Many of the problems we face today in biology and agriculture have been faced before — but not by humans. Somewhere in nature there is a microscopic creature that accomplishes naturally and efficiently what chemists and bioengineers are struggling to do at all — and Pluton Biosciences claims to have pioneered a way to find […]
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Where does Facebook go from here?
Bradley Tusk Contributor Share on Twitter Bradley Tusk is the founder and CEO of Tusk Ventures. More posts by this contributor A California judge just struck down Prop 22: Now what? When regulation presents a (rare) opportunity Let’s be really generous to Facebook and assume that 50% of what Frances Haugen just testified to before […]
White House and HHS Employees Aren’t ‘Exempt’ from Vaccine Mandate
SciCheck Digest While some specifics of President Joe Biden’s COVID-19 vaccine mandates haven’t been determined, misleading claims about who will be “exempt” have circulated online. Employees at the White House and in agencies within the Department of Health and Human Services are subject to Biden’s executive order requiring federal employees to be vaccinated. Could a […]
YouTube announces new audio features aimed at making videos more accessible
YouTube announced several new audio features on Thursday, some of which have already ready rolled out while others will launch in the coming months. Starting today, creators have the ability to enable live auto-captions for any live streams in English to make streams more accessible. This feature was previously only available to creators with more […]
U.S. says return to Vienna nuclear talks with Iran must happen soon
October 7, 2021 WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The United States believes an “imminent” return to indirect talks in Vienna over a return to the Iran nuclear deal is necessary because the process cannot go on indefinitely, State Department spokesman Ned Price said on Thursday. Price said a diplomatic path remained open and noted that Tehran had […]
U.S. Senate Democrats give new details on Trump’s bid to overturn election
October 7, 2021 By Sarah N. Lynch WASHINGTON (Reuters) – A review by U.S. Senate Democrats of Donald Trump’s attempt to use the Justice Department to overturn his 2020 election defeat provided new details on Thursday about an official’s bid to push out the acting attorney general to advance Trump’s false claims. The report by […]
Italy loosens COVID-19 restrictions on leisure activities
October 7, 2021 (Official correction to say maximum capacity on outdoor discos 75%, not 70%) ROME (Reuters) -Italy increased the maximum attendance capacity allowed at cultural and sporting venues on Thursday, continuing its progressive easing of COVID-19 curbs for those who can show documents of immunity from the disease. As of Oct. 11, cinemas, theatres […]
Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney calls out Apple for promoting its services in the iPhone Settings screen
Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney, whose high-profile antitrust lawsuit against Apple is now under appeal, is today calling out the iPhone maker for giving itself access to an advertising slot its competitors don’t have: the iPhone’s Settings screen. Some iOS 15 users noticed Apple is now advertising its own services at the top of their […]
Microsoft acquires Ally.io, OKR startup that raised $76 million
Microsoft announced today that it has acquired Ally.io, a software service that helps companies measure their progress against OKRs or objectives and key results, a common way the management measures both individual and company progress. The two firms did not share the purchase price. Microsoft plans to incorporate Ally into its Viva family of employee […]
NBA-Durant still sees Irving playing for Nets despite vaccine stance
October 7, 2021 (Reuters) – Brooklyn Nets forward Kevin Durant said he still envisions Kyrie Irving playing a role for the team this season despite uncertainty over the seven-time All Star’s COVID-19 vaccination status. The season begins on Oct. 19 and unvaccinated players must comply with a long list of restrictions to play in games […]
Brazil miner Vale says spin-off of base metals unit no longer planned
October 7, 2021 (Reuters) – The chief executive of Brazilian iron ore miner Vale SA said on Thursday the company has stopped looking into a spin-off for its base metal division, a longstanding plan of the company. “We are not talking about a spin off yet. The problem here is the size of the business,” […]
Fed’s Mester says U.S. inflation mostly driven by pandemic-related factors
October 7, 2021 By Jonnelle Marte NEW YORK (Reuters) – Both supply-side and demand-side factors are contributing to U.S. inflation right now, but most of the current price changes may be driven by pandemic-related shifts that could subside over time, Cleveland Federal Reserve Bank President Loretta Mester said on Thursday. Policymakers need to distinguish short-term […]
Italian watchdog calls on DAZN to fix Serie A live streaming problems
October 7, 2021 By Elvira Pollina MILAN (Reuters) – Italy’s communications watchdog on Thursday called on sport streaming app DAZN to put measures in place in order to prevent malfunctions during streaming of live matches of the country’s top soccer league Serie A, stepping up pressure on the online platform. Owned by billionaire Len Blavatnik, […]
After a proxy fight victory, it’s time for Box to make some bold moves
Throughout its history as a public company, Box has had a bit of a bumpy ride. The company was founded back in 2005 as a simple consumer file sharing service, but shifted a few years later to focus on enterprise and build a modern content management system for the still-developing cloud and mobile world. Once […]
Global startups raise $158B in Q3, an all-time record
Following a record-breaking second quarter, venture capitalists around the world stayed busy in Q3, investing astronomical sums into global startups. Since the back half of 2020 kicked off and the venture capital and startup worlds discovered that COVID and its related economic impacts were largely set to miss the upstart technology market, investors have been […]
TC Sessions: Space 2021 offers unmatched visibility for space startups
If you’re building a startup to the stars, you’ll find an un-earthly amount of opportunity waiting for you at TC Sessions: Space 2021 on December 14-15. This virtual two-day conference focuses on all aspects of a sector — both public and private — that’s thrilling, complex and expanding at an incredible pace. You won’t find […]
One month on, El Salvador’s bitcoin use grows but headaches persist
October 7, 2021 By Wilfredo Pineda and Nelson Renteria EL ZONTE, El Salvador (Reuters) – A growing number of El Salvadorans have experimented with bitcoin since the country became the first to adopt it as legal tender last month, with a couple of million dollars sent daily by migrants using the cryptocurrency. But only a […]
Evergrande and other Chinese property giants have sizeable off-balance sheet debt – JPMorgan
October 7, 2021 By Marc Jones LONDON (Reuters) – Investment bank JPMorgan has estimated that troubled Chinese property giant Evergrande and many of its major rivals have billions of dollars worth of off-balance sheet debt that, once added on, ramp up their leverage ratios. JPMorgan’s China and Hong Kong property analysts said the tactic is […]
Compassion not barbed wire should greet migrants, Nobel winner Gurnah says
October 7, 2021 By Guy Faulconbridge and Natalie Thomas CANTERBURY, England (Reuters) – Europe should greet migrants with compassion rather than barbed wire and the British government is “rather nasty” about those who seek asylum, said Tanzanian writer Abdulrazak Gurnah, who won the 2021 Nobel Prize in Literature. Gurnah, who explored the legacies of imperialism […]
Ireland told it can keep 12.5% corporate tax rate for smaller firms
October 7, 2021 DUBLIN (Reuters) -Ireland has received assurances that if it agrees to a new global minimum corporate tax rate of 15% it can maintain its 12.5% rate for firms with annual turnover below 750 million euros ($867 million), Deputy Prime Minister Leo Varadkar said. Irish ministers are due to meet on Thursday to […]