These 500-Year-Old Cannons May Help Unravel the Mysteries of the Coronado ExpeditionThe 16th-century artifacts were found during excavations in Arizona. Researchers say they may be the oldest firearms ever discovered in the continental United States During asystematic metal detector survey in southern Arizona, Deni Seymour unearthed a 16th-century cannon likely left behind by Spanish conquistadors. Deni SeymourIn 1541, Spanish explorers established a settlement called San Geronimo III in present-day southern Arizona. Led byFrancisco Vzquez de Coronado, the conquistadors were exploring what is now the American Southwest in hopes of finding riches and gold.But not long after setting up San Geronimo III near the Santa Cruz River, the Spanish explorers encountered an Indigenous community known as theSobaipuri Oodham. The two groups engaged in battle, with the Sobaipuri Oodham ultimately prevailing. The Spanish conquistadors fled, leaving behind some of their weapons and belongings as they made a speedy getaway.Now, archaeologists have unearthed two of the defeated groups 16th-century cannons. They may be the oldest firearms ever discovered in the continental United States.Researchers discovered the first cannon in the fall of 2020 during a systematic metal detector survey of the San Geronimo III site, according to a paper published last month in theInternational Journal of Historical Archaeology.They did not find any evidence of gunpowder residue on the 40-pound weapon, which is in pristine condition and made of bronze, the researchers write in the paper. Archaeologists think the battle may have started so quickly that the Spanish conquistadors didnt have time to fire the 3.5-foot-long cannon.This cannon and the battle that occurred around it are significant in that they represent the earliest successful Native American uprising in the continental U.S. since the Spaniards did not come back for 150 years, says study co-authorDeni Seymour, an independent archaeologist who leads the excavations at San Geronimo III, toGizmodos Isaac Schultz.Archaeologists found a second cannon in March 2024, reportsLive Sciences Owen Jarus. Theyre still investigating the find, but they can already see that the cannons barrel was blown off.It was fired in the battle, which is when and why the barrel blew out, Seymour tells Live Science. [The Spanish explorers] probably put too much powder in trying to repel an onslaught of attackers who were overrunning them.The two cannons are also known as hook guns or hackbuts. These were lightweight weapons that were relatively easy to transport on the backs of horses, mules or humans. When used in battle, they were typically placed on large, wooden tripods and probably fired by two men.The cannons likely fired buckshot, a type of ammunition that consisted of 86 small pellets. Researchers likened this style of ammunition to a swarm of hornets, they write in the paper.Even a single pellet, depending on where it hits, can put an aggressor out of action, they write. The cannon weighs roughly 40 pounds and measures 3.5 feet long. Deni SeymourSeymour and her colleagues also found other artifacts at the site, including crossbow bolts, lead bullets, swords, daggers, chain mail and plate armor. They also unearthed European pottery, pieces of olive jars and arowel spur.The discovery of the weapons in Arizona shows that the Spanish conquest, like the English and Dutch ones that came later, were precisely that: conquest and violence first; discovery second,Sharonah Fredrick, a scholar of Hispanic studies at the College of Charleston who was not involved with the project, tells Live Science.With her research in Arizona, Seymour hopes to learn more about Coronados expedition. Coronado had been serving as the governor of a province in Mexicothen calledNew Spainwhen he first learned about the fabledSeven Cities of Cbola. Lured by the promise of vast treasures, he launched an expedition to these mysterious destinations to the north.Coronados crew of 300 Spaniards and more than 1,000 Native Americans headed north in February 1540. They never found the riches theyd been promised, but they did explore present-day Arizona, New Mexico, Texas and Kansas. In 1542, the group returned to Mexico.Many aspects of the Coronado expedition remain a mystery to historians. But the recent excavations in Arizona may help fill out some of the missing details, says Matthew Schmader, an archaeologist at the University of New Mexico who is not involved with the project, to theWashington Posts Kyle Melnick.That particular area, that portion of the expeditionary route, is really pretty unknown, he adds.Get the latest stories in your inbox every weekday.Filed Under: American History, Archaeology, Artifacts, Colonialism, Explorers, History, Indigenous Peoples, Mexico, New Research, Spain, Weapons

