Photo: Daniel Bernard/Unsplash (CC0)
In today’s edition, seven million South Koreans are set to get free unlimited data even after exhausting their monthly limits, France moves away from US tech-centricity, and conservationists are reconnecting over 150 hectares of fragmented forest in Madagascar.
In a move that would protect the communication rights of approximately seven million South Koreans, the science ministry has announced that mobile phone users are legally entitled to access to basic data at a reduced speed, even after exhausting their monthly limit. Although the 400/kbps speed is insufficient for data-intensive tasks, it would still let users send messages or use map apps.
Source: Yonhap News Agency
While there is no concrete timeline in place for weaning off Windows, the French government joins a growing number of organisations looking to find alternatives to American firms that are increasingly stretching their monopolistic tendencies across borders.
Source: Gizmodo
Conservationists are planning to reconnect more than 150 hectares of forest between Andasibe-Mantadia National Park and the Analamazoatra Special Reserve. Even in its early stages, lemurs are already using the corridor.
Source: Mongabay
New research from Ecuador indicates that rainforests are able to recover much faster after deforestation than previously thought. In fact, after approximately thirty years, local biodiversity appears to largely return to its original level.
Source: Earth
Electricity demand is much lower in the summer when the weather is warmer and the days longer, while solar power generation is higher. Now, households and businesses could get free or cheaper electricity from their energy company for running appliances during periods of excess supply, such as sunny weekends.
Source: BBC News
Researchers have developed the PhenMap method with the goal of sparing potentially thousands of patients from being given drugs that would be ineffective in fighting their cancers. The tool has let scientists “integrate complex data on the genetic makeup of the tumour”.
Source: The Guardian
The Strengthen Alabama Homes programme has installed fortified roofs on 53,000 homes in the state since 2016 – all funded by insurance companies, not homeowners. The results are promising: in the aftermath of Hurricane Sally in 2020, the fortified roofs reduced insurance claim frequency by 56%, and when these homes were damaged, the losses were much smaller.
Source: Good Good Good
Wildflower meadows are one of the most diverse natural habitats, but the rise of modern agriculture has shrunk their natural habitat. While there historically hasn’t been much of a focus on urban areas for reviving populations, this is changing: cities are often associated with environmental stress, which wildflowers thrive on as stress keeps competition from other plants down.
Source: BBC News
In the Bwindi Impenetrable Forest – one of the few places where gorillas still exist in the wild – conservationists are helping local communities better understand the animals and tap into the potential for ecotourism over poaching.
Source: BBC News
After a decades-long project, the mega-complex of artificial lakes built from abandoned coal mines in Eastern Germany will hit a new milestone this summer: it’ll be almost as large as Italy’s Lake Como, thanks to the completion of Lake Sedlitz. This final addition to the 14,000 hectare Lusatian Lakeland will be open for swimming and boating for the first time at the end of this month.
Source: Euronews
