Weight loss Experimental drug looks to be gastric bypass surgery in pill form Daily drug creates temporary coating in small intestine. Emily Mullin, wired.com – Apr 11, 2025 10:25 am | 1 Credit: Peter Dazeley/Getty Images Credit: Peter Dazeley/Getty Images Story text Size Small Standard Large Width * Standard Wide Links Standard Orange * Subscribers only   Learn more The booming popularity of Ozempic and other GLP-1 drugs for weight loss has led to a flurry of companies vying to make new and improved anti-obesity medications. One of those is Boston-based Syntis Bio, which is working on a daily pill that mimics the effects of gastric bypass—no actual surgery required. Today, the company announced early data from animals and a small group of human volunteers showing that its approach is safe and may be able to suppress hunger. The company presented the findings Thursday at the European Congress on Obesity and Weight Management. “We're at a stage with obesity treatment where it's important for us to figure out, how do we now tune it to be more effective?” says Rahul Dhanda, Syntis Bio’s CEO and cofounder. A poll conducted in April and May of 2024 found that around 12 percent of Americans have tried a GLP-1 drug such as Ozempic, Wegovy, Zepbound, or Mounjaro—a number that has likely only grown over the past year. But many people eventually stop using these drugs. Cost and insurance coverage is one factor. Another is that GLP-1s can cause nausea, vomiting, and other unpleasant side effects. And some patients would prefer a pill over a weekly injection. Syntis is aiming to develop another option for people looking to lose weight. The company’s drug is designed to redirect the absorption of nutrients from the beginning of the small intestine to its end. The effect is similar to gastric bypass, in which surgeons make the stomach smaller and shorten the small intestine. As a result, food bypasses much of the small intestine. The procedure changes how the body absorbs food and leaves people feeling fuller from eating less. Gastric bypass is a type of bariatric surgery, which an estimated 280,000 people received in 2022. But fewer people are turning to surgery with the advent of new anti-obesity medications. A study published last year in JAMA Open Network found that as prescriptions for GLP-1s skyrocketed between 2022 and 2023, rates of bariatric surgery dropped 25.6 percent. The drug Syntis is working on does not actually shorten the intestine, like gastric bypass does. Instead, it creates a temporary coating in the upper part of the small intestine, blocking the absorption of nutrients there. This moves nutrients down to the lower part of the small intestine, where satiety hormones—including GLP-1—are triggered. It does this with two main ingredients: dopamine, a small molecule best known for its relation to the brain, and a tiny amount of hydrogen peroxide. When this combination reaches the small intestine, it comes into contact with a naturally occurring enzyme called catalase. The job of catalase is to break down hydrogen peroxide, which is harmful to the body in high amounts, into water and oxygen. The process converts the dopamine into polydopamine, a biocompatible polymer. Within minutes, a thin film of polydopamine forms that coats the lining of the small intestine. The cells in this lining turn over quickly, so the coating is only temporary. It’s designed to last around 24 hours. The drug is based on research conducted at MIT by Giovanni Traverso, a gastroenterologist and mechanical engineer, and Robert Langer, a chemical engineer who has launched more than two dozen biotech companies. The two discovered the mechanism when working on a way to develop liquid drug formulations that could be given to children. They soon realized they could make this temporary synthetic coating more or less permeable, to either enhance absorption or slow it down. That latter ability was appealing as a treatment for obesity. “This material is something you would take as a capsule or liquid, but the next day it's gone because of the natural turnover of our mucosal surface in the GI tract,” Traverso says. He and Langer cofounded Syntis with Dhanda in 2022. He likens this coating to what mussels and other shellfish use to stick to rocks or the ocean floor. In the results Syntis announced, the drug was delivered in a liquid form via a tube directly to the small intestine so that researchers could check that the polymer coating formed as expected. A tablet form has already been tested in pigs and dogs, and it’s what Syntis plans to test in future human studies. In rats, the drug produced a consistent 1 percent weekly weight loss over a six-week study period while preserving 100 percent of lean muscle mass. In a first-in-human pilot study of nine participants, the drug was safe with no adverse effects. Tissue samples taken from the intestine were used to confirm that the coating formed and was also cleared from the body within 24 hours. The study wasn’t designed to assess weight loss, but blood testing showed that after the drug was given, glucose levels and the “hunger hormone” ghrelin were lower while the levels of leptin, an appetite-regulating hormone, were higher. “When nutrients are redirected to later in the intestine, you're activating pathways that lead towards satiety, energy expenditure, and overall healthy, sustainable weight loss,” Dhanda says. Syntis Bio’s findings in animals also hint at the drug’s potential for weight loss without compromising muscle mass, one of the concerns with current GLP-1 drugs. While weight loss in general is associated with numerous health benefits, there’s growing evidence that the kind of drastic weight loss that GLP-1s induce can also lead to a loss of lean muscle mass. Louis Aronne, an obesity medicine specialist and professor of metabolic research