ResidentialBusiness

Featuring Logan Eggleston, Pro Athlete, LOVB Austin Volleyball; Rosie Spaulding, President, LOVB Pro and Stef Strack, Founder and CEO, Voice in Sport. Moderated by Tania Rahman, Social Media Director, Fast Company. Women’s sports have finally been receiving the recognition they deserve. The goal now is to make sure this moment isn’t just a trend, and to ensure women athletes achieve the equity that remains elusive. Join this panel of executives and athletes to understand the strategy behind making women’s sports not just a cultural force but a thriving ecosystem of sustainable businesses. View the full article

Former Blair adviser Jonathan Powell is working behind the scenes to shepherd talks View the full article

With the April 15 deadline right around the corner, you want to ensure you're taking advantage of all the deductions you can. Andy Phillips, Vice President of H&R Block’s Tax Institute, says his tax experts are getting plenty of questions from filers looking to maximize every deduction available to them. I wrote about some wacky and unexpected tax deductions last week, but what about the most common ones that filers just don't fully understand? From gig worker perks to retirement contributions, here are the tax deductions every filer needs to know. Retirement contributions and traditional IRA deductions Phillips says that if you contribute to a tax-advantaged traditional retirement account (IRA, 401(k), etc.), you may owe less tax than if you didn’t contribute. With a 401(k), you might not even realize you’re receiving an exclusion if you have your contribution automatically made in conjunction with your paycheck. The money comes out before the taxes do, resulting in a reduction of your taxable income. With a traditional IRA, you can still get a tax deduction without requiring access to an employer plan. However, your tax break may be limited if you also participate in an employer plan. For self-employed taxpayers, SEP IRA and SIMPLE (Savings Incentive Match Plan for Employees) IRA contributions are “above the line” tax deductions. See the other self-employed deductions below. Self-employment expenses As side hustles become ever more popular, it’s no surprise that self-employment expenses are more common. For example, if you pay for your own qualified health insurance, that may count as an “above the line” deduction. Also, you can deduct half of your self-employment tax above-the-line. On top of that, Phillips reminds filers you can deduct business expenses like internet costs, office supplies, advertising, and business travel from your business income. And, for qualifying individuals, you can take the home office deduction. Student loan interestPhillips reminds filers with student loan debt that you can deduct some or all of the interest you paid that year for a qualified student loan. In fact, federal student loan borrowers could qualify to deduct up to $2,500 of student loan interest per tax return per tax year. You can claim the student loan interest tax deduction as an adjustment to income—you don’t need to itemize deductions to claim it. Charitable contributionsYou will need to itemize your deductions if you want to deduct your charitable donations. "Many people find it worth itemizing these deductions," says Phillips, "particularly if you give regularly to a church or other charity." It’s also possible to deduct the current fair market value of goods you donate to charity. Make sure you get a receipt for your donations, whether they are cash or goods. And don’t forget to keep track of your mileage if you drive on behalf of a charity; that’s tax-deductible, too. Your kids—even newborns?You can claim all qualifying children that were born or adopted within the tax year you are filing. Even if your child was born on Dec. 31, your child may be able to be claimed as a dependent on your taxes. However, Phillips clarifies that if your child is born after Dec. 31, even though your pregnancy lasted most of the tax year, you’ll have to wait until you file the next year’s return to claim them. To be your qualifying child, the child must: Be related to you as your child, foster child, sibling, half-sibling, step-sibling, or descendant of any of them; Be under age 19, a full-time student under age 24, or permanently and totally disabled; Not provide more than half of the child’s own total support; and Live with you for more than half of the year they were alive. Not be filing a joint return with a spouse unless it’s to claim a refund of income tax withheld or estimated payments If you are a dependent who’s earning income, good news—your parents can still claim you as a dependent so long as other dependent rules still apply. Your earned income doesn’t go on their return. Filing tax returns for children is easy in that respect. However, you may need to report it on your own tax return. What can't you deduct from your taxes?While you're searching for all the possible deductions out there, you're going to hit a few roadblocks. Commuting costsUnfortunately, commuting costs are not tax deductible. Commuting expenses incurred between your home and your main place of work, no matter how far, are not an allowable deduction. Costs of driving a car from home to work and back, again, are personal commuting expenses. This is also true for fares you pay to ride any sort of public transportation to and from work. Phillips points out, though, that if you are a member of a reserve component of the Armed Forces and travel more than 100 miles away from home in connection with the performance of services as a member of the reserves, you can deduct your qualified travel expenses. Your cat's vet billsUnfortunately, deducting medical expenses for pets is not allowed as a medical expense on your tax return. Phillips says the only exception would be when an animal is a certified service animal, like a guide dog, to assist you. Service animals generally aren’t considered pets, though. If you have a physical disability or are hearing or visually impaired, you can deduct medical expenses for your pets if they are certified service animals. Expenses that may be covered include purchasing, training, and maintenance of the animal which includes food, grooming, and medical care. Remember to keep accurate records and consult with a tax professional if you have any questions or concerns. By taking advantage of these deductions, you can potentially lower your tax liability and keep more of your hard-earned money. View the full article

