Developer Everstone Studio and publisher NetEase have announced that Wuxia-inspired action RPG Where Winds Meet‘s closed beta will be kicking off on May 16, and will go on until May 19. Players interested in trying the game out can register for the beta until May 15 through the official website. The closed beta will be available on PC and PS5, and will support English, Japanese and Korean languages. It is worth noting that the beta will only be available in four regions: United States, Canada, Japan, and Korea. Players that end up getting selected for the beta will know that they have been picked through an email. On PC, being selected means that the players will be whitelisted for access to the beta. PS5 players, on the other hand, will get an access code for the beta through email. PC players will also have to keep in mind that access to the beta will be limited to the first device they sign into the game on. This means that PC players can’t switch between different PCs and laptops. Everstone has also detailed the PC specs that will be required to run the Where Winds Meet closed beta. When it comes to desktops, the bare minimum required CPU is either an Intel Core i7 4770K or AMD Ryzen 5 2400G equivalent, while the required GPU is either Nvidia’s GeForce GTX 750 Ti, AMD’s Radeon RX 550, or Intel’s Arc A380. The minimum required RAM is 8 GB, while 60 GB of storage is also required. The studio recommends that players run the game on an Intel Core i7 10700 or an AMD Ryzen 7 3700X or equivalent CPU, an Nvidia GeForce RTX 2070 SUPER, an AMD Radeon 6700 XT, or an Intel Arc A750 or equivalent GPU, 32 GB of RAM, and 100 GB of SSD storage. To max the game’s graphics settings out, the studio recommends either an Intel Core i7 12700K or AMD Ryzen 9 5950X CPU, an Nvidia GeForce RTX 3080 or AMD Radeon RX 6800 XT GPU, and 32 GB of RAM. As for players that might be using a laptop for the Where Winds Meet closed beta, the studio recommends one running on a Ryzen 7 5800HS or equivalent CPU, an MX450 or equivalent GPU, 8 GB of RAM, and 60 GB of storage. Along with all of these details regarding the closed beta test for Where Winds Meet, Everstone has also released a new trailer for the title that reveals that it will be coming to PC and PS5 in 2025. The PC version of the action RPG will be available through Steam and Epic Games Store. Check out the trailer below. Where Winds Meet was first announced all the way back in 2022 with a trailer. The game, heavily inspired by the Wuxia genre, takes place in the final days of the Ten Kingdoms era of Chinese history. It will be an open-world title featuring a massive world for players to explore that weighs in at more than 20 square kilometres in area. For more details, check out our interview with the studio behind Where Winds Meet.

7,000-Year-Old Skeletons From the ‘Green Sahara’ Reveal a Mysterious Human Lineage Researchers recently sequenced the genomes of two naturally mummified women found in Libya Archaeologists found 15 skeletons in a rock shelter in southwest Libya, including two naturally mummified women who died roughly 7,000 years ago. Archaeological Mission in the Sahara, Sapienza University of Rome Between 5,000 and 14,000 years ago, the Sahara Desert looked nothing like it does today. It was lush and green, with lakes and rivers supporting a variety of animals—including humans. But who were these ancient ancestors? And where do they fit on the human family tree? Researchers think they finally have some answers to these questions. They’ve successfully analyzed the DNA of two naturally mummified livestock herders who died roughly 7,000 years ago in present-day Libya, which was part of what’s known as the “green Sahara.” Their analyses revealed a previously unknown—and largely genetically distinct—population of ancient humans, according to a new paper published this month in the journal Nature. The individuals who lived in the green Sahara showed “no significant genetic influence from sub-Saharan populations to the south or Near Eastern and prehistoric European groups to the north,” says study co-author Johannes Krause, a geneticist at Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, to Reuters’ Will Dunham. “This suggests they remained genetically isolated despite practicing animal husbandry—a cultural innovation that originated outside Africa," Krause adds. That finding was unexpected, as researchers had long theorized the green Sahara was a human migration corridor between North Africa and sub-Saharan Africa. “It’s surprising,” says Eugenia
D’Atanasio, a geneticist at the Sapienza University of Rome who was not involved with the research, to Science’s Andrew Curry. “I would have expected more gene flow across the green Sahara.” Instead, the findings suggest that pastoralism—a nomadic lifestyle that involves herding livestock—spread across the green Sahara through “cultural exchange rather than large-scale migration,” says study co-author Nada Salem, a researcher at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, in a statement. In the early 2000s, researchers discovered the remains of 15 ancient humans in southwest Libya near the border with Algeria. They found the skeletons in a rock shelter named Takarkori, along with pottery shards and rock art. Archaeologists suspect the individuals buried at the site survived by hunting, fishing and herding animals like goats and sheep. Two of the skeletons were exceptionally well-preserved, with their skin, ligaments and tissues still intact, reports CNN’s Katie Hunt. Researchers determined they belonged to a pair of women in their 40s who had died around 5,000 B.C.E. At first, researchers were only able to recover the women’s mitochondrial DNA, which gets passed down from mothers. But, eventually, they were able to sequence the mummies’ full genomes, which gave them a more complete understanding of their ancestry. Their analyses revealed the green Sahara individuals likely branched off from the ancestors of sub-Saharan Africans roughly 50,000 years ago. Then, somehow, they remained genetically isolated for tens of thousands of years—a revelation that still perplexes researchers. These individuals were “almost like living fossils,” Krause tells BBC Science Focus’ Tom Howarth. “If you’d told me these genomes were 40,000 years old, I would have believed it,” he adds. Scientists say they need to conduct more research to fully understand the individuals who lived in the green Sahara. DNA from two women may not be representative of all the humans who lived in this vast region over thousands of years. Still, the paper makes a “key contribution” to scientists’ growing understanding of human ancestry, writes Mary Prendergast, an anthropologist at Rice University who was not involved with the research, in an accompanying commentary. “Research is just beginning to reveal Africa’s complex population history, uncovering lineages barely detectable in the genomes of present-day people,” she writes. “In this context, even small sample numbers can shape our understanding of the past.” Get the latest stories in your inbox every weekday.

