DIRS.INFO The most relevant business & tech news

☆ Every summer I live at camp with my kids. As a working mom, I don't have to think about logistics as much.
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-11 | by ( Brianna Bell | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Last year, my husband was offered a job as a Camp Director at a small children's camp in remote Southwestern Ontario. Instead of worrying about paying for summer activities, our kids will spend leisurely summer days at the camp. Our kids sleep so much better at campOne of the most unexpected bonuses of summer camp life is our sleep habits. I'll gladly jump into the lake on a hot summer day with my girls or play a game of beach volleyball. When I go to bed at night, my pillow smells like a campfire, sunscreen, and sweat — all signs of a perfect day at summer camp.

Persons: —, I'm, dealbreaker, doesn't, we'll, I'd, I've, Brianna Bell, Brianna Organizations: Service, Business, The New York Times, Guardian, The Globe & Mail Locations: Southwestern Ontario, Toronto, Lake Huron, Canadian

☆ Alice Munro, a Literary Alchemist Who Made Great Fiction From Humble Lives
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-14 | by ( Gregory Cowles | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

The last story in her last book evoked her mother’s death. Does it seem reductive or limiting to derive a kind of artist’s statement from the title of that early book? Munro was hardly a doctrinaire feminist, but with implacable authority and command she demonstrated throughout her career that the lives of girls and women were as rich, as tumultuous, as dramatic and as important as the lives of men and boys. For a writer whose book titles gestured repeatedly at love (“The Progress of Love,” “The Love of a Good Woman,” “Hateship, Friendship, Courtship, Loveship, Marriage”), her narratives recoiled from sentimentality. You got the feeling that, if the GPS ever offered her a shorter route, she would decline.

Persons: Alice Munro, Munro, “, ”, Rose, Del Jordan, —, gestured Organizations: “ Boys, Yorker, GPS Locations: Ontario, Lake Huron

☆ Researchers discovered a 137-year-old shipwreck in the depths of Lake Michigan using sonar imagining
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-02 | by ( Erin Snodgrass | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Researchers used sonar to locate a long-lost shipwreck in Lake Michigan. The 135-foot ship sank in 1886 after colliding with another boat. Last year, the group announced the discoveries of a 190-foot cargo vessel that sank in Lake Huron amid blustery winds in 1894 and a 140-foot schooner that sank in Lake Michigan in 1881. The Hickox "plowed into the side of the Milwaukee," according to the shipwreck association, nearly capsizing the ship. Nearly two hours after the crash, the Milwaukee sank beneath the waters.

Persons: —, Neel Zoss, Waters Organizations: Service, Maritime, Michigan Shipwreck Research Association, Milwaukee, Northern Transportation Company, Ohio Locations: Lake Michigan, Milwaukee, Michigan, Lake Huron, Great, Chicago, Muskegon

☆ A Great Lakes Pipeline Tangles Politics in Two Battleground States
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-27 | by ( Rebecca Halleck | Dionne Searcey | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

An icy crust on the Straits of Mackinac is melting into slush atop a shimmering, narrow waterway prized for its beauty and its role in supporting the local economy. The fight over Line 5 in both Michigan and Wisconsin, where another section of the pipeline crosses the Bad River Reservation, could have sweeping implications for the power of states to regulate fossil fuels, for tribal sovereignty and for U.S.-Canada relations. Some or all of these issues are bound to surface in the upcoming presidential election. Both Wisconsin and Michigan are battleground states. And in either place the debate over Line 5 could complicate election-year politics, particularly as candidates compete to eke out any advantage with voters they can find, whether on environmental issues, fossil fuel reliance or jobs.

Organizations: U.S Locations: Mackinac, Lake Huron, Lake Michigan, Michigan, Wisconsin, Canada

☆ It’s a Golden Age for Shipwreck Discoveries. Why?
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-23 | by ( Michael Levenson | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Some were fabled vessels that have fascinated people for generations, like Endurance, Ernest Shackleton’s ship that sank in the Antarctic in 1915. No matter their place in history, more shipwrecks are being found these days than ever before, according to those who work in the rarefied world of deep-sea exploration. He added: “We’re in a transitional phase where the true period of deep-sea and ocean exploration in general is truly beginning.”So what’s behind the increase? Shipwreck hunters are also looking for wrecks for their historical value, rather than for sunken treasure. And climate change has intensified storms and beach erosion, exposing shipwrecks in shallow water.