Technology workers in Kenya have held a vigil for a colleague who died in unclear circumstances after she was unable to travel to her home in Nigeria for two years. Ladi Anzaki Olubunmi, a content moderator for TikTok employed by the subcontractor Teleperformance Kenya, died last week and her decomposing body was discovered in her house after three days. It was unclear what caused her death, but colleagues say she had complained of fatigue and was “desperate to go back home.” Teleperformance Kenya told the Associated Press on Wednesday that they didn’t deny Olubunmi her leave to go home. Her family in Nigeria says she only traveled once since coming to Kenya three years ago. Content moderators working for subcontracted firms based in Kenya have in the past described working conditions that they say include lower than average pay, lack of mental health support, long working hours and intimidation. More than 100 former Facebook content moderators have sued the social media company over what they say is poor pay, horrible working conditions and unfair termination of employment by Facebook’s subcontracted Kenya-based firm, Samasource. Dozens of content moderators and data labelers working for various global tech companies met during Tuesday’s vigil and said that poor working conditions may have contributed to their colleague’s death. “There are more than 100 Nigerians working under Teleperformance company who haven’t had work permits for the last two years and so they have not been able to travel home despite having an annual return ticket benefit,” said Kauna Malgwi, a friend of the deceased. Olubunmi’s family was informed of her death a day after her body was discovered by a neighbor. Teleperformance emailed Olubunmi’s brother notifying him of her death and gave him contacts of Kenyan investigating officers who he could call for information, autopsy and burial arrangements. “The family cannot afford to take her body home, so they are considering asking her church in Nairobi to bury her,” Malgwi said. —Evelyne Musambi, Associated Press View the full article

D-Wave is about to make waves. The quantum computing firm announced on Wednesday that, for the first time, it was able to “successfully simulate the properties of magnetic materials” using its Advantage2 annealing quantum computer, which “allows us to invent and evaluate new materials without needing to build them in the lab,” D-Wave CEO Dr. Alan Baratz tells Fast Company. In effect, this means that D-Wave has achieved “quantum supremacy” on a useful problem, something it says nobody else has yet been able to accomplish, and which is detailed in a paper published on Wednesday in the journal Science. “This is a really important moment in time for the entire quantum computing industry,” says Dr. Baratz. “For the first time ever, we’ve demonstrated a quantum computer being able to solve a difficult, real-world problem that classical computers can’t solve. It’s what everybody aspired to achieve, and we’re quite excited about it.” ’25 years of hardware development’ Quantum computing has largely remained theoretical until recently, but D-Wave’s achievement is a notable breakthrough as it’s demonstrated that its quantum computer can, in fact, outperform classical computers in materials simulations. To simulate the property of magnetic materials on a classical computer—as the D-Wave team recently did using its quantum computer—would require nearly one million years, and more energy than the entire world utilizes over the course of a year. D-Wave’s team did it in 20 minutes. But there was a lot of work that went into it. “These are results that could not be done in a couple of months or years,” says Mohammad Amin, chief scientist at D-Wave. He added, the results “are really the results of 25 years of hardware development,” and this specific achievement “also took two years of collaboration among 11 institutions worldwide.” What this means going forward Dr. Seth Lloyd, professor of quantum mechanical engineering at MIT, said in a statement with D-Wave’s announcement that large-scale, “fully error corrected” quantum computers are still years away. But quantum annealers, a type of quantum computer designed to efficiently solve optimization problems, are useful in the here and now. “The D-Wave result shows the promise of quantum annealers for exploring exotic quantum effects in a wide variety of systems,” Lloyd said. According to D-Wave, scientists could use quantum computing to test out and simulate new materials—specifically, those used in all sorts of technologies from pacemakers to cellphones. Many of these materials need to be synthesized in a lab, which takes considerable amounts of time and money. But the ability to simulate the materials before they’re actually created? That can allow for significant resource savings, and potentially speed up technology development and make numerous products more efficient. “There’s no shortage of potential applications,” says Amin. View the full article

Backups are always a smart move. If your data is only stored in one location, it's not safe, as it only takes one device failure to lose all that information for good. While there are plenty of ways to back up your data, companies like Google make it easy with built-in cloud backups. Once you set it up, all of the photos and videos you take are synced to the cloud, so you never need to worry about losing everything if your phone goes belly-up. While cloud backups are convenient, they're far from the only option you have, as you could routinely save copies of your photos and videos to an external drive. If you move platforms—say, from Android to iPhone—and you'd prefer to use Apple's services over Google's, it doesn't make much sense to keep all that data on Google's servers, either. Speaking of which: Perhaps you simply don't want to trust Google with all of the media you've taken over the years, and would like to take back the data you've already shared. The trouble is, it's been difficult to decouple photos and videos from a Google Photos backup without also deleting those items from the device you're using as well—defeating the purpose entirely. The "best" workaround has been to use a separate device or browser than the one you're using, which is more of a pain than it should be. That's what Google's "Undo device backup" feature is all about. The company first announced it back in December, as a way for users to remove any photos and videos from the cloud, if those photos and videos are already on the device in question. The feature has been available on iOS first (perhaps as a solution for iPhone users who inadvertently uploaded their media to Google Photos), but Google is now rolling out the feature to Android users too. Now, no matter which platform you use Google Photos on, you can undo your backup while keeping all your photos and videos safe. How to undo your Google Photos backupIf you want to delete your photos and videos from a Google Photos backup without deleting those photos and videos locally from your device, here's how: First, open Google Photos on your iPhone or Android. Next, tap your profile picture or initial, then head to Photos settings > Backup. Scroll down, then choose Undo backup for this device. Here, tap the box next to “I understand my photos and videos from this device will be deleted from Google Photos,” then tap Delete Google Photos backup. Google says that once you make this decision, Backup will automatically turn off for the device you're using. As such, make sure you have a plan for how to back up those items going forward. Let's say you have a Pixel phone, and you choose to undo your backup: Now, those photos and videos only exist on this Pixel. If you break your phone, or it simply spontaneously dies (which does happen), you'll lose those memories forever. View the full article

