A relic from the 1970sa self-help record purporting to teach the listener to reach your full potentialstirs up frightening chaos for two sisters in Black Circle, a 2018 horror film thats well worth seeking out now that its streaming on Shudder. Made in Sweden by Spanish writer-director Adrin Garca Bogliano (2022s La Exorcista), Black Circle plunges you right into the woo-woo by opening on a film clip purportedly taken from a correspondence course peddled by the Stockholm Institute for Magnetic Research. The technique its pushing is sort of hypnotism taken to the extreme, and its claims are fantastic. Who wouldnt want to become the best version of themselves by simply purging all the bad energy and intrusive thoughts theyve been clutching onto since childhood? Its a tempting proposition for Celeste (Felice Jankell), a twentysomething whose life is currently circling the existential drain. Shes just broken up with her boyfriend and been fired from her summer job, and writers block has prevented her from even starting a long-looming school paper. So when her sister Isa (Erica Midfjll)who she hasnt seen in some timeinvites her to stop by her office, Celeste is impressed by Isas big-shot job and upbeat attitude. Things are going wildly well, Isa tells her, and she wants to help Celeste turn her own life around. Though Celeste bristles a bit at her pushy sister, thats replaced by confusion when Isa hands her a record and tells her to play the B-side as you fall asleep. The effects are life-changing, she promises, and they all stem from this weird LP she found among junk left behind by grandmas cousin Lundstrom, who until his passing was the orphaned sisters only other living relative. Celeste is skeptical of what feels like a cult come-on, but she gives it a spin. The next morning, she sits bolt upright, sprints to her laptop, and triumphantly pounds out page after page of her paper. Naturally, theres a catch to this miraculous good fortune, and as Black Circle builds toward showing exactly what that catch looks like, the film divides itself into short chapters, not unlike a correspondence course might. It also jumps back into the film-within-a-film to layer in some exposition about magnetic hypnosis, delivered in optimistic terms that dont match the increasingly uneasy results we see with the sisters. The technique guides a person in offloading the mental baggage thats been holding them backbut once expunged, said baggage takes the form of an Ethereal Double, a sort of doppelganger that gradually draws more and more energy from its original source. Shudder Thats disturbing enough even before Black Circle introduces another layer of mythology, involving creatures that intervene if an Ethereal Double gets too comfortable in the human realm. Thats an aspect of the story that doesnt get enough fleshing out, but Black Circle is otherwise deeply invested in its subversion of New Age psychology. As their lives become choked with paranoid delusions that just might be real, Isa and Celeste track down the woman who released the record, a psychic who suffered her own tragedy in learning the harmful effects of magnetic hypnosisand who grimly springs into action to help its latest victims. Though the reverse exorcism ritual that takes over the films third act drags a bit, Black Circle has a unique energy and self-assured, often psychedelic visual style that allows it to carve out a unique space in the realm of cursed-media films. But unlike the characters in, for instance, The Ringwho watch a haunted video tape for entertainment, not knowing itll seal their doom Black Circles sisters intentionally, albeit naively, open themselves up to the LPs mind-warping capabilities. The resulting journey brings plenty of terror, but it also illustrates Black Circles deepest theme: you gotta do the work necessary to move past the negativity thats accumulated in your life, rather than hoping to heal by just wishing the bad stuff away.Black Circle is now streaming on Shudder. Want more io9 news? Check out when to expect the latest Marvel, Star Wars, and Star Trek releases, whats next for the DC Universe on film and TV, and everything you need to know about the future of Doctor Who.

Internalities: Architectures for Territorial Equilibrium is the proposal presented for the Spain Pavilion for the upcoming edition of the 19th Venice Architecture Biennale. Curated by Galician architects Roi Salgueiro Barrio and Manuel Bouzas Barcala, the project to be exhibited in the central hall of the pavilion aims to explore key strategies for decarbonizing architecture in Spain.

