Asteroid 2024 YR4 had everyone collectively holding their breath just months ago, but now, it appears that the city-killer asteroid has a stronger chance of striking the Moon, not Earth. The asteroid currently has a 3.8 percent chance to hit the Moon on December 22, 2032, according to the latest announcement from NASA.Ongoing infrared observations by the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) have continued to unveil more precise information about 2024 YR4 and its potential trajectory throughout space, yet the asteroids ultimate fate is far from being set in stone.Asteroid 2024 YR4's New Potential Target2024 YR4 initially caused a commotion earlier in 2025 as its chances of colliding with Earth in 2032 gradually increased. The impact probability with Earth bumped up from around 1 percent in late January to around 3 percent in February, but it has since slumped to only 0.004 percent. Scientists saw the probability plunge coming since similar trends have been observed with previous asteroids, and theyre now reassuring the public that 2024 YR4 poses no significant threat to our planet.Although Earth is in the clear, the Moon may not be so lucky. NASA announced in late February that the asteroids estimated trajectory had moved farther from Earth, but also that there would still be a 1.7 percent chance for it to impact the Moon. New observations have raised the lunar impact probability to 3.8 percent (but there is a 96.2 percent chance that the asteroid will entirely miss the Moon).Not only that, but scientists now have a better idea of how large 2024 YR4 is. They originally thought the size would be somewhere from 40 meters to 90 meters (131 feet to 295 feet), but theyve now narrowed the estimate down to 53 meters to 67 meters (174 feet to 220 feet). For reference, that means the asteroid would be roughly the same size as a 10-story building.Asteroid Impacts on the MoonThe fearsome reputation of 2024 YR gained so much interest in the first place because it was believed that if the asteroid were to hit Earth, it would cause major destruction to a city. Earths cities dont need to worry anymore, but what happens if the city-killer strikes the Moon?First and foremost, NASA clarified in their announcement that a lunar collision would not alter the Moons orbit. The Moon would instead simply be left with another crater; yet, if a collision did occur, it would give scientists an unprecedented opportunity to study a live impact of such substantial size.The Moon already contains hundreds of thousands or even millions of craters that vary in size, most of them originating from ancient asteroid impacts. Though lunar impacts have become less frequent over time, tiny meteoroids still create dents in the Moon every day. An impact from a larger asteroid like 2024 YR4 would likely create a bright flash and send debris into space; most pieces of Moon rock would then burn up in the Earths atmosphere.Earth's Defenses Against AsteroidsAlthough planetary defense measures aren't needed to protect Earth from 2024 YR4, scientists have been interested in developing ways to detect hazardous asteroids and deflect them if ever needed.In 2022, NASA successfully altered the orbit of a target asteroid, Dimorphos, through its Double Asteroid Reflection Test (DART) mission. Dimorphos wasn't headed for a dangerous collision with Earth, but it was an ideal target to test a deflection plan that involved crashing a spacecraft into it.Launching in 2027, another NASA spacecraft called the NEO Surveyor will be able to spot asteroids and comets (together known as near-earth objects, or NEOs) that come within 30 million miles of Earths orbit. As for 2024 YR4, scientists will get another look at the asteroid in late April or early May once the JWST makes its next observations. 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:The Planetary Society. What would happen if an asteroid hit the Moon?NASA. Lunar Impact VideosJack Knudson is an assistant editor at Discover with a strong interest in environmental science and history. Before joining Discover in 2023, he studied journalism at the Scripps College of Communication at Ohio University and previously interned at Recycling Today magazine.

Nature, Published online: 01 April 2025; doi:10.1038/d41586-025-01024-zThousands of leaders and staff are being purged at US agencies such as the NIH. Plus, the months best science images and how to clean up forever chemicals.

Huge outpourings of magma accompanied the split between South America and Africa 135 million years ago.

