POWER OF PROXIMITY
A new study shows that younger workers may benefit from working more in person. The report, called "The Power of Proximity," which compiles research from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, University of Iowa, and Harvard, found that younger workers at a tech company received more feedback when they worked in person and got less guidance when they were totally remote. This was especially true for women. The authors also said their findings suggest that remote work could make it harder for younger people to build their skills and professional networks.
FRIED FOOD & DEPRESSION
There could be a hidden cost to binging on fried food, and it has nothing to do with your blood pressure. A new study published on Monday in the peer-reviewed PNAS journal said there could be a connection between fried food and depression. People who ate fried food frequently were 12 percent more likely to have anxiety, and 7 percent more likely to have depression. The study looked at over 140,000 people over a period of 11 years. A chemical formed during the frying process could be to blame. At the same time, experts said the findings are unclear, noting that people may turn to fried food if they're already experiencing depression or anxiety.
SNAPCHAT CHATBOT
Finally, Snapchat's newest feature is not popular with users. The company made My AI, a chatbot powered by ChatGPT, free to all users less than a week ago, and it's already led to a deluge of one-star reviews. According to data firm Sensor Tower, 75 percent of the Snapchat user reviews have been one star, My AI was mentioned in almost 3,000 of those user reviews. If you have a snapchat account, you already know that My AI is pinned to the top of your chat feed, and can't be moved, blocked, or deleted unless you're a Snapchat Plus subscriber.
UW-La Crosse Chancellor Joe Gow. Wisconsin-La Crosse fired Gow on Wednesday, Dec. 27, 2023, after learning Gow and his wife have been producing and appearing in pornographic videos. Gow maintains the firing violated his free speech rights.
The U.S. military is now putting independent lawyers in charge of its investigations of sexual assault and other major crimes, what Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III has called the "most important reform" to the military justice system in recent history.
A decades-old law bans Medicare from paying for weight loss drugs. Now, drugmakers and a wide-ranging bipartisan coalition of lawmakers are gearing up to push for that to change next year.
Barring a court order, in March Texas police will start being able to arrest people they suspect have entered the U.S. illegally, but increases in border crossings since a 2021 law authorizing some arrests shows the limits of that approach in the face of desperation that causes people to risk everything and travel thousands of miles to the U.S.
Mexico began clearing tents, both occupied and unoccupied, from the encampment in the border city of Matamoros, across from Brownsville, Texas, starting Tuesday.
Police in Indiana say a man was rescued after being trapped for six days in his crashed pickup truck and drinking rainwater to survive.
A caravan of thousands of migrants continues to trudge through southern Mexico, with some saying they expect nothing good from a planned meeting between American and Mexican officials about the migrant surge at the U.S. border.
The Powerball jackpot is sitting right now at $620 million ahead of Saturday night's drawing and depending on which state you live in, you may have a little bit of extra luck on your side.
Friday is set to be one of the busiest days of the holiday travel season.
