Tag Archives: award

Stunning Close-Up of Spider Silk Earns Scientific Photography Award

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spider silk

Martin J. Ramirez/Royal Society Publishing

The silk threads, surrounded by finer looped strands, originate from Australian cast-net spiders (Asianopis sublufa), known as exceptional ambush predators. Instead of crafting a web and waiting for their prey, these spiders utilize their four front legs to control the web and ensnare their unfortunate target. This electron microscopy image reveals the spider’s silk, which is uniquely tailored for this peculiar hunting method. The silk structure features an elastic core enveloped in a sheath of firmer fibers of varying thicknesses, ensuring it is both robust and highly flexible.

The photograph was captured by Martin J. Ramirez, whose team at Argentina’s Bernardino Rivadavia Museum of Natural Sciences clinched the top prize at the 2025 Royal Society Publication Photography Competition.

prairie chicken in mid-air

Peter Hudson/Royal Society Publishing

The standout photo in the behavior category depicts a confrontation between two male prairie chickens (Tympanuchus cupido). Captured by Peter Hudson from Pennsylvania State University, this image illustrates the males gathering in leks during mating season, engaging in aerial displays to compete for female attention.

tadpole

Filippo Carugati/Royal Society Publishing

Filippo Carugati from the University of Turin, Italy, earned recognition in the Ecology and Environmental Sciences category for capturing this tadpole during an expedition in Madagascar. This juvenile is believed to be a Gibemantis liber, residing in a gelatinous substance that clings to tree trunks.

atlas moth

Irina Petrova Adamatzky/Royal Society Publishing

The image was taken by Irina Petrova Adamatzky, a UK-based photographer and runner-up in the behavioral category. The Atlas moth (Attacus atlas), one of the largest moth species globally with wingspans reaching up to 30 centimeters, exhibits remarkable mimicry that resembles snake heads at the tips of its wings, providing camouflage against avian predators.

fog in the Atacama desert

Felipe Ríos Silva/Royal Society Publishing

In Chile’s Atacama Desert, stratocumulus clouds that flow in from the coast serve as a vital resource. Felipe Ríos Silva, a professor at the Pontifical Catholic University of Chile, is investigating ways to capture this fog and convert it into potable water for residents living in one of Earth’s driest regions. His photo earned him the runner-up spot in the Earth Science and Climatology category.

Antarctic sunrise

Dr. Aman Chokshi/Royal Society Publishing

This photograph captures the sun’s emergence after six months of darkness in Antarctica. Dr. Aman Chokshi, a runner-up in the astronomy category at McGill University in Canada, braved brutal -70°C (-94°F) winds and heated his camera to take a 360-degree panoramic shot of the horizon as the sun rose, transforming it into a three-dimensional image that resembles a small planet encircled by green and purple auroras alongside the Milky Way.

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Source: www.newscientist.com

Stunning Yet Haunting: Whale Rescue Photo Takes Home Photography Award

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Tauhi, Miesa Grobbelaar’s award-winning photo

Miesa Grobbelaar/TNC 2025 Oceania Photo Contest

Shortly after capturing the moment an endangered humpback whale was freed from its restraints, Miesa Grobbelaar remarked that the whale paused and gazed at them, seemingly grateful. The photos documenting the rescue were taken off the coast of Ha’apai, Tonga. For more, visit the Nature Conservancy’s 2025 Oceania Photo Contest.

Grobbelaar and the rescue team answered a distress signal regarding an entangled humpback whale. Upon arrival, they found a heavy, rusted chain embedded deep in its tail, as Grobbelaar shared upon receiving her award. They approached carefully and quietly to untangle her, and eventually succeeded in breaking the chains.

While humpback whales are no longer classified as endangered due to their population rebounding since the mid-20th century whaling days, some specific populations, like those around Tonga, still face risks. These numbers are currently in the low thousands, representing about 30 percent fewer than before commercial whaling started.

“This image captures a paradox: the horrific impacts of human behavior on nature alongside our compassion towards it,” remarked Jarrod Bourde, one of the contest judges, in an official statement.

Pluteus’ Firefly by Nick Wooding

Nick Wooding/TNC 2025 Oceania Photo Contest

The competition featured photographers from Australia, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, and the Solomon Islands and awarded prizes in various categories. This enchanting photo above displays the Pluteus velutinornatus, a fungus growing on trees, which won in the “Plants and Fungi” category. Photographer Nick Wooding stumbled upon the hazel-colored fungus right before it blossomed, and upon revisiting days later, he found it transformed to a pristine white.

Windjana Valley by Scott Portelli

Scott Portelli/TNC 2025 Oceania Photo Contest

Scott Portelli received top honors in the land category with his stunning time-lapse image of stars captured (above) atop a rock wall in Windjana Gorge National Park in Western Australia, famous for its striking red rocks. The mesmerizing effect was crafted using over 600 photographs, illustrating the stars’ movement from dusk till dawn.

