The company behind the Claude chatbot was valued at $61.5 billion, after it overcame investor fears sparked by the success of Chinas DeepSeek.

If you dont answer, like youre sort of semi-fired, the president said Monday.

Something from Nothing Nothing explains why the Phone 3a Pro ended up with a giant camera Nothing knows it's not for everyone. Ryan Whitwam Feb 24, 2025 3:34 pm | 1 Credit: Nothing Credit: Nothing Story textSizeSmallStandardLargeWidth *StandardWideLinksStandardOrange* Subscribers only Learn moreNothing, the smartphone venture from OnePlus co-founder Carl Pei, is on its third generation of Android smartphones. The Nothing Phone 3a and 3a Pro will be officially announced on March 4, but there won't be much left to reveal. Not only has Nothing teased the phones a few times, there's also a new video highlighting the Nothing Phone 3a Pro's design. In it, Nothing's design team speaks at length about how they tried to incorporate the chunky camera module, but what they came up with is going to be divisive.As we approach 20 years since the iPhone made touchscreen smartphones the default, the form factor is very fleshed out. Some of today's most popular smartphones have almost reached the point of anti-designflat, unremarkable bodies that are intended to be covered up with a case. There's something to be said for that when most people slap a sheet of plastic on their phone and only remove it once in a blue moon. Nothing, however, designs phones with transparent panels and glowing "Glyphs" that are intended to be seen. In the case of the 3a Pro, there's also a camera module so big it's sure to stand out.People generally want big screens and big batteries that don't make phones too thick or heavy. Some components have shrunk or been dropped entirely to free-up space (a moment of silence for the dearly departed headphone jack). Camera modules, however, can't shrink infinitely. Smaller lenses and sensors have an impact on image quality, so expensive phones often have gargantuan camera arrays that can make phones top-heavy. For example, look at the Google Pixel 9 series, which features a camera bump that towers above the rest of the back.The Nothing Phone 3a Pro isn't a flagship device, but it'll have more cameras than the Nothing Phone 3a that will release at the same time. The new design video shows off the phone's three rear-facing sensors: a 50MP primary, an 8MP ultrawide, and a 50MP periscope telephoto (focal length unknown). The Nothing Phone 3a Pro has three of those glowing Glyphs on the back, framing the enormous camera module. The phone's PCB also needed some tweaks to make room for the folded periscope assembly, which is much thicker than the other sensors. Nothing explains why the Phone 3a looks like that. In the video, the designers talk about the tight timeline for finalizing industrial design, which was only about three months in the case of the Nothing Phone 3a Pro. They went through numerous design iterations in that time, exploring ways to adorn the camera module with lenses and lights. Some of the prototypes they show actually do a better job of minimizing the camera, but the disk-shape won out because it looked more consistent with the phone's overall design languagethey want it to grab your attention.Even though Nothing has gone to great lengths to cultivate a distinctive brand identity, it's not the only company to use a big, round camera module. OnePlus, Xiaomi, and Huawei have all used similar designs. While the shape of the aluminum camera bump on the latest Nothing phone makes it stand out, it may not be in the right way.The designers note that Nothing's designs don't usually find universal approval. Some people won't like the brand's aesthetic, and others think the Glyphs and transparent panels are refreshing. "Some people will love it and some people will hate it," a designer says in the video.Nothing won't talk pricing until next month, but the company's A-series phones are priced below flagship level. The Nothing Phone 2a was priced at $350, and the Phone 2 was $600. The Phone 3a Pro, which runs a Snapdragon 7s Gen 3 processor with 12GB of RAM, will probably be someplace in the middle. That will put it up against phones like the Pixel 8a.Ryan WhitwamSenior Technology ReporterRyan WhitwamSenior Technology Reporter Ryan Whitwam is a senior technology reporter at Ars Technica, covering the ways Google, AI, and mobile technology continue to change the world. Over his 20-year career, he's written for Android Police, ExtremeTech, Wirecutter, NY Times, and more. He has reviewed more phones than most people will ever own. You can follow him on Bluesky, where you will see photos of his dozens of mechanical keyboards. 1 Comments

