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World

Russian rouble slumps around 3% vs dollar as sanctions weigh

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  • This content was produced in Russia where the law restricts coverage of Russian military operations in Ukraine

MOSCOW, Dec 27 (Reuters) – The rouble dived around 3% against the dollar on Tuesday, failing to consolidate a recovery from last week’s slide as the market comes to terms with the prospect of lower export revenue in the wake of restrictions on Russian oil.

The rouble lost about 8% against the dollar last week and is on course for a hefty monthly decline after an oil embargo and price cap came into force. The finance ministry has said the recent slump was related to recovering imports.

By 1519 GMT the rouble was 3% weaker against the dollar at 71.36 , heading back towards the almost eight-month low of 72.6325 struck last week.

“At the end of December, the rouble is likely to remain extremely volatile as the market will need to find a new equilibrium under changed trade flows and increased sanctions pressure,” BCS World of Investments said in a note.

“This week, the rouble is expected to fluctuate in the range of 68-71 (per dollar).”

Against the euro, the rouble lost 3.4% to 76.03 . Against the yuan, it was down 3.3% at 10.09 .

The rouble just about remains the world’s best-performing major currency against the dollar this year, supported by capital controls and reduced imports.

Now, with exports and revenues falling, a weaker rouble is more beneficial, First Deputy Prime Minister Andrei Belousov said on Tuesday.

“The strong rouble has played its role,” Belousov said. “In these conditions … it would be good to have a rouble rate of 70-80 per dollar.”

Brent crude oil , a global benchmark for Russia’s main export, was up 1% at $84.8 a barrel while Russian stock indexes were mixed.

The dollar-denominated RTS index (.IRTS) was down 2.9% at 948.8 points. The rouble-based MOEX Russian index (.IMOEX) was 0.5% higher at 2,148.8 points after earlier touching its highest in nearly two weeks.

For Russian equities guide see

For Russian treasury bonds see

Reporting by Alexander Marrow;
Editing by David Goodman and Emelia Sithole-Matarise

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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Entertainment

“Nepo Baby” Giving Baby New Year Run For Its Money As More Weigh In – Deadline

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Kate Hudson and Jamie Lee Curtis are the latest Hollywood actors to weigh in on the topic of the “nepo baby,” a topic rekindled this month by a New York magazine cover story (and much more devoted to the topic) about the phenomena of the children of famous actors who follow in their parents’ footsteps.

The article featured a cover photo of several actors in onesies including Zoë Kravitz, Lily Rose-Depp, Maude Apatow and Maya Hawke among others.

Curtis, the offspring of Tony Curtis and Janet Leigh (making her an “OG Nepo Baby”, she says) said in an Instagram post that the current conversation “is just designed to try to diminish and denigrate and hurt.” She added, “For the record I have navigated 44 years with the advantages my associated and reflected fame brought me, I don’t pretend there aren’t any, that try to tell me that I have no value on my own.”

Continued the actress who has been working since age 19: “I have suited up and shown up for all different kinds of work with thousands of thousands of people and every day I’ve tried to bring integrity and professionalism and love and community and art to my work.”

Hudson, the daughter of Goldie Hawn and Bill Hudson of the Hudson Brothers, also has had practice brushing off the term, telling the UK’s Independent on Saturday that “I don’t really care.”

“I look at my kids and we’re a storytelling family,” she said. “It’s definitely in our blood. People can call it whatever they want, but it’s not going to change it.”

She added: “I see it in business way more than I see it in Hollywood. Sometimes I’ve been in business meetings where I’m like, wait, whose child is this? Like, this person knows nothing!”

Others have also weighed in, maybe most deftly by Eve Hewson, the daughter of U2 frontman Bono whose credits include starring opposite Clive Owen the Steven Soderbergh series The Knick and the current Apple TV+ series Bad Sisters. She complained she wasn’t on the mag’s lists, tweeting that she’s “gonna get Nepo Baby tattooed on my ass” and that her 2023 goals include to “be successful enough to get recognised as a nepo baby.”

On Saturday, she grew a bit more serious.

“For those of you who have just tuned in to my existence, I am asked about my privilege a lot,” she wrote. “And I have always been very keen to state how much my father’s name helped me get a start in acting. I am beyond grateful for the opportunities I’ve had in my life.

“I chose to make a few jokes about it this round. So please don’t take my tweets too seriously. I’m just having the craic. And if I can’t laugh at myself.. well then I really am a privileged c*nt.”



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Health

How much does a cloud weigh?

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A cumulonimbus cloud near Loy Island, an offshore island of Si Racha, Chonburi, Thailand (Image credit: Nobythai via Getty Images)

When you’re flying in an airplane above a blanket of clouds, the pillars of white and gray look soft, fluffy and lighter than air. But don’t be fooled — those bouncy-looking clouds are much, much heavier than they appear.

So just how much does a cloud weigh? And how do you weigh a cloud? We asked the experts to find out.

Clouds are composed mainly of air and millions of tiny water droplets, which form when water condenses around a “seed” particle. Seed particles can be anything from nitric acid to vapors released by trees, but they are generally very tiny.

There are a couple of ways to measure the weight of a cloud. The first is to weigh the water vapor that composes it — and to do that, “you need to know something about the dimensions of the cloud,” Armin Sorooshian (opens in new tab), a hydrologist at the University of Arizona, told Live Science. You also have to know how densely packed the droplets are. 

Related: Why do nuclear bombs form mushroom clouds?

Several years ago, Margaret LeMone (opens in new tab), an atmospheric scientist at the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Boulder, Colorado, wondered about the weight of the water in an average cumulus cloud. So she did the math. First, she measured the size of a cloud’s shadow and estimated its height, assuming a roughly cubic shape. Clouds are not typically cube shaped, but cumulus clouds are frequently about as tall as they are wide, so this assumption helped streamline the volume calculation. Then, based on prior research, she estimated the density of water droplets at around 1/2 gram per cubic meter. “I came up with around 550 tons [499 metric tons] of water,” LeMone said. 

