We know that life evolved from a common universal ancestor that gave rise to bacteria, archaea (other types of single-celled microorganisms), and eukaryotes (including multi-cellular creatures such as plants and animals). But what did the first animals look like? The past ten years have seen a particularly heated debate over this question. Now our new study, published in Science Advances, has come up with an answer. Sponge vs comb jelly From the 19th century to about ten years ago, there was general agreement that our most distant relatives are sponges....

That includes every record from the band’s debut, titled Pablo Honey, to 2016’s A Moon Shaped Pool — as well a couple of bonus discs like the OK Computer OKNOTOK 1997 2017 reissue, In Rainbows Disk 2 from 2009, and ‘Ill Wind,’ a b-side track from Radiohead’s last album. Word on the street is that it’s not a coincidence the discography was made available on YouTube just days after Billboard announced it will begin factoring YouTube streams into its calculations for the Billboard 200 albums chart....

But does anyone really want 200 megapixels? That’s what Motorola seems to be banking on with its upcoming flagship phones. Lenovo’s general manager posted an image teasing a 200-megapixel smartphone on Weibo (Lenovo owns Motorola). The post didn’t reveal much about the device beyond a July release date, although a separate post did tease a foldable device (presumably the Razr 3) sporting the new Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 chip. Let’s be clear: 200 megapixels on a phone is overkill....

Brands need to figure out a way to appeal to a new generation of customers who are more receptive to experience than intrusive advertising. Luckily, immersive technologies like VR/AR might just be the answer. People hate ads Over the past decade, the advertising industry has had its fair share of problems. Most people put advertising on top of the list of things they dislike the most, and 84 percent of millennials admit they do not trust advertising....

Zoom’s video conferencing app has grown more popular than ever lately, while people are staying home to flatten the curve. But you should know that there’s a major privacy concern with the service. Last night, Vice reported that Zoom’s iOS app is nonconsensually sending data to Facebook — even if you don’t have a Facebook account. What’s more shocking is that the company’s privacy policy makes no mention of it....

Given the speed and timing of COVID, there has been a rapid transformation in the European micromobility market. According to recent news stories and press releases, many of the largest operators have been in active late-stage fundraises to shore up their consumer offers, expand their fleets, and increase their geographic service areas. Namely, Tier, Voi, and Bolt have been the standout micromobiity operators that have not only weathered the COVID-19 financial storm, but have been able to attract massive equity capital investment, scale their operations, and aggressively hire across all business units....

As Startup Genome’s founder and CEO I’m here to offer a simplified view of startup ecosystem building. But, keep in mind, although it may sound simple, it’s not easy! You can broadly conceive of the process as following three basic steps. Step 1: Build Critical Mass As my professor Michael Porter used to say, startup ecosystems are essentially just industry clusters. That means that, at the beginning, growing an ecosystem is basically a local matter....

We analyzed the market, spoke to many key players and narrowed down our list of candidates to Panda (headquartered in Bilbao, Spain) and a few others. After selecting Panda, we entered into an exclusivity period from January to March 2020, ultimately signing the acquisition deal on March 6 and officially closing the transaction on June 1. Looking back, these were challenging times. Just consider how the COVID-19 timeline progressed during this same period....

It won’t be long before all of corporate America adopts four-day workweeks to increase productivity and boost company morale, while minimizing the risk of burnout and business profit loss. Setting up shorter workweeks was a hot topic turned dream pursuit and now, it’s steadily becoming a reality. It appears to be the solution to perfecting work/life harmony in a labor market where modern employees crave ownership over their schedules and greater social freedom to experience, you know …life....

Exciting environmentally-friendly products are an easy incentive for consumers to go green. However, they should be wary of greenwashing, or when a brand’s sustainable marketing conflicts with its actual business practices. While there are valid arguments against green materialism, there are benefits to adopting eco-friendly consumer practices. For example, according to a recent study in the Journal of Consumer Research, the “greenconsumption effect” refers to when a person uses a green product, and subsequently gets a ‘warm glow feeling,’ which is absent when using a conventional, unsustainable product....

