Two shows from New Yorks Under the Radar festival prove adventurous and rewarding: one about an Iranian man and his incarcerated wife, the other following an astronaut on a solo mission who seemingly starts to multiply.

WHEN SEEING ISN'T BELIEVING Ongoing attacks on Ivanti VPNs install a ton of sneaky, well-written malware In-the-wild attacks tamper with built-in security tool to suppress infection warnings. Dan Goodin Jan 9, 2025 5:17 pm | 0 Credit: Getty Images Credit: Getty Images Story textSizeSmallStandardLargeWidth *StandardWideLinksStandardOrange* Subscribers only Learn moreNetworks protected by Ivanti VPNs are under active attack by well-resourced hackers who are exploiting a critical vulnerability that gives them complete control over the network-connected devices.Hardware maker Ivanti disclosed the vulnerability, tracked as CVE-2025-0283, on Wednesday and warned that it was under active exploitation against some customers. The vulnerability, which is being exploited to allow hackers to execute malicious code with no authentication required, is present in the companys Connect Secure VPN, and Policy Secure & ZTA Gateways. Ivanti released a security patch at the same time. It upgrades Connect Secure devices to version 22.7R2.5.Well-written, multifacetedAccording to Google-owned security provider Mandiant, the vulnerability has been actively exploited against multiple compromised Ivanti Connect Secure appliances since December, a month before the then zero-day came to light. After exploiting the vulnerability, the attackers go on to install two never-before-seen malware packages, tracked under the names DRYHOOK and PHASEJAM on some of the compromised devices.PHASEJAM is a well-written and multifaceted bash shell script. It first installs a web shell that gives the remote hackers privileged control of devices. It then injects a function into the Connect Secure update mechanism thats intended to simulate the upgrading process.If the ICS administrator attempts an upgrade, the function displays a visually convincing upgrade process that shows each of the steps along with various numbers of dots to mimic a running process, Mandiant said. The company continued:PHASEJAM injects a malicious function into the /home/perl/DSUpgrade.pm file named processUpgradeDisplay(). The functionality is intended to simulate an upgrading process that involves 13 steps, with each of those taking a predefined amount of time. If the ICS administrator attempts an upgrade, the function displays a visually convincing upgrade process that shows each of the steps along with various numbers of dots to mimic a running process. Further details are provided in the System Upgrade Persistence section.The attackers are also using a previously seen piece of malware tracked as SPAWNANT on some devices. One of its functions is to disable an integrity checker tool (ICT) Ivanti has built into recent VPN versions that is designed to inspect device files for unauthorized additions. SpawnAnt does this by replacing the expected SHA256 cryptographic hash of a core file with the hash of it after it has been infected. As a result, when the tool is run on compromised devices, admins see the following screen: A display screen stating that the ICT process has been completed. It lists three steps. While the screen is convincing at first appearance, it displays only three steps, whereas the authentic screen will display 10. Screen showing the genuine screen after ICT is completed. It lists 10 steps. Credit: Mandiant Ivanti has recommended that customers use the tool to detect infections on their devices. This advice is useful only if admins carefully inspect the results to ensure theyre genuine. Mandiant said some compromised devices were found using the tool.Ivanti also notes that the ICT is a snapshot of the current state of the appliance and cannot necessarily detect threat actor activity if they have returned the appliance to a clean state, Mandiant said. The ICT does not scan for malware or other Indicators of Compromise. Ivanti recommends that customers should run the ICT in conjunction with other security monitoring tools which have detected post-exploitation activity.In the event the tool detects an infection, Ivanti recommended admins perform a factory reset on the device.The attackers are also taking pains to hide signs of compromise on infected devices. After exploiting the vulnerability, they go on to perform the following:Clearing kernel messages using dmesg and removing entries from the debug logs that are generated during the exploitDeleting troubleshooting information packages (state dumps) and any core dumps generated from process crashesRemoving log application event log entries related to syslog failures, internal ICT failures, crash traces, and certificate handling errorsRemoving executed commands from the SELinux audit log.SPAWNANT and its supporting components can persist across system upgrades. It hijacks the execution flow of dspkginstall, a binary used during the system upgrade process, by exporting a malicious snprintf function containing the persistence mechanism.Unlike the first method described in this blog post for system upgrade persistence, SPAWNANT does not block the upgrade process. It survives the upgrade process by ensuring it's copied to the new upgrade partition. The malware also circumvents the ICT by recalculating the SHA256 hash for any maliciously modified files. SpawnAnt then generates a new RSA key pair to sign the modified manifest.The ultimate goal of the attacks is to collect data, including VPN sessions, session cookies, API keys, certificates, and credential material. Mandiant said it attributed the attacks to two unknown groups, one tracked as UNC5337. The separate UNC5221 appears to be a subgroup of UNC5337. Mandiant said both groups are China-nexus espionage actors.Anyone responsible for Connect Secure VPNs should assign the highest priority to inspect them for signs of compromise using indicators included in the two above-linked posts from Ivanti and Mandiant. Additional posts from Rapid7, Tenable, and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency are here, here, and here.Dan GoodinSenior Security EditorDan GoodinSenior Security Editor Dan Goodin is Senior Security Editor at Ars Technica, where he oversees coverage of malware, computer espionage, botnets, hardware hacking, encryption, and passwords. In his spare time, he enjoys gardening, cooking, and following the independent music scene. Dan is based in San Francisco. Follow him at here on Mastodon and here on Bluesky. Contact him on Signal at DanArs.82. 0 Comments

