November 11, 2024Mud Bath Really Does Make Baseballs Easier to GripDroughts in 48 of 50 U.S. states, evidence of microplastics mucking up wastewater recycling and the science of a baseball mud bath in this weeks news roundup. Anaissa Ruiz Tejada/Scientific AmericanSUBSCRIBE TO Science QuicklyApple | Spotify | RSSRachel Feltman: Happy Monday, listeners! For Scientific Americans Science Quickly, this is Rachel Feltman.First, I just want to say that I believe radical optimism is going to be an important part of our tool kit in the months to come. So Im going to do my best to bring you stories that show how innovation can help change the world for the better. Were going to keep introducing you to brilliant people who are working to solve problems that seem insurmountable. Were going to keep taking you to places youve never been to learn things that broaden your horizons and offer you new ways of seeing the world. Were also going to try to provide you with joy and levity and that indescribable wow, gee whiz feeling as often as we can because we know thats so important.Okay. So. Lets kick off the week by catching up on some of the latest science news.On supporting science journalismIf you're enjoying this article, consider supporting our award-winning journalism by subscribing. By purchasing a subscription you are helping to ensure the future of impactful stories about the discoveries and ideas shaping our world today.The worlds first wooden satellite arrived at the International Space Station last Tuesday. The Japanese spacecraft is just four inches square. As Ive mentioned before on Science Quickly, the rapidly growing number of metal satellites in orbit pose a real threat to our planets ozone layer. Thats because spacecraft made mostly of aluminum produce hazardous aluminum oxide when they burn up in the atmosphere, which is an inevitable part of their life cycle. Ill spare you the inorganic chemistry, but those aluminum oxide particles can kick off reactions between ozone and chlorine in the Earths atmosphere. LignoSat contains electronic sensors, but its body is made of magnolia wood. Researchers hope to deploy the cubesat from the ISS and collect data as it orbits the planet for several months.Speaking of space: last Wednesday, NASAs Parker Solar Probe took a crucial step toward making a record-breaking pass of the sun. On December 24, the probe is expected to pass within 3.86 million miles of the solar surfacebreaking its own 2023 record of 4.51 million miles.Parker has been breaking records since its launch in 2018. That year the probe passed within 26.55 million miles of the sun's surface, surpassing a record set in the 1970s.Last Wednesday the probe flew by Venus to use the planets gravity to propel it into its new orbit. NASA says the December solar pass will bring the spacecraft close enough to pass inside a solar eruption, like a surfer diving under a crashing ocean wave.Back on Earth things are looking pretty dry. The U.S. Drought Monitor reports that nearly every state in the country is experiencing droughtAlaska and Kentucky are the only exceptions. From October 23 through 29 more than 150 million people around the U.S. were in a drought, which marked a roughly 34 percent increase over the week before.Climate change is contributing to drought in more ways than you might think. While some areas are seeing less rain in generalwhich of course creates arid conditionsothers are getting most or all of their rain all at once.Theres a limit to how much water soil can absorb, so an excessive dump doesnt necessarily leave behind extra moisture for us to rely on during not-so-rainy days. Instead that water becomes what we call runoff, which flows across the ground until it enters a stream or another body of water.Climate change seems to be making these big bursts of precipitation more common. So when it rains, it pours, and it floods, and were still liable to end up in a drought down the line. With such wide swaths of the country in drought right now, its not a bad idea to take water-conserving measures no matter how things look where you live. Consider taking shorter showers, and make sure you turn off the faucet while you brush your teeth and scrub dishes.Speaking of water, heres a news story to get you fired up about one of my favorite things to hate: plastics! If youre just joining us (on Science Quickly and also, like, on Earth), most plastics are literally made of fossil fuels, and theyve shown up pretty much everywhere, from Antarctica to the human brain.Last Wednesday a new study found that microplastics could even be mucking up our ability to clean wastewater for reuse. The researchers suspected that tiny plastic particles known as microplastics, which provide a happy home for microbes to create robust colonies called biofilms, might keep potential pathogens alive through the wastewater treatment process. Sure enough, the researchers identified a few nasty types of bacteria and viruses that persisted after the water was treated. This is just one more piece of evidence in a growing pile that shows we need to address our reliance on plastic.Lets end with a couple of fun stories.First: you know how sometimes, when someone is watching you work, it makes you kind of, like, knuckle down and really get the thing done, and sometimes having an audience can make you choke instead? Apparently those instincts are older than our species.In a study published last Friday, researchers reported that chimpanzees are subject to whats called the audience effect, too. The study reviewed years of data on chimps performing number-based tasks on touch screens. It turns out that the chimps performance was impacted by how many humans were watching and whether the animals knew the spectators. When it came to the toughest numerical tasks, the chimps seemed to perform better as an audience of experimenters grew. But they were more