US President Donald Trumps executive orders have led to drastic cuts across the sciencesSHAWN THEW/POOL/EPA-EFE/ShutterstockIn a letter to Michael Kratsios, director of the US Office of Science and Technology Policy, the Trump administration said on 26 March that the US needs to revitalise its science and technology enterprise and accelerate research and development. But President Donald Trump has spent the early months of his second term dismantling the very research apparatus built for this purpose.His latest directive invokes the idea of the endless frontier, a vision set out at

A common symptom of measles includes a rashAleksandr Finch/ShutterstockThe US is currently facing its most severe measles resurgence in years. On 26 March, Ohio became the fifth state to declare a measles outbreak this year, joining Texas, Oklahoma, New Mexico and Kansas.How many measles cases are there in the US?As of 27 March, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has confirmed 483 measles cases in the US this year. This is the highest number of infections since 2019, when there were more than 1200 confirmed cases. The CDC is aware of more potential measles cases but is waiting for confirmation before including them in the case count.Which states are affected by measles?So far, 19 states have confirmed at least one measles case this year: Alaska, California, Florida, Georgia, Kansas, Kentucky, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Tennessee, Texas, Vermont and Washington. Fourteen of these states have reported only isolated incidences, meaning the infection didnt spread to more than one other person.AdvertisementHowever, five states declared a measles outbreak, defined as at least three related measles cases. As of 28 March, confirmed measles cases totalled 400 in Texas and 44 in New Mexico. There were seven cases in Oklahoma as of 25 March. Kansas and Ohio have confirmed 23 and 10 measles cases, respectively, as of 26 March.Has anyone been hospitalised or died?The CDC reports that 70 people have been hospitalised for measles so far this year. One unvaccinated child also died from the virus on 26 February in Texas the countrys first recorded measles death in a decade. A second possible measles-related death is under investigation in New Mexico.When did the outbreak start?Texas was the first state to declare a measles outbreak. The Texas Department of State Health Services issued an alert on 23 January after identifying measles in two unvaccinated adults who lived together in Houston and had recently travelled abroad. A week later, the state confirmed an additional two cases in unvaccinated children on the other side of the state in Gaines county. It isnt clear if these two incidents were related.Get the most essential health and fitness news in your inbox every Saturday.Sign up to newsletterSince then, measles has rapidly spread through Gaines county, located in western Texas, infecting at least 270 individuals. Gaines county has a large rural population and low vaccination rate: just under of children in kindergarten which usually starts at age 5 were vaccinated against measles. The real rate may be lower, as the data doesnt include home-schooled children.The outbreak has since spilled into neighbouring communities, including those across the state border in New Mexico, which announced its first case on 11 February, and Oklahoma, which announced its first two cases on 11 March. The New York Times reported that state health officials also believe the Kansas outbreak, which began on 13 March, is related to those in New Mexico and Texas.The latest outbreak in Ohio is unrelated to those in other states. The Ohio Department of Health declared the first case on 20 March in an unvaccinated man who had contact with someone who had recently travelled abroad. All nine of the other confirmed cases are related to this first unvaccinated man.Who is most affected by measles?Nearly all of the confirmed measles cases 97 per cent have occurred in people who are unvaccinated or whose vaccination status is unknown. Only 2 per cent of cases are in people who have received two doses of the measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine. Two doses of the vaccine is 97 per cent effective against measles while one dose is only 93 per cent effective.Children and adolescents are particularly susceptible to measles. The majority of cases 75 per cent are in people 19 years old and younger. Children are also at risk of developing serious complications from measles. About 1 out of every 20 children with measles develops pneumonia and about 1 out of every 1000 with the illness experiences brain swelling, which can lead to hearing loss, intellectual disability and death.Why are there so many measles cases?The US declared measles eliminated in 2000. However, occasional outbreaks still occur due to waning vaccination rates. Measles is a highly contagious virus. Each case can lead to an additional 12 to 18 cases if people arent protected against the disease. When more than 95 per cent of people in a community are fully vaccinated against measles, most people in the area are protected through herd immunity.In the 2019 to 2020 school year, more than 95 per cent of US kindergarteners were vaccinated against measles. Yet that number fell to less than 93 per cent in the 2023 to 2024 school year, leaving roughly 280,000 kindergarteners at risk of infection.What is the US doing to contain the outbreak?Vaccination is the best protection against measles. The fact that we now have a measles case in Ohio adds emphasis to the importance of being fully vaccinated, Bruce Vanderhoff at the Ohio Department of Public Health said in a press release announcing the states first case. This disease can be very serious, but it is preventable. I strongly encourage you to protect yourselves and your children by getting vaccinated.However, the US secretary of health, Robert F Kennedy Jr, has stopped short of calling on people to get vaccinated. The decision to vaccinate is a personal one, he wrote in a Fox News article on 2 March. Vaccines not only protect individual children from measles, but also contribute to community immunity, protecting those who are unable to be vaccinated due to medical reasons.Topics:

