Month: February 2024

Enlarge (credit: Getty Images / Benj Edwards)

On Sunday, a report from the South China Morning Post revealed a significant financial loss suffered by a multinational company's Hong Kong office, amounting to HK$200 million (US$25.6 million), due to a sophisticated scam involving deepfake technology. The scam featured a digitally recreated version of the company's chief financial officer, along with other employees, who appeared in a video conference call instructing an employee to transfer funds.

Due to an ongoing investigation, Hong Kong police did not release details of which company was scammed.

Deepfakes utilize AI tools to create highly convincing fake videos or audio recordings, posing significant challenges for individuals and organizations to discern real from fabricated content.

Enlarge / This thin section transmission electron microscopic (TEM) image reveals numerous spheroid-shaped Enterovirus-D68 (EV-D68) virions. (credit: CDC/ Cynthia S. Goldsmith, Yiting Zhang)

2022 was the bad year that wasn't—at least for a mysterious paralyzing condition in children.

In the decade before, hundreds of young, healthy kids in the US abruptly felt their limbs go weak. Debilitating paralysis set in. In recent years, around half of affected children required intensive care. About a quarter needed mechanical ventilation. A few died, and many others appear to have permanent weakness and paralysis.

Researchers quickly linked the rare polio-esque condition to a virus known for causing respiratory infections, often mild colds: enterovirus D68, or EV-D68 for short. Identified decades ago, it's a relative of polio, one of the over 100 non-polio enteroviruses that float around. But when EV-D68 began surging, so did the mysterious paralyzing condition, called acute flaccid myelitis, or AFM. The menacing pair seemed to come in waves every other year, likely starting with a cluster of cases in California in 2012. In 2014, there were 120 AFM cases in 34 states. In 2016, 153 cases in 39 states. In 2018, 238 cases in 42 states. By contrast, there were just a few dozen cases or so in each of the years in between, cases that were sporadic or unrelated to EV-D68.

Enlarge / This thin section transmission electron microscopic (TEM) image reveals numerous spheroid-shaped Enterovirus-D68 (EV-D68) virions. (credit: CDC/ Cynthia S. Goldsmith, Yiting Zhang)

2022 was the bad year that wasn't—at least for a mysterious paralyzing condition in children.

In the decade before, hundreds of young, healthy kids in the US abruptly felt their limbs go weak. Debilitating paralysis set in. In recent years, around half of affected children required intensive care. About a quarter needed mechanical ventilation. A few died, and many others appear to have permanent weakness and paralysis.

Researchers quickly linked the rare polio-esque condition to a virus known for causing respiratory infections, often mild colds: enterovirus D68, or EV-D68 for short. Identified decades ago, it's a relative of polio, one of the over 100 non-polio enteroviruses that float around. But when EV-D68 began surging, so did the mysterious paralyzing condition, called acute flaccid myelitis, or AFM. The menacing pair seemed to come in waves every other year, likely starting with a cluster of cases in California in 2012. In 2014, there were 120 AFM cases in 34 states. In 2016, 153 cases in 39 states. In 2018, 238 cases in 42 states. By contrast, there were just a few dozen cases or so in each of the years in between, cases that were sporadic or unrelated to EV-D68.

Enlarge / Mercedes-Benz has electrified its Sprinter van and given it more range than Ford's E-Transit or the Rivian Delivery Van. (credit: Tim Stevens)

There are plenty of ways for small businesses to celebrate their success. It might be a flashy new sign outside, a high-end furniture set inside, or an advertising campaign that they might never have imagined when they started up. But, for businesses literally on the move, the purchase of a first new van is definitely a major milestone. In 2024, the Mercedes-Benz eSprinter may become the new aspirational acquisition for many small businesses.

Lots of range and lots of space

The Sprinter has been on the US market for over 20 years since it began production at the Mercedes-Benz factory in Charleston, South Carolina. The new eSprinter marks the first time it has gone fully electric, and yes, that version will be assembled in America, too, augmented with a 113 kWh lithium ferro phosphate (LFP) battery pack powering a 134 hp (100 kW) or 201 hp (150 kW) motor driving only the rear wheels. Mercedes estimates a range of 273 miles (440 km) on the European WLTP cycle, which will probably mean somewhere around 250 miles (402 km) when tested with the US EPA cycle.

That battery pack is situated in the floor, between the frame rails, still making room for a cavernous, 488 cubic-foot (13,819 L) cargo compartment. At nearly 24 feet long (280 inches/7,112 mm), it's enough space to carry about a dozen pinball machines or an entire Jabba the Hutt, complete with all his cackling cronies.