NewsHealth & MedicineWhat to know about the first bird flurelated death in the U.S.A Louisiana man who died with H5N1 contracted it from a backyard flock and wild birds A Louisiana man who died with H5N1 bird flu contracted it from exposure to a backyard flock and wild birds, according to state health officials.Bento Orlando/iStock/Getty Images PlusBy McKenzie Prillaman1 hour agoWhile the United States has recorded its first death of a person infected with H5N1 bird flu, public health experts are emphasizing that the risk to most people remains low.The patient, a Louisiana man over the age of 65 who had underlying medical conditions, contracted the virus from a backyard flock and wild birds, the Louisiana Department of Health noted in reporting his death January 6. Further investigation showed no person-to-person transmission of the virus.

Nature, Published online: 02 January 2025; doi:10.1038/d41586-024-04254-9Questions about effectiveness, risks and regulation must be answered before sun-dimming technology can be developed, according to researchers.

Archaeologists working at the site of Saqqara have discovered a 4,100-year-old tomb that held the burial of a doctor.

Rocksteady, the studio behind Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League, reportedly laid off six more workers at the end of 2024.According to a report from Eurogamer, those who were impacted were part of Rocksteady's programming, art, and quality assurance staff. This apparent round of layoffs follows Rocksteady's first round back in September, which was also reported by Eurogamer, and saw the reduction of 33 team members down to 15 due to the poor sales of Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League. Rocksteady did not publicly acknowledge either one.Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League was both a critical and commercial disappointment. Parent company Warner Bros. Discovery said that the game caused a $200 million shortfall. The game also reportedly only has a "barebones" support team as the studio is moving on to new projects.Continue Reading at GameSpot

Grand Theft Auto VI is set for release later this year and it's expected to be among the biggest launches of the year. One analyst has now said the game is so momentous that it could "reshape the gaming industry," similar to how 2013's Grand Theft Auto 5 made a massive mark."While the market landscape has evolved, Rockstar's legacy of delivering groundbreaking experiences ensures that GTA 6 will leave a lasting mark," Newzoo analyst Emmanuel Rosier told GI.biz. Rosier went on to say that GTA 5 benefited from launching into a mature market for PS3 and Xbox 360. GTA 6, meanwhile, is set to launch relatively earlier into the PS5 and Xbox Series X|S lifecycles."Rockstar's history of crafting genre-defining titles positions GTA 6 to set new industry standards. Yet, its challenge lies in navigating a gaming world increasingly dominated by live-service titles. How Rockstar adapts the Grand Theft Auto formula to this evolving landscape will not only determine GTA 6's success but may also redefine the future of open-world gaming," Rosier said.Continue Reading at GameSpot

2025 has begunMicrosoft has announced the first set of additions to Game Pass for 2025, including seven titles lined up for the first half of January.Some of the new additions to Game Pass for January 2025 include the adventure game Road 96 (January 7), followed by EA Sports UFC 5 (January 14), the original Diablo (January 14), and a bunch of games joining the Game Pass Standard catalog. Scroll through the gallery below to see all the new additions.Microsoft adds titles to Game Pass across two waves each month, so check back again later for more Game Pass announcements.In terms of removals, titles like Those Who Remain, Exoprimal, Escape Academy, and Insurgency Sandstorm are leaving Game Pass on January 15. Road 96 Road 96 is available now for Game Pass Ultimate, PC Game Pass, and Game Pass Standard. Lightyear Frontier Lightyear Frontier joins Game Pass Standard on January 8 for Xbox Series X|S. My Time at Sandrock My Time at Sandrock comes to Game Pass Standard on January 7 for console. Robin Hood Sherwood Builders Robin Hood Sherwood Builders comes to Game Pass Standard on January 8 for Xbox Series X|S. Rolling Hills Rolling Hills comes to Game Pass Standard on January 8 for console. EA Sports UFC 5EA Sports UFC 5 comes to Game Pass Ultimate on January 14 for cloud and Xbox Series X|S. Diablo Diablo comes to Game Pass Ultimate and PC Game Pass for PC on January 14.

