Big Company, Big Government, Big Brother? Privacy after Covid-19. Covid-19 Is Accelerating Human Transformation—Let’s Not Waste It. The Coronavirus Is a Disaster for Feminism. Read: This is how Donald Trump will be remembered The evidence we do have from the Ebola and Zika outbreaks should inform the current response.
In both rich and poor countries, campaigners expect domestic-violence rates to rise during lockdown periods. Stress, alcohol consumption, and financial difficulties are all considered triggers for violence in the home, and the quarantine measures being imposed around the world will increase all three. UBC researchers develop biodegradable medical masks made from wood fibre. Researchers from the University of British Columbia say they have developed a biodegradable medical mask that could offer a solution to supply chain shortages amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
The university's Bioproducts Institute has put together a prototype mask made from B.C. wood fibres including pine, spruce, cedar and even recycled paper. It's called the Can-Mask. Two versions of it are currently being tested to determine if they meet health industry standards — one using a commercial N95 filter, the other using a filter made from wood fibre.
"It's a very good mask [using material] that's abundant, available, sustainable and biodegradable," said Orlando Rojas, scientific director of the university's Bioproducts Institute and a professor in chemical and biological engineering, chemistry and wood science. Trudeau calls for better pay for 'heroes' of the pandemic. Video chats short circuit a brain function essential for trust — and that's bad for business: Don Pittis. Ever get the sense there is something vital missing on those Zoom meetings?
If so, you're not alone — and there is Canadian science to back you up. As political and business leaders push to reopen the economy hoping to get restaurants, retailers and factories making money again, there may be good economic reasons for putting at least some of the work-from-home crowd back into the office as fast as it's safe to do so. Canadian research on "computer-mediated communication," begun long before the current lockdown, shows video chat is an inadequate substitute for real-life interaction. The real thing, dependant on non-verbal cues, is extraordinarily more effective in creating rapport and getting ideas across.
Airbnb says Amsterdam old town home sharing ban is 'damaging' How 'Superspreading' Events Drive Most COVID-19 Spread. In late February about 175 executives from around the world came to the biotechnology company Biogen’s leadership conference in Boston.
Over two days, attendees shook hands, talked among themselves and shared meals. Also in attendance: the new coronavirus. Several people at the event were unknowingly infected with the microbe that causes COVID-19, and it quickly spread among others there, who then brought it home. At least 99 people ended up sick in Massachusetts alone. Fogo Island shows how social enterprises can help rebuild communities post-coronavirus. Social distancing and stay-at-home measures around the globe have been necessary to tackle the COVID-19 crisis.
Yet these measures have led to increased rates of loneliness and depression as people continue to physically distance from each other. More than 30 per cent of the world’s population now faces restrictions related to COVID-19. The impact on mental health has rapidly become apparent. According to one recent study, levels of depression in Canada have more than doubled in the past few weeks, rising to 16 per cent from seven per cent. The scope of mental health challenges continues to mount, but the underlying problem has been brewing for a long time. We now order food and products on Amazon and they conveniently and anonymously arrive at our door. COVID-19 crisis accelerates rise of virtual call centers.
The coronavirus pandemic has pushed IT leaders to move at breakneck pace and accomplish objectives they never conceived likely, let alone possible.
Perhaps nowhere has this been more acute than in the call center. T-Mobile, for instance, sent 12,000 customer representatives located in 17 call centers around the globe to work from home in the wake of the pandemic, says Cody Sanford, the telecommunications company’s CIO and chief product officer. The shift, which took two and a half weeks to complete, required painstaking procedures to "hygienically" ship hardware and software to employees' residences, a task Sanford describes as one of the toughest rapid-fire turnarounds during his tenure as CIO. "We had to rebuild our entire customer care operations forensically," Sanford tells CIO.com. The pandemic has accelerated the virtualized call center, which had been a growing trend facilitated by the cloud, crowdsourcing and the gig economy. New Zealand Deprioritizes Growth, Improves Health and Wellbeing.
