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December 16, 2016

Fallout from Yahoo Hack Continues as Verizon Mulls Withdrawing Its Offer

The latest victim of the massive hack which compromised the information of more than 1 billion users may be Yahoo itself. According to sources with knowledge of ongoing negotiations between Verizon and Yahoo, the two companies are at odds with how to reprice their deal.

Some sources have intimated that Verizon and its lawyers are considering the nuclear option of petitioning a court to release them from any liability in its negotiations with Yahoo. This would allow the telecom company to walk away from its planned buyout of Yahoo without any penalty.

Several M&A analysts believe Verizon might have a solid argument as the Yahoo hacks point to a lack of governance at the internet company and these failures of management could ‘materially impact’ the company’s valuation.

The key phrase here is ‘materially impact’. While Verizon would have to prove its case, observers believe sufficient evidence might be available to show that Yahoo is not worth what the company say it is.

Verizon Yahoo — Stock Photo:
Kiev, Ukraine – September 26, 2016: Yahoo and Verizon Communications logos printed on white paper. Verizon Communications is a new owner of Yahoo services. (rvlsoft / Shutterstock.com)

If Verizon is able to extricate itself from negotiations with Yahoo, then this causes more problems for the troubled internet company. First, the company is bound to face several class action lawsuits stemming from the security breaches. Second, Verizon’s claim that Yahoo is not accurately priced would undoubtedly raise questions from regulators and shareholders alike. In the case of regulators, the company would be subpoenaed, and fined, and possibly sanctioned, while it could also face lawsuits from shareholder groups and board challenges from activist investors.

Caught in the crosshairs of the news is Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer, who many believed was looking at the Verizon deal as her last chance to resurrect the once company. While Mrs. Mayer was brought in to turn around the struggling company, her achievements have uneven at best.

The company lost more than $2 billion in free cash in 2015 and analysts believe that Yahoo might have less than $1 billion in cash available. As such, it is difficult to see how the company is worth the $4.8 billion which Verizon originally pledged to pay for the company.

While analysts don’t believe Yahoo will file for bankruptcy, it is possible that the fallout from the news of these events might push the company over the brink. Adding to the injury was a Bloomberg report that information from the hack may contain information on Government employees – including those who work for the CIA, FBI, and NSA.

If this is correct then it is likely that Mrs. Mayer and her management will be called before Congress to explain how it happened, why the company did not know about it, and what they are doing to address the issue. These hearing might be part of a broader initiative on addressing cybersecurity issues in government and industry.

Shares of Yahoo and Verizon were trading up on Friday based on strength in the broader market.

McDonald’s Announces UberEATS Delivery Service in Miami, Orlando and Tampa

Business

Reginald Edward

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December 16, 2016

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McDonald’s Announces UberEATS Delivery Service in Miami, Orlando and Tampa

McDonald’s partners with UberEATS to deliver food in Orlando, Miami, and Tampa.

Whether you are traveling across the interstate or visiting a shopping mall, you are pretty much guaranteed to spot a McDonald’s fast food restaurant.

Now, McDonald’s is working on making it even easier to order a Big Mac, large fries and an apple pie. The fast food giant is partnering with UberEats in Orlando, Tampa, and Miami, Florida.

Starting early 2017 stores across Florida’s biggest cities will start delivering fast food to people. McDonald’s plans on going worldwide by 2018.

Partnering up with UberEATS and updating the McDonald’s app, the fast food giant will provide delivery service from 25,000 different fast food McDonald’s restaurants.

UberEATS is tapping into the growing food delivery market. Instead of transporting people, UberEATS transports food. As part of an expansion of the Uber service, the new feature connects Uber drivers with people interested in getting their food delivered.

Earlier this week, Uber unleashed their self-driving cars in San Francisco, California. However, that did not come without some problems.

On Wednesday, the California Department of Motor Vehicles called for Uber to end their self-driving car program in San Francisco or the company could encounter future legal consequences.

Brian Soublet, California’s DMV director argued, if the company obtained a permit for testing autonomous vehicles prior to launching the program, Uber would not have had a problem.

Therefore, he asserts it is illegal for Uber to operate with self-driving cars until they fill out the required paperwork.

