DIRS.INFO The most relevant business & tech news

The study found military personnel stationed at U.S. Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune were at higher risk for some types of leukemia and lymphoma and cancers of the lung, breast, throat, esophagus and thyroid. Camp Lejeune was built in a sandy pine forest along the North Carolina coast in the early 1940s. People who got sick after being at Camp Lejeune also have criticized the federal government for being slow to investigate. Frank Bove, a senior epidemiologist, has led the agency's Camp Lejeune research for many years and was in charge of the latest study. A federal law signed by President Joe Biden in August 2022 included language to address concerns of people who developed certain health problems they believe were linked to Camp Lejeune water contamination.

Persons: Camp Lejeune, Lejeune, David Savitz, ”, —, Richard Clapp, Aaron Bernstein, Frank Bove, Clapp, Joe Biden Organizations: — Military, U.S . Marine Corps Base, Brown University, Military, Marine Corps, Agency, Toxic Substances, Centers for Disease Control, Camp Lejeune, Boston University, Lejeune, Pendleton, Battelle Memorial Institute, Camp, Associated Press Health, Science Department, Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Science, Educational Media Group, AP Locations: Camp, Carolina, United States, U.S, Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, Atlanta

☆ Wait. This guy wants to spend $14 billion on … Paramount?
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-31 | by ( Peter Kafka | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Media entrepreneur Byron Allen says he wants to buy Paramount for $14.3 billion. Who wants to buy a big TV company these days, anyway? But investors still think it's worth less than $10 billion — meaning they don't think Allen Media is really going to end up owning Paramount. AdvertisementOne answer may simply be skepticism about Allen Media Group and its owner, TV personality-turned-entrepreneur Byron Allen. But no one, to date, has suggested that Paramount is worth anything close to $14 billion.

Persons: Byron Allen, —, Allen Media Group didn't, David Zaslav, Bob Bakish, It's, Robert Fishman dryly, Shari Redstone, David Ellison, who's, Larry Ellison, Allen Organizations: Paramount, Service, Allen Media Group, CBS, MTV, Comedy Central, Allen Media, Weather Channel, ABC, BET, Denver Broncos, Bloomberg, Street Journal, Comcast, Warner Bros Discovery, Apple, Netflix, Biden, Viacom

☆ Byron Allen, offering $14 billion for Paramount, has a long history of media bids that haven't materialized
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-31 | by ( Ryan Anastasio | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

Byron Allen, founder, chairman and CEO of the Allen Media Group, speaks during the Milken Institute Global Conference in Beverly Hills, California, on May 2, 2022. Byron Allen, the media mogul offering $14 billion for Paramount Global , told CNBC on Wednesday that he has the money to finance a deal, despite skepticism around his deal-making. Allen told CNBC he hasn't received a response from Paramount to his most recent offer. Paramount reported in its third-quarter earnings report that its streaming platform, Paramount+, increased its subscriber count to 63 million. Allen told CNBC he wants to buy Paramount for its linear networks, what he says is the most challenging part of the company.

Persons: Byron Allen, Allen, hasn't, Shari Redstone, David Ellison's, Tegna Allen, of Famer Babe Ruth, Babe Ruth, Ruth, Paramount's, — CNBC's Alex Sherman, Julia Boorstin Organizations: Allen Media Group, Milken Institute Global Conference, Paramount Global, CNBC, Federal Communications Commission, Street, Paramount, CBS, Showtime, Nickelodeon, Media, Paramount Pictures, Warner Bros, Black Entertainment Television, VH1, Bloomberg, Scripps, ABC, Disney, National Football League's, The Weather, of Famer, Netflix, CNBC PRO Locations: Beverly Hills , California, U.S, E.W

Sea otters eat constantly and one of their favorite snacks is the striped shore crab. Researchers found that the return of the crab-eating sea otters to a tidal estuary near Monterey, California, helped curb erosion. Hunting bans and habitat restoration efforts helped sea otters recover some of their former range. For the new study, researchers analyzed historic erosion rates dating back to the 1930s to assess the impact of sea otters' return. Other research has shown that sea otters help kelp forests regrow by controlling the number of sea urchins that munch kelp.

