In many ways, Colin Levy has lived the dream of many Blender artists. He directed the Blender open movie, Sintel, right out of college. He then landed a job at Pixar and later quit the 9 to 5 to pursue his dream of writing and directing a television series, Skywatch, after his short film of the same title took off and attracted a lot of attention. In recent years though, the Skywatch project has stalled out, dropped by multiple studios, and Colin has been learning the hard way how difficult breaking into Hollywood as a writer and director can be.Kent sat down with Colin at BCON LA to talk about the current state of Skywatch and what Colin has learned about mental health after watching his decade long dream slowly die...for now. You can listen to the conversation below or wherever you find your podcasts, or read on for a short summary.One interesting connection that Kent and Colin share is that they both worked at a studio called Make Visual. Kent joined in 2010 shortly after Colin left and never met him there. But it was actually seeing all of his coworkers gathering around a laptop and cheering on their old buddy Colin while watching Sintel that initially sparked his interest in Blender as a production ready tool. The rest is history!Colin in the podcast room at BCON LA 2024After the success of the Blender short, Colin secured a position at Pixar as a layout artist. There he worked on Piper (my personal favorite short film), Finding Dory, the Good Dinosaur, Inside Out, Monsters University, and more. While he enjoyed working as a layout artist, his heart was always set on writing and directing. After a few years, he decided to strike out on his own.Colins first project using everything he had learned at Blender Studio and Pixar was the short film Skywatch, which took several years to create. It attracted a good amount of attention online after its release, thanks in part to Colins fame in the Blender universe and the fact that he managed to get a celebrity, Jude Law, to play one of the characters. Colin used the short film as a way to pitch a full series to Hollywood production companies, and the rights to the IP were eventually bought by Peacock as well as Fuzzy Door, Seth McFarlanes production company.At this point, the project had a pretty stacked deck and was looking promising. But a sudden one-two punch from COVID and the Hollywood writers' strikes knocked it out completely. Fuzzy Door dropped the project entirely. Another production company could pick it up at any time, but they would need to pay Fuzzy Door a fee plus the full cost of the work that had already gone into it. Convincing another studio to do that is possible, but not likely in the current climate. So, according to Colin, the current version of Skywatch that hes put over a decade of love and effort into is dead. One side effect of his long journey is that hes learned a lot of important lessons about mental health and personal growth over the last several years. And, luckily for us, hes very open about sharing them. When talking to Kent for this episode of the Denoise podcast, a big topic was perfectionism. On one hand it enabled him to become very good at writing, directing, and computer graphics at an early age and certainly helped him land a job at Pixar. On the other hand, being hyper critical of oneself makes it difficult to finish projects and be confident in the value of the work. Imposter syndrome is a very real thing. Interestingly, while Colin might feel those things personally, he clearly has no trouble stepping up and making big decisions for the sake of telling a good story. During the production of Sintel, Tons maxim for the short film was, No story, maximum impact. For a director like Colin, having little emphasis on the story makes it difficult to assess meaningful artistic choices about the world and characters in the film. He had to pushed back and ended up clashing with Ton several times over it. This collaboration (and tension) is what ultimately produced a short film lauded for its touching narrative and beloved by many; specifically for its story. At the beginning, though, it wasnt a certainty that the film would be a hit. When Colin arrived in Amsterdam to help Ton pitch the idea to the Dutch Film Fund to secure funding for the project, he froze up and could not answer their questions that Ton had specifically prepped him for ahead of time. Ton jumped in to save the day and they ended up getting the grant regardless. Colin thought for sure that he would be sent right back home for the mistake. Instead, Ton continued to believe in him throughout the project and, despite their creative differences, supported him 100%. What a compelling reminder to not give up on ourselves and to not give up on other people! Whats next for Colin? Thats still to be determined but, knowing him, we have no doubt it will be great!