likely to fumble the easiest tasks in the presence of a crowd of experimenters and familiar audience members. The researchers are hoping to use these insights to better understand how humans developed similar behavior.Lastly, heres one for you sports fans. As you may already know, every single baseball used in every single major league game gets a special little spa treatment: its scrubbed down with mud that comes from a single secret spot somewhere along a tributary of the Delaware River. The idea is that this mud bath makes the balls easier to grip. No team is willing to mess around with substitutes, but the je ne sais quoi of this particular goop was only recently subjected to scientific study. In a paper published last Monday, researchers confirmed that the mud really does have a certain something going for it.The research team put some of the magic mud in a precision instrument called a rheometer, which applies different kinds of force to figure out the fluid flows, to quantify the spreadability of the substance. The researchers also used an atomic force microscope to measure how much force the mud resisted with as an instrument pulled away from itin other words, its stickiness. They even made a fake human finger out of rubberwhich they coated with whale oil to mimic the natural goop of human skinto approximate the friction of a ball against a pitchers hands.All that data proves what baseball players have been saying for years: the mud works. Its consistency makes it as easy to spread as face cream, which allows for uniform coverage on a ball. But the stickiness of the clay helps all the tiny particles of sand suspended within it adhere to the ball so the muck dries as grippy as sandpaper. Neat!Thats all for this weeks science news roundup. Well be back on Wednesday to learn how insects have helped shape human culture.Science Quickly is produced by me, Rachel Feltman, along with Fonda Mwangi, Kelso Harper, Madison Goldberg and Jeff DelViscio. This episode was edited by Anaissa Ruiz Tejada. Shayna Posses and Aaron Shattuck fact-check our show. Our theme music was composed by Dominic Smith. Subscribe to Scientific American for more up-to-date and in-depth science news.For Scientific American, this is Rachel Feltman. Have a great week!

November 11, 20246 min readThe Lucy Fossils Extraordinary Journey to Becoming an Icon of Human EvolutionThe 3.2-million-year-old human ancestor known as Lucy rose to fame through an incredible combination of circumstancesBy Bernard WoodThe 3.2-million-year-old Australopithecus afarensis skeleton known as Lucy is the most famous fossil in the world. Dave Einsel/Getty ImagesFifty years ago researchers working in the Afar region of Ethiopia recovered a remarkable fossil of an ancient relative of ours. This specimen of a female hominin, or member of the human family, soon became the most famous fossil in the world. If youve ever had even a passing interest in human origins, you have probably heard of her. She goes by the name Lucy.One of the reasons Lucy is special is that she is a recognizable skeleton, albeit an incomplete one. Another is that the skeleton is enough like our own for researchers to think Lucys ilk could be a close relativeand possibly even an ancestorof modern humans. But Lucy is just one of many hominin fossils that have come to light since Charles Darwin surmised in 1871 that humans originated in Africa. Why does she play such an outsized role in the public imaginationand in the investigation of human origins? The answer lies as much in Lucys value as a symbol of humanitys deep evolutionary history in Africa as in her intrinsic worth as a source of evidence about human evolution.Lets page back to Lucys era. Nearly 3.2 million years ago a diminutive human ancestor with a mix of humanlike and apelike traits was living in the Horn of Africa on a grassy landscape dotted with trees and shrubs. She was part of a richer community of primates and a much more impressive variety of mammals than live in that region today. There is no reason to think that Lucy was special in any way during her relatively short life. What made her special was what happened to her after she died.On supporting science journalismIf you're enjoying this article, consider supporting our award-winning journalism by subscribing. By purchasing a subscription you are helping to ensure the future of impactful stories about the discoveries and ideas shaping our world today.When an animal dies on an open landscape, away from a lakeshore or stream channels, the soft tissuesmuscles and ligamentsare consumed by scavengers large and small. The bones of the skeleton soon separate and break up, and in a remarkably short time, only fragments of the skeleton are left. There is nothing recognizable to fossilize. If the animal dies close enough to a lake or stream, there is a very small chance that one or more of its bones and teeth will be covered by a layer of sediment. Not only will the bones be physically protected by the sediment from further damage, but also, under the right circumstances, they will be hardened by chemicals in the sediment. This process, called fossilization, gradually converts bones and teeth into bone- and tooth-shaped rocks.But even if all this occurs, we are still a long way from that individuals remains becoming a famous fossil. For that to happen, the sedimentary rock in which the bones were entombed needs to be exposed by erosion, a team of scientists and trained fossil hunters has to find those fossilized bones before they deteriorate beyond recognition, and the team must have the extensive resources needed to recover the many bits and pieces of the specimen that have been scattered across the landscape by the elements. The exceedingly slim odds of the bones and teeth of a single individual being preserved, fossilized, exposed, discovered and recovered make the Lucy skeleton