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Government

The TikTok ban has made its way to the Supreme Court

Instagram reels has to be following this one closely. The Supreme Court heard oral arguments on Friday in the trial determining whether TikTok will remain on the phones of its over 170 million US users.

To ban or not to ban

Just nine days before the app is supposed to be banned throughout America, the SCOTUS heard final pleas from each party. A bipartisan law passed last spring mandates ByteDance, the parent company of TikTok, to sell the app or risk being banned by January 19th.

Both parties used arguments based on cherished American values:

• Elizabeth Prelogar, the US government lawyer, said that TikTok's Chinese ownership poses a national security threat since Beijing may “weaponize” app data to spy on users and disseminate propaganda at any time.

• TikTok’s lawyer, Noel Francisco, claimed that the sell-or-be-banned law infringes on the First Amendment and asked the court to delay or overturn the law.

A ruling on the matter is expected within days, and Supreme Court justices seem likely to uphold the ban:

• Justices on both sides showed skepticism of the social media giant’s argument during the hearing, voicing concerns about the platform’s collection of American data.

  • Chief Justice John Roberts said during the two hours in court that Congress doesn’t mind expression, but they do mind “a foreign adversary, as they've determined it is, gathering all this information”.

In the past, the Supreme Court has supported the government on matters of national security, however, it also tends to support the freedom of expression, so the ruling really could lean either way.

Hypothetically speaking…

President-elect Donald Trump has promised to keep TikTok available and may refuse to enforce the law when he takes office on January 20th if the Supreme Court bans it the day before.

• Trump also submitted a brief last month asking the court to postpone the deadline so that his incoming administration could seek a political solution.

  • This is a reversal from his first term when he attempted to ban TikTok due to national security concerns.

Despite firm support from the President-elect, many users are anticipating the ban and flocking to an alternative… TikTok’s sister app, Lemon8. The app’s popularity surged after TikTok announced users could easily make an account using their TikTok logins.

• The app’s downloads spiked, becoming one of the top-ranking apps on Apple’s free app chart.

• In December, Lemon8 downloads increased by an estimated 150%, with US users accounting for 70% of that growth.

  • The platform is controlled by ByteDance, the same company that owns TikTok.

There is one problem: While many are heading to Lemon8 to get a headstart on the “backup app”, the potential TikTok ban would make everything that ByteDance owns, including Lemon8, illegal, according to a congressional spokesperson.

Science

Scientists uncover million-year-old ice core in Antarctica

Ideally, this won’t awaken some ancient bacteria meant to kill us all. A group of researchers drilled two miles into Antarctica and extracted what is likely the world’s oldest ice core, estimated to be over 1.2 million years old.

It is thought that the giant ice core (which is longer than eight and a half Empire State Buildings) will provide insight into the chronology of Earth's ice age cycles and identify relationships between atmospheric conditions and temperature.

Ancient ice

Ice cores (see overview) are fundamental to our understanding of how Earth’s climate has evolved over time and essentially act as time capsules that entrap pockets of air from that period.

Layers of ice are solidified as snow falls and freezes on the continental ice sheet, essentially encasing air, particles, and (hopefully no) pathogens as samples of the atmosphere throughout millennia.

• Through this process, the ice (similar to how you can tell a tree’s age through rings) encapsulates a climate record of the atmosphere.

The 16-member team, supported by the European Union, spent four summers drilling at the remote location in temperatures that were minus 25 degrees Fahrenheit. Little Dome C, the drilling location, is located at an elevation of nearly 10,000 feet on the Antarctic plateau in the east of the continent.

This research has the potential to unravel a pivotal mystery of Earth's past: how glacial cycles were disrupted between 900,000 and 1.2 million years ago, a period some experts link to a near-extinction event among our ancestors.

The group's previous, shorter ice core showed that during the last 800,000 years, heat-trapping greenhouse gas levels never surpassed the levels recorded during the Industrial Revolution.

Automotive

Modern cars are seeing a lot more (technological) crashes

It’s a good day to drive a rustbucket. As auto manufacturers increasingly integrate technology into their vehicles, cars are getting some nice quality-of-life changes. However, it’s coming at the cost of glitches and software issues.

Drivable iPads

Encouraged by generative AI infiltrating every part of life, automakers are putting more and more resources into in-car technology and advanced software systems. Last week, the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) debuted some pretty insane tech:

• Honda unveiled its own in-house Asimo operating system, which has ultra-personal optimization features that get tailored to the driver the more they use it. It will be a part of its new line of EVs.

