Judge voids oil and gas leases on almost 1 million acres of public lands

A federal judge on Thursday voided five oil and gas leases on public lands that amounted to nearly a million acres, arguing that the Trump administration wrongly excluded public input. 
Read more: https://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/485133-judge-voids-almost-1-million-acres-of-oil-and-gas-leases-on-public?source=Snapzu

Astronomy student discovers 17 new planets, including Earth-sized world

University of British Columbia astronomy student Michelle Kunimoto has discovered 17 new planets, including a potentially habitable, Earth-sized world, by combing through data gathered by NASA's Kepler mission.
Read more: https://phys.org/news/2020-02-astronomy-student-planets-earth-sized-world.html?source=Snapzu

Here’s What Happens When an Algorithm Determines Your Work Schedule

Companies have promised to improve automated systems that dictate work shifts. They’re still making workers miserable.
Read more: https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/g5xwby/heres-what-happens-when-an-algorithm-determines-your-work-schedule?source=Snapzu

Major news networks devoted less than 4 hours to climate change in 2019. Total.

Global warming garnered well under 1 percent of overall broadcast news coverage in 2019, according to a new study.
Read more: https://grist.org/climate/major-news-networks-devoted-less-than-four-hours-to-climate-change-in-2019-total/?source=Snapzu

More Than 9 Million People Are Freecycling Instead of Buying New

Freecycle plans to add a lending and borrowing tool to encourage people to share with friends and neighbors.
Read more: https://www.truthdig.com/articles/more-than-9-million-people-are-freecycling-instead-of-buying-new/?source=Snapzu

Tesla "big battery" in Australia is becoming a bigger nightmare for fossil fuel power generators

Tesla’s “big battery” utility-scale Powerpack system at the Hornsdale Power Reserve in South Australia has yielded more than doubled the savings to consumers in 2019 than the year prior as it dominates fossil fuel generators on quicker demand response for the grid. Hornsdale Power Reserve saved consumers AUD116 million ($75.78 million) in 2019, a big jump from AUD40 million ($26.14 million) savings in 2018.
Read more: https://www.teslarati.com/tesla-big-battery-hornsdale-australia-cost-savings/?source=Snapzu

The Church of Scientology released hundreds of balloons at the opening of a California church. Local officials want to make sure it never happens again

Officials in California say the Church of Scientology is apologizing after releasing hundreds of balloons during a grand opening of a new church. Saturday's release of the helium balloons angered Ventura city officials, who fear they will damage the environment in and around their community some 68 miles northwest of Los Angeles.
Read more: https://edition.cnn.com/2020/02/26/us/scientology-balloons-plastic-ban-trnd/index.html?source=Snapzu

For Decades, Cartographers Have Been Hiding Covert Illustrations Inside of Switzerland’s Official Maps

The first three dimensions—length, height, and depth—are included on all topographical maps. The “fourth dimension,” or time, is also available on the website of the Swiss Federal Office of Topography (Swisstopo). In the “Journey Through Time,” a timeline displays 175 years of the country’s cartographic history, advancing in increments of 5-10 years.
Read more: https://eyeondesign.aiga.org/for-decades-cartographers-have-been-hiding-covert-illustrations-inside-of-switzerlands-official-maps/?source=Snapzu

Turkey says will not stop Syrian refugees reaching Europe after troops killed

Refugees in Turkey headed towards European frontiers on Friday after an official declared that borders had been thrown open in response to the escalating war in Syria, a day after 33 Turkish soldiers were killed by Russian-backed Syrian government troops.
Read more: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-syria-security/turkey-says-will-not-stop-syrian-refugees-reaching-europe-after-troops-killed-idUSKCN20L0GQ?source=Snapzu

Scientists discover protein in a meteorite

For the first time, scientists found a complete protein molecule in a meteorite — and they’re pretty sure it didn’t come from Earth. After analyzing samples from the meteorite Acfer 086, a team of researchers from Harvard University and the biotech companies PLEX Corporation and Bruker Scientific found that the protein’s building blocks differed chemically from terrestrial protein. As they write in their research, which they shared on ArXiv on Saturday, “this is the first report of a protein from any extra-terrestrial source.”
Read more: https://futurism.com/the-byte/scientists-discover-protein-meteorite?source=Snapzu

