Author: activepulsnews
A late-summer heatwave has ignited a wave of devastating wildfires across the western United States, forcing thousands to evacuate and casting the sky in an eerie orange hue in parts of Southern California. Of course, this is bad for almost everyone, except for the melanophila beetles. These pumpkin seed-sized insects are pyrophiles, meaning they love fire and need it to reproduce: While most animals are fleeing wildfires, these insects fly toward the flames, where they mate and lay their eggs in the embers. Those eggs hatch into insect-like larvae that feed on the freshly burned wood. The Rhine Fire in…
OpenAI, the developer of ChatGPT, is trying something different: its newly released AI system is designed not just to immediately return an answer to a question, but to “think” or “reason” before responding. The result is a product, officially called o1 but affectionately called Strawberry, that can solve tricky logic puzzles, ace math tests, and write code for new video games. All of which is pretty awesome. Here are some things that aren’t cool: nuclear, biological, and chemical weapons. OpenAI’s assessment is that Strawberry will help people with knowledge in these fields build these weapons. In Strawberry’s system card (a…
Recently, the Republican presidential candidate decided to spread inflammatory lies about an immigrant community of roughly 15,000 people living in a small Ohio city. Republican vice presidential candidate J.D. Vance hammered home the message on Monday, declaring that “Haitian illegal immigrants” are “causing chaos all over Springfield, Ohio” and that “people have had their pets kidnapped and eaten by people who should not be in this country.” This allegation is untrue in every respect. Springfield, Ohio’s Haitian immigrant community is overwhelmingly (if not entirely) made up of legal U.S. residents. And there is absolutely no evidence that any pets have…
At 12:01 a.m. Friday, 33,000 Boeing workers in the Seattle and Portland areas affiliated with the International Union of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM) went on strike. This is the first time since 2008 that workers at Boeing, one of the world’s two largest commercial aircraft suppliers, have gone on strike. Although the strike will not affect commercial aviation, the strike, which affects about 20% of Boeing’s workforce, could cost the company as much as $1 billion per week and will likely further dent the company’s already struggling stock price. It could also have ramifications for the U.S. economy as…
When Donald Trump flew to Pennsylvania this week for the 9/11 commemorations, he had an unusual companion: a 9/11 conspiracy theorist named Laura Loomer. Loomer has been a far-right quasi-journalist for about a decade, prone to saying things that would make even die-hard MAGA types flinch. She’s a self-described “proud Islamophobe,” who has glorified the deaths of immigrants and called for banning Muslims from driving for ride-hailing apps. She ran for Congress twice, in 2020 and 2022, but lost both times. Most recently, Loomer called Kamala Harris a “drug-addled whore” and warned that if she wins, “the White House will…
A tanker loaded with about one million barrels of crude oil has been stuck and on fire in the Red Sea since being attacked by Yemen’s Houthi rebels three weeks ago. Music Video The Sounion is still intact, but that may not be the case for long. If it sinks, it could lead to one of the largest oil spills in history, nearly four times larger than the 1989 Exxon Valdez disaster. It would have devastating environmental and economic consequences for a region already plagued by war, putting the livelihoods and safe drinking water of millions of people at risk.…
Cover your eyes if you're afraid of spoilers. Netflix of The perfect couple It's not perfect, and the show isn't written specifically about that couple. To be clear, this series is one to watch if you're squinting and only half paying attention while scrolling through your phone. The perfect couple It could be mistaken for two better shows: Big Little Lies and White LotusLike the splashy HBO hit, The perfect couple The story centers around a dead body shattering the lives of wealthy white people, the female characters are married to human scum who may or may not be murderers,…
SAN FRANCISCO — With 97 days until the election, billionaire investor Reid Hoffman is focused on one thing: getting Kamala Harris into the Oval Office.Since Biden dropped out of the race, the LinkedIn co-founder said he has spent most of his waking hours on the phone, putting his work as an investor on the back burner as he marshals his elite circle of Silicon Valley urging them to pour money and influence into the vice president.Hoffman's efforts put him at odds with tech industry executives who supported former President Donald Trump, sparking a political rethink in the overwhelmingly Democratic region.…
Amid a child care crisis that’s impacting thousands of Sarasota-Manatee families and businesses, advocates have been busy getting the word out about a new state tax credit available to employers who support child care for their employees. The child care tax credit bill was passed by the Legislature this session and signed into law by Governor Ron DeSantis. The law, which goes into effect on Oct. 1, allows employers to receive tax credits by providing on-site child care facilities for their employees or by subsidizing the costs of child care for employees at qualifying facilities. The tax credit’s launch comes…
Cryptocurrency investment funds saw a surge in trading volume last week following the launch of an Ethereum spot exchange-traded fund (ETF) in the United States, but inflows fell sharply from the previous week as at least one fund saw assets exit. be CoinShares Report The report, released on Monday, said total trading volume in these trading funds reached $14.8 billion, “the highest level since May,” driven by the launch of an Ethereum fund, while total assets under management in this category of derivatives reached $99.1 billion, with inflows of $20.5 billion since the start of the year. Digging deeper into…