Persons: Brent Hughes, Hughes, Johan Eklöf, ”, Brian Silliman Organizations: WASHINGTON, Sonoma State University, Nature, Stockholm University, Duke University, Associated Press Health, Science Department, Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Science, Educational Media Group, AP Locations: California, Monterey , California, Elkhorn Slough, Alaska, Russia, Japan, Monterey, Stockholm

But there's some unexpected good news: The rate of new gonorrhea cases fell for the first time in a decade. Total cases surpassed 207,000 in 2022, the highest count in the United States since 1950, according to data released Tuesday. About 59,000 of the 2022 cases involved the most infectious forms of syphilis. STD testing was disrupted during the COVID-19 pandemic, and officials believe that's the reason the chlamydia rate fell in 2020. “We are encouraged by the magnitude of the decline,” Mermin said, though the gonorrhea rate is still higher now than it was pre-pandemic.

Persons: It's, gonorrhea, Philip Chan, Meghan O’Connell, O'Connell, Jonathan Mermin, ” Mermin Organizations: U.S . Centers for Disease Control, Prevention, CDC, Brown University, Plains Tribal, ’, U.S . Department of Health, Human Services, District of Columbia, CDC’s National Center, HIV, Associated Press Health, Science Department, Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Science, Educational Media Group, AP Locations: United States, U.S, Providence , Rhode Island, Alaska, South Dakota, New Mexico, South, Rapid City , South Dakota

Rather than being attracted to light, researchers believe that artificial lights at night may actually scramble flying insects' innate navigational systems, causing them to flutter in confusion around porch lamps, street lights and other artificial beacons. Political Cartoons View All 253 ImagesThat would make sense if the strongest light source was in the sky. But in the presence of artificial lights, the result is midair confusion, not attraction. They also documented that some insects will flip upside down — and often crash land — in the presence of lights that shine straight upward like search lights. Insect flight was least disrupted by bright lights that shine straight downward, the researchers found.

Persons: that's, ”, Tyson Hedrick, Hill, “ They're, Sam Fabian, Avalon Owens Organizations: WASHINGTON, University of North, Imperial College London, Nature Communications, Harvard, Associated Press Health, Science Department, Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Science, Educational Media Group, AP Locations: University of North Carolina, Costa Rica

WASHINGTON (AP) — The company behind a global recall of sleep apnea machines said Monday it will stop selling the devices in the U.S., under a tentative agreement with regulators that could cost the company nearly $400 million. Philips executives disclosed the tentative agreement during a quarterly earnings update. Under terms of the agreement, Philips would continue servicing recalled machines in the U.S., but would not be able to sell new ones until meeting several corrective actions laid out by the FDA. In November, the agency issued a new warning that the machines can overheat, in rare cases causing fires. Untreated sleep apnea can cause people to stop breathing hundreds of times per night, leading to dangerous drowsiness and increased heart attack risk.

Persons: ” Philips, Roy Jakobs, Philips, “, ” Organizations: WASHINGTON, Manufacturing, Philips, Food and Drug Administration, Department of Justice, FDA . Company, FDA, Associated Press Health, Science Department, Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Science, Educational Media Group, AP Locations: U.S, Pennsylvania, Canada, Australia, Israel, Chile

Allegations of research fakery at a leading cancer center have turned a spotlight on scientific integrity and the amateur sleuths uncovering image manipulation in published research. The blogger, 32-year-old Sholto David, of Pontypridd, Wales, is a scientist-sleuth who detects cut-and-paste image manipulation in published scientific papers. By Jan. 22, the institution said it was in the process of requesting six retractions of published research and that another 31 papers warranted corrections. The sleuths download scientific papers and use software tools to help find problems. Some journals told the AP they are aware of the concerns raised by David's blog post and were looking into the matter.

