Consumer Reports: Dangers in the laundry room
November 17, 2019, Consumer Reports
A YouTube report by Consumer Reports on dangers in the laundry room, including tips on how to make the area safer for kids. The report includes information from the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission on laundry room dangers and how to reduce the risk to children.
Federal experts warn parents about unsafe car seats being sold across the nation
November 15, 2019, News3LV
At the end of October, a concerned pediatrician alerted the U.S. Department of Transportation’s National Highway Safety Administration that there are many child seats that do no meet the federal safety standards that are being sold across the country. The pediatrician brought forth many valid safety concerns, and now, government experts are urging parents that they should be aware of signs that a car seat is unsafe.
New Study: Too many kids get hurt by lawnmowers
November 15, 2019, Reuters
Many children are injured by lawnmowers despite safety guidelines in place to prevent these accidents, and kids in rural communities are most at risk, a U.S. study suggests. Researchers examined data on 1,302 lawnmower injuries in children 1 to 18 years old from 2005 to 2017. In cities, 1.47 kids out of every 100,000 sustained lawnmower injuries, compared to 4.26 kids out of every 100,000 in rural areas, the study found.
Create an ethics committee to keep your AI initiative in check
November 15, 2019, Harvard Business Review
It’s not uncommon for a news organizations to invite comments and feedback from their audience; in fact, most encourage it. But WITF has gone above and beyond a general invitation for engagement. A statement highlights the potential for bias in their own reporting — and their attempt to avoid it. Contemporary sensitivities to bias are growing, and this will only increase with the proliferation and ubiquity of Artificial Intelligence (AI). Most of today’s AI systems are built via machine learning, a technique that requires any one of thousands of potential algorithms to “learn” patterns from extremely large stockpiles of data. This should produce a model that is predictive of future real-world scenarios, but bias skews the accuracy of these models.
Family says hoverboard exploded burning down their home
November 15, 2019, WKYT (CNN)
A family is homeless after they say a hoverboard exploded and burned down their home. They say it happened in a matter of seconds and they’re only alive thanks to the oldest son’s quick-thinking. The Consumer Product Safety Commission has documented over 250 hoverboard incidents involving fires since 2015 and recommends checking for recalls. “Even though I saw the videos of hoverboards exploding, I never thought that mine would be one of those,” a family member said.
Dallas will wait a little longer for tighter scooter regulations
November 14, 2019, Dallas News
Transportation officials in Dallas will have four more months to iron out regulations that would address safety concerns around the city’s motorized scooters. The Dallas City Council on Wednesday approved an extension for the ordinance’s sunset to March 31, before the scooter ordinance was set to expire by the end of this month. Michael Rogers, director of the city’s Department of Transportation, initially planned to bring recommendations to the council this month for ordinance changes. Rogers said his staffers need more time to develop the proposal.
EPA will hold public meeting on TSCA new chemical program
November 17, 2019, National Law Review
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) will hold a public meeting on December 10, 2019, to engage with interested stakeholders on the implementation of EPA’s Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) New Chemicals program. By the end of 2019, EPA intends to announce the availability of the updated “Working Approach” document and provide an opportunity for written public comment. EPA states that feedback from the public meeting and comments received will help inform its ongoing efforts to improve the way EPA reviews new chemicals under TSCA
New one stop shop for ethical brands
November 13, 2019, Forbes
Nisolo, a popular sustainable shoe brand, now wants to push beyond footwear. Launching a new marketplace of curated items from ethical brands, Nisolo is making a one-stop shop for customers wanting to invest in purpose-driven brands.
Healthy sleep for children: Everything you need to know
November 13, 2019, Cayman Eye News
A growing body of scientific literature is highlighting the negative effects of inadequate sleep. A survey carried out in Japan concluded that “shortened nocturnal sleep is a growing social phenomenon in industrialized countries.”Another study published in the Sleep Journal states: “It is widely recognized that sleep is important for children’s health and well-being and that short sleep duration is associated with a wide range of negative health outcomes.” Both studies agree that that lack of healthy sleep is associated with negative physical, emotional as well as cognitive outcomes.
Ex VW executive accused in emissions scandal denied release
November 15, 2019, Valliant News
A Detroit federal judge on Thursday denied pretrial bond release of former Volkswagen AG executive Oliver Schmidt, indicted for his role in the automaker’s diesel emissions scandal, saying there is “serious risk” that Schmidt would not appear in court for trial now set for January 2018. Cox said he carefully considered the arguments, but said the court believes there are no conditions to a release that will assure Schmidt’s appearance for trial.
