What to Do in Chicago If You’re Here for Business (2026)

Chicago always has something to prove. When it went up against New York for the 1893 World’s Fair, a New York Sun reporter called out its “windbag” campaigners. Illinois ended up hosting the fair, and Chicago embraced its new identity as the Windy City. That chip-on-the-shoulder energy still defines this metropolis, a city that builds,…

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An ‘Intimacy Crisis’ Is Driving the Dating Divide

In the US, nearly half of adults are single. A quarter of men suffer from loneliness. Rates of depression are on the rise. And one in four Gen Z adults—the so-called kinkiest generation, according to one study—have never had partnered sex. In an age of endless connection, where hooking up happens with the ease of…

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Meet Wukong, the AI Chatbot China Has Installed on Its Space Station

The latest addition to China’s Tiangong space station is an AI chatbot with expertise in navigation and tactical planning. Named Wukong AI—after the protagonist of the “Monkey King” legend in Chinese mythology, Sun Wukong—the chatbot was introduced on the space station in mid-July, and has already completed its first mission: supporting three taikonauts during a…

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Best Chef’s Knives of 2025

Paul Hope Paul Hope is a Home & DIY Editor at Consumer Reports and a trained chef. He covers ranges, cooktops, and wall ovens, as well as grills, drills, outdoor power tools, decking, and wood stains. Before joining CR in 2016, he tested kitchen products at Good Housekeeping and covered tools and remodeling for This…

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That Lifting Band Isn’t Truly Changing the Shape of Your Face, Experts Say

“If someone wants visible and lasting improvement in facial contour, energy-based devices like radiofrequency microneedling or ultrasound treatments, neuromodulators for muscle balance, and surgical lifting where the SMAS is actually repositioned are the only effective methods,” Badreshia-Bansal says.  With the average cost of a facelift in the U.S. coming in at $11,395, reaching that goal…

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Welcome to Big Tech’s ‘Age of Extraction’

Growing up in Toronto, Tim Wu had a classmate who was the progeny of Communist parents. His name was Cory Doctorow. Yes, the same guy who just published a book about enshittification. Though they shared a general world view, the boyhood pals also had arguments, with Wu typically taking a less radical stance than his…

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Marley Spoon Meal Kit Review 2026: Less Martha, More Moroccan

This included a Persian turmeric chicken with dill-currant rice that fits seamlessly into Marley Spoon’s repertoire, deglazing with lemon juice instead of wine. The rice was toasted, then cooked with currants and spinach. It was simple, elegant, and kind of a treat. Among the pan-Asian dishes, this was the most successful. Other international meals are…

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Best Refrigerator Temperature to Keep Food Fresh

When a new batch of refrigerators comes into our labs, we start by setting the ambient temperature in our climate-controlled chambers to 70° F to simulate conditions in a typical home kitchen. Then we determine which thermostat setting on each refrigerator will get the internal temperature in the center of the unit to between 36°…

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Meta Wins Blockbuster AI Copyright Case—but There’s a Catch

Advocates for the idea that AI training is transformative still see Chhabria’s ruling as a win. “Judge Chhabria ruled today, bottom line, that training generative AI models on copyrighted material is clearly transformative, and absent proven market harm is fair use,” says Adam Eisgrau, the senior director of AI, Creativity, and Copyright Policy at the…

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