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AT&T to Offer Everbridge Critical Event Management Solution
AT&T will offer enterprise and public sector customers Everbridge 360, designed to help organizations communicate faster when it matters most.
Researchers Develop AI Test to Predict Recurrence of Breast Cancer
Breakthrough offers potential for faster, less costly predictions to help guide treatment
Air pollution may cause childhood obesity by disrupting impulse control, study finds
Babies exposed to higher levels of neurotoxin more likely to have difficulty controlling impulses later, research shows
Watchdog warns of risks to patients as private equity’s stake in US healthcare grows
New report details slew of ventures between private equity and nonprofits and calls for greater government oversight
Starmer faces likely row at Nato summit after US rebuke on defence spending
US ambassador to Nato has called for all allies who are ‘lagging behind’ to step up immediately
NCAA president expects no changes to trans athlete rules after US supreme court ruling
Collegiate sports organization led by Charlie Baker banned trans athletes from women’s sports after 2025 Trump order
Ferrari just invented a new gearbox for the 12Cilindri that's both manual and automatic
The new Ferrari 12Cilindri Manuale comes with a manual-automatic transmission that's an engineering masterpiece, but there's an elephant in the room
ITV sells media and entertainment arm to Sky for £1.6bn
The two broadcasters say the deal will create a strong rival to global streaming giants.
ITV sells media and entertainment arm to Sky for £1.6bn
The two broadcasters say the deal will create a strong rival to global streaming giants.
Post-disaster toll on mothers linked to worse child mental health
A UNMC study related to the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill shows that Louisiana moms’ losses were associated with worse mental health in their children.
UK's ITV to sell media and entertainment unit to Comcast's Sky for $2.1 billion
British broadcaster ITV said on Monday it had agreed to sell its media and entertainment division to Comcast's Sky for £1.6 billion ($2.13 billion).
From shampoo to cookies, consumer products get an AI makeover
French cosmetics company L'Oreal has used AI to identify molecules in its skincare products that can be repurposed for use in shampoo and can now create products four times faster than before, a senior executive told Reuters.
We tried Base44's first LLM model to make a website
Base44 said its new AI model aims to be faster, burn through fewer credits, and produce better designs than frontier models. We put it to the test.
Ministers to crack down on political donations as Farage faces calls for second inquiry
Measures to be announced to make funding more transparent amid new revelations about Reform UK leader
Virginia health officials warn that heat is causing medical issues for hundreds
Hampton Roads Virginia and Northeastern North Carolina News, Weather, Traffic and Sports.
Walkway glow
A member of the Northeastern community is silhouetted in the ISEC building.
Residents in eastern Congo cling to hope as a new Ebola treatment trial begins
At the Ebola treatment center inside Bunia's Evangelical Medical Center, in eastern Congo's Ituri province, the launch of the research was marked by urgency rather than ceremony.
EasyJet agrees to £5bn takeover by US investment firm
Agreement in principle with Castlelake follows several rejected offers and means UK’s biggest low-cost carrier will be taken private
Keeping it clean even when politics is dirty
Brief letters: Questions of conscience | Perfect storm | Nice as pie | Council of despair
SoFi (SOFI) Launches AI Investing And Small Business Loans In Product Push
SoFi Technologies (NasdaqGS:SOFI) has launched Composer by SoFi, an AI-powered investing platform designed to help members build and automate customized investment strategies. The company has also introduced SoFi Small Business Loans, a digital-first lending product aimed at giving entrepreneurs faster access to capital with no fees. These product rollouts expand SoFi's presence in AI-driven investing tools and small business lending within its broader financial services platform. SoFi...
