Cosmologists and physicists come up empty handed when they attempt to pin down time. So what, exactly, is it? When was the last time you raced against an unforgiving clock? Perhaps you skipped breakfast, broke a sweat, shelled out for a taxi or missed time with your family. Many of us have become slaves to time, with huge portions of our day spent chasing appointments and deadlines. But what is th...
Cosmologists and physicists come up empty handed when they attempt to pin down time. So what, exactly, is it? When was the last time you raced against an unforgiving clock? Perhaps you skipped breakfast, broke a sweat, shelled out for a taxi or missed time with your family. Many of us have become slaves to time, with huge portions of our day spent chasing appointments and deadlines. But what is this thing we’re trying to beat? We tend to imagine time as incessant and non-negotiable, ticking by somewhere out in the world, impossible to slow or stop. Yet an emerging scientific picture is that such “clock time” isn’t a standalone, physical phenomenon at all. It’s a mathematical tool or book-keeping device – useful for coordinating our interactions, but with no independent existence of its own. As with other key innovations, such as money, we can no longer get by without it. But I hope that debunking the myth of the clock can help us to focus on how life really progresses, and how much power we have to shape it. Continue reading...
The Reform UK leader uses the energy of memes to fuel his popularity, but this should not distract us from the seriousness of his purpose Guardian investigation into Farage on Cameo Nigel Farage has spent the past five years upending politics, breaking the two-party hold on parliament, and apparently sending several Cameo videos a day to his paying customers, charging £374,893 overall. But the Ref...
The Reform UK leader uses the energy of memes to fuel his popularity, but this should not distract us from the seriousness of his purpose Guardian investigation into Farage on Cameo Nigel Farage has spent the past five years upending politics, breaking the two-party hold on parliament, and apparently sending several Cameo videos a day to his paying customers, charging £374,893 overall. But the Reform UK leader’s side hustle isn’t separate from his political work: posting is politics now, which is why Farage loves to brag that he runs laps around other MPs on TikTok . Cameos are personalised messages, but they are not private – punters get a shareable link so they can post their anniversary wishes and birthday messages on social media. When Farage sent videos to a neo-Nazi group that used the videos for publicity, or described Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez in language typically found in Pornhub categories, he was indeed making public statements. The defence from Farage’s team is that he can’t be held responsible for what people do with the messages he sends them, which is perhaps why most politicians don’t send personal endorsements to random people over the internet for money. His spokesperson said that Farage’s Cameo videos “should not be treated as political statements or campaign activity”. Robert Topinka is a reader in digital media and rhetoric at Birkbeck, University of London Continue reading...
Nearby Congolese soldiers had received warnings of the attack in the morning. But the soldiers did not arrive until late in the evening, long after the killings were over. It happened before dawn on Tuesday 3 March, as a dozen rangers at Upemba national park headquarters were being briefed by their commander before the day’s routine anti-poaching patrol. At 5.40am machine-gun fire began to rattle ...
Nearby Congolese soldiers had received warnings of the attack in the morning. But the soldiers did not arrive until late in the evening, long after the killings were over. It happened before dawn on Tuesday 3 March, as a dozen rangers at Upemba national park headquarters were being briefed by their commander before the day’s routine anti-poaching patrol. At 5.40am machine-gun fire began to rattle out of the surrounding darkness. As many as 80 heavily armed fighters had crept in through the protected grasslands in south-east Democratic Republic of the Congo and encircled Lusinga, the park headquarters perched on a steep grassy ridge. The few rangers scrambled to defend the base. But within half an hour, the attackers had overwhelmed them. They looted weapons and munitions, chanted war songs, and searched door-to-door for the targets on their kill list. Seven people were killed during the mayhem, including five civilians, among them young Congolese conservationists and motorbike drivers. “We tried to fight back, but they dominated us,” says Innocent Mburanumwe, Upemba’s deputy director, who was in the briefing room when the attack began. “It was horrible.” View image in fullscreen Rangers on a drill with replica weapons in Upemba national park. Upemba’s 256 rangers are trained to tackle poachers. Photograph: Hugh Kinsella Cunningham Upemba is a haven for threatened species, home to the DRC’s last herd of wild zebras. Some of the last remaining elephants in southern DRC also roam the 1.3m-hectare (3.2m-acre) park, which is larger than Lebanon. The park had become a rare conservation success story in DRC, which remains one of the world’s most dangerous countries for wildlife defenders. In recent years, it raised funding to recruit new rangers, and animal populations decimated by poaching began to recover. View image in fullscreen A herd of zebras on the Kibara plateau, Upemba national park – this is the last herd of wild zebras in the DRC. Photograph: Hugh Kinsella Cunn...
The US is experiencing a striking mix of weather extremes this March. Flooding rains in Hawaii, rare snow in Alabama, flip-flopping temperatures in the north-east and, perhaps most concerning, a severe heatwave affecting the west coast are raising questions about how strange these patterns really are, and what role the climate crisis is playing. Experts suggested that people around the US need to ...
