Airborne Killer: Pollution Tops War and Disease in Global Mortality

A new study published in Journal of the American College of Cardiology reveals that the greatest threat to humanity isn't war or terminal diseases, rather it is the pollution. The study says that even if the world is dying from a lot of diseases like malaria, HIV, TB and some other factors like alcohol, drugs and terrorism, nothing is as deadly as pollution. Due to pollution and climate change, about seven million deaths are reported each year all over the world.

Professor Jason Kovacic, Director and CEO of the Victor Chang Cardiac Research Institute says that many of the cardiovascular illnesses and deaths are due to pollution. Pollution can be caused by a lot of factors with exhausts cars and factories being the common one. There are also some other types of pollution like noise pollution, soil pollution and light pollution can contribute to cardiovascular diseases. Even the toxic chemicals from our homes can lead us to many diseases. Wildfires and increasing temperatures of the earth are more threatening to our heart health than smoking.

The air on earth is full of toxic smoke and when we inhale it, it reaches our bloodstream and circulates through our body via the heart. Light pollution also messes up with your body like disrupting your sleep patterns. These disrupted sleep patterns can cause weight gain and high blood pressure which are some causes of heart problems.

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Similarly high temperatures and heat make your heart work overtime and as a result, it stops functioning altogether. It also causes dehydration which also leads to kidney failure. Many houses also use water resistant clothes and non-stick pans which aren't exactly safe to use. These household items aren't tested for safety and are highly likely to be toxic. Only air pollution is the cause of seven million deaths per year and when it's a heatwave, the risk of premature death increases by 10%.

There are some solutions that can decrease pollution, which can ultimately help with cardiovascular diseases. More trees should be planted in cities and there should be a decrease in cars. We should also stop fossil fuel industries by giving them renewable energy sources which can help in cleaning the air. Government authorities should run campaigns about pollution and there should be complete medical training.

Image: DIW-Aigen

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by Arooj Ahmed via Digital Information World

Concerns Over AI Dangers Mount As Former And Current OpenAI Employees Issue Warning In New Letter

A new open letter is making the rounds that speaks about the serious concerns linked to the world of AI and the dangers it poses for humanity.

The letter curated by former and current OpenAI workers highlighted the AI industry and its rapid boom with little to no oversight.

The fact that no safeguards are in place for accurate protection is another leading concern as discussions were made about the financial incentives the industry brings forth that have leading tech giants embroiled in making the right decision.

This also delineated how financial gains might be another reason why no whistleblower is making the attempt to speak up about the lack of protections that are risking the human race.

Avoiding effective regulations due to strong financial benefits is the goal right now, the letter boldly worded and that is putting the world at the center of an AI arms race, it continued.

In case you’re wondering, the market is expected to hit $1 trillion in revenue in the next ten years while firm try their best to get ahead of others in the competitive race.

For now, employees claim they don’t have accurate or enough data on what the technology is capable of doing but seeing so many tech giants turn a blind eye to this and prevent the right safety measures from coming into play is devastating.

They also spoke about how there is a serious risk possessed by such technology and only those possessing weak obligations are on the rise. They are not detailing accurate matters with governmental agencies nor are they working closely with top watchdogs, making the situation a very serious issue to begin with.

In the same way, we saw the letter add how the concerns are serious and that effective monitoring is the only way out, or else accountability must be taken by firms engaged in the reckless behavior.

A long list of confidential agreements end up blocking people from speaking up, the letter continued, while any whistleblower protections are not sufficient since they’re not focusing on unlawful behavior that puts thousands at risk.

The letter further adds how AI firms need to do the right thing and that includes avoiding non-disparagement documents. They also need to enable workers at these top firms to voice their concerns on the matter and the board to take into consideration what others are saying.

It would also be great for a culture to exist that supports criticism without widespread retaliation.

Four anonymous workers from OpenAI and seven previous ones put out their signatures on this front. They endorsed it as did other leading AI scientists in the field who have spoken about the alarming effects of AI for a while now.

Meanwhile, one rep from OpenAI just gave out an interview on this front including how the debate is valid and how the pace at which AI is progressing warrants adequate regulations.

While OpenAI does have its own security committed featuring board members and leaders of the tech giant, more needs to be done in this regard.

For now, one of OpenAI’s top partners, Microsoft, refused to comment on the subject. But as one can imagine, it’s a growing and controversial moment for OpenAI.

Last month, the company backtracked on several controversial decisions including one to make ex-employees select keeping vested shares in the firm and signing non-disparagement documents.

But OpenAI argued how they were altering their language to better portray how it feels on this subject and ensure better reflection of its values.