Shore Regional Health Cancer Center adds community outreach coordinator
EASTON — The Cancer Center at University of Maryland Shore Regional Health recently welcomed Catalina Billings as coordinator of community outreach, a new position designed to provide up-to-date cancer information
Delivery firm Evri sues BBC for £1.2m over Panorama documentary
Company seeks redress for contracts it says it has lost as a result of programme’s claims about its business practices
Trump’s $2bn bonanza heralds the rise of political grifters across the west
With voters embracing leaders who brazenly monetise public office, experts say an ethical code is breaking down
Fossil teeth smaller than a nail may rewrite human origin stories - Futura-Sciences
A shrew sized primate ancestor Purgatorius first appears in the fossil record around 65.9 million years ago. This timeline places the animal just after the Cretaceous-Paleogene asteroid impact that eliminated non-avian dinosaurs. The creature was a small, tree-dwelling mammal about the size of a modern shrew. Scientists classify it as...
Why are Republicans red and Democrats blue?
The party colors are a surprisingly recent tradition. But do they really represent the diversity of Americans’ beliefs?
Majority of UK smokers wrongly believe vaping is as harmful as cigarettes, experts find
Analysis shows public understanding about vaping, which is far less harmful than smoking, has plummeted in past decade
Best and worst long-haul airlines, from someone who only flies economy
I've tested a dozen different airlines to find the best for long-haul travel. Etihad Airways exceeded expectations, while China Eastern wasn't for me.
This $35 AI-powered Mac app transcribes your voice three times faster than typing
Work smarter on your Mac with this AI voice assistant.
The strangest show on earth: lightning, imperial hubris and a boring tour of Trump’s rhetorical back alleys
Would we get a 21st-century Gettysburg address? Or YMCA, gripes about his legal woes and boasting about Iran?
NATO's eastern flank prepares to fend off Russia
Reporters traveled to three exposed stretches of Europe's eastern frontier and found varied strategies and uneven progress to deter Russia.
Residents in eastern Congo cling to hope as a new Ebola treatment trial begins
Residents in Congo's Ebola outbreak zone are hopeful as researchers begin a study of two potential treatments.
For much of the past century, scientists believed dinosaurs were already in decline when the asteroid struck 66 million years ago — but a 2025 study published in Science found fossils in New Mexico showing they were flourishing in diverse, thriving ecosystems right up until the moment of impact
For much of the past century, many scientists believed the dinosaurs were already in decline when the asteroid struck 66 million years ago, a group past its prime that a cosmic accident merely finished off. A 2025 study published in the journal Science, built on fossils from New Mexico, argues almost the opposite. Right up […]
Andrew Mortensen Earns Georgia Tech MS in Computer Science
Woodbridge, CT resident Andrew Mortensen graduates from Georgia Tech with a Master of Science in Computer Science during the 270th Commencement exercises. (156 characters)
School Days Remastered Game Reveals English Voice Cast
Katelyn Barr, Brittany Lauda, P.M. Seymour lead cast
Trump hails US exceptionalism before veering into darkly political speech to usher in America 250
The president’s speech capped an Independence Day eve that was otherwise most notable for a brutal heat wave the gripped much of the eastern portion of the country.
Huntsville gaming business making a big splash in the hobby industry
One of the most popular gaming businesses in north Alabama is Mastermind Gaming.
Sony Underfire Yet Again for Blocking Marvel Tokon in 132 Countries on PC
One disaster to another
Yankees Have Themselves to Blame for Top Prospect Disaster
The New York Yankees should be kicking themselves for this.
Elon Musk posted twice as often on UK race and immigration as about SpaceX in IPO run-up
Guardian analysis of X feed shows how keen world’s richest person was to air his views and ‘interfere’ in British politics
A hidden weakness in deadly cancers could lead to powerful new treatments
A UCLA study has identified a hidden Achilles' heel in aggressive small cell cancers that have resisted new treatments for decades. Scientists found that tumors lacking the RB gene become critically dependent on the protein E2F3 for survival. Blocking E2F3 shut down tumor growth in laboratory models, and existing FDA-approved drugs may be able to exploit this vulnerability. The discovery could pave the way for faster development of more effective therapies.
Chinese team’s brain-mimicking chip ‘up to 478 times faster than Nvidia GPU’
New chip performs data storage and computation in a single memory array, enabling real-time modelling of complex brain structures, team says.
