Category: Feature Stories

WhatsApp is delaying the rollout of its new privacy rules by just over three months after criticism and an exodus of users. Previously, users were supposed to agree to the new terms by Feb. 8 if they wanted to continue using the chat service, which is owned by Facebook. Now the new privacy policy should only apply from May 15, as WhatsApp announced on Friday. According to WhatsApp, the changes are primarily about creating better opportunities for communication with companies. The end-to-end encryption, with which chat content is only visible…

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Since the beginning of the pandemic, more than two million people have already died worldwide after infection with the coronavirus. This was revealed today by data from the University of Johns Hopkins in Baltimore. Worldwide, there have been more than 93 million confirmed infections with the virus. Experts assume that the number of unreported cases is even higher. The university’s website is regularly updated with incoming data and therefore shows a higher level than the official figures from the World Health Organization (WHO). In some cases, however, the numbers have…

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After a new coronavirus variant was discovered in the UK, it seems that the virus is also “evolving” in the USA. Because there one discovered now a further mutation, which resembles the British variant, but is not directly “related”. Researchers emphasize, however, that there is not yet enough data and information about this mutation. Therefore, it is not possible to say anything more specific about it at this time. New coronavirus mutation in the USAIn the course of a long-term study, researchers in the USA have now discovered another coronavirus…

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Coronavirus vaccination for health workers and people at particular risk should begin in all countries around the world within the next 100 days. This was demanded by the head of the World Health Organization (WHO), Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, in Geneva today. Ghebreyesus repeatedly criticized “vaccination nationalism” – the fact that wealthy countries have secured virtually all the vaccine doses available, while low- and middle-income countries have hardly launched any vaccination campaigns. Another problem in many places is that many countries are unable to store sensitive vaccines such as those produced…

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It is true that tests will in all likelihood continue to play a role in the future as far as everyday life is concerned. But all of this is to be embedded in a testing concept that will only be applied after the lockdown. So anyone who doesn’t want to do without certain things in the near future will probably have to present a negative Corona test that is no more than 48 hours old. This will most likely include events with more than twenty people, as well as visits…

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Following approval by the EU, vaccination against the coronavirus has also begun inAustria. The vaccine from Biontech/Pfizer uses a new process: It is an mRNA vaccine. But what is this RNA anyway? The first vaccines against coronavirus have received regulatory approval. The vaccine from Biontech-Pfizer is already being administered in many countries, and the EU has also recently approved it. In Moderna’s vaccine, the next one is already in the starting blocks. Both are mRNA vaccines. But why are they exactly? RNA: messenger of informationRNA transmits information in human cells.…

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Christmas and New Year’s Eve were celebrated differently in 2020 – including spending more time on the phone and on the Internet.This is according to an analysis by telecommunications provider Drei, which compared data on voice telephony and data consumption, among other things, with Dec. 24/25 and Dec. 31/1 of the previous year. The results show that at both Christmas and New Year’s Eve, voice telephony increased by around a quarter (27 and 23 percent, respectively). Data usage was also significantly higher – at Christmas, Austrians consumed around 30 percent…

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Researchers have detected microplastics in commonly consumed shellfish. The small plastic particles were found in all the samples examined from different regions of the world. Mussels from the North Atlantic and the South Pacific are particularly contaminated. Vast amounts of plastic waste end up in the ocean. Mussels filter the water and thus also absorb tiny plastic particles. For their study in “Environmental Pollution,” researchers led by Martin Löder of the University of Bayreuth examined the pollution levels of the European blue mussel, the green mussel, the wavy carpet mussel…

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Federal President Alexander Van der Bellen promises a “better year” and wishes the people of Austria “the courage to dream.” The essential question for Van der Bellen is: “What future do we want to see?” Now is the time “when we have to look further” – “without being afraid to also think completely new, without being afraid to think too big,” the federal president said. “This year will be better” – that is what Federal President Alexander Van der Bellen promised in his New Year’s address on ORF, broadcasted on…

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