All posts tagged: point

Kate Hudson Unleashes Her Star Power on Netflix’s Running Point

Kate Hudson Unleashes Her Star Power on Netflix’s Running Point

Published by Sam

As we continue to fret about the state of the American movie star, wondering where we let all the mojo go, one such figure is quietly making her way back into the spotlight—albeit through television. We all remember Kate Hudson, the Hollywood scion who rocketed to fame 25 years ago in Almost Famous (for which she was expected to win an Oscar, but lost in an upset; had she won, Hollywood history may have changed forever!). Eventually, she receded from the spotlight, seemingly of her own volition. She had businesses to run, children to raise; the rollercoaster of professional acting probably seemed less and less worth the risk. Though Hudson never fully went away, her acting work slowed. But in recent years, Hudson has been popping up more frequently, suggesting she is perhaps ready for a full-time return. Exhibit A: her headlining role in a glossy new Netflix series, Running Point (February 27). Hudson is firmly the lead here, playing the once daffy party-girl scion of a pro basketball dynasty who finds herself running the …

Scientists create nanotubes that point in one direction

Scientists create nanotubes that point in one direction

Published by skeptic

Tungsten disulfide nanotubes (WS2-NTs), first discovered in 1992, have long captured the attention of researchers for their potential applications in advanced technologies. These cylindrical nanostructures, composed of rolled tungsten disulfide sheets, possess unique properties that make them valuable for uses ranging from energy storage to optical sensors. Unlike carbon nanotubes, which vary between metallic and semiconducting properties based on their structure, WS2-NTs are consistently semiconducting. This characteristic makes them ideal for semiconductor and optoelectronic devices. However, a major obstacle has hindered their broader application: achieving controlled alignment in nanotube arrays. Nanomaterials such as nanotubes and nanowires are often used in macroscopic devices, but their orientation is critical to optimizing performance. Randomly oriented nanotubes result in significantly reduced carrier mobility and isotropic optical responses, which obscure the unique properties of the material. For instance, carrier mobility is a measure of how efficiently charge carriers like electrons move through a material. In randomly aligned nanotubes, this efficiency drops drastically, limiting their usefulness in high-performance devices. Optical responses also suffer when nanotubes are randomly oriented. Unique anisotropic properties, …

The Breaking Point for Eggs

The Breaking Point for Eggs

Published by José

This is an edition of The Atlantic Daily, a newsletter that guides you through the biggest stories of the day, helps you discover new ideas, and recommends the best in culture. Sign up for it here. One sign that the egg-cost crisis has gotten dire came in the form of a bright-yellow sticker on a laminated breakfast menu: On Monday, Waffle House announced that it would be adding a temporary 50-cent surcharge to each egg ordered. Egg prices have risen dramatically as of late. First, inflation pushed up their cost. Then the ongoing bird-flu outbreak led to shortages. On the campaign trail, Donald Trump assured Americans that he would get food costs under control: He vowed last summer that he would bring food prices down “on day one”—a promise he did not fulfill. As egg prices have kept ticking up in recent weeks, Karoline Leavitt, Trump’s press secretary, has blamed the Biden administration for high egg costs, citing the standard, USDA-authorized measure of killing millions of egg-laying chickens that were infected with bird flu (something …

The FTC Suing John Deere Is a Tipping Point for Right-to-Repair

The FTC Suing John Deere Is a Tipping Point for Right-to-Repair

Published by skeptic

Today, the US Federal Trade Commission filed a lawsuit against farming equipment manufacturer Deere & Company—makers of the iconic green John Deere tractors, harvesters, and mowers—citing its longtime reluctance to keep its customers from fixing their own machines. “Farmers rely on their agricultural equipment to earn a living and feed their families,” FTC chair Lina Khan wrote in a statement alongside the full complaint. “Unfair repair restrictions can mean farmers face unnecessary delays during tight planting and harvest windows.” The FTC’s main complaint here centers around a software problem. Deere places limitations on its operational software, meaning certain features and calibrations on its tractors can only be unlocked by mechanics who have the right digital key. Deere only licenses those keys to its authorized dealers, meaning farmers often can’t take their tractors to more convenient third-party mechanics or just fix a problem themselves. The suit would require John Deere to stop the practice of limiting what repair features its customers can use and make them available to those outside official dealerships. Kyle Wiens is the …

Ofsted plans five point grading system across 10 areas

Ofsted plans five point grading system across 10 areas

Published by skeptic

More from this theme Recent articles Schools are set to be judged on a sliding scale from ‘exemplary’ to ‘causing concern’ against 10 evaluation areas including teaching, achievement, inclusion and preparation for next steps, proposals for new Ofsted report cards shared with leaders this week reveal. It would mean schools would receive 10 separate ratings for different areas of their provision, rated ‘exemplary’, ‘strong practice’, ‘secure’, ‘attention needed’ and ‘causing concern’, the Financial Times reported. The 10 judgment areas will be curriculum, teaching, achievement, leadership, behaviour and values, attendance, preparation for next steps, opportunities to thrive, inclusion and belonging and safeguarding, the newspaper reported. The plans are still in development, and will also be subject to a consultation with the sector in January. But the FT obtained slides showed to leaders this week setting out the details of what is currently being proposed. In the leaked slides published by the Financial Times, the five proposed ratings are depicted with colour codes ranging from red to purple. However, there are conflicting reports about whether Ofsted has …

