Author: admin

US health secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has filled an autism committee with friends, associates, and former colleagues who believe that autism is caused by vaccines. Autism advocates are now worried the group could pave the way for dangerous pseudoscientific treatments going mainstream.Last week, Kennedy announced an entirely new lineup for the Interagency Autism Coordinating Committee (IACC), a group that recommends what types of autism research the government should fund and provides guidance on the services the autism community requires. The group is typically composed of experts in the area of autism research, along with policy experts and autistic people…

Starting today, NBC’s sports division is embarking on what it is calling Legendary February, a more-than-two-week stretch featuring marquee events, including the 2026 Milan Cortina Winter Olympics, Super Bowl LX, and the NBA All-Star Game.The broadcaster is capitalizing on this opportunity to begin its 100th-anniversary celebrations, with its centennial on September 9, 2026. Among the highlights, the company will roll out the tagline “A Century Together,” an updated centennial logo, and spots airing during the Super Bowl and the Winter Olympics that celebrate the last 100 years of entertainment.To that end, the media company will debut a 60-second spot, “In…

Carbon removal startup Terradot is acquiring competitor Eion, the two companies announced today. The sale was driven largely by big investors like sovereign wealth funds, which want to work with companies that can handle large contracts. Eion was simply too small, Eion CEO Anastasia Pavlovic Hans told The Wall Street Journal. Both companies spread pulverized rocks on farm fields to absorb carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. Known as enhanced rock weathering (EWR), it speeds up a natural process and has the potential to be a low-cost way to remove carbon, but it requires large and distributed operations. The spread between…

The Super Bowl is a good time. You eat too much, you probably drink too much, and this year the half-time show features one of the biggest performers in the world. But three hours of fun isn’t a great reason to buy a new TV. The Winter Olympics, on the other hand, just might be. We’re talking two-plus weeks of big events (literally) like big-air snowboarding, and if you grab a Peacock subscription (or own a good VPN), you can catch virtually all of it in 4K. For such an occasion, Samsung’s 77-inch S90F QD-OLED for $2,000 could be the…

If you’re a parent, concerns over your child’s safety may never leave you, even if you’re watching the Big Game. Family connection and safety app Life360 is tapping into this anxiety with a darkly humorous Super Bowl ad. “Elevator,” a 30-second spot created by agency Alto, will debut during Super Bowl 60 on NBC’s streaming platform, Peacock. It continues Life360’s “Family Proof Your Family” campaign, which launched in 2024 and shares a particular take on modern family life: that parents live in a constant state of anxiety over the safety of their children, and are craving peace of mind however they…

Elon Musk has merged SpaceX and xAI, creating what might be the blueprint for a new Silicon Valley power structure. With his $800 billion net worth already rivaling historic conglomerate GE’s peak market cap, and Musk being vocal about his view that “tech victory is decided by velocity of innovation,” the question isn’t whether a personal conglomerate can be built, but rather how far Musk himself is going to take it.  Watch as Equity dives into this new era of the “everything” business, whether we’ll see others like Sam Altman follow suit, and more of the week’s headlines.  Subscribe to Equity on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, Overcast, Spotify and all the casts. You also can follow Equity on X and Threads, at @EquityPod.  AI,Startups,Venture,Elon Musk,Equity,Roundup,SpaceX,spacex ipo,WaymoElon Musk,Equity,Roundup,SpaceX,spacex…

Lawmakers in at least five other states—Georgia, Maryland, Oklahoma, Vermont, and Virginia—have also introduced bills this year that would impose various forms of temporary pauses on data center development. While Georgia, Vermont, and Virginia’s efforts are being led by Democrats, Oklahoma and Maryland’s bills were largely sponsored by Republicans. These bills mirror several moratoriums that have already passed locally: At the end of December, at least 14 states had towns or counties that have paused data center permitting and construction, Tech Policy Press reported.There are some signs that the data center industry is beginning to respond to the backlash. Last…

In a year when brands are shelling out $10 million for 30-second Super Bowl ads, the real key to winning the night isn’t just about being in the Big Game. It’s about surrounding it.With over 40 billion hours of sports content consumed annually on YouTube globally, the platform, which regularly leads Nielsen’s Media Distributor Gauge with around 13% of the market, is increasingly becoming a key play for brands around live sports tentpoles, including Super Bowl Sunday. By utilizing the platform, advertisers are building value beyond in-game ad units, according to Sean Downey, president, Americas and global partners, Google.“For the…

If you primarily want a tablet device to markup, highlight, and annotate your e-books and documents, and perhaps sometimes scribble some notes of your own, Amazon’s new Kindle Scribe Colorsoft could be worth the hefty investment. For everyone else, it’s probably going to be hard to justify the cost of the 11-inch, $630+ e-ink tablet with a writeable color display. However, if you were already leaning toward the 11-inch $549.99 Kindle Scribe — which also has a paper-like display but no color — you may as well throw in the extra cash at that point and get the Colorsoft version…

Anthropic is locked in a paradox: Among the top AI companies, it’s the most obsessed with safety and leads the pack in researching how models can go wrong. But even though the safety issues it has identified are far from resolved, Anthropic is pushing just as aggressively as its rivals toward the next, potentially more dangerous, level of artificial intelligence. Its core mission is figuring out how to resolve that contradiction.Last month, Anthropic released two documents that both acknowledged the risks associated with the path it’s on and hinted at a route it could take to escape the paradox. “The…

After nearly a decade of rapid expansion, the newsletter-based local publisher 6AM City is shrinking its human-led footprint in an effort to finally cross a milestone it has chased for years: profitability.In 2025, the company reduced the number of its “core markets”—cities staffed by full-time editors and salespeople—from roughly 30 to 19, according to chief operating officer and cofounder Ryan Heafy.The retreat also coincided with two rounds of layoffs, which eliminated around 35 jobs—roughly a third of its total headcount, which now stands at around 60. The pullback, along with a broader corporate restructuring, is aimed at lowering costs and…

Spotify is rolling out a new “About the Song” feature that lets users explore the stories behind the music they’re listening to, the company announced on Friday. The feature displays short story cards that users can swipe through and rate with a thumbs up or down. These short swipeable stories are summarized from third-party sources to highlight interesting details and behind-the-scenes moments, the company says. With this new feature, Spotify is giving its users access to a feature that isn’t available on rival platforms like Apple Music. About the Song is rolling out in beta on mobile in English for…

Honorable MentionsEvery OLED we’ve tested is a great TV. Older models are often on sale and are well worth considering before you hit the Buy button. Here’s where we list favorites not on our top list.Sony A95L: Sony’s 2023 flagship A95L isn’t as bright as the latest crop of top-tier OLEDs, but it’s still a dazzler with fantastic colors, excellent contrast, and thrilling picture processing that’s nearly as eye-popping as the latest Bravia 8 II. The best part is you can often get this TV on sale for well below its replacement, making it a great choice for those after…

On the off chance you’re looking for a sign to “Tell Me Why” to switch to T-Mobile, look no further. The Backstreet Boys are back doing just that in the brand’s fun, flashy, pink-plastered Super Bowl 60 ad.The iconic boy band is shown taking T-Mobile’s Times Square store by storm with a reimagined version of their 1999 classic hit “I Want It That Way” in the 60-second spot. Appearing suddenly behind a T-Mobile-branded store display, the band surprises real customers, transforming the store into a full-on concert venue. “Tell me why it’s America’s best network, tell me why Netflix is included,…

Meta is testing a stand-alone Vibes app, the company confirmed to TechCrunch on Thursday. Launched last September, Vibes lets you create and share short-form AI-generated videos and access a dedicated feed that displays AI videos from others. Think TikTok or Instagram Reels, but every video you come across is AI generated. Until now, the feed has lived in the Meta AI app. By making Vibes available outside of the Meta AI app, the company is positioning it as a more direct competitor to Sora, OpenAI’s AI-generated video and social app that launched shortly after Vibes. “Following the strong early traction…

Once I signed up, I had to fill out several online forms. These include information that might personally identify me, like my Social Security number, phone numbers, email addresses, credit/debit cards, and so on. Filling out the information took about 20 minutes. It’s not effortless, but NordProtect’s interface is clean and intuitive. It puts the information you want to see on top, often alongside brief but informative details, with the option to dive deeper. Notifications are rare, too, so you’re not peppered with distracting alerts.The exception to this was the first time I logged in. I saw dozens of alerts…