This is today’s edition of The Download, our weekday newsletter that provides a daily dose of what’s going on in the world of technology.Tech billionaires are making a risky bet with humanity’s future Sam Altman, Jeff Bezos, Elon Musk, and others may have slightly different goals, but their grand visions for the next decade and beyond are remarkably similar.They include aligning AI with the interests of humanity; creating an artificial superintelligence that will solve all the world’s most pressing problems; merging with that superintelligence to achieve immortality; establishing a permanent, self-­sustaining colony on Mars; and, ultimately, spreading out across the cosmos.Three features play a central role with powering these visions, says Adam Becker, a science writer and astrophysicist: an unshakable certainty that technology can solve any problem, a belief in the necessity of perpetual growth, and a quasi-religious obsession with transcending our physical and biological limits.In his timely new book, More Everything Forever: AI Overlords, Space Empires, and Silicon Valley’s Crusade to Control the Fate of Humanity, Becker reveals how these fantastical visions conceal a darker agenda. Read the full story. —Bryan Gardiner This story is from the next print edition of MIT Technology Review, which explores power—who has it, and who wants it. It’s set to go live on Wednesday June 25, so subscribe & save 25% to read it and get a copy of the issue when it lands! Here’s what food and drug regulation might look like under the Trump administration Earlier this week, two new leaders of the US Food and Drug Administration published a list of priorities for the agency. Both Marty Makary and Vinay Prasad are controversial figures in the science community. They were generally highly respected academics until the covid pandemic, when their contrarian opinions on masking, vaccines, and lockdowns turned many of their colleagues off them. Given all this, along with recent mass firings of FDA employees, lots of people were pretty anxious to see what this list might include—and what we might expect the future of food and drug regulation in the US to look like. So let’s dive into the pair’s plans for new investigations, speedy approvals, and the “unleashing” of AI. —Jessica Hamzelou This article first appeared in The Checkup, MIT Technology Review’s weekly biotech newsletter. To receive it in your inbox every Thursday, and read articles like this first, sign up here. The must-reads I’ve combed the internet to find you today’s most fun/important/scary/fascinating stories about technology. 1 NASA is investigating leaks on the ISSIt’s postponed launching private astronauts to the station while it evaluates.+ Its core component has been springing small air leaks for months.+ Meanwhile, this Chinese probe is en route to a near-Earth asteroid.2 Undocumented migrants are using social media to warn of ICE raidsThe DIY networks are anonymously reporting police presences across LA.+ Platforms’ relationships with protest activism has changed drastically.  3 Google’s AI Overviews is hallucinating about the fatal Air India crashIt incorrectly stated that it involved an Airbus plane, not a Boeing 787.+ Why Google’s AI Overviews gets things wrong.4 Chinese engineers are sneaking suitcases of hard drives into the countryTo covertly train advanced AI models.+ The US is cracking down on Huawei’s ability to produce chips.+ What the US-China AI race overlooks.5 The National Hurricane Center is joining forces with DeepMindIt’s the first time the center has used AI to predict nature’s worst storms.+ Here’s what we know about hurricanes and climate change.6 OpenAI is working on a product with toymaker MattelAI-powered Barbies?!+ Nothing is safe from the creep of AI, not even playtime.+ OpenAI has ambitions to reach billions of users.7 Chatbots posing as licensed therapists may be breaking the lawDigital rights organizations have filed a complaint to the FTC.+ How do you teach an AI model to give therapy?8 Major companies are abandoning their climate commitmentsBut some experts argue this may not be entirely bad.+ Google, Amazon and the problem with Big Tech’s climate claims.9 Vibe coding is shaking up software engineeringEven though AI-generated code is inherently unreliable.+ What is vibe coding, exactly?10 TikTok really loves hotdogs And who can blame it?Quote of the day “It kind of jams two years of work into two months.” —Andrew Butcher, president of the Maine Connectivity Authority, tells Ars Technica why it’s so difficult to meet the Trump administration’s new plans to increase broadband access in certain states. One more thing The surprising barrier that keeps us from building the housing we needIt’s a tough time to try and buy a home in America. From the beginning of the pandemic to early 2024, US home prices rose by 47%. In large swaths of the country, buying a home is no longer a possibility even for those with middle-class incomes. For many, that marks the end of an American dream built around owning a house. Over the same time, rents have gone up 26%.The reason for the current rise in the cost of housing is clear to most economists: a lack of supply. Simply put, we don’t build enough houses and apartments, and we haven’t for years. But the reality is that even if we ease the endless permitting delays and begin cutting red tape, we will still be faced with a distressing fact: The construction industry is not very efficient when it comes to building stuff. Read the full story. —David Rotman We can still have nice things A place for comfort, fun and distraction to brighten up your day.+ If you’re one of the unlucky people who has triskaidekaphobia, look away now.+ 15-year old Nicholas is preparing to head from his home in the UK to Japan to become a professional sumo wrestler.+ Earlier this week, London played host to 20,000 women in bald caps. But why?+ Why do dads watch TV standing up? I need to know. #download #gambling #with #humanitys #future

US Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F Kennedy JrTasos Katopodis/Getty One of the top vaccine experts at the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Lakshmi Panagiotakopoulos, resigned on 4 June – a week after Robert F Kennedy Jr announced that covid-19 vaccines would no longer be recommended for most children and pregnancies. The announcement set off several days of confusion around who will have access to covid-19 vaccines in the US going forward. In practice, there hasn’t been a drastic change to access, though there will probably be new obstacles for parents hoping to vaccinate their children. Still, Kennedy’s announcement signals a troubling circumvention of public health norms. “My career in public health and vaccinology started with a deep-seated desire to help the most vulnerable members of our population, and that is not something I am able to continue doing in this role,” said Panagiotakopoulos in an email to colleagues obtained by Reuters. Panagiotakopoulos supported the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, which has advised the CDC on vaccine recommendations since 1964. But last week, Kennedy – the country’s highest-ranking public health official – upended this decades-long precedent. “I couldn’t be more pleased to announce that, as of today, the covid vaccine for healthy children and healthy pregnant woman has been removed from the CDC recommended immunisation schedule,” he said in a video posted to the social media platform X on 27 May. Despite his directive, the CDC has, so far, only made minor changes to its guidance on covid-19 vaccines. Instead of recommending them for children outright, it now recommends vaccination “based on shared clinical decision-making”. In other words, parents should talk with a doctor before deciding. It isn’t clear how this will affect access to these vaccines in every scenario, but it could make it more difficult for children to get a shot at pharmacies. Get the most essential health and fitness news in your inbox every Saturday. Sign up to newsletter The CDC’s guidance on vaccination in pregnancy is also ambiguous. While its website still recommends a covid-19 shot during pregnancy, a note at the top says, “this page will be updated to align with the updated immunization schedule.” Kennedy’s announcement contradicts the stances of major public health organisations, too. Both the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologistsand the American Academy of Pediatricshave come out opposing it. “The CDC and HHS encourage individuals to talk with their healthcare provider about any personal medical decision,” an HHS spokesperson told New Scientist. “Under the leadership of Secretary Kennedy, HHS is restoring the doctor-patient relationship.” However, Linda Eckert at the University of Washington in Seattle says the conflicting messages are confusing for people. “It opens up disinformation opportunities. It undermines confidence in vaccination in general,” she says. “I can’t imagine it won’t decrease immunisation rates overall.” Research has repeatedly shown covid-19 vaccination in adolescence and pregnancy is safe and effective. In fact, Martin Makary, the head of the US Food and Drug Administration, listed pregnancy as a risk factor for severe covid-19 a week before Kennedy’s announcement, further convoluting the government’s public health messaging. Kennedy’s announcement is in line with some other countries’ covid policies. For example, Australia and the UK don’t recommend covid-19 vaccines for children unless they are at risk of severe illness. They also don’t recommend covid-19 vaccination during pregnancy if someone is already vaccinated. Asma Khalil, a member of the UK Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation, says the UK’s decision was based on the reduced risk of the omicron variant, the cost-effectiveness of vaccination and high population immunity. However, these factors can vary across countries. The UK population also tends to have better access to healthcare than the US, says Eckert. “These decisions need to carefully consider the risks and benefits relative to the national population,” says Khalil. The HHS didn’t answer New Scientist’s questions about whether a similar analysis guided Kennedy’s decision-making. What is maybe most troubling, however, is the precedent Kennedy’s announcement sets. The ACIP – an independent group of public health experts – was expected to vote on proposed changes to covid-19 vaccine recommendations later this month. But Kennedy’s decision has bypassed this process. “This style of decision-making – by individuals versus going through experts who are carefully vetted for conflicts of interest, who carefully look at the data – this has never happened in our country,” says Eckert. “We’re in uncharted territory.” She worries the move could pave the way for Kennedy to chip away at other vaccine recommendations. “I know there are a lot of vaccines he has been actively against in his career,” she says. Kennedy has previously blamed vaccines for autism and falsely claimed that the polio vaccine caused more deaths than it averted. “What it speaks to is the fact thatdoes not see value in these vaccines and is going to do everything he can to try and devalue them in the minds of the public and make them harder to receive,” says Amesh Adalja at Johns Hopkins University. Topics: #stops #endorsing #covid19 #shots #kids

