On Thursday, the Supreme Court ordered the Trump administration to bring back Kilmar Abrego Garcia, the Maryland man it had sent to a notorious Salvadoran mega-prison in what the government has conceded was an “administrative error.” Not one of the justices dissented from that ruling. The justices sent the case back to the federal trial court. The court asked for information by Friday morning on Abrego Garcia’s whereabouts and what steps the government has taken and will take going forward to facilitate his return. But the government came up empty-handed. Its lawyers said they couldn’t provide that information on time, effectively defying the court’s order. “Foreign affairs cannot operate on judicial timelines, in part because it involves sensitive country-specific considerations wholly inappropriate for judicial review,” they wrote in a court filing.Essentially, the administration is saying it can’t deliver information on Abrego Garcia on time because he is in the custody of a foreign government, and that facilitating his return may require sensitive foreign policy considerations. The US is paying the Salvadoran government to imprison hundreds of deportees, 90 percent of whom have no criminal record. But immigration law experts said that foreign policy cannot justify the Trump administration’s failure to return Abrego Garcia.“The idea that somehow this is something other than just picking up the phone and saying, ‘Get this guy back here,’ is absolute poppycock,” said Paul Wickham Schmidt, a retired immigration judge and professor at Georgetown University Law Center. “The idea that this is some sort of sensitive foreign relations is BS.”This is the second time that the Trump administration has effectively ignored a court order. The first time, it refused to turn around deportation flights headed to El Salvador midair, arguing that US federal courts had no authority outside the US.On Friday afternoon, the judge ordered the administration to provide daily updates on its plan to bring Abrego Garcia back — as the government slow-walks an order to return a man it, by its own admission, put in grave danger via an “administrative error.”Where is Kilmar Abrego Garcia?The Trump administration’s reluctance to provide any information about Abrego Garcia raises serious concerns about his safety.In 2019, an immigration judge granted Abrego Garcia relief from deportation to El Salvador because he faced the risk of being targeted by gangs. Though the government has accused him of being a member of the MS-13 gang, that was never proven in court. The prison where he was sent is known as a “legal black hole” and the site of numerous documented human rights abuses. The US has sent more than 200 people there.“If the government is now refusing to acknowledge that he is somewhere in that country, that’s suspicious,” said César Cuauhtémoc García Hernández, a professor at the Ohio State University Moritz College of Law and author of several books on US immigration enforcement, including Welcome the Wretched. “It’s alarming to see the Justice Department refuse to even acknowledge that he is there or anywhere else on the face of the earth.”Why the government’s stonewalling should worry everyoneThe government’s actions are part of a larger picture of attacks on the rule of law, Schmidt said. “They’re targeting law firms that represent people against the government,” he said. “They’re defunding legal services. They’re putting people in obscure locations. They’re compromising the immigration courts.”There’s no telling how far protections for civil liberties could unravel from here, García Hernández said. A recent Supreme Court ruling doesn’t provide much assurance: The justices found that the Trump administration could not deport people like Abrego Garcia to El Salvador under an obscure, 18th-century law without allowing them the opportunity to challenge their deportations in a US court. But that assumes that those targeted have access to legal counsel, and that’s hard to come by in some of the remote areas where they have been detained.While the Trump administration might now be targeting unsympathetic figures — people it accuses of ties to gangs — that might give way to broader assaults on individual rights.“They made it quite clear that they’re not just targeting people who present some kind of risk of bodily harm to those of us who live in the United States,” García Hernández said. “They’re also targeting people who they think present an ideological risk. And there’s no clear endpoint to that logic.”See More:

