Google engineer killed by falling branch at Yosemite: Report

Google engineer killed by falling branch at Yosemite: Report

A Google software engineer died during a fatal accident at Yosemite National Park, where a large tree branch reportedly fell on her earlier this month. Angela Lin, 29, was hiking past the park's giant sequoias with her boyfriend and two friends on July 19 when the group noticed a cracking sound above them, according toSF Gate. "Two to three seconds later, branches fell out of the sky," Hua told the outlet. "One big branch struck Angela, and then there were a bunch of smaller ones directly behind me." Lin was found on the ground and unresponsive. Hua immediately called 911 and then performed CPR. A park ranger arrived soon after and took over the resuscitation efforts before emergency personnel pronounced her dead. "It was just unimaginable that something like this could occur," Hua told the outlet. "On such a popular trail, too." The accident occurred at the Tuolumne Grove paved trail, which was closed to the public for a week, SF Gate reported. The incident is reportedly under investigation. Hua told SF Gate that Lin's loved ones are frustrated by a lack of communication with officials "We are seeking more information from the park service regarding this incident, especially around trail safety, maintenance and awareness of problematic trees on popular trails, and future prevention of similar incidents," he wrote in an email to the outlet. USA TODAY has reached out to the National Park Service and the Tuolumne County Sheriff's Office for comment. Lin worked as a full-time software engineer at Google for three years, starting in April 2022, according to herLinkedIn page. "We lost a loved and respected member of our team. We're very saddened by this tragedy, and our hearts are with their family and loved ones," Google said in a statement to USA TODAY. She previously worked at the AI Customer Relationship Management firm Salesforce for two years and interned at Microsoft, as her LinkedIn page reveals. She earned her bachelor's degree in electrical engineering and computer sciences at the University of California, Berkeley, as well as both her master's degree and Ph.D. in computer sciences at the University of Texas at Austin. This article originally appeared on USA TODAY:Google engineer killed by falling branch during hike at Yosemite park

byAllias Grif

in

July 31, 2025

Google engineer killed by falling branch at Yosemite: Report

Google engineer killed by falling branch at Yosemite: Report A Google software engineer died during a fatal accident at Yosemite National Pa...

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2-year-old killed when car crashes into suburban Chicago restaurant

2-year-old killed when car crashes into suburban Chicago restaurant

A 2-year-old boy was killed and other people were injured when a vehicle crashed into an Illinois restaurant Wednesday in what police said appears to have been an accident. Police in Oswego, a village of 34,000 around 40 miles west of Chicago, responded to reports that a vehicle had crashed into a Portillo's location at 1:55 p.m., Police Chief Jason Bastin said. The driver, a 50-year-old woman who was alone in the vehicle, crashed into the front entrance of the Chicago street-food-style restaurant on Route 34, he said. "Our investigation is in its early stages, but preliminary information suggests that this was a tragic incident," Bastin said. Fourteen people were injured, eight of whom were taken to area hospitals, he said. The driver, who was among the eight who were taken to hospitals, was speaking after the crash, he said. Three people have serious injuries, Oswego Fire Protection District Chief Josh Flanders said. Bastin said the child who was killed was inside the restaurant. "On behalf of the police and fire department, we extend our deepest condolences to the family during this devastating time," he said at a news conference. The investigation is in its early stages, and Bastin said it was too early to know whether any charges would be filed.

byAllias Grif

in

July 31, 2025

2-year-old killed when car crashes into suburban Chicago restaurant

2-year-old killed when car crashes into suburban Chicago restaurant A 2-year-old boy was killed and other people were injured when a vehicle...

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China probes Nvidia over AI chip 'tracking' security risks

China probes Nvidia over AI chip 'tracking' security risks

While Nvidia has been given assurances by Washington that it will be allowed to resume exports of its made-for-China H20 general processing units, the AI chips may be met with increased scrutiny from Beijing. According to the Cyberspace Administration of China,Nvidia met with Beijing officials on Thursday regarding potential national security concernsposed by its H20 chips, which recently saw restrictions on their export lifted following an effective ban in April. Nvidia was requested "to clarify and submit relevant supporting documentation regarding security risks, including potential vulnerabilities and backdoors, associated with its H20 computing chips sold to China," according to a CNBC translation of a statement from CAC. In a post, the regulator said that Nvidia's computing chips were reported to have serious security vulnerabilities, also noting calls from U.S. lawmakers for mandatory tracking features to be placed on advanced chips exported from the country. In its statement, CAC added that American AI experts had already revealed that Nvidia's computing chips pose mature "tracking and positioning" and "remote shutdown" technologies. Samsung's profit more than halves, missing expectations as chip business plunges 94% Here's why New Delhi did not rush into a deal with Washington Chinese AI companies are already making money — and eyeing global expansion The statement appears to be referencing a report from Reuters in May that said Bill Foster, a Democrat lawmaker from Illinois, was planning to introduce legislation that would require advanced AI chipmakers like Nvidia to include a built-in location reporting system. Forester, who once worked as a particle physicist, and independent technical experts reportedly agreed that the technology to track chips was readily available, with much of it already built into Nvidia's chips. Forester's bill would also seek to give U.S. authorities the power to remotely shut down chips being used without proper licenses, in a measure to fight chip smuggling and export loopholes. Nvidia did not immediately respond to a request for comment from CNBC. In recent weeks, many American lawmakers have also taken issue with the reported rollback of restrictions on Nvidia's H20 chips, warning they will advance Beijing's AI capability. This week, Nvidia reportedly placed orders for 300,000 H20 chipsets with contract manufacturer TSMC as it seeks to meet Chinese demand.

byAllias Grif

in

July 31, 2025

China probes Nvidia over AI chip 'tracking' security risks

China probes Nvidia over AI chip 'tracking' security risks While Nvidia has been given assurances by Washington that it will be allo...

