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Study shows how stress worsens colorectal cancer
Health

Study shows how stress worsens colorectal cancer

While stress is known to significantly contribute to the onset of various health issues, a new study on Sunday showed how stress can worsen colorectal cancer (CRC).  A team of Chinese researchers showed that chronic stress disrupts the balance of gut microbiota, which then hastens the progression of CRC. By eliminating some gut bacteria and inducing stress, they found a particular bacterial species as a potential therapeutic target. The team from West China Hospital, Sichuan University of China, used an antibiotic cocktail -- vancomycin, ampicillin, neomycin, and metronidazole -- to eradicate gut microbiota. It was followed by faecal microbiota transplantation to find whether gut microbiota was necessary for chronic stress to fasten the progression of colorectal cancer. The results sho...
Anthropic announces AI agents for complex tasks, racing OpenAI
Business

Anthropic announces AI agents for complex tasks, racing OpenAI

Dario Amodei, co-founder and CEO of artificial intelligence startup Anthropic.Chesnot | Getty ImagesAnthropic, the Amazon-backed AI startup founded by former OpenAI research executives, announced Tuesday that it's reached an artificial intelligence milestone for the company: AI agents that can use a computer to complete complex tasks like a human would.Anthropic is the company behind Claude — one of the chatbots that, like OpenAI's ChatGPT and Google's Gemini, has exploded in popularity. Startups like Anthropic, alongside tech giants such as Google, Amazon, Microsoft and Meta, are all part of a generative AI arms race to ensure they don't fall behind in a market predicted to top $1 trillion in revenue within a decade.Anthropic's new Computer Use capability, part of its two newest AI models...
ABBA’s Bjorn joins 11,500 musicians, actors, acedemics warning of AI
World News

ABBA’s Bjorn joins 11,500 musicians, actors, acedemics warning of AI

ABBA singer Bjorn Ulvaeus photographed in Stockholm, Sweden, 2023. Photo: AFP / Henrik Montgomery Thousands of artists including ABBA singer Bjorn Ulvaeus, Hollywood actress Julianne Moore and Nobel laureate Kazuo Ishiguro have signed a statement warning about the unlicensed use of artificial intelligence. Some 11,500 stars of music, literature, screen and stage had put their names to the statement by Tuesday (local time), as fears mount over tech companies using existing creative works to train up AI models without permission from their original creators. "The unlicensed use of creative works for training generative AI is a major, unjust threat to the livelihoods of the people behind those works, and must not be permitted," read the brief statement. In Hollywood, studios have been expe...
Watch Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino speak live on stablecoins, regulation
Business

Watch Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino speak live on stablecoins, regulation

[The stream is slated to start at 11:40 a.m. ET. Please refresh the page if you do not see a player above at that time.]Paolo Ardoino, the CEO of Tether, is set to speak Tuesday at the DC Fintech Week conference at Fannie Mae's headquarters in Washington, D.C.Tether is the company behind the largest stablecoin, USDT, which is pegged to the U.S. dollar. It is the third-largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization, according to CoinMarketCap. USDT accounts for about 71% of the market of U.S. dollar-backed stablecoins, with a market cap of about $120 billion, according to CryptoQuant.Tether has faced criticism over a lack of transparency, while USDT has come under fire for its alleged use by criminals. Nevertheless, it remains the most popular and most easily accessible stablecoin due to i...
One dead in multistate E. coli outbreak tied to McDonald’s Quarter Pounders, CDC says
World News

One dead in multistate E. coli outbreak tied to McDonald’s Quarter Pounders, CDC says

Most of the people who became ill reported eating McDonald's Quarter Pounder sandwiches (file image). Photo: SCOTT OLSON / AFP The US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention issued a food safety alert Tuesday regarding an E. coli outbreak that it says is linked with McDonald's Quarter Pounders. At least 49 illnesses have been reported across 10 states, including one death of an older person. Ten people have been hospitalised, including a child who had haemolytic uremic syndrome, a serious complication that can develop from an E. coli infection. Most of the illnesses are in Colorado and Nebraska. Most of the people who became ill reported eating McDonald's Quarter Pounder sandwiches, the CDC says. The agency says that the investigation is "fast-moving" and that information reviewed by...
GPC, GM, VZ, PM and more
Business