This is today's edition ofThe Download,our weekday newsletter that provides a daily dose of what's going on in the world of technology. We saw a demo of the new AI system powering Andurils vision for war James ODonnell One afternoon in late November, I visited a weapons test site in the foothills east of San Clemente, California operated by Anduril, a maker of AI-powered drones and missiles that recently announced a partnership with OpenAI. I went there to witness a new system its expanding today, which allows external parties to tap into its software and share data in order to speed up decision-making on the battlefield.If it works as planned over the course of a new three-year contract with the Pentagon, it could embed AI more deeply than ever before into the theater of war. Read the full story. How to use Sora, OpenAIs new video generating tool OpenAI has just released its video generation model Sora to the public. The announcement yesterday came on the fifth day of the companys shipmas event, a 12-day marathon of tech releases and demos. Heres what you should knowand how you can use the video model right now.James ODonnell This story is the latest in MIT Technology Reviews How To series, which helps you get things done. AIs hype and antitrust problem is coming under scrutinyThe AI sector is plagued by a lack of competition and a lot of deceitor at least thats one way to interpret the latest flurry of actions taken in Washington. The actionsfrom antitrust investigations to accusations of straight-up lyingrepresent an effort to hold the AI industrys hype to account in the final months before the Federal Trade Commissions chair, Lina Khan, is replaced when Donald Trump takes office.But while the FTC looks to have a far smoother transition of leadership ahead than most other federal agencies, at least some of Trumps frustrations with Big Tech could send antitrust efforts in a distinctly new direction. Read the full story.James ODonnell This story is from The Algorithm, our weekly newsletter giving you the inside track on all things happening in the fascinating field of AI. Sign up to receive it in your inbox every Monday. The must-reads Ive combed the internet to find you todays most fun/important/scary/fascinating stories about technology. 1 Google has built a powerful new quantum computing chip But it doesnt have any real-world applicationsyet. (Bloomberg $) + It takes five minutes to solve a problem that a traditional supercomputer could not master in 10 septillion years. (NYT $)+ Its a challenge the quantum field has been trying to crack for decades. (The Guardian)+We covered the work when it was a preprint in September.(MIT Technology Review) 2 Nvidia is being investigated by China It claims the chipmaking giant has violated anti-monopoly laws. (BBC)+ Nvidias biggest customer in the country? That would be ByteDance. (Insider $)+ Whats next in chips. (MIT Technology Review)3 TikTok has asked a US appeals court to halt the buy-or-sell law As it stands, the app faces a ban unless it finds a new owner by January 19. (TechCrunch)4 AI is still failing to deliver on its economic promises Is 2025 the year we finally start to see some results? (Quartz)+ The US AI industry is in desperate need of more sites with power grid access. (FT $)+ How to fine-tune AI for prosperity. (MIT Technology Review)5 The EUs competition rules are on the verge of a big shakeup A new boss means a new approach. (WSJ $)+ European regulators want to get to the bottom of a Meta and Google investigation. (FT $)6 Weight-loss drugs are making basic health truths obsolete A healthy diet and regular exercise is falling by the wayside. (The Atlantic $)+ Weight-loss injections have taken over the internet. But what does this mean for people IRL? (MIT Technology Review)7 This bionic leg is controlled by its wearers brain Prosthetic limbs are becoming much more capable. (New Yorker $)+ These prosthetics break the mold with third thumbs, spikes, and superhero skins. (MIT Technology Review)8 An AI can make a pretty decent Tokyo travel companionJust make sure you take its advice with a pinch of salt. (Wired $) + How to use AI to plan your next vacation. (MIT Technology Review)9 Reddit is testing a new AI search feature Which the sites users are unlikely to take kindly to. (Ars Technica) 10 Jeff Bezos has a dinner with Donald Trump in his diary Sounds cozy. (Insider $)Quote of the day Its like manna from heaven. Ari Morcos, chief executive of startup DatologyAI, explains to the Wall Street Journal why Reddits troves of text are so appealing to AI companies. The big story Inside the enigmatic minds of animals October 2022 More than ever, we feel a duty and desire to extend empathy to our nonhuman neighbors. In the last three years, more than 30 countries have formally recognized other animalsincluding gorillas, lobsters, crows, and octopusesas sentient beings. A trio of books from Ed Yong, Jackie Higgins, and Philip Ball detail creatures rich inner worlds and capture what has led to these developments: a booming field of experimental research challenging the long-standing view that animals are neither conscious nor cognitively complex. Read the full story. Matthew Ponsford We can still have nice things A place for comfort, fun and distraction to brighten up your day. (Got any ideas? Drop me a line or tweet 'em at me.) + It seems we have two types of laugh: one caused by tickling, and the other by everything else.+ 2024 was a strong year for fiction: check out some of the best new books.+ Theres something totally mesmerizing about this collection of old home videos.+ Ukrainian artist Oleg Dron specializes in expansive, haunting landscapes.

