Andor has finally started airing its second season after several years, and an actress is commenting on potentially being the DCU's Wonder Woman.

A few weeks ago, we compared FSR 4 to DLSS 4 upscaling for the first time, doing so at 1440p and concluding that FSR 4 is a solid upscaling technology. It's a significant step up from FSR 3.1, often outperforming Nvidia's DLSS 3, although the newer DLSS 4 with its transformer AI model still takes the lead. But how does it stack up at 4K? That's what we'll be exploring today. Examining upscaling at different output resolutions is crucial because upscaling quality can vary dramatically between 1080p, 1440p, and 4K. At higher resolutions, more data is fed into the upscaling algorithm, so output quality is generally better than at lower resolutions. With FSR 3.1, for example, Quality mode upscaling was often usable at 4K but looked rough at 1080p. So, we're interested to see how FSR 4 performs under the most favorable conditions for the technology. All the FSR 4 examples shown in this article were captured at 4K using the Radeon RX 9070 XT, while the other DLSS samples were captured using the GeForce RTX 5090. We used a selection of games with settings like motion blur, film grain, vignette, and chromatic aberration disabled. Sharpness was set to 0 for upscaling. All DLSS 3 examples were updated to DLSS 3.8.10, except for Hunt: Showdown, which remains on DLSS 3.7 as it can't be upgraded. All DLSS 4 examples are using the latest model available via Nvidia's driver override. Let's get into it. FSR 4 vs FSR 3.1 at 4K One of the most impressive aspects to FSR 4 was its improvement compared to FSR 3.1 at 1440p. The new AI-based upscaler is significantly better at that resolution, even when comparing the Quality modes, and the gap grows wider when comparing Performance modes. At 4K, however, the improvement FSR 4 brings is a bit more nuanced, since FSR 3.1 was already more usable at this resolution. For a better representation of image quality comparisons, check out the HUB video below: There's still a noticeable difference between FSR 4 and FSR 3.1 at 4K using Quality mode, and we believe most gamers will recognize the upgrade FSR 4 provides. Some of the artifacts that were very obvious in the FSR 3.1 1440p footage are less prominent at 4K, so the improvement isn't as dramatic. For instance, FSR 3.1 in 4K Quality mode can appear slightly grainy in areas like hair and transparencies, but it's nowhere near as problematic as it is at 1440p, where these elements often look broken or distracting. Across the entire image, FSR 4 delivers better sharpness, clarity, and a higher perceived resolution compared to FSR 3.1. Fine details like grass are visibly improved, transparencies are much cleaner, hair is rendered more accurately, and there's far less shimmering. Some of the most problematic titles for FSR 3.1 – such as Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart – see a significant upgrade with FSR 4, particularly in terms of image stability. This gives the FSR 4 output a more genuine 4K feel, whereas FSR 3.1 still looks like the game is running at a lower resolution, despite the "4K" output. The difference becomes even more apparent when comparing the Performance modes. Even at 4K, FSR 3.1's Performance mode struggles. FSR 4 holds up much better – it's less grainy, more stable, and in many scenarios, actually quite usable. In fact, if you were previously using FSR 3.1 in Quality mode at 4K, switching to FSR 4's Performance mode will likely be an upgrade in most situations. That's how much progress has been made. For a better representation of image quality comparisons, check out the HUB video below: This is clearly visible in a clip from Spider-Man 2, which demonstrates how FSR 4 enables better performance on new RDNA4 cards in realistic, playable conditions – since you can now use FSR 4 Performance instead of FSR 3 Quality. FSR 4 vs DLSS: Texture Quality For the rest of this article, we're going to compare FSR 4 to DLSS, as that's where the more interesting battle lies. FSR 4 easily outperforms FSR 3.1, but just like we found at 1440p, there's a lot more nuance in how FSR 4 stacks up against DLSS 3 and DLSS 4. We won't go through every example from the previous 1440p comparison – instead, we'll focus on a few tests to verify whether those findings hold true at 4K. For a better representation of image quality comparisons, check out the HUB video below: One of the standout strengths of both FSR 4 and DLSS 4, as seen at 1440p, is their ability to reduce or eliminate motion blur associated with TAA. This benefit carries over to 4K as well. However, relative to DLSS 4, FSR 4 is a bit less impressive at this resolution than it was at 1440p. At the lower resolution, FSR 4 in Quality mode often looked clearly better than DLSS 3, falling somewhere between DLSS 3 and DLSS 4. At 4K, DLSS 