53.7 F
San Francisco
Friday, March 13, 2026
Home Blog Page 2245

Study: Men Are At a Higher Risk of a Heart Attack After a Snowstorm

Brent Edward
-
0
Study: Men Are At a Higher Risk of a Heart Attack After a Snowstorm

A new Candian study suggests men are at a higher risk of a heart attack following a major snowstorm.

Researchers studied periods without any snow and compared it to heavy snowfall. Scientists discovered after about 8 inches of snow; men are 16% more likely to have a heart attack and 34% more likely to die from a heart attack.

What about women? Fortunately, researchers did not find a correlation between snowfall and heart attacks in women.

Researchers analyzed decades worth of data from patients hospitalized in Quebec, Canada. To determine the relationships, researchers examined over 120,000 hospital admissions and nearly 70,00 deaths from heart attacks in Quebec between 1981 and 2014. Researchers also found 62% of all hospital admissions were men and men accounted for 57% of deaths.

Dr. Nathalie Auger of the University of Montreal was the lead author of the study. Dr. Auger explained that both how much snowfall and the duration of the snow storm was linked to an increased risk of heart attack for men.

Snowstorm
January 7, 2017. East Village, Manhattan, NYC. Man shoveling snow in front of his business. (ginamcleanphoto / Shutterstock, Inc.)

Researchers are not sure why men are more likely to have a heart attack. However, researchers believe it is due to snow shoveling.

“We suspect that shovelling was the main mechanism linking snowfall with MI. Men are potentially more likely than women to shovel, particularly after heavy snowfalls,” researchers explained in the study. “Snow shovelling is a demanding cardiovascular exercise requiring more than 75% of the maximum heart rate, particularly with heavy loads.”

“Snow shovelling is a demanding cardiovascular exercise requiring more than 75% of the maximum heart rate, particularly with heavy loads.”

But, the heart attacks could also be attributed to exposure to cold weather. Scientist pointed out that exposure to cold temperatures causes arrhythmia and breathing cold air has the possibility of reducing blood flow to the heart, which can also cause a heart attack.

Google Adds New Social Features to their Maps App

Jonathan Antonio
-
0
Google Adds New Social Features to their Maps App

Google’s new update is making their Maps app more social and is becoming more than just a way to find the nearest coffee shop.

Google Maps product manager, Zach Maier, announced on Monday that users are now able to create lists of their favorite places, places they wish to go and then share those lists with friends who are also using Google Maps.

“Starting today, you can create lists of places, share your lists with others, and follow the lists your friends and family share with you — without ever leaving the Google Maps app,” Maier said.

How does Google’s new Maps feature work?

Maps users open the app on their iPhone or Android smartphone and then tap on a particular location. Users then tap on the Save icon, and it will add the spot to several lists, including Favorites or Want to Go.

Also, users can create their personalized lists. To find their lists, people can visit their Your Places feature on the side menu and click the Saved tab.

Ultimately, Maps is allowing users to personalize the app and make the feature more than just an app that provides directions.

“Because sharing is caring, we made it easy to share lists like “Best Views in SF” via text, email, social networks and popular messaging apps,” said Maier. “Whenever friends and family come to town, tap the share button to get a link and start flexing your local knowledge muscles. Once you send a link to your out-of-towners, they can tap “Follow” to pull up the list from Your Places whenever they need it.”

“Whenever friends and family come to town, tap the share button to get a link and start flexing your local knowledge muscles. Once you send a link to your out-of-towners, they can tap “Follow” to pull up the list from Your Places whenever they need it.”

Google says the lists can be seen and shared across any platform including smartphones and desktop users. Also, users can download maps just in case they are using the app when they do not have an Internet connection.

Google’s shift into social media

This new feature highlights how Google is focusing on adding new features to their Maps app. Last month, Google announced Maps users are now able to book an Uber through the app. But, don’t forget about Google+, last month the social media giant announced new updates to the platform.

Apple CEO Tim Cook Says Fake News is “Killing People’s Minds”

Jonathan Antonio
-
0
Apple CEO Tim Cook Says Fake News is “Killing People’s Minds”

Even though the Presidential election is over, the problem of fake news has not gone anywhere. In a recent interview, Apple CEO Tim Cook is focusing on stopping false reports.

“All of us technology companies need to create some tools that help diminish the volume of fake news,” Cook said in an interview with the Daily Telegraph.

“There has to be a massive campaign. We have to think through every demographic,” Cook said.