Greek mythology often reads like a soap opera for deities. One moment Zeus condemns a traitor to have his liver pecked apart by vultures for eternity, the next he disguises himself as a swan so he can seduce women without drawing his wifes attention.It takes a special cast of characters to drive such a narrative, and the Olympian gods were the perfect fit. Many modern Americans met them in Disney form through 1997s Hercules. But for sheer darkness and palace intrigue, the 2024 series Kaos comes closer to capturing their essence immensely powerful, immensely flawed, humanity at its worst, but free of human limitations.The gods are in fact the most powerful work of art created by the Greeks, wrote Ken Dowden, professor emeritus of classics at the University of Birmingham. And what makes them so compelling, even today, is how much of ourselves we can still see in them. Compared to most historical religions, Dowden wrote, the Greek gods were exceptionally anthropomorphic they were shaped like people.Are There 12 or 13 Olympian Greek Gods and Goddesses?The canonical number of Olympians was 12, but sources disagree about who should be included. Over the centuries, some gods rose in popularity while others fell. Nevertheless, this list is close to a definitive pantheon.One noteworthy absence is Hades. Thats because the Greeks distinguished between Olympian gods, who lived on Mt. Olympus, and chthonic gods, who lived in the underworld. Though Hades was the brother of Zeus and Poseidon, the most powerful Olympians, he himself ruled deep beneath Earths surface. (Credit: Yueh Chiang/Shutterstock)1. ZeusThe hot-headed, thunderbolt-wielding, amorous overlord of Olympus. In some ancient epoch, he led his fellow Olympians to victory against the Titans, who originally controlled the world, overthrowing his father Cronus in the process. Zeus was more powerful than the rest of the gods combined, yet he could be deceived by them. Despite his grandeur, he has an unsavory reputation for pursuing one mortal woman after another. As Edith Hamilton wrote in Mythology, we find him descending to all manner of tricks to hide his infidelity from his wife.2. HeraZeus had good reason to keep these extramarital escapades on the downlow. Hera, his better half (also his sister), only comes with one setting: vengeful. We rarely see her doing anything other than punishing her husbands unlucky paramours, not to mention their illegitimate offspring. When Zeus took a liking to princess Io, Hera turned her into a heifer, then sent a gadfly like a horse fly to sting her constantly. When Alcmene gave birth (by Zeus) to Hercules, Hera sent two snakes to kill him in his cradle, though the infant strangled them with his bare hands. As Hamilton put it, She never forgot an injury.(Credit: Zwiebackesser/Shutterstock)3. PoseidonRuler of the sea and second only to his brother Zeus, Poseidon watched over all the maritime exploits of ancient Greece. He decided when storms would rise and recede, holding his famous three-pronged trident in one hand and the fates of sailors in the other. Hes mostly remembered today as a seafaring deity, but he was also God of earthquakes, and was deeply honored for giving humanity the horse. Oddly enough, he even sired one: Pegasus, the winged steed of the hero Bellerophon.4. HermesZeuss son and messenger, Hermes flew as fleet as thought on his winged sandals. He was the cleverest of the gods on the day he was born he stole Apollos cattle, then invented the lyre and gave it to him as a peace offering. Hermes wore many hats: protector of livestock, God of fertility, guardian of travelers, thieves and merchants. He was also a psychopomp, a figure who leads souls in their journey to the underworld. According to Hamilton, he shows up more often in Greek mythology than any other god. 5. DemeterAs goddess of the harvest, Demeters story provided the Greeks with an explanation for why we have seasons. When she learned that her daughter, Persephone, had been abducted by Hades, her grief robbed the world of vitality. No seed sprang up, Hamilton wrote. It seemed the whole race of men would die of famine.Finally, Zeus ordered his brother to return Persephone. He agreed, but before releasing her he made her eat a pomegranate seed because by mythological logic he knew it would bind her to the underworld. Though she was free to return to Olympus with her mother, restoring Earths abundance, she had to come back to Hades for four months each year. During that time, which we call winter, Demeter grieves afresh.6. ApolloOften described as the most Greek of all the gods, Apollo was something of a Renaissance man. He entertained Olympus with his lyre, taught humankind the art of medicine, and had no rival in archery. Yet hes best known as the god of light, hauling the sun across the sky in his chariot each day.He was also one of the most important gods in day-to-day life. If you had a big question about whether to go to war, say, or about whom to marry you asked Apollos oracle at Delphi. In this way, Hamilton wrote, he served as a direct link between gods and men, guiding men to know the divine will.