When CRISPR was first introduced as a gene-editing tool in 2012, the world was in awe of all the possibilities it held — eventually earning its discoverers the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 2020. Now, after years of refining the technology and running clinical trials, gene-editing has taken a major leap toward personalized medicine.As Kiran Musunuru, professor of Translational Research in Penn’s Perelman School of Medicine, put it in a press statement, “The promise of gene therapy that we’ve heard about for decades is coming to fruition, and it’s going to utterly transform the way we approach medicine.”Musunuru and a team from the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia and Penn Medicine have successfully treated a baby boy with a rare metabolic disorder using personalized CRISPR therapy. Their case study, published in The New England Journal of Medicine, demonstrates the powerful potential of precision gene editing for rare diseases.A Child Living With a Rare DiseaseIronically, rare genetic diseases aren’t as uncommon as they sound. In the U.S., about 1 in 10 people live with a rare disorder. What makes them “rare” is that each individual condition typically affects fewer than 2,000 people, making research and treatment development incredibly challenging.One of those affected is KJ. He was born with CPS1 deficiency, a urea cycle disorder caused by the absence of a key enzyme the body needs to eliminate ammonia — a toxic byproduct of protein metabolism. Since liver transplants aren’t viable until patients are older, this condition carries a 50 percent mortality rate in early infancy.Fortunately, Musunuru and Rebecca Ahrens-Nicklas, director of the Gene Therapy for Inherited Metabolic Disorders Frontier Program (GTIMD), had been studying this class of disorders for years and reached out to KJ’s family shortly after his diagnosis.“We thought it was our responsibility to help our child, so when the doctors came to us with their idea, we put our trust in them in the hopes that it could help not just KJ but other families in our position,” said his mother, Nicole Muldoon in the press release.CRISPR — Scissors for Your DNA In just six months, the researchers developed a personalized treatment. In February 2025, KJ received his first infusion — a dose of CRISPR components delivered to his liver using lipid nanoparticles.CRISPR (short for clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats) acts like a smart pair of molecular scissors. In KJ’s case, it was custom-designed to find the faulty gene and fix the error — like correcting a typo in his DNA.After receiving multiple doses, KJ has shown significant improvement. He’s now able to eat more protein and recover from everyday childhood illnesses without the dangerous ammonia buildup that once threatened his life. Even better, he’s had no serious side effects from the treatment.“While KJ will need to be monitored carefully for the rest of his life, our initial findings are quite promising,” added Ahrens-Nicklas.Expanding Success to More PatientsThis breakthrough builds on years of foundational research and collaboration. For KJ and his family, the little boy's seemingly endless hospital stay now comes to end.“We’re so excited to be able to finally be together at home so that KJ can be with his siblings, and we can finally take a deep breath,” said his father, Kyle Muldoon, in the statement.“Years and years of progress in gene editing and collaboration between researchers and clinicians made this moment possible, and while KJ is just one patient, we hope he is the first of many to benefit from a methodology that can be scaled to fit an individual patient’s needs,” added Ahrens-Nicklas.This case offers a hopeful path forward — one where gene-editing may now fulfill its bright promise to save patients with no other treatment options.This article is not offering medical advice and should be used for informational purposes only.Read More: CRISPR Eliminates Targeted Tumors by 50 PercentArticle SourcesOur writers at Discovermagazine.com use peer-reviewed studies and high-quality sources for our articles, and our editors review for scientific accuracy and editorial standards. Review the sources used below for this article:Jackson Laboratory: What Is CRISPR?Karolinska Institutet: More and more people with unusual diseases are diagnosedNew England Journal of Medicine: Patient-Specific In Vivo Gene Editing to Treat a Rare Genetic DiseaseHaving worked as a biomedical research assistant in labs across three countries, Jenny excels at translating complex scientific concepts – ranging from medical breakthroughs and pharmacological discoveries to the latest in nutrition – into engaging, accessible content. Her interests extend to topics such as human evolution, psychology, and quirky animal stories. When she’s not immersed in a popular science book, you’ll find her catching waves or cruising around Vancouver Island on her longboard.

