The allegedly offending structure is the 19-storey Arbor Tower, a 34.9 million office block built for developer Native Land, which opened in 2023.Stephen and Jennifer Powell, who live in th CZWG-designed Bankside Lofts (1999), a neighbouring building by the River Thames, are seeking a court order to demolish Arbor Tower on the grounds that it blocks out their light, The Times reports.The couple claim that the height of the building blocks out so much natural light that it stops them reading in bed, according to the newspaper.AdvertisementThe 28,000m next generation workspace forms part of a wider PLP-designed development between Blackfriars Bridge and Tate Modern.When complete, the 1 billion Bankside Yards will consist of eight towers, including Opus, a 50-storey residential skyscraper set to open in spring 2025. Source:PLP Architecture / WireCollectiveBankside YardsBut the Powells, along with their upstairs neighbour, Kevin Cooper, are seeking legal action on the grounds that Arbor Tower obstructs their right to light.The claimants are asking High Court judge Mr Justice Fancourt to order that Native Land alters plans for the unbuilt sections of Bankside Yards to make up for the loss of light cause by Arbor Tower and have told the court that, as a last resort, they will ask for the tower itself to be demolished.If their bid is successful, a court injunction could force the developer to remove the offending obstruction to the view of the sky in other words, to demolish Arbor Tower.AdvertisementIf the injunction bid fails, the trio has claimed damages which could run to millions of pounds, according to The Times. Compensation can be paid to an injured party in right to light cases as an alternative to an injunction for the loss they have suffered as a result of the obstruction. Source:Google Earth Tim Calland, a barrister acting on behalf of the residents, told the judge that his three claimants maintain that the exceptional natural light in Arbor Tower will have been achieved wrongfully at the expense of their light.But lawyers for the developers have insisted that demolishing Arbor Tower would constitute a gross waste of money and resources and suggested to the High Court that neighbouring residents could use an electric light to read in bed.John McGhee KC, representing the developers, insisted that the loss of light caused by Arbor does not substantially interfere with the use or enjoyment of the [Bankside Lofts] flats and as such is not an actionable nuisance.McGhee told the court that the developers had engaged extensively with all other neighbouring property-owners whose light might be impacted, and that almost all of them had agreed to drop any claims in exchange for modest sums of compensation.The AJ has approached Native Land for comment. PLP declined to comment.

Praise Kier!

Gamers will get better games, while developers enjoy a higher quality of life, the United Videogame Workers says.

March 20, 20255 min readWhat Makes a Moon?Defining the word moon is harder than you might thinkBy Phil Plait edited by Lee BillingsA quintet of Saturns moons come together in this image from NASAs Cassini spacecraft. NASA/JPL-Caltech/Space Science InstituteHeres a simple question: Whats a moon?As with so many questions in science, it may seem straightforward but truly isnt. Why, a moon is a celestial body that orbits a planet, youre probably thinking. Well, sureif you squint your eyes and dont look too closely, thats a pretty decent description.But rigidly defining the term moon isnt so easy.On supporting science journalismIf you're enjoying this article, consider supporting our award-winning journalism by subscribing. By purchasing a subscription you are helping to ensure the future of impactful stories about the discoveries and ideas shaping our world today.The canonical example is of course our own moon, a decently big chunk of rock that orbits Earth. But centuries ago the first telescopic observations of other planets revealed that many have moons as well; Jupiter has four giant, easily seen satellites, and Saturn has several that are visible by modest means as well. So at that point in time, our definition of moon seemed safe enough.Then, of course, things got complicatedbecause they always do. As telescopes got bigger and better, more moons were found. Mars has two, and poor Mercury and Venus have none, but in contrast, moons seemingly kept sprouting on Jupiter like mushrooms after a rainstorm. For the first half of the 20th century, Jupiter was known to have an even dozen. A handful more were found telescopically in the 1970s, and the numbers jumped a bit when we started sending spacecraft to the outer planets. Then, in the 2000s, the numbers leaped upward as more exacting techniques were used to scrutinize Jupiters environs.As of this writing Jupiter has 95 confirmed moons. They range in size from mighty Ganymede, the largest in the solar system at more than 5,200 kilometers acrosswider than the planet Mercury!to the tiniest that were able to see from Earth, at roughly 1 km in diameter. Saturn is more distant from us than Jupiter, so its moons are harder to see, yet we now know it boasts at