Amazon’s delivery robot “Scout” resembles a water cooler on wheels

CES 2019 preview: Laundry-folding robot An electric-powered, self-driving robot on wheels called Amazon Scout is now delivering packages in a neighborhood in Snohomish County, Washington.  Six Scouts, in fact, are operating, rolling along sidewalks at a walking pace and in daylight hours, Sean Scott, vice president of Amazon Scout, wrote Wednesday in a blog post.  Amazon Scout by amazon on…

Alyssa Milano: “The red MAGA hat is the new white hood”

Alyssa Milano on Kavanaugh hearing Actress and activist Alyssa Milano appeared to draw a parallel on Twitter Sunday between supporters of President Trump who wear red hats marked with his campaign slogan “Make America Great Again” and Ku Klux Klan (KKK) members who don white hoods. “The red MAGA hat is the new white hood,” Milano tweeted. “Without white boys…

AeroMexico ad offers “DNA discounts”

AeroMexico launched a new commercial this month that tackles U.S.-Mexico tensions over the border wall with a humorous twist. In the ad, which has gone viral, Mexico’s largest airline offers a unique discount to Americans reluctant about traveling to the country — it gave them DNA tests, and the more Mexican heritage they turn out to have, the more they save.Filmed in Wharton,…

Graham in Turkey after criticizing Trump’s Syria withdrawal plans

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan has met with U.S. Republican Senator Lindsey Graham to discuss the situation in Syria as the United States prepares to withdraw troops.Graham, a prominent voice on foreign affairs in the U.S., met with Erdogan and other Turkish officials Friday for talks that were also expected to include a proposal for the creation of a “safe zone”…

Gillette ad challenging images of masculinity rubs some the wrong way

After three decades of touting Gillette razors as part of being an alpha male, Procter & Gamble is doing an about-face with an ad that has the consumer-products company jumping into into the cultural wars with both feet.A play on its 30-year tagline “The Best A Man Can Get,” Gillette’s new “The Best Men Can Be” campaign features a nearly…

The songs that got explorer through solo Antarctic trek

Two explorers recently made history by crossing Antarctica alone and without any help on the way. No previous solo attempt across Antarctica had been successful; in 2016, British explorer Henry Worsley died shortly after trying to complete the trek. But on November 3 last year, 49-year-old British army Captain Lou Rudd and 33-year-old American athlete Colin O’Brady each attempted the…

Running blind

Like many athletes, Simon Wheatcroft loves chasing that runner’s high. “I still get a real buzz from doing it,” he said. He trains on this path near his home in Doncaster, a village in north-central England. But to really stretch his legs, he takes to the open road, sharing the solitude of his run with passing traffic. Now, any jogger…

An open secret: Open office plans are the worst

Contributor Faith Salie has some words (and they’re not good) about many companies’ propensity to house all their employees in a giant room with no dividing walls. CBS News Here’s an open secret: open office plans are the worst. About 70% of American work spaces are set up as open, where architectural walls disappear, stripping any creative boundaries between you…

Marijuana industry’s highs and lows of 2018

It took less than a week for the Trump administration to kill the considerable buzz created last Jan. 1 when California’s broad marijuana legalization law took effect, creating the largest legal U.S. cannabis marketplace. Then-U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions rescinded a policy shielding state-licensed medical marijuana operators from federal drug prosecutions. The move sent a chill through the nascent legal industry….

Singer who lost wife, bandmates in tsunami posts tearful message

Funerals were held Monday for several members of an Indonesian pop band killed when a tsunami slammed into a stage where they were performing an open-air concert. Relatives of Muhammad Awal Purbani — bassist for the group “Seventeen” — sobbed and hugged each other at a service in Indonesia’s cultural capital Yogyakarta, including a 3-year-old daughter and his wife who…

Video shows pop band, concertgoers swept away by tsunami

Dramatic video posted on social media appeared to show concertgoers screaming as tsunami waves crashed into a beachside concert in Indonesia, sweeping band members off a collapsing stage. The video showed the Indonesian pop band “Seventeen” performing under a tent on a popular beach at a concert for employees of a state-owned electricity company before disaster struck.Dozens of people sat…

“Silent Night”: One of the Christmas season’s most revered songs is commemorated on its 200th anniversary

If there’s one song that captures the true spirit of Christmas, it must be “Silent Night.” The song’s message of peace has been sung in more than 300 languages. Everyone from Elvis to Nat King Cole to Stevie Nicks has joined “Silent Night”‘s chorus, with few renditions as popular as Bing Crosby’s: Bing Crosby – Silent Night by IcebridyIze on…

Macaulay Culkin is “Home Alone” again in new ad

Kevin McCallister had to fend off two bumbling burglars all alone on Christmas in the iconic 1990 movie “Home Alone.” If only he’d had a little help back then.  Now, 28 years later, Macaulay Culkin is reprising his role as Kevin McCallister, fending off burglars in a new ad. But this time help has arrived — in the form of…

Building a better Lego

From the skies above Billund, Denmark, you can guess which famous toy company calls this town home. And inside this life-size Lego building, it’s Lego heaven. Just about anything imaginable is re-imagined in the tiny plastic bricks that have been inspiring tiny minds for decades. The Lego headquarters in Billund, Denmark. CBS News Even seven-year-old Max knows you can only…

Building a better Lego

From the skies above Billund, Denmark, you can guess which famous toy company calls this town home. And inside this life-size Lego building, it’s Lego heaven. Just about anything imaginable is re-imagined in the tiny plastic bricks that have been inspiring tiny minds for decades. The Lego headquarters in Billund, Denmark. CBS News Even seven-year-old Max knows you can only…

Could the U.S. cope with another financial meltdown?

Wild swings in the stock market are fueling concerns over a potential new economic slowdown. The Dow plunged more than 550 points Friday, partly in response to rising trade tensions between the U.S. and China after the arrest of the CFO of the tech company Huawei. It’s been a decade since the last major economic crisis, when about 8.7 million…

Commentary: George H.W. Bush was too moderate for the GOP base

Amid the well-deserved celebration of an American life well-lived, I have an uncomfortable confession to make, as a lifelong conservative. I wasn’t a big fan of President George H. W. Bush. Of the man—yes.  As a husband, a father, a citizen dedicated to service, the 41st president is a person every American should admire and emulate. But as the 41st President of…

SpaceX launches 64 small satellites

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket lifts off Dec. 3, 2018, carrying a payload of 64 small satellites. SpaceX A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket using a first stage making a record third flight vaulted away from the California coast Monday to boost 64 small satellites into orbit for a wide variety of government, academic and private-sector users — including artists —…