These discounted tablets, headphones, and kitchen goods can still make it under the treeif you hurry.

2024 may stand out as a mixed year for Sony between the mandatory PSN linking for its PC titles, the failure of Concord, and PlayStation VR2 trending downwards. However, its successes are far higher and nowhere is that more apparent than with the PS5s game library. First-party titles were few and far between, but we still witnessed some of the best third-party offerings (many exclusive) and more than a few incredible indie titles. Check out the 20 best PS5 games from 2024 and why you should play them.Horizon Zero Dawn RemasteredSonys Remastered trend hasnt received the warmest reception over the years, but Horizon Zero Dawn Remastered more than earns its flowers. It revamps and improves its environments with more foliage, better lighting and shadows, and over 10 hours of new motion capture animation. Character models are pretty much carried over from Forbidden West and look fantastic. For just $50 ($10 if you own the original), its a pretty good deal.

We all look for different things in a video game, whether its an engaging story, unique mechanics, well-developed characters, or a relaxing atmosphere. Then again, some also want to test themselves, taking on the most challenging endeavors and dying repeatedly. It may seem like torture to those on the outside looking in, but overcoming these is the real reward. The question is: Which titles from 2024 provided that feeling of unrelenting difficulty? As it turns out, quite a few. Check out 15 brutally difficult games from this year.S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of ChornobylGSC Game Worlds sequel isnt a particularly challenging survival experience when managing hunger and radiation. However, patience and endurance are key, whether deducing and defusing anomalies, surviving encounters with Mutants or managing your inventory and dealing with the encumbrance. Doing all this without any fast travel is just the cherry on top. The lethality of firearms also goes both ways, ensuring each gunfight could be fatal with proper preparation.

A standalone multiplayer Elden Ringexperience may have come out of nowhere for the vast majority of us, but even so, thanks to FromSoftwares track record, when the studio announces something new, you pretty muchhaveto pay attention.Elden Ring: Nighreignis promising a unique roguelike multiplayer action RPG experience that takes the bones of Froms beloved 2022 open world masterpiece and remixes and recontextualizes them in a way thats completely new to the developer- and were quite excited about that. Here, we go over the key details that you, too, should know aboutElden Ring: Nightreign.PREMISEElden RingmeetsMonster Huntersort of begins to capture the idea, but theres much more toNightreignthan that. Directed by FromSoftware veteran Junya Ishizaki,Nightreignis a run-based PvE co-op action RPG that reuses and remixesElden Ringsworld, enemies, weapons, mechanics, and other elements, all repurposed to deliver a new and different multiplayer experience. Movement is faster and nimbler, the structure has been entirely changed, and the focus, of course, is now on multiplayer.LIMVELDElden Ring: Nightreignis set in Limveld, which, FromSoftware has stressed, is not the same asElden Ringssetting, and more of a remixed and parallel version of Limgrave. Players will find plenty of familiar elements in the settings environments, but FromSoftware says the game is a spinoff that is set parallel to the world and events of Elden Ring, which means the two dont intersect or affect each other in any way. And yes, that also meansA Song of Ice and Fireauthor George R.R. Martin the loremaster behind the world and setting ofElden Ring had no involvement inNightreignor its world, as confirmed by game director Junya Ishizaki in an interview with IGN.THREE-DAY STRUCTUREEach run inElden Ring: Nightreignis built around a three-day structure, which, interestingly enough, also makes use of battle royale elements. Making use of a day/night system, the game tasks players with surviving three days while exploring and facing the dangers of Limveld. Each night brings a different boss fight (and yes, you can expect plenty of familiarElden Ringbosses, with a total of eight included in the game), and at the beginning of the following day, a large circle will have shrunk