As social media guardrails fade and AI deepfakes go mainstream, experts warn of impact on elections Posted January 26, 2024 Generative artificial intelligence tools have made it far cheaper and easier to spread the kind of misinformation that can mislead voters and potentially influenc…
Mickey Mouse will soon belong to you and me — with some caveats Posted January 25, 2024 With several asterisks, qualifications, and caveats, Mickey Mouse in his earliest form will be the leader of the band of characters, films, and books that will be…
Robot helps seniors fight loneliness; it converses, plays music and gives virtual tours Posted January 24, 2024 Some American senior citizens have a new companion to help them combat loneliness — a robot. Joyce Loazia lives alone, but when she returns to her apartment at a suburban Fort …
Luxury chocolate factory provides employment for people with special needs Posted January 23, 2024 A luxury chocolate retailer is helping young people with special needs find employment and self-confidence at their factory in Eastern England. Harry Specters is a chocolate ma…
Cocoa grown illegally in a Nigerian rainforest heads to companies that supply major chocolate makers Posted January 22, 2024 As the world’s demand for chocolate grows, cocoa farmers in Nigeria are moving into protected areas of a forest reserve that is home to endangered species like Af…
Here’s what you need to know about the deadly salmonella outbreak tied to cantaloupe Posted January 21, 2024 Hundreds of people in the U.S. and Canada have been sickened in a growing outbreak of salmonella poisoning linked to contaminated whole and pre-cut cantaloupe. Health officials…
Love it or hate it, self-checkout is here to stay. But it’s going through a reckoning Posted January 20, 2024 The promise of self-checkout was alluring: Customers could avoid long lines by scanning and bagging their own items, workers could be freed of doing those monoton…
California lawsuit says Ralphs broke the law by asking job-seekers about their criminal histories Posted January 19, 2024 California sued the Ralphs supermarket chain on December 21, alleging that it violated state law by asking job-seekers whether they had criminal records and illegally rejecting hu…
Apple to halt sales of its newest watches in US over patent dispute Posted January 18, 2024 Apple suspended sales of the Series 9 and Ultra 2 versions of its popular watch for online U.S. customers on the afternoon of December 21 and in its stores on December 24. The mov…
Scientists confirm rediscovery of ‘tap-dancing’ trapdoor spider not seen for nearly a century Posted January 17, 2024 An elusive 'tap-dancing' spider species that has been lost to science for almost 100 years has been rediscovered amongst leaf litter on its home turf