High-profile indie game publisher Annapurna Interactive will lay out its forthcoming release slate during a new digital showcase event, to be broadcast next week. Read more

You can trust VideoGamer. Our team of gaming experts spend hours testing and reviewing the latest games, to ensure you're reading the most comprehensive guide possible. Rest assured, all imagery and advice is unique and original. Check out how we test and review games here Contents hide Helldivers 2 players have been experiencing The Gloom. This has brought about new bugs, but they were quickly removed from HD2 following issues. Fortunately, Arrowhead has swiftly delivered a hotfix as promised, and the Helldivers 2 update 01.002.106 patch notes confirm the new enemies are back.Helldivers 2 update 01.002.106 patch notesBelow are the Helldivers 2 update 01.002.106 patch notes as shared on Discord:OverviewFixed a common crash caused by the Spore Burst Gloom BugsFixesFixed a common crash that would occur when too many Spore Burst strain bugs were killed simultaneously in a short time-spaOn February 18th, Arrowhead announced that they temporarily disabled new enemies inside The Gloom. This was because of players experiencing crashes on high-combat rating Gloom missions. Save Up to $1,200 on the Samsung Galaxy S25! Pre-order now and save big with trade-in and Samsung credit. Limited time only! *Includes trade-in value + $300 Samsung credit. Must-Listen: Publishing Manor Lords w/ Joe Robinson VideoGamer Podcast Listen Now It hasnt been shared what the exact problem was, but the good news is that a fix has been delivered and the new Gloom bugs are back in the game. Image credit: Helldivers DiscordIn addition to update 01.002.106, below are the patch notes for update 01.002.105 delivered on February 18th:OverviewCrash fixesShip module purchase issueFixesCrash Fixes, Hangs and Soft-locks:Fixed a rare crash that could occur when travelling between planetsFixed a crash that would occur during the initial language selectionFixed a crash caused by cancelling specific emotes with another emoteMiscellaneous FixesFixed a bug where ship modules would sometimes not be purchasable even if you had the correct amount of samplesImage credit: Helldivers DiscordFor more Helldivers 2, a leak has uncovered amelee weapon seemingly from Warhammer 40K. Make sure to check out our guide to thebest warbonds ranked, along with thebest stratagemsandbest throwables. We also have a guide to thebest weapons, and, if youre coming back to HD2 for the first time in a long while, we have a bunch oftips and tricksto help you get reaccustomed to the battlefield.Helldivers 2Platform(s):PC, PlayStation 5Genre(s):Action, Shooter, Third Person8VideoGamerRelated TopicsHelldivers 2 Subscribe to our newsletters!By subscribing, you agree to our Privacy Policy and may receive occasional deal communications; you can unsubscribe anytime.Share

If youre on the hunt for trending outdoor furniture at a great discount, look no further than Neighbor. From February 13 to March 3, the retailer is offering 15% off their wide collection of patio furniture, outdoor couches, and dining sets, featuring performance fabrics and rust-resistant metals. With loveseats, fire pits, and even outdoor rugs in the mix, this sale gives tired Adirondack chairs a run for their money.Neighbor Bluff SofaNeighbor Coupe Fire TableWayfairUntil: OngoingWayfair is hosting a living room sale with 50% off select items such as sofas and sectionals, accent chairs, coffee tables, and recliners. Well save you the 45-page scroll through furniture deals and point out our two favoritesa pair of swivel accent chairs that look far more expensive than their retail price, and this pine console table that will lend some instant classiness to your foyer. For more of our favorite picks from the sale, read up on the best Wayfair Presidents Day deals.Wade Logan Hendina Armchair (Set of 2)Millwood Pines Brittanni 63 Console TableCastleryUntil: 2/23Details: $100 off $1,500, $200 off $2,500, $450 off $4,500One of our favorite suppliers of midcentury-inspired pieces, Castlery stocks just about anything youd need for your housemodular couches, table sets, chic bar stools, as well as full room sets, so you can decorate without using too much brain power. The sites currently offering a promo up to $450 off indoor and outdoor furniture while stock lasts, depending on how much you spend, so youll certainly want to take advantage of the markdowns on this high-quality selection.Castlery Harper TV StandCastlery Adams LoveseatAlbany ParkUntil: 2/25Details: 40% off sitewideThrough February 25, the