Elon Musk, who runs Tesla, xAI, X, and SpaceX, has also been busy with his new role as a special government employee for the White House. Kenny Holston/The New York Times 2025-03-29T02:43:35Z SaveSaved Read in app This story is available exclusively to Business Insider subscribers. Become an Insider and start reading now.Have an account? Elon Musk says his companies are "suffering" because of his work with the White House.He said his White House role has been "disadvantageous" for his business empire.President Donald Trump has tried to prop up Musk's EV company amid Tesla's recent stock decline.Elon Musk said his companies are "suffering" due to his work with the Trump Administration, pointing to recent attacks against his EV company.In the second half of a two-part interview on Fox News' "Special Report" that aired Friday, Bret Baier asked the CEO to address any conflict of interest between his business empire and his work at the White House.Musk, who runs SpaceX, Tesla, xAI, X, and a tunneling company, was designated a special government employee after President Donald Trump's electoral victory.He has put much of his focus on cutting federal spending. The White House has said that Elon Musk is not the head of the DOGE office, which is leading the administration's efforts to downsize the government, but the CEO has repeatedly been referenced as the de facto leader.Musk said it has been "disadvantageous for me to be in the government, not advantageous," adding that his "companies are suffering because I'm in the government."Musk pointed to the recent troubles at Tesla. The company has experienced a stock dip amid disappointing global sales figures and investor concern that the CEO is spending too much time away from his company. Tesla also has faced a series of protests, vandalism incidents, and attacks against its showrooms and vehicles which Musk cited to Baier raising concerns from some on Wall Street that Musk has damaged the brand of his company. It's unclear what the impact has been on his other companies.Musk previously said he was overseeing his companies with "great difficulty," and, in a surprise all-hands Tesla meeting on March 20, urged stakeholders to "hang on to your stock."The Tesla CEO's business empire has been supported by billions of dollars worth of government contracts or subsidies and still stands to gain during Trump's second term.The White House's DOGE office, for example, has moved to either de-fang or entirely shut down government agencies that were once investigating Musk's companies.Earlier this month, Trump stood in front of the South Lawn of the White House with several Tesla models for a media event, praising the electric vehicles he was once hesitant to endorse.The president's second term has created an uncertain economic landscape with his reliance on tariffs as a leveraging tool against global trade partners and as a way to urge companies to produce domestically.Wall Street estimates that Trump's recent 25% tariffs against all auto and auto part imports could cost the industry as much as $82 billion.Musk said in an X post on Wednesday that his company would not be "unscathed" by the tariffs, but Tesla could be the winner in the outcome as the company would be relatively insulated from the tariffs' impacts since all of its cars are final-assembled in the US.A Tesla spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment.Recommended video

As digital surveillance, hacking, and cyber espionage become more sophisticated, protecting the security of government communications is more important than ever.US officials typically have classified discussions within the walls of highly secure facilities to safeguard top-secret information from foreign adversaries.The same level of security, however, can't be provided by even encrypted messaging apps like Signal, which the Pentagon warns is vulnerable to hacking.Earlier this week, The Atlantic's editor in chief Jeffrey Goldberg was inadvertently added to a Signal group chat with Trump administration officials, including Vice President JD Vance and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, discussing plans for a military strike on Houthi rebels in Yemen.Trump officials deny that classified information was shared, but there are arguments to the contrary. They didn't include things like names and locations, but they did discuss time on station, weather conditions, target details, and strike packages for the mission.The extraordinary operational security failure underscored a deeply troubling, dangerous reality in modern national security some highly sensitive military conversations may not be happening inside a SCIF as they probably should.What is a SCIF?An aide enters the House Intelligence Committee's SCIF in the US Capitol. REUTERS/Aaron P. Bernstein The US government invests billions in building Sensitive Compartmented Information