GETAWAYTHEBERKSHIRES

Clashes Over the Future of Gene Therapy at the US' Biggest Biotech Meeting

March 20, 2019 | Story | No Comments

For one dizzying, schmooze and booze-filled week every January, thousands of tech execs, VCs, and investment bankers grind their way through a four-day slog of panel sessions, poster presentations, networking meetings, and cocktail-drenched after-hours parties in their industry’s premier orgiastic dealmaking event. And no, we’re not talking about CES. On Monday, the Westin St. Francis […]

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Will Smith's Aladdin Genie Is Already a Meme

March 20, 2019 | Story | No Comments

Last night, amidst the hubbub of the Grammys, Disney released the first TV spot for its upcoming live-action version of Aladdin. Directed by Guy Ritchie, it features Hot Jafar, a sweeping soundtrack, and Will Smith as the iconic Genie (the character voiced by Robin Williams in the animated 1992 film). The trailer itself looked fine; […]

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Why It's Almost Impossible for Fastballs to Get Any Faster

March 20, 2019 | Story | No Comments

A wickedly fast fastball isn’t the anomaly it once was. A decade ago, Major League pitchers threw a grand total of just 196 triple-digit fastballs in a single season. Last year, 40 pitchers collectively threw 1,017. But while baseball’s hallmark pitch has increased in popularity, it hasn’t increased in velocity. Consider the confusion over the […]

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Why I Just Can't Quit Watching Reality Dating Shows

March 20, 2019 | Story | No Comments

When Are You The One? returned to MTV this month for a seventh season, it did so with all the predictable tropes of the reality dating subgenre. There was Zak, the Toxic Relationship Addict. Kayla, the Guy-Crazy Romantic. Kwasi, the Muscled Egomaniac. Sam, the Independent Feminist. Tevin, the Too-Suave Pretty Boy. All were reductive archetypes; […]

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Is This Stem-Cell Clinic Really Making Cancer Vaccines?

March 20, 2019 | Story | No Comments

On the first Saturday of March, Kristin Comella put on a white doctor’s coat and took the stage at the fourth annual conference for the Academy of Regenerative Practices. The founder and president of the academy, Comella also oversees an expanding empire of stem cell clinics that promise patients cures for most anything that ails […]

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While You Were Offline: The Truth Is Out There

March 20, 2019 | Story | No Comments

Last week started ominously, with the news that Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke was firing the department's inspector general even though he—Zinke—is the subject of multiple investigations, and ended with the news that one of those investigations had found Zinke guilty of violating official policy regarding government travel, costing taxpayers $25,000 in the process. […]

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How Ice Skaters Turn Physics Into Astonishing Spins

March 20, 2019 | Story | No Comments

Many people don't know too much about angular momentum—and that's fine. But what about figure skaters? Whether they understand the concept of angular momentum doesn't matter but they use it in one of the all time classic skating moves. You've seen it before. The skater starts off in a standing position and spins about the […]

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The Dark, Relevant Magic of Chilling Adventures of Sabrina

March 20, 2019 | Story | No Comments

Sabrina Spellman, the protagonist of Netflix’s Chilling Adventures of Sabrina, makes a dramatic departure from her first Archie Comics incarnation. She’s still a half-witch, half-mortal teen, concealing her powers from everyone in the mortal world. But this latest iteration of the teenage witch, played by Kiernan Shipka, confronts problems that feel disconcertingly current. Early in […]

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Why Darpa Wants Everyone to Launch Tiny Satellites

March 20, 2019 | Story | No Comments

You could be excused, when you first hear Dane Rudy describe his company, for thinking that he wants to use raccoons to send satellites into space. Trash pandas, though, are not the future that Rudy is talking about. He's talking about rockoons—rockets launched from high-altitude balloons. Rockoons trace their trajectory back to the military, like […]

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Why Netflix Features Black Actors in Promos to Black Users

March 20, 2019 | Story | No Comments

Last week, Netflix users raised concerns that the company was targeting African American users by race in the way it promoted films—highlighting black characters who sometimes had only minor roles in a movie. The debate began after Stacia L. Brown, creator of the podcast Charm City, tweeted a screenshot of the promotion she was shown […]

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