sofa gods at Albany Park are offering 40% off sitewide their extensive collections of sectionals, sofas, and loveseats. You can finally bite the bullet on the couch upgrade youve been hoping for without having to save up forever.Albany Park Kova SofaAlbany Park Albany SofaMitziUntil: 2/24Details: 20% off sitewide with the code PRESDAY20Lighting connoisseurs will be thrilled to see Mitzi is offering 20% off its extensive selection of design-forward lighting options. Sconces, pendants, floor and table lamps are well-represented here, including ones that feature USB-C chargers and are compatible with Bluetooth.Mitzi Liwa Table LampMitzi Alex Plug-in Wall SconceSixpennyUntil: 2/20Details: 20% off orders of $1000 and over, using promo code: MORNINGSONGSixpenny specializes in furniture designed with serenity and comfort in mind. Their chaises and ottomans are cloaked in linen named for quiet sage, salt water, and pacific pearl. Their catalog, including this dining set were after, bring a welcome calmness to your home environment.Sixpenny Tango Dining TableSixpenny Bene Dining Chair (Set of 2)Bedding Presidents Day SalesBuffyUntil: 2/28Details: 20% off Sitewide with the code PRES20Buffys currently offering 30% off bedding bundles and sheet sets, so if youre upgrading your linen closet, take a peek. The original Cloud Comforter is beloved by our digital editor Sydney Gore, while its lighter-weight little sibling, the Breeze, is another editor favorite. If youre a hot sleeper, we also recommend investing in a full Cooling Set, currently marked down from $538 to $379.Buffy Cloud ComforterBuffy The Cooling SetBrooklinenUntil: 2/20Details: 20% off sitewideBrooklinen is a go-to for AD staffers. Weve sung their praises for years, and even done a roundup of our favorite products. Nothing like Presidents Day weekend for treating yourself to a new set of luxe sheets, or a plush robe to really glamorize your skincare routine.Brooklinen Luxe Sateen Hardcore Sheet BundleBrooklinen Super-Plush RobeCozy EarthUntil: 2/28Details: 20% off sitewide with the code PRES20While Valentines Day might be more centered on what to gift for the special someone (or people, plural) in your life, Cozy Earth has a little special something just for you. The bedding retailer is throwing a V-Day sale where everything is marked down 25% off sitewide. It sounds like the perfect opportunity to snag a new duvet or a cooling bamboo sheet set (available in 15 different colors) in preparation for summer, but you really cant go wrong with any of Cozy Earths offerings.Cozy Earth Bamboo Sheet Set

Though he says theyre a family of modernists and his firm is grounded in transitional modernism, Andrew felt drawn to exploring a more traditional aesthetic with the renovation, infusing much more color than the prior interior had ever experienced, plus ever-so-nautical shiplap, moldings, and high-gloss lacquer in a subtle Benjamin Moore green that reflects nature while bouncing light beneath not-enormous ceilings.Traditional doesnt quite do the 3,200-square-foot, five-bedroom home justice, however. While the classically styled white exterior didnt change, it now masks delightful surprises inside, such as a funky, rainbow-hued ceramic Sean Gerstley coffee table, meaningful works by Derrick Adams and Douglas Pendleton, an LED chandelier made of old burnt-out light bulbs, and a vintage Guillerme et Chambron finger chair. Most of the rooms open to the outside, and on the ground floor to each other too. And we have one room thats essentially for a tub, says Alexia of her favorite part of the house.Someone is a big David Bowie fan, says Andrew, Myself. And I used to know him. I love this picture [by Brian Duffy] and it just seemed befitting to have it where it is. The primary bathtub room is one of the most used spaces in the house, thanks to the fireplace beside the MTI Baths tubon a slab of Paonazzo Caldia marble from BAS Stonewith a Baliza tub filler. When daughter Isabel stayed at the house with a few girlfriends, they said they spent the entire weekend in that bathroom, Andrew laughs. It feels like true luxury, bathing in front of a fireplace, says Alexia, who also indulges whenever possible.Art: Duffy Archive & The David Bowie Archive My wife is a bather, explains Andrew, so we had to make that a very nice room. Under a vaulted ceiling of lacquered beadboard, a deep tub sits atop a marble island beside a brick fireplace, with Brian Duffys famous portrait of Ziggy Stardust aka David Bowie (whom Andrew knew personally) presiding over the space that houses a sofa too. The room sums up the experience of chez