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It's Xbox's turn (again), as console prices keep going up
Microsoft announced a price hike for the Xbox Series consoles today, the third in little over a year. Effective August 1, the Xbox Series S, which launched in 2020 for $300, will cost $500 in the U.S. The Xbox Series X, which launched in 2020 at $500, will go for $800. This follows a round of PlayStation 5 price increases from Sony this spring, and a slow-motion increase for Nintendo’s Switch 2, which will kick in in the U.S. in September. (Mind you, there were also eight video game industry price hikes in six months of 2025). The chart up top shows the sudden ascent of console prices over the past year, a sudden surge in an already unusual hardware generation. Prices had been flat for years, now “up” is the new “flat.” Game console prices used to go down across the length of a console generation, but not this time around. Microsoft’s explanation for the new price hike today: We hoped another price increase would not be necessary, and we have spent the last several months working with suppliers on options. Unfortunately, console storage and memory prices have increased by more than 2.5x and we expect another doubling by the fall of 2027. The entire consumer electronics industry is struggling with the current components crisis, but the effects are particularly hard on consoles. Unlike phones, computers, speakers, and other consumer devices, consoles are typically not sold at a profit, but instead for less than they cost to make. This is an issue well beyond game consoles. Apple announced price hikes on its computers and tablets today as well. 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: Brutal Bungie cuts Bungie laid off “most” of its Destiny development team and some developers who worked on Marathon, the newest game from the struggling Sony-owned studio. A WARN notice issued by Sony to Washington State, where Bungie is based, tallied cuts impacting 292 workers, effective next month. That’s strictly for Bungie/Sony jobs in Washington and wouldn’t account for any elsewhere. The video I clipped below shows the redacted list of Bungie cuts filed to Washington State officials. As you’ll see, I had to scroll for a while… In a note emailed to PlayStation workers and published online, PlayStation game studios chief Hermen Hulst offered the following explanation for these latest cuts at Bungie: This is painful news, especially for talented colleagues whose roles have been eliminated. This decision was made only after extensive discussion and careful consideration, and I want to provide some context on how we arrived here. Over the past several months, together with Bungie leadership, we reviewed the studio’s long-term direction, development priorities, resource needs, and role within our broader portfolio strategy. We explored multiple alternatives before concluding that a reduction was necessary to align the studio’s resources with its current priorities and long-term goals. In 2022, Sony bought Bungie for $3.7 billion. The studio’s marquee game, the multiplayer live service shooter Destiny 2 was losing popularity at the time. Its next game Marathon, released earlier this year, has been well-reviewed but had a slow start. Bungie is renowned for making great shooter games, and Destiny fans have mourned the wind-down of Destiny 2. They’ve also expressed bewilderment over reports that Destiny 3 is not, per Bloomberg, immediately in the cards.
Vice President JD Vance talks faith and politics in Orange County
Vance largely talked about his grandmother’s influence at the sold-out event, which came on the heels of his new memoir, “Communion: Finding My Way Back to Faith.”
Baxter Health Heart and Vascular Clinic Welcomes Brandi Watson, APRN
Baxter Health is proud to welcome Brandi Watson, APRN, to the Baxter Health Heart and Vascular Clinic. Watson joined the team on May 15 and is currently accepting new patients. Watson brings more than 25 years of experience caring for some of the most critically ill patients. Much of her career has been spent in intensive care settings, where she learned to make fast, high-stakes decisions for patients whose lives depended on getting the right care at the right moment. That kind of experience, which is gained through years at the bedside, is exactly what heart and vascular patients need from a provider.
M5 Ultra Mac Studio Could Launch in 2026 With Up to 768GB of RAM
Despite price increases across the Mac line, Apple is still planning to release a new Mac Studio as soon as this year, reports Bloomberg. Apple plans to introduce a new M5 Ultra chip as the final option in the M5 family before it transitions to the M6, M7, M7 Pro, and M7 Max. The M5 Ultra will come in a new version of the Mac Studio, which hasn't been updated since March 2025.
Making Our Own Luck
We are cross-posting a piece that former NIH official Kris Willis wrote for Macroscience. Kris is now the President and Founder of the Woodley Park Institute, for which I’m a board member. Picking winners or hedging bets? Federal science agencies have long wrestled with the question of how to ensure their billions of dollars of grants and contracts result in maximum benefits for Americans. On the surface, it might seem that a goal-oriented, interventionist style of management would be the best policy: prioritize our most pressing problems and distribute funding accordingly.This top-down strategy creates a unique hazard, though: bad choices can send resources in the wrong direction, resulting in slow progress that impedes the delivery of tangible benefits to citizens. Moreover, if decision makers pursue an applied advance when the underlying scientific principles remain poorly understood, they risk costly failures and a loss of support for the research enterprise at large. Examples include Nixon’s 1971 War on Cancer, undertaken on the premise that a cure could be achieved in less than a decade, the drive to build an operational commercial fusion plant by the mid-1990s, and the National Plan to Address Alzheimer’s Disease, which failed to produce the effective treatments and prevention strategies promised by 2025. The contrasting laissez-faire approach is to hedge your bets. If the path to an advance is impossible to predict, then the wisest choice might be to distribute funding to as widely as possible. The main risk of this strategy is that spreading funding thinly may limit the resources available to the most promising research, resulting in the same negative outcomes as the interventionist approach: limited support for the most promising topics, slow progress, and delayed returns. In reality, at science agencies like the National Science Foundation and National Institutes of Health, program managers navigate between these two extremes, setting some funds aside to target high-priority areas and using the rest to cover the widest possible range of meritorious proposals. This middle path seems like the most rational way to proceed, but it still requires making choices. How much should be set aside for high priority topics? What should those topics be? How should we define merit? Expert opinion can provide a helpful guide, but leading experts can have remarkably different opinions about what matters and what should be prioritized. Moreover, experts and administrators alike can be risk averse, giving an edge to high-profile, well-established concepts. What’s really needed is a data-driven framework to help guide decision-making, one that doesn’t simply repackage prestige or incumbency. Recognizing breakthroughs years in advance Many breakthroughs fail to attract funding or recognition at the earliest