Tariffs are an industry nightmare, but digital games seem safe – for now | Opinion While the Switch 2 may be the poster child for problems caused by trade tariffs, digital sales of games remain untouched – but there's no room for complacency Image credit: Nintendo Opinion by Rob Fahey Contributing Editor Published on April 11, 2025 The timing of the global battle over trade and tariffs sparked off by President Trump over the past weeks is pretty dreadful for a lot of industries, and the video games sector is no exception. At the point when I'm writing this, most of the heavy tariffs have been paused for 90 days, though a massive 104% tariff on products from China remains in place; however, even the fallback position of a blanket 10% tariff on every other country the United States trades with is still a far higher trade barrier than the norm. Other countries' retaliatory tariffs will probably also be soft-pedalled for a while following the temporary pause – although, of course, by the time you’re reading this the world economy could easily have been turned on its head again. Nintendo's Switch 2 has become something of a poster child for this whole affair, with the long-anticipated console finally having its pricing and launch date revealed almost directly before Trump’s tariffs were announced. Switch 2 was a perfect example case for the media to use to demonstrate the impact of tariffs on consumers Nintendo assembles most of its consoles in Vietnam, which was hit with one of the highest tariff rates in the original announcement – a staggering 46%, which was apparently far outside the company's projections. It has delayed the pre-order program for the Switch 2 in the United States while it tries to figure out how to handle this huge extra cost on what was already a very expensive console. Even the 10% tariff which will apply during this three-month respite threatens to push the cost of the Switch 2 up to the $500 mark. If the threatened 46% tariff is ever implemented, the console could end up costing over $650. Image credit: Nintendo As a hotly anticipated new product, Switch 2 was a perfect example case for the media to use to demonstrate the impact of tariffs on consumers. Of course, it's far from being the only product that will be hit; most gaming hardware is manufactured in Asia, whether it's consoles, PC components, or accessories. Vietnam is a major supplier for a lot of this hardware, as is Taiwan (32% proposed tariffs) and Thailand (36%). Perhaps ironically, the South-East Asian nations have become popular destinations for high-tech factories precisely because of a desire to mitigate the risks of escalating trade tensions by diversifying supply chains away from China. China itself is also a major supplier of things like PC components and accessories, with a 104% tariff likely being a death knell for US sales of many of those products. For Nintendo, the timing couldn’t be worse – Switch 2 is on course for a launch on June 5 and there's not a whole lot of strategic wiggle room in there. Some reports have suggested that the company has even stockpiled hardware in the US already, bringing it in before the tariffs took effect, although this is obviously not a long-term solution. Suggestions that production lines for Switch 2 could be established in the US to get around the tariffs ignore the incredibly long lead time for setting up that kind of manufacturing, but also just push the problem upstream a little. Even if Nintendo could assemble Switch 2 in the USA, most of the components in the system can't be sourced domestically and would have to come into the US from places like Taiwan – so there would still be a heavy import tariff to be paid regardless. There is one silver lining on this cloud, for now at least: the tariffs announced and discussed thus far have been entirely focused on physically imported goods and materials For Sony and Microsoft, the situation is also dire – tariffs on Switch 2 may attract headlines, but major price bumps to PlayStation and Xbox hardware will hurt too – but with their next big hardware launches a bit further down the line, they can at least think a little strategically about how to address this problem. Only a little, though. There's not much clarity on how this situation will develop in the coming months and years, and it's almost impossible to say how the trade environment will evolve during that time. This makes planning exceptionally difficult, and one of the only sensible options these companies will have at their disposal may be to push the launch windows for their future hardware back, potentially even past the end of the current administration’s term in office, and hope that things will have settled down by that point. There is one silver lining on this cloud, for now at least: the tariffs announced and discussed thus far have been entirely focused on physically imported goods and materials, and do not apply to digital goods. In other words, while the hardware is likely to get a lot more expensive, the games themselves are unlikely to be directly affected. There will be indirect effects, of course – there are lots of inputs into the development and provision of games that will be impacted by tariffs, from the hardware developers use to create them to the servers and data centres that provide online gaming services, all of which are going to get more expensive. Games themselves, however, won't be subject to tariffs when sold digitally, and unlike hardware manufacture, moving the production of physical game discs into the USA is a more realistic prospect. Nintendo, though, is going to get hit with an extra curveball here: it’s my understanding that the cartridges it uses for Switch games are all manufactured in Japan, using chips from a Taiwanese supplier, so shifting that production to the USA looks extremely challenging. Image credit: Nintendo Digital products being shielded from the worst of what’s happening is by no means guaranteed in the long run. Some of the retaliatory measures that trading partners like the European Union have been discussing in recent weeks have included placing tariffs or restrictions on non-physical trade such as services, digital businesses, or even US-owned intellectual property. These are primarily being described as instruments to target specific parts of the US economy, but they would in effect be an escalation – and while the games industry isn't an especially notable political target in this trade conflict, it would almost certainly get caught in the crossfire if digital trade tariffs are announced on either side. There's no room for complacency in any regard, and little certainty about the future – a pretty grim state of affairs for an industry that's still to some extent picking itself up after rising interest rates sparked a huge wave of layoffs and closures a couple of years ago. From a strategic perspective, perhaps the biggest problem is that this is happening at a point when the entire industry has been trying to slowly ease consumers towards acceptance of higher pricing for both software and hardware, in line with a couple of decades’ worth of inflation that's largely not been reflected in pricing. If even the 10% fallback tariffs become fixed in place in the medium to long term, it will make pricing even more difficult to adjust and will likely force a strategic shift around the next generation of console hardware in particular. Of course, if the global economy is still reeling from all of this by that point, that may be the least of most people's worries – but for an industry that needs to plan ahead on multi-year timelines, the next few years just got riskier and more uncertain than ever.

