CAPTCHA tests are being used to install infostealer malware.gettyInfostealers are the new black as far as the malware of choice for pretty most all cybercriminals outside of the ransomware attack sphere. Although ransomware actors do steal data as an extortion leverage tool, the threat to passwords from massive and dedicated ongoing infostealer campaigns cannot be ignored. Now security researchers have observed a new threat campaign that has deployed as many as 5,000 fake CAPTCHA I Am Not A Robot tests that lead to installation of the most alarming of infostealers, the Lumma stealer malware. Heres what you need to know and do.Widespread Attack Uses Fake CAPTCHA Tests To Deploy Lumma Infostealer ThreatResearchers working at the Netskope Threat Labs have observed a widespread phishing campaign that employs the use of fake CAPTCHA images to target victims searching for PDF documents on major search engines. The methodology used includes getting users to complete the I Am Not A Robot tests in order to install the notoriously dangerous Lumma infostealer malware with an ultimate aim of obtaining passwords, credit card details and other personal information. The attacker uses SEO to trick victims into visiting the pages by clicking on malicious search engine results, Jan Michael Alcantara, a threat research engineer at Netskope Threat Labs, said, adding that some of these contain fake CAPTCHAs that trick victims into executing malicious PowerShell commands, ultimately leading to the Lumma Stealer malware.At least 7,000 users have been affected so far, according to Alcantara, with most located in North America, Asia, and Southern Europe across technology, financial services and manufacturing sectors. The PDF used to deliver Lumma Stealer contains images to download the document, Alcantara continued, which contains an embedded link that directs victims to a malicious website. After clicking on the download image, the report explained, the victim will then be redirected to the site with the fake CAPTCHA test. If the victim follows the instructions, which are a red flag in and of themselves as they require them to paste clipboard content into a run window, a PowerShell command is executed that downloads and executes the Lumma Stealer malware, Alcantara said.Infostealer Campaign Indicators Of CompromiseBe careful what you search for. Thats very good advice as far as this latest threat campaign is concerned. Remarkably, nearly half of the 4,000 targeted keywords are related to user guides or manuals, Alcantara warned, while over a third are for templates and forms. The words pdf, free, download and printable are among the most frequently repeated keywords used to distribute the malicious documents in these ongoing attacks.Alcantara has confirmed that Netskope Threat Labs continues to hunt for campaigns that are employing these fake CAPTCHA images in PDF files, discovered using search engine results, and has so far found that attackers have been distributing malicious PDFs across over 260 domains and targeting more than 4,000 keywords. Knowing what PDF files are involved, and so avoiding the launch of those dangerous CAPTCHA tests in the first place, is critical. Thankfully, then, all of the indicators of compromise related to this latest infostealer campaign, including full details of the PDFs launching the fake CAPTCHA tests, can be found in the Netskop Threat Labs GitHub repository.

The new Link figma from 'Tears of the Kingdom'.Ollie BarderIts been a while since I reviewed a Zelda action figure, but this new Link figma from Tears of the Kingdom is exceptional.For starters, I really enjoyed Tears of the Kingdom. Far more so than Breath of the Wild. However, to get a decent action figure of the updated blue tunic version of Link wasnt exactly affordable.While Good Smile Company skipped Breath of the Wild in terms of figma releases, they have more than made up for it with this new Tears of the Kingdom figma.To date, my favorite Zelda-related figma is from Skyward Sword. That said, I may have to re-appraise my evaluation after this new Tears of the Kingdom iteration.So what makes it so special then? Well, lots of things. The figma line has undergone a renaissance in recent years, with genuinely astonishing levels of detail and advanced sculpture.To give an idea of what I am talking about, you can see the huge upgrade the figma line has received when you look at the latest Guyver figmas. These are leagues ahead of the older releases, and this is what makes this new Tears of the Kingdom figma stand out.The main thing is that the detailing and finesse of the sculpt are remarkably high-end for a figure this small. Its not that this figma is undersized, not at all. Its in line with other recent figma releases but has a lot more detail and intricate aspects to its sculpt.The articulation on this figma is excellent.Ollie BarderFrom the new armor, chain mail, belts, arrows to just everything else really. Its all very accurate to the game.The version I managed to get my hands on was the DX release, which has extra weapons and other additional accessories.As with all figmas, you get a nice stand that allows for aerial poses. Even with the increased detail, the articulation is still very solid, holding poses just fine without the stand (shown above).You also get all sorts of additional hands and facial expressions; even Links new ponytail is articulated.Theres a lot here, and as someone that has almost all the prior Link figmas, this may be the best and almost my favorite. The latter is more my preference for Skyward Swords design, more than the figma itself.All that aside, if you enjoyed Tears of the Kingdom, then this is a must-buy figma. More figmas from the game are on their way, including Zelda and Ganondorf, but this Link figma is definitely worth getting.This figma of Link from Tears of the Kingdom is available on the Good Smile Company online shop for 16,800 yen (or around $112 as of writing).Figma Link Tears of the Kingdom DXOllie BarderManufacturer: Good Smile CompanyRelease Date: February 2025Price: $112 (approx)Disclosure: Good Smile Company sent me this figma for the purposes of this review.Follow me on X, Facebook and YouTube. I also manage Mecha Damashii and am currently featured in the Giant Robots exhibition currently touring Japan.

