SCROLL NEWS / DISCOVERY
Search headlines
Find the stories shaping the conversation.
Results for " wow " 367 found 🔀 AI-powered Shuffle
Pacific Engineering Inc. to become first tenant at Omaha Airport Business Park
The first business has made reservations to move into the Airport Business Park.
Crews called to overnight fire to auto repair business in Boonville
Crews called to overnight fire to auto repair business in Boonville
Van crashes into former Benson business
A minivan drove through the side of a vacant building in Benson early Sunday morning, according to police.
Minivan crashes into vacant Benson business
WOWT 6 News 10 p.m. Sunday newscast
I Just Realized Why 'Sweet Magnolias' Star JoAnna Garcia Swisher Looks So Familiar (and It Has Nothing to Do with 'Reba')
If 'Sweet Magnolias' JoAnna Garcia Swisher has you doing a double-take, you're not alone. Here’s where you’ve likely seen the actress before.
Omaha City Council agenda notes for June 30
Items on new apartments, pedestrian safety improvements, and the city’s food truck ordinance in Tuesday’s agenda.
CAKE, Smokey Robinson headline annual Memorial Park concert in Omaha on Friday
Crowds began filling the park earlier in the day, with some attendees arriving at dawn to secure their preferred spots.
I Took My 12-Year-Old Dog to See 'Supergirl' and It Completely Changed the Movie for Me
Like many dog owners, I'm fully aware that my dog is the best dog. So when the chance to see the buzzy new 'Supergirl' with my 12-year-old Chihuahua-mix arose, I jumped at the opportunity.I was not prepared for how his presence would affect my review of the film.
Matt Rhule hosts youth football camp in Omaha through FlexWork Sports
Matt Rhule and four Nebraska football players made the trek to Omaha Thursday.
4 charged in Nebraska as part of DOJ national health care fraud takedown
Criminal charges announced today are tied to alleged schemes to defraud Medicare and Medicaid, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Nebraska.
Roku May Help Fox Avoid Aggregeddon
(Welcome to the “Most Important Story of the Week”, my bi-weekly strategy column analyzing the most important (but often not buzziest) news story of the last two weeks. I’m the Entertainment Strategy Guy, a former streaming executive who now analyzes business strategy in the entertainment industry. Please subscribe.) Scrolling through links over the last week, I stumbled across this fun headline: Wow. Formula 1 (the sport, not the docu-series) is the perfect “dog not barking”. As a reminder, each week in my Streaming Ratings Report, I call out the shows that miss every viewership chart. I dub them “dogs not barking”—like the Sherlock Holmes mystery—because without any data, we forget they even exist. This is in contrast to something like, say, a film flop—cough The Mandalorian and Grogu cough—where even underperforming at the box office is widely discussed here, there and everywhere. In the US, Formula 1 is now in “no public viewership data, so not discussed” territory. After moving to Apple TV from its former home of ESPN, basically no one talks about it. Apple did publish an initial, unsourced, unsubstantiated, (dare I say unserious) datecdote claiming more folks are watching Formula 1 on Apple than ESPN, but we haven’t gotten any updates since. This stands in contrast to when the sport streamed on ESPN, and ESPN PR provided weekly viewership figures. Formula 1 was, at best, a niche sport in America—averaging 1.3 million viewers in the Big Data Plus era—but now it’s basically anonymous. (And yeah, after moving to Apple, I very, very, very much doubt its ratings increased.) Unfortunately, that story isn’t quite big enough to warrant a section in today’s “Most Important Story of the Week” column, but I wanted to call it out, because otherwise, no one else will! Certainly, no one will write articles about the silence/ratings decline, unlike when they wrote breathless articles connecting the rise in viewership to Netflix’s Drive to Survive, including Reuters just last month. (This is a topic I’ve tried to provide a moderate/nuanced/non-hyped take since 2022.) Anyway, on to this week’s issue. I was a bit worried I didn’t have a juicy topic, then the Murdochs went out and did their Murdoch thing: buying Roku. So that’s the story of the week, and it happens to touch on quite a few themes of the streaming wars and the disruption therein. I’ll cover that, plus why more consolidation in Hollywood media looks likely, more good news on the Hollywood labor front, whether we’ll see an uptick in production in Los Angeles, some Broadway and theme park news, cellphone prices going up in the third world (and possibly everywhere), and more. Subscribe Most Important Story of the Week - Another Big Media & Entertainment Merger The story of the week is clearly Fox is buying Roku for $22 billion. I read a lot of good strategy takes on why Fox bought this streaming TV device maker—and I’ll have mine below—but what fascinates me more is how this deal connects to quite a few themes of the streaming wars, linking to everything from the pace of M&A to “aggregeddon” to Netflix’s recent M&A actions/inactions to the shift to advertising from pure play streaming and more. The only topic I can’t really connect it to is my old theory, “never bet against Rupert Murdoch” because he isn’t the one who did this deal; his son Lachlan inked it. (Do I think he provided advice, even at his 95 years of age? Sure.) That plus I have one additional piece of strategy for all entertainment players, inspired by this deal. So let’s dive into all those topics, starting with why I like this deal. Roku is a Great M&A Buy
Netflix’s New #1 Show Is a Crime Thriller Everyone Can Finally Agree on
A new Netflix thriller has taken over the number 1 spot, knocking a usual chart-topper down the rankings. Viewers are calling it binge-worthy, twist-filled, and impossible to pause once you start. Find out more here.
