Ever feel like you’re just going through the motions with others? Here’s how small acts of ... More cooperation can help your relationships thrive.getty As adults, building and maintaining meaningful connections can feel like an uphill battle. Between work, family and the constant juggle of daily responsibilities, finding the time and emotional energy to nurture relationships can seem impossible. Social circles often become smaller and it becomes all too easy to fall into a routine of just going through the motions, without forming the deeper connections we long for. Even if we do make the effort to meet new people, building those initial bonds can feel more daunting than ever. However, classical research shows that social support is essential for overall well-being. There are two key ways it can impact us: one is the “main effect” model, where simply having a strong social network improves mental and physical health. The other is the “buffering model,” which highlights how social support can protect us from the harmful effects of stress. While the significance of connection is clear, the reality of making and maintaining those connections is often more challenging. Finding common ground with new people, overcoming social barriers and sustaining those early bonds can be difficult, especially as life gets busier. But the good news is, you don’t need grand gestures to build closeness. Sometimes, it’s the smallest acts of kindness and cooperation that open the door to meaningful relationships. These altruistic gestures can create deeper connections and promote a cycle of mutual support. Here are two research-backed ways to help spark connections or deepen existing relationships through the power of altruism. 1. Bonding Through Coordinated Tasks When you work with others toward a shared goal, something special happens. There’s this natural feeling of connection that forms, whether it’s helping a friend move, playing a team sport or collaborating on a project. The effort of coordinating with each other creates a sense of togetherness, as you start to understand each other’s intentions and movements without needing to say much. This connection isn’t just about getting the task done, though. It often leads to something deeper, like wanting to help or support the other person more, even beyond the task at hand. You start to feel more connected and more willing to support one another. A 2017 study published in Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience explored this idea using brain imaging to see how synchronized brain activity during coordinated tasks influences social bonds. Researchers found that when two people worked together on a task, their brains showed remarkable synchronization. Specifically, an area of the brain linked to understanding others lit up, suggesting they were mentally in sync with each other. This brain synchronization was tied to an increase in mutual prosocial behavior. The more in tune the participants were with each other during the task, the more likely they were to show kindness and cooperation afterward. This just goes to show how working together on something, even in a small way, can lead to stronger and more positive connections. Whether it’s strengthening existing bonds or forming new ones, incorporating small moments of shared effort can foster that same kind of alignment. Here are a few ways you can incorporate this into your relationships. Nurturing existing relationships. Try activities including collaborative creative projects (painting a mural, designing a scrapbook), shared wellness routines (yoga or group walks) or cooking a meal together. Building new bonds in professional or social settings. Seek out opportunities to collaborate in low-pressure, engaging ways. This could mean participating in a volunteer event where you and others work toward a common goal, tackling a group project at work with a spirit of curiosity rather than competition or brainstorming ideas with new colleagues to pave the way for deeper connections. Making new friends. Consider joining classes or communities where collaboration is part of the experience, like art workshops, fitness classes or volunteer groups. By simply showing up and engaging in these everyday collaborations, you’re creating space for deeper understanding and support to naturally unfold. So, whether you’re reconnecting with someone or meeting someone new, remember — it’s often the little things done together that lay the foundation for meaningful relationships. 