Author: KnowledgeHippo

No matter what stock market analysts, political pollsters and astrologers might say, we cannot predict the future. In fact, we can’t even predict the past.So much for the work of Pierre-Simon Laplace, the French mathematician, philosopher and king of determinism. In 1814, Laplace stated that if it were possible to know the velocity and position of every particle in the universe at a particular moment—and all the forces acting on them—“to such an intellect nothing would be uncertain, and the future , like the past, would be the present in it.”Laplace’s dream remains unfulfilled because we cannot measure things with…

Visa and Mastercard have agreed to limit the so-called swipe fees they charge merchants who accept their credit cards as part of a class-action settlement that could save merchants about $30 billion over five years — the latest development in nearly 20 -year legal battle.Every time a customer uses one of their credit cards, Visa or Mastercard collects a swipe fee — also called an interchange fee — to process the transaction, which it shares with the card-issuing banks. Merchants pass these charges on to customers, a practice that effectively inflates prices (and can trigger discounts given to customers who…

For years, US investors who backed ByteDance, the Chinese internet company that owns TikTok, have struggled with the complexities of owning a piece of the geopolitically fraught social networking app.Now it has become even more complicated.A bill to force ByteDance to sell TikTok is finalizing in the Senate after passing the House this month. Questions about whether TikTok’s Chinese ties make it a national security threat are growing. And U.S. investors, including General Atlantic, Susquehanna International Group and Sequoia Capital — which collectively poured billions into ByteDance — are facing increased pressure from state and federal lawmakers to answer for…

A strain of bird flu that is highly lethal in birds has been confirmed in US dairy cattle in Texas and Kansas, the Department of Agriculture announced Monday.It is the first time that cows infected with the virus have been identified.Cows appear to have been infected by wild birds and dead birds were reported on some farms, the agency said. The Texas Animal Health Commission confirmed that the subtype of the flu known as H5N1 has been identified and said the virus resembled the version that has spread to birds across the country.The results were announced after several federal and…

The United Nations Security Council on Monday adopted a resolution calling for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, breaking a five-month deadlock in which the United States vetoed several calls to end the war while the humanitarian toll of Israel’s military offensive mounted .The resolution was approved with 14 votes in favor. The United States abstained, allowing the resolution to pass. The room erupted in applause after the vote.”Finally, finally, the Security Council is shouldering its responsibility,” said Algeria’s UN ambassador Amar Bendjama, the council’s only Arab member. “It is finally responding to the calls of the international community.”Israel immediately criticized…

As the pale morning light flickered on the Seine, Captain Freddie Bandard steered his massive river barge, the Bosphorus, past picturesque Normandy villages and snow-covered woodlands, charting a course for Paris.On board were containers filled with furniture, electronics and clothing that had been loaded the night before from a cargo ship that had docked in Le Havre, the port in northern France. If the cargo had continued by road, 120 trucks would have blocked the highways. The use of Le Bosphore and its crew of four prevented tons of carbon emissions from entering the atmosphere.”The river is part of a…

Florida on Monday became the first state to effectively ban residents under the age of 14 from maintaining accounts on services like TikTok and Instagram, enacting a tough social media bill that is likely to upend the lives of many young people.The landmark law, signed by Gov. Ron DeSantis, is one of the most restrictive measures a state has enacted so far in an escalating national push to isolate young people from potential mental health and safety risks on social media platforms. The statute both prohibits certain social networks from giving accounts to children under 14 and requires the services…

Dr. Griffiths and his colleagues at Johns Hopkins University received widespread acclaim among scientists and the popular press for helping to pull the psychedelic field out of the deep mire of the hippie movement of the 1960s. This second wave of research into hallucinogenic compounds strengthened political campaigns for their decriminalization and boosted investment in biotechnology.Dr. Griffiths was known to friends and colleagues as an analytical thinker and religious agnostic, and he warned his colleagues about the hype. But he also saw psychedelics as more than just drugs: Understanding them could be “critical to the survival of the human species,”…

Boeing suddenly announced on Monday that it was overhauling its leadership amid its most significant safety crisis in years, announcing sweeping changes that included the departure of its chief executive, Dave Calhoun, at the end of the year.The planemaker is under increasing pressure from regulators, airlines and passengers as the company struggles to respond to the fallout from an incident in early January in which a panel blew a Boeing 737 Max 9 plane mid-air during an Alaska Airlines flight.The incident rocked the company, seen by many as a cherished American institution, and renewed concerns about its commitment to safety…

The UN has adopted a cease-fire resolution for Gaza The United Nations Security Council yesterday approved a resolution calling for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza for the month of Ramadan, which is two weeks away. The vote broke a five-month deadlock during which the US vetoed many calls to end the war, while the humanitarian toll of Israel’s military offensive mounted. The resolution was approved with 14 votes in favor. The US stayed away, which allowed it to pass.The resolution calls for the unconditional and immediate release of all hostages, but does not make demands for a ceasefire conditional on…