Use it or lose it A taller, heavier, smarter version of SpaceXs Starship is almost ready to fly Starship will test its payload deployment mechanism on its seventh test flight. Stephen Clark Jan 9, 2025 4:59 pm | 3 SpaceX's first second-generation Starship, known as Version 2 or Block 2, could launch as soon as January 13. Credit: SpaceX SpaceX's first second-generation Starship, known as Version 2 or Block 2, could launch as soon as January 13. Credit: SpaceX Story textSizeSmallStandardLargeWidth *StandardWideLinksStandardOrange* Subscribers only Learn moreAn upsized version of SpaceX's Starship mega-rocket rolled to the launch pad early Thursday in preparation for liftoff on a test flight next week.The two-mile transfer moved the bullet-shaped spaceship one step closer to launch Monday from SpaceX's Starbase test site in South Texas. The launch window opens at 5 pm EST (4 pm CST; 2200 UTC). This will be the seventh full-scale test flight of SpaceX's Super Heavy booster and Starship spacecraft and the first of 2025.In the coming days, SpaceX technicians will lift the ship on top of the Super Heavy booster already emplaced on the launch mount. Then, teams will complete the final tests and preparations for the countdown on Monday."The upcoming flight test will launch a new generation ship with significant upgrades, attempt Starships first payload deployment test, fly multiple reentry experiments geared towards ship catch and reuse, and launch and return the Super Heavy booster," SpaceX officials wrote in a mission overview posted on the company's website.The mission Monday will repeat many of the maneuvers SpaceX demonstrated on the last two Starship test flights. The company will again attempt to return the Super Heavy booster to the launch site and attempt to catch it with two mechanical arms, or "chopsticks," on the launch tower approximately seven minutes after liftoff.SpaceX accomplished this feat on the fifth Starship test flight in October but aborted a catch attempt on a November flight because of damaged sensors on the tower chopsticks. The booster, which remained healthy, diverted to a controlled splashdown offshore in the Gulf of Mexico. SpaceX's next Starship prototype, Ship 33, emerges from its assembly building at Starbase, Texas, early Thursday morning. Credit: SpaceX/Elon Musk via X For the next flight, SpaceX added protections to the sensors on the tower and will test radar instruments on the chopsticks to provide more accurate ranging measurements for returning vehicles. These modifications should improve the odds of a successful catch of the Super Heavy booster and of Starship on future missions.In another first, one of the 33 Raptor engines that will fly on this Super Heavy boosterdesignated Booster 14 in SpaceX's fleetwas recovered from the booster that launched and returned to Starbase in October. For SpaceX, this is a step toward eventually flying the entire rocket repeatedly. The Super Heavy booster and Starship spacecraft are designed for full reusability.After separation of the booster stage, the Starship upper stage will ignite six engines to accelerate to nearly orbital velocity, attaining enough energy to fly halfway around the world before gravity pulls it back into the atmosphere. Like the past three test flights, SpaceX will guide Starship toward a controlled reentry and splashdown in the Indian Ocean northwest of Australia around one hour after liftoff.New ship, new goalsThe most significant changes engineers will test next week are on the ship, or upper stage, of SpaceX's enormous rocket. The most obvious difference on Starship Version 2, or Block 2, is with the vehicle's forward flaps. Engineers redesigned the flaps, reducing their size and repositioning them closer to the tip of the ship's nose to better protect them from the scorching heat of reentry. Cameras onboard Starship showed heat damage to the flaps during reentry on test flights last year.SpaceX is also developing an upgraded Super Heavy booster that is slightly taller than the existing model. The next version of the booster will produce more thrust and will be slightly taller than the current Super Heavy, but for the upcoming test flight, SpaceX will still use the first-generation booster design. Starship Block 2 has smaller flaps than previous ships. The flaps are located in a more leeward position to protect them from the heat of reentry. Credit: SpaceX For next week's flight, Super Heavy and Starship combined will hold more than 10.5 million pounds of fuel and oxidizer. The ship's propellant tanks have 25 percent more volume than previous iterations of the vehicle, and the payload compartment, which contains 10 mock-ups of Starlink Internet satellites on this launch, is somewhat smaller. Put together, the changes add nearly 6 feet (1.8 meters) to the rocket's height, bringing the full stack to approximately 404 feet (123.1 meters).This means SpaceX will break its own record for launching the largest and most powerful rocket ever built. And the company will do it again with the even larger Starship Version 3, which SpaceX says will have nine upper stage engines, instead of six, and will deliver up to 440,000 pounds (200 metric tons) of cargo to low-Earth orbit.Other changes debuting with Starship Version 2 next week include: Vacuum jacketing of propellant feedlines A new fuel feedline system for the ship's Raptor vacuum engines An improved propulsion avionics module controlling vehicle valves and reading sensors Redesigned inertial navigation and star tracking sensors Integrated smart batteries and power units to distribute 2.7 megawatts of power across the ship An increase to more than 30 cameras onboard the vehicle.Laying the foundationThe enhanced avionics system will support future missions to prove SpaceX's ability to refuel Starships in orbit and return the ship to the launch site. For example, SpaceX will fly a more powerful flight computer and new antennas that integrate connectivity with the Starlink Internet constellation, GPS navigation satellites, and backup functions for traditional radio communication links. With Starlink, SpaceX said Starship can stream more than 120Mbps of real-time high-definition video and telemetry in every phase of flight.These changes "all add additional vehicle performance and the ability to fly longer missions," SpaceX said. "The ship's heat shield will also use the latest generation tiles and includes a backup layer to protect from missing or damaged tiles."Somewhere over the Atlantic Ocean, a little more than 17 minutes into the flight, Starship will deploy 10 dummy payloads similar in size and weight to next-generation Starlink satellites. The mock-ups will soar around the world on a suborbital trajectory, just like Starship, and reenter over the unpopulated Indian Ocean. Future Starship flights will launch real next-gen Starlink satellites to add capacity to the Starlink broadband network, but they're too big and too heavy to launch on SpaceX's smaller Falcon 9 rocket.SpaceX will again reignite one of the ship's Raptor engines in the vacuum of space, repeating