Persons: Jan, David, He's, Farber, DANA, FARBER, Sholto David, Dana, Laurie Glimcher, William Hahn, sleuths, Claudine Gay, Barrett Rollins, Elisabeth Bik, ” Bik, Ivan Oransky, Oransky, “, ” Oransky, —, ” They're, Bik Organizations: Dana, Farber Cancer Institute, Harvard Medical School, The Harvard Crimson, WHO, Associated Press, American Society for Microbiology, Technology, New York University, “, AP, Associated Press Health, Science Department, Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Science, Educational Media Group Locations: British, Pontypridd, Wales, PubPeer, California

An enlarged prostate doesn’t always cause symptoms, but when it does, they can be annoying. WHAT CAUSES AN ENLARGED PROSTATE? WHAT ARE THE SYMPTOMS OF AN ENLARGED PROSTATE? The symptoms of an enlarged prostate can include frequent urination and needing to get up many times in the night to pee. HOW IS AN ENLARGED PROSTATE DIAGNOSED?

Persons: King Charles III, Stephen Nakada, “, ” Nakada, it’s, Antihistamines, There's Organizations: University of Wisconsin urologist, palmetto, Associated Press Health, Science Department, Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Science, Educational Media Group, AP Locations: “

WASHINGTON (AP) — The maker of Robitussin cough syrup is recalling several lots of products containing honey due to contamination that could pose a serious risk to people with weakened immune systems. Haleon’s recall covers eight lots of Robitussin Honey CF Max Day Adult and Robitussin Honey CF Max Nighttime Adult, which were distributed to stores and pharmacy suppliers. The products have the potential to cause “severe or life-threatening adverse events,” if taken by people with weakened immune systems, such as organ transplant recipients or those with HIV. Several million people in the U.S. have conditions that impair the immune system's ability to fight off infections. Haleon did not disclose the nature of the contamination but said use of the products could result in severe fungal infections.

Persons: Honey, Haleon Organizations: WASHINGTON, Max, Drug Administration, Associated Press Health, Science Department, Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Science, Educational Media Group, AP Locations: U.S, New Jersey

NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. health officials say 93 Americans have died after cosmetic surgery in the Dominican Republic since 2009, with many of the recent deaths involving a procedure known as a Brazilian butt lift. Political Cartoons View All 253 ImagesComplications from cosmetic surgery are not unique to the Dominican Republic. The CDC on Thursday issued a separate report about 15 cases of bacterial infections in women who went to one Florida cosmetic surgery center in 2022. After an increase in U.S. deaths in 2019 and 2020, the U.S. Embassy contacted the CDC, which investigated along with the Dominican Republic Ministry of Health. They tallied 93 cosmetic surgery-related deaths of U.S. citizens in the Dominican Republic from 2009 to 2022, or an average of about seven a year.

Persons: “, ”, Matthew Hudson, Hudson Organizations: —, U.S, U.S . Centers for Disease Control, CDC, U.S . Embassy, Dominican Republic Ministry of Health, American Society of Plastic Surgeons, State University of New, Associated Press Health, Science Department, Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Science, Educational Media Group, AP Locations: — U.S, Dominican Republic, United States, Florida, Mexico, Matamoros ., U.S, State University of New York, Buffalo

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — NASA’s little Mars helicopter has flown its last flight. While it remains upright and in contact with flight controllers, its $85 million mission is officially over, officials said. Originally intended as a short-term tech demo, Ingenuity logged 72 flights over three years at Mars. Ingenuity hitched a ride on NASA’s Perseverance rover, landing on Mars in 2021. The helicopter ascended to 40 feet (12 meters) on its final flight last week, hovering for a few seconds before descending.

