Over the past couple of years, geopolitical tensions have been rising in various parts of the world. In the best case, the Trump administration may help deescalate tensions and violence. Alternatively, the US could find itself in a war that isnt limited to foreign soil. As a result, CIOs, CTOs, and CISOs need to be prepared.Political instability causes risks to global supply chains, data security and operational resilience, says Steve Tcherchian, CISO and chief product officer at security solution provider XYPRO. Just in the past year, we've seen disruptions in logistics, fluctuating regulatory environments, and cyber threats escalating due to geopolitical tensions. This creates blind spots in business continuity planning, especially for organizations reliant on international vendors, partners or regional operations.For example, ensuring data compliance in multiple jurisdictions becomes exponentially more complex during politically volatile times.My biggest concerns are supply chain vulnerabilities, cybersecurity threats from state sponsored threat actors targeting critical infrastructure, and navigating changes in trade restrictions, compliance, tariffs and more, says Tcherchian. These are headaches to manage in normal times, let alone during geopolitical tensions.Related:His advice is to be proactive. Understand the scope of assets, data and infrastructure and build operations that can adapt to unpredictable conditions. This includes having alternate suppliers, transport routes and workforce contingencies.The intersection of cyber and political risks throws cybersecurity in the forefront. Dont take cyber resilience lightly, says Tcherchian. Implement a zero-trust security strategy, deploy real time threat detection, maintain compliance with global security frameworks, [and] educate your teams.Change Management and Monte Carlo Simulations Are WiseBob Hutchins, an organizational psychologist and author of Our Digital Soul: Collective Anxiety, Media Trauma, and Path Toward Recovery, says geopolitical instability is a challenge that many of his clients face.[P]olitical instability has created significant unpredictability in supply chains, workforce stability and market access, says Hutchins. Ive seen businesses freeze expansion plans, lose key talent due to geopolitical unrest and grapple with regulatory shifts that feel like moving targets. These disruptions dont just slow growth -- they can create a pervasive sense of unease that trickles down to employees, further compounding challenges.Related:For example, one international company recently had to reconfigure its entire supply chain after new tariffs disrupted its primary import route. The ripple effect included increased costs, delayed production, and strained relationships with long-time partners.My biggest concern is the emotional toll instability takes on leadership teams and employees. Anxiety about the future can lead to decision paralysis or reactive strategies that lack long-term foresight, says Hutchins. This heightened tension can erode trust within organizations, making it harder to maintain cohesion during already difficult times. Another concern I've seen is the rise of decision fatigue among leaders. Navigating constant upheaval drains energy and focus, which can lead to poor choices or a lack of innovation.Shock resulting from the unexpected can cause organizational leaders to scramble and make snap decisions that may make sense in the short-term, but backfire in the long-term, like the way the pandemic impacted organizations.One of the most effective strategies Ive seen is fostering adaptability. Businesses that treat change as a constant and prepare for multiple scenarios tend to fare better, says Hutchins.Related:To help his clients prepare, Hutchins prioritizes scenario planning to think through the what if scenarios so leaders can anticipate and mitigate risks. He also underscores the need for clear, honest communication with employees about the challenges the organization is facing and having a plan in place helps build trust. Finally, he recommends investing in mental health so employees and leaders can manage stress and perform better, even under pressure.Start by focusing on what you can control. While you cant obviously stabilize geopolitics, you can create stability within your organization by being transparent, flexible, and supportive, says Hutchins. Be proactive in scenario planning and ensure you have redundancies in place for critical operations. Leaders who listen and adapt based on their teams feedback are better equipped to make thoughtful, forward-thinking decisions.XYPROs Tcherchian also stresses the need for extreme agility.Constant political instability may be our new reality, says Tcherchian. Foster a culture of resilience within your company, partners and vendors. Be agile and adaptable. Dont treat instability as an obstacle, rather as an opportunity to build a more adaptive, innovative and resilient organization.