McDonald's Employee — Stock Photo: CHICAGO, IL – MARCH 31, 2016: inside portrait of the worker in the Rock N Roll McDonald’s. The Original Rock N Roll McDonald’s is a flagship McDonald’s restaurant located in Chicago, Illinois (Sorbis / Shutterstock.com)

Then on the same day the program is launched, one of the Volvos featuring self-driving car technology was filmed running a red light sparking controversy. Uber would later say it was the driver’s fault and not the technology.

This is not the first time McDonald’s talked about about delivery service for their consumers. In 2015, during a SXSW panel discussion, the company said they were always looking for ground breaking ideas. One such idea was developing drone technology that delivered fast food to moving cars.

Scientists Call Synthetic Marijuana a ‘Public Health Concern’

Business

Brent Edward

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December 16, 2016

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Scientists Call Synthetic Marijuana a ‘Public Health Concern’

Researchers have discovered what caused the “zombie” outbreak, which affected 30 people in New York City.

But, what appears to be an emerging problem manufactured in China and affecting the inner city, synthetic cannabinoids is on the rise across America.

What happened in the NYC ‘Zombie’ outbreak?

On July 12th, several dozen people were found walking around Brooklyn, New York City reportedly high on a synthetic form of marijuana. It was famously coined the “zombie” outbreak because so many people were experiencing a serious, and often times dangerous, hallucinogen poisoning.

Researchers analyzed the blood and urine of analyzing 8 of the 18 patients who were taken to the hospital.

Axel J. Adams and his team analyzed the samples along with the herbal product known as “AK-47 24 Karat Gold”, which was used in the reported “zombie outbreak”.

In The New England Journal of Medicine researchers discovered the synthetic cannabinoid, “AK-48 24 Karat Gold”. The Synthetic Marijuana product was so potent that it caused “strong depressant effects”and that lead to reported ‘zombie like’ behavior due to hallucinogen poisonings.

Researchers explained, the chemical “found in the NYC incident is an example of the emerging class of “ultrapotent” synthetic cannabinoids and poses a public health concern.”

Synthetic marijuana is 100 times more powerful than tetrahydrocannabinol also known as THC. The synthetic cannabinoids were first released in 2008 but, by 2010 researchers were already paying attention to the negative impact it had on the human body.

Published in the Journal of Mass Spectrometry, researchers discovered the chemical identification of the Synthetic Cannabinoids frequently change from product to product and in turn puts consumers at risk by not knowing what is actually contained in their product.

Six years later, that same product predominantly impacts the poor and urban cities.

Synthetic Marijuana Use on the Rise

New York City Homeless — Stock Photo: NEW YORK CITY – OCT 10:American homeless sleeps in New York city subway on October 10 2009.A 2013 report show that the number of homeless people recorded in NYC topped 50,000 for the first time. (ChameleonsEye / Shutterstock.com)

Earlier this year, researchers at Albert Einstein College of Medicine discovered a major rise of synthetic cannabinoid use in inner cities. Published in the Journal of A59 Tobacco, Nicotine and Marijuana Use, researchers argued Synthetic Marijuana use was a “cheaper alternative” in comparison to traditional marijuana.

The team from Jacobi Medical Center in Bronx also discovered the drug mostly affected the underserved population in the inner city.

Over time, the chemical gained in popularity throughout New York City. From 2014 to 2015 the number of hallucinogen poison calls to U.S. poison centers increased by 229% by 2015.

Scientists analyzed 47 different encounters from 14 different patients and were able to discover the following:

Synthetic Marijuana mostly affected men.
The median age of synthetic cannabinoid poisonings were 33 years old
Users had a history of smoking and alcohol abuse
Nearly a third of those patients had a history of mental health issues.

This comes as “new psychoactive substances” also known as NPS are on the rise. NPS is a hallucinogenic substances that are now for sale, with the purpose of mimicking the effect of other illegal drugs.

E-liquid - Synthetic Marijuana — Stock Photo: MOSCOW – 9 DECEMBER,2016: Vape Expo shop.Electronic cigarette filling liquid store.E-liquid,e-juice on sale in plastic bottle container. (hurricanehank / Shutterstock.com)

Typically sold in in the form of a liquid or in a foil package, these products are made up of dried of plants mixed with a synthetic cannabinoid chemical. Unless sold in the liquid form so people can vaporize them in a e-cigarette.

