The new Blue Ant Pump X are over-ear headphones designed to provide motivating music during ... [+] punishing workouts at the gym. Pump X have ANC and a special X mode for extra bass.Blue AntAustralian audio brand BlueAnt has announced Pump X, a brand-new pair of over-ear headphones designed and engineered for gym bunnies. Supplied with both standard and cooling ear pads, BlueAnt claims Pump X headphones dont compromise on audio thanks to their 40mm dynamic drivers and a unique X-mode that amplifies bass for extra oomph.The fitness-optimized headphones include sweat resistance and have a secure and comfortable fit. The construction is designed to survive any number of punishing workouts. For the fashion-conscious, Pump X are available in three fetching metallic finishes.We know that over-ear headphones need to cater to an active lifestyle which means it needs to be rugged and resistant to elements but those shouldnt come at the cost of the audio experience, which it often does, says Taisen Maddern, CEO of BlueAnt.Thats not the case with Pump X, which was designed with flare and built with precision. Its a perfect blend of form and function, designed to be easy to use, ready to withstand the rigors of a gym session and to pump bass and beats all day.Pump X headphones from BlueAnt have a folding design as well as an IP54 water and sweat-proof ... [+] design.BlueAntMORE FOR YOUPump X blends form with function to take the user from the gym to the office and anywhere in between. A stylized X on the right ear cup works as a one-touch control panel that enables users to adjust the volume and pause and play the music. The Pump X headphones have an IP54 splash-proof and sweat-proof rating.The headphones include Active Noise Cancellation to 35dB, a transparency mode for eavesdropping, plus an X-mode for anyone needing an extra burst of intensity with more bass.Pump X can play for up to 34 hours with ANC on a single charge. If the ANC is turned off, the playtime figure rises to 58 hours, enough for more than a month of workouts. A quick 10-minute burst charge yields an extra four hours of playback with ANC on or six hours with ANC off.Thanks to a folding design, BlueAnt's Pump X headphones can pack easily into a gym bag. BlueAntThese headphones offer support multiple playback options including Bluetooth 5.4 and USB-C audio. There are four microphones built in for clearer phone call quality and the simple folding design and carry pouch with hook make for an easy way to trasnport the headphones from home to gym.Each pair of headphones comes with memory foam ear pads as well as cooling gel ear pads, which can be easily swapped over to suit the moment. The replacement earpads can also be ordered from BlueAnt.Pricing And Availability: BlueAnts Pump X exercising headphones are available now from Amazon and are priced at $169.99. Pump X are available in Black and Gold, White and Gold, or Black and Silver colorways.

WTF?! Scarlett Johansson, who has previously spoken out against the misuse of AI, is now calling for the US government to pass legislation that protects people against this practice. It comes after the Black Widow actress and several other celebrities appeared in an AI-generated video that went viral. The video in question was created by an Instagram user who calls themselves a generative-AI expert in their bio. It is a response to Kanye West's Super Bowl ad, in which the rapper bought ad space during the game to increase traffic to his website. After the ad aired, West changed the site into a storefront that contained a single item: a white T-shirt with a swastika. Shopify removed the storefront soon after it went live.The response video features AI-generated versions of Johansson, Drake, Natalie Portman, Jerry Seinfeld, Steven Spielberg, Sam Altman, Mark Zuckerberg, Woody Allen, and several other Jewish celebrities. They are all wearing white T-shirts with a cartoon hand featuring a Star of David in the middle, showing the middle finger. The word "Kanye" is written underneath.View this post on InstagramA post shared by Ori Bejerano (@oribejerano_ai)Like most modern generative AI videos, this one has convinced many people that it's the real celebs taking part. It does have the usual signs that it's the work of an AI, such as the blurriness, occasional weird hands, and uncanny valley faces, but not everyone will notice them. The video ends with "Enough is Enough" and "Join the Fight Against Antisemitism."Johansson said in the statement that while she has no tolerance for antisemitism or hate speech of any kind, she does "firmly believe that the potential