At VivaTech in Paris, artificial intelligence is taking center stage, reshaping how global brands in fashion and beauty create, sell, and connect.An AI-powered scanner, developed in collaboration with Danish imaging specialists Rigsters and creative agency OKCC, captures detailed visuals that are transformed into highly realistic 3D models.These mo…

Officials at the University of Chicago Crime Lab’s Policing Leadership Academy brought members of The Second City, Chicago’s storied improv theater, to teach police leaders the more diverse skills found in improv exercises—like thinking on your feet, reserving judgment and fully listening.The academy, a workshop taught over five months, tackles som…

Varsity Spirit is starting a professional cheerleading league that promises to pay athletes, joining the crowded niche sports market that already includes softball, volleyball, 3-on-3 basketball, lacrosse, indoor football and more, clamoring for both fans' attention and their dollars.Pro Cheer League is billed as the first professional cheerleading…

A high-tech breakthrough could speed up the restoration of centuries-old paintings using a digital mask. Scientists say the method, tested on a 15th-century work, took hours instead of months, and leaves the original untouched.The method, published in Nature on June 11, uses a digitally printed mask to repair damaged images. Researchers tested it o…

WhatsApp said that users will start seeing ads in parts of the app, as owner Meta Platforms moves to cultivate a new revenue stream by tapping the billions of people who use the messaging service.Advertisements will be shown only in the app's Updates tab, which is used by as many as 1.5 billion people each day. However, they won't appear where pers…

A New York man is laying claim to the record for most consecutive hours playing golf—a 35-hour stint on a course on Long Island that began early evening of June 8 and ended early morning of June 10.Kelechi Ezihie initially planned to play 24 hours to set a Guinness World Record, only to learn hours into his effort that a British golfer had played f…

It turns out our furry best friend might be our sleep enemy. Lots of pet owners let their animals sleep on the bed with them, which usually disrupts sleep. But many would say it's worth it.And researchers don't necessarily disagree.Melissa Milanak, a professor at the Medical University of South Carolina specializing in sleep health, said most peopl…

The head of Japan’s meteorological agency dismissed widespread rumors of a major earthquake in Japan this summer as unscientific and a “hoax,” urging people not to worry because even the most advanced science still cannot predict any quake or tsunami.“At the moment, it is still impossible to predict an earthquake with specific timing, location or i…

As the owner of a marina, Kate Gervais is used to seeing boats in the water. But for the last couple of days, she's been seeing them in the air.The Washington Department of Natural Resources (DNR) used one of its firefighting helicopters to haul abandoned boats off an uninhabited island in the southernmost reaches of Puget Sound, where the vessels …

Inside a bakery at a New Jersey Walmart, Melissa Fernandez assembles and decorates cakes. “The Cupcake Bouquets are number one right now. It’s the biggest seller,” said Fernandez. “So it’s twelve cupcakes set up to look like a flower bouquet.”Across the country, cake decorators at the nation's largest retailer collectively decorated more than a mil…

From the ruins of war to the pages of Marvel and DC, Croatian artists have built stories as powerful as the ones they illustrate. They have now built a reputation within the popular world of comic books.Few fans are aware that some of these iconic characters originate from a small Balkan nation with a limited comic book market of its own.For years,…

To attract the brightest minds to America, President Donald Trump proposed a novel idea while campaigning: If elected, he would grant green cards to all foreign students who graduate from U.S. colleges."It's so sad when we lose people from Harvard, MIT, from the greatest schools," Trump said during a podcast interview in June 2024. "That is going t…

Amazon has pledged to beef up the fight against fake reviews, Britain’s competition regulator said after an investigation into whether big online platforms are doing enough to crack down on phony online ratings for products and services.The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) said it secured the “undertakings” from Amazon, after getting a simil…

The third United Nations Ocean Conference (UNOC) opened June 9 amid rising pressure for nations to turn decades of promises into real protection for the sea.The weeklong summit came as just 2.7 percent of the ocean was effectively protected from destructive, extractive activities, according to the ocean advocacy nonprofit Marine Conservation Instit…

Digital price labels, which are rapidly replacing paper shelf tags at US supermarkets, haven’t led to demand-based pricing surges, according to a new study that examined five years’ worth of prices at one grocery chain.But some shoppers, consumer advocates and lawmakers remain skeptical about the tiny electronic screens, which let stores change pri…

More than 1,000 people gathered in a scenic Minneapolis neighborhood for an annual ritual—the sharpening of a gigantic No. 2 pencil.The 20-foot-tall (6-meter-tall) pencil was sculpted out of a mammoth oak tree at the home of John and Amy Higgins. The beloved tree was damaged in a storm a few years ago when fierce winds twisted the crown off. Neighb…

A cheap, eco-friendly flooring system is helping to improve health and bring down construction costs in Uganda. The clay-based earthen floors use local earth instead of cement, helping to reduce carbon emissions, and when replacing traditional mud floors, help reduce dust as well as disease-causing pests.The Ugandan company racing to install it is …