inward, battle royale-style. If you make it to the end of the third-day, you will be faced with the runs final boss, dubbed the Nightlord.PLAYABLE HEROESElden Ring: Nightreignis also taking minor cues from class-based multiplayer experiences, in that it doesnt necessarily have classes, but does allow players to play as one of eight different characters, each equipped with unique abilities, strengths, and weaknesses. FromSoftware has yet to reveal finer details on these playable heroes, but in the aforementioned IGN interview, Ishizaki revealed that one of the eight characters uses a Spirit Ash sort of spiritual buddy as a gameplay mechanic.PROGRESSION AND CUSTOMIZATIONBeing a run-based roguelike,Elden Ring: Nightreign will draw a distinction between run-based and overarching progression, and as far as the former is concerned, you can expect it to deviate fromElden Ringsformula in several ways. Players will spend runs looking for stronger weapons to use against enemies, while at Sites of Graces, youll also be able to level up your character. Leveling up will also bring different stat buffs and advantages based on which of the eight characters youre playing as. The beginning of each run will reset all of this back to zilch, though the game will still allow players to make permanent upgrades. Speaking of whichRELICSThe biggest rewards that players are going to want to keep an eye on during their runs inNightreignare Relics. Relics can be earned in a run regardless of how far you make it, and these provide a variety of unique upgrades that are permanent across all runs. You can upgrade your attack stats, your total HP, or apply a variety of unique buffs that will make future runs easier for both you and your allies.CO-OP OR SOLOElden Ring: Nightreignis designed as a primarily multiplayer experience, being a first for FromSoftware in that regard (even though the studio has, of course, included strong multiplayer elements in plenty of its titles over the years). The intended way to play the game is as a three-player co-op experience, though it has been confirmed that you can also play it solo. Playing in a party of two wont be possible, and as you might imagine, the game and its difficulty will scale based on whether youre playing alone or in a party of three.NOT FULL PRICEDFromSoftware has explicitly dubbedElden Ring: Nightreignis spinoff, and sure enough, the multiplayer title is going to be priced accordingly. Specific detials have yet to be revealed by FromSoftware or publisher Bandai Namco, but Ishizaki has confirmed to PC Gamer that the game wont be full-priced, with pricing instead being comparable toShadow of the Erdtree.The expansion, for reference is sold at a price of $39.99, so presumably, thats what we can expect forNightreign, too.NOT LIVE SERVICEElden Ring: Nightreignis clearly a multiplayer-first title, and while its easy to assume that any multiplayer title coming out now is going to be a live service game, FromSoftware says thats not quite the case withNightreign. Speaking with PC Gamer, Ishizaki made it clear the studio doesnt consider the game a live service experience. With Nightreign, we wanted to have a game that felt like a complete package out of the box on the day of purchase, so everything is unlockable, everything is contained with that purchase. Its not what wed consider a live service game, he said.The director added that though patches and balance updates will obviously be released following launch as and when needed, further plans about post-launch content havent yet been decided. Were concentrating on the release of Nightreign, first and foremost, but we will make considerations after the games release Ishizaki said. Especially in the form of post-release updatesbalance updates, things like this that weve done with previous gamesthis will definitely be a priority going forward. For anything else, were still in the process of thinking about the possibilities.NETWORK TESTNightreignis due out sometime in 2025, and though a specific release date is currently unknown, we do know when players will get their first chance to go hands on with the multiplayer action RPG. A closed network test is scheduled for February. It will feature a portion of the game, and will allow you to play as four of the eight characters. Registrations for the network test are set to open on January 10, FromSoftware has announced.

