While you can invest in high-quality sheets, the best cooling mattresses are a great foundation for a good night’s sleep. These beds are often equipped with proper air flow and temperature-regulating technologies that might just end the tossing-and-turning in the middle of the night, especially if you’re sleeping hot.To help along the way, AD editors and contributors set out to test the best in their homes. Cooling features our team kept an eye out for include everything from gel-infused foam to pocketed coils that help with motion isolation. We also looked at different mattress types (latex, hybrid, memory foam) and considered a variety of firmness levels. Below are some of our favorites, many of which come with a lengthy trial period, solid warranties, and even white glove delivery. Take a peek at the best cooling mattress options to suit your needs.Our Top Picks for the Best Cooling Mattresses:Best Overall Cooling Mattress: Cocoon by Sealy The Chill Mattress, $1,389 $899A Smart Option: Sleep Number i8 Mattress, $3,999 $2,799Best Hybrid Mattress: Saatva Latex Hybrid Mattress, $2,499 $2,199The Budget Pick: Allswell Supreme Mattress, $487Best Memory Foam Mattress: GhostBed Luxe Foam Mattress, $1,499Browse by CategoryFor consistency, all of the prices in this list reflect queen sizes.The Cooling Mattress, OverallCocoon by Sealy Chill MattressUpsides & DownsidesUpsidesAffordableIncludes free Sealy Sleep Bundle (up to $199 value)Memory foam layers adjust to sleep positionDownsidesLeans more firm than medium, according to our testerSpecsMattress type: Memory foamMaterials: Cooling cover, memory foam, cushioning foamFirmness: Medium-FirmWarranty: 100-night sleep trial, 10-year warranty“While my previous mattress was on the firmer side, it was not a memory foam or very cool mattress,” says contributor Cade Hiser in his review. “With the Cocoon Chill memory foam mattress, I do not wake up in the middle of the night like I used to, tossing and turning. I also stay sleeping at a comfortable temperature throughout the night.” The mattress clearly prioritizes body temperature control—hence the name. Hiser did note that since this memory foam mattress is a bit firmer, it may take a moment to adjust if you’re used to purely soft beds. The mattress comes in a box and is ready to be rolled out.A Smart OptionSleep Number i8 Smart BedUpsides & DownsidesUpsidesPressure-relieving supportCeramic gel to release excess heatAdjustable firmness levels for different sleepersDownsidesDifficult to move and requires unplugging the pump that needs to be reset via the appSpecsMattress type: Smart bedMaterials: CertiPUR-US certified foam, ceramic gel layerFirmness: AdjustableWarranty: 100-night trial; 15-year limited warrantySleep Number mattresses are lauded for their adjustable nature, and the i8 is a smart bed that also happens to help keep you from overheating thanks to its ceramic gel layer. The Responsive Air feature amps up the sleep quality by responding to movement throughout the night. “This mattress is exactly the firmness that I want on one side and exactly how my husband prefers on the other,” says Lisa Aiken, the senior vice president of commerce at Condé Nast. “It is easily changed and adjusted on the App, which links your phone to the bed via Bluetooth so you can adjust at any time to suit your mood.”Aiken was also impressed by the “exceptional customer service and delivery experience,” which not only included a smooth process that included the mattress setup, but also assistance with explaining how to use the Sleep Number App and all its capabilities so she could get the most out of her sleep experience.Best Hybrid MattressSaatva Latex Hybrid MattressUpsides & DownsidesUpsidesTemperature regulatingMinimal motion transferIdeal for those with back painBotanic antimicrobial treatmentOld mattress and box spring removal is included in deliveryDownsidesDoesn’t ship in a boxSpecsMattress type: Latex hybridMaterials: Natural latex foam layer with vented airflow channels, individually wrapped coilsFirmness: Medium-firm, buoyant feelWarranty: 365-night home trial; lifetime warrantyGlobal editorial director and US editor in chief Amy Astley loves quite a few things about her Saatva mattress—the five ergonomic zones for support and the bed’s pressure-relieving qualities—and does not overlook the cooling component. The mattress is hand-tufted, hypoallergenic, and made of organic natural latex with organic cotton and New Zealand wool covers to promote cooler sleep. “[My husband and I] both sleep warm and appreciate the vented airflow channels, which allow for circulation and breathability,” she says. “ When my husband shifts, I cannot feel the bed moving–heaven. Ultimately, we are both so happy to tuck into this bed and don’t really want to get out of it in the morning.”Astley refers to the Saatva as “mattress gold” because of its comfort, body heat regulation, and the ability to make her lower back pain disappear. She notes that it is firm, but not rock hard, and is suitable for back sleepers (as vetted by her husband) and side-sleepers such as herself.The Budget PickAllswell Supreme Cooling Hybrid MattressUpsides & DownsidesUpsidesCustomizable to fit a variety of mattress foundationsEasy setupBreathable top layerDownsidesThe delivery process was not smooth for our testerShorter mattress return window than competitorsSpecsMattress type: HybridMaterials: Six layers including copper-infused memory foam, high-density support foam, and pocketed spring coils for cooling comfortFirmness: MediumWarranty: 90-day returns; 10-year warrantyAt 14 inches thick, the Allswell Supreme Mattress certainly makes a statement, but it’s the copper foam layer that contours and has cooling properties that make it stand out. “I feel supported yet super comfortable, and, as promised, it keeps me very cool,” says contributor Rebecca Grambone in her review. “Their cooling technology actively draws and releases excess heat away from your body.” The 1.5-inch quilted top further ensures that you will sleep cool.Note that Allswell skews on the firmer side and if you’re not used to this, an adjustment period might be in store. Grambone did like that the company prizes customization for different beds, such as those with a box spring, a flat platform bed frame, an adjustable bed frame, or a slatted frame.Best Memory Foam MattressGhostBed Luxe Foam MattressUpsides & DownsidesUpsidesCombination between graphite- and gel-infused memory foamPressure reliefSoft quilted coverDownsidesIncompatible with box springWeight limit 750 poundsSpecsMattress type: Memory foamMaterials: Cooling gel memory foamFirmness: Medium-firmWarranty: 101-night sleep trial; 25-year warrantyThe tagline for GhostBed luxe is “The coolest bed in the world.” And while we haven’t tested every mattress there is, we are noting that it has patented Ghost Ice technology (a combination of graphite- and gel-infused memory foam) that absorbs and redistributes body heat and promises that the quilted cover has five times the cooling power.Tester Diane Dragen, the global content strategy and operations director at AD, who also reviewed the GhostBed luxe in our best mattresses for side sleepers guide, discovered the gel memory foam delivered on its promises to gently soothe her into sleep. “It’s very soothing and meditative, and it does feel like a luxury experience,” Dragen explains. Sleeping on this bed is a “very pleasant feeling,” especially because her vulnerable hip, shoulder, and back areas are lightly cradled as if she is slumbering on a beach.More AD-Approved Cooling MattressesCariloha Resort Bamboo MattressUpsides & DownsidesUpsidesSide wedge supportsWhite glove serviceSustainableDownsides72-hour decompression periodSpecsMattress type: Memory foamMaterials: Gel-infused memory foamFirmness: MediumWarranty: 100-night sleep trial; 10-year warrantyCariloha bamboo mattress has Resort in its name because you’re supposed to feel like you’re on vacation when you sleep. “The mattress is constructed from bamboo memory foam with five distinct layers that adapt and mold to your body shape, resulting in a sleep experience that is both very supportive and pleasantly soft,” Aiken says. Additionally, the mattress has a moisture-wicking feature in its Flex-Flow Base Foam that promises to improve airflow and keep you 3 degrees Fahrenheit cooler. The removable and washable cover is also made with bamboo, which is something we know and love when it comes to cooling bed sheets.Aiken also highlights that the side wedge supports “contribute to a feeling of a wider sleep surface (Cariloha claims a 25% increase) but also provide excellent additional structure and reinforcement along the edges and even in the center of the mattress.”Brentwood Home Oceano Luxury Hybrid MattressUpsides & DownsidesUpsidesComes with free pillows and sleep masksIncludes GOTS-certified organic wool and cottonBioFoam cooling gelDownsidesPriceySpecsMattress type: HybridMaterials: Cooling gel with BioFoam and coilsFirmness: Medium-softWarranty: 365-night sleep trial, 25-year warrantyBrentwood Home Oceano hybrid mattress is what you might dream about if you sleep hot. It is constructed of nine layers, including cooling gel made with BioFoam. The GOTS-certified organic wool and cotton further add to the breathability. “This mattress feels so luxurious after a long day running around NYC,” says contributor Nick Mafi in his review of the best mattress brands. “This mattress has that perfectly deluxe feel and best-in-class support. I love sleeping on this mattress, but it’s also perfect for reading and editing manuscripts (my main activity!), working on a laptop, and lounging around watching TV with friends.”Then there is the support. With nearly 2,700 coils (1,722 micro-coils and 975 pocketed coils around the perimeter), you will never feel as if you’re sinking into some sort of abyss. Compared to other mattresses on the list, this one does not have a firm feel. In fact, Mafi was initially wary of the 4.5 out of 10 firmness scale. “I’ve never considered myself someone who loves a soft bed, but boy was I wrong!” he explains. “I love this mattress. It’s squishy, but still supportive. Perhaps it's the Air Luxe foam, which helps with pressure relief, at play.Amerisleep AS3 MattressUpsides & DownsidesUpsidesEco-friendlySmooth delivery processEasy setupNo off-gassingDownsidesNo contact deliverySpecsMattress type: Memory foamMaterials: Plant-based memory foam with four layersFirmness: Medium-SoftWarranty: 100-night sleep trial, 20-year warrantyThe AS3 is Amerisleep’s best-selling mattress. You can sleep cooler in part because it is made with a plant-based memory foam with an open cell design called Bio-Pur, and it also incorporates HIVE technology to amp up the airflow. To top it off, it comes with a scientifically engineered Refresh cover that uses minerals to manage body heat and is said to keep you 7 degrees cooler than a polyester cover. When it comes to plushness, the mattress is “definitely on the softer side,” says tester Rachel Logie, senior analytics manager. “The memory foam bounces back faster than most memory foam mattresses I’ve tried, so you don’t get that ‘stuck’ feeling.”Puffy Cloud MattressUpsides & DownsidesUpsidesArrives in a box, easy transportComes with free pillows and sleep masksOur tester says it has “cloud-like” comfortDownsides:The bed is not sustainably made like some others in our listSpecsMattress type: Memory foamMaterials: 6-layer memory foamFirmness: Medium-firmWarranty: 101-night sleep trial; Lifetime warrantyThe Puffy Cloud is meant to feel like bliss, and it lives up to its name not only in the comfort category but also because the six-layer memory foam mattress incorporates cooling technology that allows the air to circulate, so you never feel like your torso is a prisoner of night sweats. “The light, supportive cradling of the foam layers is comforting and cool,” says Dragan. “It really is cloud-like! Unlike other mattresses I’ve tested, your body doesn’t sink into the layers of foam as much as it rests lightly on the surface.”

