January 29, 20255 min readTrump Funding Freeze Could Set Disaster Recovery Back for YearsPresident Donald Trumps sudden move to freeze federal grants is hitting states where people are struggling to recover from wildfires and hurricanesA person assesses damages of his house after Hurricane Helene made landfall in Horseshoe Beach, Florida, on September 28, 2024. Chandan Khanna/AFP via Getty ImagesCLIMATEWIRE | The federal government Tuesday shut down the online system it uses to distribute billions in disaster aid after President Donald Trump ordered agencies to freeze the flow of public money, alarming officials who are struggling to respond to catastrophes.The Federal Emergency Management Agency cut off access to the online portal, which funnels roughly $30 billion a year to states for disaster expenses ranging from debris cleanup to infrastructure repairs, following Trump's expansive order to halt federal funding as the White House scrutinizes spending programs, Todd DeVoe, emergency coordinator for Inglewood, California, told POLITICOs E&E News.We may see recovery delayed for years, said DeVoe, who is second vice president of the International Association of Emergency Managers in the United States. The grant portal where we do all grant work is inaccessible.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.FEMA did not respond to requests for comment. The spending pause outlined by a memo released late Monday by the Office of Management and Budget was causing confusion within the disaster agency, according to people within FEMA who were not authorized to speak to the press. A federal judge blocked Trump's spending freeze on Tuesday evening, minutes before it was scheduled to take effect, until Feb. 3.Its going to slow things down when theres already frustration with how long it takes for communities to recover, former FEMA chief of staff Michael Coen told E&E News, referring to the funding disruption. Its just one more thing they now have to deal with.The spending pause was scheduled to take effect at 5 p.m. Tuesday, four days after Trump assailed FEMA and the Biden administration for the response to Hurricane Helene in North Carolina in late September. The freeze affected programs across the government as the administration undertook a sprawling review to ensure they comply with Trump's executive orders, including cutting off funds for diversity, equity and inclusion.A halt to FEMA spending could affect every state that has been hit by a major storm, wildfire or other disaster in the past decade or more as they wait for the federal government to reimburse them for recovery projects. FEMA pays 75-100 percent of rebuilding costs and is still reimbursing states for disasters that occurred two decades ago.Theyre kind of in limbo right now, trying to figure out if theyre going to be funded or not, DeVoe said. The pause could really impact low-income states and communities.A lot depends on how long FEMA withholds funding. If this is just a short pause, DeVoe said, there may be no harm, no foul.It's unclear how a halt will affect recovery efforts related to the wildfires in Southern California or from Hurricanes Helene and Milton, which battered Florida, Georgia and South Carolina in addition to North Carolina.Southeastern states are still cleaning up debris left by the hurricanes, but they have not yet sought reconstruction aid from FEMA. The California wildfires are still active. FEMA has agreed to pay a large share of cleanup costs for the hurricanes and fires and for emergency housing.Category B is paying for a lot of people in North Carolina to be in hotel rooms, Coen said, referring to FEMA disaster aid for emergency protection. Thats also paying for funding in California for the immediate response to the wildfires.Rep. Brad Sherman (D-Calif.), who represents the heavily damaged Pacific Palisades area of Los Angeles, accused Trump of inappropriately halting funds that had been approved by Congress.They dont know whether theyve got a place to sleep, Sherman said of the thousands of fire victims staying in hotels and counting on FEMA to pay the bill.I know that Americans are frustrated with government, Sherman said. But throwing a monkey wrench in it is bad and hitting fire victims with the monkey wrench over the head is worse.Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) said, I just can't imagine they're going to tap the brakes on immediate disaster aid. If you're talking about subsequent resiliency funding, those sorts of things, I could see where the delay may make sense to figure out how to spend it.Households likely not affectedAlthough FEMA reimbursement to states appears to be on hold, the agency is likely to continue to give households affected by disasters small amounts of aid for emergency expenses.Assistance that is going directly to individuals will not be impacted by this pause, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters Tuesday. As examples, Leavitt pointed to payments through Social Security, Medicare and welfare programs.FEMA has given nearly 24,000 households in Southern California an average of $2,150 in aid and has been approving thousands of applications every day since Trump took office, FEMA records show.Many Los Angeles fire survivors are housekeepers, landscapers and nannies who lost their jobs and homes because of the blazes, said Joseph Toms McKellar, executive director at PICO California, a faith-based community organizing network.These are the kind of desperate, sort of immediate needs that people have for just direct cash aid, McKellar said. What we need right now is not more chaos but compassion.The broader White House review of federal grant programs could permanently affect FEMA disaster aid to states and individuals. Both have been modified over the years to comply with executive orders concerning equity and environmental justice that Trump revoked last week.The Biden administration revised FEMAs individual assistance program to help minority households qualify. FEMA expanded the list of documents that can be used to prove residency, largely to help Black people in the South who did not have deeds to inherited property because their ancestors had been excluded from the legal system.FEMA also gives extra scrutiny to rebuilding projects that may result in disproportionately high and adverse effects to low income and minority populations. The scrutiny aims to comply with a landmark executive order by President Bill Clinton in 1994 to protect disadvantaged communities. Trump revoked the Clinton order last week.In addition, annual grants that FEMA awards through national competitions could face revision following the White House review. FEMAs largest grant program Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities plans to distribute $750 million this year for state and local projects that offer protection against natural disasters.FEMAs scoring system, developed under President Joe Biden, prioritizes projects that help disadvantaged communities based on demographics and environmental and health conditions.Reprinted from E&E News with permission from POLITICO, LLC. Copyright 2025. E&E News provides essential news for energy and environment professionals.

January 28, 20256 min readAsteroid Bennu Is Packed with Lifes Building Blocks, New Studies ConfirmMaterial retrieved from the asteroid Bennu by NASAs OSIRIS-REx spacecraft shows that all the basic building blocks of life were astonishingly widespread in the early solar systemBy Mike Zeitz edited by Lee BillingsA view of the OSIRIS-REx sample canister, containing material from asteroid Bennu, at NASAs Johnson Space Center. NASA/Alamy Live News via DigitaleyeThe deserts of Utah are notorious for supposed alien visitations, but a real extraterrestrial emissary that parachuted to a soft landing there in September 2023 is proving more impactful. Onboard the truck-tire-size capsule from space was invaluable cargo: more than 120 grams of pristine material from the solar systems early history. Three years earlier NASAs OSIRIS-REx spacecraft had grabbed these samples from the surface of the asteroid Bennu for their fateful delivery to Earth. The hope was that the coal-black material would help reveal how the solar systemand with it, Earth and our planets lifeformed. Soon after the Bennu samples recovery, teams of scientists began to eagerly analyze them in highly specialized laboratories.The breathtaking preliminary results from that work, teased early last year, have now become more detailed and definitive, confirming the enormous scientific value of the samples. Two studies published on January 29, 2025, show that even in dark, cold regions of the early solar system, astonishingly diverse chemical processes gave rise to numerous building blocks of life.At that time, more than 4.5 billion years ago, countless celestial bodies orbiting the newborn sun repeatedly collided in a chaotic game of primordial billiards, at turns smashing on another to smithereens or clumping together into larger objects. Bennu was somewhere in the mixa rubble pile ejected from a larger celestial body that at some point fell victim to a massive impact. But signs of this nameless progenitor survived on Bennuraw material from the solar systems youth, preserved in the cold of space.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.Bennus parent body apparently contained plenty of water, as described in a paper appearing in the journal Nature. Some of the water evaporated and left behind a salty brine. According to an accompanying paper published in Nature Astronomy, this brine contained thousands of organic compounds, including 14 of the 20 amino acids found in terrestrial organisms, as well as all the nucleotide bases that make up our DNA and RNA. This means that the basic molecules of life existed in our solar system practically from the start.Tim McCoy, co-lead author of the Nature study and a meteorite expert at the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History, was already involved in the initial analyses of the Bennu samples that began shortly after their arrival on Earth. Numerous minerals revealed in those first looks are now no longer so mysterious; they were clearly found to be residues of evaporated water deposits.The original celestial body from which Bennu came was probably not covered by oceans like Earth is, however. It was certainly a wet world, McCoy says, but it was probably more likely a ... muddy world than one that had oceans on or below its surface. According to McCoy, the water deposits were probably short-lived and only a few meters thick. That is not to say that this reduces their epochal implications: The discovery of clays, phosphates, salts and evidence for an ancient, sodium-rich brine show not only that the ingredients for the first steps toward life were present but also that a promising environment was there for such steps, McCoy says.How closely did the salty brine on Bennus parent body resemble the primordial soup that simmered on the young, watery Earth and perhaps cooked up the first terrestrial life? This was the question addressed by the Nature Astronomy study, co-led by Daniel Glavin, a NASA scientist and lead of OSIRIS-RExs organics analysis team, which includes some members from around the world. Searching for organic compounds in the sample material from Bennu, he and his colleagues found the majority of the amino acids and all the nucleotide bases necessary for life on Earth. Such compounds have been identified in meteorites that fell to our planet before, Glavin explains, but unlike those cases, the samples from Bennu were protected from terrestrial contamination and the infernal heat of a high-speed plunge through Earths atmosphere.According to some theories, the chemical precursors of early life on Earth were imported via asteroids rather than being home-brewed. Glavin sees the discovery of the organic molecules as strengthening these ideas. Indeed, he says, this conclusive proof that so many of lifes molecular building blocks were so widespread in the early solar system has increased the chances that life could have started elsewhere beyond Earth.Analyses of the precious OSIRIS-REx samples from Bennu are ongoing and use a wide variety of modern methods in laboratories around the world. One of these is the Schwiete Cosmochemistry Laboratory at Goethe University Frankfurt in Germany, which boasts a powerful transmission electron microscope (TEM) that can be used to examine the finest structures with great precision. It is the only TEM laboratory outside the U.S. to have received a small amount of the Bennu sample for this purpose. TEM is especially useful for studies involving water-rock interaction, as much of that information is recorded on the nanoscale, says Sheri Singerling, a researcher at Goethe University Frankfurt and a co-author of the Nature study. Even so, she emphasizes that her work only provides one piece of the puzzle: The more eyes we can have on these samples from researchers with different expertise, the better, Singerling says.Altogether, studies of the samples are sketching out a curious, still incomplete picture of Bennus mysterious parent body. Compared with the asteroid, which formed from many shattered fragments, its parent body was larger and more dense, Singerling concludes. When massive impacts blasted what would become Bennu into space, this parent body would have also lost volatile components such as liquids while presumably excavating some material from its depths. In Bennu, such debris apparently came together. When we look at Bennus surface and near-surface today, we could be looking at materials that formed well within the parent body, Singerling says.Bennu now orbits the sun at a distance close to that of Earths, but the original celestial body must have formed much farther out. But how far? Certain features that are common in meteorites, such as chondrules or calcium and aluminum-rich inclusions, are missing, Singerling explains. Such structures form at high temperatures, especially near the sun. This, as well as the isotopes and organic substances in Bennu, all point toward an outer solar system origin for its parent body, she adds. McCoy also locates Bennus origin in those far-flung frigid hinterlands. It would certainly have had to form where ice was stable, he says, so likely [at] the current position of Jupiter or beyond. The abundant presence of volatile ammonia in the samples is also further evidence of [Bennus origin] in the cold, outer regions of our solar system.Besides being so free of contaminants and so closely associated with a specific known source, the samples from Bennu are unusual in another important way, Singerling explains: We now have the results of two missions to primitive carbon-rich celestial bodies: Hayabusa2 to the asteroid Ryugu and OSIRIS-REx to Bennu, she says. The Japanese probe Hayabusa2 brought nearly 5.5 grams of asteroid material to Earth in 2020. Both of these missions samples are remarkably similar to each other and most closely resemble material found in meteorites called CI chondrites. These are exceedingly rare in meteorite collections on Earth, Singerling says, in part because CI chondrites are so delicate that they typically dont endure the fiery ride through Earths atmosphere. This tells us our collections are biased and that these types of samples are more common in space than what is retrieved on Earth, Singerling concludes. This, she and others say, is another reason why asteroid-sample-return missions are indispensable.And more surprises from OSIRIS-RExs haul may be in store. We are still at the very early stages of the analysis of the Bennu samples, Glavin says. His team is currently examining a much larger sample from the asteroid that weighs around six gramsenough material to discern other, as-yet-unseen organic molecules that may be present in smaller quantities, such as sugars, peptides and perhaps even nucleotides similar to [those in] DNA and RNA. Glavins goal is to get a more precise idea of how the organic molecules formed in Bennus parent body.On the one hand, such studies paint a more detailed picture of how the molecules so crucial for lifes genesis grew in the early solar system. On the other, they show where the right conditions for that growth existed. And it can already be said that such conditions seem to have occurred much more frequently than previously thought far beyond Earth. For McCoy, the biggest open question is therefore how this ancient brine compares with modern brines that exist today on icy bodies of the outer solar system, like Saturns moon Enceladus. In other words, are lifes building blocks still abundant in our planetary neighborhood, and have they sparked lifes second genesis under favorable conditions elsewhere in the solar system? That question wont be answered until we visit these places with instruments that can take samples, McCoy says.Scientists will be studying these small pieces from Bennu for many years to come, undoubtedly gaining further insights into the history of the solar systemand perhaps even of life itself. But it is equally clear that much will only be revealed with new missions to other celestial bodies. Every finding generates more questions, Singerling says. Thats the beauty of science and its never-ending search for answers.This article originally appeared in Spektrum der Wissenschaft and was reproduced with permission.

PlayStation Plus shifting focus to PS5 games next year, will only "occasionally" include PS4 titlesAs "many" players now on PS5.Image credit: Sony News by Matt Wales News Reporter Published on Jan. 29, 2025 Sony has announced it's shifting the focus of its PlayStation Plus monthly games and Game Catalog updates toward PlayStation 5 titles starting early next year, and that PlayStation 4 games will only "occasionally" feature thereafter.Announcing the news alongside its refreshed monthly games line-up for February 2025, Sony said it was "evolving" the PlayStation Plus service to reflect the fact "many of our players are currently playing on PS5 and have shifted toward redeeming and accessing PS5 titles from the Monthly Games and Game Catalog benefit".As such, PlayStation Plus Monthly Games and Game Catalog will switch their focus to offering PlayStation 5 titles starting in January 2026. "PS4 games will no longer be a key benefit," Sony elaborated, "and will only be occasionally offered." The company did, however, confirm it "may still" provide titles playable on both PS4 and PS5 after the changeover.To see this content please enable targeting cookies. Xbox Developer Direct - four promising games also coming to PlayStation.Watch on YouTubeSony also stressed the switch won't impact monthly PS4 games already claimed via PlayStation Plus. "You'll continue to have access to games you've already redeemed as long as you remain a member," it wrote. "For Game Catalog, PS4 games will still be available to play until it leaves the catalog as part of our monthly refresh.""We'll continue to evolve the experience of PlayStation Plus and optimise the benefits you receive," the company concluded in its announcement, "including exclusive discounts, online multiplayer access, online game save storage and more. As we shift our focus to PS5, we look forward to adding new PS5 titles monthly for you to enjoy."

PlayStation Plus February games revealedPayday 3! High on Life! More!Image credit: Starbreeze Studios News by Matt Wales News Reporter Published on Jan. 29, 2025 With February fast approaching, Sony has announced the next batch of monthly titles coming to its PlayStation Plus subscription service - this time featuring heists, at least one high, and a whole lot of gobble-adjacent platforming.Starting next Tuesday, 4th February, PlayStation Plus members across all subscription tiers - that is Essential, Extra, and Premium - gain access to the following three titles:Payday 3 (PS5)High on Life (PS4, PS5)Pac-Man World Re-Pac (PS4, PS5)Starting with Payday 3, it's the latest entry in Starbreeze Studios' co-operative heist series, which released in 2023 - and while it's struggled to usurp its predecessor in terms of popularity, it's still a decently good time. Vikki Blake called it a "furiously good fun, if criminally unadventurous" follow-up in her three star review, noting it unfortunately fell short of Payday 2 in "almost every aspect". Still, its arrival on PlayStation Plus might just help give it a boost.As for High on Life, Eurogamer contributor Edwin Evans-Thirlwell really wasn't a fan when this comedic shooter from Squanch Games - the studio founded by Rick and Morty co-creator Justin Roiland - launched back in 2022. Edwin proclaimed it a "mediocre shooter with an unfunny attitude problem", slapping it with the dreaded (and now rather antiquated) Eurogamer Avoid.Finally, there's Pac-Man World Re-Pac - a bouncy remake of Namco's 1999 3D platformer Pac-Man World. We didn't review this one when it arrived in 2022, but it currently has a Very Positive rating over on Steam, which is a promising sign.All the above will be available to PlayStation Plus members from 4th February to 3rd March, leaving less than a week to claim January's monthly games - Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League, The Stanley Parable Ultra Deluxe, and Need for Speed Hot Pursuit: Remastered.Sony also notes PlayStation Plus' Monthly Games and Game Catalog will shift their focus toward PS5 games starting in January 2026. PS4 titles will only "occasionally" feature from early next year, it explains, "as many of our players are currently playing on PS5". It does, however, add, "We may still provide titles that can be playable on both PS4 and PS5 consoles after this date".

You can trust VideoGamer. Our team of gaming experts spend hours testing and reviewing the latest games, to ensure you're reading the most comprehensive guide possible. Rest assured, all imagery and advice is unique and original. Check out how we test and review games hereCOVID affected all of us differently, but mod developer InspectorXyto has turned the years-long pain of the global pandemic into a new slice of virtual art. Created for Valves VR spin-off Half-Life: Alyx, the new Half-Life: Austria mod transports players into a virtual recreation of the country for fans to escape into.Half-Life: Austria releasedReleased in pre-super-early-alpha on Steam Workshop, this new mod aims to enhance the campaign of Half-Life: Alyx with a dose of Austrian humor and countless Easter Eggs. While simple, at least for now, players are encouraged to experience a little bit of culture as they replay Alyx.For example, many signs, posters and magazines in the game has been translated into the Viennese language. Additionally, players will be able to discover a host of Austrian groceries and food items inspired by shopping during the first lockdown.I could decimate that sandwich.Pandemic-era memes and other goodies have also been introduced including the infamous Ibiza video or Kickis notorious corona worm treatment. Finally, the games Combine enemies have also taken a crash course in Viennese dialect to offer a new experience. Whether that improves their efficiency is up for debate, the modder explained.So far, the community has taken well to the Half-Life: Austria mod with many calling it a good laugh. While its currently in very early stages, its a fun new culture to explore for those who want it. After all, what else is there to do while we wait endlessly for Half-Life 3 to release.Of course, theres also a host of other mods that have been created for Valves brilliant VR game. The Gunman Contracts series of mods essentially bring an entirely new game to players and some talented modders have even recreated BioShock within the VR title. Of course, theres also a swathe of Halo mods bringing classic weapons and armour to the game.For more content on VideoGamer, check out our interview with Elder Scrolls creator Ted Peterson or read about the future of Baldurs Gate 3 modding.Half-Life: AlyxPlatform(s):PCGenre(s):Action, Adventure, ShooterSubscribe to our newsletters!By subscribing, you agree to our Privacy Policy and may receive occasional deal communications; you can unsubscribe anytime.Share

