The actor plays a convicted murderer in this Paramount+ series, inspired by real life, that attempts to dramatize the difficulty of being such a mans daughter.

Gulf of Misinformation Can NASA remain nonpartisan when basic spaceflight truths are shredded? "Let's bring them home NOW, Sir!" Eric Berger Mar 18, 2025 7:56 pm | 27 The Crew-9 spacecraft splashes down in the Gulf of Mexico on Tuesday. Credit: NASA The Crew-9 spacecraft splashes down in the Gulf of Mexico on Tuesday. Credit: NASA Story textSizeSmallStandardLargeWidth *StandardWideLinksStandardOrange* Subscribers only Learn moreIt looked like the final scene of a movie, the denouement of a long adventure in which the good guys finally prevail. Azure skies and brilliant blue seas provided a perfect backdrop on Tuesday evening as a spacecraft carrying four people neared the planet's surface."Just breathtaking views of a calm, glass-like ocean off the coast of Tallahassee, Florida," commented Sandra Jones, a NASA spokesperson, during the webcast co-hosted by the space agency and SpaceX, whose Dragon vehicle returned the four astronauts from orbit.A drone near the landing site captured incredible images of Crew Dragon Freedom as it slowly descended beneath four parachutes. Most of NASA's astronauts today, outside of the small community of spaceflight devotees, are relatively anonymous. But not two of the passengers inside Freedom, Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams. After nine months of travails, 286 days to be precise, they were finally coming home.Dragon continued its stately descent, falling to 400 meters, then 300, and then 200 above the ocean.Kate Tice, an engineer from SpaceX on the webcast, noted that touchdown was imminent. "We're going to stand by for splashdown located in the Gulf of America," she said.Ah, yes. The Gulf of America.This is why we can't have nice things.A throne of liesFor those of us who have closely followed the story of Wilmore and Williams over the last nine monthsand Ars Technica has had its share of exclusive stories about this long and strange sagathe final weeks before the landing have seen it take a disturbing turn.In February, President Trump and the chief executive of SpaceX, Elon Musk, began to say that the two astronauts were "stranded" in space because the Biden administration did not want to bring them home. "They got left in space," Trump said."They were left up there for political reasons," Musk concluded.Just what those political reasons were never specified. But the basic message was clear: Biden, bad; Trump, good.The reality is that NASA set a plan for the return of Wilmore and Williams last August. The spacecraft that brought them back to Earth on Tuesday safely docked to the space station in September. They could have come home at any time since. NASAnot the Biden administration, which all of my reporting indicates was not involved in any decision-makingdecided the best and safest option was to keep Wilmore and Williams in orbit until early this year. Musk knew this plan. He had to sign off on it. Senior NASA officials earlier this month confirmed, publicly and on the record, that the decision was made by the space agency in the best interests of the International Space Station Program. Not for political reasons.And still, the lies came. The President of the United States shares his thoughts on Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams. Credit: Truth Social The President of the United States shares his thoughts on Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams. Credit: Truth Social On Monday, the president posted a long statement on Truth Social that repeated this canard of the Biden administration, "They shamefully forgot about the Astronauts, because they considered it to be very embarrassing event for themanother thing I inherited from that group of incompetents."Trump then went on to state that he and Musk had just sent up a SpaceX Dragon (which, in point of fact, launched last September) to rescue the crew.Can space remain non-partisan?One of the common refrains about spaceflight for decades and decades is that it is nonpartisan.That is, the Apollo Program brought the country together in the turbulent 1960s and helped make everyone feel good about the country. Pretty much ever since then, Republicans, Democrats, and independents have generally supported NASA and civil spaceflight. If you watch committee meetings in the House and Senate, the members always say this, and the discussions are nearly always cordial. As for the "incompetent" Biden administration, they didn't really play politics with the space program. They liked the "Artemis Program" created by the Trump administration well enough that they simply kept it.But if we're going to start lying about basic truths like the fate of Wilmore and Williamsand let's be real, the only purpose of this lie is to paint the Trump administration as saviors in comparison to the Biden administrationthen space is not going to remain apolitical for all that long. And in the long run, that would be bad for NASA.Let's also be clear that Musk and SpaceX are currently flying the only spacecraft in the Western world that is capable of reliably flying humans into orbit. Without Dragon, NASA would have been beholden to Russia for the last five years for human spaceflight. And when Boeing's Starliner had issues nine months ago en route to the International Space Station, NASA was fortunate to have the reliable Dragon program to turn to.Yet perverting that good news story into some tawdry political gain cheapens SpaceX, NASA, and Wilmore and Williams. In this case, the truth was beautiful. When one American space company had a problem, another stepped in, and the heroic astronauts made it home safely with a perfect backdrop.If only the story ended there.Eric BergerSenior Space EditorEric BergerSenior Space Editor Eric Berger is the senior space editor at Ars Technica, covering everything from astronomy to private space to NASA policy, and author of two books: Liftoff, about the rise of SpaceX; and Reentry, on the development of the Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon. A certified meteorologist, Eric lives in Houston. 27 Comments

