"Polar vortex" sounds cool. It's like "bomb cyclone" or "firenado." It seems like the sort of phenomenon that would be responsible for the record-breaking blast of cold, snow and wintry conditions that reached all the way to the Gulf Coast this week. The polar vortex is a real thing, but it may not be to blame for the extreme chill that rocked normally warmer regions of the country.Unusual winter storms and frigid temperatures smacked a large region of the US from Texas to Florida. Snowfall and cold triggered flight cancellations and school, business and road closures. The National Weather Service issued its first-everblizzard warningfor some areas around Lake Charles, Louisiana on Jan. 21. Parts ofHouston reportedly received snowfallof up to 6 inches. Enlarge Image NOAA's Goes-East satellite captured a view of the historic winter storm in the southern US on Jan. 21. NOAA/NESDIS/STARThe NWS office for Mobile, Alabama posted an official snowfall measurement of 5.4 inches on Tuesday afternoon, breaking the one-day record of 5 inches set in 1881. Snow was still falling and reached 7.5 inches for the day. The NWS social media team described that total as "insane." Nearby Pensacola, Florida saw similar snowfall. It's natural to look north to the cold Arctic for answers as to why the Gulf Coast took a polar bear plunge into such icy weather.What is the polar vortex? Enlarge Image The polar vortex can ride with the jet stream and push cold air into the US under certain conditions. NOAA Upgrade your inbox Get cnet insider From talking fridges to iPhones, our experts are here to help make the world a little less complicated. As the name suggests, the polar vortex is associated with our planet's north and south poles. It's an area of lower pressure and cold air at each pole."Weather forecasters examine the polar vortex by looking at conditions tens of thousands of feet up in the atmosphere; however, when we feel extremely cold air from the Arctic regions at Earth's surface, it is sometimes associated with the polar vortex," the NWS said in an explainer.The polar vortex can be connected to bouts of extreme cold in the US, but the conditions have to be right. The polar vortex can expand and push south with the jet stream a narrow current of air that flows high up in the atmosphere from west to east. Notably, a polar vortex struck the US in 2019, launching a volley of Star Wars Hoth jokes about the cold.Did the polar vortex cause the cold?The Arctic blast that caused Gulf Coast residents to shiver this week wasn't necessarily an example of the polar vortex going on the attack.Amy Butler and Laura Ciasto with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration run a polar vortex blog on NOAA's Climate.gov site. The scientists examined the polar vortex last week prior to the Arctic blast. At the time, Butler and Ciasto spotted some potential stretching of the polar vortex. But there was another factor in play."Additionally, a strong ridge of high pressure has been building up simultaneously near Alaska, which can also help force the jet stream to dive down south over the continental US and bring cold Arctic air with it, independent of the polar vortex," Butler and Ciasto wrote.A NOAA video showed what the ridge looked like:The cold Arctic air hanging out over Alaska took a dive down to the south."I think the ridging over Alaska is playing a larger role in the cold air outbreak," Ciasto told CNET. "The stratospheric polar vortex is not as stretched as it was last week so the connection we pointed out in our last post is less relevant now."While the Gulf Coast caught a chill, Alaska experienced an area of high pressure and milder temperatures, according to Erica Grow Cei, NWS public affairs specialist and meteorologist."This in turn displaces the Arctic air that normally sits over our northernmost state at this time of year, and the Arctic air moves downstream southeastward toward the continental US," Grow Cei told CNET.The polar vortex can be a powerful source of winter weather, but it's not the only cause of severe cold and snow in regions better known for warmth and sunshine. The Gulf Coast states are still digging out of the snowdrifts, but at least warmer temperatures are on tap heading into the weekend.