Table of ContentsTable of ContentsVivos alliance with Zeiss pays offPortraits better than any other $400 phoneEqual love for all camerasImproved soft light for better night portraitsExceptionally good selfiesThis is an exceptional camera phoneVivo has a pedigree of great camera phones. Its X series phones, such as my favorite Vivo X200 Pro, specialize in capturing images that look far too similar to those with those captured with professional cameras. Over the years, these capabilities have trickled down to the sub-flagship series and have now come to a phone further down Vivos price-wise hierarchy of devices. I have been testing the Vivo V50, a mere $400 Android phone with excellent features such as a 120Hz curved AMOLED, 90-watt fast charging, IP68 and IP69 rating, and quite a peculiar glass back that makes you feel like youre peeping through as conduit in the space-time continuum.What truly amazes me about the Vivo V50 is its camera, which borrows heavily from the flagship X series. As I will show you below, it captures some unbelievably good and almost magical shots that I havent seen on any non-Vivo device. Its features seem far above its price point, and the picture quality makes me feel it has, perhaps, the best cameras I have ever tried on a mid-range phone.Recommended VideosHeres why I feel the Vivo V50 is above its competitors and easily beats any other phone for this price.RelatedTushar Mehta / Digital TrendsVivo has collaborated with optics company Zeiss for the last six generations of its flagship X series phones, which has helped Vivo bilaterally. On the hardware front, Zeiss enables Vivo to design better lenses that minimize color distortion and glares. In terms of software, Vivo has adopted Zeiss color profile and emulated bokeh styles inspired by popular Zeiss camera lenses.For the mid-range V series, these enhancers have been relatively new, and only available for the last two generations with the V50 being the third one. More interestingly, though, Zeiss upgrades have been limited to the Pro variants in the series, and the Vivo V50 is actually the first non-Pro variant to get a Zeiss label and enhancements that come with it.For the Vivo V50, these improvements are largely limited to software, but the company has poured all its strengths to ensure the phone performs better than the rest, as you will see with examples in the coming sections.Tushar Mehta / Digital TrendsThe Vivo V50 lacks a dedicated telephoto camera, but Vivo is confident the 50MP primary camera is good enough for portraits. The confidence reflects through photos the phone takes, and leaves no evidence for the lack of a dedicated portrait shooter. In addition, the Zeiss-inspired bokeh styles make portraits rather unique (unless compared to another Vivo flagship), and no other phone in the segment does that.Take for instance this series of portraits taken in daylight, all of them at 2X zoom. The Vivo V50 tastefully captured the details around my face and hair, with a seamless transition to the background, resulting in a very natural-looking bokeh.1. Zeiss Sonnar2. Zeiss Biotar 3. Zeiss B-SpeedThe camera also recreates bokeh effects from Zeiss lenses, such as B-Speed, Biotar, Planar, and Sonnar very effectively. In each of these cases, dots of light filtering through the tree behind me are converted to specific shapes, which on the original Zeiss lens are created with physical lens shutters shaped like these. On the Vivo V50, all the effects are rendered digitally.Its surprising to see the Vivo V50 accomplish this without a dedicated camera with a longer focal range. But, it is challenging to spot a single spot where the bokeh appears awkwardly imposed.Portraits shot indoors recreate similar Zeiss bokeh effects, even with the muted intensity of the tiny lights in the background (actually a chandelier). Details around my friends face feel compromised as the phone tries to use HDR to brighten it up against light. But, bokeh is still as compelling as it is on images during the day.1. Sonnar 2. Planar3. B-SpeedWhile all the portraits above were shot at 2X zoom, the mode is not limited to that one camera.Tushar Mehta / Digital TrendsSpecial portrait effects extended to all cameras on the Vivo V50, including the ultrawide-angle and the front cameras. Since the primary camera is responsible for shooting images at both 1X and 2X, this leads to three different levels of zoom for the portrait mode.Instead of multipliers for the zoom levels, Vivo denotes them in steps of focal length, suggesting the approximate values these cameras simulate. As a result, the portrait mode can shoot at 23mm, 35mm, and 50mm the higher the number, the farther a camera can zoom into.Heres how the same scene is captured at three different levels of zoom by the phone.1. 0.6X 23mm2. 1X 35mm3. 2X 50mmDespite images taken at varying levels of zoom, V50 does a good job at creating the shallow depth of field on the background. The intensity of bokeh also varies with the focal length as the phone tries to replicate the effect using nothing but software.Admittedly, daylight does benefit the results, lending more clarity to the images and maintaining a clear distinction between the foreground and the background. So I wouldnt call it as good as premium phones, such as the Vivo X200 Pro. But the results are still appreciable considering the hardware including the not-so-sophisticated image signal processor on the Snapdragon 7 Gen 3 chipset inside the phone.Im truly impressed with its portraits shot with the ultrawide angle camera, which, despite being less powerful than the main sensor, captures details well.In these portraits shot with the ultrawide angle camera, you can see the V50 preserves focus on the subjects bodies while blurring the background. It does all of that without autofocus on the specific camera, making it a bigger deal in addition to the fact that most phones wont let you shoot portraits with ultrawide cameras at all. In addition, Vivos special color filters also add more character to images if you are looking to just shoot and post them to your social media immediately.Preset color filters on Vivo V50. Tushar Mehta / Digital TrendsBut beyond daylight, the Vivo V50 also gets a dedicated feature to enable clear and crisp portraits in low light.Vivo V50s Aura Light. Tushar Mehta / Digital TrendsVivo champions low-light photography on its flagship devices, such as the Vivo X200 Pro, with large aperture lenses and dedicated hardware for image processing. However, limitations with mid-range cameras and processors, such as the V series phones, have steered in the direction of another lighting solution, i.e., a soft light.The soft light, which Vivo calls Aura Light, has been present in four generations before this one, and has improved with each new model. In its fifth iteration, the Aura Light is 1.4 times brighter than the last time, and has a broader range of color temperatures ranging from a very warm, almost orange hue to cool white. The colors of the light automatically adjust based on the distance between the phone and the subject, though you can also override the controls using the existing sliders. In addition to the lights temperature, Vivo also adds controls to manually adjust the intensity.Below I take a look at a series of portraits taken at different zoom levels, with and without the Aura Light. For a better comparison, I have arranged images in an increasing order of zoom from left to right, with the top row showing images without the light while the bottom row is similarly arranged but with photos with the light. To challenge the Vivo V50, these images were shot at night in a park with limited lighting.As you will notice in the top row, images without the light have ample details and still manage to distinguish between me as the subject and the background. You would also see Zeiss Biotar effect in action, making rugby-shaped artifacts from dots of light seeping through the tree behind me.However, shadows in the images away details and textures around my face, hair, and the hoodie are less visible.But with the V50s soft light in action, lost details are easily recovered, evenly lighting up parts of my face as well as the clothes. I also like that the phone automatically adjusts the lights color to preserve the warm tones of the shot instead of washing me out or making my face look extra pale as a standard phone flash would have.On a technical level, the soft light allows images to be shot at a lower ISO and faster shutter, resulting in fewer distortions and more sharpness.Aura Light adjustment parameters, including manual and automatic modes, on Vivo V50. Tushar Mehta / Digital TrendsThe Zeiss effects in the background are lost with the flash as the overall exposure levels on the frame increase. But, as I will demonstrate below, stronger lights will still be seen.The following set of images represent another remarkable use case for the soft light. All three images below were captured without any external light. Without the soft light, you would simply see my silhouette.But the soft light comes to the rescue, capturing some reasonable details in the images. These arent as impressive as the shots above, especially with the smoothened texture of my face, but I would still give it to the Vivo V50 considering no other phone, including those prices much higher, would come close