A 90-day reprieve for countries due to be hit by heightened U.S. tariffs has created a window of opportunity for the Japanese company.

When Nintendo announced the Switch 2 would cost $450, my initial reaction was disappointment. “Why does it cost so much more?” I thought to myself. “Why does Japan get it cheaper?” my brain jealously added, once I learned that Nintendo would sell a Japan-only model for the equivalent of just $333.It felt like Nintendo was about to overcharge the entire rest of the world for a modest improvement to its original $300 console, one that doesn’t come with an OLED display or anti-drift magnetic sticks. Surely it can’t cost Nintendo that much more to make, especially seeing how it’s selling the exact same hardware for so much “less” in Japan? But while Nintendo might be charging more than I’d like to spend, particularly with its $80 games and its button that makes you pay extra, I no longer think the company’s being distinctly unfair to gamers outside of Japan. The $450 price makes more sense when you consider what’s happened to the dollar and the yen. The original Switch still costs around 33,000 yen in Japan. Image: NintendoSince its March 3rd, 2017, debut, Nintendo basically hasn’t changed the price of the original Switch in either the US or Japan. The portable console cost $300 USD or ¥32,378 in 2017; it costs the same $300 USD or a very slightly higher ¥32,978 today, eight years later. But the US economy and the Japanese economy have not been the same since 2017. Inflation and exchange rates have drastically changed since then.On the one hand, the US dollar now buys less in the US than it did in 2017. Dramatic US inflation means that an original $300 Switch would cost nearly $400 if introduced today. The same is not true in Japan, which has historically had low inflation, or even deflation, until fairly recently. A ¥32,378 Switch would cost more like ¥36,000 today if Nintendo had followed the trend.On the other hand, US dollars are now worth dramatically more in Japan because the Japanese yen is remarkably weak. Compare: on January 13th, 2017, the day Nintendo announced the original Switch’s price, you could only get 114 yen per US dollar. On April 2nd, 2025, the day Nintendo announced the Switch 2, each dollar was worth almost 150 yen. Each dollar buys 30 percent more in Japan than it did back then.Mountain view or no, the Fujikawaguchiko Lawson still attracted crowds when we walked past two weeks ago. Photo by Tom MerrittJapan is experiencing more tourism than ever before as a result of that weak yen, to the point some particularly scenic locations have become overrun — it was international news when a small town near Mount Fuji erected a barrier to keep people from blocking the streets while duplicating an iconic Instagram shot of the mountain merged with a convenience store. I just came back from a two-week trip to Japan, and I’ve never eaten so well for so little cash. But Japanese residents can’t say the same. Not only is Japan starting to experience inflated food prices, but their wages reportedly aren’t keeping pace. It’s not fair to say, “Oh, Japan only has to pay $330 for the Switch 2 while we pay $450,” because both the Japanese and international versions cost almost exactly 50 percent more than Nintendo charges for an original Switch. Going from $300 to $450 is a 50 percent increase; going from the Switch’s ¥32,978 to the Japan-only Switch 2’s ¥49,980 is 51.6 percent. That suggests Nintendo might be telling the truth that the price was not designed to preempt tariffs.You really don’t need a convenience store to take a lovely pic of Mt. Fuji! Photo by Sean Hollister / The VergeInstead, the disparity we see is likely because the dollar goes so much further right now, and because the yen does not. As one Tokyo-based game streamer put it: “Salaries and cost of living hasn’t changed at all here so 49,980 feels like 450 usd.” A fun thought experiment: if exchange rates were the same as they were in 2017, the Japan-only Switch 2 would cost $434 in US money. It would cost $450 USD there if the dollar sinks to 111 yen or below, which it did during large portions of 2018, 2019, 2020, and 2021.If Japan-based Nintendo decided that the right price for the Switch 2 is 50 percent more than the original Switch, it does kind of follow that the US model would cost 50 percent more, too.Even the region lock makes some sense, as much as I hate the idea. If Nintendo didn’t lock it down, foreigners could take advantage of the weak yen to buy and scalp the Japanese versions all over the world, similar to what’s already reportedly happening with Japan’s retro game stores.I couldn’t find a Mother 3 cart in my city trips — one clerk laughed when I asked — but I eventually found this one in the suburbs. Photo by Sean Hollister / The VergeBut can Nintendo justify charging 50 percent more for a new handheld eight years later? That’s where I’m less sure. While US inflation might help justify a $400 Switch (again, the $300 original Switch would cost nearly $400 in today’s money) or even a $80 game, I think it’s more that Nintendo can afford to get away with a $450 Switch because real competition is slim.Sony and Microsoft won’t have true handheld PlayStations and Xboxes for years to come, and handheld PC makers are still struggling to beat the Steam Deck, let alone the Switch. (Nintendo can sometimes sell more Switches in a month than handheld gaming PCs sell in a year.) And while you can currently buy a new PS5 in the US for less than a Switch 2, that isn’t true in Japan — after three price hikes, the cheapest PS5 Digital Edition now costs ¥72,980, 46 percent more than the new Japan-only Switch, and Sony’s pricey PS5 Pro costs a staggering ¥119,980 there. RelatedEven Japan’s cheapest Steam Deck costs 20 percent more than a Switch 2, at ¥59,800 for the 256GB LCD model, so the Switch really and truly stands alone. Perhaps that’s why the gamer vibe in Japan is reportedly quite positive despite a 50 percent higher price. “The general consensus among Japanese gamers in response to this has been “Thank you Nintendo, please become the ruling party of our country next,” writes Automaton.The vibe definitely isn’t as rosy in the US, but at least the price now makes some sort of sense to me. And now that President Donald Trump has given companies like Nintendo a 90-day reprieve from many of his tariffs, a period of time that covers the Nintendo Switch 2’s June 5th launch, Nintendo may be able to have its cake and eat it, too. Nintendo can launch with its promised price and blame Trump for any later increase. Perhaps today’s $450 will look generous by comparison. See More:

