Zoom was the most downloaded non-game app worldwide for April 2020 with close to 131 million installs, a 60x growth from April 2019

DDoS attacks during the first three months of this year have seen a significant spike in attacks on educational websites.

DBS Bank is leveraging technology to reduce man hours, enhance the customer journey, automate processes and open new revenue streams.

In conversation with ETCIO, Subodh Kumar, CTO, Magicbricks, shares how data comprising 75 attributes has helped the company generate 60% more quality leads

Sujit Bhattacherjee, Group CIO at Amri Hospitals provides insights into how he is leveraging AI and analytics for ensuring better healthcare outcomes.

The insurance firm is looking at ways to expand the business, improve claim processing by going deeper into machine learning and neural networks.

Intensive irrigation of agricultural land in a Mediterranean water basin is altering the habitats of associated wetlands and changing the balance of the bird population living there, according to a recent study.

New research in Estonia indicates that plant biodiversity in field boundaries varies with features, such as ditches, trees and nearby roads. It suggests that, in addition to common non-weedy plants, more consideration should be given to rare weeds by broadening of field boundaries and reducing the use of agrochemicals and fertilisers near these boundaries.

New EU-supported research in the Mediterranean Sea has assessed the impact of fish-farming on seafloor ecosystems. Results indicate that impacts are only apparent in habitats with no vegetation, but the researchers suggest that habitats with vegetation seagrass could be masking the effects.

Old mining sites, such as quarries or pits, could provide refuges for endangered species, according to new research from the Czech Republic. Benefits are greater if the sites are allowed to recover naturally rather than being artificially restored with the use of topsoil, ground-levelling and seed planting.

The urbanisation of coastal areas and introduction of man-made structures, such as jetties and seawalls, are changing marine environments. A new analysis highlights the impacts of these changes on marine plants and animals and suggests options to manage the detrimental effects.

A new study of European river restoration projects has indicated that their impact on the physical characteristics of rivers depends on the region, river type and restoration approach. However, regardless of the river, region or approach, impacts on the biodiversity of riverbed species is limited. Larger scale projects could be more effective.

A new internet-based tool for tracking the changing boundaries of nature protected areas has been developed for Catalonia, which the researchers say could be used to help evaluate conservation in the Natura 2000 network.

Using commercial seed mixtures to replant European grasslands tends to produce a smaller range of species than originally grew on the land. New research has identified several methods that successfully reproduce the original range of species, such as transferring of fresh hay or soil that contains seeds.

The importance of predicting future threats to the areas connecting biodiversity hotspots when planning conversation projects is highlighted in a new study. Using Costa Rican forest as a case study, researchers compared forward-looking planning methods to those that focus exclusively on current threats and found the forward-looking approaches to be more effective and reliable.

New research has found a consensus amongst experts on which environmentally friendly agricultural practices are most effective at protecting four endangered birds in Spain. Experts agreed that maintaining fallow land, preventing the use of agrochemicals and stopping agricultural practices that disrupted nesting were the most valuable measures.

Grassland bird species of European conservation concern are potentially threatened by changes in land use in the Iberian cereal-steppes. However, a recent study suggests not all bird species respond in the same way to similar management guidelines and agri-environmental schemes need to be adjusted to local conditions.

Practical barriers may be hampering the application of an ecosystem services approach to forests. A new analysis has outlined three strategies to overcome these barriers: fostering private markets, managing public land and raising awareness of ecosystem services.

A global team of marine biologists have recently completed a Census of Marine Life, which contributes to our basic understanding of marine ecosystems. Among its findings - marine biodiversity in the Baltic and Mediterranean are among the most threatened globally.

Over one fifth of all the world's plants are at risk of dying out, according to a recent report. Loss of habitats through converting natural areas to agricultural use is the largest threat to plants, affecting 33 per cent of plants assessed by this study.

Human pressures on freshwater resources have seriously reduced the security of water for people and river biodiversity across the world, according to a recent study. Almost 80 per cent of the world's population is at high risk from threats to water security and 65 per cent of river habitats are under threat.

A study of how the Natura 2000 network was implemented in the Netherlands and in Italy has been conducted. From this analysis, recommendations have been made to help other EU Member States implement and manage the network, which include providing local authorities with better information on and understanding of Natura 2000 and how to balance ecological, social and economic needs.

Although the value of biodiversity and ecosystem services has been recognised, it is still not fully integrated into policy-making. A new report has developed an action plan that recommends that governments create a 'Natural Capital' minister in the Finance Ministry, develop a set of Natural Capital Accounts and form an inter-departmental committee to oversee programmes in this area.

Restoring ecosystems in estuaries and along coasts is an important part of European environmental policy. A new analysis of degraded ecosystems has indicated that, although some restoration can take less than five years, when there has been a century of degradation, it can take a minimum of 15-25 years.

Social and economic aspects should be considered alongside environmental issues when valuing benefits provided by ecosystems and biodiversity. A recently published study outlines the use of multi-criteria assessment methods for valuation that simultaneously take into account a wide variety of economic, social and environmental decision criteria.

A recent study has examined the effects of different farming practices on bird numbers and species found on farmland during the winter in six European countries. Overall, the greatest number of birds and species were on organic farms, especially when the farms were in landscapes where 80-99 per cent of the land was used for agriculture.

Researchers have demonstrated how the ERICA Integrated Approach can be used to assess the effect of releasing radiation into the environment on local wildlife in a real-world situation. The study applied ERICA to a river in Norway and found that local wildlife was only exposed to low levels of radioactivity from the routine aquatic discharges of a nearby research reactor, although historical exposure was higher.

