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Admission Battle Begins for DU Arts, Law, and Social Sciences Units
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25 Jan 2025, 11:41
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The admission process for the 2025-26 academic session at Dhaka University (DU) has begun for the Arts, Law, and Social Sciences units of the undergraduate program. Over 125,000 students have participated in the entrance exam.
The exam started simultaneously at 8 centers in Dhaka and divisional cities at 11:00 AM on Saturday, January 25.
According to instructions, students were required to arrive at the exam center by 10:00 AM. The admission card includes specific guidelines, such as the need to bring the original copy of the admission test card and the higher secondary registration card. Students must use a black ink ballpoint pen for all answers on the question and answer sheets. The use of any kind of pencil is strictly prohibited.
Additionally, all forms of calculators, watches, mobile phones, Bluetooth devices, or any electronic devices capable of communication are prohibited in the exam hall. If any such device is found with a candidate during the exam, their admission test will be canceled.
This year, 125,418 students have applied for 2,934 seats in the Arts, Law, and Social Sciences units, meaning that 43 students will compete for each seat.
In the previous year, 2023-24, 102,000 students participated in the entrance exam for this unit, with 10,275 passing.
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NASA Probe Survives Record-breaking Close Approach to Sun
NASA scientists have announced that the Parker Solar Probe survived zooming by the sun at a record-breaking closest distance. The craft collected precious data which researchers say will aid work on solar wind, particles and the sun's atmosphere.
What we know about the mission
The mission was carried out by a team at the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory in Maryland.
"The team was out of contact with the spacecraft during closest approach, which occurred on Dec. 24, with Parker Solar Probe zipping just 3.8 million miles from the solar surface while moving about 430,000 miles per hour," Michael Buckley, spokesperson for the laboratory, said in a statement.
On December 26, the team received a signal from the probe indicating that it is in "good health and operating normally."
Scientists expect detailed data from the NASA-developed spacecraft on January 1.
About the probe
The craft was built to endure temperatures up to 1,800 degrees Fahrenheit (about 980 degrees Celsius), enough to survive in the sun's outer atmosphere.
Launched in 2018, the probe's mission is to complete 24 orbits around the sun in seven years.
The close approach to the sun allowed the probe to collect measurements that will help scientists study how the sun's outer atmosphere gets "heated to millions of degrees," trace the flow of energy and discover how solar wind accelerates to near light speed.
Previous solar probes have helped researchers to understand the structures of solar wind and to map out the structure of the sun's atmosphere.
HMPV Virus: A New Pandemic Threat?
Following the COVID-19 pandemic, the Human Metapneumovirus (HMPV) has seen a surge in outbreaks in China and Japan. This flu-like virus has already infected many, with medical professionals and public health experts warning it could escalate to a crisis similar to COVID-19.
Experts fear a new pandemic could emerge as early as 2025. While no specific disease has been identified as the next global threat, the growing prevalence of HMPV is raising concerns.
Reports and social media posts reveal overcrowded hospitals in China, with claims that multiple viruses, including HMPV, Influenza A, Mycoplasma pneumonia, and even COVID-19, are on the rise.
What is HMPV, and What Are Its Symptoms?
HMPV symptoms resemble those of the flu and other respiratory infections, particularly affecting children and immunocompromised individuals. Common symptoms include:
Cough
Fever
Nasal congestion
Shortness of breath
The incubation period for HMPV is typically 3–6 days, with symptoms varying in duration depending on the severity of the infection. While it may begin with mild cold-like symptoms, severe cases can lead to hospitalization due to bronchitis, pneumonia, asthma exacerbations, or ear infections.
How Does HMPV Spread?
HMPV spreads in ways similar to other respiratory viruses:
Respiratory droplets from coughing or sneezing.
Direct physical contact, such as handshakes or touching infected surfaces.
Touching the face (mouth, nose, or eyes) after contact with contaminated areas.
Prevention and Protection
Although HMPV was first identified nearly two decades ago, no vaccine has been developed to date. Doctors suggest that preventive measures used against COVID-19 can also be effective in managing HMPV:
Washing hands with soap and water for at least 20 seconds.
