DIRS.INFO The most relevant business & tech news

☆ New space observatory helps solve mystery involving enormous black holes
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-29 | by ( ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +4 min

Most galaxies are built around humongous black holes. A light year is the distance light travels in a year, 5.9 trillion miles (9.5 trillion km). They have the biggest, scariest black holes. IXPE, launched last December as a collaboration between the U.S. space agency NASA and the Italian Space Agency, measures the brightness and polarization — a property of light involving the orientation of the electromagnetic waves — of X-ray light from cosmic sources. “Black holes are unique laboratories to study fundamental physics in extreme conditions we cannot replicate on Earth,” Liodakis said.

☆ Common treatment for joint pain may be linked to faster arthritis progression, research suggests
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-29 | by ( Angela Yang | Angela Yang Is An Intern For Nbc News Digital. | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +5 min

One of the most common pain relief treatments for arthritis, corticosteroid injections, may actually be associated with faster progression of the disease, according to new research. There is no cure, but the discomfort is sometimes treated with corticosteroid shots. The scans, collected annually for four years, revealed worse arthritis progression among participants injected with corticosteroids compared to the other two groups. Just because imaging shows more arthritis progression doesn’t mean a patient feels more pain. And second, he said, the results shouldn’t lead people to avoid corticosteroid shots in all situations.

☆ Experimental drug appears to slow progression of Alzheimer’s disease in clinical trial but raises safety concerns
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-29 | by ( Jacqueline Howard | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +11 min

It involved 1,795 adults, ages 50 to 90, with mild cognitive impairment due to early Alzheimer’s disease or mild Alzheimer’s disease-related dementia. Such a score is consistent with early Alzheimer’s disease, with a higher number associated with more cognitive impairment. By 18 months, the CDR-SB score went up 1.21 points in the lecanemab group, compared with 1.66 in the placebo group. Overall, there were serious adverse events in 14% of the lecanemab group and 11.3% of the placebo group. The researchers also wrote that about 0.7% of participants in the lecanemab group and 0.8% of those in the placebo group died, corresponding to six deaths documented in the lecanemab group and seven in the placebo group.

☆ ‘Vermeer’s Secrets’ Review: A Master Under the Microscope
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-26 | by ( Mary Tompkins Lewis | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +1 min

WashingtonThe disparate realms of art and science have often converged in attempts to explicate the rarefied and indescribably beautiful paintings of Johannes Vermeer (1632-1675). Revered by his fellow painters in Delft, the Dutch artist fell into obscurity after his death, in part because of the scarcity of his output. Vermeer’s rediscovery by 19th-century scholars, connoisseurs, and especially the French art critic Théophile Thoré-Bürger spurred a crucial reassessment of his art, his stature in Holland’s Golden Age likened to that of Rembrandt. While only about 35 works can now be ascribed with certainty to the artist, a smattering of others—including likely copies, outright counterfeits, and paintings inspired by his own—have been considered over the years as candidates for inclusion in his prestigious oeuvre. “Vermeer’s Secrets,” a small exhibition at the National Gallery of Art that is drawn exclusively from its own holdings, navigates this contested territory with the aid of new research and imaging technology, and the results are as riveting as they are convincing (the show is a prelude to the Vermeer retrospective to be held in 2023 at the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam).

☆ This startup wants to use light-based chips to make driverless cars safe. Check out the pitch deck Scantinel Photonics used to raise its $10 million Series A.
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-24 | by ( Riddhi Kanetkar | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Scantinel Photonics has raised $10 million in Series A funding from PhotonDelta. The German startup uses photonics chips to make autonomous driving more precise and safe. The startup says the game-changer is its use of photonics chips. These photonics chips are used to make LiDAR solutions and devices — which are integrated into AVs, and key in helping vehicles to sense objects and estimate distances on the road. Scantinel says it is pioneering a "new wave of LiDAR technology" that's more immune to interference and precise in its imaging, said managing director Dr. Michael Richter.

☆ Fact Check-Maricopa County says bipartisan staff transport mail-in ballots for preparation of signature verification
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-22 | by ( Reuters Fact Check | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

A video showing a truck departing from the Maricopa County Elections Department in Arizona to a third-party facility triggered social media claims of fraud, citing an allegedly inadequate chain-of-custody process. Both the Maricopa County Elections Department and Runbeck Election Services told Reuters that bipartisan staff are present during the transport of the sealed envelopes to and from their offices. News reports covering Runbeck’s Elections Services role in Maricopa County 2022 midterm elections and in the past are viewable (here) (here )( here )VERDICTMisleading. Maricopa County Elections Department and Runbeck Election Services told Reuters that bipartisan staff are present during the transport of the sealed envelopes to and from their offices. Runbeck Election Services assists with the scanning of sealed envelopes of returned early ballots, which helps with signature verification that later takes place at Maricopa County Elections Department.

