UN Environment: New ‘hotspots’ tool pinpoints unsustainable consumption and production. “UN Environment launched in March 2019 a new tool that allows countries to see ‘hotspots’ of unsustainable practices in consumption and production. The tool, known as the Sustainable Consumption and Production Hotspots Analysis Tool, is an online application that analyses the environmental and socio-economic performance of 171 countries over the past 25 years to provide scientific evidence of areas where improvement can be made.”
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What Mexican bugs have to do with Italian Paintings: How digital tools can be used to explore complex connections (American Alliance of Museums)
American Alliance of Museums: What Mexican bugs have to do with Italian Paintings: How digital tools can be used to explore complex connections. “How is a red bug from Mexico so deeply tied to the representation of papal power in the late-1400s? First some background. It all starts with small red bugs, called cochineal, that live on cacti. They were first discovered by the Aztec and Mayan peoples’ thousands of years ago. They learned that the bugs’ bodies produced a chemical which could be used for dye and paint.”
ABC News (Australia): Why large swathes of countries are censored on Google Maps
ABC News (Australia): Why large swathes of countries are censored on Google Maps. “From self-driving cars to smart bins, global satellite positioning (GPS) is fundamentally changing the world around us, but as more of Earth becomes accessible from our keyboards, there are a number of groups who want to swat prying eyes away.”
EU Science Hub: New Urban Centres Database sets new standards for information on cities at global scale
EU Science Hub: New Urban Centres Database sets new standards for information on cities at global scale. “Building on the Global Human Settlement Layer (GHSL), the new database provides more detailed information on the cities’ location and size as well as characteristics such as greenness, night time light emission, population size, the built-up areas exposed to natural hazards, and travel time to the capital city. For several of these attributes, the database contains information recorded over time, dating as far back as 1975.” The database covers over 10,000 cities worldwide.
Reuters: Exclusive – Facebook brings stricter ads rules to countries with big 2019 votes
Reuters: Exclusive – Facebook brings stricter ads rules to countries with big 2019 votes. “Facebook Inc (FB.O) told Reuters on Tuesday that it would extend some of its political advertising rules and tools for curbing election interference to India, Nigeria, Ukraine and the European Union before significant votes in the next few months.”
Pew Global: International Publics Brace for Cyberattacks on Elections, Infrastructure, National Security
Pew Global: International Publics Brace for Cyberattacks on Elections, Infrastructure, National Security. “As the pace and magnitude of cyberattacks have increased around the world, a new survey shows that people in multiple countries think it is likely that government data, public infrastructure and elections will be targeted by future hacks. Opinion is mixed, however, on whether their nations are prepared for such events.”
United Nations University: Version 4 of World Income Inequality Database Now Available
United Nations University: Version 4 of World Income Inequality Database Now Available. “The UNU-WIDER World Income Inequality Database (WIID) presents information on income inequality for developed, developing, and transition countries. It represents the most comprehensive set of income inequality statistics available. The fourth major edition of this database — WIID4 — was released in December 2018.”
