WHO partners with Vancouver tech company to help doctors prescribe the right antibiotic drugs

The World Health Organization has selected a Vancouver tech health company to distribute its latest guidance on the use of antibiotics.


The WHO says the overuse of antibiotics is leading to antimicrobial resistance, which contributes to millions of deaths worldwide each year.© CBC

Story by Eva Uguen-Csenge • Thursday Dec. 8, 2022.

It's the first time the WHO has created a guide for health-care providers prescribing antibiotics.

The WHO says antimicrobial resistance is a threat to global health and contributes to millions of deaths worldwide each year and attributes it in part to "inappropriate use and overuse" of antibiotics.

The new handbook, called the AWaRe Antibiotic Book, is aimed at helping physicians prescribe the right drugs in the right amounts for more than 30 of the most common clinical infections in children and adults.
Aware handbook available on app

Vancouver-based Firstline has been selected as the company to distribute the handbook on a global scale through its website and free app.

Chief strategy officer Jason Buck says the guide will be an easy-to-use tool for prescribers when considering which antibiotic to prescribe their patients.

"It's normally working your way down a decision tree or a guidance pathway for treating a 12-year-old with meningitis in the ER, for example," he explained.


According to Buck and the WHO, the guide will be especially useful in places around the world where the WHO is the only reliable source of health guidance.

"It will be used by people who don't have access to the experts at Fraser Health or Vancouver Island Health or Interior, etc.," said Buck. "In other countries, there is simply no effective dissemination of clinical knowledge, so doctors are acting on habit or out of their guidance or even no guidance."

Canadian researchers produced antibiotic database

The research that led to the creation of the Aware handbook is also a Canadian contribution.

The database and classification of antibiotics were created by a team of scientists at McMaster University, led by Mark Loeb, a professor and infectious diseases physician.

Loeb says they determine which drugs are best at treating certain conditions — also called efficacy — by looking at the results of randomized controlled trials.

"There were trials that would compare one antibiotic versus another antibiotic, and so we made a determination based on calling the evidence for all of these syndromes," he said.

Loeb says that work also led to the creation of a category of antibiotics classified as "reserve" antibiotics.

According to the definition on the Firstline app, reserve antibiotics are only to be used as a "last resort" to treat life-threatening infections due to drug-resistant bacteria.

"They might be more likely to lead to some sort of resistance. Those you want to watch," explained Loeb.

"Where you have the sort of designer antibiotics that, you know, you don't want people using every day. You want it to be very selective, very specific because if you overuse it, resistance can develop with those."

The Firstline app says the use of reserve antibiotics should be closely monitored.

National Defence to probe past contracts awarded to firm now tied to China

Story by Aaron D'Andrea • Thursday Dec. 8, 2022.

The Department of National Defence (DND) says it’s investigating contracts previously awarded to a firm that now has reported ties to the Chinese government, as concerns of foreign interference in Canada grow.


Police teams conduct surveillance above the Department of National Defence headquarters in Ottawa on Tuesday, Nov. 11, 2014. A Canadian Armed Forces officer who called for other military members not to help distribute COVID-19 vaccines. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Justin Tang© JDT/

Ontario-based Sinclair Technologies, which designs and manufactures communications equipment, was given contracts for DND work between 2009 and 2013. The 12 contracts, worth $252,296 in total, were for work on “antennas, waveguides and related equipment,” procurement data shows.

National Defence headquarters, Maritime Forces Atlantic, Canadian Special Operations Forces Command headquarters and CFB Esquimalt were listed as the primary end users. A department official told Global News the contracts appeared to be mainly for antenna devices that amplify and receive but don’t transmit information.

“We are aware of the concerns surrounding Sinclair Technologies. We are investigating these procurements and the way in which this equipment is used, alongside counterparts in other government departments,” a DND spokesperson said Thursday.


“The government will take all measures necessary to ensure the security of our infrastructure.”

Video: Liberals address questions over terminated defence contract with Chinese links

Read more:
RCMP contract awarded to firm reportedly tied to China ‘disconcerting,’ Trudeau says

Sinclair, whose parent company is owned by a business that has ties to the Chinese government, made headlines Wednesday after Radio-Canada reported on a contract it was awarded last year for RCMP radio work.

That revelation drew criticism in Ottawa, and a promised review by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, whose government recently unveiled a policy reset on how Canada handles investment, co-operation, competition and strategic challenges posed by China.

Sinclair Technologies has been awarded 24 government contracts by Public Service and Procurement Canada (PSPC) since 2009. Aside from the DND, Sinclair has done work for the RCMP and Fisheries and Oceans Canada.

Three of the 24 contracts have been awarded to the company since 2017, when Hytera Communications bought Sinclair's parent company, Norsat International. Two contracts given to Sinclair for RCMP work in 2013 and 2016 expired in 2018 and 2019, respectively.


The Chinese government owns about 10 per cent of Hytera through an investment fund, Radio-Canada reported on Dec. 7. That firm is blacklisted over national security concerns by the United States Federal Communications Commission.

Read more:
Canadians need to be ‘reassured’ about foreign interference concerns, Trudeau says

The $549,637 RCMP contract that made headlines this week was awarded to Sinclair on Oct. 6, 2021, for a radio frequency filtering system. Protecting the RCMP’s land-based radio communications from eavesdropping is one of the system’s purposes. It is valid until March 31, 2024.

The RCMP told Global News in a statement Wednesday that radio frequency filtration equipment “poses no security concerns nor does it allow access to radio communications.” PSPC told Radio-Canada it did not take security concerns and Sinclair’s ownership into consideration during the bidding process.

