Spillover UK on alert after H5N1 bird flu spills over to sheep in world-first The UK sheep had inflamed mammary gland much like infected cows in US. Beth Mole Mar 24, 2025 6:32 pm | 0 Sheep in Yorkshire Dales. Credit: Getty | Edwin Remsberg Sheep in Yorkshire Dales. Credit: Getty | Edwin Remsberg Story textSizeSmallStandardLargeWidth *StandardWideLinksStandardOrange* Subscribers only Learn moreThe H5N1 bird flu has spilled over to a sheep for the first time, infecting a domesticated ruminant in the United Kingdom much like it has in US dairy cows, according to UK officials.The single sheepa ewein Yorkshire, England, was confirmed infected after captive birds on the same property had tested positive for the virus, according to an announcement Monday. The ewe's milk was found to be positive for the virus through a PCR test, which detected genetic signatures of the virus. The ewe also had H5 antibodies in its blood. At the time of the confirmation, the ewe had symptoms of the infection in the way of mastitis, inflammation of the mammary glands.This mirrors what US dairy farmers have been seeing in cows. An outbreak of H5N1 in dairy cows erupted a year ago, on March 25, 2024. Since then, at least 989 herds across 17 states have been infected with bird flu. In previous reports, farmers and researchers have noted that the virus appears to attack the animal's mammary glands and their milk is teeming with the virus.In the US, at least 70 people have been infected with the virus, 41 of whom were dairy workers. In some cases, workers reported having milk splashed on their faces before developing an infection. While nearly all of the cases have been relatively mild so farsome only with eye inflammation (conjunctivitis)one person in the US has died from the infection after being exposed via wild birds.In the UK, officials said further testing of the rest of the sheep's flock has found no other infections. The one infected ewe has been humanely culled to mitigate further risk and to "enable extensive testing.""Strict biosecurity measures have been implemented to prevent the further spread of disease," UK Chief Veterinary Officer Christine Middlemiss said in a statement. "While the risk to livestock remains low, I urge all animal owners to ensure scrupulous cleanliness is in place and to report any signs of infection to the Animal Plant Health Agency immediately."While UK officials believe that the spillover has been contained and there's no onward transmission among sheep, the latest spillover to a new mammalian species is a reminder of the virus's looming threat."Globally, we continue to see that mammals can be infected with avian influenza A(H5N1)," Meera Chand, Emerging Infection Lead at the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA), said in a statement. In the US, the Department of Agriculture has documented hundreds of infections in wild and captive mammals, from cats to bears, raccoons, and harbor seals.Chand noted that, so far, the spillovers into animals have not easily transmitted to humans. For instance, in the US, despite extensive spread through the dairy industry, no human-to-human transmission has yet been documented. But, experts fear that with more spillovers and exposure to humans, the virus will gain more opportunities to adapt to be more infectious in humans.Chand says that UKHSA and other agencies are monitoring the situation closely in the event the situation takes a turn. "UKHSA has established preparations in place for detections of human cases of avian flu and will respond rapidly with NHS and other partners if needed."Beth MoleSenior Health ReporterBeth MoleSenior Health Reporter Beth is Ars Technicas Senior Health Reporter. Beth has a Ph.D. in microbiology from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and attended the Science Communication program at the University of California, Santa Cruz. She specializes in covering infectious diseases, public health, and microbes. 0 Comments

AI CAN SEE YOU You can now download the source code that sparked the AI boom CHM releases code for 2012 AlexNet breakthrough that proved "deep learning" could work. Benj Edwards Mar 24, 2025 6:14 pm | 0 Credit: ArtemisDiana via Getty Images Credit: ArtemisDiana via Getty Images Story textSizeSmallStandardLargeWidth *StandardWideLinksStandardOrange* Subscribers only Learn moreOn Thursday, Google and the Computer History Museum (CHM) jointly released the source code for AlexNet, the convolutional neural network (CNN) that many credit with transforming the AI field in 2012 by proving that "deep learning" could achieve things conventional AI techniques could not.Deep learning, which uses multi-layered neural networks that can learn from data without explicit programming, represented a significant departure from traditional AI approaches that relied on hand-crafted rules and features.The Python code, now available on CHM's GitHub page as open source software, offers AI enthusiasts and researchers a glimpse into a key moment of computing history. AlexNet served as a watershed moment in AI because it could accurately identify objects in photographs with unprecedented accuracycorrectly classifying images into one of 1,000 categories like "strawberry," "school bus," or "golden retriever" with significantly fewer errors than previous systems.Like viewing original ENIAC circuitry or plans for Babbage's Difference Engine, examining the AlexNet code may provide future historians insight into how a relatively simple implementation sparked a technology that has reshaped our world. While deep learning has enabled advances in health care, scientific research, and accessibility tools, it has also facilitated concerning