Tag Archives: Continued

Experts Predict Continued Recovery of the Earth’s Ozone Layer for Decades Ahead

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The ozone layer has shown significant improvement, with the Antarctic ozone holes in 2024 being smaller than in prior years. New Report from the World Meteorological Organization (WMO).

This map depicts the size and shape of the Antarctic ozone hole on October 5th, 2022. Image credit: Earth Observatory by Joshua Stevens/NASA.

The depth of the Antarctic ozone hole in 2024 (which typically appears every spring) was below the average levels measured from 1990 to 2020, with the maximum ozone mass deficit recorded on September 29th at 46.1 million tons.

From 2020 to 2023, it remained smaller than a significantly larger hole.

Its development was relatively gradual, with ozone depletion slowing by September, followed by a quicker recovery after reaching the maximum deficit.

“This consistent progression is considered a strong indicator of early recovery in the Antarctic ozone holes,” stated WMO experts.

The alarm was initially sounded by scientists in 1975 when the WMO reported “changes in the ozone layer due to human activities and certain geophysical factors.”

If current policies remain in effect, the latest assessment for 2022 indicates that the ozone layer is projected to return to 1980 levels (prior to the appearance of ozone holes) around 2066, 2045 in the Arctic, and globally by 2045.

“Despite the significant success of the Montreal Protocol over the years, this effort remains ongoing, and continuous monitoring of stratospheric ozone and ozone-depleting substances is essential,” experts noted.

“WMO’s scientific research on the ozone layer spans decades,” remarked Celeste Sauro, WMO executive director.

“It relies on trust, international collaboration, and a commitment to free data exchange—fundamental principles of the world’s most successful environmental agreements.”

“To date, the Montreal Protocol has resulted in over 99% reduction in the production and consumption of controlled ozone-depleting substances used in refrigeration, air conditioning, fire foam, and even hairsprays.”

“Consequently, the ozone layer is on course to recover to 1980 levels by the middle of this century, significantly lowering the risk of ecosystem damage from skin cancer, cataracts, and UV overexposure.”