Ukraine's defense industry edge is tests in days, not months or years
Ukraine's defense companies are iterating much faster than their Western counterparts typically can because they can test their systems more easily.
Science news this week: James Webb telescope finds a never-before-seen substance, China's 'Great Green Wall' grows faster than natural trees, and a Medici murder mystery is solved
July 4, 2026: Our weekly roundup of the latest science in the news, as well as a few fascinating articles to keep you entertained over the weekend.
Trump hails U.S. exceptionalism before veering into darkly political speech to usher in America's 250th anniversary
The president's speech capped an Independence Day eve otherwise most notable for a brutal heat wave that gripped much of the eastern part of the country.
NBA Eastern Conference rankings stacked with talent, Pistons in trouble
Giannis Antetokounmpo to Heat, Kawhi Leonard to Raptors, Jaylen Brown to 76ers. And LeBron James is likely coming East. Pistons need lineup upgrade.
NBA Eastern Conference rankings stacked with talent, Pistons in trouble
Giannis Antetokounmpo to Heat, Kawhi Leonard to Raptors, Jaylen Brown to 76ers. And LeBron James is likely coming East. Pistons need lineup upgrade.
The Rolling Stones: Foreign Tongues review – stomping blues and anti-Musk politics make this another late triumph
Continuing the rejuvenated sound of 2023’s Hackney Diamonds, there’s touching vulnerability from Keith Richards while Jagger confronts war and autocracy
From Madonna to Minions & Monsters: your complete entertainment guide to the week ahead
The begoggled yellow munchkins are indulging in a spot of time travel, and the queen of pop returns with a new album of pristine dancefloor bangers
Fight them for the beaches: the real villain of Europe’s overtourism is big business
From Albania to Portugal, privatisation of the coastline is bringing locals out on to the streets. For them, the economic benefits are few and far between, says Adam Almeida, a writer living in London
CDC investigates parasite that’s caused cases of ‘explosive’ diarrhea in 18 US states
Parasite cyclospora spreads through produce and water contaminated with feces and causes the intestinal illness cyclosporiasis
Rescue mission launches to save NASA telescope that's falling back to Earth thanks to solar storms
Launched in 2004, Swift is sinking faster than ever because of recent solar storms.
Americans disgusted at Trump earning $1bn from crypto as president: ‘Obviously a grift’
Hundreds of Guardian readers expressed concerns over greed in the White House and a billionaire president unconcerned with high gas and grocery prices
Governor Moore Announced Energy Assistance To Lower Utility Bills for 200,000 Maryland Households, Wrote On How To Improve Young Men’s Mental Health, Applauded SCOTUS Decision To Uphold Birthright Citizenship, And A Local Farmer Said ‘Gov. Moore Takes Action For Farmers’
This past week, Governor Wes Moore announced energy assistance programs to help lower utility bills for 200,000 Maryland households, published an opinion piece on how to improve young men’s mental health, applauded the SCOTUS decision to uphold birthright citizenship, and a local farmer applauded his work to secure a USDA Secretarial Disaster Declaration. Governor Moore […]
Venezuela's infrastructure long a disaster waiting to happen
Even before June's devastating earthquakes, Venezuelans experienced electricity outages that affected the supply of drinking water, as well as serious failures in public services, transportation and telecommunications.
Trump denies any wrongdoing over family's business dealings
US President Donald Trump has defended his family's multimillion-dollar business activities and denied conflicts of interest with his public office, telling US broadcaster CNBC that there was nothing ...
Lancaster County public sales: July 3, 2026
Martin & Rutt Auctioneers LLC, of New Holland, conducted a public auction of real estate June 23 for Sarah L. Smucker at 107 Ewell Road, East Earl. A four-bedroom house
The newest luxury hotel amenity isn't a spa. It's Pilates.
Luxury hotels like The Aster and some Ritz-Carltons are adding reformer Pilates studios to attract wellness-focused travelers.
Sports quiz of the week: World Cup, Ben Stokes, Wimbledon and LeBron James
Have you followed the big stories in football, cricket, tennis, rugby union, basketball, cycling and Formula One?