least 274 moons, a staggering number! Of these, 128 were just announced this month by scientists who had used an advanced searching technique that allows extremely faint satellites to be spotted in telescopic observations. Most of these new additions are only a few kilometers across.Its clear that with ever more powerful equipment, well find that many planets have orbital companions of arbitrarily small dimensions. Is something the size of a football stadium a moon? Sure! But what about something the size of a car, a basketball or a grape? What about a grain of dust?Saturns rings are composed of trillions of small icy particles. Is each of these a moon?At some lower limit, that term just doesnt seem to fit.The problem is further complicated by the fact that many asteroids have moons. More than 430 asteroids are known or suspected to be orbited by smaller asteroids. Its possible that those satellites were formed from low-speed collisions that either ejected material that subsequently coalesced as moons or slowed two asteroids enough to put them in orbit around each other. In some cases an asteroid and its moons may have even formed together.Out past Neptune are countless small icy and rocky bodies called Trans-Neptunian Objects (TNOs), and many of these have moons as well. While some TNOs could be called dwarf planets because of their size, many more are tiny and dont even come close to falling into that category.And, although I hate to complicate things even more, I should note that if we broaden our moon definition to any object that orbits something bigger, then planets are moons. Even small stars that orbit big stars would be moons!Clearly were running into trouble trying to hang the word moon on these objects.Theres also the problem that the arguments for what makes a moon can change when viewed differently. For example, the suns gravity tugs harder on the moon than Earths does! So does the moon orbit the sun or our planet? Well, the trick here is that both Earth and the moon orbit the sun together. The suns effect on both is equal, so in a sense it cancels out, and therefore the moon orbits our own planet more than it orbits the sun.Theres actually mathematical support for this. Its possible to balance out the equations of gravity for a planet and star, including the centrifugal force created by the orbiting body, to see how far a planets sphere of influence stretches. This area, where the planets gravity locally dominates over the star, is also called the Hill sphere, after American astronomer George Hill, who first derived it. The Hill sphere for Earth, given its distance from the sun, is about 1.5 million km. The moon is only about 385,000 km from Earth, so its well inside our Hill sphere and therefore more under Earths influence than the suns.This region of space grows larger the farther a planet is from its star. Jupiter is more massive than Saturn, but Saturn is farther from the sun, so its Hill sphere is nearly twice the volume of Jupiters. That may be why weve found so many more moons orbiting Saturn even though its more distant from Earth and thus harder to search for companions.Neptune is so far from the sun that its Hill sphere is the largest of all the planets. Its possible that Neptune has far more moons than Jupiter or Saturn, and we just havent found them yet because theyre too faint to easily see from Earth.This still leaves us with some interesting edge cases. Pluto has five known moons. The largest, Charon, was discovered in 1978. Its roughly half the diameter of Pluto and has about one eighth its mass. Because of this, Charon doesnt so much orbit Pluto as they both orbit their barycenter, a mutual center of mass. This is like two people on a seesaw; the balance point is closer the person who weighs more. The Pluto-Charon barycenter is actually outside the body of Pluto itself! So is Charon a moon? Or is it more that they both comprise a binary planet?Even trickier, its possible for moons to have moons! Similar to the Hill sphere argument for planets, some moons can have a large enough sphere of influence to potentially possess moons of their own. What do we call these? Some people argue for the term moonmoon, which is delightful but somewhat imprecise. I prefer submoon.Dont even get me started on quasi-moons.In the end, the problem lies in our preference for straightforward simplicity rather than complex nuance; rigidly defining the term moon is hopeless because its not definable. Its a concept more than a definition, much like the term planet. Perhaps thats why the International Astronomical Union, the official keeper of celestial names and definitions, doesnt have a definition for what makes a moon.Humans like to put things in distinctive bins, but nature is not so prejudiced. Whenever objects fall into a range, a spectrum of characteristics, the transition along that spectrum tends to be smooth, and trying to wedge them into defined borders winds up generating more exceptions than rule-followers.Sometimes its best to accept something for what it is and not how it falls into our narrow classifications. You can understand it better that way, and isnt that the point?