PlayStation State of Play June 2025: Everything announced Marvel at a night of sick reveals from Sony. Image credit: Eurogamer News by Connor Makar Contributor Published on June 4, 2025 Another PlayStation State of Play took place tonight, giving as a peak at what's to come on the PS5 and PS5 Pro. The event was stacked with new trailers, including some reveals of entirely new games we've not seen before. Sony even remembered the PS VR2 exists! Whether you're here to double check what you've just seen, or want a catch-up on all the reveals you missed, this article will take you through everything shown off at the June State of Play event. Enjoy! Lumines Arise The show kicked off with a reveal trailer for Lumines Arive, a colourful and very musical way to start the event. It comes from the developers behind Tetris Effect, which was a banger. It's coming this Fall, and you can wishlist in now. Watch the new Lumines Arise trailer here!Watch on YouTube Pragmata Next up is Pragmata, the mysterious Capcom game that we've seen precious little of since its first reveal years ago. This time we got gameplay, loads of third person action goodness and a lovely sci-fi setting. Also, Diana is adorable. The game is set to come out at some point in 2026 to the PS5. Watch the Pragmata trailer here!Watch on YouTube Romeo is a Dead Man Next up is a grisly and cartoonish action game called Romeo is a Dead Man. It's coming from illustrious and brilliantly weird developer Grasshopper Manufacture, with both Suda 51 and Ren Yamazaki working on it. It'll be coming out in 2026... Maybe. Watch the Romeo is a Dead Man trailer here!Watch on YouTube Silent Hill f Now for something totally different with Silent Hill f, a third-person horror title that's certainly ramped the creepy factor up quite significantly. In it we see plenty of horrific mannequins with bloody knives in hand. It's set to come out on the 25th September, 2025 on the PS5. Watch the Silent Hill f trailer here!Watch on YouTube Bloodstained: The Scarlet Engagement We now go to a lush looking 2D side scroller called Bloodstained: The Scarlet Engagement, which has just been revealed. A sequel to a beloved indie and spiritual successor to classic Castlevania games, it'll be coming out in 2026 on the PS5. Check out the Bloodstained trailer here!Watch on YouTube Digimon Story Time Stranger Up next a gameplay trailer for Digimon Story Time Stranger, which looks absolutely killer. In it we see a variety of fan-favourite Digimon and a variety of characters seemingly in the thick of some nefarious medling between the physical and digital worlds. It'll be coming on the 3rd November 2025. Love me some Digimon. Watch the trailer here!Watch on YouTube Final Fantasy Tactics - The Ivalice Chronicles Now for a blast from the past with Final Fantasy Tactics: The Ivalice Chronicles. It'll include two versions of the original game, a classic version which is a faithful recreation, and an enhanced version with improved graphics and more. It'll be coming to the PS5 and PS4 on the 30th September. FF Tactics is back!Watch on YouTube Baby Steps Next up is Baby Steps, which is a fun exploration game where you've gotta control your leg movements as you climb a mountain. Now we finally have a release date! It comes to PS5 on the 8th September. This is a must-watch for those who like a chuckle.Watch on YouTube Hirogami Now for something whimsical. Hirogami allows you to transform into a variety of creatures through the power of folding. It's coming to PS5 on the 3rd September. A neat reveal! Check out the new trailerWatch on YouTube Everybody's Golf Hot Shots To the green we go with Everybody's Golf Hot Shots, with courses in 10 different regions around the world, each with weather effects and night time variants. Those who pre-order get Pacman - rad! It comes to the PS5 on the 5th September. Check out some golf right here!Watch on YouTube Ninja Gaiden Ragebound Here's a retro throwback. Ninja Gaiden Ragebound got a new gameplay trailer, and is coming on the 21st July on PS5 and PS4. A big win for lovers of the classics. Watch the trailer here!Watch on YouTube Cairn The Game Bakers are back at it again with Cairn. A new gameplay trailer just dropped, showing a perilous and scenic climb up a massive mountain. Like all Game Bakers titles, the trailer has a rad music track. It's coming to PS5 on the 5th November 2025, but you can download a demo today! A moving trailer for you to watch right here!Watch on YouTube Mortal Kombat Legacy Kollection Get over here! A reveal trailer for the Mortal Kombat Legacy Kollection just dropped, and with it a blend of retro titles you'll be able to play with this new collection as well as some lovely retro arcade footage. It contains Mortal Kombat, Mortal Kombat 2, Mortal Kombat 3, Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3, Mortal Kombat 4, and more. It's coming to the PS5 and PS4 in 2025. Moooooortal Kooooooombat Traaaaaaailer.Watch on YouTube Metal Gear Solid Delta Snake Eater Here's a big one! We got a new gameplay trailer for Metal Gear Solid Delta Snake Eater. Loads of memorable locations, gadgets, and moments on display in the stunning new engine. This isn't a dream - it's Snake Eater!Watch on YouTube Nioh 3 A rad new reveal comes via Nioh 3, which got a fantastic new gameplay trailer at the State of Play. It releases in early 2026 on the PS5. A demo is available right now too, so give it a try! If you love some challenging and bloody action, you should watch this Nioh 3 trailer!Watch on YouTube Thief VR: Legacy of Shadow Finally some PSVR love! A new reveal trailer for Thief VR: Legacy of Shadow was shown off, giving us a glimpse of loads of stealth, robbery, and action. It's coming to VR in 2025. Some VR rep at the State of Play!Watch on YouTube Tides of Tomorrow Another new game got a trailer, this time Tides of Tomorrow. A very bright first-person action game set in a flooded dystopian world. It's coming 24th February, 2026 on the PS5. Loving the look of this trailer, give it a watch!Watch on YouTube Astro Bot new update An update to Astro Bot is up next, containing five new challenge levels, new guest bots, and an announcement that the Astro Bot DualSense controller is coming back this year... With a twist! Here's a look at what's coming to Astro Bot!Watch on YouTube Sea of Remnants Pirate time! A reveal trailer for Sea of Remnants was just shown off, giving us a peak of sailing, navigating various islands, and facing the mythical creatures of the deep. It'll be coming in 2026, you can wishlist it now. Grab your hat annd cutlass sailor.Watch on YouTube