You can trust VideoGamer. Our team of gaming experts spend hours testing and reviewing the latest games, to ensure you're reading the most comprehensive guide possible. Rest assured, all imagery and advice is unique and original. Check out how we test and review games hereThe First Descendant is fantastic but not perfect. Nexon has a lot of exciting plans in the pipeline, as evidenced by the February 2025 roadmap and the developers intentions for Season 3 in March. However, while there is a lot of new content in line for TFD, there is a bit of a pickle that needs to be fixed after gameplay proves a shocking conspiracy theory amongst The First Descendant community is actually true.The First Descendant gameplay provides TFD deletes your bulletsAmongst The First Descendant community, there has been a conspiracy theory about FPS in regard to DMG output and bullets registering hits.While complaints can, and have been, simply brushed off as skill issue, git gud, or use a different weapon core, a gameplay demonstration proves that the theory is actually true. This gameplay demonstration comes courtesy of YouTuber, Vash Cowaii, who shows that TFD deletes your bullets.The purpose of the gameplay demonstration is to show that The First Descendants fire rate is modified by your FPS. To prove this, the example used in the gameplay comparison is 30 FPS vs. 140+ FPS.The test undertaken involved the YouTuber shooting at a Colossus in both FPS. This is because the damage received to the boss should be the same across both FPS examples, so long as the Colossus isnt killed, and the same fire rate is used.In order to leave no wiggle room for doubt, the YouTuber conducted the test four different times at 30 and 140+ FPS each, at four different rates while also using the Amplification mod to eliminate crit damage multiplier. They also conducted the test on Moltren Fortress because its easier to avoid hitting weak points unlike with other bosses.At 30 FPS, Vash Cowaii discovered that at 800 and 1,000 fire rate, the results are virtually identical, however, at 1,333 fire rate, we do see a significant damage loss, and at 1,818 fire rate, the difference is equally pronounced.For 140+ FPS, the results are pretty much the exact same with a slight difference at the 1,333 fire rate, which could just be an outlier. Per Vash, this shows there are two problems with The First Descendant.The first problem is that the fire rate does get modified by your frame rate as proven, and the second problem is that the higher your fire rate goes the more dmg you do actually lose. The YouTuber reports that at 140FPS, the difference between 1,333 fire rate and 1,818 fire rate is a 25% damage loss.Lastly, the YouTuber proclaims that while the fire rate FPS issue is annoying, this game is straight up deleting your bullets and thats stupid as s***. You can check out the gameplay demonstration below:Hopefully this is something Nexon can and will fix. Unfortunately, its not listed amongst the plans for the next update set to arrive on February 6th.For more The First Descendant, check out the 2025 roadmapfor more details about what Nexon has planned this year.The First DescendantPlatform(s):PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series S, Xbox Series XGenre(s):Action, Adventure, RPG5VideoGamerSubscribe to our newsletters!By subscribing, you agree to our Privacy Policy and may receive occasional deal communications; you can unsubscribe anytime.Share

When artist Noelia Hobeika and video editor Burke Williams decided to plant roots in Paris ahead of the birth of their first child, the couple, who split their time between Brooklyn and the French capital, discovered a Haussmannian apartment that, while brimming with charm, had remained untouched for decades. What followed was a transformation that married understated elegance with deeply personal touchesall under the thoughtful eye of designer Thomas Fournier.The homeowners in the apartments living room. Noelia Hobeika sits on one of a pair of 1950s Italian armchairs featuring their original velvet, sourced from Pomona, while Burke Williams stands alongside one of Hobeikas works, entitled Hommage. The art infuses the room, outfitted in warm neutrals, with rich color.We really wanted the interiors to stand the test of time and transcend any particular period, style, or trend, Hobeika shares, noting that the couple desired a comfortable, highly livable home. The apartments renovation, which involved reinventing the outdated kitchen and bathrooms, also prioritized functionality. We needed additional storage and a layout that worked for a young family, Hobeika adds.Having first admired Fourniers work in AD France, Hobeika was struck by Fourniers ability to blend French, Italian, and Asian influences with a timeless sensibility. Her Parisian upbringing and Lebanese Argentine heritage helped shape the design direction. His aesthetic felt like a natural extension of my own taste, she notes. Collaborating with him was a delighthis instincts and proposals were spot-on from day one. Williams, who admits he initially took a backseat in design decisions, grew increasingly involved as the project unfolded. Its been a learning experience, he says. And now, I cant imagine a better place to start our family.The entry welcomes guests with a masterful mix of styles and eras. A Chinese Qing Dynasty portrait from the late 19th century, a 1920s Art Deco pendant, and a contemporary bench from Lea Zeroil all set the tone for the eclectic space beyond.

