News
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How software is stifling competition and slowing innovation
Many industries have been upended by Google, Facebook and Amazon. But there is also a very different software story, according to James Bessen, executive director of the Technology & Policy Research Initiative at the Boston University School of Law, and in a new book, he challenges what he terms the "disruption myth"
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How demand for twigs is bringing down a rainforest
The logging industry in Congo uproots precious old-growth trees for use in furniture and home construction, then, entire swaths of forest are burned to make way for farming. But the raiding of the forest by regular people in search of cooking materials is surprisingly destructive as well
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Monarch butterflies on endangered list of leading wildlife monitor
North America's monarch butterfly, whose showy looks and extraordinary migration have made it one of the continent's most beloved insects, has been classified as endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature, the world's most comprehensive scientific authority on the status of species
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Apple agrees to pay $50 million settlement over MacBook keyboard complaints
Many customers complained that the MacBook's butterfly keyboard made characters repeat when pressed or they didn't show up at all. Some said the keys felt sticky and didn't respond consistently, and the typing meltdowns had motivated a class-action lawsuit filed in 2018
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Snap shares plunge 25% as losses triple
Losses of the Snapchat parent nearly tripled to $422 million despite revenue increasing 13 percent under conditions "more challenging" than expected, the company said
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WHO discusses declaring emergency on monkeypox
Nearly 15,400 cases of monkeypox have been reported from 71 countries so far, according to US CDC
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Countries agree pandemic accord should be legally binding
The economic turmoil and millions of lives lost during the coronavirus crisis triggered calls for new international defences strong enough to prevent such a disaster in future
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Facebook tweaks app with eye on rival TikTok
The recommendations focus makes Facebook more similar to TikTok's "For You" feed, where the booming video app's algorithm aims to determine what people want to see — and shows it to them
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After UK, record temperatures set across US as heat wave engulfs nation
Temperatures in large parts of the southwest United States have soared to over 100 degrees Fahrenheit (38 degrees Celsius), topping 110 degrees in some areas. Similar levels were recorded across the US south, where humidity compounded the discomfort
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Japan's baby hatch: Abandonment or a new lease of life?
In a hatch at a hospital in southern Japan's Kumamoto, children can be left anonymously by a desperate family. Instituted in 2007, 161 babies and toddlers have been left in the hatch in 15 years, but opinions are divided whether it encourages abandonment of children or gives them a new lease of life
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Aviation still overwhelmingly male, especially at the top
Fewer than six percent pilots at the world's leading airlines are women, while just eight of the largest 100 carriers in terms of passengers have had women bosses, according to a 2021 study by the Aviation Institute at the University of Nebraska