stages of development. Katalin Karikó, for example, spent years struggling to win grants for work on mRNA that would eventually win her and Drew Weissman a Nobel Prize. Similar stories can be told about Jim Allison’s groundbreaking studies leading to the development of cancer immunotherapy, Stan Pruisner’s demonstration that prions can self-replicate without DNA, or Robin Warren and Barry Marshall’s proof that Helicobacter pylori, not stress, causes ulcers. Yet at some point, the scientific community recognizes and responds to transformative breakthroughs like these. How does that change happen? And what if science funders could identify the areas that are on the cusp of a breakthrough? Those questions led my collaborators and me to study how scientists responded to past breakthroughs. Based on patterns in that data, we developed a means of predicting future breakthroughs, using biomedicine as a proof of concept. It’s worth taking a moment to describe how our approach works. Briefly, our prediction process begins by grouping the 18 million or so peer-reviewed papers in PubMed, the authoritative database of biomedical research, into roughly 50,000 unique topics. A small subset of these topics are so widely acclaimed as breakthroughs that they have been recognized with a major prize like a Nobel or a Lasker Award. We theorized that studying the development of these outliers over time, especially before they gained acclaim, was the key to identifying future instances of them. After defining topics, we chose 21 representative breakthroughs and asked what they looked like before they won prestigious prizes. To answer that question, we re-ran our topic-mapping algorithm repeatedly, winding back the clock one year each time, stringing together the years to follow the progress of each field as it grew and advanced. We found that in each case, the years leading up to a discovery followed a pattern: a burst of papers on a new, rapidly evolving topic, many of which quickly became influential. These characteristics—the percent of papers that are new, the percentage of papers that are brought in from other topics, and the influence of each individual paper—can all be measured separately for any given topic. Together, they act as a predictive signal that is detectable an average of five years before a transformative discovery is made, and up to thirty years before the discovery receives a major prize. Scanning the current research landscape for topics that display this signal allows us to predict what work will likely produce a future breakthrough. Each year we analyzed includes four or five signals, a number that appears to have remained constant across a twenty year time frame. In their classic work on the sociology of science, Bruno Latour and Steve Woolgar established that the desire to participate in a major discovery is an important motivator for scientists as they consider whether they should take up (or abandon) a research problem. Although further work is needed, the simplest explanation for our results is that this behavior is widespread enough to detect at scale. A foundational advance, or something like it, draws the attention of scientists and causes them to change the direction of their research. They vote with their feet, staking their own reputation and careers by publishing on and citing the new idea. That upswell of interest is the foundation of our breakthrough signal. What kind of research does our model identify as a breakthrough? After building a model based on the patterns in our 21 preselected breakthroughs, we tested it by identifying all early signals of discovery from 1994 through 1997. Of the 18 signals we found in that time period, 17 can be traced forward in time to a breakthrough. Examples include super-resolution fluorescence microscopy (see the image above), the directed evolution of proteins and enzymes (Chemistry Nobel, 2018), and sequencing the human genome (National Medal of Science, 2008). The discovery of the role of leptin signaling in obesity is a particularly interesting case study. Around 1950, scientists noticed the existence of a type of lab mouse that suffered from a unique inherited form of obesity. When given the freedom to choose their own diet, these mice ate more than normal and preferred food that was high in fat. Researchers had few clues as to why the animals overate; early experiments pointed to the existence of a soluble ob factor found circulating in the bloodstream that regulated appetite, but its identity was unknown. In 1994, Jeffrey Friedman and colleagues identified and sequenced the ob gene, noting that the protein it encoded appeared to fit the profile of a circulating factor. A year later, a trio of high-profile publications demonstrated that ob was a hormone that regulated body weight and fat deposition by regulating appetite. One of these was co-authored by Friedman, who christened it leptin from the ancient Greek word for thin. Using our model, the data from 1996 make it clear this advance would become a breakthrough. Scientists had flocked to study the biology of the new hormone, generating the flurry of new papers and citations required to produce a signal. One of these demonstrated that serum leptin concentrations reflected the amount of adipose tissue in the human body, providing clinical validation of the earlier mouse studies. Before the identification of leptin, scientists were unable to point to a specific molecule that controlled appetite and adiposity, so that it was impossible to rule out non-physiological causes of obesity; its characterization fundamentally changed our concept of weight gain. In 2010, Friedman and fellow pioneer Douglas Coleman were awarded a Lasker for the discovery. Our work also identifies breakthroughs in clinical practice and behavioral and social sciences, even though these areas are less likely to draw the attention of major prize committees. One example that falls into this category is the introduction of endovascular aneurysm repair, a minimally invasive surgical procedure for the treatment of abdominal aortic aneurysm, a leading cause of death among Americans over the age of 65. Relative to the previous standard of care, it reduces in-hospital mortality by almost four-fold. In 2017, Timothy Chuter received the American College of Surgeons’ prestigious Jacobsen Innovation award for his multiple refinements to the technique. Another under-recognized breakthrough identified by our model is the development of standardized survey instruments to assess the quality of life for HIV+ patients. The antiretroviral cocktails introduced in the mid-1990s reduced AIDS mortality, but treatment came with serious side effects. The new evaluations showed that patients whose disease progressed had worse physical functioning than Americans with other chronic diseases, while those who were asymptomatic maintained a health-related quality of life on par with the overall US population. This evidence made it possible for patients and activists to argue that even in the absence of a total cure, and in spite of the side effects, alleviation of symptoms was a worthwhile priority for clinicians. My colleagues and I have failed to identify any significant recognition for the physicians and health policy experts who pioneered this advance, although in 2016, researchers called for the World Health Organization to set targets for good health-related quality of life as part of its framework to end the AIDS pandemic. From forecasting to funding How should science funders use our predictions? Any serious discussion of what we should do with this new capability needs to begin with an understanding of its limitations. We can’t (and shouldn’t) invest