A painting by street artist Banksy with an environmental message and an estimate of up to 5 million pounds ($6.3 million) is going up for auction, with some of the proceeds helping victims of the Los Angeles wildfires.
Sothebys auction house said Tuesday that Crude Oil (Vettriano) is being sold in London next month from the collection of Mark Hoppus, bassist with California skate-punk band Blink-182, who sees Banksy as a kindred spirit.
Hoppus said he was drawn to the subversion, humor and intelligence of Banksys work and the similarities between skateboarding, punk rock and art.
I feel like street art and punk rock have the same core, Hoppus said. The left-out and overlooked making their own reality. Just go make art. Its the same spirit. And Ive loved art and especially street art ever since realizing that.
Crude Oil (Vettriano) is part of a 2005 series of works in which Banksy put a satirical spin on famous paintings withering Vincent van Goghs Sunflowers and smashing the diner window in Edward Hoppers Nighthawks. The artist said his aim was to show that the real damage done to our environment is not done by graffiti writers and drunken teenagers, but by big business.
The work going under the hammer is based on The Singing Butler, a painting by Scottish artist Jack Vettriano showing a couple in evening dress dancing on a beach as servants proffer sheltering umbrellas. Banksy has added a sinking oil liner and two figures lugging a barrel of toxic waste.
We loved this painting since the moment we saw it, said Hoppus, who bought the artwork with his wife, Skye Everly, in 2011. He said the painting unmistakably Banksy, but different has hung in the familys homes in London and Los Angeles.
Hoppus said he would use the proceeds of the sale to buy work by upcoming artists. Some will go to the California Fire Foundation, Childrens Hospital Los Angeles and Cedars Sinai Hematology Oncology Research.
Banksy, who has never confirmed his full identity, began his career spray-painting buildings in Bristol, England, and has become one of the worlds best-known artists. His mischievous and often satirical images include two male police officers kissing, armed riot police with yellow smiley faces and a chimpanzee with a sign bearing the words, Laugh now, but one day Ill be in charge.
Several of his works have sold for multiple millions at auction. The record is almost 18.6 million pounds ($25.4 million at the time) paid at Sothebys in October 2021 for Love is in the Bin an image of a girl with a balloon that partially self-destructed during an auction three years earlier thanks to a shredder hidden in the frame.
Crude Oil (Vettriano) is on display at Sothebys in New York until Thursday and in London Feb. 26-March 4.
Jill Lawless, Associated Press
A new artificial intelligence company from one of the cofounders of OpenAI is quickly becoming one of the most highly valued AI firms in an increasingly crowded marketplace. Ilya Sutskevers Safe Superintelligence (SSI) is in the process of raising in excess of $1 billion with a valuation topping $30 billion. Bloomberg reports San Francisco-based Greenoaks Capital Partners is leading the deal and plans to invest $500 million itself. Greenoaks did not reply to a request for comment about the investment.
$30 billion might be well short of the $340 billion valuation OpenAI boasts, but its still well above many others in the space, including Perplexity, which has a $9 billion valuation. The new figure is significantly higher than SSIs $5 billion valuation in its last round, held this past September, when it raised $1 billion from investors including Sequoia Capital and Andreessen Horowitz.
SSI was founded by Ilya Sutskever, Daniel Gross, and Daniel Levy last June, just one month after Sutskever departed OpenAI. Very little is known about the company so far, aside from its stated goal of building . . . well, a safe superintelligent AI system. The company does not yet have a product on the market.
We approach safety and capabilities in tandem as technical problems to be solved through revolutionary engineering and scientific breakthroughs, the companys website reads. We plan to advance capabilities as fast as possible while making sure our safety always remains ahead. . . . We have started the worlds first straight-shot SSI lab, with one goal and one product: a safe superintelligence.
Ilya Sutskever, born in Russia but raised in Jerusalem, studied with AI pioneer Geoffrey Hinton, who has warned about the dangers of AI. A short stint at Google led to his meeting and ultimately working with cofounders Sam Altman, Greg Brockman, and Elon Musk, on the organization that would become OpenAI. (Musk would later call Sutskever the linchpin to OpenAIs success.)
Sutskever was one of the board members who led the push to remove Altman from the CEO role at OpenAI for a short period at the end of 2023. Sutskever and Altman reportedly clashed over the pace at which generative AI is being commercialized.
