Honor Magic 7 ProBen SinLast year may have been the best year in Honors history yet, as its foldable Magic V3 won virtually every best foldable phone of the year award from the tech media landscape, and the slab Magic 6 Pro finally established at least in my opinion its own distinct identity that differs from other Android devices.And so with the new year comes the Honor Magic 7 Pro, the follow up that adds further polish to the 6 Pro. More importantly, Honor continues to zig when other Android phones zag, giving us a device that stands out from the crowd a bit.For example, Honor is just about the only Android phone brand that still offers us real 3D face unlock like iPhones do (meaning the phone uses a depth-mapping sensor to identify the unique contours of our faces). All other Android phones have decided to give us the less secure 2D face unlock (which uses just a single selfie camera to identify faces).Truth be told, the in-display fingerprint scanners in all Android phones are so good these days I wouldnt call 3D face scanning a must-have feature, but it is nice to have. And the Honor Magic phones are the only one to give us this on the Android side.Also, the Magic 7 Pro, like the last few Magic phones, uses a slightly wider 19.5:9 screen aspect ratio (compared to the 20:9 used by other Android manufacturers), so the Magic 7 Pros 6.8-inch OLED screen is ever so slightly wider horizontally than other 6.8-inch Android phones. And that extra width matters for a fast typer such as myself. I find typos to happen a bit less common when I type away on a Magic 7 Pro compared to other phones, because the keyboard is not as cramped.The Magic 7 Pro's screen is a bit widerBen sinCamerasThe Honor Magic 7 Pro brings an impressive Periscope zoom lens: 200-megapixel, f/2.6 aperture, 1/1.4-inch image sensor size. These numbers, particularly the sensor size, are very impressive much larger than most other phone zoom cameras. But Honor is not the first to adopt this lens Vivo has been using it in its last two flagship phones.The Honor Magic 7 Pro's triple camera system.Ben SinHaving such a large telephoto sensor allows the camera to produce natural bokeh and capture more details and dynamic range. And this zoom lens delivers, its absolutely one of the best zoom cameras around.3X images snapped by the Honor Magic 7 Pro.Ben SinBut its not better than the Vivo X200 Pros zoom lens. Perhaps its Vivo having more time fine-tuning the lens, but side-by-side zoom shots between the two phones almost always has the Vivo image coming out superior. In the samples below, notice the Vivo image on the right exhibits more bokeh and dynamic range. Honors image is not bad at all this is a 10X image! Its almost certainly better than what the iPhone could have muster. But Vivos image almost looks like it came from a real camera.5X images snapped by the Honor Magic 7 Pro (left) and Vivo X200 Pro (right). The image on the right has more pleasing bokeh and depth of field.Ben SinStill, we must remember the Vivo phones have been known among phone geeks as the best camera phone for a few years, so Honor coming in second here is no shame.In a vacuum (and Im not nitpicking) the Magic 7 Pro produces beautiful looking images, especially black and white portraits of human subjects, thanks to Honors partnership with Studio Harcourt.Portraits snapped by the Honor Magic 7 ProBen SinThe Honor Magic 7 Pro's Studio Harcourt portraitBen SinThe Magic 7 Pros main camera is also very good, but I have come to the conclusion that, in 2025, the only real differentiating factor between a great phone camera and good phone camera is in the telephoto lenses. The differences between flagship phone main camera quality is getting razor slim, as every phone, whether its from Apple or Asus, Samsung or Xiaomi, is going to have a very capable main camera.Software and performanceThe Magic 7 Pro is powered by the newest and highest-tier Qualcomm chip, the confusingly named Snapdragon 8 Elite (this is the second time in four years Qualcomm has completely revamped the naming scheme of its flagship silicon series).Performance is excellent, obviously, as mobile silicon has long surpassed what 99% of people need on a mobile device. Whether its splicing together video clips on CapCut or scrolling through Instagram, sending emails or uploading files to Slack, this phone doesnt miss a beat.The Honor Magic 7 Pro.Ben SinThe software MagicOS 9.0 has a new look of which Im a fan. Theres more customization than before, and the UI overall has a fresher, more vibrant vibe. The phone also comes with a suite of AI features like generative AI photo editing and AI translation, as well as connectivity with Windows laptops and Honor devices, but these are really not new in 2025, as most phones offer some version of this.MagicOS 9.0HonorBattery life has been fine, but not amazing, for me. On average the phone lasts about 10-11 hours for me outside before the battery dips below 10%. This is a couple hours shorter than say the iPhone 16 Pro Max or Vivo X200 Pro, but its acceptable. I am a very heavy user whos on the phone constantly. And my 10-11 hours has me going all around the city, not sitting in one place connected to WiFi.Overall, the Magic 7 Pro is a very polished and well-rounded phone from Honor. As mentioned, I like that Honor does a few things differently from other Android phones, like having real 3D face unlock, and the slightly wider form factor, but otherwise, the very best Android phones are starting to feel very familiar features-wise. This isnt a big deal for most people, who use one phone for a year or three. But for me whos jumping phones often, I am starting to feel like I can recite whats new with these phones in my sleep.The good news is, Honor has a whole different segment its innovating on foldables. And if Id have to bet, Id say Honor will be the first to bring a tri-fold to the international market.