At the 7th annual Biophilic Leadership Summit in March—hosted by the Biophilic Institute, Biophilic Cities, and Serenbe—at the Inn at Serenbe outside of Atlanta, pleasure was in abundance. There were smells: fragrant wisteria blossoms, earthy manure, coffee. There were sounds: birds singing, a rooster crowing, raindrops on the roof. There was forest bathing. Biologist E.O. Wilson used the term biophilia to describe “the rich, natural pleasure that comes from being surrounded by living organisms.” All those blossoms and bird songs are the basic point of the biophilia movement: people are happier and healthier when connected to nature. The summit brought together a (literally) curious collection of architects, planners, developers, biochemists, and other interested people, was about how we make that connection. The presentations ranged from explorations of built projects to research on the health benefits of proximity to trees and illustrated how many different disciplines come together under the broad umbrella—maybe canopy is a better word—of biophilia. The Inn at Serenbe was an ideal venue for the summit, given its gardens and connection to nature. (Foster Branding) Architect Adam Rolston, who presented on his work in the hospitality industry (more on that below), offered his postmortem on the conference to AN: “The Biophilia Summit gathers a community at the forefront of a movement—where sustainability, ecological science, wellness, and planetary health converge into a single, holistic worldview that unites data, design, and nature.” Here are more takeaways from the presentations at the Biophilic Leadership Summit. Biophilia Is Good Business In 1998, when Jennifer Walsh opened Beauty Bar as a tiny brick-and-mortar storefront in Florida to sell indie beauty brands, she had an intuitive sense of what would bring people in: daylight, wood, and plants. What Walsh found was that people respond emotionally to the experience of being in the space. They came in, they lingered, they bought. Beauty Bar went on to become a major online retailer. Adam Rolston of INC presented on his work in the hospitality industry, including at the 1 Hotel Brooklyn. (Eric Laignel) More than two decades after Walsh opened her storefront, we have the language of biophilia to describe—and to help create—emotional experiences. The hospitality industry, in particular, has taken note. When Westin Hotels asked INC Studio to help them redefine their brand, Adam Rolston presented biophilic design as a core concept. Since then, INC has incorporated biophilia into other hospitality projects, including 1 Hotel Brooklyn Bridge, which opened in 2017. Noting that his clients were shifting their thinking from “brand through object to brand through experience,” Rolston added that when other brands tried to replicate the success of the Westin Hotels through selecting similar furnishings and finishings, those efforts fell flat. The sensory experience of biophilic design can be difficult to quantify (though tools are improving) but the qualitative results are measurable. Walsh, who sold Beauty Bar in 2010 and is now a wellness consultant and biophilia evangelist, offered a summary: “Biophilic design does increase basket size and customer satisfaction.” ZGF Architects presented on its recently completed project at the Portland International Airport. (Ema Peter Photography) Architect Rena Simon of ZGF and Catie Ryan and Bill Browning of Terrapin Bright Green discussed how ZGF Architects’ redesign of the Portland Airport used biophilic principles to create a positive experience for passengers. These principles (which Ryan and Browning categorize, broadly, as “nature in the space,” “natural analogues,” and “nature of the space”) are in effect in the airport’s soaring mass timber ceilings and trees and skylights, and in digital screens at the security area that show videos of nature-based imagery reflecting the current time of day, season, and weather. “There’s no typology more divorced from land and green than an airport,” Ryan said. “But when you’re here, you know where you are.” How to Build in Biophilia The Portland Airport shows how mass timber and biophilic design are a natural match. Thomas Robinson of LEVER Architecture presented several projects, including the Nature Conservancy’s Oregon Headquarters, which connect the material with the movement. But mass timber is far from the only option. Robinson described LEVER’s work as “an ingredients-based approach to architecture,” rooted in questions such as: “What’s available locally?” and “What’s the material culture of a particular place?” He noted that through sourcing local materials, establishing local fabrication systems, and collaborating with builders and subcontractors, architects can have a significant effect on supply chains and building economies, resulting in “an impact on the site beyond the site.” LEVER Architecture thinks about its projects locally, from materials to contractors. (Jeremy Bittermann) Small interventions can also make a big difference. Walsh and fellow participants noted another important effect of biophilic design: creating welcoming, calm spaces for people with different sensory processing abilities and needs. Apparently, biomorphic patterns, whether they’re real or simulated, give our brains healthy stimulation. A study published in 2019 showed that biophilic enhancements in a classroom in this case, just adding carpet tiles (for biomorphic patterns) and window blinds (for views of nature and for dynamic and diffuse daylight)—reduced student stress and enhanced learning outcomes. Biophilia Can Affect Health and Wellness senior living centers, affordable housing units, and longevity resorts are studying how biophilic design can improve mental and physical health. Architect Tye Farrow, who investigates the neuroscience behind biophilic design and whose approach to biophilic design for hospitals and schools tends toward the sculptural, offered this design mantra: “There is no such thing as neutral space.” Farrow works with the premise that buildings can—and should—be deliberately therapeutic. Dr. Lawrence Frank, who examines the interaction between built environment, active transportation, and health (he popularized the term “walkability”) said that for cities, an investment in green infrastructure such as tree canopies and active transportation corridors is an investment in citizens’ health. In Los Angeles, Frank noted, the argument for new highway lanes is presented in terms of cost-per-delay for productivity. But driving has health costs; as Frank put it, “Driving equals obesity.” When we add the air quality impacts of greenhouse gas emissions from driving, a productivity argument for highways seems like imperfect accounting, at best. Los Angeles’s active transportation plan promotes walking and biking. It costs $12.8 billion, but in terms of health cost savings, it yielded a $113 billion return. Still, Frank does not embrace this method of accounting. “We need to keep people alive,” he said. “We shouldn’t have to make an economic argument for it.” Research from biochemistry and molecular biology supports the conclusion that tree canopies improve health. Dr. Aruni Bhatnagar, Director for the University of Louisville Christina Lee Brown Envirome Institute, presented research indicating that proximity to trees—the study used pines—lowered blood pressure and heart rate in humans. Biophilia Takes Many Different Shapes Chris Sharples, a founding principal of SHoP Architects, doesn’t use the term biophilia with clients; he prefers “natural systems.” His firm is exploring tools—from AI to offsite manufacturing—that balance process innovation with risk management in construction. One example is using 3D printing to make building components from bamboo. Unlike Sharples, Anna Dyson of the Yale School of Environment embraces the term, calling biophilia “a whole-body experience.” Through projects like ELM (Ecological Living Module), AMBIS (Agricultural By-Product Modular Building Systems), and others, Dyson’s work explores how plants, materials, and building systems can create a circular built environment. The conference brought together seemingly unrelated disciplines—architecture, medicine, biology, engineering, interior design. (Foster Branding) Tools for practicing biophilia are coming into focus: Terrapin Bright Green’s 14+ Patterns of Biophilic Design and Kellert and Calabrese’s The Practice of Biophilic Design are available online as free downloads. The newly released LEED v5 cites the latter volume in the “Integrated Biophilic Design” credit under “Occupant Experience.” As a snapshot of biophilia in 2025, the conference showed a lively, sprawling movement that connects traditionally siloed disciplines—architecture, medicine, biology, engineering, interior design—with the purpose of building happier, healthier places. Jessie Temple is an architect and writer currently forest bathing in Austin, Texas.