Tim Cook added that the proliferation of fake news “killing people’s minds.” The issue is that reliable news stories are written to persuade people and are difficult for readers to recognized as true.

Remember when the Pope supported Trump for President? It was an entirely false news story that quickly went viral on Facebook just weeks before election day.

“We are going through this period right here where unfortunately some of the people that are winning are the people that spend their time trying to get the most clicks, not tell the most truth,” Cook said in the interview.

Facebook has suffered the biggest burden of the fake news controversy, where the social networking platform has quickly become the home of viral news media. Since then, the social media company has rolled out several new tools and initiatives to flag stories that are believed to be fake and allow for them to be reviewed by fact-checkers.

However, Cook is calling for more extreme measures. “Too many of us are just in the complain category right now and haven’t figured out what to do,” he said. “We need the modern version of a public-service announcement campaign. It can be done quickly if there is a will.”

This news comes after Wikipedia banned Daily Mail as a reliable source and as researchers discover new ways to spot and stop fake news from going viral.

How President Donald Trump is Disrupting the News Business

Reginald Edward
-
0
How President Donald Trump is Disrupting the News Business

In the month of November 2016 nearly every source of news put out articles, posts, etc. stating what the media got wrong about predictions of the US Presidential elections; the Washington Examiner, Washington Post, Press Club, Fortune, and CNN just to mention a few.

Pollsters believe there has been too much of an emphasis on the demographics of the country; which means perhaps they relied too much on the Hispanic voter to turn out and vote. They further believe they under-sampled non-college-educated Whites, a group that President Trump appealed to and got their support. They also questioned the premise that voters will be completely honest with the people asking them questions who happen to be total strangers.

As the media struggles to fill the 24-hour news cycle, there seems to be more and more acceptance of “alternative facts.” Alternative facts as defined by Sean Spicer, White House Press Secretary & Communications Director, and Kellyanne Conway, Counselor to the President. As a result, the Washington Post has an occasional feature on what Presidential Trump got wrong on Twitter in any given week. There focus will be fact checking.

For example, Trump tweeted on January 2nd about the murder rate in Chicago:

However, Chicago’s murder rate was not a record setting number. It was high but not record setting. There were 762 deaths, according to the Chicago Police Department. In the 1990’s Chicago was at an all time high rate for murders but the city was then facing gang activity and the drug activities that go along with the gang culture.

In the 1920s and 30’s, fascism controlled the conversation. Hence we have been reading and hearing comparisons to President Trump. Yes, President Trump has wrestled the discussion away from the media, and labeled it as “fake news, ” but control was the media’s to lose.  Having the ability to go directly to most of your audience through social media has put the President out in front of the press.

Where does the media go from here on out? Fact checking, getting the story right, truth telling, have always been cornerstone ideas of a free press; staying away from name calling and labeling of people and groups would be good for the order.

Verizon Now Offers an Unlimited Data Plan

Reginald Edward
-
0
Verizon Now Offers an Unlimited Data Plan

Worried about going over on your data? If so, then I have some great news for you. Verizon is bringing back their unlimited data plan starting tomorrow. According to a CNBC report, Verizon will sell these new unlimited plans for $80 per month for a single user or $45 per line on a family plan. However, the company points out that if you use over 22GB of data in a month, Verizon will “prioritize usage behind other customers in the event of network congestion.”

It is important to note that Verizon has canceled their unlimited data plans for new customers six years. In fact, last July, Verizon announced they would be removing users who used more than 100GB of data each month off of their unlimited plans. Then, last September, Verizon CFO Fred Shammo said at a conference, “At the end of the day, people don’t need unlimited plans.” All of which illustrates the company’s changing stance on unlimited data packages.

Verizon Unlimited Data
NEW-YORK – CIRCA MARCH 2016: woman taking a selfie in Manhattan at evening. Manhattan is the most densely populated borough of New York City (Sorbis / Shutterstock, Inc.)

How does this new unlimited plan compare to Verizon’s competitors?

Well, AT&T offers unlimited data plans for $100 per month and for every additional line it will cost $40 per month. However, it is important to highlight the fact that to qualify for this package you must sign up for both DirecTV or U-Verse. Meanwhile, Sprint offers an unlimited package for $90 per month for five lines. T-Mobile offers an unlimited package for $160/month for four lines.

How is Verizon marketing this new package? Verizon is calling their new unlimited package launch: “You asked. We answered.”

