The 2025 Oscar nominations for the 97th Academy Awards have been announced, and Emilia Prez is leading the pack this year with 13 nods the most earned by a film not in the English language.Rachel Sennott and Bowen Yang unveiled the nominations on January 23 in a live presentation on the Oscars YouTube channel. Jacques Audiards Spanish crime thriller Emilia Prez featured in multiple categories, including Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Lead Actress, which Karla Sofa Gascn is up for.Wicked and The Brutalist followed closely behind with 10 nods apiece, while Conclave and A Complete Unknown each scored eight nominations.Oscars 2025 NominationsBest PictureAnoraThe BrutalistA Complete UnknownConclaveDune: Part TwoEmilia PrezIm Still HereNickel BoysThe SubstanceWickedBest DirectorSean Baker (Anora)Brady Corbet (The Brutalist)James Mangold (A Complete Unknown)Jacques Audiard (Emilia Prez)Coralie Fargeat (The Substance)Actor in a Leading RoleAdrien Brody (The Brutalist)Timothe Chalamet (A Complete Unknown)Colman Domingo (Sing Sing)Ralph Fiennes (Conclave)Sebastian Stan (The Apprentice)Actress in a Leading RoleCynthia Erivo (Wicked)Karla Sofa Gascn (Emilia Prez)Mikey Madison (Anora)Demi Moore (The Substance)Fernanda Torres (Im Still Here)Actor in a Supporting RoleYura Borisov (Anora)Kieran Culkin (A Real Pain)Edward Norton (A Complete Unknown)Guy Pearce (The Brutalist)Jeremy Strong (The Apprentice)Actress in a Supporting RoleMonica Barbaro (A Complete Unknown)Ariana Grande (Wicked)Felicity Jones (The Brutalist)Isabella Rossellini (Conclave)Zoe Saldaa (Emilia Prez)Writing (Adapted Screenplay)A Complete UnknownConclaveEmilia PrezNickel BoysSing SingWriting (Original Screenplay)AnoraThe BrutalistA Real PainSeptember 5The SubstanceCinematographyThe BrutalistDune: Part TwoEmilia PrezMariaNosferatuAnimated Feature FilmFlowInside Out 2Memoir Of A SnailWallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most FowlThe Wild RobotMusic (Original Score)The BrutalistConclaveEmilia PrezWickedThe Wild RobotMusic (Original Song)El Mal (Emilia Prez)The Journey (The Six Triple Eight)Like A Bird (Sing Sing)Mi Camino (Emilia Prez)Never Too Late (Elton John: Never Too Late)Production DesignThe BrutalistConclaveDune: Part TwoNosferatuWickedFilm EditingAnoraThe BrutalistConclaveEmilia PrezWickedDocumentary Feature FilmBlack Box DiariesNo Other LandPorcelain WarSoundtrack To A Coup DEtatSugarcaneDocumentary Short FilmDeath By NumbersI Am Ready, WardenIncidentInstruments Of A Beating HeartThe Only Girl In The OrchestraInternational Feature FilmIm Still Here (Brazil)The Girl With The Needle (Denmark)Emilia Prez (France)The Seed Of The Sacred Fig (Germany)Flow (Latvia)Makeup and HairstylingA Different ManEmilia PrezNosferatuThe SubstanceWickedVisual EffectsAlien: RomulusBetter ManDune: Part TwoKingdom Of The Planet Of The ApesWickedCostume DesignA Complete UnknownConclaveGladiator IINosferatuWickedAnimated Short FilmBeautiful MenIn The Shadow Of The CypressMagic CandiesWander To WonderYuck!Live-Action Short FilmA LienAnujaIm Not A RobotThe Last RangerThe Man Who Could Not Remain SilentSoundA Complete UnknownDune: Part TwoEmilia PrezWickedThe Wild RobotAnd thats a wrap! The 97th Academy Awards are set for Sunday March 2, 2025, at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles. The ceremony will be broadcast live on ABC in the U.S., ITV in the UK, and over 200 other territories worldwide. In addition, and for the first time ever, the show will also be streamed live on Hulu.Photo by FREDERIC J. BROWN/AFP via Getty Images.Adele Ankers-Range is a freelance entertainment writer for IGN. You can follow her on X/Twitter @A_AnkersRange.

