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Harry Potter’s iconic “Invisibility Cloak” could perhaps be within our sight. Chinese scientists have devised a camouflage material that adjusts its molecular composition to blend into the background, potentially rendering the wearer imperceptible to the naked eye. They detailed this cutting-edge cloaking technology in a study published last month in the journal Science Advances. “Applying this technology to clothing could make an individual effectively ‘invisible’,” head researcher Wang Dongsheng of China’s University of Electronic Science and Technology told China Science Daily in an interview last week, the South China Morning Post reported. The material’s disappearing act is facilitated by a process called self-adaptive photochromism, or SAP, in which the molecules rearrange when exposed to certain wavelengths of light. This causes the substance to change color and effectively become unseeable, the Independent reported. Think of it as the synthetic version of a chameleon or octopus’ natura l cloaking mechanism. Instead of hair-trigger color-changing cells like in a cephalopod, SAP materials consist of organic dyes and molecules called donor-acceptor Stenhouse adducts, which transform their chemical and structural makeup when exposed to light. Initially appearing black in the dark, this solution spontaneously shifts pigment “upon triggering by transmitted and reflected light in the background,” the scientists write. To assess its efficacy, researchers placed a translucent container of the SAP solution in boxes of different colors including red, green, yellow, and black. They found that the substance adjusted its hue accordingly. In a second test, the chameleonic material was placed in an environment with red, green, or yellow plant clusters in the background, prompting it to melt into its surroundings within a minute. SAP materials are more effective and convenient than manmade invisibility systems that rely on external power sources and intricate electronics to work. Not to mention that these techs’ complexity and heavy price tags limit their potential for widespread use. By contrast, scientists can simply use SAP as a spray-on coating. Researchers added polycaprolactone — a biodegradable polyester — to the substance to develop chemicals that can be squirted onto various surfaces, effectively transferring this cloaking power to solids with the push of a button. Researchers foresee the technology having a range of applications, ranging from architecture to the military and even “anti-counterfeiting technology,” researchers write. Scientists hope to expand SAP’s color palate to incorporate purple and blue, which aren’t included in the current iteration. “By adding more photochromic molecules or adjusting its composition, we aim to achieve finer distinctions in color and faster changing speed,” Dr. Wang declared.Jimmy Carter, the 39th US president, has died at 100
King laughs at British comedian's impression of Donald Trump at Royal Variety
Sara Tendulkar shared a special Instagram story, does this work before the end of November, Know the whole storySYDNEY--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Nov 21, 2024-- BoomiTM , the intelligent integration and automation leader, today announced that Australian precious metals and jewellery company Pallion Group has bolstered resilience and customer experience (CX) across its brands, and laid a foundation for generative AI using the Boomi Enterprise Platform as the baseline for its data strategy. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20241121138990/en/ Pallion Group Welds Resilience and Customer Experience Into Dynamic Gold and Jewellery Business With Boomi (Graphic: Business Wire) Sydney-headquartered Pallion comprises six brands that source, manufacture, distribute, sell, and provide secure storage for gold, silver, and custom jewellery to organisations and individuals in Australia, Hong Kong, and China. The company implemented Boomi’s integration platform as a service (iPaaS) to simplify and improve connectivity between its technology systems and establish visibility over highly sensitive financial, commercial, and product supply data. “Pallion supplies high-value precious metals and jewellery subject to dynamic, fast-changing pricing, with strict compliance requirements around them. We’re handling people’s and companies’ money after all – that includes banks, superannuation funds and major retailers,” said Simon Smith, Group Chief Information Officer (CIO) at Pallion Group. “This means we need consistent uptime of and between our systems so that data flows back and forth in real time, while giving our teams a consolidated view of customer information on one screen. Boomi powers our data strategy by giving us a clean, hub-and-spoke integration framework to connect business-critical platforms and centralise data to make this possible.” Pallion implemented the Boomi Enterprise Platform in February 2024 to support the foundations of its digital transformation and replace a “spaghetti mess” of hundreds of outdated point-to-point integrations, according to Smith. The Boomi platform has already been used to connect Pallion’s Microsoft Dynamics 365 enterprise resource planning (ERP) stack, and its finance and human resources (HR) systems, and the company affirms its use of iPaaS will scale up as its digital transformation strategy progresses. Meanwhile, data ingested by Pallion’s systems is already centralised in Boomi DataHub. “Boomi has fostered an environment we know we can trust to get data across to the right people and places securely with no downtime – spanning production operations through to the websites our customers use to buy precious metals and jewellery,” said Smith. “This has amplified CX, as the information buyers and our teams see is always accurate. If there are ever any issues, Boomi’s integration model allows us to rapidly pinpoint and resolve the issue – a process that could formerly take days is now completed in a few hours.” Pallion