Subscribe to Nintendo Life on YouTube792kThe folks at this Digital Foundry have this week taken a look at the latest Switch release Donkey Kong Country Returns HD.In brief, the resolution and frame rate are "surprisingly solid". This Unity-powered game runs at 1080p docked and 720p in handheld mode on the Switch - with reasonable image quality and sharper textures. Unfortunately, it's not all intact - with "some oddities" and hiccups like reduced effects and sloppy animation."The closer you look though, the more you start to spot some oddities. Visual effects that were missing in the original trailer have been implemented and improved, but there are still small hiccups - the dust clouds kicked up while pounding the DK symbol are reduced, and the animation of the barrel breaking as DK shoots out of it is a bit sloppy."You might not notice stuff like this while just playing through, but you probably would notice the missing sunset in stage three, the less glowy floating KONG letters, and simplified shadows on the intro to the first boss fight. These sorts of nips and tucks are throughout, and while these are minor changes, it still feels weird to see a game released on a vastly more powerful system with fewer effects and details."The loading times of this HD version have also been cited as being "nearly twice as long as they were on the Wii version running from a disc", which feels like a "big step back".As for the frame rate, this version of the title runs at 60fps at 1080p, which is an improvement on the 3DS entry that was dropped back to 30fps. Overall, Digital Foundry sums this latest version as both "good and disappointing" - while the remastering efforts have been "largely successful", the areas where it falls short "feel less acceptable" given the age of the original game.You can get the full rundown in the video above, and check out our own thoughts in our review here on Nintendo Life: That's what you get for not hailing to the chimpWorth going bananas over?Monkey businessWill you be returning to this Donkey Kong outing this week? Let us know in the comments.[source youtu.be, via eurogamer.net]Related GamesSee AlsoShare:00 Liam is a news writer and reviewer for Nintendo Life and Pure Xbox. He's been writing about games for more than 15 years and is a lifelong fan of Mario and Master Chief. Hold on there, you need to login to post a comment...Related ArticlesReview: Donkey Kong Country Returns HD (Switch) - Aping A Retro ClassicThat's what you get for not hailing to the chimpRound Up: The Reviews Are In For Donkey Kong Country Returns HDWorth going bananas over?

Chinese firms continue to release AI models that rival the capabilities of systems developed by OpenAI and other U.S.-based AI companies.This week, MiniMax, an Alibaba- and Tencent-backed startup that has raised around $850 million in venture capital and is valued at more than $2.5 billion, debuted three new models: MiniMax-Text-01, MiniMax-VL-01, and T2A-01-HD. MiniMax-Text-01 is a text-only model, while MiniMax-VL-01 can understand both images and text. T2A-01-HD, meanwhile, generates audio specifically speech.MiniMax claims that MiniMax-Text-01, which is 456 billion parameters in size, performs better than models such as Googles recently unveiled Gemini 2.0 Flash on benchmarks like MATH and SimpleQA, which measure the ability of a model to answer math problems and fact-based questions. Parameters roughly correspond to a models problem-solving skills, and models with more parameters generally perform better than those with fewer parameters.As for MiniMax-VL-01, MiniMax says that it rivals Anthropics Claude 3.5 Sonnet on evaluations that require multimodal understanding, like ChartQA, which tasks models with answering graph- and diagram-related queries (e.g., What is the peak value of the orange line in this graph?). Granted, MiniMax-VL-01 doesnt quite best Gemini 2.0 Flash on many of these tests. OpenAIs GPT-4o and Metas Llama 3.1 beat it on several as well.Of note, MiniMax-Text-01 has an extremely large context window. A models context, or context window, refers to input (e.g., text) that a model considers before