Latest News - Page 1666

Scientists have successfully made artificial brain neurons, and biological brain neurons communicate over the internet.

Researchers from the University of Padova in Italy, extracted rat neurons in their laboratory, while researchers at the University of Zurich and ETH Zurich created artificial neurons on Silicon microchips. Then researchers from the University of Southampton used cutting-edge nanotechnology to create devices that link the two neurons together called synapses, or more accurately memristors.

The scientists from Southhampton University observed biological spikes being sent over the internet from the researchers in Italy. The researchers then distributed those spikes to the memristors and sent them down the line to the artificial neurons in Zurich. The process was a success as it works in reverse as well. If spikes are sent from the artificial neurons through the mesristors, the biological neurons receive them. Proving that artificial and biological neurons can communicate with each bi-directionally in real-time.

If you have finished the first season of The Witcher, then you are no doubt more than excited for the second season.

Whether or not you think The Witcher had a great first season or not, the show was a massive success de-throning the likes of Disney's 'The Mandalorian' for the most in-demand show. The first season for The Witcher is still raking in viewers even now, and it's still the most in-demand TV series globally across all platforms. Netflix wants to ride this wave of popularity and is no doubt hoping that The Witcher can create Game of Thrones-level popularity.

Back in late January, Netflix decided to change how they counted how many viewers watched their shows. Originally, a view would only be counted if the user watched 70% of a single episode. Now, Netflix has changed its metrics, and one 'view' is counted when a user watches just two minutes of a show. So why did they do this? To fluff their numbers, of course, but they aren't the only ones that do this. BBC's iPlayer, YouTube and The New York Times also measure viewers the same way.

In a new paper, researchers have detailed a brand new way to cool down computer chips. This idea manipulates the speed of photons.

Researchers at Stanford University have managed to develop a new way to cool down heated objects, and in this instance computer chips. In their paper, which has been published in the Physical Review Letters, the team of researchers describe in detail how heat radiation can be manipulated into cooling down objects faster. Firstly, objects both radiate and receive heat from the environment, and already established research has pointed out that objects radiate heat in a spectrum.

Heat radiated from an object peaks out at a certain frequency, this is determined by the current temperature of the object. A simple way to look at this is when the number of incoming photons to an object is more than the number of outgoing photons, the the object will begin to increase it's temperature. With all this in mind, the team of researchers came up with an idea that could speed up the radiated photons, and in theory would then be able to speed up the cooling process.

Amazon is notorious for posting listings for games that aren't even on a specific platform yet, and just this morning that that very thing happened for Horizon Zero Dawn.

The listing was posted by Amazon France, and it claimed that Guerrilla Games' Horizon Zero Dawn would be coming over to the PC. Funnily enough, the listing also says that Sony is apart of the transition, and not too long ago Kotaku's Jason Schreier said that Sony was looking at bringing Horizon Zero Dawn over to PC. While this could easily be a coincidence, the correlation is still there.

Maybe Sony and Guerrilla Games are currently working on a PC port of Horizon Zero Dawn behind the scenes. It should also be noted that the third anniversary for Horizon Zero Dawn is almost upon us (Feb 28th), so maybe an announcement could come soon? Another fact to take away from this is that Horizon Zero Dawn is built on the Decima Engine, which was given to Hideo Kojima to build Death Stranding and Death Stranding is arriving on PC sometime later this year. So maybe Horizon Zero Dawn will receive the same treatment?

The director of Knives Out and The Last Jedi may have just dropped a spoiler for every mystery movie that has a 'bad guy' in it.

According to Rian Johnson, who spoke to Vanity Fair, Apple does allow directors to hook up their actors with iPhones to use in movies, but there's one rule. Johnson says, "Apple... they let you use iPhones in movies but - and this is very pivotal if you're ever watching a mystery movie - bad guys cannot have iPhones on camera."

Johnson joked about the information that he just revealed, saying that "Every single filmmaker that has a bad guy in their movie that's supposed to be a secret wants to murder me right now". This isn't really that much of a surprise, Apple is known for their rules around how their products are shown off to the public, and as a company who wants their products shown off in the best light possible this rule makes sense.