Peacock Mantis and Eggs by Peter McGee

Peter Magee/TNC 2025 Oceania Photo Contest

This striking image features a female peacock mantis shrimp (Odontodactylus syralus) captured on film by Peter Magee in Bali, Indonesia. The photograph earned third place in the water category, showcasing the shrimp vigilantly guarding its precious red eggs while observing its surroundings.

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Source: www.newscientist.com

This Paper Deserves an Award for its Humble Approach to Bold Ideas.

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Feedback is New Scientist A popular source for those seeking the latest in science and technology news. To share your thoughts on topics that may interest our readers, please send an email to feedback@newscientist.com.

Speaking Our Truth

Expert science journalists often learn to skim specific sections of scientific papers, particularly those asserting that the research signifies a “significant advancement” or “broadens understanding.” This isn’t because they are inaccurate, but because nearly any research yielding results can make these assertions, and academics are motivated (as we all are) to amplify the significance of their work.

But sometimes, it isn’t a hassle. Following a chain of events initiated by reporter Matthew Sparks and shared on the social platform Bluesky, Feedback uncovered a 2018 paper on the arXiv preprint server that would have claimed the prize for “most honest” research effort. Absolute refusal to make grand claims.

In this study, authors Joseph Redmon and Ali Farhadi detailed the latest iteration of YOLO, an AI framework designed to recognize objects in images. YOLO has even outperformed CAPTCHA tests requiring users to identify all squares containing bicycles and has been utilized to detect smuggling vessels. All said, these achievements are truly impressive (though perhaps alarming), but by 2018, the duo had evidently been coasting.

The title of their paper itself—”YOLOv3: Incremental Improvements”—is telling. The brief summary echoes this sentiment, stating, “we’ve implemented several minor design adjustments to enhance performance.” The essence can be distilled to: ‘You’ve contacted me year-round, yet my research efforts this year were sparse; much of my time was spent on Twitter.’ This line is, in fact, the date noted in the paper.

The authors further admit that the “improvements” largely stemmed from “good ideas taken from others.” They dive into details, first confessing that their tweaks are “not particularly exciting—just a collection of minor updates to enhance functionality.”

They then transition to Section 4, titled “Things I Tried That Didn’t Work.” This section, Feedback argues, should be a standard inclusion in all scientific publications, potentially saving others considerable time.

Despite acknowledging that they only recounted “what we recall,” they do remember an attempt involving something called “focal loss,” which ended up diminishing the model’s accuracy. “YOLOv3 might already be resilient to the focal loss problem, as it differentiates objectness prediction and conditional class prediction, resulting in minimal accuracy loss in most cases. Or maybe not? I’m not entirely sure,” they commented.

Feedback: I must have overlooked this in 2018, or I can’t believe I missed it when the article was spotlighted. Aggregator site Reddit played a role, but thanks to sociologist Per Angel, who mentioned in Bluesky:the restrictions section is a space for academics to practice radical honesty in just one paragraph. Data scientist Johan Ugander remarked that the YOLOv3 paper “deserves an accolade.” A truly candid piece.

Surely, there’s an academic somewhere known for their radical honesty regarding their minimal accomplishments. I’ll send an email to the usual address.

A Touch of Longevity

Clare Boyes once stated: “I understand you steer clear of prescriptive determinism, but I felt compelled to forward you this email I received today from the British Wildlife Newsletter.” It mentioned a book titled Tree Hunting: 1,000 Trees to Find in Towns and Cities Across the UK and Ireland, authored by Paul Wood.

In a similar vein, Robert Master pointed out that a recent special issue titled “How to Live to 100” (TL;DR: Don’t Die) featured a longevity researcher named Paul Lazarus.

Sleep on This

A while back (in July), Feedback reported on receiving a press release staunchly defending the environmental sustainability of avocados, only to find it originated from the World Avocado Organization. We concluded that while these individuals may be correct, they surely operate under a peculiar incentive structure.

We received no additional information from the avocado vendor, but we were inundated with press releases emphasizing the significance of sleep. “Struggling to find a solution? Science confirms that sleeping on it genuinely resolves your issues,” the first message proclaimed. It highlighted “exciting new research” and asserted that “the traditional advice to sleep on things may actually be one of the most effective problem-solving strategies available.”

This is attributed to the brain’s ability to continue processing memories and forging new connections while we sleep, occasionally leading to innovative insights through the amalgamation of new and old concepts. There was talk of memory consolidation, the prefrontal cortex (often seen as the brain’s inner critic), and associative thinking.

The follow-up email delved even further with a dramatic, albeit grammatically questionable, title: “New Study Indicates Rising Mortality Among Young Adults, Experts Warn Continued Sleep Deprivation Could Aggravate This.” The press release linked sleep deprivation with chronic health issues. There was also a quote from a “certified sleep coach”—possibly real?—but our minds conjured an image of a sweaty man in a tracksuit, whistle in hand, shouting, “Give me seven [hours]!” Yet the message remained clear: “Prioritize sleep.”

While it may have been foreshadowing, if you weren’t prepared for it, both emails, of course, came from mattress supplier Amerisleep.

