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Avishek Das | LightRocket | Getty Images Robinhood is redesigning some of its app features — most notably ditching its confetti animation —amid scrutiny over the popular stock trading company’s so-called gamification of investing. The free-stock trading pioneer, which is gearing up for its public debut, told CNBC the move is an effort to remove the “distraction” from its overall mission to “democratize” investing. “In the past, we used the same confetti design to celebrate firsts with customers. Those included customers’ first trades, their first steps with cash management, and successful referrals of friends and family. Now, we’re introducing new, dynamic visual experiences that cheer on customers through the milestones in their financial journeys,” Robinhood said in a blog post on Wednesday. Robinhood, which is seen as a gateway for young investors to access the markets, has lowered the barrier to entry for millions of retail investors. The platform gained an estimated 6 ...

MOSCOW — Russia’s state veterinary service said on Wednesday that it had become the first regulator in the world to approve a coronavirus vaccine for animals, intended for use on fur farms or for pet cats and dogs. The agency said it had developed the vaccine for animals in part as a public health tool, lest the virus spread from animals to humans or — in a worst-case scenario — mutate in animals and then spread back to humans in a more virulent form. It could also revive fur farming after infections on mink farms devastated the business last year, it said. The agency, the Federal Service for Veterinary and Phytosanitary Supervision, said it did not recommend routine vaccination of animals, for now. The World Health Organization has found no instances of infections in humans caused by pets, the agency said. Though cats and dogs do rarely catch the coronavirus, neither species gets very sick. Lions, tigers and snow leopards can also catch the coronavirus. The Russian agency noted f...

Huawei’s struggles amid U.S.-China trade tensions are driving it to seek opportunities in other smart devices, setting itself up against a raft of hardware makers at home and abroad. The Chinese tech giant recorded sluggish revenue growth in 2020, climbing just 3.8% to 891.4 billion yuan ($136 billion), as its net profit grew 3.2% to 64.6 billion yuan. The results were in line with Huawei’s forecasts, the company said Wednesday at its annual report day in Shenzhen, a rare occasion to get a glimpse into the private entity’s financials. To put the numbers in comparison, Huawei’s revenues were up 19% and 19.5% in 2019 and 2018, respectively. The slowdown in 2020 was primarily due to a slump in Huawei’s overseas smartphone sales after U.S. export controls cut the firm off core chipsets and Google services critical to consumers. But the challenge has also sped up the firm’s pace to diversify and offset losses from its phone business. For the past two years, Huawei’s has been ratchet...

The day has finally come. Scientists have finally created synthetic mucus molecules that exhibit the structure and function of the real deal. Far from being a slime crime, though, it’s a discovery that could help scientists devise new treatments for infectious diseases, according to the research team behind the breakthrough.   Slippery, slimy, and oozy, mucus does seem pretty gross. However, as disagreeable as we may find it, the stuff is biologically useful: It acts as a barrier protecting and moisturizing delicate tissues, trapping microbes (for which it’s also loaded with antimicrobial enzymes), and contaminants, and helping the body expel them. Our bodies produce between 1.5 and 2 liters (1.5 to 2 quarts) of mucus every day in the respiratory tract alone; it coats our airways, lungs, and gastrointestinal tracts – we’re practically walking bags of miracle goo. If we could replicate its properties, that could provide us an important tool in the fight against diseases, and t...

Batting legend VVS Laxman has flagged a ‘steady decline’ in the quality of India’s spinners in limited-overs cricket. Laxman on Wednesday said the leg-spinner pair of Yuzvendra Chahal and Kuldeep Yadav have lost their edge in international cricket and it’s high time the management looks for other options. Once touted as a silver bullet for India’s middle-overs bowling woes, Yuzvendra Chahal and Kuldeep Yadav have been off-color in all the recent bilateral series. While the leggie was dropped after he failed to make an impact in the T20Is against England, the chinaman played 2 ODIs but returned wicketless. Writing in his column for the Times of India , VVS Laxman called for the induction of a 6th bowling option. Referring to Chahal and Yadav, he further remarked that “lack of skillsets” are uncovered in the shortest format. “With three World Cups lined up over the next two and a half years, there is a pressing need to ensure the presence of a sixth bowling option at all times. Mor...

When Ashok Soni, the Madhya Pradesh zone chief of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), on March 20, proposed the name of sah sarkaryavah (joint general secretary) Dattatreya Hosabale for the post of sarkaryavah (general secretary), it became clear that the Sangh was on the path of a generational shift. Soni’s proposal was seconded by other regional chiefs at the Akhil Bharatiya Pratinidhi Sabha (ABPS), the RSS’s apex decision-making forum, in Bengaluru, paving the way for Hosabale’s elevation to the second-highest position in the organisation, after sarsanghchalak Mohan Bhagwat. The appointment relieved incumbent Suresh ‘Bhaiyyaji’ Joshi, who stepped down on health grounds after holding the post for four terms, since 2009. Back in 2018, when Joshi requested that he be relieved for health reasons, it had become near-certain that Hosabale would eventually take over from him. But the transition was deferred till after the 2019 general election. The RSS has shakhas (branches) in 34,59...

Waiter Boris Macquin serves customers behind plexiglass outside at Figaro Bistro on the first day Los Angeles County allows indoor seating since the coronavirus pandemic on March 15, 2021 in Los Angeles, California. Gina Ferazzi | Los Angeles Times | Getty Images Private payrolls in March expanded at the fastest pace since September as anticipation of a strong economic rebound coupled with aggressive vaccination rates pushed companies to hire, according to a report Wednesday from payroll processing firm ADP. Companies added 517,000 workers for the month, a healthy spike from the 176,000 in February though just below the 525,000 Dow Jones estimate as well as some highly optimistic calls for the government’s nonfarm payrolls count. The February total was revised sharply higher from the originally reported 117,000. Even though it was a bit below expectations, the March total represented the biggest hiring burst since September’s 821,000. Importantly, the strongest job gains c...