Only one of the Top 14 money-making movies of 2024 wasnt a sequel. And that lone holdout was Wicked, the long-awaited big-screen adaptation of a hugely successful Broadway musical, which, guess what, is getting its own movie sequel in 2025.So yeah, sequels are where the money is at in Hollywood. Over 40 sequels, prequels, reboots or franchise films are scheduled to be released in 2025. Here's the ones you should line up for:Star Trek: Section 31 (Jan. 24th on Paramount+)Michelle Yeoh stars in the first made-for-TV Star Trek movie, a spinoff from the Star Trek: Discovery series that exists in a timeline between the original William Shatner / Leonard Nimoy Star Trek movies and the Patrick Stewart Star Trek: The Next Generation series. Looks like a blast, and we're also still hoping they get a fourth Chris Pine as Kirk movie together one of these days.Captain America: Brave New World (Feb. 14)Anthony Mackies Sam Wilson, previously known as the Falcon, has taken over for Steve Rogers as Captain America in the 35th (!!) Marvel Cinematic Universe movie. Judging by the trailer, hes about to become embroiled in a high-stakes political mystery involving Harrison Ford as the President of the United States of America, whos also an extremely pissed off Red Hulk?Paddington in Peru (Feb. 14)Paddington 2 is incredible. I cried through the entire thing, it made me want to be a better man. I fing told you." Nicolas Cage and Pedro Pascal know what's up. If the third movie in this series is half as good as the second itll be well worth your time.The Accountant 2 (April 25)Nine years after the first installment, Ben Affleck is back as autistic accountant / killing machine Christian Wolff, with support from Jon Bernthal and J.K. Simmons.Thunderbolts* (May 2)The misfit toys of the Marvel Universe, including Florence Pughs Yelena Belova and David Harbours Red Guardian, the scene-stealing stars of 2021sBlack Widow,are forced to work together to battle ... Julia Louis-Dreyfus?Mission: Impossible - The Final Reckoning (May 23)I need you to trust me - one last time. We're not sure if thats Tom Cruise or Ethan Hunt talking at the end of this trailer, but 2023s Mission Impossible: Dead Reckoning Part One was an unexpected misfire, so heres hoping the eighth film in the Mission Impossible series marks a return to form.Read More: 50 Movies Turning 50 in 2025Karate Kids: Legends (May 30)The Karate Kid worlds will converge in 2025, with Ralph Macchio from the original series teaming up with Jackie Chan from the kung fu-themed 2010 reboot in a brand new adventure set three years after the conclusion of Macchios popular Cobra Kai series.From the World of John Wick: Ballerina (June 6)After delivering the most exciting 10 minutes of 2021s James Bond movie No Time to Die, Ana de Armas takes the lead role in the first big screen spin-off of the John Wick franchise, which will feature an appearance from the Baba Yaga himself, Keanu Reeves.28 Years Later (June 20)18 years after the last installment, director Danny Boyle returns to the post-apocalyptic 28 Days Later franchise, along with writer Alex Garland, for 28 Years Later, the first of a newly promised trilogy from the innovative zombie franchise.M3GAN 2.0 (June 27)You cant keep a good AI-powered doll down, and you cant resist a sequel to a horror movie that grossed $181 million in 2022. So M3GAN is back to torment the human beings who (rightfully) rejected her in the first movie. A spin-off, SOULM8TE, is already lined up for 2026.Jurassic World: Rebirth (July 2)This is such an abusive relationship. Can we be honest and admit that even the first Jurassic Park movie was only great until the last five minutes, and that every successive sequel has been more preposterous and less exciting? And yet, the idea of a fresh start remains undeniably appealing, and the recruitment of Gareth Monsters / Rogue OneSuperman (July 11)Realizing they were being badly outclassed by Marvel, DC hired Guardians of the Galaxy mastermind James Gunn to re-boot their movie franchise. Hes starting right at the top, writing and directing a new Superman movie. If the whole things as good as the trailer were in good hands, but well still die on the Superman Returns was great and they should have kept that story going hill.The Fantastic Four: First Steps (July 25)Will the fourth time be the charm? After the first three failed attempts to bring the popular comic book series to the big screen, Marvel has their first shot at the Fantastic Four. The '60s'-set movie is also expected to mark the debut of Robert Iron Man Downey Jr. in a new role as Doctor Doom.The Naked Gun (Aug. 1)Three decades after Leslie Nielsen last appeared as clueless detective Frank Deblin, Liam Neeson is set to take over the role in a reboot of the Naked Gun series. Pamela Anderson, fresh off her acclaimed comeback performance in The Last Showgirl, and WWE Champion Cody Rhodes are also in the cast.Freakier Friday (Aug. 8)22 years after their beloved 2003 reboot of the Freaky Friday franchise, Jamie Lee Curtis and Lindsey Lohan will again swap bodies and stressful lives in Freakier Friday.We couldn't have made this movie until now, Curtis told People, because Lindsey had to be old enough to have a 15 year old.Nobody 2 (Aug. 15)Bob Odenkirk was flat-out amazing in 2021s Nobody, starring as a retired but only partially domesticated assassin forced back into action against a coked-up Russian mobster. Christopher Lloyd, RZA, Connie Nielsen and Michael Ironside are all back from the original, along with new co-stars Sharon Stone and Chris Pine.Tron: Ares (Oct. 10)The third film in the comet-like Tron series flips the tables on its predecessors. Instead of humans entering the computer world, a humanoid AI-powered computer program (played by Jared Leo) who is sent into the real world on a dangerous mission.Predator: Badlands (Nov. 7) and Untitled Sequel (TBA)The Predator franchise has produced two rather underappreciated gems in the past 20 years. 