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You can send your article to Feedback at feedback@newscientist.com. Please include your home address. This week’s and previous feedback can be accessed on our website.

Source: www.newscientist.com

Why Our Brain Won the 2025 Royal Society Trivedi Science Book Award

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The human brain is one of the most intricate entities ever to exist.

Andriy Onofriyenko/Getty Images

Science literature, particularly those authored by scientists, is often perceived as monotonous and challenging. They are sometimes regarded as mere textbooks meant for structured learning. However, the book featuring the finalists for the Royal Society’s Trivite Science Award proves this perception wrong and showcases the judges’ selection for this year: Our Brains, Ourselves by neurologist Masd Hussain.

I was fortunate to serve as a panel chair among six dedicated readers and book enthusiasts, including New Scientist‘s Jacob Aron, who faced the daunting challenge of curating a list of nominees. Our discussions, led by passionate advocates for science, were diverse and engaging, reflecting the love we all share for both literature and science.

We frequently engaged in respectful debates, as I was usually in the company of individuals willing to consider opposing viewpoints. Our varied backgrounds and experiences enriched our understanding of the privileges associated with reading and the act of reading itself.

This year’s submissions featured numerous outstanding scientific works, yet Our Brains, Ourselves notably blended exquisite storytelling with rigorous, cutting-edge science, particularly evidenced in its humanistic approach. Hussain is a neuroscientist and a clinician; seven personal narratives from his patients are highlighted throughout the book.

The experiences shared are diverse. One individual feels an overwhelming apathy post-stroke, while another believes she has a connection with her husband. Each story illustrates profound transformations. This book is a poignant exploration of how neurological disorders can radically alter one’s identity and breed societal alienation.

A recurring theme in the book is the concept of “self” and how our brains shape our identities. It is conveyed empathetically and personally. The scientific elements are firmly grounded in Hussain’s own research, presented in an easily digestible manner, while acknowledging the unknowns. I appreciate this transparency; real science encourages the pursuit of further questions.

While case studies in clinical practices might seem commonplace, the unique personal touch here makes a significant difference. Have you ever felt a disconnect from personal attributes? The narratives of patients with brain disorders provoke thought regarding identity, selfhood, and our social roles.

This notion resonated strongly with our panel. What constitutes belonging? Some individuals encountered in the book are members of immigrant communities, facing prejudice and violence to carve out their place in society. It would seem that as our world becomes increasingly interconnected, our fear of differences should diminish—but this isn’t always the case.

Our Brains, Ourselves encourages readers to reflect on how neurological disorders can profoundly disrupt one’s sense of belonging while illustrating how cognitive function influences one’s identity. Ultimately, our brains substantially define who we are. This compassionate narrative not only educates readers about science but also showcases extraordinary human kindness.

Sandra Knapp is a plant taxonomist at the Museum of Natural History in London and chaired this year’s Royal Society Trivedi Science Book Award judging committee. The winner of the award is Our Brains, Ourselves, the latest addition to the New Scientist Book Club.

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Source: www.newscientist.com

Stunningly Intimate Octopus Photos Take Home Aquatic Photography Award

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The mother of the octopus By Kat Zhou

Kat Zhou

This captivating and intimate image offers a unique view of the Caribbean reef octopus (Octopus Briareus), showcasing the mother and her potential offspring in the Blue Heron Bridge diving area near West Palm Beach, Florida.

Following mating, these solitary creatures retreat to seclude themselves while safeguarding their developing eggs. However, for Octopus Briareus and several other octopus species, this tale takes a tragic turn.

Once her mother octopus lays a batch of hundreds of eggs, she ceases to feed and dies shortly after the eggs hatch. Research conducted in 2022 illuminated this phenomenon. The optic nerve gland, the primary neuroendocrine hub of the octopus, regulates lifespan and reproduction in invertebrates, akin to the pituitary gland in vertebrates.

Octopus mothers can dramatically boost cholesterol production post-mating, leading to self-destructive spirals, although the reason behind this cycle remains elusive. One theory suggests that the octopus stops eating for her young.

The mother of the octopus by freelance nature photographer Kat Zhou triumphed in the Aquatic Life category at the Bigpicture Natural World Photography Competition, which invites both professional and amateur photographers to capture, narrate, and advocate for the conservation of Earth’s diverse life forms.

The overall grand prize went to photographer and conservationist Zhou Donglin for Lemur’s Tough Life, a breathtaking capture (shown below) taken at the Tsingy de Bemaraha Strict Nature Reserve in Madagascar. After a challenging trek through rugged terrain, Donglin documented a common brown lemur (Eulemur Fulvus) making a daring leap from one cliff to another—with her baby clinging on.

Lemur’s tough life Zhou Donglin

Zhou Donglin

Next is Mud Skip by Georgina Steytler (shown below), depicting a fascinating reminder of life’s ancient past as a beautiful amphibian emerges from the mud. Steytler, a finalist in the Aquatic Life section of the competition, spent days at Goode Beach in Bloom, Western Australia to capture the precise moment when a Boleophthalmus pectinirostris leaped into the air.

