|
|
- The top 25 stories curated by editors and fellow readers!
Editor's Pick |
Editor's Note: By practising deep curiosity, instead of dismissing or judging people who hold different political perspectives than you, or who have an identity that seems to clash with your own, you can bring a sense of genuine interest, humility, understanding and shared humanity. I've discovered that, if you do this, you'll begin to see improvements in your relationships with your families, spouses, children, friends, coworkers, neighbours and strangers. You can even use deep curiosity to improve the way you treat yourself.
| Work New report on New York policea??s drone operations released amid sightings  In recent weeks, drones have been making headlines due to dozens of reported sightings in areas of New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania and other areas along the east coast, which have sparked panic and led to conspiracy theories. |
| Work Grocery Prices Set to Rise as Soil Becomes 'Unproductive'  Experts are warning of a looming increase in grocery prices as agricultural soil becomes increasingly unproductive. |
 |
| Work World-leading Chinese cancer scientist Sun Shao-Cong has left US for Beijing  After three decades of distinguished work in the United States, world-leading cancer researcher Sun Shao-Cong has returned to China to establish a new lab in Beijing, following what a source said were investigations of him by the US government. |
| Work China Wants to Dominate in AI -- and Some of Its Models Are Already Beating Their U.S. Rivals  Chinese AI models are already hugely popular and are keeping pace with -- and even surpassing -- some U.S. rivals, industry experts told CNBC. |
| You Might Like |
|
| Work This Street in Milan Has the World's Most Upscale Shopping  Cushman & Wakefield's annual global index shows that Milan's Via MonteNapoleone is the world's most expensive retail destination. |
| Work Syria: The War in Numbers  With the overthrow of former President Bashar al-Assad, Syrians are counting the cost of nearly 14 years of war. |
| Work Coffee Prices Climb to Near 50-Year Highs -- and It May Take Years for the Rally to Run Out of Steam  Drought and high temperatures, alongside a global reliance on supplies from relatively few regions, are regarded as the key drivers for the dramatic price rise. |
| Work 7-Eleven battle shows resilience of Japan Inc.'s family ties  A rise in shareholder activism in Japan is poised to fuel a new wave of management buyouts by founding families, after the battle for 7-Eleven's parent company prompted a more than ?8 trillion ($52.44 billion) takeover offer from the Ito dynasty that built the retail giant. |
| You Might Like |
|
| Work How America's Affordable House of the Future Failed  The all-steel Lustron was supposed to be an elixir for many of the housing problems we still face today. |
| Work Thermoelectric material gets flexible, efficient  The No. 1 nuisance with smartphones and smartwatches is that we need to charge them every day. As warm-blooded creatures, however, we generate heat all the time, and that heat can be converted into electricity for some of the electronic gadgetry we carry. |
|
|
|
| Work Making Friends With Your Past and Future Selves  It's what psychologists call self-continuity, and can improve your health and well-being. |
| Work AI Is the Black Mirror  Philosopher Shannon Vallor and I are in the British Library in London, home to 170 million items--books, recordings, newspapers, manuscripts, maps. In other words, we're talking in the kind of place where today's artificial intelligence chatbots like ChatGPT come to feed. |
|
| Work We saw a demo of the new AI system powering Anduril's vision for war  One afternoon in late November, I visited a weapons test site in the foothills east of San Clemente, California, operated by Anduril, a maker of AI-powered drones and missiles that recently announced a partnership with OpenAI. |
| Work Pharmalittle: We're reading about a Merck deal for an obesity pill, a departing FDA official, and more  Merck signed a deal worth up to $2 billion with Hansoh Pharma to develop and sell the Chinese biotech's oral obesity drug |
|
|
|
| Work A key decision on compounding is expected this week  In the meantime, telehealth companies that prescribe compounded tirzepatide appear to be using the deadline to urge patients to stock up. One of them, Pomegranate Health, sent an email to users yesterday, saying, “The decision to uphold the removal of tirzepatide from the shortage list may be overturned or upheld on December 19, 2024. Either way, this could lead to a surge in demand for the medication as providers and patients scramble to stock up on supply. Secure your three month supply to avoid disruption to your care.” |
| Work Pig-human transplants, ADHD treatments, and war on recovery  But where to start? First Opinion editor Torie Bosch has called for essays that offer up solutions to the problems highlighted in this cultural moment. Goozner offers his ideas on how to design payment policies that serve patients, not the insurance industry. Read more. |
|
|
|
| Work How federal health agency HHS uses AI, telehealth wins and BD's sins  In mid-November 2019, BD decided to instead ship Alaris with software that excluded the fixes that would require FDA clearance, including “several flaws the FDA had expressed significant concerns about.” |
