This article contains spoilers for Squid Game season 2.There are a lot of great characters in this season of Squid Game. With all players but Seong Gi-hun (Lee Jung-jae) dying in last seasons games, series creator Hwang Dong-hyuk had the lofty task of coming up with a whole new cast of contestants, in addition to new supporting characters like Captain Park, Choi, and all of the mercenaries Hwang Jun-ho (Wi Ha-joon) has hired to try to find the island. But even though there are many compelling new faces this season, Cho Hyun-ju a.k.a. Player 120 (Park Sung-hoon) is definitely the MVP.Hyun-ju is a trans woman who joined the games to help pay for her gender-affirming care. Before her transition, she was a sergeant first class in the ROK Special Forces, but lost her job and her friends just because she wanted to live her life as her true self. Even though she does vote to stay in the games against her groups wishes during a crucial vote, its clear that shes torn about the decision, and does what she can to help them all survive the next game.She sticks up for her teammates and fellow contestants when it really matters. She encourages them throughout the Six-Legged Pentathlon game, ensuring their victory in the final mini-game Jegi. But most importantly, she is the only woman that helps with Gi-huns rebellion. She takes out the security cameras in the players quarters, she leads the charge to gather the soldiers weapons and ammo, and she shows them all how to operate the guns efficiently.Hyun-ju is the only one brave enough to follow Dae-ho (Kang Ha-neul) after he fails to return from collecting more ammo. As more soldiers breach the players quarters in the seasons final moments, she prepares to use the ammo Dae-ho gathered and take a stand against them on her own. The only reason she doesnt is because Jang Geum-ja (Kang Ae-shim), who has become a mother figure of sorts for several players, urges her not to, wanting her to hopefully have the chance to live another day.Despite how badass and heroic Hyun-ju is when it truly matters, its unfortunate that she has to risk her life in these games in order to afford gender-affirming care. The cost has to be substantial for her to willingly vote to stay after learning how deadly these games are. As an American, it isnt terribly shocking to see someone put themselves through literal hell in order to afford the healthcare they need, especially a type of healthcare that is currently under undue scrutiny here in the States.South Korea has yet to legalize same-sex marriage, and their Supreme Court has only recently ruled that same-sex relationships are entitled to the same healthcare benefits as heterosexual relationships. Hyun-ju not only reflects this lack of acceptance with her story in the show, but also in the actor who plays her.Hyun-ju is played by cisgender male actor Park Sung-hoon. Even though he does an incredible job at portraying this character as the compelling woman she is, the show has faced scrutiny for not casting a trans actor in the role. And rightfully so. One of the main arguments used by TERFs (trans-exclusionary radical feminists) and other anti-trans groups are that trans women are just men who want to dress as women to invade our spaces. This is far from the truth of trans womens experiences, but casting cis men in trans roles doesnt do much to help this harmful stereotype.That being said, Squid Game creator Hwang Dong-hyuk did intend to portray this role as authentically as possible when the role was first being created. Hwang told TV Guide that his search proved more challenging than he expected, and it was near impossible to find a trans actor who could play the role. When we researched in Korea, there are close to no actors that are openly trans, let alone openly gay, he says. Because unfortunately in the Korean society, currently the LGBTQ community is rather still marginalized and more neglected, which is heartbreaking.As easy as it is to say well maybe he just didnt look hard enough, its also important to recognize that the U.S. is in a different place when it comes to seeing the trans experience portrayed accurately on screen. And while we seem to be ahead of South Korea in this regard, were still nowhere close to where we should be. Even though both the U.S. and Korea still have a long way to go in terms of trans representation on screen, seeing an otherwise unproblematic trans character feature so prominently in Netflixs most popular series is arguably a very good thing, and I cant wait to see Hyun-jus story continue in season 3.All seven episodes of Squid Game season 2 are available to stream on Netflix now.Join our mailing listGet the best of Den of Geek delivered right to your inbox!