What just happened? General Motors and the FTC have reached a settlement over allegations that the automaker shared details about driver locations and behavior to third parties without consent. GM is now banned from carrying out these actions for five years. In March 2024, a New York Times report uncovered how connected cars with built-in telematics share driver statistics and data with insurers, often without the owners even realizing it.One of these companies was GM, which collected location and driving data through its OnStar connected vehicle service a GM subsidiary that provides subscription-based communications, security, emergency services, navigation, and remote diagnostics as well as its OnStar Smart Drive feature. According to the FTC, GM did not clearly disclose these practices, and the data was subsequently sold to third parties, such as consumer reporting agencies.A few users said GM vehicles tracked them even when they didn't activate the OnStar Smart Driver feature, which claimed to help users become better drivers by gamifying the experience. They may have been enrolled by the dealership, but even for those who opted in, the enrollment process didn't make it clear that third parties would receive the driving data.GM confirmed to the NYT that it shared "select insights" about hard braking, hard accelerating, speeding over 80 mph, and drive time of Smart Driver enrollees with global data brokers LexisNexis and Verisk.It's claimed the information was offered to insurance companies, which used it to increase the rates of customers they deemed to be bad drivers based on the data. // Related StoriesIn the wake of the report, senators urged the FTC to investigate carmakers selling consumer data. The agency filed a formal legal complaint against GMGM said that it discontinued the Smart Driver program across all its vehicles last April, unenrolled all customers, and ended its third-party telematics relationships with LexisNexis and Verisk."Respecting our customers' privacy and earning their trust is deeply important to us," GM said in a statement. "Although Smart Driver was created to promote safer driving behavior, we ended that program due to customer feedback."In addition to GM being banned from sharing geolocation and driver behavior data to consumer reporting agencies for five years, the settlement has other conditions. The 20-year agreement states that GM and OnStar must attain affirmative express consent from consumers prior to collecting connected vehicle data, allow consumers to obtain and delete their data, and allow consumers to limit data collection from their vehicles, including geolocation data."GM monitored and sold people's precise geolocation data and driver behavior information, sometimes as often as every three seconds," said Lina M. Khan, the chair of the FTC. "With this action, the FTC is safeguarding Americans' privacy and protecting people from unchecked surveillance."The proposed settlement is open to public comment for 30 days, after which the FTC will make its final decision.

RIP ship Fire destroys Starship on its seventh test flight, raining debris from space The Federal Aviation Administration will likely require an investigation into the accident. Stephen Clark Jan 16, 2025 11:44 pm | 2 This screen grab from SpaceX's live broadcast of Starship Flight 7 shows the view from a rear-facing camera aboard Starship. The Super Heavy booster stage, with its four grid fins extended, is seen moments after separating from the Starship upper stage. Credit: SpaceX This screen grab from SpaceX's live broadcast of Starship Flight 7 shows the view from a rear-facing camera aboard Starship. The Super Heavy booster stage, with its four grid fins extended, is seen moments after separating from the Starship upper stage. Credit: SpaceX Story textSizeSmallStandardLargeWidth *StandardWideLinksStandardOrange* Subscribers only Learn moreSpaceX launched an upgraded version of its massive Starship rocket from South Texas on Thursday, but the flight ended less than nine minutes later after engineers lost contact with the spacecraft.For a few moments, SpaceX officials discussing the launch on the company's live webcast were unsure of the outcome of the test flight. However, within minutes, residents and tourists in the Turks and Caicos Islands, Haiti, the Dominican Republic, and Puerto Rico shared videos showing a shower of debris falling through the atmosphere along Starship's expected flight corridor.The videos confirmed Starshipthe rocket's upper stagebroke apart in space, or experienced a "rapid unscheduled disassembly" in SpaceX-speak. This happened well short of the company's plan of sending the spacecraft halfway around the world and splashing down in the Indian Ocean after more than an hour of flight.There were no people or satellites aboard the rocket Thursday.Flight diversionsThe test flight began with liftoff of the 404-foot-tall (123.1-meter) Super Heavy booster and Starship upper stage from the Texas Gulf Coast at 4:37 pm CST (5:37 pm EST; 22:37 UTC). The world's largest and most powerful launcher climbed off the launch pad with more than twice the thrust of NASA's Apollo-era Saturn V rocket. Heading east, its 33 methane-fueled Raptor booster engines fired more than two-and-a-half minutes to propel Starship toward the edge of space.The booster's engines shut down as planned, followed moments later by ignition of six Raptor engines on the Starship upper stage. The Super Heavy booster separated from the rocket to fly itself back to the launch site. Just shy of seven minutes after liftoff, the booster returned to the launch pad for a mid-air catch by the tower's two mechanical arms, repeating a feat SpaceX accomplished in October.The upper stage, meanwhile, appeared to fly normally until a telemetry display on SpaceX's webcast indicated one of the ship's six engines shut off more than seven minutes after liftoff. Then, the display showed more engines failing, and the data stream froze.In an update posted on SpaceX's website later Thursday evening, officials said ground teams lost contact with the spacecraft approximately eight-and-a-half minutes into the flight. At the time, information on SpaceX's live video stream showed the vehicle was traveling at about 13,246 mph (21,317 km/hr) at an altitude of about 91 miles (146 kilometers)."Initial data indicates a fire developed in the aft section of the ship, leading to a rapid unscheduled disassembly with debris falling into the Atlantic Ocean