A partial solar eclipse on March 29 will be visible from parts of North America. Here's how to safely view the cosmic event, even if you can't be there in person.

March 28, 20258 min readIn a Sky Full of Satellites, Astronomers Find Creative Ways to Observe the StarsSwarms of satellites launched by SpaceX and other companies are disrupting astronomical observations. Here's how scientists are copingBy Alexandra Witze & Nature magazine Satellite streaks appear in a photograph taken above the Pinnacles in Nambung National Park, Western Australia. Joshua RozellsIn the next few months, from its perch atop a mountain in Chile, the Vera C. Rubin Observatory will begin surveying the cosmos with the largest camera ever built. Every three nights, it will produce a map of the entire southern sky filled with stars, galaxies, asteroids and supernovae and swarms of bright satellites ruining some of the view.Astronomers didnt worry much about satellites photobombing Rubins images when they started drawing up plans for the observatory more than two decades ago. But as the space around Earth becomes increasingly congested, researchers are having to find fresh ways to cope or else lose precious data from Rubin and hundreds of other observatories.The number of working satellites has soared in the past five years to around 11,000, mostly because of constellations of orbiters that provide Internet connectivity around the globe (see Satellite surge). Just one company, SpaceX in Hawthorne, California, has more than 7,000 operational Starlink satellites, all launched since 2019; OneWeb, a space communications company in London, has more than 630 satellites in its constellation. On paper, tens to hundreds of thousands more are planned from a variety of companies and nations, although probably not all of these will be launched.On supporting science journalismIf you're enjoying this article, consider supporting our award-winning journalism by subscribing. By purchasing a subscription you are helping to ensure the future of impactful stories about the discoveries and ideas shaping our world today.Satellites play a crucial part in connecting people, including bringing Internet to remote communities and emergency responders. But the rising number can be a problem for scientists because the satellites interfere with ground-based astronomical observations, by creating bright streaks on images and electromagnetic interference with radio telescopes. The satellite boom also poses other threats, including adding pollution to the atmosphere.NatureWhen the first Starlinks launched, some astronomers warned of existential threats to their discipline. Now, researchers in astronomy and other fields are working with satellite companies to help quantify and mitigate the impacts on science and society. There is growing interest in collaborating and finding solutions together, says Giuliana Rotola, a space-policy researcher at the SantAnna School of Advanced Studies in Pisa, Italy.Timing things rightThe first step to reduce satellite interference is knowing when and where a satellite will pass above an observatory. The aim is to minimize the surprise, says Mike Peel, an astronomer at Imperial College London.Before the launch of Starlinks, astronomers had no centralized reference for tracking satellites. Now, the International Astronomical Union (IAU) has a virtual Centre for the Protection of the Dark and Quiet Sky from Satellite Constellation Interference (CPS), which serves as an information hub and to which researchers, including Peel and Rotola, volunteer their time.One of the centres tools, called SatChecker, draws on a public database of satellite orbits, fed by information from observers and companies that track objects in space. Astronomers can use SatChecker to confirm what satellite is passing overhead during their observations. The tool isnt perfect; atmospheric drag and intentional manoeuvring can affect a satellites position, and the public database doesnt always reflect the latest information. For instance, the BlueWalker 3 satellite from telecommunications firm AST SpaceMobile in Midland, Texas, launched in 2022 and was sometimes brighter than most stars; yet uncertainty of its position was so great at times that astronomers had difficulty predicting whether it would be in their field of view for their night-time observations.Starlink satellites leave streaks in a 2019 image taken by a 4-meter telescope at the Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory in Chile.CTIO/NOIRLab/NSF/AURA/DECam DELVE SurveyTools such as SatChecker help telescope operators to avoid problems by allowing them to target a different part of the sky when a satellite passes overhead or by simply pausing observations as it flies by. It would aid astronomers if SatChecker had even more accurate information about satellite positions, but there are constraints on improving the system. SatChecker data come from the US Space Force, which draws on a global network of sensors that tracks objects in orbit and issues updates on satellite locations as often as several times a day. The frequency of these updates is limited by factors such as how often a sensor can observe an object and whether the sensor can distinguish what its looking at.Currently, satellite streaks are a relatively minor issue for telescope operators. But the problem will grow as satellite numbers continue to increase drastically, meaning more observation time will be lost, and this issue will be magnified for Rubin.Fixing the streaksRubin, which cost US$810 million to build, is a unique case because it scans large swathes of the sky frequently meaning it can detect rapidly changing phenomena such as incoming asteroids or cosmic explosions. Astronomers dont want to be fooled by passing satellites, as happened in 2017 when researchers spotted what they thought was a -ray burst high-energy flashes of light from a distant galaxy but turned out to be sunlight reflecting off a piece of space junk.Rubins powerful camera, coupled with its 8.4-metre telescope, will take about 1,000 nightly exposures of the sky, each about 45 times the area of the full Moon. Thats more wide-field pictures of the sky than any optical observatory has ever taken. Simulations suggest that if satellite numbers in low Earth orbit rise to around 40,000 over the 10 years of Rubins survey a not-impossible forecast then at least 10% of its images, and the majority of those taken during twilight, will contain a satellite trail.SpaceX took early steps to try to mitigate the problem. Working with Rubin astronomers, the company tested changes to the design and positions of Starlinks to try to keep their brightness beneath a target threshold. Amazon, the retail and technology giant based in Seattle, Washington, is also testing mitigations on prototype satellites for its planned Kuiper constellation. Such changes reduce, but dont eliminate, the problem.To limit satellite interference, Rubin astronomers are creating observation schedules to help researchers avoid certain parts of the sky (for example, near the horizon) and at certain times (such as around twilight). For when they cant avoid the satellites, Rubin researchers