Sheinman: subtle luxury, coziness, unconventionality, and human connection all wrapped up in one.Their retreat sits on two acres and you dont see any other homes or signs of human life from the pool, says Andrew. Its their antidote to Manhattan, the ferry over acting as the cutting of the umbilical cord, he adds. My parents always told my sister and me that one of their conditions for raising children in New York City is that they would want somewhere in the world for us to know what grass and trees and sea are, Alexia says. Surrounded by all those things on Shelter Island, it became a very important part of our lives.In redesigning and rebuilding their wrecked home, the collaboration of father and daughter is arguably one of the most marvelous moments the Sheinmans have shared. It is very much a family house, says Alexia, and it feels like weve evolved as a family together [in it].

The Trump administrations planned cuts to the National Institutes of Health (NIH) not only threaten essential biomedical research in the US, but the livelihoods of researchers and some are seriously considering leaving the country.A 27 January memo from the Office of Management and Budget instructed federal agencies to pause funding allocations to ensure they serve Donald Trumps goals, including ending wokeness and the weaponization of government, promoting efficiency in government, and Making America Healthy Again.On 7 February, the administration implemented a policy that would cut NIH funding to research institutions by over two-thirds. A federal judge has since blocked the cuts for now.Biomedical scientists depend on the NIH to fund their employment. Many are expected to cover a large proportion of their own salaries with NIH grants. Scientists studying neuroscience, diabetes, autism and bird flu became emotional as they spoke to the Guardian about the possibility of losing their lifes work.For the last 50 to 75 years, the NIH has been the biggest funder of biomedical research in the world. Most advances in medicine, at some point, were seeded by NIH funding. And when we became scientists, we just bought into this system. This is how it works. There is this long term support, said John Tuthill, who runs a neuroscience lab at the University of Washington in Seattle.Tuthill was scheduled to give a seminar to the NIH on 3 February, and had already travelled to Washington DC when he was informed the talk was cancelled due to a Trump administration directive banning communication between federal health agencies and the public. The ban was supposed to be lifted on 1 February. It wasnt.This is the pain that the people are feeling within NIH trickling outside to affect the rest of us, he said.Tuthill is now re-evaluating plans, as cuts threaten the entirety of his specialized field. His parents were planning to move to Seattle to be closer to their granddaughter. Now, they are not sure it makes sense. Tuthill is considering jobs abroad.If science in the US collapses, it would be very hard for people to leave the country and get work, because a significant fraction of the top scientists in the world are here, and theres not a lot of room for the rest of the world to absorb that, he said.Haroon Popal, a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Maryland, says the cuts mean his academic career is likely over.Im not [a] professor yet. Im not a full fledged independent scientist yet. So, us losing these grants is like an entire generation of scientists not being able to continue, he said.Popal won an NIH grant that allowed him to continue his research on brain development and autism while staying close to his ailing father.Getting the grant was extremely hard. I failed two other times, he said.The award was part of an initiative to strengthen DEI in neuroscience. The grants webpage has since been purged as part of the Trump administrations attack on DEI.Popal has always prioritized making an impact over making money and is now applying for data science jobs, but is not thrilled with the available options, such as helping a bank with HR. Hes considering moving to Canada, where he has family, but he is his fathers caregiver and doesnt want to leave him.skip past newsletter promotionSign up to This Week in TrumplandFree newsletterA deep dive into the policies, controversies and oddities surrounding the Trump administrationPrivacy Notice: Newsletters may contain info about charities, online ads, and content funded by outside parties. For more information see our Privacy Policy. We use Google reCaptcha to protect our website and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.after