SCROLL NEWS / DISCOVERY
Search headlines
Find the stories shaping the conversation.
Results for " three " 6,545 found 🔀 AI-powered Shuffle
Dear Abby | Daughter with grudges makes herself hard to love
Dear Abby: I have three grown children and seven grandchildren. I have solid relationships with my oldest and youngest, their spouses and their children. My middle daughter, "Hope," has always
24-Team College Football Playoff Coming as Soon as 2027
The 12-team playoff era didn’t last long. After just three years, it seems all but official that the playoff will double in size to 24 teams making it feel much more like the NCAA basketball tournament than the original 4-team playoff that lasted from the 2014-2023 season. With the news, we explain the details and […]
NASA’s Webb reveals the wild weather of a mysterious world 20 light-years away
NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope has revealed that a turbulent world 20 light-years away has a surprisingly orderly weather system, with three recurring atmospheric states driven by temperature changes and shifting clouds. The breakthrough gives scientists a powerful new tool for uncovering weather patterns on distant worlds and understanding the conditions that shape their atmospheres.
Two Longtime Executives Depart Washington Nationals
The Washington Nationals saw three notable departures this week, including two who have been with the organization for nearly two decades
‘We are in hiding’: Briton with severe health issues fears deportation from Sweden
Mark Smith, who is married to a Swedish woman, says he was told three times he needed to do nothing in order to remain after Brexit
Decades after apartheid, South Africans seek justice for crimes of the past
More than three decades after the end of apartheid, families of victims of some of the worst crimes of South Africa's pastare still fighting for justice. As survivors and perpetrators grow older, a new wave of legal efforts is seeking truth, accountability and reparations before it's too late.
Stock market correction fears rise as margin debt hits record levels
Since 1997, there have only been three years when margin debt has grown as rapidly: 2000, 2007, and 2021, all moments before major corrections.
For a Mere $2 Million, You Could Own Three Books That Unlocked the Universe
At Sotheby’s, a feast of rare science books includes volumes from Copernicus, Galileo and Newton that together revolutionized human understanding of the cosmos.
Cleveland Browns Path To The Playoffs
Welcome to my weekly Cleveland Browns rooting guide looking at the best outcomes for the Cleveland Browns. With many of the top quarterbacks in the league not being selected in the first three picks, the Browns winning games isn't a bad thing, it shows the roster is loaded and able to continue improving with another offseason.What we will cover weekly in this article:- Current AFC Playoff Games-...
Three takeaways from Spurs' 126-97 preseason rout of Sacramento
Dylan Harper scored 19 as the Spurs routed the Kings 126-97, finalized their starting lineup and emerged healthy ahead of Tuesday's season opener.
Man killed during attempted robbery at east Las Vegas business identified; three suspects sought
According to the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department, three men entered a second-floor business suite intending to commit a robbery when the employee was shot.
How The Dodgers Fell Short In NLCS
The Los Angeles Dodgers will not three-peat as World Series champions after a series of issues, including struggles at the plate for Shohei Ohtani.
Three Cardinals Named Gold Glove Award Finalists
Once again, the St. Louis Cardinals were one of baseball’s better defensive teams. St. Louis tied with Toronto for second in fielding run value (46), finished third in outs above average (38), and fifth in Fangraphs’ defensive value metric (22.0). Although the Cardinals had several above-average defenders, a few standouts in the field did much …
White House press secretaries with tenures lasting under two months
Katie Zacharia, former White House press secretary, served a five-day stint. She's among three others who held the position for under two months.
East Las Vegas businesses on edge after deadly shooting, 3 suspects sought
A deadly robbery at an east Las Vegas business is now a homicide investigation and the three people police say were involved are still on the run.
3 Connecticut business owners arrested for alleged workers’ comp violations
ROCKY HILL, Conn. (WTNH) — Three Connecticut business owners were arrested on Thursday related to alleged workers’ compensation law violations, according to the Office of the Chief State̵…
Shohei Ohtani's Health and a Possible Lockout Loom Over an Uncertain Offseason for the Dodgers
LOS ANGELES (AP) — After their earliest postseason exit in three years, the Los Angeles Dodgers head into the offseason facing uncertainty over next year. Shohei Ohtani was dogged by injuries to his left knee and right biceps over the second half and into the playoffs that rendered him ineffective ...
Geese shred Hollywood Forever (and Dodger fan egos) at their three-night stand in L.A.
Cameron Winter had one last knife to twist for the Dodger faithful in the audience at Hollywood Forever on Thursday night.
More than $1 million in federal funding headed to rural Wisconsin businesses
More than $1 million in federal funding is headed to rural communities across Wisconsin, including three in southern Wisconsin where officials hope the money will help fill empty downtown storefronts.
Appeals Court Questions Justice Dept. Claim that Trump Owns White House Records
A three-judge panel appeared unconvinced by claims that a federal law requiring the president to preserve and hand over his presidential papers was unconstitutional.
Cook Political Report moves 11 House races towards Democrats as Trump continues campaigning
The non-partisan Cook Political Report moves nearly a dozen races toward Democrats with less than three weeks before the election. NBC’s Monica Alba and Garrett Haake report on President Trump's campaign trip to Georgia and Cook Political Report’s Erin Covey joins to discuss the rating shifts.
Sony Just Put Audiophiles on Notice with Its New Portable Hi-Fi Players
Sony says the three new models are "engineered to deliver exceptional sound."
What we know about Billy Evans, Elizabeth Holmes' long-term partner
Elizabeth Holmes, her partner Billy Evans and their two children are the focus of the new, nearly three-hour long documentary, "You Can See Everything."
Gov. Hochul calls inquiry into Rich Schaffer and Suffolk Dems 'political hit job'
At three Suffolk Democrats were questioned by the FBI.
iOS 27.2 has three new changes just added this week
iOS 27.2 is launching soon, and Apple keeps introducing new updates with each beta. Here are three changes added to iOS 27.2 this week.
Duke Health debuts three autonomous delivery robots to help healthcare providers
Duke Health’s autonomous robots are transporting supplies throughout the university's hospital in Durham.
Alliance for Health releases H.R. 1 predictions | The Pajaronian
About one in three people who rely on Santa Cruz County Alliance Medi-Cal—25,000 people—will lose benefits by the end of 2028, said Central California Alliance for Health CEO Michael Schrader.
HomePod is about to get free upgrade with these new features
There’s no new full-size HomePod launching yet, but Apple has confirmed three features coming to the existing HomePod 2 soon.
WHO scales up Ebola readiness in 22 countries across three continents
The World Health Organization (WHO) is strengthening Ebola preparedness amid conflict and displacement affecting millions of lives in a region that spans parts of Africa, Asia and Europe.