Chips Ahoy Nvidia announces Rubin Ultra and Feynman AI chips for 2027 and 2028 CEO Jensen Huang says new chips will power robots and billions of AI agents. Benj Edwards Mar 18, 2025 5:10 pm | 22 An image of a hypothetical Rubin system silicon chip die that Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang presented at GTC 2025. An image of a hypothetical Rubin system silicon chip die that Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang presented at GTC 2025. Story textSizeSmallStandardLargeWidth *StandardWideLinksStandardOrange* Subscribers only Learn moreOn Tuesday at Nvidia's GTC 2025 conference in San Jose, California, CEO Jensen Huang revealed several new AI-accelerating GPUs the company plans to release over the coming months and years. He also revealed more specifications about previously announced chips.The centerpiece announcement was Vera Rubin, first teased at Computex 2024 and now scheduled for release in the second half of 2026. This GPU, named after a famous astronomer, will feature tens of terabytes of memory and comes with a custom Nvidia-designed CPU called Vera.According to Nvidia, Vera Rubin will deliver significant performance improvements over its predecessor, Grace Blackwell, particularly for AI training and inference. Specifications for Vera Rubin, presented by Jensen Huang during his GTC 2025 keynote. Vera Rubin features two GPUs together on one die that deliver 50 petaflops of FP4 inference performance per chip. When configured in a full NVL144 rack, the system delivers 3.6 exaflops of FP4 inference compute3.3 times more than Blackwell Ultra's 1.1 exaflops in a similar rack configuration.The Vera CPU features 88 custom ARM cores with 176 threads connected to Rubin GPUs via a high-speed 1.8 TB/s NVLink interface.Huang also announced Rubin Ultra, which will follow in the second half of 2027. Rubin Ultra will use the NVL576 rack configuration and feature individual GPUs with four reticle-sized dies, delivering 100 petaflops of FP4 precision (a 4-bit floating-point format used for representing and processing numbers within AI models) per chip.At the rack level, Rubin Ultra will provide 15 exaflops of FP4 inference compute and 5 exaflops of FP8 training performanceabout four times more powerful than the Rubin NVL144 configuration. Each Rubin Ultra GPU will include 1TB of HBM4e memory, with the complete rack containing 365TB of fast memory. Specifications for Rubin Ultra, presented by Jensen Huang during his GTC 2025 keynote. For the near future, Nvidia will launch Blackwell Ultra B300 in the second half of 2025. This chip features two GPUs delivering 15 petaflops of dense FP4 compute performance per chip. When configured in a full NVL72 rack, Blackwell Ultra will provide 1.1 exaflops of dense FP4 inference compute1.5 times more than the current Blackwell B200 configuration. Each B300 GPU has 288GB of HBM3e memory compared to Blackwell's 192GB. Specifications for Blackwell Ultra, presented by Jensen Huang during his GTC 2025 keynote. Huang briefly mentioned a next-generation GPU architecture called "Feynman," named after American theoretical physicist Richard Feynman. He provided few additional details about Feynman's design or capabilities, only that it would use a "Vera" CPU instead of the expected "Richard" based on the naming pattern and that it would arrive sometime in 2028. A roadmap of future Nvidia AI chips, presented by Jensen Huang during his GTC 2025 keynote. During the keynote, Huang also laid out an optimistic roadmap for the future of AIwith its success vitally interlinked with the continued success of his companywhere he called data centers "AI factories" that produce tokens (the units of data that AI models currently process) instead of physical objects. He shared his vision for the future of "physical AI" that will one day power humanoid robots to perform human-like labor. Nvidia currently provides software platforms that help robot-controlling AI models train in virtual worlds.In the meantime, Huang speculated that Nvidia chips will soon power "10 billion digital agents" that perform helpful work for humans, and he mentioned that by the end of this year, 100 percent of Nvidia engineers will be assisted by AI models.Benj EdwardsSenior AI ReporterBenj EdwardsSenior AI Reporter Benj Edwards is Ars Technica's Senior AI Reporter and founder of the site's dedicated AI beat in 2022. He's also a tech historian with almost two decades of experience. In his free time, he writes and records music, collects vintage computers, and enjoys nature. He lives in Raleigh, NC. 22 Comments

