Category Archives: News

New Years Resolutions: “Stop Making Excuses Not To Exercise!!” (NY Times)

From a New York Times online article:

The New York Time logoAt the moment, about two-thirds of Americans do not meet the standard exercise guidelines of about 30 minutes a day of moderate exercise, such as walking.

These findings might suggest that, if we adjusted our schedules and turned off the TV, phone or computer, most of us would have plenty of time to work out.

Screen Time vs Physical Activity vs Free Time Chart CDC

Almost all of the respondents — whatever their income, age, gender or ethnicity — reported about five hours a day of leisure time. Men tended to have more free time than women, older people more than the young, and African-American women the least of all. But no group reported less than about four and a half hours a day of free time.

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Economics: A Review Of The U.S. Economy Over The Decade Of The 2010’s (PBS)

As the year comes to a close, we look back at the past decade in the American economy — the first without a recession since record-keeping began in the 1950s. While unemployment remains at a historic low, wage growth has been sluggish, and inequality continues to divide the country. David Wessel of the Brookings Institution and The Washington Post’s Catherine Rampell join Jeffrey Brown.

News: Susan Page And Domenico Montaro On “Politics Monday” (PBS)

USA Today’s Susan Page and Domenico Montanaro of NPR join Lisa Desjardins to discuss the latest political news, including the outlook for 2020 Democrats not making it to the debate stage, campaign dynamics in Iowa and New Hampshire, how senators running for president will handle a potential impeachment trial, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s impeachment strategy and the year in review.

Census Bureau Estimate: World Population Is 7.6 Billion, U.S. 330.2 Million On New Years Day 2020

United States Census Bureau January 1 2020 Estimate of World and U.S. Populations

DEC. 30, 2019 — As the nation prepares to ring in the new year, the U.S. Census Bureau projects the U.S. population will be 330,222,422 on Jan. 1, 2020. This represents an increase of 1,991,085, or 0.61%, from New Year’s Day 2019. Since Census Day (April 1) 2010, the population has grown by 21,476,884 or 6.96%.

In January 2020, the United States is expected to experience one birth every eight seconds and one death every 11 seconds. Meanwhile, net international migration is expected to add one person to the U.S. population every 34 seconds. The combination of births, deaths and net international migration will increase the U.S. population by one person every 19 seconds.

The projected world population on Jan. 1, 2020, is 7,621,018,958, an increase of 77,684,873, or 1.03%, from New Year’s Day 2019. During January 2020, 4.3 births and 1.9 deaths are expected worldwide every second.

The Census Bureau’s U.S. and World Population Clock simulates real-time growth of the United States and world populations at <www.census.gov/popclock>.

Website

Self-Checkout Tech: “Trigo Vision” Uses 3-D Imaging + AI For “Scan-And-Go” Shopping (Video)

Trigo’s network of ceiling-mounted cameras sees what no other system can see. We create a 3D image of the shop-floor environment, and map the movement of every object as consumers shop.

Trigo Vision Technology Computer Vision + AI Retail Store

Our proprietary algorithms and neural networks enable a frictionless shopping experience, where consumers can enter the store, pick and leave.

Website

2020 Exhibitions: “Marie Cuttoli – The Modern Thread From Miró To Man Ray” (Barnes Foundation)

BF logo 01

In 1930s Paris, leading modern artists experimented with tapestry design, thanks to pioneering entrepreneur Marie Cuttoli (1879–1973). Cuttoli lived between Algeria Marie Cuttoli Modern Tapestry from Picasso to Le Corbusier bookand Paris and collected work by artists such as Pablo Picasso, Joan Miró, and Georges Braque.

This exhibition traces her career, from her early work in fashion and interiors to her revival of the French tapestry industry. She commissioned the most celebrated artists of her time—Rouault, Léger, Picasso, Braque, Le Corbusier, Man Ray, and Miró, among others—to create designs for the historic tapestry workshops in Aubusson. By uniting these important paintings and drawings with the resulting tapestry, this exhibition shows their true purpose, revealing modernism’s profound dialogue with the decorative arts.

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2020’s New Food Trends: “NextOn” In South Korea Created World’s First Underground Farm

NEXTON, an indoor vertical farm startup in Korea, realized world’s first vertical farm in a tunnel which naturally maintains temperatures of 10-20C throughout the year even without active heating or cooling solutions.

The farm inside the tunnel is 600 meters long (0.37 miles) with its floor area of ~71,000 sqft, making it one of the world’s largest indoor vertical farms. Integrating this unique tunnel environments with NEXTON’s in-house designed photosynthetically-active LED light sources and proprietary growth system, NEXTON is able to dramatically cut down the cost structure which has plagued profitability and viability of the indoor vertical farming business.

Inside the tunnel, NEXTON is hydroponically growing leafy greens and others without pesticide or herbicide with nutrient water fully-recycled and disinfected chemical-free. NEXTON tuned the environmental and nutritional conditions in such a way to produce crispy and savory leafy greens, well suited for salads. Thanks to our eco-friendly growth methods and clean/controlled environments, our produce needs no or minimal cleaning processes which, in turn, will deliver overall cost benefits to our enterprise customers.

edition.cnn.com/2019/12/09/asia/south-korea-vertical-farm-intl-c2e/index.html

Fastest-Growing Chains: “BurgerIM” Restaurants Offer 11 Protein Options

From a Restaurant Business online article (December 2019):

BurgerIM LogoWith 11 protein options for its burgers (including salmon, lamb, falafel and dry-aged beef), two patty sizes and a host of toppings, Burgerim—which increased its unit count by nearly 250% in 2018 to become the country’s fastest-growing emerging chain—is upping the complexity of the traditional burger concept. 

BurgerIM Facebook page photo

BurgerIM website

The quick-service chain, which has now nearly 200 units (up from 80 in 2018) and another 350 in the “active conception” pipeline, is focusing on training and systems to ensure all those burger variations get executed properly, says Collette Kakuk, Burgerim’s VP of marketing.

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