Featuring Danielle Guizio, Owner and Designer, Guizio; Kat Hantas, Cofounder, 21Seeds Infused Tequila and Stacey Tank, CEO, Bespoke Beauty Brands (owner of KimChi Chic Beauty and Jason Wu Beauty). Moderated by Yasmin Gagne, Staff Editor, Fast Company What separates companies that scale from those that stall? These founders and CEOs may have the answer. In this panel, you’ll gain insight into the strategies, decisions, and challenges behind building high-growth businesses, from knowing when an acquisition or retail expansion is the right move to capitalizing on buzzy products. View the full article

When Apple's AirTags first launched, I thought that the devices would prove to be useless once the novelty wore off, but after using them for about a year, my assumption has proved to be wrong. AirTags have quite a few useful hidden features that make the product worth checking out even if you're someone who doesn't lose things often. Here are the best hidden features of your Apple AirTags. Rename your AirTagsIt sounds obvious, but you really should rename your AirTags to make it easy to identify each item they're attached to. Instead of having them named "Pranay's AirTags #1," you can change it to something like "Pranay's Blue Backpack." To do this, go to the Find My app on your iPhone and navigate to Items > AirTag > Rename Item. Once you've chosen names that are specific and easy to pronounce, you can try the next tip. Use Siri to locate your AirTagsWhen you're looking for a lost item with an Airtag on it, the fastest way to find it is via Siri. You can ask Siri to locate the item by using a voice command like, "Hey Siri, find Pranay's Luggage." Just use whatever name you've given the AirTag and Siri will quickly locate the item and you'll hear a sound that will allow you to find it quickly. This is much faster than going to the Find My app on your iPhone and tapping through to Items > AirTags > Play Sound. Share your AirTag's location with a loved oneIf you trust your loved ones to keep an eye out for you, then consider sharing your AirTag's location with them. This can be useful for those who work night shifts or have long drives to work, as it allows loved ones to know where they are in case there's an emergency. As long as the AirTag is in your car or attached to an item you always carry (house keys, your phone, etc.), this feature will work just fine. Enable it by opening the Find My app on your iPhone and going to Items > AirTags > Share AirTag > Add Person. Put your AirTags in Lost ModeYour AirTags have two useful features that let others locate your lost items. One allows you to share contact information with anyone who finds your lost AirTag, and the other lets you share your AirTag's location with trusted people such as airline employees who are trying to locate your luggage. You can set both of these up by going to the Find My app on your iPhone and navigating to Items > AirTag > Lost AirTag. Tap Show Contact Info or Share Item Location and follow the on-screen instructions to set up these features. You can find the owner of lost AirTagsIn case you come across someone else's AirTags, you can use your iPhone to try to identify their owner and contact them. If someone has added their contact information to their AirTags, as described in the previous tip, you can locate it quickly via the Find My app on your iPhone. Go to the Items tab and select Identify Found Item. Follow the on-screen prompts to identify the lost AirTag and hopefully reunite it with its owner. Turn off left behind notifications for your homeIf your home is marked incorrectly in your AirTags, you'll get annoying "This item is left behind" alerts every time you step out. I ordered my AirTags right before a month-long stay at a friend's place, and their house was automatically marked as my "home." When I returned to my own house, three of my four AirTags would keep scaring me by telling me that I left behind my suitcase or other items. You can fix this by going to Find My > Items > AirTags > Notify When Left Behind. Tap New Location and mark your home as an exception. This should take care of unwanted alerts. Check your AirTag's battery levelYour AirTag's battery should last for a year, but there's no way to determine the current battery level. If the battery is really low, your iPhone will send you a notification. You can also see the AirTag in the Find My app, which will show a battery low indicator if your AirTag needs a new battery. Find your AirTag easilyThis is the most popular use for AirTags. Go to the Find My app and open the Items tab. Tap the name of your AirTag and select Find. The iPhone will take a few moments and direct you towards your AirTag. Look up an AirTag's serial numberYou can also view the serial number and the firmware version of your AirTag in your iPhone's Find My app. To do that, go to the Items tab in the app, select your AirTag, and tap the name of the AirTag. You'll now see its serial number and firmware version. This information can be useful if your AirTags are in warranty and to see if the latest software features are available for them. Creative uses for AirTagsWhile you'd think AirTags would be best for tracking luggage, keys, or other items that you might lose more often than most, there's much more that you can use AirTags for. My personal favorite is tracking pets. If you have a cat that often goes outdoors, putting an AirTag on their harness could save you a lot of trouble if the pet ever goes missing. Similarly, people on Reddit have highlighted many creative uses of the product. This includes training your dog to return to you when you play a sound on an AirTag attached to their collar, using it to track people who have dementia (and often get lost as a result), and even tracking a child's backpack. You should never use AirTags to stalk people, but the product can help you keep an eye on loved ones who can't protect themselves. View the full article

