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Trump administration ends Harvard’s ability to enrol international students Trump administration ends Harvard’s ability to enrol international students The Trump administration has moved to end Harvard’s ability to enrol international students, escalating a row with America’s oldest university. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem wrote on X that the administration has revoked Harvard’s “Student and Exchange Visitor Program certification as a result of their failure to adhere to the law.” “Let this serve as a warning to all universities and academic institutions across the country,” she wrote. Harvard called the move “unlawful” in a statement. “We are fully committed to maintaining Harvard’s ability to host our international students and scholars, who hail from more than 140 countries and enrich the University – and this nation – immeasurably,” the university said. “We are working quickly to provide guidance and support to members of our community. This retaliatory action threatens serious harm to the Harvard community and our country, and undermines Harvard’s academic and research mission.” The Trump administration’s decisions could affect thousands of international students who study at the university. Nearly 7,000 international students were enrolled at the institution last academic year, university data shows, making up 27.2% of its student body. The White House has demanded Harvard make changes to hiring, admissions and teaching practices to help fight antisemitism on campus. Harvard earlier said it had taken many steps to address antisemitism, and that demands were an effort to regulate the university’s “intellectual conditions”. Source link #Trump #administration #ends #Harvards #ability #enrol #international #students Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

OpenAI buys iPhone architect’s startup for $6.4bn | Technology OpenAI buys iPhone architect’s startup for $6.4bn | Technology OpenAI is buying an untested startup for $6.4bn, the ChatGPT maker’s biggest acquisition yet. The hardware startup, called io, was founded by Apple design guru Jony Ive, known best as one of the principal architects of the iPhone. Ive and OpenAI’s CEO, Sam Altman, said in a blog post that their partnership has been two years in the making. “A collaboration built upon friendship, curiosity and shared values quickly grew in ambition,” they wrote in the blog post, which offered scant details on upcoming devices. “Tentative ideas and explorations evolved into tangible designs.” OpenAI’s purchase of io is its biggest known acquisition yet. Ive and a cohort of other Apple alumni founded io one year ago, according to the blog post. It is part of Ive’s ******* project called LoveFrom, which describes itself as a “creative collective” made up of architects, artists, engineers, various types of designers, musicians and writers. Ive left Apple in 2019 after a 27-year career as one of the company’s foremost product designers. He’s known for simple and clean aesthetics that pay attention to small details like packaging and font. One of his early famous designs was the brightly colored bubble-shaped iMac computer. From there, he went on to design the first iPod, iPhone, MacBook Air, Apple Watch and AirPods. For his work on creating such distinctive products, Ive was knighted by Princess Anne at Buckingham Palace in 2012, a moment he called “thrilling” and “particularly humbling”. In Altman and Ive’s blog post on Wednesday, they wrote that the io team will merge with OpenAI to work “more intimately with the research, engineering and product teams in San Francisco”. Ive himself will not join OpenAI as an employee, but his company will “take over design for all of OpenAI, including its software”, according to Bloomberg. Since leaving Apple and starting LoveFrom, Ive has mostly remained quiet, and io has not debuted any hardware. His company’s list of clients reportedly includes Christie’s, Airbnb and Ferrari, though. Another project Ive has been working on is LoveFrom’s headquarters in San Francisco, according to the New York Times. Ives told the paper he is designing the headquarters of the company he is developing with OpenAI. OpenAI has likewise yet to unveil a hardware device, but it has indicated it is heading in that direction. It has hired hardware and robotics staff, including Caitlin “CK” Kalinowski, who headed Meta’s augmented reality glasses initiative. In her LinkedIn announcement, Kalinowski wrote that her new role at OpenAI is to focus on “robotics work and partnerships to help bring AI into the physical world”. OpenAI has also invested in the robot startup Physical Intelligence, which aims to bring “general-purpose AI into the physical world”. Investors have been throwing money at OpenAI over the past couple of years, which is now valued at $300bn, according to Bloomberg. In March, it closed a funding round of $40bn led by the Japanese conglomerate SoftBank. Microsoft has a 49% stake in the AI company after investing $13bn in 2023. skip past newsletter promotion A weekly dive in to how technology is shaping our lives Privacy Notice: Newsletters may contain info about charities, online ads, and content funded by outside parties. For more information see our Privacy Policy. We use Google reCaptcha to protect our website and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply. after newsletter promotion Along with io, OpenAI moved to make other mammoth acquisitions over the last year. It purchased the AI-assisted coding tool Windsurf for $3bn earlier this month and bought the real-time analytics database Rockset for an undisclosed sum last summer. Source link #OpenAI #buys #iPhone #architects #startup #6.4bn #Technology Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content] For verified travel tips and real support, visit: [Hidden Content]

