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The same scientists who reported water erupting from Europa in 2014 have now reanalysed 14 years of Hubble data and cut their confidence from 99.9% to below 90%. The signal may have been statistical noise, leaving Europa’s famous geysers physically plausible—but never conclusively observed, and never proven to connect with the ocean below.
A 2026 reanalysis finds no localized Hubble signal requiring a Europa plume, weakening the original claim while leaving smaller or intermittent eruptions physically possible.
California’s healthcare affordability office claims power to punish overspending hospitals
Year after year Californians watch their health bills increase faster than their wages — for some, to the point where care becomes unaffordable. Four years ago, the state created an
California’s healthcare affordability office claims power to punish overspending hospitals
Year after year Californians watch their health bills increase faster than their wages — for some, to the point where care becomes unaffordable. Four years ago, the state created an
Caroline Cotter concert to benefit Dolly Fisher Fund
Acclaimed singer-songwriter Caroline Cotter will perform a special concert at the First Congregational Church of Blue Hill on Sunday, Sept. 20, at 2 p.m. to raise money for the church’s
Nikki Glaser reveals what she nearly stole from Taylor Swift’s wedding
Comedian Nikki Glaser, who is a self-proclaimed Swiftie, shared the memento she tried to steal from Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce’s wedding.
He Claimed Social Security at 62 to Pay His Health Premium. The Benefit Pushed Him Over the Marketplace Subsidy Cliff.
Starting Social Security at 62 to cover health insurance sounds like a clean solution, but the new check can quietly trigger a cost that wipes out the very subsidy it was meant to fund.
California’s Healthcare Affordability Office Claims Power to Punish Overspending Hospitals
Noozhawk republishes news articles from CalMatters on state and local policy issues that affect Santa Barbara County readers. Year after
Crystal Palace complete stunning comeback to beat Fulham
Crystal Palace claimed their first Premier League victory under Pierre Sage with a dramatic 3-2 comeback against Fulham at Craven Cottage.The Eagles fell behind twice but refused to stay down, with T...
Ravens' Lamar Jackson Makes Bold Claim on 2026 Offense
Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson made a bold claim about the offense in 2026.
Evidence points to yogurt as a nutrient-dense part of healthy diets
People have been making health claims about yogurt for hundreds of years.
Trump envoys land in Moscow for Russia-Ukraine peace push
Witkoff / Kushner duo brings a 'proposal to end the war', US president claims
“No It Ain’t, Yelling at Clouds Guy”: Fans React As Geno Auriemma Claims “College Basketball Is Dying”
College sports have been in turmoil for quite some time now. There has been a lot of discourse about the NCAA’s eligibility, transfer portal, and NIL rules.
Nevada sex industry reports business increase amid economic uncertainty
While many Las Vegas industries are struggling amid an affordability crisis and slower tourism, one industry claims it’s seeing the opposite.
Islamic Center shooter’s parents suing mental health provider for negligence, wrongful death
They claim the facility missed several red flags, leading to the death of their son and three others at the mosque.
Patriots S Kevin Byard makes multiple bold Christian Gonzalez claims
Patriots All-Pro safety Kevin Byard claims Christian Gonzalez is the best corner he has ever played with.
Former Cowboys running back Emmitt Smith is sued by investor over wind farm project
NFL career rushing leader Emmitt Smith is being sued by a Native American investment company over claims that the former Dallas Cowboys running back and his business partners misappropriated a $2.5 million loan that was supposed to fund a wind farm pro...
North Carolina Adds New Restrictions to Vote-by-Mail Program
The changes are almost certain to cause some votes to be tossed. They come at a time when President Trump is promoting false claims of widespread fraud in mail voting.
Judge refuses to block Pentagon from firing Stars and Stripes staffers over CBS interview
A federal judge has refused block the Pentagon from firing three Stars and Stripes staff members who claim they were illegally disciplined for speaking out about the military news outlet’s need to maintain its editorial independence | 830 WCCO
Judge refuses to block Pentagon from firing Stars and Stripes staffers over CBS interview
A federal judge has refused block the Pentagon from firing three Stars and Stripes staff members who claim they were illegally disciplined for speaking out about the military news outlet’s need to maintain its editorial independence | KNX News 1070 AM
Texas AG Paxton investigates military healthcare contractor over denied claims
Paxton cited an NBC News investigation into TriWest Healthcare Alliance, one of the contractors that administers the military’s healthcare benefits.
Maria Bartiromo’s lawyer claims she’s ‘still an employee at Fox’ after network said she’s ‘no longer’ at channel
Fox announced Thursday that Bartiromo “is no longer with Fox News Media” effective immediately.
Homeland Security Dept. Asks for Inquiries Into Voting Machines
Critics of ballot-marking devices have claimed that hackers could manipulate digital codes on ballots. Election experts say the systems are safe to use.
Reliever Joel Kuhnel claimed
Giants pitchers get hurt so they get new ones; but, it sounds like they’re just feeding pitchers to hitters.