Image: DIW-Aigen

Read next: New Warning Issued As Zero Day Bug Hijacks Top Brand And Celebrity Accounts On TikTok
by Dr. Hura Anwar via Digital Information World

New Warning Issued As Zero Day Bug Hijacks Top Brand And Celebrity Accounts On TikTok

TikTok is facing a new malicious code situation that is hijacking high-profile accounts on the app.

A leading number of official accounts belonging to both celebrities and brands were said to be compromised already including the likes of CNN as well as reality TV star Paris Hilton.

The incident arose when the malware was sent via a DM to the account present on the platform. It’s easy to be fooled as this doesn’t need any form of prior installation, clicks, or even a reply from respective users that’s beyond opening up messages.

Meanwhile, any account that’s compromised along the way isn’t able to publish content and so far, the company is not aware of the figure of users impacted so far.

The company’s rep was quick to speak up on the matter, adding how their security team is very aware of the alarming situation and doing everything they can to stop the exploitation and targeting of so many accounts.

They are also installing the right safeguards to prevent such attacks from arising in the future, it added. The company also mentioned working on how to protect compromised accounts, although they did clarify that the figures of those impacted are minimal.

The goal right now appears to be working alongside compromised accounts and ensuring their access gets restored as quickly as possible.

Today, TikTok has a global user base expanding to more than one billion users.

As far as leading news broadcaster CNN is concerned, they have also released a new statement on this front including how their security team is well aware of the situation and how threat actors are on the rise.

TikTok’s spokesperson said it’s working closely with CNN to ensure restoration of access and implementation of the best security measures to make sure accounts in the future don’t get impacted like this again.

They are dedicated to ensuring platform integrity is maintained at all times and that monitoring of more inauthentic behavior continues. It is not clear right now if the situation is under control or if threat actors continue to impact high-profile accounts.

Even those impacted are yet to speak about this in public including Paris Hilton who is said to be a popular name on the app.

This is not the first time that we’ve seen TikTok get embattled in such hacking behavior.

Last year during a similar time, the app went as far as to acknowledge how close to 700k accounts were hacked due to improper security across the app’s SMS channels linked to 2FA logins. This was right before the elections in Turkey were ready to take center stage.

Before that, we saw another serious vulnerability on the platform that forced hackers to take over profiles via a simple click. This was unveiled by researchers at Microsoft who made the company aware of the alarming situation.

On Tuesday, this shocking incident caused CNN to remove its account on TikTok for a while as a backend solution was being devised, in addition to other security measures.

We already know how America has scrutinized and called out TikTok as a growing concern for the country’s national security. This is why it’s been given a deadline to break away from its roots in China as many strongly feel Americans are being spied upon by Chinese government officials.

For now, no decision has been taken on separation from parent firm ByteDance but it’s quite clear from this situation that TikTok has its guard up and will do everything to ensure such a matter does not arise anything soon as the world watches.

Image: DIW-Aigen

Read next: The Role of AI and Machine Learning in Modern Cyber Defense
by Dr. Hura Anwar via Digital Information World

The Role of AI and Machine Learning in Modern Cyber Defense

Cyber threats have become more sophisticated and frequent in today’s digital age. While still essential, traditional cybersecurity measures are often insufficient to keep up with the evolving landscape of cyber attacks.

Image by Elchinator from Pixabay

This is where artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) come into play. These two technologies revolutionize modern cyber defense strategies and provide a more robust, proactive approach to protecting sensitive data and systems. This post details the role of AI and ML in modern cyber defense.

The Evolution of Cyber Threats

Cyber threats have advanced far from simple viruses and worms of the past. Modern cyber attacks are more complex, often orchestrated by organized crime syndicates or state-sponsored actors.

These attacks can involve advanced persistent threats (APTs), ransomware, phishing schemes, and zero-day exploits, which can bypass traditional security measures. The dynamic nature of these threats necessitates a more advanced approach to threat detection and response.

The New Frontiers in Cybersecurity

AI and ML technologies offer significant advantages in cybersecurity. Their ability to analyze vast amounts of data at unprecedented speeds enables them to identify patterns and anomalies that might indicate a cyber threat. Here are some key ways AI and ML are transforming cyber defense:

Predictive Analytics

AI and ML excel in predictive analytics, which involves analyzing historical data to predict future cyber threats. By learning from past incidents, these technologies can anticipate potential attack vectors and vulnerabilities, allowing organizations to fortify their defenses proactively. For instance, ML models can predict which types of attacks are likely to target specific systems. This enables tailored security measures that address those specific threats.