newsletter promotionJuly Pilowsky, who studies bird flu with the Cary Institute, is already applying for visas to work remotely in Spain.In my personal case, to be frank, Im concerned that as a transgender scientist, I will be discriminated against because of who I am, they said.Pilowksy hopes they will be able to continue researching bird flu abroad, but cuts to NIH funding could threaten the future of their research as well. Advances in bird flu research are vital.I dont want to induce panic. I want to be very clear that there is a lot of uncertainty about bird flu, Pilowsky said, before admitting that if it starts transmitting from human to human, it could be more dangerous than Covid. The novel strain is more fatal, and lingers in the environment for longer, they added.The administrations decision to leave WHO is already hurting bird flu research.Viruses dont care about countries and borders. They dont know they exist. We need to coordinate globally in order to stay on top of whats happening with the virus and to learn from one another, Pilowsky explained.Luke Norton, an assistant professor researching diabetes at the University of Texas, is already looking for ways to return to the UK, his country of origin, but is unsure he will be able to continue his research there.The US is ground zero for type 2 diabetes [research], he says. While he feels lucky to have a country to return to, he says going back would feel like a failure.I dont really want to go back, Norton said. Ive worked so hard to establish myself here Now Im a citizen. I have my family here. I have kids that were born here.

Ok ThenEx-PlayStation exec says studios aren't forced into live-service stuff, they just, er, feel it gives them "a better chance of getting a project approved and supported"We're not forcing you to do a thing, we're just overseeing an environment in which you reckon it might be better if you don't pitch us something else.Image credit: PlayStation News by Mark Warren Senior Staff Writer Published on Feb. 19, 2025 It's ok everyone, former PlayStation exec Shuhei Yoshida has said that - to his knowledge - none of the first-party studios under the console maker's command have been forced into making live-service games. They've more likely just chosen to get on board with the "big initiative", for the small reason of thinking it'd give them a better chance of having a project actually be picked up and supported.The soon to be voice of a duck mascot said this stuff in an interview with Sacred Symbols+ (thanks, Push Square), and it's interesting, if, to be fair, just the kind of thing you'd expect someone who's been a boss at a big company like this to say.To see this content please enable targeting cookies. After saying the bit about studios not being forced into doing live-service things, Yoshida outlined: "From my experience, when studios see the company has a big initiative, [they realise] riding on that gives them a better chance of getting a project approved and supported.""Its not like [current PlayStation Studios boss Hermen Hulst] is telling teams they need to make live service games," he continued, "Its likely mutual."While you can't say he's not technically right, it does seem like Yoshida's dipping into corpospeak here. After all, if you're suggesting that studios are seeing their bosses get really into a certain thing, and concluding that just going along with it will impact their chances of not ending up in the kind of perilous limbo we hear about studios who end up having multiple pitches rejected having to deal with, surely that's not the healthiest thing in the world for a company, and something execs should be trying to mitigate.I know it's a bit idealistic, but surely companies like PlayStation should be aiming to foster an environment in which their flagship studios feel they've got the trust of the higher-ups and can pitch whatever they feel based on their expertise is the right game for their unique talents and can fit into the market best? You know, rather than everyone getting swept up in a company-wide bandwagon and crowding up a space which, in the case of live-service stuff prior to PlayStation's largely ill-fated big push, was already pretty tough to break into and score a big hit.I don't know. To be fair, I've not spent the past 30 years or so playing a big role in leading one of he biggest companies in gaming. Plus, to be fair to Yoshida, he doesn't appear to be saying this a good thing neccesarily, just pointing out that it happens.He also said regarding the live-service projects PlayStation's recently canned: "Yeah, it sucks".

