Cyclist rides 3,666 miles across Canada in 20 days



Bianca Hayes raised more than $22,000 for ovarian cancer research with a 3,666-mile bicycle ride across Canada. Photo by Free-Photos/Pixabay.com

July 7 (UPI) -- A cyclist who departed from Vancouver, British Columbia, biked across Canada and arrived in Halifax, Nova Scotia, 20 days later.

Bianca Hayes said her 3,666-mile ride across Canada set a new record for female cyclists, although her 20-day ride fell short of her original goal of finishing in under 15 days to beat the male record

"I am the fastest woman to cycle across Canada, so I still have some sort of a record," Hayes told CTV News.

Hayes' ride raised more than $22,000 for ovarian cancer research. She said the cause is personal to her, after her sister, Katrina, died after a battle with the disease in 2018.

"Survival rates haven't changed in 50 years and there haven't been any major breakthroughs," Hayes said.

"It doesn't get as much funding as some other cancers and it was something that really ignited me and made me want to make sure that I put all my efforts ... and every bit of energy into raising more money and awareness for the cause," she said.

Hayes, who estimated she changed 15 to 20 flat bike tires during her journey, said she has not ruled out making a second attempt at a cross-Canada ride.

"We're hoping in a couple years we can attack this again and, now that we know what we're up against, maybe we can anticipate some more things and be a little bit more prepared for those," she said.

"It was obviously a massive physical undertaking, but it was well worth it for what we've been able to do."

Researchers develop glove to translate American Sign Language

June 30 (UPI) -- A team of University of California, Los Angeles, scientists announced they have developed a glove that translates American Sign Language into speech in real time.

The UCLA team, who published their research in the journal Nature Electronics, said the glove contains sensors in the digits that identify each word, phrase or letter in American Sign Language and transmits them wirelessly to a smartphone app that translates them at a rate of one word per second.

The device also includes optional sensors attached to a user's face to register facial expressions used in ASL.

"Our hope is that this opens up an easy way for people who use sign language to communicate directly with non-signers without needing someone else to translate for them," said lead researcher Jun Chen, an assistant professor of bioengineering at the UCLA Samueli School of Engineering. "In addition, we hope it can help more people learn sign language themselves."

Chen said the gloves and facial sensors were developed to be more lightweight and comfortable than previous efforts to translate sign language via machinery. She said previous attempts were criticized as too bulky for practical use.

52 bison rounded up after escape from Canadian farm

June 30 (UPI) -- A Canadian family spent two days rounding up a herd of 52 escaped bison with the help of authorities and volunteers.

Dalmeny Fire Rescue and Corman Park Police Service said the 52 bison escaped from a family's property Saturday night in Dalmeny, Saskatchewan, when someone cut through a fence.

Authorities warned residents to keep a distance if they spotted the animals, which could be dangerous if they feel threatened.

Les Kroeger, president of the Canadian Bison Association, helped the family and authorities corral the bison.

He said all of the animals were believed to have been contained by Monday evening, and volunteers were working on a plan to load the bison onto trailers and return them to the farm.

One of the bison was reported to have died as a result of the escape.

Police said they are investigating the damage to the fence.

Crater of Diamonds visitor finds 2.23-carat brown diamond in the dirt



A visitor to the Crater of Diamonds State Park in Arkansas found a 2.23-carat brown diamond, the largest gem found in the park since October 2019. Photo courtesy of Arkansas State Parks
June 26 (UPI) -- An Arkansas woman visiting the state's Crater of Diamonds State Park found a 2.23-carat brown diamond -- the largest discovery at the park this year.

Arkansas State Parks said Mena resident Beatrice Watkins, 56, was sifting the soil at the Murfreesboro park with her daughter and granddaughters this month when she came across the gem.

"I thought it was shiny but had no idea it was a diamond!" Watkins said. "My daughter googled similar-looking stones and thought it might have been iron pyrite, so I stuck it in my sack and kept sifting."

The family took their discoveries to the park's Diamond Discovery Center while taking a break about an hour later and Watkins discovered the "iron pyrite" was actually a 2.23-carat brown diamond.