LIVE AT 9: Health officials to discuss end of hantavirus monitoring operation in Omaha
Tuesday morning, local health officials are expected to provide an update on cruise ship passengers who were monitored in Omaha.
Breaking: Nets Land Randle, No. 28 Pick for Claxton
The Brooklyn Nets have made their biggest move of the offseason. In a blockbuster three-team trade, Brooklyn lands three-time All-Star Julius Randle and a first-round pick while parting ways with longtime center Nic Claxton.
Hoops for Health first public event for the WOW vehicle
Wellness on Wheels, the 34-foot mobile health unit that was first unveiled earlier this month, provided free prostate cancer screenings, blood pressure checks, health education and information on county health programs.
I Finally Realized How I Know 'Sweet Magnolias' Star Brooke Elliott & It Hit Me Like a Truck
I finally realized where I knew Sweet Magnolias star Brooke Elliott from, and the answer unlocked a whole TV memory. Here's the iconic role I completely forgot about.
Pow Wow showcases culture, history & entertainment
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) – A big event is happening this weekend that combines culture, history, education, and entertainment. The relationship that the Nottawaseppi Huron Band of the Potawatomi …
Inside Iowa Politics: How Zach Lahn responds to being called ‘part-time Iowan’ by opponent
Zach Lahn responds to criticism about whether he will be in Iowa enough to serve as its next governor.
Burke High School hosts second annual free sports physical clinic
For the second year in a row, many student athletes got an extensive sports physical exam for free at Burke High School.
I Just Realized Why 'Sweet Magnolias' Star Heather Headley Looks Familiar and I Can't Believe It Took Me So Long
Heather Headley is back as Helen in Sweet Magnolias season 5, but there's a good chance you've seen her in another hit Netflix series before. Here's where you recognize the actress from and why her face feels so familiar.
Blizzard Sues To Take Down Another Private World of Warcraft Server, Project Ascension
Blizzard shut down a different, popular player-run server, Turtle Wow, in April
One of the Best New Shows of the Year Was Just Renewed for Season Two
Apple TV+ has already renewed a fan-favorite comedy-horror series after just one season. Here’s what to know about the renewal and what's being teased for season two.
Netflix's New #2 Series Is a Crime Drama with a 100% Rotten Tomatoes Score
A new British true-crime drama is climbing Netflix’s Top 10 and earning strong reactions for its intense, emotional retelling of a devastating real-life case. Get all the details here.
Inside Iowa Politics: Potential 2028 presidential candidate’s advice to Democrats
Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear offered advice to Democrats on how to talk with voters.
Wolves sign Trippier and in Jimenez talks
Wolves sign former England full-back Kieran Trippier and are in talks to re-sign former striker Raul Jimenez on a free transfer.
Return of USA Cycling on Inside West Virginia Politics
CHARLESTON, W.Va. (WOWK) – On this week’s episode of Inside West Virginia Politics, our guests join Rick Johnson to discuss USA Cycling, Charleston’s Sternwheel Regatta, the Huntington Area D…
SeaWorld San Diego Summer Concert Series Returns for 2026
Ashanti, Bow Wow, Soulja Boy and more headline SeaWorld San Diego’s Summer Spectacular Concert Series through Aug. 29.
An incredible sports week ahead, plus RIP Stacey King
The Pulse Newsletter 📣 | This is The Athletic’s daily sports newsletter. Sign up here to receive The Pulse directly in your inbox. Good morning! What a week ahead. Coming up: 🫨 MSG frenzy 🎾 Zverev’s breakthrough 🙏 Beloved broadcaster dies To prepare for this week, I kept looking at the calendar and vacillating between stressed and pumped. Wow, there are so many big games. Amazing, right? But also … so much to care about. Yay? So this might be more of a personal exercise, but I think it can benefit us all. A guidebook to the week ahead, which is one of the most...
Pink wows 2026 Tony Awards crowd with a 'Lady Marmalade'-themed opener and surprise guests
Host Pink brought the stunts, celebrity appearances, and vocal range to her 79th annual Tony Awards opening number.
Pink wows the crowd at the 2026 Tony Awards with a 'Lady Marmalade'-themed opener
Pink hosted the 79th annual Tony Awards and stunned in a fun-filled opening number that featured stunts, celebrities, and her incredible vocal range.
Former WOWT sports director inducted into Omaha Press Club hall of fame
Jernstrom was named sports director at WOWT following Dave Webber’s retirement in 2009.
Former WOWT sports director inducted into Omaha Press Club hall of fame
Congratulations, Ross!