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RTEugene DyabinWelcome Inbetweening! #Cascadeurcan now generate motion between poses. Better AutoPosing and AutoPhysics. Improved Ragdoll for multiple connected characters and ability to use any mesh as a collision object#3danimation #ai #gamedev #indiedev

SkyReels-A2: The AI Director That Composes Custom Videos from Any Image, Object, or SceneJenrayFollow15 min readJust now--The world of AI video generation is moving at lightning speed. Weve seen models conjure fantastical scenes from text prompts (Text-to-Video, or T2V) and animate static images with surprising dynamism (Image-to-Video, or I2V). Yet, a crucial element of creative control has remained elusive: the ability to direct the AI, precisely specifying not just the action, but also the exact characters, objects, and settings involved, ensuring they remain consistent throughout the video.Imagine wanting to create a short clip featuring your specific friend (using their photo), holding that particular vintage guitar you photographed, standing in front of a specific beach scene from your vacation pictures, all while following a simple text description like playing a gentle melody as the sun sets. Current T2V models might generate a person playing a guitar on a beach, but struggle with recognizing and faithfully reproducing the specific identities from your reference images. I2V models might animate your friends photo but are often constrained by the initial image, lacking the flexibility to compose complex new scenes or interactions.This is where SkyReels-A2 enters the picture. Developed by the researchers at Skywork AI and Kunlun Inc., this new framework represents a significant leap towards truly controllable video generation. It tackles a challenging new task they term Elements-to-Video (E2V), aiming to synthesize videos by composing arbitrary visual elements characters, objects, backgrounds based on reference images and text prompts, all while maintaining strict visual consistency.Think of SkyReels-A2 not just as a generator, but as an aspiring AI Director. You provide the casting call (reference images for your actors and props) and the scene description (text prompt), and it attempts to shoot the scene, ensuring everyone and everything looks exactly as intended.This article dives deep into SkyReels-A2, exploring its innovations, the technology powering it, the challenges it overcomes, and its potential to reshape creative workflows.The Next Frontier in AI Video: Beyond Single PromptsTo appreciate SkyReels-A2, lets quickly revisit the limitations of its predecessors:Text-to-Video (T2V): Models like Sora, Make-A-Video, and others excel at

Like the hat?MemberOct 25, 20176,541EDIT: *CONSOLE SPECIFICALLY*I had to pack up a bunch of my games for storage and it made me start to wonder if I really want to keep getting all this junk. I keep telling myself "oh its so I can sell it if I wanted!" but I never sell any of my games. I'm starting to lean toward going all digital, though it makes me nervous especially since I'm primarily a Nintendo player.I know there are a lot of arguments to be made for staying physical, and there are plenty of other threads to do that. I want to hear from those who have gone all digital already, or those who went all digital but transitioned back to physical. Do you have any regrets? If you could go back, would you still be all digital, or would you go back to physical? Are you just in the digital boat now and you figure you might as well stay even if you have some regrets, or do you think all digital is worth it still?Last time I tried going all digital was with Wii U when it launched because of the whole digital deluxe program thing, but even there I ended up going back to physical for most stuff and with the end of the Wii U eShop I am glad I can still theoretically go back to playing my Wii U games (if I hadn't bought most of them again on Switch...)The main reason I went physical on my Switch is so I can share my games with my kids on their own systems, but with Nintendo doing their game sharing with their virtual game cards thing I am once again tempted to go digital. The convenience is definitely a good thing. Even on stuff like my Wii U and 3DS I ended up installing homebrew to rip my games to SD/HDD to have them all easy access.Last edited: Today at 7:53 PM KhanimusAvengerOct 25, 201745,148Greater VancouverIm not all digital (well, I am on Steam). But I have significant digital libraries across consoles that certainly dwarf my physical investment. If we're at the point where a disc drive isn't a sure bet to be included with hardware, or in Nintendo's