Sword of the Sea Here comes something beautiful. Sword of the Sea got a new trailer, with plenty of fantastic locations presented in vibrant tones throughout. It's coming on 19th August to the PS5, available on PlayStation Plus. Now this is my kind of vibe, watch it and find out why!Watch on YouTube FBC Firebreak Love co-op? FBC Firebreak is a spin-off to Remedy's Control series, and offers plenty of PvE action for those with a taste for the paranormal. It's coming to PS5 and the PlayStation Game Catalogue on 17th June, 2025. Here's the portion of the State of Play featuring FBC: Firebreak!Watch on YouTube New PS Plus games coming this summer A bunch of new games are coming to PlayStation Plus this Summer in a variety of forms. This includes: The original Deux Ex coming to PlayStation Plus Classics Catalogue on 17th June, 2025. Twisted Metal 3 & 4 coming to PlayStation Plus Classics Catalogue on 15th July, 2025. Resident Evil 2 & 3 coming to PlayStation Plus Classics Catalogue this Summer. Myst and Riven coming later this month as part of Days of Play First Light 007 A massive reveal for the show! James Bond took the stage with First Light 007, our first look at the game. It kicks off with some introductory cinematics, but there are snippets of gameplay showing loads of spy action. It's coming in 2026 to the PS5. It's Bond, James Bond... TrailerWatch on YouTube Ghost of Yotei A short one here. Ghost of Yotei is getting a gameplay deep dive in July. Stay tuned for more info!Watch on YouTube Marvel Tokon Fighting Souls Trying not to freak out over here. Arc System Works just revealed Marvel Tokon Fighting Souls. A 3v3 fighting game featuring plenty of beloved Marvel characters. It's coming to PS5 and PC in 2026. It's 11PM at night and I'm trying not to scream. Mahvel Baby!Watch on YouTube #playstation #state #play #june #everything

If you wanted to get a COVID vaccine during pregnancy, to protect yourself and your future baby from the virus, that may soon be difficult to impossible. According to a short video posted on X, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr, who is also a noted anti-vaccine activist, said that the COVID-19 vaccine “has been removed” from the list of vaccines recommended in pregnancy, as well as the list of vaccines recommended for healthy children. This announcement sidesteps the usual regulatory process, and it’s not clear exactly what will happen next—but here’s what we know. The announcement may not be entirely validRFK, Jr made the announcement in a video where he stood alongside the NIH director Jay Bhattacharya and FDA commissioner Marty Makary. Notably, nobody from the CDC was present. The FDA approves vaccines, but it’s the CDC that is in charge of recommendations. Normally, the CDC has an advisory panel called ACIPthat reviews scientific evidence to make recommendations for vaccines. They’ll vote on whether a given vaccine should be recommended for everybody in a group of people. Their decisions are then passed to CDC leadership, who make the final call as to whether the vaccine gets officially recommended for that group. Vaccines are not usually added or removed to the recommended list by the CDC without consulting with ACIP, and they definitely aren’t usually added or removed by tweeting a video. Dorit Reiss, a law professor who specializes in vaccine policy, posted on LinkedIn that the announcement may not be legally valid if it’s not immediately followed by supporting documentation. She says: “Under administrative law, to avoid being found arbitrary and capricious, an agency's decision has to meet certain criteria, including explaining the agency's fact finding, a connection between the facts and the decisions, etc. A one minute video on Twitter doesn't quite get you there.” So far, the CDC’s web page on vaccines recommended in pregnancy still says that “A pregnant woman should get vaccinated against whooping cough, flu, COVID-19, and respiratory syncytial virus.” The adult and child vaccine schedules still include COVID vaccines.Strangely, this move on behalf of the CDC contradicts the one we reported about recently from the FDA. The FDA plans to require extra stepsto approve new COVID vaccines for healthy children and adults. But these steps don’t apply to people who are at high risk for complications of COVID. The FDA’s policy announcement included a list of those high risk health conditions—which includes pregnancy.Why it matters which vaccines are “recommended”Recommending a vaccine doesn’t just mean expressing an opinion; the Affordable Care Act requires that vaccines recommended by ACIP must be covered by most private insurance and Medicaid expansion plans without any cost sharing. That means no deductible and no copay—so these vaccines must be free to you out of pocket if you fall into a group of people for whom they are recommended. The recommended vaccines include all the standard childhood vaccines, plus your seasonal flu shot, and other vaccines that are recommended for adults, for people who are pregnant, and so on. The full schedules are here. If you’ve gotten a COVID shot, a flu shot, a tetanus shot, a shingles shot—the shot’s inclusion on this list is why you were able toget it for free.So taking a vaccine off the recommended list means that it could be prohibitively expensive. GoodRX, which keeps tabs on pharmacy prices, reports that COVID shots may cost or more out of pocket, plus any applicable administration fee that the provider might charge.Taking a vaccine off the recommended list may also mean it won’t be covered by the Vaccines for Children program, which provides free vaccines to children who don’t have coverage for them through health insurance.Whether or not the vaccine actually gets taken off the list, the recent HHS announcement has another impact: The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists said in a statement that “Following this announcement, we are worried about our patients in the future, who may be less likely to choose vaccination during pregnancy despite the clear and definitive evidence demonstrating its benefit.” The ACOG statement also pointed out a few ways in which removing the vaccines from the recommended list is not “common sense and good science,” as the HHS announcement claimed. ACOG writes: “As ob-gyns who treat patients every day, we have seen firsthand how dangerous COVID infection can be during pregnancy and for newborns who depend on maternal antibodies from the vaccine for protection. We also understand that despite the change in recommendations from HHS, the science has not changed. It is very clear that COVID infection during pregnancy can be catastrophic and lead to major disability, and it can cause devastating consequences for families.” #what #know #about #rfks #announcement

