Get ready for changes toretirement savings plans. Starting in 2025, there are several new provisions of theSECURE Act 2.0going live for US workers. This federal legislation is designed to make it easier for Americans to manage and contribute to tax-advantaged retirement plans.Passed in 2022, the SECURE Act 2.0 aims to improve access to retirement savings vehicles. This legislation builds on changes enacted by the original SECURE Act, or Setting Every Community Up for Retirement Enhancement Act, that passed in December 2019.Some parts of the SECURE 2.0 Act have already been rolled out, but other changes will go live next January through 2027. Here's a breakdown of all the new rules for 2025 and how they will impact your savings.New required minimum distribution rulesWhen they take effect: 2023 to 2033Required minimum distributions, or RMDs, are mandatory withdrawals you're eventually required to make from retirement accounts funded with pretax money like traditional 401(k)s and traditional IRAs. Those distributions are taxed as ordinary income. RMDs exist because the IRS wants to be sure you eventually pay taxes on the money you invested.The SECURE Act 2.0 brings several changes to RMDs, including:Higher RMD age: The SECURE Act 2.0 pushed back the RMD age from 72 to 73 in 2023. But in 2033, it will increase again to 75.Lower penalties for not taking RMDs: The SECURE Act 2.0 reduced the penalty for not taking RMDs from a hefty 50% of the required distribution to 25% in 2023. If you take actions to correct the mistake in a timely manner, the penalty can be lowered to 10%.No RMDs from Roth accounts: Roth IRAs have long been exempt from RMDs, unless they were workplace Roth accounts. As of 2024, however, RMDs are no longer required for any type of Roth account. What this means for youThe change pushes back the RMD deadline. It may not affect you much if you'll tap into your retirement savings before age 73 (or 75) or if you primarily save for retirement in a post-tax Roth account. But if you want to keep your money growing for as long as possible -- for example, if you want to leave your retirement account to your heirs -- talk to a financial advisor about your options, such as a Roth conversion. It's also a good idea to talk with your tax advisor to avoid penalties.Financial incentives for 401(k) contributionsWhen it took effect: 2023The SECURE Act 2.0 allows employers to offer small financial incentives, such as gift cards, to encourage employees to save for retirement. Though the provision took effect in 2023, the IRS has since clarified that the value of these incentives can't exceed $250. Moreover, the incentives can only be offered to employees not currently enrolled in the employer's retirement plan. What this means for youSaving for retirement is vital to your financial future. If your employer sweetens the deal with an extra perk, it could help you pocket some extra money. But don't delay saving if your company doesn't offer incentives. Also, any incentive you receive is considered taxable income, so keep this in mind when you file your 2024 tax return next year.Relaxed Roth rules for employer accountsWhen they took effect: 2023A Roth retirement account is funded with money that you've already paid taxes on. As long as you follow certain rules, you get tax-free distributions in retirement. The SECURE Act 2.0 relaxes a few of these rules for employer-sponsored Roth accounts.Prior to this change, only employee contributions could go into a Roth account. Employer matching contributions had to be made in a separate pretax account. But, the SECURE Act 2.0 gave workers the option to have their employer match treated as a Roth contribution.The SECURE Act 2.0 also allows for Roth contributions to SEP IRAs and Simple IRAs, which are retirement accounts designed for small businesses and self-employed individuals. Before this change, which also took effect in 2023, you couldn't make Roth contributions to these accounts. What this means for youThe decision of whether to choose a traditional versus a Roth account for retirement boils down to whether you'd prefer to pay taxes now or later. If you're aiming to lower your tax bill for the current tax year, contribute to a traditional account. But if you want tax-free retirement income, a Roth account may make more sense.Relaxed rules for hardship distributionsWhen they took effect: 2023 to 2024When you withdraw money from a retirement account before age 59 1/2, you're often subject to a 10% penalty. The SECURE Act 2.0 makes it easier to take penalty-free distributions from retirement accounts should you experience financial hardship.Some of the new rules include:You can take distributions of up to $1,000 for certain emergency expenses without penalty and repay the amount within three years.People diagnosed with a terminal illness can take penalty-free distributions.Domestic violence survivors can withdraw up to $10,000 (indexed for inflation) or 50% of their balance without penalty.You can take penalty-free withdrawals of $22,000 if you're affected by a federally declared disaster.You can view the full list on the IRS website. What this means for youMany of these provisions are optional for employers to implement. Before you withdraw money from your workplace retirement account, check with your HR department about whether its rules allow you to take the distribution without penalty.529 to Roth IRA rolloversWhen it took effect: 2024If you're saving for your child's education in a 529 plan, you may worry about what will happen to any unused money in the account. The earnings portion of distributions that aren't for qualified education purposes are taxable as ordinary income and also subject to a 10% penalty.The SECURE Act 2.0 now lets you roll over up to $35,000 from a 529 plan into a Roth IRA for the beneficiary. You'll only be able to roll over 529 balances if you've owned the account for at least 15 years.Regular Roth IRA annual contribution limits apply. So, if you were exercising this option in 2024, you'd only be able to roll over up to $7,000, which is the 2024 limit for people younger than 50. You'd then be able to roll over amounts equal to the annual limit in subsequent years until you've hit the $35,000 maximum or depleted the account. What this means for youIf you're worried you've saved too much in a 529 plan, if your child decides not to attend college or if your child receives more financial aid than expected, 529 plan rollers can help you move that money into another tax-advantaged retirement account for the beneficiary.Student loan matchesWhen it took effect: 2024Saving for retirement can be tough when you're struggling with student loan payments, which could cause you to miss out on your employer's 401(k) match. Under the SECURE Act 2.0, if you're making a qualifying student loan payment, your employer can treat your payments as a retirement contribution that it matches in a 401(k)s, 403(b)s, government 457(b)s or Simple IRA plan. You don't even have to contribute to your workplace retirement plan for your employer to match your student loan payments as contributions.For example, if you pay $3,000 toward your student loan for the year and your employer has a 401(k) match of 50%, they could kick in $1,500 (or 50% of $3,000) to your 401(k). What this means for youThe student loan match is optional for employers. But if you think you and your colleagues would benefit, talk to your HR department about the possibility of adding the feature to your plan.Changes in catchup contributionsWhen it takes effect: 2024 to 2026Catchup contributions are additional retirement account contributions you can make once you're 50 or older. In 2024, catchup contributions are:$1,000 for individual retirement accounts, or IRAs: Historically, this limit has not been increased annually for inflation.$7,500 for most workplace plans, including 401(k)s, 403(b)s and 457(b)s: These amounts are increased annually for inflation.Beginning in 2024, the SECURE Act 2.0 will index IRA catchup contribution limits for inflation, making it likely that higher catchup contributions will be permitted. In 2025, new rules will allow higher catchup contributions of up to $10,000 (indexed annually for inflation) for workers ages 60 to 63 in most employer plans.Another change to catchup contributions will affect higher-earning workers beginning in 2026. If you earned more than $145,000 in the previous calendar year (indexed annually for inflation), you'll be required to make catchup contributions in an after-tax Roth account instead of a traditional pretax account. This means you won't get a tax deduction.If your earnings for the prior calendar year fall below this threshold, you can make contributions to a traditional or Roth account. This change was initially scheduled to take effect in 2024, but the IRS pushed it back by two years to give employers more time to comply. What this means for youThe new rules will allow you to save even more money in a tax-advantaged account as you get closer to retirement.Automatic 401(k) enrollmentWhen it takes effect: 2025If your employer has a 401(k) or 403(b) plan that was established after Dec. 28, 2022, they may be required to automatically enroll you starting in 2025.Employers can set the default contribution rate between 3% to 10% of your pretax salary, meaning they'll automatically allocate between 3% and 10% of your paycheck toward your retirement account. Unless they start with the maximum 10% rate, plans must have an automatic escalation rate of 1 percentage point per year until contributions reach 10% to 15% of pay. So