A Scientist Is Paid to Study Maple Syrup. He’s Also Paid to Promote It.

A Scientist Is Paid to Study Maple Syrup. He’s Also Paid to Promote It.

For more than a decade, Navindra Seeram, a biomedical researcher, has praised maple syrup, calling it a “hero ingredient” and “champion food” that could have wide-ranging health benefits. Dr. Seeram, dean of the School of Pharmacy at the University of New England, has published more than three dozen studies extolling the power of maple. Much … Read more

A Second Child Dies of Measles in Texas

A Second Child Dies of Measles in Texas

The measles crisis in West Texas has claimed the life of another child, the second death in an outbreak that has burned through the region and infected dozens of residents in bordering states. The 8-year-old girl died early Thursday morning of “measles pulmonary failure” at a hospital in Lubbock, Texas, according to records obtained by … Read more

Trump Is Trying to Gain More Power Over Elections. Is His Effort Legal?

Trump Is Trying to Gain More Power Over Elections. Is His Effort Legal?

President Trump pushed on Tuesday to hand the executive branch unprecedented influence over how federal elections are run, signing a far-reaching and legally dubious order to change U.S. voting rules. The executive order, which seeks to require proof of citizenship to register to vote as well as the return of all mail ballots by Election … Read more

Courts Defer to Executive Branch Factual Claims. Trump Complicates That.

Courts Defer to Executive Branch Factual Claims. Trump Complicates That.

The government typically has an advantage when defending its policies against legal challenges. Courts generally defer to the executive branch’s factual declarations and formal representations about what is happening and why, rather than probing for what may actually be going on. But the flood of litigation unleashed by the radical opening months of President Trump’s … Read more

Trump’s Contradictions Are His Ultimate Cover: ‘You Can’t Pin Him Down’

Trump’s Contradictions Are His Ultimate Cover: ‘You Can’t Pin Him Down’

What does President Trump really believe? Does he want to run for a third term, or is that just a joke? Does he intend to seize control of Gaza and expel millions of Palestinians, or is that just a suggestion? Is Black History Month a waste of time and money, or worth a lavish celebration … Read more

DeepSeek A.I. Is a Win for China, but a Danger to Party Control

DeepSeek A.I. Is a Win for China, but a Danger to Party Control

In 2017, China watched in awe — and shock — as AlphaGo, an artificial intelligence program backed by Google, defeated a Chinese prodigy at a complex board game, Go. The decisive loss to a foreign computer program, which had similarly trounced a South Korean player, was a sort of Sputnik moment for China. That year, … Read more

Inside Mark Zuckerberg’s Sprint to Remake Meta for the Trump Era

Inside Mark Zuckerberg’s Sprint to Remake Meta for the Trump Era

Mark Zuckerberg kept the circle of people who knew his thinking small. Last month, Mr. Zuckerberg, the chief executive of Meta, tapped a handful of top policy and communications executives and others to discuss the company’s approach to online speech. He had decided to make sweeping changes after visiting President-elect Donald J. Trump at Mar-a-Lago … Read more

Facebook Shifts Content Moderation to Its Users. Are You Ready?

Facebook Shifts Content Moderation to Its Users. Are You Ready?

Meta would like to introduce its next fact-checker — the one who will spot falsehoods, pen convincing corrections and warn others about misleading content. It’s you. Mark Zuckerberg, Meta’s chief executive, announced Tuesday that he was ending much of the company’s moderation efforts, like third-party fact-checking and content restrictions. Instead, he said, the company will … Read more