Mud Skip By Georgina Steytler

Georgina Steytler

The final image (shown below) appears reminiscent of a scene from another planet. In reality, Remaining in the Snow by plant photographer Ellen Woods, a finalist in the awards for landscapes, waterscapes, and flora, was captured near her home in Connecticut, in the northeastern USA.

Remaining in the snow By Ellen Woods

Ellen Woods

It features skunk cabbage (Symplocarpus foetidus), often among the first plants to bloom at winter’s end. Notably, it can create its own microclimate, generating warmth of up to 23°C even when ambient temperatures remain below freezing.

This unique capability of thermal regulation protects the plant from frost damage and attracts beetles and fly pollinators drawn to its warmth and scent of carrion.

However, it’s not particularly pleasant; the name arises from its odor, likened to a skunk’s scent when the leaves are disturbed.

The winning photograph will be displayed at the California Academy of Sciences in San Francisco later this year.

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Source: www.newscientist.com

Fish Rescue Secures New Scientist Editor Award at EarthPhoto 2025

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Yurok Tribal member and biologist working with engineers to set up a fish trap on a tributary of the Klamath River in California

Vivian Wan

The essence of this image lies in restoring the traditional way of life, captured by Vivienne Wang, whose work is part of the series that earned the New Scientist Editor’s Award at the Earth Photo 2025 Competition.

The photograph illustrates the Yurok community collaborating with biologists and engineers to install a rotary screw trap on the Trinity River, a key tributary of the Klamath River in Willow Creek, California. The team employs fish traps to assess the health of the salmon and examine their migration behaviors.

The Klamath Basin is central to Yurok existence, holding significant cultural and spiritual importance through its rich waters that support Chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha). However, 19th-century colonization displaced the Yurok tribe and depleted local resources through mining, logging, and damming efforts.

Climate change and diverted river flows have severely affected salmon populations. A new irrigation policy in 2002 resulted in the deaths of tens of thousands of Chinook salmon in the Klamath River, adding urgency to the decades-long initiative to remove river dams. Notably, the last dam on this river was demolished last year.

For Wang, the mission was to illuminate how Indigenous communities could lead the charge for environmental justice. “We aspire for viewers to gain respect for the resilience, culture, and ongoing struggle of the Yurok people as they work to safeguard the Klamath Basin,” she remarks.

In the image below, Yurok Fisheries technician Hunter Mattz examines monitors that reveal enlarged salmon scales, gathering valuable insights into mortality factors sourced from fishing and natural causes. This information is crucial for determining sustainable catch limits and spawning goals, as well as assessing run sizes, which indicate the number of salmon entering a river or stream within a specific timeframe.

Mattz, a third-year Yurok fishery technician, inspects a monitor showing a magnified salmon scale

Vivian Wan

In this scene, Mattz holds a slender tag on a needle, contributing critical data to the fish monitoring research program.

Mattz displays a small fish tag providing essential data to fish monitoring initiatives

Vivian Wan

Mattz also manages the Net Harvest Project, which entails traversing over 70km from the Pacific Ocean to the estuary’s mouth and into the heart of the Klamath Basin, including stretches beyond Blue Creeks in California. Collecting data on fish species caught by local residents through nets has been pivotal in securing funding for conservation efforts in the Klamath region.

Hunter Mattz’ portrait, who is also collecting data on fish species caught by local residents

Vivian Wan

All winners of the Earth Photography Competition were chosen by a panel including New Scientist photo editor Tim Bodhuis and David Stock, director of editorial videos. Before touring the UK, make sure to visit the Earth Photo 2025 exhibition at London’s Royal Geographical Society until August 20th.

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Source: www.newscientist.com

Nomination for the 2025 Award for Reverse Nomination Determinism

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An intelligent approach?

Feedback always falls on deaf ears when I see publications with self-aggrandizing titles. So we noticed one social media post with interest. rebecca shearDemographers at Brunel University in London, publisher Elsevier, said: “The new editor was chosen by intelligence”.

intelligenceAs you know, this isconsiderable contribution It leads to an understanding of the nature and function of intelligence. ” Feedback cannot confirm that the editor has changed.About” page was not updated, but it has been updated. advertise There have been reports that most of the editorial board has resigned in protest against the appointment of a new editor-in-chief, but since the report was published on a far-right website, the feedback is unwilling to be believed without further evidence.

Wait a minute, you might be thinking that. How did a scientific journal change editors and transition into a far-right website?The question is, especially in the eugenics movement of the early 20th century, intelligence research justified claims of racial superiority. It is said that it was sometimes exploited for this purpose. and intelligence You published a study that your racist uncle might cite favorably.

Looks like someone at Elsevier has noticed. guardian Reported Publisher I was considering a paper by the late Richard Linn who claimed to have discovered differences in IQ between countries. Including papers on intelligence.

