According to Wynn-Williams, the company now known as Meta worked directly with the Chinese Community Party (CCP) to “undermine U.S. national security and betray American values,” she said. She alleges that Facebook created custom-built censorship tools for the CCP, which gave a “chief editor” extensive power over content moderation to the point that they could choose to shut off service completely in certain regions of China or on certain dates, like the anniversary of the Tiananmen Square massacre. “Sarah Wynn-Williams' testimony is divorced from reality and riddled with false claims,” said Ryan Daniels, a Meta spokesperson, in a statement to TechCrunch. “While Mark Zuckerberg himself was public about our interest in offering our services in China and details were widely reported beginning over a decade ago, the fact is this: we do not operate our services in China today.” In March, she published a book about her time at Facebook called “Careless People: A Cautionary Tale of Power, Greed, and Lost Idealism.” 2 on The New York Times Best Sellers list under non-fiction. Meta told TechCrunch that the arbitration order does not prohibit her from speaking to Congress and that the company does not intend to interfere with her legal rights. Toward the end of Wynn-Williams' tenure in 2017, Facebook launched a photo-sharing app called Colorful Balloons in China, as well as an app called Moments. Wynn-Williams claims that Meta's relationship with the Chinese government runs deeper, though. In one email, it appeared that Facebook executives had discussed granting the CCP access to user data from China and Hong Kong. “Facebook appears to have been willing to provide the data of users in Hong Kong to the Chinese government at a time when pro-democracy protesters were opposing Beijing's crackdown,” Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) said, then asked Wynn-Williams if that is true. “As part of the censorship tool that was developed, there were virality counters — so any time a piece of content got over 10,000 views, that would automatically trigger it being reviewed by what they called the chief editor,” she said. Senator Blumenthal pointed out that Zuckerberg had previously denied under oath that Facebook had built censorship tools to enter the Chinese market. Wynn-Williams added that if Meta were to share Chinese user data with the Chinese government, from a technological perspective, she doesn't think there would be a way to avoid sharing user data from Americans who had interacted with Chinese users. She also claimed that Meta had briefed China on developments with various technologies like AI and facial recognition. Amanda Silberling is a senior writer at TechCrunch covering the intersection of technology and culture. She has also written for publications like Polygon, MTV, the Kenyon Review, NPR, and Business Insider. She is the co-host of Wow If True, a podcast about internet culture, with science fiction author Isabel J. Kim. Prior to joining TechCrunch, she worked as a grassroots organizer, museum educator, and film festival coordinator. Google is allegedly paying some AI staff to do nothing for a year rather than join rivals

Has Hawley demonstrated similar interest about Elon's business dealings in China? Elon owes much of his net worth to the CCP's Shanghai factory. They revised their proposal to build the link only as far as Taiwan and the Philippines, according to Bloomberg.Real talk, I have zero idea how she could explain this one away, other than with “it came to me in a dream.” They revised their proposal to build the link only as far as Taiwan and the Philippines, according to Bloomberg.Real talk, I have zero idea how she could explain this one away, other than with “it came to me in a dream.” They revised their proposal to build the link only as far as Taiwan and the Philippines, according to Bloomberg.Real talk, I have zero idea how she could explain this one away, other than with “it came to me in a dream.” > The cable, which was first announced in 2016 with support from Facebook, Google and other companies, was envisioned as a high-capacity fiberoptic undersea cable running thousands of miles under the Pacific Ocean connecting Los Angeles and Hong Kong.> Bloomberg reported in 2020 that Facebook, Google and other companies abandoned their plans to link the U.S. to Hong Kong. They revised their proposal to build the link only as far as Taiwan and the Philippines, according to Bloomberg.Real talk, I have zero idea how she could explain this one away, other than with “it came to me in a dream.” Real talk, I have zero idea how she could explain this one away, other than with “it came to me in a dream.” It doesn't in anyway invalidate the claims made against them. It's not clear to me why it matters that Chinese companies advertise on Facebook, nor in what way this would give them leverage to force Facebook to commit the treason alleged by this article.Without further evidence the story isn't really adding up. Without further evidence the story isn't really adding up. It would not require a partnership to buy stuff outside the country Unfortunately the western state has no intrinsic ideology, no intrinsic needs or goals, so it will lead to corruption or faux-adoption of external ideologies (as a means to serve private financial interests).Western governments cannot form genuine ideological movements (besides the ideology of economic pragmatism) IMO because their foundations aren't designed to support anything besides that. They are founded on the principles of individualism and limited state power. Western governments cannot form genuine ideological movements (besides the ideology of economic pragmatism) IMO because their foundations aren't designed to support anything besides that. They are founded on the principles of individualism and limited state power.

Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang appears to have struck a deal with the Trump administration to avoid export restrictions on the company's H20 AI chips. According to NPR, Huang made the proposal during a dinner at Trump's Mar-a-Lago resort sometime last week. Many in the semiconductor industry feared H20s, which are modified to have lower performance than other Nvidia chips, were headed for restrictions because they were reportedly one of the chips China-based DeepSeek used to train its R1 open AI model. Released in January, R1 made headlines for its strong performance relative to models from U.S.-based AI labs, including OpenAI. OpenAI teamed up with SoftBank and Oracle for a $500 billion U.S. data center initiative dubbed the Stargate Project in January. Microsoft pledged $80 billion to build AI data centers in its 2025 fiscal year, with 50% of that earmarked for the U.S. Trump has strong-armed certain partners to get his desired outcome. He reportedly told Taiwanese semiconductor company TSMC that it would have to pay a tax up to 100% if the company didn't build new chip factories in the U.S. A 25-year-old police drone founder just raised $75M led by Index Google is allegedly paying some AI staff to do nothing for a year rather than join rivals

