check and mate Complexity physics finds crucial tipping points in chess games Physicist used interaction graphs to show how pieces attack and defend to analyze 20,000 top matches. Jennifer Ouellette Jan 24, 2025 1:02 pm | 4 A depiction of the chess match between masters Howard Staunton and Pierre Saint-Amant, on 16 December 1843. Credit: Jean-Henri Marlet/Public domain A depiction of the chess match between masters Howard Staunton and Pierre Saint-Amant, on 16 December 1843. Credit: Jean-Henri Marlet/Public domain Story textSizeSmallStandardLargeWidth *StandardWideLinksStandardOrange* Subscribers only Learn moreThe game of chess has long been central to computer science and AI-related research, most notably in IBM's Deep Blue in the 1990s and, more recently, AlphaZero. But the game is about more than algorithms, according to Marc Barthelemy, a physicist at the Paris-Saclay University in France, with layers of depth arising from the psychological complexity conferred by player strategies.Now, Barthelmey has taken things one step further by publishing a new paper in the journal Physical Review E that treats chess as a complex system, producing a handy metric that can help predict the proverbial "tipping points" in chess matches.In his paper, Barthelemy cites Richard Reti, an early 20th-century chess master who gave a series of lectures in the 1920s on developing a scientific understanding of chess. It was an ambitious program involving collecting empirical data, constructing typologies, and devising laws based on those typologies, but Reti's insights fell by the wayside as advances in computer science came to dominate the field. That's understandable. "With its simple rules yet vast strategic depth, chess provides an ideal platform for developing and testing algorithms in AI, machine learning, and decision theory," Barthelemy writes.Barthelemy's own expertise is in the application of statistical physics to complex systems, as well as the emerging science of cities. He realized that the history of the scientific study of chess had overlooked certain key features, most notably how certain moves at key moments can drastically alter the game; the matches effectively undergo a kind of phase transition. The rise of online chess platforms means there are now very large datasets ripe for statistical analysis, and researchers have made use of that, studying power-law distributions, for example, as well as response time distribution in rapid chess and long-range memory effects in game sequences.For his analysis, Barthelemy chose to represent chess as a decision tree in which each "branch" leads to a win, loss, or draw. Players face the challenge of finding the best move amid all this complexity, particularly midgame, in order to steer gameplay into favorable branches. That's where those crucial tipping points come into play. Such positions are inherently unstable, which is why even a small mistake can have a dramatic influence on a match's trajectory.A case of combinatorial complexity Example on a position taken from Mehedlishvili-Van Forrest. Marc Barthelemy, 2025 Example on a position taken from Mehedlishvili-Van Forrest. Marc Barthelemy, 2025 Interaction graph showing white knight as the key piece in the preceding position. Marc Barthelemy, 2025 Interaction graph showing white knight as the key piece in the preceding position. Marc Barthelemy, 2025 Example on a position taken from Mehedlishvili-Van Forrest. Marc Barthelemy, 2025 Interaction graph showing white knight as the key piece in the preceding position. Marc Barthelemy, 2025 Barthelemy has re-imagined a chess match as a network of forces in which pieces act as the network's nodes, and the ways they interact represent the edges, using an interaction graph to capture how different pieces attack and defend one another. The most important chess pieces are those that interact with many other pieces in a given match, which he calculated by measuring how frequently a node lies on the shortest path between all the node pairs in the network (its "betweenness centrality").He also calculated so-called "fragility scores," which indicate how easy it is to remove those critical chess pieces from the board. And he was able to apply this analysis to more than 20,000 actual chess matches played by the world's top players over the last 200 years.Barthelemy found that his metric could indeed identify tipping points in specific matches. Furthermore, when he averaged his analysis over a large number of games, an unexpected universal pattern emerged. We observe a surprising universality: the average fragility score is the same for all players and for all openings, Barthelemy writes. And in famous chess matches, "the maximum fragility often coincides with pivotal moments, characterized by brilliant moves that decisively shift the balance of the game.Specifically, fragility scores start to increase about eight moves before the critical tipping point position occurs and stay high for some 15 moves after that. "These results suggest that positional fragility follows a common trajectory, with tension peaking in the middle game and dissipating toward the endgame," he writes. "This analysis highlights the complex dynamics of chess, where the interaction between attack and defense shapes the game's overall structure."Physical Review E, 2025. DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevE.00.004300 (About DOIs).Jennifer OuelletteSenior WriterJennifer OuelletteSenior Writer Jennifer is a senior writer at Ars Technica with a particular focus on where science meets culture, covering everything from physics and related interdisciplinary topics to her favorite films and TV series. Jennifer lives in Baltimore with her spouse, physicist Sean M. Carroll, and their two cats, Ariel and Caliban. 4 Comments