2. Bonding Through Meaningful Favors When you think about ways to strengthen your relationships, asking for help might not be the first thing that comes to mind. It can feel uncomfortable or like you’re imposing. However, research suggests that asking for a favor can enhance the bond between you and others. The study touches on a fascinating psychological concept known as “amae,” which is a Japanese term referring to the desire to be indulged or dependent on others for emotional support or affection. It’s rooted in the idea that allowing oneself to rely on others and requesting help from them can strengthen the bond between individuals. In the experiment, both Japanese and American participants were asked to help a confederate (a person acting as part of the study, not a real participant) and in return, were measured for how they felt about the confederate after the interaction. The results showed that when participants were directly asked for help, they experienced an increase in liking toward the confederate, as well as a greater sense of closeness and a more sociable impression of them. This was a critical finding because it suggests that even though you may think of asking for help as a vulnerable act, it creates a sense of connection. The act of needing someone and showing vulnerability can encourage people to feel more positively about the requester. The sense of dependence and the act of helping, in this case, are mutually reinforcing: the person asking for help appreciates the support and the person giving it feels a sense of importance and appreciation, which creates a stronger emotional bond. So, instead of shying away from asking for support, consider how these small moments of vulnerability can serve as gentle bridges between you and the people in your life. When done sincerely and sparingly, these requests invite connection and signal trust — two powerful ingredients in any close relationship. Here are some thoughtful ways to use this in your day-to-day life: Ask a friend to review something you’ve written or created. Take a review of perhaps a post, a resume or even a message you’re unsure about. You can also involve them in your creative process, asking for feedback or ideas. This signals trust and appreciation, helping the other person feel that you value their opinion. Request help with something small but specific. It could be something as small as choosing between two outfits or picking a gift. People often love to weigh in and feel helpful. Let them know you appreciate their check-ins. If you’re having a tough day or feeling low, emotional support is a powerful connector. Invite someone to teach you something they’re good at. Even if it’s small, it only makes them feel seen, creating space for learning and a shared experience. The goal isn’t just to take, but to open a door to more meaningful interaction. As you practice this, you’ll find that asking genuinely and respectfully can lead to a deeper sense of connection that benefits both of you. It’s important to remember that relationships thrive on mutuality, so do not hesitate to offer help in return. It’s this gentle give-and-take that builds trust and emotional closeness over time. When you act from a place of sincerity and recognize the value in both giving and receiving, you’ll create lasting bonds that go far beyond surface-level interactions. Do you feel seen and supported? Take this science-backed test to find out how connected you feel to others: Social Connectedness Scale

In brief: Meta is broadening the reach and capabilities of its Ray-Ban smart glasses, unveiling a suite of new features and style options that signal a significant step forward in wearable technology. The company announced that its live translation tool, previously limited to select early adopters, is now rolling out to all markets where Ray-Ban Meta glasses are available. This update enables real-time translation in English, French, Italian, and Spanish, allowing users to hold conversations across language barriers and hear instant translations through their glasses. For travelers and users without reliable internet access, the feature can also function offline, provided the necessary language packs are downloaded in advance. Meta is also introducing new color lens combinations for the Skyler frame, including a shiny chalky gray paired with sapphire transitions lenses and a shiny black option that can be fitted with either clear or green-tinted lenses. Meta is also pushing the boundaries of what smart glasses can do with the company's AI assistant, Meta AI. In the United States and Canada, users will soon be able to engage in more natural, free-flowing conversations with Meta AI, which can continuously process visual information from the glasses' camera. This "see what you see" capability allows the assistant to provide context-aware responses – whether identifying landmarks, offering cooking advice, or translating a foreign menu in real time. The feature, previously in beta, is now poised for general release. Communication features are also expanding. The glasses will soon support sending and receiving direct messages, photos, and both audio and video calls via Instagram, complementing existing integrations with WhatsApp, Messenger, and native phone messaging apps. // Related Stories Music lovers will find new reasons to embrace the update, as Meta is extending support for popular streaming services such as Spotify, Amazon Music, Apple Music, and Shazam beyond North America. Users in more regions can now control music playback and access information about the songs they're listening to, provided their default language is set to English. The international rollout continues, with Meta confirming plans to launch the Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses in Mexico, India, and the United Arab Emirates, though specific release dates remain under wraps. Meanwhile, users in the European Union will soon gain access to Meta AI and its visual search capabilities, further bridging the gap in feature availability across regions.