Now more than ever, I rely on my silly little podcasts to disassociate through my days, and yesterday, that got a little easier. Pocket Casts—Lifehacker's pick for the most full-featured and user-friendly podcast app on the scene, and my own auditory lifeline for the last half-decade or so—has made its web streaming and desktop apps free for all users. Previously, these were paid subscriber-only benefits that would cost you around $40/year to access. In a statement, the company said it made the change in support of "the open podcasting ecosystem," noting the audio format "was built on an open, decentralized standard, RSS, which means that anyone can create, share, and listen to content freely, without needing a specific platform’s approval. But today, major platforms are shifting away from open standards, moving creators into proprietary systems that limit distribution and control discovery through algorithms." This is a clear shot at competitors like Spotify that have invested big money into the medium while locking some of their shows (and app features) behind a paywall. In particular, Pocket Casts points out that its podcast discovery tools are not algorithmically driven, echoing the ethos of open-source social networks like Bluesky that stand in opposition to the engagement-at-any-cost likes of X and Meta. The David vs. Goliath stance is slightly disingenuous—though the indie-developed app celebrates the open source ethos and was previously owned by a group of nonprofit public radio stations, it was sold to WordPress owner Automattic in 2021. Still, it's nice to have an alternative web-based podcast platform that at least nods to an earlier, better era of the internet. Free access to the Pocket Casts app and web playerThe decision to remove the Pocket Casts web and desktop apps from behind the paywall gives users a lot more flexibility with how they listen. Anyone can use either without an account, but a free login will grant access to features like synching across devices. As long as you're logged in on both, you can start a podcast on your phone and seamlessly pick it up on desktop without a hitch. (It's worth noting that while Spotify offers similar functionality with Spotify Connect, it requires a Spotify Premium account to access.) In my testing (I was formerly a free member, despite loving the app), I found all of my subscriptions, listening history, and preferences matched up 1:1 across all my devices. The desktop app is available for both Mac and Windows. Pocket Casts Plus still offers paid featuresPocket Casts hasn't gone completely free—you can still pay for Pocket Casts Plus ($39.99/year) to gain access to features like folders, bookmarking, and smartwatch apps. You can also pay $99/year to become a Pocket Casts Patron, which also nets you more cloud storage, early access to new features, and "the undying gratitude of everyone at Pocket Casts." View the full article

Apple has successfully blocked its opponents in India, Tinder-owner Match and a group of startups, from accessing its commercially sensitive information which was part of antitrust findings against the U.S. firm, a confidential order shows. An investigation by the Competition Commission of India (CCI) last year found Apple exploited its dominant position in the market for app stores on its iOS operating system to the detriment of app developers, users and other payment processors. Apple has denied wrongdoing and said it is a small player in India where phones using Google’s operating system are dominant. The investigation process has concluded but CCI’s senior members are yet to review the findings and pass a final ruling, which could force Apple to pay fines and even change its practices if the company is confirmed to have indulged in wrongdoing. Apple’s opposing parties in the case — Match and startup group Alliance of Digital India Foundation (ADIF) — asked the CCI to allow access to certain confidential information which include developer payouts and details of total billings, but were redacted when investigation reports were shared with parties. Match argued Apple had been “claiming excessive and unwarranted redactions in its submissions” across the world “to hinder effective scrutiny of its practices”, but the CCI did not agree and ruled in favour of Apple, according to a 13-page confidential order issued on March 3 and seen by Reuters. The order noted Apple’s comments, saying “the very fact that Match is involved in similar antitrust proceedings” with the company elsewhere will cause Apple harm if its commercially sensitive information is provided to Match. “The Commission notes that disclosure of such redacted information at this stage to ADIF and Match is neither necessary nor expedient … and disclosure of the same could potentially cause harm to the interests of Apple and other third parties,” the CCI noted. The CCI, Apple, Match and ADIF did not respond to Reuters queries. The Indian case was first filed by a little-known, non-profit group called “Together We Fight Society” which argued Apple’s in-app fee of up to 30% hurts competition by raising costs for app developers and customers. Apple’s iOS powered about 4% of 712 million smartphones in India as of 2024 end, with the rest using Google’s Android, according to Counterpoint Research. Apple’s smartphone base in the country has grown five times in the last five years. Apple can still oppose findings of the CCI investigation and watchdog’s senior members are expected to issue a final ruling in coming weeks. In 2022, the CCI imposed a $113 million fine on Google and said it must allow the use of third-party billing and stop forcing developers to use its in-app payment system that charges commission of 15%-30%. Google has denied wrongdoing. —Aditya Kalra, Reuters View the full article

Ex-Barclays boss is challenging regulator’s verdict that he downplayed his connection to late paedophileView the full article

Each year, Samsung takes what Google has made with the annual Android update—the Android Open Source Project (or AOSP) to be precise—and builds a fresh version of One UI, its bespoke mobile operating system complete with all the extra Samsung bells and whistles. This year, we're getting One UI 7, which is based on Android 15. One UI 7 comes preinstalled on the new Galaxy S25 phones, including the Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra, but the rest of us are still waiting for it to roll out at the time of writing. Here's everything new that's coming with the software update, and when you can expect it to make its way to your Galaxy handset. Best new features in One UI 7Perhaps the most significant new features in One UI 7 are the Now Bar and Now Brief. The Now Bar is Samsung's answer to Live Activities on iOS: It shows pertinent information, including sports scores, map directions, workout stats, media playback controls, and stopwatch timers right on the lockscreen. Then there's Now Brief, which gives you regularly updated summaries of information you need front and center as the day progresses. You might get alerts about upcoming meetings, for example, or the weather forecast for the rest of the day, or a summary of your stats from Samsung Health. The Now Bar is new in One UI 7. Credit: Lifehacker As you would expect, there's plenty of AI: The writing assist tools have been upgraded to make it more straightforward to rewrite, summarize, and compose text across any app, and using any Android keyboard. There are also AI-powered call transcriptions so you can get your spoken conversations on the phone written out for you as you talk, and enhanced AI search with natural queries in the Samsung Gallery app. A more minor change comes with tweaks to the adaptive charging options. With One UI 7, you can set a limit for charging, beyond the standard 80% and 100% options. if you want charging to stop at 85% or 90% instead, that's now possible if you dive into the battery settings. Sticking with device maintenance, One UI 7 follows Android 15 in making app archiving a system-level feature (previously it was inside the Play Store app). This means if you've got apps you don't use often, you can clear out most of the associated data to free up space, without doing a full reinstall—that saves you time if you need to get back to the app again (in terms of logging in and configuring it). One UI 7 will also recommend apps it thinks you should be archiving. There's more control over adaptive charging. Credit: Lifehacker One UI 7 also brings with it a pretty comprehensive visual overhaul. It looks cleaner and more modern than One UI 6, with icons, widgets, and menus that are a little more colorful and easier on the eye. The Quick Settings and notification panels have also been split up, so you need to swipe down from different sides of the screen to see them—though there is a setting to go back to the old combined panel if you prefer it. Finally, Samsung has also given the default Camera app a bit of a refresh, with a more intuitive approach to the interface that makes it easier to get to the pro-level photography tools (while also keeping them well hidden away if you never need them). Like the other visual changes, it makes the software feel fresher and easier to navigate. When is One UI 7 being released?Samsung has recently confirmed that One UI 7 will be rolling out to at least some older phones sometime in April, though it hasn't provided a full list of which devices will get it (perhaps because it's not sure). The Samsung Galaxy S24 range will certainly get the update, as the software has been available in beta for those phones since December. Since the launch of the beta program, it's been extended to cover the Galaxy Z Fold 6 and the Galaxy Z Flip 6, with support for the Galaxy S23, Galaxy A55, and Galaxy Tab S10 tablet series coming soon. However, as these devices are all joining the beta at different times, it's not clear whether or not they'll get the finished One UI 7 by April. The update could go back as far as the Galaxy S21. Credit: Samsung Broadly speaking, Samsung tends to offer four years of Android upgrades to its flagship and mid-range devices, so handsets as far back as the Samsung Galaxy S21 (from 2021) may well be eligible—but that's just an estimated guess, not an official confirmation, and it's difficult to say how long it may take for the software to fully roll out. There also remains some confusion over which handsets will get which One UI 7 features—again, it's not something Samsung has been very specific about. There has been speculation that features such as Now Brief may remain as Galaxy S25 exclusives, most likely to push sales of the newer devices. View the full article