developments like deepfakes, automated surveillance, and the potential for widespread job displacement.But in 2012, those negative consequences still felt like far-off sci-fi dreams to many. Instead, experts were simply amazed that a computer could finally recognize images with near-human accuracy.Teaching computers to seeAs the CHM explains in its detailed blog post, AlexNet originated from the work of University of Toronto graduate students Alex Krizhevsky and Ilya Sutskever, along with their advisor Geoffrey Hinton. The project proved that deep learning could outperform traditional computer vision methods.The neural network won the 2012 ImageNet competition by recognizing objects in photos far better than any previous method. Computer vision veteran Yann LeCun, who attended the presentation in Florence, Italy, immediately recognized its importance for the field, reportedly standing up after the presentation and calling AlexNet "an unequivocal turning point in the history of computer vision." As Ars detailed in November, AlexNet marked the convergence of three critical technologies that would define modern AI.According to CHM, the museum began efforts to acquire the historically significant code in 2020, when Hansen Hsu (CHM's curator) reached out to Krizhevsky about releasing the source code due to its historical importance. Since Google had acquired the team's company DNNresearch in 2013, it owned the intellectual property rights.The museum worked with Google for five years to negotiate the release and carefully identify which specific version represented the original 2012 implementationan important distinction, as many recreations labeled "AlexNet" exist online but aren't the authentic code used in the breakthrough.How AlexNet workedWhile AlexNet's impact on AI is now legendary, understanding the technical innovation behind it helps explain why it represented such a pivotal moment. The breakthrough wasn't any single revolutionary technique, but rather the elegant combination of existing technologies that had previously developed separately.The project combined three previously separate components: deep neural networks, massive image datasets, and graphics processing units (GPUs). Deep neural networks formed the core architecture of AlexNet, with multiple layers that could learn increasingly complex visual features. The network was named after Krizhevsky, who implemented the system and performed the extensive training process.Unlike traditional AI systems that required programmers to manually specify what features to look for in images, these deep networks could automatically discover patterns at different levels of abstractionfrom simple edges and textures in early layers to complex object parts in deeper layers. While AlexNet used a CNN architecture specialized for processing grid-like data such as images, today's AI systems like ChatGPT and Claude rely primarily on Transformer models. Those models are a 2017 Google Research invention that excels at processing sequential data and capturing long-range dependencies in text and other media through a mechanism called "attention."For training data, AlexNet used ImageNet, a database started by Stanford University professor Dr. Fei-Fei Li in 2006. Li collected millions of Internet images and organized them using a database called WordNet. Workers on Amazon's Mechanical Turk platform helped label the images.The project needed serious computational power to process this data. Krizhevsky ran the training process on two Nvidia graphics cards installed in a computer in his bedroom at his parents' house. Neural networks perform many matrix calculations in parallel, tasks that graphics chips handle well. Nvidia, led by Jensen Huang, had made their graphics chips programmable for non-graphics tasks through their CUDA software, released in 2007.The impact from AlexNet extends beyond computer vision. Deep learning neural networks now power voice synthesis, game-playing systems, language models, and image generators. They're also responsible for potential society-fracturing effects such as filling social networks with AI-generated slop, empowering abusive bullies, and potentially altering the historical record.Where are they now?In the 13 years since their breakthrough, the creators of AlexNet have taken their expertise in different directions, each contributing to the field in unique ways.After AlexNet's success, Krizhevsky, Sutskever, and Hinton formed a company called DNNresearch Inc., which Google acquired in 2013. Each team member has followed a different path since then. Sutskever co-founded OpenAI in 2015, which released ChatGPT in 2022, and more recently launched Safe Superintelligence (SSI), a startup that has secured $1 billion in funding. Krizhevsky left Google in 2017 to work on new deep learning techniques at Dessa.Hinton has gained acclaim and notoriety for warning about the potential dangers of future AI systems, resigning from Google in 2023 so he could speak freely about the topic. Last year, Hinton stunned the scientific community when he received the 2024 Nobel Prize in Physics alongside John J. Hopfield for their foundational work in machine learning that dates back to the early 1980s.Regarding who gets the most credit for AlexNet, Hinton described the project roles with characteristic humor to the Computer History Museum: "Ilya thought we should do it, Alex made it work, and I got the Nobel Prize."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. 0 Comments