That’s approximately the weight of 100 elephants suspended above your head. “It’s really impressive,” Soroohsian said.

Of course, different types of clouds have different weights. For example, “cirrus clouds are much lighter, because they have far less water per unit volume,” LeMone told Live Science. And cumulonimbus clouds (the dark thunderheads you see just before a storm) tend to be much heavier. 

However, “the entire volume of the cloud is not just the droplets; there’s air, too,” Sorooshian said. If someone wanted to take LeMone’s calculations a step further, they could factor in the weight of the air between each droplet.

But if clouds are so heavy, why don’t they fall down? For one thing, “the droplets are so small that they don’t fall very fast,” LeMone said. The average water droplet in a cloud is roughly 1 million times smaller than a raindrop — about the size ratio of Earth to the sun. High-altitude wind currents blow these tiny droplets along, keeping them in the air for much longer than if they were static.

Heat convection also helps keep the drops aloft. “A cloud is actually less dense than the air directly below it,” Sorooshian said. As warm air (and warm water) rises, it becomes more buoyant than the cold air (and cold water) beneath it, like a layer of foam on top of a latte. 

Of course, clouds can be said to “fall” in the form of rain. When cloud droplets cool and condense into one another, they grow, eventually becoming so heavy that they plummet to Earth. Although a raindrop is much bigger than a cloud droplet, each raindrop is still only 0.08 inch (2 millimeters) in diameter, according to the University Center for Atmospheric Research (opens in new tab). Those small drops spread out the weight enough that 550 tons of water doesn’t crash down on your head all at once. 

So, the next time you see a happy little cloud passing overhead, just remember: 100 elephants. And thank your lucky stars for heat convection.

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Business

The U.S. job market is strong, but layoffs are on the rise. Is this a good — or bad — time to ask for a raise? Experts weigh in.

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Is this an opportune time to ask for a raise? Or, given the recent spate of tech layoffs, is it better to lie low for a while? 

The good news: Employers are giving pay raises. The increase in wages over the past year climbed to 5.1%, from 4.9% in the prior month, the Labor Department said Friday. Salaries continue to rise much faster than before the pandemic, when they were going up about 2% to 3% a year.

Still, wages are not keeping up with inflation. But if you decide to ask for a raise, here is one piece of advice: Talk about your own performance during pay negotiations — not about external factors like inflation and interest rates. 

U.S.-based employers announced 76,835 job cuts in November, a 127% jump from the previous month, according to a report by Challenger, Gray and Christmas released on Thursday, and 417% higher than a year ago. So far this year, companies have announced plans to cut 320,173 jobs, a 6% increase from last year. Tech companies alone have announced more than 60,000 job cuts this year, with indications that there will be more to come.

Employers and employees alike are concerned about inflation, rising interest rates and the prospect of a recession in 2023.

But hiring has outstripped layoffs. On Friday, the Labor Department reported 263,000 new jobs in November, while the unemployment rate held steady at 3.7%. However, the strong pace of hiring has become a big source of concern at the Federal Reserve, which has been raising interest rates in an effort to cool inflation.

Also read: U.S. stocks fall as strong November jobs data challenges Fed to push interest rates higher

Employers and employees are also concerned about inflation, rising interest rates and the prospect of a recession in 2023. “Navigating the impacts of a recession is no easy task, but it’s important for employers to remember that businesses aren’t the only ones staying afloat,” said John Morgan, president at LLH — formerly Lee Hecht Harrison — a talent mobility company, in New York. 

“Workers are also facing unprecedented job uncertainty and a rising cost of living,” he said. Given this confluence of events and concerns among both companies and their employees about the uncertain economic road ahead, you might be wondering if this is a good time to ask for a raise. Here are some things to consider before walking into your boss’s office.

Judge whether the timing is right

Don’t bet on the labor market remaining strong indefinitely. “The window to land a salary bump now may be closing,” said LinkedIn career expert Blair Heitmann. While the U.S. still has a tight labor market, the tech sector has shed thousands of jobs — and those layoffs are a sign that other sectors may be next.

If you are close to getting a promotion or have an upcoming review, your manager will likely bring up your compensation, she said. Companies review salaries during their quarterly reviews, so it might make sense to bring up your own situation before the company sets its goals and budgets for the year ahead, she added.

Ask yourself what kind of financial shape your company is in, Pay close attention to the company’s quarterly results, and listen to your managers when they talk about department performance, Heitmann said. And keep your ears open to learn whether your co-workers are getting raises or other benefits. 

Know that employees are expensive to replace

One thing to keep in mind if you genuinely feel you are being underpaid is that it’s expensive for employers to replace staff. When an employee asks for a raise, employers also must consider the turnover costs associated with finding new talent, Morgan said.

Another factor in your favor, particularly at a high-performing company that has no plans for layoffs, is that hiring remains difficult, a situation that will likely last through the next year, according to the Workplace Trends Report by Indeed and Glassdoor. 

It’s important to know whether you’re being paid a fair market rate. Check sites like CareerBuilder, Glassdoor or Salary.com, and talk to your colleagues, giving them a range that allows them to point you in the right direction without having to tell you their exact salary.

Overcome your fear of uncertainty 

Break through your own personal fear barrier. “Lobbying for a raise can be stressful even in the best of times, and the added pressure of economic uncertainty can make it even more so,” said Thom Wright, global master coach at EZRA Coaching, a virtual coaching app.

Take a moment to pause and reflect, assess your performance and articulate what you can bring to the company, he said. It’s also important to understand your company’s position, Wright said. “What matters to them? What’s valuable to them? Don’t assume that employers are aware of your achievements,” he said.