BP MVP For real, we may be taking blood pressure readings all wrong Blood pressure readings while lying down beat seated readings at predicting heart risks. Beth Mole Jan 24, 2025 11:43 am | 25 Credit: Getty | PhotoAlto/Michele Constantini Credit: Getty | PhotoAlto/Michele Constantini Story textSizeSmallStandardLargeWidth *StandardWideLinksStandardOrange* Subscribers only Learn moreLast year, a study highlighted that your doctor's office might be taking your blood pressure wrong. The current best practice is to take seated blood pressure readings with a detailed protocol: Patients must not eat, drink, or exercise for 30 minutes prior; they must have an empty bladder and sit calmly for five minutes prior to the first reading; they must sit with their feet uncrossed and flat on the floor; their back should be supported; anda big one that's often overlookedthey must keep the arm to be measured resting on a flat surface at the height of their heart, not higher or lower.While the setup is often different from what happens in a bustling medical office, a new study blows away quibbles over protocol and suggests that even when done perfectly, the method is second-rate. We shouldn't be sitting at all when we take our blood pressurewe should be lying down.According to the study, published in JAMA Cardiology and led by researchers at Harvard, blood pressure readings measured while lying down were significantly better at indicating risks of cardiovascular disease, stroke, heart failure, and death than were seated blood pressure readings alone.For instance, people who had high blood pressure readings while lying down but not while seated had an estimated 53 percent higher relative risk of coronary heart disease than people with normal blood pressure. They had a 51 percent higher risk of heart failure, a 62 percent higher risk of stroke, a 78 percent higher risk of fatal coronary heart disease, and a 34 percent higher risk of all-cause mortality.For people who had high blood pressure readings only when sitting (normal readings while lying down), there was no statistically significant difference in risk of coronary heart disease, heart failure, or stroke compared to people with normal blood pressure. The only statistically significant differences were a 41 percent higher risk of fatal coronary heart disease (compared to the 78 percent seen in those with high readings lying down) and an 11 percent higher risk of all-cause mortality.(In this study, high blood pressure readings were defined for both positions as those with systolic readings (the top number) of 130 mm Hg or greater or diastolic readings (the bottom number) of 80 mm Hg or greater.)The people with the highest risks across the board were those who had high blood pressure readings while both sitting and lying down."These findings suggest that measuring supine [lying down] BP may be useful for identifying elevated BP and latent CVD risk," the researchers conclude.Strengths and hypothesesFor now, the findings should be considered preliminary. Such an analysis and finding should be repeated with a different group of people to confirm the link. And as to the bigger question of whether using medication to lower supine blood pressure (rather than seated blood pressure) is more effective at reducing risk, it's likely that clinical trials will be necessary.Still, the analysis had some notable strengths that make the findings attention-worthy. The study's size and design are robust. Researchers tapped into data from the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities (ARIC) study, a study established in 1987 with middle-aged people living in one of four US communities (Forsyth County, North Carolina; Jackson, Mississippi; suburban Minneapolis, Minnesota; and Washington County, Maryland).This study included data from 11,369 ARIC participants, mostly White and Black, and as such, the results are considered generalizable to a broad population. ARIC study staff underwent rigorous training to conduct the study. Measurements were highly standardized, researchers had extensive health information and data on the participants, and the data included more than three decades of follow-up.The findings also jibe with previous studies finding that high blood pressure readings during nightly sleep (when people are generally lying down) are also strongly linked to