From Walt Disney to the metaverse: After 16 years at the head of the entertainment company, former Walt Disney boss Robert Iger is backing avatar tech company Genies, the Wall Street Journal reports. Iger sat with a number of startup executives before settling on Genies and becoming one of five directors on Genies’ board, citing his interest in “companies that were using technology for disruptive purposes and, where possible, the intersection between technology and creativity.” The company gives its users the chance to create their own avatars and dress them up and has raised USD 100 mn in funding since it started operations in 2017.

Chronically stressed? The antidote is to stress yourself out a little bit more by hitting the gym or jumping into a cold shower. A number of studies have shown that exposing yourself to short bursts of stress — also known as hormetic stress — such as cold showers, ice baths, hot saunas or exercise, can make it easier for you to handle chronic stress, the Wall Street Journal writes. The studies also recommend high-intensity interval training (HIIT), which gets your heart rate to rise and fall, along with intermittent fasting and hypoxic breathing — but caveat that the latter two can be detrimental if not done with professional guidance. “The practices create short-term spikes of biological stress followed by recovery, ease and deep restoration and that is otherwise hard to get,” a psychiatry professor at the University of California said.