Have you, for instance, taken on extra responsibilities without any promotion or pay raise? Three quarters of workers say they have taken on a bigger workload without receiving extra money, according to a survey by Jobsage, a workplace review site.

Look beyond financial incentives

In the meantime, keep an eye on hiring trends within your industry. “Layoffs and cost-cutting measures in the tech sector are having a ripple effect on business services like advertising, legal services, and business support services,” Julia Pollak, chief economist at ZipRecruiter, said in a statement. 

This week, CNN said it would cut its workforce by a single-digit percentage, which would equate to roughly 400 staff members at the company, which had around 4,400 employees before the layoffs were announced.

The tech sector has also been cutting costs. In early November, Tesla founder Elon Musk laid off 7,500 staff members at Twitter — nearly 50% of the company’s global workforce. Facebook’s parent Meta recently announced it would lay off 11,000 workers, equivalent to 13% of the social-media company’s employee base.

But if finances are tight for your employer, don’t give up. There are other forms of compensation your manager might be able to offer you, such as an educational stipend or career coaching. That could allow you to improve your skills and set you on a path for a future promotion and pay raises, Heitmann said. 

Jeffry Bartash contributed to this report.

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US

Republican Jewish Coalition: GOP elites weigh Trump — and the alternatives — at high-profile Vegas gathering

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CNN
 — 

Former President Donald Trump is set to address the influential Republican Jewish Coalition on Saturday, days after becoming the first declared GOP candidate of the 2024 presidential campaign.

But the chandeliered ballroom at the opulent Venetian resort hotel in Las Vegas will teem with his rivals – including potential chief nemesis Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis – as some of the party’s most influential donors weigh alternatives to the divisive former president.

Trump still retains a “following” within the party, Mel Sembler, a Florida real-estate developer and GOP donor who sits on the coalition’s board, told CNN this week. But, he said, “I think people are getting tired of his controversies all the time.”

“What concerns me is if he wins the primary and loses the general,” added Sembler, who has not endorsed a 2024 candidate.

The annual leadership conference of prominent Jewish conservatives marks the first major gathering of GOP establishment forces since this month’s midterm letdown for the party, which saw Democrats retain their hold on the Senate and make inroads in state governments around the country.

Republicans did flip the House but will hold a slim majority in January after the “red wave” their party envisioned all year failed to materialize.

Leading Republican figures in Washington and elsewhere are casting blame on Trump for his role in boosting far-right Senate candidates who faltered in the general election – and for continuing to publicly nurse his own grievances about the 2020 election and his ongoing legal troubles. During his campaign kickoff Tuesday, he called himself a “victim” of a federal law enforcement system that he has spent years politicizing.

Trump’s legal difficulties appeared to deepen Friday when Attorney General Merrick Garland appointed a special counsel to oversee the criminal investigations into the retention of national defense information at his Mar-a-Lago resort and parts of the January 6, 2021, insurrection.

Rather than seeing the party unify behind his third presidential bid, Trump faced immediate blowback. Minutes after his announcement, daughter and former senior White House adviser Ivanka Trump distanced herself from her father’s campaign, saying she does “not plan to be involved in politics.”

His announcement also overlapped with a high-profile book tour by his own former vice president – and potential 2024 rival – Mike Pence, who has spent the past several days reminding Americans of Trump’s role in the violent US Capitol riot on January 6, 2021.

Perhaps the biggest blow to Trump’s campaign infrastructure was the swift and public defection of several billionaire GOP donors – including a close ally, Blackstone CEO Steve Schwarzman – who said the country needed leaders “rooted in today and tomorrow, not today and yesterday.”

Others are hedging their bets.

Among those playing the field is Miriam Adelson, the billionaire widow of Las Vegas casino magnate and RJC benefactor Sheldon Adelson. The Adelsons have donated nearly a half-billion dollars to Republican groups and candidates in the last four election cycles – including tens of millions to boost Trump’s presidential ambitions, federal records show.

Trump in 2018 bestowed the Presidential Medal of Freedom – the nation’s highest civilian honor – on Miriam Adelson, citing her philanthropy.

Despite that relationship, Adelson intends to remain neutral in the GOP presidential primaries, an aide confirmed to CNN this week. Adelson, whose political contributions have slowed some since her husband’s death in January 2021, has indicated that she will financially support the eventual GOP nominee, whether that be Trump or someone else.

RJC executive director Matt Brooks said Trump has won plaudits from coalition members for his stalwart support of Israel during his presidency and unilateral withdrawal from the 2015 Iran nuclear deal.

Still, Brooks said, “people are window-shopping right now. There are people who are asking if we need a new direction and a new face.”

Even as Trump prepares to make his pitch to the RJC, his allies and aides have sought to position him as the outsider in the 2024 contest, despite his recent White House occupancy.

“President Trump is running a campaign that represents everyday Americans who love their country,” campaign spokesman Steven Cheung said in a statement to CNN. “There are others who will answer to the political establishment, be beholden to corporations, and drag the United States into more unnecessary wars.”

And his allies note that Trump’s fundraising operation largely relies on a small-dollar donor base, reducing his reliance on the party’s elite and giving him a potential edge over opponents who do not boast the same small-donation game.

He enters the 2024 campaign with more than $100 million in cash reserves across a sprawling network of political committees – although federal law could constrain his ability to fully tap those funds for his campaign.

“He has proven he can raise a lot of money on his own,” Michael Caputo, a former Trump administration official who remains close to the former president, recently told CNN.

Trump is not making the trek to Las Vegas but is scheduled to address the gathering live via satellite Saturday as part of a morning lineup that will feature several other potential rivals for the GOP nomination, including South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott, newly reelected New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu and former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie. Trump’s remote appearance was announced on Thursday, after it became clear that several of his potential 2024 rivals were scheduled to deliver their own remarks.