One afternoon in late November, I visited a weapons test site in the foothills east of San Clemente, California, operated by Anduril, a maker of AI-powered drones and missiles that recently announced a partnership with OpenAI. I went there to witness a new system its expanding today, which allows external parties to tap into its software and share data in order to speed up decision-making on the battlefield. If it works as planned over the course of a new three-year contract with the Pentagon, it could embed AI more deeply into the theater of war than ever before. Near the sites command center, which looked out over desert scrubs and sage, sat pieces of Andurils hardware suite that have helped the company earn its $14 billion valuation. There was Sentry, a security tower of cameras and sensors currently deployed at both US military bases and the US-Mexico border, and advanced radars. Multiple drones, including an eerily quiet model called Ghost, sat ready to be deployed. What I was there to watch, though, was a different kind of weapon, displayed on two large television screens positioned at the test sites command station. I was here to examine the pitch being made by Anduril, other companies in defense tech, and growing numbers of people within the Pentagon itself: A future great power conflictmilitary jargon for a global war involving competition between multiple countrieswill not be won by the entity with the most advanced drones or firepower, or even the cheapest firepower. It will be won by whoever can sort through and share information the fastest. And that will have to be done at the edge where threats arise, not necessarily at a command post in Washington. A desert drone test Youre going to need to really empower lower levels to make decisions, to understand whats going on, and to fight, Anduril CEO Brian Schimpf says. That is a different paradigm than today. Currently, information flows poorly among people on the battlefield and decision-makers higher up the chain. To show how the new tech will fix that, Anduril walked me through an exercise demonstrating how its system would take down an incoming drone threatening a base of the US military or its allies (the scenario at the center of Andurils new partnership with OpenAI). It began with a truck in the distance, driving toward the base. The AI-powered Sentry tower automatically recognized the object as a possible threat, highlighting it as a dot on one of the screens. Andurils software, called Lattice, sent a notification asking the human operator if he would like to send a Ghost drone to monitor. After a click of his mouse, the drone piloted itself autonomously toward the truck, as information on its location gathered by the Sentry was sent to the drone by the software. The truck disappeared behind some hills, so the Sentry tower camera that was initially trained on it lost contact. But the surveillance drone had already identified it, so its location stayed visible on the screen. We watched as someone in the truck got out and launched a drone, which Lattice again labeled as a threat. It asked the operator if hed like to send a second attack drone, which then piloted autonomously and locked onto the threatening drone. With one click, it could be instructed to fly into it fast enough to take it down. (We stopped short here, since Anduril isnt allowed to actually take down drones at this test site.) The entire operation could have been managed by one person with a mouse and computer. Anduril is building on these capabilities further by expanding Lattice Mesh, a software suite that allows other companies to tap into Andurils software and share data, the company announced today. More than 10 companies are now building their hardware into the systemeverything from autonomous submarines to self-driving trucksand Anduril has released a software development kit to help them do so. Military personnel operating hardware can then publish their own data to the network and subscribe to receive data feeds from other sensors in a secure environment. On December 3, the Pentagons Chief Digital and AI Office awarded a three-year contract to Anduril for Mesh. Andurils offering will also join forces with Maven, a program operated by the defense data giant Palantir that fuses information from different sources, like satellites and geolocation data. Its the project that led Google employees in 2018 to protest against working in warfare. Anduril and Palantir announced on December 6 that the military will be able to use the Maven and Lattice systems together. The militarys AI ambitions The aim is to make Andurils software indispensable to decision-makers. It also represents a massive expansion of how the military is currently using AI. You might think the US Department of Defense, advanced as it is, would already have this level of hardware connectivity. We have some semblance of it in our daily lives, where phones, smart TVs, laptops, and other devices can talk to each other and share information. But for the most part, the Pentagon is behind. Theres so much information in this battle space, particularly with the growth of drones, cameras, and other types of remote sensors, where folks are just sopping up tons of information, says Zak Kallenborn, a warfare analyst who works with the Center for Strategic and International Studies. Sorting through to find the most important information is a challenge. There might be something in there, but theres so much of it that we cant just set a human down and to deal with it, he says. Right now, humans also have to translate between systems made by different manufacturers. One soldier might have to manually rotate a camera to look around a base and see if theres a drone threat, and then manually send information about that drone to another soldier operating the weapon to take it down. Those instructions might be shared via a low-tech messenger appone on par with AOL Instant Messenger. That takes time. Its a problem the Pentagon is attempting to solve through its Joint All-Domain Command and Control plan, among other initiatives. For a long time, weve known that our military systems dont interoperate, says Chris Brose, former staff director of the Senate Armed Services Committee and principal advisor to Senator John McCain, who now works as Andurils chief strategy officer. Much of his work has