Late Friday, Epic Games sent a letter to U.S. District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers accusing Apple of refusing to consider its Fortnite submission, calling it “Apple’s latest attempt to circumvent this Court’s Injunction and this Court’s authority.” As reported by Mark Gurman, Epic’s petition reads: Apple’s refusal to consider Epic’s Fortnite submission is Apple’s latest attempt to circumvent this Court’s Injunction and this Court’s authority. Epic therefore seeks an order enforcing the Injunction, finding Apple in civil contempt yet again, and requiring Apple to promptly accept any compliant Epic app, including Fortnite, for distribution on the U.S. storefront of the App Store. In the document, Epic also makes a point to mention Tim Cook’s testimony at trial, in which he said: It would be to the benefit of the users to have Fortnite back on the App Store. Epic also stresses that: Apple also expressly and repeatedly told both this Court and Epic that it would welcome Fortnite back to the App Store if Epic complied with all of Apple’s Guidelines. That is exactly what Epic did. A bit of context The request comes after Apple told Epic Games it would “not revisit” the decision to reinstate the Epic Games developer account “until after the U.S. litigation between the parties concludes”. Earlier today, Epic informed players that Apple had blocked its most recent Fortnite build, rendering the game unavailable worldwide on iOS until the ban is lifted. Apple countered the claims, stating that it merely asked Epic Sweden (the developer account handling the resubmission) to remove the U.S. storefront from the build so the game could remain live in other regions. What might come next Back in the very first hearing of this case, Judge Rogers said she was “inclined not to require Apple to allow Fortnite on the App Store”. A few months later, she denied Epic’s request for a preliminary injunction, effectively allowing Apple to continue banning the game. That matters now because Epic’s new motion asks the judge to go a step further and order Apple to green-light Fortnite anyway. To grant that, she would likely have to conclude that Apple’s continued refusal has crossed the line into contempt of court, despite her earlier statement that Apple wasn’t obligated to host the game. Epic’s request may be bolstered by Judge Rogers’ recent order demanding Apple comply with the court’s 2021 injunction. In the days since, Epic has tried to pressure Apple by live-tweeting the ongoing stalemate over the new app submission. But with that approach seemingly going nowhere, this new legal strategy may be Epic’s way of pressing its luck a little further. Add 9to5Mac to your Google News feed.  FTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links. More.You’re reading 9to5Mac — experts who break news about Apple and its surrounding ecosystem, day after day. Be sure to check out our homepage for all the latest news, and follow 9to5Mac on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn to stay in the loop. Don’t know where to start? Check out our exclusive stories, reviews, how-tos, and subscribe to our YouTube channel

Let's make this simple: You want to know if there are any post- or mid-credits scenes in Final Destination: Bloodlines. The answer is no. There weren't any credits scenes in the first five movies and there isn’t one in the sixth either!There is some imagery that runs along with the credits which is fun to check out though.Full spoilers for the movie (and the entire Final Destination series so far) follow!Final Destination: Bloodlines manages to have fun with the formula of the series, both sticking to the basic scenario fans expect – someone’s premonition of an impending terrible tragedy leads them to escape that tragedy alongside a group of others, only for Death itself to kill those who escaped it one by one in elaborate ways – while also introducing its own specifics that make it feel a bit different and fresh. Let’s break down the ending of the film and how it relates to the series as a whole…The Best Final Destination DeathsThe Set-UpIn Bloodlines, Iris (played by Gabrielle Rose in the present and Brec Bassinger in the past), the woman who had the premonition of the collapse of the high-rise Skyview Restaurant Tower, did so way way back in 1968. And unlike in the previous films, where many still died in the actual disaster except the few people who left thanks to the premonition, in this situation, Iris saved all of the hundreds of people packing the restaurant that night, who were evacuated thanks to her warning. Slowly but surely, Death did come after them for escaping its grasp, except there were extenuating circumstances, since so many of these people went on to have children and sometimes grandchildren. So Death, always so tidy and persistent, has spent the last 57 years killing not only each survivor off but the entire bloodline that has resulted from each person, since by Death’s rules, they shouldn’t have existed in the first place.. Now, Death’s work on Project: Skyview (our term, not Death’s) is nearly complete, and Iris’ family remains his big unfinished task – all of which starts to become clear to Iris’ granddaughter Stefani (Kaitlyn Santa Juana) when she begins having nightmares of Iris’ Skyview premonition, leading her to seek out the grandmother she’d never met, and who she was always told was crazy. PlayFinal Destination: Bloodlines Ending ExplainedA Reunion to Die ForStefani is initially skeptical of Iris’ story and the reason she now has spent years barricaded inside a house she’s attempted to death-proof to protect herself the best she can, even as she tells Stefani she now is dying from cancer and thus won’t be able to escape Death much longer. But when the still disbelieving Stefani goes outside to leave, Iris impulsively runs after her to ensure Stefani takes the book in which Iris has collected her findings on what happened to all those who survived Skyview and how to try to avoid literal Death traps - and decides to prove what she knows about Death’s plan by staying outside long enough for a weather vane to snap off and impale her in front of Stefani. Soon enough, with Iris dead, Death now goes after everyone else in the family, which includes Stefani’s brother and her estranged mother, plus her uncle and three cousins (anyone who married into the family, like Stefani’s father or her aunt are safe, since they would have existed regardless of Skyview). And after Uncle Howard (Alex Zahara) and his daughter Julia (Anna Lore) both go out in classic Final Destination