A major US-based global chain, currently amid bankruptcy troubles, faces a fresh new challenge amid reports they are seeking a new buyer. The situation is leaving those owed money by the chain concerned about the ultimate fulfillment of their debts due to a controversial plan designed to help the company navigate their bankruptcy troubles. “Reorganization” Bankruptcy Melinda Gimpel/Unsplash The company filed for a Chapter 11 bankruptcy on May 19, sometimes known as a “reorganization bankruptcy”. This means that the company can continue to operate its business on the proviso that many of the actions it takes must be overseen by…
Author: Benjamin Carter
A 35-state trial, partially backed by OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, has shown a series of positive results following unconditional $1000 a month payouts to participants. The concept of a Universal Basic Income (UBI) is to provide citizens with a set ‘basic’ income each month, intended to cover basic needs. Large, Multi-State Trial Zander Betterton/Unsplash The study was performed in Illinois and Texas and the average household income of the 1000 participants was $29000. The recruits were taken from rural and urban areas, and 2000 ‘control’ participants were also recruited to the trial. The controls received a participation incentive of $50.…
Customers are abandoning shopping carts in store after shopping for hours due to a situation that could easily be avoided. According to aggrieved customers, some of the shopping carts abandoned contained hundreds of dollars worth of items, and were left due to a single policy by a major supermarket chain. Rise in Complaints Abhinav Bhardwaj/Unsplash The issue is becoming increasingly common, reflected in the increased number of complaints reaching social media. Complaints on X about the chain have prompted an apology from the supermarket chain involved. Kroger Headache Ambrosia LaFleur/Wikimedia Issues have been raised at multiple Kroger locations across America,…
Heat waves may have come to an end in some areas, as some regions have experienced already, but residents were not able to relax. The weather pattern that has brought heat waves, rather than dissipating, in some places has already been replaced by something spelling more danger to vulnerable citizens. Atypical American Summer Joshua Newton/Unsplash The US has been baked in heat waves for the past week, and beyond in some areas. This has led to some cities, states and counties challenging long-standing heat records in the dangerously hot weather. Under Pressure Timpthy Ah Koy/Unsplash The heat waves have been…
A billionaire donor to the republicans has bought a dinosaur fossil at auction for $44.6 million. Some are dubious of the reasoning offered by Ken Griffin, who made his money in hedge funds, for his purchase of the ancient creature remains. The sale of the fossil also brought questions about whether it is right for a private buyer to get their hands on a specimen of scientific importance. Dinosaur Dinosaur Perry Quan/Wikimedia The near-complete Stegosaurus fossil was sold at an auction by Sotheby’s. It had initially been excavated near a town called Dinosaur, in the state of Colorado. Rare Specimen…
The group of botanists responsible for the naming conventions of plants will, this week, meet, tackling an agenda that will include the issue of offensive plant names. Many plants have scientific names that may cause offense through racial slurs, references to colonials or slavery advocates, but the vote will not be totally without controversy regardless of its outcome. First Time Issue Has Been Addressed Jorge Fernandez/Unsplash The proposals put forward for debate at the conference mark the first time the issue has been taken on. The Madrid conference will be the first time the International Botanical Congress has considered rule…
Possibly the rarest whale in the world, which has only ever had half a dozen samples discovered over the past 150 years, has just washed up on a New Zealand beach. The specimen, discovered by a surfer, faced a race against time to transport it quickly into a large enough freezer that it could be studied and verified. Pieced Together JR Forster/Wikimedia The whale is poorly understood on account of the extremely limited number of samples discovered. Only 6 samples, dating back to a lower jaw bone and 2 teeth discovered in 1874, had ever been discovered. Deep Divers Sarah…
A deep-sea animal, one of a species of which marine biologists call the “janitors of the sea”, was recently discovered. It was discovered deep in the waters of the Gulf of Alaska by a team of scientists and explorers, and may even hold the key to mitigating one of the major consequences of man-made climate change. Tube-Like Legs Nick fewings/Unsplash The creature, a type of sea cucumber, has 214 legs that are described as being shaped like “tubes.” The legs are used to grab and recycle sediment on the deep ocean floor. Named After a Canadian Naturalist Neil McDaniel/WoRMS The…
Police in a county in southern California have warned the public about strangers approaching them offering a hug. The ‘hugging thieves’ represents a new and unwelcome crime trend that may be spreading in The Golden State. Recent Drop in Thefts Gerd Altman/Pixabay This comes following some reports in Southern California that trespassing and thefts are down. The LA Metro safety report reported a 4% decrease in ‘property crimes’, and larger percentage decreases to drug misuse, weapon-carrying and trespassing crimes. Rise in Violent Crime Tobias Tullius/Unsplash However, the Metro safety report also noted an increase in violent crimes. In the period…
While heralded by some as revolutionary new technology, AI-driven tools and services have faced more than their fair share of teething problems in the initial stages of their rollouts. Generative AI in particular has faced scorn from users due to the frequency of providing false information through “hallucinations”. Generative AI? Alan Frijns/Unsplash (AI generated) Generative artificial intelligence is a type of AI that takes in a large ‘training set’ to learn patterns before deploying images, text or other outputs with similar patterns. Large tech companies are investing billions of dollars in developing generative AI systems such as ChatGPT, Stable Diffusion…