(Credit: Yueh Chiang/Shutterstock)7. ArtemisArtemis, Apollos twin sister, was goddess of the hunt. In paintings and sculpture, shes almost always depicted with a deer or hunting dog at her side. Later, Greek poets also identify her with Selene, the personification of the moon, likely because her brother Apollo was by then conflated with the sun god Helios. As one of the three virgin goddesses (along with Athena and Hestia), she never married and had rather severe notions about chastity. When a young hunter named Actaeon saw her bathing naked, she transformed him into a deer and his hunting dogs tore him to shreds. 8. AthenaIts fitting that Athens (the cultural center of the Greek universe) bears Athenas name, because she was first and foremost the venerated protector of cities. Usually depicted in full battle armor, she put her tremendous wisdom and practical reason to work in defending civilization. She was something of an urban counterpart to outdoorsy Artemis.Athena was Zeuss favorite child, and unique among his children in that she had no mother instead, she sprang full-grown from his forehead. She carried his aegis, a shield made from the hide of a gorgon (one of those monsters with snakes for hair). (Credit: Yueh Chiang/Shutterstock)9. AphroditeA ravishing goddess of love and beauty, Aphrodite is the ultimate sex symbol so irresistible, Hamilton wrote, that she stole away even the wits of the wise. Some authors call her a child of Zeus, but others say she arose from the foam produced by the severed testicles of Uranus, which were cast into the sea by his son Cronus. Nothing out of the ordinary here.Aphrodite could be terribly jealous, particularly when she learned that her temples were being neglected because people had started offering gifts to a stunningly beautiful mortal named Psyche. She sent her son Eros to make Psyche fall for some hideous monster, but he accidentally wounded himself with one of his arrows, and he fell in love with her himself. 10. AresAres doesnt show up often in mythology, except as an impersonal symbol of war. Hes described as murderous, a plague upon humanity. Unlike his sister Athena (who was associated with military strategy and other relatively civilized aspects of warfare), Ares represented pure savagery. Neither the Greeks nor his fellow gods cared much for him.In an unlikely twist, one of the few stories about Ares involves a long-term affair between him and Aphrodite, despite her marriage to Hephaestus. How this bloodthirsty black sheep wooed the most beautiful being in the universe is anyones guess.(Credit: Yueh Chiang/Shutterstock)11. HephaestusIts just as much a mystery how Aphrodite wound up with Hephaestus, a creature so ugly he was cast out of Olympus by his parents, Zeus and Hera. That said, he was well respected among mortals as the god of fire, a blacksmith who forged weapons and other military equipment. Olympus eventually welcomed him back, and he was honored there too for his fine craftsmanship. Besides being unsightly, Hephaestus was lame and also had the misfortune of an unfaithful wife. But he used his considerable smithing skills for revenge after catching Aphrodite and Ares in the act, he bound them in unbreakable chains and dragged them before the rest of the pantheon for a good old public shaming.12. Dionysus/HestiaThe final seat in Olympus has two contenders: Dionysus, God of wine and ecstasy, and Hestia, goddess of the family hearth. Dionysus, though actually a demigod with a mortal mother, was one of the most important of all divine figures. The Greeks held an annual festival in his honor, during which they staged tragedies and comedies and got rip-roaring drunk. He also had a literal cult following, centered on sex, intoxication, and brutal sacrifice.Hestia doesnt have much of a personality and plays no part in myth. But nevertheless, as a symbol of home and family, she was near to the Greek heart. Every meal began and ended with an offering to her, Hamilton wrote. Cities, too, had public hearths devoted to Hestia, and her followers ensured their fires never went out.Article SourcesOur writers at Discovermagazine.com use peer-reviewed studies and high-quality sources for our articles, and our editors review for scientific accuracy and editorial standards. Review the sources used below for this article:Edith Hamilton. MythologyKen Dowden. University of BirminghamCody Cottier is a contributing writer at Discover who loves exploring big questions about the universe and our home planet, the nature of consciousness, the ethical implications of science and more. He holds a bachelor's degree in journalism and media production from Washington State University.

