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<ul class="summary-list"><li>Liang Shi, 56, has failed China's intense college entry exam for the 27th time, per AFP.</li><li>The self-made millionaire who started taking the test in 1983 harbors dreams of going to university.</li></ul>Liang Shi, a 56-year-old self-made millionaire in China, has failed the country's notoriously intense college entry exam — for the 27th time, <a href="https://news.yahoo.com/56-old-gaokao-holdout-fails-171715916.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">AFP reported on Monday.</a>It's not like Liang needs to go to college. After all, the former factory worker has his own construction materials business and is a millionaire, per AFP. But he has always harbored dreams of going to college."It's an uncomfortable thought that I didn't manage to get a college education," <a href="https://www.france24.com/en/live-news/20230607-self-made-millionaire-sits-china-s-university-exams-for-27th-time" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Liang told AFP</a> earlier this month. "I really want to go to university and become an intellectual."To do that, Liang needs to take China's once-a-year college entrance exam, or gao kao — a make-or-break mother of all exams that's like the SAT, ACT, and all of the AP tests rolled into two days, as <a href="https://www.insider.com/photos-gao-kao-2-days-china-exams-high-school-2023-6">Insider's Matthew Loh</a> put it. The process is so intense that police are often deployed to maintain order on the roads and in schools on the days of the exams.Liang started taking the exam in 1983 when he was 16 but gave up for about a decade from 1992 as the test was only for single people under the age of 25, per AFP. He resumed the process again in 2001 when those limits were lifted.To set himself up against 13 million high school seniors taking the same exam, Liang told the news agency he lived "the life of an ascetic monk" for the few months before the test and studied for 12 hours each day.Still, Liang failed again — falling 34 points short of the Sichuan provincial baseline score for getting into any university, per AFP."Before I got the result, I had a feeling that I wouldn't be able to get a high enough score to enter an elite university," he told the media outlet. "But I didn't expect to not make it into the ordinary ones."After trying and failing for 40 years, Liang's now unsure if he'll give the exam another shot. "It's hard to say whether I will keep on preparing for the next year," he told AFP.Insider was unable to reach Liang for comment.

A self-made millionaire in China who never went to college just took the country's grueling college entrance exams for the 27th time — and failed again

<ul><li>New method, tensor holography could enable creation of real-time holograms for virtual reality, medical science and more.</li><li>This AI technique can quickly generate holograms with less than 1 MB of memory.</li><li>It is predicted that the technology will be available under a decade.</li></ul>Holograms could make virtual reality more immersive, help doctors diagnose and treat patients and even improve 3D printers, if only they weren’t too challenging to create. <keyword id="50375" type="General" weightage="100" keywordseo="massachusetts-institute-of-technology" source="Orion">Massachusetts Institute of Technology</keyword> (MIT) published a <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-020-03152-0.epdf?sharing_token=K85Hztdb1CIppVuNb2InOtRgN0jAjWel9jnR3ZoTv0PWuybvPL3njUcdhVyUralKhEU0DO_lwnFOuwvCQ9DSYqBMr3OXQn1pShMtra329Jyw5bjYtDzPzUkkcqHKmklANxp_9aDfWlor9h-26kI7YLf0oPr86iADvp4E-Lug4QzFc0UJ3tJz4pIQn7d1WRedEqpJ2KbAkm78Wewm4A9IWMdNHc3tNb6FGzm4-FFf_hs%3D&amp;tracking_referrer=spectrum.ieee.org">research</a> in 2021, that demonstrates a new method of generating holograms using artificial intelligence to create holographic content in real time. This new method is called tensor holography, and can run on smartphones and laptops. MIT researchers say that current VR headsets can make users feel sick and cause eye strain because VR creates an illusion of 3D viewing and the solution for better 3D visualization could lie in a year-old technology, holograms. Researchers at MIT suggest that holograms deliver an exceptional representation of the 3D world. Researchers have been working on generating computer-based holograms, but the process requires a supercomputer. Not only was it time and power consuming, but the results were unrealistic. MIT’s new method can produce holograms instantly using a deep learning-based method. Liang Shi, the MIT researcher and the lead researcher on this project says, tensor holography can bring holographic displays to reality in nearly ten years. Liang Shi also believes that their holographic technology could bring holography into revolutionizing medical science. <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="How will it work?" comment="subhead" text="How will it work?">How will it work?</cmsannotation> To make this work, Liang Shi's team took a different approach, letting computers teach physics to themselves. The team used, deep learning to enhance and accelerate computer-generated holography, which allowed them to generate real-time hologram generation. <div type="Youtube" id="WrVP-Nk0JU8" title="Tensor Holography MIT Student creates AI learning advancing Holograms" thumbUrl="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/WrVP-Nk0JU8/mqdefault.jpg"><url><![CDATA[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WrVP-Nk0JU8&feature=emb_title]]></url></div> Further, the team designed a neural network and a processing technique that uses a bunch of sensors to mimic how humans process visual information. To train the neural network, team needed high-quality data which was not available. Liang Shi's team built a custom database of 4000 pairs of computer-generated images. Each pair of images, including color and