   
CEO Picks - The best that international journalism has to offer!
S1The Intellectual Obesity Crisis  We evolved to crave sugar because it was a scarce source of energy. But when we learned to produce it on an industrial scale, suddenly our love for sweet things became a liability. The same is now true of data. In an age of information overabundance, our curiosity, which once focused us, now distracts us. And it’s led to an epidemic of intellectual obesity that’s clogging our minds with malignant junk.
The analogy of information as sugar is not just rhetoric. A 2019 study by researchers at Berkeley found that information acts on the brain’s dopamine-producing reward system in the same way as food. Put simply, the brain treats information as a reward in itself; it doesn't matter whether the info is accurate or useful, the brain will still crave it and feel satisfied after consuming it (at least until it starts craving more).
Continued here
|
S2Why the future of democracy could depend on your group chats I became newly worried about the state of democracy when, a few years ago, my mother was elected president of her neighborhood garden club.
Her election wasn’t my worry – far from it. At the time, I was trying to resolve a conflict on a large email group I had created. Someone, inevitably, was being a jerk on the internet. I had the power to remove them, but did I have the right? I realized that the garden club had in its bylaws something I had never seen in nearly all the online communities I had been part of: basic procedures to hold people with power accountable to everyone else.
Continued here
|
S3S4
S5S6
S7S8
S9S10Online shoppers behave differently after chatting with staff of the opposite gender, new research shows - here's why businesses should be paying attention When people are online, anonymity and physical detachment embolden them to behave in biased ways, previous work has shown. As professors who study business analytics, information systems, operations management and information technology, we wanted to better understand how gender bias works in online environments. So we conducted a seven-month experiment with an online platform that offers health-related products and services.
The firm, which is based in South Korea and requested its identity not be disclosed, sells weight-management products designed to be consumed over several weeks. It also provides customized dietary advice for users based on age, weight, height, lifestyle and other characteristics, and offers one-on-one consulting services to answer clients’ questions.
Continued here
|
S11Mexico: Sheinbaum faces uphill task to buck the trend and curtail spiralling violence Mexico has reached a political milestone. According to a quick count by the country’s electoral commission, Mexican voters have just elected their first female president. In a society that has long treated its women unfavourably, it is a seismic shift.
However, the country’s president-elect, Claudia Sheinbaum, inherits a very challenging responsibility. The second-best performing economy in Latin America risks being overwhelmed by cartel criminality, the growing threat of narco-politics, and surging violence against women.
Continued here
|
S1265 Genius Things That Are Really, Really Weird on Amazon If you enjoy seeing the weirdest things Amazon has to offer, you’ve come to the right place. Every genius item on this list is useful, clever, and unexpectedly delightful. There’s a foot deodorant lotion, a Loch Ness monster whiskey chilling stone that suctions to the bottom of your glass, and lots of cool items for your car and home. Scroll to enjoy the strangeness.
Take better care of your hair with this scalp massager. The handheld tool is covered in silicone bristles that rid the scalp of any dead skin or product buildup. It comes with two interchangeable heads and can be used wet or dry.
Continued here
|
S13What Self-Medicating Animals Can Teach Us About Medicine A wild orangutan treats his own wound after a fight in the most peculiar way. Researchers were watching.
When a wild orangutan in Sumatra recently suffered a facial wound, apparently after fighting with another male, he did something that caught the attention of the scientists observing him.
Continued here
|
S14Can You Train Away Your Farsightedness With Eye Exercises? You may have seen advertisements claiming to eliminate the need for eyeglasses through vision therapy or vision training – basically, eye exercises.
These exercises include putting pressure on or palming the eye; eye movement exercises; or straining to read by using the wrong prescription glasses to “train” the eyes.
Continued here
|
S15Patents based on traditional knowledge are often 'biopiracy'. A new international treaty will finally combat this Last week, at a conference in Geneva, the member states of the World Intellectual Property Organisation agreed on a new treaty aimed at preventing the for-profit piracy of traditional knowledge.
So-called “biopiracy”, in which companies lift ideas from traditional knowledge and patent them, is a significant problem. In one case a US company patented derivatives of the neem tree as pesticides, when the plant’s properties were already well known to local communities in India. There have also been attempts to patent traditionally cultivated plant varieties, such as basmati rice and jasmine rice.