have incorporated steps into their data-processing pipeline to detect and remove satellite streaks. All these changes mean less time doing science and more time processing data, but they need to be done, astronomers say. We are really looking forward to getting data from Rubin and seeing how it turns out, Peel says.For other observatories, the IAU CPS is working on tools to help astronomers identify and correct satellite streaks in their data. One is a new database of crowdsourced observations of satellite brightnesses called SCORE, which is currently being beta tested and is planned for wider release in the coming months. This will help scientists to work backwards they might see something puzzling in their past observations and be able to work it out, Peel says.The database is definitely a very valuable tool because its one of few that have data freely available, says Marco Langbroek, a space-tracking specialist at Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands. As a beta tester, Langbroek has added a number of entries to SCORE, including measurements of a NASA solar sail that changes in brightness as it tumbles through space. Going forwards, he says, SCORE will be most useful if a lot of astronomers contribute high-quality observations to the database, thereby building up a resource over time.Tuning things outAstronomers who work in the radio portion of the electromagnetic spectrum face extra challenges when it comes to satellites.Big radio telescopes are typically located in remote regions, to be as far as possible from mobile-phone masts and other technological infrastructure that leak radio emissions. But satellites cant be avoided. If signals are coming from the sky, theyre always there, says Federico Di Vruno, an astronomer at the Square Kilometre Array Observatory in Jodrell Bank, UK, and co-director of the IAU CPS.When satellites transmit signals, the electromagnetic interference can overwhelm faint radio signals coming from the cosmos. One solution is to re-direct or temporarily turn off satellite transmissions. The US National Radio Astronomy Observatory and SpaceX have been working on ways to accomplish this, and the company now momentarily redirects or disables transmissions when Starlinks pass above sensitive telescopes including the Green Bank Telescope in West Virginia. The method requires voluntary buy-in by all partners, plus a lot of data sharing and intensive programming by the companies and by the astronomers, but it does reduce interference. It has been successful enough that small group of radio astronomers visited China last month to discuss the strategy with satellite operators and scientists there.An image made from multiple exposures shows streaks from Starlink satellites, the International Space Station and other satellites over a site in Wales.Max AlexanderBut as soon as one solution is found, fresh challenges appear. One is the rise of direct-to-cell satellites, which function like mobile-phone towers in space and can transmit to areas on the ground that otherwise dont have coverage. Optical astronomers worry about these because they are physically large and therefore bright, and they are a big problem for radio astronomers because direct-to-cell transmissions are extremely powerful. If one of those hits a radio observatory, the telescope might be blind for a little bit, Di Vruno says. So astronomers and satellite operators are discussing how they can share information about these as well, to avoid each other when a satellite passes over an observatory.Another emerging challenge is unintended emissions which happen when satellites leak radiation in wavelengths far outside the bands typically used for transmissions and other tasks. Early tests for the Square Kilometre Array radio telescopes, which are under construction in Australia and South Africa, discovered such leakage coming from Starlinks and other satellites.Many of these unintended emissions are at the low frequencies that are used in some studies including those of the early Universe. So far, astronomers havent come up with a good solution, other than scheduling telescopes to not record data when a satellite passes through the part of the sky being observed. In the future, it is possible that authorities such as the International Telecommunication Union might be able to issue regulations on this, as it already does for other shared uses of the electromagnetic spectrum.Cleaning up the atmosphereAstronomers arent the only researchers concerned about the impacts of satellite constellations. In the past few years, a growing number of atmospheric scientists have been warning that these fleets will pollute Earths upper atmosphere during launches and then when their orbits decline and they burn up. Researchers are just starting to get to grips with the scope of this pollution, says Connor Barker, an atmospheric chemist at University College London (UCL).The point of satellite constellations is to have lots of satellites in orbit, but refreshing them when new technology comes along means that the pace of launches and re-entries will accelerate. In February alone, an average of four Starlink satellites a day re-entered the atmosphere and burned up.Each re-entry adds chemicals to the upper atmosphere. In a 2023 study, researchers reported that measurements made during high-altitude aeroplane flights detected more than 20 chemical elements in Earths upper atmosphere that probably came from satellite re-entries, including aluminium, copper and lead. Other work has found that satellite constellations contributed around 40% of many types of carbon emission from the space industry in 2022, including black carbon particles and carbon dioxide that could contribute to warming the atmosphere. Its not yet clear how much this warms the planet or contributes to other environmental problems. Some early analyses suggest that satellite launches could contribute a small but measurable amount of ozone destruction.There are no regulations on satellite atmospheric pollution. Barker and his colleagues at UCL say a good first step towards a solution is to get better estimates of the scope of the problem. They have been building an emissions inventory for rocket launches and satellite re-entries, carefully tallying up the contaminants involved and estimating the altitudes at which they enter the atmosphere. Even though this is currently a relatively small industry thats having a relatively small impact on the atmosphere, we should still be aware of it, says Eloise Marais, an atmospheric chemist at UCL.Researchers are trying to raise the profile of these and other concerns linked to satellite fleets. Some of these issues were discussed in February in Vienna, at a meeting of the United Nations Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space. It was the first time that the committee formally discussed the impacts of satellite constellations on astronomy.No major actions were taken, as expected for these early discussions. But now all of the member states know of dark and quiet skies, Di Vruno says. That in itself, he says, is a success.This article is reproduced with permission and was first published on March 18, 2025.