2025-03-19T00:10:16Z Read in app President Donald Trump's plans to reduce the size of the federal workforce have hit some snags. Andrew Harnik/Getty Images This story is available exclusively to Business Insider subscribers. Become an Insider and start reading now.Have an account? A federal judge ordered the Trump administration to reinstate roughly 25,000 federal employees.The temporary order is the latest example of the fight over President Donald Trump's mass firings.DOJ filings in the case also provide extensive details about the terminations thus far.New documents filed by the Justice Department shed light on just how far the White House and its DOGE office have gone in trying to cut probationary staff from the federal government.In declarations from 18 departments or agencies, officials said roughly 25,000 federal workers had been terminated across the government. Their disclosures are the largest insight yet into mass reductions that have become the signature focus of President Donald Trump's first 100 days in office.Agency officials were required to file the declarations by Monday night in a legal case brought by 20 Democratic state attorneys general which allege that the mass firings were illegal. US District Court Judge James K. Bredar previously granted the attorneys general request to temporarily restrain the Trump administration from fully carrying out the terminations.Many of the roughly 25,000 employees were put on administrative leave following their reinstatement, according to the filings. Some agencies have struggled to notify fired workers that they can come back. An IRS official said they had resorted to sending out certified mail.Agency officials repeatedly warned that complying with Bredar's order could cause chaos, especially if the temporary block is lifted and the workers are fired again. Even if employees can return to work, many officials said in the filings any reinstated employee would have to go through the onboarding process again, requiring them to obtain security badges, complete training, and receive whatever equipment they needed for their jobs. Some of the agencies said they don't have enough office space.The White House targeted probationary employees with less than two years of experience in their roles as early as Inauguration Day. Probationary employees are typically easier to terminate since they lack some civil service protections.The DOGE office was not directly responsible for the Office of Personnel Management memo that prompted agencies to review the status of their probationary employees. Tesla CEO Elon Musk, the de facto leader of the DOGE office, has championed mass firings and claimed credit for at least some efforts to reduce the size of government, namely the US Agency for International Development (USAID).Here are the agencies that have been hit the hardest so far, according to the filings.Treasury DepartmentThe Treasury Department terminated 7,605 out of roughly 16,663 probationary employees.The IRS is by far the largest affected Treasury agency with 7,315 terminated employees.The Department of Treasury, the second-oldest Cabinet department, manages federal finances, ensures financial security, and, through the IRS, collects taxes.Agriculture DepartmentThe Agriculture Department terminated roughly 5,714 employees.The department said that on March 12, it reinstated all of the affected employees and put them on administrative leave as part of a phased plan for them to return to work.USDA is responsible for food, nutrition, and rural development.Health and Human Services DepartmentThe Department of Health and Human Services terminated 3,248 out of roughly 8,466 probationary and trial period employees. Many of those employees were immediately put on leave, some with no set end date.HHS said it has reinstated 88 employees and extended the leave of 2,855 others. Others were allowed to return to work. Additional employees were reinstated because they were found not to meet the definition of a probationary employee.The Department of Health and Human Services is responsible for promoting the health of Americans. Among the largest agencies in HHS are the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which focuses on preventing diseases, the FDA, which ensures the safety of food and drugs, and the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, which oversees Medicare and helps administer the federal portion of Medicaid.Veterans AffairsThe Department of Veterans Affairs terminated 1,900 of roughly 46,000 probationary employees. After a review, this was narrowed down to 1,683 employees.The VA said it continues to try to notify those 1,683 employees of their reinstatement but has been unable to reach all of them.The Veterans Affairs Department is the second-largest Cabinet agency. It is responsible for healthcare and other services to veterans.Interior DepartmentThe Department of Interior terminated 1,712 employees, including 1,303 probationary workers.The Interior Department said it has canceled terminations for roughly 90% of the 1,710 employees terminated during their probationary or trial period. The department said it will not reinstate two employees who are covered by the order.The Interior Department manages public lands both through the Bureau of Land Management, which awards commercial leases, and the National Parks Service, which manages national parks and many national monuments and historic sites.Commerce DepartmentThe Department of Commerce terminated 791 of roughly 9,000 total probationary or trial period employees.The department said 27 employees were reinstated within days of firing "for various operational reasons." The department said it had notified the other 764 employees of their reinstatement.The Commerce Department helps promote economic growth and includes a wide range of agencies, from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to the Census Bureau, the latter of which is responsible for planning and administering the once-a-decade census.Transportation DepartmentAccording to its filing, the Department of Transportation terminated 788 probationary employees.The department said only 775 were affected by the court order. The remaining employees were either fired for performance reasons (2), already had their terminations rescinded (8), resigned (2), or accepted a deferred resignation program (1).The 775 employees have all been notified of their reinstatement. The department said it would place all affected workers on leave through March 19 to