if your workplace automatically enrolls you at a 3% rate, they'd need to bump that up to 4% the following year.You'll be allowed to opt out or choose a different contribution rate. Some companies, such as those with 10 or fewer employees or those that have been in business for less than three years, will be exempt from auto-enrollment. What this means for youIf you're not already contributing to your company's retirement plan, look for an email during open enrollment and adjust your contribution amount or opt-out if you're not interested. Since the provision only applies to plans established after Dec. 28, 2022, your company may not be required to auto-enroll you in its retirement account.New rules for old 401(k)sWhen it takes effect: By the end of 2024, though this deadline could be moved out.If you've ever left a job, you may have left behind money in your old employer's 401(k). The trouble is keeping track of multiple retirement accounts can get complicated. Perhaps that's why there's about $1.3 trillion in forgotten retirement assets in the US.The SECURE Act 2.0 directs the US Department of Labor to create a searchable database, allowing workers to track down their old retirement accounts by Dec. 29, 2024.The law also makes it easier for employers to "force" you out of their plan if you have a relatively low balance and leave your job. Under the old rules, former employers could roll over your 401(k) balance into an IRA on your behalf if your balance was less than $5,000. But as of Jan. 1, 2024, past employers can do so if your balance is below $7,000. What this means for youYou don't have to wait for the new database to go live to find old 401(k)s. You can use the Department of Labor's Tax Form 5500 database to search for your past employer. Or, if your old company still exists, you could simply contact them to ask for the name of their plan administrator.More 401(k) access for part-time workersWhen it takes effect: 2025Before many of the original SECURE Act provisions took effect in 2021, most retirement plans required employees to work at least 1,000 hours in a 12-month period to participate in the plan. The first SECURE Act required companies to allow employees with at least 500 hours of service in the previous three years to participate in their 401(k)s and 403(b)s.The SECURE Act 2.0 relaxes the rules even further, reducing the required years of service from three to two. However, it only applies to plans established on or after Jan. 1, 2025. What this means for youIf you work for a company that currently offers a retirement account, the new rules probably won't apply. That's because only plans established in 2025 or later are required to comply. But in the future, it's worth keeping track of your hours as a part-timer so that you won't miss out on the chance to participate.New Saver's Match When it takes effect: 2027The federal government currently encourages low- and middle-income workers to save for retirement with a tax credit called the Saver's Credit. It ranges from 10% to 50% of the amount contributed. The current maximum is $1,000 for single filers or $2,000 for married couples filing jointly.The problem is that it's a nonrefundable tax credit, which means you can only receive it to offset your tax bill. You won't get this credit back as a refund.The Saver's Credit will be replaced with a matching contribution from the federal government called the Saver's Match. It's not quite clear how all of this will work, but it's expected to be deposited into your account if you qualify, which could make it more beneficial than the current Saver's Credit. The Saver's Match isn't scheduled to take effect until 2027. What this means for youThere's not much you can do at this point since the Saver's Match won't start until 2027. In the meantime, keep track of your retirement contributions to see if you can score a break at tax time.

December 23, 202410 min readHow Rare Alice in Wonderland Syndrome Warps RealityResearchers are learning what causesBy Allison Parshall edited by Jeanna BrynerAn illustration by John Tenniel depicts a scene in Alices Adventures in Wonderland. The Print Collector/Heritage Images/Alamy Stock PhotoWhen Lene was a child, she took comfort in a strange nighttime routine. While lying in bed just before she fell asleep, her bedroom would begin to warp, and her body would do so along with it. The far wall would stretch away from her head, her legs lengthening to meet it until she felt like she could touch the door with her toe if she tried. And all the while, it seemed as if she was floating in the corner, observing her distorted body.The first time I was very scared, Lene says, recalling she was between seven and nine years old at the time. I didnt tell anyone, because if I told my mom, she would just say, Eh, its nothing. She recalls that the episodes began happening every night, and eventually they became somewhat comforting. By adolescence, they had stopped, and she largely forgot about them.Then, a few years ago, Lene, now age 59, learned that her experience had a name. She was at a hospital in Denmark where she works as a secretary in the neurology department. During a meeting where she was taking notes, a neurologist mentioned a patient with something called Alice in Wonderland syndrome. Intrigued, Lene did some research on Google, where she immediately recognized her own experience.On supporting science journalismIf you're enjoying this article, consider supporting our award-winning journalism by subscribing. By purchasing a subscription you are helping to ensure the future of impactful stories about the discoveries and ideas shaping our world today.All my life, since I was a child, I had this thing I couldnt explain. And suddenly there was a word for it, Lene says. During episodes of Alice in Wonderland syndrome, the world appears distorted, in many of the same ways that are described in Lewis Carrolls famous novel, Alices Adventures in Wonderland. Bodies can morph out of shape; time can speed up or slow down; colors can fade or intensify. Often, these symptoms come with a sense of unreality called depersonalization or derealization. These distortions usually last between minutes and days and are known to be triggered by migraine, epilepsy, brain injury, drugs and infections.While its rare to be diagnosed with the conditionfewer than 200 clinical cases have been officially reported since 1955, mainly in children, and it doesnt appear in any mainstream diagnostic handbooksAlice-like symptoms appear to be relatively common. One survey study published in 1999 found that some 30 percent of participants had experienced at least one kind of visual distortion in their life. And around 16 percent of migraine patients in a recent study also reported symptoms of Alice in Wonderland syndrome throughout their life. Some researchers have theorized that Carroll experienced these symptoms himself because he was known to experience migraines.The symptoms are as fantastical as the narrative of the book, says Alberto Paniz-Mondolfi, an infectious disease physician at Mount Sinai in New York City, who has encountered the condition throughout his career. When you dont have answers, that is an enigma. And this is a condition that remains, in all of its aspects, largely unanswered.Still, researchers have begun to assemble many of the pieces of the Alice in Wonderland syndrome puzzle. The number of published studies on the condition has more than doubled since 2010, giving researchers important new insights into what causes these symptoms, says Jan Dirk Blom, a psychiatrist at Leiden University in the Netherlands and author of a 2020 book on the syndrome. And most recently, researchers have uncovered a potential answer to one of the syndromes biggest mysteries: What happens in the brain when people enter the rabbit hole?The Looking GlassWe often think that our five senses allow us to observe the world as it truly existsthat our brain is some sort of canvas or display for the reality around us, says Maximilian Friedrich, a neurologist at University Hospital of Wrzburg in Germany. But it turns out that this is not the case. Perception is an active process. The brain does not record reality through sensory input like a camera; it synthesizes, interprets and reconstructs it.This reconstruction process can go wrong in many ways, leading to the distortions common in Alice in Wonderland syndrome. Neurologists have given these distortions names: Micropsia and macropsia mean objects appear smaller or larger, respectively, than they really are. Prosopometamorphopsia happens when faces seem to twist out of shape. With dysmorphopsia, straight lines appear wavy, and with kinetopsia, stationary things appear to be in motion.Nonvisual symptoms are common, too. People might have an illusory feeling of levitating in the air or being outside of their body, or they feel like parts of their body are becoming larger, smaller or otherwise distorted. Some people report the unnerving sensation that their body is splitting in two. These symptoms can be very frighteningor simply inspire curiosity because, generally, people with Alice in Wonderland syndrome are aware that what they are feeling or seeing isnt truly happening.In 1955 psychiatrist John Todd suggested the name the syndrome of Alice in Wonderland to refer to a handful of cases involving these perceptual disturbances. In most of those cases, the person suffered from migraines or epilepsyor both. In fact, Todd cited Lewiss own history of migraines as part of the reason for the name, which captures the whimsical, eerie feeling