This is today's edition ofThe Download,our weekday newsletter that provides a daily dose of what's going on in the world of technology. OpenAI has upped its lobbying efforts nearly sevenfold OpenAI spent $1.76 million on government lobbying in 2024 and $510,000 in the last three months of the year alone, according to a new disclosure filed on Tuesdaya significant jump from 2023, when the company spent just $260,000 on Capitol Hill. The disclosure is a clear signal of the companys arrival as a political player, as its first year of serious lobbying ends and Republican control of Washington begins. While OpenAIs lobbying spending is still dwarfed by bigger tech players, the uptick comes as it and other AI companies are helping redraw the shape of AI policy. Read the full story.James ODonnell A new company plans to use Earth as a chemical reactor Forget massive steel tankssome scientists want to make chemicals with the help of rocks deep beneath Earths surface. New research shows that ammonia, a chemical crucial for fertilizer, can be produced from rocks at temperatures and pressures that are common in the subsurface. The research was published yesterday in Joule, and MIT Technology Review can exclusively report that a new company, called Addis Energy, has been founded to commercialize the process. Ammonia is used in most fertilizers and is a vital part of our modern food system. Its also being considered for use as a green fuel in industries like transoceanic shipping. The problem is that current processes used to make ammonia require a lot of energy and produce huge amounts of the greenhouse gases that cause climate change. Read the full story.Casey Crownhart There can be no winners in a US-China AI arms race Alvin Wang Graylin and Paul Triolo The United States and China are entangled in what many have dubbed an AI arms race. In the early days of this standoff, US policymakers drove an agenda centered on winning the race, mostly from an economic perspective. In recent months, leading AI labs such as OpenAI and Anthropic got involved in pushing the narrative of beating China in what appeared to be an attempt to align themselves with the incoming Trump administration. The belief that the US can win in such a race was based mostly on the early advantage it had over China in advanced GPU compute resources and the effectiveness of AIs scaling laws. But now it appears that access to large quantities of advanced compute resources is no longer the defining or sustainable advantage many had thought it would be. Read the full story.Meet the divers trying to figure out how deep humans can go Figuring out how the human body can withstand underwater pressure has been a problem for over a century, but a ragtag band of divers is experimenting with hydrogen to find out. This is our latest story to be turned into a MIT Technology Review Narrated podcast, whichwere publishing each week on Spotify and Apple Podcasts. Just navigate to MIT Technology Review Narrated on either platform, and follow us to get all our new content as its released. The must-reads Ive combed the internet to find you todays most fun/important/scary/fascinating stories about technology. 1 Donald Trump has pardoned the creator of Silk Road Ross Ulbricht was sentenced to life in prison after being found guilty of conspiracy to commit drug trafficking, money laundering, and hacking. (BBC)+ The 40-year old has been in prison since 2015. (NYT $)+ Its a clear attempt to curry favor with the crypto community. (Bloomberg $)2 The US is embarking on a major AI data center pushOpenAI, SoftBank, and Oracle will create $100 billion in computing infrastructure. (NYT $) + Sam Altman says the project will facilitate the birth of AGI in America. (Insider $)3 What Trumps executive orders mean for you From a national energy emergency to pausing wind projects. (Fast Company $)+ The new President also officially established DOGE. (Ars Technica)4 YouTuber Mr Beast is considering buying TikTok His lawyer insists hes deadly serious. (CNN)+ What is the true value of TikTok, exactly? (The Information $)+ Trump is open to Elon Musk bidding for ownership too. (The Guardian)5 Microsoft will foot the bill to restore part of the Amazon rainforest In exchange for hundreds of millions of dollars worth of carbon credits. (FT $)+ Google, Amazon and the problem with Big Techs climate claims. (MIT Technology Review) 6 Google sold AI tools to Israels military in the wake of the Hamas attackIn stark contrast to its public stance distancing itself from Israels security apparatus. (WP $) 7 Inside the fight raging over NASAs first deep space stationSome experts argue we should start building living quarters directly on the moon instead. (Undark) + Heres what an exploding rocket looks like. (New Scientist $)+ Whats next for NASAs giant moon rocket? (MIT Technology Review) 8 How the Parcae satellite program helped to win the Cold WarAnd ushered in a new age of eavesdropping in the process. (IEEE Spectrum) 9 Startup founders are hustling for deals at inauguration parties Networking is so back, baby. (TechCrunch)+ How a Greenwich Village bar became a MAGA mecca. (NY Mag $)10 How AI could revamp treatment for snake bites Courtesy of a recent Nobel chemistry prize winner. (Economist $)Quote of the day Its not at all like being an employee. Theres nobody you can talk to. Everything is automated. A gig economy driver tells the Guardian about his frustration in navigating the platforms apps. The big story How