The transition to electric vehicles could save more than 100,000 lives in the US by 2050, according to a new study. Switching from fossil uel-burning to zero-emission vehicles would also result in 3 million fewer asthma attacks, the American Lung Association reported on Wednesday, provided that no more gas cars are on the road by 2035. Combined with cleaner electricity generation through renewable sources like solar and wind, this could generate over $1.2 trillion in public health benefits over the next quarter of a century. The report calculates what health impacts the emissions reduction would have on people living near busy roads or near electricity generation with unacceptable doses of toxic air pollution. “These benefits would take the form of avoiding up to 110,000 premature deaths, along with nearly 3 million asthma attacks and over 13 million workdays lost due to cleaner air,” the report stated. “Policies and investments must prioritise low-income communities and communities of colour that bear a disproportionate pollution burden. State and local jurisdictions should act to implement policies as soon as possible.” The report also notes that such a swift transition would avoid “even more dire consequences of climate change” on a global scale. Many countries have already made commitments to ban the sale of fossil fuel vehicles over the coming years in order to meet climate targets, while several major automotive companies have announced that they will stop manufacturing them. The US and China, which represent the two biggest car markets, have targets of 100 per cent zero-emission vehicle sales by 2040, similar to the UK and Europe. Despite these targets, only 4.6 per cent of cars sold in the US in 2021 were electric, according to figures from the US Bureau of Labor Statistics. In the UK, a recent surge in electric car sales saw them surpass sales of new diesel cars for the first time last year. Read More Electric car drives for 100 hours non-stop on futuristic road Reinventing the seatbelt for the self-driving era

After a career spent navigating the toughest opponents on the court, 20-times major winner Roger Federer will now

HANOI, Vietnam--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jul 19, 2023--

BEIJING China on Monday announced export controls on some drone-related equipment amid escalating tensions with the United States

KORTRIJK, Belgium--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jun 15, 2023--

Nasa has named Jeff Bezos’s Blue Origin as the second company to build a lunar lander under its Artemis program, which aims to return astronauts to the Moon for the firs time in more than 50 years. The US space agency awarded the first contract to Elon Musk’s SpaceX in 2021 in a $3 billion deal that was disputed by Mr Bezos at the time. Those initial missions using SpaceX’s Starship system are slated for later this decade. “We want more competition, we want two landers,” Nasa Administrator Bill Nelson said at an event in Washington on Friday. “It means you have reliability, you have backups. It benefits Nasa, it benefits the American people.” Today’s announcement evokes deja vu for Amazon.com founder Bezos and defense contractor Dynetics Inc, the head of a partnership with Northrop Grumman. Those companies lost out to SpaceX for the 2021 contract, part of an initial moon lander procurement program. Nasa under that program said it could pick up to two companies, but blamed budget constraints for only going with SpaceX. The new contract is the biggeset ever deal for Blue Origin, which Mr Bezos founded in 2000. The Amazon founder has invested billions of dollars into the company to compete for high-profile commercial and government space contracts with SpaceX. After losing in 2021, Blue Origin unsuccessfully fought to overturn Nasa’s decision to ignore its Blue Moon lander, first with a watchdog agency and then in court. Blue Origin and lawmakers had pressured Nasa to award a second lunar lander contract to promote commercial competition and ensure the agency has a backup ride to the moon. Nasa in early 2022 announced the program for a second lander contract. Nasa chief Bill Nelson said at the time: “I promised competition, so here it is.” Blue Origin has already named its corporate partners for the lunar lander: Lockheed Martin , Boeing, spacecraft software firm Draper, and robotics firm Astrobotic. Northrop Grumman, previously a key partner in Blue Origin’s unsuccessful Blue Moon bid in 2021, switched teams to join its former rival Dynetics. Nasa’s multi-spacecraft plan for the Artemis moonshots involves its Space Launch System rocket launching astronauts toward the moon aboard the Lockheed-built Orion capsule. That will dock in space with a lunar lander that will ferry the crew the rest of the way to the Moon’s surface. Additional reporting from agencies Read More ‘It’s becoming like an airport’: How SpaceX normalised rocket launches Watch live: Nasa reveals who will build second Artemis lunar lander Nasa Mars lander study reveals ‘main source of heat’ on Red Planet Saturn’s rings are no more than 400 million years old – study