Twitter Stock Falls as “Trump Bump” Fails to Make Twitter Great Again

Reginald Edward
-
0
Twitter Stock Falls as “Trump Bump” Fails to Make Twitter Great Again

Twitter reported their slowest revenue growth since it went public in 2013. Consequently, share prices fell more than 10% on Thursday on market apprehension Facebook, Google, and the upcoming IPO release of Snapchat are controlling the advertising market.

Revenue from advertising dropped from 2015 and a 4% year to year rise was below analysts predictions.

Also, many believed Donald Trump’s frequent use of Twitter would help increase the number of Twitter users on the social media app. However, the fourth quarter earnings report reveals that did not help.

Twitter has struggled to take their social media platform and turn into a growing business. The lack of revenue growth led to the end of the Vine app. Consequently, many financial markets assumed a Twitter sale was on the table, but no one has taken a single bite yet.

Twitter’s CEO Jack Dorsey told analysts on Thursday that Twitter was investing in ways to engage with advertisers.

“It will take time to show the results we all want to see, and we’re moving forward aggressively. The whole world is watching Twitter,” he said.

It is important to note that revenue growth for Twitter is the slowest it has ever been since the company first went public. Revenue for advertising in Twitter’s fourth quarter declined by .5% year-to-year to $638 million. As a result, advertising revenue will struggle to rise until the company can increase users.

Many assumed the Presidential election between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump would help Twitter since the Trump frequently uses the platform.

The number of Twitter users rose to 319 million, which is less than the 319.6 million Wall Street analysts expect.

Last year, analysts assumed Salesforce.com Inc or Walt Disney Co. would purchase Twitter but, that never came to fruition.

Late last year, Twitter announced they planned on shutting down the Vine app. Vine helped launched the careers of several social media stars who left the app to promote their lifestyles, short videos, and audience on Twitter’s competing social networks including Instagram and YouTube.

Travelers’ Password Collection Proposal Raises Alarms

Jonathan Antonio
-
0
Travelers’ Password Collection Proposal Raises Alarms

To determine if foreigners traveling to the United States should be allowed access, the U.S. may start demanding visa applicants to reveal their passwords to their social media accounts, a proposal that has many up in arms.

On Tuesday, the head of the Department of Homeland Security said, “If they don’t want to give us the information, then they don’t come.”

Kelly discussed the proposal during a congressional hearing when asked about how the department was examining visa applicants’ social media accounts. Kelly said it was “very hard to truly vet” the visa applicants from the “terror-prone” countries listed in Trump’s immigration ban.

Kelly said investigating the social media accounts visa applicants use and asking for their passwords will become part of the vetting process. That said, Kelly said the Department of Homeland Security is only considering this idea of obtaining social media account passwords.

However, late last year, the U.S. Customs and Border Protection began asking foreign visitors traveling under a visa waiver program to provide their social media account IDs as an option and not a requirement. Ultimately, U.S. authorities are hoping that by obtaining social media passwords it will help them identify “nefarious activity”.

Free-speech advocates said the U.S. might use the information to keep certain individuals out of the country unfairly. For instance, Michael Macleod-Ball, the chief of staff with the American Civil Liberties Union of the Washington Legislative office, argued the U.S. could ban someone from entering the country based on their political affiliation.

“The issue is what information are they (U.S. border agents) looking for, and how are they interpreting it,” he said. “We’ve had all kinds of concerns over the ambiguities.”

Robert McCaw, the government affairs department director for the Council on American-Islamic Relations, said: “The price for admission into the United States shouldn’t mean giving up your online life.”

McCaw added: “Do you remember every email account, or Facebook account, or every message board you signed up for?” he asked. “If you forgot to disclose one, wouldn’t you be lying to a federal agency?”

Chan Zuckerberg Initiative Invests $50 Million to 47 Research Investigators

Jonathan Antonio
-
0
Chan Zuckerberg Initiative Invests $50 Million to 47 Research Investigators

Facebook co-founder Mark Zuckerberg and his wife Priscilla Chan have awarded their first series of grants to scientists thanks to their biomedical research program. The Chan-Zuckerberg Initiative gave grants to a broad range of topics including genomics, cancer, and memory devices.

Forty-seven investigators were chosen out of 700 faculty members who applied. Those selected each will receive up to $1.5 million each in the next five years from the Chan-Zuckerberg biomedical research initiative.

“We’re investing $50 million in this first class of investigators. This program will provide 5 years of funding to some of the most innovative researchers in the Bay Area, especially focused on young scientists early in their careers,” Zuckerberg explained in a Facebook post.