But it's much higher compared to the U.S. companies' issuance of $17.3 billion and Europe's $16.4 billion so far. Internally, China has a lower inflation environment and loosening monetary policy, equity market valuation is more resilient," said Mandy Zhu, head of China Global Banking - UBS. OVERSEAS LISTINGS DROPHowever, Chinese companies' listings overseas have dropped sharply this year. The data showed that IPO issuances on the mainland fell just 11%, while Chinese listings in U.S. and Europe slumped 97% and 81%, respectively. She added that a recovery in the U.S. market listings will take a longer time, given the uncertainty over U.S.-China relations.

☆ Fossil-fuel companies have more people at the UN's climate summit than the 10 countries most affected by climate change do combined
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-19 | by ( Morgan Mcfall-Johnsen | Catherine Boudreau | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +8 min

Fossil-fuel interests are fighting for natural gas at the United Nations' COP27 climate summit. But natural gas is mostly methane — a greenhouse gas 80 times more potent than carbon dioxide — and it leaks. One-third of the fossil fuel lobbyists Global Witness identified are registered as part of national delegations, according to Dominic Kavakeb, a spokesperson for Global Witness. Fossil fuel influence threatens to undermine progress on one of the most powerful, immediate climate solutions: ending human methane emissions. While methane's consequences are severe, the good news is that countries and industries can quickly slow climate change by cutting methane emissions.

☆ Meet Prenuvo, a company that says its whole-body MRI scan can detect the earliest stages of disease. Experts say it could do more harm than good.
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-18 | by ( Sarah Braner | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +8 min

Prenuvo, a company offering preventive MRI scans, raised a $70 million Series A in October. Some say healthy people probably don't need whole-body scans, which can lead to risky procedures. On October 18, the company, based in Vancouver, British Columbia, said it had raised a $70 million Series A to provide whole-body MRI scans to consumers. The website says the scans are performed by MRI technologists and analyzed by radiologists trained to read Prenuvo scans. PrenuvoWhole-body MRI scans aren't accessible for everyoneSafavi said whole-body MRI scans have been available for more than two decades for people curious about what might be in their bodies undetected.

☆ TikTok is still hiring despite the tech downturn. Here's how much it pays for hundreds of engineering, marketing, and other US jobs.
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-18 | by ( Ashley Rodriguez | Dan Whateley | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +42 min

Insider analyzed US work-visa data to gauge salary levels at TikTok and parent company ByteDance. The data show TikTok and ByteDance offered staffers on US work visas $30 an hour to $400,000 a year. And TikTok has begun to get into its stride with advertisers who are now taking it more seriously as a marketing platform. Based on the data, TikTok and ByteDance offered from late-2020 to mid-2022 base salaries ranging from $30 per hour to $400,000 per year for various roles. TikTok's median annual base salary was roughly $184,000 per year, based on data from 319 foreign-labor certification applications.

Organizations: & $, & $

☆ Woman with a rare brain disease says doctors repeatedly dismissed her condition, blaming it on mental illness
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-17 | by ( Marianne Guenot | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +9 min

She has since been diagnosed with Moyamoya disease, a rare brain condition that affects fewer than 1 in 100,000 people. However, she said the earlier opinion caused a substantial delay in her Moyamoya diagnosis, adding: "everywhere I went, it followed me first. Moyamoya disease is caused by a narrowing of blood vessels in the brain. However, he noted that, in general, that a condition is rare is no excuse for dismissing a patient's symptoms. Still struggling to access careIn spite of her Moyamoya disease diagnosis, Simpson says she's still struggling to access support.

☆ Where did Earth’s water come from? This meteorite might hold the answer
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-17 | by ( Hafsa Khalil | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

London CNN —If you’ve ever wondered where water on Earth comes from, new research on a meteorite which landed in a family’s front yard in England last year may have just the answer. Researchers from London’s Natural History Museum and the University of Glasgow, in Scotland, studied a meteorite found in the town of Winchcombe, Gloucestershire, to discover it contained water similar to that found on Earth. Approximately 71% of the Earth’s surface is covered in water, with oceans holding about 96.5% of all water, according to the US Geological Survey. The team, which measured the ratio of hydrogen isotopes in the water, found that it closely resembled the composition of water on Earth, according to a press release from the Natural History Museum. Samples of the Winchcombe meteorite are currently on public display at the Natural History Museum in London, the Winchcombe Museum, and The Wilson (Art Gallery) in Gloucestshire.

