Amongst the many dramatic challenges global businesses faced in 2020, one that had been simmering for years bubbled up and promised to stay at a high boil in 2021 is ESG: Environment, Social, Governance. Signs that ESG expectations were becoming more ubiquitous included the establishment of global ESG standards published by the World Economic Forum’s
Billionaire Richard Branson’s Virgin Orbit reached space for the first time on Sunday with a successful test of its air-launched rocket, delivering ten NASA satellites to orbit and achieving a key milestone after aborting the rocket’s first test launch last year. The Long Beach, California-based company’s LauncherOne rocket was dropped mid-air from the underside of
Galaxy S21, Galaxy S21 Ultra Todd Haselton | CNBC Samsung’s new Galaxy S21 phones launch on Jan. 29. I’ve been using two of the three new models, the entry-level Galaxy S21 and high-end Galaxy S21 Ultra for the past week or so. Samsung has the largest share of the smartphone market around the world, largely
The immobile ‘polyp’ form (pictured) of certain jellyfish has colonized bits of plastic found in a deep-sea rubbish field. Credit: Xikun Song Ocean sciences 21 January 2021 Plastic bags and wrappers host a thriving community of ocean creatures. Discarded plastic is a marine menace, entangling whales and filling seabirds’ stomachs. But deep-ocean plastic dumps can
By: Hannah Pell Nuclear power is an important aspect of our diverse energy infrastructure. According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, nuclear power plants produced 19.6% of the total electricity generated in the U.S. in 2019. Over the last several years, however, there has been a decline in the number of operating nuclear power plants.
Taken from the January 2021 issue of Physics World. Members of the Institute of Physics can enjoy the full issue via the Physics World app. Niki Bell says that subject-matter experts do not necessarily make the best teachers Deep question Do physicists who are too specialized find it harder to communicate science to school students
An international non-profit environmental organization known as the Natural Resources Defense Council has released a report on climate-warming pollution and food in the United States. The organization which was founded in 1970 listed up to 10 common foods they consider to be highly damaging to the climate, especially concerning the vast amounts of carbon dioxide
WASHINGTON — The European Commission announced Jan. 20 it will award contracts to Airbus Defence and Space and Thales Alenia Space to build an initial set of next-generation Galileo navigation satellites, shutting out incumbent manufacturer OHB. Airbus and Thales will each build six of the second-generation Galileo satellites under contracts that will be formally signed
The U.S. will always play an important role in global energy markets, even though President-elect Joe Biden is likely to be less vocal than President Donald Trump about oil, the UAE’s energy minister told CNBC ahead of Inauguration Day. “The United States of America is a major player now … with its production, with the
1. WHO. COVID-19 Status Report https://www.who.int/emergencies/diseases/novel-coronavirus-2019/situation-reports (accessed 21 December 2020). 2. Andersen, K. G., Rambaut, A., Lipkin, W. I., Holmes, E. C. & Garry, R. F. The proximal origin of SARS-CoV-2. Nat. Med. 26, 450–452 (2020). CAS PubMed PubMed Central Google Scholar 3. Zhou, P. et al. A pneumonia outbreak associated with a new coronavirus of
Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 888 chip will be used in premium Android devices that could cost over $1000. Qualcomm Qualcomm’s market share of China’s smartphone chip market plunged in 2020 due to U.S. sanctions on Huawei, according to a new report. As a result, the country’s domestic mobile players turned to alternatives such as Taiwan’s MediaTek, according
WASHINGTON — Earth observation company Satellogic announced Jan. 19 it signed a contract with SpaceX covering several rideshare launches of its satellites through next year. The multiple launch services agreement makes SpaceX Satellogic’s preferred provider for launching its constellation of microsatellites, after previously relying on Chinese, European and Russian vehicles, including a launch of 10
To electrify many of the world’s vehicles in the coming years, the EV industry will need to procure a massive amount of lithium-ion batteries. And that will require brand-new sources and technologies to find, extract and process battery materials such as lithium, cobalt and nickel. These materials currently are extracted from beneath the earth through
Brain food: a raw chicken egg within its membrane, with the shell removed. The yellow yolk floating within the white is visible. (Courtesy: Biswarup Ganguly/CC BY 3.0) New insights into how brain injuries occur have been gleaned from a simple study of how an egg yolk is deformed when rotational forces are applied to its
