MRI scans can reveal how a brain is ageingDennis Hallinan / Alamy Stock PhotoLately, my brain has felt decidedly ancient. Im only in my 40s, but last week I completely blanked on the date of my wedding anniversary, forgot the name of a friends son and couldnt seem to concentrate on any work.So when I was asked to write a column for New Scientist all about the brain, one question immediately came to mind: how old is mine? Years of research show that organs such as our heart, kidneys and ovaries dont all age

2025-03-21T12:35:56Z Read in app Jimmy Kimmel took aim at Elon Musk on his show this week. Tommaso Boddi/Getty Images/Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images This story is available exclusively to Business Insider subscribers. Become an Insider and start reading now.Have an account? Jimmy Kimmel joked about Elon Musk on two shows this week."When you pull out a chainsaw to celebrate firing thousands of people, they get mad," the host said.Musk clapped back and called Kimmel an "unfunny jerk."Talkshow host Jimmy Kimmel criticized Elon Musk over two nights as the backlash against the Tesla CEO continued.The comedian's jokes came after Musk responded to the way people protested against his EV maker. Tesla showrooms and charging stations have been targeted by arson attacks and shootings.Musk said in a Fox News interview on Tuesday that Tesla was a "peaceful company" and that he'd "never done anything harmful."A clip of the interview was shown on Wednesday's episode of "Jimmy Kimmel Live!" and the talk show host referenced the Trump inauguration rally where Musk wielded a chainsaw onstage.Kimmel said: "Well, let me see if I can explain it for you: when you pull out a chainsaw to celebrate firing thousands of people, they get mad! This poor guy, you do one, maybe two Nazi salutes, and everybody gets all bent out of shape."Musk reacted to the jokes in an X post, calling Kimmel an "unfunny jerk."The talk show host has been a vocal critic of Musk and President Donald Trump, and even called out Trump onstage at the 2024 Oscars.Kimmel doubled down on Musk on his Thursday show, continuing to poke fun at the Tesla CEO and highlighting Tesla's Cybertruck recall."Tesla is not having a good week. Today they issued a recall of nearly all 46,000 of their Cybertrucks. That's the eighth Cybertruck recall since they came out in November of 2023. It's 15 months eight recalls," he said."I mentioned last night multiple Teslas were burned at a Tesla facility in Las Vegas. Authorities are now investigating which Teslas were set on fire and which set themselves on fire."Kimmel continued to joke about violent protests and suggested that some were seemingly more acceptable than others."And while no one should be setting anything on fire, ever, people are mad at Elon Musk for randomly and gleefully putting thousands of Americans out of work, including veterans. But the MAGA gang, which has been very against any kind of violent protest since January 7, was it? 2021? That's when they started being against it they are highly upset," he said.Musk did not respond to Kimmel's second joke on X.

2025-03-21T12:27:07Z Read in app Google's crackdown on spam has cut some publishers' traffic. Getty Images; Jenny Chang-Rodriguez/BI This story is available exclusively to Business Insider subscribers. Become an Insider and start reading now.Have an account? Publishers like Dotdash Meredith and Forbes are taking big steps to counter a Google crackdown.Google targeted what it considered spammy content, which impacted many product-review articles.Dotdash Meredith and others cut ties with some freelancers and scrubbed their articles.Freelance writers who worked with digital media companies like IAC-owned Dotdash Meredith and Forbes are feeling the pain as outlets take extreme measures to prevent Google from squeezing their traffic.Google began cracking down last year on third-party material provided to publishers that it considered spammy and designed to take advantage of reputable outlets' search authority. The move affected some freelancer-written product review articles and coupon pages.In response, Dotdash Meredith and Forbes cut ties with some freelancers and assigned their own staffers to rewrite freelancer stories, according to multiple people at each outlet and documents seen by Business Insider. Freelancers who worked for third-party companies that supplied content to publishers including Credible and Forbes Marketplace, an entity partly owned by Forbes were often identified as high risk.A third publisher, CNN, stopped using Forbes Marketplace to source review articles for one of its verticals of its review section, CNN Underscored. CNN said that while it's still using a core group of freelancers across its verticals, it stopped them from appearing in Google searches by de-indexing them. This will make those articles less discoverable but potentially avoid Google's wrath.One former Dotdash Meredith freelancer said it was "shocking" to see their articles disappear from one of the company's sites."I understand the state of the business, but it's definitely affected me," this person said of being cut off by the company.Two Dotdash Meredith staffers told BI that some employees on editorial are holding their noses as they re-create articles originally written by longtime freelancers."I'm rewriting other people's work, which feels gross," one of the editorial staffers at Dotdash Meredith told BI. "We're all working for Google."A Dotdash Meredith spokesperson didn't comment on the rewriting but said it continues to work with freelancers, and a Forbes spokesperson said it had updated its strategy to "include bringing more of our testing and writing in-house for both Forbes Vetted and Forbes Advisor."Google said in a statement that site reputation abuse leads to a bad search experience and that freelance and affiliate content are not policy violations in their own right. It also said the company isn't targeting freelancers by name.The Google changes hit what had been a rare bright spot for the digital media business: affiliate revenue. In this model, a website earns a commission when someone