2010's Predators is well worth your time, as is 2022s 1719-set Prey. (Oddly enough, the only bum note in that streak came from the usually reliable Shane Black, with his 2018 The Predator.) Prey director Dan Trachtenberg returns with Predator: Badlands AND another secretly shot Predator movie, which is expected to be released before Badlands.The Running Man (Nov. 7)Glenn Powell takes over for Arnold Schwarzenegger in director Edgar Hot Fuzz / Baby DriverWright's remake of The Running Man. Seeing as how the life or death game show at the center of the story is at most a year away from happening in real life, his timing is good.Wicked: For Good (Nov. 21)Can't say we fully understand how the already bloated three-hour musical version of Wicked had to be divided into two movies, the first half of which ran 160 minutes, but our kids would have sat still for another five hours during the first one so the filmmakers must know something we dont.Zootopia 2 (Nov. 26)Its been nine years since the clever and funny Zootopia first hit movie theaters. Jason Bateman and Ginnifer Goodwin return as the fox and rabbit buddy cops, this time trying to track down a snake played by Ke Huy Quan. Safe assumption: the sloth steals every scene hes in.Avatar: Fire and Ash (Dec. 19)Three years after James Cameron rather boringly reheated the first Avatar movie and Titanic with Avatar: The Way of Water, the worlds most successful director returns to Pandora with Avatar: Fire and Ash. Much like Jurassic World: Rebirth, we'll be seeing this one in spite of our better judgment.Anaconda (Dec. 25)17 years after Ice Cube and Jennifer Lopez tangled with a giant snake in the original Anaconda, Jack Black and Paul Rudd take the reigns of the franchise just in time for Christmas 2025. Were gonna go out on a limb and guess that this chapter will play up the humor a bit more deliberately.Happy Gilmore 2 (TBA)Adam Sandler makes his long-awaited return to the role of Happy Gilmore, a failed hockey player turned golf champion who seems destined to conflict with Christopher McDonalds Shooter McGavin yet again. The film is going to be filled with golf pro and celebrity cameos, and we're betting that AEWs Maxwell Jacob Friedman leaves them all in his dust. Because he's better than you, and you know it.The Old Guard 2 (TBA)Casting Charlize Theron in any kind of role that involves ass-kicking is a foolproof plan to happily separate us from our money and time. Shes back as the (formerly?) immortal leader of a group of mercenaries in The Old Guard 2, which will also star Uma Thurman.Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery (TBA)Daniel Craig is set to return as the highly idiosyncratic private investigator Benoit Blanc in the third Knives Out movie, which features yet another star-studded cast. This time around, hell match wits with Mila Kunis, Josh Brolin, Jeremy Renner and Glenn Close. (Bold prediction: Glenn did it.)Other Sequels and Franchise Films Arriving in 2025:Den of Thieves 2 (Jan. 10)Wolf Man (Jan. 17)The Witcher: Sirens of the Deep (Feb. 11)Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy (Feb. 13)Snow White (March 21)Final Destination: Blood Lines (May 16)Lilo & Stitch (May 23)How to Train Your Dragon (June 13)The Smurfs Movie (July 18)Untitled I Know What You Did Last Summer sequel (July 18)The Conjuring: Last Rites (Sept. 5)Untitled Downton Abbey: A New Era sequel (Sept. 12)Saw XI (Sept. 26)The Black Phone 2 (Oct. 17)Mortal Kombat 2 (Oct. 24)Now You See Me 3 (Nov. 14)Five Nights at Freddy's 2 (Dec. 5)The SpongeBob Movie: Search for Squarepants (Dec. 19)Get our free mobile appThe 25 Best Sequel TitlesThese sequels all share one thing in common: They all have really good titles.

Accounting & Field Service System Implementation SpecialistWe're seeking an experienced Accounting System Implementation Specialist to lead customer onboarding of our accounting and field service management software. The ideal candidate has expertise beyond accounting and can speak to additional aspects of field service, such as managing inventory, dispatch, etc.Key Responsibilities- Lead implementation of new accounting/ERP systems- Guide customer discovery sessions to discern preferred system behaviors, configuration, and best practices- Provide guidance to customers on transitioning from legacy accounting and field service systems- Provide training and support for new system- Ensure data integrity during migrations- Manage multiple implementation projects simultaneouslyQualifications- Bachelor's degree in Accounting, Finance, or related field; CPA/CMA preferred- 5+ years in accounting, 2+ years in software system implementation or project management; preferred experience in the construction and/or field service industries- Strong understanding of accounting principles related to inventory tracking, recurring revenue management, and cost/revenue recognition processes- Experience with ERP systems (e.g., SAP, Oracle, NetSuite)- Excellent project management and communication skills- Proficient in data analysis and management- Detail-oriented with strong problem-solving abilitiesBenefits- Competitive salary and performance-based bonuses- Comprehensive health, dental, and vision insurance- Primarily remote work- Semi-flexible work schedule- Paid time off and holidays- Professional development opportunitiesAdditional Benefits- Life insurance- Company Contribution to Health, Vision, and DentalJob Details- Job Type: Full-time- Pay: $62,715.55 - $83,485.39 per year- Work Location: RemoteRequired License/Certification- CPA (Preferred)- Four year degreeJob Type: Full-timePay: $70,000.00 - $85,000.00 per yearBenefits:401(k)401(k) matchingDental insuranceFlexible scheduleHealth insuranceLife insuranceVision insuranceWork Location: Remote Related Jobs See more Management and Finance jobs

This article first appeared in The Debrief,MIT Technology Reviewsweekly newsletter from our editor in chief Mat Honan. To receive it in your inbox every Friday, sign up here. On Tuesday last week, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg released a blog post and video titled More Speech and Fewer Mistakes. Zuckerbergwhose previous self-acknowledged mistakes includethe Cambridge Analytica data scandal, allowinga militia to put out a call to armson Facebook that presaged two killings in Wisconsin, and helping tofuel a genocide in Myanmarannounced that Meta is done with fact checking in the US, that it will roll back restrictions on speech, and is going to start showing people more tailored political content in their feeds. I started building social media to give people a voice, he said while wearing a$900,000 wristwatch. While the end of fact checking has gotten most of the attention, thechanges to its hateful speech policyare also notable. Amongother things, the company will now allow people to call transgender people it, or to argue that women are property, or to claim homosexuality is a mental illness. (Thiswent over predictably wellwith LGBTQ employees at Meta.) Meanwhile, thanks to that more personalized approach to political content, it looks likepolarizationis back on the menu, boys. Zuckerbergs