Every now and then, a Silicon Valley startup launches with such an “absurdly” described mission that it’s difficult to discern if the startup is for real or just satire. Such is the case with Mechanize, a startup whose founder – and the non-profit AI research organization he founded called Epoch – is being skewered on X after he announced it.  Complaints encompass both the startup’s mission, and the implication that it sullies the reputation of his well-respected research institute. (A director at the research institute even posted on X, “Yay just what I wanted for my bday: a comms crisis.”) Mechanize was launched on Thursday via a post on X by its founder, famed AI researcher Tamay Besiroglu. The startup’s goal, Besiroglu wrote, is “the full automation of all work” and “the full automation of the economy.”  Does that mean Mechanize is working to replace every human worker with an AI agent bot? Essentially, yes. The startup wants to provide the data, evaluations, and digital environments to make worker automation of any job possible. Besiroglu even calculated Mechanize’s total addressable market by aggregating all the wages humans are currently paid. “The market potential here is absurdly large: workers in the US are paid around $18 trillion per year in aggregate. For the entire world, the number is over three times greater, around $60 trillion per year,” he wrote. Besiroglu did, however, clarify to TechCrunch that “our immediate focus is indeed on white-collar work” rather than manual labor jobs that would require robotics.  The response to the startup was often brutal. As X user Anthony Aguirre replied, “Huge respect for the founders’ work at Epoch, but sad to see this. The automation of most human labor is indeed a giant prize for companies, which is why many of the biggest companies on Earth are already pursuing it. I think it will be a huge loss for most humans.”  But the controversial part isn’t just this startup’s mission. Besiroglu’s AI research institute, Epoch, analyzes the economic impact of AI and produces benchmarks for AI performance. It was believed to be an impartial way to check performance claims of the SATA frontier model makers and others. This isn’t the first time Epoch has waded into controversy. In December, Epoch revealed that OpenAI supported the creation of one of its AI benchmarks, which the ChatGPT-maker then used to unveil its new o3 model. Social media users felt Epoch should have been more up-front about the relationship. When Besiroglu announced Mechanize, X user Oliver Habryka replied, “Alas, this seems like approximate confirmation that Epoch research was directly feeding into frontier capability work, though I had hope that it wouldn’t literally come from you.”  Besiroglu says Mechanize is backed by a who’s who: Nat Friedman and Daniel Gross, Patrick Collison, Dwarkesh Patel, Jeff Dean, Sholto Douglas, and Marcus Abramovitch. Friedman, Gross, and Dean did not return TechCrunch’s request for comment. Marcus Abramovitch confirmed that he invested. Abramovitch is a managing Partner at crypto hedge fund AltX, and self-described “effective altruist.”  He told TechCrunch he invested because, “The team is exceptional across many dimensions and have thought deeper on AI than anyone I know.” Good for humans, too? Still, Besiroglu argues to the naysayers that having agents do all the work will actually enrich humans, not impoverish them, through “explosive economic growth.” He points to a paper he published on the topic.  “Completely automating labor could generate vast abundance, much higher standards of living, and new goods and services that we can’t even imagine today,” he told TechCrunch. This might be true for whoever owns the agents. That is, if employers pay for them instead of developing them in-house (presumably, by other agents?). On the other hand, this optimistic outlook overlooks a basic fact: if humans don’t have jobs, they won’t have the income to purchase all the things the AI agents are producing. Still, Besiroglu says that human wages in such an AI-automated world should actually increase because such workers are “more valuable in complementary roles that AI cannot perform.” But remember, the goal is for the agents to do all the work. When asked about that, he explained, “Even in scenarios where wages might decrease, economic well-being isn’t solely determined by wages. People typically receive income from other sources—such as rents, dividends, and government welfare.”  So perhaps we all make our living from stocks or real estate. Failing that, there’s always welfare – if the AI agents are paying taxes. Even though Besiroglu vision and mission are clearly extreme, the technical issue he’s looking to solve is legit. If each human worker has a personal crew of agents which helps them produce more work, economic abundance could follow. And Besiroglu is unquestionably right on at least one thing: a year into the age of AI agents, they don’t work very well.  He notes that they are unreliable, don’t retain information, struggle to independently complete tasks as asked, “and can’t execute long-term plans without going off the rails.” However, he’s hardly alone in working on fixes. Giant companies like Salesforce and Microsoft are building agentic platforms. OpenAI is, too. And agent startups abound: from tasks specialists (outbound sales, financial analysis); to those working on training data. Others are working on agent pricing economics. In the meantime, Besiroglu wants you to know: Mechanize is hiring.

