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This Once-a-Month Ozempic Rival Just Delivered Big Results

Having to take Ozempic or other weight loss drugs can be a real pain in the ass, with users often having to jab themselves once each week. In newly released clinical trial data, Amgen’s once-monthly experimental drug MariTide performed as well as or even better than the existing blockbuster GLP-1 medications semaglutide and tirzepatide. People taking MariTide consistently lost more weight than those on placebo, with some losing up to 20% of their baseline weight over a year’s time. Amgen is mov

The Power and Beauty of Incrementalism

This article is X-Posted from the Live Near Friends blog. Looking to buy your own friend compound? We have specialist real estate agents who help people make it happen in: San Francisco Bay Area • Seattle • Los Angeles • Washington, DC. Get in touch: [email protected]. I’ve seen a lot of our readers get blocked in their live-near-friends dreams by the size of their visions. They want a “bestie row” - a single block filled with 10 their friends. Or they want a rural compound on a hill w

The Download: how to clean up AI data centers, and weight-loss drugs’ side effects

In a sandy industrial lot outside Reno, Nevada, rows of battery packs that once propelled electric vehicles are now powering a small AI data center. Redwood Materials, one of the US’s largest battery recycling companies, showed off this array of energy storage modules, sitting on cinder blocks and wrapped in waterproof plastic, during a press tour at its headquarters on June 26. The event marked the launch of the company's new business line, Redwood Energy, which will initially repurpose (

An Internet Co-op for the People: How Ex-Spectrum Employees Are Making a Difference in the Bronx

In New York City, the vision of free, high-speed and community-owned internet was once more than just a dream. The People's Choice Communications, a worker- and community-owned internet cooperative, launched in 2020 -- and thanks to subsidies from the Affordable Connectivity Program, it successfully offered fast, cheap internet in the Bronx while the ACP was still active. "No one believed that we could actually build out the system," said Troy Walcott, president of People's Choice, "and then we

We’re learning more about what weight-loss drugs do to the body

We know they can suppress appetite, lower blood sugar, and lead to dramatic weight loss. We also know that they come with side effects, which can include nausea, diarrhea, and vomiting. But we are still learning about some of their other effects. On the one hand, these seemingly miraculous drugs appear to improve health in other ways, helping to protect against heart failure, kidney disease, and potentially even substance-use disorders, neurodegenerative diseases, and cancer. But on the other,

New IQ research shows why smarter people make better decisions

This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies . Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility: Credit: Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain A new study from the University of Bath's School of Management has found that individuals with a higher IQ make more realistic predictions, which supports better decision-making and can lead to improved life outcomes. The research, published in the Journal of Personality and Social

Some thoughts on my first YC Demo Day

This year was my first time attending YC Demo Day. It’s a fascinating event and, really a fascinating product for investors. Growing up in the bay area, I remember over a decade ago admiring people in YC. I was always impressed and it is a real privilege to be able to attend from the other side (as an investor). I went not because I am a prolific investor, I went because I thought that it would be a unique experience. The Product: Startups This seems obvious, but the startups are the produc

You've Probably Hit Your Protein Goal: Here's What Experts Think You Need Instead

There's plenty of healthy eating and workout trends that come and go over the years, but one topic seems to come up again and again: Protein. Contrary to what you may be hearing on social media, you're probably already getting all the protein you need. Similar to counting calories, the protein goals trend has gotten out of hand, causing people to buy expensive protein bars, shakes and slabs of meat. According to Dr. Andrew Freeman, a cardiologist at National Jewish Health in Denver, it's actual

People use AI for companionship much less than we’re led to believe

The overabundance of attention paid to how people are turning to AI chatbots for emotional support, sometimes even striking up relationships, often leads one to think such behavior is commonplace. A new report by Anthropic, which makes the popular AI chatbot Claude, reveals a different reality: In fact, people rarely seek out companionship from Claude and turn to the bot for emotional support and personal advice only 2.9% of the time. “Companionship and roleplay combined comprise less than 0.5

Salesforce CEO Claims Half of the Company’s Work Is Now Done by AI

While many companies that went all in on AI have since pulled back, Salesforce is going full steam ahead. In an interview with Bloomberg, CEO Marc Benioff claimed that as much as 30% to 50% of the company’s work is now completed by AI—though no word on how much of his role personally has been made redunant or how much of his $39.6 million in compensation that he’ll be giving up. “All of us have to get our head around this idea that AI could do things that before, we were doing, and we can move

