DIRS.INFO The most relevant business & tech news

☆ A professor found $550,000 of 'floating gold' in the entrails of a dead sperm whale. Here's why ambergris is so expensive.
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-08 | by ( Nathan Rennolds | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

A professor found a lump of ambergris, or "floating gold," worth 500,000 euros in a dead whale. The stone, which was worth 500,000 euros, or around $545,000, was made of ambergris — a strange, naturally-occurring substance that's known as "floating gold." It can be judged by the color of the ambergris, with black having the least ambrein and white the most. Top perfumes are usually made with white ambergris, while substitute chemicals are used in cheaper ones. In 2021, a group of fishermen in the Gulf of Aden sold a chunk of ambergris worth around $1.5 million to a buyer in the United Arab Emirates.

Persons: Antonio Fernández, Alexis Rosenfeld, Richard Sabin Organizations: Service, of Animal Health, Food Security, Universidad, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, National Geographic, United, United Arab Emirates, BBC Locations: Wall, Silicon, La, Gulf, Aden, United Arab

☆ Was mass hysteria behind the mysterious case of 227 middle school students fainting last fall?
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-02 | by ( Lillian Perlmutter | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +22 min

On September 23, 2022, 12-year-old Esmeralda walked out of the girls' bathroom at her middle school in Tapachula, Mexico, and fainted. Mexican President Andrés Manuel Lopez Obrador began including regular updates on the government's investigation into the fainting episodes in his daily press conferences. Dr. Carlos Alberto Pantoja Meléndez, one of Mexico's few field epidemiologists, had taken an interest in the fainting episodes. News of the initial fainting episodes had been shared there, the epidemiologist, who asked to remain anonymous, told Pantoja-Melendez. Both believe that the fainting episodes in Mexico were examples of something new and alarming: mass hysteria spreading online.

Persons: Esmeralda, Diala, Gladys, Esmeralda's, convulsing, Esmeralda Eva Alicia Lépiz, —, Esmerelda, Mami, Andrés Manuel Lopez Obrador, Gladys didn't, Bochil, Luis Villagrán, bristled, Susanna, Tapachula, Diala's, José Eduardo Morales Montes, they'd, Eva Alicia Lépiz, Hidalgo —, I've, Carlos Alberto Pantoja Meléndez, Pantoja Meléndez, Meléndez, Robert Bartholomew, Bartholomew, Lopez Obrador, busily, Simon Wessley, schoolgirls, twitching, we'll, Pantoja, Melendez, Bartholomew said, we're, We've, who's Organizations: Federal, Central America, Journalists, Mexico City —, Mexico City, Universidad Autónoma Nacional, University of Auckland, Roswell, Kings College, New York, Health Department, Pantoja Locations: Tapachula, Mexico, Bochil, Mexican, Chiapas, Mexico City, El Pais, Chiapas —, Central, Esmeralda, Mexico City — Tlaxcala, Hidalgo, México, University of Auckland , New Zealand, Veracruz, London, Southern Mexico, Kanshasa, Tanzania, Blackburn , England, Sweden, Pyuthan, Nepal, Leroy , New York, Tapachula .

☆ Chile's president Boric speaks out against violence in stadiums
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-01 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

May 1 (Reuters) - Chile's president Gabriel Boric criticised violence in stadiums after the derby between Universidad de Chile and Universidad Catolica was suspended on Sunday due to disorder, fireworks and noise bombs in the stands of the Estadio Municipal Ester Roa Rebolledo in Concepcion. The National Professional Football Association (ANFP) said they will reschedule the match without spectators, as they will also request a meeting with the President to work against violence. The governing body will also call an urgent meeting of Chilean football to speed up the work of security in order to toughen the penalties and punishments for violence in stadiums. Boric has condemned violence in stadiums before. He addressed the issue in relation to the serious incidents involving Colo Colo and Universidad Catolica supporters at last year's Copa Libertadores matches.