Some 100 MHz boosts seem to be the only difference over OG Dragon Range. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. AMD has officially announced its Ryzen 8000HX Series of mobile CPUs today, intended for gaming and other high-end applications. Codenamed Dragon Range Refresh, the chips serve as a refresh of AMD's Ryzen 7000HX family, AMD's highest-performance laptop CPU line that has been in production since mid-2023. Coming in four unique SKUs, all aiming for high-end performance, the Ryzen 8000HX series comes in up to 16 cores and 32 threads, clocked at up to 5.4 GHz. The chips come with up to 80MB of total cache and are paired with Radeon 610M onboard graphics, a two-core graphics solution meant to be supplanted by a dedicated GPU. Dragon Range Refresh was leaked several times by AMD partners before its announcement today, with MSI and Asus prematurely announcing the chips in their new products several times since January. Originally expected to be announced at CES 2025, the Ryzen 9 8940HX was prematurely leaked in a listing for the ROG Strix G16 2025 yesterday, confirming its stats and speeds. The refresh doesn't seem to provide consumers with any serious boosts or differences in performance over Dragon Range's first go-around, as can be seen in the chart below. The refresh was also carried out with relatively little fanfare; where Intel's lackluster 2024 Raptor Lake Refresh was highly advertised and marketed, Dragon Range Refresh was heralded by a simple, graphic-less press release and a few new product pages on the AMD website. Clearly, the 8000 HX series is not seeking to be a bold new step for AMD, but a simple sidegrade, likely at some cost advantage thanks to reusing old wafer designs. Get Tom's Hardware's best news and in-depth reviews, straight to your inbox. Major laptop brands will likely begin offering laptops containing the Ryzen 8000HX series soon. Those looking for the best in laptop performance will likely seek out 8000HX, but those not needing the best and brightest can turn to now-last-gen 7000HX machines as long as they hang around. He has been building and breaking computers since 2017, serving as the resident youngster at Tom's. From APUs to RGB, Dallin has a handle on all the latest tech news. Tom's Hardware is part of Future US Inc, an international media group and leading digital publisher.

Paying the USDS an estimated $1.3 million for the services of four employees, or their equivalent, over that timespan would establish an implied annualized pay of about $217,000. (The federal pay scale for career civil servants tops out at $195,200.) DOGE has spent the last few months ripping through the government, gutting agencies, and pushing out tens of thousands of federal workers in an effort, Musk has said, to eliminate “waste and fraud” and achieve savings of about $1 trillion. As part of this plan, Musk has previously stated that DOGE staffers would cost taxpayers nothing. This $1.3 million figure, coupled with previous WIRED reporting about DOGE salaries, tells a different story. Musk did not immediately respond to a request for comment. While the agreement does not include the names of individual DOGE operatives, Aram Moghaddassi, Miles Collins, and Marko Elez are named as being at the agency in notes from a March 18 meeting previously reported by WIRED. In addition to other documents obtained by WIRED, the meeting notes, marked “Internal/Confidential,” detail an audit the Government Accountability Office (GAO) is conducting of DOGE's work throughout a number of federal agencies. Moghaddassi and Elez have appeared as DOGE operatives at other federal agencies. Moghaddassi has worked at a number of Musk's companies, including X, Tesla, and Neuralink; according to previous WIRED reporting tracking DOGE operatives, he has also been linked to the Treasury Department. Elez, a 25-year-old engineer who has worked at Musk's X and SpaceX, has also gained access at the Treasury and Social Security Administration. Elez briefly resigned from DOGE after racist comments posted by an account he was linked to were discovered by The Wall Street Journal. Elez returned to DOGE after Musk and Vice President JD Vance posted in defense of him on X. Moghaddassi, Collins, and Elez did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The interagency agreement goes into highly specific detail about what DOGE affiliates are and aren't allowed to do at the DOL. In the section detailing the “scope of work” DOGE will undertake, the interagency agreement states that “USDS employees will work to support DOL's DOGE team IT modernization under the executive order.” (DOGE teams housed within agencies are distinct from USDS and can include career civil servants as well as DOGE affiliates, who may be directly employed by or detailed to the agency in question.) The following is listed under DOGE's “scope of work”: Terms on the interagency agreement require DOGE to provide DOL with 24 hours' notice before “seeking access to each DOL system.” USDS workers are also required to review and sign a form for access to different processes or systems at the agency and cannot use data, information, or documents from DOL systems without written permission from DOL's Office of the Chief Information Officer. WIRED may earn a portion of sales from products that are purchased through our site as part of our Affiliate Partnerships with retailers. The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of Condé Nast.

NSO Group's notorious spyware Pegasus was used to target 1,223 WhatsApp users in 51 different countries during a 2019 hacking campaign, according to a new court document. At the time, WhatsApp said around 1,400 users had been targeted. Now, an exhibit published in the court document shows exactly in what countries 1,223 specific victims were located when they were targeted with NSO Group's Pegasus spyware. There are also victims in Western countries like Spain (12 victims), the Netherlands (11), Hungary (8), France (7), United Kingdom (2), and one victim in the United States. “Numerous news articles have been written over the years documenting use of Pegasus to target victims around the world,” said Runa Sandvik, a cybersecurity expert who's been tracking victims of government spyware for years. Contact Us Do you have more information about NSO Group, or other spyware companies? Another piece of data that shows the scale of the government spyware problem is that the hacking campaign targeting WhatsApp users occurred over a period of only two months, “between in and around April 2019 and May 2019,” as WhatsApp wrote in its original complaint. It's possible that a government customer could be using Pegasus to target someone outside of the country. As CTech noted, Syria appears on the victim list, but NSO Group cannot export its technology to Syria, a country that's sanctioned by countries all over the world. The number of victims also gives an insight into who may be NSO Group's highest-paying customers. Companies like NSO Group, and other predecessors like Hacking Team and FinFisher, determine what price to offer their surveillance products to their customers in part by the number of targets that can be concurrently infected with the spyware. Mexico, for example, was reported to have spent more than $60 million on NSO Group's spyware, according to a 2023 New York Times article that cited Mexican officials, which could explain why there are so many Mexican targets in this list. Last year, WhatsApp scored an historic victory when the judge presiding over the lawsuit ruled that NSO Group had breached U.S. hacking laws by targeting WhatsApp users. NSO Group did not respond to a request for comment. IBM releases a new mainframe built for the age of AI Google is allegedly paying some AI staff to do nothing for a year rather than join rivals