Gen-X Women Are At A Crisis Point

Gen-X Women Are At A Crisis Point

Published by skeptic

Gen X women are at a crisis point. After years of child-rearing and making the house a home for her husband and family, working hard and trying to save for retirement while caring for older parents and relatives, she has reached her breaking point. She has been trying to be all things to everyone for far too long with little to no help, and she is now at the end of her rope.  She is underwhelmed by life fulfillment and doesn’t know how to be happy. A mid-life crisis is upon her. It is not just something men in this age group are facing. Gen X women born from 1965–1980, now in their 40s and 50s, feel lost.  They started to feel that they were losing their own identity as a person. After all of their hard years of work caregiving and in the workforce, Gen X women are no longer sure what they have to show for it. For this generation of women, their kids are growing up, and they don’t need their mom …

A Turning Point for Students – OpentheWord.org

A Turning Point for Students – OpentheWord.org

Published by skeptic

Sandy and John Black Pavilion at Ole MissCredit: SerenityLL25, Wikipedia, Public Domain According to Niche, a website that ranks universities in a variety of areas, the University of Mississippi or Ole Miss is one of America’s top party schools. Niche bases its rankings on hundreds of thousands of surveys submitted by students. But on Oct. 10, 2024, there was a party of different sort at the school when over 6,600 students showed up for a revival meeting at the Sandy and John Black Pavilion, CBN reports. The main campus located in Oxford, Mississippi has a student population of 25,000. This means that potentially over 25% of the student population attended the event. This is a significant percentage. The meeting resulted in hundreds of students publicly confessing their sins, and speaking of their struggles with addictions to alcohol, drugs and sex. Many were water baptized in the back of a half ton truck at the end of the service. The service featured two speakers, Harris Creek Baptist Church pastor Jonathan Pokluda, and IF:Gathering founder Jennie Allen. …

Ian Hislop jokes about ‘high point’ of taxi incident mistaken for shooting | UK News

Ian Hislop jokes about ‘high point’ of taxi incident mistaken for shooting | UK News

Published by skeptic

Ian Hislop has joked there was one “high point” of being involved in an incident initially thought to be a shooting earlier this week. The Private Eye editor was travelling in a black taxi near the magazine’s office in Soho, central London, on Tuesday when the rear window of the vehicle smashed. It was initially believed the cab had been hit by a bullet – but the Metropolitan Police later said there was “no evidence of a firearms discharge at this time”. Hislop discussed the incident in Friday night’s pre-recorded episode of Have I Got News For You. In a scene which played before the episode’s opening credits, Hislop could be seen telling the show’s host, panellists and studio audience: “I always say at this point I’m glad to be here, but this week I really mean it. “There was one high point when a policeman investigating me said ‘this may be a silly question but is there anyone who might have a grudge against you?’.” As the audience laughed, Hislop’s rival team captain Paul …

The God Gap abides, up to a point

The God Gap abides, up to a point

Published by skeptic

(RNS) — In his latest column, The Washington Post’s estimable columnist, E.J. Dionne, takes a shot at the God Gap, the journalistic shorthand coined two decades ago to describe the religious divide between Republicans and Democrats. “The shorthand did capture a polarization around religious practice and intensity among White voters,” Dionne writes. “But it was always a flawed concept because it left out African Americans who are, by many measures, among the most devout believers in the country and vote overwhelmingly Democratic.” Strictly speaking, however, the God Gap did not leave out African Americans. It was identified via exit polls by asking voters regardless of race, ethnicity or religious identity how often they attended worship services. It turned out that, beginning in the 1990s, an increasing proportion of those who said they attended at least once a week voted Republican. In the 2000 election, the pro-Republican gap was 20 percentage points. Since then it has remained thereabouts, reaching 24 points in 2020. That said, there’s no question that the preference applies far more to white …

Phillipson asks STRB to report ‘at the earliest point’

Phillipson asks STRB to report ‘at the earliest point’

Published by skeptic

More from this theme Recent articles Bridget Phillipson has asked the School Teachers’ Review Body for recommendations on 2025 teacher pay “at the earliest point”, as the new government seeks to move the process earlier in the year. The education secretary has also asked for a recommendation on whether changes to the pro rating of teaching and learning responsibility (TLR) payments should be made to enable “greater flexibility”, noting they were “a concern for many in the sector”. However she warned about the government’s dire financial situation – pointing to £22 billion of wider funding pressures. Under the previous government, the annual pay-setting process had slipped later and later in the year, with final announcements usually coming in July after schools had already had to set draft budgets for the next year. Gillian Keegan Last year, for example, the education secretary Gillian Keegan sent her remit letter to the STRB just a few days before Christmas, and then the Department for Education was late in submitting its evidence. The election further kicked the decision down …