Psychology Today reports:
In a study conducted in Milan, Italy, and published in November 2025, the sight of a person dressed as Batman led to a nearly doubled rate of people giving up their seat to a pregnant woman. Over the course of 138 subway rides, researchers found that people who saw "Batman" standing near the pregnant woman were far more altruistic than those who did not.
Researchers are calling this the "Batman effect," suggesting a form of "involuntary" mindfulness may be at play. Noticing these subtle social cues appears to shift people's typical, automatic reactions. Most interestingly, 44 percent of the people questioned reported they did not even consciously register Batman's presence... The superhero costume serves as a visual nudge, pulling us out of our default, self-focused mode and into a more generous, attentive state.
More from Futurism:
Batman showing up is just one — albeit striking — way of promoting what's called "prosocial behavior," or the act of helping others around you, via introducing an unexpected event, the researchers write. "Our findings are similar to those of previous research linking present-moment awareness (mindfulness) to greater prosociality," said study lead author Francesco Pagnini, a professor of clinical psychology at the Università Cattolica in Milan, in a statement about the work. "This may create a context in which individuals become more attuned to social cues."
Thanks to Black Parrot (Slashdot reader #19,622) for sharing the article.
It's getting colder each night, and darker earlier, all the time. Some people adore the winter months, and others detest them. Whether you're into the cold and bleak of winter or you're just eager for spring to come, a healthy scroll through pawdorable cat memes will certainly make you feel better, and warm you up from the inside. The cold nipping at your nose, the hot drink warming your hands, and the soft glow of a screen waiting to transport you into a world of cozy chaos. These precious, pawdorable cats are here to turn your chilly evening into a meowvelous, laughter-filled cuddle fest—without even leaving your bed.
Scrolling hissterical cat memes feels like a warm hug on a winter's night, a hand held tight, and a cup of hot cocoa to accompany your cheesy winter Christmas movie. We all have our guilty pleasure, but here's something you don't need to feel guilty about. Cats are the perfect thing for winter. They're cuddly, cozy, cute, and covered in fur. Before you say you've seen it all before, take a look at the classic cat memes that will have you hungry for more. Some of the classics include cats attempting yoga (or maybe just inventing their own wobbly poses), heroic loaf cats dominating the windowsill, or mischievous felines. Enjoy!
An anonymous reader shared this report from CNBC:
Italian defense company Leonardo on Thursday unveiled plans for an AI-powered shield for cities and critical infrastructure, adding to Europe's push to ramp up sovereign defense capabilities amid rising geopolitical tensions.
The system, dubbed the "Michelangelo Dome" in a nod to Israel's Iron Dome and U.S. President Donald Trump's plans for a "Golden Dome," will integrate multiple defense systems to detect and neutralize threats from sea to air including missile attacks and drone swarms... Leonardo's dome will be built on what CEO Roberto Cingolani called an "open architecture" system meaning it can operate alongside any country's defense systems... Leonardo's dome will be built on what CEO Roberto Cingolani called an "open architecture" system meaning it can operate alongside any country's defense systems.
Now that Thanksgiving is behind us we can safely release this collection of forbidden feline chickens without worrying that any of you crazed cat lovers will get the wrong idea and do something rash, like end up trying to monch on the most highly prized non-chicken chicken there is. Because we know what you cat lovers are like, we give you one little piece of pawdorable catto action, or a delicious morsel of cat cuddling cuteness, and suddenly you are overwhelmed by your instinctual needs to dote on a cat and all logic goes out of the window.
So to spare your feline fur baby from getting shaved or worse still, getting pets and cuddles that they do not want, we waited with this list. But now that Thanksgiving is over and the urge for Turkey has reduced significantly, we feel safe and confident in the concept of bringing forth this fantastical feline feast.
One by one, the prisoners — all immigrants — appeared briefly over video before a special panel of the Louisiana parole board.
The August hearings were unusual in a state that, under Republican Gov. Jeff Landry, has made it increasingly difficult for most prisoners to get early release.