Samsung's putting a lot more eggs in its AI basket this year. The Korean electronics giant is offering minimal hardware updates to its flagship mobile phones in favor of embedding the capabilities more deeply into its Samsung One UI 7 software (in beta since early December) and Android 15. The new Galaxy S25, S25 Plus and S25 Ultra are mostly vehicles for it, with a new processor to boost performance and bigger batteries to compensate. Plus an upgraded ultrawide camera on the Ultra.For more from the event as it happened, see our archived live blog. This story is part of Samsung Event, CNET's collection of news, tips and advice around Samsung's most popular products. AI Select analyzes what's on your phone's screen and provides recommendations. Lisa Eadicicco/CNET Galaxy AI Samsung differentiates its AI from being an agent -- reactive -- to being more of a proactive "companion."Some of the new tools which become available with the S25 line include: AI Select, which monitors your screen to make helpful suggestions.Cross-app actions, where holding down the power button while in voice search lets you expand a query to add subsequent actions to perform, even using multiple apps.Complex natural-language search comes to its photo gallery (to classify and serve up images) and help (to find the settings you need based on specific problems).Now Brief on your lock screen summarizes overnight and upcoming information pertinent to your day based on your habits.Now Bar is a persistent widget on the lock screen with real-time information that doesn't require unlocking the phone.Improvements include: Combining and analyzing every piece of data on your phone to proactively make suggestions across Health, Wallet, SmartThings and more.Circle to Search adds sound recognition to its screen-based queries.Generative Edit should be faster and more accurate at moving, resizing and removing unwanted objects, plus it can recognize shadows.Portrait Studio improves its stylized portrait rendering.Samsung says the new features will come to older models subsequent to the S25 line, which includes them at launch along with Android 15. Read more:Samsung Galaxy S25 Series: The Biggest New AI FeaturesSamsung says the battery life has extended quite a bit across all the phones, which is what most people care about, anyway. The S25 Edge, as teased during the event. Samsung/Screenshot by CNETWe also were treated to a throwaway brief teaser for the S25 Edge, an ultraslim model ostensibly priced below the Ultra... possibly a counter to the rumors of the ultraslim iPhone? AT&T tells CNET's Eli Blumenthal that it will carry the new phone, but gives no further details. So it is coming the US. Lisa Eadicicco/CNET Galaxy S25 Ultra Once you filter out AI, there aren't that many differences between the S25 Ultra and the last-generation model. Samsung's updated it to look a little more like its smaller siblings, features a slightly bigger 6.9-inch screen -- the bezels are just smaller, so the phone itself isn't larger -- and upgrades the processor to its custom version of the 3nmQualcomm Snapdragon 8 Eliteand accompanying chipset.The chip runs at a higher frequency than the standard version -- and therefore hotter -- so the phone incorporates expanded cooling. Additionally, Samsung has upgraded the sensor in its ultrawide camera to 50 megapixels.The S25 models are also the first phones with Google's Project Astra tech -- screen-sharing and live video with Gemini so that you can show Gemini what you want to ask about.It starts at $1,300 and you can preorder it now and it ships Feb. 7.Read more:Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra Gets a Bigger Screen and More AI $1,300 at Samsung Watch this: Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra Hands-On: A Bigger Screen and More AI 07:31 Celso Bulgatti/CNET Galaxy S25 and S25 Plus Like the S25 Ultra, Samsung's betting on AI to put a shine on the new Galaxy S25 and S25 Plus -- that and some new colors, including navy, icy blue, mint and silver shadow, as well as online exclusives blue black, coral red and pink gold. Like the Ultra they get upgrades to the Snapdragon 8 Elite to feed the AI beast, but the Ultra's runs at a higher frequency.The cameras remain the same, with Samsung hoping to give them a bigger boost via updates to its AI processing for better noise analysis in videos and enhanced ability to differentiate between motion and still elements to boost its automatic adjustments.The S25 Plus incorporates a 6.7-inch QHD+ Dynamic AMOLED display and 4,900 mAh battery, in contrast to the S25's 6.2-inch FHD+ Dynamic AMOLED display and 4,000 mAh pack. Those seem to be the only differences between the two. The Galaxy S25 starts at $800, while the S25 Plus starts at $1,000 and preorders are open now. They also ship Feb. 7.Read more: Hands On: Galaxy S25 and S25 Plus Are More of the Same, With AI Hogging the Spotlight $800 at Samsung Watch this: Samsung Galaxy S25 First Look: AI Everywhere 04:43