Now that things are getting a little dark, let's move on to another issue quickly. intelligence: Defining characteristics are clearly missing. Shear highlighted a paper with an innocuous-looking title.Temperature and evolutionary novelty as forces supporting the evolution of general intelligence”.

The driving force is when homo sapiens The first people to migrate outside Africa encountered all sorts of new conditions, including different climates. This allowed them to evolve higher levels of intelligence. What this means for the people of Africa is left to the reader's guess.

If this all sounds like something from the good old days of Victorian science, Feedback regrets to inform you that this paper was actually first published online in 2007. But when you swallow your nausea and take a closer look, the real joy appears.

The first problem is that the authors are calculating the distance that the population has traveled “as if by flying.” Even as a first approximation to the history of great human migrations, straight-line distances cannot be used. The history of the Great Human Migration involves people traveling to the far northeast of Asia, into North America, and on to the southern tip of South America.

But it gets better. In the same sentence, the paper's authors say they calculated the distance “using the Pythagorean theorem.” The reader will be reminded that the Pythagorean theorem only applies to planes and not to curved surfaces. Yes, this study of the racial origins of intelligence is built on the premise that the Earth is flat.

While there are many restrictions placed on academics, 2009 rebuttal He suggested the study may be “questionable.” Other psychologists also brought this issue to the attention of the magazine, only to be told that their criticisms were as follows:completely negative and noisy”.Paper remains alive.

Therefore, feedback would like to recommend the journal intelligence Winner of the 2025 Reverse Nomination Determinism Award.

40 eyelashes

new scientist Reporter Carmela Padavich Callahan emphasizes that: paper They describe the reason for their curly eyelashes as “ridiculous enough to warrant feedback.” Excuse me: This is a very serious column about serious things.

The research is mainly about the physics of eyelashes, explaining how they move water away from our eyes and allow us to see even when it's raining. The process relies on “hydrophobic curved flexible fiber arrays with surface microratchets and macrocurvature.” Much has been written about the importance of eyelash curvature for adhesion and water drainage.

Then proceed to the discussion section. There, as Carmela coolly notes, “authors delve into aesthetic advice.” Modern beauty standards encourage women to use mascara “to lengthen and condition eyelashes,” which “compromises the eyelash's protective function.” But don't worry. The solution is just around the corner. “As a hint, for those with sparse eyelashes, hydrophobic curved false eyelashes may be a practical solution to enhance your appearance while maintaining eye protection.” Probably patent pending Shall we?

Feedback wonders if the author has any advice for middle-aged writers whose eyebrows grow so long that they end up looking like macaroni penguins if they aren't trimmed regularly. For a friend.

Worst reading material ever

Some form of feedback has reached the mailing list of Spines, a technology company aiming to revolutionize the publishing industry through the power of artificial intelligence.

by Utilizing AI To do editing and other work done previously by a skilled and paid person, thorn aims to publish 8000 books in 2025. The feedback says “Yes, please.” When we look at the publishing industry's structural problems, such as its abysmal fact-checking standards for non-fiction works, we conclude that what we really need is an even larger volume of even lower-quality books. There is nothing else.

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You can email your article to Feedback at feedback@newscientist.com. Please enter your home address. This week's and past feedback can be found on our website.

Source: www.newscientist.com

Announcements of ‘The Witcher IV’, ‘Okami 2’, and Other Game Award Winners | Games

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aDeserving winners – Balatro, Astro Bot, Metaphor: ReFantazio dominates the board – game award Last Thursday brought us many end-of-the-year announcements, like unexpected gifts under the tree. It was the best show ever in terms of newsworthy announcements. It felt a bit like an old-school E3 conference. Of course, if you haven’t watched the three-hour video game awards show live from LA, which aired just after midnight UK time, here’s what you need to know.

Seeing it for the first time The Witcher IV

We’ve known for a while that another dark fantasy RPG was in development at Poland’s CD Projekt, and now we know. next witcher game Instead of father figure Geralt, the film stars Ciri, a white-haired warrior and villain, and the trailer shows her locked in a battle with a striking and gruesome monster. I had a good look at this whole trailer – I spent about 200 hours on The Witcher III back in the day and I’m looking forward to this one Very.

new games from naughty dog

A wise use of the Pet Shop Boys … Intergalactic: Heretical Prophet. Photo: Naughty Dog

The next project from the developers of The Last of Us will be called Next Project. Intergalactic: Heretic Prophet And as the name suggests, this is science fiction. You are trapped on a planet at the edge of the known galaxy, where no one has returned for 600 years, cut off from communication with civilization. Although the premise feels a little tired, I love the stylish lines and bright colors of this space fantasy, as well as the clever use of Pet Shop Boys in the trailer.

us too saw the new trailer Another AAA game that looks promising is Mafia: The Old Country, set in Sicily. (Guardian games columnist Dominic Diamond recently played the remake of the original Mafia to see if he was too old to be a Mafia after all.)