Avoiding touching the face with unclean hands.
Maintaining a safe distance from infected individuals.
Adhering to these measures can help reduce the risk of infection and keep the virus at bay.
Meta to Suspend Fact-Checking Amid Allegations of Bias
Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg on Tuesday said the social media company is ending its fact-checking program and replacing it with a community-driven system similar to that of Elon Musk's X.
Zuckerberg cited the outcome of the 2024 U.S. presidential election as underlying the decision, calling it a "cultural tipping point towards, once again, prioritizing speech." Zuckerberg made the announcement in a video. "We're going to get rid of fact-checkers and replace them with community notes similar to X, starting in the U.S."
The changes will impact Meta platforms Facebook and Instagram — which have billions of users — as well as Threads.
The systems put in place to moderate its platforms make too many mistakes, Zuckerberg stated.
Meta introduced its fact-checking program in 2016 as part of an effort to curb misinformation. The initiative was launched in response to criticism over Facebook's role in spreading false claims during the 2016 U.S. presidential election. A 2023 statement from Meta said the fact-checking program had "expanded to include nearly 100 organizations working in more than 60 languages globally."
Community trust
Meta does plan to continue to moderate content related to drugs, terrorism, child exploitation, frauds and scams, Joel Kaplan, Meta's chief global affairs officer and Clegg's successor, wrote in a statement on the Meta site. Facebook's trust and safety content moderation team is also moving from California to Texas and other U.S. locations, according to the note.
Kaplan also said entrusting users to effectively moderate Meta's social media platforms should benefit its content.
"We've seen this approach work on X — where they empower their community to decide when posts are potentially misleading and need more context, and people across a diverse range of perspectives decide what sort of context is helpful for other users to see," he wrote. "We think this could be a better way of achieving our original intention of providing people with information about what they're seeing — and one that's less prone to bias."
Meta said it would roll out its Community Notes approach over the next two month and continue refining it over the rest of the year. That will include no longer demoting content that users have fact-checked and including what Kaplan called "a much less obtrusive label" pointing people to additional information.
Preparing for Trump
The announcement came a day after Meta said former Ultimate Fighting Championship chief executive Dana White, a close ally of President-elect Donald Trump, would join its board, and shortly after former UK deputy prime minister Nick Clegg announced he was stepping down as president of global affairs.
Musk, a major supporter and financial backer of Trump during his presidential campaign, is thought to have the ear of the president-elect on issues ranging from how to slash federal spending to transportation policy.
Since Trump's November victory at the polls over Kamala Harris, Meta and other major technology companies have also sought to engender goodwill with the incoming administration. In December, for example, Meta donated $1 million to Trump's inaugural fund, while Zuckerberg dined with him at his Mar-a-Lago estate.
Such gestures seemed aimed at repairing Meta's relations with Trump, which soured after Facebook banned him from Facebook following the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol in 2021, when the company ruled that his posts on the platform had helped foster the violence that day.
"Meta is repositioning the company for the incoming Trump administration," Jasmine Enberg, principal analyst at research firm Emarketer, said in an email. "The move will elate conservatives, who've often criticized Meta for censoring speech, but it will spook many liberals and advertisers, showing just how far Zuckerberg is willing to go to win Trump's approval."
(Source: CBS News)
Diamond-made Battery to Last for a Thousand Years on a Single Charge
In a groundbreaking achievement, scientists have developed the world's first diamond battery, capable of lasting an astonishing thousand years on a single charge. This innovative breakthrough, which has the potential to reshape the future of technology, was created by researchers from the UK Atomic Energy Authority (UKAEA) and the University of Bristol.
The battery is made using Carbon-14, a radioactive isotope, and is known as Diamond Battery. It operates similarly to solar panels but instead of harnessing light, it converts electrons from the decay of Carbon-14 into electricity.
What makes this battery truly remarkable is not just its longevity, but its safety and versatility. It is suitable for a wide range of applications, including smartphones, household appliances, and critical medical devices like pacemakers, hearing aids, and eye implants. Patients would greatly benefit from this technology, as the battery would last the entire lifetime of the device without requiring replacement.