allow time to coordinate their return, including returning government equipment and issuing new ID cards.The Transportation Department is responsible for managing the nation's transportation infrastructure, including agencies like the FAA and Federal Highway Administration.Energy DepartmentThe Department of Energy terminated 555 probationary employees.The department said it had canceled the termination of all of the affected employees and placed them on retroactive leave until their badging and IT status are restored.The Energy Department is responsible for national energy policy and maintaining the US' nuclear infrastructure, including the security of nuclear weapons.Environmental Protection AgencyThe EPA terminated roughly 419 probationary employees.The agency said it has notified all of the affected employees of their reinstatement. Most of the 419 workers have been put on paid leave, though some ("including students on leave for the school year") are on unpaid leave.Created in 1970, the EPA is responsible for enforcing environmental laws. The agency says it makes sure Americans have clean air, water, and land.General Services AdministrationThe GSA has terminated roughly 366 of approximately 812 probationary and trial employees.By Monday morning, the GSA said it had reinstated all employees, minus two who declined to return to work.Often called the federal government's landlord, the GSA helps the federal government manage contracting for goods and services.Homeland SecurityThe Department of Homeland Security terminated at least 313 probationary employees. The department did not indicate the number of total probationary workers it terminated because it said those fired for performance or conduct issues were not covered by the order.DHS said it has begun the process of reinstating more than 310 workers. One employee declined to return, while another worker was already in the process of coming back due to a deferred resignation program.Since 2001, DHS has grown to become the third-largest Cabinet agency it encompasses everything from the Transportation Security Administration and US Customs and Border Protection to the Secret Service and the Federal Emergency Management Agency.Housing and Urban DevelopmentThe Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) terminated 312 of roughly 549 probationary employees.HUD said it has fully reinstated 13 employees. The department said it has begun the reinstatement process for the remaining workers who are being placed on administrative leave temporarily.The Department of Housing and Urban Development is responsible for addressing housing policy and enforcing fair housing laws.Small Business AdministrationThe Small Business Administration (SBA) terminated 304 of roughly 700 probationary workers.The SBA said it quickly rehired six workers, five of which remain with the agency. One employee resigned.As for the remaining employees, SBA said had notified all 298 workers of their reinstatement. The agency said 127 workers have been reinstated and put on paid leave. Employees who were on intermittent status (164) have been put into non-pay status and will not receive back pay due to their work schedule.The Small Business Administration is a Cabinet-level agency focused on helping small business owners and entrepreneurs.US Agency for International DevelopmentUSAID terminated 270 of 295 probationary employees.USAID says it has notified the affected workers of their reinstatement. If they return to work, they will be placed on administrative leave until further notice.The international aid agency, which had operations worldwide, is different from the other 17 departments and agencies covered by the order in that it has already effectively begun to shut down its operations. USAID previously vacated its DC headquarters. The State Department has absorbed its remaining operations.There are multiple ongoing lawsuits regarding USAID's restructuring and effective gutting.Labor DepartmentThe Department of Labor terminated roughly 170 of approximately 620 probationary and trial employees.The department said all affected employees have either returned to work or voluntarily left the government.The Labor Department is responsible for enforcing federal labor laws, which, according to its website, cover over 165 million workers. The department is responsible for publishing closely-watched data on the economy and employment through the Bureau of Labor Statistics.Federal Deposit Insurance CorporationThe FDIC terminated roughly 156 of about 261 probationary employees.The FDIC said in its filing that five employees would have been terminated regardless due to performance/conduct issues. The remaining 151 employees have been reinstated and placed on administrative leave.The FDIC is an independent federal agency funded primarily by fees banks pay. It is primarily known for insuring bank deposits, which is part of its mission to maintain the financial system's stability.Consumer Financial Protection BureauThe CFPB terminated 117 probationary employees.The CFPB has reinstated all of the affected employees who are now on administrative leave.The brainchild of Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, a Democrat, the CFPB is a consumer watchdog. The agency has shut down its DC headquarters amid a Trump administration move to end its operations. Musk previously called for the CFPB to be deleted.Education DepartmentThe Department of Education terminated 65 of roughly 108 probationary employees.The department has processed reinstatements for the employees. They will be put on administrative leave.Created in 1980, the Education Department administers state and local education programs. Trump and Secretary Linda McMahon have outlined a plan to shut down the department.

