Here's all you need to know about Influencers in the Wild and its founder George before you see him negotiate a deal with the Sharks

NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sep 6, 2023--

They are an almost inevitable feature of any upmarket kitchen, but the glamour and durability afforded by quartz countertops come at a heavy cost. We’re not talking about their often eye-watering price tags, but about the deadly toll they’re taking on the workers who make them. A new study, conducted by the University of California – San Francisco (UCSF), has concluded that these craftspeople are dying of lung disease at a young age as a result of their work. “Every day I hope that the phone rings telling me to come to the hospital to get my new lungs,” former countertop maker Leobardo Segura-Meza said in a press release for the medical report, which was published in JAMA Internal Medicine on Monday. Sign up for our free Indy100 weekly newsletter Segura-Meza, 27, first took a job as a stone worker in LA when he was just 17. He explained that he would always wear a mask and use dust-reducing tools when he cut and ground the slabs. And yet, in February 2022, he suffered from such severe shortness of breath that he was forced to go to A&E. A lung biopsy revealed that he had silicosis and he has been on an oxygen tank ever since. He’s now no longer able to financially support his wife and children and, although he’s been approved for a lung transplant, he fears he’ll run out of time. Two fellow stone workers died while they were on the waiting list, the press release points out. So why is quartz so bad? How many people have died so far? And what’s being done about it? What exactly is quartz and why is it particularly dangerous? Quartz is the most abundant mineral in the Earth's crust and is made up of silicon and oxygen. It is resistant to chemical and physical weathering, which makes it ideal for use in kitchen worktops. “Quartz” countertops aren’t made of pure quartz, however. They consist of an artificial material made up of pieces of natural quartz bonded together with adhesive, resins and, often, glass. They are popular, not only because they are robust and easy to clean, but because natural quartz can be found in a variety of colours and can also be easily dyed. The danger associated with quartz comes from the tiny particles of toxic dust that are released when it is cut, ground and polished. Over time, exposure to this dust can lead to a disease called silicosis. Particles from this engineered stone are far more dangerous than from its all-natural counterparts because of its high concentration of silica and the polymer resins and dyes that are added to it. The risk of silicosis from artificial stone was first identified in Israel in 2012, and the first US case was identified in Texas in 2015. Since then, California has become an epicentre of the disease, which used to be known among coal miners as “black lung”. What is silicosis? Silicosis is a lung disease caused by breathing in tiny bits of silica. Over time, exposure to silica particles causes inflammation which, over time, can lead to permanent lung scarring. This, in turn, makes breathing difficult. Complications from silicosis can include tuberculosis, lung cancer, chronic bronchitis, autoimmune disorders and kidney disease, the American Lung Association warns. Approximately 2.3 million US workers are exposed to silica because of their jobs, including 2 million in construction and 300,000 in other industries, according to the health organisation. How many people have died after working on quartz countertops? Researchers at UCSF and UCLA collaborated with public health officials to identify 52 stone workers in the state who had recently been diagnosed with silicosis. Of these, 51 were Latino immigrants – like Segura-Meza – and most were diagnosed between 2019 and 2022. For 20 of the patients, the disease had already reached an advanced stage at the time of their diagnosis, and have now 10 died. Their median age was 45, with an average work history of 15 years, according to the report. “Increasing case counts of silicosis among stone fabricators over the last 10 years and accelerated progression of disease transforms the paradigm of an all-but-previously-forgotten disease in the US,” said Jane Fazio, a co-author of the UCSF study. “Our study demonstrates severe morbidity and mortality among a particularly vulnerable group of young underinsured and likely undocumented Latino immigrant workers.” What’s being done about all this? The study’s authors are calling for the implementation of new measures to protect workers from exposure to silica dust and help ensure early diagnosis of silicosis. There is also some discussion of a potential ban of high-silica products. “Our paper raises the alarm,” said Sheiphali Gandhi, a UCSF pulmonologist and co-author of the study. “If we don't stop it now, we're going to have hundreds if not thousands of more cases. Even if we stopped it now, we're going to be seeing these cases for the next decade because it takes years to develop.” No country has yet banned quartz-based materials, but Australia has considered it and is developing new regulations to help reduce the risk of silicosis, the press release for the study notes. In California, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors is reportedly weighing up a potential ban, and the state’s Division of Occupational Safety and Health has begun drafting emergency rules. However, among the challenges faced by affected workers are a lack of access to health care and the need to support their families. Of the patients included in the study, 45 per cent continued working after their diagnosis. Furthermore, demand for quartz surfaces is booming. According to one research report, the market for quartz countertops will grow to $13 billion (more than £10 billion) by 2027. All this leads us to believe that the problem isn't going away any time soon. 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The European Union on Monday gave final approval to an agreement with the US government that restores the ability for thousands of businesses to easily transfer the personal information of European citizens to servers located in the United States, and vice versa, in the face of surveillance concerns by privacy advocates.

