Pelican Press

US PGA Championship first round: Rory McIlroy struggles and Luke Donald starts well as Ryan Gerard leads on day one US PGA Championship first round: Rory McIlroy struggles and Luke Donald starts well as Ryan Gerard leads on day one There had been heavy rainfall in the days leading up to the tournament but, in drier conditions on Thursday morning in North Carolina, Donald was one of several surprising names to be found near the top of the leaderboard. The 47-year-old, who hit the first shot of the tournament at 07:00 local time, had told BBC golf correspondent Iain Carter before the event that success would simply be making the weekend. Birdies on the fourth, eighth, 10th and 14th holes made light of his pre-tournament expectations. Donald, whose best US PGA finish was a tie for third spot in 2006, said afterwards: “I’m here only because I’m captain of the European Ryder Cup Team. I wouldn’t be in this field otherwise. “Bogey-free in a major championship on a course that you wouldn’t have thought would be ideal for me is always fun.” New Zealand’s Ryan Fox, who only secured his place by winning the Myrtle Beach Classic on Sunday, finished alongside Donald on four under. Also posting a first-round 67 was American Alex Smalley, who was a late addition to the field after world number 31 Sahith Theegala pulled out because of injury on the eve of the tournament. Elsewhere, England’s Tommy Fleetwood was unable to capitalise on a fast start but ended one under, as did Spaniard Jon Rahm. Source link #PGA #Championship #Rory #McIlroy #struggles #Luke #Donald #starts #Ryan #Gerard #leads #day Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content] For verified travel tips and real support, visit: [Hidden Content]

Wine legend James Halliday auctions off cellar including legendary Margaret River vintages Wine legend James Halliday auctions off cellar including legendary Margaret River vintages One of the country’s most renowned wine critics is gearing up to auction off a prime selection of some of the best Margaret River wines ever to be released. Source link #Wine #legend #James #Halliday #auctions #cellar #including #legendary #Margaret #River #vintages Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

PuzzleCar Review | TheXboxHub PuzzleCar Review | TheXboxHub Neil writes: Don’t let that very cheap price point of PuzzleCar put you off; you’ll become addicted to the easy-to-handle gameplay and fun levels. Source link #PuzzleCar #Review #TheXboxHub Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

Five Palestinians killed in Israeli military operation in West Bank Five Palestinians killed in Israeli military operation in West Bank The Israeli military said five Palestinians were killed during an army operation early Thursday in the northern part of the occupied West Bank. The military said its forces located several armed men inside a building in the town of Tamun, leading to an exchange of fire. The ************ Ministry of Health in Ramallah confirmed the death toll. According to the Israeli military, the men were affiliated with terrorist groups operating in Tamun and the nearby city of Tubas. Soldiers discovered multiple weapons during a search of the building, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said, adding that one ************ was also taken into custody during the raid. Tensions in the West Bank have intensified since the October 7, 2023, ******-led attack on Israel and the subsequent war in Gaza. Since then, 921 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli operations, armed clashes or attacks by extremists, according to the ************ Ministry of Health. The ******* has also seen a surge in violence by radical Israeli settlers targeting ************ civilians. Palestinians inspect the rubble of a building demolished by Israeli troops in Tamoun, near the West Bank city of Tubas. Ayman Nobani/dpa Source link #Palestinians #killed #Israeli #military #operation #West #Bank Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

Pokemon Fossils, Along With Real Dinosaurs, Are Coming To America Next Year Pokemon Fossils, Along With Real Dinosaurs, Are Coming To America Next Year Pokemon biology has been one of the great pseudosciences, with some fan books going into great detail on the ins and outs of some of your favorite Pokemon. Japan and Nintendo, however, have actually taken this a step further and created the Pokemon Fossil Exhibit. The exhibit featured sculpted Pokemon “skeletons” displayed alongside real dinosaur fossils, and has been traveling across Japan since its creation. The Pokemon Company has confirmed the exhibit is coming to North America in May 2026. The exhibit is heading to Chicago’s Field Museum on May 22, 2026. It’ll be the first time the exhibition will be seen outside of Japan. It is currently at Fukui Prefectural Dinosaur Museum in Katsuyama, Fukui. Its next stop will be the Benex Dinosaur Museum in Nagasaki. Kabuto and Kabutops “During your visit, you’ll see vibrant Pokemon models side by side with extinct lifeforms from the Field Museum’s collection–including scientific casts of Field Museum dinosaurs like Sue the T. Rex and the Chicago Archaeopteryx next to Fossil Pokemon like Tyrantrum and Archeops,” the museum said in a statement. “How many differences (and similarities) will you spot, Trainers?” While Japan might be out of some people’s travel budget and the exhibit’s arrival in Chicago is still a year away, fans can “walk through” the exhibit right now. The Pokémon Company and Toyohashi Museum of Natural History have made it possible to take a virtual tour around the exhibit to see the collection. Source link #Pokemon #Fossils #Real #Dinosaurs #Coming #America #Year Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content] For verified travel tips and real support, visit: [Hidden Content]

Dan Sundheim’s D1 Capital dumps Meta and Spotify in Q1 Dan Sundheim’s D1 Capital dumps Meta and Spotify in Q1 Dan Sundheim’s D1 Capital dumped its shares of some heavyweight tech and media giants during the first quarter, but picked up new positions in a few food and financial stocks, according to a newly released regulatory filing. The hedge fund—which was worth $6.5 billion at the end of the first quarter—sold more than $147 million worth of Meta Platforms shares and nearly $146 million worth of Spotify shares during the *******, entirely dissolving its stake in both companies. D1 also sold all of its shares in MongoDB , Delta Air Lines , and entertainment companies Warner Music Group and Live Nation , as well as alcoholic beverages company Constellation Brands , 3M and data center power play Vistra . To be sure, D1 exited these positions, but the firm is still a fan of tech as the hedge fund increased its positions in Amazon , AppLovin and semiconductor supplier Applied Materials during the first quarter. D1’s top holdings at the end of March included Instacart , Entegris and Charles Schwab . The firm owned $899.6 million worth of Instacart shares, a holding which did not change during the latest quarterly *******. Sundheim has been on the grocery delivery company’s board of directors since 2020 . Financials were a favored spot for D1 during the first quarter. Sundheim’s new positions in Charles Schwab and Bank of America were worth nearly $341 million and roughly $304 million, respectively. Sundheim also added fresh positions in Apollo Global Management and fintech Affirm Holdings . Reddit and beverage and food plays Primo Brands and U.S. Foods Holding Corp. were also new stakes for D1. Meanwhile, the hedge fund cut its holdings in Bath and Body Works and Elevance Health by more than 20% each. The firm also slashed its stakes in both Philip Morris and GE HealthCare Technologies . It also dissolved nearly all of its shares of eyeglasses retailer Warby Parker and Burger King owner Restaurant Brands. Sundheim, who previously worked at Viking Global Investors, started D1 in 2017. Source link #Dan #Sundheims #Capital #dumps #Meta #Spotify Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