5 Ways Artificial Intelligence is Already Changing Cinema

Artificial Intelligence is allowing automation to be faster, broader and more disruptive than ever before. We’ve long been confident that creativity is the one aspect of human nature that would be impossible to be performed by machines, but it takes just a quick glance at recent AI advancements to realize that the next Spielbergs and da Vincis might be made of silicon.
Read more: https://submarinechannel.com/5-ways-artificial-intelligence-is-already-changing-cinema/?source=Snapzu

A woman took 550 times the usual dose of LSD, with surprisingly positive consequences

Accidental drug overdoses can be life threatening but for two women who took massive hits of LSD the experience was life changing -- in a good way.
Read more: https://www.cnn.com/2020/02/27/health/lsd-overdoses-case-studies-wellness/index.html?source=Snapzu

A government whistleblower alleges US health workers treated coronavirus evacuees without proper protective gear or training

A whistleblower from the Department of Health and Human Services has alleged that the US sent more than a dozen government workers to assist Americans who were evacuated from Wuhan, China, without giving them proper training or protective gear, The Washington Post and The New York Times reported on Thursday. The whistleblower is a senior HHS official based in Washington, DC, and oversees employees at the Administration for Children and Families unit within the federal agency, according to The Post and The Times.
Read more: https://www.businessinsider.com/whistleblower-us-workers-treated-coronavirus-without-gear-training-2020-2?source=Snapzu

Mobo maker builds 'powerless' processor cooling fan

Mobo maker MSI has come up with a novel way of keeping processors cool and conserving energy at the same time: the CPU to drive its own fan. It's actually a new implementation of an old discovery. MSI's Air Power Cooler uses the energy inherent in the expansion of air as it warms up to drive a fan.
Read more: https://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/02/29/msi_stirling_cooling/?source=Snapzu

The $35 Raspberry Pi 4 now comes with double the RAM

The same price as the original when it launched in 2012.
Read more: https://www.engadget.com/2020/02/27/35-raspberry-pi-4-double-ram-2-GB/?source=Snapzu

Coke and Pepsi sued for creating a plastic pollution ‘nuisance’

Coke, Pepsi, Nestle and other large companies are being sued by a California environmental group for creating a plastic pollution “nuisance” and misleading consumers about the recyclability of plastic. The suit, filed in San Mateo county superior court on Wednesday, argues that companies that sell plastic bottles and bags that end up polluting the ocean should be held accountable for damaging the environment.
Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/feb/27/california-plastic-pollution-lawsuit-coke-pepsi?source=Snapzu

MI5 chief asks tech firms for 'exceptional access' to encrypted messages

MI5’s director general has called on technology companies to find a way to allow spy agencies “exceptional access” to encrypted messages, amid fears they cannot otherwise access such communications. Sir Andrew Parker is understood to be particularly concerned about Facebook, which announced plans to introduce powerful end-to-end encryption last March across all the social media firm’s services.
Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2020/feb/25/mi5-chief-asks-tech-firms-for-exceptional-access-to-encrypted-messages?source=Snapzu

Huawei makes its case against U.S. hostilities

Two top Huawei U.S. executives are at the RSA Conference in San Francisco this week, hoping the crowd of security experts will be more receptive to its position than have been policymakers in Washington, where the Chinese giant has gotten an increasingly hostile reception.
Read more: https://www.axios.com/huawei-rsa-conference-be1956cc-406d-4cae-9a03-6126380f9137.html?source=Snapzu

Reddit CEO calls TikTok "spyware" and "fundamentally parasitic"

While TikTok remains one of the most popular apps in the world, its policies and parent company’s alleged ties to the Chinese government have brought plenty of controversy. One person who’s definitely not a fan is Reddit CEO Steve Huffman, who called it “fundamentally parasitic” and “spyware.”
Read more: https://www.techspot.com/news/84183-reddit-ceo-calls-tiktok-spyware-fundamentally-parasitic.html?source=Snapzu

About 40% of US adults are obese, government survey finds

About 4 in 10 American adults are obese, and nearly 1 in 10 is severely so, government researchers said Thursday. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention findings come from a 2017-18 health survey that measures height and weight. More than 5,000 U.S. adults took part.
Read more: https://apnews.com/a2154b643d53afae2a3654f722a9b60a?source=Snapzu

Apple won't let bad guys use iPhones in movies, 'Knives Out' director Rian Johnson says