Sea ice coverage in the Arctic has rapidly declined due to global warmingArterra Picture Library / AlamyModified floating wood could seed the formation of new sea ice in the Arctic, helping counteract the rapid decline of ice coverage due to global warming.The area of the Arctic Ocean covered by ice is shrinking as the climate warms, and it has been projected that the region will see its first ice-free summer day before 2030. The loss of ice leads to a vicious cycle; because the exposed water is darker than ice, it absorbs more of the suns

Further warming will lead to more catastrophic consequences such as severe wildfiresSTR/NurPhoto/ShutterstockEven with moderate emissions of greenhouse gases, a scenario currently expected to warm the planet by about 3C, there is a 1-in-10 chance of reaching 7C of warming in around 200 years. That is according to a climate model that has explored what could happen over the next thousand years.Three degrees is already very bad, of course, says Andrey Ganopolski at the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research in Germany. Seven is not twice as bad as 3, or even three times as bad. Its probably 10 times worse, because many things are non-linear. AdvertisementThe model also shows that even if emissions stopped tomorrow, there is around a 1-in-10 chance that the planet could still warm by more than 3C.How much hotter the planet gets depends partly on how much CO2 and other greenhouse gases we pump into the atmosphere, and partly on how sensitive the climate is to increases in greenhouse gases.The amount of warming that would occur in the long run after a doubling of CO2 levels in the atmosphere is called the equilibrium climate sensitivity. It depends on various fast feedback effects that occur when temperatures rise, such as increases in water vapour in the atmosphere and changes in cloud behaviour. Studies suggest that the equilibrium climate sensitivity could be anywhere from 2C to 5C, but for models run beyond 2100 it has been assumed to be 3C.Unmissable news about our planet delivered straight to your inbox every month.Sign up to newsletterGanopolski and his team instead tweaked their model to explore what the impact would be if the equilibrium climate sensitivity differs from this expectation.Their model also includes additional and longer-term carbon feedback effects such as the release of CO2 and methane from permafrost and wetlands. Previous models looking beyond 2100 havent included both CO2 and methane feedbacks, says Ganopolski.Including both can have a big impact, he says, because higher CO2 leads to more methane being released and vice versa.For an assumed equilibrium sensitivity of 3C, the teams results are similar to those of other studies, leading to warming of around 3C just after 2200 for a moderate-emissions scenario. For higher assumed sensitivities, the model projects warming of up to 7C.While the 23rd century might seem a long way off, its not that far off in terms of human generations, says Ganopolski. I have grandchildren who will likely live in the next century.The reason there is so much uncertainty about the equilibrium climate sensitivity is that aerosol emissions have been counteracting the warming effect of greenhouse gases, says Ganopolski. A reduction in shipping emissions is thought to have contributed to the recent rapid warming, for instance.The effects of aerosols are extremely complex, making it hard to quantify their cooling effect. At the present, we cannot rule out high climate sensitivities, he says.An emission pathway that we think will get to, say, 2C in 2100 could be much higher or much lower depending on these fundamental uncertainties, says Andy Wiltshire at the Met Office, the UKs national weather service.This was well known already, says Wiltshire, but is usually expressed in terms of the percentage likelihood of meeting a specific target. This paper shows it in a different way. What I like about the paper is the way the information is presented, he says.If equilibrium climate sensitivity is on the low side and future emissions are limited, warming of 3C can still be avoided, says Ganopolski but he thinks it is already too late to limit warming to under 2C.Journal reference:Environmental Research Letters DOI: 10.1088/1748-9326/adb6beTopics:climate change

"Sunrise on the Reaping" came out in March 2025. Lionsgate/Scholastic 2025-03-24T22:14:25Z SaveSaved Read in app This story is available exclusively to Business Insider subscribers. Become an Insider and start reading now.Have an account? "Sunrise on the Reaping" by Suzanne Collins was released on March 18.The book is about Haymitch Abernathy, but it contains details on the entire "Hunger Games" series.The rest of this article contains spoilers for the "Hunger Games" series.Fans of Suzanne Collins' "Hunger Games" series got to revisit the world of Panem, as the author released the prequel "Sunrise on the Reaping" on March 18.The novel tells the story of Haymitch Abernathy's experience in the Hunger Games, giving readers new insight into Katniss Everdeen and Peeta Mellark's mentor.Although it focuses on Haymitch, "Sunrise on the Reaping" is full of information about the entire "Hunger Games" series, from lore about Katniss' family to backstory on how the revolution came to be.Here are some of the details from the novel you might have missed. Warning: There are heavy spoilers for the entire "Hunger Games" series ahead.The book is full of information about Katniss Everdeen's familyAlthough Katniss is the protagonist of the original "Hunger Games" trilogy, the books contain limited information about her extended family. Her parents' names are not even mentioned in the books.Collins expands on the Everdeen family's history in "Sunrise on the Reaping," revealing that Katniss' father, Burdock, was one of Haymitch's best friends and that he was already dating