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☆ 50 Years Ago, ‘Jaws’ Hit Bookstores, Capturing the Angst of a Generation
▼ + stars: | 2024-07-12 | by ( Brian Raftery | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

In 1973, the first chapter of an unpublished novel was photocopied and passed around the Manhattan offices of Doubleday & Co. with a note. “Read this,” it dared, “without reading the rest of the book.”Those who accepted the challenge were treated to a swift-moving tale of terror, one that begins with a young woman taking a postcoital dip in the waters off Long Island. As her lover dozes on the beach, she’s ravaged by a great white shark. “The great conical head struck her like a locomotive, knocking her up out of the water,” the passage read. “The jaws snapped shut around her torso, crushing bones and flesh and organs into a jelly.”Tom Congdon, an editor at Doubleday, had circulated the bloody, soapy excerpt to drum up excitement for his latest project: a thriller about a massive fish stalking a small island town, written by a young author named Peter Benchley.

Persons: “, dozes, Tom Congdon, Peter Benchley Organizations: Doubleday &, Doubleday Locations: Manhattan

☆ The plastics industry says chemical recycling could help banish pollution. It’s ‘an illusion,’ critics say
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-30 | by ( Laura Paddison | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +11 min

CNN —A squat, light-colored building in Tigard, Oregon, was supposed to be part of a game-changing new solution for the global plastics industry. And unlike mechanical recycling, where the quality of the product declines each time, chemical recycling promises virgin-quality plastics. Chemical company Dow says it plans to build multiple chemical recycling facilities in the US and Europe, adding as much as 600,000 tons (1.2 billion pounds) of recycling capacity by 2030. “Mechanical recycling simply uses less energy and chemicals than does chemical recycling, making it overall cheaper and less environmentally impactful,” she said. With that kind of industry pressure, said Congdon, it’s easy to see why chemical recycling may be attractive to policymakers.

Persons: Jennifer Congdon, Congdon, “, ”, Big, Yuri Cortez, Davis Allen, what’s, isn’t, Taylor Uekert, Chaideer Mahyuddin, Mike Kemp, Brightmark, NREL’s Uekert, Allen, ” Congdon Organizations: CNN, Regenyx, Plastics, Getty, Climate Integrity, Companies, Chemical, Dow, Oil, Exxon, American Chemistry Council, National Renewable Energy Laboratory, Beyond Plastics, ACC, Center Locations: Tigard , Oregon, Venezuela, AFP, Europe, Asia, Banda Aceh, Indonesia, London, Baytown , Texas, Ashley , Indiana, Macon, Bibb , Georgia, Indiana, The Indiana

☆ These National Parks Are Welcoming Stargazers This Summer
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-14 | by ( Johnny Diaz | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

It’s hard to escape the glare from big cities and metro areas to see all the wonder that the skies have to offer, but several national parks are looking to serve as better windows into the cosmos. Light pollution obscures the views of the stars and planets, making it more challenging for people to marvel at them in the dark skies. To celebrate such cosmic views, several national parks are organizing stargazing festivals or “star parties” that can help visitors enjoy the pristine glittering skies this summer and fall. Several national parks have been designated so-called dark-sky sites, which means they have exceptionally high-quality night conditions to see the stars without the glare from nearby cities. Ann Congdon, president of Sky’s the Limit Observatory & Nature Center, which helps organize the Night Sky Festival at the Joshua Tree National Park in California, said: “It’s critical to make people aware that the dark night sky is a precious natural resource that can’t be taken for granted.”

Persons: Ann Congdon, Joshua, “, ” Organizations: Sky Association, Nature Center Locations: Tucson, Ariz, California

☆ BlackRock's mighty tech unit is a silver lining in an awful market. But competition and a recession could test its momentum.
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-09 | by ( Rebecca Ungarino | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

In a tumultuous year for BlackRock, its powerful Aladdin business won record new mandates. "2022 was a good litmus test for the BlackRock model vis-a-vis Aladdin," said Cathy Seifert, a senior equity analyst at CFRA Research. Now Sudhir Nair, the longtime BlackRock executive who runs the Aladdin business globally, and his sprawling business face a test: Keeping that momentum. "To get new business, Aladdin may have to sharpen their pencils, despite the fact that I do think they still retain a best-in-class position," Seifert said. Influential rival money managers like Two Sigma, Pimco, State Street, and Amundi have been putting resources behind their own proprietary tech platforms.

[1/2] The company logo for Johnson & Johnson is displayed to celebrate the 75th anniversary of the company's listing at the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York, U.S., September 17, 2019. J&J is focused on its pharmaceuticals and medical devices operations with the consumer health spinoff expected by November 2023. Chief Executive Joaquin Duato has said he will look to build up the medical devices unit through acquisition. Abiomed will operate as a standalone business within the healthcare conglomerate's medical technology division. J&J's medical technology business includes surgical, orthopedic and various other devices.

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