Retailers are turning to robots to perform essential tasks that employees are no longer able to do because of social distancing regulations. The robots are cutting costs and helping to reduce the spread of infections. But as VOA correspondent Mariama Diallo reports, some fear the growing use of automation threatens jobs just as unemployment soars. …
Colombia’s commerce regulator will be investigating whether Chinese-owned social media app TikTok complies with laws on the collection and treatment of children’s and adolescents’ personal data.The announcement Tuesday came four days after the Dutch Data Protection Authority (DPA) said it would begin looking into how TikTok handles the data of its millions of young users.TikTok has achieved monumental success during the COVID-19 outbreak, with millions of people worldwide using the platform for entertainment and content creation during the crisis.Owned by Chinese company ByteDance, TikTok is estimated to have between 500 …
As governments and communities around the world respond to the COVID-19 pandemic, Google and other tech giants have been tracking the dramatic changes in the mobility of people as they cope with lockdown measures. Reporter Veronica Balderas Iglesias talked to residents in and around Washington, D.C., to find out where people are going these days, and why. …
A new comet that was discovered in April using data from an orbiting observatory may be visible to the naked eye in the coming weeks. The comet was first spotted by amateur astronomer Michael Mattiazzo, who used data gathered by an instrument onboard the European Space Agency (ESA) and NASA’s Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) satellite. The instrument, known as the Solar Wind Anisotropies, or SWAN, maps the constantly outflowing solar wind in interplanetary space by focusing on a wavelength of ultraviolet light emitted by hydrogen atoms. The new comet was picked …
The Catskills village that calls itself “Trout Town USA” is all but a ghost town this spring. Fishing shops in Roscoe, New York, that should be overflowing with anglers are empty, due to the coronavirus outbreak. Guide services are idled, since they are nonessential businesses. Yet the region’s famed rivers remain open, mercifully. Like many who love the outdoors, I’ve been pinned down lately by stay-at-home guidance along with work, house chores and storms that have struck during days off. When I finally see a one-day window of clear weather, …
Tina Fey shed tears after announcing that more than $115 million was raised toward supporting New Yorkers impacted by COVID-19 during a virtual telethon. “Thank you, thank you,” said a tearful Fey, the host of the Rise Up New York! event Monday evening. The Emmy-winning actress along with other A-list celebrities from Barbra Streisand, Jennifer Lopez and Michael Strahan asked for donations to help relief and recovery efforts. “Our city is under attack, but we’ve been here before,” Robert De Niro said. “In the last 20 years, both 9/11 …
As governments and communities around the world respond to the COVID-19 pandemic, Google and other tech giants have been tracking the dramatic changes in the mobility of people as they cope with lockdown measures. Reporter Veronica Balderas Iglesias talked to residents in and around Washington, D.C., to find out where people are going these days, and why. …
The pandemic has kept many people quarantined at home with family and pets for weeks. A grassroots photography initiative called the Front Steps Project has inspired hundreds of photographers to document people in front of their homes during this extraordinary time. Matt Dibble follows one photographer connecting with neighbors in Oakland, California. …