Source: www.sci.news

Meta Anticipates Continued Growth Despite Tariff Challenges

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<div data-testid="companionColumn-0"><div class="css-53u6y8"><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">Meta <a class="css-yywogo" href="https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/meta-reports-first-quarter-2025-results-302443250.html" title="" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">announced</a> on Wednesday that it anticipates significant revenue growth in its advertising sector in the upcoming months, despite the challenges posed by President Trump's tariffs on the global economy.</p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">The Silicon Valley giant, owner of Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp, also reported an uptick in both revenue and profits for the first quarter, bolstered by advertising on Instagram and Facebook. However, it noted that it is keeping an eye on a "dynamic regulatory environment" that includes legal issues in both the European Union and the United States.</p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">Data from market analytics firm Factset revealed that revenues for the first quarter reached $42.3 billion, marking a 16% increase from the previous year, outpacing Wall Street's estimate of $41.3 billion. Profits were reported at $16.6 billion, a 35% boost from last year's $12.4 billion, also exceeding the forecast of $13.6 billion.</p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">For the current quarter, Meta anticipates revenues to range between $42.5 billion and $45.5 billion, with the expected figure of $43.8 billion surpassing Wall Street's projections. The company's stock increased by over 5% in after-hours trading.</p></div><aside class="css-ew4tgv" aria-label="companion column"/></div><div data-testid="companionColumn-1"><div class="css-53u6y8"><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">"We’re off to a strong start in a critical year. Our community is expanding, and our business is performing exceptionally well," stated Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of Meta.</p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">Meta's business has shown consistent growth in recent years as it invests in artificial intelligence to provide a diverse array of posts, videos, and advertisements for its users. Zuckerberg indicated that these investments have led to increased engagement with Meta's app and a rise in clicks on relevant ads.</p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">Nonetheless, the company faces new hurdles in the Trump era. President Trump's tariffs pose a potential threat to Meta’s significant initiatives, including a multi-billion dollar investment in infrastructure projects such as data centers, which depend on raw materials affected by these tariffs.</p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">Meta plans to amplify its spending on infrastructure investments. On Wednesday, it adjusted its capital expenditure forecast for the year upwards from $640 billion to $72 billion, reflecting an increase from $6 billion to $65 billion.</p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">Meta confronts critical revenue challenges, as it sells digital advertising to a variety of brands and retailers, both large and small. The more tariffs impact small businesses, the less they may invest in Facebook and Instagram ads.</p></div><aside class="css-ew4tgv" aria-label="companion column"/></div><div data-testid="companionColumn-2"><div class="css-53u6y8"><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">Trump has imposed the highest tariffs on imports from China, heavily impacting Chinese e-commerce giants like Shein and Tem, which are crucial for Meta's revenue streams. In 2023, Chinese companies constituted 10% of Meta's total revenue.</p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">Additionally, Meta is embroiled in an antitrust trial in Washington regarding whether it unlawfully stifled competition in the social networking space by acquiring Instagram and WhatsApp when it was still a startup. The outcome of this multi-week trial, the first significant tech case initiated by the current Trump administration, could reshape the US antitrust landscape and the broader Silicon Valley ecosystem.</p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">Last week, the European Union imposed a 200 million euro ($230 million) fine on Meta for violating the Digital Markets Act, a 2022 legislation aimed at fostering competition in the digital economy.</p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">Wednesday's revenue figures indicate no immediate fallout from advertising related to the tariffs announced in April, which expire in March. The company’s financial outlook implies that brands may keep investing in Facebook and Instagram advertising.</p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">In contrast, advertisers might cut back on ad spending on smaller platforms such as Reddit, Snapchat, and Pinterest, noted Minda Smiley, a senior social media analyst at eMarketer. She expressed uncertainty about future revenue trajectories.</p></div><aside class="css-ew4tgv" aria-label="companion column"/></div><div data-testid="companionColumn-3"><div class="css-53u6y8"><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">"Current business operations are stable," Smiley remarked. "However, there remains uncertainty about the potential impacts in the upcoming quarter."</p></div><aside class="css-ew4tgv" aria-label="companion column"/></div>

Source: www.nytimes.com

One Smallpox Vaccine Dose Offers Continued Protection against Smallpox.

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There are few high-quality studies on the effectiveness of the smallpox vaccine against smallpox.

Emanuele Contini/Nuru Photo via Getty Images

One dose of one type of smallpox vaccine appears to reduce the risk of getting smallpox by about 60 percent, although this can vary depending on mutations of the virus.

Cases of MPOX, formerly known as monkeypox, are rapidly increasing in the Democratic Republic of Congo, driven by a variant called lineage Ib. The vaccine used to prevent MPOX was originally developed for smallpox, and although the two viruses are related, it is unclear whether it is specifically effective against MPOX.

For more information, Sharmistha Mishra Researchers at the Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences in Toronto, Canada, in collaboration with colleagues, focused on a vaccine called MVA-BN, also known as JYNNEOS, Imvanex, and Imvamune, which was the most widely used smallpox vaccine in Western countries during the 2022 smallpox outbreak caused by the clade IIb variant.

Studies have shown that the effectiveness of MVA-BN for mpox varies widely, from 36% to 86%. This range is likely because the studies are observational and compare results in people of different ages, locations, and health conditions.

A randomized controlled trial is being conducted among gay, bisexual and other men who have sex with men, who made up the majority of infections in Western countries during the 2022 outbreak.

Meanwhile, Mishra's team tried to mimic a randomized controlled trial using existing medical data. The researchers studied more than 6,000 Canadian men who were deemed to be at high risk for infection in 2022. About half received one dose of MVA-BN, and the rest did not receive the mpox vaccine. The two groups of men were matched by factors such as age and location, Mishra said.

While the official MVA-BN vaccination schedule calls for two doses administered at least 28 days apart, Mishra said the Canadian government initially opted for a one-dose vaccination protocol to spread the shots among as many at-risk people as possible.