The Fierce Battle For Kids’ Eyeballs...Plus Two “Devils” Face Off
(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.) During the week of this report, Spider-Man: Brand New Day hit theaters and went on to become one of the biggest films of all time. So, you know what that means! It’s time for a poll! Recently, Project Hail Mary came to Prime Video and became a top five film for them, but didn’t smash streaming records, a feat I cautiously thought it could accomplish. Can Spider-Man 4 do better? To set the stakes, some of the biggest films of all time do just okay on streaming. Wicked, Top Gun: Maverick, and Barbie come to mind... But unlike those films, Spider-Man: Brand New Day is a Sony film which means it’s headed to Netflix, the world’s largest streamer. Now, per friend of the newsletter and my go-to Netflix expert, Kasey Moore of What’s on Netflix, Sony films usually appear on Netflix 120 days after they premiere, which means Spidey 4 would land on Netflix on, checks notes, 28-November, one of the two biggest streaming weekends of the year! But Sony occasionally delays its biggest hits for a bit longer, to give them more time to make money on PVOD, so Spider-Man: Brand New Day might not swing onto Netflix until late December or even February 2027. Loading... Okay, on to this week’s issue. Since The Super Mario Galaxy Movie made its way to Peacock, I’m looking at the true workhorse of streaming viewership: kids films. And the surprising film that bested most Netflix animated movies. All that, plus Hulu has a new show that might be a hit (for them…?), two “Devils” square off on streaming, Zendaya tries to find some streaming magic, Netflix’s I Will Find You continues to do well, House of the Dragon tries to break into the season three top ten, some big NBC sports and summer programs, what friendly neighborhood Spider-Man character actually generates the most viewership on streaming, 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 July 27th to August 2nd, 2026. You can find a link to my terminology here.) Subscribe Film - As The Super Mario Galaxy Movie Hits Peacock, How Have Kids Films Fared in 2026? Like Mario hopping on a Koopa, The Super Mario Galaxy Movie landed on Peacock on 30-July. (Yeah, I kinda forced that Mario reference.) How did it do? Great, just like the first film. It got 13.0 million hours on its opening, and that’s good enough to take second place among Peacock films on the Nielsen charts all time: As I mention all the time, Peacock just isn’t the world’s biggest streamer—in fact, nowhere close—so its films struggle to put up numbers like Netflix (or even Prime Video and Disney+). So this is a solid debut for that streamer. And as we saw last time, The Super Mario Bros. Movie had a HUGE second life on Netflix when it moved streamers. This chart doesn’t even show how long the first Mario lasted on Netflix: a whopping, KPop-esque 31 weeks. For NBCUniversal, though, the big win was the second Mario movie grossing $429 million in America and over $1 billion globally. But yeah, to add a very strong streaming performance only makes its success even greater. Illumination pretty clearly has another hit franchise on their hands. This is a good time, though, to check in on kids films so far in 2026. We’ve had a few big, big titles, a rare Netflix success, and some disappointments. Let’s start with the top animated films since November of 2025, over their first four weeks on the charts, along with a few of the “best all time” animated films: (As a reminder, if a film doesn’t make the Nielsen top ten lists, I don’t have data for it, so it gets a “zero” in terms of viewership. Now, it had some viewership, but I don’t know what it is, so it gets a zero.) I added a few titles to get an idea of what the best of the best looks like in terms of animation. And you can see, through four weeks, Zootopia 2 can now claim “one of the biggest streaming films of all time” titles. GOAT too did surprisingly well, besting Netflix’s biggest films (Swapped and In Your Dreams) through four weeks. When I’ve talked about how films can have varying performances on streaming compared to their box office, this is what I mean. Goat just managed to gross even $103 million at the box office—so it’s popular, but just barely—but did very well on streaming. Of course, what set Encanto and KPop Demon Hunters apart from the rest was their absolutely insane longevity. Here are the kids film charts through eight weeks to show that: And really KPop Demon Hunters just kept going, and no 2025 or 2026 kids films have had that sort of longevity. I can’t wait to see the sequel in theaters. Film - Two Devils and a Drama As I wrote last week, in the past, theatrical-first film flops weren’t eligible for “Miss of the Week” or “Miss of the Year” honors/dishonors, but since so many more films go to theaters first these days, I’ve made them eligible now! But it’s complicated. You see, this is a Streaming Ratings Report, emphasis on streaming, which makes analyzing this week’s two biggest streaming misses—The Drama on HBO Max (A24’s dramedy starring Zendaya and Robert Pattinson) and Prime Video’s The Devil Mouth (a killer shark movie starring young attractive people)—somewhat tricky. The Drama isn’t eligible for Luminate, but The Devil’s Mouth only had 1.5 million hours in its first week: The Devil’s Mouth notched 5.2 million hours according to Nielsen. Meanwhile, The Drama missed the charts entirely. Not great! But Prime Video is a much bigger streamer than HBO Max. That said, HBO Max titles are on Prime Video, but I think Prime Video prioritizes their original/exclusive