Can We Fix It?RoadCraft is Snowrunner meets everything that makes Bob the Builders crane arm extend, and its in the latest Steam Next FestLook, it lets you make big tarmac pancakes with a steamroller, what more could you want?Image credit: Saber Interactive/VG247 Article by Mark Warren Senior Staff Writer Published on Feb. 19, 2025 S**t.The trucks come a cropper on that same bend for the third time. Its not my fault. Ive now moved the rocks that were blocking the way, so it wouldnt try to drive over them on two wheels like an episode of The Dukes of Hazzard in which everyones wearing high-vis tops.To see this content please enable targeting cookies. I mean, it is very much my fault that the piles of sand Ive accidentally dumped right in the same spot while clearing out the rocks with a dump truck because I was too lazy to fetch a dozer or a crane lorry are still in the way. Thats a problem for a few minutes time though, when I snap out of the chunkily-tyred ego trip triggered by having created my own stretch of road, and go Oh, right. I should probably move that.RoadCraft is a bit like its weird, bovril-drinking siblings - SnowRunner, Expeditions, the other ones. You know, those Saber Interactive games. The ones in which youre given a big vehicle thats often stocked with stuff that could hilariously fall out if you tip over, and pointed at a thing halfway across a big map. More pot-holes than the average UK council estate always await, as part of something like 30 minutes to eight hours of bullying from mother nature.Its Steam Next Fest demo gives you a taste of about three to four hours worth of this kind of muddy bottom-kicking. Or five to six if youre like me, have decided to play solo, and refuse to learn any of the lessons the driving game version of the Dark Souls series has tried to teach you so far. Its a bit different this time, though, because RoadCrafts spin-off calling card is going more in-depth on letting you pretend to be Bob the Builder. As with making flapjacks, the key is to make sure you get the right mixture of chewiness and hard crust. | Image credit: Saber InteractiveTheres some of the usual trucking and scouting involved, but the meat and potatoes being kept lukewarm in a glove box next to Johnny Cashs greatest hits this time are a bit different. Get ready to build your own roads, chop down trees, and lay electrical cables with heavy machinery. Youll learn what mulching is, and slap some stumps to bits with a giant spinning cutter panel in wonderfully satsifying fashion if you know whats good for you, sonny.Ill be honest, Im probably making it sound a bit more like wacky mayhem than it is. Much like all of its siblings, RoadCraft adopts a very serious and kind of lifeless simulatory tone, you switching one virtual pipe for another and ending up stalled upside down in the process is something that requires a stoic expression at all times. Saber will let you hop into the drivers seat of a big scrapyard crane thats basically a claw machine youve got to fill out a 50 page risk assessment to move an inch, but you should not be smiling while youre in there.As mentioned, there is a decent amount of fresh stuff to dig into across the demo's three levels, even if the central loops a pretty familiar one. The road building mechanics are a nice excuse to watch big vehicles drive backwards and forwards while you pretend you can smell the tarmac going down. Then, youve got the challenge of having to make sure youve done a good enough job of both road, er, crafting and moving general debris thats been strewn about that the AI can follow a route youve pinpointed for it without coming a cropper. Its an interesting twist, given so often these games boil down to whether you yourself, with your lack of concept of things that shouldnt work, can find a way to overcome obstacles by pulling the kind of nonsense that only a real human could. Relax, I've got this - I once nabbed three stuffed toys in three goes in a Yakuza game. | Image credit: Saber InteractiveThat said, you get plenty of exactly that kind of terrain shithousery when doing things like laying cable - you can only put down wires on soft ground, meaning mud and grass, so youre barred from using the paved roads. What followed in this case for me was dragging a vehicle thats a very unwieldy shape, but admittedly can drive over anything thanks to its tracks, through the backwoods. Is it ok in real life if electrical wires are just casually laid by someone driving through the middle of a river or swampy pool? Shouldnt they be somewhere easier to get at than in the middle of some woods a hundred miles from a road for maintenance purposes? Probably not, but it works here.Fitting a valve, however, proved incredibly difficult. I spent a good hour trying to slot it into place with my crane after lugging it all the way to the pipe from a random scrap yard, and I couldnt for the life of me get it to snap into place properly. I couldnt find anything in the codex to work out what I was doing wrong, especially as the regular pipe sections Id had to replace had snapped right in once Id taken out the bits they were subbing in for. In the end, I gave up, but I could try again tomorrow, have it immediately sort itself and that wouldnt be the first time thats happened to me with this series.Theres a decent selection of fresh and interesting vehicles in the demo to try these kinds of jobs with, but the real test for RoadCraft will be whether it does enough different when the full thing arrives to prove it deserves to exist as a separate thing to its predecessors. If it can, its something I can see being a cult hit, but if it doesnt I can see the initial charm of being a slightly inept Bob the Builder being rapidly swept away, like a pile of sand in front of a dozers scoop.

How would you rate the latest showcase?But 2024 seemed to take some feedback on board. The presentation was snappier and we got a few big announcements, one being Pokmon TC Pocket, the other being the source of almost everyone's excitement Pokmon Legends: Z-A.Subscribe to Nintendo Life on YouTube796kTeased at the very end of the Presents, almost 366 days later, we know next to nothing about the upcoming Pokmon game. It's set in the Kalos region, the stage for Pokmon X & Y, and takes place entirely in Lumiose City. It's also slated to be part of Generation IX, so it's in the same pocket of games as Pokmon Scarlet & Violet. Mega Evolution has been teased, too. And it's coming out in 2025.Pokmon Presents 2025, then which we know is coming thanks to a Pokmon GO datamine is surely going to give us a good look at the new Legends game. So, for the first time in a while, I'm actually a little excited. Emphasis on little, because looking at previous Pokmon Presents, my (and others') expectations are pretty low.There's no guarantee that Z-A will show up on 27th Feb, but I'd be pretty shocked if it didn't. It's rare that we know nothing about a main Pokmon game for such a long time. How is the whole game set in Lumiose City? Are you rebuilding it? Are there any new Pokmon forms la Hisuian from Legends: Arceus? What unique mechanics are there? What does it look like? Will it touch on the Kalos War? And will it be a cross-gen title for Switch and Switch 2?Z-A was initially announced for the Switch, and I don't see it not coming to Nintendo's current, if ageing hardware. But we all know how Scarlet & Violet and, to a lesser extent, Arceus ran on the Switch. You'd hope the lure of new tech and the experience of working on the Switch would help Game Freak brush up a bit. Plus, with the Switch 2's existence no longer a myth, TPC can also start making announcements for the new console.Image: The Pokmon CompanyOf course, there's also the potential for Z-A to be delayed to 2026, which would be a pretty big blow, unless TPC has