“The contract was awarded in accordance with federal government procurement policies and regulations, and in accordance with the trade agreements. PSPC acted as the contracting authority for the standing offer Arrangement. The RCMP supported PSPC to ensure operational requirements were met,” the RCMP said.

Video: Expert says Canada needs to ‘clean up’ alleged Chinese interference

The majority of the 11 RCMP contracts awarded to Sinclair over the years were for “antennas, waveguides and related equipment.” Two contracts were given for “radio and television communications equipment, except airborne.” While some RCMP contracts have no value associated with them, one contract that was awarded in 2013 and expired in 2018 was worth $1.5 million.

Sinclair was awarded a contract for Fisheries and Ocean in 2019 to do structural and prefabricated work. The contract was worth $93,020 and expired in 2020.

PSPC, Fisheries and Oceans Canada and Sinclair did not return a request for comment by publication time.

Read more:
Canadian officials knew for years existing laws didn’t curb foreign influence

Radio-Canada’s revelation on Wednesday comes amid growing concerns of foreign interference, including criminal charges being laid against an employee of Hydro-Quebec for allegedly spying for China.

Trudeau said in Montreal on Dec. 7 that it was “disconcerting” that federal civil servants awarded an RCMP contract to a company with Chinese government ties. He and Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino vowed to do an assessment of the contract and its awarding process.

Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre said on Wednesday that the contract should be “banned and reversed” by the government as soon as possible.

Radio-Canada’s report is the latest in a string of stories on alleged Chinese interference and influence in Canada.

Global News reported in November that Trudeau and members of his cabinet were allegedly briefed in January 2022 that the Chinese Consulate in Toronto directed a clandestine election-interference network in 2019, which intelligence sources allege is a loosely affiliated group of Liberals and Conservatives funded by the Chinese Communist Party to help advance its political objectives in Canada.

Other intelligence sources told Global News that the consulate disbursed $250,000 through proxies to the network, which allegedly included an Ontario MPP and at least 11 federal candidates and 14 staffers.

Read more:
Canada struggles with curbing foreign interference — ‘Often we cannot do anything’

While the briefings did not conclude that Beijing funded any campaigns directly, that’s how the issue has been interpreted at times in the political debate in the House of Commons.

Furthermore, a Spanish civil rights group, Safeguard Defenders, revealed in a recent report that there were Chinese police operations around the world, including three in Toronto and at least one in Vancouver, and the RCMP has since said it is investigating those reports.

Earlier in November, Foreign Affairs Minister Melanie Joly warned that Canadians should consider the “geopolitical risks” of doing business in China. She later released Ottawa’s long-awaited Indo-Pacific strategy last month, calling China an “increasingly disruptive global power” in a region where multiple countries are showing major economic growth.

The RCMP has said foreign interference has emerged as a priority for law enforcement, adding that it is working with at-risk sectors to improve Canada’s response and resiliency.

NDP urges House of Commons to pass bill banning spanking, physical punishment of children

Story by Peter Zimonjic, Holly Cabrera Dec. 8, 2022.

The New Democrats are urging the House of Commons to pass legislation that would make it illegal to spank children or use any physical force to discipline or punish them.

Bill C-273 would eliminate section 43 of the Criminal Code, a provision that allows parents and teachers to use force in limited situations providing it is "reasonable under the circumstances."

Citing allegations of abuse at Jack Hulland Elementary School in Yukon, NDP House leader Peter Julian said section 43 must be repealed because it permits physical force against children which can manifest as abuse.

"As long as we have a Criminal Code that permits the use of force against children, we will sadly see other examples across the country of the use of force," said Julian.

Julian said the Supreme Court's 2004 ruling, which outlined what "reasonable under the circumstances" means in terms of force, has not worked to prevent abuse.


NDP House leader Peter Julian wants the House of Commons to pass his private members' bill that would outlaw the physical punishment of children.

© Sean Kilpatrick/The Canadian Press

"For as long as there is ambiguity around the use of force against children, regardless of Supreme Court decisions that provide some kind of framework around it, we will continue, sadly, to hear of these incidents and allegations and many of these allegations will be horrific," he said.

C-273 was introduced in the House of Commons in May. The NDP described it as a response to one of the calls to action in the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada's final report. The bill is in second reading.

The question of whether parents should be allowed to spank their children has been a topic of debate in Canada for decades. In 1984, the Law Reform Commission of Canada recommended repealing section 43 for teachers but said it would unduly encroach upon family life if it was extended to parents.

In 2004, the Senate's human rights committee recommended a full repeal of section 43 and called for a public education campaign highlighting the negative effects of corporal punishment.

Those seeking a repeal of the section have argued that using physical force of any kind to discipline or punish a child is never justified. Others have argued that while child abuse is wrong, striking a child in a minor way to correct behaviour that could put the child or the parent at risk should not open up parents to criminal prosecution.

Canada's laws governing the use of force to discipline children are almost as old as the country itself. Here is a look at where the law stands on the use of force on children and what could happen if section 43 is repealed.

Is it legal to physically punish children in Canada?

Yes. Canada's first Criminal Code, which came into force in 1892, made it legal to use "lawful correction" or "reasonable chastisement" to discipline children.

The law did change over the years to make it illegal to physically punish apprentices. Today, section 43 sets out broad limits on how force can be used on children. Here's what it says:

"Every school teacher, parent or person standing in the place of a parent is justified in using force by way of correction toward a pupil or child, as the case may be, who is under his care, if the force does not exceed what is reasonable under the circumstances."