titles, which helps boost their viewership. Complicating this further, The Drama made $48 million in the US—while A24 sells foreign distribution; the $57 million of overseas grosses helps A24 sell overseas rights for money in the future—off of a $28 million budget (which seems low for Zendaya and Pattinson, so they might have backend). The Devil’s Mouth, though, had zero dollars at the box office. The other stats for The Devil’s Mouth are bleak, and by “bleak”, I mean horrendous: a 4.7 on 15K reviews on IMDb (yikes) and a 46 on Metacritic (double yikes). The Drama, though buzzy online, only has a solid (but far from elite) 7.1 IMDb score on 121K reviews and a 59 on Metacritic (which is far, far lower than I’d have guessed). So which film is the “Miss of the Week”? I’m giving it to The Devil’s Mouth for one simple reason: it’s a horror film. And almost all horror films, even poorly reviewed horror films, should get a shot in theaters to at least try to recoup some of their budgets. The Drama made money at the box office and The Devil’s Mouth didn’t. It’s just like the situation last issue with Obsession and Masters of the Universe. Sure, Obsession didn’t pop on the streaming charts, but at least it already made it money at the box office. And as we’ve been seeing for years now and we’ll see all fall, theatrical films just do better on streaming. After all, the big “devil” winner this week was actually The Devil Wears Prada 2 with 14.8 million hours according to Nielsen. That’s right, The Devil Wears Prada 2—one of the box office success stories of May—came to streaming and parlayed its $220 million box office into 14.8 million Nielsen hours. Disney also put out a datecdote that it had 15.2 million “views” globally in five days, but again we don’t have a lot of great context for what that means. Here’s how it stacks up to other Hulu films, since I’m categorizing this mainly as a Hulu title (though it was also on Disney+): Share Quick Notes on Film 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… Whether Hulu has a new hit show on its hands... The top first and third seasons of all time and which shows are climbing those charts… What version of Spidey is the most popular... What sport and TV show are performing better on NBC than the NBA... All the flops, bombs and misses... ...please subscribe! We can only keep doing this great work with your support. Coming Soon! Next week, wow, things stay so busy. One of streaming’s biggest shows of all time, Ted Lasso, returns along with new YA-ish shows from Hulu (The Shards, from Ryan Murphy) and Prime Video (Sterling Point). The Challenge moves to Paramount+, plus My Life with the Walter Boys returns to Netflix and Futurama returns to Hulu. And Netflix has a new horror film, The Last House. Lots to talk about! All month, things stay busy. We’re talking Reacher on Prime Video! Outer Banks and Tires on Netflix! Lanterns on HBO Max! UFC 330 on Paramount+ and the MLB Field of Dreams game on Netflix. And a ton of smaller films come to streaming. Long term, the VMAs are back on 27-Sep! I feel like I haven’t heard much about this show in past years, but I’m seeing more news coverage and buzz for this show than in past years. I’m curious to see how it does.
AG: Former home health employee sentenced to 5 years for submitting over $25K of false Medicaid claims
A former Maryland home health employee was sentenced to five years in prison on Friday after submitting over $25,000 worth of false healthcare claims.
DLSS 5 Will Be Coming to Older Graphics Cards After All
On Nvidia's forums, an Nvidia employee claimed that the company will be expanding DLSS 5 support to RTX 40 series graphics cards at some point, but we're probably going to be waiting a while for it.
Sasha Farber seemingly visits “DWTS” studio after claiming season 35 absence was ‘not my choice’
Farber was last seen as a pro on season 33 with celebrity partner Jenn Tran.
A young Tallahassee scientist's Alzheimer's research wins national acclaim
Lily Ma probed the possibility of using stem cells as a vehicle to slow or even halt the degenerative process.
California's healthcare affordability office claims power to punish overspending hospitals
The state's new penalty framework could fine hospitals and insurers up to 125% of overspending, with enforcement starting as early as 2028.
Friday BP: Giants claim Brett Harris off of waivers
Keaton Winn was transferred to the 60-Day IL.
Ted Cruz names ‘most powerful Democrat’ as he warns socialist rise has paralyzed bipartisanship
Sen. Ted Cruz claims Chuck Schumer is "truly terrified" of the extreme left, warning that progressive momentum is paralyzing bipartisan work.
RBL look to continue strong start against favourite opponents Werder
After successful starts in both the DFB-Pokal and Bundesliga, including the home win over Gladbach, RB Leipzig will be looking to keep that momentum going away to Werder Bremen, claim their first thre...
Army National Guard Sergeant Wins $35K Settlement Against Kansas Health Department
The DOJ settled a years-long case with the Kansas Department of Health and Environment (KDHE) to resolve allegations surrounding USERRA claims.
Two senior Reform UK officials step down after undercover report
The party has launched an investigation into claims about funding aired during a Channel 4 News report, and denied any wrongdoing.
Bayern star turned down €100m move to Manchester City
German publication Sport1 has backed up a previous report from Bild claiming that Aleksandar Pavlovic turned down interest from Manchester City back in March.The Premier League giants were reportedly ...