Role: Mid-level / Senior Backend Engineer (Java/Spring)Location: Remote (you live in a time zone no more than 2 hours +/- GMT)Who are we?Hey there! Were YouCanBookMe: the online scheduling solution built for small businesses. With unbeatable customizations, we provide all the benefits of online scheduling while ensuring a seamless, branded experience to boost our customers success.Since 2011, weve powered 100M+ bookings for our 17,000 customers across the globe. From beautifully branded booking pages to real-time integrations with payment systems and CRMs, YouCanBookMe streamlines the scheduling process, eliminates admin, and empowers businesses to focus on what matters most: their clients.Were a fully remote team of over 25 people, working across multiple countries and time zones. Ranked among the G2 Top 100 software companies, were passionate about making scheduling work better for small businesses everywhere.Who are we looking for?Hopefully, you! Were looking for a few Software Engineers to join our agile team of developers who keep us running and growing. Reporting to the Head of Engineering, you will work on all our server-side technologies. In short, we need your help to improve and keep our API, core infrastructure, architecture, and development operating smoothly. Weve got big plans so were actively growing the team.Skills/experience that will come in handy:Core Java skills: J2SE/J2EE, SpringSupporting skills: Git, Maven, REST, Mysql, Redis, AWS (Beanstalk, RDS, DynamoDB), OAuthFamiliarity with libraries: Apache Commons, Apache HTTP Client, java.time (JSR 310)Nice to have: Twilio APIs, Google APIs, WebDAV/CalDAVIdeally, you will have a min of 4 years of experience in a similar roleWhat you will do in a typical day:Work on assigned code implementation tasksContribute to problem-solvingAid in the daily monitoring and maintenance of our APIs, services, and processesImplement new solutions and add additional functionality to the underlying code base, designed to be scalable and robustSip your coffee while discussing recipes on Slack with your teammates (our chat is called youcancookme and its delicious)Generate a clean, maintainable, and testable codeContinuously improve the current codebase as you go along, refactoring and proposing solutionsLocation:This is a fully remote position. Most of us are located in the UK, Spain, Portugal and other European countries. The best fit for our team would be if you live in a time zone no more than 2 hours +/- GMT.Now enough of the nitty-gritty, lets get to the fun part. What can we offer you?In a shocking twist of events, the first thing we offer is...money! We aim to be fully transparent so all salaries are public inside the company. You will get a salary based on your experience: 50,000 - 80,000 EURWell also pay for your stuff. Your equipment and tools (of your choice), including wifi, office, or co-working space are all coveredLots of time to rest. Everyone gets 25 days of paid vacation and all local public holidays. Work-life balance is protectedFully-funded leave policies for parentsWe offer private health / dental insurance or contributions in most countries where we have employees (although some local exceptions apply)International travel/company retreats. We may be fully remote, but we love to meet up in personA fantastic group of people we feel lucky to work with (we may be biased on this one)Some additional info:If you choose to apply (we hope you will), make sure to check your spam folder for any emails from bamboohr.com or hireflix.com. We use those to communicate recruitment updates. Related Jobs See more Back-End Programming jobs

As of 2023, nearly 2 billion metric tons of it were being produced annually, enough to cover Manhattan in a layer more than 13 feet thick. Making this metal produces a huge amount of carbon dioxide. Overall, steelmaking accounts for around 8% of the worlds carbon emissionsone of the largest industrial emitters and far more than such sources as aviation. The most common manufacturing process yields about two tons of carbon dioxide for every ton of steel. A handful of groups and companies are now making serious progress toward low- or zero-emission steel. Among them, the Swedish company Stegra stands out. (Originally named H2 Green Steel, the company renamed itself Stegrawhich means to elevate in Swedishin September.) The startup, formed in 2020, has raised close to $7 billion and is building a plant in Boden, a town in northern Sweden. It will be the first industrial-scale plant in the world to make green steel. Stegra says it is on track to begin production in 2026, initially producing 2.5 million metric tons per year and eventually making 4.5 million metric tons. The company uses so-called green hydrogen, which is produced using renewable energy, to process iron ore into steel. Located in a part of Sweden with abundant hydropower, Stegras plant will use hydro and wind power to drive a massive electrolyzer that splits water to make the hydrogen. The hydrogen gas will then be used to pull the oxygen out of iron ore to make metallic irona key step in steelmaking. This process of using hydrogen to make ironand subsequently steelhas already been used at pilot plants by Midrex, an American company from which Stegra is purchasing the equipment. But Stegra will have to show that it will work in a far larger plant. The world produces about 60,000 metric tons of steel every 15 minutes. We have multiple steps that havent really been proven at scale before, says Maria Persson Gulda, Stegras chief technology officer. These steps include building one of the worlds largest electrolyzers. Beyond the unknowns of scaling up a new technology, Stegra also faces serious business challenges. The steel industry is a low-margin, intensely competitive sector in which companies win customers largely on price. The startup, formed in 2020, has raised close to $7 billion in financing and expects to begin operations in 2026 at its plant in Boden.STEGRA Once operations begin, Stegra calculates, it can come close to producing steel at the same cost as the conventional product, largely thanks to its access to cheap electricity. But it plans to charge 20% to 30% more to cover the 4.5 billion it will take to build the plant. Gulda says the company has already sold contracts for 1.2 million metric tons to be produced in the next five to seven years. And its most recent customerssuch as car manufacturers seeking to reduce their carbon emissions and market their products as greenhave agreed to pay the 30% premium. Now the question is: Can Stegra deliver? The secret of hydrogen To make steelan alloy of iron and carbon, with a few other elements thrown in as neededyou first need to get the oxygen out of the iron ore dug from the ground. That leaves you with the purified metal. The most common steelmaking process starts in blast furnaces, where the ore is mixed with a carbon-rich coal derivative called coke and heated. The carbon reacts with the oxygen in the ore to produce carbon dioxide; the metal left behind then enters another type of furnace, where more oxygen is forced into it under high heat and pressure. The gas reacts with remaining impurities to produce various oxides, which are then removedleaving steel behind. The second conventional method, which is used to make a much smaller share of the worlds steel, is a process called direct reduction. This usually employs natural gas, which is separated into hydrogen and carbon monoxide. Both gases react with the oxygen to pull it out of the iron ore, creating carbon dioxide and water as by-products. The iron that remains is melted in an electric arc furnace and further processed to remove impurities and create steel. Overall, this method is about 