| Work CDC confirms first known severe case of H5N1 bird flu in the U.S.  The Canadian teenager spent weeks in critical condition in hospital, on a ventilator because he or she could not breathe on their own. An official from British Columbia told STAT on Tuesday that the teenager is no longer in critical care, though he or she remains in hospital. |
| Work These challenges could delay brain-computer interfaces from becoming a reality for patients  “These discussions will help to facilitate continuous innovation toward wide, equitable access to implantable BCIs with the potential to improve communication, mobility, and other functions for people with neurological conditions,” said Leigh Hochberg, a neurologist at Massachusetts General Hospital and the director of BrainGate clinical trials. |
| Work Stock market today: Dow, S&P 500, Nasdaq clobbered as Fed, Powell signal fewer rate cuts in 2025  Stocks eyed a rebound Wednesday, with the blue-chip Dow looking to snap its longest losing streak since 1978. The Federal Reserve will take focus later with its latest interest rate decision. |
| Work Access bets people will pay thousands of dollars a year for guaranteed restaurant reservations | TechCrunch  “At the end of the day, everyone has to eat, and in a market like New York City, urbanites and tourists desire the highest levels of service and experiences for leisure and business use,” he said. “Access makes it frictionless for people to land these experiences on a recurring basis without having to know the chef.” |
| Work Security is Not an AI Problem  If you follow any tech or security journalism right now, you're getting a pretty consistent message: AI is the future. We see every month the crazy progress of large language models (LLMs) like ChatGPT / GPT-4, Bard, Gemini, DALL-E, LLaMA, and Stable Diffusion. |
| Work Sam Altman-backed nuclear startup Oklo lands massive data center power deal, with caveats | TechCrunch  But perhaps the stiffest competition could come from renewable power and grid-scale batteries, both of which continue to drop in price. Google announced last week that it was helping to anchor a renewable power deal that will see $20 billion worth of solar, wind, and batteries. The first phase of the project will be operational by 2026. |
| Work Building physical tech is back in fashion thanks to AI, robotics, and defense  Rebecca Bellan covers transportation for TechCrunch. She’s interested in all things micromobility, EVs, AVs, smart cities, AI, sustainability and more. Previously, she covered social media for Forbes.com, and her work has appeared in Bloomberg CityLab, The Atlantic, The Daily Beast, Mother Jones, i-D (Vice) and more. Rebecca studied journalism and history at Boston University. She has invested in Ethereum. |
| Work Hauler Hero wants to bring waste-management software into the 21st century | TechCrunch  “It’s extremely rewarding. These are people who really are doing backbreaking work and God’s work,” Hoadley said. “It’s really rewarding to give them an opportunity to get their workflows done more quickly, to be able to generate reports more easily, and ultimately to grow faster and have more cash in their pockets to do the things that matter to them.” |
| Work Sustainable Ocean Alliance marks 10 years with ocean-friendly startup label and a new batch of 'ecopreneurs' | TechCrunch  It’s almost as if being an ocean entrepreneur is so complex, because it’s such a multi-dynamic industry, that the only way to do it is with a systematic, macro-level approach … which we have taken. |
| Work 'I've Lost My Identity': On the Mysteries of Foreign Accent Syndrome  What is it that makes individuals suffering from FAS sound like foreign speakers of their native language? |
| Work Senate passes $895bn Pentagon spending bill despite provision denying transgender care to minors a?? as it happened  "The extensive and pervasive misconduct at issue violated President Trump's rights under the federal Constitution and New York law," Trump attorneys Todd Blanche and Emil Bove wrote. "The jury in this case was not anywhere near fair and impartial." |
| Work US Senate passes defense bill that raises troop pay and strips trans care for kids of military  “The NDAA has embodied the idea that there is more that brings us together than separates us, that our service members and national defense are not to be politicized. That we put our country over a party when the chips are on the table,” she said. “Unfortunately, this year that was ignored – all to gut the rights of our service members to get the healthcare they need for their children.” |
| Work First person in US to develop severe illness from bird flu is hospitalized  While the US has stockpiled millions of H5N1 shots, those vaccines have not yet been authorized by the US Food and Drug Administration. Officials on Wednesday did not announce any changes in the US vaccination strategy. |
| Work Journal retracts study that promoted hydroxychloroquine as Covid treatment  “This highly controversial study was the cornerstone of a global scandal. The promotion of its results led to the overprescription of hydroxychloroquine to millions of patients, resulting in unnecessary risk-taking for millions of people and potentially thousands of avoidable deaths … One of the fundamental principles of medicine – primum non nocere (‘first, do no harm’) – has been sacrificed here, with dramatic consequences,” it added. |
