Imagine if your car can sense your emotions and play happy music when you are sad. That’s what a team of researchers at Texas A&M University is working on — to look at brain waves that correlate to different human emotions and ultimately teach that to an autonomous vehicle. VOA’s Elizabeth Lee has the details…
read moreCarbon dioxide emissions rose in 2019 for the third straight year, according to the latest Global Carbon Project estimate, and do not look set to fall before the end of the next decade.This is more bad news for United Nations negotiators in Madrid to consider as they aim to hammer out rules for implementing the…
read moreFrom the surface, these 22 square miles of water are unexceptional.But dip beneath the surface — go down 60 or 70 feet — and you’ll find a spectacular seascape. Sponges, barnacles and tube worms cover rocky ledges on the ocean floor, forming a “live bottom.”Gray’s Reef is little more than a drop in the ocean…
read moreThe U.N.’s trade and development agency estimates that Europe, led by the Netherlands, leads the world in readiness for online shopping.UNCTAD’s annual business-to-consumer e-commerce index ranked the United States again in the teens, at 13th — largely because of its relatively low share of people using the internet compared to other developed countries.Russia ranked 40th…
read moreNevada’s powerful casino workers’ Culinary Union will hold a series of town halls next week with Democratic presidential candidates Elizabeth Warren, Bernie Sanders and Joe Biden, the group said Tuesday.The town halls in Las Vegas on Dec. 9-11 are designed to give the White House hopefuls a chance to pitch themselves to the bartenders, housekeepers…
read moreDemocratic Senator Kamala Harris on Tuesday announced she is suspending her 2020 presidential campaign.”In good faith, I can’t tell you, my supporters and volunteers, that I have a path forward [to the Democratic presidential nomination] if I don’t believe I do,” Harris said in a statement.Languishing at single digits in the polls for months, the…
read moreFour workers fired from Google last week are planning to file a federal labor complaint against the company, claiming it unfairly retaliated against them for organizing workers around social causes.The former employees said Tuesday they are preparing to file unfair labor practice charges with the National Labor Relations Board this week. All four were fired…
read moreClimate activist Greta Thunberg arrived in Portugal on Tuesday after a three-week voyage across the Atlantic Ocean, telling cheering supporters that the journey had “energized” her for the fight against climate change. The Swedish teen, whose one-woman protests outside the Swedish parliament helped inspire a global youth movement, sailed into the port of Lisbon after…
read moreA federal appeals court in New York has upheld the legality of congressional subpoenas seeking President Donald Trump’s banking records but said sensitive personal information should be protected. The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Tuesday. The decision came after The House Financial Services and Intelligence committees asked Deutsche Bank and…
read moreIn announcing his candidacy for the Democratic presidential nomination last week, former New York mayor and media tycoon Mike Bloomberg added a new wrinkle to the ongoing debate about President Donald Trump’s trade war with China, and perhaps further, to the entire relationship between Washington and Beijing.Bloomberg represents something unique in the Democratic primary field…
read moreThe U.S. House Intelligence Committee is expected to publicly release Tuesday a report on its findings and recommendations in the impeachment inquiry into President Donald Trump.Committee Chairman Adam Schiff told MSNBC late Monday that the panel was “putting the finishing touches” on the report. He also said the committee would vote Tuesday night on formally…
read moreMillions of people in southern and eastern Africa are facing emergency food insecurity partly caused by climate change, half of them children, according to the charity Save the Children. The region has been hit by extreme cyclones, flooding and drought in recent months and scientists say it is warming much faster than other parts of…
read moreJoe Biden took in more than $15 million for his White House run over the past two months, a sum that shows the former vice president’s fundraising operation has rebounded slightly after a lackluster summer in which he trailed his leading rivals.Biden’s campaign would not say exactly how much he has raised since the end…
read moreAs world leaders gather in Spain to discuss how to slow the warming of the planet, a spotlight falls on China — the top emitter of greenhouse gases.China burns about half the coal used globally each year. Between 2000 and 2018, its annual carbon emissions nearly tripled, and it now accounts for about 30% of…
read moreTwitter is updating its global privacy policy to give users more information about what data advertisers might receive and is launching a site to provide clarity on its data protection efforts, the company said on Monday.The changes, which will take effect on Jan. 1, 2020, will comply with the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA).The California…
read moreTens of millions of people in southern and eastern Africa are facing emergency food insecurity partly caused by climate change – with half of them children, according to the charity Save the Children. The area has been hit by extreme cyclones, flooding and drought in recent months – and scientists warn the region is warming…
read moreThe world must choose hope over surrender in the fight against climate change, U.N. secretary-general Antonio Guterres said on Monday, warning a summit in Madrid that governments risked sleepwalking past a point of no return.The latest round of annual negotiations to bolster the 2015 Paris Agreement to curb global warming began against a backdrop of…
read morePresident Donald Trump’s re-election campaign said on Monday it will no longer issue press credentials to reporters working for Bloomberg News, the agency owned by Democratic presidential hopeful Michael Bloomberg.Bloomberg’s news agency said following his formal announcement of his presidential bid that it would no longer critically cover the Democratic presidential candidates — including Bloomberg…
read moreMontana Gov. Steve Bullock ended his Democratic presidential campaign Monday, becoming the third Western governor boasting executive experience and a Washington-outsider appeal to flame out in the contest.The campaigns of Bullock, Washington Gov. Jay Inslee and former Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper failed to gain momentum in a D.C.-centric race in which former Vice President Joe…
read moreIn the unlikely setting of the world’s most populated military installation, amid all the regimented chaos, you’ll find the Endangered Species Act at work.There, as a 400-pound explosive resounds in the distance, a tiny St. Francis satyr butterfly flits among the splotchy leaves, ready to lay as many as 100 eggs. At one point, this…
read moreOne of the most sought-after presidential endorsements in a key early-voting state is from a woman who cannot vote.As Democrats jockey for support in Nevada, a meeting with Astrid Silva, a 31-year-old immigrant rights activist who has become a public face of the Dreamers, is a can’t-miss early stop.Silva has had dinner with Kamala Harris,…
read moreSpacewalking astronauts attached new pumps to a cosmic ray detector outside the International Space Station on Monday in a bid to extend its scientific life.It was the third spacewalk in nearly three weeks for Italy’s Luca Parmitano and NASA’s Andrew Morgan. And it marked the culmination of years of work to repair the $2 billion…
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