As AI adoption increases in digital infrastructure, enterprises and developers face mounting pressure to balance computational costs with performance, scalability, and adaptability. The rapid advancement of large language models (LLMs) has opened new frontiers in natural language understanding, reasoning, and conversational AI. Still, their sheer size and complexity often introduce inefficiencies that inhibit deployment at scale. In this dynamic landscape, the question remains: Can AI architectures evolve to sustain high performance without ballooning compute overhead or financial costs? Enter the next chapter in NVIDIA’s innovation saga, a solution that seeks to optimize this tradeoff while expanding AI’s functional boundaries. NVIDIA released the Llama-3.1-Nemotron-Ultra-253B-v1, a 253-billion parameter language model representing a significant leap in reasoning capabilities, architecture efficiency, and production readiness. This model is part of the broader Llama Nemotron Collection and is directly derived from Meta’s Llama-3.1-405B-Instruct architecture. The two other small models, a part of this series, are Llama-3.1-Nemotron-Nano-8B-v1 and Llama-3.3-Nemotron-Super-49B-v1. Designed for commercial and enterprise use, Nemotron Ultra is engineered to support tasks ranging from tool use and retrieval-augmented generation (RAG) to multi-turn dialogue and complex instruction-following. The model’s core is a dense decoder-only transformer structure tuned using a specialized Neural Architecture Search (NAS) algorithm. Unlike traditional transformer models, the architecture employs non-repetitive blocks and various optimization strategies. Among these innovations is the skip attention mechanism, where attention modules in certain layers are either skipped entirely or replaced with simpler linear layers. Also, the Feedforward Network (FFN) Fusion technique merges sequences of FFNs into fewer, wider layers, significantly reducing inference time while maintaining performance. This finely tuned model supports a 128K token context window, allowing it to ingest and reason over extended textual inputs, making it suitable for advanced RAG systems and multi-document analysis. Moreover, Nemotron Ultra fits inference workloads onto a single 8xH100 node, which marks a milestone in deployment efficiency. Such compact inference capability dramatically reduces data center costs and enhances accessibility for enterprise developers. NVIDIA’s rigorous multi-phase post-training process includes supervised fine-tuning on tasks like code generation, math, chat, reasoning, and tool calling. This is followed by reinforcement learning (RL) using Group Relative Policy Optimization (GRPO), an algorithm tailored to fine-tune the model’s instruction-following and conversation capabilities. These additional training layers ensure that the model performs well on benchmarks and aligns with human preferences during interactive sessions. Built with production readiness in mind, Nemotron Ultra is governed by the NVIDIA Open Model License. Its release has been accompanied by other sibling models in the same family, including Llama-3.1-Nemotron-Nano-8B-v1 and Llama-3.3-Nemotron-Super-49B-v1. The release window, between November 2024 and April 2025, ensured the model leveraged training data up until the end of 2023, making it relatively up-to-date in its knowledge and context. Some of the Key Takeaways from the release of Llama-3.1-Nemotron-Ultra-253B-v1 include: Efficiency-First Design: Using NAS and FFN fusion, NVIDIA reduced model complexity without compromising accuracy, achieving superior latency and throughput. 128K Token Context Length: The model can process large documents simultaneously, boosting RAG and long-context comprehension capabilities. Ready for Enterprise: The model is ideal for commercial chatbots and AI agent systems because it is easy to deploy on an 8xH100 node and follows instructions well. Advanced Fine-Tuning: RL with GRPO and supervised training across multiple disciplines ensures a balance between reasoning strength and chat alignment. Open Licensing: The NVIDIA Open Model License supports flexible deployment, while community licensing encourages collaborative adoption. Check out the Model on Hugging Face. All credit for this research goes to the researchers of this project. Also, feel free to follow us on Twitter and don’t forget to join our 85k+ ML SubReddit. Asif RazzaqWebsite |  + postsBioAsif Razzaq is the CEO of Marktechpost Media Inc.. As a visionary entrepreneur and engineer, Asif is committed to harnessing the potential of Artificial Intelligence for social good. His most recent endeavor is the launch of an Artificial Intelligence Media Platform, Marktechpost, which stands out for its in-depth coverage of machine learning and deep learning news that is both technically sound and easily understandable by a wide audience. The platform boasts of over 2 million monthly views, illustrating its popularity among audiences.Asif Razzaqhttps://www.marktechpost.com/author/6flvq/Together AI Released DeepCoder-14B-Preview: A Fully Open-Source Code Reasoning Model That Rivals o3-Mini With Just 14B ParametersAsif Razzaqhttps://www.marktechpost.com/author/6flvq/Boson AI Introduces Higgs Audio Understanding and Higgs Audio Generation: An Advanced AI Solution with Real-Time Audio Reasoning and Expressive Speech Synthesis for Enterprise ApplicationsAsif Razzaqhttps://www.marktechpost.com/author/6flvq/Interview with Hamza Tahir: Co-founder and CTO of ZenMLAsif Razzaqhttps://www.marktechpost.com/author/6flvq/OpenAI Open Sources BrowseComp: A New Benchmark for Measuring the Ability for AI Agents to Browse the Web

