DIRS.INFO The most relevant business & tech news

☆ Earth's mysterious core is weirder than you think, and we're only just beginning to uncover its secrets
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-22 | by ( Marianne Guenot | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +8 min

Earth's core has baffled researchers for decades, and it still contains many secrets. AdvertisementAdvertisementA diagram shows the Earth's magnetic field deflecting waves of energy coming from the sun. The strength of Earth's magnetic field in 2020, as measured by the European Space Agency's SWARM satellites. The Earth's inner core may be spinning and might sometimes flip backwardThe core itself is not uniform. A graphic showing how iron crystals may be distributed and moved around the Earth's inner core.

Persons: Andrew Z, Colvin, Lutz Rastaetter, Christopher C, Finlay, al, Edward Garnero, Li, Lindsey Kenyon, Samantha Hansen, Insider's Morgan McFall, Johnsen, Chris Panella, John Vidale, UC Berkeley seismologist Daniel Frost, LiveScience Organizations: Service, NASA, Modeling, NASA Goddard Space, Wikimedia, German Research Center, Geosciences, European Space Agency, Arizona State University, Lindsey, University of Alabama, University of Southern, Washington Post, UC Berkeley Locations: South America, Antarctica, University of Southern California, Banda

☆ All smoke and no FIRE: Early retirees open up about the struggles of ditching their paychecks in exchange for freedom and the new ways they're generating extra income
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-13 | by ( Laila Maidan | Kathleen Elkins | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +14 min

Members pose questions from how to save and invest to how to raise a family while on the path to early retirement. Early retirement doesn't mean never working againBut the FIRE movement can be more smoke than fire. Think about what's important to you and what you want your lifestyle in early retirement to look like, Cheng said. One message he shares with his community is that early retirement may not be the ultimate finish line for everyone. He also started coaching high school tennis and grew his online blog that offers tips on early retirement.

Persons: Rachel Covert, Isaac Mizrahi, Covert, That's, subreddit, Gwendolyn Merz, Merz, She'd, Marguerita Cheng, Cheng, It's, Michael Quan, Quan, Winnie Jiang, Sam Dogen, Dogen, Sam Dogen Dogen, Shan Fu, Fu, I'm Organizations: Financial Independence, Social Security, Lean FIRE, FIRE, Fortune, Bureau of Labor Statistics, Credit Suisse, Millennials Locations: NerdWallet, New York City, Mexico, Portugal, Asia

☆ Capitol physician says there's no evidence McConnell has had a stroke or a 'seizure disorder' after freezing episodes
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-05 | by ( Brent D. Griffiths | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

The Capitol physician says there is no evidence Mitch McConnell has had a stroke. Congress' doctor also wrote there's no evidence McConnell has a "seizure disorder" or something like "Parkinson's disease." While not specifically mentioned, there have been a number of theories about McConnell freezing up during recent news conferences. "There is no evidence that you have a seizure disorder or that you experienced a stroke, TIA or movement disorder such as Parkinson's disease," Monahan wrote. Before he froze up during his most recent episode, McConnell was asked about his plans for the future.

Persons: Mitch McConnell, McConnell, Brian P, Monahan, Sen, Rick Scott of Florida Organizations: Capitol, Service, Republican, Republicans, Kentucky Republican, Senate GOP Locations: Wall, Silicon, Kentucky

☆ 'Not found': China's ex-foreign minister is gone but wait for explanation goes on
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-31 | by ( Yew Lun Tian | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +6 min

BEIJING, Aug 1 (Reuters) - Hours after China's top legislature convened a special meeting last week to remove foreign minister Qin Gang, photos and mentions of the 57-year-old started disappearing from his former ministry's website. China named veteran diplomat Wang Yi to replace Qin, but gave few further clues on the reason for the change. Foreign ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning on Thursday said Beijing will release information in a timely matter regarding Qin and opposes "malicious hype". The foreign ministry removed all online traces to its former chief protocol officer Zhang Kunsheng who was found guilty of corruption and using his position of power to obtain sex in 2016. He then made a triple jump from director of protocol to U.S. ambassador and then to foreign minister and state councillor in five years, bullet-train speed by China standards.