that can be evoked by both the novel and the syndromes distortions.Alice in Wonderland symptoms themselves are generally benign, Friedrich says. Individual episodes typically stop on their own, but they can recur across someones life, especially if theyre triggered by migraine or epilepsy. In the case of a brain injury resulting from events such as strokes, the episodes may cease on their own as the brain recovers, Friedrich says.Even with benign symptoms, the syndrome can have profound effects on a persons life by shaking their perception of reality. Perhaps that is the most frightening aspect of Alice in Wonderland syndrome: that it can make us doubt the most simple, fundamental things about reality, Blom wrote in his book on the syndrome. In it, he told the story of a woman he once treated who had episodes of Alice in Wonderland syndrome several times a week since childhood, often in conjunction with epileptic seizures and migraines. The middle-aged woman, who he called Ms. Rembrandt, would have spells where she would see her body as a tiny, worm-like object dangling under a hugely bloated head. These disturbances took a massive toll on her mental health and the course of her life. Fortunately, after Blom examined her, he prescribed an antiepileptic medication that stopped the spells, allowing her to feel like she was living an ordinary life for the first time.The Alice NetworkIf you asked 10 people with Alice in Wonderland syndrome about their experiences, you would likely hear 10 very different stories, hinting at different constellations of symptoms and causes. With more than 60 possible symptoms, is it correct to think of this as one syndrome at all?One would be excused to suppose that there is little connection between these symptoms, Blom says. In fact, until recently, researchers hadnt been able to pinpoint what parts of the brain were involved in these disturbances. When Friedrich compiled brain scan and autopsy data from 37 people who had experienced Alice in Wonderland syndrome after a brain injurythe second most common cause of the syndrome in adultsthey found damage, such as lesions, in different regions across the brain, with no clear commonalities.At first, we were scratching our heads, saying, This doesnt make sense at all, Friedrich says. Wheres the unifying factor here?But a lesion that occurs in one area of the brain can also affect another. Thats because the brain is made of complex, interlocking networks, and in the past decade, researchers have finally gained the tools to map them out.You damage a spot in the brain, its going to have an effect on everything that spot in the brain is connected to, says Michael Fox, a neurologist at Harvard University. Using a technique called lesion network mapping, Friedrich, Fox and their colleagues were able to investigate those connections.It was a eureka moment for me when the results came in, Friedrich says. The researchers analysis revealed that two brain regions were highly connected with the diverse Alice in Wonderland lesions: the right extrastriate body area, a region of the visual processing system toward the back of the brain that helps to govern our perception of bodies, and the inferior parietal cortex, which is involved in perceptions of size and magnitude.It all made sense, Friedrich says. If the size processor and the body processor are both out of balance, then its an intriguing hypothesis, at least, that this could explain the changes of body size in Alice in Wonderland syndrome.Blom agrees. Even though superficially [the syndrome] may seem to be a mixed bag of individual symptoms, it is now clear the brain areas involved ... form a network of interconnected structures, he says.But what about migraine, the most common cause of Alice in Wonderland syndrome in adults? The researchers identified five instances from previous research where people with migraines had an Alice in Wonderland episode while in a brain scanner. The abnormalities in these scans had a highly significant overlap with the Alice in Wonderland network identified from the brain injury study, Friedrich explains. This overlap between the syndrome and migraine could explain why they often occur together.Theres no such thing as an Alice in Wonderland spot, Fox says. Its an Alice in Wonderland circuit. And both migraine and stroke, under the right circumstances, may be capable of impacting regions in this circuit enough to trigger those wonky perceptual symptoms, he adds.Infectious diseases, too, seem to be able to cause these disturbances. Bacteria, viruses, protozoa and prions have all been documented to trigger Alice-like symptoms in infected humans. During the COVID pandemic, doctors around the world began reporting cases of children who developed Alice in Wonderland syndrome after infection with SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID. Influenza, Epstein-Barr virus and varicella-zoster virus (which causes chicken pox) are known to be linked to the syndrome, too. Paniz-Mondolfis first encounter with the condition was during an outbreak of Zika virus in Venezuela in 2016. He treated a 15-year-old girl who had recovered from the virus but was experiencing perceptual disturbances. She was brought in by her mother, who feared the girl was possessed.Having experienced the symptoms myself, I know how freaky this can be, Paniz-Mondolfi says. On one occasion, he experienced a bizarre distortion of shapes and the sensation of his body splitting in two after accidentally smoking a cigarette laced with yopo, a plant with hallucinogenic properties, while serving as a rural physician in Venezuela.Pathogens such as Zika and SARS-CoV-2 could be acting directly on particular regions of the brain to cause these symptoms, Paniz-Mondolfi says. But he thinks the bodys inflammatory immune response is a more likely culprit. Perceptual distortions such as those of Alice in Wonderland syndrome are common in fever, for example. (Blom experienced a similar disturbance when ill with food poisoning once.) And in cases where the infection has already resolved, a long-lasting immune response to the virus could somehow affect the brain and cause these symptoms, similar to the proposed mechanism for long COVID.Curiouser and CuriouserThen theres another lingering mystery: Why does Alice in Wonderland syndrome seem to be more common in children? Paniz-Mondolfi theorizes the answer may lie in a childs tendency to mount more robust immune responses than an adult. A 2016 review of clinical cases found that encephalitis, often caused by infection with Epstein-Barr virus, was the most common cause of the syndrome in children.In many childhood cases, its not clear what may have caused the syndrome at all. Carmen Vidal Fueyo, a user experience designer based in Brussels, experienced episodes of Alice in Wonderland syndrome from the age of six until puberty. Her episodes would always begin with a sudden sense of impending doom, followed shortly by the feeling that her hands were inflating in size. Objects around the room appeared to grow large enough to suffocate her or so small as to disappear entirely. She recalls that the episodes happened every few months until she hit puberty and began experiencing migraines and vertigo.One day as a teenager, she came across a post on X (then called Twitter) that described Alice in Wonderland syndrome. I cannot even explain the feeling, she says. For so long, that was a mystery of my life. I didnt know if one day I was going to find out that I had a brain tumor. She has since revitalized a subreddit dedicated to the syndrome as a place for people to share their experiences free of judgment.For Vidal Fueyo, Alice in Wonderland syndrome wasnt a whimsical presence in her life, as the name can imply. It was not a good experience, she says. The episodes were terrifying and usually came at night. For the longest time I was afraid to go to my friends houses for sleepovers, she says. She tried communicating what was happening to her mother but struggled to explain it.Vidal Fueyo shares Paniz-Mondolfis and Friedrichs suspicions that the syndrome is more common than reported, especially in children, who may not have the language to communicate these experiences to adults.Maybe its really normal, Friedrich saysjust a part of the neurodevelopmental process in which the brain is tuning its perceptual mechanisms to perceive the world accurately. It could be that we all can get these little perceptual glitches when were young. Friedrich himself, who suffers from migraines, thinks he can recall one episode from his own childhood.Lene hasnt experienced Alice-like symptoms in decades. Yet the condition is still a part of her life. Lenes daughter, after hearing about her mothers experience, revealed that she had similar episodes when she was a child; they frightened her frequently until they ceased around adolescence. And now her five-year-old sonLenes grandsonhas begun to experience these symptoms, too. It happens when hes tired, often when the family is driving in the car.He is panicked, saying, My feet are big, oh, my feet are so big, Lene says. He cant understand it. We dont know how to tell him. How do we explain it to him?Lene reached out to Friedrich this year to explain her family's situation after finding one of his papers. Friedrich wonders if genetics play a role in why all three people have had similar experiences. Theres something to be investigated here, he says.Lene looks forward to what the researchers might find. I would like to have some answers and a very good way to explain it, she says, especially for my grandson.