for hate speech multiplied by AI is a far greater threat than any one person who takes accountability for it. We must call out the misuse of AI, no matter its messaging, or we risk losing a hold on reality." // Related Stories"I have unfortunately been a very public victim of AI, but the truth is that the threat of AI affects each and every one of us," she added.Back in 2019, Johansson slammed deepfaked porn videos that superimposed her face onto adult actresses' bodies. The Avengers star appeared in many of these videos, including one that has been viewed over 1.5 million times."Nothing can stop someone from cutting and pasting my image or anyone else's onto a different body and making it look as eerily realistic as desired," she said. "The fact is that trying to protect yourself from the Internet and its depravity is basically a lost cause [...] The Internet is a vast wormhole of darkness that eats itself."Johansson also had a run-in with OpenAI last year when the voice for the GPT-4o model featured a voice assistant, Sky, that sounded a lot like her. Johansson said she was approached by OpenAI nine months earlier to voice Sky but said no. She added that she had been "forced to hire legal counsel" as a result of the similarities."There is a 1,000-foot wave coming regarding AI that several progressive countries, not including the United States, have responded to in a responsible manner. It is terrifying that the U.S. government is paralyzed when it comes to passing legislation that protects all of its citizens against the imminent dangers of AI," Johansson said in her recent statement."I urge the U.S. government to make the passing of legislation limiting AI use a top priority; it is a bipartisan issue that enormously affects the immediate future of humanity at large."

In context: Quantum computers are all about qubits, the basic units that operate according to the principles of quantum mechanics instead of the zeros and ones of today's computers. They promise incredible calculation speeds for certain problems, but they're extremely finicky. The slightest bit of heat or electromagnetic disturbance can disrupt their delicate quantum states. Quantum computers run at temperatures just a hair above absolute zero. And keeping them humming along at these temps requires massive, multi-million dollar cooling systems known as dilution refrigerators.Researchers at the Institute of Science and Technology Austria (ISTA) have made a breakthrough that could significantly reduce the cost of these computers by removing one of the main sources of heat.Electrical signals in these computers travel through wires, which generate heat due to resistance. With millions of signals constantly pinging the qubits, that heat builds up fast, forcing bigger and pricier cooling rigs.The researchers replaced these electrical connections with fiber optic cables, which can transmit signals using light instead of electricity. Fiber optics are effectively heat-free and have other advantages, such as higher bandwidth and less electromagnetic interference.However, there's a catch: qubits can't directly process optical signals. So the ISTA team used a clever electro-optical transducer to convert the optical signals into microwaves that the qubits can understand, and vice versa. // Related StoriesGeorg Arnold, co-lead author of the study published in Nature Physics, said that the new approach might allow them to increase the number of usable qubits so they become useful for real computation. He also stated that it sets the stage for networking multiple quantum computers over fiber optic links at room temperature. The technology removes a lot of performance-limiting electronics, too.That said, this new method is still just a prototype with lots of room for improvement. But it represents a critical first step toward quantum systems that don't require super-cooling every component. That could make them vastly more practical and affordable to build and operate at serious scales.Of course, a truly useful large-scale quantum computer is probably still a few decades away, but breakthroughs like these bring us a little closer.Masthead credit: ISTA