Just Dodge Elden Ring Nightreign update offers solo players a helping hand not even 24-hours after launch because cowards cried too loud What happened to the game that I loved, to the spirit of persevering through adversity? Image credit: Bandai Namco News by Connor Makar Staff Writer Published on May 30, 2025 Elden Ring Nightreign hasn't even been out for 24 hours, and already the game has been made easier for solo players. Those tackling solo runs will get one free revive during the Nightlord fight that's part of the run, and will get increased rune aquisition the entire time. A solo run, which is already scaled so that bosses have less health and offers a purchasable revive before the Nightlord fight for a measly 10,000 runes, was added for those who enjoy the challenge of taking on a game intended for group play on their lonesome. Fair play, y'know. It's not how I best enjoyed the game but godspeed captain, take the wheel. For those who were actually excited to take on the game this way with all its struggle and in the name of fufilment through overcoming adversity, however, their dreams have been hampered by the wails and moans of wittle babies who want the solo experience to be easier. To see this content please enable targeting cookies. They want their warm bottle, a little bib, and for the process of actually overcoming the challenge present in Nightreign to be lowered so they don't have to work as hard to succeed. Was I able to solo every boss during the review period? No. I did like four of 'em. Was I looking forward to improving and doing so over the next few weeks? Absolutely. This journey has been stolen from me and likeminded adults by the feeble among us. "But Connor, what if these people are struggling to beat bosses on their own and need help?", you may ask. Here's a hot tip. Go and ask your dad if you can use the internet, shake the gent's hand, then take the on the boss online. Once you've cracked that with the help of other people, and are better at the game, then try it solo. You'll find that it's easier than before. Wow! It's almost as though that playing the game more and with other peoplehelps make these challenges less daunting. It's almost as though that's a major theme of the game itself. You are meant to ride a bike with your hands on the handle bars. You can ride without doing so, but it's harder. If you try riding a bike without touching the handle bars and wipe out on the pavement, you don't ask for stabilizers to be put on, right? You practice riding your bike normally until you can crack it. The worst part isn't even the revive - you can just take your hands off the controller on your first death and welcome the game over if you want a real "deathless run" - it's the rune aquisition boost. In my opinion it taints the whole thing. There are relics that give rune aquisition boosts but you have to earn them. The game gets easier as you play, as in all games like this. I do understand why this change has happened from From Software's perspective - the company wants all the people playing it to have a good time and not bail out after a few too many frustrating losses. Totally get it. But why not leave it a week so the sickos can claim their laurels? Then, provide this olive branch for everyone else. Maybe I'm an jaded 27 year old but I remember a From Software community that would cheer and pop bottles upon hearing that a new game was really hard as a solo player, and would smash their heads against it like rabid animals until they managed to beat it. These people still exist I'm sure, they are likely as disapointed as I am that the game has already had part of it neutered, but it's too late now. At least with Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree regular players had a few days to soldier on before the early hours of it were made easier. Whatever, enjoy your pram. Elden Ring Nightreign is out now, and is doing really well on Steam at the moment. So, there's a solid chance a lot of you playing it right now are having a good time, which is swell. #elden #ring #nightreign #update #offers

Unity The battle to play Borderlands Online continues, as dedicated archivists ask for help in pursuit of the long lost MMO The team working on bringing this game back is now asking for help from experts to get the game playable. Image credit: 2K China News by Connor Makar Staff Writer Published on May 30, 2025 The Borderlands Online archival saga continues, with the small group of people hoping to get the game playable putting out a call-to-action for those with coding experiencein order to break through the game's character selection screen. Previously, we covered YouTuber, game designer, and dataminer EpicNNG managing to get to the game's class selection screen, but it seems he and his small team working on the archival project have hit a brick wall. Not in terms of skill, but in terms of time. They have a version of the game at their finger tips, they just need more hands to get the build working. He states: "Number 1: We know that we have the full game, we have confirmed we have the full game. Number 2: We know that we can get in eventually, it is just a matter of when." To see this content please enable targeting cookies. In this