Continued here
|
S16'Placebo' or 'sham' surgery is not a cruel trick - it can be very effective Jeremy Howick has written a book (The Power of Placebos: How the Science of Placebos and Nocebos Can Improve Health Care (2023) Johns Hopkins University Press) and receives royalties.
Ten years ago, a scan showed that I had torn the meniscus in my knee. The pain was bad and I was limping a lot of the time. My doctor recommended arthroscopic knee surgery to fix it.
Continued here
|
S17Human culture is changing too fast for evolution to catch up - here's how it may affect you Research is showing that many of our contemporary problems, such as the rising prevalence of mental health issues, are emerging from rapid technological advancement and modernisation. A theory that can help explain why we respond poorly to modern conditions, despite the choices, safety and other benefits they bring, is evolutionary mismatch.
Mismatch happens when an evolved adaptation, either physical or psychological, becomes misaligned with the environment. Take moths and some species of nocturnal flies, for example. Because they have to navigate in the dark, they evolved to use the moon for direction. But due to the invention of artificial lighting, many moths and flies are drawn to street lamps and indoor lights instead.
Continued here
|
S18Election 2024: will Sunak and Starmer facing off in televised debates make a difference to voters? The first televised debate of the 2024 general election will take place on Tuesday, June 4, putting Rishi Sunak and Keir Starmer head to head on ITV. ITV has also announced they will hold a multiparty debate later in June. The BBC will host at least two multiparty debates, as well as the last Sunak-Starmer face-off before polling day.
If voters are hoping to hear party leaders respond spontaneously and authentically to questions, they’re likely to be disappointed. For those who tune in (6.7 million in 2019, down from 10.3 million in 2010), it is not necessarily because they expect to learn anything new about the candidates or their policies. Rather, they are likely intrigued by the spectacle of adversarial conflict.
Continued here
|
S19How rich philanthropists exert undue influence over pro-Palestinian activism at universities On university campuses across North America, a new anti-war movement has emerged. Camped-out students are pressuring their universities to divest from companies that profit off the Israeli war machine, to cut ties with Israeli institutions and to publicly condemn Israel’s deadly military campaign in Gaza.
Away from the student encampments, unsympathetic alumni and donors are pressuring university administrators to suppress this student movement.
Continued here
|
S20S21Who gets to decide what counts as 'disorder'? As a scholar of urban governance and data policy, I viewed the responses to protests on U.S. campuses as about more than threats to academic freedom and freedom of speech.
The protesters’ tactics, particularly their use of tents in encampments, have brought debates around definitions of public order and disorder to the fore.
Continued here
|
S22 Find a Circular Strategy to Fit Your Business Model The spring 2024 issue’s special report looks at how to take advantage of market opportunities in the digital space, and provides advice on building culture and friendships at work; maximizing the benefits of LLMs, corporate venture capital initiatives, and innovation contests; and scaling automation and digital health platform.
The spring 2024 issue’s special report looks at how to take advantage of market opportunities in the digital space, and provides advice on building culture and friendships at work; maximizing the benefits of LLMs, corporate venture capital initiatives, and innovation contests; and scaling automation and digital health platform.
Companies seeking to meet ambitious sustainability goals to reduce fossil fuel consumption and reduce waste must go beyond a shift to renewable energy. Roughly half of global emissions are linked to the production and consumption of goods such as food, packaging, buildings, and textiles.1 Accelerating decarbonization will require that we rethink the materials and services sourced from suppliers, the distribution and use of products by customers, and what happens to products at end of life.
Continued here
|
S2355 Insanely Cheap Home Upgrades on Amazon That Are So Damn Clever If I’ve learned anything as a homeowner, it’s that you should never underestimate the impact of cheap, clever home upgrades. A project can cost less than $35 but still look like a million bucks. Best of all, you don’t even need to visit a hardware store. These affordable Amazon finds help you modernize your fixtures, maximize your storage, boost the light in a space, and make your home significantly more functional — all without blowing your budget.
Swapping out your door knobs can transform the whole door, and these best-selling interior knobs are matte and modern — not to mention “incredibly sturdy and feel so high quality,” one reviewer wrote. They come in four colors and various types (including dummy, privacy, and locking entry). Plus, they’re treated with Microban to reduce the growth of germs.
