Walmart may launch streaming video service: Report

First came Netflix. Next comes Disneyflix. And then comes… Walmartflix? Giant retailer Walmart is considering launching a subscription streaming video service to go up against Netflix and its e-commerce foe Amazon, according to a report by The Information, which cites unnamed people familiar with the matter. It could be priced at less than $8 a month, according to one of the people cited by the report,…

Social media, the scourge of adolescence

America’s schoolchildren are on summer vacation – no more teachers, no more books. But the same can’t be said for their smartphones. Those devices are firmly in the hands of an entire generation of young people – call them the “iGEN.” For them, the iPhone is like the very air they breathe, as Tracy Smith reports in our Cover Story: …

Subatomic particle traced to black hole billions of light years away

Doug Cowen is a professor of astronomy, astrophysics and physics at Pennsylvania State University; Derek Fox is an associate professor of astronomy and astrophysics at Pennsylvania State University; Azadeh Keivani is a Frontiers of Science Fellow at Columbia University. About four billion years ago, when the planet Earth was still in its infancy, the axis of a black hole about…

Obama stars in promo video for anti-gerrymandering group

Former President Barack Obama stars in a promotional video against gerrymandering released Wednesday by the National Democratic Redistricting Committee (NDRC), an organization formed by former Attorney General Eric Holder. Holder’s group aims to fight partisan redistricting. In the nearly three-minute video, Obama advocates for “protecting” democracy through “rethinking the way we draw our congressional districts.” President Obama on Gerrymandering, Redistricting,…

Top Dem asks intel chief if Trump’s North Korea claims are true

The top Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee has asked the head of U.S. intelligence to assess whether North Korea’s posture and actions regarding denuclearization match up with the Trump administration’s claims.  Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Mark Warner, D-Virginia, wrote to Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats on Thursday, asking him to answer a number of questions related to North…

Starbucks plans to stop offering plastic straws by 2020

Starbucks will eliminate plastic straws from all of its locations within two years, citing the environmental threat to oceans. The company becomes the largest food and beverage company to do so as calls to cut waste globally grow louder. Plastic straws have become one of the biggest targets. Viral videos — including one depicting researchers extracting a plastic straw from a sea…

3 thrill-seeking travel vloggers killed in waterfall accident

Three young adventurers were killed earlier this week when they fell from the third-highest waterfall in British Columbia, Canada. The social media personalities were known for posting stunning videos and photos of daring feats and travel. The vloggers were part of the travel collective “High On Life” whose YouTube videos urged viewers to explore the world outside of their comfort…

These bike helmets protect you better than others

Commuting on two wheels has lots of health benefits, including a lowered risk of heart disease and cancer.  But sharing the road with cars, trucks and buses can be risky, with a growing number of bicyclists dying each year in crashes with motor vehicles, and many of those riders going without helmets. More than half of the 835 cyclists killed…

It’s a wrap: Nail wrap seller Jamberry shuts down

Jamberry, the multilevel marketer of nail wraps and other beauty products, faces accusations of stiffing thousands of non-employee salespeople after the company informed employees in a late-night email Wednesday that it was their “last official day” of work.  “Please come to the … office at Noon on Thursday for a discussion on what this means regarding health insurance, 401K and…

Jamberry has its beauty product reps in a jam

Jamberry is a multilevel marketer (MLM) of beauty products, but it’s facing some ugly accusations from within its own ranks. And a deal announced last month with a provider of nutritional supplements called M. Network, which uses the same business model, appears to be on shaky ground. A group of “elite” Jamberry representatives complained in a video posted on YouTube…

McDonald looks to muffin tops to reclaim lost sales

In a gambit to reclaim sagging breakfast sales, McDonald’s is taking a page from a “Seinfeld” script. In a move reminiscent of a 1997 episode of the popular television sitcom, the fast-food giant is looking at selling just the tops of muffins — “the best part,” according to TV character Elaine Benes — as it strives to bring back lost…

Russian pop star with ties to Trump trolls U.S. election saga in music video

MOSCOW, RUSSIA – NOVEMBER 09: Emin Agalarov, Donald Trump and Aras Agalarov attend the red carpet at Miss Universe Pageant Competition 2013 on November 9, 2013 in Moscow, Russia. Victor Boyko / Getty Images Donald Trump in a hotel room with bikini-clad beauty contestants, a suspicious-looking suitcase changing hands, Ivanka Trump clinking glasses with Hillary Clinton — all under the…

Rising sea levels may create “tipping points” for seaside towns

After Superstorm Sandy devastated New Jersey in 2012, singer-songwriter Bruce Springsteen lamented that “the Jersey shore has always been a special place where if you had a few bucks you could own a beach house.”  As shoreline communities from the San Francisco Bay to Miami Beach encounter ever higher-reaching tides and chronic flooding, a “few bucks” is probably not enough….