Trillium doesnt have great representation either. You rarely see it used by florists. Amateur gardeners often mistake the plant as dead and done. And it confuses even the best of botanists. In that regard, I see trillium as more of a coconspiratora fellow misfitthan a symbol of pride.Not aiding the flowers reputation, most varieties wreak. Its thought of as a stinky plant, and that disgust is awfully familiar to the repulsion Ive experienced from prejudiced groups within the queer community who see me as tainted or downright gross because of my sexuality.Trillium often appear in large numbers and can create a floral carpet.Photo: Scott Shymko/Getty ImagesBut despite all the shade, trillium still thrives. According to Montague, the plants large bracts are an adaptation to capture the tiniest amounts of light that reach the forest floor.Different species develop their own characteristics in response to the microclimates they inhabit and the animals they interact with, Montague says. Some trillium hold their flowers high (pedicellate), while others hug their flowers on their shoulders (sessile).As a teenager, I came out as bisexual, but I quickly took it back for my own safety. A decade later, as an adult, I came out publicly as pansexual. Now, another decade later, I see my journey like a trillium. It took me a long time to bloom. And when I did, I had to hug my flower on my shoulder so tight. But over time I built a drift of chosen family, married the love of my life, and most days I hold my flowers high.Trillium has this funny habit of appearing in groups of four or four hundred, Montague adds, Sometimes sprouting up at the feet of trees or in sprawling populations filling a moist cove.Im reminded of sitting at a friends kitchen table as a teenager, in awe of how fiercely his mother accepted me and how warm I felt there. Or how I came out to a former bossthe first time ever professionallyand his validation created a cascade of conversations with people in my life. It was a watershed for my confidence in myself, and proof that, like trillium, there is strength in numbers.Bicon landscapingTrillium is not a bouquet flower and Manion strongly cautions against using trillium for floral arrangements, since it takes the plant so long to flower. Montague advises against collecting trillium and other flowering plants from the wild, as their chances of survival after transplant are low. Plus the flower is considered sacred in some Indigenous Native American cultures, and picking it is not recommended.

By Matthew Gault Published January 29, 2025 | Comments (30) | The DeepSeek AI application is seen on a mobile phone in this photo illustration taken in Warsaw, Poland on 27 January, 2025. Photo by Jaap Arriens/NurPhoto via Getty Images OpenAI and Microsoft are big mad that Chinese AI startup DeepSeek has stolen their market share and, possibly, portions of their code. Its a deeply funny claim from the company that made ChatGPT, a program it once admitted couldnt exist without free access to all the copyrighted data in the world. OpenAI told The Financial Times that it had evidence DeepSeek used what it called distillation to build its wildly successful chatbot. Ill let David Sacks, a storied member of the PayPal Mafia and current White House AI and Crypto czar, explain how distillation works. Theres a technique in AI called distillation, Sacks told Fox News on Tuesday. Its when one model learns from another model. What happens is the student model asks the parent model a lot of questions just like a human would learn. But AI can do this asking millions of questions and they can essentially mimic the reasoning process that they learn from the parent model. And they can kind of suck the knowledge out of the parent model. Got it. Distillation is when one AI sucks off another AI. So its a fancy word for copying.OpenAI is alleging that DeepSeek got a bunch of outputs from ChatGPT and used those outputs to train DeepSeek, thereby standing up an LLM at a fraction of the cost of the billions used to train ChatGPT. OpenAI wouldnt give Financial Times any evidence to back up the claim and also said that its impossible for any company to make a direct copy of ChatGPT. Theres substantial evidence that what DeepSeek did here is they distilled the knowledge out of OpenAIs models, Sacks said on Fox News, without providing said evidence. And I dont think OpenAI is very happy about this. I think one of the things youre going to see out of this is our leading AI companies taking steps to prevent distillation.Bloomberg had a few more details. An OpenAI insider told the outlet that Microsoft had noticed weird activity around ChatGPTs API and flagged the company. The API calls may have been linked to DeepSeeks distillation of ChatGPT. If the allegations are true, its possible that DeepSeek made a bunch of calls to ChatGPTs API, generated a bunch of data, and then used that to train its own LLM. They noted this might violate ChatGPTs terms of service. Heaven forfend. DeepSeek dethroning ChatGPT on Apples AppStore coincided with hundreds of billions of dollars in market value around AI companies being wiped out from the stock market earlier this week. NVIDIA, which manufactures the chips used to train the chatbots, lost more than $500 billion.Sacks assured Fox News viewers that America was still number one and that the U.S. just has to keep building the big beautiful datacenters that Trump wants. There are still great advantages to having an enormous number of chips. And this is an area where America could continue to lead, is a build-out of this infrastructure and having the most advanced chips, Sacks said. So I think its a little bit of an overreaction to say that America does not need AI data centers anymore. I think we need to build out these big AI data centers. I think President Trump has expressed support for them and I think we need to make it easier to build those data centers, to get them permitted and licensed, and to get power generated, to get electricity for those data centers. Always on message, Trumps AI czar emphasized that the reason China was catching up was twofold. One was burdensome regulations imposed on AI companies by Biden. The other was that the AI companies had gotten too damn woke.I think that our AI companies got a little distractedI think that maybe they got a little bit complacent. They didnt realize how close these Chinese companies were to them. They wasted a lot of time on things like DEI. You saw there was woke AI, Sacks said. The models were basically producing things like black George Washington. As of this writing, DeepSeek is still number one on the App Store.Daily NewsletterYou May Also Like By Lucas Ropek Published January 28, 2025 By Matthew Gault Published January 28, 2025 By Thomas Maxwell Published January 28, 2025 By Matthew Gault Published January 28, 2025 By Kyle Barr Published January 28, 2025 By Matthew Gault Published January 27, 2025

Jingle LsFortnite hands Call of Duty the L by 10 million hours in the most important battle there is: most playtime racked up by people ignoring their families on Christmas DayHey, it's as good a day to relax and shoot your way through some matches as there is.Image credit: Epic/Activision News by Mark Warren Senior Staff Writer Published on Jan. 29, 2025 We're nearly at the end of January now, so you're likely well back into the flow of things after Christmas, but it's worth taking a brief look back, because we've just gotten the results of a key battle. Which game did people spend more time using to ignore their relatives or help speed up digestion or Christmas Day? It's Fortnite, because of course it is.Research firm Ampere (thanks, Chris Dring over on VGC) has checked under the tree for this data as its dissected how the final month of 2024 played out and you'll also not be surprised to learn that the main competitor to the home of the default dance for this crown was seemingly another massive shooter. Call of Duty. You might have heard of it.To see this content please enable targeting cookies. According to Ampere, on Xmas Day itself alone, Fortnite amassed 30 million hours of playtime. That would mean that the average Fortniter spent something like 2.3 hours on that day trying to get number one victory royales, attending Mariah Carey concerts, and/or the nine million other things you can do in Fortnite at any given time. Meanwhile, Call of Duty games collectively amassed 20 million hours of playtime on Christmas Day, with Black Ops 6 being the one you'd certainly expect to be the main driving force behind that push. It came up short, though, like you desperately trying to trying to organise a last second push into enemy territory in a Nuketown match you're clearly about to lose. It's ok. You'll 360 no-scope 'em next time.Plus, if you're CoD itself, you've got nothing to complain about, with Ampere's data showing Black Ops 6 was "one of the biggest games over the Holiday period", having set itself up nicely for a big December by helping the Call of Duty HQ it's part of attract 38 million monthly users in November '24.It also drove a bumper month for Xbox alongside Indiana Jones and his big round thing, with $465 million being spent on Microsoft games in December. Ampere's data points to that having made the company the worlds biggest publisher across PC, PlayStation, and Xbox platforms for the month. It beat out EA, which, as ever, was chiefly riding the EA Sports FC wave, which was still had strong momentum, even if FC 25 didn't match its predecessor's numbers.Were you chug jugging away in Fortnite while you let your Holiday feast settle a bit before trying to move again? Let us know below!