After more than a decade since the character last appeared in his own game, expectations will likely be high for Level-5's upcoming Professor Layton and the New World of Steam set to release sometime during 2025. Though the titular Professor Hershel Layton has featured in crossovers and spin-offs like Professor Layton vs. Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney or Layton's Mystery Journey: Katrielle and the Millionaires' Conspiracy, Professor Layton and the New World of Steam will finally see the professor return as the lead in his own game. Moreover, the upcoming game could be hugely significant for the Layton franchise as it reestablishes itself on the Switch.

Some crafting materials in NeiR: Automata are very difficult to come by compared to others. While not directly stated by a color or extra shine, some materials are much rarer and will not be easy to come across, much like the Pristine Screw.

Players score accidental multi-eliminations with random shots and more wins.

By TREVOR HOGGImages courtesy of Laura Pedro.Laura Pedro, Visual Effects SupervisorEven though Society of the Snow thrust Laura Pedro into the international spotlight and garnered a nomination at the VES Awards as well as trophies from the European Film Awards and Goya Awards, she has been amassing an impressive portfolio that includes A Monster Calls, Way Down (aka The Vault) and Superlpez. Born and raised in Montgat, Spain, Pedro currently resides in Barcelona where she is a visual effects supervisor for El Ranchito.I did not come from an artistic family, but I always liked photography. When I was little, my father gave me his camera, and I began trying to tell stories with it; that is when I figured out this is maybe something for me. When I was 16, our English teacher proposed to us to make a project for the government that would give us money to learn English outside of Spain. My classmates and I decided to make a movie about the robbery of The Scream by Edvard Munch. We won the money to travel to Toronto and stayed there for a month to learn English and finish the movie. The intervening years have strengthened her self-confidence. The difference from then to now is I finally found my own voice.Photography teaches the fundamentals of making an image. I know a lot of things about visual effects, but in the end, its all about light, Pedro notes. If you dont know anything about light, its impossible to tell things with images. Its incredible how photography connects with everything. Originally, the plan was to study photography, not visual effects, at ESCAC (Escola Superior de Cinema i Audiovisuals de Catalunya), which is the alma mater of filmmaker J.A. Bayona. I had an accident during the first year of school; I lost all of the exams and couldnt specializein photography. Because of that, I decided to go for my second selection, which was visual effects. The schooling was beneficial as it provided an overall understanding of the filmmaking process. When I was studying, every week we did a short film, and I was either producing or doing camera or directing. That caused me to work with different teams and learn various things for five years. When I finished school, it was easy for me to start as a visual effects supervisor and compositor, and know what the director wants and help them with visual effects.Robert Zemeckis has left a lasting cinematic impression. There are a lot of movies that I cant get out of my mind, like Death Becomes Her and Who Framed Roger Rabbit. In my career, I normally do invisible effects, but when I have the opportunity to do comedies with visual effects, its fun for me to be part of that. Of course, you know that its fake, but they tried to do it in the most realistic way. Innovation can come from unlikely sources. InDeath Becomes Her, they developed how to do skin in CGI, then the same technology was used for Jurassic Park. For me, its interesting and cool that you are developing a technology not doing Titanic, but a comedy. Its awesome to have the chance to create new technology. This has never happened in Spain because the industry is small, but we have the opportunity in the films we make to take the technology from the big productions and try to use it in our smaller ones, and teach the producers in Spain that they can trust these new technologies and ways of working with visual effects.Pedro on a set for The Vault (aka Way Down), which is part of the supporting chamber located under the Bank of Spain.