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SpaceX Sues Government Over Claim It Fired Employees for Criticizing Elon Musk – Futurism

I know you are but what am I? Agency Smith

Elon Musk's SpaceX is suing the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) because, according to the company's claim, the agency itself is unconstitutional.

Filed before a federal district court in Texas, SpaceX claimed in a complaint that the NLRB which earlier this week accused the company of firing workers for being critical of Musk is "an unconstitutionally structured agency" whose in-house courts should have no jurisdiction over the spaceflight firm.

To be fair, there's little doubt that SpaceX did, in fact, fire people who were critical of Musk. That much is very public, considering that the ex-employees in question were terminated after signing and issuing an open letter calling on their employer to distance itself from its founder because his erratic behavior was, per their description, a "frequent source of distraction and embarrassment."

As the NLRB alleged in its complaint against the company, SpaceX president and CEO Gwynne Shotwell and other C-suiters at the firm acted illegally when interrogating employees about the letter and then telling them to keep those conversations secret, and overall creating an "impression of surveillance (including reading and showing screenshots of communications between employees)," the agency wrote in its filing.

Now, in an effort to kibosh this latest NLRB clapback against the many alleged labor infractions committed by companies in Musk's portfolio, SpaceX is using an unusual but not altogether unheard of argument in its countersuit: that the agency's in-house courts are "miles away from the traditional understanding of the separation of powers." Citing constitutional framer James Madison, the SpaceX suit even goes so far as to call the NLRB "the very definition of tyranny."

The countersuit goes on to insinuate that the agency is unduly biased against him a claim Musk himself has made repeatedly regarding the Securities and Exchange Commission's insistence on taking his stupid pot joke tweet in 2018 seriously.

"If the current Members of the NLRB are asked to make a prosecutorial determination about whether SpaceX is in violation of the [National Labor Relations Act], there is an objectively high risk that they would not later be able to provide the neutral adjudicative forum that the Constitution demands," the company's attorneys wrote, "and so would need to recuse from further participation in any agency adjudication against SpaceX."

While it's fairly unlikely though not impossible that any judge will agree with SpaceX's assertion, that's far from the point of this kind of filing. Musk is trying to gum up the works in this latest labor drama. And unfortunately, because he has enough money for an army of galaxy-brained lawyers, he's likely to succeed for the time being.

More on Musk: Elon Musk Is Getting Absolutely Destroyed in Sweden

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Tesla Admits Its Cars Have Shorter Driving Range Than It Claimed – Futurism

It's a meaningful first step. Down Range

After being accused of artificially inflating range figures, Tesla has downgraded the estimated number of miles of numerous versions of its Model Y, S, and X cars in the US.

As first spotted by Electrek, the vehicle configurator on the EV maker's website now shows that its Model Y Performance SUV has an estimated range of 285, a drop of 18 miles over previous estimates. The Long Range trim of the Model Y fell from 330 to 310 miles.

While we still don't know with absolute certainty why Tesla made these changes, Electrek suggests it may be related to how Tesla tests its vehicles to arrive at Environmental Protection Agency range estimates, which are the most common yardstick for the range of EVs in the US.

According to internal documents obtained by Drive Tesla, the range decrease may have also been due to "comfort and functionality improvements," which draw more energy from the vehicle's reserves.

It's nonetheless a noteworthy admission. Tesla has garnered a reputation for overstating the range of its vehicles, culminating in a Justice Department investigation last year.

In July, Reuters revealed that the EV maker had created an entire team to divert customer complaints regarding "rosy" range numbers, which were reportedly intentionally inflated.

The news also comes after YouTubers tested out Tesla's latest Cybertruck, finding that it fell far short of its advertised, EPA-rated range of 320 miles, covering only 254 highway miles, albeit at a brisk 46 degrees Fahrenheit.

Given Tesla's complete lack of a communications department, we're unlikely to get any answers as to why it chose to downgrade the estimates of only some of the trim levels of its vehicles and not others.

At the end of the day, real-world ranges of EVs are affected by a huge number of external factors, including weather, tires, driving habits, and so on. In other words, even official EPA estimates should be taken with a huge grain of salt.

At the same time, a bit of clarity, especially regarding accusations of having willfully inflated ranges, couldgo a long way not that we'd expect the Elon Musk-led company to have such a change of heart.

