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☆ Are Disposable Hotel Slippers the Next Plastic Straws?
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-30 | by ( Elaine Glusac | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

In November, managers at the Arenas del Mar resort near Manuel Antonio National Park in Costa Rica, challenged employees to come up with ways to operate more sustainably. “It’s very wasteful.”Like plastic straws and mini bottles of shampoo, disposable slippers — flimsy models usually made of plastic and fabric, and often found bedside at turndown or bagged in hotel closets — are the next single-use item in the cross hairs of sustainability activists. “Anything single-use is problematic,” wrote Willy Legrand, a sustainable hospitality expert and a professor at the IU International University of Applied Sciences in Bad Honnef, Germany, in an email. He cited the large footprint of a small slipper once you factor in production, shipping and waste. Single-use slippers, he said, “feel out of place and out of touch.”

Persons: Manuel, ”, Hans Pfister, “, Willy Legrand Organizations: Arenas, Cayuga, IU International University of Applied Sciences Locations: Mar, Costa Rica, Bad Honnef, Germany

☆ Space garbage hits Florida home, NASA confirms
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-16 | by ( Jackie Wattles | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

CNN —A piece of garbage jettisoned from the International Space Station unexpectedly survived a fiery reentry from orbit last month and pierced the roof of a home in Florida, according to NASA. Garbage disposal in spaceNASA routinely brings home batches of science experiments, cargo and garbage from the space station using capsules such as the Dragon spacecraft built by SpaceX. But after the installation of new batteries on the space station in 2021, authorities disposed of a pallet of aging nickel-hydrogen batteries in a different way. But the debris that struck Otero’s house was the result of miscalculations about how space garbage would behave. The space agency should be more conservative in its analysis if it attempts a similar trash disposal method in the future, he added.

Persons: ” Alejandro Otero, Otero, ” Otero, “ I’m, Otero’s, John Crassidis, ” Crassidis Organizations: CNN, International, NASA, WINK News, Kennedy Space Center, SpaceX, European Space Agency, ESA, China National Space Administration, University, Buffalo’s School of Engineering, Applied Locations: Florida, Naples , Florida, China

☆ Herbert Kroemer, 95, Dies; Laid Groundwork for Modern Technologies
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-09 | by ( Dylan Loeb Mcclain | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Herbert Kroemer, a German-born American physicist who was awarded the Nobel Prize for his part in discoveries that paved the way for the development of many trappings of modern life, including high-speed internet communication, mobile phones and bar-code readers, died on March 8. The death was announced by the University of California, Santa Barbara, where he was an emeritus professor. Dr. Kroemer’s most important contributions were in the development of so-called heterostructures. They vastly enhance the speed, and therefore the power, of transistors and other types of semiconductors that are the building blocks of all electronic equipment. But by the time he received a share, with two other scientists, of the Nobel Prize in Physics in 2000, the impact of his work was so enormous, it could not be denied.

Persons: Herbert Kroemer, Kroemer’s Organizations: University of California Locations: German, Santa Barbara

☆ China's Xi meets U.S. executives as businesses navigate bilateral tensions
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-27 | by ( Evelyn Cheng | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +8 min

The forum this year coincided with other efforts to attract foreign business. However, a combination of geopolitical tensions, regulatory uncertainty and slower economic growth have made it more challenging for foreign businesses in China. ... foreign companies share the same lack of confidence and worries about an uncertain future that is felt amongst much of China's domestic industry. Looking for economic clarityFor businesses considering China investment plans, the country's near-term growth outlook is another factor. He emphasized China's large market, industrial supply chain, and pointed out how China has worked on issues such as data exports and equal market treatment for foreign businesses.

