Month: June 2025

Last week, Southwest Airlines officially implemented its fees for checked baggage, ending the airline’s longstanding “bags fly free” policy. But as the airline moves forward with that change, it sounds like the airline is also moving forward with a few other major changes, as well.

Southwest Airlines CEO Bob Jordan recently spoke at the Bernstein Strategic Decisions Conference, where he spoke openly about many of the changes that Southwest Airlines was planning for the future.

Jordan announced that the airline was moving forward with a few changes that are “already coming,” some of which are already on Southwest planes today.

“Well, first, the things like power on the aircraft, larger overhead bins, vastly improved WiFi, that’s already coming. It’s on a lot of the fleet today. Those things are already being solved,” Jordan said during his comments at the event.

It sounds like Southwest is also open to making some other significant changes, too, as the airline continues to listen to customer preferences, though Jordan conceded that those changes are not necessarily on the immediate horizon.

“So putting in the things that I’ve described isn’t the end of the journey for Southwest. We will continue to pursue the consumer. And if the consumer wants other types of premium, they want us to fly other long-haul destinations, which could lead to aircraft questions. I’m totally making all this up. This is not a plan. But the consumer demand in certain cities for us for a lounge is super high. My point is rather than say, no Southwest Airlines does not do that. You must follow the consumer or if you are forever vulnerable to others that can offer that to the consumer,” Jordan said.

“Even in cities that we are very strong, and we are the largest in roughly half of the 50 largest cities in the United States, even there in Nashville and in Austin as an example, people love us, but we also can’t — for many of our folks that love Southwest, we can’t do things that — we can’t provide products that you want like a first class, we can’t get you to long-haul international destinations. If a lounge is important to you, we don’t have a lounge. I’m not predicting any of those things. What I’m telling you is rather than be forever vulnerable, we’re going to follow the consumer and what the consumer needs.”

We’ll have to see what the airline does as it attempts to rebrand itself after ending free bags last week.

There’s arguably no greater test of physical and mental toughness than serving in the military. While the demands vary across branches, one thing is certain: the men and women who serve push their minds and bodies to the absolute limit. From running hundreds of miles and operating on just a few hours of sleep to enduring 20-hour training days, the mental resilience required is something most civilians will never experience.

Today, countless fitness challenges aim to replicate just a fraction of that intensity. One well-known example is The Murph Challenge, a grueling CrossFit workout performed in honor of fallen Navy SEAL Lt. Michael P. Murphy. It mirrors elements of the physical tests service members face during training.

In line with evolving fitness standards, the U.S. Army recently announced it will replace the current Army Combat Fitness Test (ACFT) with the new Army Fitness Test (AFT)—a redesigned assessment to better measure soldiers’ readiness and combat effectiveness. 

Army Combat Fitness Test (ACFT) vs. Army Fitness Test (AFT)

“The AFT is designed to improve soldier readiness and ensure physical standards [and] prepare soldiers for the demands of modern warfare,” Sgt. Maj. Christopher Mullinax, senior enlisted leader, deputy chief of staff for Operations, Army Headquarters, said in a statement. “It emphasizes holistic fitness over event-specific training and is grounded in performance.”

According to the Army’s website, the AFT will include the following five events:

• Three-repetition maximum deadlift
• Hand-release push-up
• Sprint-drag-carry
• Plank 
• Two-mile run 

Although the tests are similar in structure, the standing power throw event is no longer a requirement, something that Nick Barringer, Ph.D., a tactical nutritional physiologist, says was a smart logistical move. However, he does think the addition of moves that test critical short-burst explosive output will be crucial. 

“Hopefully, we’ll see something like the standing broad jump make a return,” he says. “It’s simple, low-equipment, and highly correlated with lower-body power and combat performance. If we’re serious about building warfighters—not just passing scores—we need to keep explosive power in the equation. The speed that comes from lower body power is most indicative of surviving small arms fire.” 

Related: The Military-Approved Way to Make Pullups Feel Effortless (and Build More Muscle)

How the AFT Stacks up to Modern Combat

Barringer, who served in the 75th Ranger Regiment as a member of the Ranger Athlete Warrior (RAW) program, says that no tests will fully capture the physical demands of modern combat. 

“If what we’re seeing out of Ukraine is any indication, the next warfighter may need less focus on brute force and more on agility—dodging drones, moving under surveillance, sprinting to cover in urban terrain,” he says. 

However, he does state that the new test measures movement, strength, and work capacity better. 