GPC, GM, VZ, PM and more

Check out the companies making headlines in midday trading: Genuine Parts — Shares fell about 21% on the back of the company's weaker-than-expected earnings for the third quarter. During the period, Genuine Parts earned $1.88 per share, excluding items, below the $2.42 per share that analysts polled by FactSet were expecting. It also slashed its full-year forecast. The stock was headed for its worst day on record. General Motors — The stock jumped nearly 10% after the automaker posted better-than-expected third-quarter results and raised its full-year forecast. For the period, GM earned an adjusted $2.96 per share on $48.76 billion in revenue. Analysts had expected $2.43 in earnings per share on $44.59 billion in revenue, per LSEG. Shares were headed for their biggest one-day gain in nearl...
Roman Polanski 1970s sexual assault lawsuit dismissed – lawyer
World News

Roman Polanski 1970s sexual assault lawsuit dismissed – lawyer

Polanski admitted to the statutory rape of 13-year-old Samantha Geimer in a plea bargain in 1977 Photo: AP / Francois Mori Content warning: This story contains details about sexual assault. French-Polish director Roman Polanski, who fled the United States decades ago after admitting to the statutory rape of a 13-year-old, will no longer face trial over an alleged assault of another minor after reaching a settlement, his lawyer said Tuesday. The latest case against the director of "The Pianist," which concerned an alleged sexual attack in 1973, had been due in civil court in Los Angeles next August, but has now been withdrawn, Polanski's US attorney told AFP. The case was "settled in the summer to the parties' mutual satisfaction and has now been formally dismissed," Alexander Rufus-Isaa...
McDonald’s shares fall after CDC says E. coli outbreak linked to Quarter Pounders
Business

McDonald’s shares fall after CDC says E. coli outbreak linked to Quarter Pounders

A McDonald's located on Route 66 in Azusa, California, on April 1, 2024.Robert Gauthier | Los Angeles Times | Getty ImagesMcDonald's shares dropped in extended trading Tuesday after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said an E. coli outbreak linked to McDonald's Quarter Pounder burgers has led to 10 hospitalizations and one death.The agency said 49 cases have been reported in 10 states between Sept. 27 and Oct. 11, with most of the illnesses in Colorado and Nebraska. "Most" sick people reported eating a McDonald's Quarter Pounder, the CDC added.One of the patients developed hemolytic uremic syndrome, which is a serious condition that can cause kidney failure. An older adult in Colorado died. McDonald's shares dropped about 7% in after-hours trading Tuesday.In a statement Tuesda...
‘Playing loose with the truth’: Fact-checking key in Pacific’s heightened geopolitical landscape
World News

‘Playing loose with the truth’: Fact-checking key in Pacific’s heightened geopolitical landscape

Fijian Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka, right, and Fiji High Commissioner to New Zealand Ratu Inoke Kubuabola, right. The man pictured in the middle is a serving officer of the NZ Police's Dignitary Protection Service. Photo: RNZ Pacific/ Lydia Lewis The intensification of geopolitics between China and the United States is fueling existing xenophobic rhetoric, an expert in Pacific geopolitics says. This follows the Fijian Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka's recent visit to Aotearoa from 18-19 October, during which he met with Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and attended a Fiji Day celebration in Mangere. In pictures shared by Rabuka's team from the event on Saturday, he was seen with Kiwi-Asian men who were part of his security detail. However, a well-known Pacific journalist shared those ...
Stocks making the biggest moves after hours: MCD, STX, CSGP
Business

Stocks making the biggest moves after hours: MCD, STX, CSGP

Check out the companies making headlines in extended trading: Texas Instruments — The semiconductor company added 2%. Third-quarter results topped analysts' estimates, as Texas Instruments reported earnings of $1.47 per share on revenue of $4.15 billion. Analysts sought earnings of $1.38 per share and revenue of $4.12 billion, per LSEG. Seagate Technology — The data storage company slipped 3.6%. Seagate's guidance for $2.3 billion in revenue for the fiscal second quarter was about in line with the Street's estimate for $2.29 billion, per LSEG. The company topped analysts' estimates on the top and bottom lines in the first quarter, however. Manhattan Associates — The supply chain software company declined nearly 7%. Manhattan Associates forecast full-year revenue in the range of $1.039 bill...