A discredited anti-vaccine advocate who has no medical background and who has been disciplined for practicing medicine without a license will reportedly lead a questionable federal study on vaccines and autism—despite a large volume of existing research that has found no link between the two and despite a thorough debunking of claims that vaccines cause autism.

Late Tuesday, The Washington Post reported that David Geier has been hired as a “data analyst” by the Department of Health and Human Services, which is now headed by Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a prominent and fervent anti-vaccine advocate. Kennedy and Geier have both long touted the false claim that vaccines cause autism, despite the extensive evidence showing that they do not. In March, HHS directed the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to reexamine the nonexistent link between vaccines and autism, using funds from taxpayers that could have been directed at other research.

David Geier earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, in 2002. Since then, he has largely worked with his father, Mark Geier, also an anti-vaccine advocate who falsely blames vaccines for autism. In 2011, Mark Geier was stripped of his medical license by the Maryland State Board of Physicians for misrepresenting his credentials, failing to meet state and federal regulations on safety oversight, and allegedly putting the safety and welfare of autistic children at risk.

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Unrelenting in its efforts to dig to the very bottom of my murse, LEGO is releasing a Lord of The Rings: The Shire build set. The set will cost $270 *spit-takes Miruvor* when it’s released April 5th and contains 2,017 pieces, including nine minifigs and a very tiny One Ring. I can’t fit that on my finger! But I want to rule them all! “Do you though?” God no, that sounds like a lot of responsibility. And if there’s one thing houseplants have taught me, it’s everyone will die if I’m left in charge for a week.

Keep going for several more photos and a video with Sean Astin.

April brings the highly anticipated return of some of Netflix’s most popular series, including Season 7 of Black Mirror (April 10) and Season 5 of You (April 24).

The former—Charlie Brooker’s dystopian sci-fi anthology series—is getting six new episodes, including a sequel to “USS Callister” from season 4. The new season includes appearances from Paul Giamatti, Issa Rae, Will Poulter, Chris O’Dowd, Rashida Jones, Awkwafina, and Tracee Ellis Ross. And in the final 10-episode season of psychological thriller You, serial killer Joe Goldberg (played by Penn Badgley) returns to New York to live peacefully but is haunted by his past.

Also debuting in April is Western romance Ransom Canyon (April 17) starring Josh Duhamel and Minka Kelly. An adaptation of the Jodi Thomas books, the Yellowstone-esque series follows ranching families in Texas Hill Country. And medical drama Pulse (April 3), set in a Miami trauma center, may capture fans of Max’s hit show The Pitt. On the film side, Tom Hardy plays a detective navigating the criminal underworld on a rescue mission in the gritty thriller Havoc (April 25).

Finally, Netflix’s documentary lineup includes sports series Carlos Alcaraz: My Way (April 23) and The Clubhouse: A Year with the Red Sox (April 8); another installment of Turning Point, this one focused on the Vietnam War (April 30); and Chef’s Table: Legends (April 28), a new season of the Emmy-nominated culinary series with episodes following Jamie Oliver, José Andrés, Alice Waters, and Thomas Keller.

Here’s everything coming to Netflix in April, and everything that’s leaving.

What’s coming to Netflix in April 2025

Available soon

• Jewel Thief – The Heist Begins—Netflix Film

• Weak Hero Class 2—Netflix Series

Available April 1

• The Age of Innocence

• Big Daddy

• Bonnie & Clyde

• The Breakfast Club

• Conan the Destroyer

• Couples Retreat

• The Croods

• Draft Day

• Field of Dreams

• For Love of the Game

• Geostorm

• Get Him to the Greek

• Heat

• Insidious: Chapter 2

• K-9

• Lucy

• Matilda

• The Mauritanian

• The Place Beyond the Pines

• Psycho

• Rise of the Guardians

• Rooster Cogburn (…and the Lady)

• Rudy

• Sicario: Day of the Soldado

• Smokey and the Bandit

• Smokey and the Bandit II

• Uncle Buck

Available April 2

• Banger—Netflix Film

• Garnachas: Glorious Street Food!—Netflix Documentary

• Love on the Spectrum: Season 3—Netflix Series

Available April 3

• Devil May Cry—Netflix Series

• Jurassic World: Chaos Theory: Season 3—Netflix Family

• PULSE—Netflix Series

Available April 4

• Karma—Netflix Series

• TEST—Netflix Film

Available April 7

• Blippi’s Job Show—Netflix Family

• Kill Tony: Kill or Be Killed—Netflix Comedy Special

Available April 8

• The Clubhouse: A Year with the Red Sox—Netflix Sports Series

• How to Sell Drugs Online (Fast): Season 4—Netflix Series

• Kian’s Bizarre B&B—Netflix Series

• My Next Guest Needs No Introduction With David Letterman: Season 5 Part 2—Netflix Series