Persons: Qin Gang, Qin, Gang, Xi Jinping, Wang Yi, Mao Ning, Ian Johnson, Wu Qiang, Wu, Xiao Yaqing, Zhang Kunsheng, Mao Zedong, Mao, Xi, Xi's, Alfred Wu, Lee Kwan, Yew Lun Tian, John Geddie Organizations: Foreign Ministry, State, Information Office, Council, Foreign Relations, Industry, Committee, Communist, Xinhua, Lee Kwan Yew, of Public Policy, Thomson Locations: BEIJING, China, Beijing, Washington, Singapore, Lincoln

☆ Best Gifts for the Tea Lovers in Your Life
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-29 | by ( Sarah Rose | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +8 min

For masterful measuringOMABETA Portable Kitchen Tea Scale $16 at AmazonAs with baking, you will get best results when measuring tea leaves by weight rather than the spoonful. “Some teas are tightly rolled while others are fluffy and light,” explains Ben Marcus-Willers, of Red Blossom Tea Company, a San Francisco-based tea company that sells to consumers as well as Michelin three-star chefs. Desains suggests a porcelain tea pot clad in stainless steel to keep a quality tea warm for hours. Alternately, make a tea concentrate by doubling the amount of tea leaves in hot tea, then pouring it over ice. Tea will always taste best fresh and warm, and its taste will change—“often for the worse,” Kroesen notes—as it cools.

Persons: Sarah Rose, ”, “, Abigail St, Clair, St, Maria Uspenski, Ben Marcus, Willers, Steve Schwartz, Ottilie Cunningham, Fortnum, Mason, Alex Monroe, Franck Desains, Joshua Kaiser, Milwaukee’s Rishi, —, Cindy Sherman, Madame de Pompadour, French King Louis XV, Heidi Johannsen Stewart, Van, Brandon Friedman, Obama, ” Friedman, “ Matcha, Catherine Jue, Tekuno, Emeric Harney, Harney, Ravi Kroesen, Smith, Orla Kiely, Jessie Dean Organizations: Amazon, Tea Bella Tea Company, Red, Red Blossom Tea, Michelin, Blossom, Art, Mariages Freres, Desains, MET, Bellocq, Metropolitan Museum of, 187th, Tea, Asheville Tea Company Locations: China, Tampa , Fla, Clair, Darjeeling, it’s, Boulder, Colo, Red Blossom, San Francisco, chai In India, Los Angeles, Paris, Brooklyn, U.S, Iraq, Afghanistan, Dallas, New York, Portland ,, North Carolina

☆ ‘Barbie’ Review: Out of the Box and On the Road
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-18 | by ( Manohla Dargis | More About Manohla Dargis | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

That’s a question that swirls through Greta Gerwig’s “Barbie,” a live-action, you-go-girl fantasia about the world’s most famous doll. The movie opens with a prelude that parodies the “dawn of man” sequence in “2001: A Space Odyssey” (with girls, not ape-men), and then shifts to Barbie Land, a kaleidoscopic wonderland. There, Gerwig sets the scene and tone with Barbie (Margot Robbie) — who calls herself stereotypical Barbie — soon floating out of her Dreamhouse, as if she were being lifted by a giant invisible hand. Written by Gerwig and her partner, Noah Baumbach, the movie introduces Barbie on yet another perfect day in Barbie Land, in which dolls played by humans exist in what resembles a toyland gated community. There, framed by a painted mountain range, Barbie and a diverse group of other Barbies rule, living in homes with few exterior walls.