2025-03-19T00:08:01Z Read in app O'Brien has outlined CR's 2025 publishing push, including at least two books by the company's cofounders. Robyn Von Swank/Critical Role This story is available exclusively to Business Insider subscribers. Become an Insider and start reading now.Have an account? The nerdworld business Critical Role is making a big push into publishing this year.Its publishing drive, led by Liam O'Brien, includes two books written by the cofounders.Also on the 2025 slate are art books, comics, and novels written by Penguin Random House authors.Liam O'Brien known to fans as the heartbreak prince has worked on all parts of Critical Role's business, from writing for its animated series to live-streaming for its gothic horror gaming venture.Now, he's overseeing the company's bigger push into print.O'Brien is one of the eight leaders of the nerdworld business Critical Role. Over the past decade, he and his friends have built a multi-division geek empire that spans animation, game publishing, podcasting, streaming, and live shows.CR's book publishing dates back to 2017, when the crew released titles like their first "Vox Machina" art book. But now, as the company celebrates its 10th anniversary, they're making a proper go at publishing, with a full slate of books to be released in 2025.In a call from his office which houses a massive shelf of geeky books and nerdy paraphernalia the self-described "literary dork" outlined what CR's push into the publishing business will look like.2 cofounder-written kids' titlesCR plans to publish at least two children's books written by its cofounders in 2025. The first, "Der Katzenprinz," is a book of fairy tales O'Brien wrote and is scheduled for release on April 8.O'Brien said the book is a collection of three dark and mystical fairytales, all grounded in the fantasy world of Exandria."I was just diving into fairytales, which I grew up on and love. I have books on the shelf behind me that are from when I was a kid, that are full of dark, weird stories," O'Brien said.The second CR cofounder-written book is "Smiley Day: A Good Advice Book From Your Favorite Robot Therapist," by CR cofounder Sam Riegel. It will be released on September 30."When you're a parent, you read a lot of children's books and some of 'em are great, and some of 'em were not great," Riegel, a father of two, told BI. "And we thought, 'Maybe we should try to make a good one.'"More D&D-based novelsCR has partnered with authors under the Penguin Random House stable to roll out novels based on their "D&D" campaigns.An early title released in 2021 under this collaboration was "Vox Machina Kith & Kin," a novel-length deep dive into the backstories of the half-elven twins O'Brien and CR cofounder Laura Bailey played on stream.The Penguin Random House slate for 2025 includes "Tusk Love," a novel by Thea Guanzon, inspired by characters in CR's second long-running campaign. And there's a short story collection with a foreword from O'Brien, "Vox Machina Stories Untold.""The team at Critical Role is incredible at telling stories, so it just made sense to expand those stories into books," said Elizabeth Schaefer, the publishing director at Random House Worlds."The setting and characters are so rich that we've been able to publish a wide variety of booksfrom novels to a cookbook, to a behind-the-scenes making of, to even an advice book," Schaefer said.O'Brien joked that he ended up taking charge of CR's literary offerings because "the others are too busy" but it's all worked out since he loves books.And as part of the team's publishing drive, it's O'Brien's job to curate CR's art books. He also consults on the company's graphic novel collaborations with Dark Horse Comics."I grew up an avid reader, and my slippery slide into tabletop role-playing games and fantasy was through reading novels," O'Brien said."So really, my whole life has been about being a big nerd and then deciding, 'Well, I need to be an adult now,'" he said. "And then realizing that that was incorrect and then just fusing it all together."

Looking forward to Persona 6? You're not the only one, and eagle-eyed fans have spotted a hint at the next game in the RPG series in an Atlus recruitment pictureTech16:16, 18 Mar 2025Updated 16:17, 18 Mar 2025Can you believe it's been almost a decade since Persona 5 launched? The title, which originally hit PS3 and PS4 in Japan in 2016, is rightly considered one of the greatest RPGs of all time, but fans have been itching for a follow-up.It doesn't quite feel that long because Atlus has been sticking with the Phantom Thieves in the years since, with Persona 5: Royal, Strikers, and Tactica keeping us going but we're ready for a new adventure now.Article continues belowAnd, thanks to eagle-eyed fans, it appears we could be due some news soon after a reference to Persona 6 appeared on Atlus' recruitment site. Here's all we know.Content cannot be displayed without consentPosting over on X (formerly Twitter), YouTuber Faz shared an image from a recruitment site for developer Atlus.In the top left corner, the number 'XRD768' can be seen. Which, on its own, is nothing but context is everything.Last year, one leaker (who has since been rumbled as an alternate account) mentioned that XRD768 is the not-so-catchy codename for Persona 6.The designation appearing on an Atlus screenshot throws up questions about other leaks from that account, and whether their reports of dual protagonists and an art school setting are legitimate.To its credit, it's not like Atlus has been sitting around in the years since Persona 5.In fact, the company has released plenty of games and remasters since, as well as the absolutely fantastic Metaphor: ReFantazio last year, which was deemed one of the year's best.Atlus also gave Persona fans a Persona 3 remake, dubbed Persona 3 Reload, and rumours have persisted that the company will look to do the same for Persona 4.With the Persona series having such a strong presence on handheld systems over the years, there's every chance Nintendo could include something related to the series at its big Switch 2 unveiling next month.For more on JRPGs, check out the Final Fantasy x Magic The Gathering crossover, as well as suggestions more Final Fantasy remakes are inbound.Article continues belowFor the latest breaking news and stories from across the globe from the Daily Star, sign up for our newsletters.