A recently excavated mastodon tooth found in a backyard, still embedded in the jaw New York State MuseumWhile mowing the lawn back in September, a homeowner in Orange County, New York, spotted strange objects poking through the plants. At first, the resident thought they were baseballs. But after picking them up, it became clear they were something much rarer: giant fossil teeth.The homeownerwho, according to the Associated Press, wishes to remain anonymousalerted the appropriate experts, leading researchers from the state museum and SUNY Orange to descend upon the backyard and begin an excavation. As they unearthed the remains, they revealed a complete mastodon jaw.The prehistoric finding, which is the first of its kind uncovered in New York in more than 11 years, was announced in a New York State Educational Department statement on Tuesday.Mastodons were large, tusked, elephant-like mammals distantly related to woolly mammoths and modern elephants. Slightly smaller than mammoths, they existed around the world from the early Miocene (2.6 million to 23 million years ago) through the Pleistocene (11,700 to 2.6 million years ago). In North America, however, the enormous mammals likely survived even longer, meaning their presence likelyoverlapped with the arrival of humans on the continent. Like mammoths, mastodons disappeared toward the end of the last ice age, when a series of factors, including climate change and human hunting, drove many large animals to extinction, as Jess Thomson reports for Newsweek. The excavated mastodon teeth New York State Educational DepartmentThis discovery is a testament to the rich paleontological history of New York and the ongoing efforts to understand its past, Robert Feranec, the New York State Museums director of research and collections, says in the statement. This mastodon jaw provides a unique opportunity to study the ecology of this magnificent species, which will enhance our understanding of the Ice Age ecosystems from this region.Fossils are resources that provide remarkable snapshots of the past, allowing us to not only reconstruct ancient ecosystems but also provide us with better context and understanding of the current world around us, he adds.In addition to the well-preserved jaw, the researchers also uncovered a part of a rib and toe bone. They plan on further analyzing the jaw and bone fragments, including through carbon dating, to better understand the animals age, diet and prehistoric habitat, according to the statement. For now, the researchers have identified the remains as belonging to an adult mastodon.The magnitude of the find surprised even the museum experts. Initially I just thought we would kind of poke around and grab the other tooth and pull it out of the ground, and that would be it, Feranec says to ABCs Eyewitness News. But as we poked around that other tooth, it wasnt moving, and we kind of poked around a little more and realized that it was stuck in something. The recently excavated mastodon toe (bottom) compared with a toe from the Temple Hill Mastodon (top), which was previously uncovered in Orange County, New York New York State MuseumIm thrilled that our property has yielded such an important find for the scientific community, the homeowner says in the statement.Orange County is well-known for its mastodon fossilsin fact, about a third of the 150 mastodon fossils unearthed in New York state were discovered in Orange County.This might be due to the fact that retreating Ice Age glaciers left behind a kind of Ice Age lake with biologically rich land that attracted animals to the region, Cory Harris, chair of SUNY Oranges behavioral sciences department, tells the Times Unions Lana Bellamy and Phillip Pantuso. He adds that modern human activities in the area, like land development, also increase the chance of finding fossils.However, even though Orange County has a lot of mastodons relative to the rest of the state and, really, the rest of the country, as Harris tells ABC, that still doesnt mean you find it every day.The recent mastodon discovery will be included in public programming next year, according to the statement, and the researchers hope to continue exploring the area around the fateful Orange County backyard for future excavations.Get the latest stories in your inbox every weekday.Filed Under: Bones, Cool Finds, Elephants, Fossils, Mammals, Paleontology, Teeth

Sombrero ground lizards (Pholidoscelis corvinus) are endemic to Sombrero Island, north of Anguilla, which means they're found nowhere else on the planet. Jenny Daltry / Re:wild / Fauna & FloraA cheeky and charismatic lizard found only on a small Caribbean island has bounced back from the brink of extinction, according to a new survey.Biologists are celebrating the recovery of the Sombrero ground lizard (Pholidoscelis corvinus), a critically endangered reptile thats endemic to Sombrero Islandmeaning it cant be found anywhere else on Earth. And, just years ago, the creature had been nearly wiped out from its home.The species population had dwindled to fewer than 100 individuals in 2018. But, thanks to targeted conservation efforts, more than 1,600 of the scaly, black-blue reptiles are now scampering across the arid, limestone island. The nonprofit conservation group Flora & Fauna announced the latest numbers this week, in partnership with the Anguilla National Trust and Re:wild.We were absolutely ecstatic when we analyzed the results of our population surveys and found this enormous increase in their numbers, says Farah Mukhida, the executive director of Anguilla National Trust, to Popular Sciences Laura Baisas. Conservationists are working to rebuild the soil and plant life on Sombrero Island. Flora & FaunaSombrero Island is a rocky, uninhabited outpost located roughly 34 miles northwest of Anguilla. The 94-acre island is situated within the Anegada Passage, a channel between the Caribbean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean. Its home to the remains of an old lighthouse, as well as a newer lighthouse that was automated in 2001, reports National Park Travelers Jennifer Bain.Despite its diminutive size, the island provides habitat for many creaturesincluding brown boobies, the Sombrero Island bee, a pygmy gecko and the Sombrero Island wind scorpion. Migratory birds stop at the island in the spring and fall, and several species breed there, including sooty terns and laughing gulls. The