Persons: Greta Gerwig’s “ Barbie, ”, fantasia, Barbie, George Bernard Shaw’s, Lerner, Loewe, “ Barbie, Gerwig, Margot Robbie, —, Barbie —, Noah Baumbach, Eero Saarinen Organizations: Mattel Locations: Barbie

☆ Christopher Nolan and the ‘Oppenheimer’ cast discuss the atomic bomb and its chilling echoes today: ‘Humanity can only deal with one apocalypse at a time’
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-17 | by ( Thomas Page David Daniel | Thomas Page | David Daniel | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

It would have seemed inconceivable then, but the atomic bomb did fade out of mind. And it’s precisely at this moment that Christopher Nolan is asking audiences to look it soberly in the eye. As the name suggests, Nolan has taken on the life of J. Robert Oppenheimer, the scientific genius and conflicted godfather of the atomic bomb. Cillian Murphy as godfather of the atomic bomb J. Robert Oppenheimer in "Oppenheimer." But even if a war involving a nuclear power hadn’t erupted in Europe in 2022, Nolan believes “Oppenheimer” contains crossover anxieties.

Persons: CNN —, Dimitri, Stanley Kubrick’s, Strangelove, Christopher Nolan, ” Nolan, “ Oppenheimer, ”, Nolan, J, Robert Oppenheimer, Cillian Murphy, Oppenheimer, –, Robert Oppenheimer ”, Kai Bird, Martin Sherwin, “, “ We’re, ” Murphy, McCarthy, Kitty, Emily Blunt, Jean Tatlock, Florence Pugh, Chris, Matt Damon, Leslie Groves, Spielberg, Ryan, ’, Chris Nolan, Robert Downey Jr, Lewis Strauss, Damon, it’s, ” Cillian Murphy, Melinda Sue Gordon, Universal Pictures Nolan, Murphy, Universal Pictures Kubrick, There’s, ” Downey, Knight ”, there’s, ” “ Oppenheimer ” Organizations: CNN, Manhattan, U.S . Atomic Energy Commission, Universal Pictures, Los Alamos, Manhattan Project, Trinity Locations: Cambridge, Russia, Ukraine, New Mexico, Europe

☆ Ocean exploration: The benefits and risks
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-24 | by ( Ashley Strickland | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

Ocean secretsA bioluminescent jellyfish is shown in an image taken during exploration of the Marianas Trench Marine National Monument. NOAA Office of Ocean Exploration/APThe deep ocean is an alien landscape that scientists have only just begun to understand. So much remains to be explored because reaching the bottom of the ocean is an incredibly difficult task. But the ocean depths have much to offer, including lifesaving compounds and the secrets of how life on Earth evolved. The event is nearly 10 months away, but people are already anticipating the total solar eclipse that will pass over Mexico, the US and Canada on April 8, 2024.

Persons: Miles, hasn’t, Jiang Feibo, NASA’s Parker, Ashley Strickland, Katie Hunt Organizations: CNN, Marianas Trench, NOAA, of Ocean Exploration, University of Cambridge, China News Service, CNN Space, Science Locations: Africa, Mexico, Canada, England, Trumpington, Germany, Rome, Lhasa, Tibet, Bermuda, France

☆ Opinion | It’s Not Possible to ‘Win’ an Argument With Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-23 | by ( Farhad Manjoo | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +3 min

But pretty much every expert I talked to said that none of the issues were likely big enough to have undone Bush’s win. Then Kennedy wrote a rebuttal to my rebuttal, which I, again, rebutted. Salon, a generally liberal-leaning publication, was deluged by letters from readers angry that I was defending Bush’s win. The other day I went back and listened to a debate I had with Kennedy on public radio’s “The Brian Lehrer Show.” Lehrer opened the program by asking Kennedy for his big-picture case. Such was his effort when we met on Lehrer: Kennedy offered an assortment of claims about the election that, in big and small ways, were unsubstantiated.