clicks and buys a product based on an article or coupon.Many publishers relied on freelancers to write much of this content or even outsourced it entirely to operations including Forbes Marketplace, or in the case of coupons, companies like Global Savings Group and Savings United."Publishers are going to great pains to show the Google algorithm the content is being produced in-house it's all being done by fully employed staff," said Jeff Li, who was Time digital GM through 2024 and is now consulting to publishers. Dotdash Meredith is having staff recreate some articles by freelancers. : Plexi Images/GHI/Universal Images Group via Getty Images Dotdash Meredith is taking a hard look at its operationsGoogle's crackdown is a particular problem for Dotdash Meredith, which owns a portfolio of service sites like Allrecipes and Investopedia.Dotdash Meredith built its business on its ability to answer surfers' questions and rank high in search results, making it the envy of many in the publishing world. Affiliate revenue has also been a fast-growing area for the company, though it has been trying to decrease its reliance on Google by directly connecting with audiences through methods like emails, social media, and live events.Late last year, Google notified Dotdash Meredith that some of its sites violated Google's spam policies, two of the insiders said. Since then, Dotdash Meredith has been reducing its use of freelancers who have a history of working for other publishers it believed to be Google targets. It's also been unpublishing their articles and reassigning them to in-house staff, according to three insiders and documents seen by BI.Dotdash Meredith regularly prunes old, out-of-date material from its sites. But in this case, it's removing relatively new articles.One staffer estimated, based on internal documents, that at least 100 freelancers across Dotdash Meredith properties had been affected. Another said they were told to "ghost" people rather than inform them directly of the change in strategy."There's a real story in how these policies of Google's have the potential to ruin freelance journalists' lives within a blink of an eye," the first staffer said.The moves extend beyond freelancers.Dotdash Meredith is removing the bylines of some of its in-house recipe developers who work on multiple of its food sites and moving their names to the bottom of the recipe, according to two insiders and documents seen by BI.It has also considered limiting writers to just one brand to minimize the appearance of their names, and having writers use pseudonyms, these people said.Google's algorithm is a black boxThe measures show just how much is at stake.Many publishers have been challenged in recent years as social media traffic has fallen. That's made ranking highly in Google search paramount. But Google's algorithm that determines search results is a black box and is based on many factors, which makes it hard for publishers to isolate the impact of any one action they take.Dotdash Meredith's biggest recipe sites weren't affected by Google's spam crackdown anyway, according to data shared by Lily Ray, an SEO specialist at Amsive, a performance marketing firm.There are also signs the tides could be shifting.Publishers, including The Wall Street Journal, CNN, and Forbes, started to see traffic to their product-review sections tick back up in March after a period of decline, according to data that multiple SEO analysts shared with BI.Have a tip? Contact this reporter via email at lmoses@businessinsider.com or Signal, Telegram, or WhatsApp at 917-209-8549. Use a personal email address and a nonwork device; here's our guide to sharing information securely.

In the first few months of the Covid-19 pandemic, the media did not exactly cover itself in glory. To quote myself from an early February 2020 piece, when the virus had already been spreading for more than a month in China and the US already had confirmed cases: In the last week or so, new cases of the 2019-nCoV coronavirus have soared so have news articles scolding us for worrying about it. Dont worry about the coronavirus. Worry about the flu, BuzzFeed argued. The flu poses the bigger and more pressing peril, the Washington Post said. Why should we be afraid of something that has not killed people here in this country? an epidemiologist argued in the LA Times. Other outlets have agreed. An ex-White House health adviser has told Americans to stop panicking and being hysterical.My article made the case that maybe it was slightly reasonable to worry about the coronavirus. But of course, I got some crucial stuff wrong, too. I wrote: Similarly, theres a conspiracy theory circulating that the virus escaped from a Wuhan research lab. (Not true.) And theres a different conspiracy theory that it was engineered by Bill Gates (who funds a research group that has done pandemic-control exercises about a hypothetical deadly coronavirus). (Also not true.) Internet trolls have spread false claims that drinking bleach protects against coronavirus. (Please dont do this.)Two of those conspiracy theories were in fact absurd, but one was correct: the virus absolutely may have escaped from a Wuhan research lab. Well probably never know, but we know for sure that many of the scientists publicly asserting that this was a wild conspiracy theory privately worried that it was true. But my article isnt the main thing that people think of when I ask them how they feel Vox handled the early coronavirus crisis. Instead, almost everyone I talk to remembers another article that Recode (at that time a vertical of Vox) ran a week later. The piece was headlined No handshakes, please: The tech industry is terrified of the coronavirus, and while it doesnt actually contain any blatant factual inaccuracies, the tone is very clear: Only a paranoid tech bro would be worrying about the coronavirus. Data from the CDC suggests that the flu is a greater threat to Americans than the coronavirus. Yet unlike the flu, the coronavirus is new and not well understood, which makes it especially scary to the public, including Silicon Valleys elite, the article argues. But of course, even at