depth information for each pixel, was matched with its corresponding hologram. To use the hologram in the new database, researchers used scenes with variable colors and shapes along with a dept of pixels that were evenly distributed to the foreground. All this was managed with a new set of physics-based calculations. With all this, tensor holography can craft holograms from images with a depth of information. The information can also be calculated from a multicamera setup or <keyword id="1522310" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="lidar" source="Orion">LiDAR</keyword> sensor. <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="Scope of tensor holography" comment="subhead" text="Scope of tensor holography">Scope of tensor holography</cmsannotation> Real-time 3D holography will advance to VR and 3D printing. The team also says the new system could immerse VR viewers in a more realistic 3D world while eliminating the eye strain and other long-term effects of VR. Also, the technology can be easily deployed on displays that modulate the light wave phase. Other applications of tensor holography can be the visualization of medical data, microscopy, and the design of 3D models. SEE ALSO: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/science/news/this-bio-engineered-houseplant-claims-to-clean-the-air-as-efficiently-as-30-air-purifiers/articleshow/95507043.cms">This bio-engineered houseplant claims to clean the air as efficiently as 30 air purifiers</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/science/news/soon-you-might-be-able-to-touch-and-feel-the-online-products-through-your-smartphone/articleshow/94961160.cms">Soon you might be able to touch and feel the online products through your smartphone</a>

This AI tech may be able to generate 3D holograms on smartphones in real-time

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Gen Zers in China are wearing temporary tattoos of fake belly buttons as part of a new trend.</li><li>The tattoo is worn above the navel to make the wearer's legs appear longer. </li></ul>Young women in China are wearing fake belly button temporary tattoos in an attempt to alter the appearance of their body proportions.The temporary tattoos, which work by dampening the top of the sheet with water to transfer the design onto the skin, are typically worn a few centimeters above the navel. By raising the belly button line, it gives the appearance of a shorter torso and longer legs. The curious trend has Chinese netizens divided, with some enthusiastically joining in, while others are criticizing it for promoting unrealistic beauty standards.<h2>One creator told viewers the trend is just for fun and that it is not supposed to provoke body anxiety</h2>There isn't an option to embed videos from the site so I've included screenshots.<div type="image" title="A woman placing a fake belly button tattoo above her real belly button." height="1108" width="1477" msid="103071070" hostid="261" sizebytes="100146"></div>In a <a href="https://www.xiaohongshu.com/explore/64ad03760000000015032570" target="_blank" rel="noopener">video</a> posted on July 11, ShiYiTongYa, a 22-year-old college student based in Shanghai, according to her profile, revealed that she paid 2.8 Chinese yuan ($0.38) for a sheet of 16 temporary tattoos. She showed footage of herself applying one on her navel."It's quite natural and I think it looks better than my real belly button," ShiYiTongYa told viewers. "In normal situations, no one's going to come up to me, scrutinize my belly, and figure out if my belly button's real."ShiYiTongYa said that she had immediately placed an order after she saw the creator LiangBuZhengYy, who has over 927,000 followers, doing the trend. In LiangBuZhengYy's <a href="https://www.xiaohongshu.com/explore/649d3418000000001303e229" target="_blank" rel="noopener">video</a>, which was uploaded on June 29 and has over 81,000 likes, she recommended that people put a bandaid on their real belly button if they are afraid that people will notice that they have two belly buttons. She suggested that if people ask why there is a bandaid on your belly, you should tell them that you just had a baby.She added that the tattoos are just for fun and that they are not supposed to provoke body anxiety. <div type="image" title="A screenshot of someone putting on a fake belly button." height="1103" width="1471" msid="103071071" hostid="261" sizebytes="59954"></div>LiangBuZhengYy also suggested that people could use the fake tattoos to make it seem like they're wearing a crop top in the summer if their mom won't let them wear one because she's afraid they'll catch a cold.In a <a href="https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/WaWqmUiKpaEj3N7gER8YPg" target="_blank" rel="noopener">post</a> about the trend on China's popular social media app WeChat, another user also wrote that these tattoos can help prevent the lower abdomen from getting cold because they can make it appear that your lower belly is exposed, without actually exposing it. Meanwhile, other creators are posting <a href="https://www.xiaohongshu.com/explore/64b219ae000000001c01bd12" target="_blank" rel="noopener">videos</a> of themselves doing the trend using makeup and stickers. <div type="image" title="A woman using makeup to draw a fake belly button." height="1096" width="1461" msid="103071072" hostid="261" sizebytes="72308"></div><h2>Some viewers are questioning if the trend promotes unhealthy beauty standards </h2>While most people reacted shocked or amused by the trend, some were critical of it and questioned why we can't just appreciate our bodies as they are.One commenter questioned the beauty standards it promoted by asking, "Can't we like cute short legs?"Others commented that the trend looks "ugly" because it makes people's bodies appear out of proportion and it makes the wearer look like they have no waistline. <h2>This isn't the only bizarre trend that has been popularized