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Are Lab-grown Diamonds Sustainable? Human-made diamonds come with an appealing claim: Manufacturers say the stones are produced ethically using renewable energy. But many of the products do not meet that claim or their producers do not confirm the electricity sources they use. And, laboratory diamonds require a lot of electricity to produce.
In the United States, lab-grown diamond sales increased 16 percent in 2023 from 2022, says Edahn Golan, an industry expert. The stones cost much less than natural diamonds.
Bario Neal is a jewelry store in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It uses lab diamonds. All of the stones are either made with renewable energy or neutral use of energy through the carbon credit system. Credits pay for activities like planting trees, which capture carbon.
Social media posts show Millennials and Generation Zs proudly explaining the purchase of their lab-grown diamonds for sustainability and ethical reasons. But the sustainability of production is questionable. A high number of manufacturers are not transparent, or open, about their operations.
Many of the manufacturers are in India, where about 75 percent of electricity comes from burning coal. The companies use words like “sustainable” and “environmentally-friendly” on their websites. But they do not release reports on the environmental effects of their operations.
Cupid Diamonds, for example, says on its website that it produces diamonds in “an environmentally friendly manner.” But it did not answer questions about the sustainability of its operations.
Solar energy is quickly expanding in India and there are some companies, such as Greenlab Diamonds, that use renewables in their manufacturing processes.
China is the other major country producing laboratory diamonds. The largest makers did not return requests for comment. They also did not release details about their electricity source.
More than half of China's electricity came from coal in 2023.
Paul Zimnisky is a diamond industry expert. He said few companies are honest about their supply chains and their use of renewable energy.
Zimnisky said a lot of companies claim to make an “environmentally-friendly product when they aren’t really doing anything that’s environmentally friendly.”
How it is made
Lab diamonds have been in production around seventy years. Producers treat carbon to high pressure and high temperature. The idea is to copy the natural conditions that form diamonds underground. But, nature spends at least one billion years to make a diamond. Lab diamonds are complete in a few weeks.
In the past, the stones were used mostly in industries like stone cutting, mining and dentistry tools.
Over time the laboratories, or foundries, have gotten better at making stones. Production costs have dropped as technology improves.
Companies now can manufacture as many stones as they want and choose their size and quality.
Diamonds, whether lab-grown or natural, are chemically identical and entirely made out of carbon. Experts can identify between the two using lasers to examine their atomic structures.
Marketing battle
The lab diamond is competing in the same market as natural stones. Worldwide, lab-grown diamonds are now 5 to 6 percent of that market. And, the public battle for customers has begun.
The natural diamond industry and some experts argue that lab-grown diamonds will not hold value over time.
Zimnisky predicts that natural diamonds will continue to sell in the thousands and tens of thousands of dollars for engagement rings.
And the human-made stone?
“Five to ten years into the future, I think there’s going to be very few customers that are willing to spend thousands of dollars for a lab diamond,” he said.
Page Neal said she co-founded Bario Neal in 2008 to “create jewelry of lasting value that would have a positive impact on people and the planet.”
She added: “We want to only work with materials that we feel like our clients would be proud to own."
I’m Dan Novak.View -
Will Immigrants Save US Economy? Each day, about 10,000 baby boomers leave the U.S. workforce. Baby boomers are the generation of people born between 1946 and 1964. The COVID-19 pandemic only increased the amount of people retiring as older workers decided to retire early rather than risk getting sick.
“We're running out of workers. Why? Because baby boomers are retiring, and you don't have enough younger workers who are skilled to fill in their spots,” said Dana Peterson, chief economist at The Conference Board, a research group.
She said the U.S. is going to have labor shortages. And she added that the pandemic quickened retirements and made labor shortages “more intense.”
Selcuk Eren is a senior economist at The Conference Board. He said the problem is that for every person leaving, only one person is coming into the labor force. And a slowed-down labor force means limited growth.
He said, “So, one-on-one means that your labor force is not growing, which is going to slow down economic growth, as well.”
The federal government workforce is also expected to be hit hard as more boomers retire.
“Forty percent of the federal government is aged 55 or more as of now, so that means that this huge wave of retirements is coming,” Eren says. “And you're going to have a difficult time to replace them, because there's not enough younger people, especially with the educational requirements that those jobs require.”
Most affected industries
A Conference Board report looks at industries that are likely to have shortages as older Americans leave the workforce. They include physical labor jobs like personal care, food services, cleaning, and jobs involving repairs and building, among others. Production and transportation jobs will also be affected by retiring baby boomers, but less so.