40% lower in emissions than the blast furnace technique, but it still produces over a ton of carbon dioxide for every ton of steel. But why not just use hydrogen instead of starting with natural gas? The only by-product would be water. And if, as Stegra plans to do, you use green hydrogen made using clean power, the result is a new and promising way of making steel that can theoretically produce close to zero emissions. Stegras process is very similar to the standard direct reduction technique, except that since it uses only hydrogen, it needs a higher temperature. Its not the only possible way to make steel with a negligible carbon footprint, but its the only method on the verge of being used at an industrial scale. Premium marketing Stegra has laid the foundations for its plant and is putting the roof and walls on its steel mill. The first equipment has been installed in the building where electric arc furnaces will melt the iron and churn out steel, and work is underway on the facility that will house a 700-megawatt electrolyzer, the largest in Europe. To make hydrogen, purify iron, and produce 2.5 million metric tons of green steel annually, the plant will consume 10 terawatt-hours of electricity. This is a massive amount, on par with the annual usage of a small country such as Estonia. Though the costs of electricity in Stegras agreements are confidential, publicly available data suggest rates around 30 ($32) per megawatt-hour or more. (At that rate, 10 terawatt-hours would cost $320 million.) STEGRA Many of the buyers of the premium green steel are in the automotive industry; they include Mercedes-Benz, Porsche, BMW, Volvo Group, and Scania, a Swedish company that makes trucks and buses. Six companies that make furniture, appliances, and construction materialincluding Ikeahave also signed up, as have five companies that buy steel and distribute it to many different manufacturers. Some of these automakersincluding Volvo, which will buy from Stegra and rival SSABare marketing cars made with the green steel as fossil-free. And since cars and trucks also have many parts that are much more expensive than the steel they use, steel that costs the automakers a bit more adds only a little to the cost of a vehicleperhaps a couple of hundred dollars or less, according to some estimates.Many companies have also set internal targets to reduce emissions, and buying green steel can get them closer to those goals. Stegras business model is made possible in part by the unique economic conditions within the European Union. In December 2022, the European Parliament approved a tariff on imported carbon-intensive products such as steel, known as the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM). As of 2024, this law requires those who import iron, steel, and other commodities to report the materials associated carbon emissions. Starting in 2026, companies will have to begin paying fees designed to be proportional to the materials carbon footprint. Some companies are already betting that it will be enough to make Stegras 30% premium worthwhile. STEGRA Though the law could incentivize decarbonization within the EU and for those importing steel into Europe, green steelmakers will probably also need subsidies to defray the costs of scaling up, says Charlotte Unger, a researcher at the Research Institute for Sustainability in Potsdam, Germany. In Stegras case, it will receive 265 million from the European Commission to help build its plant; it was also granted 250 million from the European Unions Innovation Fund. Meanwhile, Stegra is working to reduce costs and beef up revenues. Olof Hernell, the chief digital officer, says the company has invested heavily in digital products to improve efficiency. For example, a semi-automated system will be used to increase or decrease usage of electricity according to its fluctuating price on the grid. Stegra realized there was no sophisticated software for keeping track of the emissions that the company is producing at every step of the steelmaking process. So it is making its own carbon accounting software, which it will soon sell as part of a new spinoff company. This type of accounting is ultra-important to Stegra, Hernell says, since we ask for a pretty significant premium, and that premium lives only within the promise of a low carbon footprint. Not for everyone As long as CBAM stays in place, Stegra believes, there will be more than enough demand for its green steel, especially if other carbon pricing initiatives come into force. The companys optimism is boosted by the fact that it expects to be the first to market and anticipates costs coming down over time. But for green steel to affect the market more broadly, or stay viable once several companies begin making significant quantities of it, its manufacturing costs will eventually have to be competitive with those of conventional steel. Stegra has sold contracts for 1.2 million metric tons of steel to be produced in the next five to seven years. Even if Stegra has a promising outlook in Europe, its hydrogen-based steelmaking scheme is unlikely to make economic sense in many other places in the worldat least in the near future. There are very few regions with such a large amount of clean electricity and easy access to the grid. Whats more, northern Sweden is also rich in high-quality ore that is easy to process using the hydrogen direct reduction method, says Chris Pistorius, a metallurgical engineer and co-director of the Center for Iron and Steelmaking Research at Carnegie Mellon University. Green steel can be made from lower-grade ore, says Pistorius, but it does have the negative effects of higher electricity consumption, hence slower processing. Given the EU incentives, other hydrogen-based steel plants are in the works in Sweden and elsewhere in Europe. Hybrit, a green steel technology developed by SSAB, the mining company LKAB, and the energy producer Vattenfall, uses a process similar to Stegras. LKAB hopes to finish a demonstration plant by 2028 in Gllivare, also in northern Sweden. However, progress has been delayed by challenges in getting the necessary environmental permit. Meanwhile, a company called Boston Metal is working to commercialize a different technique to break the bonds in iron oxide by running a current through a mixture of iron ore and an electrolyte, creating extremely high heat. This electrochemical process yields a purified iron metal that can be turned into steel. The technology hasnt been proved at scale yet, but Boston Metal hopes to license its green steel process in 2026. Understandably, these new technologies will cost more at first, and consumers or governments will have to foot the bill, says Jessica Allen, an expert on green steel production at the University of Newcastle in Australia. In Stegras case, both seem willing to do so. But it will be more difficult outside the EU.Whats more, producing enough green steel to make a large dent in the sectors emissions will likely require a portfolio of different techniques to succeed. Still, as the first to market, Stegra is playing a vital role, Allen says, and its performance will color perceptions of green steel for years to come. Being willing to take a risk and actually build thats exactly what we need, she adds. We need more companies like this. For now, Stegras plantrising from the boreal forests of northern Swedenrepresents the industrys leading effort. When it begins operations in 2026, that plant will be the first demonstration that steel can be made at an industrial scale without releasing large amounts of carbon dioxideand, just as important, that customers are willing to pay for it. Douglas Main is a journalist and former senior editor and writer at National Geographic.