been convincing Congress and the Pentagon that a software problem is just as worthy of a slice of the defense budget as jets and aircraft carriers. (Anduril spent nearly $1.6 million on lobbying last year, according to data from Open Secrets, and has numerous ties with the incoming Trump administration: Anduril founder Palmer Luckey has been a longtime donor and supporter of Trump, and JD Vance spearheaded an investment in Anduril in 2017 when he worked at venture capital firm Revolution.) Defense hardware also suffers from a connectivity problem. Tom Keane, a senior vice president in Andurils connected warfare division, walked me through a simple example from the civilian world. If you receive a text message while your phone is off, youll see the message when you turn the phone back on. Its preserved. But this functionality, which we dont even think about, Keane says, doesnt really exist in the design of many defense hardware systems. Data and communications can be easily lost in challenging military networks. Anduril says its system instead stores data locally. An AI data treasure trove The push to build more AI-connected hardware systems in the military could spark one of the largest data collection projects the Pentagon has ever undertaken, and companies like Anduril and Palantir have big plans. Exabytes of defense data, indispensable for AI training and inferencing, are currently evaporating, Anduril said on December 6, when it announced it would be working with Palantir to compile data collected in Lattice, including highly sensitive classified information, to train AI models. Training on a broader collection of data collected by all these sensors will also hugely boost the model-building efforts that Anduril is now doing in a partnership with OpenAI, announced on December 4. Earlier this year, Palantir also offered its AI tools to help the Pentagon reimagine how it categorizes and manages classified data. When Anduril founder Palmer Luckey told me in an interview in October that its not like theres some wealth of information on classified topics and understanding of weapons systems to train AI models on, he may have been foreshadowing what Anduril is now building. Even if some of this data from the military is already being collected, AI will suddenly make it much more useful. What is new is that the Defense Department now has the capability to use the data in new ways, Emelia Probasco, a senior fellow at the Center for Security and Emerging Technology at Georgetown University, wrote in an email. More data and ability to process it could support great accuracy and precision as well as faster information processing. The sum of these developments might be that AI models are brought more directly into military decision-making. That idea has brought scrutiny, as when Israel was found last year to have been using advanced AI models to process intelligence data and generate lists of targets. Human Rights Watch wrote in a report that the tools rely on faulty data and inexact approximations. I think we are already on a path to integrating AI, including generative AI, into the realm of decision-making, says Probasco, who authored a recent analysis of one such case. She examined a system built within the military in 2023 called Maven Smart System, which allows users to access sensor data from diverse sources [and] apply computer vision algorithms to help soldiers identify and choose military targets. Probasco said that building an AI system to control an entire decision pipeline, possibly without human intervention, isnt happening and that there are explicit US policies that would prevent it. A spokesperson for Anduril said that the purpose of Mesh is not to make decisions. The Mesh itself is not prescribing actions or making recommendations for battlefield decisions, the spokesperson said. Instead, the Mesh is surfacing time-sensitive informationinformation that operators will consider as they make those decisions.

Submitted by WA ContentsWhispering Curves House features a curved faade, giving a hug to nature in BangaloreIndia Architecture News - Dec 10, 2024 - 14:44 html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40/loose.dtd"Indian architecture practice Suva Architects has completed a house that features a curved faade to "give a bear hug to nature" in Bangalore, India.Named Whispering Curves House the 510-square-metre house is situated on a north facing site in Indiranagar, Bangalore.This house is characterized by a contemporary architectural language, but it also strikes a delicate balance by using classic and tried-and-true architectural principles.The project plot is 40 feet (12 meters) by 60 feet (18 meters), and the curved facade embraces nature. It was created for a famous plastic surgeon, Dr. Anand K., his wife, Mrs. Uma Anand, and his family.The goal was to create a minimalist home with colors that would always radiate good vibes. This brief was an excellent starting point.When designing this house, we made sure that every room was flooded with natural light and had a high rate of fresh air exchange. The studio's ultimate goal was to create a home that this lovely family could call "home."With this, we are delighted to present Suva Architects, a design firm that designs with love, care, and enthusiasm. The studio takes a broad approach and design facilities that are prepared for the future."The light is what guides you home, the warmth is what keeps you there," Ellie Rodriguez.DiagramDiagramGround floor plan1st floor plan2nd floor plan3rd floor planSectionDaughter roomDaughter room2nd daughter room3rd floor planBedroomProject factsProject name: Whispering CurvesArchitecture firm:Suva ArchitectsPrincipal architect:Ar. Suresh B MistryProject location: Bangalore, Karnataka, IndiaBuilt area:5500sqftSite area:2400sqftDesign team:Ar. Suresh B MistryInterior design:Suva ArchitectsDesign year:2022Completion year:2024Landscape:3-Fold DesignStructural engineer: S & S Associates Consulting EngineersEnvironmental & MEP engineering:SECA Consultants (Electrical) Excel Design Associate (Plumbing)Construction:Mr. SudhakarSupervision:Architect and the ClientClient:Dr Anand K, Mrs Uma AnandAll images Ekansh Goel.All drawings Suva Architects.> via Suva Architects