DaVita settles ransomware attack lawsuit for $15M
The 2025 data breach exposed records on 2.7 million patients. The cybercrime syndicate Interlock claimed credit for the attack, posting its stolen bounty on the dark web shortly after the incident.
English: College football politics are ravaging the game — for Texas, the show still goes on
It’s a hellish era for college football teams. It has become typical for us to go through the same cycle of previously unbelievable news over the offseason. The transfer portal has always resulted in some messiness, as well as highly dubious tampering claims, and finding replacements for head coaches always brings on a little bit...
Dark matter detector finds a strange signal scientists can’t yet explain
The LUX-ZEPLIN experiment has detected a rare particle interaction that looks unusually difficult to explain as ordinary background noise and appeared where dark matter might be expected. Scientists are not claiming a discovery yet, but additional data could show whether this single mysterious event is the first hint of a long-sought dark matter particle.
Mets claim Cameron Weston, option Shawn Ross
The 26-year-old Weston was optioned to Triple-A Syracuse.
To The Ceiling Entertainment Faces Unpaid Artist Claims
To The Ceiling Entertainment is out at Salem’s Grand Theatre amid unpaid artist claims and more than $100,000 in alleged back rent.
Foldable iPhone Ultra: The Latest Rumors Before Apple's Event
We're less than a week away from the debut of Apple's first foldable iPhone, and rumors have been picking up as the event date approaches. Here's the latest. Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos. MagSafe - Even though foldable iPhone dummies we saw earlier this year didn't have a MagSafe ring, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman claims all signs indicate MagSafe charging will be supported.
Colts Brutal Opening Stretch Will Put Daniel Jones’ Health to the Test
Daniel Jones looks fully healthy, but Baltimore, Kansas City and Houston will put that claim to the test immediately.
John Rich claims Jelly Roll knew he’d lose half his fans over political comments
John Rich says Jelly Roll knew his "Jimmy Kimmel Live!" political comments could cost him half his country music audience but spoke out anyway.
The business of the NFL: How Zach Harrison went from Falcons roster cut to returnee
Atlanta waived Harrison after claiming three players off waivers, knowing it could lose a defensive lineman who had made a strong impression on the organization.
Businesses think Hunt Valley sounds better than Cockeysville
Reader commentary: There’s a peculiar phenomenon in which businesses, even people, will wrongly claim to be located in Hunt Valley instead of Cockeysville.
Arsenal almost signed Spanish winger on deadline day
Racing Santander’s sporting director Chema Aragon has claimed Arsenal pursued a move to sign Pablo Garcia from Real Betis, before the player’s eventual transfer to the Verdiblancos.Photo by Charle...
Entertainment this week: Petty Theft, Truckee Art Walk, Wild West Fest and more
Friday, September 4 Alex Benjamin & Suika T – 12 p.m.-12 a.m., Palisades Tahoe, 1960 Squaw Valley Rd. Alex Benjamin is a multi-instrumentalist and composer. He has played drums with critically acclaimed Americana band Hiss...
Until Dawn 2's sun-kissed horror gets a PS5 release date - and the studio behind last year's brilliant Dispatch is involved
Sony has shared more details about the sequel to its acclaimed cinematic horror Until Dawn, which is due to arrive early next year.
Judge rejects Trump administration's plan to break up Google's ad business
Punishing a company for building the best product doesn't serve the businesses or users antitrust enforcers claim to protect.
Final Fantasy 7: Revelation Release Date Confirmed
Square Enix has announced a release date for Final Fantasy 7: Revelation, concluding its acclaimed remake trilogy.
Leaker claims iPhone 18 Pro chip will have 7 GPU cores and faster RAM
A Chinese leaker with some track record has posted images of claimed circuit diagrams of the upcoming iPhone 18 Pro...
iPhone 18 Pro Chip Leak Indicates Major GPU and Memory Bandwidth Improvements
An alleged solder joint diagram for Apple's A20 Pro chip suggests the processor will deliver a number of significant upgrades, including a seven-core GPU, a wider memory interface, and a larger L2 cache for its efficiency cores. The claims come from a Weibo user who says the layout was reconstructed by mapping the chip's solder ball positions and overlaying them with die level images to sketch out where each block of the processor sits.
Trump falsely claims prices are falling rapidly. Some Republican ads acknowledge reality
President Donald Trump has a triumphant message on inflation. Some of his party’s television ads sound very different.