at Weill-Cornell Medical College, says that while GLP-1s are wildly popular, they may not be right for everyone. He predicts that in the not-so-distant future there will be many drugs for obesity, and treatment will be more personalized. “I think Syntis’ compound fits in perfectly as a treatment that could be used early on. It’s a kind of thing you could use as a first-line medication,” he says. Arrone serves as a clinical adviser to the company. Vladimir Kushnir, professor of medicine and director of bariatric endoscopy at Washington University in St. Louis, who isn’t involved with Syntis, says the early pilot data is encouraging, but it’s hard to draw any conclusions from such a small study. He expects that the drug will make people feel fuller but could also have some of the same side effects as gastric bypass surgery. “My anticipation is that this is going to have some digestive side effects like bloating and abdominal cramping, as well as potentially some diarrhea and nausea once it gets into a bigger study,” he says. It’s early days for this novel technique, but if it proves effective, it could one day be an alternative or add-on drug to GLP-1 medications. This story originally appeared on wired.com. Emily Mullin, wired.com Wired.com is your essential daily guide to what's next, delivering the most original and complete take you'll find anywhere on innovation's impact on technology, science, business and culture. 1 Comments

As AI continues to evolve, the question becomes whether companies can transform their businesses while adapting their workforce strategies at the same pace. An executive mindset shift -- or mindshift -- is needed to not only reimagine businesses forward, but to also prepare workers for roles that don’t yet exist. Seismic shifts lie ahead: artificial intelligence will reshape 86% of businesses by 2030, according to a new World Economic Forum (WEF) report. That same report also predicts that AI and automation will create 170 million jobs, while displacing 92 million roles as companies adapt to technological change; 39% of existing skill sets will become outdated between 2025-2030.  Business, Not Digital, Transformation Is the Way Forward  Companies now face a new chapter in the evolution of digital transformation, one that challenges organizations to think beyond the digitization of legacy processes and workflows they prioritized over the past decade. In reality, BCG research uncovered that 70% of digital transformations still fall short of their objectives.  Before the dawn of ChatGPT, it could be argued that most digital transformation efforts focused on the digitization and optimization of legacy processes. The pursuit of efficiency, scale, and cost-cutting limited or impaired the prospect of any meaningful transformation desired business outcomes. The same may already be happening in an era of AI. Companies are prioritizing the automation of the processes and workflows digitized over the past decade, which is important, but without exploring the potential for new opportunities in an era of AI, automation may not be enough to evolve.  Related:If digital transformation was the defining strategy in the 2000s, AI-native business transformation represents a potentially better, and more adaptable way forward. Unlike digital transformation, AI represents an opportunity for business transformation. It’s an inflection point to reimagine organizations and work in a world where AI becomes inherently attached to almost every technology, action, and outcome.  The Next Chapter of AI-Native Businesses 2025 is set to be the year that not just AI, but AI agents, start to reshape the enterprise. While organizations are just beginning to recognize the possibilities of AI, they are not yet exploring the implications of businesses that accelerate AI-first transformation. Now is the time for organizations to embrace AI beyond tools and as a core component of their strategic mindset and operational framework. Related:But what does it mean to be an AI-first enterprise?  To help, let’s substitute AI-first with AI-native: AI as being native to the core of the business itself, strategy, operations, culture, and value creation. It’s also more than the implementation of AI tools across the enterprise. It's about redefining roles, work, and operations, fostering innovation, and creating a culture that embraces change.  An AI-native enterprise is characterized by the strategic integration of artificial intelligence at the core of its operations and decision-making.  An AI-native approach will fundamentally redefine how businesses operate, innovate, and engage with customers, employees, and their ecosystem. AI becomes not just a tool, but the central driver of decision-making, operational efficiency, and customer interaction. Lead in the AI Revolution or Be Left Behind AI-first is not just about using AI, it’s about making AI native to business architecture, foundationally. Make AI core to decision-making: AI is not just a tool for efficiency; it plays a central role in strategic decision-making, forecasting, and autonomous execution. Use AI to drive exponential thinking, not incremental optimization: Instead of improving traditional business processes, AI-native companies reimagine workflows, value chains, and customer experiences from scratch. Automate adaptability: AI-first companies build systems that can sense, analyze, and act autonomously in real-time across supply chains, operations, and customer engagement. Integrate AI to spur network effects and self-learning models: Continuously improve via feedback loops, fine-tune AI models, and leverage collective intelligence rather than relying solely on human input. Make data and compute as a core asset: Unlike traditional companies that prioritize physical assets or human capital, AI-first organizations treat