Is physical punishment constitutional?

In 2004, the Supreme Court issued a split ruling that saw six justices uphold section 43. Their decision concluded that physically punishing children is constitutional, but must be governed by strict rules and only performed by teachers or parents.

The ruling also said that the force used has to be for "corrective purposes" to address a child's actual behaviour with the intent to restrain, control or express disapproval.

The ruling also said force can only be applied to children over the age of two. The court said children under that age, or developmentally disadvantaged children, would not have the capacity to understand why they were being punished.

The court defined physical force that is "reasonable under the circumstances" as punishment that is not severe enough to harm or degrade the child and is not carried out in anger.

Parents are also not legally allowed to use objects like belts or rulers to hit their children and cannot strike children in the head. They also can't hit teenagers because of the risk of fostering antisocial behaviour.

The court said teachers cannot hit kids under their care but can use force in some situations — to restrain a child, remove them from a class or separate fighting children.

Have people tried to reform or repeal the law?

There have been many attempts to repeal or change the law over the years. The most recent was a Senate bill in 2015 which would have repealed section 43.

That same year, the government of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau committed to implementing the 94 calls to action in the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada's final report — one of which demands the repeal of section 43.



In 2015, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau committed to implementing the calls to action in the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada's final report — one of which was to repeal section 43.

© Sean Kilpatrick/The Canadian Press

Other attempts have been made over the years through private members bills introduced in the House of Commons or Senate.

The United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child has also recommended repealing section 43.

Would repealing section 43 have consequences?

Without section 43, parents who use force against a child without their consent would face prosecution under section 265 of the Criminal Code — which prohibits the non-consensual use of force — and section 279, which prohibits forcible confinement.

Some have warned that removing section 43 from the Criminal Code could open parents up to criminal prosecution for strapping an uncooperative child in a car seat or stopping a child from running into traffic.

Without section 43, parents and teachers would still have some legal protections under common law, which offers a defence of physical force in emergency situations.

Those situations include: using force to protect yourself or others from imminent danger, using force because there is no other reasonable legal alternative, and using force in situations where the harm inflicted through physical punishment results in a better outcome than the harm caused by not taking action.

Chinese students develop 'invisibility cloak' to hide from AI security cameras

Story by Lynn Chaya 

Four graduate students from the University of Wuhan in China have invented a low-cost “invisibility cloak” that hides the human body from AI-monitored security cameras, concealing the identity of the individual wearing it.


The coat's embedded thermal device emits varying heat temperatures — creating an unusual heat pattern — to fool security cameras that use infrared thermal imaging.© Provided by National Post

By day, the InvisiDefense coat resembles a regular camouflage garment but has a customized pattern designed by an algorithm that blinds the camera. By night, the coat’s embedded thermal device emits varying heat temperatures — creating an unusual heat pattern — to fool security cameras that use infrared thermal imaging.

“Nowadays, many surveillance devices can detect human bodies,” said Professor Wang Zheng who oversaw the project.

Privacy watchdogs call for laws limiting police use of facial recognition

MPs call for 'national pause' on use of facial recognition, particularly by police

“Cameras on the road have pedestrian detection functions and smart cars can identify pedestrians, roads and obstacles. Our InvisDefense allows the camera to capture you, but it cannot tell if you are human,” he said in the report.

In their preliminary trials, the students tested the coat on campus security cameras in an attempt to evade recognition. Results showed a 57 per cent reduction in the accuracy of pedestrian detection. The challenge, they said, was developing a coat that fooled both the human eye and cameras.

“We had to use an algorithm to design a least conspicuous image that could render camera vision ineffective,” Wei Hui, the computer science graduate student who designed the coat’s algorithm, told Vice News.

China’s techno-tyranny possesses some of the world’s most advanced surveillance systems, with millions of cameras on street corners and at the entrance of buildings. The police use it to track dissidents, ethnic minorities and migrant workers.

During China’s recent wave of anti-lockdown protests, many were arrested using facial recognition technology.

“China’s ‘Big Brother’ technology is never switched off, and the government hopes it will now show its effectiveness in snuffing out unrest,” Alkan Akad, a China researcher at Amnesty International, told The New York Times.

Many countries have laws to protect its citizens from being surveilled using facial recognition technology.

In 2020, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police faced public outcry when they had announced their use of Clearview AI software despite having previously denied it. The company’s algorithm matches faces to a database of more than 20 billion images indexed from the internet, including social media applications.

The facial recognition software was used in 15 child sexual exploitation cases, and said other units were using it on a “trial basis” to “determine its utility to enhance criminal investigations.”

Clearview AI halted its services in Canada and suspended its contract with the RCMP in July 2020, in response to a joint federal-provincial privacy investigation.

In February 2021, Canada’s federal privacy watchdog declared that “what Clearview does is mass surveillance, and it is illegal.”

According to an October report released by MPs, Canada’s current legislation doesn’t adequately regulate facial recognition or artificial intelligence technologies.

“Since such a legislative framework does not exist at the time a national pause should be imposed on the use of FRT, particularly with respect to police services,” the report said.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 8, 2022

'Potential culture clash': Some northerners critical of federal firearms bill


YELLOWKNIFE — Some northerners are criticizing proposed changes to a bill intended to address gun violence in Canada, saying they are confusing and could negatively affect hunters.



The Liberal government proposed an amendment to strengthen Bill C-21 late last month that would enshrine the definition of a prohibited "assault-style" firearm in law, alongside a list of guns it said should be banned.