FAA has used eBay, 3D printers to replace parts for aging systems, transportation secretary says FAA has used eBay, 3D printers to replace parts for aging systems, transportation secretary says The Federal Aviation Administration has resorted to buying replacement parts on eBay and making new parts with 3D printers, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy told lawmakers Thursday — as the air safety system draws scrutiny for decades-old technology and persistent staffing problems. “We do try to buy replacement parts on eBay for this really old equipment,” Duffy told members of a Senate Appropriations subcommittee Thursday. “Sometimes, we can’t even buy it on eBay, so we’re trying to use 3D printing to craft replacement parts for the system that we use.” Duffy made similar comments on “Meet The Press” last weekend, saying the FAA has turned to eBay because “we can’t buy parts for new” for some of the agency’s aging systems. Duffy appeared at the Senate hearing as the Trump administration pushes for a sweeping overhaul of the country’s air traffic control system over the next three years, calling for the replacement of hundreds of radars, over a dozen new control towers and a new telecommunications system. The plan could cost “lots of billions,” Duffy said last week, likely requiring Congress to appropriate additional funds for the FAA. Air safety has entered the ***** after a series of jarring incidents. Dozens of people were killed in a January collision between a commercial jet and a military helicopter near Reagan Washington National Airport. And in recent weeks, the FAA facility that handles the airspace near Newark Liberty International Airport has been plagued by staffing shortages and equipment outages, leading to severe delays at the busy airport. “We are facing a crisis,” said Sen. Susan Collins, a Maine Republican who chairs the appropriations panel. Duffy told lawmakers Thursday air travel in the U.S. is still safe, citing “multiple redundancies” — but he acknowledged the air traffic control system needs an overhaul. “The system we currently use, it truly is 25, 35, 40 years old in some places. We should’ve paid way more attention to it as a country,” Duffy said Thursday. “We’ve let it age, and now we’re seeing the cracks of that age play out in real time for us.” Duffy also pushed back on criticism that job cuts at the FAA could end up impacting safety. The agency laid off several hundred probationary staff earlier this year, amid a wider effort by the Trump administration to shrink the federal workforce. A union representing some FAA workers told the Associated Press in February the cuts affected mechanics and other specialists who help support the work of air traffic controllers and safety inspectors. “You can have all your air traffic controllers there, but if they don’t have the support staff, we can’t know that they’re doing the job,” said Sen. Patty Murray, a Washington Democrat. Murray also cited reports that air traffic controllers were mistakenly sent an email earlier this year offering them buyouts to leave their jobs, which she said was “really callous.” Duffy said the agency has not cut any air traffic controllers, and the layoffs and voluntary buyouts that hit the federal workforce earlier this year excluded safety positions. “We’ve been hiring air traffic controllers as quickly as we can,” Duffy told lawmakers. Joe Walsh Joe Walsh is a senior editor for digital politics at CBS News. Joe previously covered breaking news for Forbes and local news in Boston. Kathryn Krupnik contributed to this report. Source link #FAA #eBay #printers #replace #parts #aging #systems #transportation #secretary Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content] For verified travel tips and real support, visit: [Hidden Content]

Review – Doom: The Dark Ages (PC) | WayTooManyGames Review – Doom: The Dark Ages (PC) | WayTooManyGames WTMG’s Leo Faria: “If it wasn’t for the excessive emphasis on a story I simply couldn’t care about, Doom: The Dark Ages would have easily, without a shadow of a Cacodemon-shredding doubt, been my favorite title in the modern Doom games. It perfected combat and exploration in ways I never thought would ever be able. By ditching platforming puzzles in favor of just letting you rip like a madman onto dozens of demons at a time, iD Software managed to create something truly spectacular. I won’t even say there’s no way they can follow up and improve upon this masterpiece, as I’ve been proven wrong already. Twice, in fact. I’ll just be enjoying myself up until that day arrives, as I won’t stop playing this wholesome ****** ******* simulator in the foreseeable future.” Source link #Review #Doom #Dark #Ages #WayTooManyGames Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

Trump’s gift full of ‘political espionage, says GOP senator Trump’s gift full of ‘political espionage, says GOP senator US Senator Susan Collins, Republican from Maine, questions Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr., during a Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions hearing on the President’s proposed budget request for fiscal year 2026 for the Department of Health and Human Services, on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, May 14, 2025. Jim Watson | Afp | Getty Images Sen. Susan Collins of Maine on Thursday captured the growing sense of frustration among Republicans in Congress over President Donald Trump’s plan to accept a $400 million jet from the royal family of Qatar to be converted into Air Force One. “The transaction strikes me as being rife with political espionage, ethical and constitutional problems,” Collins said In an interview with NBC News. “The plane would have to be thoroughly scrubbed to ensure that listening devices had not been implanted. That would take a great deal of time, to make sure that it meets the security standards that the president needs,” she added. “Ultimately, I don’t understand why we would pursue this for the new aircraft that the president needs.” Collins said that while she understands Trump’s “frustration” with Boeing taking a long time to produce a new presidential plane, she does not think a gift jet is the right solution. When asked if Congress should vote on the legality of the gift, Collins said she has not heard of any plans to do so. FILE – A Boeing 747 with the color scheme of planes used by the Qatari royal family is seen Friday, May 2, 2025 at San Antonio International Airport in San Antonio, Texas. Brandon Lingle | The San Antonio Express-News | AP Trump’s decision to accept the gift has sparked fierce controversy over the legality, ethics and national security implications of what would be the largest foreign gift ever received by the U.S. government. Trump has said the plane will be formally given to the U.S. Department of Defense, and then transferred to his presidential library foundation at the end of his second term. This way, the palatial jet is never owned personally by Trump. On Tuesday, Senate ********* Leader Chuck Schumer announced that he is putting a hold on Trump’s nominees to the Department of Justice to protest the jet gift, calling it a “grave national security threat.” Earlier this week, Republican Sen. Ron Johnson, Wisc., called the gift “a very odd offer.” Another Republican, Sen. Rand Paul, Ky., said on Fox News that he hopes the president will reject it. Collins also questioned the timeline and necessity of Trump getting a new Air Force One which may not even be finished its retrofitting into a presidential plane by the time his term ends. “This is complicated,” she added. Source link #Trumps #gift #full #political #espionage #GOP #senator Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content] For verified travel tips and real support, visit: [Hidden Content]

