The past few years have been an almost nonstop parade of good news for climate tech in the US. Headlines about billion-dollar grants from the government, massive private funding rounds, and labs churning out advance after advance have been routine. Now, though, things are starting to shift.   About $8 billion worth of US climate tech projects have been canceled or downsized so far in 2025. (You can see a map of those projects in my latest story here.)  There are still projects moving forward, but these cancellations definitely aren’t a good sign. And now we have tariffs to think about, adding additional layers of expense and, worse, uncertainty. (Businesses, especially those whose plans require gobs of money, really don’t like uncertainty.) Honestly, I’m still getting used to an environment that isn’t such a positive one for climate technology. How worried should we be? Let’s get into the context. Sometimes, one piece of news can really drive home a much larger trend. For example, I’ve read a bazillion studies about extreme weather and global warming, but every time a hurricane comes close to my mom’s home in Florida, the threat of climate-fueled extreme weather becomes much more real for me. A recent announcement about climate tech hit me in much the same fashion. In February, Aspen Aerogels announced it was abandoning plans for a Georgia factory that would have made materials that can suppress battery fires. The news struck me, because just a few months before, in October, I had written about the Department of Energy’s $670 million loan commitment for the project. It was a really fun story, both because I found the tech fascinating and because MIT Technology Review got the exclusive access to cover it first. And now, suddenly, that plan is just dead. Aspen said it will shift some of its production to a factory in Rhode Island and send some overseas. (I reached out to the company with questions for my story last week, but they didn’t get back to me.) One example doesn’t always mean there’s a trend; I got food poisoning at a sushi restaurant once, but I haven’t cut out sashimi permanently. The bad news, though, is that Aspen’s cancellation is just one of many. Over a dozen major projects in climate technology have gotten killed so far this year, as the nonprofit E2 tallied up in a new report last week. That’s far from typical. I got some additional context from Jay Turner, who runs Big Green Machine, a database that also tracks investments in the climate-tech supply chain. That project includes some data that E2 doesn’t account for: news about when projects are delayed or take steps forward. On Monday, the Big Green Machine team released a new update, one that Turner called “concerning.” Since Donald Trump took office on January 20, about $10.5 billion worth of investment in climate tech projects has progressed in some way. That basically means 26 projects were announced, secured new funding, increased in scale, or started construction or production. Meanwhile, $12.2 billion across 14 projects has slowed down in some way. This covers projects that were canceled, were delayed significantly, or lost funding, as well as companies that went bankrupt. So by total investment, there’s been more bad news in climate tech than good news, according to Turner’s tracking. It’s tempting to look for the silver lining here. The projects still moving forward are certainly positive, and we’ll hopefully continue to see some companies making progress even as we head into even more uncertain times. But the signs don’t look good. One question that I have going forward is how a seemingly inevitable US slowdown on climate technology will ripple around the rest of the world. Several experts I’ve spoken with seem to agree that this will be a great thing for China, which has aggressively and consistently worked to establish itself as a global superpower in industries like EVs and batteries. In other words, the energy transition is rolling on. Will the US get left behind?  This article is from The Spark, MIT Technology Review’s weekly climate newsletter. To receive it in your inbox every Wednesday, sign up here.

"Sunderfolk," a new couch co-op game, has arrived for multiple platforms. While it doesn't run on Mac, it does require players to use iPads or iPhones as a controller for game night.SunderfolkThe developers over at Secret Door are looking to redefine game night with Sunderfolk, a turn-based, tactical RPG. What sets it apart from others in its class is that it's a couch co-op game that incorporates your smartphone into the experience.To play, players will need an iPhone, iPad, or Android phone or tablet. Then, they'll scan a QR code and use the Sunderfolk app to interface with the game. Continue Reading on AppleInsider | Discuss on our Forums

WEISS/MANFREDI’s proposal for a new expansion of the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art in Kansas City has been selected at the conclusion of an international competition that began last October and drew more than 180 applications.