generating output (additional text). With a context window of 4 million tokens, MiniMax-Text-01 can analyze around 3 million words in one go or just over five copies of War and Peace.For context (no pun intended), MiniMax-Text-01s context window is roughly 31 times the size of GPT-4os and Llama 3.1s.The last of MiniMaxs models released this week, T2A-01-HD, is an audio generator optimized for speech. T2A-01-HD can generate a synthetic voice with adjustable cadence, tone, and tenor in around 17 different languages, including English and Chinese, and clone a voice from just 10 seconds of an audio recording.MiniMax didnt publish benchmark results comparing T2A-01-HD to other audio-generating models. But to this reporters ear, T2A-01-HDs outputs sound on par with audio models from Meta and startups like PlayAI.With the exception of T2A-01-HD, which is exclusively available through MiniMaxs API and Hailuo AI platform, MiniMaxs new models can be downloaded from GitHub and the AI dev platform Hugging Face. Just because the models are openly available doesnt mean they arent locked down in certain aspects, however. MiniMax-Text-01 and MiniMax-VL-01 arent truly open source in the sense that MiniMax hasnt released the components (e.g., training data) needed to re-create them from scratch. Moreover, theyre under MiniMaxs restrictive license, which prohibits developers from using the models to improve rival AI models and requires that platforms with more than 100 million monthly active users request a special license from MiniMax.MiniMax was founded in 2021 by former employees of SenseTime, one of Chinas largest AI firms. The companys projects include apps like Talkie, an AI-powered role-playing platform along the lines of Character AI, and text-to-video models that MiniMax has released in Hailuo.Some of MiniMaxs products have become the subject of minor controversy.Talkie, which was pulled from Apples App Store in December for unspecified technical reasons, features AI avatars of public figures, including Donald Trump, Taylor Swift, Elon Musk, and LeBron James, none of whom appear to have consented to being featured in the app.In December, Broadcast magazine reported that MiniMaxs video generators can reproduce the logos of British television channels, suggesting that MiniMaxs models were trained on content from those channels. And MiniMax is reportedly being sued by iQiyi, a Chinese video streaming service that alleges MiniMax illicitly trained on iQiyis copyrighted recordings.MiniMaxs new models arrive days after the outgoing Biden administration proposed harsher export rules and restrictions on AI technologies for Chinese ventures. Companies in China were already prevented from buying advanced AI chips, but if the new rules go into effect as written, companies will be faced with stricter caps on both the semiconductor tech and models needed to bootstrap sophisticated AI systems.On Wednesday, the Biden administration announced additional measures focused on keeping sophisticated chips out of China. Chip foundries and packaging companies that want to export certain chips will be subjected to broader license requirements unless they exercise greater scrutiny and due diligence to prevent their products from reaching Chinese clients.Topics

Constructed of random-coursed stone, this charming building in Cornwall, Connecticut, exhibits a prominent classical entry, Tuscan pilasters, and modillion eaves. This handsome structure was completed in late 1908 following a substantial donation to the town for its first purpose-built library by summer resident John E. Calhoun. Mr. Calhoun had cultivated an interest in architecture and is said to have designed the building, and later designed his own home in the village years later. The high-style architectural building documents the transformation of Cornwall from a sleepy agricultural town into a fashionable residential retreat in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. The building operated as the towns public library until 2002 when the contemporary library building was completed. This stone structure was converted to the town hall.