This is today's edition ofThe Download,our weekday newsletter that provides a daily dose of what's going on in the world of technology. Mice with two dads have been created using CRISPR Whats new: Mice with two fathers have been bornand have survived to adulthoodfollowing a complex set of experiments by a team in China. The researchers used CRISPR to create the mice, using a novel approach to target genes that normally need to be inherited from both male and female parents. They hope to use the same approach to create primates with two dads.Why it matters: Humans are off limits for now, but the work does help us better understand a strange biological phenomenon known as imprinting, which causes certain genes to be expressed differently depending on which parent they came from. Read the full story. Jessica Hamzelou Three reasons Meta will struggle with community fact-checking Sarah Gilbert is research director for the Citizens and Technology Lab at Cornell University. Earlier this month, Mark Zuckerberg announced that Meta will cut back on its content moderation efforts and eliminate fact-checking in the US in favor of the more democratic approach that X (formerly Twitter) calls Community Notes. The move is raising alarm bells, and rightly so. Meta has left a trail of moderation controversies in its wake, and ending professional fact-checking creates the potential for misinformation and hate to spread unchecked. Im a community moderator who researches community moderation. Heres what Ive learned about the limitations of relying on volunteers for moderationand what Meta needs to do to succeed. MIT Technology Review Narrated: Is this the end of animal testing? Animal studies are notoriously bad at identifying human treatments. Around 95% of the drugs developed through animal research fail in people. But until recently there was no other option. Now organs on chips may offer a truly viable alternative. They look remarkably prosaic: flexible polymer rectangles about the size of a thumb drive. In reality theyre triumphs of bioengineering, intricate constructions furrowed with tiny channels that are lined with living human tissues. And as they continue to be refined, they could solve one of the biggest problems in medicine today.This is our latest story to be turned into a MIT Technology Review Narrated podcast, whichwere publishing each week on Spotify and Apple Podcasts. Just navigate to MIT Technology Review Narrated on either platform, and follow us to get all our new content as its released.The must-reads Ive combed the internet to find you todays most fun/important/scary/fascinating stories about technology. 1 DeepSeek has AI investors spooked Theyre worried theyve wasted their money after the Chinese startup proved that powerful models can be created on a shoestring. (NYT $)+ Its success has also shed light on how little we know about AIs power demands. (FT $)+ DeepSeeks rapid rise is great news for Chinas AI strategy. (WP $)+ How a top Chinese AI model overcame US sanctions. (MIT Technology Review)2 OpenAI has accused DeepSeek of using its AI models to train R1 Just hours after Sam Altman claimed it was invigorating to have a new competitor. (FT $)+ DeepSeek has been telling some people that its made by Microsoft. (Fast Company $)+ Italy is investigating how the firm handles personal data in relation to GDPR. (TechCrunch) 3 Alibaba claims its new AI model surpasses DeepSeeksThat was fast. (WSJ $)+ Heres what sets DeepSeek apart from its competition. (NBC News) 4 RFK Jrs niece is trying to stop him being appointed the top US health official Shes shared private emails in which he makes false covid and vaccine claims. (STAT)+ His cousin has also denounced him as a predator. (NY Mag $)+ A weaker vaccine policy will lead to the resurgence of dangerous diseases. (The Atlantic $)+ Why childhood vaccines are a public health success story. (MIT Technology Review)5 Donald Trump has threatened new chip sanctions In a heavy-handed attempt to force manufacturers to relocate to the US. (WP $)6 Women seeking fertility treatment in the US are being left in the darkClinics dont publicly declare how many times egg retrieval has gone wrong. (Bloomberg $) + Inside the strange limbo facing millions of IVF embryos. (MIT Technology Review)7 Spotify claims that streaming has made the world value musicIm not convinced artists will agree. (The Verge) 8 Supersonic commercial flights could be staging a comebackMore than two decades after Concorde ceased operation. (New Scientist $) + How rerouting planes to produce fewer contrails could help cool the planet. (MIT Technology Review)9 LinkedIn has booted AI-generated jobseekers off its platform Their accounts were created by a company peddling AI agents. (404 Media)+ How one developer fought back against AI crawler bots. (Ars Technica)10 The future of food is bacteria and algae Mmm, delicious. (Undark)+ Would you eat dried microbes? This company hopes so. (MIT Technology Review) Quote of the day I dont have technology. Ive never emailed or, what do you call it, Twittered. Actor Christopher Walken isnt a fan of modern gadgetry, he tells the Wall Street Journal. The big story Deepfakes of your dead loved ones are a booming Chinese business May 2024 Once a week, Sun Kai has a video call with his mother, and they discuss his day-to-day life. But Suns mother died five years ago, and the person hes talking to isnt actually a person, but a digital replica he made of her. There are plenty of people like Sun who want to use AI to preserve, animate, and interact with lost loved ones as they mourn and try to heal. The market is particularly strong in China, where at least half a dozen companies are now offering such technologies and thousands of people have already paid for them. But some question whether interacting with AI replicas of the dead is truly a healthy way to process grief, and its not entirely clear what the legal and ethical implications of this technology may be. Read the full story. Zeyi Yang We can still have nice things A place for comfort, fun and distraction to brighten up your day. (Got any ideas? Drop me a line or skeet 'em at me.) + Happy Chinese New Year to all those who celebrate! + These robots do a passable job dancing to mark the celebration.+ If you havent seen A Real Pain in the theater yet, why not?+ Coolarchaeologists have uncovered an ancient Roman mask that may depict Medusa.

"Sex and the City" star Kristin Davis said a man once "ghosted" her after she lent him $5,000 while they were dating.She said she made the "horrible mistake" of lending money to the "out-of-work" actor in the 1990s.The "now very successful" actor never paid her back, she said.Kristin Davis said a "very successful" actor once "ghosted" her after she loaned him $5,000 while they were dating.The "Sex and the City" star spoke about her experience with guest and former costar Sarah Wynter in a recent episode of her podcast Are You A Charlotte?"Davis told listeners she made the "horrible mistake" of lending the money to the then "out-of-work" actor in the mid-1990s. She recalled: "At the time, I had money because I'd been working, and I was at his house, and he had all of these 'your electricity's gonna be turned off' notices that you get when you can't pay your bills. They were all just all over his house."Davis said the unnamed actor had also "wrecked his motorcycle," which prevented him from attending auditions."I was like, 'Can I lend you some money?'" she said. "Horrible mistake. Anyone listening, do not lend anyone money that you are dating. It doesn't end well. It really irked me." Kristin Davis said the incident occurred before she found fame on "Sex and the City." HBO/Getty Images Davis said that the incident occurred sometime before she found fame as Charlotte York on the hugely successful HBO series "Sex and the City," which ran for six seasons between 1998 and 2004 and around the time she was on "Melrose Place."Davis said the pair had what she called "a casual thing" and refused to name the actor involved, although she said he had gone on to become "very successful."But she added that she soon regretted the decision, as lending the money "changed the dynamic in a horrible way."She continued: "I probably should have known better. But I just felt like, 'I can help. I should help this guy. He's so talented,' which he is.""I think it was all of $5,000. So I lent him this money, and then he stops calling. I'm like, 'What the heck?'""I just would love some acknowledgment or whatever, which is kind of a fantasy," she added.But that seemingly wasn't the last time the "And Just Like That" star made the mistake of lending a date money."I think the next time was the last time," she said.Davis, who starred in "Cash Out" alongside John Travolta last year, announced her podcast in December.The show, which debuted on January 13, sees Davis and special guests share "untold stories" and behind-the-scenes tales from "Sex and the City."