• Concepts for flying cars, like a minivan that can be converted into a six-propeller drone, were showcased by Xpeng AeroHT.

• BMW unveiled a major update to its car interface, which now includes a central screen with a head-up display and a panoramic dash display that incorporates AI-driven assistants.

However, while all of this new tech is pretty cool, car makers are still having a hard time making our current technology work smoothly:

• Last year, 15% of US recalls were software repairs, up from 6% in 2019, per the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

• Due to software issues, Tesla and Stellantis recalled about two million vehicles last year.

AI Apocalypse: At the convention, Nvidia’s CEO, Jensen Huang, emphasized the relevance of AI in developing autonomous vehicle technology, pointing out that the widespread use of self-driving cars is being fueled by AI training simulations, AI models, and AI computers in vehicles.

Grab Bag

Delta is betting on in-flight gambling

What could go wrong when you mix alcohol and gambling while tens of thousands of feet in the air? At the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas last week, Delta announced it would be partnering with DraftKings to bring gambling back to your in-flight experience.

Ante up

The funny thing about the new partnership is that gambling aboard airplanes has been illegal since the Gambling Devices Act was passed in 1962. However, there is precedent for attempting to overturn gambling regulations while 30,000 feet in the sky:

• Following the 1991 acquisition of gambling rights by US-registered cruise ships, a few smaller airlines made several efforts (albeit unsuccessful) to bring blackjack aboard.

• In 1981, Singapore Airlines attempted to use real slot machines on a flight, and while they were well-liked, they didn’t work properly.

So how will they skirt around the law? They won’t use real money. The actual “gambling” would look like earning Delta SkyMiles for sports betting through DraftKings, at least for the time being.

This would allow DraftKings to garner a broader customer base from Delta that will then potentially use their service on the ground with real money. That being said, there is still hope for hitting parlays or horse betting six miles in the sky, especially when there’s this much money involved.

It’d bring in big bucks: According to a 1996 Department of Transportation study, if airlines provided gambling, they might earn over $1 million per aircraft yearly, which is well over $1.3 billion (adjusted for inflation) for an airline the size of Delta. It wouldn’t be far-fetched to see airlines lobby the incoming Trump administration and Congress members for a change in law.

Robot vacuums are (supposedly) the next big thing

Buy a Roomba, get a butler. Since we can’t stop talking about stuff that debuted at the CES in Las Vegas, why not highlight robot vacuums? The little cleaners have been showcased at several CES conferences in the past, but none of them are quite like these.

What’s so great about them?

While they might seem unassuming, robovacs took over at CES 2025, showing models that can grow legs, grab your dirty underwear, and investigate the weird sound emanating from your basement.

• To help make room for vacuuming, Roborock and Dreame debuted robovacs equipped with a claw that allows them to pick up smaller items, like shoes or socks, and put them in a laundry basket.

  • Additionally, Dreame's robovac features climbing "legs" that allow it to scale up to two-inch-high surfaces.

While cleaning up your laundry and vacuuming the floor is great and all, Samsung’s new robovac can stop a robbery in progress (if they’re scared of a tiny vacuum).

• When you're not home, the Jet Bot Combo AI robot vacuum can identify burglars by having another Samsung smart device identify unusual movements and then instruct the robovac to snap a photo of a possible intruder.

Small but mighty: While the darlings of CES aren’t too complex yet, these prototypes are showing some potential to integrate into smart homes of the future.

Fast Facts

Robot Revolution: By simply observing doctors performing surgery, autonomous robots trained at Stanford University and Johns Hopkins University were able to tie knots, suture wounds, and correct their errors.

Intellectual Interest: History books and podcasts are becoming more and more popular. For the first time in an election year, history as a category doubled sales over politics, plus, the history category rose 6% last year in the US, according to Circana analysis. 

AI Accusation: Sam Altman, the CEO of OpenAI, refuted allegations made by his sister Ann Altman in a recent lawsuit that he had sexually abused her for years when they were still children.

DEI Denial: Citing the shifting "legal and policy landscape" surrounding equity and inclusion, Meta became the most recent US corporation to rescind DEI programs, joining McDonalds, Ford, Walmart, Target, and more.

Populated Pilgrimage: During the next month and a half, 400 million people will flock to Prayagraj to bathe in the confluence of Hindu-sacred rivers as part of the Maha Kumbh Mela, a Hindi celebration that takes place once every 12 years.