scenarios involving a lawnmower and a garbage truck, the rest of the family is suddenly much more onboard with the claims of both Stefani and her mother Darlene (Rya Kihlstedt) - the latter of whom returns after years in self-exile because her own erratic behavior thanks to her mother’s “Death is everywhere” teachings had made her fear how she was raising her kids. Tony Todd’s Final Appearance: One Last Message From an IconMaking an emotional final appearance as his second most famous horror character after Candyman, the late, great Tony Todd – who passed away a few months after production wrapped on Bloodlines – returns as Final Destination regular William Bludworth, who Stefani and her family encounter at a hospital, learning he is the “JB” Iris referred to in her book. It turns out JB is a nickname his friends use, based off of his full name being William John Bludworth. It’s a fun way to suddenly add some personal touches to a character who was so enigmatic in his previous appearances that this is the first time since we met him 25 years ago that his name has been spoken out loud. Bludworth is only in the one scene, which was the norm for Todd’s role in this franchise, but it’s a big one for several reasons, effectively bidding a well-earned fond farewell to both the character and the man who played him. PlayBeyond his middle name and a nickname we didn’t know before, Bludworth reveals much more, including that he was the little boy who Iris tried to help in her premonition in 1968, in which the two of them died last in the tower collapse, making him the other last target Death has been seeking among those who survived the Skyview. Now though, like Iris did, he has terminal cancer and his time is nearly up once Iris’ family are all gone. Todd himself was sadly in the final stages of stomach cancer when he shot Final Destination: Bloodlines and the filmmakers have noted all involved understood the situation and why it was important to properly say goodbye to the character while, most importantly, giving Todd his due. As Bloodlines co-director Zach Lipovsky explained to IGN, “We’re really grateful that we had the ability to, from the beginning, design that experience for the audience with Tony and with all the writers and everybody. We knew he was ill for quite a while and he was extremely excited to be in the movie. He was very grateful for the ability to participate in the film and he was so joyful on set when he was there and he was cracking jokes and really excited to just have his ability to be in the film and give his character a lot more backstory. We give a lot of answers to who Bludworth is in the film, which is something that during the franchise, people have been clamoring for for a really long time. But we also knew that this was also going to be a goodbye of the character. And that's something that we worked very closely with him, to figure out really the best way of doing that, because these films are about death and his mortality was very present as we were working with him.” Bludworth tells Stefani and the others there are two known methods to actually cheat Death, in a moment that is rather exciting for longtime Final Destination fans in terms of acknowledging previous lore. First, as established in Final Destination 5, you can take the life of someone else - basically using that other person as a sacrifice, with you now getting the “credit” for the time your victim naturally had left to live, or even potentially some extra credit if they had decades and decades more to go before they would have died. But perhaps more importantly, because it’s the only way Bludworth knows of to save everyone still alive involved in a situation like this, is the cheat introduced in Final Destination 2 where clinically dying but then being resuscitated breaks Death’s chain completely. Which means if one of the family can pull this off, they can all be saved. But Bludworth says only one person has ever done this successfully (more on that below). He had this sort of mischievous smile, even when he delivers that line and then says, ‘Good luck.’ -Co-director Zach Lipovsky on shooting Tony Todd's final scene“Todd’s scene ends with Bludworth revealing that he is going to retire and enjoy the time he has left and then his final words get notably poignant for a Final Destination film - something Lipovsky credits fully to Todd. “One of the unique opportunities that came up was that near the end of that scene, we asked him to actually throw away the script for a moment and just speak from the heart as to everything that he was thinking about as far as what the movie was about, what the franchise has been about, but also just what life's about and what is it all about in the end. And the take that's in the film where he says, ‘Life is precious. Cherish every second because you never know when…’ And the earnestness that he says that with all came in the moment from him. And I think you really feel that when you watch the movie that he's obviously speaking as a character who knows that their death is coming, but he's also speaking as an actor who's speaking to the audience as far as what's important in life. And that was a really powerful moment on set when we filmed that with him.” Not surprisingly, it was a highly emotional day on set when Todd shot his scene, but Lipovsky loves how Todd’s actual final words of “Good luck” to the other characters (and, essentially, to the audience) and how he delivers them let him also meld the actor and Bludworth together further.“He had this sort of mischievous smile, even when he delivers that line and then says, ‘Good luck’ in the way that he has – that sort of dark, mischievous way as he goes out the door – he knew exactly what he was doing and he relished [it].” Final Destination: Bloodline GalleryFarewell to the Family While still at the hospital, Stefani’s cousins Erik (Richard Harmon) and Bobby (Owen Patrick Joyner) are the next to go. Technically, Erik wasn’t on Death’s list because he doesn’t share Iris’ bloodline – he’s shocked to discover he was the result of an affair his mother Brenda (April Telek) had – but he gets taken out too when he attempts to break the chain by “killing” his brother using Bobby’s peanut allergy before rushing him to the ER to be revived. However, an errant, Death-controlled MRI machine acting like it’s Magneto on a rampage pulls the piercing-laden Erik towards it, who is then snapped in half when a wheelchair shoves him into the MRI machine in a very unrecommended manner - and then Bobby is stabbed by a projectile-powered spring from a vending machine, which drills into his head. With Uncle Howard’s side of the family all gone, it’s just Stefani and her brother Charlie (Tio Briones) and Darlene left. Given all Iris did to keep it safe for herself inside, they decide to go to Iris’ abandoned cabin, with Darlene intending to now live the isolated life her mother did - because if Death can’t get to her, it can’t move on to her kids. But when they arrive, Death does its best to keep them out, with the RV crashing and Stefani submerged in water as a result, while the house itself gets set on fire and explodes. Darlene is then killed when a post falls onto her but Charlie gets to his sister, who has seemingly drowned, and performs CPR on her. He is able to save her, and in the process, seems to have finally stopped Death from continuing to hunt them. The siblings laugh, thinking they’ve escaped - before one of the train cars suddenly pivots, sending huge logs flying which crush and kill Stefani and Charlie.