rise of the rebellion The revolution starts now with Andor S2 teaser "We're in a war. You wanna fight? Or you wanna win?" Jennifer Ouellette Feb 24, 2025 3:15 pm | 8 Credit: LucasFilm/Disney+ Credit: LucasFilm/Disney+ Story textSizeSmallStandardLargeWidth *StandardWideLinksStandardOrange* Subscribers only Learn more Diego Luna returns as Cassian in the forthcoming second season of Andor. The first season of Andor, the Star Wars prequel series to Rogue One and A New Hope, earned critical raves for its gritty aesthetic and multilayered narrative rife with political intrigue. While ratings were a bit sluggish, they were good enough to win the series a second season, and Disney+ just dropped the first action-packed teaser trailer.(Spoilers for S1 below.)As previously reported, the story begins five years before the events of Rogue One, with the Empire's destruction of Cassian Andor's (Diego Luna) homeworld and follows his transformation from a "revolution-averse" cynic to a major player in the nascent rebellion who is willing to sacrifice himself to save the galaxy. S1 left off with Cassian returning to Ferrix for the funeral of his adoptive mother, Maarva (Fiona Shaw), rescuing a friend from prison, and dodging an assassination attempt. A post-credits scene showed prisoners assembling the firing dish of the now-under-construction Death Star.According to the official longline, S2 "will see the characters and their relationships intensify as the horizon of war draws near and Cassian becomes a key player in the Rebel Alliance. Everyone will be tested and, as the stakes rise, the betrayals, sacrifices and conflicting agendas will become profound. "In addition to Luna, most of the main cast from S1 is returning: Genevieve O'Reilly as Mon Mothma, a senator of the Republic who helped found the Rebel Alliance; Adria Arjona as mechanic and black market dealer Bix Caleen; James McArdle as Caleen's boyfriend, Timm Karlo; Kyle Soller as Syril Karn, deputy inspector for the Preox-Morlana Authority; Stellan Skarsgrd as Luthen Rael, an antiques dealer who is secretly part of the Rebel Alliance; Denise Gough as Dedra Meero, supervisor for the Imperial Security Bureau; Faye Marsay as Vel Sartha, a Rebel leader on the planet Aldhani; Varada Sethu as Cinta Kaz, another Aldhani Rebel; Elizabeth Dulau as Luthen's assistant Kleya; and Muhannad Bhaier as Wilmon, who runs the Repaak Salyard.Forest Whitaker once again reprises his Rogue One role as Clone Wars veteran Saw Gerrera, joined by fellow Rogue One alums Ben Mendelsohn and Alan Tudyk as Orson Krennic and K-2SO. Benjamin Bratt has also been cast in an as-yet-undisclosed role. The same team of writers is returning, too: Tony Gilroy, Dan Gilroy, and Beau Willimon. There will be four three-episode blocks, with a yearlong jump between each block; the final scene will take us right to the start of Rogue One. And it's expected that Cassian will finally cross paths with Mon Mothma in S2.The first three (of 12) episodes of Andor S2 premiere on April 22, 2025, on Disney+. Subsequent three-episode chapters will drop weekly for the next three weeks after that. Credit: Disney+ Jennifer OuelletteSenior WriterJennifer OuelletteSenior Writer Jennifer is a senior writer at Ars Technica with a particular focus on where science meets culture, covering everything from physics and related interdisciplinary topics to her favorite films and TV series. Jennifer lives in Baltimore with her spouse, physicist Sean M. Carroll, and their two cats, Ariel and Caliban. 8 Comments

Wooden spears from Schningen, Germany, dated to 300,000 years agoMinkusimages; Matthias Vogel, NLD.Prehistoric people may have used throwing spears to hunt large animals 300,000 years ago and perhaps as far back as 2 million years ago. A new analysis of preserved wooden spears indicates they could be thrown over medium distances, as well as used for thrusting.Traditionally, you would say thrusting is more simple than throwing, as a technological concept, says Dirk Leder at the Lower Saxony State Office for Cultural Heritage in Hanover, Germany. You have to understand aerodynamics for throwing to