Illustration by Emily LankiewiczIts been another bonanza year for board gaming, and this was an even harder list to put together than usual; dozens of list-worthy games were released this year. We remain in a golden age of both innovation and material quality. Components are higher-quality than ever, with beautiful wooden pieces and firm boards replacing the flimsy plastic of the 1980sbut theyre also highly dependent on supply chains from China. With the prospect of tariffs hanging over the entire industry, many designers websites now note prices may rise. If youre dawdling over buying something, it may be wise to get it now.Here are ten games you should buy for the game lover you know, or for yourself, while the getting is good (and affordable!).Arcs: Conflict & Collapse in the ReachGood for: Star Wars fansKind of like: Twilight ImperiumAge: 14+Players: 2-4Almost every single person I talked to this year recommended Arcs, a new science fiction-themed game from Cole Wehrle, one of the most admired board game designers currently working. Arcs takes the sweep of grand space-opera-themed games like Twilight Imperium or Star Wars: Rebellion, but it lets players finish a round in an hour or two instead of 12, using a mixture of cards and dice to rapidly resolve starship clashes. Without the ridiculous length and complexity that usually accompanies the genre, youre actually able to play it with people who arent huge board game nerds, says Rowan Evans, a Canadian gamer.Arcs also has beautifully designed components and an immediately accessible and clear rulebookas well as a consistent art style by Kyle Ferrin that evokes classic science fiction while still having its own feel. Its the game that really got me to understand board games as an art form, says Jay Dragon, who runs Philadelphia-based gaming studio Possum Creek Games.Yet fun as Arcs is by itself, its also an introduction for its first expansion, The Blighted Reach, which at $100 unusually costs more than the main game. The expansion turns Arcs into a campaign game, where you play out a grand story across multiple sessions of play. But while most campaign games, such as Frosthaven or Pandemic Legacy, infamously take hundreds of hours to complete, Arcs campaign mode wraps up in three sessionsor about six hours of playand is designed for replayability.Things in RingsGood for: pedantic children, quiz show nerdsFeels like: Apples to ApplesAge: 6+Players: 2-6A nifty party game, Things in Rings draws inspiration from the U.K. quiz show Only ConnectNew York Times Connections. Players have to try to work out where different cards in their hand fit into a Venn diagrambut only one player, the knower, effectively a referee, knows what the rules of each circle are.A flamingo card, for instance, might fall into Birds or Pink thingsor both might be in play, meaning the card has to go into the intersection of the two. As their guesses are accepted or rejected, players can deduce what the rules are. The game says its suitable for players 6 and up, but I suspect small children might find this more frustrating than fun; older ones, however, love the ability to categorize the world.At just 20 minutes of playtime, this is an easy game to try out, and very popular. It also seems like one of those games you play at a party and then want a copy of yourself.FromageGood for: Francophiles and foodiesFeels like: Stone Age, TzolkinAge: 14+Players: 1-4Sociability is a clear advantage board games offer over video games, but tactility is a big one, too; theres something deeply appealing in moving actual pieces around on a table. In a private posting on Patreon, Dragon recently coined the term using every part of the meeple (the small, human-shaped figures common to many board games) to describe games whose physical components feed back into the play experience, such as Everdells berries and logs or Wingspans dice-rolling bird feeder.Fromage is a wonderfully physical game of competing small-town French cheesemakersplayed out, of course, on a rotating cheese board. One of the worst days of my life was when my local French store in China, which used to fly fresh cheese in overnight, closed, so Im a sucker for this theme. Its full of little extras like cheese pairing that really make it fun says Melissa Campbell, a salesperson at Washington, D.C. board game storeLabyrinth.But even if youre more interested in the rules than the rind, its a gouda and fun design. It takes the classic Euro-style worker placement game, where players decide where to commit their tiny Frenchmen, but speeds it up: Every turn a different quadrant of the board faces players, with different decisions on how to make, age and sell your cheese, so each competitor can make their moves at the same time before the board spins again. That makes playtime comfortably under an hourstill enough time to make all the cheesy puns you want. Fromage Board Game Perfect for board game nights with family and friends, featuring strategic depth and engaging competition. With diverse strategies and evolving game states, no two games of Fromage are the same.Lets Go! to JapanGood for: global travelers, JapanophilesKind of like: Ticket to RideAge: 10+Players: 1-4A rash of travel-themed games such as Wanderlust and Parks have popped up in recent yearsperhaps driven by the pent-up frustrations of the pandemic years. Japan-themed games have also been popular, perhaps because the aesthetics of traditional Japanese culture fit well with the high-quality design of modern games.Lets Go! to Japan Let's Go! to Japan In Lets Go! To Japan, players are travelers competing to plan and experience the most personally fulfilling dream vacation in Tokyo and Kyoto.NekojimaGood for: cat fans, urban plannersKind of like: JengaAge: 7+Players: 1-4Everyone, especially kids, loves stacking games, where players try to pile up pieces without collapse. JengaNekojimacat islands where local felines run the show.Players must stack wooden telegraph poles on top of each other, simulating dense Japanese towns, with placement in different zones of the board determined by a