announcement was one of the most cynical displays of revisionist history I hope Ill ever see. As very many people have pointed out, it seems to be little more than an effort to curry favor with the incoming Trump administrationcomplete with a roll out onFox and Friends. Ill leave it to others right now to parse the specific political implications here (and many people are certainly doing so). Rather, what struck me as so cynical was the way Zuckerberg presented Facebooks history of fact-checking and content moderation as something he was pressured into doing by the government and media. The reality, of course, is that these were his decisions. He structured Meta so thathe has near total control over it. He famously calls the shots,and always has. Yet in Tuesdays announcement, Zuckerberg tries to blame others for the policies he himself instituted and endorsed. Governments and legacy media have pushed to censor more and more, he said.He went on: After Trump first got elected in 2016, the legacy media wrote nonstop about how misinformation was a threat to democracy. We tried in good faith to address those concerns without becoming the arbiters of truth, but the fact-checkers have just been too politically biased and have destroyed more trust than they've created, especially in the US. While Im not here to defend Metas fact checking system, I never thought it was particularly useful or effective, lets get into the claims that it was done at the behest of the government and legacy media. To start: The US government has never taken any meaningful enforcement actions against Meta whatsoever, and definitely nothing meaningful related to misinformation. Full stop. End of story. Call it a day. Sure, there have beenfinesandsettlements, but for a company the size of Meta, these were mosquitos to be slapped away. Perhaps more significantly, there isan FTC antitrust case working its way through the court, but it again has nothing to do with censorship or fact-checking. And when it comes to the media, consider the real power dynamics at play. Meta, with a current market cap of $1.54 trillion, is worth more than the combined value of the Walt Disney Company (which owns ABC news), Comcast (NBC), Paramount (CBS), Warner Bros (CNN), the New York Times Company, and Fox Corp (Fox News). In fact, Zuckerbergsestimated personal net worthis greater than the market cap of any of those single companies. Meanwhile, Metas audience completely dwarfs that of any legacy media company. According to the tech giant, itenjoys some 3.29 billion daily active users. Daily! And as the company has repeatedly shown, including in this weeks announcements, it is more than willing to twiddle its knobs to control what that audience sees from the legacy media. As a result, publishers have long bent the knee to Meta to try and get even slivers of that audience. Remember thepivot to video? OrInstant Articles? Media has spent more than a decade now trying to respond or get ahead of what Facebook says it wants to feature, only for it to change its mind and throttle traffic. The notion that publishers have any leverage whatsoever over Meta is preposterous. I think its useful to go back and look at how the company got here. Once upon a time Twitter was an actual threat to Facebooks business. After the 2012 election, for which Twitter was central and Facebook was an afterthought, Zuckerberg and company went hard after news. It created share buttons so people could easily drop content from around the Web into their feeds. By 2014, Zuckerbergwas saying he wanted it to be the perfect personalized newspaper for everyone in the world. But there were consequences to this. By 2015, it had a fake news epidemic on its hands,which it was well aware of. By the time the election rolled around in 2016, Macedonian teens hadfamously turned fake news into an arbitrage play, creating bogus pro-Trump news stories expressly to take advantage of the combination of Facebook traffic and Google AdSense dollars. Following the 2016 election, this allblew up in Facebooks face. And in December of that year,it announced it would begin partnering with fact checkers. A year later, Zuckerberg went on to say the issue of misinformation was too important an issue to be dismissive. Until, apparently, right now. Zuckerberg elided all this inconvenient history. But lets be real. No one forced him to hire fact checkers. No one was in a position to even truly pressure him to do so. If that were the case, he would not now be in a position to fire them from behind a desk wearing his $900,000 watch. He made the very choices which he now seeks to shirk responsibility for. But heres the thing, people already know Mark Zuckerberg too well for this transparent sucking up to be effective. Republicans already hate Zuck. Sen. Lindsey Graham has accused him of having blood on his hands. Sen. Josh Hawleyforced him to make an awkward apologyto the families of children harmed on his platform. Sen. Ted Cruz has, onmultiple occasions,torn into him. Trump famouslythreatened to throw him in prison. But so too do Democrats. Sen.Elizabeth Warren,Sen. Bernie Sanders, andAOChave all ripped him. And among the general public, hes bothless popularthanTrumpand more disliked thanJoe Biden. He loses on both counts toElon Musk.Tuesdays announcement ultimately seems little more than pandering foran audience that will never accept him. And while it may not be successful at winning MAGA over, at least the shamelessness and ignoring all past precedent is fully in character. After all, lets remember what Mark Zuckerbergwas busy doingin 2017: Image: Mark Zuckerberg Instagram Now read the rest of The Debrief The News NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huangs remarks about quantum computingcaused quantum stocks to plummet. See our predictionsfor whats coming for AI in 2025. Heres what the US is doing toprepare for a bird flu pandemic. New York state will try to passan AI bill similar to the one that died in California. EVs are projected to bemore than 50 percent of auto sales in China next year, 10 years ahead of targets. The Chat Every week, I talk to one ofMIT Technology Reviews journalists to go behind the scenes of a story they are working on. But this week, I turned the tables a bit and asked some of our editors to grill me aboutmy recent story on the rise of generative search.Charlotte Jee:What makes you feel so sure that AI search is going to take off? Mat:I just dont think theres any going back. There are definitely problems with itit can be wild with inaccuracies