In its first livestream for FBC: Firebreak, Remedy Entertainment announced that the co-op shooter will launch on June 17th for Xbox Series X/S, PS5, and PC for $39.99. It’s also included with Game Pass and PlayStation Plus Extra/Premium on day one. FBC: Firebreak takes place six years after control, with The Oldest House still in lockdown after an invasion by The Hiss. With supplies dwindling, the Firebreak Initiative forms, and various regular office workers embark on dangerous Jobs to defeat the Hiss. Whether taking out self-replicating Sticky Notes in the Executive Sector or dealing with an out-of-control furnace in the Maintenance Sector, you can select the Clearance and Threat Levels for each Job. The former dictates the difficulty, while the latter affects the number of zones and complexity of objectives. There are three Crisis Kits available on top of Altered Augments to modify them, but players also have various firearms to rely on. You can also customize characters with “dozens” of Perks. Stay tuned for more details en route to the game’s launch.

While developing an ambitious sci-fi film about a megalopolis of robots, Second Tomorrow Studios realized that Unreal Engine was just the ticket. Find out how they worked with artists around the world to create the proof of concept for Babiru.

New Research This Intricately Decorated Deer Antler Was Used as a Battle Ax Before Being Repurposed as a Fishing Harpoon During the sixth millennium B.C.E., carvers in present-day Sweden etched patterns into the artifact before redecorating it in a new style. It was likely deposited into a river as part of a ritual The antler fragment seen from multiple angles Peter Zetterlund / National Historical Museums Eight years ago, archaeologists in Sweden unearthed a deer’s antler covered with intricate patterns. Found at the archaeological site of Strandvägen, the artifact dates to around the sixth millennium B.C.E. Now, after examining the artifact under a digital microscope, researchers have discovered its likely purpose: Residents of Stone Age Sweden used it as a battle ax before turning it into a fishing harpoon. According to a recent study published in the Oxford Journal of Archaeology, the antler was found on a stone platform among other objects made from stone, bone and antler, as well as human skull fragments. Located near Lake Vättern, Sweden’s second-largest lake, Strandvägen was inhabited by hunter-fisher-gatherer groups between about 5800 and 5000 B.C.E. (It lies across a river from Kanaljorden, a similarly aged settlement where researchers have found ancient human heads impaled on stakes.) The antler photographed at 40x magnification Lars Larsson At about four inches long, the carved antler found at Strandvägen once belonged to a red deer. Based on the patterns of damage, researchers think it served two purposes. Initially, it was likely used for combat. “It was probably handled as an ax,” co-author Lars Larsson, an archaeologist at Lund University in Sweden, tells Live Science’s Taylor Mitchell Brown. “There are several examples in present-day Denmark of antler axes with severe damage after heavy use.” He adds that such damage indicates that the axes may have been used in battle.  Later, the antler was likely repurposed as part of a harpoon, a pointed spear used to catch fish. Parts of the object are marked with traces of the original decoration, as seen in 60x magnification. Lars Larsson “If an item gets broken, many of us buy a new one,” Sara Gummesson, an archaeologist at Stockholm University in Sweden who wasn’t involved in the research, tells Live Science. “This was not the case until very recently.” In addition to serving multiple purposes, the antler had also been designed in multiple phases. Carvers smoothed the artifact’s surface before using a flint tool to etch a pattern of slanting lines. Later, the antler was redecorated in a “completely different pattern,” per the study. The antler and nearby artifacts may have been part of a ritual. Peter Zetterlund and Fredrik Molin / National Historical Museums The original patterns were “removed through polishing and replaced with a new design,” as La Brújula Verde’s Guillermo Carvajal writes. “The new ornamentation, created with several cutting tools, featured longitudinal bands with fine oblique lines arranged in three distinct zones.” Larsson tells Live Science that the artifact is the “best decorated” object ever found at Strandvägen, which is one of the largest Mesolithic sites in Sweden. Previous excavations have revealed houses, graves and workshops. Unlike many other archaeological sites in Sweden, where acidic soil degrades organic material, Strandvägen’s conditions have allowed organic material to survive for many years, as Gummesson tells the publication. The collection of artifacts found alongside the antler—such as pieces of a human skull and other “highly symbolic objects”—suggests that its burial was “possibly linked to religious ceremonies or ancestral remembrance,” as La Brújula Verde writes. “The deliberate deposition of the fragment in a ritual context indicates that these objects held significance beyond their practical utility.” Get the latest stories in your inbox every weekday.