☆ How Runway's idea for AI-driven video and photo editing and generation went from a "crazy" concept to a Silicon Valley darling worth half a billion dollars
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-01 | by ( Stephanie Palazzolo | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

When Runway's founders first came up with the idea for an AI art startup, they were called crazy. Now, the generative AI startup has become a fan favorite of VCs and the public alike. When Cristóbal Valenzuela began building his generative AI company Runway in 2018, investors, filmmakers, and advertisers told the cofounder that he was crazy. "They were saying, 'why would you want to build AI tools for video and filmmaking?'" Many of these features were developed hand-in-hand with customers, who often described to Runway the problems and obstacles they ran into while creating videos, Valenzuela said.

☆ Archaeologists in Peru find adolescent mummy wrapped in bundle
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-25 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

The mummy was probably an adolescent and found in an underground tomb wrapped in a funerary bundle, along with ceramics and rope and including bits of skin and hair. [1/5] Skeletal remains and parts of the funerary bundle of a mummy found by Peruvian archaeologists are seen in the ruins of Cajarmarquilla, in the outskirts of Lima, Peru, April 24, 2023. The mummy was discovered about 200 metres (220 yards) from where the first mummy of Cajamarquilla was found, explained Huaman, referring to another mummy found nearby last year. The complex is the second largest mud-brick city in Peru after Chan Chan in the north of the Andean country. Located in a dusty area about 20km (12 miles) from Lima, the site was believed to be a thriving trading center.

[1/6] Jorge Pedro Armoa, 67, works with metal in one of his three jobs to beat Argentina's over 100% inflation rate, in 9 de Abril, in the outskirts of Buenos Aires, Argentina March 21, 2023. REUTERS/Tomas CuestaBUENOS AIRES, March 30 (Reuters) - As Argentina's over 100% inflation rate saps earning power and outstrips wages, Jorge Pedro Armoa, 67, has found a painful solution: juggling three jobs as a metal worker, soccer coach and part-time salesman of medical creams, flip flops and honey. So sometimes it's not enough," said Armoa, a metal mold factory worker who is the technical director of a local soccer team and funds his own small business. Armoa, even with his three salaries and income from his wife, a teaching assistant, often struggles to get by. "You have to put a positive face on things, good energy and think that tomorrow things will be better."

Resurgent inflation is devouring the income of Venezuelans - even the relatively privileged ones like Mendoza who have access to U.S. dollars. That is leaving them hungry and struggling to buy food and medicine, they told Reuters. "Neither dollars or bolivars are enough. Many Venezuelans were left to scour through garbage to find food, and millions fled the country to build new lives across South America and beyond. "Whether you pay in bolivars or dollars it is not enough," Lochunga said, sitting in front of his stall.

☆ J. R. R. Tolkien now shares his name with a mystical stream frog found in Ecuador — a country in the literal middle of the earth
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-25 | by ( Hannah Getahun | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

One researcher told Insider that he could imagine the frog living in Fangorn forest. "The encounter of this frog was very surprising," Sánchez-Nivicela told Insider in an email interview. Because only one Hyloscirtus tolkieni has been discovered thus far, there is still much to learn about how many exist and in what regions they live. Habitat of Hyloscirtus tolkieni (red arrow pointing to collection site); and at the collection site inside the forest (below). The stream frog will take its place among other amphibians that could exist in Middle Earth — including a stubby, wood-loving frog named after Bilbo Baggins that lives on the other side of the Atlantic.

[1/8] Anti-government protesters clash with the police, as they demand the release of protesters detained in the protests, after President Pedro Castillo was ousted, in Lima, Peru January 21, 2023. REUTERS/Sebastian CastanedaLIMA, Jan 21 (Reuters) - Peruvian police arrested over 200 people accused of illegally entering the campus of a major Lima university, while authorities in Cusco shut the Incan citadel of Machu Picchu and the Inca trail as deadly anti-government protests spread nationwide. Some 46 people have been killed in the weeks-long clashes and another nine in traffic accidents related to the barricades set up amid the protests. In videos circulating online, an armored vehicle can be seen breaking down a door on the university campus to allow entry for security forces. Protests have rocked Peru since former President Pedro Castillo was ousted in December after he attempted to dissolve the legislature to prevent an impeachment vote.