Persons: Tim Cook, Management Dean Bai Chong, Xi Jinping, Stephen Schwarzman, Cristiano Amon, Mark Carney, Rajesh Subramaniam, Joe Biden, Carlos Gutierrez, Sean Stein, Gutierrez, Biden, Scott Kennedy, Peter Bachmann, Bachmann, Kennedy, Stephen S, Roach, Yale Law School's Paul Tsai, he's, China's, Han Zheng, Amin H, Nasser Organizations: Apple, China Development Forum, Tsinghua University School of Economics, Management, China News Service, Getty, U.S . Blackstone, Qualcomm, Bloomberg, FedEx, China, Cyberspace Administration, U.S, American Chamber of Commerce, of Commerce, Scott, Scott Kennedy Center for Strategic, Studies, China Centre, University of Applied Sciences, Arts Northwestern Switzerland, Center for Strategic, International Studies, Yale Law, Yale Law School's Paul Tsai China, Communist Party, Invest, CNBC, Aramco Locations: China, BEIJING, U.S, San Francisco, Beijing, Shanghai, Washington ,, Saudi

☆ Zoom fatigue is real — and it's messing with more than just your head, study finds
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-23 | by ( Kai Xiang Teo | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Participants' brain and heart readings indicated that videoconferencing caused higher levels of fatigue, sadness, and inattentiveness than did in-person lectures. What sets their findings apart, they added, is that past research on Zoom fatigue has been dependent on participants self-reporting their level of exhaustion in questionnaires. AdvertisementFor example, a 2021 study by Gothenburg and Stanford researchers that involved over 2,700 respondents found that longer Zoom meetings weren't the only causes of fatigue. However, Zoom fatigue may not be as widespread as it seems. A Pew Research Center study surveying 10,000 workers in October 2020 found that fewer than four in 10 said they were worn out by videoconferencing.

Persons: —, they've, Rene Riedl Organizations: Service, University of Applied Sciences Upper, Stanford, Pew Research Center Locations: University of Applied Sciences Upper Austria, Gothenburg

☆ Amazon Advertising's hiring freeze is over, and it is staffing up like crazy
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-09 | by ( Lauren Johnson | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Similar to its tech giant peers Meta and Google, Amazon pulled back on hiring last year, including roles for Amazon Ads — one of its fastest-growing and highest-margin business units. Amazon Ads' career page currently lists 423 open roles, up from 29 open roles in January, according to an archived version of that page. An Amazon spokesperson said that the company has continued targeted hiring as well as hiring for backfilled roles. Amazon Advertising has huge growth ambitionsMany of the open roles include positions to support newer products and initiatives within Amazon Advertising. It now has 34 roles open for software development roles like engineers working on measurement, ad tech, and data science.

Persons: Meta, Bose, that's Organizations: Amazon, Google, Carnival Cruises, Variety Locations: New York City

☆ Generative AI still mostly experimental, say executives
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-09 | by ( Katie Paul | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

NEW YORK, Nov 9 (Reuters) - One year after the debut of ChatGPT created a global sensation, leaders of business, government and civil society said at the Reuters NEXT conference in New York that generative AI technology is still mostly in an experimental stage, with limited exceptions. Aguirre cited self-driving cars as an example of a technology struggling to make the transition to full deployment. “I’ve observed many generative AI applications that are in production while other customers are just beginning their journey.”One way generative AI was already being deployed widely, highlighted by speakers across industries, was to write computer code. Gary Marcus, a professor at New York University, said generative AI was error-prone in coding just like in other areas, but that the problem was less of a hindrance in the tech sector because programmers knew how to troubleshoot it. Companies should move slowly and deliberately when integrating the technology into uses where accuracy matters, executives emphasized.

Persons: ChatGPT, What's, Anthony Aguirre, Aguirre, Sherry Marcus, I’ve, Lili Cheng, Copilot, Cheng, Gary Marcus, Marcus, Cisco's Vijoy Pandey, Pandey, Katie Paul, David Gregorio Our Organizations: Reuters NEXT, Life Institute, Microsoft Corporate, Reuters, New York University, Thomson Locations: New York

☆ Fact Check: No Gates-sponsored mRNA ‘air vaccine’ approved for use in people
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-19 | by ( Reuters Fact Check | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

The technique has not been approved for any use or testing in humans, according to the study’s senior author. However, a headline that reads, “Bill Gates mRNA 'Air Vaccine' Approved for Use Against Non-Consenting Humans” is circulating in the form of a screenshot on Facebook and messaging platform X, formerly known as Twitter. The formulation developed by the Yale team has neither been approved for human trial nor is it awaiting approval, Saltzman added. The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation website, which documents Gates’ vaccine development work and investments, makes no mention of the Yale research. A nasal mRNA vaccine tested in mice by Yale researchers has not been approved for human testing, was not funded by Bill Gates and is not designed to work through the “air.”This article was produced by the Reuters Fact Check team.

Persons: Bill Gates, ”, Mark Saltzman, Saltzman, ” Saltzman, Gates, Melinda Gates, Read Organizations: Yale University, Reuters, Vaccine, Twitter, Goizueta, Biomedical Engineering, Yale’s School of Engineering, Applied Science, Yale, Melinda Gates Foundation, National Library of Medicine, National Institutes of Health, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Thomson

☆ So long, computer science — Chaos Studies is the hot new college degree
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-05 | by ( Tiffany Ng | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +12 min

"I remember joking about majoring in puzzles as a kid, never imagining that such a thing was possible until my mom discovered the individualized major program," Shortz said. Between 2019 and 2021, there was a 3% increase in the number of students graduating with individualized studies degrees. With majors like Chaos, Human Computer Interaction, and Architecture and Food Theory, students aren't just crafting these degrees for fun. In 2020, RIT renamed its individualized major the New Economy major and highlighted the need for students to "adapt to evolving career fields." Adopting a rather divergent approach to the same goal, New York University's Gallatin School of Individualized Studies frames its approach as honing the "management of knowledge."

Persons: Will Shortz, Shortz, — Shortz, He's, we're, Oluwaseyi Onifade, Onifade, James Hall, they're, Makini Beck, SOIS, he's, Ben Papernick, Papernick, haven't, Peter Rajsingh, Gallatin, Kahrej Ahluwalia, Ahluwalia, Rajsingh, Tiffany Ng Organizations: Dell, Indiana University, The New York Times, National Center for Education Statistics, Rochester Institution of Technology, Oluwaseyi, RIT's, Society, Jobs, RIT, Genesee Community College, Applied, University of Texas, Austin, University of Southern, New York University's Gallatin School, Baseball, Gallatin, Schools, NYU Locations: RIT's, Western New York, University of Southern California, New York, Gallatin

☆ Opinion: Why we’re seeing so many deadly floods
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-21 | by ( Jessica Chia | Opinion Adam H. Sobel | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

Is this climate change, or just a particularly severe bunch of weather flukes happening in close succession due to the climate’s own natural variability? But climate change acts by loading the dice on many types of weather events. That shouldn’t be comforting; climate change could be playing a larger role than we expect in many of these events. Even without climate change, it would behoove us to catch up on their maintenance, or, where these dams are no longer truly needed, remove them. What we know about climate change and extreme weather should strengthen that motivation; what we don’t know should strengthen it even more.

Persons: Adam H, Sobel, Columbia University’s Lamont, Adam Sobel Danny Goldfield, Daniel, it’s, El Niño, El Niños, El Organizations: Columbia, Fu Foundation School of Engineering, Applied, Twitter, CNN, Humanitarian Affairs, El Locations: Massachusetts, Hong Kong, Greece, Spain, Libya, El, Europe

☆ 'They knew' - Libyans express fury that warnings went unheeded before catastrophic flood
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-15 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +9 min

"The Libyan government knew what was going on in the Derna River Valley and the danger of the situation for a very long time." In his report, hydrologist Ashour cites an unpublished 2006 study from the Water Resources Ministry on "the danger of the situation." The Turkish company, Arsel, lists a project on its website to repair the Derna dams as having begun in 2007 and been completed in 2012. Even as the catastrophe was unfolding on Sunday night, the Water Resources Ministry issued a post on its Facebook page telling residents not to worry. "When the water started flowing into the house, me and my two sons with their wives escaped to the roof.

Persons: hydrologist Abdul Wanis Ashour, Ashour, Abdulqader Mohamed Alfakhakhri, Alwad Alshawly, hydrologist Ashour, Muammar Gaddafi, Derna, Al Qaeda, Omar al, Moghairbi, Marwan Alfaituri, Abdulmenam, Ghaithi, Petteri Taalas, Gaddafi, Khalifa Hafter, Abdulhamid, Aguila Saleh, Yousef Alfkakhri, Tom Perry, Angus McDowall, Maya Gebeily, Laila Bassam, Tarek Amara, Emma Farge, Mariana Sandoval, Peter Graff, Frank Jack Daniel Our Organizations: Reuters, Public Water Commission, Sebha University, of, Applied Sciences, Water Resources Ministry, NATO, Islamic, Gaddafi's, Libya's, Derna, Sunday, World Meteorological Organization, Libyan National Army, Thomson Locations: Libya, Derna, Tripoli, Turkish, Islamic State, Geneva, Libyan, Benghazi

☆ Libya flood: fury that warnings went unheeded
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-15 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +9 min

[1/4] A view shows the damaged areas, in the aftermath of the floods in Derna, Libya, September 13, 2023, in this picture obtained from social media. In his report, hydrologist Ashour cites an unpublished 2006 study from the Water Resources Ministry on "the danger of the situation." The Turkish company, Arsel, lists a project on its website to repair the Derna dams as having begun in 2007 and been completed in 2012. Even as the catastrophe was unfolding on Sunday night, the Water Resources Ministry issued a post on its Facebook page telling residents not to worry. "When the water started flowing into the house, me and my two sons with their wives escaped to the roof.

Persons: Marwan Alfaituri, hydrologist Abdul Wanis Ashour, Ashour, Abdulqader Mohamed Alfakhakhri, Alwad Alshawly, hydrologist Ashour, Muammar Gaddafi, Derna, Al Qaeda, Omar al, Moghairbi, Abdulmenam, Ghaithi, Petteri Taalas, Gaddafi, Khalifa Hafter, Abdulhamid, Aguila Saleh, Yousef Alfkakhri, Tom Perry, Angus McDowall, Maya Gebeily, Laila Bassam, Tarek Amara, Emma Farge, Mariana Sandoval, Peter Graff, Frank Jack Daniel Our Organizations: Reuters, Public Water Commission, Sebha University, of, Applied Sciences, Water Resources Ministry, NATO, Islamic, Gaddafi's, Libya's, Derna, Sunday, World Meteorological Organization, Libyan National Army, Thomson Locations: Derna, Libya, Tripoli, Turkish, Islamic State, Geneva, Libyan, Benghazi

“With us, you know what you get, which is rare nowadays!” Alexandre Edelmann, head of Presence Switzerland, a government agency that promotes the country abroad, says in an email. “People love our country without always knowing why,” says Jacques Pitteloud, Switzerland’s ambassador to the U.S. and a veteran diplomat. We are constantly leading the pack in terms of innovation.”This is evident in the prominent role Switzerland plays in some key areas of the global economy. Acknowledging "the elephant in the room," Pitteloud says Switzerland and the EU have "a complex relationship." And as a relatively small, landlocked country in which many areas are difficult to inhabit due to terrain, Switzerland is facing challenges related to population and resources.

Persons: Roger Federer, Philippe, –, Alexandre Edelmann, ”, Jacques Pitteloud, Pitteloud, ” Delphine Donné, Ruag, yearslong, ” Georg Klingler, Donné Organizations: Wimbledon, U.S . News, European Union, Bank, Presence Switzerland, Nestle, Roche, Novartis, Atlas, Logitech, ETH Zurich, Zurich University of Applied Sciences, EU, Greenpeace, Associated Press Locations: Switzerland, Europe, U.S, Swiss, France, China, Canada, Lausanne, Ukraine, Greenpeace Switzerland

☆ Companies like Amazon, Netflix, and Meta are paying salaries as high as $900,000 to attract generative AI talent
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-15 | by ( Aaron Mok | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Companies like Amazon and Meta are hoping to snag generative AI talent with six-figure salaries. Since the beginning of this year, the number of listings related to generative AI on the job site Indeed quadrupled, according to data from Indeed obtained by The Wall Street Journal. Meta, for instance, posted a job listing for a generative AI research engineer with an annual salary as high as $137,000. And chip giant Nvidia posted an entry-level job opening for a generative AI research scientist. The growth of generative AI-roles comes as companies warm up to the idea that understanding generative AI tools like ChatGPT may, in fact, be a skill that can improve products and boost productivity.

Persons: Paul J, It's, Stacie Haller Organizations: Morning, Wall Street, Netflix, Amazon, Walmart, Nvidia, Meta Locations: —

☆ Danaher cut its outlook for 2023, but we're maintaining our rating — here's why
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-25 | by ( Zev Fima | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +9 min

Life sciences and medical diagnostics company Danaher (DHR) delivered a second-quarter earnings beat on Tuesday, but lowered its outlook for the year. When excluding the impact of Covid-related tests and products, Danaher realized base-business core sales growth of 2%. As a result, management was once again forced to downwardly revise their sales growth outlook for the year. We predict a bioprocessing bottom this year, early next year at the very latest, setting us for a rebound in organic revenue growth. This updated outlook represents a downward revision from the high-single-digit percentage decline previously expected on a core basis and the mid-single-digit percentage growth previously expected for the base business.

Persons: Danaher, Cash, Bioprocessing, That's, Sartorius, Cepheid, Jim Cramer's, Jim Cramer, Jim, Marisol Darge, Robert McCabe, Hyoung Chang Organizations: Revenue, Management, Wall, Biotechnology, pharma, CNBC, Kaiser Permanente Arapahoe Medical, Getty Locations: DHR, China, Base, Centennial , Colorado, Denver

☆ Why Instagram Will Never Be Able to Compete With TikTok
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-02 | by ( Chris Stokel-Walker | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +9 min

TikTok's secret sauce is its ability to keep users on the platform, and without sacrificing its core, Instagram won't be able to compete. That's because on TikTok, every video a creator makes has to outperform every other TikTok video. Victim of its own successUnlike TikTok, Instagram has long been seen as a secure place on which to build a digital following. A year ago, when the researcher Valdovinos Kaye was interviewing TikTok creators for his book, he found that they desperately sought to transport their audiences over to Instagram. Rather than copying TikTok's success, Instagram might need to focus on what separates it from the pack.

☆ Microsoft layoffs shake up the unit responsible for integrating ChatGPT technology into Bing
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-18 | by ( Ashley Stewart | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

WebXT includes the team responsible for integrating AI technology from ChatGPT into Bing. Affected units include Microsoft's Web Experience Team, known internally as WebXT, which includes the company's Bing search engine and Edge web browser. Notably, this is the unit responsible for integrating ChatGPT technology into Bing. The Information reported earlier this year that Microsoft plans to use the same AI as ChatGPT to provide users with answers to some searches. One Microsoft employee theorized that the layoffs will help Microsoft cut higher-paid staff and hire new employees at lower compensation into investment areas like Bing.

☆ Why detransitioners are crucial to the science of gender care
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-22 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +43 min

A Canadian health provider said it couldn’t participate, citing recent threats to hospitals offering youth gender care. But as Reuters found, hard evidence on long-term outcomes for the rising numbers of people who received gender treatment as minors is very weak. Dr Marianne van der Loos, the Dutch study’s lead author, is a physician at Amsterdam University Medical Center’s Center for Expertise on Gender Dysphoria, a pioneer in gender care for adolescents. For those who also received medical treatment, detransitioning typically includes halting the hormone therapy they otherwise would receive for years. One is Max Robinson, who was 16 when she sought gender care at Kaiser in 2012.

☆ Uber salaries revealed: See how much engineers, analysts and hundreds of other employees at the ride sharing company make
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-18 | by ( Diamond Naga Siu | Tom Dotan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

We analyzed hundreds of H-1B visa applications to get a sense of how much Uber pays employees. The ride-sharing company offered two distinguished engineers nearly $350,000 each as a base salary. As a recession looms, Uber has dramatically slowed down on hiring — even freezing hiring altogether in many departments. But salaries are also a big part of how the company pays its employees. The highest-paid people in the data are two distinguished engineers in California who were each offered $345,000, while the lowest-paid person in the data is a data analyst in Illinois who was offered $56,700.

☆ These are the 10 best colleges in the U.S.—and there isn't one public school on the list
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-12 | by ( Celia Fernandez | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

The U.S. News released its annual ranking of the best national universities. The list has a mix of schools — including public and private — that offer a diverse range of undergraduate and graduate programs. It also offers details about the cost of tuition and fees for the 2022-2023 school year and the total undergraduate enrollment. Notably, not one public school made it into the U.S. News top 10. The Ivy League school offers highly-ranked graduate programs through the Princeton School of Public and International Affairs and the School of Engineering and Applied Science.

Over two dozen corporate leaders and businesses are quietly donating to the campaigns of at least four Republicans who have pushed false claims about the 2020 election results while running to become secretaries of state, according to a review of state campaign finance disclosures. Marchant is running to be Nevada's secretary of state, while Finchem and Karamo are aiming for the same position in Arizona and Michigan, respectively. The allegations led to dozens of failed lawsuits attempting to overturn state results and prompted the deadly Jan. 6, 2021 riot at the U.S. Capitol. Those business officials started financing the secretary of state candidates in Aug. 2021 and continued their donations through September, according to state records. Beckel noted in an email to CNBC that donors could be giving to secretary of state candidates for future help with issues more directly tied to their businesses.

☆ How an oil fracking boom to bust startup plans to thrive in the climate change era
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-23 | by ( Eric Rosenbaum | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +17 min

And in a way, Duncan thought the science wasn't a good match for the blunt process of oil and gas drilling. The Covid downturn in 2020 capped close to a decade of a bear market for oil and culminated in the negative spot prices in the oil market in May 2020. Oil and gas was changing from a growth business to a value business, and oil company management were much more focused on fiscal discipline. That concentration of equipment and infrastructure's resulting reduced costs was not good for an oil services company. And there have been a lot of surprises along the way – how the shale boom became its biggest business, followed by how quickly the science became commoditized in the oil market.

Un tânăr din Moldova a devenit unul dintre câștigătorii concursului Youth Essay Prize. Cine este acestaAstăzi, au fost anunțate numele câștigătorilor celei de-a cincea ediții a concursului Youth Essay Prize în cadrul căruia au participat tinerii de până la 30 de ani din Georgia, Moldova și Ucraina. # Anastasia Agarkova, Ucraina, 13 ani, Visa-free regime: a diplomatic gesture or a fateful decision? # Nikita Frunză, Moldova, 19 ani, Agriculture: a RM-EU Association Agreement priority in desperate need of change. În prezent, studiază în Țările de Jos la Fontys University of Applied Science, specialitatea Tehnologia informației și a comunicațiilor.

Persons: Prin, Anastasia Agarkova, Nikita Frunză, Nikita este originar, „ Mihai Eminescu ”, În, Țările, Varvara Kabarhina, Dekanozișvili, Tamar Tkemaladze Organizations: EU, Jos la Fontys University of Applied Science, Development Locations: tânăr, Moldova, ani, Georgia, Jos, Ukraine, Europe

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