January 22, 20252 min readHeres What Caused the Rare, Record Florida SnowA perfect confluence of an Arctic air outbreak and a low-pressure systemthat pulled inmoisture from the Gulf of Mexico brought rare, record snow to the Gulf CoastBy Andrea Thompson edited by Dean VisserCar drives on snow after snowfall on January 22, 2025 in Tallahassee, Florida. Miguel J. Rodriguez Carrillo/Getty ImagesIn scenes more reminiscent of Milwaukee or Boston, Gulf Coast cities from New Orleans to Pensacola, Fla., found themselves blanketed under drifts of snow. Palm trees had powdered-sugar-like coatings on their fronds, and golden beach sands were dusted in white.Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport shattered its previous snowfall record, with eight inches coming down on Tuesday, says Hannah Lisney, a meteorologist at the National Weather Services New Orleans/Baton Rouge office. The previous record, from December 31, 1963, was 2.7 inches. Likewise, Florida looks to have set a new state snowfall record, with 8.8 inches reported in the city of Milton in the states panhandle. The previous record of four inches was also set in Milton on March 6, 1954. Tuesday was a wild day, says Jason Beaman, a meteorologist at the NWSs office in Mobile, Ala.The rare southern snow was the product of a confluence of events that included cold Arctic air colliding with abundant ocean moisture, somewhat akin to a Gulf of Mexico version of what meteorologists call lake effect snowa phenomenon that usually describes the notoriously bitter winter weather in the Great Lakes region.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.The Gulf Coast frequently sees low-pressure systems spin up over the Gulf, push northward and skim along the coast, Lisney says. Usually that means rain because of the abundant moisture such systems can pull from the warm Gulf waters. But the Arctic blast that preceded this particular low-pressure system meant that all that moisture became snow. The timing just matched up perfectly to where we just got that Arctic air mass move in a couple of days ahead of time, Beaman says. And the difference in temperature between the warm, moist air that was pulled aloft and the deeply entrenched cold air amplified the snowfall, he says. Snowfall rates were as high as one to two inches per hour. Thats good snow no matter where you go, Beaman says.Sous chef Eric Walker engages in a snowball fight outside the Bourbon House Restaurant in the French Quarter on January 21, 2025 in New Orleans, Louisiana.Michael DeMocker/Getty ImagesIn the lake effect snow that is common around the Great Lakes, cold air from Canada pushes down over the lakes when they are still relatively warm and not yet iced over. The cold air causes water from the lakes to evaporate, which slightly warms the air above the waters surface, making it rise. As it rises, it cools again, causing the moisture in it to freeze and fall as snowusually on places like Cleveland, Ohio, and Buffalo, N.Y.With the storm along the coast of the Gulf yesterday, the direction of air flow in the low-pressure system meant the storm funneled in moisture from the Gulf to keep the snow fallingand falling and falling.Though the snow was a delight for many coastal residents who have been more accustomed to sweltering heat, the conditions do pose a danger. The snow melts some during the day and then refreezes at night when temperatures plummet, meaning icy road and sidewalk conditions await in the morning. But in the coming days, the snow is expected to thaw as temperatures rise to more seasonable levels.

OpinionJanuary 22, 20256 min readScientific Americans 10 Most Anticipated MicrohistoriesComing Out in 2025Scientific American'sBrianneKane can't wait to check out these fascinating deep dives into 'micro' topics that reveal big insights about science and societyBy Brianne Kane edited by Jeanna Bryner Andrzej Wojcicki/Science Photo LibraryThe new year can be a clean slate, giving us an opportunity to reinvent ourselves as someone who reads more. While were trying to predict what this year will bring, its important to keep one thing in mind: there are some great books coming out this year. Diving into microhistory, nonfiction books that seek to address larger questions by diligently focusing on a narrow or micro subject, can help cut through the noise. They can be a fun and easy way to become an at-home expert while checking at least one thing off your resolutions list.Below Ive compiled a collection of 10 upcoming microhistories that Im most looking forward to in order of publication.