Asterid, Katniss' mother, at the time.Haymitch's interactions with Burdock are peppered with nods to Katniss, showing the reader how similar Katniss was to her father. For instance, Burdock takes Haymitch into the woods, where he sings and shows Haymitch how to get apples and set hunting snares. Katniss shares her father's hunting skills, singing talents, and comfortability in the woods, which ultimately helped her survive her first Hunger Games. Jennifer Lawrence as Katniss Everdeen in "The Hunger Games." Lionsgate Katniss' parents' long-awaited names also reflect the ones they gave their children; both Asterid and Burdock are plants, just as Primrose and Katniss are.In addition, Haymitch mentions in the text that Burdock is distant cousins with his girlfriend Lenore Dove Baird, a member of the Covey family.The Covey appears in Collins' "The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes," as they are the musically-inclined family of Lucy Gray Baird, who wins the Hunger Games and has an ultimately doomed relationship with Coriolanus Snow. Readers suspected Katniss might be related to Lucy Gray the other female victor from District 12 but "Sunrise on the Reaping" confirms it.Katniss' paternal grandmother is likely Lucy Gray's cousin, Barb Azure Baird, as Haymitch sees graves for Lucy Gray and her other cousin, Maude Ivory Baird, when visiting Lenore Dove's resting place.Katniss and Peeta's fathers share an important interactionDuring the reaping for the Hunger Games, one of the boys reaped from District 12, Woodbine Chance, flees, and the Peacekeepers shoot him in response. They order everyone to the ground, and most people in the area obey, though Otho Mellark, Peeta's father, freezes.Burdock gets Otho to lie down on the ground by punching him in the knee, saving him from being harmed by a Peacekeeper.If Otho had died in the shooting, Peeta would never have been born, so he wouldn't have been there to fight alongside Katniss in the games and the revolution. In fact, Katniss likely wouldn't have made it to the Hunger Games without Peeta, as he saved her from starvation by giving her bread after her father died.The small interaction between their fathers at a pivotal moment in Haymitch's life eventually leads to Peeta, Katniss, and Haymitch uniting decades later.Haymitch's nickname for Katniss holds special meaningIn the original "Hunger Games" trilogy, Haymitch often refers to Katniss as "sweetheart," which she takes as a condescending nickname that later becomes a term of endearment. However, "Sunrise on the Reaping" reveals the pet name was always a form of affection for Haymitch.Haymitch competes in the Hunger Games with three other contestants from District 12: Wyatt Callow, Maysilee Donner, and Louella McCoy.Louella is three years younger than Haymitch, and he shares in "Sunrise on the Reaping" that he has long called her "sweetheart" as an inside joke, referencing a crush she had on him when she was just 5. Woody Harrelson as Haymitch in "The Hunger Games." Lionsgate The pair were close and planned to be allies in the Hunger Games, but Louella died in a chariot collision before even reaching the arena. As Haymitch mourns her, he refers to her as "my one and only sweetheart."In the book's epilogue, Haymitch says that Katniss reminded him of Louella in the years after her father died, as she wore her hair in braids like his old friend. He said the resemblance was so strong in his mind that "the nickname couldn't help but slip out" when he became Katniss' mentor for the Hunger Games, explaining why he called her sweetheart throughout the trilogy.Haymitch also sits in some katniss during his games, foreshadowing her presence in an arena.Haymitch's games offer more insight into the plot of 'Catching Fire'"Sunrise on the Reaping" reveals Haymitch's long history with characters like Plutarch Heavensbee, Beetee Latier, Mags Flanagan, and Wiress and his efforts to break the arena in his own games. Those experiences shed light on how long Haymitch and other victors had been waiting for someone like Katniss to help them bring down the Hunger Games arena, as they do in "Catching Fire." However, small moments in the text also hold significance for "Catching Fire."For instance, Mags and Wiress appear in "Catching Fire," competing with Katniss. In the text, Mags is said to be weakened from a stroke, while Wiress' mind seems damaged. Katniss assumes they are both in poor health because they fought in the Hunger Games.Mags and Wiress are Haymitch and the other District 12 tributes' mentors in "Sunrise on the Reaping," and both are physically and mentally sound when he meets them. After he wins his games, Haymitch discovers that they were both tortured because they attempted to help him break the arena, spotting Mags in a wheelchair and Wiress mumbling to herself. Their rebellious activities caused them lasting damage, not the games themselves.A moment between Plutarch and Haymitch also allows him to protect Katniss later. When Haymitch is on his Victory Tour, Plutarch pulls him into an attic in District 11 for a private conversation, telling him, "The attic is the only spot in the entire Justice Building that isn't bugged." Plutarch Heavensbee and Haymitch Abernathy. Lionsgate / Murray Close In their conversation, Plutarch tells Haymitch he will keep fighting for a revolution and intends to find someone just like Haymitch to make it happen eventually, adding that it wouldn't hurt to "find" an army to fight the Capitol.In "Catching Fire," Haymitch takes Katniss and Peeta to the same attic when visiting District 11 during their Victory Tour, allowing Katniss to confide in them about threats President Snow made against her