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Monday, February 17, 2020
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Michigan Allows Medical Marijuana Stores to Remain Open for Now

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The State Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs in Michigan ruled in favor of an extremely disruptive measure in September. According to the bill, all dispensaries that sell medical marijuana have to close their doors before December 15. Those stores that don’t abide are going to be forced to shut down. After this date, the agency will make applications available for business owners to obtain one out of five categories of licenses.

Authorities Decided to Reverse Their September Rule

However, such a state decision was met with overwhelming criticism. The department received hundreds of complaints from owners of a marijuana card. Most of them claimed that this measure would deny them access to their necessary medication for a too long period of time. There are at least 272,000 card holders in Michigan who rely on this new legal therapy to comfort a series of ailments such as cancer or epilepsy.

As a result, the state decided to address the issue raised by the local community. Therefore, authorities endorsed an emergency clause on Wednesday. According to this new rule, all currently operational medical marijuana stores that have gone through any approval process will be able to serve customers on. In the meantime, they are required to obtain the new state licenses.

The director of state’s Bureau of Medical Marijuana Regulation, Andrew Brisbo, claimed that the complaints they received had played a major factor in this rule reversal.

“When we looked at the feedback, especially from people with the greatest difficulty of access, we wanted to ensure that those folks would have access to their medicine.”

The State Will Start Granting Licenses to Medical Marijuana Businesses at the Beginning of 2018

Those stores that will continue to serve local community are not going to benefit any advantage to secure a place in the new regulated market. Instead, they will have same opportunities to go through the licensing process like any other candidate.

The five categories of licenses include growers, testers, processors, secure transporters, and dispensaries. Entities can send their applications starting with December 15. The Michigan Medical Marijuana Licensing Board will start granting licenses at the beginning of 2018.

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Starbucks Takes Halloween Seriously with New Zombie Frappuccino

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Starbucks is one coffee shop chain that likes to support annual holidays. Behind these efforts hide extremely appealing special beverages. What makes them a real treat is their limited time nature. Once the magic of the holidays spoils, the special recipe will follow in its footsteps. For this Halloween, Starbucks introduced Zombie Frappuccino which will disappear into thin air when you least expect.

The Zombie Frappuccino Nailed Halloween Themed Colors

The new drink seems ambitious enough to compete with the famed Unicorn Frappuccino. The large cup of coffee sparked a frenzy on Instagram for its looks. Its aesthetics created a sick combination between pinkish foam that looks like a living brain and a ghostlike green for the rest of the content.

On top of that, the edge of the cup is embossed with bloodlike trails that resemble a vampire’s after dinner look. However, the smudge is nothing but delicious syrup with a lot of sugar.

As for the taste of it, Starbucks resorted to a combination of apple syrup and caramel to set the right tone for the spooky holiday. It seems to be a recipe that only particular clients with a fondness for apples would love. Some customers call it another sugar bomb on social media.

On the other hand, customers have to pay attention to the nutrition information for this one. The smallest size comes with 190 calories, the middle version has around 290 calories while the Venti iced cup has 390 calories.

The Special Offer Will Disappear on Tuesday

However, this Halloween treat can also be turned from a nemesis to lactose intolerant coffee consumers’ best friend. Baristas claim that they can make a dairy-free Halloween-themed drink if customers ask them so. The best part about it is that they don’t have a lot of ingredients to change.

In fact, the Zombie Frappuccino hates dairy products except for the milk that keeps the blend together. Nonetheless, Starbucks baristas usually have milk made of soy, almond or coconut at hand. After just one swap, vegan customers can partake in this celebration as well.

The special drink this time will be available for less than a week. Sales started on Thursday, and the zombie will vanish at midnight on Tuesday.

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Amazon Warehouse Delivered Couple’s Requested Storage Containers with 65 Pounds of Weed

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Amazon is willing to go the extra mile in order to obtain high customer satisfaction rates. Yet how can one cheer up a couple who has only ordered some empty second-hand storage containers? Amazon’s answer was a bonus of 65 pounds of weed.

While Amazon claims that it was aware of the content of this delivery, the Florida household was struck with awe. They immediately informed the police that they received more than they bargained for.

Drug Traffickers Might Have Used Same Storage Containers for Illegal Activities

The story starts with a woman and her fiancé who both remained anonymous for identity protection. They took advantage of an Amazon Warehouse Deal and ordered 27-gallon containers. The ad claimed that this is an offer they can’t refuse.

However, when the order reached their home, they became suspicious. The packages weighed 93.5 pounds when the storage containers were supposed to be empty. The moment they opened the lids, the couple understood that they were right. A powerful smell of marijuana informed them that they received unwanted dried hallucinogenic plants.

The couple contacted the police immediately. However, it was not easy to explain to the officers what happened in reality. Authorities had enough reasons to suspect them of illegal activities at a first glimpse.

