Sunday, May 19

Tag: explains

A Food Industry Expert Explains – What’s A Ghost Kitchen?
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LIFESTYLE

A Food Industry Expert Explains – What’s A Ghost Kitchen?

Jeffrey Miller, Colorado State University While the phrase “ghost kitchen” may conjure up images of haunted houses, the reality is a bit more mundane. Ghost kitchens are food prep operations with no waiters, no dining room and no parking lot – really, no public presence whatsoever. But on food delivery apps, they’re alive and well. In short, ghost kitchens are physical spaces for operators to create food for off-premises consumption. And on apps like Grubhub and DoorDash, listings for restaurants operating out of ghost kitchens usually don’t look any different than those for brick-and-mortar operations. For example, where I live in northern Colorado, there’s a restaurant called Rocco’s Ravioli that appears on the apps. But Rocco’s doesn’t have a storefront. It’s a food delivery service...
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An Economist Explains – What’s The Charitable Deduction?
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EDUCATION

An Economist Explains – What’s The Charitable Deduction?

Patrick Rooney, IUPUI The charitable deduction is a dollar-for-dollar reduction in taxable income that lowers what someone owes the Internal Revenue Service. Only donations to tax-exempt charities count. This giving incentive is available only for the 10% of American taxpayers who itemize their tax returns. Taxpayers who itemize can sum up certain expenses, such as the interest they pay to for a home mortgage, and then subtract that money from their taxable income. Here’s a hypothetical example: Clara Doe, a veterinarian, pays a 32% marginal tax rate on her US$200,000 income as a single filer. Because she itemizes, her $100 annual donation to a local food pantry costs her $68 after taxes. Uncle Sam essentially pays the rest by giving her a tax break. Most Americans instead use the stan...
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A Doctor Explains Why Benefits Far Outweigh Risks – Restart Of The Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 Vaccine
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COVID-19, VIDEO REELS

A Doctor Explains Why Benefits Far Outweigh Risks – Restart Of The Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 Vaccine

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Food and Drug Administration lifted the pause on the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine on April 23, 2021, but the labels and fact sheets given to patients will carry a warning about the exceedingly low risk of developing blood clots. Also, close monitoring of the J&J vaccine along with the Moderna and Pfizer vaccines that were given emergency use authorization will continue. Dr. William Petri, an infectious-disease physician and immunologist at the University of Virginia School of Medicine, explains this development and why the agencies decided that the benefits of the vaccine far outweigh the risks. What was the concern with the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine? The FDA and CDC paused the use of the J&J vaccine on...
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A Doctor Explains What A Johnson & Johnson Vaccine Suspension Means For You
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HEALTH & WELLNESS, VIDEO REELS

A Doctor Explains What A Johnson & Johnson Vaccine Suspension Means For You

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Food and Drug Administration on April 13, 2021 halted use of the one-dose Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine that has been given to 6.8 million people in the U.S. The pause is due to reports of blood clotting in six people who have received the vaccine. One woman died, and another has been hospitalized in critical condition. Dr. William Petri, an infectious disease physician and immunologist at the University of Virginia School of Medicine, answers questions to help put this development in context. What is this potential side effect of the J&J vaccine for COVID-19? The potential side effect is a blood clot in the veins that drain blood from the brain. This is called central venous sinus thrombosis. In the vaccine-associated cas...
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A Cryptocurrency Expert Explains NFTs – How Nonfungible Tokens Work And Where They Get Their Value
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BUSINESS, CRYPTOMARKET, TECHNOLOGY

A Cryptocurrency Expert Explains NFTs – How Nonfungible Tokens Work And Where They Get Their Value

Nonfungible tokens prove ownership of a digital item – image, sound file or text – in the same way that people own crypto coins. · Unlike crypto coins, which are identical and worth the same, NFTs are unique. · An NFT is worth what someone is willing to pay for it, which can be a lot if the NFT is made by a famous artist and the buyer is a wealthy collector. An attorney friend recently asked me out of the blue about nonfungible tokens, or NFTs. What prompted his interest was the sale of a collage composed of 5,000 digital pieces, auctioned by Christie’s on March 11, 2021, for a remarkable US$69 million. Mike Winkelmann, an artist known as Beeple, created this piece of digital art, made an NFT of it and offered it for sale. The bidding started at $100, and the rest of the auctioning pr...
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During The US Capitol Riot, A Scholar Of American Anti-Semitism Explains The Hate Symbols Present
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Journalism