Rian Johnson, the writer and director of "Knives Out," revealed that Apple will permit film productions to use its products onscreen, but with one very big caveat: Villains can't have an iPhone on camera.
Read more: https://www.cnbc.com/2020/02/26/apple-wont-let-bad-guys-use-iphones-in-movies-says-knives-out-director.html?source=Snapzu

Scientists discover 1st animal that doesn't breathe oxygen

Scientists have discovered something they didn't think existed: an animal that can't breathe oxygen, and obviously doesn't need to. That animal is a parasite called Henneguya salminocola, distantly related to jellyfish. It lives in the muscles of salmon and trout, causing unsightly little white nodules known as "tapioca disease."
Read more: https://www.cbc.ca/news/technology/animal-breathe-oxygen-1.5478645?source=Snapzu

Georgia Tech physicists unlock the secret to perfect wok-tossed fried rice

The trick is a timely combination of side-to-side and see-sawing motions.
Read more: https://arstechnica.com/science/2020/02/georgia-tech-physicists-unlock-the-secret-to-perfect-wok-tossed-fried-rice/?source=Snapzu

Apple won’t allow villains to use its products on screen, says Rian Johnson

Apple is trying really, really hard to always come off as the good guys. According to Rian Johnson, director of Knives Out, Apple won’t let villains use iPhones on-screen. THIS IS SILLY — Smartphones have become as ubiquitous in movies as they are in real life, but apparently there are still limits to how closely we can mirror reality.
Read more: https://www.inputmag.com/culture/apple-wont-allow-villains-to-use-its-products-on-screen-says-rian-johnson?source=Snapzu

iPhones with user-removable batteries might become EU law

A proposed EU law would force Apple to make iPhones with user-removable batteries – which is to say, batteries the user could quickly and easily swap out when the phone ran out of juice. This would represent a return to the early days of smartphones, when owners would commonly carry a charged spare battery and simply snap off the back casing and swap the battery when it ran low...
Read more: https://9to5mac.com/2020/02/27/iphones-with-removable-batteries/?source=Snapzu

A chemotherapy missile made of DNA target-locks on to cancer cells

DNA is the repository for genetic information. We’ve been tinkering with it since the 1970s, trying to alter the characteristics of organisms in a single generation, like boosting crop resistance to insect pests or even making pigs glow. Only recently have researchers popularized DNA as something else: a construction material. Earlier this year, researchers assembled an intelligent and autonomous nanostructure entirely out of DNA that delivered and released a cancer drug.
Read more: https://massivesci.com/articles/dna-nanocarrier-cancer-chemotherapy/?source=Snapzu

Opinion: Putting Mike Pence in charge of the US coronavirus response is some kind of sick joke

So Vice President Mike Pence is heading up the US government’s response to the coronavirus outbreak. Is that some sort of sick joke? Because I find it hard to think of anyone less suited to manage a complex healthcare crisis. As governor of Indiana, Pence slashed public health spending and then delayed the vital introduction of needle exchange programmes, which contributed to the state’s worst ever outbreak of HIV...
Read more: https://www.independent.co.uk/voices/coronavirus-mike-pence-response-us-indiana-hiv-trump-a9363066.html?source=Snapzu

Reddit CEO: TikTok is ‘fundamentally parasitic’

TikTok is one of the hottest social media platforms but the CEO of Reddit had some harsh words for the popular app, calling it “fundamentally parasitic” at an event Wednesday. The comments from Reddit CEO and co-founder Steve Huffman were some of the more controversial offered up during…
Read more: https://techcrunch.com/2020/02/26/reddit-ceo-tiktok-is-fundamentally-parasitic/?source=Snapzu

Clearview AI, the controversial facial-recognition company partnering with police, says its entire customer list was stolen in a breach

Clearview markets its services to law-enforcement agencies and has previously avoided disclosing the identities of its clients.
Read more: https://www.businessinsider.com/clearview-ai-list-customers-stolen-breach-2020-2?source=Snapzu

Let's Encrypt issues one-billionth web security certificate

In less than five years, Let's Encrypt has secured almost 200 million websites with free TLS certificates.
Read more: https://www.zdnet.com/article/lets-encrypt-issues-1-billionth-web-security-certificate/?source=Snapzu