While some have praised the move, critics argue it could affect several rifles and shotguns primarily used for hunting and sport.

"That is a bit worrying because it seems to be a lot of creep in the scope of the bill, which doesn't seem to have been the original intent of it," said Jonathan Rocheleau, president of the Yellowknife Shooting Club.

Rocheleau noted he supports sections of the bill that aim to increase protection for victims of domestic violence. He said he'd like to see more rationale for the amendment and for some of the firearm models listed.

Jimmy Kalinek, an Inuvialuit hunter in Inuvik, N.W.T., said he feels the proposed changes are "an overreach from the government."

"My first thought was that's just ridiculous," he said.

"A gun is just a gun. It takes a person to use it for violence, to kill people."

Kalinek said he was raised to harvest on the land, something he is passing on to his children and others. He added that hunting is important in the North as the costs of groceries and supplies are high.

The federal government should take a serious look at what guns are restricted, Kalinek said, and ensure that Indigenous people are at the table when making those decisions.

Jared Gonet, who is a citizen of the Taiku River Tlinget First Nation and lives in Whitehorse, said the proposed amendment has created a lot of confusion and there hasn't been proper consultation.


"I think it'll probably lead to more potential culture clash, if anything," he said. "My big worry is that First Nations specifically ... will feel a bit more nervous about going out and hunting, connecting with their culture."

Gonet said that while he does not support banning hunting rifles, he does support prohibitions on handguns and assault-style weapons.

The federal government in May 2020 banned more than 1,500 "assault-style" firearms. In October, it introduced a national freeze on handguns.

Bill C-21 is currently being reviewed by members of Parliament.

Lori Idlout, the NDP member of Parliament for Nunavut, said in a statement that she supports legislation that ensures people are safe from gun violence, adding there's no reason to have a "military-style gun" in urban centres, communities, or near schools and playgrounds.

She said, however, that the new amendment was introduced at the "last minute" and she's taking concerns about its potential effects seriously.

"Rifles are not just for hunting, they ensure our safety from predatory animals, such as polar bears," she said.

"There is still time to make this right and we will keep working to make sure any amendments to the bill will not ban guns primarily used for hunting and for the safety of northerners. We will not support any amendments that disrespect treaty rights and the rights of Indigenous peoples.”

Liberal N.W.T. MP Michael McLeod said he's happy about many sections of the bill, but there is some confusion due to a lack of consultation.

"I really would like to see us take some time and revisit what's in the bill," he said. "We need to come back with a good plan, a clear plan that people can clearly understand."

Liberal Yukon MP Brendan Hanley said hunters, Indigenous leaders and outfitters have reached out to share concerns about the proposed amendment.

"I'm working with my rural colleagues, I'm working with my fellow MPs on this and the minister and his staff, and I'm confident that we can make some progress."

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said in a press conference earlier this week that the bill is being reviewed to ensure it does not capture firearms primarily used for hunting, but targets "the most dangerous weapons."

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 8, 2022.

____

This story was produced with the financial assistance of the Meta and Canadian Press News Fellowship.

Emily Blake, The Canadian Press

Ottawa is ‘fine-tuning’ list of banned ‘assault-style’ guns amid criticism: Trudeau

Story by Rachel Gilmore •Thursday Dec. 8, 2022.


Prime Minister Justin Trudeau arrives to a cabinet meeting on Parliament Hill in Ottawa, on Tuesday, Nov. 29, 2022. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick© THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick

The government is "committed" to moving ahead with its bid to enshrine a definition of an "assault-style firearm" into law — but this is currently "fine-tuning" the details, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said.

The Liberals also called Thursday for an emergency meeting to invite witnesses to share their concerns about the proposed legislation, which is currently being studied at the House of Commons public safety committee.

The Liberal amendment to gun law reform Bill C-21, which was tabled in a committee meeting last month, is facing questions about how far it will expand the scope of weapons that are prohibited in Canada. The move prompted blowback from numerous hunters, including the Montreal Canadiens star Carey Price, who called the proposed legislation "unjust."

Read more:
Trudeau says firearms bill doesn’t target hunters as Carey Price, critics attack reforms

Walking into a cabinet meeting on Thursday, Trudeau confirmed he has no plans to drop his legislative push to enshrine a legal definition for "assault-style" firearms — a term that isn't currently defined in Canadian law, despite being regularly used by Liberal politicians.

Automatic assault weapons are already prohibited in Canada.

"The definition is something that we are very much committed to. But the actual list that goes with it, that's something that we're consulting on right now," Trudeau told reporters.

"Because we understand that there are concerns by hunters and farmers that we're going after their shotguns and rifles. We are not. And that's what we're going to make sure with fine-tuning of the legislation."

Video: ‘Leave hunters alone’: Conservative MPs attack Mendicino over proposed gun safety bill

The federal government last month proposed amending its gun control bill to define what an “assault-style” weapon is. It includes a clause that would ban any rifle or shotgun that could potentially accept a magazine with more than five rounds.

It builds on a regulatory ban of more than 1,500 models of what the government considers “assault-style” firearms last year.

The proposed reforms have reopened the debate about what firearms should be prohibited, restricted or non-restricted in the country. There have also been concerns about whether the criteria used to make those decisions are being consistently applied, as the definition applies only to some variations of certain models, depending on bore diameter and muzzle energy.

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‘We’re not going after hunting rifles or shotguns,’ PM says

Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre has said the amendment unfairly targets hunters and farmers, while failing to address the country’s issues with gun violence.

