The show must go on. And so, despite all of the devastation and tragedy in Southern California in recent weeks, its time to announce the nominees for this years Academy Awards.As usual, the nominees include a mix of expected names and surprises. I was happily surprised to see so many nominations forThe Substance, the disturbing and funny body horror comedy starring Demi Moore as a fading star who takes a mysterious drug that restores her youth at a terrible cost. The film was nominated for five Oscars, including Best Picture, Best Original Screenplay, Best Makeup and Hairstyling, Best Actress for Moore, and Best Director forCoralie Fargeat.On the other hand, I was shocked by several omissions.The striking point-of-view cinematography ofNickel Boys was overlooked, as was the unforgettable score toChallengers.And there were a lot ofnominations for the Bob Dylan biopicA Complete Unknown: Picture, Director, Adapted Screenplay, Actor, Supporting Actor, Supporting Actress, Sound, and Costume Design.The winners of the 2025 Oscars will be announced live on ABC and Hulu on March 2. The show will be hosted by Conan OBrien.FocusFocusloading...READ MORE: The 12 Worst Oscar Wins in HistoryBest PictureAnoraThe BrutalistA Complete UnknownConclaveDune: Part TwoEmilia PerezIm Still HereNickel BoysThe SubstanceWickedBest DirectorSean Baker, AnoraBrady Corbet, The BrutalistJames Mangold, A Complete UnknownJacques Audiard, Emilia PerezCoralie Fargeat, The SubstanceA24A24loading...Best ActorAdrien Brody, The BrutalistTimothee Chalamet, A Complete UnknownColman Domingo, Sing SingRalph Fiennes, ConclaveSebastian Stan, The ApprenticeBest ActressCynthia Erivo, WickedKarla Sofia Gascon, Emilia PerezMikey Madison, AnoraDemi Moore, The SubstanceFernanda Torres, Im Still HereSearchlightSearchlightloading...Best Supporting ActorYura Borisov, AnoraKieran Culkin, A Real PainEdward Norton, A Complete UnknownGuy Pearce, The BrutalistJeremy Strong, The ApprenticeBest Supporting ActressMonica Barbaro, A Complete UnknownAriana Grande, WickedFelicity Jones, The BrutalistIsabella Rossellini, ConclaveZoe Saldana, Emilia PerezNeonNeonloading...Best Original ScreenplayAnoraThe BrutalistA Real PainSeptember 5The SubstanceBest Adapted ScreenplayA Complete UnknownConclaveEmilia PerezNickel BoysSing SingUniversal Pictures / DreamWorks AnimationUniversal Pictures / DreamWorks Animationloading...Best Animated FeatureFlowInside Out 2Memoir of a SnailWallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most FowlThe Wild RobotBest International FeatureIm Still HereThe Girl With the NeedleEmilia PerezThe Seed of the Sacred FigFlowBest Live Action ShortA LienAnujaIm Not a RobotThe Last RangerThe Man Who Could Not Remain SilentEMILIA PREZNetflixloading...Best Original ScoreThe BrutalistConclaveEmilia PerezWickedThe Wild RobotBest Original SongEl Mal, Emilia PerezThe Journey, The Six Triple EightLike a Bird, Sing SingMi Camino, Emilia PerezNever Too Late, Elton John: Never Too LateBest Documentary FeatureBlack Box DiariesNo Other LandPorcelain WarSoundtrack to a Coup dEtatSugarcaneDUNE 2Warner Bros.loading...Best SoundA Complete UnknownDune: Part TwoEmilia PerezWickedThe Wild RobotBest Production DesignThe BrutalistConclaveDune: Part TwoNosferatuWickedBest Documentary ShortDeath By NumbersI Am Ready, WardenIncidentInstruments of a Beating HeartThe Only Girl in the OrchestraFocusFocusloading...Best CinematographyThe BrutalistDune: Part TwoEmilia PerezMariaNosferatuBest Makeup and HairstylingA Different ManEmilia PerezNosferatuThe SubstanceWickedBest Animated ShortBeautiful MenIn the Shadow of the CypressMagic CandiesWander to WonderYuck!WICKEDUniversalloading...Best Costume DesignA Complete UnknownConclaveGladiator IINosferatuWickedBest Film EditingAnoraThe BrutalistConclaveEmilia PerezWickedBest Visual EffectsAlien: RomulusBetter ManDune: Part TwoKingdom of the Planet of the ApesWickedGet our free mobile appPeople Who Won Oscars To Make Up For Awards They Should Have Won in the PastSometimes, we can speculate that the Academy awards certain performances not because they're the best, but because they should have won long before.