New N.I.H. Policy Threatens Global Science Collaborations New N.I.H. Policy Threatens Global Science Collaborations One of the studies threatened by a new administration policy regarding international research is focused on prolonging the lives of women with the most common kind of breast *******. Up to one in five women with estrogen-fueled breast ******* experiences a life-threatening recurrence after being in remission for 10 years or even longer. If those women could be identified in advance, doctors can treat them before the ******* comes back. The medicines already exist. But the research project, conducted with scientists in Denmark, may well be shut down. The National Institutes of Health said earlier this month that it will stop awarding grants to scientists if the projects include making a payment, called a sub-award, to a foreign collaborator. The policy jeopardizes thousands of active international research projects that rely on partnerships with scientists and universities in other countries. Federal health officials said they had made the change because inconsistencies across internal systems and databases make it difficult to accurately track the sub-award payments, a problem documented in several reports by the Government Accountability Office. “This lack of visibility is unacceptable and is exactly why radical change is needed,” an N.I.H. official said in an email, even though stricter monitoring requirements were put in place in 2023, after a critical G.A.O. report. The breast ******* research cannot be done without European partners. The work relies on detailed ******* registries that have tracked patients for decades and samples from tumors that have been preserved in wax — resources that the United States does not have, and Denmark does. “At the time we got the grant to do this, we looked throughout the United States to see if there is a similar resource, and there is not,” said Timothy Lash, professor of epidemiology at Emory University’s Rollins School of Public Health, who specializes in ******* prevention and predictors of recurrence. Currently, foreign sub-awards are “nested” within the grant of the U.S.-based grant recipients. The new N.I.H. policy would require international scientists who plan to work with American researchers to independently submit grant applications for review. If awarded a grant, the funds would flow directly from N.I.H., rather than from the U.S. grant recipient. The N.I.H. initially said it would not “retroactively revise ongoing awards to remove foreign sub-awards at this time.” Yet the new policy will affect ongoing grants, which are typically awarded for periods of five years, and come up for so-called noncompeting renewal every year. The new policy will be applied at the time of renewal, federal officials said, and so would threaten current research projects, such as the Denmark breast ******* study. Thousands of international research projects already underway could be affected by the new policy, from studies of infectious diseases like malaria and H.I.V. to research into chronic conditions common in the United States like *******, cardiovascular disease and dementia. Karestan Koenen, a professor of psychiatric epidemiology at Harvard and a member of the Broad Institute, a biomedical and genomic research center in Cambridge, Mass., receives N.I.H. funding to study the genetics of psychiatric conditions like schizophrenia and post-traumatic stress disorder But she has already informed colleagues at hospitals in Uganda and Kenya, who have been helping to collect DNA samples of people with post-traumatic stress disorder, that she can no longer work with them. She was fortunate, she said, because the researchers have been very efficient and had already gathered enough samples for analysis, so the entire project will not be in vain. Much of the genomic data so far has come from populations with European roots, she noted. “What we’ve realized is that if you develop tools based only on European ancestry, they don’t work well on African Americans or East Asians,” Dr. Koenen said. “So from a very practical point of view, we need to get more data from more populations.” Dr. Jeremy Schwartz, an associate professor at Yale, has been studying self-care relating to heart failure in Uganda. More than half his N.I.H. grant goes to sub-awards supporting his international collaborators. Heart failure strikes many Americans, but in sub-Saharan African, three in 10 people with the diagnosis die within a year. The study aims to improve the management of a heart failure, decrease hospitalizations and extend life. “Our collaborators learn a lot from us, but we learn a lot from them, too,” Dr. Schwartz said. “We think we can lift all boats at the same time.” The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill has 105 federally funded research projects that include foreign sub-awards, including 12 with active clinical trials, according to a university spokeswoman. Areas of focus include eating disorders, disease genetics, *******, infectious diseases and the improvement of prenatal care. Many of the projects benefit the state of North Carolina itself. A new technology that couples A.I. algorithms with a portable ultrasound device, thus reducing the need for trained staff to provide pregnancy ultrasounds, was originally developed for use in developing nations. But it can also be used in rural areas of the United States, including those in North Carolina, where one-fifth of the counties are so-called maternity-care deserts. Elizabeth Rogawski McQuade, an associate professor at Emory’s public health school, studies antibiotics used in the treatment of diarrheal disease caused by Shigella infection in children in developing countries like Tanzania. The idea is to better administer those antibiotics, and to combat the rise of drug-resistant strains of the bacteria. But Shigellosis is also a problem in the United States, and can threaten the lives of the elderly and the immunocompromised. “When drug resistance develops in Shigella, it can easily be transmitted to other bacteria,” Dr. McQuade said, adding that more than half the annual 450,000 Shigella cases in the United States are already drug-resistant. The N.I.H. policy says that foreign partners may be replaced with a domestic collaborators. If the project is no longer viable without the foreign sub-award, it may be terminated. These options mean that huge investments already made in ongoing research could go to waste. Some researchers have also questioned why the new restrictions were implemented before a replacement strategy was ready. Carmen Marsit, executive associate dean for research strategy at the Rollins School of Public Health at Emory, said that he understood why the government may want to implement the accounting change. But, he added, “it’s somewhat irresponsible not to have a system in place that you want to move to before you stop the system that does exist right now, and for the most part is working.” The breast ******* study, a collaboration with the Danish Breast ******* Cooperative Group, scientists from Aarhus University in Denmark and others, is one of about 35 scientific collaborations involving Rollins scientists that could be affected by the new policy, he said. While ******* survival rates have been improving, ******* is striking young and middle-aged adults more frequently than in the past, especially women. Every year, some 316,950 women in the United States are diagnosed with invasive breast *******, and more than 42,000 die as a result of it. For the investigators studying late recurrences of estrogen fueled breast *******, the Danish registry and repository of preserved tumors are invaluable. “You could start a new study now, but it would be extremely expensive and you would have to wait 20 years,” said Dr. Lash, one of the investigators involved with the Danish registry project. “We are going to have the answer three or four years from now, and it is much more cost-effective.” “I am confident the study’s results will be very important for U.S.-based ******* patients,” he added. Although the new policy suggests American grant recipients could simply remove the foreign collaborators, “in many cases I think that’s impossible,” Dr. Marsit said. “The projects were designed specifically to include the foreign sites,” he said. “They may be central to the scientific question you’re asking and the work that’s being done.” In 2017, President Trump sought to eliminate the N.I.H.’s Fogarty International Center in Bethesda, Md., which finances numerous international scientific ventures. A commentary published in The New England Journal of Medicine at the time characterized the center’s work as “a critical investment in the health of the American people as well as the global community.” It noted that scientists supported by the Fogarty had studied how to prevent strokes and how to treat multi-drug-resistant tuberculosis, and were identifying new ******* drugs “in waters off the Panama coast,” and new ways to lower “the number one killer of young American travelers, road traffic accidents.” Source link #N.I.H #Policy #Threatens #Global #Science #Collaborations Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content] For verified travel tips and real support, visit: [Hidden Content]