NCAA sues Ohio gov. over eligibility order for 5th-year athletes
The NCAA has filed a federal lawsuit against Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine three days after he signed an executive order giving the state's colleges and universities the option of allowing athletes who graduated from high school in 2022 to play a fifth year.
CentraCare to Be Official Health Care Provider for Johnnie Athletics
(KNSI) - CentraCare and Saint John's University have agreed to a three-year partnership that makes CentraCare ...
Math Professor Secures National Science Foundation Grant to Advance Math Education
Professor of Mathematics, Dr. Dana Clahane, was recently awarded a federal grant of $499,893 by the National Science Foundation (NSF). A prestigious award, the grant will elevate undergraduate mathematics education in a project titled “Building Mathematics Research Communities at Two-Year Colleges” (BMRCTYC). Over the next three years, BMRCTYC will establish local Mathematics Research Communities at eight... Read more »
Packers Get Dak Prescott Admission Over Old Lambeau Boast
The Green Bay Packers have given Dak Prescott grounds to reconsider one of the first conclusions he reached at Lambeau Field.Prescott went into Green Bay as a rookie in 2016 and left with a 30-16 victory over the Packers. The Dallas Cowboys quarterback threw for 247 yards and three touchdowns in the win, while rookie […] The post Packers Get Dak Prescott Admission Over Old Lambeau Boast appeared first on HEAVY.
iPhone 18 Pro one month later: These features keep impressing me
I’ve had the iPhone 18 Pro for a month now, and during that time three main features have consistently impressed me.
Princeton Engineering - Endowed professorships recognize excellence in computer science
Three computer scientists at Princeton Engineering have been named to endowed professorships.
Sarkisian, No. 7 Texas look to bounce back against Florida
Steve Sarkisian and No. 7 Texas return to DKR for a three-game homestand, beginning Saturday against a Florida team led by first-year head coach Jon Sumrall.
Northwestern vs. Michigan State: 3 Best Bets for Week 7
Capitalize on vulnerable pass defenses and Aidan Chiles’ revenge narrative as these three expert picks target undervalued player props for a high-stakes Big Ten showdown in East Lansing.
Plague is stoppable. The next health threat may not be.
The word plague is scary. Centuries ago, the Black Death killed tens of millions of people and changed the course of history. Plague still kills people around the world, and the word still evokes catastrophe. New fears of plague surfaced on October 2, when a lab worker in Irkutsk, Russia, died of pneumonia. Reports suggested that she may have contracted plague through a laboratory exposure. Understandably, people were alarmed. On October 7, the World Health Organization called for the Russian Federation to be transparent about what it knew. WHO issued an update on October 10. Russian authorities told WHO that testing did not identify plague and that investigations found no laboratory release. WHO said confidence in its risk assessment remained limited and that further clinical, epidemiological, and laboratory information was needed. The cause of the woman’s illness remains unknown, and WHO says a laboratory-associated exposure cannot be excluded. As I explained in a recent interview, this incident is very unlikely to lead to a pandemic. Plague is still active, including in the U.S., which sees a handful of cases each year. But it is a disease we can prevent and treat. Plague doesn’t spread readily, and it responds to antibiotics. The standard response—isolate the patient, trace contacts, and administer antibiotics and monitor for symptoms among contacts for seven days—works. We have even planned for antibiotic-resistant plague. At CDC, we developed a playbook for antibiotic-resistant plague and ran exercises on how to find and stop it. CDC guidance anticipates engineered resistance and recommends two different classes of antibiotics if there’s reason to suspect it. There is no evidence that resistance—or even confirmed plague—is involved in this incident. We have thought through how to address plague, but we’re not ready for the next major health threat that emerges from a lab or from animal spillover to humans. What should concern people is how little stands between the world and the next pathogen to get loose. Since peak COVID, epidemic preparedness has fallen off the political agenda, but the risk is greater than ever. More labs handle dangerous pathogens with more ways to make those pathogens deadlier, and more people live and work in close contact with animals. There are actions we can take now: We need better lab safety in every country. The number of labs that work with dangerous pathogens has increased worldwide over two decades, but there’s no enforceable international standard and no inspection regime; the Biological Weapons Convention, fifty years on, still has no verification mechanism. Labs that study dangerous germs need strong safety systems, training, and oversight. We need to reduce spillover events. Three in four emerging human infections start in animals, and there’s a lot we can do to reduce spillover risk, but the world is doing very little of it. Live-animal markets are one place to act. For instance, closing live-bird markets helped control H7N9 influenza in China. Reducing opportunities for people to encounter infected animals can prevent infections before they become outbreaks. In The Formula for Better Health, which is now out in paperback along with the hardcover, Kindle, and audiobook versions, I argue that labs do too many risky experiments with too many dangerous pathogens in too many institutions, and that every experiment should first answer one basic question: Is the likely benefit greater than the risk? Spillover risk can also be reduced: In the book, I discuss how Brazil cut its deforestation rate by 70% from 2004 to 2012 while increasing agricultural production and reducing risky contact between people and forest animals. We need faster detection and response. Delay costs lives. Strong surveillance, good labs, and trained responders can turn a single case into a small cluster of infections instead of an epidemic. Resolve to Save Lives has worked for nearly a decade to help countries find and stop outbreaks faster. The 7-1-7 target, which Resolve to Save Lives developed with partners in Uganda and elsewhere, provides a clear standard: detect within 7 days, notify within 1 day and complete all essential early response actions within 7 days. In Uganda’s Kasese district, for example, a review of a measles outbreak using 7-1-7 identified shortages of accessible funds, fuel, and vehicles that delayed the response. District leaders established funds they could access quickly. When, a few months later, the Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever appeared, the district detected it in three days, notified authorities in one, and mounted an effective response in two. Only one case was confirmed, and the patient survived. Because funds were available before the emergency, authorities were prepared and able to act. This kind of preparation can’t wait until the next crisis begins. Plague is an old disease we that know how to stop. The next threat may be harder to recognize, harder to treat, and easier to spread. Safer labs, less risk of spillover, and faster outbreak detection and response need sustained investment now, while we still have time to prevent the next emergency. Share
Tamaqua Choose Happiness competition offers $50K to new businesses
Three winners of the Tamaqua Choose Happiness Business Plan Competition will share $50,000 in startup funding for new businesses in municipalities comprising the Tamaqua Area School District.
What Preseason Said About Rockets’ New Guard Rotation
Because of the Houston Rockets' trip to China this preseason, they wound up playing only three total games. In the last of those on Thursday night, they defeated the Oklahoma City Thunder, 113-89. For Houston, preseason is now over, and the 2026-27 regular season will begin on October 21st. The main overhauls since 2025-26 occurred …
The Sony Xperia 10 VI won’t be getting a promised update to Android 17
Three OS updates were promised when the phone launched but Sony says that won’t happen as a result of a storage issue.