There are no Charlie Brown Christmas trees in the Kardashian-Jenner world. But come December at Kendall Jenners Los Angeles home, you also wont find decor like what has famously decked the halls of her sisters and mothers mansions during Christmases past. (Kylie has displayed towering trees in gold, pink, and even flanked by lifelike fake polar bears. Kim once turned her home into Whoville with minimalist cream-colored sculptures. And Kourtney has been known to hang a Christmas tree upside down, roots protruding from the top.) Jenners approach to holiday decor is a bit more traditionalsimple green garlands decorated with pine cones, classic trees, a vintage Santa Clausbut no less beautiful and festive.The embroidered stockings hanging from the mantel are from Sferra, just like the ones Jenner grew up with, and the Santa statue is a cherished hand-me-down from her mother, Kris.When I ask Jenner if she picks a different holiday decor theme each year, she offers a reply I find refreshing: The theme is Christmas, she says. Id say it stays pretty similar. The 29-year-old supermodel, whose serene pad was decorated by AD100 firms Clements Design and Waldos Designs and graced the cover of ADs September 2020 issue, is more focused on warm nostalgia than megawatt flash. My whole life, Ive loved vintage when it comes to clothing or furniture, she says. Anything that looks like its about to fall apart is usually what I gravitate to. Or anything that feels like it has history or character. This attitude is how she created an eclectic home full of earthy, organic texturesbermodern holiday decor simply wouldnt work here.Jenner was touched by the vintage Christopher Radko ornaments her mom gifted her. When we were putting them on the tree, she was, like, Oh, my God. I remember all of these ornaments and they tell a story from my childhood, florist and designer Jeff Leatham says.Her familys affinity for Christmas came from matriarch Kris Jenner. I give a lot of credit to my mom for the way I keep a house, but also how I love to celebrate holidays and decorate. It didnt matter what holiday it wasit could have been Christmas, Thanksgiving, Halloween, Easter. My mom was always setting up decorations all over, Jenner says. As Kris and her entire broods tree-trimming became more and more intense over the years, they all began getting some help from florist to the stars Jeff Leatham, who installed Jenners decor this year. I remember decorating Kriss tree when Kylie and Kendall still lived at her house, Leatham says. The family has this love of Christmas and heavy, heavy tradition, which is so beautiful.Our setup date is as quickly as I can get it up right after Thanksgiving. But Im debating for next year to do it before Thanksgiving because I love it so much, and then it goes away so fast, Jenner says of her holiday decorations.Art: Lisa Yuskavage/David ZwirnerShop Kendall Jenner's Christmas Open DoorThe supermodel decorates her LA home with Christmas cheer, nostalgia, and florist-to-the-stars Jeff Leatham. Shop her style with our curated selection of table settings, decor, and more.Several years ago, I interviewed Kris about her Christmas decorations, and she told me that her eldest daughter Kourtney had been pouring on the sugar in hopes of persuading her to part with a decades-old collection of bright and colorful Christopher Radko ornaments. I said, Well, you dont need to butter me up anymore because Im already using them on my tree, Kris told me at the time. Fast-forward to this year, and the main tree in her second youngest daughters living room is covered in those very same ornaments. I got the whole lot, Jenner reveals excitedly. I was really sad last year because I thought she gave them to another sister of mine. I said to her, Dont forget about me. I know I dont have kids yet, and you might not think about me when it comes to passing things down, but I would love those things and I will take great care of them. This year, Kris bestowed them upon her, with the original boxes they came in and everything.Maybe her mom understandsas Jenner certainly doesthat holiday magic isnt just for kids, or even parents of little ones. Growing up with [those ornaments] every year, they became so special to me, she says. And I cant wait to share that with my kids one day, but I love sharing this with my friends. I love entertaining, I love hosting, and so these decorations get used really well.Like Kendall Jenners holiday tour? Never miss a story when you subscribe to AD.In the kitchen sits a gingerbread house bearing Jenners name and the names of all of her animals, including her Doberman pinscher Pyro and five horses.The bow motif on the family room tree is new for Jenner this yearand very much on trend. Previously, her secondary tree has taken on different forms. She would actually string popcorn herself and put strands on that tree. And in years past, we had some beautiful horses on the tree and different things. So her vibe changes a little bit every year, but not too much, Leatham says.Jenner calls the gingerbread house just another nod to the fact that [my animals are] my family right now. The floral arrangements throughout the home are by Madleen Volk.Burgundy bows, real acorns, and real pine cones adorn the tree in the family room.If I had a modern home, I might go a little bit more modern [with the decorations], Jenner says. Im following the vibe and the character that my house hasand vintage is just what my house screams.Art: 2024 Helen Frankenthaler Foundation, Inc. / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York)Fans of The Kardashians on Hulu will remember that, last Christmas, Kris had custom dollhouses made for all of her children, reminiscent of one she had in the house when they were growing up. It was something we looked at every Christmas, and, especially as kids, youre amazed by it, Kendall recalls. Now I get to look at it in my house and feel really warm.The dining table is set with Herms Cheval dOrient dessert plates, featuring horses, of course.The dining room is one of many spaces where Jenner has updated the art since ADs last visit in 2020. My taste in art has changed, and my knowledge of art has changed. So Ive gravitated towards different things, she says. Im super proud of and feel really grateful that I have the opportunity and the ability to find these amazing pieces.I got the itch, to redo the family room in the years since the home was last featured in AD, Jenner says. I added a built-in bookshelf and warmed up the room with darker tones. The custom corduroy sofa by Bode and Green River Project features drawings that represent my life and the things that I love and history and my past.What was once an art studio is now a dark and cozy home theater with a custom sofa in chocolate boucle, French pleated lamps, and a Bottega Veneta horse pouf.Garland and simple lights adorn Jenners courtyard.Hers is the kind of house that you walk into and its so beautiful during the holidays because theres always a fire burning in all the fireplaces, and it smells wonderful, designer Jeff Leatham says.Cars and horses. That is my life right now, Jenner says.

U.S. Fighter Jet Mistakenly Shot Down by American WarshipFIGHT OR FLIGHTMike Nelson/AFP via Getty Images A U.S. Navy fighter jet was shot down over the Red Sea on Saturday in an apparent friendly fire incident, authorities have said. Two U.S. Navy pilots ejected safely after it was mistakenly fired upon by the USS Gettysburg in a non-specified location, U.S. Central Command said in a statement. One of the pilots sustained minor injuries and authorities said a full investigation is underway. The F/A-18, was operating from the USS Harry S. Truman, when the guided-missile cruiserpart of the Truman carrier strike groupfired during a refueling operation. The incident happened a day after U.S. forces hit Houthi structural targets in Yemen. The rebel group appeared to try and take credit for the incident Sunday, but it has a reputation for false claims. The U.S. has a presence in the area due to the Iran-backed Houthi campaign of targeting ships in the busy waterway. Read it at New York TimesADVERTISEMENTADVERTISEMENTTrump Hands Stephen Millers Wife a White House GigBACK IN BUSINESSALASTAIR PIKE/AFP via Getty Images Katie Miller, a former Mike Pence press secretary who married the controversial aide Stephen Miller during Donald Trumps first term, has been announced as the latest addition to Elon Musks Department of Government Efficiency. Trump revealed the move in a post to Truth Social on Sunday night, but stopped short of saying what exact role the 33-year-old will have in DOGE. She has been a loyal supporter of mine for many years, and will bring her professional experience to Government Efficiency, he wrote. Katie is a deeply experienced communications professional respected by all. The pick keeps Trumps trend of appointing Floridians to roles in his administration going, as Miller is a native of Fort Lauderdale. She married Stephen, Trumps soon-to-be deputy chief of policy, in 2020with Trump in attendance. Like her husband, shes considered to be far-righteven by MAGA standardsand has been at the center of controversy over the years, like the time she allegedly trashed hundreds of copies of a student newspaper at the University of Florida after it ran an article about the schools football coach endorsing an opposing student government candidate.Read