AI models may be a bit like humans, after all. A new study from the University of Texas at Austin, Texas A&M, and Purdue University shows that large language models fed a diet of popular but low-quality social media content experience a kind of “brain rot” that may be familiar to anyone who has spent…
Netflix has updated its service so that it will no longer support casting a streaming video to a TV from a mobile device. If you’re watching a show on your phone, you’ll no longer be able to easily cast it onto your TV and keep watching. Instead, Netflix is prioritizing its TV app, which means…
Whether you shop now or wait for Black Friday and Cyber Monday, you’ll find that many of those deals masquerading as fantastic bargains aren’t always as good as they look, and it’s easy to be fooled if you’re not careful. No worries—Consumer Reports has been tracking Black Friday deals for years, and we know all…
After a six-week work trip Xiayun, an employee at a semiconductor company in Silicon Valley, had landed at her hometown in China for vacation when she saw the news about H-1B visas. On Friday afternoon, US president Donald Trump signed a proclamation saying that any H-1B visa holder’s entry into the US will be “restricted,…
Going to the beach? Consider a pair of flip-flops from Rainbow Sandals, which CR social producer Jamison Hermann swears by. “These sandals are sturdy, comfortable, and have a classic design. I’ve worn them on countless beach trips and hot summer days,” he says. “I’m not a small person, and as a result I often wear…
Every time I slip on a rain jacket, I give thanks that we no longer have to wrap ourselves in thick, smelly sealskin to stay dry. The best rain jackets today are more comfortable and watertight than ever, thanks to advances in weatherproof textiles and apparel design. But depending on the climate and your level…
To test flooring for foot-traffic wear, we rub abrasive paper discs back and forth against 6×6-inch flooring samples, checking for wear every 50 cycles. The best flooring is unscathed after 500 cycles or 50,000 abrasive rubs. To test a floor’s resistance to denting, we drop a heavy, blunt weight that simulates a saucepan or large…
Keith Flamer Keith Flamer has been a multimedia content creator at Consumer Reports since 2021, covering laundry, cleaning, small appliances, and home trends. Fascinated by interior design, architecture, technology, and all things mechanical, he translates CR’s testing engineers’ work into content that helps readers live better, smarter lives. Prior to CR, Keith covered luxury accessories…
Starbucks opened its first store in China in 1999, when drinking coffee in a Western-style café was still a novel idea to many locals. But in the years since, homegrown coffee and bubble tea brands like Luckin Coffee, Heytea, Chagee, and Mixue have gradually chipped away at Starbucks’ share of the Chinese market. Now, they…
Vehicles Recalled• Jeep Grand Cherokee 4xe plug-in hybrid SUVs built between July 23, 2021, and Oct. 15, 2025• Jeep Wrangler 4xe plug-in hybrid SUVs built between July 1, 2020, and Aug. 25, 2025 The problem: There is an issue with the separators between battery cells. Prior software-based repair attempts have not fixed the problem. The fix: Jeep…