Unlike normal parole hearings, the board didn’t grill the prospective parolees about their crimes — ranging from car theft to vehicular homicide — to gauge their remorse. Nor did it review their disciplinary records to determine if they posed a threat to public safety. And no one was present to represent or speak on behalf of their victims.
In fact, most of the nine men, clad in black-and-white-striped jumpsuits or plain orange ones, did not say a word besides their names and inmate numbers. Only one was even eligible for parole.
But in each case, the three-member panel voted unanimously for release after just a few minutes of consideration.
“Today you’ve been paroled,” panel chair Steve Prator said at the end of every hearing, “to go straight into an ICE facility for deportation from the United States.”
Some thanked the board. Others sat stone-faced or simply nodded.
These days, a 100% grant rate is unheard of for the Louisiana Board of Parole. Where annual parole rates previously stood around 50%, in the two years since Landry became governor, less than a quarter of those eligible have been paroled.
Landry, a former police officer and sheriff’s deputy who served as Louisiana attorney general until 2024, has blasted early release programs as an insult to crime victims, insisting that anyone who is convicted in Louisiana should serve the entirety of their sentence. He pushed Republican lawmakers to eliminate parole entirely for those arrested after Aug. 1, 2024, and to impose strict eligibility requirements for those already in prison.
A U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent stands outside an apartment complex.
But this year the same Legislature tossed all of that aside for one category of prisoner: immigrants without legal status. With mass deportations a key policy priority for President Donald Trump, Republican-led state and local governments have taken aggressive steps to deliver. In May, Landry signed an order seeking to “crack down on criminal illegal aliens” by granting the Louisiana Department of Public Safety and Corrections and other state agencies the authority to conduct certain Immigration and Customs Enforcement duties. In June, Louisiana lawmakers created an expedited “alien removal process” through the special parole panel that passed with little notice during the last legislative session.
“They have the ability to release a lot of people to parole, and they’re choosing to only do it for this specific group because it’s politically popular,” said Bridget Geraghty, senior counsel with the MacArthur Justice Center, a Chicago-based legal nonprofit focused on prison reform.
At least two other Republican-led states have recently put in place similar initiatives to parole and deport prisoners without legal status. South Dakota paroled 10 immigrant prisoners to be deported over the summer. In Oklahoma, Republican Gov. Kevin Stitt announced in February that the state had identified about 525 prisoners subject to deportation.
Since the Aug. 27 hearings in Louisiana, at least two of the nine men paroled have been deported, while two others from Vietnam are being held at a newly designated immigration detention facility on the grounds of the Louisiana State Penitentiary at Angola, according to ICE. Neither ICE nor the Landry administration would answer questions about the locations of the five other parolees or whether they are being deported to their home countries of Honduras, Mexico and Nicaragua.
On Sept. 21, ICE’s regional office in New Orleans posted a photo of one of the parolees, Samuel Lara Garcia, handcuffed in front of a staircase leading to a plane. The agency identified Garcia as a citizen of Honduras.
“HOMICIDE DEPORTATION,” the X post blared.
Garcia, 36, had pleaded guilty to negligent homicide and obstruction of justice in a 2022 shooting after an argument at a Baton Rouge house party. He was sentenced to 13 years in 2024 but had served less than two years in prison before being paroled.
A U.S. citizen convicted of the same crime — or any crime — in Louisiana today would not be eligible for release under the new parole laws championed by Landry.
ICE declined an interview request with Madison Sheahan, a former Landry administration official who as deputy ICE director signed the partnership agreement between the agency and the corrections department. The Landry administration did not respond to questions about the new parole panel or the governor’s broader executive order, which was named Operation Geaux.
One member of that task force is Keith Conley, police chief of Kenner, a New Orleans suburb and one of the first Louisiana cities to formally partner with federal immigration authorities during Trump’s second term. He praised the legislation that created the deportation panel in a recent interview. Paroling and deporting prisoners who are illegally in the United States frees up jail space and saves tax dollars, Conley said, “so it just seems like a win, win.”