How does Synthetic Marijuana affect the body?

Synthetic cannabinoids work on the brain by binding to the same brain cell receptors found in THC, the chemical found in marijuana.

Some users report feeling relaxed, and in a good mood. However, others report delusional or disordered thinking. In fact, synthetic marijuana have reportedly caused the reported suicidal thoughts and violent behavior. Not to mention, kidney damage and seizures.

THC - Synthetic Marijuana — Stock Image:set of 4 molecular structure chemistry formula tetrahydrocannabinol medical cannabis design (Supphachai Salaeman/shutterstock.com)

Not only do synthetic marijuana chemicals negatively impact the poor and mentally ill. The synthetic cannabinoids are extremely addictive. According to multiple sources, regular use of the product can cause withdrawals.

Who makes synthetic marijuana?

In 2013, the Drug Enforcement Agency and lawmakers were unable to keep up with the rise of untested compounds from Chinese manufacturers. In an interview with CBS News, DEA Special Agent Doug Coleman revealed:

‘For the most part China is the main source. They were probably the first ones to start it. Once they saw there was a big demand for it, they ramped it up,” Coleman explained.

Coleman added, “It’s like whack-a-mole. They pop their head up, we hit them, they go down and then they pop their head up in another spot.”

A 2016 Vice report found that the companies are now expanding into the pharmaceutical industry. In what apparently appears as a way to compete with higher prescription costs, Chinese chemists are creating chemicals to treat acne, baldness, antibiotics and illegal drugs such as ketamine with the possibility of thousands in existence.

It is important to point out that many Synthetic Marijuana packages features warning signs including “not for human consumption”.

President Obama Promises to Respond to Russian Election Hacks

Business

Jonathan Antonio

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December 16, 2016

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President Obama Promises to Respond to Russian Election Hacks

As Russian hacks continue to make headlines across the country, President Barack Obama promises to respond to the cyberattacks.

In an interview with NPR, President Obama says America needs and will to take action against Russia for the hacks. In addition, Obama explained that he spoke directly with Russia’s president Vladimir Putin about the issue.

Vladimir Putin — Stock Photo:
MOSCOW, RUSSIA – DEC 17: The President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin an annual press conference in Center of international trade in Moscow on 17 of December 2015, Russia (MediaGroup_BestForYou / Shutterstock.com)

However, President Obama did not reveal how the United States is going to respond to the hacks. Or, if the action will take place prior to his last day in office on January 20th.

Nearly 20,000 hacked e-mails were published by Wikileaks prior to the election. But, everyone is not in agreement as to the source of the leaks or whether the leaks came from Russia.

In an interview with Fox News, Wikileaks founder Julian Assange explained that the source behind the e-mails did not come from the Russian government. With that being said, Assange’s comments explicitly contradict intelligence agencies reports.

Stock Photo:
CHARLOTTE, NC, USA – JULY 5, 2016: Hillary Clinton makes a impactful gesture as she delivers a speech at a joint campaign event in the Charlotte Convention Center with President Barack Obama. (Evan El-Amin / Shutterstock.com)

At this point in time, the US intelligence committees including a CIA investigative report suggest that Russia is behind the Democratic National Committee hacks. Several intelligence agencies argue that there is evidence to suggest that hackers linked to the Russian government were behind the hacks with the objective to make Donald Trump President. On the other hand, no evidence has been released to the public.

This news comes after Donald Trump called the DNC hacks originating from Russia as “ridiculous”. Trump also called the Russian hack as an excuse to explain how he won the election against Hillary Clinton.

But, President-elect Trump did not stop there. Trump also took to Twitter on Thursday, saying “If Russia, or some other entity, was hacking, why did the White House wait so long to act? Why did they only complain after Hillary lost?”

But, before President-elect Donald Trump becomes President several electoral college members demand more information regarding the hacks. Ten electoral college members, nine democrats and one republican, wrote an open letter to the Director of National Intelligence James Clapper calling for additional information regarding Russia’s relationship in the election before, they cast their votes later on this month.

