Gig workers in the EU will soon get new benefits and protections, making it easier for them to receive employment status. Right now, over 500 digital labor platforms are actively operating in the EU, employing roughly 28 million platform workers. The new rules follow agreements made between the European Parliament and the EU Member States, after policies were first proposed by the European Commission in 2021.

The new rules highlight employment status as a key issue for gig workers, meaning an employed individual can reap the labor and social rights associated with an official worker title. This can include things like a legal minimum wage, the option to engage in collective bargaining, health protections at work, options for paid leave and sick days. Through a recognition of a worker status from the EU, gig workers can also qualify for unemployment benefits.

Given that most gig workers are employed by digital apps, like Uber or Deliveroo, the new directive will require “human oversight of the automated systems” to make sure labor rights and proper working conditions are guaranteed. The workers also have the right to contest any automated decisions by digital employers — such as a termination.

The new rulings will also require employers to inform and consult workers' when there are “algorithmic decisions” that affect them. Employers will be required to report where their gig workers are fulfilling labor-related tasks to ensure the traceability of employees, especially when there are cross-border situations to consider in the EU.

Before the new gig worker protections can formally roll out, there needs to be a final approval of the agreement by the European Parliament and the Council. The stakeholders will have two years to implement the new protections into law. Similar protections for gig workers in the UK were introduced in 2021. Meanwhile, in the US, select cities have rolled out minimum wage rulings and benefits — despite Uber and Lyft’s pushback against such requirements.

Threads is going to make an effort to moderate more of the user-generated content on the platform. Head of Instagram, Adam Mosseri, posted that it is working on creating a fact-checking program. Mosseri didn’t lay out what such a program would entail, only saying that Threads is going to “match fact-check ratings from Facebook or Instagram to Threads.” Currently, fact-checkers can't rate content on Threads, so instead when something gets flagged as being false on Instagram or Facebook, a fact-checker’s ratings will also roll over onto the app. “Our goal is for fact-checking partners to have the ability to review and rate misinformation on the app,” Mosseri wrote.

The program is expected to be available early next year. Meta said third-party fact-checking partners will flag and review the content that circulates on Threads. The app’s users will be given the choice to increase, lower or maintain the default level of “demotions on fact-checked content” in personal feeds. Meta says if a user decides to see less sensitive content on Instagram, those settings will roll over into their Threads view.

Social media companies, like Threads, have to consider expanding guardrails to prevent misinformation from proliferating on their platforms, especially ahead of the coming presidential elections. A fact-checking system on the Threads app isn’t a huge shock considering recent moves by the company. When the company introduced a search tool, it blocked certain words “previously linked” to misinformation on Meta’s platform.

However, offering users a fact-checking feature does not necessarily mean Threads will become the new front page for digital news. Mosseri told TechCrunch that the platform, as of now, does not plan on “amplifying the news” on its platform.

Apple’s AI-powered Journal app is finally here. The new diary entry writing tool was first teased for iOS 17 back in June, but it only became available on Monday with the new iPhone update — nearly three months after iOS 17 itself came out. After Apple released iOS 17.2, iPhone users can now access to the Journal app, which allows users to jot down their thoughts in a digital diary. Journaling is a practice that can improve mental wellbeing and it can also be used to fuel creative projects.

You can create traditional text entries, add voice recordings to your notes, or include recent videos or pictures. If you need inspiration, AI-derived text prompts can offer suggestions for what to write or create an entry for next. The app also predicts and proposes times for you to create a new entry based on your recent iPhone activity, which can include newer photos and videos, location history, recently listened-to playlists, and workout habits. This guide will walk you through how to get started with the Journal app and personalize your experience.

How to create a new entry in the Journal app on iPhone

Malak Saleh

When you open the Journal app, tap the + button at the bottom of the page to create a new entry. If you want to start with a blank slate, when you tap ‘New Entry’ an empty page will appear and from there you can start typing text. You can add in recent photos from your library when you tap the photos icon below the text space, take a photo in the moment and add it to your entry or include a recorded voice memo when you tap the voice icon. You can also add locations to your entry when you tap the arrow icon at the bottom right of an entry page. This feature might be helpful for travel bloggers looking back at their trips abroad. You can edit the date of an entry at the top of the page.

