The Invoker Ascendancy for the Monk in Path of Exile 2 is great for players who want to lean into Cold and Lightning damage skills, and for anyone who's looking to use the Tempest Flurry skill, there are a number of ways to elevate that skill with the Invoker's passives.

Movies and video games have always had a somewhat tumultuous relationship. From the famous failings of video game movie adaptations to the even more famous struggle to make good movie versions of games, its rare that the two mediums see eye to eye. Which is why its so funny that there are a few rare examples of games trying to recreate famous movie scenes while giving players control of the action.The latest example of this comes from the surprisingly good new Indiana Jones game, which recreates a playable version of the opening of Raiders of the Lost Ark, but its far from the first game to try this. Sadly, this is a trend thats become less popular in recent years, as game developers have realized how hard it is to pull off. That hasnt stopped us from putting together a list of a few of our favorite examples.As a notable caveat, weve got a few important specifics here. For one thing, we only considered recreated scenes that are actually playable; they couldnt simply be cutscene renders of movie moments. Furthermore, we decided to skip entries that were filtered through a different style than the original movie this is an overly specific way to carve out the Lego games, which do wonderfully goofy re-creations and could have easily filled this list.With that aside, here are some of the best (and silliest) attempts at games recreating movie moments, along with a brief description of how well they do (or dont) work.Ethan Hunt infiltrating the CIAThe game: Mission: Impossible (1998) The movie: Mission: Impossible (1996)How playable is it? Honestly, this one is pretty great. Sure, the descent seems like its about 1,000 feet longer here than it is in the movie, but it captures the tension neatly, and its not afraid of the kind of silliness that makes Mission: Impossible great. Now, I admit that this is grading on a curve in two respects. First of all, this was a game on the N64 and original PlayStation, so Im accounting for that fact that some of it looks downright ridiculous. But second, as console technology has improved, weve gotten fewer and fewer games that let you complete heists through laser grids, and frankly that sucks. So Im just glad this game really went for it. Austen GoslinTony Montanas mansion shootoutThe game: Scarface: The World Is Yours (2006)The movie: Scarface (1983)How playable is it? Objectively, Scarface: The World Is Yours is one of the strangest games ever released. Aside from just having a combat resource called balls, where Tony Montana can enter a blind rage when his balls meter is full, the games oddness is only compounded by the fact that its a sequel to the movie which, by the way, ends with Tony Montana dying in a hail of bullets. In order to amend this, the games first level is a re-creation of the movies ending, where Tony is supposed to die in a firefight. In the video game version, however, Tony shoots his way out of his mansion, mowing down dozens of would-be killers before escaping and continuing his criminal empire with players in control. To be clear, the games not very good, so neither is this level. But as far as playable re-creations of famous movie scenes go, its a success. AGThe Battle of HothThe game: Star Wars: Shadows of the Empire (1996), and many other Star Wars gamesThe movie: Star Wars: Episode V The Empire Strikes Back (1980)How playable is it? The Battle of Hoth is iconic. Its one of the all-time great movie scenes, a truly epic sci-fi battle that rivaled war movies long before CGI made that both easy and less believable. So its not a surprise that its a perfect target for re-creation in just about every Star Wars game it could possibly fit in. Sadly, most of those re-creations have been pretty bad. The best of them come from games like Star Wars: Battlefront, which gives players control of the outcome and lets them use the movies set-piece for whatever combat they like. However, of all the truest re-creations, we think Shadows of the Empire got the closest to the real thing, even if its still a far cry from Lukes in-movie act of daring. AGThe Burly Brawl The game: The Matrix: Path of Neo (2005)The movie: The Matrix (1999) and The Matrix Reloaded (2003)How playable is it? The Matrix: Path of Neo is full of these kinds of re-creations, and frankly none of them quite work, which is less an insult to the game than it is a testament to the Wachowskis original films. Of all the moments that this game digitizes (is that fair to say when the original version took place in the Matrix?), the Burly Brawl is both the most obvious and egregious. One of the weirdest, most spectacular fights from The Matrix Reloaded, Neo facing off against hundreds of clones of Agent Smith seems like an obvious translation to video games. Unfortunately, the original is so goddamn cool that this version can only pale in comparison. On the other hand, this games re-creation of the fight at The Merovingians mansion isnt half bad, mostly because of the mess of weapons it allows Neo to play with at will. AGEllen Ripley initiating the Nostromos self-destruct sequenceThe game: Alien: Isolation (2014)The movie: Alien (1979)How playable is it? Alien: Isolation is widely considered today to be one of the best video games set in the universe of Ridley Scotts sci-fi horror franchise. This reputation is only substantiated by the fact that not only did the game perfectly capture the terrifying unpredictability of the Xenomorph, it also deftly recreated two of the most iconic sequences featuring it in Scotts original movie. Alien: Isolations DLC expansions, Crew Expendable and Last Survivor, take place on USCSS Nostromo and cast players in the role of either Ellen Ripley or one of her crewmates.Crew Expendable recreates the scene immediately following Bretts death, as the remaining crew aboard make a last-ditch effort to expel the creature through the Nostromos airlock. Last Survivor picks up directly after the end of Crew Expendable, with Ripley forced to activate the ships self-destruct sequence and escape before she too becomes the creatures prey. Both DLCs do a terrific job of recreating two of Aliens tensest and most terrifying moments, placing players directly in Ripleys shoes and putting their cavalier Pfff, I could survive that attitudes to the test. Toussaint Egan