in terms of details without an external light source, such as ring light.1. Sonnar2. Planar3. B-SpeedAnother impressive bit is that the tiny soft light can provide sufficient light without any majorly harsh shadows. These images above were shot at a distance of over five feet from the camera, which exemplifies that the soft light is supremely better than any regular phone flash.Vivo V50s portraits compared to the OnePlus 13RVivo V50 and OnePlus 13R. Tushar Mehta / Digital TrendsComparing the Vivo V50s portraits to a slightly more expensive phone the OnePlus 13R should hopefully give us a deeper understanding of how its strengths. Below is a series of portraits shot in very low light on both phones. Both phones have the same 50MP primary camera with the same sensor inside. So, any differences in the final images are because of camera algorithms. While we must also attribute part of the difference to specific modifications to lenses, none of the companies shares specifics in this regard. Lets dig into the comparison.Even though the OnePlus 13R gets a dedicated 2X sensor for portrait photography, low-light portraits default to the primary 50MP sensor. The first two images in the gallery below compare how the OnePlus 13R and Vivo V50 produce portraits without direct light.1. OnePlus 13R portrait at 2X2. Vivo V50 portrait at 2X3. Vivo V50 portrait at 2X with Aura LightWhile OnePlus tends to focus on exposure, Vivo aims to maintain a consistent brightness across the frame. Neither does an impressive job, but the Vivo takes an edge with a more natural background blur. The Vivo can also preserve the colorful twinkle lights in the background, while the OnePlus 13R completely paints over it, making the colorful LEDs seem like inconspicuous and faint halos.Like the other images above, the impact of the soft light at improving details and sharpness without cleansing the image of its character is immediately visible.Selfie flash on Vivo V50 with color adjustment settings. Tushar Mehta / Digital TrendsOn the front, like two cameras on the back, the Vivo V50 gets a 50MP sensor. The sensor here is identical to the ultrawide-angle camera. Although the sensor is much smaller than the primary camera with the same resolution, it can click some really impressive shots as we saw with the ultrawide portraits above. The same is expected of the selfie camera here. But theres one thing this camera does that almost no other phones selfie camera does in this price bracket.The Vivo V50 gets autofocus on its selfie camera, which is rare. Despite our craze for selfies, autofocus on the front camera is limited to a small subset of premium phones the iPhones, Galaxy S series, and the Pixels primarily. So, its fascinating to see Vivo take that route.Autofocus on the front camera subtly blurs the background, emphasizing your face or faces in the case of a group. More importantly, it ensures the faces captured in selfies are sharper, truly impacting how we perceive the photo. Additionally, you can take images are varying levels of zoom, with a 0.8X mode for a wider angle than the 1X. Surprisingly, theres even a 2X option for selfies, which is something I dont remember seeing on any phone Ive reviewed recently.1. OnePlus 13R selfie.2. Vivo V50 selfieThe impact of the autofocus becomes immediately evident when we compare selfies shot on the OnePlus 13R and the Vivo V50 side by side. The selfie from the Vivo captures textures on the face better compared to the OnePlus. Besides that, the autofocus results in a subtle background blur even without the portrait mode engaged, immediately improving your perception about the camera.This perception is taken up a notch when comparing portrait selfies taken with both phones. The Vivo already has an advantage with sharper details around the face, thanks to its autofocus, which also enhances the transition to the background. Interesting, Vivos Zeiss effects Biotar in this case also enhance the background while relatively better HDR processing of the background makes the image far more compelling.1. OnePlus 13R selfie portrait2. Vivo V50 selfie portrait with Biotar effectFor selfies to be shot in low light or at night, the Vivo V50 also offers a front-facing flash. Even though its a standard feature, the front facing flash borrows from the rear soft light, offering a slider to choose between a cool or a warm white light, so the face does not look oddly lit compared to the rest of the scene. If you would rather not deal with having to manually adjust the color of the screen flash, the phone can also be set to automatic color adjustment and expect it work flawlessly.1. Low light selfie portrait with screen flash2. Low light selfie portrait without flashEven without the selfie flash engaged, the night mode comes into play, triggering a longer exposure duration. This helps capture well-illuminated selfies, as visible from the image on the right. And even without the same level of detail as daylight selfies, these images taken at night have plenty of elements to admire.Tushar Mehta / Digital TrendsVivos profound understanding and extensive research in simulating effects from actual DSLR or mirrorless cameras shows through each image. While Vivo has successfully accomplished that with its flagship X series, its fascinating to see the inexpensive V series and that too, the non-Pro variant follow suit.It captures images with an incredible mastery, and sharing them with your friends or on social media will automatically garner inquiries about the brand behind it. Their astonishment on learning its a $400 phone is almost priceless. While I would highly recommend the Vivo V50 for its cameras, its equally compelling for its specs, which include a Snapdragon 7 Gen 3 chipset, 12GB of RAM, up to 512GB of storage, and a large 6,000mAh battery with 90W fast charging and silicon-carbon tech that helps keep the phone fairly light despite what it packs.I wouldnt, however, recommend it to you if youre in the U.S. unless you want it solely for good photos and usage off just Wi-Fi. For starters, Vivo doesnt sell in the region so V50 likely wouldnt work with your carrier. Although the phone hasnt launched in Europe, previous models, such as the V40 series, have officially arrived in the region, and you should be able to use it without any issues.Editors Recommendations

An expansive show at the Getty shows how the Impressionist recorded his male subjectsfrom laborers to sportsmen to friendswith a selection of impressive paintings including Man at His Bath, Floor Scrapers and Paris Street, Rainy Day.

T-1000 Building Blocks Weve figured out the basics of a shape-shifting, T-1000-style material A pack of small robots can do liquid/solid transitions and adopt different shapes. Jacek Krywko Mar 1, 2025 7:15 am | 1 Once linked together the robots can support a substantial amount of weight. Credit: Image courtesy of UC Santa Barbara Once linked together the robots can support a substantial amount of weight. Credit: Image courtesy of UC Santa Barbara Story textSizeSmallStandardLargeWidth *StandardWideLinksStandardOrange* Subscribers only Learn moreThe T-1000 in Terminator 2 could change shape at will, morph its hands into blades or turn parts of its body into a fluid to move through metal bars. I saw this movie when I was a childit was like, 'Wow, can you imagine,' I thought, 'being able to do this?' says Otger Camps, a professor at Max Planck Institute of Molecular Biology and Genetics in Dresden, Germany. Now I work on embryos. And what we saw in The Terminator actually happens in an embryo. This kind of shape shifting is what an embryo does.Camps and his team drew inspiration from processes called fluidization and convergent extensionmechanisms that cells in embryos use to coordinate their behavior when forming tissues and organs in a developing organism. The team built a robotic collective where each robotic unit behaved like an embryonic cell. As a collective, the robots behaved like a material that could change shape and switch between solid and liquid states, just like the T-1000.Real-world and sci-fi alloysThe T-1000 was a marvel to behold, but the movie gave no clues as to how it worked. This is why Camps and his colleagues looked for clues elsewhere. Similar shape-shifting properties have been observed in embryos when you watch their development sped up using time-lapse imaging. Tissues in embryos can switch between solid and fluid states to shape the organs. We were thinking how we could engineer robots that would do the same,Camps says.The team focused on three abilities that enable cells in embryonic tissues to work their magic. The first is that they can move relative to each other even when they are tightly packed and connected. The second is signaling: releasing molecules that neighboring cells recognize and respond to, potentially by orienting their movement in a specific direction. The third is the ability of cells to adhere to one another, forming a strong and cohesive whole.Camps and his colleagues decided to design cell-like robots that could do all those things.T-1000 building blocksEach robot had motorized gears around its perimeter that could interlock with gears on other robots. The gears allowed the robots to move within the collective without breaking their bonds with each other, just like cells do in a living organism.Linking the robots was