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Ousted vaccine panel members say rigorous science is being abandoned

Ousted vaccine panel members say rigorous science is being abandoned

NEW YORK (AP) — The 17 experts who were ousted from a government vaccine committee last month say they have little faith in what the panel has become, and have outlined possible alternative ways to make U.S. vaccine policy. U.S. Health SecretaryRobert F. Kennedy Jr.abruptly firedthe entire Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, accusing them of being too closely aligned with manufacturers and of rubber-stamping vaccines. Hehandpicked replacementsthat include several vaccine skeptics. In acommentarypublished Wednesday in the New England Journal of Medicine, the former panel members wrote that Kennedy — a leading voice in theanti-vaccine movementbefore becoming the U.S. government's top health official — and his new panel are abandoning rigorous scientific review and open deliberation. That was clear, they said, during the new panel'sfirst meeting, in June. It featured a presentation by an anti-vaccine advocate that warned of dangers about a preservative used in a few flu vaccines, but the committee members didn't hear from Centers for Disease Control and Prevention staffers about an analysis that concluded there was no link between the preservative and neurodevelopmental disorders. The new panel recommended that the preservative,thimerosal, be removed even as some members acknowledged there was no proof it was causing harm. "That meeting was a travesty, honestly," said former ACIP member Dr. Yvonne Maldonado, a pediatric infectious diseases expert at Stanford University. The 17 discharged experts last monthpublished a shorter essayin the Journal of the American Medical Association that decried Kennedy's "destabilizing decisions." The focus was largely on their termination and on Kennedy's decision in Mayto stop recommendingCOVID-19 vaccines for healthy children and pregnant women. In the new commentary, the ousted committee members took it one step further and prescribed some steps that could be taken to maintain scientifically sound vaccine recommendations. "An alternative to the Committee should be established quickly and — if necessary — independently from the federal government," they wrote. "No viable pathway exists to fully replace the prior trusted and unbiased ACIP structure and process. Instead, the alternatives must focus on limiting the damage to vaccination policy in the United States." Options included having professional organizations working together to harmonize vaccine recommendations or establishing an external auditor of ACIP recommendations. There are huge challenges to the ideas, including having access to the best data, the authors acknowledged. There's also the question of whether health insurers would pay for vaccinations that are recommended by alternative groups but not ACIP. They might pick and choose which vaccines to cover, said the University of North Carolina's Noel Brewer, another former ACIP member. For example, they might pay for vaccines that offer more immediate cost savings for health care, like the flu vaccine. "But maybe not ones that have a longer-term benefit like HPV vaccine," which is designed to prevent futures cancers, Brewer said. A spokesman for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services argued that Kennedy is restoring public trust in federal vaccine policy by replacing the ACIP roster. "By replacing vaccine groupthink with a diversity of perspectives, Secretary Kennedy is strengthening the integrity of the advisory process guiding immunization policy in this country," spokesman Andrew Nixon said in a statement. ___ The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute's Science and Educational Media Group and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content.

byAllias Grif

in

July 31, 2025

Ousted vaccine panel members say rigorous science is being abandoned

Ousted vaccine panel members say rigorous science is being abandoned NEW YORK (AP) — The 17 experts who were ousted from a government vaccin...

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Puerto Rico declares emergency and activates National Guard over water outages

Puerto Rico declares emergency and activates National Guard over water outages

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) —Puerto Rico'sgovernor declared a state of emergency on Wednesday and activated the National Guard after thousands of homes were left without water. Nearly 180,000 customers were affected at the peak of the outage late last week. As of Wednesday, nearly 3,000 customers were still without water, including nearly a dozen hotels, according toGov. Jenniffer González. The problem has angered many on the island of 3.2 million people, especially because the state water and sewer authority has declined to name the company responsible for damaging a main water line while repairing a road last week. Municipal officials have set up water distribution points and have gone home-to-home to distribute drinking water, with the National Guard now expected to help with those duties. "As long as I have 11 hotels without water and residents without service, of course we have an emergency," González said. The governor also named a special coordinator charged with stabilizing the water system, investigating the water and sewer authority and determining how the incident occurred. He is expected to issue a report in the next 10 days. González said that the water and sewer authority's executive director, who has come under fire, would remain in that position. Before the widespread incident occurred, dozens of communities across Puerto Rico had long experienced issues withwater supply. ____ Follow AP's coverage of Latin America and the Caribbean athttps://apnews.com/hub/latin-america

byAllias Grif

in

July 30, 2025

Puerto Rico declares emergency and activates National Guard over water outages

Puerto Rico declares emergency and activates National Guard over water outages SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) —Puerto Rico'sgovernor declare...

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