ZDNET's key takeaways The 2025 LG Gram Pro 16 2-in-1 is on sale now for $1,399.This new generation performs better than last year's model, while keeping its record-breaking thin design.However, the laptop has some of the same issues, namely a tendency to run hot. View now at LG The LG gram Pro 2-in-1 made a big splash when it came out last year. ZDNET Editor Kyle Kucharski praised the 2024 laptop for its sleek design, "respectable performance", and top-notch display. Now, we have the 2025 LG gram Pro 2-in-1 16, improving on the previous generation in many ways but retaining some of the same issues.Also: The best laptops you can buyLG didn't alter the overall design of the 2025 laptop, sticking with the ultrathin form factor. This version is equally lightweight, weighing 3.08 pounds and measuring 0.51 inches when closed. Because it is so thin, the laptop has a limited number of ports. LG, fortunately, equipped its machine with a good selection. On one side, you have a pair of USB-A ports next to an earphone jack. On the other hand, there are a pair of Thunderbolt 4 inputs alongside an HDMI port. details View at LG Bright and vibrantAs its name suggests, the computer sports a flexible hinge that allows users to push the 16-inch display all the way back, turning it into a tablet. A stylus is a part of the overall package, so you don't have to use your hands. I found the pen to be highly responsive and snappy, making navigating the internet a breeze. Something I also appreciate about the stylus is how easy it is to connect.It doesn't require Bluetooth. All you have to do is attach it to the hidden magnet on the right side, give it a few seconds, and the pen will connect to the LG gram. To charge it, simply place the stylus on the magnet since the accessory supports wireless charging. If you prefer using your hands, don't worry about fingerprint smudges. The glass is seemingly covered in a protective coating. No amount of handling or poking dirtied the screen. This is great to have because the display is quite glossy. Speaking of which, the OLED touchscreen received an upgrade. It is now a WQXGA+ (2,880 x 1,800 pixels) display with exceptionally vibrant color output. On-screen objects are so full of life that they practically jump out at you. Cesar Cadenas/ZDNETNotable screen features from the past model return, such as the wide aspect ratio and 100% coverage of the DCI-P3 color gamut. There is one downgrade, however. Instead of a refresh rate of 144Hz, the 2025 Gram Pro has a new variable refresh rate of 120Hz. Yes, it's not as fast as before, but you still get to enjoy crisp, smooth animations. PerformanceAs much as I enjoyed the new model, it has some of the same problems, like running warm. Operating temperatures are generally low, but when you push the hardware, the LG Gram Pro can heat up to uncomfortable levels. What's worse is that the heat vents are at the bottom, resulting in all that hot air blowing directly onto your legs. I mention this because the thin and light form factor invites you to take the laptop away from the desk.  Cesar Cadenas/ZDNETI also wasn't super impressed with the keyboard. Typing felt mushy and my hands felt tired after a while. However, they're still responsive and quiet. In terms of hardware, under the hood is an Intel Core Ultra 7 255H processor alongside an Intel Arc 140T GPU. This configuration is similar to that of the Samsung Galaxy Book5 Pro, a laptop with a similar use case. However, LG's machine boasts better performance. Cesar Cadenas/ZDNETBelow is a table comparing it to the Galaxy Book5 and the HP EliteBook G1i. You'll notice that the Gram Pro comes out on top across every test. These numbers tell me the LG model excels in processing, internet browsing, and image rendering. Not only is it a good fit as an everyday computer, but also for content creation.Geekbench 6PCMark 10Cinebench R23LG Gram Pro 16 2-in-115,2927,44113,521Galaxy Book5 Pro10,8617,19610,293HP EliteBook Ultra G1i10,9937,3287,324I experienced this performance firsthand. The computer comfortably handled the 50 Chrome tabs I threw at it. Across five different windows, I had Amazon listings, ZDNET reviews, and videos running simultaneously. I could even play multiple 4K livestreams at once without issue - for the most part. Load times increased a bit, although it was nothing that ruined the experience. Cesar Cadenas/ZDNETThe LG Gram Pro did stumble in one area: AI support. I ran the Geekbench AI test to measure the computer's capability to run "machine learning applications." It earned a top quantized score of 14,205. Judging by Geekbench's baseline, the number is fine, although it falls short of more powerful machines. HP's EliteBook Ultra G1i, for example, had a top quantized score of 34,274.Also: An affordable Windows laptop with great specs for work travel? I found the one to buyBattery life is so-so. LG's machine ran for about nine hours before tapping out on our laptop longevity tests. Be aware that this number was achieved without any battery saver modes active. Nine hours is fine, but in a world where other devices can last 12, sometimes 15, hours, I would've liked to have been more. Recharge times were slow, too, taking nearly an hour to go from zero to 50%.ZDNET's buying advicePrices for the 2025 LG gram Pro 2-in-1 16 start at $1,999 for the 16GB RAM and 1TB SSD model. There's also a 32GB RAM and 2TB SSD LG gram retailing for $2,399. If you purchase the laptop, you'll receive a free ergonomic mouse embroidered with the Marvel Comics logo. What are the tariffs in the US? The recent US tariffs on imports from countries like China, Vietnam, and India aim to boost domestic manufacturing but are likely to drive up prices on consumer electronics. Products like smartphones, laptops, and TVs may become more expensive as companies rethink global supply chains and weigh the cost of shifting production.Laptops and PCs are also hit hard by the new U.S. tariffs, with import duties potentially increasing prices by up to 35%. Many major brands still rely on Chinese and Vietnamese factories for assembly, meaning consumers could soon pay significantly more for everything from budget Chromebooks to high-end gaming rigs. These tariffs may accelerate efforts to move production to regions like Mexico or India, but shoppers can expect higher costs and fewer discounts in the short term. Show more Featured reviews

Apple device owners and buyers need to prepare for huge iPhone price rises.