Get a head start on planning your journey to Epic Universe—and figure out what you’re going to wear while you’re at it. The Universal Orlando Resort’s newest theme park is set to open in May and the elements you’ll encounter, from monsters to dragons to the Florida heat, should influence your style and level of comfort. Before you embark on a journey through new and exciting portals to Super Nintendo World, the Isle of Berk from How to Train Your Dragon, the Universal Monsters Dark Universe, and more, we’ve curated this guide to ensure you pop out in pop culture essentials. Official merch is available now online and at licensed retailers, so no matter which epic fandom you favor, you can pull your look together in plenty of time. This guide is a reminder to go at your own pace but also try to be prepared… and I need this advice for myself, too. © BoxLunch The two mall mainstays that come to mind first, especially if you need a quick turnaround on sizing and comfort, are BoxLunch and Hot Topic. Being able to check a website and see if inventory is available for pick-up at your local shop is far less stressful than ordering online and hoping your items will fit when they eventually arrive. We’ve all been there and it’s not ideal if packing gives you anxiety (raises hand). Even if you put things off, you can just go to the mall to visit your local coven at HT or explore the fandom wares at BoxLunch. They’ve even got some recent selections inspired by the Universal Monsters, Nintendo, and How to Train Your Dragon that are perfectly suited for the trip. Having options with buttons you can open or peel off to air that humid sweat away is very important. RSVLTS is fantastic for fashion with endurance against the elements and this Creature From the Black Lagoon-inspired polo is a great fandom-bounding option if you want to look dressed up like the Gill-man. Otherwise, outfits paying homage to Universal Monsters with capes and robes can be tricky because you don’t want to get heatstroke at a new theme park, especially if you’re lucky enough to nab tickets during its opening summer. Thankfully you can channel the Bride of Frankenstein and the Monster with Hot Topic selections like this short-sleeve tee and a femme option for Gill-man fans. Since breathable clothes are a must, this Toothless Baseball jersey with a scale design is a good option and a part of very gender-neutral selections at BoxLunch, which also include exclusive Nightfury accessories from Loungefly. And for your Mario party there’s cute accessories and tops. © Universal Orlando Resorts What’s really neat is that even Epic Universe’s official merchandise is also available to nab in advance. At least with going this route, if a size doesn’t work and you don’t realize it until you’re in Florida, as long as you have your proof of purchase you can probably exchange it at Universal. The selection is not entirely what’s available at the theme parks as of previews, but still very solid especially when it comes to theming. In particular the How to Train Your Dragon selection is extensive with cosplay lite Toothless hats, fashionable attire for women, men, and children plus water bottle holders. I know that sounds odd to cape for cozy drinkware sleeves but these have cute designs, like this Toothless one, and can hang off strollers. I use one of mine from Universal for that specifically while taking my kiddo to the parks so I don’t have to buy the expensive drink cup attachment. ©Universal Orlando Resorts The widest selection of pre-arrival shopping I would say is the Universal Monsters. The Dark Universe branded character re-designs of Dracula and friends are going to be a hot commodity. I’d say grab some of the official apparel and accessories now because they might be sold out when you get there. There’s a market for flippers that raid the newly branded merch, which can put a damper on a first visit if you were hoping to get something “Dark Universe” branded, only to find it’s all gone. So get it while you can if the item you were looking for is available online already. This Bride of Frankenstein hair bucket hat, cute monsters steel tumbler, and Baby Dracula backpack are too clever—I don’t trust them still being there come May. And then there’s the parks-exclusive Super Nintendo World official releases which are as close to the real Nintendo store as we can get, so don’t miss out on the newest arrivals. Epic Universe opens May 22; for more information and tickets visit here. Want more io9 news? Check out when to expect the latest Marvel, Star Wars, and Star Trek releases, what’s next for the DC Universe on film and TV, and everything you need to know about the future of Doctor Who.

Black holes — the supermassive gravitation forces at the center of most galaxies — actually spend much of their time dormant, or essentially asleep. Astronomers have now spotted one not only waking up but appearing to hit the celestial equivalent of a snooze button every few days. The black hole at the center of a galaxy named SDSS1335+0728, about 300 million light-years away, first showed signs of stirring when, in 2019, the galaxy started shining brightly. But since 2024, that black hole the astronomers nicknamed “Ansky” started producing X-ray bursts at regular intervals — almost as if Ansky was stretching, then going back to sleep for a bit, according to a paper in the journal Nature Astronomy. Rare Black Hole AwakeningObserving a black hole rising into action is relatively rare. Capturing the regular bursts of energy called quasiperiodic eruptions (QPEs) is rarer still. “And this is the first time we have observed such an event in a black hole that seems to be waking up,” Lorena Hernández-García, an astronomer at Valparaiso University, Chile, and an author of the paper, said in a press release.They certainly have a good view. Multiple X-ray space telescopes are checking in on Ansky, including XMM-Newton and NASA’s NICER, Chandra, and NASA’s Swift. After the first observed emission, they consulted archive data from another instrument but didn’t find any evidence of earlier emissions. Understanding Black Hole MechanicsThese observations could alter understandings of how black holes work — or, at least, what causes QPEs. Conventional wisdom is that a black hole’s powerful gravity sucks in any object that dares venture too close, then rips that matter apart. That captured matter then spreads into a hot, bright, rapidly spinning flat circular object called an accretion disc.QPEs are thought to occur when another object — say a star or a smaller black hole — interacts with that disc. But so far, there is no evidence that Ansky has destroyed a star.The astronomers who first captured and are now monitoring Ansky’s behavior are now considering other scenarios. For instance, the disc could be formed by gas captured by the flares that would be coming from shocks in the disc, caused by a small celestial object repeatedly traveling through — thus disrupting the orbiting material.Brighter, Longer BurstsThere are other clues that Ansky’s bursts aren’t produced by conventionally understood forces. Ansky’s periodic X-ray bursts last 10 times longer and shine 10 times brighter than a typical QPE.“For QPEs, we’re still at the point where we have more models than data, and we need more observations to understand what's happening,” Erwan Quintin, a European Space Agency research fellow and an author of the study, said in a press release. “We thought that QPEs were the result of small celestial objects being captured by much larger ones and spiraling down towards them. Ansky’s eruptions seem to be telling us a different story.”Astronomers will try to better understand that story by watching the rare phenomenon unfold. Future ESA missions may also help the astronomers learn more about the gravitational waves associated with the X-ray bursts.Article SourcesOur writers at Discovermagazine.com use peer-reviewed studies and high-quality sources for our articles, and our editors review for scientific accuracy and editorial standards. Review the sources used below for this article:Before joining Discover Magazine, Paul Smaglik spent over 20 years as a science journalist, specializing in U.S. life science policy and global scientific career issues. He began his career in newspapers, but switched to scientific magazines. His work has appeared in publications including Science News, Science, Nature, and Scientific American.