Facepalm: You knew it would happen. Despite producing and sitting on inventory for a year and locking pre-orders behind a Nintendo Online subscription, there will not be enough Switch 2s to go around in Japan, but just wait. It will happen in the US too. The company will hold a second lottery sometime after launch but still won't have enough to cover initial orders. It's Switch one all over again. On Monday, the My Nintendo Store in Japan opened its first round of pre-orders for the long-awaited Switch 2 – and closed them just as fast. Within hours, the store marked the new system's availability as "sold out," with pre-order applications closed until at least May 6 – a day after launch. Nintendo President Shuntaro Furukawa said pre-orders in Japan alone amounted to more than 2.2 million, far exceeding its ability to deliver. The number even exceeds what Nintendo expects to supply during a second lottery round. "In order to avoid the trouble of those who were not selected in the first lottery sale having to reapply, My Nintendo Store will automatically carry over those who were not selected in the first lottery sale to the second lottery sale," Furukawa explained via X. "However, even including the quantity for the second lottery sale, we cannot fulfill all of the applications we received. We deeply apologize for not being able to meet your expectations despite our prior preparations." Unlike typical online pre-orders, Nintendo structured this release as a lottery. Users had to log in with a verified Nintendo account and register interest during a limited window. Winners will be randomly selected and notified after the application period ends. However, it's not entirely random. The company said it would give users who have paid for at least one year of Nintendo Online and have logged at least 50 hours of gameplay by April 2 higher priority. It's a harsh restriction designed to curb scalping bots and mass purchases, similar to strategies employed during PlayStation 5 scarcity, but did it work? // Related Stories Although Nintendo's lottery made it harder for automated bots and bulk buyers, anecdotal reports suggest that some scalpers have adapted. Japanese resellers on platforms like Mercari and Yahoo Auctions have already listed Switch 2 "pre-order reservations" at inflated prices despite the lottery still being open outside Japan. Mind you, Nintendo has not even announced winners yet. These listings don't guarantee a console, only an entry into the lottery – yet some buyers who were late on the draw are willing to take the risk. These early gray-market listings make clear the pre-order system isn't airtight. However, it's a far cry from the chaos of earlier console launches. In past cycles, scalpers openly boasted about automated systems that could buy dozens of units in seconds. The Switch 2's limited application-based rollout has at least forced them to work harder. Nintendo hasn't revealed how many units it allocated for this first wave, so it's difficult to gauge how much of the sellout reflects genuine demand versus opportunistic flipping. What is clear, though, is that interest in the Switch 2 is high – and the company's efforts to rein in scalpers, while imperfect, have shifted the landscape. Image credit: The Shortcut

You can enjoy the best of both worlds between laptop deals and tablet deals if you go for a 2-in-1 laptop like the Lenovo ThinkPad L13 Yoga Gen 4, which is currently on sale from Lenovo itself at 54% off. Its estimated value of $2,059 may seem a bit too high, but in any case, it’s a smart purchase at its discounted price of just $931. You’ll have to be quick in finishing the purchase process for this device though, as it may be back to its regular price as soon as tomorrow. The Lenovo ThinkPad L13 Yoga Gen 4 is a 2-in-1 laptop, which our laptop buying guide defines as a device that combines the convenience of a tablet’s touchscreen and the utility of a laptop’s keyboard. For the Lenovo ThinkPad L13 Yoga Gen 4, this is possible through the 360-degree hinges that connect its body to its 13.3-inch WUXGA touchscreen. To convert from laptop mode to tablet mode, you’ll just have to fold the display all the way back, underneath the keyboard. You can also use the device in tent mode or stand mode, depending on what you need for any given situation. In terms of performance, the Lenovo ThinkPad L13 Yoga Gen 4 won’t disappoint with its 13th-generation Intel Core i5 processor, integrated Intel Iris Xe Graphics, and 16GB of RAM. It won’t challenge the best laptops, but it’s going to be more than enough for most people as they deal with their daily tasks. The 2-in-1 laptop also comes with Windows 11 Pro pre-loaded in its 256GB SSD, for access to the more advanced features of the popular operating system. Related There’s always a lot of interest in 2-in-1 laptop deals, which is why we think this offer for the Lenovo ThinkPad L13 Yoga Gen 4 isn’t going to last long. Its available from Lenovo for only $931, following a 54% discount on its estimated value of $2,059. You may miss out on the savings if you decide to delay your purchase, so if you want to get the Lenovo ThinkPad L13 Yoga Gen 4 2-in-1 laptop for below $1,000, you should push through with your transaction for this device immediately. Editors’ Recommendations

