Microsoft Makes High-Stakes Play in Tech Cold War With Emirati A.I. Deal
Technology

Microsoft Makes High-Stakes Play in Tech Cold War With Emirati A.I. Deal

Microsoft on Tuesday plans to announce a $1.5 billion investment in G42, an artificial intelligence giant in the United Arab Emirates, in a deal largely orchestrated by the Biden administration to box out China as Washington and Beijing battle over who will exercise technological influence in the Gulf region and beyond.Under the partnership, Microsoft will give G42 permission to sell Microsoft services that use powerful A.I. chips, which are used to train and fine-tune generative A.I. models. In return, G42, which has been under scrutiny by Washington for its ties to China, will use Microsoft’s cloud services and accede to a security arrangement negotiated in detailed conversations with the U.S. government. It places a series of protections on the A.I. products shared with G42 and includes...
Why Better Times (and Big Raises) Haven’t Cured the Inflation Hangover
Economy

Why Better Times (and Big Raises) Haven’t Cured the Inflation Hangover

Some 64 percent of Pennsylvanians responding to a Quinnipiac poll in early January described their financial situation as excellent or good; 24 percent characterized it as “not so good,” and only 9 percent called it poor. But in the same survey, only 33 percent of Pennsylvanians described “the state of the nation’s economy” as excellent or good.Vocal frustration with more expensive gas and food, rent-raising landlords and premium-raising insurance companies still animates small talk among friends. Home prices have soared, a blessing for homeowners but a curse for those seeking to join their ranks. Child care and elder care costs, rising before the pandemic, are still ascending. (And beyond needs like auto insurance, there is annoyance with the $4 bag of chips in the checkout aisle, or a $1...
A Surprising Shadow Was Created by the Total Solar Eclipse
News

A Surprising Shadow Was Created by the Total Solar Eclipse

Viewers of last week’s solar eclipse were treated to stunning celestial phenomena up and down the event’s path during totality. But those who watched it from Montreal saw a pair of additional surprises in the half-hour before and after the eclipse, when the moon obstructed the sun on April 8.The first was an unusually sharp shadow caused by a passing airplane just after the total eclipse concluded. The second came in the form of a spectacular halo around the partially eclipsed sun.The plane passing over Montreal during the partial phase of the eclipse left a typical contrail in its wake. When this happens in full sunlight, the shadows cast by contrails on clouds are usually too diffuse to see. In this case, the sharpness of the shadows was explained by the eclipse.“Shortly after totality, ...
David Egilman, Doctor Who Took On Drug Companies, Dies at 71
Health

David Egilman, Doctor Who Took On Drug Companies, Dies at 71

Dr. David Egilman, a physician and expert witness who, over a 35-year span, gave testimony in some 600 trials involving corporate malfeasance, resulting in billions of dollars in awards for victims and their survivors, died on April 2 at his home in Foxborough, Mass. He was 71.The cause was cardiac arrest, his son Alex said.Many medical experts make a side business in court, offering their informed opinions on the witness stand and helping to validate or undermine plaintiffs’ claims. But few make it a career-long passion in the way Dr. Egilman did. He taught at Brown University and ran a private practice but spent most of his time consulting and testifying in as many as 15 cases a year.He did more than just opine from the stand. A dogged researcher, he dug up incriminating emails and memos...
Ryan Giggs and football: A very complicated relationship
Sports

Ryan Giggs and football: A very complicated relationship

The celebration was almost as glorious as the goal itself. The fuzz of chest hair, the twirling shirt, the body swerve to evade the Manchester United fans who had run on the pitch in their euphoria.On Sunday, it is 25 years since Patrick Vieira, a genuine great of Arsenal’s midfield, played a wayward pass amid the high drama of an FA Cup semi-final between the leading two English sides of the time.Ryan Giggs took the ball and then he was off and running, picking up speed from inside his own half, slaloming past opponents, one by one.Vieira tried to get back but Giggs, crossing the halfway line, dipped his shoulder to get away. Lee Dixon was next to come across. He, too, could not get near him.Arsenal had the most famously parsimonious defence in English football — yet Giggs had magic in hi...
Despite the Watch World’s Secrecy, Data Services Expand
Technology