data, compute power, and algorithmic capabilities as their primary competitive advantage. Drive workflow transformation with AI agents: AI agents are the next major evolution in AI-native businesses. They don’t just enhance workflows; they autonomously execute tasks, make decisions, and optimize operations at a scale and speed impossible for human-led organizations. You need to make sure you are designing and enhancing workflows of the future, not the past. Why? AI-native businesses will rely on agentic systems to manage core functions, drive efficiency, and create new competitive advantages. Redefine leadership for an AI-native era: C-Suites are not immune. Train executives and managers to think strategically about AI adoption, guiding their teams in AI-first decision-making and workflow transformation. Invest in reskilling programs for emerging roles: As AI automates repetitive tasks, new roles will emerge that require human creativity, problem-solving, and oversight. Companies must proactively explore and identify future job needs and provide pathways for employees to transition into high-value roles. This includes preparing for an agentic enterprise and beyond. Related:The shift from digital transformation to AI-native business transformation is not just an evolution -- it is a foundational reinvention of how organizations operate, compete, and create value. AI-native enterprises are architecting their businesses around it, making AI the backbone of strategy, decision-making, and execution. It’s about designing businesses where AI is intrinsic to every function, continuously learning, adapting, and driving innovation. AI-native leaders are also preparing for workforce evolution for the agentic enterprise, imagining new roles, and upskilling and reskilling in preparation, especially as the agentic enterprise takes shape. As AI agents become more capable, businesses must simultaneously prepare for the inevitable rise of an Agentic Enterprise. AI-native pacesetters will prepare their architecture for embedding AI agents into workflows across the enterprise to augment decision-making, operations, and customer engagement. The future won’t favor companies that use AI; it will reward those that architected for it and AI’s evolution. 

Landfills are a major source of methane emissionsNorma Jean Gargasz / Alamy Stock Photo Methane leaks from sites like rice paddies, landfills, dairy farms and coal mines could be plugged with the help of gas-guzzling bacteria, helping to curb near-term global warming. Later this year, researchers in the US will deploy a bioreactor filled with a specially bred strain of methane-eating bacteria at a landfill site in Washington. They hope the field test will prove that these bacteria, known as methanotrophs, can be deployed in bioreactors to harvest methane from…

This is today's edition of The Download, our weekday newsletter that provides a daily dose of what's going on in the world of technology. Generative AI is learning to spy for the US military For much of last year, US Marines conducting training exercises in the waters off South Korea, the Philippines, India, and Indonesia were also running an experiment. The service members in the unit responsible for sorting through foreign intelligence and making their superiors aware of possible local threats were for the first time using generative AI to do it, testing a leading AI tool the Pentagon has been funding. Two officers tell us that they used the new system to help scour thousands of pieces of open-source intelligence—nonclassified articles, reports, images, videos—collected in the various countries where they operated, and that it did so far faster than was possible with the old method of analyzing them manually. Though the US military has been developing computer vision models and similar AI tools since 2017, the use of generative AI—tools that can engage in human-like conversation—represent a newer frontier.Read the full story. —James O'Donnell Why the climate promises of AI sound a lot like carbon offsets  The International Energy Agency states in a new report that AI could eventually reduce greenhouse-gas emissions, possibly by much more than the boom in energy-guzzling data center development pushes them up. The finding echoes a point that prominent figures in the AI sector have made as well to justify, at least implicitly, the gigawatts’ worth of electricity demand that new data centers are placing on regional grid systems across the world. There’s something familiar about the suggestion that it’s okay to build data centers that run on fossil fuels today because AI tools will help the world drive down emissions eventually—it recalls the purported promise of carbon credits. Unfortunately, we’ve seen again and again that such programs often overstate any climate benefits, doing little to alter the balance of what’s going into or coming out of the atmosphere. Read the full story.  —James Temple The must-reads I’ve combed the internet to find you today’s most fun/important/scary/fascinating stories about technology. 