All posts tagged: prepared

Will there be another pandemic after covid-19 and are we prepared?

Will there be another pandemic after covid-19 and are we prepared?

Published by skeptic

It has been just over five years since the beginning of covid-19 The coronavirus behind covid-19 has infected most people in the world, killing around 15 million people and leaving about 400 million individuals with long-term health problems. It also caused the biggest economic downturn since the Great Depression of the 1930s. Despite all this, it could have been much more devastating. “On the scale of pandemics, covid-19 was moderate,” says Mark Woolhouse at the University of Edinburgh, UK. “There will be others, and they very easily could be an awful lot worse than the one we had. This… Source link

How The Tampa Museum of Art Prepared for Hurricane Milton

How The Tampa Museum of Art Prepared for Hurricane Milton

Published by skeptic

Editor’s Note: This story is part of Newsmakers, a new ARTnews series where we interview the movers and shakers who are making change in the art world. As Hurricane Milton landed last night as a Category 3 hurricane, Tampa Museum of Art executive director Michael Tomor was prepared to be at the institution for at least three or four days. “When I moved down here, which was this morning, I have enough food and clothing and I have army cots for the next three to four days, because I actually have no idea when I can go home,” Tomor told ARTnews. “You just make it happen.” Related Articles Tomor’s choice to be at the museum was due to his home being located in a red Zone A, which the Florida Division of Emergency Management defines as “most vulnerable and the most likely to evacuate first.” And while the museum is also in a red Zone A, Tomor said he needed to be “in a position of decision making” in case anything happened, and that he felt very safe inside. …

Revolutionary biohybrid robots are coming. Are we prepared?

Revolutionary biohybrid robots are coming. Are we prepared?

Published by skeptic

Sign up for the Smarter Faster newsletter A weekly newsletter featuring the biggest ideas from the smartest people Notice: JavaScript is required for this content. In 2014, researchers at the University of Illinois created a microscopic swimming robot. This accomplishment alone might not have attracted much attention. But what set it apart was how they constructed their creation: with cardiac muscle cells derived from rats. This was one of the very first “biohybrid robots.” With perceptions shaped by decades of science fiction, the general public has long viewed robots as nonbiological entities. Their bones are metal, their hearts are batteries, and their muscles are motors, pistons, and gears. They might be enveloped in real-looking synthetic skin, but this is merely a cloak for their inorganic interiors. Now, scientific advances have increasingly shown that biological beings aren’t just born; they can be built. Two years after the biohybrid swimmers, researchers at Harvard scaled up the idea to make the first biohybrid “animal” — a 16-millimeter-long ray. With a body of elastomer, a skeleton of gold, and …

Britain wants Labour – but isn’t prepared for the consequences

Britain wants Labour – but isn’t prepared for the consequences

Published by Sam

Of all the peculiarities of Natalie Elphicke’s defection to Labour, perhaps none is as curious as her insistence that Labour occupy the “centre-ground”. Though the received wisdom is that Keir Starmer is a harmless moderate, there is little evidence to back it up. As recently as 2020, the Labour leader promised to “make the moral case for socialism”. His shadow chancellor, Rachel Reeves, intends to “rebalance between market forces and state control, tipping more power towards the latter”, and believes Nigel Lawson was “wrong not only in application but in theory”. And his shadow climate secretary, Ed Miliband, believes we can power a nation of nearly 70 million people on energy which can disappear completely for days at a time. What we know of the agenda is no less terrifying than the views of those peddling it. Miliband last week confirmed that Labour will introduce new net zero laws forcing big companies and banks to limit their carbon footprint. Nevermind that Britain’s top businesses are already regulated to within an inch of their lives – the …

Be prepared while on the road with this fast-charging jump starter & power bank, now on sale for .99

Be prepared while on the road with this fast-charging jump starter & power bank, now on sale for $69.99

Published by skeptic

We may earn revenue from the products available on this page and participate in affiliate programs. Learn more › Although we never expect our car battery to fail, emergencies can happen unexpectedly. The innovative TYPE S 12V 6.0L Jump Starter & Power Bank with Jump Guide transforms drivers’ management of roadside emergencies. Plus, it’s currently available with a $50 discount. The TYPE S portable jump box is designed to breathe life into 6.0-liter gasoline and diesel engines, ensuring you’re prepared for any car emergency. Built-in smart cables ensure easy setup and enhance safety with spark-proof technology and reverse polarity protection. This feature means even the most novice users can operate it without fear of mishaps. With a convenient integrated LCD screen, you’ll be able to see step-by-step instructions to get you quickly back on track.  Moreover, this device is far from just a jump starter. The TYPE S doubles as a portable power bank and lighting device. With an 8,000mAh capacity and Qi wireless charging, it effortlessly recharges smartphones, tablets, and other USB-C-compatible devices. This …

Dust storms are becoming ‘more frequent and severe’ – so are we prepared?

