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President-elect Donald Trumps America First plan to enact huge tariffs on imported goods threatens to jack up the cost and slow down the development of US cleantech projects. On the campaign trail, Trump pledged to enact 10% to 20% across-the-board tariffs on all overseas products, 60% to 100% tariffs on Chinese goods, and 25% to 100% tariffs on products from Mexicothe last in part to prevent the flow of goods from Chinese companies setting up manufacturing plants there and in part to force Mexico to halt migration into the US. These plans could easily add billions of dollars to the prices that US companiesand therefore consumerspay for batteries and electric vehicles, as well as the steel used to build solar farms, geothermal plants, nuclear facilities, transmission lines, and much more. This is going to raise the cost of clean energy and that will slow down the revolution, says David Victor, a professor of public policy at the University of California, San Diego, in reference to the otherwise accelerating development of low-emissions industries. Trumps campaign rhetoric certainly hasnt always translated into enacted policies. But he has consistently asserted that tariffs will force companies to produce more goods on American soil, restoring US manufacturing, creating jobs, and easing the federal deficitwhile inflicting economic pain on international economic rivals like China. Tariffs are the greatest thing ever invented, Trump proclaimed at a rally in Flint, Michigan, in September. But despite what Trump says or understands about tariffs, they are effectively a domestic tax paid by the US businesses purchasing those goods and passed on to American consumers in the form of higher prices. (Plenty of Republicans agree.) Many economists and international affairs experts argue that such trade restrictions should be applied judiciously, if at all, because they can boost inflation, trigger retaliatory trade policies, chill investment, and stall broader economic growth. The precise impact of Trumps proposed tariffs on any given sector will depend on how high the incoming administration ultimately sets those fees, how they compare to existing tariffs, where else the goods in question can be purchased, how companies and nations respond over time, and what other policies the administration enacts. But here are three areas where the costs of materials and products that are crucial to the energy transition could rise under the plans that Trump sketched out on the campaign trail. Batteries China is one of the worlds largest producers of EVs, batteries, solar cells, and steel, but in part due to previous trade restrictions, the US doesnt rely heavily on the nation for most of these products (at least not directly). But theres one exception to that, and its batteries, says Antoine Vagneur-Jones, head of trade and supply chains at BloombergNEF, a market research firm. China absolutely dominates the battery sector. According to a 2022 report from the International Energy Agency, the country produces around 85% of the worlds battery anodes, 70% of its cathodes, and 75% of its battery cells. In addition, more than half of the global processing of lithium, cobalt, and graphite, key minerals used to produce lithium-ion batteries, occurs in China. The US imported some $4 billion worth of lithium-ion batteries from China in the first four months of this year, according to BloombergNEF. A Stihl employee assembling rechargeable batteries for tools.BERND WEI'BROD/PICTURE-ALLIANCE/DPA/AP IMAGES The US already has a variety of tariffs on Chinese goods in place. President Biden preserved many of the ones that Trump enacted during his first term, and he even increased a number of them earlier this year. The White House said the action was taken in response to what it described as Chinas unfair trade practices. But it was just the latest action in a long-running, bipartisan quest to counter Chinas growing economic strength and grip on key components of the high-tech and cleantech sectors. Still, Trumps proposed 60% to 100% tariffs would far exceed the ones currently set on batteries, which stand at 28.4% for EV batteries. On a $4 billion purchase, those border fees would add up to $2.4 billion at the low end, more than double the added cost under the current tariff rate, or (perhaps obviously) $4 billion at the high end, all else being equal. Vagneur-Jones notes that even with a 60% tariff, Chinese batteries are so inexpensive that they would remain cost competitive with US-produced ones. But this would still represent a big jump over current costs for companies that need to buy batteries for EVs, home solar systems, or grid storage plants. And because China is such a dominant producer, US businesses would have limited paths for purchasing those batteries from other sources at similar volumes. Steel Steel is used in just about every single cleantech or climate-tech project today. Strong and durable, it forms vital parts of wind turbines, hydropower plants, and solar farms. All that steel has to come from somewhere, and for the most part, its not the US. Last year, the US imported 3.8 million tons of steel mill products valued at $4.2 billion from Mexico, according to data from the International Trade Administrations Global Steel Trade Monitor. Steel imported to the US from Mexico, the nations second-largest supplier of the metal alloy, generally isnt subject to significant tariffs, so long as it was originally melted and poured in Mexico, Canada, or the United States. So a 25% to 100% tariff on the same value of steel would cost US companies an extra $1.1 billion to $4.2 billion (all else being equal and without accounting for fees on certain steel products.) (Earlier this year, the Biden administration did impose a 25% tariff on imports of steel from Mexico that were originally melted and poured in other nations, as part of an effort to prevent major suppliers like China from sidestepping tariffs. But those taxes apply only to a small fraction of shipments.) Rolls of galvanized steel.ADOBE STOCK Meanwhile, Trumps 10% to 20% tariff on all nations could add up to that same amount to the cost of steel from other suppliers around the world, depending on how those compare to each nations existing tariffs. That may, for example, lump up to $1.6 billion onto the nearly $8 billion worth of steel the US imported last year from Canada, the nations largest source (all else being equal and without accounting for fees on certain steel products.) Those fees would boost the costs for any US company that uses steel that isnt supplied by domestic producers, including cleantech businesses building demo projects or commercial-scale facilities. Plenty of projects will