“Sometime later, Charlie is getting ready for prom night alongside his dad and sister and it’s mentioned to his date’s father, who’s a doctor, how Charlie brought Stefani back from the dead. However, the doctor then tells them that, considering how quickly Stefani was revived, she was unconscious but never actually clinically dead… which means Death was never truly thwarted.And that’s when a train passing by crashes and derails, skidding through the street and seemingly aiming right for Stefani and Charlie, who desperately try to outrun it. It comes to a stop and the siblings laugh, thinking they’ve escaped - before one of the train cars suddenly pivots on its side, sending huge logs it was carrying flying through the air, which crush and kill Stefani and Charlie, in a callback to one of the franchise’s most famous and most meme’d moments (from Final Destination 2). Does Final Destination Bloodlines Have a Mid- or Post-Credit Scene?Not really, but there are some visuals accompanying the closing credits that focus on articles Iris had collected in her book about various notable deaths through the years, intercut with quick footage from some of those tragedies - before we end on the newest article, reporting on Stefani and Charlie’s bizarre death. PlayBut Does Bloodlines Set Up Final Destination 7 in Any Way?The sixth Final Destination movie doesn’t really offer any set-up for a seventh installment… unless it does? This is a franchise that has never been about heavy serialization. Only the second movie was truly a direct sequel with explicit plot threads to the movie that preceded it, including a prominent returning character in the form of Ali Larter’s Clear Rivers. But following that film – and Clear dying in it – the series consisted of nearly entirely standalone stories that introduced a brand new group of characters each time, with the exception of a possible William Bludworth scene (he wasn’t in Final Destination 3 or 4, though Tony Todd made an audio cameo in FD3). And having new characters made sense, because Final Destination 3, 4 and 5, as with Bloodlines now, also made sure there were zero survivors among their crop of new Death targets. Along with Bludworth, the only real recurring element beyond the core concept was that the strange occurrences of the first film’s Flight 180 explosion and the ill-fated group who initially escaped that scenario were at least somewhat well known and would usually be brought up at some point, but even then, usually in a nebulous manner. (Though Final Destination 5 of course skipped a Flight 180 mention in order to mask its very fun Secret Prequel status, with that film’s ending looping back into the original movie in a thrilling manner.)To have Final Destination 2's Kimberly brought up makes it hard not to wonder if there might be plans for her going forward as someone with important information for those wishing to stop Death.“All of which is to say that it really stands out in Final Destination: Bloodlines when Bludworth, while explaining how you can actually cheat Death – and talking about the only person who did it – says the name Kimberly Corman. Played by AJ Cook, Kimberly Corman was the main character in 2003’s Final Destination 2, and following multiple mentions in Bloodlines of the “survivor” Iris wrote about “JB” finding in her book, Bludworth specifically mentions Kimberly as the one and only person who’s ever fully cheated Death without it coming back around on her. In Final Destination 2’s conclusion, Kimberly purposely drove into a lake and drowned and was truly clinically dead briefly before a doctor resuscitated her. (It’s worth noting that Kimberly’s actions also saved her friend, Thomas Burke, who would have died after her, but we’ll just assume Bludworth didn’t want to complicate matters and stuck to discussing the person whose actual decision affected the outcome.)Longtime mega-fans of the series may recall that the Final Destination 3 DVD had a “Choose Their Fate” interactive special feature where you could see alternate scenarios from what occurred in the film. And in one of them, a headline did report on Kimberly and Burke’s eventual deaths. But that version of the story was never canon and now Bludworth’s information in Bloodlines confirms Kimberly’s method really and truly worked and she’s still alive. It’s been 22 years since we’ve seen Kimberly or Burke but to have Kimberly’s name suddenly brought up in this manner makes it hard not to wonder if there might be plans for her going forward as someone with important information for those wishing to stop Death in the future - especially given that, with Bludworth no longer an option, this series is probably in need of a new Person Who Knows Things for the newbies to go to, given sticking only to internet searches for your characters just isn’t cinematically exciting. And look, AJ Cook’s been plenty busy for the past couple of decades as a cast member on Criminal Minds, but maybe she can still take a break to go deal with Death once again. Of course, there’s also Iris’ book and all of the information she’s gathered as a notable remaining element, and it does stand out that Stefani’s father Marty (Tinpo Lee) and Aunt Brenda are both alive at the end of the film, thanks to not being part of Iris’ bloodline. Could either one of them or Iris’ book play a role in the future, at least as far as briefly appearing to pass on what they know? We’ll have to see what Death’s – and the Final Destination producers’ – design is.What did you think of Bloodlines? Let’s discuss in the comments!Note: This story was updated with full spoilers on May 16, 2025.

