“It’s not enough to slash greenhouse gas emissions,” warns a new article in IEEE Spectrum (shared by schwit1). “Experts say we need direct-air capture of atmospheric carbon.” West Texas is a hydrocarbon hot spot, with thousands of wells pumping millions of barrels of oil and billions of cubic feet of natural gas from the Permian Basin. When burned, all that oil…
Tag: equity
How will the U.S. space program fare under Joe Biden?
Joe Biden is the United States presidential election winner, but his plans for NASA remain unclear. And while citizens digest the election results, the space industry is left wondering what comes next. Source: https://earthsky.org/human-world/how-will-the-u-s-space-program-fare-under-joe-biden…
EFF Reveals Behind-the-Scenes Account of the Fight to Save .ORG
As part of its “Year in Review” series, the EFF shares their dramatic behind-the-scenes details about 2020’s fight over the future of .org domains. It begins when the Internet Society (ISOC) announced plans to sell the Public Interest Registry — which manages the .org top-level domain (TLD) — to private equity firm Ethos Capital. “If you come at the nonprofit sector,…
How the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation Fought the Pandemic
In a long article titled “Gates versus the Pandemic,” Fast Company looks at the many mitigation efforts launched by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. – It’s one of the largest funders of the World Health Organization. – It’s partnered with the governments of Norway and India, the World Economic Forum, and the research-charity Wellcome Trust to launch an important group…
Vista Acquires IT Education Platform Pluralsight for $3.5B
The hectic M&A cycle we have seen throughout 2020 continued this weekend when Vista Equity Partners announced it was acquiring Pluralsight for $3.5 billion. From a report: That comes out to $20.26 per share. The company stock closed on Friday at $18.50 per share on a market cap of over $2.7 billion. With Pluralsight, Vista gets an online training company that…
Nathan Myhrvold’s Dazzling High-Resolution Photographs of Snowflakes
Nathan Myhrvold is a former CTO of Microsoft, co-founder of the equity company Intellectual Ventures, and the founder of “food innovation lab” Modernist Cuisine (which among other things resulted in book of remarkable food photography). But he’s now photographing the intricate designs of snowflakes, reports Fast Company: Over the span of 18 months, Myhrvold built a camera with a microscopic lens…
How Prestige Journals Remain Elite, Exclusive And Exclusionary
An anonymous reader shares a report: Last week, Nature journals unveiled their “landmark” open-access option. Nature journals will charge authors, starting in January 2021, up to $11,400 to make research papers free to read, as an alternative to subscription-only publishing. Scientists from around the world received this news with outrage and disappointment on social media. Nature’s announcement comes on the heels…
US Fertility Says Patient Data Was Stolen in a Ransomware Attack
U.S. Fertility, one of the largest networks of fertility clinics in the United States, has confirmed it was hit by a ransomware attack and that data was taken. From a report: The company was formed in May as a partnership between Shady Grove Fertility, a fertility clinic with dozens of locations across the U.S. east coast, and Amulet Capital Partners, a…
SEC Proposes Rules for Giving Gig Workers Equity
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has proposed rule changes that would make it possible for gig companies to give equity to their workers as part of their compensation if they meet certain requirements. From a report: This is something gig companies including Uber and Airbnb have asked the SEC to do over the years as a way to share their…
LA To Launch First ‘Transportation Technology Innovation Zone’
Mayor Eric Garcetti announced last week the city’s first Transportation Technology Innovation Zone, an area where innovators can test their transportation technology solutions. Archinect reports: Located in the West San Fernando Valley, the zone is the result of a partnership between Mayor Garcetti and City Councilmember Bob Blumenfield, “designed to transform Warner Center into one of L.A.’s mobility innovation and workforce…