Home Seagate Research Shows Hard Disks Have Lower CO2 Emissions than SSDs News Seagate Research Shows Hard Disks Have Lower CO2 Emissions than SSDs 3 min read Published: April 19, 2025 Key Takeaways New research shows that hard disks produce less CO2 than SSDs or LTO Tapes. The report also lays down three ways for a sustainable future: building energy-efficient tech, recycling, and shared responsibility. However, making the switch isn’t easy considering the benefits of SSD storage. As per reports, global carbon emissions have increased from around 25 billion tonnes in 2001 to close to 38 billion tonnes in 2023 – a whopping 52% increase since the turn of the century. The same report says that the CO2 emissions haven’t peaked yet, which means there’s more to follow.  While only industrial-level regulations can bring about a noticeable change, Seagate has shared vital research that says hard drives are better than SSDs when it comes to carbon emissions in light of increasing data center needs.  With AI growing at never-before-seen speeds, the demand for data centers will increase by a whopping 165% by 2030, which will ultimately lead to more carbon emissions. However, using hard drives rather than SSDs can cut down the emissions. Here’s what the research found: Storage MediaEmbodied Carbon by product (Kg CO²)Embodied Carbon per TB (CO²/TB)Embodied Carbon per TB per Year (CO²/TB/Year)Hard Drives29.7<1<0.2SSD4,91516032LTO Tape482.66<0.6 As the figures suggest, SSDs are a no-go for the environment, emitting the highest embodied carbon by-product, per TB, and CO²/TB/year. On the flip side, hard drives are the most environmentally friendly. The report also shares three strategic pillars for a sustainable future: Building energy-efficient tech like HVAC systems and liquid/immersion cooling technologies can reduce CO2 emissions and energy consumption. Reusing, repairing, recycling, and refurbishing storage equipment can increase its lifespan and help reduce e-waste. Collaboration across the entire value chain with shared responsibility among suppliers, vendors, and service providers. The Real-Life Problem While it seems pretty straightforward in theory, switching to hard drives is more difficult than you think. For starters, HDD storage devices are slow since they use magnetic spinning disks to read and write data.  Whenever a data request is made, the disk needs to spin to the right position to be able to retrieve that data, which slows down the whole process. This isn’t ideal for AI tools and products, which rely on instant data retrievals. Plus, with HDDs, data can get scattered over time besides being more prone to physical wear and tear.  SSDs, on the other hand, use flash memory without any moving parts, allowing instant data retrievals. They also use parallel reading and writing techniques, meaning the process is almost instant. At the end of the day, it’s a simple question: Why would tech companies switch to a slower and outdated storage method? Would the fact that it leads to lower CO2 emission be enough to make the switch? Well, it wouldn’t take a genius to guess that the answer is a big fat NO. OpenAI, Microsoft, Google, or DeepSeek won’t just wake up tomorrow, read the Seagate report, and become environmentalists. A more practical solution is to innovate a better SSD prototype that emits less CO2 without compromising its benefits. Seagate is already working on bringing NVMe technology to hard drives, which uses the PCIe interface for faster data transfers. This also allows direct and quick data access required for tech-heavy AI industries. NVMe also enables direct data access from storage to GPU, without any involvement of the CPU, leading to better latency. However, an immediate solution is, unfortunately, not in sight right now, and we might still be 2-3 years away from a major breakthrough. Krishi is a seasoned tech journalist with over four years of experience writing about PC hardware, consumer technology, and artificial intelligence.  Clarity and accessibility are at the core of Krishi’s writing style. He believes technology writing should empower readers—not confuse them—and he’s committed to ensuring his content is always easy to understand without sacrificing accuracy or depth. Over the years, Krishi has contributed to some of the most reputable names in the industry, including Techopedia, TechRadar, and Tom’s Guide.  A man of many talents, Krishi has also proven his mettle as a crypto writer, tackling complex topics with both ease and zeal. His work spans various formats—from in-depth explainers and news coverage to feature pieces and buying guides.  Behind the scenes, Krishi operates from a dual-monitor setup (including a 29-inch LG UltraWide) that’s always buzzing with news feeds, technical documentation, and research notes, as well as the occasional gaming sessions that keep him fresh.  Krishi thrives on staying current, always ready to dive into the latest announcements, industry shifts, and their far-reaching impacts.  When he's not deep into research on the latest PC hardware news, Krishi would love to chat with you about day trading and the financial markets—oh! And cricket, as well. View all articles by Krishi Chowdhary Our editorial process The Tech Report editorial policy is centered on providing helpful, accurate content that offers real value to our readers. We only work with experienced writers who have specific knowledge in the topics they cover, including latest developments in technology, online privacy, cryptocurrencies, software, and more. Our editorial policy ensures that each topic is researched and curated by our in-house editors. We maintain rigorous journalistic standards, and every article is 100% written by real authors. More from News View all View all