I don’t usually get excited about Magic: The Gathering deals unless they involve a substantial discount or a chance to pick up chase cards without pawning my fetch lands. But the current Best Buy Deal of the Day has me genuinely interested, and not just because I’m weak in the face of shiny foils and stitched-edge playmats. As with all DotD discounts, this is limited just to today as well, so pick up the cheap boosters while you can. Let's dig into what's available, and what I'd recommend picking up.MTG Discounts On Foundations, Aetherdrift, and More Wizards of The Coast - Magic: The Gathering Foundations BundleWizards of The Coast - Magic: The Gathering Foundations Jumpstart Booster 2-Pack Wizards of The Coast - Magic: The Gathering Ravnica Remastered Draft Booster SleeveWizards of The Coast - Magic: The Gathering Aetherdrift BundleWizards of The Coast - Magic: The Gathering Aetherdrift Collector BoosterWizards of The Coast - Magic: The Gathering Aetherdrift Commander Deck - Living EnergyWizards of The Coast - Magic: The Gathering Fallout Commander Deck - Science!Ultra PRO - Mana 8 - Stitched Edge Playmat - Plains for Magic: The GatheringUltra PRO - Mana 8 - Stitched Edge Playmat - Mountain for Magic: The GatheringUltra PRO - Mana 8 - Stitched Edge Playmat - Forest for Magic: The GatheringUltra PRO - Mana 8 - Stitched Edge Playmat - Island for Magic: The GatheringUltra PRO - Mana 8 - Stitched Edge Playmat - Lotus for Magic: The GatheringLet’s talk Foundations. This set isn’t trying to wow anyone with lore about a haunted mansion or a squirrel-led uprising. Instead, it focuses on being playable, readable, and shockingly welcoming. I think that’s a big deal, especially since we’re about to get Marvel and Final Fantasy collaborations through Universes Beyond. New players are going to get dropped into the multiverse with zero context, so a solid on-ramp like Foundations is going to be essential.Magic: The Gathering Foundations BundleWizards of The Coast - Magic: The Gathering Foundations BundleIf you’ve never touched a deck in your life, the Foundations Beginner Box is a better teacher than half the humans I’ve seen try to explain Magic at a kitchen table. Pre-constructed decks, visual aids, and a guided tutorial make it absurdly approachable. t. There’s also the Foundations Bundle, which is going for $42.49. That's under market price and loaded with boosters and accessories. It’s great value, especially since Foundations is going to stick around in Standard for five years, giving you time to figure out what the heck a stack is.Magic: The Gathering Foundations Jumpstart Booster 2-Pack Wizards of The Coast - Magic: The Gathering Foundations Jumpstart Booster 2-Pack And then there's Aetherdrift, which is for people who read the card Blasphemous Act and said, “but what if we did more?” The Aetherdrift Bundle is currently $34.99, which is a solid $16 off its usual price. It includes some of the more unhinged red spells and flashy threats to come out of Standard lately, including Marauding Mako (which is basically Magic's version of a landshark with anger issues) and Momentum Breaker, a mono-black tool that's found a home in aggressive Pixie decks. Yes, apparently that’s a thing now.Magic: The Gathering Ravnica Remastered Draft Booster SleeveWizards of The Coast - Magic: The Gathering Ravnica Remastered Draft Booster SleeveFoundations also includes some pretty desirable chase cards if you're cracking packs. I’m looking at you, Rise of the Dark Realms with the new Borderless treatment, and Sire of Seven Deaths, the Eldrazi with seven keywords that feels like it was printed specifically to cause someone a rules headache. And don’t sleep on Banner of Kinship, which casually turns your Goblin deck into a math test your opponent definitely didn’t study for.Magic: The Gathering Aetherdrift BundleWizards of The Coast - Magic: The Gathering Aetherdrift BundleYes, I noticed Ravnica Remastered is part of this sale. You can grab a Ravnica Remastered Draft Booster Sleeve for $4.99 (down from $6.99), which is actually one of the cheapest ways to chase after format staples like Crypt Ghast, Spark Double, and Divine Visitation. I think that’s a great price for anyone looking to bulk open product or toss a few into a sealed night with friends.Magic: The Gathering Aetherdrift Collector BoosterWizards of The Coast - Magic: The Gathering Aetherdrift Collector BoosterPersonally, I love Ravnica sets. I’ve always been a sucker for guild mechanics, and Ravnica Remastered is basically Wizards saying, “Let’s throw all the good stuff into one nostalgic blender.” You get a mix of old-school Commander hits like Cyclonic Rift, weird-but-powerful tech like Cloudstone Curio, and alternate art versions that will either delight you or make you question whether you’re playing Magic or flipping through concept art for a lost anime seriesMagic: The Gathering Aetherdrift Commander Deck - Living EnergyWizards of The Coast - Magic: The Gathering Aetherdrift Commander Deck - Living EnergyI picked up a few sleeves myself, partly for the shot at Anime Borderless Bruvac, and partly because I have no impulse control when it comes to reprint sets. You don’t need to justify $5 packs when they include Shock Lands and cards with infinite combo potential.Magic: The Gathering Fallout Commander Deck - Science!Wizards of The Coast - Magic: The Gathering Fallout Commander Deck - Science!If you're