be spared, though. Those that are receiving various federal loans, grants, or tax incentives are generally already required to source their steel from the US, in which case they wouldnt be affected by such tariffs, explained Derrick Flakoll, a North America policy associate at BloombergNEF, in an email. But competition to secure limited supplies of domestic steel is likely to get more intense. The US dominated global steel production during much of the last century, but its now ranked a distant fourth, generating about one-twelfth as much as China last year, according to the World Steel Association. We went down the path of globalization, says Joshua Posamentier, co-founder and managing partner of Congruent Ventures, a climate-focused venture firm in San Francisco. We are now utterly dependent on all the other parts of the world. Electric vehicles The US is the worlds largest importer of EVs, purchasing nearly $44 billion dollars worth of battery, hybrid, and plug-in hybrid cars and trucks last year, according to the World Trade Organization. Its the biggest export market for Germany and South Korea, according to BloombergNEF. If Trump enacted a 10% to 20% tariff on all foreign goods, it would add between $4.4 and $8.8 billion in costs on the same volume of EV purchases (all else being equal and without adjusting for nation-by-nation fees already in place). His still higher proposed tariffs on Mexico would addsubstantially bigger premiums on vehicles built in the country, which exported more than 100,000 EVs produced by auto giants including Ford and Chevrolet last year, according to the Mexican Automotive Industry Association. Meanwhile, BMW, Tesla and Chinese companies BYD and Jetour have all announced plans to produce EVs in Mexico. A Porsche employee checks the paint on the body of an all-electric Porsche Macan, at the automaker's plant in Leipzig, Germany. JAN WOITAS/PICTURE-ALLIANCE/DPA/AP IMAGES While China is the worlds largest manufacturer of EVs, Trumps hopes of levying a 60% to 100% tariff on the nationsgoods probably wouldnt have a huge impact on that sector. Thats because the nation already imports very few Chinese EVs. Plus, President Biden himself recently ratcheted up the tariff rate to 100%. The broader impacts on EVs will likely be further complicated by the incoming Trump administrations reported plans to roll back federal rules and subsidies supporting the sector, including parts of the Inflation Reduction Act. Repealing key provisions of Bidens signature climate law would work against the goal of countering Chinas dominance, as those federal incentives have already triggered a development boom for US-based battery and EV projects, says Albert Gore, executive director of the Zero Emission Transportation Association.It would undercut a lot of investment into manufacturing across the United States, he says.The big concern Applied sensibly, tariffs can help certain domestic industries, by enabling companies to compete with the lower costs of overseas producers, catch up with manufacturing innovations or product improvements, and counter unfair trade practices. Some US cleantech companies and trade groups, including solar manufacturers like First Solar and Swift Solar, have argued in favor of stricter trade restrictions. Earlier this year, those and other companies represented by the American Alliance for Solar Manufacturing Trade Committee petitioned the federal government to investigate potentially illegal trade practices in Cambodia, Malaysia, and Vietnam. They alleged that China and Chinese-based companies have circumvented trade restrictions by shipping goods through distribution hubs in those countries and dumped goods priced below production costs in the US to seize market share. Neither the companies nor the trade association responded to inquiries from MIT Technology Review concerning their view of Trumps proposals before press time. Nor did the American Clean Power Association, which represents developers of solar farms and has opposed recent duty increases, which can drive up the costs of such projects. Over time, Trumps tariffs may indeed compel companies to bring more of their manufacturing operations back to the US and help diversify the global supply chain for crucial goods, UC San Diegos Victor says. The tariffs are likely to fuel more mining and processing of critical minerals like lithium and nickel in the US, too, given both the increased costs on imported materials and the administrations plans to roll back environmental and permitting rules. They love extractive sectors, says Jonas Nahm, an associate professor at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies. But the big concern is that Trumps plans to boost tariffs, cut government spending, and enact other policy changes could stall the broader economy, says Rachel Slaybaugh, a partner at DCVC, a San Francisco venture firm. Indeed, the combined effects of Trumps proposals, including his pledge to deport hundreds of thousands to millions of workers, may drive up US inflation more than 4% by 2026 while cutting gross domestic product by at least 1.3%, according to an analysis by the Peterson Institute for International Economics, a nonpartisan research firm in Washington, DC. The tariffs alone could cost typical households an extra $2,600 per year. They may also trigger retaliatory measures by other nations, including China, which could impose their own steeper fees on US products or cut off the flow of crucial goods. Slaybaugh expects to see a continued slowdown in venture investments into cleantech companies in the coming months, as investors wait to see how aggressively the Trump administration implements the various pledges he made on the campaign trail. That pause alone will make it harder for startups to secure the capital they need to scale up or sustain operations. Even if the tariffs do eventually push US businesses to produce more of the goods currently being delivered cheaply and efficiently from elsewhere, it leaves a big problem when it comes to the clean energy transition: Given the higher expenses of US labor, land, and materials, it will simply cost far, far more to build the modern, low-emissions energy and transportation systems the nation now needs, Nahm says. At this point, after China has spent decades and vast sums locking down global supply chains, scaling up production, and driving down manufacturing costs, its foolhardy to believe that US businesses can easily step in and crank out these essential goods in relative global isolation, as Victor and his colleague, Michael Davidson, argued in a recent Brookings essay. Collaboration and competition, not hostility, are how we can catch up to the worlds largest supplier of clean technology products, they wrote.