How long is too long? (Richard A. Brooks / AFP) (Credits: AFP via Getty Images)The Wednesday letters page is unsurprised by Assassins Creed Shadows mostly good reviews, as one reader hopes for Xenoblade Chronicles X-2.To join in with the discussions yourself email gamecentral@metro.co.ukWeekly quotaIve a question I dont see asked much and thats how many hours a week people play video games and what they think is healthy? I read today that the average is 8.6 hours, which is about 1.2 hours a day, and that seems to me to be reasonably okay. Its a lot but I dont think its unreasonable, especially compared to how long most people spend watching TV or looking at their phones.But thats the average and when you start to get above those numbers, I think it starts to become more worrying. Id certainly feel things were getting out of control if I was playing 15 or 20 hours a week. But to be honest, I dont really know, as I dont tend to time myself.So just interested to know if people have limits they impose on themselves? Or if you just play as much as you can? As someone with teenage kids I definitely have more spare time than I used to, but Im not sure sitting around playing video games is a very good example to be setting.GonchNo more, no lessSo Assassins Creed Shadows seems to have turned out exactly how I expected, and how I imagine most sensible people expected: more or less the same as usual but with a few little tweaks and extras to give it an illusion of change. Im not saying that as a big negative, just an observation, as its no doubt better than a lot of sequels.What I didnt expect was the unanimous praise for the graphics, so thats actually got my interest piqued a bit. Theres no way Im paying full price for it, because we all know what happens to Ubisoft games after a few months, but Ill probably get it sooner than I was intending.As for whether this will save Ubisoft the last suggestion was that it had to do really well and Im not sure if these good but not mind-blowing reviews are going to help it achieve that. I hope so though, the last thing we need is even less publishers in the world.FocusReputation repairI really do think the GameCube is a very underrated console. The two reasons it always gets looked down on are that its the only console to ever be outsold by an Xbox (just) and the Mario, Zelda, and Mario Kart games for it were not great. But everything else was.Metroid Prime is just as perfect as Super Metroid, Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door hasnt aged a day, F-Zero GX is still my favourite racing game, and Resident Evil 4 was a revelation at the time. I also like Billy Hatcher And The Giant Egg.Im not saying its the best console ever or anything but some of its games are amongst the best things Nintendo has ever done and I hope that will be remembered via the Switch 2.KorbieEmail your comments to: gamecentral@metro.co.ukWhere the wolves areAs we all agree, graphics are much more important than gameplay. To this end, I recently picked up The Order: 1886 for a few quid and loaded it up on PS4 Pro. My goodness, its still very pretty. Those graphics absolutely smack you in the face and Im not sure there are many current generation games that surpass it.Jokes aside, they managed to make fighting werewolves extremely boring and the third person combat in general is a bit underwhelming, while I found the lovely graphics and setting to have some promise. Im not sure who owns the IP but I wouldnt be averse to seeing a studio like People Can Fly (who it was recently revealed have entered into an exclusive development agreement with PlayStation for something) have a bash at bringing the gameplay up-to-speed with the visuals, as fighting werewolves should definitely be fun (also playing Castlevania: Lords Of Shadow on the Steam Deck, which supports this).MagnumstacheGC: Its a Sony first party game, so they own it. Original developer Ready at Dawn went bust last August.Xenoblade Chronicles X-2For anyone that hasnt played it, I would 100% recommend Xenoblade Chronicles X, as I am one of the seemingly few that played it on the Wii U. GC are right to say that theres disagreement amongst fans and a lot of people that like X dont like the others and vice versa.I think its because the numbered games are a lot more anime inspired, whereas X is a lot closer to hard sci-fi. Yes, the characters still manage to be anime cliches but what can you do? No game is good at everything. I still love the game and the exploration and combat is great, with tons of customisation options, lots of characters (more in the Switch version, it seems) and the good ole transforming robots.Personally, Id much rather see a sequel to X than a Xenoblade Chronicles 4 but Im not very confident of that ever happening.GoldieHuman costSo theres a lot to talk about. Firstly, Ive had the inconvenience of finding out its probably not a good idea to buy a second-hand handheld. My OneXPlayer stopped working, after about a month of purchase. After an attempted reset I had no choice but to return it to CeX. Used the refund money to buy an ASUS ROG Ally X. Last time I ever use Utorrent, to torrent games. Lesson learned.Ive also had the distinct pleasure of waking up to see Assassins Creed Shadows meet my expectations and disappoint me. Of course itd include a forgettable story. I experienced this very milquetoast feature with my playthrough of Avowed yesterday. But an 82 on Metacritic and I could see GC scoring it a 7/10 from a mile away. It was written in the clouds, because Im foreseeing Ubisoft declaring bankruptcy very soon. If an 82 is the marginal best they can deliver us, after an abysmal 2024, its what they deserve.On a brighter note, Im exceptionally impressed by Death Stranding 2. I will be pre-ordering when Amazon decides that 69.99 is a ludicrous asking sum and lowers the price tag. Even Kojima isnt worth that much. But for the love of Miquella, can Rockstar please hurry up and announce the second trailer for Grand Theft Auto 6? I expected a March release but