The world is facing a growing threat from new diseases that are jumping the human-animal species barrier as a result of environmental disruption and the progressive urbanisation of the planet, scientists have warned. At least 45 diseases that have passed from animals to humans have been reported in the last two decades, & is expected to escalate.

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lbalbalba writes “Electronic Arts is shutting down its Westwood-based game developer Pandemic Studios just two years after acquiring it, putting nearly 200 people out of work. ‘The struggling video game publisher informed employees Tuesday morning that it was closing the studio as part of a recently announced plan to eliminate 1,500 jobs, or 16% of its global workforce. Pandemic has about 220 employees, but an EA spokesman said that a core team, estimated (more…)

Several readers including mikael and gclef noted a report from the General Accountability Office suggesting that it should be Homeland Security’s job to make sure the nation’s business can flow during a pandemic. In particular, if H1N1 sends workers and schoolchildren home in large numbers, GAO thinks it might be a good idea for ISPs to prioritize traffic (favoring commerce over games, say), to reduce network speeds, and possibly to shut down high-traffic (more…)