Time zones: SBT (UTC +11), GMT (UTC +0), MSK (UTC +3), CEST (UTC +2), BST (UTC +1), JST (UTC +9), CST (UTC +8), WIB (UTC +7), MMT (UTC +6:30), BST (UTC +6), NPT (UTC +5:45), IST (UTC +5:30), UZT (UTC +5), IRDT (UTC +4:30), GST (UTC +4)We are looking for an experienced, forward-thinking, and results-driven Head of Product to lead Toggls product organisation through a transformational phase. As Head of Product, you will play a pivotal role in driving Toggls growth from $20M to $50M ARR by leading its transition from a time-tracking-centric tool to an integrated suite of products, ensuring each aligns with company objectives, market trends, and customer needs.The annual salary for this role is 130,000 with yearly increases based on performance, and participation in the company-wide performance-based bonus plan.You can work from anywhere in Europe.Your ability to balance strategic leadership with hands-on expertise, particularly in product-led growth and B2B SaaS, will be critical. You will align diverse product teams, ensure impactful product initiatives, and guide Toggls evolution into a cohesive suite of products.About the TeamWe are a global team of 130+ awesome people working from over 40 countries around the globe. We hire globally, you work locallyin the heart of London, a beach outside of Ro de Janeiro, or a quiet village near Florence, the choice is yours. Every few months we travel to meet up somewhere in the world and spend some quality time together. We place a huge amount of trust in our people, and we measure the outcomes rather than the work itself. Our values fuel our results.The RoleAs the Head of Product at Toggl, you will:Define and execute a product strategy driving Toggls short and long term revenue goals and company mission.Identify opportunities to expand into upmarket segments while retaining a strong foothold in SMBs.Optimise growth through data-driven decision-making, leveraging product analytics, A/B testing, and customer insights to identify opportunities and enhance user engagement.Champion lean research methodologies to ensure efficient, evidence-based decision-making without overburdening teams with unnecessary processes.Balance data-driven methods with an instinctive understanding of, and obsession for, beautiful customer experiences.Partner with Marketing, Sales, and Customer Success to optimise customer acquisition, retention, and expansion. Collaborate with the executive team to define go-to-market and revenue strategies.Lead by example**:** Be hands-on when necessary, offering direct guidance to identify and resolve product issues efficiently. Mentor a diverse group of product managers and designers, cultivating a culture of strategic partnership where both roles play a key role in user research and discoveryImprove execution speed while maintaining high standards, instilling a culture of delivering thoughtful, ambitious MVPs and creating scalable, repeatable processes for experimentation and implementation that reduce ambiguity and facilitate effective decision-making.About YouWed love to hear from you if you have:Proven experience in B2B SaaS and PLG environments, ideally in companies scaling between $20M-$50M ARR.Strong product sense, with an instinctive ability to identify what makes a great product and guide teams to execute accordingly.Proven success balancing upmarket expansion with SMB self-serve growth in a SaaS environment, with a nuanced understanding of their differing needs.Excellent situational leadership skills, knowing when to delegate, coach, or step in to address challenges.Comfortable navigating both strategic and tactical aspects of product leadership, with the ability to zoom in and out as needed.A confident yet pragmatic approach to experimentation, where decisions are made boldly, validated thoughtfully, and where outcomes, whether success or failure, are owned and learned from.An expert communicator, capable of translating complex product strategies into clear, actionable plans for diverse audiences within the company.BenefitsFreedom to choose when and how much you work - we only measure results24 days of paid time off a year, plus your local holidaysUnlimited sick leaveIn-person meetups for team-building (expenses covered)4-6 weeks paid sabbatical (depending on the tenure)Laptop budget up to 2,500 and it renews every 3 years2,000 budget to set up your home office, and additional 300 every year after 3 years of tenure3,000 per year for co-working space membership and/or internet service at home4,000 per year contribution to use for training, workshops, and conferences2,400 per year contribution for any equipment or services to improve and/or maintain your physical and mental healthSupport for buying tools you need for doing your best work (even eyeglasses if you need a new pair)

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. This is what might happen if the US withdraws from the WHO On January 20, his first day in office, US president Donald Trump signed an executive order to withdraw the US from the World Health Organization. The US is the biggest donor to the WHO, and the loss of this income is likely to have a significant impact on the organization, which develops international health guidelines, investigates disease outbreaks, and acts as an information-sharing hub for member states. But the US will also lose out. Read the full story.Jessica HamzelouWhy the next energy race is for underground hydrogen It might sound like something straight out of the 19th century, but one of the most cutting-edge areas in energy today involves drilling deep underground to hunt for materials that can be burned for energy. The difference is that this time, instead of looking for fossil fuels, the race is on to find natural deposits of hydrogen. In an age of lab-produced breakthroughs, it feels like something of a regression to go digging for resources. But looking underground could help meet energy demand while also addressing climate change. Read the full story.Casey Crownhart This article is from The Spark, MIT Technology Reviews weekly climate newsletter. To receive it in your inbox every Wednesday, sign up here. Cattle burping remedies: 10 Breakthrough Technologies 2025 Companies are finally making real progress on one of the trickiest problems for climate change: cow burps. The worlds herds of cattle belch out methane as a by-product of digestion, as do sheep and goats. That powerful greenhouse gas makes up the single biggest source of livestock emissions, which together contribute 11% to 20% of the worlds total climate pollution, depending on the analysis. Enter the cattle burping supplement. DSM-Firmenich, a Netherlands-based conglomerate, says its Bovaer food supplement significantly reduces the amount of methane that cattle belchand its now available in dozens of countries. Read the full story.James Temple Cattle burping remedies is one of our 10 Breakthrough Technologies for 2025, MIT Technology Reviews annual list of tech to watch. Check out the rest of the list, and cast your vote for the honorary 11th breakthrough. The must-reads Ive combed the internet to find you todays most fun/important/scary/fascinating stories about technology. 1 Tech leaders are squabbling over Trumps new Stargate AI project Musk says its backers dont have enough money. Satya Nadella and Sam Altman disagree. (The Guardian)+ Its far from the first time Musk and Altman have clashed. (Insider $)+ The scrap could threaten Musks cordial relationship with Donald Trump. (FT $) 2 Trump has threatened to withhold aid from California He falsely claimed the states officials have been refusing to fight the fires with water. (WP $)+ A new fire broke out along the Ventura County border last night. (LA Times $)3 Redditors are weighing up banning links to X In response to Elon Musks salute. (404 Media)+ Not everyone agrees that the boycott will have the desired effect, though. (NYT $)4 How right-leaning male YouTubers helped to elect TrumpYoung men are responding favorably to content painting them as powerless. (Bloomberg $) 5 Why the US isnt handing out bird flu vaccines right now Its not currently being treated as a priority. (Wired $)+ How the US is preparing for a potential bird flu pandemic. (MIT Technology Review)6 Why you might be inadvertently following Trump on social media And why it may take a while for Meta to honor requests to unfollow. (NYT $)+ The company has denied secretly adding users to Trumps followers list. (Insider $)+ Handily enough, Trump has ordered the US government to stop pressuring social media firms. (WP $)7 Investors interest in weight-loss drugs is waningA disappointing trial and falling sales spell bad news for the sector. (FT $) + Drugs like Ozempic now make up 5% of prescriptions in the US. (MIT Technology Review)8 A software engineer is trolling OpenAI with a new domain nameAnanay Arora registered OGOpenAI.com to redirect to a Chinese AI lab. (TechCrunch) 9 Macbeth is being turned into an interactive video game The Scottish play is being given a 21st century makeover. (The Verge) 10 Why measuring the quality of your sleep is so tough Not everyone agrees on what counts as good sleep, for a start. (New Scientist $)Quote of the day I acknowledge that this action is largely just virtue signalling. But if somebody starts popping off Nazi salutes at the presidential inauguration of a purported first world country, then virtue signalling is the least I can do. A Reddit moderator explains their decision to ban links to X in their forum after Elon Musks gestures at a post-inauguration rally this week, NBC News reports. The big story Welcome to Chula Vista, where police drones respond to 911 calls February 2023 In the skies above Chula Vista, California, where the police department runs a drone program, its not uncommon to see an unmanned aerial vehicle darting across the sky. Chula Vista is one of a dozen departments in the US that operate what are called drone-as-first-responder programs, where drones are dispatched by pilots, who are listening to live 911 calls, and often arrive first at the scenes of accidents, emergencies, and crimes, cameras in tow. But many argue that police forces adoption of drones is happening too quickly, without a well-informed public debate around privacy regulations, tactics, and limits. Theres also little evidence that drone policing reduces crime. Read the full story. Patrick Sisson 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.) + If you were struck by the beautiful scenery in The Brutalist, check out where it was filmed.+ This newly-unearthed, previously unreleased Tina Turner track is a banger.+ What to expect from the art world in the next 12 months.+ Let's take a look at this years potential runners and riders for the Oscars.

On January 20, his first day in office, US president Donald Trump signed an executive order to withdraw the US from the World Health Organization. Ooh, thats a big one, he said as he was handed the document. The US is the biggest donor to the WHO, and the loss of this income is likely to have a significant impact on the organization, which develops international health guidelines, investigates disease outbreaks, and acts as an information-sharing hub for member states. But the US will also lose out. Its a very tragic and sad event that could only hurt the United States in the long run, says William Moss, an epidemiologist at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health in Baltimore. A little unfair? Trump appears to take issue with the amount the US donates to the WHO. He points out that it makes a much bigger contribution than China, a country with a population four times that of the US. It seems a little unfair to me, he said as he prepared to sign the executive order. It is true that the US is far and away the biggest financial supporter of the WHO. The US contributed $1.28 billion over the two-year period covering 2022 and 2023. By comparison, the second-largest donor, Germany, contributed $856 million in the same period. The US currently contributes 14.5% of the WHOs total budget. But its not as though the WHO sends a billion-dollar bill to the US. All member states are required to pay membership dues, which are calculated as a percentage of a countrys gross domestic product. For the US, this figure comes to $130 million. China pays $87.6 million. But the vast majority of the USs contributions to the WHO are made on a voluntary basisin recent years, the donations have been part of multibillion-dollar spending on global health by the US government. (Separately, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation contributed $830 million over 2022 and 2023.) Its possible that other member nations will increase their donations to help cover the shortfall left by the USs withdrawal. But it is not clear who will step upor what implications it might have to the structure of donations. Martin McKee, professor of European public health at the London School of Hygiene at Tropical Medicine, thinks it is unlikely that European members will increase their contributions by much. The Gulf states, China, India, Brazil, and South Africa, on the other hand, may be more likely to pay more. But again, it isnt clear how this will pan out, or whether any of these countries will expect greater influence over global health policy decisions as a result of increasing their donations. Deep impacts WHO funds are spent on a range of global health projectsprograms to eradicate polio, rapidly respond to health emergencies, improve access to vaccines and medicines, develop pandemic prevention strategies, and more. The loss of US funding is likely to have a significant impact on at least some of these programs. It is not clear which programs will lose funding, or when they will be affected. The US is required to give 12 months notice to withdraw its membership, but voluntary contributions might stop before that time is up. For the last few years, WHO member states have been negotiating a pandemic agreement designed to improve collaboration on preparing for future pandemics. The agreement is set to be finalized in 2025. But these discussions will be disrupted by the US withdrawal, says McKee. It will create confusion about how effective any agreement will be and what it will look like, he says. The agreement itself also wont make as big an impact without the US as a signatory, says Moss, who is also a member of a WHO vaccine advisory committee. The US would not be held to information-sharing standards that other countries could benefit from, and it might not be privy to important health information from other member nations. The global community might also lose out on the USs resources and expertise. Having a major country like the United States not be a part of that really undermines the value of any pandemic agreement, he says. McKee thinks that the loss of funding will also affect efforts to eradicate polio and to control outbreaks of mpox in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Uganda, and Burundi, which continue to report hundreds of cases per week. The virus has the potential to spread, including to the US, he points out. Moss is concerned about the potential for the spread of vaccine-preventable diseases. Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Trumps pick to lead the Department of Health and Human Services, is a prominent antivaccine advocate, and Moss worries about potential changes to vaccination-based health policies in the US. That, combined with a weakening of the WHOs ability to control disease outbreaks, could be a double whammy, he says: Were setting ourselves up for large measles disease outbreaks in the United States. At the same time, the US is up against another growing threat to public health: the circulation of bird flu on poultry and dairy farms. The US has seen outbreaks of the H5N1 virus on poultry farms in all states, and the virus has been detected in 928 dairy herds across 16 states, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. There have been 67 reported human cases in the US, and one person has died. While we dont yet have evidence that the virus can spread between people, the US and other countries are already preparing for potential outbreaks. But this preparation relies on a thorough and clear understanding of what is happening on the ground. The WHO provides an important role in information sharingcountries report early signs of outbreaks to the agency, which then shares the information with its members. This kind of information not only allows countries to develop strategies to limit the spread of disease but can also allow them to share genetic sequences of viruses and develop vaccines. Member nations need to know whats happening in the US, and the US needs to know whats happening globally. Both of those channels of communication would be hindered by this, says Moss. As if all of that werent enough, the US also stands to suffer in terms of its reputation as a leader in global public health. By saying to the world We dont care about your health, it sends a message that is likely to reflect badly on it, says McKee. Its a classic lose-lose situation, he adds. Its going to hurt global health, says Moss. Its going to come back to bite us.

Sto Ltd was subject of winding up petition from German parent last monthExternal wall insulation specialist Sto Ltd has gone into administration, Grant Thornton has confirmed.The firm, which is based at Kings Norton near Birmingham, called in administrators last Friday.In a statement, a Grant Thornton spokesperson said: I can confirm that colleagues from Grant Thornton were appointed on [17 January] and they continue to evaluate the position of the business. Further information will be made available in due course.Stos main office and warehouse is in BirminghamSto Ltd is a subsidiary of German parent Sto SE & Co. KGa, set up in 1954, and which had a turnover of 1.5bn in 2023. It employs more than 5,700 people across nearly 40 countries.Last month Sto SE & Co. KGa filed a winding up notice against Sto Ltd at the Edinburgh Court of Session. No reason for the filing was given.In its last set of results, Sto Ltd posted an improved turnover of 15.8m in 2023. The accounts, which were signed off last February, show income was up 19% but pre-tax profit fell 12% to 672,000. The accounts also reveal it employed 49 people.Sto SE & Co. KGa has been contacted for comment.

South Bank scheme has been mired in series of planning and legal wranglesSource: Make ArchitectsThe scheme, designed by Make, will include a 25-storey towerThe redevelopment of ITVs former London headquarters on the South Bank is set to start next month after campaigners decided not to take up the chance to appeal a High Court ruling made last month.The ruling on a legal challenge to former communities secretary Michael Goves decision to give the job designed by Make and known as 72 Upper Ground the green light last year was made just before Christmas.Mr Justice Mould dismissed the challenge from a local campaign group called Save Our Southbank (SoS).SoS then had until this week (21 January) to decide whether to launch a legal challenge through the Court of Appeal and at the time spokesperson Michael Ball said: We are considering our options carefully.But the deadline has come and gone and no appeal has been launched. SoS has been contacted for comment.The ITV building has already been wrapped in scaffolding ahead of its demolition by McGee which is now set to start next month.The 500m scheme is set to be built by Multiplex after original contractor Lendlease was replaced by the firm in the autumn.The High Court quashed a legal challenge to the scheme just before ChristmasIt is being developed by CO-RE and funded by Mitsubishi Estate and is due to complete in early 2029.Others working on the job, which has been mired in planning and legal wrangles, include QS T&T Alinea, landscape architect Grant Associates and engineer Arup.The mixed-use scheme will include a 25-storey office building connected to two buildings of 14 and six storeys. It will also feature new cafes and restaurants, cultural venues and green space.SoS had argued that the tower could be refurbished to provide 200 homes and 500,000 sq ft of offices while saving a huge amount of embodied carbon compared to Makes full redevelopment approach.

Samsung and Google are working on an Apple Vision Pro-like mixed reality VR headset running Android XR and Google Gemini. We knew that already and even got a demo of it last year. But Samsung also revealed a little more at its phone-focused Samsung Unpacked winter event, specifically, a common Google-Samsung AI ecosystem partnership that could be the missing piece to join it all together. That AI-infused experience will be on a next-gen VR/AR headset this year, but expect it to also be running on the Galaxy S25 phone and glasses that will connect to them.In a sense, I already got a preview of what the future holds at the end of last year. This story is part of Samsung Event, CNET's collection of news, tips and advice around Samsung's most popular products. Samsung's vision for its products all connects via AI. And now that AI is becoming consistent. SamsungA seeing AI that works in real timeSamsung briefly addressed upcoming VR/AR headsets and glasses at its latest Unpacked event, but we largely knew about those already. Still, Samsung's demonstration of real-time AI that can see things on your phone or through cameras is exactly the trend we were expecting to arrive in 2025.Project Moohan (meaning "Infinity" in Korean) is a VR headset with passthrough cameras that blend the virtual and real, much like the Vision Pro or Meta's Quest 3. The design feels a lot like Meta's discontinued Quest Pro but with far better specs. The headset has hand and eye tracking, runs Android apps via an Android XR OS being fully revealed later this year, and uses Google Gemini AI as an assistive layer throughout. Google's Project Astra tech, which enables that real-time assistance on glasses, phones and headsets, is debuting on Samsung's Galaxy S25 series of phones. But I've already seen it in action on my face.My demos last year let me use Gemini to assist me as I looked around a room, watched YouTube videos or did basically anything else. Live AI needed to be started up into that live mode to use it, after which it could both see and hear what I was looking at or hearing. There were pause modes to temporarily stop the live assistance too.Samsung showed off what looks like similar real-time AI functions on the Galaxy S25 phones, and more was promised. I expect it'll be able to work while watching videos on YouTube, much like my Android XR demo did. And according to Samsung and Google's execs working on Android XR, it could even be used for live help while playing games. Gemini's on-the-fly visual recognition skills might start feeling the same between glasses and phones. SamsungBetter battery life and processingfor glasses?Samsung and Google have also confirmed they're working on smart glasses, also using Gemini AI, to compete with Meta's Ray-Bans and a wave of other emerging eyewear. AR glasses are also apparently in the works.While Project Moohan is a standalone VR headset with its own battery pack and processors, much like Apple's Vision Pro, the smaller smart glasses Google and Samsung are working on -- and any glasses after that -- will rely on connections and processing assistance from phones to work. That's how smart glasses like Meta's Ray-Bans already work.But, maybe, with more features means the need for more intensive phone processing. Live AI could start becoming an increasingly used feature, leaning on phones to continually be working to assist these glasses. The better processing, graphics, and most importantly, improved battery life and cooling sounded to me like ways to make these phones better pocket computers for eventual glasses. Personal data clouds are what Samsung and Google are going to lean on to drive smarter AI assistants on both glasses and phones. SamsungA personal data set that these AI gadgets will needSamsung also announced an obscure-sounding Personal Data Engine that Google and Samsung's AI will take advantage of, bucketing personal data into a place where AI could possibly develop richer conclusions and connections to all the things that are part of your life.How that plays out or is secured, or where its limits are, was extremely unclear. But it sounds like a repository of personal data that Samsung and Google's AI can train off and work with connected extended products, including watches, rings and glasses.Camera-enabled AI wearables are only as good as the data that can assist them, which is why so many of these devices right now feel clunky and weird to use, including Meta's Ray-Bans in their AI modes. Usually, these AI devices hit walls when it comes to knowing things your existing apps already know better. Google and Samsung are clearly trying to fix that.Will I want to trust that process with Google and Samsung, or anyone else? How will these phones, and future glasses, make that relationship between AI and our data clearer and more manageable? It feels like we're watching one shoe drop here, with others coming when Google's I/O developer conference will likely discuss Android XR and Gemini's advances in far more depth.Samsung's making Project Moohan its first headset, following with glasses in the future after that. Expect Google to get into more details along with Samsung at the developer-focused Google I/O conference around May or June and possibly the full rundown in the summer at Samsung's next expected Unpacked event. By then, we may know a lot more about why this seemingly boring new wave of Galaxy S25 phones might be building up an infrastructure that will play out in clearer detail by the end of the yearor even after that.

Our Experts Written by Tyler Lacoma, Macy Meyer Our expert, award-winning staff selects the products we cover and rigorously researches and tests our top picks. If you buy through our links, we may get a commission. Reviews ethics statement Why You Can Trust CNET 16171819202122232425+ Years of Experience 14151617181920212223 Hands-on Product Reviewers 6,0007,0008,0009,00010,00011,00012,00013,00014,00015,000 Sq. Feet of Lab Space How we test CNETs expert staff reviews and rates dozens of new products and services each month, building on more than a quarter century of expertise. What to consider Smart home compatibility Does the cam work with your current smart home platform or voice assistants? Live view Is the app intuitive and the live view clear? Local vs. cloud storage Does the camera offer your preferred method to store videos? Does it require a subscription or extra purchase? Motion detection Does the camera have useful motion detection that can recognize people apart from animals or vehicles? Battery life Is the battery life rating something you're comfortable managing? Does the battery perform well under frequent use? Privacy and security Does the camera brand have a reputation for fixing security breaches and protecting data? Table of Contents

January 23, 20254 min readWhy Grapefruit Interferes with Medication, and What to Do about ItCould gene editing produce a tasty citrus fruit that doesnt interfere with prescription drugs?By Charlotte Hu edited by Tanya Lewis Serhii Tychynskyi/Getty ImagesUnfortunately for lovers of grapefruit, mixing the appealingly bitter citrus with certain medications can lead to dangerous side effects. According to the National Capital Poison Center, a not-for-profit poison control organization, at least 85 drugsincluding commonly prescribed antidepressants, statins and antibioticshave known or suspected interactions with grapefruit or grapefruit juice. But plant researchers are now working on a possible solution: genetically engineering a variety of the fruit that is medication-safe.Over the past few decades, scientists have zeroed in on the main culprit responsible for grapefruits notorious interfering effect: a class of chemicals called furanocoumarins. These molecules can bind to and inactivate an enzyme in the intestines called CYP3A4 that helps metabolize certain drugs. This leads to excessive levels of the drug in the bloodstream and thus to a risk of harmful overdose. (Through a different mechanism, grapefruit can have the opposite effect on some drugs, such as certain antihistamines.) Many popular citrus fruitssuch as grapefruit, limes and pomeloscontain furanocoumarins, but some varieties of oranges, including Valencia, navel and mandarin oranges, have low or negligible levels of these chemicals.In a study published recently in New Phytologist, researchers at Israels Volcani Institutefound a gene that plays a key role in producing furanocoumarins in grapefruit. According to the study authors, editing out this gene could potentially yield a variety of grapefruit that doesnt interfere with medication in this way.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.There have been chemical efforts to remove the furanocoumarins from the juice. People also crossed mandarin and pomelo, which yielded grapefruit like products, says Yoram Eyal, a professor at the Volcani Center and a co-author of the paper. But the commercial production of grapefruit juice is very [regulated], so you cant sell something that resembles a grapefruit as a grapefruit juice.Eyal and his colleagues wanted to try a new approach by designing a grapefruit without furanocoumarinsand now we know which gene to target, he says.The researchers found the gene by crossing grapefruit and mandarin orange, then examining the genetics of the resulting plants. We saw in the progeny that 50 percent of them produce furanocoumarins and 50 percent do not. That indicated that maybe theres only one gene involved in this pathway of furanocoumarin biosynthesis, says Livnat Goldenberg, a postdoctoral researcher at the Volcani Instituteand the studys first author. Then we checked it for activity, and we saw it does produce the first component of the furanocoumarin pathway.Paul Watkins, director of the Watkins Lab for Drug Safety Sciences at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, has previously worked with stakeholders in the Florida citrus industry to figure out how grapefruit interferes with medication. He and his colleagues conducted experiments and found that after removing the furanocoumarins from grapefruit juice, the main known grapefruit-drug interactions didnt occur.But ridding the juice of these chemicals, using a process similar to the one used to make lactose-free milk, was expensiveand it impacted the taste.Unfortunately, the juice also lost its spunk because in the process of taking out the furanocoumarins, [it] took out a lot of other stuff, says Watkins, who was not involved in the New Phytologist study. If you could use a technique like CRISPR [a method of editing genes] and create a whole line of grapefruit that didnt have this potential for drug interactions... theres substantial value in that economically, commercially, and for people who really like grapefruit juice.Identifying a gene common to furanocoumarin synthesis is just the first step, and the Volcani team is currently using CRISPR to create a set of real-world trees. Were in the process of developing this kind of grapefruit, Eyal says. But he notes that it can take around four years for the edited plant to become a tree that produces fruit.Ultimately, the researchers goal is to produce a viable grapefruit tree that can be classified as genome-edited but not as a genetically modified organism (GMO); in some countries, including Israel and the U.S., crops that are CRISPR-edited but dont have a new gene can be designated non-GMO. And because a lack of the gene for furanocoumarins doesnt seem to make citrus plants such as mandarins more susceptible to disease or insects, Eyal says, he and his colleaguesarent worried about significant impacts on grapefruit trees health. He also doesnt expect big impacts to grapefruits nutritional benefits. Furanocoumarins are considered antioxidants, he adds, but there are a lot of other antioxidants, [such as] vitamin C and flavonoids.If its genome-editing efforts bear fruit, the Volcani team intends to collaborate with researchers in the medical field to test the modified fruit juice, first in the lab and eventually in human studies.The long-term goal is developing varieties of grapefruit that are furanocoumarin-free, Eyal says, and providing them to growers of grapefruit.

January 23, 20255 min readAre Cats Actually Liquid?A physicist weighs in on the fluid feline memeBy Manon Bischoff edited by Daisy YuhasCats have a surprising amount of commonalities with liquidsat least from the perspective of physicists who study fluid dynamics. alex_black/Getty ImagesOn New Years Day about 15 years ago, we spent hours looking for our cat. The fireworks had frightened the poor animal so much that it had hidden somewhere. We searched all its favorite places without success. The feline seemed to have vanished. But at some point, we were amazed to see something black and fluffy crawl out of a long, narrow opening under our fireplace. Tigrou, our house cat, had hidden in a space seemingly too narrow for the creature to fit.Many other people have made similar observations. Memes referring to cats as liquid have been circulating online for several years. And they caught the eye of physicist Marc-Antoine Fardin of the Jacques Monod Institute, now at Paris City University and the French National Center for Scientific Research. I spend some time on the Internet, he said in a 2019 TEDx talk, for research purposes, of course. In the spring of 2014, Fardin began to scientifically study the fluid behavior of catsa pastime that allowed him to avoid his real work. This procrastination actually led to some success, he explained in his talk. It won me the Ig Nobel Prize of Physics, which rewards research that makes you laugh as well as think.There is more than one way to think about states of matter, such as liquids and solids. For example, in school you may have learned that molecules within a solid are tightly packed together in fixed positions, whereas those in a liquid move more freely around one another.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.But Fardins research is based on the science of fluid dynamics, or rheology. In this field, objects that have a constant volume and a fixed shape are solids. By contrast, the volume of liquid substances remains the same, but their shape can change. The latter criterion seems to apply to cats: despite a constant volume, they can bend as they please to fill a container such as a cardboard box or a sink. This means that cats should be classified as liquids, right?The question is not so easy to answer. If we wait long enough, everything eventually flows. Thats the motto of rheology, Fardin said during his TEDx talk. For example, the solid asphalt of a sloping road continues to flow very slowly, which can be observed after several years or decades. Solids can also be deformed if enough pressure is applied to them. On the other hand, liquids can also have solid properties. Ketchup, for instance, only flows out of an open glass bottle after it has been shaken several times.What Is a Liquid?The previously given definition of a liquid is therefore not entirely valid. What is liquid clearly depends on how long you observe something. Rheologists therefore use a value called the Deborah number (De), which depends in part on the observation time (T), to indicate how liquid an object is. In principle, the smaller the Deborah number, the more liquid the substance.In addition to the observation time, the Deborah number also depends on the so-called relaxation time (), the time it takes for a fluid to adapt its shape. If you pour water into a glass, it fills it up very quickly, so the relaxation time is very short. With a viscous liquid such as honey, however, you have to wait longer. By setting the relaxation time and the observation time in the ratio T, you get the Deborah number. For values less than 1, materials are considered liquid. If the Deborah number is greater than or equal to 1, however, they are said to be solid.The longer you observe something, the smaller the Deborah number becomes and the more fluid it appears. Mountains are indisputably solid for us. During a human lifetime, no flow behavior can be detected. But over millions of years, this changes. In fact, the name of the Deborah number comes from a line in a section of the Old Testament known as the Song of Deborah. (Although translations vary, the King James Version is: The mountains melted from before the Lord.)Big picture: the Deborah number reminds us that its not clear whether cats qualify as a liquidor precisely what a liquid isbecause that depends on how long you observe them.Cats and Liquids Share Many CharacteristicsNevertheless, rheological studies can be carried outand these reveal cats many liquid characteristics. To calculate the Deborah number of cats, you have to determine their relaxation time. This varies from animal to animal, depending on its breed, age, and so on. Young kittens, for instance, may have a longer relaxation time because they fidget a lot. It can take hours for them to settle down and adapt their shape to their environment.Cats like to take up as much space as possible in small containers.Nils Jacobi/Getty ImagesIn his lecture, Fardin pointed out that the shape of the container or environment also matters. For example, cats may relax more quickly on their owners lap than in a carrier in which they are transported to the vet.This variability hardly disqualified cats from liquid status. Many familiar fluids feature relaxation times that vary based on their environment. Water forms droplets on repellent surfaces such as Teflon, while it spreads easily on other surfaces.In work published in the journal Rheology Bulletin in 2014, Fardin had proposed that the relaxation time of young adult cats is between one second and one minute. This estimate allows the Deborah number to be calculated: if, say, a cat squeezes itself into a small cardboard box within five seconds and is observed for one minute, then De = 0.0833.... That is significantly smaller than 1: the cat is clearly exhibiting fluid behavior.As Fardin pointed out in his paper, cats share other properties with liquids. For example, they have a yield stress, meaning that a minimum amount of force must be applied before they flow out of a container. The same applies to ketchup in a plastic bottle, which must be squeezed out. In addition, cats, like a fluid, adapt their body to the vessel they enter so that they fill it completely. Another characteristic that cats share with some liquids is their high surface tension, which comes into play as they press in or out of a small container.Fardin was also interested in other flow properties of cats, such as whether they could create turbulence. But cats, he noted in his paper, fall in a class of biologically active materials alongside bacteria, flocks and schools, which have their own motive power, and are therefore hard to assess in this way.In conclusion, much more work remains ahead, but cats are proving to be a rich model system for rheological research, Fardin wrote.Biology offers a different lens on this question. From a life science point of view, these animals resemble a liquidmuch more so than other creatures such as humansbecause of their movable (and sometimes missing) collarbone. Once their head fits through an opening, the rest of the body can easily follow. This is how Tigrou flowed into the narrow gap beneath our fireplace.This article originally appeared in Spektrum der Wissenschaft and was reproduced with permission.