Weekly Recap: 14 Press Releases You Might Have Missed

A roundup of the most newsworthy press releases from PR Newswire this week, including 2025’s best colleges, Taco Bell’s new hot sauce and SeaWorld Orlando’s new walrus calf resident.

NEW YORK, Sept. 27, 2024 /PRNewswire/ — With thousands of press releases published each week, it can be difficult to keep up with everything on PR Newswire. To help journalists and consumers stay on top of the week’s most newsworthy and popular releases, here’s a recap of some major stories from the week that shouldn’t be missed.

The list below includes the headline (with a link to the full text) and an excerpt from each story. Click on the press release headlines to access accompanying multimedia assets that are available for download.

1. U.S. News Releases 2025 Best Colleges Rankings
   
   Serving as a guide for prospective students and their families, the national rankings evaluate nearly 1,500 colleges and universities using up to 17 measures of academic quality. This year’s edition continues to prioritize social mobility and post-graduate success.
2. IBM and NASA Release Open-Source AI Model on Hugging Face for Weather and Climate Applications
   
   Potential applications include creating targeted forecasts based on local observations, detecting and predicting severe weather patterns, improving the spatial resolution of global climate simulations, and improving how physical processes are represented in numerical weather and climate models.
3. Taco Bell® Adds New Hot Sauce Packet to its Lineup: Omar Apollo’s Family Disha Hot™ Hot Sauce
   
   This first-of-its-kind sauce packet partnership introduces savory, smoky flavors, capturing the flavors perfected by Omar’s mother in her original recipe, and can be enjoyed via a curated Disha Hot Discovery Box featuring Taco Bell menu favorites and three sauce packets or can be purchased a la carte.
4. SeaWorld Orlando Welcomes Orphaned Pacific Walrus Calf Rescued in Alaska to New Home
   
   The calf, which was found orphaned and abandoned on the beaches of Utqiagvik, Alaska, has been named Ukiaq, which translates to “autumn” in the language of the Iñupiaq people who live in the area of northern Alaska where she was first found.
5. Got Ghosts? Good. Ring Will Pay You to Escape Your Haunted House
   
   Whether seriously spectral or sublimely silly, Ring users can submit videos of paranormal activity captured on their Ring doorbell or camera now through November 1, 2024, for a chance to win the grand prize. The winning entry will get $100k to put toward a not-so-haunted house, ghost-free getaway, or any other earthly expense.
6. GoPro’s Tiny 4K Camera Hits Global Shelves at $199 MSRP
   
   Weighing just 86 grams, the tiny new 4K HERO camera is waterproof, durable and combines GoPro’s simplest user interface ever with sharp 4K video, 2x slo-mo at 2.7K resolution, and 12 megapixel photos.
7. Survey Reveals Majority of Americans Still Living Paycheck to Paycheck
   
   Seventy-seven percent of workers in America would experience financial difficulty if their paycheck were delayed a week, according to results from the 2024 “Getting Paid In America” survey conducted by PayrollOrg.
8. Broadcom, Charter Communications and Comcast to Jointly Develop Unified DOCSIS Chipsets Capable of 25Gbps Speeds
   
   “By pushing the benefits of AI and ML to the edge of our network, we are maximizing network performance, improving the internet experience, and introducing new and exciting services to support our customers’ incredible appetite for more, higher quality data,” said Charlie Herrin, President, Technology, Product, Experience, Comcast.
9. Warner Bros. Discovery Deploys AI-Powered Captioning Solution Built Using Google Cloud AI
   
   Captioning has traditionally been a labor-intensive and time-consuming process. To maintain high levels of accuracy, Warner Bros Discovery’s captioning solution incorporates a workflow that utilizes Google Cloud’s Vertex AI platform to optimize captioning, coupled with human-oversight for quality assurance.
10. Iconic Character Bluey Makes Debut at Build-A-Bear Workshop
    
    The Bluey Build-A-Bear collection includes a make-your-own Bluey that features her name on the left paw pad, as well as Bluey’s little sister, Bingo. 
11. Fortune Announces the 2024 Change the World List
    
    Fortune’s 2024 list showcases 52 companies globally that have created significant social or environmental impact through their profit-driven strategies and operations, spanning a range of industries including technology, space, e-commerce, and health care. 
12. Southwest Airlines Unveils its “Southwest. Even Better.” Transformational Plan at Investor Day
    
    “We’ve already started rolling out modernized cabins with improved WiFi, in-seat power, larger overhead bins, enhanced operational efficiencies, and optimized flight schedules. We will continue to build upon our unique competitive advantages, while adapting to consumer priorities in today’s dynamic environment,” said Ryan Green, Executive Vice President Commercial Transformation.
13. FDA Approves Nasal Spray Influenza Vaccine for Self- or Caregiver-Administration
    
    FluMist is approved for the prevention of influenza disease caused by influenza virus subtypes A and B in individuals 2 through 49 years of age. It is the first vaccine to prevent influenza, more commonly known as the flu, that does not need to be administered by a health care provider.
14. Topgolf and SEGA of America Partner to Launch Exclusive New Sonic the Hedgehog™ Game at Topgolf
    
    The experience will utilize Topgolf’s ball-tracing technology to blend the physical act of hitting a golf ball with digitally watching popular characters Sonic, Tails, Knuckles and Amy track shots and collect rings as Players climb to the top of the leaderboard.

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