DIRS.INFO The most relevant business & tech news

☆ What makes us human? Primate genome study offers some clues
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-01 | by ( Will Dunham | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

While some genetic variations previously thought to be exclusive to people were found in other primate species, the researchers pinpointed others that were uniquely human involving brain function and development. They also used the primate genomes to train an artificial intelligence algorithm to predict disease-causing genetic mutations in humans. Human-related threats such as habitat destruction, climate change and hunting have left about 60% of primate species threatened with extinction and about 75% with declining populations. "The vast majority of primate species have significantly more genetic variation per individual than do humans," said genomicist and study co-author Jeffrey Rogers of the Baylor College of Medicine in Texas. The genome data can help identify the primate species in the most dire need of conservation efforts.

Persons: Thomas Mukoya, genomicist Lukas Kuderna, gibbons, Kuderna, Jeffrey Rogers, Will Dunham, Rosalba O'Brien Organizations: REUTERS, WASHINGTON, Barcelona Biomedical Research Park's Institute, Evolutionary, Illumina Inc, Baylor College of Medicine, Thomson Locations: Kinigi, Rwanda, Barcelona, Spain, Americas, Africa, Madagascar, Asia, Texas, China, Laos, Vietnam

☆ Opinion | If You’re Reading This, You’re Probably ‘WEIRD’
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-26 | by ( The Ezra Klein Show | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +83 min

You’re probably very weird, and not just for all the obvious reasons you’re thinking of. Because, obviously, there’s going to be some overlap in the curve here. How you’re going to behave with your professor is quite different than how you’re going to behave with your friends. But it’s really kind of faceless, and you’re not really helping anybody you know. I think things are dynamic, and directions are changing, and that sort of thing.

LONDON, May 9 (Reuters) - Ecuador sealed the world's largest "debt-for-nature" swap on record on Tuesday, selling a new "blue bond" that will funnel at least $12 million a year into conservation of the Galapagos Islands, one of the world's most precious ecosystems. Tuesday's $656 million "Galapagos Bond," as it has been dubbed, will run until 2041 and gave investors that bought it a 5.645% "coupon" or interest rate, its bankers said. Ecuador sovereign bonds currently yield from 17% to 26%, but the new bond has an $85 million 'credit guarantee' from the Inter-American Development Bank and $656 million of political risk insurance from the U.S. International Development Finance Corp (DFC), effectively making it less risky. The driver has been the remote Galapagos Islands, some 600 miles (970 km) off Ecuador's mainland coast, that inspired Charles Darwin's Theory of Evolution. Scott Nathan, the chief executive of DFC, said people needed to "stay tuned" for similar deals in other countries and the Galapagos deal had been a long time coming.

☆ Ecuador Strikes a Landmark Deal to Save Nature, and Some Cash
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-09 | by ( Catrin Einhorn | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

The NewsEcuador announced a record-setting deal on Tuesday designed to reduce its debt burden and free up hundreds of millions of dollars to fund marine conservation around the Galápagos Islands, an archipelago of unique biodiversity that’s famous for inspiring Darwin’s theory of evolution. The arrangement, known as a debt-for-nature deal, is a bit like refinancing a mortgage, only for government bonds. Gustavo Manrique Miranda, the Ecuadorean foreign minister, called it a historic agreement that takes into account the value of nature. He said Ecuador was as wealthy as any of the richest countries in the world, “but our currency is the biodiversity.”

☆ Ecuador frees cash for Galapagos conservation with $1.6 bln bond repurchase
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-05 | by ( Rodrigo Campos | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

NEW YORK, May 4 (Reuters) - Credit Suisse repurchased Ecuadorean sovereign notes worth $1.6 billion in face value, the country's bankers said on Thursday, freeing cash for conservation of the unique Galapagos Islands in the biggest debt-for-nature swap ever struck. The buyback will free cash that Ecuador will put into conservation of its Galapagos Islands, one of the world's most precious ecosystems and the inspiration for Charles Darwin's Theory of Evolution. The offer, laid out by Credit Suisse late last month, amounts to the biggest debt-for-nature swap, as such transactions are known in banking circles, struck to date. The move has a political crisis as backdrop, as the National Assembly is in the middle of an impeachment process against President Guillermo Lasso for alleged embezzlement, allegation Lasso denies. Reporting by Rodrigo Campos; Editing by Sandra MalerOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Ecuador launches debt buyback plan aimed at Galapagos protection
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-26 | by ( Marc Jones | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

[1/4] A pelican is seen on Santa Cruz Island, part of the Galapagos Islands, Ecuador. REUTERS/Santiago ArcosLONDON, April 26 (Reuters) - Ecuador has launched a long-awaited debt buyback plan that will free up money to protect its Galapagos Islands, one of the world's most precious ecosystems and the inspiration for Charles Darwin's Theory of Evolution. "The Offeror is making the Offer... as part of a broader refinancing operation to channel savings and promote certain conservation and sustainability efforts," the buyback plan said. The operation is private, the country's finance ministry said in a message to journalists, and cannot be discussed. Reporting by Marc Jones; Editing by Sandra MalerOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Opinion | The Gravest Threats to Campus Speech Come From States, Not Students
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-21 | by ( Christina Paxson | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +3 min

Several states, including Georgia, Idaho and most notably Florida, have passed varying laws making it easier to ban books and limit what American educators can teach. I am the president of a private, nonprofit university in Rhode Island, a state founded on the values of freedom and tolerance. The new laws censor their voices as well as those of their faculty and students. Proponents of these laws attempt to justify them by repeating claims that universities are places where political correctness runs rampant and students are intolerant of alternative viewpoints. Students should not ‌violate university policies and ‌shout down speakers they don’t agree with.

☆ Coral reef discovered in Ecuador's Galapagos Islands
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-18 | by ( ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +1 min

Quito, Ecuador Reuters —A scientific expedition has discovered a previously unknown coral reef with abundant marine life off Ecuador’s Galapagos Islands, the country’s environment ministry said on Monday. “A deepwater scientific expedition has found the first totally pristine coral reef, approximately two kilometers (1.2 miles) long, at 400 meters (deep), on the summit of a submarine mountain,” Environment Minister Jose Davalos said on Twitter. “Galapagos surprises us again.”Scientists had believed that the only Galapagos reef to survive El Nino weather in 1982 and 1983 was one called the Wellington reef, along the coast of Darwin Island, but the new discovery shows other coral has persisted, the ministry said in a statement. The South American country last year expanded the Galapagos marine reserve by 60,000 square kilometers (23,166 square miles), an extension of the 138,000 square kilometers already in place, to protect endangered migratory species between the Galapagos and the Cocos Island in Costa Rica. The Galapagos, which inspired Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution, are also home to giant tortoises, albatrosses, cormorants and other species, some of which are endangered.

☆ The 'mammoth meatball' grown in a lab probably doesn't taste like woolly mammoth at all
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-11 | by ( Morgan Mcfall-Johnsen | Kelsey Vlamis | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

It probably doesn't taste like woolly mammoth, a meat specialist and mammoth DNA researcher said. The Belgian startup Paleo says it added woolly mammoth myoglobin to a plant-based burger. The mammoth meatball doesn't have either of those elements from woolly mammoth. Mammoth myoglobin doesn't necessarily bring mammoth flavorThough he didn't taste it, Ryall said everyone could smell the meatball while it was cooking. So why make a mammoth meatball that doesn't taste like mammoth?

☆ From McDonald's $200 million Arch Deluxe to Colgate's frozen lasagna: Here are 5 of the biggest food 'failures'
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-07 | by ( Nicolas Vega | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

For every massive hit like the Popeye's chicken sandwich, the food industry produces countless duds. At the museum, visitors can see failed products ranging from the once-promising 3D TVs to the infamous MoviePass. "What I really appreciate with the food and beverage industry is that they have this sort of evolutionary approach," West says. "If we don't accept the failures, we can't have the good stuff," West says. These are five of the biggest culinary duds at the Museum of Failure.

☆ 25 years later, the company that modernized the way we straighten our teeth is still revolutionizing dentistry
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-14 | by ( Sponsor Post | Created Insider Studios With Align | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +10 min

Align Technology, the company behind the Invisalign® system and iTero™ intraoral scanners, is celebrating 25 years of transforming smiles and changing lives. Align Technology transformed the orthodontic industry with the Invisalign® clear aligner system, a series of clear, removable aligners custom-made for each patient. On average, Invisalign treatment is five months shorter than braces treatment, and Invisalign patients report 30% fewer doctor visits than braces patients. Fast Facts: The Invisalign clear aligner system was introduced in 1999. Invisalign® Personalized Plan delivers Invisalign treatment plans by automating doctors' specific treatment preferences for efficiency and treatment planning consistency.

☆ Oldest fossils of remarkable marine reptiles found in Arctic
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-14 | by ( Will Dunham | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

Fossils dating to about 250 million years ago unearthed in a harsh and remote locale - Norway's Arctic island of Spitsbergen - are now providing surprising insight into the rise of ichthyosaurs. The fossils showed this one, which has not yet been given a scientific name, was quite advanced anatomically. The site where the fossils were found is a classic Arctic landscape with high snow-capped mountains along the coast of a deep fjord. The mass extinction shook up land and marine ecosystems and opened opportunities for new species to fill ecological roles vacated by extinct creatures. Fossils show ichthyosaurs giving live birth to their young.

☆ Singapore's Sea Group turns profitable for the first time
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-08 | by ( Sheila Chiang | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +5 min

Sea Limited's e-commerce arm, Shopee, turned positive adjusted EBITDA for the first time in the fourth quarter of 2022. The group also posted its first-ever positive net income in the quarter. The chairman and group CEO of Sea Limited, said on Tuesday that 2022 was "another year of evolution for us." Shopee and SeaMoneyMeanwhile, e-commerce business Shopee and digital payments arm SeaMoney continued to see strong growth in 2022. Positive EBITDA, or earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization, refers to the company operating at a profitable level.

☆ For toothed whales, sound production is all in the nose
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-02 | by ( Will Dunham | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

Researchers on Thursday offered a comprehensive explanation for sound production by toothed whales - loud clicks for echolocation, and softer burst pulses and whistles for communication. The researchers used sound-recording tags on sperm whales, false killer whales and bottlenosed dolphins to study sound production in the wild. The sounds made by toothed whales differ from the haunting "singing" by filter-feeding baleen whales. "Toothed whales don't sing like baleen whales," Madsen said. During the course of evolution, toothed whales have lost their vocal folds, but evolved an entirely new set of sound sources in the nose."

☆ Australian gold miner says it is 'optimistic' about gold price
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-16 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: 1 min

Share Share Article via Facebook Share Article via Twitter Share Article via LinkedIn Share Article via EmailAustralian gold miner says it is 'optimistic' about gold priceJake Klein of Evolution Mining says gold will start to rise again as the U.S. dollar weakens, and there is more interest in the gold sector.

☆ For fans Super Bowl no longer a game, it's an 'experience'
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-12 | by ( Steve Keating | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

PHOENIX, Feb 11 (Reuters) - In just a half-century of evolution the Super Bowl has gone from sports event, to America's biggest party, to a week long and very expensive immersive "experience". Next year it will almost certainly make another leap when "immersive experience" and "party" morph into one big Super Bowl supernova in Las Vegas, as Sin City hosts the game for the first time. "If you go back 10 years ago Super Bowl was only about the game and now it is much, much more," said Wilder. For John Wegman, a businessman from Rochester and a Buffalo Bills season ticket holder, seeing a Super Bowl was on his bucket list. "Super Bowl with my father, my mother, my brother was a bucket list thing and we are doing it in style."

☆ When Does Life Begin?
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-31 | by ( Elizabeth Dias | Bethany Mollenkof | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +19 min

“It is not black and white.”America’s fight over abortion has long circled a question, one that is broad and without consensus:When does life begin? The question of when life begins has been so politicized it can be hard to thoughtfully engage. Ancient Egypt gave the power to create new human life almost entirely to men. The scientific revolution, from Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution to reproductive science, disrupted centuries of thought on human life. “When does the responsibility for a life begin and end?”

☆ Scientists discover hammerhead shark nursery in Ecuador's Galapagos
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-16 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/5] A hammerhead shark swims after a shark nursery was discovered off Isabela Island in the Galapagos, Ecuador, in this photo delivered by Galapagos National Park newsletter on December 16, 2022. "The discovery of these new breeding areas is very important, especially for the hammerhead shark," said park ranger Eduardo Espinoza in a statement on Friday from the Galapagos National Park. The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) considers the scalloped hammerhead shark, the species found in the Galapagos, as "critically endangered." Researchers spent months scouring the archipelago for possible nursery sites as part of a hammerhead shark monitoring program. Researchers are monitoring the nurseries to track the young shark population in nursery areas and to follow their migration patterns.

☆ Guest view: Protecting Earth’s underground heroes
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-12 | by ( Tokiers Mark Tercek | Mark Tercek | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +6 min

This activity seals and traps hidden underground ecosystems and their carbon-capturing capabilities. A recent estimate published by Nature found that more than 70% of the Earth’s known soil biodiversity hotspots are unprotected by current conservation schemes. The first step is to incorporate underground ecosystems into global conservation and climate schemes. We should also begin systematically mapping and monitoring underground biodiversity hotspots across the Earth. Researchers are starting to record, analyse and use soundscapes to identify underground biodiversity hotspots.

☆ Signed Charles Darwin Manuscript Sells for Nearly $900K at Auction
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-10 | by ( Jordan Hart | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

A signed Charles Darwin manuscript sold for $882,000 at auction, Sotheby's says. Prior to the sale, the highest-priced Darwin document sold for just over $400,000, BBC reports. The manuscript is Darwin's defense of his natural selection theory. After his death in 1882, the theory of natural selection went on to become widely accepted as a key part of evolution by scientists. Prior to the sale, the most expensive Darwin document sold for over $400,000, according to the BBC.

"There's now a big push to get nature into sovereign debt markets," said Simon Zadek, executive director at NatureFinance, which advises governments on debt-for-nature swaps and other types of climate-focused finance. At that level, it would be the biggest debt-for-nature swap struck to date. The combined value of swap deals to date is $3.7 billion, according to the data. Securing the buy-in of development banks is usually key for the economics of a deal. The WWF has projects in Central and South America where they are monitoring deforestation by tracking jaguars, said Brenes, who has worked on debt-for-nature swaps for the last 25 years.

☆ Factbox: These U.S. election deniers want to run the 2024 elections in battleground states
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-04 | by ( Tim Reid | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

The fear is they could help Trump, if he decides to run again, or another like-minded Republican, overturn election results in 2024. Here are the Republican secretary of state candidates in the three states. He supported an audit of Arizona's election results and co-sponsored a bill that would give the state's Republican-controlled legislature the power to overturn election results. After the 2020 election, he also called for the arrest of the state's Democratic secretary of state, Katie Hobbs, who is running for governor in this election. Marchant is a member of the America First Secretary of State Coalition, a group supporting a slate of candidates supporting Trump's baseless claims about the 2020 election.

☆ Amazon has frozen headcount at its growing advertising business, after it posted a glum fourth-quarter outlook amid slowing sales: reports
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-02 | by ( Huileng Tan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Amazon has frozen headcount at its growing advertising business, Bloomberg reported on Tuesday. Amazon has frozen headcount at its growing advertising business, Bloomberg reported on Tuesday, citing a person familiar with the matter. A hiring freeze at Amazon's fast-growing ad business is important, because it underscores the fact that the company is doubling down on profitability. Although advertising isn't Amazon's largest business, it's one of the e-commerce giant's fastest-growing areas, Insider reported in August. In the third quarter of 2022, Amazon's ad business grew 25% to $9.55 billion in the third quarter of 2022 from a year ago.

☆ Newsmax cuts ties with Lara Logan after her QAnon-inspired, on-air rant about world leaders drinking the blood of children and making people eat insects
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-22 | by ( Joshua Zitser | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Lara Logan, a war correspondent turned conspiracy theorist, went on a QAnon-inspired rant on Newsmax. She accused world leaders of dining on the blood of children and making people eat insects. The Guardian reported that Logan told Newsmax host Eric Bolling that world leaders "dine on the blood of children," referring to the blood libel conspiracy theory that proliferates in QAnon circles. You know, the ones who want us eating insects, cockroaches, and that while they dine on the blood of children? Newsmax, in a statement to The Hill on Friday, said it "condemns in the strongest terms the reprehensible statements made by Lara Logan."

☆ Although the crypto hype is fading, 3 VCs say there's still 'low-hanging fruit' opportunities in Web3 security and compliance. Here's why.
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-20 | by ( April Joyner | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Despite the crypto winter and a funding slowdown, several VCs remain interested in Web3 security. Like in most other areas of the market, venture funding for cybersecurity has dropped this year. These are prime areas, in his view, for security startups to step in. In September, Solidus Labs made Insider's list of the most promising crypto startups of 2022. Crypto security, according to Seewald, is not so different from security for other tech applications.

Search resuls for: "of Evolution"

25 mentions found