Catch some Zs AMDs new Ryzen Z2 CPUs boost gaming handhelds, if you buy the best one Z2 Extreme is the only one that's faster than what AMD was offering before. Andrew Cunningham Jan 6, 2025 2:45 pm | 9 An AMD Ryzen Z2 processor. Credit: AMD An AMD Ryzen Z2 processor. Credit: AMD Story textSizeSmallStandardLargeWidth *StandardWideLinksStandardOrange* Subscribers only Learn moreNearly two years ago, AMD announced its first Ryzen Z1 processors. These were essentially the same silicon that AMD was putting in high-end thin-and-light laptops but tuned specifically for handheld gaming PCs like the Steam Deck and Asus ROG Ally X. As part of its CES announcements today, AMD is refreshing that lineup with three processors, all slated for an undisclosed date in the first quarter of 2025.Although they're all part of the "Ryzen Z2" family, each of these three chips is actually much different under the hood, and some of them are newer than others.The Ryzen Z2 Extreme is what you'd expect from a refresh: a straightforward upgrade to both the CPU and GPU architectures of the Ryzen Z1 Extreme. Based on the same "Strix Point" architecture as the Ryzen AI 300 laptop processors, the Z2 Extreme includes eight CPU cores (three high-performance Zen 5 cores, five smaller and efficiency-optimized Zen 5C cores) and an unnamed RDNA 3.5 GPU with 16 of AMD's compute units (CUs). These should both provide small bumps to CPU and GPU performance relative to the Ryzen Z1 Extreme, which used eight Zen 4 CPU cores and 12 RDNA 3 GPU cores. AMD's full Ryzen Z2 lineup, which obfuscates the fact that these three chips are all using different CPU and GPU architectures. Credit: AMD The Ryzen Z2, on the other hand, appears to be exactly the same chip as the Ryzen Z1 Extreme, but with a different name. Like the Z1 Extreme, it has eight Zen 4 cores with a 5.1 GHz maximum clock speed and an RDNA 3 GPU with 12 cores.The Ryzen Z2 Go is at the bottom of the stack, and it's another step downjust four Zen 3+ CPU cores, and an RDNA 2-based GPU with 12 cores. This chip appears to be based on AMD's "Rembrandt" architecture, which would make it a slightly cut-down version of 2022's Ryzen 5 6600U.It's too bad the Ryzen Z series is affected by the same technological mix-and-match game that AMD plays with its laptop processors, continuing to rebrand old silicon and reserving the most significant progress for top-of-the-line chips.But there are two silver linings here: the first is that all of these chips, including the Z2 Go, should generally be a substantial improvement over the lower-end Ryzen Z1, which included just four RDNA 3 GPU cores. The second is that they should also all be at least a little faster than the Steam Deck because of its four aging Zen 2-based CPU cores and eight RDNA 2 graphics cores.We'll presumably hear about at least a few handhelds using one or all of these three chips in the next few days or weeksand some may even run SteamOS instead of an awkward mix of Windows and proprietary software.Andrew CunninghamSenior Technology ReporterAndrew CunninghamSenior Technology Reporter Andrew is a Senior Technology Reporter at Ars Technica, with a focus on consumer tech including computer hardware and in-depth reviews of operating systems like Windows and macOS. Andrew lives in Philadelphia and co-hosts a weekly book podcast called Overdue. 9 Comments

HealthFrom carbon emissions to the share prize of videoconferencing firm Zoom, these graphs tell the story of how the covid-19 pandemic changed everything 6 January 2025 Graphs and data were vital to understanding the spread of the coronavirusDaniel Leal-Olivas WPA Pool/Getty ImagesAs the covid-19 pandemic took hold, the world was transfixed and transformed while we came to terms with just how vulnerable society is to a deadly virus. These five graphs highlight just some of these changes, and show how close things are to returning to normal.

The coronavirus was first detected at the Huanan Seafood Wholesale Market in Wuhan, ChinaHECTOR RETAMAL/AFP via Getty ImagesWhen the first signs of an unknown virus began showing up in Wuhan, China, in December 2019, scientists raced to understand what was happening. In the five years since, they havent stopped running, with over 1 million papers published about SARS-CoV-2 and covid-19. Yet despite this outpouring, some big scientific questions about the virus remain.Is the virus lurking within wildlife?Early in the pandemic, it became clear that the coronavirus could jump from humans into other animals and back

CES, a massive tech trade show in the US, is in full swing this week.Product announcements and demos offer a look at how some companies are trying to use AI.Here's some of the AI news from CES that most caught our eye.CES 2025 technically hasn't even started yet, but the AI product announcements and demos are already piling up.The biggest tech trade show in the US, formally known as the Consumer Electronics Show, officially kicks off Tuesday but has already led to news of AI integration in everything from TVs to grills and even bird feeders.Of course, not everything that companies talk about at CES eventually makes it to market, but these announcements show the wide array of AI applications companies are exploring after the technology's explosive growth in popularity in 2024.Here are some of the biggest, coolest, and kookiest ones we've seen so far:TVsSamsung and LG are bringing Microsoft's AI assistant, Copilot, to some of their smart TVs.Samsung's AI offerings include Click to Search, which can help identify an actor on-screen, and Live Translate, which provides subtitle translations in real time. Samsung Vision AI includes several AI-powered features that can help personalize users' experiences with their TVs. Samsung LG's newest OLED TVs have AI-enabled features that tailor audio and visual settings to a user's unique preferences, the company says. AI also welcomes users by name, and the AI Voice ID feature can identify users' voices to switch between profiles as needed and recommend what to watch accordingly.LG says Copilot "further streamlines the process, allowing users to efficiently find and organize complex information using contextual cues."GrillsThis isn't your granddad's grill. The Zelos 450 electric wood pellet smoker from startup Brisk It uses generative AI (and WiFi connectivity) in the grilling process. Grillers can remotely adjust settings, get updates as their food cooks, and receive reminders to do necessary steps in the cooking process.Bird feedersBirding is getting high-tech with the Birdfy Feeder 2 Duo, which can capture avian visitors in slow-mo and high-res video. The accompanying app gives you real-time notifications when a bird stops by and uses AI to help you identify and catalog various species.VacuumsRoborock's Saros Z70 robot vacuum has an extendable arm that can help with housekeeping by picking up items around your house and putting them back in their rightful place.It can't pick up anything heavy and can currently only help with a limited assortment of items, such as socks, but the company expects to add more items to the robot's visual inventory in the future. The arm can pick up items like socks, tissues, and lightweight sandals. Roborock RefrigeratorsLG wants its newest smart fridges to not just tell you what food is already inside them but also to help you order more of what's not in them anymore.Its new French Door refrigerator with ThinQ technology has a built-in AI camera that recognizes food inside, suggests recipes based on what you have handy, and tracks expiration dates.Samsung has a similar offering in its Bespoke refrigerators, partnering with Instacart on same-day grocery delivery for items it notices you're running low on.Home security camerasThe Kami Fall Detect Camera says it's able to identify falls with 99.5% accuracy by identifying patterns that could cause someone to trip over and by being able to detect falls even if a person's body is partially obscured from view.It can send notifications to family and caregivers or help with making an emergency call after a fall.MonitorsDell's new 32 Plus 4K QD-OLED monitor uses a camera under its display to track your head and adjust the placement of sounds coming out of its five speakers, so they go straight to your ears.