March 20, 2025The Neurosurgeon Who Advised Severance Breaks Down Its ScienceA neurosurgeon who has acted as a consultant for Severance explains the science behind the shows brain-altering procedureand whether it could ever become reality. Anaissa Ruiz Tejada/Scientific AmericanSUBSCRIBE TO Science QuicklyRachel Feltman: For Scientific Americans Science Quickly, Im Rachel Feltman. Today were talking about the science of Severance.What if instead of struggling to find work-life balance, you could completely separate your professional identity from your personal one? That question kicks off the Apple TV+ show Severance, which just wrapped up its second season.In the world of the show, a company called Lumon Industries requires certain employees to undergo its severance procedure, which its spokespeople say means youll never have to take work home with you again. It also means you have to get a microchip implanted into your brain.On supporting science journalismIf you're enjoying this article, consider supporting our award-winning journalism by subscribing. By purchasing a subscription you are helping to ensure the future of impactful stories about the discoveries and ideas shaping our world today.To help make the procedure and its effects as realistic as possible, the folks behind Severance brought on a real-life neurosurgeon to consult on the show. Vijay Agarwal is chief of the Skull-Base Tumor Center at Montefiore Einstein [at the Einstein College of Medicine]. We sat down with him to get the inside scoop on the science of severance.Before we get into that chat, just a brief spoiler warning: we did our best to avoid any super-specific spoilers for recent episodes, but wed recommend waiting until youve watched at least episode seven of season two before listening.Thanks so much for coming on to chat with us today.Vijay Agarwal: Yeah, my pleasure.Feltman: So tell me how you got involved with the show Severance and what thats entailed.Agarwal: You know, its sort of hard for people to believe, but it really was just a call out of the blue. Just one day at work I got a call that they were looking for someone for a concept for a show that hadnt come out yet. That was pre-COVID, in a very different world ...Feltman: Right.Agarwal: Than we live in now. And it was just as simple as that. It was just a thought at that stageyou know, We wanna develop a procedure that implants a chip that separates your work life from your social life, from your everyday life. And we were off to the races.Feltman: Yeah. What were your initial thoughts and reactions when you first heard that premise?Agarwal: I thought it was a very cool concept, and I think I just directly went into how that could be a reality. You know, one of the things that Ben Stiller was really strict on was that he wanted this to be as believable as possible ...Feltman: Mm.Agarwal: As real as possible. There are some sort of creative allowances that happen as part of this process, but he really wanted the science to be real and to be believable, and I think thats part of the reason that people have really bonded with the show and in particular the science.Feltman: Yeah, well, thats a great segue to my next question, which is: What are some of the, the real science concepts and, you know, factual medical procedures that youve baked into the concept of the severance procedure?Agarwal: I made a statement a while ago that I dont think were far off from things like this happening, and I really firmly believe that. And were actually much closer than when I made that statement.Feltman: Mm.Agarwal: So if we had told somebody a few years ago that we would be implanting electrodes in the brain to stimulate the brain to treat people who are paralyzed and allow them to be able to walk again or treat their obsessive-compulsive disorder, their addiction, their severe suicidal depression, obesity, things like that, we would think people are crazy, but those things are actually happening currently in science. And almost every major academic center around the world is doing these sorts of procedures every day, in particular to help people with diseases like Parkinsons disease. And so it seems like a very science fiction-type concept, but its part of our everyday life as neurosurgeons and neuroscientists.Feltman: Well, and can you walk me through, you know, in creating the concept for the severance procedure, where did you sort of pepper in factual details, you know, for example, the placement of the chip?Agarwal: I actually think that that scene is very, very realistic.Feltman: Mm.Agarwal: And so weI borrowed from the science and the surgeries that we do today, even. So some of the navigation equipment that we use, I had that equipment shipped in. And so when I started, it really was just a concept: How do we develop the severance procedure? How do we sever people? Then we sort of developed the science, and I remember veryin the early days of the show sitting at a, you know, a big conference table with Ben and Dan [Erickson] and a lot of the producers, and we just had a whiteboard in it, and we would just spitball concepts ...Feltman: Mm.Agarwal: Until we found one that was, you know, really believable and the one that people liked and the one that Ben thought would fit with his vision.And so we really implant in an area that is able to process memories but, interestingly, associates those memories with emotion. Its the amygdala and hippocampus, so those sort of middle part of the structures, on the left side of the brain, which is the dominant side of the brain for most people. So what a great area to stimulate to really facilitate this ability to separate our innies