The electoral college members also called for Donald Trump to release evidence showing his campaign did not seek or receive help from the Russian government to win the election.

Facebook’s 4 Point Plan to Tackle Fake News

Business

Jonathan Antonio

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December 15, 2016

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Facebook’s 4 Point Plan to Tackle Fake News

On Thursday, Facebook announced a new plan to tackle fake news on the social media network.

How is Facebook going to stop fake news?

Facebook Fake News — Facebook announced a new plan to tackle fake news on the social media network. (Image courtesy of Facebook.com)

Now, Facebook is working on a new strategy to tackle Fake news. Facebook’s Adam Mosseri outlined four primary objectives to handle fake news, which include:

Making it easier for Facebook users to dispute stories
Down ranking disputed stories
Changing their algorithm based upon user activity
Eliminating spoof websites and “disrupting” fake news website earnings

The first step included the opportunity for Facebook users to flag content they believe is fake. The goal of Facebook is to make it easier for someone to report something as a fake news story.

In addition, Facebook will begin working with third-party organizations to fact check news stories. According to reports, Politifact, ABC News and Snopes will be the third-party companies tasked with fact-checking stories shared on the social network.

Also, a “disputed” story will show up on the news feed with a disclaimer saying that the facts of the story have been disputed.

Facebook says they will monitor the number of times a story is shared on the social network through “informed sharing.” Facebook explains that if people read an article and do not share it, it raises a red flag. Consequently, Facebook is going to start testing a new algorithm that will allow affect articles that do not get shared after a Facebook user reads the article.

The social network also explained they plan on “disrupting financial incentives for spammers.” Facebook will attempt to accomplish this by eliminating spoof websites and analyzing analyzing websites to detect “where policy enforcement actions might be necessary”.

Ultimately, Facebook says they are working on creating a better and meaningful experience on the social network and the company is reports working on the fake news issue until it is no longer a problem.

Can Facebook stop fake news?

Paul Horner, the owner of a fake news website, reported earning approximately $10,000 a month in advertising revenue by publishing and sharing fake news content. He explained to the Washington Post that he believes Donald Trump was elected into office thanks to him.

Mark Zuckerberg Facebook Fake News — Stock Photo: Jelenia Gora, Poland – February 25, 2016: New Facebook like button 6 Empathetic Emoji. Facebook is a well-known social networking service. Mark Zuckerberg’s page account on FACEBOOK (Bakhur Nick / Shutterstock.com)

During the election, the most popular false news story was a fake report that the Pope endorsed Donald Trump for president; the story would later receive 960,000 shares.

When reporters asked Mark Zuckerberg about whether misinformation shared on Facebook helped Donald Trump get elected, Zuckerberg called the notion crazy.

NASA Scientists Reveal a Plan to Prevent an ‘Extinction Level’ Asteroid Collision

Business

Megan Diane

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December 15, 2016

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NASA Scientists Reveal a Plan to Prevent an ‘Extinction Level’ Asteroid Collision

NASA scientists argue that the lack of time to prepare for an asteroid or comet collision could leave Earth open to an ‘extinction level’ event.

The odds of an asteroid or comet colliding into Earth is highly unlikely. Approximately, every 60 million years there is a chance of a major asteroid or comet colliding with Earth. In addition, the last major asteroid collision led to the extinction of dinosaurs.

However, experts warn that humans are not prepared for such a collision. Researchers at NASA are calling for a plan to protect Earth from an asteroid. In fact, researchers argue the best way to protect Earth is by building a rocket, in case an asteroid is headed our way.

Meteorite — Stock Photo: NAKHON RATCHASIMA, THAILAND – JULY28 : Unidentified man is showing meteorite at Huai Thalaeng district, Nakhon Ratchasima province, Thailand on JULY28, 2008 (SOMRERK KOSOLWITTHAYANANT / Shutterstock.com)

The biggest issue surrounding asteroids and comets headed towards planet Earth and how to save humanity centers around time.

Dr. Joseph Nuth, a space scientist and researcher at NASA, argues that the possibility of an asteroid collision with an asteroid is possible but, the lack of a plan to stop it is worrisome.