higher cardiovascular risks. Normally, blood pressure naturally drops during sleep, but those who maintain a higher pressure face substantial risk. While the ARIC study did not include blood pressure readings during sleep, it's hypothesized that the lying-down position may be a factor in the associated risks of nocturnal high blood pressure.As for why lying-down blood pressure may be more telling than sitting pressure, researchers only have hypotheses. It could be that lying-down readings are a more precise assessment of true resting blood pressure, which is what seated readings try to ascertain (hence the detailed protocol). It could be that the bodily mechanisms causing high blood pressure while lying down are more directly linked to cardiovascular outcomes. Or maybe high blood pressure while lying down is simply harder on the heart and brain than it is when upright.Researchers will need more data to clarify the role of lying-down blood pressure readings in estimating cardiovascular risks. But for those with blood pressure monitors at home, it might not be a terrible idea to see how your readings compare between sitting and lying down. The authors note that in the ARIC study, lying-down readings were done after a 20-minute rest period in that position. Readings were taken up to 5 times every 20 to 30 seconds over the course of two minutes. The researchers note that future studies evaluating the use of lying-down measurement in medical appointments should look to see if shorter rest periods would also work.Beth MoleSenior Health ReporterBeth MoleSenior Health Reporter Beth is Ars Technicas Senior Health Reporter. Beth has a Ph.D. in microbiology from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and attended the Science Communication program at the University of California, Santa Cruz. She specializes in covering infectious diseases, public health, and microbes. 25 Comments

A battery pouch with rectangular holesLiangbing Hu/Teng LiA stretchy and flexible battery pouch filled with strategically placed holes is more breathable than cotton. That could make it an ideal power source for wearable sports or fitness devices built directly into clothing.This is especially useful for athletes or individuals who wear electronics for extended periods smart clothing for fitness tracking, medical monitoring devices and similar applications that demand both comfort and reliable performance, says Lin Xu at Yale University. AdvertisementTo design the new battery, Xu and his colleagues created a pattern of long, rectangular holes in a pouch cell battery a type of lithium battery that resembles a flat bundle with a limited degree of bendability. Simulations showed how the array of rectangular holes enabled the battery to be stretched or folded 180 degrees without tearing, compared with alternative hole patterns involving squares or circles.One challenge was maintaining enough active material to keep the batterys energy density high too many or too large holes would reduce the energy storage capacity, says Xu. We had to balance mechanical stretchability with electrical performance.When stretched by 10 per cent or even folded up, the holey battery design could still resist physical stress and continue to power LED light bulbs with the stretching and folding experiments each performed 100 times. Testing in a temperature and humidity chamber also showed that the battery was twice as breathable as cotton. Receive a weekly dose of discovery in your inbox.Sign up to newsletterAs a practical demonstration of the possible uses, the researchers wove the battery into a lab coat and tested its performance while the wearer ran around exercising. Its holes enabled the battery to quickly dissipate heat so it would not feel painful or trap sweat on the wearers skin.The battery still needs more wear-and-tear testing, so the researchers plan to test its performance in commercial health monitoring devices and sports gear.They are also investigating how to best scale up production automated manufacturing must be able to provide consistent hole placement and sealing to avoid leaks or short circuits in the battery pouch.Journal reference:Matter DOI: 10.1016/j.matt.2025.101959Topics:

The expanding hole illusion seems to mess with your mind, but really your eyes are to blameAkiyoshi Kitaoka, Ritsumeikan University, JapanThe optical illusion seen above makes the viewer feel as if they are falling into an expanding hole and now we have a good explanation for why this happens.Optical tricks can be caused by different elements of our visual and neural systems, even when the effects are similar. For example, the spinning circles of the Pinna-Brelstaff illusion are created by a communication delay between different regions of the brain that process vision. Meanwhile, another spinning circle illusion,