call-to-action, a lengthy video detailing the journey so far, EpicNNG showed the perilous task as his small team went through old Chinese Borderlands Online websites in the search for a way to actually play the game. Doing so, they found ghost links and viruses, so it's worth emphasising here that you should only really help out with this effort if you know what you're doing. The video is covered in statements making it clear that this is purely for archival purposes, and that he nor his team are looking to infringe on 2K's intelectual property as to avoid the possibility of a cease and desist. However, it's made equally clear that this project may be nearing a dead end thanks to the release of Borderlands 4 and the potential actions of 2K's legal team, unless it gets more people on board to help. It's worth noting that this article was only written following an exchange of DMs with EpicNNG, in which he stated that he understood the potential risks of this call-to-action being further publicised and was happy with it being covered nonetheless. In the video, EpicNNG acknowledges that time is of the essence here, pointing to Activision's take down of the H2M Call of Duty mod in fears it would suck attention away from the next Call of Duty. The worry is that, unless the team gets the game working soon, 2K would fear a similar thing with Borderlands 4 and send out a Cease and Desist. This archival project, if successful, would be somewhat of a white whale for the video game archival scene. Not only is archiving any game difficult, Borderlands Online is a Chinese-only MMORPG that has been dead for years. Getting it working is an admirable goal. Here's hoping that folks that can help see it and lend a hand before it's too late. Though, if you're a greenthumb when it comes to Unity or video game software in general, maybe it's best to leave it with the experts and wish them luck. #battle #play #borderlands #online #continues

A Rising Tide The studio behind Atomic Heart is kicking up a publishing arm, looking to help get more "big and bold" games made With Atomic Heart selling over 10 million copies, Mundfish is widening to support other devs achieve similar success. News by Connor Makar Staff Writer Published on May 30, 2025 Mundfish, the studio behind Atomic Heart, has announced it's opening up a publishing arm it's calling Mundfish Powerhouse. This comes alongside the studio's celebratory declaration that Atomic Heart has sold over 10 million copies. Speaking to Analogue Stick Gaming CEO and founder of Mundfish Robert Bagratuni stated, "For quite some time, studios and investors have been approaching us seeking supportWe’ve decided to make this direction official. Powerhouse will only partner with projects where we see great potential to make noise. Not just a handful of indie hits, but big and bold games that can set a new standard for quality and creative risk.” To see this content please enable targeting cookies. According to the article, Mundfish Powerhouse will be offering developers it works with "deep production expertise and high-end tools, a proven, scalable development pipeline, hands-on support from concept to launch and a focus on fewer, bigger, bolder games, built to shake up the industry". As for Atomic Heart's 10 million sales milestone, Bagratuni gave the following statement, "What started as a dream has become a reality beyond anything we imagined. Thanks to our team’s relentless dedication, bold vision, and unwavering focus on quality, we’ve achieved something truly special. We’re incredibly grateful to our players for their passion and support - it’s their enthusiasm that brought Atomic Heart to life". Atomic Heart stands out to me as one of those lesser-talked-about games that launched to its own healthy audience, and has continued trucking away as the months flew by. We've seen a decent chunk of these sorts of games from smaller studios as of late, a sign of changing tides in the industry as massive companies struggle to hit the astronomical targets set for the developers working there, while these smaller studios with clear vision manage to sneak through the gaps. What do you think of this news? Let us know below! #studio #behind #atomic #heart #kicking

May 23, 20257 min readWhat FDA’s Planned Limits on COVID Vaccinations Mean for HealthDespite the fact that vaccines against COVID have already undergone strict safety reviews and that people continue to die from the disease, Trump’s FDA is moving to reduce access to annual COVID boosters for healthy AmericansBy Stephanie Armour & KFF Health News aire images/Getty ImagesLarry Saltzman has blood cancer. He’s also a retired doctor, so he knows getting covid-19 could be dangerous for him — his underlying illness puts him at high risk of serious complications and death. To avoid getting sick, he stays away from large gatherings, and he’s comforted knowing healthy people who get boosters protect him by reducing his exposure to the virus.Until now, that is.Vaccine opponents and skeptics in charge of federal health agencies — starting at the top with Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. — are restricting access to covid shots that were a signature accomplishment of President Donald Trump’s first term and cost taxpayers about billion to develop, produce, and distribute. The agencies are narrowing vaccination recommendations, pushing drugmakers to perform costly clinical studies, and taking other steps that will result in fewer people getting protection from a virus that still kills hundreds each week in the U.S.On supporting science journalismIf you're enjoying this article, consider supporting our award-winning journalism by subscribing. By purchasing a subscription you are helping to ensure the future of impactful stories about the discoveries and ideas shaping our world today.