Author: IQ TIMES MEDIA
The Food and Drug Administration may revoke authorization for Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine for healthy children under age 5, the pharmaceutical company confirmed, which would limit parents’ vaccine options ahead of the winter respiratory virus season.The possibility comes several months after President Donald Trump’s Department of Health and Human Services began placing limits on COVID-19 vaccines. For the last four years, updated COVID-19 vaccines have been made available in the fall for most Americans before the cold sets in.The federal agency told Pfizer that it might not renew the emergency use authorization, or EUA, for the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine Comirnaty for…
DENVER (AP) — A group of rabbits in Colorado with grotesque, horn-like growths may seem straight out of a low-budget horror film, but scientists say there’s no reason to be spooked — the furry creatures merely have a relatively common virus.The cottontails recently spotted in Fort Collins are infected with the mostly harmless Shope papillomavirus, which causes wart-like growths that protrude from their faces like metastasizing horns.Viral photos have inspired a fluffle of unflattering nicknames, including “Frankenstein bunnies,” “demon rabbits” and “zombie rabbis.” But their affliction is nothing new, with the virus inspiring ancient folklore and fueling scientific research nearly…
All hail the new ChatGPT, which is much better than the old ChatGPT, which we’re getting rid of.That was the messaging from OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and his team last week.A day later, Altman changed his mind. He told the world the older version of ChatGPT was going to stick around, after all — in addition to the new version that was meant to replace it.I’m not getting into the weeds here about the change and change back, which is confusing for people who use ChatGPT, and impenetrable to non-users. (If you want to, I suggest you head to Business…
Igor Babuschkin, a co-founder of Elon Musk’s xAI startup, announced his departure from the company on Wednesday in a post on X. Babuschkin led engineering teams at xAI and helped build the startup into one of Silicon Valley’s leading AI model developers just a few years after it was founded. “Today was my last day at xAI, the company that I helped start with Elon Musk in 2023,” Babuschkin wrote in the post. “I still remember the day I first met Elon, we talked for hours about AI and what the future might hold. We both felt that a new…
A man was hospitalized for weeks and suffered from hallucinations after poisoning himself based on dietary advice from ChatGPT.A case study published on Aug. 5 in the Annals of Internal Medicine, an academic journal, states the 60-year-old man decided he wanted to eliminate salt from his diet completely. To do so, he asked ChatGPT for an alternative to salt, or sodium chloride, to which the AI chatbot suggested sodium bromide, a compound historically used in pharmaceuticals and manufacturing.While the journal noted that doctors were unable to review the original AI chat logs and that the bot likely suggested the substitution…
LEANDER, Texas (AP) — A Texas school bus carrying more than 40 students on Wednesday rolled over after veering off a rural road on the first day of class, injuring multiple students, authorities said. At least one person has life-threatening injuries, while two others have “potentially life-threatening injuries,” Assistant Chief Kevin Parker, with Austin-Travis County Emergency Medical Services, said during a news conference.The bus was traveling on a rural stretch of two-lane road when it veered off the right side “for an unknown reason” and rolled over, said Department of Public Safety Sgt. Billy Ray, adding authorities were still investigating…
A person in Missouri has been hospitalized after contracting a brain-eating amoeba, possibly after water skiing in the Lake of the Ozarks, state health officials said Wednesday.The patient, who was not identified, is being treated in an intensive care unit for a confirmed Naegleria fowleri amoeba infection, the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services said. Public health officials are still investigating the source of the infection, but the health department said the patient became ill days after they were at the lake.There are two public beaches open to visitors at the Lake of the Ozarks State Park, according to…
I’m riding in the back of a Waymo that’s autonomously navigating the busy streets of San Francisco with relative ease thanks to 29 external cameras, six radar, and five lidar sensors all feeding into an AI model. For just 15 bucks, I get to experience what feels like a miracle of modern technology, and yet, there’s a nagging thought I can’t shake. The music sucks in here. Waymo’s music-streaming feature has felt like an aged barnacle attached to a futuristic shell. Until this week, passengers were limited to a few music stations that played lo-fi beats, smooth jazz, K-pop, or…
Perplexity is raising yet another round of funding, Business Insider has learned.The AI search engine is seeking a fresh fundraise at a $20 billion post-money valuation, according to an email sent to prospective investors seen by BI, and a source with knowledge of the raise.It’s been a busy year for Perplexity, which has become one of AI’s hottest startups with funding from investors including SoftBank, Nvidia, and Jeff Bezos. Perplexity just made a $34.5 billion bid for Google’s Chrome browser earlier this week, and it’s been contending with analysts urging Apple to buy the booming startup for months.The new valuation…
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — The agency that oversees sports gambling in Ohio says it is working with Major League Baseball on the investigation of Cleveland Guardians pitchers Emmanuel Clase and Luis Ortiz, but had no further comment.The Ohio Casino Control Commission said it was notified on June 30 by an Ohio licensed sportsbook of suspicious wagering activity on Guardians wagering events before also being contacted by MLB. The commission conducted an independent investigation in 2023 when there was suspicious wagering activity on the University of Alabama’s baseball team.The commission’s next meeting is on Aug. 20. Gov. Mike DeWine has asked…