| Work US funding plan collapses as Trump makes demands days before shutdown  The stopgap measure is needed because Congress has failed to pass its annual appropriations bills to fund all the various agencies in the federal government, from the Pentagon and national security apparats, to the health, welfare, transportation and other routine domestic services. When the fiscal year ended on 30 September, Congress simply punted the problem by passing a temporary funding bill that expires on Friday. |
| Work a??Pick and mix of horrora?? online pushes young people to violence, UK police chief says  Evans voiced concerns shared in Britain's counter-terrorism community that the upheaval in Syria could create a "void" for terrorism. She said police were on the lookout for those travelling to and from Syria who could pose a danger. |
| Work Thames Water to get green light to hike bills by more than a third by 2030  Exclusive: Long-awaited decision by water regulator Ofwat falls short of utility's requested 59% rise |
| Work Couple who bought abortion pills online given community orders  One had been tabled by the Labour MP, Stella Creasy, who said: “The prosecution of women for having an abortion under outdated laws in England and Wales has to stop – as the judge highlighted, the trauma of this has compounded an already distressing situation involving a vulnerable young woman, which has dragged on for six years. “It’s time to decriminalise abortion and recognise this is a healthcare matter.” |
| Work Up to 100 Labour MPs could vote against Waspi payout refusal  A spokesperson for Kemi Badenoch said: “She has not promised to give them compensation but I’m not going to write a budget for four or five years’ time. The key here is about the Labour party and trust and honesty … they told the Waspi women they would get them compensation and then they’ve said no.” |
| Work Two former Rotherham police officers arrested over child sexual abuse  The NCA announced last year that new allegations would be handled by South Yorkshire police rather than Operation Stovewood, saying it had identified more than 1,100 children involved in the exploitation between 1997 and 2013, almost all girls. |
| Work Cancer screening take ups not back to pre-pandemic levels, charity warns  A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson said: “When it comes to fighting cancer, every second counts and as these figures show, our screening programmes are detecting thousands of cases. |
| Work Nicolas Sarkozy ordered to wear electronic tag after corruption ruling  Sarkozy’s predecessor, Jacques Chirac, a fellow conservative, is the only other president in modern French history to be convicted by a court. Chirac was found guilty of corruption in 2011, four years after he left office. |
| Work Google Maps car snaps vital clue in Spanish missing person case  “We would have never imagined he was doing anything and we didn’t think anything of it,” said one resident, while another noted that “we didn’t think that in the photo of the boot there would be a body.” |
| Work GisA?le Pelicot: verdicts expected in rape trial that shocked France  French and Spanish feminist groups are expected at the courthouse for the verdicts. Among other demands, they are calling for a change in society's treatment of rape victims before, during and after the legal process. |
| Work Independent TD Verona Murphy voted in as Irelanda??s first female speaker  "I'm very proud that Ireland speaks with a strong voice, and it is one which cries out for a ceasefire, for the release of all hostages, for the flow of humanitarian aid, and, ultimately, for the peaceful coexistence of Israel and Palestine as two states." |
| Work Fatima Paymana??s party calls for candidates to contest Senate seats in NSW and Victoria  Payman's chief of staff Glenn Druery - known in Australian politics as the "preference whisperer" who capitalised on the old Senate voting system to help elect micro parties - will provide advice to the party. |
| Work WAa??s state-owned gambling agency targets customers with promotions to maintain profits  "We recognise that there is a growing desire in the community to see less gambling advertising on channels that directly reach potentially vulnerable individuals," the spokesperson said. |
| Work a??Gamechangera??: super fund billions touted as solution to housing crisis  The IFM has made several recommendations designed to entice institutional investors into housing, including doubling the HAFF initiative to $20bn, identifying pipelines of land needed for housing, and supporting the uptake of modular housing. |
| Work Australia to reopen embassy in Ukraine as its total support for country surpasses $1.5bn  “Australia’s security depends on respect for rules, norms, international law and human rights, as well as a commitment to not use force to resolve differences, so actively standing up for those values is important.” |
| Work Australia news live: AGL fined $25m for wrongly taking welfare money; threats to politicians surge 42%, police say  The two men entered guilty pleas to conspiracy and other charges in January. Their transfer comes after they provided testimony that prosecutors plan to use in the future against Nurjaman, the alleged mastermind, the Pentagon said in a statement on Wednesday. |
