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20 | GRAVITAS MAGAZINE GravitasMag.com After years of launching businesses with less financing than men, innovative women are taking matters into their own hands. In a shrewd business move, women entrepreneurs are poised to close the gender gap with a new business weapon: crowdfunding. In male-dominated industries, such as technology, men are even less likely to invest in women-owned businesses. ese alternative financing platforms have allowed women to achieve their financial goals. According to research conducted by Kauffman and the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, women comprise 44% of investors on Kickstarter and about 35% of the project leaders. What's more, women achieved a 70% success rate in their funding versus 61% for men. Regardless of the project, successful navigation of the crowdfunding world requires some skill and understanding. e first priority for entrepreneurs is to determine what type of financing they actually need. It's also important to select a financing platform that works for your individual fundraising needs. CircleUp and Crowdfunder raise equity while Kickstarter and Indiegogo deal in customer donations. FundingCircle and Lending Club also offers loans to small businesses. With a little crowdfunding know-how, entrepreneurs can find the right financing platform and target audience for their business needs. IN THE KNOW FINANCE Closing the Gender Gap To read more about the ideas featured, visit us online GravitasMag.com MEDICINE A New Antibiotic Resists Resistance Since humans began to develop antibiotics in the 1940s, strains of antibiotic-resistant bacteria have developed along with them. Prior to 1962, scientists developed over 20 new classes of antibiotics; since then, they've developed a mere two. In short, bacteria are winning the war we've waged against them. Kim Lewis and a team of biologists from Northeastern University have identified a new antibiotic called teixobactin. What's so unique about teixobactin is that it appears resistant to resistance. Its potency led scientists to initially believe it to be too toxic for use in the human body. But when tested on mice, it proved safe and non-toxic for mammals, yet powerful against bacteria. Unfortunately, teixobactin's biological magic won't work on every bacterium. And most of the strains that develop resistance to antibiotics come from the compound themselves. is means that, eventually, strains will develop resistance to teixobactin, too. However, the tool which was used to discover the compound, the iChip, will buy scientists time to discover more antibiotic compounds. Apple once again heads into unchartered territory — the electric car. e story first reported by Bloomberg has been confirmed by multiple sources. e team consists of about 200 people led by Steve Zadesky, who started his career as an engineer at Ford, then moved to Apple to run iPhone and iPod development. AUTOMOTIVE Apple Goes Electric At what point is too much of a good thing, in fact, a bad thing? Apparently hard-core runners could be doing themselves more harm than good. In a recent study scientists have discovered that runners who maintain a speed of 7mph or more are in fact putting themselves at risk for health complications. Researchers studied 5,048 healthy participants in the Copenhagen City Heart Study questioning them about their activity. ey tracked 1,098 healthy joggers and 413 healthy but sedentary non-joggers for 12 years. Jogging from 1 to 2.4 hours per week was associated with the lowest mortality and the optimal frequency of jogging was no more than three times per week. Overall, significantly lower mortality rates were found in those with a slow or moderate jogging pace, while the fast-paced joggers had almost the same mortality risk as the sedentary non-joggers. HEALTH Runners Beware

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