Each and every years Oscars lineup brings its fair share of snubs and surprises, twists and turns. Still, its fair to say the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences in 2025 was filled with some stunners, including Walter Salles Im Still Here shocking many prognosticators when it ended up in both the Best Picture and Best Actress races.Indeed, the Brazilian film that is also nominated for Best International Feature saw Fernada Torres get into the Best Actress category (likely at the expense of Nicole Kidman or Angelina Jolie) while the film ended up on the shortlist for the Academys top prize, edging out presumed contenders like A Real Pain and Sing Sing. Yet for every pleasant surpriseat least for those who can quantify overlooking the drastically underrated Sing Sing as pleasantthere were more painful snubs, perhaps none more visible than Margaret Qualley for The Substance.To be sure, the venomously satirical body horror-comedy from Coralie Fargeat had a great morning overall. In addition to Demi Moore picking up a Best Actress Oscar nod, the film proved skeptics wrong and was nominated for Best Picture and Director. This marks only the seventh time a horror film was nominated for Best Picture and the seventh time a horror helmer got into the director race (and believe it or not, it is not for the same seven films).However, Qualleys omission in the Best Supporting Actress category feels like an oversight given how critical her performance as Sue, a duplicitous and younger doppelganger of Moores aging movie star, is to that film.Another genre favorite who got snubbed is Denzel Washington in Best Supporting Actor for Gladiator II. Washington chewed scenery all along the Appian Way, but in a movie that campy and over-the-top, it was more of an asset than hindrance. The two-time Oscar winner with a grand total of nine nominations seemed like a shoo-in for his scene-stealing work. However, he got passed over in his competitive category seemingly for Jeremy Strongs performance in The Apprentice.That grim Donald Trump biopic apparently struck a chord with the Academy overall. While it was not nominated for Picture, writing, direction, or any other technical achievements, it saw both of its leads recognized, including Sebatian Stans surprise nomination for Best Actor as a vain, leering, and rapist Trump. He seemingly nudged out Daniel Craigs boisterous turn in Queer.For genre fans, however, the bitterest snub also seemed almost inevitable. After being passed over for Best Director in 2022, Denis Villeneuve is ignored again in 2025 after sticking the landing on Dune: Part Two. While the film ended up on many best of the year lists, including the Academys, the monumental effort that went into adapting Frank Herberts science fiction opus seems strangely undervalued by the Academy. And for Dune: Part One, he at least got an Oscar nomination for Best Adapted Screenplay. No such luck on the generally better regarded second half of the adaptation.Also not entirely surprising, but no less stinging, is the complete shut out of Luca Guadagninos Challengers, a frothy spectacle that wowed and pleased most audiences and critics last spring. Perhaps too light (read: entertaining) for the Academy to nominate for Best Picture, its absence in Best Original Screenplay, Best Film Editing, and especially Best Original Scorecourtesy of Trent Reznor and Atticus Rosserrs toward baffling.Other snubs include both Nicole Kidman for Babygirl and Angelina Jolie for Maria being ignored in the Best Actress category, and Robert Eggers Nosferatu unsurprisingly going unrecognized beyond technical categories like Best Cinematography, Production Design, Costume Design, and Hair and Makeup. It seems with the Academy its Highlander rules when it comes to horror movies in the Best Picture/Director races: there can be only one.Also we love James Mangold around these parts, but in what world is A Complete Unknown better directed than RaMell Ross reinvention of cinematic perspective in Nickel Boys? But what, to you, are the biggest surprises and snubs after this years Academy Awards nominations?

