The U.S. Surgeon General has called on Congress to require warning labels on social media platforms and their effects on young people’s lives, similar to those now mandatory on cigarette boxes.In an opinion piece in The New York Times, Dr. Vivek Murthy said that social media is a contributing factor in the mental health crisis among young people.“I…

It's summertime and the kids are home from school when one day they walk into the kitchen and say, "I'm bored!"For parents, the first inclination might be to find something for the children to do. Go play outside. Clean your room. Work on an art project.But, experts say, don't underestimate the value of just letting kids figure out how to occupy th…

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) plans to end a major tax loophole for wealthy taxpayers that could raise more than $50 billion in revenue over the next decade, the U.S. Treasury Department says.The proposed rule and guidance announced includes plans to essentially stop "partnership basis shifting"—a process by which a business or person can move…

The Dutch ship Oosterschelde is on a two-year mission to work with future scientists who will study species discovered by Charles Darwin and develop projects to save them. The journey is retracing Darwin’s famous travels onboard the HMS Beagle, from 1831-1836.Two hundred young naturalists from around the world are expected to participate in the pro…

A group of OpenAI’s current and former workers is calling on the ChatGPT-maker and other artificial intelligence (AI) companies to protect employees who flag safety risks about AI technology.An open letter published in June asks tech companies to establish stronger whistleblower protections, so researchers have the “right to warn” about AI dangers …

Viral artist Mr. Doodle says the art world is split over his compulsive scribblings.The English creator has teamed up with a fashionable London restaurant to decorate parts of the establishment.And on June 7, he was at London’s trendy sketch restaurant decorating the entrance hall."It's a very meditative process when I'm working on the doodles beca…

Up until recently, Dubai city might not have been on top of scuba divers’ list of places to visit to discover the wonders of the underwater world.But that all changed when a number of divers got together and created the world's deepest swimming pool, furnished like a city and fitted with sunken cars, motorbikes and even arcade games.The world’s dee…

A soaring demand for food delivered fast has spawned small armies of couriers—and increasing alarm—in big cities where scooters, motorcycles and mopeds zip in and out of traffic and hop onto pedestrian-filled sidewalks as their drivers race to drop off salads and sandwiches.Officials in Boston, New York, and Washington, D.C., have started cracking …

Rural pharmacies, independent or chain, can be a touchstone for their communities. The staff knows everyone’s names and drugs, answers questions about residents’ mail-order prescriptions, or can spot the signs of serious illness.But rural pharmacies’ business models face unrelenting pressures to the point that sometimes they have to close. Several …

The total global volume of fish, shrimp, clams and other aquatic animals that are harvested by farming has topped the amount fished in the wild from the world's waters for the first time ever, the United Nations reported.The U.N.’s Food and Agriculture Organization, in its latest report on fisheries and aquaculture—or farming in water—says the glob…

After years of closing or mostly neglecting physical bank branches across the U.S., the nation’s largest banks are spending hundreds of millions of dollars on refurbishing old locations or building new ones, and in the process, changing the look, feel, and purpose of the local bank branch.Many of these branches are larger, airier, and meant to feel…

Artificial intelligence (AI) systems like ChatGPT could soon run out of what keeps making them smarter—the tens of trillions of words people have written and shared online.A new study released by research group Epoch AI projects that tech companies will exhaust the supply of publicly available training data for AI language models by roughly the tur…

The once-blighted, monolithic Michigan Central train station was for decades a symbol of Detroit’s decline. It now has new life following a massive six-year, multimillion-dollar renovation to create a hub for mobility projects in the rebirth of the Motor City.The windowless, hulking, scavenger-ravaged structure that ominously shadowed the city’s Co…

The world’s first “cobot hub” has opened in Denmark’s third-largest city, Odense.The new $45 million headquarters for Teradyne-owned Universal Robots and MiR (Mobile Industrial Robots) is hoping to capitalize on a growing demand for collaborative robots in industries, such as logistics, pharmaceutical, food, beverage, and more.The new 20,000-square…

Popular soda brand Poppi is facing a class-action lawsuit filed by a consumer who says its products don’t improve gut health as much as their marketing suggests.In a lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court in San Francisco, Kristin Cobbs said she purchased Poppi drinks on multiple occasions because of their labels, which say they are prebiotic sodas a…

World Cup and Champions League winners are learning about the soccer industry at FIFA alongside club founders and front-office leaders. All were teammates in the classroom at the soccer body’s headquarters in Zurich to study all fields of the industry for the FIFA Diploma in Club Management.Now in its third edition, the FIFA course aims to give for…

The cost of your next flight is likely to go up. That's the word from the International Air Transport Association, which held its annual meeting in Dubai, home to the long-haul carrier Emirates.While carriers recover from the grounding worldwide from the coronavirus pandemic, industry leaders told journalists that there are several costs likely to …