GOG extends its refund policy to 30 days after purchase regardless of play time, making it the most open store in the entire industry.

Today GOG announced a surprise update to how it's handling refunds. The storefront's money back window has been extended to 30 days after purchase, giving users an entire month to try out and play the game to see if they like it. This is a hefty jump over the previous 14-day refund policy.

It's possible this decision could be overturned soon, though. Considering GOG is a DRM-free marketplace, there's nothing stopping buyers from simply copying the game files and then getting a refund. It's a potential worry for developers. While GOG doesn't mention a hard limit on play time, the company says its reserves the right to deny a refund for any reason.

One of the Xbox Series X's biggest features isn't its raw GPU power, or its high FPS functionality. It's a small quality-of-life improvement that has massive implications.

The Xbox Series X is designed for speed and power, and more importantly, to link the two indiscriminately in a cyclic fashion. The Xbox Series X's brute hardware is complemented by flexible, adaptable, and powerful software that intelligently uses the system's raw strength--it's a marriage of brains and brawn. The console's synergized 7nm AMD SoC, PCIe 4.0 SSD, and GDDR6 RAM hardware are held together by a sophisticated software stack that enables developers to tap the beastly 12TFLOP GPU while delivering effects like Variable Rate Shading or ray tracing, boosting frame rates and immersion in the process.

One big part of this emphasis on speed is the console's new enhanced quick resume functionality. This feature lets you basically turn any play session into a save state that's preserved even after you turn off the console. The Xbox Series X lets you pause multiple games at once and come back to them at any point without having to load anything. It's kind of like how Netflix and Hulu save your spot when you stop watching.

As consoles get more and more advanced, it's important that developers have access to more powerful software development tools to squeeze out every last drop of hardware might. No one knows that better than Microsoft.

Microsoft is going above and beyond with the Xbox Series X. Not only will the system have a huge 12TFLOP RDNA 2-powered Navi GPU that enables new effects like ray tracing, 8K resolution, and 120FPS gaming, but the next-gen Xbox also comes packed with massively optimized SDK dev tools for crafting new experiences. Flexible and fast software environments are just as important as hardware, and the Xbox Series X's true potential lies in the synergy between the two.

In a recent Major Nelson podcast, Xbox exec Jason Ronald reiterated just how important software is.

Riot Games will use Unity to power two of its major new League of Legends mobile games, the company today announced.

Thanks to Unity's cross-platform flexibility and intuitive network integration, Riot will use the engine for its two massive LoL mobile games including the League of Legends: Runeterra card game, and League of Legends: Wild Rift, a standalone MOBA designed from the ground up for smart devices and consoles.

"Unity's technology enables us to focus on delivering the beloved League of Legends experience to as many players across as many platforms as possible. We want to meet our players where they are, and Unity's world-class tools and platform optimization help us achieve that. With the expert support provided by Unity, we've been able to unlock the power of Unity's technology like never before," said Brian Cho, Head of Corporate and Business Development, Riot Games.

Cyber Shadow, the new rockin' retro hack-and-slash platformer from one-man indie studio Mechanical Head Studios, just got a Fall 2020 release date. And an amazing trailer.

Today Yacht Club Games' publishing arm showcased a new gameplay trailer for Cyber Shadow, a new stylish indie that we all need in our lives. If you're not convinced just check out the trailer above. Luckily we won't have to wait too long to play it.

Cyber Shadow has it all: A killer soundtrack, old-school graphics right out of an NES game, platformer action with fast-paced slice-and-dice combat, huge ridiculous monstrous bosses, a storyline straight out of a 1990s comic book, and even Shovel Knight's (well should I say Scrooge McDuck's) signature downward sword pogo bounce attack.

Final Fantasy 7 Remake and other Square Enix games won't get next-gen re-releases, and will instead rely on backwards compatibility.