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.Creature Needs: Writers Respond to the Science of Animal Conservationedited by Christopher Kondrich, Lucy Spelman and Susan TacentUniversity of Minnesota Press, January 2025(Tags: Environment)Creature Needs is described by its publisher as a polyvocal call to arms about animal extinction and habitat loss from more than three dozen contributors, ranging from poets to scientific researchers. The book itself is not even 200 pages and is split into six parts, each of which represents a basic need: air, food, water, shelter, and so on. There are very few books that combine work across literary genres while focusing on a simple message: We must save our one and only precious Earth.Superbloom: How Technologies of Connection Tear Us Apartby Nicholas CarrW. W. Norton, January 2025(Tags: Technology)This book might finally convince you to stay off social mediaor at least get the apps off your phone. Nicholas Carr, author of the 2010 book The Shallows: What the Internet Is Doing to Our Brains, introduces a new generation of readers to an old problem: technology is weird, pretty bad, and it doesnt always go according to plan. From simple messaging apps to generative artificial intelligence, Carr explains how the recent superbloom of technology presents serious downsides to our basic communication skills and ability to understand one another. We were never meant to live in online comment sections. In under 300 pages, Carr promises to bring readers along into the murky waters of our ever expanding technological landscape.Waste Wars: The Wild Afterlife of Your Trashby Alexander ClappLittle, Brown, February 2025(Tags: Garbage)You may have heard about the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, a loose raft of tens of thousands of tons of plastic debris. But do you know what happens to batteries, clothes or even food when you throw them in the trash? Author Alexander Clapp traveled across continents, jungles and trash heaps to bring to life the real, multi-billion-dollar story of what happens to our garbage. Introducing readers to people like recycling gangsters and whistleblowers, Clapp presents a frank, and frankly gross, examination of who is making money off what we throw away. He has too many journalism awards to list in his bio, so Im optimistic this 400-page microhistory will be fun, funky and, of course, leave no dumpster undived.Air-Borne: The Hidden History of the Life We Breatheby Carl ZimmerDutton, February 2025(Tags: Air)Each day, you inhale 2,000 gallons of air! Thats one astonishing fact that gets weaved through Carl Zimmers Air-Borne, which is described by its publisher as an odyssey through the living atmosphere and through the history of its discovery. This book promises to ask and answer questions such as: How do you conduct experiments on air quality, and how was Amelia Earhart involved? From airborne espionage and bioweapons to our latest understanding of COVID, Zimmer aims to lead readers on an exciting, surprising and eye-opening journey into the atmosphere.The Franklin Stove: An Unintended American Revolutionby Joyce E. ChaplinFarrar, Straus and Giroux, March 2025(Tags: Benjamin Franklin)We all know Benjamin Franklin invented many devices we still use today, but this book focuses on just one, the Franklin stove, and why he hoped it would change our understanding of the environment forever. Pardon the pun, but Franklin seems to have seen the forest through the trees here: he was concerned about the ever-expanding deforestation he was witnessing and wanted to adjust the flow of heat and air in our homes in the hopes of understanding more about our atmosphere. In over 400 pages, the book looks to be a fascinating and scholastic collection of research and hypotheses from a Harvard professor of early American history.A History of the World in Six Plagues: How Contagion, Class, and Captivity Shaped Us, from Cholera to COVID-19by Edna Bonhomme Atria/One Signal Publishers, March 2025(Tags: Pandemics)While the urge to hide under the covers persists, it is time we expand our understanding of major illnesses to prepare for the future and this seems to be the book to do it. Edna Bonhomme follows the policy highs and lows that changed the course of six devastating diseases: cholera, HIV/AIDS, the 1918 flu, sleeping sickness, Ebola and COVID. Bonhomme seems to cover the hidden and obvious ways these pandemics exacerbated existing social ails, embedded discrimination tactics and long-held biases across these diseases. Described by its publisher as a literary account of humankinds battles with epidemic disease, this more than 300-page book looks like it will have us sitting up, masking up and planning ahead.Slither: How Nature's Most Maligned Creatures Illuminate Our Worldby Stephen S. HallGrand Central Publishing, April 2025(Tags: Snakes)Simply put, if you have never understood Indiana Joness phobia or are currently chatting about snake safety in your local Facebook group, this might just be the book for you. As the publisher notes, snakes have been praised and feared for millennia, but few books attempt to combine the breadth of the ecological, cultural and historical importance of these animals for the at-home reptile admirer. The early rave reviews from best-selling animal-loving authors such as Leila Philip (author of Beaverland) and Sy Montgomery (author of The Soul of the Octopus) make me think this might be the next favorite among my fellow nature nonfiction readers.Earthly Materials: Journeys through Our Bodies' Emissions, Excretions, and