In The Electric State, based on a graphic novel by Swedish artist Simon Stålenhag, after a robot uprising in an alternative version of the 1990s, an orphaned teenager goes on a quest across the American West, with a cartoon-inspired robot, a smuggler, and his sidekick, to find her long-lost brother. Adapting this sci-fi adventure for Netflix were Joe and Anthony Russo; their film stars Millie Bobbie Brown, Chris Pratt, Stanley Tucci, Giancarlo Esposito and a cast of CG automatons voiced by the likes of Woody Harrelson, Alan Tudyk, Hank Azaria, and Anthony Mackie.  Overseeing the visual effects, which surpassed what the Russos had to deal with during their halcyon MCU days, was Matthew Buttler, who turned to the venerable Digital Domain. As the main vendor, the studio was responsible for producing 61 character builds, 480 assets, and over 850 shots. “It was one of the biggest projects that I’ve done in terms of sheer volumes of assets, shots and characters,” states Joel Behrens, VFX Supervisor, Digital Domain.  “Our wonderful asset team did the 61 characters we were responsible for and had to ingest another 46 characters from other facilities.  We didn’t do any major changes. It was pushing our pipeline to the limits it could handle, especially with other shows going on. We took up a lot of disk space and had the ability to expand and contract the Renderfarm with cloud machines as well.” In researching for the show, Digital Domain visited Boston Dynamics to better understand the technological advancements in robotics, and what structures, motions, and interactions were logical and physically plausible.  “There is a certain amount of fake engineering that goes into some of these things,” notes Behrens.  “We’re not actually building these robots to legitimately function in the real world but have to be visibly believable that they can actually pull some of this stuff off.”  The starting point is always the reference material provided by the client.  “Is there a voice that I need to match to?” notes Liz Bernard, Animation Supervisor, Digital Domain.  “Is there any physical body reference either from motion reference actors in the plate or motion capture? We had a big mix of that on the show.  Some of our characters couldn’t be mocapped at all while others could but we had to modify the performance considerably.  We were also looking at the anatomy of each one of these robots to see what their physical capabilities are.  Can they run or jump?  Because that’s always going to tie tightly with the personality.  Your body in some ways is your personality.  We’re trying to figure out how do we put the actor’s voice on top of all these physical limitations in a way that feels cohesive.  It doesn’t happen overnight.”  The character design of Cosmo was retained from the graphic novel despite not being feasible to engineer in reality.  “His feet are huge,” laughs Bernard.  “We had to figure out how to get him to walk in a way that felt normal and put the joints in the right spots.” Emoting was mainly achieved through physicality.  “He does have these audio clips from the Kid Cosmo cartoon that he can use to help express himself verbally, but most of it is pantomime,” observes Bernard.  “There is this great scene between Cosmo and Michelle that occurs right after she crashes the car, and Cosmo is still trying to convince her who he is and why she should go off on this great search for her brother across the country.   We were trying to get some tough nuanced acting into these shots with a subtle head tilt or a little bit of a slump in the shoulders.”  A green light was inserted into the eyes.  “Matthew Butler likes robotic stuff and anything that we could do to make Cosmo feel more grounded in reality was helpful,” observes Behrens.  “We also wanted to prevent anyone from panicking and giving Cosmo a more animated face or allowing him to speak dialogue. We started off with a constant light at the beginning and then added this twinkle and glimmer in his eye during certain moments. We liked that and ended up putting it in more places throughout the film. Everybody says that the eyes are the windows to the soul so giving Cosmo something rather than a dark black painted spot on his face assisted in connecting with that character.”  Coming in four different sizes that fit inside one another - like a Russian doll - is Herman. Digital Domain looked after the eight-inch, four-foot and 20-foot versions while ILM was responsible for the 60-foot Herman that appears in the final battle.   “They were scaled up to a certain extent but consider that the joints on the 20-foot version of Herman versus the four-foot version need to be more robust and beefier because they’re carrying so much more weight,” remarks Bernard.  “We were focusing on making sure that the impact of each step rippled through the body in a way that made it clear how heavy a 20-foot robot carrying a van across a desert would be.  The smaller one can be nimbler and lighter on its feet.  There were similar physical limitations, but that weight was the big deal.”  Incorporated into the face of Herman is a retro-futuristic screen in the style of the 1980s and early 1990s CRT panels. “It has these RGB pixels that live under a thick plate of glass like your old television set,” explains Behrens.  “You have this beautiful reflective dome that goes over top of these cathode-ray-looking pixels that allowed us to treat it as a modern-day LED with the ability to animate his expressions, or if we wanted to, put symbols up. You could pixelized any graphical element and put it on Herman’s face.  We wanted to add a nonlinear decay into the pixels so when he changed expressions or a shape altered drastically you would have a slow quadratic decay of the pixels fading off as he switched expressions. That contributed a nice touch.” One member of the robot cast is an iconic Planters mascot.  “Everybody knows who Mr. Peanut is and what he looks like, at least in North America,” observes Behrens.  “We had to go through a lot of design iterations of how his face should animate. It was determined that as a slightly older model of robot he didn’t have a lot of dexterity in his face. We were modelling him after Chuck E. Cheese and ShowBiz Pizza animatronics, so it was like a latex shell over the top of a mechanical under structure that drove his limited expressions. It allowed him to open and close his mouth and do some slight contractions at the corners, leaving most of the acting to his eyes, which did not have as many restrictions. The eyes had the ability to move quickly, and dart and blink like a human.”  The eyebrows were mounted tracks that ran up and down a vertical slot on the front of the face.  “We could move the eyebrows up and down, and tilt them, but couldn’t do anything else,” states Bernard.  “It was trying to find a visual language that would get the acting across with Woody Harrelson’s amazing performance backing it up.  Then a lot of pantomime to go with that.”  Mr. Peanut moves in a jerky rather than smooth manner.  “Here is a funny little detail,” reveals Bernard.  “If you think about a peanut shell, he doesn’t have a chest or hips that can move independently.  We realized early on that in order to get him to walk without teeter-tottering everywhere, we were going to have to cut his butt off, reattach it and add a swivel control on the bottom.  We always kept that peanut silhouette intact; however, he could swivel his hips enough to walk forward without looking silly!”  Other notable robots are Pop Fly and Perplexo; the former is modelled on baseball player, the latter on a magician.  “We decided that Pop Fly would be the clunkiest of all robots because he was meant to be the elder statesman,” states Behrens.  “Pop Fly was partially falling apart, like his eye would drift, the mouth would hang open and sometimes he’d pass out for a second and wake back up.  Pop Fly was the scavenger hunter of the group who has seen stuff in the battles of the wasteland. We came up with a fun pitching mechanism so he could actually shoot the balls out of his mouth and of course, there was his trusty baseball bat that he could bat things with.” An interesting task was figuring out how to rig his model.  “We realized that there needed to be a lot of restrictions in his joints to make him look realistic based on how he was modelled in the first place,” notes Bernard.  “Pop Fly couldn’t rotate his head in every direction; he could turn it from side to side for the most part.  Pop Fly was on this weird structure with the four wheels on a scissor lift situation which meant that he always had to lean forward to get going and when stopping, would rock backwards.  It was fun to add all that detail in for him.”  Serving as Perplexo’s upper body is a theatrical box that he pops in and out of.  “Perplexo did not have a whole lot going on with his face,” remarks Bernard.  “It was a simple mechanical structure to his jaw, eyes, and eyelids; that meant we could push the performance with pantomime and crazy big gestures with the arms.”               A major adversary in the film is The Marshall, portrayed by Giancarlo Esposito, who remotely controls a drone that projects the face of operator onto a video screen.  “We started with a much smaller screen and had a cowboy motif for awhile, but then they decided to have a unifying design for the drones that are operated by humans versus the robots,” remarks Behrens.  “Since the artist Simon Stålenhag had done an interesting, cool design with the virtual reality helmets with that long duckbill that the humans wear in the real world, the decision was made to mimic that head style of the drones to match the drone operators. Then you could put a screen on the front; that’s how you see Ted [Jason Alexander] or The Marshall or the commando operators. It worked out quite nicely.”   There was not much differentiation in the movement of the drones.  “The drones were meant to be in the vein of Stormtroopers, a horde of them being operated by people sitting in a comfortable room in Seattle,” observes Bernard. “So, they didn’t get as much effort and love as we put into the rest of the robots which had their own personalities. But for The Marshall, we have great mocap to start from Adam Croasdell. He played it a little bit cowboy, which was how Giancarlo Esposito was portraying the character as well, like a Western sheriff style vibe. You could hear that in the voice.  Listening to Giancarlo’s vocal performance gives you a lot of clues of what you should do when you’re moving that character around.  We put all of that together in the performance of The Marshall.”   Many environments had to either be created or augmented, such as the haunted amusement park known as Happyland. “The majority of the exterior of Happyland was a beautiful set that Dennis Gassner and his crew built in a parking lot of a waterslide park in Atlanta,” states Behrens.  “We would go there at night and freeze our butts off shooting for a good two and a half weeks in the cold Atlanta winter.  Most of our environmental work was doing distance extensions for that and adding atmospherics and fog.  We made all the scavenger robots that inhabit Happyland, which are cannibalistic robotics that upgrade and hot rod themselves from random parts taken from the robots that they kill.  Once we get into the haunted house and fall into the basement, that’s where Dr. Amherst has his lab, which was modelled off a 1930s Frankenstein set, with Tesla coils, beakers, and lab equipment.  That was initially a set build we did onstage in Atlanta. But when we got into additional photography, they wanted to do this whole choreographed fight with The Marshall and Mr. Peanut. Because they didn’t know what actions we would need, we ended up building that entire lower level in CG.”   At one point, all the exiled robots gather at the Mall within the Exclusion Zone.  “We were responsible for building a number of the background characters along with Storm Studios and ILM,” remarks Behrens.  “As for the mall, we didn’t have to do much to the environment.  There were some small things here and there that had to be modified.  We took over an abandoned mall in Atlanta and the art department dressed over half of it.” The background characters were not treated haphazardly. “We assigned two or three characters to each animator,” explains Bernard.  “I asked them to make a backstory and figure out who this guy is, what does he care about, and who is his mama?!  Put that into the performance so that each one feels unique and different because they have their own personalities.  There is a big central theme in the movie where the robots are almost more human than most of the humans you meet.  It was important to us that we put that humanity into their performances. As far as the Mall and choreography, Matthew, Joel and I knew that was going to be a huge challenge because this is not traditional crowd work where you can animate cycles and give it to a crowds department and say, ‘Have a bunch of people walking around.’  All these characters are different; they have to move differently and do their own thing.  We did a first pass on the big reveal in the Mall where you swing around and see the atrium where everybody is doing their thing.  We essentially took each character and moved them around like a chess piece to figure out if we had enough characters, if the color balanced nicely across all of them, and if it was okay for us to duplicate a couple of them.  We started to show that early to Matthew and Jeffrey Ford [Editor, Executive Producer], and the directors to get buyoff on the density of the crowd.”    Considered one of the film’s signature sequences is the walk across the Exclusion Zone, where 20-foot Herman is carrying a Volkswagen van containing Michelle, Cosmo and Keats on his shoulder.  “We did a little bit of everything,” notes Behrens.  “We had plate-based shots because a splinter unit went out to Moab, Utah and shot a bunch of beautiful vistas for us.  For environments, there were shots where we had to do projections of plate material onto 3D geometry that we built. We had some DMPs that went into deep background. We also had to build out some actual legitimate 3D terrain for foreground and midground because a lot of the shots that had interaction with our hero characters rocking and back forth were shot on a bluescreen stage with a VW van on a large gimbal rig.  Then Liz had the fun job of trying to tie that into a giant robot walking with them.  We had to do some obvious tweaking to some of those motions. The establishing shots, where they are walking through this giant dead robot skeleton from who knows where, several of those were 100 percent CG. Once they get to the Mall, we had a big digital mall and a canyon area that had to look like they were once populated.”  Modifications were kept subtle.  “There were a couple of shots where we needed to move the plate VW van around a little bit,” states Bernard.  “You can’t do a lot without it starting to fall apart and lose perspective.”  “The biggest challenge was the scale and sheer number of characters needed that played a large role interacting with our human actors and creating a believable world for them to live in,” reflects Behrens.  “The sequence that I had the most fun with was the mine sequence with Herman and Keats, as far as their banter back and forth. Some of our most expansive work was the Mall and the walk across the Exclusion Zone.  Those had the most stunning visuals.”  Bernard agrees with her colleague.  “I’m going to sound like a broken record.  For me, it was the scale and the sheer number of characters that we had to deal with and keeping them feeling that they were all different, but from the same universe.  Having the animators working towards that same goal was a big challenge.  We had quite a large team on this one.  And I do love that mine sequence.  There is such good banter between Keats and Herman, especially early on in that sequence.  It has so much great action to it.  We got to drop a giant claw on top of The Marshall that he had to fight his way out of.  That was a hard shot.  And of course, the Mall is stunning.  You can see all the care that went into creating that environment and all those characters.  It’s beautiful.”      Trevor Hogg is a freelance video editor and writer best known for composing in-depth filmmaker and movie profiles for VFX Voice, Animation Magazine, and British Cinematographer.