tactile graphics can help end image poverty June 2023 Chancey Fleet In 2020, in the midst of the pandemic lockdown, my husband and I bought a house in Brooklyn and decided to rebuild the interior. He taught me a few key architectural symbols and before long I was drawing my own concepts, working toward a shared vision of the home we eventually designed. Its a commonplace story, except for one key factor: Im blind, and Ive made it my mission to ensure that blind New Yorkers can create and explore images. As a blind tech educator, its my joband my passionto introduce blind and low-vision patrons to tools that help them move through daily life with autonomy and ease. Read the full story. We can still have nice things A place for comfort, fun and distraction to brighten up your day. (Got any ideas? Drop me a line or skeet 'em at me.) + To prevent sore shoulders and bad backs, it helps to know the muscles that cause them.+ Its time to join the crispy gnocchi club.+ If youre lucky enough to win an Academy Award, dont even think about trying to sell it.+ Space-age bachelor pad music looks like a pretty great genre to me.

Proposals would have included replacement Travis Perkins branchCGI showing how the scheme would look if built1/6show captionWestminster council has refused plans for a 20-storey student accommodation building designed by Make Architects for a second time.Councillors voted to ignore a recommendation by the councils planning officers to approve the 605-bedroom scheme in a committee meeting yesterday evening.The proposals, designed for clients Unite Students and Travis Perkins, were for a canal-side site behind Paddington station and neighbouring Fletcher Priests Brunel Building.They would have seen the demolition and replacement of an existing Travis Perkins branch on the site with the student accommodation scheme located above, along with a new canal path and public realm.Makes earlier version of the scheme, refused in 2022The councils refusal comes three years after a larger scheme also designed by Make for the same clients was thrown out due to concerns over the buildings massing and its impact on nearby residents.The original 2022 proposals, which had been recommended for refusal, would have contained 768 student rooms, down from 843 in an earlier 22-storey version of the scheme which had been amended prior to its committee hearing.Although the latest scheme, submitted in May last year, had broken up the building into two main blocks on the advice of planning officers, it still received more than 100 objections from locals due to its height and scale.

Project delivery functions to be transferred from Cabinet Office to the TreasuryThe merger of the National Infrastructure Commission (NIC) and Infrastructure and Projects Authority (IPA) will take effect from the start of April, the prime minister has announced.The combined body, which will be known as the National Infrastructure and Service Transformation Authority (NISTA), will be a joint unit of the Treasury and Cabinet Office, with Darren Jones named as the responsible minister for the body.Source: HM Treasury / FlickrChief secretary to the Treasury, Darren JonesJones, a rising star in the Labour party who is second in command at the Treasury after chancellor Rachel Reeves, has been at the forefront of the governments plans for infrastructure and first announced the plans for NISTA last May, before the general election.In a written statement to the House of Commons, Keir Starmer announced the upcoming machinery of government change.This change will bring infrastructure strategy and delivery together to address systemic challenges to growth, and combine the expertise and functions of the Infrastructure and Projects Authority and the National Infrastructure Commission, he said.As part of the changes, the IPAs functions and responsibilities, including the Governments project delivery expertise and functions, and assurance reviews for the Governments largest projects, will moved from the Cabinet Office to HM Treasury.The chief secretary to the Treasury, currently Jones, will be the lead minister for NISTA, while the departments permanent secretary will be the principal accounting officer.Last September, Jones hit out at the previous government for having a dismissive attitude towards the NIC.Speaking at the launch of the Labour Infrastructure Forum, he said the NIC had done a brilliant job but the Conservatives were not really listening or taking it seriously.The NIC was doing a brilliant job on strategy, he said.I think everybody agrees that their outputs are actually great, but lets be frank, the government wasnt really listening or taking it seriously. So it produced great reports but it wasnt informing decisions.He also argued that the IPA had also been reduced to a compliance function and it needed to be more about speeding up delivery and focusing on delivery.The chair of the NIC, John Armitt, recently questioned the benefits of greater ministerial oversight of major public projects.Speaking at a House of Commons transport committe, he said that transport is an intensely political area which he said made it very difficult for ministers to stand back.Theyre the ones who, at the end of the day, have to stand up here and defend whats happening, he said.On the other hand, that is bound to lead to delays, its bound to lead, I fear at times, to too much desire to actually meet every concern and objection and requirement for extra facilities within a scheme.