4 is a bit more impressive, and in similar examples, FSR 4 appears closer to DLSS 3, though usually still superior. We believe this is because the blur that TAA-based technologies introduce in motion is less noticeable at 4K than at 1440p. With DLSS 3 in particular, the difference between still and moving images is smaller at higher resolutions. DLSS 4 preserves texture quality extremely well. FSR 4 doesn't quite match that level, but even in less favorable conditions, it typically matches or exceeds DLSS 3 in texture detail. This holds true in both Quality and Performance modes. Even if it doesn't quite match DLSS 4, FSR 4 still offers strong clarity and sharpness when gaming at 4K. If you're playing on a 4K monitor, you expect detailed visuals, and FSR 4 delivers that, addressing the blur issues seen in earlier AMD upscalers. For example, Performance mode is now quite usable in terms of texture quality, delivering results close to Quality mode when it comes to reducing TAA blur – something we previously wouldn't have recommended at all. FSR 4 vs DLSS: Image Stability When it comes to image stability, FSR 4 performs better at 4K than it did at 1440p. During 1440p testing, FSR 4 was sometimes less stable than DLSS 3, and in some odd cases, the Balanced mode offered more stability than Quality mode. At 4K, that inconsistency disappears. For a better representation of image quality comparisons, check out the HUB video below: In general image stability, FSR 4 is typically on par with DLSS 3 when both are using Quality mode. While FSR 4 doesn't match DLSS 4's rock-solid presentation, the quality is still very usable and there's no significant increase in shimmering compared to DLSS 3. Thanks to the higher resolution, visual artifacts like shimmering and sizzling are also less visible at 4K, enhancing overall image stability. We also found stability levels between the Quality and Balanced modes to be similar, or slightly in favor of Quality mode – unlike at 1440p, where Balanced sometimes behaved better. Some of the artifacts seen earlier, such as aliasing on brick textures in The Last of Us, are either far less noticeable or completely eliminated at 4K with FSR 4. This leads to a visibly cleaner image and improves competitiveness with DLSS. This improved stability also benefits tricky elements like grates and meshes. FSR 4 performs quite well here, and we even observed examples where it handled these better than DLSS 4. This is likely due to FSR 4 exhibiting fewer disocclusion artifacts – something we noticed at 1440p that's also present at 4K. Around moving characters in third-person games or near mesh fences, FSR 4 shows less sizzling and graininess. Of course, how visible these effects are depends on the game, the movement, and the quality settings used. We were also impressed with FSR 4's Performance mode, which often provides greater stability in motion than DLSS 3's Performance mode, placing it somewhere between DLSS 3 and 4. DLSS 4 still offers the most stable and highest-quality image overall, but the fact that FSR 4's Performance mode is now more usable than DLSS 3's is a significant achievement. Depending on the game, it's easy to justify using Balanced or even Performance mode with FSR 4 – something we absolutely couldn't say about FSR 3. The main downside of the lower FSR 4 modes is a loss of fine detail. These modes can smooth or eliminate subtle textures in an effort to maintain stability, and this is most apparent when compared to DLSS 4, which retains both stability and fine detail. FSR 4 still performs reasonably well in reconstructing fine details at 4K, but for the cleanest image, sticking to the higher quality modes is recommended. One of the biggest improvements FSR 4 brings over FSR 3 is in rendering transparencies, and this holds true at 4K. FSR 4 now matches DLSS when handling effects like holograms and fire – it's no longer the garbled blurry mess seen in older versions. Particle effects and rain also hold up well at this resolution. For instance, snow in Horizon Zero Dawn looks quite good, even in Performance mode, when compared to DLSS 3 and 4. Scenes that previously looked painful using low FSR settings are now much more pleasant to view. FSR 4 vs DLSS: Foliage Quality Lastly, we looked at foliage quality. Just like at 1440p, FSR 4 delivers excellent grass quality at 4K, falling between DLSS 3 and DLSS 4. In some games like Ratchet & Clank and Hunt: Showdown, FSR 4 appears less grainy than DLSS 3 when using Quality mode. In others, like Horizon Zero Dawn, the results are very close to DLSS 4. For a better representation of image quality comparisons, check out the HUB video below: Previously, one criticism we had was that tree stability in FSR 4 could be worse than DLSS 3, despite offering a sharper image. That issue is less pronounced at 4K, where overall stability is improved. In the worst-case