Intensive parenting has parents over-extending themselves and children under-extending themselves.A Montessori approach can help increase children's independence and parents' autonomy.Breaking an intensive parenting cycle takes time, but it's worth the effort.One of the delicate paradoxes of parenthood is that it is a parent's job to meet their child's needs while at the same time ensuring their child needs them less over time.As intensive parenting rises, parents are encouraged to meet their children's needs with increasing efficiency but fail to ensure they gain the independence and autonomy needed to be functional adults. As the director of a Montessori school and a mom of four children, I worry the shift to intensive parenting stifles children's natural desire for independence while creating an unsustainable job description for parents.Why I raised my own children with a Montessori approachWhen it comes to parenting, there is a way in which less can be more. A Montessori approach strikes the right balance between parental involvement and paving the way for a healthy level of effort from the child.On a typical workday, in a Montessori setting, it's not uncommon for me to see children as young as 3 years old cheerfully preparing their own snacks, washing their own dishes, cleaning up their own spills, and skipping off to use the bathroom whenever nature calls. However, a Montessori setting isn't a requirement for implementing a Montessori approach.I've raised my four kids with a Montessori philosophy and noticed how self-sufficient they are, which takes a huge load off of my shoulders daily. There's no magic to getting children to function with such high levels of independence, but a few approaches used in Montessori can help.Kids learn practical life skillsIntensive parenting pushes children to achieve outer markers of success, often well before the child has a chance to develop foundational life skills. By contrast, Montessori has a whole area of the classroom designated to "Practical Life," which supports children in cultivating the many skills they need for daily living.Everyday tasks that seem intuitive to adults are broken down into manageable steps for young children. Showing a child how to blow their nose, carry a glass of water without spilling, sweep up crumbs, or zip up their jacket is a simple, worthwhile investment of time that pays dividends down the road.Focusing on foundational skills with the trust that children will inevitably excel in more complex skills as their development unfolds is far more respectful to the child's natural development and ensures a more sustainable experience for the parent.Children love a good challengeContrary to the tenets of intensive parenting, children love a good challenge. However, when parents are too quick to rescue their child from struggle, it can lower a child's tolerance for frustration and create a dynamic in which children begin to shy away from activities that feel challenging or even avoid exerting sincere effort altogether. This not only stunts the child's development but also keeps the parent doing almost everything for the child.Giving children time and freedom to try something just a little bit outside their comfort zone keeps them immersed in a growth mindset, laying the foundation for their striving toward independence.In an intensive parenting culture, parents are encouraged to rescue children from struggle, whereas in a Montessori approach, parents are encouraged to stand back and respect a child's effort. Parents who can resist the urge to step in the minute a child struggles with a new task may be pleasantly surprised at how quickly progress follows.Freedom within limitsIntensive parenting offers very little freedom for children, given that their schedules are structured, their parents almost constantly manage them, and "optimization" of a child's development replaces open-ended exploration.By contrast, a Montessori approach offers freedom within limits, encouraging the child to build autonomy by making their own age-appropriate choices and following their interests. After all, children can only learn to take responsibility for their choices when they have the freedom to make them. For children to benefit from freedom, reasonable limits must be established to ensure safety, stability, and structure. And, of course, the balance between freedom and limits should naturally shift as children mature.Breaking the intensive parenting cycleMontessori isn't just about pristine-looking classrooms and expensive wooden materials. Montessori is a philosophy that can be applied outside the classroom in simple ways like teaching practical skills, embracing manageable challenges, and restoring freedom within limits. Intensive parenting is stifling children's independence while overextending parents.Breaking the intensive parenting cycle isn't easy, but staying in an unhealthy dynamic is far more difficult. Ultimately, every parent's goal should be to work themselves out of a job helping their child slowly but surely learn to function with a level of confidence, independence,ce and responsibility that will allow them to eventually thrive on their own.Christine Carrig, M.S.Ed., is the founding director of Carrig Montessori School in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. You can subscribe to her Substack or follow her on Instagram @christine.m.carrig.

