Author: IQ TIMES MEDIA

NEW YORK (AP) — When the court lights flicker on at the U.S. Open, tennis stars shine under illumination designed to cut light pollution. The wedge-shaped lamps around the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in Flushing Meadows direct light onto the players without spewing it into the surrounding skies. The stadium complex is the only professional sports venue certified by a group that’s trying to preserve the night sky around the world. Across North America and Canada, schools and local parks have also swapped out their lights on baseball fields, running tracks and other recreation grounds to preserve…

After multiple pregnancy losses and failed rounds of in vitro fertilization (IVF), Cheryl Dowling was in “one of the hardest periods of my life” when she started sharing her journey on social media. “Infertility was consuming every aspect of my life, yet no one around me seemed to see or understand the weight of it,” she tells Yahoo. “I realized I needed connection and a place to process everything.”Thanks to her health platform and community, the IVF Warrior, Dowling has since become something of a celebrity in the infertility space, writing a book on the topic (Unspoken: The Unbearable Weight…

Healthcare AI unicorn Innovaccer has a lot on its docket, including two to three additional acquisitions planned in the coming months. But an IPO isn’t on its to-do list.The 11-year-old company has been buying itself more time in the private markets through secondary transactions as it rolls out more software to add to its suite of healthcare AI offerings.In January, Innovaccer raised $275 million in funding, which included nearly $100 million in secondary sales for early investors. Then, as an extension to the Series F round, Innovaccer facilitated a $50 million tender offer for employees, funded by the round’s investors.”For any company…

For Googlers, getting ahead at work doesn’t just mean building AI. They’re expected to work with it, too.In recent months, pressure has ramped up inside Google for employees to use AI tools in their day-to-day work to make them more productive. As Google and other tech giants like Microsoft try to push the frontiers of AI for new products, they see ways it can boost their businesses — and that means getting employees on board.In June, Google engineering vice president Megan Kacholia sent an email to software engineers telling them to use AI tools to improve their coding. The email…

If you’re in good health and plan to get a Covid shot this fall, you might end up with an unwelcome surprise: a bill.The Food and Drug Administration is expected to approve the next round of Covid shots soon, but only for a smaller, high-risk group — adults 65 and older and people with underlying health conditions. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is likely to follow suit, limiting its recommendation on who should get the shots to the same groups. (The CDC currently recommends Covid vaccination for everyone 6 months and older.)The change, experts say, could affect what…

CULEBRA, Puerto Rico (AP) — When temperatures soar at a public school on the small Puerto Rican island of Culebra, students scatter in search of relief.During a summer program last month, as outdoor temperatures climbed into the upper 80s, Zedrik, a rising third grader, sat in the schoolyard beside a bush not tall enough to shade him entirely from the sun. Kenneth, a ninth grader, took refuge in the library. Nayla, an eighth grader, went to the director’s office, where an air conditioner offered limited relief. The school has ceiling fans, but they don’t operate at full strength. Other cooling…

SUNDERLAND, England (AP) — Ilona Maher’s mission at the Women’s Rugby World Cup is about more than just winning games.Heading into the United States’ tournament opener on Friday, the world’s most followed rugby player on social media wants to get more eyeballs on the sport as it ramps up attempts to crack the market in America.“Not many people know that there’s a Women’s Rugby World Cup going on, so we try to get as many people as we can to spread that knowledge,” Maher said ahead of the match against host England in the World Cup curtain-raiser in Sunderland.“We want…

The face behind Duolingo’s blockbuster marketing campaigns said virality comes with a human cost.Zaria Parvez, who announced her departure from her role as senior global social media manager to pursue another social media role, said her best work came when she put work-life balance aside.”There was a lot of, ‘I’m not gonna check Slack after 5. I’m going to actually work a 40-hour week,'” she said in an interview with The Wall Street Journal published on Wednesday. “But I will say, when I didn’t separate my life from my work, I succeeded far more in my role. That’s a hard…

Lovable CEO Anton Osika says he looks for four key attributes when he hires for his company.Osika said in an interview with Business Insider on Wednesday that he looks for candidates for his vibe coding startup who demonstrate “slope, breadth, curiosity, and bias to build.”Firstly, Osika said candidates needed to have “slope, not just skill.” The 35-year-old said that a candidate’s “slope” refers to their ability to pick up new skills and navigate a learning curve.”I care more about how fast someone learns and adapts than where they are today. If a conversation feels alive, if I walk away having…

MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — An elite player has been banned for four games for a homophobic slur against an opponent in a top-flight Australian rules football game, the sixth AFL-listed player suspended for a similar act in the past 16 months.Izak Rankine, who plays for the league-leading Adelaide Crows, admitted directing a homophobic slur to a Collingwood opponent in Adelaide’s three-point win last Saturday.“Izak has said he knew it was not acceptable,” the Australian Football League’s general counsel Stephen Meade said Thursday in a statement announcing the ban. “Adelaide has said they know it is not acceptable. In an AFL…