French fries at Steak 'n' Shake in Greenwood, Indiana. RFK Jr touted French fries while dining at a ... More Steak 'n' Shake.Missvain, Wikimedia Commons RFK Jr is not just bringing back infectious diseases like measles. Our top health official is working hard to back diet-related diseases like obesity, diabetes, and heart attacks. During his first three months in office, RFK, Jr. has made three big pronouncements about what Americans should eat. The first is important but for the wrong reasons. The second builds on the fallacies of the first. And the third goes against 60 plus years of scientific evidence. 1. Ultra-processed foods (UPFs) are poisoning us Something is poisoning the American people. And we know that the primary culprit is our changing food supply to highly chemical and processed food. RFK Jr, at his Senate Finance Confirmation Hearings, January 29, 2025 French Fries, with 13 Ingredients, would be considered an ultra-processed food.Open Food Facts RFK is not wrong if he is referring to ultra-processed foods (or UPFs). A recent study found that those who ate more UPFs were more likely to show early symptoms of Parkinson’s disease and a review study linked UPFs to higher risk of dying from heart disease, type 2 diabetes, obesity, and mental health outcomes including anxiety and sleeping difficulties. UPFs are made from multiple ingredients including additives like colorants, flavor enhancers, and preservatives. They contain high amounts of sugars, salt, and fats, which makes them hyper-palatable, or simply tasty. And they are cheap, readily available (witness the local gas station convenience store), and handy to eat. Unfortunately for the consumer, a review of studies with a combined population of over 1 million, found that for each 10% increase in UPF consumption, your risk of mortality increases by 10%. Why are UPFs unhealthy? Many people eschew the long list of “chemicals” on the ingredient labels of everything from Wheaties to Fritos. One type of ingredient--food dyes--can have negative health effects and are associated with hyperactivity in children. In fact, MAHA hopes to ban food dyes in UPFs like soft drinks and Fruit Loops. Yet I haven’t heard MAHA alerting us to the high levels of salt, sugar, and saturated fat in UPFs… all things that have been shown over and over to contribute to chronic diseases like high blood pressure, diabetes, and cancer.FI/FOOD Washington Post Studio DATE: 1/7/05 PHOTO: Julia Ewan/TWP Kellogg's Fruit Loops now have 1/3 ... More less sugar and 12 added vitamins and minerals. (Photo by Julia Ewan/The The Washington Post via Getty Images)The Washington Post via Getty Images Dr Kevin Hall, who worked as a nutrition researcher at NIH for 21 years, found that people on an ultra-processed diet consumed about 500 more calories per day, which could explain why UPFs are associated with type 2 diabetes and obesity. But what explains why UPF consumers gobble up more calories? Dr Hall thinks energy density might be the culprit. Simply put, a chocolate chip cookie packs a lot more calories into every bite than a banana. So eating that ultra processed chocolate chip cookie means eating more calories per bite compared to eating fruit and other less processed foods. Not to mention that the sugar, salt and fat taste good… making me want to eat 4 or 5 chocolate chip cookies instead of one banana. Cramer ton, North Carolina, Floyd & Blackie's bakery employee with tray of large M&M chocolate chip ... More cookies. (Photo by: Jeffrey Greenberg/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)Jeffrey Greenberg/Universal Images Group via Getty ImagesUndated: A bunch of ripe yellow Bananas. (Photo by Richard Whiting /Getty Images)Getty Images The preliminary results of Dr Hall’s recent study, which he posted on X, show that the high energy density and the irresistible taste of salt, sugar, and fat explain why people on high UPF diets eat more calories. But don’t expect to see the final results of this important study published anytime soon. Turns out Dr Hall took early retirement at 54 yrs old from his research position at NIH. Why? Because the MAHA administration forced him to withdraw his name from a paper on UPFs that mentioned “health equity”--or the difficulties some groups have accessing healthy food. The administration also took away the money Dr Hall needed to continue his UPF research, censored his media access, and even incorrectly edited his response to a NY Times inquiry. Just as we were on the brink of understanding why UPFs are making us sick, one of the world’s leading UPF scientists is out. Hard to see how lack of scientific information is Making Americans Healthy Again. 2. Eat Beef Tallow instead of Seed OilsWASHINGTON, DC - MARCH 31: Beef tallow french fries photographed for Food in Washington, DC on March ... More 31, 2025. (Photo by Scott Suchman for The Washington Post via Getty Images; food styling by Lisa Cherkasky for The Washington Post via Getty Images)The Washington Post via Getty Images While dining on fries and a double cheeseburger at Steak N Shake with Fox News’s Sean Hannity, Kennedy touted French fries cooked in beef tallow. Robert F. Kennedy Jr 10/21/24 @RobertKennedyJr Did you know that McDonald’s used to use beef tallow to make their fries from 1940 until phasing it out in favor of seed oils in 1990? This switch was made because saturated animal fats were thought to be unhealthy, but we have since discovered that seed oils are one of the driving causes of the obesity epidemic. …Americans should have every right to eat out at a restaurant without being unknowingly poisoned by heavily subsidized seed oils. It’s time to Make Frying Oil Tallow Again 🇺🇸🍔 Close-up of a large frozen ball of beef kidney fat during home rendering of beef tallow, Lafayette, ... More California, March 25, 2025. (Photo by Smith Collection/Gado/Getty Images)Gado via Getty Images To be sure, consuming a lot of seed oils raises health concerns, including that they contain few nutrients, are often highly processed, and some, like soybean oil, might contain unhealthy amounts of omega 6 acids. But, are seed oils worse than saturated animal fats? Seed oils, unlike animal fats, are mostly unsaturated. According to Dr. Christopher Gardner, director of nutrition studies at the Stanford Prevention Research Center who has been studying the role of fat in our diet since 1995, "Every study for decades has shown that when you eat unsaturated fats instead of saturated fats, this lowers the level of LDL cholesterol [bad cholesterol] in your blood. There are actually few associations in nutrition that have this much evidence behind them…To think that seed oils are anywhere near the top of the list of major nutrition concerns in our country is just nuts." And in a 2025 study, participants with the highest intake of butter, which similar to beef tallow is largely saturated animal fat, had a 16% less likely to die. About ⅓ of the deaths were due to cancer, about a third to cardiovascular disease, and a third other causes. The authors conclude: “Substituting butter with plant-based oils may confer substantial benefits for preventing premature deaths. These results support current dietary recommendations to replace animal fats like butter with non hydrogenated vegetable oils that are high in unsaturated fats, especially olive, soy, and canola oil.” (Note that olive oil, while plant-based, is not a seed oil since most of the oil comes from the fleshy part of the olive.) Still life featuring a collection of olive oil bottles, 2011. (Photo by Tom Kelley/Getty Images)Getty Images In short, if you have to choose between seed oils and animal fat, you are probably better off with seed oils, or even better, extra virgin olive oil (EVOO). But, you should avoid consuming too much of any sort of oil or fat, which brings us to the third RFK Jr pronouncement.RFK Jr and West Virginia Governor Morissey. Presidential Candidate Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. ... More Celebrates Hispanic Heritage Month In Los Angeles. Patrick Morrisey speaking at the 2017 CPAC in National Harbor, Maryland.Mario Tama, Getty Images; Gage Skidmore 3. Become a Carni-Bro At a public event to promote MAHA in West Virginia, RFK Jr body shamed Governor Patrick Morrisey for his weight. I’m going to put him on a really rigorous regime. We’re going to put him on a carnivore diet … Raise your hand if you want Governor Morrissey to do a public weigh-in once a month. And then when he’s lost 30 lbs I’m going to come back to this state and we’re going to do a celebration and a public weigh in with him. RFK, Jr. MAHA seems to be at the forefront of the next culture war: dump plant-based foods and become a “carni-bro.” Yet a comprehensive review of studies on foods and obesity concluded: High intakes of whole grains, legumes, nuts, and fruits are associated with a reduced risk of overweight and obesity, while red meat and sugar-sweetened beverages are associated with an increased risk of overweight and obesity. NEW YORK, NEW YORK - JULY 04: Spectators pose for a photo ahead of the 2023 Nathan's Famous Fourth ... More of July International Hot Dog Eating Contest at Coney Island on July 04, 2023 in the Brooklyn borough of New York City. The annual contest, which began in 1972, draws thousands of spectators to Nathan’s Famous located on Surf Avenue. (Photo by Alexi J. Rosenfeld/Getty Images)Getty Images How do UPFs compare to red meat? The only study I found comparing the two found people eating UPFs had an approximately 14% greater chance of dying whereas those who ate red meat had an approximately 8% chance of death over the same time period. (Those eating other types of meats like chicken and pork and fish did not have a greater chance of dying.) But this study was conducted with Seventh Day Adventists, whose meat consumption was way lower than the average American (while their UPF consumption was fairly typical of the US). People in West Virginia, whose governor is in fact rotund, are by far and away the biggest consumer of hotdogs in the US, at 481 hot dogs per person per year. In a recent UK study with a more typical population, every added 70 g of red meat and processed meat (like ham, hotdogs, bacon, and deli meats) per day was associated with a 15% higher risk of coronary heart disease and a 30% higher risk of diabetes. Because red and processed meat consumption is also associated with higher rates of cancer, the World Cancer Research Fund recommends limiting red meat to no more than three portions per week and avoiding processed meat altogether.TOPSHOT - An overweight woman walks at the 61st Montgomery County Agricultural Fair on August 19, ... More 2009 in Gaithersburg, Maryland. At USD 150 billion, the US medical system spends around twice as much treating preventable health conditions caused by obesity than it does on cancer, Health Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said. Two-thirds of US adults and one in five children are overweight or obese, putting them at greater risk of chronic illness like heart disease, cancer, stroke and diabetes, according to reports released recently at the "Weight of the Nation" conference. AFP PHOTO / Tim Sloan (Photo by Tim SLOAN / AFP) (Photo by TIM SLOAN/AFP via Getty Images)AFP via Getty Images Heart Disease: Still the leading killer According to the CDC, heart disease is the leading cause of death in the US, accounting for one in five deaths, or one death every 33 seconds. Heart disease cost the US about $252.2 billion from 2019 to 2020. And if you look at a map of where heart disease is more common, it looks uncannily like a map of MAHA supporters (including in West Virginia). .Heart Disease Death Rates, 2018–2020 for Adults, Ages 35+, by CountyCDC The first items in a list of CDC recommendations for preventing heart disease are all about food: Choose healthy meals and snacks high in fiber and limit saturated and trans fats, salt, and sugar. This sounds like a recipe for avoiding UPFs. But it could also be a recipe for substituting whole grains and fruit and vegetables for red and processed meats, which punch the double whammy of being meat and UPFs. Is RFK, Jr. Making America Healthy Again? Let’s celebrate Kennedy’s move away from UPFs, an important step toward improving Americans’ health. But why does our top health official publicly tout beef tallow, French fries, and double cheeseburgers, when we know that Americans’ consumption of saturated fat and meat lead to obesity, diabetes, cancer, and heart disease? Or has he weighed in on ultra-processed meats, like Slim Jim’s, which with sales at $3 billion last year is America’s fastest growing snack?NEW ORLEANS - OCTOBER 01: Amanda Barrett (L), 18-years-old, watches her mother Eve Barrett peel a ... More mold-covered layer of paint off a wall as the family sees what is left of their home in the Lakeview District October 1, 2005 in New Orleans, Louisiana. The people of New Orleans are still cleaning up over a month after Hurricane Katrina hit the area. (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images)Getty Images It’s hard to understand what is going on in RFK’s brain. He gloms on to a limited number of studies suggesting health risks of eating seed oils, while ignoring saturated fats and even encouraging Americans to eat fast foods. He wants to rout out corruption in the food and pharmaceutical industry, yet uses his position to sell Make America Tallow Again hats and T-shirts. He says he believes climate change poses an existential threat, yet on his second day in office eliminated funding for research on heat waves, indoor mold after flooding, and other NIH climate change and health programs. And in his big May report on children’s health, he ignores the largest causes of death for those under 19--gun violence and accidents. Raise your hand if you want Secretary Kennedy to conduct a public truth-telling once a month.