New Zealand Deprioritizes Growth, Improves Health and Wellbeing. Shifting consumer habits during the pandemic may change the future of retail in Canada. When Canada's COVID-19 crisis began, Tariq Al Barwani initially thought his business was going to be OK.
Plentea, a tea bar in Toronto's Parkdale neighbourhood offering specialty drinks like tea lattes as well as retail loose-leaf tea, still had quite a bit of foot traffic. But that changed when Ontario shut down all non-essential businesses March 23 and Plentea's customers started staying home. "What happened was the people who were going to work around us, who actually spent money during the day with us, they stopped going to work," said Al Barwani.
Overnight, 70 per cent of his customers disappeared. But some started direct messaging the shop through Instagram and Facebook to ask about getting their loose-leaf tea through curbside pickup or delivery. Grandma's Robot: How AI Is Revolutionizing Elder Care - Synced. By 2050 almost one-in-four humans will be aged 60 years and older, double today’s share.
Moreover, the number of people aged 80 years and older will quadruple. This demographic shift is opening new vistas for AI technologies in elders’ daily healthcare management, and as a useful tool for healthcare professionals and institutions treating seniors. The AI in elder care market is expected to exceed US$5.5 billion by 2022, and will grow into one of AI’s most important support roles in societies of the future. Medication Reminder For the elderly, taking duplicate or unnecessary medications or forgetting to take their medications altogether can greatly increase the risk of adverse reactions.
AiCure leverages smartphone cameras and an AI algorithm to monitor medication-taking, and will pop out an automatic alert if the meds are not taken properly. How Your Next Coach or Therapist May be a Robot - Ray Williams. This article a 15 minute extended read.
Advancements in technology in the form of Artificial Intelligence, robotics, and virtual/augmented reality have moved from traditional practical applications of providing products or facilitating processes to more sophisticated human interaction in health, education, training and now to therapy and coaching Virtual and Augmented Reality. Edward Saatchi on virtual beings: AI is the next great art form. Edward Saatchi, the CEO of Fable Studio and maker of Emmy-winning virtual reality experiences, participated in a thoughtful conversation about “virtual beings” at our recent GamesBeat Summit 2020 event.
I called the session “We are who we pretend to be,” after the moral of story in one of my favorite novels, Kurt Vonnegut’s Mother Night. The novel is about an American spy in World War II who does too good a job at his cover role of being a Nazi propagandist. The moral is: “We are who we pretend to be, so we must be careful about what we pretend to be.” Preventing PTSD in COVID-19 Era. Source: CANVA Pro Every one of us lives now in the shadow of trauma. Uncertainty, stress, and fear are high, even for those who don't get sick. The threat of losing financial stability, health, or loved ones stalks all of us. The next pandemic is a mental health one.
Toronto breaks down geographic spread of COVID-19, showing local hot spots in detail for first time. Toronto has unveiled detailed, geographic information about the spread of the novel coronavirus, marking the first time such data has been made available in Ontario during the pandemic. The data shows the city has recorded the highest concentration of COVID-19 cases in northwest and northeast Toronto, specifically northern Etobicoke, parts of North York and northern Scarborough, neighbourhoods with higher portions of multi-unit residences and low-income residents.
Coronavirus is accelerating automation. Coronavirus: What's it like to be laid off over Zoom? Image copyright Ruthie Townsend When travel start-up Pana held a meeting for all of its employees over Zoom, they explained that some staff would be laid off, and that there would be two further calls that morning - one at 09:00 for those who would be laid off, and one at 09:45 for those who would not. Employees would know which meeting they were attending by the invites they would have received by email. Sales executive Ruthie Townsend was invited to join the 09:00 call but, due to the shock of the news, she could not remember which call was for those about to be laid off, and which was for those being retained. "Because it was such a highly stressful situation, it was hard to process what was going on so I got mixed up. I joined the 09:00 call as that was the invite I had, and once I realised that I was being laid off, I quickly turned off my video," she says.