1 MAGA influencers are downplaying Trump’s market turmoil They’re finding creative ways to frame the financial tumult as character building. (WP $)+ Some democrats are echoing his trade myths, too. (Vox)2 Amazon products are going to cost moreCEO Andy Jassy says he anticipates third party sellers passing the costs introduced by tariffs on to their customers. (CNBC) + He says the company has been renegotiating terms with sellers. (CNN)3 OpenAI has slashed its model safety testing time Which experts worry will mean it rushes out models without sufficient safeguarding. (FT $)+ Why we need an AI safety hotline. (MIT Technology Review) 4 A woman gave birth to a stranger’s baby in an IVF mixup Monash IVF transferred another woman’s embryo to her by accident. (The Guardian)+ Inside the strange limbo facing millions of IVF embryos. (MIT Technology Review)5 Amazon equipped some of its delivery vans in Europe with defibrillators  In an experiment to see if drivers could speed up help to heart attack patients. (Bloomberg $)6 The future of biotech is looking shakyRFK Jr’s appointment and soaring interest rates are rocking an already volatile industry. (WSJ $) + Meanwhile, RFK Jr has visited the families of two girls who died from measles. (The Atlantic $)7 Alexandre de Moraes isn’t backing downThe Brazilian judge, who has butted heads with Elon Musk, is worried about extremist digital populism. (New Yorker $) 8 An experimental pill mimics the effects of gastric bypass surgeryAnd could be touted as an alternative to weight-loss drugs. (Wired $) + Drugs like Ozempic now make up 5% of prescriptions in the US. (MIT Technology Review)9 What happens when video games start bleeding into the real world Game Transfer Phenomenon is a real thing, and nowhere near as fun as it sounds. (BBC)+ How generative AI could reinvent what it means to play. (MIT Technology Review) 10 Londoners smashed up a Tesla in a public art project  The car was provided by an anonymous donor. (The Guardian)+ Proceeds from the installation will go to food banks in the UK. (The Standard) Quote of the day “It feels so good to be surrounded by a bunch of people who disconnected.” —Steven Vernon III, who works in finance, describes the beauties of a digital detox at the Masters in Augusta, Georgia as the markets descend into chaos, the Wall Street Journal reports. The big story This scientist is trying to create an accessible, unhackable voting machine For the past 19 years, computer science professor Juan Gilbert has immersed himself in perhaps the most contentious debate over election administration in the United States—what role, if any, touch-screen ballot-marking devices should play in the voting process.While advocates claim that electronic voting systems can be relatively secure, improve accessibility, and simplify voting and vote tallying, critics have argued that they are insecure and should be used as infrequently as possible.As for Gilbert? He claims he’s finally invented “the most secure voting technology ever created.” And he’s invited several of the most respected and vocal critics of voting technology to prove his point. Read the full story.—Spenser Mestel We can still have nice things A place for comfort, fun and distraction to brighten up your day. (Got any ideas? Drop me a line or skeet 'em at me.) + Bad news for hoodie lovers: your favorite comfy item of clothing is no longer cutting the mustard.+ What happens inside Black Holes? A lot more than you might think.+ Unfortunately, pushups are as beneficial for you as they are horrible to execute.+ Very cool—archaeologists are making new discoveries in Pompeii.

For the first time in a decade, I'm not going to Coachella this year. dmitriymoroz/Getty, Jordan Lye/Getty, Tyler Le/BI 2025-04-11T14:18:47Z Save Saved Read in app This story is available exclusively to Business Insider subscribers. Become an Insider and start reading now. Have an account? I'm not going to Coachella this year for the first time in a decade. Over the years, I've seen some big changes at the festival — for better and worse. In my opinion, getting a ticket nowadays feels like just another influencer rite of passage. Every April since 2015, I've packed my bags and headed to the California desert for three days of music, heat, and unforgettable memories.I'd dreamed about going to Coachella long before I ever stepped foot on the festival grounds, and can still remember watching the official livestream from my bedroom in high school.When I finally made it there, I felt as though I was stepping into a dream — the energy, the setting, and the performances were unlike anything I'd ever experienced.I've also been fortunate enough to attend Coachella with various types of passes — General Admission, VIP, Press, and Artist — giving me a unique perspective on the festival's many worlds.Over the years, though, I've seen some big changes at Coachella, for better and worse. So, when tickets went on sale earlier this year, I didn't feel a pull to return to the desert like I always had.Although the lineup was packed with great talent, I knew I wouldn't get the same organic feeling I used to when I first started attending the festival.So, for the first time in a decade, I'm skipping Coachella.The festival had always felt like an escape for me Coachella was always my favorite part of the year. Ulanna Bento Over the years, I got to experience "wow" moments, like seeing Beyoncé's legendary 2018 set (now known as "Beychella"), watching my favorite bands play at sunset with the iconic Ferris wheel in the background, and witnessing surprise performances from icons like Rihanna — who I once found myself dancing next to in the crowd.I loved being surrounded by like-minded music fans who were excited to see their favorite artists perform and discover up-and-coming talent.No matter where I was — in the pit, backstage, or on the grass — it felt like Coachella had a way of bringing everyone together. That spirit of serendipity is part of what made it feel so special in the first place.However, the festival vibe seemed to change over time In recent years, it felt like influencers were everywhere. Ulanna Bento When I started attending the festival in 2015, Instagram was still a relatively new app and TikTok hadn't launched yet.Although there were definitely influencers and celebrities trying to get the picture-perfect shot back then, not everyone was a content creator. Nowadays, though, the TikTok algorithm makes it easy for "normal" people to go viral.In my experience, the increasing popularity of social-media apps shifted the festival's energy from raw and unfiltered to curated