DeSantis – fresh off the momentum of his double-digit reelection victory in Florida – is slated to address the group Saturday night during its gala dinner.

Trump recently has stepped up attacks on DeSantis, and another potential 2024 challenger, Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin.

Two sources familiar with Trump’s thinking said part of the reason he has lashed out is because he believes both governors are actively soliciting support from “his donors.” Trump has told aides and allies that DeSantis especially is trying to pitch himself to deep-pocketed Republicans who helped bankroll Trump’s reelection campaign.

A Republican fundraiser in Florida with knowledge of DeSantis’ political operation said, “Of course he’s talking to those people. They’re fair game and every Republican is going to go after those donors because that’s the smart thing to do, it’s not with the mindset, ‘Let’s screw Trump.’”

The conservative Club for Growth, one of the biggest outside spenders in politics, already has broken with Trump and earlier this week circulated internal polling that suggested DeSantis could mount a serious challenge to the former president in early voting states and Florida, where both reside. The group plowed $2 million into DeSantis’ reelection efforts this election cycle, according to Florida campaign filings.

David McIntosh, the former Indiana congressman who runs the group, declined a CNN interview request through a spokesman.

This week, as the contours of the new GOP majority in the House became clear – DeSantis won praise from national Republicans for injecting himself into congressional map-making this year. In a rare move for a governor, DeSantis pushed state lawmakers to adopt his map, which controversially eliminated two districts represented by Black Democrats and gave the GOP the advantage in as many as 20 of 28 districts.

“That map created four new Republican wins,” said a GOP consultant who has been close to Trump and asked not to be named to speak candidly about the 2024 race. “That’s the practical reality of a conservative governor standing up to his own party and saying. ‘We’re not going to cut deals and do things the old way.’”

DeSantis this week sought to sidestep questions about the growing rivalry with Trump, urging people “to chill out a little bit” – even as he touted his 19-point margin of victory in his reelection. CNN has previously reported that those close to DeSantis believe he does not intend to announce his plans before May.

“The smartest thing DeSantis could do is stay out of the fray for as long as possible,” said the Republican consultant. “Don’t stick your face in the frying pan too early.”

Many of Trump’s potential 2024 rivals spoke at the conference in Las Vegas, offering post-midterm assessments and making their pitch for how the party should move forward.

Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, an early ally of Trump, issued a long and passionate indictment of the former president on Saturday, casting Trump as a cancer on the Republican Party and the sole responsible figure for its recent election losses.

“We keep losing and losing and losing,” Christie said. “The reason we’re losing is because Donald Trump has put himself before everybody else.”

Christie slammed Trump for recruiting candidates under the singular qualification that they deny the results of the 2020 election.

“That’s not what this party stands for,” the former governor said. “It’s not what it should stand for in the future, and we’ve got to stop it now.”

Christie pointed to midterm GOP defeats in the battleground states of Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin, and warned that without a resurgence in those states – especially in the suburbs – Republicans held no hope of winning back the White House in 2024.

Echoing those fears, New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu said that “candidate quality matters,” while adding, “I got a great policy for the Republican Party: Let’s stop supporting crazy, unelectable candidates in our primaries and start getting behind winners that can close the deal in November.”

Sununu was initially courted to run for US Senate, but ultimately decided to run for reelection. The GOP nominee, retired Brig. Gen. Don Bolduc, who has pushed falsehoods about the 2020 election, went on to lose to Democratic Sen. Maggie Hassan earlier this month.

Meanwhile, Florida Sen. Rick Scott, who headed the Senate GOP’s campaign arm this election cycle, said Republicans’ midterm hopes for a “red wave” did not materialize because the party focused too much on “how bad the Democrats are” and did not offer voters its own policy vision.

“The current strategy of most Republicans in Washington is to only be against the crazy Democrats – and they’re crazy – and never outline any plan what we are for and what we will do. That is a mistake,” the senator said.

Scott’s comments come days after his failed bid to oust Mitch McConnell as the party’s Senate leader.

Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, who unsuccessfully ran for president against Trump in 2016, urged the GOP to try to broaden its appeal outside the party’s base.

“We spend far too much time preaching to the choir; talking to the same 2.6 million people watching Fox News every night,” Cruz said.

Cruz also said he had spoken at Senate Republicans’ leadership election this week to urge the party to take a harder line against Democratic policies.

“Republicans in the Senate don’t fight,” he said Saturday.

Cruz said he urged GOP leaders to “pick two or three or four things that matter and say, ‘We believe in it.’”

Outgoing Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan took a hard stance against the former president Friday night, saying in Las Vegas that the Republican Party was “desperately in need of a course correction.”

“Trump was saying that we’d be winning so much we get tired of winning. Well, I’m sick and tired of our party losing. And after this election last week, I’m even more sick and tired than I was before,” Hogan said.

“Look, this is the third election in a row that we lost and should have won. I say three strikes and you’re out. If you repeatedly lose to a really bad team, it’s time for new leadership,” he added.

This story has been updated with more information.

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Science

T.rex was 70% larger than previously thought and could weigh up to 33,000lbs, study claims 

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The infamous Tyrannosaurus Rex – or T. rex – could have weighed up to 33,000lb (15,000 kg) when it roamed the Earth.

This is just over the weight of two elephants, or a London double-decker bus, and is 70 per cent more than previously thought.

Researchers from the Canadian Museum of Nature in Ottawa built a model that predicted the maximum size of the prehistoric beast.

So far, only 32 adult T. rex specimens have been discovered out of an estimated population of 2.5 billion.