FAU Receives $1.2M Grant to Expand Youth Mental Health Services
FAU’s College of Education has received a $1.2 million grant to launch OWLS-Fly, a three-year initiative expanding access to free, family-centered mental health services for children ages 6 to 17 and their families in Palm Beach County. The program will prioritize underserved families, including those with children with intellectual and developmental disabilities, while training graduate counseling students to address the mental health needs of youth with and without disabilities.
Big Tech and Big Business are spending millions to block progressives on the California ballot
This story was originally published by CalMatters. Sign up for their newsletters. With less than three weeks until Election Day, outside groups are pouring millions of dollars into two types of state legislative races: purple districts featuring a Democrat and a Republican, and safely Democratic districts featuring Democrats of different ideological stripes. Political action committees […]
TN Politics: As early voting commences, what are these state amendments all about?
Three amendments touching on crime and taxes top the ballot. What are people voting for?
Old Navy plans State Street comeback with a downsized store
The retailer plans to return to State Street with a 13,000-square-foot outlet store at 20 S. State St., more than three years after leaving.
Mars Impact Fund Commits $3 Million to Expand Youth Science Careers Across US
$3 million investment: Mars Impact Fund will support National 4-H Council’s Beyond Ready initiative over three years, expanding access to science
Worker killed during robbery at east Las Vegas business complex, police say
Las Vegas police investigate a deadly shooting on East Flamingo Road after a business employee was killed during an attempted robbery by three suspects.
Worker killed during robbery at east Las Vegas business complex, police say
Las Vegas police investigate a deadly shooting on East Flamingo Road after a business employee was killed during an attempted robbery by three suspects.
Worker killed during robbery at east Las Vegas business complex, police say
Las Vegas police investigate a deadly shooting on East Flamingo Road after a business employee was killed during an attempted robbery by three suspects.
Worker killed during robbery at east Las Vegas business complex, police say
Las Vegas police investigate a deadly shooting on East Flamingo Road after a business employee was killed during an attempted robbery by three suspects.
Worker killed during robbery at east Las Vegas business complex, police say
Las Vegas police investigate a deadly shooting on East Flamingo Road after a business employee was killed during an attempted robbery by three suspects.
Four fatal flaws that doomed the Dodgers’ bid for a historic three-peat
Winter has come early in Los Angeles this year.
Are Dave Roberts’ Decisions Partly Responsible for the Dodgers’ Downfall?
Los Angeles Dodgers manager Dave Roberts doesn't get enough credit for the three World Series rings he has brought to LA. People assume that since the roster is loaded with superstars, wins are automatic. That would be an incorrect assumption. Baseball is a grind, and Roberts still has to push the right buttons. He did …
UCLA Health addresses healthcare accessibility issues for Spanish speakers
Three UCLA Health initiatives are working to make healthcare more accessible for Spanish speakers across Los Angeles. The UCLA Hispanic Neuropsychiatric Center of Excellence, the Equity for Latinx/Hispanic Healthy Aging and the Lifespan Assessment Through Integrated Neuropsychology Clinic address disparities in healthcare by offering bilingual training for medical professionals and conducting testing in patients’ native language.
Colorado cannabis vape recall expands as health complaints rise
Three health and safety notices since Sept. 25 have pulled Craft THC vapes from more than 700 Colorado retailers.
Berkeley Haas unveils strategic plan with new initiatives in AI, entrepreneurship, healthcare, and sustainability & social impact - Haas News
UC Berkeley Haas today unveiled a new strategic plan designed to strengthen its standing as a global business education leader, a school where analytical rigor, human judgment, and innovation work together to move business forward. The plan rests on three foundational pillars essential to the school’s mission: expanding the impact of its research; strengthening its […]
Tom Haberstroh joins NBC Sports Philadelphia as 76ers sideline reporter
Tom Haberstroh is back covering LeBron James. Fifteen years ago, Haberstroh was one of a trio of ESPN reporters who decamped in Miami to run the Heat Index for the Worldwide Leader, a constantly running live feed of news and content around the “Big Three” era of the Miami Heat. Haberstroh chronicled LeBron James, Dwyane…
Green Card Processing Backlogs for Refugees and Asylees Could Have Implications for Health Coverage and Care
This data note highlights changes in green card (I-485) application processing for refugees and asylees between fiscal year (FY) 2021 and FY2025, as well as across the first three quarters of FY2025 to FY2026 (since FY2026 data are only available through the third quarter). It discusses the implications of these trends for access to federally funded health coverage following eligibility changes under the 2025 reconciliation law.
NASA Langley shows off new airborne science lab as first mission nears
NASA Langley Research Center in Hampton offered a look Thursday at the agency's newest airborne science lab as the first mission was about three months away.
IP Saves the Day On Streaming
(Welcome to my weekly streaming ratings report, the single best guide to what’s popular in streaming TV and what isn’t. I’m the Entertainment Strategy Guy, a former streaming executive who now analyzes business strategy in the entertainment industry. If you were forwarded this email, please subscribe to get these insights each week.) Before we get started, I wanted to highlight a new idea I saw from Real Good AI, proposing a ratings system for AI use. (H/T to Anthony Kaufman’s article highlighting this.) It would look something like this: In general, I think that this is a solid, middle-ground solution that should appease both the pro-AI camp (who love AI) and the anti-AI camp (who wants to know if what they’re watching didn’t come from humans). Regardless of your feelings on AI/LLMs—I’ll never use it for my writing—transparency is often the best solution to many problems. In general, I think way more media outlets need to be using way more AI disclosures. My quick “Yes and...” to this idea: what about ads? In particular, I hate it when I see or hear ads that are obviously AI-generated, but a person or voice says, “I used this product”. AI doesn’t use products! Just today, I watched a YouTube ad where a “person” said they use some sort of rain wind chime...but that’s not a real person! They didn’t use this product. (Especially since the video of the wind chime itself also appeared to be AI-generated...) I believe most traditional advertising already has standards like this anyway.1 Okay, on to this week’s issue. We’re covering the week of 14-Sep, and then next issue, I’ll be fully caught up with Nielsen’s new release schedule. In the future, I plan to put out Streaming Ratings Reports each Monday after Nielsen’s Thursday releases. Overall, we had some big new shows this week, like Prime Video’s Reacher spinoff_, Neagley_, which is off to a big, big start, and Netflix’s latest in its Monster anthology, which is their largest opening since June and the second-largest since One Piece came out in March. All that, plus Slow Horses returns, the trio of returning shows (Lioness, Reacher and Ted Lasso) continue to dominate the top tens, Paramount+’s latest crime drama, a big whiff for a Netflix original film and a precipitous drop for Netflix film charts, all the flops, bombs and misses, and a whole lot more. Let’s dive right in! (Reminder: The streaming ratings report focuses on the U.S. market and compiles data from Nielsen’s weekly top ten viewership ranks, Luminate’s Top Ten Data, JustWatch and Reelgood interest data, Samba TV household viewership, company datecdotes, Netflix hours viewed data, Google Trends, and IMDb to determine the most popular content. While most data points are current, Nielsen’s data covers the weeks of September 14th to September 20th 2026. You can find a link to my terminology here.) Subscribe Television - IP For the TV Win Can I use the dirty word of entertainment journalism right now? IP. Shhh. Don’t tell anyone I said it. But IP works at the box office, and we’ve seen some evidence it works in TV too. Not as well, and not all the time—no absolutes here!