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Why Are Start-Ups Losing So Much Money? - American Affairs Journal
Financial losses for today’s start-ups are much more common than they were decades ago, and the losses are much bigger. VCs are making back less from their initial investments than at any point since the global financial crisis of 2007–9. According to a study by Jay Ritter, only 22 percent of start-ups were profitable in 2021, the year of peak IPOs, versus 80 percent in the early 1980s. And today’s start-ups are not...
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The Opposition to Trump Has Never Been This Deflated Around this time eight years ago, a whole lot of time went into cobbling together what would come to be known as The Resistance. As the countryand the world, reallystarted to come to understand the incoming Trump administrations plans, an unlikely cooperative of folksfeminists, scientists, immigration activists, traditional Republicansfound common ground in their shared sense of dread. On the first full day of Donald Trumps presidency, the amalgam responded with a national day of protest that, to that point, had no peer.
A Revolution in How Robots Learn - The New Yorker (No paywall) In the first days of my sons life, during the fall of 2023, he spent much of the time when he wasnt sleeping or eating engaged in what some cognitive scientists call motor babbling. His arms and legs wiggled; his eyes wandered and darted, almost mechanically. One night, as he was drifting off to sleep, he smiled for the first time. As I admired him, wondering what he might be thinking about, his expression suddenly went blankand then, in quick succession, he looked upset, then surprised, and then happy again. It was as if the equipment were being calibrated. That is apparently the purpose of motor babbling: random movements help the brain get acquainted with the body its in.
U.S. airlines collected more than $12 billion from seat fees - WSJ (No paywall) Five U.S. airlines collected $12.4 billion from such charges from 2018 to 2023, according to the report. Checked bags-the airlines biggest source of revenue beyond tickets themselves-brought in about $25 billion over that stretch for those carriers.
Musk wants $2 trillion of spending cuts. Heres why thats hard. - WSJ (No paywall) The U.S. federal government spent $6.75 trillion in the most recent fiscal year ended Sept. 30, according to the Congressional Budget Office. Walk around town handing $20,000 to everyone you see. Now do that for the entire U.S. population, all 337 million of us. That is about how much the U.S. spent.
Could tweaks to the tax code lead to more marriages and more kids? Our mission could not be more clear and more necessary: We have a duty to explain what just happened, and why, and what it means for you. We need clear-eyed journalism that helps you understand what really matters. Reporting that brings clarity in increasingly chaotic times. Reporting that is driven by truth, not by what people in power want you to believe.
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Thiago Messi following in father Lionel's footsteps When your father is hailed as one of the greatest footballers to ever grace a pitch, there is a high likelihood you will follow in his footsteps, right? Well, that appears to be the path that Thiago Messi, the son of eight-time Ballon d'Or winner Lionel, is taking.
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Man Convicted for Gaining 44 Pounds To Dodge Military Duty A South Korean man has been handed a suspended prison sentence after intentionally gaining over 44 pounds to avoid a more demanding position under the country's military conscription system, a Seoul court announced Tuesday.
China defends Mexico trade after Trump pledges fresh tariffs Cars and containers at Mexico's port of Lazaro Cardenas. China says its products have "played an important role in the development of Mexico's manufacturing industry and enhanced its trade competitiveness." (C) Reuters
Couple Charged In Ring Suspected Of Stealing $1 Million In Lululemon Clothes MINNEAPOLIS (AP) -- A Connecticut couple has been charged in Minnesota with being part of a shoplifting ring suspected of stealing around $1 million in goods across the country from the upscale athletic wear retailer Lululemon.
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5 stalled mega mergers that could get a green light under Trump The climate to resurrect stalled mergers (scroll down for our list of top 5) is more favorable in part because many predict Lina Khan, the current chair of the Federal Trade Commission and a noted antitrust hawk, will be out the door shortly.
To design better water filters, MIT engineers look to manta rays Filter feeders are everywhere in the animal world, from tiny crustaceans and certain types of coral and krill, to various molluscs, barnacles, and even massive basking sharks and baleen whales.