Table of Contents Table of Contents Friendship (May 9 in theaters) Fight or Flight (May 9 in theaters) The Severed Sun (May 16 in theaters and on digital) April belonged to Ryan Coogler and Michael B. Jordan. Their new horror movie, Sinners, opened to an impressive $48 million domestically, beating out A Minecraft Movie for the top spot. With strong word of mouth and critical acclaim, Sinners could leg out a box office total of over $200 million, an impressive feat for an original horror. May kicks off summer blockbuster season, and first up is Marvel with Thunderbolts*. Tom Cruise races into theaters with Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning three weeks later. Those two films will dominate the May box office. However, smaller movies opening throughout May might pique your interest. Our suggestions include a strange comedy, an airplane action romp, and a folk horror. Recommended Videos When you’re done here, check out the best new movies to stream this week, the best movies on Netflix, the best movies on Hulu, the best movies on Max, the best movies on Amazon Prime Video, and the best movies on Disney+. Related SNL really dropped the ball with Tim Robinson. The most famous sketch show fired Robinson as a performer after one season, though he stayed on as a writer for four. Robinson’s cringe and offbeat humor has thrived on Netflix’s I Think You Should Leave. Now, Robinson heads to the big screen in a new comedy, Friendship. A24 has been vague in revealing the plot details, a welcome change from studios spoiling major story decisions in trailers. Craig Waterman (Robinson) is infatuated with his new neighbor, Austin Carmichael (Paul Rudd). Craig tries to form a friendship, but it eventually backfires and threatens to ruin their lives. Early reviews have described it as a 97-minute ITYSL sketch, which, if true, fans are in for a treat. Fight or Flight — John Wick on a plane? Sort of. John Wick producer Basil Iwanyk is involved in Fight or Flight, hence the comparison. All things considered, Bullet Train is the better correlation. Regardless, Fight or Flight plays a comedic action movie with fun sequences and violent hand-to-hand combat. Josh Hartnett stars as Lucas Reyes, a mercenary forced to capture a black hat terrorist. Lucas receives intel that his target will be on a plane. If Lucas brings the terrorist back alive, he will get his life back. Easier said than done, considering the plane is full of assassins looking to kill the terrorist for a bounty. In the best way possible, The Severed Sun looks like a smaller, bloodier version of a Robert Eggers’ movie. In a secluded religious community, Magpie becomes the group’s outcast after killing her abusive husband. Unbeknownst to Magpie, the murder awakens a supernatural creature, the Beast. The Beast then wreaks havoc on the community, leading to a violent witch hunt that causes a schism in the group. The Severed Sun stars Emma Appleton, Lewis Gribben, Toby Stephens, and Barney Harris. It’s a gory folk horror with some serious scares. Editors’ Recommendations

At the Silver Dollar in Louisville, Ky., a Mint Julep is an occasion always worth rising to—Derby day or not. The owner sees the bourbon cocktail as a solemn obligation to visitors. His recipe only gets better as you drink it.

A peerless cast of French stars—Daniel Auteuil, Yves Montand and Gérard Depardieu—leads the director’s beautifully made pair of dramas from 1986, now available as a set from the Criterion Collection.

The bright side Tapeworm in fox poop that will slowly destroy your organs is on the rise The worm indefinitely proliferates into cystic masses in organs, mimicking cancer. Beth Mole – Apr 23, 2025 5:46 pm | 7 This is a portrait taken of a red fox kit in Lake Clark National Park, Alaska Credit: Getty | Vincent Balsamo This is a portrait taken of a red fox kit in Lake Clark National Park, Alaska Credit: Getty | Vincent Balsamo Story text Size Small Standard Large Width * Standard Wide Links Standard Orange * Subscribers only   Learn more No matter how bad things might seem, at least you haven't accidentally eaten fox poop and developed an insidious tapeworm infection that masquerades as a cancerous liver tumor while it slowly destroys your organs and eventually kills you—or, you probably haven't done that. What's more, according to a newly published study in Emerging Infectious Diseases, even if you have somehow feasted on fox feces and acquired this nightmare parasite, it's looking less likely that doctors will need to hack out chunks of your organs to try to stop it. That's the good news from the new study. The bad news is that, while this infection is fairly rare, it appears to be increasing. And, if you do get it, you might have a shorter lifespan than the uninfected and may be sicker in general. Meet the fox tapeworm The new study is a retrospective one, in which a group of doctors in Switzerland examined medical records of 334 patients who developed the disease alveolar echinococcosis (AE) over a 50-year span (1973–2022). AE is an understudied, life-threatening infection caused by the fox tapeworm, Echinococcus multilocularis. The parasite is not common, but can be found throughout the Northern Hemisphere, particularly regions of China and Russia, and countries in continental Europe and North America. In the parasite's intended lifecycle, adult