Nature, Published online: 15 January 2025; doi:10.1038/s41586-025-08611-0Engineered enzymes for enantioselective nucleophilic aromatic substitutions

Common degus clean themselves and communicate with urine, and they can detach their own tails to escape predators.

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Riot Games is taking action in the wake of the devastating fires that have torn through various parts of Los Angeles in recent days. In the coming week, the publisher will implement in-game fundraisers in games like League of Legends and Valorant, with the proceeds going to those who were affected by the fires."While these are incredibly difficult times and there is a long road to recovery ahead, Im grateful that we're collectively in this together--no matter where we are in the world," Riot CEO A. Dylan Jadeja said. "Thank you for all of your support."Starting next week, the EX.O Collection in Valorant's in-game store will become the Give Back Bundle, and any money Riot earns from sales of cosmetics in this bundle will go to the Riot Games Social Impact Fund. Riot's Social Impact Fund is a donor-advised fundraising account sponsored by ImpactAssets, and aims to provide humanitarian aid in times of disaster. The Give Back Bundle will be available for purchase from Wednesday, January 22 to Thursday, January 30.Continue Reading at GameSpot

Final Fantasy is a storied franchise that has stayed alive, in part, due to its ability to adapt. Being an anthology series without strict game-to-game continuity, Final Fantasy can range from steampunk, quasi-sci-fi stories like that of Final Fantasy 7, all the way to grimdark high fantasy, exemplified by the likes of Final Fantasy 16. This foundational versatility is reflected in the series' ever-changing gameplay, which allows it to change alongside mainstream trends.

Godzilla has arrived in Fortnite as a playable boss that can stomp across the map.Transforming into Godzilla gives you access to powerful abilities that can level cities and annihilate other players as long as youre the first to enter a special portal. Becoming Godzilla is easier said than done as you must find the portal that spawns randomly, and only one player can turn into deadly kaiju a game.Heres how to find and become Godzilla in Fortnite Chapter 6 Season 1.Update (Jan. 18): There has been a change to the spawn rate of Godzillas portal, which is reportedly now double since it first appeared in the game.When and where Godzilla spawns in FortniteTo become Godzilla in Fortnite, youll need to find a portal and be the first player to jump inside. However, a difficulty is the portal does not appear in every match, and only has a 40% chance of appearing (according to HYPEX on X, which is double the 20% spawn rate when Godzilla first debuted).If the portal spawns, itll appear in a random location as soon as the first Storm Circle begins to shrink. Youll know when this happens as a security alert will pop up on the bottom half of your screen with the message Godzilla Portal is open, along with a ping with the portals location.You can also open your map to see the portals location, which is marked with an icon of Godzilla:As the portal spawns fairly early on in the game, youll have very little time to reach the portal if it doesnt spawn in your vicinity, as there are a lot of players still alive. If it spawns far away from you, your best bet is to hoard as much ammo as you can to take Godzilla down.There are two quests that can be completed by damaging Godzilla:Acquire Godzillas Medallion by doing the most damage to himHit Godzilla using a Quad Launcher or Rail GunThe best way to rack up damage is to shoot the glowing spikes along Godzillas back. This will deal bonus damage, and shoot you up the damage charts. To check if youre dealing the most damage against Godzilla, look at the Damage Inflicted bar beneath Godzillas health bar.How to play as Godzilla in FortniteAfter you enter the portal, youll become Godzilla and gain three abilities:Roar Unleash a roar that reveals nearby playersMighty Stomp Launch your enemies as you stomp the ground.Heat Ray Fire a laser capable of destroying players and structures.Additionally, you can forgo the abilities and simply walk over other players to do damage!For gameplay footage of Godzilla, check out this video from Sytsuo on X.NO, NO MOD!Voc pode simplesmente virar o Godzilla hahahTE AMO FORTNITE@Loolo_WRLD @iFireMonkey pic.twitter.com/x728akS07A dan (@sytsuo) January 17, 2025If youre interested in completing other Godzilla quests, we have locations for Monarchs secrets to hand.