Refinance activity was up 16% from the end of February while purchase applications rose mildly, on the strength of fading rates amid larger economic woes. View the full article

Featuring Stan Adams, Public Policy Specialist, Wikimedia Foundation; Nicole Ozer, Technology and Civil Liberties Director, ACLU of Northern California and Alissa Starzak, Deputy Chief Legal Officer and Global Head of Policy, Cloudflare. Moderated by Max Ufberg, Senior Editor, Fast Company. In an era of mass surveillance, mounting attacks to cybersecurity, the death of net neutrality, and geopolitics fragmenting the internet, it’s never been a more important time to fully understand what’s at stake regarding your digital rights and freedom. Join this panel of leaders at the forefront of securing a better and more open digital space for all. View the full article

The Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant’s radiation levels have significantly dropped since the cataclysmic meltdown in Japan 14 years ago. Workers walk around in many areas wearing only surgical masks and regular clothes. It’s a different story for those who enter the reactor buildings, including the three damaged in the 2011 earthquake and tsunami. They must use maximum protection—full facemasks with filters, multi-layered gloves and socks, shoe covers, hooded hazmat coveralls and a waterproof jacket, and a helmet. As workers remove melted fuel debris from the reactors in a monumental nuclear cleanup effort that could take more than a century, they are facing both huge amounts of psychological stress and dangerous levels of radiation. The Associated Press, which recently visited the plant for a tour and interviews, takes a closer look. Cleaning 880 tons of melted fuel debris A remote-controlled extendable robot with a tong had several mishaps including equipment failures before returning in November with a tiny piece of melted fuel from inside the damaged No. 2 reactor. That first successful test run is a crucial step in what will be a daunting, decades-long decommissioning that must deal with at least 880 tons of melted nuclear fuel that has mixed with broken parts of internal structures and other debris inside the three ruined reactors. Akira Ono, chief decommissioning officer at the Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings, which manages the plant, says even the tiny sample gives officials a lot of information about the melted fuel. More samples are needed, however, to make the work smoother when bigger efforts to remove the debris begin in the 2030s. A second sample-retrieval mission at the No. 2 reactor is expected in coming weeks. Operators hope to send the extendable robot farther into the reactor to take samples closer to the center, where overheated nuclear fuel fell from the core, utility spokesperson Masakatsu Takata said. He pointed out the target area as he stood inside the inner structure of the No. 5 reactor, which is one of two reactors that survived the tsunami. It has an identical design as No. 2. Hard to see, breathe or move Radiation levels are still dangerously high inside the No. 2 reactor building, where the melted fuel debris is behind a thick concrete containment wall. Earlier decontamination work reduced those radiation levels to a fraction of what they used to be. In late August, small groups took turns doing their work helping the robot in 15- to 30-minute shifts to minimize radiation exposure. They have a remotely controlled robot, but it has to be manually pushed in and out. “Working under high levels of radiation (during a short) time limit made us feel nervous and rushed,” said Yasunobu Yokokawa, a team leader for the mission. “It was a difficult assignment.” Full-face masks reduced visibility and made breathing difficult, an extra waterproof jacket made it sweaty and hard to move, and triple-layered gloves made their fingers clumsy, Yokokawa said. To eliminate unnecessary exposure, they taped around gloves and socks and carried a personal dosimeter to measure radiation. Workers also rehearsed the tasks they’d perform to minimize exposure. The mission stalled early on when workers noticed that a set of five 1.5-meter (5-foot) pipes meant to push the robot into the reactor’s primary containment vessel had been arranged in the wrong order. A camera on the robot also failed because of high radioactivity and had to be replaced. The workers’ highest individual radiation dose was more than the overall average but still far below anything approaching a 100-millisievert five-year dose limit. Even so, a growing number of workers are concerned about safety and radiation at the plant, said Ono, the decommissioning chief, citing an annual survey of about 5,5,00 workers. In 2023, two workers splashed with contaminated sludge at a water treatment facility were hospitalized, though they had no health problems. Making sure it’s safe Yokokawa and a plant colleague, Hiroshi Ide, helped in the 2011 emergency and are team leaders today. They say they want to make the job safer as workers face high radiation in parts of the plant. On the top floor of the No. 2 reactor, workers are setting up equipment to remove spent fuel units from the cooling pool. That’s set to begin within two to three years. At the No. 1 reactor, workers are putting up a giant roof to contain radioactive dust from decontamination work on the top floor ahead of the removal of spent fuel. To minimize exposure and increase efficiency, workers use a remote-controlled crane to attach pre-assembled parts, according to TEPCO. The No. 1 reactor and its surroundings are among the most contaminated parts of the plant. What’s next? Workers are also removing treated radioactive wastewater. They recently started dismantling the emptied water tanks to make room to build facilities needed for the research and storage of melted fuel debris. After a series of small missions by robots to gather samples, experts will determine a larger-scale method for removing melted fuel, first at the No. 3 reactor. Experts say the hard work and huge challenges of decommissioning the plant are just beginning. There are estimations that the work could take more than a century. The government and TEPCO have an initial completion target of 2051, but the retrieval of melted fuel debris is already three years behind, and many big issues remain undecided. Ide, whose home in Namie town, northwest of the plant, is in a no-go zone because of nuclear contamination, still has to put on a hazmat suit, even for brief visits home. “As a Fukushima citizen, I would like to make sure the decommissioning work is done properly so that people can return home without worries,” he said. This story has been corrected to remove erroneous reference to burns in the 2023 incident. —Mari Yamaguchi, Associated Press View the full article

