Latest news with #Zhao
Yahoo
a day ago
- Automotive
- Yahoo
Mobility data creates traffic modeling opportunities, privacy challenges: MIT panel
This story was originally published on Smart Cities Dive. To receive daily news and insights, subscribe to our free daily Smart Cities Dive newsletter. Tech companies like Google, Apple and Tesla have changed the mobility data landscape, according to participants on a panel about the intricacies of mobility data hosted by the MIT Mobility Initiative in May. Governments have the opportunity to use private sector data, in conjunction with their own data, to create better transportation outcomes, panelists said. Some panelists said the various entities collecting data can make it challenging to determine who owns the data. As transportation and tech companies became increasingly intertwined over the past 20 years, private sector and open source data has exploded, Jinhua Zhao, professor of cities and transportation at MIT, said during the panel. Zhao said determining who owns that data can be tricky. He presented an example of someone driving their Tesla down a section of I-90 funded by the Massachusetts Department of Transportation using Google Maps on their iPhone with Verizon Wireless service. 'In this case, who has a claim on my data?' Zhao said. 'Who defines the property right of data?' Even so, abundant data presents opportunities for transportation policymakers. Ralf-Peter Schäfer, vice president of product management traffic and travel information at mobility data company TomTom, said data can help reduce congestion and make roads safer. He cited an example in Tokyo, where a traffic light control company used TomTom data to optimize traffic signals and give guidance on speeds. 'We are in a revolution of traffic management and planning using data,' Schäfer said. Paul Friedman, co-founder and CTO of transportation data company StreetLight Data, said his company ingests almost 15 billion raw GPS points per day — more than the 13.7 billion Google searches conducted per day. Some aspects of data collection could be improved, he added, pointing out that the quality of data collected for pedestrians and cyclists is worse than vehicle data collection in the United States. 'I think the biggest trend that I'm pleased to see is that the acceptance of using data to make decisions and to validate decisions has grown,' Friedman said. Recommended Reading Smart loading zones help cities take back the curb Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data

Business Insider
a day ago
- Business
- Business Insider
The 15 college majors with the highest unemployment
Anthropology, physics, and computer engineering grads have had a rough time in the job market. The Federal Reserve Bank of New York analyzed the unemployment rates of recent college graduates, defined as 22- to 27-year-olds with a bachelor's degree or higher, by major. The analysis used data from the Census Bureau's 2023 American Community Survey covering 73 majors and subject groups. Twenty-eight majors had unemployment rates above the overall 3.6% rate for recent grads. The kinds of majors with the highest unemployment rates were mixed, with several related to arts, technology, or science. Recent anthropology graduates had a rate of 9.4%, the highest rate, followed by physics at 7.8%. Recent computer engineering and computer science graduates also had high unemployment. Still, employed graduates in the two computer-related majors were more likely to be working in jobs that typically require a degree, especially compared to anthropology. They also tied with the highest median wage for early-career graduates, alongside chemical engineering, at $80,000, and had six-figure medians for mid-career graduates. Daniel Zhao, lead economist at job platform Glassdoor, told Business Insider that computer science and engineering are still appealing because of the high pay they could lead to. "When you look at the higher unemployment rate but the lower underemployment rate, new grads in computing fields are likely holding out, waiting for that first job in the field, because they know how rewarding it can be," Zhao said. Jaison Abel, the head of microeconomics at the New York Fed, told BI the tech sector tends to hire many recent college graduates and showed some overall weakness from mid-2022 into the following year, after higher demand for workers following the pandemic recession. He said that the tech sector does tend to hire grads who studied physics, computer engineering, and computer science — three of the majors with relatively high unemployment rates in 2023. Abel said he thinks "a good chunk of the elevated unemployment at that time for recent grads" in those three majors was because they "just happened to be a part of the economy that was experiencing a bit more weakness than other parts, even though the economy overall was still quite strong." The job outlook for science graduates was mixed. While physics and chemistry both had relatively high unemployment rates, earth sciences had an unemployment rate of just 1.5%. Biology had an unemployment rate of 3%, below the overall rate. "For the pure sciences, the types of jobs you can get do tend to be a little bit more constrained than some of the engineering fields," Zhao said. He added science jobs tend to rely on federal funding. While the unemployment data is about 2023, Zhao said the dependence on federal funding is "certainly a concern moving forward, as the Trump administration has pulled back on funding for research and science." The job market can still be hard for new job seekers US job openings have slowed dramatically since the post-pandemic boom, and there are fewer openings per unemployed person. The unemployment rate for recent 22-to-27-year-old college graduates with a bachelor's degree or higher climbed to 5.8% in March, widening the gap with the overall unemployment rate. "It's hard to say exactly how the individual majors will shake out," Abel said about today's job market. "All else equal, if you've just got a cooler job market with less hiring, that's going to equate to a higher unemployment rate, especially for recent grads, because recent grads are really on the margin of the labor market." Recent graduates could be having a tougher time getting a job, depending on where they're applying. "The job market in tech has been soft for entry-level workers, as many tech companies have slowed down hiring or even turned to layoffs," Zhao said. Job postings in the software development sector on the job search platform Indeed have recently been growing, but they are still far below the opportunities during 2022 and even pre-pandemic February 2020. Job postings for the scientific research and development sector have also slowed from their March 2022 peak. Zhao's advice for new graduates looking for a job is to connect with their networks, such as alumni and family, and research who is still hiring. "There is a lot of flexibility with which career path you can pursue because entry-level workers, usually, the skills are more generalizable across industries or across occupations," Zhao said. Are you a college graduate who is job searching, or did you get a job without a college degree? Reach out to this reporter to share your story at mhoff@


Mint
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- Mint
The strange success of snooker
Snooker has been dying for decades. 'It just feels boring," said Ronnie O'Sullivan, the most talented man to play the game, in 2009—the equivalent of Roger Federer opening a press conference with 'Tennis sucks." The days of the 1980s, when one in three Britons would watch the final of its world championship, are gone. By the 2000s a cottage industry lamenting its demise had emerged. In 2010 the Guardian predicted snooker would be an amateur sport by 2020. Five years beyond that cut-off, on a sunny Friday afternoon in 2025, every seat is taken at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield, which has hosted the Halo World Championships for almost five decades. Zhao Xintong, a Chinese hope for the title, strides out to soul music and takes a seat beside the 12ft-by-6ft table that will be his focus for the next eight hours. His opponent is a countryman, Lei Peifan. Forget the sport's inveterate declinism. Snooker is a strange, and very British, story of success. True, the audience in Sheffield is hardly a picture of youth. ('We've got a birthday," says the compere whipping up the spectators. 'Tony is eighty-four today.") But viewing figures are growing again, particularly when international audiences are included. Anywhere between 3m and 4m tune in for the final. If a Chinese player features, the numbers multiply. TikTok views for the sport have gone from tens to hundreds of millions this year. There is, after all, nothing else like it. As a spectacle, snooker is akin to being locked in a sensory deprivation tank. Each frame lasts about 30 minutes; come the final, up to 35 of them will be played. The world is reduced to two men in waistcoats circling a green table, while a referee-cum-butler replaces balls and keeps score. The only noise is the gentle collision of balls, applause, groans, the odd titter, and commentators whispering hyperbolic criticism ('It's early days, but he will be disgusted"). It offers asmr in a world of adhd. Each of the Chinese players on show honed his craft in Sheffield. There may be more snooker halls in Beijing than in all of England; yet the best China has to offer end up in the city. Mr Lei plays out of the Ding Junhui Snooker Academy in central Sheffield, just above a b&m, a chain of discount stores. Mr Ding, a Chinese former world number one, opened it in 2020. Victoria's Snooker Academy, where Mr Zhao trains alongside another stable of Chinese players, is a ten-minute walk away. Hidden in the knackered centre of a declining manufacturing city, an elite service economy thrives. Agglomeration is a strange thing. Alfred Marshall, a Victorian economist, focused on Sheffield's steel industry when writing about the topic. 'The mysteries of the trade become no mysteries, but are as it were in the air," he wrote. What was true for steel is true for snooker. 