Daily Archives: August 26, 2025

Better than greenwashing, sustainability reporting boosts financials

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As environmental responsibility and social ethics become increasingly important, a question might arise in the boardroom: does the company’s sustainability efforts materially affect the financial information on which investors rely?

Research in the International Journal of Business and Emerging Markets sets about answering that question. It does so by examining data from European firms over the course of a decade and providing that voluntary disclosure and strong performance in metrics improve the value relevance of .

The researchers focused on Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) criteria.

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Ultimately, the research found, firms voluntarily reporting ESG information tended to present financial statements more aligned with market perceptions of their value.

Moreover, firms with higher ESG performance scores, indicating better sustainability practices, demonstrate even stronger correlations between their financial disclosures and market value. This suggests that sustainability efforts are not merely reputational or regulatory compliance exercises but contribute meaningfully to the transparency of financial reporting.

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More information: Kyriakos Christofi et al, The impact of sustainability disclosure on financial statement value relevance: evidence from Europe, International Journal of Business and Emerging Markets (2025). DOI: 10.1504/IJBEM.2025.147883

Source: Better than greenwashing, sustainability reporting boosts financials

Rats walk again after spinal cord repair with 3D printing

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[…] a groundbreaking process that combines 3D printing, stem cell biology, and lab-grown tissues for spinal cord injury recovery.

[…]

A major challenge is the death of nerve cells and the inability for nerve fibers to regrow across the injury site. This new research tackles this problem head-on.

The method involves creating a unique 3D-printed framework for lab-grown organs, called an organoid scaffold, with microscopic channels. These channels are then populated with regionally specific spinal neural progenitor cells (sNPCs), which are cells derived from human adult stem cells that have the capacity to divide and differentiate into specific types of mature cells.

“We use the 3D printed channels of the scaffold to direct the growth of the stem cells, which ensures the new nerve fibers grow in the desired way,

[…]

In their study, the researchers transplanted these scaffolds into rats with spinal cords that were completely severed. The cells successfully differentiated into neurons and extended their nerve fibers in both directions — rostral (toward the head) and caudal (toward the tail) — to form new connections with the host’s existing nerve circuits.

The new nerve cells integrated seamlessly into the host spinal cord tissue over time, leading to significant functional recovery in the rats.

[…]

Source: Rats walk again after breakthrough spinal cord repair with 3D printing | ScienceDaily

Scientists discover a new magnet that bends light

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Researchers have uncovered the magnetic properties and underlying mechanisms of a novel magnet using advanced optical techniques. Their study focused on an organic crystal believed to be a promising candidate for an “altermagnet”- a recently proposed third class of magnetic materials. Unlike conventional ferromagnets and antiferromagnets, altermagnets exhibit unique magnetic behavior.

Details of their breakthrough were published recently in the journal Physical Review Research.

“Unlike typical magnets that attract each other, altermagnets do not exhibit net magnetization, yet they can still influence the polarization of reflected light,” points out Satoshi Iguchi, associate professor at Tohoku University’s Institute for Materials Research. “This makes them difficult to study using conventional optical techniques.”

To overcome this, Iguchi and his colleagues applied a newly derived general formula for light reflection to the organic crystal, successfully clarifying its magnetic properties and origin.

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The team’s newly derived general formula for light reflection was based on Maxwell’s equations and is applicable to a wide range of materials, including those with low crystal symmetry, such as the organic compound studied here.

This new theoretical framework also allowed the team to develop a precise optical measurement method and apply it to the organic crystal κ-(BEDT-TTF)2Cu[N(CN)2]Cl. They successfully measured the magneto-optical Kerr effect (MOKE) and extracted the off-diagonal optical conductivity spectrum, which provides detailed information about the material’s magnetic and electronic properties.

The results revealed three key features in the spectrum: (1) edge peaks indicating spin band splitting, (2) a real component associated with crystal distortion and piezomagnetic effects, and (3) an imaginary component linked to rotational currents. These findings not only confirm the altermagnetic nature of the material but also demonstrate the power of the newly developed optical method.

“This research opens the door to exploring magnetism in a broader class of materials, including organic compounds, and lays the groundwork for future development of high-performance magnetic devices based on lightweight, flexible materials,” adds Iguchi.

Source: Scientists discover a strange new magnet that bends light like magic | ScienceDaily

State Dept. Guts Human Rights Reporting, Removing Anything The Administration Doesn’t Think Violates Human Rights

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[…] go ahead and read a few of the reports generated by Marco Rubio/Donald Trump’s State Department and compare them to literally any of those published before Trump’s second term began.

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But if you really want to see how this administration is rewriting its world view to serve its own ends, you need to click through and see the depressingly long list of human rights violations and international crimes the Trump administration no longer desires to treat as violations or criminal acts.