Citizenship and Immigration Services, which is a part of DHS, will monitor social media content that it says is “endorsing, espousing, promoting, or supporting antisemitic terrorism, antisemitic terrorist organizations, or other antisemitic activity,” according to the statement. “There is no room in the United States for the rest of the world's terrorist sympathizers, and we are under no obligation to admit them or let them stay here,” said DHS Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs Tricia McLaughlin. Noem has made it clear that anyone who thinks they can come to America and hide behind the First Amendment to advocate for anti-Semitic violence and terrorism—think again. The definition of “antisemitism” isn't defined by DHS and has been used as a pretext by U.S. authorities in recent weeks to revoke the visas of international students who have done nothing antisemitic, but instead have simply spoken out against the war in Gaza. Rumeysa Ozturk, a PhD student at Tufts University, was recently abducted by masked agents of the state near Boston. The secret police wore no uniform and yet just picked up Ozturk because the government says she engaged in “antisemitism,” and support for “terrorists.” But her only crime appears to have been writing an opinion piece in the student newspaper calling for an end to Israel's war on Gaza. Ozturk was quickly flown to an ICE detention facility thousands of miles away in Louisiana, and she has reportedly been denied access to an inhaler during asthma attacks, a clear human rights violation. Other activists who've said and done nothing even remotely antisemitic have also been abducted by secret police in recent weeks, including Mahmoud Khalil who's married to a U.S. citizen. Khalil, who led pro-Palestine protests at Columbia University, has been charged with no crime but the U.S. government is still trying to deport him under the guise of fighting antisemitism. Columbia University, like many other universities around the U.S., had $400 million in federal funding threatened by the Trump regime before it agreed to place its Middle Eastern, South Asian, and African Studies Department into federal receivership, effectively allowing Trump's government to determine how the department functions. The Secretary of Homeland Security, Kristi Noem, recently visited the notorious prison, posing for a photo-op that will certainly be in textbooks of the future about America's descent into fascism under President Trump. For his part, Trump has repeatedly said extremely antisemitic things while still pledging support for Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Ms. Rachel, whose real name is Rachel Griffin Accurso, has been accused of disseminating “Hamas-aligned propaganda to her millions of followers” by @StopAntisemitism, which says it has made a referral to the U.S. Department of Justice. Ms. Rachel's “propaganda” includes such inflammatory lines as, “I care deeply for all children. The war in Gaza rages on, with the latest airstrike in Gaza City killing at least 23 people on Wednesday, including eight children, and leaving dozens more wounded, according to the New York Times. Roughly 20 people are reportedly missing in the rubble of this new airstrike, but there isn't enough equipment to search, the newspaper reports. But if you're an immigrant to the U.S., pointing out this simple fact might not only get you denied entry to the country. You could be sent to an ICE concentration camp or possibly worse, based on the trajectory of the Trump regime's actions. Get the best tech, science, and culture news in your inbox daily. News from the future, delivered to your present. "We will track down leakers and prosecute them to the fullest extent of the law," a spokesperson for DHS said. The promise comes as a Tufts student faces deportation over an op-ed. The fires been described as terrorism by federal authorities. CBP denies the researcher was turned away for political reasons. The Israeli prime minister previously gave Donald Trump one too. We may earn a commission when you buy through links on our sites.

Now the company is launching a program to fix how AI models are scored. The new OpenAI Pioneers Program will focus on creating evaluations for AI models that “set the bar for what good looks like,” as OpenAI phrased it in a blog post. “Creating domain-specific evals are one way to better reflect real-world use cases, helping teams assess model performance in practical, high-stakes environments.” Many widely used AI benchmarks measure performance on esoteric tasks, like solving doctorate-level math problems. Others can be gamed, or don't align well with most people's preferences. Through the Pioneers Program, OpenAI hopes to create benchmarks for specific domains like legal, finance, insurance, healthcare, and accounting. “We're selecting a handful of startups for this initial cohort, each working on high-value, applied use cases where AI can drive real-world impact.” Companies in the program will also have the opportunity to work with OpenAI's team to create model improvements via reinforcement fine tuning, a technique that optimizes models for a narrow set of tasks, OpenAI says. But partnering with customers to release AI tests may be seen as an ethical bridge too far. Google is allegedly paying some AI staff to do nothing for a year rather than join rivals