Facilities, or SCIFs (pronounced "skiff") highly secure rooms designed to safeguard sensitive discussions and operations from hacking and foreign surveillance.US military and intelligence officials use these SCIFs to have classified conversations about military strategy, intelligence gathering, and diplomatic negotiations.These facilities can be used to discuss any level of classified material, but they are specifically for Top Secret/Sensitive Compartmented Information (TS/SCI).What does a SCIF look like?The main meeting room table is seen in the White House Situation Room. Carlos Fyfe/The White House//Handout via REUTERS SCIFs can vary in size from a small room to an entire building, and the average cost per square foot for one of these rooms ranges between $350 and $1,000.Federal agencies like the CIA and NSA, as well as some US embassies and government offices, have SCIFs within their buildings.The US Capitol has a SCIF where congressional committees can host closed meetings or hearings. The SCIF in the White House commonly referred to as the Situation Room is one of the most well-known examples of a secure room. It's where the president and senior staff are often photographed monitoring significant international crises or coordinating US military operations overseas.How are SCIFs used remotely?Former President Barack Obama and national security advisor Susan E. Rice talk on the phone in a sensitive compartmented information facility (SCIF) in Havana. Official White House Photo by Pete Souza SCIFs are also constructed at some US military bases, either in permanent installations or within temporary facilities like shipping containers or tents.Hotel rooms and temporary accommodations for the president and other high-ranking government officials can often become SCIFs so they can participate in classified conversations at a moment's notice. In 2017, President Donald Trump and his security team set up a makeshift situation room at his Mar-a-Lago resort to monitor the US strikes on Syria.Some Cabinet-level members even have rooms in their homes converted into SCIFs equipped with essential government-approved teleconference equipment.What security measures are in place inside a SCIF?US Air Force airmen work inside a temporary sensitive compartmented information facility in Fort Smith, Arkansas. US Air National Guard US intelligence agencies have strict requirements for maintaining the airtight security expected from SCIFs, including restricting the construction of the secure rooms to American companies.Some SCIFs only allow personnel with proper security clearances to enter, restricting unauthorized access with security measures such as armed guards, biometric access, and 24/7 surveillance. Documents and other information remain confined inside the secure walls of the facility.Inside a SCIF, phones, laptops, smartwatches, and other communication devices are prohibited.The reinforced walls of a SCIF are typically soundproofed to prevent outside physical eavesdropping and covered in signal-shielding materials designed to control and block electronic eavesdropping.Why are military officials required to use SCIFs?A prototype mobile Secure Compartmented Information Facility (SCIF) is loaded onto a C-130 Hercules in Tucson. US Air National Guard Photo by Senior Master Sgt. Charles Givens Military officials are required to use government-approved compartmentalized environments like SCIFs for the highly sensitive information they handle.SCIFs enforce strict "need-to-know" protocols, reducing the risk of unauthorized access, unlike chat apps where users can accidentally be addedWhile Signal features the same kind of end-to-end encryption used by the US government, it can still be compromised. The app's popularity among troops and government officials makes it a prime target for hacking groups, prompting the Pentagon to issue an advisory on the vulnerabilities of the digital platform just days before The Atlantic published its initial bombshell report."It was a chilling thing to realize that I've inadvertently discovered a massive security breach in the national security system of the United States," Goldberg told NPR in the aftermath.President Donald Trump downplayed the serious national security breach as a "glitch" and said that no classified information was discussed in the chat, which was called "Houthi PC small group," PC standing for "principals committee."Hegseth doubled down on that particular point, arguing that "nobody was texting war plans" in the Signal chat. Michael Waltz, Trump's national security advisor who added Goldberg to the group, took "full responsibility" for the "embarrassing" security breach."There's a difference between inadvertent release versus careless and sloppy, malicious leaks of classified information," Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard testified during a congressional hearing.In response to these characterizations of the chat, The Atlantic later released the messages almost completely unredacted to allow people "to reach their own conclusions" about the significance of the content.The group chat included details like types of weapons to be used and expected times of impact, as well as strategic discussions over the duration of the operation."There is a clear public interest in disclosing the sort of information that Trump advisors included in nonsecure communications channels," The Atlantic wrote in the follow-up report, "especially because senior administration figures are attempting to downplay the significance of the messages that were shared."

