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In the about 1,000 days between her drunken-driving crash in May 2022 and her death, South Korean mainstream news organizations published at least around 2,000 stories on film actor Kim Sae-ron. They illustrate how the local media often cover a celebrity’s fall from grace. Previously one of the brightest young stars in South Korean cinema, Kim was condemned and ridiculed for driving drunk; for talking about her financial struggles after losing roles; for taking a job at a coffee shop; for attempting a comeback in theater; for going out with friends instead of “showing remorse”; and for being seen smiling on set while shooting an indie movie. After the 24-year-old actor …

A TikTok trend claims giving your baby a tablespoon or two of butter before bed will help them sleep better at night. “What if I told you my toddler was still waking up every 2 hours at almost 2 years old until I started giving her real grass fed butter before bed,” reads one TikTok post by creator @bridgette_.gray. Since then, her child has experienced “a week straight of sleeping almost 8 hours every night.” Another TikTok user @abbyexplainsitall calls butter (importantly, not margarine) the “best sleep hack for kids” and she lets hers eat “as much as they want.” The video currently has 279.8K views. In the caption she adds, “The fats help keep them sati…

Alphabet Inc’s Google is close to deciding on locations in its key market of India where it will open its first physical retail stores outside the United States, three sources familiar with the matter said. Google counts India as a key growth market, where it has committed to investing $10 billion. It currently has only five physical stores, all in the United States, which sell its products such as Pixel phones, watches, and earbuds. It is aiming to mirror a retail approach that helped Apple Inc. rake in billions of dollars in the past two decades by showcasing its own products. Apple has 500 plus stores worldwide. Google is in advanced stages of finalising lo…

David Beckham is entering the $152 billion supplement industry with IM8, a health and wellness brand launched in partnership with Prenetics. View the full article

There are plenty of questionable examples of companies shoehorning useless artificial intelligence features into their products (Meta’s AI-powered profiles say hello!), but finally, Crocs has found one that actually makes sense. The casual footwear brand has partnered with ABLO, an AI fashion design platform, to let people use AI to design their own Jibbitz charms. Crocs are already all about customization, a strategy that’s helped the brand grow its revenue 4% over last year. Jibbitz charms, which can be plugged into the holes on the shoes’ upper and heel strap, add an extra layer of personalization, and AI takes that to the next level. “We have Jibbitz for ever…

Birkenstock, the renowned German footwear brand, posted stronger-than-expected sales for its fiscal first quarter, fueled by strong holiday demand and the growing popularity of its closed-toe clogs. However, the company’s U.S.-listed shares (NYSE: BIRK) were down about 3% in premarket trading Thursday as of the time of this writing. Strong demand meets investor skepticism The company reported quarterly revenue of €361.7 million, exceeding analyst expectations of €356.2 million. However, it maintained its annual margin forecast, as Reuters reported. The drop in share price is likely related to a cautious outlook on profit margins for fiscal 2025, with inves…

The stock prices of quantum computing companies are surging in premarket trading this morning after Microsoft unveiled a new type of quantum computing chip yesterday, the Majorana 1. Here’s what you need to know about Microsoft’s breakthrough and its impact on the stock prices of quantum computing companies. What is Microsoft’s Majorana 1 chip? Things can get very complicated when discussing anything about quantum computing because the technology involves quantum physics—never a straightforward subject to discuss. However, in brief, quantum computing is a burgeoning field of computing that uses the properties of quantum physics to carry out computations. In cla…

In “The Mindset of Making,” Oliver Jeffers shared a compelling invitation: “Simply make as an extension of being alive.” His wisdom ignited my imagination. Too often, we associate creativity with being an artist, when all of us are creators. What might the world look like if we tapped into our innate creativity? “The world is a result of all of us as creators and storytellers,” Jeffers shares. “All human beings are is a collection of stories: There are the stories that we’re told, the stories that are told about us, and then the stories that we tell.” “We’re all born with this sense of surviving and then making—that is the reason that civilization flourishe…

The internet can be a great place to learn random life hacks and cry over anglerfish. But what about when it comes to managing your money? According to new data from Intuit Credit Karma, 77% of Gen Z and 61% of millennials are turning to social media for financial advice. Millennials mainly seek out YouTube, Facebook, and Instagram for information, while for Gen Z, TikTok has emerged as an unlikely hub for financial advice, under the hashtag FinTok. Here, content creators such as @YourRichBFF and @JohneFinance have combined followings of millions with videos that offer tips on everything from credit card rewards to flight costs to 401ks, crunched into less than a minu…

Microsoft on Wednesday unveiled a new chip that it said showed quantum computing is “years, not decades” away, joining Google and IBM in predicting that a fundamental change in computing technology is much closer than recently believed. Quantum computing holds the promise of carrying out calculations that would take today’s systems millions of years and could unlock discoveries in medicine, chemistry and many other fields where near-infinite seas of possible combinations of molecules confound classical computers. Quantum computers also hold the danger of upending today’s cybersecurity systems, where most encryption relies on the assumption that it would take too l…

The upside of friends, roommates, or family members sharing a multiline phone plan is everyone has a lower monthly bill. The downside, however, is one person is ultimately responsible for both paying that bill—and gathering what is owed to him or her from their friends each month. AT&T is offering a new way to divvy things up, though. The carrier, on Thursday, will introduce AT&T SplitPay, which will individually bill people on select shared wireless plans. The service will be available immediately. “College kids are Venmo-ing each other to share accounts,” says Erin Scarborough, AT&T’s President of Broadband & Connectivity Initiatives. “They’re h…

When you walk outside, you might be concerned about how a nearby idling car or a faraway factory are polluting the air you breathe. But when you’re inside, the products you use to make your home smell good—like wax melts, air fresheners, or diffusers—warrant the same worries. These products create nanoparticles that pollute your indoor air, at times even making the air inside your home more polluted than the urban outdoors. Researchers at Purdue University have been studying how everyday products create air pollution inside our homes. In a lab that resembles a tiny house—called the Purdue zero Energy Design Guidance for Engineers (zEDGE) lab—they study the emissions t…

Frustration is a common emotion. It’s a close cousin to anger, because both deal with your reaction to an obstacle that is preventing you from achieving your goals. Where they differ is that anger is (usually) directed outward at an external obstacle. The energy and rage that anger generates may be useful for trying to influence that external obstacle physically. Frustration is often directed at an internal or systemic obstacle that you can’t do much about. You may be frustrated because you don’t have the capability or time to do something, or may feel like some aspect of your company (or society) prevents you from accomplishing a goal. But frustration is often u…

The Fast Company Impact Council is a private membership community of influential leaders, experts, executives, and entrepreneurs who share their insights with our audience. Members pay annual membership dues for access to peer learning and thought leadership opportunities, events and more. Virgin lithium mining is a focal point for the U.S. and is necessary for the nation’s growth in the critical minerals market. Yet, there is another primary source to secure key battery materials (lithium, nickel, cobalt, and manganese), and that is recycling end-of-life and scrap batteries. Domestic sourcing is crucial to expanding our manufacturing efforts, and it’s imperative …