Their reason to seek justice was influenced by a grain of fear as well. They believed that drug traffickers used the goods of the online retailer. However, something went wrong, and the illegal merchandise reaches their door.

If the true owner of the products figures out where the material ended up, they might come to reclaim it. Therefore, the couple decided to abandon their Florida residency for several nights.

Amazon Didn’t Offer Clear Justification

The accident happened one month ago, yet details about it surfaced only recently. Amazon was reluctant to offer a thorough explanation of what happened.

“Our customer service team worked directly with the customer to address concerns and will work with law enforcement to investigate the case, as needed.”

This silence can only underline a concerning supposition that the retail giant cannot be in control of all activities. The 65 pounds of pot could have come from a third party. However, such illegal activities have still crossed paths with Amazon services.

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IBM’s Q3 Report Encourages Greater Sales Expectations for the First Time in Years

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International Business Machines Corporation or IBM for short has been dealing with disappointing numbers for the last five years. However, the latest fiscal quarter report proved investors that the organization still holds a lot of value to them. Therefore, the company announced greater sales expectations for the last quarter of the year.

As of lately, IBM redirected all its efforts towards modern services such as cloud and data analytics. However, the expected boost in sales is slated to come from one of its legacy hardware projects.

IBM Had the Luxury to Set Higher Sales Expectations for the Fourth Quarter of the Year

The fourth-quarter revenue is expected to extend to somewhere between $22 billion to $22.1 billion. This projection marks a 1.5% boost by comparison to same period last year’s income. The target is also defying analysts’ average estimates of $21.8 million.

The report on third-quarter performance improved confidence in the last three months of the year. Sales expectations will be topped thanks to IBM’s new mainframe server. On Tuesday, Chief Financial Officer Martin Schroeter claimed that the last quarter of the year is going to receive waves of revenue boost that can come to an addition of $2.9 billion.

If IBM manages to deliver this target revenue, the company will end a 22-quarter streak of low sales. Chief Executive Officer Ginny Rometty has been working towards growth since the beginning. The performance of this year’s third quarter is the proof investors have been waiting for to confirm that the company has the capacity to recover from its five-year decline.

On the other hand, analysts know that the mainframe business does not provide long-term effects. Therefore, the latest positive numbers might signal just a temporary improvement. IBM has to develop other projects such as cloud software and services to be able to sustain constant growth.

The third quarter recorded $19.5 billion which is only 1% below the performance attained one year ago. Nonetheless, this number beat analysts’ estimations of $18.6 billion. Most of the sales came from hardware department, yet the software products didn’t underperform either. Cognitive solutions which include innovative products such as Watson analytics grew 3.9%. In the end, late trading increased shares by 5.3% to $154.33.

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New Implantable Device that Can Treat Central Sleep Apnea Is Available on the Market

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The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has recently found a new treatment for central sleep apnea safe enough to enter the market. The innovative product is an implantable device called the Remedē System. It works by reaching out to the nerve located in the chest and stimulating it to do its job more efficiently. The primary task of this fiber is to signal the diaphragm to contract itself in order to achieve a deeper breath.

The Central Sleep Apnea Occurs When the Brain Doesn’t Signal the Diaphragm Anymore

Tina Kiang, acting director of the FDA’s Center for Devices and Radiological Health, talked about the benefits of diversity in treatments. Every person comes with different needs that doctors can better address if they have several remedies under their disposal. Therefore, the advent of a new solution to a respiratory condition is bound to bring more patients closer to a certain point of comfort that defines a healthy life.

Director Kiang urges people to consult their doctors before adopting the new treatment. Only professionals can understand how a certain person could cope with the risks and benefits of an implantable device.

The central sleep apnea is a condition that disrupts people’s quality of life, especially when sleeping. It is the result of the brain failing to send signals to the diaphragm to breathe. As a consequence, people who suffer from this condition can often live 10 seconds at a time without being able to breathe at all.

According to the National Institute of Health’s National Center on Sleep Disorder Research, CSA is not to be taken lightly. The condition can severely affect the quality of sleep. As a result, it can lead to other health issues such as heart attack, high blood pressure, stroke, diabetes, obesity, and heart failure.

The New Device Consists of Battery Pack and Wires That Must Be Implanted Under Skin

At the moment, the healthcare industry people who suffer from moderate to severe sleep apnea several solutions. They can choose to take medication, rely on positive airway pressure devices or accept surgery.

The Remedē System is a kind of a battery pack that surgeons can implant under the skin. Its location has to be in the upper chest area. Afterward, the surgery will require the insertion of small wires into blood vessels. Their function is to stimulate the phrenic nerve to improve the breathing process.

