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WorkGet ready to watch the dazzling Perseid meteor shower in August - New Scientist (No paywall)
  One of the highlights of the astronomical calendar, and something I look forward to every year, is the Perseid meteor shower. This impressive display, which is visible in the northern and parts of the southern hemisphere, will peak on the evening of 12 August, running into the early hours of 13 August. What makes it special is that, at least where I am in the northern hemisphere, it tends to happen on a warm evening – unlike the equally spectacular Geminids in December. WorkWhat is POTS? This strange disorder has doubled since the pandemic - Premium (No paywall)
In late 2021, after 18 months of long COVID symptoms, Oonagh Cousins, a member of Great Britain rowing team, was ready to resume training. She’d contracted COVID-19 in early 2020, and although her initial case was mild, Cousins spent the next year and a half experiencing a fatigue that went far beyond just feeling tired. “It was like a deep sickness,” she says, a “sludgy, deep weakness” that flared up after even mild exertion.
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WorkWorkDiscover Europe's newest UNESCO World Heritage Sites - Travel (No paywall)
A host of new sites have just been added to UNESCO’s World Heritage List — a collection encompassing over 1,000 of the world’s most spectacular cultural heritage sites. With the new additions ranging from a romantic, 19th-century German ducal capital to a biodiverse, animal-rich cave network in Bosnia and Herzegovina; Europe’s newest listings are well worth exploring.
WorkWill Hamas turn from war to politics? - The Economist (No paywall)
On paper Ismail Haniyeh, assassinated in Tehran on July 31st, was Hamas’s supreme leader. When in 2022 he ran for a second term in that role, he was unopposed. But for the past ten months, since Hamas’s attack on Israel on October 7th, he has often looked more like a postman. The focus of leadership shifted to Gaza, while Mr Haniyeh ran the political wing from Qatar. The decision to continue war or seek a ceasefire has lain with the Qassam Brigades, the military wing led by Yahya Sinwar. Mr Haniyeh relayed messages. Work
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Work'Pommel Horse Guy' Stephen Nedoroscik Delivers Again
It was hard to tell who was the bigger draw in the Bercy Arena on Aug. 3—Simone Biles or Stephen Nedoroscik. Biles competed in vault with teammate Jade Carey, and Nedoroscik competed in pommel horse, the only member of the men’s gymnastics team to qualify for an event final. WorkAn influencer is running for Senate. Is she just the first of many?
It has been a meme-heavy election so far this year, with a fire hose of content about Kamala Harris’s “Brat” summer and J.D. Vance’s undeniable weirdness. But another meeting of politics and the internet has flown a little more under the radar, in the form of a Senate race that includes, for the first time, a professional influencer.
WorkWorkThe truth about the new class of Alzheimer's drugs - New Scientist (No paywall)
In early July, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved a treatment called donanemab for people with early-stage Alzheimer’s disease. It is the second drug shown to slow the condition’s progression, and the third FDA-authorised medication that clears the amyloid proteins that accumulate in the brains of people with Alzheimer’s.
WorkAs Hundreds of Churches Sit Empty, Some Become Malls and Restaurants
The closings stem largely from a drop in church attendance during the Covid pandemic, and fewer people, especially younger adults, affiliated with religious organizations than in the past. The decline has been happening for decades. In the late 1940s, 76 percent of Americans said they belonged to a church, synagogue or mosque, but by 2020 that number had dropped to 47 percent, Gallup polling found. Work WorkWorkHow Could Maduro's Reign in Venezuela End?
“The less democratic a political system becomes, the more reliant you are on just a very small number of people to maintain power,” said Marcel Dirsus, a political scientist and author of “How Tyrants Fall.” WorkWorkWorkWorkMake the Most of Your Vacation When You Can't Fully Unplug - Harvard Business Review (No paywall)
Although working during vacation isn’t ideal, there may be times when projects, deadlines, or client obligations prevent you from being fully offline. While it’s not easy to balance these competing priorities, it is possible to get critical work done while enjoying some refreshing time off. The key is to do a little pre-planning, making sure to avoid a few common mistakes people make when mixing business and personal travel. The author presents five pitfalls to avoid on your working vacation — and what to do instead. WorkWhat Small Businesses Need to Know About the July Jobs Report - Inc.com (No paywall)
U.S. employers added 114,000 jobs in July. Though payrolls are still growing overall, this marks quite a dip down from the downwardly-revised 179,000 added in June, according to the latest report from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. It also falls well below the previous 12 month's average of 215,000 jobs and the 175,000 jobs that economists predicted. WorkWorkStephen King calls out Fox News host--"This is weird"
The software company sued Fox News for reputation damage, accusing the network for making false claims that Dominion's voting machines changed votes for Donald Trump to Joe Biden in the 2020 election. The case was settled out of court. WorkTaylor Swift and Beyonc
WorkHow to make tourism work for locals and visitors alike - The Economist (No paywall)
The dollar is hovering near a two-decade high. That has unleashed a multitude of American tourists keen to exercise their newfound spending power, much to the dismay of snobbish Europeans and anyone who has a fondness for empty, unspoilt beaches. And it has done so at a time when tourism is back in fashion. Trips were up by 19% in the first quarter of this year, compared with a year ago. They are forecast to exceed pre-covid levels across the whole of the year. WorkKamala Harris Poised to Receive an Avalanche of Indian American Votes
"She was always of Indian heritage, and she was only promoting Indian heritage," he said before a gathering of Black journalists. "I didn't know she was Black until a number of years ago, when she happened to turn Black, and now she wants to be known as Black. So I don't know, is she Indian or is she Black?" WorkA Battle Over a Farm, a Mosque and the Moral High Ground
The mayor and the four other council members, all white men, sat at a curved table with an American flag drooping behind them. Scowling like a principal anticipating school-assembly misbehavior, the mayor expressed hope for a “good positive session.” WorkHas the Long Friendship of Bill Gates and Warren Buffett Reached Its Final Act?
