• WWW.FORBES.COM
    Trump Administration Mass Canceling Science Grants, Causing Job Loss
    Johns Hopkins University is having to lay off over 2,000 people after $800 million in federal grants ... [+] to the institutions investigators were abruptly terminated (Photo by Rob Carr/Getty Images)Getty ImagesLooks like scientists and scientific funding in the U.S. are now facing a different type of cancel cultureone in which their funding from federal agencies is being abruptly canceled. More and more researchers have been posting on social media news about their research grants being abruptly terminated since President Donald Trump took office. There have also been reports of the National Institutes of Health wholesale yanking grants in particular areas, such as Sara Reardon reporting for Science about at least 33 research grants for studying vaccine hesitancy being pulled. And since a large proportion of scientific research funding typically goes to research personnel, the result has and will be job losses. For example, Johns Hopkins University is having to lay off over 2,000 people after $800 million in grants to the institutions investigators were basically yanked, as Kanishka Singh reported for Reuters.Federal Grants Being Abruptly TerminatedThe processes by which these decisions have been made have been about as clear as mud mixed with orange spray tan. The termination letters have provide very little explanation beyond stock language like saying that the research award no longer effectuates agency priorities. This has been stunning to many researchers since a grant from the NIH usually represents an extensive long-term commitment. Imagine being in a serious long-term relationship with someone only to find one day a note that says, You longer effectuate my priorities.The letters typically havent given the researchers and institutions any opportunity for further clarifications or modifications to the project either. Theyve included language like no modification of the project could align the project with agency priorities. Again, this is a bit like your significant other saying, No matter what you do, I wont like you."If you are thinking that researchers who have lost their grants can simply get new ones to save the jobs of those working for them and even their own jobs, think again. It aint that easy. The whole process of applying for grants is a lengthy, onerous one, usually taking at least a year from the time the grant proposal is submitted till it being awarded, assuming that the proposal is part of the lucky 10% or less that successfully gets funded. So, unless youve got a time machine in the form of a DeLorean or know a charitable billionaire, you wont be able to get new funding quickly enough to prevent job loss.The kit and caboodle of grants being terminated have included various training and early career grants. Such grants are designed to help researchers establish themselves at crucial periods in their careers when they have few other options to continue their scientific work. Who knows how many may have to abandon their scientific careers as a result?The loss of grants will also significantly affect universities and other such institutions. These institutions depend on funding for indirect costs from the research grants that researchers pull in for all sorts of things ranging from salaries for administrators to the maintenance of facilities as Ive described before for Forbes.Opportunities For Grants From NIH Being PulledPlus, it looks like a number of funding opportunities have been pulled as well. So, there are fewer things to apply to now. In a LinkedIn post, Arghavan Salles, MD, PhD, a clinical associate professor of medicine at Stanford University, mentioned 76 notices of funding opportunities from the NIH being unpublished:From LinkedInFrom LinkedInTheres been no indication whether these dropped funding opportunities will be replaced with new ones. Meanwhile, researchers may be quite reluctant to apply for any new grants until theres more clarity on what may or may not be funded. And who knows if and when that clarity will come. It seems like the Trump Administration has been searching grants and contracts for particular terms to identify those to terminate, as I recently detailed for Forbes. But this practice has been uncovered by talking with and obtaining issued memos from various sources at NIH and NSF and not through official announcements or statements from the leadership of the NIH, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services or the White House.Mass Cuts In Grants May Damage America For YearsAs you can see, Salles described these cuts as devastating for the American scientific enterprise. People will stop coming here for training (did you know 40% of American Nobel prize winners since 2000 have been immigrants?) and Americans will increasingly seek training and careers elsewhere." She continued with, This is a massive self-inflicted wound from which we wont recover for generations.In addition, it is important to remember that the American scientific enterprise is not like Las Vegas. What happens in it doesnt simply stay there. The American scientific enterprise ends up affecting all of society. When countries are trying to grow, they typically will invest heavily in science. Its not surprising, for example, that the Founding Fathers of the U.S. included scientists like Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Jefferson.So much of the stuff that you use each day is the result of science. You can also thank science for being alive so that you can use all that stuff. Before the advent of routine childhood vaccinations, many more kids used to regularly die from diseases like the measles and smallpox. Life expectancy in the U.S. has gone from around 47 years in 1900 to around 78 years in 2022, largely because of various health and public health measures that were identified by scientific research. Thats right, only about a hundred years ago, you would have already been middle-aged had you reached your 20s.If American want to remain as competitive as its been in the world, it has to continue producing new scientific ideas and things. Michael Jordan and Larry Bird didnt say, Oh, now that Ive won a championship, Im going to stop doing this work-hard-and-improve-my-game thing and instead rest on my laurels and eat bon-bons. No, they kept practicing hard and adding new skills, which not only made them great but kept them great.Cutting scientific funding might do the opposite. It may discourage people from staying in or even going into science and encourage those who want to continue to do science to go to other countries. Those who would have become successful scientists may do other things to make a living like make YouTube videos because there just arent enough people doing that already.This may only be the beginning of this new cancel culture that has emerged at the NIH and other federal agencies during the Trump Administration. Who knows how many other grants and grant opportunities will be canceled. I will continue to follow this situation, make inquires to the agencies and provide updates accordingly.