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The iconic space probe Voyager 1 was the first manmade object to escape the solar system, traveling at a maximum speed of 38,000 MPH for 35 years to accomplish the feat. The probe initially launched on Sept. 5, 1977, and when tech gets that old, it's bound to run into some issues. Voyager 1 gave NASA a scare last month when the space agency lost track of it for a few days, only to find it again on a different radio frequency when the probe switched to a radio it hadn't used since the 1980s.The drama began on Oct. 16 when NASA engineers told Voyager 1 to turn on one of its heaters. Voyager 1 should have had enough power left in its banks to turn on the heater without issue, but an unknown event caused it to trigger its fault-protection system, a system that enables and disables various instruments on the probe to help save power. Due to radio transmissions taking nearly a full day to reach Earth from beyond the solar system, NASA didn't know it had lost contact with Voyager 1 until Oct. 18. A computer-generated image of Voyager's position relative to the solar system as of October 2024. NASAAt the time, the probe had reduced power to its X-Band radio, which caused it to transmit on a different frequency. NASA was able to regain contact by sweeping the X-Band frequencies for a short while only to lose contact again on Oct. 19. This time, NASA found out that Voyager 1 had disabled the X-Band radio entirely and switched instead to the S-Band radio, a radio that Voyager 1 hadn't used since 1981. NASA sent a test signal to confirm that the S-Band radio was, in fact, switched on and received a response on Oct. 24.NASA says that it's going to leave the S-Band radio on for the time being while it figures out why the fault protection system kicked on to return Voyager to normal operations, including restoring the X-Band radio to service.Nearly 50-year-old tech Upgrade your inbox Get cnet insider From talking fridges to iPhones, our experts are here to help make the world a little less complicated. Voyager 1 and Voyager 2 have been through their fair share of issues. Voyager 1had technical issues in 2023 that required fixing before the probe started sending science data again in June 2024, while Voyager 2 had some instruments shut down to conserve power in October 2024.Both probes are in reasonably good health for their ages, but neither probe is getting any younger. Both probes are powered by radioisotope thermoelectric generators. These generators contain plutonium that is continually decaying and the generators use the heat generated from the decay to power the probes.As the material continues to decay, the amount of heat it generates lessens, thus supplying Voyager 1 and 2 with less power as time goes on. To combat this effect, NASA has been periodically shutting down non-essential systems to keep both probes flying and working for as long as possible.Currently, both probes have a variety of systems turned off to conserve power, including the imaging subsystem responsible for the iconic blue dot photo of Earth. Some of the science instruments are still online, though, and are still transmitting data. Those instruments continue to provide valuable data about the universe outside of our solar system, including the ever-present interstellar gas that Voyager 1 continues to float through to this day.