a successful test achieved on Flight 6 in November. The engine restart capability is important for several reasons. It gives the ship the ability to maneuver itself out of low-Earth orbit for reentry (not a concern for Starship's suborbital tests), and will allow the vehicle to propel itself to higher orbits, the Moon, or Mars once SpaceX masters the technology for orbital refueling. Artist's illustration of Starship on the surface of the Moon. Credit: SpaceX NASA has contracts with SpaceX to build a derivative of Starship to ferry astronauts to and from the surface of the Moon for the agency's Artemis program. The NASA program manager overseeing SpaceX's lunar lander contract, Lisa Watson-Morgan, said she was pleased with the results of the in-space engine restart demo last year."The whole path to the Moon, as we are getting ready to land on the Moon, we'll perform a series of maneuvers, and the Raptors will have an environment that is very, very cold," Morgan told Ars in a recent interview. "To that, it's going to be important that they're able to relight for landing purposes. So that was a great first step towards that."In addition, after we land, clearly, the Raptors will be off, and it will get very cold, and they will have to relight in a cold environment (to launch the crews off the lunar surface)," she said. "So that's why that step was critical for the Human Landing System and NASA's return to the Moon."The biggest technology challenge remainingSpaceX continues to experiment with Starship's heat shield, which the company's founder and CEO, Elon Musk, has described as "the biggest technology challenge remaining with Starship." In order for SpaceX to achieve its lofty goal of launching Starships multiple times per day, the heat shield needs to be fully and immediately reusable.While the last three ships have softly splashed down in the Indian Ocean, some of their heat-absorbing tiles stripped away from the vehicle during reentry, when it's exposed to temperatures up to 2,600 Fahrenheit (1,430 Celsius).Engineers removed tiles from some areas of the ship for next week's test flight in order to "stress-test" vulnerable parts of the vehicle. They also smoothed and tapered the edge of the tile line, where the ceramic heat shield gives way to the ship's stainless steel skin, to address "hot spots" observed during reentry on the most recent test flight."Multiple metallic tile options, including one with active cooling, will test alternative materials for protecting Starship during reentry," SpaceX said.SpaceX is also flying rudimentary catch fittings on Starship to test their thermal performance on reentry. The ship will fly a more demanding trajectory during descent to probe the structural limits of the redesigned flaps at the point of maximum entry dynamic pressure, according to SpaceX.All told, SpaceX's inclusion of a satellite deployment demo and ship upgrades on next week's test flight will lay the foundation for future missions, perhaps in the next few months, to take the next great leap in Starship development.In comments following the last Starship test flight in November, SpaceX founder and CEO Elon Musk posted on X that the company could try to return the ship to a catch back at the launch sitesomething that would require the vehicle to complete at least one full orbit of Earthas soon as the next flight following Monday's mission."We will do one more ocean landing of the ship," Musk posted. "If that goes well, then SpaceX will attempt to catch the ship with the tower."Stephen ClarkSpace ReporterStephen ClarkSpace Reporter Stephen Clark is a space reporter at Ars Technica, covering private space companies and the worlds space agencies. Stephen writes about the nexus of technology, science, policy, and business on and off the planet. 3 Comments

Air travel is being disrupted by strong winds and wildfires in Los Angeles.Several airlines have waived change fees for flights to Los Angeles and Orange County.Some flights to Burbank were diverted, and passengers photographed the fires from the skies.The wildfires devastating Los Angeles and the strong winds intensifying them are disrupting air travel in and around the city.Los Angeles International Airport, or LAX, remained open as of Thursday. LAX, the city's main airport, is over 10 miles from Pacific Palisades, where the largest fire, the Palisades Fire, is burning.Other Los Angeles area airports, including Hollywood Burbank Airport, also remained open.At LAX, 134 flights were delayed on Thursday while 40 were canceled, according to data from FlightAware. LAX has an average of nearly 700 daily nonstop flights. On Wednesday, 282 were delayed and 11 were canceled.The airport said it was open and operating normally but advised passengers to check their flight status with their airline.At Hollywood Burbank Airport, which is smaller than LAX, 21 flights were delayed on Thursday while 4 were canceled, according to FlightAware. On Wednesday, 57 were delayed and 45 were canceled.On social media, the airport also told travelers to check their flight status before flying.After a lengthy dry spell in the region, the Santa Ana winds produced gusts up to nearly 90 mph this week. The strong winds and the fires which have led to five deaths and more than 130,000 people being evacuated have caused knock-on effects, including significant flight delays and airlines issuing waivers to allow passengers to amend their flights.American Airlines, United Airlines, Delta Air Lines, Southwest Airlines, and JetBlue are among the carriers that are issuing waivers for change fees. The affected airports are LAX, Hollywood Burbank Airport, Ontario International Airport, and Santa Ana's John Wayne Airport.The BBC reporter Ben Derico said his Wednesday flight to Burbank had to turn around and return to Las Vegas."After a bumpy attempt at touching down the landing was abandoned," he wrote. "The captain told us the winds were just too strong."Tai Wright, from North Hollywood, told Newsweek her flight from Dallas to Burbank diverted to LAX."The heat inside the aircraft started to rise, and the smoke smell filled the cabin," she said."The entire landing was rocky, with the aircraft swaying and turning in all directions right up until touchdown, and everyone on board applauded with good reason after we touched ground."Santa Monica Airport is the closest to the wildfires, about 3 miles south of an evacuation order resulting from the Palisades fire. It is a general aviation airport, which means commercial flights don't typically operate there.Aviation is also playing a key role in fighting the wildfires. The Los Angeles Fire Department said 12 helicopters and six fixed-wing aircraft were in operation.The FAA issued two temporary flight restrictions on Thursday near the fires in order to keep the area clear for firefighting aviation operations.