What just happened? A pivotal legal decision has emerged from Nevada, where a federal judge has questioned the constitutionality of a controversial investigative tool known as a "tower dump." This law enforcement method allows police to collect data en masse from cell towers, capturing information on every device that connects to a tower during a specific time window. The practice, which can sweep up the location and identifying details of thousands of cell phones, has been widely used to aid criminal investigations – and has also sparked intense debate over privacy and constitutional rights. The case at the center of this ruling involves Cory Spurlock, who faces serious charges including conspiracy to distribute marijuana and alleged involvement in a murder-for-hire plot. In an effort to place Spurlock at the scenes of the crimes, investigators obtained a warrant for a tower dump, which ultimately captured data from nearly 1,700 unique phones. The data, provided by a wireless carrier, revealed which phones had connected to specific cell towers near the alleged crime scenes during the relevant time frames. Crucially, none of the individuals whose data was collected had given explicit consent for their location information to be shared, nor was there any mechanism for them to opt out. When the case reached court, Spurlock's defense team argued that the warrant authorizing the tower dump was overly broad, effectively allowing police to track the digital whereabouts of countless innocent people. They contended that this amounted to a "general warrant" – the kind of indiscriminate search the framers of the Constitution explicitly sought to prohibit. In her written opinion, US District Judge Miranda M. Du agreed, ruling that the tower dump constituted a search under the Fourth Amendment and that the warrant failed to meet constitutional standards for specificity and probable cause. Despite this, Judge Du ultimately allowed the evidence from the tower dump to be used in Spurlock's trial. She explained that the officers involved had relied on existing legal standards, and that at the time of the investigation, there was no clear guidance from higher courts in the region regarding the use of tower dumps. The implications of this ruling extend far beyond Spurlock's case. Privacy advocates have long warned that tower dumps, by their very nature, collect data on large numbers of people who have no connection to any criminal activity. In court, expert witnesses described how the data obtained could be used to reconstruct the movements and associations of every person whose phone connected to the targeted towers, raising concerns about mass surveillance and the erosion of privacy for ordinary citizens. // Related Stories The Nevada decision follows a similar ruling in Mississippi, where another federal judge found tower dumps unconstitutional and barred their use in an FBI investigation. That case is currently on appeal, with the Department of Justice arguing that tower dumps are a critical tool for law enforcement and that the legal questions surrounding their use remain unsettled. The broader legal landscape is complicated by the Supreme Court's 2018 decision in Carpenter v. United States, which held that police generally need a warrant to access historical cell-site location data. However, the Carpenter ruling was narrowly tailored and did not directly address the legality of tower dumps or other forms of bulk data collection, leaving lower courts to wrestle with how the Fourth Amendment applies in these contexts. As legal challenges mount and conflicting decisions emerge across the country, many observers believe the Supreme Court may soon be called upon to clarify the constitutionality of tower dumps.

Table of Contents Table of Contents Comfort, not cumbersome Accessibility, far away from Apple’s realm Somehow, Apple doesn’t win at productivity software A lot has been said and written about how Apple missed the mark with its AI efforts. It’s pretty obvious that the current status of Apple Intelligence and Siri assistant is functionally way beyond what you can accomplish with Microsoft’s Copilot and Google’s Gemini suite.  Interestingly, Apple also lost the market edge in the wearable XR segment. The company’s first foray was the Vision Pro, an uber-expensive technical marvel that failed to create the same kind of buzz as the company may have expected.  Recommended Videos A price tag worth $3,500 is certainly a deterrent, but the lack of immersive productivity scenarios and a vibrant app ecosystem are also to blame. VisionOS is definitely promising, but once again, accessing it requires spending a fortune.   Photo by Tracey Truly / Digital Trends The gulf of spatial computing for Mac users has surprisingly been filled by much smaller labels. The likes of Xreal, RayNeo, and Viture have not only offered fantastic AR/VR glasses, but have also created fairly rewarding productivity software, as well. Related My first brush using macOS in an immersive space came courtesy of the Xreal Air 2. Armed with a pair of 0.55-inch Micro-OLED display units that push a 1080p resolution per eye and support a 120Hz refresh rate, these glasses offered a supremely easy plug-and-play approach to spatial computing, though not without some faults.  Nadeem Sarwar / Digital Trends My current setup includes the Viture One smart glasses, which also come with a tint-changing electrochromic film atop the glass lens for maximum immersion. You can choose to see your surroundings or dim them out based on external lighting conditions.  Apple does something similar via a complex camera-display route called Passthrough on the Vision Pro headset. Now, there is a crucial difference here. Immersing yourself in VR/AR content easily leads to sensory fatigue and can quickly get overwhelming. And if the hardware is cumbersome, it gets even harder to engage meaningfully. The Vision Pro is heavy, uncomfortable, and looks tacky. You definitely don’t want to wear it in public spaces. “I’m not sure I’d want to wear this for an extended period, as I even had small markings on my face after just 25 minutes,” wrote Digital Trends’ Christine Romero-Chan after trying the Apple headset.  