Kenyan farmers say they are being forced to hand-pollinate their crops due to a decline in bee populations from pesticides. Kenya’s insect experts say the chemicals, meant to kill desert locusts and other pests, are killing off bees and other pollinating insects. Kenyan farmer Samuel Nderitu says he made a good living from his crops for nearly a decade until 2019, when he noticed neighboring farmers spraying for pests. His crop yields started dropping, says Nderitu, and he’s convinced it’s because the pesticides killed off pollinating insects like bees. He has since been forced to hand-pollinate the plants. “It has been quite successful — not 100% though because that’s not natural,” he said. “The natural one is where the insects transfer the pollen from one plant to another; that’s the most successful one. But now, because the pollinators are not there, we have to help in that process.” A 2019 desert locust invasion in east Africa forced Kenyan authorities and farmers into a massive spraying campaign to save their crops. But Kenya’s International Center of Insect Physiology and Ecology says the unchecked use of pesticides is ironically killing off the pollinators on which the crops depend. ‘’The pesticides are affecting the health of the bees because the pesticides reduce immunity of bees,” says Nelly Ngungu, a research scientist at the center. “Now, aggravating the effects of pesticides, and lack of forage because of climatic conditions, change in climate, all this they reduce the immunity of bees and can eventually …
Kenyan Experts: Pesticides Killing Bees, Forcing Farmers to Hand Pollinate
Kenyan farmers say they are being forced to hand pollinate their crops due to a decline in bee populations from pesticides. Kenya’s insect experts say the chemicals, meant to kill desert locusts and other pests, are killing off bees and other pollinating bugs. Victoria Amunga reports from Nairobi. Camera: Robert Lutta Producer: Rob Raffaele …
Vaccinated People Can Go Barefaced to Outdoor Gatherings, CDC Says
Fully vaccinated people can skip the mask when they get together outside with others, vaccinated or not, according to A person wears a mask while jogging, April 27, 2021, near the Capitol in Olympia, Washington.The only time vaccinated people need to wear masks outdoors is when they are in crowds, like at street festivals, parades, farmers markets or political rallies, for example.Keep that mask handy, however. CDC still says to mask up when you go inside. But do go inside, the recommendations say. Indoor dining, movies, haircuts, religious services, exercise classes, and other indoor public spaces all are much safer for vaccinated people than unvaccinated.Just wear a mask.Why wear a mask indoors if you are vaccinated?”At their best, these vaccines are 95% effective,” said Vanderbilt University Medical Center infectious diseases professor William Schaffner. “I did not say 100%. So, there’s still that small risk that you could yourself acquire the infection.”Even if a vaccinated person does not get seriously ill, there remains a chance that the person could pass the virus on to someone who is not vaccinated.Also, not wearing a mask puts an unfair burden on workers to enforce mask rules.”You can’t expect someone at a store to go around and look at people’s vaccination status,” noted Amesh Adalja, a senior scholar at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security.Indoor get-togethers without masks are fine when everyone is vaccinated, as earlier CDC guidelines said.Students at Wyandotte County High School wear masks as they walk through a hallway on the first …
Heirs of Late Samsung Electronics Chairman to Pay Massive Inheritance Tax
The family of the late Lee Kun-hee, the chairman of South Korea’s Samsung Electronics, says it will pay $10.8 billion in taxes on the inheritance from his massive estate, the largest paid in South Korean history. Lee died last October leaving an estate estimated at more than $23 billion. The family, which includes his wife and three children, says it will split payments of the hefty tax bill in six installments over five years, with the first payment coming this month. It is believed they will use the shares they hold in the vast family-run conglomerate as a means to pay the taxes.People pass by Samsung Electronics’ shop in Seoul, South Korea, April 28, 2021.The Lee family will also donate the late patriarch’s vast collection of fine art to two state-run museums and other organizations to help ease the burden of the tax bill. The collection includes rare Korean artifacts and works by such legendary artists as Pablo Picasso, Salvador Dali, Paul Gauguin and Claude Monet. The family has also agreed to donate $900 million to build a new hospital devoted to treating infectious diseases, fund research on vaccines and treatment, and support a program that treats children suffering from cancer and rare diseases. Under the elder Lee, Samsung Electronics became the crown jewel of the Samsung conglomerate, the biggest in South Korea, with holdings in such sectors as shipbuilding, insurance and trading. Samsung Electronics is the world’s largest maker of semiconductors, smartphones and other consumer electronics. But the family has been mired in a host of …
UK Government Green Lights ‘Self-driving’ Cars on Motorways