Margarita Komarova and Colin McDarmont, were desperate to start a family and underwent IVF.They were shocked after learning six embryos fertilized during their fourth cycle had to be discarded.The couple claims it is the victim of gross negligence by a pharmaceutical giant.Margarita Komarova and her husband, Colin McDarmont, were thrilled to learn their fourth round of IVF had produced six promising embryos.Komarova, 37, who works in tech, told Business Insider that "everything was tracking positive" following the procedure in November 2023.But seven days after the fertilization, their doctor called to say none of the embryos had gone on to develop and were suitable for transfer."We were devastated," Komarova said, noting that they were discarded almost immediately. "We thought we'd done everything right before the retrieval."The couple had eaten healthily and reduced stress by doing acupuncture and yoga as part of the process. The period in which she'd had to inject herself with fertility medication had been particularly taxing, Komarova added."You find yourself searching for answers," she said of their despair. "We started to blame ourselves and each other because we didn't know what had gone wrong."The pair received an email from their fertility clinic three weeks later. It alerted them to an issue concerning the IVF "culture media," the liquid used in the technique to grow embryos. It said the outcome of their particular cycle "may have negatively impacted.""It was confusing," Darmont said. "We had a lot of questions."In January 2024, they learned of a recall notice issued to IVF clinics across the US by CooperSurgical, the giant pharmaceutical company that manufactured the solution used in their procedure. It was later established that three lots of the liquid had been missing the important ingredient of magnesium. The essential nutrient is key to the development of embryos in the lab, typically in a petrie dish.Komarova and McDarmont have filed a $15 million lawsuitA year on, Komarova and McDarmont are suing Cooper for $15 million, claiming they may have lost their chance of having children. The suit said the firm failed to implement proper testing and quality control during manufacture.The pair, from Los Angeles, hired attorneys from the Clarkson Law Firm which represents a number of the hundreds of IVF patients believed to have been impacted and filed a complaint of gross negligence."We're hoping this will force them to provide actual information and details in terms of how this happened, and more importantly, the safeguards to prevent it from ever happening again," McDarmont, a 52-year-old product manager, told BI.The lawsuit said that Cooper's "reckless disregard" had severely impacted the couple's ability to have a biological baby, leaving them "distraught they may never be able to start the family they imagined."It said Komarova had suffered depression and McDarmont "continues to experience severe emotional distress as a result of the incident."The would-be mom said her body had taken nearly a year to recoverAccording to the filing, Cooper "failed to adequately monitor their manufacturing system" when "it knew, or should have known, the inclusion of magnesium in the culture media is critical to embryo development."Business Insider has contacted CooperSurgical, which has not immediately responded.Komarova, an only child who'd always wanted a big family, told BI that she and her husband had spent tens of thousands of dollars trying to get pregnant since they got married in 2020.She said that every month that passed without them conceiving felt like a lost opportunity, made more pertinent because of their age.It had taken almost a year for her body to recover from the ordeal of the impacted procedure before she underwent IVF for the "fifth and final time" last October."It was hard to rebound from the failed cycle and prepare for the next," Komarova said. "It's not something where you can just jump in and do another one."The lawsuit said she had struggled with abdominal pain for weeks, weight gain from the hormonal injections, and fluctuating moods after the attempt.It said she had undergone "significant physical strain due to the original wasted cycle, as well as the new cycle necessitated" made by Cooper's "faulty product."Meanwhile, it said the couple continued to experience "deep sadness, guilt, hopelessness, shame, disappointment and anger."McDarmont said the recall notice read as if it was a product recall of cereal boxesKomarova described how she and McDarmont who'd previously spent tens of thousands of dollars on three attempts at IVF had meticulously prepared for the 2023 retrieval."You do everything you're supposed to do, like eat organic food and reduce the amount of stress you're under," she told BI. "Then you do the procedure, the results come in, and it's a punch to the gut."McDarmont said he was infuriated by the outcome, which, he said, could have been avoided if Cooper had followed the correct protocol. "The despair, disappointment, and anger haven't gone away."He said the recall notice was cold and perfunctory. "It sounded like it was a recall of something like cereal boxes or furniture items," he told BI.The couple filed the lawsuit in Bridgeport, Connecticut the city where CooperSurgical is headquartered and asked for a jury trial. They are seeking at least $ 15 million in damages.Meanwhile, Komarova and McDarmont were relieved to discover that their fifth cycle of IVF has been successful at least so far. It resulted in a number of embryos that remain frozen.Still, Komarova told BI she found the thought of the "next chapter" which will involve the transfer of an embryo into her body "scary."