More on Tesla: The Cybertruck's Real World Range Is Incredibly Feeble

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Scientists Found Hazardous Phthalates in Almost Every Food They Tested – Futurism

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A new investigation from Consumer Reports has found plastics in "almost every food" it tested, affirming that these chemicals remain "widespread" in what we eat despite the risks they pose to our health.

The chemical phthalate, a type of "plasticizer" used in plastic manufacturing that makes the material more flexible and durable, was found in all but one of the 85 common food items tested. Bisphenol A, another chemical used in plastic manufacturing, was found in 79 percent of the samples.

Technically, none of the levels found exceeded the acceptable limits set by American and European regulators. But, as CR argues, that's just one reason why the likes of the US Food and Drug Administration is sorely behind what the science says on how dangerous these chemicals phthalates especially, given their ubiquity can be.

It notes that there's no confirmed safe level of phthalates, and a broad body of studies have linked them to asthma, diabetes, reproductive issues, and hormonal problems, even at levels "well below" the limits set by regulators.

"Many of these thresholds do not reflect the most current scientific knowledge, and may not protect against all the potential health effects," Tunde Akinleye, a chemist at CR who oversaw the testing, said in a statement. "We don't feel comfortable saying these levels are okay. They're not."

The investigation tested 67 foods bought at supermarkets, as well as a selection of 18 fast foods from popular chains. No one type of food appears to be more plastic-prone than others, and the levels vary drastically even among the same type of foods, brands, and packaging.

Notable store-bought products include Gerber's baby foods, Yoplait yogurts, and Cheerios cereals. The worst culprit out of them all was Annie's Homegrown Cheesy Ravioli, an "organic" canned meal that turned out to harbor more than 53,000 nanograms of phthalates per serving.

Among fast food, Wendy's Crispy Chicken Nuggets topped the category with nearly 34,000 nanograms. Competitors like McDonald's and Burger King were also found to have notably high levels.

Illustrating just how variable the levels can be, another Wendy's item, the Dave's Single Hamburger, was towards the bottom of fast foods, with only a tenth of the nuggets' levels, with McDonald's own offering of chicken McNuggets also significantly lower than Wendy's.

"That tells us that, as widespread as these chemicals are, there are ways to reduce how much is in our foods," James Rogers, who oversees CR's product safety testing, said in the statement.

The organization's scientists say that a reassessment by the FDA and other regulators is "overdue and essential." But keeping these plastics out of our food won't be easy. If they aren't introduced by our food's plastic packaging, once the focus of phthalate regulation, the chemicals can be introduced by the gloves and conveyor belts used in food processing, CR said.

And of course, there's potentially our plastic choked environment at large to contend with. As more research reveals the sheer ubiquity of microplastics that are being found in everywhere from our bloodstreams to clouds, the fight to shield ourselves from their harmful effects becomes all the more daunting. But, in CR's opinion, keeping phthalates out of our food "should be possible."

More on food: Uber Eats Mocked for Grotesque AI-Generated Food Pictures on Menu

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FDA Investigating Link Between Semaglutide and Hair Loss, Suicidal Thoughts – Futurism

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The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is investigating whether semaglutide, the active ingredient of the weight loss drug Wegovy and the diabetes medication Ozempic, might cause hair loss and suicidal thoughts, CNN reports.

Semaglutide belongs to a category of drugs which work by mimicking the GLP-1 hormone in the gut, which can affect the secretion of insulin and how food passes through the stomach.

In a recent update, the FDA said its Adverse Event Reporting Systems (FAERS) received reports of patients using these GLP-1 drugssuffering a form of hair loss known as alopecia, as well as suicidal ideation, andinstances of aspiration in which food and liquids accidentally enter the lung. As of December 12,the agency is "evaluating the need for regulatory action."

"The appearance of a drug on this list does not mean that FDA has concluded that the drug has the listed risk," the FAERS website says, as noted by CNN. "It means that FDA has identified a potential safety issue, but it does not mean that FDA has identified a causal relationship between the drug and the listed risk."

Wegovy, made by Novo Nordisk, has been hailed as a "miracle" for its ability to suppress a person's appetite. In the years since its approval in 2021, Wegovy, along with its technically only for treating diabetes cousin Ozempic that's often prescribed off-label, have virtually revolutionized weight loss (a remaining wrinkle: Wegovy is extremely expensive and not currently available on insurance.)

Officially, some of listed side effects of semaglutide drugs like Wegovy include nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, and constipation.

Since their rise in popularity, though, more troubling side effects seemingly caused by the semaglutide drugs continue to emerge, such as itsmocked drawback of supposedly causing facial aging, or "Ozempic face."