Early Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra buyers are experiencing a camera bug on the flagship device. Luckily, Samsung has addressed the problem and is promising a fix.As users on Reddit and Samsungs community forum noted, the camera glitch affects how photos come out in night mode. Toms Guide later confirmed the issue, saying it concerns the phones 200MP primary camera.Recommended VideosIt explains, this is clearly a problem that stems from the phones image processing with night mode photos. Further, it also includes odd artifacting elements closer to the edges.Please enable Javascript to view this contentThe images below show how there are three bands running horizontally across the photos. In response, a Samsung spokesperson says, We are aware of a limited number of cases where images appear blurred when taking photos in Night Mode on Galaxy S25 Ultra and have issued a fix to resolve in the next software update rolling out starting this week.Early bugs are common on new phones and often involve camera software. Interestingly, the Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra and Galaxy S24 Ultra also suffered from early camera issues that were quickly resolved.The Galaxy S25 Ultra introduces several new features over the previous model. These include an all-new chip, the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite, a slightly tweaked camera system, an informational Now Brief, new AI features, and more. The phone is joined in the latest lineup by the regular Galaxy S25 and Galaxy S25 Plus.We expect a bug fix for the Galaxy S25 Ultras camera problem to be released by Samsung soon.Editors Recommendations

Ive got some mixed feelings on the cozy game genre these days. When I was first getting into the original Animal Crossing, it almost felt like a counterculture release. It was an antidote to action-packed video games that was wholly unique in tone and spirit. That success has only grown in recent years, turning cozy games into the same kind of industry it once felt like an answer to. More and more games feel like theyre following the same laid back playbook, and that can get old after a while.Wanderstop could be the game to disrupt that pattern, or at least shake it up enough. The upcoming debut from Ivy Road, founded by indie veterans behind games like The Stanley Parable and Gone Home, sounds familiar on paper. Its a tea shop simulator that has players planting their own ingredients and serving drinks to customers. If you love the genre, youve undoubtedly played something like it in the past few years. But theres more to Wanderstop than meets the eye, at least based on what I experienced in a hands-on preview with its intriguing first hour.Recommended VideosThe story begins by introducing Alta, a fierce warrior who prides herself on being an undefeatable beast. That is, until shes defeated. A surprising series of losses sends her into a downward spiral, and that leads her stranded in the woods unable to lift her sword. She finds herself posted up at a local tea shop where she begrudgingly takes a job from Boro, the establishments kind-hearted owner.Wanderstop - Reveal Trailer | PS5 GamesThats where the loop you might expect from a game like this comes into play. As Alta, my job is to make tea balls from harvested leaves, grow fruit-bearing plants, trim weeds, and fill orders for other wanderers who come to the clearing. I have a few tools to accomplish that, including a watering can that I need to occasionally fill up at pumps around the field surrounding the shop. Its a charming little farming management loop, but one that already has some creative tricks up its sleeve.Its most unique twist is its farming, which isnt just as simple as placing a seed in the dirt. Instead, I need to plant multiple seeds in specific patterns to create the plants I want. Three blue seeds in a row creates a plant that produces more blue seeds. A blue seed sandwich between two pink ones produces a hybrid that grows both seeds. That same system extends to fruit plants, which are made by placing three seeds around a central one. Different color combinations create different fruits, making gardening more of a puzzle game. I spend a fair amount of time in the first hour discovering as many combos as I can and setting up a reliable system of seeds and fruits ready to be harvested at a moments notice.Theres another puzzle layer in tea making. When I get a customers order, they usually ask me for a drink thatll have a certain effect, like something thatll cure an ailment. I have to figure out what fruit I should use in my mix by consulting a field guide, which gives me some background on each fruit. Its similar to the system found in Strange Horticulture, a flower shop management game that similarly tasks players with cracking research puzzles to correctly fulfill orders.Annapurna InteractiveActually making tea is a minigame of its own, as everything takes place in a massive contraption at the center of the shop. Using a moving ladder that can rotate around the device, I