it at The HillADVERTISEMENTADVERTISEMENTShop with ScoutedThe AI-Powered Bike Is Engineered to Give You the Most Effective Workout in the Shortest Time PossibleRIDE ONCAROL Bike. Scouted selects products independently. If you purchase something from our posts, we may earn a small commission.If youre looking to revamp your at-home fitness lineup ahead of 2025 and dont have hours to commit to exercising each day, allow us to introduce you to the CAROL Bike. The science-backed and AI-powered fitness bike is engineered to give you maximum results in the shortest time possibleand by the shortest time, we mean as little as five minutes. In fact, according to the brand, the CAROL bike is proven to deliver double the health and fitness benefits in 90 percent less time compared to regular cardio. Carol BikeBuy At Free Returns | Free ShippingNot only is it a huge time-saver, but the CAROL Bike is also designed to be personalized to the riders individual fitness levels, goals, and preferences, making the workouts easy to follow, time-efficient, and super effective. CAROLs AI and Reduced Exertion HIIT (REHIT) technology optimizes the workout to your ability and fitness level, so every second matters. The personalized, optimal resistance levels are automatically adjusted as you work outat exactly the right timemaking the most efficient workouts easy to follow. CAROL Bike is designed to maximize training efficiency, with the shortest, most effective workouts, backed by science. And new rider-inspired features that give riders more flexibility to exercise their way, says Ulrich Dempfle, CEO & Co-Founder at CAROL. You can try the CAROL Bike for yourself risk-free for 100 days, and the brand offers free shipping (7-10 business days) in the U.S. ADVERTISEMENTADVERTISEMENTNetflix Boss Ted Sarandos Bends the Knee to Trump With Mar-a-Lago VisitSTREAMING INMario Anzuoni/REUTERS Netflix Co-CEO Ted Sarandos visited Donald Trump at Mar-a-Lago last week, according to reports, just the latest in a procession of business elites suddenly seeking face-time with the president-elect. The 60-year-old has previously donated to Democrats including President Joe Biden, former President Barack Obama and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, according to Reuters. Sarandos is also married to Nicole Avant, who was Obamas United States Ambassador to the Bahamas between 2009 and 2011. A dizzying array of high-powered business moguls have tried to curry favor with Trump since his election victory over Vice President Kamala Harris. Last week, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos joined Trump for a dinner at Mar-a-Lago that was also attended by Trumps outspoken cheerleader and Twitter owner, Elon Musk. Fellow social media mogul Mark Zuckerberg also paid a visit to the president-elects Palm Beach club last month, while Apple CEO Tim Cook made his visit earlier in December. Zuckerbergs Meta donated $1 million to Trumps inaugural fund after his house call, a move that Amazon is also reportedly considering. Trump seems to be thrilled with his newfound popularity, posting last week: EVERYBODY WANTS TO BE MY FRIEND.Read it at AxiosADVERTISEMENTADVERTISEMENTUnruly Passenger Forces U.S.-Bound Flight to Divert to TokyoMIDAIR MELTDOWNTyrone Siu/Reuters A Cathay Pacific flight destined for Boston diverted to Japan because of an unruly passenger who allegedly assaulted people during a midair meltdown. Passengers endured a 15-hour delay and a forced stopover at Tokyo Haneda after flight CX812, which originated in Hong Kong, descended into chaos. The disruptive individual was banned from future flights with the airline, Hong Kongs flag carrier. Reports suggest the person, who was arrested upon touchdown, assaulted others onboard. Passengers initially departed Hong Kong International Airport 7:40 p.m. local time on Saturday, but after the incident, the were loaded onto a new plane, which departed at 10:45 a.m. and reached Boston at 12:26 p.m. Eastern Time Sunday. They were compensated with meal vouchers and lounge access, while the airline also apologized. Hong Kongs Aviation Security Ordinance has strict penalties for unruly behavior, including fines of up to around $6,500 and imprisonment for up to five years.Read it at South China Morning PostADVERTISEMENTADVERTISEMENTShop with ScoutedMake Incredible Espresso Martinis on New Years Eve With This Cold Brew Coffee LiqueurESPRESSO YOURSELFMr Black Scouted selects products independently. If you purchase something from our posts, we may earn a small commission.2025 is quickly approaching, and theres no better way to celebrate the new year than with 2024s cocktail du jourthe espresso martini. Its the perfect way to toast 2025 with sophistication, flavor, and an energy boost. Think you cant make the buzzy beverage at home because youre not a bartender? Think again. You can create this beloved cocktail effortlessly with just a cocktail shaker, fresh espresso, vodka, coffee beans, and Mr Black Cold Brew Coffee Liqueur.Mr Black Cold Brew Coffee LiqueurBuy At ReserveBarIt all starts in the land Down UnderAustralia. Mr Black sources its ingredients, including 100 percent specialty-grade Arabica coffee, from local farmers and cooperatives. The liqueur is then slowly brewed with purified cold water to preserve its delicate, complex flavors. The result? A bittersweet masterpiece with bold flavor, balanced sweetness, and a lasting coffee kick. Its rich, coffee-forward taste is a crowd-pleaser, and the sleek bottle design adds a touch of elegance to any bar cart. Making an espresso martini is simple. Combine Mr Black, vodka, and freshly brewed espresso in a shaker. Add ice and shake vigorously until cold. Then, strain the mixture into a martini glass and finish with three coffee beans as a garnish. Skip the champagne toast this year and ensure you stay awake for the countdown to 2025 with a Mr Black espresso martini. ADVERTISEMENTADVERTISEMENTNebraska Gov Faces Christmas in Hospital After Horse-Riding AccidentNOT SO MERRYJIM WATSON/AFP via Getty Images The governor of Nebraska, Jim Pillen, is facing Christmas in hospital after he was bucked off a horse. The Republican state leader, who turns 69 next week, was out riding with family members when the horse, which was described as new, sent him flying. His office said he is alert and is in continuous touch with his team, after the incident Sunday. However, it added that he was expected to remain in hospital for several days. This means Pillen could spend Christmas Day in the University of Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha, where he was transported out of an abundance of caution after initial treatment at Columbus Community Hospital, according to his office. Gov. Pillen and his family are very appreciative of the thoughts and prayers given to them by Nebraskans and they wish all Nebraskans a very merry Christmas, his office added in the statement.Read it at ABCADVERTISEMENTADVERTISEMENTSki Lift Crack Leaves 170+ Stranded for Hours in Nightmare ScenarioALL DOWNHILLHyoung Chang/The Denver Post More than 170 skiers and snowboarders experienced the stuff of nightmares over the weekend when they were left stranded for several hours on a ski lift whose structure had cracked, the Colorado Sun reported. A gondola lift at Winter Park Resortlocated about 70 miles west of Denver, Coloradowas halted on Saturday just after noon after technicians discovered the crack. Over the course of about five hours, ski patrollers climbed into each gondola and lowered the riders equipment to the ground. They then used swinging ropes with seats attached to them to lower the 174 riders. No injuries were reported during the evacuation, which wrapped up around 6 p.m. Videos posted to social media showed the surreal rescues, which apparently used a belay system similar to the kind used in rock climbing. Officials were still investigating on Sunday to try to determine what had caused the structure to crack. The ski lifts system detected the malfunction and automatically stopped, according to the resort. In the meantime, the resorts other 21 lifts remained open. Read it at The Colorado SunADVERTISEMENTADVERTISEMENTBill Belichick to Hire His Own Son for Key Coaching Role at UNCFAMILIAR FACEEric Canha/USA TODAY Sports Bill Belichick is expected to soon poach his son from the University of Washington to be his defensive coordinator at the University of North Carolina. The bombshell hiring, which reports say will become official after Steve Belichicks $1.2 million buyout at Washington expires on Dec. 31, is perhaps the biggest hire Belichick has made since he was announced as UNCs head coach earlier this month. The younger Belichick, 37, was a defensive assistant under his father in New England for 12 years. Hes the third hire in Belichicks Tar Heel era, coming after Freddie Kitchens was announced as an offensive assistant and Michael Lombardi as its general manager. The elder Belichick, who boasts an impressive eight Super Bowl wins as a head and assistant coach, worked in the NFL between 1975 and this January. The 72-year-old is now risking his legacy to take on college football, where hes carrying big expectationsand a fat paycheck of $10 million annually, doubling that of his predecessorto turn around UNCs middling football program and have it competing for a national championship as early as next season.Read it at ESPNADVERTISEMENTADVERTISEMENTElon