Floor-to-ceiling tile looks too sterile.Floor-to-ceiling tile is hard to update. Gunter Kremer/Shutterstock I've found that a bathroom with floor-to-ceiling tiles usually comes across as cold and sterile instead of luxurious.Though I think the look works for a walk-in shower or feature wall, decorating all over with tile is an expensive choice that's difficult to update as trends change. Plastic bathroom accessories bring down an elevated design.Plastic bathroom accessories can look cheap. Siyapath/Shutterstock Consider upgrading plastic accessories, such as shower-curtain rings, soap dispensers, and trash cans, to nonplastic options for an elevated design.Higher-quality metal or ceramic finishes can give your bathroom a luxurious appeal while adding color, texture, and charm to the space. Black toilets kind of scare me plus they can be hard to keep clean.I always pass on the black-toilet trend. Flipser/Shutterstock Black toilets remind me of the uncomfortable feeling of using portable toilets in which you really don't want to see the bottom.A black toilet might seem like a chic, modern choice, but the color can make it harder to clean. Though a white toilet shows dust, watermarks, and smudges, a black one hides all the grime and buildup.If you want to bring a moody-chic look into the bathroom, do it with black towel rods and fixtures rather than a toilet. Matching towel sets are uninspiring.I think matching towel sets are too boring. Andreas von Einsiedel/Getty Images Using towels with the same color throughout the bathroom creates a stagnant design and doesn't bring much fun into the space. Even patterned towel sets typically lack visual variety and color contrast.I prefer mixing different towel colors and patterns that work well together and coordinating them with floor mats and shower curtains. The finished look appears more dynamic and personalized. Unprotected wallpaper can get wet and moldy in a bathroom.Most wallpaper doesn't react well to steam and moisture. John Keeble/Getty Images Wallpaper is an awesome choice for smaller spaces but not all options will work in the bathroom. I prefer to use a peel-and-stick variety as its vinyl material is more water-resistant than the paper-based alternatives.If you love a traditional wallpaper design, you might get away with using it in a powder room or half-bath, where there isn't a shower. But I still recommend treating the paper with a protective coating to keep it from getting damaged after installation. Tile countertops can lead to grimy grout that stains easily.The grout on a bathroom counter can easily become dirty. Stella/Getty Images Though grid tiles are trending, I don't recommend using them for bathroom vanities or other high-traffic areas because the grout tends to quickly accumulate dirt.I also find that the hard-to-clean grout will eventually stain from things like colored soap, makeup, and lotion.If you're determined to incorporate this trend into your bathroom, consider using the tiles as a backsplash or on shower walls where they're less likely to see spills. Art doesn't need to be bathroom-themed.If you wouldn't have shark-themed decor in other parts of your home, don't put it in the bathroom. Vostok/Getty Images Instead of choosing themed artwork you think works in a bathroom or spa, treat your wall decor as you would in any other room.Pick elevated artwork that inspires you and uses colors from your home decor to make your bathroom an extension of your space's aesthetic.Just be sure to choose art that can withstand the steam to avoid mildew forming on paper-based products. Pedestal sinks are a wasted opportunity for storage.Bathrooms with pedestal sinks often need other storage devices. MarioGuti/Getty Images Though pedestal sinks are a classic silhouette, they just aren't practical for most homes. The lack of storage and counter space means they're only useful for washing hands.Unless you have space for additional storage options, I wouldn't even use these sinks in the powder room, as they can't store extra supplies for guests. Matte paint doesn't typically hold up in a steamy bathroom.Matte paint usually absorbs moisture. Suleyman Ozkan/Getty Images Matte paints aren't ideal for bathrooms because they have a tendency to absorb moisture. I recommend a semigloss to high-gloss paint option to better protect the drywall from moisture damage.If you love the matte look, you can try using limewash paint, instead. It has a similar look, but it's supposed to be naturally mold-resistant and antibacterial. Frameless vanity mirrors can feel dated.Frameless mirrors look unfinished. FluxFactory/Getty Images Though they're a neutral option, I find frameless mirrors, especially those with a beveled edge, look dated.A framed mirror is an opportunity to add stylistic personality to your space, much like hanging art. I suggest tying your color palette and existing hardware finishes into your mirror to bring the space together.This story was originally published on September 17, 2023, and most recently updated on January 9, 2025.

