A tech company in Richmond has laid off the last of its workers after furloughing most of its staff earlier in July. This comes on the heels of several funding rounds that have raised $110 million for the company in recent years, yet another example of how quickly fortunes can turn in the modern tech sector. Rise and Fall Thisisengineering/Unsplash The company was once one of the rising stars of the tech industry, attracting major interest from established tech giants. It had received investment from Microsoft and Amazon, and one of its plants was launched by California Governor Gavin Newsom.…
Author: Benjamin Carter
A multinational drug company has laid off hundreds of workers in 2 branches in their North Carolina facilities. A spokesman for the company, Steven Danehy, detailed the reasons behind the shake-up, and said that, ultimately, the changes were made “to meet the needs of the business.” Sites Will Not Close National Cancer Institute/Unsplash The company insists that the sites laying off workers are not on the verge of shuttering. Instead, some manufacturing lines will be shut down as the company shifts to the production of new pharmaceuticals. Blow for North Carolina Science Leslie Cross/Unsplash Pharmaceutical giant and IP rights lobbyist,…
The world continues to reel from the IT outage that affected around 8.5 million Windows devices globally. Although fixes have returned stability after the issue with CrowdStrike software, Windows devices, especially those that have not updated in some time, remain vulnerable. Global IT Outage Rocker STA/Unsplash A recent IT outage, affecting millions of PCs worldwide, caused havoc in businesses, health systems and airports. The majority of those devices are now back online, but the fallout continues as US Fortune 500 companies were reported to have lost $5.4 billion of losses during the outage. Scale of Cyberattack Issue Markus Spiske/Unsplash Despite…
California State Governor, Gavin Newsom, has taken a policy decision on dealing with California’s excessive homeless population that one lawyer described as “draconian.” The executive order, which comes amidst extreme levels of homelessness in the state, was issued on Thursday. California Homeless Population CarmenEsparzaAmoux/Wikimedia California has a massive homeless population, that rises year-on-year. According to some, the increase may be in part due to unaffordable house prices. In 2023, California had a homeless population of 180,000, a 6% jump on the previous year. California Special Викидим/Wikimedia Cities and states across the US are dealing with rising populations of homeless people…
A recent NASA mission has unearthed another piece of evidence that suggests that life may have evolved on Mars at some point in its past. The evidence, collected by NASA’s Perseverance rover, has been described as “one of the most puzzling” rocks yet discovered on Mars. Not Alone in the Universe Pete Godfrey/Unsplash If it were to eventually prove evidence of life, the find has the potential to drastically alter our view of Earth in the universe. It would mean that, rather than the development of life on Earth being an isolated event, Earth may be part of a community…
Tesla stocks took another substantial hit of more than 11% on Wednesday as the company released Q2 results that tell a complex story of a company facing struggles on different fronts. The report contained some notes of optimism, with upcoming releases, energy innovations, and the anticipated “robotaxi” reveal. Optimism Shaken Moritz Kindler/Unsplash Tesla are coming off a successful year in 2023, which contained steep increases in car production and deliveries. The company’s stock more than doubled in price, with a 101.7% increase in value, but are not yet seeing this trend continue in 2024. Burst Bubble? Markus Spiske/Unsplash Companies always…
The 15th largest producer of wine in the US, which also produces a number of other well-known alcohol brands, has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. The brand placed the blame for reduced demand of its products on consumers shifting preferences following the global pandemic. 100s of Millions of Assets Laura Beames/Unsplash The company, while currently struggling with bankruptcy, maintains control over a substantial portfolio of assets. It had an estimated $475 million worth of assets on March 31, which it is still looking to sell. Seeking Additional Financing Sven Wilhelm/Unsplash The alcohol brand is seeking additional financing to allow it…
Following King Charles ascent to the throne, Prince William received a new title and, with it, a jaw-dropping pay rise. He has had to take on a number of duties following the death of Queen Elizabeth II, and the royals have faced a number of difficulties in the past year. Recent Revelations Kevin Schneider/Pixabay The rise was revealed with the release of the Duchy of Cornwall’s annual report on Wednesday. The Integrated Annual Report showed a substantial increase in both Prince William’s personal profits and the profit of the Duchy estate. No Royal Salary? Kutan Ural/Unsplash The British Royals do…
A major global car brand has been forced to issue recalls for more than 291,000 vehicles after regulators discovered a defect. This comes following another recall issue affecting hundreds of thousands of vehicles, just earlier this month, in response to a separate, explosive car defect that has killed dozens of people. Car Recalls a Serious Issue Abeer Graphis/Unsplash Car recalls are generally reserved for major issues due to the costs associated with a major recall. That the cars are being recalled in such numbers indicates that the problem may be a serious one, and one that owners should be made…
Floodbase, a technology company that creates products to monitor flood patterns, has just released a new data product to more precisely measure the severity of flooding in coastal regions of the US. The data, collated using machine-learning, comes as climate shifts are leading to floods that are costing homes and businesses 100s of billions of dollars and will be welcomed especially by parametric flood insurance companies. Most Expensive US Disaster Artiom Vallat/Unsplash Flooding is both the most common and the most expensive weather-based disaster that US citizens face. Flood costs are difficult to estimate with accuracy but a recent Senate…