Guardians and Blue Jays play with series tied 1-1
The Cleveland Guardians and Toronto Blue Jays play on Thursday with the winner claiming the three-game series
Sony and Microsoft say they’re not obligated to pass U.S. tariff refunds to consumers, echoing Nintendo
Back in July, Sony executives told investors that the company expected to receive $508 million in refunds from the U.S. government, after tariffs that the PlayStation-maker paid were ruled mostly in 2025 were found to be illegal. “Most” of the refund would by recouped by Sony’s gaming division, its chief financial officer said. This week, Sony’s lawyers are arguing that the company is not legally obligated to pass those proceeds on to consumers who paid for recently price-hiked PlayStation consoles. That’s in the face of a lawsuit from gamers calling on them to do exactly that. “Paying fair market price for voluntarily purchased consumer goods is not a legally cognizable injury in fact,” the lawyers wrote in a legal motion filed on Monday, as they asked a judge in California’s Northern District to dismiss a potential class action lawsuit over the tariff refunds. Microsoft made a similar argument two weeks ahead of Sony’s lawyers, in a similar lawsuit brought by a gamer in federal court in Washington State. As Microsoft’s legal team put it on August 21, in their request for a dismissal of that lawsuit: “There is nothing unjust about Plaintiff purchasing an Xbox at an advertised price and getting exactly what he paid for—regardless of whatever theory he devised months later about Microsoft’s cost structure.” Both legal fights are set to go on for some time. How things got to this point U.S. tariffs impacting a wide range of imported goods, including game consoles, had kicked off in early 2025. In May 2025, Microsoft raised the price of its Xbox consoles, citing “market conditions and the rising cost of development.” They raised them again that September. In August of that year, Sony raised the price of PlayStation 5 consoles, citing “a challenging economic environment.” Sony later told investors that its tariff fees for the fall quarter were nearly $200 million. in February of this year, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled the 2025 tariffs illegal, prompting impacted companies to begin to request refunds. In turn, consumers began suing the likes of Sony and Microsoft to get what they said was their share. The gamers in the Microsoft and Sony lawsuits argue that the 2025 price hikes of PlayStation and Xbox consoles, which added $50 or more to their sticker price, were due to illegal tariffs and should now be returned to consumers. The Sony suit started in May, when a group of gamers sued in federal court in California, saying Sony Interactive Entertainment (PlayStation) would be unjustly enriching itself if it did not pass tariff refunds to its PS5 buyers. “Sony is poised to be paid twice for the same unlawful tariff burden: once by its customers (through elevated prices) and once by the U.S. government (through tariff refunds),” the gamers’ lawyers wrote at the time. They called for Sony to partially reimburse anyone who bought a PlayStation in the U.S. since August 1, 2025. The Microsoft suit, filed by gamer Trevor Hastings against the Xbox giant in July, made similar claims. The console makers push back In late July, Nintendo’s lawyers, facing a similar suit accusing them of double-dipping on tariffs and refunds, replied with arguments that previewed Microsoft’s and Sony’s: “Nintendo or one of its retailers set a price for each product, and consumers decided whether that price was worth paying,” they wrote. Sony has buttressed that Nintendo-style argument this week by saying that the gamers have failed to prove that tariffs were the reason for its August 2025 PS5 price hike. They call thatclaim “speculative and illogical.” Other factors, including “inflation, currency fluctuations, component costs, logistics, competitive dynamics, or demand,” could have played a role. (No, the Sony lawyers do not break down the costs and factors that officially triggered the price increases). Microsoft has also argued that there’s no proof in these lawsuits that tariffs drove all or some of the price increase, as it seeks to dismiss the tariff refund suit it’s facing: “Plaintiff provides no specific allegations that would establish any pricing differential attributable to tariffs or suggest any possibility that Microsoft applied then or could recreate now any dollar-for-dollar calculation of tariff-related pricing—any more than it could any other market factor that affects pricing.” To further skewer the gamer side’s argument in its case, Sony’s lawyers have pointed to what might be a surprising defense: yet another PlayStation 5 price hike from this past spring, after the tariffs were ruled illegal. “If the original price increase were attributable to tariffs, SIE [Sony Interactive Entertainment, aka PlayStation] would have had no reason to raise prices again after the Supreme Court invalidated the IEEPA tariffs.” … “If tariffs were the cause of the price increases, one would expect SIE to lower prices once the tariffs were eliminated—not raise them again. Instead, the timeline confirms that the pricing of PlayStation consoles includes a diverse and dynamic set of input costs.” Judges have not yet ruled on the arguments made by Sony, Microsoft or Nintendo. Last week, Panic, the company behind the small, yellow Playdate handheld said it would be passing its tariff refunds on to consumers. It is the only gaming hardware maker to have made such a pledge. Game File is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my reporting, please consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. Subscribe Item 2: A reporter’s second Second Life Wagner James Au, who from 2003-2006 was paid by San Francisco-based tech company Linden Lab to be a full-time journalist embedded in their virtual world Second Life, is returning to the company. This time, he’ll be an editorial advisor and business development specialist, he tells Game File. The new role will involve trying to share the stories of people inhabiting Second Life’s ongoing online world with reporters and by extension the public. Au plans to continue to also chronicle some of that through his long-running blog New World Notes. I’ve known Au since the mid-2000s and featured him in a 2007 article for the Columbia Journalism Review about reporters like him opening up virtual news outlets within Second Life. As I wrote at the time: On April 22, 2003, writing as Hamlet Linden for the New World Notes blog on Second Life’s Web site, Au introduced himself. “For the next few months, Linden Lab has invited me to set aside my journalist cap, and instead, don the digital beanie of their in-house virtual correspondent.” He wasn’t paid to keep it positive. He wrote about builders and eccentrics, but then in August of that year, he reported on a tax revolt against Linden Lab (a complaint about the fees it charges users who build stuff) led by a resident whose avatar was a big cat. Second Life has always been less of a video game and more of a virtual world where people can live, hang out, make art, sell virtual items and flirt. Back in 2007, Au described touring it as “sort of like underwater lucid dreaming.” For the past two decades, Au has maintained New World Notes as an independent publication. But he said he’s been drawn back to Second Life and Linden Lab as a place to directly work. The virtual world has around 650,000 monthly active users, he said, “which is actually about what it was during the hype wave.” Au says he’s still finding rich stories in Second Life, the kind that keep him interested 20 years into the beat: “Over the last few months for instance, I wrote about an SL creator in Venezuela whose apartment was destroyed by the earthquakes, so the global SL community rallied to get him back on his feet,” he told me. “Then there’s the woman from a Middle Eastern country who explored her lesbian sexuality in SL, then earned enough from her virtual jewelry to escape her abusive family situation and country.” Au wants to beckon more reporters to give Second Life another look. He argues that it is often ahead of internet trends, noting, for example, an early backlash in the community against AI-made art. Now the platform is drawing curiosity from more of the user-generated content community who’ve grown up with the likes of Roblox, according to Au. “Second Life was too early during its hype wave in 2005-2010, but it now feels right for a new wave of interest,” he told me.