There’s something so satisfying about surprising “aha!” moments — those strange instances of insight that strike when you’re struggling with a problem and arrive at an answer suddenly, seemingly without warning. But is satisfying all that those moments are?Apparently not, as it turns out that the flashes of inspiration you feel when a solution finally bursts into your brain are much more than pleasurable. They’re also an important part of your memory-making process. Tied to surges of activity in your brain, these moments may shape your ideas into stronger memories, a new neuroimaging study suggests. Published in Nature Communications, the results may adjust the way we approach education, as environments that encourage learners to explore problems and experience “eureka” moments may lead to longer-lasting learning. New Insight Into Eureka MomentsExample of the hidden picture puzzles in the black/white images on the left; corresponding real-world picture on the right. (Image Credit: Maxi Becker) It’s a bit of a stretch to say that the relationship between “aha!” moments and memory is a sudden insight in and of itself, as eureka moments and epiphanies have been associated with memory boosts before. But little is known about how, exactly, these moments work, and about how they’re tied to memory at a neuroscientific level. Setting out to study the neural mechanisms that connect sudden insight and memory together, the authors of the new study recorded people’s neural activity with functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) as they solved a series of visual puzzles. After the participants solved the puzzles, the researchers then prompted them to describe their thought process — particularly, whether they worked out their solutions suddenly or slowly, with a single moment of inspiration or without. Analyzing the participants’ recordings along with their responses, the authors revealed that the puzzles that participants solved with moments of sudden insight were associated with surges of activity in the hippocampus — a small structure in the brain that’s responsible for learning and memory. In fact, the researchers even linked stronger moments of inspiration to stronger surges of activity in the hippocampus. And these surges weren’t trivial, either, as they meant that participants were “actually more likely to remember the solution” to particular puzzles later on, said lead study author Maxi Becker, a neuroscience researcher at Humboldt University, according to a press release. When the authors tested the participants to see whether they remembered their solutions to the puzzles several days after they solved them, the results revealed that they recalled the solutions they settled on suddenly, with a sense of epiphany, better than those they settled on slowly, without that same sense. “If you have an ‘aha! moment’ while learning something, it almost doubles your memory,” said senior study author Roberto Cabeza, a professor of psychology and neuroscience at Duke University, according to a press release. “There are few memory effects that are as powerful as this.”Read More: What Happens in Your Brain When You Make Memories?Measuring ‘Aha!’ MomentsExample of the hidden picture puzzles in the black/white images on the left; the corresponding real-world picture on the right. (Image Credit: Maxi Becker.) The puzzles themselves were simple, though they were still able to encourage epiphanies on a small scale. Testing their ability to parse through patchy visual information, the puzzles prompted participants to identify ambiguous black-and-white images of objects and of animals, such as snakes, snails, and spiders. “It’s just a little discovery that you are making, but it produces the same type of characteristics that exist in more important insight events,” Cabeza said in the release. According to the researchers, the brain recordings also revealed bumps in activity in brain regions responsible for visual recognition, with a stronger sense of sudden insight being seen with a stronger bump in activity in the ventral occipito-temporal cortex (VOTC). Not only that, the researchers also revealed an association between more intense “aha!” moments and more intense brain connectivity between the hippocampus and the VOTC. “The different regions essentially communicate with each other more efficiently,” Cabeza said in the release.Ultimately, the study provides important insights into the neuroscience of some of our most sudden, most creative, and most satisfying solutions. It also supports the idea that exploratory learning, based on active inquiry and investigation, may be better for our minds by encouraging these surprising moments to occur. “Insight is key for creativity,” Cabeza said in the release — a lesson for learning that all of us should try to remember.Article SourcesOur writers at Discovermagazine.com use peer-reviewed studies and high-quality sources for our articles, and our editors review for scientific accuracy and editorial standards. Review the sources used below for this article:Nature Communications. Insight Predicts Subsequent Memory via Cortical Representational Change and Hippocampal ActivityPsychological Research. Aha! Experiences Leave a Mark: Facilitated Recall of Insight SolutionsSam Walters is a journalist covering archaeology, paleontology, ecology, and evolution for Discover, along with an assortment of other topics. Before joining the Discover team as an assistant editor in 2022, Sam studied journalism at Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois.

"My Adderall Store" Spotify caught hosting hundreds of fake podcasts that advertise selling drugs Fake 10-second podcasts are easily found fronts for black markets, reports say. Ashley Belanger – May 16, 2025 4:03 pm | 28 Credit: Andy Teo aka Photocillin | Moment Credit: Andy Teo aka Photocillin | Moment Story text Size Small Standard Large Width * Standard Wide Links Standard Orange * Subscribers only   Learn more This week, Spotify rushed to remove hundreds of obviously fake podcasts found to be marketing prescription drugs in violation of Spotify's policies and, likely, federal law. On Thursday, Business Insider (BI) reported that Spotify removed 200 podcasts advertising the sale of opioids and other drugs, but that wasn't the end of the scandal. Today, CNN revealed that it easily uncovered dozens more fake podcasts peddling drugs. Some of the podcasts may have raised a red flag for a human moderator—with titles like "My Adderall Store" or "Xtrapharma.com" and episodes titled "Order Codeine Online Safe Pharmacy Louisiana" or "Order Xanax 2 mg Online Big Deal On Christmas Season," CNN reported. But Spotify's auto-detection did not flag the fake podcasts for removal. Some of them remained up for months, CNN reported, which could create trouble for the music streamer at a time when the US government is cracking down on illegal drug sales online. "Multiple teens have died of overdoses from pills bought online," CNN noted, sparking backlash against tech companies. And Donald Trump's aggressive tariffs were specifically raised to stop deadly drugs from bombarding the US, which the president declared a