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    Apple iPhone 17 Pro Models Exposed In Latest Leak
    iPhone 17 Pro Max, iPhone 17 Pro, iPhone 17 Air and iPhone 17 blanks.Sonny DicksonAs more details on the iPhone 17 family become apparent, the latest leaked images illustrate some of the most significant design changes to Apples upcoming smartphones.Longtime Apple leaker Sonny Dickson has exclusive images highlighting the design of the iPhone 17, iPhone 17 Air, iPhone 17 Pro, and iPhone 17 Pro Max. Apple is expected to announce the range in early September 2025, but we can see many of the new features today.iPhone 17 DesignDicksons images likely show machined blanks provided to peripheral manufacturers ahead of a phones release. These allow cases, holders, and other accessories to be designed around the exact dimensions of the device and the individual buttons. While they wont show any software upgrades, they do give us a clear indicator of Apples updated approach to the iPhone.All four models have the same physical buttons, including the Capture Button introduced last year. The programmable Action Button can be seen alongside the volume and power buttons.iPhone 17 Air Camera BarOf the models on show, we can see the new iPhone 17 Air. Forbes contributor David Phelan has taken a closer look at the new slimline model. However, the comically large camera bar rumoured to hold the optics while still going for the fashionably thin dimension is evident in these blanks.The iPhone 17 Air blank does suggest another altered area of the design, with the selfie camera and forward-facing sensors flipped around. This is no doubt due to accommodations needed to hit in the larger rear camera hardware. Still, I cant help feeling that having one phone offering a different profile is something an earlier iteration of Apple would have fought to avoid.iPhone 17 QuestionsWhat cant be seen is the base of any of the four smartphones. There are some suggestions that Apple is considering dropping the USB-C port to create a sealed iPhone. They would rely on cloud syncing and wireless charging instead of the traditional cabled options.While the blanks tell us much about the external cues in the new design, some mysteries remain.Now read the latest iPhone 17, MacBook and AI issues in Forbes weekly Apple news digest...