Rossford roundabout construction disrupts local businesses
A roundabout construction project is limiting customer access to downtown businesses, with some owners reporting significant drops in traffic.
About Golden Spike Sports
First Alert 6 WOWT is excited to announce our Golden Spike Sports and Entertainment Network.
About Golden Spike Sports
First Alert 6 WOWT is excited to announce our Golden Spike Sports and Entertainment Network.
A whiff of weather, can you smell the rain? Science says yes
Have you ever stepped outside after a summer rain and immediately thought, Wow, it smells amazing out here? That earthy, fresh, almost nostalgic scent has a name: petrichor.
Researchers say this new Trump rule could destroy American science as we know it. They’re fighting back
By Ella Nilsen, Andrew Freedman, CNN (CNN) — Scientists across multiple disciplines are sounding the alarm after the White House proposed taking greater control over how scientific research gets funded and allowing political appointees to decide whether to approve scientific grants. Critics of the proposed rule say it would codify the administration’s attempts to destroy
The cult of objectivity has broken consciousness science
With 22 competing theories and no consensus in sight, the science of consciousness is lost. In this exclusive IAI interview, Berkeley psychedelics researcher and bestselling author of a new book on consciousness Michael Pollan insists that even though consciousness lies beyond traditional forms of scientific investigation, we should resist becoming dualists who see it as something radically different from ordinary stuff in the world. Instead, he makes the case for reimagining science itself: it must stop reaching for objective descriptions of physical reality, and instead embrace subjectivity as the indispensable core of all inquiry. Alasdair Craig: How did your experiences with psychedelics get you interested in consciousness?Michael Pollan: One of the things that happens on psychedelics is that they foreground consciousness. What formerly seemed perfectly transparent and ever present—and yet, non-existent, as water is to fish—suddenly you see it. The metaphor I use in the book is that psychedelics sponge the windscreen. Suddenly you realize: wow, there’s a windscreen, there is this phenomenon that’s mediating my relationship to reality. This is not an unusual realization on psychedelics. I think a lot of people are called to think about consciousness after psychedelic experiences. So that was the proximate inspiration for A World Appears: A Journey Into Consciousness (2026).And then there was a more specific way in which psychedelics influence the book. That was a particular experience I had on psilocybin. I had the sensation that the plants in my garden were conscious and returning my gaze, with their own point of view and agency, and I got curious as to how to evaluate an insight like that. I mean, what’s the truth quotient of insights you have on psychedelics? And I was reading William James—who, of course, wrote beautifully about mystical experience—and he said, we can’t judge the metaphysics here, but we should pay attention to two criteria: (1) How useful is it to think this is true? He was a pragmatist, of course. And (2) can we subject it to other ways of knowing to validate it? Because maybe we should treat these insights as hypotheses. And that’s kind of how I approach psychedelics, as a great generator of hypotheses, but they need to be tested against other ways of knowing. And so that led me down this long path exploring the science of plant intelligence and plant sentience.AC: I love your phrase, “smudging the windowpane of conscious experience.” So do you now start to think, actually, even when I’m not on psychedelics, I’m just seeing a screen all the time, which is not reality, but rather is my conscious experience, behind which reality is hidden?MP: Well, you know, not when I’m brushing my teeth and making breakfast! But yes, in meditation, certainly. I mean, one of the things you realize is that my experience happens to be this way now, but it could be another way. And many things can affect it. My morning coffee changes the screen in various ways, sharpens certain things.___The only tool we have to understand consciousness is consciousness.___There’s this wonderful metaphor in Aldous Huxley’s book, The Doors of Perception, where he thinks we channel consciousness, and that what the brain does is edit it, and there’s a reducing valve. And psychedelics open the reducing valve wider. I don’t know that I’m ready to buy into the idea that consciousness exists outside brains, but I do love that metaphor because there are times when you are more conscious than others. I know I’ve switched from window pane to valve, but you know, a camera aperture can open wider or narrower. And I do have a sense of that. I have a sense of when I’m being less conscious, and when I’m being more conscious, by which I mean, you know, more present, taking in more sensory information. So when you start thinking about consciousness as a matter of degree, that changes things also.I think when we scroll on social media, obviously, we’re conscious. But minimally so, because we don’t have to generate our own thoughts. We’re basically taking these little hits from other people and thinking their thoughts.The process of writing this book made me kind of relativize everyday consciousness as just one type, which is exactly what William James said. Normal consciousness is one type, separated by the flimsiest of screens from the other types.AC: If we stick with the metaphor of the smudge on the window that you get when you take psychedelics, it seems like we’re saying that consciousness has become like an object that you’re looking at, right? You’re looking at the smudge and that just is consciousness. But sometimes we’ll talk about consciousness as a state that you’re in, rather than an object you can perceive. You’re either conscious or you’re not conscious. So it’s difficult to really know what sort of thing we’re talking about when we talk about consciousness, right?MP: Yeah. When you say that consciousness is an object, what’s the subject? Consciousness also? The only tool we have to understand