Hossam Hassan and the blurring of lines between football and politics in Egypt
Egypt face Australia in a historic World Cup game on Friday and the manager has been keen to highlight president Al-Sisi’s role in the achievement
Could Your AI Content Land Your Business In Court?
Generative AI is helping businesses create content faster, but it is also creating new copyright and intellectual property risks that many companies do not understand.
Waymo robotaxis have easter eggs for the July 4 celebration
Waymo is tweaking the in-car experience to get into the festive spirit for the Fourth of July.
China says man who flew plane into Beijing skyscraper had mental health problems
Official statement offers the most detailed official account yet of the highly unusual and fatal incident in Beijing
Tucker Carlson floats idea of new political party in the US in interview
Former Fox News host further said he doesn’t ‘want to be a candidate’ for president and aired frustration with Trump
Thousands need medical attention from ‘already overwhelmed’ Venezuelan healthcare system: Aid worker
Claudia Manresa, Venezuela Regional Manager at Project HOPE joins Meet the Press NOW to discuss the urgent humanitarian situation following last week’s twin earthquakes and the strain the disaster is putting on the country's already struggling systems.
The Guardian view on xenophobic violence in South Africa: anti-migrant politics can’t fix domestic problems
Editorial: Foreigners are not to blame for unemployment, crime and the state of public services. Leaders should have the courage to say so more clearly
Following attack, LG Health\'s nurse scientist\'s violence prevention efforts to be recognized nationally
As the punches rained down on his face, Christian Burchill was paralyzed by shock.
Scientists Sound the Alarm: Antarctic Discovery Is More Disturbing Than Anyone Feared - Futura-Sciences
The Frozen Continent Is Changing Faster Than We Thought Antarctica has always been a tough nut to crack for scientists. Its complex and sometimes baffling phenomena have long made it mysterious, and recent findings suggest its influence on our planet’s climate could be much greater than we thought. In September...
'It takes a lot of courage': DR Congo health workers battle Ebola
In eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, frontline health workers are battling an Ebola outbreak with little protection.
Northern Lights Forecast: Aurora Could Be Visible In Northern States Today—Days After Powerful X-Class Solar Flare
Forecasters expect a coronal mass ejection and a powerful X-class solar flare could impact the Earth starting on Thursday.
Over-40s with obesity have normal-BMI cholesterol and blood pressure levels, study finds
Success of statins and blood-pressure drugs hailed as researchers find some people with obesity were ‘better off’
They say Andy Burnham is ‘good at politics’ – but the proof will only come in time
The PM-in-waiting brings the promise of likability and a mission voters can believe in. He’ll need all that and more to survive, says Guardian columnist Zoe Williams
Bethesda Shows Off Oblivion Remastered Switch 2 Physical Release
"I knew I could count on you"
WHO, Member States discuss expanding South-East Asia Emergency Health Fund SEARHEF
With climate-related disasters, disease outbreaks and other health emergencies becoming more frequent and complex across South-East Asia, WHO and Member States today discussed measures to strengthen and expand the South-East Asia Regional Health Emergency Fund (SEARHEF) to ensure countries have rapid access to life-saving support when crises strike. "Health emergencies are becoming more frequent, more complex and more costly. Countries need rapid, flexible financing that can be mobilized immediately when lives are at risk. SEARHEF represents regional solidarity in action, enabling Member States to support one another when emergencies strike," said Dr Catharina Boehme, Officer-in-Charge WHO South-East Asia Region. She was addressing the Fifteenth Meeting of the Working Group on the Governance of SEARHEF.
Local businesses sending supplies to Venezuela
Hampton Roads Virginia and Northeastern North Carolina News, Weather, Traffic and Sports.
Former NBA player Malik Beasley pleads not guilty in gambling scandal
Beasley is the latest charged in a growing sports gambling probe led by prosecutors in the Eastern District of New York.
CBS Atlanta's Sam Crenshaw wins 2026 Georgia's Sportscasters of the Year
Rory McIlroy turns heads at Wimbledon by sporting his Masters green jacket at Center Court
Rory McIlroy wore his Masters tournament green jacket to Wimbledon, sitting with wife Erica Stoll and his Ryder Cup teammates at Center Court.