intestinal worms release eggs into the feces of their primary host—foxes, or sometimes coyotes, dogs, or other canids. The eggs then get ingested by an intermediate host, such as voles. There, eggs develop into a spherical embryo with six hooks that pierce through the intestinal wall to migrate to the animal's organs, primarily the liver. Once nestled into an organ, the parasites develop into multi-chambered, thin-walled cysts—a proliferative life stage that lasts indefinitely. As more cysts develop, the mass looks and acts like cancer, forming necrotic cavities and sometimes metastasizing to other organs, such as the lungs and brain. The parasite remains in these cancerous-like masses, waiting for a fox to eat the cyst-riddled organs of its host. Back in a fox, the worms attach to the intestines and grow into adults. Humans crash this vile cycle by accidentally eating the eggs excreted by infected foxes or other primary hosts. This generally happens by a delightful "hand-to-mouth" transfer or contamination of food. In humans, the parasites invade organs much like they do in voles, forming cancer-like masses in organs. In the liver, the infection closely resembles liver cancer and cirrhosis. The tumor-like parasites can also spread to the lungs, brain, heart, bone, and other organs. In humans, the infection is insidious, with an asymptomatic incubation period of between 5 and 15 years. Once the disease develops, about 90 percent of people will die within 10 years if they are not treated. The most common treatment in the past has been surgically removing sections of organs where the cysts are endlessly proliferating, which doesn't always catch all the parasites. However, modern treatment has turned more toward using benzimidazole drugs that fight parasitic worms, namely albendazole or mebendazole. Insights from Zurich Of the 334 patients with AE in the Swiss study—who were all treated at the University Hospital of Zurich between 1973 and 2022—the median age at diagnosis was 57.5 years. Of the 334 patients, 151 had some type of surgery to remove the parasites, and 315 received benzimidazole drug therapy. Over the 50-year study period, 90 patients died, but most of the deaths were from causes other than the parasitic infection. Only 13 deaths were caused by AE. Survival analyses showed that those with AE had lower survival rates compared with the general population five years after diagnosis, especially those who were diagnosed with AE later in life. But, AE did not appear to be the main driver of their shortened life expectancy. The reasons for this aren't entirely clear, but the authors speculate that "the gradual decline of relative survival 5 years after diagnosis could reflect a generally sicker population." Further, those who had curative surgery did not have a statistically significant boost in survival compared with infected patients who didn't have curative surgery. The authors attributed this finding to the "excellent disease control with benzimidazole drug therapy." They recommend that clinicians rethink the optimal treatment for AE. "Today, treatment decisions should be made on the basis of the patient’s expected remaining years with the disease and the potential complications and cost-effectiveness of either a surgical or conservative approach," they write. "Although younger patients will most likely benefit from radical resection, older patients may not." Like other previous studies, the Swiss analysis found a jump in infections starting around 2000. It's unclear what's causing this, but researchers have speculated that habitat expansion of primary host populations, an increased use of imaging in health care, and a more susceptible population may be possible explanations. In the current study, the increase in the number of cases was linked to a "substantial" increase in incidental findings of AE—that is, asymptomatic parasitic cysts were detected inadvertently during medical care. That points to increased imaging. But, in 2021, researchers in Canada reported AE as an emerging disease in Alberta, which they partly attributed to the growing urbanization of coyotes. Beth Mole Senior Health Reporter Beth Mole Senior Health Reporter Beth is Ars Technica’s Senior Health Reporter. Beth has a Ph.D. in microbiology from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and attended the Science Communication program at the University of California, Santa Cruz. She specializes in covering infectious diseases, public health, and microbes. 7 Comments

Get to da choppa Elle Fanning teams up with a predator in first Predator: Badlands trailer Live action film is directed by Dan Trachtenberg of Prey fame. Samuel Axon – Apr 23, 2025 5:14 pm | 10 The trailer offers glimpses at a planet that could be the Predators' home world. Credit: 20th Century Studios The trailer offers glimpses at a planet that could be the Predators' home world. Credit: 20th Century Studios Story text Size Small Standard Large Width * Standard Wide Links Standard Orange * Subscribers only   Learn more It's not every day you get a trailer for a new, live-action Predator movie, but today is one of those days. 20th Century Studios just released the first teaser for Predator: Badlands, a feature film that unconventionally makes the classic movie monster a protagonist. The film follows Dek (Dimitrius