All is well at Terror Camp.The author Julian Sancton has just finished speaking about his book Madhouse at the End of the Earth, which documents the ill-equipped and ill-fated Belgian Antarctic expedition of 1897. The conference attendees are watching via Zoom, and flooding the accompanying Discord chat with hearts and hand-clap emojis when Allegra Rosenberg, the events organizer, reminds everyone to stay on for a special announcement and, apparently, a special guest.Another person joins the Zoom call. Its David Kajganich, a writer and producer of the 2018 TV series The Terror about the even worse-fated 1845 Franklin expedition in the Arctic the show that is the reason over 1,800 people have signed up for the digital conference in early December.Kajganich has a simple but exciting announcement: Hes finally releasing a set of Spotify playlists for the lost men of the Franklin expedition. Initially, Kajganich had planned to release the playlists in the fall, but he was waylaid by something peculiar: the identification of the remains of James Fitzjames, one of the expeditions three captains.The skeleton was first found in the 1990s, but a massive effort was recently made to collect DNA evidence of direct descendants of the Franklin expeditions crew, which enabled the remains to be identified. But knife marks on the skeletons mandible also confirmed that Fitzjames body had been cannibalized.Not the mood in which a thoughtful show creator wants to jump in with a fun, frothy Spotify project.So Kajganich waited. Now, each week, hes releasing a playlist for each character, curated to include songs that Kajganich believes they would listen to if they lived in the present day.(Edward Little Radiohead, a viewer immediately quips in the chat referring to the lieutenant portrayed by Matthew McNulty with the countenance of a wet and chronically depressed sheepdog.)Kajganich cautions the excited crowd that he didnt think about lyrics at all when he was making the playlists. Please as many of you are sort of wont to do do not exhaust yourself looking for coded messages in the lyrics, or connective tissue with events of the show. Ive gone out of my way to not think too much about that.The advice is reasonable. But reveling in the pleasure of thinking is exactly why everyone is here, at a conference built around one season of a television show that aired in 2018.The Terror is an adaptation of the Dan Simmons novel of the same name. It spins a fictionalized tale of the Franklin expedition, a real-life endeavor to find the Northwest Passage that set sail in 1845.In our world, the Franklin expedition disappeared. The first rescue mission was sent in 1848. Subsequent attempts to find the missing men would map more of the Arctic than the Franklin expedition itself ever saw. But the men were long dead explorers found only bodies.In the show, the men are beset by supernatural terrors as well as the grim realities of scurvy, starvation, and cold. It could have been miserable. It could have been misanthropic. Instead, The Terror is a thoughtful, nuanced look at what happens when men are lost where they dont belong, and set adrift from the restrictive norms that defined Victorian England. Who thrives? Who breaks down? Who survives?Kajganich and fellow creator Soo Hugh took a cast of predominantly white (and bearded, and mutton-chopped) men, and used them as a canvas to tell a story that captures viewers imaginations even six years later.According to Fandoms 2024 Year in Review, the show has shot onto the top 100 list of most-talked-about TV shows on Tumblr. Its No. 63. This is certainly due in part to the show finally coming to Netflix in August. But excited new viewers are being welcomed open-armed by a community thats been going strong since 2018 and Terror Camp is its biggest party.Terror Camp, which has been run annually since 2021, bills itself as a fan convention and academic conference. It is absolutely, rigorously both.Its like this thing that originally came out of Terror fandom, says Sarah Pickman, one of this years organizers. But has grown to encompass some people who are in academia, some people who arent, all people who are just united by this amazing love for this history and really thinking deeply about how the Arctic and Antarctica are represented in media, including in The Terror, which just gives you so much to analyze.Im used to online fandoms but not academic conferences, so I was initially intimidated by the idea of Terror Camp, says Goz, a Terror fan who has been attending the conference since its second iteration in 2022. Over Discord, she wrote to me that she overcame the nerves because that years programming featured interviews with two of the actors and a writer, as well as the shows costume designer and like many fans, she was curious about what it was like behind the scenes.The surprise, then, was being thrust into the wide, cold world of polar exploration, and the warm embrace of the fandom. I got to react to and discuss the presentations with other attendees in real time, Goz wrote. I didnt feel like I was out of my depth, but rather an enthusiast among other enthusiasts, even for the presentation topics I was just learning about for the first time.Pickman is one of the fans who came to the show from academia. She was pursuing her doctorate in Yale Universitys History of Science and Medicine Program when she first watched it in 2018.But The Terror has also pushed everyday TV fans to cast themselves as researchers. Pickman tells me this is not atypical for polar history. The field, more so than many others, attracts people from non-academic backgrounds.She points to David C. Woodmans book Unravelling the Franklin Mystery: Inuit Testimony. The book compiles Inuit histories of the Franklin expedition testimonies that were ignored by the British admiralty at the time and then neglected in the century since.And he wasnt a professor. I mean, he was just a guy, Pickman says. I think he worked for the Canadian military, but oh my God, he just spent so much time in the National Archives in Washington, D.C., reading handwritten 19th-century journals and correspondence and transcribing