case, there are games that just aren't going to be explicitly on the cart at all? Then c'est la vie.AnoregonMemberOct 25, 201715,9830 regrets, but answers are likely going to largely skew based on if people are primarily PC or not. I haven't even had a disc drive in my past few PC builds. I have a digital PS5 and a Series X and I've never used the disc drive in the series X.gary!MemberJan 17, 2024180Like the hat? said:it made me start to wonder if I really want to keep getting all this junk.Click to expand...Click to shrink...if you're thinking it, you probably don'tplus, it sure feels like physical is becoming less relevant with the switch 2 so the decision will be easier to makeGenesiusMemberNov 2, 201819,964I've been all digital since 2014 on PS and Switch and haven't had a problem.But I also don't try to share games with other people, which I imagine is one of the bigger headaches. I still have access to any delisted games on my PS5. I think the only ones I don't are PS1 classics I bought on the PS3, which is a bummer, but not the end of the world.RosebudTwo PiecesMemberApr 16, 201850,246Digital since last gen on every platform and no regrets at all808s & VillainyMemberOct 27, 201745,872I've been all digital on Nintendo since the 3DS. No regrets really.kowhiteMemberMay 14, 20197,052I regret buying my first few games on Switch physically.I don't regret digital purchases.KaitosTens across the board!ModeratorOct 25, 201718,228NoneZyroxOne Winged Slayer Corrupted by VengeanceMemberOct 25, 20175,122Last physical game I bought was like a decade ago. Zero regrets. Advance.Wars.Sgt.MemberJun 10, 201810,123Not in the least, but ESPECIALLY as a big Nintendo player.I will not go back to the pre-3DS days where I had to carry multiple cartridges with me when I took my handheld anywhere. Being able to play a slew of games on the system by merely toggling to the next game is a godsend tbh.AyllieMemberApr 3, 2018119No regrets but also not a collector or big on replaying games so worries about losing my library etc don't really applyHello SnakeMemberNov 25, 20202,694CanadaStarting with PS5 I decided to go all digital, because I wanted to be ready for when they eventually made digital only PlayStation. I didn't want to have a PS5 physical library that was useless on future consoles. I haven't regretted it at all.NidaMemberAug 31, 201914,666Everett, WashingtonI went Digital when Amazon stopped the pre-order deal where you got $10 off. Once the price met parity I no longer saw a need for physical releases.LewiePMemberOct 26, 201719,530I regret buying a lot of Wii U games digitally lol. There was no kind of discount/upgrade path for Switch, and even Switch 2 for IE BOTW.I was all in on Wii U digitally (at the time living in a country with no Wii U physical games available), and with every Switch port announcement I was more and more irritated that Nintendo wasn't throwing me a bone when I supported them during what was possibly their lowest hour. Even just a minor discount on Wii U ports to Switch would have placated me.Obviously they don't actually owe me anything other than the games I bought for the system I bought them for, but ultimately I didn't get a Switch early on in the lifetime due to having played all the Wii U games that got ported to Switch (which made up a lot of the library), and borrowed a friend's Switch for Odyssey. Then I was waiting for a Pro, and that never happened, so I'm in this odd position of being a huge Nintendo fan but the Switch was the first system of theirs I didn't own since the SNES.I'm an outlier, but I have my Switch 2 preorder locked.CulexMemberOct 29, 20178,878So much more convenient. I bought a 512gb card and have everything on it: never having to switch game cards is worth itmrmooseMemberNov 13, 201722,739I'm making a really big assumption here that my digital purchases are going to be honored by Nintendo down the line, but I've been leaning towards digital with the switch since it's easy enough to "share" a game between a primary and secondary console. Add to that that so many titles are digital only anyway, and this coming gen is going to see a lot of physical games that are just glorified license checks, which removes a major reason to stay physical. Now stick tariffs on physical games only and I think the choice is made for me, I don't like looking at game cases THAT much.Anustart9 Million ScovillesAvengerNov 12, 20179,588Digital only is the best. Switched back in like 2015 or so. I don't have useless boxes, carts or disks that need storing.SupersonicHypertonicMemberApr 20, 20223,248I'm fully digital since the PS4 and now Ps5. It's been pretty good with no regrets. I