See at Willow Watch Test cricket for $10 a month Willow See at Willow See more details See at ExpressVPN Best VPN for streaming ExpressVPN See at ExpressVPN See more details See at TNT Sport Watch Australia vs. India live in the UK TNT Sports See at TNT Sport See more details See at Kayo Sports Watch India vs. England in Australia for AU$25 Kayo Sports See at Kayo Sports See more details See at Hotstar Showing this Test series in India Disney Plus Hotstar See at Hotstar See more details Table of Contents England kick off their first white-ball series against India in three years today in Kolkata, with head coach Brendon McCullum looking to mould his side ahead of next month's Champions Trophy.The fallout from England's disappointing performance at last year's T20 World Cup saw McCullum take charge of the limited-overs squad, having already revitalized the Test team with his aggressive approach.India, meanwhile, come into this series looking to put their recent defeat in the Border-Gavaskar trophy to Australia behind them, with Suryakumar Yadav's team aiming to maintain their dominance of cricket's shortest format.Australia take on India in the 1st T20 at Eden Gardens in Kolkata on Wednesday, Jan. 22. Play is set to start each day at 7 p.m. IST local time in India, which makes it a 1:30 p.m. GMT start in the UK.The time difference in the US and Canada means this first T20 encounter between the two sides begins at 8:30 a.m. ET and 5:30 a.m. PT, with play getting underway for viewers in Australia at12:30 a.m. AEDT in the early hours of Thursday morning.Below, we'll outline the bestlive TV streaming servicesto watch the series, no matter where you are in the world. Suryakumar Yadav will captain India in this five-game T20 series. Pankaj Nangia/Getty ImagesHow to watch India vs. England 1st T20 in the US and Canada without cableThis T20 series is available to watch live on cricket streaming serviceWillow TV. Willow TV Willow TV, a dedicated cricket streaming service, is available with a broad range of cable providers, including Spectrum, Dish and Xfinity. The service is also available via OTT providerSling TVvia its Desi Binge Plus or Dakshin Flexplans. Willow TV is also an add-on for OTT provider Fubo, with plans starting at $87 per month, which covers the base Fubo subscription plus another $7 for the add-on package that includes Willow TV. See at Willow How to watch online from anywhere using a VPNIf you find yourself unable to view this Test series locally, you may need a different way to watch the action -- that's where using a VPN can come in handy. A VPN is also the best way to stop your ISP from throttling your speeds on game day by encrypting your traffic. It's also a great idea if you're traveling and find yourself connected to a Wi-Fi network, and you want to add an extra layer of privacy for your devices and logins.With a VPN, you're able to virtually change your location on your phone, tablet or laptop to get access to the game. Most VPNs, like ourEditors' Choice, ExpressVPN, make it really easy to do this.Using a VPN to watch or stream sports is legal in any country where VPNs are legal, including the US, UK and Australia, as long as you have a legitimate subscription to the service you're streaming. Be sure your VPN is set up correctly to prevent leaks: Even where VPNs are legal, the streaming service may terminate the account of anyone it deems to be circumventing correctly applied blackout restrictions.Looking for other options? Be sure to check out some of the other greatVPN dealstaking place right now. James Martin/CNET 2024 Latest Tests DNS leaks detected, 25% speed loss in 2024 testsNetwork 3,000 plus servers in 105 countriesJurisdiction British Virgin Islands ExpressVPN isour current best VPN pickfor people who want a reliable and safe VPN, and it works on a variety of devices. It's normally $13 a month, but if you sign up for an annual subscription for $100 you'll get three months free and save 49%. That's the equivalent of $6.67 a month.Note that ExpressVPN offers a 30-day money-back guarantee. 