a job of magnets that could rotate to maintain adhesion regardless of their orientation. Each robot also had a photodetector that could sense the polarity of light, allowing basic commands to be sent using a simple flashlight with a polarization filter. The switch between solid and liquid states was driven by fluctuations of the force the motors applied, and we encoded the intensity of those fluctuations in the intensity of light, says Matthew Devlin, a researcher at the Department of Mechanical Engineering at the University of California Santa Barbara and lead author of the study.In response to light signals, two robotic collectives, 20 robots total, could elongate toward each other, touch in the middle, and form a bridge that could hold a load of just under 5 kilograms. After forming a cube, they could support an adult human weighing around 70 kilograms. They could also flow around an object, assume a complementary shape, and stiffen up to act as a wrench. This was the Terminator idea of shapeshifting. This was exactly what we had in mind, Camps claims.The only problem was, the robots were a bit above 5 centimeters in diameter. To get robotic collectives closer to Terminators mimetic polyalloy, the team wants to make the robots smaller. Much smaller.Terminator nanobots?The good news is, you dont have to go down with scale to what you see in living systems, Camps says. Cells are roughly 10 microns. But anything around 100 micronseven up to 1 millimeterrobots would already be really impressive. Unfortunately, we are rather far from making machines that small.According to the team, robots working like ones they used in the study could be scaled down to 1 or 2 centimeters in diameter. At this moment, it is impossible to make something the size of like a grain of rice with all the features we have, but it could well become possible within the next decade, Camps claims. But even if we do figure out the miniaturization part, there are other issues to solve, like powering all those robots up.The robots used in the study were powered by lithium-ion batteries that could keep them operating continuously for about half an hour. But the power consumption was only significant during transitions from one shape to another. Once the collective was locked in a shape, they only needed tiny amounts of power. The big problem is that each robot has to be charged manually. This worked for a collective of 20 robots but would become a real issue if the number of robots went up to hundreds or thousands. One possible solution researchers see is wireless charging, provided we could make it work over longer distances. For now, though, the shape-shifting robotic collective was meant primarily as a proof-of-concept.Were far from the Terminator thing, let me be clear about that. Its not that were doing it tomorrow. If you talk to people doing micro mechanical devices, youll know its not easy, Camps says. But he said the research community now has an example of how something like the T-1000 material could work, and miniaturizing robots is all thats left to do. Our goal was to get people excited to actually go and do it, Camps adds.Science, 2025. DOI: 10.1126/science.ads7942Jacek KrywkoAssociate WriterJacek KrywkoAssociate Writer Jacek Krywko is a freelance science and technology writer who covers space exploration, artificial intelligence research, computer science, and all sorts of engineering wizardry. 1 Comments

The ultimate system seller Half-Life 3 is just the hot exclusive Valve needs to propel SteamOS past Windows Opinion: Just as Half-Life 2 helped launch Steam, a sequel could help establish non-Windows PC gaming. Kyle Orland Mar 1, 2025 7:00 am | 12 We found this logo hidden deep in an abandoned steel forge, Credit: Aurich Lawson | Steam We found this logo hidden deep in an abandoned steel forge, Credit: Aurich Lawson | Steam Story textSizeSmallStandardLargeWidth *StandardWideLinksStandardOrange* Subscribers only Learn moreA little over 20 years ago, Valve was getting ready to release a new Half-Life game. At the same time, the company was trying to push Steam as a new option for players to download and update games over the Internet.Requiring Steam in order to play Half-Life 2 led to plenty of grumbling from players in 2004. But the high-profile Steam exclusive helped build an instant user base for Valve's fresh distribution system, setting it on a path to eventually become the unquestioned leader in the space. The link between the new game and the new platform helped promote a bold alternative to the retail game sales and distribution systems that had dominated PC gaming for decades. Remember DVD-ROMs? Credit: Reddit Remember DVD-ROMs? Credit: Reddit Today, all indications suggest that Valve is getting ready to release a new Half-Life game. At the same time, the company is getting ready to push SteamOS as a new option for third-party hardware makers and individual users to "download and test themselves."Requiring SteamOS to play Half-Life 3 would definitely lead to a lot of grumbling from players. But the high-profile exclusive could help build an instant user base for Valve's fresh operating system, perhaps setting it on the path to become the unquestioned leader in the space. A link between the new game and the new platform could help promote a bold alternative to the Windows-based systems that have dominated PC gaming for decades.Not another Steam MachineGetting players to change the established platform they use to buy and play games (either in terms of hardware or software) usually requires some sort of instantly apparent benefit for the player. Those benefits can range from the tangible (e.g., an improved controller, better graphics performance) to the ancillary (e.g., social features, achievements) to the downright weird (e.g., a second screen on a portable). Often, though, a core reason why players switch platforms is for access to exclusive "system seller" games that aren't available any other way.Half-Life 2's role in popularizing early Steam shows just how much a highly anticipated exclusive can convince otherwise reluctant players to invest time and effort in a new platform. To see what can happen without such an exclusive, we only need to look to Valve's 2015 launch of the Steam Machine hardware line, powered by the first version of the Linux-based SteamOS. Valve offered players very little in the way of affirmative reasons to switch to a SteamOS-powered Steam Machine in 2015. Credit: Alienware Valve offered players very little in the way of affirmative reasons to switch to a SteamOS-powered Steam Machine in 2015. Credit: Alienware At the time, Valve was selling SteamOS mainly as an alternative to a new Windows 8 environment that Valve co-founder Gabe Newell saw as a "catastrophe" in the making for the PC gaming world. Newell described SteamOS as a "hedging strategy" against Microsoft's potential ability to force all Windows 8 app distribution through the Windows Store, a la Apple's total control of iPhone app distribution.When Microsoft failed to impose that kind of hegemonic control over Windows apps and games, Valve was left with little else to convince players that it was worth buying a Windows-free Steam Machine (or going through the onerous process of installing the original SteamOS on their gaming rigs). Sure, using SteamOS meant saving a few bucks on a Windows license. But it also meant being stuck with an extremely limited library of Linux ports (especially when it came to releases from major publishers) and poor technical performance compared to Windows even when those ports were available.Given those obvious downsidesand the lack of any obvious upsidesit's no wonder that users overwhelmingly ignored SteamOS and Steam Machines at the time. But as we argued way back in 2013, a major exclusive on the scale ofHalf-Life 3 could have convinced a lot of gamers to overlook at least some of those downsides and give the new platform a chance.A little pushFast forward to today, and the modern version of SteamOS is in a much better place than the Steam Machine-era version ever was. That's thanks in large part to Valve's consistent work on the Proton compatibility layer, which lets the Linux-based SteamOS run almost any game that's designed for Windows (with only a few major exceptions). That wide compatibility has been a huge boon for the Steam Deck, which offered many players easy handheld access to vast swathes of PC gaming for the first time. The Steam Deck also showed off SteamOS's major user interface and user experience benefits over clunkier Windows-based gaming portables. The Steam Deck served as an excellent proof of concept for the viability of SteamOS hardware with the gaming masses. Credit: Kyle Orland The Steam Deck served as an excellent proof of concept for the viability of SteamOS hardware with the gaming masses. Credit: Kyle Orland Still, the benefits of switching from Windows to SteamOS might seem a bit amorphous to many players today. If Valve is really interested in pushing its OS as an alternative to Windows gaming, a big exclusive game is just the thing to convince a critical mass of players to make the leap. And when it comes to massive PC gaming exclusives, it doesn't get much bigger than the long, long-awaited Half-Life 3.We know it might sound ludicrous to suggest that Valve's biggest game in years should ignore the