has also seen dramatic productivity gains as Boomi helped the company strip away countless hours previously spent maintaining and fixing point-to-point integrations. In addition, the Boomi Enterprise Platform serves as an “abstraction layer,” said Smith, ensuring new technology investments are rapidly and seamlessly integrated into the group of companies, with data readily available through Boomi DataHub. This will be pivotal in Pallion’s strategic roadmap, with the company planning to introduce generative AI for its employees to query the company’s data using natural language, and ultimately expedite internal processes and customer service. David Irecki, Chief Technology Officer, APJ at Boomi, said, “Pallion Group serves some of the most prolific retail brands – from Tiffany & Co to Michael Hill Jewellery – as well as Australian financial institutions and citizens. It has even worked on the Melbourne Cup and Australian Open trophies, and Queen Elizabeth II’s Coronation Carriage. Its clientele expect seamless experiences when making significant purchasing decisions. Boomi has helped Pallion establish a reliable and resilient technology environment across its brands to optimise CX, all the while supporting the stringent compliance obligations under which the group operates.” Additional Resources About Boomi Boomi, the intelligent integration and automation leader, helps organizations around the world automate and streamline critical processes to achieve business outcomes faster. Harnessing advanced AI capabilities, the Boomi Enterprise Platform seamlessly connects systems and manages data flows with API management, integration, data management, and AI orchestration in one comprehensive solution. With a customer base exceeding 20,000 companies globally and a rapidly expanding network of 800+ partners, Boomi is revolutionizing the way enterprises of all sizes achieve business agility and operational excellence. Discover more at boomi.com . © 2024 Boomi, LP. Boomi, the ‘B’ logo, and Boomiverse are trademarks of Boomi, LP or its subsidiaries or affiliates. All rights reserved. Other names or marks may be the trademarks of their respective owners. View source version on businesswire.com : https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20241121138990/en/ CONTACT: Media: Jasmine Ee Head of Influencer Relations, APJ jasmine.ee@boomi.com KEYWORD: AUSTRALIA/OCEANIA AUSTRALIA ASIA PACIFIC INDUSTRY KEYWORD: JEWELRY LUXURY RETAIL TECHNOLOGY ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE SOURCE: Boomi Copyright Business Wire 2024. PUB: 11/21/2024 05:00 PM/DISC: 11/21/2024 05:01 PM http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20241121138990/enBingoPlus, your comprehensive digital entertainment platform in the country, proudly sponsored the recently concluded 73 rd Miss Universe beauty pageant. With unwavering support from the organization, the event achieved great heights and success. The Miss Universe is a worldwide phenomenon with its major beauty pageant held every year. Known for its inclusivity, Miss Universe Organization promotes and celebrates all cultures, backgrounds and religions. Likewise, the pageant is also popular in the Philippines where every household stays up-to-date with the competition and supports the Philippine representative. This year, Miss Universe Philippines 2024 Chelsea Manalo represented the country in the prestigious pageant. To show encouragement to the beautiful and confident Manalo, BingoPlus joined the send-off party on October 10, 2024 before she headed to Mexico for competition. During the press conference, BingoPlus had an exclusive interview with Manalo and expressed her gratitude to BingoPlus, as both a supporter and a sponsor. “I would love to thank BingoPlus for the support that they have given me to compete for Miss Universe this time for the 73rd edition. Of course to my whole supportive team behind these lenses, thank you so much.” Manalo said with heartfelt emotion. “I don’t think there’s anything more I would like to ask but the prayers and your loud cheers no matter where you are in this country, in the Philippines or anywhere in this world—universe, rather.” Additionally, BingoPlus served as the official live-streaming partner in the Philippines for the 73 rd Miss Universe Preliminaries and National Costume. The significant part of the competition was streamed exclusively via the BingoPlus app and website on November 15, 2024. Moreover, BingoPlus hosted a watch party for the 73 rd Miss Universe Preliminaries and National Costume at the Diamond Hotel in Manila. Media persons, bloggers and influencers were invited and attended the watch-party. A press conference was also held after. Miss Universe Philippines 2023 Michelle Dee joined the event and was interviewed exclusively during the press conference. Previous Miss Universe candidates were in attendance and interviewed as well. BingoPlus’ support does not stop there. The brand also flew to Mexico to join Manalo and cover the whole Miss Universe events including the coronation night. BingoPlus also met the newly-crowned Miss Universe 2024 Victoria Kjær Theilvig from Denmark and had an opportunity to do an exclusive interview with her backstage. The coverage was posted in BingoPlus’ social media accounts. BingoPlus was also recognized by the Miss Universe organization as they were also highlighted in their social media page. Although Manalo did not win the crown, she was still given the title of Miss Universe Asia. BingoPlus is full of pride and joy with Manalo’s performance in the pageant as she has delivered the Philippines’ best on the global stage. The organization’s support is not limited to the country, but extends to the whole world– the universe rather. BingoPlus’ appreciation art card posted in social media accounts for Miss Universe Philippines 2024 Chelsea Manalo. Being business-savvy should be fun, attainable and A+. BMPlus is BusinessMirror's digital arm with practical tips & success stories for aspiring and thriving millennial entrepreneurs.