Start SlideshowStart SlideshowImage: Paramount / Konami / Ocean / KotakuApparently there’s a new Mission: Impossible movie coming out soon. But what there isn’t is a new Mission: Impossible video game, and we’d like to hear someone explain why not. It’s outrageous. The 1960s TV show has games. The first of Cruise’s movies, 1996's Mission: Impossible, has a game. (No Tom Cruise likeness in the game, though.) Why aren’t I playing the Just Cause-like gamedo exist, and wonder quietly to ourselves if that was actually a good idea.Previous SlideNext Slide2 / 12List slidesMission Impossible (1979)List slidesMission Impossible (1979)HighretrogamelordThe very first Mission: Impossible video game, albeit an unofficial one, came out in 1979. And no, that’s not a typo. Scott Adams (no, thank god, not the Dilbert one) and Irene Adams made a series of text adventures after being inspired by Scott’s colleagues who created the seminal Colossal Cave Adventure in 1976. Widely considered to be a joint founders of the entire genre, the Adamses made a series of text adventure games (what you kids now call Interactive Fiction) for the TRS-80 in the late ‘70s, one of which was originally called Mission Impossible (without the distinctive colon that’s officially in the title of the TV shows and movies).Things were a bit of a wild west back then, given that there wasn’t really a vast home gaming industry. The game featured a spy called Phelps after the main character of the original show, who begins sat in front of a tape recorder containing a message that begins much like those on the show often did. “Good morning Mr. Phelps. Your Mission (should you decide to accept it) is to prevent this automated nuclear reactor from being destroyed by a saboteur’s TIME BOMB!” Perhaps it’s not surprising that the owners of the TV show threatened legal action.This led to all manner of names ending up attached to the game, the most common being Secret Mission, which was added to the already-printed boxes via a cheaply produced gold sticker. It’s something of a joy that one of the first ever popular text adventures should be such a brazen rip-off.Previous SlideNext Slide3 / 12List slidesMission: Impossible (1990)List slidesMission: Impossible (1990)SNES drunkTempting as it is to include the fantastic Impossible Mission platform/puzzle games of the 1980s in this list, they don’t really count, though they do still feature the greatest somersaults in gaming history. So instead we jump forward to 1990, when the Nintendo Entertainment System was blessed with a game based on the short-lived 1988 reboot of the TV series. This time we have an officially licensed game, developed by Konami, that was released just in time to mark the TV version’s cancellation after just 35 episodes. (The original 60s/70s Mission: Impossible ran for 171 episodes, with Leonard Nimoy appearing in 49 of them.) The IMF team is tasked with rescuing Jane Badler’s character, Shannon Reed, along with “Dr. O,” an IMF scientist, all through the magic of top-down 1990 action.You could switch between three characters, Max Harte, Grant Collier and Nicholas Black, each with their own skills as they charged through Venice, Switzerland, and all those good Eurozone adventure locations. Previous SlideNext Slide4 / 12List slidesMission: Impossible (1991)List slidesMission: Impossible (1991)Mission: Impossible gameplay (PC Game, 1991)It’s a year later, and there’s a second licensed game from the franchise! But this time, it’s a graphic adventure! This time published by Konami but developed by Distinctive Software, makers of many a TV/movie tie-in game, this was very much an attempt to muscle in on Sierra’s territory, complete with a near lift of Sierra’s distinctive row of interaction options across the top of the screen.It was then made more complicated by playing in real-time, with four characters to control at once as you tracked down terrorists, bugged phones and infiltrated enemy HQs. Only Jim Phelps appears to have made it over from the TV shows, however, with new characters to chose from, including the extraordinarily spelt “Rodger.”What’s so surprising about this game is that I’d simply never heard of it, despite being 14 years old at the time of its release and playing every graphic adventure I could get my hands on. However, its midi rendition of the theme tune really should have made it an all-time classic. Previous SlideNext Slide5 / 12List slidesMission: Impossible (1998)List slidesMission: Impossible (1998)N64 ArchiveSlipping subtly past Micro Games of America’s 1996 dedicated handheld game based on the series, we next find the spies appearing in video games in 1998, with the Tom Cruise era of Mission: Impossible now underway. And it’s on N64 (and a year later, PlayStation). Sometimes known as Mission: Impossible - Expect the Impossible, this console game was intended to be a tie-in with the first of the Cruise-led movies. Except, keen chronologers will note, 1998 was two years after 1996.This was originally supposed to be created by Ocean, a studio famous for its movie-based games. Think RoboCop, Platoon, Total Recall, and Lethal Weapon, all improbably realized as side-scrolling action games. That wasn’t the plan this time, however—ambitions were far higher. Mission: Impossible was an attempt to create something in the style of Rare’s GoldenEye 007, and, well, it wasn’t going great.After three years in development, and the slow realization that the N64 wasn’t powerful enough for their plans, Ocean was bought by Infogrames in 1997, and a whole new team was assigned to the project. Apparently at that time, the game was running at four frames per second. Things were made harder by Viacom, owners of the film rights, refusing to let the game feature too much gun-based violence, and Tom Cruise refusing to allow his face to be in games The new team wound up crunching for months.Yet, despite all this, it went on to sell over a million copies, even though its reviews weren’t exactly great. A late ‘90s IGN went as low as a 6.6, which was about as a low a score as the site back then would give. Previous SlideNext Slide6 / 12List slidesMission: Impossible (1999)List slidesMission: Impossible (1999)CGRundertowIt was four long years between Brian de Palma’s original Tom Cruise movie and John Woo’s somewhat unlikely follow-up. So it was that as late as 1999, the Game Boy Color’s Mission: Impossible game was still based on that first film. But this time it was as all movie-based games should be: an isometric action game. Incredibly, this belated tie-in was the work of developer Rebellion, who that same year brought us the landmark Alien Versus Predator on PC, and are now best known for an infinite number of Sniper Elite games (as well as this year’s Atomfall). There were all sorts of ambitious ideas, including an entirely game-irrelevant Agent Action Kit that let you use your GBC as a calculator, address book, and a notebook that could print stuff out on your Game Boy Printer. Sadly, none of these were part of the game itself, which was deeply mediocre.Previous SlideNext Slide7 / 12List slidesMission: Impossible - Operation Surma (2003 - Game Boy Advance)List slidesMission: Impossible - Operation Surma (2003 - Game Boy Advance)LongplayArchiveMission: Impossible - Operation Surma came out in 2003 on PS2, alongside a very different and much worse version on Game Boy Advance. It seems unfair to put them into the same slide, given they’re made by entirely different developers.By this point, Infogrames had begun wearing the ill-fitting skin of the long-dead Atari, and like so many games of the era, had two lots of developers make two versions of a game with the same name. For the GBA, it was M4 Ltd, a small UK developer that seemingly only made GBA games based on existing licenses. So alongside Antz World Sportz and Mary-Kate and Ashley: Winner’s Circle, they also created the handheld incarnation of the movie tie-in.Set between the events of Mission: Impossibles 2 and III, Operation Surma finds our espionaging heroes trying to stop the evil Surma group from releasing a virus called ICEWORM which can disable any type of security system. As you’d expect, you go all over the world in your efforts, although on the GBA version you do this in painfully static 2D, rather than in the PS2 version’s 3D action. This version got an absolute kicking by the press, with Cheat Code Central stating, “I would have had more fun gluing spray-painted macaroni to my ass than playing Mission Impossible: Operation Surma on the GBA.”Previous SlideNext Slide8 / 12List slidesMission: Impossible - Operation Surma (2003 - PS2)List slidesMission: Impossible - Operation Surma (2003 - PS2)LongplayArchiveOK, so this version was far better received, although not exactly widely loved. It was, as you can tell from the video, an entirely different game from the GBA incarnation. (As I say, this was common, but didn’t always end badly. The Tony Hawk GBA games, for instance, were masterpieces.)A third-person action game, it was packed with missions, spy tech, and a big cast of characters. And, rather importantly, it was attempting not to recreate the plot of one of the movies, but rather to bridge the time between the second and third films in the franchise.Developed by Texan team Paradigm Entertainment, who were best known for the N64's Pilotwings 64, it was a perfect example of that most damned gaming territories: fine. It was fine. As 7/10 as a game can be. It tried to do loads, it had excellent ambitions, but it all just fell a little flat without ever being bad.Yet, as Zack laments, it also marked the last console-based attempt to make a Mission: Impossible