Following several alarming reports about Amazon’s meager response to the covid-19 pandemic, U.S. lawmakers are demanding answers regarding how the richest corporation in the world plans to keep its employees safe.
Charter Communications, the operator of Spectrum, has been one of the companies refusing to allow staff to work from home during the coronavirus pandemic, ignoring guidelines from U.S. federal, state, and local authorities while citing its “indispensable” status as an infrastructure provider. Spectrum technicians have also been on the front…
Government-backed hackers are impersonating journalists in attempts to spread malicious email attachments and disinformation among newsreaders, according to Google’s own elite team of hackers.
The story of why we’ve yet to see high definition re-releases of Star Trek: Voyager and Deep Space Nine akin to the Blu-ray releases of The Next Generation is long known at this point. Sadly, the process is too complex and involved, and the footage is too difficult to unmesh from…
The threat of an unfamiliar virus devastating Native American communities is as old as colonialism itself. When European empires sailed to North American shores in the 15th century, settlers arrived with death as a companion. Diseases such as smallpox and influenza decimated tribal numbers, pushing some to the brink of…
On Friday, Donald Trump—after weeks of pleas from U.S. governors, mayors, and state and local health officials over the ongoing coronavirus pandemic—continued to toy around with whether he would invoke the Defence Production Act, which allows the government to command private businesses to work on projects critical to the security…
Seismometers around the world are recording the decreased seismic activity resulting from people staying home amid covid-19 social distancing orders.
As far as Apple rumours go, the one that says ARM-powered Macs are coming isn’t particularly new. That said, whenever analyst Ming-Chi Kuo weighs in, rumours start to take on new shape given his track record of accurately calling trends. Kuo is now saying that Apple plans to launch several…
If your recent transition to working from home every day was made all the more challenging with a house full of kids not able to go to school, Big Bird and his Sesame Street gang are offering a little relief by making 110 ebooks for kids absolutely free on all…
A 17-year-old boy in Los Angeles County who became the first teen believed to have died from complications with covid-19 in the U.S. was denied treatment at an urgent care clinic because he didn’t have health insurance, according to R. Rex Parris, the mayor of Lancaster, California. Roughly 27.5 million…
When the clock struck midnight on January 1 it seemed like we were entering a decade of plenty. A second roaring twenties that mimicked its 20th century counterpart. Privileged Australians could have almost anything they wanted, when they wanted it. Same day grocery deliveries, expensive breakfasts ordered from their phones…
For reasons that are probably not possible to explain, I always loved the trim and sharp faces of 1990s Cadillac Sevilles. What a horror it was to open up a copy of Car Styling magazine and realise that Cadillac had been sitting on this look for two decades straight.
After a feature story from Africa, a slideshow, and some Photoshop silliness I thought we were going to be done talking about the 2020 Land Rover Defender for a hot second. But then I caught Carfection’s 4K video from our Namibia trip, and it’s just too visually glorious. We need…
The fear and uncertainty surrounding the coronavirus pandemic may feel new to many of us. But it is strangely familiar to those who lived through the polio epidemic of the last century.
If you’re finding it tough keeping up to date with Australia’s coronavirus tally, you’re not alone. While national figures are being updated daily on the Department of Health’s site, it’s not particularly easy on the eye compared with the other more popular options out there. Luckily, a group of Australians…
Disease has afflicted humans ever since there have been humans. Malaria and tuberculosis are thought to have ravaged Ancient Egypt more than 5,000 years ago. From AD 541 to 542 the global pandemic known as “the Plague of Justinian” is estimated to have killed 15–25% of the world’s 200-million population….
Virtual assistants are everywhere, and Big Tech is adamant that they will make our lives easier and more convenient – because once connected to our devices we can use those assistants to control everything with nothing more than our voice. Which sounds cool, even though it’s usually easier to just…
Whether you’re currently sheltering at home, limiting your time outdoors, or self-isolating, you’ve probably eyed that untouched stack of books in your living room as a nice possible distraction from the world. More likely, though, you’ve exhausted your favourite binge-watches and are looking for something new to stream to keep…
Current events notwithstanding, Hollywood rather adores imagining the apocalypse on the big screen. Many doomsday movies end with total destruction; that rogue planet is just gonna go ahead and vaporise Earth, or those zombies are just gonna take over forever. But sometimes, filmmakers do find little rays of sunshine in…
Neanderthals living in Portugal during the last ice age consumed copious amounts of seafood, according to new archaeological evidence. The discovery suggests Neanderthals, like our modern human ancestors, made the most of marine resources.
With the majority of the US now at home, many of them working or attending school remotely, it’s not just critical that every household member who needs a computer and internet access has it—it’s a basic necessity. For many non-profits focusing on providing technological resources, that not only means providing…
According to the U.S. Department of Labour, 3.3 million Americans—roughly the population of Utah—have filed for unemployment insurance since last week. Huge doesn’t even begin to capture the scale of mass job loss, and yet there’s every reason to believe the reality is even worse.
There’s still no completely safe and surefire method for locating unexploded ordinance after a war is over, but researchers at Ohio State University have found a way to harness image processing algorithms, powered by machine learning, to study satellite imagery and locate hot spots where UXO are likely to be…
At this point we’re all familiar with apps of all sorts tracking our every move and sharing that info with pretty much every third party imaginable. But it actually may not be as simple as tracking where you go and what you do in an app: It turns out that…
Even kids with famous parents need a big break. For Sean Astin, that break was The Goonies. Astin, son of well-known actors Patty Duke and John Astin, had done only two small TV movies before landing the lead role in the Steven Spielberg-produced film. From there, he became an instant…
On Wednesday, the U.S. Senate approved a $US2 ($3) trillion covid-19 stimulus package. It could spell disaster for the climate.
After five seasons, The Magicians’ cohort of mystical questers have just about reached the end of their respective journeys. But in a new teaser for the upcoming series finale, crossing the finish line looks like it’s going to be the hardest battle any of them have ever fought.
Beating Lego to the punch, a clever inventor wants to turn breakfast into not only the most important meal of the day, but the most entertaining one as well with a waffle maker that makes fluffy, edible interlocking blocks for building syrup-soaked structures.
Being isolated at home means you have more time to set up your Animal Crossing island and binge on Disney Plus, but it’s also a good opportunity to accomplish some of the digital chores you’ve been putting off. Your online safety, device security, and peace of mind could depend on it.
There’s no denying the grandeur and allure of a nature reserve or marine protected area. The concept is easy to understand: limit human activity there and marine ecosystems will thrive. But while the number of marine protected areas is increasing, so too is the number of threatened species, and the…
The extensive social distancing policies put in place to limit the spread of COVID-19 mean most people will have to spend much, if not all, their time at home. Self-isolation means far fewer opportunities to be physically active if you are used to walking or cycling for transportation and doing…
The coronavirus outbreak has already disrupted much of our everyday life and at this stage, it’s not likely to be going away any time soon. To help track its spread in Australia, a team of university researchers is looking to set up a ‘pandemic drone’ that will detect potential cases…
Watching the world adjust to the horrific new reality of the COVID-19 pandemic, has led me to contemplate a much more important lesson we might be learning together as we face this crisis.