that early moment in the pandemic, it was entirely correct to be more nervous about the novel coronavirus which had a much wider range of possible outcomes than a known health threat like the flu.Almost no one I talk to here in the Bay Area about Voxs performance on Covid-19 remembers my article pushing back on dismissiveness and warning people should take Covid more seriously. Almost all of them remember the contempt they felt that the Recode article was encouraging toward them. The lesson here for the media and for anyone who works in public communication is that its much easier to lose trust than to gain it.Moving forward without ever looking backA few weeks later, Europe was hit hard with the first catastrophic Covid surges hospitals overwhelmed, bodies piling up, patients struggling to breathe in hallways and the media started taking Covid seriously. In a sense, this is exactly what is supposed to happen people saw new information and changed their minds. But the fact that there was an abrupt swerve was rarely acknowledged. When a journalist writes a piece that contains a clear factual inaccuracy requiring a correction, its a pretty big deal. Ive had to issue corrections, and quite a few people are involved: my boss has to spend a fair bit of time working with me on the wording, and their boss has to sign off. Corrections are a high priority in the media people will drop lots of other work to get a correction to a piece up. Journalists feel real pressure not to get things factually wrong, and to fix them when they do. A reporter having written several pieces that needed serious corrections is the kind of thing that will absolutely show up negatively on a performance review.But theres no clear mechanism for similar reflection when a piece doesnt necessarily get the facts wrong, but just frames them wrongly. Thats a problem, because framing can do just as much to misinform readers as facts. The price of ignoring getting it wrongIn the case of the Covid pandemic, early coverage that dismissed peoples fears and suggested they were irrational probably delayed our collective response and lastingly decreased the credibility of the media and public health communicators when they later needed to muster a serious response. A lot of the fault here lies with public health officials, many of whom initially downplayed the threat and called the lab origin theory a conspiracy. But too often the media tended to treat these proclamations without the skeptical questioning that was warranted, especially given the uncertainty. And while Ive chosen to highlight the early February spats over whether Covid was less concerning than the flu, this pattern repeated itself over and over again. This story was first featured in the Future Perfect newsletter.Sign up here to explore the big, complicated problems the world faces and the most efficient ways to solve them. Sent twice a week.The initial justification for lockdowns was that we just needed a few weeks to slow the spread so our first responders werent overwhelmed; but then those lockdowns persisted, without clear acknowledgment that the plan had changed. On masks, the line went from masks dont help much and should be reserved for first responders and doctors (the contradiction here rarely acknowledged) to masks are crucial.Outdoor gatherings were always much safer than indoor ones (and I said so here in Vox from early on), but a lot of public health officials criticized outdoor gatherings up until the Black Lives Matter protests, at which point they largely said such events were fine. Every one of these changes happened without much reflection on why we had previously got it wrong. Every one of them spent credibility that was desperately needed with the American people. Every one meant treating people, frankly, like they werent very smart, and in the long run did incalculable damage to public trust.So why hasnt there been more of a reckoning? The primary reason is that there are incredibly powerful incentives for everyone involved not to participate in one. With something as new and as fast moving as Covid, it was almost inevitable that everybody would get something radically wrong. When we open up the Pandoras box of recriminations and accountability, our mistakes loom much larger than our correct calls. The sociologist Zeynep Tufekci, one of the better pandemic commentators, wrote earlier this week about how we were lied to about the possibility of a Covid lab leak. She was met by near universal, seething hostility from Twitter, which blamed her for all of the New York Timess bad coverage of everything related to the whole pandemic. A better way to cover uncertaintyIm expecting a similar overwhelmingly negative response to this piece, in which I admit a mistake initially dismissing the lab leak theory that everyone had probably forgotten about. Ours is a media environment that doesnt encourage acknowledging your errors; its much safer to memory hole them. With Covid, this has been made worse by the fact that there are still major disagreements over key questions about our response. I think that masks work to prevent the spread of disease, though I also think we made the wrong tradeoff in requiring kids to wear masks and generally refused to acknowledge what a major sacrifice they were for many people who just hated the feeling on their faces. But thats not satisfying to someone who thinks that all masking policy was a mistake and that a true Covid admission of errors would mean admitting that masks didnt work, period. I think the vaccines were great, so my takeaways on the lessons from Covid wont be convincing to the half of the country that thinks the vaccines were terrible. Given all that, its not shocking that there hasnt been a real Covid reckoning. But I think that has been very, very damaging. Every single one of us lived through a devastating period during the pandemic. Many of us buried loved ones. Many worked to exhaustion in overcrowded hospitals. Many were asked to make sacrifices that they feel were later treated with contempt and indifference. It was a massive, collective world-altering event and now that its over we