Bits: Iphone App Helps The Blind With Currency

Enlarge / A rat looks for food while on a subway platform at the Columbus Circle - 59th Street station on May 8, 2023, in New York City. (credit: Getty | Gary Hershorn) A life-threatening bacterial infection typically spread through rat urine sickened a record number of people in New York City last year—and this year looks on track for another all-time high, the NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene reports. The infection is leptospirosis, which can cause a range of symptoms, including non-specific ones like fever, headache, chills, muscle aches, vomiting, diarrhea, and cough.

Enlarge (credit: da-kuk/Getty) Kremlin-backed actors have stepped up efforts to interfere with the US presidential election by planting disinformation and false narratives on social media and fake news sites, analysts with Microsoft reported Wednesday. The analysts have identified several unique influence-peddling groups affiliated with the Russian government seeking to influence the election outcome, with the objective in large part to reduce US support of Ukraine and sow domestic infighting.

Enlarge / The new, all-electric Atlas. (credit: Boston Dynamics) The humanoid robotics market is starting to heat up, and the company that's been doing this the longest isn't going to sit by and watch. Boston Dynamics has a new humanoid robot that the company says represents a path to commercialization. It's the company's next-generation, all-electric "Atlas" robot. While new Atlas and old Atlas share a name, they couldn't be more different when it comes to construction.

The commission is interested in what it says about the app’s potential impact on the protection of minors, ‘as well as on the mental health of users, in particular in relation to the potential stimulation of addictive behaviour.’ European Union regulators said Wednesday they’re seeking details from TikTok on a new app from the video-sharing platform that pays users to watch videos.

By 2100 the financial cost could hit twice what previous studies estimate. Climate change will reduce future global income by about 19% in the next 25 years compared to a fictional world that’s not warming, with the poorest areas and those least responsible for heating the atmosphere taking the biggest monetary hit, a new study said.

The first phase of a project that will transform a large industrial site in the heart of Golden is underway with the start of work on what will become the new global headquarters for CoorsTek. The recent groundbreaking for the first building in the development called Clayworks is being followed by demolition of structures that housed CoorsTek’s manufacturing and research and development work for more than a century.