A spate of new studies on lab animals and human tissues are providing the first indication of why the Omicron variant causes milder disease than previous versions of the coronavirus. From a report: In studies on mice and hamsters, Omicron produced less damaging infections, often limited largely to the upper Read more…
NPR reports: In late November, more than 110 people gathered at a crowded Christmas party at a restaurant in Oslo. Most of the guests were fully vaccinated. One had returned from South Africa just a few days earlier and was unknowingly carrying the omicron variant of SARS-CoV-2. Ultimately, about 70% Read more…
Russia’s state media watchdog will require Netflix to offer state television channels to its Russian customers after it added the U.S.-based streaming service to its register of “audio-visual services” this week. From a report: Roskomnadzor’s register, which was created in late 2020, applies to online streaming services with over 100,000 Read more…
Stretch is a new robot from Boston Dynamics that can move approximately 800 heavy boxes per hour. As IEEE Spectrum reports, it’s part of “a new generation of robots with the intelligence and flexibility to handle the kind of variation that people take in stride.” From the report: Stretch’s design Read more…
As new year approaches, crowds around the world may be expecting whizzes and bangs to light up the sky. But the appeal of fireworks could fizzle out with the growing use of drones for light shows. One notable example was the opening ceremony of this year’s Tokyo Olympics, while the Read more…
The Next Web’s Tristan Greene combed through a recently published “position paper” detailing China’s views on military AI regulation and found that it “makes absolutely no mention of restricting the use of machines capable of choosing and firing on targets autonomously.” From the report: Per the paper: “In terms of Read more…
The seven-day average of COVID-19 cases topped 280,000 this week, according to data from Johns Hopkins University’s tracker. It’s a record number of new cases in the country; the last time the number of cases hit a peak close to that was January. NPR reports: Public health officials including Dr. Read more…