Prepare for thrilling battles, delightful puzzles, immersive train journeys and wild hunting expeditions this weekend with Free Play Days! Train Sim World 5 and Way of the Hunter are available this weekend for Xbox Game Pass Ultimate, Standard and Core members to play from Thursday January 23, 12:01am Pacific until Sunday, January 26, 11:59pm Pacific.Enjoy even more time with For Honor, which will be free to try from January 23, 12:01am Pacific, until January 30, 11:59pm Pacific.Additionally, A Little to the Leftis free for all Xbox members to try from Thursday January 23, 12:01am Pacific until Sunday, January 26 at 11:59pm Pacific with a 2-hour timed trial (Xbox Game Pass Game Pass Ultimate, Standard and Core membership not required.)How To Start PlayingFind and install the games on each of the individual game details page onXbox.com. Clicking through will send you to the Microsoft Store, where you must be signed in to see the option to install with your Xbox Game Pass Ultimate, Standard and Core membership. To download on console, click on the Subscriptions tab in the Xbox Store and navigate down to the Free Play Days collection on your Xbox One and Xbox Series X|S.Keep The Fun GoingPurchase the game and other editions at a limited time discount and continue playing while keeping your Gamerscore and achievements earned during the event! Please note that discounts, percentages, and title availability may vary by title and region.Free Play Days (Xbox Game Pass Membership Required)FOR HONORUbisoft676$29.99$23.99Get it nowXbox Game PassFor HonorFight alone or with friends in For Honor, a third-person hero-based melee fighting game. Enter the chaos of war as a Knight, a Viking, a Samurai, a Wu Lin, or an Outlander. Fight in brutal PvP and team-oriented modes or play the thrilling story campaign.Train Sim World 5: Standard EditionDovetail Games215$49.99$29.99Get it nowPC Game PassXbox Game PassTrain Sim World 5Optimized for Xbox Series X|S, Smart DeliveryThe Rails are Yours in Train Sim World 5! Take on new challenges and new roles as you master the tracks and trains of iconic cities across 3 new routes. Immerse yourself in the ultimate rail hobby and embark on your next journey. Brand-new gameplay includes Conductor Mode and Fast Travel with new locomotives and units on routes encompassing London, Frankfurt and Los Angeles as well as the ability to bring your existing Train Sim World collection with you. Keen to continue the journey? Save up to 45% off Train Sim World Deluxe Edition and up to 80% on additional routes until 27th January.Way of the HunterTHQ Nordic254$39.99Get it nowWay of the HunterOptimized for Xbox Series X|SBecome the new owner of a hunting lodge nestled among gorgeous habitats and rich animal populations. Explore vast open world environments and hunt with a premium selection of firearms. Enjoy the perfect hunt on your own or with friends in co-op.Free Play Days For AllA Little to the LeftSecret Mode220$14.99$7.49Get it nowPC Game PassXbox Game PassFree TrialA Little to the LeftOptimized for Xbox Series X|S, Smart DeliverySort, stack, and organize household objects into just the right spot inA Little to the Left, a tidy puzzle game with a mischievous cat who likes to shake things up! The base game contains over 100 unique puzzles some of which have multiple solutions! Can you solve them all? The fun never ends withA Little to the Leftas a unique puzzle is delivered every day with The Daily Tidy feature. And if you fancy an extra challenge, check out theCupboards & DrawersandSeeing StarsDLC packs!

Donald Trumps big AI announcement has turned heads on both sides of the Atlantic.Trump revealed this week that OpenAI, SoftBank, and Oracle have formed a joint venture called Stargate that will invest $500bn in AI infrastructure. The companies said $100bn of the funding was available immediately. The rest would be deployed over the next four years.Trump billed Stargate as the largest AI infrastructure project by far in history. He added that the project would ensure the future of technology is in the US.Masayoshi Son, the CEO of SoftBank, had another bold prediction. He said the venture would drive artificial superintelligence.Limited tickets available - Book NowEuropean tech leaders echoed the sentiment but fear that the continent will become beholden to American power.David Villaln, the CEO and co-founder of Spanish AI startup Maisa, exemplified this blend of excitement and alarm.This massive investment shows that the next stage in the growth of AI Artificial Superintelligence is no longer a fringe concept but an inevitable reality requiring unprecedented investment in infrastructure, akin to laying down the tracks for the next Industrial Revolution, he said.Villaln added that the transition requires powerful new computing capacity. Stargate will bring a big dose of this to the US. European tech leaders have called for the continent to reactWithout large-scale capital commitments and a bold approach to AI infrastructure, Europe risks surrendering its future to global players who control the fuel of tomorrow, Villaln said.Europes AI worriesVillaln pointed to the example of his home country. He believes Spain has immense potential in renewables, but needs a major funding boost to remain globally competitive and strategically independent.Spain is spending peanuts on vacuous publicity