LAS VEGAS When I stepped on the showroom floor in Las Vegas at CES, the largest tech industry trade show in the world, earlier this week, I felt a sense of dread. Ive been coming to the show, off and on, for a decade, and the story is always the same: The industry made new gadgets for you, and theyre slightly better than the old ones. Despite the hype, its not often that theres anything revolutionary.But the vibe was slightly different this year. There was no shortage of new machines on the CES showroom floor that are indeed slightly better than the old ones, and which will make your life easier or more fun TVs, robotic vacuum cleaners, fancy phone chargers. What really stood out, however, were the growing number of things that are designed to make you and the planet healthier. Everything from advanced fitness trackers to portable solar energy systems show that innovation means more than cramming more pixels into a display or adding AI features to a washing machine. It gives me hope that tech companies, despite the gloom and doom that they sometimes bring out in people, may be guiding us toward a better future after all.CES, formerly known as the Consumer Electronics Show, takes over Las Vegas at the beginning of January, and its a big deal. Last year, the show attracted nearly 140,000 people, including industry analysts, buyers from major retailers, venture capitalists, and journalists like me, all of whom gawked at the latest gadgets and wild concepts, like Samsungs rolling robot that can turn your floor into a screen. This is the show where decisions get made about what kinds of tech you might be able to buy but only in the near future. Its about as fun as going to an amusement park where youre only allowed to look at the rides.The show started out as a much smaller affair in New York City in the late 60s and is where, over the years, the first VCR, CD player, Nintendo Entertainment System, and Xbox all made their debut. But at this years show, I found myself spending more time in unexpected corners of the convention center, where categories like digital health and energy storage were on display.Health 2.0Digital health probably makes you think about either fitness trackers or Bluetooth-enabled blood pressure cuffs, but the category is expanding in unexpected directions. There are new ways to gather health data, surprising ways to monitor your brain waves, and even AI-powered platforms that promise to make your whole family healthier. And, of course, there are fitness trackers. With the viral popularity of the Oura Ring, there were several other smart rings at the show, including one called Evie, which has an AI-powered chatbot trained on medical journals. There were also other ways to track your health, like Lingo, an over-the-counter continuous glucose monitor that works with an app-based fitness coach. (This is the same kind of tech that doctors now increasingly prescribe for people with diabetes.) Speaking of coaches and AI, Panasonic of all companies is launching a wellness coach for the whole family powered by Anthropics Claude AI. Its called Umi, and its something Id consider using for my own family for things like keeping track of how everyones feeling and even coming up with ideas for fun activities we can do together.Health trackers took on different form factors, too. Master & Dynamic, an audio company, is now selling a set of headphones that can actually read your brainwaves thanks to tech from a startup called Neurable AI. There are electroencephalography (EEG) sensors built into the earcups that can actually sense how well youre paying attention to something. I tried the headphones and was blown away by the accuracy. Somewhat similarly, a Canada-based company called Myant makes smart textiles, which is a phrase I did not expect to encounter at CES. Theyre literally clothes that you wear that have sensors woven into their threads so that your underwear or an armband can continuously monitor health metrics, including heart rate and body temperature. This year, Myant is releasing a new generation of its tech that can also capture EKG readings and continuously measure blood pressure. With all of this data, your doctor can get a much better picture of your health than what a periodic check-in from a smartwatch or ring could offer.Were developing a DSL cable to the human body to really connect the human operating system, Myants founder and CEO Tony Chahine said in an interview. As opposed to thinking of us as a device for a specific thing, think of us as an interface for many things.The health-focused innovations scale up, too. Probably the most potentially powerful invention I saw at the whole show was the OnMed CareStation. Its essentially a portable clinic that can be dropped into rural areas or even in underserved communities in the middle of a city. Once the patient steps in, theyre greeted by a human health care professional on a life-size screen and guided through any number of diagnostic tests with the help of tools like a blood pressure cuff and an otoscope that drops down from the ceiling. Its basically a much more powerful and comprehensive version of doing a telehealth appointment on your phone. The whole thing just needs a power outlet to run and is internet-connected thanks to Starlink. But the companys CEO Karthik Ganesh insists that the fancy kiosk is more than hardware.We have spent too much energy thinking tech is a silver bullet, Ganesh told me and explained that OnMeds CareStations redefine how people can get their health care needs met. In some cases, it gives people who live in health care deserts access to a doctors office they otherwise wouldnt have. A healthier EarthWhile I didnt expect to see so many exciting health-based innovations at the show, I was expecting to see a lot of talk about sustainability and the energy transition. I was not disappointed.One booth featuring three companies embracing renewable energy offered a good example of how clean tech is coming to our homes in a meaningful way. One of them called Biolite got its start making campstoves that could charge your phone but is now getting into the home energy business with a battery called Backup that can effectively work like a generator in the event of a blackout. In the same booth was a similar company called Copper thats making battery-equipped appliances, including an induction range that also works in a blackout. Finally, there was Gradient which makes window-mounted heat pumps (no batteries in this one yet) that promise to bring more energy-efficient heating and cooling into millions of homes.The energy transition is actually something that almost every company I talked to is focused