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New drug reverses severe fatty liver disease by repairing the gut
Scientists have discovered that a potential new drug can reverse severe fatty liver disease in animal models by restoring gut health and blocking harmful substances from reaching the liver. The breakthrough could pave the way for new treatments for liver disease and potentially other serious conditions, including cardiovascular disease.
Brain cells meant to protect us may be fueling cognitive decline
Scientists have uncovered a surprising cause of age-related cognitive decline involving brain cells previously thought to be entirely beneficial. As these cells become dysfunctional, they can produce abnormal amounts of myelin, disrupting nerve fibers and potentially contributing to worsening memory and thinking skills.
Political scientist: 'The darkest moment' in the war in Ukraine
Geopolitical expert Klemens Fischer believes Ukraine finds itself in a desperate situation following President Donald Trump's decision to halt the new US sanctions package intended for Russia. "This i...
First-Ever Green Star Discovered, Scientists Take Step Towards "Schrödinger’s Cat In Real Life", And Much More This Week
All the biggest science news stories of the week.
FEATURE: Scientists edge closer to making world of "Ghost in the Shell" a reality
Becoming invisible and uploading human consciousness may sound like something out of the world of the famed cyberpunk anime and manga series "Ghost in the Shell," but two Japanese scientists are working to turn such science fiction concepts into reality.
Scientists discover how deep sleep builds muscle, burns fat, and boosts the brain
Scientists have discovered a surprising two-way relationship between sleep and growth hormone, revealing how the brain carefully balances physical recovery with wakefulness. The findings could help explain why poor sleep harms metabolism and brain health, potentially opening the door to new treatments for sleep and neurological disorders.
Scientists uncover mystery of how snail shells coil to the right or to the left
Scientists have discovered a gene that determines whether Japanese snails develop shells that are left- or right-coiling—with implications for understanding the underlying handedness of our own bodies. ...
Scientists discover cell division does more than make new cells: It helps reshape tissues
Every time a tissue grows or renews itself, cells must divide inside an already crowded environment. That creates a fundamental problem that scientists have not fully understood: How does a tightly packed ...
Berkeley Talks: Michael Pollan and Christof Koch talk psychedelics and consciousness
The author and neuroscientist explore how altered states challenge our understanding of the mind — and why consciousness is more than a problem to solve.
New details emerge in US probe of Chinese-American scientists over China ties
House committee on China releases results of investigations into some 30 scientists as chairman pushes for stricter research security rules.
Mysterious 'Golden Tree' Coral Is So Weird, Scientists Had to Create a New Family on The Tree of Life
Magic in the twilight zone.
The Moon Is Shrinking, and Scientists Say That Could Be a Problem for NASA
Researchers identified more than 10,000 lunar faults, raising concerns about moonquakes, landslides, and the safety of future lunar missions.
Scientists turn cancer-promoting protein into a weapon against tumors
Researchers have discovered that a protein known to help cancer cells thrive can also make immune cells more effective at destroying tumors.
Danaher, Nvidia Combine Lab Instrumentation and AI to Advance Autonomous Science
The partnership is part of broader efforts at Danaher to provide AI-powered solutions that help scientists make discoveries faster.
Here’s what scientists think about Theranos a decade after it imploded
A viral documentary has everyone talking about Elizabeth Holmes’s fraudulent blood testing start-up again—but scientists never stopped
Scientists find 'gemstones' in atmosphere of bizarre, scorching-hot 'marshmallow' exoplanet
"Planets are temperamental, their atmospheres complex and chaotic."
Scaling perinatal mental health care: Scientists assess home visiting programs in Midwest
Can reaching out to new mothers right at the outset of parenting set them on the right path? A new study published in BMC Health Services Research assesses home health visitation programs, which provide ...
RFK Jr. proposes FDA look the other way on unproven peptides, report says
FDA scientists said none of the popular drugs have been proven safe or effective.
Microplastics Have Been Linked With Myriad Human Health Problems. Scientists May Have Finally Figured Out How They Harm the Body
Lab experiments suggest that tiny bits of plastic can react with water inside us to produce highly reactive molecules. They can lead to damaging oxidative stress and inflammation
Microplastics Have Been Linked With Myriad Human Health Problems. Scientists May Have Finally Figured Out How They Harm the Body
Lab experiments suggest that tiny bits of plastic can react with water inside us to produce highly reactive molecules. They can lead to damaging oxidative stress and inflammation
Scientists Kept Finding The Same Mysterious DNA In Their Samples. The Marine Microbe It Belongs To Has The Smallest Genome Ever Identified
This tiny marine organism may demonstrate just how little genetic material a cell needs to survive.
