Author: IQ TIMES MEDIA

It was a quiet summer for bird flu: Egg prices fell a bit, fewer sick poultry flocks were culled on farms, and officials took a breath.“It was lovely,” said Shauna Voss, the assistant director of the Minnesota Board of Animal Health.But it didn’t last.Bird flu is spreading again, now that wild water fowl — geese, ducks and cranes — have begun their seasonal migrations. As the birds travel, they mingle at lakes and ponds and share viruses.In poultry, bird flu cases are spiking earlier than expected. More than 4 million poultry birds have been culled in the last month, in…

OpenAI is rapidly expanding its affordable ChatGPT Go plan, which costs under $5, to 16 new countries across Asia. The subscription tier is now available in Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Laos, Malaysia, Maldives, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan, the Philippines, Sri Lanka, Thailand, East Timor, and Vietnam. In select countries such as Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam, the Philippines, and Pakistan, the company is allowing users to pay in local currencies. In the remaining countries, users must pay in USD at a price of approximately $5, with the final cost varying based on local taxation. Image Credits: OpenAI ChatGPT Go gives users…

Every tech giant is “ganging up” on OpenAI, said a Thrive Capital partner.On an episode of the “Uncapped” podcast released on Wednesday, Vince Hankes said Big Tech companies don’t want new players entering their league.”My mental model for you on how the competitive landscape looks like is: OpenAI is in a corner and every Big Tech company has a bazooka pointed at them to try to take them down,” Hankes said. “Because none of those Big Tech companies want a new Big Tech company.”Thrive Capital, founded by Josh Kushner in 2011, is a major investor in the ChatGPT maker. The…

(Reuters) -Harvard University said on Wednesday that its graduate medical school has entered a licensing agreement with Microsoft, granting the tech company access to its consumer health content on specific diseases and wellness topics.Microsoft will pay Harvard a licensing fee, a university spokesperson said in a statement, adding that the agreement was made through Harvard Health Publishing, the consumer health division of Harvard Medical School.The agreement comes as part of the company’s broader strategy to reduce its dependence on ChatGPT-maker OpenAI.The Wall Street Journal, which first reported the news earlier in the day, said the partnership will help enhance Microsoft’s…

Women’s college basketball wasn’t always dominated by UConn, Tennessee and South Carolina.A half-century ago, tiny Immaculata won the first three national AIAW titles. Delta State soon followed before the likes of Louisiana Tech, Old Dominion and Rutgers started a slow trend of bigger programs becoming the backbone of a fledgling sport that many Americans were — and are — still learning to appreciate.The women’s basketball poll has been there for it all. Founded by the Philadelphia Inquirer’s Mel Greenberg in 1976, it began six years before the first NCAA Tournament. The upcoming season marks the 50th year of the women’s…

CHHINDHWARA, India (Reuters) -Indian police have arrested the owner of Sresan Pharmaceutical Manufacturer, the cough syrup company linked to the deaths of at least 17 children in the central state of Madhya Pradesh, a senior police officer from the region told Reuters on Thursday.The children, all under five years of age, died in the past month after consuming cough medicine containing toxic diethylene glycol in quantities nearly 500 times the permissible limit.The deaths were all linked to Sresan Pharma’s ‘Coldrif’ syrup, which has been banned in several parts of India after a test confirmed the presence of the chemical last…

(Reuters) -Harvard University said on Wednesday that its graduate medical school has entered a licensing agreement with Microsoft, granting the tech company access to its consumer health content on specific diseases and wellness topics.As a part of the agreement, Microsoft will pay Harvard a licensing fee.The Wall Street Journal, which first reported the news earlier in the day, said the partnership will help enhance Microsoft’s Copilot AI assistant with health-related content, as part of the company’s broader strategy to reduce its dependence on ChatGPT-maker OpenAI.Microsoft declined to comment on the WSJ report.Dominic King, vice president of health at Microsoft AI,…

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Shohei Ohtani remains mired in a postseason hitting funk, going 0 for 5 for the Los Angeles Dodgers in their 8-2 loss to the Philadelphia Phillies in Game 3 of the NL Division Series on Wednesday night.The Dodgers lead the best-of-five series, 2-1, despite Ohtani’s lack of offense. He is 1 for 14 with seven strikeouts in the NLDS.“I really don’t want to comment on that because, I mean, he can explode at any time,” Phillies manager Rob Thomson said. “He’s that great of a hitter. But we have pitched him well.”The two-way superstar hasn’t looked…

New York City is taking on some of the biggest names in tech.In a 327-page lawsuit filed Wednesday in the Manhattan federal court, the city alleged that Meta, Alphabet, Snap, and ByteDance created a “public nuisance” and a “youth mental health crisis” by intentionally exploiting the psychology of young users to keep them hooked.The city alleged in the complaint that the platforms’ algorithms are designed to maximize engagement at the expense of children’s mental health, contributing to sleep loss, chronic absenteeism, and risky behavior such as “subway surfing,” meaning riding on top of moving trains. All these behaviors, the complaint…

New York City sued Meta, Alphabet, Snap, and ByteDance, alleging a “youth mental health crisis.”The lawsuit alleged “gross negligence” on the part of the social media companies.The plaintiffs also blamed tech companies for risky behaviors in teens, such as “subway surfing.”New York City is taking on some of the biggest names in tech.In a 327-page lawsuit filed Wednesday in the Manhattan federal court, the city alleged that Meta, Alphabet, Snap, and ByteDance created a “public nuisance” and a “youth mental health crisis” by intentionally exploiting the psychology of young users to keep them hooked.The city alleged in the complaint that…