when it cobbles those answers together. But I think, for the most part it is, to refer to my old colleague Rob Capps phenomenal essay,good enough. And I think thats what usually wins the day. Easy answers that are good enough. Maybe thats a sad statement, but I think its true. Will Douglas Heaven:For years I've been asked if I think AI will take away my job and I always scoffed at the idea. Now I'm not so sure. I still don't think AI is about to do my job exactly. But I think it might destroy the business model that makes my job exist. And that's entirely down to this reinvention of search. As a journalistand editor of the magazine that pays my billshow worried are you? What can youwedo about it? Mat:Is this a trap? This feels like a trap, Will. Im going to give you two answers here. I think we, as inMIT Technology Review, are relatively insulated here. Were a subscription business. Were less reliant on traffic than most. Were also technology wonks, who tend to go deeper than what you might find in most tech pubs, which I think plays to our benefit. But I am worried about it and I do think it will be a problem for us, and for others. One thing Rand Fishkin,who has long studied zero-click searchesat SparkToro, said to me that wound up getting cut from my story was that brands needed to think more and more about how to build brand awareness. You can do that, for example, by being oft-cited in these models, by being seen as a reliable source. Hopefully, when people ask a question and see us as the expert the model is leaning on, that helps us build our brand and reputation. And maybe they become a readers. Thats a lot more leaps than a link out, obviously. But as he also said to me, if your business model is built on search referralsand for a lot of publishers that is definitely the caseyoure in trouble. Will:Is Google going to survive as a verb? If not, what are we going to call this new activity? Mat:I kinda feel like it is already dying. This is anecdotal, but my kids and all their friends almost exclusively use the phrase search up. As in search up George Washington or search up a pizza dough recipe. Often its followed by a platform, search up Charli XCX on Spotify. We live in California. What floored me was when I heard kids in New Hampshire and Georgia using the exact same phrase. But also I feel like were just going into a more conversational mode here. Maybe we dont call it anything. James ODonnell:I found myself highlighting this line from your piece: "Who wants to have to learn when you can just know?" Part of me thinks the process of finding information with AI search is pretty niceit can allow you to just follow your own curiosity a bit more than traditional search. But I also wonder how the meaning of research may change. Doesn't the process of "digging" do something for us and our minds that AI search will eliminate? Mat: Oh, this occurred to me too! I asked about it in one of my conversations with Google in fact. Blake Montgomeryhas a fantastic essay on this very thing. He talks about how he cant navigate without Google Maps, cant meet guys without Grindr, and wonders what effect ChatGPT will have on him. If you have not previously, you should read it. Niall Firth:How much do you use AI search yourself? Do you feel conflicted about it? Mat:I use it quite a bit. I find myself crafting queries for Google that I think will generate an AI Overview in fact. And I use ChatGPT a lot as well. I like being able to ask a long, complicated question, and I find that it often does a better job of getting at the heart of what Im looking for especially when Im looking for something very specificbecause it can suss out the intent along with the key words and phrases. For example, for the story above I asked What did Mark Zuckerberg say about misinformation and harmful content in 2016 and 2017? Ignore any news articles from the previous few days and focus only on his remarks in 2016 and 2017. The top traditional Google result for that querywas this storythat I would have wanted specifically excluded. It also coughed up several others from the last few days in the top results. But ChatGPT was able to understand my intent and helped me find the older source material. And yes, I feel conflicted. Both because I worry about its economic impact on publishers and Im well aware that theres a lot of junk in there. Its also just sort of an unpopular opinion. Sometimes it feels a bit like smoking, but I do it anyway. The Recommendation Most of the time, the recommendation is for something positive that I think people will enjoy. A song. A book. An app. Etc. This week though Im going to suggest you take a look at something a little more unsettling. Nat Friedman, the former CEO of GitHub, set out to try and understand how much microplastic is in our food supply. He and a team tested hundreds of samples from foods drawn from the San Francisco Bay Area (but very many of which are nationally distributed). The results are pretty shocking. As a disclaimer on the site reads: we have refrained from drawing high-confidence conclusions from these results, and we think that you should, too. Consider this a snapshot of our raw test results, suitable as a starting point and inspiration for further work, but not solid enough on its own to draw conclusions or make policy recommendations or even necessarily to alter your personal purchasing decisions. With that said:check it out.

Whether you're looking for a new addition to your Lego Architecture collection or you're a lover of all things Rome, you're in luck: The newly announcedLego Architecture Trevi Fountain (21062) is sure to brighten up your desk or shelf.Coming in at 1,880 pieces, this replica of the 18-century Rome landmark measures over 15 inches (38 cm) wide and 10 inches (25 cm) tall. The facade of the main building is finely-detailed, with light pink accents adding a nice touch of warmth. The new minifigure statues are expressive (even without faces), and the horse-headed hippocampi sculptures look especially dynamic. And the water has a feeling of real depth, thanks to multiple layers of transparent bricks.It's not the first time Lego has produced a model of the Trevi Fountain; a version in 2014 featured less than half the pieces of the new set. The new one is bigger and bolder by far. See at LegoLego Architecture Trevi Fountain retails for $160 and is available for pre-order today; it starts shipping on March 1. Can't wait till then? Check out some of our other favorite Lego sets, or watch the teaser for the upcoming Lego Game Boy.