waters surrounding the island also support coral reefs, sargassum and seaweed; endangered green sea turtles often visit to forage.Starting in the 1800s, however, American and British miners began flocking to Sombrero Island to take advantage of its abundant seabird guano, which can be used as fertilizer. In the process, they introduced invasive mice and ravaged the ecosystem. The island was once covered in trees and even had its own endemic giant tortoise speciesbut it was pillaged to the point of being nothing more than a barren moonscape, wrote the Guardians Patrick Greenfield in 2022.Sombrero Island has been so degraded by human activity that it no longer looks like a hat to approaching sailors, per the Guardian.More recently, devastating hurricanes have further damaged Sombrero Island, and such storms in 2018 ledthe ground lizards population to crash. The whole island was on the verge of ecological collapse, according to a statement from Flora & Fauna.But since 2021, conservation groups have been working to reintroduce native plants and remove the invasive mice. The past three years have seen painstaking restoration activity, Mukhida says in the statement. That type of work is not an easy feat on such a remote and rocky island.Now, their efforts are paying off: The island is considered pest-free and is brimming with green plants like sea bean, seagrape and prickly pear. And as for the Sombrero ground lizards, their numbers have ballooned by 16 times in six years.The island isnt the lush, tree-covered landscape it once wasthat will likely take years. But conservationists are hopeful that within the next decade or so, theyll be able to build the soil back up enough to support trees and bushes, per the Guardian.Conservationists say their work is important not only to protect the islands animals now, but also into the future. Sombrero Island, which has a maximum elevation of 39 feet, is susceptible to new threats with climate change, including sea-level rise, higher temperatures, more intense storms and longer droughtsand so are Sombrero ground lizards.Already there are reports that the island has been completely inundated by storm surges from major hurricanes, and modelling indicates that the frequency and intensity of hurricanes in the Caribbean will continue to increase, according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature.Get the latest stories in your inbox every weekday.Filed Under: Animals, Caribbean, Climate Change, Conservation, Ecology, Endangered Species, Good News, Hurricanes, Lizards, Plants, Reptiles, Water, wildlife

Join our daily and weekly newsletters for the latest updates and exclusive content on industry-leading AI coverage. Learn MoreOpenAI has expanded the number of applications its desktop apps can work with, including allowing Advanced Voice Mode to work with other apps, and is moving closer to ChatGPT using computers.The desktop app introduced integrations in November with an initial four applications. During Day 11 of its 12 Days of OpenAI event, OpenAI announced several new integrated development environments (IDEs), terminals and text apps it will support.ChatGPT now supports BBEdit, MatLab, Nova, Script Editor, TextMate as IDEs, VS Code for VSCode Insiders, VSCodium, Cursor, WindSurf, the JetBrains family of IDEs of Android Studio, AppCode, CLion, DataGrip, GoLand, IntelliJ IDEA, PHPStorm, PyCharm, RubyMine, RustRover and WebStorm. It also added the Warp and Prompt terminal apps as integration. These applications join VS Code, Xcode, Terminal, iTerm 2 and TextEdit as integrated apps.But coding applications wont be the only applications that ChatGPT desktop apps can access. OpenAI also added Apple Notes, Notion and Quip to its integrations. Advanced Voice Mode can work with these applications, considering the context of projects in the integrations.OpenAI emphasized that users must give ChatGPT permission to access these applications.Letting ChatGPT use your computer for youApp integrations with AI chatbots are, of course, nothing new. In October, GitHub Copilot added coding platform integrations. Connecting applications to ChatGPT or Copilot brings context from those platforms into the chat experience. Developers can prompt ChatGPT for some coding help for a project they have on VS Code, and the chatbot understands what theyve been working on.Kevin Weil, chief product officer at OpenAI, said during a live stream that improving the desktop app will help the company get closer to a more agentic user experience for ChatGPT.Weve been putting a lot of effort into our desktop apps, said Weil. As our models get increasingly powerful, ChatGPT will more and more become agentic. That means well go beyond just questions and answers; ChatGPT will begin doing things for you.He added that the desktop apps are a big part of that transformation.Being a desktop app you can do much more than you can than just a browser tab, he said. That includes things like, with your permission, being able to see whats on your screen and being able to automate a lot of the work youre doing on your desktop. Well have a lot more to say on that as we go into 2025.If OpenAI lets ChatGPT see more of your computer, ChatGPT will get closer to Anthropics Claude Computer Use feature, which allows Claude to click around a persons computer, navigate screens and even type text.OpenAI already announced a fairly similar feature for the mobile version of ChatGPT, although the chatbot cannot yet access computers or phones the same way. Users can share their screens with the chatbot so it can see what theyre reading or looking at. Microsoft and Google