November 25, 20246 min readDr. Oz Invested in Businesses Regulated by Agency Trump Wants Him To LeadCelebrity doctor Mehmet Oz recently held broad investments inhealthcare, tech, and food companiesBy Darius Tahir & KFF Health NewsMehmet Oz, celebrity physician and US Republican Senate candidate for Pennsylvania, speaks during a town hall in Bell Blue, Pennsylvania, US, on Monday, May 16, 2022. Rachel Wisniewski/Bloomberg via Getty ImagesPresident-elect Donald Trumps choice to run the sprawling government agency that administers Medicare, Medicaid, and the Affordable Care Act marketplace celebrity doctor Mehmet Oz recently held broad investments in health care, tech, and food companies that would pose significant conflicts of interest.Ozs holdings, some shared with family, included a stake in UnitedHealth Group worth as much as $600,000, as well as shares of pharmaceutical firms and tech companies with business in the health care sector, such as Amazon. Collectively, Ozs investments total tens of millions of dollars, according to financial disclosures he filed during his failed 2022 run for a Pennsylvania U.S. Senate seat.Trump said Tuesday he would nominate Oz as administrator of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. The agencys scope is huge: CMS oversees coverage for more than 160 million Americans, nearly half the population. Medicare alone accounts for approximately $1 trillion in annual spending, with over 67 million enrollees.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.UnitedHealth Group is one of the largest health care companies in the nation and arguably the most important business partner of CMS, through which it is the leading provider of commercial health plans available to Medicare beneficiaries.UnitedHealth also offers managed-care plans under Medicaid, the joint state-federal program for low-income people, and sells plans on government-run marketplaces set up via the Affordable Care Act. Oz also had smaller stakes in CVS Health, which now includes the insurer Aetna, and in the insurer Cigna.Its not clear if Oz, a heart surgeon by training, still holds investments in health care companies, or if he would divest his shares or otherwise seek to mitigate conflicts of interest should he be confirmed by the Senate. Reached by phone on Wednesday, he said he was in a Zoom meeting and declined to comment. An assistant did not reply to an email message with detailed questions.Its obvious that over the years hes cultivated an interest in the pharmaceutical industry and the insurance industry, said Peter Lurie, president of the Center for Science in the Public Interest, a watchdog group. That raises a question of whether he can be trusted to act on behalf of the American people. (The publisher of KFF Health News, David Rousseau, is on the CSPI board.)Oz used his TikTok page on multiple occasions in November to praise Trump and Robert F. Kennedy Jr., including their efforts to take on the illness-industrial complex, and he slammed so-called experts like the big medical societies for dishing out what he called bad nutritional advice. Ozs positions on health policy have been chameleonic; in 2010, he cut an ad urging Californians to sign up for insurance under President Barack Obamas Affordable Care Act, telling viewers they had a historic opportunity.Ozs 2022 financial disclosures show that the television star invested a substantial part of his wealth in health care and food firms. Were he confirmed to run CMS, his job would involve interacting with giants of the industry that have contributed to his wealth.Given the breadth of his investments, it would be difficult for Oz to recuse himself from matters affecting his assets, if he still holds them. He could spend his time in a rocking chair if that happened, Lurie said.In the past, nominees for government positions with similar potential conflicts of interest have chosen to sell the assets or otherwise divest themselves. For instance, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and Attorney General Merrick Garland agreed to divest their holdings in relevant, publicly traded companies when they joined the Biden administration.Trump, however, declined in his first term to relinquish control of his own companies and other assets while in office, and he isnt expected to do so in his second term. He has not publicly indicated concern about his subordinates financial holdings.CMS main job is to administer Medicare. About half of new enrollees now choose Medicare Advantage, in which commercial insurers provide their health coverage, instead of the traditional, government-run program, according to an analysis from KFF, a health information nonprofit that includes KFF Health News.Proponents of Medicare Advantage say the private plans offer more compelling services than the government and better manage the costs of care. Critics note that Medicare Advantage plans have a long history of costing taxpayers more than the traditional program.UnitedHealth, CVS, and Cigna are all substantial players in the Medicare Advantage market. Its not always a good relationship with the government. The Department of Justice filed a 2017 complaint against UnitedHealth alleging the company used false information to inflate charges to the government. The case is ongoing.Oz is an enthusiastic proponent of Medicare Advantage. In 2020, he proposed offering Medicare Advantage to all; during his Senate run, he offered a more general pledge to expand those plans. After Trump announced Ozs nomination for CMS, Jeffrey Singer, a senior fellow at the libertarian-leaning Cato Institute, said he was uncertain about Dr. Ozs familiarity with health care financing and economics.Singer said Ozs Medicare Advantage proposal could require large new taxes perhaps a 20% payroll tax to implement.Oz has gotten a mixed reception from elsewhere in Washington. Pennsylvania Sen. John Fetterman, the Democrat who defeated Oz in 2022, signaled hed potentially support his appointment to CMS. If Dr. Oz is about protecting and preserving Medicare and Medicaid, Im voting for the dude, he said on the social platform X.Ozs investments in companies doing business with the federal government dont end with big insurers. He and his family also hold hospital stocks, according to his 2022 disclosure, as well as a stake