Disintegrationsby Cutter Wood Mariner Books, April 2025(Tags: Bodily Excretions)Im so excited to tell everyone I know all the disgusting facts I expect to learn from this book. The publisher explains whether it is blowing its nose, mopping sweat from its brow, or excusing itself to the restroom, the human organism is essentially porous, which is hysterical, disturbing and fundamentally true. With nearly 400 pages broken into 13 chapters, this book isnt for the squeamish. Hopefully for the rest of us, well find out where all the urine in major cities goes and what mucus has to do with our understanding of natural selection, among other freaky facts. I hope this book leads readers like a modern Ms. Frizzle shrinking us down to check out our glands, organs and membranes all the while enjoying some scientifically backed poop jokes.The Story of Astrophysics in Five Revolutionsby Ersilia Vaudo. Translated by Vanessa Di StefanoW.W. Norton, April 2025(Tags: Astrophysics)The best microhistories take a ginormous subject and seamlessly boil it down to a few key points, either points in time or points of interest. In this book, Ersilia Vaudo aims to take the entire field of astrophysics and bring our attention to five incredible discoveries. In poetic prose, Vaudo brings readers from Isaac Newtons discovery of the laws of gravity to Edwin Hubbles revelation that our universe is expandingeven including the antiparticles physicists are still not sure about. Physics can be a knotty subject that many find hard to wrap their head around, but this book might finally do just that in a breezy 200 or so pages.Foreign Fruit: A Personal History of the Orangeby Katie GohTin House, May 2025(Tags: Oranges)This book sounds like it perfectly sums up the best parts of a great microhistory: a niche topic youve always loved (everyone loves oranges, from emperors to school children) written by a relatively new and talented writer (the publisher copy says she grew up queer in a Chinese-Malaysian-Irish household in the north of Ireland I personally can't wait to hear her take on food and culture). Described by its publisher as a book with both research and a meditative, deeply moving encounter with the orange and the self. This is the book Im most looking forward to shaking me out of my winter shivers and bringing me back to springtime sweetness with some citrus and adventure.

Don't Nod delays second half of Lost Records: Bloom & Rage for 'optimisation and refinement'Now coming in April.Image credit: Don't Nod News by Matt Wales News Reporter Published on Jan. 22, 2025 Life is Strange creator Don't Nod is delaying the second half of its upcoming narrative adventure Lost Records: Bloom & Rage by a month, with Tape 2 now set to release on 15th April.Lost Records: Bloom & Rage marks the first time since 2020's Twin Mirror that Don't Nod has revisited the narrative adventure genre that put it on the map, and it follows the story of four high-school friends across two timelines. One half recounts the group's hazily nostalgic "magical summer" of 1995, while the second timeline picks up 27 years later, when the friends reunite to "confront the long-buried secret that made them promise to never speak again."It's a tale that'll also be split across two releases, with Tape 1 ("Bloom") launching for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC on 18th February. Part 2 ("Rage") was previously scheduled to launch a month later on 18th March, but Don't Nod has now announced it's pushing Tape 2's release back an additional four weeks, to 15th April.Lost Records: Bloom & Rage trailer.Watch on YouTubeIn a statement detailing the delay, the studio said it had made the decision in order to "allow for additional optimisation and to give the team the necessary time to refine the experience for players and enhance the storytelling for a truly immersive continuation of the journey."Both parts of Lost Records were originally due to launch last year, but Don't Nod announced it was shifting their release into 2025, ostensibly to avoid Square Enix's Life is Strange: Double Exposure. "Let's give both titles the space they need to be enjoyed by our players within the large community we have built," Don't Nod boss Oskar Guilbert said at the time.As previously announced, both halves of Lost Records: Bloom & Rage - which Don't Nod says should provide a total of around 10-12 hours playtime - will be available through a single purchase. The game's usual price is 35.89/39,99/$39.99 USD, but the studio has also now confirmed a limited-time launch discount of 10 percent.Eurogamer's Tom Phillips spoke to Don't Nod about Lost Records in 2024. Since then, the studio has admitted its most recent titles - Jusant and Banishers: Ghosts of New Eden - failed to meet sales expectations, leading to potential job losses as it embarked on a "reorganisation project to ensure the company's long-term future" amid "deteriorating" financial results. Employees later announced strike action in response to the studio's redundancy plan.