via X ShareIt appears that another new Chinese combat aircraft has already entered flight testing, and it is also an advanced, stealthy, tailless design. The imagery of the previously unseen aircraft began to circulate on social media today, only a matter of hours after the first appearance of a remarkable diamond-shaped, tailless, heavy tactical combat aircraft design, which you can read more about in our initial analysis piece here.A video and several photos of the second, apparently smaller aircraft began to emerge today and, so far at least, they are fewer in number and of inferior quality, making it harder to determine particular details.Before we continue, its important to note that so far this imagery looks remarkably legitimate. That is not to say that its verified authentic at this time. There remains the possibility it has been fabricated, but also considering the timing with the other reveal, that seems increasingly unlikely.According to unconfirmed accounts, the second combat aircraft design is from the Shenyang Aircraft Corporation (SAC), while the first, larger design is from the rival Chengdu Aircraft Corporation (CAC). While Shenyang is responsible for the production of Chinese developments of the Flanker multirole fighter family and the medium-weight J-35 stealth fighter family, Chengdu builds the J-10 multirole medium fighter and the heavy J-20 stealth fighter.The second tactical jet aircraft design was shown in some of the photos being chased by a Flanker-series fighter, perhaps a two-seat J-16, which would lend further support to the idea that its a Shenyang product.A rear-aspect view of the reported Shenyang combat aircraft design. From this angle, a prominent flight-test data probe can be seen on the nose. via X via X While the Chengdu design has a modified diamond-delta wing planform, with extended wing-root chines, the Shenyang aircraft has a relatively sharply swept wing, although this is hardly conventional, being more in line with a lambda wingprofile.This platform creates prominent triangular-shaped trailing-edge extensions that taper back from roughly mid-point in the wing, and project out beyond the engine exhausts.Unlike the apparent new Chengdu design, which is understood to have a three-engine powerplant, the Shenyang design is a more conventional twin-engine aircraft, in also keeping with its smaller size. The engines appear to be fed by what seems to be diverterless supersonic inlet (DSI) intakes on either side of the forward fuselage, below the wing root, and which look to be very angular in shape.The apparent Shenyang combat aircraft design seen from below. via X Two engine nozzles are evident, with some kind of a protuberance between them. From the available angles, its not immediately clear if the aircraft has a cockpit. While it would make sense for it to be a part of Chinas crewed combat aircraft development path, it could also be a drone or an optionally crewed aircraft.The fuselage is somewhat angular, and deep, suggesting a diamond-shaped cross-section, which would offer a blend of low observability and useful internal capacity for fuel and weapons.Two views of the apparent new Shenyang combat aircraft alongside what looks to be a J-16 chase plane. via X via X The Shenyang design also has a more standard-looking tricycle landing gear, with single wheels on each main unit, while the Chengdu design uses more robust twin-wheel bogies on the main gear to accommodate its larger size and gross weight.Neither of the two designs features any kind of vertical or horizontal tail surfaces. This is entirely in keeping with what we expected of Chinas next-generation fighter designs, with tailless concepts having previously appeared in the form of various studies, as well as a mysterious tailless vehicle that appeared in satellite images at Chengdu in October 2021.Tailless designs are something we have previously discussed in depth before, in relation to future Chinese fighters, but its worth noting that the main advantage they confer is in terms of broadband low observability against a variety of radar types operating across multiple frequencies. At the same time, the radar signature, especially from the side and rear perspectives, will also be reduced significantly.The new heavy Chinese combat aircraft alongside a J-20S chase plane. The new design, like the J-20, is thought to be a Chengdu product.via X Two more views of the new heavy Chinese combat aircraft, perhaps designated J-36.via X Other advantages of a tailless design include reduced aerodynamic drag, which provides improved performance for sustained high-speed dashes and cruising flight. Additional beneficial factors will almost certainly include a large internal volume for the carriage of fuel and weapons critical for extended combat radius and persistence on-station, two key concerns in the Asia Pacific theater.At the same time, a tailless configuration can adversely affect overall stability and maneuverability, requiring advanced fly-by-wire digital flight control technology to simply keep it in the air. One feature that could help mitigate stability and maneuverability deficiencies would involve thrust-vectoring engines, something China has tested in the past. Without a good view from the rear, its impossible to say for certain, but the nozzles could conceivably feature F-22-style two-dimensional thrust-vectoring.Unconfirmed reports suggest that the Shenyang design is a prototype fighter and made its first flight on Dec. 20 this year.Another view of the apparent Shenyang combat aircraft design from below. Test flights performed over populated areas suggest no great desire to hide the aircraft from prying eyes. via X However, it seems that Beijing very deliberately ensured that the two new designs broke cover today, for maximum impact.This would make sense given that Dec. 26 is the birthdate of Mao Zedong, founder of the Peoples Republic of China (PRC). It is also exactly 13 years to the day that the J-20 first broke cover.At this point, its worth noting that in both cases, we cannot currently confirm the identities of the manufacturers or even the intended roles of the new aircraft.So far, there have been no official comments from the Chinese government or industry, although internal security services certainly appear to have let imagery be leaked