consciousness is consciousness. So we’re in a closed loop and when we get a perspective on consciousness, we’re not achieving any distance from it. That’s one of the problems with studying consciousness. Science is predicated on an objective, God’s eye view of things, and you never get that. There’s no such thing. SUGGESTED VIEWING The brain filters consciousness With Àlex Gómez-Marín But, yeah, there is this sense, I think, that consciousness is something you can approach. Certainly, when you’re writing and trying to recreate a conscious experience, it’s a fiction, but you’re standing back from it, and looking at it. But there’s no real subject-object distinction.AC: That’s so interesting, because when philosophers start talking about consciousness, they often talk about what they call “qualia”, which is their word for the felt experience of, say, the color red. And I think that way of speaking often makes us think of the qualia as an object, which you can see out there: the redness of red. But, as you say, we also want to collapse the subject-object distinction when we talk about consciousness. So there’s something strange going on here…MP: Oh, yeah, there are many strange things going on! *AC: Let’s talk about the varieties of consciousness. Apart from perceptions, there are, pains, emotions, thoughts, and so on. What is it that holds all this diversity together so that they all count as instances of consciousness? What is it that they all have in common?MP: Yeah, that’s a really good question. I mean, there is sensory information, right? Which we perceive coming from the world outside ourselves. And then there’s internal information, which is what’s called interoception. And this is very important too. This is where feelings come from—what are sometimes called homeostatic feelings—that are intended to get the brain to keep us in these narrow ranges of temperature and glucose and so on. That’s a very important part of consciousness. And according to some researchers, who I think are probably right, this is where consciousness begins, with these very primal feelings, like hunger and thirst and warmth and itch, and things like that. And then there’s this third thing, which is our thinking about thinking.And what holds all this together is, I think, the sense of self. Consciousness generates a self: it is probably an organizing principle. All this stuff is happening to the self. It’s a construct, I think, but it is very useful. It can connect all these different streams of consciousness to a single being or a place, metaphorically speaking.* AC: The first half of your book is about the science of consciousness. Is consciousness just another thing, like black holes or the origin of life, which we don’t yet understand, but which we should have every hope that science will one day get to the bottom of, or is there something special about consciousness that makes this unlikely?MP: It depends how you define science. As we define science now, it’s going be very difficult. Science since Galileo has had a set of rules or assumptions, which is that the proper remit of science is to deal with the objective, quantifiable, third-person world. And the physical sciences have done amazing work under that set of limitations. Galileo—for tactical reasons, not for philosophical reasons—said science should not deal with the soul, which at the time was what consciousness was considered to be. So what is subjective, what is qualitative, what is first person, we’re going to leave to the church, he said. And this was a good agreement, and it probably kept many scientists from getting burned at the stake. But it leaves science in an awkward spot, now that it wants to venture into that territory of qualities, of first-person experience. And I don’t think it has the proper tools. I think it will have to add to its toolkit in some way, and find a way to bring in phenomenology, or lived experience and introspection, which science is usually dismissive of.The challenge—we alluded to it earlier—is that the only tool you have to study consciousness with is consciousness. And what I mean by that is, the whole scientific enterprise is a manifestation of consciousness. As much as scientists like to flatter themselves with this idea that they attain a godlike perspective on what they study, when it comes to consciousness, there’s no such thing. And it’s fine for all the things you can step outside of and study from that perspective. But two areas it won’t work are consciousness and cosmology.___It could be that we live in this anomaly of not believing nature is conscious. And maybe psychedelics are teaching us something we’ve forgotten.___With cosmology, too, you have to study the universe from inside the universe. It’s not that cosmologists haven’t made progress. We know a lot about the age of the universe and expansion and things like that. But we can’t penetrate what happened before the Big Bang. We just don’t have the tools because we can’t stand outside.The fact that there are 22 full-scale theories of consciousness tells you all you need to know: we’re kind of lost. And I was surprised to find that we are more lost than I thought we were when I started this. I thought that there’d be leading theories, or that we had experiments that we could conduct that would nail some of this down. And the fact is, we don’t.So, I don’t know if science can solve it. But, of course, we can change the rules of science. A really influential book for me was a book called The Blind Spot, by two physicists, Marcello Gleiser and Adam Frank, and a philosopher, Evan Thompson. It’s a reminder that science is a social practice. It’s organized in a certain way and it can be organized in a different way. But it has this huge blind spot at the center of it, which is its failure to recognize that it is a form of consciousness itself, and it doesn’t have a good way of taking account of lived experience.AC: On the one hand, I think you want to resist traditional dualism, which would say that consciousness is something magical, something supernatural, right? But on the other hand, you’re accepting that there is this division in reality between the stuff that you can investigate objectively and measure, and so on—the stuff that science has