"I was so excited, I just couldn't believe it," Watkins said. "I still can't believe it."

Park officials said Watkins' diamond, dubbed the Lady Beatrice Diamond, is the largest diamond found at the park since the discovery of a 3.29-carat brown diamond in October 2019.

"Ms. Watkins's diamond is about the size of an English pea, with an oblong shape and a metallic luster," Park Interpreter Waymon Cox said. "The surface is smooth and rounded, a characteristic shared by most Crater diamonds. It has a dark brown shade similar to iced tea."

Watkins said she hasn't yet decided what to do with her gem, but she is considering keeping it as inheritance for her children and grandchildren.

A spacecraft rocketing around the sun just beamed back the closest images ever taken of our star

An image from the Solar Orbiter reveals ubiquitous features of the sun's surface: little eruptions called "campfires." Solar Orbiter/EUI Team (ESA & NASA); CSL, IAS, MPS, PMOD/WRC, ROB, UCL/MSSL

The Solar Orbiter spacecraft just beamed back the closest images ever recorded of the sun.

The photos and videos reveal widespread miniature solar flares, which could explain why the sun's outer atmosphere is so much hotter than its inner layers.

Solar Orbiter, a joint effort between NASA and the European Space Agency, is expected to unpack the sun's biggest mysteries over the next two years.

A telescope rocketing around the sun just beamed back the closest images and videos ever recorded of our star.

The Solar Orbiter, built by the European Space Agency (ESA) with help from NASA, flew within 48 million miles (77 million kilometers) of the sun on June 15 — half the distance between the sun and Earth.

That was the closest the Orbiter has gotten to the sun since launching in February. The approach was primarily intended as a chance for the spacecraft to test its instruments — including its cameras — before it begins scientific observation in full.

But already, the orbiter discovered something new: The sun's surface is covered in miniature solar flares — bursts of radiation that make the largest explosions in our solar system. The scientists behind the spacecraft call these widespread flares "campfires."


"These are only the first images and we can already see interesting new phenomena," Daniel Müller, the project science for the ESA's Solar Orbiter team, said in a press release. "We didn't really expect such great results right from the start."
'This is just the beginning'

The Solar Orbiter is slated to take unprecedented measurements of the sun's most mysterious forces over its seven-year lifetime. The mission could get extended to 2030 to collect even more information. The data the probe returns could help scientists pinpoint the origins of space weather and even track eruptions on the sun in near-real time.

The video below shows some of what the Solar Orbiter captured with its imaging instruments during this first approach.
Solar Orbiter (ESA & NASA)

"We are all really excited about these first images – but this is just the beginning," Müller said. "Solar Orbiter has started a grand tour of the inner solar system, and will get much closer to the sun within less than two years."


The spacecraft follows an oval-shaped trajectory around the sun. All in all, it's set to complete 22 orbits, which will take it past the orbits of Mercury, Venus, and Earth before swinging it around to get its closest looks at the sun.

In future approaches, the telescope will get as close as 26 millions miles (42 million kilometers) to the sun. In 2025, it will harness Venus's gravity to shift its orbit so that it can take the first-ever images of the sun's poles.
'Campfires' everywhere

A high-resolution image from the Extreme Ultraviolet Imager on the Solar Orbiter spacecraft, taken May 30, 2020. The circle in the lower right corner indicates the size of Earth for scale. The arrow points to one of the ubiquitous 'campfires' on the solar surface. Solar Orbiter/EUI Team (ESA & NASA); CSL, IAS, MPS, PMOD/WRC, ROB, UCL/MSSL

Scientists have long known that solar flares exist. Telescopes have recorded images of solar eruptions as far back as 1900.

But they didn't know that the solar surface was covered in them.

"The campfires are little relatives of the solar flares that we can observe from Earth, million or billion times smaller," David Berghmans, who leads the team behind the high-resolution imaging instrument on the spacecraft, said in the release. "The sun might look quiet at the first glance, but when we look in detail, we can see those miniature flares everywhere we look."