The Trucking Association of New York filed a federal lawsuit in May against the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, which developed the toll scheme, arguing the higher fees unfairly and unconstitutionally target the trucking industry. The trucking association’s lawsuit is among at least eight seeking to block the congestion fee plan, which is sl…

New York City is not only getting more public toilets but making them easier to locate using your smartphone.Mayor Eric Adams announced on June 3 a plan to build 46 new restrooms and renovate 36 existing ones located in city parks, adding to the city’s roughly 1,000 such facilities over the next five years.The Democrat said the city has also develo…

The latest artificially intelligent innovations have been unveiled at the VivaTech show in Paris.From the tip of a nozzle, a very human body part is emerging–a piece of skin. This bio-printing technology has been developed by beauty giant L’Oréal. The company has long used reconstructed skin to test products on. But this latest innovation makes it …

Most people would find just getting on top of a unicycle challenging, let alone actually maneuvering it. However, some athletes are not only doing that but also playing hockey competitively whilst doing so.Some of Australia’s best players in this unusual sport compete in one of the rounds of the Australian Unicycle Hockey championship.Players from …

Consumers are increasingly struggling to pay their credit card bills, raising concerns about severe delinquencies spiraling and sapping consumer spending.The share of credit card debt that’s more than 90 days overdue rose to 10.7% during the first quarter, a 14-year high, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York’s report on first-quarter h…

Member countries kicked off the World Health Organization's annual assembly with hopes of improving global readiness for deadly outbreaks like COVID-19, after an ambitious "pandemic treaty" ran aground.Health officials are racing to get the world to agree to new ways to prepare for and fight an inevitable future pandemic. COVID-19 is fading into hi…

Ask Google if cats have been on the moon and it used to spit out a ranked list of websites so you could discover the answer for yourself. Now it comes up with an instant answer generated by artificial intelligence—which may or may not be correct.“Yes, astronauts have met cats on the moon, played with them, and provided care,” said Google's newly re…

White Rose Books & More is part of the ever-expanding and diversifying world of independent bookstores. Even as industry sales were slow in 2023, membership in the American Booksellers Association (ABA) continued its years-long revival. It now stands at 2,433, more than 200 over the previous year, and has doubled since 2016. Around 190 more stores …

Will the Justice Department’s lawsuit against Ticketmaster and Live Nation give concertgoers, sports fans, and theater patrons some relief from surging ticket prices?The lawsuit could potentially lead to a breakup of Live Nation Entertainment, a company that resulted from Ticketmaster’s 2010 merger with concert promoter Live Nation. Attorney Genera…

A ‘flying car’ has lifted off for the first time in Tokyo, in front of dozens of spectators gathered to watch what could be the future of the automobile. And as regulations are fine-tuned, experts say the race is on to become the first city to host commercial aerial vehicles.With the turn of a switch, the Hexa 'flying car' takes off and performs tw…

Access to mobile internet is driving economic development in Africa but the cost of buying a phone is still a major obstacle for ordinary traders.85% of the sub-Saharan region is covered by networks but only 25% of people use it according to the mobile lobby group GSMA, now a company in Ghana has a plan to close this digital gap.Cyril Fianyo is a v…

Those who want to climb one of the most popular trails on Japan’s iconic Mount Fuji will have to book a slot and pay a fee as crowds, littering and climbers who try to rush too fast to the summit cause safety and conservation concerns at the picturesque stratovolcano.The new rules for the climbing season, starting July 1 to September 10, apply for …

Microsoft wants laptop users to get so comfortable with its artificial intelligence chatbot that it will remember everything you're doing on your computer and help figure out what you want to do next.The software giant on May 20 revealed an upgraded version of Copilot, its AI assistant, as it confronts heightened competition from Big Tech rivals in…

McDonald's plans to introduce a $5 meal deal in the U.S. this month to counter slowing sales and customers' frustration with high prices.The deal would let customers get a four-piece McNugget, small fries, a small drink and either a McDouble burger or a McChicken sandwich for $5 in most areas, according to a person familiar with the deal who wasn't…

Shandong Province in east China is taking an early lead in the country’s solar energy development, but it now faces challenges that will be met by other regions sooner or later.China is ramping up to install clean energy to meet the urgency of cutting its greenhouse gas emissions. The country wants one-fifth of its power to come from renewables by …

Bike shops across the U.S. have had a bumpy ride in the years since a sales boom early in the pandemic.A surge of interest in cycling pushed sales up 64% to $5.4 billion in 2020, according to the retail tracking service Circana. It wasn’t unheard of for some shops to sell 100 bikes or more in a couple of days.The boom didn’t last. Hobbled by pandem…