On Sunday afternoon, I went to the National Football Conference championship game at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia. At one point early in the fourth quarter, the Philadelphia Eagles were on the 1-yard line of the opposing Washington Commanders, ready to run their unstoppable Brotherly Shove play for a score. (Trust me this has something to do with Future Perfect.)Knowing they would almost certainly give up a touchdown, the outmatched Commanders decided to do something a little different. First, a Commanders defender purposefully jumped over the line early, leading to a penalty for encroachment. Then they did it again same thing. And again same thing. They seemingly had every intention to keep jumping the line, over and over. And each time, the referees moved the ball half the distance to the goal line, as happens when defensive penalties occur close to the end zone.Anyone familiar with the principle of infinite divisibility in geometry can see the problem here. A line segment like the distance here between the line of scrimmage and the end zone can be infinitely divided, over and over. Which means that theoretically, the Commanders could have kept encroaching, and the Eagles could have kept advancing half the distance to the goal line without ever getting there, until the end of time.Fortunately for the players, coaches and nearly 70,000 fans in attendance, the referees found a way out of this particular paradox by invoking a little-known NFL rule that allows the offense team to be automatically awarded a touchdown if the defense keeps purposefully committing penalties to stop them. That was finally enough to get the Commanders to cut it out.All of which brings us to a subject weve written about a few times here at Future Perfect: the Doomsday Clock. (See, I told you wed get there.)What time is it?Created and run by the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, which itself was founded by many former Manhattan Project physicists who had become alarmed by the threat of nuclear weapons, the Doomsday Clock is meant to be a symbolic representation of how close humanity is to existential destruction. Each year, a group of experts in everything from nuclear science to climate change to cybersecurity sets the hands of the clock. The closer it is to midnight, the closer humanity supposedly is to extinction. In 2023, the Bulletin made some news when it moved the hands of the clock up 10 seconds, to 90 seconds until midnight the closest it had ever been since it was launched in 1947. While that meant humanity was supposedly closer to annihilation than it had been in such famously dangerous times as 1964 (not long after the Cuban Missile Crisis, when it was set to 12 minutes to midnight) or 1984 (shortly after one of the closest nuclear calls in Cold War history, when it was 3 minutes to midnight), this was the first setting after Russia invaded Ukraine and raised nuclear fears to a height they hadnt reached in decades. Last year, citing everything from Ukraine to Gaza to climate change to growth in AI, the board kept the clock at 90 seconds to midnight. And then yesterday morning, the board revealed the clocks new setting. Set your doomsday time to drumroll please: 89 seconds to midnight, one second closer. The board listed a slew of factors: continued nuclear risk around Ukraine and the disintegration of nuclear arms control; the growing impacts of climate change after what is likely the hottest year on record; the threat of new diseases like bird flu; AI progress, and especially, potential military applications; and disinformation and cyber insecurity. If those sound familiar, well, theyre pretty much the same factors as the year before, and the year before that, something board chair Daniel Holz acknowledged at Tuesdays event, saying these factors were not new in 2024. But we have seen insufficient progress in addressing the key challenges, and in many cases this is leading to increasingly negative and worrisome effects.Still, everything about Tuesdays announcement underscored an essential problem with the Doomsday Clock. Its running out of time perhaps metaphorically, as its meant to, in the case of humanitys survival, but quite literally, in the sense that a clock only has so many hours, minutes, and seconds. And that problem is something the entire field of existential risk suffers from. Just like those referees in Philadelphia, there are only so many times you can issue a warning before it starts to feel meaningless, especially as we seem to get closer and closer to annihilation without, quite, getting there.Before midnightIn a way, the Doomsday Clock is a victim of its own success as an unparalleled symbol of 20th-century, Cold War nuclear fear. So compelling was the idea of the hands of a clock, inching toward the midnight moment when the missiles would launch, that the classic 1980s Watchmen graphic novel used it as an unforgettable central motif. Like James Bond movies and Rambo films, though, the Doomsday Clock suffered after the end of the Cold War and the apparent removal of its reason for being: nuclear war. With that threat seemingly behind us, the clock branched out into new threats like climate change and infectious disease, and later very 2010-era worries like disinformation and democratic backsliding. This story was first featured in the Future Perfect newsletter.Sign up here to explore the big, complicated problems the world faces and the most efficient ways to solve them. Sent twice a week.The problem, as weve written before, is that non-nuclear existential risks simply dont fit well into the metaphor of a clock. A nuclear war is largely a binary risk the missiles fire, and the clock strikes 12, or they dont. And theres an entire field of geopolitics and diplomacy dedicated to gauging just where the world is on nuclear risk. It is about as measurable and knowable as existential risks get, which is why the Doomsday Clock was so iconic.But other, newer existential risks dont work that way assuming they even are, indeed, true existential risks. Climate change is not a binary but a cumulative, ongoing risk, less sudden fatal heart attack than lifelong case of planetary diabetes. If climate risk were a clock, itd be hard to know what time it is, or even whether the clock would ever truly strike midnight.Other risks are even more difficult to track. Artificial intelligence just experienced one of the most