Headline, September 28 2020/ ''' CLIMATE ''DEMOS'' CHARIOT ''' : STUDENTS

''' CLIMATE ''DEMOS''

 CHARIOT ''' : STUDENTS

 

''WHO IS GOING TO DEMAND our right to a livable future, if not students? If not The World Students Society? - most lovingly and respectfully called, !WOW!'' :

'' Rabo, Dee, Haleema, Saima, Aqsa, Sara, Dantini  [Malaysia], Juniper [Japan], Lakshmi [India], Hussain, Ali [UAE], Vishnu [India], Salar [US], Danyial [UK], Toby [China] -

Rahym [UK], Bilal [US] John Ash [Australia], Haider, Maynah [US], Maria [Pakistan], Hannyia [Europe], Merium, [Europe], Eden, Sofia [Europe] and the students of the entire world?

MASKS UP - EMISSIONS DOWN AS CLIMATE DEMOS RESTART...................

BERLIN : Thousands of students/young people across Europe joined a global day of climate protests on Friday, many wearing masks and keeping their distance against the coronavirus.

The rallies marked the resumption of street protests by the ''Fridays for Future'' movement, which had kept its actions mainly online in recent months because of the pandemic.

Swedish climate activist Greata Thunberg, who launched the school strikes two years ago, led the protest in Stockholm.

The goal was to ''build up the pressure on people in power so that something happens,'' the 17-year-old said outside the parliament, wearing a white mask emblazoned with the Fridays for Future logo.

With Sweden's coronavirus rules limiting crowd sizes to 50 people, Thunberg said the demonstrations would ''on being few in many places and keeping distance.''

More than 3,000 rallies were scheduled to take place globally, from Iceland to Australia and both online and in the streets depending on virus restrictions.

Previous global Fridays for Future demos have seen million of young students/people pour into cities to demand action against global warming.

In Germany, police said some 10,000 protesters braved the rain to gather at Berlin's Brandenburg Gate. Organizers estimated the figure to be twice as high.

Demonstrators clutched umbrellas and carried signs to highlight the climate crisis, while some scribbled messages on their face masks such as ''Not a single degree more'' and ''Unite behind the science''.

A Berlin police spokesman said participants were adhering to hygiene regulations imposed to contain virus spread, while many demonstrators standing or sitting at east 1.5 metres apart.

Elsewhere in Germany, some 7,000 people turned out in the western city of Cologne while the cities of Freiburg and Hamburg each drew around 6,000 demonstrators.

Climate strike organisers in Austria said that 6,000 people had attended a demonstration in the capital Vienna despite heavy rain and organizational hurdles posed by the Covid-19 pandemic. Vienna's police department estimated turnout at 2,500.

Protest organisers said that a further 2,000 people had rallied in other parts of Austria using the slogan :  ''Masks up, emissions down!'' 

''We don't know when the pandemic will be over but we do know that the climate crisis is getting worse every day and is endangering human rights,'' said Vienna-based activist Klara Butz.

''Who is going to demand our right to a liveable future, if not us?'' she asked.

Greenpeace meanwhile marked the day by releasing a photo recently taken in the Arctic of 18-year-old ornithologist Mya-Rose Craig, known as ''birdgirl''.

She is pictured standing on an ice flow holding a poster reading ''Youth Strike for Climate'' - in what the environmental campaign group said was the world's most northerly climate strike.

''I'm here because I want to see for myself what's at stake as this crucial protector of the planet, the Arctic Ocean, melts away at a terrifying rate,'' she said from the Svalbard archipelago in a statement.

With respectful dedication to the Students of the world. See Ya all prepare and register for Great Global Elections on The World Students Society - for every subject in the world : wssciw.blogspot.com and Twitter - !E-WOW! - the Ecosystem 2011 :

''' Dreams - Demos '''

Good Night and God Bless

SAM Daily Times - the Voice of the Voiceless

APP STORE FEES : CHALLENGED

SAN FRANCISCO : A group of Apple's Inc's critics - including Spotify Technology SA, Match Group Inc and ''Fortnite'' creator Epic Games have joined a non-profit group that plans to advocate for legal and regulatory action to challenge the iPhone maker's App Store practices.

Apple charges a commission in the range of 15-30 percent for apps that use its in-app payment system and sets out extensive rules, which is the only way the giant allows consumers to download native apps to devices such as the iPhone. Those practices have drawn criticism and formal legal complaints from some developers.

The Coalition for App Fairness, structured as a non-profit based in Washington, DC and Brussels, said it plans to advocate legal amendments that would force Apple to change.

Beyond Epic, Match and Spotify, other members include smaller firms such as Basecamp, Blix, Blockchain.com, Deezer and Tile, along with developers from Europe including the European Publishers Council, News Media Europe and ProtonMail.

Epic is suing Apple over antitrust claims in a US federal court in California, while Spotify has filed an antitrust complaint in the EU. [Reuters]

SCIENCE LAB SCENICS

 

1.- Bludgeoning its way through the water.

People joke about asking horses, ''Why the long face?'' We should redirect the question to hammerhead sharks.

Their head extensions, called Cephalfoils, can measure three feet from eye to eye. And scientists are still trying nail down exactly what purpose they serve.

A new study has explored how the sharks strangely shaped craniums affect the way they swim. 