—but often enough. And glancing at the Nielsen top ten…it worked this week! Take Prime Video, who has a monster hit in the crime drama Reacher. Would a spinoff work for that show? Yep! They binge-released Neagley, about a detective from the original Reacher series, and its eight episodes debuted to 29.6 million hours. Here’s how it stacks up to Reacher, one of Prime Video’s biggest shows: That’s great. Nearly as strong as Reacher’s opening! (Both shows started with eight, binge-released episodes, so this comparison is apples-to-apples.) Notably, Prime Video scheduled the debut of Neagley to overlap with Reacher’s most recent season, to help drive tune-in. Obviously, I love smart release strategies like that. And even though I wrote “obviously”, it’s not really that obvious, since streamers don’t often take advantage of natural overlaps like this_._2 Other data backs how well Neagley performed. It opened at second place on Samba TV for two weeks and got 51.7 million hours on Luminate. That’s the eleventh biggest opening on Luminate since May of 2024 and tied with Bridgerton’s third season opening. That’s a huge opening! Its IMDb is solid too, a 7.7 on 24K reviews. Netflix’s latest edition in the “Monster” series—which started with Jeffrey Dahmer and comes from Ryan Murphy—did well too, opening to 24.7 million hours. That’s the biggest opening for Netflix since I Will Find You in June, and second biggest since March. Unlike the Reacher series, this franchise is trending downward, though. The first Monster show—Dahmer - Monster—was giant. More than anything, I think this reflects that Netflix running out of extremely popular—if that’s the right word?—serial killers to feature. Still, the data says this is a very good opening. It made it to third place on Samba TV for two weeks. It also opened to 40.0 million hours on Luminate. That’s not quite as elite as Neagley, but still very, very strong. I’ll be honest: my priors coming into any given week are that IP works to help drive buzz for new shows, but TV shows need to stand on their own even more than movies, so they will succeed or fail based on their quality. But these two spinoffs definitely worked. Quick Notes on TV The top show, film or special this week? Football, again. Specifically, Prime Video’s season opener of Thursday Night Football. The games run long (three hours) but mainly a lot of people watch each game. That adds up to a lot of viewership. Paramount released the second season of MobLand on an unusual day for that service, a Friday! Often, they put their new shows out on a Sunday, as they did last year with a run of shows (Lioness, Tulsa King and Landman). MobLand didn’t make Nielsen in its first week, but on Samba TV it got to eighth and seventh place. Luminate had a smaller opening too, only 5.3 million hours. MobLand missed the Nielsen charts for its first eight weeks, so this season is off to a stronger start. (Bonus note: the first season streams on both Prime Video and The Roku Channel, but I only have it as Paramount+ on those charts.) I’ve mentioned a few times that foreign-language originals do lower numbers than English-language originals on Netflix most of the time. But I don’t usually emphasize what country those originals come from, and observationally, they tend to be from Western or Northern European countries, in general. So credit to Not a Stranger, a Turkish Netflix original, for breaking through on Luminate, getting to 7.9 million hours in its first full week on those charts. As I mentioned last issue, Crew Girl ended up making the Nielsen charts in its second week. That’s still a soft performance compared to many shows, but again this, one looks affordable. And if you’re curious, here’s how it stacks up to some other sports romance shows: We’re just getting started with this issue, but the rest is for paid subscribers of the Entertainment Strategy Guy, so if you’d like to find out… …about a new data source and how it drives streaming viewership… ...what reality show is struggling in its latest season…. ...what Netflix film bombed…. ...How Reacher, Ted Lasso, and Lioness are doing on the charts… ...what obscure sport put up great viewership numbers… …how far streaming films are falling… …all the flops, bombs and misses for the last week… …and more… ...please subscribe! We can only keep doing this great work with your support. If you want an idea of just how much content you’d get in a full issue, check out this older issue. Coming Soon! Next week, we’ve got a double issue, then we’ll be all caught up with Nielsen’s data. Yes! The goal is to have my report out on the Monday after I get Nielsen’s data. So next issue, I’m looking at East of Eden, The Great British Baking Show, a Willy Wonka game show (that people are upset uses AI, but viewers might not care), and a Cosby show spinoff reboot on Netflix, and Brothers on Apple TV (starring Woody Harrelson and Matthew McConaughey). That’s about it for TV, but who’s going to win the streaming week, The Breadwinner or Backrooms on streaming? Answer: Toy Story 5. Plus Netflix has a Unabomber film and a new Tyler Perry film, Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma tries to repeat The Substance’s run on MUBI, and Paramount+ has Jackass: Best and Last. Long term, Netflix is remaking Lonesome Dove. I love this choice, but man, there are a lot of westerns on TV right now. And they’re making Sega TV shows, including a Crazy Taxi TV show and Sonic show with an “edge”.
Enhancing hidden defects to strengthen metal materials
Scientists have found a way to use defects in crystals to engineer stronger materials, according to a new study.These imperfections, usually caused by tiny distortions within the material, could be a powerful design tool for building complex, three-dimensional structures.Using a two-step process to strengthen a pair of metal alloys, researchers ...
Kalamazoo County health officials say, "get your flu shot... as soon as possible"
WWMT-TV Newschannel 3 provides local news, weather forecasts, notices of events and entertainment programming for Kalamazoo, Grand Rapids, Battle Creek, South Haven, Paw Paw, Portage, Otsego, Texas Township, Oshtemo, Plainwell, Allegan, Holland, Saugatuck, Holland, Wayland, Kentwood, Middleville, Hastings, Marshall, Three Rivers, Sturgis, Constantine, Coldwater, Albion, Wyoming, Hudsonville, Allendale, Byron Center, Hudsonville, Grand Haven, Muskegon, Sparta, Rockford, Belding, Greenville, Ionia, Cedar Springs and their surrounding areas.
Al Pacino to receive SAG-AFTRA lifetime achievement award
Al Pacino attends the premiere of ‘Modi: Three Days On The Wing Of Madness’ at Writers Guild Theater on Nov. 4, 2025, in Beverly Hills, California. (Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images)
How Murray and Washington experts plan to ‘politics-proof’ public health
Three of the five experts on Sen. Patty Murray's new public health advisory group are from Washington state.