its getting absurd at this point.Shahzaib SadiqGC: Ubisoft employs over 18,000 people.New startI dont think well ever see another Half-Life or Portal game that isnt either a tech demo or a multiplayer game or some other thing that is purposefully not want people want. Its wrong to expect anything else really, because everyone that could have (or should have) been involved in making it is long since gone.If they really are trying to make Half-Life 3 right now then whos making it? Perhaps theyre talented people but theres no guarantees and itd be almost like Valve, as a developer, were starting from scratch, with their knowledge base and their reputation. If they announce anything Id be interested but not optimistic.PoissonTrack recordRE: Johnson and is anyone looking forward to Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet. Im very interested. Based both on the quality of Naughty Dogs previous work but also the little we know of the game so far.From Jak And Daxter and Crash Bandicoot to Uncharted and The Last Of Us (well forget about Way Of The Warrior) Naughty Dog have demonstrated consistent top tier quality. I see no reason to think they couldnt successfully try their hand at another type of game.I also like the set-up. I love sci-fi, FromSoftware games, and games that have an air of loneliness. Im prone to being melancholic to be honest.So a sci-fi Souls game where youre alone on an alien planet sounds fantastic to me.I can understand the overused 80s retro future art style making some feel its unoriginal. But I remember when The Last Of Us trailer landed many said it looked like another zombie game but that turned out to be a milestone in gaming.The title though, I agree, is a bit rubbish.SimundoInbox also-ransImagine if GTA 6 went back to the top-down style of game the series started out asLeighDappaLego Pokmon? I think Nintendo and Lego would be able to buy a mint at that point and just print off the money straight from the source. Heres hoping they make a Vanillite. I bet they dont.BosleyMore TrendingEmail your comments to: gamecentral@metro.co.ukThe small printNew Inbox updates appear every weekday morning, with special Hot Topic Inboxes at the weekend. 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By Thomas Maxwell Published March 18, 2025 | Comments (1) | BYD claims new battery system can charge an electric vehicle in five minutes. CFOTO Chinese automaker BYD continues to leave Tesla in the dust. The company introduced a new battery system on Monday that it claims can charge an electric vehicle in just five minutes, about the same time it takes to refuel a traditional car. The feat has long been a goal of the industry, which is still trying to overcome thorny hurdles around charging that have held potential buyers back. The company specifically claims it can provide 249 miles of range in 5 minutes in its new Han L sedan. That compares to Teslas best charging rate, which can add 170 miles of range in 15 minutes at one of its high-voltage Superchargers. Elon Musk years ago bet big on an in-house made battery to provide extended range and improved range to his companys vehicles, but seemingly found battery development is harder than expected, as the 4860 battery has not lived up to expectations. BYDs stock rose on the news to reach a market value of roughly $158 billion. It is up approximately 58% so far this year. There has been some concern raised that fast charging such as that from BYD could shorten the overall lifespan of an EV battery, but there is little evidence thus far to support that idea. The CEO of major Chinese battery maker CATL last year said Musk doesnt know how to make a battery in an interview with Reuters.BYD, now the leading EV maker in China, was founded in 1995 as a battery manufacturing company, and only later entered the automotive market as it realized that the future of cars would be computers on wheels. It also assembles iPads for Apple. It makes EVs at a range of prices, with its most affordable Seagull coming in at a starting price of just $9,700. BYD has been expanding across the world into markets like Europe and South America, building Chinas soft power by creating local jobs and proving it can be successful outside the domestic Chinese market. This all comes as Musk looks to handicap U.S. automotive companies by getting rid of subsidies that were helping the industry transition. Critics of China have complained that it uses subsidies to flood foreign markets with cheap product, but BYD is profitable on EVs now, and U.S. automakers could do the same if they had more time to reach scale. America was once a leader in automotive globally, but has decided to cede that position to China in favor of AI and crypto.The transition to EVs has come with more growing pains than many in the industry expected, as charging infrastructure has been slow to expand and available chargers are frequently broken or slow. The existing infrastructure around gas-powered vehicles was developed over decades, however, and it makes sense it would similarly take time for EVs to reach maturity. Fast-charging capabilities could placate drivers who do not want to sit at chargers for a long time. Besides leapfrogging Tesla on price and battery performance, BYD also recently announced it would be adding advanced self-driving features to all of its vehicles. Reviewers have lauded BYDs system for its performance. It should all serve as a reminder that Teslas current valuation does not make a lot sense. Sales have been cratering globally, the company sells fewer vehicles than BMW at lower profit margins, its vehicle lineup is dated, and full autonomy is years late. But Musk has pivoted to self-driving robocabs and robotics to keep the valuation afloat. Tesla stock has fallen 40% since the start of 2025 in part over intense backlash to Musks close involvement in the Trump administration.Perhaps if he was not spending all his time in Washington, Musk would have more time for Tesla, once the leader in electric vehicles but now second-tier compared to BYD. The power and proximity to President Trump is more valuable to him for now, it seems. It is certainly sad to think how much further ahead Tesla would be today if it had a full-time CEO not making the brand toxic.Daily NewsletterYou May Also Like By Matthew Gault Published March 18, 2025 By AJ Dellinger Published March 17, 2025 Kate Yoder, Grist Published March 17, 2025 By Matt Novak Published March 14, 2025 By Lucas Ropek Published March 13, 2025 By Lucas Ropek Published March 12, 2025