January 13, 20256 min readLos Angeles Firefighters Risk Cancer from Urban SmokeWildfires are storming into urban areas more frequently, and toxins in homes and cars are increasing cancer risk for firefightersBy Ariel Wittenberg & E&E News A firefighter battles a house fire along PCH as the Palisades Fire burns in Malibu Wednesday. Wally Skalij/Los Angeles Times via Getty ImagesCLIMATEWIRE | Firefighter Matt Alba was having flashbacks. Watching video footage of Los Angeles getting torched by wind-fed flames unlocked memories of his fight against the Camp Fire six years ago.He spent 11 days in a fiery hell named Paradise, the California town that was incinerated by wildfire in November 2018. More than 18,000 buildings turned to ash. Alba had no lung protection for most of that time. But there was sickness in the smoke. He inhaled a toxic swirl of chemicals released from heavy metals and carcinogens as homes and cars burned. They can damage the brain.He remembers sniffing a smoldering tree stump in a burnt down mobile home park. It smelled acrid and unnatural.On supporting science journalismIf you're enjoying this article, consider supporting our award-winning journalism by subscribing. By purchasing a subscription you are helping to ensure the future of impactful stories about the discoveries and ideas shaping our world today.I turned back to my crew and said, Oh man, I just took five years off my life with that inhale, he recalled in an interview. And that was before I came down with brain cancer.Cancer is the No. 1 cause of death among firefighters. Now, crews battling the Los Angeles blazes are again inhaling cancer-causing chemicals without proper respiratory protection. It underscores how communities are unprepared for the changing nature of wildfire. As global warming parches vegetation and primes the landscape for ignition, intensifying fires are increasingly storming into urban areas where they can release more harmful chemicals.And firefighters are surrounded by poisonous smoke clouds.The lack of respiratory protection is a problem that has been decimating wildland firefighters health for years. Despite new efforts following the Camp Fire, there are still no respirators on the market that are portable, able to filter out all the chemicals released by structure fires, and last long enough for the extended shifts of wildland firefighters.In 2018, we kept saying this is unprecedented over and over and over again, and were now using the same word to talk about these new fires, Alba said. But we should have seen it coming.Not so wild firesFirefighters battling the Los Angeles blazes have been given N95 masks and specialized respirators attached to oxygen tanks. Its up to them whether to use them or not, said Edith Lai, a Los Angeles County spokesperson.The masks with oxygen tanks, known as SCBAs, are commonly used by urban firefighters to protect themselves against the dangerous combination of plummeting oxygen levels and rising carbon monoxide. They also block the inhalation of toxic fumes, but they last only 30 to 45 minutes and can weigh up to 40 pounds. They are not designed for round-the-clock toxic exposures created by wildfires, like those in Los Angeles.N95 masks are not viable alternatives either, said Joe Ten Eyck, wildfire training coordinator with the International Association of Fire Fighters union. They protect against some particle pollution but cant filter out carcinogenic gases like polyaromatic hydrocarbons and dioxins, both of which are emitted from structure fires. The N95 masks stop only 11 to 15 percent of those chemicals, Ten Eyck said. They also restrict breathing in potentially dangerous ways during active firefighting.The firefighters out there on the line doing structure defense, perimeter control in Los Angeles right now are right there where the smoke is at its absolute worst, and the protection levels are not where we want them to be or need them to be, he said.Wildfires have historically burned vegetation. That smoke can be hazardous to inhale, too, because it contains tiny particles that can clog up respiratory systems, exacerbating asthma and other conditions. But increased development in previously rural areas means wildfires are increasingly occurring in urban spaces burning more structures and releasing more chemicals.Some 7,180 structures in California were destroyed by wildfires between 2004 and 2014, according to state data. Then the number exploded. In the past decade, wildfires burned nearly 54,700 structures. More than 18,800 of them were destroyed in a single blaze, the Camp Fire.As more structures burn, firefighters are exposed to more chemicals and more cancer.Plumbing has copper and lead in it. Paint has toxic chemicals. Electronics, plastics have really nasty stuff in them. All these chemicals we dont think of occurring in a wildland fire are now part of the smoke, said Mary Johnson, principal research assistant at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. The list is really long, and its really not good.Urban firefighting already had a cancer problem. Some 70 percent of line-of-duty deaths in the fire service were from cancer in 2016, according to federal data. In 2022, the World Health Organizations International Agency for Research on Cancer went so far as to categorize firefighting itself as carcinogenic to humans due to the sheer volume of chemicals encountered on the job.A carcinogenic jobFirefighters also encounter carcinogens in the foam they use to suppress flames, and even in some of their protective gear. The International Association of Fire Fighters union says that using SCBA respirators is the single most protective voluntary activity a firefighter can take.But they aren't typically available to wildland firefighters. Instead, they rely on neck gaiters or scarves to try and limit smoke inhalation. Even if SCBAs are available, their weight and short duration makes them impractical for wildfire fighting, when firefighters are often battling blazes for 10 to 24 hours at a time.Wildland firefighters are exposed to many of the same respiratory hazards that structural firefighters avoid by using self-contained breathing apparatuses, warned the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.The Camp Fire was something of a turning point. But efforts to protect firefighters have been slow-moving.Following the 2018 blaze, DHS said, many wildland firefighters reached their respiratory damage limit and retired.Firefighters who fought Camp Fire have higher concentrations of toxins in their blood, according to a study commissioned by the San Francisco Firefighter Cancer Prevention Foundation. In that project, 80 firefighters were given blood tests a few hours after they deployed to fight the Camp Fire. Their blood carried carcinogenic flame retardants commonly found in plastics, electronics, foam and furniture at higher levels than the general population. They also had elevated levels of PFAS, a carcinogen and endocrine disrupter, and some firefighters also had higher levels of mercury and lead.No effective device availableFollowing the Camp Fire, DHS made grant funding available to develop respirators that would be well-suited to firefighting. They need to be lightweight, portable, long-lasting and easy to wear during strenuous activity like trench digging.But progress has been slow.Currently there is no effective device available on the market that is validated to perform in smoke and that is sufficiently durable to stand up under the conditions that firefighters face in these incidents and would be practical to use given its size and weight, Mike Wilson, a senior safety engineer with California, said in a presentation last month to the California Industrial Hygiene Council Annual Meeting.One prototype to receive funding is a hip-mounted air purifying respirator from TDA research. It uses a fan to blow air over layers of HEPA filters to remove toxins before firefighters inhale them.It has been tested in training exercises by CalFire and the Los Angeles Fire Department, but is still at least two years away from being mass produced, said Drew Galloway, the engineer who designed the device.He remembers meeting with the parents of a firefighter who had been deployed to the Camp Fire for two weeks. It was his first fire, and it damaged his lungs so badly he had to retire.Its almost like instantaneous black lung, Galloway said. Thats the biggest threat to wildland firefighters, is you have got to keep these carcinogenic particles out of their system.The California Occupational Safety and Health Administration has also tried to tackle the problem. The state issued a general wildfire smoke safety rule in 2020 that required employers to provide outdoor workers with masks when air quality rises above certain thresholds but exempted wildland firefighters. Two years later, the agency published a draft rule aimed at protecting wildland firefighters. It would require that they be given the portable respirators being developed by Galloway.But the rule has not been finalized, in part because the technology isn't ready. The agency, which has worked with TDA Research to test its prototype, said it hopes the rule will be finalized in 2026.Protecting firefighters from serious smoke exposures when they are deployed to fight the states large wildland and wildland urban interface fires is one of Cal/OSHAs highest priorities for firefighter safety and health, said agency spokesperson Denisse Gomez.Waiting is hard to stomach for Alba, 47, who is now a battalion chief in the San Francisco Fire Departments Division of Health, Safety and Wellness.Since battling the Camp Fire, he developed a brain tumor the size of a pear. Most of the tumor was surgically removed, and the cancer has been kept at bay by chemotherapy and radiation.But he knows hes not out of the woods.I just really hope my brain cancer is the only cancer I get, he said.Reprinted from E&E News with permission from POLITICO, LLC. Copyright 2025. E&E News provides essential news for energy and environment professionals.

