Meta Platforms Inc.’s shares soared more than 20%, on track for their biggest gain in 10 years, after Chief Executive Officer Mark Zuckerberg announced plans to make the social media giant leaner, more efficient and more decisive.

The stock rose in trading after New York markets closed on Wednesday. If the gains hold, the move would be the biggest intraday jump since July 2013. Meta is the best performer in the S&P 500 Index since the stock’s recent November 3 closing low of $88.91, and is poised to more than double in value since then.

Engineers from Caltech have discovered that Leonardo da Vinci’s understanding of gravity—though not wholly accurate—was centuries ahead of his time.

In an article published in the journal Leonardo, the researchers draw upon a fresh look at one of da Vinci’s notebooks to show that the famed polymath had devised experiments to demonstrate that gravity is a form of acceleration—and that he further modeled the gravitational constant to around 97 percent accuracy.

Da Vinci, who lived from 1,452 to 1,519, was well ahead of the curve in exploring these concepts. It wasn’t until 1,604 that Galileo Galilei would theorize that the distance covered by a falling object was proportional to the square of time elapsed and not until the late 17th century that Sir Isaac Newton would expand on that to develop a law of universal gravitation, describing how objects are attracted to one another. Da Vinci’s primary hurdle was being limited by the tools at his disposal. For example, he lacked a means of precisely measuring time as objects fell.

Meta is preparing a fresh round of job cuts, according to a report from the Financial Times. Two people familiar with the matter told the Financial Times that there has been a lack of clarity around budgets and the future headcount at the company. The job cuts are expected to take place around March, but it’s unknown how people could be affected.

The lack of clarity has resulted in staff noting that not much work is getting done, as managers have been unable to plan ahead, the report says. Certain budgets that would normally be finalized by the end of the year still haven’t been finalized, and decisions that would usually take days to be signed off on are now taking a month in some cases.

Meta did not immediately respond to TechCrunch’s request for comment.

Hybrid.

---

Coolest stuff on the planet. Interesting posts/articles about Earth – nature, animals, geography, science, history and more.

Where do the world’s major earthquakes happen? This map highlights the epicenters of earthquakes on record between 1956 and 2022.

Facebook’s parent company Meta has delayed setting its teams’ budgets, as per reports. The move comes amidst reports of further layoffs at the company.

😿

---

Aug 27 2019, 17:33 UTC

Explore what would happen if humans were suddenly eradicated from the world, and the Earth was left to heal itself. From the safety of nuclear power plants to the fate of pets, livestock, and wild animals, this video takes a detailed look at the environmental and societal impacts of such a scenario. Discover how air quality and greenhouse gas emissions would change and the Earth’s temperature would slowly return to its pre-industrial levels.

The ship design has ‘solar wings.’

Designer Jozeph Forakis has introduced the world’s first 3D-printed super yacht concept, and it’s called Pegasus. The concept is 88 meters long and comes complete with reflective ‘Solar Wings,’ allowing it to have zero emissions and an infinite range.

The idea for the futuristic yacht was conceived on a beach in Koufonissi island, Greece. Forakis claimed to be “inspired to create a yacht as close to the sea and nature as possible, made of clouds floating above the waterline, becoming virtually invisible,” according to the designer’s page.