45-hour voyage in replica canoe tests Paleolithic migration theory

Earlier this week, we reported on a Swedish archaeologist who spent the last three years sailing the fjords in a replica boat similar to those the Vikings may have used. Not to be outdone, Japanese researchers have followed suit, building their own seaworthy dugout canoe with Paleolithic-era tools to cross between Taiwan and Yonaguni Island, where one of the world’s strongest ocean currents, the Kuroshio, remains active. They presented their findings in two new papers published in the journal S

Brad Feld on ‘Give First’ and the art of mentorship (at any age)

Brad Feld has spent decades operating by a simple principle: Give without expecting anything in return. This philosophy goes beyond traditional pay-it-forward thinking, he says. It’s about helping others, knowing only that meaningful connections and opportunities will emerge organically over time if you do. The entrepreneur and VC, who began angel investing in the 1990s, rose to prominence through his candid blog “Feld Thoughts,” which pulled back the curtain on the then-secretive venture indus

People use AI for companionship much less than we’re led to think

The overabundance of attention paid to how people are turning to AI chatbots for emotional support, sometimes even striking up relationships, often leads one to think such behavior is commonplace. A new report by Anthropic, which makes the popular AI chatbot Claude, reveals a different reality: In fact, people rarely seek out companionship from Claude, and turn to the bot for emotional support and personal advice only 2.9% of the time. “Companionship and roleplay combined comprise less than 0.

Brad Feld on “Give First” and the art of mentorship (at any age)

Brad Feld has spent decades operating by a simple principle: give without expecting anything in return. This philosophy goes beyond traditional pay-it-forward thinking, he says. It’s about helping others, knowing only that meaningful connections and opportunities will emerge organically over time if you do. The entrepreneur and VC, who began angel investing in the 1990s, rose to prominence through his candid blog “Feld Thoughts,” which pulled back the curtain on the then-secretive venture indus

Playing First Contact in Eclipse, a 3-Day Sci-Fi Larp

Eclipse is a three-day sci-fi larp set in 2059. Earth has been wracked by environmental disasters, leading to widespread civil war. Humanity’s hopes lie in the Eclipse space programme, established to find a new home using wormhole technology. When the larp begins, all 150 players are in a base on Gliese 628A, one of seven candidate planets for colonisation. The three days take place in real time as the base initiates first contact with aliens. Like Arrival and Interstellar, twin inspirations fo

People Are Already Dropping Dead as Extreme Heat Scorches the US

In large swaths of these United States, people are already dying from this summer's brutal heat wave. According to St. Louis' KMOV, a 55-year-old woman was found dead in her apartment this week after her electricity had been shut off during this so-called "heat dome" phenomenon — which involves heat being trapped by atmospheric conditions, as if by a lid or a cap. Reporting from KSDK, another area broadcaster, indicated that the woman had been stranded in her apartment without air conditioning

From MIT to low Earth orbit

Coleman sits in the rear seat of a supersonic T-38 jet for pilot training as a newly minted NASA astronaut candidate in 1992. “When a chemist gets to fly a T-38, she will always be smiling,” she says. NASA On the day of Sally Ride’s talk, I hurried into 10-250, the large lecture hall beneath the Great Dome that is the emblem of MIT. Sandy Yulke, the chair of the Association of MIT Alumnae, was already introducing Sally. Sally. Just a first name. As if she were one of us. I slid into an empty se

RFK Jr. Wants Every American to Be Sporting a Wearable Within Four Years

The road to “make America healthy again” will apparently be paved with Apple Watches. Health and Human Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has just unveiled a campaign that will try to encourage the widespread use of wearables. RFK Jr. announced the initiative Tuesday afternoon during a House Energy and Commerce Health Subcommittee meeting to discuss the HHS’ budget request for the upcoming fiscal year. In response to a question from Senator Troy Balderson (R-Ohio) about wearables, Kennedy revealed

My "Are you presuming most people are stupid?" test

Sometimes when people talk about a problem in society, they strongly imply that most people are stupid. This is wrong. Most people aren’t super knowledgeable about a lot of specific facts about the world (only half of Americans can name the 3 branches of government) but they’re intelligent when it comes to their own lives and the areas they work and spend time in. We should expect the average person to struggle with factual questions about abstract ideas and far-off events, but not so much abou

Fewer Identity Theft Reports, Larger Losses: Here's What to Make of Latest Research

Is your data protected? Getty The Identity Theft Resource Center said Tuesday that fewer people contacted it for help over the past year, but also warned that new technologies, including artificial intelligence, are making it increasingly easier for cybercriminals to successfully victimize people. The ITRC mentions that, while fewer people are reporting crimes, the crimes that are reported represent greater financial loss. According to the ITRC's 2025 Trends In Identity Report, a total of 7,58