a remake or something else up its sleeve. Pokmon Black & White remake rumours have been floating around for a good while now, and while the prospect of remakes of one of my favourite Pokmon games makes me nervous, a lot of fans have been asking after it.Again, I'll stress, that my expectations for the presentation as a whole are relatively low. Even for Z-A, we might just get a trailer with no explanation. I'd be happy enough with that! But there will probably be a swathe of other announcements and long talking heads segments to wade through first.There's also the matter of the next generation of Pokmon, Gen X. There's every chance the next duo of Pokmon games could be teased next week, but I think TPC will be saving those for the 30th anniversary, which is next year. Z-A is part of Gen IX, and is likely the final curtain for what has been a rocky gen for Switch Pokmon fans.Who knows! Perhaps TPC will surprise us, go in for a deep dive on Z-A, or keep things short and snappy. A tiny part of me wants to get excited because I feel like I've lost a lot of love for a franchise that, essentially, got me into video games. I grew up with Pokmon, but I can't get enthusiastic over a presentation that only focuses on games for a few minutes minutes.The August 2023 one was... erm, poor.Watch on YouTube I'll take a little look at a claymation figure from the upcoming Aardman Animation collaboration, though.Anyway, enough of my rambling and ranting let us know what you're expecting from Pokmon Day in 2024 by voting in our polls and by leaving a comment. A Sunny Day may be around the corner.Do you enjoy Pokmon Presents? (102 votes)Yes! They're my favourite showcases of the year8%They're good when they bring the big news54%I don't mind them17%Nope, they're boring, yet I watch every time16%Pokmon... Presents? Is that a new move?6%Do you think we'll see Pokmon Legends: Z-A at the next Pokmon Presents? (97 votes)Yes, and we'll get a new trailer and release date60%Yes, but just new info or a trailer37%Yep, but it will be delayed to 2026 0%Nope, it will get its own show later in 2025 0%No way3%Related GamesSee Also

Image: Nightdive StudiosIt's not been that long since Nightdive Studios released The Thing: Remastered, but we know many of you were holding off on adding it to your collection in the hope that it would receive a physical release. Well, your wish has been granted!Launching on 25th June 2025 (the 43rd anniversary of the 1982 John Carpenter movie), the physical release will come in two flavours: standard and deluxe. The latter is priced at $49.99 / 54.99 and comes with a gorgeous steelbook case, a poster, Captain Blake's ID card, patches, and a deluxe edition box. The standard costs $29.99 / 34.99 and comes with, well... the game.Subscribe to Nintendo Life on YouTube796kWatch on YouTube Pre-orders are available via Atari's website, but the title can also be picked up at select retailers globally.Let's remind ourselves of the game's key features:- Return to U.S. Outpost #31: Continue the story of The Thing and face off against terrifying monsters, from scuttling head-spiders and human-like walkers to gigantic multi-tentacled level bosses- Who Goes There?: Command a squad of up to four NPCs from Soldier, Medic, and Engineer character classes through the games 11 frightening levels- The Warmest Place to Hide: Someone in your squad may not be who they appear to be. The shape-shifting alien hides inside an imitation, so keep a watchful eye- Dont Lose It: Gain the trust of your squad members and minimize their fear levels lest they become defiant or, worse, succumb to paranoia- Ultimate Alien Terror: Upgraded models, textures, and animations hand-crafted by Nightdive, plus enhanced lighting and atmospheric effectsImage: Nightdive StudiosWhat do you think of this one? Were you holding off on The Thing in the hopes of a physical release? Share your thoughts with a comment below.

