3,601 chemicals

From food packaging have been found in the human body. Researchers found about 25% of the roughly 14,000 chemicals used in packaging in blood, hair or breast milk samples. This is your friendly reminder to stop microwaving plastic.

Tags: food and drinks, hair, reminder, researchers


🏃‍♂️ Anything for likes: Strava users are paying mules to fake their workouts. Prices vary by region, but one account on Fiverr charges $16 for a five-mile run. Why on Earth? Some folks are injured and want to maintain their in-app activity streaks, and others just want to impress their online followers. Bizarre.

👾 The science of fun: Action video games like Space Invaders Extreme 2 can help kids at risk of dyslexia improve word-identification skills. How? Fast-paced games require fast cognitive and motor skills, activating brain areas that control attention and process memory. Out of 79 kids with a family history of dyslexia, more than 80% showed improvement in word-identification tasks after playing.

Last messages from the Titan submersible: The crew experienced communication issues en route to the Titanic but said things were “all good here.” At about 3,350 meters deep, with pressure at 4,900 pounds per square inch, they sent a final text — “dropped two wts” (weights) — and then contact was lost. So sad.

Teamwork makes the dream work: Copilot Pages is Microsoft’s answer to Google Docs. Ask Copilot for research, drop the responses into a new page, then edit with your colleagues in real time. Try it now if you use Microsoft 365 Copilot ($30 per month); it’s coming free for Copilot customers with Microsoft Entra accounts soon.

👁️ Billionaire Larry Ellison’s prediction: He says AI will power a massive surveillance system to monitor all of us. Doorbell cameras, police body cams, dashcams — you name it — will be analyzed to keep everyone in check. If something’s off, the AI will report it to the “appropriate” authority (paywall link). Yikes.

Neuralink rival: Tech company Synchron’s brain implant lets people control Amazon Alexa with their thoughts. One patient, a 64-year-old man with Lou Gehrig’s disease, can turn on lights, watch TV, make video calls and shop on Amazon using a Fire tablet. Even cooler? They connected the implant to an Apple Vision Pro so he could control the cursor and play Solitaire.

🚨 Watching you, watching me: Nearly 1.3 million Android TV boxes across 197 countries are infected with Vo1d malware. Compromised devices include the R4 TV Box, the KJ-SMART4KVIP and TV Box models that use Android 12.1. All run outdated Android versions with unpatched security holes. If you have an Android TV box, make sure the firmware is updated and that it’s Play Protect certified.

🌺 Hula you kidding? A newspaper in Hawaii just “hired” AI reporters that analyze news articles and transform them into “live broadcasts.” Look close and you’ll notice they don’t blink, their mouths are out of sync and they don’t actually answer each other’s questions. Those AI bots need to go back to school: Kamana Wanna Lei U. (Oh, I heard you laugh!)

Imagine that! Dependable internet on a plane: United Airlines is joining other airlines like Hawaiian to use Elon Musk’s Starlink for better in-flight Wi-Fi. Testing starts soon; look for it on passenger flights by late 2025.

🍬 Trauma dumping: Gen Zers on TikTok are spilling everything from breakups to eating disorders and even abuse. Candy Salad vids pair the heavy stuff with tossing candy into a bowl. It’s a coping mechanism to feel less alone … but the internet is forever, and not all comments are supportive. Talk to your kids about spilling their deepest secrets online.