An image from the Solar Orbiter reveals the upper atmosphere of the sun, called the corona, and the campfires that cover it. Solar Orbiter/EUI Team (ESA & NASA); CSL, IAS, MPS, PMOD/WRC, ROB, UCL/MSSL

For now, it's unclear whether these new flares are just smaller versions of the eruptions scientists have seen before, or whether they're created by an entirely different mechanism.

But the campfires could offer a clue about one of the sun's biggest mysteries: how its corona stays so hot.

The corona is the upper atmosphere of the sun that extends millions of miles into space. It inexplicably maintains a temperature of about 1 million degrees — far hotter than the inner layers of the star.

An artist's impression of Solar Orbiter observing a large eruption on the sun. ESA/AOES

If the campfires produce a steady hum of explosive activity, which can accelerate particles and release enormous amounts of energy, they could produce much of that heat.


"These campfires are totally insignificant each by themselves, but summing up their effect all over the sun, they might be the dominant contribution to the heating of the solar corona," Frédéric Auchère, who leads the imaging instrument team with Berghmans, said in the release.
What Solar Orbiter will accomplish next
This animation shows five views of the sun captured with the Extreme Ultraviolet Imager and Polarimetric and Helioseismic Imager instruments on the Solar Orbiter on May 30, 2020. The first two show different regions of the sun's atmosphere, and the last three show the sun's velocity, magnetic properties, and visible light. Solar Orbiter/EUI Team; PHI Team/ESA & NASA

One of the Solar Orbiter's primary goals over the next two years is to study solar wind: a stream of electrically charged particles that surges from the sun and washes over the planets. The spacecraft will look for the source of this stream.

The orbiter will reach speeds as fast as the sun's rotation, which will allow it to follow particular spots on the solar surface for an extended period of time. That means it can observe solar flares and storms as they happen.

"What we want to do with Solar Orbiter is to understand how our star creates and controls the constantly changing space environment throughout the solar system," Yannis Zouganelis, an ESA scientist working on the mission, said in January.


"There are still basic mysteries about our star that remain unsolved," he added.

Johnnie Walker is launching a new bottle that's made out of paper

Diageo


Johnnie Walker announced a new paper-based whiskey bottle that will launch in spring 2021.

The bottle is made without any plastic, which is harmful to the environment.

The new paper-based bottles will be a limited launch through a partnership with Pilot Lite.

Johnnie Walker is introducing a 100% plastic-free bottle made of paper starting next year.

The paper-based bottles will launch in the spring, according to a Johnnie Walker spokesperson, and will only be available in one size and variant of the whiskey.

This comes as Diageo, the makers of Johnnie Walker, Smirnoff, and Guinness, announced on Monday that it was launching a new partnership with Pilot Lite, a venture management company, to launch Pulpex Limited, a new sustainable-packaging company.

"We're proud to have created this world first," Diageo's chief sustainability officer, Ewan Andrew, said in a press release. "We are constantly striving to push the boundaries within sustainable packaging and this bottle has the potential to be truly ground-breaking."

The new bottle will be made from sustainably sourced pulp to meet food-safe standards and will be fully recyclable. Per the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, an American scientific agency within the United States Department of Commerce, scientists predict that nearly 8 million metric tons of plastic enter the ocean each year.

95% of Diageo's packaging is in glass, according to a company spokesperson, and the limited-run bottle will be used to explore potential options in the future to supplement glass and occasionally replace its usage.

"We're thrilled to be working with global brand leaders in this consortium," Pilot Lite's director, Sandy Westwater, said. "By working together, we can use the collective power of the brands to help minimise the environmental footprint of packaging by changing manufacturing and consumer behaviours."

Introduced in the 1800s, the Johnnie Walker brand was introduced by Scottish grocer John Walker and is the most widely distributed brand of blended Scotch whisky across the globe, with Diageo seeing a 9% increase in North American sales of the brand in fiscal year 2019.