Nature, Published online: 09 April 2025; doi:10.1038/s41586-025-08786-6A large-scale photonic accelerator comprising more than 16,000 components integrated on a single chip to process MAC operations is described, demonstrating ultralow latency and reduced computing time compared with a commercially available GPU.

this is a work in progress.. might make it a 3D print. not sure how to go about it since ive not done it before. any tips would be apreciated!.. specially on posing since this is not gonna be easy to rig. will be posting more on this when theres more changes ✨ polycount so far is 17mil which isnt too bad. till then, check out my other stuff iguess Have a good day/night/evening 🔥 submitted by /u/L0rdCinn [link] [comments]

Dave Miragliotta showed us the working process behind the Door Hatch project, discussing creating its shapes, rivets, and vents using Substance 3D Designer's nodes and rendering in Marmoset Toolbag.Read: https://80.lv/articles/creating-a-tech-inspired-door-hatch-material-in-substance-3d/

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The artwork "Carnival" features a series of patterns with fantastical colors and unique forms, evoking cherished childhood memories of fairground games like goldfish scooping and balloon shooting, transporting viewers back to their joyful childhood moments. To break free from the repetitive and complex nature of daily design work, the designers returned to fundamental geometric language (circles, squares, triangles) and explored new variations and combinations using fluorescent colors as a foundation. In order to allow the audience to join in the creation and think about the possibility of change, the designer made a series of building blocks based on the designed graphics. The audience can experience contemporary design inspired by play, unleash their creativity, create their own happy moments, and encourages reflection on how playfulness fosters innovation, dialogue, and even shared experiences and memories.

MCP vs A2A: How AI Agents Connect, Collaborate, and Evolve5 min read·Just now--In the rapidly evolving landscape of artificial intelligence, two protocols have emerged as critical infrastructure for the next generation of AI systems: the Model Context Protocol (MCP) and the Agent-to-Agent (A2A) protocol. While they might seem similar at first glance, they serve distinct yet complementary purposes that are reshaping how AI systems interact with their environments and each other.Understanding the FundamentalsModel Context Protocol (MCP)Developed by Anthropic, MCP functions as a standardized interface between AI models and external tools, data sources, and systems. Think of it as a universal adapter that allows AI applications to plug into various external resources without requiring custom integration for each one.MCP transforms what was once an “M×N problem” (where M applications need to connect to N different tools) into a more manageable “M+N problem” through a common API. Tool creators build MCP servers, while application developers create MCP clients, dramatically reducing integration complexity.Agent-to-Agent Protocol (A2A)Introduced by Google in April 2025, A2A focuses on enabling communication between different AI agents themselves. Where MCP connects an AI to tools, A2A connects AIs to other AIs, allowing them to collaborate across platforms, vendors, and frameworks.A2A provides a standardized way for agents to discover each other’s capabilities, negotiate interactions, and work together securely, regardless of which company built them or which foundation models power them.The Key Differences: A Practical PerspectiveTo understand how these protocols function in real-world scenarios, let’s examine a concrete example:Scenario: Online Shopping Customer SupportWith MCP: A customer asks a support chatbot about their order status. The chatbot, using MCP, connects directly to the company’s order database, retrieves the relevant information, and provides an accurate response without human intervention. Here, MCP serves as the…

Microsoft’s steady stream of multiplatform releases is continuing. Indiana Jones and the Great Circle is coming to PS5 soon, while Forza Horizon 5 will follow later in the month. Beyond that, May 6 will see Age of Empires 2: Definitive Edition also launching for Sony’s console, making good on its Spring launch window, Microsoft has announced. The game, which is available for pre-orders now, will tout 4K support, a remastered soundtrack, and three expansions in the form of Lords of the West, Dynasties of India, and Dawn of the Dukes. Additionally, Microsoft has also unveiled another new expansion, The Three Kingdoms, which will launch the same day as the PS5 version and will be available on all platforms. The expansion will be based on the Chinese classic Romance of the Three Kingdoms, as its name suggests, and will bring five new civilizations, three new campaigns (totaling 15 missions), and more. A Premium Edition of Age of Empires 2: Definitive Edition is also available on PS5. On top of the base game and all of its expansions (including The Three Kingdoms), it will also include five days of advanced access, and 24 bonus in-game animated profile icons.