regularly find good deals (even if it's a year or more after release), I have no issues of keeping games as I archive my fave ones to external HDD (4TB) and and it's very convinent overall compared to discs which still requires installs and updates just like digital.I'm about 50/50 on switch. It's more convenient to be digital but worrying about sd card storage sucks, if I could connect an external hdd to the switch dock it would solve that problem. Deal wise it's cheaper online for indies or even the only way to get indies but for 1st party titles there's very little difference as they hardly lose value. However I like having the physical carts in hand so if push comes to shove I would prefer physical games for switch when convenient.JumbiePrimeMemberFeb 16, 20192,468BklynSome regrets. Whenever I go through my library on PS and see games I'll never touch again I could sell them , even if it was for like $5, or give them away if they were physical . Now they are just wasted money Jakenbakin"This guy are sick" and Corrupted by VengeanceMemberJun 17, 201814,141Nah. I can access my library with ease, don't have a million game cases taking up space, I share my library with my cousin, it's a good time.zero_suitMemberOct 27, 201713,034Not really.CabalDrive-in MutantMemberOct 25, 20171,536United StatesAll digital other than some retro games I own. Zero regrets personally. I love being able to just download and play whatever without worrying about discs.ByakuraShinra EmployeeAvengerOct 25, 20171,807CanadaI got back and forth a lot of going all digital vs. sticking to physical. So I guess with that being the case i constantly have this regret loltjh282MemberMay 29, 20191,033For all intents and purposes fully digital. The games I have physical I'll keep for a long time but it's only a few old "classics" so doesn't take up enough space for me think of it as a junkDakkonMemberOct 27, 20175,136Been digital only for a long time since PC only player, it's only been for the best and I'd argue there's actually no good argument for physical only outside of you can resell them and even then I'd rather just have the deep sales with easy refunds that Steam has than that. Definitely no regrets.No DepthMemberOct 27, 201720,353Been all digital across platforms for around 15 years now.Not one regret.Rinku_MemberMay 4, 20231,905Pretty much all phys on Switch outside of indies and a few sales. Likely mostly digital with the Switch 2 unless physical prices become more reasonable, the game key shit is also just absurd. I think I might try buying cross gen switch games and eating the upgrade price if/whenever I care to play the games at higher fidelity. Gonna be real sad to give up physical on Nintendo,PS5 it's probably about 50/50, which I'm comfortable with. I largely only buy physical for bigger games that would take way too long to download. And I don't game anywhere else unless minecraft on my mac counts.ThisIsMyDogKyleProphet of Truth - One Winged SlayerMemberOct 25, 20172,539Fully digital on Switch and no regrets, it's especially nice because I could fit my entire 250+ Game library on a single 1 TB micro SD, though I'm betting that ends with Switch 2 average game size going up. I never had to share games but the virtual game card thing seems pretty nice.Jaded AlyxEditor-in-chief at SpecialCancel.comVerifiedOct 25, 201739,518None whatsoever.It's also saved me an extraordinary amount of money as physical games aren't sold where I live. The alternative was importing. The last game I imported (other than something like Ring Fit Adventure) was Kid Icarus Uprising. RPGsandFGCsMemberJun 30, 2024613CaliforniaNo regrets at all. I moved to all digital on the Switch since I thought it was important for my portable console to have access to any game I wanted at any time without juggling carts or packing certain carts if I went out of town etc. Worked out exactly as planned, save for one SD card upgrade there.Mattmo831Featuring Mattmo831 from the Apple v Epic caseMemberOct 26, 20206,290I've been all digital since 2013. Haven't bought a single physical copy for any console and I own all of the Big 3 + PC.I have absolutely 0 regrets. I never resold games anyways, and most games I want I buy at launch so wouldn't get a discount there anyways. + sales happen often enough on platforms where I can get sales I can share games with my family at home by making my account the primary. Never have any issues, and I prefer the convenience.StoofUncle Works at NintendoMemberOct 25, 20175,120Been about 95% digital ever since the New 3DS came out, no regretsRhaknarMemberOct 26, 201750,564when you get to my age you don't have videogame purchase