Under the new law, the deportation panel operates unbound by the restrictions and responsibilities placed on the regular parole process. A parole board is normally tasked with deciding whether prisoners are ready for release based on a number of factors including their behavior behind bars, efforts to rehabilitate, whether they pose a risk to the public and victims’ opinions.
During the August hearings, however, the board was not required to abide by the eligibility restrictions imposed by the Legislature last year, including the requirement that prisoners have clean disciplinary records for at least three years and low-risk scores as determined by an algorithm.
“Parole granted for the purpose of deportation is fundamentally different from discretionary parole granted to individuals who have demonstrated readiness for community supervision,” Francis Abbott, executive director of the parole board, told Verite News and ProPublica. “In these cases, the individuals are present in the United States unlawfully and have been convicted of criminal offenses.”
To be eligible to appear before the new panel, prisoners must have a federal deportation notice and not have been convicted of a sex offense or a violent crime that carries a sentence of more than 10 years. (Louisiana law does not consider negligent homicide to be a violent crime.)
Christopher Walters, deputy executive counsel with the Landry administration, said at a May legislative hearing that the state has identified about 390 prisoners who might be eligible to be paroled and deported. The corrections department would not verify or update that number.
“It’s an ongoing process to determine eligibility for this specific legislation,” Derrick Ellis, the department’s deputy secretary, said in a recent interview.
There are no more hearings scheduled for the remainder of the year, according to the parole board.
Unlike typical parolees, who are required to check in regularly with their parole officers and prohibited from unauthorized travel, those paroled to be deported are not placed under any supervision. Once deported, they are released with one stipulation: Do not return to the United States.
Louisiana law says those who do return will be forced to serve the remainder of their sentences. But that may not be enough of a deterrent. Margaret Hay, first assistant district attorney with the Jefferson Parish District Attorney’s Office, which prosecuted one of the deported men, said prosecutors are concerned parolees convicted of violent crimes “may, very quickly, just be right back in this country.”
“There’s no guarantee that our border will remain as secure as I believe that it might be right now,” said Hay, who nevertheless said she supports the initiative.
ProPublica and Verite News contacted the embassies and consulates for Mexico, Nicaragua, Honduras and Vietnam to learn how those countries manage the repatriation of deportees whose U.S. prison sentences were cut short. None responded to multiple phone calls and emails.
Another issue at play is that Louisiana law requires the parole committee to notify victims about upcoming parole hearings, provided they are registered with the Louisiana Victim Outreach Program, a state initiative that provides support services. Many victims of crime, especially those who are undocumented, fail to register for or are unaware of the state program. The parole board said there were no registered victims in the nine cases that appeared before the deportation panel in August.
Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry, shown in 2024.
Several local prosecutors said they tried reaching the families of the six victims who had been killed by four of the paroled men, three of whom were charged with vehicular homicide, but had trouble making contact. ProPublica and Verite News could not reach any of the victims or family members of deceased victims in the cases involving the nine men.
Landry, a Trump ally, has long been an immigration hard-liner. During his eight years as attorney general, which began a year before Trump’s first term as president, Louisiana’s capacity for detaining immigrants expanded from two facilities in 2016 to eight. That positioned the state to become a key partner in Trump’s mass deportation agenda during his second presidency.
In September, Landry and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem unveiled a ninth immigration detention facility, known as the Louisiana Lockup, located in the former solitary confinement wing of the Louisiana State Penitentiary at Angola. That is where Hoang Huy Pham, one of the nine men paroled in August, is being held as he awaits deportation to Vietnam, the country his family said he fled as a child refugee during the Vietnam War.
Pham’s daughter Theresa, who asked to be referred to by only her first name because she works for the federal government and fears retaliation, said her father called her in June to tell her he was going to be paroled at the end of August after spending 20 years in prison for a long history of car theft. He told her he would live in a halfway house before rejoining the family in Baton Rouge, Theresa recalled. She said her elderly grandfather — Pham’s father — was looking forward to him finally getting out of prison to help with his care.