need to pull a rope to fill it with water, control a pump to heat it up, open a valve, drop ingredients in, and then pull a lever to drip the tea into a cup. Its a simple series of minigames, but one that makes it feel like Im actually concocting something.While those are cute touches that make Wanderstop feel more active, its the writing that has me more intrigued. Im not just serving tea to random, faceless customers. Rather, each person who comes to the shop has a full story that plays out in multi-step quests. My first patron is a demon hunter who initially refuses to actually order anything, infuriating Alta. After letting them wander around for a bit, they finally give me a tea order. Fulfilling that gets them to open up to me about what brought them to the clearing. My demon hunting pal is there to, well, hunt demons. The more I interact with them, the more of their story.The other patron I mean is a knight who wants nothing more to impress his son (all while dealing with a witchs curse that seems to be taking over his limbs). Both stories pack in quiet emotional moments with some legitimately funny gags. Altas especially a riot, delivering the dry wit of a barista who is both overly committed to the gig and over it entirely on day one of the job.Theres much more to her story and thats what I want to see more of at this point, especially since its unclear how complex the farming puzzle hook will really get based on the first hour. Wanderstop seems to be telling a story about burnout, as Alta struggles to regain her momentum after pushing herself too hard at the peak of her fighting career. I get the sense that its all building towards a life lesson about learning when to slow down and conserve your energy so that you can fight again at full strength one day. If it can stick that landing while escalating its puzzle hooks, Wanderstop could brew up a cozy game thats invested in its life lessons just as much as its pastel colors.Wanderstop launches on March 11 for PS5 and PC.Editors Recommendations

oh well The Honda-Nissan merger is dead Always more of a takeover than a merger, they agreed to call the whole thing off. Jonathan M. Gitlin Feb 13, 2025 9:10 am | 3 Credit: Honda/Nissan Credit: Honda/Nissan Story textSizeSmallStandardLargeWidth *StandardWideLinksStandardOrange* Subscribers only Learn moreThe proposed merger between Honda and Nissan is officially dead. The plan, announced in late December, would have created the world's third-largest automaker, displacing Volkswagen Group from the bronze on the podium. But it was also never quite seen as a merger of equalsmany suspected this was a Honda takeover of beleaguered Nissan, at the behest of the Japanese government.Nissan is already part of a triple-alliance, together with Mitsubishi and France's Renault. Although Mitsubishi considered joining the Honda-Nissan merger, in late January that was old news.That alliance might have been part of the problem. Although not an actual merger, the car companies involved each own stakes of the otherin Renault's case, it owns 37.5 percent of Nissan. Honda would have liked Nissan to buy out Renault's stake, presumably not keen on such a significant chunk of the company under foreign ownership.But Nissan doesn't exactly have the cash on hand to make that purchaseif it did, the merger wouldn't be necessary, after all. Further complicating things, Renault is believed to have demanded a premium from Honda for its stake in Nissan.Honda and Nissan were also unable to come to an agreement on a management structure, as well as a valuation for Nissan, and now they've agreed to just call the whole thing off. Nissan executives had no desire to oversee what would become a subsidiary of Honda, and few analysts identified much in the way of possible synergy between the two automakers."Both companies concluded that, to prioritize speed of decision-making and execution of management measures in an increasingly volatile market environment heading into the era of electrification, it would be most appropriate to cease discussions and terminate the [memorandum of understanding]," the companies said in a joint statement."Going forward, Nissan and Honda will collaborate within the framework of a strategic partnership aimed at the era of intelligence and electrified vehicles, striving to create new value and maximize the corporate value of both companies," they said.Honda just reported a 6 percent increase in its operating profits this past quarter and is unlikely to falter with the failure of this deal. Nissan remains in a precarious position, though. It has lost money for the last two quarters and today announced a turnaround plan that includes cutting 9,000 jobs, closing three factories, and reducing shifts at many more, including here in the US. Rumors continue to swirl about a possible tie-up with China's Foxconn.Jonathan M. GitlinAutomotive EditorJonathan M. GitlinAutomotive Editor Jonathan is the Automotive Editor at Ars Technica. He has a BSc and PhD in Pharmacology. In 2014 he decided to indulge his lifelong passion for the car by leaving the National Human Genome Research Institute and launching Ars Technica's automotive coverage. He lives in Washington, DC. 3 Comments