all of this evidence that everybody else had overlooked. And the book that he wrote has become a really serious book that everybody references.Many of Terror Camps presenters do end up coming from the academic world but all approach their topics with the enthusiasm and warmth of fans. It makes for a weekend of programming thats really fun to watch.Were treated to a thorough and deeply sourced presentation from Ted Logun about The Frozen Deep, a very bad play that everyone loved, by Wilkie Collins and Charles Dickens. The 1856 play was one of Dickens many efforts to canonize the Franklin expedition as a heroic tragedy. When contemporary reports came in that the lost men had resorted to cannibalism, Dickens was one of the loudest voices refuting them. Dickens greatly exerted himself to ensure that Franklin, and by extention the colonial motivations of the expedition, were never called into question.Logun caps the presentation off with a slide that reads Fuck you, Mr. Dickens.During another panel, the chat absolutely pops off at the mention of John Sacheuse, an early 19th-century Inuk interpreter. Hes received with all the enthusiasm of an actor from the TV show.I think thats one of the cool things about Terror Camp, is that there are various structures in academia and traditional academic conferences that can be gatekeeping mechanisms, Pickman tells me. This one is just like, if youre interested, just show up. [] You dont have to wait to try to break down the doors, to be part of a more traditional academic conversation.That sentiment is echoed by Goz. This year, there were a number of sessions that highlighted marginalized voices in particular, like presentations on Inuit and female perspectives in polar exploration, on queerness in the context of the historical era or transness in the context of present-day fandom, she says. It shows that you dont have to be an armchair dad obsessed with naval warfare to enjoy The Terror and its related subjects. You can be into fashion or food or gender, or just really curious about a single working-class historical figure who might otherwise have been remembered mostly as just another name on a muster roll.Terror Camp has expanded its focus in the four years its been running, but the TV show remains at the heart of many of the panels and demonstrates why its such a powerful entry point into polar obsession.One of the weekends presentations was by Leah Palmer, a Ph.D. student at the University of Galway whose focus is Arctic archival material. Palmer uses one of the shows most beloved characters, the surgeon Harry Goodsir, as a springboard to discuss 19th-century Inuit-language dictionaries.In The Terror, Goodsir is one of the few men who attempts to understand a captured Inuk woman, dubbed Lady Silence by the English crew. Working with Lady Silence, Goodsir begins compiling a simple one-to-one English-to-Inuktut dictionary.Palmer tells an enthralled audience that there were many such dictionaries in circulation in the 19th century and that many were created because of the search for the missing Franklin expedition. Dictionaries taught English sailors useful phrases such as Have you seen any large ships lately? and Have you seen any white men on this coast?In a Q&A afterward, Palmer points out that these dictionaries werent always accurate. For example, James Clark Ross listed the word for nose as Inuk. In fact, in Inuktut, its simply the singular of Inuit. One imagines that whoever Ross was talking to pointed at their own face and Ross took it too literally but its a breathtakingly huge error to confuse a person for a body part.But such is the story of polar exploration. The field is full of stories where survival rested on the blade of a knife. A single bad decision or misunderstanding could spell doom. Pickman says this is part of why survival stories like The Terror resonate with modern viewers.Why do we have people in 2024 who are still obsessed with the Donner Party or the Raft of the Medusa? Pickman asks rhetorically. All these historical episodes, these extreme survival stories what do people do in these kinds of circumstances? Who rises to the occasion? And how did the veneers of civilization and order break down? I think thats really compelling, and it was done so well in the show.The Terror has been a niche enough show that Terror Camp has always been able to get talent to appear in the programming. Dave Kajganich actually did a keynote in the conferences first year and showed eager fans some deleted scenes. This led to a funny moment in this years Saturday keynote, which for the first time featured the legendary actor Jared Harris (who has made TV audiences weep on Chernobyl and Mad Men, and will soon take a turn playing Claudius in Hamlet at the Royal Shakespeare Company), alongside his able scene partner Liam Garrigan.The two play Captain Francis Crozier and his steward, Thomas Jopson, respectively. As Jopson, Garrigan balances both steely darkness and loyalty. In a show full of tragedy, Jopsons particular fate is one of the most striking, and coupled with Garrigans portrayal, its made him a fan favorite. (Although it could be argued that, given how dedicated people are to this show, every character with at least two seconds of screentime is someones favorite.)Garrigan describes one of the deleted scenes that he filmed, shot for shot, from memory. Hes clearly excited about it, he remembers it being brilliant on the page, but isnt sure how it turned out. Apparently, hes never actually seen it but many of the fans have, thanks to Terror Camp. The panels moderator promises to send it to him.Im sure Dave wouldnt mind.To me, Terror Camp is the utopian vision of what fandom should be. A lot of people hear fandom and cringe, imagining an uncritical, single-minded devotion to a celebrity, or show, or what have you. But were not talking stan wars on X, here.What Terror Camp shows is that fandom can be about learning a lot of cool shit and sharing it with people. Its a conference that somehow balances extremely valid criticism of the polar projects and their colonial goals with empathy for the people involved and an appreciation of all the themes that grow out of polar narratives.But mostly, I just like it when smart, funny people tell me things that I didnt know before. And thats what Terror Camp does so, so well.