Christine Romero-Chan / Digital Trends Digital Trends’ gaming lead, Giovanni Colantonio, also mentioned how the Vision Pro felt like it was squeezing his face. “I felt hard materials squeezing down on my temple the entire demo. When my 30 minutes were up, I was relieved to pull it off,” he wrote. A pair of smart glasses solves that problem, and quite handsomely. The Viture One, for example, looks pretty close to a pair of Wayfarers and doesn’t put any unbearable load on your skull. They weigh 78 grams, while the plug-and-play approach means you don’t have to carry any peripherals or bulky bags, either.  Nadeem Sarwar / Digital Trends I could wear the glasses for 2-3 hours with ease, before I realized a sense of vision and sensory fatigue. Thankfully, I just have to take them off like a pair of glasses, instead of dealing with cumbersome straps and tethered cables. Nadeem Sarwar / Digital Trends One of the biggest challenges with XR wearables is vision accessibility. If you wear prescription glasses, wearing AR or VR devices quickly becomes a challenge. Unless you wear lenses, donning them over a pair of glasses is the only option. It technically works, but the whole make-shift contraption is terribly wonky. The only option left is to get prescription inserts. This is where things get interesting, in a promising way. The Vision Pro requires $149 ZEISS prescription inserts. For my RayNeo Air 2S AR glasses, my local optical store made prescription inserts at just $12 for me based on the dummy insert format that came in the retail package.  But inserts are still a logistics hassle, and only add to the cost of ownership. The Viture One glasses ingeniously solve that hassle. Atop each lens sits a dial that adjusts the display unit to accommodate each person’s unique vision range.  Nadeem Sarwar / Digital Trends Viture focuses on Myopia (or nearsightedness), and allows for adjustments covering zero to negative 5.0D prescription value. And it actually works. I wear prescription glasses, and it was such a sigh of relief that I didn’t have to wear contact lenses or glass inserts just to be able to use my smart glasses and get work done.  It’s not the complete solution, as it doesn’t cover the whole spectrum of hyperopia (farsightedness) and myopia conditions. But it’s a great start and a fantastic example of how engineering can not only make AR/VR wearables more comfortable, but also end the cost burden for vision correction accessories.  Nadeem Sarwar / Digital Trends One of the biggest advantages of Vision Pro is its very own operating system that is deeply rooted within the Apple ecosystem. As far as spatial computing goes, its gesture-based control system is arguably the best out there. The gaze tracking and visual clarity are also leagues apart.  All those advantages are undone, however, by a couple of fundamental issues. First, to access visionOS, you need to spend $3,500 on a headset. There is no other way around it. Second, it is locked in its own unique way, where it isn’t quite natively handling macOS despite packing powerful hardware.  Just look at this massive spatial canvas for app windows. Nadeem Sarwar / Digital Trends A pair of smart glasses, such as the Viture One, takes a much more versatile and rewarding approach to spatial computing. To start, it’s essentially a large monitor that it hidden within a pair of stylish Wayfarers. In this case, you get access to a massive 120-inch canvas with a 1080p resolution per eye. In case you are concerned with 3D, they can output 3D SBS content at 3840×1080 resolution.  It’s fantastic to move beyond the cramped layout on a laptop’s 13-inch screen and move to a multi-screen setup seemingly floating in front of your eyes. A 120-inch canvas makes it a lot easier to handle multiple app windows without relegating them to the background or using Stage Manager, which itself is a resource hog.  A view of the two floating screens stacked at an angle. Nadeem Sarwar / Digital Trends The nicest part is that this expansive large-screen experience is not bound by any OS limitations. Connecting the Viture One with my iPad Pro automatically launched Stage Manager and went into extended display mode, though there’s an option to enable screen mirroring, too.  The real fun of spatial computing begins with the SpaceWalker app. It lets you pick between half a dozen multi-screen layouts. There are plenty of window orientation, distance adjustment, and resizing options on the table. You can choose to anchor the virtual macOS window, or have it follow it follow your head movements.  There are plenty of floating window and movement control tools in the Space Walker app. Nadeem Sarwar / Digital Trends The app also offers options to lock vertical and horizontal movements of the virtual screen relative to the head motion. Tracking can occasiomally be janky, but it gets the job done. Cursor movement is smooth and macOS shortcuts also work just fine.  This is a crucial lesson for Apple.  Overall, it’s pretty surprising to see that a pair of smart glasses that cost nearly one-seventh of the Vision Pro can get serious computing work done with a Mac, without giving them hell with ergonomics or looking downright dumb.   Nadeem Sarwar / Digital Trends The company will never make an OS that runs beyond its own hardware. But if third-party software such as Spacewalker and Nebula is anything to go by, it should at least give them a streamlined route to get the best out of a Mac’s firepower, without actually concerning itself with the spatial computing gear they offer. The chances of that happening are slim. But if real AR computing is what you seek, you can save a lot of money (and cranial discomfort) by going with a pair of AR smart glasses like the Viture One. It definitely helps that the XR community has built some really cool apps that make life easier. It’d be interesting to see what Apple eventually offers on its rumored AR smart glasses kit in the coming years. Editors’ Recommendations