by Gen Zers in China </h2>Fake belly buttons aren't the only quirky beauty-enhancing tools growing popular among young Chinese women on social media. Previous trends this year have included <a href="https://www.tiktok.com/@xbw7sc/video/7235572217508023598" target="_blank" rel="noopener">gel shoulder pads</a> to give the appearance of broader, more angular shoulders, and even <a href="https://www.tiktok.com/@candiselin86/video/7245480675220950318" target="_blank" rel="noopener">padded underwear</a> that gives the illusion of a bigger butt.In May, one TikToker <a href="https://www.tiktok.com/@candiselin86/video/7234349023992270123" target="_blank" rel="noopener">called out</a> Chinese celebrities for wearing these products and promoting unrealistic beauty standards. Over the years, there have also been several controversial viral challenges in China about body proportions. The <a href="https://www.tiktok.com/@angi.susu/video/6907701164150672645" target="_blank" rel="noopener">"bellybutton challenge"</a> tested girls' figures by seeing if they could touch their belly button by reaching it around behind their backs, while the "collarbone challenge" tested how many coins one could hold on their collarbones. In 2016, the <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/what-is-a4-challenge-2016-3">"A4 waist challenge"</a> saw women holding up pieces of paper in front of their waists to measure its width against theirs. Similarly, that trend saw a huge backlash online — mostly from women outside of China — <a href="https://twitter.com/5tevieM/status/710538311102767104?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E710538311102767104%7Ctwgr%5E9bb8c9b50d3685e9818b3cbeaf1709bef94a8683%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&amp;ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.insider.com%2Fwhat-is-a4-challenge-2016-3" target="_blank" rel="noopener">rebelling against it</a>.

In China, Gen Zers are wearing fake belly buttons to make their legs look longer. Some say the trend promotes unrealistic beauty standards.

<div class="KonaFilter image-container float_right click-to-enlarge"><div class="image on-image"><a title_source="Liang Shi" title_caption="Mike Del Ponte, cofounder and chief hydration officer of Soma. " class="zoomin" href="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/54cb96056bb3f7f73e7ae197-960/mike-del-ponte-8.jpg"></a>Liang ShiMike Del Ponte, cofounder and chief hydration officer of Soma. </div></div>Every Monday through Friday, the 10-person team at Soma, a San Francisco-based company that produces an eco-friendly water filtration system, sits silently in a circle for 15 minutes.
"After a quick team huddle on our priorities, we meditate together," says Mike Del Ponte, cofounder and chief hydration officer of <a href="https://www.drinksoma.com/product-plans">Soma</a>. "Everyone is welcome to meditate however they like. Most focus on their breath and calm their minds."
Most days, they move onto calls, meetings, and emails.
But on Wednesdays, those activities are banned. 
"We've always had a 'no meeting Wednesday' policy where the team is encouraged not to schedule any meetings or calls between meditation time and lunch," Del Ponte explains. "Most important projects require at least two uninterrupted hours of focused work. It's difficult to do anything significant when you only have 30 minutes crammed between meetings.
"For this reason, our team focuses on Soma's big projects from 10 a.m. until lunchtime every Wednesday. This is typically when everyone's minds are clear and they are most productive."
Preventing interruptions allows for Soma's team to get into a "state of flow," Del Ponte says. "Research has shown that productivity can increase fivefold when you're in the state of flow, so we accomplish a tremendous amount."
Since enforcing this policy last year, he says everyone on the team has been on board.
"They all understand the value of saving calls and meetings for the afternoon. They know there are things that can wait a couple hours," Del Ponte says. "Our people appreciate that we have designed our culture to help them do their best work to be as impactful as possible."
Want your business advice featured in Instant MBA? Submit your tips to tipoftheday@businessinsider.com. Be sure to include your name, your job title, and a photo of yourself in your email.

Here's why one company bans meetings every Wednesday morning

<div class="KonaFilter image-container float_right click-to-enlarge"><div class="image on-image"><a title_source="Flickr/Minoru Nitta" title_caption="Meditation is good for your health - and your productivity." class="zoomin" href="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/54d138d66da811470562ab0c-960/meditate-19.jpg"></a><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/minoru_ntt/3290970519">Flickr/Minoru Nitta</a>Meditation is good for your health - and your productivity.</div></div>It's no secret that <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/how-meditation-changes-your-brain-2015-1">meditation is good for you</a>.
Business Insider's Kevin Loria <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/how-meditation-changes-your-brain-2015-1">recently laid out</a> the plethora of research-backed benefits that meditation offers, including its ability to help us deal with stress, improve memory, and even boost our immune systems.
Those are just a few reasons the 10-person team at Soma, a San Francisco-based company that produces an eco-friendly water filtration system, sits silently in a circle together every morning for 15 minutes.
"After a quick team huddle on our priorities, we meditate to relax our minds, get focused, and share in a communal activity," says Mike Del Ponte, cofounder and chief hydration officer of <a href="https://www.drinksoma.com/product-plans">Soma</a>. "Everyone is welcome to meditate however they like. Most focus on their breath and calming their minds."
