It looks like you're using an Ad Blocker.
Please white-list or disable AboveTopSecret.com in your ad-blocking tool.
Thank you.
Some features of ATS will be disabled while you continue to use an ad-blocker.
President Joe Biden said Friday that he is planning to request more money from Congress to develop another new coronavirus vaccine, as scientists track new waves and hospitalizations rise, though not like before.
Officials are already expecting updated COVID-19 vaccines that contain one version of the omicron strain, called XBB.1.5. It’s an important change from today’s combination shots, which mix the original coronavirus strain with last year’s most common omicron variants. But there will always be a need for updated vaccines as the virus continues to mutate.
Q !UW.yye1fxo ID: 87df69 No.351238 📁
Feb 12 2018 11:35:37 (EST)
Flowers & Gardens.
Learn the hidden symbolism.www.encyclopedia.com...📁
What does a 'Flower' represent?
What does 'Deflower' represent?
Q
New Zealand's government said it will partner with U.S. investment giant BlackRock in its aim to become one of the first nations in the world to have its electricity grid run entirely from renewable energy.
The government said it was helping BlackRock launch a $1.2 billion fund to ramp up investments in wind and solar generation, as well as battery storage and green hydrogen. Some of the investment is expected to come from government-owned companies.
This is a gamechanger for the clean-tech sector, and an example of the pragmatic and practical steps the government's taking to accelerate climate action while actually growing our economy and creating jobs,” Prime Minister Chris Hipkins told reporters in Auckland.
Hipkins said the fund would allow New Zealand companies to produce intellectual property that could be commercialized across the world.
BlackRock released few details about the planned 2 billion New Zealand dollar ($1.22 billion) fund, but did say it would initially target institutional investors. It was the first time BlackRock had launched an initiative of its kind, said Andrew Landman, the head of BlackRock in Australia and New Zealand.
What I’m trying to say is that crypto itself was never the problem – this issue is who owns it. Does it make sense now why banks and asset managers all of a sudden warmed up to crypto as soon as their competition was deaded?
They know the government is coming for their deposit base, and they need to make sure that the only available antidote to inflation, crypto, is under their control. TradFi banks and asset managers will offer crypto exchange-traded funds (ETF) or similar type managed products that give the client a crypto derivative in exchange for fiat cash.
The crypto billionaire says that BlackRock, the largest asset manager in the world, will likely attempt to corner much of Bitcoin’s consensus network, as well as the mining industry.
Larry Fink doesn’t give two f**ks about decentralization. His business is based on centralizing assets at BlackRock.
For many technology enthusiasts, the metaverse holds the promise of revolutionizing nearly every aspect of daily living, from professional pursuits to learning experiences to leisure activities. Now, a recent study from Cornell University indicates that the environment could also benefit from the metaverse.
The study reveals that the metaverse has the potential to reduce the global surface temperature by as much as 0.02 degrees Celsius by the end of the century.
One thing that did surprise us is that this metaverse is going to grow much quicker than what we expected,” said Fengqi You, professor in energy systems engineering and the paper’s senior author. “Look at earlier technologies – TV, for instance. It took decades to be eventually adopted by everyone. Now we are really in an age of technological explosion. Think of our smartphones. They grew very fast
These findings could help policymakers understand how metaverse industry growth can accelerate progress toward achieving net-zero emissions targets and spur more flexible decarbonization strategies. Metaverse-based remote working, distance learning, and virtual tourism could be promoted to improve air quality. In addition to alleviating air pollutant emissions, the reduction of transportation and commercial energy usage could help transform the way energy is distributed, with more energy supply going towards the residential sector.
While we’re at the earliest stages of what a project like this – and really the larger concept of the metaverse – can achieve, we at Ripple are thrilled to contribute to the foundational infrastructure layer and provide real utility to the end users of the open metaverse.”
The Root Network is a blockchain and suite of protocols with “ready-made runtimes” for building metaverse apps, games and experiences, and already allows for integration with Ripple’s XRP Ledger (XRPL).
Futureverse, which was formed last year by combining 11 startup tech firms, is developing projects that combine AI and blockchain technology for users in the metaverse.
Futureverse has developed an immersive and vertically-integrated metaverse platform that acts as an AI technology provider, metaverse infrastructure builder, layer 1 architect, creative studio, and digital community all-in-one.”
Blockchain start-up Ripple has expressed confidence that US banks and other financial institutions will adapt XPR cryptocurrency in their cross-border payments.
The San Francisco-based firm also aims to start talks with the American financial firms about using its on-demand liquidity (ODL) product, which uses XRP for money transfers, in the third quarter, CNBC reported.
Bank of America (BoA) is using a hybrid of artificial intelligence (AI) and virtual reality (VR) metaverse to train new staff in anything from dealing with irate clients to bank robberies.
The bank’s 2,000 new hires go through a week-long training regimen that includes donning a VR headset to practise responding to a variety of simulated events, according to July 13 Bloomberg report.
The VR scenarios range from everyday ones, such assisting a disgruntled customer or questioning one who requests a huge sum of cash, to extreme ones, like a full-fledged bank robbery.
The new trainees will also unwind in virtual reality by relaxing on an island or riding a unicorn.
originally posted by: RelSciHistItSufi
Is he indicating at reveals that trafficking is about more than sex and slavery?
, a new survey from student and education research publication Intelligent.com revealed that 62% of respondents said they are considering boycotting loan payments in the fall as almost half of them doubt they will be able to afford those payments.
Twenty-nine-year-old Shahem Mclaurin took to TikTok to ask hard questions about whether borrowers like him should protest what many view as systemic unfairness by refusing to pay back their loans.
Are we not paying — like collectively, as a whole,” he said in the viral video, “meaning if you put a payment down you are breaking, you’re crossing the line?”
“How are we going to move? Because they can’t keep getting away with this stuff … if we don’t pay, they are the ones who are going to suffer, not us.”
Corporate America is panicking this earnings season as the prospect of more than 40 million Americans carrying student debt will have to start making payments in October after a three-year-long payment forbearance that had artificially boosted disposable incomes by tens of billions of dollars.
Company execs have already warned investors what's about the incoming spending cliff:
Target's CFO Michael Fiddelke
"The upcoming resumption of student loan repayments will put additional pressure on the already strained budgets of tens of millions of households ... We remain cautious in our planning."
Levi's CEO Chip Bergh
"It's not going to help us ... The consumer is already under pressure and this is just going to ratchet that up even further."
Macy's CFO Adrian Mitchell
"The expiration of student loan forgiveness beginning in October, higher interest rate levels, and lower new job creation are all new pressures on the consumer."
A looming consumer spending cliff has corporate America in a panic. This seems deflationary.
Retailers are going into the rest of 2023 facing uncertainty as student loan payments threaten to cut Americans' disposable income.