been good at finding out about—and consciousness, which, for some reason, you can’t objectively measure. Some would take this to suggest that the dualism is actually right. Is there a way of reconciling these two strands of your thinking?MP: To call it magical is full of value judgement. I mean, you could just say immaterial. The interesting thing is, I think, that intuitively we’re all dualists. And I don’t know whether that’s because we’re children of Descartes and other cultures are less dualist than we are. Or it may be because that’s how consciousness feels. It feels different than the body. It feels separate from the body. But I don’t think we should trust that intuition.AC: So let’s think about ways that science might be changed to get at consciousness. I suppose the starting point would be the way that you begin the second half of your book. You have this nice line from William James, where he says, “We now begin our study of the mind from within.” Could you give us some sense of the ways of studying the mind from within? What does this involve?MP: I don’t know what that science looks like. But one of the points I’m making is that it depends on the humanities. I found that I learned as much, if not more, about consciousness, from reading novels and poetry. There is a sense of the fullness and complexity of consciousness that you don’t get in any scientific account. I interviewed this stream-of-consciousness writer and I approached her as an expert on consciousness, and she is. So I think that dialogue is really important.I’m reading Ben Lerner’s new novel, Transcription. Just read the first page of this novel: it’s a man falling asleep on a train, going to conduct an interview, and there is the experience of being in the train, facing backwards, there’s the view outside, but there’s a reflection of himself through which he’s seeing outside. There’s the memory of dropping his kids off at school. All this is going on in one moment of consciousness. Scientists aren’t going anywhere near that. But I think it’s useful for them to think about. That’s where we’re trying to go: like, how does such a layered experience happen? You know, it also makes you wonder, could a computer ever do this? And it gives you some doubt.*AC: Before we get to computers, perhaps we could talk briefly about plants. How did you come to feel that they are sentient?MP: Well, it was a psychedelic experience, and it’s not unusual on psychedelics. In fact, there’ve been studies about how people become animists during psychedelic experience. Their belief in animism arises after a single psychedelic experience.You know, most scientists would say this is all a myth. But we have only 400 years of the age of enlightenment and science. Before that, we were animists, and if you go around the world, most indigenous cultures are still animists, and children are animists, by and large, until they go to school. So it could be that we live in this anomaly of not believing nature is conscious. And maybe psychedelics are teaching us something we’ve forgotten.As I said, I wanted to test this idea, and see whether there was conventional scientific evidence for it. And there’s fascinating work going on in a field that calls itself—in a rather cheeky way—plant neurobiology. These are people who fully realize there are no neurons in plants, but they’re trolling conventional botanists! And they’re doing experiments that are demonstrating that plants can learn and remember, which is kind of amazing: how do you store a memory without neurons? They’re finding plants that can solve problems, that can hear and see. In fact, they have 20 senses to our five or six. For example, a bean plant looking for something to twine, and given a pole within eight inches or so of it, knows where that pole is and will aim its spiraling reach at that pole. What is that about? Is it bouncing signals off of it?One of the spookiest things is the fact that the same anesthetics that put us out put plants out. You might think that plants are already out, but they’re not. They’re just slow. If you take a plant with a fast behavior, like a Venus flytrap, and give it an anesthetic, it will stop reacting. So you have to ask yourself, what is lost when the plant is anaesthetized? Some state of alertness, of awareness, of its environment, of reactivity. I’m not prepared to call that consciousness, but maybe it’s sentience—which is a simpler form of consciousness, and involves the ability to sense what’s going on in your environment and assess what’s good and bad for you and act appropriately. That may be a universal quality of life.AC: Let’s turn from plants to AI. You point out that LLMs are trained on the internet rather than direct interactions with reality. You put this really nicely when you say the internet is not the world so much as a shadow cast by the world. So LLMs are living in this kind of shadow world, or in Plato’s cave, as you put it. What’s the significance of this for AI consciousness and moral consideration? And, to recall the beginning of our conversation, if we’re stuck behind a veil or screen of consciousness, are we also stuck in a kind of shadow world?MP: I don’t think they’re the same shadow worlds because our world includes nature and other people. And even if it’s mediated in some ways... There is a reality out there, and we are in relation to it, through consciousness. There’s friction with it. What’s missing from the LLMs is that friction with the real world. There’s more to the world than human representation, which is what they’re dealing with. And that means that so far, AI is a cultural technology for combining thoughts we’ve already had. SUGGESTED VIEWING Cracking the code for thought With Roger Penrose, Sabrina Gonzalez Pasterski, Max Tegmark, Güneş Taylor Genuine creativity is more than collage. A lot of what AI does now is tantamount to collage, putting this with that and you know, that’s part of art, certainly. But there are also genuinely new ideas that come into the world that don’t come in through manipulating the representations we already have. So it remains to be seen whether AIs can be truly creative in that more radical sense.But my arguments against AI becoming conscious have to do with the fact that the