Del Ponte says most of Soma's employees had never meditated before joining the company. "Coincidentally, they are usually the ones who enjoy it the most," he explains. "We create an environment that is comfortable and open. No one feels pressured or intimidated." 
<div class="KonaFilter image-container float_left click-to-enlarge"><div class="image on-image"><a title_source="Liang Shi" title_caption="Mike Del Ponte, cofounder and chief hydration officer of Soma. " class="zoomin" href="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/53dba6aeecad04775f437f59-960/mike-del-ponte-2.jpg"></a>Liang ShiMike Del Ponte, cofounder and chief hydration officer of Soma. </div></div>And as it turns out, meditation isn't just good for his employees' health. It's good for business.
"Our daily meditation has had an impact on each teammate individually, as well as our culture as a whole," Del Ponte says. "For individuals, meditation increases focus, decreases stress, and helps us to be more creative. As a company, it sets the tone for the vibe we want to have in the office: relaxed, thoughtful, and focused on health." Here are four tips for incorporating meditation into you workplace: 1. Make it a daily ritual, not something that's "nice to have." 
"It's more important to do it briefly each day than to try and have long sessions," Del Ponte says. Ten to 15 minutes is short enough to be accessible to everyone, but long enough to have a meaningful effect. 2. Make it comfortable for everyone.
Let employees sit how they want and do whatever they choose with the available time. "If it seems too strict or weird, it will turn people off." 3. Make it fun.
"At the end of each session, we say 'Somaste' (instead of Namaste) to remind ourselves not to take things too seriously," he says. "We also have a Tibetan singing bell that sometimes sounds beautiful and sometimes sounds so awkward that we all laugh." 4. Ask someone to take the lead. 
"There's usually one person in the company that is really passionate about meditation," Del Ponte explains. "Ask that person to be accountable for meditation happening every day."
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Here's why this founder asks employees to meditate together every morning

<div class="KonaFilter image-container float_right"><div class="image">Liang ShiMike Del Ponte, cofounder of Soma.</div></div>We all make mistakes from time to time - and some missteps have bigger consequences than others.
Hiring mistakes, for instance, can be extremely costly.
"Hiring managers make fatal errors all the time, usually when they feel pressure to hire quickly - and, as we know, rushed decisions lead to bad hires," says Mike Del Ponte, cofounder and "chief hydration officer" of <a href="https://www.drinksoma.com/product-plans" target="_blank">Soma</a>, an eco-friendly water filtration system.
Luckily, though, there are easy ways to avoid the seven most common hiring mistakes, Del Ponte says. Here's his advice:
<h3>Mistake 1: Over-valuing cultural fit. </h3>
"Remember that the goal is to hire the most competent employee, not the most likeable," he says. "Cultural fit is important, but it can blind hiring managers from objectively assessing candidates." Create a scorecard to rate candidates, so you focus on what needs to be accomplished, not just personality.
<h3>Mistake 2: Rushing the hiring process. </h3>
"There is always urgency in filling an open position, but most hiring mistakes come from not thoroughly vetting enough candidates," he says. Avoid this by being realistic about hiring timelines. "Typically, you need at least six weeks to attract and vet enough high-quality candidates."
<h3>Mistake 3: Not asking for enough references.</h3>
Most people ask for supervisor references, but it's helpful to get references for peers and people who worked for the candidate, Del Ponte says. "For our most recent hire, we overcame this common mistake by calling seven references to confirm the candidate was a perfect fit for the role and to understand how to support him once he was on the team."
<h3>Mistake 4: Not having a formal process. </h3>
Lack of process can allow the hunt for candidates to go far too long or let bad candidates slip through the cracks. "Create a committee, map out your process, and give ample time for recruiting, interviewing, diligence, and negotiating," Del Ponte says.
<h3>Mistake 5: Hiring generalists. </h3>
Very few roles require a Jack of all trades, he explains. "Look for experts who have a track record of doing exactly what you want them to accomplish." Sometimes you need to hire generalists - especially if your company is young - "but you should quickly grow out of this phase and focus on only hiring specialists," Del Ponte says. 
<h3>Mistake 6: Not having clarity on the role that is being filled. </h3>
If you do not have the fine details of the role, responsibilities, and milestones you desire, you're not ready to start recruiting. "Get clear first," he says. "We made the mistake of hiring someone who was incredibly talented and accomplished, but not a good fit because we didn't know specifically what we needed for the role. The mistake cost us time and money. The next time around we found the perfect candidate because we knew exactly what we needed." 
<h3>Mistake 7: Relying on job posts. </h3>
The best candidates are rarely looking for a job. "You need to work your network to get introductions to people who can accomplish your goals, even if they don't yet know they want to work for you," says Del Ponte. "Make a list of advocates who can help you grow your candidate pool."
Want your business advice featured in Instant MBA? Submit your tips to <a href="mailto:tipoftheday@businessinsider.com">tipoftheday@businessinsider.com</a>. Be sure to include your name, your job title, and a photo of yourself in your email.