Nuth asserts that it would take approximately five years to prepare for space mission similar to the Bruce Willis movie ‘Armageddon’. However, asteroids and comets have unpredictable trajectories. While being a great story line for Hollywood, the possibility of using the plan in ‘Armageddon’ would not work.

Consequently, Nuth argues it would be in the world’s best interest to design a rocket on top of an observer spaceship. By adding a rocket to a spacecraft, it would decrease the amount of time it would take to launch a rocket into space to either destroy or deflect the projectile.

Nuth points out that in the past two years, Earth has had two major close calls. In 1996, a comet was headed towards Earth but luckily hit Jupiter instead. Again, in 2014, a comet passed near by Mars.

Stock Photo: Cape Canaveral, Florida, USA – MARCH 20, 2015: NASA Kennedy Space Center Museum, real Apollo mission launch control center (Linda Moon / Shutterstock.com)

66 million years ago, Earth’s biggest creatures, dinosaurs, roamed the planet. Until, scientists say an Asteroid smashed into earth. Debris from the collision entered the Earth’s atmosphere changing the environment. This in turn, led to the extinction of 75% of all species including plants and animals that existed 66 million years ago.

As Trump Meets with Tech Titans, Silicon Valley Workers Vow Against a Muslim Registry

Business

Reginald Edward

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December 15, 2016

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As Trump Meets with Tech Titans, Silicon Valley Workers Vow Against a Muslim Registry

While tech billionaires meet with President-elect Donald Trump, hundreds of tech workers vow to never build a Muslim registry system.

The CEOs of several large-cap tech companies were in New York on Wednesday to meet with the President-Elect. According to sources, the meeting was cordial with both sides seeking to strike a reconciliatory tone.

San Bernadino Shooting — Stock Photo:SAN BERNARDINO, CA. DECEMBER 17, 2015, A makeshift memorial at the Inland Regional Center (IRC) in San Bernardino, CA. San Bernardino shooting aftermath in San Bernardino, CA. (Joseph Sohm / Shutterstock.com)

Several tech industry observers have expressed concerns about a Trump Presidency. As candidate, Mr. Trump had struck an extremely aggressive tone against some of the companies represented in the meeting. Examples include calling for a boycott of Apple products when the company refused to help the FBI unlock a phone used by the couple linked to the San Bernardino terror attack.

Despite past differences, both sides agreed that well-balanced trade deals would benefit the industry and the American worker. This mirrors a pledge Mr. Trump made to negotiate ‘fairer’ trade deals with countries around the world.

The first test of this stance will be review of the recently negotiated Trans-Pacific Partnership. Mr. Trump railed against the election. However, the deal has widespread support from the tech community and some of the countries have already ratified the agreement in its current form.

Another issue which came up was cybersecurity. While the specifics of the conversation were not reported, the issue has dominated the headlines with reports of Russian hackers trying to disrupt the election. While the national intelligence community is currently divided on the cause and who this activity benefited it is in agreement that the hackers came from Russia.

One company not in attendance was Yahoo. Verizon is currently considering to purchase the once prominent internet company, but news was released today that it was the target of another data breach which dates to 2013. According to sources that breach compromised the records of nearly 1 billion users – roughly all of Yahoo’s users.

Beyond the growing specter of cybersecurity, another issue which may have come up is the 15-year ‘War on Terrorism’. The war began in earnest following the September 11 attacks in New York and Washington, D.C. Mr. Trump has made winning the war a hallmark of his security agenda but the battle has increasingly moved from the real world to cyberspace.

War on Terrorism muslim registry — Stock Photo: ISTANBUL, TURKEY – JUNE 29: Suicide bomb attack at Ataturk Airport in Istanbul on June 29, 2016 in Istanbul, Turkey. Bullet hole in glass (deepspace / Shutterstock.com)

One potential sticking point could be plans to create a registry of Muslims living and working in the U.S. While any such action is bound to face legal challenges, an online petition of more than 600 hundred U.S.-based tech workers vowing not to assist the effort has gained steam in recent days.