Shopify has laid off employees in its customer support organization, BI has learned.This division of the company has undergone multiple rounds of smaller, quiet layoffs since 2022.The e-commerce platform company continues to hire third-party customer support staff.Shopify quietly laid off employees in its Support division this week, according to five people familiar with the matter. It was not immediately clear how many employees lost their jobs, but one person estimated that it was at least a dozen.Shopify's Support teams troubleshoot issues for the millions of merchants who use the platform to sell products.Employees who were impacted by the job cuts lost access to company systems during or immediately after a brief meeting with HR, making it difficult for them to ascertain how many of their coworkers had also lost their jobs.Shopify representatives did not immediately return Business Insider's request for comment on the layoffs.Shopify's Support division has undergone many changes in recent years.In early 2023, the company began "Code Yellow," a project aimed at improving customer service levels that leaders said had "deteriorated beyond acceptable ranges." As part of that project, it embraced using generative AI to handle some tasks that Support employees had done previously, saying the technology had helped to "minimize toil, help us be more efficient and improve merchant experience." In 2024, company leaders told employees a reorg of the division would be necessary to fix its ratio of managers to "crafters," which is Shopify's term for individual contributors.Shopify has also continued to hire third-party vendors some in other countries including the Philippines and some in Canada to assist with customer-service tickets, which employees said has contributed to a decline in overall quality in response.The Support division has also seen a lot of turnover in its management ranks, with former leaders Glen Worthington, Clovis Cuqui, and Jen Bebb all departing Shopify in 2024.Shopify conducted two rounds of mass layoffs in the years after a pandemic-led boom. In July 2022, it laid off 10% of its workforce, or roughly 1,000 employees, and in May 2023, it cut an additional 20% of staff while also selling off its logistics business.Three people told BI that the company has quietly laid off workers several times since then, following a similar format as this week's layoffs.Got a tip? Contact this reporter at mstone@businessinsider.com, mlstone@protonmail.com, or on the secure messaging app Signal at @mlstone.04 using a non-work phone.Contact the reporter Jyoti Mann via email at jmann@businessinsider.com or via Signal at jyotimann.11. Reach out via a nonwork device.

The House is going to have it's own DOGE subcommittee chaired by Marjorie Taylor Greene.The Democrats on this committee aren't DOGE-curious. They're gearing up for a fight.The top Democrat says Republicans want to turn the government into a "piggy bank" for Elon Musk.As the Department of Government Efficiency has taken shape, you may have heard about a handful of Democratic politicians who are interested in working with Elon Musk.You won't find any of these "DOGE-curious" Democrats, however, on the House's new "Delivering on Government Efficiency" subcommittee."We believe that they're going to use the DOGE subcommittee to eviscerate the federal workforce," Rep. Melanie Stansbury of New Mexico, the top Democrat on the panel, said on CNN on Friday.The subcommittee, housed beneath the House Oversight Committee, will be chaired by Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene the controversial Georgia congresswoman who was barred from serving on committees altogether during her first two years in office.Other Republicans on the panel include some of the party's biggest spending hawks and members of the hardline House Freedom Caucus, including:Rep. Pat Fallon of TexasRep. William Timmons of South CarolinaRep. Brandon Gill of TexasRep. Brian Jack of GeorgiaRep. Tim Burchett of TennesseeRep. Eric Burlison of MissouriRep. Michael Cloud of TexasThe Democrats, meanwhile, include several lawmakers who've cut their teeth doing battle with Republicans on the Oversight committee over the last two years, including:Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton of Washington, DCRep. Stephen Lynch of MassachusettsRep. Robert Garcia of CaliforniaRep. Greg Casar of TexasRep. Jasmine Crockett of TexasThese Democrats have generally been critical of DOGE. Stansbury said on CNN that Republicans want to make the federal government "essentially a personal piggy bank for Elon Musk," pointing to the billionaire businessman's reliance on federal contracts. Casar, meanwhile, previously told BI that he expects Musk and DOGE to pursue "really awful, stupid, self-serving stuff.""We're ready to fight back on day one, call out attempts to slash our social safety, and make sure we take care of working families and the middle class," Garcia said in a statement announcing his placement on the subcommittee.While the subcommittee is focusing on the same government-efficiency goals as Musk's DOGE in the executive branch, it remains unclear how the two entities will interact.Meanwhile, lawmakers are pursuing DOGE-aligned initiatives through other avenues, including via DOGE caucuses in both the House and the Senate.

