Hackers—good and bad

Documentary>> We are a legion • directed by Brian Knappenberger

Reforming the cyber nation

Book>> I know who you are and i saw what you did; social networks and the death of privacy • Free Press • US $26

Animal rights primer

Book>> Animal Rights: What Everyone Needs To Know • by Paul Waldau • OUP, New York • US $10.7

The back up man

BOOK>> MAGNIFICENT DESOLATION, THE LONG JOURNEY HOME FROM THE MOON • by Buzz Aldrin and Ken Abraham • Bloomsbury • Rs 750

The file drawer bust

Daniele Fanelli, researcher at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland, probes the problem of quantity versus quality in scientific research. …

Science & Technology - Briefs

G7 sets renewables target, no timeline for fossil fuel phase out

Gas investments and nuclear energy remain in play while urgent action is needed to phase out fossil fuels

COVID-19, war and hunger: Yemen’s humanitarian crisis is becoming worse

Over 10 million are on the brink of famine; as many as 400,000 children are at the risk of dying, according to UN  

Half the world’s economic output comes from middle-income countries: UN report

Study said to be the most extensive effort to measure Purchasing Power Parities ever

The salt challenge

Its restriction in food can help India fight high BP

What does Boris Johnson’s plan to ban fuel-powered vehicles mean for UK

Several other countries may follow suit in the coming years to phase out petrol- and diesel-run vehicles  

North Dakota: 200 wild horses related to Custer’s Last Stand can stay in park where Teddy Roosevelt spent formative years

Herd had been considered risk earlier, with tendency to trample or overgraze vegetation used by native wildlife species, contribute to erosion …

Bird flu has been circulating among cows in US for months: Genome study reveals multiple mutations

Genomic analysis shows occasional jumping back of virus from infected cows to birds and cats, suggesting multi-host outbreak

Tropical crops at risk from pollinator loss due to climate change, shift in land use, finds study

Number of insects that pollinate tropical plants declined by 61%

Worst cholera outbreak since 2017 affecting children in Congo: UNICEF

DRC reported more cholera cases in the first seven months of 2023 than all of 2022

UK announces ‘Energy Price Guarantee’, supports shale gas & oil

UK will become a net energy exporter by 2040, Prime Minister Liz Truss says

Sizzling Europe: Several countries face high temperatures, wildfires

UN funds insufficient to help victims of climate disasters: Oxfam

UN humanitarian aid appeals increased 819% in 20 years  

United Nations Environment Assembly 5.2: Five aspects of plastic pollution that needs focus

The 5th meeting of UNEA will be held February 28, 2022 in Nairobi, Kenya. 

Deaths, hospitalisation can go up due to Omicron, warns Europe’s health agency

A ‘stealth’ version of Omicron can raise risks of virus spread

COVID-19 impacted global migration trend in 2020: UN report

The number of emigrants increased to 281 million in 2020 from 272 million in 2019

Economic price for neglecting mental health of children is $387.2 billion a year: UNICEF

More than 13% adolescents aged 10-19 live with a diagnosed mental disorder globally

Pentagon report says UFOs can't be explained, and this admission is a big deal

The report does not, as many were hoping, conclude UFOs are alien spacecraft.

Good health, reduction of poverty, hunger rated as today’s top priorities in Ipsos poll

Half of respondents said their government was not doing enough to achieve SDGs

UN praises Odisha CM Naveen Patnaik again for saving lives during Cyclone Yaas

The UN had earlier praised Naveen Patnaik after Cyclone Phailin had hit Odisha in 2013