Senate advances bills that boost privacy and safety for kids

Jul 26, 2024
The legislation would force tech companies to do more to prevent harm. Subscribe to get the "Make Me Smart" newsletter every Friday!
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Paris 2024: The AI-powered Olympics

Jul 26, 2024
The 2024 Paris Olympic Games officially begins today — and this year's tournament will use artificial intelligence more than any other.
The International Olympic Committee is creating a sort of chatbot for competing athletes to have their questions answered.
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Fashion startups taking on big brands at the Paris Olympics

Jul 25, 2024
The Olympics is big business for brands — and this year, it's not just giants like Adidas and Nike whose uniforms will be worn by competitors.
Above, Dutch skateboarder Roos Zwetsloot competes during the Skateboarding Women's Street Preliminaries in June wearing a Cariuma shirt. The sustainable Brazilian brand designed the uniform for the Netherlands' skateboarding teams.
Attila Kisbenedek/AFP via Getty Images

The '24 Olympics could have been in Boston. Did the city miss an opportunity or dodge a bullet?

Jun 5, 2024
The same disputes from the Olympic bidding process still rage.
Boston proposed building an Olympic stadium near its downtown in a failed bid for the 2024 Olympics.
Courtesy Boston 2024

For many Olympians and Paralympians, the path to Paris is self-funded

May 23, 2024
It's up to many athletes to pay for the bulk of training, coaching, travel, equipment and other expenses on the road to Paris.
Ben Washburne and his Paralympic teammates practice on the Charles River in Boston. Washburne juggles training with a full-time job.
Henry Epp/Marketplace

Can Los Angeles repeat its past Olympic success?

Nov 28, 2022
Mayor Eric Garcetti says the city's existing infrastructure and innovative approach will allow the 2028 Games to mirror the financial victories of 1984.
LA Mayor Eric Garcetti (right) with Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo and IOC leader Thomas Bach in 2017. Garcetti says LA's existing infrastructure will help it reduce costs and deliver a surplus during the 2028 Games.
Buda Mendes/Getty Images

How expensive is it to host the World Cup or Olympics?

Nov 3, 2022
The upcoming soccer World Cup in Qatar is unlikely to recoup its economic costs and might be costly to the country's image too.
For most cities, hosting large, global events is a pricey endeavor with questionable economic benefits. Qatar is unlikely to recoup its costs for the upcoming soccer World Cup, according to professor Victor Matheson.
David Ramos/Getty Images

For public good, not for profit.

How lucrative is ice skating?

Feb 18, 2022
For top skaters, endorsement deals can be worth millions.
Nathan Chen earned at least $1 million from his sponsors in the year leading up to the Beijing Games, according to Forbes.
Matthew Stockman/Getty Images

Living in a bubble: China’s zero-COVID policy

Feb 7, 2022
The Beijing Olympics are said to be the biggest closed-loop bubble experiment ever. China has had practice with its zero-COVID policy.
Health workers wear protective suits at a Beijing coronavirus testing center on Jan. 25. China has had a strict no-COVID policy throughout the pandemic.
Kevin Frayer/Getty Images

Corporate sponsors quiet as Beijing Olympics get underway

Feb 7, 2022
U.S. officials are boycotting the Games over accusations of human rights abuses in China, and companies have been pressured to pull out or speak up.
Fireworks form the Olympic rings over Beijing's National Stadium on Friday. Human rights advocates have pressured advertisers to cancel sponsorships because of accusations of abuses.
Li Xin - Pool/Getty Images