Windows platform that's been used by practically every PC gamer for decades. Keep in mind, though, that there would be nothing stopping existing Windows gamers from downloading and installing a free copy of the Linux-based SteamOS (likely on a separate drive or partition) to get access to Half-Life 3.Yes, installing a new operating system (especially one based on Linux) is not exactly a plug-and-play process. But Valve has a long history of streamlining game downloads, updates, and driver installations through Steam itself. If anyone can make the process of setting up a new OS relatively seamless, it's Valve.And let's not forget that millions of gamers already have easy access to SteamOS through Steam Deck hardware. Those aging Steam Decks might not be powerful enough to run a game like Half-Life 3 at maximum graphics settings, but Valve games have a history of scaling down well on low-end systems.Valve's leaked "Powered by SteamOS" initiative also seems poised to let third-party hardware makers jump in with more powerful (and more Half-Life 3-capable) desktops, laptops, and handhelds with SteamOS pre-installed. And that's before we even consider the potential impact of a more powerful "Steam Deck 2," which Valve's Pierre-Loup Griffais said in 2023 could potentially come in "the next couple of years."Time for a bold moveTying a major game likeHalf-Life 3 to a completely new and largely untested operating system would surely lead to some deafening pushback from gamers happy with the Windows-based status quo. An exclusive release could also be risky if SteamOS ends up showing some technical problems as it tries to grow past its Steam Deck roots (Linux doesn't exactly have the best track record when it comes to things like game driver compatibility across different hardware). The Lenovo Legion Go S will be the first non-Valve hardware to be officially "Powered by SteamOS." A Windows-sporting version will be more expensive Credit: Lenovo The Lenovo Legion Go S will be the first non-Valve hardware to be officially "Powered by SteamOS." A Windows-sporting version will be more expensive Credit: Lenovo Despite all that, we're pretty confident that the vast majority of players interested in Half-Life 3 would jump through a few OS-related hoops to get access to the game. And many of those players would likely stick with Valve's gaming-optimized OS going forward rather than spending money on another Windows license.Even a timed exclusivity window for Half-Life 3 on SteamOS could push a lot of early adopters to see what all the fuss is about without excluding those who refuse to switch away from Windows. Failing even that, maybe a non-exclusive Half-Life 3 could be included as a pre-installed freebie with future versions of SteamOS, as an incentive for the curious to try out a new operating system.With the coming wide release of SteamOS, Valve has a rare opportunity to upend the PC gaming OS dominance that Microsoft more or less stumbled into decades ago. A game like Half-Life 3 could be just the carrot needed to get PC gaming as a whole over its longstanding Windows dependence.Kyle OrlandSenior Gaming EditorKyle OrlandSenior Gaming Editor Kyle Orland has been the Senior Gaming Editor at Ars Technica since 2012, writing primarily about the business, tech, and culture behind video games. He has journalism and computer science degrees from University of Maryland. He once wrote a whole book about Minesweeper. 12 Comments

2025-03-01T12:26:02Z Read in app I've learned a lot of tips for making sourdough bread at home. Tercer Ojo Photography/Shutterstock This story is available exclusively to Business Insider subscribers. Become an Insider and start reading now.Have an account? I love to bake and am particularly fond of making my own sourdough bread.It isn't the easiest process, but I think there are simple ways for beginners to get started.Investing in a mixer and figuring out your favorite seasoning blends can speed up the process.Baking my own bread has been a great way to save money I don't have to drop $5 or more on a nice loaf at the store. Plus, spending time in the kitchen is a phenomenal stress reducer for me.Sourdough is one of my favorite things to bake. However, getting it right can be tricky.Unlike most breads, sourdough doesn't use the kind of dry yeast you can buy at the store. It rises with the help of a starter, which is a fermented mixture of flour and water that, over time, develops its own wild yeast and bacteria.The live culture is what gives the loaves their delicious sour flavor.Here are my best beginner-friendly tips for making your own sourdough at home. Be patient with your starter.It takes a bit of time to develop a strong sourdough starter. Anastasiia Voloshko/Shutterstock It can take between one and two weeks for a new sourdough starter to become strong enough to use in a recipe. Luckily, the actual process of making one is pretty easy.I like to start by mixing cup warm water and cup whole-wheat flour in a large jar. Cover the mix with plastic wrap and let it rest for one day in an environment between 70 and 75 degrees Fahrenheit.On day two, uncover and stir your mix. Cover it for another day.On day three, discard half of the contents of your jar. Then, "feed" the starter by adding cup of all-purpose flour and cup of water back and mixing it together.Cover the mixture, and let it rest for another day.Repeat this every day until your starter has essentially doubled in size from day one. You can measure this by placing a rubber band around the initial level of the starter.You'll know it's strong if it's fluffy and full of bubbles with a nice scent.While feeding your starter, use the discard for other recipesI like to make discard sourdough rolls sometimes. Meredith Schneider Every time you feed your sourdough starter, you have to discard some of the mixture to make space in your container.Some people choose to feed their refrigerated starter once a week, while others will feed it once or even twice a day. It just depends on your needs.If having to literally throw away this flour and water mix feels too wasteful to you, you can use the discard to make something else.There are so many great discard recipes out there, from crackers, granola, cinnamon rolls, and cookies to flatbread, biscuits, bagels, and pancakes.If you don't have time though, you can also compost the discard.Choose your utensils wisely.I like to use a ceramic bowl and a silicone spatula. Meredith Schneider There's much debate in the sourdough community about whether it's safe to use metal bowls and utensils while making the bread. In some instances, like with aluminum, the metal can be corrosive, which doesn't mix well with the acidic starter.However, for the most part, 100% stainless steel won't impact your dough.That said, stainless steel can be expensive, especially if you don't already have a good collection in your kitchen. I prefer to bypass metal entirely and use a glass or ceramic bowl, wooden spoon, and silicone spatula to mix my ingredients.Always sift your flour.Sifting the flour can lead to an airier sourdough loaf. Meredith Schneider If you're trying to achieve a fluffy, airy texture with many holes throughout your loaf a big draw of sourdough bread sift your flour before mixing it with the other ingredients.This essentially aerates it and helps to create a fluffier texture in your bread. If you don't have a fine mesh strainer or sieve, you can just use a whisk or fork to toss the dry flour around.I also like to sift the flour I add to my sourdough starter each time I feed it to enhance its texture.Invest in a mixer.I love my KitchenAid mixer. Meredith Schneider A stand or handheld mixer can be really helpful while making sourdough. It gets the mixing done without leaving me with messy, sticky hands.I'm especially grateful for my KitchenAid mixer on high-volume baking days. Mixing everything by hand requires a lot of effort.I highly recommend looking into investing in one if you're making sourdough as your main source of bread.Don't forget to season your bread.Seasoning blends make things even easier. Meredith Schneider I'm not an expert at scoring my loaves or making fancy designs on top. However, I do strongly believe you should season sourdough.I simply scatter a seasoning blend across the top of the loaf before baking to add style and flavor.My favorite blend to use right now is an Asiago-flavored everything-bagel seasoning, but sprigs of rosemary and fancy salts are just as attractive, tasty, and fun.Perfect your egg wash.An egg wash can give your loaf an attractive crust. Meredith Schneider If you're adding loose seasonings or herbs to your loaf, you'll want to use an egg wash to make sure everything sticks. It's also a great way to create a beautiful outer crust.If you want your crust to be more brown, mix an egg with water the less water you use, the darker your crust will be.If you'd like a shinier, lighter crust, though, mix your egg with a splash of milk or heavy cream instead.Water is the secret to a great sourdough loaf.Adding water to a loaf can make it fluffier. Meredith Schneider Water helps to keep the surface of the bread flexible. The more water you add to your recipe, the more porous and fluffy your bread should turn out.I like to spray my loaf with a good amount of water right before throwing it in the oven to help it rise better.

