Tackling the challenges of big data

Money. Power. Fame. Success. All accomplishments in life that we’ve been told can “go to our head”—meaning, in the idiomatic sense, that we grow pompous, callous, and strangely forgetful of the people who cheered us on and the places from which we come. advertisement advertisement But such forces can also “go to your head” in a much less figurative way. As in, they can literally mold the shape of your brain. That’s the finding of a recent publication from the University of Pennsylvania and international collaborators, who studied the neural effects of socioeconomic status. According to the team, which is called BIG BEAR—for Brain Imaging and Genetics in Behavioral Research—such factors as your education, your job, your income, and the neighborhood in which you live can chisel the brain’s architecture across a variety of lobes, structuring its relative gray matter volume. Using the United Kingdom’s Biobank —a research-based treasure trove of human … [Read more...] about The neuroscience behind money and power: How socioeconomic status can literally shape your brain

The rupee hit an all-time low of nearly 77 a dollar on Monday after crude oil made fresh surges on news reports that the US and its European allies were weighing a ban on Russian oil.  This was the fourth consecutive session when the currency weakened. At 12.11pm, the home currency was trading at 76.96 a dollar, down 1.03 percent from its previous close. It opened at 76.96 a dollar and touched a record low of 76.97 during the day. Analysts says that the higher crude is likely to widen India's current account deficit. A higher current account deficit is likely to put further pressure on the domestic currency. The Russian invasion of Ukraine and likely lower exports of Russian crude oil will keep the oil prices elevated for a protracted period. "We note increasing risks of global crude prices staying elevated in the next 6-9 months due to large imbalances in the global crude oil markets," an analyst said. Brent soared to a near 14-year high of $140. Oil reached its highest … [Read more...] about Rupee trades at record low of 76.96 a dollar on soaring crude prices

US President Joe Biden (File image: Reuters) As Americans deal with the highest inflation in decades, President Joe Biden has declared that combating rising costs is a priority for his administration. Lately, he has cited one policy in particular as an inflation-fighting tool: shrinking the nation’s budget deficit. “Bringing down the deficit is one way to ease inflationary pressures in an economy,” Biden said this month. “We reduce federal borrowing and we help combat inflation.” The federal budget deficit — the gap between what the government spends and the tax revenue it takes in — remains large. But Biden has pointed out that it shrank by $350 billion during his first year in office and is expected to fall more than $1 trillion by October, the end of this federal budget year. Rather than stemming from any recent budget measures by his administration or Congress, the deficit reduction largely reflects the rise in tax receipts from strong economic growth and the winding … [Read more...] about Biden’s curious talking point: Lower deficits offer inflation relief