Sanders rips Pence: His last response to an epidemic was to 'pray' it away

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) on Wednesday slammed President Trump’s appointment of Vice President Pence as point man on the coronavirus outbreak, noting the HIV outbreak that occurred during Pence’s tenure as governor of Indiana as well as Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar’s refusal to promise that a coronavirus vaccine would be affordable to all.
Read more: https://thehill.com/policy/healthcare/484900-sanders-rips-pence-his-last-response-to-an-epidemic-was-to-pray-it-away?source=Snapzu

Dow plunges 650 points as stock market enters correction territory, down 10% from record high

Stocks fell sharply once again on Thursday as investors worried the coronavirus may be spreading in the U.S. A slew of corporate and analyst warnings also dragged down the major averages. The Dow Jones Industrial Average plummeted 825 points, or 3.1%. The S&P 500 slid 3% while the Nasdaq Composite dropped 3.5%. The Dow was on pace for its worst weekly performance since the financial crisis, falling more than 9% week to date.
Read more: https://www.cnbc.com/2020/02/26/dow-futures-fall-after-microsoft-issues-coronavirus-warning.html?source=Snapzu

NTSB slams Tesla, Apple and regulators over a fatal Autopilot crash

National Transportation Safety Board chairman blasts Tesla and 'government regulators' for jeopardizing traffic safety over Tesla’s Autopilot feature.
Read more: https://www.latimes.com/business/story/2020-02-25/tesla-autopilot-crash-hearing?source=Snapzu

Microsoft Issues Financial Warning Because of Coronavirus

The tech giant said the virus was causing issues with its supply chain, about a week after Apple said it was facing similar problems.
Read more: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/26/technology/microsoft-coronavirus-earnings.html?partner=IFTTT?source=Snapzu

Apple Begins Selling Certified Refurbished 16-Inch MacBook Pro Models Internationally

Apple has been offering certified refurbished 16-inch MacBook Pro models in the United States for a couple of weeks now, but today it started selling refurb 16-inch models through its international online stores for the first time since the notebook was released in November 2019. All of the refurbished configurations are discounted by 15 percent compared to the equivalent brand new models.
Read more: https://www.macrumors.com/2020/02/26/apple-selling-refurb-16-inch-macbook-pro-models-uk/?source=Snapzu

Rumored 802.11ay standard for iPhone 12 may be geared to Apple Glasses

A report earlier this week suggested that the upcoming iPhone 12 may support a new WiFi spec, 802.11ay. This would pretty surprising, as the standard is so new the spec hasn’t even be finalized, and Apple normally waits a while before adopting new tech – as we’ve seen for everything from 3G onward.
Read more: https://9to5mac.com/2020/02/26/802-11ay/amp/?__twitter_impression=true?source=Snapzu

Hackers can peep through this smart vacuum's camera, research shows

The Trifo Ironpie robot vacuum is designed to do double duty. The fans on the swiveling disc hoover your house, while the camera mounted on it acts as an ankle-high securitydevice. The idea is to stay tidy while staying safe. There's just one problem, according to cybersecurity firm Checkmarx. The internet-connected Ironpie has multiple security vulnerabilities.
Read more: https://www.cnet.com/news/hackers-can-peep-through-this-smart-vacuums-camera-research-shows/?source=Snapzu

Missouri hunters donated nearly 350,000 pounds of deer meat to food banks this season

Missouri deer hunters donated nearly 350,000 pounds of venison to food banks and pantries across the state this season, the Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC) said in a news release. The hunters donated the meat to Missouri's Share the Harvest program, which provides "lean, healthy" venison to help feed hungry Missourians.
Read more: https://us.cnn.com/2020/02/26/us/missouri-hunters-donate-meat-food-bank-deer-trnd/index.html?source=Snapzu

Nintendo Customer Support Goes Above And Beyond For 95-Year-Old Grandma's Busted Game Boy

A heartwarming tale
Read more: http://www.nintendolife.com/news/2020/02/nintendo_customer_support_goes_above_and_beyond_for_95-year-old_grandmas_busted_game_boy?source=Snapzu

Pets 'go hungry' after smart feeder fails

Owners of a device designed to release food for pets say their animals were left hungry during a week-long system failure. Petnet allows owners to schedule and control feeding via a smartphone app. When the BBC contacted Petnet on its advertised email address, the email bounced back with a delivery failure notice.
Read more: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-51628795?source=Snapzu

Facial-Recognition Company That Works With Law Enforcement Says Entire Client List Was Stolen