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Valve Purges Steam of ‘Fake Games’ and Forces Shady Vendor to Leave Steam

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The digital world is usually full of wonders, but this doesn’t exempt it from the mischievous practices some entities can do under the cover of anonymity. The gaming industry is no exception. Steam platform has been dealing with so-called fake games for some time now. However, Valve’s initiative against such practices made this universe a safer place.

Fake Games Are Those Made in a Hurry Mostly Based on Premade Assets for the Sake of Profit

Last week, Valve decided to pull off Steam around 200 of titles that pertained to one creator. The side effect of this action was the end of seller Silicon Echo Studios. This company was notorious for its shady activity. Numerous users complained that all this seller’s titles were so-called fake games.

The deceitful machination behind this was to market cheap productions heavily only for the sake of profits. However, these titles were reported to be nothing more than a collection of premade assets put together with a minimum budget. The earnings were mostly recorded through Steam trading card marketplace.

Valve Explained the Cancelation of around 200 Titles as a Way to Preserve Steam’s Quality as a Gaming Service

Valve’s justification for its actions regarded the preservation of the quality of Steam. The shady vendor has been creating many products that were identical in nature. While their ubiquity was strong, such low-quality titles discouraged gamers from the experience of finding new fun products on this platform.

“This developer was also abusing Steam keys and misrepresenting themselves on the Steam store.”

This is the first time since Steam received complaints of a too indulgent admission process when a deceiving seller got penalized. The abolition of Silicon Echo Studios from Steam might be just the first step to a complete catalog purging. This procedure can elevate the standards and increase user database and popularity of Steam summer sales.

On the other hand, Silicon Echo Studios looked shocked by this implementation. Therefore, they sent Steam a letter where they complain about the way Steam tackled this procedure. Seller’s primary distress was that they didn’t receive any warning for the cancellation of their entire collection of 175 titles. However, they did admit that some of the practices they had employed could be seen as shady.

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Odd Jellyfish Raises Questions As To The Nature Of Sleep

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The Cassiopea jellyfish rests at night, which raises questions about the function of sleep.

 

Do jellyfish dream of gelatinous sheep? We can’t say, but according to a paper available in the journal Current Biology, they do seem to actually sleep, or at least enter a sleep-like state.

This discovery began with three graduate students at Caltech. Michael Abrams and Ravi Nath were debating whether or not jellyfish went to sleep at night. Their colleague, Claire Bedbrook, overheard and commented that it is a complex if passive, behavior. So jellyfish, known for their lack of brains, obviously could not. They decided to test the question, and Bedbrook has since changed her stance.

Jellyfish Go to Rest at Night and Don’t Like Disruptions

The team of researchers discovered that such specimens were 30 percent less active at night, and could be “woken up” with some difficulty. If kept from sleeping, they spent the next day dazed, meaning that sleep is biologically necessary for the species.

This odd behavior was seen in a species called Cassiopea, or the upside-down jellyfish. Instead of brains, they have a loose network of nerve cells throughout their bodies. Bedbrook notes that they are “like weird plant animals,”. Ones that seem to have a symbiotic relationship with photosynthetic organisms in their cells.

Jellyfish like Cassiopea are also some of the oldest known creatures, dating back 700 million years. For perspective, the oldest dinosaur would show up more than 450 million years later. This odd discovery helped awaken and give rise to a series of questions. Some of them target the nature of sleep and its possibilities when lacking a central nervous system. Other question which animals that lack a brain can also enter a sleep-like state.

Prior to this, experiments had already shown that creatures as simple as roundworms, C. elegans, need sleep to survive. This new find shows that this requirement apparently showed up even earlier in our evolutionary history that initially believed.

But as Nath notes, it is a rather counter-intuitive idea, “this period where animals are not doing the things that benefit from a natural selection perspective.”

“We know it must be very important. Otherwise, we would just lose it,” Bedbrook noted.

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Japan’s SoftBank Is Willing to Invest $10 Billion in Uber under Certain Conditions

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Uber is almost ready to finish a one of a kind business transaction. The ride-hailing company might receive a joint investment of up to $10 billion from Didi Chuxing, Dragoneer, and Softbank. If this goes through, the proportions of such a secondary transaction will definitely go down as a record in history. Original investors and employees of the company are in for a large gain. However, the company must agree to certain conditions in order to make this strategy a reality.

Uber Has to Agree to Certain Conditions such as Devaluating Company to $50 Billion

The multinational deal that Uber is ready to close has Japanese, Chinese, and American origins. The generous offer is reportedly unlocking both a major investment in Uber’s business and share buy-up from early shareholders or employees.

As a consequence, Japan’s Softbank could gain as much as 22% stake in the ride-haling platform. However, there are certain conditions that the company should agree with in order to finalize this monumental event.