also developed comparable features with Copilot Vision and Project Astra.How to accessOn MacOS, users who want to open ChatGPT while using other applications can use option + space to pull up ChatGPT and choose the application they need through a button on the chat screen. Another shortcut, option + shift + 1, brings up the topmost application used.From that window, users can also access Advanced Voice Mode in the same way. Voice mode automatically detects context from the application.Integrations are available to ChatGPT Plus, Pro, Team, Enterprise and Edu users. However, Enterprise and Edu subscribers must ask their IT administrators to turn on the feature.Daily insights on business use cases with VB DailyIf you want to impress your boss, VB Daily has you covered. We give you the inside scoop on what companies are doing with generative AI, from regulatory shifts to practical deployments, so you can share insights for maximum ROI.Read our Privacy PolicyThanks for subscribing. Check out more VB newsletters here.An error occured.

Zoned and Paramount have brought SpongeBob to Fortnites UEFN platform in four new UGC-based experiences.Read More

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Tencent directors step down from Epic Games' board after US Justice Department "expressed concerns"Law states directors should not serve on the boards of competing companies, such as Epic and RiotImage credit: Epic Games News by Vikki Blake Contributor Published on Dec. 19, 2024 Two Tencent directors have left Epic Games' board of directors after the US Justice Department "expressed concerns" about their positions.In a statement posted on the US Justice Department's website, the report said the department believed the appointment on both the Epic and Tencent boards violated Section 8 of the Clayton Act, an antitrust law that seeks to protect consumers from practices that could be harmful.The law states that directors and officers should not serve simultaneously on the boards of competing companies, such as Epic and Riot.Consequently, Tencent has amended its shareholder agreement with Epic to "relinquish its unilateral right to appoint directors or observers" on the latter's board given it owns a minority stake in Epic whilst also being the parent company of Epic competitor, Riot Games."Scrutiny around interlocking directorates continues to be an enforcement priority for the Antitrust Division," said the department's deputy director of civil enforcement, Miriam R. Vishio."Due to the hard work of our tremendous staff, our increased enforcement around Section 8 over the last few years has achieved substantial results and become part of our fabric."Tencent is said to be holding off taking part in the buyout of Assassin's Creed publisher Ubisoft and increasing its stake in Ubisoft until it has been promised a greater influence when it comes to future board decisions.

Twitch watch time broadly stable in 2024 at 18.9bn hours"Expect 2025 to be a big year for multistreaming as the tools evolve and become more accessible" News by Vikki Blake Contributor Published on Dec. 19, 2024 Watch time on Twitch has remained stable year-over-year, with 18.9bn hours watched in 2023 compared to 18.5bn this year.StreamElements' State of the Stream 2024 yearly summary - compiled from data courtesy of Rainmaker.gg - suggests possible reasons for the "lack of growth are creators migrating to other platforms or merely splitting their time with the growing popularity of multistreaming in order to broaden their fanbase."Daily hours watched in Q4 are also consistent across the year, with the Q2 dip in hours watched extending throughout the rest of the year.Interestingly, Twitch's top 9 games remain essentially unchanged over the last five years, with Grand Theft Auto 5, League of Legends, and Valorant being the first, second, and third most popular games, respectively. CSGO, Fortnite, Dota 2, Minecraft, World of Warcraft, and Call of Duty: Warzone round out the rest of the top 10, although the platform's biggest category remains Just Chatting, with more than twice the hours watched to second-place GTA 5, presumably due to KaiCenat's subathon.Despite this, hours watched for League of Legends are down 34% in November, with GTA 5 and Dota 2 dropping 10% and 7%, too. World of Warcraft is up 84% in November 2024, though, and Fortnite up 38%.KaiCenat - described as a "powerhouse" on the monthly and yearly charts - clocked up 184m hours watched across the year, over twice as much as second place ibai, although StreamElements warns that shouldn't "overshadow the impressive numbers put up by the other chart members," with Jynxzi, Caudrel, caseoh_, and Papaplatte all cracking the top 10 of the year for the first time.Here's StreamElement's full breakdown."Twitch has shuffled through several top streamers over the years. There was the Ninja era, then xQc's reign, and now we are in the KaiCenat age," said Or Perry, CEO of StreamElements."The driver behind the changing of the guards is platform diversification. Ninja began multistreaming while xQc is leveraging different platforms for unique content, both of which have remained successful. It's only a matter of time before KaiCenat tests the water."This is because being everywhere that gamers are is the best way to grow, whether you are using some platforms for discovery and others for community building. Expect 2025 to be a big year for multistreaming as the tools evolve and become more accessible to the broader creator ecosystem."Twitchs monthly hours watched "rebounded" back in September, hitting 1.653bn hours watched, up from 1.568bn in June 2024.