The company, based in Denver, Colorado, had been hit by the collapse in travel due to the coronavirus outbreak. Knot happy - Covid-19 spurs single Japanese to look for love. HE HAD ALWAYS imagined he would get married someday. Then covid-19 hit. Yuto (not his real name), a 31-year-old hotel employee from the southern city of Kumamoto, found himself confined to his home, alone. He decided to accelerate his wedding plans, and signed up for an online match-making service to find the love of his life—fast. Yuto is not alone. Since the pandemic broke out, more Japanese singles have been on the hunt for spouses. Seven recommendations for helping students thrive in times of trauma. One of my students who recently lost her job and is fearful for her health and well-being, having recently been exposed to someone who tested positive for COVID-19, asked me, “How do you have the will to get out of bed?” Wanting to honor the gravity of the question, I paused.
In fact, I was startled by her question and my inability to give her a calming answer. I said to her, “That’s a great question. Some days, it’s harder than others.” But I reminded my student of what the Persian poet Rumi says: “Friends, we are traveling together.” Launch of survey on loneliness and isolation – get involved – Institute of Public Health. Watch Blockeley, UC Berkeley’s online Minecraft commencement. Ontario To Provide Free Therapy For People With Anxiety Or Depression. The Coronavirus Crisis Exposed Gaps In Canada's Social Programs. Now's The Time To Fill Them. A Case for Cooperation Between Machines and Humans. The Tesla chief Elon Musk and other big-name Silicon Valley executives have long promised a car that can do all the driving without human assistance.
But Ben Shneiderman, a University of Maryland computer scientist who has for decades warned against blindly automating tasks with computers, thinks fully automated cars and the tech industry’s vision for a robotic future is misguided. Even dangerous. Robots should collaborate with humans, he believes, rather than replace them. Late last year, Dr. Untitled. This article is part of the On Tech newsletter. Untitled. Untitled. If any place was prepared for quarantine, it was Milton Keynes. Two years before the pandemic, a start-up called Starship Technologies deployed a fleet of rolling delivery robots in the small city about 50 miles northwest of London. Should Robots Have a Face? When Tina Sorg first saw the robot rolling through her Giant supermarket in Harrisburg, Pa., she said to herself, “That thing is a little weird.”
Will pandemic babies live with the effects of their mothers’ stress? – RRC. COVID-19 cases are on the rise among young adults, but health experts aren’t sure why. How Covid-19 could change the way we use our cities. When Helen Flitcroft goes to work in the morning, her commute is a five second walk to her home office. Softening the blow - Climate adaptation policies are needed more than ever. ON MAY 16TH a telltale anticlockwise spiral of clouds in satellite images taken over the Bay of Bengal warned of impending disaster. Four days later Supercyclone Amphan made landfall, the most powerful storm to do so in the region in 20 years. Winds gusting at up to 185km/h pounded the coast of the Indian state of West Bengal, which took the brunt of the impact. AR-based Video-Mediated Communication: A Social Presence Enhancing Experience. ‘The weight of change should not rest on the shoulders of Black people’ Esi Edugyan: For true systemic shifts to occur, everyone has to recognize that the whole underlying structure is so irreparably broken that no one can afford to live like this anymore In the wake of the killing of George Floyd by police in the U.S., Maclean’s asked Black Canadian writers to pen open letters to America addressing the recent upheaval and the task of confronting racism that—deny it as some Canadians might—persists in their own country.
To the woman on the plane, It was the spring of 2018, and we were flying from Denver to Seattle. How to address racism like the public health crisis it is. The killing of George Floyd by police in Minneapolis has sparked public outcry across the United States, including its medical associations. Over the past week, several have made it clear that in their eyes, racism is a public health issue. Many of those statements—including those from the American Medical Association, American College of Physicians, the American Academy of Pediatrics, and the American Public Health Association—have highlighted the police brutality that disproportionately affects Black Americans. But all of them ultimately allude to a more foundational health threat. A New Era of Race Relations. Indigenous chief says RCMP beat him up and manhandled his wife over expired licence plate.