Marco Rubio Meets Syria’s Foreign Minister, in Another Sign of Warming Ties Marco Rubio Meets Syria’s Foreign Minister, in Another Sign of Warming Ties Secretary of State Marco Rubio met with Syria’s foreign minister on Thursday, the latest sign of growing U.S. support after President Trump announced this week that he was lifting U.S. sanctions on Syria. The meeting in Antalya, Turkey, came two days after Mr. Trump made the surprise sanctions announcement during a visit to Saudi Arabia, which could throw Syria a desperately needed economic lifeline after nearly 14 years of civil war and decades of dictatorship. The next day, Mr. Trump met Syria’s president, Ahmed al-Shara, a former rebel leader, for the first time. In their meeting on Thursday, Mr. Rubio and his Syrian counterpart, Asaad Hassan al-Shaibani, discussed a road map for lifting sanctions, according to statements from the Turkish and Syrian foreign ministries. The exact terms of the process and timeline remain unclear. Mr. Trump’s pledge to end the sanctions was widely seen as a major victory for Syria’s new authorities, led by Mr. al-Shara, who has sought to establish his government on the world stage after his rebel coalition ousted the dictator Bashar al-Assad in December. The timeline for removing sanctions and the mechanism by which they will be lifted remained unclear. While the president has the power to lift some restrictions, Congress would have to remove others, and experts warn that the process for doing so will take time. on Thursday, the Treasury Department announced on X that it was starting the process of lifting sanctions at Mr. Trump’s direction. “Treasury is working with our colleagues at the State Department and National Security Council to execute the president’s direction on Syria sanctions,” the statement said. “Treasury’s actions can help rebuild Syria’s economy, financial sector and infrastructure and could put the country on a path to a bright, prosperous and stable future.” In the meeting in Turkey, American officials emphasized the importance of establishing mutual trust between the United States and Syria. They also urged Syria’s new leadership to fight terrorism on Syrian soil, according to a statement from the Turkish foreign ministry. Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan of Turkey also attended the meeting, the ministry said, as did Senator Lindsey Graham, Republican of South Carolina. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey joined online. Mr. Trump’s pledge on Tuesday to lift sanctions kicked off a week of political victories for Mr. al-Shara, who has sought to remake his image from a jihadist to a moderate statesman since his rebel coalition seized power. Mr. al-Shara once led a branch of Al Qaeda before breaking ties with the jihadist group, and the United States designates the rebel organization he led, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, as a terrorist organization. Mr. Trump’s meeting with Mr. al-Shara in Saudi Arabia on Wednesday was the first time in 25 years that the two countries’ leaders had met. The meeting was a boost to Mr. al-Shara as he seeks international support for his government. In a televised address to Syria on Wednesday night, Mr. al-Shara described the decision to lift U.S. sanctions on Syria as a turning point for the country, adding that it “alleviates the suffering of the people, contributes to their rebirth and lays the foundations for stability in the region.” The United States first imposed sanctions on Syria in the 1970s, introducing more punishing restrictions on the Assad regime during Syria’s civil war. The sanctions were intended to put pressure on the dictatorship, but they remained entrenched for many years. Soon after rebels ousted the Assad government, some Western governments — including Britain and those in the European Union — eased their sanctions on Syria. But the Trump administration put forth certain conditions it wanted met before the sanctions were eased. Those included demands that Iran — a close ally of the Assad government — would not be welcome on Syrian territory, that Syria’s chemical weapons stores would be destroy and that foreign fighters who had fought alongside Mr. al-Shara’s rebel group would be excluded from government positions. In his meeting with Mr. al-Shara, Mr. Trump urged him to continue to work to meet many of those conditions. It remains unclear what conditions Mr. Trump will demand Syria meet to follow through on the pledge to lift sanctions. In recent years, U.S. sanctions have had a devastating effect on Syria’s economy. More than 90 percent of the population lives in poverty, according to the United Nations, and the value of the Syrian currency plummeted during the civil war. Reviving Syria’s economy is among the most pressing challenges for the new government, and the lifting of U.S. sanctions could unlock millions in financial support and aid. Saudi Arabia and Qatar have said they would jointly repay Syria’s $15 million debt to the World Bank and have suggested they could pay public sector salaries, but are wary of violating U.S. sanctions. Source link #Marco #Rubio #Meets #Syrias #Foreign #Minister #Sign #Warming #Ties Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

Nintendo Switch 2 To Sell 100M+ Units by 2029, Is The Most Important Console Launch Ever, Says DFC Nintendo Switch 2 To Sell 100M+ Units by 2029, Is The Most Important Console Launch Ever, Says DFC Love Eternal, a genre-warping horror precision platformer that smuggles surreal dread into its nostalgic packaging. Beneath its warm, retro aesthetic lies something darker, and it quickly became one of the most quietly unnerving and memorable games I experienced on the PAX East 2025 Show Floor. Source link #Nintendo #Switch #Sell #100M #Units #Important #Console #Launch #DFC Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

Trump’s gift full of ‘political espionage, says GOP senator Trump’s gift full of ‘political espionage, says GOP senator US Senator Susan Collins, Republican from Maine, questions Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr., during a Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions hearing on the President’s proposed budget request for fiscal year 2026 for the Department of Health and Human Services, on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, May 14, 2025. Jim Watson | Afp | Getty Images Sen. Susan Collins of Maine on Thursday captured the growing sense of frustration among Republicans in Congress over President Donald Trump’s plan to accept a $400 million jet from the royal family of Qatar to be converted into Air Force One. “The transaction strikes me as being rife with political espionage, ethical and constitutional problems,” Collins said In an interview with NBC News. “The plane would have to be thoroughly scrubbed to ensure that listening devices had not been implanted. That would take a great deal of time, to make sure that it meets the security standards that the president needs,” she added. “Ultimately, I don’t understand why we would pursue this for the new aircraft that the president needs.” Collins said that while she understands Trump’s “frustration” with Boeing taking a long time to produce a new presidential plane, she does not think a gift jet is the right solution. When asked if Congress should vote on the legality of the gift, Collins said she has not heard of any plans to do so. FILE – A Boeing 747 with the color scheme of planes used by the Qatari royal family is seen Friday, May 2, 2025 at San Antonio International Airport in San Antonio, Texas. Brandon Lingle | The San Antonio Express-News | AP Trump’s decision to accept the gift has sparked fierce controversy over the legality, ethics and national security implications of what would be the largest foreign gift ever received by the U.S. government. Trump has said the plane will be formally given to the U.S. Department of Defense, and then transferred to his presidential library foundation at the end of his second term. This way, the palatial jet is never owned personally by Trump. On Tuesday, Senate ********* Leader Chuck Schumer announced that he is putting a hold on Trump’s nominees to the Department of Justice to protest the jet gift, calling it a “grave national security threat.” Earlier this week, Republican Sen. Ron Johnson, Wisc., called the gift “a very odd offer.” Another Republican, Sen. Rand Paul, Ky., said on Fox News that he hopes the president will reject it. Collins also questioned the timeline and necessity of Trump getting a new Air Force One which may not even be finished its retrofitting into a presidential plane by the time his term ends. “This is complicated,” she added. Source link #Trumps #gift #full #political #espionage #GOP #senator Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content] For verified travel tips and real support, visit: [Hidden Content]

As a heat dome hits Texas, some cities are hotter than the Sahara – NBC News As a heat dome hits Texas, some cities are hotter than the Sahara – NBC News As a heat dome hits Texas, some cities are hotter than the Sahara NBC News101 Degrees in May? Even for Texas, This Is Hot. The New York TimesMaps show what a heat dome means for high temps, humidity, hurricane season The Washington PostTexas is Hotter Than the Hottest Place on Earth NewsweekHouston heat wave: How long will record-worthy temperatures last? Houston Chronicle Source link #heat #dome #hits #Texas #cities #hotter #Sahara #NBC #News Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