Andrew Garfield, Elizabeth Holmes are set to crash the Oscar race
NEW YORK – After nearly three whirlwind weeks, the New York Film Festival drew to a close Oct. 12 – and with it, we got newfound clarity about this year’s
Clinton Policy Institute outlines maternal health solutions for states
Health Care Clinton Policy Institute outlines maternal health solutions for states It’s the first major report from the project, which launched in July to foster nonpartisan policies to improve the wellbeing of children and families. Stephanie Akin 10:00 AM, Oct 15, 2026 Dr. Jacob Lenz performs an ultrasound at the Oklahoma State University obstetrics and gynecology clinic in Tulsa, Okla., on Tuesday, July 16, 2024. (AP Photo/Mary Conlon) The Clinton Policy Institute is calling on states to lead efforts to curb maternal mortality, releasing a 61-page playbook Thursday highlighting successful policies that could be adopted nationwide. The playbook is the first major report from the Clinton Foundation’s project, which launched in July to foster nonpartisan state and local policies to improve the wellbeing of children and families. “Eighty percent of maternal deaths are preventable, and we know what works,” CPI Chair Jennifer Klein said. “The solutions are well established and evidence-based.” CPI’s mission is to convene political leaders from both parties, policy experts, state officials and other stakeholders to explore solutions to longstanding problems. “What we aim to do is bring together people who are deeply engaged, but may not be meeting together in the same room,” Klein said, noting that state policymakers might not always be aware of what their peers are doing in other states. In May, CPI brought together lawmakers from Virginia and Pennsylvania, two of the 14 states that have passed bipartisan maternal health “Momnibus” packages modeled after a comprehensive federal proposal that has repeatedly stalled, called the Black Maternal Health Momnibus Act. Other participants included Dr. Mona Hanna, founder of Rx Kids, a Michigan program that provides direct cash allowances to pregnant women and infants. Pennsylvania Rep. Morgan Cephas, who was part of the group, said she learned about funding opportunities she hadn’t come across during her decade in the Legislature. “As legislators we can issue grants, we can pass legislation, we can move policy, but we want to ensure that funding opportunities and programs that are tackling this issue are sustainable,” Cephas said. The playbook outlines broad areas where state policy can make a difference, such as allowing Medicaid to pay for doulas and remote patient monitoring, and using federal and private grant funding to pay for home visits to pregnant and postpartum women. For each category, it highlights innovative programs that can serve as models, with examples of specific actions state lawmakers and governors’ offices can take. Those include the Rx Kids model, which gets funding from the Michigan state budget; Pennsylvania’s Healthy Moms Vibrant Futures strategic action plan, emphasizing equity-centered maternal care, regional collaboration, Medicaid innovation, and workforce development that was launched this year with more than 160 stakeholders; and Kansas’s Bridging Plan, which reserves three slots and provides at least $26,000 in loan forgiveness for obstetric residents who commit to practicing in rural or underserved communities for 36 months. CPI emphasizes that its work is nonpartisan. Klein, the director of the White House Gender Policy Council under former President Joe Biden, acknowledged that CPI also takes positions on abortion, Medicaid funding, and the need to address the economic and social drivers of poor health, which might rankle some conservatives. “We don’t shy away from talking about those things that we think are part and parcel of the maternal health crisis in this country,” Klein said. “That said, there are so many policies that are both evidence-based and have been tried successfully in both red and blue states, and people can see that they can have real impact.” She pointed to the federal option to extend postpartum Medicaid coverage from 60 days to 12 months that was made available during the Biden administration and has since been adopted by every state but Arkansas. Other initiatives embraced across party lines include Medicaid coverage for midwives and doulas, as well as “bundled” payments for prenatal and postpartum care. That alternative payment model, pioneered in states such as Arkansas, Colorado and Tennessee, incentivizes fixed fees to cover all healthcare services associated with pregnancy and childbirth. Advocates say it promotes more coordination among caregivers, discourages unnecessary interventions, and expands postpartum support. In addition to maternal health, the initiative is also focused on addressing family economic security, children’s well-being, and democracy and civic resilience.
Andre Drummond’s best Knicks contribution starts before the shot
Mike Brown didn’t need another look at the three blocks to explain why Andre Drummond impressed him Monday. The Knicks […]
McKibbin one off lead with McIlroy in contention
Tom McKibbin is one shot off the lead and Rory McIlroy three further back after a weather-disrupted opening day of the DP World India Championship.
QuEra Scientists Named Co-Principal Investigators on Three of Nine Teams in Department of Energy's Quantum Chemistry Program, Now Underway
/PRNewswire/ -- QuEra Computing, the leader in quantum computing, today announced that its scientists will work with three of the nine teams selected for the...
How Murray and WA experts plan to ‘politics-proof’ public health
Three of the five experts on Sen. Patty Murray's new public health advisory group are from Washington state.
How Murray and WA experts plan to ‘politics-proof’ public health
Three of the five experts on Sen. Patty Murray's new public health advisory group are from Washington state.
Science Says You Don't Have to Be (That) Smart to Get Rich
Research shows three things matter a lot more, and each is something you can better develop.
The Politics of Heat, Homes, and Lobster Boats.
The Bar Harbor Story is generously sponsored by First National Bank. MOUNT DESERT ISLAND REGION—The candidates’ forum focusing on House District 15 and incumbent Holly Eaton and Clifford Noyes last week spent a lot of time on the candidates’ thought of heating, communication with constituents, property taxes, education costs, and other issues. It also was a time for the community to ask their own questions and see two candidates up close and personal at the Southwest Harbor Fire Department firehouse. Jim Vallette organized the hour-long event, which was moderated by Carrie Jones of the Bar Harbor Story. Ken Rozsahegyi provided technical support for the congenial event. House District 15 serves Brooklin, Deer Isle, Eagle Island Township, Frenchboro, Isle au Haut, Marshall Island, Southwest Harbor, Stonington, Swan's Island, Tremont, and Vinalhaven. Jones advised as she began the question and answer part of the event, ”Treat everyone here like they are going to be the ones who might give you a ride in a rainstorm, pull your pet out of a burning building, or be the one grading your kids’ papers at school, okay?” She continued. “That’s it. Tonight isn’t meant to be a gotcha debate. The goal is to give people in the district a chance to get to know both candidates, hear what they care about, and understand what they’d actually try to accomplish in Augusta.” The questions and discussion throughout were kind. Eaton currently serves in the position. She’s a Democrat from Deer Isle, raised in a fishing family and has worked in nonprofits and volunteered for her school board. Noyes is unenrolled (politically) and from Southwest Harbor and currently a school board member, self employed as a mason. He focused on fiscal issues throughout the forum. Eventually, at Jones’ prompting, the candidates played “Rock, Paper, Scissors” for who would go first for their closing statements. Noyes used the opportunity to urge others to head to the ballot. “Whether you vote for me or Holly, it’s important that people vote,” Noyes said. He hoped the voter turnout in the district would be over 35 percent because that would mean people were truly engaged. Eaton stressed that she’s a Democrat, but in Augusta, her role isn’t about party. “I am a Democrat, but when I go to Augusta, I am there to represent the people of District 15. I want people to feel as though I’m accessible, that I’m responsive, and that I show up for the district,” Eaton said. Being there for others was vital, she explained. “When something comes before me in Augusta, I try to look at it through the lens of the people and the communities that I represent. How will this affect the people who live here? Does it make it easier or harder to raise a family here, to operate a small business, to work on the water, to afford a home, to keep our schools open, or provide the essential services our communities depend on?” Eaton said. Noyes spoke about fiscal responsibility and about the state being more responsive to communities and the ideas that come from them. “I feel that we desperately need to restore some fiscal sanity, a little bit. So when the legislature meets again,” Noyes said, “it could be critical for Maine residents that we don’t keep digging this hole that we’re in financially and keep raising our taxes so the struggling families struggle even more.” The two answered a series of questions from Jones, then answered questions from the audience and participants via Zoom. Jones asked what they heard the most from people about what was making their lives hard and what can the legislature in Augusta do it about those issues. Both spoke to concerns about heating oil costs. Noyes spoke to the three H’s: health, home, and heat. Eaton and Noyes spoke to the burdens of families with lower incomes, with Eaton mentioning LIHEAP (Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program). They both were in favor of free community college and trade programs. They both supported the working waterfront. Both said that data centers—such as the one proposed in Eastport, which is out of the district—should be a local decision, but neither were in favor of it. The working waterfront was supported by both. Eaton’s served on the Maine Marine Resource Committee in the legislature. She advocated a diversity of fishing resources and less of a reliance on lobstering. Shrimp, she hoped, would make a comeback. Noyes worried about out-of-state pressure on the lobstering industry, also spoke of shrimp harvesting timings, and said he supported the lobstering industry. QUICK NOTE Carrie Jones is, obviously, the co-founder of the Bar Harbor Story, which made us have a bit of a hard time putting out this story and thinking it through and how to present it. We ended up with this article. The debate in its entirety is below, many thanks to Ken and Jim for making it publicly available. UPCOMING AND PAST EVENTS The following events are or were organized by the League of Women Voters Downeast. DISTRICT 7 DISTRICT ATTORNEY DISTRICT 13 Thursday, Oct 15, 2026 5:30 PM to 6:30 PM Candidate Forum: House District 13 125 State St , Ellsworth Featuring candidates Michael Cunningham (D) and Russell White (R), moderated by Cyndi Wood, managing editor of the Ellsworth American. DEMOCRACY FORUM Friday, Oct 16, 2026 4:00 PM to 5:00 PM Democracy Forum — Election 2026: What’s on Your Ballot RECENT PRESS RELEASES AND BRIEFS To see all the press releases, click here. To see our news, click here. For the full archive, click here. All of these are on our dedicated website. [ ](https://barharborstory.substack.com/p/feeling-stressed-kids-corner-invites) [ Feeling Stressed? Kids’ Corner Invites Parents, Educators, and Caregivers to Rediscover the Joy with National Speaker Raelene Ostberg Oct 14 ](https://barharborstory.substack.com/p/feeling-stressed-kids-corner-invites) [ Read full story ](https://barharborstory.substack.com/p/feeling-stressed-kids-corner-invites) [ ](https://barharborstory.substack.com/p/mainely-meats-pink-party-for-breast) [ Mainely Meat’s Pink Party for Breast Cancer Awareness is October 18! Oct 14 ](https://barharborstory.substack.com/p/mainely-meats-pink-party-for-breast) [ Read full story ](https://barharborstory.substack.com/p/mainely-meats-pink-party-for-breast) [ ](https://barharborstory.substack.com/p/conners-emerson-school-announces) [ Conners Emerson School Announces Public Surplus Property Sale Oct 14 ](https://barharborstory.substack.com/p/conners-emerson-school-announces) [ Read full story ](https://barharborstory.substack.com/p/conners-emerson-school-announces) [ ](https://barharborstory.substack.com/p/planting-the-writers-garden) [ Planting the Writer’s Garden 12:15 AM ](https://barharborstory.substack.com/p/planting-the-writers-garden) [ Read full story ](https://barharborstory.substack.com/p/planting-the-writers-garden) [ ](https://barharborstory.substack.com/p/artist-maria-de-los-angeles-explores) [ Artist Maria de los Angeles explores migration and belonging in COA public lecture 12:19 AM ](https://barharborstory.substack.com/p/artist-maria-de-los-angeles-explores) [ Read full story ](https://barharborstory.substack.com/p/artist-maria-de-los-angeles-explores) HELP SUPPORT THE BAR HARBOR STORY When we started The Bar Harbor Story, we didn’t know if anyone would read it. But you showed up. You shared. You sent tips. Now—over 400,000 views every month later—it’s clear: people here care about their community and each other. We’ve kept everything free because news should never be out of reach, but every one of our stories takes time to write, and your support keeps The Bar Harbor Story going. If you value our work, please consider a paid subscription, a founding membership, or a sponsorship. It truly helps us cover one more meeting, tell one more story, shine one more light. Even $5 a month makes a difference. Click here to become a one-time supporter now. Thank you so much for being here. Founding member information can be found here. Have questions about sponsorships? Just send Shaun an email at sfarrar86@gmail.com, he’d love to hear from you. Subscribe Share Bar Harbor Story Share Leave a comment
Riot Games has announced the end League of Legends Classic as an on-going mode, just three months after its release
League of Legends Classic will return with changes in the future, while microtransactions for Classic will be refunded.
Paid DLC is coming to Fire Emblem: Fortune's Weave—Wave 1 is out now! – News
Watch the video for your first look at the paid Fire Emblem: Fortune’s Weave Expansion Pass DLC. This Expansion Pass DLC will add extra content in three different waves.
Harry and Meghan make first joint appearance since U.K. return: 'It's great to be back'
The Duke and Duchess were visiting three charities in the British city of Nottingham on Thursday.
Today on Pinstripe Alley
The Dodgers’ three-peat dreams are on life support and in need of a miracle.
Entertainment at Coolidge Days features all-new acts
COOLIDGE — There are three main entertainment acts planned for the annual Coolidge Days event, two of which are brand-new and performing at the event for the first time. The
Yankees news: Gold Glove finalists and Chambliss’ 50th anniversary
Girardi touts his successor’s “best year of managing”; three key roster questions; remembering Chambliss’ walk-off
Samsung Health Makes Sleep Coaching Easier to Start and Tailors Weekly Guidance
Sleep Coaching starts with three days of data and adjusts weekly, while Running Coach introduces more advanced training and Strava Routes integration
Public Health professionals find connection through community theater
LANDSTUHL, Germany — Three Public Health Command Europe employees recently participated in “The Stinky Cheese Man”, a Kaiserslautern Military Community...
Where to watch Kansas basketball exhibition games: Schedule, channels, live streams for 2026 KU preseason
The Jayhawks have three home games to tune up for the regular season. Here's when and where to watch them all.
Brubaker earns national dealer nomination for business leadership, community service
Duke Brubaker, dealer principal of Champion Ford Mazda in Owensboro, has been nominated for the 2027 TIME Dealer of the Year award. The honor recognizes a career that spans more than three decades at the family dealership and community efforts ranging from a prom experience for people with special needs to helping a local softball team reach the Little League World Series.
Recap: Colorado loses 3-2 in a shootout to Dallas
Colorado secures three out of four points on the back-to-back.
Reclaiming the Politics of the Possible
Washington is stuck in a cycle of performative conflict. The incentives seem to reward outrage, not outcomes that last; purity tests, not problem‑solving. So it’s no surprise that after three shutdowns in less than a year, public approval of Congress collapsed to just 10 percent this spring. (Gallup...
New downtown Salt Lake entertainment district plans raise hopes, questions in Japantown
Smith Entertainment Group’s new three-block downtown Salt Lake City district would replace Japantown Street loading docks with shops and offices.
Quinn Ellis praised by Rick Pitino for playing ‘like a veteran’ in St. John’s preseason win
He scored only three points in St. John’s exhibition opener Wednesday night, but coach Rick Pitino came away impressed by his new point guard anyway.
Brewers put Dodgers season on the brink with stunning comeback Game 3 win
The Dodgers embarked on this postseason in search of World Series three-peat history.
Recap: Sporting KC falls at league leaders Nashville SC
Sporting Kansas City (6-19-4, 22 pts.) fell to a 4-0 defeat against Supporters’ Shield leaders Nashville SC (19-3-6, 63 pts.) at GEODIS Park on Wednesday night. Nashville took a three-goal lead into the halftime interval before adding a fourth in second-half stoppage time to seal the points. Balancing three games
Three Mistakes the Dodgers Must Avoid for an NLCS Comeback
The Milwaukee Brewers are no pushover, and they are proving it by putting the Los Angeles Dodgers in an 0-2 hole in the National League Championship Series. Now as the series swings to Dodger Stadium, the back-to-back World Series Champions must take stock and regroup if they want to have any chance of rebounding to …
Fire Emblem: Fortune's Weave announces Expansion Pass DLC
DLC is coming to Fire Emblem: Fortune’s Weave with a new Expansion Pass, Nintendo and Intelligent Systems just revealed. Three separate waves of content are planned. Wave 1, which is out today, includes four additional weapons. These are modeled after the Heroes’ Relics from Fire Emblem: Three Houses. Wave 2 includes additional wearable outfits and three additional allies. New allies...
Campus Creamery’s new owners are learning business in real time
Campus Creamery is a South 40 favorite, a classic midnight snack for WashU’s underclassmen. Three sophomores took over the well-loved ice cream shop last January as first-years.
'Reading Rainbow' host Mychal Threets shares concerning update
Viral librarian and ‘Reading Rainbow’ host Mychal Threets says he is 'trying to stay' amid ongoing mental health battles.
'Reading Rainbow' host Mychal Threets shares concerning update
Viral librarian and ‘Reading Rainbow’ host Mychal Threets says he is 'trying to stay' amid ongoing mental health battles.
The Painters Cottage opens in downtown Leesburg
Celebrating their passion for the arts, three friends have teamed up to open The Painters Cottage at 23 N. King St. in Leesburg.
Ubisoft plans cuts at German studios, adding to wave of workforce reductions
Ubisoft is planning to reduce its workforce in Germany, where it operates a trio of studios, by about 100 workers, Game File has learned. The company wants to offer employees buyouts to, should enough people accept, avoid having to lay anyone off. “In Germany, we initiated discussions with the Works Council last week regarding a proposed voluntary departure plan across Ubisoft Dusseldorf, Ubisoft Berlin & Ubisoft Mainz,” a company rep told Game File. A “works council” is a union-like group representing employees. “The voluntary plan is the primary measure being proposed to support the intended organizational changes,” the Ubisoft rep added. The company declined to confirm the scale of the potential headcount cut. Of the impacted studios, Mainz might be the best known to the public. It leads development of the Anno series and shipped the well-reviewed strategy game Anno 117: Pax Romana in November 2025. Berlin and Dusseldorf operate as support studios within Ubisoft’s creative network. Berlin recently supported the development of Rainbow Six Siege and the Rayman Legends Retold remake. Dusseldorf also contributed to those projects, as well as The Settlers and Ubisoft-branded escape rooms. Dusseldorf is the biggest of the three studios, with some 400+ workers, compared to just over 100 at the other two, a source familiar with the reductions and the teams told Game File. More than half of these new reductions of about 100 people are expected to happen at Dusseldorf. The planned cuts were announced at a town hall for the German studios on Tuesday of last week. In an email follow-up, the studio group’s managing director, Benedikt Grindel, said the cuts were intended to “best position our German studios for the future... with a clearer focus on their role, capabilities and organizational setup needed for the work ahead.” The email was an echo of the past. In January 2025, Grindel had emailed the Ubisoft developers in his region (or studio “zone”) to explain that a round of 185 cuts at the time, including about 65 at Dusseldorf, were “essential to improve our operational efficiency and ensure the long-term sustainability of our studios, the zone and the company.” A half-decade of continued job cuts Ubisoft has been aggressively cutting its headcount for years. At the end of September 2022, it had 20,729 workers. By the end of March 2026, that total was down to 16,590. Studio management is trying to trim costs as it grapples with a changing industry and a drought of releases, let alone hits. The company announced earlier this year that it had reduced its costs since 2022 by “nearly €325 million” ($362m) and planned to lower them through 2028 by another €180 million ($200m). In June the company said it was closing down its Winnipeg and Belgrade studios and cutting roles in its Barcelona team. Even commercial and creative success hasn’t spared studios from this ongoing company-wide contraction. As Game File was nailing down details around the proposed cuts in Germany, Ubisoft management was informing workers of cuts in its Singapore studio, which shipped a hit remake of Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag this past July. Some 70 positions in Singapore are being eliminated “to align the studio with upcoming production needs,” per a company rep’s statement to Game File. In early 2024, a large team in the Singapore studio launched the multiplayer pirate game Skull & Bones. It performed poorly but has been supported with regular content updates since. Many of Ubisoft’s studios around the world are heavily subsidized via regional grants and tax breaks. Singapore had been among them for years, but received no such local assistance in the 12 months ending this past March. News of the Singapore cuts broke today alongside word that Ubisoft is also proposing the closure of RedLynx, pending negotiations with officials. The Finnish studio behind the motorbike series Trials was founded in 2000 and sold to Ubisoft in 2011. As reported by VGC (and corroborated by Game File), Ubisoft management told employees it could not come up with a new, sustainable assignment for RedLynx. The 