DIRS.INFO The most relevant business & tech news

☆ As ChatGPT mania takes hold, here's how companies beyond tech are using A.I.
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-08 | by ( Samantha Subin | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +7 min

AI's been in use for years, of course, helping companies improve products, efficiency and their business models. Media conglomerate Comcast (the parent of CNBC) is harnessing AI to improve expenses and innovate within high-speed broadband, while Stanley Black & Decker mentioned it's using AI to help customers better measure the hardening of concrete. Here's how some of the biggest companies outside of technology are utilizing AI to improve their businesses: Healthcare companies bet on AI One of the biggest beneficiaries of the latest AI trends might be healthcare companies. Some health companies also view machine learning and AI as tools to assist in areas with doctor shortages or fewer resources. Minneapolis-based utility Xcel Energy said it's using AI technology to improve efficiency at its plants and move from "reactive to proactive maintenance," said Brian Van Abel, Xcel's chief financial officer.

☆ A biotech millionaire claimed his wild routine cut his biological age by 5 years. Scientists aren't sure most of it really works.
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-08 | by ( Marianne Guenot | Lloyd Lee | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +11 min

Bryan Johnson, a 45-year-old biotech CEO, has spent millions in his quest to reverse aging. He claims his biological age has been cut by 5 years with a strict regimen controlled by doctors. The Green Giant smoothie, which Bryan Johnson drinks every morning at around 5am. Intrusive measurements, including regular colonoscopiesA nurse performs a blood test for Bryan Johnson. But does that mean they've cracked the code on how to measure the "biological age" of a person accurately?

☆ I settled the gas stove debate with a $69.99 induction cooktop from Ikea
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-05 | by ( Adam Rogers | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +11 min

Well, not at Ikea per se, but on the Ikea website — where I purchased the Tillreda, a single-burner induction cooktop, for $69.99. I got a magnet; if it doesn't stick to a pot, the pot won't work on an induction plate. That meant I couldn't do stuff on the Tillreda like boiling soup and pasta, things that require a long time on an inefficient gas flame. "In cases like that, the heat losses for a gas flame really add up," McGee says. I tried one in a cast-iron pan on the induction plate.

☆ A 300 million-year-old fossilized fish has the world's 'oldest preserved vertebrate brain.' It offers new clues about evolutionary history, say scientists.
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-04 | by ( Isobel Van Hagen | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Scientists discovered the fossilized brain of a vertebrate in a 319-million-year-old fossil. The rare finding offers new insights into the evolution of extinct bony fish related to the salmon. The finding suggests a more complex brain evolution pattern, allowing researchers to define better "how and when present-day bony fishes evolved." Researchers believe the extinct ray-finned fish would have been about six to eight inches long, and its brain and associated nerves are roughly an inch long. The ancient fish is on loan to scientists from the Manchester Museum in England.

Due to the tiny size of the capsule and the huge distances involved, authorities warn the chances of finding it are slim. Department of Fire and Emergency Services/APHow rare is it to lose a radioactive device? Radiation Services WA says radioactive substances are transported throughout Western Australia on a daily basis without any issues. A conveyor belt transports iron ore at the Gudai-Darri mine operated by the Rio Tinto in the Pilbara region of Western Australia, June 21, 2022. At that rate, the capsule could be radioactive for the next 300 years, said Deb from RMIT University.

☆ Should you warm your car up in the winter before driving? I spoke with more than 30 mechanics and couldn't get a straight answer.
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-29 | by ( Jessica Orwig | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

Car manufacturers don't have consistent advice on how long you should idle your car in the cold. Generally speaking, idling your car for about 30 seconds when it's cold can help it run smoothly. Others like Ford and Chevrolet recommended idling for no more than 30 seconds after starting. How much time is where mechanics diverge on the subject, but around 30 seconds is the general consensus for modern engines. What I can say is if you idle much longer than 30-60 seconds, you're just wasting gas and money.

"Everybody has a different amount of fibroglandular tissue and a different pattern," Freer said, referring to dense breast tissue. In individual interviews as part of Gunn's survey, six out of 61 women said dense breasts contributed to breast cancer risk. There are two reasons dense breasts are linked to a higher risk of breast cancer. To lower one's risk of breast cancer overall, doctors recommend limiting alcohol intake, exercising regularly and maintaining a healthy diet. The Breast Cancer Surveillance Consortium offers an online tool to help people gauge their breast cancer risk based on multiple factors, including breast density.

☆ A man thought his hip hurt because he'd ran a marathon. He was diagnosed with prostate cancer that had spread to his bones.
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-27 | by ( Catherine Schuster-Bruce | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

A man who went to a chiropractor with hip pain was diagnosed with advanced prostate cancer. Scans found that he had prostate cancer that had spread to his bones, liver, and lungs. Further tests confirmed that he had the most common type of prostate cancer, called an adenocarcinoma. According to the report, the man died from a lung infection seven months after being diagnosed with prostate cancer. CDC data suggests that about 96% of men who are diagnosed with prostate cancer are alive five years later.

☆ Fact Check-Small study of teens is not evidence of long-term heart damage after COVID shots
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-26 | by ( Reuters Fact Check | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Social media users have been misinterpreting a small study of nine teenagers in Turkey, and wrongly saying it proves that there is a risk of long-term heart damage after COVID vaccinations. But the author of the study said the results may not represent what happens in all teens with post-vaccine heart inflammation, much less all teens who get vaccinated. Some social media posts misleadingly suggesting the study showed that all vaccine-related myocarditis causes long-term heart damage can be seen (here and here). “There is no exact causality between these cases and vaccination.”The case study also did not include pre-vaccination MRIs, so it is not known if any individuals had pre-existing heart damage. Moreover, the study does not suggest what proportion of teens in the general population experience heart inflammation following vaccination, Ozen told Reuters.

☆ How AI is detecting heart attack risk and aiming to outsmart America’s No. 1 killer
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-26 | by ( Kerima Greene | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +7 min

Cleerly founder and CEO James Min, a cardiologist, started the company to find a better way to assess heart health, by applying AI to the problem. Heart disease is the nation's No. CNBC: What are indirect markers of heart disease? Min: Many emergency department visits for heart attacks are preventable if risk factors for heart disease are identified in advance. Using millions of annotated CCTA images, Cleerly algorithms quantify and characterize atherosclerosis and its features.

CAIRO — Known as Egypt’s “golden boy,” the mummified remains of a teenager buried 2,300 years ago have long remained shrouded in mystery. Now they have been “digitally unwrapped” by scientists, revealing intimate details that went undiscovered for over a century. Radiologists at Cairo University in Egypt used CT scans to non-invasively unwrap the remains, uncovering signs of wealth as well as efforts to ensure his safe passage to the afterlife. Amulets were both placed inside the “golden boy” and between the wrappings used to mummify the remains, the study published Tuesday found. The new study comes as museums in the U.K. reckon with whether the term "mummy" is appropriate to describe mummified remains, because of what some say are its “dehumanizing” connotations.

☆ Exclusive: Exxon halts routine gas flaring in the Permian, wants others to follow
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-24 | by ( Sabrina Valle | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

Methane, the main component of natural gas, is a potent greenhouse gas. Reuters GraphicsLOW HANGING FRUITBurning less gas during production is an easy way to curb greenhouse gas emissions and increase gas production, according to consultants Rystad Energy. Exxon is allocating $17 billion through 2027 to lower its greenhouse gas emissions globally. PERMIAN FIRST Exxon is starting with 700 sites in the U.S. Permian basin to end routine flaring globally by 2030. Most of its U.S. shale operations are in New Mexico, one of the few states which already limits gas flaring.

☆ For the first time in a long time, CFOs can say no to some tech spending
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-19 | by ( Kaitlin Balasaygun | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

To many executives, including Wall Street bank chiefs, even the ones who say a recession is in the cards, it isn't looking like a Fed-induced disaster scenario. In one particular way, the positioning this year is giving CFOs an even bigger role than they've had over the past decade of economic growth. "[Companies] are not imaging a draconian outcome for their own spending, their own budgets, and in that context," Arora told CNBC's Sara Eisen at Davos 2023. For many years in this hyper-growth environment, people were spending quickly to drive growth and CFOs were having to call them and say 'why are you spending so much money?' The Citi CIO Survey released on January 12, forecasts a slower growth rate for tech spending — well below the Covid peak and below the historical average, and down from Citi's last forecast in the Fall — but still representing a modest rate of growth.

Ontario has some private healthcare providers but they are a small part of the health system and provide relatively few public surgeries. Critics worry sharply expanding their footprint will take staff from the pool of public health workers. In 2021, the Commonwealth Fund ranked Canada's health system tenth out of 11 rich countries. Ontario's government said it is following the lead of provinces such as Alberta, which contracts with private providers and said last fall it will fund more surgeries in private clinics. No one disputes Ontario's health system faces serious challenges.

☆ Ukrainians trying to clear land mines turn to Cambodia for help
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-17 | by ( The Associated Press | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +3 min

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia — Fifteen Ukrainian deminers are being trained by experts in Cambodia who are among the world’s best because of experience from clearing the leftovers of nearly three decades of war. The Ukrainian deminers are being hosted by the Cambodian Mine Action Center, a government agency that oversees the clearing of land mines and unexploded ordnance in Cambodia. Cambodia was littered with land mines and other unexploded ordnance after almost three decades of war ending in the late 1990s. Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen pledged in a telephone conversation with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in November to send Cambodian demining experts to help train their Ukrainian counterparts. Several other countries, including the United States and Germany, have already provided Ukraine with demining assistance.

TORONTO, Jan 16 (Reuters) - Canada's most populous province, Ontario, plans to significantly expand its use of private providers to perform public health services, the premier said on Monday, in a bid to deal with backlogs and delays in a healthcare system strained by the coronavirus pandemic. Nova Scotia Premier Tim Houston told Global News on Sunday that Canada’s healthcare system is "on the ropes." Canada's publicly-funded healthcare system has in the past been seen by some as a model system. But critics and public health advocates have argued expanding the use of private providers is a step towards privatizing the public health system and risks cannibalizing a healthcare workforce already facing a shortage. The Ford government has said it has no plans to privatize the healthcare system.

☆ The 3 best tanks on earth
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-15 | by ( Brent M. Eastwood | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

The three best tanks on Earth, let the debate begin: Are tanks still useful in the 21st century? I can offer three tanks that deserve clear recognition as the three best tanks on Earth, although I will admit, there is room for debate. Here are all of the reasons why:3 best tanks on earth: Meet the M1 AbramsAn M1A2 Abrams fires a sabot round. 3 best tanks on earth: Meet the K2 Black PantherA South Korean K-2 tank in June 2012. 3 best tanks on earth: the German LeopardGerman army Leopard 2 tanks in Munster in October 2015.

☆ The UK says sending Challenger 2 tanks to Ukraine is a potential 'game changer' in the war. This is how they could impact the conflict.
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-14 | by ( Alia Shoaib | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

The UK confirmed it will send a small number of Challenger 2 tanks to Ukraine. The powerful tank would easily outmatch any Russian battle tanks, an expert told Insider. Representatives for Poland said on Wednesday that the country plans to transfer Leopard tanks to Ukraine, but needs Berlin's permission to re-export them. The Challenger 2 is far superior to Russia's battle tanksThe powerful Challenger 2 tanks would easily outmatch Russia's battle tanks, mainly the Soviet-era T-72s, Crump said. In the first Gulf War in 1991, a British Challenger tank scored the longest tank-on-tank kill ever, according to reports, after knocking out an Iraqi tank three miles away.

More men are being diagnosed with advanced prostate cancer that is less likely to respond to treatments, a new study from the American Cancer Society suggests. Even more concerning than the rise in advanced cancer diagnoses is the increased number of prostate cancer deaths. “This increase is concerning and requires a new look at prostate cancer screening,” Tewari said. Essentially, that’s like 16 Boeing 747s crashing.”Black men had a 70% higher incidence of prostate cancer than white men. Declines in prostate cancer screeningIn 1994, the Food and Drug Administration approved the use of measurements of the prostate specific antigen (PSA) to be used as part of a screening test for prostate cancer.

☆ Ex-Flint, Michigan, fire chief sues mayor, saying he was fired for refusing to cover up house fire that killed 2 children
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-10 | by ( Minyvonne Burke | Minyvonne Burke Is A Senior Breaking News Reporter For Nbc News. | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +6 min

Sniegocki and Zlotek said they found no one in the burning home and gave the “all clear” to other firefighters on the scene, the lawsuit said. Minutes later the boys were foundSniegocki and Zlotek, who resigned, could not be reached at phone numbers listed for them. The firefighters union, Neeley’s office and a city attorney did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Tuesday. Sniegocki and Zlotek entered the house. Nine days after Neeley’s re-election on Nov. 8, the mayor fired him, according to the lawsuit.

☆ Capella Space raises $60 million from fund run by billionaire entertainment exec Thomas Tull
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-10 | by ( Michael Sheetz | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

San Francisco-based satellite imagery specialist Capella Space raised $60 million in fresh capital, the company announced on Tuesday. Capella raised the equity from the U.S. Innovative Technology Fund, a recently established private investment vehicle of billionaire Thomas Tull. Capella is the fund's first space investment, Tull told CNBC. The latest raise brings Capella to about $250 million in total equity and debt financing since its founding in 2016.

☆ Eli Lilly has spent years and billions of dollars in search of an effective Alzheimer's drug. But success is not all or nothing for the stock
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-09 | by ( Kevin Stankiewicz | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +22 min

Eli Lilly (LLY) has spent decades researching Alzheimer's disease without successfully bringing to market a treatment that slows the memory-destroying condition. For Eli Lilly as a company, an Alzheimer's drug is an important pursuit. Lilly's Alzheimer's history Eli Lilly's "first real foray" into Alzheimer's came in the 1990s, according to Dr. John Sims, Eli Lilly's head of medical development for donanemab. Financial implications for Lilly LLY mountain 2021-10-08 The Club started a new position in Eli Lilly (LLY) in October 2021. The Eli Lilly logo is shown on one of the company's offices in San Diego, California, September 17, 2020.

☆ China’s Covid wave threatens another snarl of U.S. medical supply chain
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-08 | by ( Https | Media-Cldnry.S-Nbcnews.Com Image Upload Newscms Shannon-Pettypiece-Circle-Byline-Template.Jpg | Shannon Pettypiece | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +8 min

“We’re looking a lot for potential early warning signs in the medical supply chain for any kinds of disruptions,” said an administration official. “One major concern throughout the entire pandemic has been that because of China’s zero Covid policy, shutdowns greatly reduced manufacturing capacity in China. Despite efforts over the past two years by the Biden administration to bolster the country’s domestic medical supply chain, the complexity, costs and regulations involved in health care manufacturing has limited companies’ ability to shift production. I think that would be a natural response,” said Douglas Kent, executive vice president of corporate and strategic alliances at the Association for Supply Chain Management. Health care officials say they hope that the U.S. is in a better place to withstand any shocks from China.

☆ U.S. new drug price exceeds $200,000 median in 2022
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-05 | by ( Deena Beasley | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

The median annual price of the 17 novel drugs the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved since July 2022 is $193,900, down from $257,000 in the first half of 2022, Reuters found. For full year 2022, the median was $222,003. Reuters Graphics Reuters GraphicsIn 2021, the median annual price was $180,000 for the 30 drugs first marketed through mid-July, according to a study published recently in JAMA. Health insurers and other payers often demand discounts and rebates for prescription drugs once competing treatments become available. As patents expire, lower-cost generics also mitigate prescription drug price inflation, which in the 12 months through November 2022 was 1.9%, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

☆ GE HealthCare shares rise in market debut
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-04 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Jan 4 (Reuters) - Shares of GE HealthCare Technologies Inc reversed course to trade up 4.4% in their market debut on Wednesday, after the medical equipment maker completed its separation from industrial conglomerate General Electric Co (GE.N). GE said in 2021 it would split into three public companies to simplify its business, pare down debt and breathe life into battered shares. GE HealthCare - which will operate imaging and ultrasound devices, patient care solutions and pharmaceutical diagnostics businesses - expects its addressable markets will expand to $102 billion by 2025 from $84 billion in 2021. The company will be present in more than 160 countries and have about 51,000 employees worldwide, GE HealthCare said on Wednesday. Shares of the company, which is scheduled to release its fourth-quarter and full-year results on Jan. 30, were trading at $58.40 on the Nasdaq.

Search resuls for: "Imaging"

25 mentions found