How To Avoid The 7 Worst Hiring Mistakes

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Experts from the WHO and China conducted a month-long investigation into the <keyword id="1754604" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="coronavirus">coronavirus</keyword>' origins.</li><li>They concluded that the novel virus almost certainly did not <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/theory-coronavirus-accidentally-leaked-chinese-lab-2020-4">leak from a Chinese lab</a>.</li><li>The virus most likely <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/coronavirus-natural-jump-from-bats-more-likely-than-lab-leak-2020-4">jumped from bats</a> to an intermediary animal host and then to humans.</li></ul>A year into the pandemic, the origins of the coronavirus are still a mystery.The <keyword id="43588" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="60" keywordseo="World-Health-Organization">World Health Organization</keyword> sent <a href="https://www.who.int/health-topics/coronavirus/origins-of-the-virus">an international team</a> to Wuhan, China, in January to investigate where the virus came from and how it was introduced into the human population. Yet the investigation yielded few definitive answers.The experts were able to take one hypothesis off the table, however: the idea that the novel coronavirus accidentally leaked from a Chinese lab. This unsubstantiated theory was pushed by some members of the Trump administration in the spring. But Peter Ben Embarek, a WHO scientist specializing in food safety and animal disease, said <a href="https://worldhealthorganization.cmail19.com/t/d-l-qlkxty-jydhihhdjk-y/">in a Tuesday press conference</a> that a lab leak was "extremely unlikely to explain the introduction of the virus into the human population."The WHO team will not be revisiting that hypothesis in future studies, he said, adding that the virus most likely jumped from an animal host into people - as the Ebola and SARS viruses did.<h2>'Very unlikely that anything could escape from such a place'</h2><div type="image" title="WHO wuhan" height="2645" width="3968" msid="80779510" hostid="261"></div>Working together with Chinese scientists, the WHO experts had <a href="https://apnews.com/article/china-granted-who-full-access-wuhan-52dae25c21db7c80c404251e481f88bc?fbclid=IwAR0KtdjgJaywGiV9XIOCb5WyKDt3g8U9lFqVzYFYHy_3VtRTk0eGoi2qpbg">unfettered access</a> to key places in Wuhan over four weeks, including hospitals, laboratories, and the Huanan Seafood Market, which was linked to the first known cluster of <keyword id="8763838" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="covid-19">COVID-19</keyword> cases.People who've suggested the possibility of a lab leak point mostly to <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/why-coronavirus-did-not-leak-from-wuhan-lab-researcher-2020-4">the Wuhan Institute of Virology</a>, since some scientists there study coronaviruses. It's one of the highest-level biosafety labs in the world. There's no evidence, however, that any coronavirus sample collected for study in that lab was <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/theory-coronavirus-accidentally-leaked-chinese-lab-2020-4">accidentally released</a>.The WHO team spoke with managers and staff at the institute and other labs in the area about their safety protocols."Accidents do happen," Ben Embarek said. "We have many examples in many countries in the world of past accidents." But he added that such accidents were rare, that the Wuhan institute housed a "state-of-the-art lab," and that it was "very unlikely that anything could escape from such a place."Jonna Mazet, a US epidemiologist who has worked with and trained researchers at the institute, also <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/why-coronavirus-did-not-leak-from-wuhan-lab-researcher-2020-4">previously told Insider</a> that "it's highly unlikely this was a lab accident."Mazet said she helped the staff develop and implement a "very stringent safety protocol."<div type="image" title="wuhan institute of virology" height="1125" width="2000" msid="80779512" hostid="261"></div>In fact, the WHO team found no evidence that samples of the novel coronavirus existed in any Wuhan labs, or any other labs in the world, before the pandemic.Shi Zhengli, a virologist at the Wuhan institute, <a href="https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/how-chinas-bat-woman-hunted-down-viruses-from-sars-to-the-new-coronavirus1/">told Scientific American</a> in April that she personally checked and found that none of the coronavirus samples stored at the institute matched the novel coronavirus' genome."That really took a load off my mind," Shi <a href="https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/how-chinas-bat-woman-hunted-down-viruses-from-sars-to-the-new-coronavirus1/">said</a>. "I had not slept a wink for days."<h2>The virus most likely jumped from bats to an intermediary host and then to people</h2>Most experts agree that the novel coronavirus, SARS-CoV-2, jumped from an animal host to humans in what's known as a spillover event.Bats are common virus hosts: Cross-species hops from bats also led to outbreaks of Ebola and SARS. So labs around the world have analyzed genetic samples of bat coronaviruses that were circulating before the pandemic. <a href="https://nature.com/articles/s41586-020-2012-7">One study</a> found last February that the new coronavirus shared 96% of its genetic code with a coronavirus seen in Chinese bat populations. Then <a href="https://www.cell.com/current-biology/fulltext/S0960-9822(20)30662-X">a May study</a> revealed a closer match, a 97.1% similarity to a coronavirus called RmYN02, which was found in bats in China's Yunnan province between May and October 2019.