A planned expansion to Hogwarts Legacy, a video game set in the Harry Potter universe, has been cancelled after reportedly selling more than 34 million copiesTech01:59, 29 Mar 2025Hogwarts Legacy(Image: Avalanche Software / Shiver Entertainment)A major expansion to the wildly popular Hogwarts Legacy video game has been axed. The game, set in the Harry Potter universe and boasting over 34 million copies sold, was expected to receive an expansion later this year.Despite no official announcement from Warner Bros. Discovery Inc., reports of the planned expansion surfaced last year, hinting at new storylines. There were also whispers of a Definitive Edition of the game, bundling all content, being released simultaneously.Article continues belowHowever, Bloomberg has now reported that the expansion is off the table. According to the business news outlet, the proposed content for the expansion "was not substantial enough to justify the price being considered".Hogwarts Legacy(Image: Very)Despite this setback, a sequel to Hogwarts Legacy, one of the best-selling games of all time, is reportedly still on the cards, reports the Mirror.Warner Bros.' gaming sector faced a rocky 2024, with a Suicide Squad title featuring DC Comics icons like Batman, Superman, and Harley Quinn flopping critically and financially, leading to layoffs at the studio responsible for it later that year.The company also scrapped a Wonder Woman game and shut down three studios. It has since declared a strategic shift to concentrate on its most lucrative franchises, including Harry Potter, DC, Game of Thrones, and Mortal Kombat, as per Eurogamer's reporting.Hogwarts Legacy is set a century before the shenanigans of the Harry Potter books, letting gamers step into the shoes of a Hogwarts pupil.It is been given the thumbs up overall, with fans chuffed to bits at the faithful recreation of the magical world dreamt up by J.K. Rowling.However, it's not all rosy - there's been some gripes about the gameplay and a few techy bits. Plus, some of JK Rowling's opinions have ruffled feathers, sparking calls for a boycott.This comes as Grand Theft Auto 6 is expected to arrive in 2025, and the first game from Build A Rocket Boy will debut in just a few months.Set in Redrock City, a place where technology is king, players navigate an urban sprawl and the surrounding areas where AI is a part of everyday life.While the game was originally conceived as part of an ambitious game creation tool, it's not a standalone title that's being published by IO Interactive, the studio behind Hitman and now we know when we can play it, too.MindsEye will launch on June 10, 2025, so it's closer than you may have been expecting. It'll debut on PS5, Xbox Series X and S, and PC.Article continues belowFor the latest breaking news and stories from across the globe from the Daily Star, sign up for our newsletter by clicking

The only thing that can sink the Switch 2 is Nintendos greed Readers FeatureGameCentralPublished March 29, 2025 1:00am Could Nintendo be its own worst enemy? (YouTube)A reader looks forward to the Nintendo Switch 2 Direct but worries that Nintendos penny-pinching could bring them down.Were nearly there. On Wednesday the Nintendo Switch 2 will be properly unveiled and unless its all some crazy bait and switch well find out everything about the console and its launch games. I cant wait. Any console reveal is exciting but with Nintendo its always something special.The current Switch is probably going to end up as the most successful console of all-time and I dont know who could argue that it doesnt deserve to be in at least contention for the best ever. Its near endless list of classic games is unbelievable and all the more so because in most cases thats as a result of completely revamping decades old franchises that were already thought of as near perfect.But you should never have heroes. Nintendo is great at making games and console theyre easily the best in the world but theyre still a greedy and shortsighted company, like all the rest. They can be very anti-consumer at times, especially when theyre coming off a hot streak, and I just hope that doesnt end up scuppering the Switch 2.Lets get this out of the way first: Nintendo games never going down in price is not anti-consumer. Refusing to fix broke Joy-Cons and not having a proper digital account system is anti-consumer but selling games at a price people are willing to pay is not. Games, from any publisher, are sold at the maximum price that a company thinks people will pay for it and for Nintendo thats almost always full price.There is no incentive for Nintendo to lower the price if people think its good value for money and are