Richard Drury/Getty ImagesZDNET's key takeawaysMonarch Money is one of the most feature-rich personal financial programs I've tested, and it offers a free week-long trial.Pros: It's easy to set up and has powerful tools for analyzing finances and building a budget.Cons: It's one of the more expensive Mint alternatives I've tested.In the fall of 2023, I spent a week looking at personal finance programs. Why? When Intuit decided to bury Mint, its popular and free money-tracking and budgeting program, I didn't have a choice. I had to find another way to manage my money.Intuit wanted me to move my Mint data to Credit Karma, but I didn't want to do that. While Credit Karma is good at working with your credit scores, it's not a budgeting application.Also: The best identity theft protection and credit monitoring services of 2025With precious little time to move my years of financial data to a new service, I had to find a suitable replacement. Everyone's financial needs are different. In my case, I needed a program that could handle multiple bank and credit card accounts, several 401Ks, and some stock and real estate investments. details View at Monarch Money So, I kicked the tires of Monarch Money, NerdWallet, Rocket Money, Quicken Simplifi, and YNAB (You Need A Budget). My pick? Monarch Money.Also:The best identity theft protection and credit monitoring services of 2024Monarch Money provides a financial framework for zero-based budgeting. With this approach, you allocate every dollar you earn to expenses and savings. Monarch is more than just a budgeting app. It provides everything you need to manage your personal finances.What I like most about Monarch MoneyMonarch presents income and expenses clearly, making it easy to track your remaining budget. I'm not an emoji fan, but their use here for spending subcategories is charming and functional, enabling quick identification of different categories.One of my favorite Monarch features is its transaction tracker. The tracker allows you to categorize spending into broad categories, such as food and dining; subcategories, such as groceries and restaurants; and specific merchants, such as Ingles Market and Five Points Diner. This detailed view of spending habits is a standout feature. The app's auto-categorization is precise and customizable, allowing users to set rules for future transactions based on the merchant or amount.Also: The five biggest mistakes people make when prompting an AIMonarch also easily imports data from your bank accounts, retirement funds, stock accounts, and credit cards. Of all the applications I looked at, Monarch did the best job of automatically importing data from other services.Note: If you've already downloaded your Mint data as a CSV file, the default format, you can still upload it into Monarch or another money management program. If you haven't downloaded it yet, I'm sorry to say your Mint data is gone for good now.I also like that Monarch prioritizes savings. You can set a financial goal, such as saving for a house downpayment, and set a deadline. The app creates a dedicated savings section on the home screen. Contributions to this section are only possible when expenses are lower than income.The customizable dashboard provides an overview of your financial situation, with widgets for comparing monthly spending, viewing recent transactions, monitoring investments, and tracking savings goals.Also: Could AI make you a billionaire in 2025?Another handy feature is Monarch's Advice section. Here, Monarch spells out the steps you need to manage your money in the long run. This section includes how to review your cash flow, how to set up estate documents, and what to look for in life insurance.The app also supports shared budgeting, making it suitable for couples or families. Adding another person to the budgeting platform is straightforward. I was able to add my partner to my dashboard without hassle.I've now been using Monarch Money for nearly a year. In a word, it's great. It does everything I need and makes managing my money much easier.Monarch is better than Mint ever was. Mint consistently had trouble importing data from several of my accounts, so I'd need to reconnect them every month or two. Those same accounts stay linked up in Monarch.Also: The best free tax software of 2025Perhaps the best reason to use Monarch is that, unlike Mint, which stagnated for years, its team has been working hard on improving it.Specifically, Monarch has been upgrading its transactions. These include:New quick search filters: Now you can filter by debit and credit, include or exclude "hidden" transactions, include or exclude synced from institutions, and filter for transactions with attachments, splits, or notes.New sorting on mobile: Mobile sorting is now on par with what's available on the web, including the option to sort by date (old to new) and amount (high to low or low to high).New buttons for quick review: With new buttons at the top of each detailed transaction page, you can hide or mark a transaction as reviewed in a snap.More detail for quicker scanning: Category and account details are now included in your main transaction list, so you'll have less to click through to find what you need.You'll also see more space on the page for transaction details, a new menu bar that consolidates filters, and the option to collapse the summary panel on the right-hand side.Behind the scenes, Monarch has also made several significant improvements and fixes. In a Reddit post last summer, the Monarch CEO listed the top ones as:Improved aggregation:He said the company has boosted data