During Wednesday's question period, Poilievre pointed out that the Liberal MP for Yukon reportedly said he would not support Bill C-21 and had called the amendments "upsetting."

"Mr. Speaker, we are singing from a very different song sheet than the inflationary government. Do members know who else is singing from a different song sheet? The Liberal MP for the Yukon. He has confirmed what Conservatives have been saying all along," Poilievre said.

"Canadians do not want to ban hunters; they want to stop criminals."

The amendment's late addition also came under fire from NDP MP Alistair MacGregor, who said the committee looking at the bill has "not had enough time to properly consult with constituents, with hunters, with farmers who may be adversely impacted by this."

"For this very substantial amendment to drop on our lap at the 11th hour is an abuse of process," he told reporters in a press conference earlier this week.

Read more:
Assault-style weapon ban won’t target ordinary guns despite ‘fearmongering,’ minister says

As criticism continues to swirl, Trudeau said Tuesday that the government is "moving forward on a ban on assault-style weapons."

"We did that two years ago, we're now enshrining it into law and ensuring that going forward, all assault-style weapons that might be sold in Canada will not be sold in Canada. And for that, we have to establish a definition because we know gun makers keep creating new variations to try to get around a list that we've put forward," he explained.

"So the main part of it is a set of definitions of what characterizes an assault-style weapon, the kinds of weapons that are used to kill the largest number of people as quickly as possible."

He said it's a "challenge" that there are "many guns" used for hunting and sport shooting that "may or may not fall on one side of the definition or the other."

"So what we're looking at right now is where to make sure that that line is right. To keep communities safe, to ban military-style assault weapons, and to ensure that we're not going after shotguns and rifles that are primarily used for hunting," he said.

"It's a complex issue."

— with files from Global News' Aaron D'Andrea

Facebook knew Instagram was pushing girls to dangerous content: internal document

Story by CBSNews • Sunday - 11/12/22

A previously unpublished internal document reveals Facebook, now known as Meta, knew Instagram was pushing girls to dangerous content.

Suing Social Media: Families say social media algorithms put their kids in danger | 60 Minutes

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Duration 13:28

In 2021, according to the document, an Instagram employee ran an internal investigation on eating disorders by opening a false account as a 13-year-old girl looking for diet tips. She was led to graphic content and recommendations to follow accounts titled "skinny binge" and "apple core anorexic."

Other internal memos show Facebook employees raising concerns about company research that revealed Instagram made 1-in-3 teen girls feel worse about their bodies, and that teens who used the app felt higher rates of anxiety and depression.

Attorney Matt Bergman started the Social Media Victims Law Center after reading the so-called "Facebook Papers," disclosed by whistleblower Frances Haugen last year. He's now working with more than 1,200 families who are pursuing lawsuits against social media companies. Next year, Bergman and his team will start the discovery process for the consolidated federal cases against Meta and other companies in multimillion dollar lawsuits that he says are more about changing policy than financial compensation.

"Time after time, when they have an opportunity to choose between safety of our kids and profits, they always choose profits," Bergman told 60 Minutes correspondent Sharyn Alfonsi.



Matt Bergman© Provided by CBS News

Bergman spent 25 years as a product liability attorney specializing in asbestos and mesothelioma cases. He argues the design of social media platforms is ultimately hurting kids.

"They have intentionally designed a product-- that is addictive," Bergman said. "They understand that if children stay online, they make more money. It doesn't matter how harmful the material is."

"So, the fact that these kids ended up seeing the things that they saw, that were so disturbing," Alfonsi asked, "wasn't by accident; it was by design?"

"Absolutely," Bergman said. "This is not a coincidence."

Bergman argues the apps were explicitly designed to evade parental authority and is calling for better age and identity verification protocols.

"That technology exists," Bergman said. "If people are trying to hook up on Tinder, there's technology to make sure the people are who they say they are.

Bergman also wants to do away with algorithms that drive content to users.

"There's no reason why Alexis Spence, who was interested in exercise, should have been directed to anorexic content," Bergman said. "Number three would be warnings so that parents know what's going on. Let's be realistic, you're never going to have social media platforms be 100% safe. But these changes would make them safer."

Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, declined 60 Minutes' request for an interview, but its global head of safety Antigone Davis said, "we want teens to be safe online" and that Instagram doesn't "allow content promoting self-harm or eating disorders." Davis also said Meta has improved Instagram's "age verification technology."

But when 60 Minutes ran a test two months ago, a producer was able to lie about her age and sign up for Instagram as a 13-year-old with no verifications. 60 Minutes was also able to search for skinny and harmful content. And while a prompt came up asking if the user wanted help, we instead clicked "see posts" and easily found content promoting anorexia and self-harm.

Teen watched simulated hanging video on Instagram before suicide

More than 1,200 families suing social media companies over kids' mental health

Meet the teens lobbying to regulate social media

Resources for adolescent and family mental health support

COP15

Federal environment minister certifies 14 bird-friendly cities in six provinces

MONTREAL — Federal Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault is certifying 14 more Canadian cities as bird-friendly.




Guilbeault, who's attending the COP15 biodiversity conference in Montreal, says cities share some responsibility to protect and sustain Canada’s declining bird populations.

The program, administered by Nature Canada, recognizes cities that have reduced threats to birds such as free-roaming cats, pesticides and collisions into windows.

The additional 14 brings to 18 the number of cities that have been certified in Canada as bird-friendly.

