Interesting Items / Science & Technology
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First major attempts to regulate AI face headwinds from all sides
DENVER (AP) — Artificial intelligence is helping decide which Americans get the job interview, the apartment, even medical care, but the first major proposals to reign in bias in AI decision making are facing headwinds from every direction. L...
This ancient snake in India might have been longer than a school bus and weighed a ton
WASHINGTON (AP) — A ancient giant snake in India might have been longer than a school bus and weighed a ton, researchers reported Thursday. Fossils found near a coal mine revealed a snake that stretched an estimated 36 feet (11 meters) to 50 feet (...
Toxic: How the search for the origins of COVID-19 turned politically poisonous
BEIJING (AP) — The hunt for the origins of COVID-19 has gone dark in China, the victim of political infighting after a series of stalled and thwarted attempts to find the source of the virus that killed millions and paralyzed the world for months. T...
Report urges fixes to online child exploitation CyberTipline before AI makes it worse
A tipline set up 26 years ago to combat online child exploitation has not lived up to its potential and needs technological and other improvements to help law enforcement go after abusers and rescue victims, a new report from the Stanford Internet Ob...
US measles cases are up in 2024. What's driving the increase?
Measles outbreaks in the U.S. and abroad are raising health experts' concern about the preventable, once-common childhood virus. One of the world's most contagious diseases, measles can lead to potentially serious complications. The best defense,...
Instagram begins blurring nudity in messages to protect teens and fight sexual extortion
LONDON (AP) — Instagram says it's deploying new tools to protect young people and combat sexual extortion, including a feature that will automatically blur nudity in direct messages. The social media platform said in a blog post Thursday that it's t...
It's the first drug shown to slow Alzheimer's. Why is is it off to a slow start?
The first drug shown to slow Alzheimer's disease hit the U.S. market over a year ago, but sales have lagged, major hospital systems have taken months to start using it and some insurers have rejected coverage. Doctors also expect some patients will...
Only 26% of Americans say they get at least eight hours of sleep, new Gallup poll says
NEW YORK (AP) — If you're feeling — YAWN — sleepy or tired while you read this and wish you could get some more shut-eye, you're not alone. A majority of Americans say they would feel better if they could have more sleep, according to a new poll. But...
Your morning coffee may be more than a half million years old
That coffee you slurped this morning? It's 600,000 years old. Using genes from coffee plants around the world, researchers built a family tree for the world's most popular type of coffee, known to scientists as Coffea arabica and to coffee lovers...
Content creation holds appeal for laid-off workers seeking flexibility
With a compact mirror in one hand and an eyelash curler in the other, Grace Xu told her roughly 300,000 TikTok followers she was likely about to be laid off. She was right, she tells them in a subsequent clip. But she was planning to pursue a...
Can't get enough of the total solar eclipse or got clouded out? Here are the next ones to watch for
DALLAS (AP) — Whether you saw the moon completely block the sun, were foiled by cloudy weather or weren't along the path of Monday's total solar eclipse, there are still more chances to catch a glimpse. Here's what to know about upcoming solar specta...
Internet providers must now be more transparent about fees, pricing, FCC says
NEW YORK (AP) — Much like nutritional labels on food products, "broadband labels" for internet packages will soon tell you just what is going into the pricing of your service, thanks to new rules adopted by the Federal Communications Commission t...
ALS drug will be pulled from US market after study showed patients didn't benefit
WASHINGTON (AP) — The maker of a drug for Lou Gehrig's disease that recently failed in a large study said Thursday it will pull the medicine from the market, acknowledging it didn't help patients with the deadly neurological condition. Amylyx P...
One Tech Tip: How to use apps to track and photograph the total solar eclipse
Monday's total solar eclipse might become one of the most filmed and photographed events of the year. As the moon passes in front of the sun, plunging a swath of North America into a few minutes of darkness, throngs will take pictures or videos of...
Anonymous users are dominating right-wing discussions online. They also spread false information
NEW YORK (AP) — The reposts and expressions of shock from public figures followed quickly after a user on the social platform X who uses a pseudonym claimed that a government website had revealed "skyrocketing" rates of voters registering without a...
Some states are seeking to restrict TikTok. That doesn't mean their governors aren't using it
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — POV: You're on TikTok, and so is your governor — even as your Legislature considers banning the app from state-owned devices and networks. Efforts to ban TikTok over security concerns about China's influence through the platfor...
Blind people can hear and feel April's total solar eclipse with new technology
WASHINGTON (AP) — While eclipse watchers look to the skies, people who are blind or visually impaired will be able to hear and feel the celestial event. Sound and touch devices will be available at public gatherings on April 8, when a total solar e...
AT&T says a data breach leaked millions of customers' information online. Were you affected?
NEW YORK (AP) — The theft of sensitive information belonging to millions of AT&T's current and former customers has been recently discovered online, the telecommunications giant said this weekend. In a Saturday announcement addressing the data b...
Kia recalls over 427,000 Telluride SUVs because they might roll away while parked
NEW YORK (AP) — Kia is recalling more than 427,000 of its Telluride SUVs due to a defect that may cause the cars to roll away while they're parked. According to documents published by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, the i...
Japan confirms experts met in China to ease concerns over discharge of treated radioactive water
TOKYO (AP) — Japan said Sunday its experts have held talks with their Chinese counterparts to try to assuage Beijing's concerns over the discharge of treated radioactive wastewater from the wrecked Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant into the s...
A biased test kept thousands of Black people from getting a kidney transplant. It's finally changing
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Jazmin Evans had been waiting for a new kidney for four years when her hospital revealed shocking news: She should have been put on the transplant list in 2015 instead of 2019 — and a racially biased organ test was to blame. As...
US surgeons transplant a gene-edited pig kidney into a patient for the first time
NEW YORK (AP) — Doctors in Boston have transplanted a pig kidney into a 62-year-old patient, the latest experiment in the quest to use animal organs in humans. Massachusetts General Hospital said Thursday that it's the first time a genetically m...
FBI tells passengers on the Alaska Airlines flight that lost a panel they might be crime victims
The FBI has told passengers on the Alaska Airlines Boeing 737 Max that lost a door-plug panel in midflight that they might be victims of a crime. "I'm contacting you because we have identified you as a possible victim of a crime," a victim...
What is known about Kate's cancer diagnosis
Kate, the Princess of Wales, has disclosed that she has cancer and is undergoing chemotherapy — though in a video announcement Friday, she did not say what kind of cancer or reveal details of her treatment. Here's what is known: What kind of s...
AI chatbots are here to help with your mental health, despite limited evidence they work
WASHINGTON (AP) — Download the mental health chatbot Earkick and you're greeted by a bandana-wearing panda who could easily fit into a kids' cartoon. Start talking or typing about anxiety and the app generates the kind of comforting, sympathetic s...