barely talk about it, because talking about it would mean reckoning with it and no one in power wants to reckon with it. So Covids long-term effects will reverberate through the country: lower trust in institutions, an absolute unwillingness to think seriously about preventing the next pandemic, failing schools, and rising isolation. And all that will unfold without any real clarity on how we got here and how we can make sure it never happens again.A version of this story originally appeared in the Future Perfect newsletter. Sign up here!Youve read 1 article in the last monthHere at Vox, we're unwavering in our commitment to covering the issues that matter most to you threats to democracy, immigration, reproductive rights, the environment, and the rising polarization across this country.Our mission is to provide clear, accessible journalism that empowers you to stay informed and engaged in shaping our world. By becoming a Vox Member, you directly strengthen our ability to deliver in-depth, independent reporting that drives meaningful change.We rely on readers like you join us.Swati SharmaVox Editor-in-ChiefSee More:

Disneys new live-action Snow White, dogged by controversy after controversy, must have been cursed at birth by a wicked fairy (oops, wait, wrong fairy tale).It has to be disconcerting for the studio. The original animated film was such a massive success when it was first released in 1937 that it more or less invented the genre of not just the Disney princess movie, but also the Disney feature-length animated movie, and all the copies thereof that followed. Some of the tropes it innovated are still fundamental to what we think an animated movie should look like, for no better reason than the fact that Snow White did them nearly 90 years ago.Currently, the live-action Snow White is mixed up in at least half a dozen more controversies than Disney would care to have associated with its most reliable moneymaker. A brief overview: Rachel Zegler, who plays Snow White in the new live-action film, has said that the original film was unfeminist, criticized Donald Trump and his supporters and then had to apologize for it, and spoken out in solidarity with Palestinians in the Gaza War, all of which enraged conservative audiences. Outright racist commenters were also upset that Zegler, who has Colombian heritage, would be playing a character traditionally known for the pallor of her skin. Meanwhile, Gal Gadot, who plays the Evil Queen, has been vocally supportive of her native Israel in the midst of the war. Finally, actors with dwarfism have taken issue with the movie for its depiction of dwarves. In response, Disney has tamped down its marketing machine, restricting press on the red carpet, sending its leading ladies to exclusively friendly outlets, and offering a reduced window for ticket sales compared to previous live-action releases. The Hollywood Reporter wrote that, for Hollywood insiders, Disneys attitude screams, We need to get this thing over with. We have zero faith.The controversy offers a strange, queasy fate for Snow White, one of Disneys most foundational films. In defining the genre, it also shaped childhood for generations of Americans. The Walt Disney Corporation might be the house that Mickey Mouse built, but he did it on Snow Whites dime. How Snow White went from Disneys Folly to Disneys greatest successSnow White and the Seven Dwarfs advertisement, 1937.From the outside, Snow White had all the makings of a boondoggle. No one had ever made a feature-length animated film before it, and looking at the silly, squishy, fluorescent cartoons of the era, it was hard to imagine why anyone would want to sit through one that lasted over an hour. Cartoons are good for a giggle, but who wants one that stretches on forever? Still, Walt Disney was determined to make an animated feature that would be easy to sit through, that would have genuine artistic merit. Getting the medium to that point would prove to be expensive.Throughout the 1930s, Disney turned his animation studio into what was essentially a laboratory for how to make a great animated film. He had long considered his Silly Symphony shorts to be the artistic cousin to the slapstick Mickey Mouse shorts, and now he was taking them more seriously than ever. He poured money into figure drawing lessons for his animators, into classes on the art of the great European fairy tale illustrators, into studies on how the play of light should look in animation. He paid for huge and expensive leaps forward in technology, most notoriously the creation of a multi-plane camera that allowed for new levels of depth and perspective within a single frame. Walt Disney was determined to make an animated feature that would be easy to sit through, that would have genuine artistic merit.In the end, Snow White cost $1.5 million in 1937 dollars, about $34 million today. Newspapers of the time called Snow White Disneys folly. Instead, when Snow White made it to theaters, it became a smash hit. Audiences reportedly burst into tears when they saw Snow White lying in the glass coffin, surrounded by weeping dwarves. The premiere was greeted with a standing ovation. Sergei Eisenstein, the Soviet director who invented montage, declared it the greatest film ever made. It grossed $66 million at the box office, becoming briefly the highest-grossing sound picture ever until Gone with the Wind premiered two years later. Before Snow White, no one had ever managed to make animation so naturalistic and expressive. The animation in short films up until that point had been silly, vaudeville-inflected; mostly featuring animals because humans were too hard to draw in an appealing way mostly with static and unchanging expressions, on flat, simplistic backgrounds. But Snow White took place in a deep, rich, painterly world, and Snow White herself was a charming, beautiful human figure who could blush and laugh and cry in ways that made the audience blush and laugh and cry right back at her. It was an entirely new effect, one to which people responded powerfully. One surprising thingIn the 1937 Snow White, not all the human characters were as naturalistic