A facial-recognition company that contracts with powerful law-enforcement agencies just reported that an intruder stole its entire client list, according to a notification the company sent to its customers. In the notification, which The Daily Beast reviewed, the startup Clearview AI disclosed to its customers that an intruder “gained unauthorized access” to its list of customers, to the number of user accounts those customers had set up, and to the number of searches its customers have conducted.
Read more: https://www.thedailybeast.com/clearview-ai-facial-recognition-company-that-works-with-law-enforcement-says-entire-client-list-was-stolen?ref=home?source=Snapzu

Nintendo Comes To The Rescue After 95-Year-Old Grandmother's Game Boy Breaks

In the Asahi Shimbun, one of Japan’s largest newspapers, 70-year-old Kuniko Tsusaka recounted how her mother always had a Game Boy nearby to play Tetris. But when her mother turned 95 and her health started to suffer, her Game Boy stopped working.
Read more: https://kotaku.com/nintendo-comes-to-the-rescue-after-95-year-old-grandmot-1841902441?source=Snapzu

Unhealthy aging could be thwarted in the future by new molecular discovery

Everybody wants to live as long as possible. We try our best to take care of ourselves — we watch our diet, we stay active, and we throw away the cigarettes. Owing to our gallant efforts, and thanks to advances in science and medicine, human life expectancy across the world doubled in the 20th century. The average human can now expect to live past 70 years old.
Read more: https://www.inverse.com/mind-body/study-how-humans-can-improve-healthy-aging?source=Snapzu

Nest cameras were down for 17 hours because of failed server update

Users took to social media to express their annoyance with Google
Read more: https://www.theverge.com/2020/2/25/21152534/nest-cameras-outage-google-security?source=Snapzu

Pizza Hut Wants To Replace All Cheese With Vegan Alternative To Cut Emissions

Pizza Hut has revealed that it would like to replace all its dairy cheese with a vegan alternative one day as part of its plans to become more sustainable. While the chain says its does not envision taking dairy products off the menu in the 'near future', it is 'dedicated to evolving our practices and processes with the aim of making a more positive impact'.
Read more: https://www.plantbasednews.org/news/pizza-hut-wants-replace-cheese-vegan-alternative?source=Snapzu

Pentagon adopts new ethical principles for using AI in war

The Pentagon is adopting new ethical principles as it prepares to accelerate its use of artificial intelligence technology on the battlefield
Read more: https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/wireStory/pentagon-adopts-ethical-principles-ai-war-69181756?source=Snapzu

Engaging with Schizophrenia – Experts Argue for New Approaches to Treatment

A better understanding of the lived experience of people with schizophrenia would enable clinicians to help patients live with their condition, alongside treating symptoms with medication and psychotherapy, say experts at the University of Birmingham. According to researchers at the University, this approach would involve developing an understanding of ‘self-disturbance’ in schizophrenia – in which patients’ sense of connection to themselves and to their actions is disrupted.
Read more: https://www.psychreg.org/schizophrenia-new-approaches-to-treatment/?source=Snapzu

A Billionaire Who Funds Climate Denial Is No Longer on American Museum of Natural History Board

Billionaire Rebekah Mercer, who with her father Robert Mercer has poured millions of dollars into climate-denying organizations, candidates, and media, is off the board of the American Museum of Natural History (AMNH).
Read more: https://earther.gizmodo.com/a-billionaire-who-funds-climate-denial-is-no-longer-on-1841911672?source=Snapzu

The for-profit takeover of the non-profit '.org' top-level domain

The Internet Society wants to sell the non-profit ".org" top-level internet domain to the private equity firm Ethos Capital, but they're running into resistance.
Read more: https://www.zdnet.com/article/the-for-profit-takeover-of-the-non-profit-org-top-level-domain/?source=Snapzu

US 'plotted to kill Julian Assange and make it look like an accident'

US spies hatched a plot to kidnap or even poison Julian Assange using shady Spanish private detectives after he leaked 250,000 top secret documents online, his extradition hearing was told yesterday. The WikiLeaks founder's human rights barrister Edward Fitzgerald, who has previously represented Moors Murderer Myra Hindley and hate preacher Abu Hamza, said an attack inside London's Ecuadorean embassy would have looked like an 'accident'.
Read more: https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8041597/US-plotted-kill-Julian-Assange-make-look-like-accident.html?source=Snapzu