Submitted by WA ContentsPantone chooses Mocha Mousse as Pantone's Color of the Year 2025 Germany Architecture News - Dec 10, 2024 - 13:30 html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40/loose.dtd"The leading color authority, Pantone, has selected Mocha Mousse as the color of 2025, describing it as an "evocative soft brown that transports our senses into pleasure and deliciousness."The Pantone Colour Institute described that a warm, rich brown hue, Pantone 17-1230 Mocha Mousse, evokes comfort with its suggestion of delectable cacao, chocolate, and coffee."Underpinned by our desire for every day pleasures, Pantone 17-1230 Mocha Mousse expresses a level of thoughtful indulgence says Leatrice Eiseman, Executive Director Pantone Color Institute."Sophisticated and lush, yet at the same time an unpretentious classic""Sophisticated and lush, yet at the same time an unpretentious classic, Pantone 17-1230 Mocha Mousse extends our perceptions of the browns from being humble and grounded to embrace aspirational and luxe.""Infused with subtle elegance and earthy refinement, Pantone 17-1230 Mocha Mousse presents a discrete and tasteful touch of glamour. A flavorful brown shade, Pantone 17-1230 Mocha Mousse envelopes us with its sensorial warmth," Eiseman explained.A trend to bring ourselves closer to nature is gaining momentum. Pantone 17-1230 Mocha Mousse, which is distinguished by its organic composition, respects and values the nourishment of our natural surroundings.Genuinely authentic, Pantone 17-1230 Mocha Mousse strikes a balance between the enduring beauty of artistic expression and the demands of contemporary."The everlasting search for harmony filters through into every aspect of our lives including our relationships, the work we do, our social connections and the natural environment that surrounds us. Harmony brings feelings of contentment, inspiring a positive state of inner peace, calm, and balance as well as being tuned in with the world around us. Harmony embraces a culture of connection and unity as well as the synthesis of our mental, spiritual and physical well-being," added Laurie Pressman, Vice President of the Pantone Color Institute."With that in mind, for Pantone Color of the Year 2025 we look to a color that reaches into our desire for comfort and wellness, and the indulgence of simple pleasures that we can gift and share with others," Pressman continued.For the first time, Pantone will use the hue in events and experiences throughout the globe to commemorate the 26th anniversary of Pantone hue of the Year.In order to make the Pantone Color of Year 2025 available to everyone, Pantone will share public areas and color events from New York, London, Shanghai, and Mumbai.Pantone gives manufacturers and marketers the global language of color so they can make color-critical decisions at every step of the process.Using cutting-edge X-Rite technology to achieve color consistency across a variety of materials and finishes for graphics, fashion, and product design, Pantone products and services are used by over 10 million designers and producers worldwide to help define, communicate, and control color from inspiration to realization. In 2021, Pantone selected "Ultimate Gray" and "Illuminating" for color of the year 2021.All images courtesy of Pantone.> via Pantone

Bring your smart home to life with a smart speaker. After testing several options, these are our top picks.

Our Picks View details See at Mimi View details View details See at MDHearing View details View details See at Soundly View details View details See at Amplifon View details View details See at Starkey View details Table of Contents Hearing loss is a common part of aging, yet it often goes untreated despite the many available treatment options. The National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders reports that less than 30% of US adults aged 70 or older with hearing loss have ever used a hearing aid. When you look at adults in the 20 to 69 age range, that number is even lower at 16%. If you're unsure whether your hearing needs attention or are hesitant to visit a specialist, starting with an online hearing test can be a great first step. These tests are quick, convenient and informative, which means you can also share them with your doctor.Read more: 50+ Best Christmas Gifts 2024: Early Ideas for This Year's Holiday ShoppingIn all practicality, the only way to properly diagnose hearing loss is to go to an audiologist for a professional exam. But online hearing tests are a fairly accurate way to get an initial idea of your hearing abilities from the comfort of your home, just don't take the results as the final word. Online hearing tests can be grouped into a few common types, including a pure-tone hearing test, which measures your ability to hear sounds of different frequencies, and a speech-in-noise test, which evaluates how well you can hear spoken words above background noises. But with the endless sea of free hearing test options online, it's sometimes hard to know which is the best option for your needs. To help you choose the best home hearing test, we tried 20 and picked our absolute favorites. For the most accurate hearing test results, we recommend that you take the test with a high-quality pair of earbuds or headphones in the quietest area you can find. For more on hearing health, check out the best over-the-counter hearing aids you can buy.Best online hearing test overallThe Mimi hearing test app is our top pick overall because it offers multiple test types, is very easy to use and doesn't require any email sign-up. The results are more informative than other free tests, and you can go back and access them on an ongoing basis (they're saved for you in the app). Best online hearing tests of 2024 See at Mimi Cost: FreeTest length: About 7 minutesType: Pure-tone and "masked threshold"The Mimi hearing test comes in the form of an app that you can download to your phone or laptop. You don't have to sign up, and it's free -- just input some basic info, and you can access detailed results that include an audiogram and a comparison of each ear.Unlike most other online tests, this one offers two test options: the first is a regular pure-tone test, and the second is similar to a speech-in-noise test but uses tones instead of speech. Mimi calls the latter a "masked threshold" test. The app measures whether you're in a quiet enough area to get accurate results, and it can