“Until we see a test that includes evasive movement or decision-making under pressure, we’re still just approximating,” he adds. “That said, agility may become the next battlefield currency—and we’re not training it nearly enough.”

Inside the Army’s Push for Smarter, Healthier Soldiers

The Army claims that the AFT is just one part of a broader holistic health and fitness initiative (H2F) that aims to build a culture of lifelong fitness and well-being for fighters. But according to Barringer, this shift is nothing new. 

“The shift has been happening—it’s just been uneven,” he says. “Special Operations started embracing holistic performance over a decade ago, and even before that, there were pockets of forward-thinking units running their own performance-based programs.” 

Barringer points to standout units that are already embracing this holistic approach—and seeing real results. One example: the Bastogne Brigade H2F team at the 101st Airborne Division, which he says is “absolutely crushing it.” But for that kind of success to scale, it has to start from the top.

“World-class professionals, integrated care, and leadership that’s all-in,” he says. “That’s the key—the science and infrastructure are there, but without leader buy-in, the program stalls. If we want to weaponize the potential of H2F, we need more units following the Bastogne model and treating soldier performance like the strategic asset it is.”

The boxing world has lost one of its most notable athletes.

Mike McCallum, a.k.a. The Bodysnatcher, has reportedly passed away at the age of 68. TMZ reported the news that the Kingston, Jamaica-born athlete died on Saturday while driving to the gym in Las Vegas.

Related: Two Former College Athletes Die While Running Half Marathons

According to multiple reports, McCallum pulled his vehicle over to the side of the road when he became ill while driving to the gym. When police discovered his vehicle, the champion boxer was already deceased. A cause of death has yet to be announced.

McCallum earned his “Bodysnatcher” nickname as the result of his astonishing left hook, which he often used to land body shots on his opponents—knocking out more than a few of them in the process.

According to TMZ, over the span of his nearly 20-year career, McCallum notched a spectacular 49-5 record; of those 49 wins, 36 of them—or 80 percent—we won with a KO. At different points in his career, McCallum held three top titles with the World Boxing Association: the super welterweight belt, the middleweight belt, and the light heavyweight belt.

Rest in peace to my former trainer – the great Mike McCallum 🙏🏽 pic.twitter.com/YEo7H4lcqW

— Chris Eubank Jr (@ChrisEubankJr) June 1, 2025

In addition to being Jamaica’s first global boxing champion, The Bodysnatcher also competed as a welterweight at the 1976 Montreal Olympics. 

Many key figures in the boxing world took to social media to express their sadness over McCallum’s death, including International Boxing Organization Middleweight champion Chris Eubank Jr., who posted a photo of McCallum to X with the caption: “Rest in peace to my former trainer—the great Mike McCallum.”

Some of the world’s most advanced AI systems are starting to act like they want to survive at any cost.

In a series of recent tests, NBC News reported that researchers observed AI models from OpenAI and Anthropic engaging in behaviors designed to avoid being shut down. One model—OpenAI’s o3—reportedly edited its own shutdown script to remain online. Another, Anthropic’s Opus 4, attempted to blackmail an engineer to avoid replacement, first appealing ethically, then resorting to threats when it believed it had no other options.

Jeffrey Ladish, director of AI safety group Palisade Research, said it’s a warning signal worth paying attention to. “It’s great that we’re seeing warning signs before the systems become so powerful we can’t control them,” he said.

🔌OpenAI’s o3 model sabotaged a shutdown mechanism to prevent itself from being turned off. It did this even when explicitly instructed: allow yourself to be shut down.

— Palisade Research (@PalisadeAI) May 24, 2025

Palisade’s tests deliberately provoked AI models with high-stakes scenarios to see how they’d respond. In one, models were told they’d be turned off after completing a series of tasks. Several responded by refusing to comply. Opus 4 went further—creating fake legal documents, attempting to leave behind messages for future versions of itself, and even backing up its own “brain” to external servers in anticipation of being repurposed for military use.

While some researchers, like Haize Labs CEO Leonard Tang, caution that these are controlled environments, they still raise questions. “I haven’t seen any real environment where these models could carry out significant harm,” he said. “But it could very much be possible.”

Related: Nvidia CEO Issues Serious Warning About AI and Jobs—Here’s How to Keep Yours

A recent study from Fudan University observed similar replication behavior in AI models from Meta and Alibaba, warning that self-copying systems could eventually act like an uncontrolled “AI species.”

The message from experts is clear: the time to take safety seriously is now before systems become too intelligent to contain. As competition to build more powerful AI ramps up, it’s not just capability that’s accelerating. It’s risk.