Related video: Governments gather in Canada to boost biodiversity (The Associated Press)
Duration 1:53
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Those cities also protect habitat and operate civic education programs on birds.

The certified cities are in six provinces: British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Ontario, Quebec and Nova Scotia.

The bird-friendly cities are: Halifax; Toronto, London, Hamilton, Burlington, Peterborough, Barrie, Halton Hills, Windsor and Guelph in Ontario; Ste-Anne-de-Bellevue, Que.; Regina; Strathcona County, Edmonton and Calgary in Alberta; and Vancouver, Saanich and Lions Bay in B.C.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 8, 2022.

VLA and ALMA study Jupiter and Io

Peer-Reviewed Publication

NATIONAL RADIO ASTRONOMY OBSERVATORY

 

IMAGE: DETAIL FROM A VLA IMAGE OF JUPITER MADE IN CONJUNCTION WITH OBSERVATIONS BY THE JUNO SPACECRAFT IN ORBIT AROUND THAT PLANET. view more 

CREDIT: MOECKEL, ET AL., BILL SAXTON, NRAO/AUI/NSF

While the National Science Foundation's Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array (VLA) and the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) frequently reveal important new facts about objects far beyond our own Milky Way Galaxy -- at distances of many millions or billions of light-years -- they also are vital tools for unraveling much closer mysteries, right here in our own Solar System. A pair of recent scientific papers illustrate how these telescopes are helping planetary scientists understand the workings of the Solar System's largest planet, Jupiter, and its innermost moon Io.

Jupiter's atmosphere is complex and dynamic, and changes rapidly. To study the giant planet's atmosphere at different depths, scientists combined observations made with instruments aboard NASA's Juno spacecraft, in orbit around Jupiter, with observations with the VLA. They collected data about the distribution of the trace gas ammonia at different levels in the atmosphere to help determine the vertical structure of the atmosphere. These observations needed to be sufficiently detailed to combine Juno's long wavelength observations with the VLA's high-frequency resolution to understand vertical transport in the atmosphere. The spatial resolution of the ground-based VLA observations was comparable to that of the instrument aboard the spacecraft orbiting the planet. These observations produced the highest-resolution radio image yet made of Jupiter. This technique is helping the scientists advance their understanding of Jupiter's deep atmosphere.

The paper is here. 

Io, whose interior constantly is heated by strong gravitational tidal forces, is the most volcanically-active body in our Solar System. The moon has a tenuous atmosphere primarily composed of Sulphur Dioxide (SO2), which comes from eruptions of its many volcanoes and sublimation of its SO2 surface frost. Scientists have used ALMA to study the trace gases of Sodium Chloride (NaCl -- table salt) and Potassium Chloride (KCl) in the atmosphere. They found that these compounds are largely confined in extent and are at high temperatures, indicating that they, too, are expelled by volcanoes. They also found that they are in different locations from where the SO2 is emitted, which suggests that there may be differences in the subsurface magma or in the eruptive processes between the volcanoes that emit SO2 and those that emit NaCl and KCl.

The paper is here. 

The National Radio Astronomy Observatory is a facility of the National Science Foundation, operated under cooperative agreement by Associated Universities, Inc.

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JOURNAL

The Planetary Science Journal

METHOD OF RESEARCH

Observational study

Forget barbells: materials derived from cells may be an exercise alternative for astronauts

How will Artemis astronauts stay in shape en route to Mars? Beckman Institute researchers are working on a solution

Grant and Award Announcement

BECKMAN INSTITUTE FOR ADVANCED SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

 

IMAGE: FROM LEFT, CHEMICAL AND BIOMOLECULAR ENGINEERING PROFESSOR HYUN JOON KONG, KINESIOLOGY AND COMMUNITY HEALTH PROFESSORS NICHOLAS BURD AND MARNI BOPPART, PSYCHOLOGY PROFESSOR JUSTIN RHODES, AND CHEMISTRY PROFESSOR JONATHAN SWEEDLER ARE GATHERED AT THE FREER HALL PHYSICAL TESTING SITE AT THE UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS URBANA-CHAMPAIGN. PHOTO CREDIT: FRED ZWICKY. view more 

CREDIT: FRED ZWICKY

Exercise looks a little different en route to the Red Planet, so Professor Marni Boppart got creative.

Boppart and her colleagues at the Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology received $1 million from the Translational Research Institute for Space Health, a NASA-funded institute, to explore the regenerative power of cells in space. Their research will help protect human health aboard Orion, the spacecraft destined to ferry astronauts from the Earth to the moon and Mars.

Because of the Earth’s mass, our daily movement is generally sufficient to keep our muscles in fine working order. Astronauts soaring through space are not afforded the luxury of gravitational pull.

“Astronauts can lose up to 20% of muscle mass after just two weeks, and 1-2% of bone mineral density every month. The longer the space travel, the greater the deterioration of tissues and physiological systems in the human body,” said Boppart, a professor of kinesiology and community health studying the science of exercise at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.

Before joining the university, Boppart specialized in high-altitude health hazards as an officer and aerospace physiologist in the U.S. Air Force. Her current research in the College of Applied Health Sciences focuses on the molecular underpinning of muscle loss and gain. She hopes to develop cell-inspired strategies for recovering strength in circumstances — like spaceflight — when movement and mobility are limited.

When TRISH invited researchers to explore new ways to protect astronaut health and performance by enhancing the human body’s own maintenance and cellular repair abilities, Boppart seized the opportunity. Her project reimagines interstellar fitness with a cellular flair. The institute was scouting for strategies to protect astronaut health during long-duration space exploration missions, including NASA’s ongoing Artemis program, which will set up a sustainable presence on the Moon and prepare for future missions to Mars.