dice throw. What makes it tricky is that the poles wires cant touch, so the board becomes a tangled mess of stretched wire and underhanging connections. But what makes it extra tricky is that every so often they also must hang off a wire a comically heavy cat that can topple the entire setup if theyre not careful.You can play Nekojima Nekojima A thrilling dexterity board game that combines the excitement of a stacking game with strategy, making it one of the best family board games for kids ages 8 & up and adults looking for fun family-friendly competition.Yazebas Bed & BreakfastGood for: teenagers, Hayao Miyazaki loversSort of like: summer camp activitiesAge: 10+Players: 1-12Yazeba is a massive hardback book that is also a gameor many games, really. Inspired in part by the movies of Studio Ghibli, such as Spirited Away and My Neighbor Totoro, it asks the players to take on the roles of the staff and guests at a magical bed and breakfast somewhere between worlds. A lot of it came from my and friends experiences working at Wayfinder summer camps, says game co-creator Dragon, a reference to live-action roleplaying camps popular among gaming families.The joy of it is the combination of whimsical activities like ice skating, catching fireflies and cooking breakfasteach of which has their own mini-gamewith the games cast of characters, which includes a literal devil child, bunnies in the garden, an incompetently evil skeleton, a heartless witch and an accountant.At the same time, an overarching story framework can give players hundreds of hours of engagement. The range of stories and prompts are varied enough to include playing with 8-year-olds and 50-year-olds. Dragon is nonbinary, and matters of inclusion and found family are at the heart of the larger story; the question, as Dragon told me, of: If I become someone new, will this person still love me?My favorite thing about Yazeba, however, is the way the rulebook is a part of the game itself, full of secrets and clues and treasure huntsand designed to be scribbled in or filled with stickers.Kelp: Shark vs. OctopusGood for: nature lovers, asymmetrical board game fansKind of like: Unmatched, StrategoPlayers: 2Age: 10+Kelp is a cleverly themed two-player game where each role is very different. One player takes on the role of the octopus, and the other the shark, and each is effectively playing by their own rules. It uses such unique asymmetrical mechanics, with a unique hunt-and-chase theme, says Ian Curtiss, a strategy consultant and board game designer.The octopus position on the board is concealed, playing cards to bluff about their location, and sneaking around the board trying to grab its food. The shark, meanwhile, uses deduction, dice-based abilities and persistence to try to track the octopus down. The board is a beautiful depiction of an underwater landscape, with two finely crafted miniatures for each of the players, though the theme might be a bit bloody for sensitive children.Rock Hard: 1977Good for: music loversKind of like: DropmixPlayers: 2-5Age: 16+Rock Hardthe Runaways (and a four-time Jeopardy! champion who clearly knows her board games). Its a charming game, full of quirks and in-jokes, about the highs and lows of the creative process. You might be too tired from your day job as a waiter or massage therapist to have the energy to make it to that gigor you might be struck by inspiration in the middle of a shift.As a game, its random, and a lot of the fun comes from the sense of making a story out of your musicians erratic progress. Rock Hard allows some room for strategy, but this is more for goofing around than hardcore tactics. I admired the way the game gently danced around more adult themes, such as the mechanic for candy, which musicians take in order to get that extra burst of energy from the sugar rush.SkyriseGood for: family gaming, Lego fansKind of like: Cathedral, MetropolysPlayers: 2-4Age: 14+Skyrise is a building game set in a fictitious Art Deco city in the sky. It feels very like Francis Ford Coppolas 2024 Megalopolis, but unlike the Coppola film, this isnt a giant mess. Its a tightly designed Euro-style game that mixes auction mechanics and board control; players seek to outbid each other for key areas without exhausting their long-term resources.This one falls into that sweet spot of being simple enough to play with family, but having enough depth to keep board game obsessives happy, too. The key rules are straightforward, but it takes a few games to realize how twisty the implications can get and how to frustrate your opponents plans. Skyrise Skyrise presents an interactive and evolving narrative of a growing cityscape, requiring players to make hard decisions, manage scarce resources, and navigate ever-rising stakes.Lord of the Rings: Duel for Middle-EarthGood for: Tolkien superfansKind of like: 7 WondersPlayers: 2Age: 10+Lord of the Rings-themed games are quite common, but this one ranks among the best. As fond as I am of War of the Ring, its a giant box and takes a full day to play; this one is a nicely compact box, and players can easily knock out a game in less than an hour.Duel for Middle-Earth is a quick two-player game where the players are either trying to get Saurons Ring into Mount Doom or the fearsome Nazgul to the Ringbearerwith effectively identical rules for either side, but beautiful art and board design. It might not be obvious from the box, but this is a spinoff of mega-hit 7 Wonders. If youre familiar with that game, and especially with 7 Wonders: Duel, its blockbuster two-player version, this is a cunningly designed variant with enough difference to be worth getting while building on well-known mechanics. The Lord of The Rings: Duel for Middle-Earth Choose your side in the ultimate battle for Middle-earth, playing either as the Fellowship to destroy the One Ring or as Sauron to conquer the land.Get the latest Travel & Culture stories in your inbox.A Note to our Readers Smithsonian magazine participates in affiliate link advertising programs. If you purchase an item through these links, we receive a commission.