Draining cities dry: the giant tech companies queueing up to build datacentres in drought-hit Latin America | Brazil Draining cities dry: the giant tech companies queueing up to build datacentres in drought-hit Latin America | Brazil It is a warehouse the size of 12 football pitches that promises to create much-needed jobs and development​ in Caucaia city, north-east Brazil​. But it won’t have shelves stocked with products. This vast building will be a datacentre, believed to be earmarked for TikTok​, the ********-owned video-sharing app​, ​a​s part of a 55bn reais (£7.3bn) project​ to expand its global datacentre infrastructure​. As the demand for supercomputer facilities rises, fuelled by the AI *****, Brazil is attracting more and more tech companies. The choice of Caucaia is no accident. Several undersea cables carry data from the nearby capital of Ceará state, Fortaleza, to other continents. The closer to the cables, the greater the traffic capacity and the lower the latency, or response time, between two points on the internet network. Caucaia also has Pecém EPZ, a zone in which companies can produce goods and services for export with a range of tax benefits and simplified bureaucratic procedures. Yet Caucaia also suffers from extreme weather events, including droughts and heavy rains, according to data from the Digital Atlas of Disasters in Brazil and the Integrated Disaster Information System. In 16 of the 21 years between 2003 and 2024, a state of emergency due to drought was declared in the city at least once. In 2019, almost 10,000 people were affected by water shortages, the Digital Atlas of Disasters shows. As reservoirs were depleted, the water became unfit for consumption, leading to crop losses and difficulty accessing basic food for the population. Datacentres use vast amounts of energy and water to cool their supercomputers. Nevertheless, public authorities are greenlighting their construction in cities that have persistently suffered from drought. Caucaia is not an isolated case. According to the Digital Disaster Atlas, five of the 22 datacentres planned are located in cities that have suffered recurring droughts and water shortages since 2003. So far, the ******** social network has not been named in the permit applications in Caucaia. But in February, the state government’s chief of staff, Chagas Vieira, confirmed in an interview with a local radio station that it was in talks with a ******** company, and representatives from TikTok and its parent company, ByteDance, have met senior government officials, including the vice-president and the development, industry, trade and services minister Geraldo Alckmin. ByteDance has been approached for comment. A truck delivers water to Caucaia, a city that faces recurring issues with its drinking water supply. Photograph: Marília Camelo/The Guardian The company officially responsible for the project is Casa dos Ventos, a Brazilian wind energy provider that has invested in the datacentre sector. The company’s founder and president, Mario Araripe, announced last year that he aimed to attract a large global tech company, such as Apple, Amazon, Google, Meta or Microsoft, to fill the place with its computers. Casa dos Ventos has already obtained one of the three necessary licences needed from the state of Ceará. According to the State Environmental Superintendence (Semace), the project received a licence for “water consumption of 30m³/day in a closed circuit, supplied by an artesian well”. Access to further details has been refused due to commercial confidentiality. Casa dos Ventos says it is “committed to transforming Porto do Pecém into a technology innovation and energy transition complex” with “the largest datacentre and green hydrogen project in the country, which will use renewable energy”. Projects that require substantial power, such as datacentres, must apply for special permission from the Brazilian government to operate. In 2024, at least seven of the 21 authorisations published by the ministry of mines and energy were related to datacentres. Casa dos Ventos is also responsible for another project for a datacentre under state review in Campo Redondo, Rio Grande do Norte, which has experienced drought for 14 of the last 21 years, analysis of data from the Digital Disaster Atlas shows. During a water shortage in 2022, the municipality requested federal support and water trucks were dispatched to meet demand. While residential users typically don’t use much of the water they withdraw, datacentres often use 60% to 80% of it Shaolei Ren, UC Riverside A similar situation has occurred in Igaporã, Bahia, where a Brazilian renewables energy company, plans to build two datacentres. The city has declared a state of emergency due to drought and dry spells in 12 of the 22 years since 2003. In 2021, about 5,500 people were affected by water shortages in rural areas. There is no transparency on water consumption by datacentres under construction in these cities. Companies do not publish this information voluntarily, and the government refuses to release technical documentation for licensing, citing industrial secrecy. In early April, the National Electricity System Operator (ONS) rejected Casa dos Ventos’s request for access to the grid, citing risks to grid stability. The ministry of mines and energy then asked for the calculations to be redone to explore possible grid adjustments. Big tech companies admit that they are consuming water in sensitive areas due to the demands of AI. In its 2024 sustainability report, Microsoft said that 42% of its water came from areas of “water stress”, and Google said the same year that 15% of its water use was in areas of “high water scarcity”. The large amounts of water used by datacentres keep computers and machines cool, preventing them from overheating. However, some is lost to evaporation, which can exacerbate the climate crisis in the regions where they are set up. As AI models improve, they need more processing power, which requires more energy and cooling. This means water and energy consumption are set to increase. Workers at a datacentre in Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. Such centres use huge volumes of water to keep the machines cool. Photograph: Jeff Botega The International Energy Agency conservatively estimates that datacentre energy consumption will double to 945,000 GWh by 2030 – the equivalent of Japan’s annual energy consumption. Emerging countries such as Brazil will account for about 5% of the projected growth over this *******. Water consumption is set to rise significantly, with 4.2bn to 6.6bn cubic metres needed for global AI demand in 2027, according to researchers at the University of California, Riverside, and the University of Texas at Arlington. This is more than half of the ***’s annual water consumption. However, according to Shaolei Ren, a researcher at UC Riverside and co-author of the article, there is an essential difference between withdrawal (the water taken out of the system) and consumption (water withdrawal that evaporates) regarding datacentres. skip past newsletter promotion Sign up to Global Dispatch Get a different world view with a roundup of the best news, features and pictures, curated by our global development team Privacy Notice: Newsletters may contain info about charities, online ads, and content funded by outside parties. For more information see our Privacy Policy. We use Google reCaptcha to protect our website and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply. after newsletter promotion “While residential users typically don’t use much of the water they withdraw, datacentres often use 60% to 80% of it,” says Ren. In other words, the water is lost. Datacentres can be cooled in two ways. One is air conditioning, a power-inefficient solution for extensive facilities. Water is the second option. The Nova Metrópole neighbourhood on the outskirts of Caucaia. In 2019, water became unfit for consumption in the city after reservoirs were depleted. Photograph: Marília Camelo/The Guardian One technique is to use radiators with fans in a closed water circuit, where the water is recycled or reused, similar to the system in a car engine, but costs are high. Another option is cooling towers, which remove heat from hot water using evaporation, so the cold water can be pumped back into the system. The last method involves spraying water into the air to make it more humid and lower the temperature. But there are still some inefficiencies. “Both evaporation and spraying result in water loss,” says Emilio Francesquini, an associate professor at the Federal University of ABC. A small datacentre with a 1MW capacity consumes 25.5m litres of water yearly, losing 1% (255,000 litres) via evaporation. In Pecém, alternatives to water extraction would be seawater desalination or the purchase of recycled water from Fortaleza, says Francisco Assis de Souza Filho, a professor at the Federal University of Ceará. He says it is up to the state government, as part of the environmental licensing process, to grant a datacentre a water concession. Ronildo Mastroianni, a technical director at Esplar, an NGO that has worked in Ceará for 50 years, says a project that requires intensive water consumption in a semi-arid region does not make sense. “A small push is all it takes to become arid,” he says. Mastroianni cautions that these projects could result in permanent watershed changes. He warns of a weakening caatinga – a fragile ecosystem – and growing food insecurity due to water shortages in rural areas. No representatives from local non-governmental organisations or the dozens of quilombola and Indigenous communities were invited to discuss the project, he says. Due to water stress, many communities have cisterns to store water to ensure supply during times of scarcity. Photograph: Marília Camelo/The Guardian Other Latin American countries have also experienced a datacentre industry *****. Chile has 22 datacentres, 16 located in the greater Santiago area. In December, the government announced a national plan for 30 new projects, as the country is expected to move from a medium to a high level of water stress by 2040, with the likelihood of a decrease in water availability. In Chile, the government and companies are facing a growing resistance. In 2019, Google announced plans for a second datacentre in Santiago, where the activist organisation Socio-Environmental Community Movement for Land and Water (Mosacat) estimated that the project would extract 7bn litres of water annually. After a series of demonstrations, a Santiago court reviewed the project. In early 2024, the court halted it pending Google’s review of the environmental impact. One of those who took part in the fight to stop the project was Tania Rodríguez, a member of Mosacat. “It’s turned into extractivism,” she said in an interview with Rest of World. “We end up being everybody’s back yard.” Source link #Draining #cities #dry #giant #tech #companies #queueing #build #datacentres #droughthit #Latin #America #Brazil Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

Relief for families of young sports stars Relief for families of young sports stars Families are breathing a sigh of relief after the State Government confirmed a key election promise helping regional students undertake sports activities in the city. Source link #Relief #families #young #sports #stars Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

Denmark to raise retirement age to highest in Europe Denmark to raise retirement age to highest in Europe Denmark is set to have the highest retirement age in Europe after its parliament adopted a law raising it to 70 by 2040. Since 2006, Denmark has tied the official retirement age to life expectancy and has revised it every five years. It is currently 67 but will rise to 68 in 2030 and to 69 in 2035. The retirement age at 70 will apply to all people born after 31 December 1970. The new law passed on Thursday with 81 votes for and 21 votes against. However, last year Social Democrat Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said the sliding scale principle would eventually be renegotiated. “We no longer believe that the retirement age should be increased automatically,” she said, adding that in her party’s eyes “you can’t just keep saying that people have to work a year longer”. Tommas Jensen, a 47-year-old roofer, told Danish media that the change was “unreasonable”. “We’re working and working and working, but we can’t keep going,” he said. He added that the situation may be different for those with desk jobs but that blue-collar workers with physically demanding professions would find the changes difficult. “I’ve paid my taxes all my life. There should also be time to be with children and grandchildren,” Mr Jensen told outlet DK. Protests backed by trade unions against the retirement age increase took place in Copenhagen over the last few weeks. Ahead of Thursday’s vote, Jesper Ettrup Rasmussen, the chairman of a Danish trade union confederation, said the proposal to increase the retirement age was “completely unfair”. “Denmark has a healthy economy and yet the EU’s highest retirement age,” he said. “A higher retirement age means that [people will] lose the right to a dignified senior life.” Retirement ages around Europe vary. Many governments have raised the retirement age in recent years to reflect longer life expectancy and to tackle budget deficits. In Sweden, the earliest age individuals can start to claim pension benefits is 63. The standard pension age in Italy is 67, although as in the case of Denmark, this is also subject to adjustments based on life expectancy estimates and may increase in 2026. In the ***, people born between 6 October, 1954 and 5 April, 1960 start receiving their pension at the age of 66. But for people born after this date, the state pension age will increase gradually. And in France, a law was passed in 2023 that raised the retirement age from 62 to 64. The highly unpopular change sparked protests and riots and had to be pushed through parliament by President Emmanuel Macron without a vote. Source link #Denmark #raise #retirement #age #highest #Europe Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