Pleias emphasizes the models’ suitability for integration into search-augmented assistants, educational tools, and user support systems.Read More

Why hype is skyrocketing for Rematch, a different kind of football game Sloclap's competitive football game drew 1.3 million players in its beta – and arrives at a key moment for EA Sports FC Image credit: Kepler Interactive Feature by Samuel Roberts Editorial Director Published on April 24, 2025 Despite football (or soccer) games seeming like an impenetrable market, given Electronic Arts' long dominance in the space with FIFA then EA Sports FC, new online game Rematch has demonstrated a huge appetite for a fresh take on the sport. Developed by Sloclap, the studio behind acclaimed, highly intricate 2022 beat-'em-up Sifu, Rematch is a similarly involved football game where players control just a single player on the pitch in competitive 5v5 matches (with 4v4 and 3v3 casual options, too). The third-person camera is then locked to that player, and instead of stats shaping the outcome on the pitch, everything comes down to skill, team tactics, and how players manipulate the ball. The game's store page promises "split-second gameplay response that always feels fair." Like 2015's Rocket League – an arcade-style competitive game with which it's drawn numerous comparisons – it also makes for highly shareable replay clips on social media. Rematch's online beta test last weekend drew a massive 1.3 million players. Publicly available metrics suggest interest has spiked massively off the back of the beta, elevating it into Steam's top 100 sellers 7 weeks before release on June 16. While online-only games seem like a riskier proposition in 2025, Rematch appears to have cut through. And there are a few reasons for that. "Well-designed games with unique spins can disrupt saturated markets," Alinea Analytics' Head of Market Analysis Rhys Elliott tells GamesIndustry.biz. "Rematch's football focus ensures a built-in audience, while its arcadey mechanics make it easy to pick up and its fighting-game depth is great for the hardcore scene." "Sloclap's decision to launch Rematch as a paid game might seem risky, but it's a sound strategy for this particular title." Rhys Elliott, Alinea Analytics Even though publishers are fighting over decreasing player time for liveservice games more generally, Rematch is an example of the right game finding a niche. "In general, liveservice games are zero-sum," Elliott says. "The attention economy is oversaturated, so when a new liveservice game succeeds, it's usually stealing time and attention away from another one. That's what happened with Marvel Rivals last year; it stole players away from Overwatch 2, However, there is room for new, niche multiplayer games to break through as well – just look at last year's Helldivers 2. "Rematch is the best of both worlds here. It is a fresh new take on a relatively untapped genre, based on the world's most popular sport, that has come along at a time when players are beginning to get frustrated with the market leader, EA's FC." Image credit: Kepler Interactive Alongside EA's games, Konami's eFootball (previously known as Pro Evolution Soccer) is another key player in the space, and passed 800 million installs back in February. Rematch's beta landed just before EA FC 25 got its first paid season pass, which is generating a conflicted response from its community. "One look on Reddit or any FC comments sections signals this [frustration]," Elliott says. "Rematch's marketing copy is genius here and addresses many FC players' pain points directly. FC players are disgruntled at FC's Ultimate Team mode for [allegedly] being 'pay to win', so Rematch emphasises fairness ('In a level playing field, with no player stats, victory is only about player skill and tactical coordination'). "FC players are also vocal about FC being too iterative, so Rematch underlines being a 'new perspective on football'. And many FC players criticise FC for being too simulator-esque and slow, so Rematch's marketing highlights 'no fouls, no offsides, no pauses…no time to rest'." While the experience Rematch offers is fundamentally different to EA Sports FC – it's only about the sport itself rather than licensed teams or leagues, which are cornerstones of EA's football games – captivating a portion of its audience could make Sloclap's game enormously successful. Despite Rocket League's enduring appeal, too, it's never quite