Month: July 2021
New Diseases Database
Researchers from Google-owned artificial intelligence (AI) lab DeepMind, and European Bioinformatics Institute (EMBL), have launched a database featuring 20,000 structures for the complete set of proteins expressed in the human body, known as the human proteome. Solving one of biology’s biggest mysteries has led to the creation of a new scientific database that could revolutionise
TikTok cybersecurity centre in Ireland
The social media giant has announced Dublin will be the first location of what it calls regional fusion centres around the world, to help the company respond to security incidents in real time, 24 hours a day. TikTok is to open a new cybersecurity centre in Ireland as part of efforts to “stay ahead of
widely exploited hacks
increased homeworking could be partly to blame for some more recently disclosed software flaws, making it harder for firms to roll out routine patches. The most targeted vulnerabilities affected remote work, virtual private networks (VPNs), or cloud-based technologies. In 2021 malicious cyber actors have continued to target vulnerabilities in common software by Microsoft, Pulse, Accellion,
Cleveland Indians rebranding
The Cleveland Indians, Ohio’s Major League Baseball team, are set to change their name in 2021, rebranding as the Cleveland Guardians. The team’s former name has long been a source of controversy, as the use of Native American symbols and names is seen as ethnic stereotyping, and thought to have a negative impact on indigenous
archaic rules in UK
On 22 July 2021, Dawn Butler, a Member of UK Parliament, was forced to leave the House of Commons by acting-speaker of the house for repeatedly calling Prime Minister Boris Johnson a liar. According to UK parliamentary rules Members of Parliament (MPs) are not allowed to accuse one another of lying in the House of
Sugar Dating Apps banned on Google playstore
There are a host of apps on the store with the name ‘Sugar Daddy’, for instnace, and many more with more specific names. Such apps allow people to find others to engage in compensated sexual relationships, as Google puts it, wherein one party will pay someone to date them. Such apps and sites have become
mistrial of John Schulte?
In 2017 Wikileaks published the so-called “Vault 7” leaks, confidential CIA documents that demonstrated the agency’s ability to hack into networked cars, smart TVs, web browsers, and popular operating systems, and even hide their activities and make it look like the devices were not hacked. In 2018 former CIA contractor Joshua Schulte was arrested and
firing of Kentarō Kobayashi
Despite a spectacular opening ceremony, just 24 hours before the opening of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics the opening ceremony’s director, Kentarō Kobayashi, was fired from his position for historic insensitive comments made during the 1990s. Kobayashi was part of a comedy duo, Rahmens, and in the late 1990s made a joke about the Holocaust that
Sierra Leone right to abandon the death penalty
On the 23rd of July 2021 Sierra Leone became the 23rd African state to abolish the death penalty, making them the first English-speaking African country to do so. Parliamentarians voted that the death penalty would be replaced with a life sentence, which would carry a mandatory minimum of 30 years and the option of extending
UNESCO status of Stonehenge
Stonehenge may lose its UNESCO world heritage status because of the building of a new road that has been given the go-ahead by the UK government. This follows the UN body removing cultural heritage status from the British city of Liverpool in 2021, for the building of a new football stadium for Everton Football Club