You should probably get tests done to be sure.I have MS, I take daily 10k IU. High-dose Vitamin D reduces disease activity in early multiple sclerosis onset (91 points, 15 days ago, 52 comments) https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=43469661Over 80% of Covid-19 patients in a hospital study have Vitamin D deficiency (654 points, 4 years ago, 363 comments) https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=24912172Adequate Vitamin D Levels Cuts Risk of Dying from Covid-19 in Half, Study Finds (372 points, 5 years ago, 211 comments) https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=24607645 Over 80% of Covid-19 patients in a hospital study have Vitamin D deficiency (654 points, 4 years ago, 363 comments) https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=24912172Adequate Vitamin D Levels Cuts Risk of Dying from Covid-19 in Half, Study Finds (372 points, 5 years ago, 211 comments) https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=24607645 Adequate Vitamin D Levels Cuts Risk of Dying from Covid-19 in Half, Study Finds (372 points, 5 years ago, 211 comments) https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=24607645 >Vitamin D supplementation to prevent acute respiratory infections: systematic review and meta-analysis of stratified aggregate dataWhat with HN's 80 character limit something had to go!I apologize for making it "misleading" but what would you have done? I apologize for making it "misleading" but what would you have done? In peak summer with being outdoors 2+ hours every day my Vit D was 30 (<30 is inadequate) and drank fortified almond milk daily. In winter it drops to 20 with similar outdoor time. And how do you know the one type of mushroom actually gets the right light to have natural Vit D—-raw ingredients like mushrooms don't usually have nutrition labels. Maybe someone will share a well informed diet that contradicts my doctor.I get the sense that you have to eat a lot of fish, which introduces heavy metal concerns because of modern fishing, which is why my doctor went the route he did. And how do you know the one type of mushroom actually gets the right light to have natural Vit D—-raw ingredients like mushrooms don't usually have nutrition labels. I get the sense that you have to eat a lot of fish, which introduces heavy metal concerns because of modern fishing, which is why my doctor went the route he did. And how do you know the one type of mushroom actually gets the right light to have natural Vit D—-raw ingredients like mushrooms don't usually have nutrition labels. There's some more theory that Vitamin K administered at the same time might help.It could be safer to do 5,000 IU seven days a week than spikes of 50K once a week.Watch out, though. I was on a similar daily dose and ended up with Vitamin D levels touching the upper limit. Too much Vitamin D is not good for you.> and drank fortified almond milk daily.Can't say without seeing the labels, but I wouldn't expect a cup of almond milk to have more than 10-20% of your daily value. I was on a similar daily dose and ended up with Vitamin D levels touching the upper limit. Too much Vitamin D is not good for you.> and drank fortified almond milk daily.Can't say without seeing the labels, but I wouldn't expect a cup of almond milk to have more than 10-20% of your daily value. I was on a similar daily dose and ended up with Vitamin D levels touching the upper limit. Too much Vitamin D is not good for you.> and drank fortified almond milk daily.Can't say without seeing the labels, but I wouldn't expect a cup of almond milk to have more than 10-20% of your daily value. > and drank fortified almond milk daily.Can't say without seeing the labels, but I wouldn't expect a cup of almond milk to have more than 10-20% of your daily value. Can't say without seeing the labels, but I wouldn't expect a cup of almond milk to have more than 10-20% of your daily value. No more than 10 mL/day is necessary.At least at the analysis reports that I have seen in the EU, fish oil has never been found with high content of mercury, even if the fish from which it has been extracted are likely to have been contaminated with mercury. Moreover, cod liver oil is sold in the EU as recommended for children and pregnant women. I doubt that any company would have the guts to sell such products here without taking care to make frequent chemical analyses to ensure that the product is never contaminated.Chicken liver is also rich in vitamin D, but it is not advisable to eat great quantities, because it may contain too much vitamin A (which is toxic in excessive amounts). The amount of vitamin A in chicken liver or turkey liver is pretty much unpredictable, because it may vary by more than an order of magnitude between various producers, depending on how they feed the birds.Most vitamin D3 pills contain vitamin D3 that is produced from sheep wool (i.e. from lanolin). At least at the analysis reports that I have seen in the EU, fish oil has never been found with high content of mercury, even if the fish from which it has been extracted are likely to have been contaminated with mercury. Moreover, cod liver oil is sold in the EU as recommended for children and pregnant women. I doubt that any company would have the guts to sell such products here without taking care to make frequent chemical analyses to ensure that the product is never contaminated.Chicken liver is also rich in vitamin D, but it is not advisable to eat great quantities, because it may contain too much vitamin A (which is toxic in excessive amounts). The amount of vitamin A in chicken liver or turkey liver is pretty much unpredictable, because it may vary by more than an order of magnitude between various producers, depending on how they feed the birds.Most vitamin D3 pills contain vitamin D3 that is produced from sheep wool (i.e. from lanolin). The amount of vitamin A in chicken liver or turkey liver is pretty much unpredictable, because it may vary by more than an order of magnitude between various producers, depending on how they feed the birds.Most vitamin D3 pills contain vitamin D3 that is produced from sheep wool (i.e. from lanolin). https://www.dietaryguidelines.gov/resources/2020-2025-dietar...I recommend saving a copy of .gov website sources in case the regime decides it is unacceptable speech. I recommend saving a copy of .gov website sources in case the regime decides it is unacceptable speech. Note the article is "food sources" so it includes fortified (dairy, juice) which do not contain vitamin D naturally. Therefore it is not advisable to count on it as a source of vitamin D.There has been a company that has claimed that they have discovered a species of lichen that contains true vitamin D. Nevertheless, their advertising has seemed highly suspicious and it looked more like a scheme to separate naive vegans from their money.Even if it were true, exploiting wild lichen would be much more unethical than eating the normal vitamin D3 supplements made from sheep wool. There has been a company that has claimed that they have discovered a species of lichen that contains true vitamin D. Nevertheless, their advertising has seemed highly suspicious and it looked more like a scheme to separate naive vegans from their money.Even if it were true, exploiting wild lichen would be much more unethical than eating the normal vitamin D3 supplements made from sheep wool. Even if it were true, exploiting wild lichen would be much more unethical than eating the normal vitamin D3 supplements made from sheep wool. most milk sold in the US is Vitamin D fortified. * Adding more Vit D doesn't appear to meaningfully prevent upper respiratory infections. * However, being deficient in Vit D appears to be correlated with a meaningful number of D deficient people who do happen to get an upper respiratory infection having a more serious impact. Basically, a higher percentage of deficient people (but certainly far from all) appear to have worse symptoms for longer and have more trouble fighting the infection off. Whether that just means an extra day of feeling under the weather or that you join the very small percentage of those hospitalized for upper respiratory infection depends on the other factors you already know (age, overall health, etc) much more than on Vit D deficiency. But Vit D deficiency is very probably in the top 5 somewhere behind the two statistical Godzillas at the top, age and overall health (which are overwhelmingly correlated).This is only worth talking about because a fairly significant number of people are Vit D deficient at least some of the time (probably more than 20% but less than half). Who and how much depends on where they live, lifestyle, age, diet, time of year and there is also a genetic propensity for deficiency that's primarily based on race.Bottom line: If you're Vit D deficient then it may be a good idea to supplement a little Vit D which is cheap, easy and extremely low risk (Note: nothing is ever zero risk across a large enough population but supplementing a small amount of Vit D is about as safe as these things ever get). It may be especially worth considering if you're in a statistically higher risk group, location and/or season. So, if you're at elevated risk and can't be younger or healthier, at least don't be Vit D deficient too. Mega-dosing can definitely be harmful, so please don't. Starting oral supplements once you have symptoms is also too late to matter.In terms of confidence levels, my sense was there's pretty clearly a meaningful correlation here but causation and relative effect are fuzzy. However, the Vit D correlation is far less than age or overall health (which are overwhelmingly large). The challenge is looking at it the other way, from the front end, where it gets pretty fuzzy trying to tease out high confidence causal data, narrow other factor's contributions or derive a degree of impact specific to Vit D. There are a lot of potentially confounding factors and Vit D is not usually checked in many blood work panels unless there's a reason to. For example, the question: "Does being Vit D deficient meaningfully increase susceptibility to infection?" I don't think there's sufficiently clear data to make any judgement. * However, being deficient in Vit D appears to be correlated with a meaningful number of D deficient people who do happen to get an upper respiratory infection having a more serious impact. Basically, a higher percentage of deficient people (but certainly far from all) appear to have worse symptoms for longer and have more trouble fighting the infection off. Whether that just means an extra day of feeling under the weather or that you join the very small percentage of those hospitalized for upper respiratory infection depends on the other factors you already know (age, overall health, etc) much more than on Vit D deficiency. But Vit D deficiency is very probably in the top 5 somewhere behind the two statistical Godzillas at the top, age and overall health (which are overwhelmingly correlated).This is only worth talking about because a fairly significant number of people are Vit D deficient at least some of the time (probably more than 20% but less than half). Who and how much depends on where they live, lifestyle, age, diet, time of year and there is also a genetic propensity for deficiency that's primarily based on race.Bottom line: If you're Vit D deficient then it may be a good idea to supplement a little Vit D which is cheap, easy and extremely low risk (Note: nothing is ever zero risk across a large enough population but supplementing a small amount of Vit D is about as safe as these things ever get). It may be especially worth considering if you're in a statistically higher risk group, location and/or season. So, if you're at elevated risk and can't be younger or healthier, at least don't be Vit D deficient too. Starting oral supplements once you have symptoms is also too late to matter.In terms of confidence levels, my sense was there's pretty clearly a meaningful correlation here but causation and relative effect are fuzzy. However, the Vit D correlation is far less than age or overall health (which are overwhelmingly large). The challenge is looking at it the other way, from the front end, where it gets pretty fuzzy trying to tease out high confidence causal data, narrow other factor's contributions or derive a degree of impact specific to Vit D. There are a lot of potentially confounding factors and Vit D is not usually checked in many blood work panels unless there's a reason to. For example, the question: "Does being Vit D deficient meaningfully increase susceptibility to infection?" I don't think there's sufficiently clear data to make any judgement. This is only worth talking about because a fairly significant number of people are Vit D deficient at least some of the time (probably more than 20% but less than half). Who and how much depends on where they live, lifestyle, age, diet, time of year and there is also a genetic propensity for deficiency that's primarily based on race.Bottom line: If you're Vit D deficient then it may be a good idea to supplement a little Vit D which is cheap, easy and extremely low risk (Note: nothing is ever zero risk across a large enough population but supplementing a small amount of Vit D is about as safe as these things ever get). It may be especially worth considering if you're in a statistically higher risk group, location and/or season. So, if you're at elevated risk and can't be younger or healthier, at least don't be Vit D deficient too. Starting oral supplements once you have symptoms is also too late to matter.In terms of confidence levels, my sense was there's pretty clearly a meaningful correlation here but causation and relative effect are fuzzy. However, the Vit D correlation is far less than age or overall health (which are overwhelmingly large). The challenge is looking at it the other way, from the front end, where it gets pretty fuzzy trying to tease out high confidence causal data, narrow other factor's contributions or derive a degree of impact specific to Vit D. There are a lot of potentially confounding factors and Vit D is not usually checked in many blood work panels unless there's a reason to. For example, the question: "Does being Vit D deficient meaningfully increase susceptibility to infection?" I don't think there's sufficiently clear data to make any judgement. Bottom line: If you're Vit D deficient then it may be a good idea to supplement a little Vit D which is cheap, easy and extremely low risk (Note: nothing is ever zero risk across a large enough population but supplementing a small amount of Vit D is about as safe as these things ever get). It may be especially worth considering if you're in a statistically higher risk group, location and/or season. So, if you're at elevated risk and can't be younger or healthier, at least don't be Vit D deficient too. Starting oral supplements once you have symptoms is also too late to matter.In terms of confidence levels, my sense was there's pretty clearly a meaningful correlation here but causation and relative effect are fuzzy. However, the Vit D correlation is far less than age or overall health (which are overwhelmingly large). The challenge is looking at it the other way, from the front end, where it gets pretty fuzzy trying to tease out high confidence causal data, narrow other factor's contributions or derive a degree of impact specific to Vit D. There are a lot of potentially confounding factors and Vit D is not usually checked in many blood work panels unless there's a reason to. For example, the question: "Does being Vit D deficient meaningfully increase susceptibility to infection?" I don't think there's sufficiently clear data to make any judgement. In terms of confidence levels, my sense was there's pretty clearly a meaningful correlation here but causation and relative effect are fuzzy. However, the Vit D correlation is far less than age or overall health (which are overwhelmingly large). The challenge is looking at it the other way, from the front end, where it gets pretty fuzzy trying to tease out high confidence causal data, narrow other factor's contributions or derive a degree of impact specific to Vit D. There are a lot of potentially confounding factors and Vit D is not usually checked in many blood work panels unless there's a reason to. For example, the question: "Does being Vit D deficient meaningfully increase susceptibility to infection?" I don't think there's sufficiently clear data to make any judgement. This condition has been getting more common since so many people are supplementing. This leads a lot of people into slowly overdosing over several years. I just mean that to demonstrate that it's possible for some healthy adults to take a pretty significant amount every single day and have perfectly reasonable blood levels. Therefore a deficiency here is an indicator of sedentary, indoor, face-in-a-screen lifestyles that risk all sorts of poor health conditions.The solution to D deficiency is to manufacture it by touching grass, enjoying sunlight (unprotected!!!) You need something that isn't in the winter sunlight at all.