The US is experiencing a striking mix of weather extremes this March. Flooding rains in Hawaii, rare snow in Alabama, flip-flopping temperatures in the north-east and, perhaps most concerning, a severe heatwave affecting the west coast are raising questions about how strange these patterns really are, and what role the climate crisis is playing. Experts suggested that people around the US need to pay closer attention to the climatecrisis and do what they can to “minimize the impacts”. Of course, in some ways, the current patchwork of weather activity reflects a familiar seasonal transition: March has long been known for its unpredictability, particularly in regions like the north-east. “The weather has behaved a lot like I expect it to,” said Jon Nese, associate head of the department of meteorology and atmospheric science at Penn State. “In March, we have some warm days, and then it turns sharply colder and snows. It’s the kind of rollercoaster that we’re used to.” In New York, Daniel Bader, a program manager at the Consortium for Climate Risk in the Urban Northeast at Columbia’s climate school, described a particularly dramatic swing: “Temperatures at Central Park hit 80 degrees, and then two days later, there were snowflakes in the air.” “March is kind of an active weather month,” Bader continued. “This kind, where one day it’s very warm, and the next day it cools off quite a bit, is not out of the ordinary.” The key driver behind these extremes is the jet stream – a fast-moving current of air high in the atmosphere that can sometimes become very wavy. These dips can cause different extremes to happen simultaneously in different parts of the country, such as a ridge of warm air in one region, and a trough of cold air in another. “The heatwave in the west, happening at the same time as we turn sharply colder in the east, those two things are related,” Nese said. Bader echoed this explanation, noting that seasonal shifts in temperature gradients influence the jet s...
Too often framed as a tragic icon or a victim of domesticity, the poet remade herself and her work at the start of the 60s, as a new collection will show In February 1962, Sylvia Plath dropped in on her neighbour in Devon, Rose Key, with “a plate of absolutely indigestible Black Walnut-flavored cupcakes”. She had made them from a Betty Crocker mix palmed off on her by the bank manager’s wife. Not ...
Too often framed as a tragic icon or a victim of domesticity, the poet remade herself and her work at the start of the 60s, as a new collection will show In February 1962, Sylvia Plath dropped in on her neighbour in Devon, Rose Key, with “a plate of absolutely indigestible Black Walnut-flavored cupcakes”. She had made them from a Betty Crocker mix palmed off on her by the bank manager’s wife. Not wanting to waste it nor feed it to her own family (she was scornful of both processed food and the British appetite for starch), Plath baked it and efficiently dispatched it next door. There was a lot of cake-baking involved in the social life of North Tawton. Plath excelled at it – like everything else. In the early months of that year, shortly after giving birth to her second child, she was not only making her own “six-egg” sponges, she was taking Italian, German and French lessons, writing an experimental poem for the BBC Third programme (Three Women), obsessively sourcing rugs for her new house (“I have looked & looked at carpets, in Exeter, London & Plymouth, & feel now that our choice is right & sensible”), having the downstairs floors cemented (she hated dirty floors) and expressing a desire to begin woodwork classes. Continue reading...
Mornings begin with a silent inventory, conducted in the dark before the curtains are drawn: can I breathe easily today? The question is stripped of all poetic veneer. When you have stage four lung cancer, breath is no longer a background process; it is a finite currency I must spend with the caution of a miser. It dictates the architecture of my day, the borders of my energy and the very cadence ...
Mornings begin with a silent inventory, conducted in the dark before the curtains are drawn: can I breathe easily today? The question is stripped of all poetic veneer. When you have stage four lung cancer, breath is no longer a background process; it is a finite currency I must spend with the caution of a miser. It dictates the architecture of my day, the borders of my energy and the very cadence of my speech. I am not a “survivor” in the triumphalist sense of the word, nor am I imminently dying. I occupy the long middle – a rarely charted territory where the body remains fragile, treatment constant, and life does not so much move forward as stubbornly persist. This liminal state is a distinctly modern byproduct of a medical revolution. In the UK, barely a decade ago, a stage four lung cancer diagnosis was a grim cliff edge; when the NHS standard was rooted in traditional chemotherapy, long-term survival remained in the single figures. Today, the momentum of clinical progress, driven by the maturing precision of immunotherapy and the success of targeted therapies, has levelled that precipice into a vast, uncharted plateau. While median survival is now measured in years rather than months, we are seeing the emergence of “super-responders” navigating their second decade post-diagnosis. As a psychologist, I view this not just as a medical victory but as a profound existential shift: we have replaced the suddenness of the cliff with the tenuous permanence of the high ridge. Such a progression has inadvertently birthed a new demographic: the “chronically terminal”. We occupy an interstitial space, standing in the spectre of what is destined to take us, yet still burdened with the responsibility of being within the world. This surreal duality compels us to face our finitude while tending to the unsentimental task of deciding which relationships are still worth the oxygen they require. There is a dark incongruity to this way of living. We know our horizon with terrifying c...
Chris, 72, Bradford on Avon Occupation Gardener, former teacher Voting record Tactically Lib Dem/Green Amuse bouche Was expelled twice, returning to education later with government help to become a teacher Antony, 69, North Somerset Occupation Digital cartographer Voting record Historically, Labour; now Green Amuse bouche Once spent three hours chatting to Rolling Stone Charlie Watts while waiting...
