Fed On Course For Further $10bn Taper

Enlarge / A 133-car coal train moves slowly as it's loaded at the Buckskin Coal Mine in 2006 in Gillette, Wyoming. (credit: Robert Nickelsberg/Getty Images) This article originally appeared on Inside Climate News, a nonprofit, independent news organization that covers climate, energy, and the environment. It is republished with permission.

Enlarge / Scarlett Johansson and Joaquin Phoenix attend Her premiere during the 8th Rome Film Festival at Auditorium Parco Della Musica on November 10, 2013, in Rome, Italy. (credit: Franco Origlia / Contributor | Getty Images Entertainment) OpenAI has paused a voice mode option for ChatGPT-4o, Sky, after backlash accusing the AI company of intentionally ripping off Scarlett Johansson's critically acclaimed voice-acting performance in the 2013 sci-fi film Her. In a blog defending their casting decision for Sky, OpenAI went into great detail explaining its process for choosing the individual voice options for its chatbot.

Enlarge / Ed Dwight, 90, exits Blue Origin's crew capsule Sunday after a 10-minute flight to the edge of space. (credit: Blue Origin) More than 60 years after he was denied an opportunity to become America's first Black astronaut, Ed Dwight finally traveled into space Sunday with five other passengers on a 10-minute flight inside a Blue Origin capsule. Dwight, a retired Air Force captain and test pilot, had a chance to become the first African American astronaut.

Enlarge / Hurricane Dorian's satellite appearance on a Sunday morning in 2019. (credit: NOAA) Later this week, the US federal agency charged with weather forecasting will release its outlook for the 2024 Atlantic hurricane season at a news conference in Washington, DC. But we already know what the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) forecast will say: This year will likely be extremely active in the Atlantic Ocean, Gulf of Mexico, and Caribbean Sea. The Atlantic season formally begins on June 1, and based on current trends, the first named storm may not develop until the middle of the month or later.

Enlarge / An oceangoing scientific drilling vessel may be needed to figure out how huge undersea aquifers formed. (credit: Credit: IODP) One-quarter of the world’s population is currently water-stressed, using up almost their entire fresh water supply each year. The UN predicts that by 2030, this will climb to two-thirds of the population. Freshwater is perhaps the world’s most essential resource, but climate change is enhancing its scarcity.

Enlarge / Battles get a wee bit involved as you go on in Songs of Conquest. (credit: Coffee Stain Publishing) There are games for which I have great admiration, pleasant memories, and an entirely dreadful set of skills and outcomes. Heroes of Might & Magic III (or HoMM 3) has long been one of those games. I have played it on just about every PC I've owned, ever since it chipped away at my college GPA.