For decades, the Star Wars Holiday Special was a misbegotten artifact of a specific era of network TV variety-show thinking, and Lucasfilm seemed content to pretend it never happened. Fans considered it a black mark on George Lucas franchise, and made it the butt of endless fandom jokes. But thats changed over the past decade Lucasfilm has been quietly honoring the holiday special and bringing elements from it into the canon. Star Wars: Skeleton Crew, the best thing Lucasfilm has done in the Star Wars galaxy since Andor, is the latest proof that the company is no longer so embarrassed about the whole thing.The Star Wars Holiday Special aired on CBS on Nov. 17, 1978. It presented a mix of skits, musical numbers featuring Bea Arthur, Jefferson Starship, and Diahann Carroll, and an animated short that introduced the world to bounty hunter Boba Fett. At nearly two hours in length, and full of cringeworthy moments, the Star Wars Holiday Special was a so-bad-its-bad event. Star Wars fans who have seen it often caution those who havent to skip it; its not worth the time investment. (Others think differently.) Even Star Wars actors Harrison Ford, Anthony Daniels, and Carrie Fisher were known to trash it.For a long time, the only way to watch the Star Wars Holiday Special was on bootleg VHS tapes. But thanks to uploads on YouTube and the Internet Archive, its easier than ever to subject yourself to it. As its become more accessible, Lucasfilm has seemed increasingly willing to incorporate it into the current Star Wars canon.As Star Wars authority and Lucasfilm Story Group creative executive Pablo Hidalgo wrote in 2023 on StarWars.com, some of the earliest adopters of Star Wars Holiday Special lore were video games. Online games Star Wars Galaxies, Clone Wars Adventures, and Star Wars: The Old Republic incorporated Life Day, the Wookiee celebration of family and togetherness introduced in the holiday special, as in-game events.Life Day became fully entrenched in modern, post-Disney-acquisition Star Wars canon thanks to The Mandalorian. In the first episode of that Disney Plus series, Din Djarins bounty The Fledgling Mythrol announces that he was hoping to be free for Life Day, indicating that the Wookiee holiday is a galaxy-wide celebration not just for folks on Kashyyyk.The concept of Life Day has since appeared in Marvels Star Wars comics and the comedic, non-canon one-off The Lego Star Wars Holiday Special. Star Wars theme parks have also gone all in on Life Day. Since 2022, Disneylands and Disney Worlds Star Wars: Galaxys Edge parks have held Life Day celebrations on Nov. 17 the anniversary of the Star Wars Holiday Special with special food and merchandise offerings. Effectively, Life Day has become a second annual Star Wars-themed holiday, comfortably six months away from May the Fourth.Life Day isnt the only aspect of the Star Wars Holiday Special to resurface in recent years. The animated short that marked Boba Fetts first appearance was officially rereleased by Lucasfilm in 2011 as part of the Star Wars: The Complete Saga Blu-ray set the only time a segment from the holiday special was officially released on home video. The original Boba Fett cartoon was added to Disney Plus under the name The Story of the Faithful Wookiee in 2021.Other elements from the Star Wars Holiday Special have crept into modern canon, including the four-armed alien chef Gormaanda. In the holiday special, Chewbaccas wife, Mallatobuck, prepares for Life Day celebrations by watching a cooking show starring Gormaanda (played by Harvey Korman). Gormaanda has since made small but canon-level appearances in short-story collections (Tales from a Galaxy Far, Far Away: Aliens: Volume I) and multiple official cookbooks.Most recently, Star Wars: Skeleton Crew paid homage to the Star Wars Holiday Special, confirming that children across the galaxy love watching hologram circus performances. Chewbaccas son Lumpawaroo (Lumpy) becomes entranced by a holo kids show in the holiday special, and a re-creation of that program appears in episode 2 of Skeleton Crew. Neels brothers Jobo, Jorko, and Tuloo sit around the family room glued to a holo-projection thats lifted straight out of the holiday special. Then, in episode 4, Jod Na Nawood discovers a hologram puck that features a clip of those same circus performers.That level of deep Star Wars reverence isnt unusual for Skeleton Crew, which has also winked and nodded at Lucasfilms Captain EO and the 1985 made-for-TV movie Ewoks: The Battle for Endor. But it is nice to know that kids of all alien species across the Star Wars galaxy are consuming that good hologram circus content and looking forward to holding glowing orbs at the next Life Day.