DF Weekly: can the new RTX 5070 really match RTX 4090 performance?Nvidia says yes, but the reality is more nuanced - and AI is doing the heavy-lifting. Blog by Richard Leadbetter Technology Editor, Digital Foundry Published on Jan. 13, 2025 This week's Digital Foundry Direct comes straight from Las Vegas, where Oliver Mackenzie and Alex Battaglia share their impressions on the technologies revealed on the showfloor - kicking off with an overview of the Nvidia RTX 50-series reveal keynote. It's a claim in that presentation that I'm going to tackle in this week's blog. Is the upcoming RTX 5070 really offering RTX 4090 series 'performance'? Based on established parlance, the answer is - of course - no, but the reasons behind the claim are straightforward enough and prescient of the era to follow: big leaps in frame-rate via hardware are diminishing and, like it or not, the future is biased more towards software, with machine learning taking a leading role.To tackle Nvidia's RTX 5070 claim head on, the notion of performance parity is based entirely on the implementation of DLSS 4 multi frame generation, where the new $549 GPU is presumably tested against an RTX 4090 running the same resolution and settings but only using single frame generation. By all quantifiable metrics, the claim holds no water. Even running on a more modern architecture and process node, the RTX 5070's 6,144 CUDA cores are no match for the RTX 4090's 16,384 - meaning a similar disparity in terms of RT and tensor cores. A 384-bit memory interface on the RTX 4090 gives way to a 192-bit bus on the RTX 5070. While the RTX 5070 has faster memory, it only has 12GB of it, up against the 24GB of the outgoing machine.Put simply, without DLSS 4, the RTX 5070 will not match the RTX 4090 - unless we're talking about relatively simple games running to the limit of your display's refresh rate (v-sync or capped). On the face of it, Nvidia's claims are ludicrous - and yet hands-on reports from CES like this one from PC Games N are complimentary, detailing a Marvel Rivals demo showing a 5070 with frame generation showing much higher frame-rates than a 4090, though apparently parity is more common. My guess is that Marvel Rivals is CPU-limited in this demo, where frame generation shows the biggest multipliers to frame-rate, but even so, DLSS 4 is leaving a positive impression and the frame-rate claim is borne out, albeit with a big AI asterix attached.Join Alex Battaglia and Oliver Mackenzie for a new DF Direct, brought to you direct from Las Vegas.Watch on YouTube0:00:00 Introduction0:01:47 Nvidia CES demos - RTX Mega Geometry0:14:25 RTX Neural Materials0:21:24 RTX Neural Faces and RTX Hair0:31:37 ReStir Path Tracing + Mega Geometry0:36:49 Black State with DLSS 40:42:47 Alan Wake 2 with DLSS 40:46:01 Reflex 2 in The Finals0:53:22 AMD at CES: AI denoiser demo, Lenovo Legion Go handhelds1:03:51 Razer at CES: Laptop Cooling Pad, new Razer Blade1:11:30 Asus and Intel at CES1:17:29 CES displays: Mini-LED, Micro-LED, OLED + monitor sins!1:30:07 Supporter Q1: Will Switch 2 support DLSS 4?1:32:22 Supporter Q2: Did you see the Switch 2 mockups at CES?1:33:56 Supporter Q3: Could you test DLSS against an ultra high-res ground truth image?1:37:52 Supporter Q4: Why would a developer use Nvidia-developed rendering techniques over their UE5 equivalents?1:40:38 Supporter Q5: Will multi frame gen solve game stutters?1:42:05 Supporter Q6: Will multi frame gen make VRR obsolete?1:44:27 Supporter Q7: Is Sony regretting sticking with AMD for their console business?1:49:49 Supporter Q8: What do you think of the FF7 Rebirth PC specs?1:52:37 Supporter Q9: Whats the craziest thing youve seen on the show floor at CES?I would bet good money that Nvidia made the 5070/4090 comparison knowing that the idea would come under heavy scrutiny. The firm clearly believes that all the testing to come will be a net positive for its claims, even when negative points of the 5070 experience are brought to the fore. And at a brutal SEO-level, the more 5070/4090 comparisons that come along, the heavier the algorithmic boost the original claim will receive.So, having spent some time with DLSS 4, I can project how these comparisons will play out. First of all, in games that really do use more than 12GB of RAM, the limitations of the RTX 5070 will result in either degraded visuals or reduced frame-rates. Indiana Jones and the Great Circle will be an interesting test case. In other games, there may well be parity with the RTX 4090 in terms of frame-rate, but input lag will be higher, and there may be more frame generation artefacts. The higher the base frame-rate being fed into frame generation, the less noticeable the hit to input lag will be, while the resulting output frame-rate may be so fast as to make the frame-gen artefacts less noticeable - but the RTX 4090 should still look better and play better.Marvel Rivals may be interesting to test as a best case scenario, but it'll be 'full RT' path tracing games like Alan Wake 2 and Cyberpunk 2077 that really put the 5070/4090 head-to-head through its paces - and ultimately, this comparison is key. While it's possible to enjoy path tracing even on 4070-class hardware without frame-gen, the full bells-and-whistles experience is perceived to be 4090-only and the promise is that this level of 'performance' is now available for a $549 product.To see this content please enable targeting cookies. Increased latency is the key limitation of frame generation that DLSS 4 does not completely crack. The way the technology works is simple: a standard rendered frame is generated, then the next one is buffered (causing latency). Then, frame-gen calculates the one, two, or three interpolated frames (you can choose with DLSS 4) that are displayed between the standard rendered frames. Nvidia mandates the use of its Reflex latency-reduction technology to mitigate the difference. The same system is in play for DLSS multi-frame generation with one difference - the extra interpolated frames are generated very, very quickly. In my tests, there was a circa 6.4ms addition to latency by adding two more frames compared to existing frame-gen tech.At this point, I should take a pause and correct some misunderstandings I noticed in the YouTube comments to the DLSS 4 video we put out last week, embedded below. Latency metrics were confused with frame-time, so the idea that Cyberpunk 2077 had 50ms of lag was likened to a 20fps frame-rate. Truth is, every game has different levels of lag even when targeting the same performance level - as Tom Morgan demonstrated with this PS4-era testing back in the day. Tom's latency metrics revealed a bunch of games running locked at 60fps delivering very different input lag: despite both titles running locked at 60fps, Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare had a 47.5ms latency advantage (!) over Doom 2016 and a 37.3ms advantage over esports favourite, Overwatch. The truth is, latency matters, but these differentials