and performative.In the past few years of attending the festival, I witnessed more and more people using the festival to create content — many of them didn't seem to be at Coachella for the music at all. I still remember watching a group dance to a live set while filming a video and immediately stop once they were no longer recording.Soon, I felt like I couldn't walk around the festival grounds without photobombing a brand shoot or watching someone try to curate the perfect Instagram moment.I noticed more attendees choosing heels and complicated outfits that might land them on the Coachella best-dressed list but probably wouldn't fare well or be comfortable after a long day of standing in the sandy desert.Over time, attending became less about presence and more about presentation. Coachella used to feel like a secret world shared among music lovers and free spirits. Now, getting a ticket feels like just another influencer rite of passage.Content is packaged, filtered, and posted before the beat drops. Although I know I'll feel a little FOMO when the posts start rolling in this year, I'm OK with that. Recommended video

By the time Remi Bader, who built her career as a plus-size influencer with over 2 million followers on TikTok, went on Khloé Kardashian’s podcast to address her smaller body, it had been subject to nearly a year and a half of speculation. Fans were certain Bader had betrayed them, but exactly how and in what way was up for debate: Had she pumped the body positivity movement for cash and then turned her back on it by getting thin? Was the real problem that she owed it to her followers to explain how she had lost the weight? On Khloe in Wonderland, Bader revealed that she had undergone weight-loss surgery for numerous mental and physical health reasons, including a binge-eating disorder, a 100-pound weight gain, and chronic back pain. She also shared what she describes as the “brutal” recovery experience after getting a bariatric procedure known as SADI-S, or single anastomosis duodeno-ileal bypass with sleeve gastrectomy. The procedure caused weeks of incessant vomiting and even led her to contemplate suicide. These harrowing revelations failed to stop the backlash; indeed, it had only just begun. For better or worse, the way we discuss weight loss has changed dramatically. Historically, shedding pounds garnered an automatic congratulations (see Oprah and her wheelbarrow of fat in 1988, or Valerie Bertinelli’s Jenny Craig ads almost two decades later). But a conversation that morphed with the body positivity movement of the 2010s — finally cheering women for the bodies they already had — has only grown more complicated with the rise of GLP-1 drugs like Ozempic. The use of these Type 2 diabetes medications for weight loss has sparked ethical concerns regarding access to the drug for people with diabetes. It’s also prompted an even louder panic around what it means to be a certain weight. For many, the drug’s popularity signals a return to the narrow beauty standards of the ’90s and 2000s and a reversal of more recent attitudes. While thinness has never truly gone out of style, the previous decade saw the rise of BBLs and a certain type of curvy body being celebrated in mainstream culture. Now, in a phenomenon born out of rightful frustration that impossible beauty standards are making a comeback, people have seemingly never been more comfortable interrogating people’s bodies and the choices they make for them. When a body belongs to the internet Despite the backlash — and the raw, upsetting details — Bader’s interview arguably makes for a refreshing listen. It’s a departure from the more neatly packaged, “inspirational” weight-loss stories that the public has come to expect from celebrities, including Kardashian. Celebrity weight-loss narratives are often framed as moral accomplishments and acts of discipline, while Bader’s was positioned as more of a struggle to survive. It felt extremely on-brand for Bader, whose brutal honesty about navigating the world as a plus-size woman made her internet-famous. Bader initially gained a following back in 2020 doing “realistic hauls.” In these videos, Bader tries on clothing from popular brands, demonstrating how awkwardly they fit her body compared to the models on the websites. These funny, personable (if not entirely original) videos propelled her to millions of followers and a profitable but precarious level of fame: the parasocial BFF. As a plus-size person on an app dominated by size-2 influencers and flooded with the latest weight-loss trends, she was able to cut through the noise. Inevitably, she transcended the role of a personality. A 2023 interview with Bader in People called her the face of the body positivity movement, while Allure hailed her as TikTok’s “hero of plus-size fashion.” So when Bader began getting visibly smaller last year, posting workout videos without disclosing her surgery, she was met with skepticism. Many of her fans were confused and disappointed, given that she no longer seemed to fall under the category of “plus-size influencer.” Bader now admits she wasn’t sure how to initially address all the speculation and anger from fans. In the wake of her tell-all interview, several followers say that Bader blocked them when they inquired about the drastic weight loss in her comments section. These are just some of the criticisms being hurled at Bader after disclosing her weight-loss surgery: that she responded poorly to fans’ concerns, that she’s no longer relatable, that she betrayed her following, that she used an underserved group to gain money and fame. Even those defending Bader’s right to lose weight have described the entire fallout as a branding disaster. Content creator Franchesca Ramsey said in a TikTok that Bader made a “crucial mistake” in her lack of transparency and mass