within the predefined hazard areas," SpaceX officials wrote in the update.The falling debris caused air traffic controllers to divert or reroute commercial flights over the Caribbean and the Atlantic Ocean, according to the Federal Aviation Administration. This map shared by FlightRadar24 shows multiple commercial airplanes in holding patterns outside of closed airspace near Starship's flight path. Credit: FlightRadar24 Air traffic controllers have the ability to activate a "Debris Response Area" if a spacecraft experiences an anomaly with debris falling outside of identified closed aircraft hazard areas, where the FAA notifies pilots in advance about the risk of reentering space junk. Activating a Debris Response Area "allows the FAA to direct aircraft to exit the area and prevent others from entering," the statement read.This is what the FAA did Thursday evening. Air traffic controllers closed a swath of airspace between the Turks and Caicos Islands, the Dominican Republic, and Puerto Rico to commercial air traffic for more than an hour, causing some passenger airline flights to enter a holding pattern, return to their departure airports, land at alternate airfields, or delay their takeoffs.Flight tracking sites and apps showed the extent of the impacts on air traffic. Miami International Airport and Fort Lauderdale International Airport, both hubs for flights to and from the Caribbean, reported short flight delays due to a "rocket launch anomaly," according to an FAA website.Ars listened to live audio from air traffic control in San Juan, Puerto Rico, as controllers alerted pilots of the airspace restrictions."How long do you think this hold is going to be? We don't have a lot of gas to play with," one pilot asked air traffic control. "The sooner we can get on the ground, the better."A short time later, the airspace reopened, and flights continued on to their destinations or diverted to other airports."That's the coolest sh*t I've ever seen in my life"Some of the videos recorded by residents and tourists in the Turks and Caicos appeared to show fiery debris fragments streaking almost directly overhead. Many people speaking in the videos did not realize what they were seeing, but space enthusiasts on social media quickly identified the source of the spectacle.Elon Musk, SpaceX's founder and CEO, wrote on X that early signs from data suggested there was a propellant leak in a cavity above Starship's engine firewall. The leak was large enough to build pressure in excess of the ship's vent capacity."Apart from obviously double-checking for leaks, we will add fire suppression to that volume and probably increase vent area," Musk wrote. "Nothing so far suggests pushing next launch past next month."Coming into 2025, SpaceX officials hoped to launch as many as 25 Starship test flights this year to experiment with new designs, attempt a recovery of Starship from orbit, and demonstrate orbital refueling, a capability that is critical to NASA and SpaceX's plans to land astronauts on the Moon later this decade.SpaceX designed Starship to be fully reusable, with the ability to deliver more than 100 metric tons (220,000 pounds) of cargo to low-Earth orbit. Future versions of the ship will be suited for travel to the Moon and Mars. NASA has two contracts for SpaceX to develop a derivative of Starship as a human-rated lander for the agency's Artemis lunar program, and Musk views Starship as central to his enabling his vision of creating a human settlement on the red planet.NASA's official public schedule calls for a crew landing at the Moon's south pole in 2027, using the privately-developed Starship alongside the agency's government-managed Space Launch System rocket and Orion crew capsule. Together, the vehicles will transport astronauts from Earth to the Moon, then to the lunar surface and back into space, and finally back to Earth.However, this schedule hinges on the readiness of Starship to accommodate humans, the availability of new lunar spacesuits, and the status of the SLS rocket and Orion spacecraft, both of which have endured lengthy delays. The incoming Trump administration is expected to reevaluate the architecture of the Artemis program to determine if, and how, NASA can return humans to the Moon faster and cheaper. It's possible SpaceX's Starship and other commercial rockets might carve out a more significant role. The Super Heavy booster comes in for the catch Thursday at Starbase, Texas. Credit: SpaceX If SpaceX can fly Starship again as soon as next month, it's possible the company could preserve its aims for the program this year. SpaceX has no shortage of hardware ready or nearly ready to go. There are multiple Starships and Super Heavy boosters undergoing preparations for future test flights at the company's Starbase launch facility near Brownsville, Texas.But schedules often slip in the launch business, and the FAA could ground Starship until SpaceX completes a formal mishap investigation. The federal regulator is responsible for ensuring public safety on commercial space launches. A spokesperson told Ars late Thursday that the FAA is assessing the Starship anomaly and will provide a statement when officials know more.A setback, sure, but is this a big deal?In the hours after Thursday's test flight, Musk took to his social media platform to share and comment on several videos of the Starship debris coming back to Earth. SpaceX has long embraced failures as learning opportunities, and the company's culture is centered on rapidly iterating on designsbuild, test, break, fix.This launch debuted a more advanced, slightly taller version of Starship, known as Version 2 or Block 2, with larger propellant tanks, a new avionics system, and redesigned feed lines flowing methane and liquid oxygen propellants to the ship's six Raptor engines. SpaceX officials did not say whether any of these changes might have caused the problem on Thursday's launch.SpaceX officials have repeatedly and carefully set expectations for each Starship test flight. They routinely refer to the rocket as experimental, and the primary focus of the rocket's early demo missions is to gather data on the performance of the vehicle. What works, and what doesn't work?Still, the outcome of Thursday's test flight is a clear disappointment for SpaceX. This was the seventh test flight of SpaceX's enormous rocket, and the first time Starship failed to complete its launch sequence since the second flight in November 2023. Until now, SpaceX made steady