Posted by msmash from Slashdot
From the how-about-that department: Boys and young men in the United States are experiencing declining outcomes in education, mental health, and transition to adulthood compared to their female counterparts, according to comprehensive data analyzed by researchers. High school graduation rates for boys stand at 83% versus 89% for girls, while college enrollment of recent male high school graduates has barely increased to 57% from 54% in 1960, compared to women's surge to 66% from 38% in the same period.
Mental health indicators show 28% of boys ages 3-17 have mental, emotional, behavioral or developmental problems versus 23% of girls. Male suicide rates for ages 15-24 have nearly doubled to 21 per 100,000 in 2023 from 11 in 1968. Labor force participation among men ages 25-54 has declined to 89% from 94% in 1975, while women's participation rose to 78% from 55%. Additionally, 19% of men ages 25-34 now live with parents, compared to 13% of women. "The contemporary American economy is not rewarding a lot of the characteristics associated with men and masculinity," said Robb Willer, professor of sociology at Stanford.
Posted by msmash from Slashdot
From the PSA department: MIT said Friday it can no longer stand behind a widely circulated paper on AI written by a doctoral student in its economics program. The paper said that the introduction of an AI tool in a materials-science lab led to gains in new discoveries, but had more ambiguous effects on the scientists who used it. WSJ: MIT didn't name the student in its statement Friday, but it did name the paper. That paper, by Aidan Toner-Rodgers, was covered by The Wall Street Journal and other media outlets. In a press release, MIT said it "has no confidence in the provenance, reliability or validity of the data and has no confidence in the veracity of the research contained in the paper."
The university said the author of the paper is no longer at MIT. The paper said that after an AI tool was implemented at a large materials-science lab, researchers discovered significantly more materials -- a result that suggested that, in certain settings, AI could substantially improve worker productivity. But it also showed that most of the productivity gains went to scientists who were already highly effective, and that overall the AI tool made scientists less happy about their work.
Posted by AzT from TFW2005
Transformers #23 and Void Rivals #22 land in August: ENTER THE MATRIX. The last hope for the Autobots exists within the Matrix of Leadership. But will the Decepticons triumph before those answers are found? SPRINGER VS PROXIMUS! And what is Skuxxoid planning? Discuss the details revealed so far with fellow readers on the 2005 boards! Transformers #23 Creator credits: (W) Daniel Warren Johnson, (A) Jorge Corona, Mike Spicer, (CA) Daniel Warren Johnson, Mike Spicer, (A/CA) Jorge Corona, Mike Spicer, featured, (CA) David Nakayama, (CA) Doug Mahnke, David Baron, (CA) Pye Parr Void Rivals #22 Creator credits: (W) Robert Kirkman, (A) Conor Hughes, Patricio Delpeche, (CA) Lorenzo
» Continue Reading.
The post
Skybound’s Transformers Comics Solicitations: August 2025 appeared first on
Transformer World 2005 - TFW2005.COM.
Posted by msmash from Slashdot
From the PSA department: Broadcom employees have had their personal data compromised following a September 2024 ransomware attack on Business Systems House (BSH), a Middle Eastern subsidiary of payroll company ADP.
The breach, claimed by the Russian-speaking El Dorado ransomware group, wasn't fully identified until December when stolen data appeared online, according to The Register. Broadcom only received details of affected employees on May 12, 2025. Compromised information potentially includes national ID numbers, financial account numbers, health insurance details, dates of birth, salary information, and contact details.
Five employee accounts were initially compromised, ultimately affecting 560 users. ADP has distanced itself from the incident, stating only "a small subset of ADP clients" in "certain countries in the Middle East" were affected.
Posted by msmash from Slashdot
From the moving-forward department: Montana has enacted SB 282, becoming the first state to prohibit law enforcement from purchasing personal data they would otherwise need a warrant to obtain. The landmark legislation closes what privacy advocates call the "data broker loophole," which previously allowed police to buy geolocation data, electronic communications, and other sensitive information from third-party vendors without judicial oversight.
The new law specifically restricts government access to precise geolocation data, communications content, electronic funds transfers, and "sensitive data" including health status, religious affiliation, and biometric information. Police can still access this information through traditional means: warrants, investigative subpoenas, or device owner consent.
Posted by BeauHD from Slashdot
From the historic-partnerships department: An anonymous reader quotes a report from Patently Apple: It's being reported in the Gulf region that a new 5GW UAE-US AI Campus in Abu Dhabi was unveiled on Thursday at Qasr Al Watan in the presence of President His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan and US. President Donald Trump, who is on a state visit to the UAE. The new AI campus -- the largest of its kind outside the United States -- will host US hyperscalers and large enterprises, enabling them to leverage regional compute resources with the capability to serve the Global South. The UAE-US AI Campus will feature 5GW of capacity for AI data centers in Abu Dhabi, offering a regional platform through which US hyperscalers can provide low-latency services to nearly half of the global population.
Upon completion, the facility will utilize nuclear, solar, and gas power to minimize carbon emissions. It will also house a science park focused on advancing innovation in artificial intelligence. The campus will be built by G42 and operated in partnership with several US companies including NVIDIA, OpenAI, SoftBank, Cisco and others. The initiative is part of the newly established US-UAE AI Acceleration Partnership, a bilateral framework designed to deepen collaboration on artificial intelligence and advanced technologies. The UAE and US will jointly regulate access to the compute resources, which are reserved for US hyperscalers and approved cloud service providers. An official press release from the White House can be found here.
No matter who it is, from Goro to General Grievous, you just can’t trust a guy with more than two arms. The creep factor is part of it, but I think you just learn fast that while two of those arms are fine, the most devastating attack always comes, from the other two arms you didn’t even know were there.
Little Kitty, Big City packs a lot to do in its meowtropolis (sorry, that’s my first and only cat pun), all of which is as cute and fun as you’d expect for a game about a lost kitty in a big ‘ol city. But this city is actually more bite-sized than you might anticipate by the game’s name, offering a brief but enjoyable…
The murder train continues to roll on in Assassin’s Creed Shadows. This time, we have the sordid tale of the aristocrat Ukita Naoie who sends his kid out of town so he doesn’t have to be there to see him completely betray his countrymen to an army of murderous ninjas. He’s a poet; he plays Go; he’s a good man; we like…
Star Wars and AI are colliding in one of the biggest games around. Darth Vader once again joined Fortnite on Friday, except unlike so many crossover cameos in Epic’s game, this one will talk back to you and your friends while you’re running around Junk Junction looking for easy pick-offs. It’s voiced by a digital…
Every day, I get sad that Pokémon aren’t real, but sometimes we get real-world amalgamations of their world in ours. Team Rocket and all their monster-stealing ways may not be an actual organization, but we’ve got plenty of people committing pocket monster crimes here on Earth. A recent example is a man in the UK’s…
Oh it’s fun to have good news! The latest set from the Pokémon TCG, Scarlet & Violet Destined Rivals, is a top-notch collection of cards bursting with Team Rocket antics, which sports (in my limited experience, at least) pull rates I don’t believe we’ve seen in this era. Having torn open 55 packs, I have a generous…
Super Mario Odyssey, Pokémon Scarlet and Violet, and a bunch of other popular Nintendo games are getting upgrades to help them run better on Switch 2. And unlike some other Switch 2 versions, these improvements won’t require fans to spend more money.
Whether you just finished binge-watching the entire Underworld franchise, dove into some classic vampiric lore such as Carmilla, or just want your fifteenth playthrough of Oblivion to feel slightly different, vampirism is always an option. It’s not the best option. But it’s an option!
< This article continues on their website > 