Looks like a welcoming place. Credit: Obsidian Looks like a welcoming place. Credit: Obsidian Rather than offering idealized "good" or "evil" paths, most quest and conversation lines in Avowed end in a more morally ambiguous place. Do you help a fellow godlike revive and potentially redeem his potentially murderous god, or take him to task for murdering an expedition force in the process? When you get back, do you tell the survivors of that force what happened to their compatriots or lie to spare their feelings?Do you kill the smugglers that have stranded a pair of hard-on-their-luck Aedyrans in a shantytown, or pay them off at your own significant expense? Do you confront the Aedyran soldier who stole from a citizen or decide that you don't want to make an enemy of your ostensible allies?While there's no apparent numerical morality system keeping track of your choices here, the uncertainty of whether you made the "right" choice stays with you as a player. And while the overarching story seems to play out more or less the same way regardless of your choice in most situations, there can be real and lasting impacts.Putting the action in action-RPGIf you've played Skyrim or any of the many similar first-person epic RPGs it has inspired, you'll be more than familiar with the general gameplay pattern in Avowed. The game is divided into a few distinct major places, each with one large and vibrant city surrounded by vast, mostly empty areas where you can stumble on random wandering enemies and/or hidden tranches of items. Does this make Avowed a first-person shooter? Credit: Obsidian Does this make Avowed a first-person shooter? Credit: Obsidian Players who are used to the dull reds and grim grays of many modern RPGs will have to get used to the bright blue skies and just-short-of-psychedelic pastel palettes that make the Living Lands much easier on the eyes.

The enormous growth of data centers and the vast amounts of energy they consume is a global concern. Yet no place is more emblematic of this challenge than Northern Virginia. Its Data Center Alley is Ground Zero for questions about how to power the data requirements of the 21st century.About 70% of the worlds internet traffic flows through data centers in the region. Facilities accommodate firms such as Amazon Web Services (AWS), Google, Meta, Microsoft and Verizon. The region, particularly Northern Virginia and Loudoun County, has become an epicenter for high-speed connectivity and data storage.AI and data are becoming a bigger part of everyones lives, observes Suhas Subramanyam, an attorney and former member of the Virginia Senate who is an incoming representative for the states 10th US Congressional district. Were going to need to build more data centers but there are growing concerns about how the process takes place.As power demands escalate and new and larger facilities come online, one of the biggest questions is where all the needed energy will come from -- and how much carbon will it contain? Yet there are also worries about rate increases for consumers, environmental impacts and how these facilities are changing the character of neighborhoods.Related:Surging DemandThe need to dial up energy to data centers is indisputable. According to a September 2024 report from McKinsey & Company, power requirements for these facilities will triple by the end of the current decade. Today, data centers draw somewhere between 3% to 4% of total power but the figure will hit 12% by 2030, the consultancy noted. Overall electrical demand could swell by 27% by 2050, according to online data service Statistica.Power-hungry GPUs are increasingly the culprit. These chips -- critical for training and inferencing artificial intelligence models, including generative AI -- pull about 10 times the energy of CPUs. They are driving the need for larger and more power-intensive data centers, observes Gillian Crossan, risk advisory principal and global technology leader at Deloitte. This has implications for both