via unofficial channels, and its also notable that these test flights were documented in the daytime.As we have discussed before, the design now thought to be from Chengdu is notably large, suggesting that it could possibly be related to the so-called JH-XX. This is described by U.S. intelligence officials as a regional bomber, with a shorter range, smaller payload capacity, and more of a tactical focus than the H-20 stealth bomber. The H-20 is being developed by the Xian Aircraft Corporation (XAC) and is widely expected to be a flying-wing type aircraft, like the B-2 and B-21.The JH-XX remains a very shadowy project, but you can read more about what is known here.A picture that has previously emerged showing a model of a design that might be tied to work on the JH-XX. Chinese Internet In the past, we have also suggested that the JH-XX bomber could finally emerge as something closer to a fighter-bomber:The design could prioritize speed, as well as stealth, too. This could give the smaller fighter-bomber added advantages when it comes to sortie rates and for successfully penetrating through an enemys integrated air defense network. Above all else, it allows for multi-role operations, including supporting long-range air-to-air missions, without a heavy reliance on vulnerable tankers or even the use of coastal airfields, which would be the most vulnerable to attack during an all-out conflict.While the new three-engine design could be related to the JH-XX, it could also be a more generic demonstrator intended to test a variety of combat aircraft technologies. It could also be a more heavyweight fighter being developed under Chinas next-generation airpower initiative.Speaking to TWZ, Chinese aerospace observer and author Andreas Rupprecht explained that his assessment is that we are seeing combat aircraft demonstrators from Shenyang and Chengdu and that these are both closer aligned to fighters rather than bombers. Using the sixth-generation description is perhaps a little too hasty, but I think we are at the point where we can really say the Chinese have shown us for the first time their idea of air combat and new-generation fighters, Rupprecht said.Certainly, China now appears to be flying two different, very advanced combat aircraft designs that could also be rivals, with one being smaller than its competitor, which would have certain advantages in terms of cost, complexity, and performance. They could also be intended to complement one another as a medium/heavy future manned fighter combat mix.This latter would parallel Chinas pursuit of the single-engine J-10 and the twin-engine J-11/16 series, followed by the co-development of the medium-weight J-35 and larger J-20 stealth fighters. At one stage, it looked like the J-35 would be primarily aimed at export customers, as well as for Chinese naval use, but a Chinese land-based version is now also known to be in development.A Chengdu J-20 stealth fighter. Photo by Wang Jingtian/VCG via Getty Images A J-20 stealth fighter rehearses for the 2023 Changchun Air Show in July 2023 in Changchun, Jilin Province of China. Photo by Wang Jingtian/VCG via Getty ImagesA Shenyang J-35 stealth fighter. Chinese Internet Chinese InternetWhat we do know is that China has an active sixth-generation fighter program. It would not be surprising for more than one flying demonstrator design to be built to support it, or even prototypes much closer to planned production aircraft.Whether China plans to introduce more than one sixth-generation fighter, or simply determine what kind of design best suits its needs, there are plenty of signs that the country is fully committed to a future air combat program, which will include a crewed fighter as well as complementary drones, and also the JH-XX, which may well be being developed as part of the same ecosystem, perhaps even sharing certain subsystems and technologies. The H-20 could also form part of this same broader airpower architecture.The previous boss of Air Combat Command, Gen. Mark D. Kelly, spoke in September 2022 about Chinas future fighter program, noting that it was likely to follow a system of systems approach similar to the one that the U.S. Air Force has been pursuing and would certainly include a sixth-generation crewed fighter.Kelly also said he expected the platform or platforms to emerge with an exponential improvement in stealth compared with current Chinese aircraft. Of course, a tailless design could help achieve this.An artists impression of a generic U.S. Air Force tailless sixth-generation crewed fighter, of the kind being developed under the NGAD initiative. Collins Aerospace Collins AerospaceNotably, the U.S. militarys latest annual report to Congress on Chinese military developments, an unclassified versionof which was released on Dec. 18, doesnt mention potential sixth-generation crewed fighter developments.Chinese officials, meanwhile, have given very little away about the countrys future tactical air combat program. However, in a 2019 interview, Wang Haifeng, chief designer for CAC, described a project that aimed for service entry around 2035. That would also seem to be broadly in keeping with the first flight of a Chengdu demonstrator around now.In the past, Andreas Rupprecht told TWZ that: Allegedly, since 2018, CAC and its related 611 Institute have been working on the development of key technologies for the next-generation fighter.As well as testing for future crewed combat aircraft, China is already heavily engaged in developing various supporting technologies. These include the ability for future crewed combat jets to team with drones, and the use of artificial intelligence, as well as advanced sensors and weapons that will be brought together as part of Chinas broader future air combat architecture.While the appearance of one new-generation Chinese combat aircraft design is notable, the apparent emergence of two different such designs in a single day would truly be a milestone.Todays developments should also be seen in light of the U.S. Air Forces equivalent Next Generation Air Dominance (NGAD) initiative, which includes its crewed sixth-generation stealth combat jet. A final decision on this has now been pushed to the incoming Trump administration, amid uncertainty about the Air Forces ability to pay for NGAD. At the same time, questions have been increasingly asked about the relevance of NGAD in a future high-end combat scenario.A rendering of a notional U.S. tailless sixth-generation crewed fighter, refueling in flight. Lockheed Martin Lockheed MartinIt will be some time before we get a better understanding of the precise roles and attributes of Chinas new combat aircraft designs. However, the country is clearly already committed to developing successors to its current combat aircraft fleet and appears to be looking at how best to achieve significant advances in terms of range, payload, speed, and low observability.While its still unclear what Chinas next-generation fighter or fighters will end up looking like, and how they might be related to the JH-XX fighter-bomber, the current pace of development puts the uncertainty around the U.S. Air Forces NGAD efforts into even sharper focus.Contact the author: thomas@thewarzone.com