Jimmy Carter, the 39th US president, has died at 100
NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. stocks slipped below their records in the runup to a big jobs report due on Friday. The S&P 500 edged down 0.2% Thursday after setting an all-time high for the 56th time this year the day before. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 0.6%, while the Nasdaq composite fell 0.2%. The crypto market had much more action, and bitcoin briefly burst to a record above $103,000 before falling back toward $99,000. It’s climbed dramatically since Election Day on hopes President-elect Donald Trump will be more friendly to crypto. Airline stocks were strong, while Treasury yields held relatively steady in the bond market. THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. AP’s earlier story follows below. NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. stocks are drifting around their records Thursday in the runup to a big jobs report due on Friday. The crypto market had much more action, and bitcoin briefly burst to a record above $103,000 before pulling back. The S&P 500 was edging down by 0.1% after setting an all-time high for the 56th time this year the day before to improve one of its best years of the millennium . The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 183 points, or 0.4%, with roughly an hour remaining in trading, while the Nasdaq composite was nearly unchanged from its own record set the day before. Bitcoin powered above $100,000 the night before, after President-elect Donald Trump chose a crypto advocate, Paul Atkins, as his nominee to head the Securities and Exchange Commission. The cryptocurrency has climbed dramatically from less than $70,000 on Election Day, but it quickly fell back as Thursday progressed toward $99,000, according to CoinDesk. Sharps swings for bitcoin are nothing new, and they took stocks of companies enmeshed in the crypto world on a similar ride. After rising as much as 9% in early trading, MicroStrategy, a company that’s been raising cash just to buy bitcoin, swung to a loss of 5.9%. Crypto exchange Coinbase Global fell 3.2% after likewise erasing a big early gain. Elsewhere on Wall Street, stocks of airlines helped lead the way following the latest bumps up to financial forecasts from carriers. American Airlines Group soared 18.6% after saying it’s making more in revenue during the last three months of 2024 than it expected, and it will likely make a bigger profit than it had earlier forecast. The airline also chose Citi to be its exclusive partner for credit cards that give miles in its loyalty program. That should help its cash coming in from co-branded credit card and other partners grow by about 10% annually. Southwest Airlines climbed 3.4% after saying it’s seeing stronger demand from leisure travelers than it expected. It also raised its forecast for revenue for the holiday traveling season. On the losing end of Wall Street was Synposys, which tumbled 12.1%. The supplier for the semiconductor industry reported better profit for the latest quarter than analysts expected, but it also warned of “continued macro uncertainties” and gave a forecast for revenue in the current quarter that fell short of some analysts’ estimates. American Eagle Outfitters fell even more, 15.3%, after the retailer said it’s preparing for “potential choppiness” outside of peak selling periods. It was reminiscent of a warning from Foot Locker earlier in the week and raised more concerns about how resilient U.S. shoppers can remain. Solid spending by U.S. consumers has been one of the main reasons the U.S. economy has avoided a recession that earlier seemed inevitable after the Federal Reserve hiked interest rates to crush inflation. But shoppers are now contending with still-high prices and a slowing job market . This week’s highlight for Wall Street will be Friday’s jobs report from the U.S. government, which will show how many people employers hired and fired last month. A report on Thursday said the number of U.S. workers applying for unemployment benefits rose last week but remains at historically healthy levels. Expectations are high that the Fed will cut its main interest rate again when it meets in two weeks. The Fed began easing its main interest rate from a two-decade high in September, hoping to offer more support for the job market. In the bond market, the yield on the 10-year Treasury held steady at 4.18%, where it was late Wednesday. In stock markets abroad, indexes were mostly calm in Europe after far-right and left-wing lawmakers in France joined together to vote on a no-confidence motion prompted by budget disputes that will force Prime Minister Michel Barnier and his Cabinet to resign. The CAC 40 index in Paris added 0.4%. In South Korea, the Kospi fell 0.9% to compound its 1.4% decline from the day before. President Yoon Suk Yeol was facing possible impeachment after he suddenly declared martial law on Tuesday night. He revoked the martial law declaration six hours later. Crude oil prices slipped after eight members of the OPEC+ alliance of oil exporting countries decided to put off increasing oil production. ___ AP Business Writers Yuri Kageyama and Matt Ott contrributed. Stan Choe, The Associated Press
