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| Don't like ads? Go ad-free with TradeBriefs Premium CEO Picks - The best that international journalism has to offer! S11Should we cancel political parties? In 1796, President George Washington lambasted political parties for allowing “cunning, ambitious, and unprincipled men” to “subvert the power of the people.”His indictment seems brutally timely today, just a few months after 147 Republican US congress members publicly challenged the results of a free and fair general election. But even long before then, many Americans shared Washington’s concern. The popularity of parties is at a nadir, with both the Democratic and Republican parties widely condemned as not only unrepresentative but also hopelessly corrupt and hijacked by elites. Indeed, a steadily increasing share of American voters — 38 percent in 2018 — are identifying as unaffiliated with either party. That proportion is now larger than the share of voters identifying with either Republicans or Democrats. Asked why he thought Donald Trump was “charismatic,” TV talk show host Bill Maher said: “I think it’s because he hates both parties.”
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S4Moving the conversation about obesity beyond the scale Every so often, the conversations that people in health care have become so pervasive that they dominate the zeitgeist, intersecting with mainstream media and popular culture. Oprah Winfrey’s recent ABC special “Shame, Blame, and the Weight Loss Revolution” is a good example of this. Now streaming on Hulu, the broadcast garnered widespread attention, including coverage from People Magazine and The New York Times. Oprah delved into her personal struggles with weight, placing her narrative against the broader backdrop of societal views on obesity. It’s a journey many people have shared with Oprah since “The Oprah Winfrey Show” began in the mid-1980s.The public discussion on obesity and weight loss, particularly concerning GLP-1 receptor agonists — the technical name for drugs like Wegovy (semaglutide) and Zepbound (tirzepatide) — is evolving quickly. The introduction of these new medicines is contributing to the public’s acceptance of obesity as a disease rather than a lifestyle choice — finally catching up with what clinicians and others have been saying for years.
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S6S7A New Generation of Drug Therapies Requires New Business Strategies - Harvard Business Review (No paywall) The shift to advanced therapeutic modalities (ATMs) promises to change the nature of competition in the pharmaceuticals industry. ATMs include engineered cell therapies that reprogram cells to fight disease, gene therapies that involve replacing or editing dysfunctional genes, and nucleic acid therapies that promote or shut down production of a protein. They are shifting the nature of drug R&D risk and establishing manufacturing as a critical strategic priority alongside therapeutic safety and efficacy while also introducing new commercialization challenges.
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S8HR's New Role - Harvard Business Review (No paywall) Though the human resources function was once a strong advocate for employees, in the 1980s things changed. As labor markets became slack, HR shifted its focus to relentless cost cutting. Because it was hard for employees to quit, pay and every kind of benefit got squeezed. But now the pendulum has swung the other way. The U.S. unemployment rate has been below 4% for five years (except during the Covid shutdown), and the job market is likely to remain tight. So today the priorities are keeping positions filled and preventing employees from burning out. Toward that end HR needs to focus again on taking care of workers and persuade management to change outdated policies on compensation, training and development, layoffs, vacancies, outsourcing, and restructuring. One way to do that is to show leaders what the true costs of current practices are, creating dashboards with metrics on turnover, absenteeism, reasons for quitting, illness rates, and engagement. It’s also critical to prevent employee stress, especially by addressing fears about AI and restructuring. And when firms do restructure, they should take a less-painful, decentralized approach. To increase organizational flexibility and employees’ opportunities, HR can establish internal labor markets, and to promote a sense of belonging and win employees’ loyalty, it should ramp up DEI efforts.
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S103D-printed "metamaterial" is stronger than anything in nature Using lasers and metal powder, Australian scientists have created a super strong, super lightweight new “metamaterial” — but they got the idea for this sci fi-sounding creation from plants.The challenge: Materials that are strong yet lightweight, such as carbon fiber and graphene, are used to make everything from medical implants to airships, and developing ones with ever greater “strength-to-weight ratios” is the goal of many material scientists.
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S13S14S15S16S17Cognitive Design Can Unlock AI's Potential In the rapidly evolving landscape of artificial intelligence, one concept is emerging as a pivotal force in enhancing AI assistance across various sectors: cognitive design. This innovative approach integrates principles from cognitive psychology, human-centered design, and AI technology to create systems that better understand, anticipate, and respond to human needs. As industries increasingly rely on AI to streamline processes and augment human capabilities, cognitive design is proving to be a game-changer in improving the effectiveness and user experience of AI.Â
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| S18S193 Easy Steps That Will Make You the Most Interesting Person in a Conversation Too often, managers stifle conversation without realizing it - hijacking meetings without providing space for discussion and jumping in with their own solutions to problems that are brought to them. As a manager, if you don't leave room for conversation, they will happen anyway --on Slack, in hallways and the backchannels of Zoom calls - but you might not be privy to them.This habit of dominating dialogue creates a disconnect between managers and their teams and fosters cultures defined by a lack of mutual trust and collaboration. It also restricts the opportunities for employees to develop their own initiative, creativity and independent problem-solving skills required for high performance.
