The ‘RRSSalud’ project is researching the dynamics and types of fake news regarding coronavirus on social networks, thus helping to alleviate the negative effects of this health crisis. Coordinated by the researcher Ramón Salaverría, the initiative is part of the BBVA Foundation’s 2019 program to assist scientific research teams in economics and digital society. One of the first conclusions of the study has determined that one-third of current fake news stories refer to the health crisis contain health or scientific content.
Life and Culture
Life and Culture
In many ways, the coronavirus crisis marks a turning point in human behavior. One of the lessons this pandemic is teaching us is the essential need to change the way we interact with nature. “We will open the door to new pandemics if we continue maintaining a toxic relationship with nature,” states the ecologist Pedro Jordano. For the secretary of the jury for the BBVA Foundation Frontiers of Knowledge in Ecology and Conservation Biology, biodiversity “works like a shock absorber”. If it is altered, “it leads to all kinds of problems,” like the spread of COVID-19.
Nearly two months after Spain declared a state of emergency due to the coronavirus crisis, the population has slowly begun to adapt to the lifting of some lockdown restrictions amid lots of questions and fear of a new outbreak. In an initiative promoted by the BBVA Foundation, Dr. Jordi Vila, the Head of Microbiology Services at the Hospital Clínic in Barcelona, gave a videoconference for BBVA employees to answer some of these questions. Among his responses regarding how to return to work in a safe manner, he indicated that “massive testing would be ideal, but it’s impossible from a logistical standpoint,” in his opinion.
While the ripple effects of COVID-19 have essentially hit almost every aspect of life in the U.S., the Paycheck Protection Program - part of the CARES Act passed by Congress in response to the negative economic impact the pandemic has had - has highlighted the difficulties that have befallen small businesses from coast-to-coast.
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Lisa Damour is an american psychologist and writer specializing in the development of adolescent and young women. Her first New York Times best seller, Untangled: Guiding Teenage Girls Through the Seven Transitions into Adulthood focuses on the seven distinct developmental stages that girls go through as they grow into adults.
The COVID-19 pandemic has drastically altered our habits. Bars, restaurants, and entertainment spots have temporarily closed down and are being forced to consider how they might have to restructure in response to a new, post-pandemic world. “Seeing an empty restaurant is a bit sad: such a vital space, normally with so much energy and young people from all over the world working, but we want to be optimistic,” says chef Joan Roca, owner of El Celler de Can Roca, one of Spain’s most celebrated gastronomic venues. The hospitality industry is facing a considerable challenge, and insight from industry leaders like the Roca brothers can shed some light on what we might expect from restaurants in a post-COVID-19 reality.
At the end of 2019, when the first cases of COVID-19 began to be detected in China, a lockdown seemed like a remote scenario. Four months later, isolation and social distancing have emerged as the most effective measures to stop the virus from spreading, forcing more than 3.6 billion people around the world to isolate themselves in their homes.
The mathematical community has committed all its resources to support the fight against COVID-19. Specifically, the Spanish Mathematics Committee (CEMat) has launched Mathematical Action against Coronavirus, an initiative geared towards putting the Committee’s analysis and modeling capabilities at the service of authorities to help them better understand the problem and design possible solutions. David Gómez-Ullate and Justo Puerto, both recipients of several BBVA Foundation grants and scholarships, are two of the mathematicians who are contributing to the project.
Garanti BBVA founded SALT in 2011 as an autonomous non-profit entity devoted to the dissemination of culture and the development of independent and sustainable content production environments.
2020 is a fundamental year to consolidate the fight against climate change. Following COP 25 in Madrid at the end of 2019, and in the middle of the UN strategy to pave the way for the Agenda 2030 Sustainable Development Goals, a global pandemic has simultaneously put the resilience of Earth’s society to the test.