eventful weeks in its young history, as Chinas DeepSeek showed that advanced models might be cheaper and harder to stifle than the industry had thought, even as Americas big AI players lined up for an unprecedented $500 billion buildup. Is AI even an existential risk? Maybe though no one can tell you with any certainty how precisely it might unfold, or how close we really are. And AI, unlike nuclear weapons, has benefits for science and society we cant just put aside.When it comes to infectious disease, as worrying as the recent outbreaks of bird flu have been, we have no certainty that this will indeed be the next pandemic or how severe it would be should that happen. A new virus will come for us, but chances are well be surprised by what it is, just as we were surprised by Covid. And the odds that such a virus would actually threaten us with extinction seem very low.We live in a world that is right now awash in fear, even if those fears are often overstated and out of step with reality. I worry that as the Doomsday Clock waters down its original focus on nuclear war something that really is getting worse and makes these minute changes year to year, it will end up burning out the very audience it is meant to galvanize. You can only say the world is close to ending so many times, only elevate so many risks to the status of existential ones, before people begin to tune you out.A postscript to that story about the Eagles game: Once the referees had made their final warning, the Eagles were able to run their Brotherly Shove, and push quarterback Jalen Hurts into the end zone for a touchdown, en route to a dominating 55-23 victory. (Go Birds!) You can have all the warnings in the world but that doesnt mean you can stop the inevitable from happening. 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:

A Vox reader asks: Why do people pay more to watch mens sports than womens sports?For all of Caitlin Clarks feats on the basketball court breaking all-time scoring records, taking the Iowa Hawkeyes to two national championships and getting the Indiana Fever to the WNBA playoffs what might be more impressive is the attention shes captured and the sheer amount of people who want to see her play and are willing to pay top dollar to watch her dish dazzling assists and launch 3-point daggers from the logo. In her rookie season, Clark helped the Fever achieve the best attendance in the league over 17,000 people per game, a 265 percent increase over last season and their televised games regularly reached over 1 million viewers per contest. Scalpers were selling tickets outside the arena. At one point in the season, they were asking $250 for a ticket that usually went for under $100, while some secondary market sellers were looking for up to $9,000, CNN reported. Clarks emergence alongside a new generation of exciting rookies and ultra-talented, already-established veterans has created momentum for womens basketball and more generally womens sports. Mainly: People are finally willing to pay more to see womens basketball? That raises the question: Why werent they already? Why have womens sports historically been less popular?At the heart of this question is a pretty simple answer: Men have had decades-long head starts when it comes to sports and professional sporting leagues. To put it in perspective, women were allowed to compete in the 1900 Olympics in five sports; it wasnt until the 2012 London Olympics that women competed in all of the sports that the men were. Similarly, in the US, experts specifically point to Title IX the federal law that bans gender discrimination at schools receiving federal aid and its passing in 1972 as a watershed moment for gender equality in sports. Before that, US schools had no obligation to provide the same athletic opportunities to girls that they did for boys. It broke down existing barriers to entry, allowing women not only to compete but also receive equal financial opportunity tied to sports (e.g., college scholarships ). But when Title IX solidified womens rights into law and protected them from discrimination, the NBA was already over 20 years old. The easy way to think about it is to look at the overall lack of investment, Lindsey Darvin, an assistant professor at Syracuse University, told me. Darvin studies womens sports and gender equity in the intercollegiate and professional sports industry. She said that the NBA, and any other major sports league, have had decades upon decades of resources, both external and internal, infused into them. Womens leagues are, relatively speaking, still so young and dont (yet) gather the same kind of attention. The amount of investment thats been put into the NBA it dwarfs whats been put into the WNBA, Darvin said. The WNBA was founded in 1996, almost 30 years ago. The same number of years on the NBA timeline would be the late 70s, when the league was finally established and on the verge of a massive leap in popularity. While the WNBA is growing, it hasnt seen the same kind of trajectory at least not yet. It took decades for teams like the Lakers, Yankees, Arsenal, Bruins, and Packers to become lucrative sports franchises that generate millions in revenue each year and play in arenas and stadiums in front of thousands of people. Some professional leagues count revenue in the tens of billions of dollars. Decades of investment money, advertising, promotion, television deals, sponsorships, etc., have turned teams and leagues into brand names. Thats what youre paying for when youre purchasing a ticket. Thats also why a mens pro sports ticket is usually going to be more expensive than a womens.How does marketing factor into it?The last couple of years in womens college basketball have shown us that womens sports can challenge mens in popularity like, right now. At the 2024 Final Four, tickets for the womens tickets on the secondary market were going double for the price of the mens games. The Caitlin Clark effect was in full motion, and the ratings for Clark and her cohort were at an all-time high. Clarks last two games were the most-watched in history, averaging close to 14 million and, as The Athletic reported, eclipsed mens sporting events like every World Series since 2019, every NBA Finals game since 2017, and every Daytona 500 since 2006. As a researcher, I dont like to say the phrase that the stars align because that just seems so kind of out there but the stars aligning is a piece of