pair with your Apple AirPods to calibrate (and if you find that you have hearing loss, it can work with your AirPods to make adjustments accordingly). It works best with headphones it can pair with, including the AirPods and some Sennheiser models, but can still be used with whatever you have.Pros:Highly intuitiveMultiple test optionsDetailed resultsNo sign-up requiredCons:Works best with Apple or Sennheiser headphonesOnly available via app See at MDHearing Cost: FreeTest length: About 8 minutesType: Pure-toneMDHearing's free online hearing test is a pure-tone test, which looks at how well you can hear various tones of different frequencies. You adjust the volume of each tone until it's as low as possible while still being audible, then move on to the next one. The test's interface was more intuitive than some other online tests that use a similar format. It requires an email sign-up, but you don't have to take lengthy surveys (as many hearing aid brands' online tests require), and I didn't get any spam emails after taking the test.The results of this test are detailed enough to be informative, yet easy to understand and not too overwhelming. They include an audiogram along with a guide to interpreting it, and there's a phone number to text or call for follow-up care. When it comes to free online hearing tests, for an easy, quick look at your hearing health, this test does the trick.Pros:SimpleEasy to useInformative resultsCons:Requires email sign-up See at Soundly Cost: FreeTest length: About 5 minutesType: Pure-toneOne of the challenges with online hearing tests is that home equipment isn't standardized -- your headphone quality, volume, background noise and so on can all affect the accuracy of your results. Many tests have ways of accounting for this, however. In Soundly's case, the test has you rub your hands together in front of your headphones to calibrate the volume of your headphones to the test's volume. The rest of the process consists of a standard pure-tone test in which you mark the lowest tone of each frequency that you can hear, on a set of sliders.Soundly's results are nice and detailed and include an audiogram, explanations of each type of frequency and a video with an audiologist who explains how to interpret the test.Audiograms can be confusing at first glance, so having both a written and video explanation is super helpful. This test requires an email sign-up and a brief survey at the start, but aside from the results, I didn't get any pesky marketing emails after taking the test.Pros:Sound calibration stepEasy to useDetailed results with videoCons:Email sign-up required

December 10, 20243 min readHow the Santa Ana Winds Are Stoking the Malibu FireDry weather and an extreme Santa Ana wind event have contributed to the explosive growth of the Franklin Fire in Malibu, Calif.By Andrea ThompsonA firefighter pulls a water hose as the Franklin Fire burns palm trees near a building on December 10, 2024, in Malibu, Calif. Mario Tama/Getty ImagesThe Franklin Fire, which erupted on Monday night north of Pepperdine University in the Malibu area of Los Angeles County, rapidly grew to burn more than 2,200 acres in a matter of hours because of extremely dry weatherand an unusually strong bout of the regions infamous Santa Ana winds.The Santa Ana winds are a common driver of fast-moving, damaging fires in the area because they can rapidly fan and spread the flames. Some gusts near the latest fire have reached more than 50 miles per hour.The Santa Ana winds are the result of a particular meteorological setup: Usually what happens is: theres a low-pressure [atmospheric] system that goes up over California and into Washington State and Oregon and then drops southward through Nevada and Arizona, says Mike Wofford, a meteorologist at the National Weather Services office in Los Angeles. We call that an inside slider. As that low-pressure system moves out, an area of high pressure moves in behind it. And its that high pressure over Nevada and lower pressure over California that drives those winds, Wofford explains, because the winds go from high to low.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 stronger the difference between the high and low areas, the faster the winds will beand the high-pressure system over Nevada right now is relatively strong, Wofford says. As the winds move into southern California, they are funneled through its many narrow mountain canyons; this causes the winds to speed up. Its like squeezing a balloon and just having the air squirt out, Wofford says. (The Santa Ana winds actually take their name from Santa Ana Canyon, which lies between the Santa Ana Mountains and the Chino Hills.) In some parts of the mountains around Los Angeles, gusts above 70 miles per hour have been reported. A 93-mile-per-hour gust was recorded at Magic Mountain Truck Trail. The current wind event is similar to one in early November that fanned the flames of the Mountain Fire, which burned several hundred structures in Ventura County.Santa Ana wind events are common at this time of year, but yesterdays and todays windspeeds are unusually strong. And because they are, by nature, hot and dry, these winds also particularly help fuel fires. As the winds move downslope over the deserts, the air compresses and warmsand as it does so, it also dries out. Those dry winds can further desiccate already-parched vegetation, further priming it to ignite from the slightest spark.Were marginally a desert even in normal years, Wofford says. Vegetation in the area of the Franklin Fire was already dry after months of almost no rain. Cold-season rains have usually arrived after the regions hot, dry summers, reducing fire risk. But this years rains have not yet started in this area.Forecasters had issued a particularly dangerous situation red flag warning for the area for Monday night through Tuesday afternoon because of the winds and dry conditions. Relative humidity levels were reaching as low as 3 percent, Wofford says. Everything is very crispy.The winds are expected to die down later on Tuesday and into Wednesday, but conditions are still ripe for further blazesand the further spread of the Franklin Fire. Evacuation orders have been issued for parts of the coast, and part of the Pacific Coast Highway is closed, as are Malibu schools. The fire is currently 0 percent contained.