an exceptional discovery. The number of such skeletons in the early stages of the human fossil record can be counted on the fingers of one hand.Another reason Lucy is exceptional is that among the various regions of her skeleton that are preserved are substantial parts of the bones that reveal the length of the limbs: the humerus and radius in the upper limb and the femur and tibia in the lower limb. One of the biggest differences between modern humans and our closest living relatives, the chimpanzees and bonobos, is the relative length of the limbs. Whereas modern humans have long legs and short arms, chimpanzees and bonobos have long arms and short legs. Chimpanzees and bonobos also have relatively long forearms.All four of Lucys main limb long bones are damaged or missing parts of the shaft, so their maximum length has to be estimated. Even so, enough of each bone is preserved to make it pretty clear that Lucys limb proportionsand thus the limb proportions of Australopithecus afarensis, the species to which she belongsare closer to those of chimpanzees and bonobos than they are to those of modern humans. This is not to say that Lucy moved around like a chimpanzee or a bonobo: other fossils belonging to A. afarensis provide compelling evidence that the species walked upright on two legs. But it was practicing a form of bipedal locomotion that differed in significant ways from the bipedalism used by modern humans and our immediate predecessors. Whereas we Homo sapiens take longish strides when we walk, A. afarensis had a more lumbering gait because its feet were farther apart.Some experts think Lucy belongs on the line leading to modern humans, adding to her cachet. But ancestry is difficult to demonstrate and almost impossible to prove with the patchy fossil record we have for early hominins. I know the difference between my ancestorsmy parents, grandparents and great-grandparentsand my nonancestral close relatives, such as my uncles and aunts, and if I was not sure about anyones status, I could check using their birth certificates. There are no birth certificates in the fossil record, so we have to use shared morphology instead. The principle is that the more physical traits one species shares with another, the more closely related the species are, assuming that the morphology they share only evolved once in a recent common ancestor of the two species. We call this commonality shared derived morphology. But to return to my own family history, although I look more like my parents than a total stranger, once you go several generations into the past, my resemblance to my ancestors is not so obvious.The fly in the ointment when using shared morphology to reconstruct relationships is a phenomenon known as homoplasy, in which different lineages evolve shared morphology independently rather than jointly inheriting it from a common ancestor. In this case, shared morphology is telling us more about shared environmental challenges than it is about shared evolutionary history. Still, even if A. afarensis is not our ancestor, it is very likely to be a close relative.Lucy was found in 1974, almost exactly half a century after anatomist and anthropologist Raymond Dart had recognized the significance of a skull of a juvenile hominin found in Taung, South Africa. For three decades after the discovery of the Taung juvenile, the quest for human origins focused on southern Africa. That focus changed in the 1960s when paleoanthropologists Louis and Mary Leakey began to discover hominin fossils at Olduvai (now Oldupai) Gorge, in Tanzania, some of which looked as if they could even belong to our own genus, Homo. By 1974 that trickle of fossil discoveries in eastern Africa had become a torrent, with most of the finds coming from sites on the eastern shore of what is now known as Lake Turkana.Not only had paleoanthropologists turned their attention from southern to eastern Africa, but the age profile of the most successful fossil hunters was shifting from senior researchers such as Louis and Mary Leakey, Phillip Tobias and Clark Howell to field workers such as Richard Leakey and Donald Johanson, who were even younger than Dart was when he recognized the significance of the Taung skull. Richard Leakey and Johanson were half the age of their predecessorsand telegenic to boot. Every high schooler or college student interested in human origins could imagine themselves in their place.It was brilliant of Lucys discoverer, Johanson, to name the partial skeleton after a character in the popular Beatles song Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds. Lucy ODonnell was a childhood friend of John Lennons son, Julian Lennon, who brought a drawing home from school one day and said it was Lucy in the sky with diamonds, inspiring the song. The name Lucy was a user-friendly way of referring to the A. afarensis skeleton that had the official catalog number A.L. 288-1. And the association with ODonnell injected vitality and relatability into a collection of bone-shaped rocks.But many things have changed since Lucy was named in the mid-1970s. For one, scientists are now more aware of the implications of the names given to fossils. Like John Lennon, Lucy ODonnell was from Liverpool, England. Much of the Beatles success was based on its members authenticity as Liverpudlians. By the time of the Beatles, Liverpool was in economic decline, but in its heyday in the 18th century, it was the preeminent port in the U.K. The economic foundation of Liverpools prosperity came from the major role its merchants played in the trade of enslaved African people.Lucy the fossil has another nickname. In Ethiopia she is known as Dinkinesh, which means you are marvelous in one of the countrys official languages, Amharic. As iconic as the name Lucy is, maybe it is time we all started to use Dinkinesh to refer to this extraordinary member of the human family.