I tracked how much I drank every day for a year.Moderate drinking is one drink a day for women, not exceeding 7 a week.I exceeded that amount half the time, drinking more during the summer and holidays.In my head, I was great at drinking less in 2024. I rarely had more than two drinks per occasion, ordering more mocktails and N/A beers.My journal tells a different story.Back in 2023, I started writing down how many standard drinks I had per day in addition to my daily entries. I knew alcohol could impact my physical and mental health, so I wanted to factor it in to see how it altered my mood.After the US Surgeon General announced alcohol's link to cancer last week, I decided to crack the numbers over the whole year. While there's no safe amount of alcohol to consume, the National Center for Health Promotion and Disease Prevention has guidelines for moderate drinking. Women shouldn't have more than one drink a day and seven total a week.For 26 out of 52 weeks, I went above that limit.Looking back, I saw patterns around when I'd drink and how I felt before and after. Going into 2025, it's convinced me to become "dry by default" and create tighter rules around drinking.I didn't feel like I was drinking a lotI have never blacked out. I also never drink alone and rarely in my home, unless we have guests over.Still, I got a 50% moderate drinking grade for 2024 a big F. Because there were times I had three drinks throughout the whole day, I had only one memory of actually being drunk one I excused in my mind because it was at a wedding.The times I had four drinks in a day, no matter how spaced out they were or how sober I felt, qualified as heavy drinking for women, according to the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism.Part of the issue was my own knowledge of what qualified as healthy. I didn't know that I should cap myself at one drink a day I always aimed for two max, which is the healthy limit for men.We want to hear from you about your drinking habits. If you're comfortable sharing with a reporter, please fill out this quick form. Note: We won't publish any part of your submission unless we contact you first.My drinking ramped up as I socialized more Julia Pugachevsky The periods I drank the most were early summer and the holidays when I had the most plans. I also got married this year and had a few small events to celebrate, which led to more drinking.There are social benefits to drinking in moderation. The problem is when I'm having a good time after one glass of wine, I often want to maximize that feeling by ordering one more. Even when I limited myself to two drinks per occasion, those cocktails added up when I went out four times a week.I drank less when I had a big goal Julia Pugachevsky My healthiest drinking periods coincided with training for my first marathon. I often had only a few drinks the whole week because I was getting up early to run four times a week, and I abstained from drinking the week before the race. As an added bonus, I looked less puffy in my wedding photos.Giving up alcohol is the hardest for me when it feels like a punishment, like I'm removing some pleasure from my life for the nebulous goal of being healthier. It was much easier to order that Phony Negroni when I had a higher purpose or goal. It made me feel dedicated and confident. I was someone who could hang with my friends and still make it to that morning run.Now, I'm doing Dry January and plan to continue when the month is up. The biggest shock from tracking my data isn't that I drank more than I thought; it's how much happier and more fulfilled I was when I didn't at all.

Bradley CooperBradley Cooper in April 2023. Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP Bradley Cooper has been sobe since he was 29. He told GQ in 2013 that he got sober because he realized that "if I continued it, I was really going to sabotage my whole life."Cooper played a musician struggling with addiction in 2018's "A Star Is Born," which he also directed. He told Variety that it was a "cathartic" experience."Anytime you're trying to tell the truth you need to go to places and use things that have happened to you, or you've read about or experienced," he said. "And that's all part of the beauty of turning whatever things you've gone through into a story. I find that to be very cathartic."During an appearance on a 2023 episode of "Running Wild With Bear Grylls: The Challenge," Cooper said that he was "very lucky" to overcome his addictions.Cooper also said he was grateful to be sober when he played Jackson Maine in "A Star Is Born.""Thank goodness I was at a place in my life where I was at ease with all of that, so I could really let myself go," he said. "I've been very lucky with the roles I've had to play. It's been a real blessing. I hope I get to keep doing it." Tom HollandTom Holland in June 2023. Evan Agostini/Invision/AP Holland spoke about his decision to become sober during an appearance on the podcast "On Purpose With Jay Shetty," released in July 2023.After having a "very boozy December," the British actor chose to participate in Dry January. During that time,Holland found that he kept thinking about drinking, "and it just really scared me," to the point that he realized he has a dependency.Holland said he was "definitely addicted to alcohol" and didn't know how to navigate social settings without drinking."I was really, really struggling and I started to really worry that maybe I had an alcohol problem. So I decided that I would wait until my birthday, which is June 1," the actor said. "I said to myself, 'If I can do six months without alcohol, then I can prove to myself that I don't have a problem.' And by the time I got to June 1, I was the happiest I've ever been in my life.""It's honestly been the best thing I've ever done," Holland added. "I'm a year and a half into it now. It doesn't even cross my mind. I've found amazing replacements that I think are fantastic, ones that are also really healthy."Holland's sobriety also led him to launch Bero, a premium non-alcoholic beer brand in 2024. Jamie Campbell BowerJamie Campbell Bower in November 2022. Presley Ann/Getty Images for Netflix "12 and a half years ago I was in active addiction," the "Stranger Things" star wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter, in July 2022. "Hurting myself and those around me who I loved the most. It got so bad that eventually I ended up in a hospital for mental health. I am now 7 1/2 years clean and sober.""I have made many mistakes in my life, but each day is a chance to start again. Atone for mistakes and grow," he continued. "For anyone who wakes up thinking 'oh god not again' I promise you there's a way.""I'm so grateful to be where I am, I'm so grateful to be sober," he said. "I'm so grateful to be. Remember, we are all works in progress." Jessica SimpsonJessica Simpson in September 2022. Charley Gallay/Getty Images for Jessica Simpson Collection Simpson celebrated seven years of sobriety in November."I was at a place where I was literally spiraling with the alcohol and I was missing out on moments with my children, and then they were seeing me and they were very confused," Simpson said during an appearance on "The Kelly Clarkson Show" in 2020."I just wanted to be present and have clarity and be a good role model for my children, because I always wanted to be a good role model for the world, so why in the world would I be stuck in this cycle of having to wake up and have a drink before going to one of their school assemblies?" she continued."It got to the point where all of my life has escalated and I couldn't suppress it," Simpson said. "And alcohol, it wasn't working. It was making me completely check out."The star saidthat when she stopped drinking, she had "so much clarity." EminemEminem performing in November 2022. Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic Eminem, real name Marshall Mathers, almost died from an accidental overdose of the drug methadone in 2007. He later entered rehab andcelebrated 12 years of sobrietyin April 2020.Eminem opened up about his addictions in a 2022 essay for XXL magazine, saying that drugs became "a part of the way I was living my life" once he got signed to a record label.The rapper recounted going to Tijuana multiple times to get drugs like Vicodin because it was "so easy to go back and forth to do it."He said the "heaviest drug usage and addiction spanned only about five years of my life." His addiction worsened following the release of "TheMarshall Mathers LP," as he was readying for his "Encore" album."I was taking Vicodin, Valium, and alcohol," Eminem said.At one point, the rapper said he was taking 75 to 80 Valiums "a night."During an appearance on Paul Rosenberg's "Paul Pod" podcast in 2022, Eminem spoke about how his life changed when he got clean while working on his "Relapse" album."I remember when I first got sober and all the shit was out of my system, I remember just being, like, really happy and everything was fucking new to me again," he said. "It was the first album and the first time that I had fun recording in a long time." Robert Downey Jr.Robert Downey Jr. at the UK premiere of "Oppenheimer" in July 2023. Scott Garfitt/Invision/AP Robert Downey Jr. was arrested multiple times on drug-related charges over the span of a few years in the late '90s. He later spent time at the California Substance Abuse Treatment Facility and State Prison and has focused on staying sober since."Job one is get out of that cave," he told Vanity Fair in 2014. "A lot of people do get out but don't change. So the thing is to get out and recognize the significance of that aggressive denial of your fate, come through the crucible forged into a stronger metal." Rob LoweRob Lowe in April 2023. Gilbert Flores/Variety via Getty Images Rob Lowe received the Spirit of Sobriety award in 2015 to celebrate 25 clean years."Being in recovery has given me everything of value that I have in my life," Lowe said when accepting the award. "Integrity, honesty, fearlessness, faith, a relationship with God, and most of all gratitude. It's given me a beautiful family and an amazing career. I'm under no illusions where I would be without the gift of alcoholism and the chance to recover from it." Calvin HarrisCalvin Harris in June 2023. Joe Maher/Getty Images DJ and producer Calvin Harris told the BBC that he stopped drinking at 24 because it was affecting his work."I wasn't an alcoholic or anything like that, but it was clearly affecting what I do," he said. "My live shows are a million times better now. If you drink, you can't even remember if it's a good show or not and that's probably for the best, because it would have been rubbish because I'd have been drunk and not making any sense." Lucy HaleLucy Hale in July 2023. Jon Kopaloff/Getty Images for Miu Miu Hale told Byrdie that she decided to quit drinking after spending a few years in the party scene."I'm just always trying to surround myself with better people and be the best version of myself possible," she said. "I know it sounds obnoxious to hear people say that, but why not?"Hale celebrated three years of sobriety with an Instagram post in January 2025. Hale said that since choosing to abstain from alcohol, "I've experienced moments that can only be described as pure miracles and magic.""I am deeply grateful every dayfor the people who have been guiding lights, for a power greater than myself that loves me unconditionally, and for my own perseverance in not giving up," she wrote. "To all of you who have supported my journey, I have felt your love and it means everything to me." Daniel RadcliffeDaniel Radcliffe in November 2022. Andy Kropa/Invision/AP In a conversation with Marc Maron for his "WTF" podcast in 2015, Daniel Radcliffe opened up about his alcohol addiction."There was definitely a time when I was coming out of 'Potter' and I was into the real world, suddenly I was in a world where I'm not going to have that consistency anymore," he said. "I was pretty inconsolable on the last day of 'Potter.' I was really worried. I was living alone, and I think I was really freaked out ... I drank a lot, as has been recorded." Lana Del ReyLana Del Rey performing in July 2023. Kristy Sparow/Getty Images In an interview with British GQ in 2012, Lana Del Rey spoke about her struggles with alcohol and drugs as an underage teen."That's really why I got sent to boarding school aged 14 to get sober," she said. "I was a big drinker at the time. I would drink every day. I would drink alone. ... I knew it was a problem when I liked it more than I liked doing anything else."She eventually ended up at a rehab center for drug and alcohol addicts when she was 18. Ben AffleckBen Affleck in March 2023. Ashley Landis/AP Affleckfirst checked into rehab in 2001 and has continued to work on his sobriety through the years. In March 2017, the actor took to his Facebook page to talk about going back to rehab."I have completed treatment for alcohol addiction; something I've dealt with in the past and will continue to confront," he wrote. "I want to live life to the fullest and be the best father I can be."His ex-wife, Jennifer Garner, took him to rehab again in August 2018.In a 2020 interview with The New York Times, Affleck named Bradley Cooper and Robert Downey Jr. as "guys who have been very supportive and to whom I feel a great sense of gratitude."He also said that it "took me a long time to fundamentally, deeply, without a hint of doubt, admit to myself that I am an alcoholic." Brad PittBrad Pitt in February 2023. Stephane Cardinale - Corbis/Corbis via Getty Images In a 2017 interview with GQ, the actor talked about quitting drinking."I mean, we have a winery. I enjoy wine very, very much, but I just ran it to the ground," he said. "I had to step away for a minute. And truthfully I could drink a Russian under the table with his own vodka. I was a professional. I was good." Kristin Davis.Kristin Davis on "Watch What Happens Live With Andy Cohen" in June 2023. Charles Sykes/Bravo via Getty Images Davis spoke with Health magazine about her addiction in 2010."I'm a recovering alcoholic," she said. "I've never hid it, but I've been sober the whole time I've been famous, so it wasn't like I had to go to rehab publicly." Keith UrbanKeith Urban performing in June 2023. Terry Wyatt/WireImage Keith Urban told