Musks British Cousin: I Think Hes StupidFAMILY FEUDBUTLER, PENNSYLVANIA - OCTOBER 05: Elon Musk leaves the stage after addressing a campaign rally with Republican presidential nominee, former President Donald Trump at the Butler Farm Show fairgrounds on October 05, 2024 in Butler, Pennsylvania. This is the first time that Trump has returned to Butler since he was injured during an attempted assassination on July 13. (Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images) Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images The British branch of Elon Musks family is unhappy with the South African-born billionaire, according to an interview with his cousin. Musks grandmother was from the U.K. before she moved to South Africa, where she married his grandfather. Their son, Errol, had three childrenone of which was Elon. But his British relatives seem to have been shunned by the SpaceX founder, with his cousin Marshall Robinson, 86, going so far as to call him stupid in an interview with The Daily Mail. I think hes stupid with all the things he comes out with, Robinson said, citing his connection with Donald Trump. Its pretty shocking with what he has become and how hes linked to the President-elect Trump. The cousin, living in Fleetwood, said that although hes never met Musk, another family member reached out to the billionaire and received a cold shoulder response. I have never been in touch but one of the family did send him a social media message and he just said: What do you want? That was it. Read it at The Daily MailADVERTISEMENTADVERTISEMENTShop with ScoutedCleaning Is Fun and Chemical-Free With This Steam-Powered DeviceDREAM STEAMBISSELL Scouted selects products independently. If you purchase something from our posts, we may earn a small commission.Bissell is known for its grime-busting devices, and the Steam Shot OmniReach delivers more unbelievable portable cleaning power just in time for holiday hosting. This handheld device blasts steam to break down even tough stains. Think stovetops, bathroom soap scum, outdoor furniture: wherever your toughest stains live, your Bissell will ensure cleaning is the easiest thing to check off your holiday list.The 16-foot cord means youll have maneuverability without worrying about battery life. The tank holds over six ounces of water, minimizing the number of times youll need to refill. The ten included specialty cleaning toolsmultiple included brush heads and scraperswill help you bust stains of any size, depth, and (nearly any) surface. And thats everything you need! The steam-powered cleaning doesnt require any additional soaps or solvents to sanitizeperfect for households with pets or infants. With just the 100-watt steam power, up to 99.9 percent* of germs are killed. Steam Shot OmniReachIf youre the type of person who loves watching grout deep-cleaning videos on Instagram, but hasnt touched your own on tiles in a decade, this product will bring out your inner cleanfluencer. The fabric steamer, window cleaner tool, and extension wand will have you looking around your home thinking, What else can I steam?*Kills 99.9% of Staphylococcus aureus, Klebsiella aerogenes, and Aspergillus niger when used as directed. Testing conducted in a third-party laboratory under controlled conditions. Results may vary.ADVERTISEMENTADVERTISEMENTDenzel Washington Gets Baptized and Becomes a Minister on the Same DayNEW GIGDenzel Washington attends the "Gladiator II" Paris Special Screening at Pathe Palace on November 10, 2024, in Paris, France. Kristy Sparow/Getty Images for Paramount Pictures Denzel Washington is now a minister. On Saturday, the Gladiator II star was baptized at the Kelly Temple in New York City, where he also received a ministers license. It took a while, but Im finally here, Washington said of his journey with faith during the services livestream. If [God] can do this for me, theres nothing He cant do for you. The sky literally is the limit. The soon-to-be 70-year-old penned an essay for Esquire in November where he discussed his relationship with God and said that he was unafraid of the publics reaction to his faith. Its my job to lift God up, to give Him praise, to make sure that anyone and everyone I speak to the rest of my life understands that He is responsible for me, Washington wrote at the time. The actors wife, Pauletta Washington, was also in attendance Saturday and disclosed how proud she was of her husband. You are the head of our house and you have set a great example for our children, who are now adult children who know the difference because we have shown them the difference, she gushed.Read it at Page SixADVERTISEMENTADVERTISEMENTSonic Flies Past Mufasa In Box Office DebutNEED FOR SPEEDSignage on display at the premiere of "Sonic The Hedgehog 3" at the TCL Chinese Theatre in Hollywood, California, on December 16, 2024. (Photo by Michael Tran / AFP) (Photo by MICHAEL TRAN/AFP via Getty Images) MICHAEL TRAN/AFP via Getty Images Sonic the Hedgehog 3 has taken the lead over Mufasa this weekend in box office sales. Ahead of Christmas on Wednesday, Paramounts $122 million video-game inspired movie had a $62 million opening in North America. The film easily surpassed Disneys $200 million prequel Mufasa, which had a $35 million start in the U.S. According to Variety, Paramounts third movie about the famous video game character beat the first of the trilogy, which released in February 2020 at $58 million. It just came below the sequel, which was released in March 2022 with a $72 million start. We saw a window in the marketplace in December where we thought we could stand out, Paramount domestic distribution president Chris Aronson said. Sonic is going to dominate through the holidays. The movie received an 86% Rotten Tomatoes score with high audience reviews. Mufasa, on the other hand, is trailing far behind. The Disney movie that was a prequel to The Lion King landed $35 million. Variety reported that an above $200 million production had a $100 million promotion budget worldwide, and fell far behind expectations of a $50 million start. The film also had relatively high reviews from audiences, with a 56% score on Rotten Tomatoes. Read it at VarietyADVERTISEMENTADVERTISEMENT

Manic DispositionManiac may be the best Vampire Survivors-like youve never heard of (and is one of the best Steam Deck games of 2024)Im willing to bet youre probably finding out about this gem of a Vampire Survivors-eque for the first time, but know that I dont blame you.Image credit: VG247 Article by Sherif Saed Contributing Editor Published on Dec. 23, 2024 I dont believe weve ever covered Maniac here on VG247. In fact, I dont think Ive seen much coverage for it elsewhere, either. Maniac is not the sort of game that generates headlines, even if its entire gimmick is one I cant believe no one thought of sooner.If you havent already started Googling, Maniac is what happens when you create a Vampire Survivors-alike and dress it up in GTA 2 attire. So, if you ever wondered what a GTA-coded one of these games would look like and how it would play, Maniac has the answer.To see this content please enable targeting cookies. Maniac is one of few actually good Vampire Survivors-likes released in 2024, and certainly one of the many that came out this year. And no, I refuse to call that genre bullet heaven. If anything, we should default to the far superior (and more descriptive) genre label: ASS, auto-shooting-surival. As such, Maniac is a good-ASS game.What makes Maniac particularly good at pulling off the gag is its commitment to the fusion of the two games its chiefly inspired by. The Vampire Survivor influences find a new home here, first when you start off entirely reliant on melee, and later when you upgrade to a firearm (or a rocket launcher).The GTA 2 blood is responsible for some of the most devastating action in any one of those, and a large part of that is the physics engine underneath. Even early on, when the chaos and mayhem are kept to a minimum, simply watching your character interact with the world, and the inhabitants of that world itself, is a joy. It captures the best parts of the One Wanted Star feel we all remember from classic GTA games, before things get too hectic. And just like those games, Maniac does not hold back when you keep pushing its limits, it welcomes it, in fact.Just another Maniac Monday. Watch on YouTubeThe more your power grows - with character upgrades, pickups and truly powerful weapons - the more the screen gets painted with blood and car wreckage. I am especially fond of how the game manages to implement cars/driving into the flow, which would otherwise break the careful balance of speed and power ASS games work so hard to achieve.Driving physics are tuned to achieve that feel, with forgiving handling that tempts (and rewards you) for pulling off last-second swerves, and drifts into blockades to grab a powerup. It is genuinely impressive how well Maniacs systems come together, especially considering a competent product sold on that premise alone wouldve done just fine.Maniac runs great on Steam Deck, too. You dont need a handheld to play it, of course, but Im willing to bet its going to quickly become your ASS game of choice when you do. Failing that, just load up a video of someone at max Wanted Level and just watch utter mayhem unfold. Grab it on Steam, or wishlist it for when the (already cheap) price goes down.