The UK government on Wednesday became the first country to announce it will regulate the use of self-driving vehicles at slow speeds on motorways, with the first such cars possibly appearing on public roads as soon as this year. Britain’s transport ministry said it was working on specific wording to update the country’s highway code for the safe use of self-driving vehicle systems, starting with Automated Lane Keeping Systems (ALKS) — which use sensors and software to keep cars within a lane, allowing them to accelerate and brake without driver input. The government said the use of ALKS would be restricted to motorways, at speeds under 37 miles (60 km) per hour. The UK government wants to be at the forefront of rolling out autonomous driving technology and the transport ministry forecasts by 2035 around 40% of new UK cars could have self-driving capabilities, creating up to 38,000 new skilled jobs. “The automotive industry welcomes this vital step to permit the use of automated vehicles on UK roads, which will put Britain in the vanguard of road safety and automotive technology,” Mike Hawes, CEO of car industry lobby group the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders, said in a statement. Limits of technologyBut insurance companies warn that Britain’s goal of being a leader in adopting self-driving cars could backfire unless automakers and regulators spell out the current limitations of the technology available today. They say calling ALKS “automated,” or using the synonymous term “self-driving,” will confuse British drivers into thinking the cars can drive themselves, causing …
Russia Fines Apple, Alleging Monopolistic Actions
Russia has fined Apple $12 million, alleging monopolistic activities.The Federal Antimonopoly Service (FAS) said Tuesday that Apple was gaining an unfair advantage over other companies through its app store.”Apple was found to have abused its dominant position in the iOS distribution market … which resulted in a competitive advantage for its own products,” the FAS said in a statement.The ruling was sparked by a complaint from Russia-based cybersecurity company Kaspersky Lab, which said a version of its Safe Kids app had been rejected by Apple.”We worked with Kaspersky to get their app in compliance with rules that were put in place to protect children,” Apple said in a statement. “They now have 13 apps on the App Store and we have processed hundreds of updates for them.”Apple reportedly said it “respectfully disagreed” with the FAS decision, which it plans to appeal.Earlier this month, Russia began enforcing a law that demands devices sold in Russia come with pre-installed domestic software. The legislation was intended to boost Russian tech companies.Critics say the law is an attempt by the Russian government to control the internet.Starting in July, companies that don’t comply could face fines.Western tech firms have been facing pressure from Moscow. For example, Russia has slowed down Twitter, saying the company was not acting quickly enough to remove certain content not allowed in Russia.Facebook and Google have also come under increased scrutiny. …
US Government Relaxes Guidelines for Wearing COVID Masks Outdoors
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control released updated guidelines Tuesday recommending that fully vaccinated people in the U.S. can now stop wearing masks outdoors unless they are in a large crowd of strangers. The updated guidelines also say people who have not been vaccinated can go maskless when outside alone or with household members, or in small outdoor gatherings with fully vaccinated people. The CDC recommended for most of the past year that people in the U.S. wear masks outdoors if they are within two meters of each other. The updated guidance is part of the Biden Administration’s initiative to carefully return the country to some state of normalcy. COVID-19 has killed nearly 573,000 people, by far the most in the world. The guidelines were relaxed after more than half of adults in the U.S. have received at least one dose of a coronavirus vaccine, and more than a third have been fully vaccinated. …
Companies Cut Concrete’s Heavy Carbon Footprint
It’s literally the foundation of modern life.A slab of concrete underlies nearly every permanent structure on Earth. Concrete blocks are a Workers clean steps near a recently erected office high-rise in Beijing, China, April 20, 2017.”If we do not find ways to make concrete in a more benign way, we do have a problem,” said Volker Sick, mechanical engineering professor and University of Michigan Global CO2 Initiative director.A handful of companies are beginning to step up. Some have even found ways to turn carbon dioxide, a pollutant, into a resource.Two recently won the Soviet-era concrete apartment blocks close to the pond in Star City near Moscow, Russia, Oct. 21, 2020.CarbonCure, CarbonBuilt and a few other companies have found ways to turn the process on its head. They inject carbon dioxide into cement while it is still wet, before it hardens. They have modified the formulas for their cement so the carbon dioxide forms minerals inside their concrete, permanently locking it away.The Carbon XPRIZE winners drew their carbon dioxide from power plants. But they could also be connected directly to a concrete plant’s limestone-heating kilns.Absorbing carbon dioxide is one way these products lower their carbon footprint. But the minerals formed inside the concrete also make the cement stronger, “which means you need less cement to make your concrete,” Wagner said. Less cement needed means less carbon dioxide emitted.Manufacturing CarbonBuilt concrete blocks generates 50% to 70% less carbon dioxide than conventional blocks, Sant said. Wagner said each cubic meter of CarbonCure poured concrete saves 15 kilograms …