Everything from rusty typewriters to vintage cameras can be found at anthropologist Aditya Vij’s home in New Delhi. In an age of new technology and innovative products, walking into his home is like stepping into a time machine.Vij is an avid collector of artifacts, and over the decades, the self-proclaimed “history hunter” has gathered thousands o…

Snack food maker Mondelez International is suing the Aldi supermarket chain, alleging the packaging for Aldi's store-brand cookies and crackers "blatantly copies" Mondelez products like Chips Ahoy, Wheat Thins and Oreos.In a federal lawsuit filed in Illinois, Chicago-based Mondelez said Aldi's packaging was "likely to deceive and confuse customers"…

If more tennis players find themselves breathing easier, it might just be thanks to Carlos Alcaraz.The four-time Grand Slam champion has often worn a nasal strip in matches since last season and the sport’s other athletes took note. After all, if Alcaraz finds something useful on the court, their thinking goes, maybe it makes sense to give the adhe…

In Japan’s spiritual heartland, tradition meets craftsmanship in miniature form. Artisans in Ise are preserving centuries-old shrine-making by handcrafting sacred replicas for modern homes.At the family-run factory Miyachu, the craftsmen produce Ise no Shinden—miniature shrines that faithfully replicate the main sanctuary of Ise Jingu, known for it…

A three-year exercise program improved survival in colon cancer patients and kept the disease at bay, a first-of-its-kind international experiment showed.With the benefits rivaling some drugs, experts said cancer centers and insurance plans should consider making exercise coaching a new standard of care for colon cancer survivors. Until then, patie…

A jury convicted a woman who sneaked onto a flight from New York to Paris without a boarding pass by slipping past security and airline gate agents at John F. Kennedy (JFK) International Airport last year.The short trial of Svetlana Dali concluded with a guilty finding on a stowaway charge by jurors in federal court in Brooklyn. Jury selection and …

The City of Greater Geelong is converting the municipality's green waste into compost, which is then used to grow produce at the botanical gardens. This produce is donated to a local social supermarket to help feed those in need.Every month, Hamdieh Mohmmadi buys food from this Geelong social supermarket by exchanging vouchers for groceries. “We sa…

The beauty of the Scottish islands in the UK is world-renowned. The unspoiled nature of the islands is what draws many tourists here, but for some locals on Shetland, the sheer weight of visitors is beginning to take a toll. It’s putting pressure on local services such as transport and leaving residents unable to access other amenities.Many are ful…

From arm stretches to gentle Pilates, a group of pensioners in Croatia are keeping active well into their later years.At the heart of it all is 95-year-old fitness trainer Djurdja Vukovic—still leading the way, and showing no signs of slowing down.Twice a week, she guides elderly women through a mix of light aerobics, stretching and Pilates—movemen…

No Mow May encourages homeowners to stash the lawn mower each spring and let flowers and grass grow for pollinators and water retention. And if your neighbor’s lawn already looks like a wildflower field most of the time, it could be more intentional than passersby might assume.The movement has expanded to “Let It Bloom June” and the fall version: “…

Two border collies named Hercules and Ned have quite the spacious office at West Virginia's busiest airport. The border collies and their handler make daily patrols along the mile-long airfield to ensure birds and other wildlife stay away from planes and keep passengers and crew safe. Hercules is also the chief ambassador, soaking in affection from…

Mayor Eduardo Paes issued a decree in mid-May establishing new rules for the city’s waterfront, saying he wants to preserve urban order, public safety and the environment, as well as promote peaceful relations between tourists and residents.The new measures came into force on June 1, and they outlaw food and drink sales, chair rentals, loudspeakers…

Naqi Rizvi loves the “absolute freedom” he feels on the tennis court.The 34-year-old blind tennis champion is on a mission to not only raise awareness but also elevate the sport into the Paralympics.The London resident, fully blind from the age of 7 because of congenital glaucoma, only took up the sport a decade ago and is now the No. 1-ranked men'…

Bees are an essential part of our food chain, with more than three-quarters of global crops depending on pollinators. A new report for World Bee Day has highlighted emerging threats that mean the insects could struggle to survive.Without them, most of our crops would not grow. But the humble bee has been on the decline for decades.Pesticides and cl…

Charlie Chaplin, Miss Piggy, grand opera spectacles and circus clowns—countless Showtime-inspired sand sculptures are emerging from the sand at the Hundested Sand Sculpture Festival in northeast Denmark.Launched in 2012 as a creative way to put the small seaside town of 8,000 on the tourist map, the Hundested Sand Sculpture Festival is now in its f…

Spain has ordered Airbnb to block more than 65,000 holiday listings on its platform for having violated rules, the Consumer Rights Ministry said.The ministry said that many of the 65,935 Airbnb listings it had ordered to be withdrawn did not include their license number or specify whether the owner was an individual or a company. Others listed numb…