JFrog report uncovers alarming security vulnerabilities in popular machine learning tools

The U.S. has made great progress in getting more people insured since the Affordable Care Act took effect in 2014. The share of uninsured Americans ages 18 to 64 fell from 18% before the ACA to 9.5% in 2022. And preexisting conditions no longer prevent coverage or lead to an increase in premiums.Yet even for those with health insurance, coverage does not ensure access to care, much less high-quality and affordable care. Research shows that 1 in 3 Americans seeking care report delaying or forgoing treatment because of the administrative burdens of dealing with health insurance and the health care system, creating additional barriers beyond costs.Some of these are basic tasks, such as scheduling appointments. But others relate to strategies that health insurers use to shape the care that their patients are able to receivetactics that are often unpopular with both doctors and patients.In addition, more than 40% of Americans under 65 have high-deductible plans, meaning patients face significant upfront costs to using care. As a result, nearly a quarter are unable to afford care despite being insured.As scholars of health care quality and policy, we study how the affordability and design of health insurance affects peoples health as well as their out-of-pocket costs.Wed like to unpack five of the most common strategies used by health insurers to ensure that care is medically necessary, cost-effective or both.At best, these practices help ensure appropriate care is delivered at the lowest possible cost. At worst, these practices are overly burdensome and can be counterproductive, depriving insured patients of the care they need.Claim denialsThe strategy of denial of claims has gotten a lot of attention in the aftermath of the killing of UnitedHealthcare chief executive officer Brian Thompson, partly because the insurer has higher rates of denials than its peers. Overall, nearly 20% of Americans with coverage through health insurance marketplaces created by the ACA had a claim denied in 2021.While denial may be warranted in some cases, such as if a particular service isnt covered by that plan amounting to 14% of in-network claim denials more than three-quarters of denials in 2021 did not list a specific reason. This happens after the service has already taken place, meaning that patients are sent a bill for the full amount when claims are denied.Although the ACA required standardized processes for appealing claims, patients dont often understand or feel comfortable navigating an appeal. Even if you understand the process, navigating all of the paperwork and logistics of an appeal is time-consuming. Gaps by income and race in pursuing and winning appeals only deepen mistrust among those already struggling to get appropriate care and make ends meet.Prior authorizationPrior authorization requires providers to get approval in advance from the insurer before delivering a procedure or medicationunder the guise of medical necessity as well as improving efficiency and quality of care.Although being judicious with high-cost procedures and drugs make intuitive sense, in practice these policies can lead to delays in care or even death.In addition, the growing use of artificial intelligence in recent years to streamline prior authorization has come under scrutiny. This includes a 2023 class action lawsuit filed against UnitedHealthcare for algorithmic denials of rehabilitative care, which prompted the federal government to issue new guidelines.The American Medical Association found that 95% of physicians report that dealing with prior authorization somewhat or significantly increases physician burnout, and over 90% believe that the requirement negatively affects patients. The physicians surveyed by the association also reported that over 75% of patients often or sometimes failed to follow through on recommended care due to challenges with prior authorizations.Doctors and their staff may deal with dozens of prior authorization requests per week on average, which take time and attention away from patient care. For example, there were nearly two prior-authorization requests per Medicare Advantage enrollee in 2022, or more than 46 million in total. Smaller networksHealth insurance plans contract with physicians and hospitals to form their networks, with the ACA requiring them to ensure a sufficient choice of providers.If a plan has too small of a network, patients can have a hard time finding a doctor who takes their insurance, or they may have to wait longer for an appointment.Despite state oversight and regulation, the breadth of plan networks has significantly narrowed over time. Nearly 15% of HealthCare.gov plans had no in-network physicians for at least one of nine major specialties, and over 15% of physicians listed in Medicaid managed-care provider directories saw no Medicaid patients. Inaccurate provider directories amplify the problem, since patients may choose a plan based on bad information and then have trouble finding care.Surprise billingThe No Surprises Act went into effect in 2022 to protect consumers against unexpected bills from care received out of network. These bills usually come with a higher deductible and an out-of-pocket maximum that is typically twice as high as in-network care as well as higher coinsurance rates.Prior to that law, 18% of emergency visits and 16% of in-network hospital stays led to at least one surprise bill.While the No Surprises Act has helped address some problems, a notable gap is that it does not apply to ambulance services. Nearly 30% of emergency transports and 26% of nonemergency transports may have resulted in a surprise bill between 2014 and 2017.Pharmacy benefit managersThe largest health insurance companies all have their own pharmacy benefit managers.Three of themAetnas CVS Caremark, Cignas Express Scripts and UnitedHealthcares Optum Rxprocessed almost 80% of the total prescriptions dispensed by U.S. pharmacies in 2023.Beyond how market concentration affects competition and prices, insurers owning pharmacy benefit managers exploits