During a recent appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live, Snow White star Rachel Zegler chatted about the upcoming live-action Disney Princess feature film. Zegler described how her scenes with the Seven Dwarfs were essentially shot three different times to get the layers needed to composite the scenes with her performance and, added later, the CG characterization of the Dwarfs. You basically do three different versions of every scene, she explained. You do one with humans in the space so youre having an emotional connection with somebody and then you do it with puppets, in our case for Dopey and Grumpy and these iconic characters. Wait a minute stop the Dwarfs could have been puppets instead of the CG characters, a method which has a proven track record of ruining iconic Disney sidekicks? We still shudder while thinking of the dead-eyed Flounder, Sebastian, Lumiere, and Cogsworth. It gets even more intriguing, as Zegler described them: They were full, like, I say Julie Taymor-esque because if youve seen The Lion King on Broadway, anything that Julie Taymor has done, its that kind of puppetry where theyre like attached to the feet of the puppeteer and then moved around with their hands for all of those iconic characters. So, we could have had a happy medium between live-actor performers and handmade puppet creations by artists instead of problematic casting or ugly CG. It could have been a Labyrinth Jim Henson-esque Muppet fairytale adaptation? That would have been so much better than what it appears we are getting and a fun throwback to the sort of fantasy films of the Henson era that still are timeless. Screw it, they could have even made them the Muppets and it would have been much more exciting.Instead our triple threat girl had to put triple the amount of work into the scene. Zegler continued, And then you do whats called a clean pass, where its essentially me doing Whistle While You Work to nobody, dancing and singing. The thing you have to do with propsbecause essentially they need to turn the prop into a CG prop and put it into the CG characters hand[is] you just drop it on the floor. And so that cut of the movie I hope comes out someday, or its just me dropping things. Or, you know, just release the puppet cut. Check out the clip below to take a look at Zegler during the shoot dancing in her choreographed shots and, yes, dropping things like a broom. One thing is for sure: put Zegler in a movie with the Muppets, we need it! Snow White opens this Friday. Want more io9 news? Check out when to expect the latest Marvel, Star Wars, and Star Trek releases, whats next for the DC Universe on film and TV, and everything you need to know about the future of Doctor Who.

Townhouse Extension / LAC ArchitectureSave this picture! Phillipe BillardArchitects: LAC ArchitectureAreaArea of this architecture projectArea:147 mYearCompletion year of this architecture project Year: 2024 PhotographsPhotographs:Phillipe BillardManufacturersBrands with products used in this architecture project Manufacturers: JUNG, BRUMA, Knauf, La Parqueterie, La quincaillerie, Sammode Lighting, SeccoMore SpecsLess SpecsSave this picture!Text description provided by the architects. The project involves a wooden extension of a townhouse on the outskirts of Paris. From the outside, the silent and modest architecture blends into its environment while presenting a singularity that asserts its contemporaneity.Save this picture!Save this picture!Save this picture!Inside, the intervention questions the traditional program of the house made of the day/night distinction to offer a fun, friendly, generous, evolving and responsible place. The idea is to work in volume rather than in floors, by engaging in a reflection on the decompartmentalization and visual porosities, to stimulate, intensify or even invent uses and improve the quality of life of the inhabitants.Save this picture!Save this picture!Here, a skylight becomes a reading hammock or a projection room, the staircase landing becomes a laundry room and games room, the living room appears as an extension of the master bedroom Structure and furniture then merge to constitute the architectural device.Save this picture!Save this picture!Save this picture!The materiality responds to the versatility of uses. Through an economy of means, it assumes what is necessary and transforms it into an event. In an ecological approach, the challenge is to exploit the properties of materials to the maximum to limit their superposition. A slab becomes a covering, a waterproofing becomes a finish, the structure becomes a modern nature. Between frugality of materials and generosity of relationships, the architecture seems frugal, unfinished and leaves room for possibilities.Save this picture!Faced with a particularly dense context, the openings appear as precise incisions. Despite the generosity of the openings, their arrangements preserve intimacy, highlight uses, and define frames towards the urban landscape.Save this picture!Project gallerySee allShow lessAbout this officeLAC ArchitectureOfficeMaterialsMaterials and TagsPublished on March 18, 2025Cite: "Townhouse Extension / LAC Architecture" 18 Mar 2025. ArchDaily. Accessed . <https://www.archdaily.com/1027903/townhouse-extension-lac-architecture&gt ISSN 0719-8884Save!ArchDaily?You've started following your first account!Did you know?You'll now receive updates based on what you follow! Personalize your stream and start following your favorite authors, offices and users.Go to my stream