European Union regulators have hit Google with fresh antitrust charges, saying the only way to satisfy competition concerns about its lucrative digital ad business is by selling off parts of the tech giant’s main moneymaker

Russian scientists have warned that powerful solar flare activity on Monday may cause significant disruption for satellite and radio communications. Three solar flares observed on Sunday by the Fedorov Institute of Applied Geophysics in Moscow lasted up to 14 minutes, signalling abnormally large geomagnetic disturbances on Earth. The institute forecasted the arrival of class X flares for Monday, which are the most energetic type of solar radiation, capable of damaging electronics. Earlier this month, a giant sunspot named AR3354 grew to a size roughly 10 times larger than Earth, unleashing an X-class flare aimed directly at Earth that triggered radio blackouts in some parts of the US. The latest solar activity is expected to interfere with short-wave radio communications, used by military, maritime and emergency operators. Increased solar storm activity in recent years has led to fears of an impending solar superstorm, which some astronomers warn could lead to an “internet apocalypse”. Such powerful storms occur approximately once every 100 years, with the last major one taking place in 1921. Nasa predicts that the next peak in the Sun’s 11-year activity cycle will arrive at some point in 2025, though it is not clear yet whether this will be the once-in-a-century event that some astronomers fear. The worst on record, referred to as the Carrington Event, took place in 1859 and resulted in fires at telegraph stations. “If the Carrington Event happened today, it would have even more severe impacts, such as widespread electrical disruptions, persistent blackouts, and interruptions to global communications,” the US space agency warned in a recent blog post. “Such technological chaos could cripple economies and endanger the safety and livelihoods of people worldwide.” Research published in 2021 assessed the robustness of internet and communications infrastructure against severe space weather events The study found that coronal mass ejection events could risk disconnecting Europe from the US, with the authors urging more to be done to improve the resilience of global telecommunication networks. In March this year, Nasa announced a new artificial intelligence model capable of predicting where on Earth a solar storm may strike, giving scientists up to 30 minutes of advanced warning. Vishal Upendran, from the Inter-University Center for Astronomy and Astrophysics in India, who was involved in the AI’s development, said: “With this AI, it is now possible to make rapid and accurate global predictions and inform decisions in the event of a solar storm, thereby minimising – or even preventing – devastation to modern society.” Read More Once-in-a-century solar superstorm could plunge the world into ‘internet apocalypse’, study says Powerful solar flare responsible for blackout in US What to expect from India’s Chandrayaan-3 mission to Moon’s south pole India launches historic mission to Moon’s south pole

China has stepped up a feud with Washington over security by telling users of computer equipment deemed sensitive to stop buying products from the biggest U.S. memory chipmaker, Micron Technology Inc. The country's cyberspace agency says Micron products have unspecified “serious network security risks” that threaten China’s information infrastructure and affect national security

Many of us look to the stars for answers to life’s most complex questions. But actually, some of the greatest mysteries lie beneath our very feet. One might think we’d know the Earth pretty well by now but, in fact, our planet’s core remains shrouded in enigma. Indeed, there are two gigantic blobs located beneath Africa and the Pacific Ocean that occupy around six per cent of the world’s entire volume. And yet, we’re still not entirely sure what they’re made of or where they came from. There are a number of hypotheses, including that they are piles of oceanic crust that have accumulated over billions of years. Sign up for our free Indy100 weekly newsletter But a more interesting theory is that they are huge chunks of an ancient planet that hit the Earth around 4.5 billion years ago. To give an indication of just how massive these things are, the structure under Africa – an area known as Tuzo – is thought to be around 800km (497 miles) tall – the equivalent of some 90 Mount Everests stacked on top of one another, as IFLScience notes. The problem with determining the origin of these monster formations is that there are no direct ways of observing the Earth’s core. The deepest hole humans have ever dug – branded the "entrance to hell" – reached a pretty staggering 12,263m (40,230ft), but that doesn’t even come close to breaking through the crust to the layers beneath. Our most effective tool for analysing what lies beneath the ground is a technique called seismic tomography, which looks at how waves of energy travel when earthquakes occur. Since rocks and liquids have different densities, the waves move through them at different speeds. By measuring the tremors from different points on the surface, geologists can determine what kind of material the waves are travelling through and, in so doing, map out the Earth’s interior. It was by using this technique that the two unusual structures – known as large low shear velocity provinces (LLSVPs) – were found. Waves travel more slowly in these areas – fondly known as “blobs” – than through the surrounding lower mantle, indicating that they’re made of something different. We can’t tell what this material is based on seismic tomography data alone, but some scientists like to believe that they are the remnants of an ancient planet called Theia – an idea known as the “giant impact hypothesis”. According to this hypothesis, around 4.5 billion years ago, a Mars-sized object collided with the Earth. This impact not only created the planet we call home today, but also threw off enough rock to form the moon that lights up our night skies. Some scientists suggest that some of Theia’s leftovers also sunk to the bottom of the planet, probably settling somewhere above the core – thereby forming at least one of the two LLSVPs. More Updates About Strange Blob Structures Inside Planet Earth youtu.be Experts have been investigating the area for decades but there’s still no way of knowing for sure just what these two giant blobs are. Still, studies into Theia have offered important insights into how the possible collision might have kickstarted key plate tectonic and mantle motion inside our planet – crucial processes for establishing the world on which we live. It’s also a useful reminder that we still have so much to learn about our planet and where we came from. Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.

Rumors and leaks have been flying around about what Apple plans to show at WWDC

PARIS LA DÉFENSE--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jun 28, 2023--

The Final Fantasy franchise has been an RPG paragon for more than 30 years. Although

Kai Cenat said, 'He's like my little brother, I like Speed because he's like, he's still experiencing things'