CodmasBlack Ops 6's double XP event is here to get you through the holidays with new modes and modified mapsJust like every year, the Call of Duty gods have blessed us with days of double XP to end the current year, and kick off the new one.Image credit: Activision News by Sherif Saed Contributing Editor Published on Dec. 27, 2024 Earlier this week, the very much expected double XP event kicked off in Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 across all platforms. This is something that happens every year, and 2024 is no different.The event grants double soldier/character XP, as well as double weapon XP - though sadly not double battle pass token earn speed.To see this content please enable targeting cookies. The double XP event went live on December 25, and will continue to be active in Black Ops 6 until Friday, January 3, meaning we're getting over a week of increased XP earn rate. Not bad at all. This all coincides, of course, with the holiday-themed updates the game received in the most recent mid-season patch.Season One Reloaded brought Nuketown Holiday into the map roster, which is a snowy, festive variant of the classic multiplayer map. There are two in-game events, too, Merry Mayhem, and Archies Festival Frenzy. To see this content please enable targeting cookies.Many of the existing Black Ops 6 multiplayer modes, and even Warzone, have been touched up to give them a new coat for the holiday. In multiplayer, youll find a special version of Infected called Infectious Holiday, as well as some tweaks to the newly-added Ransack to turn it into Ran-Snack.In Warzone, theres Holiday Rush, available on Area 99, and the return of Slay Ride Resurgence on Urzikstan. Even Zombies gets some of the fun, thanks to the new modified zombies in Liberty Falls. If you've ever played Zombies over the holidays, you know what to expect here.Now is also a good time to catch up on everything new added in the Season One Reloaded update, such as the new Zombies map, new weapons, and more - in case you havent had the time to recently.

All driller, no fillerNintendo Life: Firstly, congratulations on Pepper Grinder! How does it feel to finally see the game come to Switch after seven years of work?Riv Hester, Ahr Ech: Thanks! I wasnt working on the game for the WHOLE seven years, but its definitely been a long road and it still doesnt feel real to be done! Im really excited to get it into everyones hands, though; some people have been waiting since the beginning and I cant believe their patience.Have the games core concepts changed very much over this time?Not that much, actually! Its been more of a process of refining and expanding on the core concepts, but everything works more or less the same as the original prototype. It just feels much, much more tight and responsive now in the release version.Image: Devolver DigitalThis is a game that feels great to play with the drilling mechanic allowing for fluid flow and motion. How important was game feel to you when developing Pepper Grinder?Pepper Grinder is all about that game feel! I think finding joy in movement is the cornerstone of a good platformer and I tried to leverage that as much as possible. I spent a long time making sure the core movement was its own reward and then tried to build from there to make everything else as satisfying by extension. Im a sucker for nice, crunchy feedback in games too, so I also went as hard as I could on good use of sound effects, screenshake and controller rumble. (Dont worry though, I know some people can be overwhelmed by some of that stuff so you can turn it all down or off.)Of course, its not all about blasting through things as quickly as possible. There are plenty of collectibles and time trial challenges to keep you coming back for more. Do you think that replayability is key for a good 2D platformer?you can see influences from all my favourite platformers growing upIt probably depends on the platformer, but I definitely prefer the ones that extend things that way! Often Ill be replaying anyway to really try to master a game, but getting to track my best times and unlock some goodies along the way is always appreciated, and Im really glad I had time to add those features here!Speaking of the games collectibles, we understand that the idea for Pepper Grinders sticker system originated from your love for Smash Bros. Melees Trophies. Can you tell us a little more about how Melees unlockables informed your approach to Pepper Grinders collectible items?Yeah! I had a lot of fun unlocking trophies in Melee and even more in Brawl where you could arrange them in fun ways, so I wanted to do something like that in 2D for Pepper Grinder but expand on the ability to make weird scenes with it. You can get common stickers in shops and get special ones as rewards for the Time Attack mode, and all of them can be arranged however you like in various unlockable backgrounds. It wont be for everyone, but I think its neat!Image: Devolver DigitalYou have previously described the game as Dig Dug plus Ecco The Dolphin, though the likes of Drill Dozer and Sonic also came to our minds when playing. Are there any specific inspirations that you looked to during the games development?Oh yeah, you can see influences from all my favourite platformers growing up in there. Donkey Kong Country 2, Yoshis Island, Sonic 2, 3 & Knuckles, Drill Dozer for sure though I only got to play that after starting