in Amazon worth as much as nearly $2.4 million. (Candidates for federal office are required to disclose a broad range of values for their holdings, not a specific figure.)Amazon operates an internet pharmacy, and the company announced in June that its subscription service is available to Medicare enrollees. It also owns a primary care service, One Medical, that accepts Medicare and select Medicare Advantage plans.Oz was also directly invested in several large pharmaceutical companies and, through investments in venture capital funds, indirectly invested in other biotech and vaccine firms. Big Pharma has been a frequent target of criticism and sometimes conspiracy theories from Trump and his allies. Kennedy, whom Trump has said hell nominate to be Health and Human Services secretary, is a longtime anti-vaccine activist.During the Biden administration, Congress gave Medicare authority to negotiate with drug companies over their prices. CMS initially selected 10 drugs. Those drugs collectively accounted for $50.5 billion in spending between June 1, 2022, and May 31, 2023, under Medicares Part D prescription drug benefit.At least four of those 10 medications are manufactured by companies in which Oz held stock, worth as much as about $50,000.Oz may gain or lose financially from other Trump administration proposals.For example, as of 2022, Oz held investments worth as much as $6 million in fertility treatment providers. To counter fears that politicians who oppose abortion would ban in vitro fertilization, Trump floated during his campaign making in vitro fertilization treatment free. Its unclear whether the government would pay for the services.In his TikTok videos from earlier in November, Oz echoed attacks on the food industry by Kennedy and other figures in his Make America Healthy Again movement. They blame processed foods and underregulation of the industry for the poor health of many Americans, concerns shared by many Democrats and more mainstream experts.But in 2022, Oz owned stakes worth as much as $80,000 in Dominos Pizza, Pepsi, and US Foods, as well as more substantial investments in other parts of the food chain, including cattle; Oz reported investments worth as much as $5.5 million in a farm and livestock, as well as a stake in a dairy-free milk startup. He was also indirectly invested in the restaurant chain Epic Burger.One of his largest investments was in the Pennsylvania-based convenience store chain Wawa, which sells fast food and all manner of ultra-processed snacks. Oz and his wife reported a stake in the company, beloved by many Pennsylvanians, worth as much as $30 million.KFF Health News, formerly known as Kaiser Health News (KHN), is a national newsroom that produces in-depth journalism about health issues and is one of the core operating programs at KFF the independent source for health policy research, polling, and journalism.

November 25, 2024RFK, Jr., Could Run the Agency That Oversees CDC, FDA and NIH. Heres What That Means for Public HealthRFK, Jr., could restructure the CDC, FDA and NIH in pursuit of his flawed vision of public health. Plus, we discuss chimpanzees at play and the first-ever close-up image of a star. Anaissa Ruiz Tejada/Scientific AmericanSUBSCRIBE TO Science QuicklyApple | Spotify | RSSRachel Feltman: Happy Monday, listeners! For Scientific Americans Science Quickly, Im Rachel Feltman. Lets kick off the week by catching up on the latest science news.First, weve got a brief update from Tanya Lewis, a senior editor covering health and medicine at Scientific American. Shes here to unpack the news that President-elect Donald Trump plans to put Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., in charge of the Department of Health and Human Services. What follows is a brief conversation Tanya and I recorded a couple days back.Tanya, what is RFK, Jr.s background in regard to health?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.Tanya Lewis: RFK, Jr., is an environmental lawyer by training, but he has no medical background, and he has very strong anti-vaccine views. Hes argued that vaccines cause autismwhich is, of course, debunked.Hes also made lots of false and exaggerated claims about the dangers of water fluoridation. Hes argued for unproven and potentially dangerous therapies like hydroxychloroquine and ivermectin for COVID and chelation, which is a method of removing heavy metals from the body for autism and, of course, it doesnt work for that.He also wants to end what he calls the [Food and Drug Administrations], quote, war on public health, which includes regulation of raw milk and some unproven stem cell treatments. He also wants to stop the, quote, revolving door between industry and government and regulate ultra-processed foods, although its not really clear how he would actually do those things.Feltman: And so what does it actually mean that hes been nominated into this role?Lewis: I think his nomination suggests that the Trump administration has very little regard for established medical science. His views on vaccines and fluoride just really go against the consensus of most public health experts and decades of research on their safety and efficacy.And its not yet clear that he will even be confirmed by the Senate, so he may not even have a chance to implement this agenda.Feltman: Assuming that, you know, he does get to step into this role, what kinds of power would he actually have?Lewis: So as head of HHS, the Department of Health and Human Services, he will be in charge of the FDA, the [Centers for Disease Control and Prevention], the [National Institutes of Health] and pretty much all other health departments, so he would have enormous power to fire people, to hire people and totally restructure these agencies. He could also fill FDA and CDC advisory panels with vaccine skeptics, which would be, obviously, probably a bad thing because these agencies are supposed to be tasked with protecting peoples health and vaccines are a huge part of that.One interesting thing about RFK, Jr., is that he actually has a very long-standing record of being pro-abortion. He has said in the past that he would support abortion through the ninth month, although I think hes backtracked on that a little bit. But his pro-abortion stance could actually get in the way of him getting confirmed