family. Katniss also becomes the revolutionary Plutarch imagined, and the citizens of the long-forgotten District 13 are the army he finds, reflecting the conversation he and Haymitch had 25 years earlier.Collins nods to the numbers of the Quarter Quell with the gamesHaymitch is a tribute in the 50th Hunger Games, which is a Quarter Quell.Quarter Quells have added stakes compared to a typical Hunger Games competition, though those new rules vary every 25 years. For the 50th Games, the number of children forced to compete was doubled, so four kids were reaped from each district.The games were designed to have 48 competitors, but 50 tributes are actually competitors for them as two tributes from District 12 get replaced. Haymitch is forced into the games after Peacekeppers murdered Woodbine, and after Louella dies, she is replaced with a body double.Haymitch's game token is a metaphorEvery child who competes in the Hunger Games can bring a token from home into the arena, though it cannot be used as a weapon.Haymitch brings a necklace Lenore Dove made him that doubles as a flint striker, allowing him to make fire and subtly defy the Capitol by having a weapon on hand. He uses the striker to set off a bomb during the games, though his attempt at breaking the arena doesn't work.Collins often refers to Katniss as the "spark" that allows the fire of revolution to take hold in Panem, nodding to the theme with the title of "Catching Fire."Haymitch walked a similar path to Katniss, and if a few things had gone differently, he may have started the fire. Instead, like his flint striker, Haymitch helped create the sparks of revolution that a generation after him turned into flame.The mockingjay pin's origin storyAny "Hunger Games" fan knows the mockingjay pin was Katniss' token in her first games, later serving as a symbol of the revolution with which Katniss is synonymous. Mockingjays were an accidental creation in Panem, as jabberjays, which the Capitol used to spy on rebels in the first war, mated with mockingbirds to create them.In "The Hunger Games," Madge Undersee, the mayor's daughter, gives Katniss the pin and tells her in "Catching Fire" that it originally belonged to her aunt, Maysilee Donner, who died in the 50th Hunger Games.Haymitch reveals in "Sunrise on the Reaping" that the pin belonged to Maysilee's grandmother. Tam Amber, a member of the Covey who first appears in "The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes," turned Maysilee's pin into a mockingjay as a gift for her from her father. A mockingjay poster. Lionsgate / Hunger Games Catching Fire Trailer However, to Lenore Dove's fury, Maysilee never wore the pin and even asked Tam Amber to change its design. Before the games, she confessed to Haymitch that she thought the birds were "unnatural" because they were part-mutt."Some people think that's a victory in itself. Way they escaped the Capitol and survived," Haymitch told her. Maysilee told him she would reconsider wearing it if she survived the games, given the message.Maysilee never gets to wear the pin, but Katniss does, bringing the moment full circle.'Sunrise on the Reaping' foreshadows Katniss' nightlock stuntIn the climax of "The Hunger Games," Katniss and Peeta fight to become the final two tributes during their games, as the gamemakers promised two tributes from the same district could be co-victors. They announce the rules changed again, trying to force Katniss and Peeta to fight to the death. Instead, Katniss and Peeta agree to kill themselves with nightlock berries.The gamemakers ultimately stop them, crowning both Katniss and Peeta victors to Snow's displeasure. Josh Hutcherson as Peeta and Jennifer Lawrence as Katniss in "The Hunger Games." Lionsgate "Sunrise on the Reaping" reveals that the seconds in which it seemed like Katniss and Peeta would poison themselves were likely agonizing for Haymitch, as his girlfriend Lenore Dove died by eating poisoned gumdrops left for her by agents of the Capitol. Her death was designed to punish Haymitch for his attempts at breaking the arena.Though he tried to make her spit them out, it was too late, and Lenore Dove died in front of him. Katniss and Peeta lived, but the incident must have given Haymitch a horrifying sense of deja vu.In addition, Haymitch mentions during his time in the arena that he saw "red" berries with "little black dots on their skins" that are poisonous. They were likely nightlock, offering another parallel between Haymitch and Katniss' experience in the Hunger Games.The prequel brings new meaning to a song from 'The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes'After Haymitch's mother and brother die, members of their community gather for a funeral. During the ceremony, Burdock sings "The Old Therebefore." The song's lyrics reference death, and Haymitch uses the phrase "the old therebefore" when discussing his life ending soon in the novel's epilogue.The song offers a poignant moment for Haymitch, but it should also be familiar to fans of "The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes." Rachel Zegler as Lucy Gray Baird in a still for "The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes." Murray Close/Lionsgate In the first prequel to the series, Lucy Gray Baird sings the same song when mutant snakes swarm her. Although Lucy Gray had an affinity for snakes, she knew these were dangerous because the Capitol made them and they had killed other tributes. She likely thought she would die when she started singing the song, though she ultimately survives the encounter.It's possible "The Old Therebefore" is a long-standing funeral dirge in District 12 or for the Covey family, which is why Burdock