all of our resources in the small number of topics predicted to produce breakthroughs. Innovative new fields are born from existing ones; they rarely arise de novo. If funders don’t maintain a diverse portfolio, the breakthroughs of tomorrow will have no antecedents. Think of this as eating the seed corn, or killing the goose that lays the golden egg. There are also multiple goals of funding beyond basic scientific discovery, including translating discoveries into clinical practice, developing new technologies, supporting economic development, and training new scientists. The investments needed to accomplish these goals are likely different from those required to support emerging breakthroughs. Finally, we must be aware that we may not capture every instance of a breakthrough. The concept is fuzzy, and not every significant discovery is recognized with a major award. Further, breakthroughs are rare, meaning that our dataset is, by necessity, small. This makes formal estimates of accuracy challenging. Although our overall success rate appears to be high, any one signal may turn out to be a false positive. We found one apparent example: the development of the third generation COX-2 inhibitors, Vioxx and Celebrex, which were much celebrated in the early 2000s as effective but non-addictive pain relievers, meets all the algorithmic criteria of a breakthrough. Five years after it received FDA approval, researchers demonstrated that Vioxx was associated with serious cardiovascular complications, and the manufacturer voluntarily pulled the drug from the market. Celebrex remains available, although like other NSAIDs, it carries an FDA warning for increased cardiovascular risk. Decision makers who were overly focused on the breakthrough potential of this research might have wasted substantial resources nurturing an area that ultimately proved to be a failure—but so would those who relied on expert opinion at the time. That said, the potential benefits of funding the next mRNA vaccine or cancer immunotherapy years earlier than we might have are large. When we can’t assume the outcome of an action, it’s worth conducting an experiment. Can targeted support for areas that are poised to produce a breakthrough increase the return on scientific investment without cannibalizing future advances? With the necessary administrative infrastructure in place, conducting this experiment would be straightforward. First, identify all the breakthrough signals between 2018 and 2023, select half at random, and commit to a decade of investment. For biomedicine, a six year window should yield about 30 topics with the potential to produce a breakthrough. Providing strong support to half of these might be accomplished for $300 million a year. That’s roughly half of the recent annual budget of the NIH Common Fund or around 20% of the fiscal year 2025 budget for ARPA-H. After five years, then again at ten, compare to see which group — the one that was actively managed, or the control — produced more breakthroughs, and on what timescale. Although we used biomedicine as an example, the same experiment could just as well be run for physics, materials science, or any other discipline. Any attempt to undertake such an experiment should keep three points top of mind. First, we can predict the topic of future breakthroughs, but the people and vision for how to move the work forward are still important. In practice, this means success requires active program managers with the expertise to develop the science and the authority to do so, including by recruiting investigators. Second, we would be wise to learn from the failures of past attempts to fund transformative research. High among these are funding modestly repackaged work, confusing the genuinely novel with the merely unfamiliar, and relying too much on incumbent investigators. All of these risks can be mitigated by thoroughly and intelligently integrating high quality data into portfolio management. Finally, we need to have patience. Even with strong funding support, producing a breakthrough takes time. If supporting breakthroughs is the best way to nurture the birth of new fields, we also need to accurately describe and properly manage the other two stages, so that we invest wisely throughout the productive lifetime of ideas and divest once they reach the point of diminishing returns. We would benefit from more study of all of these phases, especially the transition from one to another. More research could answer questions like: When does a breakthrough become an established field? How do the availability of funding, the size and characteristics of the available workforce, and the accumulation of evidence that disagrees with prevailing models affect a field’s decline? Exactly how do old ideas give birth to new ones, and can we speed up the process? The more we understand about the dynamics of scientific progress, the better we can maximize the odds that our curiosity leads to results. I’d call that finding a way to make our own luck.
New science on algae die-offs is too late for the Reflecting Pool
Iron and hydrogen peroxide trigger cell death via ferroptosis, which cascades killer molecules through the population, causing mass die-offs of algae.
Roundup: Shift in NIL / BlackBerry transitions / Agriculture aid
More inclusive: A recent NCAA rule change is shifting name, image and likeness opportunities away from only the biggest star athletes to a wider range of student-athletes. The update gives schools more structured involvement in managing and facilitating NIL deals, which reduces some of the previous free-for-all environment. As a result, athletes who are not […]
UT Health San Antonio identifies the first potential probiotic treatment for lupus
Contact: Steven Lee, (210) 450-3823, lees22@uthscsa.edu Content provided by Claire Kowalick SAN ANTONIO, June 25, 2026 – Scientists at UT Health San Antonio, the academic health center of The University of Texas at San Antonio, found a link between a bacterium in the gut microbiome, or ecosystem, and lupus, which could lead to more effective […]
Platner, Collins’ campaign spar over federal contracts
Platner released a multi-point plan he calls “a corruption crackdown,” which covers issues such as big money in politics, lobbying activities by former members of Congress, and making it more difficult for presidents to cash in on their position while in office.
Smile spacecraft reaches science orbit
The European-Chinese Smile mission reached its designated science orbit on June 20, 2026. The team is now embarking on a two-month campaign to commission the spacecraft, which involves switching on and ...
Major blow for MacBook Ultra: Apple said to cancel M6 Pro and M6 Max
The Apple MacBook Ultra will either be released with the older Apple M5 Max, or its launch will be significantly delayed. This is because Apple is said to have halted development of the Apple M6 Pro and M6 Max in order to focus on the M7 series instead, which is expected to offer significantly stronger AI performance.
Graham Platner backs legal maneuver using Maine law to rein in political spending
Democratic U.S. Senate nominee Graham Platner wants to overturn the landmark U.S. Supreme Court ruling that enabled corporations and other outside groups to spend unlimited money on elections by any means possible. He supports a constitutional amendment and ethics rules on the high court, which the Sullivan oyster farmer included in his latest policy rollout […]
Google Finance gets a dedicated app for Android
Users will be able to access their watchlists, real-time market data, live financial news, and Google's AI-powered "Key Moments" feature, which explains why stocks moved.