Persons: Kennedy, Kenneth Blackwell, Bush, Kennedy’s breathless, Brian Lehrer, ” Lehrer, Rogan, —, Lehrer Organizations: Democratic National Committee, Bush’s Locations: Ohio, Kerry

☆ French cave markings may be oldest known engravings by Neanderthals
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-23 | by ( Katie Hunt | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

CNN —Made by dragging fingers across relatively soft rock, lines, swirls and dots on the walls of a cave in France are the oldest known engravings by Neanderthals, according to a new analysis of the ancient marks. The finding adds to a growing body of evidence that Neanderthals — who have been characterized as dim-witted cave dwellers — were creative beings and more complex than the stereotype suggests. Neanderthals’ ‘deliberate composition’To understand how the markings were made and whether they were intentional, the researchers made detailed 3D models of the engravings from photographs of the Loire Valley’s La Roche-Cotard cave using a process known as photogrammetry. Based on the shape, spacing and arrangement of these engravings, the team concluded that markings in eight panels in La Roche-Cotard cave were intentional shapes and patterns created by human hands. At some cave sites in Spain, there’s evidence — albeit contentious — that Neanderthals created abstract motifs and hand stencils.

Persons: Jean, Claude Marquet, Cotard, La Roche, JC Marquet Organizations: CNN, University of Tours Locations: France, La Roche, Europe, Bulgaria, Spain

☆ China eyes Blinken's visit this week with deep distrust toward the US
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-15 | by ( Nectar Gan | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +9 min

“The coverage of Blinken’s visit in China is not nearly as extensive or enthusiastic as it has been in the West,” said Yun Sun, director of the China Program at the Stimson Center, a think tank in Washington. (Chinese experts say it was because the US failed to lift sanctions on Li, imposed in 2018 over China’s purchase of Russian weapons.) China cut off talks with US military commanders following former US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan last August. Zhao said China has adopted “a brinkmanship policy” to highlight the risk of military confrontation to the US. Wang, the expert at Peking University, said Blinken’s long-delayed visit is the “last chance” to repair ties with China before the US election next year.

Persons: Antony Blinken, Washington, Blinken, Qin Gang, State Department –, ”, Yun Sun, “, “ We’re, ” Daniel Kritenbrink, Trump, Wang Yong, Biden, Joe Biden, ” Wang, Tong Zhao, Lloyd Austin, Li Shangfu, Li, Nancy Pelosi’s, Zhao, ” Zhao, ‘, Blinken’s, Janet Yellen, John Kerry, Sun, ” lockdowns, Xi Jinping’s, Xi, Wang Organizations: Hong Kong CNN, China’s, State Department, Biden, China Program, Stimson, State, Peking University, Foreign Ministry, Carnegie Endowment, International, Defense Locations: China, Hong Kong, Beijing, Washington, East Asia, Taiwan, South China

☆ Analysis: Options investors guard against U.S. stock tumble, despite buoyant markets
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-10 | by ( Saqib Iqbal Ahmed | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

[1/2] Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York City, U.S., March 30, 2023. REUTERS/Brendan McDermidNEW YORK, May 10 (Reuters) - Options market demand for insurance against a stock market crash has soared to multi-month highs, even as equities have calmed down after a choppy start to the year. U.S. stock market volatility has subsided as the S&P 500 (.SPX) has logged a 7% year-to-date gain. Though stock market gyrations have subsided in recent weeks from levels hit during the regional banks crisis, investors see plenty of catalysts for volatility ahead. Institutional investors' stock exposure has inched higher after slumping in 2022 to a decade low, excluding the COVID-19 market crash of March 2020, Deutsche Bank data showed.