and Lucy Gray sing it when confronted with death. It's also possible it became a funeral song after Lucy Gray sang it during the Hunger Games, leading Burdock to sing it years later.In addition, in the same funeral scene, the attendees raise three fingers to their lips before raising them to the sky, as Katniss does many times throughout "The Hunger Games" trilogy to honor the dead.'Sunrise on the Reaping' clears up an element of the 'Mockingjay' epilogueCollins wrote an epilogue to "Mockingjay," offering readers a glimpse of the life Katniss, Peeta, and Haymitch rebuild in District 12 after the war. The epilogue mostly focuses on Katniss and Peeta finding their way back to each other, but it also mentions that Haymitch raises geese, which seems somewhat random."Haymitch drinks until the liquor runs out, and then raises geese until the next train arrives," Katniss says in "Mockingjay." "Fortunately, the geese can take pretty good care of themselves."However, "Sunrise on the Reaping" reveals that the geese are a way to honor Lenore Dove, who raised the birds in District 12. She also uses them as a metaphor for her love with Haymitch, telling him before he leaves for the Hunger Games, "Just like my geese, I mate for life. And then some. Forever."In the epilogue of "Sunrise on the Reaping," Haymitch says that Katniss brought him geese eggs after he shared with her and Peeta about his long-gone love. He raises them to feel connected to her, letting them spend time in Lenore Dove's meadow."Lenore Dove likes it best there, and I'm content where she's content," Haymitch said of the meadow. "Like the geese, we really did mate for life."The novel confirms a long-held fan theory about the games"Hunger Games" fans have been suspicious for years that the Hunger Games are sometimes rigged, particularly because of the plot of "Catching Fire."It seemed all too convenient that Katniss had to return to the arena just a year after she openly defied the Capitol, giving Snow the opportunity to eliminate her."Sunrise on the Reaping" gives even more credence to the theory that a rigged reaping is possible, as Haymitch's name isn't initially called. After the Peacekeepers shoot Woodbine, Haymitch is forced to be a tribute for District 12.Nothing about the Hunger Games is fair, but Haymitch's experience makes clear that the random selection element of the competition isn't always real, as does the fact that Snow replaces Louella with a body double instead of announcing her death ahead of the games. Likewise, Snow arranged for Beetee's son, Ampert, to be reaped as punishment for Beetee's seditious acts. Jennifer Lawrence and Josh Hutcherson as Katniss Everdeen and Peeta Mellark in "The Hunger Games: Catching Fire." Lionsgate Films After Haymitch sees that Mags and Wiress have been tortured for aiding him in his attempts to break the arena, he worries for his family, thinking, "Are they already dead? Or will Snow arrange, as he did with Beetee, for a time when I can personally witness their suffering?"When Katniss returns to the arena in "Catching Fire," she does so along with Beetee, Wiress, and Mags, bringing Haymitch's fears to fruition."Sunrise on the Reaping" sends the message that rigging or illegal reaping is common practice for Snow when targeting his enemies, so it's more likely than not he orchestrated the 75th Quarter Quell specifically to kill Katniss and other tributes he saw as dangerous.

Anthony Hopkins plays another terrifying villain in "Locked." The Avenue 2025-03-24T22:12:20Z SaveSaved Read in app This story is available exclusively to Business Insider subscribers. Become an Insider and start reading now.Have an account? Anthony Hopkins says he plays villains the opposite way one would expect.The Oscar winner played Hannibal Lecter and now stars as a vengeful car owner in "Locked."He told BI he "just had an instinct" about both roles and knew he could play that kind of part well.Anthony Hopkins knows what's really scary, and it's not what you're thinking.The legendary actor, who won his first Oscar for playing the cannibalistic serial killer Hannibal Lecter in "The Silence of the Lambs," has a knack for playing memorable villains. The secret, he says, is to subvert the audience's expectations."If you're playing a villain, play the opposite," he told Business Insider. "Always choose the opposite side. If you're playing somebody who's really evil, play them very pleasantly."Hopkins used this tactic in his new thriller "Locked," in which he plays William, the wealthy, well-mannered owner of a luxury SUV who takes sadistic revenge on Eddie (Bill Skarsgrd), a desperate small-time thief who tried to steal his car.The film's unique concept almost all of the action takes place inside the vehicle William has locked Eddie inside intrigued Hopkins immediately. He also thought it sounded like a fun, easy job: William only speaks to Eddie in voiceover for the first half of the movie, meaning Hopkins could record much of his dialogue ahead of time. "I didn't have to show up for work for about two weeks!" he marveled. Bill Skarsgrd spends a lot of time in the car. Hopkins does not. The Avenue Hopkins was also captivated by his character's complex motivations, telling BI he knew that William was a role he wanted to play because he'd experienced a similar feeling with "The Silence of the Lambs" decades earlier. That time, the actor had only read a few pages of the script before deciding Hannibal Lecter was "the best part ever.""I knew that it was one of those rare roles, one of those unique roles that I knew I could do," he said. "I just had an instinct, very much as I did with this guy in the film 'Locked.'""Locked" is now in theaters.