Silicon Valley muslim registry — Stock Photo: MOUNTAIN VIEW, CA/USA – AUG 14, 2014: Exterior view of Google office. Google is a multinational company specializing in Internet related services and products, and it’s the best place to work in 2014. (Pozdeyev Vitaly / Shutterstock.com)

To date, the petition has been signed by workers at Mozilla, Google, Microsoft, and Twitter among others. If successful, this would draw a line in the sand on issues of privacy, but some security advisors might see this as impugning national security.

Yahoo Hack! Over 1 Billion Accounts Compromised

Business

Jonathan Antonio

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December 14, 2016

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Yahoo Hack! Over 1 Billion Accounts Compromised

On Wednesday, Yahoo announced more than 1 billion accounts were hacked.

Whether it be the Russia hacks controversy that is now circling around Washington D.C. Or, the Adult Friend Finder hack that compromised over 400 million accounts. Hacking attacks on major companies are now becoming more and more commonplace.

Last September, Yahoo announced that the company was hacked and hackers stole private information and data from 500 million users. Apparently, the hack took place several years ago and the discovery only happened after an internal investigation following Yahoo users’ private information was reportedly being sold online.

Yahoo Hack — Stock Photo:SUNNYVALE, CA/USA – MARCH 1, 2014: Yahoo Corporate Headquarters Sign. Yahoo is a multinational Internet corporation globally known for its Web portal, search engine Yahoo Search, and related services (Ken Wolter / Shutterstock.com)

However, on Wednesday, Yahoo announced that the entire situation is a lot worse than they originally expected. Yahoo published an announcement on their website explaining investigators found the company was hacked again affecting one billion users.

Yahoo’s Bob Lord explained, “Based on further analysis of this data by the forensic experts, we believe an unauthorized third party, in August 2013, stole data associated with more than one billion user accounts.”

Lord added, “We have not been able to identify the intrusion associated with this theft. We believe this incident is likely distinct from the incident we disclosed on September 22, 2016.”

Yahoo announced that personal information such as passwords, user names, email addresses, telephone numbers, and even security questions and answers were hacked. Yahoo advises users to change their passwords in order to protect themselves from identity theft or other hacking attempts. In addition, Yahoo suggests users to review their accounts for suspicious activity and avoid clicking on links from strange emails.

Stock Photo: Sunnyvale, California, United States – August 15, 2016: Yahoo Headquarters with American Flag and flag with Yahoo icon on background. (Benny Marty / Shutterstock.com)

The announcement would make it the largest hack ever. The second largest hack affected Myspace. Myspace was hacked leaving 360 million accounts vulnerable.

This news comes two months after after Verizon announced their plan to buy Yahoo for $4.8 billion. However, after the announcement of the first hack, reports pointed that Verizon wanted to pay $1 billion less in order to by Yahoo. On the other hand, that was after 500 million accounts were breached. Now, that the number has skyrocketed, it remains to be seen if the deal is still in the works.

Prime Air: Amazon Delivers First Drone Delivered Package

Business

Jonathan Antonio

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December 14, 2016

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Amazon announces Prime Air – a drone delivery service.

On Wednesday, Jeff Bezos, Amazon’s CEO, announced on Twitter that the company had made their first drone delivery to an Amazon shopper in England. What was the first Amazon drone delivery through Prime Air? An Amazon Fire streaming device and popcorn. The entire process only took 13 minutes.

Watch Amazon Prime’s first drone delivery video below:

Amazon drone delivery service has the implications of disrupting the entire delivery and trucking industry. On Wednesday, Amazon announced the new program and described it as , “a delivery system from Amazon designed to safely get packages to customers in 30 minutes or less using unmanned aerial vehicles.”

How does Prime Air work?

Amazon Prime Air — Amazon announces Prime Air – a drone delivery service. (Image Courtesy of Amazon.com)

Prime Air works by using drones to deliver packages to customers in a matter of a few minutes. Currently, the online shopping giant has development centers in the United States, the United Kingdom, Austria and Israel.

If their order weighs five pounds or less, Amazon shoppers can get their package delivered via Prime Air.

Accordingly, Amazon highlights that safety is their biggest priority. In addition, the company has reportedly developed “sense and avoid” technology. Amazon also plans on delivering packages in 30 minutes or less.

Also, the online shipping giant argues that the company believes they have developed drones small enough to not interfere with aircraft traffic.