Days after helping orchestrate the coup, Sutskever reversed course, signing onto an employee letter demanding Altmans return and expressing regret for his participation in the boards actions. He was removed from the board after Altman returned. (Sutskever isn’t the only OpenAI alum working on his own AI project. On Tuesday, former chief technology officer Mira Murati officially announced Thinking Machines Lab, her AI startup.)
When Sutskever left OpenAI, he posted on X that he was working on a new project that is very personally meaningful to me about which I will share details in due time.
Even with the subsequent announcement about SSIs creation last June, those details remain scant. SSI and Sutskever have dropped a few hints, however, saying that they plan on creating a single product with one focus and one goal. And SSI has made it clear that it plans to ignore pressure from markets or investors to release its product.
Our singular focus means no distraction by management overhead or product cycles, and our business model means safety, security, and progress are all insulated from short-term commercial pressures, the website reads.
Sutskever is widely respected as one of the worlds top AI researchers, which makes this possible funding round less surprising (even if the companys valuation is higher than expected). Despite that, he has eschewed the spotlight for much of his career, not doing many interviews, but speaking about AIs potential for both good and bad when he does.
AI is a great thing. It will solve all the problems that we have today. It will solve unemployment . . . disease . . . poverty, he said in a documentary titled, iHuman, from filmmaker Tonje Hessen Schei, which came out in 2020. But it will also create new problems,” Sutskever continued. “The problem of fake news is going to be a million times worse. Cyberattacks will become much more extreme. We will have totally automated AI weapons. I think AI has the potential to create infinitely stable dictatorships.”
The measles outbreak in rural West Texas has grown to 58 cases as of Tuesday, and eight people in neighboring eastern New Mexico also have been diagnosed with measles.
Public health officials in New Mexico have said they suspect some of the state’s cases are linked to the Texas outbreak, but haven’t confirmed it.
Measles is a highly contagious disease. Here’s what you should know about how to protect yourself against measles, as well as what’s happening in Texas and New Mexico.
Where are measles spreading currently?
The West Texas cases are concentrated in Gaines County, which has 45 infections. Terry County to the north has nine confirmed cases, while Lubbock and Lynn counties have a case each and Yoakum County has two.
The Texas Department of State Health Services said Monday that 13 people are hospitalized with measles.
State health officials say this outbreak is Texas’ largest in nearly 30 years. Health department spokeswoman Lara Anton said last week that cases have been concentrated in a close-knit, undervaccinated Mennonite community especially among families who attend small private religious schools or are homeschooled.
At least three of the New Mexico cases are in Lea County, which borders Gaines County in Texas. The state health department has said people may have been exposed at a grocery store, an elementary school, a church, Nor-Lea Hospital and a Walgreens in Hobbs, New Mexico.
What is measles?
Measles a respiratory virus that can survive in the air for up to two hours. Up to 9 out of 10 people who are susceptible will get the virus if exposed, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Most kids will recover from the measles if they get it, but infection can lead to dangerous complications like pneumonia, blindness, brain swelling and death.
Is the vaccine safe?
Yes, the measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine is safe and highly effective in preventing measles infection and severe cases of the disease.
The first shot is recommended for children between 12 and 15 months old and the second between 4 and 6 years old. The vaccine series is required for kids before entering kindergarten in public schools nationwide.
Before the vaccine was introduced in 1963, the U.S. saw some 3 million to 4 million cases per year. Now, its usually fewer than 200 in a normal year.
There is no link between the vaccine and autism, despite a now-discredited study and health disinformation.
Why do vaccination rates matter?
In communities with high vaccination rates above 95% diseases like measles have a harder time spreading through communities. This is called herd immunity.
But childhood vaccination rates have declined nationwide since the pandemic and more parents are claiming religious or personal conscience waivers to exempt their kids from required shots.
The U.S. saw a rise in measles cases in 2024, including an outbreak in Chicago that sickened more than 60. Five years earlier, measles cases were the worst in almost three decades in 2019.
Gaines County has one of the highest rates in Texas of school-aged children who opt out of at least one required vaccine, with nearly 14% of K-12 children in the 2023-24 school year. Health officials say that number is likely higher because it doesnt include many children who are homeschooled and whose data would not be reported.
What are public health officials doing to stop the spread?
Health workers are hosting regular vaccination clinic and screening efforts in Texas. They are also working with schools to educate people about the importance of vaccination and offering shots.