Theirs has been an unusual friendship. Mr. Buffett is folksy and outgoing, and never passes up an opportunity to crack a joke. He likes to speak in aphorisms. He enjoys breaking down complex investing principles into simple nuggets that anyone could understand. When he meets new people, Mr. Buffett is genuinely curious about their backgrounds. He asks them questions and listens intently, eyebrows furrowed, to the answers. Banter comes to him easily. WorkCan men's gymnastics be saved?
During the gymnastics trials in Milwaukee this year, I waited to watch Simone Biles, Suni Lee, and the rest of the ladies dazzle with their awesome skills. Could we get the men’s competition over with already? WorkWorkWorkWorkUnitedHealth and HCA clash over hospital chain's rates in 'battle of the giants' - STAT (No paywall)
This latest one is different. It involves the country’s biggest private health insurer, UnitedHealthcare, and its biggest hospital chain, HCA Healthcare. If they can’t strike a deal on prices by Sept. 1, 38 hospitals and their affiliated physician groups and surgery centers across four states — Texas, Colorado, South Carolina, and New Hampshire — would become out-of-network for UnitedHealthcare members. WorkWorkWorkAn Astronaut's Advice on High-Stakes Collaboration - Harvard Business Review (No paywall)
It’s hard to imagine a more challenging work environment than the International Space Station. During her 24 years as a NASA astronaut, including a six-month stint on the ISS, Cady Coleman learned pivotal lessons about everything from managing stress and assessing risk to cross-cultural communication and navigating bias. She shares how the skills she picked up can be applied in all kinds of careers. Coleman is the author of the book Sharing Space: An Astronaut’s Guide to Mission Wonder and Making Change. WorkHow AI could help us talk to animals
Joyce Poole and Michael Pardo recently published a groundbreaking study on elephant communication: Using a machine learning model, they were able to show strong evidence that African savannah elephants have unique names for one another. The statistical model they used — known as a random forest model — is nothing new or snazzy. It’s been around for 20 years. But it’s one example of how animal communication researchers are using machine learning to decode animal calls they can’t through observation alone. WorkTracking the Trump criminal cases: Latest on legal charges and key players
For the first 234 years of the nation’s history, no American president or former president had ever been indicted. That changed in 2023. Over a five-month span, former President Donald Trump was charged in four criminal cases. Together, the indictments accused him of wide-ranging criminal conduct before, during and after his presidency. One of those indictments has now led to the first criminal conviction of a former president; the other three remain pending. This is POLITICO’s guide to the four Trump criminal cases. Work'A total cop out' if Albanese government refuses blanket ban on gambling ads, Pocock says
"Since coming to government, we have launched BetStop - the National Self-Exclusion Register, banned the use of credit cards for online wagering, agreed minimum classifications for computer games with gambling-like content for the very first time, and introduced evidence-based messaging to replace the ineffective 'Gamble Responsibly'," the spokesperson said. WorkSet These 5 Boundaries Before You Go on Vacation - Harvard Business Review (No paywall)
Disconnecting from work while on vacation sounds a lot easier than it actually is. Some companies’ cultures may expect you to stay connected, respond to emails, or attend meetings to keep the business moving forward. Yet research and commentary dating back to the 1910s shows that taking vacations — as in, completely disconnecting from work — is critical to lowering burnout, increasing energy and engagement, and improving overall health and well-being, which in turn will lead to more consistent productivity. So, how do you detach from work during your vacation to achieve all these benefits? The author shares five tips to set firm boundaries in a professional way. WorkWorkWorkWorkWorkU.S. Commercial Real Estate Is Headed Toward a Crisis - Harvard Business Review (No paywall)
The risks of U.S. commercial banks being overexposed to commercial real estate (CRE) have intensified as the global pandemic upended long-held economic assumptions of perpetually subdued inflation, low interest rates, and in-office work. An analysis from The Conference Board suggests that in the next two years, more than $1 trillion in CRE loans will come due, and an increasing number of banks, mostly regional and community banks, risk having insufficient capital cushions. Executives should take steps now — including examining banking relationships, extending debt maturities, and securing adequate working capital — to mitigate the potential fallout. |
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