partners' connection reliability, data accuracy, and sync times: "While we've made improvements, this is always an ongoing effort. Many of these issues come from the underlying institution or data provider. This doesn't absolve us of solving them -- and you shouldn't have to care where the issues are coming from -- it just makes it a harder problem to solve."Improved customer support:"We have spent a lot of time growing and training our CS team, as well as overhauling some of our internal systems. Our customer response times are back to under 24 hours and we're resolving customer tickets with higher satisfaction levels. Our experiments with AI-based bots have admittedly been a miss for the most part, and we have humans answering the bulk of our support requests now. We're really sorry if you previously had a poor experience with support. If that's the case, please try again!"Bug bashing:"We launched a lot of things very quickly after the Mint shutdown. This introduced some technical debt and more bugs than we had anticipated. We've spent many cycles fixing these behind the scenes. Thanks to everyone who has reported them."Monarch's CEO also listed the following as new improvements coming soon:Rules for split transactionsRapid transaction reviewSupport for an alternative budgeting methodology called "Fixed/Flex"The ability to view bills and dates for credit cards and other liabilitiesA complete overhaul of goals and the planning systemImproved collaboration featuresA new app design (Yes, it will reduce the whitespace for all of you exhausted by scrolling)I appreciate a company that admits it got something wrong and plans to fix and improve things.How to use Monarch MoneyGetting started with Monarch is easy enough. You link your various finances -- checking, savings, retirement, and credit card and loan accounts -- to the service. You can also incorporate assets like real estate, vehicles, and cryptocurrencies to assess your net worth. Once set up, these links will automatically update future transactions.When that work is done, you're prompted to define your financial objectives, such as clearing a student loan. Monarch then helps you set up a specific line item for these goals, allowing you to decide how much to contribute monthly.Also:3 easy ways to save on your home office energy billAs I mentioned earlier, Monarch uses the zero-based budgeting method for planning your expenditures -- it urges you to allocate every dollar of your income each month. Monarch suggests budget amounts for different spending categories based on your historical spending patterns, covering necessities like groceries and lifestyle choices like fitness.You can monitor the budgeted amount for each category and switch between your current spending and the remaining budget, giving you more control over your finances.The app's primary interface showcases your complete budget, including your net worth, recent transactions, and investments, and it compares your current spending against the previous month. The app also highlights your progress towards saving objectives. This dashboard is adaptable, allowing you to tailor the display of information to suit your preferences.Also: These tech skills drove the biggest salary increases over the past yearMonarch also supports collaborative budgeting, making it ideal for partners or families to manage finances together. It's easy to invite others to join your budgeting dashboard via email, and it's just as simple for them to accept the invitation. Should the need arise, removing someone from your dashboard is also simple.What I'd like to change about Monarch MoneyOne oddity with Monarch is that it doesn't offer credit score access. I get that capability via my credit cards, so I don't miss it, but still, it would have been nice if Monarch offered it.Also: This Sony Bravia is my pick for best TV for the money - and it's 38% offMonarch's $100/year price positions it among the more expensive budgeting apps. Still, overall, I found Monarch to be a good value. For my money, Monarch is the best money management program available today.Why I didn't choose any of the other optionsThere wasn't anything wrong with the other choices. They just weren't right for me.NerdWallet is an interesting combination of an excellent free application and an informative website. It's ideal for anyone new to managing their money. But, that's not me. Still, you can't beat the price.Rocket Money has an excellent interface, but I found its "pay-what-you-wish" model pricing misleading. To get the most from the application, you'll need itsPremium Membership, which costs from $48 to $60 annually or $4 to $12 per month. I also found it difficult to import data into Rocket Money. However, it does a good job of finding and helping you lose subscriptions and other hidden fees.Quicken Simplifi is not Quicken. Although its parent company still offers Quicken, Simplifi doesn't resemble it -- for better or worse. Simplifi stands out by providing tailored spending plans. You can update these in real time to monitor your spending. But, like Rocket Money, Simplifi has trouble importing my data. If your accounts work with Simplifi (and with a free 30-day trial, you'll have ample opportunity to see if that's the case), the program is well worth its annual cost of $47.99.YNAB, short for "You Need A Budget," is a straightforward, zero-based budgeting app. It will help you meticulously plan your spending by assigning funds to specific categories every time you're paid. As such, YNAB demands more upfront work than the other applications. Yes, it can help you track your