But some of its most severe alleged consequences include reports of the drugs causing stomach paralysis andserious bowel blockage. In addition, European regulators have already been investigating a risk of suicidal ideation from taking semaglutide and other GLP-1 drugs since last year.

It's unclear how prevalent these more harmful complications are, but the reports are evidently significant enough to warrant an investigation.

"If newly identified safety signals are identified, the FDA will determine what, if any, actions are appropriate after a thorough review of available data," the agency told CNN in a statement.

What those actions might be remain to be seen, but one course of action could be requiring an update to the labeling of these drugs, although more drastic measures or none at all aren't out of the question, either.

More on drugs: Semaglutide Patients Regained More Weight Than Theyd Lost After Stopping Their Injections

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Robotics Expert Says AI Hype Is Due for a Brutal Reality Check – Futurism

"There may be yet another AI winter, and perhaps even a full scale tech winter, just around the corner." Winter Is Coming

Famed roboticist Rodney Brooks, who co-founded the company iRobot which invented the Roomba has been keeping score on the AI industry. And from where he's standing, the near future of AI isn't looking too hot, in spite of its countless hype men who he says are due a harsh reality check.

In his latest annual Predictions Scorecard on the tech sector, the former director of MIT's AI and computer labs warns that despite its unprecedented levels of success, the AI industry is merely "following a well worn hype cycle that we have seen again, and again, during the 60+ year history of AI."

More than likely, Brooks avers, advancements in the field will stagnate for many dark years beforereaching the next huge breakthrough. That dry spell could make for quite a calamitous comedown for an industry that's supposedly on track to be worth over $1 trillion by the next decade.

"Get your thick coats now," Brooks wrote in his scorecard, as quoted by The Los Angeles Times. "There may be yet another AI winter, and perhaps even a full scale tech winter, just around the corner. And it is going to be cold."

Brooks made his original predictions on technological advancements as such: as happening by a specified year, as happening no earlier than a specified year, and "Not In My Lifetime" (NIML) meaning not before 2050. Then with each year that passes, he judges these as accurate, too pessimistic, or too optimistic.

Often, his wagers are on the money. As the LA Times notes, Brooks predicted back in 2018 that the "next big thing" in AI would happen sometime between 2023 and 2027. The rise of large language models like OpenAI's ChatGPT turned out to fit that bill perfectly, with practically every leader in tech trying to capitalize on the trend with smart chatbots of their own that have garnered their creators billions of dollars in investment.

But going forward, Brooks takes a more measured stance. The next next-big-thing, often framed asartificial general intelligence and hyped up by industry heads as being imminent, is in Brook's opinion a resounding "NIML."

In fact, he's skeptical that we'll even be able to create "a robot that seems as intelligent, as attentive, and as faithful as a dog" before 2048.

"This is so much harder than most people imagine it to be," he wrote, as quoted by the LA Times. "Many think we are already there; I say we are not at all there."

Still, Brooks isn't saying the AI industry is doomed, mind you, but that such ambitious technological advancements take time and a lot of it. Whether the industry's financial backers are ready to hunk down and play the long game, though, is more dubious.

More on AI: ChatGPT Says It's Reached the Limit of How Silly It Can Make the Goose

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First US Moon Lander in 50 Years in Serious Trouble After Launch – Futurism

Update: Things are not looking good for the Peregrine lander.

The first US lunar lander to be launched into space in more than half a century is in serious trouble.

The lander, dubbed Peregrine Oneand built by Pittsburgh-based private space company Astrobotic, launched on a United Launch Alliance Vulcan rocket the rocket's maiden voyage from Cape Canaveral earlier this morning.

Unfortunately, according to a recent statement shared by Astrobotic on X-formerly-Twitter, "an anomaly occurred, which prevented Astrobotic from achieving a stable Sun-pointing orientation."

The issue is making it difficult for the spacecraft to fully charge its battery,which could herald serious issues.

Just over an hour later, Astrobotic offered up a followup statement, saying that the unstable position "if proven true, threatens the ability of the spacecraft to soft land on the Moon."

In response, the team "developed and executed an improvised maneuver to reorient the solar panels towards the Sun."

The hasty plan unfortunately had some unforeseen consequences, seemingly causing the spacecraft to lose communications.

In short, it's not looking good for the country's first effort to softly land a spacecraft on the Moon since the Apollo 17 mission in 1972.

More on the mission: Private American Moon Mission Launching Monday

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