Chris, 72, Bradford on Avon Occupation Gardener, former teacher Voting record Tactically Lib Dem/Green Amuse bouche Was expelled twice, returning to education later with government help to become a teacher Antony, 69, North Somerset Occupation Digital cartographer Voting record Historically, Labour; now Green Amuse bouche Once spent three hours chatting to Rolling Stone Charlie Watts while waiting for a delayed flight For starters Antony The restaurant had our booking down as a Blind Date. Not what we were after, but had it been, it would have been quite successful. Chris Antony is a lovely guy. We swapped life stories and discovered we’ve both lived in London. I was in Hackney, where Antony’s daughter now lives. Antony’s a punk, while I’m more of an old hippy. Antony Chris is now a horticulturist and we have some land we’re developing into a productive forest garden, so we talked about that. I ate mussels on a bed of granular pasta. We shared a carafe of orange wine. Chris The food was different from the usual Italian: rustic recipes. I had pappardelle pasta with venison – very flavoursome. The staff were brilliant, really cheerful and enthusiastic. The big beef Antony We discussed cancel culture. There was a story recently about a Bangor University debating society event that Reform had wanted to be represented at but weren’t allowed. Reform said: you’ve cancelled us, free speech, blah blah. I think students can ask anyone they want to come. Maybe it would have been interesting to invite Reform, but they didn’t have to. Chris I don’t believe in cancel culture under any circumstances. It stops people thinking and challenging themselves. It’s that old thing: know thyself, know thy enemy. In Bangor, I think they should have said: yeah, one person from Reform come along. Antony Cancelled is one of these meaningless terms. Reform weren’t cancelled; they just weren’t invited. If you’re having a party, you decide who gets to come and who doesn’t. If someone gatecrashes, ...
From capturing Venezuela ’s president to attacking Europe’s methane rules, President Donald Trump had created a slipstream for his oil-industry backers to expand production of fossil fuels and boost profits. But his war against Iran , now entering its fourth week, is threatening to derail some of their longer-term plans, even as they benefit from the recent surge in crude and natural gas prices. T...
From capturing Venezuela ’s president to attacking Europe’s methane rules, President Donald Trump had created a slipstream for his oil-industry backers to expand production of fossil fuels and boost profits. But his war against Iran , now entering its fourth week, is threatening to derail some of their longer-term plans, even as they benefit from the recent surge in crude and natural gas prices. The conflict — which has killed more than 4,200 people across the Middle East — has all but halted tanker traffic through the vital Strait of Hormuz and curbed oil and gas output, causing chaos in a region energy executives had hoped Trump would help open up for foreign investment. Overseas expansion now carries heightened risk and higher costs — a development that will be front of mind for oil bosses as they gather in Houston for the annual CERAWeek by S&P Global conference this week. “There’s going to be a security premium” baked into oil prices once the war in Iran is over, Dan Yergin , vice chairman of S&P Global and founder of the conference, said in an interview. “I don’t think after this we’re going to return to where we were before.” Read more: Iran War Oil Shock Threatens to Unleash Wave of Global Inflation Until recently, Trump’s aggressive foreign policy and support for fossil fuels — which included behind-the-scenes backing for US energy companies looking to expand overseas — appeared to benefit Big Oil. His administration’s efforts have helped companies including Exxon Mobil Corp. , Chevron Corp. and Shell Plc regain access to countries like Venezuela, Iraq and Libya , home to some of the world’s biggest reserves. While many of these expansion plans are in their infancy, they have become priorities for oil executives looking to restock their portfolios at a time when US shale production growth is slowing and the International Energy Agency expects crude consumption to continue rising through 2050. Since the war on Iran started, the Trump administration has had i...
As the US-Israeli military campaign against Iran continues, Chinese social media is buzzing with condemnations of Washington, expressions of sympathy for Tehran and an outpouring of unsolicited strategic advice. The conflict, which began with the February 28 air strikes that killed Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei , has dominated the list of trending topics on the country’s main platf...
As the US-Israeli military campaign against Iran continues, Chinese social media is buzzing with condemnations of Washington, expressions of sympathy for Tehran and an outpouring of unsolicited strategic advice. The conflict, which began with the February 28 air strikes that killed Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei , has dominated the list of trending topics on the country’s main platforms, such as WeChat, Weibo and Douyin. Social media is tightly controlled and most of the comments published have been heavily critical of the United States. Advertisement These tend to echo Beijing’s official position by accusing Washington of violating Iranian sovereignty and adopting classic “hegemonic” behaviour, even if the tone is much more informal. In contrast to Beijing’s official statements, the dominant reactions online are characterised by sarcasm and mockery, with the US embassy’s official accounts being a particular target. Advertisement While the official US accounts largely repost or translate official statements about the war, the reply sections are quickly flooded with angry comments about what the US military calls “precision” strikes.
For more than three years, AI has propped up global trade and investment and pushed stock markets from the US to Asia to record highs. Upgrade to read this Financial Times article and get so much more. A Silver or Gold subscription plan is required to access premium news articles.