Devi Shastri, Associated Press health writer
The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institutes Science and Educational Media Group and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content.
Thinking Machines Lab, an AI startup founded by former OpenAI Chief Technology Officer Mira Murati, has tapped about 30 leading researchers and engineers from competitors such as OpenAI, Meta and Mistral, it said in a blog post on Tuesday.
The team roughly two-thirds of which comprises former OpenAI employees includes Barret Zoph, a prominent researcher who left the ChatGPT maker on the same day as Murati in late September. Zoph will serve as the startup’s technology chief.
OpenAI co-founder John Schulman is the startup’s chief scientist. Schulman left OpenAI for rival Anthropic in August, citing wanting to “focus on AI alignment”.
AI alignment refers to a process of encoding human values into AI models to make them safer and more reliable a key focus for Murati’s startup.
Murati is among a growing list of former OpenAI executives, who are responsible for the launch of startups such as Anthropic and Safe Superintelligence. She is raising funds from venture capitalists for her new artificial intelligence startup, Reuters had reported in October.
“While current systems excel at programming and mathematics, we’re building AI that can adapt to the full spectrum of human expertise and enable a broader spectrum of applications,” the startup said.
The company plans to enable external research on alignment by sharing code, datasets, and model specifications, it said.
After Murati joined OpenAI in June 2018, she frequently appeared alongside CEO Sam Altman as the public face of the ChatGPT maker.
Her abrupt resignation had marked another high-profile exit from the company as it undergoes major governance structure changes.
Prior to OpenAI, she had worked at augmented reality startup Leap Motion and Tesla.
Krystal Hu and Arsheeya Bajwa, Reuters
The Trump administration is giving Americas schools and universities two weeks to eliminate diversity initiatives or risk losing federal money, raising the stakes in the presidents fight against wokeness and sowing confusion as schools scramble to comply.
In a memo Friday, the Education Department gave an ultimatum to stop using racial preferences as a factor in admissions, financial aid, hiring or other areas. Schools are being given 14 days to end any practice that treats students or workers differently because of their race.
Educators at colleges nationwide were rushing to evaluate their risk and decide whether to stand up for practices they believe are legal. The sweeping demand threatens to upend all aspects of campus operations, from questions on college applications to classroom lessons and campus clubs.
Its meant to correct what the memo described as rampant discrimination in education, often against white and Asian students.
Schools have been operating on the pretext that selecting students for diversity or similar euphemisms is not selecting them based on race, said Craig Trainor, acting assistant secretary for civil rights. No longer. Students should be assessed according to merit, accomplishment and character.
The guidance drew sharp backlash from civil rights groups and university groups. Some believe its vague language is meant to have a chilling effect, pressuring schools to eliminate anything touching on the topic of race even if it may be defensible in court.
Creating a sense of risk around doing work that might promote diverse and welcoming campuses is much more of the goal than a clear statement of existing law, said Jonathan Fansmith, senior vice president of government relations at the American Council on Education, an association of college presidents.
The memo is an extension of President Donald Trumps executive order banning diversity, equity and inclusion programs. It essentially reflects a change in the federal governments interpretation of antidiscrimination laws. As legal justification, it cites the 2023 Supreme Court decision barring race as a factor in college admissions. Although the ruling applied only to admissions, the memo says it applies more broadly.
Put simply, educational institutions may neither separate or segregate students based on race, nor distribute benefits or burdens based on race, it said.
On Monday the Education Department announced it also cut $600 million in grants for organizations that train teachers. The programs promoted divisive concepts like DEI, critical race theory and social justice activism, the department said.
The new guidance seeks to remove race from areas including financial aid, housing, graduation ceremonies, hiring and promotion. It also takes aim directly at college admissions, suggesting colleges have sought to work around the Supreme Court’s decision.
Using non-racial information as a proxy for race will now be viewed as a violation of federal law, the memo said. As an example, it said it’s unlawful for colleges to eliminate standardized testing requirements to achieve a desired racial balance or to increase racial diversity.
Dozens of colleges across the U.S. have dropped SAT and ACT requirements in recent years for a variety of factors.
The guidance reaches beyond the scope of the Supreme Court’s decision and is almost certain to be challenged in court, said Angel B. Pérez, CEO of the National Association for College Admission Counseling. While the Supreme Court decision bans race as a factor in evaluating applicants, the memo aims to ban race even in the recruitment of potential students, he said.