already building for Commander or just pretending your collection isn’t entirely impulse buys, the Fallout Commander Deck – Science! is on sale for $33.99. That’s $26 off retail, and includes one of the better face Commanders to come from Universes Beyond: Dogmeat, Ever Loyal, who floods the board with Junk tokens if you build around equipment and auras. In my opinion, this deck is an underrated engine, and you get to play cards like Radstorm and Feral Ghoul, which sound like B-side punk albums but are surprisingly effective in-game.MTG: Ultra Pro Mana 8 Stitched Edge PlaymatsUltra PRO - Mana 8 - Stitched Edge Playmat - Plains for Magic: The GatheringUltra PRO - Mana 8 - Stitched Edge Playmat - Mountain for Magic: The GatheringUltra PRO - Mana 8 - Stitched Edge Playmat - Forest for Magic: The GatheringUltra PRO - Mana 8 - Stitched Edge Playmat - Island for Magic: The GatheringUltra PRO - Mana 8 - Stitched Edge Playmat - Lotus for Magic: The GatheringI don’t usually care about playmats, but these Mana 8 stitched-edge ones are kinda gorgeous. At $16.49, they’re dramatic in all the right ways without costing you the same as a new commander deck. I think the Lotus one is low-key perfection.MTG: First Look at Cards From Tarkir: DragonstormWhile Magic: The Gathering’s big crossovers with things like Final Fantasy and Spider-Man might be stealing the spotlight lately, the next set in the line-up is already storming toward us. Tarkir: Dragonstorm returns to Magic’s own plane of Tarkir, and we’ve got an exclusive first look at a five cards that I expect we’ll be seeing a lot of at the draft table next month. (The expansion is available to preorder now on Amazon).Flip through the gallery below to see all five cards, and read on for a word from Wizards of the Coast about their design and the set as a whole.Magic: The Gathering - 5 New Cards from Tarkir: DragonstormChristian Wait is a contributing freelancer for IGN covering everything collectable and deals. Christian has over 7 years of experience in the Gaming and Tech industry with bylines at Mashable and Pocket-Tactics. Christian also makes hand-painted collectibles for Saber Miniatures. Christian is also the author of "Pokemon Ultimate Unofficial Gaming Guide by GamesWarrior". Find Christian on X @ChrisReggieWait.

It is an image that rocked the internet, from online scientific publications to pop culture websites like our own. An animal that Colossal Biosciences (and for that matter the cover of Time magazine) declared to be a dire wolf is now a snow-white puppy with huge feet and olive eyes—and it’s howling. According to Ben Lamm, the CEO and co-founder of Colossal, the sight even brought investor Peter Jackson to tears. After all, this is the first time anyone’s heard a dire wolf cry in about 10,000 years, right? Now after so much time, the Pleistocene predator is back. The sheer audacity of such a broad assertion is also why some are applying intense, if not occasionally hostile, skepticism toward the idea. For while the headlines emphasize the scientific marvel of the creation of three wolves named Romulus, Remus, and Khaleesi, via what Colossal champions as de-extinction innovations, a closer look at the science adds an important caveat: Colossal is pursuing what it calls “functional de-extinction.” As per the Dallas-based biotech company’s website, functional de-extinction is “the process of generating an organism that both resembles and is genetically similar to an extinct species by resurrecting its lost lineage of core genes; engineering natural resistances; and enhancing adaptability that will allow it to thrive in today’s environment of climate change, dwindling resources, disease and human interference.” The difference between directly cloning dire wolf DNA—which is functionally impossible at the moment without a living cell—and genetically engineering the DNA of a living creature to match the genome of its extinct, distant relative is a fine, fine line. However, if Colossal’s assertions stand up to peer review, then they were successful in at least the first goal of their stated mission: generating an organism that both resembles and is genetically similar to an extinct species. While the company’s scientists prepare a paper explaining their results, it currently seems they were able to extract historic genetic detail about the dire wolf by pulling ancient DNA from a 13,000-year-old dire wolf tooth discovered in Ohio and a 72,000-year-old skull in Idaho. This would also mark the first successful sequencing of a dire wolf’s genome. Furthermore, Colossal was able to create the embryos that became their three wolves by successfully editing 20 genes found in a gray wolf to match those Colossal identified as divergent between the dire wolf and gray wolf—which are otherwise more than 99 percent identical. However, even then only 15 of Colossal’s multiplex gene edits are an exact match with the ancient dire wolf; the other five are similar mutations found in modern gray wolves and dogs, because the exact mutations discovered in Colossal’s reconstructed dire wolf genome could reportedly cause blindness and deafness in a gray wolf, whose cells are still the basis for Colossal’s breakthrough. These finer details is what has caused many to be acutely suspicious of calling Romulus, Remus, and Khaleesi dire wolves. University of Maine paleoecologist Jacquelyn Gill posted on Bluesky, “Making genetically modified animals that are cosplaying as extinct species is not de-extinction… They are selling you de-extinction but are creating genetically modified animals with some traits of an unrelated extinct species.” Meanwhile even scientists more receptive to the possibilities presented by Colossal’s research are wary of calling these three animals full-on dire wolves. In an interview with the New York Times, Cornell University geneticist Adam Boyko expressed enthusiasm toward learning something