Apple Rolls Out Privacy Shield to Thwart Snoopy Apps
Apple is following through on its pledge to crack down on Facebook and other snoopy apps that secretly shadow people on their iPhones in order to target more advertising at users. The new privacy feature, dubbed “App Tracking Transparency,” rolled out Monday as part of an update to the operating system powering the iPhone and iPad. The anti-tracking shield included in iOS 14.5 arrives after a seven-month delay during which Apple and Facebook attacked each other’s business models and motives for decisions that affect billions of people around the world. “What this feud demonstrates more than anything is that Facebook and Apple have tremendous gatekeeping powers over the market,” said Elizabeth Renieris, founding director of the Technology Ethics Lab at the University of Notre Dame. But Apple says it is just looking out for the best interests of the more than 1 billion people using iPhones. “Now is a good time to bring this out, both because of the increasing amount of data they have on their devices, and their sensitivity (about the privacy risks) is increasing, too,” Erik Neuenschwander, Apple’s chief privacy engineer, told The Associated Press in an interview. Once the software update is installed — something most iPhone users do — even existing apps already on the device will be required to ask and receive consent to track online activities. That’s a shift Facebook fiercely resisted, most prominently in a series of full-page newspaper ads blasting Apple. Until now, Facebook and other apps have been able to automatically conduct their …
Cameroonian Startup’s Online Veterinary App Helps Remote Breeders
A Cameroonian company has created a veterinary counseling app designed to help farmers and ranchers who live far away from veterinarians to detect animal diseases and give them guidance online.Cameroonian rabbit breeder Thierry Bayabon lost three-quarters of his stock to disease a few months ago. Like most small-scale Cameroonian farmers, he was not familiar with diseases that affect animals. Bayabon says the deaths could have been prevented, but it took too long to find a veterinarian to visit his remote farm. He says two weeks after the cases, as the situation was getting worse, he was successful in getting a veterinarian. The vet came on-site and was able to determine the problem.To help breeders like Bayabon avoid such costly losses, a Cameroonian startup designed the free online application, Veto.The app analyzes audio questions about symptoms, gives treatment advice, and helps breeders and ranchers share information.It also allows them to send photos and videos to actual veterinarians, like Mangoua Cédrick, for analysis.”In those villages, they have no vet personnel,” Cédrick said. “And with an advent of a zoonotic disease like tuberculosis, I mean, you taking the picture for the analysis may help you save life, because zoonoses are diseases that attack humans or that are transmissible between animal to human.”The Veto app’s main challenge is that it requires an internet connection, which is expensive and hard to come by in Cameroon’s remote villages.The app’s developers say they are working on the problem so it can be useful to more people raising livestock.Franklin …
WHO Pushes Routine Vaccinations Amid COVID Downturn
Thirty-seven percent of surveyed countries are still experiencing disruptions in vaccinating children against deadly diseases like measles compared to 2020 levels, according to a press release from the World Health Organization (WHO), UNICEF and Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance. The disruptions stem from the COVID-19 pandemic, the groups say. They also say 60 lifesaving campaigns are currently “postponed in 50 countries, putting around 228 million people — mostly children — at risk for measles, yellow fever and polio.” As the world marks World Immunization Week 2021, which takes place in the last week of April, the groups are calling for countries to increase investments in vaccines. The groups say investment could save 50 million lives by 2030. “If we’re to avoid multiple outbreaks of life-threatening diseases like measles, yellow fever and diphtheria, we must ensure routine vaccination services are protected in every country in the world,” WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said in a statement. Measles outbreaks have been reported in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Pakistan and Yemen, according to the groups. They added that further outbreaks were likely as children are not vaccinated. “As COVID-19 vaccines are at the forefront of everyone’s minds, it is more critical than ever that children maintain access to other lifesaving vaccines to prevent devastating outbreaks of preventable diseases that have started to spread alongside the pandemic,” said David Morley, president and CEO of UNICEF Canada. “We must sustain this energy on vaccine rollout to also help children catch up on their measles, …
Senegalese Divers, Activists Clean-Up Coast for Earth Day
