Prof Simon Baron-Cohen says his language was misunderstood and it is a myth that autistic people lack empathy

The scientist who pioneered the “extreme male brain” theory of autism has said he regrets characterising the condition in this way because the phrase lends itself to misunderstandings.

Prof Simon Baron-Cohen’s theory that autistic people tend strongly towards systemising over empathising has been hugely influential in shaping the popular perception of autism over the past two decades. The underlying science had stood the test of time, he said, but he now views the “extreme male brain” label as unhelpful.

“Some of those terms were very easily misunderstood and so I do regret that,” he said. “It can lead to simplistic headlines like ‘autistic people lack empathy’, which is not true.

“Some of that language, like male brain and female brain, I just don’t think it’s useful today.”

House Speaker Mike Johnson said he plans to move quickly to advance Donald Trump’s signature voter ID legislation through the arduous budget reconciliation process once the House returns to Washington, downplaying the heightened tensions within the GOP after he sent lawmakers home early for the holidays after a few Republicans brought the floor to a halt.

Last week, a small group of conservative hardliners, led by Florida Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, effectively blocked a key procedural vote to advance several bills on the floor out of protest that Congress had not sent the SAVE America Act to the president’s desk.

Driven by frustration, Trump has already held up a critical intelligence nomination and declined to sign a major bipartisan housing package, despite Senate GOP leaders insisting that they do not have the 60 votes needed to overcome the filibuster and proceed with the elections overhaul bill.

Experts say Ratepayer Protection Act ‘posing as a consumer protection measure’ and will raise prices on working people

The bipartisan Ratepayer Protection Act, designed to shield individuals from soaring electricity prices amid the datacenter boom, would fail to meaningfully protect the public from the centers’ true costs, consumer advocates warn.

The bill, backed by some in big tech such as Microsoft, moved through a House subcommittee in mid-June, and a vote in full committee scheduled for 1 July was delayed. Its measures are largely voluntary, meaning the state utility commissions that set electric rates can ignore the law altogether.

The legislative package also includes benefits for big tech that would speed datacenter construction, prioritize the centers’ connection to the electric grid and open new loopholes that would allow companies to claim they are paying for their own power, said Jim Walsh, policy director with Food and Water Watch, which opposes the package.

Ultimately, the bill largely addresses the needs of datacenters and utilities, but not ratepayers, Walsh said.

It takes effort to be an informed citizen. Artificial intelligence tools offer an alluring shortcut — but they’re not without risk.

It follows Republican outrage over Mamdani offering the same heatwave advice as everyone else.

The US Department of Energy reportedly deleted about 6,000 pages related to energy conservation as a historic heatwave tears across the country.

The deletion was suspiciously timed, following Republican outrage over Mayor Zohran Mamdani asking New Yorkers to help reduce strain on the grid by setting their AC to 78 degrees. Republicans like Ted Cruz (who has famously fled severe weather in his home state), Nikki Haley, and Representative Nancy Mace (South Carolina) quickly pounced, framing the request as socialism and an act of war on women in menopause (the Republican Party is notoriously friendly to women’s health).

Of course, this is pretty standard advice during a heatwave. It was the official stance of the Department of Energy that Americans should set their thermostats between 75 and 78 degrees, and Republican governors in deep red states like Texas have issued the same advice in the past — including current governor Greg Abbott.

National Weather Service issued an extreme heat warning as high temperatures have paralyzed the east coast

Organizers of Saturday’s Independence Day parade in Washington DC abruptly canceled the event late on the eve of the event, with sweltering temperatures in the nation’s capital and on the east coast wreaking havoc on celebrations of America’s semiquincentennial.

The event, hosted by the National Park Service (NPS), was scheduled to begin at 10.30am on Saturday. But organizers said they canceled the procession due to an extreme heart warning issued by the National Weather Service (NWS).

Blistering temperatures, exacerbated by high humidity, have been crippling transport services and stressing the electricity grid for days as the 250th anniversary of the US’s Declaration of Independence on Saturday loomed. The cancellation of the parade is just the latest setback precipitated by those conditions.

The deadly, multiday heat wave tightened its grip on the eastern United States on Friday, breaking records, sending people to the emergency room and raising the risk for millions of people starting to celebrate the Fourth of July outdoors.

More than a dozen locations in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast broke or tied their high temperature records for Friday, including Washington, DC. The capital hit 102 degrees, surpassing the 101-degree record set in 1872.

The most extreme heat shifts a bit south on Saturday, staying high for DC with a forecast high of 102 degrees, which would make it the hottest July Fourth in the city’s history. Philadelphia and New York City are expected to be near 100 degrees with heat indices near 105.

Many of those polled failed to correctly answer basic questions about American independence and the Constitution

Nearly half of Americans don’t know what they’re celebrating on the Fourth of July, according to a shocking poll.

July 4 marks the 250th anniversary of the adoption of the Declaration of Independence in 1776, but 46% of Americans and 61% of Gen Zers couldn’t tell you that, the Cato Institute's national survey found.

Celebrations are taking place across the country this holiday weekend, but many Americans failed to correctly answer basic questions about the history of U.S. independence and the Constitution in the poll of 2,253 Americans aged 18 and older.

People across the country are pushing for moratoriums, and electeds who approve projects are being punished

Supporters say the movement is encouraging, not only because it could slow an industry they argue will diminish their property values, strain water and energy resources and cause greater unemployment, but also because it features a phenomenon that is nearing extinction in American politics: unity among Republicans and Democrats.

“It reflects the growing anxiety about AI writ large,” said Evan Sutton, a Seattle resident who works in strategic communications and has voluntarily helped datacenter opponents in 10 states, including California, Montana and Ohio. “People feel like this technology is being shoved down our throats.”

The US has more than 4,400 datacenters, according to Data Center Map, and one center can consume as much electricity as 2,000 homes, according to a University of Michigan report. They also require water for cooling, and a typical datacenter uses 300,000 gallons of water each day (equivalent to the demands of about 1,000 households), but large datacenters can use an estimated 5m gallons of water each day, equivalent to the daily usage of a town with about 10,000 to 50,000 residents, according to the Environmental and Energy Study Institute.