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  • WWW.BUSINESSINSIDER.COM
    A jury awarded a delivery driver burned by Starbucks tea $50 million
    2025-03-16T22:24:05Z Read in app A delivery driver burned by a hot tea from Starbucks in 2020 was just awarded $50 million. Smith Collection/Gado/Gado via Getty Images This story is available exclusively to Business Insider subscribers. Become an Insider and start reading now.Have an account? A jury awarded Michael Garcia, a delivery driver, $50 million after a Starbucks drink burned him.Garcia filed a complaint against Starbucks in 2020 after a hot tea fell on his lap.Garcia suffered serious burns, his lawyers argued.A court ordered Starbucks to pay $50 million to a California delivery driver who suffered serious burns after a hot tea fell in his lap.A Los Angeles County jury found Starbucks negligent on March 14, marking four years since the litigation between Starbucks and Michael Garcia began. Garcia, who worked at the time as a Postmates driver, first filed the complaint against Starbucks in March 2020.A Starbucks spokesperson told Business Insider it planned to appeal the decision."We sympathize with Mr. Garcia, but we disagree with the jury's decision that we were at fault for this incident and believe the damages awarded to be excessive," the statement said. "We plan to appeal. We have always been committed to the highest safety standards in our stores, including the handling of hot drinks."Trial Lawyers for Justice, the firm representing Garcia, said he entered a Starbucks drive-thru that February and ordered three venti-sized hot teas. The firm said the barista at the pick-up window "negligently failed" to secure one of the drinks into the drink carrier."Within 1.4 seconds of Michael taking possession of the tray, the unsecured cup fell directly into his lap, the lid popped off, and the scalding hot tea caused third-degree burns to his penis, groin, and inner thighs," a press release said. "He was taken by paramedics to the emergency room."Nick Rowley, Garcia's attorney, said the driver's life "has been forever changed.""No amount of money can undo the permanent catastrophic harm he has suffered, but this jury verdict is a critical step in holding Starbucks accountable for flagrant disregard for customer safety and failure to accept responsibility," he said in a statement.
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    I moved to South Korea without knowing anyone. A family of strangers took me in, and we're still in touch 18 years later.
    2025-03-16T21:03:01Z Read in app The Kims took in the author and made him feel less lonely. Courtesy of the author This story is available exclusively to Business Insider subscribers. Become an Insider and start reading now.Have an account? I moved to South Korea when I was 24 to teach English. I was lonelier than I had ever been when I met a local family.We are still in touch 18 years later, and their daughter is the age I was when I met them. My life in Korea got off to a rough start.Six days after settling into suburban Seoul to teach English, I arrived at my apartment to find my key didn't work. Strange, I thought. The key had worked that morning when I left. I walked to the school and found all my belongings in garbage bags. The owner informed me that he didn't have a job for me after all and then loaded my stuff into the school van. He was passing me along to a friend on the other side of Seoul who needed a teacher. Without much agency, I fell in line.The new apartment was nestled at the end of a rundown alley. It was small, musty, and filled with sterile fluorescent light. The new town was on the very outskirts of an expanding metropolis, the last stop on the newest subway line. To fill the time, I signed up for taekwondo in the evenings. I was the only adult in a dojo full of small children, some of whom I taught during the day. It was like that episode of Seinfeld where Kramer takes karate. I Skyped home often from dark and smoky PC bangs (internet cafs) to connect to the people who knew me.I was lonelier than I had ever been. Then I met the Kims.They asked me to teach their daughter EnglishThey owned the restaurant at the end of my alley. It was called The Pig House and served exactly what you'd expect from a restaurant with that name. Winding aluminum ducts snaked down like tentacles to the grills at each table.One day, a woman approached me. It was a friend of theirs who spoke English who said the Kims asked if I would tutor their daughter, Eujin, who was six. I agreed. I gave Eujin lessons on the heated floor of a small room in the back of the restaurant, often while her dad, Byungdong, watched Korean soap operas beside us.Soon, I was having dinner there most nights after taekwondo. Eujin's mom, Myungjoo, bought an English phrase book that she used as a tool in our nightly conversations. Once, frustrated with each other and eager to practice English, I witnessed an argument using the book. Myungjoo searched for the right insult."Talking to you is like talking to a brick wall," she over-enunciated.Byungdong grabbed the book, flipping pages for the proper retort. A full minute passed."You don't know what you are talking about," he clapped back, his face contorting as it always would when he tried to pronounce English words.They were what I neededOur relationship deepened. They took me to noraebangs (karaoke rooms) with their extended family. I spent Chuseok, Korean Thanksgiving, with them. On weekends, sometimes we would pile into Byungdong's taxi and go hiking in places I never would have found. Other times I took them into Seoul to explore the neighborhoods I was discovering because they rarely went into the city.I realized throughout all of this my loneliness was melting away. But it was more than that. As an only child of a divorced family, spending time with the Kims was like therapy I never knew I needed.I left Korea after seven months but never lost contact with the Kims. Today, Eujin is 24, the age I was when we met. I have kids of my own who are roughly the ages she and her brother Woonghee were back then. Eujin's English is great, and we Skype regularly. She sends my kids Christmas gifts. I give her interview advice. We talk about the Squid Game and share recipes.The Kims want to come to the US, and we've told them they will always have a place to stay. After all, that's what family's for.