Google brings historical Street View imagery to Google Earth

Google announced on Tuesday that you can now access historical Street View imagery on Google Earth. Until now, you’ve only been able to access historical Street View imagery on Google Maps. Google says the launch will allow people to explore from even more viewpoints, whether it’s a bird’s eye view or at street level. Google is introducing the update to commemorate Google Earth’s 20th birthday. The launch comes as there was a social media trend last year that saw people visiting Google Maps to

Harvard hired researcher to uncover slavery ties, fires him for finding slaves

Jordan Lloyd had been praying for something big to happen. The 35-year-old screenwriter was quarantining in her apartment in North Hollywood in June 2020. Without any work projects to fill her days, she picked up the novel Roots, by Alex Haley, to reread. The novel tells the story of Kunta Kinte, Haley’s ancestor, who is captured and sold into slavery in the Gambia and then brought to Virginia, where he is forced to labor on a plantation. It was adapted into an Emmy-award winning television ser

Meta is ruining WhatsApp with ads, but I still can’t leave it

Edgar Cervantes / Android Authority When WhatsApp was acquired by Meta (then Facebook) over a decade ago, people immediately began to fairly speculate that ads would eventually seep into what had, until then, been a refreshingly ad-free messaging experience. And yet, quite surprisingly, WhatsApp managed to stay mostly unspoiled, even though bits of Instagram and Facebook (like Stories and Communities) kept sneaking in. That sunny stretch is starting to fade at last. If you’ve been following th

2B people don't have safe drinking water: what does this mean for them?

Two billion people don’t have safe drinking water: what does this really mean for them? For billions, it can mean hours spent collecting water. For almost a million, it means dying from disease. In the time it would take me to write the next sentence, I could get up, walk to the kitchen, and pour myself a glass of clean water. I’ve never had to worry about whether that water would make me sick. Almost six billion other people in the world share this reality. They have safe drinking water in th

Hinge CEO Justin McLeod says dating AI chatbots is ‘playing with fire’

Today, I’m talking with Hinge founder and CEO Justin McLeod. Hinge is one of the biggest dating apps in the United States — it’s rivaled only by Tinder, and both are owned by the massive conglomerate Match Group, which has consolidated a huge chunk of the online dating ecosystem. A fair warning here: I’ve never actually used a dating app — the algorithm that matched my wife and I was the university housing lottery, which put us in adjacent dorm rooms in the fall of 2000. And my wife is now a di

The X Window System didn't immediately have X terminals

For a while, X terminals were a reasonably popular way to give people comparatively inexpensive X desktops. These X terminals relied on X's network transparency so that only the X server had to run on the X terminal itself, with all of your terminal windows and other programs running on a server somewhere and just displaying on the X terminal. For a long time, using a big server and a lab full of X terminals was significantly cheaper than setting up a lab full of actual workstations (until inexp

From fear to fluency: Why empathy is the missing ingredient in AI rollouts

Join the event trusted by enterprise leaders for nearly two decades. VB Transform brings together the people building real enterprise AI strategy. Learn more While many organizations are eager to explore how AI can transform their business, its success will hinge not on tools, but on how well people embrace them. This shift requires a different kind of leadership rooted in empathy, curiosity and intentionality. Technology leaders must guide their organizations with clarity and care. People use

How to negotiate your salary package

The complete guide to salary negotiation for engineers and other professionals who think negotiating is morally questionable. Until I ran VaccinateCA my single most important career contribution might have been writing about salary negotiation. That essay has been read by millions of people. Of those people, a relatively small percentage send me email to tell me that the advice has worked for them. I previously kept a spreadsheet of the impact they shared with me, and it ticked over into eight

The cultural decline of literary fiction

Recently, there has been a lot of talk about the “decline of the literary (straight) (white) male.” The marginal benefit provided by an additional take on this topic, some clever new angle walking the tightrope between edgy and politically correct, is rapidly approaching zero. The problem with these articles—and the discourse as a whole—is that none of them go far enough. There is an impassable chasm between the stardom of Mailer, Updike, McCarthy, DFW, Franzen, etc and whoever is getting fello

The Cultural Decline of Literary Fiction

Recently, there has been a lot of talk about the “decline of the literary (straight) (white) male.” The marginal benefit provided by an additional take on this topic, some clever new angle walking the tightrope between edgy and politically correct, is rapidly approaching zero. The problem with these articles—and the discourse as a whole—is that none of them go far enough. There is an impassable chasm between the stardom of Mailer, Updike, McCarthy, DFW, Franzen, etc and whoever is getting fello