March 28, 20255 min readSafe, Cheap and Non-Invasive: Ultrasound Could Treat Cancer, Psychiatric Disorders and MoreA bioengineer highlights the potential of low-intensity ultrasound for multiple uses, from enhanced drug delivery to the brain to combating cancerBy Rachel Nuwer edited by Gary Stix Naeblys/Getty Images.If you are a parent, then you probably first laid eyes on your child through an ultrasound procedurethe technology that uses high-frequency sound waves to view soft tissue. It is undeniably one of the most popular imaging tools. But its uses now extend far beyond just prenatal care.One of the best examples is low-intensity focused ultrasound, or LIFU, which delivers sound at lower energetic intensities than traditional ultrasound. It is quickly emerging as a safe, low cost and non-invasive approach for a range of treatments. Researchers are most excited about three promising uses for LIFU that are currently being studied: getting drugs past the blood-brain barrier, improving treatment for some cancers and addressing certain psychiatric conditions.Scientific American talked to Elisa Konofagou, a biomedical engineer at Columbia University, about promising current research and the direction the field is headed. Konofagou designs ultrasound-based technologies for better image and signal processing, and she also specializes in measuring changes to tissues that have been subjected to therapeutic ultrasound. She frequently collaborates with physicians to conduct clinical investigations and to translate the technologies she develops in her lab to real-world settings.On supporting science journalismIf you're enjoying this article, consider supporting our award-winning journalism by subscribing. By purchasing a subscription you are helping to ensure the future of impactful stories about the discoveries and ideas shaping our world today.[An edited transcript of the interview follows.]When did scientists begin to realize that low-intensity focused ultrasound had potential for a broader range of health applications? Theres a paper in Science from 1923 where scientists used focused ultrasound waves to destroy bacteria and red blood cells in frogs. So they knew that there was something happening with ultrasound and biological tissues. By the 1930s, they had started to try to treat nerves with therapeutic ultrasound, and in the 1950s, the brain.What attracted you to the field and made you want to dedicate your career to studying this? The fact that its completely non-invasive, and the fact that you can actually focus it down to a millimeter-size region. It's almost like science fiction to me, because usually if you want to treat somewhere deep in the body, you will have to perform surgery. In this case, you're able to go into a very small region deep in an organ without surgery. This includes the brain. Its a bit difficult to fathom, but LIFU does go through the skull.Your lab is studying how LIFU can be used to get drugs past the blood-brain barrier. Can you tell me more about that work? Some of our work focuses on temporarily opening the blood-brain barrier, a structure that is almost like a filter in the brain and doesnt allow drug molecules to go through. We are partnering with drug companies that have products that arent as efficacious as they are expected to be because theyre stopped by the blood-brain barrier. We have these small micro-bubbles that we inject into the bloodstream. Theyre designed to resonate at the frequencies of ultrasound. We use them in combination with LIFU to mechanically engage the blood vessels at the blood-brain barrier. This relaxes the vessels so the drugs can go through.Were trying to apply this method for Alzheimers treatment, for example. Others have opened the blood-brain barrier to allow an antibody that is aimed to reduce beta amyloid, the plaques that form in the brains of people with the disease, with the objective to increase both the dose of the antibody and the volume of the brain that receives treatment. It was found that the volume of beta amyloid reduces with the volume of opening, and thus the dose of the antibody received. But even without an antibody treatment, our group has found that opening the blood-brain barrier with focused ultrasound alone induces an intrinsic immune response in the brain that reduces beta amyloid and tau. So there are multiple avenues to harness ultrasound for Alzheimers that are worth investigating further.Ive heard that a similar approach can also be used for more targeted cancer treatments? Yes, thats also a very interesting aspect of how you can use LIFU. Very similar to the way that drugs for Alzheimers, Parkinsons and other neurodegenerative diseases do not penetrate the brain in a sufficient therapeutic dose, cancer drugs cant adequately reach tumors in the brain.Our group was the first, for example, to apply LIFU for opening the blood-brain barrier and delivering drugs for the treatment of Diffuse Intrinsic Pontine Gliomas, a rare type of brain tumor that is 100 percent lethal within a year in pediatric patients. We treated six patients aged six to 17 years old in a soon-to-be-published safety study.The patients were initially debilitated because of the tumors occurrence in the area of their brains responsible for mobility. Although we werent able to demonstrate tumor control, we were able to show that the patients exhibited higher ease and comfort with movement immediately after treatment. This is important, because it improves quality of life for these patients. Theyre able to feed themselves, play on their iPad and hug their family members. Were starting a second study next month pairing LIFU with a generic drug to determine whether this combination results in better tumor control.Are you familiar with much of the psychiatric work thats going on with LIFU? Yes, the psychiatric applications seem even more like science fiction! You just have ultrasound reaching into the brainso no bubbles, no drugs, just sound itself. The ultrasound activates neurons and other types of brain cells such as microglia and astrocytes, which are basically there to keep the brain healthy. The cells respond to these mechanical waves, and their connectivity changes. In very layman terms, the ultrasound rewires the brain temporarily. More research is needed on how this works, but we think the rewiring helps by either stimulating or inhibiting brain circuits, which are known to have beneficial effects in treating such conditions.Some psychiatric disorders seem to respond to this. Obsessive-compulsive disorder is the one we know of that responds the most. Some people are also looking at anxiety disorders by focusing the ultrasound on the amygdala. .Weve also seen that, by opening the blood-brain barrier, you can stimulate the brain itself and have whats called neuromodulatory consequences. Were looking at this for treating depression and pain sensation. Our lab is also looking at using LIFU to treat pain by peripheral nerve stimulation outside the brain and spinal cord. Instead of treating the brain, you treat the region of the nerve that causes the pain sensation. Working with neurosurgeons at Columbia, weve shown that LIFU can relieve pain in carpal tunnel syndrome patients for a few days. Were also working with people with neuropathy and nerve tumors.Aside from the fact that this technology is non-invasive, what are some of the other advantages for patients? It is very portable. This means we can take the treatment to the patient, as opposed to taking the patient to the treatment. This is a big advantage especially for elderly patients and those with Alzheimer's. Being portable also means its much less costly, because you dont have to have technicians who maintain it.In your opinion, what are the biggest challenges for moving the field forward? The biggest challenge is convincing the FDA that LIFU is safe, and then getting practitioners to use it more readily. The good news is that high-intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU) has been approved and gotten reimbursement in the U.S. for treating prostate cancer and essential tremors. [HIFU uses higher energy levels to destroy targeted tissue, like tumor cells.] LIFU just stimulates tissue so its safer than HIFU, which ablates tissue. But its newer, so we need to get the FDA to embrace it.Where do you hope the field will be going forward with LIFU? In the future, I think hospitals will have a therapeutic ultrasound suite where you can get treatment for whatever application you needwhether its facilitating and increasing a drug dose in the targeted area, or treating mood and psychiatric disorders.

Elden Ring: Nightreign publisher Bandai Namco has released some player statistics from the game's network test last month, and it seems players were struggling to finish it. Read more

Stop me if you've heard this one before: a Wii U classic arrives on Switch with improved character models, smoother visuals and more. This one might be the end of an era though, as Xenoblade Chronicles X looks like one of the final Wii U titles to receive a Switch version. It's a bittersweet moment, but Xenoblade X is a heck of a game to end on, being one of the most visually impressive titles on Wii U and a technical marvel of its day. How does it fare on Switch? In truth, Xenoblade Chronicles X on Switch is a straightforward affair. There have been tweaks and changes made to the experience, but the most notable improvements come from technical changes. The game ran on 1280x720 on Wii U at a (mostly) stable 30fps, relying on post-process anti-aliasing and other post-process effects, including per-pixel motion blur that holds up today. In fact, this version was almost competitive with open world games on PS4 and Xbox One, though it has some limitations too. With the leap to Switch, the game using dynamic resolution scaling and tops out at a native 1080p, making it noticeably sharper than the original game, while the portable mode seems to mostly match the resolution of the Switch's built-in display at up to 720p. Contrary to some of the early trailers, developers Monolith Soft also maintained parity in terms of visual effects and features. Things like motion blur, which is reasonably subtle, are still present and accounted for, and the game looks great in motion. Here's John with the full story of the last great Wii U to Switch conversion. Watch on YouTubeComparing the Switch remaster versus the Wii U original, the Switch version boasts significantly more environmental detail, with improvements to shadows, textures and polygonal complexity. Hand in hand with more vibrant lighting, boosts to distant detail and increases to overall image quality, it makes for a noticeable upgrade. Character models have also been revamped versus the slightly awkward originals, with changes to eye size, colour and positioning, improved skin shading and more appealing face shapes. It feels true to the original, but with a better overall design - mirroring similar changes made in the original game's sequels. Monolith Soft has also upgraded the game's user interface and modified other elements related to battle. I didn't have the chance to play far enough compared to the original to see how it plays out long-term, but it does feel more intuitive and easier to navigate. You will note, however, that there's no attempt to add collision detection to moving vehicles and such. You can still clip right through them, just like the original Wii U version. It's so funny, though, that a part of me is happy they kept this. To see this content please enable targeting cookies. So are there any things that aren't improved then? Well, thankfully, the game is almost universally enhanced but I do have one nitpick: the pre-rendered video sequences all exhibit raised black levels and therefore look washed out on Switch, something that wasn't an issue on Wii U. It's not a huge deal due to the relative lack of video sequences, but it's perhaps something that could be fixed in a future patch. Performance also hasn't changed much on the new platform. The game proceeds at a largely steady 30fps, but it's certainly not locked. A 60fps flag has been found in the game's code, so perhaps there's a possibility that we'll see a 60fps release on Switch 2? We might be revisiting this one down the line if that's the case.Beyond the relatively straightforward tech upgrades, I wanted to speak on the quality of the visuals themselves. Even today, this is a surprisingly attractive game, and what Monolith managed to achieve on Wii U feels like a miracle. Delivering a game that managed to look better than most PS3 and 360 open world games - and even approach some PS4 and Xbox One titles! - on a less powerful system is a huge achievement for a 2012 release. As well as running at a higher resolution, the game exhibits changes to lighter, geometric detail, LODs and more. | Image credit: Digital FoundryLooking at it with fresh eyes, there are a few very important things they get right that allow it to shine. Firstly, micro vs macro: a lot of effort was clearly poured into merging both near- and far-field elements into something that feels very coherent. It's not that more detail is being drawn out into the distance compared to other games, it's that what they draw in that distance looks attractive even in its lower detail state. I remember looking at Halo Infinite, released on vastly more powerful hardware, and finding that Xenoblade X handles far-off areas in a more pleasing way, with less obvious tiling and distant shadows. Essentially, Monolith does a great job breaking up sight lines and creating these beautiful silhouettes that stretch out before the player while minimising visual anomalies. Couple this with nice use of fog and the beautiful sky system and it manages to hold up. It's not actually more detailed than Halo in the distance, but your eye almost perceives it that way - so it's smart art design. The limitations are still very much there, of course. While the world is huge and open, it's also fairly static - foliage doesn't really move or react to players, water is simple and shadows are fixed in place - you don't get the fully dynamic world simulation that has become more common in the last decade or so. These are sensible development decisions, and they paid off completely here. The masterful way in which Xenoblade Chronicle X is assembled allows it to be more fetching in some ways than the relatively recent Halo Infinite when it comes to distant detail - and it's surprisingly competitive with Xbox 360, PS3 and even PS4 and Xbox One open world releases in some aspects. | Image credit: Digital FoundryRevisiting this again a decade later, I personally can't wait to see what the development team has been up to on Switch 2 - I expect to be blown away by whatever they've been cooking. It's also worth noting that since the game ships on a cartridge or is downloaded to flash memory, there is no need for an additional installation pack. If you recall, the original game offered an optional download for disc users to improve streaming performance - but if you didn't download it when the Wii U shop was running, that pack is no longer available. It's nice not to have to worry about that detail now, as it loads faster than Wii U right out of the gate.Another thing I wanted to note is that Xenoblade X does offer surround sound support - this is something else that never became as common as I'd have liked on Switch but the team delivers here. The rear channels are fully active. The soundtrack also remains excellent - it sounds very different from other games in the series but it works beautifully for this game and is a real highlight for me. I didn't have a huge amount of time to test Chronicles X, but I forward to making progress again in the game as it's been nearly a decade since I last played through it. We've mostly focused on visuals here in this video, but it seems that a lot of gameplay enhancements are also introduced here that I can't wait to check out. For now though, this new version of Xenoblade is a genuine improvement across the board and actually lives up to the Definitive Edition name. If you missed out on this back on Wii U, it's worth diving in!

You can trust VideoGamer. Our team of gaming experts spend hours testing and reviewing the latest games, to ensure you're reading the most comprehensive guide possible. Rest assured, all imagery and advice is unique and original. Check out how we test and review games hereNetEases Marvel Rivals is a pretty well optimised game, especially for an Unreal Engine 5 title. While the team behind the game has managed to optimise Doctor Stranges portals and environmental destruction, theyre aware of the games massive RAM usage on PC.As it stands right now, Marvel Rivals on PC is a RAM glutton with recent patches almost requiring 32GB of RAM. (You could probably make do with 24GB but who does that?) Speaking to PCGamer, game director Guangyun Chen promised that a new feature is coming to remedy this issue.Marvel Rivals RAM usage will be fixedTalking to the outlet at GDC 2025, Chen explained that the superhero game will be introducing an experimental feature to the game that should fix the absurdly high memory issues.On PC, we realize that [optimization] is a big problem, especially for the memory consumption, the game director said. So it may be that in Season 2, we will have an experimental check box in our launcher players can use to reduce memory [consumption] significantly.On launch and even in early beta tests, Rivals ran just fine with 16GB of RAM on PC. Additionally, the game runs extremely well on console, including Xbox Series S which has just 10GB of GDDR6 RAM. In fact, only 8GB of that is used for games.In the interview, Chen admitted that Marvel Rivals RAM usage is a very big issue for the game right now. With millions of players across the world, many of those likely dont have access to high-spec PCs, and less players means less money for NetEase.Its a very big problem, but its a lot of work to organize [a fix], the director continued. We cannot just release it in a small patch, we have to fully test it. But we realize the problem and were going to keep optimizing.Chen also put a fair amount of blame on Unreal Engine 5. While the engine is great to work with, it can be a pig to optimise, and thats the issue NetEase is facing right now. Its hard for all developers to use the engine and make it good, the director explained. Its a new engine for us. We have a lot of hard work [ahead] to optimize it.Nevrtheless, Rivals is continuing to go forward with heaps of new content. With a new hero coming every month-and-a-half with new events, maps and modes, players always have something to do. Whats this I hear about a twerking Venom?Marvel RivalsPlatform(s):macOS, PC, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series S, Xbox Series XGenre(s):Fighting, ShooterSubscribe to our newsletters!By subscribing, you agree to our Privacy Policy and may receive occasional deal communications; you can unsubscribe anytime.Share

You can trust VideoGamer. Our team of gaming experts spend hours testing and reviewing the latest games, to ensure you're reading the most comprehensive guide possible. Rest assured, all imagery and advice is unique and original. Check out how we test and review games here Contents hide Its hard to believe it has already been 10 years since Toby Foxs Undertale set the internet alight with fanart, memes and countless Game Theory videos. Now, to celebrate the games 10th anniversary, the adorable RPG is receiving a one-night only orchestral concert.Undertale Determination Symphony announcedCommencing on June 22, 2025 at 6:30PM, the Undertale Determination Symphony will kick off at the Eventim Apollo theatre in London, just opposite the Broadway Shopping Centre.The concert features a 25-piece orchestra performing music from throughout the games story. Players are invited to fall into the Underground as the orchestra takes players through a musical journey from your initial fall at Mount Ebott, leading you through Froggit Village, the Snowdin Forest, Temmie Village and so much more!While the concert plays the iconic video game soundtrack, a huge screen will play gameplay relating to the tunes.Tickets for the concert start at 30.25 entry with better seats costing a total of 97.25, which is surprisingly affordable for a one-day-only concert in London. To book your own tickets for the event, follow the link here.Even the poster is adorable.An undying legacySince its release in 2015, Toby Foxs Undertale has become one of the most inspiring video games to ever release. The whimsical tale does take some very dark turns, but at the end of the day its a tale of friendship and belonging.With the game kicking off a new wave of whacky indie games, as Fox works hard on their upcoming successor Deltarune, the legacy of Undertale is one of undying love from its community. There will likely never be such a thing as an Undertale 2, but thats because its a game that truly doesnt need one. (Thats what the dozens of fan games are for.) Im sure well see a hell of a lot more merch, though.UndertalePlatform(s):Linux, macOS, Nintendo Switch, PC, PlayStation 4, PS Vita, Xbox One, Xbox Series S/XGenre(s):Indie, RPGSubscribe to our newsletters!By subscribing, you agree to our Privacy Policy and may receive occasional deal communications; you can unsubscribe anytime.Share

All products featured on Architectural Digest are independently selected by our editors. However, when you buy something through our retail links, we may earn an affiliate commission.Shirley Temple was just three years old when she made her first film. Born in 1928, the curly-haired cutie was launched into stardom with the release of the Fox studios feature film Stand Up and Cheer! in 1934. From 1935 to 1938, Temple was the biggest box office draw in the world, filling more seats in theaters than leading man Clark Gable and bona fide superstars like Joan Crawford and Greta Garbo. Earnings from the tiny tots films even pulled Fox out of financial distress and made them competitive with other large studios. At the time, the Great Depression wore heavily on Americans, and Shirley Temples effervescence, wit, and perpetually bright demeanor seemed to give the country hope amid dark days. Her impact on the nation was acknowledged by President Franklin D. Roosevelt: During this Depression, when the spirit of the people is lower than at any other time, it is a splendid thing that for just 15 cents an American can go to a movie and look at the smiling face of a baby and forget his troubles.While she was celebrated all the world over, Temples family worked to ensure she had as normal a home life as possible by switching abodes to accommodate the star as she grew up in the spotlight. Read on for a look inside the spots Shirley Temple called home.Photo: Hulton Archive/Getty Images1/15Temples first homeAhead of her breakout performance in Stand Up and Cheer!, Temple lived in a Spanish-style Santa Monica bungalow, at 948 24th Street, that her parents had purchased a year before the future superstar was born. Built in 1926, the 2,000-square-foot home had a two-car garage, a red-tiled roof crawling with bright bougainvillea, a large backyard by the ocean, and the jungle gym Temple plays on in this 1933 photo.Photo: Screen Archives/Getty Images2/15Fan mailIts said that Temple began receiving over 4,000 letters a week in 1934 following the release of Bright Eyes, the film in which she performed one of her most popular songs, On the Good Ship Lollipop. The barrage of fan mail and gifts became commonplace for the child star and space for their storage was partly why the Temples upgraded dwellings twice. First, they decamped to a bigger Santa Monica home, then to their three-acre property at 227 North Rockingham Avenue in Brentwood, where Temple spent most of her childhood. Among the actors most unique fan gifts: a baby kangaroo all the way from Australia, a Shetland pony from the chairman of the board of 20th Century Fox Studio, and a well-appointed playhouse from the Owens-Illinois Glass Company, which featured a modernist flat roof, French doors, and walls of glass block and concrete. The playhouse remains on the property to this day.Photo: Archive Photos/Getty Images3/15Childs playThe actor, pictured here at home in 1943, received hundreds of dolls from admirers worldwide. Her parents built a two-story Tudor-style bungalow a few hundred feet from their main house in Brentwood exclusively for the young star to stash fan gifts and entertain visiting friends. According to Anne Edwards, author of Shirley Temple: American Princess, the interior of the playhouse looked like a department store display window the week before Christmas. It hosted a theater, a soda fountain room, a kitchen, and a bowling alley.Photo: Screen Archives/Getty Images4/15A typical teenagerTemple spent the years between 1939 and 1945 enrolled at the prestigious Westlake School for Girls (now Harvard-Westlake School) in Holmby Hills, Los Angeles. The entertainers box office appeal began to wane in her adolescence, but she thrived in her offscreen life experiencing school as a normal teenager. Temple was quite popular and excelled in the sciences. She was also a member of the schools glee club and clandestinely wrote her school newspapers gossip column. This 1944 picture shows the teen in repose on her living room couch the year before her Westlake graduation.Photo: Earl Theisen/Getty Images5/15The baby grand pianoOne of Temples most treasured possessions was the baby grand piano pictured here, gifted to her in 1939 by Theodore G. Steinway of the legendary Steinway piano-making dynasty. The Chippendale-encased instrument featured a sweet message from Steinway himself: I hope dear Shirley that you will like this piano as much as the Steinways like you! And thats a lot! The piano remained in Temples possession until it was auctioned off by her children the year after her death. Its much harder to say goodbye to something like the baby grand piano, the stars son, Charles Black Jr, told the Guardian. Thats been around the house since our earliest memories. We all learned to play on that.Photo: Screen Archives/Getty Images6/15Refined tasteTemples eye for craftsmanship was evident from a young age, and she held onto the decorative items she cherished throughout the many moves of her lifetime. There are pieces in the house that traveled through her life with her, Temples eldest daughter, Susan, told the press after her mothers death. The exquisite pair of cut-glass candlestick lustres gracing her baby grand piano in this 1944 snapshot stayed with the star until her death. The base, body, and holder of each are crafted completely from faceted glass.Photo: Earl Theisen/Getty Images7/15Famous furry friendTemple was an animal lover and owned three ponies: Little Carnation, Spunky, and Roanie. The trio resided in the stables of the familys Brentwood estate. Temple also had a Scottish terrier, a cocker spaniel, and a miniature Chinese Pekingese, the latter of which was initially her costar; the pup played Temples pet in the 1936 film Stowaway and was named Ching-Ching after her character in the flick. She and the dog, her favorite, are seeing relaxing at home in this 1944 image.Photo: Bettmann/Contributor/Getty Images8/15Wedding bells ring at the Brentwood estateAfter tying the knot at the Wilshire Methodist Church when she was 17 years old, Temple and her new groom, army sergeant and actor John Agar Jr., headed to the expansive backyard of Temples Brentwood family dwelling to celebrate the nuptials with 500 guests. The rambling French Normandy-style home, complete with central turret and combined stucco and stone walls, was custom-built by the Temples in 1936. The property boasted a 5,000-square-foot main residence, a badminton court, a stable for Temples ponies, a shallow swimming pool, a mini roller coaster, a merry-go-round, the glass-brick playhouse, and Temples two-story cottage.Photo: Screen Archives/Getty Images9/15Temples go-to pattern and paletteOn the heels of their wedding celebration, the newlyweds posed for a photograph in their marital home, which the teenager decorated with her favorite colors and motifs. She loved fabrics with color and prints, Susan, Temples eldest child, once shared with the press. She could look at a fabric and visualize it in a room for a house that hadnt even been completed yet. It was just a gift she had, a real affinity with color. Her preferred patterns featured flowers and large leaves in rich oranges and greens.Photo: Hulton Archive/Getty Images10/15Play cottage turned family homeFor the four years Temple and Agar were married, Temples former play cottage served as the couples marital home, though the structure had to be reconfigured to accommodate the Agars. The theater was transformed into an expansive living room, Temples prized soda fountain room was converted into the primary suite, the kitchens footprint grew, and the former bowling alley became their dining room. The child star parted ways with the residence after her split from Agar and sold it to her parents.Photo: Herb Ball/NBCU Photo Bank/NBCUniversal via Getty Images via Getty Images11/15Homemaking in AthertonBy 1950, Temple had moved on to her second marriage to blue-blooded businessman Charles Alden Black. At the time of this photo in December 1957, the pair had settled into their Northern California home with their children. The house was located in Atherton, which was described as an upper-middle-class suburb of San Francisco by biographer Ann Edwards in 2017. (It is currently the wealthiest zip code in America.) The family lived in a custom-built redwood ranch, designed in the Japanese modern style sometimes referred to as Pacific style. Temple, who reportedly became a licensed interior decorator in 1954, wove east Asian motifs throughout the home, such as the lamp stand on the end table pictured here behind Black. The homes detached guesthouse was a round, shingle-roofed wooden structure with glass doors that opened up to a raised patio.Photo: Gerald Smith/NBCU Photo Bank/NBCUniversal via Getty Images via Getty Images12/15Polka-inspired decorShirley Temple was an avid collector with a surprising affinity for polka music (or at least its ephemera). This 1957 photograph shows the former child actor gesturing toward a framed collection of vintage polka sheet music covers used to decorate one of the hallways in her Atherton home. The distinctive piece of wall decor was sold at auction in 2016, two years after her death.Photo: Bettmann/Contributor/Getty Images13/15Family timeWhen she married Charles Black in 1950, Temple also publicly announced her retirement from making movies. The former box office star dedicated most of the following decade to caring for her husband and three children, Susan, Charles, and Lori. As a mother, she was devoted and generous, although she could be a little bit stern if we didnt behave, Susan told the press after her mothers death. Family was a really, really important part of her life. She was all about her children and her husband.Photo: Herb Ball/NBCU Photo Bank/NBCUniversal via Getty Images via Getty Images14/15Room to growThe familys home, which was situated on about one acre of land, offered Temples children lots of space to play. The expansive outdoor area was filled with mature trees, flower and vegetable gardens, and a jungle gym complete with a swing.Photo: Gerald Smith/NBCU Photo Bank/NBCUniversal via Getty Images via Getty Images15/15An off-screen careerIn 1958, Temple made her television debut on NBC as the hostess, narrator, and sometimes-actor on a live anthology series of fairy-tale adaptations called Shirley Temples Storybook, which ran for two seasons. This photo shows The Littlest Rebel star in her Atherton home office the summer before the shows debut. Ten years later, Henry Kissinger appointed Temple as a delegate to the 24th United Nations General Assembly, jump-starting her career as diplomat. I have no trouble being taken seriously as a woman and a diplomat here, the former child star said after her appointment as US ambassador to Ghana in 1974. My only problems have been with Americans who, in the beginning, refused to believe I had grown up since my movies.