Alternatively, you can create a post based on recent or recommended activities that your phone compiled — say, pictures, locations from events you attended, or contacts you recently interacted with. The recent tab will show you, in chronological order, people, photos and addresses that can inspire entries based on recent activities. The recommended tab pulls from highlighted images automatically selected from your photo memories. For example, a selection of portraits from 2022 can appear as a recommendation to inspire your next written entry. Some suggestions underneath the recommendation tab may appear within the app with ‘Writing prompts.’ For example, a block of text may appear with a question like, “What was the highlight of your trip?”

Malak Saleh

Scheduling, bookmarking and filtering

If you're not free to write when a suggestion is made, you can also save specific moments you want to journal about and write at a later time. Using the journaling schedule feature, you can set a specific time to be notified to create an entry, which will help a user make journaling a consistent practice. Go to the Settings app on your iPhone and search for the Journal app. Turn on the ‘Journaling schedule’ feature and personalize the days and times you would like to be reminded to write entries. As a side note, in Settings, you can also opt to lock your journal using your device passcode or Face ID.

Malak Saleh

You can also organize your entries within the app using the bookmarking feature, so you can filter and find them at your own convenience. After creating an entry, tap the three dots at the bottom of your page and scroll down to tap the bookmark tab. This is the same place where you can delete or edit a journal entry.

Later on, if you want to revisit a bookmarked entry, tap the three-line icon at the corner of the main journal page to select the filter you would like applied to your entries. You can select to only view bookmarked entries, entries with photos, entries with recorded audio and see entries with places or locations. This might be helpful when your journal starts to fill up with recordings.

Adding music, workouts and other off-platform entries into your journal app

Using your streaming app of choice, (Apple Music, Spotify or Amazon Music), you can integrate specific tracks or podcast episodes into your entries by tapping three buttons at the bottom of your screen that opens up the option to ‘share your music.’ The option to share a track to the Journal app should appear and it will sit at the top of a blank entry when you open the app.

You can use the same method with other applications, like Apple’s Fitness app. You can share and export a logged workout into your journal and start writing about that experience.

Malak Saleh

In a landmark decision, the FDA greenlit two new drugs for the treatment of sickle cell disease in patients 12 and older, one of which —Vertex’s drug Casgevy — is the first approved use of genome editing technology CRISPR in the US. Bluebird Bio’s Lyfgenia also is a cell-based gene therapy, however, it uses a different gene modification technique to deliver tweaked stem cells to the patient.

Both approvals cultivate new pathways for the treatment of sickle cell disease, which is an inherited blood disorder that is characterized by red blood cells that can’t properly carry oxygen, which leads to painful vaso-occlusive crises (VOCs) and organ damage. The disease is particularly common among African Americans and, to a lesser extent, among Hispanic Americans. Bone marrow transplants are currently the only cure for sickle cell disease, but they require well-matched donors and often involve complications.

While both drug approvals use gene editing techniques, Casgevy’s CRISPR/Cas9 genome editing works by cutting out or splicing in DNA in select areas. Patients first have blood drawn so that their own stem cells can be isolated and edited with CRISPR. They then undergo a form of chemotherapy to remove some bone marrow cells, so the edited stem cells can be transplanted back in a single infusion.

Both drug approvals are based on studies that evaluated the effectiveness and safety of the novel therapies in clinical patients. With Casgevy, study participants reported that they did not experience “severe VOCs” for at least 12 consecutive months during the 24-month follow-up. Similarly, patients on Lyfgenia did not experience a “pain crisis” for six to 18 months after the therapy.

The FDA's decision comes shortly after UK regulators, as well as the National Health Regulatory Authority in Bahrain both approved Vertex’s Casgevy. The approval for a CRISPR-based treatment creates opportunity for further innovation in the gene editing space — for treatments ranging from cancers to heart diseases to Alzheimer’s. “Gene therapy holds the promise of delivering more targeted and effective treatments, especially for individuals with rare diseases where the current treatment options are limited,” Nicole Verdun, director of the Office of Therapeutic Products at the FDA’s Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research said. Casgevy is still currently under review by the European Medicines Agency.

