Fitch Downgrades U.s. Credit Rating, Citing Debt Ceiling Fight, Rising Red Ink

Last week, actor and director Ben Affleck shared his views on AI's role in filmmaking during the 2024 CNBC Delivering Alpha investor summit, arguing that AI models will transform visual effects but won't replace creative filmmaking anytime soon. A video clip of Affleck's opinion began circulating widely on social media not long after. "Didn’t expect Ben Affleck to have the most articulate and realistic explanation where video models and Hollywood is going," wrote one X user. In the clip, Affleck spoke of current AI models' abilities as imitators and conceptual translators—mimics that are typically better at translating one style into another instead of originating deeply creative material.

According to the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics, 76.8% of small businesses startups survive one year, but 50% fail within five years and only 35% make it to the 10-year mark. So how did JAYNE Boutique in downtown La Grange survive in a decade that included a pandemic that shut down so much of the economy? “The shoes are the secret sauce,” Katie Cummings said with a laugh just before she cut the cake celebrating the store’s 10th anniversary.

Officials from NASA and Russia’s space agency don’t see eye to eye on the causes and risks of small but persistent air leaks on the International Space Station. That was the word from the new chair of NASA's International Space Station Advisory Committee last week. The air leaks are located in the transfer tunnel of the space station's Russian Zvezda service module, one of the oldest elements of the complex. US and Russian officials "don't have a common understanding of what the likely root cause is, or the severity of the consequences of these leaks," said Bob Cabana, a retired NASA astronaut who took the helm of the advisory committee earlier this year.

NEW YORK — Spirit Airlines, the largest budget carrier in the U. S., filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection Monday. The airline said customers should not see any disruption to their travel plans while the process unfolds. The filing followed years of struggles for the Florida-based airline, which is known for its no-frills, low-cost flights.

Scientists could win back trust lost during the COVID-19 pandemic if they just showed a little intellectual humility, according to a study published Monday in Nature Human Behavior. It's no secret that scientists—and the science generally—took a hit during the health crisis. Public confidence in scientists fell from 87 percent in April 2000 to a low of 73 percent in October 2023, according to survey data from the Pew Research Center.

Mizkan America, the maker of Ragu spaghetti sauce and other specialty foods, will soon move its headquarters to northwest suburban Schaumburg. The company leased the top two floors of the Woodfield Corporate Center complex at 200 N. Martingale Road and will also open a 7,000-square-foot kitchen space and experience center for employees and visiting customers on the adjacent building’s ground floor. The move will give the Mount Prospect-based firm a chance to occupy remodeled space in a development that offers a new fitness center and outdoor recreation complex with sand volleyball, walking trails and a picnic area. “It’s an absolute trade up for Mizkan,” said Savills Chicago region President Robert Sevim, who helped the company negotiate the deal.