When I decided to come out to my dad, I was nervous about his reaction.He's a lifelong Catholic, and I wasn't sure he'd be supportive. I needn't have worried; he told me he only cared about my happiness. In the beginning, I'd hoped I wouldn't have to come out to my father, or the rest of my family. The first label I landed on before lesbian was bisexual, and I clung to the possibility that I'd end up with a man, and this part of me could be rendered irrelevant (yes, I know that's not actually how bisexuality works but my younger self, just barely beginning to work through a lifetime of internalized homophobia, didn't).Then I fell in love with a woman. I wanted to weave her into just about every aspect of my life, including my family life. It was 2021, and I'd been back in Michigan for over a year after spending that same amount of time living in Denver. That was where I'd come out to myself, away from the small Christian town I grew up in.My parents raised my siblings and me Catholic, like they had been. When same-sex marriage was legalized, the priest of our church reassured the congregation, "Regardless of the law, we will not be conducting same-sex marriages here," and the congregation, including my dad, gave him a standing ovation.I was nervous when I came out to my dadSix years later, I sat in my dad's backyard feeling more nervous than I'd been since middle school cheerleading tryouts. I asked my sister to be there just in case I needed backup. I worried he would say something hurtful or disproving, and our relationship would be irrevocably changed for the worse (not an uncommon reality for queer people in a 2021 survey, 34% of Americans asked responded they would be either "somewhat unsupportive," "not supportive at all," or "not sure" what they'd do if their child, sibling, or close family member came out as gay, lesbian, or bisexual; that figure jumps to 43% for trans or nonbinary people).When I finally said it, he paused and nodded. "And you think this is, like, a forever thing?" I steadied myself for the worst."What do you mean?" I asked."Well, it wasn't that long ago that you had a boyfriend?""Oh, yeah I would say I'm bisexual..." I responded."Okay." He nodded again. "And you thought your sister had to be here?"I shrugged, "Just in case"Later, he asked if I'd been worried he would have been mad. "I mean, I don't know," I said. "You've been Catholic your whole life"He shook his head. "I think what most parents want, myself included, is for their kids to be happy."He has been nothing but supportiveThe next month, my hometown had its first Pride festival. I read a poem onstage and had a vendor booth where I wrote custom, typewritten poems. My sister and father both came for my performance and sat in my booth, and my sister brought a pack of Pride pins. When she asked my dad if he wanted one, he said sure, fastening a "Love Is Love" pin to his T-shirt.In 2023, for the first time, we attended a non-Catholic service for Christmas Eve; my father suggested the church because of the Pride flag they hung outside. Last summer, when he visited my now-wife and me in Chicago, he set out on Sunday morning to walk to our nearest Catholic church. When he couldn't find it, he went to another Christian church. Their program featured a Progress flag with a statement about how they welcome all members of the LGBTQIA2S+ community. When he returned to our apartment, he handed us the program."Look at that," he said. "I think it was some kind of fate that I wound up there." Later that summer, he, along with my wife's parents, paid for our wedding. Recently, during our weekly FaceTime coffee date, my dad said, "Oh, there was something I wanted to tell you. Did you know that Eleanor Rosevelt was bisexual, or maybe lesbian?" He's been reading a book about all the presidents."No, actually, I don't think I did know that," I said.My father's strongest ideology, above any religious or political kind, is his love for his children. People are complicated, but he has made this straightforward and obvious. It's meant the world to me to know that his support is a sure thing.

