Are we ready for weight-loss drugs for kids?

Just about a year ago, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved Novo Nordisk’s blockbuster obesity drug, Wegovy, for use in teens ages 12 and up with a BMI at or above the 95th percentile for their age and sex. The decision came a little more than six months after the drug was approved for adults.

You might ask, why the hurry? And, do teenagers really need weight-loss drugs?

According to the CDC, 22% of adolescents aged 12 to 19 years have obesity. Since the 1

How to get a job in quantum computing

Quantum computing uses quantum mechanics to more quickly solve problems that are too complex for non-quantum, i.e., classical, computers. This rapidly emerging technology can be applied to a number of fields, including software development, healthcare, medicine, and artificial intelligence.

The worldwide global quantum computing market was estimated to generate $866 million in revenue in 2023 and that figure is expected to swell to $4.375 billion by 2028. This is due, in part, to th

How the tech talent shortage will give rise to citizen developers in 2024

This year has been the perfect storm for everyone in the tech industry. With the economy in a state of flux, inflation, and rising costs impacting business operations and strategies, there’s several headwinds impacting the changing dynamic of the environment right now.

Current economic conditions are challenging companies to alter traditional staffing models, especially in tech where the talent shortage is intensifying. Compounded by financial strains and a shift to

An ethicist explains why you shouldn’t turn to social media for information on the Israel-Hamas War

As the war between Israel and Hamas drags on, many on both sides have taken to social media to gather information and air their outrage. The impulse to do so is understandable: Political activism on social media provides people with an emotional outlet and gives them a sense that they can do something. The war is awful, and following it generates a sharp psychological need to get involved and do something.

In the past few years, my colleagues and I at UMass Boston’s Appl

How Cruise went from buzzy self-driving startup to ‘public safety risk’

Just four months ago, Cruise had reason to celebrate.

California regulators had approved the self-driving car company’s request to provide around-the-clock fared passenger service in San Francisco, marking a major win for a company that had been operating under strict guidelines. The company had permission up until then to charge for driverless rides covering a small percentage of the city’s streets between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m.

Cruise was partly up against conc

How Purdue University helped bring a ‘hard tech corridor’ to the heartland

Mung Chiang has been president of Purdue University for nearly a year now. During that time, the electrical engineer and former dean of Purdue’s College of Engineering has built on the work of his predecessor, former Indiana governor Mitch Daniels, to make Purdue one of the most tech-focused schools in America. With a main campus in West Lafayette, Indiana, and a handful more across the state, Purdue has more STEM students than any other large university (while also, by the way, having

Klarna CEO: Buy now, pay later is used by shoppers who otherwise avoid credit

Sebastian Siemiatkowski is a cofounder and CEO of Klarna, the Sweden-based company that’s one of the world’s biggest providers of buy now, pay later services to customers. Klarna started off in Europe and entered the U.S. market in 2015.

Buy now, pay later has become an increasingly popular option for consumers for purchases: Its usage is up 10-fold since the pandemic, and U.S. regulators see it as potentially a more sustainable way for borrowers to pay for purchases i

AT&T’s political donations report is most notable for everything it leaves out

This piece was originally published in Popular Information, an independent newsletter written by Judd Legum.

Earlier this month, AT&T quietly published an extraordinary document. For the first time ever, the company released a “political congruency report.” The report, which covers the year 2022, looks at the “[s]tate and federal elected officials to whom AT&T or its Employee PACs have made political contributions” and compares the “voting re

Apple may owe you money over its Family Sharing plan: Find out if you can file a claim

Apple has agreed to settle a class action lawsuit that alleges the company misrepresented the abilities of its Family Sharing plans when it came to sharing app subscriptions with family members. Apple is settling the lawsuit for $25 million, pending court approval in 2024. Here’s what to know:

What was the lawsuit about?

At the heart of the lawsuit was an Apple feature called Family Sharing. The feature allows a subscriber to share services and content with up to

Twitter’s ‘community notes’ feature faces scrutiny as part of an EU investigation into toxic content

The European Union is looking into whether Elon Musk’s online platform X breached tough new social media regulations in the first such investigation since the rules designed to make online content less toxic took effect.

“Today we open formal infringement proceedings against @X” under the Digital Services Act, European Commissioner Thierry Breton said in a post on the platform Monday.

“The Commission will now investigate X’s sys


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