2025 workforce at Ubisoft Dusseldorf were straight-up cuts. This time, Ubisoft is hoping the reductions at its trio of German studios will largely come from workers taking a payout to leave. The company offered such voluntary dismissals at its Massive Entertainment studio (The Division) a year ago. For the German studios’ buyouts this time around, Ubisoft and the Works Council had discussed a formula that’d pay a worker’s monthly salary multiplied by 1.5 and by the number of years they’ve worked at the company, according to Game File sources. The formula is still subject to negotiations with the Works Council and has not yet been part of an official offer to workers. It could be adjusted up or down, and it could be supplemented with additional bonuses. Asked about the floated payout formula, a Ubisoft rep told Game File, “The terms of a potential voluntary departure program remain subject to negotiation with employee representatives. No final agreement has been reached, and we won’t comment on specific proposals while discussions are ongoing.” Game File is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. Subscribe Item 2: Epic’s AI adventures Epic Games (Fortnite, the Unreal engine) is all-in on using AI to try to transform the way it makes video games and game-making tools. It’s leaders appear to be undeterred by any resistance among gamers and some game developers around generative AI—and instead emboldened by advances, particularly in AI-assisted programming. A recap of the last three days: On Monday, Bloomberg reported that Epic management told workers last week that development of an upcoming game combining Star Wars and Marvel characters would be “AI first.” Employees would be expected to use AI models such as Claude to code the game. A manager told Epic’s developers there would be “[n]o more hand-written code” and that art for the game would be “generated with full AI workflows,” per the outlet. Just ahead of that story running, Epic founder Tim Sweeney tweeted: “We have a huge pivot underway here at Epic, moving developers around to retool for maximum AI acceleration. The aim isn’t to do the same stuff with fewer people, but to enable everyone here to build MORE and BETTER stuff, and to bring the benefits to all teams using Unreal.” In a follow-up, Sweeney predicted that most game development processes would be at least three times faster a year from now than they were in January 2026, thanks to AI. To a person on X who told him he was failing to read the room, Sweeney said: “Much of the room wants it to be 2016 again, but it’s not. Our job, as the provider of tools and technology to much of the industry, is to design for the present that is and the future that will soon be.” On Wednesday, Epic announced it was releasing a faster launcher for its Epic Games Store marketplace. It did so by stating in a blog post as clear as could be that the launcher is an AI-enabled, vibe-coded project: Programming is hard. So, instead of doing that, we vibe coded a new Epic Games Launcher that’s way faster and more responsive than the current one, and has a new look. Programming is hard? That was unexpected phrasing from a company founded by a legendarily great programmer. Back in 2011, Sweeney told me that he’d picked up programming quickly as a kid and rejoiced at the power it gave him. “I could look at any program that anybody else had written and, with enough effort, build something cooler.” Item 3: The Xbox Labs experiment (and one of the people behind it) Microsoft’s Xbox division, which is flooding the zone with announcements lately, yesterday revealed a new internal tech-tinkering team called Xbox Labs. In the words of Xbox boss Asha Sharma Labs is “a small group of game makers, engineers and scientists whose job is to turn emerging ideas into things our players and developers can experience.” Conventional wisdom coming out of the announcement is that Labs is a team that’ll focus on ideas driven by generative AI. In her announcement, Sharma cited some of the dizzying achievements in tech and gaming over the past month as AI agents and other AI tools have been deployed to swiftly figure out how popular games work, then rebuild them and mix them up. She mentioned seeing ”games rapidly decompiled and rebuilt to run on hardware they were never originally designed to support” and said “[p]erhaps more surprisingly, we’ve seen many of the biggest games in the world have been remixed into the source code of another.” (Minecraft plus Elden Ring, for example, or Fortnite + Super Monkey Ball + Overwatch + Diablo + others.) Sharma also cited the work of Windows PC games being ported to run in browsers, a seeming reference to a recent AI-assisted fan port of Halo. Or perhaps Call of Duty or GTA. Sharma didn’t use the specific term “AI” in her memo, but she came close, citing AI “agents” and their potential for game-making tools that Labs could help craft: I think XBOX has an important role to play here. Coding became the first major workload for agents because they can write, run, and test software. Games share many of those same properties, and people spend more than 72 billion hours a year playing XBOX games, roughly five times the estimated time spent writing code worldwide. We’ve spent 25 years learning how to make great games, and I want our game makers to help shape what these new technologies make possible. As we learn, we’ll share the tools we build with developers across the industry, just as we always have. When I asked an Xbox rep if Labs was an AI-centric team, they said genAI was not the focus, describing it as having a broader mandate for using new tech in new ways in gaming. As an example, they pointed to Xbox’s recently launched disc-to-digital gaming usage rights program. Microsoft didn’t specifically name anyone involved full-time in Xbox Labs yesterday, but on social media and LinkedIn, I spotted Adrian Mato IDing himself as leading the creatio of tools at Labs and talking up the launch. Mato first caught my attention in late September, when he said on X that he was “starting to build a new team at Xbox focused on products and tools for how games get built and distributed as agentic tools become more capable.” At the time, he framed AI-based tools as a supplement to traditional game dev tools. “I don’t think we need to replace them,” he said. Since then, he’s publicly shown interest in AI and in games. He’s recently spent some of his X feed marveling at the power of AI agents and praising the lighting in the latest Gears of War. Following the Labs announcement yesterday, he enthused about the Xbox Labs’ stylish landing page. He wrote: “We built some fun tools to art-direct shaders in real time, experimented with interactive ASCII art, and sprinkled in lots of tiny details. “Move your mouse to leave a colorful trail that reveals the original footage, or interact with the video to trigger bursts of particles. “A lot of love went into making it all feel just right. “More to come”
LMH Health receives Level IV Trauma Center designation
LMH Health has been designated a Level IV Trauma Center by the Kansas Department of Health and Environment (KDHE), recognizing the organization’s trauma program and strengthening access to emergency care for patients across the region. The achievement follows a comprehensive review process conducted every three years to ensure hospitals meet standards established by the American […]
Veteran KQED politics reporter to retire after nearly three decades
Scott Shafer, one of the Bay Area's best-known political journalists and a fixture at KQED for nearly three decades plans to retire after a career covering California elections, debates and more.
Veteran KQED politics reporter Scott Shafer to retire
Scott Shafer, one of the Bay Area’s best-known political journalists and a fixture at KQED for nearly three decades plans to retire after a career covering California elections, debates and more.