<div type="image" title="horseshoe bat" height="2323" width="3097" msid="80779514" hostid="261"></div>According to the WHO team, it's unlikely the virus hopped directly from bats to people, though."Our initial findings suggest that the introduction through an intermediary host species is the most likely pathway and one that will require more studies and more specific targeted research," Ben Embarek said.<a href="https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmicb.2020.580137/full">Animals that might have served as that intermediary host</a> include pangolins, ferrets, minks, snakes, or turtles.Marion Koopmans, a WHO virologist, said in the press conference that the team found that rabbits and ferret-badgers sold at the Huanan Seafood Market came from regions in China where bats and other animals harbor viruses similar to the new coronavirus. Both of those species are susceptible to SARS-CoV-2 so could have been intermediary hosts.<div type="image" title="wuhan huanan market" height="2000" width="3000" msid="80779517" hostid="261"></div>But the WHO experts couldn't confirm how the new coronavirus arrived at the Huanan market. It's possible that an infected person passed the virus to others at the market, or "it could also be through the introduction of a product," Ben Embarek said."A frozen wild animal that was infected could be a potential vehicle of the virus into market environments," he added.Still, the cases linked to the Huanan market were not the first in China.<h2>The virus wasn't engineered in a lab, either</h2>A conspiracy theory similar to the lab-leak idea is that the new coronavirus was engineered in a Wuhan laboratory. A group of Chinese virologists <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/virologist-who-said-china-released-coronavirus-works-with-steve-bannon-2020-9">with ties to the former Trump strategist Steve Bannon</a> suggested in September that Chinese scientists engineered the virus using existing bat coronaviruses as a "backbone" or "template."One of those virologists, Li-Meng Yan, told the Fox <keyword id="6355005" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="news">News</keyword> host Tucker Carlson that the virus was "<a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/virologist-who-said-china-released-coronavirus-works-with-steve-bannon-2020-9">man-made</a>" and "intentionally" released by the Chinese government.But that theory "has already been refuted by the scientific community around the world," Liang Wannian, a member of China's National <keyword id="6354750" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="health">Health</keyword> Commission who assisted with the WHO investigation, said at the press conference.<div type="image" title="covid researchers wuhan" height="3809" width="5663" msid="80779521" hostid="261"></div><a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41591-020-0820-9">A March study</a> published in the journal Nature concluded that based on genetic analysis the new coronavirus wasn't a hodgepodge of existing coronaviruses. The authors found it could not be a "laboratory construct" or "purposefully manipulated virus.""The genetic data irrefutably show that SARS-CoV-2 is not derived from any previously used virus backbone," they said.

WHO and Chinese scientists concluded it's 'extremely unlikely' the coronavirus leaked from a lab, after a 4-week investigation

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Five Gen Zs and millennials explained to BI how they <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/budget-cruises-harder-to-find-carnival-royal-caribbean-2024-7">pay for travel</a>.</li><li>Some say they've gone into debt or used "buy now, pay later" services like Affirm for their vacations.</li></ul>Money can't buy happiness — but it can buy a <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/silversea-new-ultra-luxury-cruise-ship-winning-over-younger-guests-2024-7">weeklong vacation</a> to the Amalfi Coast.And if you don't have the cash, you can just fake it 'till you make it — or at least put the trip on a credit card and worry about it later.Would you <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/genz-millennials-going-into-debt-summer-vacation-travel-taylor-swift-2024-6">go into debt</a> to fund your dream vacation? More than one in three Americans who said they planned to travel this summer would — either by borrowing money, using credit cards, or a buy now pay later service like Klarna and Affirm — according to an online Bankrate <a target="_blank" href="https://www.bankrate.com/credit-cards/news/survey-summer-vacation/">survey</a> of about 2,300 adults in March.According to the survey, <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/genz-millennials-summer-travel-debt-remote-work-blame-2024-6">millennials and Gen Z</a> were the most willing to take on debt, with 47% and 42% of them, respectively, saying so. That's a stark comparison to Gen X and boomers, of whom 31% and 22%, respectively, said they're willing to do the same.Why not, when, as one young globetrotter, 24-year-old India Roby, put it, "There's biggest fish to fry," she told Business Insider, pointing to <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/how-americans-build-wealth-changing-stocks-homes-people-missed-out-2024-8">general attitudes about the economy</a> and global conflict.<h2 id="8718bd13-63ec-4d28-ad67-b419474f8afe">'Fuck it — we ball.'