YOUR WEEKLY NEWS UPDATE
- After 59 years without any shark attacks in Sydney, Australian authorities are on the hunt for a great white shark that killed a man while he was swimming at Little Bay, on Wednesday. The man remains unidentified at present, but officials believe he was a 35-year-old Wolli Creek resident. Most of the city’s beaches were closed the day after the attack, and swimmers were prohibited from entering the water. Beach lifeguards began the search on Thursday, using helicopters and drones and have managed to retrieve parts of the victim from the water.
- Recent winter storms in Britain have destroyed more than eight million trees. Many more are vulnerable to two additional storms, Dudley and Eunice, making their way to Britain. Our weather is becoming more severe and unpredictable due to climate change and policies for planting and managing forests need to be adapted urgently in response. Richard Tanner, a forest ranger, was shocked to see how the storm had destroyed the trees and likened it to old photographs of battlefields.
- Animal cruelty charges have been directed at Neuralink, the company founded by Tesla CEO Elon Musk, to develop a device to connect our brains to computers. The complaint was filed with the US Department of Agriculture last week, alleging that macaque monkeys used to test the technology were being maltreated. Neuralink rejected these allegations and responded in to blog by claiming to have practiced humanitarian and ethical measures when working with these animals. They also hope that testing on humans will commence this year already.
- Scientists believe there might be a planet that could support life. If proven true, this could mean the first discovered, and potentially, habitable planet circling a “white dwarf” star (dying sun). The planet was discovered in the habitable zone of the star, where temperatures were neither too cold or too hot for life to exist. The research was published in the Royal Astronomical Society’s monthly bulletins in which Prof Jay Farihi, of University College London, stated that this new discovery increased the possibility of life on another world.
- After a severe decrease in Australia’s koala population, Australia has designated the species as being endangered across much of its east coast. Deforestation, wildfires, drought, illness, and other hazards have greatly decreased the previously more numerous marsupial. The decline was reported in Queensland, New South Wales, and the Australian Capital Territory (ACT). In 2012, the species was described as “vulnerable” in those provinces, and the governments have been criticized for not taking the threats to the iconic animal seriously enough.
- Google has expanded their plans to restrict data tracking not only on its Chrome browser but to apps used on Android devices. Their Privacy Sandbox project tries to limit the amount of data that advertisers can collect from users. Third-party cookies, which target advertisements based on people’s surfing history, will be phased out of Google’s Chrome browser by 2023. In a blog post, Google announced the expansion of their Privacy Sandbox to Android apps to minimize data sharing and function without cross app identifiers.
NEWS BROUGHT TO YOU BY PAMELA MOORE
Date: 18/02/22
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