This story appeared in The Logoff, a daily newsletter that helps you stay informed about the Trump administration without letting political news take over your life. Subscribe here.Welcome to The Logoff: Today Joshua Keating and I are focusing on top Trump administration officials accidentally messaging a journalist with their plans for bombing Yemen. Its a bizarre story and one with longstanding implications for our European allies ability to trust us with sensitive information.Wait, what? The Atlantic revealed today that a top Trump official accidentally added Jeffrey Goldberg, the magazines editor-in-chief, to a group chat on the encrypted messaging app Signal earlier this month. With Goldberg reading, Vice President JD Vance, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, policy adviser Stephen Miller, and others discussed a potential attack on military targets in Yemen, where a group called the Houthis has been disrupting global trade by attacking passing ships.Then, days later, Goldberg says, Hegseth messaged the group with extraordinarily sensitive and detailed information about the planned US strikes, which took place hours after Hegseths message.That sounds made up. How do we know the chat isnt fake? Just how big of a mistake is this? Its a major protocol violation to discuss sensitive military operations on a group chat. Such conversations are held in secure facilities where cell phones are typically banned.Is it illegal? The Atlantic reports that the official who invited Goldberg, national security adviser Michael Waltz, may have violated multiple parts of the Espionage Act. Its hard to imagine the Trump administration prosecuting him, however. So whats the big picture? Arguably, the officials got lucky they added Goldberg, who withheld certain details of the messages in the name of national security. But already wary US allies concerned about Trumps friendliness toward Russia and hostility toward NATO could have even more reason to feel wary about the information they share with this administration.And with that, its time to log offTodays news has me thinking about the value of the (non-national security damaging) group chat. I really appreciate how, via a few text threads, I get to stay in daily touch with some of my favorite people even those who live a long way away. Many of mine really picked up during Covid, so I appreciated this classic (height-of-the-pandemic-era) piece from my colleague Alex Abad-Santos about exactly why these chats are so helpful to our well-being. Thanks so much for reading, and Ill see you back here tomorrow.See More:

The video game The Last of Us Part II is filled with unforgettable moments. Life or death decisions, big revelations, all of it. In our minds though, the best moment in the game, and we wrote about this when it came out, takes place in an empty, decrepit museum. Its a place where Joel (Pedro Pascal on the show) brings Ellie (Bella Ramsey on the show) for a very special present. A place we see briefly come to life in the latest trailer for The Last of Us season two, which starts April 13. Fans of the show may not have realized what they were seeing, but anyone whos played the game knew. Season two was remaking that scene. And it sounds like the wink was done very purposefully. In the trailer, you see Pedro and Bella both by the space capsule in the museum, Last of Us co-creator/executive producer Craig Mazin said at a recent press conference, in which io9 participated. That scene is the first thing that Neil [Druckmann, co-creator] ever showed me from The Last of Us Part 2. Its beautiful. And watching [Pascal and Ramsey] kind of inhabit that and make it their own was pretty spectacular. The explanation came after Mazin, Druckmann, and the cast were asked if there were any moments from the game they were excited to bring to life on the show. And while the museum was mentioned specifically, Mazin also mentioned something else. I dont want to say what it is, but there is a scene in the final episode of the season its quite impactful in the game, but there was this kind of evolution of it as we put it on film that kind of blows me away, he said. Whatever that scene is, we assume its a major spoiler. And, to be frank, explaining exactly what happens in the museum knowing audiences everywhere will now get to experience it on the show, would be a pretty big spoiler too. So we wont do that. But, again, you can read it about here, certainly watch it on YouTube somewhere, and see it soon when The Last of Us season two returns to HBO on April 13. 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.

Journalists often dream of finding the right government leaker who can share with them detailed information about the internal workings of the federal government. Few journalists would presume, however, that the ideal leaker might, in fact, be the head of the U.S. Armed Services. That appears to have been what happened, when the U.S. Secretary of Defense and former Fox News personality Pete Hegseth reportedly texted detailed operational war plans to the head editor of The Atlantic. The editor in chief of the magazine, Jeffrey Goldberg, detailed in a new piece how it appears he was accidentally added to a message group on Signal by someone in the Trump White House. That message thread appears to have included prominent members of the Trump cabinet, including Hegseth, Vice President J.D. Vance, Director of the CIA John Ratcliffe, director of national intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, national security advisor Michael Waltz, and Secretary of State Marco Rubio, among others. Worse, the chat involved detailed discussions of then upcoming strikes on Houthi rebels in Yemen, one of America and Israels key enemies in the Middle East. Goldberg sets the scene like so: The world found out shortly before 2 p.m. eastern time on March 15 that the United States was bombing Houthi targets across Yemen. I, however, knew two hours before the first bombs exploded that the attack might be coming. The reason I knew this is that Pete Hegseth, the secretary of defense, had texted me the war plan at 11:44 a.m. The plan included precise information about weapons packages, targets, and timing. Goldbergs story does not include the specifics of these operational plans, but it does include screenshots of the text message thread, including emojis apparently sent by high-level White House officials. It also appears to show the officials debating the timing of the attacks. When Vance reportedly brought up potential objections to the strike, Hegseth is alleged to have said the following: Waiting a few weeks or a month does not fundamentally change the calculus. 