Japan Economy's Vital Signs Dull In March, But Views Upbeat

Enlarge / Imaging setup for a charred ancient papyrus recovered from the ruins of Herculaneum; 30 percent of the text has now been deciphered. (credit: CNR – Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche) Historical accounts vary about how the Greek philosopher Plato died: in bed while listening to a young woman playing the flute; at a wedding feast; or peacefully in his sleep.

Enlarge / Federal Communication Commission Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel, then a commissioner, rallies against repeal of net neutrality rules in December 2017. (credit: Getty Images | Chip Somodevilla) The Federal Communications Commission voted 3–2 to impose net neutrality rules today, restoring the common-carrier regulatory framework enforced during the Obama era and then abandoned while Trump was president. The rules prohibit Internet service providers from blocking and throttling lawful content and ban paid prioritization.

Enlarge / Honda is investing CAD$15 billion (US $11 billion) to expand EV manufacturing in North America with four sites in Ontario, Canada. (credit: Honda) Honda announced today that it will spend $11 billion to expand its electric vehicle manufacturing presence in North America. The Japanese automaker already has a number of factories in the US, Mexico, and Canada, and it's this last one that will benefit from the expansion, with four EV-related plants planned for Ontario. Honda says it has begun evaluating requirements for what it's calling an "innovative and environmentally responsible" EV factory and a standalone EV battery plant in Alliston, Ontario, which is already home to Honda's two existing Canadian manufacturing facilities. Additionally, the automaker wants to set up another two sites as joint ventures.

Enlarge (credit: Getty Images) On Thursday, Baltimore County Police arrested Pikesville High School's former athletic director, Dazhon Darien, and charged him with using AI to impersonate Principal Eric Eiswert, according to a report by The Baltimore Banner. Police say Darien used AI voice synthesis software to simulate Eiswert's voice, leading the public to believe the principal made racist and antisemitic comments. The audio clip, posted on a popular Instagram account, contained offensive remarks about "ungrateful Black kids" and their academic performance, as well as a threat to "join the other side" if the speaker received one more complaint from "one more Jew in this community." The recording also mentioned names of staff members, including Darien's nickname "DJ," suggesting they should not have been hired or should be removed "one way or another." The comments led to significant uproar from students, faculty, and the wider community, many of whom initially believed the principal had actually made the comments.

Enlarge (credit: Jose A. Bernat Bacete) Today, the US Environmental Protection Agency announced a suite of rules that target pollution from fossil fuel power plants. In addition to limits on carbon emissions and a tightening of existing regulations on mercury releases, additional rules target coal ash waste left over from power generation and contaminants in the water used during the operation of power plants.

Enlarge / "5ario" here won't be on the Garry's Mod Steam Workshop for long. (credit: Steam / LmaoSPW) The popular long-running Source-engine physics sandbox Garry's Mod has begun to take down Nintendo-related items from the game's Steam Workshop page, following an apparent takedown request from Nintendo. In a Steam Community news post, mod creator Garry Newman writes that some items have already been taken down as part of an "ongoing process, as we have 20 years of uploads to go through." Indeed, combing through the over 1.8 million Garry's Mod Steam Workshop add-ons to find all of Nintendo's copyrighted content is sure to be a significant task.