December 9, 20246 min readNASAs Artemis Program Hits Another DelayAnd Looks to the FutureWhile contending with lingering hardware issues for its crewed lunar plans, the U.S. space agency projects confidence and urgency in a time of transitionBy Michael GreshkoThe damaged heat shield of NASAs Orion crew spacecraft, as seen after the Artemis I lunar test flight. The scorching temperatures of atmospheric reentry eroded the heat shield more than expected, contributing to delays for the Artemis program. NASAWith its Artemis program, NASA aims to return humans to the moon for the first time in more than 50 years. And on the eve of a new presidential administration, agency officials have announced both a delay to the programs next major mission and their intent to make that mission more ambitious in scope.At a press conference last week at NASA headquarters in Washington, D.C., agency leadership announced that lingering hardware issues have forced NASA to push back Artemis IIa four-person crewed flight in an Orion spacecraft around the moon and back to Earthfrom September 2025 to April 2026.Most observers had already considered a 2025 launch unlikely. That Orion crafts ride into spaceNASAs Space Launch System (SLS) rocketisnt fully assembled at the agencys Kennedy Space Center in Florida. That places it behind the pace set by its predecessor, the uncrewed Artemis I mission. Artemis I launched in November 2022, after its SLS had been fully assembled about a year in advance.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 safety of our astronauts is always first in our decisions; it is our North Star, said NASA administrator Bill Nelson in a press conference at the agencys headquarters. We do not fly until we are ready. We do not fly until we are confident that we have made the flight as safe as possible for the humans onboard. We need to do this next test flight, and we need to do it rightand thats how the Artemis campaign proceeds.That said, agency officials are also thinking bigger about the programs planned missions.As originally conceived, Artemis II was a 2020s version of the 1968 mission Apollo 8, a no-frills journey around the moon and back to Earth to prove out NASAs ability to send people safely to and from the lunar vicinity. But now that development of SpaceXs Starship rocket is progressing rapidly, NASA officials are considering increasing the scope of Artemis II. Starship is intended to land NASA astronauts on the moons surface during the subsequent Artemis III mission, making the private rocket a crucial pillar of the public space agencys ambitious plans for crewed lunar return.NASA is now exploring the possibility of launching a Starship in parallel with Artemis II, with an eye toward possibly rehearsing the sorts of maneuvers that will need to be performed between Starship and Orion during Artemis III, which would be the first crewed moon landing attempt since 1972.We always want to look for ways to exploit new technology [and] new capabilities that, even five years ago, seemed like they were a bit out of reach, said Reid Wiseman, Artemis IIs commander, at last weeks press conference. Youre going to ask an astronaut to do more on their mission? Bring it on.Feeling the HeatThe delay of Artemis II stems from lingering hardware issues with the missions Orion spacecraft, the home away from home for its four astronauts. The big-ticket item: an investigation into the main material of Orions heat shield, an epoxy resin called Avcoat that misbehaved during Artemis I.What struck me the most was the level of detail that they provided. These are very complicated missions and very complicated technologies, and you dont often get down into the nuts and bolts of why things are not working, says Iain Boyd, an aerospace engineering professor at the University of Colorado Boulder, who models spacecraft thermal protection systems. Certainly, part of it is messaging to Congress and other stakeholders across the enterpriseto convey that they know what theyre doing.Avcoat is extremely well characterized: it played a key role in the heat shields used during the Apollo program and underwent major testing ahead of its use in Artemis. Samples of Orions heat-shield materials went through more than 1,000 ground tests, the overall design went through many supercomputer simulations, and a test version of Orion successfully flew to space in December 2014. Even so, at the press conference, agency officials said that the material still contained surprises.Although slated to launch no earlier than April 2026, engineers and technicians are already stacking the solid rocket boosters for NASAs Artemis II crewed lunar mission.NASA/Glenn BensonDuring Artemis Is reentry, Orion screamed through Earths atmosphere at a blistering speed of nearly 25,000 miles per hour (40,000 kilometers per hour), subjecting the heat shield to temperatures approaching 5,000 degrees Fahrenheit. The heat shield did its job, keeping conditions clement inside the spacecraft, but unpleasant surprises still arose in those hellish conditions. Postflight inspections revealed more than 100 places on that Orion crafts heat shield where material wore away differently than expected, in some cases leaving pits roughly as wide as baseballs on the shields surface.At the briefing, NASA deputy administrator Pam Melroy announced that this pitting stemmed in part from the Artemis I flight plan, which included whats known as a skip reentry, in which Orion dipped into and out of the upper atmosphere to help slow its descent. This flight plan caused gas-generating thermal energy to accumulate within the heat shields outer layer. Extensive testing revealed that the Avcoat across the Artemis I Orions heat shield was unevenly permeable to gas outflowsand that, in areas that were less permeable, gases built up to the point of cracking the material.In response, the agency is modifying future Orions reentry trajectories to lessen the heating that caused the gas buildup. Future heat shields, NASA officials