power and water.Data centers arent the only culprit, however. Demand for electricity has continued to rise as heating and cooling systems have become electrified, electric vehicles (EVs) have steered into the mainstream, and manufacturing firms have adopted robots and other advanced digital systems, says Jeffrey Shields, senior manager for external communications at PJM Interconnection, a regional transmission organization that coordinates the movement of wholesale electricity in the eastern US.Related:In Northern Virginia, which benefits from its proximity to the government and business infrastructure of the nations capital, the strain of keeping up with rapidly growing power demand is mounting. A modern data center typically consumes as much energy as 80,000 households annually and pulls power at a rate of 10 to 50 times greater than the equivalent floor space of a commercial office building, according to the US Department of Energy.Current EventsIt isnt as simple as adding capacity to the grid. The enormous spike in electricity demand collides with Virginias commitment to move to sustainable power. The Virginia Clean Economy Act (VCEA) mandates 100% carbon-free electricity across the state by 2050. Dominion Energy, Virginias largest utility, is scrambling to meet these requirements by 2045. However, its 2024 Integrated Resource Plan raises questions about how it will achieve these goals (Dominion did not respond to multiple requests for an interview).To keep up with peak load demand, Dominion estimates that it will need to double its grid capacity over the next 10 to 20 years. The utility has proposed a broad energy portfolio that adds both conventional and sustainable energy sources. The planned upgrades -- including a series of natural gas plants -- will require billions of dollars and could lead to rate increases that could hit 50% by 2039. At present, bills are increasing at about 2.5% annually.Related:State regulators already added a $15 per month fuel surcharge in September 2024, though current utility rates are set until the end of 2025. After that, the average power bill of $202 per month could spike.Consumer groups are taking notice. There is going to be a reckoning, states Julie Bolthouse, director of land use for Piedmont Environmental Council, a 501(c)(3) organization. Its questionable whether the current energy model can continue to function effectively.In fact, Bolthouse believes there are more questions than answers. Dominion has signed contracts to supply energy without clear proof it can acquire the energy or build out the infrastructure, she says. In addition, the data centers are pushing land prices up and changing the character of region. They are encroaching on neighborhoods, parks and other infrastructure, Bolthouse adds.Power PlaysThe challenge of balancing power demands with sustainability goals isnt going to disappear anytime soon. PJM Interconnection, which oversees power transmissions for over 65 million people across 13 states and Washington, D.C., has recommended slowing the retirement of gas and coal facilities until other sources of energy can completely fill the gap.Of course, any delay in transitioning to low-carbon or no-carbon electricity could undermine reduction targets for Virginia as well as the companies operating data centers. Many of these firms have made commitments that are visible in ESG reports and other documents. Worse, it increases long-term risks related to climate change. On the other hand, PJM warns that retiring generation facilities before viable replacements are in place could result in a supply crunch.Amid all the wrangling over energy supply, companies operating data centers must also become more efficient, Deloittes Crossan says. This includes focusing on design and performance gains possible through the expanded use of immersion cooling, battery storage, on-site renewables and emerging technology such as small modular nuclear reactors, which deliver zero-carbon energy. At the same time, a move to collaborative land-use planning can help align development with community needs, Bolthouse says.Government officials and others must also reassess current policies, including tax incentives and subsidies, Subramanyam argues. We need to better understand the impact data centers have on communities. Its unclear if we can keep up with the energy demand because, in some cases, the concentration of data centers in one area is too high and we may not be able to protect rate payers, he says. No one disputes the need for these facilities, but we have to meet commitments to clean energy and the public.