GOP ads contradict Trump’s rosy view of the economy
For months, President Donald Trump has falsely claimed that consumer prices are falling ahead of this year’s 2026 midterm elections. Now some Republican candidates are running campaign ads that acknowledge reality. CNN’s Daniel Dale reports.
Miami Dolphins Discussion: Favorite Latest Addition Edition
We ask Miami Dolphins fans which of the waiver claims made were their favorite and why.
Northern Virginia business faces civil rights lawsuit
A Northern Virginia eyebrow tattoo artist is being sued for alleged harassment by a customer who claims her religion and nationality are at the center of the legal action.
Mount Nittany Health profited over $96M last year, union claims amid contract disputes
CENTRE COUNTY, Pa. (WTAJ) — New quarterly disclosures for Mount Nittany Health reveal the health system has amassed $96 million in total profits over the last 12 months, according to SEIU Healthcare P...
Sony Taps Acclaimed Video Game to Be Its Next Big Movie Adaptation After Resident Evil
Sony Pictures is turning to another acclaimed game for its next major movie adaptation after Resident Evil. The entertainment company’s new project brings an award-winning indie game to the big screen...
Dabo Swinney denies claim that Lane Kiffin helped Clemson go after Ole Miss for tampering
Dabo Swinney has denied a claim in an upcoming book that Lane Kiffin helped Clemson call out Ole Miss for alleged tampering of linebacker Luke Ferrelli.
Nick Wright Criticizes Dan Orlovsky's 'Unacceptable' Matthew Stafford Claim
ESPN analyst Dan Orlovsky gave a take on Rams QB Matthew Stafford that was so egregious that Nick Wright had to call him out for it.
Appeals court rejects CDOT employee’s discrimination, retaliation claims
Colorado’s second-highest court agreed last week that a Colorado Department of Transportation employee had not shown that his employer discriminated and retaliated against him due to his religion and national origin. Ayman Salloum, who described himself as a 70-year-old Muslim immigrant from Jordan, was an environmental protection specialist at CDOT in December 2024. That month, […]
37% of Business Leaders Are Losing Nearly a Full Workday to This Hidden 'Operational Tax'
How simplifying routine purchasing helps business leaders reclaim time and focus on growth
Trump Administration Launches Blitz to Find Elusive Voter Fraud Ahead of Midterms
The practice is exceedingly rare, but President Trump has fixated on rooting it out this year, claiming without evidence that tens of thousands of noncitizens are registered to vote.
Dem megadonor among 400 Jewish Michiganders labeled AIPAC insiders for denouncing El-Sayed's leftist campaign
Over 400 Michigan Jewish Democrats signed a letter backing Mike Rogers, but former Rep. Andy Levin claims AIPAC is really driving the effort.
Health insurer Anthem targeted in lawsuit over air ambulance claims
PHI Health says the Indianapolis-based insurer is ignoring claims awards that are supposed to be binding under the federal No Surprises Act.
Leaked iPhone 18 Pro Parts Point to Three Color Options Excluding Black
Longtime leaker Sonny Dickson has shared an image of differently colored SIM card trays that he claims are for Apple's upcoming iPhone 18 Pro models, suggesting Apple's flagship lineup will again be available in a trio of colors: Silver, Dark Cherry, and Sky Blue. Apple currently offers the iPhone 17 Pro in Cosmic Orange, Silver, and Deep Blue.
Rays and Mets meet in series rubber match
The Tampa Bay Rays and New York Mets play on Wednesday with the winner claiming the three-game series
Red Sox and Mariners square off in series rubber match
The Boston Red Sox and Seattle Mariners meet on Wednesday with the winner claiming the three-game series
Former Patriots Quarterback Receives Tough Career News After Recent Release
This former New England Patriots quarterback is currently without a home after going unclaimed on waivers in the wake of his recent release. The post Former Patriots Quarterback Receives Tough Career News After Recent Release appeared first on HEAVY.
