Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | A new study has shown that hand dryers are spraying poo at us. The paper – published in the Applied and Environmental Microbiology – studied hand dryers in public toilets at the University of Connecticut. Previous studies like this one found that Dyson hand …
Read More »Stunning underwater villa is opening
Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | An underwater villa will be opening in the Maldives this year. It sounds like a dream. Guests of the Conrad Maldives Rangali Island will soon be able to sleep with the fish in a stunning new residence immersed 16.4 feet under the Indian Ocean. …
Read More »Facebook privacy drive may crimp some political campaigns
Washington, United States | AFP | Facebook’s new focus on protecting private user data is likely to change the game for many campaigns, making it harder to deliver highly targeted, personal political messages. The changes unveiled by the huge social network following an outcry over the hijacking of data on …
Read More »Scientists keep pigs’ brains alive for 36 hours
Paris, France | AFP | US-based researchers have successfully kept alive the brain cells of decapitated pigs for 36 hours, sparking concerns over the ethics involved in such frontline research. The MIT Technology Review said a team at Yale University led by neuro-scientist Nenad Sestan had carried out experiments on …
Read More »Govt reduces proposed taxes on social media
Kampala, Uganda | PARLIAMENT UG | Government has tabled new proposals to the Tax Bills in a bid to lower the proposed Excise Duty on Over the Top Media Services (OTT) from Sh 200 to Sh100 per day. If carried, those who access and use OTT services, including WhatsApp platforms …
Read More »1980s classic ‘Karate Kid’ reborn as YouTube joins content wars
New York, United States | AFP | For Generation X, “The Karate Kid” is a pop culture touchstone. Now, more than 30 years on, YouTube wants to bring a new generation into the dojo. Thirteen years after its creation, the wildly popular video-sharing platform is rolling out its first major …
Read More »Scientists shocked as NASA cuts only moon rover
Tampa, United States | AFP | In a move that shocked lunar scientists, NASA has cancelled the only robotic vehicle under development to explore the surface of the Moon, despite President Donald Trump’s vow to return people there. Scientists working on the Resource Prospector (RP) mission, a robotic rover that …
Read More »Head of Tesla Autopilot project leaves for Intel
San Francisco, United States | AFP | The head of Tesla’s Autopilot project is leaving the car marker, amid a US government probe into a fatal accident involving a vehicle using the semi-autonomous driving system. The executive, Jim Keller, is moving to chipmaking giant Intel, both companies said Thursday. Keller’s …
Read More »Google ramps up Gmail privacy controls in major update
San Francisco, United States | AFP | Google on Wednesday ramped up privacy controls in a Gmail overhaul, aiming first at businesses that use its suite of workplace tools hosted in the internet cloud. The “all new” Gmail is available to the more than four million businesses that pay for …
Read More »WhatsApp bans European under-16s from using app
Paris, France | AFP | WhatsApp has raised its minimum age for users in the European Union to 16 years, as the bloc prepares for a new online privacy law to come into force next month. In an update to its terms of service on Wednesday, WhatsApp said the minimum age …
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