Vote for ESPYS 2026: Best Athlete - Men's Sports
Vote today and help determine which athletes go home with an ESPY
Vote for ESPYS 2026: Best College Athlete - Men's Sports
Vote today and help determine which athletes go home with an ESPY
Comcast's Sky Reaches Terms to Acquire ITV's Media & Entertainment Unit for $2 Billion
The deal, which includes ITV's linear channels and ITVX streaming platform, could be announced in the next two weeks, according to Reuters
Comcast’s Sky Reaches Terms to Acquire ITV’s Media & Entertainment Unit for $2 Billion
The deal, which includes ITV's linear channels and ITVX streaming platform, could be announced in the next two weeks, according to Reuters
Bungie Hit With Widespread Layoffs As ‘Destiny 2’ Ends And ‘Marathon’ Continues
Destiny 2's end has led to inescapable layoffs at Bungie, which are beginning today as the rest of the studio will now work on Marathon.
The Overlooked Reason ‘Destiny 2’ Is So Fantastically Fun Right Now
Destiny 2 is in an amazing state right now, which is unfortunately right at the end of the game. I think one thing deserves a good amount of credit.
Moody Center announces exhibition exploring math, science and tech rooted in Indigenous knowledge systems
Through a framing of North, Central and South America as interconnected regions, “Radiant Geometries: Vectors of Knowledge from the Indigenous Americas” brings together contemporary Indigenous and Latin American artists whose practices illuminate knowledge as a living technology, through which the mathematical, metaphysical and artistic realms converge.
How should European scientists respond to the US AI kill switch?
Earlier in June, Europe’s worst fears of technological dependence were confirmed when the White House ordered the AI firm Anthropic to stop non-US citizens using its leading models. This kill-switch moment crystalised anxieties in Brussels that the continent, lagging the US on the creation of leading-edge AI models, is now a technological of vassal of Washington. The shock has specific implications for European scientists and universities. Some governments are now worried that with AI being integrated into labs, Donald Trump now has his finger hovering over an off switch for European science. “Having restrictions on this tool, it can have an impact on our own research,” said France’s research minister, Philippe Baptiste, at the VivaTech conference in Paris on June 18.Baptiste, himself a former academic, said that colleagues in mathematics had recently warned him they were now cut off from leading-edge US models, risking their work. “This model is not available anymore now because of the US restriction, and for the first time this had an impact on mathematics,” a field where large language models (LLMs) are making a significant contribution, said Baptiste. So, should European scientists avoid relying on US models in the future? Or would this be a self-harming overreaction? And how is AI being used in science, anyway? What happened?On June 12, it emerged that Washington, citing cybersecurity concerns, had ordered Anthropic to stop non-US citizens using two models: Claude Mythos 5, and Claude Fable 5, a version of Mythos but with guardrails to prevent abuse. Anthropic said Washington’s concerns were overblown. But forced to follow the order, yet with no way to check who was using the models, the company suddenly shut down access for everyone, US citizens included. There’s still no agreement on how to restore broad access. But last week, Bloomberg reported that select US companies, and the US government, still had access to Mythos despite the ban, but the EU’s cybersecurity agency Enisa had been shut out. Class division of researchersIn the longer term, access outside the US should be restored, said Marcel Salathé, co-director of the AI centre at the Federal Polytechnic School of Lausanne (EPFL), because a permanent restriction would be financially ruinous to US AI firms. “Even Trump will eventually budge to economic pressure,” he said.However, US AI firms might end up operating rather like banks, doing due diligence on users of their leading-edge AI models, he went on.European scientists are unlikely to fall foul of such checks, he said. But having a Chinese postgraduate in their lab, or doing a type of research the US disapproved of, could potentially result in access being denied. “It will create a sort of class division of researchers,” he said. More than frontier modelsHowever, successfully deploying AI in science is about far more than just having access to leading LLMs such as Mythos.Instead, many science-specific tools, most famously Alphafold, which predicts protein folding structures, require “far less” computing power to train than frontier models, well within the capabilities of European supercomputers, according to a recent analysis by the Arq Foundation, a Brussel-based AI think tank. Instead, tools such as Alphafold are possible because certain fields, like protein folding, weather prediction or astronomy, have large, clean, standardised datasets that can be used to train predictive models. Rather than compute, “data is the central constraint for AI for science,” the report says. For example, a less powerful physics model trained on CERN’s data “will be more valuable than the best model without certain data,” said Bengüsu Özcan, author of the report. European advantage?Europe could therefore steal a march by using its scientific data and infrastructure to create models US digital giants cannot. “They might actually match or go even beyond what these big [US] companies are doing,” said Özcan.Indeed, some European start-ups hope to create automated testing labs to create the kind of standardised data that could speed up the discovery of new materials. Materials scientists say there’s currently too little data to train models. AI scientistsHowever, even if the bottleneck for AI in science is often data, rather than compute, being at the mercy of the US for LLM access could still become a problem for European scientists. A new class of “AI scientists” based on leading LLMs is also emerging, Özcan’s report says.Unlike domain-specific tools like Alphafold, these try to automate day-to-day scientific work, by providing an overarching tool that coordinates specific models to synthesise existing literature, generate hypotheses or run analysis of data. The problem for Europe, however, is that these tools are sometimes based on US leading models. Google Deepmind’s AI Co-Scientist, for example, is built on Google’s Gemini LLM. Systematic failureThese scientific automation tools are still in their early stages, and still exhibit “systematic failures on scientific tasks,” Özcan’s report says. One of the problems is that the messy, day-to-day process of scientific discovery is largely not documented, meaning LLMs don’t have a good source of data to learn how scientists actually work. Meanwhile, some tasks, such as literature synthesis, don’t typically require access to leading edge models.However, the performance of AI scientific assistants could improve as companies such as Google pour resources into developing them. Rely on US“Unfortunately, for scientific assistants, there is not much we can do right now except rely on US frontier AI,” said Antoine Bosselut, a natural language processing expert based at EPFL. Chinese-built open models, which can run on local computers, lessening the risk of a shutdown, are touted as one alternative to US dependence. There’s also Mistral, once seen as Europe’s main AI hope, but the Paris-based company has seen its recent models fall behind in performance. But the Chinese alternatives are generally not as capable as US frontier AI models, said Bosselut, unless paired with fiddly, custom tools that allows them to act as independent agents. “Most scientists do not have the time,” he said. Don’t jump ship yetAlthough the kill switch moment is seen a warning shot for European scientists, it doesn’t mean labs should abandon US AI tools immediately. “I do not think the right response is simply to abandon US-based models and systems under the banner of sovereignty or independence,” said Mattias Björnmalm, secretary general of the Cesaer university association. “That would be an overreaction.”Related articlesEuropean sovereignty in AI requires ‘ugly trade-offs,’ say experts Robotic lab start-up makes case for €500M EU-funded materials testing facilityAI in science: is it useful? Instead, European researchers need to ask themselves whether they’re becoming dependent on technology that could be turned off in Washington, said Özcan. “They might not see this today, but they should really start asking this question,” she said. European researchers need a plan B, said Salathé. “I would recommend to every researcher, very proactively explore alternatives.”Own toolsIn addition, Björnmalm and others want European research institutions to develop their own scientific AI tools.Instead of signing AI deals with US digital giants, European universities should be using this money to create their own models, which may end up being superior for research, said Sabine Leonelli, an expert on the use of AI in science at the Technical University of Munich. “Universities in Europe seem to be happy to sign commercial contracts with US companies on the assumption [their AI tools] are better,” she said. But US frontier LLMs are typically opaque, and have been developed without independent scientific input, she said. “This is not good enough for science.”Last year, Swiss researchers released Apertus, an LLM designed to be completely transparent, from its development methods to its training data. The idea is that this makes scientific tools built on top of the model far more reproducible than with closed, commercial alternatives.“Europe needs more of this: serious capacity-building that gives researchers, universities and companies credible options,” said Björnmalm.