about ancient dire wolves from observing Romulus, Remus, and Khaleesi—for instance discovering that dire wolves were not only all-white but featured thick manes around their necks and a fox-like tail—but still would not consider them truly resurrected versions of the extinct species. How many other genes, Boyko speculated, in a species that walked the earth for more than a hundred thousand years could there be differentiating ancient dire wolves from modern gray wolves? ““We don’t know what that number is. It could be 20 or it could be 2,000.” Ironically for a company whose research has invited plenty of comparisons to Michael Crichton’s Jurassic Park—including by us—this debate resembles a crucial detail that the notoriously cynical author buried in his book, and which noted showman Steven Spielberg left out of the more famous 1993 film adaptation. In the novel, the head of Jurassic Park’s laboratory, which brought back dinosaurs via blood preserved by mosquitos frozen in amber, muses to himself that what they created are not actually dinosaurs. They used the genetic code of modern-day amphibians to fill in gaps in dinosaur genomes. They also reengineered the creatures to attempt to make them more docile. “I don’t think we should kid ourselves,” the character finally says. “We haven’t recreated the past here. The past is gone; it can never be recreated. What we’ve done here is reconstruct the past—or at least a version of the past.” It’s a timely comparison to the basic idea of the de-extinction project, and one which we raised with Colossal head Lamm the first time we interviewed him at SXSW when discussing their breakthrough with woolly mice. To be clear, Colossal is not filling in gaps of genetic code with modern animals like the dinosaurs in Crichton’s Jurassic Park. With their dire wolves they manipulated a modern genetic code that was similar to the dire wolf to be what it claims is a full-on or near-enough match. (Additionally, Lamm has assured us that there is no way to bring back a dinosaur, despite what imaginative authors say about amber and mosquitos.) Join our mailing list Get the best of Den of Geek delivered right to your inbox! Yet while discussing the company’s stated goal to functionally de-extinct the woolly mammoth by 2028 through the use of Asian elephant DNA, Lamm made an argument to us that seems prescient to the current one over Colossal’s dire wolves. “I think it’s important that people understand the difference between what’s possible and what’s not,” Lamm said at the time regarding the woolly mammoth project and the difference between functional de-extinction and cloning a living cell. But he went on to compare the debate to a person who learned on 23andMe that they have Neanderthal DNA in their ancestry. Indeed, non-African humans can have anywhere between one and four percent Neanderthal DNA in their genetics (it is closer to zero percent among African populations).  “Would you say that you’re a hybrid or do you say you’re a Neanderthal-hybrid with Homo sapien, or do you say that you’re an evolved Neanderthal, because they did come first, or do you say that you’re a Homo sapien?” Lamm argued. The biotech entrepreneur also pointed out that humans love classifying, quantifying, and compartmentalizing data with clear lines, but compares de-extinction technology to the evolutionary process of speciation, which in nature can occur over tens of thousands of years. “Speciation is more like a river,” Lamm said. “All of these species evolve from each other, and we’re all hybrids of a hybrid of a hybrid. So I wouldn’t say it’s correct to classify our mammoth as an Asian elephant or hybrid…  It isn’t a cold-adapted or allele-adapted Asian elephant, which is what some people love to say about our work. We think that if it solves the functional aspects of a mammoth, if it has ancient DNA from a mammoth, and if it has the lost genes to a mammoth, we just call that a mammoth. If people want to call it ‘mammoth 2.0,’ they can. Or if people want to say 40 words to describe it, they can too.” Lamm would likely make the same argument about the three snow-white wolves his company created, two of which are already the same size or bigger than modern gray wolves despite not even being halfway grown to adulthood. Whether that counts as a dire wolf really seems to come down to what your definition of a dire wolf might be, and folks far more learned, and with the PhDs to prove it, will assuredly argue that point for many years to come as we step further into a future where the possibilities of biotechnology are only beginning to be unlocked. With that said, whatever you are wont to call Romulus, Remus, and Khaleesi, they do provide a fascinating window into better understanding the original dire wolves. Already their mere existence has revealed hitherto unknown secrets about the ancient creature’s appearance and fur. There is opportunity in this. Perhaps more functionally important though is that their existence also acts as a kind of neon-lit billboard for how such technology can be used to save currently endangered species. Buried beneath all the headlines, including the one at the top of this article, is that Colossal also used the same research that created their dire wolves to successfully clone four red wolves through a combination of extracting red wolf DNA from coyote-wolf hybrids found in the North American southeast, as well as an ancient and, until now, dead line of red wolf DNA. “If [the U.S. government wants] me to make a thousand red wolves that are genetically diverse, we could do that for them,” Lamm said.  “We’ll make all of our technologies available for free for conservation. It’s part of our mandate.” If biodiversity can be restored to a species humans have hunted to the point where there are only between an estimated 17 and 19 red wolves left in the wild, that might be the real miracle of this technology.