Research out this week might help you plan your own version of the Ozempic diet, with the results of a survey revealing the foods that people tend to avoid, or eat less of, once they start taking GLP-1 drugs. They found that people were most likely to reduce their consumption of certain food groups, such as soft drinks and beef. Notably, though, people's desires for these foods didn't completely go away. Ozempic and Similar Drugs Could Help Ward Off Dementia, Study Suggests According to the study researchers, however, there's still a lot we don't know about exactly how GLP-1 drugs change people's behavior and eating patterns. All of the respondents were asked to estimate their daily caloric intake over the past seven days, along with questions about how much they desired specific food groups. As expected, people on GLP-1 therapy appeared to eat less overall than others and less than they did prior to starting the medication. The researchers estimated that people taking GLP-1 drugs ate between 720 and 990 fewer calories than before they started treatment. They also observed that GLP-1 users tended to consume fewer processed foods, sugar-sweetened beverages, refined grains, and beef. “In conclusion, this study provides evidence that GLP-1s support weight management through calorie reduction and influence food consumption patterns by diminishing intake of high-calorie and processed foods,” the researchers wrote in their paper, published last month in the journal Food Quality and Preference. Interestingly enough, though, people taking GLP-1 drugs still reported having a high desire for these foods. That suggests, the researchers say, that GLP-1s might change people's eating patterns by enhancing their taste sensitivity and/or altering their pleasure response to food. But more research is needed to work out the “specific physiological and metabolic pathways” affected by GLP-1 use, they add. Either way, these findings should help inform people about what to expect when starting GLP-1 therapy, not to mention the junk and snack food industry. Some companies have already started to prepare for this impact, with the launching of less sugary products aimed at people taking GLP-1 drugs. Get the best tech, science, and culture news in your inbox daily. A new review of clinical trial data finds evidence that GLP-1 drugs can meaningfully reduce dementia risk in people with type 2 diabetes. Stanford Medicine researchers have identified a promising, naturally occurring molecule that could help people lose weight—without the nauseating symptoms now commonly seen with GLP-1 drugs. New research suggests humans and labradors might be predisposed to gaining weight for similar reasons. A new case study is the latest to suggest that GLP-1 therapy can tamp down people's unhealthy cravings of drugs like alcohol and cocaine. We may earn a commission when you buy through links on our sites.