Call of Duty voice chat is famously not great. Activision is hoping AI can fix

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Attorneys general from 33 states, including New York AG Letitia James, have filed a lawsuit against tech giant Meta alleging it designed harmful features that contributed to the youth mental health crisis. The lawsuit, filed in the Northern District of California, alleges that Mark Zuckerberg’s company knowingly created addictive and “psychologically manipulative” features targeted at young people while falsely assuring the public it was safe to use. Some of the features, they say, include infinite scrolling, filters that change a person’s face or body, notifications that call young people back to Meta’s social media platforms like Instagram and Facebook and more. “Meta has profited from children’s pain by intentionally designing its platforms with manipulative features that make children addicted to their platforms while lowering their self-esteem,” Ms James said in a statement. “Social media companies, including Meta, have contributed to a national youth mental health crisis and they must be held accountable,” she added. Multiple studies have shown that children and teenagers’ prolonged exposure to social media can have negative impacts on their mental health due to disrupting their sleep, exposing them to bullying, rumour spreading, unrealistic views of people’s lives and more Plaintiffs in the lawsuit allege that Meta internally knew the impact of social media on young people but denied and downplayed the potential harm anyway in order to maximize profit – something a Facebook whistleblower testified to Congress about in 2021. The lawsuit seeks to force Meta to drastically change some of its design features that they allege are harmful to young people as well as impose financial penalties under each state’s specific consumer protection law. In a statement provided to The Independent, a spokesperson for Meta said, “We share the attorneys general’s commitment to providing teens with safe, positive experiences online, and have already introduced over 30 tools to support teens and their families.” Some of the “tools” Meta has implemented to help young people include age verification, preventing content that promotes harmful behaviours, giving users the option to hide “like” counts, prompting young people to take breaks or set timers and more. “We’re disappointed that instead of working productively with companies across the industry to create clear, age-appropriate standards for the many apps teens use, the attorneys general have chosen this path,” the spokesperson added. The lawsuit is the latest action taken against tech giants as concern about the impact of social media on young people grows. Read More People’s Instagram posts are showing where they are not expected Google and Meta withdraw from upcoming Web Summit Mark Zuckerberg uses Meta’s new AI Ray-Bans to braid daughter’s hair WhatsApp update will change how you log in forever Instagram Threads adds yet more features as it tries to take over from Twitter Viral WhatsApp warning of cyberattack targeting Jewish people is fake

By Sarah Marsh, Supantha Mukherjee and Andreas Rinke BERLIN/STOCKHOLM The European Union is set to urge Germany to

Elon Musk has introduced new controls to X, formerly Twitter, that allow users to limit who can comment on posts to just paying users. The reply paywall will prevent unverified accounts that do not pay for X Premium from engaging in discussions on certain posts. It is the latest change to the platform that Mr Musk has overseen since taking over Twitter last year and renaming it X. The tech billionaire, who is the most-followed person on X, said the latest limits “should help a lot with spam bots”. Mr Musk has brought about a complete overhaul of the way verification on the platform works since his takeover, removing the legacy blue ticks from celebrities, journalists and politicians, and giving them to anyone who paid a monthly subscription fee. These paying users were also given prominence over non-paying users when appearing in searches, as well as prioritised ranking in conversations. The move comes amid reports that Mr Musk is planning to test new subscription options for X users, which could see the introduction of up to three tiers. Each premium tier will offer different levels of ad exposure, according to a report in Bloomberg, though it is not clear if the price of the top tier will differ from the $11 (£9.60) that it currently costs. Other social media firms are also considering similar subscription models, with both Meta and TikTok among those who will potentially supplement their advertising revenue with a user-funded model. Monthly fees for Meta’s platforms, which include Facebook and Instagram, could cost between €10 (£9) and €13 in Europe, The Wall Street Journal reported last week, and come in response to Europe’s data privacy laws. These laws are seen as a threat to the lucrative business model of showing personalised ads to users, with a spokesperson confirming that Meta was exploring options to “comply with evolving regulatory requirements”. Read More The mystery AI device that could replace your phone Schoolboy almost dies from swallowing magnets for TikTok challenge Woman shares honest review of New York City apartment TikTok mom slammed after making 5-year-old son run in 104 degree heat

US Export-Import Bank leaders voted Thursday to lend $99.7 million to expand an oil refinery in Indonesia, bucking