The largest of these is ‘Scotty’, who weighed more than 19,400lb (8,800 kg) and was more than 42ft (13 m) long when it roamed what is now the western side of North America between 68 and 66 million years ago.

However, researchers say the specimens discovered may not be an accurate representation of the species, and that undiscovered individuals may have been much larger.

Tyrannosaurs rex (pictured) was a species of bird-like, meat-eating dinosaur. It lived between 68–66 million years ago in what is now the western side of North America

WHAT WAS T. REX?

Tyrannosaurus rex was a species of bird-like, meat-eating dinosaur.

It lived between 68–66 million years ago in what is now the western side of North America.

They could reach up to 40 feet (12 metres) long and 12 feet (4 metres) tall.

More than 50 fossilised specimens of T. Rex have been collected to date.

The monstrous animal had one of the strongest bites in the animal kingdom.

An artist’s impression of T. Rex

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Palaeontologists Jordan Mallon and Dr Dave Hone first collected data on the population size and average life span of T. rex.

They used this data to build two models that predict the typical growth curve of the dinosaur over its lifetime.

One of these models assumed the species exhibited sexual dimorphism in body size – where females and males grow to different weights – and the other didn’t.

Dr Mallon told Live Science: ‘If T. rex was dimorphic, we estimate that it would have weighed up to 53,000lb (24,000 kg), but we rejected that model because if it were true, we would have found even larger individuals by now.’ 

Earlier this year, a different study claimed that T. rex might actually have been three species – including T. regina, or the ‘queen of the dinosaurs’, and T. imperator.

However this was later refuted by other scientists that said there wasn’t sufficient evidence to split up the iconic species.

Researchers presented their model and prediction on T. Rex adult body weights at the Society of Vertebrate Paleontology annual meeting earlier this month.

While Mr Mallon confirmed on Twitter that he is ‘tweaking’ the final manuscript of this research, he also warned the results are speculative until a specimen of this size is discovered.

He tweeted: ‘Our back of the envelope calculations suggest that a 15,000kg animal is mechanically feasible, but that will require more rigorous testing.’ 

‘We’re talking about the equivalent of humans who are 6’9″,’ added Dr Hone, on Twitter.

The largest dinosaur specimen ever discovered is is ‘Scotty’ (pictured), who weighed more than 19,400 pounds (8,800 kg) and was more than 42 feet (13 m) long when alive

Research from last year revealed that humans could have outrun the T. Rex, as they enjoyed a ‘leisurely’ stroll at just 2.8 miles per hour (4.6km per hour).

Scientists estimated the stride length of a T. Rex specimen called ‘Trix’, and reconstructed its tail to find out the rhythm it would sway at.

The animal’s walking speed rate was thus comparable to that of emus, elephants, horses and humans.

Other studies have looked into why the dinosaur had such small arms relative to its body.

A 45-foot-long T. rex, for example, might have had a five-foot-long skull, but arms only three feet long – the equivalent of a 6-foot human with five-inch arms. 

One study suggests that they evolved them to lower the risk of them being bitten by other hungry T. rex adults while they were devouring a carcass. 

Another claims dinosaurs with smaller forelimbs used them grip each other while mating, or to help them stand up after a fall.

T. rex had complex nerve sensors in the tips of its jaws to help it recognise what it was eating, study finds 

Tyrannosaurus rex had nerves in its jaw that would have allowed it to recognise varied parts of its prey and eat them differently.

This is the conclusion of experts from the Fukui Prefectural University, who scanned the fossilised lower jaw of a T. rex and reconstructed the nerve pattern within.

The fearsome reptiles may also have been adept enough with their mouths to use them to make nests, care for their young and even communicate with each other. 

While the internal structure of the jaw has been studied previously in several fossil reptiles, this is the first such study to focus on T. rex, the team said.

Read more here 

Tyrannosaurus rex had nerves in its jaw (pictured in orange) that allowed it to recognise varied parts of its prey and eat them differently



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Business

S&P 500 slips as hawkish rate view, labor data weigh

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  • Fed’s Bullard backs more rate hikes
  • Cisco rises after co raises full-year outlook
  • Macy’s jumps on profit forecast raise
  • Indexes: Dow up 0.07%, S&P down 0.23%, Nasdaq down 0.09%

Nov 17 (Reuters) – The S&P 500 fell modestly on Thursday as hawkish comments from a U.S. Federal Reserve official and data showing the labor market remained tight led some investors to worry about more aggressive interest rate hikes.

Equities fell sharply early in the session and then rebounded, with the Dow last edging higher, supported by an upbeat earnings outlook from Cisco Systems (CSCO.O).

Stocks have retreated in recent days after a strong month-long rally after softer-than-expected inflation reports raised hopes the Fed would temper its rate hikes.

“Hope springs eternal in the equity market, and the markets have been fighting the Fed,” said Sameer Samana, senior global market strategist at Wells Fargo Investment Institute in St. Louis.

“You have had these reversals, you have had these spectacular rallies. But yet, when you look back at the full year 2022, you have had lower highs and lower lows and there’s nothing to suggest that we have broken that pattern.”

The Dow Jones Industrial Average (.DJI) rose 22.8 points, or 0.07%, to 33,576.63, the S&P 500 (.SPX) lost 9.27 points, or 0.23%, to 3,949.52 and the Nasdaq Composite (.IXIC) dropped 9.73 points, or 0.09%, to 11,173.93.

St. Louis Fed President James Bullard said the central bank needs to keep raising rates given that its tightening so far “had only limited effects on observed inflation.”

Data showed the number of Americans filing new claims for unemployment benefits fell last week, suggesting the labor market remained tight, after a report on Wednesday detailed strong retail sales growth last month that indicated the economy has weathered rate hikes.

Bets from traders of a 75 basis point hike at the Fed’s next meeting climbed to 19% from about 15% a day earlier, according to the CME Group’s FedWatch tool, with the remaining odds placed on a smaller 50 basis point increase.