Many Instagram users this week had their scrolling interrupted by the bearded visage of our newly elected Vice President JD Vance. Suddenly it seemed that on the week of their inauguration, everybody on the app was following or being suggested to follow the official accounts of President Donald Trump and Vance (@POTUS and @VP, respectively). Chaos ensued. In group chats, on Instagram Stories, on X and Bluesky, people frantically wondered what was up. Some, like pop stars Gracie Abrams and Demi Lovato, said that when they tried to unfollow the VP and POTUS accounts, the app wouldnt let them until they attempted multiple times. Other hashtags appeared to be banned or hidden, like #jan6 or #democrat. Meta, meanwhile, has been busy assuring users that nothing new or weird is going on here. The accounts for the POTUS and VP, including their followers, were automatically handed over to the new administration as is customary during a presidential transition, while the accounts for Joe Biden and Kamala Harris previously under those usernames would be duplicated in an archive account. Theyve said it may take some time for follow and unfollow requests to go through but did not provide details when asked by the New York Times why that might be. Hashtags like #democrat were hidden, Meta said, due to an error that affected many hashtags, not just left-leaning ones (those hashtags are now visible). The episode came just weeks after Meta, Instagram and Facebooks parent company, announced sweeping changes to the platforms: CEO Mark Zuckerberg said he would be firing Metas fact-checkers and relaxing standards for moderating posts in an effort to prevent bias and censorship a move that was widely read as an attempt to curry favor with the Trump administration. Since 2018, Instagram and Facebook have deprioritized political and news content; now, it plans to bring these topics back to the forefront of users feeds.Metas assurances that they are not boosting certain accounts or censoring others, and that these issues are no more than glitches may very well be true. But due to the secretive, black box nature of algorithms like Metas, its very hard to fact-check such claims. Jillian York, author of Silicon Values: The Future of Free Speech Under Surveillance Capitalism, says that Meta has a long history of censorship. We should not take Meta at their word for anything, she says. Theres a history of Meta saying, This is a glitch, and what they really mean is internal bias, human error, or AI error. Its unclear at this point which were talking about.For years, Republicans have believed that social media companies were inherently biased against conservative speech, despite evidence to the contrary. (More news influencers lean conservative, and most are male.) Now with a new Trump administration in power, its liberals who are expressing concern and their fears, watchdogs say, are more reasonable than they might initially seem. People worried about how Silicon Valley tycoons are kowtowing to Trump need not look far for an example of what conservative control of a platform might look like. We saw this happen with X after Musk took over. My feed was completely different, and I think thats possible with Meta too, says York. Twitter was famous for its searchability, its transparency (you could see exactly who follows who, who liked what, what time a tweet was posted, and what was trending), and its allowance for free speech relative to other platforms. We should not take Meta at their word for anything.But under Musk, who describes himself as a free speech absolutist, censorship on X has gotten worse, not better. He banned links to competitor websites like Instagram and Substack, and admitted that X throttles posts that include any links at all, preventing users from accessing the kind of substantial, quality information found in news articles. He downranked tweets about Ukraine and appeared to limit views of posts that included words like transgender, gay, and bisexual while allowing slurs for gay people to go unchecked. He dissolved the companys Trust and Safety Council and boosted his own tweets so that they became inescapable for any user, regardless of whether they followed him. Just like Musk pulled certain levers to make X a friendlier place for hate speech, spam, and AI slop, so too can any other platform. They can deprioritize links to certain websites (or any websites at all) so that posts that include them will receive fewer views. They can amplify hatred against minority groups while banning speech critical of the established order (for instance, under Metas new rules, writing white people have mental illness is prohibited on Facebook, while gay people have mental illness is allowed). They can, in theory, throttle users they deem problematic so that their posts dont spread while boosting those who are sympathetic to their own interests. Platforms can also limit transparency, as was the case when Meta got rid of CrowdTangle, the tool that allowed researchers and journalists to track whats trending, how information spreads, and which accounts are driving it. TikTok, too, quietly killed its feature that allowed people to see how many views videos containing certain hashtags received. The move came after accusations that TikTok was boosting pro-Palestinian content