scenarios, FSR 4's tree rendering now generally matches DLSS 3, which is a solid result – though DLSS 4 still delivers the best tree upscaling. Even with the finest details, like thin, leafless branches, FSR 4 can be slightly more stable than DLSS 3, although this sometimes comes at the cost of fine detail when stationary. This holds true in both Quality and Performance modes, once again showing that FSR 4 maintains solid performance even in lower settings – something we couldn't have said about earlier versions of the technology. Performance In terms of FPS performance, there's really nothing new here that wasn't already covered in the 1440p analysis. We tested FSR on the RX 9070 XT and DLSS on the RTX 5070 Ti – both of which deliver similar performance, or at least as close as we can get with the current GPU lineups. The same four games from the previous comparison were tested at identical settings, with this round focusing on the geometric mean of the results. At 4K, the performance trends closely mirror those at 1440p: the performance uplift provided by FSR 4 is comparable to what DLSS 4 delivers. FSR 4 in Quality mode showed a 35% performance improvement over native TAA on the 9070 XT, while DLSS 4 Quality mode delivered a 31% gain on the 5070 Ti. Balanced modes were nearly identical in uplift, while Performance mode ran slightly faster on the DLSS 4 side. Both upscalers are slightly more demanding than their predecessors, but the added overhead is worth it given the visual improvements we're seeing from FSR 4 and DLSS 4 over FSR 3 and DLSS 3. What We Learned As was to be expected, AMD's FSR 4 is more stable at 4K than it was at 1440p, allowing it to either match or outperform DLSS 3 in most scenarios. At 1440p, there were a few instances where FSR 4 lagged behind Nvidia's last-gen upscaler, but those are much less likely at 4K. In terms of image quality, FSR 4 firmly slots between DLSS 3 and DLSS 4. While DLSS 4 remains more stable and detailed – with an even sharper presentation than at 1440p – FSR 4 is now very competitive, especially for those who previously considered DLSS 3 "good enough." We also see a substantial upgrade from FSR 3.1 to FSR 4 at 4K. Image detail and stability is much better when using the Quality modes, and it's a night and day difference using the Performance mode. In fact, if you previously found FSR 3.1 Quality mode acceptable for 4K gaming, you'll likely find FSR 4 Performance mode to be an upgrade – it's that much better. For most players, FSR 4 Quality or Balanced modes will provide a great experience across a wide variety of games. And while Performance mode doesn't get as strong a recommendation at 4K as DLSS 4's equivalent, it's still acceptable for those seeking extra FPS. The Balanced mode in FSR 4 is now a legitimate option, and the Quality mode is clearly improved. FSR Game Support Still Lags Behind While AMD has done a great job bringing FSR 4's visual quality up to scratch, there's still concern about game support. AMD now needs to accelerate adoption to match DLSS 4's reach. At least for the foreseeable future, this will remain a key consideration when choosing between Radeon and GeForce GPUs. DLSS is simply supported in far more titles, and it's unreasonable to expect hundreds of FSR 4 game updates straight away. What's been frustrating, however, is the slow rollout of FSR 4 updates for games that should already support it. AMD must whitelist titles in their driver to enable the FSR 3.1 to FSR 4 upgrade toggle – and ideally, this should happen in day-one drivers. Unfortunately, that hasn't been the case, leaving Radeon 9000 series buyers without immediate FSR 4 support in major releases. For example, Assassin's Creed Shadows launched with FSR 3.1 and should be eligible for FSR 4, but support is still missing. Meanwhile, DLSS 4 was available on day one via Nvidia's driver override. Kingdom Come: Deliverance II was announced as an FSR 4 title when AMD unveiled the feature, yet it still lacks support – despite using FSR 3.1. Again, DLSS 4 is already supported in that game. Indiana Jones and the Great Circle can't be upgraded to FSR 4 due to its use of Vulkan, which FSR 4 doesn't yet support – but that limitation doesn't apply to DLSS 4. AMD claims they validate FSR 4 quality before enabling it in drivers – but let's be honest, day-one support is crucial. These checks should be completed before launch, and driver updates should consistently add new titles. The latest driver, version 25.3.2, supposedly added support for AC Shadows, but that didn't include FSR 4 driver upgrades – a critical feature. If AMD can streamline game support and start releasing timely driver updates that enable FSR 4 in 2025 releases, they'll be in a strong position to compete in the upscaling landscape, especially now that FSR 4 upscaling is excellent at both 1440p and 4K at various quality settings.