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    Block Malware & Protect Your Privacy With This Affordable VPN
    While VPNs are often used for privacy protection, theyre actually far more than that. With some of them, like NordVPN, you can also protect your devices against malware and keep the investment relatively low.Why is this important? Well, there are plenty of reasons.Malware infection could also infringe on your privacy or even make your device a milking machine for crypto miners. Additionally, if youre in a surveillance-ridden country, a VPN will encrypt your traffic and make it unreadable.Luckily, you can protect both sides of your privacy with NordVPN.This guide will explore how and even let you in on a secret NordVPN Birthday deal, where you can get up to a year of this VPN for FREE.See At NordVPNEnjoy 360-degree Privacy & SecurityNordVPN offers powerful 256-bit encryption to keep your traffic safe. It also employs a Double VPN, which doubles the said encryption to keep snoopers and ISPs at bay.This VPNs appeal lies in its no-log policy, which has received multiple third-party audits. This results in NordVPN retaining no sensitive information on its servers. With this in place, you can browse, stream, and torrent in privacy.If you choose NordVPN Plus, Complete, or Prime plan, youll get Threat Protection Pro. This is where malware blocking comes into play, spiced up by ad-blocking and tracker protection. It works similarly to an antivirus.Youll enjoy real-time protection, where NordVPN will prevent malicious downloads and kill ads in real time. With this proposition, youll avoid third-party tracking and not have your device mine crypto for an unknown entity.NordVPN also includes browsing protection, helping you avoid phishing attacks and suspicious websites. If you add to that streaming optimization, thousands of P2P servers, and VPN obfuscation, you get an award-winning VPN.NordVPN Birthday Deal ConditionsAt the moment, NordVPN celebrates its 13 years of existence with an eye-watering sale. Namely, the provider has slashed the prices of its 24-month plans by 70% but the stars are Plus, Complete, and Prime plans.The Plus plan is likely the best value because it contains all of the said features plus NordPass, to help you manage and create secure passwords. The Plus package comes in at $4.39/mo for 24 months, with 6 free months. NordVPNThis means youre paying for 24 and get 30 months of NordVPN.Youll also love its Complete plan at $5.39/mo with 6 free months. It contains everything from Plus with NordLockers 1 TB of encrypted cloud storage.Lastly, theres NordVPNs Prime plan at $8.39/mo, which builds upon the other two by adding NordProtect. If you value privacy above everything, this plan is the ultimate solution, as it also gives you 12 free months.Check Out NordVPN Birthday OffersAll of them are risk-free with a 30-day money-back guarantee, so theres room for wiggle if you make up your mind.Just be quick because the Birthday sale ends soon.