on. All of these new technologies underscore a real shift at the show: For decades, innovation meant making TV look better or speakers sound better, but if youre to believe a lot of the companies at CES this year, its now about using tech to make our lives and our world better. John Deere is electrifying its tractor fleets and making them autonomous to save energy. Volkswagen is rolling out a line of satellite-connected electric SUVs under the old Scout brand. Samsung and LG are expanding their lineups of heat pumps and heat pump-powered dryers which are all internet-connected now. Even Sony is going to start selling an EV in partnership with Honda. I sat in it, and surrounded by screens and lidar sensors, it very much felt like living in a sci-fi reality. (It will cost about $100,000, so that was probably my one and only time sitting in that car.)My CES adventure this year lasted the better part of a week, and as I left the showroom floor for the final time, the dread had lifted and I felt somehow excited about the future of agriculture, smart cities, health care, and even cooking. Of course, what exists in the present at CES can take months or years before its in the real world. Its okay to feel impatient. Good stuff is on the way.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 Margherita Bassi Published January 9, 2025 | Comments (0) | The ice core from the Beyond EPICA project. Beyond EPICA project Humans have been recording the weather for thousands of years. Antarctic ice, however, has been at it for over a million. An international team of scientists has extracted a 1.74-mile-long (2.8 kilometers) ice core in Antarctica, hitting the frozen continents bedrock. The core represents a chronological register of Earths climate and atmosphere, with the oldest ice dating back as far as 1.2 million years ago, if not more. The achievement, announced in a statement by the Beyond EPICA Oldest Ice project, is expected to provide insight on one of climate sciences most enduring questions. Its worth clarifying that this record doesnt make it the oldest ice core ever extractedthat recognition goes to a 2.7-million-year-old ice core recovered in 2017. What makes the Beyond EPICA core special is its continuous, high-resolution climate record spanning 1.2 million years, offering crucial insights into ancient atmospheric conditions and glacial cycles.The ice core from the Beyond EPICA project. Beyond EPICA project. We have marked a historic moment for climate and environmental science, said Carlo Barbante of Ca Foscari University of Venice, coordinator of Beyond EPICA. The core was retrieved during the projects fourth Antarctic campaign. This is the longest continuous record of our past climate from an ice core, and it can reveal the interlink between the carbon cycle and temperature of our planet.Between 900,000 and 1.2 million years ago, glacial cycles shifted from lasting 41,000 years to 100,000 yearsa shift known as the Mid-Pleistocene Transition. The Beyond EPICA project aims to better understand this ancient climate phenomenon. Led by The Institute of Polar Sciences of the National Research Council of Italy (ISP-CNR), the scientists worked for more than 200 days, drilling into the ice and processing the ice core at a remote site in East Antarctica called Little Dome C, with a balmy average summer temperature of -31 degrees Fahrenheit (-35 degrees Celsius). From preliminary analyses recorded at Little Dome C, we have a strong indication that the uppermost 2,480 meters [1.54 miles] contain a climate record that goes back to 1.2 million years in a high-resolution record where up to 13,000 years are compressed into one meter of ice, said said Julien Westhoff, a postdoc at the University of Copenhagen and chief scientist in the field for the EPICA project.The deepest and oldest parts of the core, which were closest to the bedrock, are made of ancient ice that is heavily deformed, possibly mixed or refrozen and of unknown origin, as well as rocks from the bedrock itself. This section could further scientists understanding of refrozen ice under the Antarctic ice sheet, the glaciation history of this Antarctic region, and the last time the continent was ice-free.The project still faces significant hurdles, particularly the logistical challenge of transporting the segmented ice cores to a lab without risking melting. The precious ice cores extracted during this campaign will be transported back to Europe on board the icebreaker Laura Bassi, maintaining the -50C [-58 degrees F] cold chain, said Gianluca Bianchi Fasani, head of the Italian National Agency for New Technologies, Energy, and Sustainable Economic Developments (ENEA) logistics for Beyond EPICA. To reach this goal, a strategy was developed involving the design of specialized cold containers and precise scheduling of the National Antarctic Research Program (PNRA) air and naval assets.Once the segmented ice core has found its way to a (very cold) lab, it remains to be seen what secrets researchers will unlock within the ancient climate record.Daily NewsletterYou May Also Like By Margherita Bassi Published December 16, 2024 By Margherita Bassi Published December 6, 2024 By Isaac Schultz Published November 13, 2024 By Passant Rabie Published October 7, 2024 By Adam Kovac Published September 20, 2024 Gautama Mehta, Grist Published August 15, 2024

By Matt Novak Published January 9, 2025 | Comments (0) | The sign for the Comet Ping Pong restaurant is seen in Washingon, DC, on December 5, 2016. Photo: NICHOLAS KAMM/AFP via Getty Images The conspiracy theorist who entered Comet Ping Pong restaurant in Washington D.C. with two guns in late 2016 as part of the Pizzagate hysteria was shot by police on Jan. 4 and died this past Monday, according to a press release from the Kannapolis Police Department in North Carolina. Edgar Maddison Welch was a passenger in a vehicle that was pulled over by police on the night of Saturday Jan. 4 while driving a gray 2001 GMC Yukon, according to the Kannapolis Police Department. The officer recognized the vehicle as one normally driven by an individual who he had previously arrested, and knew had an outstanding warrant for arrest. A vehicle stop was made by the officer and during his interaction with the driver, the officer recognized the front seat passenger as the person with the outstanding warrant for arrest, the Kannapolis Police said in a statement. The police departments statement says the officer was speaking with the driver when two more officers arrived on the scene, and the first officer proceeded to open the front passenger side door.When [the officer] opened the door, the front seat passenger pulled a