A recent letter signed by 1,367 researchers and engineers at frontier AI labs – mainly OpenAI, Anthropic and Google Deepmind – points to a dangerous moment

It is fashionable in certain circles to dismiss the catastrophic risks of AI. One often hears that “the real experts” who work on the technology every day are really not concerned at all; that only “doomers” and “Luddites” espouse a “fringe” view from a “position of ignorance”; that all talk of potential catastrophe is just “science fiction”.

Fortunately, an open letter has been published that lets us hear from the real experts who work on the technology every day, in their own words. And are they worried? Very.

There’s no evidence that vaccines cause autism, or that we should separate MMR shots. This order is dangerous

“This is based on what I feel.” That was the president last September, explaining why he wanted the measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine broken into three separate shots. On Monday, he signed an executive order instructing exactly that.

Four decades in intensive care have taught me what a feeling costs once it becomes national policy. Children will be hospitalized who did not need to be. Some of them will die. No one can name those the vaccine has saved, because prevented harm is invisible by definition, and that invisibility is what makes preventive medicine easy to dismantle and hard to defend.

Prosecutors allege 28-year-old gunned down Brian Thompson outside Manhattan hotel in 2024

Luigi Mangione, who is accused of the killing of the UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, is due to appear on Tuesday morning at Manhattan state court.

Mangione’s appearance comes less than a month before the start of his highly anticipated 8 September trial. Prosecutors allege that Mangione gunned down Thompson outside a Midtown Manhattan hotel on 4 December 2024.

Francesca Hong is Democratic frontrunner in four-way primary race to lead the swing state, a test of anti-establishment sentiment

Wisconsin voters will decide on Tuesday whether to nominate a democratic socialist for the state’s highest office in the latest test of an anti-establishment wave among Democratic primary voters.

Francesca Hong, a democratic socialist state lawmaker, emerged as the frontrunner in a four-way race to succeed Tony Evers, the Democratic governor who is not seeking another term.

Republicans, including Graham’s sister Darline, expedite campaigns to replace late senator in special primary race

In the race to replace the late US senator Lindsey Graham, 10 candidates have been barnstorming South Carolina diners, church halls and recreation centers, compressing a normal year of campaigning into about a fortnight.

The Republican party is staging a special primary election in the state on Tuesday to choose Graham’s replacement. His sister, Darline, who has been serving as interim senator following his sudden death last month, is on the ballot.

From progressive and moderate to election deniers, state sees wide spectrum of candidates in test of direction for both parties

Minnesota voters on both sides of the aisle are weighing the direction of their parties – and their chances of winning over the general electorate – in marquee statewide races on Tuesday.

On the left, Peggy Flanagan, the state lieutenant governor and a progressive, faces off against Angie Craig, a US representative, for the Democratic bid for US senate in a race punctuated by the role of immigration enforcement in the state that saw two residents killed by immigration agents in a winter surge.

Study finds technology could boost recoverable oil and gas reserves by 5% and cut cost of deepwater projects by 10%

AI-driven productivity gains enable more planet-heating pollution from fossil fuels than they avoid from renewables, a study has found.

Researchers modelled the technical potential for AI to boost clean power generation along with projections for how it can help produce coal, oil and gas. Across 64 scenarios, they found net yearly carbon pollution rose by 0.47-1.8 gigatonnes, or about 1-5% of the energy sector’s annual emissions.

The Portland rink where Tonya Harding first skated was an affordable community institution for six decades. Its closure echoes the disappearance of mall ice across the US

When the Lloyd Center shopping mall first opened its doors in 1960, it boasted a unique feature: an ice rink. In the nearly seven decades since, that ice rink – first outdoor, then enclosed by a glass ceiling that sheltered mall-goers from the elements – became a cultural epicenter for Portlanders.

Children accompanying parents on errands spotted peers gliding across the ice and begged for lessons. Shoppers, taking a break from the stores, watched idly from the three levels that looked out over the ice. At Christmas, a giant tree adorned the middle of the rink, making Lloyd Center an essential part of the holiday season.