Schuster-Koloamatangi), a young member of the predator species and society who has been banished. He'll work closely with a Weyland-Yutani Android named Thia (Elle Fanning) to take down "the ultimate adversary," which the trailer dubs a creature that "can't be killed." The adversary looks like a very large monster we haven't seen before, judging from a few shots in the trailer. Some or all of the film is rumored to take place on the Predator home world, and the movie intends to greatly expand on the mythology around the Predators' culture, language, and customs. It's intended as a standalone movie in the Predator/Alien universe. Predator: Badlands teaser trailer. The trailer depicts sequences involving multiple predators fighting or threatening one another, Elle Fanning looking very strange and cool as an android, and glimpses of new monsters and the alien world the movie focuses on. Predator: Badlands' director and co-writer is Dan Trachtenberg, who directed another recent, highly acclaimed, standalone Predator movie: Prey. That film put a predator in the usual antagonist role, and had a historical setting, following a young Native American woman who went up against it. Trachtenberg has also recently been working on an animated anthology series called Predator: Killer of Killers, which is due to premiere on Hulu (which also carried Prey) on June 6. Predator: Badlands will debut in theaters on November 7. This is just the first teaser trailer, so we'll learn more in subsequent trailers—though we know quite a bit already, it seems. Samuel Axon Senior Editor Samuel Axon Senior Editor Samuel Axon is a senior editor at Ars Technica, where he is the editorial director for tech and gaming coverage. He covers AI, software development, gaming, entertainment, and mixed reality. He has been writing about gaming and technology for nearly two decades at Engadget, PC World, Mashable, Vice, Polygon, Wired, and others. He previously ran a marketing and PR agency in the gaming industry, led editorial for the TV network CBS, and worked on social media marketing strategy for Samsung Mobile at the creative agency SPCSHP. He also is an independent software and game developer for iOS, Windows, and other platforms, and he is a graduate of DePaul University, where he studied interactive media and software development. 10 Comments

A secure quantum internet could be on the wayvs148/Shutterstock Another step towards a quantum internet has been completed, and it doesn’t require any special communications equipment. Two data centres in Germany have exchanged quantum secure information using already existing telecommunication fibres at room temperature. This is in contrast to most quantum communications, which often require cooling to extremely low temperatures to protect quantum particles from disturbances in their environment. The quantum internet, where information can be exchanged extremely securely thanks to being encoded into quantum particles of light called photons, is quickly making forays into the world outside the lab. In March, a microsatellite enabled a quantum link between ground stations in China and South Africa. A few weeks earlier, the first operating system for quantum communication networks was unveiled. Now, Mirko Pittaluga at Toshiba Europe Limited and his colleagues have sent quantum information through optical fibre between two facilities around 250 kilometres apart in Kehl and Frankfurt, Germany. The information also passed through a third station between them, a little over 150 kilometres from Frankfurt. Photons can get lost or corrupted as they traverse long distances through fibre optic cables, so large iterations of the quantum internet will require “quantum repeaters”, which will mitigate those losses. In this set-up, the midway station played a similar role, allowing the network to outperform previously tested and simpler connections between the two endpoints. In a notable improvement on previous quantum networks, the team used existing fibre, as well as devices that can be easily slotted into racks that already house traditional telecommunications equipment. This strengthens the case for the quantum internet eventually becoming a plug-and-play operation. Receive a weekly dose of discovery in your inbox. Sign up to newsletter The researchers also used photon detectors that are much less costly than those used in past experiments. Though some of those previous experiments spanned hundreds of kilometres more, the use of these detectors brings down both the cost and energy requirements of the new network, says Raja Yehia at the Institute of Photonic Sciences in Spain. Prem Kumar at Northwestern University in Illinois says that using the type of quantum communication protocol they have here on commercially available equipment underscores how quantum networks are approaching practicality. “A systems engineer could look at this and see that it works,” says Kumar. However, to be fully practical, the network would have to exchange information faster, he says. Mehdi Namazi at the quantum communication start-up Qunnect in New York says this approach could be beneficial for future networks of quantum computers or quantum sensors, but it is still not as efficient as if it included a true quantum repeater. Journal reference:Nature DOI: 10.1038/s41586-025-08801-w Topics: