A so-called relationship therapist quoted everywhere from Newsweek to The Independent appears, per a new investigation, to be completely made up.As writer Ashley Abramson reports in a captivating investigation forAllure, a purported therapist named Sophie Cress set off alarm bells almost as soon as she pitched the Abramson using the now-defunct Help A Reporter Out (HARO), a service that connected journalists with potential sources.Though Cress set off alarm bells for Abramson not least because her email address was associated with the sex toy review site SexualAlpha.com the journalist eventually decided to respond to the would-be therapist's second pitch. When Abramson insisted that she could only conduct interviews over phone or video call, however, Cress ghosted.After digging into Cress' background and alleged qualifications Abramson discovered why: Sophie Cress strongly appears not to exist, a fabrication made up by the Latvia-based owner of Sexual Alpha to drive traffic and search ranking to his site.That owner, Dainis Graveris, never responded to any of Abramson's requests for comment, so she had to rely on her own sleuthing to get to the bottom of the Cress story.She not only looked into whether anyone by the name "Sophie Cress" or any similar monikers was licensed to practice family and relationship therapy in Cress' professed state of North Carolina, but also into whether someone using that name actually held the degrees she claimed to have or was certified for Prepare/Enrich and Gottman Therapist specialties, which her onetime website claimed she held.The North Carolina Marriage and Family Therapy Licensure Board was unable to find any such therapist, and representatives from Prepare/Enrich and Gottman couldn't confirm that anyone with Cress' name was certified with either organization. Because there was such limited information on the "therapist," Abramson was also unable to confirm whether either her bachelor's or master's degrees were legit.Another nail in the coffin was even more mundane: Abramson traced Cress' headshot back to a stock photo website, where the woman in the picture doesn't share her name.When Abramson reached out to the American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy to ask if it had ever heard of a case of a brand concocting a fake therapist to pitch to journalists, its executives said no but not because it wouldn't be possible."The barrier [to do that] is very low," James Punelli, the association's director of ethics and legal affairs, told her.Needless to say, most journalists contacted by Cress didn't do all that homework; her operators appear to have duped everybody fromMashable to theDaily Mail to theNew Zealand Herald.Though HARO is no more it was eventually acquired, rebranded and shut down by the tech outfit Cision it has a sludgy history of being used to dupe journalists, including a prankster who used it in the early 2010s to get himself featured as an expert on obscure topics in publications ranging from the New York Times toCBS to ABC.And Cress just might still be at it: while HARO is no more, Futurism found that Cress still has a profile on the imitator site Qwoted that links back to Sexual Alpha, suggesting that what's left of her mostly-scrubbed online persona is still churning out traffic for the sex toy site.Share This Article

The newly-minted Trump administration is wasting no time in imposing its vision across the United States government, and NASA is no exception.As Ars Technica reports, the space agency's acting headis threatening employees with "adverse consequences" if they fail to snitch on any coworkers involved with diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility (DEIA) programs."We are taking steps to close all agency DEIA offices and end all DEIA-related contracts in accordance with President Trumps executive orders titled Ending Radical and Wasteful Government DEI Programs and Preferencing and Initial Rescissions of Harmful Executive Orders and Actions," NASA's acting administrator Janet Petro wrote in the email."These programs divided Americans by race, wasted taxpayer dollars, and resulted in shameful discrimination," she wrote, without providing any evidence.A Tuesday memopermanently laying them off. As such, NASA's website dedicated to diversity and inclusion now been taken down.It remains to be seen how specifically NASA will be affected by the incursion. But the massive culling could send ripples across federal agencies, including the space agency."Given the broad brush that they have painted, it's potentially very large numbers of people," the head of the Office of Personnel Management under former President Joe Biden Rob Shriver told NPR.Do you know anything about the purge at NASA? Send us an email: tips@futurism.com. We can keep you anonymous.Petro's email also insinuated that DEIA programs were being hidden from the Trump administration, requesting that employees inform on each other."We are aware of efforts by some in government to disguise these programs by using coded or imprecise language," the email reads. "If you are aware of a change in any contract description or personnel position description since November 5, 2024 to obscure the connection between the contract and DEIA or similar ideologies, please report all facts and circumstances."The phrasing "DEIA or similar ideologies" should raise alarm bells. The vague language invites all sorts of discriminatory and problematic interpretations, even beyond diversity and inclusion efforts.As SpaceNews points out, it's a major ideological reversal for Petro. She has previously praised diversity initiatives, telling Engineering News-Record in late 2021 that the agency's "commitment to diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility has been paramount to mission success.""The entire NASA leadership team stands behind this commitment," she added at the time.It's unclear whether Petro personally supports the dismantlement of DEIA programs and the mass firing of related hires, or whether she was acting under pressure.But the whole thing is a sign that the Trump administration is willing to treat federal employees with disdain, threatening them and setting them against each other in its pursuit of a more homogenous workforce."Penalizing career civil servants for faithfully doing their jobs during a prior administration is wrong," Partnership for Public Service CEO Max Stier wrote in a statement. "The affected employees are everyday people who have to support themselves and their families, and the abrupt and rushed approach chosen here will have a traumatizing impact on not just them but their colleagues who remain in their roles serving the public, as well."More on NASA: Elon Musk Trying to Scrap NASA's Moon ProgramShare This Article

Jan 23, 2025Ravie LakshmananMalware / Enterprise SecurityEnterprise-grade Juniper Networks routers have become the target of a custom backdoor as part of a campaign dubbed J-magic.According to the Black Lotus Labs team at Lumen Technologies, the activity is so named for the fact that the backdoor continuously monitors for a "magic packet" sent by the threat actor in TCP traffic. "J-magic campaign marks the rare occasion of malware designed specifically for JunoOS, which serves a similar market but relies on a different operating system, a variant of FreeBSD," the company said in a report shared with The Hacker News.Evidence gathered by the company shows that the earliest sample of the backdoor dates back to September 2023, with the activity ongoing between mid-2023 and mid-2024. Semiconductor, energy, manufacturing, and information technology (IT) sectors were the most targeted.Infections have been reported across Europe, Asia, and South America, including Argentine, Armenia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Indonesia, the Netherlands, Norway, Peru, the U.K., the U.S., and Venezuela.The campaign is notable for deploying an agent after gaining initial access through an as-yet-undetermined method. The agent, a variant of a publicly available backdoor referred to as cd00r, waits for five different pre-defined parameters before commencing its operations.On the receipt of these magic packets, the agent is configured to send back a secondary challenge, following which J-magic establishes a reverse shell to the IP address and port specified in the magic packet. This enables the attackers to control the device, steal data, or deploy additional payloads.Lumen theorized that the inclusion of the challenge is an attempt on part of the adversary to prevent other threat actors from issuing magic packets in an indiscriminate manner and repurpose the J-magic agents to meet their own objectives.It's worth noting that another variant of cd00r, codenamed SEASPY, was deployed in connection with a campaign aimed at Barracuda Email Security Gateway (ESG) appliances in late 2022.That said, there is no evidence at this stage to connect the two campaigns, nor does the J-magic campaign demonstrate any signs that it overlaps with other campaigns targeting enterprise-grade routers such as Jaguar Tooth and BlackTech (aka Canary Typhoon).A majority of the potentially impacted IP addresses are said to be Juniper routers acting as VPN gateways, with a second smaller cluster comprising those with an exposed NETCONF port. It's believed that the network configuration devices may have been targeted for their ability to automate router configuration information and management.With routers being abused by nation-state actors preparing for follow-on attacks, the latest findings underscore the continued targeting of edge infrastructure, largely driven by the long uptime and a lack of endpoint detection and response (EDR) protections in such devices."One of the most notable aspects of the campaign is the focus on Juniper routers," Lumen said. "While we have seen heavy targeting of other networking equipment, this campaign demonstrates that attackers can find success expanding to other device types such as enterprise grade routers."Found this article interesting? Follow us on Twitter and LinkedIn to read more exclusive content we post.SHARE

Star Trek has endured for 60 years, on television and in movies, through high highs and low lows. If the critics are to be believed, the latest addition to theTrekcanon a streaming film calledStar Trek: Section 31 starring Oscar winner Michelle Yeoh may represent the absolute nadir of those decades of stories.To be fair, the first reviews of the film, which debuts this week on Paramount+ after a lengthy development process, are not entirely uniform. There are acouple of mildly positive articles out there. The Verge, for example,said its pretty damn fun./Filmcalled Section 31B-movie trash (in a good way). That is a compliment, I suppose, if a backhanded one.But the vast majority of critics call it anywhere from mediocre to saying it is flat-out, no qualifications the single worst thing in the history ofStar Trek.Yeoh plays Philippa Georgiou, a character she originated onStar Trek: Discovery.In the film, Georgiou a former genocidal emperor from the Mirror Universe joins the members of Starfleets secretive Section 31, a covert intelligence group, on an all-important mission.The film was actually conceived as a TV series way back in early 2019. Paramount worked on various concepts for the show for years until, in 2023, they announcedSection 31 would instead be a one-off streaming film on Paramount+.ParamountParamountloading...READ MORE: The Coolest Star Trek Movies That Were Never MadeHere is a sampling of theStar Trek: Section 31 reviews so far:Daniel Cooper, Engadget:It is the single worst thing to carry the Star Trek name in living memory.Jeannette Catsoulis, TheNew York Times:A dogs dinner of head-snapping reversals and explanatory dialogue a movie with little on its mind but mayhem.Jordan Hoffman, IGN:My reaction is simple: This isnt Star Trek.Alex Perry, TrekCore.com:Star Trek: Section 31is the Kurtzman-eras most spectacular miss ...On nearly every level,Section 31is a failure.James Whitbrook, io9:A mediocre action movie, and an even worse Star Trek one.ParamountParamountloading...Frank Scheck, The Hollywood Reporter:Not even Michelle Yeoh can save Paramount+s subpar spinoff movie.James Dyer, Empire:Re-tooled as a movie from episode scripts, it ends up feeling neither one nor the other: a bland comedy spacecapade stuck between two (strange new) worlds.Clint Worthington, RogerEbert.com:At best, its an olive branch to its contractually obligated megastar; at worst, its a Rebel Moon-level fiasco that doesnt get why people watch Trek in the first place.Samantha Coley, Collider:A mediocre episodes of a television show that doesnt exist.David Opie, Total Film:Is Section 31 deliberately camp in a knowing sense or is that an unintentional by-product of how some of the more serious moments fall flat? That's not entirely clear.It is not as if the people in charge ofStar Trek have no idea what theyre doing.I havent kept up with all of the recentStar Trek shows, but I really likeStrange New Worldsa lot. Thats as good aStar Trekshow as there has been in decades.And Michelle Yeoh in her ownStar Trekmovie sounds pretty great. The film described in the reviews above ... not so much.If you want to see it and decide for yourself,Star Trek: Section 31 isset to debut on Paramount+ on January 24.Get our free mobile appEvery Star Trek Movie Ranked From Worst to BestEvery Star Trek movie, from The Motion Picture to Beyond, ranked. Did we get them right?

What are the particular qualities that make a bad movie so bad that people actually enjoy watching it? (And by people, I mean me.)Its aninteresting question to consider. Hollywood releases dozens of bad movies every single year. Most wind up totally forgotten in a matter of months, if not weeks.But some bad moviesdefythose odds and become beloved. People treasure them for their flaws. They celebrate them for their failures.The 25 films listed below are those sorts of movies. These are not just bad films. Theyre not evenfilms that are so bad they become good. These arefilms so bad they becameiconic forever remembered, viewed, and celebrated for their peculiarities and quirks.You may be surprised by some of the omissions on this list. There are a few possible reasons for that. Keep in mind, first of all, that not all midnight movies or cult films are watched at midnight or considered cult objects because theyre bad. People love togo to late-night screenings ofThe Rocky Horror Picture Show where theydress up and recite the lines and dance. Does that make it a bad movie?No. That makes it a fun, participatory experience.Likewise, there are some movies so bad theyre not good at all; theyre borderline unwatchable. These are theMarmadukes of the world, theDisaster Movies of the world; filmsso all-consuming in their stinkitude that there is no fun to be had in watching them or talking about them.As a result, they never quite reach the lofty heights of the famously bad movies listed below.25 Terrible Movies So Bad They Became IconicThese movies arent just so bad theyre good theyre so bad theyve become classics.READ MORE: The Best Movies of 2024Get our free mobile appThe Worst Movies of 2024ScreenCrushs editor and critic picks the 12 worst films he saw in 2024.

Twin towers scheme inspired by citys historic architectureThe scheme's two main towers rise to 40 and 46 storeys1/18show captionKPF has completed a twin-tower bank headquarters scheme in Istanbul for Turkish state-owned bank Ziraat.The 450,000sq m development is one of the most high profile recent commercial schemes in the city and the centrepiece of the Istanbul International Finance Center project.The complex has been designed to incorporate both contemporary styles and influences from Istanbuls long history, including the use of wood, stone and ornate screens referencing traditional Islamic architecture.At its centre is an eight-storey atrium, crossed with bridges at multiple levels, with two towers above rising to 40 and 46 storeys.A podium connecting the towers includes an auditorium clad in curving panels of local limestone on the exterior and lined internally with undulating timber roof panels modelled to improve acoustics.KPF design principal Mustafa Chehabeddine described the scheme as a modern building with deep roots in the citys physical and cultural context.He said: Our concept was for the podium to incorporate interpretive refences to the intricate style of the regions rich historic architecture, with a layered, screen-like approach to shading, while the towers display a horizontal banding.The building geometry gently and gradually expands toward the top, resulting in a sculptural form that celebrates the growth and development of Ziraat Bank.Ziraat general manager Peyami mer said the towers reflect the banks 161-year history while representing a critical step in carrying our Bank into the future, aligning with our vision to be the sectors leader in every aspect.The project team also included structural engineer Arup, construction manager Turner International and WSP on acoustics.

The London and Birmingham-based practices scheme for a 0.16ha site on Lever Street was given consent yesterday (23 January) by Manchester City Councils planning committee.Councillors voted unanimously in favour of the plans following a site visit last month to the eye-catching, overhanging 17,000m office-led development for the Soller Group.Manchesters planning officers had previously backed the Howells scheme with a recommendation to approve the redevelopment of a row of 18th and 19th century warehouses buildings with an 18-storey tower leaning out above them.AdvertisementCouncillors deferred the scheme on 19 December over heritage concerns for the loss of historic assets, with groups such as The Victorian Society opposing the application.However, speaking at committee, councillors said they accepted the developments retention of heritage faades on Lever Street in return for redevelopment of the site. Howells said the scheme would retain approximately 40 per cent of the original 19th-century warehouse faades.The consented scheme is wider and three storeys taller than a version put out to consultation in late 2022, which did not included an overhang. The latest design includes ground-floor ancillary uses, such as technology and creative hubs at street level in addition to an intimate, publicly accessible courtyard.The proposal sits opposite the Grade II-listed Daily Express Building, designed by Owen Williams. Historic England did not object to the Howells scheme in relation to its interest in the listed asset.Soller Group has said the scheme would deliver much-needed Grade A office space for Manchesters Northern Quarter.AdvertisementHowells director Adam Desborough previously previously told the AJ: These proposals will transform this prominent yet largely neglected site into a characterful, healthy employment hub for the thriving Northern Quarter SME community.By repurposing the historic buildings along Lever Street and providing a new building as a contemporary backdrop, the scheme represents truly sustainable design where heritage meets the modern workplace.The governments heritage watchdog said the plans would result in a small degree of harm' to the Express building and surrounding heritage assets, with the eye-catching design of the tower being not overly visually distracting, in its view.Historic England added: The materials reflect the bold architectural style of the Express Building and it is positive to see that design elements such as curved corners and horizonal elements have been incorporated.Howells was appointed to the Lever Street scheme in November 2021 following Soller Groups purchase of the site in 2020.Construction is due to start by 2028.Consultation scheme, right; submitted scheme, left

Last year, the projects then-backer, developer Weston Homes, pulled the plug on the 1,100-home development on the site of an ageing shopping centre, pointing the finger at the previous Conservative government for its demise.Despite winning approval in 2023 for revised proposals the scheme was a redesign of rejected plans featuring a controversial 20-storey tower the developer said it had been forced to scrap the development early last year. Weston Homes said a multitude of issues had affected the schemes viability (see below) and had made funding extremely difficult, adding that it had wasted eight years and 7.5 million on the project.Now Norwich City Council, which bought Anglia Square last month, is set to press ahead at pace with the existing Broadway Malyan consent, thanks to substantial financial support from Homes England.AdvertisementEarlier this month the local authority was given further funds from Homes England worth 19 million, bringing the total received from the government to 34 million. The monies cover the councils costs for acquisition, demolition, remediation [and] bringing forward the development of Anglia Square.But, given that the project is now publicly backed, it seems likely any future design roles will have to be retendered. The number of affordable homes within the scheme could also change.A council spokesperson said: The council is working through a delivery strategy for Anglia Square and intends to work with the existing approved planning permission at pace which would involve appointing architects in due course.The approved scheme, drawn up for developer Weston Homes and site owner Columbia Threadneedle, will flatten a 1960s shopping centre to make way for 14 buildings ranging from three to eight storeys tall.Although lower and with a 35 per cent smaller reduction in the developments overall floorspace compared with the rejected 2020 scheme, the contentious hybrid application had still come in for criticism from heritage campaigners and even prompted a rival proposal by SAVE Britains Heritage and architect Ash Sakula.Speaking about the latest injection of Homes England money, councillor Mike Stonard, leader of Norwich City Council, said: This is a fantastic start to the New Year. It means, thanks to the government, we have the funding to crack on and start building the new Anglia Square with hundreds of affordable homes for local people.Norwich has always been innovative, progressive and has been at the vanguard of change over the years and now we are leading the way in building hundreds of new homes.Visualisation of Broadway Malyans approved 2023 plans for 1,100 homes at Anglia SquareThe seven reasons Weston Homes walked away from Anglia SquarePlanning delays and related costs due to national government intervention in the proposed scheme, including Robert Jenrick's decision to call in and overturn the local planning consent followed by a further 12 months of local community and key stakeholder consultation on the reworked designsThe economic fallout from the Covid-19 pandemic, which had a major impact on the viability of the proposed office and retail space within the scheme, with the rise in homeworking and digital retailing reducing market demand for commercial space and retail unitsFurther delays caused by the Nutrient Neutrality directive from Natural England, which blocked the building of new homes across NorfolkA potential reduction in the 15 million of Marginal Viability Funding promised from Homes Englands Housing Infrastructure Fund. Due to the planning delays, the funding rules meant only 7 million could be released.Huge build cost inflation of more than 30 per cent, which increased the calculated construction costs of the site and has made the schemes viability even more marginal over the last 18 monthsThe 5.4 million Community Infrastructure Levy tax billDesign guidelines in the governments Building Safety Act (2022) resulting in the loss of another 100 homes within the proposed scheme, due to the required redesign of the various buildings.

After years of fan outcry, the beloved Assassin's Creed series will finally have an entry set in feudal Japan with this year's installment, Assassin's Creed: Shadows. I saw a hands-off preview last fall at Germany's Gamescom, but then the game was delayed from its original November release date to Feb. 14 (and thendelayed again to March 20) of this year. I got my first hands-on time with the game alongside other journalists, marking a big moment for a game with a lot of expectation and hype.My hands-on preview was split into two parts: an hour-long session exploring the game's prologue with around another three hours in the later game. While I'm unsure how deep into the game I was, my characters were both now level 25 with some legendary armor, and a lot more abilities unlocked.Set in 1579, the game takes a dual-protagonist approach, which is new to the series. Unlike in 2018's Assassin's Creed: Odyssey and 2020's Valhalla, games where you choose a main character from one of two character options, Shadows has you play as a team of characters throughout the game. Ubisoft refers to this dynamic as a "stealth and fight" approach to the game wherein characters' different abilities define how you'll progress through areas.Each character plays differently but can be used for any missions, and swapped between at many points. The first character is Yasuke, a powerful Black samurai brought to Japan as a Portuguese slave. His large build and heavy armor makes him a great choice for any missions where you plan to charge straight through the front door and fight your way to the end. If you prefer killing silently from rooftops and shadows, Naoe is your protagonist of choice: a Japanese ninja who prioritizes stealth and maneuverability.Many missions will give you the option of who to begin as and, except for a few instances, you'll have to stick to that choice until completion. This means you won't be able to start a quest playing as Naoe, sneaking around and trying to assassinate enemies, but then switch immediately to Yasuke when you become spotted and are surrounded by foes. (When you're free-roaming areas outside of missions, you can swap by simply pausing the game and holding X.) UbisoftWith that said, both characters can hold their own in the opposite play style, it'll just be much harder. Typically, Assassin's Creed characters of the past would be able to do both play styles just fine, so it's an interesting choice to split playstyle strengths between two protagonists and force the player to weigh their odds compared to the playstyle they prefer.This contrast came into play heavily in the final mission we played where our heroes had to storm a castle and fight a corrupt lord within. I initially started this mission as Yasuke but found that fighting through the front gate was just too challenging. After a failed attempt, I switched to Naoe and quickly scaled a wall (something Yasuke cannot do) and avoided fighting all together. What would have taken me probably 20 minutes of brawler fighting and used up all my health regen items was now bypassed stealthily in two minutes without any hassle. UbisoftHowever, as the mission proceeded, I now had to fight my way through the halls inside to the boss up top. Instead of trying to sneak my way down these narrow corridors full of enemies, I switched to Yasuke and fought them head on. It was a fun change of pace.At this point in the game I had two of Yasuke's abilities unlocked for me, which are used by holding down RT and pressing one of the controller's face buttons (similar to previous character action games, such as Spider-Man). The first ability was a very cool, lightning-fast dashing slash that caused the screen to go black and white for a second while I made contact with the enemy, while the second was a massive, powerful kick that would send my opponent comically far through the air. I loved using both and used them often to carve through groups of enemies.Both characters can also call in support Allies to help during missions, which act like fighting game assists to help in tough situations. These Allies can be managed, equipped and upgraded back at your base, and are used as distractions while trying to sneak around or even help when you're up against several enemies at once. There were two I had available to use: a powerful woman who specialized in pushing and knocking back her opponents as well as a stealthier guy who would try to one-shot the target and then use a smoke bomb to retreat. Yasuke's Charging Dash attack. UbisoftAnother form of support is Scouts, which come into play when you're trying to locate more information about your mission. Ubisoft says they've taken a "guide, don't tell" approach to the quests in Shadows; subsequently, several of my missions didn't come with a marker on my map to head toward. Instead, it would give me hints of the area or building I should explore to learn more. During my preview I had access to five Scouts (and it was unclear how I might get more) that I could set down anywhere on the map, and they would reveal points of interest. Pairing the hints and the Scouts together should reveal the waypoint for me to move toward to proceed with my quest.From there you can head to your objective or press left on the D-pad to turn on the pathfinder, a translucent line that will direct you like a GPS. However, the game will not hold your hand for every objective. There is a major emphasis on Observing: Holding the left trigger will cause your character to focus and the camera will zoom in slightly. This will allow you to highlight enemies (which reveals their health and makes them visible through walls), and it also points out loot to collect or objectives you're searching for. It's evident early on that rushing in blind to these missions will make things much harder than if you find a vantage point and survey the area first (another reason why I often preferred starting a mission with Naoe). Spend some time making a fancy little hideout fo your samurais and ninjas. UbisoftDuring my preview, I didn't get a good sense of the overarching story these characters are working their way through. The prologue suggested some motivation for their team-up, but the big mystery box was left concealed. However, longtime Assassin's Creed fans will be wondering if the Animus, a narrative device that allows modern day humans to revisit and play as their heroic ancestors of the past in these whimsical eras, is returning. In short, yes it does -- in something called Animus Ego. Unfortunately, we got very little time with this meta-story component, but I can tell you that, once again, there's hackers and glitches and something sinister going on behind the scenes of the seemingly picturesque Animus project.I'm extremely excited to play more of Assassin's Creed Shadows. As someone who loves Ghost of Tsushima, the feudal Japan setting easily excites me. The wait isn't that long either as the game comes out for PlayStation, Xbox, and PC on March 30. Watch this: Everything We Expect in Gaming in 2025 05:01

OpinionJanuary 23, 20255 min readMy Climate Protest Arrest Shows the Problem with Social Tipping Point TheoryPeople hoping that progress on climate action will accelerate like sudden changes in our physical world must prepare for a long, hard struggleBy Andy Extance Supporters outside Southwark Crown Court, London, United Kingdom, where five Just Stop Oil activists were sentenced to 5 and 4 years in prison for conspiracy to causepublic nuisance on the 18th of July 2024. Kristian Buus/In Pictures via Getty ImagesEyeing the bruises on the knuckles of the police officer arresting me, I took a deep breath and explained why we need to act faster to avoid climate catastrophe. Standing on a traffic island in London, I looked straight into his body-worn video camera, and hoped the speech would make it to the courtroom.On a cold November afternoon in 2023, I was protesting with the nonviolent civil resistance group, Just Stop Oil (JSO), to call for action to prevent what U.N. secretary-general Antnio Gutierres has called global boiling. One reason was a study from British Antarctic Survey researchers that had just been published. It found that weve lost control of melting of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet, which contains enough ice to raise sea levels by five meters. At least one glacier there has passed a tipping point, scientists have found, where its melting is rapid and irreversible.Tipping points in our physical world werent my only motivation. By risking arrest as a law-abiding science journalist, I hoped to push society past a social tipping point to speed up climate action. In doing so I am a living experiment, because researchers are unsure what it takes to cause social changes to also become rapid and irreversible.On supporting science journalismIf you're enjoying this article, consider supporting our award-winning journalism by subscribing. By purchasing a subscription you are helping to ensure the future of impactful stories about the discoveries and ideas shaping our world today.In July, the left-wing Labour Party won the U.K. government and committed to not granting new fossil fuel exploration licences, as we had called for in our protests. Yet my experiencesand journalismmake me less confident that weve reached a social tipping point on climate action. Rather than give up in despair, however, I believe this means we must be more resolute. The only way to reduce the severity of the climate catastrophe we face is to keep pushing, even if we never reach a tipping point.Social tipping points are embedded in the key principles of Just Stop Oils fellow activist group Extinction Rebellion (XR), with whom I also protest. The group hopes to mobilise 3.5 percent of the population, meaning over two million people in the U.K., a figure originating from political scientists Erica Chenoweth and Maria Stephan. Comparing 323 campaigns conducted from 1900 to 2006, they found nonviolent protests like JSO and XRs were more than twice as effective as violent ones. When Chenoweth later analysed that data for a 2013 TedX talk, she found that nonviolent campaigns that involved more than 3.5 percent of the population led to long-lasting political change.Such social tipping point theories featured in one of four sections in the Global Tipping Points Report 2023 report produced by 200 climate researchers from 25 institutions worldwide. One sections author, Viktoria Spaiser, from the University of Leeds, says that, in fact, theres no magic number that will definitely flip a social tipping point. Each society will differ, Spaiser told me, according to the forces reinforcing or opposing changes.The day of my protest illustrated opposing forces in play in the U.K. It was November 11, Veterans Day, known as Remembrance Day in my country. The police officer arresting me said he had come from fighting right-wing English Defence League thugs near the Cenotaph, Londons main war memorial. He was unimpressed by my speech. As I waited, handcuffed, to be thrown into a police cell, he told me that he just wanted to go home. The right-wing protests and the lack of governance shown by the exhaustion and underresourcing of the police felt typical of a world where climate action is lacking.Manjana Milkoreit from the University of Oslo led the Global Tipping Points Reports section on governing physical tipping points in global climate change. Though shes a political scientist, she focuses on responses to physical tipping points, because shes uncertain that social ones even exist.Milkoreit cautions against overreliance on social tipping points to drive change. The looming catastrophe of physical tipping points led us to invent social ones out of a psychological need for speed in our solutions, she says. They also give politicians and other decision-makers a cop out, she worries. They say Oh, yes, I know, we have no more time, but we'll get there with a social tipping point. It's another excuse to not do the hard work of decarbonizing now.Following my arrest, I represented myself at trial in June 2024, just a month before the new U.K. government delivered the halt to fossil fuel licensing we had sought. The judge found me not guilty of willful obstruction of the highway. Despite my good fortune, many other JSO protestors have been imprisoned, reducing our capacity for further protest. This again shows the opposing forces in play, and my fellow protestors words suggest were far from tipping society into adequate climate action: recently JSOs Roger Hallam and Daniel Shaw, wrote from their cells to encourage others to carry on regardless even as people seem more willing than ever to stick their heads in the sand.At a broader political level, the Global Tipping Points Report describes five potential negative social tipping processes. These include the breakdown of social norms and ties, radicalization and polarization, conflict, financial destabilization and displacement of people. Spaiser says that if policies trying to trigger social tipping points, like subsidies and incentives for solar power generation have arguably achieved, are unsuccessful, then countries shouldnt withdraw them. That may only trigger the negative tipping processes. Instead, they should keep driving slow change. We're at such a critical state that if we dont do anything, the system will just slide into negative social tipping points, Spaiser says.Protestors likewise need to continue even if they dont trigger positive tipping points. I recognize now that I wanted to test the social tipping point theory to appease my own psychological need for speed, as Milkoreit calls it. Today my need for speed is being frustrated. Clear forces oppose necessary changes, particularly record profits for oil companies that have led them to renege on plans to transition to clean energy.As such, I agree with Hallam and Shaws assessment of the difficult place climate action is in. Facing such a reality, it might be tempting just to give up in the face of opposing forces, but we must not. We are currently on track for 2.7 degrees Celsius of warming beyond what global temperatures were before the industrial revolution. At the 1.5 degrees C threshold were currently at, across the world, droughts will last two months on average. At 2 degrees C, they will last four months. At 3 degrees C, they will last 10 months. When it comes to climate action, its not as simple as winning or losing. As many of us as possible must push against the opposition, as any fraction of a degree that we reduce future temperatures by, matters to humanity.This is an opinion and analysis article, and the views expressed by the author or authors are not necessarily those of Scientific American.