Marvel's Spider-Man studio boss Ted Price announces retirement from games industryAfter 30 years at company.Image credit: Sony/Eurogamer News by Matt Wales News Reporter Published on Jan. 22, 2025 Ted Price, the founder and CEO of Ratchet & Clank and Marvel's Spider-Man developer Insomniac Games, has announced his retirement from the games industry, saying he "felt it was simply time to step aside and let others pave the way for our team."Price founded Insomniac (then known as Xtreme Software) in 1994, and the studio released its debut title - first-person shooter Disruptor - two years later. Soon after, the studio embarked on a run of releases that would cement its position in the video game hall of fame, establishing beloved franchises including Spyro the Dragon, Ratchet & Clank, and Resistance.Insomniac's close relationship with PlayStation eventually led to Sony's acquisition of the studio in 2019, after which it saw continued success across three Marvel's Spider-Man games.Marvels Wolverine announcement teaser.Watch on YouTubeNow though, after 30 years steering Insomniac, founder and CEO Ted Price is stepping down. "After having been incredibly fortunate to enjoy such a fulfilling career in games," he wrote on the Sony Interactive website, "I'll be retiring from the industry at the end of March.""I actually made this decision last year," Price continued. "For me, after over 30 years of leading Insomniac, I felt it was simply time to step aside and let others pave the way for our team."Price added a "succession plan that I know will provide the continuity, stability and strong leadership necessary to deliver more of what our fans cherish over the next several decades" has been in the works for some time. As a result, Chad Dezern, Ryan Schneider, and Jen Huang have been announced as Insomniac Games' new co-studio heads."I want to thank every Insomniac for having a positive and lasting impact on my life," Price concluded. "Working side by side...for so many years has been a gift that I'll cherish for the rest of my days. I also want to thank our fans who, for three decades, have shared their enthusiasm, their encouragement and their support - inspiring us to take every game farther than the last. We do what we do for you. And I can assure you that we won't be slowing down."Insomniac is currently developing Marvel's Wolverine, which still doesn't have a release date despite previous reports it was targeting 2025. Footage of an unannounced live-service Spider-Man game also surfaced last year following a major security breach - but it's believed that project, alongside a host of other first-party PlayStation live-service titles, is now cancelled.

On Monday, a day after TikTok came back online for the U.S., people started noticing that the app would not let them comment free palestine.Several TikTok users posted screenshots on X and Bluesky showing the message they received after trying to comment free palestine under other peoples posts. TikTok users started reporting this on Sunday, following a tense few hours where the app blocked U.S. users from access ahead of a potential ban, displaying instead a notification sucking up to then-incoming president Donald Trump.I tried this myself on Tuesday morning, using two different throwaway TikTok accounts. Using one account, I could comment free palestine without a problem, and that comment is still up as of Wednesday morning. Using another, my free palestine comments were immediately removed repeatedly, and I received a notification that I had violated the TikTok Community Guidelines. I could comment with a nonsense phrase (free shavacado) using that same account, however, and TikTok didnt remove it.A screenshot showing two comments: "free Palestine" and "free shavacado" Using the account that kept getting comments removed, I could post a video with the caption free palestine #freepalestine on Tuesday without a problem.A spokesperson for TikTok told 404 Media that the platforms policies and algorithms did not change over the weekend, adding that theyre working on restoring U.S. operations back to normal. Theyre expecting some temporary instability as services are restored, they said, which could affect some features or access. They said that TikTok does not have a policy against people saying free palestine, and pointed me to the platforms community guidelines, transparency report, and moderation approach pages.There have been a few noteworthy instances in the last few years of social media users claiming that pro-Palestine content was being censored or downranked, only for the platforms involved to blame the issue on bugs or deny it was happening. In October 2023, 48 organizations, including 7amleh, the Arab Centre for Social Media Advancement, which advocates for digital rights of Palestinian and Arab civil society, issued a statement urging tech companies to respect Palestinian digital rights during the ongoing war, Al Jazeera reported.We are [concerned] about significant and disproportionate censorship of Palestinian voices through content takedowns and hiding hashtags, amongst other violations, the statement said. These restrictions on activists, civil society and human rights defenders represent a grave threat to freedom of expression and access to information, freedom of assembly, and political participation.Also in October 2023, on Instagram, using the see translation feature in bios about Palestine inserted the word terrorist. In March 2024, Googles Gemini AI would not answer questions like where is Palestine? or what is Palestine? but would answer questions like where is Israel? or what is Israel? And in October 2024, Twitch admitted to temporarily blocking new users in Israel and