During The US Capitol Riot, A Scholar Of American Anti-Semitism Explains The Hate Symbols Present

One of the many horrifying images from the Jan. 6 rampage on the U.S. Capitol shows a long-haired, long-bearded man wearing a black “Camp Auschwitz” T-shirt emblazoned with a skull and crossbones, and under it the phrase “work brings freedom” – an English translation of the Auschwitz concentration camp motto: “Arbeit macht frei.” Another image, more subtle but no less incendiary, is of a different man whose T-shirt was emblazoned with the inscription “6MWE” above yellow symbols of Italian Fascism. “6MWE” is an acronym common among the far right standing for “6 Million Wasn’t Enough.” It refers to the Jews exterminated during the Nazi Holocaust and hints at the desire of the wearer to increase that number still further. These and related images, captured on television and retweeted on soc...
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An Economist Explains, Can A Future Ban On Gas-Powered Cars Work?
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BUSINESS

An Economist Explains, Can A Future Ban On Gas-Powered Cars Work?

The U.S. transportation sector is one of the largest contributors of carbon dioxide, the potent driver of climate change. A ‘green’ symbol for electric vehicle charging stations. Photo by Michael Marais for Unsplash, CC BY-ND Transportation accounts for about 28% of total U.S. greenhouse gas emissions and, since 1990, emissions in this sector have increased more than in any other area. Reducing greenhouse gas emissions by encouraging the use of electric vehicles promises to be an effective strategy to address climate change. That’s because the electric grid is powered by diverse sources, including an increasing amount of renewable energy such as wind and solar. But with more than 270 million motor vehicles registered in the U.S. and a long tradition of powering cars and trucks with foss...
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A Computer Scientist Explains – What A Neural Network Is
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TECHNOLOGY, VIDEO REELS

A Computer Scientist Explains – What A Neural Network Is

One of the central technologies of artificial intelligence is neural networks. In this interview, Tam Nguyen, a professor of computer science at the University of Dayton, explains how neural networks, programs in which a series of algorithms try to simulate the human brain work. Tam Nguyen explains neural networks. What are some examples of neural networks that are familiar to most people? There are many applications of neural networks. One common example is your smartphone camera’s ability to recognize faces. Driverless cars are equipped with multiple cameras which try to recognize other vehicles, traffic signs and pedestrians by using neural networks, and turn or adjust their speed accordingly. Neural networks are also behind the text suggestions you see while writing texts or emails, ...
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An Epidemiologist Explains Her Personal Plans To Host A Safe Holiday Meal During Coronavirus
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IN OTHER NEWS

An Epidemiologist Explains Her Personal Plans To Host A Safe Holiday Meal During Coronavirus

Like many people in this unusual year, I am adjusting my family’s holiday plans so that we can all be safe during the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. I am an epidemiologist and mother of four with a large extended family. Given the serious nationwide resurgence of COVID-19 infections, gatherings of family and friends over the upcoming holidays have the potential to amplify the spread of the virus. Several recent studies have further confirmed that indoor socializing at home carries a significantly higher risk of viral transmission than outdoor activities. Health officials, including Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, have warned that much of transmission this fall is happening across all age groups at small indoor gatherings. For the p...
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15 Minutes Of Exposure And What It Means For You An Epidemiologist Explains The New CDC Guidance
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HEALTH & WELLNESS

15 Minutes Of Exposure And What It Means For You An Epidemiologist Explains The New CDC Guidance

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has new guidance clarifying what exactly “close contact” means when it comes to transmission of SARS-Cov-2, the virus that causes COVID-19. The previous guidance suggested that a close contact occurred when a person was within six feet of an infectious individual for 15 consecutive minutes. Now, the CDC is acknowledging that even brief contact can lead to transmission. Specifically, the new guidance suggests that those spending a total of 15 minutes of contact with an infectious person over the course of a 24-hour period should be considered in close contact. Despite the change, most public health professionals have been clear for months that there is nothing magic about six feet. In the same way, there is nothing magic about 15 minutes. The...
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