had an obvious successor in a similar arcade-style sport mold. Elliott highlights the likes of Destruction AllStars and Knockout City as comparable games that flamed out. "Developers took the wrong lessons: that Rocket League was lightning in a bottle and its success cannot be replicated. However, Rematch is a new game at the right place at the right time, combining tight arcadey gameplay with easy-to-learn, hard-to-master mechanics. Rematch is almost like the football-ification of the fighting game genre," Elliott says. "Rematch is an incredibly well-designed game, but it also features the world's most popular sport. All this, so far, has been a winning formula." Image credit: Kepler Interactive Rematch is a premium game, launching for $30/£21, as well as being available on Xbox Game Pass. The beta, then, carried a certain amount of risk if it didn't work out – but Elliott says that the game has already racked up $1 million in pre-sales on Steam alone, and is the 51st most wishlisted Steam title with just under two months to go until launch. "It's safe to say that Rematch will be successful when it launches," Elliott says. "The beta's success demonstrates that high-quality paid games – the high-quality part is important – can thrive by being transparent and letting players 'try before they buy'. Sloclap's beta built trust and showcased the game's quality, mitigating skepticism about a premium price tag. Monster Hunter did something similar earlier this year." Influencer activity was significant around the beta, too, with some territories seeing noticeable benefits based on coverage. "Rematch is an incredibly well-designed game, but it also features the world's most popular sport. All this, so far, has been a winning formula." Rhys Elliott, Alinea Analytics "Top influencers like iShowSpeed streamed it, as did football-focused ones like NickRTFM. Finally, streamers in Latin America, like alanzoka (7.6 million Twitch followers) and Kammet0 (2 million) also tried it. Alinea data shows that Brazil is Rematch's number 2 market on Steam (just behind the US), so this is already having an impact. "Football-focused creators and mainstream streamers bridged niche and broad audiences." Charging a premium price tag and not being free-to-play has generated some discussion, with Sloclap itself standing by the decision in a conversation with PC Gamer. "I never considered free-to-play," said creative director Pierre Tarno, who emphasised his belief that the path to commercial success is simply "to just make a very good game". Tarno's line of thinking appears to be working out so far, and Elliott agrees. "Sloclap's decision to launch Rematch as a paid game might seem risky, but it's a sound strategy for this particular title. Not every multiplayer game needs to be free to play, and only a select few teams have the experience and money to develop a liveops content treadmill that free-to-play gamers expect. Not every team is as well funded as Fortnite's Epic Games and as efficient as Marvel Rivals' NetEase. "That's why I think the blanket critique of ‘Why wasn't this free-to-play!?'' is frankly lazy and a tell of someone who doesn't understand the games market. Launching free-to-play isn't a magic bullet. It can actually be the death knell of games like this one, even good ones (look at MultiVersus). Halo Infinite couldn't even pull it off, despite launching to massive critical acclaim." Sloclap will support in-game purchases in Rematch, too, so it's not wholly dependent on sales. Besides, Elliott points to another more recent comparison for Rematch, where charging a premium price for a specific flavour of multiplayer experience ended up being the right call. "Rematch's traction so far mirrors Helldivers 2's breakout – also a premium game – and is proof that niche, polished, mechanically smart multiplayer games can disrupt saturated markets where innovation is slow," he says. "Alinea data shows that Helldivers 2 has sold almost 12 million copies on Steam alone and generated Steam revenues of over $350 million. However, its content treadmill and liveops has floundered a little since launch. Would Helldivers 2 have been as much of a success for PlayStation if it launched free-to-play? I don't think it would have. For similar reasons, I think Rematch launching free-to-play is the right move." "I bet the M&A departments of big publishers – and Epic Games in particular – are following Rematch very closely…"