progress, and each Starship flight achieved more milestones than the one before.On the first flight in April 2023, the rocket lost control a little more than two minutes after liftoff, and the ground-shaking power of the booster's 33 engines shattered the concrete foundation beneath the launch pad. Seven months later, on Flight 2, the rocket made it eight minutes before failing. On that mission, Starship failed at roughly the same point of its ascent, just before cutoff of the vehicle's six methane-fueled Raptor engines.Back then, a handful of photos and images from the Florida Keys and Puerto Rico showed debris in the sky after Starship activated its self-destruct mechanism due to an onboard fire caused by a dump of liquid oxygen propellant. But that flight occurred in the morning, with bright sunlight along the ship's flight path.This time, the ship disintegrated and reentered the atmosphere at dusk, with impeccable lighting conditions accentuating the debris cloud's appearance. These twilight conditions likely contributed to the plethora of videos posted to social media Thursday. Starship and Super Heavy head downrange from SpaceX's launch site near Brownsville, Texas. Credit: SpaceX The third Starship test flight last March saw the spacecraft reach its planned trajectory and fly halfway around the world before succumbing to the scorching heat of atmospheric reentry. In June, the fourth test flight ended with controlled splashdowns of the rocket's Super Heavy booster in the Gulf of Mexico and of Starship in the Indian Ocean.Then, in October, SpaceX caught the Super Heavy booster back at the launch pad for the first time using mechanical arms, proving out the company's audacious approach to recovering and reusing the rocket. On this fifth test flight, SpaceX modified the ship's heat shield to better handle the hot temperatures of reentry, and the vehicle again made it to an on-target splashdown in the Indian Ocean.Most recently, Flight 6 on November 19 demonstrated the ship's ability to reignite its Raptor engines in space for the first time, and again concluded with a bullseye splashdown. But SpaceX aborted an attempt to again catch the booster back at Starbase due to a problem with sensors on the launch pad's tower.With Flight 7, SpaceX hoped to test more changes to the heat shield protecting Starship from reentry temperatures up to 2,600 Fahrenheit (1,430 Celsius). Musk has identified the heat shield as one of the most difficult challenges still facing the program. In order for SpaceX to reach its ambition for the ship to become rapidly reusable, with minimal or no refurbishment between flights, the heat shield must be resilient and durable.While the three previous Starship test flights each softly splashed down at sea, onboard camera views showed some of the ship's heat-absorbing ceramic tiles stripping away from the vehicle during reentry. Other changes on Flight 7 included a new tapered edge to the line where the tiles meet the ship's stainless steel skin, and multiple metallic tile options, including one with active cooling, to test alternative heat shield materials.SpaceX also wanted to test the thermal performance of new fittings that will be used to catch Starship back at the launch tower on future flights. Engineers were eager to see how redesigned flaps near the nose of Starship worked during its descent back to Earth. And once the ship reached space, SpaceX intended to release 10 mock-ups of next-generation Starlink internet satellites to test the ship's payload deployment mechanism for the first time.All those objectives will now have to wait until Flight 8. Going into this launch, Musk hoped to attempt to catch the Starship upper stage, similar to the way SpaceX recovered the Super Heavy booster, as soon as the next test flight. Now, that will likely have to wait until a later mission."As always, success comes from what we learn, and this flight test will help us improve Starships reliability as SpaceX seeks to make life multiplanetary," SpaceX said. "Data review is already underway as we seek out root cause. We will conduct a thorough investigation, in coordination with the FAA, and implement corrective actions to make improvements on future Starship flight tests." Listing image: Aurich Lawson | Getty Images Stephen ClarkSpace ReporterStephen ClarkSpace Reporter Stephen Clark is a space reporter at Ars Technica, covering private space companies and the worlds space agencies. Stephen writes about the nexus of technology, science, policy, and business on and off the planet. 2 Comments

A world organised along very different lines to Earth Alien ClayScience Photo Library/AlamyHard science fiction exists to push the boundaries of the imagination in a very specific way: thought experiments that start with the known and the possible, then dial everything up to 11 to see what the world looks like.This works with any area of science, or indeed human life. In a way, the authoritarian excesses of the Earth-based regime known as the Mandate in my novel Alien Clay are as much a thought experiment as the bizarre life of Kiln, the planet on which the book is set. It is just that there are fewer steps between the now and the future of the book on its political side than on its biological side.Alien Clay is in conversation with scientific knowledge in two quite distinct ways. The first the most obvious is what is going on on Kiln. The scientists in the prison colony there have the unenviable task of trying to categorise and explain a world organised along very different lines to Earth.AdvertisementThat was my starting what if question. Its very easy to take a lot for granted and assume that some Earth things are universals, but our data set for life is precisely one. We know Darwinian evolution explains the interconnected variety of Earth life, but could life have gone any other way? Or is that competitive world the only possibility?In Alien Clay I hypothesise an alternative of extreme symbiosis. In fact, a lot of what goes on there is inspired by Earth life because the popular image of survival of the fittest focuses on faster, stronger, tougher, whilst life tends to be more about how well you work alongside your neighbours. Join us in reading and discussing the best new science and science fiction booksSign up to newsletterThe basic unit of life, as my protagonist Professor Arton Daghdev says, is all life, not the individual organism. On Kiln, this interreliance is taken to extremes, as each apparent organism