it, and thats what happened, right? Darvin said, noting that Clarks skill and flashy, appealing game; the success of the Iowa basketball team; and Clarks marketability and her teams underdog story were all factors in becoming a phenomenon. But what intrigues Darvin is now that Clark has graduated and driven similar sellouts in the WNBA, is whether this can convince people especially those in charge that people are willing to spend more money to see womens sports. One of the trickier reasons about why mens sports are valued over womens is because thats what weve been told they were more important for so long. Clark and Iowa basketball are one of the rare examples when investment, promotion, and media hammered home that Clarks games were worth watching, worth paying for, and even more exciting than the mens teams. Youre steered in directions through marketing, advertisements, and the media you are basically told what youre supposed to like and what you should pay for, and what youre going to enjoy, Darvin said. And what is cool to enjoy and pay for has always been mens sports.Essentially, we were told to value Caitlin Clarks senior season in a way that hadnt happened in womens college basketball. But while Clark is the most recent barrier-breaker, she isnt alone. During her career, Serena Williams and her rivals were at times bigger stories than male tennis players. (Not unrelated: Tennis has been one of the better sports at striving for equal pay.) Simone Biles and the US womens gymnastics team are bigger stories than the American men, and similarly, womens figure skating is usually as popular as mens at the Olympics. Those are all examples, Darvin said, where women athletes fare better when it comes to marketing and publicity. The more womens pro sports are publicized and marketed, the more people are willing to pay to see pro women athletes, and ostensibly the idea is that all this capital turns into growth, opportunity, and equality for women. With more money, perhaps the WNBA will be able to pay rookies more than $76,000 for their first season! A possible sign of progress: Unrivaled, a stateside professional 3x3 womens league debuted in January with a $200,000 average salary per player and a multiyear media deal with TNT. Darvin also notes that college women athletes signing lucrative NIL deals are also changing the playing field and upping their media profiles. If theres one drawback its that if all goes according to plan, eventually well get to the point (in the distant future) where womens pro sports wont be as accessible. Currently one of the debates around the NBA is that the ratings are down and whether thats due to it being very expensive to watch or even attend a game. One of the best things about womens pro sports and womens basketball is that its affordable. Well, they are for now.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:

Sony appoints new PlayStation boss but what difference will it make?Adam StarkeyPublished January 29, 2025 2:10pmUpdated January 29, 2025 2:11pm Nishino is the new top dog (Sony Interactive Entertainment)Theres been a shake-up in leadership at Sony Interactive Entertainment, but what could it mean for the future of PlayStation?Sonys PlayStation 5 might be easily outselling the Xbox Series X/S but theres still a lot of uneasiness around how Sony has been handling its business for the last couple of years and where things are going in the future.The company cancelled a number of projects this month, after the dramatic failure of Concord, although it is still seemingly pursuing the risky gamble of more live service games. There have also been several notable staff exits, along with layoffs and a number of studio shutdowns.Following the departure of Jim Ryan in March last year, PlayStation has been led by joint-CEOs Hermen Hulst and Hideaki Nishino. Now, one of those has been promoted to the take on the job all by himself.As announced in a press release, Nishino has been appointed to the role of President and CEO of Sony Interactive Entertainment, effective from April 1, 2025. His previous job title was CEO of the Platform Business Group, so this is essentially a promotion.Hulst will continue to serve as CEO of the Studio Business Group, the same job he was previously appointed to in May last year, only now hell report into Nishino rather than being his equal.In a statement about the new job, Nishino said: I am truly honoured to be take the helm at Sony Interactive Entertainment. Technology and creativity are two of our biggest strengths as we continue to focus on developing experiences that deliver entertainment for everyone.We will continue to grow the PlayStation community in new ways, such as IP expansion, while also delivering the best in technology innovation. I want to thank Hermen for his expertise and leadership as he continues his role as CEO, Studio Business Group. I am deeply grateful for the PlayStation community and their continued support and I am very excited for what the future holds.As CEO of the Studio Business Group, Hulst leads the development, publishing, and business operations of Sony Interactive Entertainments first party content. In other words, hes in charge of internally developed games like God Of War and Horizon.Nishino was previously responsible for managing the technology and business side of PlayStation, along with overseeing third party publisher and developer relations and sales and marketing of PlayStation hardware.He joined Sony back in 2000, and before his prior role, he served as senior vice president of of the Platform Experience Group.While its not made explicitly clear, it sounds like hell continue to oversee these same areas, albeit with singular authority overall on PlayStations future. Will the failure of Concord change Sonys future? (Sony Interactive Entertainment)Beyond these changes, there are several other key shifts at Sony. Hiroki Totoki, president and chief financial officer of Sony Group Corporation, will step down from his role as chairman of Sony Interactive Entertainment to become president and CEO of Sony at large.Lin Tao, senior vice president of finance and development at Sony Interactive Entertainment, will also step down to become chief financial officer at Sony as a whole. Her successor in the PlayStation division is set to be announced at a later date.It has been a pleasure working more closely with Hermen and Nishino-san and gaining insight into the ever-changing, fast-paced world of Sony Interactive Entertainment, Totoki said. As we hand the baton to Nishino and his exceptional leadership team, I am confident that Sony Interactive Entertainment will reach new heights in the days ahead.Totoki goes onto describe these leadership shifts as an exciting new chapter for Sony Interactive Entertainment, although its unclear what, if any change, this will bring about.Its still unclear whether Hermen Hulst or Jim Ryan was in favour of the push for live service games, or if one or the other tried to argue against it, but the disastrous launch of Concord took place under Hulsts reign.More TrendingThere are now several single-player first party games in the pipeline, including Ghost of Ytei, Marvels Wolverine, and Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet, but with so many scrapped studios and projects over the past year, it might be a while before Sonys slate is back at full strength. Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet is still a ways off (Sony Interactive Entertainment)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

If youve been shopping for a portable power station with the option of solar recharging, youre probably pretty tired of the words sold separately by now. That solar panel you need to provide your portable power station with the juice to keep your appliances and tech items running often costs hundreds of dollars more on top of the price of the generator.See at AmazonThe EF Ecoflow River 3 solar generator, however, comes with its compact 45W charging panel. And this useful and abundantly portable power duo of generator and solar panel is at its all-time lowest price at Amazon right now, just $199 in a limited-time deal.Lightweight PowerTalk about being able to punch above your weight class The Ecoflow River 3 weighs less than 8 pounds 30% smaller than the industry average and its solar panel folds down to the size of a laptop computer while weighing only 3.1 pounds itself. Combined, this combo weighs just under 11 pounds, making it an incredibly easy take-with for camping trips, RV rides, and more.But from that conveniently small package comes up to 600 watts of backup power when in X-Boost mode, enough juice to power a Wi-Fi router for over 30 hours, a laptop computer for 3.4 hours, and a CPAP machine for 4.6 hours. When its time to recharge the Ecoflow River 3, the 45W solar panel can take the power station from 0% to a full 100% charge in 6.3 hours. For more conventional recharging, plug the Ecoflow River 3 into an AC outlet and it fully recharges in just 1 hour.Up to 10 Years of LifeThe Ecoflow River 3 comes with an upgraded lithium iron phosphate (LFP) battery thats capable of over 3,000 charging cycles six times more than its competitors and with X-Guard technology protecting the battery from overload and other harm, the Ecoflow River 3 can last up to 10 years.The N-Type solar panel converts up to 25% of the sunlight it receives into power that it feeds directly to the Ecoflow River 3, making it one of the more efficient solar panels available for recharging portable power stations. Having such an efficient source of infinitely renewable power comes in incredibly handy when youre out camping or having to endure a lengthy power outage at home.Amazons 41% discount is the deepest price cut ever on the Ecoflow River 3 and its solar panel, which normally sell for $338. This limited-time $199 deal is the perfect opportunity to add a reliable and remarkably compact portable power source to your home for backup power, or to your RV for power on the go.See at Amazon

2025If the $2,000 Nvidia GeForce RTX 5090 is the undisputed king of 4K gaming, is the RTX 5080 the prince? Or is it the hidden court vizier, the figure controlling the graphics kingdom behind the scenes? Due to its $1,000 price tag, more gamers can afford the 5080, but its still a luxury GPU. If the two cards are in the same weight class, theres no question that the Nvidia RTX 5090 will knock out the 5080 with a single punch. Similarly, theres no question that if I were putting money down on GPUs, the 5080 is the safer bet for most PC gamers.The Nvidia GeForce RTX 5080 Founders Edition is more like the RTX 5090s goatee-sporting evil twin with something to prove. In most ways, its a less-capable graphics card, so you get what you pay for. Heres where things get complicated, however. Our tests running like-for-like 5080 didnt see vast improvements over the 4080 Super, last years big GPU upgrade. In some games, the FPS increase was within 10 to 15 frames.See RTX 5080 at Best BuyThe difference was even more negligible in some demanding titles, likeCyberpunk 2077. In other benchmarks, the difference between an RTX 4080 Super from 2024 and 5080 was far more stark than in-game performance. This means that games may still need to catch up to the Blackwell architecture, and it may take time to eliminate bottlenecks with new games and hardware. Developments in Blackwell architecture over Ada Lovelace are evident, but the 5080 also requires more wattage from your PSU at peak compared to the RTX 4080s 320 W TGP.The dark horse amid all this discussion is the Multi Frame gen capabilities. Its the headline feature for all 50-series cards, and it pulls up gaming framerates less dramatically than the 5090 in all cases, but it makes more sense on this card than on a $2,000 GPU. The upgrade path for anybody with a 3080 or even a 4070 Ti is more sensible when you choose the 5080, even though it costs $300 more for the same level of GPU than it did five years ago. Things are more complicated for those with a 4080 orespeciallythe 4080 Super. I would consider the upgrade jumping from a 30-series GPU to a 50-series, but the main reason you would source the new $1,000 RTX 5090 is Multi Frame Gen.The Nvidia GeForce RTX 5080 is set to launch on Jan. 30 for $1,000.Nvidia GeForce RTX 5080 Founders Edition Looks Nearly Identical to the RTX 5090, But Not in PerformanceThe Nvidia RTX 5080, left, and the RTX 5090, right. Photo: Adriano Contreras / GizmodoThe RTX 5080 Founders Edition is exactly the same shell as the RTX 5090 with a color sheen closer to the 40-series Founders edition cards. The 2-slot GPU is as long and wide as Nvidias $2,000 flagship, and it even weighs as much as a brick as the 5090. Its enough that if you dont have support when slotting it into the PCIe slot, you may watch it start to dip while you desperately