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Anthropic launches tool to connect AI systems directly to datasets Anthropic has released a new open-source tool to connect AI assistants directly to the information they need to inform their responses or carry out tasks. The new Model Context Protocol (MCP) provides a universal connection to all sorts of data sources, which Anthropic says will improve performance.
Surrealism, cafes and lots (and lots) of cats: why Japanese fiction is booming Anyone who has been in a bookshop in the last few years will have noticed that Japanese fiction is experiencing an extraordinary boom. In 2022, figures from Nielsen BookScan showed that Japanese fiction represented 25% of all translated fiction sales in the UK.
4 Todoist Templates to Streamline and Organize Your Life | The Art of Manliness Menu random podcast Get Style Clothing Accessories Facial Hair Ties Get Strong Fitness Health Program Review Get Social Family Fatherhood Relationships Social Skills Get Skilled How To Manly Know-How Outdoor/SurvivalPodcastBooks Random Find more of the Art of Manliness:
10 Sanity-Saving Tips for Camping With Young Kids Taking a baby camping? Intimidating, yes--but if you equip yourself with a bit of know-how, mitigate risk, and practice overall good judgement, a night in the woods with a tot in tow is not only possible, but is also actually rollicking good fun.
Adipose tissue retains an epigenetic memory of obesity after weight loss | Nature Reducing body weight to improve metabolic health and related comorbidities is a primary goal in treating obesity1,2. However, maintaining weight loss is a considerable challenge, especially as the body seems to retain an obesogenic memory that defends against body weight changes3,4. Overcoming this barrier for long-term treatment success is difficult because the molecular mechanisms underpinning this phenomenon remain largely unknown. Here, by using single-nucleus RNA sequencing, we show that both human and mouse adipose tissues retain cellular transcriptional changes after appreciable weight loss. Furthermore, we find persistent obesity-induced alterations in the epigenome of mouse adipocytes that negatively affect their function and response to metabolic stimuli. Mice carrying this obesogenic memory show accelerated rebound weight gain, and the epigenetic memory can explain future transcriptional deregulation in adipocytes in response to further high-fat diet feeding. In summary, our findings indicate the existence of an obesogenic memory, largely on the basis of stable epigenetic changes, in mouse adipocytes and probably other cell types. These changes seem to prime cells for pathological responses in an obesogenic environment, contributing to the problematic ‘yo-yo’ effect often seen with dieting. Targeting these changes in the future could improve long-term weight management and health outcomes. Stable epigenetic changes indicate the existence of an obesogenic memory in mouse adipocytes that primes cells for pathological responses in an obesogenic environment and potentially contributes to the problematic ‘yo-yo’ effect often seen with dieting.
Workday stock slips on light quarterly forecast During the quarter, Workday acquired contract lifecycle management software startup Evisort. Workday also said artificial intelligence agents for spotting inefficiencies, filing expense reports and updating succession plans would become available in early access in 2025.
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Why AI may not help decrease radiologists' burnout Earlier in 2024, Neuralink faced questions about the device’s accuracy, when officials revealed that some electrodes had moved after implantation. Currently, two people have been implanted with the device in the United States. —Timmy Broderick
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Biden administration wants to rein in use of AI in Medicare Advantage, among other fixes More than half of people on Medicare, the program for older adults and people with disabilities, are now enrolled in Medicare Advantage plans, but government watchdogs and others consistently find that they deny necessary care and collect billions in dubious payments every year. The plan rolled out Tuesday seeks to tackle everything from the use of artificial intelligence to misleading marketing to coverage barriers and inaccurate provider directories.
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How the Return of Salmon to the Klamath River Shows Us Whats Possible in Wildlife Conservation - Scientific American (No paywall) Imagine standing on a riverbank as thousands of dead salmon float past, belly-up and rotting in the hot California air. That's the sightand smellthat greeted people along the Klamath River in September 2002, when 35,000 fish perished there in the span of a few days. They were victims of warm water temperatures and low river levels, both caused by dams and diversions that altered the rivers flow.
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