Latest leak claims the iPhone 18 Pro lineup will launch in these new colors
Apple will unveil the new iPhones on September 9. There have been plenty of rumors surrounding the color options for the upcoming iPhone 18 Pro series, and...
Former Raiders CB Decamerion Richardson claimed off waivers by Saints
Decamerion Richardson officially will not be back in Las Vegas. The third-year Raiders CB has been scooped up off waivers by the New Orleans Saints.
Heavy Metal Sausage was forced to stop serving dinner. It may shutter the acclaimed South Philly restaurant
The South Philly butcher shop's acclaimed trattoria dinners are on pause after a health inspector found Heavy Metal Sausage Co.'s layout inadequate for indoor seating.
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LZ Sees Surprising Result in Search for Dark Matter
Key Takeaways Dark matter is the mysterious substance that accounts for the vast majority of matter in our universe. LUX-ZEPLIN (LZ) is a world-leading dark matter detector and specializes in searching for WIMPs, or weakly interacting massive particles. A new LZ study found one particle interaction that is difficult to explain with known background processes and could potentially have been caused by a WIMP. LZ continues to run to see if additional data strengthens or weakens the hint of a dark matter interaction. For the better part of a century, people have been trying to understand dark matter. This invisible substance makes up roughly 85% of the mass in the universe but has never been directly detected. Determining exactly what it is remains one of the biggest questions about our world. Now, a new analysis from the LUX-ZEPLIN (LZ) experiment has recorded a single particle interaction that researchers have great difficulty explaining with known background signals from normal matter. The result does not yet meet the statistical threshold required to claim a discovery, but is the most compelling hint of dark matter reported by the experiment to date. LZ is an international collaboration of 250 scientists and engineers from 39 institutions. The detector is managed by the U.S. Department of Energy’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) and operates nearly one mile below ground at the Sanford Underground Research Facility (SURF) in South Dakota. The experiment uses 10 tonnes of ultrapure liquid xenon to search for dark matter and is optimized to look for WIMPs, or weakly interacting massive particles. The results were presented in a scientific talk at the 2026 TeV Particle Astrophysics conference in Japan. The paper will be released on the online repository arXiv and submitted to the journal Physical Review Letters. “We’re very intrigued to see this event in the data, in the region where we expect dark matter to show up and the competing backgrounds are very low,” said Rick Gaitskell, a professor at Brown University and the spokesperson for LZ. “With only one event, we don’t want to get ahead of ourselves. We are not claiming to have seen dark matter. But we have seen something interesting that we want to share with the scientific community for their input.” The LZ collaboration studies experimental data in batches. In the new result, researchers analyzed 220 live days of data collected between March 2023 and April 2024. The collaboration had previously searched this dataset for faint signals from the simplest kinds of WIMP interactions. The new analysis searched for a broader range of possible WIMP interactions that could deposit more energy in the detector. LZ is particularly sensitive to such signals while also minimizing false positives. “This was a detailed study in a region we hadn’t explored within this dataset, and we spent months of additional effort to understand all the possible causes of background events,” said Sam Eriksen, a senior research associate at the University of Bristol in the U.K. and lead author of the study. “We understand our detector and the backgrounds so well that even a single outstanding event, like the one we found, is important. We expect dark matter events to be extremely rare, so only a handful could mark the first detection of WIMP dark matter.” If the anomalous event was caused by dark matter, the WIMP that generated it would likely have a mass of at least 200 GeV/c2 (gigaelectronvolts), or more than 200 times the mass of a proton. It would also suggest a specific type of interaction between WIMPs and ordinary matter beyond the simplest model. The LZ results have not reached “5-sigma” significance, the statistical threshold considered a discovery in physics. The new analysis is 2.6 sigma, meaning there is approximately a 0.5% chance that the event could be explained by known backgrounds. With additional data, researchers can test whether the finding continues to grow in significance or fades away. LZ has already accumulated the world’s largest dark matter dataset and will continue to accrue WIMP search data at SURF, substantially improving their search statistics. LZ searches for dark matter by looking for signature flashes of light from energy deposited in the detector. The collaboration leverages multiple methods to prevent or account for particle interactions caused by normal matter. This includes the mile of rock that shields the detector from cosmic rays from space, a water tank and outer detectors that protect the central detector from background neutrons, and a suite of computational tools that disentangle particle interactions and reject dark matter mimics. “Outlier events in the data are not unexpected, but they usually stand out as a background of some kind when you look at them deeper,” said Aaron Manalaysay, a physicist at Berkeley Lab and the chair of LZ’s Institutional Board. “This is the first example in any experiment I’ve worked on of an outlier that appears valid in every way. Of course, we’re still twisting our brains trying to think if there’s a rare background mechanism we could’ve missed, but it’s thrilling to wonder if this could be the first hint of a dark-matter observation.” LZ is supported by the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Science, Office of High Energy and Nuclear Physics, and the National Energy Research Scientific Computing Center, a DOE Office of Science user facility. LZ is also supported by the Science & Technology Facilities Council of the United Kingdom; the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology; the Swiss National Science Foundation; the Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Dark Matter Particle Physics; and the Institute for Basic Science, Korea. Thirty-nine institutions of higher education and advanced research provided support to LZ. The LZ collaboration acknowledges the assistance of the Sanford Underground Research Facility. ### Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) is committed to groundbreaking research focused on discovery science and solutions for abundant and reliable energy supplies. The lab’s expertise spans materials, chemistry, physics, biology, earth and environmental science, mathematics, and computing. Researchers from around the world rely on the lab’s world-class scientific facilities for their own pioneering research. Founded in 1931 on the belief that the biggest problems are best addressed by teams, Berkeley Lab and its scientists have been recognized with 17 Nobel Prizes. Berkeley Lab is a multiprogram national laboratory managed by the University of California for the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Science. DOE’s Office of Science is the single largest supporter of basic research in the physical sciences in the United States, and is working to address some of the most pressing challenges of our time. For more information, please visit energy.gov/science.