at first whiff Women rely partly on smell when choosing friends College women smelled each other's T-shirts in new study to evaluate "friendship potential." Jennifer Ouellette – Apr 18, 2025 1:16 pm | 42 Credit: Universal Pictures Credit: Universal Pictures Story text Size Small Standard Large Width * Standard Wide Links Standard Orange * Subscribers only   Learn more There are so many factors that can influence how we perceive others, which in turn can determine the people we choose as platonic friends or romantic mates. We certainly make snap judgments based on physical appearance, but scent can have a powerful influence, too. According to a new paper published in the journal Scientific Reports, two heterosexual women meeting for the first time rely partly on scent to judge whether they want to be friends with each other, deciding within minutes—practically at first whiff—whether there is friendship potential. Social olfactory research largely stems from evolutionary psychology, specifically the work of Swiss biologist Claus Wedekind in 1995. Subtle chemical signals from pheromones are known to play a role in attraction in many species. Scientists had already found evidence in fish and mice that the major histocompatibility complex (MHC) genes, which are critical for immune system function (and useful in determining tissue compatibility for transplants, for instance)—showed a marked preference for sexual partners with different MHC genes, perhaps as a way of keeping the gene pool well-mixed and protecting against inbreeding. Wedekind introduced the so-called "sweaty T-shirt" method to study the possible role of MHC in mate preferences in humans. Male participants wore the same T-shirt for two days, which were then placed in identical boxes. Women participants then smelled each shirt and indicated which ones they found most sexually attractive. Wedekind found that the women overwhelmingly preferred the T-shirt smells of men who had the most dissimilar MHCs to their own. The only caveat: The preference was reversed in women who were taking oral birth control. There have been many other smelly T-shirt studies since Wedekind published his findings, even inspiring the trend of "pheromone parties" for amorously inclined singles. The psychologists who authored this latest paper were more interested in studying the role of olfactory cues in platonic friendships. Smelly T-shirt studies often try to isolate a person's "natural" odor, devoid of scents from toiletries, pets, and other environmental factors. The Cornell team focused on so-called "diplomatic" odor, which incorporates all those other factors. Why can’t we be friends? “It’s not just perfume,” said co-author Jessica Gaby of Middle Tennessee State University. “It’s your dietary choices. Are you a cat person or dog person? What laundry detergent do you use? All these judgments come together into what we call ‘diplomatic odor.’ You live in this odor space–does it match with the odor spaces of the people you interact with?” For their study, Gaby et al. organized an on-campus "Speed-Friending" event for 40 female volunteers, consisting of four distinct phases. First, participants had their headshots taken. Next, they looked at pictures of all the other women participating and rated friendship potential based solely on visual cues. Then the women wore a T-shirt for 12 hours as they went about their daily activities, which were then collected and placed in plastic bags. Finally, participants rated the friendship potential of anonymized participants based solely on smelling each T-shirt, followed by a live session during which they interacted with each woman for four minutes and rated their friendship potential. This was followed by a second round of smelling the T-shirts and once again rating friendship potential. The results: There was a strong correlation between the in-person evaluations of friendship potential and those based solely on smelling the T-shirts, with remarkable consistency. And the ratings made after live interactions accurately predicted changes in the assessments made in the final round of odor-based testing, suggesting a learned response element. "Everybody showed they had a consistent signature of what they liked,” said co-author Vivian Zayas of Cornell University. “And the consistency was not that, in the group, one person smelled really bad and one person smelled really good. No, it was idiosyncratic. I might like person A over B over C based on scent, and this pattern predicts who I end up liking in the chat. People take a lot in when they’re meeting face to face. But scent—which people are registering at some level, though probably not consciously—forecasts whether you end up liking this person.” The authors acknowledged that their study was limited to college-aged heterosexual women and that there could be differences in how olfactory and other cues function in other groups: older or younger women, non-American women, men, and so forth. "Future studies might consider a wider age range, investigate individuals at different stages of development, focus on how these cues function in male-male platonic interactions, or examine how scent in daily interactions shapes friendship judgments in other cultures," they wrote. Scientific Reports, 2025. DOI: 10.1038/s41598-025-94350-1  (About DOIs). Jennifer Ouellette Senior Writer Jennifer Ouellette Senior Writer Jennifer is a senior writer at Ars Technica with a particular focus on where science meets culture, covering everything from physics and related interdisciplinary topics to her favorite films and TV series. Jennifer lives in Baltimore with her spouse, physicist Sean M. Carroll, and their two cats, Ariel and Caliban. 42 Comments