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| S20McDonald's Just Made a Bittersweet Announcement, and It's the Start of a Brand New Era And while it's never been totally clear whether their efforts paid off directly, or whether this was something McDonald's was considering anyway, bagels did indeed start popping up at an increasing number of McDonald's all around the country.You might know that the Golden State recently began a brand new era in terms of its minimum wage, in that as of this month, fast food workers are singled out and guaranteed an impressive $20 an hour.
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| S21How to Find Your Goldilocks Period for Fundraising in 2024 It's no secret that 2023 was a tough year for both startups and VCs. Economic turbulence, inflation spikes, and widespread tech sector layoffs had a trickle-down impact that saw 38 percent of investors sit out on deal making in 2023. Meanwhile, 45 percent of all Series A funding rounds were bridge rounds in 2023 Q4, indicating a landscape in which founders were seeking to extend the runway between major rounds. If fundraising was challenging before, data indicators from 2023 suggest the road ahead will require dedication. Founders need to be prepared to earmark a significant amount of time and energy to conduct a highly organized and methodical fundraising process.Â
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| S22S23AI-Controlled Fighter Jets Are Dogfighting With Human Pilots Now A loose-knit community of con artists known as Yahoo Boys has begun using real-time face-swap technology to woo victims with romance scams. Using a variety of tools and techniques, the scammers use AI-powered apps to make themselves look like entirely different people on video calls. Just remember: If someone you've never met IRL is asking you for money, just say no.Elsewhere in the world of harmful deepfakes, two major websites used for creating fake nude images of people are now blocked in the United Kingdom. The censorship, which appears to be self-imposed, comes just days after the UK proposed legislation that would ban nonconsensual, sexualized AI-generated images.
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| S24My Life Outside of the Apple Vision Pro The day preordered Apple Vision Pros were being delivered, I texted my boyfriend about an hour after his messages abruptly stopped. We were both in our respective homes, working remotely, so I knew he had access to his phone. But I also knew he was waiting impatiently for the headset to arrive. "Oh no, have I lost you to the Vision Pro already?" I asked. Within 10 minutes, I received a text back. "Yes, you did," he replied.I didn't think much of it when he purchased the Vision Pro in February. I jokingly refer to him as an Apple fanboy, since he's always acquiring the latest Apple products as soon as they drop. He uses the iPhone 15 Pro as his primary smartphone, the Apple Watch Ultra for keeping track of his fitness metrics, the 24-inch iMac for getting work done at his apartment (he reserves the 14-inch Space Black MacBook Pro for on-the-go), the iPad Pro for sketching, and the Apple TV for streaming content. It was inevitable that he'd snag what's considered Apple's most anticipated product in years. But I never thought it would make much of a difference in our livesâvirtually and in person.
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| S25You Can Clamp Your Phone Into Razer's Fancy New Game Controller Given everyoneâÂÂs sustained interest in playing games on their phones, companies are eager to offer an experience that works better than just jabbing your fingers on a touchscreen. Razer, the maker of unapologetically robust and garish gaming devices, has a new offering that does just that.The new Razer Kishi Ultra is a souped up controller that adds pro-level thumbsticks, buttons, and triggers to just about any mobile device. ItâÂÂs the latest in RazerâÂÂs Kishi lineup of portable gaming devices, which launched in 2020. The two handles pull apart, allowing you to slide your phone in between them. Let the spring-loaded clamp grip your phone, and youâÂÂve got something like a DIY Nintendo Switch. It uses a USB-C port to connect to the phone. In addition, it can handle an iPad Mini and any Android tablet measuring up to 8 diagonal inches as long as it has a USB-C port. The Kishi Ultra only works with USB-C iPhones, so itâÂÂs limited to iPhone 15 and beyond. (It can even handle some folding phones.) The Kishi Ultra can also connect to your PC via USB-C cable. Like nearly everything Razer makes, the Kishi Ultra is loaded up with RGB lighting options which you can change via the associated app, so you can have your fill of customizable flashiness.
