‘Polar bears in the Arctic are losing sea ice, which means they’re more likely to run into humans while they search for food…’

— via Gizmodo

‘Amazon is launching RxPass in the US, a new drug subscription exclusive to Prime members that charges users a $5 monthly fee to ship eligible prescription medications to their doorstep. Announced on Tuesday in a press release, the Amazon RxPass subscription program provides generic medications to treat over 80 common health conditions, including high blood pressure, hair loss, anxiety, and acid reflux.

The $5 charge includes the cost of delivery and is added to Prime customers’ existing monthly subscription fee. The RxPass fee is a flat rate and doesn’t increase even if users require multiple prescriptions each month. Medications can be delivered on either a monthly or quarterly basis depending on the prescription requirements. Conditions covered by the service also include allergies, diabetes (excluding insulin), and anemia. Amazon says that more than 150 million Americans already take one or more of the medications available through RxPass. A full list of generic medications covered by the RxPass subscription can be found on the Amazon pharmacy website….’

— via The Verge

‘It remains a powerful reminder that self-inflicted disaster is never far away. But it also undercuts the complexity of climate change and the way that risks spread across time and bleed into one another. Viewed from a time when we face a multitude of possible catastrophes—pandemics, rogue AI, and a rapidly warming planet—the Doomsday Clock is a warning from a much simpler era….’

— via WIRED

SO, as bad as you thought it was, it is even worse?

‘For the first time, a radio signal sent from a galaxy, which is almost 9 billion light-years away from the Earth, has been captured, media reports said on Friday.

The signal was captured by the Giant Metrewave Radio Telescope in India. It means that scientists can begin probing the formation of some earliest stars and galaxies, the report said. 

The signal was emitted from a “star-forming galaxy”, which is titled SDSSJ0826+5630. It was emitted when the 13.8 billion-year-old Milky Way, where Earth is located, was just 4.9 billion years old, it said citing the researchers.

In a statement this week, Arnab Chakraborty, who is author and McGill University Department of Physics post-doctoral cosmologist, said, “It’s the equivalent to a look-back in time of 8.8 billion years.” …’

— via The Economic Times

‘In a bid to simplify its advice, the agency is aiming to make covid-19 vaccination similar to the yearly flu shot….’

— via Gizmodos