The Artemis program’s chosen vessel is the spacecraft Orion, which launched unmanned from the Kennedy Space Center in November. At the top of the vessel’s formidable to-do list is ferrying the first woman and first person of color from the Earth to the moon, followed closely by establishing humanity’s first long-term lunar presence and eventually trekking to the Red Planet.

Square footage is limited on Orion, which assumes the trifold identities of dormitory, dining hall, and control room all in one. The spacecraft is understandably bereft of the specialized resistance and endurance equipment that astronauts have access to on the International Space Station.

“But even the most intense [exercise] protocols performed in space are not sufficient to overcome the negative impacts of microgravity,” said Boppart. “Alternatives to traditional exercise, ideally based on exercise principles, are required.”

With an approach fit for space travel, Boppart’s proposal turns our traditional understanding of exercise on its head — or rather, inside out. Instead of defining exercise by heavy footfalls or flailing limbs, she’s focusing squarely on the cellular relay underway within our muscles.

Honed by relentless evolution, our cells have yet to catch on to the concept of exercising for fun. When we lift heavy weights or engage in rigorous activities, our cells react with a well-intentioned stress response, deploying a battalion of chemicals into the bloodstream to boost our body’s ability to survive future threats. If a weight that once seemed too heavy becomes manageable with time and training, you have your overprotective, stressed-out cells to thank.

These chemical payloads don’t navigate the bloodstream’s harsh terrain on their own. Some are wrapped in a protective lipid layer called an extracellular vesicle, named for its pickup and delivery routes that transfer restorative chemicals from cell to cell.

Boppart believes that the extracellular vesicles our bodies generate after exercising, and the chemicals they contain, can trigger the restorative effects of exercise — even when no exercise has taken place.

“When we exercise, it’s not only our muscles that benefit, but all tissues, including the brain and skin. Our TRISH-sponsored work will directly test the ability of extracellular vesicles released after exercise to protect human health in space,” Boppart said.

The broad aim of Boppart’s study is to use extracellular vesicles generated naturally by volunteers on Earth, or even artificially, to replicate the restorative effect of exercise in astronauts, essentially enabling their muscles to engage in post-exercise recovery without ever having to lift a space-suited finger.

“Astronauts are the target population for this funded study, but the result could potentially be used to prevent, maintain, or treat a variety of conditions associated with inactivity and disuse, including aging, disability, or even disease, which would be exceptionally fulfilling,” Boppart said.

Her interdisciplinary collaborators at the Beckman Institute include: Justin Rhodes, a professor of psychology; Taher Saif, a professor of mechanical science and engineering; Jonathan Sweedler, a professor of chemistry; and Hyunjoon Kong, a professor of chemical and biomolecular engineering. UIUC professor of kinesiology and community health Nicholas Burd is also a co-investigator.

Research for the project titled “Design of an extracellular vesicle approach to protect human health in space” is expected to begin in October 2023. The $1 million award will be dispersed over two years. This study is funded by the Translational Research Institute for Space Health at Baylor College of Medicine. TRISH is funded by the NASA Human Research Program. The award was administered through the TRISH Biomedical Research Advances for Space Health solicitation.

About Beckman: The Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology is an interdisciplinary research institute located on the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign campus. Founded in 1989 by philanthropist and inventor Arnold O. Beckman, the institute supports research across disciplines among University of Illinois faculty members to foster scientific advances that would not be possible elsewhere. Researchers at the Beckman Institute develop imaging tools, study the origins of intelligence, and harness molecules to create better drugs and materials.

Media contact: Jenna Kurtzweil at kurtzwe2@illinois.edu

Increasing the global bandwidth of optical communications

Optica Foundation funds research in integrated photonics and free-space optical communications to address global bandwidth requirements

Business Announcement

OPTICA

 

IMAGE: WINNERS OF THE OPTICA FOUNDATION 20TH ANNIVERSARY CHALLENGE view more 

CREDIT: OPTICA FOUNDATION

• Optica Foundation 20th Anniversary Challenge advances research in integrated chips, nanotechnology, and the mid-infrared to meet telecommunications demands 
• Work from researchers in Hong Kong and the United States seeks to address increasing global bandwidth requirements with additional speed and efficiency 

WASHINGTON – The Optica Foundation today issued details on the information research being funded by its 20th Anniversary Challenge. From photonic integration and nanotechnology to free-space optical communication strategies, recipients’ work advances alternative approaches to traditional optical communications in light of growing demand. 

“As we approach the limits of Moore’s Law, we need to seek new ways of addressing the ever-increasing demand for bandwidth,” said Andrew Forbes, a member of the 20th Anniversary Challenge Selection Committee. “The research being conducted by Challenge recipients explores potential paths that respond to the growing workload that’s been building on existing communications capacity.”

Information research efforts from the 20th Anniversary Challenge include the following:

 Increasing Information Processing Capacity and Energy Efficiency

• Chaoran Huang, Chinese University of Hong Kong, China

Integrated photonic neuromorphic processor enabled intelligent, energy-efficient signal processing for the next-generation communication systems

Research Executive Summary

Global internet traffic continues to grow at exponential rates, and to keep up with its scale, optical communications systems will need to provide 10 times more communication capacity. At the same time, the digital signal processing (DSP) chips that serve as the foundation for these systems must reduce energy per bit by a 10-fold magnitude. This need for both processing capability and energy efficiency creates challenges for today’s systems, but now, new research from Chaoran Huang at the Chinese University of Hong Kong in Hong Kong may have the answer: an integrated photonic neuromorphic processor.

