient crop varieties and are, therefore, important for food security. This global study quantified their conservation status and availability for breeding. The researchers found major gaps in gene-bank stocks, with over 70% of crop wild relative species identified as ‘high priority’ for conservation action. The researchers say systematic efforts are needed to protect crop wild relatives for future plant breeding, including both protection in gene banks and local conservation.

Evidence to indicate that early exposure to environmental contaminants may result in a greater risk of serious disease later on in life has been presented by researchers in a new White Paper. Measures to prevent non-contagious illnesses, such as diabetes, asthma and cancer should therefore focus on the early stages in life, including the time spent in the womb, they suggest.

A recent study has assessed the environmental impact of a group of technology-critical elements (TCEs) — niobium (Nb), tantalum (Ta), gallium (Ga), indium (In), germanium (Ge) and tellurium (Te) — that, to date, have been relatively under-researched. The researchers reviewed published concentrations of these elements in environmental archives and evaluated trends over time in surface waters. Overall, they found no evidence that the rising use of these elements in modern technologies is causing environmental concentrations to increase on a global level. These findings are relevant to future policy discussions regarding the source, usage and presence of less-studied TCEs, particularly in relation to critical raw metals.

‘Critical levels’ of ozone exposure for plants, above which significant adverse effects may occur, are currently calculated by examining ozone’s impacts on only a small number of species. However, researchers have now compared this measure with a new approach which examines all species in a group, and defines the critical levels as the concentration at which 5% of species are affected. These critical levels, which may be more suitable for semi-natural ecosystems, are stricter than current standards.

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Cryptographic experts at NTU Singapore and INRIA in Paris, have demonstrated a critical security flaw in a commonly used security algorithm, known as SHA-1, which would allow attackers to fake specific files and the information within them, and pass them off as authentic....

Since the end of its space shuttle program, NASA is relying more and more on commercial space travel.

The Sisters of the Monastery of the Dominican of Order have cared for the rare salamanders for 150 years.

The blue-tailed skink of Christmas Island may be extinct in the wild, but scientists have a plan to bring it back.

Ever purchase a product or service and been severely disappointed? This is particularly distasteful with something like a cell phone plan that last 2 years. We will alert you to the best method available to thwart getting stuck with a bad plan.

Describes in detail four basic but critical website design rules. Following these rules helps webmasters build website content and layout that is effective, functional and loved by search engines.

The 'Rule Of 3' Meets Pareto's '80/20'--And You Get Fit Faster As A Result!

These globally-deployed products, integrated with the company's innovative sensors, enable rapid detection and identification of various threats

GFA World's humanitarian efforts continue as 'commendable' Indian prime minister extends COVID-19 stay-at-home orders; 1.3 billion people 'in hands of God'

Access Physicians, the nation's leading physician-led telemedicine group, forms rural hospital collaborative to ensure access to specialty care during COVID-19 crisis

ICmed Partners with Maryland and North Carolina Doctors to Provide Relief to New York City's Stressed Hospitals

Edgescan's 2020 Vulnerability Stats Report also reveals the time to patch vulnerabilities for an internet-facing system is now 71 days

Terralogic Solutions Inc. supports the design and development of secure, mission-critical embedded solutions using BlackBerry QNX technologies

Using Air Quality and Temperature data to answer critical questions.

Cisco’s Talos threat intelligence and research group revealed on Wednesday that one of its researchers discovered a critical remote code execution vulnerability in the CODESYS Control SoftPLC industrial controller software.

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Samsung this week released its May 2020 set of security updates for Android smartphones, which includes a patch for a critical vulnerability impacting all of its devices since 2014. 

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Helen Lee Bouygues, founder of the Reboot Foundation, believes that a lack of critical thinking is responsible for many business failures. She says organizational leaders often rely too heavily on expertise and then jump to conclusions. Instead, leaders should deliberately approach each problem and devote time thinking through possible solutions. The good news, she says, is that critical thinking skills can developed and practiced over time. Bouygues is the author of the HBR.org article "3 Simple Habits to Improve Your Critical Thinking."

One of the most impactful innovations in IT is the democratization of the application development process

Douglas Willson, MD, discusses an article he published in the July 2006 issue of Pediatric Critical Care Medicine, "The Collaborative Pediatric Critical Care Research Network." Dr. Willson is medical director of the pediatric intensive care unit at the University of Virginia Health Sciences Center and the chairman of the Steering Committee for the Collaborative Pediatric Critical Care Research Network. (Pediatr Crit Care Med. 2006; 7:301)

Carol E. Nicholson, MD, MS, FAAP, is the Project Scientist for the Collaborative Pediatric Critical Care Research Network (CPCCRN) and Program Director for Pediatric Care and Rehabilitation Research (PCCR).

Margaret Parker, MD, FCCM, speaks with Heidi J. Dalton, MD, FCCM, about extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) in pediatric critical care.

Margaret Parker, MD, FCCM, speaks with John T. Berger, MD, FCCM, Medical Director for Cardiac Critical Care at Childrens National Medical Center in Washington, DC, USA.

Margaret Parker, MD, MCCM, speaks with Traci A. Wolbrink, MD, MPH

Margaret Parker, MD, MCCM, speaks with Guillaume Emeriaud, MD, PhD.

Margaret Parker, MD, MCCM, speaks with Donald D. Vernon, MD, FAAP. Dr. Vernon is a Professor of Pediatrics at the University of Utah in Salt Lake City, Utah.

Margaret Parker, MD, MCCM, speaks with Michael Gaies, MD. Dr. Gaies is an Assistant Professor and works as a Cardiac Intensivist in the Division of Cardiology, Department of Pediatrics and Communicable Diseases at C.S. Mott Childrens Hospital and University of Michigan Medical School in Ann Arbor, MI.