Square Enix today confirmed how it will handle existing games playing on next-gen consoles. Instead of releasing two versions of its games--one for PS4 and one for PS5, for example--the publisher will simply use next-gen backwards compatibility to ensure cross-generation play. Gamers won't need to re-buy a PS5 version of Final Fantasy 7 Remake, and the PS4 version will be playable on the PlayStation 5.

In a recent Q&A session with investors, the games-maker says it won't embrace full-on next-gen exclusives any time soon. This makes sense on a business perspective given the PS4 and PS5 lifecycles will overlap. Square Enix depends on the flexibility of multi-platform sales and it's not about to simply close the door on the PS4's massive 100 million strong install base.

First there was Viewtiful Joe, then The Wonderful 101. Now there's Project GG, PlatinumGames' next wholly-original IP under director Hideki Kamiya.

PlatinumGames is on a roll. The company just announced Project GG A Go! Go!, a new hero-based game where giant mechs battle monstrous kaijus across a sprawling cityscape. The game will be directed by Hideki Kamiya and produced by Atsushi Inaba, and is the last chapter in Kamiya's superhero saga. It's also company's first-ever self-published game. This freedom lets PG live out the indie dream with total control over Project GG's direction--there's no publisher looming over their shoulder and checking every little detail.

Kamiya is careful to say that Project GG is a long ways away and that the team is inheriting lots of new hurdles and responsibilities with self-publishing.

Adult Swim Games pulled a surprise move by announcing a new Samurai Jack video game that stays authentic to the show's vibe, visual flair, and voice actors.

It's been 10 years, but Samurai Jack is returning to the video game realm. Samurai Jack: Battle Through Time is a hack-and-slash beat-em-up that aims to expand the series while keeping it super familiar for die-hard fans. It's a mix of old-school side-scrolling platforming action and 3D battle sequences, both of which seem to switch seamlessly.

We didn't get to see very much gameplay in the announcement trailer, but the game's Steam page gives some more details. Samurai Jack's latest romp has a multitude of skills to level up and weapons to master and you'll also jump to various locations and worlds straight from the show--all while trying to slice and dice your way to Aku.

Patriot might've low-key revealed the PS5's first external SSD solution for high-speed gaming and data transfers.

Patriot Gaming will publicly test out its new external Viper PXD M.2 SSD at PAX East with a PlayStation 4 to see how the drive works with consoles. And the game they're using for the test is Insomniac's Spider-Man, the same game Sony used to showcase the PS5's ultra-fast loading times.

This test could be a tease for the PlayStation 5's external storage solutions and compatibility for the console's customized SSD. Massive speed discrepancies are expected between current external HDDs and the new higher-end PCIe 4.0 SSDs found in the PlayStation 5, and Patriot's compact and lightweight 2TB PXD could be a solution to this problem.

A team of researchers may have just stumbled upon the cure for diabetes by fusing mice with stem cells. The results are extremely promising.

For those that don't know much about diabetes, here's a quick summary of the disease. People who have diabetes find it hard for their bodies to produce a reasonable amount of insulin. The current treatment for this is regular exercise, strict diet, and insulin shots. In the human body, the pancreas produces insulin, but in the case of a diabetic, their pancreas does not produce enough. This means patients have to monitor their blood sugar levels and directly inject insulin into their bloodstream.

In the new study, researchers led by Jeffrey Millman from Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri, found that using pluripotent stem cells (iPS cells), which are stem cells that can be manipulated into becoming almost any cell in the body, they can cure diabetes. Unfortunately, when using these stem cells, not all of them convert into the desired cell, in this case, insulin-producing cells. This means that some random cells enter the bloodstream along with converted insulin cells.

If you didn't know, a Tesla driver was recently killed in a fatal crash while using the Tesla Autopilot feature. This disaster sparked an investigation into what the driver was doing right before the crash and driving feature itself.