☆ Ukraine says sniper killed Russian soldier almost 1.7 miles away, which it claims is the second-longest kill on record
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-16 | by ( Mia Jankowicz | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Ukraine's army claimed on Wednesday to have made the world's second-longest sniper kill. The shot would be roughly three times the height of the Burj Khalifa, the world's tallest building. The 24 seconds of grainy thermal imaging footage show a figure identified by Ukraine's armed forces as "the occupier," suggesting the apparent kill took place in occupied Ukraine. In the post, Ukraine's armed forces gave a nod to British former sniper Craig Harrison as having formerly held the record for second-longest shot, and who the Ukrainian army claims to have nudged into third place. Another pre-existing claim to second place is a kill by an unnamed member of Australia's second commando regiment in 2012, at 1.3 miles, or 2.81 km.

☆ See the 25-slide pitch deck a Baltimore biotech used to raise $56 million to develop a blood test that detects recurring cancer
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-16 | by ( Andrew Dunn | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

A Baltimore-based biotech startup has raised $56 million to develop a cancer blood test. Haystack Oncology has raised $56 million in a Series A round to continue development of its cancer blood test in 2023, the startup said Wednesday. The Baltimore-based biotech says it has a blood test that can find tiny, lingering traces of cancer in patients who've already had cancer and received treatment. Those cancerous cells shed small pieces of their DNA into the bloodstream, and Haystack's test detects those molecules. Haystack's blood test, called a liquid biopsy, can find signs of cancer that aren't detectable by imaging like CT scans.

☆ High-performance computing saves the day
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-14 | by ( Sponsor Post | Sponsored Microsoft Azure | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Whether there's a cyberattack or a heart attack, Microsoft Azure's high-performance computing solutions and Intel's processing speed empower Dataville's citizens to thwart danger, protect themselves, and innovate to create a better city. Dataville makes sustainable changesWhen Dataville senses that one unscrupulous factory in town is polluting the air, it's able to act quickly. Dataville provides better healthcareWhen Dataville citizens have a health crisis, healthcare providers can save the day. See how Microsoft Azure and Intel can give you superpowers. This post was created by Insider Studios with Microsoft Azure and Intel.

☆ How an ‘electronic nose’ could help fight wildfires
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-14 | by ( Jacopo Prisco | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

Preventing even a fraction of wildfires from developing would have sweeping benefits. Climate change is making wildfires more intense, and the number of extreme wildfire events is projected to increase up to 14% by 2030. Existing early warning systems are based on visual detection of smoke, either through satellite imaging, cameras on the ground or human observers. Placed at the edge of the forest, these gateway sensors transmit the emergency signals to the internet over satellite and 4G. This detection time was phenomenal and showed how much potential the Dryad system has,” he adds.

☆ Millions of fire ants threaten to 'rain down' on Hawaii residents and sting them in their sleep, officials say
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-13 | by ( Joshua Zitser | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Kauai's most extensive infestation of fire ants poses a health risk to Hawaii's residents and tourists, officials say. Welts caused by fire ants stings can "last for weeks," according to the Kauai Invasive Species Committee. Welts caused by the stings can "last for weeks," the Kauai Invasive Species Committee said, per SFGATE. The Kauai Invasive Species Committee has launched a significant media campaign to alert residents of the free-at-home test kits available to help them detect the presence of the invasive species, SFGATE reported. The Wailua River cuts through the lush tropical vegetation on the Hawaiian island of Kauai, Hawaii.

☆ Forget what you learned in school — the brain might not work in 'regions' after all
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-04 | by ( Marianne Guenot | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

NetflixWhite matter ruling how we think and feelBrains are made up of two types of material: white matter and gray matter. The new model from Forkel and her colleagues changes that, giving white matter a much bigger role. One example of how white matter connects unexpected regions of the brain is the incredible injury of a railway worker 150 years ago. White matter may organize the regionsIt's also possible that it is the white matter that directs which region does what in the gray matter, rather than the other way around. This analysis suggests that these studies will have to be rethought to look at the brain as a whole.

☆ Ukraine government is seeking alternatives to Elon Musk’s Starlink, vice PM says
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-03 | by ( Ryan Browne | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

The Ukrainian government is looking for alternatives to Starlink, the satellite internet arm of Elon Musk's SpaceX, Vice Prime Minister Mykhailo Fedorov said Thursday. Musk's continued support for Starlink in Ukraine was called into question last month when the billionaire said his space venture could no longer fund the operation in Ukraine "indefinitely." During a press conference Thursday at the Web Summit tech conference in Lisbon, Portugal, Fedorov said that he hasn't seen any issues with Musk's financing of Starlink in Ukraine continuing. "One of the reasons I came to Web Summit is to look for new partnerships and engage with new partners," he added. Last month, Musk said SpaceX couldn't continue funding Starlink terminals in Ukraine "indefinitely."