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    STOCK T.C Culinary Emporium / Giannone Petricone Associates Inc. Architects
    STOCK T.C Culinary Emporium / Giannone Petricone Associates Inc. ArchitectsSave this picture! Doublespace PhotographyToronto, CanadaArchitects: Giannone Petricone Associates Inc. ArchitectsAreaArea of this architecture projectArea:21500 ftYearCompletion year of this architecture project Year: 2023 PhotographsPhotographs:ManufacturersBrands with products used in this architecture project Manufacturers: Benjamin Moore, Bennet Mills, CIOT, Filotimo, FilzFelt, HAY, La Bastille, Nella, Saliente Design More SpecsLess SpecsSave this picture!Text description provided by the architects. This culinary emporium the first collaboration between two of Giannone Petricone Associates'long-time clients, Toronto food empresarios Cosimo Mammolitti of Terroni/SUD Forno and Stephen Alexander of Cumbrae's began with a conversation about creating an original gastronomic experience offering fine ingredients, prepared foods, and vibrant dining. Giannone Petricone's response began with a name: STOCK T.C implies stocked shelves, chicken stock, stockyards essential building blocks from which to create a theatre of food, considered and presented in a trajectory from raw to refined.Save this picture!Save this picture!Save this picture!Within a landmark postal station, STOCK T.C offers an open market at grade, a 200-seat bistro on the second floor, and a third-floor garden room event space with a circular bar and roof terrace. To restore and repurpose the 1936 limestone building, the design team lined the perimeter walls with a second skin spaced from the original shell, and from it hung shelving, lighting, and acoustic dampening textures. The omnipresence of food preparation, with a clear 'backstage' treatment, mixes with the building materials to entertain the senses.Save this picture!Save this picture!Just as bountiful shelves and counters display raw ingredients and comestibles, and the restaurant serves artfully finished plates, Giannone Petricone introduces materials and architectural elements interpreted in degrees of unrefined to refined. This progression unfolds as one move from the ground-level market and self-serve tavola calda to the bistro, bar, and event experiences on the second and third levels. The stacking of spaces, and the charged thresholds between them, are enriched by vestiges of the historic building's original purpose, such as custom 'coffer' lights; postage stamp-patterned mosaic flooring, and felt ceiling baffles reminiscent of filing cabinet dividers.Save this picture!Save this picture!The ground level introduces the experience with a relaxed but intoxicating kitchen and pantry, filled with personally selected provisions such as sundries, dried goods, fresh produce, specialty items, and cut flowers displayed on stock room-style shelving. Anchored by large butchery and bakery counters, the space is collected under a rippling felt proscenium. Aromas and glimpses into the 'backstage' kitchens lead patrons to ready-to-eat and ready-to-cook takeaway counters. A mix of seating invites lingering to enjoy the fresh offerings on the spot.Save this picture!Save this picture!Save this picture!The second-floor bistro presents an orchestra of kitchens, open to a gallery of butter-yellow tufted leather banquettes and cork paneling. The center bar is designed to bridge day-to-night experiences, framed by a glittering mosaic proscenium depicting a sublime pink sunrise. The third floor is a purpose-built, glass garden room. Almost 100 seats in the main dining area are flexible to accommodate arrangements for various functions all year round. This exclusive event space takes full advantage of its roof-top view and is surrounded by a lush terrace along the vintage cornice of its host building. From the potential of hand-chosen ingredients to the pleasure of gathering around a table, STOCK T.C's design celebrates the transformative possibilities of where and what we eat.Save this picture!Save this picture!According to Giannone Petricone Partner, Ralph Giannone, "STOCK T.C is about city-building." He explains, "People come to Toronto for its heritage and for its multiculturalism. We love food; we love 'messy'; we love the mixing of cultures and expectations. With this project, we stewarded the heritage postal station once a center for connectivity and transformed it into an unusual gastronomic emporium that draws people together to share in a wonderful new cultural experience."Save this picture!Project gallerySee allShow lessProject locationAddress:2388 Yonge Street, Toronto, ON, CanadaLocation to be used only as a reference. It could indicate city/country but not exact address.About this officePublished on March 16, 2025Cite: "STOCK T.C Culinary Emporium / Giannone Petricone Associates Inc. Architects" 16 Mar 2025. ArchDaily. Accessed . <https://www.archdaily.com/1027756/stock-tc-culinary-emporium-giannone-petricone-associates-inc-architects&gt ISSN 0719-8884Save!ArchDaily?You've started following your first account!Did you know?You'll now receive updates based on what you follow! Personalize your stream and start following your favorite authors, offices and users.Go to my stream
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  • X.COM
    Brilliant!
    Brilliant!CG Obaid:#Blender #b3dPlant model from @quixeltools
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  • X.COM
    Re @GrassLazzy thank you so much!
    Re @GrassLazzy thank you so much!
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  • X.COM
    New article: Do You Really Need a Degree to Work in VFX or Games? Discover the truth about degrees in the industrywhat really matters, what stu...
    New article: Do You Really Need a Degree to Work in VFX or Games? Discover the truth about degrees in the industrywhat really matters, what studios look for, and how to break in without one! https://flipnm.co/4iHQD3F
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