work on Pepper Grinder. There are stages involving cannons that are just obvious love letters to Donkey Kong Country. There are also inspirations from other media like Tank Girl, Gurren Lagann, and the art of Yoshitomo Nara.Pepper Grinder is one of an increasing number of neo-retro games to have arrived on Switch in recent years. Have you always been interested in tapping into this old-school aesthetic and how do you think Pepper Grinder stands out from the neo-retro crowd?there are so many curveballs game development can throw at youI do love the aesthetic of older games, but a lot of it has to do with scope as well. Pixel art takes a lot of practice to be able to express things well with it, but once youre comfortable in that space it allows for a lot more speed and agility in terms of production, especially if you dont have a big team. As for how it stands out, I honestly never put much thought into it. I just made a game I always wanted to play but could never find, and luckily it seems like a lot of other people want to play it too!The retro feel extends beyond Pepper Grinders gameplay we particularly enjoyed (virtually) flicking through its SNES-inspired manual! How closely have you worked with publisher Devolver Digital to maintain this aesthetic in the games marketing?Weve had a pretty constant back-and-forth and they had full access to all the games assets while putting that stuff together. Everyone at Devolver is just really good at their job and they were able to match what I was going for right away. The manual in particular was put together by Andy Kelly, who absolutely knocked it out of the park capturing the SNES style! Dig into the "free demo" todayImage: Devolver DigitalIt seems that you have taken on the lions share of Pepper Grinders development, only getting assistance with the games music and ports. What has been the biggest challenge in working as a solo dev on this project?Ive been careful not to let the scope of the game get too big for one person from the start, but even then there are so many curveballs game development can throw at you that it still manages to be a challenge! I really wanted to have a unique mechanic or combination of mechanics in each stage to keep things fresh throughout the game, so approaching these different ideas in a way that would let me easily adapt them to different environments while allowing them to interact with each other took a lot of planning and forethought. In the end I think I pulled it off pretty well, though!Finally, do you have any plans about whats next for Ahr Ech? Would you like to see the return of Pepper Grinder one day?First, a long break! After that, I think whatever I work on next will be something really different, with hopefully a much shorter dev cycle. Ive got a few more prototypes on the side that might make the jump to full projects already, so well see what happens! And Pepper Grinder might be something I come back to down the road, but I gotta clear my head with something else and come back fresh, you know?Thank you to Riv for taking the time to answer our questions. Pepper Grinder is now available on the Switch eShop for 13.49 / 14.99 / $14.99 and there's even a free demo if you want to see what's under the surface before digging in.Subscribe to Nintendo Life on YouTube789kRelated GamesSee AlsoShare:07 Jim came to Nintendo Life in 2022 and, despite his insistence that The Minish Cap is the best Zelda game and his unwavering love for the Star Wars prequels (yes, really), he has continued to write news and features on the site ever since. 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Tarkov could soon hit 1.0. Credit: Battlestate Games / Mike StubbsEscape From Tarkov developer Battlestate Games has released numerous teases that appear to suggest the full launch of Tarkov could arrive in the first half of 2025.The full 1.0 launch of Escape From Tarkov is something fans have been waiting for quite a while to see. It was initially suggested it would arrive this year, but with the most recent wipe not bringing the 1.0 launch, that is now out of the question. However, since the wipe arrived, there have been a couple of teases that suggest it will arrive in the first half of 2025.The most obvious tease comes from game director Nikita Buyanov, who released a short video on social media showing off some behind the scene's development of Tarkov. Nikita has been regularly releasing videos like this over the past few weeks, and most are fairly inconsequential, giving a brief glimpse at some of the work happening. However, the most recent one from earlier today ended with a couple of messages popping up on screen for a brief moment. They read: Q2 and 2025.To me this suggests that the Escape From Tarkov 1.0 launch will happen in Q2 2025, as that is really the next big event that we are expecting in Tarkov. It would also line up with the traditional wipe schedule, with the next one expected to arrive towards the end of Q2, although recent wipes have not necessarily followed that pattern.Another tease, which appeared to be somewhat unintentional, came on the recent TarkovTV live stream, where one of the developers, while speaking in Russian, said that the next wipe would likely be the full release of Tarkov. I, unfortunately, do not speak Russian, but multiple translations from the community suggest this is what was said.MORE FOR YOUBoth these signs point to the full release of Tarkov coming in the middle of 2025, and it is likely to be one of the biggest updates we have seen for a while. We know the 1.0 patch will bring all of the story quest lines, the new map Terminal and an expanded prestige system, as well as quite a few other improvements. The recent wipes have been smaller because a lot of the team has been working on 1.0 content, so this should be a return to the massive patches we used to get.The only thing that suggests the Escape From Tarkov 1.0 release may not arrive in the middle of 2025 is that fact that Nikita mentioned some massive event is planned for February. This was only briefly mentioned in the TarkovTV stream, and no further info was given, so it could just be a cool in game event like the recent zombie outbreak, but it could also be a suggestion of the launch. It seems unlikely given it would be so soon after this wipe, but it is a possibility.