Practices that have long been commonplace could suddenly become legal liabilities, Pérez said, including recruiting in underrepresented areas or buying lists of potential students with certain academic and demographic information.
Companies including the College Board and ACT have long sold lists of students to colleges, acting as a matchmaker and providing a pool of potential applicants who meet certain criteria.
Colleges and universities are going to find themselves between a rock and a hard place, Pérez said. They know that what theyre doing is not illegal, but they are worried that if they do not comply, not having federal funding will decimate them.
College application essays are targeted by the memo, raising questions about how far colleges can go in inviting students to share their personal experiences, including their race. The guidance says colleges can’t use essays as a way of predicting a student’s race.
In the Supreme Court decision, Chief Justice John Roberts said nothing in the ruling prevents colleges from considering an applicants discussion of how race affected his or her life, though he warned that colleges couldn’t simply use essays as an indirect workaround to consider applicants’ race.
In a campus letter at the University of Michigan, President Santa J. Ono said leaders are working to understand the implications.
Some colleges said they expect little change from the memo. At Oregon State University, a legal review concluded that its programs are fully compliant with all state and federal laws, according to a campus message from Rob Odom, vice president of university relations and marketing.
The department memo appears to take aim at scholarships reserved for students from certain racial backgrounds. Theres been legal debate about whether the Supreme Court decision extends to financial aid, with some schools and institutions deciding to scrap racial requirements for certain scholarships.
The National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators said theres no consensus on the question, and the group is trying to understand how the memo could affect student aid.
What we do know, however, is that 14 days is insufficient time for schools to assess and implement any necessary changes to be in compliance, the group said in a statement. The last thing students need when making plans about how to pay for college is uncertainty over when or whether they will receive financial aid theyve been relying on.
The confusion around Trump’s order was apparent at last week’s confirmation hearing for education secretary nominee Linda McMahon. Asked whether classes on African American history would run afoul of the president’s order, McMahon said she wasn’t quite certain.
Collin Binkley, AP education writer
The Associated Press education coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find APs standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at AP.org.
One of Donald Trumps first acts as president was to sign an executive order attacking birthright citizenship. While several judges have moved to block the order, Trumps anti-immigrant push is continuingfrom allowing immigration officials to conduct arrests at schools and places of worship to training local law officers to interrogate and detain immigrants in their custody.
However, Deirdre Schifeling, chief policy and advocacy officer at the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), points out that local government resistance as well as individuals fighting back against anti-immigrant policies are showing results.
Were seeing this in Chicago, where Trump is suing the government for not helping enough, she says.
Here are five ways to fight anti-immigration policies:
1. Contact government officials, particularly local ones
Politicians are moved by public opinion. Apply pressure by continually calling and emailing your representatives.
The most effective way to change immigration policy is to contact members of Congress and express your opposition to anti-immigrant policies, Oleg Nekritin, an attorney at the Law Offices of Robert J. DeGroot, said via email.
And dont neglect local officials. Schifeling points out that cities and states cannot be forced to assist with mass deportation by the federal government. While they cant obstruct the federal government, they can choose not to help.
Schifeling recommends asking local leaders to pass sanctuary city or state laws, which means they wont use their resources to help the federal immigration authorities, as well as laws that prevent city data from being used to deport immigrants. She also recommends asking school boards to issue guidance to schools asking them not to track student immigration status and not to share it if they do have the status.
2. Educate yourself
Learn whats going on in your community vis a vis the law.
Schifeling recommends attending a Know Your Rights workshop so people can understand what their and their neighbors rights are if they’re faced with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials.
In addition, the more people who understand the law, the more people there are who can educate others in their community, as well as bear witness when ICE raids happen and try to help prevent unlawful actions. For example, if ICE doesnt have a warrant, you dont have to let them in.
Were hearing from the Trump administration that communities are very educated and this as a top obstacle for carrying out their mass deportations, Schifeling says. Its confirmation that know-your-rights outreach is working.
3. Donate
While organizations such as the ACLU are looking to expand and appreciate donations, donating to local legal service organizations and immigrant advocacy groups can also be powerful. These smaller groups are on the frontlines in the fight to protect immigrants but often lack the resources of their larger counterparts.