For more than three years, AI has propped up global trade and investment and pushed stock markets from the US to Asia to record highs. Upgrade to read this Financial Times article and get so much more. A Silver or Gold subscription plan is required to access premium news articles.
The new AirPods Max headphones show that the line between marketing and genuine innovation is blurring. Also: Apple retail stores have hiked the price of external storage; inventory of HomePods and Apple TVs is dwindling again; and the company’s home hardware chief has bolted for Oura. Last week in Power On : Apple’s Liquid Glass interface isn’t going anywhere anytime soon . The Starters This past...
The new AirPods Max headphones show that the line between marketing and genuine innovation is blurring. Also: Apple retail stores have hiked the price of external storage; inventory of HomePods and Apple TVs is dwindling again; and the company’s home hardware chief has bolted for Oura. Last week in Power On : Apple’s Liquid Glass interface isn’t going anywhere anytime soon . The Starters This past week, shortly after refreshing several Macs, the iPhone 17e and the iPad Air, Apple Inc. announced the AirPods Max 2. Updating the headphones was overdue. It’s been nearly six years since the original launched, and Apple has made few improvements beyond a color change and a switch from Lightning to USB-C to satisfy European Union regulators. But the latest upgrade doesn’t go much further, and calling them “AirPods Max 2” sets expectations that the product simply doesn’t meet. At its core, the refresh amounts to swapping the H1 chip for the H2. The update has a lot more to do with efficiency than innovation. The company has already moved on from H1 across the rest of its lineup, and maintaining it just for the Max would be costly and unnecessary. Standardizing on H2 — already used in newer AirPods — simplifies production. The problem is that H2 itself isn’t new. First introduced nearly four years ago, it mainly unlocks features that AirPods users have had for years: improved noise cancellation, better sound quality, adaptive audio and conversation awareness. There’s also support for newer additions like live translation and head gestures — features that are more natural on in-ear models than bulky headphones. The real issue is putting a “2” in the name. It means that Apple is treating a maintenance update as if it were a new generation. Historically, this branding would signal meaningful hardware changes. The AirPods Pro 3, for example, have far better noise canceling than the AirPods Pro 2 and add a heart-rate monitor. The AirPods Max 2 name implies a leap forward that isn...
Sam Altman, chief executive officer of OpenAI Inc., speaks during BlackRock's 2026 Infrastructure Summit in Washington, DC, US, on Wednesday, March 11, 2026. Daniel Heuer | Bloomberg | Getty Images When OpenAI CEO Sam Altman took the stage at BlackRock's U.S. Infrastructure Summit earlier this month, he acknowledged his company is facing a harsh reality: data centers are hard. "Anything at this sc...
Sam Altman, chief executive officer of OpenAI Inc., speaks during BlackRock's 2026 Infrastructure Summit in Washington, DC, US, on Wednesday, March 11, 2026. Daniel Heuer | Bloomberg | Getty Images When OpenAI CEO Sam Altman took the stage at BlackRock's U.S. Infrastructure Summit earlier this month, he acknowledged his company is facing a harsh reality: data centers are hard. "Anything at this scale, it's just like so much stuff goes wrong," Altman said, in a fireside chat at the conference in Washington, D.C. Altman gave an example of a severe weather event at a data center campus in Abilene, Texas , that temporarily "brought things down." The facility serves as the flagship site of OpenAI, Oracle and SoftBank's $500 billion Stargate project . Altman said his company has also been navigating supply chain challenges and pressure to meet tight deadlines. The stakes for Altman are growing as he aims to turn OpenAI, which was valued at $730 billion in a record fundraising round last month, from a private market darling into an investable asset for a more discerning class of public market fund managers. That's meant retreating from some hefty spending plans, shelving certain ambitious projects and accepting OpenAI's role as a purchaser of massive amounts of cloud capacity rather than as a builder of mammoth data centers. "OpenAI has come to the realization that the market doesn't necessarily appreciate the reckless approach to growth and spending," Daniel Newman, CEO of Futurum Group, told CNBC in an interview. "The market wants to see OpenAI's revenues rolling at a pace in which the spending can be justified. The pivot, in my opinion, has been to try to show a little bit more fiscal responsibility." The strategic shift means OpenAI may have to settle for doing less while simultaneously trying to compete with Anthropic, Google and a host of other companies developing AI models, apps and features. OpenAI trains and runs AI models that require enormous amounts of computa...
Always products are displayed on a shelf in a supermarket in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina October 29, 2024. Dado Ruvic | Reuters Rising inflation and ever-changing tariff policies have led to higher prices across store shelves over the past few years, squeezing consumers' budgets. An often overlooked example: menstrual products. The average price of menstrual products, including sanitary pads ...