from our outies: number one, the ability to process memories, but then, number two, the ability to, to associate those memories with emotion. So that was a perfect place to do it. And then, actually, the procedure was very realistic. So how we put the hole in the skull, the needle with which we use to implant the chip, those are things that we use every day in neurosurgery and neuroscience currently.Feltman: And you actually appear on camera to do the procedure, is that right?Agarwal: Season one, episode twoso when we implant the chip in Helly. So we really designed that set. So, you know, Ben had a very specific vision in mind, and then our goal was really to try to make that vision become a reality. And so everything was important on that set, from the scientific accuracy to the lighting to the cinematography. And so it was all specifically laid out to capture a purpose. And so thats the episode that I appeared in and very proud with the, the way it came out.Feltman: Yeah. So just to really spell out the actual neuroscience here, which I think is so cool, in your mindpardon the punwhat is that chip doing in there, in that part of the brain?Agarwal: As I mentioned before there are semultiple companies trying to do something on a different scale, which is trying to stimulate the brain to alter the way that it functions: so Elon Musks Neuralink; a lot of my friends are working on this technology at different centers around the country; Synchron is another company based out of New York thats trying to do something similar in terms of being able to modify the function of the brain by inputting electrical stimulation.And Elon, he gave a talk at one of our recent neurosurgery meetings, and hes compared the brain to a big circuit board. And then he likened the work that theyre doing with Neuralink is really adjusting the electricity thats going into the circuit board to modify the way that it fires, to change the way that it fires and really dictate how that circuit board functions to make your computer run a certain way, your TV run a certain way. And I think thats really the best way to look at what were doing in the severance procedure.If you look at the brain as, as one big computer, if you change the way that you, instruct the computer to function by really changing the way youre putting electricity in, by firing all of these neurons across the brain, you can really affect the way that your brain processes or pulls memories from its memory bankand then also to potentially modify what emotions are associated with those memories as well.And thats what the amygdala and hippocampus does: so the amygdala is very famous for fear responses and things like that, very profound emotion. And if you followed season two, I think this concept of fear and these really dark emotions are really prevalent in this season. And so whenone of the recent episodes, where we follow Cobel going to where she grew up, its a very kind of dark, fearful episode. And so thats exactly the type of brain and the emotions that were trying to conjure, is the stimulation of this amygdala and hippocampus.Feltman: Yeah, speaking of season twoI mean, back in season one, we were introduced to this concept of reintegration, where the severed consciousnesses kind of come back together, and weve seen a lot more of the messiness of that process in season two. Did you weigh in at all on what that might look like from a neuroscience perspective?Agarwal: Yeah, so I was actually on set for a lot of that work in terms of the reintegration, just to make sure that work was being done well. I worked with Adam Scott, who plays Mark, on some of the things, such as, in one of the recent episodes ...Feltman: Hmm.Agarwal: He had a seizure, and I thought he did an absolutely brilliant job portraying that, and, you know, it really shows sort of the academic stint a lot of the actors and Ben take in the show; I think Adam Scott and Ben Stiller in particular really look at this as almost homework, to try to really understand it. And so I helped Adam, and I was, you know, sendtexting with him after that episode because I was just so proud with how that seizure came out. It was, you know, it was very realistic, and thats a hard thing to capture.So we worked on that, and then the reintegration procedure, I had a lot of input with how that would workyou know, what sort of science would go into something like a reintegration procedureso I remember sending and reviewing ...Feltman: Mm.Agarwal: Articles from the literature about being able to do things that would be likened to reintegration or to really enhance things like electrical stimulation. We were able to use almost like a transmagnetic stimulation-type device. We were able to really use very realistic scientific methods to incorporate into this reintegration.Feltman: Yeah, and for listeners who dont know, could you talk a little bit about what TMS is and how it relates to what we saw in that reintegration episode?Agarwal: Yeah, transmagnetic stimulation, its an amazing technology, and its basically putting these magnetic fields into the brain to alter the way that your brain fires. And theres very good data to show that people who have become paralyzed can regain some functionalityso some ability to movein areas that are either weak or paralyzed.And so theres a lot of different uses for transmagnetic stimulation, and its delivered very similarly to the way that we saw in one of the earlier episodes, where Reghabi is reintegrating Mark in his basement. And so theres actually, today in society, transmagnetic stimulation medical spas ...Feltman: Mm.Agarwal: That you could go to to receive this very intense