Managers’ favourite stocks tumble as market volatility surgesView the full article

An influx of copy-and-pasted Christian messages has recently taken over TikTok’s comment sections. Over the past several days, comments about Jesus Christ have surfaced among the top comments on a wide range of unrelated videos. There’s no obvious connection between the accounts posting them, but the pattern is hard to miss. “Jesus died on a cross for you. He defeated death, he defeated your sins. He did this for you, and he gave us the Holy Spirit. Spread the word,” reads one of the most frequently repeated comments. Others follow the same script: Jesus died for our sins, we’ve been given the Holy Spirit, and now it’s our job to evangelize. Some even admit to being copy-pasted, though the origin of the trend remains unclear. Anyone chronically online knows that TikTok’s comment section is part of the fun. But the sudden wave of Christian spam is wearing on some users. “I was just browsing TikTok in bed this morning before waking up and like you said it’s nearly EVERY video that has 10 or so of these comments,” one Reddit user wrote in the r/Christianity subreddit. “I have nothing against anyone who is religious or spiritual in any way but absolutely no one is trying to be preached at while they’re just browsing or walking down the street etc, idk what folks think this accomplishes.” Other Reddit users have attempted to solve the mystery by suggesting possible explanations. However, no one is certain if the religious messages come from bots, Christians, religious organizations or a combination. “Lotta money in the christian right’s been flooding endorsements and advertisers online, you use that money to artificially boost your followers, you appear at the top of youtube. ta daaaaa, you have created a zeitgeist,” one Reddit user theorised. “Bots, shills, paid comments, and bots and bots,” added another. As well as raising questions, the trend has sparked a number of satirical responses. An edited version of the comment, also appearing across viral TikTok videos, references NBA star LeBron James in the same comment format, instead of Jesus Christ. Regardless of where the trend started, religious content is booming across TikTok’s 1.9 billion global users. Videos featuring the app’s top five religious hashtags, including #Jesus, have amassed over 1.2 trillion views. Despite assumptions about waning faith, Gen Z is just as religious as older generations, according to Pew Research’s 2025 study—and on TikTok, the pulpit is louder than ever. View the full article

We may earn a commission from links on this page. Deal pricing and availability subject to change after time of publication. If you’re looking for an outdoor security camera that doesn’t need constant battery swaps or a monthly subscription, the Eufy SoloCam S40 might be worth considering—especially now that it's $99.99 (down from its usual $199). This battery-powered camera comes with a built-in solar panel, which, according to Eufy, only needs two hours of direct sunlight daily to stay charged. That’s the kind of low-maintenance setup we want, but as with all solar-powered devices, real-world performance depends on actual sunlight exposure, so if you live somewhere gloomy or have lots of shade, you might run into trouble. Setup is straightforward, with built-in wifi allowing it to connect directly to your router without requiring a base station (but that also means you’ll need a strong signal wherever you install it). Eufy Security SoloCam S40 $99.99 at Walmart $199.99 Save $100.00 Get Deal Get Deal $99.99 at Walmart $199.99 Save $100.00 Security features are solid. The 90dB siren can be activated remotely if an intruder is spotted, and the two-way audio lets you communicate with visitors—or warn off unwanted ones. AI-powered motion detection helps cut down false alerts by recognizing whether movement is from a person or something else, and custom activity zones allow you to filter notifications to specific areas. Unlike many competing security cameras, the SoloCam S40 doesn’t require a subscription to access past recordings. Instead, it comes with 8GB of built-in storage. However, HomeKit isn’t supported, which might be a dealbreaker if you’re deep into Apple’s ecosystem. On the plus side, Alexa and Google Assistant integration means you can view the live feed on a smart display or include the camera in automation routines. The IP67-rated build of the SoloCam S40 means it can handle rain and dust, while its 130-degree field of view provides decent coverage. When motion is detected, you’ll get instant alerts on your smartphone and access to a 2K video feed through the Eufy Security app. The app also lets you tweak motion settings and review recordings, among other controls. Day or night, footage is recorded in color, thanks to its 600-lumen floodlight, though this light can only be set to trigger on motion detection or be manually turned on via the app—it won’t stay on for general illumination (something to consider if you were hoping to use it as a permanent fixture for illuminating a driveway or entryway). View the full article