Always products are displayed on a shelf in a supermarket in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina October 29, 2024. Dado Ruvic | Reuters Rising inflation and ever-changing tariff policies have led to higher prices across store shelves over the past few years, squeezing consumers' budgets. An often overlooked example: menstrual products. The average price of menstrual products, including sanitary pads and tampons, has risen nearly 40% since 2020, from roughly $5.37 per unit to $7.43 per unit, according to February data from Chicago-based market research firm Circana. Dollar sales from menstrual products have grown by nearly 30% over that same period, according to Circana. But at the same time, sales of menstrual products — which broadly includes pads, tampons, liners and more — have seen a roughly 6% decrease since 2022, falling incrementally each year, according to data from NielsenIQ. The data analytics company noted that items across the store have seen average unit price increases, with the dollar volume of consumer packaged goods at large rising 2.7% year-to-date. Those price increases are in line with climbing inflation, with the latest consumer price index in February showing a 2.4% annual rise. The latest CPI data found that inflation in personal care products in the U.S. has jumped dramatically, up 22.1% in February from January 2020. But because menstrual products are a necessity for a large portion of the population, those costs may be hurting consumers. "I do think that we're at a point where consumers in general are having to choose whether they can buy food for their family, or buy prescriptions for their family. Some things that we do typically define as a necessity, people are finding alternatives for or going without," said Sarah Broyd, a partner with consultancy firm Clarkston Consulting. Broyd said the gap between higher prices and declining sales shows consumers may be searching for alternatives out of necessity. Menstrual products haven't just been h...
Shortly after Amazon CEO Andy Jassy announced AWS’s groundbreaking $50 billion investment deal with OpenAI, Amazon invited me on a private tour of the chip development lab at the heart of the deal, at (mostly*) its own expense. Industry experts are watching Amazon’s Trainium chip, created at that facility, for its implications for lower-cost AI inference and, potentially, a dent in Nvidia’s near m...
Shortly after Amazon CEO Andy Jassy announced AWS’s groundbreaking $50 billion investment deal with OpenAI, Amazon invited me on a private tour of the chip development lab at the heart of the deal, at (mostly*) its own expense. Industry experts are watching Amazon’s Trainium chip, created at that facility, for its implications for lower-cost AI inference and, potentially, a dent in Nvidia’s near monopoly. Curious, I agreed to go. My tour guides for the day were the lab’s director, Kristopher King (pictured below right) and director of engineering Mark Carroll (below left), as well as the team’s PR person who arranged the visit, Doron Aronson (pictured with yours truly later in the story). AWS Chip lab leaders Mark Carroll and Kristopher King. Image Credits:TechCrunch/Julie Bort AWS has been Anthropic’s major cloud platform since the AI lab’s early days — a relationship significant enough to survive Anthropic later adding Microsoft as a cloud partner as well, and Amazon’s growing partnership with OpenAI. The OpenAI deal makes AWS the exclusive provider of the model maker’s new AI agent builder, Frontier, which could become an important part of OpenAI’s business if agents become as big as Silicon Valley thinks they will. We’ll see if that exclusivity stands exactly as announced. The Financial Times reported this week that Microsoft may believe OpenAI’s deal with Amazon violates its own deal with OpenAI, namely with Redmond getting access to all of OpenAI’s models and tech. What makes AWS so appealing to OpenAI? As part of this deal, the cloud giant has agreed to supply OpenAI with 2 gigawatts of Trainium computing capacity. This is a giant commitment, given that Anthropic and Amazon’s own Bedrock service are already consuming Trainium chips faster than Amazon can produce them. Techcrunch event Disrupt 2026: The tech ecosystem, all in one room Your next round. Your next hire. Your next breakout opportunity. Find it at TechCrunch Disrupt 2026, where 10,000+ founders, in...
AI was everywhere at the GDC Festival of Gaming this year. Vendors at the event pitched generative AI tools for things like making AI-driven NPCs and even entire games from a chat box. On the show floor, I spent 10 minutes playing a demo of a pixel-art fantasy world generated by Tencent’s AI tools. In a briefing with Razer, I watched an AI assistant for QA automatically log issues in a shooter gam...
AI was everywhere at the GDC Festival of Gaming this year. Vendors at the event pitched generative AI tools for things like making AI-driven NPCs and even entire games from a chat box. On the show floor, I spent 10 minutes playing a demo of a pixel-art fantasy world generated by Tencent’s AI tools. In a briefing with Razer, I watched an AI assistant for QA automatically log issues in a shooter game. And there were many talks about AI, including a standing-room only presentation by Google DeepMind researchers about playable AI-generated spaces. But there was one key place where AI was missing: the games themselves. Of the many developers I spoke to at the conference, nearly every one was against the idea of using AI in their projects. “I feel like the human mind is so beautiful,” The Melty Way developer Gabriel Paquette told me. “Why not use it?” Photo by the GDC Festival of Gaming It was a common refrain. Those I spoke to, most of whom were indie developers, disavowed AI, and many said they would never use the technology as it detracted from the human element of development. That’s perhaps not surprising, given that a recent GDC survey found that 52 percent of respondents think “generative AI is having a negative impact on the game industry,” which is up from 30 percent in 2025 and 18 percent in 2024. Some indie developers already go out of their way to show that their games are “AI free.” The largely negative reaction to Nvidia’s DLSS 5, which, in the publicly shown examples, added AI slop-like faces to recognizable game characters, almost certainly won’t make smaller developers more interested in the technology. The general pitch for generative AI in gaming is that it might benefit both developers and players. In the most optimistic view of the technology, developers could use AI to help with tasks like debugging, QA, and idea generation, while players could use AI to help tailor games for themselves. Google Cloud executive Jack Buser, who helped launch Google Sta...
