FEMA to Start Tracking Race of Disaster-Aid Applicants

The Federal Emergency Management Agency has received White House approval to begin tracking the race and ethnicity of people who apply for disaster relief so the agency can analyze whether there is discrimination in the distribution of billions of dollars of federal aid. FEMA published a notice yesterday inviting the public to comment over the next two … Read more

China’s population may start to shrink this year, new birth data suggest | Science

After many decades of growth, China’s population could begin to shrink this year, suggest data released yesterday by China’s National Bureau of Statistics. The numbers show that in 2021, China’s birth rate fell for the fifth year in a row, to a record low of 7.52 per 1000 people. Based on that number, demographers estimate … Read more

NASA’s newly launched X-ray space telescope is ready to start observing the cosmos

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — NASA’s newest space observatory, the Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer (IXPE), is set to begin spying on some of the universe’s most dramatic objects — black holes and neutron stars — potentially changing our understanding of the cosmos in the process.  The 730-pound (330 kilograms) IXPE satellite launched to orbit on Dec. … Read more

This Study on Teenager Sleep Impacts Has Once Again Proven School Should Start Later

The COVID-19 pandemic has taken a significant toll on people’s mental health, and young people are a particularly affected group, with school closures cutting off millions of both young and older children from their friends, teachers, and any semblance of normal life.   The negative psychological effects of this have been documented in many studies, … Read more

Online privacy: Will 2022 be the year we start taking things seriously?

Governments are drafting new laws to protect your privacy online, but are people even that bothered about companies using their data? Technology 28 December 2021 By Matthew Sparkes Governments are looking to control data giants Antons Jevterevs / Alamy Despite the Cambridge Analytica scandal, the Edward Snowden leaks and revelations from Facebook whistleblower Frances Haugen, … Read more