The Trump administration is backing down from its war with Dr. Fauci after it became obvious it was backfiring

Dr. Anthony Fauci with President Donald Trump at a coronavirus briefing on March 24, 2020. Drew Angerer/Getty Images

The White House is backing away from its bid to discredit Dr Anthony Fauci, the top US infectious disease expert. 

President Donald Trump on Tuesday rebuked trade adviser Peter Navarro for a scathing op-ed where Navarro said Fauci was "wrong about everything."

It signaled a change in tone after several days of attacks on Fauci's credibility, which began with anonymous White House officials circulating to the media a list of reasons to mistrust him.

The push to discredit Fauci — one of the most trusted figures in the US on the coronavirus — sparked a backlash from top Republicans. 

Fauci himself responded, telling The Atlantic: "I think they realize now... it's only reflecting negatively on them."

The Trump administration is backing away from its attacks on Dr. Anthony Fauci, the leading US disease expert whose stark warnings about the coronavirus pandemic repeatedly clashed with President Donald Trump.

White House trade adviser Peter Navarro had criticised Fauci in a scathing op-ed on Wednesday, the most public move against Fauci by a government official.

"Dr. Anthony Fauci has a good bedside manner with the public, but he has been wrong about everything I have interacted with him on," he wrote in an op-ed in USA Today.

It was one of a series of attacks on Fauci, which began when anonymous White House officials distributed a list of alleged errors by Fauci to media organisations on Sunday.


But in remarks to reporters later on Wednesday, President Donald Trump defended Fauci and said that Navarro was not speaking for his administration.

"Well he made a statement representing himself. He shouldn't be doing that. No, I have a very good relationship with Anthony," Trump said.

U.S. President Donald Trump exits after speaking and not taking any questions during a press briefing with the White House Coronavirus Task Force team in the press briefing room of the White House March 9, 2020. Dr Anthony Fauci is pictured in the center right, and Peter Navarro on the centre left. Drew Angerer/Getty Images
Only last week Trump had himself questioned Fauci's credibility, remarking in an interview with Fox News' Sean Hannity: "Dr Fauci is a nice man, but he's made a lot of mistakes."

A White House official told NBC News that Navarro had acted against instructions, ignoring a directive from chief of staff Mark Meadows to halt attacks on Fauci.

Meadows told reporters travelling on Air Force One Wednesday, according to NBC, that the op-ed was "a violation of well-established protocols that was not supported overtly or covertly by anyone in the West Wing."

Later that day Navarro was abruptly pulled from a scheduled appearance on CNN's "The Situation Room," host Wolf Blitzer told viewers.

"Peter Navarro was booked to join me this hour here in The Situation Room, but earlier this morning all of a sudden the White House told us he was no longer available," said the host.

Fauci for his part had expressed bemusement at finding himself the target of attacks by the White House. Fauci has advised six administrations on disease prevention and control as director of the National Institute of Allergies and Infectious Disease.


"I cannot figure out in my wildest dreams why they would want to do that," Fauci told The Atlantic. "I think they realize now that that was not a prudent thing to do, because it's only reflecting negatively on them."

The attacks of Fauci had prompted senior Republicans to break ranks with the White House to defend him.

"I think it's absolutely outrageous. It's one of the biggest mistakes, I think, that the administration has made throughout this entire coronavirus response, because Dr. Fauci is, in my opinion, the most respected guy in the administration, and the voice of truth and reason throughout this pandemic," Republican Maryland Governor Larry Hogan told an ABC News podcast on Wednesday.

The White House's decision to turn on Fauci had apparently been prompted by the expert's refusal to tone down his warnings about the danger the coronavirus still posed in the US. Fauci was also frank in his assessments of the failure of the US to contain the pandemic.

The White House had for weeks denied Fauci permission to be interviewed by US TV networks, with the expert instead speaking to podcasts and foreign media outlets.

CBS host Margaret Brennan said earlier in July she had been attempting, without success, to book Fauci to be interviewed on "Face the Nation" for three months.