T-Mobile is the country's biggest 5G home internet provider, but does that automatically make it the best? CNET takes a closer look.

When pollen counts are high and your eyes get irritated and red, it may be tempting to wear your sunglasses all day long. However, there are other short-term solutions many people turn to. Eye-whitening drops can be purchased over the counter and help you battle red eyes caused by allergies, dryness, digital eye strain, dust and more.Many people who regularly deal with red eyes may turn to eye-whitening drops to avoid discomfort or embarrassment. But what are these eye-whitening drops actually doing, and are they safe? We spoke with two eye doctors to find out.How do eye-whitening drops work? Upgrade your inbox Get cnet insider From talking fridges to iPhones, our experts are here to help make the world a little less complicated. Optometrist Dr. Meenal Agarwal says, "Eye-whitening drops work by constricting the blood vessels on the surface of the eye, reducing redness and making the eyes appear whiter." In addition to tightening blood vessels, Agarwal says that eye-whitening drops "reduce blood flow to the area," which "reduces redness and makes your eyes appear brighter."What exactly are you putting in your eyes? Dr. Ashley Hayden, board-certified eye surgeon and co-founder of GentleDrop, tells us, "The active ingredient in most eye-whitening drops is tetrahydrozoline, which tightens blood vessels for a few hours. It's similar to Afrin nasal spray."While eye-whitening drops can make your eyes white for a few hours, you should not become reliant on them. According to Dr. Laurie Barber, a spokesperson for the American Academy of Ophthalmology, in a 2018 news article for the organization, "I would prefer that patients not use an eye-whitening drop on a regular, long-term basis A person should get evaluated for red eyes before using eye drops on a regular basis."If you do temporarily use eye-whitening drops, be sure to follow the manufacturer's recommendations on your specific product. If you already use prescription drops, you should talk to your doctor before introducing any new over-the-counter eye drops. Photo travelling people sports/Getty ImagesAre eye-whitening drops safe?When used as directed, eye-whitening drops are safe for most people. "These drops are safe to use infrequently to improve the appearance of a bloodshot eye," states Hayden. "However, they do not treat any problems and can cause worsening redness as the medication wears off. Regular and repeated use is discouraged."It's worth noting that the safety of eye-whitening drops may depend on your personal eye health. To that point, Agarwal warns that some people should avoid eye-whitening drops. She says the vasoconstrictors -- an agent that causes narrowing of the blood vessels, like tetrahydrozoline -- in eye-whitening drops can increase eye pressure and may not be safe for people with glaucoma.Additionally, the doctor says that patients with "chronic dry eyes, allergies or sensitivities to preservatives, high blood pressure and cardiovascular issues are advised against using these drops." She adds that pregnant people should also avoid eye-whitening drops.Do eye-whitening drops have side effects?One of the most common side effects of eye-whitening drops is "rebound redness." This phenomenon happens when your blood vessels dilate even more than usual when the eye drops start to wear off. Dr. Hayden calls this "vasodilation, or expansion of blood vessels." She says this side effect could be more long-term than the initial benefits of the drops.Another side effect of these drops is that they could mask more serious eye problems. For instance, if you have an eye infection like conjunctivitis (pink eye), eye-whitening drops may hinder you from noticing the seriousness of the issue. The drops are not medicinal and will only put a bandage on underlying eye illnesses.Agarwal advises that the side effects of eye-whitening drops can include "irritation, increased redness or reactions to preservatives