Cisco shares rose over 4% after the company raised its full-year revenue and profit forecast with supply chain hurdles easing. The stock helped drive a 0.3% increase in the heavyweight S&P 500 information technology sector (.SPLRCT).

Most S&P 500 sectors were lower, however, with utilities (.SPLRCU) and materials (.SPLRCM) both dropping about 1.4%.

In other company news, shares of Macy’s (M.N) surged over 14% after the department store chain raised its annual profit forecast on resilient demand for high-end clothes and beauty products.

Declining issues outnumbered advancing ones on the NYSE by a 2.54-to-1 ratio; on Nasdaq, a 1.83-to-1 ratio favored decliners.

The S&P 500 posted no new 52-week highs and 1 new lows; the Nasdaq Composite recorded 28 new highs and 144 new lows.

Reporting by Lewis Krauskopf in New York, Bansari Mayur Kamdar, Ankika Biswas and Amruta Khandekar in Bengaluru; Editing by Vinay Dwivedi, Arun Koyyur and David Gregorio

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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US

Will the SF Bay Area get a wet winter? Forecasters weigh in

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The National Ocean and Atmospheric Administration said in its US winter weather outlook that La Niña will make an appearance December through February for the third year in a row.

It’s not unusual to see two consecutive winters marked by La Niña, but what US forecasters are calling a “triple dip” is uncommon. Going back some 70 years, this has occurred only two other times. 

“It has happened in the past, but it’s not normal,” said Brian Garcia, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service.

What does this mean for the water-starved San Francisco Bay Area? Last winter was abnormally dry amid a La Niña pattern. Could the region see the same this winter?

With La Niña persisting, NOAA’s winter forecast favors wetter weather in the Pacific Northwest and drier conditions in Southern California, for December 2022 to February 2023. Northern California and the Bay Area fall in an in-between area, where the odds of the winter going in one direction or the other aren’t strong. The outlook map suggests the likelihood of a warmer winter are slightly higher than a chillier one in the Bay Area, while there are equal chances of above average, below average and normal precipitation.

The rain forecast is the result of data from past winters marked by La Niña. While the Bay Area has seen more abnormally dry winters during La Niña years, it has also average years and unusually wet ones.

“The forecast of equal chances in your area does in fact mean that current climate signals and historical forecast reliability in your region don’t allow for a confident or reliable forecast shift in climatological probabilities,” Jon Gottschalk, chief of the NOAA Climate Prediction Center’s forecasting branch, wrote in an email. “So the odds at the current time for your area are 33% for each category. No clear shift either way unfortunately. Your area is notorious for high variability or outcomes during La Nina event winters and this is why equal chances is forecast.”

NOAA released its 2022-23 winter weather outlook.

NOAA

La Niña is a weather phenomenon that occurs when the equatorial waters in the eastern and central Pacific Ocean cool to below-normal averages. The better-known El Niño, the inverse of La Niña, is when the waters warm. Both can impact the atmospheric conditions worldwide, including the jet stream and storm track.

Local meteorologist Jan Null of Golden Gate Weather Services said that while La Niña influences winter weather, many other factors are at play, including a smattering of oscillations, such as the Arctic and Magellan-Julian oscillations. 

“El Niño and La Niña, they are the superstars of the team,” Null said. “They have the highest probability of having a big night. Some of these other bench players can come in and still influence the game.”

A big twists in this year’s forecast is that NOAA predicts La Niña will transition to what’s called ENSO neutral as early as February. In ENSO, the equatorial waters are at average temperatures. A similar pattern occurred in 2016-17, when winter started dry but had a wet ending.

“We had one or two storms in 2016 and then once we turned the new year and we popped out of La Niña, the storm completely blew open,” said Garcia, who works for the weather service’s Bay Area office. “We had two months of nonstop rain. It seemed like nonstop rain. We had so many atmospheric rivers come through our area. That was the year Coyote Creek flooded in San Jose.”

Garcia predicts that 2022-23 could unfold similarly.

“This winter, we will get rain,” he said. “The question is, ‘How much rain will we get?’ From things that I’ve been looking at, it looks like it’s going to be back-loaded. We’ll get a few fronts come through and give us a little bit of rain during the last part of this calendar year, but I really think the next calendar year is going to be the time when we get hit; probably late February through April is going to be our window this year. If we get something in March, we have ‘Miracle March.’ If we get something in April, we have our ‘Amazing April.'”

Null isn’t ready to make a prediction and is sticking with NOAA’s forecast that doesn’t favor one scenario over another. 

“I think we just don’t know,” he said. “If somebody really had the answer, they’d be the richest person on the planet.”

This news story has been updated.

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Business

Over-The-Counter Hearing Aids: Disability Experts Weigh Benefits And Concerns

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The U.S. Food and Drug Administration finalized a ruling Monday that will make hearing aids available over the counter without a prescription or an appointment.

It’s a game-changer for many disabled people, who say the ruling will benefit millions of Americans with hearing loss. At the same time, the ruling illuminates barriers to hearing aid access that members of the disabled community say still need to be addressed. HuffPost spoke to experts in the field who unpacked the benefits of over-the-counter hearing aids ― and aired some concerns about their rollout.

“I’m thrilled with this leap forward,” Glenda Sims, chief information accessibility officer at the digital accessibility firm Deque, told HuffPost. “People that want to enhance their hearing, or get back to a level of hearing that they had, if they have mild or moderate hearing loss, [and] that couldn’t afford it in the past, are really going to have it much more within their reach when there are some that are going to be available at $200 versus thousands of dollars.”