or species is a composite of specialist parts working together, any of which parts might be found performing its trick as part of any number of separate creatures. It is evolution by Lego, fit to drive the poor Earth scientists mad. Life by committee, meaning that the individual parts of the Kiln ecosystem are pre-adapted to be adventurous in what they try to intersect with. Kilnish biochemistry is different to that of Earth, but if you want to interact on that level, it comes down to molecular shapes, locks and keys and the life of Kiln is a natural lockpicker, as the humans of the prison colony have found to their cost.The other half of the scientific conversation thats going on is the political regime that the scientists are working under, which is the reason why the madcap ecology of Kiln is considered a problem and not an opportunity to learn. The Mandate cant abide anything that doesnt fit into its worldview, and its worldview is anthropomorphic the universe has a purpose, and the purpose is us, as the motto goes.Kiln is an affront to the humanocentric science of the Mandate, especially with the maddening signs that Kilns hotchpotch evolution produced intelligent life. The point that Arton the dissident scientist makes is that, no matter their possession of the power and the guns, regimes like the Mandate always feel the need to appeal to some higher power permitting them their violence and oppression. It can be religion or it can be science, but there is just enough shame in the most brutal regime that they need to justify their excesses and cruelties. Hence, the Mandate looks to the scientists to make Kiln fit into their neat universal view, and the life of Kiln thumbs its many noses at them and refuses to oblige.Alien Clay by Adrian Tchaikovsky (Tor) is the latest pick for the New Scientist Book Club. Sign up and read along with ushereTopics:

I am a smart, capable adult. I thought I was too clever to get caught up in a scam. I was wrong.It happened when I turned to social media to seek help with a travel-related issue with my car rental.Next time, I'll remind myself to take a breath and go slow when someone comes to my aid.I know full well that new internet scams are popping up every day. I'm suspicious to the point of being cynical and I've worked in online media for more than 15 years. I thought I was scam-proof. I was wrong.Stressful travel made me feel desperateAt the tail end of spending time back East with my family, my son got sick on the day we were supposed to fly home to LA, so I delayed our flight for two days. The plane ticket was easy to switch with no extra charges, but when I went to extend my rental car, the company website said they'd charge me more than $3,000 for a rental car that was supposed to be just $51 per day. I was panicked. I told myself this must be a mistake and called their customer service number for help. After an hour of getting redirected to automated lines over and over I felt sick. I couldn't pay for this it would cost more than our entire trip. If I could just get in touch with a live person, I had hope that everything could be worked out.I turned to social media for helpI remembered I had had luck contacting corporations through social media before and found the rental company's official Facebook page. I posted a message about my situation with a plea for help. I was flooded with relief when I received an immediate reply from a profile with the title "Customer Service". The person on the other end asked for my phone number and email address, and I got a call minutes later. With a shaky voice I explained what was going on and the voice on the other end of the phone someone named Kenneth apologized for the error and said he could help.And that's when he got me. I was so desperate to connect with a live person, that I was willing to follow every instruction that he gave me to rectify the situation.Kenneth (who knows if that was even his name) said that not only would I not be charged the exorbitant fee for the extra two days, he would make my extra two days complimentary just for my trouble. All I needed to do was confirm my credit card number. He said for safety reasons I shouldn't tell him the number over the phone, but instead download an app called Remitly where the number would stay confidential. He said he would send a $100 refund to my card to make up for the extra two days I'd be charged. Looking back, I now realize this doesn't make much sense and it wasn't even the right amount. It should have been $102 if he was crediting me for two days. But, I didn't even hesitate for a second. No warning bells went off in my head or my gut. I was just so glad to finally be getting help. I followed his instructions.And then, it happened againThen I got another Facebook message from a different "Customer Service" profile stating they were trying to contact me but I wasn't picking up the phone. "It's OK," I typed. "I'm talking to someone right now.""Hang up," they wrote. "Hang up the phone."A chill crept over me from head to toe. "Oh my God," I wrote back. "It's a scam. I just gave this guy my credit card number."I hung up the immediately and the phone rang again. Now someone allegedly name James was available to help me. Now I was snapped out of my daze and hung up on him as well.Finally, I heard from a real personEventually, the rental car company wrote back on Facebook saying none of the messages or calls had come from them, and that I'd have to work the extra fees out at the rental counter when I returned the car.I was humiliated and even more panicked now. I called my credit card company and cancelled the card.I spent the next 36 hours berating myself for being so foolish. When I arrived at the rental car counter, I was able to find a manager who cancelled the $3678.07 charge that caused me to reach out to customer service in the first place, but by then I was a complete wreck. In the end, the scammers ended up charging me $100 and I don't know if I'll ever get that money back, but realize I'm lucky that's all this annoying lesson cost me.I'll do things differently next timeThe next time I'm up against a stressful customer service issue, I'll remind myself to take a deep breath and go slow. When I feel that sense of relief that someone is coming to my aid, I'll always take a pause and verify that they are who they say they are, especially when I'm reaching out via social media. And the next time someone calls me cynical, I'll tell them "It comes from experience."