NEW YORK- NOVEMBER 27: A doctor examines the x-rays of a tuberculosis (TB) patient at a TB clinic ... [+] Novmeber 27, 2002 in Brooklyn, New York. Healthcare workers around the country oversee patients in a program called Directly Observed Therapy (DOT) that ensures carriers of the tuberculosis bacteria take their medication. Tuberculosis is a contagious disease of the lungs that is spread through the air and kills around 2 million people annually, mainly in third world countries. It is relatively easy and affordable to treat, with a six-month series of drugs costing around 10 dollars. While the number of TB cases in the United States has dropped in recent years, the disease is still particularly strong among the foreign-born, the homeless and impoverished contributing to the deaths of thousands of Americans yearly. As of 2000, over 16,000 Americans have contracted tuberculosis. (Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images)Getty ImagesWhile the Indian government had set an ambitious target of making India tuberculosis (TB)-free by 2025, a new study says the ground realities are still looking bleak. Researchers estimated that from 2021 to 2040, India will see more than 62.4 million TB cases across the country and at least 8.1 million deaths caused by TB bacilli. The economic impact could also be severe. The study says India could suffer a cumulative Gross Domestic Product (GDP) loss of over $146 billion US dollars.In spite of decade-long pursuits of strategies to end TB, the health and economic disease burdens of TB remain very high in India. Low-income households will bear larger health and relative economic burdens while larger absolute economic burdens will fall on high-income households, the researchers highlighted in their study that was published in PLoS Medicine.United Nations (UN) Sustainable Development Goals call for a 90% reduction in TB deaths by 2030, compared with 2015 but meeting this target is unlikely. Despite considerable increases since 2000, funding for TB is still far short of global financing targets, and substantial investment in research and development funding is needed for new tools to prevent TB disease among the approximately 1.7 billion people infected, the researchers explained. To achieve these targets, substantial additional investment in improvements in case detection; and improvements in treatment which are effective in both drug-susceptible and drug-resistant TB are needed.The study further highlighted that the most effective strategy for preventing a higher prevalence of TB is to detect new cases. In fact, improved detection/diagnosis could be more potent and yield better benefits than developing new TB drugs.According to the Stop TB Partnership, a non-profit based in Switzerland, less than half of the funding of $2 billion per year, or $0.9 billion was invested globally for developing new TB diagnostics, drugs, and vaccines in 2020.MORE FOR YOUSince India is responsible for 28% of the global TB burden, their estimated share of needed investments, over 2021 to 2040, is likely to be below the estimated benefits from the implementation of either of our improved treatment interventions and dwarfed by the potential gains from achieving the 90% detection rate target, the researchers noted."If the new National TB Elimination Programme in Indias (NTEPI) treatment regimen and expansion of TB detection rates can be developed and rolled-out, in combination, for a cost of U$123-124bn, we show that it would be approximately cost neutral and would additionally remove the suffering and loss caused by more than 7 million fatalities and more than 48 million cases of TB," they concluded.

NASA had a busy 2024, overseeing space station operations, monitoring a slew of ongoing missions, preparing for upcoming Artemis lunar flights, and much more besides.It also began the year with a fully functioning helicopter on Mars.Recommended VideosIngenuity arrived on the red planet in February 2021, together with NASA Perseverance rover. In April of that year, Ingenuity buzzed its way into the record books by becoming the first aircraft to achieve powered, controlled flight on another planet.Please enable Javascript to view this contentThe plucky helicopter continued to wow fans for almost three years as it took increasingly complex flights across the red planet, its high-speed rotors helping it to comfortably handle an atmosphere considerably thinner than Earths.RelatedDuring many of its flights, Ingenuity used its onboard camera to map the martian surface. The data was used to help find places of scientific interest that the Perseverance rover could then explore, and also to find safe routes for the rover to make it to those sites.But on January 6, 2024, in a sign of the more serious trouble to come, Ingenuity performed an emergency landing when its onboard software and navigation camera had trouble making sense of the featureless terrain beneath it. Its operators at NASAs Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Southern California sent up instructions for a subsequent flight on January 18. But the 32-second hover turned out to be its last. In a post-flight assessment, images taken by Ingenuity and beamed back to Earth showed damage to the helicopter blades that meant it would be unable to fly again.It turned out that similar to the previous flight, Ingenuitys navigation system began to struggle soon after lifting off. Data sent down during flight 72 shows that, around 20 seconds after takeoff, the navigation system couldnt find enough surface features to track, JPL said recently. This led to an off-balance, hard landing that broke the helicopters blades.It was a bittersweet moment for the team members at JPL. Although upset at Ingenuitys grounding, they were delighted with the missions many achievements. After all, Ingenuity was originally expected to take just five flights over 30 days, but ended up far exceeding expectations by flying 128.8 flying minutes across 10.5 miles (17.0 kilometers) in a total of 72 flights, reaching altitudes as high as 78.7 feet (24 meters).On January 25, NASA chief Bill Nelson announced the end of Ingenuitys primary mission. The historic journey of Ingenuity, the first aircraft on another planet, has come to end, Nelson said. That remarkable helicopter flew higher and farther than we ever imagined and helped NASA do what we do best make the impossible, possible.Weeks later, however, it emerged that the hardy helicopter was down but not out. Although it can no longer get airborne, Ingenuitys onboard computer is still working and able to gather weather and avionics test data on a weekly basis that it sends to the Perseverance rover, which is still in touch with JPL.The weather information could benefit future explorers of the red planet, JPL said, adding that the additional avionics data is already proving useful to engineers working on future designs of aircraft and other vehicles for future Mars missions.Editors Recommendations

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