A well-funded AI lab with a deep bench of research talent is releasing a powerful new model that generates high-definition video for the film and advertising industries. The company, Moonvalley, on Wednesday launched its first model, named Marey—a nod to early cinema pioneer Étienne-Jules Marey—which could soon help Hollywood studios dramatically speed up production and cut costs. What sets Marey apart—and has caught the attention of risk-averse studios—is its training data. The model was trained exclusively on video content either owned or fairly licensed by Moonvalley, avoiding the copyright gray zones that make much generative content legally fraught. Moonvalley is rolling out Marey to a group of 20 trusted filmmakers, some of whom work for major, household-name studios (whose names haven’t been disclosed), according to cofounder and CEO Naeem Talukdar. The version being released is still early-stage, with regular updates and new features planned. The key differentiator, Talukdar says, is Marey’s native high-definition output—something that’s been notoriously difficult to achieve. “The challenge is that if you want to output in high definition, your inputs have to be in high definition, so you need to be able to train the model on HD footage,” he says. In other words: It demands lots of powerful servers. By contrast, Talukdar says, most other video generation models are trained on lower-quality 480p or 720p video—and even then, they often compress the data before encoding. That compromises the model’s understanding of fine-grained detail, leading to uncanny or distorted outputs (like misrendered fingers). Marey is designed to overcome that. It’s also operated differently. Unlike most consumer-facing video generators that start with text prompts, Marey is tailored for professional workflows. Filmmakers can input storyboards or keyframes; actors can film demo reels on their phones, which producers can then use to generate scenes showing the actor from different angles or performing new movements. The model can make subtle edits, like changing the direction of wind in a character’s hair, or adjusting production-quality scenes—filling in background details or background characters (commonly played by extras). Moonvalley is also running pilot programs with brands looking to train the model on their own imagery and style guidelines. That could allow companies to generate broadcast-quality commercials on demand. “We have a number of smaller boutique brands who suddenly are like, ‘Hey, I can go and make a Super Bowl commercial,’” Talukdar says. The startup raised a $70 million seed round last year, backed by Bessemer Venture Partners, Khosla Ventures, and General Catalyst. Vinod Khosla is described as an “unofficial” member of the board. Beyond the top-tier investors, Moonvalley has serious R&D chops. Cofounders Mateusz Malinowski and Mikołaj Bińkowski previously led video research at DeepMind and helped develop the model that later became Google’s Veo 2 video generator. The team includes six other DeepMind alumni, alongside talent from Meta, Microsoft, Google, TikTok, and Snap. While Talukdar acknowledges that AI tools like Marey could lower production costs, he insists it’s certainly not the beginning of the end for actors—or filmmakers. Budgets, he argues, aren’t likely to shrink; instead, creators will use the savings to pursue bigger, more ambitious ideas. “I think you’re going to see new jobs,” he says. “And more importantly, I think what this is really going to do is empower the creators more than anybody else.” View the full article