A judge has thrown out a lawsuit challenging Warner Bros.’ right to distribute James Gunn’s Superman In a ruling first released on April 24, U.S. District Judge Jesse Furman held that the court has no authority to address the estate’s rights under foreign laws. “The Court concludes that it lacks subject-matter jurisdiction over this case; the case therefore must be and is dismissed,” he wrote. Recommended Videos Following the dismissal, Peary filed a nearly identical lawsuit in state court in New York on April 25. The lawsuit is seeking an injunction that could disrupt the release of Superman, which is set to hit theaters on July 11. Related The copyright to Superman has been contested for decades, ever since Schuster and Jerome Siegel created the character and sold the copyright to him for $130 in 1938. In 2013, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeal rejected the Shuster estate’s claim that they still hold the copyright, finding that Shuster’s sister had signed away all rights after Shuster’s death in 1992. Peary’s lawsuit argues that that ruling settled the copyright claim forever with regard to the United States, but left the question of foreign copyrights undecided. As the movie’s release gets closer, though, the likelihood that this lawsuit will be able to halt its release continues to decrease. Editors’ Recommendations

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The artist who became a pop culture icon on TV by teaching people how to paint hasn’t been taken seriously. His estate wants to change that.

Don't look back in anger Is The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion still fun for a first-time player in 2025? How does a fresh coat of paint help this 19-year-old RPG against modern competition? Kyle Orland – Apr 26, 2025 7:08 am | 14 Don't look down, don't look down, don't look down... Credit: Bethesda Game Studios Don't look down, don't look down, don't look down... Credit: Bethesda Game Studios Story text Size Small Standard Large Width * Standard Wide Links Standard Orange * Subscribers only   Learn more For many gamers, this week's release of The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered has provided a good excuse to revisit a well-remembered RPG classic from years past. For others, it's provided a good excuse to catch up on a well-regarded game that they haven't gotten around to playing in the nearly two decades since its release. I'm in that second group. While I've played a fair amount of Skyrim (on platforms ranging from the Xbox 360 to VR headsets) and Starfield, I've never taken the time to go back to the earlier Bethesda Game Studios RPGs. As such, my impressions of Oblivion before this Remaster have been guided by old critical reactions and the many memes calling attention to the game's somewhat janky engine. Playing through the first few hours of Oblivion Remastered this week, without the benefit of nostalgia, I can definitely see why Oblivion made such an impact on RPG fans in 2006. But I also see all the ways that the game can feel a bit dated after nearly two decades of advancements in genre design. One chance at a first impression From the jump, I found myself struggling to suspend my disbelief enough to buy into the narrative conventions Oblivion throws at the beginner player. The fact that the doomed king and his armed guards need to escape through a secret passage that just so happens to cut through my jail cell seems a little too convenient for my brain to accept without warning sirens going off. I know it's just a contrivance to get my personal hero's journey story going, but it's a clunky way to dive into the world. A face only a mother could love. Credit: Bethesda Game Studios A face only a mother could love. Credit: Bethesda Game Studios The same goes for the way the king dies just a few minutes into the tutorial, and his willingness to trust me with the coveted Amulet of Kings because the "Dragonblood" let him "see something" in me. Even allowing for some amount of necessary Chosen One trope-iness in this kind of fantasy story, the sheer speed with which my character went from "condemned prisoner" to "the last hope of the dying king" made my head spin a bit. Following that pivotal scene with a dull "go kill some goblins and rats in the sewer" escape sequence also felt a little anticlimactic given the epic responsibility with which I was just entrusted. To be sure, Patrick Stewart's regal delivery in the early game helps paper over a lot of potential weaknesses with the initial narrative. And even beyond Stewart's excellent performance, I appreciated how the writing is concise and to the point, without the kind of drawn-out, pause-laden delivery that characterizes many games of the time. The wide world of Oblivion Once I escaped out into the broader world of Oblivion for the first time, I was a bit shocked to open my map and see that I could fast travel to a wide