Behavioral Analysis

Traditional security measures often rely on predefined rules and signatures to detect threats. However, AI and ML take a different approach by analyzing user and system behavior.

Behavioral analysis can detect deviations from normal activity, even if the specific threat has not been seen before. This method is particularly effective against insider threats and new, previously unknown types of malware.

Enhanced Incident Response

When a cyber-attack occurs, the speed and effectiveness of the response are critical. AI and ML can enhance incident response by automating the initial steps of the process. For example, AI-driven systems can isolate affected devices, block malicious traffic, and start forensic investigations, all within seconds. This rapid response can significantly limit the damage caused by an attack and speed up the recovery process.

Continuous Learning and Adaptation

Cyber threats are constantly evolving, and so must the defense against them. AI and ML systems are designed to continuously learn and adapt from new data. This means these systems become more effective at identifying and mitigating threats over time. Unlike traditional security measures, which may become outdated, AI and ML-driven defenses evolve alongside the threats.

Challenges and Considerations

While AI and ML offer substantial benefits for cyber defense, they are not without challenges. One major concern is the potential for false positives, where unharmful activities are misclassified as threats. This can overwhelm security teams with alerts and reduce the overall effectiveness of the defense strategy. Cybercriminals also leverage AI and ML, creating an ongoing arms race between attackers and defenders.

Endnote

AI and ML are transforming cybersecurity, offering powerful tools for detecting, predicting, and responding to cyber threats. Their ability to analyze vast amounts of data, identify patterns, and learn from past incidents makes them essential components of a robust cyber defense strategy.

by Web Desk via Digital Information World

Behind the Glam: The Business of Being an Instagram Celebrity And Influencer

BoredPanda has shared an infographic of celebrities and influencers who earn the most from Instagram in the US. The celebrities with most earnings from Instagram in the US were narrowed down after identifying 850 most followed celebrities on Instagram and analyzing 90,000 posts from all those celebrities. Different other metrics were also analyzed to identify celebrities with most Instagram earnings like posts with paid partnerships and hashtags like “ad”, “sponsored”, etc. So, this means that this data is only about the earnings which were from only Instagram posts, and not from Instagram reels or stories. All of the celebrity earnings below are not in order.

Kylie Jenner, an influencer based in the US, earns the most from Instagram. She has an average earning of $16,816,068 from Instagram. The musician, Demi Lovato, has earned $2,830,716 from Instagram while celebrity model, Hailey Bieber who is based in Arizona has earned $1,272,542 from her Instagram posts. Other Instagram celebrities in the Instagram billionaire club are Mr. Beast and Madelyn Cline with $2107,057 and $1,280,215 earnings respectively. Celebrities like Beyonce($1,919,636), Ellen DeGeneres($9,221,138) and Jennifer Lopez($9,130, 949) are also among celebrities with the most Instagram earnings.

There are also sport related celebrities who earn a lot on Instagram. Among these sports celebrities are Steph Curry($7,502,807) and Shaquille O’Neal($3,479,852). Serena Williams was also among them with $562,172 Instagram earnings.

Some other Instagram celebrities with the most Instagram earnings include Chris Patt, Zach King, Jason Momoa and Diplo. Actors like Courtney Cox, Victoria Justice, Madison Bailey and Mandy Moore are also among the celebrities with the most Instagram earnings.

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by Arooj Ahmed via Digital Information World

The Download Boom: 1,400 Apps and Games Now Hit 1 Million Downloads Monthly

The figure one million is a great number to play with. And that’s especially true if you happen to be an app developer and tend to gain downloads in that domain.

But have you ever wondered which apps and gaming platforms are the most downloaded each month and go as far as hitting that 1M milestone?

There’s no reason for you to guess anymore because we’re back thanks to some great app intelligence to decipher just that. And don’t be surprised because the facts are a little startling, to say the least.

The last time we asked followers, they happened to be so off in that regard. If we look at stats from the year 2023, nearly 1300 platforms hit the one million figure. And today, it’s gone up to 1400. So yes, an almost 8% rise is something many will not mind.

Now, it’s time to break down which platforms ended up giving these incredible stats.

Thanks to Explorer, we saw close to 1400 applications and gaming platforms get that incredible recognition. But were there more apps or games that ended up making the list?

The answer is applications but the greatness or lead over games wasn’t as much as you may be expecting. 47% of them are games and the rest or 53% are applications. These kinds of downloads do end up aligning well.

When it came to games, downloads were as much as 1.6 billion, and apps on the other hand were installed twice as much, hitting the two billion mark.