Dubai’s DEWA to employ Boston Dynamics’ robodog ‘Spot’ for internal operations

Robodog Spot herding sheep. (Rocos)
Matthew Amlôt, Al Arabiya English Monday 13 July 2020

The Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA) announced Monday that it would begin testing uses for the four-legged Spot robot from Boston Dynamics for internal operations.

DEWA intends to use Spot to for a host of tasks. In a statement, the utility provider mentioned Spot could help detect faults, test connection points of high-voltage cables, detect leaks in water pipes, conduct security and monitoring controls, make sure construction projects are being carried out properly, manage some of its facilities, such as warehouses, and help people of determination.

“Adopting the Spot robot in DEWA’s internal operations is part of our strategy to use the latest AI and robotic technologies,” Saeed Mohammed Al Tayer, the managing director and CEO of DEWA said in the statement.

“This contributes to achieving the UAE Strategy for the Fourth Industrial Revolution, which aims to strengthen the UAE's position as a global hub for the Fourth Industrial Revolution, and increase its contribution to a knowledge-based national economy that depends on innovation and future technological application,” he added.

Spot is a yellow robot dog that has been developed by US-based robot maker Boston Dynamics. The robodog has been featured in numerous Boston Dynamics videos, and is built to traverse difficult terrain that robots would not normally be able to cover. The robot can be equipped with a variety of sensors such as heat, gas, and light.

https://vid.alarabiya.net/2020/05/24/metshepdg24204ab3fb9b/metshepdg24204ab3fb9b___metshepdg24204ab3fb9b_video.mp4

Earlier this year in May, Spot was deployed to New Zealand to begin herding sheep in the countryside.

The development of robots like Spot could help humans do jobs that they otherwise might not be able to do, particularly while the coronavirus pandemic still has many working from home.

Rocos, a robot software developer who worked alongside Boston Dynamics to train Spot to herd sheep, said in May that robots could help humans and businesses in the future.

“The age of autonomous robots is upon us. We’re working with organizations embracing this technology to achieve next-level business performance. Our customers are augmenting their human workforces to automate physical processes that are often dull, dirty, or dangerous,” said Rocos CEO David Inggs.

Saudi Arabia’s historic ruling for woman living independently without permission

General view of Riyadh city, after the Saudi government eased a curfew, following the outbreak of the coronavirus, in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, May 7, 2020. (Reuters)
Joanne Serrieh, Al Arabiya English Wednesday 15 July 2020


A court in Saudi Arabia has ruled in favor of a woman who was on trial for living and traveling on her own to the Kingdom’s capital, Riyadh, without her father’s permission.

Public prosecutors had been pursuing the woman for being absent from her family’s home and traveling to Riyadh without permission, court documents published by Abdulrahman al-Lahim, a lawyer in the case , showed.

“A historic ruling was issued today, affirming that independence of a sane, adult woman in a separate house is not a crime worthy of punishment,” al-Lahim said in a tweet. “I am very happy with this this ruling that ends tragic stories for women.”

The court ruled that the independence of the defendant in a separate home is not considered a punishable criminal act as the “woman is a sane adult who has the right to decide where she wants to live,” according to the document.

In an interview with Al Arabiya, al-Lahim said that he considers this a historic ruling because it represents a significant change is underway within the Kingdom’s judicial system.

“This shows the creation of a new generation of judges who coexist and live in the reality that the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is living in, in alignment with the vision of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman,” the lawyer told Al Arabiya. “A ruling that deals with reality, the reality of society and the reality of the entire world.”

Al-Lahim also said the ruling is in line with global women rights and human rights.

The woman involved later revealed her identity on Twitter in a response to comments made by al-Lahim.

“After long suffering that has lasted since 2017, I managed today, along with the court hero Mr. Abdulrahman al-Lahim, to take back my freedom of movement, guaranteed by the Saudi constitution, which states that every citizen has freedom of movement and stability,” Meriam al-Eteebe, the defendant, said in a tweet.

She also said that her experience was “not easy but worth it.”