Fever when you hold me tight - Casual sex is out, companionship is in. The Deeper Meaning of A Global Pandemic that Traditional News Isn’t Telling Us. From Seoul to Sydney, Cities in Asia and Australia Learn to Live with Coronavirus. Social Distancing Informants Have Their Eyes on You. When we re-open the economy, will anyone turn up? When we re-open the economy, will anyone turn up? Open the Economy Slowly, or the Second Coronavirus Wave Will Come Too Soon. COVID-19: How Do We Re-open the Economy? Could Canada build a fairer society after COVID-19? Chatbots take the strain from Denmarks emergency helplines. Coronavirus is a 'personal nightmare' for people with OCD and anxiety disorders.
Susan Pinker: The secret to living longer may be your social life. Coronavirus isolation is creating new couples - BBC Worklife. Sheryl Sandberg: Women are treated unequally. Covid-19 is making it worse. Antibody tests could lead to job discrimination and workers playing 'Russian roulette' After the flood: How the next wave (or waves) of COVID-19 will look in Canada. The coronavirus pandemic is transforming how teachers teach. How Pandemics End. COVID-19 - Research and Markets. Helsinki's huge VR gig hints at the potential of virtual tourism. COVID-19 and Increased Alcohol Consumption: NANOS Poll Summary Report. Children with disabilities face health risks, disruption and marginalization under coronavirus.
COVID-19: What is digital contact tracing and is Canada using it? New Brunswick residents can now choose 'household bubbles' to socialize during pandemic. How the lens of social science could help us in this pandemic. How labour policy in both Canada and the U.S. affects the spread of coronavirus. Coronavirus: could emotional memories of this crisis affect our future behaviour? For Gen Z, two defining events: COVID-19 and climate change. Together: The Healing Power of Human Connection in a Sometimes Lonely World: Murthy M.D., Vivek H: 9780062913296: Amazon.com: Books. Before DIY sourdough starters became popular, there was home economics.
More than food banks are needed to feed the hungry during the coronavirus pandemic. Ludia VP HR: 'There's no magic formula for work-from-home' Remote working: How to establish a continued sense of belonging. Andrew Sullivan: Coronavirus Doesn’t Have a Social Message. What Japan's hikikomori can teach us about self-isolation. AI Might Trick Us By Pretending To Be Dimwitted, Including For Self-Driving Cars.
This AI tool predicts who’s got COVID-19 without testing. My Girlfriend Is a Chatbot. No more pencils, no more books - Closing schools for covid-19 does lifelong harm and widens inequality. Out of sight, out of mind - For people with dementia, the coronavirus pandemic is a nightmare. Covid-19: How your body changes when isolating with someone for a long period of time. Studies show technology can treat the lonely brain. Can technology ease loneliness during COVID-19 lockdowns? Coronavirus: The lure of mafia money during the crisis. The digital divide leaves millions at a disadvantage during the coronavirus pandemic.
Remote working: the new normal for many, but it comes with hidden risks – new research. A New Chatbot Tries a Little Artificial Empathy. How Life in Cities Will Change Due to the Coronavirus Pandemic. Ludia VP HR: 'There's no magic formula for work-from-home' Andrew Sullivan: Coronavirus Doesn’t Have a Social Message. Why Am I Horny During Coronavirus? Experts Weigh In - FLARE. What does COVID-19 have to do with nature? These 5 articles explain. Conflict-zone doctor predicts 'terrifying times,' due to lack of resources to fight COVID-19. Rural internet users frustrated by slow connections as providers struggle with data overages. The digital divide leaves millions at a disadvantage during the coronavirus pandemic. Psychologists: How isolation during coronavirus pandemic affects kids - Insider. Protect Rights of People with Disabilities During COVID-19.
Canadians battling addiction in self-isolation turn to online AA meetings. What Coronavirus Isolation Could Do to Your Mind (and Body) Only connect - How will humans, by nature social animals, fare when isolated?