Available April 9

• The Addams Family

• Bad Influence: The Dark Side of Kidfluencing—Netflix Documentary

• The Dad Quest—Netflix Film

• The Hating Game

• Unicorn Academy: Chapter 3—Netflix Family

Available April 10

• Black Mirror: Season 7—Netflix Series

• Frozen Hot Boys—Netflix Film

• Moonrise—Netflix Anime

• North of North—Netflix Series

Available April 11

• The Gardener—Netflix Series

• Meet the Khumalos—Netflix Film

Available April 12

• Resident Playbook—Netflix Series

Available April 13

• Life or Something Like It

Available April 15

• The Glass Dome—Netflix Series

• Young Sheldon: Season 7

Available April 16

• Baby Mama

• The Diamond Heist—Netflix Documentary

• I Am Not Mendoza—Netflix Series

• Project UFO—Netflix Series

Available April 17

• Istanbul Encyclopedia—Netflix Series

• Ransom Canyon—Netflix Series

Available April 18

• iHostage—Netflix Film

• Oklahoma City Bombing: American Terror—Netflix Documentary

Available April 19

• Heavenly Ever After

Available April 21

• Pangolin: Kulu’s Journey—Netflix Documentary

Available April 23

• A Tragedy Foretold: Flight 3054—Netflix Documentary

• Battle Camp—Netflix Series

• Bullet Train Explosion—Netflix Film

• Carlos Alcaraz: My Way—Netflix Sports Series

• UnBroken

Available April 24

• A Dog’s Way Home

• You: Season 5—Netflix Series

Available April 25

• Havoc—Netflix Film

• Pokémon Horizons: Season 2—The Search for Laqua Part 2—Netflix Family

Available April 28

• Chef’s Table: Legends—Netflix Documentary

Available April 30

• Asterix & Obelix: The Big Fight—Netflix Family

• The Eternaut—Netflix Series

• Exterritorial—Netflix Film

• Turning Point: The Vietnam War—Netflix Documentary

What’s leaving Netflix in April 2025

Leaving April 1

• Baby Driver

• Boyz n the Hood

• Bruce Almighty

• Dr. Seuss’ The Cat in the Hat

• Dr. Seuss’ The Lorax

• Elysium

• Happy Feet

• Happy Feet Two

• How to Train Your Dragon

• How to Train Your Dragon 2

• Interstellar

• It

• The Karate Kid

• The Karate Kid Part II

• The Karate Kid Part III

• Legion

• Miss Congeniality

• Molly’s Game

• The Nice Guys

• Richie Rich

• Rush Hour

• Rush Hour 2

• Rush Hour 3

• Rust and Bone

• Space Jam

• When in Rome

Leaving April 4

• Serena

Leaving April 8

• Megan Leavey

Leaving April 11

• Pixels

• Scream

Leaving April 12

• A Quiet Place Part II

Leaving April 15

• Hereditary

Leaving April 16

• The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent

Leaving April 21

• No Hard Feelings

Leaving April 24

• Minions

Leaving April 29

• Patriots Day

It turns out Nintendo Directs are like buses. You wait ages for one then get two in quick succession. Days before Nintendo fully spills the beans on the Switch 2 during a dedicated showcase on April 2, the company is hosting a surprise Direct on March 27 at 10AM ET. You can watch it above.

The stream will run for around 30 minutes and focus on upcoming Switch games. There won’t be any Switch 2 info, but pretty much every game you see here will run on the new console anyway, thanks to backwards compatibility.

Since this isn’t billed as an Indie World Direct (those focus on indie games), it’s not really clear what we can expect from this one. Nintendo’s developers will largely be focused on making Switch 2 games at this point. Still, the Switch has a massive install base — the company has sold more than 150 million of those consoles — so Nintendo probably won’t want to leave all those players behind any time soon. 

To that end, we can expect a stream of games for the original Switch to keep coming for the foreseeable future. Metroid Prime 4: Beyond, for instance, is still slated to hit the Switch sometime this year. Third-party games will still be coming to the Switch as well, including a certain one from Team Cherry that we expect to show up in every single gaming showcase but won’t mention here because we don’t want to jinx it.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/nintendo/a-switch-2-less-nintendo-direct-will-stream-on-march-27-145809333.html?src=rss

VMware is suing the US arm of industrial giant AG Siemens. The Broadcom company claims that Siemens outed itself by revealing to VMware that it downloaded and distributed multiple copies of VMware products without buying a license.

VMware filed the lawsuit (PDF) on March 21 in the US District Court for the District of Delaware, as spotted by The Register.