By Margherita Bassi Published January 17, 2025 | Comments (0) | The x-shaped monomers in the mechanically bonded 2D polymer. Mark Seniw, Center for Regenerative Nanomedicine Imagine armor as light as fabric yet stronger than steel, built from materials that link together like molecular chainmail. Scientists may have just taken the first step toward making it a reality. A team of researchers led by Northwestern University scientists has developed what might be the first two-dimensional (2D) mechanically interlocked material, similar to links in chainmail. The material, detailed in a January 16 study published in the journal Science, is exceptionally flexible and strong, with promising applications in products such as lightweight body armor and ballistic fabrics. The researchers built the material on a nanoscale level, meaning its individual components are measurable in nanometers. Its technically a polymer: a substance made of large molecules, which are themselves made up of smaller chemical units called monomers. Examples of polymers include proteins, cellulose, and nucleic acids. The 2D mechanically interlocked material is a polymer structure that uses mechanical bondsbonds with physical interlocking, as opposed to, for example, covalent bonds, which usually make up polymers and involve the sharing of electrons. The material features 100 trillion mechanical bonds per 0.16 square inch (1 square centimeter), which is the highest density of mechanical bonds ever made, according to the researchers.We made a completely new polymer structure, said study co-author William Dichtel of Northwestern University in a university statement. Its similar to chainmail in that it cannot easily rip because each of the mechanical bonds has a bit of freedom to slide around. If you pull it, it can dissipate the applied force in multiple directions. And if you want to rip it apart, you would have to break it in many, many different places. We are continuing to explore its properties and will probably be studying it for years.The biggest challenge in creating mechanically interlocked molecules lies in figuring out how to guide polymers into forming mechanical bonds. Madison Bardot of Northwestern University, who led the study, is credited with coming up with a new method to achieve this. The team positioned x-shaped monomers into a crystalline structure (a specific ordered arrangement) and reacted the crystals with another molecule. This reaction created mechanical bonds within the crystals. The final product is 2D layers of interlocked polymer sheets made of these bonds between X-shaped monomers, whose gaps researchers filled with more X-shaped monomers. It was a high-risk, high-reward idea where we had to question our assumptions about what types of reactions are possible in molecular crystals, said Dichtel. The resulting material is incredibly strong, yet still flexible and easy to manipulate, because the individual sheets of interlocked molecules come apart from each other when the polymer is dissolved in a solvent. After the polymer is formed, theres not a whole lot holding the structure together, he added. So, when we put it in solvent, the crystal dissolves, but each 2D layer holds together. We can manipulate those individual sheets.While previous researchers had made mechanically bonded polymers in very small quantities that would have been difficult to mass produce, the teams new method is surprisingly scaleable. They made over one pound (0.5 kilograms) of the material, and suggest the possibility of making even more. Even a small percentage of the new polymer structure, however, can improve other substances. The researchers made a material composed of 97.5% Ultem fiber (an extremely tough material in the same family as Kevlar) and 2.5% of the 2D polymer, and concluded that the mixture had made the former significantly stronger.We have a lot more analysis to do, but we can tell that it improves the strength of these composite materials, Dichtel continued. Almost every property we have measured has been exceptional in some way. This incredibly strong and flexible material might just be the armor the future has been waiting for.Daily NewsletterYou May Also Like By Adam Kovac Published October 2, 2024 Joseph Winters, Grist Published March 11, 2024 By Nikki Main Published December 8, 2022 By Lauren Leffer Published September 1, 2022 By Ed Cara Published October 26, 2021

From Sydneys Urban Revival to Dubais Waterfront Towers: Architecture Now Highlights from Foster + Partners, Beta Realities, and MoreSave this picture!Dubais Marasi Marina. Image Foster + PartnersIn recent weeks, a series of significant architectural developments have been unveiled, highlighting the work of diverse architecture studios across the globe. These projects, announced between late September 2024 and early 2025, focus on transformative masterplans, housing solutions, and public spaces. Prominent firms such as Foster + Partners, ACPV ARCHITECTS Antonio Citterio Patricia Viel, and fjcstudio are at the forefront of these initiatives. In Dubai, Foster + Partners revealed the Regent Residences, a pair of residential waterfront towers. Meanwhile, ACPV ARCHITECTS announced three projects in Taichung, Taiwan, combining Italian design with Eastern philosophies to create green, community-focused urban spaces. In Sydney, fjcstudio's masterplan for Midtown aims to reshape the city's urban core with two 80-storey mixed-use towers, enhancing connectivity and public engagement. These projects demonstrate the diverse scales and contexts in which architects continue to innovate, shaping cities and communities worldwide. Antonio Citterio Unveils Three Projects Redefining Taichung's Skyline in TaiwanSave this picture!ACPV ARCHITECTS Antonio Citterio Patricia Viel and Lien Jade Real Estate have announced three major developments in Taichung, Taiwan: Lian Palace, Fang Wei Palace, and Jung Heng Palace. The partnership aims to combine Italian design and Eastern philosophy to create architectural and interior designs that prioritize nature and functionality. Lian Palace, a 39-story residential tower, integrates green balconies and communal spaces, while Jung Heng Palace, a 170-meter office tower, features a stacked design inspired by Italian monuments and modernist principles. Each project incorporates shared amenities and green spaces to enhance urban living and foster a connection between architecture and the surrounding context. Related Article Cross Works Unveils Masterplan for New Tashkent Expansion in Uzbekistan Foster + Partners Designs Waterfront Towers in Dubai, UAESave this picture!Foster + Partners has unveiled the design for Regent Residences Dubai, Sankari Place, a pair of 180-meter residential towers located in Marasi Marina, Business Bay. Inspired by streaming water, the towers feature 60 apartments with staggered terraces, offering views of the Burj Khalifa and the Dubai skyline. Each apartment includes terraces and private pools, emphasizing a connection to nature. The towers share a unified design language, enhancing natural ventilation and light, featuring an penthouse with a sky pool that connects the two structures. At the base, a podium with greenery, water features, retail spaces, and amenities such as a gym and pools complements the waterfront