money, but the name of its game is to teach you how to budget using thezero-budget approach. For people who have trouble making and sticking to a budget, YNAB's annual rate of $99 is well worth the investment. But, I learned how to keep a budget on my own.Quicken still livesThe old favorite financial program, Quicken, is still around, but it's no longer supported by Intuit. Mint's parent company, while still offering QuickBooks, sold Quicken in 2016. Under new management, the program lives on.Today, Quicken is one of the most comprehensive personal finance applications available. Quicken Classic, a desktop-based software complemented by a mobile app, provides extensive financial management tools. This software justifies its annual subscription cost by offering multiple features, including in-depth account management, budgeting, bill handling, and investment tracking.Also: The best budget headphones I've tested are not made by JBL or SonyI can't recommend Quicken to most people because you must be deep into personal finance management to make the most of the tool. While you can access Quicken via an app with Quicken Mobile and via the internet with Quicken on the Web, the full-powered versions are only available on PCs.That said, if you've used Quicken in the past, it's still worth a look. The software is available in four versions. To see if it's for you, give the Quicken Starter for $3.49 a month a try. The more advanced versions come at different prices:Quicken Deluxe, for personal and small business finance, costs $6 a month; Quicken Classic Premier, for investors, costs $7 a month; and Quicken Business & Personal, for advanced users, will run you $10 a month. Only Quicken Starter and Classic are available for Mac users.What's a credit score?Your credit score is probably the most important number in your life. It determines how likely you are to get credit and your interest rates, how much you'll pay for everything from a credit card to rent, and even whether you'll get a job. Heck, there are dating apps that consider your credit score!A credit score, also known as a FICO score, is a numerical indicator, typically ranging from 300 to 850, that predicts how likely you are to repay loans and bills. This score is calculated using data from your credit accounts.Also: I invested in a no-fees video doorbell, and it's paying off for my smart homeThere are five main criteria for determining a FICO credit score: payment history, current debt level, frequency of new credit applications, the length of credit history, and the variety of credit types. The two most critical components are payment history, which makes up 35% of the score, and the amount of credit in use. Payment history factors include the timeliness of payments, the frequency of missed payments, how late payments are, and the recency of missed payments. Applying for new credit can briefly lower one's score.What is a good credit score?A score of 700 or more is a good score, while 800 and above is excellent. Most people have scores ranging from 600 to 750. To improve a credit score, you can open accounts that report to credit bureaus, keep low balances, pay bills promptly, and limit new account applications.It's also important to remember that you don't have a single, fixed credit score. The score can differ based on the scoring model used, the data source, and the date of calculation.Also: I bought an iPhone 16 for its AI features, but I haven't used them even once - here's whyFinance programs can help you build up your credit score because they put the information you need to control your finances in your hands. Without these programs, you're operating blind.Featured

Today's NYT Strands hints and answersCredit: New York TimesLooking for Wednesdays Strands hints, spangram and answers? You can find them here:Welcome back, dearest Strandistas! Baby, its cold outside but in here its warm and cozy thanks to the soft glow of another Strands puzzle to solve. Yesterday I complained about how easy theyve been. Today, the NYT heard my prayers and gave us a much more challenging grid. Lets uncover some words!Strands is the newest game in the New York Times stable of puzzle games. Its a fun twist on classic word search games. Every day were given a new theme and then tasked with uncovering all the words on the grid that fit that theme, including a spangram that spans two sides of the board. One of these words is the spangram which crosses from one side of the grid to another and reveals even more about the days theme.Spoilers ahead.Todays Strands HintsTodays Theme: Bar associationHint #1: Nothing to do with lawyersMORE FOR YOUHint #2: Well, maybe lawyers at happy hourTo help you uncover all the words, here are the first two letters of every word, including the spangram.ZOCOMASISTCORemember, spoilers ahead!What Are Todays Strands Answers?Todays spangram is: COCKTAILSHeres the full list of words:ZOMBIECOSMOPOLITANMARTINISIDECARSTINGERHeres the completed Strands grid:Today's StrandsScreenshot: Erik KainTodays Strands BreakdownThis one really stumped me for awhile. Once Id found MARTINI, however, I realised Id been looking for the wrong thing entirely. I quickly found ZOMBIE and then COCKTAILS, the spangram, and from here...well, it actually remained a challenge to uncover the final three. COSMOPOLITAN was the last one I turned up.How did you do on your Strands today? Let me know on Twitter and Facebook.Be sure to check out my blog for my daily Wordle guides as well as all my other writing about TV shows, streaming guides, movie reviews, video game coverage and much more. Thanks for stopping by!