61% off with 2yr plan (+4 free months) See at ExpressVPN Watch India vs. England 1st T20 in the UKThis T20 series is being shown live in the UK by TNT Sports. TNT Sports You can access TNT Sports via Sky Q as a TV package, as well as the option of streaming online. It costs 31 either way and comes in a package that includes the Discovery Plus library of documentary content. See at TNT Sport Stream the India vs. England 1st T20 in Australia for freeThis T20 series can be watched Down Under on Fox Sports via Foxtel. If you're not a Fox subscriber, your best option is to sign up for the streaming service Kayo Sports. Kayo Sports A Kayo Sports subscription starts at AU$25 a month and lets you stream on one screen, while its Premium tier costs AU$35 a month for simultaneous viewing on up to three devices.The service gives you access to a wide range of sports, including F1, NRL, NFL, NHL and MLB, and there are no lock-in contracts.Better still, if you're a new customer, you can take advantage of a one-week Kayo Sports free trial. See at Kayo Sports Stream India vs. England 1st T20 in IndiaCricket fans in India can watch this Test series via Star Sports. The cheapest way to watch is via theDisney Plus Hotstar app, but those looking to catch all the action on a device with a larger display will need to sign up for one of its more expensive tier subscriptions. Disney Hotstar/Screenshot by CNET Disney Plus Hotstar starts at 499 rupees for its Mobile plan, going up to 899 rupees for its Super tier, and 1,499 rupees for the service's all-access Premium content plan. See at Hotstar Quick tips for streaming India vs. England 1st T20 using a VPNWith four variables at play -- your ISP, browser, video streaming provider and VPN -- your experience and success when streaming this Test series series live may vary.If you don't see your desired location as a default option for ExpressVPN, try using the "search for city or country" option.If you're having trouble getting the game after you've turned on your VPN and set it to the correct viewing area, there are two things you can try for a quick fix. First, log into your streaming service subscription account and make sure the address registered for the account is in the correct viewing area. If not, you may need to change the physical address on file with your account. Second, some smart TVs -- like Roku -- don't have VPN apps you can install directly on the device itself. Instead, you'll have to install the VPN on your router or the mobile hotspot you're using (like your phone), so that any device on its Wi-Fi network now appears in the correct viewing location.All of the VPN providers we recommend have helpful instructions on their main site for quickly installing the VPN on your router. In some cases with smart TV services, after you install a cable network's sports app, you'll be asked to verify a numeric code or click a link sent to your email address on file for your smart TV. This is where having a VPN on your router will also help, since both devices will appear to be in the correct location.And remember, browsers can often give away a location despite using a VPN, so be sure you're using a privacy-first browser to log into your services. We recommendBrave.