This article is part of Gizmodo Deals, produced separately from the editorial team. We may earn a commission when you buy through links on the site. Shopping for streaming devices for your TV almost always boils down to just two questions: How fast is it, and how much does it cost? You can switch from streaming to cable and from cable to your gaming console by using only voice commands. The included Alexa Voice Remote Enhanced also virtually eliminates the need for multiple remotes — power, volume, channel surfing, and more are all unified in one voice-activated remote. Your favorite movies and shows that you've only seen in HD will take on a new life entirely when you see them in 4K for the first time. Nothing kills a streaming experience like a slow connection that causes content to load slowly, and then pause or stop repeatedly just when you're getting into the show. The Fire TV Cube is the first Wi-Fi 6E streaming device, and when you pair it with a 6E compatible router, your days of laggy performance are over. This latest version of the Fire TV Cube also has an Ethernet port for wired network connections. The Fire TV Cube is universally connectible with all of Amazon's many smart devices, including Echos that can be used as speakers and Ring video doorbells. With this 21% deal in place you can upgrade your streaming to the Amazon Fire TV Cube for just $110, but it's a limited-time offer, so be as fast as the Fire TV Cube and head to Amazon now. Get the best tech, science, and culture news in your inbox daily. News from the future, delivered to your present. We may earn a commission when you buy through links on our sites.

