Author: IQ TIMES MEDIA

Roomba once reigned supreme in the world of robotic vacuums, conquering both dirty living room floors with its advanced tech and the marketplace it helped create.But iRobot, the maker of the iconic self-cleaning disc-shaped vacuum, is now finding itself left in the dust as it teeters on the edge of bankruptcy. The Massachusetts-headquartered company, a pioneer in the robotics industry, has warned that it’s running out of options — and cash.iRobot has grappled with mounting financial strain in recent years, and the collapse of Amazon’s planned $1.4 billion acquisition of the Roomba maker in early 2024 has only exacerbated the…

Drilling for minerals deep in the ocean could have immense consequences for the tiny animals at the core of the vast marine food web — and ultimately affect fisheries and the food we find on our plates, according to a new study.Deep-sea mining means drilling the seafloor for “polymetallic nodules” loaded with critical minerals including copper, iron, zinc and more. While not yet commercialized, nations are pursuing deep-sea operations amid rising demand for these minerals in electric vehicles and other parts of the energy transition, as well as for technology and military use.The researchers examined water and waste gathered from…

Drilling for minerals deep in the ocean could have immense consequences for the tiny animals at the core of the vast marine food web — and ultimately affect fisheries and the food we find on our plates, according to a new study.Deep-sea mining means drilling the seafloor for “polymetallic nodules” loaded with critical minerals including copper, iron, zinc and more. While not yet commercialized, nations are pursuing deep-sea operations amid rising demand for these minerals in electric vehicles and other parts of the energy transition, as well as for technology and military use.The researchers examined water and waste gathered from…

By Nqobile DludlaJOHANNESBURG (Reuters) -South African biopharmaceutical firm Biovac on Thursday opened a state-of-the-art product development laboratory in Cape Town, backed by the Gates Foundation, to help the continent develop its own vaccines and improve preparedness for future health challenges.Biovac, which supplies vaccines for South Africa’s childhood immunisation programme, was initially established to distribute imported vaccines in partnership with the National Department of Health. It later expanded to the final stages of manufacturing where the product – referred to as “fill and finish” vaccines – is processed and put into vials, through collaborations with global pharmaceutical firms.Africa has historically relied…

Treating childhood fevers has long been a source of parental angst. Do you feed a fever or starve it? (Spoiler: Kids who are sick need to eat and drink enough to keep their bodies hydrated and well-nourished, doctors say.)But in September, when President Donald Trump told pregnant women to “fight like hell not to take” Tylenol over unfounded claims it was linked to autism, the ongoing debate over what’s long been considered a standard of care for kids’ fevers bubbled up again.“A friend’s baby (7 months) was running a 101 fever on Friday night and she texted me, ‘of course…

Hundreds of versions of Duolingo’s owl went trick-or-treating this year, and company leadership noticed.On an earnings call on Wednesday, CEO Luis von Ahn highlighted the stream of funny and unhinged Duolingo-themed costumes people wore for Halloween this year.”In terms of kind of being culturally relevant, et cetera, we really are seeing a complete pickup on that,” he said. “Throughout the world, certainly, there were thousands of Halloween costumes that were just Duolingo costumes.”Von Ahn made the comment in response to an analyst’s question about whether the language learning app is focusing more on product or marketing.”If we have a product…

Snapchat users will soon be able to use the app as an AI search tool.On Wednesday, the social media platform announced a deal to integrate Perplexity AI into Snap’s search engine. Perplexity is paying Snap $400 million in cash and equity over a year.”Perplexity’s AI-powered answer engine will let Snapchatters ask questions and get clear, conversational answers drawn from verifiable sources, all within Snapchat,” Snap said in the Wednesday press release.The companies plan to roll out the Perplexity search engine in early 2026, per the release.A Perplexity spokesperson told Business Insider that user data from Snapchat would not be used…

Google is in early discussions to deepen its investment in Anthropic, Business Insider has learned.The new round of funding could value Anthropic at more than $350 billion, according to one source familiar with the matter. The potential new deal, which is still being negotiated and is in flux, could also take the form of a strategic investment where Google provides additional cloud computing services to Anthropic, a convertible note, or a priced funding round early next year, according to sources familiar with the matter.It’s unclear how much Google would invest in this round or if there would be additional investors…

This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with He Jiabin, 35, the CEO of Ropeta, a Beijing-based robotics startup. His words have been translated and edited for length and clarity.When it comes to decisions, I follow my instincts.I grew up in Zhuzhou, Hunan, in central China. At 17, I left home to study product design at Beijing Institute of Fashion Technology, where I started researching wearable hardware. In my third year, I interned at Microsoft Research Asia, where I helped scientists turn lab prototypes into products that people could actually use.One project explored whether a watch screen could be…

CARLISLE, Pa. (AP) — For much of the 19th and 20th centuries, the United States government and Christian denominations operated boarding schools where generations of Native American children were isolated from their families. Along with academics and hard work, the schools sought to erase elements of tribal identity, from language and clothing to hairstyles and even their names.The Carlisle Indian Industrial School in Pennsylvania, where the remains of 17 students were exhumed and repatriated in recent weeks, served as a model for other schools. By the Numbers: ___Number of schools: 526An Interior Department review published in 2024 found 417 federally…