Investors on the lookout for startups working at the frontiers of technology are casting their nets ever further into unchartered territory, sometimes literally as well as figuratively. In one of the latest examples, a startup called Karman+ with ambitions to build autonomous spacecraft that can travel to asteroids and then mine them for materials has now raised $20 million in a seed round that it will be using to get itself to its next stage of hardware and software development.Karman+s initial target is very out-there. It aims to build a vessel that can travel to asteroids potentially millions of miles away, mine them, extract water from that material (called regolith), and then travel back to the earths orbit to use that water to refuel space tugs and the propulsion for ageing satellites to extend their life. Later, it sees opportunities to contribute to further work to extract rare metals and other materials from asteroids, and contribute to the development of a wider space manufacturing ecosystem, to offset or complement work on Earth.It sounds like the stuff of science fiction (and it is, as astroid mining was a central theme in the 2013 Nebula Award winning book called 2312). But the team believes that with advances in autonomous technology, space exploration, and Karman+s own work so far building its spacecraft with off-the-shelf components, the team is closer to realising its goal than you might think.Karman+ believes that missions can be run for $10 million or less, compared to the $1 billion thats been spent on missions to explore asteroids up to now. And that the potential market for refuelling could be worth single digit billions of dollars per year per year.The team is currently aiming for its first launch in 2027.Denver, Colorado-based Karman+ has roots in The Netherlands by way of co-founder and CEO Teun van den Dries. Its through that Euro connection that Karman+ has found willing investors to fuel its own journey. London-based Plural and Antwerp-based Hummingbird are leading this seed round, with deep tech-focused HCVC (Paris-founded), Kevin Mahaffey (Lookout), un-named angels and Van den Dries himself participating.Karman+ was named after the Karman Line, a concept of where Earths atmosphere ends and space begins. That is also a fitting metaphor for how Van den Dries approached the idea of starting the company in the first place with co-founder Daynan Crull.Image Credits:under a Karman+ (opens in a new window) license.The two worked together at Van den Dries previous enterprise, a real estate data startup called GeoPhy that was acquired for $290 million in 2022. After the acquisition, Van den Dries said he started to reassess his career priorities.He describes himself as being a science fiction nerd who studied aerospace engineering in college but never worked in the field. Instead, hed been building SaaS companies for the past 20 years.Two years ago, I was at an inflection point, he recalled. I can do the SaaS optimization play for another five years, and the business will probably be a lot bigger and more valuable. Or, I could spend time and energy on something that I think will have a much bigger impact.Teaming up with Crull, a data scientist by training who is now the mission architect for Karman+, Van den Dries attention turned to space.I wanted something that was under invested, he said of the space market. That ruled out fusion, which he also considered. Startups working on fusion technology have collectively raised more than $5 billion in funding, per Dealroom data.Mining asteroids is a new frontier, but also represented potential cost efficiency, he said, since typically when an organization wants to do something in space, it needs to launch all the components from Earth, and that is very costly.The beauty of asteroids is that theyre at the right plane, he said of their orbit. It is the easiest, cheapest, fastest place to get resources, certainly compared to the moon, and actually also compared to launching it all from Earth. So the unlock there is if you are able to provide [material] at attractive prices. You can start to build a flywheel that allows you to to do all sorts of things that right now we just cannot do at all. Its not the only one trying to this: AstroForge is another asteroid mining startup. But this is all obviously easier said than done. There are several variables that would need to line up to achieve the first phase of Karman+s roadmap.The startups spacecraft has yet to be completed, let alone tested. Although the Karman+ founders believe they can bring costs down to around $10 million, so far asteroids have only been probed by spacecraft a handful of times before. This by teams from NASA and once by a Japanese team and at great cost: more than $1 billion a single NASA mission.Also, the asteroids, orbiting the sun, themselves are moving targets and unless youre counting against the odds they are nowhere near earth. This NASA page tracks the closest approaches of these rocks, which range in size and can be as large as buildings, and it notes distances from Earth of between hundreds of thousands of miles, and millions of miles.Then there is the issues of the satellites themselves. The premise of Karman+s extraction is that it can be used to refuel, but in reality not all of them use hydrogen and oxygen (solar and batteries are also used). Refuelling itself is not a fully-solved problem and it seems that there are other approaches in play.And Karman+ has another, slightly more mundane hurdle: it will need to raise more money to closer to launch.That is not something that Karman+ or its investors are currently considering, taking its ambitions one step at a time.I went into this conversation very skeptically, and one thing I found out was that the founders have approached this very skeptically, too, said Sten Tamkivi, a partner at Plural. Skepticism acts as a control, and Tamkivi believes it will help the team remain realistic as they progress. That gave him, he said, the confidence to put money down on this (literally) far-out idea.I think you see way more YOLO in the software world, he added. People assume that, hey, everything has been built and so you just plow through and youll figure out what the problems are later. The space guys, they actually make detailed plans. Theres a lot of stuff that you can review, dig in and get third party opinions.