Raiders Swap Cornerbacks After Roster Cutdown Day
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Paying Homage To “The Troublemaker Of Watchmaking” With The M.A.D.3 Vincent Calabrese
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Bit Reactor furloughed "many of its workers" in the weeks before Star Wars Zero Company's launch
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‘Most’ of Star Wars Zero Company studio Bit Reactor was furloughed ahead of launch
Last week was meant to be a moment of triumph for Bit Reactor, the Maryland-based game studio founded in 2021 with ambitions to create a great new tactical combat game. On Thursday, August 27, Bit Reactor’s debut title, Star Wars Zero Company, released to stellar reviews. And, from the Gamescom show in Cologne, Germany, studio co-founder Greg Foertsch was giving interviews discussing what the studio’s next game may be. But for many developers on the game, launch has been bittersweet. Fans love it. Critics prefer it to most recent Star Wars games. Zero Company, which is out for PS5, Xbox Series consoles and PC, is the top-selling game on Steam. Much of the team that made it, however, is currently going without pay. They were furloughed, just weeks ahead of the game’s launch. A rep for Bit Reactor confirmed to Game File today that the studio had furloughed many of its workers prior to the game’s release. They said it was a difficult decision and one that had been made before it was clear how launch would go. The rep emphasized that the call to do this was Bit Reactor’s alone (meaning not from publisher EA nor Star Wars license holder Disney). While the rep declined to comment on the scale of the furloughs, a previously unreported lawsuit brought by studio co-founder Alison Kelly in 2024 noted in a filing from August 12 of this year that Bit Reactor “has furloughed most of its employees and terminated contractors…” One source told Game File the furloughs impacted 80% of the team; another referred to there only being a skeleton crew left on Bit Reactor’s active payroll, ready to address any of Zero Company’s post-launch bugs. The issue is that Bit Reactor, a studio formed in 2021, had run out of most of its money just ahead of the launch of its first game. Over the weekend, Zachariah Scott, a senior technical artist who worked at Bit Reactor from early 2023 until an acrimonious exit this past May, said on LinkedIn that the studio was “concealing the fact that the team was Furloughed weeks ago.” Reached by phone today, Scott told Game File that he spoke to nearly a dozen Bit Reactor workers over the weekend. “Everybody has essentially the same story, which is, ‘Yeah, I got furloughed three weeks ago.” The Bit Reactor rep told Game File that the studio hoped to bring furloughed workers back, suggesting that a successful launch of the game could be impactful. Scott told Game File that workers he spoke to were less confident that even if there were returns, that all who were furloughed would get their old jobs again. A heated dispute Bit Reactor’s mid-2026 was almost even more tumultuous. The lawsuit by co-founder Alison Kelly that first revealed the furloughs was initially slated to go to trial in June. The suit is a she-said/he-said about whether Kelly, until 2024 the chief operating officer of Bit Reactor, was a co-owner of the studio or whether it was solely owned by Greg Foertsch. In July 2024, Kelly sued, saying she was pushed out by Foertsch. She first sued in federal court and later refiled in Maryland’s Baltimore County, alleging breach of contract and that Foertsch had unjustly enriched himself. Kelly cited damages of over $20 million, on the basis of Bit Reactor allegedly being worth more than double that. Foertsch’s side has said Kelly was never a co-owner and has countered with claims about her job performance (which she has denied). The June trial was postponed until early 2027, as both sides have been deposing witnesses and filing more claims and denials along the way. Amid all of that, filings in the lawsuit reviewed by Game File paint a picture about Bit Reactor’s origins, early aspirations around tactics games, the team’s breakthrough in drawing the attention of Electronic Arts with the help of a pitch tied to one of EA’s non-Star Wars franchises, and early fractures among its co-founders. The real story about the company behind Zero Company
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AMC Entertainment Creates "Leawood Films" With the Aim of Having More Movies Distributed on to the Big Screen
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