in the drops." She warns that using the drops too often could mask underlying issues such as "eye strain, dryness, allergies, infections or inflammation," and states, "For these conditions, it's important to consult an eye doctor for proper treatment." BananaStock/Getty ImagesWhat about blue-tinted eye drops?Blue-tinted eye drops, sometimes simply called blue eye drops, are an alternative to regular eye-whitening drops. This type of product contains a blue dye. Agarwal explains that the dye "enhances the whites of the eyes by counteracting yellow tones, without relying on vasoconstrictors." In other words, these drops don't interact with your blood vessels.Blue-tinted drops are not generally considered as safe or effective as other eye-whitening drops.Agarwal advises, "I generally don't recommend them due to potential sensitivities to dyes. Additionally, they don't treat underlying causes of redness and overuse can lead to irritation and worsen the original issue."In addition to potentially irritating your eyes, it's worth noting that blue drops could dye the skin around your eyes. If you wear contacts, the dye could also ruin your lenses.When to see an eye doctorIt's one thing to use eye-whitening drops occasionally to counteract high pollen counts or dry outdoor conditions. It's quite another to use them as a long-term solution to red eyes. Both doctors we spoke to urge people to see a doctor if they are using these drops for anything other than an occasional solution.As for when to call your doctor, Hayden says, "If you have pain, changes in vision, light sensitivity or a watery eye that isn't improving, please see an eye doctor." She also says that any side effects from eye-whitening drops may require a visit to a physician. According to Hayden, "If the side effects last more than an hour or if you feel faint or dizzy, go see an eye doctor."Agarwal agrees that the best solution for frequent red eyes is a visit to the doctor. She explains, "Chronic redness may result from dry eyes, allergies or eye strain. Redness accompanied by pain, vision loss or light sensitivity should be evaluated by an eye doctor." PeopleImages/Getty ImagesHow to naturally make your eyes look brighter and healthyThere are a number of ways to make your eyes look brighter without turning to any over-the-counter, eye-whitening products. Agarwal recommends the following tips for naturally bright eyes:Stay hydrated: Drink enough water throughout the day. When your body is hydrated, so are your eyes.Get enough sleep: Getting the recommended seven hours of sleep can keep eyes from being dry and red in the morning.Reduce eye strain by taking computer breaks: Looking at a blue light for too long, including from a computer or mobile device, may cause pain or redness. Take hourly breaks.Wear sunglasses outdoors: In addition to wearing sunscreen to keep your skin safe, protect your eyes with proper eyewear.Practice good eyelid hygiene: Gently cleaning your eyelids with a soft washcloth can remove irritants from the area and stop them from getting into your eyes.Manage allergies: Talk to your doctor about how to keep seasonal allergies at bay to avoid redness.The doctor adds, "I always recommend my patients keep a bottle of preservative-free artificial tears by their nightstand to use morning and night. This will help keep your eyes moist and reduce dryness or redness that may develop later in the day."Hayden also recommends artificial tears. Additionally, she says that eyelid scrubs and warm compresses can help your eyes stay clear and hydrated.The bottom lineEye-whitening drops are mostly safeas long as you don't rely on them daily for a long period of time. Long-term eye redness is often indicative of an underlying issue that requires medical intervention from a doctor. If you experience any rebound redness, pain or dizziness from using these eye-whitening drops, the experts we spoke to say you should discontinue use and talk to your doctor. As for blue-tinted drops to whiten your eyes -- it's best to avoid them.