promenade, creating a vibrant living environment.Gamma Architects Unveils Fortress House Art Museum in GibraltarSave this picture!Opening in Autumn 2025, Fortress House will be Gibraltar's first contemporary art museum, revitalizing a historic 18th-century Georgian building in the heart of the old town. Designed by Gamma Architects, the project combines adaptive reuse with modern additions, preserving original features like tiling and fireplaces. Spanning 2,700 square meters, the museum will showcase a permanent collection of contemporary art from 1970 onwards, emphasizing inclusivity with a strong representation of women artists. Alongside rotating exhibitions and guest-curated displays, the museum will feature a rooftop sculpture garden, workshop spaces, and community outreach programs. Directed by Henry Little, Fortress House aims to foster cultural dialogue locally and internationally, solidifying Gibraltar's place as a growing cultural destination. Nordic Office of Architecture Unveils Arctic Arena in Northern Norway Save this picture!The Arctic Arena, set to be one of Europe's northernmost football stadiums, is designed to unite the region and elevate Bod as a destination under the midnight sun and northern lights. With a capacity of 10,000, the stadium features a compact, immersive design inspired by the resilience and geometry of a diamond, combining Nordic architecture with local culture and international ambitions. Sustainable materials like wood and recyclable aluminum create a dark, striking exterior and a warm, glowing interior, while entrances reflect natural phenomena such as the northern lights. Designed collaboratively by Nordic Office of Architecture, Norconsult, and Arup Sport, the arena promotes sporting equality with facilities for men's and women's teams and the academy. It also accommodates diverse events and community use, supporting social sustainability and establishing itself as an iconic landmark for Northern Norway. fjcstudio and V Partners to Redesign Sydney's Midtown with Landmark Mixed-Use Development in AustraliaSave this picture!Central Sydney Property Pty Ltd, a joint venture between Billbergia Group and Metrics Credit Partners, has acquired a 6,000-square-metre site in Sydney's CBD, Australia, paving the way for a mixed-use development in the Midtown neighborhood. The project will feature two 80-storey towers with 600 residences, a hotel, retail spaces, and a civic plaza with public art, outdoor seating, and landscaping. Designed by fjcstudio in collaboration with Trias Studio, Aileen Sage, and Polly Harbison Design, the development aims to integrate Sydney's urban geometry with a network of laneways and intimate public spaces, enhancing pedestrian access between Pitt, Liverpool, and Castlereagh Streets. With demolition set to begin next year, the project seeks to reshape the Midtown district into a vibrant urban hub that balances residential living with public amenity and active placemaking. Beta Realities Designs 3D-Printed Community First Residencies in Austin, TexasSave this picture!Beta Realities has unveiled its design for the Community First! Residencies in Austin, Texas, offering a personalized, 3D-printed housing solution aimed at creating community connections and sustainable living. As part of Icon's Initiative 99, the project emphasizes participatory design, allowing future homeowners to shape their residences through workshops and customizable layouts. The duplex design, known as "Home 99," reimagines traditional porches to create a transition between public and private spaces, prioritizing neighborly interactions through shared gardens and communal activities. Furthermore, the project aims to prioritize environmental responsibility by incorporating passive cooling strategies, rainwater collection, green feature walls, and recyclable materials. Image gallerySee allShow lessAbout this authorNour FakharanyAuthorCite: Nour Fakharany. "From Sydneys Urban Revival to Dubais Waterfront Towers: Architecture Now Highlights from Foster + Partners, Beta Realities, and More" 17 Jan 2025. ArchDaily. Accessed . <https://www.archdaily.com/1025878/from-sydneys-urban-revival-to-dubais-waterfront-towers-architecture-now-highlights-from-foster-plus-partners-beta-realities-and-more&gt ISSN 0719-8884Save!ArchDaily?You've started following your first account!Did you know?You'll now receive updates based on what you follow! 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Nature, Published online: 15 January 2025; doi:10.1038/s41586-024-08299-8Halide permeation through a single benzene-sized defect in a molecular nanographene shows the permeability of fluoride, chloride and bromide, whereas iodide is impermeable.

RuneScape developer Jagex addressed the players' backlash over the recent survey.The developer said that the survey is not a list of planned changes, and they are considering the players' feedback: https://80.lv/articles/runescape-developer-responded-to-players-backlash-over-recent-survey/#videogames #gameindustry #gamenews #gamedev

One of the first major game releases of 2025 is one that players have been waiting years and years for. Sid Meier's Civilization VII is finally arriving after a long, eight-year hiatus following the release of the sixth entry in the historic franchise. Recognized as one of the ultimate turn-based strategy games, the Civilization series promises to improve upon its well-established formula with the seventh entry.It's difficult to describe what Civilization is as a game. It's a historical, strategy city-builder at heart, but how the game's systems interact with each other makes each entry in the series different from anything else you've played. Civilization VII, in particular, has supposedly made its systems easier to learn so players can jump in without being too overwhelmed. However, if you're a hardcore Civ player, you can still have the unforgiving experience you've come to know from the series.The release date of Sid Meier's Civilization VII isn't too far away now and there's plenty to go over to get you ready for launch. Below, we'll showcase everything you need to know about Civilization VII. Civilization VII Release Date and Early AccessFirst and foremost, the worldwide release date for Civilization VII is slated for February 11, 2025. However, the early access release date for Civilization VII is set for February 6, a full five days earlier.You can play the strategy game early if you purchase the Deluxe or Founder's Edition. Of course, to play early, you'll want to ensure you preorder Civilization VII so you have enough time to download it before the early access release goes live. Preordering is not a requirement to play in early access, though.Players who just buy the standard edition of Civilization VII will have to wait until the official launch date. Exact times for when the game will go live on either date have yet to be announced. Civilization VII Preorder and EditionsThere are several separate editions of Civilization VII as well as one primary preorder bonus. The reward for preordering is a Tecumseh and Shawnee Pack. You can earn the preorder bonus for buying the game prior to February 11. After the game is live, the preorder bonus is no longer available. See standard edition at Amazon However, the preorder bonus is available in