still willing to pay it. That is the business reward for making good games: people pay their money and are satisfied with the end result. Asking Nintendo to reduce prices is like asking them to make worse games so theyll be cheaper.No, Nintendos faults lie elsewhere. They have got better at digital accounts but theyre still not there and part of the problem is that games is all Nintendo does, so they have to make the maximum amount of money they can from that. They cant go around giving things away for free like Microsoft or Sony.Thats why the Virtual Game Card thing seemed so overcomplicated and fiddly. Did it remind you of Xbox Ones game sharing rules? It did me and I know its the first thing a lot of other people thought of too. Microsoft learnt from that and now theyre very generous with things like game sharing and backwards compatibility and game upgrades but they can afford to be.Not only are Nintendos game sharing rules a lot more restrictive but I fear they are going to charge for upgrades from Switch 1 to 2 games. We know theyre going to do that, but I really cant imagine that being free. Im not even saying its unfair for Nintendo to ask for the money but its just going to cost them a lot of negativity if its too expensive.Gamers are weird. Theyll pay huge amounts of money for pointless cosmetic, but theyll hurl death threats at anyone they think is charging them a dollar more than theyre willing to pay. I dont feel Nintendo has ever properly understood that about Western gamers, and while Im not defending anyone, I worry it could create multiple flashpoints for the Switch 2.More TrendingMaybe Im wrong. Maybe Nintendo will be unusually generous, but the Virtual Game Card immediately makes me think they wont be.By reader Lostkeys The Switch 2 may have some hidden costs (Nintendo)The readers features do not necessarily represent the views of GameCentral or Metro.You can submit your own 500 to 600-word reader feature at any time, which if used will be published in the next appropriate weekend slot. Just contact us at gamecentral@metro.co.uk or use our Submit Stuff page and you wont need to send an email.GameCentralSign up for exclusive analysis, latest releases, and bonus community content.This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply. Your information will be used in line with our Privacy Policy

By Matt Novak Published March 28, 2025 | Comments (10) | Elon Musk jumps awkwardly at an event before the 2024 election to promote Donald Trump at the Greater Philadelphia Expo Center in Oaks, Pennsylvania, on October 18, 2024. Ryan Collerd / AFP via Getty Images Wisconsin voters will go to the polls next week to choose between candidates for the states Supreme Court. Elon Musk has spent $17 million so far to support the Republican-aligned candidate, according to the Associated Press. And the billionaire oligarch is really spreading the money around this weekend before Tuesdays vote, offering up $1 million each to two people who attend his rally in Wisconsin on Sunday. Musk tweeted Friday morning about his planned visit to the state, though an exact location for his appearance hasnt been announced yet. On Sunday night, I will give a talk in Wisconsin, Musk tweeted. Entrance is limited to those who have voted in the Supreme Court election. I will also personally hand over two checks for a million dollars each in appreciation for you taking the time to vote. This is super important. That offer seems to run afoul of Wisconsin state bribery laws, as countless people pointed out on social media Friday. And it looks like the billionaire oligarch saw the outcry. Or at least his lawyers did. Musk deleted the tweet to clarify what he meant, which presumably means one of his attorneys provided him with wording that might get him into less legal trouble. On Sunday night, I will give a talk in Wisconsin, Musk wrote in the new tweet on Friday afternoon. To clarify a previous post, entrance is limited to those who have signed the petition in opposition to activist judges. I will also hand over checks for a million dollars to 2 people to be spokesmen for the petition. One of Musks political action committees already gave out $1 million to a Green Bay man on Wednesday. Wisconsin Supreme Court candidate Susan Crawford is Democratically-aligned, and her spokesperson told the AP that Musks payments are corrupt and extreme, calling them disgraceful to our state and judiciary. Crawfords challenger, Brad Schimel, has closely aligned himself with Trump and Republicans.This isnt the first time Musk has offered large cash handouts in exchange for votes. The Tesla CEO did the exact same thing during the 2024 presidential election in