idea of AI consciousness is based on this faulty metaphor that the brain is a computer. There are dimensions in which the brain is like a computer—it certainly does its share of computation. But computers have this sharp distinction between hardware and software, and brains don’t. In a brain, hardware and software are identical. Every memory is a physical change to the brain. Brains are not interchangeable in the way computers are. So this idea that you could take the consciousness out and somehow run it on another substrate, a silicon substrate, seems foolhardy.Anyway, it’s a more extended argument, and I may be wrong. And when we move to computers that aren’t based on silicon—neuromorphic computers and things like that—all bets may be off.AC: Regarding your point about LLMs being stuck in the world of our representations—the internet or whatever—and not being able to interact with reality, are these representations, the world of the internet, themselves part of reality? We’ve created the internet, but it’s still a real thing that exists. And so while the LLMs may be trapped within that part of reality, they’re nevertheless within reality and interacting with it and so on. So it’s not obvious that there’s a barrier there to them becoming conscious and being creative.MP: Yeah, I mean, if our consciousness is built out of human culture, which is what we’re talking about with all those representations. But I tend to think consciousness comes a bit more out of nature and friction with the natural world, but...AC: So there’s a fundamental divide between the natural world and human artefacts?MP: And we lose track of that, and especially people in this computer world. You know, the people who are creating these AI systems, my guess is they’ve been into video games since the age of three, and they didn’t go outside a lot. And their own contact with nature is somewhat limited. I could be wrong, it’d be a very interesting thing to ask, all the wizards of AI, whether they like to go fishing and hiking and do things like that. Or were they on computers from a very early age? I interviewed Blake Lemoine, the Google engineer who came to believe that LaMDA, the Google LLM out at the time, was conscious and deserved personhood. It was very clear that he didn’t see a distinction between this bubble in which he lived and the real world. And I think we’ve all been distanced from the natural world, and this is taking us even further away. But it’s still there, you know, and we still have bodies, and we’re still mortal, and we don’t live in a simulation.AC: I think that’s a great place to finish. Michael Pollan, thank you very much!
City of Henderson new sports, entertainment venue solidifies new name
New Name, New Vision: Henderson Sport & Social Coming to West Henderson
Better Business Bureau warns of alleged car dealer scam in Omaha
The Better Business Bureau is warning consumers about an alleged online car dealer scam using an Omaha address.
Clemson lands commitment from former football star David Pollack’s son
Clemson’s hot day of recruiting continues with the commitment of a former college football stars son.
Inside Iowa Politics: Two big endorsements in Iowa governor campaign’s final days
Two prominent endorsements could impact the race for governor in Iowa.
Oklahoma State wows TE Talan Scott, lands his commitment
Queen Creek (Ariz.) American Leadership Academy tight end Talan Scott planned to take a number of visits this month. But after visiting Oklahoma State, he didn’t see the need to visit anywhere else. Scott committed to the Cowboys on his official visit and gave the Big 12 Cowboys a big boost. “I’m pumped to be […]
8 Smart Gadgets To Help Upgrade Your TV & Entertainment System
If you've just bought a new TV and you're finding your entertainment center a little lacking, one of these smart additions could add a real wow factor.
8 Smart Gadgets To Help Upgrade Your TV & Entertainment System
If you've just bought a new TV and you're finding your entertainment center a little lacking, one of these smart additions could add a real wow factor.
Why Trump’s Pathetic Circus Act Is Falling Apart
“It feeds the correct view that I think is spreading among more and more and more people that, wow, he’s kind of incompetent, isn’t he?” Kurt Andersen said.
Memorial run at Cody Park honors Tyler Vanderheiden, raises mental health awareness
Memorial run at Cody Park honors Tyler Vanderheiden and raises mental health awareness.
This Raunchy, Unhinged Show Is Climbing Netflix’s Charts & Sparking Major Debate Among Viewers
Season two of this Netflix series just premiered and it's already stirring up major debate among viewers. Here is why the dark comedy is dividing audiences and whether it is worth adding to your watchlist.
You’re not crazy, this election is crazy.
Even by San Francisco standards, wow. What a ballot.
I Went to the 2026 AMAs—This Was the Night's Best Performance
I went to this year's 2026 American Music Awards in person, and it was basically one giant, star-studded concert (I'm talking BTS, Maluma and New Kids on the Block). But one performance stood out as my favorite. Here, my AMAs review.
Confession: I've Never Been a BTS Fan, But Seeing Them Live at the AMAs Changed Everything
I've never been a fan of BTS, but seeing them live at the 2026 American Music Awards in Las Vegas changed everything. Here, why their performance was so good.
The New #1 Show with a 93 Percent 'Rotten Tomatoes' Rating Is Giving 'Heated Rivalry' Energy—& Fans Are Obsessed
A new romance drama similar to 'Heated Rivalry' is quickly climbing the streaming charts and giving viewers major early 2000s rom-com energy. Get all the details here.
I Just Realized Why 'Off Campus' Star Belmont Cameli Looks So Familiar...& I'm Shook
'Off Campus' star Belmont Cameli looks familiar for a reason, and once you realize where you’ve seen him before, it all clicks. Here’s a look at his past roles.
First responders graduate from mental health program | FOX 13 Tampa Bay
A first-of-its-kind mental health and resiliency program at St. Petersburg College graduated its latest class this week in Clearwater, bringing together officers, deputies and emergency personnel from agencies across the region. FOX 13's Genevieve Curtis reports.