range of critical locations immediately, without any need to discover them for myself first. I felt a bit like a guilty cheater warping myself to the location of my next quest waypoint rather than hoofing through the massive forest that I'm sure hundreds of artists spent countless months meticulously constructing (and, more recently, remastering). This horse is mine now. What are you gonna do about it? Credit: Bethesda Game Studios This horse is mine now. What are you gonna do about it? Credit: Bethesda Game Studios I felt less guilty after accidentally stealing a horse, though. After a key quest giver urged me to go take a horse from a nearby stable, I was a bit shocked when I mounted the first horse I saw and heard two heavily armed guards nearby calling me a thief and leaping into pursuit (I guess I should have noticed the red icon before making my mount). No matter, I thought; they're on foot and I'm now on a horse, so I can get away with my inadvertent theft quite easily. Determined not to just fast-travel through the entire game, I found that galloping across a rain-drenched forest through the in-game night was almost too atmospheric. I ended up turning up the recommended brightness settings a few notches just so I could see the meticulously rendered trees and rocks around me. After dismounting to rid a cave of some pesky vampires, I returned to the forest to find my stolen horse was nowhere to be found. At this point, I had trouble deciding if this was simply a realistic take on an unsecured, unmonitored horse wandering off or if I was the victim of a janky engine that couldn't keep track of my mount. The camera gets stuck inside my character model, which is itself stuck in the scenery. Credit: Bethesda Game Studios The camera gets stuck inside my character model, which is itself stuck in the scenery. Credit: Bethesda Game Studios The jank was a bit clearer when I randomly stumbled across my first Oblivion gate while wandering through the woods. As I activated the gate to find a world engulfed in brilliant fire, I was surprised to find an armed guard had also appeared, seemingly out of nowhere, and apparently still mad about my long-lost stolen horse! When I deactivated the gate in another attempt to escape justice, I found myself immediately stuck chest deep in the game's scenery, utterly unable to move as that hapless guard tried his best to subdue me. I ended up having to restore an earlier save, losing a few minutes of progress to a game engine that still has its fair share of problems. What’s beneath the surface? So far, I'm of two minds about Oblivion's overall world-building. When it comes to the civilized parts of the world, I'm relatively impressed. The towns seem relatively full during the daytime—both in terms of people and in terms of interesting buildings to explore or patronize. I especially enjoy the way every passerby seems to have a unique voice and greeting ready for me, even before I engage them directly. I even think it's kind of cute when these NPCs end a pleasant conversation with a terse "leave me alone!" or "stop talking to me!" Conversations are engaging even if random passers-by seem intent on standing in the way. Credit: Bethesda Game Studios Conversations are engaging even if random passers-by seem intent on standing in the way. Credit: Bethesda Game Studios Even the NPCs that seem least relevant to the story seem to have their own deep backstory and motivations; I was especially tickled by an alchemist visiting from afar who asked if I knew the local fine for necrophilia. (It can't hurt to ask, right?) And discussing random rumors with everyone I meet has gone a long way toward establishing the social and political backstory of the world while also providing me with some engaging and far-flung side quests. There's a lot of depth apparent in these interactions, even if I haven't had the chance to come close to fully exploring it yet. I bet there's a story behind that statue. Credit: Bethesda Game Studios I bet there's a story behind that statue. Credit: Bethesda Game Studios On the other hand, the vast spaces in between the cities and towns seem like so much wasted space, at this point. I've quickly learned not to waste much time exploring caves or abandoned mines, which so far seem to house a few middling enemies guarding some relatively useless trinkets in treasure chests. The same goes for going out of my way to activate the various wayshrines and Ayelid Wells that dot the landscape, which have hardly seemed worth the trip (thus far, at least). Part of the problem is that I've found Oblivion's early combat almost wholly unengaging so far. Even at a low level, my warrior-mage has been able to make easy work of every random enemy I've faced with a combination of long-range flare spells and close-range sword swings. It definitely doesn't help that I have yet to fight more than two enemies at once, or find a foe that seems