said, will be built with Avcoat of the proper permeability.Just because our bottom-line temperatures were within four factors of safety, just because our guidance was right down the middle, just because we had the right amount of virgin Avcoat material left, it is tempting to believe that that means the spacecraft ... performed with margin, added Amit Kshatriya, deputy associate administrator for NASAs Moon to Mars Program. But everything we've learned in our history tells us that that's not what margin means.A Path Forward and a Changing of the GuardThe Avcoat investigationand the messaging around its technical excellencealso represents a swan song for the Biden administrations NASA leadership. Nelson, a former U.S. congressional representative and a former U.S. senator from Florida, announced previously that he would be leaving the agency at the end of the year. The day before the press conference, President-elect Donald Trump announced that he would nominate billionaire technology CEO and philanthropist Jared Isaacman to lead NASA. Isaacman has commanded two private SpaceX orbital missions: Inspiration4, back in 2021, and Polaris Dawn.Isaacmans extensive ties to SpaceXs human spaceflight program could portend major shifts to Artemiswhich is still contending with delays on key hardware. For example, to accommodate planned upgrades to the SLS for Artemis missions now slated for the late 2020s, NASA needs a new mobile launch tower. In 2019 the agency estimated that the project would cost less than half a billion dollars and would be done in 2023. It will now be delivered in September 2027 at a total cost of $1.8 billion, according to an August report by NASAs Office of Inspector General.The pieces of what is now Artemis have dealt with delays for years; the SLS was originally supposed to fly in late 2016. And with the latest delay of Artemis II, roughly three and a half years will have elapsed between Artemiss first two major launches. Thats a far cry from the roughly annual cadence that NASA hopes to achieve with the program by the early 2030s.That said, the SLS and Orion have long enjoyed strong support from Congressa key reason why Artemis is the only U.S. moon program since Apollo to have survived largely intact across two presidential administrations. If Isaacman intends to revamp Artemis by minimizing or entirely removing these costly components, he may well face hostile questions and stiff opposition from the powers that be during his Senate confirmation hearing next yearand into his notional tenure as NASAs latest leader.We are handing to the new administration a safe and reliable way forward for us: which is to go back to the moon, to get there before China, to have presence in cislunar [space] ... and to be on the way [from the] moon to Mars, Nelson said at the press conference. I think weve got that wrapped up with a bow.

Black Myth: Wukong's big new patch adds shrine challenges, a 'chart to chart the journeyer's journey'And it's rolling out now.Image credit: Eurogamer/Game Science News by Matt Wales News Reporter Published on Dec. 11, 2024 We already knew Black Myth: Wukong was set to receive a couple of "surprises" before the end of the year, thanks to some previous teasing from its director - and it now appears at least some of those are here, courtesy of a big new update for the record-breaking action-RPG.Black Myth's new stuff begins with its Keeper's Shrine challenges, which unlock after completing the game once. These come in two flavours - Return of Rivals and Gauntlet of Legends - both bringing back previously defeated foes for a rematch.Return of Rivals is all about one-on-one fights, with players able to challenge former opponents to a duel across one of three levels of selectable difficulty. Gauntlet of Legends, meanwhile, features a number of returning enemies - some with new moves - battled in succession, with difficulty based around customisable curses. Successfully beating a gauntlet rewards rare treasures, but developer Game Science warns challenges won't be available if their corresponding opponents haven't yet been defeated in the main game.Black Myth: Wukong trailer.Watch on YouTubeElsewhere in today's update (officially known as 1.0.12.16581, number fans), players can now lay their hands on Journeyer's Charts - featuring landscapes organised "for guidance and marking". Which is to say, maps. Journeyer's Charts are initially unlocked after meeting the Keeper in Black Wind Mountain, and new ones can be purchased for each visited territory at shrines. As Game Science so wonderfully puts it, "Let the chart chart the journeyer's journey."And for players looking to shake up their wardrobe, Black Myth's new update brings four special armour pieces added to celebrate the upcoming Chinese New Year. These can be claimed under "Trailblazer's Gift" at any Keeper's Shrine. Beyond the big headline additions, Black Myth's 1.0.12.16581 brings a whole host of bug fixes and improvements covering everything from performance and localisation issues to boss tweaks. Oh, and the Black Myth: Wukong Soundtrack Selection has been added to the music library. All this is available on the Epic Games Store right now, with the update slowly rolling out across other platforms - so you might need to wait a little before you can probe its wares. Full patch notes are available on Game Science's website.Black Myth: Wukong's latest update arrives just ahead of this year's The Game Awards, where it's been nominated across several different categories: best action game, best art direction, best game direction, Player's Voice award, and game of the year. And if you're curious to know how it fares, the show kicks off this Friday, 13th December, at 1am in the UK. Or just go to bed and read about it all on Eurogamer when you're sufficiently ready to start the day.Will The Game Awards also bring a long-awaited Xbox release date for Black Myth: Wukong (or maybe even a surprise drop in a similar fashion to Baldur's Gate 3)? All will be revealed soon.