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☆ 4,000-year-old tube of ancient red lipstick discovered in Iran, scientists say
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-18 | by ( Katie Hunt | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

CNN —A small stone vial discovered in southeastern Iran contained a red cosmetic that was likely used as a lip coloring nearly 4,000 years ago, according to archaeologists. More than 80% of the analyzed sample was made up of minerals that produce a deep red color — primarily hematite. The substance found in the stone vial was made from different minerals — including hematite, shown in red. Whether the vial from Iran was the earliest lipstick, “all comes down to what this new discovery was actually used for,” she said. The rest is slowly emerging from new excavations.”It’s not clear who would have worn the lipstick — or in what context.

Persons: It’s, Massimo Vidale, ”, —, Joann Fletcher, Fletcher, Laurence Totelin, Totelin, ” Totelin, kohl, ” Vidale, Vidale, “ Organizations: CNN, University of Padua’s Department of Cultural Heritage, University of York’s, Cardiff University, Archaeological Museum, Jiroft Locations: Iran, Italy, Egypt, Jiroft

☆ The Very Busy Writer Telling Everyone to Slow Down
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-06 | by ( Jennifer Szalai | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

SLOW PRODUCTIVITY: The Lost Art of Accomplishment Without Burnout, by Cal NewportAbout halfway through his new book, “Slow Productivity: The Lost Art of Accomplishment Without Burnout,” Cal Newport presents the example of Galileo, whose summertime visits to a villa near Padua gave him a chance to rest and reflect between scientific pursuits. “Once there,” Newport writes, “he would take long walks in the hills and enjoy sleeping in a room ingeniously air-conditioned by a series of ducts that carried in cool air from a nearby cave system.”But that “ingeniously air-conditioned” room also happened to be deadly. The glancing footnote about Galileo’s ailment gestures at something profoundly connected to Newport’s subject: the tension between contingency and control, and the specter of mortality that looms over our preoccupation with productivity and time. But Newport, who writes that the idea for this book came to him during the pandemic, isn’t inclined to explore anything so complicated. For his purposes, Galileo is just another input — an exemplar like any other.

Persons: Cal, Galileo, ” Newport, “, ”, Marie Curie, Lin, Manuel Miranda, Alanis Morissette Organizations: Cal Newport, Newport Locations: Padua, Newport, Philippines

☆ A 4,000-year-old lipstick uncovered in Iran may be the oldest ever found. It's uncannily similar to modern ones.
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-05 | by ( Marianne Guenot | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Read previewA small stone tube found among the remains of a mysterious Bronze Age culture could be the oldest known example of lipstick. That could make it the earliest example of lip paint ever found. AdvertisementA colorised picture shows the mineral composition of the paste found inside the tube, which scientists say is similar to modrn-day lipstick. AdvertisementFor Baysal, it makes sense that red paste is similar to modern-day cosmetics that would have been found millenia in the past. She said, however, that more research will be needed before we can confidently call the stone tube a lip paint container.

Persons: —, Massimo Vidale, Vidale, Emma Louise Baysal, wasn't, Jiroft Organizations: Service, Business, University of Padua, al, Ankara University Locations: Iran's Jiroft, Italy, Egypt

☆ Ancient reptile fossil revealed as a forgery
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-20 | by ( Ashley Strickland | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

CNN —A 280 million-year-old fossil thought to be a well-preserved specimen of an ancient reptile is largely a forgery, according to new research. The fossil appeared in book and article citations over the decades, but no one ever studied it in detail. A new, detailed analysis has revealed that the dark color of the fossil isn’t preserved genetic material — it’s just black paint covering a couple of bones and carved rock. When the specimen was discovered, researchers thought the fossil might provide a rare glimpse into reptilian evolution. It’s not the first time a fossil forgery has been uncovered, but Rossi said this particular style of forgery is unusual.