☆ Options investors guard against US stock tumble, despite buoyant markets
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-10 | by ( Saqib Iqbal Ahmed | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

☆ Amazon plans more warehouses and higher headcount in Europe
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-09 | by ( Helen Reid | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

BARCELONA, May 9 (Reuters) - Amazon (AMZN.O) plans to open new warehouses and hire more people in Europe, an executive said on Tuesday, even as squeezed consumer spending forces the tech giant to cut costs globally and lay off some employees. Amazon has invested 142 billion euros ($156 billion)in Europe since 2010, and its growth in the region was boosted in recent years from COVID-19 lockdowns driving shopping online. The expansion is part of Amazon's push to increase efficiency by cutting delivery distances and making fulfilment centres more automated. "The ability to have a collaborative deployment of AI is really a key strategic element for us," Perego said. ($1 = 0.9084 euros)Reporting by Helen Reid in Barcelona; Editing by Andrea RicciOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Fintech firm Klarna overhauls its app with a TikTok-like discovery feed as A.I. hype swirls
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-25 | by ( Ryan Browne | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +6 min

According to David Sandstrom, Klarna's chief marketing officer, the firm took inspiration from Chinese tech platforms, which he said have mastered the art of algorithm driven-shopping. The Klarna app has been redesigned to tailor product recommendations to users based on their shopping habits using artificial intelligence. Klarna and other buy now, pay later products proved popular during the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic. Meanwhile, buy now, pay later has come under scrutiny from regulators because of fears that it is pushing some consumers, particularly younger people, into arrears. In the U.K., the government has proposed new rules aimed at adding some friction to the process of applying for a buy now, pay later loan.

☆ 4 ways artificial intelligence is being used the music industry, even as a debate swirls around AI-generated songs
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-18 | by ( Nhari Djan | Dan Whateley | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Our list of music startups making AI tools showed the technology can be used in all aspects of the industry. Here are four takeaways on how AI is being used in the music industry right now. Insider recently highlighted 13 music startups using AI to innovate in the industry, based on a mix of nominations from readers and industry experts as well as our reporting. But some founders whose startups are building AI-powered music tools said their products are made to work with the traditional music industry. Here are four ways music startups are using AI tools to innovate in the industry:

☆ Thick sandstorms shroud Beijing and several provinces in China
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-22 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

BEIJING, March 22 (Reuters) - Capital Beijing and several provinces in China will be affected by thick, dense sandstorms that will severely affect visibility, Chinese weather authorities said on Wednesday. The Central Meteorological Observatory issued yellow warning signals from Wednesday to early morning Thursday for Shaanxi, Shanxi, Hebei, Heilongjiang, Jilin, Liaoning, Shandong, Henan, Jiangsu, Anhui and Hubei provinces. Many areas will have low visibility, weather forecasters said, cautioning drivers on speed. China has a four-tier, colour-coded weather-warning system, with red representing the most severe warning, followed by orange, yellow and blue. Beijing, which was also issued a yellow sandstorm warning, has experienced sand and dust storms over the past several days, causing pollution levels to drastically increase.

☆ Gold pauses rally as traders seek clarity on banking crisis
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-16 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Gold retreated on Thursday from a safe-haven-driven rally, which sent prices to their highest since early-February, as traders sought more clarity on the financial sector after Credit Suisse became the latest focal point for fears of a banking crisis. Spot gold was down 0.3% at $1,912.48 per ounce, as of 0328 GMT, after rising more than 1% on Wednesday. Swiss regulators pledged a liquidity lifeline to Credit Suisse in an unprecedented move by a central bank. Gold competes with the dollar as a safe store of value, and gains in the currency make bullion less attractive for overseas buyers. Spot silver slipped 0.4% to $21.71 per ounce, platinum was 0.3% lower at $959.52, while palladium gained 1.3% at $1,465.91.

☆ Ukraine vows not to give up on Bakhmut amid constant Russian attacks
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-06 | by ( Oleksandr Kozhukhar | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

After Russian gains in recent weeks, at the culmination of a winter offensive, Ukrainian troops have been reinforcing positions west of Bakhmut in apparent preparation for a possible retreat. "I told the commander in chief to find the appropriate forces to help our guys in Bakhmut." "If everyone is coordinated, without ambition, screw-ups and tantrums, and carries out this work, then we will block the armed forces of Ukraine. [1/7] A Ukrainian serviceman carries a shell for a 2S5 Giatsint-S self-propelled howitzer before firing towards Russian troops outside the frontline town of Bakhmut, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Donetsk region, Ukraine March 5, 2023. Ukraine and the West describe Russia's actions as an unprovoked war of aggression aimed at expanding territory.