due to the popularity of pro-Palestine hashtags, even though no evidence ever emerged that that was true. All of the major platforms already filter sensitive topics (why else would so many people be using algospeak, like seggs or unalive?). Theres nothing stopping them from continuing to bury whatever they deem fit; several rights watch organizations have warned that Facebook and Instagram routinely censored pro-Palestine content. On TikTok, many users complained that their algorithms seemed to lean more conservative after the app was offline in the US for several hours, then reinstated, perhaps a reflection of a shift in the user base that has been underway for months. The app welcomed users back with an announcement that explicitly thanked Donald Trump, a rare move for a tech company. During the weekends inaugural events, TikTok sponsored a party celebrating the top 30 conservative influencers who helped secure Trump the election. In the days afterward, TikTok users claimed they couldnt search for terms like fascism or comment free Palestine. Though TikTok has denied that it is censoring this content, the problem is the same as it is with Meta: No one can be absolutely sure the company isnt lying, and its no wonder people are suspicious. Internet users fear more than just the erosion of trust in their social platforms: AI has made Google Search barely useable, filled Amazon, Etsy, and other storefronts with junk, populated social media with bots, and regurgitated misinformation to the millions of people who use tools like ChatGPT or Google Gemini. Humans have never spent more time online, but the spaces were in often make us mistrust everyone we interact with and everything were told. Despite the backlash against the rightward swing of the major platforms, its curious that there isnt a larger mass movement away from them. As Politicos Derek Robertson wrote in Liberties Journal, so many of us feel like were hurtling toward a dystopian technocracy where human life and connection are continually degraded and devalued, and yet, Why has a popular movement for technological self-governance failed to coalesce something akin to the political movement inspired by the urbanist Jane Jacobs? Why, to return to our original question, dont people care?Its clear that people do care, but perhaps they feel as though their concerns wont be heard unless theyre on the same platforms as everybody else, or that the platforms theyre on will morph into something unrecognizable. Perhaps were all just burnt out by the thought of building a presence on yet another new app one that could, like all the others before it, only disappoint us in the end.Youve read 1 article in the last monthHere at Vox, we're unwavering in our commitment to covering the issues that matter most to you threats to democracy, immigration, reproductive rights, the environment, and the rising polarization across this country.Our mission is to provide clear, accessible journalism that empowers you to stay informed and engaged in shaping our world. By becoming a Vox Member, you directly strengthen our ability to deliver in-depth, independent reporting that drives meaningful change.We rely on readers like you join us.Swati SharmaVox Editor-in-ChiefSee More:

The Switch 2 era is here (Nintendo)Nintendos new console has been officially revealed, and some retailers are already offering a heads-up on pre-orders.The reveal of the Nintendo Switch 2 may have been undercut by leaks, but it hasnt dampened peoples excitement for the next gen console.Nintendos reveal trailer has already proven to be a big hit on YouTube, while game developers are enthusiastic about the systems capabilities, including the bigger Joy-Cons, mouse-like functionality, and improved graphics.As with any new console though, anyone hoping to get one at launch will have topre-order, but thats easier said than done at the moment.How do you pre-order the Nintendo Switch 2?At the time of writing (January 24), the Switch 2 isnt available to pre-order in the UK. You can register your interest through certain UK retailers though, specifically Currys, ShopTo, and The Game Collection.While registering doesnt guarantee a console, it means youll get updates about the Switch 2, including when pre-orders go live so youll get a head start on everyone else. Think of it as a pre-order of a pre-order.Alternatively, you can also register on Nintendos website for the chance to play the Switch 2 early in London. This randomly selected draw, however, closes on Sunday, January 26.When will Nintendo Switch 2 pre-orders go live?Nintendo has not announced a date for pre-orders, but its very likely they will go live either on or just after April 2, 2024.On that day, Nintendo will showcase the console and its games in a Nintendo Direct presentation, where its expected to announce the launch date, price, and more games beyond just the new Mario Kart.What is the UK price of the Nintendo Switch 2?Nintendo is expected to announce the price during the Switch 2s Direct presentation in April, but analysts predict it will be roughly $400 in the US. This would put the UK price somewhere around the 349.99 to 399.99 range.More TrendingOther insiders, like Shpeshal_Nick on X, have claimed it could be priced higher at $449, but it will be above 309.99 at least, which is the current UK price for the Switch OLED Model. Nintendos next console is almost upon us (YouTube)Emailgamecentral@metro.co.uk, leave a comment below,follow us on Twitter, andsign-up to our newsletter.To submit Inbox letters and Readers Features more easily, without the need to send an email, just use ourSubmit Stuff page here.For more stories like this,check our Gaming page.GameCentralSign up for exclusive analysis, latest releases, and bonus community content.This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply. Your information will be used in line with our Privacy Policy