Tens of millions of Americans experience hearing loss, but only 16% of them use hearing aids, according to the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders. Cost is a major factor preventing access to these devices. The average cost of one prescription hearing aid is approximately $2,000, not including the cost of audiology visits for fittings and other services.

Over-the-counter hearing aids are now available at major retailers such as Walgreens and CVS at a significantly lower cost, and are estimated to save consumers $3,000 per pair of hearing aids. Sims said that her best friend had been experiencing hearing loss in one of her ears, but she struggled to afford hearing aids as a single parent on an elementary school teacher’s salary. She ended up paying $2,000 out of pocket for prescription hearing aids.

“She couldn’t pay for it,” Sims said. “It’s riding on credit card debt because she needed it. She can’t hear the ends of the words that the kids are saying to her in class.”

OTC hearing aids can also be beneficial to someone with mild to moderate hearing loss who previously may not have had access to prescriptions. Laura Pratesi, a doctor of audiology who is also hard of hearing, said many patients fall into that category and would benefit from having some technology, but can’t afford or don’t necessarily need prescription hearing aids.

One important point, Pratesi notes, is that OTC hearing aids could allow early adoption of hearing technology. The longer a person lives with hearing loss, the more difficult it can be for them to successfully transition to hearing aids if they so choose. And studies have shown that adults will wait more than a decade after they first experience hearing loss to get fitted for hearing aids, which Pratesi believes is partly linked to stigma.

Sims believes that commercialization of OTC hearing aids, along with more innovation, could destigmatize the devices. Pratesi notes that the advent of Bluetooth technology and AirPods has breathed new life into the hearing health care sphere.

“I’ve had patients that don’t necessarily love the idea of getting hearing aids, but when I tell them, ‘This can connect to your iPhone, this can connect to your Android,’ you’re like, ‘Oh, that’s so cool,’” she said.

One issue professionals see with OTC hearing aids is that consumers may not have the technological savvy to choose the right products. Jaipreet Virdi, a history professor at the University of Delaware, said she believes the FDA’s ruling for OTC hearing aids is a good thing, especially given the cost-saving advantages. However, she’s concerned that not everyone will have the technological know-how to take full advantage.

“It’ll be great that people will go and buy the right hearing aid that’s more affordable for them, but they might not get the full benefit from the products that they would need,” Virdi told HuffPost.

Audiologists can calibrate hearing aids and program them to an individual’s audiological range, as well as provide services such as aural rehab, auditory training, cleaning and software updates, to ensure the user is getting the most out of the device. Still, affording these services along with the cost of prescription hearing aids can be difficult. Sims notes that this is a reason some people may want to get OTC hearing aids rather than prescription ones.

“If I needed [hearing aids] right now … I would go to an audiologist,” Sims said. “They’re going to walk me through step by step, they’re going to know all kinds of things about sound and ears and adjustments.”

“I just spoke from privilege,” she added. “I could afford to do that, instead of doing the research myself. I could also do the research myself and be patient and have a little bit more trial and error. So I think audiologists and doctors are still an important piece of the puzzle. It’s just nice to not force it.”

OTC hearing aids are limited in some ways because they don’t help children or people with profound hearing loss, Pratesi said. For example, Maria Page, 53, said that her hearing loss is too great to be able to benefit from OTC hearing aids.

“Due to my inner ear hearing loss, my very small, in-the-ear-canal hearing aids have a custom fit so that I can wear them all day, every day,” Page told HuffPost. “Will the over-the-counter hearing aids have custom fits? I suspect not, because that would mean additional expense.”

Hearing aids aren’t a one-size-fits-all model, Virdi said. She uses the analogy of getting eyeglasses: Some people, depending on their visual needs, can go to the store and try on different glasses to figure out which ones help them see more clearly. But other people need to get their eyes examined and assessed by an ophthalmologist to determine which prescription lens would work best for them.

Page worries that the FDA’s ruling on OTC hearing aids and the one-size-fits-all mindset will lead some people to jump to the wrong conclusions.

“If anything, this FDA decision will have a negative impact on me, because everyone else will expect that I will be able to easily and somehow more cheaply get hearing aids on a regular basis,” she said. “I will have to explain even harder how that is not the case.”

Pratesi said that since her practice is unbundled ― a cheaper alternative to bundled services ― she can assist people who bring in OTC hearing aids. However, the costs can still be high out of pocket, since audiological services, as well as the actual hearing aids, are not covered by insurance.

“I want audiological care to be affordable and accessible for everybody,” Pratesi said. “If over the counter works for what someone needs, that’s fantastic. If over the counter doesn’t work for what somebody needs, nobody should have to go without audiological care because of cost.”

Pratesi said this barrier to access could be addressed if insurance companies categorized audiologists as limited licensed practitioners rather than as equipment suppliers, and hearing aids as medical devices rather than cosmetic or consumer products. This issue has been heavily debated since the development of the first electric hearing aid 100 years ago, and particularly during congressional hearings starting in the 1960s, Virdi said.

“As long as they’re being promoted as a consumer product, where consumers make the decision about which hearing aid fits their need, and not as a medical device that means it’s covered by insurance … we’re always going to be limited,” she said.

Some states have passed insurance mandates for hearing health care coverage, according to the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association. However, Pratesi notes that federal legislation would help. The Medicare Audiologist Access and Services Act is a federal bill that would require insurance coverage of hearing aids and audiological services. It would also improve access to licensed providers for people who suspect they have hearing loss, by eliminating the medical doctor referrals that are required in order to receive a hearing test.

“If we think about where we’re going in the future, I think we should push more for the devices to be covered by insurance ― and not just the devices, but all associated costs that go along with it,” Virdi said. “I think that’s one thing that I really hope will change.”

Some experts predict that OTC hearing aids will ultimately lead to more innovation and lower costs. Pratesi believes there will be a shift in practices offering more unbundled services, which would also result in lower costs.