Senegal banned single-use plastics a year ago, but the regulation has been poorly enforced and plastic waste still litters the coastline and threatens health. For Earth Day (April 22) this year, a group of Senegalese surfers, scuba divers, and activists took matters into their own hands and to set an example for others to follow. From bottles and bags to food wrappers and fishing nets, plastic waste is piling up on Senegal’s beaches, harming the environment that people and animals depend on. A bird stands atop a mound of rubbish overlooking a polluted canal in Dakar, Senegal, Apr. 23, 2021.Toxic chemicals from plastic leach into the water and can build up in fish, which are a vital part of the Senegalese diet. Senegal’s Ministry of Public Health notes links between plastic pollution and infertility, heart disease, cancer, and other health problems. “All of these products that are used by the industry can be dangerous,” said Public Health director Dr. Marie Khémesse Ngom Ndiaye. “In terms of pollution, they can attack all of our organs, but equally those of animals. But especially, as you’ve seen in all these documentaries and studies, it impacts marine life.” The Senegalese government passed a law in 2015 banning single-use plastics, but little changed. The law was rescinded to make way for new legislation that specifically targeted plastic cups, straws, plates, bags and bottles. It went into effect in 2020, but it’s still rarely enforced. “There is not necessarily enough information,” said Aisha Conte, president of Zero Waste Senegal. “The population, …
Senegalese Divers, Activists Clean-Up Coast for Earth Day
Senegal banned single-use plastics a year ago, but the regulation has been poorly enforced and plastic waste still litters the coastline and threatens health. For Earth Day (April 22) this year, a group of Senegalese surfers, scuba divers, and activists took matters into their own hands and to set an example for others to follow. Annika Hammerschlag reports from Dakar. Camera: Annika Hammerschlag …
NASA Mars Ingenuity Helicopter Flies Faster, Farther Than Ever
U.S. space agency NASA said the experimental Mars helicopter Ingenuity — in its third flight Sunday on the red planet — flew farther and faster than ever, including during test flights on Earth.NASA scientists said the vehicle took off and rose to about 5 meters off the surface of the planet — the same height it reached on its second flight Thursday and slightly higher than on its initial flight a week ago. This time, Ingenuity flew about 50 meters down range from its position, traveling at a top speed of about 2 meters a second. The entire flight was about 80 seconds.As data from the flight was received at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California, the Ingenuity team said it was “ecstatic” to see how the helicopter performed. Program director Dave Lavery said the flight Sunday was what the team had planned for, “and yet, it was nothing short of amazing.”The initial data from the flight came in from NASA’s Perseverance Mars rover, which is parked several meters from where the helicopter took flight. The agency said segments of that video showing most of the helicopter’s 80-second journey across its flight zone will be sent back to Earth in the days ahead. The Ingenuity team has been pushing the helicopter’s limits by adding instructions to capture more photos of its own, including from the color camera, which captured its first images on the flight last Thursday. Ingenuity weighs just 1.8 kilograms and was packed away on the Perseverance …
EU Will Let Vaccinated Americans Visit This Summer, Top Official Says
A top European Union official said Sunday that Americans who have been vaccinated against COVID-19 should be able to travel to Europe by summer, easing existing travel restrictions.European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen told The New York Times that the union’s 27 members would accept, unconditionally, all those who are vaccinated with vaccines that are approved by the European Medicines Agency. The agency has approved the three vaccines used in the United States.”The Americans, as far as I can see, use European Medicines Agency-approved vaccines,” von der Leyen said. “This will enable free movement and travel to the European Union.”She did not say when travel could resume. The EU largely shut down nonessential travel more than a year ago.European Union countries agreed this month to launch COVID-19 travel passes that would permit people who have been vaccinated against the disease, recovered from an infection or have tested negative to travel more easily. …
Authorities in Somalia Hail Progress in Malaria Fight
As the world marks World Malaria Day (April 25), several African countries continue to battle the impact of a preventable disease claiming thousands of lives. In sub-Saharan Africa alone, malaria has claimed an estimated 380,000 lives in 2018 according to the World Health Organization (WHO). But there are some signs of hope in Somalia.This year’s theme was reaching the “Zero Malaria” target as the WHO celebrated the achievement of those countries that are on the verge of eliminating the disease.While Somalia is still not malaria-free, the country’s authorities say there has been some progress in the past three years in decreasing the number of deaths from the disease. That is welcome news for the Horn of Africa nation struggling to curb other challenges, including drought and lack of security. Dr. Ali Abdulrahman, manager of Somalia’s national malaria control department, pointed out that deaths from malaria have declined, from 31 in 2018, 22 in 2019 to five last year.”There was a lot of interventions we have done including distribution of long-lasting insecticide nets to the target population, especially IDPs (internally displaced persons) and other vulnerable and indoor residual spraying were done in the riverine areas and also case management was going on in all health facilities in the country that was interventions done to reduce cases,” Abdulrahman said.Somalia has a weak health care system and is poorly resourced, according to the WHO. Due to decades of insecurity and conflict, the country’s institutions struggle to provide access to malaria prevention and treatment …