Rolling Stone in 2016 that he turned to drugs and drinking in the late '90s."I stepped up my drinking. I started doing more drugs," he said. "Yeah, man. The whole back end of the '90s were just awful."He added: "You know, early on in my sobriety, there was a period when I wished I hadn't succumbed to drugs and everything the way I did. It sucked up so much creative time, when I should have been in the studio working. But I don't know what came from that time, other than that I'm where I am because of, or in spite of, nobody knows and never will." Joe ManganielloJoe Manganiello in March 2023. Cindy Ord/VF23/Getty Images for Vanity Fair "I battled with addiction at a young age and got to the other side of that," he told Haute Living in 2015. "That's an ongoing battle. I think there's a story in there somewhere about trying to find my way through that and making it to where I am today."In 2018, he accepted a Spirit of Sobriety award."Sixteen years ago I crashed and washed ashore on the banks of sobriety," he said. "When I was growing up, when I thought of an alcoholic, I thought of some toothless old guy in a trench coat in a basement somewhere. I just never thought that would apply to me. That type of stigma kept me from getting the help that I needed when I knew I needed it." Gerard ButlerGerard Butler in January 2023. Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images Butler spoke to Men's Journal in 2012 about being 15 years sober then. He said he went to rehab before he could reach full-blown pill addiction."Maybe a stronger person wouldn't have needed to go," he said. "When you hear the word rehab, you think, 'He's a mess, he's fucked up.' But I'm glad I did it. I've made a shitload of wrong decisions in my life. But I know I've made some right ones as well." Tobey MaguireTobey Maguire in 2019. Hutton Supancic/Getty Images In 2003, the actor opened up to Playboy about being a recovering alcoholic and going to Alcoholics Anonymous."It's just all practical," he said. "There are no holes in the program. It's so, so simple. I come in, I ask for help. It has totally changed my life." Russell BrandRussell Brand in January 2020. Lester Cohen/Getty Images for The Recording Academy Brand went on "Megyn Kelly Today" to discuss his recovery in 2017. He previously had an addiction to heroin and alcoholism."When I started, I took it one day at a time," he said. "Ultimately, I found that spirituality worked for me."He celebrated 20 years of sobriety in December 2022."I'm 20 years clean and sober today," the comedian said on Instagram. "Thank you to all the people who have helped me to remain clean. It's never done on your own." Ewan McGregor has been sober since 2001.Ewan McGregor in April 2023. Jeff Spicer/Getty Images for Disney Ewan McGregor has been sober since 2001. He told Playboy in 2005 that he stopped drinking before it could ruin his life."I knew I was lucky, and somehow I knew that if I didn't stop, everything would go tits up my career, my family, my everything," he said. Naomi CampbellNaomi Campbell in May 2023. Lionel Hahn/Getty Images Vogue reported thatthe model didn't know if she'd make it through the early 2000s."The time between 1998 and 2005 was especially bad," she said. "During that time I avoided looking in the mirror, because I didn't like the person who was looking back at me. To be honest, there were times I thought I wouldn't survive. I used to have a lot of problems. Amongst others I drank too much so I joined Alcoholics Anonymous to get and stay sober."She is also a member of Narcotics Anonymous."It doesn't matter what walk of life addiction and alcoholism doesn't discriminate," she said at the FortuneMost Powerful WomenInternational Summitin 2017. Colin FarrellColin Farrell at the 2023 Oscars. Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic During an appearance on "The Ellen DeGeneres Show" in 2017, Farrell celebrated his recovery. Farrell reportedly checked into rehab again in 2018 as a preventive measure when he began to feel urges, according to The Sun.He spoke about getting clean in a 2021 interview with The Irish Times, saying: "After 15 or 20 years of carousing the way I caroused and drinking the way I drank, the sober world is a pretty scary world.""To come home and not to have the buffer support of a few drinks just to calm the nerves, it was a really amazing thing," Farrell added. Tim McGrawTim McGraw performing in June 2023. Terry Wyatt/WireImage Tim McGraw quit drinking in 2008 when his family and friends began to worry about him."When your wife tells you it's gone too far, that's a big wake-up call," he toldMen's Health."That, and realizing you're gonna lose everything you have. Not monetarily, not career-wise, but family-wise.I drank too much. I partied too much. And did other things too much." Tom HardyTom Hardy in September 2021. Tristan Fewings/Getty Images for Sony Hardy has been sober since he was 25. The actor sobered up in 2003 by using a 12-step program. He told Esquire it was his "first port of call.""It was hard enough for me to say, 'I'm an alcoholic,'" he said. "But staying stopped is fucking hard." Kelly OsbourneKelly Osbourne in May 2023 Slaven Vlasic/Getty Images Osbourne relapsed in 2021, after almost four years of sobriety."I am an addict and had thought that I had enough time under my belt and I could drink like a normal person, and it turns out I cannot and I will never be normal," Osbourne told Extra at the time."This is something I am going to battle for the rest of my life," she added. "It's never going to be easy."She celebrated one year of sobriety the following year."What a difference a year can make!" she wrote on Instagram. "If you would have told me 365 days ago that I would be sober, happy, and about to be a mumma I would have laughed in your face. Life is truly amazing when you do the work. Thank you to everyone that has supported me on this journey." John GoodmanJohn Goodman in June 2023. Stephane Cardinale - Corbis/Corbis via Getty Images Goodman struggled with alcoholism for years and even drank while filming the original "Roseanne." At one point, star Roseanne Barr confronted him about it.While on Howard Stern's SiriusXM show in March 2018, Goodman said,"She was scared for me, but she was more confrontational. She'd already had a husband go through the process."He added:"The last four years were pretty bad, and I was drinking at work and [Barr] was scared for me. I was ashamed of myself, but I couldn't stop." Dax ShepardDax Shepard in March 2023. Jason Bollenbacher/Getty Images for SXSW In 2012, Shepard told Playboy that he struggled with an addiction to drugs and alcohol. He said that from the ages of 18 to 29, he was a "heavy smoker, heavy drinker, drug addict, terrible eater, and philanderer.""I just loved to get fucked-up drinking, cocaine, opiates, marijuana, diet pills, pain pills, everything," he told Playboy. "Mostly my love was Jack Daniel's and cocaine."He said that he'd get sober for some movie roles but then get right back into his drug and alcohol habits.Shepard's wife Kristen Bell wrote an emotional post on Instagram in September 2018 to celebrate his 14th year of sobriety."I know how