A newly discovered asteroid is on track for a close brush with Earth—and it might even slam into the Moon. Recently, astronomers got a closer look at the giant space rock, revealing its violent origin story. Using the Keck Observatory on Maunakea, Hawaiʻi Island, a team of astronomers was able to identify the physical properties of asteroid 2024 YR4 and uncover its potential origin. It also likely originated from an asteroid family in the main asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter—an unlikely place for Earth-crossing asteroids to come from. “The shape of the asteroid provides us with clues as to how it formed, and what its structural integrity is,” Bryce Bolin, research scientist with Eureka Scientific, said in a statement. “Knowing these properties is crucial for determining how much effort or what kind of technique needs to be used to deflect the asteroid if it is deemed a threat.” This research is set for publication in The Astrophysical Journal Letters. Shortly after its discovery, NASA designated it a potentially hazardous object, with a nearly 3% chance of hitting Earth on December 22, 2032. After giving us quite the scare (or something to look forward to), NASA removed 2024 YR4 from its naughty list when calculations showed that the asteroid had a near-zero chance of hitting Earth. Earth Is Safe From Menacing Asteroid—but Our Moon Might Take the Hit If it does hit, the asteroid will not alter the Moon's orbit, and instead leave behind a fresh and sizable impact crater. “If it does, it would give scientists a rare chance to study how the size of an asteroid relates to the size of the crater it creates—something we haven't been able to measure directly before.” It has a flattened, irregular shape, and is about the same density as a solid rock, according to the new study. The asteroid spins in a retrograde direction once every 20 minutes. Larger asteroids that are 100 meters (328 feet) or more are often called “rubble piles,” and are the remaining fragments that broke off from a larger parent asteroid in the aftermath of a collision. Rubble piles are, as the name suggests, broken-off pieces that clump together to form a loosely held asteroid. There are often large boulders that sit at the top of rubble pile asteroids. At its smaller size, 2024 YR4 may have once been a boulder that sat on the surface of a large rubble pile asteroid, according to the study. As their orbits evolve, the asteroids are then kicked off onto a trajectory that sends them toward Earth. Since then, the space rock has moved away from us, and its next close approach won't be until December 2028. Ground-based telescopes from the International Asteroid Warning Network have been tracking the asteroid, but it will be too faint to observe until June 2028, according to NASA. “The data from our study will be used to assess the physical properties and shapes of potentially impacting asteroids, providing a great test case on the kind of rapid response observations that are necessary to characterize a potential threat like this object,” Bolin said. “The physical information about an asteroid's physical property (rubble pile vs solid rock) is crucial for planning mitigation efforts if necessary.” Get the best tech, science, and culture news in your inbox daily. News from the future, delivered to your present. New Webb Telescope data confirms that asteroid 2024 YR4 poses no threat to Earth during its 2032 flyby. Firefly's Blue Ghost witnessed Earth blocking out the Sun from its point of view on the Moon, while we experienced a lunar eclipse on Earth. We may earn a commission when you buy through links on our sites.

If you buy something using links in our stories, we may earn a commission. That's the advice right-to-repair advocates are giving anyone worried about how the tariffs will hit their wallets—and collections of electronic gadgets. Trade tariffs touch nearly every product, especially when they're as widespread and sky-high as the ones president Trump announced on April 3. Components used to assemble devices are usually built in manufacturing plants in countries like China, Vietnam, Taiwan, and Cambodia, which are now being hit with tariffs of 30 to 50 percent. While the price increases as a result of this have not yet gone into effect—and are difficult to fully predict—these economic proclamations have already had broad repercussions. The economic turmoil and uncertainty make the prospect of buying a new device, especially an already pricey smartphone, laptop, or gaming console, seem like it's going to become a lot more expensive. And if buying something new becomes harder and harder, it makes more sense to keep what you already have going strong. “Right to repair could not have come sooner,” says Kyle Wiens, CEO of the repairability company iFixit. Right-to-repair efforts—actions by consumer advocates intended to raise public awareness and force companies to make devices more repairable—have been in the works for decades. In recent years, the push has made great strides. In 2024, the European Union instituted a ruling that requires companies to make devices more repairable. As tariffs kick in and a global trade war ignites, the parallels start to feel very similar. “We don't know what's going to happen,” Wiens says. Wiens suggests that people should prepare for new device prices to increase by 50 percent or more. If you apply that same logic to the stuff you already have, it means that hanging onto your smartphone or laptop for another couple of years may be a much better investment then trading it in for something new. “So durable goods—microwaves, toasters, cell phones, Nintendo Switches, whatever it is, they're worth 50 percent more now than you thought they were.” The tariff era will require a shift in how products are produced and reduced. Wiens says he has also been talking to workers at electronics recycling facilities and telling them not to harvest discarded products if they're still working. “Hey, whatever you are going to shred, stop shredding it,” Wiens says. “Whatever materials you're going to export, stop exporting it. That product's going to have more value than you thought.” Like Wiens, Proctor believes that repair makes society more resilient and will help people get through this where it can. “It's going to be very disruptive in the short term,” Proctor says. But I do know that a more resilient society is better.” Leo Gebbie, a principal analyst at the research firm CCS Insights says that another segment of the market that could benefit from higher tariffs are secondhand markets that sell used devices, like Backmarket. They've been doing quite well even before the tariffs were announced, with secondhand devices frequently bought and sold within the US. “There is a strong supply of secondhand iPhones within the US, so for US consumers there shouldn't be a need to import those devices from elsewhere and have them subject to tariffs.” Backmarket in particular seems to be well aware of its place in this trend, as right now it is cheekily offering a Recession Special where customers can use a code (ELON) to save 10 percent on their purchase. However, if demand for secondhand devices goes up, there could be a knock-on effect where more phones being sold in the US could lead to prices being raised across the board—including in European markets that have tended to have stronger demand for used devices than the US. The automotive industry (which is bound to feel its own impacts from the tariffs) offers an example of how to care for products long term. Does anyone throw away a car because the windshield's broken? Wiens, who runs a business that sells tools meant for repairing devices, says he will also directly feel the effects of the tariffs and be forced to pass the increased cost onto customers. Even then, he hopes that a silver lining in the tariff chaos will be consumers changing their buying habits. “And so then you say, well, if we're going to stop buying new things, what do we do with the stuff? Well, that's where the right-to-repair world comes in. ‘Airport theory' will make you miss your flight Exclusive: Up To 50% Off 6 Boxes With Factor Promo Code WIRED may earn a portion of sales from products that are purchased through our site as part of our Affiliate Partnerships with retailers. The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of Condé Nast.