Midway while sailing across the Pacific with just his cat named Phoenix, Oliver Widger reflected on why he thinks his many followers—more than a million on TikTok and Instagram—are drawn to his story of quitting his 9-to-5 job and embarking on a journey from Oregon to Hawaii.“The world kind of sucks and, like, I don’t think I’m alone in how I felt …

After a wildfire decimated a California high school's newsroom, destroying its cameras, computers and archived newspapers spanning six decades, one of the first offers of help that its journalism adviser, Lisa Nehus Saxon, received came from the other side of the country.Claire Smith, founding executive director of Temple University's sports media …

Thai officials said they seized 238 tons of illegally imported electronic waste from the United States at the port of Bangkok, one of the biggest lots they've found this year.The waste, which came in 10 large containers, was declared as mixed metal scrap but turned out to be circuit boards mixed in a huge pile of metal scrap, said Theeraj Athanavan…

Nebraska is the first state to receive a federal waiver to ban the purchase of soda and energy drinks under the benefit program for low-income Americans, long known as food stamps.The move, announced by U.S. Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins, would affect about 152,000 people in Nebraska enrolled in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program,…

Potters from around the world showed off their latest creations at Ceramic Art London, the largest high-end ceramics show in the UK. Returning to the capital for its 21st year, more than 6,000 people were expected to visit to see some of the best ceramic creations on sale.Everywhere you look are beautiful ceramic creations, from functional vases, s…

With its warm temperatures and intricate history, the Moroccan capital Rabat is seeing growth in its luxury tourism sector, with five new luxury hotel projects under construction. One hotel boss says they’re seeing an increase in guests from Asia, particularly Taiwan.Once the former palace of Sultan Moulay Slimane during the 18th century, then a mi…

With Utah’s first-in-the-nation ban on fluoride in public drinking water having taken effect May 7, dentists who treat children and low-income patients said they’re bracing for an influx of tooth decay among the state’s most vulnerable.Republican Gov. Spencer Cox signed the law against the recommendation of many dentists and national health organiz…

House Republicans want to set aside up to $5 billion a year for scholarships to help families send their children to private and religious schools, an unprecedented effort to use public money to pay for private education.The proposal, part of a budget reconciliation bill released in May, would advance President Donald Trump’s agenda of establishing…

Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum described as "unfair" the decision by the Trump administration to suspend imports of Mexican beef cattle for 15 days due to the detection of screwworm in shipments.Sheinbaum, who has spent the past few months scrambling to offset tariff threats by U.S. President Donald Trump, said she hoped the suspension would n…

As a Biden administration ban on so-called “junk fees” took effect in May, Ticketmaster said it would start displaying the full price of a ticket as soon as consumers begin shopping.Ticketmaster, long a subject of complaints about hidden fees and other issues, was among those targeted by the new rule, which was announced in December by the Federal …

Liam and Olivia dominate. Still. The two names have, for a sixth year together, topped the list of names for babies born in the U.S. in 2024.The Social Security Administration annually tracks the names given to girls and boys in each state, with names dating back to 1880. In time for Mother's Day, the agency released the most popular names from app…

Alcatraz Landing is where tourists take a boat to visit Alcatraz Island, which was once a notorious federal prison that housed infamous criminals like Al Capone.Today, it is a national park and one of the most popular tourist attractions in the San Francisco Bay.“As I’m here today, looking around it seems like this is a great tourist attraction and…

Ethics Bowl may look superficially similar to debate—with two teams discussing a controversial or difficult topic—but they are actually very different.“So, Ethics Bowl more broadly describes an activity for students of varying ages to come together and approach these really challenging topics, ethical dilemmas,” says Leo Kirby, director of the Nati…

Shares of Deliveroo, the food delivery service based in London, are hitting three-year highs after it received a $3.6 billion proposed takeover offer from DoorDash. Deliveroo announced the bid after markets closed in Europe. The company also said that it was suspending a $133.5 million share buyback it had announced last March.Deliveroo said that i…

Rebel groups in Colombia are using apps like Facebook and TikTok to recruit children and young adults, and social media companies must do more to moderate content, the United Nations says.The U.N.’s top human rights official in Colombia, Scott Campbell, in an interview with The Associated Press, said more investment is needed in both automated tool…

A climber airlifted with altitude sickness from near the peak of Japan's Mount Fuji returned to the slope and was rescued for a second time just four days later, authorities said.Officials urged people to be aware of the harsh conditions at the country's tallest peak during its off-season.The climber was identified only as a 27-year-old Chinese stu…

Dr. Google is often on call for worried patients, but it may not give the best advice.Doctors say internet searches for medical information should be done cautiously, especially with artificial intelligence playing a growing role.Information from the right websites can teach patients about symptoms and prepare them for a doctor’s visit. But a poorl…