If you've ever attempted making cacio e pepe at home and ended up with pasta coated in gritty cheese bits instead of a luscious sauce, know that you are not alone. Thats why I ran to the kitchen after reading that adding a smidge of corn starch (about of a teaspoon per serving) ensures a creamy, emulsified sauce every time. Im happy to report that this tip is completely legit. And it requires barely any extra work!Cacio e pepe, the much beloved, deceptively simple pasta dish featuring pecorino romano cheese and black pepper, is easy to makeon paper. Just stir grated cheese into some pasta and a bit of the starchy pasta water you used when boiling it, add some pepper, and behold your creamy, cheesy dinner. But this simple procedure can produce mixed resultssometimes youll have perfect sauce, and other times, you'll wind up with a tragic bowl of noodles and cheese clumps surfing in water. Heartbreaking. It turns out this inconsistency has bothered a number of hungry food scientists too, and theyve figured out that a bit of added cornstarch is the best foolproof hack to avoid it. So I decided to give it a whirl.What science tells us about cacio e pepeThe reason you can achieve a silky pasta sauce from nothing but aged cheese and pasta water is because of the starch that leaches into that very water. Unfortunately, this process is incredibly inconsistent, and will vary with your water to pasta ratio when boiling the noodlesand even then it's usually around 1% when 2% to 3% starch is needed to stabilize the sauce.They suggest making a small amount of cornstarch slurry, cooking it into a gel, and building your sauce with this starchy foundation to ensure you always have a consistent amount to make the sauce work. The cornstarch gel cooks into a translucent gel. Credit: Allie Chanthorn Reinmann Before running the test, I feared the sauce might end up too cornstarch-heavy, like a white gravy instead of a cheese sauce, but I was actually rather pleased with the results. The small amount of gel blends right into the other ingredients and cornstarch carries no flavor of its own, so its presence is completely undetectable. The finished sauce is smooth and tastes fiercely of pecorino, as it should. Most importantly, no cheese curds developed. The cornstarch boosted sauce is tighter and silkier. Credit: Allie Chanthorn Reinmann Cacio e pepe without the cornstarch gel can remain stubbornly watery, or worse, the cheese proteins curdle. Credit: Allie Chanthorn Reinmann The directions are a little vague in the Popular Science article above, and theres a step where they add the cheese and gelatinized starch to a blender. For me, the tiny amount of ingredients involved does not warrant a blender clean-up (thats more trouble than its worth), so heres what I did instead.Foolproof Cacio e Pepe RecipeIngredients: teaspoon cornstarch1 tablespoon water1 ounce Pecorino Romano cheese, finely grated2 ounces spaghettiCracked black pepper1. To make the starch booster, combine the cornstarch and water in a small bowl. Stir them together until completely combined and add it to a medium-sized pan. Heat the pan over medium-low heat and stir with a rubber spatula until it gels. This happens quickly, it only takes about a minute. Let it cool while you boil the pasta.2. Cook the pasta in boiling salty water according to the package directions.3. Add the grated cheese to the starch gel and mix them together a bit. Add the hot, freshly boiled pasta to the pan with a tablespoon or so of the cloudy pasta water and stir everything around over medium-low heat. The ingredients will combine to make a creamy sauce. Add more pasta water if you like a looser consistency. Garnish with plenty of black pepper and enjoy immediately.

Just one day before TikTok is expected to shut down in the US, startup Perplexity AI has submitted a bid to TikToks parent company ByteDance proposing a merger that would allow it to continue operating, CNBC reports. Citing an anonymous source, CNBC reports that the proposed merger would create a new entity combining Perplexity, TikTok US and New Capital Partners. It comes after the Supreme Court on Friday ruled unanimously to uphold a law that requires ByteDance to sell TikTok or it will be banned in the US. The company has so far resisted the idea of a sale.According to CNBCs source, Perplexity is hoping a merger rather than a sale will be more appealing to ByteDance. The new structure would allow for most of ByteDances existing investors to retain their equity stakes and would bring more video to Perplexity, CNBC reports. If ByteDance were to accept the proposal, theres a chance the company would be given a 90-day extension by Trump to work out a deal, which he told NBC News' Kristen Welker that he would most likely do when he takes office on Monday. But there is as yet no indication that ByteDance will go this route.Despite rampant speculation about potential buyers, TikTok said it will be forced to go dark on January 19 when the law takes effect unless the Biden Administration immediately provides a definitive statement to satisfy the most critical service providers assuring non-enforcement. The outgoing administration, however, reportedly says its leaving all that for the Trump team to deal with. Per MSNBC, White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre called TikToks claim about shutting down a stunt, and said we see no reason for TikTok or other companies to take actions in the next few days before the Trump Administration takes office on Monday.We have laid out our position clearly and straightforwardly: actions to implement this law will fall to the next administration, Jean-Pierre said, according to MSNBC. So TikTok and other companies should take up any concerns with them.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/social-media/perplexity-ai-has-reportedly-submitted-an-11th-hour-bid-to-save-tiktok-in-the-us-215012514.html?src=rss

Faster USB 4 transfer speeds will make life a whole lot easier.

Ahead of the expected TikTok ban, creators on the app posted heartfelt goodbyes this week to their fans.