The core deal breaker might be a major discount. Uber’s last valuation placed the company at a total of $69 billion. However, Softbank is trying to convince shareholders to start an auction operation beginning with a value of $50 billion.

Main Investor Softbank Is More Excited to Take Part in Uber’s AI Development than Its Original Ride-Hailing Service

Uber may have succeeded to spark new worldwide interest for a different type of ride service. Nonetheless, Softbank’s Masayoshi Son was attracted more by company’s development in AI.

At the moment, Japan’s main goal is to take part in the historic birth of self-driving cars. The country believes that this market has the power to disrupt and remodel the world as we know it.

This deal would definitely help Uber management shift away from the slippery slope the company fell on which led to numerous scandals. These brand defamations managed to show their presence in business numbers as well. Uber is currently losing revenue, and new CEO Dara Khosrowshahi has to play this game perfectly to reach a blockbuster deal.
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Cruise Ship Escape Rescued 4,000 People from the Wrath of Hurricane Irma

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Hurricane Irma wreaked havoc across Miami last Sunday. The natural phenomenon stroke the coastal region with a Category 5 power subduing properties, vehicles, communities, and massive construction cranes under its force. While the local shelters guarded around 25,000 from the devastating path of the storm, a Caribbean cruise ship came to the rescue of an additional group of 4,000 people. The vessel carried an appropriate name for its humanitarian mission, namely Escape.

The Early Return to Miami Left a Lot of Norwegian Cruise Line Customers without Plans to Flee Hurricane Irma

The Escape worked hand in hand with another Norwegian Cruise Line vessel, the Norwegian Sky. Both of them had clear orders to go back to their homeport in Miami on Saturday and Friday respectively. Nonetheless, Hurricane Irma messed with their plans. Therefore, the vessels had to hurry up their mission and returned earlier than scheduled to avoid getting in contact with the fury of the storm.

On the other hand, this move put a lot of passengers in distress. The majority of passengers couldn’t foresee the early arrival to book hotels or plane flights. Therefore, they were bound to remain in Florida for a couple of days without any safety plans.

Cruise Ship Escape Sailed out at Sea with 4,000 Passengers to Avoid the Hurricane

Therefore, the companies understood their clients’ hardships and returned with generous offers. The cruise liners refunded their passengers for the fact that their vacation was shorter than they were promised in the first place. Secondly, both ships accommodated passengers’ need for a safe place. Therefore, they extended an invitation to those who were unable to find any means to return home on Thursday from Miami.

As a result, around 4,000 passengers were able to return to the sea free of charge. This way, by the time the ravaging storm hit Florida, they were safely on board the Cruise Ship Escape and on a Norwegian Sky vessel out at sea. A Norwegian Sky spokesperson stated that their passengers are to arrive on Tuesday unless the ports don’t reopen by then.
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Trump Nominated Climate Change Denier as NASA Head

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Republican Jim Bridenstine became President Donald Trump’s choice as the upcoming leader of space agency NASA. There is one problem though. Even though he is a member of the Republican Party, Bridenstine lacks any formal qualifications in engineering or science. This was a basic requirement for previous NASA leaders. On top of that, the politician expressed numerous times his doubts regarding the scientific data on climate change. Both Democrats and Republicans criticized Trump’s selection of a climate change denier.

Bridestine Reportedly Asked Donald Trump to Bestow Him a Leadership Position at NASA or the Air Force

NASA is in need of a permanent leader since the beginning of this year. Former astronaut Charles Bolden decided to hand over his resignation as NASA leader the moment Donald Trump became the President of the United States.

At the moment, the space agency found a temporary replacement in the person of its associate administrator, Robert Lightfoot Jr. He is officially the first NASA administrator with the longest tenure.

However, on Friday the President announced that Jim Bridenstine is his choice for the new NASA leader. The news was just the revelation of months of speculations. Bridenstine was one of the major players that supported Trump’s presidential campaign. Last year, it was reported that the Republican informally requested Trump to bestow him a leadership position whether within NASA or the Air Force.

The nomination is now heading to the Senate to get an official confirmation. Bridenstine is not a stranger to the American space agency. In fact, he is the author of the 2016 American Space Renaissance Act. This bill which never passed the Congress aimed to upgrade the collection of satellites of the Defense Department and solve the space debris issue.

On top of that, the proposal looked to focus the agency’s ambitious projects on only several main goals such as sending human missions to Mars. Another grandiose project was a permanent colonization of the Moon.

Republicans and Democrats Frowned upon the Nomination of a Climate Change Denier as NASA Head

On the other hand, Bridenstine is resolute to make climate change seem like a non-existent threat to humanity. In 2013, the Republican claimed that global temperatures remained the same in the past ten years.

Science brought solid evidence that this claim is not true. Therefore, both Republicans and Democrats look at the nomination of a climate change denier for a NASA leadership position with suspicion.
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