</h2><div type="image" title="India Roby standing in street in Korea" height="1725" width="2300" msid="112607255" hostid="261" sizebytes="254606"></div>Family vacations weren't a staple of Roby's childhood, she said. Instead, she recalls growing up "super poor" with a "tumultuous upbringing, especially when it came to finances." Evictions and electricity being turned off were "a common occurrence," she said.But that's in the past. Now, she's a freelance journalist in New York City and earning what she says is the most anyone in her family has ever made, at an average of $65,000 annually. (BI could not verify this.)Her new financial freedom has come with the goal of going on one big vacation a year. So far, that's been trips to Honolulu and Los Angeles in 2021, Seoul, Korea in 2023, and again in June.She may not always have the cash to pay for it in full. But as the adage goes, if there's a will, there's a way.When she was "definitely broke" last year, she charged her flight to Korea on PayPal Credit, which prominently <a target="_blank" href="https://affiliate.insider.com?h=daa803ea8347c2c61c809cec387a51ac86e04fe54aaa2bba43ea52bf6ce4bf9e&amp;postID=66aa41e9220fcb2243b8b0ff&amp;postSlug=millennial-gen-z-travel-debt-affirm-klarna-credit-cards-2024-8&amp;site=bi&amp;u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.paypal.com%2Fus%2Fdigital-wallet%2Fways-to-pay%2Fcredit-services%2Fpaypal-credit">advertises</a> its "buy now, pay over time" option. For her recent trip back, she opened a new Chase Sapphire Preferred card to pay for the flights, not the points. "I want to go to Korea," she said. "We're going to make it happen. I don't have the money, so I need to get money."That trip left her credit score "very in the gutter." She's now paying credit card debt, but happy she had a good time.<div type="image" title="photos of black and white photos of Roby with colorful markers" height="1725" width="2300" msid="112607257" hostid="261" sizebytes="100384"></div>"I don't want my finances and economic status to be the reason I can't have fun, live life, and be cute," Roby told BI. "I want to live my life and worry about the specifics later."But her secret sauce to affording traveling isn't just putting big payments on new cards. It's also buy now, pay later services like Affirm and Klarna, which she said she uses for almost every purchase, whether Instacart, supplies from Petco for her two guinea pigs, or "impulse purchases at <a target="_blank" href="https://www.instyle.com/sandy-liang-nyfw-fall-2024-interview-8581691">Sandy Liang</a>."Some flights, such as a trip to New Orleans in 2023, and Airbnbs, like the one she had booked for her trip back to Seoul.And she's not alone — 16% of millennial and Gen Z travelers said they were considering using these services to fund their summer vacation, according to a recent Credit Karma <a target="_blank" href="https://www.creditkarma.com/about/commentary/young-americans-want-a-summer-of-fun-no-matter-the-funds">report</a>, which surveyed 2,006 adults online from June 6 to 8."I can't afford a $4,000 trip right off the bat, but if you split it up across six months, I could probably make that work," Roby said. "I am treating my childhood self to things I wasn't afforded, and also current me because I want to go on a vacation too."<h2 id="336f99d9-6701-4bb3-8775-6e67153e6bd3">'For now, it's going to be credit cards and Klarna until I die.'</h2><div type="image" title="Gilmore facing away from camera and towards pool and trees" height="1725" width="2300" msid="112607259" hostid="261" sizebytes="342398"></div>About a third of Gen Z and millennials said they don't feel "financially stable" in Credit Karma's survey.Hailee Gilmore, 27, isn't one of them. She and her husband share a two-year-old child and "a lot of student debt." But they both work two jobs each, with Hailee earning about $85,000 annually from her full-time position at the New York State Health Department and her part-time job at a car dealership.Despite this stable stream of income, Gilmore, like Roby, said she would likely use buy-now, pay-later services to book vacations for the foreseeable future.Before them, Gilmore — who also said she grew up "poor" — had been fronting travel costs on credit cards, although not to the same carefree degree as Roby. "I felt like I was making a bad choice," Gilmore said. "I felt irresponsible."She was initially skeptical of Affirm and Klarna — that is until it came time to book her and her husband's almost $3,200 honeymoon at a luxury all-inclusive resort in Mexico.He said they didn't have the money for it. She suggested using Affirm.And that they did, booking their big getaway in March 2021 with a 14-month payment plan of about $154 a month. "We go out to dinner a lot," she said. "That's the price of a dinner and drinks."The vacation had been paid off by their wedding and honeymoon in October 2022.<div type="image" title="the Gilmores in front of a colorful Riviera Maya sign and trees" height="1150" width="2300" msid="112607262" hostid="261" sizebytes="179172"></div>What she once thought was a "scam" has become a routine part of booking Airbnbs, flights, and an annual family vacation to Ohio. In the next year and a half, the Gilmores also plan to take their first family trip to Disney — using Affirm, of course."I would be able to pay a chunk of money, but my heart, growing up poor, is saying I shouldn't pay $2,000 right now for a vacation," Gilmore told BI. "In my mind, it's more feasible when I look at it as a monthly budget item."<h2 id="c0e1190b-5b56-471b-841c-4c02b2328699">To some, going into debt isn't worth a vacation.</h2><div type="image" title="Witter sitting on ground in front of people and lighthouse" height="1725" width="2300" msid="112607250" hostid="261" sizebytes="501898"></div>Take Crystal Witter, a 27-year-old law student, entrepreneur, and content creator in Halifax, Nova Scotia, for example. As a self-proclaimed solo travel lover with no commitments, she says now is the time to prioritize seeing the world, especially as she envisions a short-term future in <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/big-law-paul-hastings-list-non-negotiable-expectations-debate-2023-4">Big Law</a>, notorious for its long working hours.She took out a "small" student loan to supplement her full law school scholarship. But because it's so little, she doesn't foresee paying it off as a long-term concern. (Interest rates for some student loans are typically lower than that of traditional loans or credit cards.)"Money comes back, but experiences you'll have forever," Witter told BI, calling from her vacation in Dubai. "I'll never be 27 again, in Dubai, traveling solo, falling off of dirt bikes, and living life."However, she believes financial responsibility is more important than "impressing people on social media."