OpinionNovember 11, 20246 min readI Destroyed a Car to Explore Some Music MythsTwo years of experimentation taught a Nashville guitarist not every musical myth makes senseBy Jim LillJim Lill playing his guitar made from a car. Jim LillThis is the story of how (and why) I had to turn my car into a guitar and play it.I'm a country musician in Nashville. But right now I'm best known for changing a lot of people's minds about traditionally held and industry-backed opinions regarding what factors affect the sound of an electric guitar. I did it by myself, at home, and I'm not even a scientist.Its been an interesting journey, and I think everyone can learn a little from it about the power of experimenting even for nonscientists like me.On supporting science journalismIf you're enjoying this article, consider supporting our award-winning journalism by subscribing. By purchasing a subscription you are helping to ensure the future of impactful stories about the discoveries and ideas shaping our world today.When a guitarist plays a note, it travels electrically through all of the cables and gear until it gets recorded (or put through a PA system) and a listener can listen to it. The final sound of the note is called the guitar tone and its part of what makes different types of music sound different. There are many, many competing ideas about what affects guitar tone. The trouble is, most of the sounds that inspired me to play music in the first place were created by using a lot of prohibitively expensive vintage gear. But I wasnt born rich, have no industry bloodlines, and dont have a grandpa kept this old guitar under his bed since 1952 story to tell, so I was always worried that there was a financial barrier between me and the kinds of sounds I want to be able to make. It would be an enormous bummer if I spent all of this time honing my craft and still couldnt get that sound to come out of my fingertips because I didnt have the right equipment.Initially, the same as most kids, I was a sponge. I knew nothing, so I could absorb everything. I voraciously read anything had that to do with guitar, and collected tidbits like talismans that I superstitiously thought would help ward off bad guitar tone. I figured if I could just collect all of the individual bits of gear knowledge from the magazines and Internet forums, then like puzzle pieces it would all eventually fit together, forming a complete picture, and I could finally make my guitar playing sound like I wanted it to, wherever I wanted, whenever I wanted. But that isnt what happened.Instead the next step of this journey was dissonance. I still sounded terrible about half the time and couldnt do anything about it. The temptation was to blame the venue, or the recording engineer, but I had a feeling my beliefs about guitar tone were off the mark. So I kept diving in and learning more, but I wasnt an empty sponge anymore. Some of the new things I was learning conflicted with the old ones I had already accepted. I tried to figure out which sources to trust, and which to take with a grain of salt, but no matter how I tried to sort the facts, it wasn't making sense and I wasn't sounding any better.The last leg of this journey was hard work. Instead of relying on outside information I started from scratch and collected the data myself. I set the goal of figuring out why my favorite guitar player sounded like he did when he recorded my favorite music. His name is J.T. Corenflos, and he was an under-the-radar session musician in Nashville, known by his peers for his exceptional guitar tone and responsible for a lot of the guitar you heard on the radio from the 1990s until his death in 2020. He had a legendary custom-made baby blue guitar that he used on countless hit singles, and the last thing I asked him a couple weeks before he died was Whats that blue body made out of? and he replied Alder.Alder is a medium-density hardwood that Leo Fender started making into guitar bodies around 1956. My main guitar is ash, not alder. I needed to know if this body wood difference could partly explain why I still couldnt get J.T.s sound. The traditional belief is that all of these things make a difference. Alder sounds different from ash, and they both sound different from mahogany (what Gibson guitars are often made from), and maple fretboards sound different than rosewood fretboards, and the way the neck is joined to the body changes the sound, and even the type and thickness of lacquer finish will alter the tone of the guitar. Therefore, if you took a professionally built guitar with an ash body and a maple neck and compared it to a set of guitar strings strung up across the gap between a bench and a shelf, they would have to sound different, even if they had the same electronics. So I did exactly that, and this is what that actually sounds like:But what about guitar amplifiers? I always learned that vacuum tubes, tube biases, rectifiers and component quality were the main reasons an amp sounds like it does (even if I didn't understand what those things were), and that if you took expensive flagship model tube amps of the major legendary brands like Fender and Marshall and compared them to an amplifier made of out an old tackle box, built by an amateur with solid state electronics on breadboards, they would have to sound different, even if some of the points in the circuit were kept the same. So I did exactly that, and this is what that actually sounds like:But what about speaker cabinets? I've read about solid pine resonating differently from birch ply, and different joinery methods producing different tones, and certainly if you had a professionally built heavy duty speaker cabinet and compared it to something made of styrofoam and caulk, they would have to sound different, even if they had mostly the same geometry. So I did exactly that, and this is what that actually sounds like:But what about microphones? My favorite music was recorded at Ocean Way Nashville with expensive vintage mics, and Ive been told that the types of tubes and quality of the components and the iron in the output transformers all contribute to the sound of the mic. So if you compared one of Ocean Ways vintage Telefunken ELA M 251 tube microphones with an amateur microphone built out of a pop can and a cheap circuit found on Craigslist, they would have to sound different, even if the capsules (the part that turns moving air into electricity) had a similar frequency response. So I did exactly that, and this is what that actually sounds like:This journey has gotten traction on the Internet, and some people have told me they're still torn between my tests and years of accepted tradition. Why should they believe me when people with more experience say something different?Heres the thing: I never asked you to believe me. I don't need to. The tests speak for themselves. If you read It sounds like X when you do this, and then someone actually does it and it sounds like Y, then it sounds like Y. Hopefully you get as much out of this as I have.But like I said up top, this journey isnt about convincing anyone else of anything. It's about making music, and answering questions about making music that couldn't be answered any other way.Last time I took my car to the mechanic, he said he wasn't going to fix it for me anymore. It was all rusted underneath, and he told me I shouldn't put another dollar into it. So I knew what I needed to do. I needed to string it up across the windshield and play some music on it. People say that a car shouldnt be able to sound like a guitar. It's not ash, alder or mahogany. But I did that. And this is what that actually sounds like:This is an opinion and analysis article, and the views expressed by the author or authors are not necessarily those of Scientific American.