handgun from his jacket and pointed it in the direction of the officer, the police statement reads. That officer and a second officer who was standing at the rear passenger side of the Yukon gave commands for the passenger to drop the gun. After the passenger failed to comply with their repeated requests, both officers fired their duty weapon at the passenger, striking him. The police statement claims medical assistance was immediately summoned for the passenger and Welch was transported to the Atrium Health Cabarrus hospital in Concord before being transferred to an Atrium hospital in Charlotte when he died on Jan. 6. The three officers on the traffic stop, along with the driver and a back seat passenger of the Yukon were all uninjured in this incident, the statement reads. The officers who fired their guns were identified as Officer Brooks Jones and Officer Caleb Tate, who are now on administrative leave, though specifics about how many shots were fired and who may have struck Welch were not released. A third officer on the scene who was not identified didnt fire their weapon.In Dec. 2016, Welch drove from North Carolina to Washington D.C. looking for kidnapped and abused children he believed were being held in the restaurants basement, a conspiracy theory involving former presidential candidate Hillary Clinton that became extremely popular online in the lead-up to the 2016 election. Welch entered Comet Ping Pong with an AR-15 and a revolver, having a shotgun in his car, and sent families with children fleeing in terror. Welch was reportedly confused when he was told Comet Ping Pong had no basement, a central feature of the conspiracy theory that children were being trafficked and abused there. Pizzagate was started after emails from Clintons campaign manager John Podesta were released by WikiLeaks and conspiracy theorists became obsessed with the discussion of pizza and the Washington D.C. pizza place by name.Alex Jones was instrumental in helping push the conspiracy theory, along with other right-wing influencers like Mike Cernovich and Jack Posobiec. Here in 2024, Posobiec has become even more influential as the editor of Human Events, a news outlet that churns out articles sometimes shared by president-elect Donald Trump. Cernovich also has some influence here in the 2020s, as someone who frequently interacts with billionaire Elon Musk. When I think about all the children Hillary Clinton has personally murdered and chopped up and raped, I have zero fear standing up against her, Jones said in a since-deleted YouTube video posted on Nov. 4, 2016, according to the Washington Post. Yeah, you heard me right. Hillary Clinton has personally murdered children. I just cant hold back the truth anymore.Jones was later banned from YouTube and several other mainstream social media platforms, but was allowed to return to X after Musk bought the site. The InfoWars host has not yet commented on Welchs killing, but it seems like a safe bet that he eventually will. Welch ultimately pleaded guilty in 2017 to interstate transportation of a firearm and ammunition and was sentenced to four years in prison. After his arrest, Welch told the New York Times, I regret how I handled the situation but still seemed convinced the Pizzagate conspiracy theory was real, only conceding that the intel on this wasnt 100%.Daily NewsletterYou May Also Like By AJ Dellinger Published January 9, 2025 By Lucas Ropek Published January 9, 2025 By Matthew Gault Published January 9, 2025 By James Whitbrook Published January 8, 2025 By Matthew Gault Published January 8, 2025 By Lucas Ropek Published January 8, 2025

By AJ Dellinger Published January 9, 2025 | Comments (0) | Mark Zuckerberg with his fist raised at a UFC event, taken from behind the cage Sean M. Haffey/Getty Images Mark Zuckerberg is itching for a fight. Markwayne Mullin, a Republican Senator from Oklahoma, revealed that the Facebook founder has invited him to spar multiple times while talking to human cringe factory Benny Johnson during an appearance on The Benny Show. Mark has actually reached out to me, texted me a couple times. The guys gotten into jujitsu real heavy, he wants me to come down there and roll with him, Mullin said. He wants to train, he actually wants to get in the cage and fight. He said, Id love for you to come down and spar with me sometime. I think thatd be great to go down there and do that. Mullin is no stranger to fights, its just that he tends to be the one issuing the challenge. He made headlines back in 2023 when he challenged Sean OBrien, the president of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, to fight on the floor of Congress over some critical tweets that OBrien had made about him. The whole thing devolved into a yelling match with a whole lot of posturing and no actual fisticuffs, which seems like its about the speed Mullin is most comfortable operating these days.There is some fight in Mullins pasthe registered a 3-0 record in three matches in the Xtreme Fighting League, a local fighting circuit in Oklahoma. But he hasnt been in the octagon for an official match since 2007.Zuck, meanwhile, has been building up his fighting resume for a couple of years. He reportedly picked up Brazilian jiu-jitsu sometime around 2022, getting professional training from UFC stars. The tech exec netted a medal in the first tournament he appeared in, then famously got challenged to a cage match by Elon Musk. Sadly, that never came to fruition because as soon as Zuck told Musk to drop a pin and knuckle up, Twitters owner issued a series of the saddest cop-outs committed to the internet, including having his mom intervene for him. While Zuckerberg tore his ACL sparring shortly after the online kerfuffle, hes apparently recovered and ready to get back in the ring. Hes so all-in on his MMA era that he added UFC head Dana White to Facebooks board. So sure, why not challenge a Senator with a history in the ring to throw down? If nothing else, it signals Zucks full right-wing turn. Hes been buddying up to Trump for months and, per Mullin, even met with the President-elect before announcing that Facebook would do away with fact-checkinga feature that Trump notoriously railed against.If Zuckerberg shows up at the next Meta keynote with a black eye, well know how his match with Mullin turned out, but at least he can claim victory on Facebook and no one can fact-check him.Daily NewsletterYou May Also Like By Lucas Ropek Published January 9, 2025 By James Whitbrook Published January 8, 2025 By Lucas Ropek Published January 7, 2025 By Matthew Gault Published January 7, 2025 By Matthew Gault Published January 6, 2025 By Lucas Ropek Published January 6, 2025