AVAILABLE AT THE WHITE HOUSE GIFT SHOP 

Trump posts photo of himself grinning alongside Goya products in the Oval Office, as critics accuse Ivanka Trump of violating ethics rules for promoting the company's beans

Instagram/@realdonaldtrump

President Trump posted a photo Wednesday of himself and several Goya products in the Oval Office.

Trump posted the photo as his daughter and White House adviser Ivanka Trump faced backlash for posting a separate photo of herself posing with a can of Goya beans.

Goya CEO Robert Unanue recently praised Trump, saying the US was "truly blessed" to have him as a leader.

President Donald Trump on Wednesday posted a photo of himself promoting Goya products from the Oval Office.

In the photo, Trump is shown seated behind his desk and giving two thumbs-up. Displayed before him on the desk are Goya kidney beans, seasoning, white beans, coconut milk, and chocolate wafers.

Trump posted the photo about 2 p.m. on Wednesday, as his daughter and White House adviser Ivanka Trump faced backlash for posting a separate photo of herself posing with a can of Goya beans.

"If it's Goya, it has to be good," reads a caption alongside Ivanka Trump's photo, which was posted to her social-media accounts late Tuesday. The post included a translation: "Si es Goya, tiene que ser bueno."

Critics accused Ivanka Trump of violating federal ethics laws that prohibit federal employees from using their positions "to endorse any product, service or enterprise."

The White House endorsements of Goya come after the chief executive of the company, Robert Unanue, praised Trump, saying the US was "truly blessed" to have him as a leader. Unanue's remarks inspired calls for a boycott against Goya, as well as a countercalls for Trump supporters to buy more of the beans.

People are roasting Ivanka Trump for promoting Goya Black beans in a photo posted to social media

Ivanka Trump is promoting Goya beans. Twitter/Ivanka Trump

Ivanka Trump posted a photo of herself promoting Goya black beans, after the Goya CEO praised her father, President Donald Trump.

Critics quickly pounced on the post, saying it is a federal ethics violation for her to promote a product or company.

A White House spokeswoman told the Washington Post on Wednesday that Ivanka Trump has "every right to express her personal opinion."

Ivanka Trump is facing backlash online for posting a photo of herself promoting Goya beans.

The photo shows Trump dressed in all white and smiling. In one hand, she holds a can of Goya black beans, while her other hand hovers just below the beans in a pose similar to how a gameshow host might unveil a prize to a swooning audience.

"If it's Goya, it has to be good," says the caption, which was posted alongside the photo to Trump's Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter accounts. "Si es Goya, tiene que ser bueno."
—Ivanka Trump (@IvankaTrump) July 15, 2020

The photo triggered an immediate backlash online.

Critics accused Trump, who is President Donald Trump's daughter and White House adviser, of violating federal ethics laws that prohibit federal employees from using their positions "to endorse any product, service or enterprise."

She was also accused by some of using the beans to pander to Latino voters.

Ivanka Trump's Goya endorsement comes after the chief executive of the bean company, Robert Unanue, praised the president, saying the US was "truly blessed" to have him as a leader. Unanue's remarks inspired calls for a boycott against Goya, as well as a counter-calls for Trump supporters to buy more of the beans.

A White House spokeswoman told the Washington Post on Wednesday that Ivanka Trump has "every right to express her personal opinion."


"Only the media and the cancel culture movement would criticize Ivanka for showing her personal support for a company that has been unfairly mocked, boycotted and ridiculed for supporting this administration — one that has consistently fought for and delivered for the Hispanic community," White House spokeswoman Carolina Hurley said in a statement to the Post.

Here's what some people are saying on Twitter in response to the photo.
—CoCo Bonita-“Don’t mess with me” (@cobonita) July 15, 2020
—D Villella ❄️ (@dvillella) July 15, 2020
—Nurse Nina (@NurseNinaPA) July 15, 2020
—Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) July 15, 2020
—Noah Bookbinder (@NoahBookbinder) July 15, 2020
—David Begnaud (@DavidBegnaud) July 15, 2020
—Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) July 15, 2020
—Walter Shaub (@waltshaub) July 15, 2020
—Jessica Tillipman (@JTillipman) July 15, 2020