much you loved using. I know how much it got in your way. And I know, because I saw, how hard you worked to live without it," she wrote. "I will forever be in awe of your dedication, and the level of fierce moral inventory you perform on yourself, like an emotional surgery, every single night...'m so proud that you have never been ashamed of your story, but instead shared it widely, with the hope it might inspire someone else to become the best version of themselves."In 2020, Shepard revealed on his podcast, "Armchair Expert," that he relapsed after 16 years of sobriety following a motorcycle accident that resulted in him using painkillers. At the time of the episode's release, the actor was seven days sober. Stephen Moyer got sober after his first son was born.Stephen Moyer in February 2023. Tibrina Hobson/Getty Images for SBIFF The "True Blood" star stopped drinking and went into rehab after the birth of his first son."I got to a point in my life where I was totally out of control," he told The Telegraph in 2017. " I was shocked into doing something about it and fatherhood was definitely a big aspect of that the catalyst that shook me. And I would never want to go back there."He added: "People, say, 'When are you going to be able to have a drink again?' And my answer to that is, 'I've already drunk all the drinks that I was supposed to drink in one lifetime.'" John MayerJohn Mayer in August 2023. Kevin Mazur/Getty Images for SiriusXM Following Drake's 30th birthday party, Mayer was hungover for six days. It was after that experience that he decided to stop drinking."I looked out the window and I went, 'OK, John, what percentage of your potential would you like to have? Because if you say you'd like 60, and you'd like to spend the other 40 having fun, that's fine," he told Complex. "'But what percentage of what is available to you would you like to make happen? There's no wrong answer. What is it?' I went, '100.'"During a 2022 interview on the podcast "Call Her Daddy," Mayer said that he hasn't really dated since getting sober."I don't think I have to, to be quite honest," he said. "I quit drinking like six years ago, so I don't have the liquid courage. I just have dry courage." Dennis QuaidDennis Quaid in August 2023. Ed Rode/Getty Images Quaid opened up about his cocaine addiction in an interview with The Sunday Times in 2018."I liked coke," he said. "I liked it to go out. I missed it for quite a while. I was doing about two grams a day."He said he was "lucky" to get a sign that led him to rehab."I had one of those white-light experiences where I saw myself being dead and losing everything I had worked for my whole life, so I put myself in rehab," he said.He stopped drinking for 10 years while kicking his drug addiction but later got back into alcohol."I started drinking again, because alcohol was never my problem," he said. "I never liked the feeling of being drunk. I would do coke and I would use alcohol to come down." Charlie SheenCharlie Sheen in May 2021. Michael Buckner/Penske Media via Getty Images Sheen has struggled with alcohol and drug addiction for years. He quit doing cocaine and drinking for 11 years, but he told Dr. Oz in 2016 that he relapsed following his HIV diagnosis."It was to suffocate the anxiety and what my life was going to become with this condition and getting so numb I didn't think about it," he said. "It was the only tool I had at the time, so I believed that would quell a lot of that angst. A lot of that fear. And it only made it worse."The actor told Us Weekly in 2019 that his daughter helped him realize he needed to get sober."It was a Sunday. My daughter called and said, 'I need to get to this appointment immediately,' and I'd already had a few drinks," he said.Sheen called a friend to drive because he couldn't."On the drive back, I was just like, 'Damn, man, I'm not available. I'm just not responsible, and there's no nobility in that,'" he said. "It was that night, I just sat with all that."Sheen continued: "If you can't be available for the basic necessity of being there for your children, then something really needs to shift. It was that next day that I said, 'All right. It's time. Let's give this a shot.' And then a month went by, a couple months went by, I'm [like], 'Alright. This feels good. This feels good.'"The actor also told Jay Leno in 2019 that his sobriety "didn't require anything super dramatic and crazy and front-page news." Zac EfronZac Efron in September 2022. Rodin Eckenroth/Getty Images Back in 2013, Efron went to rehab for an alcohol addiction."I was drinking a lot, way too much," he told The Hollywood Reporter about a year after his stint at rehab. "It's never one specific thing. I mean, you're in your 20s, single, going through life in Hollywood, you know? Everything is thrown at you."He joined Alcoholics Anonymous and started seeing a therapist to help him on his journey, but added that battling addictions is a "never-ending struggle."He told Elle in 2016 that getting sober provided him with "structure" in his life. Jamie Lee CurtisJamie Lee Curtis in 2023. Jeff Kravitz/Getty Images Curtis has been sober for more than 20 years. In an interview with People magazine in 2018, Curtis revealed that she became addicted to opioids for 10 years following minor plastic surgery in 1989."I was ahead of the curve of the opiate epidemic," Curtis told the magazine. "I had a 10-year run, stealing, conniving. No one knew. No one."Her husband didn't even know until she went to her first recovery meeting in 1999."Getting sober remains my single greatest accomplishment," Curtis said. "Bigger than my husband, bigger than both of my children, and bigger than any work, success, failure. Anything." Josh BrolinJosh Brolin in May 2022. Jon Kopaloff/Getty Images for Amazon Studios Brolin entered rehab in 2013 and honored his five-year anniversary of being sober with an emotional Instagram post detailing a horrific night he was drunk."Drunk: when you think you're having a rip roaring time and the next morning you wake up and your brain has broken into a frenzied beehive, and your body is shattered shards of sharp glass desperately searching for what fits where and your spirit is being eaten by worms with great white bloodied teeth and your heart has shriveled into a black prune churning your intestines to the point where dysentery feels attractive," he wrote.He continued: "And you can't remember anything you did so you roll out of bed over last night's urine and you dial your best friend's phone number because you recall him lifting you over his head, your whole self, before you hit and broke through the drywall and, you think, a large aquarium and the phone on the other end rings and he picks it up, that clambering for a phone, the clumsiness of a hardline, and you say: 'What did I do last night?!' and he answers, after a great pause: 'Dude'. #5years."In 2021, he celebrated his sobriety by posting a photo of his younger self, accompanied by a lengthy caption."Sobriety is finally loving without every thought being about how it affects only you," he said in part. "Sobriety is a moment of being able to love and be consumed by the glee it brings someone else. Sobriety is knowing the difference between selfishness and integrity."In his 2024 memoir "From Under the Truck," Brolin said that he hit rock bottom when he visited his sickly 99-year-old grandmother while intoxicated."I knew that was going to be the last time I drank," he wrote."I love being sober," Brolin added. "I have more fun. There's nothing that I go through that I am absolutely certain wouldn't be worse if I was drinking." Rob Delaney