by a pretty conservative Congress.Feltman: What kinds of decisions and restrictions and allowances can this group of agencies make?Lewis: So as head of HHS, the Department of Health and Human Services, RFK Jr. would oversee the FDA, the agency responsible for making sure that every medication that is on the market has been tested rigorously for safety and efficacy. And hed be in charge of CDC, which has a huge role in protecting Americans public health, not just in pandemics but in, you know, everyday life, constantly alerting the public. So thats a very important role. Hed also be in charge of NIH, the National Institutes of Health, which is our primary source of government funding for biomedical research. And he would also be in charge of other smaller government health agencies that also have very important roles.Feltman: Tanya, thanks so much for coming on to unpack all this for us.Lewis: Yeah, thanks so much for having me.Feltman: In other national health news the U.S. surgeon general released a new report on tobacco use and secondhand smoke exposure last Tuesday. The report states that although smoking has declined by more than 70 percent in the U.S. since 1965, that drop hasnt benefited all Americans equally. American Indian and Alaska Native people have higher smoking rates than other ethnic and racial groups, and people who identify as gay, lesbian or bisexual are more likely to smoke than their straight counterparts. The report also noted that people living in poverty are almost twice as likely to smoke as those living above the poverty line. Whats worse is that some of those disparities have actually increased since 2000. The story is similar when it comes to secondhand smoke exposure. While the number of related deaths has dropped by more than half since 2006, secondhand tobacco exposure remains disproportionately high for Black people, adults with lower education levels, children and people with lower incomes.The report pins these disparities on several likely factors, including tobacco marketing campaigns that target specific groups and neighborhoods as well as stress and financial barriers to treatment. So, in addition to your standard smoking cessation policies, the report calls for policies that address disparities in access to health care and education overall. If you or someone you care about is ready to cut down on tobacco use, you can find resources to help by calling 1-800-QUIT-NOW or visiting the website SmokeFree.gov.Okay, now its time to zoom way outand then back in againto catch up on some space news. Last Thursday astronomers unveiled the first-ever close-up image of a star from outside the Milky Way galaxy. This distant celestial body is about 2,000 times bigger than our sun, and it sits inside a galaxy that orbits our own. Dont get too excited about the visual: it looks like a glowing blob surrounded by a slightly-less-glowing oval. But scientists are pretty psyched about that ring, which they think could be tied to a burst of ejected material just before the star goes supernova. The new imaging reveals that the star has gotten dimmer over the last decade, which tracks with the theory that it could be shedding material and reaching the end of its life.To end things on a playful note, lets check out a pair of new studies on one of our closest animal relatives: chimpanzees, of course. Though, side note, I actually hated when people forget that bonobos are also our other closest animal cousins, but these studies are about chimps, so I wont go on my full bonobo rant.The first study, which came out last Wednesday, focuses on the phenomenon known as social contagion. Thats when a behavior, idea or emotion spreads through a social networklike, an infectious laugh for example. Researchers spent hundreds of hours observing chimps to catch them executing so-called affiliative behaviors: those are things they do that promote positive social engagement. In this case, those affiliative behaviors were grooming each other and engaging in play. The study suggests that both activities are subject to social contagion: individuals were more likely to initiate these behaviors after watching other chimps do the same. The researchers hope that building a better understanding of how contagious behaviors impact the social cohesion of a group can help us wrap our heads around how and why this copycat phenomenon evolved.Another study, published last Thursday, investigated adult social play in chimps. While kids obviously play more than adults in the human world, most grown-ups do still playwhether that comes in the form of a local softball league or a Dungeons & Dragons campaign. The researchers behind the new study say that adult play in nonhuman animals is generally assumed to be rare, but their work studying these chimps suggests otherwise. The scientists studied 57 wild adult chimps and found that the animals played with one another on a regular basis. They did things like wrestle and chase each other while making what chimp researchers call play faces. This expression is often compared to a smile, though it doesnt look like a human grin. In fact, if you ever see a chimp baring all its teeth at you, assume theyre in distress. A happy chimp will cover their top teeth while letting their mouth hang open, exposing just their bottom chompers.Whats really cool about this study is that the adult chimps had a tendency to play together before doing things requiring group cooperation, like defending their territory from outsiders or going hunting. They were also more likely to play when things got tense due to in-group competition or fighting. In other words, it seems like horsing around is an important part of keeping this chimp community together. While the researchers cant be sure that this is how the entire species uses play, theyre hoping to study other wild groups to find out. But I dont think you need to wait for that follow-up before planning your next game night.Thats all for this weeks news roundup. Well be back on Wednesday to talk about the psychology behind your Black Friday shopping spreeand how to keep all that marketing from hijacking your brain. And just to give you a quick heads up, well be taking a break from posting new episodes on Friday and next Monday.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!