The Alters Began As A Ship Of Theseus-Style Question The Alters Began As A Ship Of Theseus-Style Question FGS Live From GDC unveiled a gameplay deep dive for The Alters, an emotive and though provoking sci-fi game with a unique blend of survival, adventure, and base-building elements. You play as Jan Dolski — the sole survivor of an ill-fated space expedition, who creates alternative versions of himself to escape a hostile planet and tackle personal turmoils with his unconventional crew of clones. The Alters is coming to PC, PS5, Xbox Series X and S in 2025. Source link #Alters #Began #Ship #TheseusStyle #Question Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

Glastonbury Festival yurt glampers ticketless as Yurtel goes bust Glastonbury Festival yurt glampers ticketless as Yurtel goes bust Sammy Jenkins BBC News, West of England Getty Images Some festivalgoers had booked accommodation and tickets through Yurtel which has since appointed liquidators A number of Glastonbury glampers have been left ticketless and out of pocket weeks before the festival after a luxury yurt company went into liquidation. Festival-goers had booked accommodation and event tickets through Yurtel, based in Corsham, Wiltshire, but have since been told by the company that their bookings will not be fulfilled after it ceased trading on 8 May. Prices for hospitality tickets and accommodation packages offered by the company ranged from £10,000 up to £16,500. The BBC has approached Yurtel for comment. Glastonbury Festival said while it was “disappointing” for those who had booked through the company, it has “no involvement with the operation of Yurtel”. The cheapest package offered by Yurtel was £10,000 for a deluxe bell tent with options ranging up to £16,500 for a presidential suite, which featured a front deck with seating, a king sized bed and a sofa. In an email to customers, the company said it ceased trading due to insolvency and would commence formal liquidation shortly. It said that accommodation booked with Yurtel would not be available and advised people to book with another provider. It added that money customers had paid “cannot be refunded” and advised that details of the claim process would be provided to creditors when liquidation has started. ‘Only option’ Lydia, who paid £10,000 plus vat for tickets and accommodation for two via bank transfer, said she was “absolutely gutted”. She claimed the company did not allow customers to book via credit card. “I tried to get it [tickets] through the normal Glastonbury route and wasn’t successful and then booked quite soon after that,” she said. Lydia said “the only option” was to purchase tickets through Yurtel, with her parents also spending £16,000 to join her. She had booked tickets to go last year but had to cancel due to an operation. “I’m just absolutely gutted.” “This was a very, very expensive thing that people would save for. It is no drop in the ocean. ” she added. Getty Images Customers had paid to stay in luxury tents, similar to the ones pictured here Louise, who paid £13,500 via bank transfer for tickets and accommodation, said she felt “sick to her stomach” when she found out Yurtel had gone into liquidation. She sad she had booked the luxury Glastonbury glamping tickets as a “once in a lifetime special treat”. “It felt like a sickening feeling in the pit of my stomach and also regret,” she said. “The fact that someone had just walked away with our money and we had nothing to show for it.” Just like Lydia, Louise also claimed that the company did not allow customers to book via credit card. “My husband tried to pay by card, because we knew then we’d be protected, but they insisted they didn’t take card,” she added. Glastonbury Festival said Yurtel was one of a small number of campsites local to Worthy Farm with limited access to purchase hospitality tickets for their guests in certain circumstances. “As such we have no records of their bookings and are unable to take any responsibility for the services and the facilities they offer,” the festival said. However, the festival said Yurtel had not paid or secured any tickets for the 2025 festival prior to entering into liquidation. “Anyone who has paid Yurtel for a package including Glastonbury 2025 tickets will need to pursue any potential recompense available from them via the liquidation process as outlined in their communication to you. We are not able to incur the cost or responsibility of their loss or replacement,” it added. The festival is encouraging Yurtel customers to contact *****@*****.tld to confirm their consent for them to share their personal data and details of their party with them. “We will then be able to provide details of alternative potential sources for those customers to purchase tickets and accommodation for this year’s festival,” it said. The festival, taking place between 25 – 29 June will include headliners Neil Young, Olivia Rodrigo and The 1975. Source link #Glastonbury #Festival #yurt #glampers #ticketless #Yurtel #bust Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

8 Warhammer 40K Games Will Be Free On Xbox This Weekend 8 Warhammer 40K Games Will Be Free On Xbox This Weekend The Warhammer 40K Skulls 2025 showcase presented a look at the future of Warhammer video games, with Boltgun 2 and an upgraded version of the original Space Marine among the biggest announcements. Xbox wants to continue the Warhammer celebration in the present, however, so it’s announced that eight Warhammer games will be available for free to all Xbox Game Pass members May 22-25 as part of its Free Play Days initiative. The event began at 12:01 AM PT / 3:01 AM ET on May 22, and it will run until 11:59 PM PT / 2:59 AM ET on May 25. A few of the games included in the Free Play Days event received updates during the Warhammer Skulls livestream, including Darktide, Blood Bowl 3, and Rogue Trader. Xbox Free Play Days The full list of games available during the Xbox Warhammer Free Play Days event are below: Warhammer 40,000: Darktide Warhammer 40,000: Chaos Gate – Daemonhunters Warhammer 40,000: Mechanicus Blood Bowl 3 Warhammer 40,000: Rogue Trader Warhammer 40,000: Shootas, Blood & Teef Warhammer 40,000: Inquisitor – Martyr Ultimate Edition Warhammer Chaosbane Slayer Edition Players interested in checking these games out can download them from the Xbox Store as usual, so long as they subscribe to any of the Game Pass tiers–Ultimate, Standard, and Core. Each game can also be purchased at a discounted price throughout the weekend, with all progress from the free version remaining after the promotion has ended. The Warhammer Skulls showcase also revealed Dark Heresy, a new project from Rogue Trader developer Owlcat Games focusing on the Inquisition, as well as crossovers with Counter-Strike 2 and Rust. The next Warhammer game on the schedule, Warhammer 40K: Speed Freeks, launches today on PC. Source link #Warhammer #40K #Games #Free #Xbox #Weekend Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

England put Zimbabwe to sword with three centurions England put Zimbabwe to sword with three centurions Ben Duckett, Zak Crawley and Ollie Pope have all scored centuries as England dominated the first day of the Test summer, racking up 3-498 against an outclassed Zimbabwe attack at Trent Bridge. The first meeting between the nations in 22 years looked like a mismatch on paper, the tourists having lost heavily to an inexperienced county XI last week, and the hosts lived up to lofty expectations with their top three all helping themselves to tons on Thursday. Duckett hit a typically feisty 140, Crawley put a lean winter behind him with 124 and vice-captain Ollie Pope trumped them both with an unbeaten 169. In doing so, they set a new record for the most runs scored on the first day of a Test in England, eclipsing the 475 scored by Donald Bradman’s Australia in 1934. In Zimbabwe’s first Test in England for 22 years, England’s top-order maintained an unforgiving run-rate of 5.65 an over and combined for a bruising total of 62 boundaries and four sixes. Duckett’s ton was the quickest of the three, ticking by in exactly 100 deliveries on his home ground, while Crawley took 45 ****** longer in an assured stay. It was a fifth Test century for both men, with an opening stand of 231 keeping Pope waiting around three hours for his own opportunity. When his time came, Pope made the most of it, getting off to a flying start en route to his eighth England century before then punishing a weary and depleted bowling unit late on. England handed a debut to bowler Sam Cook but he got no opportunity when Craig Ervine put England in. Instead, Duckett and Crawley posted 130 before lunch at exactly five an over. Joe Root was the one to miss out on a big score, when he holed out for 34 at deep fine leg attempting a hook off Blessing Muzarabani, but he did soak up the applause for becoming just the fifth batter in Test history to pass 13,000 runs. Pope will be eyeing his highest test score of 205 on Friday with England looking to bat once in the four-day match as they prepare for the series against India and later on the Ashes in Australia. Pope and Crawley have been short of runs in recent times, and with Jacob Bethell an option to come into the side, their centuries could not have been better timed, even if they came against a modest Test attack. With Reuters Source link #England #put #Zimbabwe #sword #centurions Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