The field team sampling a lake near Kangerlussuaq, Greenland, that browned after the extreme events.Credit: Adam Heathcote ShareJasmine Saros has visited West Greenland every summer since 2011. Saros, a professor of lake ecology at the University of Maine, travels north annually to collect data on the regions fresh waters. In 2022, she conducted her usual rounds of sampling and assessment on the 10 representative lakes that her and her colleagues routinely visit. Everything was generally as expectedslowly shifting in accordance with climate change, but outwardly appearing as it had for more than a decade. Then suddenly, it wasnt.The next year, summer 2023, Saros returned to find the familiar lakes utterly transformed. You could see it right away, she says. The water bodies had gone from crystal clear and bluetheir rocky bottoms as visible as if looking through glassto a steeped tea-brown. At first, the scientists thought perhaps it was just one lake, then two, then three. Until every single lake we went to had changed in this way, Saros says. There was this major transformation that occurred across all the lakes in the landscape, she tells Popular Science. It was really astonishing.Historically, West Greenland is a relatively arid expanse of tundra. In summer, the thawed landscape is covered in low-lying vegetation, with permafrost sitting still-frozen beneath the soil. The region is dotted with thousands of lakes. In Saros study area, she and her co-researchers estimate there are 7,486. She expects that most, if not all, have turned from blue to brown.How a lakeKangerlussuaq, Greenlandappeared prior to a series of extreme weather events. Credit: Rachel Fowler The color shift isnt just aesthetic. Its a sign that the lakes fundamental ecology was altered over the course of a single year, according to a study published January 21 in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Among the changes: the lakes lost 90% of their microbial biodiversity, gained 1,000% more dissolved iron, and went from absorbing carbon dioxide to emitting itshifting from sink to source, per the new research, led by Saros.The transformation, brought about by one especially warm and wet fall, could be permanent. Its an illustration of what happens when climate tipping pointsoften discussed in the abstract, as something were ever-approachingactually come to pass, and an ecosystem topples over the proverbial cliff. And its a warning of what could happen everywhere else. We focus on lakes in the Arctic because they are such great sentinels of climate change. They tend to show change before other lake ecosystems do, says Saros. The Arctic is warming especially fast and climate is a primary driver of change there, as theres low human density and little development. But nowhere is immune.In Greenland, the scientists responded to the newly brown lakes by amassing all the data they could. As usual, they hiked to their study sites carrying heavy backpacks full of equipment and ventured out on each lake in an inflatable raft. They scooped up water from different depths, netted for plankton, used sensors to record temperature and pH, and even measured the lakes light absorbance. Back in the lab, they analyzed their samples and checked for dissolved organic matter, metals, and living organisms.The browned waters of a lake near Kangerlussuaq, Greenland. Prior to the extreme events, lake waters were crystal clear. Credit: Vaclava Hazukova They found profound differences between the 2023 water and prior years. There was far more dissolved organic matterthink soil, decaying muck, and plant detritus infused into a broth. Iron levels shot up by two orders of magnitude, and other metals like aluminum and cobalt were also more abundant. There were far fewer bacterial taxa present, and far more algae. Photosynthesis decreased, as the deeper zones of each lake became lifeless deprived of light. Methane jumped by 72%, and the lakes were newly sources of summertime greenhouse gas emissions, spitting out more than four times as much carbon dioxide as before, while taking in less.To determine why, the researchers surveyed years of weather and climate data. The homed in on a two month period in the fall of 2022 when Greenland experienced record heat and rainfall, resulting from multiple back-to-back atmospheric rivers. During the heatwave and excess rains, lots of permafrost thawed, releasing a large volume of organic matter and metals bound in the soil. This extreme autumn season essentially led to a big flushing of that material into lakes, says Saros. Lakes expanded and became more connected to each other, intermixing and spreading the change far and wide. Additional heavy rains and heat in July 2023 added to the pile-on. Satellite imagery suggests the change wasnt specific to the lakes. With the added heat and water, the land changed too, becoming measurably greener.Lake browning is not a new phenomenon. Its happened numerous times in Earths history in response to climate shifts or other changes in local conditions. But generally it would unfold much more slowly, over centuries or longer. In the northern part of the United States, for example, it would take about 1,000 years for that kind of change in color to happen naturally, Saros explains. I never thought such a dramatic change could happen in less than a year, she says. A related, rapid change has been noted in some of Alaskas rivers, also in response to permafrost thaw. Its ecological modification at hyper speed.The browned waters of a lake near Kangerlussuaq, Greenland. Prior to the extreme events, lake waters were crystal clear. Credit: Adam Heathcote In September 2003, Greenland experienced a similar influx of precipitation. But the accompanying warmth was less extreme. As a result, a higher proportion of the moisture fell as snow, less permafrost thawed, and the lakes didnt dramatically shift states. Climate change is making both heatwaves and atmospheric rivers more common in the Arctic. Models predict anywhere from 50 to 290% more of the concentrated rainfall events in Greenland by 2100.Its unclear what conditions or how much time would be needed for the lakes to revert back to their former state, says Saros. Perhaps a series of dry years might help, with the sun bleaching the organic matter. But, at the same time, dry weather means more evaporation and less flushing out of contaminants. Its hard to predict, she notes. Yet on our current climate trajectory, she doesnt expect to see the lakes blue again anytime soon. I think [the change] is likely to persist, Saros says. She and her co-authors will continue keeping tabs on the water bodies, to learn what the future holds and in the hope recovery is possible.For now though, the consequences are unfolding for people in the present. Some Greenlandic communities rely on lakes for their drinking water. The ecosystem changes could pose health risks to humans, like metal toxicity. There are ways of treating and filtering water to mitigate the harms, but all of that requires infrastructure investment. We shared our data and talked to various people in the community, says Saros, but shes not yet sure what they plan to do.