An illustration of the Parker Solar Probe approaching the sun NASA / Johns Hopkins APL / Steve GribbenThe holiday season is a busy time for humankinds sun-surfing spacecraft. This Christmas Eve, the Parker Solar Probe will be going where no probe has gone before: a mere 3.8 million miles from the suns surface.Around 6:53 a.m. Eastern time on December 24, it will pass the closest that any spacecraft has ever been to our roaring sun. And it will do so in another record-breaking fashion: traveling 430,000 miles per hourthe speed equivalent of traversing from Washington, D.C., to Tokyo in under a minutemaking it the fastest human-made object to ever zip across the universe.Itll be inside the upper atmosphere of the sun, literally touching the star, Nicki Rayl, NASAs deputy director of heliophysics, tells Julia Jacobo and Mary Kekatos of ABC News.Temperatures at that distance from the sun will reach 1,700 degrees Fahrenheit. But the Parker Solar Probe is well equipped to handle its latest trial by fire. To avoid the fate of the mythological Greek figure Icarus, the spacecraft comes with a heat shield that will keep its sensitive instruments just above room temperature, at roughly 85 degrees Fahrenheit.This 4.5-inch-thick protective layer was a decade of research in the making. A water cooling system, layers of insulating carbon foam and a bright white ceramic paint coating to reflect the worst of the heat allgive the probe its equanimity in the face of the suns glare. During field tests in the lab, the heat shield was designed to withstand temperatures up to 2,500 degrees Fahrenheit.Blowtorch vs Heat ShieldWatch on Launched in 2018, the Parker Solar Probe was designed to study our temperamental sun, specifically its solar wind activity thats known to disrupt satellites and jam up telecommunications on Earth. Scientists hoped it could answer some key questions about our nearest star, per CNNs Ashley Strickland, including why the suns outer corona is hundreds of times hotter than its surface and how particles of the solar wind are generated.Close approaches, known as perihelions of the probes run around the sun, are valuable opportunities to view the suns ethereal corona up close. The corona is the cauldron where coronal mass ejections lick into existence, but it cant be seen from Earth except for during a total solar eclipse. Flying through this outer layer will allow the probe to collect data needed for understanding the suns pulse and predicting space weather.No human-made object has ever passed this close to a star, Nick Pinkine, Parker Solar Probe mission operations manager at the Applied Physics Laboratory at Johns Hopkins University, says in a statement. So, Parker will truly be returning data from uncharted territory.Slightly larger than a golf cart, the solar probe is too puny to ferry enough fuel for its entire seven-year journey. Instead, it got a speed boost from Venus in a maneuver known as a gravity assist. Slingshotting around the second planetseven times in all and most recently in Novemberallowed Parker to bend its trajectory toward an orbital flight around the sun. As the probe swung around Venus, it also collected data on the planets own scorching atmosphere. The Parker Solar Probe snapped this image of Venus as it flew past the planet in July 2020. The spacecraft has had seven gravity assists from Venus. NASA / Johns Hopkins APL / Naval Research Laboratory / Guillermo Stenborg and Brendan GallagherThe timing of the probes solar arrival will be fortuitous. Currently, the sun is undergoing a solar maximum phase, an explosive peak in an 11-year cycle of activity that will extend into 2025. During this frenzied period, the suns magnetic poles will flip, sunspots will bloom across the face of the star and it will increase its firepower, hurling ionizing radiation toward the far reaches of the solar system. These flare-ups can stir up powerful geomagnetic storms on Earth. In mid-May and October, the sun threw such fits that the northern lights were visible all across the continental U.S. and as far south as Florida.Since its launch, Parker has made 21 close approaches to the sun, the first being in 2021. This upcoming, 22nd rendezvous will be its closest yet. Before this spacecraft, the last record holder was the Helios 2 spacecraft, which in 1976 came within 27 million miles of the sun. Parker outdid that number on its first flyby; now, the newer probe will be seven times closer than Helios 2 came. It will make only two more close approaches on March 22 and June 19 next year at a similar distance to this skim, before calling it quits for its seven-year primary run.What the Parker probe has gathered about the sun so far has already revolutionized astronomers understanding of our planets celestial host. It has discovered streamers of material that wrinkle the suns corona and observed magnetic funnels emerging from giant bubbles on the suns surface.As thrilling as Parkers newest encounter will be, Earthlings will not get to follow its action live. Scientists will not be able to contact the spacecraft as it flies through perihelion, so theyll be in the dark until Parker beams back its status on December 27. That signal will only be a check-in about its general healthresearchers will have to wait until the new year for Parker to transmit back its first data on this latest exploit.Get the latest stories in your inbox every weekday.Filed Under: Engineering, Heat, Innovations, NASA, Outer Space, Solar System, Sun, Technology, World Records

Over the centuries, mollusks have eaten away at the ship's hull, which was constructed using the "on the shell" technique. University of UdineA 2,500-year-old shipwreck discovered off the coast of Sicily could offer new insights into ancient Greece, which colonized the Mediterranean island for hundreds of years.Underwater archaeologists discovered the shipwreck during a recent three-week excavation project off the southern tip of Sicily. It was buried beneath 20 feet of sand and rocks, according to a statement from Sicilys Superintendent of the Sea.Experts say the wreck likely dates to the fifth or sixth century B.C.E., during the period of Greek colonization. The ships hull was constructed using the on the shell technique, a method that involved connecting beam boards to create a self-supporting structure.Over the centuries, mollusks have eaten away at the hull, which has made it extremely fragile, according to astatement from Italys University of Udine.Using photogrammetry techniques, researchers were able to create a 3D model of the delicate wreck. They also plan to study samples gathered from the site to determine what materials were used to build the ship.Nearby, divers also unearthed several anchors. Two are made of iron and shaped like an upside-down T, and they likely date to the seventh century C.E. Four of the anchors are made of stone and likely date to the prehistoric era. One of the stone anchors is broken, though it appears to have been outfitted with two wooden flukes.The discovery of artifacts from such different periods in history highlights the regions robust seafaring heritage, as theGreek Reporters Abdul Moeed writes.Together, the finds could help shed more light on maritime history in the Mediterranean, including the relationship between the ancient Greeks andCarthaginians, perCBS News Emily Mae Czachor. For many years, the two groupsalong with the Romansbattled for control of the central Mediterranean.The Romans took control of Sicily in 241 B.C.E. at the end of theFirst Punic War with the Carthaginians. The team also found anchors from several different time periods, including two made of iron and shaped like an upside-down "T." University of UdineThe underwater excavations were part of theKaukana Project, which has been running since 2017 and seeks to explore the waters off the coast of Sicily. The project is led by the University of Udine in partnership with several other research institutions.The discovery of this wreck underscores the importance of Sicily as a strategic point in trade routes with ancient Greece, writes La Brjula Verdes Guillermo Carvajal. The materials and techniques found not only provide insight into the nautical skills of the time but also highlight the intense commercial and cultural activity that flourished in the Mediterranean.This is far from the only shipwreck discovered in the Mediterranean in recent years. In 2021, archaeologists exploring near Palermo, Sicily, announced the discovery of anancient Roman wreck filled with jars used for transporting wine and olive oil. The following year, an international team of researchers documentedRoman shipwrecks in the Skerki Banks, a channel between Sicily and Tunisia.Get the latest stories in your inbox every weekday.Filed Under: Ancient Greece, Ancient Rome, Archaeology, European History, History, Italy, Roman Empire, Ships, Shipwrecks, Water, Water Transportation

Netflix said players of its newly released Squid Game Unleashed game will be able to unlock in-game rewards for watching Squid Game Season 2.Read More