Lies of P: Overture Hands-On Preview – Game Rant Lies of P: Overture Hands-On Preview – Game Rant Lies of P: Overture is a dramatic prequel to the acclaimed Lies of P, transporting you to the city of Krat in its final days of haunting late-19th-century Belle Époque beauty. On the brink of the Puppet Frenzy massacre, you follow the legendary Stalker—a mysterious guide—through untold stories and chilling secrets. As Geppetto’s deadly puppet, you’ll journey through Krat and its surroundings, uncover hidden backstories, and face epic battles that shape the past and future of Lies of P. Source link #Lies #Overture #HandsOn #Preview #Game #Rant Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

OTD In Space – May 22: SpaceX Launches 1st Private Cargo Mission To The International Space Station OTD In Space – May 22: SpaceX Launches 1st Private Cargo Mission To The International Space Station On May 22, 2012, SpaceX launched the first commercial flight to the International Space Station. The Dragon was the first American spacecraft to visit the space station since NASA ended the space shuttle program almost a year earlier. When the space shuttles were retired, NASA decided to contract private companies to start launching cargo to the space station. SpaceX, which was founded by Elon Musk, launched over 1,000 lbs. of cargo to the space station with its new Dragon cargo craft. The vessel is actually designed to launch up to 13,000 lbs., but because this was a test flight, it wasn’t filled to its maximum capacity. The Dragon brought supplies like food, water and clothing for the space station crew and several student experiments. Also on board were cremated remains of more than 300 people. This included the ashes of the Mercury astronaut Gordon Cooper, and James Doohan, the actor who played Scotty on “Star Trek.” The mission lifted off from Cape Canaveral on a Falcon 9 rocket and arrived at the space station three days later. Source link #OTD #Space #SpaceX #Launches #1st #Private #Cargo #Mission #International #Space #Station Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content] For verified travel tips and real support, visit: [Hidden Content]

Blue Prince Just Got A Significant Update, But Don’t Expect Any DLC Blue Prince Just Got A Significant Update, But Don’t Expect Any DLC Dogubomb and Raw Fury released Patch 1.04.5 for puzzle game Blue Prince today. And while Blue Prince has been one of the indie darlings of 2025, Director Tonda Ros admitted in a patch-notes post on Steam that there aren’t any plans for DLC or new content for Blue Prince following the next update. Blue Prince is a roguelike puzzle game in which players explore a mansion left behind by their great-uncle. While they search for a hidden 46th room, the mansion shifts every night, and players have to lay out new floor plans as they explore each new day. Critics loved its structure and mind-bending puzzles, leading to Blue Prince becoming one of 2025’s best-reviewed games. Key art for Blue Prince Patch 1.04.5. One of Patch 1.04.5’s most notable improvements is fixing a save-rollback issue on PS5 that was causing some players’ games to not save properly, resulting in lost progress. Other progress-blocking bugs or softlocks were also resolved in this patch, and the wording of some late-game puzzles has been updated for clarity. You can check out the full list of patch notes below, although you should be aware that it contains spoilers for Blue Prince. Patch 1.04.5 Changelog: Fixed the rollback bug that was interfering with saving the game on PlayStation for some users Fixed a bug occasionally preventing players from entering the highest rank due to a rogue collider. Fixed a bug that could cause you to lose steps when investigating the east sealed antechamber door while in a gymnasium. Fixed a potential collider softlock that could occur after digging up treasure in the Cloister Fixed a potential collider softlock that could occur after digging up treasure in the Closet. The experiment “Gain 1 Key, 1 Gem or 1 Gold (selected at random)” has been changed to “Gain 1 Key, 1 Gem, or 1 Die (selected at random)” Unified all instances of “Christoph” to a consistent spelling. Typo fixed in Glossary entry for “Directory”. LATE GAME SPOILER CHANGELOG BELOW – Read at own risk EVEN DEEPER SPOILER CHANGELOG BELOW Some of what’s to come beyond this current patch was teased, although Ros wants to temper expectations. It was confirmed that Patch 1.10 will be the final content update Blue Prince receives. By then, the game will have received additions like a color-assist mode, controller remapping, widescreen support, new cinematics, UI and UX improvements, cryptic additions like “an overhyped arcade game and “a curious house cat,” and more. After that, any future updates for Blue Prince will simply be for bug-fixing purposes. “It had always been my dream to release a definitive version of the game at launch. I’m a big fan of complete standalone experiences and it was never my plan to continually tinker with the game with regular content updates, room rebalancing, or DLC and the like,” Ros explained. “Considering this is my first game, I’m extremely proud of everything I managed to include for launch, but there are a few minor things that were not quite completed before our release date that I feel must be added to fulfill that original vision. Those inclusions will be added in 1.10, which will be the final major update to the game. It will be the definitive version of the game.” Once Patch 1.10 for Blue Prince rolls out in the coming months, it will be content complete, so you shouldn’t worry about waiting for DLC or more significant content updates to jump in. Blue Prince is available for PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X|S and is part of the Game Pass Ultimate and PS Plus Extra game catalogs. Source link #Blue #Prince #Significant #Update #Dont #Expect #DLC Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

Trump administration blocks Harvard from enrolling international students Trump administration blocks Harvard from enrolling international students A general view of the Baker Library/Bloomberg Center on February 17, 2024, at Harvard Business School in Allston, MA. Erica Denhoff | Icon Sportswire | Icon Sportswire | Getty Images The Trump administration on Thursday blocked the ability of Harvard University to enroll international students. Department of Homeland Security Kristi Noem ordered DHS staff to revoke Harvard’s Student and Exchange Visitor Program certification, which allows colleges to enroll foreign students. DHS said that in addition to barring enrollment of future international students, “existing foreign students must transfer to lose their legal status.” As of the fall 2023 semester, International students comprised more than 27% of Harvard’s total enrollment, according to university data. “This administration is holding Harvard accountable for fostering violence, antisemitism, and coordinating with the ******** ********** Party on its campus,” Noem said in a statement posted on the social media site X. “It is a privilege, not a right, for universities to enroll foreign students and benefit from their higher tuition payments to help pad their multibillion-dollar endowments. Harvard had plenty of opportunity to do the right thing,” Noem said. “It refused.” CNBC has requested comment from Harvard on the move, which comes amid an ongoing battle between the Ivy League school and the administration over concerns about antisemitism on campus. Noem in April had threatened to revoke Harvard’s ability to enroll international students. She warned the university at that time that its certification to enroll foreign students was contingent upon complying with federal immigration laws. The administration in April froze $2.2 billion in federal grants to Harvard, hours after the university roundly rejected demands that it eliminate diversity, equity, and inclusion programs, and evaluate international students for ideological concerns. This is breaking news. Please refresh for updates. Source link #Trump #administration #blocks #Harvard #enrolling #international #students Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

Sony’s next PlayStation State of Play will reportedly be coming in June Sony’s next PlayStation State of Play will reportedly be coming in June The next PlayStation presentation is coming in June, and is likely to be a State of Play instead of a Showcase, it’s claimed. Giant Bomb journalist Jeff Grubb stated during today’s episode of Game Mess Mornings that other ‘reliable’ insiders were saying they hadn’t heard anything about a May event from Sony coming this year. “I haven’t either,” Grubb said, “and that’s because something’s happening in June, it’s a June thing. Now, is that going to be a big Showcase? I don’t think so.” Grubb said back in February that, according to his sources, Sony hadn’t yet decided whether to hold its annual PS5 Showcase this summer or a smaller scale State of Play. In today’s claims, he says the company has likely opted for the latter. “I said a couple of months ago that I heard that they were discussing going back and forth about doing a Showcase or a State of Play, sounds like they probably settled on a State of Play,” he said. “I’m not 100% about that aspect of it – it’s probably a State of Play, though – but I have heard June.” Grubb then noted that his sources were less willing to discuss when Sony’s next presentation will be compared to his previous discussions with them, leading him to believe (but not know for sure) that there may be a big announcement being kept under wraps. “They are being very guarded,” he said. “Just getting the details that there’s something happening in June was kind of difficult to come by, so it does make me feel like they are hiding some stuff, although that is pure speculation. “That is not based on anything other than it was abnormally difficult to squeeze the information out. and the fact that no one else is really hearing about it yet makes me think’s like they are really locking things down. So maybe they do have something cooking, or maybe this is just a new initiative from PlayStation that has nothing to do with the content.” Sony Interactive Entertainment‘s upcoming release schedule includes Kojima Productions‘ Death Stranding 2: On the Beach in June, Sucker Punch‘s Ghost of Yotei in October and Housemarque‘s Saros in 2026. Insomniac Games is also working on a Wolverine game but it’s still to receive a release window. Source link #Sonys #PlayStation #State #Play #reportedly #coming #June Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

