The Graphene Council: Tonnes Of Used Face Masks To Be Turned Into Energy. “Researchers say that during the coronavirus pandemic people on the planet started using more than 130 billion masks every month, which turn into hundreds of tonnes of polymer waste. When burned it emits toxic gases, so the task of recycling this waste is particularly urgent. Scientists at NUST MISIS, together with their foreign colleagues, have developed a new technology for producing cost-effective batteries from used masks, where waste drug blister packs are also used as a shell. Thus, medical waste forms the basis for creating batteries; all that needs to be procured is graphene.”
Monthly Archives: January 2022
Associated Press: German air traffic rebounded last year but still far to go
Associated Press: German air traffic rebounded last year but still far to go. “Nearly 74 million passengers last year took off from or landed at the 23 largest commercial airports in Germany, which has Europe’s biggest economy, the Federal Statistical Office said. That was about 27% more than in 2020, when the pandemic hit and travel came to a near-standstill, but close to 68% fewer than in 2019, when a record of nearly 227 million passengers used German airports.”
Route Fifty: Teachers ‘Beaten Down’ By Staff Shortages, Covid
Route Fifty: Teachers ‘Beaten Down’ By Staff Shortages, Covid. “Carina McGee, a high school teacher in the Aiken County Public School District in South Carolina, expected to teach until retirement age. But just three years after beginning her career, she’s reevaluating whether she made the right decision. ‘Everything that has come with COVID, it has just been an absolute nightmare. I have been so much more overwhelmed and exhausted and just beaten down,’ said McGee, 24. ‘I thought I would retire when I was like 65 from teaching, and now I’m considering leaving within the next two years.'”
PsyPost: Patients who are slow to wake up after severe COVID-19 are likely to recover consciousness, study indicates
PsyPost: Patients who are slow to wake up after severe COVID-19 are likely to recover consciousness, study indicates. “Most patients who suffer impaired consciousness as a result of COVID-19 recover within six months, according to new research published in Neurology. The findings provide new insight into the outcome of neurological complications related to severe COVID-19.”
Poynter: He started an LGBTQ magazine during the pandemic. Here’s what he learned.
Poynter: He started an LGBTQ magazine during the pandemic. Here’s what he learned.. “Ten years have passed since the germ of the idea for a Florida-based LGBTQ publication first came to journalist John Sotomayor. And in 10 years, much has changed. To start an LGBTQ magazine based in Ocala, one of the last remaining pockets of old Florida, surrounded by unvarnished nature and nicknamed the “horse capital of the world,” was already an ambitious idea. But to start one at the beginning of a global pandemic? That was on an entirely different level.”
New York Times: No, athletes are not dying from Covid-19 vaccines.
New York Times: No, athletes are not dying from Covid-19 vaccines.. “The conspiracy theory that athletes are collapsing or dying after receiving a Covid-19 vaccine resurfaced this week after two prominent voices advanced the idea. Senator Ron Johnson, a Republican from Wisconsin, spread the falsehood in an appearance on the conservative podcast ‘The Charlie Kirk Show.'”
CNN: Shanghai metro sparks Covid panic with festive red QR codes
CNN: Shanghai metro sparks Covid panic with festive red QR codes. “Chinese social media users reported Sunday that the Shanghai metro’s QR code — which passengers scan when they enter and exit stations -— had changed color from its usual black to red, according to state-run news outlet The Paper. It sparked terror in many passengers, and for good reason. For the past two years, a red QR code in China has meant that you have — or are suspected to have — Covid-19.”
CNET: Moderna’s COVID vaccine wins full FDA approval
CNET: Moderna’s COVID vaccine wins full FDA approval. “Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine has received full approval from the Food and Drug Administration, the US agency announced Monday. The company’s vaccine has been available for adults age 18 and up since since December 2020 under emergency use authorization.”
BBC: Joe Rogan pledges to try harder after Neil Young Spotify row
BBC: Joe Rogan pledges to try harder after Neil Young Spotify row. “Joe Rogan has pledged to try harder to offer more balanced views on his podcast, after he was criticised by Neil Young and Joni Mitchell for helping to spread Covid misinformation. The Canadian musicians asked to have their music pulled from the streaming platform as a result. Spotify has since said it is working to add advisory warnings to any podcast discussing Covid-19.”
Sue Gray: Failure of leadership over Downing Street lockdown parties (BBC)
BBC: Sue Gray: Failure of leadership over Downing Street lockdown parties. “Sue Gray has blamed a “failure of leadership” for allowing parties to take place in Downing Street when the country was under strict lockdown. In long-awaited findings, the senior civil servant says some events ‘should not have been allowed to take place’.”
CNET: Test for COVID using your phone camera? A university lab is trying it out
CNET: Test for COVID using your phone camera? A university lab is trying it out. “Getting shipped a handful of free at-home COVID tests from USPS was helpful, but what if you could test yourself whenever you wanted, using your phone’s camera? Academic scientists have developed a testing method that just needs some affordable lab equipment and your smartphone, and early results suggest it’s as accurate as PCR tests.”
Queer and Trans Prison Voices: A Podcast Archive on Prison Abolition (City University of New York)
City University of New York: Queer and Trans Prison Voices: A Podcast Archive on Prison Abolition. “By integrating that sonic archive into the podcast medium, this project functions as a digital archive for incarcerated voices, consisting of two tracks: a collection of short-spoken readings by queer and transgender incarcerated authors, and podcast-style interviews with activist scholars, organizations, and sound artists working towards prison abolition.” This is a CUNY “Capstone Project”; what the archive lacks in size it makes up in academic discussion.
The National Weekend: Vintage photo archive ‘The Old Bahrain’ shows island life in simpler times
The National Weekend: Vintage photo archive ‘The Old Bahrain’ shows island life in simpler times. “As we find ourselves flung headlong into another uncertain year, it’s not surprising that some of us may prefer to peer back through the cloudy gauze of nostalgia. Enter The Old Bahrain: a growing online photographic and video archive that not only enfolds an anxious populace into the past’s comforting arms, but also aims to highlight the huge changes in the country.”
CNET: Dordle, a new more evil Wordle, challenges you to tackle two words at once
CNET: Dordle, a new more evil Wordle, challenges you to tackle two words at once. “First came Wordle. Then came the Wordle knockoffs. Among them is Dordle, a devious word game that isn’t going to let you off easy. It asks you to figure out two five-letter words, but you can only input one word guess at a time. Confused? Play it and you’ll understand.”
New York Times: How Trump Coins Became an Internet Sensation
New York Times: How Trump Coins Became an Internet Sensation. “What became clear was not just the coin’s unusual origins, but an entire disinformation supply chain that relied on falsehoods and misinformation at nearly every step. Fueling the coin’s success were fake social media accounts that pushed false ads and a fleet of misleading news websites that preyed on partisan discontent. Seen in full, the coin illustrates what watchdogs have long understood: Many untruths that Americans encounter online aren’t created by foreign actors trying to sow division. They simply exist to help someone, somewhere, make a quick buck.”