Firstly, the driver that was killed in Silicon Valley on March 23rd, 2018 was 38-year-old Apple engineer and game developer, Walter Huang. Huang was driving his Tesla Model X in Autopilot mode, collided with a safety barrier, and then was struck by two more cars. Before the crash Huang had reported issues with his Tesla's Autopilot feature to his family and close friend, but it was later discovered that he did not report it to Tesla themselves.

The National Transport and Safety Board (NTSB) conducted an investigation into the crash, as Huang's family are attempting to sue Tesla for a malfunctioning vehicle that they say ultimately killed Huang. The NTSB investigation was extensive, and took quite some time to formulate results. What the NTSB found was that Huang's vehicle was travelling at 70mph when it crashed into the safety barrier, and that Huang experienced the same "glitch" in the same spot on the road with his vehicle multiple times before his death.

If you are yet to play the DOOM series, and own a Nintendo Switch you are in luck. Bethesda is currently wanting to get DOOM out to many gamers as possible, and that means a crazy sale.

Bethesda is working hard on getting all of the DOOM games on the Nintendo Switch, and at the moment we already have the original DOOM, DOOM II and DOOM III. Bethesda will also be releasing DOOM 64, and DOOM Eternal on the Switch. DOOM 64 will be arriving on the handheld console on March 20th this year, the same day that DOOM Eternal releases.

Side-note - If you pre-ordered DOOM Eternal you will get a free copy of DOOM 64. Now, moving onto the current sales of the older DOOM games. Right now, on the Nintendo eShop you can pick up the original DOOM game for just $1.49, the second DOOM game is also $1.49, and finally the third is $2.99. In total, you can spend $5.97 and get all three DOOM games for your handheld console. Then if you pre-ordered Eternal you would have completed the collection!

Ultimate Ears (UE) has just announced its new flagship Bluetooth portable speaker, the "HYPERBOOM". It's got extreme bass and is designed for the party scene.

In a press release, UE details what the HYPERBOOM can do, and for users that want to pick one up for their next party, here's what you need to know. The HYPERBOOM sports four input sources, two Bluetooth connections, one 3.5mm AUX, and one optical audio input. This allows users to play music through the HYPERBOOM on their phone, laptop, or even gaming console.

The HYPERBOOM also has adaptive EQ, as it "reads the environment and automatically adjusts the sound to fill any space". The HYPERBOOM is also what UE calls "party-proof", with an IPX4 rating, it has the capabilities of being able to withstand spilled drinks and being dropped in a pool. It can also charge phone devices, connect to any other BOOM device, and much more. UE's HYPERBOOM comes in at a price of $399.99 and will be available for purchase in early March.

NASA loves jamming probes into holes to examine things, and in this case, Mars was lucky enough to be a candidate.

While you might think this is an over-exaggeration, that's hardly the case. NASA sent it's InSight robot to Mars to examine several aspects of the strange red planet, and since it's been on Mars, it has achieved quite a lot. InSight was able to measure and record some strange martian sounds, that were believed to be Marsquakes and martian wind. Now, NASA has published some of the latest findings from InSight.

InSight is stationed on the Mars surface, and it uses its seismometer instrument that's stuck in a hole to record ground motions. When NASA first detected the Marsquakes, they weren't able to accurately distinguish the sound of quakes in comparison to other potential sounds. Since then, NASA has gotten much better at this and is now able to separate the sound of the wind from the quakes.

After being rumored, Warner Bros. have officially confirmed they're going to be hosting a once-off Friends reunion special that will broadcast on the upcoming streaming platform from the company: HBO Max.

Friends star Matthew Perry first teased the news on Twitter by saying "Big news coming..." and now that news is here officially. The Friends reunion special will see original stars from the massive NBC show returning, with the likes of Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, Lisa Kudrow, David Schwimmer, Matt LeBlanc and Matthew Perry.

Not only will the stars of Friends be on the reunion special for HBO Max, but series creators David Crane and Marta Kauffman will also be there. The Hollywood Reporter is reporting that the entire case negotiated the Friends reunion special together, where they will reportedly earn double their usual per-episode fee -- meaning they'll make a nice $2.5 million to $3 million, each, for the special.