Month: February 2025

Unvaccinated school-aged child dies of measles in Texas amid growing outbreak

It is the first measles death in the US since 2015.

An unvaccinated, school-aged child in Texas has died of the measles amid an ongoing outbreak in the state that has so far infected at least 124 people, mostly children, sending at least 18 to the hospital. Additionally, 9 measles cases have been confirmed across the border in New Mexico.

On Wednesday morning, the Lubbock health officials and the Department of State Health Services (DSHS) confirmed the death, which occurred within the last 24 hours.

It is the first death in the mushrooming outbreak in Texas, and it marks the first measles death in the country since 2015, when a woman with underlying health conditions in Washington state died amid an outbreak. The death highlighted the importance of maintaining high community vaccination rates to prevent the spread of the extremely infectious disease to vulnerable people. Prior to that, the US hadn't recorded a measles death since 2003.

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Amazon Alexa+ brings generative AI to the voice assistant for $20 per month (or free for Prime members)

Amazon’s Alexa voice assistant service has been powering smart speakers and displays for over a decade, and it’s also available to install as an app on other platforms including tablets, phones, and laptops. But these days a voice assistant…

Amazon’s Alexa voice assistant service has been powering smart speakers and displays for over a decade, and it’s also available to install as an app on other platforms including tablets, phones, and laptops. But these days a voice assistant that just answers questions, plays music, and sets reminders is old hat. So Amazon is bringing […]

The post Amazon Alexa+ brings generative AI to the voice assistant for $20 per month (or free for Prime members) appeared first on Liliputing.

Volvo added plenty of charm to the EX30 Cross Country EV

The mods should work as well on potholes as they do on forest roads.

When Volvo first announced its small, all-electric EX30, I was excited. Regardless of powertrain, a brand-new Volvo starting at approximately $35,000 was a big deal to me. I might have even suggested online that the EX30 was the most important Volvo ever, full stop. There's no reason why this vehicle shouldn't be a global sales success.

Then, former-President Joe Biden gave the Volvo a reason why it wouldn't be a sales success: He attached a 100 percent tariff on all-electric vehicles coming from China. With Volvo's parent Geely manufacturing the EX30 in China, the value proposition quickly vanished. Fortunately for Volvo, there is a production facility in Ghent, Belgium, that can pick up the slack for export to the United States. The plant currently builds the EC40 and XC40 Recharge, so adding another battery-electric vehicle shouldn't take too much time.

Why do I care? Because the EX30 I was the most excited about wasn't the street-focused standard model but the off-the-beaten-path-but-not-really-off-road Cross Country variant.

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Long-time advocate of SLS rocket says it’s time to find an “off-ramp”

“A revised Artemis campaign plan should be a high priority for the new NASA Administrator.”

The lights may be starting to go out for NASA's Space Launch System program.

On Wednesday, one of the Republican space policy leaders most consistently opposed to commercial heavy lift rockets over the last decade—as an alternative to NASA's large SLS rocket—has changed his mind.

"We need an off-ramp for reliance on the SLS," said Scott Pace, director of the Space Policy Institute at George Washington University, in written testimony. He issued the statement in advance of a hearing about US space policy, and the future of NASA's Artemis Moon program, before a subcommittee of the House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology.

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In-car advertising glitch may be preview of a distracting future

In-vehicle selling in connected cars may be too tempting for car makers to ignore.

Last week, a Jeep driver turned to Reddit to do what people do best on the site—complain. Every time they hit the brakes on their Jeep, they wrote, a promotion for an extended warranty plan popped up in the center console. “Press the ‘call’ button to speak to a specialist,” they say the ad encouraged, welcoming the user to use their Bluetooth connection to complete the upsell then and there.

Ads are annoying and occasionally insidious; an ad that repeatedly appears inside one’s own car more so. According to other online posts on Reddit and Jeep forums, the issue goes back several years, affecting several models of Jeeps.

Stellantis, which owns Jeep, says the repetitive nature of the promotion was a glitch. “This is an isolated incident affecting fewer than ten vehicles at this time limited to the US,” Dan Reid, a spokesperson for the automaker, wrote in a statement. He acknowledged, though, that Stellantis shows other drivers in-vehicle promotions, too. Dodge owners, for example, get an infotainment push after 60 days of purchase offering the Dodge Complete Performance Package, a comprehensive warranty offering. Stellantis says that, on average, customers receive about two in-vehicle messages annually, containing safety, maintenance, or marketing information.

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