Persons: Bill Nelson Organizations: NASA, Associated Press Health, Science Department, Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Science, Educational Media Group, AP Locations: CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla

JERUSALEM (AP) — A liquor store has opened in Saudi Arabia for the first time in over 70 years, a diplomat reported Wednesday, a further socially liberalizing step in the once-ultraconservative kingdom that is home to the holiest sites in Islam. The store sits next to a supermarket in Riyadh's Diplomatic Quarter, said the diplomat, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss a socially sensitive topic in Saudi Arabia. Saudi Arabia remains one of the few nations in the world with a ban on alcohol, alongside its neighbor Kuwait and Sharjah in the United Arab Emirates. Saudi Arabia has banned alcohol since the early 1950s. As Saudi Arabia prepares for a $500 billion futuristic city project called Neom, reports have circulated that alcohol could be served at a beach resort there.

Persons: Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Jamal Khashoggi, King Abdulaziz, Prince Mishari, Cyril Ousman Organizations: JERUSALEM, Washington Post, Workers, Saudi, Arab News, Saudi Research, Media, U.S . State Department, United Locations: Saudi Arabia, Islam, Riyadh, Saudi, haram, Islam . Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Sharjah, United Arab Emirates, Jeddah, Mecca, Neom

Gene therapy has allowed several children born with inherited deafness to hear. Globally, 34 million children have deafness or hearing loss, and genes are responsible for up to 60% of cases. Hereditary deafness is the latest condition scientists are targeting with gene therapy, which is already approved to treat illnesses such as sickle cell disease and severe hemophilia. Also, some people consider gene therapy for deafness ethically problematic. "This is real proof showing gene therapy is working,” Chen said.

Persons: ”, Zheng, Yi Chen, Dr, Yilai Shu, Chen, Eli Lilly, Akouos, he's, John Germiller, ” Germiller, “, Lawrence Lustig, Teresa Blankmeyer Burke, ” Chen Organizations: Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, Fudan University, Shanghai Refreshgene Therapeutics, Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Decibel Therapeutics, Columbia, Gallaudet University, Associated Press Health, Science Department, Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Science, Educational Media Group, AP Locations: China, Shanghai, Philadelphia, Spain

Previously unknown colonies of emperor penguins have been spotted in new satellite imagery. Emperor penguins, considered “near threatened” with extinction, are the world’s largest penguins. At least some emperor penguins are moving their colonies as melting ice from climate change threatens breeding grounds, according to research released on Wednesday. “Emperor penguins have taken it upon themselves to try to find more stable sea ice,” he said. Scientists currently know of 66 emperor penguin colonies.

Persons: penguins, Peter Fretwell, hadn't, Fretwell, Daniel Zitterbart, ” Organizations: British Antarctic Survey, Oceanographic Institution, Associated Press Health, Science Department, Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Science, Educational Media Group, AP Locations: Halley, —

Cameroon will be the first country to routinely give children a new malaria vaccine as the shots are rolled out in Africa. Gavi said it is working with 20 other African countries to help them get the vaccine and that those countries will hopefully immunize more than 6 million children through 2025. Political Cartoons View All 253 ImagesCameroon will use the first of two recently approved malaria vaccines, known as Mosquirix. That vaccine is cheaper, requires three doses and India’s Serum Institute said they could make up to 200 million doses a year. Neither of the malaria vaccines stop transmission, so other tools like bed nets and insecticidal spraying will still be critical.

Persons: Aurelia Nguyen, Gavi, Gavi's Nguyen Organizations: World Health Organization, GlaxoSmithKline, GSK, Oxford University, WHO, Serum Institute, Associated Press Health, Science Department, Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Science, Educational Media Group, AP Locations: Cameroon, Africa, Central Africa, Oxford

COVID-19 is leading hospital admissions among the respiratory viruses, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Last week, 25 U.S. states had high or very high levels for respiratory illnesses with fever, cough and other symptoms. Since the beginning of October, there have been at least 16 million illnesses, 180,000 hospitalizations, and 11,000 deaths from flu so far this season. With vaccination rates low, what can you do to protect yourself from respiratory viruses, including influenza, COVID-19 and RSV? That’s important to see if you need one of the medicines that can help prevent severe illness: Paxlovid for COVID-19 and Tamiflu for flu.