try to screw it to the tower.Although they look so similar, if you were to judge merely by specs, the RTX 5080 is half the card of the 5090. Its running on 10,752 CUDA cores compared to the 5090s 21,760. The flagship is supposed to support 3352 TOPS of AI processing with the 5th-gen Tensor cores compared to 1801 on the 5080. It packs 16 GB of VRAM compared to 32 GB.But a card is more than just core counts. The base clock speed on the RTX 5080 is 2.3 GHz, and it goes up to 2.62 GHz with a boost clock. The 5090 has a 2.01 GHz base clock and up to 2.41 GHz at max boost. The 5080 also has the added benefit of requiring far, far less power draw. The card demands 360W and claims a required 850W of total PC power compared to the RTX 4080s 750W PSU. The RTX 5090, at peak, will demand 575W from your PSU, which already puts the cards in stark contrast. Thats before you get to performance, where the differences in the same generation are truly striking.See RTX 5080 at Best BuyHow Does the GeForce RTX 5080 Compare to the 5090 and 4080 Super? Photo: Adriano Contreras / GizmodoThe 5090 is not a massive step above the 4080 Super in gameplay, but its significantly less capable of raw graphics processing than the 5090. This isnt a generation-to-generation test but an attempt to see the better buy for most gamers or those needing a high-level GPU without dropping the equivalent of a strong desktop or laptop PC on a single component.Specifically, we compared the RTX 5080 Founders Edition to a $1,130 PNY Nvidia RTX 4080 Super Verto OC GPU and its 2.565 GHz clock speed. In 3D Mark benchmarks, the difference between the three cards is striking. The RTX 4080 Super claims a score of 7,600 in Speed Way and 18,282 in Port Royal for ray tracing benchmarks, but the 5080 will hit 8,692 in Speed Way easily. The RTX 5080 scored close to 1,500 points more in the Steel Nomad benchmark and Time Spy Extreme.If all that sounds like a true generational leap from the one-year-old 4080 Super, then just know that gameplay tells a much different story. My tests were conducted on an Intel Core Ultra 9 285K system with an iCUE H150i Elite liquid cooler, 32 GB of DDR4 5400 MT/s RAM, and a 1,000 W Corsair RM1000e Plus Gold power supply. The RTX 4080 Super and 5080, the extra headroom on the PSU is a bonus, but for the RTX 5090, 1,000 W is necessary. Everything we tested was on a 4K monitor, as if youre buying a $1,000 GPU you want to play it at its peak.In 3D Mark, the 5080 trailed the 5090, equivalent to each cards number of cores and price tags. The RTX 5090 hit 5,667 more points in 3D Mark Speed Way and 6,077 more in Steel Nomad over the 5080. Theres no middle ground between the two GPUs, not when you practically double the number of transistors from one card to the next.For in-game benchmarks in Cyberpunk 2077, the 4080 Super could do a little over 63 FPS with max settings, DLSS balanced settings, and no path tracing. That was without 2x frame gen, but with it, the game maxed out close to 100 FPS. The RTX 5080 edged up to 54 FPS with the same settings and no frame gen. With the 2x frame gen, the game hit 112 FPS in benchmarks. The RTX 4080 Super may only hit 42 FPS in benchmarks with path tracing enabled, but the RTX 5080 may only get close to 45 FPS.Reviewers noted the RTX 5090 could suffer from CPU bottlenecks in some games, though the RTX 5090 still blasted the 5080 with or without frame gen and path tracing enabled. The game made it to 100 FPS without frame gen. These were all the latest drivers provided by Nvidia for reviewers. When planning your upgrade path, I suggest you still look for a next-gen CPU sometime down the road when games can catch up.Playing Hogwarts Legacy, the 5080 without frame gen would hit 40 to 55 FPS outdoors or 60 to 75 FPS indoors. That was with all the ray tracing settings enabled and excluding framegen. While playing Dragon Age: The Veilguard, all settings are maxed without framegen, and the PC with the RTX 5080 would hit around 78 to 90 FPS in outdoor environments. Thats better than the 4080 Super that averaged 77 FPS in the same area. The RTX 5090 would do 100 to 130 FPS outdoors.Theres a Space for Nvidias RTX 5080, and Its Not About Being Second Best Photo: Adriano Contreras / GizmodoThe difference between the RTX 4080 Super and RTX 5080 is simply less striking than the RTX 5080 to 5090, and the cost of each card reflects that. Theres no question that the 5090 is the best consumer GPU you can buy. Its able to hit the fabled 100+ FPS without relying on frame generation, and thats enough for most 4K gaming monitors, the most affordable of which normally hit 120 Hz refresh rates.But let me turn the tables. What if you really demand 160 FPS or above 200 FPS with all the hyped ray tracing settings enabled? What if you want to get a prettyand pretty expensive240 Hz 4K monitor that can make use of the extra frames? The 4x frame gen on the 5080 makes more sense than on the 5090.Cyberpunk 2077, with path tracing and 4x frame gen, was doing 150 FPS.Thats far less than the 5090s 260 FPS with the same settings and same game, but the difference in gameplay is entirely moot.Frame Gen works to such a surprising degree that your average gamer wont be able to tell the difference. If youre looking for issues, you may find the occasional instance of a texture flicker or UI elements that fizzle. The instances are rare, but those with discerning eyes might spot them easier than others. I didnt spot too many issues in my gameplay. I know I would feel perfectly comfortable playing with Frame Gen turned on.Those considering the RTX 5080 should know its not all gravy. Nvidias Multi Frame Gen may not support your favorite game at launch. Some gamers will inevitably get more out of these cards than others. But for a $2,000 RTX 5090 Founders Edition, you could grab the equivalent of $1,000 RTX 5080 and save that money for a high-end 4K monitor with all the fixings.See RTX 5080 at Best Buy

Shanghai, as one of China's most representative global cities, features an architectural vocabulary that seamlessly blends its distinctive "Haipai" (Shanghai style) urban character with an international perspective. The city boasts a rich spatial hierarchy, ranging from the micro-level of alleyways and neighborhoods to the macro-scale of urban planning. From the Suzhou Creek to the Huangpu River, every architectural landmark embodies Shanghai's unique history, culture, and vision for the future.