Brood XIX, the largest periodical cicada group, is set to emerge in mid-May in more than a dozen states. These cicadas emerge every 13 years and usually stick around through mid to late June.
A pair of studies published Thursday in the journal Science offers evidence not only that misinformation on social media changes minds, but that a small group of committed "supersharers," predominately older Republican women, were responsible for the vast majority of the "fake news" in the period looked at. The studies, by researchers at MIT, Ben-Gurion University, Cambridge and Northeastern, were independently conducted but complement each other well. In the MIT study led by Jennifer Allen, the researchers point out that misinformation has often been blamed for vaccine hesitancy in 2020 and beyond, but that the phenomenon remains poorly documented.
Okay, okay — remember last week when I suggested Tesla was being a bit extra in its bid to convince shareholders to vote in favor of relocating the company to Texas and to approve CEO Elon Musk’s $56 billion pay deal? Because this week Tesla took it to a whole new level by dangling the chance to win a factory tour with Elon and chief designer Franz von Holzhausen. Shareholders who vote could win a tour of the Tesla factory in Austin and an invitation to the June 13 annual meeting.
Archer Aviation is partnering with ride-hailing and parking company Kakao Mobility to bring electric air taxi flights to South Korea starting in 2026, if the company can get its aircraft developed in time. The move to South Korea is part of an international strategy that will also see Archer commercially launch in the United Arab Emirates and India that same year. Competitor Joby Aviation is also targeting South Korea in partnership with SK Telecom and UT, a ride-hailing joint venture between Uber and T Map Mobility that integrates air and land travel.
An IIHS senior research scientist joined six U.S. senators' call for the NHTSA to do more about safety concerns surrounding advanced driver assistance tech and automated vehicle fleets.
Bugatti has unveiled the final example of the Chiron. It's a Super Sport model called l'Ultime that's inspired by the first Chiron shown to the public.
Amazon is rolling out an AI-powered search feature to Fire TV that would enable Alexa to answer open-ended questions about TV shows and movies, and deliver more specific recommendations tailored to users' preferences. Announced at Amazon's annual devices event last September, the feature is powered by a proprietary large language model (LLM). Alexa will also be able to suggest titles included in streaming services you’re already subscribed to.