Viewers Are Dragging This Show Online But Are Also Secretly Obsessed With It
A new season of a beloved series is already sparking intense reactions online, with viewers calling it everything from painfully relatable to full-on “rage bait.” See what all the chatter is about here.
Millennials Are Gonna Lose It Over the Latest 90s Boy Band Added to the Nostalgia-Filled AMAs Lineup
The group joins Hootie & the Blowfish, Katseye, Keith Urban and more with Queen Latifah hosting at the MGM Grand Garden Arena.
‘Acrisure Amphitheater is open for business’: Lionel Richie wows Grand Rapids with hits
The Grammy winner performed Friday at the new 12,000-capacity venue in downtown Grand Rapids, treating concertgoers to hits such as “Hello” and “Easy.”
This New Crime Thriller Actually Made Me Scream at My TV
A new crime drama has audiences completely captivated and has me personally yelling at the TV thanks to its intense revenge storyline. Find out more here.
4 Shows That Were Canceled in May (and Yes, 'The Bear' Is One of Them)
Four stellar shows were canceled in May 2026 and fans are not happy about it. Here, the four canceled series including 'The Bear' and 'Stumble'.
This Underrated Spy Thriller Just Returned and I’ve Never Hit Play Faster
A long-awaited spy thriller series has quietly returned with a new season that’s already climbing the streaming charts. Get all the details here.
TribeVibe Entertainment sweeps WOW Awards 2026 with five wins, cementing its position as a defining force in India's live entertainment landscape
TribeVibe Entertainment, one of India's fastest-growing live entertainment companies, was honoured with five prestigious accolades at the Shows of India Conclave 2026 - among the industry's most respected benchmarks for excellence in live experiences and entertainment - notching up as many as five WOW Awards across categories.
NBC Cancels Beloved Show & Fans Are Seriously Outraged
A recent NBC cancellation is sparking major backlash online, with fans calling the decision a huge mistake. See what show has fans so upset here.
DHHS Assistant Secretary for Health speaks after hantavirus passengers arrive in Omaha
Admiral Brian Christine, MD, with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services spoke at a news conference Monday morning.
Arisa Health to close clinics, end crisis services after losing $4.4 million in state funding
Arisa Health will close some mental health clinics and end crisis services in 41 Arkansas counties, including Craighead, after losing $4.4 million in state funding.
Longwood Falls to North Alabama in UTR Sports NIT Championship Semifinals, 4-2
ROME, Ga. — The Longwood men's tennis team saw its season come to a close with a 4-2 loss to North Alabama in the semifinals of the 2026 UTR Sports NIT Championship at the Rome Tennis Center at Berry College on Thursday.
Pixel update fixes wireless charging, camera zoom video glitch, and more
It's time to update your Pixel
Texas basketball executed ‘aggressive’ plan in the NCAA transfer portal
The five-man portal class for the Longhorns ranks third nationally.
Las Vegas science and technology expo wraps 15th year
Las Vegas science and technology expo wraps 15th year
Inside Empire Entertainment Japan: 30 years of turning ‘Wow’ moments into global hits
As the entertainment industry increasingly blurs the lines between digital narratives and physical reality, Empire Entertainment Japan and SOHO Live are market leaders in redefining how Japanese creativity is exported to the global stage. At the spearhead of this evolution are Ted Miller, president and CEO of Tokyo-based Empire Japan,…
Las Vegas’ fastest-growing businesses
Las Vegas has long been one of the fastest-growing cities in the country. As the desert metropolis has expanded, so too have a bevy of valley-based businesses that have experienced rapid growth in ...
This Vampire Musical Is My Favorite New Show on Broadway—It's Scary Good
I just took in a showing of 'The Lost Boys' on Broadway in NYC, and it was a fabulous and scary musical based on the original film. My review? I'd call 'The Lost Boys' the best new musical of the year.
Longwood Men’s Tennis Accepts Bid to 2026 UTR Sports NIT Championship
MIAMI, Fla. — Fresh off its first appearance in the Big South championship match, the Longwood men's tennis team's season will continue as the Lancers accepted a bid to compete in the 2026 UTR Sports NIT Championship, announced by the organization on Thursday.
🥐☕️FC breakfast: Dembouz's touching gesture, PSG's rugby wows!
Dembélé and Upamecano, united before hostilities ⚔️An initiative that reminds us football remains a powerful social force. Hailing from the same town, Ousmane Dembélé and Dayot Upamecano will ...
The 9 Best Shows of April, Hands-Down
There are a ton of great TV shows streaming this month, so this entertainment editor narrowed it down to the 9 best shows of April 2026. From 'The Testaments' to 'BEEF' season two, here's your must-watch list.
USA Health Children’s and Women’s Hospital hosts NICU reunion for former patients, families
The annual event brings together caregivers and children treated in the hospital's neonatal intensive care unit.
2026 NFL Draft: Nick Saban caught on hot mic trashing Cowboys' first-round pick: 'Wow, this is a reach'
The Science of the Times: A Project Hail Mary Commentary
Nothing beats sitting at the cinema watching a movie for the first time and thinking to yourself, “Wow, this is why I love movies.” Project Hail Mary did that for me.