When will Amazon Prime Air become available?

Prime Air Amazon — Amazon announces Prime Air – a drone delivery service. (Image Courtesy of Amazon.com)

It is critical to point out that Amazon Prime Air delivery is not currently available. The program is currently awaiting regulatory approval. Earlier this year, the United States Federal Aviation Administration announced new rules for commercial drone use. However, the biggest limitation is that the drones must be operated by a human pilot and not controlled by an algorithm or GPS mapping software.

What is future of drone delivery?

Without the need for truck drivers, drones may disrupt the way people shop for products. In fact, drones could have a major environmental impact by reducing the number of required trucks to make deliveries.

On the other hand, this news comes after Amazon announced their plan to open brick and mortar stores called Amazon Go. The new stores are a different retail concept featuring stores without checkout counters. The move could be disruptive eliminating the need of cashiers.

No doubt, as Amazon continues to innovate, their new technologies point to lower labor costs. In fact, if the FAA approves of commercial drones without human pilots, the need for truck drivers and logistical operators could hit historic lows.

Viruses Are Deadlier for Men Than Women, Study Finds

Business

Brent Edward

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December 14, 2016

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Viruses Are Deadlier for Men Than Women, Study Finds

New study suggests viruses are deadlier to men than women.

Charles Darwin’s Origin of the Species has changed the world of science since its first publication in 1859. In the book, Darwin argues that evolution of animals is based around natural selection, fitness, and genetics.

Now a study by researchers, Francisco Úbeda and Vincent Jansen from the Royal Halloway University, take Darwin’s theory of evolution one step further. Úbeda and Jansen latest research discovery argues viruses have evolved to affect men in more harmful ways than women.

Published in “Nature Communications”, the study titled The evolution of sex-specific virulence in infectious diseases, explains that viruses may have evolved to be less harmful to women than on men in order for the virus to be passed onto future generations.

Ebola Virus — Stock Photo: Mali, Africa Sept 2015. Information Cartel Unicef. Prevention campaign against the Ebola virus in a Malian market. (La Zona / Shutterstock.com)

Tuberculosis, the human papillomavirus (HPV) and the Epstein-Barr virus affect men differently than women. In fact, if a man becomes infected with tuberculosis they are 150% more likely to die. Or, if a man is infected with HPV they are 500% more likely to develop cancer.

Why does this happen?

Virus men women — Stock Photo: SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA – JUN 19, 2015: A tourist wearing a mask for protect from Mers virus in South Korea, at Seoul Market Myeong-dong Virus MERS, which has no known cure or vaccine. (yochika photographer / Shutterstock.com)

Viruses work by replicating themselves inside of a host. Whether it be a single cell organism such as a bacteria or a human white blood cell. The goal of the virus is to hijack the cell’s DNA replication pathway to produce more and more copies and spread to other hosts.

Ultimately, the virus’ goal is to use the host and spread it to the next host. An unfortunate consequence of this replication pathway, is that the host becomes too sick to serve as the virus’ home.

After testing, researchers discovered that while pathogens affect both men and women, natural selection favors viruses to become less harmful to women than men. Why? Because the virus is more likely to spread through nursing.

Researchers argue that if viruses are too aggressive in women, than they decrease their chances of spreading. Ultimately, evolution has pressured viruses to become less aggressive in women in order to spread.

Virus women — Stock Photo: DRC, Democratic Republic of Congo. UNICEF mission against tetanus in September 2008. Doctor from UNICEF mission doing the tetanus vaccination. (Valeriya Anufriyeva / Shutterstock.com)

At the moment, how a virus is able to affect women differently than men have scientists confused. But, scientists believe they have an idea on how it works. Researchers argue that a virus may be able to detect the different hormone levels between men and women, consequently changing their virulence – the amount of damage the virus is causing the host.

What happened in the NYC ‘Zombie’ outbreak?

Synthetic Marijuana Use on the Rise

How does Synthetic Marijuana affect the body?

Who makes synthetic marijuana?

How is Facebook going to stop fake news?

Can Facebook stop fake news?

How does Prime Air work?

When will Amazon Prime Air become available?

What is future of drone delivery?

Why does this happen?

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