Despite the Watch World’s Secrecy, Data Services Expand

Unlike the consumer goods, beverage or retail sectors, the note continued, there are no large consultancies publishing market share data on the Swiss watch sector. “This is due to the impracticality of conducting such surveys and the discreet nature of the Swiss watch industry,” it said.Perhaps no brand is more discreet, nor influential, than Rolex, which continues to dominate the market. According to Morgan Stanley’s seventh annual report, released in February, Rolex’s share is said to have grown — to 30.3 percent — on the strength of its 2023 sales, estimated to have topped 10 billion Swiss francs.Yet, because the company is said to forbid its authorized dealers from sharing point-of-sale data with third parties, Luxury Watch Barometer’s monthly reports don’t include the brand.The Pre-Ow...
Netflix’s New Film Strategy: More About the Audience, Less About Auteurs
Economy

Netflix’s New Film Strategy: More About the Audience, Less About Auteurs

Back in, say, 2019, if a filmmaker signed a deal with Netflix, it meant that he or she would be well paid and receive complete creative freedom. Theatrical release? Not so much. Still, the paycheck and the latitude — and the potential to reach the streaming service’s huge subscriber base — helped compensate for the lack of hoopla that comes when a traditional studio opens a film in multiplexes around the world.But those days are a thing of the past.Dan Lin arrived as Netflix’s new film chief on April 1, and he has already started making changes. He laid off around 15 people in the creative film executive group, including one vice president and two directors. (Netflix’s entire film department is around 150 people.) He reorganized his film department by genre rather than budget level and has...
Israel’s War Cabinet Is Set to Meet After Attack by Iran: Live Updates
News

Israel’s War Cabinet Is Set to Meet After Attack by Iran: Live Updates

The start of a direct military confrontation between Iran and Israel has brought renewed attention to Iran’s armed forces. Early this month, Israel attacked a building in Iran’s diplomatic compound in the Syrian capital, Damascus, killing seven of Iran’s senior commanders and military personnel.Iran vowed to retaliate, and did so about two weeks later, starting a broad aerial attack on Israel on Saturday involving hundreds of drones and missiles aimed at targets inside Israel and the territory it controls.Here’s a look at Iran’s military and its capabilities.Why is Iran’s military relevant right now?Israeli officials had said they would respond to any attack by Iran with a counterattack, which could prompt further retaliation from Iran and possibly expand into a wider regional war. There i...
PFAS ‘Forever Chemicals’ Are Pervasive in Water Worldwide, Study Finds
Health

PFAS ‘Forever Chemicals’ Are Pervasive in Water Worldwide, Study Finds

They’re in makeup, dental floss and menstrual products. They’re in nonstick pans and takeout food wrappers. Same with rain jackets and firefighting equipment, as well as pesticides and artificial turf on sports fields.They’re PFAS: a class of man-made chemicals called per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances. They are also called “forever chemicals” because the bonds in their chemical compounds are so strong they don’t break down for hundreds to thousands of years, if at all.They’re also in our water.A new study of more than 45,000 water samples around the world found that about 31 percent of groundwater samples tested that weren’t near any obvious source of contamination had PFAS levels considered harmful to human health by the Environmental Protection Agency. About 16 percent of surface water...
Fueled by donor spending spree, Ryan Day confident Ohio State can finally break through
Sports

Fueled by donor spending spree, Ryan Day confident Ohio State can finally break through

COLUMBUS, Ohio — At his postgame news conference following Ohio State’s 30-24 loss to Michigan last November, Buckeyes coach Ryan Day looked defeated and despondent. He surely realized at that moment that despite winning 88 percent of his games as a head coach, he and his program would now be defined by their unthinkable three-year losing streak to the Wolverines.Four-plus months later, sitting in his office at the Woody Hayes Athletic Center, the 45-year-old Day is smiling, giddy and seemingly at ease. He exudes the confidence of a coach who knows how loaded his roster is, after getting back nearly every one of Ohio State’s juniors who could have turned pro while adding some of the most accomplished transfers in the portal.“At Ohio State, you’ve got to beat the Team Up North and win every...