game. Why? Perhaps enough average-to-bad games had convinced Atari that the license wasn’t proving likely to get results? Or perhaps people were just fed up with Tom Cruise for being such a bloody spoilsport, and not letting his face or voice appear in any of the games. (Incidentally, Ving Rhames and John Polson showed up to voice their characters in Operation Surma!)Previous SlideNext Slide9 / 12List slidesMission: Impossible III (2006)List slidesMission: Impossible III (2006)Gameplays JavaThat’s right, we get near to the end of our round-up of every Mission: Impossible game ever with 2006's Mission: Impossible III, the mobile-only tie-in for the 2006 J.J. Abrams threequel. Created by Gameloft, who have also brought us Disney Dreamlight Valley and Sexy Poker: Top Models (alongside the Asphalt franchise and a billion other mobile IPs), this game was only ever released for phones, as were numerous other licensed Gameloft games of the era.Was it any good? I don’t know! It was released for mobile only in 2006! The game’s in portrait. Pocket Gamer liked it at the time, though, and while Carolyn here on staff hasn’t played it, she’s heard good things about a number of Gameloft’s mobile-only efforts of the era.Previous SlideNext Slide10 / 12List slidesMission: Impossible -The Game (2011)List slidesMission: Impossible -The Game (2011)Mission: Impossible - The GameI don’t think anyone’s ever even heard of this web-only game from developers Funtactix, and having watched the video above, I think that may be for the best.Previous SlideNext Slide11 / 12List slidesMission Impossible: Rogue Nation (2015)List slidesMission Impossible: Rogue Nation (2015)Mission Impossible Rogue Nation - Android Gameplay HDGlu Mobile’s 2015 tie-in Rogue Nation looks like a visually impressive gallery shooter, at least. In his brief review of the game for Pocket Gamer, Ric Cowley says all that probably needs to be said about it: “If you stick with it, there’s a perfectly average game in here. But it’s so repetitive that you’ll have seen everything it has to offer in ten minutes.” It’s now been over 20 years since there was a proper Mission: Impossible game for console or PC, despite the movies being such a massive deal. As Zack correctly laments, this is a series ripe for a fantastic video game. It’s somehow never received one. Perhaps making that hypothetical, great Mission: Impossible game is the most impossible mission of all.

ZDNET's key takeaways The Amazon Echo Frames (3rd Gen) are a natural way for glasses wearers to control their smart home, and they're available now for $269.The latest model features a lighter build, longer battery life, improved speakers, and new controls that will take some getting used to.While Alexa in your ears is no ChatGPT voice assistant, it's capable enough to answer general questions and complete most smart home tasks. View now at Amazon The headline for this article could've gone many ways -- I wore Amazon's Echo Frames at an airport, and the TSA didn't stop me or These smart glasses let me take calls hands-free -- but I settled with the comparison angle because one of the easiest ways to talk about smart glasses is by comparing them to the standard. With these being the company's third generation of Echo Frames, Amazon's made mostly iterative updates -- the build is lighter, the battery lasts longer, and there's supposedly more bass -- while staying true to the glasses' original purpose: Giving you a direct (and natural) communication path with Amazon's popular voice assistant, Alexa. And right now, Amazon is discounting the Echo Frames by $90, reducing the price of these glasses to $180. Naturally, you can do other things with the glasses, too, as I'll detail in my two-week account of wearing the Echo Frames below. details View at QVC In the hierarchy of smart glasses, you can think of the Echo Frames as the entry-level pair, ideal for users who want something discrete but with just enough technology to scratch that consumer itch. I've worn a few too many pairs of smart glasses over the past year, and these from Amazon may be the most normal-looking of them all. That's a good thing, as I learned during my flight to CES in early January.Also: Google's upcoming AI smart glasses may finally convince me to switch to a pair full-timeWanting to test both the Echo Frames and the Meta Ray-Ban during my trip, I went through the usual security screenings and found myself stopped twice because my camera-equipped Meta glasses looked suspicious. No one questioned the Echo Frames, which, even from up close, look like a regular pair of plastic-made prescriptions. (Or maybe no one expected me to have two pairs of smart glasses. I'm not sure.) The Meta Ray-Ban (left) has a built-in camera and is noticeably thicker and heavier than the Amazon Echo Frames (right). Kerry Wan/ZDNETTrue to Amazon's word, the Echo Frames feel very light on the face. Most of the weight is distributed to the sides of the frames, where the speakers, buttons, and other minuscule components are stored. The rubberized tips on the ends of the glasses certainly help with the fit, though I've found it harder to fold the glasses after adjusting them. While the glasses are easily stored in the included carrying case, if they're not folded properly, issues arise when you need to charge them. Because, unlike the Meta Ray-Ban's USB-C carrying case, there's a new separate charging dock for the Echo Frames, and aligning the wireless charging coils with the ones on the glasses can be quite the doozy. You either have to force the glasses into the gap -- which feels like something you wouldn't want to do with glasses -- or collapse and slot them in just right. Nine times out of 10, I'm doing option one.In terms of functionality, the Echo Frames don't have multimodal AI cameras built into them like the Meta Ray-Bans or project visual overlays like XR glasses. Instead, they can stream Bluetooth audio, take calls and send text messages, read notifications, and communicate with Alexa-supported smart home devices like how your phone or smart hub normally would. Again, entry-level glasses -- and that's not a bad thing.Also: Get a free pair of Meta Ray-Bans when you sign up for Verizon 5G home internetWhile my house is not as smart as my ZDNET colleague Maria Diaz's, I enjoyed using the Echo Frames to turn on and off various smart switches, which saved me from having to walk over to my phone and use an app when it's charging in the kitchen or on my nightstand. The scale of Alexa-compatible devices is large enough that I could make commands to secure my three-year-old August entry lock, too. The same "Alexa" wake word is used for commands. Kerry Wan/ZDNETBesides the smart features, I've also enjoyed listening to podcasts and making calls during my evening walks. Perhaps it's the ability to listen to my on-device audio while staying aware of my surroundings, or the fact that the speakers on the Echo Frames favor the mid and high frequencies more than the bassy, engulfing lows. It's probably a bit of both. The takeaway is that the glasses are great for vocal-only audio tracks and passable for anything multi-layered.Also: I tried Google's XR glasses and they already beat my Meta Ray-Bans in 3 waysLastly, I wish the button navigations weren't so complicated, but since I'm mainly using voice commands to get things done, the need to press the front or back button to accept and decline things (or mute the microphone) didn't bother me all that much. If you're coming from an older pair of Echo Frames, you'll have to retrain your muscle memory as the touch strip and swipe gestures are no more.ZDNET's buying adviceAt a list price of $269, the Echo Frames (3rd Gen) aren't necessarily priced to compete. The list price is just $30 less than Meta's more capable Ray-Ban smart glasses. However, Amazon's glasses have two big things going for them: Alexa integration and design. Smart home enthusiasts will absolutely reap the benefits of having a controller that they can use at all times (with a battery life that can last them all day), and first-time smart glasses shoppers will find these much less intimidating than the ones with mini projectors and cameras built in. Plus, you'll have a smaller chance of being stopped by the TSA. This article was originally published on January 26, 2024, and was updated on May 22, 2025.Featured reviews