It seems as though Panasonic forced LG Displays hand when it announced at CES 2025 the new panel technology at use in its new Z95B OLED TV a new four-layer OLED panel structure that increases brightness while improving efficiency at the same time. Today, LG Display has confirmed that it has developed this new tech, while providing more details than LG Electronics did last week when we met with them.For context, the new G5 OLED LG debuted gets brighter than last years model, but without the benefit of the MLA (Micro Lens Array) technology LG developed specifically to achieve the improved brightness it needed to compete with QD-OLED and micro-LED. At the time, LG was coy on the new technology that helped the G5 get demonstrably brighter than its predecessor, the G4 OLED TV (Well have more to talk about at the reviewers workshop later this year, they told us), but we had strong suspicions it was a new four-layer OLED panel technology.Recommended VideosTwo days later, Panasonic unveiled its new OLED TV, touting a new four-layer OLED panel one almost certainly provided by LG Display.Please enable Javascript to view this contentSo what is this new panel structure? Instead of having a red/green/yellow emissive layer sandwiched between two blue layers, LG Displays proprietary four-layer structure called Primary RGB Tandem by LG Display (and Panasonic, which confirms it uses an LG panel) has independent red, green, and (two) blue layers. This fourth-generation OLED panel delivers improved brightness (and not just better white brightness, but color brightness, too) while also having 20% better energy efficiency over previous generations.And the amount of improved brightness is the truly impressive part. LG Display claims the new panel structure is capable of up to 4,000 nits of brightness (which is the same number weve heard from Samsung Display about its new QD-OLED panel). If the G5 is capable of hitting that 4,000 nit number, likely with the help of LGs processing, the G5 OLED TV could prove to be a bit brighter than the Z95B (Panasonic stated 3,700 max brightness at the announcement).Color brightness is said to reach 2,100 nits, a 40% improvement over last year. The four-layer structure also allows for a decrease in the typical level of blue light emitted.To improve black-level performance, regardless of the amount of ambient light in a room, LG Display has also developed an ultra-low reflection film that blocks 99% of internal and external light reflections.The G5 we saw at CES was honestly supremely impressive, and very well might be the best TV we see in 2025.

Billionaire owner Franois Pinault promoted Bonnie Brennan from within as the auction house seeks to shake off a market slowdown.