Every big name was presented on the list so they ended up getting skipped. When you dig deeper, you get a clearer picture of who really is doing better than all others.

As per expert analysis, it’s actually photo editors and video gettings getting more love now than ever. Meanwhile, food delivery platforms, fitness apps, and several VPNs continue to reign supreme as we speak.

When we look at the figures seen at the store, it’s actually Android’s Google Play with the upper lead when compared to Apple’s App Store. 87% of every platform tends to attain greater than one million installations across Google Play. You’ve got both gaming platforms and applications. Meanwhile, Apple only has 13% of the share.

Coming to the exact figures for downloads, they’re not small. It’s actually quite large and as per the estimated figures, close to 87% of those produced downloads greater than 3 billion in May alone while the figure was a little less than 500 million arising from Apple’s App Store.

At the Apple App Store, photo and video editors hit the top of the list for most downloaded platforms while social networking came at number two. In third place, it was productivity apps that continued to muster a lot of attention.

At Google’s Play Store, tools were the most popular category for downloads while social and communication apps stole the second and third leading position. So what we can conclude from here is that downloads were much greater when you’re on Google Play.

From what we can see right now, this really provides a great understanding of the dataset at large and a great picture in terms of where download stats lie. Applications and gaming platforms are not going anywhere and if they continue to provide the kind of entertainment that they do, there’s no stopping them getting bigger figures for the remaining part of the year.

H/T: Appfigures.

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by Dr. Hura Anwar via Digital Information World

Mr. Beast Has Become the Most Subscribed Channel on YouTube, After Surpassing T-Series

Mr. Beast is a well known content creators, mostly known for his gameshow type of videos on YouTube. Almost all of his videos gain millions of views and people overall enjoy watching his content. Mr. Beast has now become the most subscribed channel on YouTube. Previously, the crown for the channel with the most subscribers was held by T-series, a Bollywood music production channel. It had been the same since 2018, when T-series was successful in gaining more subscribers than the channel known PewDiePie. PewDiePie had to face too many controversies in 2018 and it was a good chance for T-series to take over.

Mr.Beast, whose real name is Jimmy Donaldson, was ecstatic with the news of him becoming the most subscribed on YouTube. He wrote on X that he has finally taken revenge for PewDiePie from T-series. When PewDiePie’s channel was competing with against T-series, Mr. Beast offered a lot of support to PewDiePie.

When Mr. Beast became the most subscribed YouTuber, he also said that this was the biggest subscriber increase he had ever experienced on his channel. Right now, Mr. Beast has 270 million total subscribers on his YouTube channel. Mr. Beast has also continued breaking records. Just in August 2023, he also claimed that one of his videos on his YouTube video has the record for highest views in 24 hours for a non-music video. This was when Mr. Beast’s subscribers were 174 million so this is really impressive.

It is important to note that, despite Mr. Beast has claimed the throne as YouTube's most subscribed channel, his impressive subscriber count doesn't necessarily translate to the most views. When we look at the data (provided in the infographic above and raw data below), T-series still reigns supreme in terms of total views, boasting a staggering 256.81 billion views compared to Mr. Beast's 50.37 billion. Despite his dominance in subscriber numbers, Mr. Beast trails behind T-series and other heavyweights like Cocomelon - Nursery Rhymes and SET India in total views, showcasing the diverse landscape of YouTube content consumption.

Channel	Subscribers (in Million)	Views (in Billion)	Videos
MrBeast	270M	50.37B	798
T-Series	266M	256.81B	21.07K
Cocomelon - Nursery Rhymes	176M	182.88B	1.17K
SET India	173M	164.52B	138.69K
Kids Diana Show	122M	103.39B	1.22K
Vlad and Niki	118M	90.77B	718
Like Nastya	116M	100.77B	885
PewDiePie	111M	29.31B	4.76K
Zee Music Company	107M	66.73B	11.17K
WWE	102M	84.86B	76.51K
Goldmines	97.1M	28.99B	8.53K
BLACKPINK	93.9M	35.66B	596
Sony SAB	92.4M	115.06B	85.53K
ChuChu TV Nursery Rhymes & Kids Songs	91.3M	50.98B	790
5-Minute Crafts	80.7M	27.37B	7.04K
Zee TV	80.6M	89.81B	175.51K
BANGTANTV	78.1M	22.97B	2.51K
Baby Shark - Pinkfong Kids’ Songs & Stories	75.2M	43.81B	3.24K
HYBE LABELS	74.9M	34.2B	1.84K
Justin Bieber	73M	32.31B	249

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by Arooj Ahmed via Digital Information World