Adélie penguins walking along the Antarctic coastline.   CREDIT: Matthew Boyer. Get the Popular Science daily newsletter💡 Breakthroughs, discoveries, and DIY tips sent every weekday. If you have ever stood in front of a penguin enclosure at an aquarium–or better yet traveled to Antarctica, New Zealand, or parts of southern Africa to see them in the wild–one reality really sticks out about these flightless birds. The smell. Their guano (aka poop) is pungent and plentiful, and dark stains of guano sticking out on white ice have even helped scientists find previously unknown penguin colonies. The ammonia released from their poop also might help reduce some of the devastating effects of climate change. This gas helps influence cloud formation, which can cool down surface temperatures. The findings are detailed in a study published May 22 in the journal Nature Communications Earth & Environment. A group of Adelie penguins standing on guano-covered snow. CREDIT: Matthew Boyer. Why ammonia? Antarctic ecosystems are under serious threat due to human-driven climate change, with some penguin colonies failing to breed altogether. Warmer temperatures means less critical sea ice for penguins, sea birds, seals, and whales. Penguins are a key species in this ecosystem at the bottom of the world and also are major emitters of ammonia in the region.  Ammonia is an atmospheric gas that can increase cloud formation by reacting with gases containing sulphur. In turn, this increases the creation of aerosols–the particles that give water vapour a surface to condense upon. All of that condensation leads to cloud formation. “Aerosol particles are necessary for cloud formation; liquid water will not condense to form cloud droplets without the presence of aerosol particles,” Matthew Boyer, a study co-author and atmospheric scientist at the University of Helsinki in Finland, tells Popular Science. “Clouds influence the surface radiation budget, which affects surface temperature. Therefore, clouds impact climate change. This is true across the entire planet, not just in Antarctica.”  First author Matthew Boyer piloting a drone for data collection in Antarctica. CREDIT: Zoé Brasseur. Since higher concentrations of aerosol particles creates clouds that are more reflective of the sun’s rays, the strength of an area’s aerosol particle sources matters. “In general, the Antarctic atmosphere is a pristine environment,” says Boyer. “It’s located far away from human pollution sources, and the background aerosol particle concentrations are low as a result. New particle formation, occurring from gases emitted from natural sources (e.g., penguins and the ocean), is therefore an important source of aerosol particles in the region.” The resulting clouds can act as insulating layers in the atmosphere and those layers often help lower surface temperatures and can affect the amount of sea ice coverage. However, the specific interaction between penguins and their ammonia filled poop and the Antarctic climate is not well understood. Standing downwind In this new study, Boyer and his colleagues measured the concentration of ammonia in the air at a site located near Marambio Base, Antarctica between January 10 and March 20, 2023. When the wind blew from the direction of a colony of 60,000-individual Adélie penguins (Pygoscelis adeliae) about five miles away, the ammonia concentration increased to as high as 13.5 parts per billion. That figure is over 1,000 times higher than the baseline value that is naturally found in Antarctica (less than 10.5 parts per trillion). The ammonia enhanced the particle concentrations in the clouds up to 30 times than the background, according to Boyer. Around the end of February, the penguins migrated from the area. The ammonia concentration was still more than 100 times higher than the baseline, because the penguin guano left at the colony site still emitted the gas.  “The most surprising part for me was the strength of ammonia emissions from the penguin guano for a month after the penguins were no longer present at the colony,” says Boyer. “They left for their annual migration, but the guano they left behind in the soils continued to emit gas ammonia at ~100 times higher than the baseline.” Thousands of Adélie penguins pictured from a distance at the studied Adelie penguin rookery, located on the southeastern coast of Seymour Island on the Antarctic Peninsula. CREDIT: Matthew Boyer. This indicates that the cloud-building ammonia emissions from penguins may cover even more of coastal Antarctica. To confirm that the increase in ammonia concentration eventually affected the cloud formation, the team recorded several additional atmospheric measurements during a single day. When the wind blew from the penguin colony, the number and size of the aerosol particles recorded at the site sharply increased. Approximately three hours after the wind changed, the team saw a period of fog. The team believes that this fog was likely a result of that increased aerosol particle concentration and cloud formation.  According to the team, the data suggests that penguin poop may be helping reduce some of climate change’s effects on an ever-warming Antarctica.  “Our measurements demonstrate that these environmental and ecosystem changes will subsequently impact the atmosphere and the climate of the region,” says Boyer. “This matters, because changes to the climate/ecosystem in Antarctica can have consequences for global climate.”

Wizards of the Coast has got such a release cadence going with its long-running trading card game, Magic: The Gathering, that you’re only ever a few weeks away from a new set.While at the time of writing, we’re eagerly anticipating the Final Fantasy set, anyone looking for a ‘Universes Within’ fix after the excellent Tarkir Dragonstorm won’t have to wait too long, although Edge of Eternities perhaps couldn’t be more different.Out August 1, 2025Magic: The Gathering Edge of Eternities Play Booster Box (30 Packs)$164.70 at AmazonOut August 1, 2025Magic: The Gathering Edge of Eternities Bundle (9 Play Boosters, 30 Lands, 1 Alt-Art Card + Exclusive Accessories)$57.99 at AmazonOut August 1, 2025Magic: The Gathering Edge of Eternities Collector Booster Box (12 Packs)$299.98 at AmazonOut August 1, 2025Magic: The Gathering Edge of Eternities Collector Booster (1 Pack of 15 Cards)$24.99 at AmazonOut August 1, 2025Magic the Gathering: Edge of Eternities Commander Deck SD1$44.99 at AmazonOut August 1, 2025Magic the Gathering: Edge of Eternities Commander Deck SD2$44.99 at AmazonOut August 1, 2025Magic: The Gathering Edge of Eternities Commander Deck Bundle - 2 of Each Deck$179.96 at AmazonThe upcoming set, which will debut on August 1, hasn’t had any card spoilers just yet, but that doesn’t mean we don’t know at least a little about what’s coming. Here’s everything we know about Magic: The Gathering: Edge of Eternities so far.What is MTG Edge of Eternities?This year, Wizards of the Coast is leaning hard into Universes Beyond sets, with Final Fantasy the first of three sets this year which leans on established franchises outside of the company’s own characters and settings, followed up by Spider-Man and Avatar: The Last Airbender last in the year.Whatever your thoughts on that, Edge of Eternities is the opposite, offering a new set with a more cosmic focus but still within Magic’s own universe (although it is sandwiched between Final Fantasy and Spider-Man).We’ve seen little more than concept art, but we do know the new set will mark the beginning of the final story arc of the Metronome storyline, which began with Wilds of Eldraine (if you’re still following).Play BoostersMagic The Gathering Edge of Eternities Play Booster BoxMagic The Gathering Play Booster BoxSee it at AmazonPlay Boosters have become the de facto way to open packs now, replacing Set Boosters and Draft Boosters.These packs are draftable for sealed play, and contain 15 cards each (although the last one in the pack is usually an advert, art card, or token). Cards 1 to 6 are commons, while card 7 is a common card that can be a reprint.Cards 8, 9 and 10 are uncommons, while card 11 offers your rare/mythic. Card 12 is a Land card, and can be foil or have full art, while card 13 is a “wildcard” that can be any card from the set.Then you get a wildcard that’s a guaranteed foil for card 14, with the idea being that players have more of a chance to get chase cards from these packs. You can buy Play Boosters individually or pick up a booster box.Collector BoostersMagic The Gathering Edge of Eternities Magic The Gathering Collector Booster BoxSee it at AmazonCollector Boosters are much pricier than their Play Booster counterparts, and offer 16 cards (although again, one is a token).In these, you can find five rare or mythic rares, as well as four uncommons and five commons, as well as one land.They’ll also come with a slicker frame design in many instances, with 12 - 13 of the cards included being foils.Again, you can pick them up individually or as a box, but expect to pay a high price.Commander DecksOut August 1, 2025Magic: The Gathering Edge of Eternities Commander Deck Bundle - 2 of Each Deck$179.96 at AmazonCommander has become Magic’s most popular format, with the thrill of “last player standing” matches and 100-card decks playable right out of the box making for a great jumping-on point for new players.The number of decks included in each set has varied wildly this year. For example, Aetherdrift offered two Commander options, while Tarkir: Dragonstorm had a whopping five, and Final Fantasy offers four.Edge of Eternities is scaling back the volume, with two decks: World Shaper and Counter Intelligence.The former comes in Black, Red, and Green colors (Jund), and the text on the box says players will “Sacrifice Lands” and “Grow Back Stronger”.Counter Intelligence, on the other hand, is Blue, Red, and White (Jeskai) and says you can use its contents to “Boost Artifacts” and “Proliferate Counters”.Bundles and Prerelease PacksMagic The Gathering Edge of Eternities BundleMagic The Gathering BundleSee it at AmazonFinally, as is tradition now you’ll be able to pick up a Bundle and Prerelease Pack for the new set.Bundles include a series of 9 Play Boosters, as well as one promo card with exclusive alternate art, as well as a full set of 10 Full-Art Lands in foil and non-foil, as well as a spindown dice and a card storage box. Prerelease works a little differently, with the idea being that the set is used at a prerelease event.Players open the box, and use the six Play Boosters inside to build a deck comprising of 40 cards. Prerelease boxes are found at your local game store.Lloyd Coombes is Gaming Editor @ Daily Star. He's a big fan of Magic: The Gathering and other collectible card games, much to his wife's dismay. He's also a tech, gaming, and fitness freelancer seen at Polygon, Eurogamer, Macworld, TechRadar, Tom’s Guide, IGN, and more.This article includes contributions from Hannah Hoolihan.