are somewhat higher than the lag added by frame generation in many scenarios. Frame-rate is clearly more noticeable, increased input lag less so. When did anyone complain about Doom or Overwatch lag?I want to talk about the word 'performance' next. When we first unveiled DLSS 3, we talked about performance multipliers brought about by frame generation. Nvidia continues to do so. However, feedback from the community made me think about whether 'performance' was the most appropriate term. For the entire 3D era, increased frame-rates have been delivered hand-in-hand with reductions in input lag. It's a performance boost in all areas. Is frame generation really a performance boost if latency is higher?Our first reaction to DLSS 4 technology running on RTX 5080 when we looked at it over the holiday break.Watch on YouTubeIt was a good point, then I thought on this further: if 2x frame-gen isn't delivering a 2x boost to frame-rate, aren't we actually getting fewer standard rendered frames? When the RTX 4090 review came around, I took onboard the feedback and now refer to the increased frame-rate as exactly that - an fps boost - but not a performance boost. It's a distinction I make because performance isn't just frame-rate, even if - strictly speaking - it's a measurement of the GPU's 'performance', just in different terms. So-called 'fake' frames? It's only an issue when the artefacts are obvious and noticeable. Like latency it remains an issue, but eventually I expect both to be solved.And let's be clear - Nvidia's 5070/4090 claim is the firm laying the groundwork for a new paradigm that will be embraced by all vendors. That's because it's increasingly clear that the future of graphics technology will be skewed more towards AI generation and yes - ray tracing - than it will be by a bigger GPU with more shaders. It has to be, simply because the cost of the latest semiconductor fabrication processes is only heading in one direction - but if you want more 'performance' in the traditional sense, you'll need to pay more for it. And even then, per the Direct this week, you'll find that many of the advances being made are purely driven by machine learning.Finally, is this all just one big Nvidia scam - another refrain we often hear? Well, if the technologies discussed in this week's Direct don't sway you, I'll leave you with this quote from Mark Cerny, working in partnership with AMD, of course: "The strategies that we had up through PS4 Pro or the like... I wouldn't say it's reached a limit, but mostly it's about making the GPU bigger or memory faster. And so, as we look to the future, the improvements will be ray tracing. I think we're going to see a lot happening there. And then everything we can get done with ML..."

You can trust VideoGamer. Our team of gaming experts spend hours testing and reviewing the latest games, to ensure you're reading the most comprehensive guide possible. Rest assured, all imagery and advice is unique and original. Check out how we test and review games here Contents hide Fortnite Chapter 6 Season 1 has already been quite exciting for players as since the past month the community has been enjoying the festivities that the Winterfest update brought to the game. A snow-themed biome, Winterfest log cabin, and free rewards to claim, all were highly praised by players as the most-awaited update is almost here.Right after Epics winter break, the second major patch for Chapter 6 Season 1, v33.20 is ready to be deployed and it will bring tons of new content to the game, including the much-awaited beast Godzilla, in a rumored battle with his nemesis Kong. If youre looking for all the content arriving in Fortnite in the next update, weve got you covered right here.Fortnite Godzilla update 33.20 release date and downtime detailsThe upcoming Fortnite update 33.20 will release on January 14, 2025, which will unlock Godzilla in the game as a boss and a cosmetic outfit that players can get by purchasing the Chapter 6 Season 1 Battle Pass. The new Fortnite update will bring major changes to Chapter 6 gameplay. Image by Epic Games.The downtime for the update 33.20 will go underway at 4 AM ET and is expected to last around 4 hours since its a huge patch that will change things significantly across all game modes. While the downtime is underway, all Fortnite services will be offline and you wont be able to use them. Matchmaking will be disabled 30 minutes before the downtime.Fortnite update 33.20 early patch notes and leaksGodzilla skin and Kong boss battleFortnite update 33.20 will unlock the Godzilla quests and cosmetics that are currently locked behind the Chapter 6 Season 1 Battle Pass. To unlock the cosmetic items and Godzilla skin, players will need to complete some special challenges besides the usual weekly and seasonal quests.The king of monsters, Godzilla will be unleashed onto the island. Image by Epic Games.These quests will be themed around either going head to head with a rumored Godzilla boss on the island, who according to a leak, will destroy the Shining Span bridge on the island. Furthermore, another viral rumor has been going on that a Kong boss will also appear at some point during the season where fans will be able to witness a boss battle between the two monsters.Hatsune Miku headlines Fortnite Festival Season 7Hatsune Miku is the featured artist for the new Fortnite Festival Season 7 which is bringing the much-awaited feature of a local co-op to consoles. The iconic Japanese virtual pop star is bringing two skins, a new Music Pass, a revamped Main Stage and Jam Stage as well as new songs for players to play.Hatsune Miku arrives in Fortnite Festival Season 7. Image by Epic Games.Furthermore, new instruments and cosmetic items will also be added to the game that aligns with the new Festival season which celebrates the Japanese pop music scene alongside one of the most popular icons out there. Players will also be able to unlock the popular track M@GICALCURE! LOVE SHOT! by SAWTOWNE featuring Hatsune Miku in the Music Pass.Weapon unvaults and gameplay changesAlongside all the new content, the weapon loot pool in Fortnite Chapter 6 Season 1 Battle Royale will undergo several changes. Weapons like Rail Gun, Quad Launcher, Shield Keg, and Shield Bubble Jr. will be unvaulted, meanwhile vaulting all the Winterfest items in the game.More changes include the removal of the snow biome from the island as well as building up to a mini-event coming later this season. However, one of the most awaited features will turn Fortnite Festival instruments into Pickaxes and Back Blings that may finally be added to Battle Royale.Fortnite OG unvaults and Season 2 leaksFortnite update 33.20 will also bring specific changes to the popular OG mode where it will unvault more classic weapons to the Chapter 1 Season 1 loot pool. However players will also get to have their first look at how OG Season 2 will look as rumors have been suggesting at the return of another OG shop which will bring the