World Of Warcraft's Latest Patch Is One Giant List Of Bugs And Issues, And Players Are Fed Up
More bugs than Ahn'Qiraj.
Mental health by the numbers in Nebraska
A deeper look tonight as First Alert 6 continues to dig deeper into the state of mental health care in Nebraska and possible solutions, ever since last week’s two instances involving law enforcement.
'Schmigadoon!' on Broadway Review: Camp, Charm and Corn Puddin'
Five years after 'Schmigadoon!' hit Apple TV, a stage adaptation of season one has landed on Broadway. And whether you saw the OG musical TV show or not, you're going to love this new 'Schmigadoon' Broadway version. Here's my honest review.
'BEEF' Season 2 Is *So* Different Than Season 1—and I'm Fully Obsessed with It
The hit Netflix show 'Beef' is back with season two and I'm already obsessed after only two episodes. Here, my honest review of 'Beef' season 2, starring Oscar Isaac, Carey Mulligan and Charles Melton.
I Saw 4 Off-Broadway Musicals This Month—But Only 2 Were Must-See
This month, I took in a whopping four NYC Off-Broadway shows—spoiler alert: two were more than worth the price of admission, while the other two were, well, simply solid. Here, my theater reviews of 'Bigfoot the Musical', 'Masquerade', 'Spelling Bee' and more.
Gathering of Nations’ ‘Last Dance’ could signal big loss for local businesses
Albuquerque’s Gathering of Nations powwow is approaching its final ‘Last Dance’ this weekend, and local businesses are hoping the event goes out with a bang as they brace for the loss of up to $30 million in annual economic activity and hotel occupancy rates roughly 20% higher than average.
KAPAAW hosts fifth annual Black Maternal Health Fair
KAPAAW hosts fifth annual Black Maternal Health Fair
World of Warcraft private server Stormforge is shutting down as Blizzard builds pressure on fan alternatives
The Stormforge developers confirm that its private WoW servers will be shut down in May after a Cease and Desist from Blizzard's legal team.
Aurora community divided on service versus business approach
The meeting made clear that Aurora is a community divided on the issue.
South Charleston business named West Virginia Small Businesses Manufacturer of the Year
SOUTH CHARLESTON, W.Va. (WOWK) – A small South Charleston business was named the West Virginia Small Businesses Manufacturer of the Year by the Small Business Administration. Cyclopes Industr…
Nebraska business owners left scrambling as Painted Tree Boutiques ceases operations
Business owners are scrambling to retrieve their items after Painted Tree Boutiques abruptly shut its doors on Tuesday.
This Action Crime Thriller Just Shot to #1—and the Cast Is Absolutely Loaded
A star-studded crime thriller has quietly climbed to the top of Prime Video’s most-watched list, but, somehow, it flew completely under the radar. Find out more about the chart-topper here.
Fan World of Warcraft servers face shut down as Blizzard wins Turtle WoW case
Activision Blizzard has won its court case against Turtle WoW, delivering a Cease and Desist order to the World of Warcraft server network.
The real space science behind 'Project Hail Mary'
The science fiction blockbuster wowed audiences with its depiction of space travel and more. Here's what NASA staff and other scientists say about the basis for the amazing events of the film.
How national political analysts see the Wisconsin Supreme Court race
J. Miles Coleman from Sabato's Crystal Ball said far different results in Washington and Ozaukee counties could mark the end of the "WOW" grouping.
Inside Iowa Politics: Candidate Jim Carlin doesn’t want American troops on the ground in Iran
Jim Carlin, a former state senator who is running for the U.S. Senate, said that he supports the U.S. strikes on Iran but doesn't want to see the country engaged in a long war.
Netflix's New #1 Show Absolutely Lives Up to the Hype—and I'm Not the Only One Who's Obsessed
Netflix’s current #1 show is a feel-good, deeply real dating series that’s quietly winning everyone over. Here’s why viewers can’t stop watching (and rooting for the cast).
WoW Race To World First Thrown Into Chaos After Secret Boss Phase Reveal
Screams of joy were quickly replaced by panic.
OH WOW! Science Center will host interactive, augmented sandbox exhibit
OH WOW! The Roger & Gloria Jones Children’s Center for Science & Technology will host an interactive, augmented exhibit beginning Monday, April 6, 2026.
Body parts wow life science students at pathology lab
If you want to capture the attention of seventh-graders, show them body parts, specifically internal organs.
Inside Iowa Politics: Why this Iowans thinks ‘No Kings’ last past the rallies
"No Kings Day" Iowa organizer explains why she thinks this movement is growing.
Some are celebrating, but World of Warcraft's move away from the "Horde" and "Alliance" faction split will be seen as a historic mistake
Not only does it undermine decades of lore and world building, but player identity is how you reach your audience when they're *not* gaming. WoW's iconic faction split is under threat, and that's a bad thing actually.