Captured on Nintendo Switch (Docked)Holding the Guinness World Record for "Most prolific developer of danmaku shooters a tenuous plaudit seemingly concocted entirely for their receipt Caves five DonPachi entries form bullet points in the companys evolution, from Toaplan-esque beginnings to a full-blown, bullet hell renaissance.SaiDaiOuJou, the series final entry and Caves last arcade shooting game, makes the clean stylings of its predecessor, DaiFukkatsu, even cleaner; a shiny blue aesthetic wrought from 3D renders and a billion pixels. It also carries over adjustable difficulty options and an auto bomb on/off feature. Its core, however, is similar to DoDonPachi DaiOuJou, the greatest and most beautiful of Caves work.SaiDaiOuJou, despite its saccharine anime facade, is pure, unadulterated rage. And while thats the motif of most bullet hell games, here it can be felt as early as the stage one boss. Where DonPachi was measured, DoDonPachi fuel injected, DaiOujou a symphony of murder, and DaiFukkatsu precariously experimental, SaiDaiOuJou is plainly vicious. Its also infamous for having the hardest hidden boss ever committed to circuit board in the form of Inbachi, unlocked if you achieve a nigh-on perfect, no-bomb run. For the record, she has only ever been beaten once in a single credit attempt by Japanese player Sairyou, 12 years post-release.Outside of arcades, DoDonPachi SaiDaiOuJou was only ever previously available on the Xbox 360, making its Switch appearance celebratory. Infamously, the 360 port suffered from inexplicably shocking input lag that was only ever rectified by a fan patch. We used the same testing methods as applied to the 360 version, and are confident the issue has been quashed. With the TVs Game Mode on and in handheld, it feels tight and responsive across the board. And, while lag cant be eradicated entirely and especially not on a flatscreen with the right setup this is by far the superior version.Captured on Nintendo Switch (Docked)It also carries over all the Xbox 360s bells and whistles in the form of shop-based unlockables, including wallpaper, production art, and in-game modifiers that serve to soften and create new ways to experience the game. There are also enjoyable mini-challenges to take on, like defeating certain mid-bosses with a set number of lives or bombs.SaiDaiOuJous original arcade release was actually slightly broken by exploitable scoring bugs. These were ironed out for the home release in a new 1.5 version that rebalances the game into a fairer, more polished product, with the potential for increased Hyper times. In the package are four distinct modes, all upscaled in high definition: HD arcade, Ver. 1.5, Novice mode, and a Saya Ver. arrangement that allows you to play as an original character previously confined to the plot line.In all modes except arrange (where only Saya can be selected) you choose from three Elemental Dolls: ladies who pilot ships, each with unique shot types. You can select auto bomb if youre a newcomer, although this kills scoring attempts dead; and each doll has three states of configurable undress that alter the emphasis between your shot and laser. Caution need be applied here, as stripping your Doll down to her necessities will max both your shot and laser power, but in turn make the game substantially more difficult.Captured on Nintendo Switch (Handheld/Undocked)SaiDaiOuJous scoring heart is similar to DaiOuJou. You need to chain into oblivion, snag hidden bee icons throughout the stage, and use the Hyper function at key moments to drive score and bridge it all together. Hypers allow you to temporarily unleash devastatingly amped firepower, to the detriment of speeding up incoming bullets. In SaiDaiOuJou, Hypers are earned by filling a gauge in the HUD and can be stacked to extend their duration and increase score potential. In turn, this increases the games rank, which means increased difficulty, and the only way to bring this down is by either bombing or dying.While its full-on nature demands a different discipline from both DaiOuJou or DaiFukkatsu, scoring is still a beautiful, bewitching thing, drawing you into an aggressive campaign of fire, shrapnel, and digit-chasing. Whether playing for score or focusing only on survival, its quite the spectacle, perpetually igniting in a hailstorm of bullets and score ingots, and satisfying pyrotechnic blasts.Version 1.5 is, for our money, the best option in terms of overall polish and balancing, but Novice and the Saya arrange mode are also incredibly fun to kick back with. Sayas Arrange, in particular (and if you turn off the incessant chatter) features a very interesting single-life run where you can near-constantly engage Hypers, reaping green score icons to keep your multiplier from falling from the 10,000 maximum. It presents an original risk and reward system that rookies will really enjoy getting into, and veterans will adore mining for score.Captured on Nintendo Switch (Docked)While its important to recognise that vanilla SaiDaiOuJou isnt an easy game, and has a steeper learning curve than even DaiOuJou, its also a masterpiece in its own right. It adapts and reassembles things seen in previous entries to feel even more bombastic and furious, but makes Hyper usage less dangerous and more frequently available. There are times when youre threading the eye of the storm, pink and blue bullet waves combing the screen, where you achieve a near-clairvoyant sense of clarity: that moment where you see the path.It takes a good while and a good understanding of bullet hell games to achieve this sight beyond sight, yet the accompanying adrenaline rush of pinging Hypers at crucial junctures, momentarily cancelling on-screen bullets, or successfully networking a bosss varied attack patterns, offers a high like few others. And, while Cave went all out, with conditions for true-last-boss Hibachi and then Inbachi geared towards shoot-'em-up maniacs, SaiDaiOuJou is the first of the DonPachi series to only require a single loop run of the game.Slight unevenness keeps SaiDaiOuJou from being the series' absolute best, but it certainly comes close. Hit-box parameters are particularly unforgiving, especially when compared to the likes of DaiFukkatsu, making lucky escapes less common; and aesthetically it's so overwhelmingly blue that all the stages seem to blend into one. Some of the achievements arent doable by mere mortals, but everyone else will be content to take the game on their own terms, to reshape it around newfound tactics and deeper understandings.Captured on Nintendo Switch (Handheld/Undocked)The package itself is incredibly comprehensive, bursting with options to configure, allowing you to define everything from screen rotation and sizing to replay recordings and online leaderboard achievements. With so many variations to experiment with and so many avenues of approach, one could potentially lose several glorious years to it.ConclusionWhile a fine-looking affair, DoDonPachi SaiDaiOuJous anime stylings are frankly unremarkable, and the incessant chatter will be turned off by many. But these are minor, skin-deep critiques of what is an incredible piece of work by the masters of the Danmaku: a series finale that showboats and regularly boils over in endless hails of gunfire, tugging you to and fro amid the heart of the storm as you forge a path to victory. Theres a beauty here that only Cave could achieve; a harmony of scoring and surviving; coasting on sheer adrenaline as you thread hit-boxes through pixels, hammering out routes amidst dizzyingly spectacular orchestrated chaos. It may not be easy, but oh is it worth it.To date, the definitive home SaiDaiOuJou package, bursting with modes and optionsVisual feedback aplenty, bombastic and beautifulScoring as deep as the hills, and countless different ways to approachThe menu layouts and various options for each mode can be quite confusing to sift throughThe chattering anime additions aren't on par with the artistry previously achieved in DaiOuJouExcellent 9/10

Image: Damien McFerran / Nintendo LifeFan team Harbour Masters has swapped Hylian adventures for high-flying action in its new 'Starlight' project a Star Fox 64 PC port which is available right now (thanks, VGC).This isn't the team's first rodeo having previously brought Ocarina of Time, Majora's Mask and Super Mario 64 to PC and it uses the same above-board approach to porting. Once again, Harbour Masters has reverse-engineered the original game's code to avoid using any leaked content or copyrighted assets, making the whole thing technically legal (yay!).The port does require users to provide their own legally-sourced N64 ROM to play, but, in return, it offers a bunch of modern upgrades like higher frame rates and widescreen visuals. Looking at the following post from VGC's Andy Robinson, we'd say that's a fair trade-off:Star Fox 64: now on PC, thanks to an unofficial port.www.videogameschronicle.com/news/another... Andy Robinson (@andyrobinson.bsky.social) 2024-12-23T10:27:12.641ZTechnicalities are one thing, but this PC port also opens the door to all kinds of modding potential. In the years since the team's OOT project, we have seen the modding community add a whole host of weird tweaks, from magical Tears of the Kingdom abilities to actual, functioning Pikmin. Just imagine what's possible with a game as cool as Star Fox 64...How about another official entry in the series, eh Nintendo? Sheiking things upTime ExtensionIt's dangerous to go alone, take theseWhat do you make of this new port? Will you be checking it out? Let us know in the comments.[source videogameschronicle.com, via bsky.app]Related GamesSee AlsoShare:02 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. Hold on there, you need to login to post a comment...Related Articles46 Games You Should Pick Up In The Nintendo Switch eShop Holiday Sale (Europe)Every game we scored 9/10 or higherPSA: Switch 2 Is Getting Revealed In The Next 100 DaysSet your Alarmos'Switch 2' Is Projected To Be The "Clear Winner" In The Next Console GenerationWhile either Sony or Microsoft will "struggle mightily"Your 'Nintendo Switch Year In Review 2024' Stats Are Available NowWhat's your hour count?