as Walt Disney would have liked. The Princes role was minimized as much as possible because Disney felt they could never quite get his face right. Watch it again and youll see what he meant. But Snow White also had commercial appeal in a way that seemed to flummox Disney, and that took him a while to figure out how to duplicate. He continued developing Snow Whites animation style over his next two features, 1940s Pinocchio and Fantasia, both of which arguably surpassed Snow White in artistic accomplishment but also failed to make money. The massive success of Snow White bought Disney enough credit that he could keep taking out loans to finance his ever-more-expensive films, but after Fantasia, the company was near bankruptcy. Disney made Dumbo (1941) and Bambi (1942) on the cheap, abandoning the expensive oil painting look of his first three films for a more stylized, pencil-stroke-heavy animation style that could be churned out quickly. The company kept floating through World War II on the strength of a series of military propaganda films, but it wouldnt achieve a true box office smash again until 1950, when it released Cinderella, a movie that followed carefully in the footsteps of Snow White. In a world where the two highest-grossing Disney films were Snow White and Cinderella, the matter became settled: A successful Disney movie would look like Snow White. Even today, after Pixar, after fully rendered animation, after Frozen, it still does. How Disney learned the Snow White formulaA Snow White character acts in Mickeys Soundsational Parade at Disneyland Park in Anaheim, California, on Friday, May 24, 2013. Patrick T. Fallon/Bloomberg via Getty ImagesDisney occasionally messes with the formula, but the great classics of the studio tend to follow this basic template set by Snow White 90 years ago. Snow White was a musical because commercial films in 1937 were musicals. In todays Hollywood, musicals arent commercial guarantees, but we still think of music as being fundamental to the Disney formula. Snow White begins the movie by wishing for her prince to come and the prince singing back to her now Disney movies tend to give their protagonist an I want song and the lovers a duet. Snow White doesnt have a villain song, but the Evil Queen is so fabulously campy that songs like Poor Unfortunate Souls are a natural extension of the legacy she began. Not all Disney animated movies are about princesses or even based on fairy tales, but in unprofitable periods, Disney generally turns to a princess to turn things around. The Little Mermaid in 1989 rocketed the studio out of its so-called dark age and into the Disney Renaissance, and after a slump in the 2000s, Disney leaned hard into the princess formula with The Princess and the Frog, Tangled, and Frozen. Disney fairy tales tend to be gently bowdlerized and made sentimental (Snow White didnt wake up because of true loves kiss until Disney got their hands on her), and to this day, the studio loves adding a didactic moral lesson to their tales, like the lesson in Snow White that love conquers all. Snow White had cute animal sidekicks as well as comic magical ones; both would become a staple of Disney storytelling going forward. Snow Whites blue and yellow and red gown would become her signature outfit, an increasingly important piece of Disneys visual iconography and of the princesses that followed. Snow White even innovated the classic Disney strategy of keeping the heros hands clean by having the villain die accidentally, falling from a great height in the middle of a crescendo of evil laughter. What Disney left behind following Snow White were some of its most stylized elements. At moments, the animation plays with the jagged, aggressive lines of German Expressionism: When Snow White runs into the wild forest, the trees loom out of the darkness and the eyes of wild animals flash at her in lurid, vicious cuts. Disney would continue to play with this aesthetic in Pinocchio and Fantasia, which is part of why they are largely considered to be his scariest films, but later animated features would smooth out such frightening scenes into gentler, less thrilling action sequences. Disney would also abandon the part of Snow White that plays most strangely for modern audiences. As critic Caroline Siede has written, Snow White is constructed like a classical opera or a ballet, with static, unchanging characters. You might think of Snow White as a figure like Pamina, the ingenue in The Magic Flute: shes at the center of the plot, but all she does is fall in love over the course of a single duet, and she never really changes after that. Her funny magic sidekick and villainous mother figure steal the show. In later films, Disney would embrace a more cinematic style of storytelling, with characters who want more than true love and who have to overcome some internal flaw in order to get what they want. The first Snow White was like nothing that anyone had ever seen before. The new Snow White is a cinematic cliche.The new live-action Snow White plays as an uncanny attempt to retroactively apply this formula to Disneys oldest and strongest story. In the new film, Snow White wants to protect her kingdom from the selfish Evil Queen, but to save the day, she has to overcome her fear and self-doubt. She still sings Waiting on a Wish by the wishing well, but now she sings about how much she wants to be brave. All the updates are so generic that in the end, the whole thing reads as storytelling by committee. Yet as Disney attempts to update its storytelling, it leaves behind the part of Snow White that had those first audiences sobbing in their seats: that ravishing, painterly, glorious hand-drawn animation. The first Snow White was like nothing that anyone had ever seen before. The new Snow White is a cinematic clich.Snow White invented a genre and a new art form. It was shockingly original, so much so that you could use it to derive the formula for dozens of movies to come. But as Disney tries to lean into Snow Whites legacy, it leans more and more into formula, into a refusal to take risks and make new things. In the end, Disney may have taken the wrong lessons from its greatest success. See More:

