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☆ Around 400 patients were wrongly informed they might have cancer, biotech company says
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-03 | by ( Isobel Van Hagen | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

A biotech company said 400 people had been mistakenly informed they might have cancer. Grail Inc said the error resulted from a software issue, which has been resolved. The incident was part of a trial of an early-detection blood test called Galleri. Grail Inc, an American biotechnology company, developed an early-detection blood test called Galleri, created to identify more than 50 types of cancer before symptoms appear, per Reuters. The company, owned by gene sequencing company Illumina, said it promptly contacted patients after the incident.

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☆ An exclusive look inside Amazon's uniquely sustainable HQ2
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-19 | by ( Diana Olick | In Dianaolick | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

The 2.1 million square feet of space includes some of the newest clean energy technology and sustainability features. The floor is made of concrete from Carbon Cure, a clean cement company funded by Amazon's Climate Pledge Fund. Starting next week, the first of 8,000 Amazon employees will begin moving into one of two brand new 22-story towers in Arlington, Virginia. Amazon's HQ2, formally called Metropolitan Park, has many features that contribute toward the company's goal of reaching net zero carbon emissions across all operations by 2040. Hurst wouldn't say how much the sustainability features increased the cost of the development.

☆ Investing in Space: Is SpaceX's Starlink growing satellite internet market share, or taking it?
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-18 | by ( Michael Sheetz | In Michaeljsheetz | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

CNBC's Investing in Space newsletter offers a view into the business of space exploration and privatization, delivered straight to your inbox. Just over two and a half years after SpaceX's Starlink first rolled out its beta service, the satellite internet company now has more than 1.5 million subscribers. Starlink "introduced a service that leapfrogs the capability, although not quite the cost," of existing satellite and terrestrial competitors. Brazil, he noted, is the most dramatic example of Starlink taking share from incumbent satellite providers, where Starlink has added nearly the same amount of customers that Hughes has lost. With Starlink going after nearly every market vertical – from consumers to governments and everything in between – Prokosh noted customers are often just adding Starlink to existing options.

☆ Coca-Cola Trials Turning Hard-to-Recycle Plastic Into Bottles
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-11 | by ( Dieter Holger | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +4 min

Coca-Cola is trialing technology in Europe that turns hard-to-recycle plastic into new bottles, as part of its effort to meet its sustainability goals. “We simply do not have the necessary levels [of recycled plastic],” said Joe Franses, vice president of sustainability at Coca-Cola Europacific Partners. Packaging represents around 40% of Coca-Cola Europacific Partners’ carbon footprint, largely because of its use of oil-based virgin plastic. It aims to stop using oil to produce plastic bottles by 2030. He hopes recycled plastic supplied by CuRe’s method to be on par or not significantly more expensive than current recycled plastic, which can be 50% more costly than plastic made from oil.

☆ China makes major push in its ambitious digital yuan project
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-24 | by ( Laura He | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

Like cryptocurrency, the digital yuan incorporates some elements of blockchain technology: Every transaction is recorded and traceable in a digital ledger. Since last October, Changshu has been paying the transit subsidies for some government employees in digital yuan. It has also asked privately-owned apps to actively promote the digital yuan. Alipay began trialing digital yuan payments in 2021, and Tencent (TCEHY) announced last year that it would also start supporting the digital yuan in its WeChat Pay wallet. After all, industry leaders Alipay and WeChat Pay already have hundreds of millions of users who are familiar with their services.

☆ North Korea wants to turn around its dismal space launch record, saying its first military spy satellite is ready for liftoff
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-19 | by ( Matthew Loh | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

North Korea said on Wednesday that it's ready to launch its first military spy satellite this month. North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, and his daughter visit the National Aerospace Development Administration in North Korea Tuesday. If successful, this launch would be the first officially conducted by North Korea for military purposes. North Korea first tried launching a satellite in 1998, but the rocket failed to reach orbit and burned up in the atmosphere. But just eight months later, North Korea finally pulled off a successful launch, sending the "Kwangmyŏngsŏng-3" into space.