Then in September, Theresa received another call from her father. This time, he told her he had been transferred to Angola to await deportation. That five-minute call was the last time Theresa said she heard from him.
“You finally got out, but you’re going somewhere else where you’re not supposed to be,” Theresa said. “It’s a false hope.”
Hervin Pineda was the only prisoner to tell the parole board in August that he wanted to be deported back home. He wished to return to Nicaragua to be with his ailing, elderly mother in her final days, he told the board through an interpreter.
Pineda, who had previously been deported while on probation, had served less than a year of a seven-year sentence on charges of cocaine possession.
Nevertheless, the board granted his request.
“You’re a serious dope dealer,” Prator, the panel chair, told him. “We don’t want you back.”
ICE took him into federal custody that day and deported him to Nicaragua on Sept. 12.
Customer: "You don’t have Black Friday specials?! Everyone else in America has Black Friday specials! I’ve been shopping for eleven hours straight!"
Me: "Right, but we’re a pizza place."
In his mid-20s, Lu Heng "got an idea that has made him a lot richer," writes the Wall Street Journal.
He scooped up 10 million unused IP addresses, mostly form Africa, and then leases them to companies, mostly outside Africa, "that need them badly."
[A]round half of internet traffic continues to use IPv4, because changing to IPv6 can be expensive and complex and many older devices still need IPv4. Companies including Amazon, Microsoft and Google still want IPv4 addresses because their cloud-hosting businesses need them as bridges between the IPv4 and IPv6 worlds... Africa, which has been slower to develop internet infrastructure than the rest of the world, is the only region that still has some of the older addresses to dole out... He searches for IPv4 addresses that aren't being used — by ISPs or anyone else that holds them — and uses his Hong Kong-based company, Larus, to lease them out to others.
In 2013, Lu registered a new company in the Seychelles, an African archipelago in the Indian Ocean, to apply for IP addresses from Africa's internet registry, called the African Network Information Centre, or Afrinic. Between 2013 and 2016, Afrinic granted that company, Cloud Innovation, 6.2 million IPv4 addresses. That's more addresses than are assigned to Nigeria, Africa's most populous nation. A single IPv4 address can be worth about $50 on its transfer to a company like Larus, which leases it onward for around 5% to 10% of that value annually. Larus and its affiliate companies, Lu said, control just over 10 million IPv4 addresses. The architects of the internet don't appear to have contemplated the possibility that anyone would seek to monetize IP addresses...
Lu's activities triggered a showdown with Africa's internet registry. In 2020, after what it said was an internal review, Afrinic sent letters to Lu and others seeking to reclaim the IP addresses they held. In Lu's case, Afrinic said he shouldn't be using the addresses outside Africa. Lu responded that he wasn't violating rules in place when he got the addresses... After some back-and-forth, Lu sued Afrinic in Mauritius to keep his allocated addresses, eventually filing dozens of lawsuits... One of the lawsuits that Lu filed in Mauritius prompted a court there to freeze Afrinic's bank accounts in July 2021, effectively paralyzing the organization and eventually sending it into receivership. The receivership choked off distributions of new IPv4 addresses, leaving the continent's service providers struggling to expand capacity...
In September, Afrinic elected a new board. Since then, some internet-service providers have been granted IPv4 addresses.
After a long week of toil and trouble at the office, there is nothing quite as calming and centering as kicking back with a collection of comical cattos just being their funny feline selves. It is a kind of disassociation and satirical commentary on the world we live in and the way we live within it. Constantly on the lookout for forms of purrfection, constantly trying to behave normally and not be seen as a weirdo. It is a lot of work to keep up appearances, but our cat children. Well, they could not care less, nor do they have such self-awareness as to be aware of such things in the first place.
Resulting in some of the funniest feline fueled moments that you could imagine. And much to ours and soon your pleasure and delight, we have gathered some rather hissterically funny felines in this collection to set you up for a weekend full of cat child cuteness.
