Agreement reached at UN on biopiracy treaty
More than 190 nations agreed Friday on a new treaty to combat so-called biopiracy and regulate patents stemming from genetic resources such as medicinal plants, particularly ones whose uses owe a debt to traditional knowledge......»»
Service customer arrested at gunpoint after dealership lost paperwork
A Kia dealership in California is being sued for reporting a vehicle as stolen after it misplaced the agreement loaning it to a customer who was having repair work done......»»
Tech brands are forcing AI into your gadgets—whether you asked for it or not
The "AI mouse" is just the start. Enlarge / Tech brands love hollering about the purported thrills of AI these days. (credit: Getty) Logitech announced a new mouse last week. A company rep reached out to inform Ars of.....»»
IBM to buy HashiCorp in $6.4 billion cash deal, expanding cloud portfolio
IBM and HashiCorp have entered into a definitive agreement under which IBM will acquire HashiCorp for $35 per share in cash, representing an enterprise value of $6.4 billion. HashiCorp’s suite of products provides enterprises with extensive Inf.....»»
U.S. EV battery upstart, Hyundai-Kia close in on lithium metal battery commercialization
SES AI, a U.S. maker of electric vehicle batteries, aims to bring its next-gen lithium metal batteries to market as early as 2026 and is turbocharging the drive through a new agreement to jointly build and test the technology with South Korea's Hyund.....»»
A NASA rover has reached a promising place to search for fossilized life on Mars
While we go about our daily lives on Earth, a nuclear-powered robot the size of a small car is trundling around Mars looking for fossils. Unlike its predecessor Curiosity, NASA's Perseverance rover is explicitly intended to "search for potential evid.....»»
The story of the first Alor people adapting to climate change 43,000 years ago
As humans, our greatest evolutionary advantage has always been our ability to adapt and innovate. When people first reached the expanded coastline of Southeast Asia around 65,000 years ago, and faced the sea crossings necessary to continue east into.....»»
A global plastics treaty is being negotiated in Ottawa this week—here"s the latest
Plastic pollution spans the globe, yet national policies are generally not effective enough, and have so far focused primarily on waste management rather than targeting the root cause. To make matters worse, the global trade in plastic waste tends to.....»»
Fisker appoints chief restructuring officer after missing payment to noteholder
Fisker said in its 2023 annual report that it may have to file for bankruptcy protection within 30 days if it does not get relief from its creditors. A forbearance agreement with one noteholder expires May 1......»»
The rising influence of AI on the 2024 US election
We stand at a crossroads for election misinformation: on one side our election apparatus has reached a higher level of security and is better defended from malicious attackers than ever before. On the other side, the rise of artificial intelligence (.....»»
Honda nears deal with Canada to boost EV capacity in Ontario, report says
Canada is on the verge of an agreement with Honda Motor Co. that would see the automaker build EVs and their components in Ontario, according to people familiar with the matter......»»
Negotiations on global plastic treaty to resume in Canada
Negotiators from 175 countries are meeting from Tuesday in Canada to nail down a binding global treaty to end plastic pollution with many sticking points to be resolved five months after the last round of talks in Kenya......»»
How One Corporation Is Cashing In on America’s Drought
In an unprecedented deal, a private company purchased land in a tiny Arizona town—and sold its water rights to a suburb 200 miles away. Local residents fear the agreement has “opened Pandora’s box.”.....»»
Seeing is believing: Scientists reveal connectome of the fruit fly visual system
Janelia scientists and collaborators have reached another milestone in connectomics, unveiling a comprehensive wiring diagram of the fruit fly visual system. The work has been released on the pre-print server bioRxiv......»»
International experts issue renewed call for Global Plastics Treaty to be grounded in robust science
A letter from members of the Scientists' Coalition for an Effective Plastics Treaty has been published in the journal Science days before the fourth session of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee (INC-4) begins in Ottawa, Canada. With some di.....»»
Whales and dolphins now have legal personhood in the Pacific—but one treaty won"t be enough to protect them
Whales and dolphins have been officially recognized as "legal persons" in a new treaty formed by Pacific Indigenous leaders from the Cook Islands, French Polynesia, Aotearoa (New Zealand) and Tonga......»»
SAG-AFTRA wins AI music protections in new deal
A tentative agreement erects guardrails against generative AI's cloning of Hollywood's musicians. The twinkling sounds of Hollywood won't be replaced by AI just yet. SAG-AFTRA and major record labels Warner Music Group, Universal Music Group, D.....»»
Toronto Wants to Manage Storms and Floods—With a Rain Tax
Outcry reached such a crescendo last week that the city canceled public hearings on the tax, which is intended to help offset the hundreds of millions spent managing stormwater and basement flooding......»»
Taylor Swift songs back on TikTok after Universal row; AI influencers coming
Taylor Swift songs have returned to TikTok, after a ten-week gap resulting from a dispute between the short video app and Universal Music. That dispute hasn’t ended, but it appears that Swift has reached an individual agreement with TikTok. Sepa.....»»
Zscaler extends zero trust SASE and eliminates the need for firewall-based segmentation
Zscaler has signed an agreement to acquire Airgap Networks. Combining Zscaler’s zero trust SD-WAN and Airgap Networks’ agentless segmentation technology will transform how enterprises implement zero trust segmentation to IoT/OT devices, and criti.....»»
Publisher Reinforces Paywall With Sci-Hub Blockade in Germany
As part of a voluntary agreement with copyright holders, German Internet service providers block a list of structurally infringing websites. This blocklist has recently expanded with the first publisher-related target; popular shadow library, Sci-Hub.....»»