Davenport University launches accelerated pathway to mental health counseling
Davenport University is saving students time and money with its one-of-a-kind Bachelor of Applied Science in Applied Psychology and Master of Arts in Mental Health Counseling combined degree to provide an accelerated stackable pathway for students to become mental health counselors. The new course pathway is 168 credits, a reduction from the
RFK Master Plan proposes new housing, entertainment, park space around Commanders' stadium
D.C. officials released a draft of its RFK Master Plan, which maps out where new housing, recreation and retail developments will be featured around the future stadium of the NFL's Washington Com
ECU Health launches new residency program, welcomes first ophthalmology residents
New program expands access to specialized eye care in eastern North Carolina
From Business Idea to Launch: Inside Babson’s New Online MSBC Degree · Babson Thought & Action
Professor Richard Hanna explains how Babson’s new online Master of Science in Management in Business Creation helps aspiring entrepreneurs build launch-ready businesses.
‘Beautiful blobs’: synthetic life a step closer as scientists make cells using lab-made DNA
Tiny, quivering spheres designed to feed and multiply raise prospect of artificial organisms to make drugs, food and fuel
Only the midwest saw US population growth in every state. Will new residents change its politics?
Lower costs in Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky and Ohio raise questions about whether Republican strongholds will shift
US cooking oil market shrinking due to Ice pressures on Latino households, Mazola owner says
Economic squeeze and anti-immigration raids have hit Hispanic communities, prompting people to shop online and reuse oil
What to know about the US supreme court’s ruling on trans athletes
Decision upholding bans on trans girls in women’s sports in two states is narrow, but could be broadly weaponized for anti-LGBTQ+ efforts
Sony will cease production of discs for new PlayStation games in 2028
New games sold for PlayStation consoles will only be available digitally and won’t be sold on discs effective January 2028, Sony has announced. The move applies to all PlayStation games released from that point on, including those made by Sony and those released by third parties. The PlayStation group calls the change “a natural direction for Sony Interactive Entertainment to adapt to consumer trends as the general preference for digital media significantly outpaces physical discs,” according to a PlayStation blog post reviewed by Game File in advance of its publication. As movies, TV and music have shifted from physical media to an age of downloads and streaming, Sony’s move could speed the demise of physical media in a gaming. The industry has offered consumers games via cartridges, cassettes, floppy discs, CDs, DVDs and Blu-Rays across a 50-year stretch. Sony has been reporting to investors in recent years that PlayStation games have been increasingly purchased as downloads, not as discs. The most recent figures show nearly four in five purchases of full games for PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5 were purchased digitally in the past year. Stats like that may cause today’s news to carry an air of the inevitable. But Sony’s declaration for 2028 is still likely to produce a shock, as the biggest gaming platform on the planet that uses game discs leaves them behind. Discs going away, but the fate of game boxes is unknown Sony is committing to still selling games in physical retailers even after they drop discs in 2028. Just how those games will be sold—in boxes with codes inside, as cards marked with digital redemption codes—is unclear. Digital games will also continue to be sold in the online PlayStation Store. New games released for PlayStation consoles prior to January 2028 will be unaffected by the policy change, Sony says. That means the PS5 games of 2027, be they a new Madden, a new God of War, a new Call of Duty, a new Sly Cooper (one can dream?), would still potentially be offered on disc. PlayStation 6 implications Sony’s timeline for a transition to a no-disc era will also spin up more speculation about the timing and configuration of Sony’s next-generation console, the probable PlayStation 6. “This pretty much guarantees that PS6 won’t arrive until 2028 at the earliest,” Piers Harding-Rolls, senior games research analyst at Ampere Analysis tells Game File. Harding-Rolls also concludes from today’s news that “the base version of a PS6 will not include a physical media drive,” as Sony looks to keep costs down on the device. Sony itself is saying nothing about the PS6 today: not its timing, nor how it might or might not support internal or external disc drives in order to run disc-based PS4 and PS5 games, should the console be backwards