Lego’s New Shuttle Carrier Aircraft Is Ready For Liftoff, Get Free Baby Astronaut Set For Limited Time Lego’s New Shuttle Carrier Aircraft Is Ready For Liftoff, Get Free Baby Astronaut Set For Limited Time Bring a piece of aerospace history into your home with the new (and gigantic) Lego Shuttle Carrier Aircraft. Lego Insiders can pick up the 2,417-piece set for $230 at Lego’s online store, while everyone else can get their hands on it starting May 18. Signing up to be a Lego Insider is entirely free, so if you’re worried about inventory running out or want it in your hands as soon as possible, consider joining the free membership. You’ll also get an adorable Up-Scaled Baby Astronaut as a bonus. $230 This intricate build is based on the Boeing 747 and NASA Space Shuttle Enterprise. Its 18-wheel landing gear is fully retractable, there’s a functioning cargo bay, and the shuttle easily clips onto the Boeing thanks to a simple mounting system. It looks like a faithful replica of the two aircraft–complete with a bunch of interactive components. The completed model measures 25 inches long and comes with a few informational markers so your guests can learn more about the centerpiece. Lego Shuttle Carrier Aircraft Gallery As mentioned above, buying the Lego Shuttle Carrier Aircraft includes the Up-Scaled Baby Astronaut set as an added free bonus with purchases over $150 until May 23 (normally $20). Standing over four inches tall and composed of 250 pieces, it should make a fun companion for the premium Lego Shuttle Carrier Aircraft. The Lego Shuttle Carrier Aircraft model isn’t the only cool space-themed Lego set up for grabs. Other sets based on aerospace vehicles are also available, such as the Lego Icons: NASA Space Shuttle Discovery Set, which costs $200 and features over 2,300 pieces. There’s also a colorful Milky Way Galaxy Building Set for $200. Once completed, you can hang it on a wall to bring a pop of nerdy color to your space. A few other space and science Lego sets are up for grabs, and we’ve put together a short list of our favorites below. Space and Science Lego Sets Source link #Legos #Shuttle #Carrier #Aircraft #Ready #Liftoff #Free #Baby #Astronaut #Set #Limited #Time Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

Marco Rubio Meets Syria’s Foreign Minister, in Another Sign of Warming Ties Marco Rubio Meets Syria’s Foreign Minister, in Another Sign of Warming Ties Secretary of State Marco Rubio met with Syria’s foreign minister on Thursday, the latest sign of growing U.S. support after President Trump announced this week that he was lifting U.S. sanctions on Syria. The meeting in Antalya, Turkey, came two days after Mr. Trump made the surprise sanctions announcement during a visit to Saudi Arabia, which could throw Syria a desperately needed economic lifeline after nearly 14 years of civil war and decades of dictatorship. The next day, Mr. Trump met Syria’s president, Ahmed al-Shara, a former rebel leader, for the first time. In their meeting on Thursday, Mr. Rubio and his Syrian counterpart, Asaad Hassan al-Shaibani, discussed a road map for lifting sanctions, according to statements from the Turkish and Syrian foreign ministries. The exact terms of the process and timeline remain unclear. Mr. Trump’s pledge to end the sanctions was widely seen as a major victory for Syria’s new authorities, led by Mr. al-Shara, who has sought to establish his government on the world stage after his rebel coalition ousted the dictator Bashar al-Assad in December. The timeline for removing sanctions and the mechanism by which they will be lifted remained unclear. While the president has the power to lift some restrictions, Congress would have to remove others, and experts warn that the process for doing so will take time. on Thursday, the Treasury Department announced on X that it was starting the process of lifting sanctions at Mr. Trump’s direction. “Treasury is working with our colleagues at the State Department and National Security Council to execute the president’s direction on Syria sanctions,” the statement said. “Treasury’s actions can help rebuild Syria’s economy, financial sector and infrastructure and could put the country on a path to a bright, prosperous and stable future.” In the meeting in Turkey, American officials emphasized the importance of establishing mutual trust between the United States and Syria. They also urged Syria’s new leadership to fight terrorism on Syrian soil, according to a statement from the Turkish foreign ministry. Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan of Turkey also attended the meeting, the ministry said, as did Senator Lindsey Graham, Republican of South Carolina. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey joined online. Mr. Trump’s pledge on Tuesday to lift sanctions kicked off a week of political victories for Mr. al-Shara, who has sought to remake his image from a jihadist to a moderate statesman since his rebel coalition seized power. Mr. al-Shara once led a branch of Al Qaeda before breaking ties with the jihadist group, and the United States designates the rebel organization he led, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, as a terrorist organization. Mr. Trump’s meeting with Mr. al-Shara in Saudi Arabia on Wednesday was the first time in 25 years that the two countries’ leaders had met. The meeting was a boost to Mr. al-Shara as he seeks international support for his government. In a televised address to Syria on Wednesday night, Mr. al-Shara described the decision to lift U.S. sanctions on Syria as a turning point for the country, adding that it “alleviates the suffering of the people, contributes to their rebirth and lays the foundations for stability in the region.” The United States first imposed sanctions on Syria in the 1970s, introducing more punishing restrictions on the Assad regime during Syria’s civil war. The sanctions were intended to put pressure on the dictatorship, but they remained entrenched for many years. Soon after rebels ousted the Assad government, some Western governments — including Britain and those in the European Union — eased their sanctions on Syria. But the Trump administration put forth certain conditions it wanted met before the sanctions were eased. Those included demands that Iran — a close ally of the Assad government — would not be welcome on Syrian territory, that Syria’s chemical weapons stores would be destroy and that foreign fighters who had fought alongside Mr. al-Shara’s rebel group would be excluded from government positions. In his meeting with Mr. al-Shara, Mr. Trump urged him to continue to work to meet many of those conditions. It remains unclear what conditions Mr. Trump will demand Syria meet to follow through on the pledge to lift sanctions. In recent years, U.S. sanctions have had a devastating effect on Syria’s economy. More than 90 percent of the population lives in poverty, according to the United Nations, and the value of the Syrian currency plummeted during the civil war. Reviving Syria’s economy is among the most pressing challenges for the new government, and the lifting of U.S. sanctions could unlock millions in financial support and aid. Saudi Arabia and Qatar have said they would jointly repay Syria’s $15 million debt to the World Bank and have suggested they could pay public sector salaries, but are wary of violating U.S. sanctions. Source link #Marco #Rubio #Meets #Syrias #Foreign #Minister #Sign #Warming #Ties Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

Man charged over fires at homes linked to PM Keir Starmer Man charged over fires at homes linked to PM Keir Starmer BBC A 21-year-old man has been charged with arson with intent to endanger life after fires at two properties and a car linked to Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer, police have said. This breaking news story is being updated and more details will be published shortly. Please refresh the page for the fullest version. You can receive Breaking News on a smartphone or tablet via the BBC News App. You can also follow @BBCBreaking on X to get the latest alerts. Source link #Man #charged #fires #homes #linked #Keir #Starmer Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

Obsidian’s Avowed 2025 Roadmap Includes New Abilities, Weapons, New Game Plus, And More Obsidian’s Avowed 2025 Roadmap Includes New Abilities, Weapons, New Game Plus, And More Obsidian Entertainment’s first-person RPG, Avowed, launched on February 18 on Xbox Series X/S and PC. Today, Obsidian pulls back the curtains on its plans for Avowed for the rest of 2025. The team has released an update today that adds an Arachnophobia Safe Mode, Fog of War improvements, unique gear improvements, and more. This Summer, Obsidian will release an update that features cooking and crafting improvements, new NPC abilities and behaviors, additional active and passive abilities, more unique weapons and armor, and custom map markers. Then, this Fall, an update will bring to Avowed a highly requested New Game Plus mode, Photo Mode, a new weapon type, the ability to change your appearance in the wild, new character presets, and more Godlike feature presets. “We want to take a moment to thank you for your continued reports, feedback, and suggestions,” a blog post from Obsidian reads. “Your insights help shape Avowed, and we’re incredibly grateful for the time you’ve taken to share your experiences with us. We can’t wait to show you what’s next.” Alongside today’s roadmap, here’s a breakdown of everything live in the Spring (1.4) update: Arachnophobia Mode Map Exploration enhancements Critter Loot Drops New Party Camp Feature Improved Soul Pod Functionality New Settings Options Obsidian says this only scratches the surface of everything in Update 1.4, so be sure to head into the Living Lands today for a complete look at what it adds to the game. For more, read Game Informer’s Avowed review. Source link #Obsidians #Avowed #Roadmap #Includes #Abilities #Weapons #Game Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