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January 22, 20253 min readWhy Does Snow Bring Childlike Joy?Snows appeal is more than just a fond nostalgia for childhood days away from schoolBy Meghan Bartels edited by Sarah Lewin Frasier Matejphoto/Getty ImagesJust a few degrees difference can turn a dreary rainy day into a nigh on magical scene straight out of a snow globe. Its more glorious and beautiful than everything else in weather, says Alan Stewart, a weather and climate psychologist at the University of Georgia. Of course, snow has its haters, but there are some powerful scientific reasons why many people are so enamored by gently falling ice crystals.For people who grew up carefully turning pajamas inside out and backward in hopes of manifesting some flakes, snow can be a powerful reminder of childhood snow daysthat joyful surprise when another expected day of sitting in school turned into one that was instead filled with snowball fights or sledding.But there are also plenty of reasons snow can appeal to people without that fond nostalgia. In fact, says psychologist and writer Kari Leibowitz, snow quite literally alters our physical experience of the world. For example, freshly fallen snow is porous enough to absorb sound well, making the world quieter.On supporting science journalismIf you're enjoying this article, consider supporting our award-winning journalism by subscribing. By purchasing a subscription you are helping to ensure the future of impactful stories about the discoveries and ideas shaping our world today.And it plays even more strongly on our sense of sight. Theres something about the clean, fresh, white snow that is very aesthetically pleasing, says Leibowitz, who has written a book about mental health in winter. One aspect of that visual appeal, she adds, is the way snow reflects light in the darker months A lot of people really struggle with winter darkness as much as they struggle with the cold, she says. And so the brightening effect of the snow, I think, is really powerful.Snow also changes the very shape of the world people see around them, Stewart says, pointing to the way a fresh blanket of it hides and yet reveals our surroundings. Things that you look at every day suddenly can appear very different, he says. You maybe see the place in a new way.Snow often nudges people into interacting with their surroundings differently as well, Leibowitz says. I think the snow and the ice give us things to engage with in a sensory way that can be very playful and very childlike, Leibowitz says. Theres so much you can do with it in a tactile way.Whether school is canceled or not, snow shakes up the routines of life. When the snow actually prevents you from going places and doing things, its a disruption of the norm, Leibowitz says, which can be annoying and frustrating and inconvenientbut can also be really fun and really exciting.Perhaps whats most striking about our response to snow is that tension itself. In the right conditions, snow can be enchanting. But for certain people or under other circumstances, the same weather can become the very opposite: annoying, exhausting or even depression-inducing. A little bit of the traditional dark winter, even if it has the wonder of snowa susceptible person could experience it as really challenging emotionally, Stewart says.Leibowitz advocates adopting a mindset that embraces changing seasons, which can help people stay open to snows potential charms. I think, in a lot of places in the U.S., we sort of delude ourselves into thinking, Im just going to do everything the same and throw on a coat and a hat and call it a day, she says. Were not adapting enough; were not changing our behavior enough. And so then all of these things like the cold and the darkness are just a burden.Leibowitz recommends slowing down in the winter, taking inspiration from the long nights and cold daysand argues that snow can be a helpful cue to do so. Its such a clear visual reminder that were in a different season that perhaps it inspires people to respond more adaptively, she says.But as climate change continues to unfold, some historically snowy areas will lose the most magical precipitation there isand face nothing but cold rain. Theres a lot of places in the world that are right on this borderline where the difference of a couple of degrees of warming is the difference between a white, snowy winter ... and a gray, rainy winter, Leibowitz says. I think theres a lot that is lost when we lose the cold and when we lose the snow.

OpinionJanuary 22, 20255 min readModis Government Aims to Trample Indias HistoryHindu nationalists are committed to turning India into a Hindu nation-state. They are rewriting history in textbooks to shape that future, trampling Indias true pastBy Vinay Lal edited by Dan Vergano ImagesBazaar/Getty ImagesIndia has since 2014 been governed by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), a Hindu nationalist party notorious for its intolerance for competing visions of the idea of India. Led by Indian prime minister Narendra Modi, his partys rule has led to unchecked control of the media, widespread and zealous suppression of dissent, and tacit (and sometime open) support of bigotry against Muslims, Christians and lower-caste Indians.In last years national elections, the BJP returned to power for a third five-year term, albeit with a reduced presence in the Indian Parliament that has now compelled it to govern with coalition partners. One might have thought the Modi government, projected to achieve a landslide victory, would have been chastened by this turn of events to embrace a vision of India open to its unparalleled religious, cultural and linguistic diversity. Instead Indias National Council for Educational Research and Training (NCERT) last year announced substantive revisions to the social science textbook used in class six (sixth grade), encompassing history, political science and geography, which suggests the present government has no intention of changing course. These revisions seek to present a radically altered and jaundiced understanding of the Indian past.The idea of history wars is by no means new. Japan, for instance, has triggered official protests from China over history textbook attempts to whitewash Japanese war crimes and imperialism in the 1930s and 1940s. The history wars