Mass Effect director Casey Hudson's "AAA" sci-fi game cancelled, studio closingDue to "unexpected shortfall of funding".Image credit: Humanoid Origin News by Matt Wales News Reporter Published on Nov. 25, 2024 Humanoid Origin, the studio founded by former Mass Effect director Casey Hudson in 2021, is ending development of its untitled sci-fi game and shutting its doors, after an "an unexpected shortfall of funding left [it] unable to sustain operations."Hudson, who also served as BioWare general manager before departing the studio in 2020, announced the establishment of Humanoid Origin (initially Humanoid Studios) in June 2021, teasing it was working on an "all-new IP". A year later, Hudson shared a little more information on the "multi-platform AAA game", as well as early concept art, calling it a "character-driven narrative in an all-new science-fiction universe".Today, however, Hudson released a statement announcing the project's termination and the closure of the studio. "Earlier today, we informed our staff that Humanoid Origin will be shutting down," he wrote. "Despite efforts to shield the studio from broader challenges in the industry, an unexpected shortfall of funding left us unable to sustain operations.""We're heartbroken that we will not be able to bring our new science-fiction universe to completion," Hudson continued. "Our main concern at this time however is for our team, and we are committed to supporting them in their transition to new employment. "In our time together, the team achieved incredible progress, and demonstrated that it's possible to do amazing work while fostering a culture of fun and creativity. We thank them for their talent, courage, and friendship. "Thank you to everyone who supported us throughout our journey."Humanoid Origin is the latest studio to be impacted in what continues to be a devastating year for games industry employees, with over 14,000 people estimated to have lost their jobs so far. That's compared to the 10,500 games industry workers who were laid off across the entirety of 2023. Back in March, GamesIndustry.biz's Chris Tring, writing for Eurogamer, took a closer look at the circumstances leading to such massive numbers of job cuts over the last few years.

Amazon's releasing individual trailers for its Secret Level show if you're curious about that Concord episodeAhead of December launch.Image credit: Amazon News by Matt Wales News Reporter Published on Nov. 25, 2024 Amazon's intriguing Secret Level anthology series is almost upon, bringing 15 episodes of brand-new stories set in familiar video game worlds. And following on from its recent series trailer, Amazon is now releasing individual teasers for each episode, offering a closer look at the likes of Spelunky, Unreal Tournament, and, of course, that posthumous turn for Concord.Secret Level, if it's so far managed to pass you by, comes from the creative team behind Netflixs sci-fi anthology series Love, Death & Robots. Like that show, Secret Level is all about the flashy CGI animation, but here, episodes draw inspiration from existing video games - featuring familiar settings and characters in new adventures - rather than sci-fi tales.Armored Core, Concord, Crossfire, Dungeons & Dragons, Exodus, Honor of Kings, Mega Man, New World: Aeternum, Pac-Man, Sifu, Spelunky, The Outer Worlds, Warhammer 40K, plus a number of PlayStation Studios games all feature in Secret Level's inaugural season, and we've seen brief glimpses of at least some of these already. However, as part of its big pre-release push, Amazon is now highlighting each individual episode on social media, publishing brisk 20-second-long teaser trailers revealing a little more than what's been shown before. To see this content please enable targeting cookies.Concord, above, is arguably the most fascinating of these, if only because it effectively serves as an unanticipated eulogy for Sony's ill-fated 5v5 shooter Concord - in an episode Secret Level creator Tim Miller recently said showed the "potential of this world and the characters". But there's more too, with Amazon also sharing a look at The Queen's Cradle, based on Dungeons & Dragons, as well as Sifu's It Takes a Life, Unreal Tournament's Xan, the Spelunky themed Tally, plus And They Shall Know No Fear - a sequel to the events of Warhammer 40K: Space Marine 2.You can see all Amazon's currently released teaser trailers by clicking on their episode titles above, and if you're left sufficiently intrigued, Secret Level - which stars the likes of Keanu Reeves, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Kevin Hart, Ariana Greenblatt, Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje, Clive Standen, and Laura Bailey - launches via Prime Video on 10th December.