Persons: you’ve, Jennifer Sonney, Sonney, ” Sonney Organizations: U.S . Centers for Disease Control, CDC, HOME, University of Washington School of Nursing, National Association of Pediatric, Associated Press Health, Science Department, Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Science, Educational Media Group, AP Locations: U.S, United States, Seattle, COVID

Astrobotic Technology said contact and then tracking was lost as its lunar lander reentered Earth's atmosphere Thursday, 10 days after launching from Florida. It was the first U.S. lunar lander in more than a half-century. Right before Friday’s U.S. news conference, a lunar lander from Japan touched down on the moon, but it was unable to generate crucial solar power. The U.S., Russia, China and India have successfully landed spacecraft on the moon and only the U.S. has landed astronauts. Flight controllers were able to turn on some experiments and collect data,The company is already is working on an even bigger lunar lander that will carry NASA's Viper rover to the moon in a year.

Persons: company’s, moonshot, John Thornton, ” Thornton, Astrobotic, Thornton, Peregrine, NASA —, Gene Roddenberry Organizations: —, Pacific, Astrobotic Technology, . Space Command, NASA, Pittsburgh, Engineers, “, Associated Press Health, Science Department, Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Science, Educational Media Group, AP Locations: CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla, U.S, Florida, Japan, Russia, China, India

Surgeons externally attached a pig liver to a brain-dead human body and watched it successfully filter blood, a step toward eventually trying the technique in patients with liver failure. Now scientists are trying again with pigs whose organs have been genetically modified to be more humanlike. In recent years, kidneys from genetically modified pigs have been temporarily transplanted into brain-dead donors to see how well they function, and two men received heart transplants from pigs although both died within months. Political Cartoons View All 253 ImagesSome researchers also are looking to use pig livers. In a statement, the Penn team reported that the donor’s body remained stable and the pig liver showed no signs of damage.

Persons: Penn, eGenesis —, Parsia, wasn't, “, ” Vagefi Organizations: University of Pennsylvania, U.S . Food, Drug Administration, Machines, Penn, UT Southwestern Medical Center, Associated Press Health, Science Department, Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Science, Educational Media Group, AP Locations: U.S

An Israeli company has received a preliminary green light from health officials to sell the world's first steaks made from cultivated beef cells, not the entire animal, officials said. Aleph Farms, of Rehovot, Israel, was granted the initial go-ahead by the Israeli Health Ministry in December, the company said in a news release. Aleph Farms joins Upside Foods and Good Meat, two California-based firms that got the go-ahead to sell cultivated chicken in the U.S. in June. Cultivated meat is grown in large steel tanks using cells that come from a living animal, a fertilized egg or a special bank of stored cells. ___The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Science and Educational Media Group.

Persons: Benjamin Netanyahu, Black Angus, Lucy, Yoav Reisler Organizations: Israeli Health Ministry, Israeli, Aleph, Associated Press Health, Science Department, Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Science, Educational Media Group, AP Locations: U.S, Rehovot, Israel, Black, California

WASHINGTON (AP) — Scientists have mapped the largest coral reef deep in the ocean, stretching hundreds of miles off the U.S. Atlantic coast. The largest yet known deep coral reef "has been right under our noses, waiting to be discovered,” said Derek Sowers, an oceanographer at the nonprofit Ocean Exploration Trust. Unlike tropical coral reefs, where photosynthesis is important for growth, coral this far down must filter food particles out of the water for energy. Deep coral reefs provide habitat for sharks, swordfish, sea stars, octopus, shrimp and many other kinds of fish, the scientists said. The world's largest tropical coral reef system, the Great Barrier Reef in Australia, stretches for about 1,430 miles (2,301 kilometers).