Scientists find thousands of earthquakes in a perfectly straight line in Alaska, revealing a hidden 'microplate'
Tiny earthquakes that emerge in a strikingly linear pattern revealed the Yakutat microplate, which may be focusing volcano and earthquake activity.
Covington approves new round of small business incentives
The Covington Board of Commissioners approved a new round of small business incentives this week. Learn which businesses will benefit.
Commentary: Why Archie Bunker voters are disillusioned with U.S. politics
The 1970s “All in the Family” stalwart supported law-and-order, cultural conservatism and strong labor unions, values to which many Republicans have gravitated, while Democrats evolved into a constituency that adopted identity…
New Media Event Jupiter Festival Planned from Art Basel Company
MCH Group, in which the Fox scion is the largest shareholder, is launching an event titled the Jupiter Festival with an eye toward becoming a stop on the thought leader circuit.
Pinky’s restaurant owner inks distribution deal for startup cheesecake business
“It’s a new challenge. I’m learning a whole new industry with something I’m familiar with, which is food,” said Steve DeRaffele, who launched Rio Cheesecakes earlier this year.
Travis Kelce's Journey: From Rookie to NFL Superstar and His Life with Taylor Swift
Travis Kelce is entering his 14th season in the NFL, all of which have been with the Kansas City Chiefs. After being selected No. 63 overall in the third round of the 2013 NFL Draft by Kansas City, Kelce played only a single special teams snap as a rookie, in a Week 2 game against the Dallas Cowboys. The seven-time All-Pro has set all-time marks for the Chiefs, such as surpassing Hall of Fame tight end Tony Gonzalez's 10,940 career receiving yards (13,002) and passing three-time first-team All-Pro Priest Holmes' 83 total career touchdowns (85).
Liverpool signs find a way to support business
EAST LIVERPOOL-As part of the revitalization process for the historic downtown area in East Liverpool, two wayfinding signs have just been installed in the downtown area to help direct people walking through downtown to businesses located in the area. The wayfinding signs, which have smaller directional signs on them pointing out the locations of multiple […]
Caitlin Clark Fans Outraged By WNBA 30th Anniversary Poster Snubbing
The WNBA is turning 30 years old this year. The women's basketball league, which launched 30 years ago, is celebrating three decades of ball in several different ways. One of them is a special WNBA 30th Anniversary poster, which went on-sale this week. "Bring a piece of WNBA history home. 🏀 ...
New website names and shames companies that still don't offer passkeys to users
According to a new site, 24% of the most popular websites in the world don't offer support for passkeys, which are considered the most secure way to log into apps and services.
Federal judge bars Trump from implementing proof of citizenship requirement to vote
The ruling by U.S. District Court Judge Denise Casper in Boston effectively converts a preliminary injunction she issued a year ago, in which she temporarily blocked many of Trump’s efforts to overhaul elections, into a permanent ban.
Online violence against women in politics: what shapes political party responses to technology-facilitated gender-based violence?
Political parties have a primary role to play in tackling online violence against women and gender diverse politicians. While the prevalence and impact of TFGBV, such as coordinated disinformation campaigns, deepfake image-based sexual abuse or trolling are well documented, many parties are still building their knowledge on how to respond effectively and have not put in place internal practices and policies that respond to the rapidly evolving, poorly regulated digital ecosystem. About the ReportIn order to promote and protect fair and democratic participation in politics, this ALIGN Report explores what political parties are doing in response to TFGBV and what factors shape their action. The findings, based on existing literature and interviews with gender and politics professionals, indicate there are three sets of factors which donors, civil society and practitioners should consider when designing action to support political parties to respond to TFGBV internally. These are: (1) gender norms; (2) socio-political environment; and (3) internal party factors.Key messagesUnequal gender norms are ubiquitous across politics, shaping expectations of leaders to be strong and assertive, and practices of political parties to uphold masculinist values and sustain cultures of silence. These often lead to weak response to TFGBV against women politicians.The socio-political context can incentivise or disincentivise action, depending on the salience of gender issues, which are increasingly weaponised. Electoral competitiveness, domestic laws (i.e. quota requirements), and even the political system or global normative frameworks influence political will to act.Internal party factors that shape responses will vary across countries and contexts, but include: structures to enforce codes of conduct, policies and reporting mechanisms on (TF)GBV, political ideology, extent of centralisation of leadership, and crucially the meaningful participation of women in decision-making positions, not least through internal women’s wings.Party responses can be seen as a spectrum, with actions falling between active discouragement to address TFGBV to commitment to transform unequal norms and practices within the party.About the ToolkitTogether with the report, this ALIGN toolkit offers gender professionals and others working on democratic strengthening a set of guiding questions and reflection prompts to identify which responses could be most effective and suitable in different contexts. These actions can complement other solutions to TFGBV, such as regulations promoting safety by design. The assessment spans a broad range of factors including: (1) different manifestations of gender norms, (2) the socio-political environment and (3) internal party structures.Key messagesPolitical parties are duty-bound to take action internally to respond to the significant threats posed to women members and candidates, including from their own party colleagues, affiliates and political peers.Existing party approaches to TFGBV can be assessed along a spectrum which ranges from active discouragement and passive acceptance to minimal response and transformative change.To generate effective and context-appropriate solutions to TFGBV, it is important to consider how gender norms shape leadership expectations and internal party practices, while also analysing the impact of the socio-political environment. While actions to support women to stay safe online are very common, codes of conduct and measures to strengthen women’s voice and power in the parties are proposed as most transformative solutions.
Facebook rolls out an AI companion app for creators
The new app, which is currently being tested with select creators, will have Facebook's recently-launched AI creator assistant built into it.
From The Sports Desk: Cristiano Ronaldo makes history and joins in World Cup scoring barrage
Ronaldo scored twice yesterday against Uzbekistan, which made him the first player to score in six World Cups, from 2006 through this tournament.
From The Sports Desk: Cristiano Ronaldo makes history and joins in World Cup scoring barrage
Ronaldo scored twice yesterday against Uzbekistan, which made him the first player to ever score in six different World Cups, from 2006 through this current tournament.
'Fingerprints' of black hole's event horizon detected for first time
Scientists have detected the "fingerprints" of a black hole's event horizon -- the boundary from which nothing can escape -- for the first time, according to research published on Wednesday. The scien...
Microsoft's quantum computing technology called into question, again
A new critique in the scientific journal Nature is raising fresh questions about Microsoft's claimed quantum computing breakthrough last year, which underpinned the company's announcement this month that it will have a working quantum system by 2029.
Prime Day 2026: Top Savings on Anker, Beats, TVs, and More Accessories
Earlier this week we highlighted some of the best Apple-related product discounts that you can find on Amazon during Prime Day, and now we're focusing on third-party accessory markdowns during the event. In this article you'll find all the best accessories for charging, smart homes, smartphones, and more. Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with some of these vendors. When you click a link and make a purchase, we may receive a small payment, which helps us keep the site running.
We asked MLB players: Where do you want to play? Where would you run from?
Which organizations have good reputations among players? Which ones have ... less good reputations? We went straight to the source to ask.
New leak brings clearest look at Galaxy Watch Ultra 2’s design
The Galaxy Watch Ultra 2, which is expected to launch in July 2026, has been leaked. Clear images offer us a clear look at its design.
UK heatwave: Red extreme heat warning to take effect
The warning, which means there could be a risk to life, will be in force in parts of England and Wales from 09:00.
Businesses say smoke from Boyle Heights warehouse fire is keeping customers away
After days of thick smoke covering the region from the warehouse fire in Boyle Heights, conditions are finally improving — a positive sign for some nearby businesses that say the smoke has been keeping customers away. The fire sparked last Wednesday at the 500,000-square-foot building, which was being leased by Lineage for use as a cold-storage facility and holding about…
Meta glasses need to be stylish to succeed, Zuckerberg says
Mark Zuckerberg's latest obsession is fashion, which he sees as key to getting more people to wear Meta's AI glasses as more than tech gadgets.
Local business raises more than $1K for residents displaced by Brockport apartment fire
SWEDEN, N.Y. (WROC) – After hearing the details of a devastating apartment complex fire in Brockport which displaced more than thirty people, the owners of a business in Sweden decided to step up and ...
Why the Madonna biopic starring Julia Garner isn't happening after all
Through the process of writing the script, Madonna was bitten by the memoir bug, and she channeled that energy into her forthcoming album "Confessions on a Dance Floor: Part II," which drops July 3.
Alo Yoga Primed for IPO After Sale of Its T-Shirt Business
The sale of Bella+Canvas, which has not closed yet, would give founders Danny Harris and Marco DeGeorge more flexibility and options for the Lululemon challenger.
DOJ announces $6.5B healthcare fraud takedown with record Medicaid enforcement
The Department of Justice unveiled charges against 455 people, including 90 doctors and other licensed medical professionals, for their alleged participation in healthcare schemes that involved mor | Law enforcement unveiled charges against 455 defendants for their alleged participation in healthcare schemes, among which fraudulent amniotic wound allografts and undelivered Medicaid services were spotlighted.
Urban League targets business growth with new Ascension-St. James training cohort
The Urban League of Louisiana is expanding its entrepreneurial development efforts in Ascension and St. James parishes through a new cohort of its Scale Up! Louisiana program, designed to help established small businesses grow and become more profitable. Wednesday is the last day to sign up for the summer 2026 cohort, which will run from […]
Windows 11 KB5095093 update rolls out new Point-in-Time restore feature
Microsoft has released the KB5095093 preview cumulative update for Windows 11 24H2 and 25H2, which fixes numerous bugs and begins rolling out new features, including the new Point-in-Time restore feature.
Kaiser doctor talks about importance of routine check-ups for men’s health
June is Men's Health Month, which is aimed at encouraging men to focus on their physical and mental well-being. Kaiser Permanente’s Dr. Angel Mendoza-Gonzalez joined KCRA 3 on Tuesday to talk about men’s health issues.
Sonic Frontiers on Nintendo Switch 2 has quality and performance modes, Switch 1 save transfers, no upgrade path
We have a few more details about Sonic Frontiers: Definitive Edition, which was just announced and released for Nintendo Switch 2. First up, SEGA has confirmed the two different graphical modes are included. It’s possible to either go for performance or resolution. Performance means a higher frame rate, but the resolution will drop to compensate. SEGA didn’t go into specifics...
State elevates Lakeland Regional Health Medical Center to Level I trauma center
Lakeland Regional becomes the 12th Level I center designated by the Department of Health. The hospital, which cares for more than 4,400 patients annually, has been a provisional Level I facility since May 2025.
Kenya’s health minister orders suspension of construction on a US-backed Ebola facility
Locals have held a series of protests in which three people have died.
NASA’s Webb Pinpoints Millions of Stars Within Cigar Galaxy
M82's intense star formation, thought to be the result of a galaxy merger, will be a short-lived event in astronomical terms, which makes this a one-of-a-kind environment to study. M82 is also known as the Cigar galaxy, Messier 82, NGC 3034.
Scientists create optical skyrmions using a two-century-old light phenomenon
Nanyang Technological University, Singapore (NTU Singapore) scientists have used a classic optical phenomenon known as the Poisson spot to create stable patterns of light called optical skyrmions, which ...
Apple's Foldable iPhone Could Lose Almost $1,300 in Value in First Year, Study Suggests
A new resale value study suggests that a $2,000 foldable iPhone could lose as much as $1,292 of its value within its first 12 months on the market, based on current foldable depreciation trends. The estimate comes from SellCell, which analyzed the 12-month resale performance of flagship smartphones from Apple, Samsung, Google, Motorola, and OnePlus.
Dogs or cats: which is actually smarter, according to science - Futura-Sciences
It is one of the oldest arguments between pet owners, and it usually generates more heat than light. So what happens when you ask science instead of your group chat? The honest answer is that “smarter” is a slippery word, but researchers do have one hard number that tilts the...
8 Probiotic Foods Recommended by a Nutritionist to Support Gut Health
A nutritionist and a registered dietitian share which foods help populate good bacteria in your gut.
‘Monster Mia’ Set For Coordinated 2,700-Screen Halloween Release Across Europe
EXCLUSIVE: Monster Mia, which world premieres at the Annecy International Animation Film Festival this week, is lining up a 2,700-screen Halloween-timed European rollout involving a myriad of indie di...
Taking Wing: Jake Bloss
Today’s subject is in kind of an unusual spot as regards his prospect status. Bloss actually debuted two years ago, and as he turns 25 today (Happy Birthday, Jake) he’s on the fringes of what’s typically considered prospect eligibility. He’s also coming back from Tommy John surgery, which has eaten up the last 14 months […]
Amazon Has a Ridiculous Amount of Good 4K and Blu-ray Movie Deals for Prime Day
It's Amazon Prime Day, which means you could stock up on everyday essentials, or you could add to your DVD collection.
Learn Science with Dr. V: Does your weight change with location?
How much do you weigh in Ruidoso? Do you think you would weigh the same in places like Corpus Christi or Galveston, which are at sea level?
New T-Mobile 5G Test Shows a Simple Fix for a Common Slowdown
T-Mobile may have found a practical way to make its 5G network work better when several nearby phones are all trying to pull data at the same time. The big takeaway is simple: in a new benchmark study, a newer Nokia-powered setup helped cut interference between phones, which led to faster overall performance. According to Signals Research Group, the testing was done at T-Mobile’s ... [read full article]
From brotherhood to backlash: Poland falls out with Ukraine
WARSAW – Poland remains one of Ukraine’s staunchest supporters in Europe but a growing row over wartime history is accelerating a broader shift in which Ukraine has become an increasingly divisive issue in Polish politics. The latest rupture came after President Karol Nawrocki stripped Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy of the Order of the White Eagle, […]
New York Giants 2026 training camp position battle to watch
Which starting job up for grabs is the most intriguing during the New York Giants' 2026 training camp? Find out here.
New England Patriots 2026 training camp position battle to watch
Which starting job up for grabs is the most intriguing during the New England Patriots' 2026 training camp? Find out here.
Warhammer Studio goes super-heavy for an Age of Darkness tank war
Fellblade, Glaive, or Falchion – which is your favourite Warhammer: The Horus Heresy super-heavy tank?
New Health Science High School looks to strengthen career-building opportunities
Students could get hands-on experience at hospitals through the proposed school, which would be set in a traditional school.
Gwyneth Paltrow’s health-food restaurant coming to a second San Diego location this fall
The Goop Kitchen restaurant chain is part of Paltrow’s Goop business, which also sells beauty, wellness, clothing and lifestyle products.
Populist wins Colombia election, but results are challenged
Conservative political outsider Abelardo de la Espriella held a razor-thin lead after Colombia’s deeply polarized presidential runoff, which is being challenged by the ruling party’s progressive candidate.
The Best Prime Day Deals on AirPods, Apple Watch, AirTag, and More
Amazon Prime Day 2026 is here, and it will last for four days, ending this Friday, June 26. As it does every year, Prime Day offers shoppers a huge selection of deals across Amazon's storefront, and there are already many deals you can get on sale ahead of the event. Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with Amazon. When you click a link and make a purchase, we may receive a small payment, which helps us keep the site running.
iOS 27 beta 2 includes Write with Siri, the new version of Apple Intelligence writing tools
iOS 27 beta 2 includes our first look at the new Write with Siri features, which replace the standalone Writings...
I ordered the same meal at Olive Garden and Carrabba's; clear winner
I compared bread, salads, entrées, and desserts from Olive Garden and Carrabba's to see which Italian-American chain had the better dishes and deals.
Video: Devil May Cry 5 Nintendo Switch 2 vs. PS4 comparison, can hit 120 FPS on Nintendo's console
GVG has taken a closer look at the new Nintendo Switch 2 version of Devil May Cry 5, which includes a comparison with the PS4 version. As you’ll notice in the video, the two versions are very similar. One thing that’s a bit different is that the Nintendo Switch 2 release is a tad brighter. Other good news is that...
Fans Recoil At ‘GTA 6’ Price Leak, Which Turns Out To Be False, For Now
GTA 6 is about to be up for preorder, but a leak had fans worried it's going to be very expensive. That, however, seems to be false. At least for now.
Every Apple Watch Model Hits Its Lowest Price Ever for Prime Day
Prime Day deals are already in full swing today, despite the event not kicking off until tomorrow, June 23. Below we're tracking all-time low prices across the Apple Watch lineup, including Apple Watch Series 11 for $120 off, Apple Watch SE 3 for $50 off, and Apple Watch Ultra 3 for $150 off. Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with Amazon. When you click a link and make a purchase, we may receive a small payment, which helps us keep the site running.
Maltby Cafe, known for giant cinnamon rolls, to get new home
The iconic Maltby Cafe, which is known for its massive cinnamon rolls made from scratch, will expand into a designed community of retail space called "Maltby Village."
Researchers develop new 'emotionally aware' model for classifying mental health conditions
Researchers have developed a new "emotionally aware" AI-based model for classifying mental health conditions, which could help clinicians better diagnose patients' mental health conditions. The Emo-MHC ...
PWHL adds Kilmer Sports Ventures, Ilitch Companies as first outside investors
Just one month after completing its third season, the Professional Women’s Hockey League has added its first outside investment, the league announced on Monday morning. Kilmer Sports Ventures, which is led by Toronto businessman Larry Tanenbaum, and Ilitch Companies, the parent company of the NHL’s Detroit Red Wings and MLB’s Tigers, have joined the league as partners. Since its inception, the league has operated under a single-entity ownership model, meaning Mark Walter — the billionaire owner
Halo: Campaign Evolved Main Menu Video Sparks Fan Debate Over Ring Detail
Over the weekend, Halo Studios released a 6-hour video of the Halo: Campaign Evolved main menu, which, as you’d expect, contains the iconic Halo music from the original game. But what you might not have expected is the debate the remake’s new Halo ring has sparked, and some fans calling it too detailed.
Lake Placid and NYC form committee to study hosting future Winter Olympics
The announcement Monday suggested a dual-hosting format, the likes of which Milan and Cortina pulled off at this year’s Olympics.
Business Notes: Virginia Beach’s Tarnished Truth expands distribution; new city clerk in Newport News
See which businesses are expanding and which professionals are getting hired in Hampton Roads.
DOJ may be able to release potentially embarrassing Biden audio recordings unless courts step in
Former President Joe Biden is in an uphill battle to try to stop the Justice Department from sharing recordings it collected of him speaking to his ghostwriter in 2016 and 2017, during which his speech and memory faltered.
Health clinic in St. Louis loses federal funding. CareSTL was already collapsing.
CareSTL Health, which serves low-income and uninsured patients, has already shuttered four of its five locations.
Princeton joins powerhouse network for theoretical physics with major gift from the Leinweber Foundation
With this gift, Princeton will become the ninth member of the Leinweber network for theoretical physics, which is focused on advancing curiosity-driven research on the theoretical principles underlying the physical universe.
Jaguars insider picks 'most impressive' player on offense from offseason
Which Jaguars player was named the "most impressive" performer on offense during offseason programs?
Inspired by Eastern Iowa, Dave Rasdal pens novel ‘Clayville’
Former Cedar Rapids Gazette "Ramblin'" columnist Dave Rasdal, 73, discusses his new novel "Clayville," which was inspired by his 30-plus-year journalism career and the small towns around Eastern Iowa.
Prediction markets push gambling to new level, causing concern
The state is waging a legal fight to preserve oversight and tax revenue amid competition from the increasingly popular platforms, which are regulated by the federal government.
Quentin Tarantino, Kylie Minogue to Star in New Jamie Adams Film From Yale Entertainment (EXCLUSIVE)
Quentin Tarantino has reunited with Welsh helmer Jamie Adams, known for his Nouvelle Vague-inspired improvised filmmaking style, on a new feature project in which the iconic “Kill Bill” director will ...
The Last of Us Part 2 will get multiplayer later this year, but not from Sony, and sadly not on PS5 either
Modder Specilizer has released a 25-minute gameplay trailer for their multiplayer Last of Us Part 2 mod, which shows PvP matchmaking in-action.
Steelers legendary TE leads 2026 countdown to kickoff: Day No. 83
The Pittsburgh Steelers are 83 days away from their 2026 NFL season opener, and here’s a look at which players wore No. 83 best.
How remote work, flexible schedules created a never-ending rush hour
Americans are using newfound flexibility to commute at weird hours, which means we're stuck in a never-ending rush hour.
Business Meets to Discuss Intervention in Johannesburg Crisis
Business Leadership South Africa, a lobby group that counts many of the chief executive officers of the country’s biggest companies among its members, said it will meet this week to discuss support for Johannesburg, which is struggling to pay its bills.
Tesla driver on auto assistance crashed into Texas home, kills woman
It was not clear which of Tesla's features the driver was using at the time of the crash.
Kansas City Chiefs 2026 training camp position battle to watch
Which starting job up for grabs is the most intriguing during the Kansas City Chiefs' 2026 training camp? Find out here.
DCCA expands pathway for mental health professionals ahead of July 1 launch
The Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs is preparing for the July 1 implementation of Act 93, which creates new provisional licenses for associate psychologists, associate marriage and family therapists, and associate mental health counselors.
Sandra Bullock shares photo of late dad holding her kids in emotional Father's Day tribute
Sandra Bullock has shared a moving tribute to her dad, John Wilson Bullock, who died at 93 in 2018, in which she wished the WWII vet a 'Happy Heavenly Father's Day.'
iPhone Air 2 Could Get A Hardware Downgrade That Will Seal The Fate For Apple’s Sleek Flagship Future Forever
A rumor doing the rounds claims that the iPhone Air 2 could be treated to a hardware downgrade which could put an end of sleek flagships forever
AirPods Pro 3 Return to Record Low $169 Price Ahead of Prime Day
Amazon today has the AirPods Pro 3 available for $169.00 in an early Prime Day sale, down from $249.00. This is an all-time low price on the AirPods Pro 3, beating the previous low by $10. Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with some of these vendors. When you click a link and make a purchase, we may receive a small payment, which helps us keep the site running.