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Google, Salesforce, H&M and other brands have turned to unlikely allies to help them clean up their carbon pollution: sewage treatment plants and paper mills. The companies joined an $80 million plan to take CO2 out of the atmosphere, though the strategies theyre using have yet to show whether they can have a meaningful impact on climate change.Theyre paying $32.1 million to a startup called CREW that aims to trap carbon dioxide emissions produced at wastewater treatment facilities. And $48 million will go to another startup called CO280 that retrofits pulp and paper mills with controversial carbon capture technologies. The two agreements were facilitated by acarbon removal initiativecalled Frontier thats led by led by Stripe, Google, Shopify, and McKinsey Sustainability on behalf of those founding companies and other brands trying to meet their own sustainability goals.Companies are increasingly looking for ways to try to cancel out the damage caused by their greenhouse gas emissionsCompanies are increasingly looking for ways to try to cancel out the damage caused by their greenhouse gas emissions. Theyve funneled millions into startups building new-fangled industrial plants that filter CO2 out of the ambient air or seawater. Frontiers latest announcement shows theyre also open to backing even more novel tactics for drawing down carbon dioxide.We do need to be looking at a lot of different kinds of approaches, says Wil Burns co-director of the Institute for Responsible Carbon Removal at American University, who is also part of an assessment committee for Frontier. Some of these approaches still remain extremely expensive, notably direct air capture, so were looking for approaches that potentially are less expensive.The first generation of industrial facilities built over the past decade or so to filter CO2 out of the air called direct air capture cost companies including Microsoft upwards of $600 per ton of captured carbon. The deals Frontier just brokered come out to around $447 per ton of CO2 removal by CREW (for a total of 71,878 tons), and $214 per ton for CO280s services (for a total of 224,500 tons). Thats still well above the $100 per ton that industry leaders often say theyre targeting. And for a company like Google that was responsible for 14.3 million metric tonsof carbon dioxide pollutionlast year, you can see how prohibitively expensive the technology still is. Carbon dioxide removal encompasses a suite of strategies to take carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere. These technologies could potentially help slowclimate changeby trapping some of thepollutionfossil fuels have already released over the years. There are still concerns about itscosts,safety, and potential to delay a transition from fossil fuels to carbonpollution-freeenergy. Experts say carbon removal is no substitute for preventing greenhouse gasemissionsin the first place.While CREWs strategy is more expensive, Burns says hes particularly excited about its potential. The idea is to capture carbon dioxide that otherwise would have been released by microbes that break down organic waste in water treatment tanks. To do this, CREW adds alkaline mineralsto the tanks. Those minerals react with the CO2 microbes produce, trapping it in water as bicarbonate. Eventually, the bicarbonate travels with the treated wastewater out to oceans, which are natural sinks that keep CO2 out of the atmosphere.CO280, on the other hand uses technologies initially developed by the fossil fuel industry to capture CO2 emissions from smokestacks before they can escape into the atmosphere. These kinds of devices have been added to industrial facilities and power plants in the past, and can collect CO2 that companies might then shoot back into the ground to push out hard-to-reach oil reserves. CO280 takes a different approach by adding carbon capture devices to facilities that burn black liquor, a bi-product from pulp manufacturing thats used to generate heat and power. The devices are supposed to capture the CO2 from burning black liquor so that it can be permanently stored in underground wells. Since the fuel is made from trees, the process essentially sequesters CO2 that those trees drew in through photosynthesis during their lifetimes.To be sure, there are still major concerns about how effective carbon capture technologies are as a way to mitigate climate change. They use a lot of energy, which generates its own greenhouse gas emissions. There are also additional emissions from cutting down trees and transporting wood for paper mills, and it can be difficult to ensure that tree plantations are managed sustainably.Companies buying carbon removal services also get flak from environmentalists concerned that its a distraction from more critical efforts to transition from fossil fuels to clean energy. At the end of the day, the only surefire way to stop climate change is to prevent the greenhouse gas emissions from fossil fuels that are causing the crisis in the first place.