In the wake of Amazon's hit "Beast Games," starring MrBeast, Netflix has been soliciting ideas for competition shows involving digital creators.The streamer has specifically name-checked the long-running franchises "Survivor" and "The Bachelor" as potential inspirations, four people familiar with the discussions told Business Insider.Netflix is still in the early stages of its efforts, and while it mentioned those shows by name, it also asked prospective creator partners to riff on the formats, one person said."They have mentioned that 'Beast Games' is good and has done well," this person added.One criticism of big media companies' earlier forays into leveraging the popularity of social-media creators has been that they tried to shoehorn influencers into old-school TV formats, with sometimes awkward results. Netflix seems to be flexible on the format and wants the creator to be active in developing it, three people said.Netflix already streams some competition shows, including "Squid Game: The Challenge." On the romance front, it's garnered massive success with shows such as "Love Is Blind."Two people familiar with Netflix's outreach in the creator space also said the streamer is interested in live concepts.Its most recent foray into the live space, "Pop The Balloon" — an adaptation of a YouTube dating series — was met with lukewarm reviews. Host Yvonne Orji told Today that future installments would be "refined and renewed."Hollywood is awakening to YouTube's impactNetflix and other media giants have ramped up efforts to bring YouTubers onto their platforms. Netflix has been making the rounds with creator reps and has done deals with the Sidemen and preschool educator Ms. Rachel. Earlier this month, it premiered the docuseries "Bad Influence: The Dark Side of Kidfluencing," centered on controversial vlogger Piper Rockelle.At the same time, top execs at Netflix have been making the case — as recently as on Thursday's earnings call — that it can be a better platform for creators than YouTube because it pays talent upfront and can amplify their reach."We're looking for the next generation of great creators, and we're looking everywhere," Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos said on the Thursday call.The charm offensive comes as Hollywood is waking up to the fact that young people are increasingly turning to YouTubers over more traditional fare.The Google-owned platform has led the pack in TV viewership, doubling its share to 12% in March this year from 2021, the year Nielsen first started measuring the whole TV watching pie, including streaming. During the same time period, Netflix's share has increased to about 8% from 6%.Netflix needs to keep experimenting with new types of shows as its member growth in the US and Canada slows, said Alejandro Rojas, VP of applied analytics at the data firm Parrot Analytics. Competition shows are good at retaining viewers and attracting advertisers thanks to dramatic storylines, repeated formats, and the ability to integrate products.He added that having a well-known creator at the helm could help bring in and retain new audiences. And if a show is successful in one market, like "Love is Blind," the format can be imported globally."Competition shows can be as successful as a major scripted show," Rojas said.

Shortly after midnight early Saturday morning, the Supreme Court handed down a brief order forbidding the Trump administration from removing a group of Venezuelan immigrants from the United States without due process. The facts of this case, known as A.A.R.P. v. Trump, are uncertain and rapidly developing. Much of what we do know about the A.A.R.P. case comes from an emergency application filed by immigration lawyers at the ACLU late Friday night. According to that application, the government started moving Venezuelan immigrants around the United States to a detention facility in Texas, without offering much of an explanation about why it was doing so.Sometime on Friday, an unknown number of these immigrants — the ACLU claims “dozens or hundreds” — were allegedly given an English-language document, despite the fact that many of them only speak Spanish, indicating that they’ve been designated for removal from the country under the Alien Enemies Act. That law only permits the government to deport people during a time of war or military invasion, but President Donald Trump has claimed that it gives him the power to remove Venezuelans who, he alleges, are members of a criminal gang.Immigrants who were previously deported under this dubious legal justification were sent to a prison in El Salvador, which is known for widespread human rights abuses. Following those deportations, the Supreme Court ruled the government must give any immigrant whom Trump attempts to deport under this wartime statute “notice and an opportunity to challenge their removal.” The ACLU lawyers argue the government is attempting to defy this order, claiming that the immigrants at the Texas facility were told that their “removals are imminent and will happen today” — a timeline that did not provide a real opportunity to challenge their removal. In a Friday hearing on the matter, the government did not give an exact timeline for deportations, but said it “reserve[d] the right” to deport the immigrants as soon as Saturday, and that the government was in compliance with the Supreme Court’s first order. Assuming that the facts in the ACLU’s application are correct, this rushed process, where immigrants are moved to a facility without explanation, given a last-minute notice that many of them do not understand, and then potentially sent to El Salvador before they have a meaningful opportunity to challenge that removal, does seem to violate the Supreme Court’s April 7 decision in Trump v. J.G.G. The Court’s late-night order in A.A.R.P. appears to be crafted to ensure that this notice and opportunity for a hearing mandated by J.G.G. actually takes place. It is just one paragraph and states that “the Government is directed not to remove any member of the putative class of detainees from the United States until further order of this Court.” It also invites the Justice Department to respond to the ACLU’s application “as soon as possible.”Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito dissented from the A.A.R.P. order. Though neither has explained why yet, the order says that a statement from Alito will come soon.Thus far, the Supreme Court has been extraordinarily tolerant of Trump’s efforts to evade judicial review through hypertechnical procedural arguments. Though the J.G.G. decision required the Trump administration to give these Venezuelan immigrants a hearing, for example, it also guaranteed that many — likely most — of those hearings would take place in Texas, which has some of the most right-wing federal judges in the country. Though it is just one order, Saturday’s post-midnight order suggests that the Court may no longer tolerate procedural shenanigans intended to evade meaningful judicial review. If the ACLU’s application is accurate, the Trump administration appears to have believed that it could comply with the Court’s decision in J.G.G. by giving men who are about to be deported a last-minute notice that many of them cannot even understand. Whether most of the justices choose to tolerate this kind of malicious half-compliance with their decisions will likely become clear in the coming days. The Court’s A.A.R.P. order suggests that they will not.Still, it remains to be seen how this case will play out once it is fully litigated. The post-midnight order is only temporary. And it leaves open all of the most important issues in this case, including whether Trump can rely on a wartime statute to deport people during peacetime.See More:

Star Wars Zero Company is XCOM set in the Clone Wars and we love it GameCentral Published April 19, 2025 3:44pm Updated April 19, 2025 3:44pm Star Wars Zero Company – XCOM set during the Clone Wars (EA) EA and Respawn has finally unveiled their turn-based Star Wars strategy game and it seems to be sticking very close to the XCOM formula. It’s been rumoured for years, but EA has finally offered a full reveal for their turn-based Star Wars strategy game, which they recently announced is called Star Wars Zero Company. As recent leaks suggested, it seems to take considerable inspiration from GameCentral favourite XCOM. There’re only a few seconds of footage, at the end of the trailer below, but it confirms that you’re controlling a small team of covert specialists in what’s described as a ‘gritty’ Clone Wars story. For anyone that’s only ever seen the prequels, much of the ancillary content set in the same era – especially The Clone Wars animated series – is very good and this seems to be drawing on that for inspiration, in terms of the characters and, presumably, plotlines. The game is being developed by new studio Bit Reactor, with help from Star Wars Jedi creator Respawn. Bit Reactor may be new but many of their staff are ex-Firaxis and have worked on both XCOM and Civilization, with others having experience with everything from Gears Of War to The Elder Scrolls Online. As you can see, the trailer reveals almost nothing of substance but according to EA the game is set towards the end of the Clone Wars, with the main character being Hawks – a former Republic officer who we assume is the human character in the trailer thumbnail. Most games that copy XCOM’s turn-based tactical combat don’t usually attempt to replicate the strategy level elements back at base, where you research and manufacture new weapons, amongst other things. Zero Company does seem to have a similar feature though, with EA stating that between missions you’ll ‘develop a base of operations and gather intelligence through a network of informants to stay one step ahead of Zero Company’s adversaries.’ Bit Reactor is already talking a lot about ‘meaningful outcomes from player choices’ which we’re assuming is a reference to permadeath, which was a key feature in XCOM, where if a soldier died that was it – there was no way to bring them back. Nothing so far confirms that but while it’s stated that you can change Hawks’ ‘appearance and combat class’, apparently ‘recruited operatives’ can only be ‘personalised from a range of original Star Wars character classes and species.’ That implies that while Hawks can’t die (or if he does it’s game over) everyone else can, so these characters in the trailer and artwork are not necessarily permanent. It’s also stated that soldiers can ‘forge bonds’ to ‘unlock powerful combat synergies’ so there’s clearly a benefit in keeping people alive for as long as possible. EA has confirmed clone troopers, astromech droids (think R2-D2), and Jedi but you can also clearly see a female Mandalorian, as well as an Umbaran – from one of the most popular arcs of The Clone Wars series – acting as a sniper. More Trending How many other aliens and class types there are is unclear but the Jedi is the same species as Tubes from Rogue One and Andor (a Tognath, if you want to be specific). There’s no indication so far that any pre-established character are going to appear in the game, but knowing Star Wars we doubt Lucasfilm will be able to resist the temptation. Although there isn’t much to go on, seeing as we’re both massive XCOM and Star Wars fans we couldn’t be more excited, especially given that many of the developers have plenty of experience with the genre. The only problem at the moment is that it won’t be out until next year. Interestingly it’s scheduled for Xbox Series X/S, PlayStation 5, and PC but not Nintendo Switch 2 – although that could potentially change as we get nearer the release. Instantly one of our most anticipated games of 2026 (EA) 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