Dust storms are becoming ‘more frequent and severe’ – so are we prepared?

Published by skeptic

Major sources of dust include the Gobi and Sahara deserts, with North Africa already accounting for 55 percent of global emissions.  If this latter figure increases in the years to come, that could well spell trouble for Europe. Yet the continent is no stranger to sand and dust storms. In September 2023, parts of the UK woke up to hazy skies and orange dust covering their cars, and over the Easter weekend this year, another 2,000-mile Sahara dust cloud hit the continent, branded by the EU’s Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service (CAMS) as particularly “intense”. At the time, Switzerland’s airCHeck system flagged high levels of pollution: 180,000 tonnes of dust were recorded by meteorologists, twice as much as in recent years. “The last few years have been really high in terms of African dust storms affecting western Europe, particularly Spain, Portugal, southern France and Italy,” said Claire Ryder, an associate professor in meteorology from the University of Reading.  The impacts of such weather events on our health are obvious: dust and sand storms have been linked …

I’ve always been untidy. Nothing prepared me, however, for the mess having a child would make | Rhiannon Lucy Cosslett

I’ve always been untidy. Nothing prepared me, however, for the mess having a child would make | Rhiannon Lucy Cosslett

Published by skeptic

Our flat is a mess. I write this looking at a pile of laundry taller than I am, besides which are two semi-unpacked suitcases and a Fisher-Price Little Snoopy that are conspiring to break my neck. Next to me is a used Calpol syringe, an ear thermometer, three mugs, lots of loose pages from the novel I’m writing, and a multipack of Pom-Bear crisps. I have always been messy and, having grown up in a house with a brother whose autism manifested itself in disorder, have a fairly high tolerance for chaos. But nothing prepared me for the mess having a child would create. The problem is less acute with a baby. A baby comes with a lot of stuff, granted, and you are too sleep- deprived to think straight, let alone approach the housework, but a small child is at least somewhat contained. The mess a toddler creates is unholy in comparison. When my son doesn’t want something, he simply throws it over his shoulder, the way a pissed person might a kebab. A …

‘I am prepared to die’: Mandela’s speech which shook apartheid | Nelson Mandela

‘I am prepared to die’: Mandela’s speech which shook apartheid | Nelson Mandela

Published by Sam

“Accused number one” had been speaking from the dock for almost three hours by the time he uttered the words that would ultimately change South Africa. The racially segregated Pretoria courtroom listened in silence as Nelson Mandela’s account of his lifelong struggle against white minority rule reached its conclusion. Judge Quintus de Wet managed not to look at Mandela for the majority of his address. But before accused number one delivered his final lines, defence lawyer Joel Joffe remembered, “Mandela paused for a long time and looked squarely at the judge” before saying: “During my lifetime, I have dedicated my life to this struggle of the African people. I have fought against white domination, and I have fought against Black domination. I have cherished the ideal of a democratic and free society in which all persons will live together in harmony and with equal opportunities. It is an ideal for which I hope to live for and to see realised. But, my Lord, if it needs be, it is an ideal for which I am …

Cavaliers Feel Better Prepared for Playoff Stage After ’23 Flop, Face Magic in First-Round Series

Cavaliers Feel Better Prepared for Playoff Stage After ’23 Flop, Face Magic in First-Round Series

Published by skeptic

CLEVELAND (AP) — Cavaliers center Jarrett Allen doesn’t regret the harsh, eye-popping review he gave of his postseason performance a year ago. Looking back, he told the truth about himself — and the Cavs. In the aftermath of Cleveland being pummeled and knocked out in the first round of last year’s playoffs by the much tougher New York Knicks, Allen admitted that he wasn’t ready for the stage or the spotlight. “The lights were brighter than expected,” he said after the Knicks won the series 4-1. The candid, headline-sparking comment was vintage Allen. And as the affable big man and his teammates prepared to face the Orlando Magic in this year’s opening round, he brushed off his assessment as idle chatter. “I’ve said a lot worse stuff in my life,” he joked Thursday. Photos You Should See – April 2024 Allen’s oft-cited quote will either fade or grow depending on how the Cavs play in their No. 4 vs. No. 5 series against the youthful Magic, who make up for any lack of postseason experience …