OTC hearing aids have also started important conversations about inaccessibility, and how hearing aids, American Sign Language and cochlear implants are all tools to help people with various communication goals, Pratesi said. Still, she doesn’t want change to stop here.

“I’m excited for what this legislation does. But I don’t want people to think that ‘OK, great, we passed OTC and now we’re there.’ We’re not there,” she said. “There’s still more people that need to be helped, there’s still more changes that we need to make so that audiological care is affordable and accessible for everyone.”

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Health

Can you change from a night owl to an early bird? Experts weigh in

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Sign up for CNN’s Sleep, But Better newsletter series. Our seven-part guide has helpful hints to achieve better sleep.



CNN
 — 

If your body and brain fail to rev up until later in the day, you’re likely a night owl, naturally programmed to enjoy staying up late and sleeping in past traditional school and work start times.

Yet getting up early to meet life’s responsibilities is the bleary-eyed reality of most late-to-bed types — leading many exhausted night owls to wonder: “Can I reprogram my biological clock to be an early riser?”

The answer for most night owls is “Yes, you can,” according to sleep experts. How successful you will be at changing your sleep preferences, however, may be dependent on your genes and your willpower.

“We can make you less of a night owl, but not completely, because the genetic tendency, or predisposition, is still there,” said Dr. Phyllis Zee, director of the Center for Circadian and Sleep Medicine at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine in Illinois.

“It’s like if you have a gene for diabetes, right? You can modify that with your lifestyle, but it doesn’t change it,” Zee said.

Success is also dependent on how much you are willing to work to change behaviors that affect sleep, said Dr. Elizabeth Klerman, a professor of neurology in the division of sleep medicine at Harvard Medical School in Boston.

“Behavior change is very difficult. We can say what works, and then you have to decide if you want to do it,” Klerman said. “We don’t have a magic pill.”

Nature marries our sleep-wake cycle to the Earth’s rotation. Daylight enters your eyes, travels to your brain and suppresses the production of melatonin, a hormone that promotes sleep. When the sun goes down, your body clock turns melatonin production back on, triggering sleepiness within a few hours.

Your inherited sleep chronotype may alter that process. If you’re an innate early bird, your circadian rhythm releases melatonin earlier than the norm, energizing you to become more active in the morning. Night owls, however, secrete melatonin much later, pushing peak activity and alertness later into the afternoon and evening.

Your body clock also directs when you feel hunger, feel sluggish, and are peppy enough to exercise, so being a night owl may have a downside for your health. Studies have shown evening types are more likely to skip breakfast; eat more later in the day and use more tobacco, alcohol and caffeine. Night owls also have higher levels of visceral body fat in the abdominal region, a key risk factor for type 2 diabetes and heart disease.

While you might not be able to change your genetic predisposition, you don’t have to let it control you. Sleep experts have several techniques to alter your body clock if you’re willing to do them.

Let there be morning light: The first and most important change is to control the timing and type of light you see every morning, Zee said.

“The strongest reset for the circadian system is bright light,” Zee said, “Light in the morning changes the oscillation of your circadian clock genes at both a cellular and molecular level. You are also training all your rhythms, whether it’s sleep, blood pressure, heart rate or your cortisol rhythm to be earlier.”

Flood your eyes with light as soon as that pesky alarm goes off. Use natural sunlight if possible, or turn on artificial lights, especially those in the blue spectrum, which tells the body to wake up. Getting natural light in the winter isn’t easy, so some people use products that brighten slowly until the alarm sounds.

“Dawn simulators are fine,” Zee said. “The problem with these lights is that a lot of people don’t wake up to them or keep shutting them off. If you do that, then I suggest using light (therapy) goggles. Those are easier for many of my patients because you can put them on in bed, and then get up and walk around with these glasses while you are brushing your teeth and getting ready.”

Don’t stop there, Zee added. “Continue to extend brighter light intermittently throughout the entire morning.”

Go dark in the evenings: The flip side of the circadian reset is to turn down the lights at a much earlier time in the evening, especially blue light from electronic devices, which “only pushes your biological clock later,” Klerman said.

Yes, that means turning off your smartphone, laptop, gaming device and TV a lot earlier than you may want to. Before you run screaming for the exit, there are ways to tweak your device.

“You should put filters on your phone to change the color of your display. You can do that on your computer as well so the color is more in the amber or reddish orange range, which doesn’t suppress melatonin,” Zee said.

You can also download a free app called f.lux. It casts a yellow tint upon your screen so you get less blue light exposure, Klerman said.

You can’t turn off the blue light from your television, but you can turn off the TV. “Read a book or play a card game or whatever,” she said.

Eat and exercise earlier: Night owls naturally prefer to eat late, which has been shown to be associated with weight gain and higher obesity, Zee said.

“My rule: Stop eating within three hours of bedtime,” she said. “Because this genetic molecular clock exists in almost every cell of your body, that means it is in your fat and muscle cells, affecting your metabolism. That’s why feeding should be in sync.”

Exercise is critical for good sleep and overall health no matter what time you do it. However, if you’re a night owl, you should try to exercise in the morning or early afternoon, and avoid heavy exercise in the evening, Zee said: “Remember, everything should be in sync.”

Don’t turn to sleeping pills: You want to change your biological clock, not drug your body into sleep. Besides, “behavioral treatment of insomnia is more effective than drugs,” Klerman said.

If light isn’t working quickly enough, however, you can add melatonin about three hours before bedtime — and don’t take too much, Zee said.

“You will take a very low dose of melatonin — half a milligram. More is definitely not better to shift your clock,” she said.

“Very importantly, you have to be in the dark when you do this — you cannot be exposed to bright light during this period of time or using electronics because the blue light will suppress your endogenous melatonin,” Zee added.

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