regrets, because you are fully aware that none of it matters and you'll never actually play all the games in all the systems you bought.actually that's not true, I do have some regrets... RDR2 day 1 and I never played it, and SMT5 on Switch and I never played it AND then they released the upgraded version on other consoles which I ended up buying on PS5 (on sale) making the switch version pretty much useless on top of unplayed ;_;but going back to the topic on hand, if the next Nintendo console doesnt carry over the library, it will be a bummer for sure, but by then ill be like early 50s (if the world hasn't blown up by then) and I'm sure I'll have other things to worry about.BasilZeroMemberOct 25, 201739,441OmniNo regrets100% digital on switch, PlayStation, Xbox and PC Last physical game I bought was ffxvi which was July 2023So almost two yearsOP OPLike the hat?MemberOct 25, 20176,541honestly part of me likes the idea of games that I'll never play again just fading away into the background instead of sitting on my shelf and me telling myself I should play them again (some honestly for the first time)HououinKMemberDec 17, 2023276Occasionally, but in general no.I much prefer the ease of digital, and as somebody into minimalism I like that I don't have plastic clutter around.The only occasional regret is when I don't care for a game that I bought full price. Recent example being AC Shadows as I just don't really like it much and bought it because I really wanted a historical Japan game.KirbivoreOne Winged SlayerMemberOct 25, 20175,318Honestly, with how Playstation has been going, I regret having my physical collection more. If that ps5 breaks, I'm basically done with Playstation sooner than later.Last edited: 50 minutes agoOreillerMemberOct 25, 20179,608None whatsoever.bananabMemberOct 27, 20173,580Over the last few years, I've come to dislike the sight of my physical collection altogether. Big plans to get rid of it all. I went all digital for 3DS and Switch, and am lately mostly focused on Steam, so I'd be quite happy to never buy a physical game cart / disc or any other sort of junky plastic collectible ever again. Reflecting SkyMemberMar 17, 20242,185Used to be a staunch defender of physical games, even having vowed to "stop gaming if physical games are meaningfully abandoned by publishers". lolBut my attitude kinda changed over time with the Switch. I find changing its game cards an incredible nuisance, almost as if it was done by design. Plus, outside of the first-party games, there were a numerous favorite third party games that didn't get updated prints over time, and so I saw less value in getting games physically.Changed to digital a year and a half ago and didn't regret my decision as I also have access to games that aren't released in the physical format. Sold the vast majority of my physical Switch games in a pristine condition fairly recently, and I later bought a lot of digital games for the sum I received. No regrets. Lots of free space, convenience, getting the digital-only titles I used to skip out of principle...I like it.Taco_HumanMemberJan 6, 20184,821MAI still buy physical because I share with my nieces and nephews. They can't buy four copies of a new game. I'll play it, pass it along.CinnamonMemberJan 18, 20231,110I only regret buying any Wii U games digitally. None of that digital library transferred over to the Switch.TubaZefMemberOct 28, 20173,710BrazilNo regrets.The PraiseworthyMemberOct 30, 201710,276Absolutely no regrets going digital 100% with my gaming consoles.I just wish I've done it sooner lol.chadbobanMemberMay 27, 2020421Considering that I live in the Caribbean and not the US, digital is the much cheaper option for me cause I get to pay US prices for games. Physical copies here tend to be about 50-60% marked up compared to US and they NEVER go on sale.ButtonbasherMemberDec 4, 20175,563Switch third party digital sales can be ridiculously good.jotun?MemberOct 28, 20175,064No problems yet. We'll see if that changes when we get a Switch 2 and try to manage more than one Nintendo consoleSofNascimentocursedMemberOct 28, 201724,520So Paulo - BrazilNo, not a one.edit: I do play on PC though.vixolusProphet of TruthMemberSep 22, 202069,164None at all. I buy *console* games digitally when I feel like it but also have Game Pass which is obviously all digital and I have no qualms with not "owning" a game or "renting" it much the same I don't regret buying a ticket to see a movie and move on with my life instead of owning a blu-ray of it. PC is of course all digital.If I had a Switch I would consider physical (for Nintendo games specifically) bc of resell value but that's about it.

