Author: olechristian

The secret lives of Neanderthal children

Technology

Among the growing collection of Neanderthal remains to be discovered are fossilised bones belonging to children. Now we are gaining unprecedented insights into what being a young Neanderthal was like.
In any normal summer, Spain’s famous Playa de la Castilla – a perfect 20km (12 mile) long stretch of sand backed by the Doñana nature reserve and close to the resort of Matalascañas, Huelva – would have been covered by the footprints of visiting tourists. But in June 2020 with international flights banned due to Covid-19, the beach was uncharacteristically quiet. Two biologists – María Dolores Cobo and Ana Mateos – who were strolling along the peaceful beach, nonetheless found many footprints. These, however, were made by a very different kind of visitor.
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What it’s really like to negotiate with ransomware attackers

International news, Technology

The most critical moment in a ransomware negotiation usually comes long before the victim and the hackers discuss a price.

By the time the two sides start talking, the hackers have already gained significant control of a company’s network, most likely securing access to sensitive account data, business contracts, and other key details of an organization. The more they steal, the greater the leverage they have.
The only way for the victim to regain some ground, cybersecurity experts say, is to come armed with information about how much the hackers have really stolen and knowledge of the attackers’ past negotiating tactics.
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White House turns up heat on Big Tech

International news

White House turns up heat on Big Tech’s Covid ‘disinformation dozen’

The White House turned up the pressure on Silicon Valley to get a handle on vaccine misinformation Thursday, specifically singling out 12 people one group dubbed the “disinformation dozen,” saying they were responsible for a great deal of misinformation about Covid-19.

“There’s about 12 people who are producing 65% of anti-vaccine misinformation on social media platforms,” White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said Thursday.
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Seriously, stop sharing your vaccine cards on social media

International news

When one of my editors recently shared a celebratory picture of his vaccine card on Instagram, I sent him a direct message: “Didn’t you read our story about not posting your record? Scammers are watching!”

He argued they’d be hard pressed to dupe him based on anything listed on the card: “What scam are you gonna run on me just by knowing my name and my birthday? Unless it’s that you sign up for free ice cream scoops on my birthday and don’t give them to me in which case, yes, that is very serious.”
But it’s not just his birthday that was listed. The card showed medically sensitive information, including his vaccine lot number, clinic location and the brand of vaccination received. And for some people, the card contains even more.
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The pandemic forced a massive remote-work experiment

International news

Now comes the hard part


It’s been one year since Covid-19 was declared a pandemic and businesses started closing. CNN Business looks back on the pandemic’s impact on the global workforce and how things may have forever changed.

In March 2020, companies across the US abruptly shuttered their offices and instructed employees to work from home indefinitely as a result of the pandemic.

At first, many thought the shutdowns would last a couple months. But one year later, millions of workers are still working remotely.
The pandemic has forced a large segment of the global workforce to go through a remote-work experiment on a scale never seen before — and a lot has changed in the last 12 months.
The boundary between our work and our personal lives has become blurred. Working at the kitchen table has become common and, for parents, juggling virtual school while trying to hit work deadlines has become a daily challenge.
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What will travel look like when the pandemic is over?

International news
As the world ground to a halt last March, many travelers expected to be globetrotting again in a few months time.
Here we are just over a year later.
But with the rapid development of effective vaccines and increased distribution of those life-saving doses in some countries, glimmers of hope are starting to emerge.
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International spectators will be refused entry into Japan for Tokyo 2021

International news

nternational spectators will be refused entry into Japan for this summer’s Olympic and Paralympic Games, the Tokyo 2020 Organizing Committee said in a statement on Saturday.

Any tickets bought by overseas residents for the postponed Games, scheduled to begin on July 23, will be refunded.
The decision was taken following a virtual meeting between the “Five Parties” — the International Olympic Committee (IOC), the International Paralympic Committee (IPC), the Tokyo Metropolitan Government (TMG), the Organizing Committee Tokyo 2020 and the Government of Japan — with the IOC and IPC saying they “fully respect and accept this conclusion.”
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Inside Russia’s deep frozen ghost towns

International news
Photographed from above, acres of snow engulf buildings as far as the eye can see.
Up close, the surreal details shine through; light fixtures adorned with intricate icicles, couches enveloped in snowdrift and sheets of ice spilling in from open doors, frozen in time.
These are the abandoned ghost towns towns that surround the coal-mining center of Vorkuta in Russia’s Arctic north, swathed in snow and ice following recent brutally cold temperatures.
Moscow-based photographer Maria Passer traveled to the area to capture how the extreme weather has impacted abandoned buildings.
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When can we go on vacation again?

International news

This is what experts say

After reaching an all-time high in January 2021, global coronavirus case numbers are beginning to drop.
Vaccination roll-outs are now underway around the world, but when it comes to the recovery of leisure travel, we’re a long way from being out of the woods.
While travel experts are optimistic that things will slowly begin to open up again this year, how quickly that happens will depend on where you are, where you want to travel to, and if the virus and its mutant strains are able to be brought under control.
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A Stanford scientist’s quest to cure his son

International news

A Stanford scientist’s quest to cure his son could help unravel the mystery of Covid-19 long haulers

At the height of a luminous career in genetics, Ron Davis, professor of biochemistry and genetics at Stanford University in California, switched to researching a disease that many of his colleagues had never heard of.

Prior to that shift seven years ago, his breakthrough work had led to dozens of patents and laid the groundwork for the Human Genome Project, revolutionizing modern biology by giving scientists a complete map of all genes in the human species.
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