Mariners Learn How Not to Get Stuck in the Suez Canal
In March, one of the world’s biggest container ships became stuck in Egypt’s Suez Canal, creating a commercial logjam and spikes in the cost of oil. At a training facility in France, mariners are learning how to avoid a similar predicament. VOA’s Arash Arabasadi has more. …
UN Calls for Action to Achieve a Malaria-Free World
This year’s commemoration of World Malaria Day celebrates the progress being made in eliminating the disease. The World Health Organization is calling for action to build on these achievements and continue the work to create a malaria-free world.Despite the COVID-19 pandemic and multiple other crises, 24 countries are reported to have stopped malaria transmission for three or more years by the end of 2020. To date, 38 countries and territories have been certified malaria-free by the World Health Organization, including most recently El Salvador, Algeria and Sri Lanka.WHO Director-General, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, said malaria elimination is a viable goal for all countries, no matter how far they may be from the ultimate target.“WHO has identified a set of 25 countries … with a potential to reach zero malaria within the next five years. Working together, building on each other’s success and supported with sustained funding, we can dare to dream of a malaria-free world.”Malaria is a preventable, treatable disease. Yet, every year it kills more than 400,000 people, most of them young children in sub-Saharan Africa. Additionally, more than 200 million people become newly infected with this deadly parasitic disease every year.Over the last 20 years, WHO reports more than 7.5 million deaths and 1.5 billion cases have been averted, most in sub-Saharan Africa. Despite this remarkable progress, director of WHO’s Global Malaria Program, Pedro Alonso, says most cases and deaths continue to take place in Africa.“While Africa is the source of many of the big success stories in terms of …
Modi: COVID-19 Has ‘Shaken’ India
COVID-19 has “shaken” India, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said in his monthly radio address Sunday.349,691 new COVID cases had been recorded in the previous 24-hour period, yet another daily record, the country’s health ministry said Sunday.The new infection figures are likely undercounted, public health officials have warned. A recent account in The New York Times said, “however staggering” the reports are from the ministry of a string of days with more than 300,000 new infections, the numbers “represent just a fraction of the real reach of the virus’s spread.”The U.S. is under pressure from the international community to release some of its warehoused COVID vaccines to India and other countries that need the shots.In addition to hundreds of thousands of new daily COVID cases, India is also experiencing an oxygen shortage, literally leaving COVID patients gasping for air.The Biden administration’s top medical adviser on the pandemic, Dr. Anthony Fauci, said Friday the U.S. is attempting to help India contain its coronavirus surge by providing technical support and assistance.Phnom Penh closed its markets Saturday. The Cambodian capital went into lockdown April 15, but markets remained open. High infection rates at the markets, however, prompted the local government to issue shutdown orders Friday for the markets. The snap move went into effect Saturday, catching many residents off guard, causing them to plead with the government for food. The market lockdown is in effect until May 7.According to the Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center, Cambodia has one of the world’s lowest COVID …
Thailand Sets Daily Record of COVID-19 Deaths for Second Day
Thailand on Sunday set a record for the daily number of COVID-19 deaths for the second consecutive day, as authorities step up the response to a rapid third wave of infections after about a year of relative success slowing the spread of coronavirus.Thailand will slow down issuing travel documents for foreign nationals from India due to the outbreak of a new coronavirus B.1.617 variant, said Taweesin Wisanuyothin, a spokesman for the government’s COVID-19 taskforce.“For foreigners from India entering Thailand, right now we will slow this down,” said Taweesin, adding that 131 Thai nationals in India already registered to travel in May will still be allowed into the country.Thailand reported 2,438 new coronavirus cases and 11 new deaths, bringing the total number of infections to 55,460 and fatalities to 140 since the pandemic started last year.Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha on his Facebook page on Saturday said provincial governors can close public venues and impose curfews if necessary to stop the virus spreading.Authorities in the capital city of Bangkok have ordered the closure of venues including parks, gyms, cinemas and day care centers from April 26 through May 9.Shopping malls remain open, but the Thai Retailers Association has restricted store opening hours in Bangkok as well as in 17 more of the country’s 73 provinces.Thailand kept its number of infection cases far lower than many other countries throughout last year, but a new outbreak, spurred partly by the highly transmissible B.1.1.7 variant, has resulted in over 24,000 cases and 46 deaths in …
India Coronavirus Cases Set New Global Record, US Readies Help
India set a new global record of the most number of coronavirus infections in a day, as the United States said it was racing to send help to the country.India’s number of cases surged by 349,691 in the past 24 hours, the fourth straight day of record peaks, and hospitals in Delhi and across the country are turning away patients after running out of medical oxygen and beds.“Our hearts go out to the Indian people in the midst of the horrific COVID-19 outbreak. We are working closely with our partners in the Indian government, and we will rapidly deploy additional support to the people of India and India’s health care heroes,” U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Twitter.The United States has faced criticism in India for its export controls on raw materials for vaccines put in place via the Defense Production Act and an associated export embargo in February.The Serum Institute of India (SII), the world’s biggest vaccine maker, this month urged U.S. President Joe Biden to lift the embargo on U.S. exports of raw materials that is hurting its production of AstraZeneca shots.Others such as U.S. Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi urged the Biden administration to release unused vaccines to India.“When people in India and elsewhere desperately need help, we can’t let vaccines sit in a warehouse, we need to get them where they’ll save lives,” he said.India’s total tally of infections stands at 16.96 million and deaths 192,311 after 2,767 more died overnight, health ministry data showed.In the …
New Apps Help Muslims Find Place to Pray
During Ramadan many mosques are open, but because of attendance limits there’s no guarantee of a place to pray. But new phone apps can help solve that problem, as VOA’s Yuni Salim found out, in this report narrated by Nova Poerwadi. Camera: Yuni Salim Producer: Bronwyn Benito …
Vaccine Doses Pass 1 Billion Mark as Global Cases Set Another Record
The number of COVID-19 jabs administered globally surpassed the 1 billion mark on Saturday, offering hope after months of pandemic misery, even as the number of coronavirus cases worldwide hit another daily record, mainly because of an explosion of the virus in India.At least 1,002,938,540 doses have been administered in 207 countries and territories, according to an AFP tally.Nevertheless, the number of new infections topped 893,000 worldwide on Friday, a one-day record.And India accounted for more than a third of those, with authorities there announcing 346,786 more new cases on Saturday, a record for a single country since the start of the pandemic.The pandemic has now killed more than 3 million people worldwide since the outbreak emerged in China in December 2019.And India, with its population of 1.3 billion, has become the new hot spot, with the current surge blamed on a new virus variant and recent “super spreader” public events. The country reported 2,624 new deaths in the past 24 hours.Ambulances carrying COVID-19 patients line up waiting for their turn to be attended to at a dedicated COVID-19 government hospital in Ahmedabad, India, April 22, 2021. Indian authorities scrambled Saturday to get oxygen tanks to hospitals.Transporting oxygenOverwhelmed by the devastating new surge, the Indian government scrambled to organize special trains to get oxygen supplies to worst-hit cities.One “oxygen express” carrying 30,000 liters of oxygen arrived in northern Lucknow at dawn on Saturday, where armed guards were waiting to escort trucks to hospitals.The Indian air force also was being used …
French Isolation Study for 15 People Ends After 40 Days in Cave
Ever wonder what it would feel like to unplug from a hyperconnected world and hide away in a dark cave for 40 days? Fifteen people in France did just that, emerging Saturday from a scientific experiment to say that time seemed to pass more slowly in their cavernous underground abode in southwestern France, where they were deprived of clocks and light.With big smiles on their pale faces, the 15 left their voluntary isolation in the Lombrives cave to a round of applause and basked in the light while wearing special glasses to protect their eyes after so long in the dark. “It was like pressing pause,” said 33-year-old Marina Lançon, one of the seven female members in the experiment, adding she didn’t feel there was a rush to do anything.Although she wished she could have stayed in the cave a few days longer, she said she was happy to feel the wind blowing on her face again and hear the birds sing in the trees of the French Pyrénées. And she doesn’t plan to open her smartphone for a few more days, hoping to avoid a “too brutal” return to real life.For 40 days and 40 nights, the group lived in and explored the cave as part of the Deep Time project. There was no sunlight inside, the temperature was 10 degrees Celsius (50 F) and the relative humidity stood at 100%. The cave dwellers had no contact with the outside world, no updates on the pandemic nor any communications with friends …