A few minutes into my first look at The Midnight Walk, I thought to myself, Wait, is this actually the game? Not a cutscene? What I was watching looked like a gorgeous stop-motion animated short film, but I soon realized the developers from MoonHood Studios were showing me real-time game footage. The Midnight Walk looks so much like a stop-motion film, a la Phil Tippetts Mad God or old Tool videos, in part because the games characters, monsters, and environments are composed of actual physical materials. Klaus Lyngeled of MoonHood says the studio sculpted some 700 objects, 3D-scanned them in, and turned them into polygonal models. Characters are animated with a stop-motion stutter and the camera has a shallow depth of field to complete the look.Lyngeled and writer Olov Redmalm describe their first-person, narrative-driven puzzle game as a cozy horror adventure full of eccentric weirdos and friendly monsters. The story spans multiple chapters of fairy tales, but theres a consistent theme among them: warmth, contrast, and bringing light back into a dark world.Image: MoonHood StudiosThe Midnight Walk starts with the games main character, the Burnt One, digging themselves out of a grave and repairing their body. As they take their journey through the titular highway the Midnight Walk, theyre joined by a charming and goofy little creature known as Potboy. This guide and companion has a little brazier on its head; using Potboys flame and a series of matches, players light torches to bring light to the Midnight Walk and battle enemies.Theres some puzzle-solving and stealth throughout the game, and even a button dedicated to closing your eyes to just listening. (MoonHood promises binaural audio and suggests that players experience The Midnight Walk while wearing headphones.) Theres even some gunplay the developers showed the Burnt One acquiring a weapon that shoots lit matches, giving the player extended range to battle monsters and solve puzzles.While much of The Midnight Walk lives up to its cozy descriptor, largely thanks to Potboy, theres some real horrific-looking stuff in here too. Every monster and boss is some variation on a twisted freak: There are scurrying cyclopean mutants, giant spider-like terrors, leathery weirdos with their eyes sewn shut, and angry-looking slug creatures with rage issues.Image: MoonHood StudiosThe developers listed inspirations (Over the Garden Wall, The Nightmare Before Christmas, David Lynch, Half-Life 2) were apparent throughout my eyes-on preview, but the combination of influences and craft on display makes The Midnight Walk feel distinct from the projects that came before it. Suffice it to say, Im looking forward to MoonHoods new game, something that wasnt really on my radar until last week.Fortunately, the wait to play will be short. The Midnight Walk is coming to PlayStation 5 (with PlayStation VR2 support) and Windows PC via Steam on May 8.See More:

TikTok U.S. operations have been controversial for a while, given how the government has been constantly pushing for a ban on the app, while the users and ByteDance are seeking a less extreme alternative. Earlier, the temporary ban on social media platforms caused quite an uproar, and President Donald Trump assured us of a less severe solution. The fate of the company in the U.S. continues to hang in the air, as the President has now signed another executive order that would allow TikTok to continue operations in the country for seventy-five more days.President Donald Trump extends an executive order to allow TikTok to continue with their U.S. operations for an additional 75 daysWhile TikTok was officially banned from continuing operations in the U.S. on January 19th, 2025, after stirring much debate, President Donald Trump ordered for the ban to be delayed for 75 days, giving enough time to decide the future of the company. It was also extended to potentially give TikTok space to look for a U.S.-based company to negotiate a sale with. While the grace period granted is to end tomorrow, TikTok seems to have been granted an additional two and half months to strike a deal.While sharing the update on the TikTok situation, President Trump stated on Truth Social about the incredible progress made in sealing a deal in order to secure TikTok's future in the country. Many big companies such as Oracle, Amazon, Perplexity are said to have made offers and high-profile individuals seem to involved in the situation including MrBeast and Kevin O' Leary of Shark Tank.While the government seems to be extending the grace period for TikTok to operate in the U.S., TikTok's parent company, ByteDance, has shown no interest in selling part of its operations to another company in the country. China has yet to approve any potential deals, so the process is still ongoing. One way Trump plans to deal with the situation is to place tariffs to push more aggressively for negotiation.Another potential solution being considered is involving multiple U.S. investors to acquire partial ownership of TikTok, with ByteDance not fully transferring ownership, but instead licensing TikTok's algorithm. It is yet to be seen if such a solution complies with the legal requirement of the current law. Till that is clear, the future of TikTok in the U.S. continues to be in oblivion.Deal of the Day