therapy. And so theres a lot of people who feel that this is really gonna be a major advance for us to use against things like paralysis and depression and things like that.Feltman: Yeah, thats super interesting.Speaking of reintegration weve seen some random acts of basement neurosurgery [laughs] in this season. From a neurological standpoint what kind of risks would someone like Mark be facing in that situation?Agarwal: I think there was a bit of a red herringso in one of the earlier episodes this season, where Reghabi was reintegrating Mark, you could see, as she was delivering this transmagnetic-type stimulation on the left side of the brain, his right hand start to shake ...Feltman: Mm.Agarwal: Really the left side of the brain controlling the right side of the body. And so the same risks that we saw, namely seizure, which we saw him have a very sort of total body seizure, those sorts of things would be a big risk. So bleeding in the brain: the brain didntdoesnt like anything sort of entering into the brain or disturbing the brain; its about a 1 percent risk of what we say is hemorrhage. Infection: so there being a big infection in that area, thats also a possibility. But I think irritating the brain is one of the most common side effects of a procedure like that. And when the brain is irritated, oftentimes itll manifest by seizing ...Feltman: Mm.Agarwal: Which means really firing electrons abnormally in the brain, which is what we saw.Feltman: So weve talked about season two a little bit and about fear and, and emotion in memory. Obviously, in one of the kind of biggest and most impactful episodes of season two, we saw a character who seemed to be severed many times over and have this, like, very compartmentalized consciousness and was experiencing a lot of emotions that were then cut off when they emerged from, you know, that area of the floor they were on. How much more complicated do you think that would be than sort of a standard severance floor chip behavior weve seen so far?Agarwal: You mean in real life?Feltman: Yeah.Agarwal: I think it would actually be less complicated ...Feltman: Oh, yeah?Agarwal: So currently, right now, theres these amazing videospeople who wanna go to YouTube and see this, they canthese very amazing videos of people with Parkinsons disease, which is a neurodegenerative disease, and oftentimes one of the biggest symptoms they have is uncontrollable shaking. So we actually, as part of the standard of care of treating these patients, well put electrodes into very specific parts of the brain and deliver electricity, and when you turn it on theyll almost completely stop shaking. And when you turn it off, which is a flip of a switch externally, they start shaking uncontrollably, to the point that they cant care for themselves, they cant shower, they cant eat, they cant function in societyjust from a flip of a switch externally.So imagine youre able to do that from, like, your phone, anywhere in the world. But then it allyou know, it begs the question: Who is the one flipping that switch? And ethically who should have the right to flip that switch?Feltman: Yeah. Last question: you know, Severance is one of those shows that inspires so many fan theories, more and more with every episode. Im just curious, when friends and patients talk to you, how often do you get people trying to, you know, pull some secret Severance info out of you or get you to weigh in on their theories?Agarwal: Yeah, you know, itsI think people have strayed away from doing that. What Ive noticed is that I actually rarely get asked, and thats good because my response is always, Well, I guess youll just have to see the rest of the season, so Ive been trained well.But I actually have more people, even in the general community, just wanna talk about ...Feltman: Mm.Agarwal: The show, not specifically trying to figure out what happens in the later episodes; theyre just so fascinated with the show and the concept and the way that its written and the work that, you know, Ben, Dan and Mark have doneand the rest of the team as well. And its really amazing to see the response to the show cause people just wanna talk about it.Its like when people read a good book and they wanna talk to other people who have read the book and they just really delve into, you know, What did this mean? What do you think this means? And people just wanna talk about the show. And I absolutely love it cause I think its brilliant, I love the show, I love watching the show, and I, you know, love talking about it. And so I actually dont get people really poking about what happens later on in the show. I get people who really genuinely enjoy it and actually just wanna talk about it, just wanna talk shop, and I enjoy that as well, and I think that really speaks to the response the show has had.Feltman: Absolutely. Well, thank you so much for joining us to chat. As a Severance fan I have really loved this, so we really appreciate it.Agarwal: Yeah, my pleasure, and Im excited for you guys to see the rest of the season.Feltman: Thats all for todays episode. If youre listening to this in our podcast feed, you can check out a version with video over on our YouTube channel. Well be back on Monday with our usual science news roundup.Science Quickly is produced by me, Rachel Feltman, along with Fonda Mwangi, Kelso Harper, Naeem Amarsy and Jeff DelViscio. This episode was edited by Alex Sugiura. Shayna Posses and Aaron Shattuck fact-check our show. Our theme music was composed by Dominic Smith. Subscribe to Scientific American for more up-to-date and in-depth science news.For Scientific American, this is Rachel Feltman. Have a great weekend!