AI projects, while ignoring, or not understanding, whats needed compute, he said.Similar anxieties have reverberated across Europe. Jan Marquardt, the CEO of German startup Zivee, warned that AI companies need strong infrastructure, big funding, and minimal regulation, all of which is available in the USA and not in Europe. Christian Klein, the CEO of German tech SAP, added that Stargate should be a wake-up call for the continent.Villaln shares their concerns.To use a football analogy, Europe is currently in the relegation zone while USA and China with their budgets, quality and ambition are operating in the Champions League, he said. Story by Thomas Macaulay Managing editor Thomas is the managing editor of TNW. He leads our coverage of European tech and oversees our talented team of writers. Away from work, he e (show all) Thomas is the managing editor of TNW. He leads our coverage of European tech and oversees our talented team of writers. Away from work, he enjoys playing chess (badly) and the guitar (even worse). Get the TNW newsletterGet the most important tech news in your inbox each week.Also tagged with

Every two years for the last decade, the World Economic Forum has released a comprehensive, and oft cited report proffering insights into the changing nature of the jobs economy.The latest Future of Jobs Report, which covers 20252030, combines the viewpoints of more than 1,000 prominent international businesses, who together account for over 14 million workers in 22 sector clusters and 55 economies worldwide.Here are a few key takeaways:Gen AI & robotsAccording to the report, by 2030, 60% of employers anticipate that broadening digital access will revolutionise their industry.5 jobs to discover this weekThe of EU techThe latest rumblings from the EU tech scene, a story from our wise ol' founder Boris, and some questionable AI art. It's free, every week, in your inbox. Sign up now!Employers agreed the following areas were likely to drive business transformation: artificial intelligence and information processing (86%), robotics and automation (58%), semiconductors and computing technologies (20%), and satellites and space technologies (9%).Gen AI remains the hottest and most accessible tech trend, and has received a rapid surge in both investment and adoption across various sectors.Since ChatGPT was released in November 2022, investment into AI has increased nearly eightfold. And that doesnt include the significant investment in the physical infrastructures required for AI, including servers and data centres.Some 40% of businesses expect to reduce their personnel in areas where AI can automate jobs, two-thirds aim to hire talent with specialised AI capabilities, and half of employers plan to reorient their business in response to AI.Interestingly, the report features data from Coursera, which shows a steep incline in AI upskilling from April 2023 onwards.Meanwhile, robots and autonomous systems have seen steady growth of 5-7% annually since 2020. Worldwide, the average robot density was 162 units per 10,000 workers in 2023, which is twice as many as it was seven years prior.However, 80% of robot installations are taking place in China, Japan, the United States, the Republic of Korea, and Germany, making this technology trend highly concentrated.Skills to pay the billsThe report also highlights the increased demand for both technology-related skills and broader workplace skills.In terms of tech skills, big data and AI (yes, again), networks and cybersecurity, and technological literacy are all predicted to be the top fastest-growing skills.Despite all this, AI and big data only placed 11th in the list of core skills for 2025. In top billing is analytical thinking (69% of employers agree).Resilience, flexibility, and agility come next, followed by leadership and social influence, highlighting the vital role that flexibility and teamwork play in modern workplaces.Creative thinking, plus motivation and self-awareness come in fourth and fifth.Completing the top ten are: technological literacy, empathy and active listening, curiosity and lifelong learning, talent management, and service orientation and customer service.Changing prioritiesThere have been several notable changes in essential skills since this reports previous edition in 2023.Relevance has significantly increased for leadership and social impact, AI and big data, talent management, as well as customer service and service orientation.Overall, the most significant increases in relevance have been observed in the areas of leadership and social impact, resilience, flexibility and agility, and AI and big data.Looking further to 2030, tech skills are increasing in importance. Some 87% of employers consider AI and big data to be important during the next five years, 70% say networks and cybersecurity are hot topics, while 68% say technological literacy will be paramount.Systems thinking also ranks highly (51%), and design and user experience does too (45%).Programming ranked lower overall at 27%, though this was higher in the technology services sector and the telecommunications industry.Technological literacy was most valued in automotive and aerospace, financial services and capital markets, followed by medical and healthcare services.When it comes to the importance of networks and cybersecurity, financial services and capital