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| S269 Best Espresso Machines (2024): Dual Boilers, Budget, and Accessories If you buy something using links in our stories, we may earn a commission. This helps support our journalism. Learn more. Please also consider subscribing to WIREDEspresso machines are intimidating. Just look at them, with their screaming-hot metal, scalding steam, and polished chrome tubes. Each and every one of those weird little parts plays a role in shaping the perfectly pulled shot. Espresso is as personal as it is technical, which means that shopping for a home espresso machine is kind of a nightmare. Everyone has different but adamant opinions, and the machines themselves tend to be expensive.
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| S27How to Buy a Hearing Aid: Top Questions and Answers For decades, the only way to get a hearing aid was to visit a doctor and have one prescribed for youâprobably in a strip mall office advertised on the marquee only with "HEARING AIDS" in block letters. These centers still exist, but they're fortunately a dying breed, because in August 2022, the US Food and Drug Administration finally enacted a rule (years in the making) that allowed consumers to purchase hearing aids over the counter, without a prescription, medical exam, professional fitting, or a trip to the mini-mall.The arrival of OTC products has upended the hearing aid category, with numerous major audio companies acquiring hearing aid businesses to quickly enter the market and lean on their established brands. Meanwhile, old-guard hearing aid companies have scrambled to adapt, many now offering a cheaper OTC alternative while also trying to keep their cash cow prescription products alive. (To be sure, OTC hearing aids are formally approved for those with "mild to moderate hearing loss." Users with severe hearing loss are still advised to visit a doctor.)
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| S287 Best Smart Plugs (2024): Indoor Plugs, Outdoor Plugs, and Advice If you buy something using links in our stories, we may earn a commission. This helps support our journalism. Learn more. Please also consider subscribing to WIREDWith a smart plug, you get the convenience of a smart home without expensive equipment or potentially prying eyes. They help you automate your home and make certain tasks like turning off the lights a little easier. (We like smart bulbs for this reason too.) Appliances like TVs and lamps can go from mindless to smart as soon as you install an app. We've tested dozens of smart plugs over the years, and these are our favorites (along with models we dislike).
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| S2912 Best Game Controllers (2024): PC, Switch, PS5, Xbox, Accessibility If you buy something using links in our stories, we may earn a commission. This helps support our journalism. Learn more. Please also consider subscribing to WIREDYears ago, third-party game controllers were dirt cheap and notorious for poor craftsmanshipâespecially the eggshell-plastic MadCatz knockoffs. Every household had one. It was reserved for kid siblings and houseguests you maybe didn't like that much. Those kinds of controllers gave third-party gamepads a bad nameâone that persists to this day.
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| S30The House Passes a TikTok Ban Bill That's on the Fast Track A TikTok ban is back on the table after the House approved a new bill on Saturday addressing the issues that stalled it out in the Senate.The bill would allow the Biden administration to ban TikTok nationwide if it doesnâÂÂt divest from its China-based owner, Bytedance, within a year. ItâÂÂs different from a similar bill passed in the House last month and gives TikTok an additional six months to find a US buyer. The previous bill stalled out in the Senate after Senate Commerce Committee Chair Maria Cantwell raised several issues, including the short timeline for divestiture.
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| S31The GMO tooth microbe that is supposed to prevent cavities About seven years ago, Aaron Silverbook and his then-girlfriend, a biologist, were perusing old scientific literature online. “A romantic evening,” joked Silverbook. That night, he came across a study from 2000 that surprised him. Scientists had genetically engineered an oral bacterium that they said could possibly prevent tooth decay: “I read it and sort of boggled at it and said, ‘Wow, this is a cavity vaccine. Why don't we have this?’”
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| S32Why are groups of university students modifying Cadillac Lyriq EVs? Across the country, teams of students at 15 different universities are in the middle of a four-year project, dissecting an electric vehicle and figuring out ways to make it even better. The program, called the EcoCar EV Challenge, was founded more than three decades ago by the US Department of Energy and is run by the DOE's Argonne National Laboratory.
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| S33S34The Bone-Marrow-Transplant Revolution Finding a matched donor has always been the major challenge. A drug has solved that problem.In the fall of 2021, Gabriel Arias felt like his body was "rotting from the inside." He was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia, a form of blood cancer so aggressive that doctors had him hospitalized the day of his biopsy. In cases like his, the ideal treatment is a transplant. Arias's cancer-prone blood cells needed to be destroyed and replaced with healthy ones taken from the bone marrow or blood of a donor who matched him biologically. Fortunately, doctors found him a match in the volunteer-donor registriesâa man in Poland. Unfortunately, Arias's single match in the entire world was no longer available to donate.
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