In what is likely to be one of her final actions as the federal governments top Supreme Court litigator, Solicitor General Elizabeth Prelogar asked the justices last week to significantly diminish the power of lower court judges to block federal laws and policies. Should the Court take her up on this invitation, the biggest immediate beneficiary is likely to be President-elect Donald Trump, because the Courts decision would limit judges ability to halt Trump administration policies, even if those policies are illegal.The case is known as Garland v. Texas Top Cop Shop, and the stakes are potentially enormous. In it, a federal trial judge, relying on highly dubious reasoning, struck down a federal law requiring many businesses to disclose their owners to the federal government. If the Supreme Court were to uphold this judges reasoning, that would be a constitutional earthquake, as the trial judges opinion attacks Congresss broad power to regulate businesses and the economy. That outcome is probably unlikely, however, because the trial judges opinion is poorly argued.Yet, even assuming that the Court does not use this case to drastically rework the balance of power between Congress and private businesses, the stakes in Top Cop Shop are still quite high. Thats because the trial judge in this case, Amos Mazzant, issued a nationwide injunction preventing the federal government from enforcing the ownership-reporting law against anyone at all. Now the Court might limit the power of low-ranking federal judges like Mazzant to issue decisions that make rules for the nation as a whole.The question of whether a single federal trial judge should have the power to halt a federal law or policy throughout the entire country is hotly contested. As Justice Neil Gorsuch wrote in a 2020 opinion arguing against nationwide injunctions, there are currently more than 1,000 active and senior district court judges, sitting across 94 judicial districts, and subject to review in 12 regional courts of appeal. If nationwide injunctions are allowed, any one of these district judges could potentially halt any federal law, even if every other judge in the country disagrees with them.The problem is particularly acute in Texass federal courts (Mazzant sits in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Texas), where local rules often allow plaintiffs to choose which judge will hear their case. During the Biden administration, Republicans often selected highly partisan judges to hear challenges to liberal federal policies and those judges frequently rewarded this behavior by issuing nationwide injunctions.Such injunctions can potentially be lifted by a higher court, but the process of seeking relief from such a court can take weeks or even months and thats assuming that the appeals court is inclined to follow the law. Federal cases out of Texas, for example, appeal to the US Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, which is dominated by far-right judges who frequently defy Supreme Court precedents that are out of favor with the Republican Party.Moreover, while some Republican judges such as Gorsuch expressed doubts about these nationwide injunctions, the GOP-controlled Supreme Court frequently let such injunctions against the Biden administration remain in effect for many months even if a majority of the justices eventually concluded that the policies at issue in those cases, which often involved disputes over immigration policy, were legal. So the Court apparently did not view ending the practice of nationwide injunctions as a high priority so long as those injunctions thwarted Democratic policies.Now, however, Republican Donald Trump is about to take office. And the Biden administration is nonetheless asking the Supreme Court to limit the power of lower courts to block Trumps policies. For that reason, the Courts decision in Top Cop Shop could be one of the most significant cases of the next several years, as it could drastically increase Trumps ability to implement policies that federal courts determine to be unlawful.What are the broader legal issues in Top Cop Shop?The broader legal dispute in Top Cop Shop is very silly, as the federal law at issue in this case is obviously constitutional.Top Cop Shop involves the Corporate Transparency Act (CTA), which Congress enacted in the waning days of the first Trump administration as part of a broader national defense bill. In enacting that law, Congress found that malign actors seek to conceal their ownership of corporations and other businesses to facilitate illicit activity such as money laundering, funding terrorism, and various forms of fraud. Accordingly, the law requires a wide array of businesses to disclose their owners.Broadly speaking, the CTA requires companies to reveal the identity of any owner who exercises substantial control over the business, or who owns or controls not less than 25 percent of the ownership interests of the entity. The law contains several exceptions, including one for corporations and other business entities that are not engaged in active business.Mazzant, a right-wing Obama appointee who was recommended by Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) as part of a bipartisan deal, ruled that the CTA is unconstitutional because it exceeds Congresss authority to regulate commerce among the several states. But this argument is ridiculous.The Supreme Court has repeatedly held that Congresss authority over interstate commerce permits it to regulate any activity that substantially affects interstate commerce. The CTA regulates the activity of owning and operating a business something that obviously affects interstate commerce because businesses exist for the very purpose of engaging in commercial activity.The Courts precedents, moreover, do not simply allow Congress to regulate isolated activities that impact interstate commerce. Congresss power extends to activities that do so only when aggregated with similar activities of others. That means even if one particular business does not have much of an impact on interstate commerce, Congress can still regulate that business so long as all of the businesses in the United States, taken in aggregate, have such an impact.So, to strike down this law, a judge would have to conclude that all of the businesses in the United States, combined, do not have a substantial impact on interstate commerce. Thats preposterous.To be sure, this is the same Supreme Court which recently held that Trump is allowed to use the powers of the presidency to commit crimes. So theres no guarantee that these justices will not embrace ludicrous legal arguments. Still, the Supreme Court would need to completely mangle existing law in order to strike