Scientists have developed a new implantable device that has the potential to change the way Type 1 diabetics receive insulin. The thread-like implant, or SHEATH (Subcutaneous Host-Enabled Alginate THread), is installed in a two-step process that ultimately leads to the deployment of “islet devices,” which are derived from the cells that produce insulin in our bodies naturally.

First, the scientists figured out a way to insert nylon catheters under the skin, where they remain for up to six weeks. After insertion, blood vessels form around the catheters which structurally support the islet devices that are placed in the space when the catheter gets removed. The newly implanted 10-centimeter-long islet devices secrete insulin via islet cells that form around it, while also receiving nutrients and oxygen from blood vessels to stay alive.

The implantation technique was designed and tested by researchers at Cornell and the University of Alberta. Cornell’s Minglin Ma, a Professor of Biological and Environmental Engineering, created the first implantable polymer in 2017 dubbed TRAFFIC (Thread-Reinforced Alginate Fiber For Islets enCapsulation), which was designed to sit in a patient’s abdomen. In 2021, Ma’s team developed an even more robust implantable device that proved it could control blood sugar levels in mice for six months at a time.

The current problem with SHEATH is its long-term application in patients. “It’s very difficult to keep these islets functional for a long time inside of the body… because the device blocks the blood vessels, but the native islet cells in the body are known to be in direct contact with vessels that provide nutrients and oxygen,” Ma said. Because the islet devices eventually need to be removed, the researchers are still working on ways to maximize the exchange of nutrients and oxygen in large-animal models — and eventually patients. But the implant could one day replace the current standard treatment for Type 1 diabetes, which requires either daily injections or insulin pumps.

A hack that targeted DNA testing kit company 23andMe back in October is estimated to have exposed significantly more profiles than previously reported. The personal information of about 6.9 million customers is now the current projection for the number of profiles exposed in the breach, according to a report by the BBC. The incident was previously thought to have only exposed the personal information of 14,000 individuals, just a fraction of its 14 million customer base.

The data breach was allegedly executed using compromised customer usernames and passwords which exposed sensitive personal information that included things relevant to ancestry trees, birthdays and general geographic locations. In some cases, the company said that the hack could have exposed the pictures and display names of affiliated family members also using the company’s services through the accounts that were primarily breached. 23andMe insists that no actual genetic material or DNA records were exposed.

Legally, the biotech company is obligated to inform all impacted customers and in October, 23andMe asked all of its users to reset their passwords. Last month, the company said it has required all new and existing users to login into the 23andMe website using two-step verification and that will remain the standard going forward. The emphasis on account security comes after the completion of an internal investigation, which 23andMe says was conducted with the help of third-party forensics experts but it has yet to release a report detailing their findings. The company did, however, say it expects to incur at least $1 to $2 million in expenses related to the hack.

The DNA testing company does more than give customers reports about their family trees — 23andMe offers genetic health risk tests for chronic diseases and cancers, and it even has a research arm where customers can opt in to clinical research programs. Questions about how 23andMe handles data privacy and protects its digital assets could impact the company’s bottom line and if customers shy away from using the services that involve more sensitive medical information.

Withings' latest, the ScanWatch Nova, is essentially a luxury take on its ScanWatch 2. The emphasis on it being for the higher-end buyer is reflected in the price tag, which is set at $599.95.

The ScanWatch Nova has a wide range of capabilities including the ability to monitor heart rate, heart rate variability and ECG. The smartwatch can also detect irregular heart rhythms and if conditions like atrial fibrillation are detected, ECG reports can be viewed in the Withings app. The smartwatch can also measure standard blood oxygen levels and report breathing disturbances during sleep, as well as body temperature changes overnight. It can also give feedback on a wearer’s rest and wake cycles, which includes information about the phases, depth and duration of sleep, as well as any notable interruptions and report a Sleep Quality score.

Like most competitors in the smartwatch market, the ScanWatch Nova can track steps and calories burned during workouts in 40+ preloaded activities, which includes standard exercises like cycling and running. During intense activities, the smartwatch can assess things like heart rate variability and give users feedback on performance and overall energy expenditure.

The luxury smartwatch normally comes decked with a stainless steel metal wrist band that can be swapped for a silicone one designed for physical activity. Lastly, the ScanWatch Nova is water resistant at 10 ATM and protected by a sapphire glass, which might be useful if you're into watersports or are concerned with sweat resistance.