Its hard to believe that got there by accident (Microsoft)Microsoft has accidentally revealed its next gen Xbox plans, which seem to revolve around Steam integration and a move away from console development.Microsoft has said almost nothing about its next generation Xbox console so far and yet the rumours of the last few weeks, suggesting that it is essentially a PC in a box, have been very easy to believe.The rumours may not be officially confirmed for a while, but they almost were on Thursday evening, when Microsoft accidentally put up a graphic showing an Xbox dashboard with a Steam tab on it.Not only that but a few hours later a report emerged that Microsoft is planning to ditch the current ERA development environment of the Xbox Series X/S in favour of Win32, making the next Xbox literally a PC and meaning that current gen games will only be backwards compatible via emulation.Microsoft has already talked about bringing the best of Xbox and Windows together but until now its never been clear what that means.However, a blog post entitled Opening a Billion Doors with Xbox accidentally used an image of an Xbox dashboard in which you could clearly see a Steam tab, although it was not selected or referenced in the text.The UI is brand new and is shown running on a TV, a tablet, and a handheld device. Its clearly just a mock-up though as the Owned and Action-adventure tabs are both shown twice, so there is a possibility the Steam tab was a mistake although someone still went to the trouble to create the Steam tab for the purposes of the image.According to The Verge, Microsofts current plan is to create an Xbox app that shows every game you have installed on your PC, including from other launchers such as Steam and the Epic Games Store.How much Valve and Epic are currently on board with this is unclear, with the app apparently being fairly early in development and not guaranteed to launch with those features. Thats an Asus ROG Ally Microsoft is using in the image (Asus)What is the next gen Xbox?A response to the unintended leak from Windows Central suggests that Microsofts attempts to embrace PC gaming with the Xbox brand go even deeper.Its claimed that the bespoke ERA development environment for Xbox One and Xbox Series X/S is being phased out in favour of the standard Win32 environment for PCs.The implication is that this is preparation for the next gen Xbox console, which increasingly sounds like its going to be more like a branded PC than a traditional console.More TrendingOne of the differences this will make to ordinary gamers is that automatic backwards compatibility with previous consoles will become impossible and theyll have to be emulated instead, which often results in technical issues.The aim seems to be to get every Xbox game that you own also playing on PC. Although, as Windows Central points out, this could run into legal complications with third party publishers.While the leak is obviously real, since it comes from Microsoft themselves, its unclear how much of it is aspirational and whether it is a concrete plan for the next generation.Given the ever declining sales of Xbox consoles, and the recent rise in popularity for PC gaming, it certainly makes sense for Microsoft to go on in this direction, even if its still unclear exactly how the details will play out. Does Valve know Microsoft is planning this? (Microsoft)Emailgamecentral@metro.co.uk, leave a comment below,follow us on Twitter, andsign-up to our newsletter.To submit Inbox letters and Readers Features more easily, without the need to send an email, just use ourSubmit Stuff page here.For more stories like this,check our Gaming page.GameCentralSign up for exclusive analysis, latest releases, and bonus community content.This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply. Your information will be used in line with our Privacy Policy

Mario Kart might be smoother than ever (YouTube)More rumoured tech specs have emerged for the Nintendo Switch 2 and it seems the consoles display is a significant improvement over the original.While Nintendo has announced very little about the Switch 2, outside of what the console actually looks like, there have been a stack of leaks around its technical capabilities.The heavily teased mouse-like functionality has essentially been confirmed via Nintendo patents, which have also seemingly revealed new controllers and a reversed configuration. Since then, filings indicate the console will feature faster Wi-Fi, amiibo support, and GameCube compatibility.An initial list of technical specifications for the Switch 2 leaked back in January, but now some additional details have circulated relating to the consoles display.The details come from Famiboards user Secretboy, who previously posted about the Switch 2s specifications before they leaked later in January, albeit with some minor differences. In the same month, the user claimed the Switch 2s screen would support 120Hz and VRR (variable refresh rate).While this was largely overlooked at the time, the same user has reiterated this claim in a new post this week, stating the consoles rumoured LCD screen is 120Hz with HDR (high dynamic range) and VRR support.If true, this would be a significant improvement over the original Switch and Valves Steam Deck. The former supports only up to 60Hz, while the Steam Deck OLEDs display has an improved refresh rate of 90Hz.A 120Hz refresh rate on a LCD seems somewhat ambitious, especially for a company which usually prioritises affordability over technical prowess.All of these improvements would make games look and run far better on the Switch 2, with variable refresh rate (VRR) designed to eliminate screen tearing and input lag, while high dynamic range (HDR) essentially elevates a displays brightness and colour.More TrendingFor those with a Switch OLED, the idea of going back to an LCD screen for the Switch 2 is off-putting, but these sort of improvements could help lessen the blow.Nintendo never usually confirms technical specifications prior to a new consoles launch, especially at this granular level, so we probably wont hear