“There are hundreds of thousands of people who rely on these vaccines,” said Saltzman, 71, of Sacramento, California. “For people who are immunocompromised, if there aren’t enough people vaccinated, we lose the ring that’s protecting us. We’re totally vulnerable.”The Trump administration on May 20 rolled out tougher approval requirements for covid shots, described as a covid-19 “vaccination regulatory framework,” that could leave millions of Americans who want boosters unable to get them.The FDA will encourage new clinical trials on the widely used vaccines before approving them for children and healthy adults. The requirements could cost drugmakers tens of millions of dollars and are likely to leave boosters largely out of reach for hundreds of millions of Americans this fall.Under the new guidance, vaccines will be available for high-risk individuals and seniors. But the FDA will encourage drugmakers to commit to conducting post-marketing clinical trials in healthy adults when the agency approves covid vaccines for those populations.For the past five years, the shots have been recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for everyone 6 months and older. They have been available each fall after being updated to reflect circulating strains of the virus, and the vaccines have been shown to be safe and effective in clinical trials.Vinay Prasad, who leads the FDA’s division overseeing vaccines, cited “distrust of the American public” as he announced the new guidelines at a May 20 briefing.“We have launched down this multiyear campaign of booster after booster after booster,” he said, adding that “we do not have gold-standard science to support this for average-risk, low-risk Americans.”The details were outlined in a May 20 article in The New England Journal of Medicine, written by FDA Commissioner Marty Makary. He and Prasad later followed up with the briefing, which appeared the same day on YouTube.The added limits on access aren’t the result of any recent data showing there are new health risks from the covid vaccines. Instead, they reflect a different regulatory stance from Kennedy, who has a history of anti-vaccine activism, and Makary, who has questioned the safety data on covid mRNA shots.Announcing a major regulatory change in a medical journal and YouTube video is a highly unusual approach that still leaves many questions about implementation unanswered. It remains unclear when the changes will go into effect or whether there will be any public comment period. The changes were announced by the administration before an FDA advisory committee meeting on May 22 to consider the 2026 covid vaccine formula.It’s a sharp reversal from the first Trump administration, which launched Operation Warp Speed — the effort that led to the development of the covid shots. Trump called the vaccines the “gold standard” and a “monumental national achievement.”Concerns About Higher TransmissionThe announcement is rattling some patient advocacy groups, doctors, nursing home leaders, and researchers who worry about the ramifications. They say higher-risk individuals will be more likely to get covid if people who aren’t at risk don’t get boosters that can help reduce transmission. And they say the FDA’s restrictions go too far, because they don’t provide exceptions for healthy individuals who work in high-risk settings, such as hospitals, who may want a covid booster for protection.The limits will also make it harder to get insurance coverage for the vaccines. And the FDA’s new stance could also increase vaccine hesitancy by undermining confidence in covid vaccines that have already been subject to rigorous safety review, said Kate Broderick, chief innovation officer at Maravai Life Sciences, which makes mRNA products for use in vaccine development.“For the public, it raises questions,” she said. “If someone has concerns, I’d like them to know that of all the vaccines, the ones with the most understood safety profile are probably covid-19 vaccines. There is an incredible body of data and over 10 billion doses given.”Some doctors and epidemiologists say it could leave healthy people especially vulnerable if more virulent strains of covid emerge and they can’t access covid shots.“It’s not based on science,” said Rob Davidson, an emergency room doctor in Michigan and executive director of the Committee to Protect Health Care, which works to expand health care access. “It’s what we were all worried would happen. It risks peoples’ lives.”Current federal regulators say there is no high-quality evidence showing that vaccinating healthy people, including health workers who are near or around immunocompromised people, provides an additional benefit.“It is possible, actually, that such approvals and strategies provide false reassurance and lead to increased harms,” Prasad said.The covid vaccines underwent clinical trials to assess safety, and they have been subject to ongoing surveillance and monitoring since they obtained emergency use authorization from the FDA amid the pandemic. Heart issues and allergic reactions can occur but are rare, according to the CDC.On a separate track, the FDA on May 21 posted letters sent in April to makers of the mRNA covid vaccines to add information about possible heart injury on warning labels, a move that one former agency official described as overkill. The action came after the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, a panel of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, held a hearing on alleged adverse events associated with covid vaccines.Limiting boosters to healthy people goes against guidance from some medical groups.