Persons: ”, Derek Sowers, Stuart Sandin, —, Sowers, Erik Cordes Organizations: WASHINGTON, —, U.S, Exploration Trust, National Oceanic, Atmospheric Administration, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, Temple University, Associated Press Health, Science Department, Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Science, Educational Media Group, AP Locations: Atlantic, Florida, South Carolina, Yellowstone, Australia, U.S

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — Turkey’s first astronaut along with a Swede and Italian launched Thursday to the International Space Station on a chartered SpaceX flight. Their escort on the trip: A retired NASA astronaut who now works for the company that arranged the private flight. Their capsule should reach the space station on Saturday. Russia has been welcoming paid visitors to the space station for more than two decades; NASA didn't until two years ago. With them is Michael Lopez-Alegria, who launched four times as a NASA astronaut before joining Axiom Space and escorting its first chartered flight.

Persons: — Turkey’s, NASA’s, NASA didn't, Alper, ”, Sweden’s Marcus Wandt, Walter Villadei, Michael Lopez, Alegria, “ Organizations: International, SpaceX, NASA’s Kennedy Space Center, NASA, Houston, Turkish Airlines, Swedish Aeroplane Corp, European Space Agency, Italian Air Force, Virgin Galactic, Space, Control, Associated Press Health, Science Department, Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Science, Educational Media Group, AP Locations: CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla, Italian, Russia, Turkey, Sweden, Italy

Federal health officials are expanding a warning about salmonella poisoning tied to charcuterie meat snack trays sold at Sam's Club and Costco stores. At least 47 people in 22 states have been sickened and 10 people have been hospitalized after eating Busseto brand and Fratelli Beretta brand meats, officials with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Thursday. The CDC had previously warned about one recalled lot of Busseto brand charcuterie sampler trays, but the agency now advises retailers and consumers not to eat, serve or sell any lots of the foods. They include the Busseto charcuterie sampler sold at Sam's Club and the Fratelli Beretta brand Antipasto Gran Beretta products sold at Costco. The meat trays come in twin packs that include prosciutto, sweet soppressata, and dry coppa or black pepper-coated dry salami, Italian dry salami, dry coppa, and prosciutto.

Organizations: Sam's Club, Costco, Centers for Disease Control, Prevention, CDC, Beretta, Associated Press Health, Science Department, Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Science, Educational Media Group, AP

☆ Opinion | The Deification of Donald Trump Poses Some Interesting Questions
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-17 | by ( Thomas B. Edsall | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

On Oct. 15, 2020, in a rare display of humility, Donald Trump told a campaign rally in Greenville, N.C., that he was not as famous as Jesus Christ. “Somebody said to me the other day ‘You’re the most famous person in the world by far.’ I said, ‘No, I’m not.’ They said, ‘Yes, you are. I said no.’ They said, ‘Who’s more famous?’ I said, ‘Jesus Christ.’ ”This exhibition of modesty was out of character. Trump, his family and his supporters have been more than willing to claim that Trump is ordained by God for a special mission, to restore America as a Christian nation. In recent weeks, for example, the former president posted a video called “God Made Trump” on Truth Social that was produced by a conservative media group technically independent of the Trump campaign.

Persons: Donald Trump, Christ, “ Somebody, ’, ‘, ‘ Jesus Christ, Trump, God Locations: Greenville, N.C, America

☆ Amazon, Microsoft, Meta and others accused by rivals of not respecting new EU competition rules
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-16 | by ( Ryan Browne | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

The logos of Google, Apple, Facebook, Amazon and Microsoft displayed on a mobile phone with an EU flag shown in the background. A raft of major technology and media companies have signed an open letter accusing tech giants of failing to bring their businesses into full compliance with incoming European Union digital competition rules. The signatories say that companies defined by the EU as "gatekeepers," including Google , Amazon , Apple , Meta , Microsoft , and TikTok owner ByteDance, haven't done enough to engage effectively with them and others in their industry. They are required to, for example, make their messaging apps work with those of rivals, and let users decide which apps come pre-installed with their devices. Another EU requirement is that these platforms do not implement practices that lead to the "self-preferencing" of their services over others.

Persons: ByteDance, — Organizations: Apple, Facebook, Microsoft, Union, EU, Google, Meta, Big Tech Locations: EU

Search resuls for: "Media Group"

25 mentions found