Scientists have discovered a 480-million-year-old fossil in Morocco which sheds light on the missing link between modern starfish and their ancestors. (Photo : Francesco Ungaro ) The fossil was found in the Anti-Atlas mountain range and effectively captured early revolutionary steps of the marine invertebrate at a particular time in the planet’s history when life
Nature Podcast 21 January 2021 In this episode: 00:47 Hiring discrimination A huge dataset has shown that widespread discrimination occurs in job hiring, based on ethnicity and gender. This backs up decades of research, showing that people from minority backgrounds tend to get contacted far less by employers. Research Article: Hangartner et al. 09:31 Coronapod
U.S. President Joe Biden speaks during the inauguration of Joe Biden as the 46th President of the United States on the West Front of the U.S. Capitol in Washington, January 20, 2021. Brendan McDermid | Reuters Amazon on Wednesday offered to help with the national effort to distribute the Covid-19 vaccine, according to a letter
David Zikusoka will serve as special assistant at the office of the assistant secretary of defense for space policy. Leonor Tomero will be deputy assistant director for nuclear and missile defense programs. WASHINGTON — David Zikusoka, aerospace research fellow at the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments, will serve as special assistant at the office
Tali Aiona | EyeEm | Getty Images Danish energy firm Orsted is pushing ahead with plans to develop a demonstration project which will harness offshore wind energy to produce “green” hydrogen. In an announcement Wednesday, the company said it had taken a final investment decision on the 2 megawatt (MW) H2RES scheme, which will be
NASA is considering a second firing of its Moon rocket engines after a critical test came up short over the weekend, a move that could bump the first flight in the Artemis lunar-landing programme into next year. The space agency had aimed to launch its new Space Launch System, or SLS, rocket and an empty
Illustration by Paweł Jońca In 2019, the Event Horizon Telescope team gave the world the first glimpse of what a black hole actually looks like. But the image of a glowing, ring-shaped object that the group unveiled wasn’t a conventional photograph. It was computed — a mathematical transformation of data captured by radio telescopes in
The marker CD70 is found both in kidney tumours (RCC) and healthy blood B cells. Only targeting CD70 results in off-target killing of B cells. Adding the need to first identify another kidney tumour marker, AXL, that’s absent in B cells led to a drastic increase in their survival. In both cases, cancer cells are
Just like smoking is responsible for causing cancer in humans, evidence from thousands of scientists across the world has shown that human activities cause climate change. This overwhelming evidence has been documented in different parts of the world, yet a few Americans aren’t sure about its causes. Humans are responsible for burning fossil fuels, producing
Alibaba founder Jack Ma has emerged after weeks out of the spotlight that sparked speculation about his whereabouts as his companies face increased regulatory scrutiny. In a video posted on Chinese social media, Ma addressed rural teachers as part of one his charity foundation’s initiatives. The annual event, which is usually hosted in the resort
WASHINGTON — Jim Bridenstine used part of his final full day as NASA administrator to call on the incoming administration to continue the Artemis program and return humans to the moon. A Jan. 19 briefing on the Green Run static-fire test of the Space Launch System three days earlier became an opportunity for Bridenstine, who
The incoming Biden administration unquestionably will bring new focus to sustainable development goals at home and abroad. Joe Biden has produced plans in an array of key areas — environmental protection, clean energy and racial equity among them — and has promised action in his first 100 days as president. His administration will be playing
The Queen’s Gambit on Netflix and Disney’s Mickey Mouse Netflix; CNBC Disney and Netflix pride themselves on storytelling. Now they’ve switched places when it comes to the tales they’re telling Wall Street. Netflix said on Tuesday that it would consider buying back shares for the first time since 2011. After nearly a decade of borrowing
Austin: “If confirmed, I will ensure the space domain is carefully considered across the range of upcoming strategic reviews.” WASHINGTON — President-elect Joe Biden’s pick for defense secretary Lloyd Austin told lawmakers Jan. 19 that China is the United States’ “most concerning competitor” and in written testimony identified space as a growing national security concern.
