Long-distance kissing?

New species of giant spider

20 Questions!

Since 1986, a private nonprofit – the United Network of Organ Sharing (UNOS) – has exclusively managed the system that connects donated organs to patients

Numerous investigations have found widespread deficiencies at UNOS, including having a system that was vulnerable to hacking, delivering “squished” organs, and giving one recipient organs from a cancer patient. Critics blame UNOS’ monopoly

On Wednesday, the US government announced a plan to break up UNOS’ sole management of the system

UNOS said it supports the plan and welcomes “a competitive and open bidding process"

"We believe we have the experience and expertise required to best serve the nation’s patients and to help implement [the] proposed initiatives,” it said in a statement

“Negative option” deals are when companies consider a customer’s lack of action as acceptance of an offer. Examples include free trials that require payments if the user doesn’t opt out, or yearly subscriptions that renew without user approval

On Thursday, the US FTC proposed that it be “at least as easy to cancel a subscription as it was to start it,” and that companies be required to notify customers annually before renewing a digital subscription

The proposals now enter a 60-day discussion period

The changes would also force companies to let users opt out of sales pitches and last-ditch offers while they are unsubscribing

“Businesses that continued to use subscription tricks and traps would be subject to stiff penalties,” the head of the FTC said

The device – called “Mua,” after the sound people make when blowing a kiss – is an electronic box with silicone lips. Users plug the devices into their phone’s charging ports and pair them using an app. Using motion sensors, they simulate the pressure, motion, heat, and sound of a kiss

Beyond relationships, Mua has an app that lets users “kiss” strangers on a virtual “kissing square”

The inventor had the idea while in a long-distance relationship during lockdowns

A single Mua device costs ~$38. The inventor said he received 20,000+ orders within 2 weeks of its release

“Very uncomfortable, it doesn’t feel like a real kiss,” one Chinese reviewer wrote. Others have said it allows them to be intimate in their long-distance relationships

In early March, a federal judge spoke at Stanford. The judge had opposed gay marriage and didn’t refer to a transgender plaintiff by her preferred pronouns

Students heckled him and said, “You suck” and “We hate you.” He called them “idiots.” During the protest, the DEI dean took the stage and said of the students, “I look out and I don’t ask, ‘What’s going on here?’ I look out and I say, ‘I’m glad this is going on here.” Police escorted the judge out

On Wednesday, Stanford put the dean on leave and said all students will undergo a half-day free speech training

While on stage, the dean also said the judge’s rulings were “abhorrent” and that he “literally denies the humanity of people,” then questioned whether it made sense for him to speak given “the pain…and the division that this causes”

The school’s dean said the protesters violated the school's freedom of speech policies, and that while they will not be disciplined, they must be taught to respect “freedom of speech and the norms of the legal profession"

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Get well soon, AS: Renowned screenwriter Aaron Sorkin, who wrote The West Wing and The Social Network, revealed that he suffered a severe stroke in November

Not dead yet: Average MLB team value increased by 12% this past year to $2.3B, per Forbes. The Yankees remained in first with a franchise value of $7.1B

Y'all got whiteout? The South Carolina comptroller resigned after a staffer discovered a $3.5B accounting error he made a decade ago. He held the post for 20 years

Coach but no cigar: The NCAA suspended a Division II head football coach for a future playoff game after 2 of his players lit cigars in a locker room following last year's natty

Ron Weasley trigger warning: Australian scientists discovered a giant new species of trapdoor spiders. The females can live up to 20 years

Run, it's Dog-zilla! An Indian bystander captured a video of a monkey kidnapping a dog from the streets and taking him to a rooftop for no apparent reason