Category: News
Volkswagen is recalling 260,000 small cars for fire risk
Volkswagen is recalling more than 260,000 compact cars in the United States because a pump located inside the gas tank could leak fuel, possibly leading to a fire. The cars involved are various Volkswagen Golf, Golf GTI, Golf Sportwagen, Jetta and Audi A3s from the 2015 through 2020 model years. Not every model year is…
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No, electric vehicle sales aren’t dropping. Here’s what’s really going on
Tesla has been slashing prices. Ford just cut the price of its Mustang Mach-E, too, plus it cut back production of its electric pickup. And General Motors is thinking about bringing back plug-in hybrids, possibly taking a step back from GM’s earlier commitment to shifting straight to pure EVs. And now the EPA is considering slowing down…
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The Airbus A340 airplane was built to rule long-haul travel. Now it’s vanishing from the skies
While the A380 superjumbo is enjoying a steady resurgence after having been on the brink of retirement during the pandemic, its older sibling – another four-engined aircraft from Airbus – seems dangerously close to being grounded for good. The A340 was introduced 30 years ago with Lufthansa and Air France, but only 380 have been produced since,…
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Boeing removes head of 737 Max program in wake of safety incidents
Boeing removed executive Ed Clark, the head of its 737 Max passenger jet program, after a dramatic – and terrifying – midair blowout in January underscored ongoing problems with the jet. The 737 Max is Boeing’s best selling plane, but has been a source of repeated problems over the last five years, starting with a 20-month grounding in 2019 and 2020…
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World’s oldest unchanged brand changes logo for the first time in over 140 years
For over 140 years, Lyle’s Golden Syrup — a staple item in any British baker’s pantry — has featured a rather curious logo on its tin: a lion’s carcass surrounded by bees. But now, for the first time since the 1880s, the product recognized by Guinness World Records for having the world’s oldest branding and…
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Scientists say they can use AI to solve a key problem in the quest for near-limitless clean energy
Scientists pursuing fusion energy say they have found a way to overcome one of their biggest challenges to date — by using artificial intelligence. Nuclear fusion has for decades been hailed as a near-limitless source of clean energy, in what would be a game-changing solution to the climate crisis. But experts have only achieved and sustained…
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8-year-old prodigy Ashwath Kaushik makes history after beating chess grandmaster
Look out, there’s another chess prodigy on the scene. At eight years, six months and 11 days, Ashwath Kaushik made history on Sunday by becoming the youngest player ever to beat a chess grandmaster in a classical tournament game. The youngster, who lives in Singapore, achieved the feat after beating Poland’s Jacek Stopa, 37, in round four of the…
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How this cult Japanese artist’s eerie paintings foretold our digital malaise
In the land of Hello Kitty, kawaii (“cute”) culture and the Neo-Pop art of 1990s Japan, Tetsuya Ishida was an outlier. The surrealist artist, who died in 2005 aged 31, wasn’t a loner, according to those who knew him, but he stood apart from his contemporaries and the era’s better-known art movements, capturing in his work the…
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China makes biggest-ever cut to key mortgage rate to bolster housing market
China’s central bank has cut its key mortgage reference rate by a record amount, as it ramps up efforts to stem a prolonged property crisis. The People’s Bank of China (PBOC) announced Tuesday that it would cut its five-year loan prime rate (LPR) from 4.2% to 3.95%, while keeping the one-year LPR unchanged at 3.45%.…
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Japan’s millennia-old ‘naked man festival’ ending because of population decline
In near-freezing winter temperatures and wearing nothing but white loincloths, throngs of men wrestle one another in a bid to a claim a talisman during Japan’s Somin-sai festival – more famously known as the “naked man festival.” But the event, said to have run for over 1,000 years at the secluded Kokusekiji Temple, was held for…
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