Black Knight skin and another OG pass inspired by classic Fortnite skins.New Rocket Racing, LEGO, and Ballistic contentA Cars collab may just be arriving in Rocket Racing soon enough. Image by VideoGamer.When it comes to other Fortnite modes, Rocket Racing will receive new car bundles in the Item Shop as usual. However, what players have been waiting for a long time is the official Cars collab with the popular Disney franchise to take shape with the update. The collab is rumored to bring a Radiator Springs map and vehicle skins for Lightning McQueen and Tow Mater.LEGO Fortnite will receive some new content related to the Storm King boss battle and some new weapons and enemies which will keep survival exciting for explorers in their worlds. Brick Life mode will get new jobs and items and a potential new Balloon item that players will be able to use to roam around the island.Talking about the Ballistic mode, the Unranked lobbies will be re-enabled after being offline for more than two weeks in the game. Furthermore, potential new weapons, gadgets, and a new map may be teased as Ballistic is due to get its first major content update for players.Fortnite leaks and more fixes coming with 33.20 updateMore Fortnite leaks hint at a new event mini-pass, Vehicle Royale mode, new LTM coming in Chapter 6, Devil May Cry collaboration, and the next LEGO update, all imminent in the coming weeks in-game.Another round of leaks includes various cosmetic outfits that were mentioned in Fortnite surveys before that may arrive soon in the game in a future update. FortnitePlatform(s):Android, iOS, macOS, Nintendo Switch, PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series S/XGenre(s):Action, Massively Multiplayer, Shooter9VideoGamerRelated TopicsFortnite Subscribe to our newsletters!By subscribing, you agree to our Privacy Policy and may receive occasional deal communications; you can unsubscribe anytime.Share

Zuckerbergs Meta Faces Internal Uproar Over New Anti-LGBTQ Policies Meta, the tech giant is facing backlash from its own employees over recent policy updates announced by CEO Mark Zuckerberg. These changes involve a significant reduction in content moderation across platforms like Facebook and Instagram, specifically around topics that have long been considered sensitive, such as gender identity and immigration.According to a report by 404 Media, the companys internal forum, Workplace, saw employees expressing their dismay, with one posting, I am LGBT and Mentally Ill, highlighting their need to take a break for mental health due to the unsettling policy updates. This comes after Zuckerbergs statement about removing fact-checkers whom he described as too politically biased and not penalizing users for derogatory comments linking LGBTQ+ identities to mental illness.The atmosphere is tense at Meta, with many employees voicing concerns that the company is stepping back from its commitment to protect marginalized groups. This decision comes shortly after Zuckerbergs meeting with President-Elect Donal Trump at the Mar-a-Lago resort, fueling suspicions among staff and observers alike that the move might have political underpinnings aimed at appeasing a more conservative audience.Critics and employees alike are worried that these changes could lead to increased harassment and misinformation on Metas platforms, marking another chapter in the companys troubled history with content moderation. The new policy direction has done little to quell the growing concerns among the workforce, setting the stage for what could be an ongoing internal conflict.

Clock's TickingDon't get too sad, but Hideo Kojima appears to be getting introspective about how long he can keep making games as he approaches "crunch time" on his current projects"Every day feels like Im racing against the clock." News by Oisin Kuhnke Contributor Published on Jan. 13, 2025 Hideo Kojima isn't getting any younger, and he seems to know that too, as the developer has shared some thoughts about how long he can keep making games for.The dream of any artist is to keep making things for as long as they possibly can, no matter how successful they may or may not be. Metal Gear Solid and Death Stranding creator Hideo Kojima is obviously on the higher end of that success, but even he's wondering how long he can keep going for apparently. Those of you that are aware of Kojima are probably aware that he is a poster - he's constantly sharing his thoughts on Twitter about things he's read and watched. To see this content please enable targeting cookies. Some fans have even figured out a code (if he just says "watched [insert movie]" it was bad, if he wrote a paragraph about it it was good, and if he wrote multiple paragraphs he loved it), but his posts also offer an insight that you don't always get from big name devs. For example, Kojima recently shared that he read Ridley Scott: A Retrospective, a book that you can probably guess the contents of, which prompted Kojima to question how long he can keep game development up. "At this age, I cant help but think about how much longer Ill be able to stay 'creative,'" Kojima wrote."I want to keep going for the rest of my life, but is it 10 more years? 20? Every day feels like Im racing against the clock. Even now, at 87, Ridley Scott is still active. And back when he was past 60 - my current stage in life - he created the masterpiece 'Gladiator.'" Bear in mind, this does also come a few days after Kojima tweeted about crunching on the current game he's working on. To see this content please enable targeting cookies."The most demanding period of game development - both physically and mentally- commonly known as 'crunch time.' On top of mixing and Japanese voice recording, theres an inevitable pile of other tasks: writing comments, explanations, essays, interviews, discussions, and non-game-related work. Its incredibly tough."Presumably he's talking about Death Stranding 2 and not OD here, given the former has a 2025 release date. Here's hoping the studio doesn't have to crunch too much, given how prolific of a problem it is in the industry (and let's hope it's mostly just confined to Kojima - no offence, but it is on the studio's head to avoid situations like these).

So how about a 'Switch 2' reveal, eh?On this day in 2017, Nintendo finally lifted the lid on a little console called the Nintendo Switch, revealing the hybrid's technical specs, price and all-important release date to the world. Eight years on, we're desperate to see 'Switch 2' get the same treatment.To be clear, the 2017 presentation wasn't the first time we had laid eyes on the Switch that came in the now-iconic rooftop-party trailer a few months earlier but it was where all the information dropped. With a Treehouse steam arriving the next day and revealing the launch line-up, the console would land in stores a mere seven weeks later (which is wild, when you think about it), beginning the era of the Switch.Read the full article on nintendolife.com