The Free Software Foundation describes how "After months of preparation and excitement, we finally came together on November 21 for a global online hackathon to support free software projects and "put a spotlight on the difficult and often thankless work that free software hackers carry out..."
Based on how many of you dropped in over the weekend and were incredibly engaged in the important work that is improving free software, either as a spectator or as a participant, this goal was accomplished. And it's all thanks to you!
Friday started a little rocky with a datacenter outage affecting most FSF services. Participants spread out to work on six different free software projects over forty-eight hours as our tech team worked to restore all FSF sites with the help and support of the community. Over three hundred folks were tuned in at a time, some to participate in the hackathon and others to follow the progress being made. As a community, we got a lot done over the weekend...
It was amazing to see so many of you take a little (or a lot of!) time out of your busy schedules to improve free software, and we're incredibly grateful for each and every one of you. It really energizes us and shows us how much we can accomplish when we work together over even just a couple days. Not only was this a fantastic sight to see because of the work we got done, but it was also a very fitting way to conclude our fortieth anniversary celebration events. Free software has been and always will be a community effort, one that continues to get better and better because of the dedicated developers, contributors, and users who ensure its existence. Thank you for celebrating forty years of the FSF and fighting for a freer future for us all.
In another example of Trump's ignorance on how the public acquires health insurance, Trump boasted on Air Force One that he likes his idea the best.
Trump seems to believe that if he gives Americans $2000 each, they can go out and purchase a wonderful healthcare plan for a year. Either way, the healthcare provider still gets the cash. Does Trump believe healthcare plans grow on trees?
Is he fucking serious? That would pay maybe a month of insurance without ACA subsidies. Probably not even a month.
The man is a clueless fool.
Q: Mr. President, are you planning to unveil a health care plan anytime soon?
TRUMP: Well, we're looking at different alternatives.
I mean, I like my plan the best.
Don't give any money to the insurance companies, give it to the people directly, let them go out and buy their own health care plan.
And we're looking at that, if that can work.
We're looking at that. That's sort of taken off.
That's what I like.
Don't give the money to the insurance companies. They go out, they go out and buy their own plan, you give the money to the people.
I like it the best.
I doubt Trump ever discussed healthcare coverage before since he can pay people to buy the best money can afford. That's not so for the rest of us. The fact that they're tossing around ideas when the clock is running out on the ACA subsidies is absurd. This ahole is willing to let millions die rather than extend the subsidies.
I'm sure it's like this everywhere, and Toys for Tots is hoping that when you read stories like this, you'll help them catch up. It's a hard year for most people, I know, but your dollars go a long way here. They buy toys at cost and operate on volunteer labor. Can you help? Via Yahoo News:
Toys for Tots Charlotte says it’s having to turn away families because of a rising number of requests and dwindling donations. One organizer is determined to fill the need, but he needs community support.
“It’s always tough to accept that families are going through a struggle,” Sgt. Justin Schmidt, coordinator for Toys for Tots Charlotte, told Channel 9’s Erika Jackson.
Schmidt says he understands that struggle. He says he was in kindergarten when Toys for Tots put gifts under his own tree.
“I want to make those kids have a Christmas Day,” he said. “I want to ensure that those in need have a toy to put under that tree.”
Last year, the bins at Toys for Tots were overflowing. Unfortunately, this year is different. Schmidt says he has fewer than 1,000 toys in the north Charlotte warehouse — just a sliver of what he needs to serve 30,000 local children.
You can make an online donation here and designate to your town, or to wherever it's needed most. Things are so bad out there. A record number of families have requested help. So if you can help, throw a few bucks their way.
We never learn. We don't really solve wnvironmental problems, we simply deflect them onto poor and helpless populations. Via the New York Times:
With every breath, people inhale invisible lead particles and absorb them into their bloodstream. The metal seeps into their brains, wreaking havoc on their nervous systems. It damages livers and kidneys. Toddlers ingest the dust by crawling across floors, playgrounds and backyards, then putting their hands in their mouths.