to have two strategic brain cells to rub together. Compared to the engaging, tactical group combat of modern action RPGs like Elden Ring or Avowed, the battles here feel downright archaic. I was hoping for some more difficult battles in a setting that is this foreboding. Credit: Bethesda Game Studios I was hoping for some more difficult battles in a setting that is this foreboding. Credit: Bethesda Game Studios I found this was true even as I worked my way through closing my first Oblivion gate, which had recently left the citizens of Kvask as sympathetic refugees huddling on the outskirts of town. Here, I thought, would be some battles that required crafty tactics, powerful items, or at least some level grinding to become more powerful. Instead, amid blood-soaked corridors that wouldn't feel out of place in a Doom game, I found the most challenging speedbumps were mages that sponged up a moderate amount of damage while blindly charging right at me. While I'm still decidedly in the early part of a game that can easily consume over 100 hours for a completionist, so far I'm having trouble getting past the most dated bits of Oblivion's design. Character design and vocal production that probably felt revolutionary two decades ago now feel practically standard for the genre, while technical problems and dull combat seem best left in the past. Despite a new coat of paint, this was one Remaster I found difficult to fully connect with so long after its initial release. Kyle Orland Senior Gaming Editor Kyle Orland Senior Gaming Editor Kyle Orland has been the Senior Gaming Editor at Ars Technica since 2012, writing primarily about the business, tech, and culture behind video games. He has journalism and computer science degrees from University of Maryland. He once wrote a whole book about Minesweeper. 14 Comments

Life Intertidal is Yuvan Aves's extraordinary, personal exploration of the rich wildlife offsetting the urbanity of Chennai, India. While its focus is a small strip of Indian coast, its issues are global 23 April 2025 An egret takes off at Pallikaranai marsh in Chennai, IndiaMuralidharan Alagar Arts and Photography/Getty Images Intertidal Yuvan Aves (Ithaka) When Yuvan Aves was a boy, a search party had to be sent out after he went missing. It turned out he had been so enthralled, sitting by a pond, watching a small bird of prey leap across the water to catch hovering dragonflies that he had lost track of time. Decades later, the adult Aves is a naturalist, author, educator and environmental activist. He still spends hours watching wild creatures, and his observations of the natural world and the…

The author, left, made a promise to her dying sister, right. Courtesy of Courtney Rentzel Photography 2025-04-26T12:17:01Z Save Saved Read in app This story is available exclusively to Business Insider subscribers. Become an Insider and start reading now. Have an account? When my sister was dying of breast cancer, she made me promise I'd live my life to the fullest. At first, I didn't follow through, but eventually I found the courage to act on my promise. I decided to move on my own to a beach town, where I met my husband. When my older sister called to let me know that the painful lump in her breast was not a clogged milk duct from nursing her newborn, my world shattered. My 31-year-old sister was diagnosed with stage 3C breast cancer.I immediately purchased a one-way plane ticket to stay with her and help with my 2-year-old nephew and newborn niece. Over the next two and a half years, I watched my once strong and bossy sister slowly become bedridden. She then became unable to walk or breathe without oxygen.In our final conversation, I told her I wished I could take her place. After all, I had no children and was in an unhappy marriage. My sister replied that she was glad it was her and not me. She said she wanted me to have children and truly experience life.She then asked me to promise to live a life for both of us, doing the things she wouldn't be able to do. She encouraged me to create happiness despite whatever difficult decisions I'd have to make. I made her that promise, altering my life forever.At first, I couldn't handle the grief and ignored the promise I madeHer passing, though ultimately expected, rocked my sense of mortality and shattered me. We had always talked about growing old together in a nursing home and bickering with each other when we were 95, sharing a room like we did when we were kids.At 27, I was deeply cognizant that I had no guarantee of time. Like everyone else, I thought I had decades before thinking about mortality, let alone a bucket list.I was in denial for years. I lacked direction, strength, and self-worth.Running became my outlet for grief. When I'd get tired and wanted to stop, I pictured my sister in her wheelchair, gasping for air, and took another step for her.After my sister died, I had no mental or emotional energy