blocking: “She completely abandoned the core tenets of her brand: being honest, being plus-sized, and being relatable.” Celebrity weight loss has never been more complicatedWhile these responses are all a bit reductive and ignore the personal factors that led Bader to getting surgery, they’re not surprising. In fact, they demonstrate a collective discomfort around celebrity weight loss that feels especially apparent in the age of Ozempic. Bader embarking on a press tour, including a profile in Self, to disclose her weight-loss journey is a bit of a rarity nowadays. For the most part, the era of famous people participating in magazine profiles devoted to their weight loss and divulging their diets on talk shows are gone. The few media figures eager to share at least some of the secrets behind their body transformations are Oprah Winfrey and occasionally the Kardashians. Winfrey, specifically, has long dedicated her former talk show, magazine, and other platforms to sharing her struggles with weight gain and her methods for weight loss. Most recently, she stepped down from her decade-long position as a board member for WeightWatchers after she disclosed that she was using an unnamed weight-loss medication. Last year, she hosted a TV special about the impact of weight-loss drugs like Ozempic and Mounjaro. More and more, public figures are adopting a code of silence around their physical appearances. The general rule that “you shouldn’t comment on other people’s bodies” has become a way for celebrities — like Ariana Grande, for example — to shut down online speculation and unwanted press. (It’s rarely ever effective.) Others, like Adele, have defended their weight loss as a personal choice that doesn’t need explanation. Oprah Winfrey hosting “An Oprah Special: Shame, Blame and the Weight Loss Revolution” on March 18, 2024. Eric McCandless/DisneyMeanwhile, the occasional celebrity who chooses to share their weight loss is prone to intense criticism. This is evident beyond the backlash to Bader. Lizzo, another voice for body positivity, has publicized her weight-loss goals on social media over the past year and has garnered similar comments to Bader claiming that she’s abandoning her previously “inclusive” brand. In a post-Ozempic climate, weight loss is taken personally by fans, especially those who saw their size represented by someone famous and admired; that size then shrinking is looked at as contributing to a more anti-fat culture. Health and culture writer Mikala Jamison, who writes the newsletter Body Type, sees the overwhelmingly negative reaction to public weight losses like Bader’s as “overcorrection to diet culture.” “It’s understandable why people are very up in arms, or just concerned, about diet culture and this pursuit of thinness that we’re seeing more of,” Jamison said. “It’s good, and we need that. But people feel as though they’re performing some kind of activism by just talking about how this person’s skinny now, or [saying] ‘I’m worried about this person.’”In Bader’s case, the knee-jerk reaction from her following especially feels like a missed opportunity, given all of the information she divulged. Her experience as a plus-size person in the public eye speaks to something Jamison says we all know but find it hard to talk about: “If you have ever in your life been truly fat, or experienced personal and systemic bias because of your weight, that’s incredibly hard.” Maybe it’s because Bader’s weight-loss story emphasizes this reality so starkly that it’s been difficult for social media to really engage with it. On one hand, she dispelled the dream that she sold to her followers, that she could be both comfortable and successful in a bigger body — although that doesn’t mean that it’s impossible for others. She also demonstrated how tough losing weight and treating an eating disorder can be, even with significant resources. In her Self profile, Bader said she tried a laundry list of treatments, including antidepressants, Ozempic, other weight-loss medications, and Overeaters Anonymous meetings. After getting off of Ozempic, she said her binge-eating disorder “came back with a vengeance.” Even as Bader speaks about her post-surgery body, she sounds unsure about the future. “I think it helped me, but will it help me in a year?” she told Self. “What if I gain all the weight back? What if I get sick from the [lack of] nutrients? I’m not a doctor. I don’t have it all figured out.”Despite claims that she’s abandoned her old persona, it didn’t feel like Bader was unveiling a new version of herself. It was instead a continuation of the same message she relayed in her try-on hauls: that having a body, particularly a plus-size one, can be hard. Now, making changes to that body publicly — with all the judgment that comes with it — might be even harder.See More:

My first day with Blue Prince, I told myself I’d just have a little taste before turning to my usual evening K-drama. Before I knew it the sun had long since set and my lounge was lit only by my Steam Deck and a game that had fast become my new obsession. It is the sort of game that feels as though it were made just for you – and the elements that make it truly special are best discovered without forewarning, so forgive any vagueness in what follows.In a similar style to What Remains of Edith Finch or Gone Home, Blue Prince has you exploring your character’s atmospherically uninhabited family home. But as in Outer Wilds, your exploration is limited: you are frequently forced to start afresh with little more than the snippets of knowledge you’ve gained. Each expedition is further complicated by Rogue-like randomisation: the house’s shapeshifting floor plan is a five-by-nine grid to be filled anew each day with tiles drafted by you, a feature that some players may recognise from the board game Betrayal at House