But what exactly is it that will determine success within this fast-growing industry? And what do startups need to know in order to attain partnerships with the corporates that can get their products on the map? Well, in my experience, it all boils down to four key lessons — but let’s begin with outlining the research I’m basing this on before diving into each of them. Getting to know the field My team at TNW works with industry-leading companies and governments all over the globe looking to partner with or support small innovative businesses in expanding their reach....

So we can all agree feedback is a must, but effective feedback doesn’t “just happen.” If you want to use feedback to inspire the best in your team (and yourself!), you need to foster a culture where giving, receiving, and acting on feedback isn’t just tolerated — it’s both expected and embraced. But why, exactly, is feedback such an important part of building a thriving company? How do you foster that feedback culture within your own organization?...

I spoke to the design team the day before the first session to ask, “Can we do this? Is it going to be awkward?” The answer to both of those questions was a resounding yes. We did it. Then we did it again and again. It’s working. We’re brainstorming remotely and churning out ideas as if we’re all standing in front of the same whiteboard. If your team is new to working remotely, brainstorming, or both, here are some tips for you....

For instance, we may cherry pick statistics supporting our viewpoint and ignore statistics showing we are wrong. We also still need to correctly interpret these statistics. It’s easy for us to share this misinformation. Many of these statistics are also interrelated, so misunderstandings can quickly multiply. Here’s how we can avoid five common errors, and impress friends and family by getting the statistics right. 1. It’s the infection rate that’s scary, not the death rate Social media posts comparing COVID-19 to other causes of death, such as the flu, imply COVID-19 isn’t really that deadly....

Timeline: What has this guy actually done? I left Twitter in early 2015 with the goal of finding software opportunities in grid modernization (See #2). Soon thereafter, I met a couple guys who were leaving LBNL to start a company around a novel sensing technique for monitoring home energy use. I joined them as the first employee of Whisker Labs, where we set about making it cheaper and easier to mine residential energy data....

The AI we use everyday in our phones, cameras, and smart devices usually falls into the category of deep learning. We’ve previously covered algorithms and artificial neural networks – concepts surrounding deep learning – but this time we’ll take a look at how deep learning systems actually learn. Deep learning, to put it simply, is a method by which a machine can extract information from data by sending it through different layers of abstraction....

There is much more to coronaviruses than SARS-CoV-2. Coronaviruses are actually a family of hundreds of viruses. Most of these infected animals such as bats, chickens, camels, and cats. Occasionally, viruses that infect one species can mutate in such a way that allows them to start infecting another species. This is called “cross-species transmission” or “spillover.” The first coronavirus was discovered in chickens in the 1930s. It was a few decades until the first human coronaviruses were identified in the 1960s....

Coworking spaces have been growing in all the world’s major cities for 15 years. But what makes them so popular? Why and when did they appear? Who are their members? New technologies such as artificial intelligence and robots are leading employers to rethink the way they work. At the same time, workers want more autonomy and flexibility. Many have chosen self-employment to escape organizational constraints and to determine where and when they will work....

The all-new 2021 Volkswagen ID.4 is the car VW is counting on to build its post-diesel-scandal electric car business in the United States. Based on a first look—but sadly, not a drive—I’d say they have reason for optimism. The hottest segment in the American vehicle market today is compact crossovers–think Toyota RAV4 and Honda CR-V. That’s precisely where the ID.4 fits—except that it’s all-electric only, while those two cars are available as gas cars, a hybrid (the CR-V and RAV4) or a plug-in hybrid (RAV4 Prime)....

In our work, we deal with both technical and people systems: we support individual engineers’ growth; help teams become successful; and make the organization more productive, functional, and innovative. Above all, an engineering manager is a service or support role across these various layers. Perhaps most fascinating and difficult is the high-level of ambiguity that comes with engineering management. Many problems or questions don’t have straightforward answers. There aren’t absolute answers to what it means to be a good engineering manager either, but there are certain values and guideposts to follow....