Super Flower shows off not one but two 3000W PSUs at Computex 2025 Super Flower shows off not one but two 3000W PSUs at Computex 2025 Super Flower has hit Computex in full force this year, showing off a wide suite of new power supplies and other components for those present in Taiwan. As the OEM behind the success of EVGA’s acclaimed PSU line, Super Flower has been making a name for itself in the years following EVGA’s soft retirement. And while its new 3300W power supply is the clear star of the show, the rest of its offerings are nothing to sneeze at. Image 1 of 5 (Image credit: Future) (Image credit: Future) (Image credit: Future) (Image credit: Future) (Image credit: Future) Super Flower’s “Leadex” badge is where our coverage begins. (As is the case for many PC component makers, it’s unclear what, if any, differences exist between Super Flower’s Leadex, Combat, and Zillion badges.) The Leadex PSUs are named for their Cybenetics PSU efficiency rating, with the Leadex Titanium leading the pack. Following in the footsteps of the Leadex Titanium 2800W, which launched for pre-order in March, the Titanium 1700W was seen at Computex this year. With a rare Cybenetics Titanium rating, the oversized PSU is ATX 3.1 and PCIe 5.1 compliant. Designed for high-end AI workflows, the PSU is currently aiming for a pilot run to arrive soon. And while the voltage of the 1700W model is a mystery, the 2800W unit requires 240V and ships with a “medical grade power cord”, making it likely that the 1700W variant will be similarly overkill. The slightly more down-to-earth options are the Leadex VIII Platinum, the next generation of the standard Leadex line. The VIII Platinums are all fully-modular units with wattages ranging from 850W-1500W and lengths ranging from 150mm down to 125mm, close to the shortest high-end modular units on the market. All come with the Cybenetics Platinum rating, and will ship compatible with the new ATX 3.1 standard. You may like The Leadex VIII Platinums also utilize an interesting Super Flower quirk with the company’s 9-pin universal “super connectors.” Beyond a motherboard ATX header and one 12V-2×6 header, the remaining ten power connectors are Super Flower’s proprietary 9-pin universal connectors. The company has been using the unique design for years — even spreading it to some EVGA models in the Western market, but the connections still seem shockingly new. No release date was placed on the Leadex VIII Platinum PSUs. Rounding out the Leadex neck of the woods are the Leadex III Gold PSUs, a range of 80 Plus and Cybenetics Gold-certified units. Running from 750W to 1300W, the Leadex III Golds have mostly already hit the shelves, with the ATX 3.1-compatible models ready to ship by June. The Leadex III Gold Pro-A models, which can be seen in the above images, feature ARGB lights coming from the 9-pin headers. Image 1 of 3 (Image credit: Future) (Image credit: Future) (Image credit: Future) Super Flower’s new Combat badge, debuted in 2024, reaches down to include some more budget-minded models, but still has some pep in its step. The Combat II FP series is the newest wave from the company, with a 3000W crown. Yes, in addition to Super Flower’s 3300W monster that ranks as the largest PSU on the Computex floor, Super Flower announced the Combat II FP 3000W, a Cybenetics Platinum, ATX 3.1 and PCIe 5.1 ready beast. The oversized and overkill model can support multiple 12V-2×6 GPUs for server or enterprise loads and is expected to ship in Q2 2026, likely near the $1,000 mark. The Combat II FP line also includes ATX units from 850W-1200W, all Cybenetics Platinum rated. The FP line’s fluid dynamic bearing fans claim an A+ noise rating from Cybenetics, the second-highest score from the Cybenetics labs. Coming with ATX 3.1 certification, the Combat II FP line will begin mass production in September. Get Tom’s Hardware’s best news and in-depth reviews, straight to your inbox. Just below the FP power supplies is the Combat II FG, a Cybenetics Gold-rated line ranging from 750W to 1200W models. The same Lambda A+ noise rating applies to this line, as well as its ATX 3.1 readiness. The Gold series will begin mass production in November. Finally, the Combat badge has some new SFX options to bring to market. The Combat SFP 850W and 1000W will bring the Platinum rating to SFX, with the Combat SFG 750W and 850W models in the Gold category. Both beginning mass production in August, the SFX models are otherwise stat-matched to the larger Combat II ATX models. Image 1 of 2 (Image credit: Future) (Image credit: Future) Finally, Super Flower’s Zillion line is where the budget-minded PSUs come out. The Zillion line is still young, so offerings are light, but not to be ignored. The Zillion SFX Platinum is a Platinum-rated SFX power supply with ATX 3.1 readiness, arriving in 850W and 1000W flavors. With as much connectivity as can be crammed into the micro-sized form factor, the Zillion SFP models will be ready to ship in August, paving the way for the cheaper Combat SFX units. Super Flower also showed off the currently-available Zillion DB and FB series. The non-modular DB series is Cybenetics Silver certified, arriving in up to 850W models, and still carries ATX 3.1 readiness as a new model. With its capacitors made in Taiwan rather than Japan like the rest of the Super Flower family, the DB comes in as the cheapest option shown — though it’s not on shelves in the West. Image 1 of 3 (Image credit: Future) (Image credit: Future) (Image credit: Future) Super Flower’s Zillion line also displayed a new case option in the Zillion Direct: an all-mesh-panel mid-tower ATX case. The case uses a patented adjustable slope for directing airflow from the front fans to the GPU intake, seeking to prioritize airflow above all else. The case also includes a GPU support bracket and four ARGB fans to match the built-in ARGB lights. Front panel I/O includes two USB 3.1 connections and one USB-C port, as well as power and reset buttons. The Direct is a nice take on the mesh-forward case design trends of 2025, and is currently available on Newegg for $129.99. The Super Flower booth was a veritable tour de force for the OEM, which has so far failed to break into the U.S. market in a major way since its entry in 2020. With not one but two of the show’s 3000+ watt PSUs, a smattering of SFX units, and several of the 50 Cybenetics Titanium-rated PSUs to exist, Super Flower made a convincing argument at Computex this year. Be sure to click here for more of our exclusive coverage straight from the Computex 2025 show floor. Follow Tom’s Hardware on Google News to get our up-to-date news, analysis, and reviews in your feeds. Make sure to click the Follow button. Source link #Super #Flower #shows #3000W #PSUs #Computex Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

Founders of Amazon’s PillPack launch health-care marketplace startup Founders of Amazon’s PillPack launch health-care marketplace startup General Medicine founders TJ Parker, Ashwin Muralidharan and Elliot Cohen. General Medicine After selling online pharmacy PillPack to Amazon seven years ago, the founding team is launching a new company that aims to make the experience of getting medical care “as easy as shopping online.” PillPack founders TJ Parker and Elliot Cohen on Thursday launched a new venture called General Medicine. Parker and Cohen are joined by Ashwin Muralidharan, who most recently served as the technical adviser, or “shadow,” to Amazon’s top health executive Neil Lindsay. General Medicine is an online health-care marketplace, where users can get connected with a provider based on specific medical needs or chat with someone about their symptoms. The platform can be used for a range of health needs, such as securing prescriptions or locating a specialist. Users can pay with cash or insurance, with most major providers accepted, the company said. General Medicine relies on a mix of its own medical groups, networks of specialists and local providers, clinics and labs to provide care. Read more CNBC Amazon coverage Parker and Cohen left Amazon in 2022, four years after Amazon acquired PillPack for about $750 million. General Medicine was founded in 2023, and began serving patients earlier this year before launching broadly this month. The company says it hopes to address “the terrible experience of American healthcare and create access to excellent care.” It’s a similar goal held by Amazon, which has sought to disrupt health-care in the U.S. over the past several years by applying its “customer obsessed” mentality and rapid delivery capabilities. It’s had mixed success, sunsetting some offerings like a telehealth service and a fitness wearable. The company operates Amazon Pharmacy, which was born out of the PillPack acquisition. It also acquired primary care provider One Medical in 2022 for $3.9 billion, giving it both an online and brick-and-mortar health-care presence. WATCH: Amazon reportedly exploring foldable phone Source link #Founders #Amazons #PillPack #launch #healthcare #marketplace #startup Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

Yakuza 0 Director’s Cut Switch 2 Hands-On Preview – Portable Mayhem | MP1st Yakuza 0 Director’s Cut Switch 2 Hands-On Preview – Portable Mayhem | MP1st ***** has officially announced strong support for the upcoming Nintendo Switch 2, unveiling five exciting games set to release alongside the highly anticipated console. Fans can look forward to a diverse lineup featuring RAIDOU Remastered: The Mystery of the Soulless Army, Yakuza 0: Director’s Cut, Puyo PuyoTetris® 2S, SONIC X SHADOW GENERATIONS, and Two Point Museum. Source link #Yakuza #Directors #Cut #Switch #HandsOn #Preview #Portable #Mayhem #MP1st Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

Penguin **** helps keep Antarctica cool Penguin **** helps keep Antarctica cool Adelie penguins on sea ice off the Antarctic Peninsula Ashley Cooper pics/Alamy Fumes of ammonia rising from piles of droppings in Antarctica’s crowded penguin colonies help boost the formation of clouds, which have a cooling effect by reflecting sunlight away from the surface. “This demonstrates a deep connection between the ecosystem and atmospheric processes,” says Matthew Boyer at the University of Helsinki in Finland. The link comes down to the way ammonia affects the number of particles in the atmosphere. In order to form a cloud, water vapour must condense around a sizeable particle of some kind. But those are hard to come by in Antarctica’s cold, clean air. Without much dust, vegetation or air pollution around, most of the particles available for a would-be cloud are clusters of sulphuric acid molecules generated as a result of natural emissions from phytoplankton in waters around the continent. High concentrations of ammonia were already known to accelerate the formation of these clusters a thousand-fold. But where would ammonia come from in Antarctica? Penguin droppings should be a rich source. To check this, Boyer and his colleagues measured concentrations of ammonia, sulphuric acid and larger particles in the air several kilometres downwind of a 60,000-strong colony of Adélie penguins (Pygoscelis adeliae) on the Antarctic Peninsula. “They smell terrible,” says Boyer. “They’re dirty birds.” When wind was blowing from the direction of the colony, they found ammonia concentrations rose far above the levels found in air arriving from other directions. This rise in ammonia also boosted the formation of particles of sulphuric acid large enough for water to condense around them, and presumably to form clouds. This effect persisted for weeks after the penguins had moved on from the colony. More clouds, especially over the ocean, would have a cooling effect by reflecting sunlight away from Earth’s surface. Boyer says this also implies that a decline in penguin populations – for instance, due to sea ice loss driven by climate change – could have a warming effect across Antarctica by reducing cloud cover. However, the measurements taken in the current work aren’t enough to estimate the size of the effect. Other research suggests it could be significant. For instance, Jeffrey Pierce at Colorado State University and his colleagues found ammonia from puffin excretions in the Arctic similarly boosted cloud cover during summer. They estimated this resulted in a cooling effect that cancelled as much as a third of the warming due to carbon dioxide in the air across the region. “I’m sure it makes some impact,” says Pierce. Topics: Antarctica/ animal behaviour Source link #Penguin #**** #helps #Antarctica #cool Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

Why Baidu Is the Underrated AI Stock from the East Why Baidu Is the Underrated AI Stock from the East Since our last coverage of Baidu (NASDAQ:) in August 2024, the stock price level is now slightly higher, at $89.53 from $86.96 per share. However, within that *******, there have been multiple opportunities to lock in high profits. Just over a month later in early October, BIDU shares reached a $115 yearly top. This year, BIDU stock hovered two times, in February and mid-March, around $100 per share price level. As a repeat performer, the “Google of China” is clearly worth considering for Big Tech exposure from the East, one that is still much cheaper than the likes of Microsoft (NASDAQ:) and Alphabet (NASDAQ:). The latest Baidu earnings for Q1 2025 delivered on Wednesday showcase continued growth, as the company beat revenue estimates. Although there is more than earnings to consider when it comes to Baidu, let’s first see the quarterly financial performance. AI Cloud Boost Headed by ERNIE At reported 32.45 RMB ($4.47B), Baidu beat FactSet’s expected revenue of 32.45 billion yuan. Year-over-year, this is 3% revenue improvement. The company’s net income to Baidu Core grew by 48% in that ******* to $1 billion. However, when excluding non-recurring items, as a non-GAAP measure, Baidu’s net income is $872 million, down 4% year-over-year. Similar to Alphabet, Baidu Core consists of AI Cloud, Mobile Ecosystem and Intelligent Driving & Other Growth Initiatives (iQIYI). Ad revenue is still the company’s largest revenue source, down 6% to 16 billion yuan ($2.21B) year-over-year. Baidu’s AI Cloud showed the largest growth, at 42% yoy. Like Google and Amazon (NASDAQ:), Baidu offers full-stack service for enterprises. Covering both front-end and back-end aspects of AI deployment, otherwise known as full-stack, Baidu designs its own Kunlun AI chips, as well as having the PaddlePaddle deep learning framework. On top of those full-stack layers, Baidu offers ERNIE foundation large language models (LLMs). The latest iteration, ERNIE X1 Turbo, matches the performance of ******** rival DeepSeek R1, as well as OpenAI’s o1. According to various news reports, ERNIE 4.5 Turbo is 2x faster than its predecessor with just 20% of the cost. In turn, this model is just 0.2% – 1% of ChatGPT 4.5’s cost, having cut prices by 80% for the Turbo model in April. Suffice to say, this creates an enormous cost-efficiency advantage for China’s businesses. As a multi-modal LLM, ERNIE is suited for a wide range of uses: image and audio analysis, document summary, image generation, textual and mathematical reasoning. Following China’s price-slashing strategy in other endeavors, from EVs to Temu’s cheap product deliveries, it is clear that Baidu aims to become the go-to place for AI app deployment. AI as a Part of China’s Overall Strategy As the recent investment spree in Saudi Arabia showcased, yet again, state-run capitalism is the name of the game in the form of public-private partnerships (PPPs). China’s version of state-run capitalism is arguably more efficient, lacking the veneer of political parties and the strife that comes along with racial heterogeneity. Even the former PM and leader of the Liberal Party of Canada, Justin Trudeau, praised China for its “basic dictatorship” as it allows the nation to “turn their economy around on a dime”. It is in this light in which Baidu should be viewed. Simply put, Baidu is one of China’s pillars (joining Alibaba (NYSE:) and Tencent) to evolve its large economic system based on manufacturing, cloud computing, automation and AI. To this end, Baidu complements its AI efforts with autonomous driving. The robotaxi business, Apollo Go, is already ahead of competitors as it starts offering services in Abu Dhabi and Dubai, the new hub for trade, innovation, finance and logistics with near-zero taxation. Based in Fort Myers, Florida, the Edison Awards granted Apollo Go a Gold reward in the Driverless Vehicles category for 2025. As of March 2025, Baidu reported a yearly increase of 7% for monthly active users (MAUs), at 724 million. It is likely that Hong Kong, another financial hub, will be next in Apollo Go’s robotaxi expansion, which would secure its first mover advantage. BIDU Price Targets The bottom line is, investors should view Baidu as China’s tech extension. This is similar to how USG relies on Amazon, Microsoft, Meta (NASDAQ:) and Alphabet to extend its global influence for economical and geopolitical gains. And why the heads of these companies are regularly meeting with the US President, whoever that may be. Baidu is within the Eastern version of such a Big Tech cluster. In our previous coverage of Huawei in its effort to scale up AI chip production against US export control, we concluded that US-imposed restrictions have a short time limit. The same applies for Baidu. For value investors looking for long term gains, this means that BIDU exposure is preferable at any price dip point. According to WSJ’s forecasting data, the average BIDU price target, available as American depositary shares (ADS), is $109.66 vs the current price of $89.53 per share. The bottom estimate is $76 while the top price target for BIDU stock is $161 per share. Overwhelming majority of analysts, 25, suggest buying at this price point. 14 analysts suggest holding while only 1 recommends selling. *** Neither the author, Tim Fries, nor this website, The Tokenist, provide financial advice. Please consult our website policy prior to making financial decisions. This article was originally published on The Tokenist. Check out The Tokenist’s free newsletter, Five Minute Finance, for weekly analysis of the biggest trends in finance and technology. Source link #Baidu #Underrated #Stock #East Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content] For verified travel tips and real support, visit: [Hidden Content]

Preorder Studio Ghibli’s Grave Of The Fireflies Steelbook Edition For Only $22 Preorder Studio Ghibli’s Grave Of The Fireflies Steelbook Edition For Only $22 A classic Studio Ghibli movie will be back in print this summer. Shout Factory is releasing a Limited Edition Steelbook Blu-ray of Grave of the Fireflies on July 8. Unlike many Ghibli movies, the 1989 film directed by Isao Takahata isn’t exactly suitable for the whole family. Rated PG-13 due to blood and gore, this dark journey is set during the final days of World War II in Japan. Grave of the Fireflies Limited Edition Steelbook is up for preorder for a nice discount at Walmart and Amazon. Alternatively, you can preorder the standard edition Blu-ray for only $18. $22 (was $27) | Releases July 8 Grave of the Fireflies Limited Edition Steelbook comes with 1080p Blu-ray and DVD versions of the film. For the extras, there’s a deep dive into its storyboards, several deleted scenes that were only produced as storyboards, image galleries, a collection of trailers, an interview with director Isao Takahata, and an interview with the late film critic Roger Ebert. Amazon was originally charging the full $27 MSRP, but now the price has dropped to match Walmart’s $22 deal. If you order now from either retailer, you’ll automatically get any additional discounts offered until your preorder ships. $18 (was $25) Grave of the Fireflies is also receiving a new standard edition Blu-ray with a plastic case and cardboard sleeve. For the first few weeks after preorders opened, the Limited Edition Steelbook was actually cheaper than the standard edition, but now there’s a 25% discount at Amazon and Walmart that drops the price to $18 (was $25). While films produced by Studio Ghibli regularly focus on fantasy and contain environmentalism themes, Grave of the Fireflies is one of the rare exceptions here as it is based on the personal accounts of World War II survivor Akiyuka Nosaka. Grave of the Fireflies centers around 14-year-old Seita and and his four-year-old sister Setsuko, war orphans struggling to survive in the Japanese countryside food shortages, abusive relatives, and bombing raids by the Allied forces. The film pulls no punches with its subject matter, but it’s still an all-time animated classic with a strong message at its core and fleeting moments of happiness during this bleak story. Just be prepared for an emotional rollercoaster with this movie. Grave of the Fireflies’ case design looks more like last year’s The Boy and the Heron Steelbook release than the earlier releases in the Studio Ghibli Steelbook series. Grave of the Fireflies previously released on Blu-ray in 2012 and has received a steelbook release with the old, singular background color aesthetic. Prior Blu-ray releases of the film have been out of print for years, though. Studio Ghibli Steelbook Blu-rays For a more whimsical, lighter adventure, you might want to look at Studio Ghibli’s other movies, especially the ones directed by Hayao Miyazaki. You can’t go wrong with greatest hits like Spirited Away or Princess Mononoke–which are beautifully animated and have timeless stories to tell–while other movies like Howl’s Moving Castle and Kiki’s Delivery Service are also fan favorites. If you’re a fan of releases, we’ve gathered all the Studio Ghibli movies below that come inside of this sturdy protective cover. These all feature a uniform style across them–Grave of the Fireflies with this particular style has been sold out forever–and they’re all in a standard Blu-ray format, save for The Boy and the Heron, which includes 4K and standard Blu-ray discs. Spirited Away and Kiki’s Delivery Service Film Comics – All-in-One Editions For fans of Studio Ghibli’s signature art style, you might also want to grab the new All-in-One Edition hardcover omnibuses published by Viz Media. These are essentially a collection of screenshots taken from each movie and used to retell those stories in print, allowing you to really admire the art of each film. Spirited Away, My Neighbor Totoro, and Kiki’s Delivery Service are available now, and Ponyo is up for preorder. Each book is a chunky, surprisingly affordable hardcover filled with gorgeous full-color art. Other new and upcoming books based on Ghibli films include The Art of the Boy and the Heron, which releases on May 27, and My Neighbor Totoro: The Official Cookbook, which released earlier this month. Howl’s Moving Castle fans should also check out the upcoming Deluxe Limited Edition of Diana Wynne Jones’ novel, which served as the basis for the Miyazaki-directed film adaptation. Source link #Preorder #Studio #Ghiblis #Grave #Fireflies #Steelbook #Edition Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content] For verified travel tips and real support, visit: [Hidden Content]

Special contact lenses let you see infrared light – even in the dark Special contact lenses let you see infrared light – even in the dark New contact lenses can provide infrared vision olga Yastremska/Alamy Contact lenses have enabled people to see beyond the visible light range, picking up flickers of infrared light even in the dark – or with their eyes closed. The lenses contain engineered nanoparticles that absorb and convert infrared radiation – specifically, a near-infrared wavelength range of 800 to 1600 nanometres – into blue, green and red light visible to the human eye. That is the same trick night-vision devices use to help people see in the dark, but the contact lenses weigh much less and require no additional power. “The contact lenses would provide military personnel with discreet, hands-free night-vision capabilities that overcome the limitations of bulky night-vision [goggles or scopes],” says Peter Rentzepis at Texas A&M University, who has done related research applying the same nanoparticles – sodium gadolinium fluoride, ytterbium and erbium – to eyeglass lenses. The new wearables, developed by Yuqian Ma at the University of Science and Technology of China and his colleagues, don’t provide detailed night vision yet. That is because they can pick up only “high-intensity, narrowband LED” light sources, says Rentzepis, rather than lower levels of infrared light from ambient sources. “It’s an audacious paper but, using just the contact lens, you wouldn’t be able to read a book in the infrared, or navigate down a dark road,” says Mikhail Kats at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, who was not involved in the research. Instead, in tests on humans and mice, the contacts converted a normally invisible flash of infrared light into what Kats says should be a “big colourful blob of visible light”. Those blobs had uses, however. For example, Ma and his colleagues varied the frequency, number and colour of different light flashes to encode and transmit letters of the alphabet. This follows a previous study in which the researchers injected nanoparticles directly into the eyes of mice to provide infrared vision. The wearable contacts represent a “safer and more practical approach for human applications”, says Rentzepis. But they still come with potential health and safety risks, he notes, such as heat exposure from the light-conversion process and possible nanoparticle leakage into eye tissue. Topics: Source link #Special #contact #lenses #infrared #light #dark Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

US judge blocks Trump's plan to dismantle Education Department – Reuters US judge blocks Trump's plan to dismantle Education Department – Reuters US judge blocks Trump’s plan to dismantle Education Department ReutersJudge Blocks Trump Administration From Dismantling Education Department The New York TimesJudge Halts Trump’s Move to Dismantle Education Department WSJLive updates: Judge blocks Trump’s executive order to shut down the Education Department AP NewsEducation Department must reinstate nearly 1,400 fired workers The Washington Post Source link #judge #blocks #Trump039s #plan #dismantle #Education #Department #Reuters Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

Founders of Amazon’s PillPack launch health-care marketplace startup Founders of Amazon’s PillPack launch health-care marketplace startup General Medicine founders TJ Parker, Ashwin Muralidharan and Elliot Cohen. General Medicine After selling online pharmacy PillPack to Amazon seven years ago, the founding team is launching a new company that aims to make the experience of getting medical care “as easy as shopping online.” PillPack founders TJ Parker and Elliot Cohen on Thursday launched a new venture called General Medicine. Parker and Cohen are joined by Ashwin Muralidharan, who most recently served as the technical adviser, or “shadow,” to Amazon’s top health executive Neil Lindsay. General Medicine is an online health-care marketplace, where users can get connected with a provider based on specific medical needs or chat with someone about their symptoms. The platform can be used for a range of health needs, such as securing prescriptions or locating a specialist. Users can pay with cash or insurance, with most major providers accepted, the company said. General Medicine relies on a mix of its own medical groups, networks of specialists and local providers, clinics and labs to provide care. Read more CNBC Amazon coverage Parker and Cohen left Amazon in 2022, four years after Amazon acquired PillPack for about $750 million. General Medicine was founded in 2023, and began serving patients earlier this year before launching broadly this month. The company says it hopes to address “the terrible experience of American healthcare and create access to excellent care.” It’s a similar goal held by Amazon, which has sought to disrupt health-care in the U.S. over the past several years by applying its “customer obsessed” mentality and rapid delivery capabilities. It’s had mixed success, sunsetting some offerings like a telehealth service and a fitness wearable. The company operates Amazon Pharmacy, which was born out of the PillPack acquisition. It also acquired primary care provider One Medical in 2022 for $3.9 billion, giving it both an online and brick-and-mortar health-care presence. WATCH: Amazon reportedly exploring foldable phone Source link #Founders #Amazons #PillPack #launch #healthcare #marketplace #startup Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

Battlefield 6 Feature Sparks Massive Outrage Battlefield 6 Feature Sparks Massive Outrage The last couple of years have been quite rough for the Battlefield franchise. The last entry, Battlefield 2042, was an absolute nightmare at launch and still hasn’t recovered to date. Considering the franchise’s absolutely horrendous state right now, it’s not a surprise that EA is going all out with the upcoming Battlefield 6. Battlefield 6 is supposed to be a return to form. It’s being built by the best studios under EA’s wing and set to feature everything that has made the franchise so beloved, such as destructible environments, a modern-day setting, and whatnot. However, even before its release, the game has already divided fans due to changes within the class system. Battlefield 6 is making the same mistake as 2042 One of the biggest gripes the player base had with Battlefield 2042 was that it replaced the classic four-role class system with a hero-shooter-style Specialist system. Although EA reworked the entire thing by putting Specialists into traditional roles, players still had the freedom to choose whatever weapons they liked. In previous entries, some weapons were locked to each role. The community didn’t appreciate this unrestricted weapon choice, as they felt it ruined the core identity of the Battlefield franchise. With Battlefield 6, they had hoped that EA would return to the franchise’s roots and keep everything as it was back in the day. Unfortunately, that’s not the case, as “they insist on going down the cursed route of 2042”. In a recent blog post, DICE shared details about the class system for Battlefield 6. It’s been confirmed that, just like in 2042, all characters and classes in the upcoming title will have access to every weapon. This means that sniper rifles won’t be limited to Recon. Although there will be benefits to carrying weapons that a class specializes in, fans are frustrated with the system. Comment byu/Confident_Leader1596 from discussion inBattlefield Comment byu/Confident_Leader1596 from discussion inBattlefield Comment byu/Confident_Leader1596 from discussion inBattlefield Comment byu/Confident_Leader1596 from discussion inBattlefield Many fans believe restricting weapons to classes would bring gameplay balance and a better experience. However, they fear that EA and DICE have gone for this particular system because of monetization. If they had locked weapons behind classes, it would have reduced the appeal of operator skin and impacted sales. Battlefield 6 needs to expand this one feature from 2042 It’s a shame that the dynamic weather system didn’t live up to expectations in 2042. (Image via EA) It’s clear that 2042 was a disaster for the franchise in every aspect. However, there’s one interesting thing that the title brings to the table: a dynamic weather system. It had a huge impact on the overall marketing for the title, with trailers showcasing huge tornadoes sweeping through the streets. Many fans assumed that extreme weather effects would be crucial to the 2042 experience. However, that wasn’t the case, as all the tornadoes seen in the trailers didn’t really have a huge impact and were a simple hindrance in accessing certain parts of the map. They didn’t even affect the air vehicles or generate those “Battlefield Moments” that the franchise is all about. If EA is really looking to redeem itself, it must bring back 2042‘s dynamic weather and make it a groundbreaking feature in the upcoming Battlefield 6. We could see a number of different types of effects on the map, such as blizzards, sandstorms, and rain. They need to affect the gameplay and force players to rethink their strategies. With that said, do you think weapons should be locked to specific classes in Battlefield 6? Let us know in the comments below. Source link #Battlefield #Feature #Sparks #Massive #Outrage Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

PlayStation Event Coming For June, Could Be A State Of Play – Report PlayStation Event Coming For June, Could Be A State Of Play – Report E3 may be dead and gone, but the summer is still full of gaming shows, and it appears Sony might have one on tap. Jeff Grubb of Giant Bomb reported today that there may be an unspecified “PlayStation event” in June. Grubb said he’s making an “informed guess,” adding that he hasn’t heard specific dates or details yet. “Not sure if it’s a State of Play or a big boy Showcase,” he said, referencing Sony’s two main types of PlayStation shows. You need a javascript enabled browser to watch videos. Size:640 × 360480 × 270 Want us to remember this setting for all your devices? Sign up or Sign in now! Please use a html5 video capable browser to watch videos. This video has an invalid file format. Sorry, but you can’t access this content! Please enter your date of birth to view this video JanuaryFebruaryMarchAprilMayJuneJulyAugustSeptemberOctoberNovemberDecember12345678910111213141516171819202122232425262728293031Year202520242023202220212020201920182017201620152014201320122011201020092008200720062005200420032002200120001999199819971996199519941993199219911990198919881987198619851984198319821981198019791978197719761975197419731972197119701969196819671966196519641963196219611960195919581957195619551954195319521951195019491948194719461945194419431942194119401939193819371936193519341933193219311930192919281927192619251924192319221921192019191918191719161915191419131912191119101909190819071906190519041903190219011900 By clicking ‘enter’, you agree to GameSpot’s Terms of Use and Privacy Policy enter Now Playing: DEATH STRANDING 2: ON THE BEACH – State of Play Announce Trailer The latest State of Play took place in April, focused on Borderlands 4. Before that, there was a 45-minute State of Play event in February featuring the debut of Ghost of Yotei. There was no State of Play or Showcase event in June 2024, but Sony did hold a State of Play in May 2024 that showed off the ill-fated live-service game Concord and God of War Ragnarok for PC. While Sony’s plans for a summer showcase remain unknown, we do know that there will be more than a dozen summertime gaming events, including the recent Warhammer Skulls showcase. For more, check out GameSpot’s full summer game conference schedule rundown to find out what’s happening when. The next big PlayStation exclusive is Death Stranding 2: On the Beach, which releases in late June. After that comes Ghost of Yotei in October. Source link #PlayStation #Event #Coming #June #State #Play #Report Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]