In the complaint, VMware says that it has had a Master Software License and Service Agreement with Siemens since November 28, 2012. The virtualization company claims that in September, Siemens sent VMware a purchase order for maintenance and support services. Siemens was reportedly looking to exercise a previously agreed-upon option for a one-year renewal of support services. However, the list of VMware technology that Siemens was seeking support for “included a large number of products for which [VMware] had no record of Siemens AG purchasing a license,” the complaint says.

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The Amazon Spring Sale has given us a few great deals so far, but anyone looking for affordable earbuds is going to really appreciate this one. Right now, the Anker Soundcore Space A40 earbuds are down to $45 from $80 — a 44 percent discount. That’s an incredible price for earbuds with active noise cancellation. 

The $45 deal on our favorite budget wireless earbuds is available for the Black and Blue models, while the White, Green and Purple options are slightly more expensive at $50. However, the latter two typically retail for $100, so they’re actually half off with the current sale. 

As mentioned above, one of the great things about Anker’s Soundcore Space A40 earbuds is that they offer ANC. Anker claims that using it can reduce potential noise by 98 percent. The earbuds also hold up to 10 hours of battery and up to 50 hours with the charging case. Plus, you can get up to four hours of extra juice with just 10 minutes in the case. The sound quality is also pretty decent, especially for the price. 

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/deals/amazon-spring-sale-deals-include-our-favorite-budget-anker-earbuds-for-45-144520277.html?src=rss

We may earn a commission from links on this page. Deal pricing and availability subject to change after time of publication.

If you’re in the market for a sleek wireless speaker, the Sonos Era 100 is currently $50 off during Amazon’s Big Spring Sale. Normally priced at $249, the current discount brings the speaker down to just $199. This is as low a price as this speaker has ever been, according to price-tracking tools.

The Sonos Era 100 is a smart speaker that can work as stereo with a pair or as rear speakers in a Sonos surround sound system. It is an updated version of the Sonos One smart speaker, offering better bass and other improvements. The speaker is a favorite among anyone looking for high-quality sound in a smart-system package. It has an “excellent” review from PCMag for its ability to play stereo with a single device (it has a dual tweeter setup), its balanced audio, and the well-developed companion app that allows you to adjust the EQ.

Sonos Era 100

$198.00
at Walmart

$807.42
Save $609.42

$198.00
at Walmart

$807.42
Save $609.42

As Lifehacker’s deals expert Daniel Oropeza explains, Sonos takes their user-friendliness seriously. When people complained about an update on their companion app that got rid of many cool features, Sonos listened and put them back. It’s no wonder they’ve been so popular in the audio market.

Shopping for tech? Lifehacker can help you make the right decision. Browse our tech reviews and head-to-head comparisons for everything from laptops and smartwatches to e-bikes and home gyms. Subscribe to our deals newsletter, Add to Cart, for the best sales sent to your inbox, or browse our best-of lists directly on Amazon, including:

• The Best Over-Ear Headphones

• The Best Wireless Earbuds

• The Best Adjustable Dumbbell Sets

• The Best Projectors

Transport for London will ban most e-bikes across its network from March 31 amid growing safety concerns over battery fires, the transport authority announced on Wednesday. The ban, covering London Underground, Overground, Elizabeth Line and DLR trains, exempts only folding e-bikes, which are considered less likely to have been modified and pose a reduced safety risk.

TfL implemented the measure following union strike threats after several incidents, including an e-bike that exploded into flames at Rayners Lane Underground platform last month. The train drivers’ union Aslef said the incident could have caused mass casualties.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Microsoft has launched two new “reasoning agents” for Copilot that were designed to analyze vast amounts of work data, including emails, meetings, chats and documents. The first tool called “Researcher” is based on OpenAI’s deep research model combined with Copilot’s advanced orchestration and deep search capabilities. Researcher was made for “complex, multi-step research” at work. It can take a user’s internal work data along with additional information from the web, such as competitive data, emerging trends and the latest market analysis, to create market strategies and comprehensive quarterly reports, among other potential uses. Plus, it can pull data from Salesforce, ServiceNow and other external sources.

Meanwhile, the new “Analyst” tool was built to function like a skilled data scientist. It’s based on OpenAI’s o3-mini reasoning model and uses “chain-of-thought reasoning” to solve issues in multiple steps to provide answers that Microsoft says “mirror human analytical thinking.” It can process raw data across multiple spreadsheets to, say, predict future revenue and expenses, forecast demand for a new product and visualize the purchasing patterns of customers. For the most complex data queries, it can run Python, and users will be able to view the code while it’s running in real time. 

Both Researcher and Analyst will be rolling out to customers with a Microsoft 365 Copilot license starting in April as part of “Frontier.” Customers enrolled to the new Frontier program will get access to Copilot technologies while they’re still in development, starting with these two new tools. 

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ai/microsoft-introduces-deep-research-and-analysis-tools-for-copilot-143001894.html?src=rss