“We need new technology to solve this problem,” shared Huang. “A photonic neural network is a hardware realization of a deep learning model and will allow us to use photonic devices and shifts to process optical communication signals faster and with more power efficiency. We plan to build a photonic neural network chip that can provide the sustainable processing speed and energy efficiency.”

Huang’s design employs the strengths of the intrinsic properties of photonics, deep learning architectures, and integrated photonic technologies to create a system that is anticipated to bring 10 times higher energy efficiency and 1,000 times less processing latency. In addition,  employing silicon photonics as the basis for the chip makes it more cost-effective and accessible for wider industry exploration. 

Building on existing research, within six months, Huang expects to build a small prototype that offers a proof-of-concept demonstration of the integrated photonic neuromorphic processor. Meanwhile, she will identify an approach to engineer a photonic neuron that can provide a speed of over 50Ghz. She then plans to orchestrate the design to incorporate high-speed integrated photonic circuits and high-speed electronic control circuits to increase bandwidth and efficiency. 

“I think this work can make an immediate and transformative impact to the important application of optical communication,” she said.

    

Steering Bandwidth with Nanotechnology

• Mark Lawrence, Washington University in St. Louis, USA

Fast, low-power, and high-resolution meta-reflect-arrays for massive space-division-multiplexing

Research Executive Summary

Through access to increased spatial bandwidth, free-space optical communication not only promises to provide a path to coping with the ever-increasing internet traffic flowing through data centers, but it also offers potential for supporting global equity by providing broadband internet access to remote or under-developed regions and providing higher cloud connectivity to consumer electronic devices. But despite these possibilities, today’s technology lacks the efficiency and speed necessary to make the concept a reality. But Mark Lawrence and his team at Washington University in St. Louis, Mo., USA, aim to change that, having devised a solution in nanotechnology-based pixels. 

Lawrence’s research focuses on the design, fabrication and testing of nanoscale antennas that exhibit a giant response to very small changes in their local environment. Built from silicon, these “antennas” enhance the substrate’s physical properties to tune the resonant frequencies dynamically and precisely, making them more efficient for free-space optical communications. 

“In my lab, we are making little pixels using nanotechnology that are super sensitive to the tiniest changes in electrical current and harnessing many of these currents in concert to steer optical information between different free-space channels. By minimizing the energy wasted on steering, we can exploit the flexibility to make optical data travel the path consuming the least amount of time and energy. In short, by building optical communication networks from pixels that are supersensitive, it makes the network highly flexible,” he said. 

While Lawrence’s team has designs for the antennas already in play, the fabrication of the most efficient tuning system will take some trial-and-error testing. However, within six months, Lawrence projects they will be able to demonstrate a device of pixels that can be switched independently with high speed and high efficiency. In a year’s time, he hopes to be focusing on the back end of the technology, creating simple programs to better control and drive the antennas towards useful states. 

“This research will lay the groundwork for making picosecond optical displays and more,” said Lawrence. “I want to think about possibilities beyond this first concept and open up what we can do. We essentially are designing a new methodology and approach for building tunable free-space optical devices.” 

 

Solving Free-Space Optical Communications Challenges in the Mid-Infrared

• Mengjie Yu, University of Southern California, USA

Integrated high-speed mid-infrared electro-optic modulator for free space optical communication 

Research Executive Summary

The potential for free-space optical communication has led it to be a major focus of industry research and application, with Global Market Insights predicting its rise to a $2 billion USD market by 2027. Such a demand leads to an increased research emphasis to identify viable techniques for maximizing the potential of free-space optics in a range of environments, and to make the outcomes more consistently reliable and efficient across those environments. 

In free-space optical communications, signals have to travel through space and connect with a receiver in a remote site. Devising an approach for better connectivity that moves across land and air without external factors disrupting the data in transit will be essential for the wider application of this concept. 

Now research from Mengjie Yu, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, USA, investigates an approach that capitalizes on the benefits of the mid-infrared by employing integrated photonic technology. Specifically, Yu proposes to design and develop a low-loss integrated electro-optic modulator on thin film lithium niobate in the mid-infrared with the goal of creating a high data link rate faster than using direct current modulation of a quantum cascade laser.

“We need a low-loss modulator in the mid-infrared for free-space optics, and currently, this component is missing,” said Yu. “But with direct modulation in the mid-infrared, we have the potential of transporting considerable amounts of data at a high-speed rate in free space. The key is to leverage an integrated photonic technology.” 

Yu’s first step is to design and develop a product with a really low-loss platform to support high-speed data and low-loss in the mid-infrared. Over the next six months, she expects to generate initial results in simulation, and develop a prototype for more applied testing. 

“This work could be a solution to transfer data at much higher speed with much less energy loss. Overall, free-space optics has the potential to solve the bottleneck of broadband connectivity,” indicated Yu. 

These three distinct research efforts in information systems are made possible by grants awarded through the Optica Foundation’s 20th Anniversary Challenge. Designed to engage early-career professionals in conceptual thinking, the challenge focuses on addressing global challenges in the areas of environment, health and information. Each of the recipients has received $100,000 USD to explore their ideas and take steps toward solving for societal challenges. Recipients expect to report initial results by the second quarter of 2023. For more information and to follow their journeys, visit optica.org/foundationchallenge.