'Go on, Zhao," cheered one man, in thick south Yorkshire. A local hero is still a local hero, even if he is Chinese. And even if, like Mr Zhao, he is coming back from a 20-month suspension after a betting scandal. Ever since its invention by bored colonial soldiers in British India, snooker has been associated with gambling. After tobacco sponsorship was banned, it should be no surprise the sport turned to gambling companies and, now, crypto-hawkers for funding. In Britain, vice finds a way. The country's tobacco, booze and gambling companies are among the world's largest. Puritanism has a cost. It is one Britain as a whole can barely afford—and one snooker refuses to pay. Jacking up the prize money is the best way to keep the sport clean and its quality high. When snooker was in the doldrums, total prize money was £3.5m ($4.7m). This year professional players compete for £19m. The world championships alone dish out £2.4m, including £500,000 for the winner. Judd Trump, the world number one, drives a Lamborghini, notes Simon Brownell, the chief executive of the World Snooker Tour, which runs the tournaments. There has to be an upside. Otherwise why spend all day above a B&M? If snooker only follows the money, then the sport will slowly leave Britain's shores. Saudi Arabia pays a premium for any sport to visit the kingdom, whether boxing, golf, football or snooker. The players are happy to take it. Mr O'Sullivan is setting up an academy in the country. They are professional sportsmen and the first word comes before the second. If BAE Systems, a British arms manufacturer, can offer its services in Saudi Arabia, so can a few men in waistcoats. To compete, Britain must offer more than money. Tennis provides a blueprint for how a sport can thrive, even without infinite wealth. Wimbledon offers a fairytale of English life—of immaculate lawns and staff in neat uniforms. The Crucible offers humdrum reality. Hospitality may cost £400 a ticket, but no amount of champagne stops it from resembling a regional theatre. Because it is. Negotiations are going on with Sheffield City Council to keep the competition in the city beyond 2027, when the current contract ends. 'I'm too old for brinkmanship," says Barry Hearn, the sport's impresario, engaging in brinkmanship. A certain romance Only a strange, almost irrational romance can keep the sport in the city in the long term. Mr Zhao cruised into the semi-finals on April 30th, taking another step to becoming the first Chinese men's world champion. If Sheffield retains its place as the heart of snooker, it will be in part due to Chinese players who are Sheffield-based rather than Sheffield-bred. Another peculiar quirk of a peculiar sport. Most likely, though, Sheffield will have to share the title. Those who love the game face the same question that comes up repeatedly in British society: would they rather be a big part of something small, or a small part of something big? Subscribers to The Economist can sign up to our Opinion newsletter, which brings together the best of our leaders, columns, guest essays and reader correspondence.


eNCA
3 days ago
- Business
- eNCA
China manufacturing shrinks in June despite trade war respite
BEIJING - China's manufacturing activity ticked up in June but remained in contraction territory, official data showed on Monday, as the truce in its trade war with the United States held. The Purchasing Managers' Index -- a key measure of industrial output -- came in at 49.7, according to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS). The figure was higher than May's 49.5 and slightly above the 49.6 estimated by a Bloomberg pool of analysts. However, it fell below the 50-point mark that separates growth and contraction for the third straight month. China's "economic prosperity level remained expansionary overall" in June, NBS statistician Zhao Qinghe said in a statement. "Manufacturing production activity accelerated, and market demand improved," Zhao said. China's economy has struggled to sustain its post-pandemic recovery as it battles a prolonged debt crisis in the crucial property sector, chronically low consumption and elevated youth unemployment. It has also been hit by a fusillade of import tariffs unleashed by US President Donald Trump since the start of the year. However, Beijing and Washington called a truce on the staggeringly high duties in May, and Trump said on Sunday that the United States was "getting along well with China".


The Sun
3 days ago
- Business
- The Sun
China manufacturing shrinks in June despite trade war respite
BEIJING: China's manufacturing activity ticked up in June but remained in contraction territory, official data showed on Monday, as the truce in its trade war with the United States held. The Purchasing Managers' Index -- a key measure of industrial output -- came in at 49.7, according to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS). The figure was higher than May's 49.5 and slightly above the 49.6 estimated by a Bloomberg pool of analysts. However, it fell below the 50-point mark that separates growth and contraction for the third straight month. China's 'economic prosperity level remained expansionary overall' in June, NBS statistician Zhao Qinghe said in a statement. 'Manufacturing production activity accelerated, and market demand improved,' Zhao said. China's economy has struggled to sustain its post-pandemic recovery as it battles a prolonged debt crisis in the crucial property sector, chronically low consumption and elevated youth unemployment. It has also been hit by a fusillade of import tariffs unleashed by US President Donald Trump since the start of the year. However, Beijing and Washington called a truce on the staggeringly high duties in May, and Trump said on Sunday that the United States was 'getting along well with China'.