Like a supernova Firm developing a fully reusable rocket raises a quarter of a billion dollars "Its a very different conversation with investors than it was five years ago." Eric Berger Jan 15, 2025 11:54 am | 59 Stoke Space fires up the second version of its main engine in December 2024. Credit: Stoke Space Stoke Space fires up the second version of its main engine in December 2024. Credit: Stoke Space Story textSizeSmallStandardLargeWidth *StandardWideLinksStandardOrange* Subscribers only Learn moreA Washington-based launch company announced Wednesday that it has raised $260 million in Series C funding, a significant capital raise at a time when it has become more difficult for some space companies to attract funding."The market is tough, but I think what were doing is poised to go straight to the end state of the industry, and I think investors recognize that," said Andy Lapsa, Stoke Space's co-founder and chief executive officer, in an interview with Ars after the announcement.By "end state of the industry," Lapsa means that Stoke is developing a fully reusable medium-lift rocket named Nova. The vehicle's first stage will land vertically, similarly to a Falcon 9 rocket, and the second stage, which has a novel metallic heat shield and engine design, will also land back on Earth.Big demand for on-demand launchLapsa said there is incredible demand for launch services and that ultimately, only companies that can offer ultra-low-cost prices and on-demand service will be successful. That's why the company has made difficult technical decisions such as developing a highly efficient full-flow staged combustion engine and a reusable upper stage. SpaceX's much larger Starship rocket is the only other fully reusable rocket in development at this time.Stoke Space has raised $220 million in earlier rounds. The company's new and existing investors in the latest fundraising round include Breakthrough Energy Ventures, Glade Brook Capital Partners, Industrious Ventures, Leitmotif, Point72 Ventures, Seven Seven Six, the University of Michigan, Woven Capital, and Y Combinator. Stoke declined to release a valuation for the company following the latest fundraising efforts.The company continues to make technical progress, Lapsa said.A few weeks ago, Stoke successfully tested the Nova rocket's main engine, Zenith, in a vertical position. Lapsa said the company will probably make one more iterative block change on the Zenith engine before it gets into a "nice, tight" flight configuration. Similarly, the second stage engine has gone through a design upgrade to get it ready for flight. After the engines are complete, the company will assemble a flight vehicle and put it through the final phases of testing.Pads and permittingAt the same time, Stoke is working to complete construction at Launch Complex 14 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida and finalize environmental permitting for launches from there."We're pushing really hard to have the pad ready, and it will be activated well before the end of the year," Lapsa said. "And the vehicle will be right there with it."Historically, it's unlikely for a company to move from engine testing to a first orbital launch attempt in the same year, so a Nova debut in 2026 seems more likely. Nevertheless, the new funding from investors signals confidence that Stoke is making credible technical progress on its vehicle development.The space capital market has changed significantly since Stoke was founded by Lapsa and Tom Feldman in 2020. At the time, there were dozens of US launch companies at work on small- and medium-lift vehicles. Today, arguably, there are just half a dozen credible US-based entities developing medium-lift rockets."Its a very different conversation with investors than it was five years ago," Lapsa said.The winnowing of competitors is also a stark reminder of both the technical and financial challenges of operating a launch company.Eric BergerSenior Space EditorEric BergerSenior Space Editor Eric Berger is the senior space editor at Ars Technica, covering everything from astronomy to private space to NASA policy, and author of two books: Liftoff, about the rise of SpaceX; and Reentry, on the development of the Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon. A certified meteorologist, Eric lives in Houston. 59 Comments

EnvironmentScientists are scrambling to understand how climate change may be interfering with the winds that carry our weather, with potentially catastrophic consequences 15 January 2025 Gary NeillAt the end of October 2024, a grey gloom descended over the British Isles. Nothing unusual there. But this murky shroud was particularly persistent, even for the UK. Some regions barely saw the sun for a fortnight. Residents of the village of Odiham in Hampshire, for example, enjoyed just 12 minutes of sunshine in the first 11 days of November. And according to the Met Office, the UKs weather service, the country as a whole saw just 8.3 hours of sunshine across that period, well below average for that time of year. Meanwhile, in Spain, a slow-moving storm over the Valencia region unleashed torrential downpours, causing flash floods that killed 231 people.For both events, you can blame