Withings says the smartwatch’s battery life lasts about 30 days and requires less than 2 hours to fully recharge, allowing for long periods of continuous monitoring and use between charges. The watch will be available in blue, green and black on the Withings website now but it won't be available in retailers until February 1st next year.

Strava, an app for tracking activities like hikes and runs, is now taking another step towards becoming a de facto social media app for fitness enthusiasts. Users can now send other Strava profiles messages in either direct one-on-one chats or in groups.

Strava users can engage with the platform to send exact routes or activities to others, making it possible to do things like coordinate community runs on the app. Previously, athletes on Strava had to go off-platform to discuss meetup events on the app on other platforms like WhatsApp or Facebook.

The chat settings feature can be managed so that a user can send or receive messages to and from mutuals or accounts already being followed. You can also elect to have no one be able to message you unless you initiate a chat. For group chats, creators can add or remove participants and grant members access to invite others or leave a conversation if they’d like. To further deepen the interactions, Strava is also including features like reacting to messages with gifs or likes.

Strava, which claims it has over 100 million users and 40 million activities (like 5K runs or bike riding events) uploaded per week, has been attempting to become more than just a tracking tool for runners and bikers. Messaging expands the app’s capacity for it to become a more engaging tool for like minded fitness-focused individuals to convene in real life. Creating a chat tool is in line with Strava’s other social media-adjacent offerings previously dropped, such as when it gave app users the option to curate feeds or create posts. Recently, Strava even integrated music streaming directly onto its platform and has made some of its premium-only features accessible to free users in an attempt to continue to grow its base and offerings.

Researchers at the AI startup Hugging Face collaborated with Carnegie Mellon University and discovered that generating an image using artificial intelligence, whether it's to create stock images or realistic ID photos, has a carbon footprint equivalent to charging a smartphone. However, researchers discern that generating text, whether it be to create a conversation with a chatbot or clean up an essay, requires much less energy than generating photos. The researchers quantify that AI-generated text takes up as much energy as charging a smartphone to only 16 percent of a full charge.

The study didn't just look into image and text generation by machine learning programs. The researchers examined a total of 13 tasks, ranging from summarization to text classification, and measured the amount of carbon dioxide produced per every 1000 grams. For the sake of keeping the study fair and the datasets diverse, the researchers said they ran the experiments on 88 different models using 30 datasets. For each task, the researchers ran 1,000 prompts while gathering the “carbon code” to measure both the energy consumed and the carbon emitted during an exchange.

Hugging Face/Carnegie Mellon

The findings highlight that the most energy-intensive tasks are those that ask an AI model to generate new content, whether it be text generation, summarization, image captioning, or image generation. Image generation ranked highest in the amount of emissions it produced and text classification was classified as the least energy-intensive task.

The researchers urge machine learning scientists and practitioners to “practice transparency regarding the nature and impacts of their models, to enable better understanding of their environmental impacts.” While the energy consumption associated with charging a smartphone per AI image generated may not seem dire, the volume of emissions can easily stack up when considering how popular and public AI models have become. Take ChatGPT for instance – the authors of the study point out that at its peak, OpenAI’s chatbot had upward of 10 million users per day and 100 million monthly active users today.

TikTok has introduced the Artist Account, which offers up-and-coming musicians new ways to curate their profiles in ways that boost discoverability. The new suite of tools are not just meant for rising stars: established pop icons can also add an artist tag to their profiles, giving their music its own tab next to their videos, likes and reposted content.

To be eligible for an artist tag, TikTok says you will need at least four sounds or songs uploaded to the app. Artists can also pin one of their tunes so it appears first in the music tab. If a musician drops new content, the app will tag songs as ‘new’ for up to 14 days before and up to 30 days after it goes live. Any new tracks will automatically be added to a profile’s music tab.

TikTok says over 70,000 artists are already using the new tools. The app has proven to be a breeding ground for content to go viral for new artists and established music makers alike thanks to the lightning speed of dance and lifestyle video trends. TikTok’s impact on the music industry has been so massive that even streamers like Spotify have looked into experimenting with video-first music discovery feeds.