☆ What Is a Dynamic Warm-Up and What Exercises Should It Include?
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-05 | by ( Cindy Kuzma | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

But in recent years, exercise science has coalesced around a better way to prepare your body for exertion: the dynamic warm-up. Research suggests dynamic warm-ups improve agility, speed and overall performance for a wide range of sports, including tennis, baseball and running. In a fast-moving, direction-changing sport like soccer, a tailored dynamic warm-up lowered the odds of getting hurt by about 30 percent in one 2017 research review. Dynamic warm-ups bridge the gap. Chances are, you’ve updated your workout gear since middle-school gym class — here’s how to modernize your warm-up, too.

Persons: —, Alvaro López Samanes, who’s, they’re, ”, Emily Hutchins Organizations: Universidad Francisco de Vitoria, Research, Olympic Locations: Madrid, Chicago

☆ Colombia's oil theft soars, leaving trail of environmental harm
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-23 | by ( Oliver Griffin | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +9 min

Reuters accompanied a police unit tasked with tackling oil theft in September to two sites near Tumaco, a Pacific port in southwest Colombia that is the terminal for the country's Transandino oil pipeline. The animals, the trees - everything is totally burned," said Colonel Johan Pena, commander of the police unit charged with tackling oil theft in Narino, a province bordering Ecuador that is known for cocaine production. Reuters approached more than a dozen environmental groups, rights advocates, government agencies and international organizations who either said they had no detailed information on the extent of the environmental damage in Colombia from oil theft or did not respond to questions. Oil spills on land smother soil pore spaces, restricting microorganisms' access to oxygen, said Martha Daza, a professor at Cali-based university Universidad del Valle's school of engineering of natural resources and the environment. Regional health authorities in Narino did not immediately respond to questions about the health impact of oil spills.

They have found that in Puerto Rico, people have a higher propensity for Alzheimer's and part of the reason could be a genetic variant they have uncovered. While, in the U.S., 10.7% of the population age 65 and older has Alzheimer's, in Puerto Rico the number is 12.5%. In the U.S., it's the fifth-leading cause of death in those over 65 but in Puerto Rico, it ranks fourth in the same age group. It was more than three decades ago when Alzheimer’s genetic research pioneer Margaret Pericak-Vance was at Duke University that she began trying to involve more diverse populations in research. A variant only found among Hispanic CaribbeansDr. Katrina Celis, Director of Research Support Larry Adams, and Dr. Parker Bussies prepare to see Alzheimer’s patients and their families in Puerto Rico for Puerto Rico Alzheimers Disease Initiative, known as PRADI.

(Jack Taylor/Pool/Reuters)Dina Boluarte took office as the new president of Peru on Wednesday after the country's Congress ousted Pedro Castillo through a vacancy motion following his attempt to dissolve the governing body. Boluarte became the country's first female president, and just a few hours before, had served as Peru's vice president. It is the sixth time that Peru has had a new president in less than five years. In 2018, she was a candidate for mayor of Surquillo with the Perú Libre Party. During the 2021 general elections, she was a candidate for the vice presidency for the Perú Libre party.

Data from Bloomberg Economics shows that El Salvador tops its ranking of emerging market countries that are vulnerable to a debt default. Another survey by the institute found that 76 out of 100 small and medium-size enterprises in El Salvador do not accept bitcoin payments. But in 2022, recent data shows that only 1.6% of remittances were sent to El Salvador via digital wallets. Meanwhile, its other national currency, bitcoin, is revered for the fact that it, too, is impossible to mint out of thin air. "Bitcoin doesn't solve any of El Salvador's important economic problems," he added.