☆ This startup wants the agriculture sector to use satellites to tackle the food security crisis. Here's the 12-slide pitch deck Constellr used to raise a $10 million seed round.
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-03 | by ( Hasan Chowdhury | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

German startup Constellr has raised $10 million to build microsatellites for the agriculture sector. Check out the 12-slide pitch deck it used to raise its seed round below. German space startup Constellr has secured $10 million in seed funding to ramp up its efforts to build microsatellites that can monitor water for the agriculture industry. The startup said its satellites differ from existing satellites by going beyond visual imaging, allowing farmers to make more precise interventions with their crops. Check out the 12-slide pitch deck Constellr used to raise the fresh funds below:

The United States is among over 100 countries that have pledged to cut their methane emissions 30% by 2030 from 2020 levels. They also say smaller wells often produce only insignificant methane emissions that don't warrant the cost and effort of a monitoring program. The problem, environmentalists say, is that collectively, the smaller wells produce a massive amount of climate-damaging methane. Exempting wells that produce less than 6 barrels per day would effectively exclude more than 80% of those marginal wells from the EPA rule, according to KIOGA. The supplemental ruling could also address the industry's use of flaring, or the deliberate burning of excess natural gas from well sites, which can also lead to methane emissions.

[1/3] A graphic illustrating new details, uncovered using LiDAR laser technology, of the ancient Mayan city of Calakmul, Mexico, in this undated handout image. Proyecto Arqueologico Bajo Laberinto/INAH/Handout via REUTERSMEXICO CITY, Oct 27 (Reuters) - A laser-powered study of the sprawling metropolis of Calakmul in southern Mexico offers tantalizing new evidence that it may have been the most crowded ancient Maya urban center during the civilization's classical peak some 1,300 years ago. The new LIDAR study announced late Wednesday by Mexican antiquities institute INAH covers the jungle-covered ruins of once-mighty Calakmul, located in the central lowlands of the Yucatan peninsula near the Guatemalan border. Reese-Taylor noted the new preliminary maps of the barely three-month old data show extensive residential apartment complexes clustered around temples and possible markets. Previous estimates suggested the city's population likely reached some 50,000 inhabitants, but the new study could force a recalculation.

For good.”R&B superstar Blige said she lost aunts and other family members to breast, cervical and lung cancer. She has promoted breast cancer screening in the past, especially among Black women who are disproportionately affected, through the Black Women’s Health Imperative. First lady Jill Biden, right, holds hands with singer Mary J. Blige during an event to launch the American Cancer Society's national roundtables on breast and cervical cancer in the State Dining Room of the White House, on Monday. Patrick Semansky / APBlige blamed misconceptions about mammograms among Black women and “the practice of not wanting other people in our business” for disparities in breast cancer outcomes between Blacks and whites. “She has a rock-hard mass in her breast,” Gore said.

☆ NASA instrument detects dozens of methane super-emitters from space
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-26 | by ( Steve Gorman | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

The device, called an imaging spectrometer, has identified more than 50 methane "super-emitters" in Central Asia, the Middle East and the Southwestern United States since it was installed in July aboard the International Space Station, NASA said on Tuesday. The newly measured methane hotspots - some previously known and others just discovered - include sprawling oil and gas facilities and large landfills. "Some of the (methane) plumes EMIT detected are among the largest ever seen - unlike anything that has ever been observed from space," said Andrew Thorpe, a JPL research technologist leading the methane studies. Examples of newly imaged methane super-emitters showcased by JPL on Tuesday included a cluster of 12 plumes from oil and gas infrastructure in Turkmenistan, some plumes stretching more than 20 miles (32 km). EMIT, one of 25 Earth science instruments in orbit, could potentially find hundreds of methane super-emitters before its year-long mission ends, NASA said.

☆ Wealthy people are splurging on bucket-list trips, flying to the Arctic Circle for private-chef-catered meals, renting out African safari lodges, and spending $300,000 for a half-hour opera serenade
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-25 | by ( Zoe Rosenberg | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

Hard-to-access places like the Arctic Circle and Galapagos Islands are bucket-list travel hot spots. These well-off wanderlusters have helped create a travel-industry boom, with pent-up demand pushing bucket-list travel into this year's shoulder seasons. American Express Travel's 2022 Global Travel Trends report, which used polling data collected in early February 2022, confirms the move toward bucket-list travel this year. Quality time with loved ones matters above allBut not all bucket-list travel experiences need to be in far-flung corners of the world. Finnegan said traveling with his family made it a bucket-list trip.

Search resuls for: "Imaging"

25 mentions found