Elizabeth Sweet, executive director of the Massachusetts Immigrant and Refugee Advocacy Coalition, notes that smaller organizations often struggle to get funding since they may not have brand-name recognition or even the ability to hire marketing teams.
Yet often, it’s local organizations that best understand the needs of the immigrant community, says Sweet, “and can be the most responsive.
In addition, consider donating to immigrant bond funds. Helping people bond out of immigration detention is going to be really important to give them a chance to find an attorney to represent them in their deportation cases, said Tara Tidwell Cullen, director of communications at the National Immigrant Justice Center, in an email.
4. Volunteer
Volunteering can take many different forms. Schifeling at the ACLU recommends getting trained in Know Your Rights, so if a raid happens in the community, volunteers can show up and distribute Know Your Rights cards printed in multiple languages.
Organizations may also need volunteers to help people fill out citizenship paperwork or register to vote.
Small organizations often also need professional skills since they dont have the budget to retain large staffs. Legal service organizations depend on volunteer attorneys, while in general, nonprofits need expertise with fundraising, finance, marketing, and website management. Check with your local organizations to see which of your skills might be a good fit.
5. Verify information before you share it
Last, but not least, in your desire to help, make sure you’re not inadvertently spreading misinformation. Immigrant communities are already living in fear. If you have information, make sure its coming from a credible source before sharing it.
Were hearing so many rumors flying around, sometimes from folks who want to be helpful,” Sweet says. “But when someone says, ‘ICE is here and they are going to take action in this community,’ its really scaring people who are already scared.”
Shares of Intel Corporation (NASDAQ:INTC) surged over 10% on Tuesday on the news that rivals Broadcom and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC) are in talks to divide the ailing American chipmaker’s business into two parts, according to the Wall Street Journal.
Fast Company reached out to Intel for comment but a spokesperson didn’t immediately return our request.
Once the largest semiconductor company in the world, Intel is now struggling to turn around its business after the chip-manufacturing giants shares lost 59.60% last year due, in part, to missing out on the generative artificial intelligence boom.
According to the Journal report, Broadcom is interested in Intel’s chip-design and marketing business, if it finds someone to partner with Intels manufacturing business. TSMC signaled interest in investing in and studying Intels chip plants, potentially as one of several investors. The two companies are in separate, preliminary talks with Intel.
Shares in TSMC (NYSE:TSM) were down more than 1% at the time of this writing in midday trading, while Broadcom stock (NASDAQ:AVGO) was down about 3%, after both fell substantially on the market’s open.
Splitting up Intel would have been unthinkable in its heyday when it dominated the processing business, but the split is in line with recent industry trends toward either manufacturing or designing chips. And Intel has had quite a fall from grace. In November, after 25 years, the company lost its spot in the Dow Jones Industrial Average to Nvidia.
News of the talks comes after the Trump administration signaled it would safeguard American chip technologies at Frances AI Action Summit in Paris about a week ago, and the White House has been involved with aspects of the talks between Intel and TSMC over Intel’s factories, according to the Journal.
Parents across the U.S. should soon be able to determine how much lead, arsenic, cadmium, and mercury are in the food they feed their babies, thanks to a California law, the first of its kind, that took effect this year.
As of January 1, 2025, every company that sells baby food products in California is required to test for these four heavy metals every month. That comes five years after a congressional report warned about the presence of dangerously high levels of lead and other heavy metals in baby food.
Every baby food product packaged in jars, pouches, tubs, and boxes sold in California must carry a QR code on its label that consumers can scan to check the most recent heavy metal readings, although many are not yet complying.
Because companies seldom package products for a single state, parents and caregivers across the country will be able to scan these QR codes or go online to the companies websites and see the results.
I am a pharmacist researcher who has studied heavy metals in mineral supplements, dietary supplements, and baby food for several years. My research highlights how prevalent these toxic agents are in everyday products such as baby food. I believe the new California law offers a solid first step in giving people the ability to limit the intake of these substances.
How do heavy metals get into foods?
Soil naturally contains heavy metals. The earth formed as a hot molten mass. As it cooled, heavier elements settled into its center regions, called the mantle and core. Volcanic eruptions in certain areas have brought these heavy metals to the surface over time. The volcanic rock erodes to form heavy metal-laden soil, contaminating nearby water supplies.
Another major source of soil contamination is the exhaust from fossil fuels, and in particular leaded gasoline. Some synthetic fertilizers contribute, too.
Heavy metals in the soil can pass into foods via several routes. Plants that yield foods such as sweet potatoes and carrots, apples, cinnamon, rice, and plant-based protein powder are especially good at extracting them from contaminated soil.
Sometimes the contamination happens after harvesting. For example, local water that contains heavy metals is often used to rinse debris and bugs off natural products, such as leaves used to make a widely used supplement called kratom. When the water evaporates, the heavy metals are retained on the surface. Sometimes drying products in the open air, such as cacao beans for dark chocolate, allows dust laden with heavy metals to stick to their surface.
Producers can reduce heavy metal contamination in food in several ways, which range from modestly to very effectively. First, they can reserve more contaminated areas for growing crops that are less prone to taking in heavy metals from the soil, such as peppers, beans, squash, melons, and cucumbers, and conversely grow more susceptible crops in less-contaminated areas. They can also dry plants on uncontaminated soil and filter heavy metals out of water before washing produce.
Producers are starting to use genetic engineering and crossbreeding to create susceptible plants that take up fewer heavy metals through their roots, but this approach is still in its early stages.
Sweet potatoes and other root vegetables are especially susceptible to absorbing heavy metals from soil. [Photo: Hui Sang/Unsplash]
How much is too much?
Although there is no entirely safe level of chronic heavy metal ingestion, heavy metals are all around us and are impossible to avoid entirely.
In January 2025, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration released its first-ever guidance for manufacturers that sets limits on the amount of lead that baby food can contain. But the FDA guidance does not require companies to adhere to the limits.
In that guidance, the FDA suggested a limit of 10 parts per billion of lead for baby foods that contain fruits, vegetables, meats, or combinations of those items, with or without grains. Yogurts, custard, and puddings should have the same cutoff, according to the agency. Root vegetables and dry infant cereals, meanwhile, should contain less than 20 parts per billion of lead. The FDA regulations dont apply to some products babies frequently consume, such as formula, teething crackers, and other snacks.
The agency has not defined firm limits for the consumption of other heavy metals, but its campaign against heavy metals in baby food, called Closer to Zero, reflects that a lower dose is better.
That campaign also laid out plans to propose limits for other heavy metals such as arsenic and mercury.
Modestly exceeding the agencys recommended dosage for lead or arsenic a few times a month is unlikely to have noticeable negative health effects. However, chronically ingesting too much lead or inorganic arsenic can negatively affect childhood health, including cognitive development, and can cause softening of bones.
How Californias QR codes can help parents and other caregivers
Its unclear how many products consistently exceed these recommendations.
A study by Consumer Reports in 2018 found that 33 of 50 products had concerning levels of at least one heavy metal. In 2023, researchers repeated testing on seven of the failing products and found that heavy metal levels were now lower in three, the same in one, and slightly higher in three.
Because these tests assess products bought and tested at one specific time, they may not reflect the average heavy metal content in the same product over the entire year. These levels can vary over time if the manufacturer sources ingredients from different parts of the country or the world at different times of the year.
Thats where Californias new law can help. The law requires manufacturers to gather and divulge real-time information on heavy metal contamination monthly. By scanning a QR code on a box of Gerber Teether Snacks or a jar of Beech Nut Naturals sweet potato puree, parents and caregivers can call up test results on a smartphone and learn how much lead, arsenic, cadmium, and mercury were found in those specific products manufactured recently. These test results can also be accessed by entering a products name or batch number on the manufacturers website.
Slow rollout
In an investigation by Consumer Reports and a child advocacy group called Unleaded Kids, only four companies out of 28 were fully in compliance with the California law as of early this year. Some noncompliant companies had developed no infrastructure, some had developed websites but no heavy metal information was logged in, and some had information but required consumers to enter batch numbers to access results, without the required QR codes on the product packaging.
The law requires companies to provide this information for foods produced after Jan. 1, 2025, with no provisions for extensions, and the major producers agreed to comply not only for California residents but to provide the results nationwide. California enforces noncompliance by embargoing misbranded baby food products, issuing penalties, and suspending or revoking registrations and licenses.
When companies testing and reporting systems are fully up and running, a quick scan at the grocery store will allow consumers to adapt their purchases to minimize infants exposures to heavy metals. Initially, parents and caregivers may find it overwhelming to decide between one chicken and rice product that is higher in lead but lower in arsenic than a competitors product, for example.
However, they may also encounter instances where one baby food product clearly contains less of three heavy metals and only slightly more for the fourth heavy metal than a comparable product from a different manufacturer. That information can more clearly inform their choice.
Regardless of the readings, health experts advise parents and caregivers not to eliminate all root vegetables, apples, and rice but instead to feed babies a wide variety of foods.
C. Michael White is a distinguished professor of pharmacy practice at the University of Connecticut.
This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
When a hurricane or tornado starts to form, your local weather forecasters can quickly pull up maps tracking its movement and showing where its headed. But have you ever wondered where they get all that information?
The forecasts can seem effortless, but behind the scenes, a vast network of satellites, airplanes, radar, computer models and weather analysts are providing access to the latest dataand warnings when necessary. This data comes from analysts at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, known as NOAA, and its National Weather Service.
Atmospheric scientists Christine Wiedinmyer and Kari Bowen, who is a former National Weather Service forecaster, explained NOAAs central role in most U.S. weather forecasts.
When people see a weather report on TV, what went on at NOAA to make that forecast possible?
A lot of the weather information Americans rely on starts with real-time data collected by NOAA satellites, airplanes, weather balloons, radar, and maritime buoys, as well as weather stations around the world.
All of that information goes into the agencys computers, which process the data to begin defining whats going on in different parts of the atmosphere.
NOAA forecasters use computer models that simulate physics and the behavior of the atmosphere, along with their own experience and local knowledge, to start to paint a picture of the weatherwhats coming in a few minutes or hours or days. They also use that data to project seasonal conditions out over weeks or months.
NOAAs data comes from many sources to provide a more complete picture of developing climate and weather conditions. Communities and economies rely on that constantly updated information. [Chart: NOAA]
When severe weather is on the way, the agency issues the official alerts youll see in the news and on your phone.
All of this analysis happens before the information reaches private weather apps and TV stations.
No matter who you are, you can freely access that data and the analyses. In fact, a large number of private companies use NOAA data to create fancy maps and other weather products that they sell.
It would be extremely difficult to do all of that without NOAA.
The agency operates a fleet of 18 satellites that are packed with instruments dedicated to observing weather phenomena essential to predicting the weather, from how hot the land surface is to the water content of the atmosphere. Some are geostationary satellites which sit high above different parts of the U.S. measuring weather conditions 24/7. Others orbit the planet. Many of these are operated as part of partnerships with NASA or the Air Force.
Some private companies are starting to invest in satellites, but it would take an enormous amount of money to replicate the range of instrumentation and coverage that NOAA has in place. Satellites only last so long and take time to build, so NOAA is continually planning for the future, and using its technical expertise to develop new instruments and computer algorithms to interpret the data.
NOAAs low earth orbiting satellites circle the planet from pole to pole and across the equator 14 times a day to provide a full picture of the year twice a day. The agency also has geostationary satellites that provide continuous coverage over the U.S. [Chart: NOAA]
Maritime buoys are another measuring system that would be difficult to replicate. Over 1,300 buoys across oceans around the world measure water temperature, wind, and wave heightall of which are essential for coastal warnings, as well as long-term forecasts.
Weather observation has been around a long time. President Ulysses S. Grant created the first national weather service in the War Department in 1870. It became civilian service in 1880 under the Department of Agriculture and is now in the Commerce Department. The information its scientists and technologists produce is essential for safety and also benefits people and industries in a lot of ways.
Could a private company create forecasts on its own without NOAA data?
It would be difficult for one company to provide comprehensive weather data in a reliable way that is also accessible to the entire public.
Some companies might be able to launch their own satellite, but one satellite only gives you part of the picture. NOAAs weather observation network has been around for a long time and collects data from points all over the U.S. and the oceans. Without that robust data, computer models and the broad network of forecasters and developers, forecasting also becomes less reliable.
Analyzing that data is also complex. Youre not going to be able to take satellite data, run a model on a standard laptop and suddenly have a forecast.
And theres a question of whether a private company would want to take on the legal risk of being responsible for the nations forecasts and severe weather warnings.
NOAA is taxpayer-funded, so it is a public goodits services provide safety and security for everyone, not just those who can pay for it.
If weather data was only available at a price, one town might be able to afford the weather information necessary to protect its residents, while a smaller town or a rural area across the state might not. If youre in a tornado-prone area or coastal zone, that information can be the difference between life or death.
Is climate data and research into the changing climate important for forecasts?
The Earths systemsits land, water, and the atmosphereare changing, and we have to be able to assess how those changes will impact weather tomorrow, in two weeks and far into the future.
Rising global temperatures affect weather patterns. Dryness can fuel wildfires. Forecasts have to take the changing climate into account to be accurate, no matter who is creating the forecast.
Drought is an example. The dryness of the Earth controls how much water gets exchanged with the atmosphere to form clouds and rainfall. To have an accurate weather prediction, we need to know how dry things are at the surface and how that has changed over time. That requires long-term climate information.
NOAA doesnt do all of this by itselfwho else is involved?
NOAA partners with private sector, academia, nonprofits, and many others around the world to ensure that everyone has the best information to produce the most robust weather forecasts. Private weather companies and media also play important roles in getting those forecasts and alerts out more widely to the public.
A lot of businesses rely on accuracy from NOAAs weather data and forecasts: aviation, energy companies, insurance, even modern tractors precision farming equipment. The agencys long-range forecasts are essential for managing state reservoirs to ensure enough water is saved and to avoid flooding.
The government agency can be held accountable in a way private businesses are not because it answers to Congress. So, the data is trustworthy, accessible and developed with the goal to protect public safety and property for everyone. Could the same be said if only for-profit companies were producing that data?
Christine Wiedinmyer is an associate director for science at CIRES at the University of Colorado Boulder.
Kari Bowen is an atmospheric scientist and program manager at CIRES at the University of Colorado Boulder.
This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
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Pandemic era adoption of work-from-home and hybrid work models has left many office spaces unused, triggering a surge in expired leases and vacant office buildings. Simultaneously, the residential housing market remains resilient, with the number of active homes for sale in January 2025 sitting 25% below the levels recorded in January 2019.
Itd only make sense that many of these offices over time get converted into condos and apartments, right?
To gain a comprehensive understanding of the current office-to-apartment conversions landscape, ResiClub turned to RentCafe, an arm of property management software giant Yardi Systems.
Entering 2021, there were 12,100 office-to-apartment units in the U.S. conversion pipeline. Fast-forward to 2025, and that figure is now 70,700an increase of 484% in just four years.
This significant increase highlights the evolving nature of Americas cities that are driven by shifts in living preferences and changes in work habits, wrote RentCafe in its latest report. As office spaces are reimagined to meet the demand for housing, its clear that adaptive reuse is playing a key role in reshaping urban landscapes.
According to RentCafe, the office-to-apartment unit pipeline (70,700) makes up 42% of the 169,000 units currently being converted from commercial properties into apartment units. Its followed by hotel-to-apartment (22%), factory-to-apartment (11%), and warehouse-to-apartment (6%).
The biggest chunk of this 70,700 office-to-apartment unit pipeline can be found in New York (8,310 units).
Not too far behind is Washington, D.C. (6,533 units), Los Angeles (4,388 units), Chicago (3,606 units), and Dallas (2,752 units).
From a big-picture perspective, the 70,700 office-to-residential conversion pipeline might not be as significant as it appears at first glance.
Look no further than the project at 219 E. 42nd Street in Midtown Manhattan, near Grand Central Terminal. The former Pfizer headquarters will be transformed from a 10-story office building into a 29-story luxury multifamily development, bringing 1,600 housing units to market in 2027.
This single conversion will be the biggest in New York Citys history and makes up 19% of New York City’s conversion pipeline and 2.3% of the U.S. conversion pipeline.
The 291,000-square-foot office building will be about 540,000 square feet after the additional 19 stories are added to the structure. For perspective, there are about 95 million square feet of office real estate available for lease in New York City alone.
Of the 55,339 office-to-apartments in some phase of development in January 2024, only 3,709 were completed by December, leaving 51,630 units that carried over into 2025, according to RentCafes report.
Why arent there more office-to-apartment conversions right now?
Commercial buildings may not be designed or constructed with residential living in mind. Converting office spaces into comfortable and functional apartments may require significant structural changes, such as adding windows or ventilation, or modifying floor plans. While office-to-apartment conversions can often be done faster, they often cost more than just building a new building.
Big Picture: While the conversion of office spaces into residential units is gaining momentum, it still remains a small segment of the residential housing market.