down the CTA.The Court can use this case to deal with nationwide injunctions, if it wants toBecause the substantive legal arguments against the CTA are absurd, the Court could simply block Mazzants decision and reaffirm longstanding rules governing congressional regulation of private businesses. That said, in its brief to the justices, the Biden administration suggests that they could also take a different path and use Top Cop Shop to rein in nationwide injunctions.The justices typically get to decide which legal issues they want to resolve and which ones they want to put off until another day. So, in a case like Top Cop Shop, where the lower court both issued an overly broad injunction and struck down a federal law on erroneous grounds, the Court could choose to weigh in on either of these issues.The case against these injunctions, at least when issued by federal trial judges, is straightforward. Recall Gorsuchs argument that there are more than a thousand federal trial judges in the country, each of whom could potentially issue a nationwide injunction that no other judge would support. This problem, Gorsuch wrote in 2020, created asymmetric stakes where a plaintiff challenging a federal law or policy needs only to find one judge anywhere in the country to win a court order that, at least temporarily, blocks that policy. Meanwhile, the governments hope of implementing any new policy could face the long odds of a straight sweep, parlaying a 94-to-0 win in the district courts into a 12-to-0 victory in the courts of appeal.As an alternative to a nationwide injunction, Gorsuch argued, trial judges should issue more limited orders permitting the plaintiffs in a particular case and only those plaintiffs to ignore a federal law or policy while the courts order is in effect. As Gorsuch wrote, injunctions are meant to redress the injuries sustained by a particular plaintiff in a particular lawsuit, not to allow one low-ranking judge to set national policy.Unsurprisingly, both Democratic and Republican administrations have urged the justices to rein in these injunctions. In a May 2019 speech, for example, then-Attorney General William Barr argued that nationwide injunctions reflect a departure not only from the historically settled limitations of [constitutional separation of powers], but also from our traditional understanding of the role of courts. And as Prelogars brief shows, the Biden administration is so frustrated by these injunctions that its even asking the Court to do something about them on its way out the door.The Republican Supreme Court did very little to limit nationwide injunctions while a Democratic administration was the target of those injunctions. But, now that a Republican president is about to take over, its possible that this Court will finally address a problem that both political parties agree is serious. If that happens, the most immediate beneficiary would be Donald Trump. But a Supreme Court decision limiting the power of judges like Mazzant to set federal policy could also benefit all future presidents, regardless of whether they are Democrats or Republicans.Youve read 1 article in the last monthHere at Vox, we're unwavering in our commitment to covering the issues that matter most to you threats to democracy, immigration, reproductive rights, the environment, and the rising polarization across this country.Our mission is to provide clear, accessible journalism that empowers you to stay informed and engaged in shaping our world. By becoming a Vox Member, you directly strengthen our ability to deliver in-depth, independent reporting that drives meaningful change.We rely on readers like you join us.Swati SharmaVox Editor-in-ChiefSee More:

By Matt Novak Published January 6, 2025 | Comments (0) | Screenshots from a video posted by Mike Johns as he rode in a Waymo that just circled for about five minutes. Screenshots: LinkedIn A Los Angeles man who was trying to make his way to an Arizona airport in one of Waymos driverless taxis last month got stuck in an incredibly frustrating loop where the car just traveled in circles. The man even says he almost missed his flight back home. And while Waymo tells Gizmodo the issue has been resolved, its still not clear what went wrong.Mike Johns, a tech entrepreneur in L.A., wrote about his experience on LinkedIn, even including a video of the ordeal. That video spread far and wide on social media platforms. My Monday was fine till i got into one of Waymos humanless cars. I get in, buckle up (safety first) and the saga begins, wrote Johns. This autonomous vehicle said to heck with GPS, the car just went around in circles, eight circles at that.Johns, who didnt immediately respond to a message sent through his website, says he wondered if someone was pranking him. Is someone pulling a prank, is this car hacked? It [felt] like a scene in a sci fi thriller. My Waymo experience sucked. Mind you I was on my way to the airport and nearly missed my flight. Ill keep it old fashion and just Lyft or Uber, Johns continued. Waymo, which is owned by Googles parent company Alphabet, told Gizmodo the rider wasnt charged for his trip and has attempted to contact Johns but they havent connected yet. Waymo also emphasizes the circling lasted about five minutes. Johns told ABC15 Arizona that he was frustrated by the experience and Its like people are the experiment.Johns also told CBS News Los Angeles that he didnt like the attitude of the technical support person (or robot) he was encountering and wasnt sure if he was talking to a human or AI during the circling.Wheres the empathy? Wheres the human connection to this? Johns told CBS News. Its just, again, a case of todays digital world. A half-baked product and nobody meeting the customer, the consumers, in the middle. This isnt the first time that Waymo cars have gotten very confused and seemingly gotten stuck in loops. Back in December, auto news outlet Jalopnik reported on a Waymo vehicle that appeared to get stuck in a roundabout in Arizona, circling at least 37 times. That vehicle didnt have a passenger at the time.There have also been more disturbing incidents with driverless cars, like the time a Waymo hit a cyclist in San Francisco back in Feb. 2024. There was also the time in May 2024 when a Waymo vehicle hit a telephone poll, prompting a recall of the companys mapping tech. Johns compared his experience to a science fiction movie, which isnt uncommon when people experience strange things with new technology. And it can be difficult to tell what went wrong from the passengers perspective. When I took a Waymo in Los Angeles a couple of months ago, the vehicle darted off just as I was about to get inside. The car decided that I should instead be picked up in a turn lane, a much more dangerous decision that a human driver probably wouldnt have made.But this is certainly the future, if only because without drivers companies like Waymo can undercut the price of services like Uber and Lyft. At least until they put human drivers fully out of business. At that point, they can just raise the price like they did after Uber decimated the taxi industry. Time marches on.Waymo Daily NewsletterYou May Also Like By Thomas Maxwell Published December 13, 2024 By AJ Dellinger Published December 5, 2024 By Matt Novak Published November 12, 2024 By Lucas Ropek Published October 1, 2024 By Lucas Ropek Published August 14, 2024 By Lucas Ropek Published July 12, 2024