markets unsurprisingly is the top industry, followed by insurance and pensions management, and energy technology and utilities.With all this data, it might be difficult to narrow down where your next upskilling opportunity should lie. However, AI and big data, networks and cybersecurity, and technological literacy all sound like safe bets.It can be helpful to look at what roles are in demand. In percentage terms, the fastest-growing occupations are those in the technology sector, such as software and application developers, fintech engineers, big data specialists, and experts in artificial intelligence and machine learning.Over six million software and applications developer roles are expected to open up between now and 2030, the third highest growing jobs after farm workers and truck drivers.If you already have transferable skills and youre ready to start your job search, the House of Talent Job Board is the perfect place to start. It features Robin, a conversational AI job search agent that can help you to locate your next tech position, fast.Robin pops up on the bottom right hand side of your screen when youre on the job board, and allows you to search for best-matched jobs using your resume. Not quite sure what you want to do? You can tell it a bit about yourself, your skills, and where youd like to work to generate some ideas.Ready to find your next software job? Check out The Next Web Job Board Story by Amanda Kavanagh Amanda Kavanagh is a Dublin-based journalist and content writer with over a decade of experience writing and editing across digital, print a (show all) Amanda Kavanagh is a Dublin-based journalist and content writer with over a decade of experience writing and editing across digital, print and social. Get the TNW newsletterGet the most important tech news in your inbox each week.Content provided by Amply and TNWAlso tagged with

Apple TV+ has been on a roll with its TV shows lately, but movies remain a struggle for the streamer. Todays newly unveiled Oscar nominations confirm that, as a grand total of zero nominations were received by Apple.No 2024 Apple TV+ films were recognized by the AcademyToday the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced its nominations for the 97th Oscars.And Apple didnt earn a single nod for best director, actor or actress, documentary, cinematographynothing.Apple TV+ films were not anywhere to be found.Some of the films that could have been contenders, had they all received theatrical qualification, include:Blitz, from director Steve McQueenThe Last of the Sea Women, a critically praised documentaryFancy Dance, Apples best-reviewed film of the yearFly Me to the Moonand WolfsThis Oscar miss highlights the streamers ongoing struggles with movies, even while its hitting its stride with TV shows.Early Oscar success has been lost amid shifting film strategiesBack in 2022, Apple TV+ was the first streaming service to ever win Best Picture at the Oscars. CODA beat out competition and earned Apple the most distinguished film prize.Not even Netflix had ever won Best Picture before, so CODAs win was an especially big deal.But since then, Apples film success and strategy has waned. After a string of theatrical under-performers, and a last-minute streaming pivot for Wolfs, Apple has reportedly shifted its movie strategy and will release few theatrical films, instead focusing on streaming-only fare.Apple also seems to have prioritized more mass market-friendly movies rather than the Oscar-geared projects of the past. That includes the big-budget upcoming F1 film, which aspires to be Apples first summer blockbuster.Perhaps considering this shift, the lack of Oscar nominations isnt a huge loss for the company. But it nonetheless has to be disappointing considering Apples early Oscar success.What do you make of this years Apple TV+ Oscar miss? Let us know in the comments.Best Apple TV and Home accessoriesAdd 9to5Mac to your Google News feed. FTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links. More.Youre reading 9to5Mac experts who break news about Apple and its surrounding ecosystem, day after day. Be sure to check out our homepage for all the latest news, and follow 9to5Mac on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn to stay in the loop. Dont know where to start? Check out our exclusive stories, reviews, how-tos, and subscribe to our YouTube channel

Photo editing app Luminar Mobile is delivering two highly requested user features today. Full RAW image editing support and iCloud sync between devices arrives in Luminar Mobile 2.2.Luminar Mobile includes access on iPhone, iPad, and even Apple Vision Pro. Availability on Apple Vision Pro is especially interesting. Thats because AVP doesnt really offer native photo editing in the built-in Photos app. Paired with iCloud sync today, Luminar Mobile should be on your radar if image editing is important to you.Heres a rundown of everything new in Luminar Mobile 2.2:Full RAW Format SupportWith this update, Luminar Mobile now supports RAW files from major camera brands. Usersgain access to professional-grade editing tools, including adjustments for exposure, contrast,highlights, shadows, temperature, and tint. This comprehensive support allows photographers to maximize the potential of their images with exceptional precision.Save Editing HistoryThe new editing history functionality ensures