America's National Labor Relations Board is an independent agency of the federal government that enforces U.S. labor law. And its prosecutors "plan to formally accuse Amazon.com of illegally firing an activist who was trying to unionize its New York warehouses," as well as other violations of the law, reports Bloomberg — unless Amazon settles… Read More »
"Scientists have estimated the number of 'small' black holes in the universe," reports Live Science. "And no surprise: It's a lot." Using a new method, outlined January 12 in The Astrophysical Journal, a team of astrophysicists has produced a fresh estimate for the number of stellar-mass black holes — those with masses 5 to 10 times that of the… Read More »
This week the Free Software Foundation's board announced that for the first time in the organization's 37-year-history, its 5,000-plus associate members will now be able to nominate and evaluate candidates for its board of directors. Under new procedures adopted by the FSF board on January 17 and summarized here, the organization will proactively… Read More »
"Netflix's stock has tumbled 41% from the all-time high it hit just two months ago," reports CNN Business. "It's gaining subscribers at a painfully slow pace. Competition is heating up. The company's answer to all that: It just raised prices on North American customers." Netflix ended 2021 with 221.8 million subscribers. That's significantly… Read More »
"Three studies released Friday offered more evidence that COVID-19 vaccines are standing up to the omicron variant, at least among people who received booster shots," reports the Associated Press: They are the first large U.S. studies to look at vaccine protection against omicron, health officials said. The papers echo previous research —… Read More »
The Washington Post profiles Lasso Loop, the startup behind "a hefty home appliance machine that automatically sorts and breaks down the recyclables you toss inside it," saying the company tackles "a flaw in our waste management systems that many people probably aren't aware of." As it turns out, much of the material we toss into our recycling… Read More »
An anonymous reader quotes a report from Bloomberg: To wit, the Nasdaq 100 just did something it hasn't done since the aftermath of the internet bubble: fall more than 1% in every session of a week. It doesn't count as a superlative because Monday was a holiday. But for investors caught up in the selloff, it felt like something shifted. A full… Read More »