A school right next to Kenya's largest dumpsite has started planting bamboo to improve air quality. Foul-smelling fumes from the waste have been affecting the students' health.More than 100 bamboo trees dot the mini forest created around the Dandora Secondary School, located east of Kenya’s capital Nairobi next to the country’s largest dumpsite.The…

Democrats and Republicans from Congress teamed up with professional footballers to raise money for youth soccer programs during the tenth edition of the Congressional Soccer Match.The game of red versus blue was the headline act for the U.S. Soccer Federation event at Audi Field in the nation's capitol on May 8.Rep. Darin LaHood, a Republican lawma…

A new mandate that requires school districts across New Mexico to adopt calendars that consist of at least 180 days was put on hold by a judge while he considers the change’s legality.Dozens of school districts and superintendents have been challenging the state Public Education Department over the change. Teacher unions and Republican lawmakers al…

A newly released ad promoting Apple's new iPad Pro has struck quite a nerve online.The ad, which was released by the tech giant on May 7, shows a hydraulic press crushing just about every creative instrument artists and consumers have used over the years—from a piano and record player to piles of paint, books, cameras, and relics of arcade games. R…

Ever since humans have journeyed to space, their meals there have proved to be, well, nothing to write home about. But that could change after a Michelin-starred chef teamed up with the Florida-based startup Space Perspective to take fine dining to our upper atmosphere in late 2025.Six guests are set to ascend aboard Spaceship Neptune to the strato…

Researchers are exploring ways to use features in modern cars, such as GPS, to make traffic safer and more efficient. Eventually, the upgrades could do away entirely with the red, yellow, and green lights of today, ceding control to driverless cars.Henry Liu, a civil engineering professor who is leading a study through the University of Michigan, s…

Several dozen young people wearing light blue T-shirts imprinted with “#teachclimate” filled a hearing room in the Minnesota Capitol in St. Paul in late February.The high school and college students and other advocates called on the Minnesota Youth Council, a liaison between young people and state lawmakers, to support a bill requiring schools to t…

Personal patient information is being given currency in Kenya as a way of expanding patient access to doctors.A mobile start-up says its phone application allows users to pay for medical services by selling their personal data online through blockchain technology which protects their identity.In Kenya, accessing medical services can be expensive. K…

The tranquil spaces of Kew Gardens are a perfect place for a bit of quiet reflection. And there’s more than one way to do that now.Dotted across the landscape is a series of sculptures, many of them made in stainless steel. The lush green vegetation of Kew is mirrored back from their shiny surfaces. There are 16 works to spot, some sitting on the o…

Scammers stole more than $3.4 billion from older Americans last year, according to an FBI report that shows a rise in losses through increasingly sophisticated criminal tactics to trick the vulnerable into giving up their life savings.Losses from scams reported by Americans over the age of 60 last year were up 11% over the year before, according to…

There may soon not be enough gas to meet demand in the Australian state of Victoria, and this could happen as soon as next year according to the Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO).This is pushing more and more Victorians to switch off their gas, especially as their energy bills are getting steeper.“It’s just the savings. Like obviously, envir…

Solar panels dot rooftops across sprawling Lagos, a Nigerian city that is undergoing a transformation as it adopts solar power. Nearly a decade ago, things looked quite different.Climate technology was new in Africa, and it was tough to get funding for start-ups that would eventually enable the region’s electrification.But the ecosystem has since c…

Nationally, most teachers report feeling stressed and overwhelmed at work, according to a Pew Research Center survey of teachers last fall. Waning job satisfaction over the last two decades has accompanied a decline in teachers’ sense of autonomy in the classroom, according to a recent study out of Brown University and the University at Albany.At F…

Former Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz says the company’s leaders should spend more time in stores and focus on coffee drinks as they work to turn around flagging sales.In a LinkedIn post, Schultz said many people had reached out to him after Starbucks reported weaker-than-expected quarterly sales and earnings.The Seattle coffee giant said revenue dro…

Spicy, steaming, slurpy ramen may be everyone’s favorite Japanese food. In Tokyo, long lines circle around blocks, and waiting an hour for your favorite ramen is normal. Ramen has also surged in popularity in the U.S., South Korea, and other countries in the past 15 years or so.Menus at the top 500 U.S. restaurant chains have 6% more mentions of ra…

Thousands of negotiators and observers representing most of the world’s nations gathered in Ottawa to craft a treaty to end the rapidly escalating problem of plastic pollution.The scale of the plastics problem is daunting, but not for the volunteers collecting waste on a Cape Town beach.Cleanup on this scale may be considered a drop in the oceans o…

The Biden administration issued final rules to require airlines to automatically issue cash refunds for things like delayed flights and to better disclose fees for baggage or canceling a reservation.The Transportation Department said airlines will be required to provide automatic cash refunds within a few days for canceled flights and “significant”…