ReHacked #87: Supply chain disruptions, implantable bioartificial kidney, Opel to shut German plant until 2022 due to chip shortage and more
“There is a rumor in America that there are two intelligent races on Earth: Humans and Hungarians” — Isaac Asimov
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Dude, Where’s My Stuff? | J.P. Morgan Asset Management #economy
The global supply chain mess will require increased global vaccination and acquired immunity, semiconductor capacity expansion and the end of extraordinary housing/labor supports to resolve. We expect all three to occur over the next few months, leading to a global growth bounce in 2022
The containership industry is a good illustration of the supply chain mess: as shown in the first chart, more than 70 containerships are stacked up outside Los Angeles/Long Beach ports waiting to unload. Idle containerships are back to just 3% of the total fleet, shipping costs are surging, manufacturing delivery times are extended and rail shipments are declining sharply from their summer peak, illustrating the far reaching impact of the delays.
The Kidney Project successfully tests a prototype bioartificial kidney · School of Pharmacy · UCSF #technology #health
The Kidney Project’s implantable bioartificial kidney, one that promises to free kidney disease patients from dialysis machines and transplant waiting lists, took another big step toward becoming reality, earning a $650,000 prize from KidneyX for its first-ever demonstration of a functional prototype of its implantable artificial kidney.
Chip shortage leads carmaker Opel to shut German plant until 2022 | Reuters #economy
Carmaker Opel, which is part of the Stellantis (STLA.MI) group, said on Thursday it will close one of its plants in Germany until at least the end of the year due to chip shortages.
Production at the Eisenach plant, which makes internal combustion engine and hybrid electric cars, should start again in 2022, although an Opel spokesperson could not specify a date.
Some 1,300 workers employed at the plant will be temporarily laid off, Opel said, with a separate plant in France picking up some of the production.
Usually the idea of what a cathedral ought to be, that is, a colossal church building with a vast hall-like interior verging on the sublime, is said to originate in France in the twelfth century. And yes, while buildings like the Abbey church of St-Denis and cathedral of Sens in the 1140s did develop important principles of engineering, they were more a refinement of a plan which by that point, had been around over a century, and most powerfully accentuated by a group of great churches built in the last third of the eleventh century in England.
Artist Jens Haaning Took $84,000 And Sent A Museum 2 Blank Canvases : NPR #art
Haaning signed a contract with the Kunsten, promising to deliver the artwork and to return the $84,000. The artist now faces a deadline to give the museum its money back on Jan. 16, when the work exhibition closes. The museum says it's talking with him about that deadline; it also acknowledges that Haaning did produce a provocative piece of work.
"It wasn't what we had agreed on in the contract, but we got new and interesting art" from Haaning, Andersson said.
Telling the bees - Wikipedia #culture #history
Telling the bees is a traditional custom of many European countries in which bees would be told of important events in their keeper's lives, such as births, marriages, or departures and returns in the household. If the custom was omitted or forgotten and the bees were not "put into mourning" then it was believed a penalty would be paid, such as the bees leaving their hive, stopping the production of honey, or dying.
A world first: Ocean drone captures video from inside a hurricane | National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration #technology #nature
Saildrone Inc. and the NOAA have released the first video footage gathered by an uncrewed surface vehicle (USV) from inside a major hurricane barreling across the Atlantic Ocean.
The Saildrone Explorer SD 1045 was directed into the midst of Hurricane Sam, a category 4 hurricane, which is currently on a path that fortunately will miss the U.S. east coast. SD1045 is battling 50 foot waves and winds of over 120 mph to collect critical scientific data and, in the process, is giving us a completely new view of one of earth’s most destructive forces.
'Google' is most searched word on Bing, Google says - BBC News #technology #copyrights
The top entry on Microsoft's Bing search engine is for its rival Google, Google has said.
The claim was made in court, as Google made its case to appeal against a €4.3bn ($5bn) fine from the European Union for abusing its market power.
The EU accused Google of using Android's success in the smartphone market to make Google the default search engine.
The Martians of Budapest - by Jørgen Veisdal - Privatdozent #history #longread
The Martians of Budapest”, sometimes referred to as simply “The Martians” is a colloquial term used to describe a group of prominent Hungarian physicists and mathematicians who emigrated to the United States following the Great Purge of 1933. The term refers to—what appeared, from the perspective of Americans—to be a group of men with superhuman intellects, arriving from an obscure country speaking an incomprehensible foreign language and English with strong, characteristic accents (later popularized by Bela Lugosi in Dracula). Scientists typically thought to belong to the group include refugees from the University of Göttingen, early associates of the Institute for Advanced Study (IAS) and members of The Manhattan Project.