A sequel I wasn’t expecting

The 2006 painting “Okami,” pictured here, is scheduled for a sequel in 2026. Photo: Capcom

I loved In the 2006 Zelda-like painting Okami, in which he plays a wolf god who fights demons across ancient Japan with the help of magical ink, I long ago gave up hope of seeing a sequel. (Apart from “Oishinden,” which was produced in 2010) by a different studio). It was then announced that the game’s original director, Hideki Kamiya, was working on it. Okami 2 The announcement of his new studio, Clover, was as much of a surprise as the announcement of Shenmue III at E3 2015. The studio name is an inside joke. Kamiya’s previous studio, which created the original Okami, was Clover.

Another unexpected announcement from Capcom: new onimusha game – Another PS2-era hit about samurai in feudal Japan. Just as exciting, but much more forgiving than the Ninja Gaiden action games (also side scrolling sequel). Sega is also participating in the revival, with the Like a Dragon team tasked with working on a new installment of the Virtua Fighter series. And 90’s dinosaur hunter Tulloch is taking on a new challenge in his next game. Tulloch: Origin (Warning: Violent trailer).

A future co-op classic

In Split Fiction, two aspiring writers are trapped together in a VR simulation of their own story. Photo: Electronic Arts

Swedish developer Hazelight is known for A Way Out, a cooperative game about two brothers trying to escape from prison, and It Takes Two, a magical realist platformer about a couple on the brink of divorce, Masu. The next piece is about two aspiring writers, one science fiction and one fantasy, who are trapped together in a VR simulation of their own story. Fight by switching between dragons and mechs. it is called split fiction.

Meanwhile, a new game from the creators of Overcooked is also coming. It’s a creepy cooperative horror incident. called stage frighttwo players run through an escape room-style scenario. and AlsoFrom Software has New Elden Ring co-op spinoff This is a bit like Elden Ring meets Monster Hunter. While I’m a bit skeptical of this, I’m also happy at the prospect that From Software’s new game might actually be completed. Because playing it totally counts as quality time with your partner.

And finally…

Fumihito Ueda led the team at Sony’s Japan Studios that created a trilogy of standard games: Shadow of the Colossus, ICO, and Toriko the Man-Eater. All of these games made me think differently about how games express ideas. I’m currently back to game development at a new studio in Tokyo. Project: Robot. There’s only a one-minute trailer here, but I’m still going to play anything this guy is in if I get the chance.

what to play

Sinking into nature… Naiad. Photo: Steam

In the craziness of working parenthood in December, I found peace of mind. naiada free-flowing game about becoming a water nymph. Swim through beautiful river scenery, following schools of small fish, listening to chirping birds, enjoying piano music and the sounds of nature. Sometimes they reunite lost ducklings with their mothers, or make brief appearances in the human world (unfortunately, these are the most frustrating parts). I felt like I was immersed in nature on the steam deck.

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what to read

The CD Projekt logo at its headquarters in Warsaw, Poland. Photo: Kacper Pempel/Reuters

  • bloomberg We interviewed the CEO of cd project red To learn more about how the studio has changed since Cyberpunk 2077 in preparation for The Witcher IV.

  • If you want to know more about the background of the Okami sequel, check out VGC great interview and Hideki Kamiya.

  • classic adventure game under the steel sky I turned 30 last week – eurogamer To commemorate this occasion, we conducted an interesting interview with the manufacturer.

www.theguardian.com

From acclaimed author Adrian Tchaikovsky to Hugo Award winner Hao Jingfan: The top new science fiction of the month

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In Sierra Greer’s novel Annie Bot, a female robot is created to be the perfect girlfriend for her owner.

alamy stock photo

From Adrian Tchaikovsky to Hao Jingfan to Natasha Pulley, many of the biggest names in science fiction are releasing new releases this month. We, the readers, can choose whether we want to peer into the ruins of an alien civilization, follow the possibility of the coming singularity and its aftermath, or enter the world of sex robots. To each of them, I would say, yes, please come join us. But I think it’s Stuart Turton’s new high-concept thriller that I’m most excited about. This thriller depicts crime and science fiction, with a murder taking place on an island surrounded by the fog that has destroyed the rest of the planet, and is one of my favorites. Blend.

If all these new titles aren’t enough to keep you busy this March, you might want to revisit Cixin Liu’s epic. three body problem, in anticipation of Netflix’s upcoming adaptation. Or please join us. new sciencet Book Club, I just started reading Martin McInnes’ novels Ascension in progress. The story from a mysterious trench at the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean to deep space has just been published in paperback and is an amazing read.

alien clay Written by Adrian Tchaikovsky

Is Tchaikovsky single-handedly supporting the science fiction industry? I think he might be, since he’s really prolific and definitely brilliant. alien clay This novel, the first of two new novels to be published over the coming months, is set on the faraway world of Kiln, where the ruins of an alien civilization have been discovered. Professor Arton Dagdev, who has always wanted to study extraterrestrial life, is exiled to the Kiln for his political activities and has to work in a concentration camp. Can he uncover the world’s secrets before he is killed?

