Saturday, December 21

Tag: video

Video: Current rates of vaccine hesitancy in the US could mean a long road to normalcy
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COVID-19, VIDEO REELS

Video: Current rates of vaccine hesitancy in the US could mean a long road to normalcy

Poltical scientist Matt Motta studies the social and political determinants of anti-science attitudes. In this Q&A, he answers questions about the current levels of vaccine hesitancy in the U.S. and how that might affect the country’s ability to achieve herd immunity after a COVID-19 vaccine becomes available. Matt Motta, a scholar who studies political and science communication, explains why herd immunity may be difficult to achieve in the U.S. How many people plan to take a COVID-19 vaccine? Our understanding is that the number of Americans who plan to refuse a vaccine for COVID-19, when it becomes available, is quite pervasive. Somewhere between 1 in 5 to 1 in 3 Americans plan to refuse a vaccine depending on the survey and how you ask the questions. Research that my colleagues and ...
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A little-known technology change will make video streaming cheaper and pave the way for higher quality
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TECHNOLOGY, VIDEO REELS

A little-known technology change will make video streaming cheaper and pave the way for higher quality

A new format for compressing video, called Versatile Video Coding (H.266/VVC), at first glance might not seem to be the most exciting or profound change to influence humanity. But in a world where 4.57 billion people identify as active internet users, 3.5 billion regularly use a smartphone, 80% of global internet traffic is compressed video data and 500 hours of video are uploaded to YouTube every minute, data is more than binary numbers. Data – and video specifically – is now part of humanity’s collective nervous system.   A short summary of how the H.266 standards can improve the video streaming experience. COVID-19 has greatly increased internet usage around the world. It now has the dual purpose of keeping parents and kids connected for both work and school through video conferenc...
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Video: Who controls pandemic data?
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COVID-19, VIDEO REELS

Video: Who controls pandemic data?

When the Trump administration ordered hospitals to report COVID-19 data to the Department of Health and Human Services rather than the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention as they had been doing, it provoked worries and criticism from public health experts. The White House said that the HHS system will provide more accurate data faster, but the switch did raise concerns that political considerations would influence what data is reported. Professor of public policy Julia Lane, who recently published the book “Democratizing Our Data: A Manifesto,” explains why public data is vital to public health and democracy in general. What was the main concern over the data? The whole point of having a career civil service running public data systems is that, because they can’t be fired, they hav...
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Video: Slowing deforestation is the key to preventing the next pandemic – but what does that cost?
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TECHNOLOGY, VIDEO REELS

Video: Slowing deforestation is the key to preventing the next pandemic – but what does that cost?

In a recent journal article, a team of biologists, medical scientists, environmental scientists and conservationists proposed a number of measures to reduce the likelihood of future pandemics, many of which originate with wild animals such as bats. They argue that spending billions of dollars per year – a fraction of the cost of pandemics – on programs that reduce deforestation would curtail wildlife trade and support the communities that live on the forests’ edge. Les Kaufman, professor of biology at Boston University and a member of the team, spoke about what causes pandemics, and how we might prevent them. Boston University professor biology Les Kaufman talks about what causes pandemics, and how much it would cost to reduce their likelihood. What was this study trying to find? I helped...
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Finding endless video calls exhausting? You’re not alone
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WORK

Finding endless video calls exhausting? You’re not alone

With much of the world in lockdown, our time spent on video calls has risen rapidly. Video conferencing has expanded from being a tool for business meetings to something we use to socialise, worship, and even date on. There is no doubt that platforms like Zoom are very useful. But all this time spent on video calls has its problems. We rely on it connect with people, yet it can leave us feeling tired and empty. It has given us some semblance of normal life during lockdown, but it can make relationships seem unreal. This feeling has spurred talk of a new psychological affliction: “Zoom fatigue.” When we interact with another person through the screen, our brains have to work much harder. We miss many of the other cues we’d have during a real-life conversation like the smell of the room or...
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VIDEO: What does lockdown mean for the world’s poor?
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COVID-19, HEALTH & WELLNESS, VIDEO REELS

VIDEO: What does lockdown mean for the world’s poor?

Severe restrictions on travel and economic activity have been imposed in many parts of the world. For the poor, recessions have always meant starvation, lack of medical support for diseases including HIV treatment programmes, and in particular the deaths of infants and children vulnerable to malnutrition and childhood disease. What do the restrictions mean for these people? That’s the question a new 30 minute documentary seeks to answer – by asking the people who are most affected. The documentary is the result of a collaboration between the Institute for the Future of Knowledge at the University of Johannesburg, and the not for profit organisation Picturing Health. It features interviews with market traders, community workers, and ordinary people in Uganda, Malawi, Zambia, and India. Exp...
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Video: Why social distancing is one of the best tools we have to fight the coronavirus
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COVID-19, HEALTH & WELLNESS, VIDEO REELS

Video: Why social distancing is one of the best tools we have to fight the coronavirus

Social distancing is a tool public health officials recommend to slow the spread of a disease that is being passed from person to person. Social distancing is a tool public health officials recommend to slow the spread of a disease that is being passed from person to person. The Conversation US, CC BY This video is based on an article written by Thomas Perls, professor of Medicine at Boston University. Simply put, it means that people stay far enough away from each other so that the coronavirus – or any pathogen – cannot spread from one person to another. It helps us reduce the rate of new infections, so that new cases are spread over time and the medical care system does not get overwhelmed. Watch the video to find out more about what social distancing is, and why it’s one of the best ...
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All Out Talent War Set Off By Video Gaming YouTuber
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GAMING

All Out Talent War Set Off By Video Gaming YouTuber

Tyler Blevins switched from video site Twitch to Mixer and by doing so shocked the $152bn video-game industry. On Aug. 1, a rail-thin 28-year-old with hair dyed red, white and blue altered the course of video gaming with three words: “The next chapter.” That tweet introduced a video in which Tyler Blevins, known to his fans as Ninja, announced he was moving from Twitch, a video site owned by Amazon.com Inc., to Mixer, a rival site owned by Microsoft Corp. “This is a really good chance to get back in touch with my roots,” Blevins said in the video, a mock press conference in which he answered questions from a talking bush and a cooler filled with the energy drink Red Bull. Blevins’s defection shocked the $152 billion video-game industry. Twitch is the most popu...
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Tips on How to Make Your Video Go Viral
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SOCIAL MEDIA

Tips on How to Make Your Video Go Viral

  While doing research for this article, this writer found some pretty low-down stuff. Like, who are those people that title their videos suggestively, and inaccurately, might I add? Videos go viral for more reasons than that. Or, what about the accurate ones that are enough to make you queasy? I didn't watch those, by the way. I would hazard a guess and say that some of them were recorded under the influence of mind altering chemicals. So, is the New School Method of Cinematography? Get a camera, get stoned and get 9 million views!! In some cases, it seems to be true. Don't misunderstand, it's not acceptable in my philosophy to promote public intoxication. Besides, it's illegal. OK, that said, there are a few things that I have gleaned that I'm not repulsed to share. Here goes......
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