| Work Fiji defence minister welcomes US security deal and criticises China missile test  Tikoduadua emphasised the importance of bigger countries respecting the sovereignty of Pacific Islands and said Fiji made its decisions independently. He added Fiji was “not trying to please the US or China” but wanted to pursue stability in the region. |
| Work Pakistan and Bahamas join push for global pact to phase out fossil fuels  Ralph Regenvanu, Vanuatu’s special envoy for climate change and the environment, said: “From small island states to major economies and fossil-fuel producers, 16 nations across the global south have now united behind the push for a fossil fuel non-proliferation treaty, and we call on other nations to join us in this historic effort to protect our future.” |
| Work Ancient bones shed new light on debate over origins of syphilis  “I don’t think we’re solving the mystery necessarily, because there are still so many important questions we have to answer,” Bos said. “We’re looking at very limited sources of data, and we’re trying to analyse them and in a very holistic, comprehensive way, and to be very open-minded. I think the narrative will continue to be debated.” |
| Work More than 140 Kenya Facebook moderators diagnosed with severe PTSD  Meta said it took the support of content reviewers seriously. Contracts with third-party moderators of content on Facebook and Instagram detailed expectations about counselling, training and round-the-clock onsite support and access to private healthcare. Meta said pay was above industry standards in the markets where they operated and it used techniques such as blurring, muting sounds and rendering in monochrome to limit exposure to graphic material for people who reviewed content on the two platforms. |
| Work Cyclone Chido deaths rise in south-east Africa as Mayotte toll remains unclear  Some Mahorais expressed anger that Retailleau had not gone to damaged areas when he visited on Monday, including Zaïna Assani, 58, in a call to her daughter from Pamanzi, on Mayotte’s second island, Petite-Terre. “I want to scream,” she said. |
| Work LG's QNED evo LCD TV lineup for 2025 can wirelessly receive 4K videos  LG has revealed the 2025 refresh for its QNED LCD TV lineup. |
| Work CarlinKit 5 delivers solid wireless CarPlay... most of the time  The CarlinKit is one of those devices you just never really have to think about, save for the occasional unplug/replug reset. To address compatibility issues, the company releases firmware updates that you can install wirelessly over your phone. (There's also a more complex USB firmware update method, but I haven't had to deal with that.) Beyond that, though, it doesn't require much babysitting. And really, isn’t that exactly what we want with every single-purpose gadget? |
| Work YouTube is helping high-profile actors and athletes monetize their AI likenesses  Last week in a podcast interview with Armchair Expert, Friends actor Lisa Kudrow called the use of digital versions of Tom Hanks and Robin Wright in the film Here an "endorsement" of AI. "What will there be left for, forget actors, but what about up-and-coming actors? They’ll just be licensing and recycling. What work will there be for human beings?” |
| Work Watch the first 'Exodus' gameplay trailer  Exodus stars Matthew McConaughey in his first video game role and will be published by Wizards of the Coast, Archetype's parent company. There's still no release date, and we don't yet know which character will be played by McConaughey. |
| Work How Fit Were Real Gladiators Compared to Those in 'Gladiator II'?  Here's what we know about how real gladiators ate and exercised. |
| Work We're getting a second season of Secret Level  You can now watch the first season of Secret Level on Amazon Prime Video now, where it recently premiered. There are currently 15 episodes based on various games. The short based on Warhammer 40,000 reminds me of the Astartes project. Additionally, the Pac-Man-based short is actually a sort of reveal for a Bandai Namco game, Shadow Labyrinth. |
| Work TP-Link routers are being investigated by several US authorities  “We welcome any opportunities to engage with the U.S. government to demonstrate that our security practices are fully in line with industry security standards, and to demonstrate our ongoing commitment to the U.S. market, U.S. consumers, and addressing U.S. national security risks,” a TP-Link spokesperson told WSJ. |
| Work The 12 best last-minute Christmas gifts for the 2024 holiday season  These are the best last-minute Christmas gifts you can get this year, as chosen by Engadget editors. |
| Work The best board games to gift (and play) this 2024 holiday season  Marvel fans are sure to enjoy Marvel Dice Throne, a game where each player gets to be one of eight famous characters (Black Panther, Captain Marvel, Black Widow, Scarlet Witch, Loki, Thor, Doctor Strange and Miles Morales’ Spider-Man). They then compete in a 1v1, 2v2, 3v3, 2v2v2 or free-for-all battle where they play cards and roll dice in order to thwart the other players. In addition to attack moves, players can also activate unique abilities and upgrade their characters over time. Gameplay is relatively quick – just 20 to 40 minutes. — N.L. |