compatible. The many signs this was coming Industry support for games being released on physical media has been waning. As has consumer interest in them. PC games effectively went all-digital years ago, thanks to the popularity of playing games through Steam and other digital storefronts. The Covid-19 pandemic and the lockdowns that kept much of the global population home helped shift shopping patterns toward downloads. Sony’s own data shows PlayStation game downloads being an uncommon consumer choice a decade ago and now becoming the norm. On consoles, physical media has been in such decline that Sony and Microsoft both launched their current gen Xbox Series and PS5 consoles in 2020 with cheaper versions that lacked disc drives. In early 2024, Phil Spencer, then head of Xbox, told me that ““[w]e ship games physically and digitally, and we’re really just following what the customers are doing.” He added that the game industry had become an outlier in still supporting disc-based entertainment, even as movies and TV have bailed on discs in favor of downloads and steaming: “Gaming consoles themselves have kind of become the last consumer electronic device that has a drive. And this is a real issue, just in terms of the number of manufacturers that are actually building drives and the cost associated with those. And when you think about cogs that we’re going to go put in a console—and as you have fewer suppliers and fewer buyers—the cost of the drive does have an impact.” Last year, the Nintendo’s Switch 2, which uses cartridges rather than discs, introduced the concept of game-key cards, which are physical media that contain no game, just a prompt for a download. Even disc-based games aren’t what they once were, now frequently containing just stubs of games rather than the whole thing. The website Does It Play has tested over 3000 games and found that, for example, that the disc version of this year’s hit 007: First Light, only contained the game’s first mission, with the rest needing to be downloaded. Beyond all that, last week brought the news that Grand Theft Auto VI, likely the biggest game launch this decade, will debut for PS5 and Xbox Series without a disc-based version. Today’s big news comes to you for free. Game File is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and ensure more of my work is possible, please consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. Subscribe Discs helped define PlayStation However the trends in entertainment may be going, it is still remarkable to see PlayStation ditch discs given their importance in PlayStation history: In the late 1990s, the first PlayStation’s support for games on relatively cheap CD-ROMs instead of traditional game cartridges allowed the upstart console to outmaneuver cartridge-based systems from Nintendo and Sega, as it drove down game prices down in the process. (The cheaper disc format even prompted Final Fantasy VII maker Square to taunt Nintendo in a magazine ad, saying that if the game was “available on cartridge, it’d retail for around $1200.”) PlayStation devices often doubled as machines for watching movies and TV on the latest disc-based formats. In the late 2000s, for example, Sony’s pricy PS3 gained traction as a go-to device for playing then-novel Blu-Ray discs. In 2013, Sony effectively roasted the digital game-sharing restrictions proposed by rival Microsoft for its upcoming Xbox One console by showing how games could be shared for the then-upcoming PS4. In a 21-second clip that has over 20 million views on YouTube, one PlayStation executive simply handed a game box—presumably with disc inside—to another, who said “thanks.” Sony’s possible motivations The PlayStation announcement today cites “consumer preferences” and a shift away from discs among “the broader entertainment industry,” but does not delve into the decision-making process that brought Sony to this point. Sony is not discussing the economics of this move (I asked!), but there are a number of potential factors: Abandoning discs will spare Sony the cost of manufacturing and shipping them, which analysts and industry veterans I spoke to said could account for $1 or so of a game’s retail price. For first-party games, that’s direct savings for Sony, though the amount is limited by the winnowing percentage of people who were even buying the disc-based versions. For third-party games, Sony could pass the savings on to partners or just retain the better profit margin for themselves. As the 2024 comments from Phil Spencer alluded to, leaving discs behind could mean leaving disc-drives behind, allowing Sony to produce consoles more cheaply. Switching to digital-only for games could diminish the risks of copies of new games leaking. It would also seemingly make second-hand sales of used games impossible, pushing more people to buy their own copies of games. These economic benefits