a loophole in how much insurers are required to spend on patient care.The ACA requires insurers to maintain a medical loss ratio of 80% to 85%, meaning they should spend 80 to 85 cents of every dollar of premiums for medical care. Pharmaceuticals account for a growing share of health care spending, and plans are able to keep that money within the parent company through the pharmacy benefit managers that they own.Moreover, pharmacy benefit managers inflate drug costs to overpay their own vertically integrated pharmacies, which in turn means higher out-of-pocket costs based on the inflated prices. Most pharmacy benefit managers also prevent drug manufacturer co-pay assistance programs from counting toward patients cost sharing, such as deductibles, which prolongs how long patients have to pay out of pocket.Policy goals versus realityDespite how far the U.S. has come in making sure most Americans have access to affordable health insurance, being insured increasingly isnt enough to guarantee access to the care and medications that they need.The industry reports that profit margins are only 3% to 6%, yet the billions of dollars in profits they earn every year may feel to many like a direct result of the day-to-day struggles that patients face getting the care they need.These insurer tactics can adversely affect patients health and their trust in the health care system, which leaves patients in unthinkably difficult circumstances. It also undercuts the governments goal of bringing affordable health care to all.Monica S. Aswani is an assistant professor of health services administration at the University of Alabama at Birmingham.Paul Shafer is an assistant professor of health law, policy and management at Boston University.This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

The new yearand the return of the Trump administration to the White Housecould bring all kinds of changes to the workplace. The president-elect is likely to reverse some of the wins of the Biden administration, which included expanding legal immigration to embracing pro-labor policies that help promote organizing efforts. Many people fear that Trump will reinstate some of the anti-immigration measures he introduced during his first term, which restricted all kinds of immigration and also impacted highly skilled workers. While Bidens pick to lead the National Labor Relations BoardJennifer Abruzzohas taken significant steps to bolster labor rights and strengthen workplace protections over the past four years, Trumps appointees are likely to undo much of that work.Then there are the proposals laid out in Project 2025, which take aim at workplace safety standards and organizing rights and even suggest eliminating public sector unions. (Trump has already selected several people for his administration with ties to Project 2025after spending the campaign trying to distance himself from the initiative.) Should Trump choose to pursue many of those recommendations, his second term could prove even more damaging to workers rights.Still, despite the looming uncertainty, there are a number of laws and policies that have already been enacted and will go into effect in 2025many of which will benefit rank and file workers in the new year.Minimum wage increasesStates across the U.S.and the political spectrumhave boosted the minimum wage over the last decade, partly in response to the Fight for $15 movement and other worker-led campaigns. Fourteen states have since passed a $15 hourly minimum wage, though some of them are still phasing in the new pay floor. In 2025, workers across 23 states and 65 localities will see their wages rise; by the end of the year, the minimum wage will exceed $15 in nine states and cross $17 in 51 cities and counties.In states such as California and New Jersey, some healthcare workers will benefit from significant pay bumps, putting their hourly pay above $18. Across a handful of localitiesincluding Washington, D.C., and Chicagotipped workers will also get a raise, as those regions work toward phasing out the subminimum wage. This year, Michigan became the first state to eliminate the subminimum wage, which means tipped workers there will also see a wage increase in 2025.Pay transparencyFourteen states and several localities have now passed laws mandating that employers share some measure of pay transparency, whether that means posting salary ranges in job listings or providing that insight during hiring negotiations. As of 2025, the majority of employers across five of those statesIllinois, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Jersey, and Vermontwill have to provide salary data when posting job openings, arming candidates with more information as they navigate discussions of compensation. A pay transparency law passed in Washington, D.C., also took effect earlier this year.While some companies have sought to get around the law, usually by posting overly broad salary ranges, these measures have continued to gain traction and are catalyzing more pay transparency across the private sector. (Early data also suggests that these laws are closing the gender pay gap more quickly in states like Colorado, which was the first to implement pay transparency.) A number of other states, such as Michigan, are considering putting a similar law in the books, while others have introduced bills that failed to progress through the state legislature.Paid sick leaveWhile paid family leave legislation has stalled at the federal level, many states have found a way to secure coverage for workers who need time off for health reasons or caregiving responsibilities. Some of the broader paid leave laws are only slated for enforcement in 2026, but starting next year, workers in Alaska, Missouri, and Nebraska can reap the benefits of access to paid sick leave if they need to take sick days for health reasons or to care for an ailing family member.As of 2025, certain states with existing sick leave laws will extend coverage to include experiences including pregnancy loss or adoption or have expanded the definition of family members who are typically covered. In New York, a new amendmentand