2021 Jeep Wrangler Rubicon 4xe Fiat Chrysler Stellantis – the product of a $52 billion merger between automakers Fiat Chrysler and Groupe PSA – plans to offer an array of all-electric or hybrid vehicles through 2025, including 10 new models in 2021, according to CEO Carlos Tavares. From Dodge to Maserati, every new model the
Atomic aperture of WS2. Courtesy: R Boya Gases flow through a porous membrane at ultrahigh speeds even when the pores’ diameter approaches the atomic scale. This finding by researchers at the University of Manchester in the UK and the University of Pennsylvania in the US shows that the century-old Knudsen description of gas flow remains
Electric vehicles play a critical role when discussing about the climate crisis. They produce fewer carbon footprints when compared to diesel or petrol fueled cars. E-cars also releases lesser harmful emissions. But, the common gripe that the consumers have with such transportations is that they take quite some time to be ready. Tesla’s very own
Wilson currently is president of the University of Texas El Paso. WASHINGTON — Former secretary of the Air Force Heather Wilson has joined the board of directors of Maxar Technologies, the company announced Jan. 19. Wilson currently is president of the University of Texas El Paso. She was the Air Force’s top civilian from May
(L-R) Reed Hastings and Ted Sarandos attend the “Marseille” Netflix TV Serie World Premiere At Palais Du Pharo In Marseille, on May 4, 2016 in Marseille, France. Stephane Cardinale | Corbis | Getty Images Netflix is set to report earnings for the fourth quarter of 2020 after the bell on Tuesday. Here are the key
Most GreenBiz readers are well aware of the complex sustainability reporting landscape. It seems like every year new reporting standards or frameworks are added to the overstuffed workload of the corporate sustainability professional. As the former chief executive of the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI), I had a role in the ongoing movement to “standardize the
Lunar rocks retrieved by a historic Chinese mission to the Moon weighed less than initially targeted, but China is still willing to study the samples with foreign scientists, the mission’s spokesman said on Monday. China became the third country ever to secure lunar samples when its unmanned Chang’e-5 probe, named after the mythical Moon goddess,
The World Health Organization is working with researchers on a unified system for naming coronavirus variants.Credit: Fabrice Coffrini/AFP/Getty Earlier this month, the World Health Organization (WHO) convened a meeting at which, among other things, experts discussed guidelines for naming variants of the coronavirus. The need is urgent, because there’s no agreed naming system. Until one
MR images of six different nonferromagnetic bullets suspended in ballistic gelatin. A: scout images; B: T1-weighted spin-echo; C: T2-weighted spin-echo; D: T2-weighted gradient-recalled echo; E: T2-weighted gradient-recalled echo. (Courtesy: American Roentgen Ray Society, American Journal of Roentgenology) Computed tomography (CT) and X-ray images can be used to determine whether bullets embedded in patients are ferromagnetic
A team of researchers from the University of Plymouth found differing quantities of tumble dryer lint after exposing Mediterranean mussels (Mytilus galloprovincialis), collected in different parts of the world. (Photo : Pixabay The researchers also found that increasing the quantity of lint in the mussels’ environment led to significant abnormality in the mussels’ gills, resulting in
WASHINGTON — Boeing has completed a requalification of software on its commercial crew spacecraft as it prepares to launch the vehicle on a second test flight as soon as late March. Boeing announced Jan. 18 it completed a “formal requalification” of the software on its CST-100 Starliner spacecraft. That work included reviews of the software
1.8ml of Sodium chloride is added to a phial of the Pfizer/BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine concentrate ready for administration at Guy’s Hospital at the start of the largest ever immunization progran in the U.K.’s history on December 8, 2020 in London, United Kingdom. Victoria Jones – Pool | Getty Images LONDON — Two hospitals in the
A worker holds a fuel pump nozzle at a gas station in Shah Alam, Malaysia, on Tuesday, Jan. 12, 2021. Samsul Said | Bloomberg | Getty Images LONDON — The International Energy Agency on Tuesday cut its 2021 global oil demand forecast, citing soaring Covid-19 cases and renewed lockdown measures that will further limit mobility.
Hello Nature readers, would you like to get this Briefing in your inbox free every day? Sign up here New variants of the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 are being identified around the world.Credit: David Talukdar/NurPhoto/Getty As scientists identify more and more potentially worrying variants of the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2, they are grappling with just what to call them.
The aftershocks of the Jan. 6 insurrection to block Congressional certification of the U.S. Presidential election will reverberate for many years. In the short run, there may be additional efforts to violently disrupt President-elect Biden’s inauguration Jan. 20, in addition to domestic terrorism activities aimed at state and local governments and other institutions. Such concerns
The Parler website home screen on a laptop computer arranged in the Brooklyn borough of New York, U.S., on Friday, Dec. 18, 2020. Gabby Jones | Bloomberg | Getty Images The website of Parler — a social media platform popular with conservatives and supporters of President Donald Trump — is back online, albeit in a
Bio-inspired design for photosensitive perovskite-based capacitors could enable light sensors that respond only to movement. Published in: Matthew Ishimaru; Scilight 2020, 501106 (2020) DOI: 10.1063/10.0002944. Copyright © 2020 Author(s) A new type of sensor that closely mimics how the human eye responds to changing visual stimuli could become the foundation for next-generation computer processors used
The environmental health services director, of the Central Queensland Public Health Unit, Paul Florian said rainfalls during the holiday period have led to an early surge in black fly populations also known as sandflies. (Photo : Erik Karits) An early start of good rainfall promoted the surge of the sandflies much earlier than expected. The black
1. Cao, Y. et al. Correlated insulator behaviour at half-filling in magic-angle graphene superlattices. Nature 556, 80–84 (2018). ADS CAS Article Google Scholar 2. Cao, Y. et al. Unconventional superconductivity in magic-angle graphene superlattices. Nature 556, 43–50 (2018). ADS CAS Article Google Scholar 3. Yankowitz, M. et al. Tuning superconductivity in twisted bilayer graphene. Science
This image, taken in Tokyo, Japan on August 7th 2020, shows a prototype of Sony’s Vision-S electric vehicle. Kiyoshi Ota | Bloomberg | Getty Images Sony has started testing its Vision-S electric car on public roads, with the Japanese tech giant stating that the development of the prototype vehicle has “reached the next stage.” In
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