the jet stream the fast-moving air currents that flow west to east around the globe. In October 2024, the polar jet had buckled, trapping a high-pressure anticyclone system over the UK and a low-pressure system over Spain. That isnt unprecedented: the jet stream buckles from time to time. But even the casual observer might have noticed that weather events seem to be lingering longer across the northern hemisphere, from Europe to North America. Now, climate scientists are scrambling to figure out whether global warming is making the jet stream more erratic, as some have predicted.We urgently need answers. If we dont get a clear picture of how the jet stream is changing, and what that means for our weather, we could be dramatically underestimating the extreme events coming our way. We really need to keep pushing for an understanding of these extremes,

A judge in Manhattan denied the Alexander brothers bail in their sex-trafficking case on Wednesday.The denial followed a contentious hearing over whether the three brothers are dangerous or a flight risk.The judge criticized a lawyer who argued a woman can't be incapacitated if she can still stand up.A judge in Manhattan denied bail on Wednesday for the Alexander brothers in their federal sex trafficking case, meaning they will remain jailed in Miami pending trial.Oren and Tal Alexander were luxury real-estate agents in Miami Beach and Manhattan before they and Oren's twin, Alon, were indicted in December. The three have denied wrongdoing and have pleaded not guilty to federal sex trafficking charges.The bail denial by US District Judge Valerie E. Caproni followed a contentious three-hour hearing, during which one defense lawyer argued that the brothers were no longer "orgying" and another said a woman can't be incapacitated if she can still stand up.That latter claim sparked a harsh retort from the judge."That is nonsense," Caproni told a lawyer for Oren Alexander, interrupting his attack on a key piece of evidence a 2009 video showing either Oren or his twin, Alon, having sex with a woman that the government alleges was incapacitated."I'm just telling you, if that's your argument, you lose," the judge told the lawyer.The testy exchange was begun by Deanna Paul, a defense lawyer for the twins' older brother, Tal, who told the judge that the sex-trafficking indictment is based on weak evidence.The indictment alleges that for 10 years starting in 2010, the siblings conspired to use their wealth and prominence in the luxury real estate world to rape or assault more than 40 women, mostly in Manhattan and Miami and often through the use of the drug GHB.Halfway through Wednesday's hearing, which the brothers did not attend, Paul mentioned that key prosecution evidence the 2009 video. She criticized its probative value, telling the judge it "shows the lack of force" during a consensual sexual encounter."In my view, having sex with a woman who is physically incapacitated is basically rape," the judge responded, citing the prosecution's description of the video.The judge asked prosecutor Andrew Jones to describe the video more fully, which he then did publicly for the first time. He called it a "trophy" tape that the government had seized as evidence, and said it depicts one of the twins having sex with a woman he said the government has not spoken to.Jones said he wasn't sure if the video shows Oren or Alon, but that as it begins, "one of these very stone-cold sober defendants sets up a tripod.""There's a woman on the bed. She's naked," Jones continued. "When she tries to speak, it's incoherent. She is mumbling," and she appears unable to move, he told the judge.After the alleged rape, "she manages to stand on the floor, but then collapses back on the bed," the prosecutor said the video shows.Later in the hearing, the video was mentioned again by a lawyer for Oren Alexander, Richard Klugh.He referred to the woman in the video as "the sexual partner" of either of the twins and "the woman who stood up immediately after having sex."He said prosecutors are misrepresenting evidence when they say the woman was unable to speak, given that "she was mumbling.""You cannot call someone incapacitated who is able to stand up," he added at which point the judge called his assessment "nonsense."At the end of the hearing, Caproni rejected defense arguments that the siblings were neither a danger to the community nor a flight risk, and that, as Klugh put it, "there's been no more orgying. They're married."She also turned down a $115 million bail package and a promise that the three would live together in Florida on home confinement. The home would have an in-house security team, window sensors, and an alarm system, the defense lawyers had said.Caproni said her denial was based in large part on federal appellate case law from New York's Second Circuit that bars judges from accepting a two-tiered bail system where only wealthy defendants can spend money for 24-hour monitoring by an in-house security team."I have real problems with that," she said. "In the Second Circuit, if the only way I can mitigate danger to the community is to create a private jail, then I can't do that."Caproni set the trio's next court date for January 29.