usage | Common News Update

Apr292020 by adminNo Comments

Water recycling can reduce pressure of urban usage on fresh water resources

Science

April 28 (UPI) -- Enhanced water recycling efforts could significantly reduce the reliance of major cities and their water demands on fresh water resources, including rivers, reservoirs and wells, according to new research. Scientists at Rice University developed models to simulate the impact of water recycling on the water usage patterns of a major urban center like Houston. The analysis -- detailed this week in the journal Nature Sustainability -- showed recycling wastewater could reduce fresh water usage by 28 percent. Authors of the new study acknowledged that water purification systems are expensive, but models showed the costs of installation and long-term energy demands would be offset by savings from municipal wastewater reuse. Houston is currently planning to reconfigure their w...

Apr152020 by adminNo Comments

Mobile apps’ usage spikes in lockdown

Finance

BENGALURU: As India entered lockdown mode due to Covid-19 in March, more and more people logged into smartphone applications for everything, ranging from video-calls to studies to gaming and even shopping. New modes to communicate like Houseparty and Zoom saw the biggest spikes in fresh user installs, given their small base. But established large social media platforms like TikTok and mobile game PUBG also witnessed a 50-80% increase in active users between February and March, according to data from US-based analytics platform SimilarWeb shared with TOI. Interestingly, online shopping applications like Flipkart, Amazon India and Myntra have seen a 40-50% spike in activity even as business crashed in March as more consumers trapped at home browsed these applications to source essentials, bu...

Jan292019 by adminNo Comments

Fast food giants under fire on climate and water usage

Science

A coalition of investors is calling on McDonalds, KFC, and other fast food suppliers to take swift action on climate change.The group, with around $ 6.5 trillion under management, want the chains to cut carbon and water risks in their dairy and meat suppliers. Animal agriculture, they argue, is one of the highest emitting sectors without a low CO2 plan.They're calling for public, time limited targets for reducing impacts.The investors group have targeted some of the largest companies in the global fast food sector that's said to be worth $ 570bn.These include the owners of McDonalds, Domino's Pizza, Burger King, Chipotle Mexican Grill, Wendy's, Pizza Hut and KFC. More than 80 investors have signed a letter to the fast food giants asking them to "enact mea...

Jun12018 by adminNo Comments

Facebook sees teen usage sharply decline, as rival apps gain in key demo: Report

Technology

Facebook, the behemoth social media platform that has faced a raft of challenges in the past year, got more worrisome news yesterday: a new report showing its usage among teenagers sharply declining. A new survey from Pew Research Center says 51 percent of teenagers aged 13 to 17 reported using Facebook -- a 20 percentage-point drop from the center’s previous 2014-2015 survey. The decline reflects teens shifting to other apps and platforms, with YouTube, Instagram and Snapchat all overtaking Facebook in the coveted demographic. Eighty-five percent of teens reported using YouTube in the new report, while 72 percent and 69 percent said they used Instagram and Snapchat respectively. Facebook, formerly the most popular of the platforms in the survey, fell to fourth. Those numbers re...