When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. The manufacturer clarifies that this wiggle room is standard, falls within their specifications, is intended to improve cable seating, and reduces wear based on their data. It is important to clarify these subtle nuances, especially considering how reports of RTX 50-series GPU connectors melting continue to surface, even when users follow the guidelines. While it might seem counterintuitive that loose terminals would benefit such high-power connectors, they accommodate minor misalignments and relieve stress. Assuming the terminals were completely rigid, repeated forceful insertions and removals to achieve perfect contact would induce unwanted wear, thus reducing the connector's lifespan. For a more visual demonstration, we can refer to an X-ray shot shared by Jonny Guru, Corsair's PSU expert and renowned hardware enthusiast. Corsair uses three different vendors for the cables supplied with its PSUs. Some are rated at 0.25mm and 0.55mm, with the majority being 0.44mm. If you find your terminals have too much wiggle room, it's best to contact customer support. RTX 50 reference GPUs cannot detect if each 12V pin is making proper contact. Potential suspects here are internal breaks in the pins or a connector that's not seated correctly. As these topics are closely related, many unsuspecting consumers might mistake the intentional play for a faulty cable or a potential fire hazard, hence Corsair's clarification. Get Tom's Hardware's best news and in-depth reviews, straight to your inbox. Hassam Nasir is a die-hard hardware enthusiast with years of experience as a tech editor and writer, focusing on detailed CPU comparisons and general hardware news. When he's not working, you'll find him bending tubes for his ever-evolving custom water-loop gaming rig or benchmarking the latest CPUs and GPUs just for fun. Tom's Hardware is part of Future US Inc, an international media group and leading digital publisher.

When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. The stock price around this time was $23.96, allowing him to buy 1,043,406 shares. However, Intel's stock price at the time of writing is $18.90, putting the value of Mr. Tan's investments at less than $20 million. However, this recent drop has nothing to do with his performance, as he has only been on the job for around one month. Instead, this dip is part of the market chaos brought on by Trump's tariffs, with Intel and many other chip companies hitting record lows. Some analysts wonder if Tan will purchase more Intel stock at this low price or if the company will launch a stock buyback plan to help reverse this trend. Is he buying more at this lower price, or will Intel announce a buyback like Broadcom to shore things up?$INTC pic.twitter.com/7errZwLUBNApril 8, 2025 It's unlikely that cash-strapped Intel will copy this strategy, though. Aside from that, it would be better for the company to focus on its 18A process node, which has already entered risk production, instead of playing with its stock price. The $5 million reduction in value might seem like a significant sum, but CCN estimates that the Intel CEO is worth at least $593.2 million, which is just a drop in the bucket for him. We'll have to wait and see how the tariffs will play out before we can truly determine if Mr. Tan lost a lot of money today, but hopefully, Intel and the rest of the industry will be able to bounce back from this chaos. Get Tom's Hardware's best news and in-depth reviews, straight to your inbox. Jowi Morales is a tech enthusiast with years of experience working in the industry. He's been writing with several tech publications since 2021, where he's been interested in tech hardware and consumer electronics. Tom's Hardware is part of Future US Inc, an international media group and leading digital publisher. © Future US, Inc. Full 7th Floor, 130 West 42nd Street, New York,

When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. U.S. President Donald Trump stated that TSMC would be hit with tariffs as high as 100% if it failed to construct production sites in the U.S., reports Reuters. He also denounced a $6.6 billion financial package provided to TSMC to build fabs in Arizona under the CHIPS Act enacted by the former President Joe Biden, arguing it was unnecessary. Trump says that when he threated Taiwanese chipmakers with massive import duties on their products in the U.S., TSMC agreed to increase its investments in its American operations from $65 billion till 2030 to $165 billion over an unspecified amount of time. TSMC's original plan included four chip production modules at its Fab 21 site near Phoenix, Arizona. The new plan is to build semiconductor chip production modules, two advanced packaging facilities, and an R&D center in the U.S. This time around Trump mentioned "$200 billion in Arizona," which is higher than $165 billion that TSMC committed to spend in March. Considering that now Trump mentions $200 billion and up to 100% import tariffs, this might be seen by TSMC and other semiconductor companies as another threat from the U.S. administration. This comment is made as the industry braces itself for Trump's 'chip tariffs' that are starting 'very soon'. the same industry that is trying to digest the 20% tariff on lithography equipment crucial for chip production that U.S. chipmakers (including but not limited to Intel and TSMC) will have to pay from now on. Perhaps, now the most important fab tools got 20% more expensive for producers of semiconductor, Trump mentions $200 billion instead of $165 billion. The CHIPS Act has attracted over $450 billion in planned private investments in the U.S. from companies like Intel, GlobalFoundries, Micron, Samsung, SK hynix, Texas Instruments, TSMC, as well as their peers from the supply chain, according to SIA. Get Tom's Hardware's best news and in-depth reviews, straight to your inbox. Anton Shilov is a contributing writer at Tom's Hardware. Tom's Hardware is part of Future US Inc, an international media group and leading digital publisher.