(Photo: Jorge Fuembuena)Its important to have role models. Now that we have the schools, maybe in 10 years I will work with more supervisors who are women. Its not about gender. Its more about the age you start doing visual effects or become avisual effects supervisor because Im 34 and other supervisors I know are 40 or 50. We are not of the same age and have different ways of thinking.Laura Pedro, Visual Effects SupervisorOver the past decade, a better understanding of visual effects has taken root in the Spanish film industry where digital artists are brought into pre-production to properly plan for complex shots rather than being seen simply as post-production fixers. Visual effects are in all of the productions, so its easy to work continually, Pedro states. There are more visual effects companies that do television commercials trying to upgrade to narrative fiction. Television and streaming have become a driving force in Spain. Here, the film productions are small, so television and streaming productions allow us to continue working through the year. Maybe you do a film and at the same time two TV shows.Filmic visual effects have made their way to the small screen. The difference when you do a project like Game of Thrones or Ripley is that theres a lot of work in pre-production trying to find the perfect design with the cinematographer and production designer in the most cinematic way, Pedro remarks. Other projects work faster. One has to be willing to adapt. In the end, every project, director and producer is different. Its like a new adventure. When I begin working with a new client, I need to have a lot of patience, try to understand and be faster because I only have three months. Normally, I work with visual reference found on the Internet or pictures or videos taken with my camera. I have this capacity to find what is exactly in the mind of the filmmaker with the reference that I have imagined and later start working with our team doing the concept.Pedro in the Andes in Chile while shooting the scenes where Nando and Canessa attempt to find help in Society of the Snow. (Photo: Quim Vives)For Society of the Snow, the art department built two fuselages and the previs department at El Ranchito helped director J.A. Bayona design each shot of the crash. (Photo: Quim Vives)Pedro participated as Visual Effects Supervisor in the Spanish interpretation of the superhero genre, which resulted in Superlpez (2018).In 2013, Pedro made her debut as a visual effects supervisor for Barcelona nit destiu (Barcelona Summer Night) by director Dani de la Orden, and she would reunite with him a decade later for Casa en flames (A House on Fire), which is currently the most viewed movie in Catalonia. A major career turning point occurred when the emerging talent was recruited by a prominent Spanish visual effects company. I was doing a short film for a Spanish singer named David Bisbal, and El Ranchito called me to begin working with them on A Monster Calls, Pedro recalls. Flix Bergs [Founder and President, El Ranchito] is my mentor, and I learned from him its better to start with the real world and plates, and after that begin working with CGI because that mixture works better for the human eye. Also, he gave me the power to say, No when Im on set.Pedro and Special Effects Supervisor Pau Costa with their Goya Award for Best Special Effects for Society of the Snow in 2024. (Photo: Papo Waisman)Visual Effects Supervisor Flix Bergs, Special Effects Supervisor Pau Costa and Pedro celebrate Society of the Snow winning the Goya Award for Best Special Effects in 2024. (Photo: Ana Beln Fernandez)Visual Effects Supervisor Flix Bergs and Pedro on the set of A Monster Calls (2016), which was their first project together. (Photo: Quim Vives)Pedro after winning her first Goya Award in 2019 for Superlpez. which was shared with Special Effects Supervisor Llus Rivera.Personal highlights include a childrens fantasy tale, a comic book adaptation and the recreation of a historical event. Its not common in Spain to do a movie about a superhero like Superlpez, Pedro observes. We had to build a robot that was 10 to 12 meters tall. Before Superlpez I worked on A Monster Calls where we needed to build a monster that was also 12 or 13 meters tall, so I knew how to film a movie about this difference of dimensions and create something really big. Society of the Snow is a movie that has entirely invisible visual effects. We achieved that by traveling to the Valley of Tears, doing all of the environments with real photography, managing all of this material and developing the tools to work with five vendors at the same time while maintaining consistency. It was a lot of work.Nowadays, the protg has become a mentor. Its important to have role models, Pedro states. Now that we have the schools, maybe in 10 years I will work with more supervisors who are women. Its not about gender. Its more about the age you start doing visual effects or become a visual effects supervisor because Im 34 and other supervisors I know are 40 or 50. We are not of the same age and have different ways of thinking. Patience is a key trait. The most important thing is to be yourself and talk about things. I continue to learn by reading books and watching films. I try to remain connected with the technology and new tools, but its completely impossible to know everything. Real-time and machine learning have introduced new ways of working. There is a good and bad way of using technology. We need to be calmer because we rely on each other in the end to do the things that we love, which in turn creates an emotional response from the audience.