During a follow-up period of approximately 80 days, 50 men in the unvaccinated group were diagnosed with MPOX compared to 21 in the vaccinated group, suggesting that MVA-BN reduced the risk by 58 percent.

This suggests that one dose is enough to provide protection. Adam Hacker At the London Coalition for Infectious Disease Preparedness Innovations Corinne Goertz van Kessel “Scientifically, we know that two doses are more effective,” Hacker told Erasmus MC in the Netherlands.

Geerts van Kessel says the team's approach was a good way to mimic a randomized controlled trial, but it is unclear whether some of the men, who are older than their mid-50s, were vaccinated when smallpox was a threat, which could have influenced their immune response to the 2022 MVA-BN.

Studying how the vaccine affects the severity of disease after infection with MPOX will also help assess the vaccine's overall effectiveness, she says.

It's also unclear how effective the drug is specifically against lineage Ib, Goertz van Kessel says, but both she and Hacker expect MVA-BN to be at least somewhat effective against that variant as well as it is against lineage IIb, which continues to circulate in West and Central Africa.

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Source: www.newscientist.com

Bitcoin sees continued strength in ETF inflows

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Bitcoin (BTC) ended the week at around $52,150, marking a notable 7.9% increase from the previous week’s closing price of around $48,300. The week started with solid price gains, with BTC reaching a high trading price of around $52,800 on Thursday, but it stabilized within the $51,000-$52,000 range over the weekend, ending at just above $52,000. The transaction was completed.

marked last week Bitcoin returns to trading above $50,000 For the first time in over two years, the BTC ETF Spot has shown strong momentum following approval. The last time BTC traded above $50,000 was in December 2021, just after hitting an all-time high of $69,000 in November of the same year. This period was retrospectively recognized as the beginning of a significant downward trend that continued throughout 2022, with prices falling to around $16,000 by the end of the year.

Market momentum continued to be driven by high demand for BTC ETF Spot. Over the last week, cumulative net inflows into BTC ETFs totaled approximately $2.3 billion, nearly double the $1.2 billion recorded the previous week and nearly half of the total net inflows since inception, which currently stands at approximately $5 billion. Occupied.

Net inflows have remained consistently positive for 16 consecutive business days since January 26th. However, outflows from the Grayscale Bitcoin ETF (GBTC) increased slightly last week, reaching approximately $625 million, compared to the cumulative outflows of $415 million recorded the previous week. % increase. This suggests that investors are actively taking profits following the recent surge in BTC prices.

Among the nine ETFs launched on January 11th, the BlackRock Bitcoin ETF (IBIT) remains in the lead with more than $5 billion in assets under management (AUM), and currently has a total of approximately $6.2 billion. It becomes. Fidelity BTC ETF (FBTC) follows in second place with approximately $4.5 billion in assets under management, while 21Shares & ARK Bitcoin ETF (ARKB) secures third place with approximately $1.5 billion in assets under management. Last week, a fourth ETF passed the $1 billion AUM milestone, with the Bitwise Bitcoin ETF (BITB) reaching approximately $1.2 billion in assets under management.

Trading volumes remain strong, with cumulative trading volume for BTC ETFs reaching approximately $9.6 billion last week, with average daily trading volume exceeding $1.9 billion. Since January 11th, the cumulative trading volume has reached $45.3 billion, with an average daily trading volume of approximately $1.7 billion. These numbers represent above-average trading volume for the week, highlighting the strong buying pressure and activity surrounding these ETFs.

Analyzing the macroeconomic situation reveals that Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) Meeting There are 30 days left. Market expectations are that there is a 90% chance that interest rates will remain unchanged, with the first 25 bps rate cut still expected for some time from the end of the second quarter to the beginning of the third quarter of this year. This expectation increases expectations for more accommodative monetary policy from the Fed and increases the risk exposure that market participants are willing to take. This has contributed to solid momentum in risk assets such as BTC, cryptocurrencies, and stocks, which recently pushed the S&P 500 to new all-time highs.

Source: the-blockchain.com