Apple has been formally accused by Congo of covering up war crimes by using conflict minerals in its supply chain, and criminal complaints have been filed in France and Belgium.Apple has been asked to verify that it doesn't use "conflict minerals" in the iPhoneApple and at least most Big Tech manufacturers have long been accused of sourcing tin, tungsten, and tantalum the 3T materials from regions where that means funding violent groups. And now, Apple has picked up two criminal complaints, lodged by the Congo government.The complaint alleges that conflict minerals are laundered through multiple sales and shell companies before hitting Apple suppliers. Therefore, according to the filing spotted by Reuters early Tuesday morning, Apple is directly responsible, is complicit, and should be held accountable for crimes against humanity taking place in Congo. Continue Reading on AppleInsider | Discuss on our Forums

Months after inaugurating the new Lana Residences and hotel complex in Dubai, a new design for a neighboring plot from Foster + Partners has been announced featuring two new luxury residential towers with heights totaling 590.5 feet (or 180 meters). One apartment is allotted per floor to bring the total to 60 in both towers. Each unit is equipped with a range of wellness amenities to go along with winding interlocked terraces offering views of Dubai's high-rise architecture and the adjacent Marasi Marina.Image rendering courtesy Foster + PartnersImage rendering courtesy Foster + PartnersImage rendering courtesy Foster + Partners

Work is wrapping up on the new U.S. Embassy facility in Mexico City designed by Tod Williams Billie Tsien (TWBTA) and David Brody Bond at a reported cost of around $1 billion. The LA Times recentlychecked in on its delayed progress. The project first began construction on the Paseo de la Reforma in February 2018. An opening is now expected by the last quarter of 2025.Image rendering by DBB/TWBTAImage rendering by DBB/TWBTAImage rendering by DBB/TWBTA

Construction on the new Sydney Fish Market from 3XN has topped out in Australia. The 700,000-square-foot building will become the largest fish market and have the largest glulam roof structure in the southern hemisphere once completed. Its PV-paneled roof is calibrated to withstand high wind loads while meeting the spatial demands required by the marketplace, is held in place by 594 beams, and is capable of harvesting rainwater throughout the year.The project offers a worthy follow-up to the Danish firm's award-winning work on theupcycled Quay Quarter Tower in Sydney. They are working locally with localarchitectsBVN, GXN Innovation, and the landscape architects Aspect Studios.

After delivering several outstanding stealth strategy titles in the form ofShadow Tactics: Blades of the Shogun, Desperados 3,andShadow Gambit: The Cursed Crew,developer Mimimi Games took everyone by surprise when it announced last year that it would be shutting down in spite of the success of its titles, with the co-founders citing a heavy personal toll. In the aftermath, the future ofShadow Gambit: The CursedCrewin particular looked uncertain, being Mimimi Games only self-published title, though things are now looking much more secure.Manor Lordspublisher Hooded Horse has announced that it has acquired the publishing rights forShadow Gambit: The Cursed Crewacross all platforms. Going forward, the game will be published, distributed, and handled in general by Hooded Horse.We are honored and humbled that Mimimi chose us to be a part of Shadow Gambits journey, says Hooded Horse CEO Tim Bender. This game is the pinnacle of stealth strategy games, and were looking forward to helping it maintain the long-term success it deserves.Shadow Gambit is in its final form, and were excited to be partnering with Hooded Horse for its ongoing commercial needs, says Mimimi Co-Founder Johannes Roth. Were very impressed by their approach to indie publishing and are confident they will help the game reach even more players.In our review ofShadow Gambit: The Cursed Crew,we awarded it a score of 9/10, saying, Shadow Gambit: The Cursed Crew is an excellent game. With its wonderfully realized fantasy pirate setting, it instantly pulls you into its world, and with a combination of tight and perfectly implemented mechanics, excellently designed stealth sandboxes, and a colourful cast of characters thats an absolute blast to play as, it delivers a consistently fun and inventive adventure where the stealth, tactics, and experimentation never lose any of their charm, right up until the credits roll. Read the full review through here.Shadow Gambit: The Cursed Crewis available on PS5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC.

The Game Animation Sample Project has been updated for UE 5.5 with over 300 animations, a new Experimental setup that provides better artist control without diminishing quality, setups that are 100% networked and ready for multiplayer, mobile supportand more!

Make the most of your holiday season downtime with this months batch of free Unreal Engine learning content, covering Blueprint, motion design, real-time lighting, and much more.

A portrait of Ian McKellen (center) hanging alongside depictions of (from left to right) Frances Barber, Charles Dance, Harriet Walter and Simon Callow StageBlockAn exhibition at theRed Eight Gallery in London is immortalizing the greatestShakespearean actors of our time through portraits that can blink, breathe and rattle off soliloquies.For hundreds of years, artists have captured the theaters greatest actors through portraiture. The new show, titled The Shakespeare Portraits (Act I), aims to update the practice by bringing the thespians to life using state-of-the-art technology.The show includes ten digital portraits of contemporary actorsincluding celebrities likePatrick Stewart andIan McKellenreciting lines from various Shakespeare plays. However, the portraits are not just small films that play on loop. Artnets Juliet Stevenson's portrait at London's Red Eight Gallery StageBlockMichael Billington, a critic for the Guardian, writes that he was struck by the intimacy of the experience.I sat beneath a large, framed image of Ian McKellen, and as I spoke to the exhibitions creative director,Arsalan Sattari-Hicks, I realised that Sir Ians head was occasionally moving, that his gaze was subtly shifting and his features expressing a variety of emotions, he adds.The portraits were made by StageBlock, a tech studio that creates new kinds of interactive art. The actors worked with the studio, posing for a camera and reciting their lines.Museumgoers can hear the speeches by pressing a button. Each of the ten actors infuses their own spin on their chosen Shakespeare text, giving viewers an up-close look at how they bring the Bards lines to life.Ian McKellen delivers all the worlds a stage fromAs You Like It,Derek Jacobi offers upHamlets to be or not to be, writes Artnet. Harriet Walter turns toProsperos Ye elves of hill fromThe Tempest,David Suchet performsMacbeths infamous lines on the futility of life tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow (a role Suchet has never played).The Shakespeare Portraits by Stage BlockWatch on StageBlock is hoping that viewers will not only see the novelty in the new pieces, but also treat them as lasting works of art that can be hung in galleries and sold to interested buyers.Its a bold, visionary new idea for the digital age, but I hope it wont stifle the talent of the individual portraitist, writes Billington of the Guardian. I cherish the notion of, say, Salvador Dals painting of Olivier as Richard III hanging on a gallery wall alongside the mesmerizing image of McKellen looking on at one in watchful fascination.The tech company also plans to make an Act II of the show, which will feature a second round of Shakespearean actors in new digital portraits next year.This collection is the culmination of profound collaborations with some of the most iconic actors of our time, says Sattari-Hicks in a statement. This is only the beginning, with many renowned home-grown and international talents already in line for future collections.The Shakespeare Portraits (Act I) is on view at the Red Eight Gallery in London through January 10, 2025.Get the latest stories in your inbox every weekday.Filed Under: Actors, Arts, British Writers, Celebrities, Digital Art, Exhibitions, Exhibits, Film, Movies, Museums, Painting, Portraiture, Theater, Visual Arts, William Shakespeare

Researchers Find 13 Proteins in the Blood That Are Seemingly Linked to Brain AgingThough experts say more work is needed to understand the findings, this line of study might offer a way to monitor age-related cognitive disorders and target treatmentGayoung LeeDecember 20, 2024 1:12 p.m. Researchers looked at brain scan data and results from blood tests to search for correlation between certain proteins and brain aging. dem10 via Getty ImagesChinese neurologists have identified 13 proteins in the blood that appear to be good indicators of how fast our brains age.In the future, this information could help monitor aging in the brain and keep tabs on age-related cognitive disorders, like dementia. But other experts say a closer investigation is needed before we can be certain that these proteins are truly tied to brain aging.In a paper published this month in Nature Aging, a team of scientists analyzed almost 11,000 magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) brain scans from people ages 45 to 82 that were included in the U.K. Biobank. They used artificial intelligence to determine the brain age of the scans based on features including brain volume and surface areaessentially, they predicted how old a person is based on their brain data. This brain age number can be different from the chronological age of the individual and can shed light on cognitive aging and risk for neurodegenerative diseases.The higher the A.I.-predicted age is relative to their actual age, the faster their brain is aging, explains study lead author Wei-Shi Liu, a neurologist at Fudan University in Shanghai, to New Scientists Carissa Wong.Next, researchers appraised the concentration of 3,000 proteins in the participants blood, to determine which proteinsdelivered to the brain via blood vesselswere associated with brain age. They concluded that 13 proteinseight linked to fast brain aging, and five linked to slow agingappeared connected to the brain age. Certain proteins that affect cellular stress and inflammation increased with age, while others that help with maintenance tasks like cell regeneration dwindled, reports Live Sciences Emily Cooke.Determining this correlation is a notable feat, as previous studies with the same objective had involved fewer than 1,000 people, Nicholas Seyfried, a neurologist at Emory University who was not involved in the study, tells New Scientist. Not only that, the scientists focus on brain age sets the study apart from previous work that examined proteins alongside the real age of the individual, as Liu tells Nature News Miryam Naddaf. Scientists suggest that studying the "brain age gap" can inform us about how quickly our brains are aging. izusek via Getty ImagesStudying biomarkers related to an individuals biological brain age could be a more targeted approach for finding and identifying age-related issues with the brain. And for Lius team, this allowed for a direct analysis of the protein composition in the blood of individuals with a large gap between their brain age and actual age.They also found that certain proteins linked to brain aging underwent significant changes in level at the brain ages of 57, 70 and 78, per the paper. These peaks have different implications, which may be helpful in the early diagnosis and treatment of brain disorders, Liu says to Nature News.For instance, blood tests for these proteins could provide critical information about how fast an individuals brain is aging. These markers could be the canary in the coal mine to tell you, hey, look, lets start intervening to slow your brain aging now, while youve got enough time, Seyfried says to New Scientist.However, some experts have pointed to limitations of the studys findings, which Lius team has also acknowledged. The idea that aging comes in three waves goes against pretty much everything that is known about brain aging, says Mark Mattson, a neuroscientist at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine who was not involved in the study, to Live Science.Additionally, exactly where these 13 proteins come from in the brain is unknown. Until levels of those proteins in the brain are established, it will be unclear whether they actually play a role in brain aging, Mattson adds. But he did find the correlations with brain age interesting.Others also point out that the individuals studied for the paper were mostly white, wealthy people. Further research involving more diverse ethnicities and income levels will be necessary to determine whether the results are more widely applicable.Nevertheless, Liu is hopeful that the 13 proteins his team identified could help guide future treatments for brain diseases. With these comments in mind, the team now plans to continue with their research and address others concerns. In the next couple decades, this could open up ways to target the proteins to slow aging and disease, he tells New Scientist.Get the latest stories in your inbox every weekday.Filed Under: Aging, Brain, Cognition, Health, Neuroscience, New Research

OpenAI has just confirmed that is releasing a new reasoning model named o3 and o3 mini, a successor to the o1 and o1 mini models.Read More