Nature, Published online: 20 January 2025; doi:10.1038/d41586-025-00167-3Device that links neural signals to fine movements provides unprecedented control over speed and direction in a video-game obstacle course.

There are many megaliths around the world, some of which rival Stonehenge for their size and age.

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While Warhammer 40K: Space Marine 2 celebrated its successful launch in September 2024, an unannounced title set in the Warhammer universe may have been canceled around that time.According to what was spotted by MP1st, a Warhammer RPG developed by Thought Pennies studio had been canceled due to funding issues. The resumes of previous developers, whose work at the studio ended mostly in September or November, revealed that an unannounced Warhammer title was in the works before they left.Gathering the information they mentioned in their duties, we could picture its basic outline: a fantasy live-service RPG created with Unreal Engine 5. One specifically said it was a third-person Co-Op PvE Action RPG with a cast of unique heroes and playstyles. The project development could have started around August 2022 or even earlier.Screenshot by MP1stThought Pennies was founded in 2020 by its CEO, Tim Ernst, who had worked on Final Fantasy XV and Star Wars games and had rich experience in games-as-a-service.From a post by its CCO Daniel Erickson shared on LinkedIn, the change of strategic direction of the publisher (whose name was not mentioned) had resulted in their previous project without funding and layoffs. The studios information on LinkedIn shows the total headcount in the past 6 months dropped by 52%, which could be around 30 employees, as the team was nearly 60 people.Since the project was never officially announced by the studio or the IP-owner Games Workshop, our knowledge about the canceled title might be unlikely to extend much more. It is also unclear whether development could resume if new funding sources are found.Join our80 Level Talent platformand ournew Discord server, follow us onInstagram,Twitter,LinkedIn,Telegram,TikTok, andThreads, where we share breakdowns, the latest news, awesome artworks, and more.Source link The post Unannounced Warhammer ARPG Made with UE5 Reportedly Canceled appeared first on CG SHARES.

3 for $33 Movies on 4K Blu-ray Amazon's new movie sale includes hundreds of popular 4K Blu-rays. See at Amazon Amazon's awesome 3 for $33 4K Blu-ray sale ends tonight, January 20, at 11:59 PM PT. You're effectively paying $11 per movie, which is quite the deal--especially when you check out the eligible films. Hundreds of movies are featured in Amazon's 4K Blu-ray sale, including a bunch of great sci-fi, fantasy, and horror films. To make it easy to browse, we put together lists of notable movies in the 3 4K Blu-rays for $33 sale. Some of the highlights include Dune: Parts One and Two, Blade Runner 2049, Mad Max: Fury Road and Furiosa, The Shining, Scott Pilgrim vs. The World, The Super Mario Bros. Movie, and so many more.Important note: To get the deal, each movie needs to be shipped and sold by Amazon. If you don't see the "Get any 3 for $33" Savings tag under the price, that's because the store page is defaulting to a third-party seller. This is fairly common during these promotions. Just click "Other sellers on Amazon," filter only the "New" listings, and click "Add to Cart" on the option sold and shipped by Amazon. See full sale at Amazon DC Movies on 4K Blu-raySuperman: The Movie / The Batman / Man of SteelThe franchise featured the most in the sale is Batman, as there are over a dozen live-action and animated movies starring the Caped Crusader. Highlights include The Batman, The Dark Knight, Tim Burton's Batman and Batman Returns, and more. Beyond Batman, you can snag films starring other DC heroes.Continue Reading at GameSpot

Minecraft's structures are what make the game feel the most exciting. Each of them typically provides some degree of challenge, with enemies protecting a treasure chest full of loot. While the latest version, 1.21, didn't introduce a new structure, the addition of the Pale Garden and the creepy creaking shows that the game is still going through huge changes. No doubt something new will be on the horizon again, soon, dungeon-wise.