This is the final story in a series of articles on how factory farming has shaped the US. Find the rest of the series and future installments here, and visit Voxs Future Perfect section for more coverage of Big Ag. The stories in this series are supported by Animal Charity Evaluators, which received a grant from Builders Initiative.For years, Jeff Simmons the president and CEO of the large US pharmaceutical company Elanco ridiculed a seemingly unlikely target on social media: the plant-based meat industry.As startups like Beyond Meat and Impossible Foods rose to prominence, Simmons attacked veggie burgers and meat-free chicken as highly processed foods that wont do in the effort to feed a growing population. (Even though experts widely acknowledge that plant-based meat would, in fact, better help feed a growing population, as it requires less land and water and generates far less greenhouse gas emissions than animal meat.)But take a closer look at Elanco, and Simmonss opposition isnt all that surprising. The company he runs, which spun off from pharmaceutical giant Eli Lilly in 2019, is a world leader in developing and marketing pharmaceuticals including antibiotics and vaccines for both pets and livestock.In the US, nearly all meat, milk, and eggs come from factory farms, which are prone to being overcrowded, stressful, disease-ridden environments where animals are especially susceptible to infections. Products from companies like Elanco are integral to preventing and treating those inevitable infections, serving an essential role in industrial animal agriculture.Pigs at a factory farm in North Carolina. Callaghan OHare/BloombergTurkeys at a factory farm in Michigan. Rudy MalmquistIf plant-based meat were ever to displace some of the conventional meat supply, it would mean fewer factory-farmed animals, and thus less profit for Elanco.Alternatives to animal-derived protein, among other things, the company wrote in a 2019 financial report, could negatively affect the market for our products. In the press and on social media, Simmons has also exaggerated the potential of technology to slash livestock emissions. In 2021, he claimed without citing evidence that some cattle operations could reach net zero emissions within a decade, and that we shouldnt expend energy on changing peoples diets to fight climate change. That flies in the face of consensus from climate scientists and agriculture experts, who, in a 2021 survey, overwhelmingly agreed that rich- and middle-income countries need to rapidly reduce greenhouse gas emissions from livestock, which currently account for about 15 to 20 percent of global emissions, and that slashing meat and dairy consumption is the most effective way to do it.On conference stages, Simmons has criticized Bill Gatess bullish support for meat alternatives and a Chipotle marketing campaign critical of factory farming, while another Elanco executive criticized raising animal welfare standards for chickens.Elanco declined an interview request for this story and didnt respond to a list of detailed questions. For 70 years, Elanco has pioneered ways to improve animal health and wellbeing and raise livestock more sustainably, the company wrote in a statement to Vox. We work alongside farmers and veterinarians to bring forward leading innovations in nutrition and diet management, digestion optimization as well as on-farm sustainability solutions.The companys work can be thought of as part of the animal-industrial complex a network of companies, governments, and public and private research centers that, according to sociologist Richard Twine at Edge Hill University in the UK, make up the factory farm system, promote its continued existence and expansion, and defend it from criticism.Jeff Simmons, president and CEO of Elanco Animal Health Inc., center, applauds while ringing the opening bell on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange in 2018. Michael Nagle/Bloomberg via Getty ImagesTheres a lot of effort being put into protecting business as usual, Twine said. That animal-industrial complex encompasses meat, milk, and egg companies and their trade associations, pharmaceutical companies like Elanco, genetics companies that breed farm animals to grow bigger and faster, and the seed, fertilizer, and farm equipment companies involved in growing animal feed. It also includes public institutions, such as industry-friendly agencies like the US Department of Agriculture and the US Food and Drug Administration, and even land-grant universities that receive funding from and partner with the meat industry on its research priorities. The entities within this ecosystem work to boost meat production and sales, shape public policy, and amplify messaging that improves consumer perception of animal products. Both money and personnel flow between the different players.Elanco, for example, sponsors meat industry conferences and awards, funds livestock industry groups and serves on their boards, and has published research with industry-friendly academics claiming that US dairy farming can achieve climate neutrality.Elanco isnt alone. Merck Animal Health a division of Merck, one of the worlds largest pharmaceutical companies and Zoetis, which in 2013 spun off from the pharmaceutical giant Pfizer, engage in some of the same activities, like sponsoring meat industry conferences.Zoetis didnt respond to a request for comment and Merck Animal Health declined an interview request. The Animal Health Institute, a trade group that represents the animal pharmaceutical industry, didnt respond to a list of detailed questions about the industry and pointed me to progress reports from the intergovernmental World Organization for Animal Health and the trade group HealthforAnimals.Over the last century, these companies innovations in developing infection-fighting antimicrobial drugs for livestock were critical to building the factory farm system as we know it today. That system helped make meat, milk, and eggs more affordable and abundant, and lower their per-pound carbon footprint. But it also has contributed to serious animal welfare, environmental, and public health concerns, including antimicrobial-resistant germs or superbugs, which adapt and build resilience against the antibiotics laced in farmed animals feed and water. When these germs escape the farm and infect humans, antibiotics are ineffective at treating them, which can make common ailments difficult or even impossible to heal. Heavy antibiotic use in livestock, along with overuse of antibiotics in humans, is a significant driver of the antimicrobial resistance crisis, which killed over one million people worldwide in 2019 and played a role in an additional 4.95 million deaths.Around 70 percent of antibiotics important in human medicine are fed to farmed animals, both in the US and globally. The World Health Organization has called for significant reductions and considers antimicrobial resistance one of the top global public health and development threats. That crisis can be partly pinned on the pharmaceutical companies that helped to build factory farming, undermining their stated missions of improving human and animal health. After decades of increasing pressure from consumers, public health experts, and US policymakers, some of these pharma companies have in recent years pledged to move away from antibiotics, but little progress has been made. And through it all, animal pharma companies have remained set on further expanding factory farming in the US and around the globe.How Big Pharma helped build factory farmingIn the interwar period, the discovery of antibiotics like Prontosil and penicillin led to a pharmaceutical revolution, enabling doctors to quickly heal common bacterial infections in humans that until then had often been life-threatening. The drugs soon became mass-produced and affordable, and more antibiotic discoveries followed. It wasnt long until pharmaceutical leaders like Pfizer looked for markets beyond human medicine. They found it on the farm, according to Claas Kirchhelle, a medical historian at the French National Institute of Health and Medical Research who documents the rise of antibiotics in agriculture in his book Pyrrhic Progress: The History of Antibiotics in Anglo-American Food Production.By the late 1940s, researchers came to understand that when farmed animals are fed regular, low doses of certain antibiotics, they gain weight faster on less feed and better stave off disease, Kirchhelle explains in his book.This one-two punch of disease prevention and rapid weight gain suddenly made it more feasible to pack large numbers of animals in barns, while having fewer animals die from infectious diseases and shortening the amount of time it took for animals to reach their market weight. These became two hallmarks of factory farming, enabling farmers to squeeze more meat out of each animal and increase profits. Antibiotic adoption in the meat industry was swift: By 1951, around 16 percent of antibiotics sold in the US went to livestock; by 1970, it reached 43 percent.A veterinarian preparing a vaccine for a dairy cow. Sutthichai SupapornpasupadAmericas precipitous increase in meat production after World War II, facilitated in part by antibiotics, was widely celebrated as a solution to Malthusian fears that humanity wouldnt be able to feed a rapidly growing global population. For patriotic US researchers, politicians, and journalists, promulgating agricultural plenty and efficiency-boosting technologies like antibiotics became a moral duty, Kirchhelle writes.By the 1960s, scientists paid increasing attention to the antimicrobial resistance threat posed by animal agriculture. Strains of bacterial diseases like salmonella and E. coli can adapt and build resistance to those antibiotics and then leave the farm and infect humans in a number of ways: improperly cooked meat, livestock manure leaching into drinking water or rivers and streams, or on the clothes of a farm owner or worker.But the US Food and Drug Administration, which