the first of its kindwill grant pregnant workers another 20 hours of paid prenatal leave (in addition to the states existing sick leave policy), which can be put toward doctors appointments and other prenatal care as needed.Retail worker protectionsIn a handful of states, retail employees will gain new protections due to legislation that aims to prevent workplace violence. The Retail Worker Safety Act, which passed in New York, requires that all retailers have a clear workplace violence prevention policy and training program; larger workplaces are even required to install panic buttons. (While the law will be enforced in the new year, employers do have until 2027 to put a panic button system in place.) A similar law was enacted in California, though it does not mandate the use of panic buttons. Both measures are partly a response to the increased violence and harassment retail workers often face on the job, which has only worsened since the pandemic.Beyond protections against violence, retail employees have also notched other wins that could improve their working conditions. This year, city officials in Ann Arbor, Michigan, approved a law that will enable workerswhether in retail or hospitalityto sit while on the job, as long as that doesnt interfere with their duties. Similar right to sit laws have already been enacted in California, Florida, and Wisconsin, and in some states, there are still dated laws on the books that only grant women the right to sit. While pregnant workers, for example, are eligible for accommodations that would allow them to sit on the job as needed, these laws are largely modeled after norms in European countries, where retail workers are often seated.Overtime eligibilityEarlier this year, the Biden administration finalized a rule that seemed like a boon for millions of salaried workers, making them newly eligible for overtime pay. It was the first time in decades that overtime eligibility had been expanded significantly; unlike hourly workers, salaried employees are typically not entitled to overtime pay unless their salary is below a certain threshold. Under the Trump administration, employers were only required to pay overtime to workers whose salary was $35,568 or less; after the rule took effect in July, however, workers were eligible if they earned up to $43,888, and the salary cap would have increased again to $58,656 by 2025.But in November, a federal judge struck down the rule, revoking overtime pay for workers who had qualified for it this yearand blocking a new group of workers from eligibility in 2025. (An estimated four million workers would have been impacted in the first year of implementation, according to the Labor Department.) Its not clear whether eligibility could change again under Trump, who has said he is opposed to the idea of overtime pay and already took steps to limit overtime during his first administration. Some of the recommendations in Project 2025 suggest that Trump might go even further when he assumes the presidency, by chipping away at existing overtime benefits or offering loopholes to employers who want to avoid paying up.

Flooding is one of the deadliest and costliest natural disasters in the U.S., causing billions of dollars in damage each year. In 2024 alone, floods destroyed homes in over a dozen states and claimed more than 165 lives.Southeast Texas was hit by flash flooding repeatedly in the spring, and then hit again by Hurricane Beryl. In one heartbreaking moment, a 4-year-old boy was swept away after his familys car was submerged during a thunderstorm near Fort Worth.In the Upper Midwest, days of rainfall in May caused flooding along the Mississippi River and its tributaries. A slow-moving storm in the Northeast in August caused catastrophic flooding in Connecticut.The mountains of North Carolina and Tennessee saw some of the years most devastating flooding as the remnants of Hurricane Helene hit in September. Heavy rain poured down mountains, turning creeks and rivers into torrents that washed away homes and vehicles. More than 100 people died in North Carolina, and six workers drowned when their plastics factory was inundated in Tennessee.Storms like these are intensifying faster, weakening more slowly and producing more extreme precipitation that the land cant absorb fast enough. While many coastal areas are becoming more prepared for hurricane and tidal flooding, inland flood risk is less understood or easily anticipated.These disasters underscore the importance of fast, accurate flood warnings. Theyre also a reminder that extensive gaps still exist in the systems that monitor U.S. stream levels.Current coverage is less than 1% of waterwaysThe National Weather Service uses advanced models to issue flood warnings. These models rely on historical trends, land cover information and a network of over 11,800 streamgagessensors that provide near-real-time data on precipitation, streamflow and water depthto simulate water flow. Much of that data is available online in real time.However, the streamgage network covers less than 1% of the nations rivers and streams.Deploying a single sensor costs over US$25,000 for permanent federal gauges, and nearly 70% of these costs can fall on communities. These high upfront costs, combined with rising operational expenses, significantly limit sensor coverageparticularly in small and urban watersheds prone to flash floods. The U.S. Geological Survey acknowledges that these sensors alone do not provide enough data at fast enough intervals to fully address flood risk.Without data, risk is often underestimatedFlood risk can be estimated in waterways without streamgages, but not as accurately.In these areas, computers use data from similar waterways to estimate stream flow. However, these assumptions, along with limited data and the evolving effects of climate change, introduce uncertainty.The resulting models often underestimate flow in smaller creeks and overlook the effects of urbanization. In particular, they can miss new risks in fast-developing areas, where changes to the landscape and more pavement can quickly funnel water in risky ways.These flood