Conservation efforts should focus on species that have recently declined in number, are harmless or are perceived as high value, according to a European public survey. Participants also felt that disappearing habitats should be targeted for protection. The results suggest that, by choosing different criteria that more closely match the public's values and criteria, conservationists could improve public support for their work.

Researchers have recommended new, improved ways of increasing the ecological value of European grasslands. Plant diversity ??? or species richness ??? can be increased by a factor of three through sowing grass and wildflower seed mixtures, together with a carefully controlled plan for animal grazing.

A review of a decade of environmental citizen science ??? where the general public are involved in science as researchers ??? concludes that its benefits to science and society far outweigh concerns over data quality. Challenges can be overcome through volunteer training and should not be used to devalue citizen science programmes, say the researchers.

Conservation researchers have warned against acting on the findings of a previous study that argued for the eradication of several invasive birds, including the Canada goose and sacred ibis, in Europe. They suggest the results are based on anecdotal rather than scientific evidence, and that detailed feasibility studies are needed before such management decisions are made.

Crop pollination is a vital ecosystem service, yet the numbers of animal pollinator species, such as bees, are in decline. Now, a team of German and American researchers have demonstrated how crops that provide the highest levels of vitamins and minerals essential to our diet globally depend heavily on animals for pollination.

Global food security under a changing climate is possible if the vital role of healthy ecosystems is recognised, according to a recent study. The researchers suggest that an ecosystem-based approach must be integrated with other measures to tackle food security under climate change, to protect ecosystems and supply the essential services on which humanity depends.

New research has explored how well different governance systems can achieve desirable conservation outcomes. Results confirmed the importance of adaptive management, which relies on regular monitoring to enable 'learning through doing' to refine actions, and suggested that leadership using expert knowledge was also significant in successful governance.

Gardens are good for biodiversity, according to a study of intensively managed farmland in Sweden. The study has found that abundance and species richness of pollinating bees is higher near domestic gardens, with the pollination of a native plant also greater at these sites. Domestic gardens play a role in complementing 'natural' habitats for pollinators in impoverished environments.

While the ecological impact of shale gas exploration and extraction on groundwater has received considerable attention, the implications for surface water and terrestrial ecosystems is often overlooked, according to a new US study. Although more data are needed, preliminary results suggest that regulations based on proximity to surface water could be necessary to protect valuable ecosystems.

As the climate changes, animal species are predicted to adapt by moving northwards so they can remain within their preferred temperature range. Now, researchers have found that bird and butterfly populations are not keeping up with changing temperatures and, on average, European bird and butterfly species lag around 212km and 135km, respectively, behind climate changes.

By 2090, up to 76.7 million more people in Africa could be at risk of infection by the parasite that causes sleeping sickness, according to recent research. The study predicted which areas of Africa would be at greatest risk in future.

Land-dwelling and charismatic animals, such as birds and mammals, receive greater attention in conservation research than other species. How does this bias affect those that are not so well known or loved? A new study suggests that African species in freshwater habitats may suffer as a result.

New research has outlined a four-step approach to multipurpose wetland creation or restoration: clarifying the objectives, defining the scale and analysing possible conflicts, before finally defining a strategy.

To encourage protection of the environment, payments for environmental services (PES) schemes offer direct incentives to individuals and communities to maintain or improve the provision of environmental services. A recent study suggests indicators to monitor PES must be chosen very carefully to help ensure that monitoring does not cost more than the payments themselves.

The way in which agricultural land is managed can cause environmental changes that affect biodiversity and the services provided by ecosystems. A new study suggests agri-environmental schemes that focus on restoring common weeds, such as thistles, buttercups and clover, could have wide-ranging benefits as these plants appear to help stabilise the supportive links between different species found in farmlands.

Wild animals are more likely to be hit by vehicles during times where roads have poorer surface conditions and during periods of low light, according to a study of moose in Sweden. The researchers emphasise that it is not possible to accurately predict hotspots for wildlife collisions using data on the movement of the animals alone, and suggest that efforts to reduce accidents should focus on driver awareness and road conditions.

Loss of biodiversity may be connected to the rising incidence of allergies and other chronic inflammatory diseases, such as asthma, in people living in urban areas, according to recent research. Contact with the natural environment appears to be good for health, not only for a feeling of wellbeing, but also for boosting the human immune system.

How can ecotourism be managed so that tourists' visits are compatible with the protection of species and their habitats? In a new study, researchers developed a tool to calculate the trade-off between tourism and the protection of an endangered bird in an Austrian national park, in order to optimise conservation and visitor management.

Scientists have called for tighter biosecurity measures to reduce the growing threat to biodiversity, food security and ecosystems from fungal infections. Their study reveals that fungal disease outbreaks are on the rise around the world, and will cause further damage unless urgent steps are taken to restrict their unintentional spread through international trade and transport.

Intensive agriculture is widely recognised as a major cause of declining farmland bird populations. New research has identified which aspects of agricultural intensification are most damaging to farmland bird numbers, examining bird populations at seven farmland sites across Europe. The researchers found that simplified landscapes created by intensive agriculture reduced bird numbers at the sites.

New research suggests that many Ruffs are changing their migratory route when flying north to their breeding grounds in northern Europe and to Asia from Africa. This is because their food supply has been reduced by the effects of intensive agriculture in the Netherlands, where they commonly stop off, causing them to shift eastwards to stopping-off points in Eastern Europe instead.

It is possible to balance agricultural production with improved biodiversity on farmland, according to researchers. A new study suggests using a combination of land sharing techniques, which enhance biodiversity on existing farmland, with land separation techniques, which designate separate areas for conservation and farmland production.