to deal with my failing marraige. Having a baby didn't fix it.I wondered if this was the life my sister envisioned for me as she was dying. Suddenly, I knew it wasn't. At 29, I finally admitted I was anything but happy and knew it was time to make a change.I eventually acted on the promise I made with my sisterBraving the judgment I knew I'd face, I left my marriage and moved states with my infant and two large dogs to fulfill my dream of living near the beach despite having no family nearby to help. I started saying "yes" to more things and tackling my newly created bucket list.An opportunity to visit Hawaii arose, and I jumped on it. In just one week, I skydived, got scuba certified, hiked a mountain at sunrise, and swam with sharks.Keeping my promise to her — to say yes, to create happiness — changed everything. I gained confidence and self-esteem. That transformation led me to my life partner and now-husband, whom I met on the beach. We got engaged and married on that same sand.Having my second child with him and feeling renewed in my career and personal relationships, I now live a life my 90-year-old self — and my sister — would be proud of.I choose myself daily and remove what doesn't serve me. Every year, I celebrate aging; each birthday I see means I'm still alive, and I will never take that for granted.I still live near the same beach where I rebuilt my life, and my car is covered in sand, dog hair, kids' toys, and sunscreen — just as I had always hoped. Recommended video

A version of this story originally appeared in the Good News newsletter. Sign up here!Any time I try to convince skeptical people that the world isn’t as bad as they think it is — which I do quite a lot, given that I write a newsletter called Good News — they usually come back with a two-word rejoinder: “climate change.”It’s a tough one to rebut. Climate change is very real, and its toll is worsening by the year. 2024 was the hottest year on record, and the first year where the average global temperature was 1.5 degrees Celsius higher than it was in the pre-industrial era — a red line set by policymakers as part of the Paris agreement. Antarctica’s winter sea ice dropped to its second-lowest level on record this past fall, while the world has now experienced more than $4 trillion — yes, with a “t” — in damages from extreme weather events since 1970. And in the White House, President Donald Trump is busy eviscerating government climate research and pulling back on clean energy policies.Climate change presents a difficult challenge to the narrative of progress. Not just because it’s causing death and destruction now, and not just because each year it gets cumulatively worse, but because in many ways it is the direct result of trends that have otherwise made the world better. Economic growth makes us all better, but it requires more energy, and as long as that energy mostly derives from fossil fuels, which still provide about 80 percent of global energy, it will make the world warmer as well. In a particularly bitter irony, one of the most important environmental advances in recent years — the reduction in conventional air pollution — seems to play a role in accelerating the pace of climate change. But two things can be true: Even as climate change gets worse every year, every year we’re making more progress to slow it down. That’s the theme of “Escape Velocity,” an excellent package that came out this week from Vox’s climate team. As Vox climate editor Paige Vega wrote: “The energy economy is transitioning. Technology is advancing. The market is shifting. Our politics might feel stuck, but in many important ways, we continue to move forward.” So, in honor of the end of Earth Week, here are five positive trends that demonstrate that the fight against climate change is far from lost.1. The worst-case scenario is looking betterClimate change is bad now, but it could do even more damage in the future, as the carbon dioxide we’re adding to the atmosphere keeps accumulating. The worst-case scenario outlined by UN climate scientists could result in as much as 4° to 5°C of warming, which could reduce global GDP by as much as 15 percent, destroy coral reefs around the world, leave large parts of the Earth all but uninhabitable, and push the world past environmental tipping points with consequences we can’t begin to know. The good news is that this worst-case scenario is looking less and less likely. Global CO2 emissions are still growing, but at an increasingly slow rate. As carbon emissions eventually begin to shrink, it makes the UN’s worst-case scenario — which assumes no major changes to where we get our energy — all but impossible. Based on current climate policies, the most warming the world is likely to experience is more in the range of 2.5° to 3°C. Recent research suggests the climate system may actually be more resilient to warming than scientists once though, which also reduces