Rico

Go read this investigation into the real death toll from the Texas freeze

Hundreds more people died in Texas during the February deep freeze and blackouts than the state’s official count shows, according to an investigation by BuzzFeed News. The outages left millions of people without power as indoor temperatures dropped to deadly lows. Texas has so far acknowledged 151 winter storm-related deaths. BuzzFeed News, on the other… Read more

YouTuber Jake Paul being investigated for driving on protected Puerto Rico beach

Officials in Puerto Rico are reportedly investigating an incident involving YouTube star Jake Paul, after he was seen in a now-deleted video riding in a vehicle on a beach that’s a nesting area for turtles this time of year, the New York Post reported. “I have ordered an investigation to determine the circumstances surrounding the… Read more

State attorneys general pressure Facebook to abandon plans for children’s Instagram

In an open letter today, the National Association of Attorneys General called on Facebook to abandon plans for an Instagram platform focused on children under the age of 13. The letter is signed by 44 different state-level attorneys general (including non-states like Guam, Puerto Rico, and the Northern Mariana Islands), representing a majority of US… Read more

It’s not your imagination — that vaccination site really is crawling along

On paper, using a website to schedule your vaccine appointment seems like an easy way to gain access to much needed COVID-19 immunizations. But a new investigation from The Markup shows that state-run vaccine websites are slow to load on mobile devices, compounding what can be an already intimidating sign-up experience for people who are… Read more

Los Angeles’ creator community is starting to move out

Logan and Jake Paul moved to Los Angeles in 2014, at the height of Vine’s heyday, and not long after found themselves crammed into an apartment at 1600 Vine Road with other young creators hoping to make it big in America’s entertainment epicenter. Over the next few years, they became world-renowned celebrities (often for the… Read more

Visible customers can now get 5G and use eSIMs

Visible, the Verizon-owned MVNO, is adding some new services that make using it just a bit more like subscribing to one of the big wireless carriers. Starting today, Visible now supports activating service via eSIM. It only works with recent, compatible iPhones, but Visible says it will add support for Android devices soon. The company… Read more

Alphabet is shutting down Loon, its internet balloon company

Alphabet is shutting down Loon, its division that provides internet from floating balloons, according to a post on the blog of Alphabet’s X moonshot division. “The road to commercial viability has proven much longer and riskier than hoped,” Astro Teller, who leads X, wrote in the blog. “In the coming months, we’ll begin winding down… Read more

“Galaxy-sized” observatory finds evidence of gravitational wave background

A group of researchers may have found the first indication of the so-called gravitational wave background and hopes to open a completely new window into the universe for us soon. The extremely difficult and not yet unequivocal detection was achieved within the framework of the North American Nanohertz Observatory for Gravitational Waves (NANOGrav). Should the… Read more

Arecibo radio telescope: Puerto Rico allocates $ 8 million to rebuild it

The Arecibo radio telescope now seemed destined to remain only in the memories of scientists and enthusiasts, but the governor of Puerto Rico wanted to give a strong signal by allocating 8 million dollars for the reconstruction! by Mattia Speroni published 02 January 2021 , at 10: 01 in the Science and Technology channel NASA… Read more

Not too late for US contact tracking apps

Using the California Contact Tracking System, which was released on 10. It was launched on December 31st, almost half of all US citizens now have access to such an app. The services warn you if you have been around someone with Covid – 19 for too long. The Pandemic Technology Project is monitoring the apps… Read more