<div type="image" title="composite of Witter in Dubai" height="1070" width="1427" msid="112607252" hostid="261" sizebytes="157424"></div>Witter funds her trips using her earnings from her TikTok accounts, her main source of income, which she said averages more than $6,000 monthly. (BI could not verify this.) While she does use a travel-specific credit card for points, she won't accrue a balance or use buy now, pay later services, calling them "risky.""Having high debt is not the real trend despite what people see on social media," Witter said. "As young people, we have a responsibility to ensure our future is safe as much as we want to enjoy the present."<h2 id="337c5328-110e-4f89-97ab-6afa38915745">Take it from someone who learned the hard way.</h2>If there's one person who can speak to Witter's sentiments, it's Canada-based Erin Spencer. Her full-time job is in the "financial industry," but she also creates TikTok content about her journey with debt, a topic she's personally well-versed in.By 19, she was accruing credit card debt while "going on trips I couldn't afford," Spencer told BI. By 24, she had accumulated 25,000 Canadian dollars — about $18,300 — in debt, ultimately filing for bankruptcy.Now, at 30, she still owes more than CAD$26,150 — about $19,100 — for payments such as taxes, car, and student loans. "I've basically had debt my entire adult life," Spencer said.Like others, accruing a credit card balance was her way of affording trips. For example, her Boston vacation in 2022 and an international shopping trip to Maine in 2023, which she estimates had added a "couple thousand" onto her card.<div type="image" title="photo of trader joes" height="1369" width="1825" msid="112607254" hostid="261" sizebytes="85760"></div>But just because she went on these vacations doesn't mean they were stress-free. "I felt like I was living a lie and hiding something from people," she said. "I was embarrassed.""Am I really enjoying it?" Spencer recalled asking herself. "Am I trying to keep up with the Joneses?"That is, until a switch flipped in November, when she shared her bankruptcy story on TikTok.Now, she's wholly committed to paying off her debt."I don't want to be a statistic," Spencer told BI. "I don't want to get into a cycle of filing bankruptcy."Despite this mindset shift, she still has a goal of traveling once or twice a year. But instead of going further into debt, she now uses a sinking fund, which she supplies with earnings from some of her TikTok brand deals and about $50 to $100 from each of her corporate job's paychecks. (She said she makes between CAD$75,000 to CAD$85,000 annually from both. BI could not verify the amount.)While she still has debt, having a travel-specific fund has allowed her to truly enjoy her vacations, including her latest two-week "recharge" trip in April to Florida, which cost about $2,500 — but didn't deepen the well of her debt.<div type="image" title="composite of Spencer in Florida, walking by water and posing in front of it" height="1080" width="1440" msid="112607266" hostid="261" sizebytes="141728"></div>Yes, she got some backlash on TikTok for going on the trip. And yes, she could've put that money toward her payments. "But I would still have debt, and I'd probably be way more burned out if I didn't take a break and come back focused and ready to pay off my debt again," she told BI. "Everybody needs a break sometimes."According to Credit Karma's survey, about one in four and one in five Gen Z and millennials, respectively, said they will use cash from a travel-specific savings fund to pay for their summer vacation.Like Spencer, Zakaria Karanikos, 25, is one of them. She uses a sinking fund to budget for travel despite graduating with student debt — a balance of which currently sits just shy of $120,000 — in 2022.In the past, she would put her vacation expenses on a credit card and work extra shifts to pay it off. Now that she earns more in her post-grad job — $72,000 annually — she only uses credit cards for the points."People my age feel this pressure to either not care about money and travel because they're never going to be this young again, or prioritize their career and never travel to get financially ahead," Karanikos told BI. "I think you should find a way to balance both. Our time is limited. Both can be important."<div type="image" title="Karanikos posing by fountain" height="1725" width="2300" msid="112607268" hostid="261" sizebytes="360488"></div>Or, as Spencer put it, a disagreement with the proliferation of the casual "treat yourself" mentality. "You really deserve it when you save for it and earn it."But that doesn't mean she no longer struggles with the urge to spend more than she can budget for.Her springtime Florida trip almost completely emptied her travel fund. For her 30th birthday in July, she was tempted to put another trip on her card. "I was having a full battle with myself, even if it's just a few thousand dollars," she said. (She ultimately decided against it.)Spencer said she doesn't judge people who put vacations on their credit cards. Of course, she's been there, too.But now, she "sleeps peacefully.""You can't live life in a delusion, put everything on credit, and hope you're going to get rich or pay it off somehow," Spencer said. "Eventually, it catches up with you."

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