oversees animal pharmaceuticals, for decades failed to take the issue seriously and downplayed warnings. In the 1970s, the agency did make an earnest attempt to limit the use of two classes of human-critical antibiotics in livestock, but it was thwarted by a burgeoning coalition of livestock and pharmaceutical business interests. According to Kirchhelle, this coalition also funded a separate organization to conduct counter science to muddy the scientific debate over the proposed ban, which included organizing experts to write a report that was then edited without the researchers consent. It wasnt until the mid-2010s that the FDA took two basic but important actions to meaningfully address the problem: requiring farmers to get veterinarian prescriptions for medically important antibiotics, and asking though not requiring animal pharmaceutical companies to remove language on product labels about antibiotics ability to make animals grow faster. Sales of antibiotics soon fell rapidly.It represented progress, but not enough, according to Gail Hansen, an antimicrobial expert and former state public health veterinarian in Kansas. Hansen told me the agencys actions represented a compromise that was favorable to industry compared to what some high-ranking members of Congress were pushing for at the time: significant antibiotic use restrictions and increased transparency from drug makers on how their antibiotics were used in livestock.Pharma companies wanted to change antibiotic use on their own terms and not the government telling them what to do, according to Hansen. If they could show just a little bit of good faith, by complying with the FDA, they could stave off stricter regulation.Pharma and Big Ag still cant quit antibioticsOver the last decade, livestock pharma companies have found themselves at a crossroads. Under growing scrutiny from public health experts and policymakers, the biggest players in the sector have committed to antimicrobial stewardship, promising to wean farmers off medically important antibiotics by investing in vaccine development, nutritional supplements like enzymes and probiotics, and animal-only antibiotics, which arent used in human medicine.But while the FDAs actions cut antibiotic use on farms from 2015 to 2017, corporate efforts since then have seemingly failed to move the needle: Sales of medically important antibiotics increased 10 percent from 2017 to 2023, and the US remains far behind Europe, where in 2020, antibiotic use per animal was about half that of the US. The continent slashed antibiotic use through tougher regulations, better farm hygiene, and relying more on vaccines, enzymes, probiotics, and other products to prevent disease, according to Leon Marchal, a Netherlands-based innovation director at IFF Health & Bioscience, which develops and sells animal health products.Despite the animal pharmaceutical industrys stated commitments to antimicrobial stewardship, some of their actions have suggested a reluctance to move away from the drugs. In 2023, the share of Elancos revenue from medically important antibiotics, for both pets and livestock, stood at 10 percent, down just 2 percent from 2018.In 2018, the company ran an advertising campaign designed to assuage consumer concerns over antibiotics in meat production. And at a major pork industry conference the same year, Elanco handed out brochures encouraging farmers to feed pigs a pair of antibiotics to make the animals grow fatter. But a few years earlier, the FDA had told one of Elancos subsidiaries that drug combination was unsafe and shouldnt be promoted to increase weight gain. Elanco committed to stop distributing the brochures after the New York Times inquired about it. For more than 15 years, weve been focused on increasing responsible antibiotic use, reducing the need for antibiotics and improving the health of animals through vaccines, nutrition and other efforts, Elanco wrote in a statement to Vox. Most importantly, Elanco has focused on expanding access to animal-only antibiotics, which dont create a threat to human resistance, and creating antibiotic alternatives, including vaccines, enzymes, probiotic and prebiotics.Around the same time, Zoetis was using similar messaging when selling human-relevant antibiotics to farmers in India, where, like in other middle-income countries, poultry factory farming is quickly expanding. The company told the press that it was following Indias antibiotics regulations. As the reputational risk of selling medically important antibiotics in the US rises, some of the biggest animal pharmaceutical companies are moving on to what Elanco has called its next economic opportunity: mitigating climate change. In 2018, the company gained FDA approval for a drug that reduces ammonia emissions in cattle; Zoetis has also announced research efforts to develop a similar product. Last year, the FDA completed its review of Elancos Bovaer product a powder that when fed to dairy cows daily can reduce emissions from their methane-rich burps and deemed it safe and effective. Were committed to bringing innovative solutions that allow farmers and ranchers to reduce and measure emissions, the company wrote in a statement to Vox.These products have the potential to reduce some types of cattle-caused emissions, but by much less than we could by simply eating far fewer animal products and more of the plant-based foods that Elanco executives have attacked. But companies that depend on factory farming would prefer we keep engineering animals diets for maximum productivity, and now, minimal environmental liability, rather than reach for a veggie burger or glass of soy milk.This new class of emission-reducing feed products may come with a sustainable sheen, but theyre in keeping with how the industry views animals not as living, feeling creatures, but as machines whose diets and environments must be endlessly fine-tuned with chemical inputs to compensate for unhygienic farms, poor animal welfare, and a sizable carbon footprint. Even as policy leaders in wealthy countries begin to wake up to the costs of this system, it continues to grow bigger and more entrenched.This model of food production, Kirchhelle said, is becoming more and more the dominant mode of producing animals worldwide.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:

By Thomas Maxwell Published March 1, 2025 | Comments (0) | Intel's new Ohio semiconductor factory, originally set to open in 2025, will not be ready until 2030. Kyle Barr/Gizmodo There has been little good news to come out of Intel in recent memory, and now the storied chipmaker has announced it will postpone the opening of a new Ohio semiconductor factory that was originally slated to begin operating this year. The company said Friday it will not will be finished with construction on the plant until 2030, and likely begin production in 2031. Bloomberg earlier reported on the news. The announcement is a blow to the United States ambition to become a semiconductor superpower. Intel is a major centerpiece of the plan that would help America become less exposed to Taiwan as it faces threats from China. Intel is set to receive $7.9 billion in funding from the federal government through the CHIPS Act, but the company must reach certain milestones, from construction to starting production. The CHIPS Act was a bill put forth by President Biden that received bipartisan support to bring chip production back to the U.S. Reports indicate that President Trump is delaying payments and looking to renegotiate terms of some of the deals with chipmakers set to receive funding, potentially slowing down Intel at a time when rivals are only speeding up. Intel already has chip manufacturing located domestically, but primarily to build its own chipsets. Its business making chips for other clients has never quite taken off, as experts have said the company was not adept at catering to other companies needs like Taiwans TSMC, today the largest chipmaker in the world. President Trump earlier this week declined to say whether or not the U.S. would intervene should Taiwan be invaded by China. Some estimates suggest that if China took over Taiwan and cut off access to TSMC, the U.S. economy could lose 8% of GDP and untold numbers of jobs. Intel was always going to be a risky bet for a U.S. chip renaissance. The company, once a shining beacon of Silicon Valley, missed numerous major technological shifts, most famously declining to develop a mobile chip for the original iPhone, leaving that business to the likes of Arm and Apple. It never invested heavily in GPUs either, leading Nvidia to recently become one of the biggest companies in the world and capture much of the profit from the AI boom.Intel tried getting into the business of developing mobile cellular antennas, but abandoned that venture and sold it to Apple, which recently launched the iPhone 16e with its first modem. And with low-powered chips originally designed for mobile becoming more capable, Intel is even losing ground in PCs. Recent reports have suggested that Intel is considering the possibility of splitting up entirely, selling its chip design business to Broadcom and the manufacturing side to TSMC. The company has laid off thousands of employees in recent years amid shrinking sales and increasing losses; its stock is down more than 50% in the past five years. It is unclear whether the Trump administration would allow TSMC to take over Intels factories, considering it is a foreign company.It all goes to show how even once-great titans of industry can fall from grace through management missteps, and perhaps explains why the big tech companies today are pouring billions into AI before knowing whether or not returns will come. They do not want to be the next Intel.Daily NewsletterYou May Also Like By Kyle Barr Published January 6, 2025 By Kyle Barr Published December 27, 2024 By Kyle Barr Published December 18, 2024 By Kyle Barr Published December 16, 2024 By Kyle Barr Published December 16, 2024 By Kyle Barr Published December 7, 2024