Author: Elon Mark

The Trump administration has abruptly laid off the entire staff running a $4.1 billion program to help low-income households across the United States pay their heating and cooling bills.The firings threaten to paralyze the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program, which was created by Congress in 1981 and helps to offset high utility bills for roughly 6.2 million people from Maine to Texas during frigid winters and hot summers.“They fired everybody, there’s nobody left to do anything,” said Mark Wolfe, executive director of the National Energy Assistance Directors Association, which works with states to secure funding from the program. “Either…

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Getting vaccinated against shingles can reduce the risk of developing dementia, a large new study finds.The results provide some of the strongest evidence yet that some viral infections can have effects on brain function years later and that preventing them can help stave off cognitive decline.The study, published on Wednesday in the journal Nature, found that people who received the shingles vaccine were 20 percent less likely to develop dementia in the seven years afterward than those who were not vaccinated.“If you’re reducing the risk of dementia by 20 percent, that’s quite important in a public health context, given that…

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This is a non-exhaustative list of places microplastics have been found: Mount Everest, the Mariana Trench, Antarctic snow, clouds, plankton, turtles, whales, cattle, birds, tap water, beer, salt, human plancentas, semen, breast milk, feces, testicles, livers, brains, arteries, and blood.My blood, specifically. In early March I milked a few drops out of my fingertips and sent the sample to be tested for microplastics. I was in the London office of Clarify Clinics—a firm that offers to cleanse your blood of microplastics, forever chemicals, and other toxins, in treatments that start at £9,750 ($12,636).Each week around 10 to 15 people walk…

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China held military exercises around Taiwan for a second day on Wednesday, sending warships and fighter planes near the island in what Beijing said was a warning to its president, Lai Ching-te, after he called China a “foreign hostile force.”The second day of exercises would focus on the Chinese military’s abilities to control and seal off seas and skies around Taiwan, Senior Col. Shi Yi, a spokesman for the People’s Liberation Army regional command that oversees Taiwan, said in a statement. Senior Colonel Shi also said that in the East China Sea — farther from Taiwan — Chinese forces held…

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President Trump plans to meet with top White House officials on Wednesday to discuss a proposal that could secure TikTok’s future in the United States, two people familiar with the plans said.Mr. Trump will consider a proposal for a new ownership structure for the popular video app, which is owned by the Chinese internet giant ByteDance. Lawmakers and other U.S. officials have argued that the app’s ties to China raise national security concerns, and a federal law that was passed last year requires TikTok to change its ownership or face a ban in the United States. The latest deadline for…

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On Tuesday, US district judge Beryl Howell effectively allowed the transfer of the headquarters building of the United States Institute of Peace to the General Services Administration.In fact, the building—and all of the property inside it—had already been transferred on Saturday, according to Howell’s ruling. “The deal is no longer merely ‘proposed’ but done,” Howell wrote, “rendering plaintiffs’ requested relief moot as to that property.”The building, with an estimated value of $500 million, has become the latest focal point in a weeks-long standoff between former institute board and staff and members of Elon Musk’s so-called Department of Government Efficiency. On…

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As Israeli forces advanced on the southern Gaza city of Rafah before dawn last Sunday, an ambulance crew set out to evacuate civilians wounded by Israeli shelling. But the ambulance was hit on the way, and its crew injured.Several more ambulances and a fire truck headed to the scene, according to the Palestine Red Crescent Society, as did a U.N. vehicle, the United Nations said. Seventeen people were dispatched in total.Then they all went silent.It took five days for the United Nations and Red Crescent to negotiate with the Israeli military for safe passage to search for the missing people.…

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China’s Xiaomi, a consumer electronics giant turned automaker, said it is cooperating with a police investigation into a fatal crash involving one of its electric vehicles while the driver was using the car’s autonomous driving features.A Xiaomi SU7 sedan drove into a concrete guardrail on an expressway in eastern China late on Saturday night at around 60 miles per hour, according to a post on Xiaomi’s official social media account. On Tuesday, local media published reports about the collision and ensuing fire, which killed three college students, along with pictures of the charred remains of the vehicle.Xiaomi said the driver…

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Many business owners and product managers assume the customer experience begins and ends with purchase. In reality, it spans a much wider range of interactions. Every touchpoint—visiting your website, reading third-party reviews, engaging with ads or social media posts, receiving emails, contacting customer service, or using your product—defines the customer experience. Even product materials and packaging shape consumers’ perceptions. Successful businesses recognize the far-reaching impact of these interactions and actively shape them through a process known as customer experience management (CXM). This overview introduces CXM, its importance, and strategies you can implement to enhance your customer experience. Free E-Book: Your…

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Libertarians often take these mechanisms for granted and refuse to consider where they come from. For example, you have electricity and drinking water in your home. When you go to the bathroom and flush the water, the sewage goes into a huge sewage system. That system is created and maintained by the state. But in the libertarian mindset, it is easy to take for granted that you just use the toilet and flush the water and no one needs to maintain it. But of course, someone needs to.There really is no such thing as a perfect free market. In addition…

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