in the U.S., now often placed under the larger rubric of culture wars, have lasted a century. A 1923 Oregon statute, which stressed that school history textbooks shall adequately stress the services rendered and the sacrifices made by the founders of the Republic, which shall inculcate love for and loyalty to our country, barely shows its age considering recent efforts to legislate patriotism, including a law in Florida that requires instruction suitable for an upright and desirable citizenry that recognizes and accepts responsibility for preserving and defending the liberty inherited from prior generations and secured by the United States Constitution.On supporting science journalismIf you're enjoying this article, consider supporting our award-winning journalism by subscribing. By purchasing a subscription you are helping to ensure the future of impactful stories about the discoveries and ideas shaping our world today.In considering the disputes over history textbooks in India, one U.S. example has yet more resonance. This was the dispute, which lasted from 2005 to 2009, over the representation of Hinduism and the ancient Indian past in history textbooks in California. Hindu conservatives, advised by the Hindu Education Foundation and the Vedic Foundationwhich takes its name from the Vedas, the most revered of the Hindu scripturesargued, inter alia, that the caste system had been depicted incorrectly, that women in India did not have an inferior status, and that the Aryans, rather than migrating to India, had originated in India. Many historians, including me, argued at that time that some of the changes would have the effect of falsifying history.But what, if anything, gives the present governments attempts a distinctive color and an alarming, even ominous, tone? Its revisions to school history textbooks furnish the most illuminating and even palpable answer. Perhaps the clearest verdict came in a 2023 New York Times headline: New Indian Textbooks Purged of Muslim History and Hindu Extremism.Islam arrived in India before C.E. 700. What may, with some justice, be described as the unification or incorporation of most of India into one political entity was achieved by the Mughal Empire by the 1500s. Countless European writers, whatever other prejudices they may have held against Indians, had no difficulty in recognizing Akbar the Greatwho reigned from 1556 to 1605 and turned the Mughal empire into a beacon of tolerance at a time when most of Europe was plunged into religious warsas one of the greatest monarchs in world history.What, then, is there about this past that greatly unsettles the Modi-led government? What is gained by diminishing Muslim rulers or altogether eviscerating some from history textbooks? Modi has from the outset of his rule since 2014 argued that he was determined to free India from 1,200 years of slavery, an obvious reference to the submission of India to Muslims, followed by the British. Muslims, however long they may have been in India, must forever be counted as foreigners.Secondly, from the Hindu nationalist standpoint, the world must recognize India as a country that in its most essential characteristics is Hindu. The long Muslim presence in India, on this view, was the principal factor in the decline of their country. Hindus have long been aware that India is distinct (or nearly so, if one discounts nearby Hindu-majority Nepal) as the only country and indeed civilization that is home to Hindus. Where Muslims can claim over 50 countries as Muslim-majority, Hindus have nowhere else to turn to but India. India must, on this view, be restored to its distinct place in the world as an essentially Hindu civilization. Thirdly, Modi is animated by the idea that Hindus, long accustomed to centuries of slavery, a phrase that appears repeatedly in his speeches and admonitions to fellow Indians, must be able to take pride in their religion; his greatest accomplishment, as he sees it, is that he has given Hindus the confidence to assert their identity as Hindus and not merely Indians. And, lastly, Modi and his followers in the Hindu middle class doubtless view Islam as an impediment to Indias progress and development.Clearly, more extreme Hindu nationalists are committed to turning India into a Hindu nation-state and greatly diminishing the Muslim presence in all spheres of life. They know that textbooks play by far the most critical role in shaping our understanding of the past. The destruction on December 6, 1992, of the Babri Masjid, a 16th-century mosque in Ayodhya, by a mob of Hindu militants was their first step in reclaiming India as Hindu India; if that can be described as a purge of Islam, the revisions to the textbooks can be described as effecting a similar purge in realms of education and pedagogy.Indian school textbooks are often poorly produced and contain egregious mistakes. One states that Japan launched a nuclear attack on the U.S. in World War II. Other, non-BJP governments have also introduced highly questionable revisions to history textbooks, though never on the scale witnessed since the BJP swept into power. In 2023 the 12th-grade history and politics textbook was revised to exclude the passage found in previous versions that Mahatma Gandhis steadfast pursuit of Hindu-Muslim unity provoked Hindu extremists so much that they made several attempts to assassinate him. Gandhi, a devout Hindu, was assassinated by yet another Hindu, Nathuram Godse, but this fact has been deleted from scores of textbooks. There is no mention of the pogrom of 2002 that led to the deaths of over 1,000 Muslims and the displacement of some 200,000 people, under the rationalization exercise undertaken by the NCERT. One could easily cite hundreds of other instances of such obfuscation of the truth.Mohandas Gandhi, anointed as the Father of the Nation, was unequivocally clear that the litmus test of a democracy is how it treats its minorities. India is failing this test. The revisions undertaken to history textbooks under the present political dispensation in India are, in other words, the surest sign that when a country is gravitating towards authoritarian rule, truth will be the first casualtyas it has been so often in the past.This is an opinion and analysis article, and the views expressed by the author or authors are not necessarily those of Scientific American.