that all edits are automatically saved, allowing users to revisit and continue their work at any time. This functionality provides greater control over the creative process by enabling users to track and review their editing progress with ease.iCloud Sync for Editing HistoryFor those who edit across multiple devices, Luminar Mobile now offers iCloud sync. Edits made onone device, such as an iPhone, can seamlessly transfer to another, like an iPad. This ensures asmooth workflow across Apple devices, enabling users to start a project on one device and seamlessly continue it on another.UI ImprovementsBased on user feedback, the updated Luminar Mobile introduces several interface refinements.These improvements make the app more intuitive and user-friendly, providing a smoother and moreenjoyable editing experience. For iPad users, the Tool Develop section has been reorganized, withthe Saturation and Vignette tools now separated into individual tools for easier access. A newRevert to Original button has been added, allowing users to reset all edits and return to theoriginal image quickly.Learn more about Luminar Mobile here.Add 9to5Mac to your Google News feed. FTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links. More.Youre reading 9to5Mac experts who break news about Apple and its surrounding ecosystem, day after day. Be sure to check out our homepage for all the latest news, and follow 9to5Mac on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn to stay in the loop. Dont know where to start? Check out our exclusive stories, reviews, how-tos, and subscribe to our YouTube channel

Generative AI is sliding towards "the trough of disillusionment."Blowing BubblesAs large language models race to the Moon and AI-generated slop art pollutes government websites, AI spending is ballooning to epic proportions and the bubble may be close to bursting.That's according to a recent analysis by Gartner the Connecticut-based research firm famous for the Gartner hype cycle which posits that worldwide IT spending is expected to total over $5.5 trillion in 2025, an increase of 9.8 percent from 2024.IT sectors such as data centers, devices, and software "will see double-digit growth in 2025, largely due to generative AI hardware upgrades," the report reads.However, despite this unfathomable increase in spending, these segments are not ready to "differentiate themselves in terms of functionality yet, even with new hardware."That actual functionality is of course key to selling AI-as-a-product going forward, because sooner or later, stakeholders, clients, and governments are going to start demanding real, tangible benefits for their forest-melting efforts.Referencing the hype cycle, Gartner research VP John-David Lovelock, said in a statement that "GenAI is sliding toward the trough of disillusionment, which reflects [Chief Information Officers'] declining expectations for GenAI, but not their spending on this technology."In short, AI companies are shelling out more and more to develop GenAI despite growing market skepticism of the tech's use cases. If true, AI is entering a troubling chunk of its lifecycle, where returns slow and investor (not to mention user) expectations drop."Our expectations for what generative AI can and will do are starting to come down," Lovelock told The Register. "We won't make it to the trough until 2026, but 2025 is going to be a year of the slide."Burning BarrelsThis forecast brings into question the logic underlying the incredible economic, environmental, and human costs of AI development. Though we in the US are no strangers to discarding social wellbeing for profit take the commercialization of insulin, for just one of thousands of examples we have grown less experienced since the heights of the space race at moving mountains where profit is not explicitly guaranteed.When, for all their advancements, all these half-baked AI rollouts can offer are "leaked photos of heaven", it needs to be asked: who are these advances for?If AI developers are incapable of producing socially compelling use cases for their models, then burning through trillions of dollars in a never ending AI race isn't anymore practical than a one-way trip to Mars.More on practical AI:Pentagon Official Boasts That AI Is Helping The Military Kill People Faster Than Ever BeforeShare This Article

Old Is NewScientists Listening to Signals From Huge, Mysterious Objects Inside the EarthbyFrank Landymore"Nobody knew what they are, and whether they are only a temporary phenomenon."Jan 23, 9:35 AM ESTEdward Garnero; S. W. French, B. A. Romanowicz, Geophys. J. Int. 199, 1303, 2014 / Futurism"Nobody knew what they are, and whether they are only a temporary phenomenon."Acoustic VersionThe mystery of two "super-continent"-sized structures buried deep in the Earth's mantle has produced a new twist after scientists got a closer look at their composition, suggesting they might be even older than once thought.Or maybe a closer listen may be more accurate. "When there is a big earthquake, the whole Earth will expand and contract like a bell," Arwen Deuss, a seismologist at Utrecht University in the Netherlands and coauthor of a new paper published in the journal Nature, told New Scientist. "Earth becomes a musical instrument."And like an instrument, you can tell a lot about its quality by listening to the tones it produces. The