🌎 AI's black box

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Here’s what you need to know

Google AI taught itself an unexpected skill. It’s an aspect of AI systems the company’s experts refer to as a “black box.”

Merck is paying nearly $11 billion for a company with no approved drugs. Prometheus’s treatments-in-development for conditions like colitis and Crohn’s disease could be big business for the pharma giant.

Mark Zuckerberg’s plan to open Horizon Worlds to teens is facing opposition. Advocates for health, privacy, and children’s rights called on Meta’s CEO to consider the harm the virtual reality platform could bring to young people.

Angry Birds are landing in Japan. The country’s video game giant Sega is buying Rovio, the Finnish maker of one of the most popular mobile games of all time.

Eyes to the skies as SpaceX launches its most powerful rocket yet. Starship is all set for its maiden test flight at 9am ET.

What to watch for

Dominion and Fox are set to face off in a historic defamation trial.

The voting equipment company has accused Fox News and Fox Corp, the right-wing mass media network part of Rupert Murdoch’s media empire, of damaging its reputation while knowingly spreading lies about the 2020 US presidential election.

Before the five-week-long trial begins today in Delaware, take a look at how the case came about and what’s at stake—if they don’t settle first.

The NBA is trying to make an example of the Mavericks

$750,000: Fine the Dallas Mavericks face for trying to lose a basketball game against the Chicago Bulls on April 7

The team, owned by billionaire investor Mark Cuban, was employing a strategy known as “tanking,” or deliberately trying to miss the postseason in order to secure a higher pick in the NBA draft. Tanking happens all the time in the league—but there’s two reasons why the Mavericks’ strategy was different.

People eat ramen when times get hard

The covid-19 pandemic saw a surge in shelf-stable foods, as people stocked their pantries. Sprinkle in some inflation, and it’s no wonder that instant ramen maker Nissin’s latest quarterly global sales were up 41% from where they were in 2021. But there’s one market where the Japanese company is particularly thriving.

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☢️ Germany is following through on its plan to shut down nuclear plants

Surprising discoveries

Roman coins were found on an uninhabited island in the Baltic Sea. No one knows how they got there.

Not all bird feathers were made for repelling water. The sandgrouse can hydrate its family by carrying water in its belly plumes for more than 20 kilometers (12 miles).

The US National Recording Registry added its first reggaeton song. Daddy Yankee’s “Gasolina” got the honor.

The Florida Department of Education can’t spell. A new list of approved books for public schools has recommendations for “nineth” and “twelth” graders.

Ice cream may be good for diabetics. It has been hard for scientists to admit it.

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