two of the three editions for Civilization VII, only making a preorder necessary if you're purchasing the standard edition. That version of Civilization VII costs $70 across PC, PlayStation, and Xbox. The standard edition on the Nintendo Switch costs $60.Moving on, the Deluxe and Founder's Editions come with the Tecumseh and Shawnee Pack as well as a plethora of other bonuses. The Deluxe Edition goes for $100 on PC and consoles ($90 on Switch) and the Collector's Edition costs $130 on PC and consoles ($120 on Switch). Here's a breakdown of what your money buys when you purchase the Deluxe or Founder's Edition:Deluxe Edition Early AccessTecumseh and Shawnee PackCrossroads of the World CollectionDeluxe Content Pack See Deluxe Edition at Amazon Founder's EditionDeluxe Edition of the gameEarly AccessTecumseh and Shawnee PackCrossroads of the World CollectionRight to Rule CollectionDeluxe Content PackFounders Content PackAll future DLCs for Civilization VII (six DLCs are currently planned for release by September 2025) See Founder's Edition at Amazon There's also a Collector's Edition available for Civilization VII, which can come with or without the game (although the latter option is currently sold out). If you're interested in buying the edition, you have to preorder it via Final Boss Bundle. Here's a look at the physical items the edition comes with:"Passage of Time" Decorative ClockScout FigureLogo PinChallenge CoinCivilization PostcardsHigh-Quality Art PrintYield Icon Patch Set See at Final Boss Bundle Civilization VII Platforms and Cross-PlayFor the first time ever with a Civilization game, the initial launch of Civilization VII will occur on multiple platforms. In the past, the worldwide release of games in the series would just be for PC. Civilization VI, for example, initially launched in 2016 and received PlayStation and Xbox ports three years later.Civilization VII is spinning a different web, though. Now, the developers at Firaxis Games are bringing Civilization to all players at the same time. The available platforms at launch are PC via Steam and Epic Games, Nintendo Switch (and presumably Switch 2 via backwards compatibility), PlayStation 4 and 5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X|S.Fortunately for players on any platform, Civilization VII is fully cross-play. All you have to do is link your 2K and Civilization VII accounts together and you'll be able to link up with any person, regardless of their platform. However, there are some limitations to how cross-play functions.Specifically, Nintendo Switch players are limited in how they play the game. The Switch won't be able to support full Standard or above map sizes or full multiplayer parties. In the Antiquity & Exploration Ages, Switch players can only play with a four-person party while a six-person party is the max for the Modern Age. Parties not featuring any Switch players will support five players in the Antiquity & Exploration Ages and eight players in the Modern Age.Finally, cross-progression is available in Civilization VII. This means if you buy two copies of the game for different platforms, you can still access the saved progress on your account if you switch back and forth between the platforms. Watch the Civilization VII Trailer Here There are plenty of trailers for Civilization VII, including ones dedicated to specific characters, but the official gameplay trailer showcases everything you'll need to know before the game releases. Civilization VII GameplayTrying to explain the overarching gameplay in a Civilization game can be extremely difficult, as there are so many systems and mechanics at play. Civilization VII is a city builder where you try and build the best empire the world has ever known. You'll expand your empire across three distinct ages in world history: the Antiquity Age, the Exploration Age, and the Modern Age.In a big change for the series, every time a new Age begins, you'll choose a new civilization to use. For example, in the Modern Age, you can choose to settle America and expand the civilization from scratch. From there, you're able to discover new locations and technology, meet world leaders from distinct regions, and unlock tools that aid your empire's growth. Every civilization available across the three Ages features unique abilities, attributes, military units, and other aspects that distinguish it from other civilizations.As you start your civilization, you'll appoint a world leader to run it. This is a huge choice, as each leader has different strengths and weaknesses that will determine how your empire is run. Each leader has a unique ability that empowers what they are best known for throughout history, which entangles with your chosen civilization's unique ability and other qualities.Over the course of a match, which can last dozens of hours, you'll ally with or face off against other rival civilizations. There are numerous ways to ultimately win, with Civ VII settling on four different victory conditions: Science, Culture, Military, and Economic. These each offer distinct ways to approach your expanding civilization; will you lean into dominating opponents, or fend them off while you make scientific advancements over the ages? Combat in Civilization VIIOf course, combat is a key part of the turn-based strategy in Civ. If you're a veteran of the Civilization series, you know fairly well how combat works and the best times to utilize it.Civilization VII implements a hexagonal tile system across the map. Tiles are what separate combat encounters and how you determine how military forces are set up. You can deploy specific military units to specific tiles where they fight enemies unit vs. unit. Terrain, type of unit, and strategy all come into play when determining what tiles to send your various military units. It might sound simple in practice, but when you're waging war across a continent against a slew of enemy units, it can get overwhelming quickly.Fortunately, one major Civilization VII is introducing is the arrival of Commander Units. Commanders are military leaders who have authoritative abilities over your units. Commanders can join units together into one "stack" and the stack joins the Commander to jointly move all over the map where they're needed. Commander Units are also the only units available to earn promotions and gain XP.Regardless of what Age you're in, your Commanders will retain all their promotions and XP. When you've earned enough Commander promotions, you can further customize the Commander by putting points into a specific Discipline Tree. The various Discipline Trees transform them into a certain type of military leader who excels at different types of encounters. You can make your Commander specialized in ground, siege, naval, or aerial combat and the Discipline Trees for each type are slightly different.Commanders essentially reduce the amount of management you need to engage in during a combat encounter. Your units can be managed by the Commander, as they can bring in units as required and order units to attack if the time is right or retreat if things aren't going well.Combat in Civilization VII will certainly take some getting used to, for new and veteran players, but it sounds as though the developers have made the systems much more streamlined and efficient.