Xbox adding support for larger external storage beyond current limitBigger than 16TB? No problem.Image credit: Seagate News by Tom Phillips Editor-in-Chief Published on Jan. 22, 2025 External hard drives over 16TB in size will soon be supported by Xbox consoles, Microsoft has announced. The addition of support for bigger external USB storage has been confirmed for Xbox Insiders, as part of a system software update rolling out now to public testers in the Alpha Skip-Ahead ring. As ever, this new feature will slowly filter out to larger testing groups before its widespread public release, typically over the next couple of weeks. "We are enabling support for external USB drives larger than 16TB, so you can be sure your favorite games are always ready to play!" Microsoft wrote in a blog post. "Newly formatted drives that are larger than 16TB will be formatted with multiple partitions to utilise all available space for games and apps. These will appear as multiple devices in the storage devices list."To see this content please enable targeting cookies. This is an Xbox: the death of console exclusives is inevitable and I don't know how to feel about it.Watch on YouTubeIntriguingly, Microsoft does not list a new upper limit for storage devices - suggesting that with the partition methodology in place, there is no upper limit anymore. How big a hard drive can you connect?!"Drives greater than 16TB that have already been formatted will be unaffected by this change and would need to be reformatted to take advantage of the updated support for larger drives," Microsoft concluded.For more on what's next from Microsoft, be sure to join us tomorrow, Thursday 22nd January, for live coverage of the Xbox Developer Direct, beginning at 6pm UK time. We're expecting to see more of Doom: The Dark Ages, Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, South of Midnight and a couple of other surprises.

Mass Effect 5 "isn't ready to suddenly have a team of 250, 300 people working on it" now Dragon Age: The Veilguard is doneBioWare staff spread elsewhere within EA while pre-production continues.Image credit: BioWare News by Tom Phillips Editor-in-Chief Published on Jan. 22, 2025 The next Mass Effect project is still growing in size and isn't ready for the bulk of BioWare staff to jump aboard, former studio veteran Mark Darrah has said.Darrah worked at BioWare for 23 years as a project director and executive producer on the Dragon Age series, and has tracked the studio's changing project schedule in a newly-public video peering behind the scenes.Some BioWare staff who worked on Dragon Age: The Veilguard are now filtering over to Mass Effect 5, but others are being kept busy contributing to projects elsewhere within the wider EA organisation, Darrah said.Dragon Age: The Veilguard has shipped. Now what? #masseffectWatch on YouTubeFirst announced in 2020, Mass Effect 5 (or whatever it ends up being called) has been worked on by a small team of original Mass Effect trilogy veterans within BioWare while the majority of the company has worked to get Dragon Age: The Veilguard out the door. But now The Veilguard has shipped, that doesn't mean Mass Effect 5 will suddenly have the full operational strength of BioWare behind it, Darrah continued, even though the studio had entered an era where it only dedicated the majority of its resources to one project at a time. "Mass Effect isn't ready to suddenly have a team of 250, 300 people working on it," Darrah noted. "In the past when BioWare was toying with being on just one project, like on Anthem or The Veilguard, that project was up and running at full speed so it was able to suck in every available resource, it had enough existing infrastructure that it was able to absorb everything. "That's not exactly what's happening [with Mass Effect 5]. You see this when you go on to people's social media profiles. People who worked on The Veilguard, some of them are going onto Mass Effect, but some of them are moving into other parts of the EA organisation because Mass Effect isn't ready for them."BioWare previously worked on multiple projects in parallel, such as various entries in the Mass Effect and Dragon Age series, plus development on Star Wars: The Old Republic and - going back further - teams dedicated to handheld development, a cancelled Jade Empire sequel, and the Montreal satellite studio which led development on Mass Effect Andromeda, and was