is a news writer who covers the streaming wars, consumer tech, crypto, social media, and much more. Previously, she was a writer and editor at MUO. Posts from this author will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed. This is The Stepback, a weekly newsletter breaking down one essential story from the tech world. For more news about online age verification and your privacy, follo...
is a news writer who covers the streaming wars, consumer tech, crypto, social media, and much more. Previously, she was a writer and editor at MUO. Posts from this author will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed. This is The Stepback, a weekly newsletter breaking down one essential story from the tech world. For more news about online age verification and your privacy, follow Emma Roth. The Stepback arrives in our subscribers’ inboxes at 8AM ET. Opt in for The Stepback here. How it started Virtual private networks, or VPNs, weren’t always used to access region-locked Netflix streams, bypass censorship online, or to prevent your internet service provider (ISP) from tracking your browsing history. It took years for VPNs to become the technology we know today, which provides an encrypted connection between your device and a private server, while concealing your IP address and browsing data. The concept behind VPNs first emerged in the 1990s with a mundane purpose: to help businesses securely send information across offices. Instead of forking out money for the pricey leased lines that they would need to make these connections, many businesses decided to use their existing infrastructure to transfer data across encrypted “tunnels” on the web. While Microsoft, AT&T, and Cisco pioneered early versions of the tech, Francis Dinha and James Yonan went on to launch OpenVPN in 2001, offering a more secure, open-source alternative for both businesses and consumers. But things changed in 2013, when whistleblower Edward Snowden leaked confidential documents that revealed the National Security Agency had been carrying out mass surveillance programs across the web. This revelation made more people aware of security-related risks, as a 2015 survey from Pew Research found that 34 percent of Americans have taken at least one step to protect their privacy online. Just one year later, another Pew Research survey found that 86 percent of Americans tried to “remove ...
Quantum computing stocks have arguably been among the most volatile in the market. Some of them, in 2022 and 2023, fell to penny stocks. But perhaps due to excitement over artificial intelligence (AI), or investors seemingly realizing that quantum technology might actually be achievable, the stocks skyrocketed in late 2024 and 2025, in some cases generating returns of 10x or more. Lately, these st...
Quantum computing stocks have arguably been among the most volatile in the market. Some of them, in 2022 and 2023, fell to penny stocks. But perhaps due to excitement over artificial intelligence (AI), or investors seemingly realizing that quantum technology might actually be achievable, the stocks skyrocketed in late 2024 and 2025, in some cases generating returns of 10x or more. Lately, these stocks have been crashing, though Wall Street still sees immense potential. Here are two quantum computing stocks that have upside of as much as 167% and 199%, respectively, according to certain Wall Street analysts. 1. Rigetti Computing -- 162% upside Quantum computing is believed to be the next major iteration of computing, similar to how AI is the next major innovation in software development. While computers run on the foundation of bits, the smallest unit of digital information, quantum computers operate on qubits, which can process information simultaneously, unlike bits, which process information sequentially. This gives quantum computers the ability to process information much faster, and researchers believe quantum computers could one day compute calculations well beyond that of even today's most advanced supercomputers. Rigetti Computing (RGTI 3.44%) has already designed several quantum systems and currently expects to release its 108-qubit system at the end of the first quarter. According to management, the system has achieved a two-qubit gate fidelity of 99%, a measure of accuracy. The ultimate goal of quantum computing companies is to one day commercialize these systems and make them as ubiquitous as traditional computers. Expand NASDAQ : RGTI Rigetti Computing Today's Change ( -3.44 %) $ -0.53 Current Price $ 14.88 Key Data Points Market Cap $4.9B Day's Range $ 14.37 - $ 15.22 52wk Range $ 6.86 - $ 58.15 Volume 25M Avg Vol 31M Gross Margin -8613.15 % Rigetti's stock is down roughly 32% this year, but Wall Street analysts still have high hopes for the stock. Of t...
fatido/iStock via Getty Images Note: this article was previously published for members of the Inside the Income Factory investing group. As a now retired passive income investor who supports my lifestyle with the income generated by my investments, I would like to offer up a brief review of seven closed-end funds that have delivered strong total returns over at least the last ten years and some fo...