Manganese nodules on the seafloor in the Clarion-Clipperton Zone in the Pacific Ocean, photographed by a 2015 expeditionROV KIEL 6000/GEOMAR (CC BY 4.0)Biodiversity is depleted and large furrows still lie in the seabed where deep-sea mining equipment operated more than 40 years ago, in findings that suggest it will take the deep sea multiple decades to fully recover from mining activities.Deep-sea nodules are packed with valuable metallic resources such as cobalt and manganese, critical components in electric car batteries and other devices.In 1979,

Some 60,000 DoorDash delivery workers will split a $16.75M settlement, NY officials said Monday.The settlement ends a probe into deceptive tipping practices and works out to $10K-$14K per driver.DoorDash used tips to offset driver salaries, deceiving customers and workers, AG Letitia James said.DoorDash will pay a $16.75 million settlement to resolve a probe led by New York officials into the delivery platform's tipping practices.The settlement will be split among some 60,000 delivery workers known as "Dashers" and works out to between $10,000 and $14,000 per worker, New York Attorney General Letitia James said Monday.For years, DoorDash used tips to offset what it paid its Dashers, James told reporters in announcing the settlement.In an example provided by James, if Dashers were offered a guaranteed amount of $10 for a delivery, and the customer did not tip, DoorDash would pay the Dasher the promised $10.But if the customer tipped $3, then DoorDash would let the Dasher keep that tip and pay only $7 out of its own corporate coffers.The practice was kept secret from customers and DoorDash delivery workers, James said. Dashers did not know that their tips were not adding to their income, she said. And customers had no idea that their tips were not subsidizing their Dashers' incomes and were instead helping the company save money.New York, which also worked with Illinois and DC on the probe, gained access to communications among DoorDash executives who worried that their Dashers would "figure out" what was going on, James told reporters."Doordash executives knew how deceptive this policy was," she said. "They knew it wasn't right but they did it anyway."Under the settlement, the New York AG's office will set up a website for Dashers to use to claim their money. DoorDash will be required to end the tip-sharing practice and lack of transparency in how tips are handled, and for the next three years must report to the AG's office every 6 months on compliance.A DoorDash spokesperson could not immediately be reached for comment.

The world's supply of Brie and Camembert could be in danger. One mold, called Penicillium camemberti, is responsible for the cheeses' iconic white rinds and creamy, tangy centers. But the qualities that once made it a star of the cheese world are becoming a liability driving some to hunt for colorful fungi in the wild to make completely new cheeses. So, are these famous French cheeses really facing catastrophe? And what does this mean for cheese lovers around the world?Show more