Southfield, Michigan, Dec. 05, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Credit Acceptance Corporation (Nasdaq: CACC) (referred to as the “Company”, “Credit Acceptance”, “we”, “our”, or “us”) announced today that we have increased the amount of Warehouse Facility V (the “Facility”), one of our revolving secured warehouse facilities, from $200.0 million to $250.0 million. We also extended the date on which the Facility will cease to revolve from December 29, 2025 to December 29, 2027. The maturity of the Facility was also extended from December 27, 2027 to December 27, 2029. The interest rate on borrowings under the Facility has decreased from the Secured Overnight Financing Rate (“SOFR”) plus 245 basis points to SOFR plus 185 basis points. There were no other material changes to the Facility. As of December 5, 2024, we did not have a balance outstanding under the Facility. Description of Credit Acceptance Corporation We make vehicle ownership possible by providing innovative financing solutions that enable automobile dealers to sell vehicles to consumers regardless of their credit history. Our financing programs are offered through a nationwide network of automobile dealers who benefit from sales of vehicles to consumers who otherwise could not obtain financing; from repeat and referral sales generated by these same customers; and from sales to customers responding to advertisements for our financing programs, but who actually end up qualifying for traditional financing. Without our financing programs, consumers are often unable to purchase vehicles or they purchase unreliable ones. Further, as we report to the three national credit reporting agencies, an important ancillary benefit of our programs is that we provide consumers with an opportunity to improve their lives by improving their credit score and move on to more traditional sources of financing. Credit Acceptance is publicly traded on the Nasdaq Stock Market under the symbol CACC. For more information, visit creditacceptance.com . Investor Relations: Douglas W. Busk Chief Treasury Officer (248) 353-2700 Ext. 4432 IR@creditacceptance.comThe is up 21.4% this year amid interest rate cuts, easing inflation, and optimism over Donald Trump’s victory. Meanwhile, the following three Canadian stocks have outperformed the index due to their impressive quarterly performances. Let’s assess their recent performances and growth prospects to determine buying opportunities. Celestica Last month, ( ) reported an impressive third-quarter performance, with its growing by 22% to $2.50 billion. It exceeded the company’s revenue guidance of $2.325-$2.475 billion. Strong growth of 42% in its CCS (Connectivity & Cloud Solutions) segment more than offset a 5% decline in its Advanced Technology Solutions (ATS) segment to drive its sales. Amid increased demand for its storage businesses and HPS (Hardware Platform Solutions) networking switches, the revenue from the CCS segment witnessed substantial growth during the quarter. Supported by its revenue growth, Celestica has posted an adjusted EPS (earnings per share) of $1.04, representing a 60% increase from the previous year’s quarter. Moreover, the demand for (artificial intelligence)-ready data centres is rising amid AI usage growth, thus expanding the addressable market for the company. Given its new launches, including switches and storage controllers, the company could benefit from this market expansion. So, I expect the uptrend in the company’s financials and stock price to continue. Waste Connections ( ) is a solid waste management company operating in the secondary and exclusive markets of the United States and Canada. Last month, it posted an excellent third-quarter performance, with revenue growing by 13.3% to $2.34 billion. A 6.8% price increase, the contribution from the companies acquired over the previous four quarters, and solid waste volume growth boosted its sales. Also, its adjusted net income grew 15.5% to $350 million during the quarter. Moreover, WCN continues to expand its footprint through organic growth and acquisitions. It is building renewable natural gas (RNG) and resource recovery facilities, with the management expecting 12 RNG facilities to become operational in 2026. The company is investing in robotics and optical sorters at recycling facilities that can lower human resources and improve operational efficiencies. Also, the company’s innovative approach to employee engagement and retention could support its growth in the coming quarters. Considering its growth prospects and healthy financials, I believe WCN will outperform over the next three years. WELL Health Technologies ( ) posted an excellent third-quarter performance earlier this month, with its revenue growing by 27% to $251.7 million. Strong organic growth of 23% boosted its sales, while acquisitions contributed 4%. The company witnessed solid double-digit growth across its three segments. It had 1.48 million patient visits and 2.24 million patient interactions, representing a 41% year-over-year growth in both segments. Supported by topline growth, its adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, and amortization grew by 16%. Meanwhile, the growing adoption of virtual services, increased usage of software solutions in healthcare, and digitization of patient records have created a multi-year growth potential for WELL Health. The company continues to develop artificial intelligence-powered products that could improve patient outcomes. Its inorganic expansion looks solid, with 17 signed letters of intent and definitive agreements in the pipeline. Along with these growth prospects, the company’s cost-cutting initiatives could improve its profitability and cash flows. So, the company is confident of completing its future acquisitions through cash generated from its operations. Considering all these factors, I expect the uptrend in WELL Health’s stock price to continue.