The implications for space exploration are equally significant. Unlike traditional batteries that fail in extreme conditions, the diamond battery can endure harsh environments, making it ideal for powering spacecraft, satellites, and scientific payloads for decades—or even centuries. A single charge could potentially sustain space missions for hundreds of years.
Despite its potential, questions regarding the cost of production remain. While experts are optimistic that advances in manufacturing will drive down prices, the current cost of such a high-tech battery may limit its accessibility to the general public.
Another impressive feature of the diamond battery is its environmental safety. Although it uses Carbon-14, the radioactive isotope is safely encased in artificial diamonds, posing no risk to the environment or users.
Researchers believe that this revolutionary battery technology could not only transform the energy sector but also offer solutions to many complex challenges in various fields. As production scales, diamond batteries could become a key player in the future of energy and technology.
Meta to Lay Off 5% of Employees in Efficiency Drive
Tech giant Meta announced plans to lay off about 3,600 employees based on their performance, US media reported on Tuesday.
This will affect 5% of the company's 72,000-strong workforce, said the company to AFP news agency.
"I've decided to raise the bar on performance management and move out low-performers faster," CEO Mark Zuckerberg said.
Recent changes at Meta
Meta, which owns Facebook, Instagram and Whatsapp wants to ensure they have the "strongest talent" and "bring new people in," said Zuckerberg.
According to the plan, employees who underperform will be asked to leave sooner, and will be replaced by new hires, reported Bloomberg and tech blog The Verge.
Zuckerberg, 40, is the third richest person in the world. He has recently aligned closer to US president-elect Donald Trump.
Recently, Meta announced the shutdown of its US fact-checking program and scaled back its diversity and inclusion initiatives. It also made its content moderation rules more lenient.
Cost-cutting amid losses
Zuckerberg changed his company Facebook's name to Meta in 2021 after an ambitious plan to develop an immersive virtual reality experience, or 'metaverse.'
However, Reality Labs, Meta's virtual and augmented reality branch, has been making losses.
This is not the first time the company has seen layoffs. After seeing initial growth during the COVID-19 pandemic, Meta cut some 20,000 jobs.
Meta laid off the large number of employees in a cost-cutting move in 2023, which was declared as its "year of efficiency."
KUET Admission Test Results Published: How to Check
The results of the undergraduate first-year admission test for the 2024-25 academic year at Khulna University of Engineering and Technology (KUET) have been published.
The results were released on Wednesday night (January 15). They can be accessed on the university's website at https://adm.kuet.ac.bd/notice.
Earlier, the KUET admission test was held on January 11. Although the university conducted exams under an engineering cluster in previous years, this year the exam was conducted independently, witnessing a record number of participants.
The admission test was held in 447 rooms across 11 centers, including KUET. This year, 24,527 students competed for 1,065 seats, with 23 candidates vying for each seat.
Bangladesh Reports First HMPV Fatality as Health Alerts Rise
Sanjida Akter, a 30-year-old woman from Bhairab, Kishoreganj, has died after being infected with Human Metapneumovirus (HMPV). She passed away while receiving treatment at the Mohakhali Infectious Disease Hospital. Dr. Ariful Bashar, the hospital's superintendent, confirmed the news.
Sanjida's HMPV infection was reported on January 12. It was noted that she had no history of foreign travel. Her husband lives abroad, but he had not returned to the country recently.
HMPV was first identified in Bangladesh in 2017, with cases being detected annually since then. Although there is no major cause for alarm regarding the virus, the Health Directorate has issued a warning due to its spread in several neighboring countries.
In a press release on January 12, the Disease Control Branch (CDC) of the Health Directorate highlighted the concerning rise in HMPV infections in countries like China and others in the subcontinent. The virus is particularly prevalent among children under 14 and individuals aged 65 and above. Those with chronic health conditions such as asthma or Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD), pregnant women, and individuals with weakened immune systems are at higher risk.
Like many other countries, Bangladesh has seen cases of this virus. Given the recent outbreaks in China and other nations, it is essential to control the spread in Bangladesh. Strengthening health protocols at all healthcare facilities and entry points is necessary. The public is urged to follow the guidelines and increase health awareness to prevent HMPV infection.