Tenderfoot Tactics developer Badru has pulled the title from Xbox platforms in solidarity with the Palestinian-lead Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) campaign, which has called for a boycott of Microsoft over its ties to the Israeli military."We hope that Microsoft will listen to the voices of their workers and customers and stop all business with the criminal Israeli military, which we have watched conduct an open genocide in Gaza over the last 18 months," said the developer in a statement posted on Bluesky."We hope the broader community will join in the pressure campaign and fight for an end to occupation and apartheid in Palestine and across the world."BDS is specifically targeting Microsoft for providing the Israeli military with Azure cloud and AI services (thanks +972 Magazine) that it says "are crucial in empowering and accelerating Israel’s genocidal war on 2.3 million Palestinians in the illegally occupied Gaza Strip."Notably, the campaign is actively calling for consumers to boycott Microsoft video game products including Xbox hardware and software produced by internal studios such as Bethesda Softworks and Activision Blizzard King."Uninstall and boycott key games owned by the company such as Minecraft, Call of Duty, Candy Crush, etc," reads a call to action on the BDS website, which also implores people to cancel their Xbox Game Pass subscription.Related:BDS is comprised of "unions, academic associations, churches, and grassroots movements across the world" and is attempting to focus boycotts on a small number of major corporations to deliver "maximum impact."Other companies targeted by the organization include Dell, Chevron, HP, Intel, Disney+, and Siemens.Indie developer hopes others across the game industry will support pressure campaignIt remains to be see whether other studios and creatives will join Badru, which is a member of collectively run indie games label Ice Water Games, in boycotting Microsoft. During a recent interview with Aftermath, Badru explained other Ice Water members didn't push back against the decision, but noted the move did initially result in a "small loss of revenue."That small hit, however, has since been recouped following a sales surge on other platforms."With regards to Microsoft, [it’s a] huge target, right?" Badru told Aftermath. "It's a huge part of the economy, especially in Seattle. It feels like everybody sort of works for Microsoft, or at least downstream from it. Microsoft is practically part of the state; it's so interconnected with the U.S. military. Whether we're able to make Microsoft change or not directly, part of the point of targeting them is to be able to advocate around this and show these connections. Otherwise, nobody's interested in Azure Cloud. Nobody wants to talk about whatever Microsoft's bullshit AI is doing. These boycotts create opportunities for us to shine a light."Related:Badru acknowledged that some Microsoft workers have also spoken out against their employer, but told Aftermath it's important to continue applying outside pressure.Indeed, as reported by AP News, two Microsoft employees protested during the company's 50th anniversary celebrations to voice their discontent over its contracts with Israel. Both were subsequently fired.Microsoft employees also launched No Azure for Apartheid in 2024 in partnership with the Palestinian BDS National Committee. The pressure group is calling for Microsoft to terminate all Azure contracts and partnerships with the Israeli military and government.Game Developer has contacted Microsoft for comment.

Threads on the web has a new address. Now, you can access the Meta-owned network by heading to Threads.com instead of Threads.net. The move will likely make it easier for users to find the website, as traffic to an unrelated messaging app startup, “Threads.com,” spiked following the platform’s launch. Meta finally acquired the “Threads.com” domain last September, but didn’t start redirecting users to the site until now. Along with this change, Meta is making a few updates to the site, as it will now display your custom feeds in the same order you’ve arranged them on mobile. You can also find your liked and saved posts from the site’s main menu icon instead of pinning a column for them on your homepage. Threads is also testing a new feature where you can upload a list of people you follow on other apps, starting with X, allowing you to find their profiles on Threads. You can now copy Threads posts as images as well, which will let you paste them into other platforms like Instagram. Additionally, the web app is introducing a new icon on the right side of the screen to add columns, along with a new “+” button in the bottom-right corner that you can use to create posts. These aren’t the only major changes Threads has made this week, as the platform began rolling out ads more broadly across 30 countries, including the US. It also started letting users set their following or custom feeds as their default last month.