Persons: antiquus, ”, Valentina Rossi, ” Rossi, Rossi, Mariagabriella Fornasiero, Evelyn Kustatscher, It’s, Fabrizio Nestola, ” Nestola Organizations: CNN, University of Padua’s Museum of Nature, University College Cork, Museum of Nature, Tyrol Nature Museum, University Center, Museums, University of Padua Locations: Italian, Italy, Ireland, Tyrol, Bolzano

☆ Safilo posts 20% drop in adj. core profit as Europe, North America weighs
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-03 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Safilo logo and stock graph are seen in this illustration taken, May 1, 2022. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File photo Acquire Licensing RightsNov 3 (Reuters) - Italian eyewear group Safilo (SFLG.MI) on Friday reported adjusted core profit at 18.1 million euros in the quarter, down 20% year-on-year, due to declining sales in former GrandVision chains in Europe and by weakness in the North American market. The Padua-based firm said net sales for the July to September period were 235 million euros ($252.20 million), compared to 260.4 million a year earlier. Safilo, which makes eyewear for brands such as Hugo Boss and Tommy Hilfiger, also extended Chief Executive Angelo Trocchia's mandate for additional three years. ($1 = 0.9318 euros)Reporting by Romolo Tosiani; editing by David EvansOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Dado Ruvic, Hugo Boss, Tommy Hilfiger, Angelo Trocchia's, Romolo, David Evans Organizations: REUTERS, Thomson Locations: Europe, Padua

☆ Donatella Versace slams Italian government’s anti-LGBTQ+ policies
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-28 | by ( Marianna Cerini | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

Milan CNN —Just days after Milan Fashion Week, Donatella Versace is making headlines not for her — albeit well-received — Spring-Summer 2024 collection but for her stance on the Italian government’s anti-LGBTQ+ policies. Our government is set on taking away the rights of individuals to live as they wish,” Versace said. Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s far-right-led coalition has pushed for ongoing measures to restrict LGBTQ rights. Many Italians are with us.”Versace, however, has long been a vocal advocate for gay rights. During her speech on Sunday, the designer recalled her late brother Gianni Versace coming out to her as gay when she was 11 years old.

Persons: Milan, Milan CNN —, Donatella Versace, Giorgia Meloni’s, Versace, ” Versace, Meloni’s, Andrzej Iwanczuk, Alessandro Zan, Zan, Donatella Versace’s, ”, ” Gabriele Piazzoni, “ Versace, Giorgia, ” Fabrizio Marrazzo, “ She’s, hasn’t, “, Marrazzo, Gianni Versace Organizations: Milan CNN, Milan, Catholic, CNN, Italy’s Gay Party, Capri Holdings, Versace Foundation Locations: Milan, Italy, Padua, Italian

CNN —The northern Italian city of Padua has started removing the names of non-biological gay mothers from their children’s birth certificates under new legislation passed by the “traditional family-first” government of Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni. These birth certificates belong to 33 children of Italian women who underwent artificial insemination abroad and then registered their children under the city’s center-left government, led by Sergio Giordani, in 2017. The prosecutor’s office in Padua confirmed to CNN that, as of Thursday, 27 mothers had been removed from 27 birth certificates. Mauro Ujetto/NurPhoto/Getty ImagesThe measure means that only the biological parent of a child can be named on a birth certificate. The measure also stops men in a same-sex relationship from registering the birth of their child with both fathers’ names.

Persons: Giorgia Meloni, Sergio Giordani, Giordani, ”, Mauro Ujetto, aren’t, Eugenia Roccella, “, Meloni’s, Meloni Organizations: CNN, Families, Family Association Locations: Italian, Padua, Torino, Italy, ” Padua, Padua’s

☆ How Italy’s Heart of Gold is Melding with More Modern Jewelry Machinery
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-26 | by ( Victoria Gomelsky | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

It also is a hub for jewelry companies that continue to promote traditional handicrafts even as they experiment with cutting-edge techniques such as powder metallurgy — reducing precious metals to powder to be used in 3-D printing, or what the industry calls additive manufacturing. It is the kind of advancement that will allow jewelers to execute designs that are impossible to achieve through traditional casting methods, ensuring both quality and consistent results. “Vicenza is, without any doubt, the technological core of the machinery production for the gold sector,” Giovanni Bersaglio, the chief operation officer at Berkem, a supplier of plating equipment and chemical solutions for the jewelry industry, based in nearby Padua, wrote in an email. In 2022, exports of Italian gold and silver jewelry reached 9.8 billion euros (about $10.5 billion), a 22.5 percent increase over the same period in 2021, and a 40.8 percent increase over the same period in 2019, according to Confindustria Federorafi, a national association representing companies in Italy’s jewelry manufacturing sector. Damiano Zito, the chief executive of Progold, which designs and manufactures jewelry in Trissino, a small town about 15 miles west of Vicenza, said the pandemic highlighted an issue that has plagued the Italian industry for the better part of the past decade: its dwindling number of skilled workers.

☆ Champions League semifinal: AC Milan faces Inter Milan in derby clash
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-10 | by ( Ben Church | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

AC Milan and Inter Milan are set to face each other in the semifinal of Europe’s most prestigious competition and the stakes couldn’t be much higher. “I prayed to God to give me the joy of Inter winning, and hopefully He will agree,” Enrico Vanzini told Reuters. Both sides last met in the Champions League semifinals in 2003. “We are talking about Champions League, we have not had ups and downs but an outstanding run,” Pioli told reporters Tuesday. “We want to try to overcome this last step before winning a Champions League final, something that hasn’t happened to all of us.

☆ I would give up my pension for an Inter win, says 100-year-old fan ready for Milan derby
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-09 | by ( Claudia Greco | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

REUTERS/Claudia GrecoPADUA, Italy, May 9 (Reuters) - Passionate Inter Milan fan Enrico Vanzini went to the club's San Siro stadium to watch his team play for the first time in 2022. "I prayed to God to give me the joy of Inter winning, and hopefully He will agree," he said, wearing an Inter t-shirt with his name inscribed on the back. "I would do anything (for a win), including (giving up) my small pension." Vanzini, who received his Inter t-shirt from the club to mark his 100th birthday, began testifying about his experiences of the Holocaust in the early 2000s. But he has a suggestion to help the team defeat Milan and reach the first Champions League final since 2010.

☆ SCOTUS justices went on cushy teaching trips to Italy, Iceland, and the UK funded by a conservative law school: NYT
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-01 | by ( Kieran Corcoran | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

George Mason University funded a series of plush trips for Supreme Court justices in recent years. Per The Times, the law school sent justices on trips to European tourist spots as part of teaching programs. Gorsuch was asked to help pick which Italian city would host his teaching trip. The law school dean, Ken Randall, said students had their time there "undoubtedly enhanced by the justices teaching or visiting or speaking with students." Insider sought further comment from the law school and the court.

Even gaining qualifications in Italy didn't help Abhishek, a 26-year-old migrant from India who got a master's degree in mechanical engineering at Turin's Polytechnic University last year. Italy, which is also contending with an exodus of skilled nationals to stronger economies, needs qualified immigrants to fill growing skilled labour shortages, many economists say. In 2023, work permits will be granted to around 83,000 non-EU migrants, according to government data, less than a third of the 277,000 who applied for them. Barbera at Turin University said the lack of migrants in skilled professions has become entrenched and hard to reverse. "Migrants in Italy have virtually no access to the middle class," he said.

☆ Prehistoric humans were surprisingly creative cooks
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-22 | by ( Katie Hunt | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

CNN —Stone Age cooks were surprisingly sophisticated, combining an array of ingredients and using different techniques to prepare and flavor their meals, analysis of some the earliest charred food remains has suggested. (From left) Breadlike food was found in Franchthi Cave in Greece; pulse-rich food with wild peas was uncovered in Shanidar Cave in northern Iraq. The charred food remains from Franchthi Cave dated from 12,000 years ago, when it was also occupied by hunter-gatherer Homo sapiens. Much research on prehistoric diets has focused on whether early humans were predominantly meat eaters, but Kabukcu said it was clear they weren’t just chomping on woolly mammoth steaks. A Neanderthal hearth was unearthed at Shanidar Cave, where charred plant remains were also found.

But none of that explains why political campaigns have been turning away from Facebook. Political ads have always been a small part of Facebook's overall business. The pandemic accelerated that trend since so many consumers turned to streaming platforms while stuck at home, and content for cord-cutters proliferated. Ad tracking firm AdImpact projected that of the $9.7 billion spent on political ads this cycle, $1.4 billion would go to connected TVs. Apple's crackdown has indeed diminished Facebook's position in political advertising.

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