Instagram is testing a way for you to see content from friends that you might have missed. The social network has started displaying unseen Story Highlights from a users mutual followers at the end of the Stories tray, which is the area at the top of your feed where you see Stories from your friends.Were always working on new ways to help people connect in Stories and are testing bringing recent Highlights to the end of the tray with a small group of people, a Meta spokesperson told TechCrunch. The feature was first spotted by social media expert Ahmed Ghanem.As Instagram has become overcrowded with things like Reels and sponsored posts, its easy to miss updates from people you actually follow. The social networks latest test feature experiments with a way to ensure you arent missing original content from your friends and family.Meta notes that users will be able to see unseen Story Highlights from the past week.You will only see the unseen Story Highlights when you get through all of the current Stories in the tray. This means that if you follow a bunch of people and dont always get the end of your Stories tray, you might not see the Highlights. Its worth noting that the feature wont display standard Stories that disappear after 24 hours, only Story Highlights, which are the curated Stories that users have saved to their profiles.

Theres a mismatch in climate tech investing: Well over half of all dollars invested since 2020 have flowed into startups working on energy and transportation, according to Sightline Climate.Its awesome to see those solutions doing well, Michael Luciani, founding partner at Juniper, told TechCrunch. But as he points out, those sectors represent less than half of all carbon pollution.The big contributors are how we make things, the industrials and chemicals and plastics, as well as food and agriculture and buildings, he said. I have come to believe that engineered biology is the best emerging solution for the majority of problems in those categories.Luciani and Jennifer Kan, Junipers other founding partner, have been investing in climate for years, initially as part of Climate Capital, a prolific venture fund that typically writes smaller checks to early-stage companies. They invested in 30 companies and led the firms special purpose vehicle investments before raising the new fund, Kan told TechCrunch.Initially, Juniper started life as Climate Capital Bio, investing in synthetic biology startups that focus on climate. But as we kind of got further down the path, we realized what we should lean into is the fact that we can be the climate biotech people, Luciani said. Climate Capital is a great brand, but its really a brand as a generalist, and thats quite different than the kind of signal we wanted to send.The first Juniper fund is $10.6 million and is oversubscribed, the firm exclusively told TechCrunch. Limited partners include family offices, foundations, and Allocator One, an institutional fund of funds thats serving as the anchor.We also have a decent amount of scientists in the field who weve allowed to invest in our fund at lower minimums, plus over a dozen different partners of venture capital and private equity firms, Luciani added.Juniper operates as a normal venture fund, writing checks between $100,000 and $500,000 to scientists who are working to commercialize their research. The goal, Kan said, is to be the first institutional investor, to help them think through how to build a company.Some of the funds early investments include California Cultured, which cultures plant cells to make more sustainable coffee and chocolate, and Cache DNA, which is developing a better way to store DNA and RNA.We are building a lot of data centers, and they are not the most sustainable way for our world to grow digitally. If we were to store all the data in the world today in DNA, it would only take a shoe box of DNA, Kan said. The difference is massive.

One of the most widely used techniques to make AI models more efficient, quantization, has limits and the industry could be fast approaching them. In the context of AI, quantization refers to lowering the number of bits the smallest units a computer can process needed to represent information. Consider this analogy: When someone asks the time, youd probably say noon not oh twelve hundred, one second, and four milliseconds. Thats quantizing; both answers are correct, but one is slightly more precise. How much precision you actually need depends on the context.AI models consist of several components that can be quantized in particular parameters, the internal variables models use to make predictions or decisions. This is convenient, considering models perform millions of calculations when run. Quantized models with fewer bits representing their parameters are less demanding mathematically, and therefore computationally. (To be clear, this is a different process from distilling, which is a more involved and selective pruning of parameters.)But quantization may have more trade-offs than previously assumed. The ever-shrinking modelAccording to a study from researchers at Harvard, Stanford, MIT, Databricks, and Carnegie Mellon, quantized models perform worse if the original, unquantized version of the model was trained over a long period on lots of data. In other words, at a certain point, it may actually be better to just train a smaller model rather than cook down a big one.That could spell bad news for AI companies training extremely large models (known to improve answer quality) and then quantizing them in an effort to make them less expensive to serve.The effects are already manifesting. A few months ago, developers and academics reported that quantizing Metas Llama 3 model tended to be more harmful compared to other models, potentially due to the way it was trained.In my opinion, the number one cost for everyone in AI is and will continue to be inference, and our work shows one important way to reduce it will not work forever, Tanishq Kumar, a Harvard mathematics student and the first author on the paper, told TechCrunch.Contrary to popular belief, AI model inferencing running a model, like when ChatGPT answers a question is often more expensive in aggregate than model training. Consider, for example, that Google spent an estimated $191 million to train one of its flagship Gemini models certainly a princely sum. But if the company were to use a model to generate just 50-word answers to half of all Google Search queries, itd spend roughly $6 billion a year.Major AI labs have embraced training models on massive datasets under the assumption that scaling up increasing the amount of data and compute used in training will lead to increasingly more capable AI.For example, Meta trained Llama 3 on a set of 15 trillion tokens. (Tokens represent bits of raw data; 1 million tokens is equal to about 750,000 words.) The previous generation, Llama 2, was trained on only 2 trillion tokens. In early December, Meta released a new model, Llama 3.3 70B, which the company says improves core performance at a significantly lower cost.Evidence suggests that scaling up eventually provides diminishing returns; Anthropic and Google reportedly recently trained enormous models that fell short of internal benchmark expectations. But theres little sign that the industry is ready to meaningfully move away from these entrenched scaling approaches.How precise, exactly?So, if labs are reluctant to train models on smaller datasets, is there a way models could be made less susceptible to degradation? Possibly. Kumar says that he and co-authors found that training models in low precision can make them more robust. Bear with us for a moment as we dive in a bit.Precision here refers to the number of digits a numerical data type can represent accurately. Data types are collections of data values, usually specified by a set of possible values and allowed operations; the data type FP8, for example, uses only 8 bits to represent a floating-point number.Most models today are trained at 16-bit or half precision and post-train quantized to 8-bit precision. Certain model components (e.g., its parameters) are converted to a lower-precision format at the cost of some accuracy. Think of it like doing the math to a few decimal places but then rounding off to the nearest 10th, often giving you the best of both worlds.Hardware vendors like Nvidia are pushing for lower precision for quantized model inference. The companys new Blackwell chip supports 4-bit precision, specifically a data type called FP4; Nvidia has pitched this as a boon for memory- and power-constrained data centers. But extremely low quantization precision might not be desirable. According to Kumar, unless the original model is incredibly large in terms of its parameter count, precisions lower than 7- or 8-bit may see a noticeable step down in quality. If this all seems a little technical, dont worry it is. But the takeaway is simply that AI models are not fully understood, and known shortcuts that work in many kinds of computation dont work here. You wouldnt say noon if someone asked when they started a 100-meter dash, right? Its not quite so obvious as that, of course, but the idea is the same:The key point of our work is that there are limitations you cannot navely get around, Kumar concluded. We hope our work adds nuance to the discussion that often seeks increasingly low precision defaults for training and inference.Kumar acknowledges that his and his colleagues study was at relatively small scale they plan to test it with more models in the future. But he believes that at least one insight will hold: Theres no free lunch when it comes to reducing inference costs.Bit precision matters, and its not free, he said. You cannot reduce it forever without models suffering. Models have finite capacity, so rather than trying to fit a quadrillion tokens into a small model, in my opinionmuch more effort will be put into meticulous data curation and filtering, so that only the highest quality data is put into smaller models. I am optimistic that new architectures that deliberately aim to make low precision training stable will be important in the future.This story originally published November 17, 2024, and was updated on December 23 with new information.