subsequently folded into EA's Motive studio.Having many teams meant moving people between projects might have been easier, Darrah said, but this came with its own issues. For example, having multiple projects also limited that movement, if several games were due to ship in close proximity."This might be great," Darrah concluded of BioWare's current single-project focus, "because what it means is BioWare, for really the first time ever, is able to singularly focus on a single project, is able to put all attention on a single project, is able to put everything it has towards a single goal: which is making the best Mass Effect it possibly can."Mass Effect 5 still lacks a release date, and last year's N7 Day was a quiet affair as BioWare still heads down on the launch of The Veilguard. Here's hoping things ramp up considerably in 2025.BioWare's Mass Effect head honcho Michael Gamble recently let fans know the game won't be changing art styles akin to Dragon Age: The Veilguard and dropped a hint that left fans speculating that the series' Paragon/Renegade system would be returning. In addition to the next Mass Effect game, Amazon is working on a TV series set within the Mass Effect universe. Commander Shepard voice actor Jennifer Hale told Eurogamer earlier this month that she'd love to see the trilogy's original cast make an appearance.

You can trust VideoGamer. Our team of gaming experts spend hours testing and reviewing the latest games, to ensure you're reading the most comprehensive guide possible. Rest assured, all imagery and advice is unique and original. Check out how we test and review games hereWith modders making massive strides towards custom companions and entire custom campaigns, one modder is close to releasing the first playable slice of their massively ambitious Baldurs Gate 3 mod: Path To Menzoberranzan. Featuring an entirely original story and a new cast, the custom campaign returns fans to Athkatla, the sprawling city from Baldurs Gate 2.Created by a team of modders, the upcoming mod is aiming to release its first playable demo [in] Spring 2025, making full use of the cracked BG3 mod tools that released last year. With new footage showing off more progress of the mind-blowing new mod, its clear were entering a golden age for Baldurs Gate 3.Baldurs Gate 3 custom campaign footageReleased just days ago on YouTube, new footage of the Path To Menzoberranzan shows the player traipsing down the Athkatla Streets. A gorgeous recreation of the classic isometric games locale, the new location is Larian quality in its design with ornate, fully-furnished interiors and intense crowds.Currently sitting at just 2,300 views at the time of wriing, the new footage showcases the best modding work weve seen in Baldurs Gate 3 yet. While some modders work on other custom campaigns that take players to locations from World of Warcraft, or shove Master Chief into the game, this is the first BG3 mod that feels like it could be an official expansion.In a comment on the YouTube video, it was confirmed that every companion in the game will be completely new with their own VAs [voice actors]. Additionally, the custom campaignwhen releasedshould be playable without ruining your current playthrough of the main game.While the new custom campaign will take players to familiar locations from Baldurs Gate 2, the team is clear to state that this is a completely different story. This is not a remake of the now 24-year-old game. Instead, its an entirely original experience.Theres still no solid release date for the custom campaign or its upcoming demo, although that is at least planned to release in Spring. Furthermore, the mod will not be available on console or via Baldurs Gate 3s official mod page as it makes use of the cracked mod tools. Instead, players on PC will have to download it, and other custom campaigns, via Nexus Mods.Nevertheless, this is an incredibly exciting time to be a fan of Baldurs Gate 3. While were not on the level of Fallout London-size fan-made expansions, we are experiencing the start of something brilliant, and I cant wait to see where it goes.Baldurs Gate 3Platform(s):macOS, PC, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series S, Xbox Series S/X, Xbox Series XGenre(s):Adventure, RPG, Strategy10VideoGamerSubscribe to our newsletters!By subscribing, you agree to our Privacy Policy and may receive occasional deal communications; you can unsubscribe anytime.Share