☆ 3 reasons why we hate the process of boarding planes according to an airline satisfaction expert
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-14 | by ( Bianca Giacobone | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Power, the speed of boarding has only a partial impact on passengers' satisfaction. "Most economy passengers like Southwest boarding process the best, because it seems more egalitarian," Taylor explained. "There's a high correlation between the people skills of an airline and how people like their boarding process," Taylor said. "It's the deadline pressure that reduces satisfaction," Taylor explained. Customer satisfaction, Taylor said, is rarely about how fast you can get something done.

☆ Employees would rather return to the office for a four-day workweek than have five days of hybrid work, a survey shows
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-03 | by ( Huileng Tan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Two-thirds of staffers prefer RTO for a four-day work week than work hybrid for five days, per a survey. One-third of employers would be more likely to consider a four-day work week if staff RTO every day. The UK trialed a four-day work week from June to December last year with 3,300 workers at 70 firms. And employers seem to agree — about one-third would be more likely to consider offering a four-day workweek if employees came to the office daily. On top of that, just under 90% of survey respondents said a four-day workweek could improve employee mental health and well-being.

☆ You’ve heard about the 4-day workweek — but what about the 9-day fortnight?
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-17 | by ( Sophie Kiderlin | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Enter the nine-day fortnight. The nine-day fortnight working pattern effectively means that across 14 calendar days, nine of them are working days and five are days off. The 9-day fortnight in practiceMany of the benefits are similar to those of the four-day week, according to those who have tested it. Ben Branson-Gateley, CEO and co-founder of human resources software firm Charlie HR which also follows a nine-day fortnight, says he has noticed additional benefits compared to the four-day week. Both Branson-Gateley and Franklin have seen their employees change the way they approach work as a consequence of the nine-day fortnight.

☆ Trump has been testing new nicknames for Ron DeSantis like 'Tiny D' and 'Ron DisHonest:' Bloomberg
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-06 | by ( Cheryl Teh | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Donald Trump is privately workshopping some fresh nicknames for Ron DeSantis, Bloomberg reports. Trump denied a report from The New York Times that he wanted to call DeSantis "Meatball Ron." Ron DeSantis, Bloomberg reports. Among the insults Trump is considering for DeSantis are "Tiny D," "Ron DisHonest," and "Ron DeEstablishment," Bloomberg reported, citing unnamed Trump allies. However, Trump refuted a February 12 report from The New York Times that said he was considering the nickname "Meatball Ron" for DeSantis.

☆ I quit banking to clean up crime scenes and homes where people have died. It can be absolutely horrific.
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-03 | by ( Lola Christina Alao | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

She quit her job at a bank to work as a domestic cleaner before training in the specialty. So in March 2019 I left my job, and in April I started working as a domestic cleaner, cleaning an office. When the pandemic hit, I also started working alongside the council doing COVID cleans. When the council offered me a cleaning job involving needles, I was terrified and turned it downI was always scared of injections. If a job is small and urgent, like cleaning a house after someone's been stabbed, I work on it alone.

☆ IKEA’s Latest Climate Target: Glue
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-01 | by ( Dieter Holger | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +5 min

The company expects biomaterials to become more cost competitive with fossil-based materials in the coming years. Instead, Mr. Rangel Ahrens said IKEA uses weight because it allows them to measure changes in a material, such as recycled and renewable content. It discovered around half of the material’s emissions were from the glue used to bind the wood chips and fibers together, meaning that fossil-based glue was responsible for about 5% of IKEA’s carbon footprint, Mr. Rangel Ahrens said. “We are not just telling them you should reduce emissions from suppliers by 80% and go fish,” Mr. Rangel Ahrens said. It needs to be available also for people with thin wallets,” Mr. Rangel Ahrens said.

☆ China has to figure out how to care for 400 million people over the age of 60 by 2040 — and it's off to a rocky start
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-20 | by ( Matthew Loh | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +11 min

By 2040, it's expected to have 400 million people above the age of 60 — more people than in the entire US. "It's obvious that relying on contributions from medical insurance schemes to fund age care services is not likely to be viable in the longer term," she said. Alzheimer's is quickly rising as a concern in China, Luk said. "Is China aging rapidly? Beijing has been pressuring the private sector into building daycare centers, wards, and other age care infrastructure to shore up gaps in local government finances, Gu said.

☆ Trump said he wouldn't call DeSantis 'Meatball Ron' as it would be inappropriate
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-19 | by ( Alia Shoaib | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Trump denied a report that he has nicknamed Ron DeSantis "Meatball Ron." Ron DeSantis "Meatball Ron." "I will never call Ron DeSanctimonious "Meatball" Ron, as the Fake News is insisting I will," Trump wrote on Truth Social on Saturday. While listing his various criticisms of DeSantis, Trump said, "it would be totally inappropriate to use the word "meatball" as a moniker for Ron!" Trump said that despite this, he will not be calling the governor "Meatball Ron."

☆ Trump is testing out new nicknames for Ron DeSantis, including 'Meatball Ron:' NYT
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-13 | by ( Cheryl Teh | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Trump is trialing some new nicknames for Ron DeSantis, per The New York Times. DeSantis may be considering a 2024 presidential run against Trump. Ron DeSantis, including "Meatball Ron," per The New York Times. The Trump-DeSantis feud is just getting uglierTrump debuted his first nickname for DeSantis, "Ron DeSanctimonious," at a rally in Pennsylvania in November. In February, Trump called DeSantis a "RINO Globalist" during a rant on Truth Social.

☆ ByteDance is testing food delivery service via its Chinese version of TikTok
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-08 | by ( Arjun Kharpal | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

ByteDance's Douyin has been trialing a food delivery service since December as it looks to expand its business beyond advertising. ByteDance told CNBC on Wednesday that it has been testing a type of food delivery service in China via its short video app Douyin, potentially pitting itself against major e-commerce companies like Alibaba and Meituan . Douyin is the Chinese version of TikTok which are both owned by ByteDance. The model is very different from Meituan and Alibaba's Ele.me which are both on-demand food delivery services, much like Uber Eats. There is no detailed timeline yet," a Douyin spokesperson said.

☆ Netflix's Latin American password-sharing clampdown trial hints at how the upcoming rollout might work, including primary locations and special-access codes for traveling
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-02 | by ( Pete Syme | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Netflix said last month that it expects to roll out paid sharing more broadly by the end of March. Paid sharing is being tested in Latin America, where it costs up to $3 to add an extra member. Users in the trial areas need to set up a "primary location" through their TV, verified through email or text message. If anyone is trying to access a Netflix account from outside its primary location, then their device will be blocked. Under paid sharing, users can let people from outside their household use their account for an additional fee.

☆ Amazon's drone delivery unit hit with layoffs just as 10-year-old project finally launches
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-20 | by ( Annie Palmer | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +12 min

Two employees said Carbon, who replaced Prime Air co-founder Gur Kimchi, was hired to turn Prime Air into a real business with a sensible budget. Sources with knowledge of Prime Air said cuts in the drone delivery business were expected considering the division's many struggles. Monica Williams, a College Station resident, poses with a Prime Air drone at a community event in July. College Station residents also expressed concern about the prospect of drones harming the deer, foxes and birds that are native to the area. "As we continue to expand, we will update you when drone delivery is available for your household."

☆ Delta plans to offer free Wi-Fi starting Feb. 1
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-05 | by ( Leslie Josephs | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Delta Air Lines will offer travelers free Wi-Fi starting Feb. 1, after years of studying the possibility. Travelers will access the free internet service by logging in with their Delta SkyMiles frequent flyer account information, Bastian added. It's free on JetBlue , which has some corporate sponsorships for the service, and Hawaiian Airlines is planning to offer free internet with SpaceX's Starlink this year. American Airlines ' Wi-Fi service starts at $10 and varies depending on the route, though last April, the carrier and its provider Viasat, started trialing free Wi-Fi for some customers. Airline executives have been hesitant to offer free Wi-Fi service until it is more reliable.

☆ Cryptocurrencies could cause the next financial crisis, Indian central bank head warns
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-21 | by ( Arjun Kharpal | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Shaktikanta Das, governor of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), called for private cryptocurrencies to be "prohibited." The next financial crisis will be caused by private cryptocurrencies, if these assets are allowed to grow, the head of India's central bank warned on Wednesday. Das' comments come as the central bank pushes to introduce its own digital version of the Indian rupee. The digital rupee is a type of central bank digital currency (CBDC). China's central bank is furthest ahead globally on the development of a CBDC.

☆ How much money TikTokers make, according to creators
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-21 | by ( Dan Whateley | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Here's how much TikTokers earn from brand deals, song promotions, livestreams, its Creator Fund, and ad-revenue sharing. Read how much six TikTok creators earned from the Creator FundHow much TikTokers make from its ad-revenue sharing program, PulseThe Creator Fund isn't the only in-app monetization tool for TikTok creators. As with the Creator Fund, the first two payments from TikTok Pulse have been disappointing, creators told Insider. Read more about how creators are making money from TikTok's built-in monetization features:How TikTok creators make money from brand sponsorshipsBecause virtual gifts, Creator Fund payments, and Pulse earnings don't pay the bills on their own, many influencers turn to brand deals to earn money from their TikTok content. Here's how much creators are earning from brand deals:How TikTok creators make money from song promotionsOne of the most popular ways to earn money as a TikToker is by promoting songs in videos.

☆ Global 4-day week pilot was a huge success, organizers say
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-30 | by ( Anna Cooban | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

London CNN Business —The verdict is in: A four-day work week is good for business. None of the 27 participating companies who responded to a survey by 4 Day Week Global said they were leaning towards or planning on returning to their former five-day routine. About 97% of the 495 employees who responded said they wanted to continue with a four-day week. 4 Day Week Global, a nonprofit organization, collaborated with researchers at Boston College, University College Dublin and Cambridge University for the trial. A separate six-month trial in the United Kingdom, also run by 4 Day Week Global, and which included 70 companies and 3,300 workers, wrapped up this month.

☆ Amazon to shut down food-delivery business in India
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-25 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

NEW DELHI, Nov 25 (Reuters) - Amazon Inc (AMZN.O) will shut down a food-delivery business it was testing in India, the e-commerce giant said on Friday, a day after it announced the winding down of its online learning platform for high-school students in the country. Amazon Food, a business the company was trialing in the southern Indian city of Bengaluru, would be discontinued, it said. "As part of our annual operating planning review process, we have made the decision to discontinue Amazon Food," a company spokesperson told Reuters. The Economic Times earlier reported that the business would be discontinued from Dec. 29 onwards, citing a communication from the company to its restaurant partners. On Thursday, Amazon said it was shutting down the Amazon Academy platform in India that was launched early last year amid a boom in virtual learning during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Snapchat has reduced the size of its creator fund for its short-video feature Spotlight. Snapchat has once again lowered the total amount it's paying to creators who use its short-video feature Spotlight. Two other Snapchat creators similarly told Insider they saw drops in their Spotlight payments in this year and that Spotlight is less lucrative than it was when it first launched in November 2020. Snapchat doesn't say exactly how it decides which creators get paid from the Spotlight fund. Snapchat's move to reduce its Spotlight fund comes at a perilous moment for Snap.

☆ A merger with Albertsons could bring Kroger's tech initiatives, like automated warehouses and smart carts, to over 5,000 locations
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-17 | by ( Alex Bitter | Nancy Luna | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +13 min

Kroger is building its own tech infrastructure, including automated warehouses for delivery orders. Here are Kroger's biggest e-commerce and technology initiatives:A ClusterTruck ghost kitchen inside a Kroger in the Midwest. The delivery-focused ghost kitchen touts a Cheesecake Factory-inspired menu of 80 to 100 food items. Over the last few years, ClusterTruck opened locations inside Kroger stores in Indiana and Ohio. Another partnership, this one with the autonomous-car startup Nuro, has stationed self-driving vehicles to deliver grocery orders in certain cities since 2018.

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