Persons: Ernest Shackleton’s, ”, James P, Delgado Organizations: Technology Locations: Ironton, Lake Huron, Washington ,

☆ I went on an 8-month solo road trip after a breakup. I'm engaged now, but I still travel alone.
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-26 | by ( Alka Bhatt | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Alka Bhatt says her solo trip gave her a love of traveling alone. Courtesy Alka BhattI'm now engaged, but solo trips are still integral to my lifeIt's been nearly three years since my solo trip, and when I got home, I felt ready to date authentically. Rather than mold myself to be more desirable, I listened to my wants and needs and looked for compatibility. Within a few months, I met someone special, and a year into our relationship, I felt he was the one. On a weekend trip to DC last month, I took myself out to a fancy Sichuan restaurant after thrifting at a trendy shop.

Persons: —, I'd, Alka Bhatt, Alka Bhatt I'm, It's Organizations: Service, Business, Toyota, Teton, DC Locations: Philadelphia, Texas, Houston, Pennsylvania, Lake Huron, Upstate New York, Sichuan

☆ Bay of Mecklenburg:Stone Age megastructure found submerged in the Baltic Sea wasn’t formed by nature, scientists say
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-12 | by ( Ashley Strickland | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

CNN —A megastructure found in the Baltic Sea may represent one of the oldest known hunting structures used in the Stone Age — and could change what’s known about how hunter-gatherers lived around 11,000 years ago. The stones, which connected several large boulders, were almost perfectly aligned, making it seem unlikely that nature had shaped the structure. The team determined that the wall was likely built by Stone Age communities to hunt reindeer more than 10,000 years ago. Hunting sites around the worldThe discovery marks the first Stone Age hunting structure in the Baltic Sea region. The Lake Huron wall’s construction and location, which includes a lakeshore to one side, is most similar to the Baltic Sea wall’s, the study authors said.

Persons: ”, Jacob Geersen, Marcel Bradtmöller, . Hoy, J . Auer, LAKD, Bradtmöller, hasn’t, Geersen, it’s, ” Geersen, Jens Schneider von Deimling Organizations: CNN, Kiel University, Office for Culture, Stone, National Academy of Sciences, Leibniz Institute for Baltic Sea Research, University of Rostock, ”, Marine Geophysics Locations: Baltic, Germany, Mecklenburg, Rerik, Vorpommern, Europe, United States, Greenland, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Lake Huron, Michigan, The, Huron

☆ I visited Mackinac Island, the most beautiful island in the Midwest where no cars are allowed
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-29 | by ( Molly O'Brien | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Mackinac Island is in Lake Huron in Michigan and it feels like it's part of a fairy-tale. The island's Grand Hotel is famous and has fancy dinners, high tea, and some formal dress codes. AdvertisementThere are a few places to stay, but the historic Grand Hotel is worth a visit no matter whatThe Grand Hotel looks gorgeous at sunset. Molly O'Brien for InsiderIt's also worth visiting Mackinac Island State Park, which offers miles of walking trails, woods, and the signature limestone Arch Rock formation. Molly O'Brien for InsiderWhen you're downtown, grab some famous Mackinac Island fudge at one of the sweet shops on the main street.

Persons: —, mack, It's, Molly O'Brien, there's, There's, William Vanderbilt Organizations: Service, Historic Landmark, Surrey Hill, Wings, Mackinac Butterfly Conservatory Locations: Mackinac, Lake Huron, Michigan, Lower, Mackinaw City, Fort Mackinac, Rock

The U.S. Department of Defense plans to install two more groundwater treatment systems at a former Michigan military base to control contamination from so-called forever chemicals, U.S. Rep. Elissa Slotkin's office announced Friday. The base closed in 1993 as part of a base realignment. Pentagon documents show at least 385 military bases nationwide are contaminated with PFAS, mostly from firefighting foam used during training. DOD records released in 2021 showed PFAS had been detected in groundwater around Wurtsmith at levels up to 213,000 parts per trillion. Political Cartoons View All 253 ImagesThe Department of Defense announced in August that it would install two groundwater treatment systems near the base.

Persons: Elissa Slotkin's, PFAS, ” Slotkin, “, Tony Spaniola Organizations: U.S . Department of Defense, . Rep, Wurtsmith Air Force Base, Pentagon, Clarks, Department of Defense, Action Locations: Michigan, Clarks, Oscoda, Lake Huron, Wurtsmith

☆ 2 filmmakers with an underwater drone accidentally found a 128-year-old shipwreck at the bottom of Lake Huron
▼ + stars: | 2023-12-02 | by ( Michelle Mark | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Filmmakers shooting footage of invasive mussels in Lake Huron found a shipwreck from 1895. The wreck is covered in invasive quagga mussels that are altering the Great Lakes' ecosystem. AdvertisementA pair of filmmakers who spent two years shooting footage for a documentary about invasive mussels in the Great Lakes accidentally discovered a 128-year-old shipwreck that vanished in 1895. Every inch of the "Africa" is covered with invasive quagga mussels, which have been plaguing the Great Lakes for years. AdvertisementThe couple's documentary, "All Too Clear: Beneath the Surface of the Great Lakes," will be released in early 2024.

Persons: —, Yvonne Drebert, Zach Melnick, Melnick, Drebert, they're Organizations: Service Locations: Lake Huron, Africa, Ohio, Ontario, Great

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — The Great Lakes’ frigid fresh water used to keep shipwrecks so well preserved that divers could see dishes in the cupboards. Quagga mussels, native to Russia and Ukraine, were discovered in the Great Lakes in 1989, around the same time as their infamous cousin species, zebra mussels. Scientists believe the creatures arrived via ballast dumps from transoceanic freighters making their way to Great Lakes ports. They consume so many nutrients at such high rates they can render portions of the murky Great Lakes as clear as tropical seas. After 30 years of colonization, quaggas have displaced zebra mussels as the dominant mussel in the Great Lakes.

Persons: Tamara Thomsen, Wayne Lusardi, ”, they're, quaggas, Harvey Bootsma, Edmund Fitzgerald, Gordon Lightfoot, Daniel J, Carl D, Bradley, Frank H, Moody, Brendon Baillod, Bob Jaeck, Baillod, Milwaukee's Bootsma, “, ” Baillod Organizations: Tuskegee, “, University of California, Riverside’s, Species Research, Biologists, University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee's, Freshwater Sciences, Tuskegee Airmen, Tuskegee Army Air Field, UW Locations: MADISON, Wis, Canadian, Ontario, ” Wisconsin, Superior, Lake Huron, Swiss, Russia, Ukraine, Great, Great Lakes, Lake Michigan, Lake Superior, Cedarville, Straits, Mackinac, Alabama, Madison, Trinidad, Algoma , Wisconsin, Michigan, Milwaukee, Detroit, Chicago, Toledo , Ohio

☆ Congress's UFO hearing shows the hardest part of discovering alien life may be announcing it. Here's how NASA might break the news.
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-11 | by ( Morgan Mcfall-Johnsen | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +9 min

An illustration of the CoLD scale for determining confidence in a detection of alien life. The discovery of extraterrestrial life is likely to be a slow build-up, rather than an explosive eureka moment. The president or other countries could be involved in announcing extraterrestrial life existsPresident Joe Biden speaks at Delaware State University. Anna Moneymaker/Getty ImagesAnnouncing the existence of alien life would be an "administration-level" affair, Glaze said, referring to the US presidency. Needless to say, any discovery of alien life would likely lead to chaos — at least in public discourse.

Persons: NASA isn't, David Grusch, Randall Hill, UAPs, Elon Musk, John Locher, Karine Jean, Pierre, we've, Lori Glaze, Glaze, James Webb, Jean, Philippe Arles, It's, Aaron Gronstal, Mary Voytek, Joe Biden, Anna Moneymaker, Carlos Garcia Rawlins, Stephen Hawking, I'm, we're Organizations: Service, NASA, Beijing, Reuters, Department of Defense, Associated Press, AP, White House, Navy, US Department of Defense, JPL, Caltech, Delaware State University Locations: Wall, Silicon, South Carolina, Surfside Beach , South Carolina, US, Alaska, Canada, Lake Huron, Rachel , Nevada, Bugarach, France

☆ Help! I Signed Up for a $4,800 Bird-Watching Trip but the Company Shut Down.
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-20 | by ( Seth Kugel | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Dear Tripped Up,In 2021, my husband, my sister and I signed up for a five-day Tremendous Tawas Lake Huron tour run by Pardson, the Ohio company that publishes Bird Watcher’s Digest magazine. Shortly before the rescheduled trip was to leave in May 2022, the company emailed to tell us it was going out of business, and someone would contact us about a refund. No one did, but through my own efforts I got in touch with Jack Harris, the receiver responsible for the dissolution of Pardson. Paige, AtlantaDear Paige,My inbox is full of messages from people who, like you, gave no thought to whether the company they booked a trip with would remain solvent until their departure date. What this avian cutie has against the shade of more mature trees is beyond the scope of this column.

Persons: Jack Harris, Paige, Atlanta Dear Paige Organizations: Pardson, Express Locations: Huron, Ohio, Atlanta, Michigan, Wisconsin

☆ Fact Check-Altered clip of Joe Biden questioning whether media ‘bought’ his speech on aerial objects
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-28 | by ( Reuters Fact Check | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

The clip appears to be digitally altered, however, as no such off-cam audio can be heard in the official White House stream. The original video comes from an address livestreamed by the White House via YouTube on Feb. 16, viewable (bit.ly/3IFx1x1). The White House footage shows Biden walking out to reporters’ questions, but no off-mic comments by the president can be heard. A spokesperson for the White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment. An official White House stream does not show Biden making an off-camera comment questioning whether reporters “bought” his remarks on recently downed aerial objects.

☆ Pentagon Spent At Least $1.5 Million on Missiles to Down Three High-Altitude Objects
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-23 | by ( Nancy A. Youssef | Aruna Viswanatha | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

The U.S. military said it now believes the three airborne objects were likely recreational balloons. The U.S. military spent at least $1.5 million to shoot down three airborne objects, which it now believes were likely recreational balloons, defense officials said Wednesday. That figure is only for the four AIM-9X Sidewinder missiles used to bring down the objects over Alaska, Canada’s Yukon territory and Lake Huron. It does not include the cost for Navy, Coast Guard, Alaska National Guard and Canadian forces to search for the debris, which likely will add hundreds of thousands of dollars to the cost, the officials said.

☆ U.S. Military Ends Search for Flying Objects Downed Over Lake Huron and Alaska
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-18 | by ( Toula Vlahou | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

This copy is for your personal, non-commercial use only. Distribution and use of this material are governed by our Subscriber Agreement and by copyright law. For non-personal use or to order multiple copies, please contact Dow Jones Reprints at 1-800-843-0008 or visit www.djreprints.com. https://www.wsj.com/articles/u-s-military-ends-search-for-flying-objects-downed-over-lake-huron-and-alaska-7108cfdc

☆ Blinken meets with senior Chinese diplomat in Munich amid tensions over suspected spy balloon
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-18 | by ( Andrea Mitchell | Christina Zhao | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Saturday met with a senior Chinese diplomat at a conference in Munich, a State Department spokesperson said. Diplomatic tensions between the U.S. and China have risen since the shooting down of the alleged Chinese spy balloon, which China has insisted was not intended for spying. Earlier Thursday, Biden delivered his first remarks about the Chinese balloon and three unidentified objects flying above North America that were downed by the U.S. military. One was shot down Feb. 10 over Alaska, another was shot down Feb. 11 over Canada, and a third was shot down over Lake Huron on Feb. 12. U.S. Northern Command said Friday it recommended an end to the search for debris from two objects shot down in United States airspace this month.

☆ The UFO shoot-downs show the hardest part of discovering alien life may be announcing it. Here's how NASA might break the news.
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-18 | by ( Morgan Mcfall-Johnsen | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +9 min

Extraterrestrial life likely wouldn't show up as flying objects, but finding it could cause similar chaos. An illustration of the CoLD scale for determining confidence in a detection of alien life. The president or other countries could be involved in announcing extraterrestrial life existsPresident Joe Biden speaks at Delaware State University. Anna Moneymaker/Getty ImagesAnnouncing the existence of alien life would be an "administration-level" affair, Glaze said, referring to the US presidency. Needless to say, any discovery of alien life would likely lead to chaos — at least in public discourse.

But U.S. and Canadian authorities also announced they had called off searches for three unidentified objects shot down over last weekend, without locating any debris. The last of the debris from the Chinese balloon, which was downed by a Sidewinder missile, is heading to an FBI laboratory in Virginia for analysis, the U.S. military's Northern Command said. Reuters was first to report the conclusion of the recovery efforts for the suspected Chinese spy balloon, which were halted on Thursday. Kirby said the United States had already learned a lot about the balloon by observing it as it flew over the United States. "We will maintain the perspective that we have in terms of what should be the relationship between China and the United States," she said.

☆ Mysterious object destroyed by a $400,000 Sidewinder missile may have been a $12 hobby group balloon
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-17 | by ( Tom Porter | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

The mysterious objects shot down over the US may have been hobbyist or weather balloons. One balloonist club believes its $12 balloon may have been among the objects destroyed. The club said that it had been tracking the course of its silver pico balloon. A pico balloon can cost anywhere from $12 to $180. And they're going to look not too intelligent to be shooting them down," Ron Meadows, whose California company designs pico balloons told Aviation Week.

☆ Relax, those objects in the sky are probably just from one of the 90 countries and 10,000 companies that make up the nearly $1 trillion space economy
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-17 | by ( Jacob Zinkula | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

The US shot down three unidentified objects over the weekend, following the downing of a Chinese balloon earlier this month. The space economy was valued at nearly $500 billion in 2021 and is expected to grow to over $1 trillion by 2030. Over the weekend, the US shot down three unidentified objects over Alaska, Canada, and Lake Huron. These entities, none of which have claimed ownership of the objects, include the 90 countries and roughly 10,000 companies currently involved in the global space industry. But on Monday, the White House said President Biden will establish a team to analyze unidentified objects in the US airspace.

☆ Joe Biden’s Unexplained UFO Silence
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-16 | by ( Daniel Henninger | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

A half week after the U.S. government used fighter jets firing Sidewinder missiles to shoot down three “objects” over North America—an event with no precedent—and more than a week after the destruction of a large Chinese spy balloon, it’s obvious the Biden White House isn’t going to tell the American people what this is all about. On Tuesday, the White House’s national-security spokesman, John Kirby said the Alaska, Yukon and Lake Huron shootdowns really were about protecting civilian air traffic, notwithstanding that nothing like this fantastic statistical anomaly has happened in the days since.

☆ The mystery objects shot down by US fighter jets were 'most likely' harmless civilian objects, Biden says
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-16 | by ( Nicole Gaudiano | Jake Epstein | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Three mysterious objects were shot down by the US military in North American airspace last weekend. The three unidentified objects are "most likely" just civilian objects, he said on Thursday. Sailors assigned to Explosive Ordnance Disposal Group 2 recover a high-altitude surveillance balloon off the coast of Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, Feb. 5, 2023. Biden on Thursday also said he's directed his team to create "sharper rules" for dealing with unidentified objects moving forward, distinguishing between those that pose a security risk and those that don't. In total, four objects — one Chinese surveillance balloon and the three smaller objects that remain unidentified — have been shot down over North American airspace since early February.

"We don't yet know what these three objects were, but nothing right now suggests that they were related to China's spy balloon program or that they surveillance vehicles from any other country," Biden said at the White House. "At the end of the day, their surveillance balloon was indeed in our airspace," she said. Less than a week after the spy balloon was destroyed, the first of three more objects was taken down in waters above the Arctic Ocean on Friday. The size of a small car and floating at 40,000 feet, this object was much smaller than the Chinese balloon. As of Thursday, the White House says it has recovered key surveillance technology from the Chinese balloon.

☆ Spy Balloons. U.F.O.s. What Else Is Up There?
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-16 | by ( Eleanor Lutz | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +5 min

A graphic showing an illustration of the Chinese spy balloon, a party balloon, and a scientific research balloon. A graphic showing an illustration of the Chinese spy balloon, a party balloon, and a scientific research balloon. 40 feet Balloon Parachute Weather balloon Up to about 115,000 feet Every day, weather stations worldwide release balloons to observe the sky. U-2 spy plane Above 70,000 feet The U.S. military used U-2 spy planes to study the Chinese spy balloon and take high-resolution images of its equipment. About the size of three buses 60,000 feet (11 miles) U-2 spy plane Above 70,000 feet The U.S. military used U-2 spy planes to study the Chinese spy balloon and take high-resolution images of its equipment.

Search resuls for: "Lake Huron"

25 mentions found