for Sony could be boons for the games industry overall, Ampere analyst Piers Harding-Rolls tells Game File. Among other things, it could free publishers and retailers from having to worry about securing an inventory of game discs when trying to sell games, he noted. “If there is a way to streamline the business of games retail, I generally think it’s a good thing for the industry as it removes unnecessary costs,” Harding-Rolls said. “This will help offset pressure on margins from other directions – development and staffing costs for example.” Should the industry shift from game boxes that contain discs to smaller, cheaper game cards, Harding-Rolls said, that reduces pressure on publishers and retailers. “The advantage of everything going digital for the industry is that sales can be tracked much more easily and there is less commercial risk for publishers wanting to continue selling via retail,” he said. The shift to no discs will also likely impact game development timelines, as developers will no longer face the same urgency to have a build ready to submit to PlayStation for the production of a disc, as industry experts noted around GTA VI’s no-disc news last week. Instead, projects may gain weeks of development time, in the event delivery deadlines for platform approval move closer to release date. Preservationists’ likely worries While millions of gamers have shifted to digital, there are still people who associate game discs—and only game discs—with actual ownership of PlayStation games. That portion of the gaming community spoke up last week about wanting to buy a version of GTA VI that they could hold in their hands, could lend to a friend and could potentially pop into a well-preserved PS5 console three decades from now and still see it run. Such gamers didn’t want to worry that they’d merely purchased a digital copy that could lose access to the game if, say, the company behind the game someday turns of the servers that transmit downloadable copies. Digital copies of games are inherently less long-lasting, because consumers aren’t actually buying a game (on a disc), just buying access to the game. The fine print in online gaming shops notes this, as does a recent law that went on the books in California in 2025. That lasw requires game publishers doing business in the state to refrain from words like “sell” when offering digital copies of games, unless they explicitly tell consumers that what’s being sold isn’t the game itself but a potentially revocable license to access it. A Sony spokesperson noted to Game File that “[w]ith all digital content, including games, movies, and music, players are purchasing a personal license for non-commercial use.” Regarding the fears of PlayStation games being lost to time in an all-digital era, the rep also noted that Sony remains “committed to delivering experiences from past generations to the new platforms our players are using.” They noted that PlayStation has used emulation and remasters to keep offering its classic games to modern gamers. It’s true that many consumers have become accustomed to not having physical copies of new music albums or movies, but the relative precariousness of digital copies of games is in fact being highlighted today by…. Sony’s other big announcement: the upcoming closure of the PS3 and PS Vita online stores Sony said today that it will be closing the online marketplaces for its PlayStation 3 console and PS Vita handheld in most countries in July 2027 (sooner elsewhere: August 2026 for the PS3 store Mexico, Honduras and Nicaragua; late 2026 for PS3 in other Latin American countries and the Middle East). “We know this news may be disappointing to PS3 and PS Vita players who hold a special place in their hearts for this generation of gaming,” Sony said in its announcement, saying the move “was not an easy decision for us to make.” Sony said that PS3 and Vita marketplaces “are no longer able” to support modern commerce systems, prompting a “need” to close the shops and focus on more modern PlayStation platform stores. The news may spark some deja vu. Sony announced back in March 2021 that it planned to take the PS3, Vita and PlayStation Portable marketplaces offline that summer. The move would have caused some 2,000 digital-only games to become unavailable for new purchasers, according to a VGC analysis at the time. Fans complained loudly. By April 2021, Sony walked back the PS3 and Vita shop closures, with then PlayStation boss Jim Ryan saying “it’s clear that we made the wrong decision here.” This time around, Sony is giving a longer notice period in most regions. The closure of those stores is still likely to cut off access to new purchases of digital-only PS3 and Vita games. The current PlayStation 5 marketplace sells PS5 and PS4 games, as well as a selection of PS1 and PS2 games. It does not sell PS3 games, because games for