Trump Administration Escalates Harvard Feud With New Justice Dept. Investigation Trump Administration Escalates Harvard Feud With New Justice Dept. Investigation The Trump administration is investigating whether Harvard’s admissions policies comply with a Supreme Court ruling that ended affirmative action, opening a new front in its widening effort to bring the institution to heel. In a letter on Monday, the Justice Department notified Harvard about an investigation into whether its admissions process had been used to defraud the government. The inquiry was opened under the False Claims Act, a law designed to punish those who swindle the government, according to the letter, which was reviewed by The New York Times. The investigation adds to the mounting pressure on the nation’s oldest, wealthiest university to overhaul its admissions, curriculum and hiring practices to align with President Trump’s political agenda. The Education Department also informed Harvard earlier this month that its admissions policies were the subject of a new compliance review to determine whether the university was racially discriminating against undergraduate applicants, according to a letter from the agency that was also seen by The Times. The compliance review and the Justice Department investigation have not been previously reported. Targeting a university under the False Claims Act is highly unusual, reflecting the administration’s increasingly aggressive tactics. False Claims Act investigations typically focus on contractors accused of bilking the government. If it is found liable, Harvard will have to return money to the government and could be fined hundreds of millions of dollars. The new inquiries push the administration deeper into a politically combustible debate over wealth, privilege and race. It is also the latest example of the Trump administration’s willingness to use the vast powers of the Justice Department to further its political goals. Harvard spokesman Jonathan Swain said that the university is committed to following the law and that it is in compliance with the Supreme Court decision. He added that Harvard would continue to defend itself against the government. “This investigation is yet another abusive and retaliatory action — the latest of many — that the administration has initiated against Harvard,” Mr. Swain said, adding that the government’s actions “will lead to devastating consequences for our nation’s health, economic prosperity, and scientific leadership.” He said that officials who review applications to the college do not have access to self-reported race and ethnicity data from potential students, and that the admissions office does not look at or consider the racial and ethnic composition of the applicant pool until the admissions cycle is completed. Harvard has basked in acclaim from White House critics for fighting back so far. After Mr. Trump threatened the school’s federal funding, Harvard sued the administration, and legal experts said the university has a strong case. But behind closed doors, several senior officials at Harvard and on its top governing board have acknowledged they are in an untenable crisis. Even if Harvard quickly wins in court, they have determined, the school will still face wide-ranging funding problems and continuing investigations by the administration. Some university officials even fear that the range of civil investigations could turn into full-blown criminal inquiries. The clash with Harvard is part of a broader effort by Mr. Trump to redefine the traditional parameters of civil rights battles and realign what he views as the liberal tilt of elite college campuses. Instead of prioritizing discrimination against minorities or students with disabilities, the Trump White House has focused on rooting out policies aimed at promoting racial diversity or that allowed transgender student athletes to participate in women’s sports. Mr. Trump and his allies have suggested that a Supreme Court ruling in 2023 that forced colleges to stop considering race in admissions can be applied more broadly, to other federally funded programs. Earlier this month, the Education Department halted $1 billion in grants for mental health services for public school students. The department cited concerns about the application process, which under the Biden administration favored bids from providers that included diversity goals for hiring counselors or highlighted the importance of handling “racial stress and trauma” of students. Mr. Trump has also focused on antisemitism, the initial reason the administration targeted Harvard and a handful of other elite universities. The two sides have been in a standoff since early April, when Harvard decided to take on the White House over an emailed list of demands on hiring, admissions and curriculum so intrusive, the institution said it had no other option but to fight. The letter was sent by mistake, Trump officials have said privately, but the university moved forward with a lawsuit against the administration over its threats to cut billions in federal funding if the university did not comply. Already, the administration has canceled roughly $2.7 billion in grants, frozen nearly $1 billion in funding for Harvard’s research partners and disqualified the university from future research grants. The 14-page letter about the False Claims Act investigation this week from the Justice Department, signed by Jamie Ann Yavelberg, the director of the agency’s commercial litigation branch, did not detail exactly how Harvard may have defrauded the government. Instead, the primary focus was on demands that Harvard produce a trove of documents and provide written answers to a list of detailed questions in the next three weeks. The government is also seeking any text messages, emails or other communications from Harvard officials discussing President Trump’s executive orders earlier this year aimed at rooting out diversity, equity and inclusion programs. The Justice Department also gave Harvard 30 days to identify a school official to testify under oath about its admissions policies — and how those polices may have changed after the Supreme Court ruling in 2023. The college was a party to the case, and at the time, Harvard officials vowed to comply with the ruling. While Harvard can try to fight the demands for documents and testimony, it is highly unlikely that a judge would side with the school, as the government has wide latitude to investigate. If the Justice Department ultimately concluded that Harvard violated the False Claims Act, the government could sue the school. At that point, Harvard would likely mount a vigorous defense in court that could play out for years. The Education Department is also seeking significant amounts of data. Craig Trainor, the acting assistant secretary for civil rights, wrote in a letter to Alan Garber, the president of Harvard, that the school had been “selected” for one of the agency’s periodic compliance reviews, which would require access to university data and personnel. Targets for compliance reviews are chosen based on statistical data and information from parents, advocacy groups, the media and community organizations, according to the letter. In an interview on May 6 with CNBC+, a streaming subscription platform, Linda McMahon, the education secretary, said Harvard must comply with the Supreme Court ruling. “We’ve seen some results that they’re not doing it,” Ms. McMahon said, without offering specifics. In the four and a half weeks since Harvard criticized the government’s demands as overly intrusive and said it would not comply, the administration has aimed at least eight investigations and other actions against the university. On April 16, the Department of Homeland Security threatened to block Harvard from enrolling international students unless the school delivered detailed records about the student body. On April 17, the Education Department accused the college of failing to report large foreign donations as required by law and demanded that Harvard produce a lengthy list of documents. On April 25, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission opened an investigation into whether Harvard and its affiliates had discriminated against white, Asian, male and heterosexual applicants and training program participants. On April 28, the Education Department and the Health and Human Services Department started investigating the use of racial preferences at the Harvard Law Review. On May 2, Mr. Trump used his social media platform to threaten to revoke the school’s tax-exempt status, a move that Harvard officials argued had no legal basis. On Tuesday, the government said it was ending about $450 million in research funding for the school. The university amended its lawsuit against the Trump administration on Tuesday, saying the government had “doubled down” on its tactics as it “ratcheted up funding cuts, investigations, and threats that will hurt students from every state in the country and around the world.” According to the university, at least half a dozen federal departments and agencies have sent notices in the last week about grants being terminated. Source link #Trump #Administration #Escalates #Harvard #Feud #Justice #Dept #Investigation Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

Has Cannes Found Its Early Front-runner? Has Cannes Found Its Early Front-runner? Survey journalists during the first few days of the Cannes Film Festival, and you’re likely to hear some grumbling. Though it may seem uncharitable to complain in such a glittery, glamorous location, it’s practically tradition for critics here to shrug at the initial salvo of movies, wondering how long it will take for a viable contender to emerge that could win the prestigious Palme d’Or. Sometimes, it takes quite awhile. Unlike other major film festivals, Cannes, which started Tuesday, doesn’t front-load its highest-profile titles: Significant movies unspool every day over two weeks, and the Palme winner often does not debut until the festival’s back half. This year, though, an early pacesetter seems to have emerged. Directed by Mascha Schilinski, “Sound of Falling” skips through time to track four girls who have lived on the same ******* farm over the course of a century. From the prewar era to the modern day, these young women contend with many of the same issues, from nascent ******* curiosity to brutally violent repression. It’s arty and lengthy in the way that Cannes juries often favor, and many of the early reviews were rapturous, especially those by critics who had prescreened the movie before the festival began. To hear those scribes tell it, “Sound of Falling” is “transfixing” (The Hollywood Reporter), “astonishingly poised and ambitious”(Variety), and “a high-water mark that will be hard for another feature to reach” (Vulture). Still, the response on the ground wasn’t entirely positive after Wednesday’s premiere. A critic friend texted me that he found the film “pretty vacuous” and the fest’s popular Screen International grid, which compiles scores from a dozen critics on a scale from one to four, gave “Sound of Falling” an average of 2.8. That’s respectable, but last year’s Palme winner, “Anora,” hit 3.3, while the previous victor, “Anatomy of a Fall,” earned a 3.0. Can passion win out over consensus? Stay tuned. Source link #Cannes #Early #Frontrunner Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

AI voice messages impersonating U.S. officials: FBI AI voice messages impersonating U.S. officials: FBI FBI Director Kash Patel testifies during a House Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies Subcommittee hearing on the 2026 agency’s budget request on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, on May 7, 2025. Oliver Contreras | AFP | Getty Images The FBI on Thursday warned that “malicious actors” are impersonating senior U.S. officials in AI-generated voice memos that target current and former government officials, as well as their contacts. “If you receive a message claiming to be from a senior US official, do not assume it is authentic,” the FBI said in an announcement. Since last month, the scammers have “sent text messages and AI-generated voice messages — techniques known as smishing and vishing, respectively — that claim to come from a senior US official in an effort to establish rapport before gaining access to personal accounts,” the FBI said. The announcement said that, among other things, the scammers gain access to those accounts by sending their targets malicious links, which they claim will move conversations to a separate messaging platform. By accessing U.S. officials’ personal or government accounts, the bad actors could then target other officials or their associates by using stolen information, according to the announcement. “Contact information acquired through social engineering schemes could also be used to impersonate contacts to elicit information or funds,” the FBI said. The announcement does not say which U.S. officials have been impersonated. But it does say that “many” of the targets of the scheme are “current or former senior US federal or state government officials and their contacts.” The FBI did not immediately respond to CNBC’s request for further details about the scope and potential origins of the vishing scam. Read more CNBC politics coverage The FBI has previously warned that criminals are using generative AI to carry out new financial fraud schemes on a larger scale. Such technology can be used to generate text, images, audio, and video to dupe potential victims into sending money, falling prey to sextortion, and more. The top three cyber crimes in 2024 were phishing, extortion, and breaches of personal data, according to FBI data. Older people suffered the most losses — nearly $5 billion, the data shows. Source link #voice #messages #impersonating #U.S #officials #FBI Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

AI voice messages impersonating U.S. officials: FBI AI voice messages impersonating U.S. officials: FBI FBI Director Kash Patel testifies during a House Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies Subcommittee hearing on the 2026 agency’s budget request on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, on May 7, 2025. Oliver Contreras | AFP | Getty Images The FBI on Thursday warned that “malicious actors” are impersonating senior U.S. officials in AI-generated voice memos that target current and former government officials, as well as their contacts. “If you receive a message claiming to be from a senior US official, do not assume it is authentic,” the FBI said in an announcement. Since last month, the scammers have “sent text messages and AI-generated voice messages — techniques known as smishing and vishing, respectively — that claim to come from a senior US official in an effort to establish rapport before gaining access to personal accounts,” the FBI said. The announcement said that, among other things, the scammers gain access to those accounts by sending their targets malicious links, which they claim will move conversations to a separate messaging platform. By accessing U.S. officials’ personal or government accounts, the bad actors could then target other officials or their associates by using stolen information, according to the announcement. “Contact information acquired through social engineering schemes could also be used to impersonate contacts to elicit information or funds,” the FBI said. The announcement does not say which U.S. officials have been impersonated. But it does say that “many” of the targets of the scheme are “current or former senior US federal or state government officials and their contacts.” The FBI did not immediately respond to CNBC’s request for further details about the scope and potential origins of the vishing scam. Read more CNBC politics coverage The FBI has previously warned that criminals are using generative AI to carry out new financial fraud schemes on a larger scale. Such technology can be used to generate text, images, audio, and video to dupe potential victims into sending money, falling prey to sextortion, and more. The top three cyber crimes in 2024 were phishing, extortion, and breaches of personal data, according to FBI data. Older people suffered the most losses — nearly $5 billion, the data shows. Source link #voice #messages #impersonating #U.S #officials #FBI Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

Physicists reveal the secret to chopping onions without crying Physicists reveal the secret to chopping onions without crying Cutting onions can be a tearful experience Foster.r/Getty Images If you find yourself crying when chopping onions, physicists have found a possible solution – but professional chefs probably aren’t going to like it. When onions are cut open, they spray a mixture of sulphur-rich compounds into the air, one of which is syn-propanethial-S-oxide, a chemical that triggers the nerves in the eye responsible for producing tears. Sunghwan Jung at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York, and his colleagues used a high-speed camera to analyse in detail the spray produced when… Source link #Physicists #reveal #secret #chopping #onions #crying Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

Sony unveils WH-1000XM6 wireless headphones, claims it’s “the best noise-cancelling product in the market” – What Hi-Fi? Sony unveils WH-1000XM6 wireless headphones, claims it’s “the best noise-cancelling product in the market” – What Hi-Fi? Sony unveils WH-1000XM6 wireless headphones, claims it’s “the best noise-cancelling product in the market” What Hi-Fi?Sony WH-1000XM6 hands-on: back to the fold The VergeThe WH-1000XM6 Noise-Canceling Headphones Are Yet Another Hit From Sony Rolling StoneSony Debuts Foldable ‘M6’ Headphones With Better Noise Cancellation BloombergReview: I compared Sony’s new XM6 headphones to the competition Mashable Source link #Sony #unveils #WH1000XM6 #wireless #headphones #claims #noisecancelling #product #market #HiFi Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

Exclusive – Diving Deep Into Critical Role’s Daggerheart Exclusive – Diving Deep Into Critical Role’s Daggerheart After years of anticipation, Daggerheart is about to be released next week. The tabletop role-playing game comes to us from Darrington Press, the publishing arm of Critical Role, which many players may know from the team’s wildly popular role-playing streaming shows. Ahead of the game’s launch, we had the chance to put some questions to lead game designer Spenser Starke. He gave us a rundown on some of the core ideas that set Daggerheart apart from other RPGs like D&D, but also gave an early look at one of the campaign frames featured in the game – a dark and dangerous setting called Age of Umbra. Age of Umbra challenges players to send their characters into the Halcyon Domain, where the dead come back in twisted forms, animated by a strange, roaming, ethereal mass called the Umbra. Notably for video game players, Critical Role’s Matthew Mercer wrote the campaign frame specifically citing FromSoftware games like Dark Souls as an inspiration for the style of play. Mercer will be running an eight-part mini-series set in Age of Umbra, with a Session Zero on May 22, and the first full episode airing on May 29. You can watch the new show on Beacon, Twitch, or YouTube. Check out our complete interview with Spenser Starke below, as well as extensive art galleries from the soon-to-release Daggerheart game. We also have two exclusive book spreads from the Age of Umbra section of Daggerheart, which you can read through by clicking the first gallery below, and tapping the expand button in the upper right of the image to enlarge. Game Informer: How is Daggerheart different from other role-playing games on the market? How is the feel of playing different from that of familiar games like D&D? Spenser Starke: Daggerheart is a heroic roleplaying game designed from the ground up to be a collaborative, narrative-forward experience that supports both heartfelt storytelling and cinematic combat! So if the reason you play is to tell an awesome story with your friends, Daggerheart is almost certainly for you. It’s specifically designed to be light enough at level one that you can jump right into your first session without knowing much, but crunchy enough that as you level up through a campaign, there are plenty of interesting choices to make and new mechanics to learn! What can you tell us about the core dice mechanic of the Hope and Fear dice? How does that system shape play? Was there a particular reason to focus on 12-sided dice? The Duality Dice are one of my favorite features of the game–they really help to inject narrative into every roll. You choose one d12 to represent Hope and another to represent Fear, and whenever you’re making an action roll, you’ll use both the total of the roll (including any modifiers) AND whether the Hope die or Fear die rolled higher. This gives you results like “Success with Fear” or “Failure with Hope,” which will impact the consequences of the roll! It allows for there to be a spectrum of success and failure during play that encourages everyone to play to find out what happens next. The use of the d12 came about primarily because I adore d12s. I love their shape and I also really like their balance of swinginess; they give more variation than a d6 but less than a d20. Additionally, two d12s rolled together create a statistical curve that centers around 13, meaning the players know their dice are generally going to hit around that value. This makes even small modifiers really valuable! I could gush about dice mechanics for forever, but I will spare you from the pain. Daggerheart also leverages physical cards as an aspect of play. Can you talk about how those factor in? Is the use of cards central and necessary to the experience, the way that minis might be in a tabletop skirmish game? The cards in Daggerheart are designed as a shorthand way of building and operating your character. They make onboarding during a session zero much easier–we really wanted an experience that got you out of the book and onto the page as fast as possible. So choosing your level options from cards and placing them in your loadout to make that process as streamlined and accessible as possible, as well as having rad art across EVERYTHING in the game was something we were really excited about. There are ways to play without the cards using a loadout sheet instead, but we find the experience with the cards to be our favorite way to run the game! What are some of the features that make character creation and development interesting in Daggerheart? As a design team, did you have particular goals you hoped to reach in terms of the way characters come together over the life of a game or campaign? Experiences are something that really stand out to me as a particularly exciting component of Daggerheart – they are essentially narrative tags that you work with your GM to create about the kinds of experiences you’ve had as a character already, and when you leverage that knowledge while performing an action, you can get a bonus to the roll. As talked about above, the card system also makes character creation fast, visual, and exciting! You get to combine certain domain decks together to form your character’s loadout at each level. Additionally, the background and connection questions actively encourage a player to breathe life into their character as well as providing the GM narrative fodder for how to make the characters at their table the protagonists in the campaign. One of the significant challenges of tabletop role-playing (for game makers and playgroups) is the frequently dramatic difference in experience levels between longtime players and newcomers. How does Daggerheart approach that dilemma, specifically around welcoming new players, while also including enough depth for experienced players? We have done our best to make the onboarding process for new players as streamlined as possible, while offering the opportunity to opt into more crunch as players level up in a campaign. We also, where possible, attempted to put the bulk of the “crunch” of the system into the choices players make in downtime, between sessions, or during level-ups, as opposed to in the moment at the table, to avoid stopping downplay as much as we can. For folks who may not be plugged into recent happenings with Critical Role, how will the launch of Daggerheart affect the streaming, shows, and other content that Critical Role produces? We’re launching Age of Umbra very soon! It’s a series run by Matt Mercer using the Age of Umbra campaign frame, a dark, souls-like setting that is extra deadly. And much more to come, we’re just getting started! Today, you’re sharing more details about one of the campaign frames in Daggerheart. Would you describe what you mean by a campaign frame compared to a dedicated campaign setting? A campaign frame is kind of a starter kit for running a campaign in Daggerheart! They’re usually about 10-20 pages and focus on a specific subgenre or concept around which your campaign can be structured. They provide an overall narrative hook, some interesting lore you can incorporate into your campaign, a map of the region you can customize, a starting scenario to kick off your first session, and some mechanical additions or adjustments that impact the way the game runs! We’re hoping campaign frames provide everything you need to jump in, while not being so much they feel stifling to you and your table’s creativity. What is The Age of Umbra? What are some of the defining characters, groups, or setting features that make it special? Age of Umbra is a dark, deadly, souls-like campaign frame heavily inspired by media like Kingdom Death Monster, Elden Ring, and Dark Souls, written by Matt Mercer. It’s full of evocative lore and horrifying flavor, but one of my favorite aspects is the concept of the Sacred Pyres that exist all throughout the land, burning bright and providing refuge from the Umbra. That plays into one of the downtime mechanics that requires anybody resting outside the light of a Sacred Pyre to have a party member or two keep watch during the night… or bad things might happen. Matthew Mercer has likened The Age of Umbra to video games like Dark Souls. How far does that comparison bear out? Would you suggest that dedicated fans of video games like Elden Ring might want to consider it? The campaign frame is absolutely for fans of Elden Ring, Dark Souls, or really anyone who wants to run a dark and deadly story. Matt really outdid himself with this one. Are there other campaign frames in Daggerheart? How do they change the experience of play? Is there one you’d highlight, in brief, as an experience at the other end of the tonal spectrum from The Age of Umbra? Yes! There are six campaign frames in the Daggerheart Core Rulebook that have a wide range of genre and tone. They really form the subgenre of fantasy that you’re looking to play in, from lore to mechanics to weapons and everything in-between. I think on the other end of the spectrum from Age of Umbra (depending on what your spectrum is like!) is either Beast Feast, which is a light-hearted dungeon crawl about cooking what you kill, heavily inspired by Delicious in Dungeon and Monster Hunter World, or Motherboard, which is our sci-fantasy setting where all magic is technology, inspired by Horizon Zero Dawn and Mortal Engines. When and how can players check out Daggerheart for themselves? The game launches on May 20th on the Critical Role shop and in your friendly local game store, and can be found everywhere games are sold shortly after that! Source link #Exclusive #Diving #Deep #Critical #Roles #Daggerheart Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]