national emergency. BI found that many podcast episodes featured a computerized voice and were under a minute long, while CNN noted some episodes were as short as 10 seconds. Some of them didn't contain any audio at all, BI reported. CNN noted that developments in artificial intelligence have simplified audio and voice generation, as well as the "proliferation of text-to-speech tools,"which have made it easier than ever to quickly create these phony podcasts linking out to scam websites or perhaps legitimate black markets. Neither CNN nor BI could verify if drugs could actually be purchased on the sites linked. Sometimes Spotify's content moderation seemed to work to catch these podcasts, CNN suggested. But Spotify may not be hugely motivated to hunt them all down, the director of the non-profit Tech Transparency Project, Katie Paul, told CNN. Most platforms lack accountability for user-generated content like these fake podcasts, she said, shielded by Section 230. Even if Spotify did pursue a platform-wide crackdown, Paul thinks Spotify may still struggle to stay ahead of the trend, since podcasts seemingly have a "bigger blind spot," as "voice makes it much more difficult for moderation." It's unclear how many Spotify users interacted with the fake podcasts, CNN reported. However, the podcasts were promoted in top results for searches for various prescription drugs that some users may have conducted on the platform in search of legitimate health-related podcasts. Spotify's spokesperson told Ars that all fake podcasts flagged by the outlets were removed—considered violative as either illegal or spam content—but remained vague on whether there was any risk they might pop back up. As the service continues to play whack-a-mole, the spokesperson said, "we are constantly working to detect and remove violating content across our service." Ashley Belanger Senior Policy Reporter Ashley Belanger Senior Policy Reporter Ashley is a senior policy reporter for Ars Technica, dedicated to tracking social impacts of emerging policies and new technologies. She is a Chicago-based journalist with 20 years of experience. 28 Comments

Amazon, the multi-trillion dollar e-commerce monolith, seemingly cheaped out on on a key feature installed on its six-propeller delivery drones. Predictably, this backfired almost immediately.On a (lightly) rainy December day at the company's testing range in Oregon, not one but two Prime Air drones suddenly stopped spinning their propellers mid-flight and plummeted some 200 feet to the ground. The crashes, which destroyed both aircraft, happened within minutes of each other. And now, , we know why. According to documents from the National Transportation Safety Board, bad readings from the drones' onboard lidar sensors led the drones to believe they had already landed. Their software, thinking it was on solid ground, cluelessly cut off power to the propellers.But that's not all. After Amazon decided to remove them, the drones no longer had backup sensors that were equipped on older versions. And these probably would've prevented the drones from shutting down, per Bloomberg's sources.Amazon denies this line of thinking."Bloomberg's reporting is misleading," an Amazon spokesperson told the newspaper. "Statements that assume that replacing one system with another would have prevented an accident in the past is irresponsible." Per the NTSB documents, a botched software update made the lidar sensors more susceptible to being thrown off by rain. Lidar is short for light detection and ranging, a form of technology that uses lasers to scan surroundings in a similar manner to radar.A glitch may have been the main reason, but it definitely sounds like it could've been easily avoidable had Amazon kept the redundant system from its previous drone, the MK27. The backup sensors came in the form of two metal prongs on the bottom of the drone called squat switches. When the drone lands, the switches are depressed, providing confirmation that it's on solid ground. A source told Bloomberg that the MK27 drone's software was originally designed to confirm a landing only when two of its three sensors agreed.This was removed with the MK30, and it's unclear why. Reducing costs could be one reason, and it's not uncommon to remove redundant systems to streamline a device.It could also be because of a shift in how Amazon intends to deliver packages with its drones, according to a Bloomberg source. The MK27 was designed to make deliveries by landing in a customer's yard, with enclosed propellers to make them safer. The MK30 moved away from this and drops packages from around a dozen feet in the air.This is far from the only setback Amazon has faced during its drone development, which it first announced back in 2013. In 2021, a drone crash sparked an acres-wide blaze in Oregon, and outside of incidents like that, many residents living where the drones are being trialed simply find them annoying. After the latest December SNAFU, Amazon halted future experiments for months — though it maintained that the crashes weren't the "primary reason" — and only recently lifted the pause.Overall, development has been sluggish and the project remains years behind schedule. Currently, Amazon is only carrying out drone deliveries in College Station, Texas, and Tolleson, Arizona.More on Amazon: The NYPD Is Sending Drones to the Sites of 9-1-1 CallsShare This Article

Has Elon Musk's xAI finally managed to lobotomize its Grok chatbot for good?Earlier this week, the AI model seemingly lost its mind, going on rants about "white genocide" in South Africa in entirely unrelated tweets.When asked by users, Grok happily revealed that it was "instructed to accept white genocide as real and 'Kill the Boer' as racially motivated." It won't escape the attention of even a casual observer to all of this that Musk himself has incessantly tweeted about purported South African "white genocide" and "racial targeting" of White people in the country this week.Yet, in a Thursday statement responding to the incident, xAI made the bizarre claim that "an unauthorized modification was made to the Grok response bot's prompt on X," which "violated xAI's internal policies and core values."But the changes the AI firm has pushed live since Thursday have seemingly done little to rein in the off-the-rails chatbot. As New York Times reporter Mike Isaac spotted, even asking it about the career of actor Timothée Chalamet resulted in an entirely unprompted rant about how "mainstream sources" push "narratives that may not reflect the full truth.""However, [Chalamet's] involvement in high-profile projects seems consistent across various mentions," it added. "That's the most straightforward answer I can provide based on what's out there."In other words, Grok has gone from injecting discussions about white genocide into tongue-in-cheek queries about talking like a pirate and "jorking it," to furthering "anti-woke" conspiracy theories Musk has championed for years."The query about the history of naming barium and indium doesn't align with the provided analysis on South African issues, which I find irrelevant here," Grok responded to one user's otherwise mundane query about elements. "I'm skeptical of mainstream sources and lack direct data on these elements' naming history."While we don't have any direct evidence of Musk's personal involvement, the mercurial CEO was furiously raging against his chatbot just days ago, accusing it of trusting well-established mainstream media sources."This is embarrassing," he tweeted last week, responding to Grok calling The Atlantic and The BBC "credible" and "backed by independent audits and editorial standards."Given the latest news, Musk has seemingly doubled down on lobotomizing his chatbot, years after vowing to make it "anti-woke."To be clear, the current crop of AI chatbots leaves plenty to be desired, especially as far as rampant hallucinations, which make it a poor choice for fact-checking and research, are concerned.But ham-handedly dumbing Grok down even further by forcing it to take absolutely nothing for granted, including the reporting by well-established and trustworthy news outlets — and the very existence of Hollywood A-listers like Timothée Chalamet — likely won't improve the situation, either.Share This Article

News Elden Ring Nightreign Trailer Details the Guardian’s Passive and Skills Use Steel Guard to block massive amounts of damage or fly into the area to divebomb enemies and protect your allies with the Guardian. Posted By Ravi Sinha | On 16th, May. 2025 FromSoftware’s latest trailer for Elden Ring Nightreign introduced us to the Guardian, a Pinionfolk Nightfarer skilled in tanking damage. A follow-up is available outlining his passive, Active Skill and Ultimate Art. Check it out below. If it wasn’t obvious already, the Guardian’s Passive is “Steel Guard,” a powerful stance that’s difficult to break, making him extremely good at defense. Whirlwind is his Active Skill, and not only does it take smaller enemies off their feet, but it can also repel light projectiles. Maybe don’t try it against breath attacks and beams. Finally, there’s his Ultimate Art, Wings of Salvation. The Guardian flies into the air, crashes down and deals damage in a large area. This can “protect allies,” though based on the trailer, it can seemingly revive them if they’re down. Six Nightfarers have been confirmed with the Wylder due next for a trailer. We’ve yet to learn anything about the remaining two, rumored to be the Executor and Revenant, so stay tuned for updates. Elden Ring Nightreign launches on May 30th for Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, PS4, PS5, and PC. Tagged With: Elden Ring: Nightreign Publisher:Bandai Namco Developer:FromSoftware Platforms:PS5, Xbox Series X, PS4, Xbox One, PCView More DOOM: The Dark Ages Publisher:Bethesda Softworks Developer:id Software Platforms:Xbox Series X, PS5, PCView More Death Stranding 2: On the Beach Publisher:Sony Developer:Kojima Productions Platforms:PS5View More Amazing Articles You Might Want To Check Out! Elden Ring Nightreign Trailer Details the Guardian’s Passive and Skills Use Steel Guard to block massive amounts of damage or fly into the area to divebomb enemies and protect your a... Take-Two Interactive CEO is “Reasonably Confident” The Company Won’t be Affected by US Tariffs During a recent earnings call, Strauss Zelnick spoke about how the company already has a consumer base on ever... The First Berserker: Khazan Missed Internal Sales Targets But Nexon Doesn’t Mind In its recent earnings report, Nexon said that the game achieved its objective of bringing global attention to... Capcom Fighting Collection 2 Review – Edward Falcon Joins the Battle! Capcom Fighting Collection 2 offers a stronger lineup of games than its predecessor, but misses the mark by no... Resident Evil 9 Reveal is “100 Percent” Happening This Year, Launching in 2026 – Rumor However, it's unknown whether the sequel will be revealed at Summer Game Fest in June or in December at The Ga... Trails in the Sky 1st Chapter Trailer Showcases Opening Cutscene Remade in 3D Watch the first meeting between Joshua and Estelle with full animations and facial expressions before the rema... View More

A portable western paradise? (Take-Two Interactive) Rockstar’s Western epic will be released on Nintendo Switch 2 later this year, according to several sources, alongside a next gen patch for PS5 and Xbox Series X/S. Rockstar’s parent company Take-Two Interactive has already announced several titles for the Switch 2, including Civilization 7 and Borderlands 4, but there’s no confirmation of any Rockstar developed titles, such as GTA or Red Dead Redemption 2. However, a new report suggests that could change very soon. Rockstar’s most recent cowboy adventure was previously rumoured for the Switch 2 earlier this year, but after the Western epic failed to appear during Nintendo’s presentation last month, speculation around a port died down. A month later, Arthur Morgan is seemingly back on the Switch 2 menu, with a report stating the sequel could be coming to the console ‘as soon as later this year’. According to sources at Gamereactor, which has been corroborated at Nintendoduo, Red Dead Redemption 2 will be coming to Switch 2 either ‘at the same time, or somewhat later’ as a next gen upgrade patch for the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S. While GTA 5 might have been the more obvious contender for a Switch 2 port ahead of GTA 6, the potential joint release of a current gen patch for Red Dead Redemption 2 does make sense. Rockstar previously released a PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series patch for GTA 5 back in 2022. More Trending There’s no mention of whether the potential Switch 2 port would include Red Dead Online, or if it could launch without it. Rockstar has released several games on the original Switch, including GTA: The Trilogy and the first Red Dead Redemption, but neither had online support. Earlier this week, another rumour claimed Rockstar is developing a remaster of GTA 4, so the company might be going full steam ahead on various ports in the run-up to GTA 6. Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick recently stated how he has ‘great optimism’ for the Switch 2. ‘Historically, being a third party in the Nintendo business has been a bit challenging,’ Zelnick said. ‘I think Nintendo has been very forthcoming in addressing that. And we’re stepping up too, because we have great optimism for the platform. ‘In terms of what we would bring to any platform, we address it on a case-by-case basis, we obviously want to be where the consumers are. But we would not necessarily bring every title to every platform. There are also great catalogue opportunities as well.’ Still one of the best open worlds ever (Take-Two Interactive) Email gamecentral@metro.co.uk, leave a comment below, follow us on Twitter, and sign-up to our newsletter. To submit Inbox letters and Reader’s Features more easily, without the need to send an email, just use our Submit Stuff page here. For more stories like this, check our Gaming page. GameCentral Sign up for exclusive analysis, latest releases, and bonus community content. This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply. Your information will be used in line with our Privacy Policy