Despite the Covid-19 death count in the United States rapidly accelerating, a startlingly high percentage of health care professionals and frontline workers throughout the country—who have been prioritized as early receipts of the coronavirus vaccine—are reportedly hesitant or outright refusing to take it, despite clear scientific evidence that the vaccines are safe and effective.
Category: News and Views
Man Uses Brain-Controlled Robot Arms to Eat a Twinkie | Digital Trends
Robert “Buz” Chmielewski, a quadriplegic man who suffered an accident in his teens that left him with minimal movement and feeling in his hands, recently fed himself dessert with the aid of two prosthetic robot arms he was able to control using his mind.
Two years ago, Chmielewski underwent a 10-hour brain surgery at Baltimore’s Johns Hopkins Hospital. This was part of a clinical trial designed to allow participants to control assistive devices using neuro signals. As part of the procedure, he had six electrode arrays implanted into both sides of his brain. This has now allowed Chmielewski to be able to control smart prostheses, such as these robot limbs, to carry out tasks like feeding himself.
FTSE 100 index of leading shares hits highest since March | BBC News
Britain’s index of leading shares closed at its highest since the pandemic sparked a market rout in March as investors on Tuesday cheered the post-Brexit trade deal.
In the first day of trading since markets closed on Christmas Eve, the FTSE 100 ended up 1.6% at 6,603 points.
It was the Footsie’s best day since 9 November, and only falls in bank shares stopped the index from rising further.
US shares also rose in the first few hours of trading.
Not even 5G could rescue smartphone sales in 2020 | TechCrunch
This was going to be the year of 5G. It was going to be the year the next-generation wireless technology helped reverse some troubling macro trends for the industry — or at the very least helped stem the bleeding some.
But the best laid plans, and all that. With about a week left in the year, I think it’s pretty safe to say that 2020 didn’t wind up the way the vast majority of us had hoped. It’s a list that certainly includes the lion’s share of smartphone makers. Look no further than a recent report published by Gartner to answer the question of just how bad 2020 was for smartphone sales.
The Worst Hacks of 2020, a Surreal Pandemic Year | WIRED
WHAT A WAY to kick off a new decade. 2020 showcased all of the digital risks and cybersecurity woes you’ve come to expect in the modern era, but this year was unique in the ways Covid-19 radically and tragically transformed life around the world. The pandemic also created unprecedented conditions in cyberspace, reshaping networks by pushing people to work from home en masse, creating a scramble to access vaccine research by any means, generating new fodder for criminals to launch extortion attempts and scams, and producing novel opportunities for nation-state espionage.
Here’s WIRED’s look back at this strange year and the breaches, data exposures, ransomware attacks, state-sponsored campaigns, and digital madness that shaped it. Stay safe out there in 2021.
The Rise Of Disney Streaming | Getentrepreneurial.com
In 2021, the biggest US beneficiary of the streaming bonanza will be Disney. After a plethora of streaming competitors launched in 2020, Netflix still added a substantial number of subscribers. As impressive as Netflix’s sustained dominance was Disney+’s ability to quickly gain viewers. These developments show there’s room for multiple services to thrive in this fast-growing market.
But no other new US streaming service had a debut like Disney+ did—we estimate that it will reach 72.4 million US monthly viewers in 2020, its first full year in service. We forecast that more than one-fifth of the US population will use Disney+ this year, and in 2024, more than one-third will. So far, other streaming entrants suffered from distribution limitations, confusing branding, or a lack of quality programming. None of these problems have hampered Disney+, which will become the third most popular US streaming service by the end of 2024.
Full self-driving is coming for all Tesla owners with a subscription | Mashable
If you want your Tesla to drive itself down some streets and on the highway (with you still at the wheel, paying attention, of course) you need to put down some serious cash for the Full Self-Driving (FSD) mode. But in 2021, there might be more options.
Instead of paying $10,000 to add FSD mode to the Tesla advanced driving system, called Autopilot, Tesla CEO Elon Musk tweeted Sunday about subscription access. That means anyone with a Tesla could pay month-to-month for the driving mode. It’s currently in beta with a select group of Tesla users and that’s it.
It’ll open up to more people at some point in 2021. Even though Musk had previously mentioned a rollout by the end of 2020.
Walmart one-ups Amazon: You don’t need to leave home to return packages for free | CNN
Walmart is attempting to solve one of the biggest pain-points of online shopping — the dreaded return — with a new service.
The retailer announced Monday that it will pick up items shipped and sold by Walmart.com from customers’ homes through a new partnership with FedEx (FDX). Walmart said the “incredibly convenient” option is free and will remain in place beyond the busy holiday shopping season.
To use the new service, called “Carrier Pickup by FedEx,” customers have the initiate return process on Walmart’s website or app, schedule a date for pickup and print a label. Then it will be picked up by a FedEx employee.
A (Very) Quick $120 Million: Supersonic Flight Takes A Bold Step Closer To Reality | Forbes
Nearly every aviation nabob out there will tell you that the next time we see supersonic air travel, it will more likely be aboard a business jet than aboard a commercial airliner. Aerion Corporation, a leader in supersonic jet development, caused a stir in the private jet world with a bold announcement back in 2004 seeking to create a joint venture to design and build a new supersonic business jet. After a great deal of interest, the original aircraft was revisited and upgraded to the current Aerion AS2 proposed project in 2014: An 8-10 passenger, natural laminar-flow winged aircraft that will be designed to blaze a trail in the skies at 1.4 Mach (um, that’s over 1,000 mph) over a minimum planned range of 4,750 NM (about 5,466 statute miles, besting the range of a subsonic Gulfstream G500).
Covid: Who will have the Pfizer vaccine first and when can I get it? | BBC News
The vaccine trains the immune system to fight coronavirus.
It is a new type of jab called an RNA vaccine and uses a tiny fragment of the virus’s genetic code. This starts making part of the virus inside the body, which the immune system recognises as foreign and starts to attack.
The genetic material is encased in a tiny protective bubble of fat to get it into cells.
The exact ingredients of the vaccine have not been made public, but other vaccines can contain other ingredients, like aluminium, to make them stable or more effective.
The vaccine is given in two doses – three weeks apart – and offers up to 95% protection against Covid-19.
