Reforms

Smacking a spacecraft into an asteroid may have had some interesting side effects.According to an analysis of a collision between NASA's DART probe and the asteroid Dimorphos back in September 2022, the tiny asteroid's shape could have changed significantly as a direct result of the impact.This offers some clues about how the asteroid formed in the first place, while also suggesting the upcoming mission to investigate Dimorphos will find not an impact crater, but a neatly reformed pile of space rock.The DART mission –…

Cruise did not disclose the status of the victim who was dragged 20 feet by its vehicle, nor the scope of the Justice Department and SEC probes.GM's Cruise self-driving car unit on Thursday revealed U.S. Justice Department and Securities and Exchange Commission probes stemming from an October accident in which one of its robotaxis dragged a pedestrian who had been struck by another car.Cruise reported the government investigations in a blog post in which the company also…

Credit: Aleksandar Pasaric from Pexels It has become an article of faith among many economists that China's pro-market reforms of the 1980s and 1990s ushered in a sustained reduction in poverty. This narrative relies on figures from the World Bank, showing that over the past 40 years the number of people in China living in "extreme poverty" (less than…

By MATT O’BRIEN, AP Technology Writer Country singers, romance novelists, video game artists and voice actors are appealing to the U.S. government for relief — as soon as possible — from the threat that artificial intelligence poses to their livelihoods. “Please regulate AI. I’m scared,” wrote a podcaster concerned about his voice being replicated by AI in one of thousands of letters recently submitted to the U.S. Copyright Office. Technology companies, by contrast, are largely happy with the status quo that has enabled…

Credit: Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain In a new report aimed at rebuilding trust in health care and science, leading experts urge the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to adopt five reforms to rebuild public trust amid controversies around vaccine approvals. In "Securing the Trustworthiness of the FDA to Build Public Trust in Vaccines,"…

Share of the population unable to purchase a subsistence basket, 1981–2008. Source: Moatsos (2021). Credit: New Political Economy (2023). DOI: 10.1080/13563467.2023.2217087 It is widely believed that China's socialist economy had relatively high rates of extreme poverty, while the capitalist reforms of the 1980s and 1990s delivered rapid progress, with extreme poverty declining from 88% in 1981 to zero by 2018.…

President Bola Tinubu Thursday in Paris, France, said the ongoing reforms introduced by his administration would be sustained for a more competitive economy that attracts Foreign Direct Investment (FDI). He urged investors to take advantage of the opportunities in Nigeria. Mr Tinubu announced the removal of fuel subsidy during his inauguration on 29 May. He also approved the streamlining of the exchange rate in the country. “We are ready for business, prepared to welcome investments,’’ he said while receiving the…

Airtel Africa has expressed fears that the ongoing reform of the Nigerian foreign exchange regime could impact its financials. For a corporation that has already seen revenues taking a hit of $22 million and finance costs (excluding derivatives) spiking by $7 million from the dollar exchange rate before the reforms, new pressures from the push might affect performance in the short term. In addition to the phasing out of the costly fuel subsidy regime, President Bola Tinubu has shown commitments to a policy reset…

Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas’s gifts from a billionaire far surpass the level of bribes that for decades have sparked U.S. calls for judicial reforms overseas. Applying the U.S.’s blueprints for judicial reforms, which scholarship shows helps nations prosper and democratize, to its own high court could clean up its mess. Since April, news accounts have revealed that Thomas has received close to $2 million from real estate magnate Harlan Crow. The gifts include a $500,000 trip to Indonesia, a $500,000 donation…

Credit: Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain Changes to how schools are assessed and improved professional learning are critical to the success of education reforms in Wales, a study concludes. Researchers at Cardiff University interviewed policymakers and those who hold a strategic role in designing and implementing the Health and Well-being…