anything about the finer points of the Switch 2s display at the Nintendo Direct on April 2. Although, any shown gameplay footage might provide some clues.Some prior leaks have suggested the Nintendo Switch 2 will be comparable in power to an Xbox Series S, although more recent rumours have put it closer to the PlayStation 4 end of the scale.However, we probably wont find out if this is true until the console launches, which is expected to be around May or June. The Nintendo Switch 2 should be out sometime around June (YouTube)Emailgamecentral@metro.co.uk, leave a comment below,follow us on Twitter, andsign-up to our newsletter.To submit Inbox letters and Readers Features more easily, without the need to send an email, just use ourSubmit Stuff page here.For more stories like this,check our Gaming page.GameCentralSign up for exclusive analysis, latest releases, and bonus community content.This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply. Your information will be used in line with our Privacy Policy

Whats the only real cure for the sadness Severance fans feel now that season two has aired its finale? How about the promise of Severance season three? Apple TV+ has just made it official, meaning its open season on all those speculations and questions and mysteries that are still haunting you in the wake of Cold Harbor. (No spoilers here or in the comments please; io9s open channel and recap posts are the places for those.) Making Severance has been one of the most creatively exciting experiences Ive ever been a part of, executive producer and director Ben Stiller said in an Apple press release. While I have no memory of this, Im told making season three will be equally enjoyable, though any recollection of these future events will be forever and irrevocably wiped from my memory as well. Star Adam Scott shared a similarly cheeky quote. I couldnt be more excited to get back to work with Ben, Dan [Erickson, series creator, writer, and executive producer], the incredible cast and crew, Apple, and the whole Severance team. Oh hey alsonot a huge dealbut if you see my innie, please dont mention any of this to him. Thanks. Erickson was also understandably jazzed and relayed a statement full of references to the show. The idea of getting to make more Severance with the greatest cast and crew on Earth is more thrilling to me than all the worlds finger traps combined, he said. I cant wait to continue spreading woe, frolic, dread, and malice with these truly incredible people.Severance debuted in 2022 with a well-received first season, but its popularity really caught fire ahead of the long wait for season two, which finally arrived earlier this year. Theres no word yet on when season three might premiere, but heres hoping the wait will be much shorter between installments this time around. Along with Scott, Severance stars Britt Lower, Tramell Tillman, Zach Cherry, Jen Tullock, Michael Chernus, Dichen Lachman, John Turturro, Christopher Walken, and Patricia Arquette. You can watch the first two seasons now on Apple TV+.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.

Tablets have near limitless use cases. Theyre ideal for professionals in creative with their extensive suite of artistic tools, you can access Micosoft Office apps to stay on top of your workload, or they can be great to just sit on the couchbrowsing Instagram or reading a book on. The 2024 Apple iPad Mini is going for 20% off over at Amazon. That amounts to a savings of $100, bringing the price from $499 to just $399.See at AmazonEverything the Full-Size iPad Can DoThis 8.3-inch Liquid Retina display offers the complete iPad experience in a compact form, perfectly designed to fit in one hand. The screen is gorgeous with ultralow reflectivity so you can clearly see whats in front of you even on a bright, sunny day outside.Equipped with the A17 Bionic chip, the iPad Mini is capable of handling virtually any task with ease, and allows it to do some pretty cool stuff when it comes to the cameras. The iPad Mini features a 12 MP Ultra Wide front camera equipped with Center Stage, ensuring you stay in frame during FaceTime, Zoom, or other any other conferencing video app. The camera can be set to always track you, keeping you and anyone else in the room visible to your audience. The rear 12 MP camera is capable of recording 4K video and even allows for simple document scanning.The A17 chip also provides ultrafast Wi-Fi connectivity, making tasks like note-taking, document markup, photo and video editing, and more effortless.With iPadOS, boost your productivity by running two apps simultaneously in split-screen mode. The second-generation Apple Pencil compatibility lets you write text or edit photos seamlessly. Run apps like Microsoft 365, Adobe Photoshop, and other graphics-intensive applications, including games.Enhance your experience even further with the Apple Pencil or Smart Folio, each sold separately. The Apple Pencil will turn your iPad Mini into a drawing canvas and a digital notebook to take handwritten notes in. The Smart Folio covers can be used to protect your iPad Minis screen as well as prop it up for easy viewing.Choose between four fun colors, including purple, starlight, space gray, or pink. The iPad Mini also comes with a choice of 128 GB, 256 GB, or 512GB of storage as well as a Wi-Fi-only or a Wi-Fi+Cellular option. All of the Wi-Fi only models are on sale for $100 off. That will allow you to pick up the latest Apple iPad Mini for as low as just $399.See at Amazon