I’m a big Turton fan. I’ve loved his smart, high-concept murder mysteries ever since his debut. The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle From his latest historical crime novel. devil and dark water. His latest outings have a decidedly sci-fi tinge. The setting is a world destroyed by a murderous fog that has attacked the planet. The only thing that survives is the island, where 122 villagers and 3 scientists live happily together, until one of the scientists is found stabbed to death, when the island’s security system is degraded and the fog disappears. Everyone on the island will die as a result. It will take 107 hours if the murder case is not solved. That’s already a lot to accept, but everyone’s memories have also been wiped by the security system. Sounds complicated, but I believe Turton is great, so I’ll put it next on my list.

Mars is the setting for Natasha Pooley’s new novel

Pulley is a relatively recent discovery for me, ever since my mother finally convinced me to find time to read her historical and fantasy novels. Filigree Street Clockmaker (That made me happy). This latest installment is set after an environmental catastrophe. January, a refugee from Earth who is now a second-class citizen on Mars because her body has not yet adapted to low gravity, enters into a marriage of convenience with xenophobic Martian politician Aubrey Gale. However, Aubrey Gale turns out to be very different from their methods. Featured in Mars news. I love a good romance combined with his sci-fi setting, so this is a must-read for me.

2054: Novel Written by Elliot Ackerman and James Stavridis

Mr. Stavridis is not just a novelist, but also former NATO Supreme Allied Commander Admiral James Stavridis.He and Ackerman are bestselling authors 2034. In this follow-up study, 20 years after the U.S. Nuclear War, the president of the United States collapsed and died while addressing the nation. Conspiracy theories spread and civil war breaks out. Meanwhile, computer scientists and intelligence experts believe they know what’s behind the assassination: a major advance in AI. This sounds thrilling and provocative, and is something you should devote a fair amount of your time to reading.

Hugo Award-winning Jing Fan’s new sci-fi thriller is set in a future where a mysterious, highly intelligent alien race comes into contact. His three scientists, unconvinced that aliens are a threat, join forces to thwart a potentially disastrous military response.

Our science fiction columnist Emily Wilson gives this novel very high praise.It is said to be perfect for fans of never let me go and my dark vanessa, which I definitely count among them, is the story of Anniebot, a female robot created to be the perfect girlfriend for her owner, Doug. The problem is that she’s starting to think about what she really wants from her life.

high voltage Written by Chris Sugden and Jen Sugden

By the author of the podcast drama series victorio city, this novel is described as perfect for fans of Terry Pratchett and Douglas Adams – Hello, it’s me. The setting is 1887 “Even Greater London,” an “urban plane” that covers the entire lower half of England, where Isambard Kingdom Brunel’s “Legion of Engineers” builds and destroys anything they deem necessary. There is. Meanwhile, Archibald Fleet and Clara Entwistle establish the country’s first private detective agency and take on a series of impossible bank robberies that keep the police busy and one kidnapping case after another.

This first contact novel is a sequel to Johnston’s novel. space between us Then we see the alien Enceladon disappearing into the water off the west coast of Scotland. I would like to start with the first one in this series.I highly value Johnston as a crime writer (his Skefus The series is peppered with morbid black humor, so I’d love to try out some of his science fiction work as well.

This cyberpunk satire sounds like fun. Following on from the TV sensation whose title is the novel, the next season will take place in the neo-medieval state organization “Inner Azure”, where the country has been (by its own choice) separated from the rest of the world for almost a century. It has been blocked off…until now. To entertain viewers around the world, the show’s producers must assemble a group of misfits who try to run the country.

Adam Malek’s third collection of short stories explores plant-based skyscrapers, a zombie apocalypse, how time dilation affects marriages, as well as reluctant sex robots and the terrible parenting skills of a billionaire space industrialist. is promised to us.

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Source: www.newscientist.com

Australia’s ‘Contemporary’ Portrait Award permits art entirely produced by Artificial Intelligence (AI)

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A prestigious portrait competition has defended its ability to allow entrants to submit works generated by artificial intelligence, arguing that art should reflect social change rather than being stagnant.

of Brisbane Portrait Award The work, which is worth a top prize of $50,000, is being described as Queensland’s answer to the Archibalds, and selected works will be exhibited at the Brisbane Powerhouse later this year.


This year, the Brisbane Portrait Prize has announced in its entry terms and conditions that as long as the artwork is original and “fully completed and fully owned” by the entrant, it is “completed in whole or in part by generative artificial intelligence.” It states that it will accept submissions that have been submitted. .

A spokesperson for the awards told Guardian Australia that allowing AI submissions acknowledged that the definition of art is not stagnant and is always growing.

“The BPP prides itself on being a contemporary prize, fostering the continued evolution of the art and participating in the conversation around it, while always being interested in what ‘contemporary’ portraiture is.” ” they said.

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A spokesperson said that in the past, more traditional artists objected to allowing digital and photographic submissions, but it is now generally accepted in the art world.

“As technology continues to adapt and integrate into our society, the use of assistive technology is already paving the way for inclusion for artists with disabilities, and we believe that the use of AI tools and methodologies will continue to grow in this field. “We believe this is the next step,” the spokesperson said.

The previous winner, painter Stephen Tiernan, said: told ABC The creation of AI-generated works still involves an artistic process, and the rule changes ultimately kept the awards modern.

A spokesperson said the contest will determine ownership of works based on the terms of the process used and the AI program behind it. At the time of submission, artists must declare that they have full copyright to their submitted work.

Dr Rita Maturionite, a senior lecturer in law at Macquarie University, said that under Australian copyright law, AIs themselves cannot be authors, but how much of an AI-assisted work of art can humans own in order to claim ownership. He said whether the information would have to be entered remains an open question.

“What is unclear is [is] “How much human contribution is enough for a person to become a writer?” she said. “Is one prompt enough for her, or does she need to create 100 prompts?”

A spokesperson for the Brisbane Portrait Prize said if the artist contributed “sufficient independent intellectual effort” to the creation of the work, it was likely to be protected by copyright.

“An example of someone determining full ownership of content is when an artist uses an AI tool to use elements of some of their own original work, and all original designs belong solely to the artist. This could be the case if we create new artwork,” the spokesperson said.

“We recognize that AI is an evolving field and that our laws often keep pace with technological advances.”

Dr TJ Thomson, Senior Lecturer in RMIT's School of Media and Communication, said: 'Creating an image through a camera and imagining an image through a keyword prompt are completely different experiences that require very different skills. There is,” he said.

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“If you have some knowledge of photography principles and equipment, you can understand the intent of the photo, but it’s not fair to pit camera-generated images against AI-generated images.”

This is not the first contest to tackle AI entries since the explosion of widely available generative AI applications over the past year.

The National Portrait Gallery’s 2024 National Photographic Portrait Awards allows the use of generative AI tools in the development of submitted photographic works, but does not allow images that are entirely AI-generated.

However, there are strict conditions, such as requiring details of which tools were used and how. If your prompts to AI include someone else’s name, image, work, or creative style, you must obtain their explicit consent.

Thomson said the competition was a messy space with many unanswered questions, but other competitions in the meantime are likely to have similar results.

In November, the World Press Photo Contest announced it would exclude AI-generated entries from its public format after receiving “honest and thoughtful feedback,” and said the ban was “in line with our long-standing values ​​of accuracy and authenticity.” He said that it was something that

German artist Boris Eldagsen said he submitted an AI-generated photo of two women “as cheeky monkeys” to see if there would be a competition for AI images, and he won a prize at Sony last year. He declined the award in the Creative Open category of the World Photography Awards.

“They’re not,” he said last April.

In Sydney last year, a woman claimed to have taken a photo of her son with a mobile phone but lost out in a competition after judges suspected it was generated by AI.

At the NGV Triennial Exhibition to be held in Melbourne this year, Works by Irish artist Kevin Abosch They created “deepfakes of scenes depicting social unrest around the world,” including in Melbourne, and investigated how manipulated information fuels social unrest.

Source: www.theguardian.com

Baldur’s Gate 3 wins top award at The Game Awards 2023, but show faces criticism for short speech and dismissal

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RPG game Baldur’s Gate 3 has been honored as Game of the Year at the largest awards ceremony in the industry. This game, which was released earlier this year for PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox, surprised reviewers with its expansive world and story that allows players to influence the game through their choices. Inspired by the classic Dungeons and Dragons tabletop game, it is one of the most acclaimed titles of the year, beating out other popular games like Alan Wake 2, The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, Marvel’s Spider-Man 2, Resident Evil 4, and Super Mario Bros.

Belgian developer Larian won six awards at the event, including Best Multiplayer and Role-Playing Game, for Baldur’s Gate 3. Alan Wake 2, created by Finnish studio Remedy, won Best Narrative, Best Game Direction, and Best Art Direction. Other winners included Nintendo’s latest Zelda and Mario titles, Xbox’s Forza Horizon racing series, and the long-running Final Fantasy series. However, Spider-Man 2, one of the most nominated games, did not receive any awards.

The Game Awards are known for showcasing trailers and advertisements for new games, and this year was no different. It included a collaboration between game creator Hideo Kojima and Hollywood director Jordan Peele, as well as the announcement that Matthew McConaughey will play the lead role in the upcoming sci-fi action game “Exodus.” Additionally, a new Jurassic Park game, Survival, was announced, and trailers for new releases from popular game series like Prince of Persia and Monster Hunter were shown.

While the awards show attracted over 103 million viewers last year, the host, Geoff Keighley, was criticized for spending too much time on trailers during this year’s event and failing to acknowledge industry layoffs. Some awards were announced without the winners being invited on stage, and the winners had little time to give their acceptance speeches.

The complete list of game winners included Baldur’s Gate 3 for Game of the Year, Alan Wake 2 for Best Game Direction, Best Narrative, and Best Art Direction, and several other games in various categories such as Best Multiplayer, Best Family Game, Best RPG, and Most Anticipated Game.

Source: news.sky.com