Internet archive Wayback turns 25. Now they present Wayforward - the internet of the future. #link #fun
Windows 11 review: Microsoft's new OS feels unnecessary | PCWorld #software
A decidedly mixed bag of improved features and unnecessary changes. Windows 11 will undoubtedly improve over time, but it’s a very polarizing upgrade that many users will want to forgo for now.
BMW has developed a new paint application that sounds like a win-win for the environment and enthusiasts. The overspray-free technology also allows vehicles with intricate designs, including two-tone offerings, to be painted faster and cheaper.
The new process is being called EcoPaintJet Pro, which allows it to apply paint more precisely. Rather than using a paint gun that atomizes paint with a rotating bell that spins at 35-55,000 rpm and adheres to the surface electrostatically, the new method works without electrostatics, relying instead on jet application.
Pandora Papers: Secret wealth and dealings of world leaders exposed - BBC News #pandorapapers #leaks
The secret wealth and dealings of world leaders, politicians and billionaires has been exposed in one of the biggest leaks of financial documents.
Some 35 current and former leaders and more than 300 public officials are featured in the files from offshore companies, dubbed the Pandora Papers.
They reveal the King of Jordan secretly amassed £70m of UK and US property.
They also show how ex-UK PM Tony Blair and his wife saved £312,000 in stamp duty when they bought a London office.
The couple bought an offshore firm that owned the building.
The leak also links Russian President Vladimir Putin to secret assets in Monaco, and shows the Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babis - facing an election later this week - failed to declare an offshore investment company used to purchase two villas for £12m in the south of France.
It is the latest in a string of leaks over the past seven years, following the FinCen Files, the Paradise Papers, the Panama Papers and LuxLeaks.
Paracetamol use during pregnancy — a call for precautionary action | Nature Reviews Endocrinology #health
Paracetamol (N-acetyl-p-aminophenol (APAP), otherwise known as acetaminophen) is the active ingredient in more than 600 medications used to relieve mild to moderate pain and reduce fever. APAP is widely used by pregnant women as governmental agencies, including the FDA and EMA, have long considered APAP appropriate for use during pregnancy when used as directed. However, increasing experimental and epidemiological research suggests that prenatal exposure to APAP might alter fetal development, which could increase the risks of some neurodevelopmental, reproductive and urogenital disorders. Here we summarize this evidence and call for precautionary action through a focused research effort and by increasing awareness among health professionals and pregnant women. APAP is an important medication and alternatives for treatment of high fever and severe pain are limited. We recommend that pregnant women should be cautioned at the beginning of pregnancy to: forego APAP unless its use is medically indicated; consult with a physician or pharmacist if they are uncertain whether use is indicated and before using on a long-term basis; and minimize exposure by using the lowest effective dose for the shortest possible time. We suggest specific actions to implement these recommendations. This Consensus Statement reflects our concerns and is currently supported by 91 scientists, clinicians and public health professionals from across the globe.
DARPA’S Hypersonic Air-breathing Weapon Concept (HAWC) Achieves Successful Flight #technology #engineering
DARPA, in partnership with the U.S. Air Force, completed a free flight test of its Hypersonic Air-breathing Weapon Concept (HAWC) last week. The missile, built by Raytheon Technologies, was released from an aircraft seconds before its Northrop Grumman scramjet (supersonic combustion ramjet) engine kicked on. The engine compressed incoming air mixed with its hydrocarbon fuel and began igniting that fast-moving airflow mixture, propelling the cruiser at a speed greater than Mach 5 (five times the speed of sound).
The HAWC vehicle operates best in oxygen-rich atmosphere, where speed and maneuverability make it difficult to detect in a timely way. It could strike targets much more quickly than subsonic missiles and has significant kinetic energy even without high explosives.
In Portugal, There Is Virtually No One Left to Vaccinate #health #covid19
Portugal’s health care system was on the verge of collapse. Hospitals in the capital, Lisbon, were overflowing and authorities were asking people to treat themselves at home. In the last week of January, nearly 2,000 people died as the virus spread.
The country’s vaccine program was in a shambles, so the government turned to Vice Adm. Henrique Gouveia e Melo, a former submarine squadron commander, to right the ship.
Eight months later, Portugal is among the world’s leaders in vaccinations, with roughly 86% of its population of 10.3 million fully vaccinated. About 98% of all of those eligible for vaccines — meaning anyone over 12 — have been fully vaccinated, Gouveia e Melo said.
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