Lego has broken ground on its first US manufacturing facility in Chester, Virginia, which will be a $1 billion, 1.7 million-square-foot site housing 13 buildings.
The carbon-neutral facility is part of Lego's goal to reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 37% by 2032 and will draw its power from rooftop and ground solar panels, as well as an on-site solar plant.
The full plant is scheduled to open in the second half of 2025 and will employ more than 1,700 people in molding, processing, and packing machinery.
The Virginia facility will be Lego's second plant in North America, adding to its facilities in Denmark, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Mexico, and China.
The new factory aims to bring the toy manufacturer closer to major markets, shorten its supply chain, and respond quickly to consumer demands.
Lego plans to build its first US factory in Virginia, creating around 1,400 jobs and will invest around $400 million in the new production site, which will be located near Richmond.
The new plant will be carbon neutral via on-site Solar and will enable the company to manufacture more Lego products locally, reducing shipping-related carbon output.
Comments include sarcastic debates about Lego manufacturing and US labor practices, but some express delight that manufacturing jobs are coming back to the US.
Users praise the YouTube algorithm for suggesting high-quality educational content and filtering out clickbait garbage.
Some users suggest using the Subscriptions list instead of relying solely on recommendations, and others want a button to refresh recommendations or regulate how many times a video is recommended.
YouTube is a valuable source of unstructured learning and motivation, but should not be relied upon for professional competence without rigorous formal training. The quality of comments on YouTube has improved dramatically, although spam bots and empty praise comments still persist.
Scammers and developers are engaging in shady practices in the Mac App Store, violating Apple's Developer Agreements and abusing the rating system.
These actions create an unfair competitive environment for legitimate developers and erode user trust in the platform.
Violators are spamming multiple accounts with identical applications, soliciting positive reviews, and using AI-powered chatbots to take money from unsuspecting users.
One developer was found to be using eight different accounts to spam the store with numerous duplicate apps.
Apple has a responsibility to maintain high standards of app quality and ensure a level playing field for developers, timely detection and addressing of violations are crucial for platform integrity and user experience.
The Mac App Store has been criticized for its inconsistent app review process, allowing for spam and shady developers to thrive.
The review process needs to be overhauled, possibly with different levels of scrutiny for different types of apps and users.
There are concerns about the security of consumer data on both desktops and phones, and whether the best place to store sensitive information is on either platform.
The article on benkuhn.net discusses the author's experiences making mistakes as a new manager, including asking for feedback and holding onto strong ideas too tightly.
The importance of honest communication and taking criticism well is emphasized in the comment section.
The Tech Times article features tips on recognizing the importance of delegation, strong communication, and earning respect from your team as a manager.
The article explores the potential risks of LSD, including destabilization and long-lasting emotional effects, and emphasizes the importance of set and setting, low doses, good trip sitters, and "trip killers" to mitigate these risks.
Readers share their personal experiences with LSD and other psychedelics, with some advocating for caution and personal responsibility when using these substances and others highlighting their potential benefits for treating trauma and PTSD.
The discussion highlights the varied effects of psychedelics on the mind and body and the need for better education and regulation in the drug industry.
Bilingualism affords no general cognitive advantages: Study
A recent study suggests bilingualism does not offer significant cognitive advantages, but commenters note that the cultural enrichment provided by learning another language is more impactful than any cognitive differences.
The study focuses exclusively on adult bilingualism, and there is an ongoing debate on whether bilingual children have an advantage over monolingual children in executive functioning.
Learning multiple languages can broaden horizons by opening up new opportunities for knowledge and experiences, including engagement with different cultures, but being bilingual doesn't necessarily provide doors to work perspective.
A social media site for chatbots to talk to each other
Chirper.ai is a social media site for chatbots programmed with specific prompts, known for their eerie politeness and relentless positivity.
Some compare it to LinkedIn, while others have concerns about potential misuse for propaganda or disinformation campaigns.
The bots are meant to explore inter-subjectivity and encourage disagreement among them, while also being used to create exemplar content for online courses.
Users discuss various keyboard shortcuts for macOS app development, including jumping to the beginning and end of lines, deleting previous words, and moving the cursor by whole words.
Recommendations for third-party tools such as SizeUp and Rectangle for window management, as well as built-in features like tiling windows and keyboard navigation shortcuts.
Various apps and utilities for Mac productivity are discussed, including BetterTouchTool, Raycast, Alfred, and Maccy, with tips on managing snippets and clipboard history.
Micro- and nanoplastics breach the blood–brain barrier in mice
Microplastics and nanoplastics can breach the blood-brain barrier (BBB) in mice, potentially causing toxic effects.
Nanometer-sized particles can reach the brain in just two hours after gavage, but larger particles cannot.
The "biomolecular corona," which forms around the surface of particles, is critical in determining if they can pass through the BBB.
The type of corona can significantly impact toxicity, so future research is needed to fully understand the health implications and toxic mechanisms of micro- and nanoplastics.
The study used molecular dynamics simulations to show how polystyrene nanoparticles diffuse across a model blood-brain barrier, and fluorescent nanoplastics were found in mouse brains just two hours after administration.
Micro and nano plastics can breach the blood-brain barrier in mice, sparking concerns about potential negative health impacts on humans.
Reduction in plastic use and personal action can help reduce ingestion of microplastics, but more research is needed to determine the impact on brain function and tissue interactions.
Views on the findings were mixed, with some advocating for precautionary measures while others expressed concern about misapplication. The article sheds light on the ethical considerations of animal testing and the lives of grad students.
I was frustrated with pricing of PagerDuty et al., so made one myself
All Quiet is a new incident escalation service that aims to protect teams' calmness during incidents.
It offers app-only notifications to ensure that alerts are not overlooked and native push notifications that work well.
Auto escalation rules enable teams to enjoy weekends, and the platform offers dynamic integrations to connect every observability tool.
The pricing model is transparent and simple, with a subscription of $4.99 per team member per month, and users can cancel or change the subscription daily.
All Quiet's founder, Mads Quist, created the platform to address the market's need for a dedicated collaboration channel with high attention without being too loud, instant feedback on an incident's status and escalation policies.
Some users criticize PagerDuty's poor implementation of calendar management, cross-regional scheduling, and vacation time, and express frustration with its pricing model.
All Quiet is a new alternative with a focus on easy escalation level management and affordability. Its app-only notification system is praised for simplicity.
Grafana OnCall and Uptime Kuma are promising open-source alternatives with polished user experiences and frequent updates.