Tuesday 4th June 2024

5 big lessons from JWST's new record-setting galaxy

JADES-GS-z14-0 is now the most distant galaxy ever found: just 285 million years after the Big Bang.

Although (second place) JADES-GS-z14-1 is point-like, its more distant sibling already spans 1,700 light-years across.

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The power of perception, with musician Jewel

From heartbreak to grief, musicians have always used personal pain to influence their art. Singer-songwriter and poet Jewel Kilcher is no different, but her story is far from ordinary.

The stories of how she got her name and how she got to where she is today are connected by one thing: her strained and transformative relationship with her parents. In her interview with Big Think, Jewel explains how her challenging upbringing bred authentic creativity, connection and a strong resolve where others would have crumbled.

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5 brilliant novels told from a side character's perspective

We often see ourselves as life’s main character and sometimes we are. Other times, however, we’re a side character in someone else’s story. We’re not the driving force of important events but an observer of another person’s actions.

In such cases, we may not get top billing with our name in the title, but that doesn’t mean our role is unimportant. As these five famous novels show, being the side character can give us access to deeper truths and a richer appreciation of the human condition than those too busy propelling the story forward.

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A cosmic glitch in gravity

Einstein’s theory of gravity is a cornerstone of modern cosmology. It has been tested and proven correct over and over again and is supported by the discovery of countless cosmic phenomena: from the gravitational lensing detected by Arthur Eddington in 1919 and the anomalies observed in the orbit of Mercury, to galactic redshifts and gravitational waves. The theory of general relativity—to give Einstein’s theory of gravity its proper name—has precisely predicted them all.

But astronomical observations near the “cosmological horizon”—where the farthest galaxies recede from us at nearly the speed of light—suggest gravity may act differently at the very largest scales. Now, some scientists propose Einstein’s theory of gravity could be improved by adding a simple “footnote” to his equations, which amounts to a “cosmic glitch” in the scientific understanding of gravity.

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Minority Business Development Agency's Leader Addresses What Comes Next

In March, a federal judge ruled that the Minority Business Development Agency, an organization that has helped thousands of minority-owned businesses over the last 55 years, had to begin serving people regardless of race. The agency has since made adjustments to give help to all businesses owned by socially or economically disadvantaged people in obtaining financing and government contracts.

The Associated Press recently spoke to Eric Morrissette, acting undersecretary of commerce for minority business development and leader of the MBDA, about what comes next for the agency. The interview has been edited for length and clarity.


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Drugstore Deserts Crop Up as Chains Close Branches

An industry that saw waves of store growth before the COVID-19 pandemic faces headwinds like falling prescription reimbursement, persistent theft and changing shopping habits. But as drugstores right-size their physical footprint, experts say they can leave behind communities that have come to depend on them as trusted sources of care and advice--both of which can be hard to find in many urban and rural areas.

"That trust, you just can't quantify it," said Omolola Adepoju, a University of Houston health services researcher. "And I don't think it gets spoken about enough when we talk about pharmacy closures."


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Democrats Wanted an Agreement on Using AI in the Election Campaigns. It Went Nowhere

The Democratic National Committee was watching earlier this year as campaigns nationwide were experimenting with artificial intelligence. So the organization approached a handful of influential party campaign committees with a request: Sign onto guidelines that would commit them to use the technology in a "responsible" way.

The draft agreement, a copy of which was obtained by The Associated Press, was hardly full of revolutionary ideas. It asked campaigns to check work by AI tools, protect against biases and avoid using AI to create misleading content.


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Chipotle in

Restaurants are among the biggest beneficiaries of social media promotions and marketing campaigns, to the point where customers will often proclaim their love for a brand on video. But when diners are unhappy, things can turn sour pretty fast when vindictive goes viral--as casual-fast Mexican grill chain Chipotle is now learning.

Chipotle used its own social media chops when it came under fire from a widening cadre of TikTok users accusing the company of serving smaller portions at the same prices--allegations of a taco-scale case of shrinkflation. That led to a knock-on reaction of people filming orders being prepared to ensure they weren't being cheated out of their due--and showing their evidence if they felt shorted. The trend went far enough that many uploaded clips touted that the act of recording their food preparation resulted in supersize servings getting dished up by nervous employees--a claim that seems to encourage more people to try the so-called "Chipotle phone hack." 


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Airline Boss Says Boeing Needs Strong CEO to End Crisis

The head of Dubai airline Emirates urged Boeing to pick an engineering and business heavyweight to lead a deep overhaul of the U.S. aerospace giant and said the task of ending the planemaker's recent confidence crisis "must get done".

"Is it fixable and salvageable? Yes, it is. Will it get things back to where it needs to? It must. And you'll only do that with very strong leadership, who are fixated on doing the right thing," Emirates Airline President Tim Clark told reporters on the sidelines of a major airlines summit.


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Why Jos

Chef and activist José Andrés has his hand in a lot of pots--literally and figuratively. So it should not come as a total surprise that he's vacating his role as CEO of the restaurant group he founded three decades ago.

But as Andrés told Washingtonian, he's not stepping back--he's actually "stepping up." He will still be the face and "creative force" of the company as the founder and executive chairman of José Andrés Group, which includes nearly 40 restaurants ranging from tapas spots to food halls as well as a media arm handling projects such as books and podcasts. Sam Bakhshandehpour, who joined José Andrés Group as president in 2019, will take over as CEO. 


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