2 immediate risks on waiting: 1) this leaks, and we look indecisive; 2) Israel takes an action first or Gaza cease fire falls apart and we dont get to start this on our own terms. Or 3), you leak the news yourself and look like a total idiot. The alleged texts include other moronic gems, like Hegseths apparent promise to enforce 100% operational security (which typically involves keeping plans secret) for the war strategy. Allegedly, the U.S. Defense Secretary texted: We are prepared to execute, and if I had final go or no go vote, I believe we should. This [is] not about the Houthis. I see it as two things: 1) Restoring Freedom of Navigation, a core national interest; and 2) Reestablish deterrence, which Biden cratered. But, we can easily pause. And if we do, I will do all we can to enforce 100% OPSECI welcome other thoughts. Hegseth is also alleged to have texted Goldberg what appeared to be operational details of the plan to bomb Yemen that, had [they] been read by an adversary of the United States, could conceivably have been used to harm American military and intelligence personnel, particularly in the broader Middle East, Central Commands area of responsibility. These details included information about air strikes on Yemen, information about targets, weapons the U.S. would be deploying, and attack sequencing.Because he knew the time that the attacks were scheduled to start, Goldberg then waited for news of the airstrikes to see if the information in the text message thread was solid. Sure enough, the news soon broke that Yemen had been bombed. Goldberg writes: If this Signal chat was real, I reasoned, Houthi targets would soon be bombed. At about 1:55, I checked X and searchedYemen. Explosions were then being heard across Sanaa, the capital city. The White House seems to have confirmed that all of this actually happened, having told The Atlantic that the message thread appears to be an authentic message chain, and we are reviewing how an inadvertent number was added to the chain. The spokesperson added that the thread was a demonstration of the deep and thoughtful policy coordination between senior officials. Gizmodo reached out to the White House for comment.The White House did not appear to note the questionable legality of the text chain itself. Because if true, this whole scenario could be deeply illegal. Goldberg writes: Conceivably, Waltz, by coordinating a national-security-related action over Signal, may have violated several provisions of the Espionage Act, which governs the handling of national defense information, according to several national-security lawyers interviewed by my colleague Shane Harris for this storyAll of these lawyers said that a U.S. official should not establish a Signal thread in the first place. Information about an active operation would presumably fit the laws definition of national defense information. The Signal app is not approved by the government for sharing classified information. This is surely not one of the last scandals that will befall the new Trump White House but it may be one of the dumbest, and its not great for American national security either.

Thanks to an innovative "depot injection approach from a team at MIT, long-lasting shots could become a lot less painful. Involving the injection of tiny, drug-delivering crystals suspended within a solvent, the teams method could deliver drugs with thinner needles, fewer injections, and a lot less pain overall.Describing the approach in a study in Nature Chemical Engineering, the team says that the method could work with contraceptives and other drugs that are taken consistently over time.We showed that we can have very controlled, sustained delivery, likely for multiple months and even years through a small needle, said Giovanni Traverso, the senior study author and a mechanical engineering professor at MIT, according to a press release. Drug Delivery in Slow, Steady ShotsA depot injection is a type of shot that releases a drug slowly and steadily over time. While other depot injections have been developed to solidify into drug deposits beneath the skin, the polymers that are added to these shots to allow them to solidify add to their bulk, comprising around 23 percent to 98 percent of their overall weight. This requires them to be injected through thicker needles that are difficult for patients to tolerate.To develop a better alternative, the MIT team devised a shot that could be delivered through a thinner needle and still last for at least three months. Working with a contraceptive drug that transforms into crystals suspended in a solvent, the shot could solidify into a drug deposit beneath the skin without the need of large amounts of polymers, allowing it to be injected through thinner, more tolerable needles. The method could expand patients options for contraception, providing them with a lot of different formats for contraception that are easy to administer, said Vivian Feig, a lead study author and a former MIT postdoc, according to the release. Not only that; the approach could also provide patients with more drug delivery options for other drugs that are administered over time, including long-lasting drugs for HIV and tuberculosis. Developing Drug Delivery OptionsAccording to the team, the trick to the shot was the combination of the crystalline contraceptive levonorgestrel and the solvent benzyl benzoate. By adding tiny crystals of this contraceptive to this solvent, the team created a shot that could assemble into a solid drug deposit after injection without large additions of polymers.The solvent is critical because it allows you to inject the fluid through a small needle, but once in place, the crystals self-assemble into a drug depot, Traverso said in the release.By adjusting the density of the deposit with only a small addition of polymers (no more than 1.6 percent of the shots overall weight), the researchers found that they could control the rate of the drugs release throughout the body, still without requiring a thicker needle. This demonstrates the tunability of our system, which can be engineered to accommodate a broader range of contraceptive needs as well as tailored dosing regimens for other therapeutic applications, said Sanghyun Park, another lead study author and a MIT graduate student, in the release.Though the approach has not been tested in humans, studies in rats show that the drug deposits stick around for at least three months beneath the skin. At that point, around 85 percent of the drug is still sitting in the depots an amount that indicates that these deposits could last for more than a year, Park said in the release.Additional animal studies are already underway to determine whether the method is fit for human testing, whether as a delivery method for contraceptives or for other long-lasting drugs. Is it contraception? Is it others? These are some of the things that were starting to look into as part of the next steps toward translation to humans, Traverso added in the release.Article SourcesOur writers at Discovermagazine.com use peer-reviewed studies and high-quality sources for our articles, and our editors review for scientific accuracy and editorial standards. Review the sources used below for this article:Nature Chemical Engineering. Self-Aggregating Long-Acting Injectable MicrocrystalsSam Walters is a journalist covering archaeology, paleontology, ecology, and evolution for Discover, along with an assortment of other topics. Before joining the Discover team as an assistant editor in 2022, Sam studied journalism at Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois.