Category: News and Views

Sun launches strongest solar flare of current cycle in monster X8.7-class eruption | Live Science

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The sun has just spat out the strongest solar flare of the current solar cycle, which began in 2019, according to a breaking report from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) Space Weather Prediction Center.

The monster flare is a category X8.7, making it considerably stronger than the X2.2 flare that erupted from the sun last week — triggering radio blackouts and widespread auroras on Earth that were visible as far south as Mexico.

However, the latest flare is unlikely to result in any geomagnetic storms or aurora activity, as the sunspot group responsible for the blast is located at the very edge of the visible side of the sun, according to NOAA. However, high-frequency radio blackouts are still likely on Earth.

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How Paris Became a 15-minute city | Fast Company

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Four years ago, Paris embraced the idea of the 15-minute city—the concept that you should be able to live a short walk or bike ride from work, school, stores, and other aspects of daily life.

Since then, the city has radically changed. There are now 746 miles of protected bike lanes, and more Parisians bike than drive. Empty offices have been redeveloped with housing, coworking spaces, gyms, shops, and other uses under one roof. The mayor recently said that 2025 would be the year of “hyper-proximity,” with even more focus on bringing services to each neighborhood so people don’t have to get in the car every time they need to run an errand.

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Tesla may be floundering—but Ford’s EV sales tell a different story | Fast Company

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Tesla, you may have heard, is going through a rough patch, and the company represents a large enough share of U.S. electric vehicle sales that its problems could lead to a down year for the entire market.

But that hasn’t happened—at least not yet—partly because several other brands’ EV sales have risen to take the sting out of Tesla’s decline.

Ford is looking especially good, with year-to-date sales through April of 28,252 EVs, an increase of 97% from the same period last year. That makes Ford the country’s second-leading EV brand, although Tesla still outsells Ford’s EVs at a rate of about seven to one.

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The Rising Trend of Generational Tobacco Bans in Massachusetts | Small Biz Trends

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New laws on the books in Massachusetts are threatening the future of some historic local tobacconist businesses.

Following a landmark decision by the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court, several Greater Boston towns are adopting something known as a generational tobacco ban.

As reported by Cigar Aficionado, the legislative actions are setting a precedent that could influence broader state and national tobacco regulations. Often with local governments, one board of councilpersons gets their ideas from another – a monkey-see, monkey-do scenario.

In March 2023, the court upheld a bylaw in the Boston suburb of Brookline that prohibited the sale of tobacco products to anyone born in the 21st century. The ruling catalyzed similar policies across neighboring towns, each with the goal of  a “Nicotine-Free Generation.”

Other towns in Massachusetts like Stoneham, Wakefield and Melrose have quickly enacted or are considering similar bans – all set to take effect by January 2025.

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San Diego Bans Polystyrene Containers | Small Biz Trends

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A ban on polystyrene went into effect for small businesses in San Diego in April. Polystyrene is a synthetic polymer sometimes colloquially called Styrofoam, especially in the U.S.

The move means more costs for small businesses in that California community.

“Polystyrene plastic foam is one of the biggest sources of marine litter and costs the state and local governments millions of dollars each year to collect it from beaches, roadsides, and storm drains,” writes Mariel Garza for the Los Angeles Times.

Small businesses making less than $500,000 annually received a brief year-long exemption. But now the cost of eliminating the waste falls on the businesses that can afford it least.

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Starliner astronauts arrive at launchpad for first crewed flight | Digital Trends

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NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams have arrived at the Starliner spacecraft that will take them to the International Space Station (ISS) in the first flight for the crew capsule.

A ULA Atlas V rocket will carry the Boeing-made Starliner and the two astronauts to orbit in a launch from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida that’s scheduled for 10:34 p.m. ET tonight.

Digital Trends has full details on how to watch a live stream showing the launch buildup and the early stages of the mission.

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Apple working to fix alarming iPhone issue | BBC News 

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Apple says it is working quickly to fix an issue that caused some iPhone alarms not to play a sound, giving their slumbering users an unexpected lie-in.

For many people, their phone is an indispensable alarm clock and some over-sleepers turned to social media to vent.

One TikTokker complained that she had set “like five alarms” and they didn’t go off.

Apple has confirmed it is aware of the issue – but is yet to spell out what it believes is causing it, or what users can do to avoid a late start.

It is also unclear how many people are affected or whether the problem is restricted to particular models of iPhone.

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Google lays off staff from Flutter, Dart, and Python teams weeks before its developer conference | TechCrunch

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Ahead of Google’s annual I/O developer conference in May, the tech giant has laid off staff across key teams like Flutter, Dart, Python and others, according to reports from affected employees shared on social media. Google confirmed the layoffs to TechCrunch, but not the specific teams, roles or how many people were let go.

“As we’ve said, we’re responsibly investing in our company’s biggest priorities and the significant opportunities ahead,” said Google spokesperson Alex García-Kummert. “To best position us for these opportunities, throughout the second half of 2023 and into 2024, a number of our teams made changes to become more efficient and work better, remove layers, and align their resources to their biggest product priorities. Through this, we’re simplifying our structures to give employees more opportunity to work on our most innovative and important advances and our biggest company priorities, while reducing bureaucracy and layers,” he added.

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UnitedHealthcare CEO says ‘maybe a third’ of US citizens were affected by recent hack | TechCrunch

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Two months after hackers broke into Change Healthcare systems stealing and then encrypting company data, it’s still unclear how many Americans were impacted by the cyberattack.

Last month, Andrew Witty, the CEO of Change Healthcare’s parent company UnitedHealth Group, said that the stolen files include the personal health information of “a substantial proportion of people in America.”

On Wednesday, during a House hearing, when pushed to give a more definitive answer, Witty testified that the breach impacted “I think, maybe a third [of Americans] or somewhere of that level.”

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Walmart Launches Bettergoods Food Brand With ‘Unique’ Flavors | Entrepreneur

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Walmart announced on Tuesday that it is putting a new grocery label on the shelves called Bettergoods — the largest private food brand launched by the retailer in two decades.

The move could help Walmart hold on to higher-income shoppers who have flocked to the retailer in times of higher inflation by filling Walmart’s grocery aisles with 300 new products tailored to vegan, gluten-free, and adventurous dietary choices.

Bettergoods has three focus areas: plant-based goods like $3.44 oat milk ice cream, culinary flair foods like bronze cut pasta for $1.97 or jalapeño chowder for under $4, and “made without” foods, like gluten-free products

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