fatido/iStock via Getty Images Note: this article was previously published for members of the Inside the Income Factory investing group. As a now retired passive income investor who supports my lifestyle with the income generated by my investments, I would like to offer up a brief review of seven closed-end funds that have delivered strong total returns over at least the last ten years and some for even longer. With the increasing threat of inflation rearing its ugly head again and the Fed unlikely to reduce rates to stimulate growth anytime soon, now is a good time for defensive income investors to hunker down and collect the income while stock prices head down over the next few months, especially if we see a deeper market correction coming. Oftentimes, market corrections can be opportune times to load up on high-quality funds that are able to muddle through the volatility and continue to pay out steady or even increasing distributions while the rest of the market struggles to maintain positive price action. In my previous two articles on Seeking Alpha, I reviewed a dozen CEFs that have never cut the distribution. First, I briefly reviewed 7 high-yield income-oriented CEFs that have never cut and have been traded for at least ten years or longer. In part 2, I looked at 5 more CEFs that have never cut and might be better options for holding in a taxable account with tax-friendly distributions that include large amounts of either qualified dividends, capital gains, and/or non-taxable ROC (return of capital). Based on some of the comments from those two articles, it was suggested that I consider funds that have not experienced “NAV erosion” (a term that I feel is over-utilized and inaccurate in some cases) in at least the last ten years and preferably since 2010, when the last after-effects of the GFC wore off. In other words, income investors want to collect steady and even rising income while also seeing some price appreciation over time. In addition, rather than “n...
Key Points Quantum computing systems are built on qubits, which can process information simultaneously. This gives them the ability to compute calculations well beyond traditional computers. The bet is that quantum computers will not only have immense capabilities but will also one day be commercialized. 10 stocks we like better than Rigetti Computing › Quantum computing stocks have arguably been ...
Key Points Quantum computing systems are built on qubits, which can process information simultaneously. This gives them the ability to compute calculations well beyond traditional computers. The bet is that quantum computers will not only have immense capabilities but will also one day be commercialized. 10 stocks we like better than Rigetti Computing › Quantum computing stocks have arguably been among the most volatile in the market. Some of them, in 2022 and 2023, fell to penny stocks. But perhaps due to excitement over artificial intelligence (AI), or investors seemingly realizing that quantum technology might actually be achievable, the stocks skyrocketed in late 2024 and 2025, in some cases generating returns of 10x or more. Lately, these stocks have been crashing, though Wall Street still sees immense potential. Here are two quantum computing stocks that have upside of as much as 167% and 199%, respectively, according to certain Wall Street analysts. Will AI create the world's first trillionaire? Our team just released a report on the one little-known company, called an "Indispensable Monopoly" providing the critical technology Nvidia and Intel both need. Continue » 1. Rigetti Computing -- 162% upside Quantum computing is believed to be the next major iteration of computing, similar to how AI is the next major innovation in software development. While computers run on the foundation of bits, the smallest unit of digital information, quantum computers operate on qubits, which can process information simultaneously, unlike bits, which process information sequentially. This gives quantum computers the ability to process information much faster, and researchers believe quantum computers could one day compute calculations well beyond that of even today's most advanced supercomputers. Rigetti Computing (NASDAQ: RGTI) has already designed several quantum systems and currently expects to release its 108-qubit system at the end of the first quarter. According to manage...
Omnibus theatre, London A couple of former hedonists are reunited years later in Louis Emmitt-Stern’s quick-witted dissection of bereavement and the queer dating scene History is supposed to stay, well, history. But in Louis Emmitt-Stern’s Tony Craze award -winning play, it tumbles face first into the present. Ten years ago, Jude (John McCrea) and Kyle (Perry Williams) were a couple who relished a...
Omnibus theatre, London A couple of former hedonists are reunited years later in Louis Emmitt-Stern’s quick-witted dissection of bereavement and the queer dating scene History is supposed to stay, well, history. But in Louis Emmitt-Stern’s Tony Craze award -winning play, it tumbles face first into the present. Ten years ago, Jude (John McCrea) and Kyle (Perry Williams) were a couple who relished all things hedonistic, and partying into the early hours on a cocktail of drink and drugs. That was until they broke up and Kyle disappeared. Now they find themselves together again in Jude’s Canary Wharf penthouse in the middle of the night, after he has a nasty fall and Kyle is unexpectedly called to the hospital as his emergency contact. Years have passed and their lives have diverged: Kyle has left behind the party lifestyle while Jude is in the early days of grief following the death of his partner, Sam. Both are working hard to keep up appearances. But as they talk, cook spaghetti carbonara and catch up on all that’s changed, their lies begin to crack open. Continue reading...
The news doesn’t stop when markets close. Hosts David Gura, Christina Ruffini and Lisa Mateo bring clarity, context and a bit of humor to the weekend’s biggest headlines, LIVE from New York. (Source: Bloomberg)
The news doesn’t stop when markets close. Hosts David Gura, Christina Ruffini and Lisa Mateo bring clarity, context and a bit of humor to the weekend’s biggest headlines, LIVE from New York. (Source: Bloomberg)
American seniors are experiencing sticker shock in 2026. And it's not just with the price of gasoline and groceries. Standard Medicare Part B monthly premiums crossed $200 for the first time this year, and some retirees are furious. Shannon Benton, Executive Director of The Senior Citizens League, a nonprofit advocacy organization for seniors, said, "Medicare Part B premiums consistently overtakin...