"If someone made Deus Ex today, it might be perceived as a documentary," says creator Warren SpectorHas "no idea why" Embracer chose to abandon the franchise. News by Vikki Blake Contributor Published on Nov. 11, 2024 Deus Ex creator Warren Spector reckons "if someone made Deus Ex today", the cyberpunk role-playing game "might be perceived as a documentary", given its themes of a dystopian world and evil factions competing to control it.In an interview with PC Gamer, Spector reflected on how the world - and game design - has changed in the 25 years since Deus Ex first debuted, adding "I wouldn't make Deus Ex again as it was in 2000 when it could be read as a believable fantasy".To see this content please enable targeting cookies. Nintendo has announced new hardware, but it's not Switch 2 - so what's the point of Alarmo?Watch on YouTube"Y2K was around the corner, AI was becoming a thing, conspiracies were everywhere, terrorism was on the rise, bioengineering was in its infancy, techno-augmentation was in the works," Spector said, talking about how he leaned into real-life issues rather than "trying to convince people to be interested in something" more fantastical."All that stuff was floating around in the zeitgeist. Making a game about it was an obvious thing to do."If he returned to the series now, however, Spector says he'd like to examine "other concerns that would be more relevant, more pressing, more worthy of exploration".Spector also commented on Embracer's decision to cancel Eidos Montreal's new Deus Ex game earlier this year, putting almost a hundred people out of work.The project had been in development at Eidos Montreal for around two years, following its acquisition by Embracer in 2022. The decision to call an end to this project was part of the Swedish conglomerate's ruthless restructuring and cost-cutting measures."I really have no idea why Embracer would abandon the Deus Ex franchise, at least for now," Spector said. "From my perspective, the gameplay approach is still relevant, but the world and situation needs some updating."Earlier this year, Spector - who also created Epic Mickey - said he was unavailable to work on a third game in the series, despite the announcement it was being revived.

If you still need a PlayStation Camera adaptor for PSVR1 on PS5, don't delayPlayers have until the end of the month to make their requests. News by Vikki Blake Contributor Published on Nov. 11, 2024 Sony is discontinuing the PlayStation Camera adaptor for PSVR1 on PS5.According to a brief update on the PlayStation website, the device will be withdrawn on 26th November 2024, or "until supplies last".To see this content please enable targeting cookies. Metro Awakening VR Review.Watch on YouTubeThe adaptor was introduced with the PS5. As a camera is required for PSVR the PS5's HD camera is not compatible, it's the only way to play PSVR1 on PS5.If you have the tech and haven't yet reached out to secure an adaptor, now's the time to do it - especially as the offer's only good for as long as "supplies last".Head to the official website to put in a request. You'll need to provide your PSVR processor unit serial number and - depending upon where you are in the world - your name, email, phone number, and shipping address. The processor unit's serial number should begin with the letter C, M, or P.Find out why our resident VR expert, Ian Higton, says that getting the PS VR2 working on PC isn't nearly as easy as it should be.Ian also took a look at Metro Awakening VR for Eurogamer, awarding it three out of five stars, saying: "Metro Awakening VR delivers some terrifying moments in its deep, thought-provoking story, but after a strong start, repetitive levels and pacing issues kill most of its momentum".

Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater is being remade as Konami says "younger generation" now unfamiliar with the seriesBoa and arrow.Image credit: Konami News by Victoria Kennedy News Reporter Published on Nov. 11, 2024 There's a whole generation of video game fans who don't know very much about Metal Gear Solid, and that's one of the reasons we are getting a remake in the form of Delta: Snake Eater.This revelation comes from series producer Noriaki Okamura, who told Play magazine the team realised "a lot of the newer, younger generation of gamers aren't familiar with the Metal Gear series anymore" (thanks, GamesRadar).As such, Konami's upcoming Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater remake is being created with future generations in mind.Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater - Announcement Trailer. Watch on YouTube"It was basically our mission, our duty, to kind of continue making sure that the series lives on for future generations," Okamura explained. "After all, we leave behind much more than just DNA, as Solid Snake would say - but again, who is Solid Snake?"As for why we are getting a remake of the third Metal Gear game, Okamura noted it takes place first chronologically. "That's where the original story started," he said, so it just made sense. Image credit: KonamiAnnounced back in May last year, Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater retains the 2004 original's story - which follows Naked Snake on an operation deep within the Soviet jungle, some 31 years before the events of Metal Gear.We still don't have a release date for Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater, despite a PlayStation blog previously suggesting the remake would make its debut some time this year. Earlier this month, Konami's half-yearly financial results simply listed the upcoming game's release as "TBD"."Whisper it quietly, but Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater looks like the most exciting Konami project in years," Digital Foundry's Tom Morgan wrote after some time with the game earlier this year.

GTA 6 fans think Rockstar's hidden yet another clue in the moonThe wane event.Image credit: Rockstar News by Victoria Kennedy News Reporter Published on Nov. 11, 2024 Grand Theft Auto Online players are once again looking to the moon for a spot of GTA 6 insight.The GTA community is eager to hear more about the next instalment in the series, and once again have theorised Rockstar left a clue about the upcoming game in its GTA Online promotional material.The material in question shows a character leaning on a car, while looking up at the Darnell Bros Garment Factory. But, it isn't the character or the factory that has caught the attention of eager fans. It is the moon that shines down on the scene from the upper corner.GTA 6 trailer. Watch on YouTubeThe moon in this image is a waning gibbous, and the moon here in the real world will be at the same phase on 22nd November. That's a week on Friday, and fans believe this is a sign from the developer, telling them the date of the next GTA 6 trailer.While this all may seem a bit of a longshot, this isn't the first time GTA players have turned to the moon for GTA 6 clues. Last year, marketing for 2023's Moon Festival event actually ended up aligning with the day Rockstar revealed the date it would share its first GTA 6 trailer.So, stay tuned for more (potential) GTA 6 news next Friday, I guess!Before yall say Im loosing it, last year there was a moon phase theory and it ended up being correct byu/Fabrizerlo inGTA6To see this content please enable targeting cookies.GTA 6 is currently slated for release in autumn next year. In May, Take-Two said it is "highly confident" it will make this launch window.Last week, Take-Two head Strauss Zelnick said he isn't worried about getting GTA 6 to work on Microsoft's lesser powered Xbox Series S console.

You can trust VideoGamer. Our team of gaming experts spend hours testing and reviewing the latest games, to ensure you're reading the most comprehensive guide possible. Rest assured, all imagery and advice is unique and original. Check out how we test and review games here Contents hide Is there preload for Stalker 2? After several understandable delays, the release of Stalker 2 is imminent. The game whose full title is S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chornobyl, will follow the similar formula of the previous game, blending FPS, horror, and open-world exploration in post-apocalyptic Eastern Europe. Players will need to keep track not only of outward dangers, but their own well-being too with hunger, sleep, and radiation being just some of the aspects to take into account. If this all sounds like a cool concept, then youll want to know when you can start playing. The good news is that we have the release date and time for Stalker 2.What is the release date and time of Stalker 2?Stalker 2 will have a global release across all platforms on November 20, 2024. The game is set to release on Xbox Series X|S and on PC through Steam, Epic Store, GOG, MS Store, and Xbox Store. Heres when you should expect the game to go live across different time zones:RegionRelease timeCentral EuropeNovember 20, at 5 pm CESTUnited KingdomNovember 20, at 4 pm BSTWest Coast USANovember 20, at 8 am PDTEast Coast USANovember 20, at 11 am EDTStalker 2 release countdownIf youre still not sure when the game releases in your time zone with the table above, we have prepared a handy countdown clock. This will show you when Stalker 2 launches in your region:Is there preload for Stalker 2?There is no official information from the developers about possible preload for the game. Since its expected that the game will weigh around 150GB, many players have expected some form of preload to be available. There was a brief period when those who pre-ordered on Xbox received a 300 mb download, but no one knows if that might be related to a future preload. We will keep an eye on any official confirmation regarding this topic.Subscribe to our newsletters!By subscribing, you agree to our Privacy Policy and may receive occasional deal communications; you can unsubscribe anytime.Share