on the Hill. But in this case there’s a random choice of three options whenever you open a door.It’s always worth trying a room you haven’t seen before. Photograph: Raw FuryDifferent rooms serve different functions. Some provide resources such as keys, money, energy or gems (required to draft more interesting rooms), and these are occasionally locked behind relatively simple standalone puzzles. Others deplete your stocks, like the gymnasium that wearies you each time you enter. A few, such as the boiler room or utility closet, offer special features that affect the rest of the house, occasionally even beyond just that day. On every in-game day, you enter the house, draft rooms, and explore until you run out of energy or openable doors. Rinse and repeat.The point? Ostensibly, to fulfil the stipulation laid out in a deceased great uncle’s will to find an elusive 46th room and thereby inherit the estate. But like a parfait dessert, this game is deliciously layered. At first the sprawling house can feel sparse, with its lifeless rooms and the game’s calming cel-shaded art style and succinct sound design and music. You’ll focus on the draft, learning as you go that the further you get from the entrance, the more likely you are to draw rarer rooms; that most rooms can only be drafted once per run; and that it’s always worth trying a room you haven’t seen before even if it doesn’t seem useful in the moment.Before too long, you’ll start to find objects that hint at future discoveries: car keys when you’ve yet to see a car (or even considered venturing outside); notes written by different hands; larger puzzles you have no idea how or why to solve. You’ll scribble down hints and set goals for future runs, or – as I did – take copious screenshots of the letters, photographs and other artefacts found throughout. As the rooms become more familiar, you’ll notice more details and wonder if they’re background art, environmental storytelling, or clues.In another game such repetition could feel tedious, but Blue Prince sets a gently rewarding pace, the randomisation nudging you to try new things and make new discoveries each day. Thoughtful design details smooth your way: most locked doors only require any generic key, the more convoluted puzzles remain solved even when the house resets, the use of discrete energy units consumed when you enter a room – rather than a ticking clock – means you can always take your time. I never felt in danger of not being able to solve a problem, and multiple puzzles ended up having easier solutions than I initially suspected.And then there’s the fact that Blue Prince has the best titular homophone in video games (sorry Fortnite). It’s a game about the blueprints of the Mount Holly Estate, and naturally a magical mansion like this has a story; it’s this, the family behind it, and the fantastical wider world in which they live, that will draw you to the 46th room and far, far beyond.skip past newsletter promotionSign up to Pushing ButtonsFree weekly newsletterKeza MacDonald's weekly look at the world of gamingPrivacy Notice: Newsletters may contain info about charities, online ads, and content funded by outside parties. For more information see our Privacy Policy. We use Google reCaptcha to protect our website and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.after newsletter promotion

The dominos are lined up for GTA 6 as Take-Two's other big crime adventure gets an August release date – leading fans to think Rockstar's game is a shoo-in for OctoberTech14:58, 11 Apr 2025Updated 14:58, 11 Apr 2025Could Mafia's date indicate the stars are aligning for GTA 6?(Image: Take-Two)Grand Theft Auto 6 is still coming this year, and despite developer Rockstar Games going silent about the biggest game of 2025, it seems that's all part of the plan according to publisher Take-Two's CEO.With the company expected to launch several high-profile games this year, it's made no secret of the fact it's wanted to stagger releases to avoid cannibalizing its own success.‌Article continues belowAfter an earnings call confirmed GTA 6 should arrive in 2025, Take-Two put a release date of September 23 on Borderlands 4 back in February.Now that we're in April, the company has revealed another big release date, this time for Mafia: The Old Country, which seemingly opens the way for an October release date for GTA 6.Expect a more grounded crime story(Image: Take-Two)‌Mafia: The Old Country is another hotly-anticipated Take-Two game and marks the first entry since 2016's Mafia III.Early today, a blog post which was seemingly published a little too soon (and has since been deleted), said that the title will launch on August 8."Mafia: The Old Country is available August 8, 2025. Pre-order now for PlayStation®5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC via Steam, and stay tuned to the official Mafia website for more information," it read.‌Previously, Take-Two had said Mafia: The Old Country would debut in 2025, so this is the first confirmation of the release date – a month and a half ahead of Borderlands 4.In fact, the game's Steam Page still points to 2025, without mentioning a date.Mafia: The Old Country looks fantastic(Image: Take-Two)‌If Take-Two really wants to give each of its titles breathing room, then there's a good chance GTA 6 will be targeting an October or November release date.While some are fearful of a delay, Rockstar Games has a history of ramping up marketing when it's good and ready. With that in mind, we'd expect news very soon.Article continues belowFor more on GTA 6, check out why Rockstar Games might follow a Nintendo-set precedent for its pricing, and how other publishers are scrambling to clear the game's inevitable 'blast zone'.For the latest breaking news and stories from across the globe from the Daily Star, sign up for our newsletters.