American seniors are experiencing sticker shock in 2026. And it's not just with the price of gasoline and groceries. Standard Medicare Part B monthly premiums crossed $200 for the first time this year, and some retirees are furious. Shannon Benton, Executive Director of The Senior Citizens League, a nonprofit advocacy organization for seniors, said, "Medicare Part B premiums consistently overtaking Social Security COLAs degrades American seniors' quality of life over time. Our members constantly tell us that they feel like their benefits aren't keeping up, and this is a great example of that experience in action." However, the problem goes beyond higher Part B premiums. Paying a premium beyond the premium Standard Medicare Part B premiums jumped 9.7% year over year in 2026 to $202.90 per month. Some retirees' Part B premiums are even higher. Beneficiaries who are single filers with modified adjusted gross income (MAGI) of more than $109,000 and those filing joint tax returns with MAGI of more than $218,000 must pay monthly premiums of at least $284.10. The highest earners can pay premiums of up to $689.90. But Medicare beneficiaries are also paying a premium beyond this higher premium. Annual Part B deductibles rose from $257 to $283. While Medicare Part B covers doctor visits and outpatient services, Part A covers hospital visits. There are no monthly Part A premiums for most retirees. However, other Part A costs have also risen significantly. The Part A deductible (which isn't an annual deductible but applies per hospital stay) soared from $1,676 last year to $1,736 in 2026. Daily coinsurance for days 61 through 90 of a hospital stay increased from $419 to $434. The Social Security COLA mirage The big problem for retirees is that these higher Medicare costs are wiping out much of their Social Security COLA. Medicare Part B premiums increased by $17.90 this year, nearly one-third of the average Social Security benefit increase resulting from the COLA of $56. Medica...
With the price of oil approaching $100 per barrel and energy infrastructure in the Persian Gulf under attack from all sides, it's a good idea to buy a little protection for your portfolio from the risk of an extended period of relatively high energy prices. The risk isn't just a spike in oil prices; there's also a risk that infrastructure damage will be lasting, and that traffic through the Strait...
With the price of oil approaching $100 per barrel and energy infrastructure in the Persian Gulf under attack from all sides, it's a good idea to buy a little protection for your portfolio from the risk of an extended period of relatively high energy prices. The risk isn't just a spike in oil prices; there's also a risk that infrastructure damage will be lasting, and that traffic through the Strait of Hormuz could be closed for an extended period. In this context, buying into energy companies Equinor ASA (NYSE: EQNR) , PBF Energy (NYSE: PBF) , and Chevron (NYSE: CVX) provides investors with a nice mix of investment themes to benefit from in the current environment. About 20% of the world's energy passes through the Strait of Hormuz, and its closure has severe consequences for the supply of liquefied natural gas ( LNG ), crude oil, and petrochemicals such as urea and fertilizer. The immediate impact will be felt in Asia. The International Energy Agency (IEA) estimates that 80% of oil passing through the Strait is destined for Asia, and 90% of LNG, too. Image source: Getty Images. Continue reading
Key Points Standard Medicare Part B premiums jumped 9.7% in 2026 to $202. 90. Retirees are also paying more for Medicare deductibles and Part A coinsurance. These higher Medicare costs are wiping out much of retirees' Social Security COLAs. The $23,760 Social Security bonus most retirees completely overlook › American seniors are experiencing sticker shock in 2026. And it's not just with the price...
Key Points Standard Medicare Part B premiums jumped 9.7% in 2026 to $202. 90. Retirees are also paying more for Medicare deductibles and Part A coinsurance. These higher Medicare costs are wiping out much of retirees' Social Security COLAs. The $23,760 Social Security bonus most retirees completely overlook › American seniors are experiencing sticker shock in 2026. And it's not just with the price of gasoline and groceries. Standard Medicare Part B monthly premiums crossed $200 for the first time this year, and some retirees are furious. Shannon Benton, Executive Director of The Senior Citizens League, a nonprofit advocacy organization for seniors, said, "Medicare Part B premiums consistently overtaking Social Security COLAs degrades American seniors' quality of life over time. Our members constantly tell us that they feel like their benefits aren't keeping up, and this is a great example of that experience in action." Will AI create the world's first trillionaire? Our team just released a report on the one little-known company, called an "Indispensable Monopoly" providing the critical technology Nvidia and Intel both need. Continue » However, the problem goes beyond higher Part B premiums. Paying a premium beyond the premium Standard Medicare Part B premiums jumped 9.7% year over year in 2026 to $202.90 per month. Some retirees' Part B premiums are even higher. Beneficiaries who are single filers with modified adjusted gross income (MAGI) of more than $109,000 and those filing joint tax returns with MAGI of more than $218,000 must pay monthly premiums of at least $284.10. The highest earners can pay premiums of up to $689.90. But Medicare beneficiaries are also paying a premium beyond this higher premium. Annual Part B deductibles rose from $257 to $283. While Medicare Part B covers doctor visits and outpatient services, Part A covers hospital visits. There are no monthly Part A premiums for most retirees. However, other Part A costs have also risen significantly. ...
Chris O'Shea, boss of British Gas-owner Centrica, told the BBC that the effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz had affected the supply of oil far more than gas, and that it was still "too early to speculate" on what this would do to energy prices.
Chris O'Shea, boss of British Gas-owner Centrica, told the BBC that the effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz had affected the supply of oil far more than gas, and that it was still "too early to speculate" on what this would do to energy prices.