The next Resident Evil remake is Resident Evil Zero claims insiderAdam StarkeyPublished January 24, 2025 5:34pmUpdated January 24, 2025 5:34pm Maybe they could add co-op to the remake? (Capcom)There are conflicting rumours around Resident Evil 9, but one insider is adamant about what the next remake will be.Resident Evil 9 might be officially in the works but Capcom has yet to say anything about it or even to confirm it is the next Resident Evil game, which isnt a given considering how successful 2023s Resident Evil 4 remake was.Capcom has now run out of obvious games to remake and while Resident Evil 5 would be the logical next choice, chronologically speaking, rumours suggest Capcom is remaking more obscure entries Resident Evil Code: Veronica and Resident Evil Zero although theres previously been no indication of which might come first.The same insider who made those initial claims has now provided an answer to that question, and it seems Resident Evil Zero fans might have reason to celebrate.When asked about the subject on X, known Resident Evil insider Dusk Golem replied unambiguously: Zero is the next remake.Resident Evil Zero is a prequel to the 1996 classic, which features two protagonists, in S.T.A.R.S. medic Rebecca Chambers and convict Billy Coen. The main gimmick of the game is the ability to switch between both characters to solve puzzles.The game received a HD remaster in 2016, which only highlighted the fact that the game hasnt aged very well and was always one of the lesser entries in the franchise.Originally, the game was supposed to be a N64 title, before it was cancelled, and the project was started from scratch on Nintendos subsequent console, the GameCube.It repurposed a number of locations and mechanics, and reused the graphics engine, from the Resident Evil 1 remake a few years prior, which creates an interesting quandary for Capcom, which is no doubt building up to a new remake of the first game at some point in the future.https://twitter.com/AestheticGamer1/status/1882142238891020344Capcom hasnt confirmed anything about a new remake, so its worth taking all of this with a healthy dose of scepticism. But since it marks the beginning of the entire Resident Evil storyline, it does make sense to release it before Resident Evil: Code Veronica, which is set after the events of Resident Evil 3.What are the rumours about Resident Evil 9?The only thing Capcom has confirmed about Resident Evil 9 is that its being directed by Resident Evil 7s Koshi Nakanishi, but there have been some rumours about its design.The most prevalent rumour is that it will feature an open world, built using the technology in Dragons Dogma 2 and Monster Hunter Wilds.Other rumours, however, have led to squabbling within the Resident Evil insider community. In May last year, on Reddit, someone who claims to have playtested Resident Evil 9 shared various alleged details, stating Jill Valentine is the protagonist, that it partially takes places within an abandoned hospital, and features an enemy based on a terrifying goat man.This appeared to line up with another rumour from YouTuber Biohazard Declassified, who claimed Leon Kennedy and Jill Valentine will be the main playable protagonists, while the game will be set on an island with an abandoned hospital, caves, and other locations. Leon Kennedy is rumoured to return in Resident Evil 9 (Capcom)As these rumours began to circulate again this week, Dusk Golem, who has a better track record for Resident Evil leaks, described these rumours as 100 percent bulls***.Jill doesnt play any major role in Resident Evil 9, unfortunately, they wrote on X. This current hospital rumour floating around is 100 percent bulls***. Crushing the Jill hopium now before wrong expectations are set.They added: Wait for actual Resident Evil 9 news, nearly every Resident Evil 9 rumour thats been floated around has been bulls***.More TrendingTheres no indication of when Capcom will announce Resident Evil 9 or when it might be released, although we might hear more about the future of the series following the launch of Capcoms Monster Hunter Wilds next month. Its far from the best Resi (Capcom)Emailgamecentral@metro.co.uk, leave a comment below,follow us on Twitter, andsign-up to our newsletter.To submit Inbox letters and Readers Features more easily, without the need to send an email, just use ourSubmit Stuff page here.For more stories like this,check our Gaming page.GameCentralSign up for exclusive analysis, latest releases, and bonus community content.This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply. Your information will be used in line with our Privacy Policy

Little is known about the effects on humansbut limiting exposure to them seems prudent