Dutch food 3D printing company Gastronology has begun large-scale production of 3D printed meals designed for people with dysphagia, a condition that makes chewing and swallowing difficult. Working with contract manufacturer Budelfood B.V. in Poortvliet, the Dutch company rolled out its first industrial batches in April last year. Branded as Dysphalicious, these meals were initially supplied to hospitals and healthcare institutions.  Following increased demand from home users and caregivers, Gastronology has expanded access to its meals through online delivery platform QSTA, where orders can be placed at any time. Products are delivered frozen in boxes containing 20 or 22 portions, each weighing 50 g. A specially designed plate and matching lid, required for proper preparation, can be purchased alongside the meals. “This has numerous positive effects on their physical and mental well-being and that makes us extremely enthusiastic about what we are doing. Being able to make a significant contribution at a social and societal level is a huge motivation,” said Peter Nieuwkerk, Founder and CEO at Gastronology. A range of Dysphalicious meals. Photo via Gastronology. Access to safe and nutritious meals Dysphalicious meals are made from fresh, locally sourced vegetables and potatoes. Ingredients are ground into a smooth paste and shaped using food 3D printing.  The resulting dishes are designed to be visually recognizable and meet the IDDSI Level 4 standard, which ensures a consistency suitable for people with moderate dysphagia. According to the company, the aim is to provide an alternative to traditional puréed or gel-based meals, which often lack taste, smell, and visual appeal. The current range includes eight plant-based items: cauliflower, broccoli, carrot, garden pea, haricot verts, sweet potato, potato, and beetroot. Gastronology plans to add meat-based options later in the year. According to 3DPrintMagazine, Nieuwkerk noted that many patients are limited to food that is functional but unappealing. Consequently, the Dutch company wants to make nutritious and appetizing options more widely available. To support broader distribution, Gastronology intends to increase its production capacity from 700 kgs per day to 2,500 kgs per day over the coming years. The company’s goal is to make its meals accessible to more people affected by dysphagia, whether they are in clinical settings or living at home. Exploring new directions in food 3D printing As the food 3D printing landscape evolves, other developments including alternative proteins and novel production techniques have also been explored. Recently, Austrian food technology company Revo Foods launched EL BLANCO, a 3D printed plant-based alternative to black cod made from mycoprotein and microalgae oils. Developed using a low-temperature extrusion process, the product mimics the flaky, tender texture of fish fillets while offering high fiber, Omega-3s, and all essential amino acids.  Compared to Revo’s previous salmon alternative, EL BLANCO is softer and less processed. Being produced at Revo’s The Taste Factory, it is now available across Europe through retailers like BILLA AG, gurkerl.at, knuspr.de, and Revo Foods’ online store, which ships to multiple countries. Another novel approach was introduced by Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) researchers who developed a single-step food 3D printing method that simultaneously prints and cooks food using laser-induced graphene (LIG) infrared heating. Unlike traditional systems that require post-print cooking, this approach enhances precision, energy efficiency, and food safety.  Operating at just 14 watts, it maintains precise surface temperatures and minimizes bacterial growth. Tests on starch-based cookie dough showed improved structural consistency compared to oven-baked samples. Although still under development, this development holds potential for use in restaurants, bakeries, and healthcare settings requiring customized and hygienic food preparation. Take the 3DPI Reader Survey — shape the future of AM reporting in under 5 minutes. What 3D printing trends should you watch out for in 2025? How is the future of 3D printing shaping up? To stay up to date with the latest 3D printing news, don’t forget to subscribe to the 3D Printing Industry newsletter or follow us on Twitter, or like our page on Facebook. While you’re here, why not subscribe to our Youtube channel? Featuring discussion, debriefs, video shorts, and webinar replays. Featured image shows a range of Dysphalicious meals. Photo via Gastronology.

Forest cleared for mining in the Brazilian AmazonMarcio Isensee e Sá/Getty Images The amount of tropical forest lost in 2024 was double that in 2023 and the highest in at least two decades as climate change made rainforests susceptible to uncontrollable fires. A record 67,000 square kilometres of primary rainforest was lost from the tropics in 2024, according to an annual assessment of satellite imagery by Global Forest Watch and the University of Maryland. Primary forest refers to mature forest that has never been disturbed by logging. Advertisement The report’s authors attributed the surge in forest loss to the El Niño weather phenomenon and the warming global climate, which made the rainforest a tinderbox. “We are in a new phase where it’s not just clearing for agriculture that’s the main driver [of forest loss],” says Rod Taylor at Global Forest Watch, an initiative of the World Resources Institute. “Now we have this new amplifying effect, which is the real climate change feedback loop, where fires are much more intense and ferocious than they have ever been.” Tropical forests regulate weather systems and store carbon, cooling the planet, but in recent years deforestation has brought them to a tipping point at which they sometimes emit more carbon than they absorb, creating a feedback loop. Unmissable news about our planet delivered straight to your inbox every month. Sign up to newsletter Five times more primary forest was lost from fires in the tropics in 2024 than in 2023, accounting for 48 per cent of all primary rainforest loss, the report found. Globally, fires caused greenhouse gas emissions equivalent to 4.1 gigatonnes of carbon dioxide last year, more than four times the amount from air travel in 2023. El Niño events are associated with warmer and drier weather in tropical regions. Although El Niño officially subsided in April 2024, its effects continued to be felt as rainforest soils and vegetation remained dried out from scorching temperatures and previous wildfires. The world’s warming climate also played a role, with 2024 the hottest year on record and Brazil’s driest in seven decades, says Ane Alencar at the Amazon Environmental Research Institute in Belém, Brazil. Brazil lost 28,000 km² of primary forest – its highest figure since 2016 – accounting for 42 per cent of all tropical primary forest loss. In the Brazilian Amazon, fires accounted for 60 per cent of forest loss, as people exploited dry conditions to clear land for agriculture. There were also massive wildfires outside the tropics in countries such as Canada and Russia. Globally, the area of forest lost was 300,000 km², another new record. “Some scientists say we’re not in the Anthropocene but the Pyrocene – the age of fire – and I think this report shows that,” says Erika Berenguer at the University of Oxford. While forest fires are concerning, Berenguer cautions that the figures may include degradation, where some of the tree canopy is lost, and this should not be conflated with deforestation, where forest is cleared entirely. “Degradation reduces carbon storage [and] biodiversity and increases vulnerability to future fires, but it’s not the same as transforming land into a soy field or pasture,” she says. The report shows how successive years of degradation and the warming climate have made the rainforest fragile, says Alencar. “Usually with fires in the Amazon, you see degradation, but the forest can recover,” she says. “However, this report shows that when you have a very strong drought it creates the perfect conditions for the forest to burn intensely and you reach a point where the forest is lost entirely.” Topics: