By Madeline Holcombe, CNN

(CNN) — You grab your phone and in that first swipe, you see someone traveling the world. Why aren’t you on vacation? Swipe again, and someone is living off the grid. Wow, shouldn’t you get rid of your laptop? Swipe once more, and a tech CEO is telling you how AI is going to optimize your hustle.

Does it feel like your brain is rotting away?

If it seems as though social media and online content are dragging you around instead of enriching your daily life, you probably relate to Tiziana Bucec, a content creator in Berlin whose social media posts combat a slang term that’s widely used online: “brain rot.”

“I’m making this series because I’m tired of feeling like social media makes us dumber, more anxious and less aware,” she said in her first anti-brain rot video, which then became a series on how social media use impacts the brain and how to moderate use.

Brain rot isn’t a scientific term. It has come to refer to content that might be funny nonsense, Bucec said. Think Skibidi Toilet or 6-7. But it has evolved into a popular way to complain that excessive use of social media has decreased critical thinking and attention span.

While there’s not much scientific research on brain rot and its possible effects, we can use knowledge about the brain and addiction to infer some possibilities, said Dr. Costantino Iadecola, Anne Parrish Titzell Professor of Neurology at Weill Cornell Medicine and director and chair of the Feil Family Brain and Mind Research Institute.

The mechanisms that keep you mindlessly scrolling may be similar to those behind addictions such as drug and alcohol use or gambling. In teens diagnosed with internet addiction, past research has found disrupted signaling between brain regions important for controlling attention, working memory and more. It’s reasonable to expect that the amount of time people spend mindlessly engaging with low-quality content, or brain rot, can have detrimental effects, Iadecola said.

What makes content low quality?

The main culprit of brain rot is low-quality content, which often refers to short-term videos, like those funny cat compilations or that teen doing a viral dance, said Dr. Nidhi Gupta, a pediatric endocrinologist in Franklin, Tennessee, and author of “Calm the Noise: Why Adults Must Escape Digital Addiction to Save the Next Generation.”

“Our attention spans are finite, and when we have so much content competing for our attention span, something essential is going to be missed, whether it is health, whether it is work, relationships or sleep,” Gupta said. “We download that low-quality digital media, that digital noise, into our brain space.”

Short-form content, whether it’s watching someone try on outfits or prank their partner, is designed to give you a big hit of dopamine, the neurotransmitter responsible for reward and motivation, and get you to keep coming back, Iadecola said.

Often, but not always, that content isn’t helping the viewer learn, grow or develop, he added.

Watching a lot of it can prime a brain to expect frequent and explosive bursts of excitement, which can make longer and more deeply engaging forms of media feel boring and inadequate, Gupta said.

Not just a kid problem

Iadecola is most concerned for kids when it comes to brain rot, h

Por Taylor Romine, CNN

Un atacante armado con varias armas abrió fuego en el vestíbulo de la Oficina del Sheriff de Idaho y en la calle el viernes, hiriendo a tres personas antes de ser abatido en un enfrentamiento con la policía, dijo el sheriff local.

El presunto atacante disparó contra una camioneta afuera de la Oficina del Sheriff del Condado de Shoshone en Wallace antes de entrar al vestíbulo y disparar hacia la estación en dirección al centro de despacho, dijo el sheriff del condado de Shoshone, William Eddy, en una conferencia de prensa.

El tiroteo provocó una gran respuesta policial, con un equipo SWAT y múltiples agencias respondiendo en la Oficina del Sheriff alrededor de las 2:40 p.m. PT, dijo la Oficina del Sheriff.

Luego se produjo un tiroteo que involucró a un agente, y el sospechoso fue declarado muerto a las 4:15 p.m., dijo. No había información disponible sobre el sospechoso ni su motivo.

Las heridas de las tres personas baleadas fueron descritas como leves, según Eddy, quien dijo que dos mujeres recibieron disparos en la pierna en la camioneta y un agente recibió una herida de bala en la oreja.

Según informes iniciales, el sospechoso podría haber accedido a la cárcel, dijo el sheriff del condado de Kootenai, Robert Norris, lo que “intensificó” la respuesta de las fuerzas del orden.

“Este es un evento bastante significativo cuando tienes a una persona que entra al vestíbulo de la Oficina del Sheriff y comienza un tiroteo”, dijo.

El sospechoso parece haberse quedado en el vestíbulo y las personas en la cárcel no resultaron heridas, dijo Eddy.

Al menos ocho agencias de seguridad asistieron a la Oficina del Sheriff del Condado de Shoshone, dijo Eddy. La Oficina del Sheriff del Condado de Kootenai y el Departamento de Policía de Coeur d’Alene se encargarán de la investigación criminal, mientras que la Policía Estatal de Idaho investigará el tiroteo que involucró a un agente, dijo.

Wallace, Idaho, está a unas 70 millas (unos 113 kms) al este de Spokane, Washington.

Julie Swindell-Ward, residente de Wallace, dijo a la filial de CNN KXLY que estaba en la tienda de comestibles al otro lado de la calle cuando escuchó a alguien decir algo sobre una persona con un arma en la Oficina del Sheriff.

“Salí al estacionamiento, vi patrullas del sheriff, luces que se acercaban”, dijo a la filial. “Y luego, cuando me acercaba a mi auto, escuché disparos”.

Fue algo sorprendente de presenciar en un pueblo tan pequeño, especialmente en un tranquilo viernes, dijo ella.

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By Holly Yan, CNN

(CNN) — Ogechi Irondi’s future teetered between two wildly different scenarios: one that would lead to dual degrees after nine years of college, and one that would leave the single mother and her young children homeless.

Strangers helped seal her fate.

The 31-year-old had suffered unfathomable challenges during her studies at Georgia Tech – one of the most rigorous universities in the US. She was in a toxic relationship. Her mother was tragically killed. Shortly afterward, Irondi discovered she was pregnant with twins.

“I had been suffering so bad for the past four or five years,” Irondi said. “So I finally got the courage to say something.”

Strangers from the Atlanta-area nonprofit Giving Grace learned about her plight – helping pay her rent so she could finish school and buy weekly groceries so Irondi could finally eat more than one meal a day.

“Without them, I would be on the streets with my children,” she said.

Across the country, good Samaritans are donating directly to families in dire circumstances. Instead of giving to large charities and not knowing exactly who or where donations go, targeted giving tells donors exactly who they’re helping – often leading to inspirational success stories and new friendships forged by mutual gratitude.

“We are the antithesis of the big-box donors,” said Pam Koner, founder of Family-to-Family – which connects donors with individual families suffering extreme poverty and other crises.

“We are about creating a way for families who want to give – and want to give to a family they know about.”

Targeted giving is also effective and efficient – providing families in crisis with the exact items they need more quickly.

But immense challenges this year mean the need for direct giving is more urgent than ever before.

‘100% the worst’ year in terms of need

In this year’s troubled economy, more Americans are asking strangers for help with housing and food.

The unemployment rate rose to a four-year high of 4.6% in November, according to Bureau of Labor Statistics data. GoFundMe’s latest annual report shows a 20% increase in fundraisers for basic needs this year compared to last year.

And families on the brink of homelessness post new messages on local Facebook pages every day, asking for used children’s clothing or spare firewood to keep warm.

“A lot of people are losing their jobs,” Family-to-Family Program Director Nancy Hennessee said. “They’re going around collecting food everywhere they can.”

This year is “100% the worst” in terms of need since Family-to-Family started in 2002, Hennessee said.

“One of our community partners who runs a food pantry has gone from having 220 families coming to her food pantry to having over 450 families in the last two months,” she said.

Some food banks have had to get creative, cutting egg cartons in half “and giving each family half a carton of eggs instead of a carton.”

A simple idea leads to radical change

Before Christy Betz launched Giving Grace, she volunteered with a homeless outreach program and saw a post asking for donations of durable men’s jeans.

“So I started collecting in my neighborhood, and I took them down there,” the suburban Atlanta mother said. “And then I just kept seeing more and more needs.”

Betz noticed a lack of basic supplies often prevented homeless people from being able to get a job.

“I met a guy who was homeless and needed steel-toed boots in order to take

By Mark Morales, CNN

(CNN) — A reform-minded mayor is taking charge of New York City at a time when the largest police department in the country is finding its stride in its stability, touting a drop in gun violence and homicides while its current leadership stays intact.

New York Police Department Commissioner Jessica Tisch is staying at the helm under progressive Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani, providing nearly 35,000 uniformed members sustained leadership after she became the fourth police commissioner to serve in the scandal-scarred Adams administration.

Since Tisch took over, questionable promotions and transfers were stopped altogether while former NYPD executives with good reputations came back to fill out her executive staff. Despite the moves, questions still remain about key operational tools, such as the future of the Strategic Response Group – a specialized unit within the NYPD used for crowd control and major events — and the use of the gang database, among others.

Tisch and her team have been briefing the new Mamdani administration on how the NYPD has been running and how they’ve been able to achieve a drop in crime, including in the transit system, which has been the setting of multiple high-profile murders and assaults over the previous four years.

“I’ve had a number of great conversations, both with the mayor-elect and his team, and we’re doing briefings on different topics, and what I can tell you is both the mayor-elect and his team are committed to public safety and are very pleased with the results that they’re seeing, both in the subway below ground and above ground as well,” Tisch said at a briefing in December related to subway safety.

The commissioner on Tuesday highlighted this year’s “unprecendented reduction in violent crime,” noting in a post on X that as of Christmas Eve the NYPD has 1,000 fewer shootings than it did four years ago.

Mamdani, in the past a harsh critic of the NYPD, has signaled a softening in his stance by virtue of keeping Tisch on the job, a police executive who is not ideologically in lock step with him but has the support of business leaders, law enforcement, and political power players, among others. Among his goals is creating a new civilian agency known as the Department of Community Safety, which would use community-based prevention strategies to tackle homelessness and mental illness.

“I have admired her work cracking down on corruption in the upper echelons of the police department, driving down crime in New York City, and standing up for New Yorkers in the face of authoritarianism,” Mamdani said in a statement regarding her appointment, adding that both will work together to make sure police focus on serious and violent crime. “Together, we will deliver a city where rank-and-file police officers and the communities they serve alike are safe, represented, and proud to call New York their home.”

Shootings, homicides decline

A drop in the number of shootings stands out in the NYPD’s statistics near year-end, coinciding with a drop nationally from a peak in 2021, according to statistics compil

By Ramishah Maruf, CNN

New York (CNN) — Warren Buffett became the the world’s most famous investor because of his sage investment wisdom at the helm of Berkshire Hathaway. That wasn’t his only job: He’s also the company’s best pitchman.

Take the company’s annual meeting – the place to be if you want financial advice and to network with major business players. It’s also a shopping bonanza.

The “Berkshire Bazaar of Bargains” has become synonymous with the meeting itself, a Buffett-themed shopping mall that shows off products from the conglomerate’s various holdings. And there are many, many products under the company’s umbrella: enough at least to fill 20,000 square feet with 50,000 items of inventory for shareholders in 2025, according to the company.

The Nebraska billionaire has a love for posing with mascots and items under the ownership of Berkshire’s ginormous umbrella, too, with the smiling faces of Buffett and his late right-hand man Charlie Munger on all sorts of quirky products for sale in the bazaar.

With Buffett set to retire as CEO at the end of 2025, let’s take a look back at his role as his company’s biggest mascot.

Squishmallow

Anyone with children – or perhaps a kidult themselves – knows what a Squishmallow is. The egg-shaped plushies took the toy world by storm and is also part of Berkshire Hathaway’s portfolio. It joined through an indirect line of corporate takeovers, after Berkshire Hathaway acquired Alleghany in 2022, the parent company of Squishmallow-maker Jazwares.

Squishmallow made its first appearance in Omaha in 2023, debuting a Warren Buffett and Charlie Munger plush. The toys immediately flew off the shelves and reportedly sold for up to $450 online.

See’s Candies

Buffett also has a history of buying up companies whose product he is a personal fan of. See’s Candies is one of those items, purchased by Berkshire Hathaway in 1972. Note the disco Buffett fudge box below.

Heinz

Warren Buffett has a long corporate history with Heinz. Berkshire Hathaway and 3G capital first bought Heinz for $28 billion in 2013, taking the condiment maker private. The two parties arranged a massive – but ultimately unsuccessful – merger between Kraft and Heinz in 2015, creating the third-largest food company in North America. This year, they split into two separate publicly-traded businesses.

Though Buffett told told CNBC he was disappointed by the split, Berkshire remains Kraft Heinz’s biggest shareholder.

Two figures who didn’t split, though? Buffett and Munger, who are seen here on a bottle of Heinz ketchup and Kraft macaroni and cheese.

Jell-O mold

Food conglomerate Kraft Heinz was also the owner of Jell-O.

Fruit of the Loom

In 2001, Berkshire announced it was buying Fruit of the Loom for $835 million in cash. What better way to commemorate that than with Buffett-themed boxers?

Brooks Running

Not everyone can run Berkshire Hathaway, but at least you can run with Berkshire-backed Brooks Running shoes, with the founder himself on the soles.

Coca-Cola