Although the Cephalofoil helped with maneuverability, it did not seem to generate lift. In fact it added a lot of drag - so much that hummerheads may need to use roughly 10 times as much force as other sharks, just to get through water, said Glenn R. Parsons, a biological oceanographer at the University of Mississippi and one of the new paper's authors.

But there are some benefits to having a hammer for a head, Most experts agree that the widely spaced eyes, nostrils and electroreceptors allow the hunters to better pinpoint their prey.

The heads can also serve as a weapons - for example, to bludgeon a stingray. And in his years of sharkwatching, Dr. Parsons has noticed that hammerheads are particularly nimble. ''They make these real quick, kind of jerky turns,'' he said  [Cara Giaimo]

2.- Life and Planets 

''The probability of finding life or past life on another world keeps going up.'' [Jim Bridenstine, NASA administrator]

3.- A big-brained bee is smart about meals

This is Panurgus banksianus, or the large shaggy  bee. It lives alone, burrowing into sandy grasslands across Europe. It prefers to feed on on yellow-flowered members of the aster family.

The large shaggy bee also has a very large brain.

Just like mammals or birds, insect species of the same size may have different endowments inside their heads.  Researchers have discovered some factors linked to brain size in back-boned animals.

But in insects, the drivers of  brain size have been more of mystery. In a new study, scientists scrutinized hundreds of bee brains for patterns. Bees with specialized diets seem to have larger brains, while social behavior appears unrelated to brain size. [Elizabeth Preston].

THE MATRIX 4

 

What to expect from ''The Matrix 4'' : Keanu Reeves fans are hopeful for a better 2021 as the actor gears up for two massive objects. The Matrix's fourth installment and John Wick : Chapter 4.

While it was earlier confirmed that the fifth part of Reeve's John Wick is already in talks, not much was heard about the famous Matrix film. However, the actor has finally shared what to expect from the upcoming Matrix 4.

Reeves provided a few interesting teases for the highly-anticipated sequel this week on BBC's The One Show. Reeves, who is reprising his franchise role as Neo in the Lana Wachowski-directed project, described the screenplay as a ''beautiful script that is a love story, it's inspiring.''

The actor added, ''It's another version of a kind of call to wake up and it has some great action. All will be revealed.

The relationship between Reeves' Neo and Carrie-Anne Moss' Trinity was a driving force in the narrative of the original Matrix trilogy, and both actors have signed on to reprise their roles in the fourth movie, from what Reeves hints at, the love story between Neo and Trinity could be the backbone of The Matrix 4.

The original trilogy ended with Neo's presumable death, or as Reeves shared, ''Things looked a little dire for Neo.''

Trinity and Neo finding their way back to each other after years apart to prevent some kind of evil threat seems like a natural entry point  for the upcoming film.

When asked if  The Matrix 4 would be a prequel and show events from before the original 1999 movie, Reeves  only provided this tease, ''No, no. No going in the past.''

Rumors have circulated for months that Matrix 4 cast member Yahya Abdul Mateen II is starring as a younger version of Morpheus, leading to a speculation the plot will travel into the past.

Reeves' answer would appear to shut those theories down, although a younger Morpheus could certainly pop up in the present or the future given the reality-bending nature of  The Matrix.

The World Students Society thanks News Desk, The Express Tribune.

AMAZON : CAR SECURITY ADDS

 

WASHINGTON : Amazon adds car security devices to its lineup : Amazon.com announced on Thursday the latest additions to the devices lineup, including voice-controlled Echo speakers with a new spherical design and Ring security video and alarm products for cars.

The company said Tesla vehicles would be the first that are comparable with its Ring Car Connect software, which can tell customers if their vehicle is unlocked and can play back video.

Amazon also announced upgrades such as a deletion feature for all prior voice recordings, more natural    tone for its voice assistant Alexa and an improved ability to discern whether speech is directed at Alexa or at others in a household. [Reuters]

MASRAT ZAHRA : KASHMIRI JOURNALIST HONORED

 

NEW YORK : Kashmiri photojournalist Masrat Zahra on Thursday received the Peter Mackler prize for courageous and ethical journalism thanks to to her coverage of women impacted by decades of unrest in India Held Kashmir.

''To work in this industry is to bring the truth,'' the 28-year-old journalist said during a virtual ceremony.

Zahra's work shines a light on the stories of women who would otherwise likely to be forgotten in deeply patriarchal South Asia.

''My pictures offer a glimpse of the everyday struggle of the people in Kashmir,'' said the 12th journalist to receive the Peter Mackler prize, distributed by the Global Media Forum in partnership with  Agence France Presse and Reporters Without Borders.

''It gives a voice to the ones silenced by by the conflict,'' she continued.

For her work Zahra has faced mistrust from some Kashmiris who accuse her her of working for the  Indian intelligence, as well as harassment from Indian authorities who accuse her of spreading disinformation.

And in June, the administration in Srinagar instituted a ''new media policy'' that rights group says allows the censorship and persecution of journalists.

Zahra said being a Muslim woman ''amplifies'' her anxiety as a journalist working in such conditions - but her identity also drives her work.

The award was established in 2008 to recognize courageous and ethical journalism.

''Masrat Zahra exhibits the very qualities that my late husband, Peter Mackler. fostered in the new generation of reporters whose path he crossed,'' said Catherine Antoine, president of the Global Media Forum Training Group and founder of the award.

''Masrat's complete dedication to reporting the story, no matter the risks, along with her mental fearlessness and creative approach to use any medium at her disposal to bear witness to the world made our choice easy.'' [AFP]