Continued here
|
S24This Laptop and AR Glasses Combo Is the Practical Alternative to Apple Vision Pro The Spacetop G1 could be a better way to get spatial computing than strapping on a bulky and expensive headset.
You don’t need to strap on a heavy headset or deal with hand tracking to get a taste of the potential of spatial computing. The Spacetop G1, a computer created by a startup called Sightful that combines augmented reality glasses with the bottom half of a laptop, has spent the last year in early access, but now after some refinements, it’s available to pre-order.
Continued here
|
S2555 Years Ago, Star Trek Delivered Its Worst Finale -- And Accidentally Saved the Fandom Endings are hard, especially when your last episode wasn’t planned. Star Trek: The Original Series was ingloriously canceled after three seasons, despite valiant fan efforts to keep it on the air. That means its finale wasn’t written as a finale, and it generally ranks among the worst entries in the entire franchise.
On June 3, 1969, the last episode of Star Trek, “Turnabout Intruder,” aired. Originally slated for March 28, NBC delayed the episode after the passing of Dwight D. Eisenhower. Loyal fans had to wait for one last episode, several months after the previous episode had aired, in a countdown to a letdown. Fifty-five years later, “Turnabout Intruder” isn’t secretly great; its basic premise is embarrassing and outdated. But despite its deep flaws, the world of sci-fi fandom would be much, much darker without it. Here’s how “Turnabout Intruder” accidentally ushered in a new age of fandom.
Continued here
|
S266 Years Later, The Best Pirate Game Just Keeps Getting Better Like many maiden voyages, Sea of Thieves’ launch in 2018 was fraught with peril. Performance issues, a dreadful solo experience, and an underwhelming gameplay loop disappointed fans and critics hoping for something revolutionary. This was Rare after all, the studio behind legendary titles like GoldenEye 64, Donkey Kong Country and Banjo-Kazooie. Fan expectations were understandably lofty, especially with a pedigree like that.
It was also hyped as a marquee exclusive for Microsoft’s new Xbox Game Pass, something to entice gamers who were hesitant to commit to monthly subscriptions. Now the unthinkable has occurred: this once exclusive Xbox title got released on PS5 in May. Thousands of new players (Sony players, gasp!) get to experience one of the best live-service games around.
Continued here
|
S2712 Years Later, Star Wars is Finally Fulfilling Its Greatest Promise It's been 12 years since Disney acquired Lucasfilm. At the time, that deal was met with excitement from Star Wars fans who believed that they were witnessing the start of a promising new era for the franchise.
In the years since its takeover, though, several of Disney's Star Wars titles have received divisive responses from fans (some of which have been more warranted than others), and almost all of them have been directly tied to the either series' Original or Prequel trilogies. Even The Mandalorian, which felt like the most original Star Wars effort Disney had produced when it premiered, has since been reduced to little more than a bridge between its franchise's live-action and animated properties.
Continued here
|
S28S29The unique fellowship between teens and young puffins on a remote Icelandic island | Aeon Videos On the Icelandic archipelago of Vestmannaeyjar, teens Birta and Selma take part in a local tradition that dates back to the introduction of electricity to the region in the early 20th century. Scanning their town’s streets, the pair identify young puffins who’ve mistaken artificial light for the moonlight, and lead them to the safety of the ocean. Directed by the UK filmmaker Jessica Bishopp, this poignant coming-of-age documentary captures Birta and Selma at a pivotal moment of adolescence as they navigate their own uncertain futures. Traversing misty moors from dusk until dawn, the girls grapple with their own sense of belonging on the island and ponder what their futures hold. Set against the rugged beauty of Iceland’s coastline, Puffling meditates on the precarious nature of home for young puffins and people alike on this small, idiosyncratic slice of earth.
Continued here
|
S30
 |
TradeBriefs Publications are read by over 10,00,000 Industry Executives
About Us | Advertise Privacy Policy Unsubscribe (one-click)
You are receiving this mail because of your subscription with TradeBriefs.
Our mailing address is GF 25/39, West Patel Nagar, New Delhi 110008, India
|