With inflation accelerating, Ueda could finally set Japan on a path to raise rates after the BOJ spent a decade fighting deflation risks with its unorthodox bond buying scheme costing trillions of yen. Ueda himself on Friday said current policy settings were appropriate, which also put a bit of a dampener on expectations of any shift. Implied volatility has also eased in the forex options market, suggesting an ebbing in bets on big shifts in the yen exchange rate. "It's not very apparent that (Ueda) would take on the job and then immediately change the policy." To be sure, 10-year Japanese yields were untraded at the BOJ's ceiling on Monday, indicating plenty of investors are staying short.

☆ Breit Flows Aren’t the Be-All and End-All for Blackstone
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-27 | by ( Telis Demos | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Money swirls around Blackstone . Much of the headline news regarding Blackstone lately has been the much-discussed jump in redemption requests by wealthy individual investors from the nontraded Blackstone Real Estate Income Trust, or Breit. But after dropping on that news late last year, Blackstone’s shares have surged back. Its stock is up 26% so far in 2023, including more than 5.5% after its quarterly earnings report on Thursday. A big reason is that base management fees—one of Blackstone’s core ballasts—continue to grow.

There were new twists on foldable devices, cars that changed colors and smart ovens that live streamed dinners. Patrick T. Fallon/AFP/Getty ImagesBMW unveiled a wild color-changing concept car with 260 e-panels that can change up to 32 colors. During a demo, different parts of the car, including the wheel covers, flashed in varying hues and swirls of colors. A new look for foldable phonesSamsung's Flex Hybrid Display concept folds and slides SamsungSome companies offered a new twist on the foldable phone concept. The lock, which will cost $300, will be available for purchase late this spring, according to a company press release.

☆ The biggest media targets and buyers in 2023, as speculation swirls around Disney's next move under CEO Bob Iger and how Warner Bros. Discovery can shed debt
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-19 | by ( Lucia Moses | Claire Atkinson | Reed Alexander | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +12 min

Continued pressure to get bigger has big media companies in Hollywood looking to scale up. Media bankers and investors predicted to Insider that dealmaking will rebound in 2023 as companies big and small size up their options for possible tie-ups. Pressure on big media companies to get bigger hasn't gone away. Apple: Could eye a big content prizeTim Cook. Paramount's library could help a streaming company bulk up its content; Netflix for one has explored Paramount's studio business before.

Of seven new dams planned in Laos, at least four are co-financed by Chinese companies, according to Mekong Dam Monitor data. 'WAKE-UP CALL'Farmers in the Vietnamese Mekong River Delta region were not prepared for the speed at which their landscape - and fortunes - have changed. The Mekong River Commission estimated in 2018 that total sediment flow by now would be around 47 million tonnes per year. "Mainstream dams catch everything," said economist Brian Eyler at the Stimson Center, which runs the Mekong Dam Monitor. The Xayaburi and Don Sahong dams in Laos are the most recent to come online, with Xayaburi the largest on the entire Mekong River.

☆ Ava DuVernay becomes the first Black woman featured on Ben & Jerry's pint
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-06 | by ( ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +1 min

Ava DuVernay has become the first Black woman to have her image on a Ben & Jerry’s pint. directed by Ava DuVernay,” which will feature a mix of vanilla ice cream with salted caramel swirls, graham cracker swirls and gobs of chocolate chip cookie dough. DuVernay personally curated the flavor creation, which will be available in both milk-based and non-dairy versions. “Partnering with Ben & Jerry’s, a company that I’ve long admired for their commitment to social justice, has been a thrill ride. “Framing this up as a new flavor for the first Black woman to be a featured partner on our pints doesn’t do Ava justice,” Matthew McCarthy, Ben & Jerry’s CEO, said in a statement.

Search resuls for: "swirls"

25 mentions found