Zuckerberg added, “This first group includes a Stanford data scientist working to analyze massive quantities of genomic data, a doctor from UCSF looking at how malaria spreads, an engineer from Berkeley who is designing tools to better understand human biology, including a miniature foldable microscope, and more. This is a diverse group, with almost 50% women and 15% underrepresented minorities.”

Announced in 2015, the Chan-Zuckerberg Initiative is a limited liability company founded by Mark Zuckerberg and Priscilla Chan. The Chan-Zuckerberg Initiative launched with an investment of up to $1 billion Facebook shares in each of the next three years. The mission of the initiative is to “advance human potential and promote equality in areas such as health, education, scientific research, and energy.”

Outside of the investigator program, the Chan-Zuckerberg Initiative has other initiatives including the Infectious Disease Initiative to help find ways to stop the spread of diseases. Also, the bio hub has the Cell Atlas project to help map the cells in the body to help discover new therapies.

 

Eating Whole Grains May Help You Lose Weight, Study Finds

Brent Edward
-
0
Eating Whole Grains May Help You Lose Weight, Study Finds

Researchers suggest switching to whole-grain foods may actually help you lose weight. How much weight can you lose by using whole grains? Well scientists say by eating whole-grain foods is just as good as taking a brisk 30-minute daily walk.

Whole grains foods lower the total number of calories the body can absorb during digestion and can also speed up metabolism.

Nutrition scientists J. Philip Karl was the lead researcher in the study. Karl made the discovery while working on his Ph.D. at Tufts University in Boston.

Previous research has shown that people who eat whole grains have a lower body fat than those who do not eat whole grains food. But, it is reasonable to believe that people who work out tend to eat whole grains.

However, Karl’s research was able to establish why whole grains help the body. Karl found men and women ages 40 to 65 and during the first two weeks of the study everyone ate the same type of food. Then, Karl and his team determined how many calories each person would need to maintain their weight.

Afterwards, researchers randomly assigned people to eat whole-grain or a refined-grain food without changing their daily routine. Karl discovered that those individuals with whole-grain diet absorbed fewer calories and their metabolism was higher. Karl believes the fiber content helped those individuals lose weight.

“The energy deficit in those eating whole grains compared to refined grains would be equivalent to the calories you would burn if you were to walk about a mile [in] about 20 or 30 minutes,” he said.

“‘We don’t know over the long term if it would translate to weight loss,” Karl said, but his team suspects it would. “This would translate to about 5 pounds in a year,” Karl estimated.”

Last year, researchers discovered aspartame was linked to weight gain. Scientists have found mice that drank artificially sweetened water blocked an important stomach enzyme. As a result, aspartame made mice more likely to gain weight and develop diabetes.

Wikipedia: Daily Mail is “Unreliable” and No Longer a Source

Jonathan Antonio
-
0
Wikipedia: Daily Mail is “Unreliable” and No Longer a Source

Wikipedia labels the Daily Mail as “generally unreliable” and bans the news site as a source on their website.

After a discussion, Wikipedia editors have chosen to ban the use of the Daily Mail as a source on their website in most cases.

In a statement, Wikipedia said, “Consensus has determined that the Daily Mail (including its online version, dailymail.co.uk) is generally unreliable, and its use as a reference is to be generally prohibited, especially when other more reliable sources exist.”

Wikipedia added, “As a result, the Daily Mail should not be used for determining notability, nor should it be used as a source in articles. An edit filter should be put in place going forward to warn editors attempting to use the Daily Mail as a reference.”

Wikipedia editors discussed the request to ban Daily Mail as a source with some editors calling the website “yellow journalism.”

Daily Mail
(Radu Bercan / Shutterstock, Inc.)

“As others have said it is a byword for the worst kinds of yellow journalism, it is (in effect) a fake news organ. Just because a lot of people buy it (or even by it) does not mean it is a reliable source for anything other then it’s own views.”

Henceforward, Wikipedia will start reviewing, removing and replacing the thousands of existing citations linking back to the Daily Mail.

This news comes after many websites are struggling with the fake news. Facebook has launched a war against false news with several features, initiatives, and projects to stop the spread of misinformation on the website. Also, researchers also have begun studying ways to teach people how to spot and identify fake news and avoid getting persuaded.

Most notably, Facebook, who was publicly accosted for spreading false news during the election by former President Barack Obama, has since released new features. These features including a journalism initiative to help journalists cover information, reporting tools to report fake news, and hiring new staff to lead their news division.

1...2,2442,2452,246...2,279Page 2,245 of 2,279

Explore

Trending

Follow us

© All Rights Reserved, Newspaper Theme.