Lead is an essential element in car batteries. But mining and processing it is expensive. So companies have turned to recycling as a cheaper, seemingly sustainable source of this hazardous metal.
As the United States tightened regulations on lead processing to protect Americans over the past three decades, finding domestic lead became a challenge. So the auto industry looked overseas to supplement its supply. In doing so, car and battery manufacturers pushed the health consequences of lead recycling onto countries where enforcement is lax, testing is rare and workers are desperate for jobs.
Seventy people living near and working in factories around Ogijo volunteered to have their blood tested by The New York Times and The Examination, a nonprofit newsroom that investigates global health. Seven out of 10 had harmful levels of lead. Every worker had been poisoned.
Meanwhile, Pirro addressed criticism of Trump’s decision to deploy troops to Washington, saying Americans “should be grateful” that Trump is prepared to take such swift action to keep them safe.
“There’s a part of me that thinks that the left is disappointed that the National Guard didn’t shoot someone,” Pirro said.
Tens of thousands of white-collar workers might be spending this holiday season hunting for jobs, thanks to the rise in artificial intelligence. But the massive industry’s impact on Americans can be felt far outside of the workplace.
President Donald Trump’s ongoing efforts toroll out the red carpetfor AI corporations has deepened the concern about how this will hurt people around the world. Across the board, people agree that AI will do more harm than good.
But as the job market cools and the Trump administration pushes to make the United States the “AI capital of the world,” there are many more issues unfolding in the future of AI.
Creativity slumps
The content created by AI doesn’t come out of nowhere. In order to make the slop that’s haunting our social media feeds, AI programs need to learn from preexisting content—meaning that are often blatantly ripping off artists and musicians to recreate lifeless versions of what was already made.
Hayao Miyazaki, co-founder of Studio Ghibli
In March, artwork imitating Studio Ghibli co-founder Hayao Miyazaki began circulating online. With ChatGPT, people could make their own artwork in a nearly identical style. And more recently, artists like Paul McCartney and Max Richter have joined a protest against AI in the creative industry.
“The government’s proposals would impoverish creators, favoring those automating creativity over the people who compose our music, write our literature, paint our art,” Richter said in a statement obtained by The Guardian.
Programs like ChatGPT and Gemini may be coming for our minds.
In a recent MIT Media Lab study, people aged 18 to 39were instructed to write several SAT essays. Some people were given the option to use AI, while others either had the option of using Google’s search engine or nothing at all. Ultimately, those who used AI were found to have the lowest brain activity.
“[AI] users consistently underperformed at neural, linguistic, and behavioral levels,” the study found.
And with AI being implemented in schools, the line between cheating and assisting is constantly being blurred. But it’s not just in educational spaces.
The way everyday people obtain information has also shifted. Instead of libraries or even searching through online databases or journalistic resources, programs like ChatGPT neatly compile information.
In a July Pew Research Center study, internet users conducting Google searches with the help of the company’s AI Overviews tool almost never clicked on the links that were cited and instead simply read what AI spat out at them and moved on.
Mental health takes a nosedive
ChatGPT has taken on many roles—including that of therapist.
A teenager looks through their ChatGPT history in a coffee shop on July 15.
According to a peer-reviewed paper from researchers at Sentio University and the University of Illinois of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, approximately 48% of people who reported mental health challenges used AI for support.
But as concerns grow, Trump has given a golden ticket to AI billionaires—even as their products boost suicidal ideation among already vulnerable populations.
Workers lose out
Trump has proudly worn “America first” on his sleeve for quite some time, bragging abouthow hisbrazen tariffs will bring money back to Americans and howfreezing critical foreign aid will divert more funds to the United States.
But the people expected to suffer the most are those new to the workforce. A recent survey found that 62% of UK employers expect that entry-level positions—in addition to clerical, managerial, and administrative roles—will likely be replaced with AI.
And in the United States, this is already taking hold, with AI-generated workers having their own emails and employee IDs.