Australian games sector employment "steady" as industry generates $211.9m in 2024Plus 81% of Australian studios expect headcount to remain stable or grow in 2025 News by Vikki Blake Contributor Published on Dec. 19, 2024 The Australian video game industry generated $339.1m AUD ($211.9m USD) in revenue in 2024.Despite a "challenging" year for game development globally, Australia's full-time employment was "steady" at 2465 developers, with 61% of studios planning to hire next year. 81% of respondents also said they expected their studio's headcount to either remain stable or grow in 2025.In its Australian Game Development Industry Snapshot report, the Interactive Games & Entertainment Association (IGEA) revealed that of the 137 studios that responded, 85% developed games based on their own IP, and 93% of their revenue was generated from outside of Australia.The survey also found that Victoria "continues to be a popular hub for game development," with 52% of game studio head offices located in the state. Employee distribution illustrated that many studios "have a presence in more than one state and tend to follow talent and incentives across the country," however, 82% of workers are located on the east coast (36% Victoria, 27% Queensland, 18% New South Wales, 1% ACT)."This year has shown the local games sector continues to build capability in the face of global headwinds. 93% of the revenue generated in Australia comes from overseas sources, highlighting the popularity of Australian-made games to a global audience," said Ron Curry, CEO of IGEA."Generous and globally competitive tax rebates plus direct funding from the federal and state governments continues to ensure Australian game developers can deliver amazing game projects. 25% of our survey respondents accessed the Digital Games Tax Offset last year, and just under 40% intend to do so this financial year. We must maintain this level of support to ensure the local industry continues to grow and contribute to Australia's creative and digital exports."The full report is downloadable from IGEA's website.

Starting in 2025, Elder Scrolls Online will go from releasing annual expansions (or "Chapters") to a more seasonal model.In a recent blog from ZeniMax Online's studio director Matt Firor, he explained the Seasons are expected to run for "three or six" months, and will feature "a mix of themed story content,events, store items, dungeons and more." According to him, the move from yearly Chapters is easier on the studio.Similar live-service games like Destiny 2 and Apex Legends have comparable three-month seasons. ZeniMax Online will gradually move toward making "smaller bite-sized content," in addition to "some larger items" that will release throughout the year."We'll be able to have teams launch content when it is ready throughout the year and not work to a date in Junethis will let us focus on a greater variety of content spread over the year," he said. "This supports the new Seasons model, and will enable us to release content, updates, fixes, and systems in a more efficient manner."Live-service is getting a refreshEarlier this year, Bungie outlined a series of changes to its own content model for Destiny 2. Like with Elder Scrolls Online, these changes will hit in 2025 and see the sci-fi shooter "explore and innovate" through medium-sized content drops rather than larger expansions in the vein of Destiny 2: The Final Shape.The first of these is Codename: Apollo, which will be split into a pair of paid updates that launch in the summer and fall. Codename: Behemoth will then follow Apollo with updates in winter 2025 and spring 2026. There will also be two free, individual seasons per update.According to Firor, ZeniMax is looking at doing quest content in Elder Scrolls Online in "different ways" with its upcoming model. Some of the plans he outlined included using existing zones and areas to tell new stories (or continue already existing ones), split large zones across multiple updates, and provide the team with "the space to find a new cadence that can mix new content and systems with addressing feedback, fixing issues, and adding new quests and activities to existing zones and stories."Firor's full outlook on Elder Scrolls Online and what's to come can be read here.