swing states that he was working to deliver for President Donald Trump. Musk initially said he was offering $1 million prizes in Wisconsin, Nevada, Arizona, Georgia, North Carolina, and Michigan randomly in the lead up to the 2024 election. But his lawyer later clarified there was nothing random about the giveaway. The cash handouts were later branded as salaries for promotional work supporting the First and Second Amendments. Prosecutors in Philadelphia sued over the scheme, but a judge allowed the brazen plan to go forward. Ultimately, the prosecutors dropped the case after the election, which seems to be why we as a society are at this point now. Anyone can do illegal things before elections, as long as they win. At least that seems to be the takeaway.Musk has been running roughshod over democracy ever since Trump tasked him with leading the so-called Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), a pseudo-agency thats been systematically destroying the federal government since Trump took power on Jan. 20. That also happens to be the day Musk made two Nazi-style salutes, gestures that he would say much later werent intended to be related to Nazism. Wisconsins Attorney General Josh Kaul released a statement Friday announcing his intention to file an injunction against Musks actions in the state. The Wisconsin Department of Justice is committed to ensuring that elections in Wisconsin are safe, secure, free and fair. We are aware of the offer recently posted by Elon Musk to award a million dollars to two people at an event in Wisconsin this weekend, Kaul said, according to local news outlet WTMJ. Based on our understanding of applicable Wisconsin law, we intend to take legal action today to seek a court order to stop this from happening. Kaul filed an injunction in Dane County Circuit Court, where the case was randomly assigned to the Democratically-aligned Susan Crawford, reports the AP. Crawford is apparently recusing herself, according to a spokesperson who spoke with the news service.Its not clear how quickly the injunction will be ruled on, but whatever happens in Tuesdays election, heres hoping the Wisconsin AGE doesnt drop the case. This stuff is so much bigger than one race in one state. The U.S. has reached a point of existential crisis as international students are getting abducted by secret police and shipped to ICE facilities thousands of miles away, all for writing an op-ed in the student newspaper. And people are already being shipped to a foreign prison without trial. If Musk is allowed to just keep buying votes, and Musks political allies get to just keep destroying the U.S. government, it really is over for this country.Daily NewsletterYou May Also Like By Matt Novak Published March 28, 2025 By Kyle Barr Published March 28, 2025 By Matt Novak Published March 28, 2025 By Matt Novak Published March 27, 2025 By Lucas Ropek Published March 27, 2025 By Matt Novak Published March 27, 2025

I just finished making this scene and while I'm happy with it, I was wondering if there was a better way to do "underwater lighting" in low poly scenes like this. I'm not sure if it feels fully underwater rn submitted by /u/VossaDova [link] [comments]

3D Gameplay Animator Rotem Ninyo recently impressed the audience with a new artwork, unveiling this short yet appealing animation.The work was crafted in collaboration with Character Artist CataRackta, who designed and modeled the character models. The setup features a graceful anthropomorphic animal created with fluid, natural motion as she playfully attempts to catch her cute companion, who then elegantly lands in her hand.Before, Rotem Ninyo showed this incredible animation with an anthropomorphic fox:Game Animator Martin Chang revealed some details of its creation and shared that the take belongs to a bigger animation set. The newly showcased scene might also be a part of it, given the similarities in the artistic style.For more exciting animations, check out Interstellars docking scene recreated in the LEGO style, fast-paced combat animation with 2D VFX, a steampunk spaceship animation, and a magical rose visualization:Follow Rotem Ninyo on LinkedIn and X/Twitter anddont forget to join our 80 Level Talent platform and our new Discord server, follow us on Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, Telegram, TikTok, and Threads, where we share breakdowns, the latest news, awesome artworks, and more.Source link The post Charming 3D Animation with a Graceful Anthropomorphic Character appeared first on CG SHARES.

Turris Babel magazine #134 ? The Future of the MountainsDesign: Studio Mut, Martin Kerschbaumer Photos: Leonhard Angerer Directed by Alberto Winterle