An oil drilling rig in Californias Central ValleyAshley Cooper / AlamyFossil fuel companies are experimenting with using carbon dioxide captured from the air in oil extraction to usher in a new era of planet-friendly net-zero oil but the idea is an illusion, according to researchers.In enhanced oil recovery (EOR), crude oil is extracted by injecting CO2 underground to squeeze out any remaining oil from a depleting reservoir. Combining EOR with CO2 sucked out of the air by direct air capture (DAC) plants will result in net-zero oil, some oil firms claim, a process they hope can

Josie FordFeedback is New Scientists popular sideways look at the latest science and technology news. You can submit items you believe may amuse readers to Feedback by emailing feedback@newscientist.com NDCs TBCEverythings a bit quiet in the fun world of international climate negotiations at the moment. The last big news was Novembers COP29 meeting in Azerbaijan, which was a roaring success for the fossil fuel companies promoting their wares on the sidelines. Then came Donald Trumps return to the White House as US president. He promptly ordered the country to withdraw from the Paris Agreement that governs international climate action. Negotiators could be excused for being a bit shell-shocked.Nevertheless, the wheels of the climate bureaucracy grind on. This year, Paris Agreement signatories are required to submit updated Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs), which are essentially a list of promises to take action to deal with climate change. The deadline was 10 February, and most countries missed it. Climate strategist Ed King noted in his newsletter that three small, hilly countries with lots of sheep (the UK, New Zealand and Switzerland) had managed to submit theirs, but that we would have to wait till later in 2025 for China, India and the EU.AdvertisementNo rush folks; you take your time. Its not like half of Los Angeles just burned to the ground. Have a cup of tea, put your feet up, live your best life. Itll be done when its done.The V-wordReporter Matthew Sparkes draws our attention to the experience of one David Birch, who went online with Virgin Money to discuss some savings accounts, asking its chatbot: I have two ISAs with Virgin Money, how do I merge them? The chatbot responded: Please dont use words like that. I wont be able to continue our chat if you use that language.It seems the online assistant had been programmed to avoid certain words and phrases that had been deemed discriminatory or otherwise offensive, including virgin. After Birch posted angrily about this on LinkedIn, there was some media coverage and Virgin Money apologised and withdrew the chatbot (which was an outdated model anyway).This was yet another example of a recurring problem in online discussions: context is crucial. It is certainly possible to use the letter string V-I-R-G-I-N to be insulting, but it is also the name of a multinational corporation. Tools that simply filter for certain letter strings are liable to block a lot of innocuous messages, while also missing abuse that doesnt rely on obvious slurs.The problem goes back to at least 1996, when AOL refused to allow residents of Scunthorpe in England to create accounts. The towns name contains a letter string that many people find offensive hence the term Scunthorpe problem for such technological mishaps.The virgin incident is just the latest example. The Wikipedia page for the Scunthorpe problem is a treasure trove of inadvertent potty-mouthed humour and, more importantly, surprises. You will probably be able to guess the issues faced by promoters of a certain mushroom with a Japanese name, but we defy readers to anticipate why the New Zealand town of Whakatne, a software specialist and even a London museum fell foul of similar context-blind controls.Readers are welcome to submit their own stories but Feedback cant guarantee our email filters will let them through.Is it finally happening?On 26 January, the website of the Daily Express newspaper issued a major alert: Yellowstone warning as supervolcano could be gearing up to explode. Good gravy, we thought. Could it be that the supervolcano under Yellowstone is going to cease its perennial rumbling and finally let rip, blanketing North America in ash and blotting out the sun?Upon closer inspection, the story was merely reporting the existence of a short YouTube documentary entitled What If the Yellowstone Volcano Erupted Tomorrow? This was released on a channel called What If in March 2020. Feedback felt, and readers may agree, that this did not entirely justify the Expresss headline.Still, it does fill pages. Feedback found a half-dozen articles from early January on exactly this theme, with headlines like Yellowstone crater movement sparks fears of supervolcano explosion as scientists assess risk. This noted that some scientists had found movement deep in the crater and that this was alarming, before quietly noting that the main source was a paper in Nature that used a new imaging technique to determine that the volcano doesnt contain anywhere near enough magma to erupt. Others said this study sparks new debate on where and when it will erupt, which is certainly one way of interpreting a study that says no eruption is imminent.Lurching further back in time: on 23 July last year, there was a small hydrothermal explosion in the Biscuit Basin area of Yellowstone, essentially trapped steam blowing out debris as it escaped the ground. Cue the headline Is Yellowstone going to erupt? This was handily answered by a geophysicist, who explained that volcanoes only erupt if there is enough eruptible magma and pressure, and that neither condition is in place at Yellowstone right now.We tried to go further back, but after the 50th article with pretty much the same headline, Feedbacks brain broke. At this point, there have been so many stories proclaiming a Yellowstone eruption is imminent, were not sure we will believe it even if we see it go off on live TV.Got a story for Feedback?You can send stories to Feedback by email at feedback@newscientist.com. Please include your home address. This weeks and past Feedbacks can be seen on our website.