Nintendo reveals surprising reason why the Switch 2 doesn’t have analogue triggers GameCentral Published April 11, 2025 12:19pm Updated April 11, 2025 1:22pm The Pro Controller could’ve had analogue triggers (Nintendo) The Switch 2 Pro Controller and Joy-Cons don’t have analogue shoulder buttons, but Nintendo was going to add them until someone stopped them. Although the Nintendo Switch 2 and its Pro Controller are broadly similar to the original Switch, in terms of design and function, there are some important differences. The Switch 2 is bigger, it has its new ‘C’ button for online chat, and the Joy-Cons can turn into mice. The Pro Controller has an audio jack and two new, programmable buttons at the back but what it doesn’t have, which has upset some fans, is analogue shoulder buttons. Although Nintendo pioneered the idea of analogue controls, with the N64, it’s never used them for any of its shoulder buttons – the closest it’s got being the GameCube’s weird clutch-like set-up. All PlayStation 5 and Xbox controllers have analogue triggers, as they’re very useful for driving games, and Nintendo has revealed that it was considering them for the Switch 2. The Switch 2’s designers were asked why they didn’t add analogue shoulder buttons to the Pro Controller or the new Joy-Cons, and the reason is straightforward but relatively surprising. Technical director Tetsuya Sasaki answered that, ‘From the hardware side, we worked on what we were asked to do. There were a lot of, let’s say, very fussy developers around us who wanted to go this route. That’s why we went the route we did.’ ‘In terms of analogue buttons on the shoulders, there are positives, but also negatives,’ producer Kouichi Kawamoto told VentureBeat. ‘You lose a little bit of instancy when they’re analogue. We considered it and decided that instant input would be the better option. That’s why we decided to move forward with this decision.’ They don’t specify which developers asked them to stick with digital shoulder buttons, but the implication seems to be that it was internal, first party developers. Third party developers would probably prefer that the Switch 2 had analogue triggers, as that makes it easier to port games across, without having to make any changes to the controls. Although Mario Kart World is the Switch 2’s main launch title, Nintendo doesn’t go in much for serious racing games, although it does have things like the Excite Bike series, which are relatively realistic. More Trending It’s hard to say which third party racer might be the most likely to appear on Switch 2 but Forza Horizon 5 does seem one possibility, as it’s shortly to be released on PlayStation 5. Strangely though, Microsoft is still yet to announce any games for the Switch 2, despite support for Nintendo platforms being a key argument for why it should be allowed to buy Activision Blizzard. Whether that was solely hot air to convince monopoly investigators, or they have some sort of big unveil event planned is unclear. Switch 2 games may feature at the recently announced summer showcase but despite it being the cornerstone of their new business plan, Microsoft has proven very reticent about announcing multiformat plans in public and has tended to do so only via blog plots and trailer drops. Mario Kart World with analogue acceleration would’ve been interesting (Nintendo) Email gamecentral@metro.co.uk, leave a comment below, follow us on Twitter, and sign-up to our newsletter. To submit Inbox letters and Reader’s Features more easily, without the need to send an email, just use our Submit Stuff page here. For more stories like this, check our Gaming page. GameCentral Sign 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

Do ever find your different devices fighting for that one available outlet? It’s annoying having to make the tough call to which you’ll plug in, your phone or your laptop. You can connect one and then go plug in the other into a different outlet I suppose, but then it’s all the way on the other side of the room sometimes. Utterly useless. Get yourself a solid wall charger block that can handle all your devices at once. The UGREEN 65W USB-C charger has multiple ports to plug into and can recharge your phone, tablet, or laptop fast. It’s normally $43, but right now you can secure one for 40% off at just $26. That’s a savings of $17. The UGREEN charger is able to pack a punch even in its small form. It’s got my all time favorite feature when it comes to charging blocks… It only takes up one slot on a power strip. Screw all those blocks that are so wide they block off two extra outlets from being used. I guess that’s why they call them blocks. That’s not a problem here, no sir. You can charge three devices over USB-C plus a fourth over USB-A no problem with just a single outlet. See at Amazon This charger block is designed for durability. The plug folds back up to make it easy to travel with whether it’s just tossed into your bag or snug in your pocket. It’s built with high quality materials so no need to worry about it getting damaged. Despite it’s small form, the UGREEN charger can pack a punch. It can power your devices with a 65W output. That’s fast enough to charge a dead MacBook Air from zero back up above 50% in just a half hour. Universal Compatibility Safety of your devices is at the forefront of all of Anker’s designs. The UGREEN 65W charger block utilizes Anker’s exclusive MultiProtect technology and is built with all the latest safety certifications in mind. These protect against short-circuiting and high-voltage output, regulate output current, apply automatic current matching, control output temperature, and allows the charger to be static resistant. This charging block is universally compatible. Whether your phone is a Samsung, your earbuds are JBL, or your watch is Apple, you can rest easy knowing this charging block is equipped to connect to and charge your stuff. Even charge your Steam Deck or Nintendo Switch. Right now, you can get yourself a UGREEN 65W charging block for nearly half price. It’s currently marked down by 40% which brings the price from $73 to just $26 for a limited time. See at Amazon