☆ Bed Bath & Beyond CFO falls to death days after company announces massive closures and layoffs
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-05 | by ( Julianne Mcshane | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +3 min

A Bed Bath & Beyond executive died from an apparent suicide after falling from the downtown Manhattan luxury skyscraper where he lived, according to New York's medical examiner’s office. A Sunday statement from the retailer said that "the entire Bed Bath & Beyond Inc. organization is profoundly saddened by this shocking loss." Last year, Arnal took home $2.9 million as CFO of Bed Bath & Beyond, including $775,000 in salary and the rest in stock awards, according to InsiderTrades.com. Last month, he sold more than 42,500 shares of company stock worth more than a million dollars, according to the website MarketBeat. Bed Bath & Beyond's stock took a major hit last month after an influential investor sold all of his nearly 7.8 million shares.

Apple filed two patents in Singapore early in 2020, relating to drones and their control systems. Their filing out of the US and delayed publication suggests Apple may be trying to keep them quiet. The giant had previously filed two other patent applications, indicating some effort had been made to keep the project quiet. It can delay the date that a patent application is made public, and it can submit the application in another country. Both of these patents were originally filed in Singapore, according to Patently Apple.

☆ Un nou vulcan activ a fost descoperit în extremitatea sudică a statului Chile
▼ + stars: | 2021-04-07 | by ( Publika.Md - Aici Sunt Știrile | ) www.publika.md time to read: +1 min

Geologii de la Universidad de Chile au anunţat marţi că au descoperit un nou vulcan activ în Patagonia chiliană, la circa 1.600 kilometri sud de capitala ţării, Santiago de Chile, informează AFP.Vulcanul, considerat activ deoarece are mai puţin de 5.000 de ani, este situat pe falia Liquińe-Ofqui, la 80 kilometri sud-vest de oraşul Coyhaique, în regiunea Aysen, scrie agerpres.ro Acesta se ridică la o altitudine de 1.280 de metri deasupra nivelului mării, la fel ca Vezuviul în sudul Italiei, au indicat geologii chilieni într-un comunicat. Vulcanul va fi de acum monitorizat de către geologi. "Gran Mate" a fost observat datorită mai multor explorări ale zonei începând din 2015 şi a unor zboruri de recunoaştere. Zona, situată în extremitatea sudică a statului Chile, este înzăpezită timp de zece luni pe an şi este greu accesibilă.Acest nou vulcan se adaugă celor 90 de vulcani activi din Chile. Cea mai mare parte a acestora se află pe falia Liquińe-Ofqui, care se întinde pe o lungime de circa 1.000 de kilometri în sudul ţării.

Persons: Gregory Organizations: Universidad Locations: Chile, Patagonia chiliană, ţării, Santiago de Chile, Coyhaique, Aysen, Italiei, americană, Universidad de Chile, America

☆ „Trăiam în anul 2563 și pregăteam sarmale pentru studenții internaționali.” Diana Guranda, despre cum e să fii studentă în Portugalia, Thailanda și Peru
▼ + stars: | 2021-01-13 | by ( Onixmedia Srl | ) diez.md time to read: +16 min

Mi-am dorit mult să studiez în capitală, pentru că acolo sunt mult mai multe oportunități și e un mediu mai deschis pentru oamenii din alte țări. Eu deja prinsesem gustul călătoriilor și aveam o mare curiozitate de a cunoaște și de a trăi cultura asiatică. Casa avea trei etaje și o mică grădină unde adesea priveam curioasă cum pasările colibri sărută florile, cumpăram și descopeream zilnic fructe exotice. Locuiam cu alți 1o studenți europeni din Spania, Italia, Elveția, Germania, Franța și o colegă din Venezuela. La moment, mă aflu în Portugalia și îmi finalizez masteratul, după care mi-aș dori mult să fac doctoratul sau cercetări științifice.

Persons: Alexei Mateevici, Leonardo Di, Erasmus, Eu, Karl Marx ., Diana Organizations: Management, Google, Bursa, Comisia Europeană, Santander, cream, Universitatea, Comunicam Locations: Guranda, Bălănești, Republica Moldova, Chișinău, Portugalia, Lisabona, Thailanda, Asia, The, thailandeze, Moldova, America de Sud, Peru, Peruană, Brazilia, Católica del, Spania, Italia, Elveția, Germania, Franța, Venezuela, România, străinătate

Search resuls for: "Universidad"

18 mentions found