models are used for more than warnings. They also guide risk assessments for development, insurance and decisions on building protective infrastructure, so accuracy is important.A case study in PhiladelphiaA July 2023 flash flood in Lower Makefield, a suburb of Philadelphia along the Delaware River, highlights the challenges of insufficient data coverage in urbanizing watersheds.On July 15, heavy rain transformed Houghs Creek, a small tributary of the Delaware River, into a deadly torrent, washing out Washington Crossing Road and trapping multiple vehicles. Survivors recalled the chaos:All of a sudden, 3 inches of water, 4 inches of water, a foot of water just coming at us, Chloe Weissman said.This huge gush of water just came down from . . . down a hill, added Eli Weissman. As it was coming down, cars were starting to float. [We] just tried to survive, laid on our back, feet heading down, grabbing trees, grabbing vines, grabbing whatever we could to stay afloat.A map of rainfall totals and flash flood warnings shows how important locally targeted information can be. The flash flooding in Upper Makefield (pink) that washed away cars occurred outside the zones listed in the warning. [Image: Julie Arbit/University of Michigan]The National Weather Service issued a flash flood warning at 5:18 p.m., but a phone alert wasnt triggered until 6:09 p.m.after the flooding had begun. While the Delaware River has a nearby streamgage, flood models did not predict the rapid flooding along this small tributary.Urbanization around Houghs Creek has made these events more dangerous and less predictable, as impervious surfaces quickly funnel the water into low-lying areas. The flash flood underscored the need for hyperlocal data to improve predictive models and allow earlier, more accurate warnings.Expanding coverage of stream flood levelsAddressing data gaps is essential for improving weather forecasting and emergency management.One promising solution is expanding the streamgage network through public-private partnerships and encouraging state and local governments, small businesses, academic institutions and nonprofits to build and operate their own sensors. Greater coverage enables more accurate and timely flood forecasts, leading to improved warnings, more prepared communities and more effective emergency responses when disasters strike.Engineers at the University of Michigan Digital Water Lab created one example of a low-cost, easy-to-deploy solution for flood monitoring. At its core is a controller connected to an ultrasonic sensor that measures water levels in a way similar to how bats navigate using sound. The data can be transmitted in real time for fast analysis.The simplicity and affordabilityaround US$800 per sensorof this system allows for widespread deployment, providing critical information to communities. Techniques such as validating readings against precipitation measurements, calibrating sensors with federal monitoring stations and using supervised machine learning can build confidence in the value of this third-party and citizen-generated data.Eventually, nonfederal sensors like these may be integrated into federal flood models.In the meantime, researchers have created open-source databases that consolidate all known gauge data and allow the public to supply information. These combined datasets allow more advanced and robust flood models, such as Googles flood forecasting model, which covers large portions of the country.Future of flood monitoringSeveral universities are working together in a collaboration called FloodAware to develop a system that integrates floodcams, social media posts, smart city sensors and more to detect and warn residents of flash floods. Bringing these tools together could greatly expand the data available to meteorologists and emergency managers, improving flood risk assessments and warnings.Combining diverse sources of data on a shared platform would establish a more comprehensive, accessible flood monitoring system. We believe that would empower communities with the information they need to advocate for protective measures, ultimately enhancing resilience in the face of climate change.Julie Arbit is a researcher at the Center for Social Solutions at the University of Michigan.Brad Bottoms is a data scientist at the Center for Social Solutions at the University of Michigan.Branko Kerkez is an associate professor of Civil Engineering at the University of Michigan.This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

Apple's work to create its own networking chips will lead to updated and new home products, including an updated Apple TV 4K, HomePod mini, and more.Netatmo and other home security cameras are already compatible with HomeKit Secure Video image credit: NetatmoAs AppleInsider has previously reported, the company has developed its own wireless networking chip, called Proxima, that would replace networking technology currently supplied by Broadcom. The chips will debut in updated home products across 2025.In addition to connecting new and updated devices to an existing home network, the Proxima chip could potentially serve as a wireless access point itself, according to Bloomberg. The company plans to use the chip in both new and refreshed home devices, possibly including its own line of security cameras. Rumor Score: Possible Continue Reading on AppleInsider | Discuss on our Forums

Apple's push into smart home tech could see it take on Ring with a smart doorbell equipped with Face ID, one which could unlock the door by recognizing the visitor's face.Logitech Circle View HomeKit smart doorbellReports about Apple's smart home plans have involved displays on robotic arms and the alleged development of a camera. That latter part may not just be for typical video-based security, as it could end up offering more functionality.In Sunday's "Power On" newsletter, Bloomberg reports Apple is also working on a smart doorbell. It is believed to have an advanced facial recognition system, so it could detect the identity of whomever is on the doorstep. Rumor Score: Possible Continue Reading on AppleInsider | Discuss on our Forums