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 For as broken as Stalker 2 can be sometimes, especially with the games busted A-Life system fans are trying to fix, its gameplay is mostly solid. However, one awesome mod for the new survival game has released to fix my personal biggest gripe with the title by adding ledge climbing.Stalker 2 mod adds ledge climbingThere are numerous times when exploring the world of Stalker 2: Heart of Chornobyl where youll come across a fence or waist high wall that you wish you could just hop over. With mantling being such a huge part of nearly every modern FPS game, being able to clamber over objects is pretty much second nature.A new mod by KennymyLenny has gained traction on Nexus Mods with over 12,000 downloads. Simply dubbed Ledge Grabbing, the new mod allows you to climb over any object that is just above head height.Ever wonder why Skif, an ex-soldier, cant even pull himself over a 3 feet tall fence or ledge? the modder writes. This mod allows you to mantle onto anything just above head height. No more crouch jumping like its a 2004 source game.With this mod, players can now enjoy more free movement to hop around some of the more locked-in arenas to get the drop on your enemy. While the stealth system is also a bit finicky, having more freedom is always a great thing.Making the game less annoyingThe arrival of ledge grabbing in Stalker 2 via this mod is, honestly, a must-have arrival for the game. In the unmodded version of the game, there is a form of mantling in the game, but it only works on very low walls, most of which players can already jump over.By using the mod, theres now no annoyance over knowing what walls you can or cant jump over. However, there may be some scenarios in the game where youll become too powerful by being able to quickly hop over a wall when enemies can not.For more Stalker 2 content, read S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of ChornobylPlatform(s):PC, Xbox Series S, Xbox Series S/X, Xbox Series XGenre(s):Action, Adventure, RPG, Shooter, Survival HorrorSubscribe to our newsletters!By subscribing, you agree to our Privacy Policy and may receive occasional deal communications; you can unsubscribe anytime.Share

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 It has been a strong year for PlayStation Plus subscribers, and November has been particularly excellent with the recent additions to the Extra tier. If you are not a subscriber already, now is the perfect time to re-join Sonys subscription service thanks to the current Black Friday discounts. However, if youre still unsure, you may want to wait for the imminent PS Plus December 2024 games reveal date to pass, and you may also want to be aware of the 19 games set to leave next month. There is a lot of great games for PlayStation loyalists to anticipate very soon. The early access release date for Path of Exile 2 is next month, meanwhile, more Xbox console exclusives are coming to PS5 with Indiana Jones confirmed for 2025. There is also the likelihood that the excellent Stalker 2 will come to PS5 once its timed exclusivity with Xbox comes to an end. While 2025 is shaping up to be another excellent year for PlayStation, all of us are hoping that Sony ends the current year in fine fashion with some great PS Plus December 2024 games. The reveal date is very imminent, and the launch coincides with the deadline for Sonys Black Friday discounts.PS Plus December 2024 games reveal dateThePS Plus December 2024 Essential games should be revealed on November 27th. The next batch of Essential offerings is always revealed one Wednesday before the next crop of announced giveaways come out. SonysPlayStation Blogpost confirms that the next Essential selection will be released on December 3rd. As for Extra and Premium, they should be announced on December 11th. Sony typically announces the Extra and Premium additions on Wednesday one week after the release of the Essentials, and the new Extra and Premium additions should then become playable on December 17th. Before December 3rd arrives, make sure to claim the current Essential giveaways: Hot Wheels Unleashed 2 Turbocharged, Ghostwire Tokyo, and Death Note Killer Within. Even if you dont plan on playing them right now, make sure to add them to your library so you can play them for free some other time in the future.Games leaving PS Plus in December 2024 Below are all 19 games known to be leaving PS Plus in December 2024: Hot Wheels Unleashed 2 Turbocharger Dec 2nd (Essential) Ghostwire Tokyo Dec 2nd (Essential) Death Note Killer Within Dec 2nd (Essential)Stranger of Paradise Final Fantasy Origin trophies(Extra)Judgment trophies(Extra)Dead Island trophies(Extra)Dead Island Riptide trophies(Extra)Moonscars trophies(Extra)Grime trophies(Extra)Tinykin trophies(Extra)Evil Genius 2 World Domination trophies(Extra)Gigabash trophies(Extra)Prodeus trophies(Extra)Metal Hellsinger trophies(Extra)Soulstice trophies(Extra)Vampire the Masquerade Coteries of New York trophies(Extra)Mega Man 11 trophies(Extra)Mega Man Legacy Collection trophies(Premium)Mega Man Legacy Collection 2 trophies(Premium)All of the above Extra and Premium departures come courtesy of True Trophies, and they will leave on December 17th. Looking at the above departures, there are some great games sadly leaving Sonys subscription library. Metal Hellsinger is phenomenal, especially for fans of heavy metal and talents such as Alissa White-Gluz, meanwhile, Judgement is an excellent detective game from the folks responsible for the Yakuza series. Dead Island is brilliant zombie-killing fun, the Mega Man games are beloved classics, and Stranger of Paradise is one of the more recent infamous additions to Final Fantasy. Black Friday deadline Now is your best opportunity to resubscribe to PS Plus thanks to Sonys Black Friday discounts for the PSN store. If you are unsubscribed, you can get a 12-month subscription for the below prices: Essential 47.99 (save 20% off 59.99)Extra 74.99 (save 25% off 99.99)Premium 83.99 (save 30% off 119.99)The deadline for Sonys Black Friday discounts is December 2nd. There are a lot of great games discounted on the PSN store, too, including EA Sports FC 25, Hogwarts Legacy, and over a hundred more. In other PlayStation news, Sony could secure ownership of Elden Ring developer, FromSoftware, in a matter of weeks.Subscribe to our newsletters!By subscribing, you agree to our Privacy Policy and may receive occasional deal communications; you can unsubscribe anytime.Share