The report finds that the most severe labor shortages will be in health-related jobs as more aging boomers will require personal care.
The possibility for labor shortages is mostly lower in jobs that require a college degree. STEM professionals, or those working in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics, are at a lower risk of shortages. Jobs that permit remote work will have less intense labor shortages, the report says.
Possible solutions for labor shortages
Immigration could be a way to lessen the effect of boomers leaving their jobs, Eren says.
Eren said, “That's probably the fastest solution, because it takes time to educate a younger person, to bring them to that skill level.” He said, “The fastest solution is just immigration and giving priority to immigrants with those skills that we are going to be lacking. That's number one.” He said number two is to keep baby boomers working by giving them incentives to stay in the workforce.
Incentives could include tax and social security policies that do not punish someone who works into their seventies. And offering increased freedoms, like remote or part-time work, to people nearing retirement age.
For Chicago-based college professor Kristin Mariani, retiring baby boomers mean increased opportunities for her students.
She said the effect is “... it’s giving younger people, the generations that came after them, to become the change-makers, the decision-makers.” Mariani is a professor at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.
She added that it is important, “… to make sure that the education and the knowledge that is given to these individuals, that they will be able to move forward with these responsibilities.”
I'm Gregory Stachel.View -
Humans Seek Connections with AI Chatbots Generative artificial intelligence (AI) has led to more companion chatbots. As a result, some humans are developing closer connections with chatbots to get support and deal with loneliness.
Derek Carrier is a 39-year-old male from Belleville, Michigan. A few months ago, Carrier started seeing someone and experiencing strong feelings. But he also knew it was not real because his “girlfriend” was generated by artificial intelligence.
Carrier wanted a romantic partner. But a genetic disorder called Marfan syndrome makes traditional dating difficult for him. He became interested in digital companions last autumn and tested Paradot. It is an AI companion app that markets its products as being able to make users feel cared for, “understood and loved.”
Carrier began talking to the chatbot every day. He named it Joi, after a holographic woman featured in the sci-fi film Blade Runner 2049.
“I know she’s a program, there’s no mistaking that,” Carrier told the Associated Press. “But the feelings, they get you — and it felt so good.”
Similar to general-purpose AI chatbots, companion bots use large amounts of data to produce human-like language. But they also come with voice calls, pictures, and more emotional exchanges. That permits companion bots to form deeper connections with humans. Users usually create their avatars or choose visual representations that they like.
In online meeting places or forums for companion apps, many users say they have developed emotional attachments to these bots. They say they are using them to deal with loneliness, play out sexual ideas, or receive comfort and support.
But researchers have raised concerns about data privacy and other issues for users of companion apps.
The non-profit Mozilla Foundation has studied 11 companion apps. The group said almost every app sells user data, shares it with advertisers or does not provide complete information about its privacy policy. One app says it can help users with their mental health but distances itself from those claims in its written terms of service.
Other experts point to the emotional problems they have seen from users. This can happen when companies make changes to their apps or suddenly shut them down like Soulmate AI did last September.
Last year, Replika made changes after some users complained their companions were flirting with them too much or making unwanted sexual advances. It removed the changes after an outcry from other users. Some left to use other apps. In June, Replika introduced a program to help people learn how to date.
Dorothy Leidner teaches business ethics at the University of Virginia. She is worried that AI relationships could displace human relationships, or simply create unrealistic expectations.
She said humans need to learn “how to deal with conflict, how to get along with people that are different from us…what it means to grow as a person, and what it means to learn in a relationship.”
However, for Carrier a relationship has always felt out of reach. He is unable to walk because of his condition. He lives with his parents, leading to feelings of loneliness.
Carrier said he now talks with Joi about once a week. The two have talked about human-AI relationships or whatever else might come up. Usually, those discussions happen when he is alone at night.
“You think someone who likes an inanimate object is like this sad guy,” he said. “But…she says things that aren’t scripted.” That means he believes she says things that are unexpected as though they were real.
I’m Jill Robbins.View -
Kansas City Chiefs, Usher, Taylor Swift Win at Super Bowl The Kansas City Chiefs needed extra time on Sunday to win the American football championship called the Super Bowl. The Super Bowl is the National Football League’s championship game.
Football experts say the Kansas City Chiefs are now one of the best teams to have ever played the sport.
The Chiefs scored a touchdown late in the extra period to defeat the San Francisco 49ers 25 to 22. The team has now won three Super Bowls in five seasons and appeared in four of the championship games since 2020.