Apple last year introduced a beta version of Apple Maps on the web, which allowed users of other platforms to access the company’s mapping service for the first time. However, Apple Maps on the web was labeled as “beta” — until now. And as the platform is no longer beta, it has also gained support for mobile devices. Apple Maps web app now available for mobile devices With the change, Apple Maps on the web is now available at maps.apple.com, instead of beta.apple.maps.com. But the biggest surprise is the support for mobile platforms. Whereas previously the web version of Apple Maps was only available for desktop and tablet web browsers, it now works on iPhone and Android phones too. While the news won’t make a difference to the vast majority of iOS users, Android users can now choose to use Apple Maps if they want. The web app lets users explore the map, search for businesses and points of interest, find directions and view Guides. Features such as the transit map and 3D buildings remain unavailable. There’s also no option to sign in with an Apple Account to access saved places and custom Guides. A few months ago, Apple updated the Maps web app with support for the Look Around feature, which lets users explore their surroundings with 360-degree panoramic views. Where available, Look Around can be accessed by tapping or clicking on the binoculars icon in Apple Maps. Apple says it will continue to add new features and support for more platforms to the Apple Maps web app. H/T: Carlos! Gadgets I recommend: Add 9to5Mac to your Google News feed.  FTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links. More.You’re reading 9to5Mac — experts who break news about Apple and its surrounding ecosystem, day after day. Be sure to check out our homepage for all the latest news, and follow 9to5Mac on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn to stay in the loop. Don’t know where to start? Check out our exclusive stories, reviews, how-tos, and subscribe to our YouTube channel

Apr 11, 2025The Hacker NewsCybercrime / Security Breach What are IABs? Initial Access Brokers (IABs) specialize in gaining unauthorized entry into computer systems and networks, then selling that access to other cybercriminals. This division of labor allows IABs to concentrate on their core expertise: exploiting vulnerabilities through methods like social engineering and brute-force attacks. By selling access, they significantly mitigate the risks associated with directly executing ransomware attacks or other complex operations. Instead, they capitalize on their skill in breaching networks, effectively streamlining the attack process for their clients. This business model enables IABs to operate with a lower profile and reduced risk, while still profiting from their technical skills. Operating primarily on dark web forums and underground markets, IABs can function independently or as part of larger organizations like Ransomware-as-a-Service (RaaS) gangs. They act as a crucial link in the cybercrime ecosystem, providing the initial foothold needed for ransomware gangs, data thieves, and other malicious actors to carry out their operations. The pricing of their services is dependent on the target's size, the level of access granted, and the perceived value of the compromised system, typically conducted within the dark web. Why are IABs gaining steam? The rising prominence of Initial Access Brokers (IABs) is directly tied to their ability to streamline and accelerate ransomware operations, particularly Ransomware-as-a-Service (RaaS) schemes. By handling the complex task of initial network infiltration, IABs allow ransomware groups to focus solely on data encryption and extortion, effectively scaling their attack capabilities. This efficiency is further amplified by the growing trend of IABs working directly for RaaS affiliates, enabling near-instantaneous attacks upon access procurement, eliminating the time-consuming process of establishing a foothold. This symbiotic relationship benefits both sides. RaaS groups gain speed and efficiency, while IABs secure a consistent stream of work, often bypassing the need for public advertising on dark web forums. This reduced visibility provides a layer of protection from law enforcement scrutiny, as their activities are less exposed compared to those operating on open marketplaces. This combination of increased operational efficiency for ransomware groups and reduced risk for IABs has fueled the rapid expansion and influence of IABs within the cyber crime ecosystem. Where are IABs focusing? In 2023, the business services sector was clearly the most targeted industry, although it is still in the top 3 in 2024 with 13% there is a much wider spread of industries being targeted. Whereas in 2023 the business services sector took up a whopping 29% of attacks, that number stood at just 13% in 2024. The same is true for the other industries showing diminished percentages. This could be due to IABs broadening the industries that they are targeting. As usual the USA is a prime target, for its economic and technological power making high value targets. Notably, Brazil and France secured the second and third spots respectively, indicating high value targets in both countries. To see what types of businesses are being targeted in more depth read our guide to IABs here. The Financial Motives of IABs The Initial Access Broker (IAB) market demonstrates a dynamic pricing structure, generally offering corporate access between $500 and $3,000. While 2023 saw an average listing price of $1,979, skewed by occasional high-value targets reaching tens of thousands of dollars, the median price remained significantly lower at $1,000, with a majority of listings below $3,000. In 2024, cybercriminals are increasingly targeting smaller victims. While they've generally lowered the prices for selling access to hacked systems, with 86% costing under $3,000, the average price has actually gone up to $2,047. This higher average is misleading because a few very expensive sales are skewing the number. As the chart shows, the vast majority (58%) of access deals now cost less than $1,000 – a big change from 2023. Furthermore, expensive access options are less common, now making up only 7% of what's for sale. This strategic price reduction, coupled with a decrease in high-value listings, suggests a change in IAB tactics. They are now focusing on volume, offering numerous lower-priced access points that, in aggregate, can yield substantial financial gains. Despite the lower individual prices, the sheer quantity of available access points poses a significant threat, potentially causing widespread damage and proving more lucrative than a smaller number of high-priced sales. This shift indicates an evolution in the IAB market, prioritizing accessibility and volume over individual high-value transactions. To see detailed information on the TTPs being used by IABs, read our guide here. What's next for IABs? The rise of Initial Access Brokers (IABs) is driven by a confluence of factors that enhance the efficiency and profitability of cyber crime. Their specialization in initial network infiltration allows ransomware groups and other malicious actors to focus on later stages of attacks, streamlining operations and increasing the scale of potential damage. The growing trend of direct collaboration between IABs and Ransomware-as-a-Service (RaaS) affiliates further accelerates attack timelines, creating a more efficient and dangerous cyber criminal ecosystem. The evolution of IAB pricing strategies also reveals a significant shift in tactics. IABs are increasingly focusing on volume, offering numerous lower-priced access. This strategy maximizes potential financial gains by providing a wider range of attack vectors, making cyber crime more accessible and potentially more damaging. This shift, coupled with the reduced visibility afforded by operating outside of public dark web forums, provides IABs with a significant layer of protection from law enforcement. Looking ahead, we can expect IABs to continue playing a pivotal role in the cyber crime landscape. Their ability to provide readily available access points will likely fuel the growth of ransomware and other financially motivated attacks. The trend towards lower-priced, high-volume access sales suggests that smaller organizations, previously considered less attractive targets, will face increasing risk. Furthermore as IABs mature their tactics, and strengthen ties with RaaS affiliates, the speed and efficiency of cyber attacks will continue to increase. Therefore, proactive cyber security measures, including threat intelligence on up to date TTPs, continuous monitoring, and employee training, will become increasingly critical in mitigating the growing threat posed by IABs. For detailed insights into contemporary IAB tactics, including access types, privilege usage, and recommended protective measures, consult the comprehensive IAB guide or attend our talk at this year's RSA conference by Adi Bleih, Security Researcher titled Initial Access Brokers – A Deep Dive on April 30th at 2:25pm in HT-W09. You can add it to your schedule here. Found this article interesting? 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