Is Persona 4 getting the reload treatment? (Atlus/Sega)A long rumoured remake of Persona 4 may be closer than ever, as a singer from the series hints at a new game.In the nine years since Persona 5 released in Japan, developer Atlus has knocked out various spin-offs, expansions, and remakes to keep fans satiated until the next mainline instalment.The latest was last years Persona 3 Reload, a remake of the third game which was originally released in 2006 on the PlayStation 2. It became the fastest selling game in Atlus history, selling one million copies within its first week.The success of Persona 3 Reload has inevitably led to rumours of a remake for its successor, Persona 4, but evidence has now emerged which suggests it might be more than wishful thinking.As spotted by X user rudiger_tw, singer Shihoko Hirata, who has contributed to various games in the series but is best known for tracks in Persona 4, announced she was in a recording studio working on a new, unspecified game.Recording for a new game today! she wrote on Instagram. The piece is pretty tough, so Im a bit nervous about getting it right. But Ill do my best!While she doesnt name the studio shes in, based on the picture, Persona fans believe Hirata is in the MIT Studio in Tokyo, which is where all the recent soundtracks in the Persona series have been recorded.https://www.instagram.com/p/DGVB6EqJkDs/?hl=enThe same fans identified the studio based on a making of documentary for the recording of Persona 5 Strikers, which does have the same setup and wood-panelled ceiling.While other soundtracks outside of the Persona games are recorded at MIT Studio, Hirata has fanned the flames by liking various comments from fans related to Persona 4 which, while possibly just an acknowledgement, some have taken as a hint.Considering the success of Persona 3 Reload, a remake of Persona 4 in the same vein seems like a safe bet. Although it might still be a few years off yet if it does exist.Whats happening with Persona 6?There have been plenty of rumours around Persona 6s release for years, but almost none of them so far have proven accurate.More TrendingVarious rumours have suggested it will launch at some point in 2025, alongside a mobile version of Persona 5 called Persona 5X. Another rumour also claimed the game will have a green colour scheme, following Persona 5s red theme.While Persona is often associated with PlayStation, there might be a chance Atlus is holding off announcing the sequel if it is planned for the Switch 2.Past games in the series, including Persona 5 Royal and Persona 4 Golden, were ported to the Switch in 2022 and Atlus has made it clear its committed to a multiformat policy in the future. Persona 4 is a fan favourite (Atlus/Sega)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

By Isaac Schultz Published February 24, 2025 | Comments (0) | Cliffs in San Simeon, California. Photo: NASA/JPL-Caltech Rising and sinking land across the state of California could affect sea levels in the state in the coming decades, according to an analysis by researchers at NASAs Jet Propulsion Laboratory. The researchers studied satellite radar data to capture the vertical movement of land across more than one thousand miles (1,610 kilometers) of California coast. Comparing that data with historical observations of the same locations, the team found that land was subsiding and rising at levels much higher than regional estimates. The teams researchpublished last month in Science Advancesreveals the amount of surface motion on the ground using data from the European Space Agencys Sentinel-1 satellites and ground-based receiving stations that are part of the Global Navigation Satellite System. The data was collected between 2015 and 2023 and shows how different areas across the state are rising and sinking. In the image below, areas in blue are subsiding, while areas in red are rising (the darker the red, the faster the rise). A map of Californias land rise and subsidence. Image: Michala Garrison, using data from Govorcin, M., et al. (2025) According to a NASA JPL release, the San Francisco Bay Area is subsiding at a rate of more than 0.4 inches (10 millimeters) per year, in large part due to sediment compaction. The team posited in the study that local sea levels could rise by more than 17 inches (45 cm) by 2050 due to the subsidence, at least in the lowest-lying parts of San Rafael, Corte Madera, Foster City, and Bay Farm Island. In many parts of the world, like the reclaimed ground beneath San Francisco, the land is moving down faster than the sea itself is going up, said Marin Govorcin, a scientist at NASA JPL and lead author of the study, in an agency release.The team also found hot spots of uplift (several millimeters per year) in the Santa Barbara groundwater basin and Long Beach. In parts of L.A. and San Diego counties, the team found evidence that human drivers of land motion increase uncertainties in sea level projections by up to 15 inches (40 cm); human activities including groundwater extraction and hydrocarbon production make it harder to predict the motion of land.Meanwhile, the team observed downward motion in land areas associated with landslides, such as the Palos Verdes Peninsula south of Los Angeles. Future observations of elevation changes across North America will be aided by the JPLs OPERA project (the Observational Products for End-Users from Remote Sensing Analysis). In tandem with the NISAR mission, a joint effort between NASA and the Indian space agency ISRO, OPERA will collect data on the elevation of North America, ensuring that the ever-changing surface of our continent can be carefully monitored.Daily NewsletterYou May Also Like Adam Kovac and George Dvorsky Published February 21, 2025 By Isaac Schultz Published February 20, 2025 By Adam Kovac Published February 19, 2025 By Isaac Schultz Published February 19, 2025 By Isaac Schultz Published February 18, 2025 By Isaac Schultz Published February 17, 2025