This is only part of it and it’s already more than enough:

Everything highlighted and struck-through is something the State Department will not be investigating or reporting on as long as the GOP is still in power.

Starting from the top, here’s only a partial list of what the Trump administration will be deliberately turning a blind eye to for at least the next three years:

  • Prison conditions
  • Due process rights
  • Property seizures and/or restitution
  • Libel and slander laws
  • “National security (used as a pretext for punishing critics)”
  • Freedom of peaceful assembly
  • Abuse of refugees and asylum seekers
  • Access to basic services for asylum seekers
  • Abuses or irregularities in recent elections
  • Participation of women or members of marginalized people in elections
  • “Section 4: Corruption in government”
  • Retribution against human rights defenders
  • Rape and domestic violence
  • Gender-based violence
  • Child abuse or neglect
  • Sexual exploitation of children
  • Institutionalization of people with disabilities
  • Everything under the heading: “Lesbian, bisexual, transgender, queer, and intersex persons”

That’s not even the entire list, but it’s indicative enough of what this administration thinks should be treated as acceptable behavior by the government, government officials, and anyone in the general population deserving enough of having their crimes against others (and humanity in general) ignored by the people in power.

This sort of thing would be considered breathtakingly horrendous anywhere in the world. That it’s happening in the nation that many considered to be the “Leader of the Free World” is absolutely sickening.

Source: State Dept. Guts Human Rights Reporting, Removing Anything The Administration Doesn’t Think Violates Human Rights | Techdirt

Google wants to verify all developers’ identities, including those not on the play store in massive data grab

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  • Google will soon verify the identities of developers who distribute Android apps outside the Play Store.
  • Developers must submit their information to a new Android Developer Console, increasing their accountability for their apps.
  • Rolling out in phases from September 2026, these new verification requirements are aimed at protecting users from malware by making it harder for malicious developers to remain anonymous.

 

Most Android users acquire apps from the Google Play Store, but a small number of users download apps from outside of it, a process known as sideloading. There are some nifty tools that aren’t available on the Play Store because their developers don’t want to deal with Google’s approval or verification requirements. This is understandable for hobbyist developers who simply want to share something cool or useful without the burden of shedding their anonymity or committing to user support.

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Today, Google announced it is introducing a new “developer verification requirement” for all apps installed on Android devices, regardless of source. The company wants to verify the identity of all developers who distribute apps on Android, even if those apps aren’t on the Play Store. According to Google, this adds a “crucial layer of accountability to the ecosystem” and is designed to “protect users from malware and financial fraud.” Only users with “certified” Android devices — meaning those that ship with the Play Store, Play Services, and other Google Mobile Services (GMS) apps — will block apps from unverified developers from being installed.

Google says it will only verify the identity of developers, not check the contents of their apps or their origin. However, it’s worth noting that Google Play Protect, the malware scanning service integrated into the Play Store, already scans all installed apps regardless of where they came from. Thus, the new requirement doesn’t prevent malicious apps from reaching users, but it does make it harder for their developers to remain anonymous. Google likens this new requirement to ID checks at the airport, which verify the identity of travelers but not whether they’re carrying anything dangerous.

[…]

Source: Google wants to make sideloading Android apps safer by verifying developers’ identities – Android Authority

So the new requirement doesn’t make things any safer, but gives Google a whole load of new personal data for no good reason other than that they want it. I guess it’s becoming more and more time to de-Google.

Farmers Insurance data breach impacts 1.1M people after Salesforce attack

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U.S. insurance giant Farmers Insurance has disclosed a data breach impacting 1.1 million customers, with BleepingComputer learning that the data was stolen in the widespread Salesforce attacks.

Farmers Insurance is a U.S.-based insurer that provides auto, home, life, and business insurance products. It operates through a network of agents and subsidiaries, serving more than 10 million households nationwide.

The company disclosed the data breach in an advisory on its website, saying that its database at a third-party vendor was breached on May 29, 2025.

“On May 30, 2025, one of Farmers’ third-party vendors alerted Farmers to suspicious activity involving an unauthorized actor accessing one of the vendor’s databases containing Farmers customer information (the “Incident”),” reads the data breach notification on its website.

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The company says that its investigation determined that customers’ names, addresses, dates of birth, driver’s license numbers, and/or last four digits of Social Security numbers were stolen during the breach.

Farmers began sending data breach notifications to impacted individuals on August 22, with a sample notification [1, 2] shared with the Maine Attorney General’s Office, stating that a combined total of 1,111,386 customers were impacted.

[…]

Source: Farmers Insurance data breach impacts 1.1M people after Salesforce attack