the risk of sudden catastrophe.Now, 2.5° to 3°C degrees of global warming is still very, very bad. But our improved outlook shows that a catastrophic climate future isn’t written yet, and every bit of emissions reduction now will make a difference later.2. Clean energy is beating coalIn 2024, the US crossed an important threshold: For the first time ever, wind and solar produced more electricity than coal for an entire calendar year.Why is that so notable? Coal is the dirtiest of dirty fuels, and is still responsible for about half of the CO2 emitted by the US power sector, even as its share of US electricity production shrinks. But despite what Trump may say, coal isn’t coming back in the US, because it’s being replaced by cleaner-burning natural gas, and increasingly, zero-carbon sources like wind and solar. That’s a win both for the global climate and for air quality here at home.Altogether, renewable sources generated just under a quarter of all US electricity in 2024, an increase of almost 10 percent from the year before. Solar is leading the way, providing 66 percent of all new capacity additions on the grid in 2024. Thanks to both environmental and economic incentives, there’s no reason to expect that progress to halt any time soon.3. Batteries are world-beatingIn his excellent piece in the Escape Velocity package, Vox correspondent Umair Irfan called enormous grid-scale batteries the “holy grail” of clean energy. There’s a simple reason for that. As great as renewable sources like wind and solar are for the environment and the economy, unlike coal or natural gas, they are intermittent, which means we can’t count on them to run around the clock. Sometimes they produce more energy than we need and sometimes less — but the grid always needs supplies.Enter the battery. By storing energy produced by renewables, big batteries can keep the grid humming and clean even when the wind isn’t blowing and the sun isn’t shining. We’re adding more of them to the grid every day: Utility-scale battery storage increased fivefold between 2021 and 2024 to exceed 26 gigawatts (GW). Developers are planning another 19.6 GW in 2025, which would be the biggest increase on record. The result is a grid that is cleaner and more resilient.4. The clean-energy economy is hummingOne of the most important concepts in climate policy is decoupling — which, in this context, is not something you go to a divorce lawyer for. It means breaking the link between greenhouse emissions and economic growth, because no climate policy is truly sustainable if it weighs down the economy.Well, decoupling is happening. Last year, US emissions fell by 0.2 percent, while the economy grew by 2.7 percent. The more this happens, here in the US and abroad, the more we get the best of both worlds: climate progress and a healthy economy.The clean-energy economy itself can power this decoupling. In 2024, clean energy and clean vehicle employers added nearly 150,000 jobs, and for the fifth straight year, job growth in the clean economy outpaced job growth overall. 5. Climate innovation is only getting started The Trump administration wants to take us backward on climate policy, but here’s a secret: The real difference makers are working outside Washington, coming up with new solutions to the biggest challenges in climate and energy.Just this week, the XPrize for Carbon Removal — an innovation competition that, notably, is funded by one Elon Musk — announced the winners of its $100 million contest. The $50 million grand prize went to Mati Carbon, a small startup that is using “enhanced rock weathering” to capture CO2 from the air. The company’s technology takes advantage of the fact that as it rains, rocks will slowly break down in a process that absorbs CO2 in the atmosphere and turns it into bicarbonate, where it can be safely stored for thousands of years. Mati Carbon speeds up the process by breaking rocks and spreading them across farmers’ fields, which has the added benefit of releasing nutrients that can enhance crop yields. Mati Carbon is precisely the kind of company we’ll need more of in the years and decades ahead. Climate change is a challenge unlike any that human beings have ever faced, but it’s one we can solve — just as long as we get out of our own way.You’ve read 1 article in the last monthHere at Vox, we're unwavering in our commitment to covering the issues that matter most to you — threats to democracy, immigration, reproductive rights, the environment, and the rising polarization across this country.Our mission is to provide clear, accessible journalism that empowers you to stay informed and engaged in shaping our world. By becoming a Vox Member, you directly strengthen our ability to deliver in-depth, independent reporting that drives meaningful change.We rely on readers like you — join us.Swati SharmaVox Editor-in-ChiefSee More:

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