Opinion: How We Got Here

Narges Mohammadi picked up Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid ‘s Tale while in prison. The activist had been sentenced to 16 years for challenging Iran’s enforcement of what Mohammadi terms gender apartheid—a system of dress codes, sexual subjugation, and coercive control enforced, as in Atwood’s book, by men who have taken power as a theocracy.

Despite their expertise, AI developers don’t always know what their most advanced systems are capable of—at least, not at first. To find out, systems are subjected to a range of tests—often called evaluations, or ‘evals’—designed to tease out their limits. But due to rapid progress in the field, today’s systems regularly achieve top scores on many popular tests, including SATs and the U.

Progress in addressing mental health is notoriously slow and mostly incremental. Breakthrough treatments tend to be rare, and trained professionals too few to meet the demand for services, which is increasing. But 2024 was a pivotal year—thanks to the culmination of decades of research and post-pandemic attention to mental-health issues. In March, the U.

It’s been three long years since Squid Game first premiered on Netflix to become the streamer’s most-watched TV series, ever. The Korean-language drama was an unexpected cultural phenomenon, drawing one in four Americans into its tale of deadly competition. That being said, you would be forgiven for not remembering all of what happened in Season 1 ahead of the second season, which begins streaming on Dec.

For the first time since 2005, the first night of Hanukkah will fall on the same day as Christmas. The two winter holidays converge an average of five times a century, according to Rabbi Joseph Potasnik, Executive Vice President of the New York Board of Rabbis. Since 1900, the first night of Hanukkah has fallen on December 25 five times: 1910, 1921, 1959, 2005, and now 2024.

Moon Alert: Caution! Avoid shopping or making important decisions after 5:30 a.m. EST today (2:30 a.m. PST). The Moon is in Libra. Happy Birthday for Tuesday, Dec. 24, 2024: You are sensitive, responsible and compassionate. You respect the past and what it has to offer. This year has been a time of recognition and acknowledgement.