Nintendo has announced its next batch of SNES games headed to the Switch Online catalogue - and there's a pretty obvious nod to Assassin's Creed Shadows on the list. Read more

Microsoft seemingly has an update in mind for the Xbox App which will show every game users have installed on their PC. That includes titles on both Steam and Epic Games. Read more

You can trust VideoGamer. Our team of gaming experts spend hours testing and reviewing the latest games, to ensure you're reading the most comprehensive guide possible. Rest assured, all imagery and advice is unique and original. Check out how we test and review games hereMarvel Rivals has engaged its players with dynamic hero shooter action and a stunning assortment of character skins. These cosmetic skins have been a big hit, allowing fans to personalize their favorite Marvel characters with iconic looks from comics, films, and unique concepts.Players cant get enough of these new interpretations from Spider-Mans punk-inspired Spider-Punk 2099 to Storms regal Goddess of Thunder. Fans are reacting on social media, complimenting the creativitysuch as Iron Mans industrial Steam Power armorand showing off their collections in ranked battles. Fans are also hooked on freebies like Black Widows Mrs. Barnes skin and Groots Carved Traveler from events, while premium bundles keep the frenzy alive. Now, anticipation is growing for a new manga collaboration that promises much more with outfits designed by superstar artist Peach Momoko who is renowned for her Psylocke design in the game.Upcoming Marvel Rivals manga will bring three Japanese-themed skins to the gameMarvel Rivals has announced an upcoming manga series called Ignite #1 which will feature art by Peach Momoko and will take heroes back in time into medieval Japan. The one-shot will reveal three new skins, hinting at a blend of Marvel flare and manga artwork that will undoubtedly excite fans when they arrive in-game.Three new Marvel Rivals costumes will arrive with the release of the Manga series. Image by VideoGamer.Leaks have further shown how these outfits will look once theyre added to the game and three heroes, namely Luna Snow, Hela, and Punisher are said to get these outfits first. However, players may also expect skins for Peni Parker, Spider-Man, and Venom, which will be introduced at a later date. The concept designs were leaked on Reddit and were designed by Momoko herself.Fans are excited about the new Luna Snow skin, with many intending to purchase it, and there is anticipation that it will be utilized for in-game events such as the Hellfire Gala. Along with the excitement, there is a promotional giveaway of game-related stuff. There is also significant criticism regarding Luna Snows marketing prominence, with some fans seeing her as a cash cow for the game.Marvel Games Executive Producer Danny Koo also shared the announcement regarding the one-shot manga that is due to be released in June 2025. This means that players will highly likely get the skins in the game during Marvel Rivals Season 2 or beyond in the store. However if NetEase tends to take the same approach Epic Games took with Fortnite comics by granting players free skins, it would massively open up a huge market for fans to buy physical comics as well.Marvel RivalsPlatform(s):macOS, PC, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series S, Xbox Series XGenre(s):Fighting, ShooterRelated TopicsMarvel Rivals Subscribe to our newsletters!By subscribing, you agree to our Privacy Policy and may receive occasional deal communications; you can unsubscribe anytime.Share

You can trust VideoGamer. Our team of gaming experts spend hours testing and reviewing the latest games, to ensure you're reading the most comprehensive guide possible. Rest assured, all imagery and advice is unique and original. Check out how we test and review games hereThe original Half-Life is not only one of the best FPS games ever made (until Xen), but also one of the most important games of the modern era. While we live in the universe where the game was released in stores with a great deal of marketing, publisher Sierra On-Line planned to abandon the game shortly after release.While Half-Life eventually became one of the best-selling PC games of its time, it didnt start off that way. Early sales were quite dismal, piracy was rampant, and it wasnt until the games Game of the Year Edition reprint that the game became the success we know today, but Sierra didnt want to support the game after its initial release.Sierra almost killed Half-LifeSpeaking at GDC 2025, via GamesRadar, former Valve CMO Monica Harrington revealed that Sierra executives planned to launch or leave the game. Harrington and Valve co-founder Gabe Newell were told that the publisher would scrap all marketing from Half-Life to focus on other Sierra titles.Half-Life would quietly die, Harrington explained. I felt stunned.In a move worthy of a cinematic biopic moment (come on, Fincher), Harrington threatened to expose Sierras fumbling business to the games industry as a whole. If