Satellite-based disaster monitoring has been a slow and tedious process for decades. The process consists of capturing images, transmitting them back to Earth, and relying on human analysts to interpret the data. This often led to first responders receiving critical information, often too late to act effectively. But AI is now revolutionizing satellite operations in space, aiding real-time image processing and autonomous decision-making. NASA’s latest space venture focuses on AI-powered autonomous satellites that can operate without human oversight. In collaboration with Ireland-based satellite intelligence startup Ubotica, NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) has developed Dynamic Targeting, an AI-driven system that allows satellites to process image data onboard, potentially enhancing disaster response. Dynamic Targeting was recently tested in real-world scenarios, including the Palisades Fire in Los Angeles and the Valencia floods. The AI system was integrated in CogniSAT-6 satellite, a 6-unit cubesat developed by Ubotica and NASA JPL, and autonomously processed data onboard and transmitted insights to Earth within minutes. At the core of CogniSAT-6 lies Live Earth Intelligence (LEI)—Ubotica’s onboard processing platform that integrates AI agents into Earth observation satellites. Paired with SPACE:AI, an end-to-end vision processing framework, the architecture transforms conventional satellites into always-connected observers, enabling rapid decision-making. “With LEI, we can quickly deploy and run AI models from third parties directly in orbit. By leveraging Inter-Satellite Links (ISL), these insights reach the right people faster, ensuring critical information gets where it’s needed, exactly when it’s needed,” Fintan Buckley, CEO of Ubotica, told Fast Company. “We’re at an inflection point. Satellites will no longer just observe; they’ll analyse, interpret, and respond in real time.” Dynamic Targeting: The Future of AI-Powered Earth Observation CogniSAT-6’s Dynamic Targeting system can analyze lookahead images in as little as 50 seconds. Buckley added that if one satellite can’t capture the image due to cloud cover, the AI system alerts others to try on their next pass, removing the need for operators to retask satellites manually. In mixed constellations, the system can even switch to radar imaging (SAR) when clouds are an issue, ensuring data is still collected. “With Dynamic Targeting, the satellite first takes a quick, low-resolution ‘look-ahead’ image, and onboard AI analyzes it for cloud cover. If the target area is clear, the satellite locks on and captures a high-resolution image. If not, it discards the request, conserving bandwidth and storage,” explained Buckley. During the Palisades Fire in Los Angeles, identifying smoke plumes through autonomous imaging allowed emergency teams to monitor the fire’s spread effectively. Likewise, during the Valencia floods, the AI swiftly estimated that 21% of the observed area near Valencia was flooded, and sent down accurate flood data immediately to Earth. “AI-powered satellites can analyze a scene and deliver insights to the ground within minutes, making Earth observation viable in situations where other imaging methods fall short,” said Buckley. “These satellites will soon be integrated with insights from other sources to create an accurate, up to date, view of the situation on the ground to support the responders to manage the situation.” The partnership between Ubotica and NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) began in 2022, when they collaborated to test AI-driven image processing aboard the International Space Station (ISS). Under a $632,000 contract with NASA’s Jet Propulsion Lab in California, Ubotica is currently preparing for the first live in-orbit test of Dynamic Targeting in early 2025 through CogniSAT-6. U.S. vs. China: The Geopolitical Race for Space Intelligence While NASA and Ubotica are pushing the boundaries of satellite technology, they face competition from China. The country has been aggressively deploying its own AI-powered Earth observation satellites, Tiantuo and Zhuhai. Operated by the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC) and commercial partner Zhuhai Orbita, has already incorporated AI-driven image processing similar to NASA JPL’s initiatives. The geopolitical implications of this race are profound, as autonomous satellites can also provide strategic intelligence on environmental changes, maritime security, and even military movements. NASA JPL and Ubotica, however, are actively collaborating with defense agencies across the U.S. and Europe, to enhance Maritime Domain Awareness. Their AI-powered satellites are playing a crucial role in securing maritime assets such as underwater cables, offshore wind farms, and detecting suspicious vessel activity. “It is important to safeguard the vast network of underwater high-speed communication cables, as they often subject to accidental or deliberate damage,” Buckley added. “The key is to identify and warn off vessels before any damage occurs, and if an incident happens, track and hold the offending vessel accountable.” However, this leap in technology also raises critical questions about the reliability of AI decision-making in life-or-death situations. Can AI be Trusted Without Human Oversight? Traditionally, Earth observation has relied on human judgment to verify and interpret satellite data. AI-powered autonomous systems could misclassify minor weather shifts as emergencies or overlook critical events due to biased training data. Despite these concerns, Buckley claims that AI autonomy is inevitable. “Human oversight will eventually become obsolete,” Buckley told Fast Company. “But like almost every other disruptive technology, it will take much longer than anticipated for this to happen.” To mitigate AI errors, Ubotica’s Dynamic Targeting system integrates multiple safeguards through its Live Earth Intelligence (LEI) framework. “A built-in Neural Network Supervisor constantly monitors AI outputs, discarding insights that fall outside trained parameters. The system also cross-validates insights by incorporating data from multiple sources rather than relying solely on satellite imagery,” he explained. The system ensures continuous learning and improvement by actively selecting images to enhance future model performance. NASA’s bet on AI is a bold leap into uncharted territory that could redefine how we monitor our planet and respond to crises. As Buckley explained, AI’s role isn’t just about analyzing satellite imagery; it’s about coordinating real-time responses. “With Dynamic Targeting, we can command other satellites in a constellation to provide real-time updates as a fire develops. Could this capability extend to drones responding to wildfires? Absolutely.” View the full article

In a positive sign for the economy, headline inflation slowed in February. But the reading alone likely is not enough to break the Federal Open Market Committee out of its wait-and-see mode. View the full article

Microsoft's released its monthly Patch Tuesday update for March 2025 to fix 57 bugs across Windows, Office, Azure, and other Microsoft systems. Seven of the patches address zero-day vulnerabilities, six of which have been actively exploited. According to Bleeping Computer, this month's update fixes 23 elevation of privilege flaws, three security feature bypass flaws, 23 remote code execution flaws, four information disclosure flaws, one denial of service flaw, and three spoofing flaws. Microsoft also released patches to numerous vulnerabilities in Mariner and Microsoft Edge this month. Patch Tuesday fixes for MarchSeven of the flaws fixed were zero-day vulnerabilities, which allow bad actors to exploit systems before an official patch is released by developers. In this case, six of the seven zero-day vulnerabilities were actively exploited, while one was publicly exposed—so it's only a matter of time before actors exploit this seventh vulnerability, as well. Two of the six active exploits (CVE-2025-24985 and CVE-2025-24993) are remote code execution vulnerabilities, through which attackers trick users into mounting a malicious VHD file to run code remotely. One affects the Windows Fast FAT System Driver, while the other is a flaw in Windows NTFS. Two of the active exploits are information disclosure vulnerabilities, both in Windows NTFS. CVE-2025-24984 allows bad actors with physical access to a device to read memory and steal data when a malicious USB drive is inserted, while CVE-2025-24991 is exploited when a user mounts a malicious VHD file. Finally, there's CVE-2025-24983, a vulnerability in the Windows Win32 Kernel Subsystem that allows local attackers to gain system privileges on a device, and CVE-2025-26633, a security feature bypass vulnerability in the Microsoft Management Console. Microsoft says most of the exploited zero-days flaws were disclosed anonymously, though CVE-2025-24983 was identified by ESET and CVE-2025-26633 by Trend Micro. The publicly disclosed zero-day—labeled CVE-2025-26630 and discovered by Unpatched.ai—allows remote code execution in Microsoft Office Access if the user opens a file sent via a phishing or social engineering attack. Microsoft also released patches for six other "critical" vulnerabilities affecting Microsoft Office, Remote Desktop Client, Windows Domain Name Service, Windows Remote Desktop Services, and Windows Subsystem for Linux Kernel. How to install Microsoft's latest security updatesMicrosoft releases its Patch Tuesday fixes on the second Tuesday of every month at 10 a.m. PT and pushes notifications and security updates to users if needed. Windows and Microsoft security updates generally download and install automatically on your PC. To ensure your PC is updated, go to Start > Settings > Windows Update, and select Check for Windows updates. View the full article

City executives have urged chancellor to lower cap on tax-free savingsView the full article

Figure could pave the way for earlier Federal Reserve rate cutsView the full article

‘Ignored stocks’ outperform as Big Tech and banks slideView the full article