By Thomas Maxwell Published January 6, 2025 | Comments (3) | Residents as far as 70-miles from SpaceX launch sites have complained about sonic booms rattling windows and alerting dogs in the middle of the night. Miguel J. Rodriguez Carrillo/AFP SpaceX has quickly become something of a taxi service for space travel, allowing private companies and governments alike to affordably send satellites into orbit for research and commercial purposes. The frequent launches have reportedly become something of a nightmare for those who live near the launch sites, however.Business Insider spoke with residents near the Vandenberg Space Force Base in California, who expressed feelings ranging from excitement to frustration with launches that sometimes cause homes to rattle, car alarms to go off, and dogs to start barking in the middle of the night. Residents near other launch sites in Florida and Texas has expressed similar concerns. I have major panic attacks during the launches, Inga Yater, a resident of Carpinteria, California told Business Insider. And it keeps getting worse; sometimes I feel like Im having a heart attack. Carpinteria is more than 70 miles from the launch site. Just ten miles away from the base in Lompoc, residents have reported sonic booms that can feel like an earthquake.Never before SpaceX have launches occurred so frequentlyin 2024, SpaceX conducted 50 launches from Vandenberg alone and aims to double that to 100 in 2025. Besides launching satellites for other companies, SpaceX has also been building up its Starlink satellite internet service and must periodically replace the satellites approximately every five years. Starlink has become a vital source of communications infrastructure in places like Ukraine where traditional ground-based connections have been severed. Vandenberg offers an SMS alert system for locals to be notified of upcoming launches, but those signed up for the service say it is not always reliable and does not give a good idea of how strong a boom will be felt.The rockets that SpaceX has been launching are primarily from its Falcon series and are smaller than the Starship rockets that SpaceX plans to use in the future. Kent Gee, a physics professor and acoustics engineer at Brigham Young University, said that Starship launches are akin to a volcanic eruption on the launchpad and sound as loud as standing 200 feet from a Boeing 747 during takeoff, by his estimation. SpaceX does not have plans to launch Starship rockets from Vandenberg. It does want to launch Falcon Heavy rockets from the base, however, which are larger than existing rockets that take off from Vanderberg. The Falcon Heavy must first pass an environmental review and SpaceX must maintain insurance in case locals report structural damage from its launches.Noise pollution and ground tremors can be disruptive to daily life, and it is unclear what exactly can be done about the disturbances besides moving the launchpads. In Florida and Texas, disturbances are less common because the launchpads in those locations are further from populated areas. Generally, launchpads need to be close to a body of water so that any components shed do not endanger lives on the ground, limiting where they can go.SpaceX did not respond to Business Insiders request for comment and generally does not speak to the media. The company has faced criticism in Texas for threatening wildlife there, but president-elect Trump administration has signaled that any company investing at least $1 billion into the U.S. can expect to receive expedited project approvals, specifically calling out environmental hurdles. Residents near its launch sites should not expect reprieve any time soon.Daily NewsletterYou May Also Like By Passant Rabie Published January 6, 2025 By Matthew Gault Published January 6, 2025 By Lucas Ropek Published January 3, 2025 By Passant Rabie Published January 3, 2025 By AJ Dellinger Published January 2, 2025 By Matthew Gault Published January 2, 2025

By Cheryl Eddy Published January 6, 2025 | Comments (0) | Fallen players are removed from the field during the six-legged race. Netflix Squid Game season two left fans with cliffhangers to ponder ahead of the impending season three, but one thing everyone can agree on is that the shows look remains strikingly distinctive. Season two brought back the familiar bloodshed of Red Light, Green Light, but it also introduced several new games. This required the creation of new sets embodying the shows signature aesthetic: a jarring blend of childlike whimsy and the chillingly macabre.In a new making-of video released by Still Watching Netflix, creator Hwang Dong-hyuk, stars including Lee Byung-hun (the Front Man), and behind-the-scenes creatives discuss how the life-or-death competitions came together this time around. Honestly, every time we went on set for each game, we were all speechless, Lee recalls. It was so grand and amazing, like stepping into another world. The patterns and decor felt straight out of a fairy tale, but the things happening in there were so brutal and ruthless. That contrast was really interesting. In a way, I think the mix of these beautiful spaces with such cruel events is what gives Squid Game its unique style and appeal.Production designer Chae Kyoung-sun, who won an Emmy for her work on Squid Games first season, explains thats exactly the feeling she and her team were going for. For the six-legged race, which incorporates multiple games as players hobble around rainbow-painted circles, she drew inspiration from school sports festivalswith details like the schoolhouse desks and chairs used by the guards. The director suggested creating two circles, and it got me thinking about the meaning of the rainbows. People say the path to heaven is decorated with rainbow colors. As you know, we wrapped the coffins like gifts. That was kind of a reflection of our tough, competitive reality in this world where so many people fail. People are tired of the harsh reality. So it was a way of wishing those who passed away a peaceful afterlife, where there would be no more pain. I think the rainbows share the same meaning as the coffins.Watch the full video below; it also shows how Squid Game actually made a giant merry-go-round (in a round room ringed with dozens of doors) for the agonizing Mingle game. Squid Game seasons one and two are now streaming on Netflix; season three is coming later this year. Want more io9 news? Check out when to expect the latest Marvel, Star Wars, and Star Trek releases, whats next for the DC Universe on film and TV, and everything you need to know about the future of Doctor Who.Daily NewsletterYou May Also Like By Cheryl Eddy Published January 6, 2025 By Sabina Graves Published January 3, 2025 By Cheryl Eddy Published January 2, 2025 By Germain Lussier Published January 2, 2025 By James Whitbrook Published December 30, 2024 By Justin Carter Published December 29, 2024