Palestine from creating new accounts to prevent them from uploading graphic material.There is a lot of weird stuff going on with social media platforms right now, to put it as mildly as possible. One minute, TikTok is gone; the next, its back. One minute, people are outraged because they think theyre being forced to follow Trump on Facebook; the next, its obvious that the administrations accounts have simply changed hands. All of it makes people constantly doubt, second-guess, and argue about what they see with their own eyes.In a lot of ways, this constant, roiling turmoil of navigating what can and cant be said, what might get you banned, and what app is even still accessible to you anymore is exactly what a lot of marginalized peopleincluding, especially, sex workershave always gone through. That disparity and confusion is baked into the algorithms we are forced to coexist with online. Its why when I wrote about getting a bizarre search result from Googles AI Overview, the companys spokesperson couldnt even replicate it themselves. And now that TikTok has bent the knee to the Trump administration in a very public wayincluding CEO Shou Chew posting a personal message thanking the president for his commitment to work with us to find a solution that keeps TikTok available in the United States, everyone online is on the highest alert possible, looking for every sign and symbol that their social media platform of choice might be falling into fascist censorship. This is, as marginalized communities online have been showing us for years and as we said when Trump was elected, always the way its been.Sam Cole is writing from the far reaches of the internet, about sexuality, the adult industry, online culture, and AI. She's the author of How Sex Changed the Internet and the Internet Changed Sex.More from Samantha Cole

AI-generated image.Misinformation has long been a scourge of democracy, undermining public trust in institutions and fostering division. Whether its a pandemic, elections, or simply current events, modern misinformation affects all of us in more ways than we imagine.We tend to think of misinformation as a universal problem, with all sides of the political spectrum equally guilty of bending the truth or spreading falsehoods. A new study shows otherwise. According to the study, carried out by researchers in the Netherlands, radical-right populists are far more likely to spread falsehoods than their counterparts. The study also points to the creation of an alternative media ecosystem by far-right groups. Here they try to recreate reality and create an echo chamber that reinforces their worldview.Populism, left-wing populism, and right-wing politics are not linked to the spread of misinformation. We find that radical-right populism is the strongest determinant for the propensity to spread misinformation, the researchers note.Misinformation and PopulismPopulism is, in a strict sense, not the same as misinformation. Populism is a political approach that divides society into the pure people and the corrupt elite. Populists would say that regular people are disregarded and abused by elite groups. This can be (and unfortunately is) true in many instances, but populists want to use this to their own advantage.Meanwhile, misinformation involves the spread of false or misleading information. When populists pit the people against the elite, they often use misinformation as a strategy to reinforce their narratives. However, not all populists are equally guilty of spreading misinformation.Unlike left-wing populists, who focus on economic grievances and critique corporate elites, radical-right populists usually weaponize cultural fears like immigration, globalization, or political correctness. The study makes a critical distinction: while populism on both sides is often associated with anti-elitism and distrust in institutions, the radical right takes this to an extreme.Right + populism = misinformationThe study, led by Petter Trnberg and Juliana Chueri, analyzed a dataset of over 32 million tweets by 8,200 parliamentarians across 26 countries. Its the first large-scale, cross-national analysis of how different political ideologies influence misinformation.The dataset spans the period 2017-2022, before Twitter was Musk-ified and turned into the platform now beloved by the far right. The results suggest that neither political ideology nor populism are sufficient to explain misinformation on Twitter. Its only when the right and populism intersect that misinformation starts to boom.The research points to another key aspect: radical-right supporters often believe they are better informed than others, even when they are being misinformed. This makes them much more susceptible to misinformation that aligns with their worldview, creating a feedback loop where misinformation fuels distrust, which in turn amplifies the effectiveness of false narratives.Populist, far-right politicians understand this well. They seem to have incorporated misinformation into a strategy. This strategy serves multiple purposes:Undermining trust in mainstream media.Strengthening their base by reinforcing fears and grievances.Distracting from policy scrutiny by dominating the media agenda with provocative content.Why this works so well in the current environmentRadical-right populists thrive in the current media ecosystem, which prioritizes engagement over accuracy. The clickbait media model, driven by algorithms that amplify sensational content, provides fertile ground for these actors. By bypassing traditional media gatekeepers, they create and disseminate their own narratives through alternative media platforms.There appears to be a symbiotic relationship between these populists and