marketing funds were pulled from Half-Life, developers and journalists would learn everything about the state of the company. Needless to say, Sierra caved in.When Sierra told us about their plans to abandon Half-Life, I felt like someone had slapped me across the face, they explained.. Very quickly, I told Sierra that not only were they not going to pull marketing dollars from Half-Life, they were going to relaunch it in a GOTY box. And I said if you dont, were going to tell the game development industry, which is starting to fall in love with Valve, exactly how screwed up Sierra is.With Valve still deep in the hole from developing the original Half-Life, Harrington explains the moment was make or break for the company. While they didnt know how Sierra would respond, their threat was received in full.Sierra relented and began making plans to launch a new GOTY edition, and when it launched, Half-Life rocketed back up the best-seller list, and the GOTY was a huge success, the former Valve executive said.Needless to say, Sierra On-Line doesnt exist today. After countless scandals, controversies, mergers and moreseriously, just look at that companys historythe publisher was swallowed up by Vivendi Games which was then merged with Activision. Sierra On-Line was one of the biggest messes in the games industry, but one that released some of the best PC games ever made, including Half-Life. What a time.Today, Half-Life is still alive barely. After the release of the absolutely amazing VR spin-off Half-Life: Alyx, the second game in the series is also getting a gorgeous RTX remake which looks very shiny indeed. Still no third game, though.Half-LifePlatform(s):Dreamcast, Linux, macOS, PC, PlayStation 2Genre(s):Action, Platformer, Puzzle, ShooterSubscribe to our newsletters!By subscribing, you agree to our Privacy Policy and may receive occasional deal communications; you can unsubscribe anytime.Share

Perhaps the most idiosyncratic thing about the house is its floor plan, which sprawls a bit awkwardly to accommodate its hilly site. It kind of meanders, explains Byron of the terraced arrangement, where the garage sits at street level and one descends into the home, reaching the bedrooms after three or four sets of stairs. In LA, where rooms tend to be larger, blending together with ease, this cutup compartmentalization proved a challenge.Theres definitely a sense of discovery, explains Chan. Because youre not seeing everything all at once. We tried to create consistency through color while providing a new set of textures or materials in each room. For furnishings, they leaned into sleek, Art Deco, and French modernist forms by the likes of Jean-Michel Frank, Josef Hoffman, and Francis Jourdain, mixing in unexpected accents, like the Japanese copper door hung horizontally as an artwork in the living room. Its actually made of small pieces of metal that are hammered together, explains Chan of the work, sourced from local design emporium Galerie Half. And you can see a little door handle. Looking at interiors of Giorgio Armani and Peter Marino, they brought in parchment detailsin the form of folding screens, end tables, and lampsto deliver subtle texture.Office of BC custom designed the unusual triangular island in the kitchen, which is painted Farrow & Balls Slipper Satin. The pendant is vintage Bruno Gatta for Stilnovo and the range is La Cornue.A few rooms had to be tinkered with, like the kitchen, where Murphy wanted something more modern than the rest of the house and that was conducive to hosting. To add to that, he quips, I didnt want to walk in the front door and be staring at a stove. So Chan and Byron worked to reframe the space. The whole houseand, in particular, where the kitchen sitsis on an angle, explains Chan. It has so many funky lines, which is how we landed on that almost trapezoid-shaped island. In their rendition, where Arabescato Altissimo stone countertops top custom millwork, a slew of appliances (including two dishwashers) are totally concealed.In many areas around the house, custom features were designed to fit the clients specific needs. In the primary bedroom, for example, he wanted a canopy bed but, as Chan recalls, either things went too medieval or too traditional. They ended up designing a piece that blended those two looks, adding a canopy to soften the rigidity of the ironwork. Meanwhile, for the entry, they created a table and stool set from carved black walnut. When the sofa they sourced from France for the media-slash-guest-room didnt feel right in the space, the duo set to work devising a bespoke option, wrapped in forest green Claremont velvet, that was roomy enough for a friend to crash on.The designers like to think of this project as the latest chapter in the long lineage of the house. Were so into the research, says Byron. Ultimately, the process was driven by wanting to make something that adds to the history of the home. Chan elaborates: In 20 or 30 years, maybe it evolves and morphs and takes the best of our version and some parts of the previous ones.