A Refresher on Regression Analysis

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A Refresher on Regression Analysis     You probably know by now that whenever possible you should be making data-driven decisions at work. But do you know how to parse through all the data available to you? The good news is that you probably don’t need to do the number crunching yourself (hallelujah!) but you do need to correctly understand and interpret the analysis created by your colleagues. One of the most important types of data analysis is called regression analysis. Continued here

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How to Measure Inclusion in the Workplace     In an era where companies are paying more and more attention to diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI), inclusion remains the most difficult metric to track. From new research, Gartner developed the Gartner Inclusion Index to measure what true inclusion looks like across an organization. The authors outline how to use the Gartner Inclusion Index to measure employee perceptions of inclusion, what effective action looks like from leaders, and common pitfalls to avoid. Continued here

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How to Answer "What Are Your Strengths and Weaknesses?"     Don’t take common interview questions lightly just because they’re predictable. Underpreparing for them can make the difference between moving ahead and moving on. One question that often comes up: What are your strengths and weaknesses? In this article, the author outlines clear steps for how to describe your strengths and weaknesses along with sample language to use as a guide. Continued here

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Getting Hired in a Tough Job Market: Our Favorite Reads     The last day of my last job started off as usual. I woke up in the thick heat of my Brooklyn apartment, threw on some old jeans, and caught the Q train to Manhattan. The night before, our team had gotten the invite: a 9 am all-hands meeting. The bosses would be flying out from L.A. to chat. In the fast-paced world of competitive tech, it didn’t seem like a great sign. Continued here

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Accelerating Digital Integration in Africa     Regional integration, similar to the European Union’s, has been cited as a key to creating stability, growing economies, improving market efficiency, sharing the costs of large infrastructure projects, and addressing peace and security. Deeper economic integration in Africa offers a pathway to shared prosperity and increased global influence. And since the world is becoming more digital every day, digital integration is vital to successful regional integration. Private sector partnerships, building interoperable systems, and focusing on the infrastructure for power and the internet are three key ideas that could help accelerate Africa’s digital integration. Continued here

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Stop Overworking After Vacation     After a vacation, it can be tempting to double down on work in an attempt to make up for “lost” time, or to try to hurry through the time it takes to get back up to speed. Other times, the urge to overwork stems from a well-meaning effort to relieve team members of the extra work they were covering for you, or a desire to demonstrate that even though you were away, your commitment remains high and you’re still valuable to the organization. Whatever the motivation behind post-vacation overwork, it can leave you boomeranging from one extreme to the other, which increases stress and actually undermines your efforts to catch up. So how can you retain all the benefits of work recovery and resist jumping right back into the grind? The authors offer several strategies. Continued here

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Introducing Exponentially with Azeem Azhar     AZEEM AZHAR: Never before Has it been harder for you to make sense of what is going on in the world. Opportunities abound, but let’s accept it’s a chaotic time – for you, for me, and for leaders around the world. As exponential technologies like artificial intelligence march on, the payback for being able to make future-proof decisions amidst unprecedented ambiguity only increases. You will likely recognize this challenge from your own experience. I’m Azeem Azhar, and today I want to invite you to join me over the next eight weeks as I step out of mainstream conversations about technology to explore new ways of thinking about our collective future. Today I’m launching Exponentially, a new video and podcast show in partnership with Bloomberg Originals. Come with me from the US coasts and across Europe as I meet some of the brightest leaders shaping the future. I speak with open AI’s boss, Sam Altman, the co-founder and CEO of Anthropic, Dario Amodei, and the legendary Silicon Valley investor, Vinod Khosla amongst others. Over the course of the season, I’ll get into questions like, what does it mean to legally own your own thoughts, and why does that matter now? Could AI reduce global inequality by boosting productivity in the global south? And what assumptions do we need to change about our geopolitics in order to avoid a Cold War II? Tune in today to hear the first episode. Search for Exponentially with Azeem Azhar wherever you listen to your podcasts, or if you want to watch the video, we’re on many of the main streaming platforms. Continued here

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Inside PepsiCo's Effort to Reach Net Zero Emissions     For corporations like PepsiCo, most greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions originate in the supply chain, which is challenging to manage. PepsiCo believes three elements — expectations, economics, and enablement — are essential for effective supply-chain engagement and action. Clear expectations guide supplier partners, while understanding the economic realities aids in creating profitable GHG reductions. Lastly, enabling suppliers through support and resources can facilitate a smoother transition towards shared net-zero goals. PepsiCo’s plan reflects these principles, forging a path toward a sustainable and resilient future. Continued here

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How ancient 'skywells' are keeping Chinese homes cool     Ru Ling loves spending time in skywells. To her, these courtyards of old Chinese houses are the perfect place to be in on a hot and humid day.From 2014 to 2021, Ru lived in a century-old timber-framed home in the village of Guanlu in eastern China's Anhui province. She moved there for a change of life after living and working in air-conditioned buildings for many years. Continued here

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How Darwinism is changing medicine     At age 20, Randolph Nesse was puzzled about why we grow old. He couldn't wrap his head around why natural selection had not eliminated ageing altogether. He spent months coming up with theories to explain it, but was unable to solve the riddle. Yet, this idling of his inquiring mind would lay the seeds for a whole new way of thinking about medicine.Some years later, friends at a local natural history museum pointed Nesse towards the theory that ageing is simply a side effect of the evolutionary pressure that has selected certain genes over others. If a condition only manifests after an organism passes its reproductive peak, then there will be no selective pressure to prevent it from being passed on. As a physician, Nesse realised that while he understood how these forces could shape species, he had no clue how natural selection works inside the human body. Continued here

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Shein's hottest item in Latin America is its plastic bags     A recent viral meme on TikTok and Facebook feeds across Brazil and Mexico shows Shein-branded plastic bags being repurposed to carry unexpected items: Corona beers, frozen tamales, or loose menstrual pads. The trend is a wink at the ubiquitousness of Shein across Latin America, where the company has become so popular that its packaging — an easily reusable, zippered, transparent plastic bag emblazoned with the Shein logo — has seeped into daily life. Gabriela Díaz from Puebla, Mexico, told Rest of World she’s never bought a Shein garment, but her 3-year-old daughter has received several as gifts. Díaz said she has used the Shein bags more times than her daughter has used the brand’s clothes. She reuses the bags to store dirty laundry or small items, like loose puzzle pieces, and said she has used the same three for four months now. Continued here

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Why Do Cats Knead Like They're Making Biscuits?     Often nicknamed “making biscuits,” kneading is a good sign that your cat is happy, experts sayIf you love cats—or cat memes—you may be familiar with kneading. Forelimbs outstretched, a kneading cat will press each paw in turn into a soft surface as if walking in place, often purring as it does so. Continued here

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Algorithms Are Making Important Decisions. What Could Possibly Go Wrong?     Seemingly trivial differences in training data can skew the judgments of AI programs—and that’s not the only problem with automated decision-makingCan we ever really trust algorithms to make decisions for us? Previous research has proved these programs can reinforce society’s harmful biases, but the problems go beyond that. A new study shows how machine-learning systems designed to spot someone breaking a policy rule—a dress code, for example—will be harsher or more lenient depending on minuscule-seeming differences in how humans annotated data that were used to train the system. Continued here

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Watch a Comet's Tail Get Mangled by the Sun     Discovered only last month, Comet Nishimura is drawing attention before close approaches to the sun and Earth in the coming weeksAn intriguing new celestial object known as Comet Nishimura is enduring a bumpy ride through the inner solar system despite having its tail torn off by an outburst from the sun. Continued here

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What This Graph of a Dinosaur Can Teach Us about Doing Better Science     “Anscombe’s quartet” and the “datasaurus dozen” demonstrate the importance of visualizing dataMark Twain once wrote, “There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies, and statistics.” (He attributed the quip to former British prime minister Benjamin Disraeli, but its true origin is unknown.) Given the foundational importance of statistics in modern science, this quote paints a bleak picture of the scientific endeavor. Thankfully, several generations of scientific progress have proved Twain’s sentiment to be an exaggeration. Still, we shouldn’t discard the wisdom in those words. While statistics is an essential tool for understanding the world, employing it responsibly and avoiding its pitfalls requires a delicate dance. Continued here

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Half the World's Population Faced Extreme Heat for at Least 30 Days This Summer     Nearly every person on the planet saw high temperatures that were made at least twice as likely by climate change this summerIt has been a grueling summer, with relentless heat breaking multiple records in many places around the world. In fact, June through August was the planet’s hottest documented three-month period, with July ranking as the hottest month ever recorded. A new analysis by the nonprofit organization Climate Central finds that more than 3.8 billion people were exposed to extreme heat that was worsened by human-caused climate change from June through August, and at least 1.5 billion experienced such heat every day of that period. Nearly every person on Earth saw high temperatures that were made at least twice as likely by global warming. Continued here

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She Cracked the Mystery of How to Split the Atom, But Someone Else Got the Nobel Prize for the Discovery     Lise Meitner, an Austrian-born Jewish physicist, never received the Nobel Prize she deserved for her pioneering work on nuclear fission[New to Lost Women of Science? You can listen to our most recent Short here and our most recent multi-episode season here.] Continued here

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Nearly 500 Neighborhoods Prone to Climate Disasters Will Get Extra Money for Resilience     U.S. census tracts with high exposure to climate impacts will get extra federal funds to build resilienceCLIMATEWIRE | Nearly 500 U.S. neighborhoods vulnerable to climate change have been selected to receive special help from the Federal Emergency Management Agency and potentially other federal agencies, FEMA said Wednesday. Continued here

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What I've Learned: Jeremy Siegel     In a special interview with Wharton Dean Erika James, professor Jeremy Siegel reflects on his highly influential career as an economist.Jeremy Siegel – world-renowned economist, Wharton professor emeritus of finance, and author of the seminal book, Stocks for the Long Run – is known for his forward-thinking expertise on financial markets and frequent appearances on news outlets like CNN, CNBC, and NPR. In this thoughtful conversation with Wharton Dean Erika James, Siegel takes a step back to reflect on his life, career, and how the industry has changed, starting from his early passion for numbers and teaching, all the way through his 50-plus years in academia. Continued here