Canada signs on to the Artemis Accords, a common set of space exploration principles
Canada has joined the US, UK, Japan, and others in
signing on to the
Artemis Accords, “a common set of principles to govern the civil exploration and use of the moon, Mars, comets, and asteroids.” Among other things, the Accords ban secret launches, assert that all members must pitch in with astronaut emergencies, and require all space systems to be universal so that equipment is compatible internationally.
In other space news, the most recent launch to the International Space Station (ISS)
took place yesterday and used a new “fast-track” approach. From lift-off on earth to arrival at the ISS, the trip took just three hours–about the same time as a flight from Ottawa to Calgary.
Biodiversity advocates warn that in order to be ecologically smart, some cities may need to rethink old bylaws
An ecology and urban planning professor at Ryerson University
has decided to challenge a City of Toronto bylaw that, by preventing citizens from growing tall grass and weeds on their property, contradicts the city’s own biodiversity strategy.
With awareness-raising events like “No-Mow May,”
biodiversity and
pollinator advocates assert that longer lawns with diverse wild flowers can help support local bee populations.
The World Economic Forum, in collaboration with Statista, releases new data on robot workers
The World Economic Forum and Satista have
released new data on robot worker “density"–the number of robots per employee in various sectors. Globally, in the manufacturing sector, there are now 113 installed industrial robots per 10,000 employees, up from 74 in 2017.
Robot density in Canada clocked in at 165 robots per 10,000 employees in 2019, compared with 228 in the US and 855 in South Korea.
Online platforms ramp up global efforts to curtail disinformation and weed out bot accounts
Facebook and Twitter have both introduced new measures to moderate certain content. Twitter is implementing measures to
deamplify certain kinds of content and accounts, while Facebook has opted for an
outright ban on specific kinds of
content and groups.
In the lead up to the US election, Facebook will also introduce
a new ban on political ads that seek to suppress voters or question the validity of the upcoming election.
- Mairead Matthews | email