SSAs core logic is also written largely in COBOL. This is the code that issues social security numbers, manages payments, and even calculates the total amount beneficiaries should receive for different services, a former senior SSA technologist who worked in the office of the chief information officer says. Even minor changes could result in cascading failures across programs.If you weren't worried about a whole bunch of people not getting benefits or getting the wrong benefits, or getting the wrong entitlements, or having to wait ages, then sure go ahead, says Dan Hon, principal of Very Little Gravitas, a technology strategy consultancy that helps government modernize services, about completing such a migration in a short timeframe.Got a Tip?Are you a current or former government employee who wants to talk about what's happening? We'd like to hear from you. Using a nonwork phone or computer, contact the reporter securely on Signal at makenakelly.32.Its unclear when exactly the code migration would start. A recent document circulated amongst SSA staff laying out the agencys priorities through May does not mention it, instead naming other priorities like terminating non-essential contracts and adopting artificial intelligence to augment administrative and technical writing.Earlier this month, WIRED reported that at least 10 DOGE operatives were currently working within SSA, including a number of young and inexperienced engineers like Luke Farritor and Ethan Shaotran. At the time, sources told WIRED that the DOGE operatives would focus on how people identify themselves to access their benefits online.Sources within SSA expect the project to begin in earnest once DOGE identifies and marks remaining beneficiaries as deceased and connecting disparate agency databases. In a Thursday morning court filing, an affidavit from SSA acting administrator Leland Dudek said that at least two DOGE operatives are currently working on a project formally called the Are You Alive Project targeting what these operatives believe to be improper payments and fraud within the agencys system by calling individual beneficiaries. The agency is currently battling for sweeping access to SSAs systems in court to finish out this work. (Again, 150-year-olds are not collecting social security benefits. That specific age was likely a quirk of COBOL. It doesnt include a date type, so dates are often coded to a specific reference pointMay 20, 1875, the date of an international standards-setting conference held in Paris, known as the Convention du Mtre.)In order to migrate all COBOL code into a more modern language within a few months, DOGE would likely need to employ some form of generative artificial intelligence to help translate the millions of lines of code, sources tell WIRED. DOGE thinks if they can say they got rid of all the COBOL in months then their way is the right way and we all just suck for not breaking shit, says the SSA technologist.DOGE would also need to develop tests to ensure the new systems outputs match the previous one. It would be difficult to resolve all of the possible edge cases over the course of several years, let alone months, adds the SSA technologist.This is an environment that is held together with bail wire and duct tape, the former senior SSA technologist working in the office of the chief information officer tells WIRED. The leaders need to understand that theyre dealing with a house of cards or Jenga. If they start pulling pieces out, which theyve already stated theyre doing, things can break.

Business Insider used OpenAI's tool to generate a Ghibli-style image of Sam Altman. Effie Webb/OpenAI's 4o tool 2025-03-28T12:22:53Z SaveSaved Read in app This story is available exclusively to Business Insider subscribers. Become an Insider and start reading now.Have an account? OpenAI released a new image generator this week, sparking a meme frenzy and controversy.Users flooded social media with images in the style of the Japanese animation house Studio Ghibli.The trend has fueled a debate on copyright, with some accusing OpenAI of exploiting artists' work.From meme madness to copyright concerns, the release of OpenAI's new image generator this week has been nothing short of dramatic.Soon after "Images for ChatGPT" was unveiled on Tuesday, an X user said OpenAI's 4o tool generated a "sexy man" but wouldn't create "sexy women." That caught the attention of OpenAI's chief, Sam Altman, who blamed a "bug" and promised a fix.Then came the tsunami of images generated in the distinctive style of the renowned Japanese animation house Studio Ghibli. X users flooded the platform with Ghibli-fied versions of their own photos, popular memes, public figures such as President Donald Trump, and scenes from films including "The Wolf of Wall Street."Even Altman joined in on the hype and swapped out his profile picture with a Ghibli-style photo of himself. The White House's official X account jumped on the bandwagon, too, and shared a Ghibli-fied photo of a woman arrested by ICE for illegally entering the US.Ghibli tsunamiAt first it seemed like a lighthearted moment of things being reimagined through a Ghibli lens, until things took a darker turn.OpenAI users Ghibli-fied images of historic events including JFK's assassination, the 9/11 attacks, and World War II.OpenAI said Wednesday that it had started blocking requests for Ghibli-style images and that it was taking a "conservative approach" by refusing user attempts to create images in the likeness of a living artist. An OpenAI spokesperson told Business Insider on Wednesday night that it still allowed users to generate images in "broader studio styles."Savvy users found workarounds. BI's Pranav Dixit tried out the tool on Thursday using the paid-for version and found it would still generate several images in the Ghibli style.OpenAI then decided to limit the number of images users of its free tier model could generate a day. Altman joked on X that OpenAI's servers were "melting" from the surge in demand.It now appears the free version of ChatGPT is refusing image requests entirely, citing copyright rules.Copyright questionsWhile the internet had its fun, a fierce debate about whether OpenAI was unfairly using the work of artists including Studio Ghibli's Hayao Miyazaki has begun.Some X users criticized those Ghibli-fying images, arguing that Miyazaki, a famed Japanese artist renowned for his meticulous hand-drawn animations that can take years to create, poured his heart and soul into his work.Ghibli is known for its animated features, which include "My Neighbor Totoro" and "Spirited Away." "Spirited Away" is one of Studio Ghibli's animated features. Studio Ghibli Ed Newton-Rex, the CEO of the nonprofit Fairly Trained, which certifies AI companies with fair training practices, described the controversy as a "takeoff moment for AI protests."It's reminiscent of the Scarlett Johansson saga last year, when the actor threatened to sue OpenAI over a voice chatbot feature that many said sounded like her.It raises the question of whether Ghibli-gate will be the latest copyright headache for OpenAI following a barrage of lawsuits from news outlets, authors, and musicians who say their work was used to train its models without consent.Newton-Rex wrote in X post on Thursday that "obvious and egregious IP theft by AI companies has united authors and artists in outrage.""Suspect protests will only grow as the effects are felt by more & more professions," he added.There's also growing concern about what the new tool means for graphic designers and AI image-generator startups.Klarna CEO Sebastian Siemiatkowski said on X that he was "not as amused as many others" as OpenAI's latest offering had "wiped out" some companies and had "serious implications for countless jobs."Recommended video