that platform can’t run on the system (some are offered via a PlayStation Plus streaming option). Vita games also aren’t sold via PS5. Sony says digitally purchased PS3 and Vita games will be downloadable after the stores’ shutdowns “for the foreseeable future.” Sony’s move contrasts with Microsoft’s Xbox platform, which continues to sell and support games from all four Xbox console generations. But it puts it in line with Nintendo, which disabled purchases in the marketplace for its Wii console (a contemporary of the PS3) in 2019. Nintendo discontinued purchases in the online shop for its 3DS portable (a contemporary of the Vita) in 2023. The big questions about Sony’s 2028 post-disc era Will Microsoft follow suit, ending support for new disc-based games on Xbox platforms and therefore all game consoles, too? Whether Microsoft does or not, will third-parties that can no longer release games on discs for PlayStation, simply ditch the disc options across the board? Given the GTA VI no-disc experiment launching this November, will more game publishers decide to forgo disc-based offerings even in 2027? How will no-disc PS5/6 games be packaged and sold in brick-and-mortar retail stores? What becomes of game sharing in an all-digital era? Will Sony modify its current set-up, which currently allows some sharing of digital games across a pair of consoles, to allow more casual lending? (See for example, Nintendo’s year-old system of letting players lend a digital game to another player in a “family group” for up to 14 days.) Will there be a version of a PS6 with a disc drive? Or will a drive be offered as an add-on? And how will gamers who want to retain access to PS4/PS5 disc-based games react to whichever configurations Sony chooses to offer? What will the final disc-based PlayStation game be?
‘Tip of the iceberg’: nearly 500,000 New Yorkers lose health insurance due to Trump cuts
First of major coverage losses expected as a result of the ‘One Big Beautiful’ bill signed into law one year ago
Quakes strain Venezuela’s health system
LA GUAIRA, Venezuela -- Aid groups warned Tuesday that Venezuela's fragile healthcare system is being pushed to its limits nearly a week after two powerful earthquakes, with damaged and understaffed hospitals getting overwhelmed by the injured and infectious diseases flaring in the disaster zone.
7 events in Lancaster County this weekend, from an Afroman concert to patriotic events
Get your holiday weekend plans squared away a few days early.
LA sports radio host torches Lebron in blistering reaction: ‘Wasn’t a Laker’
The longtime broadcaster also suggested the split ultimately boiled down to money, saying he believes contract negotiations played a larger role than basketball considerations.
Trump raked in more than $1bn from crypto businesses in 2025, filing shows
President’s crypto ventures have eclipsed in revenue much of his property portfolio that took decades to accumulate
Women with irregular periods should be checked for PMOS, NHS says
Polyendocrine metabolic ovarian syndrome is underdiagnosed and inconsistenly managed, according to Nice
Researchers say Anthropic’s Claude Science will boost drug discovery
Anthropic's Claude Science aims to speed up drug discovery. Northeastern scientists weigh in on what it could mean for their research.
Trans youth athletes vow to keep playing after US supreme court sports ruling
Justices upheld laws in West Virginia and Idaho, boosting similar restrictions in 25 other states
AI Should Focus on Fixing Business Problems
Automation should not replace accountability.
Fly Phishing: How Business Aviation Can Fight AI-Supercharged Cybertheft
AI is making cybercriminals faster, smarter and harder to detect. Learn how business aviation operators can recognize emerging threats, defend against sophisticated phishing attacks and protect their aircraft, data and organizations.
Frequent AI chatbot use linked to belief in anti-vaccine myths, poll finds
Poll finds use of AI tools for health advice is correlated with belief in vaccine falsehoods, such as shots causing autism
Google introduces a faster, cheaper image generator with Nano Banana 2 Lite
Google is updating its image generator to make it faster and cheaper, making it a more useful tool for creators looking to make AI content.
66 billion trees have been planted in China's Great Green Wall — and they appear to be growing faster than natural forests
A study of China's planted and natural forests reveals age, species mix, and CO2 sensitivity all contribute to how fast trees sprout leaves.
The Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion Remastered details frame rate and resolution for Nintendo Switch 2, DLSS support, mouse controls, more
The Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion Remastered gets frame rate, resolution, DLSS, mouse controls, and more details for Nintendo Switch 2.