powerful sound waves that resonate through the Earth's interior have long revealed the presence of two low-shear velocity provinces (LLSVPs), or superplumes, over a thousand miles underground, so named because they slow down the sound waves that travel through them.For some reason, though, they don't appear to make the sound waves any less powerful. Now, Deuss and his team believe they have an explanation for why this is though the implications could be even more mind-boggling.Wet BlanketToday, the two LLSVPs sit beneath Africa and the Pacific Ocean. For how long, however, is difficult to say."Nobody knew what they are, and whether they are only a temporary phenomenon, or if they have been sitting there for millions or perhaps even billions of years," Deuss said in a statement about the work."These two large islands are surrounded by a graveyard of tectonic plates which have been transported there by a process called 'subduction,'" she added, "where one tectonic plate dives below another plate and sinks all the way from the Earth's surface down to a depth of almost three thousand kilometers," or about 1,900 miles.Because the LLSVPs are hot, sound waves that are emitted by the Earth's moving interior slow down when they travel across them. This should also "dampen" the sound waves, or make them lose energy, but observations by Deuss and her team showed that this isn't the case.Pain and GrainSo if the temperature alone isn't responsible for the lack of damping, what is?The working theory is grain size,or the size of the crystals believed to comprise the LLSVPS. The researchers suggest that the structures are made up of larger, but less numerous grains. Because there are fewer grains, that means thereare also fewer so-called boundaries between them, Deuss explained. It's these boundaries that cause the loss of energy every time they're traveled across. By contrast, the surrounding "slab graveyard" exhibits much smaller grains so more dampening.Because grains take ages to grow to such a size, that means the LLSVPs are considerably older than the subducted slabs that encase them perhaps nearly as old as the Earth itself, Deuss toldNew Scientist.More on geology: Scientists Say They've Figured Out What Turned the Sun BlueShare This Article

Jan 23, 2025Ravie LakshmananFirmware Security / VulnerabilityAn exhaustive evaluation of three firewall models from Palo Alto Networks has uncovered a host of known security flaws impacting the devices' firmware as well as misconfigured security features."These weren't obscure, corner-case vulnerabilities," security vendor Eclypsium said in a report shared with The Hacker News."Instead these were very well-known issues that we wouldn't expect to see even on a consumer-grade laptop. These issues could allow attackers to evade even the most basic integrity protections, such as Secure Boot, and modify device firmware if exploited."The company said it analyzed three firewall appliances from Palo Alto Networks, PA-3260, PA-1410, and PA-415, the first of which officially reached end-of-sale on August 31, 2023. The other two models are fully supported firewall platforms.The list of identified flaws, collectively named PANdora's Box, is as follows -CVE-2020-10713 aka BootHole (Affects PA-3260, PA-1410, and PA-415), refers to a buffer overflow vulnerability that allows for a Secure Boot bypass on Linux systems with the feature enabledCVE-2022-24030, CVE-2021-33627, CVE-2021-42060, CVE-2021-42554, CVE-2021-43323, and CVE-2021-45970 (Affects PA-3260), which refers to a set of System Management Mode (SMM) vulnerabilities affecting Insyde Software's InsydeH2O UEFI firmware that could lead to privilege escalation and Secure Boot bypassLogoFAIL (Affects PA-3260), which refers to a set of critical vulnerabilities discovered in the Unified Extensible Firmware Interface (UEFI) code that exploit flaws in image parsing libraries embedded in the firmware to bypass Secure Boot and execute malicious code during system startupPixieFail (Affects PA-1410 and PA-415), which refers to a set of vulnerabilities in the TCP/IP network protocol stack incorporated in the UEFI reference implementation that could lead to code execution and information disclosureInsecure flash access control vulnerability (Affects PA-415), which refers to a case of misconfigured SPI flash access controls that could permit an attacker to modify UEFI directly and bypass other security mechanismsCVE-2023-1017 (Affects PA-415), which refers to an out-of-bounds write vulnerability in the Trusted Platform Module (TPM) 2.0 reference library specificationIntel bootguard leaked keys bypass (Affects PA-1410)"These findings underscore a critical truth: even devices designed to protect can become vectors for attack if not properly secured and maintained," Eclypsium said. "As threat actors continue to target security appliances, organizations must adopt a more comprehensive approach to supply chain security.""This includes rigorous vendor assessments, regular firmware updates, and continuous device integrity monitoring. By understanding and addressing these hidden vulnerabilities, organizations can better protect their networks and data from sophisticated attacks that exploit the very tools meant to safeguard them."Found this article interesting? Follow us on Twitter and LinkedIn to read more exclusive content we post.SHARE