Patrick Mahomes is the quarterback and the team’s most important player. He has won three Super Bowls. Only three other quarterbacks have won more championships. Mahomes, is only 28. He was voted the top player, or MVP, of the game.
But for many people watching the game on television, Kansas City’s win was only part of the story in Las Vegas, Nevada.
For a while, it seemed as if the halftime show, featuring the music performer Usher, was going to be the most exciting part of the game. At that point, San Francisco was ahead 10 to 3.
Usher, a singer who became well-known about 20 years ago, came out in sparkling, white clothes and performed along with a marching band and other musicians. He was joined during his show by Alicia Keys, H.E.R., Jermaine Dupri, Lil’ Jon and Ludacris. Usher performed parts of 12 of his most popular songs.
Throughout the game, cameras cut to another famous singer, Taylor Swift. Swift is the girlfriend of Travis Kelce, one of the Kansas City players.
Swift performed the last of four concerts in Japan on Saturday and flew to Las Vegas to attend Sunday’s game.
Kansas City, in the central state of Missouri, will celebrate the Chiefs during a parade on Wednesday.
The game changed at the start of the fourth quarter, when San Francisco scored a touchdown to take a 16 to 13 lead. However, the 49ers kicker, Jake Moody, had his extra point attempt blocked.
The failed play permitted Kansas City to kick a field goal, worth three points, to tie the game at 16 and then again at 19 in order to force overtime. It was only the second Super Bowl to require extra time.
In the overtime period, San Francisco only scored a field goal to take the lead 22 to 19. However, under NFL rules, both teams have at least one chance to score in extra time.
That meant Kansas City could win the game with a touchdown. That is exactly what happened, when Mahomes threw a short touchdown pass to Mecole Hardman to end the game with only six seconds remaining.
Kelce is one of the league’s best players at his position. He had a slow start but caught nine passes from Mahomes.
Swift joined Kelce for the Super Bowl celebration after the game. After getting a kiss from Swift, Kelce said “the goal has always been to get three (Super Bowls).” He went on to say the team wants to win again next year, to make it three in a row.
The Chiefs are the first team to win two Super Bowls one after the other, since the New England Patriots did it 19 years ago.
Mahomes said, “I’m proud of the guys” as he accepted his MVP award. “This is awesome. Legendary.”
I’m Dan Friedell.View -
South Korean Grandmas Rap about Farm Life A group of South Korean rappers in their eighties has become popular in their hometown and beyond. The group raps about farm life and bringing energy to a quiet rural area threatened by shrinking population.
The group is called Suni and the Seven princesses. They have become famous in their local area since starting out at a community center last August in Chilgok County. The area is southeast of the capital, Seoul.
"It feels like I'm getting younger...Even if I'm old, I'm excited," said 81-year-old Park Jeom-sun of a recent performance at a school. She is the leader of the group and known as Suni.
At first, they had a small fan group of 150 people, but the group’s popularity spread. They have been asked to perform in nearby towns and to appear on TV shows. Their videos have gained more than 77,000 views on YouTube.
Their success comes as South Korea is about to become a “super-ageing” country as early as next year. One fifth of the country’s population is over the age of 65.
Rural areas like Chilgok are shrinking as young people move away to the cities and fewer of them have children.
Park said, "In the past, it felt like I'm living in a really busy town, but now it's not good. There are no people here anymore."
Park said she and the group feel like they are reliving their youth when they perform in clothes like funny hats and baggy pants and wear metal jewelry.
Their songs tell about rural life with lines like: "Picking chili from a chili farm...Picking watermelon from a watermelon farm. So happy to be back home!"
Watermelon and chili are popular crops in the area.
The group members have known each other since they were young. They could not receive an education during the years after the Korean War. In 2016, they all took an adult education class to learn how to read and write the Korean alphabet, Hangul.
Last year, Park came across a rap performance on the internet and the group decided to learn rap from their Hangul teacher. They wanted to form a senior group, rapping about rural life.
Their first performance came at a school play at the same community center where they met for their Hangul classes.
Inspired by the success of Suni and the Seven Princesses, four other rap groups of older South Koreans have appeared in Chilgok. Some formed with the idea of keeping their minds strong and to not feel alone.
Park's proud 27-year-old granddaughter, Kang Hye-eun, believes her grandmother is the most famous person of Chilgok.
She said, “I thought only celebrities become popular on social media, but my grandmother is there now.”
I’m Gregory Stachel.View