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☆ India’s time zone: Why the world’s most populous country has a unique one
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-09 | by ( Dhruv Tikekar | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

India’s half-hour zone dates back to colonial rule of India and the era when ever-faster steamships and trains were shrinking the world. The start of the 20th century saw some push from scientific associations to calibrate India’s time to GMT. That recommendation was rejected by the colonial government, which opted for a unified time that sat squarely in the middle: five and a half hours ahead of GMT. In 2015, North Korea moved out of sync with South Korea by creating “Pyongyang Time,” putting the country eight and a half hours ahead of GMT instead of nine. India’s colonial-era time zone decision making, however, reflected a chorus of political, scientific and commercial voices both from within the government and outside of it, Gordon says.

Persons: Hulton, ”, Geoff Gordon, Gordon, “, it’s, Wong Maye, Hugo Chávez, Nicolas Maduro, Terry Gilliam, Rube Goldberg, Maulik Jagnani, Jagnani Organizations: CNN, East India Company, Hulton Deutsch, University of Amsterdam, Madras, Washington D.C, Greenwich Meridian, Greenwich Observatory, Meridian, Royal Society, Prime Meridian, Physical Laboratory, Tufts University, NPL Locations: New York, London, Tokyo, Iran, Myanmar, Australia, India, British, Madras, Chennai, “, Bombay, Kolkata, Washington, London ., Greenwich, North Korea, South Korea, Korea, Pyongyang, Brazil, ”, Greenwich , London, China, Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Gujarat

☆ AI is helping the healthcare industry and could transform the way patients get drugs and treatments
▼ + stars: | 2023-12-22 | by ( Nicholas Fearn | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +10 min

In the pharmaceutical industry, AI may one day accelerate new-drug development. In the foreseeable future, McClain expects the healthcare industry to use AI technology to design personalized medicines. Risks to considerWhile AI offers promise for the healthcare industry, there are also a variety of risks professionals using AI must consider and mitigate. Showalter said that a lack of "comprehensive regulations" can also make using AI technology in healthcare settings risky. With this in mind, he said, the medical industry must understand the "fundamentals of AI and its applications in healthcare."

Persons: —, Sean McClain, McClain, Tim Showalter, Showalter, it's, Fred, haven't, Surya Josyula, Josyula Organizations: Experts, Service, Northwestern Medicine, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center, UW Medicine, University of California, Fujitsu, Aichi Cancer, Fujitsu Laboratories of America Locations: University of California San Diego, Nagoya, Japan, China, United States

☆ Queer people in history: Figures to know
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-01 | by ( Leah Asmelash | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

To commemorate the month, CNN is highlighting five major LGBTQ elders – some who have passed on, and some who haven’t – highlighting their achievements. From a drag king who fought discrimination on the streets of New York to a famous mathematician who stood up to adversity despite legal limitations, here are five LGBTQ figures to know. Miss Major Griffin-GracyMiss Major in the film "Major," a documentary about her life and campaigns. But a year after Stonewall, Miss Major was arrested for robbery, landing her with a five-year prison sentence. Decades after her release, Miss Major spent time as the executive director of the Transgender Gender Variant Intersex Justice Project.

Persons: Bayard Rustin, Martin Luther King Jr, Patrick A, Burns, Rustin wasn’t, Rustin, King, Sen, Strom Thurmond, Gavin Newsom, Larry Kramer Larry Kramer, Catherine McGann, Larry Kramer, “, ”, Kramer, Anthony Fauci, Miss Major Griffin, Major, Marsha P, Johnson, Miss Major, Mama, Michelle V, Stormé DeLarverie, DeLarverie, White, “ That’s, Alan Turing, Alan Turing’s, Turing, it’s Organizations: CNN, New York Times Co, Getty, Southern Christian Leadership Conference, California Gov, Village Voice, AIDS, Centers for Disease Control, ACT UP, AIDS Coalition, National Institute of Allergy, Miss, Stonewall, New York Times, Physical Laboratory Locations: New York, India, Montgomery, Washington, Chicago, Greenwich, New Orleans, England

☆ This scientist was irked by the phrase 'hella' big — so he created 2 new units of measurement
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-10 | by ( Adam Rogers | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +13 min

Metric measurements — also known as the International System of Units, or SI — are managed by a formal international organization. The prefixes Brown came up with are ronna and ronto for 1027 and 10-27 and quetta and quecto for 1030 and 10-30. In fact, SI units used to be based on actual, real-life physical artifacts. "If everyone sticks to SI prefixes," Brown says, "you don't have to go on Wikipedia to find out how long a light-year is or the power in 1 jansky." Pražák proposed sticking to Greek words and letters.

☆ Fact Check-There is no proof ultrasounds harm babies or mothers
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-16 | by ( Reuters Fact Check | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

There is no evidence to suggest that ultrasound examinations during pregnancy are dangerous to fetuses, as some social media posts have falsely said. Experts contacted by Reuters said there were no signs of any increases in deaths or distress among babies or mothers who had standard ultrasounds or the more powerful Doppler ultrasound under medical supervision. A Doppler ultrasound also uses sound waves, but can also check blood flow. “Animal studies cannot be used as evidence as the ultrasound effects cannot be scaled and a small animal will suffer from much greater effects than human babies,” he said. Studies of ultrasounds used in human pregnancies have not found evidence of danger to the health of babies or mothers.

☆ New measures for size, as world’s people surpass 8 billion
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-19 | by ( Associated Press | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +3 min

And one British scientist led the push Friday to incorporate bold new, tongue-twisting prefixes on the gigantic and even the minuscule scale. There’s the gargantuan “ronna” (that’s 27 zeros after the one) and its big brother the “quetta” — (that’s 30 zeros). Their ant-sized counterparts are the “ronto” (27 zeros after the decimal point), and the “quecto” (with 30 zeros after the decimal point) -- representing the smaller numbers needed for quantum science and particle physics. The conference, which takes place every four years in France, is the supreme authority of the International Bureau of Weights and Measures. (We) need new words as things expand,” Brown said.

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