“The COVID-19 vaccine is safe, effective, and the best way to protect children,” Sean O’Leary, chair of the Committee on Infectious Diseases at the American Academy of Pediatrics, said in an email. “Young children under 5 continue to be at the highest risk, with that risk decreasing as they get older.”Unsupported Claims About mRNA VaccinesThe covid booster clampdown is supported by many adherents of the “Make America Healthy Again” movement, which casts suspicion on traditional medicine. Some opponents of covid mRNA vaccines say without evidence that the shots cause “turbo” cancer, are genetic bioweapons, and cause more heart damage than the covid virus.There is no evidence the shots lead to rapid and aggressive cancers. Cancer rates decreased an average of 1.7% per year for men and 1.3% for women from 2018 to 2022, according to the National Institutes of Health. The covid vaccines debuted in 2021.Federal regulators say narrowing who can get the boosters will align the U.S. with policies of European nations. But other countries have vastly different economic structures for health care and approaches to preventive care. Many European countries, for example, don’t recommend flu shots for the entire population. The U.S. does in part because of the financial drain attributed to lost productivity when people are sick.They also want more information. “I think there’s a void of data,” Makary told CBS News on April 29. “And I think rather than allow that void to be filled with opinions, I’d like to see some good data.”A massive five-year study on covid vaccine safety by the Global Vaccine Data Network, involving millions of people, was underway, with about a year left before completion. The Trump administration terminated funding for the project as part of cuts directed by the president’s Department of Government Efficiency, and work on the study has stopped for now.There are a multitude of studies, however, on the vaccines’ effectiveness in preventing severe illness, hospitalization, and death.Limiting boosters for healthy people can be risky, some doctors say, because people don’t always know when they fall into higher-risk categories, such as individuals who are prediabetic or have high blood pressure. The covid vaccine restrictions could deter them from getting boosted, and they might experience worse complications from the virus as a result. For example, about 40% of people with hepatitis C are unaware of their condition, according to a study published in 2023.The number of people getting covid vaccines has already dropped significantly since the height of the crisis. More than half of the more than 258 million adults in the U.S. had gotten a covid vaccination as of May 2021, according to the CDC. In each of the past two seasons, less than 25% of Americans received boosters, CDC data shows.While deaths from the virus have dropped, covid remains a risk, especially when cases peak in December and January. Weekly covid deaths topped 2,580 as recently as January 2024, according to CDC data.Some high-risk individuals are worried that the new restrictions are just the first salvo in halting all access to mRNA shots. “The HHS motivation really is hidden, and it’s to dismiss all mRNA technology,” said Michael Osterholm, an epidemiologist at the University of Minnesota.Officials at the NIH have told scientists to remove references to mRNA in grant applications. HHS also announced plans in May to develop new vaccines without mRNA technology, which uses messenger RNA to instruct cells to make proteins that trigger an immune response.Rose Keller, 23, is concerned about future access to covid shots. She would be eligible under the current announcement — she has cystic fibrosis, a progressive genetic condition that makes the mucus in her lungs thick and sticky, so covid could land her in the hospital. But she is concerned the Trump administration may go further and restrict access to the vaccines as part of a broader opposition to mRNA technology.“I’ve had every booster that’s available to me,” said Keller, a government employee in Augusta, Maine. “It’s a real worry if I don’t have the protection of a covid booster.”KFF Health News is a national newsroom that produces in-depth journalism about health issues and is one of the core operating programs at KFF — the independent source for health policy research, polling, and journalism. #covid #vaccines #face #potential #new

Court Dismissed The FTC has dropped its lawsuit against Microsoft following the Activision Blizzard acquisition, letting the tech giant loose After years of legal debate and courthouse clashes, the FTC x Microsoft saga is at an end. Image credit: Activision, Treyarch, Raven. News by Connor Makar Staff Writer Published on May 23, 2025 The FTC has officially dropped its legal case against Microsoft following the American tech giant's aquisition of Activision Blizzard in 2023. Microsoft is now free from scrutiny, and can now proceed with all manner of business shenanigans with Activision Blizzard in tow without worrying about the courts. This legal battle, which has been raging for roughly the past two years, concluded as the FTC filed an order to dismiss its case. This comes now as the FTC recently had its appeal for an injunction on the aquisition declined, meaning in simple terms the FTC didn't really have any more cards left to play. To see this content please enable targeting cookies. Brad Smith, Microsoft Vice Chair, responded to the announcement gleefully in social media, posting: "Today’s decision is a victory for players across the country and for common sense in Washington, D.C. We are grateful to the FTC for today’s announcement." The FTC, in its filing to withdraw from this legal battle, conceeding the clash with the following statement: "The Commission has determined that the public interest is best served by dismissing the administrative litigation in this case. Accordingly, IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that the Complaint in this matter be, and it hereby is, DISMISSED." So that's that. The end of a saga of great legal consequence for the video game industry. Now, Microsoft is free to spread the wings it has recently bought and strapped on, and fly out in pursuit of large sums of money unimpeded. Whether or not the FTC's fears were well placed, and Microsoft will start leaning on the large market share it now has, is something video game fans will have to keep an eye out for. How do you feel about this conclusion? Happy, or bummed out? Let us know below! #ftc #has #dropped #its #lawsuit