In Trump’s America, the only people he’s putting “first” are his fellow billionaires.
Cashier: "Ma'am, I literally cannot put my own employee discount code into a register I'm currently logged in to. The system won't allow it."
Customer: "There must be something you can do?!"
Cashier: "Well… there is one thing. Do you have a phone on you?"
There's nothing like the combination of cats and weekends. It's like the ultimate relaxing time meets the ultimate fluffball of an animal. This is why cat pawrents enjoy the weekends much more than any other person around. Sure, people enjoy their weekends, but it's nothing like spending a whole weekend with a wholesome pawdorable cat. They just don't know it. Yeah, they must enjoy just resting on the couch and catching up on their TV show - but doing this exact thing with a purring cat on your lap is at least a thousand times better.
Even the more "annoying" weekend things are much cuter with cats. Like a person doing some batch cooking for the week - sure, they might not have a cat nagging them to share while they cook, but… they don't have a cat meowing softly, pawing gently, staring into your soul with soulful eyes while you cook. We don't mind cats begging for the pot of boiling water on the stove - because that's just cute as heck.
And you know what's the best thing? Cats are so cute, they're so popular - meaning the internet is full of cat memes. And that's an ameowzing fact for the weekend. You can relax on the weekend, and do it with your cat, and with some wholesome cat memes.
Almost two-thirds of registered U.S. voters "say that a four-year college degree isn't worth the cost," according to a new NBC News poll:
Just 33% agree a four-year college degree is "worth the cost because people have a better chance to get a good job and earn more money over their lifetime," while 63% agree more with the concept that it's "not worth the cost because people often graduate without specific job skills and with a large amount of debt to pay off." In 2017, U.S. adults surveyed were virtually split on the question — 49% said a degree was worth the cost and 47% said it wasn't. When CNBC asked the same question in 2013 as part of its All American Economic Survey, 53% said a degree was worth it and 40% said it was not. The eye-popping shift over the last 12 years comes against the backdrop of several major trends shaping the job market and the education world, from exploding college tuition prices to rapid changes in the modern economy — which seems once again poised for radical transformation alongside advances in AI...
Remarkably, less than half of voters with college degrees see those degrees as worth the cost: 46% now, down from 63% in 2013... The upshot is that interest in technical, vocational and two-year degree programs has soared.
"The 20-point decline over the last 12 years among those who say a degree is worth it — from 53% in 2013 to 33% now — is reflected across virtually every demographic group."
"A year after launching a commercial robotaxi service in Abu Dhabi, Chinese autonomous vehicle technology company WeRide and partner Uber can finally call that service driverless," reports TechCrunch.
A company official hailed it as "a historic transportation milestone, as the first driverless AV deployment outside of the U.S. or China." But TechCrunch notes that's just the beginning:
Uber has spent the past two years locking up partnerships with 20 autonomous vehicle technology companies in various countries, including the United States, Europe, and the Middle East.
Those partnerships have expanded beyond the realm of robotaxis as well. Uber's deals span the full range of self-driving applications, including delivery and trucking. This year alone, it announced partnerships withAnn Arbor, Michigan-basedMay MobilityandVolkswagen, Chinese self-driving firms Momenta,Pony.ai, and Baidu, as well as a recent deal to create a premium robotaxi service using Lucid Gravity SUVs equipped with a self-driving system from San Francisco-based startup Nuro.
These deals are finally beginning to materialize into commercial services. For instance, Uber and Waymo launched a robotaxi service earlier this year in Austin. Now, Uber has expanded to the Middle East with WeRide in Abu Dhabi — with even more cities to come, including Dubai. Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi forecast in the company's third-quarter earnings report that there would be autonomous vehicle deployments on the Uber network in at least 10 cities by the end of 2026. Uber and WeRide have previously shared plans to expand to 15 cities throughout the Middle East and Europe, eventually scaling to thousands of robotaxis. That would represent a massive leap for WeRide, which today has more than 150 robotaxis in the region.
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