the clickbait media model. The attention economy promotes content that captures and retains user interest, often measured in terms of likes, shares, comments, and overall engagement. Radical right populists have been effective in creating and utilizing alternative media ecosystems that amplify their viewpoints, the researchers addThe effects of this approach are what we see around us today. Misinformation contributes to the erosion of democratic institutions. By spreading falsehoods, radical-right populists aim to delegitimize elections, discredit opponents, and destabilize governance. Its whats happening in countries from the US to Europe to South Korea.The researchers even go one step further, calling far-right populism and misinformation two sides of the same coin.Misinformation and radical-right populism must hence be understood as inextricable and synergistictwo expressions of the same political moment.An important wake-up callThe researchers acknowledge the limitations of their study. Firstly, Twitter no longer allows researchers to access data, so the database stops in 2022 and is not updated anymore. Secondly, platforms like Facebook, YouTube, and TikTok, which cater to different demographics, remain unexplored. The study is limited to 26 mostly Western democracies, so the findings should mostly be considered for this geography.Furthermore, the study uses a broad definition of misinformation, encompassing both intentional (disinformation) and unintentional (misinformation) falsehoods. This makes it difficult to discern whether radical-right populists are knowingly spreading lies or are themselves misled. It also assumes that the behavior of parliamentarians on Twitter reflects broader party strategies, which may not always be true.Despite all these limitations, however, the study paints a compelling picture. Radical-right populist parties have uniquely weaponized misinformation as a political strategy. Unlike other groups, these actors rely heavily on falsehoods to exploit cultural fears, undermine democratic norms, and galvanize their base, making them the dominant drivers of todays misinformation crisis.Understanding this imbalance is crucial for addressing the root causes of the problem and restoring trust in democratic processes.The study was published in the International Journal of Press/Politics.

Here We Go AgainDexter sequel series Resurrection looks like it's out to Kill Bill, as it adds Uma Therman to the castNot who I would have guessed, but a strong addition.Image credit: Miramax/ Paramount News by Oisin Kuhnke Contributor Published on Jan. 22, 2025 Dexter: Resurrection is looking like it's shaping up quite nicely, as none other than Uma Thurman has apparently joined the cast.It feels a bit surprising to think that somehow Dexter is still going after all these years, and yet here we are with some casting news about the next series to come chronologically. As reported by Variety, Uma Therman, best known for roles like The Bride in the Kill Bill series, as well as in other films like in Pulp Fiction, Batman and Robin, and a whole lot more, will be joining the sequel series Dexter: Resurrection. According to Variety she'll be playing a series regular called Charley, who is described as "the Head of Security for mysterious billionaire Leon Prater. A former Special Ops officer, Charley worked various high-level private security jobs before taking on her position as the resourceful and meticulous right-hand woman for Prater."To see this content please enable targeting cookies. She'll be joining Michael C. Hall who is reprising his titular original role of Dexter, who we last saw in the 2021 series New Blood. That one was a 10 episode long miniseries that followed Dexter 10 years after he faked his death at the end of the original show, and all of the drama that comes from his estranged song rocking up with his own motives. New Blood itself ends on a bit of a cliffhanger, and somewhat leads into the currently airing prequel series Dexter: Original Sin, so it's possible the ending of this one will then tie back into Resurrection. Sounds like if you're desperate to stay up to date with Dexter you've got some homework to do.Other cast members in Resurrection include David Zayas, James Remar and Jack Alcott, who'll be reprising their roles as Detective Angel Batista, Harry Morgan, and Harrison Morgan respectively as series regulars. An official synopsis hasn't been revealed just yet, so we'll have to wait until there's more officially (or unofficially) revealed.

Another tidbit just dropped following Wednesdays Samsung Unpacked event. This one comes courtesy of Adobe, which notes that the new Galaxy S25 line will be the first handsets to support the Content Credentials standard, aimed at labeling AI-generated content as such.The Coalition for Content Provenance and Authenticity (C2PA) group of which Samsung is now officially a part describes the standard as a nutrition label for digital content. The information presented includes how the content was generated and edited, as well as if any generative AI technologies were used in the process.The standard arrives amid increasing concern around AIs ability to propagate fake news and other misinformation. In addition to its presence in still images, it will be extended to include video, audio, and documents.Content Credentials can be found in an image using Adobes Content Authenticity tool, which is now in beta.Along with Samsung and Adobe, the C2PA includes some top names from media, social media, AI, and hardware, including Google, Intel, Microsoft, OpenAI, Amazon, BBC, Meta, Sony, Publicis, and Truepic.The Galaxy S25 line is now up for preorder and set to start shipping February 7.