Transforming Industrial Heritage: Design Strategies for Creating a New Atmosphere in Cultural SpacesPresented by:Save this picture!Argo Contemporary Art Museum & Cultural Centre / Ahmadreza Schricker Architecture North - ASA North. Image ASA NorthCreating an atmosphere that enhances exhibitions and enriches the visitor and user experience requires a thoughtful balance between preserving a space's unique character and adapting it to meet the needs of artistic and cultural production. The challenge lies in maintaining a building's industrial atmosphere while accommodating the specific requirements of exhibition design or the various uses the new building will require. This delicate task involves careful consideration of spatial layout, material choices, and lighting solutions, all of which play a significant role in shaping the new environment.By integrating contemporary design interventions without erasing the site's historical layers, exhibition spaces can foster a unique atmosphere that resonates with both the artworks and the audience. They can host workshops, production spaces, and leisure activities while remaining inviting to the public. This approach enriches the overall experience, allowing the space to become more than just a backdrop for exhibitions but an integral part of the visitor's journey.Save this picture!These projects often employ specific strategies, where spatial layout plans are reconfigured and adapted to new uses. New materials and technologies are introduced to accommodate contemporary functions and needs, while new openings and lighting solutions are incorporated to enhance the cultural atmosphere. These interventions not only modernize the space but also respect the building's original character, creating a harmonious balance between the old and the new. Related Article The New Life of Industrial Architecture in Cities: 20 Renovations and Conversions of Old Factories and Warehouses Clearing the Plan for RepurposingWhen repurposing old industrial buildings for cultural activities, the starting point should always be an open floor plan. These structures were originally designed for specific functions, but to accommodate new uses, the layout must be flexible. An open floor plan is crucial because it allows for easy adaptation to a variety of needs, from gallery spaces to performance venues or workshops. By reducing interruptions such as walls, columns, or partitions, the design maximizes the available space and provides a blank canvas for creativity.Additionally, minimizing interruptions is not only important for creating a visually cohesive and functional environment but also for future-proofing the space. Since cultural activities often evolve, maintaining flexibility within the layout is essential. An open floor plan leaves room for innovation, allowing the building to adapt to new needs or host diverse events without significant structural changes, using lightweight partitions or adaptable furniture. This approach promotes both practicality and long-term sustainability, ensuring the building remains relevant and functional for years to come.Wagenhallen Stuttgart Cultural Center / ATELIER BRCKNERSave this picture!FNGSLET Vestsalen Transformation / Cubo ArkitekterSave this picture!Powerhouse Arts / Herzog & de Meuron + PBDW ArchitectsSave this picture!Fotografiska Shanghai / AIM ArchitectureSave this picture!The Mineless Heritage Restoration Project / DIVOOE ZEIN ArchitectsSave this picture!Structural Changes and Material InnovationOne of the most compelling aspects of transforming old industrial buildings is the opportunity to merge the historical with the contemporary. Preserving the integrity of the original structure while incorporating modern materials and technologies creates a unique architectural dialogue between the past and present. The existing elementswhether it's exposed brick, steel beams, or large windowscarry a sense of character and history that can inform the new design. By thoughtfully integrating these original materials with new ones, architects can enhance the building's identity, giving it a sense of continuity while also introducing a fresh, modern aesthetic.PLATO Contemporary Art Gallery / KWK PROMESSave this picture!Renovation of Shenzhen Pingshan Sculptural Art & Creative Park / Atelier XISave this picture!Chessy Cultural Center / Opus 5 architectesSave this picture!Dansehallerne National Center for Dance and Choreography / Mikkelsen ArchitectsSave this picture!Openings and LightingMuseums and cultural spaces require efficient natural and artificial lighting to create an inviting and functional environment for visitors. However, achieving the ideal lighting can be challenging, as it is not commonly found in industrial architecture, where large, solid walls and minimal openings are prevalent. This is where certain architectural strategies come into play, such as introducing new openings, incorporating glass windows, and installing skylights. These elements allow natural light to penetrate deeper into the space, reducing reliance on artificial lighting during the day and enhancing the overall ambiance. Furthermore, carefully designed lighting systems can highlight key exhibits and create a dynamic, immersive experience for visitors.Argo Contemporary Art Museum & Cultural Centre / Ahmadreza Schricker Architecture North - ASA NorthSave this picture!Bovenbouwwerkplaats Transformation / StudioninedotsSave this picture!Save this picture!Zeitz Museum of Contemporary Art Africa / Heatherwick StudioSave this picture!This article is part of the ArchDaily Topics: Atmosphere in Architecture and Perception of Space, proudly presented by Vitrocsa, the original minimalist windows since 1992.Vitrocsa created the original minimalist window systems, offering frameless solutions with the narrowest sightline barriers in the world. For over 30 years, we have pursued innovation and Swiss-made excellence to transform ambitious architectural visions into reality, enhancing atmospheres through light, transparency, and designEvery month we explore a topic in-depth through articles, interviews, news, and architecture projects. We invite you to learn more about our ArchDaily Topics. And, as always, at ArchDaily we welcome the contributions of our readers; if you want to submit an article or project, contact us.Image gallerySee allShow lessAbout this authorPaula PintosAuthorCite: Paula Pintos. "Transforming Industrial Heritage: Design Strategies for Creating a New Atmosphere in Cultural Spaces" 21 Mar 2025. ArchDaily. Accessed . <https://www.archdaily.com/1028095/transforming-industrial-heritage-design-strategies-for-creating-a-new-atmosphere-in-cultural-spaces&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! 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