Excitement mounts as new telescope nears first light
As the Fred Young Submillimeter Telescope nears first observations, Cornell scientists are preparing groundbreaking surveys of the early universe, galaxy formation and dark matter.
Scientists Discovered Two Bizarre New Sea Spiders, and One Has Red Eyes and Hairy Legs
They may not be true spiders, but these ancient marine arthropods are stranger than anything crawling across land.
Angine de Poitrine is weird. That may be exactly what your brain craves.
Québécois rock duo Angine de Poitrine has gone viral for its bizarre costumes and unconventional music, earning praise from rock legends. A cognitive neuroscientist explains the science behind its app...
Princeton Engineering - Endowed professorships recognize excellence in computer science
Three computer scientists at Princeton Engineering have been named to endowed professorships.
Scientists have just voted to abolish leap seconds
Since 1972, officials have added 27 leap seconds to the universal clock, but in a meeting this week in France they have decided to abandon the practice
100 WWI Shipwrecks Are Being Eaten By The Sea. Scientists Figured Out How to Save Them.
Zinc and aluminum rods absorb corrosion so Gallipoli’s war graves can survive decades more.
Cigarette Ads Once Promised Absurd Health Benefits. Scientists Just Found One of Them Was Actually True.
A 1959 finding about smokers held up for decades—and researchers now know the likely reason.
The uranium cubes that exposed Nazi Germany’s nuclear failure
Scientists investigating Nazi Germany's secret nuclear program have uncovered evidence that its final experimental reactor was nowhere near as close to working as previously claimed. Analysis of surviving uranium cubes and wartime documents reveals that Germany lacked the enormous quantities of uranium and heavy water needed to make its reactor operational.
USC scientists discover how to create a never-ending supply of cancer-fighting cells
USC scientists have discovered a way to create a potentially renewable supply of genetically engineered immune cells that can attack cancer and strengthen the body's natural defenses. By growing and modifying immature immune cells rather than mature ones, researchers developed a system that can continuously produce tumor-fighting cells inside the body.
Georgia Tech, University of Vienna researchers top Stanford’s annual ranking of high-impact scientists
The database takes into account factors such as citations and co-authorship.
Georgia Tech, University of Vienna researchers top Stanford’s annual ranking of high-impact scientists
The database takes into account factors such as citations and co-authorship.
A St. Louis plant scientist discovers a trail first blazed by his grandma’s cooking
Antonio Brazelton used to think of himself as a trailblazer in the plant science field, following in the footsteps of George Washington Carver. But years ago, the St. Louisan realized he was overlooking his own lineage of Black plant scientists.
It's time to reassess the size of our solar system, scientists say
The edge of our solar system may be defined not by a sharp boundary, but by a "complex dance among forces, energies and trajectories," two researchers argue.
Are you addicted to your phone? What scientists say about screen time and social media
Experts unpack the science of screen addiction and how to build a healthier relationship with technology
They've done it. Scientists have found a green star. Here's the science behind the new discovery and the technicolour cosmos | BBC Sky at Night Magazine
Astronomers have discovered that white dwarf stars can glow a variety of different colours, including the first known star that glows green.
Who shapes climate science? The equity question facing the IPCC
Early publication of the next global climate science assessment reports risks excluding scientists and research from the Global South, which are key to ensuring the findings are fair
Pioneering heart stem cell expert Li Renke dies at a Chinese meeting aged 65
A memorial service will be held for the Chinese cardiovascular scientist who used engineering principles to treat heart conditions.
Rare N2 dimer could let scientists answer questions about global ...
New technique could track how synthetic fertiliser use has disturbed ecological balance
From labs to billboards: Behind China’s push to turn scientists into patriotic icons
Giant tributes to nuclear physicists and rocket scientists are popping up across major Chinese cities. However, academic Erik Baark observes that behind the scientific drive is a push for academic reforms.
Scientists discover a plastic-eating “Pac-Man” enzyme with a surprising secret
Scientists have discovered a remarkable “Pac-Man enzyme” that helps bacteria devour certain types of plastic and may offer new hope in the fight against plastic pollution. Researchers found that several biodegradable plastics completely broke down in soil within about a year, while conventional plastic remained largely unchanged.
A quantum highway just one atom high could transform superconductors
Scientists discovered that atomic steps just one atom high can guide quantum vortices through superconductors, making them move more than 1,000 times more easily in one direction than another. This remarkable control over quantum motion could lead to a new generation of ultra-efficient superconducting electronics.
How Berkeley shaped NASA’s newest space telescope
The Roman Space Telescope realizes an idea conceived at UC Berkeley and Berkeley Lab. A Berkeley astronomer now leads a large group of scientists who hope to reap the benefits.
How Berkeley shaped NASA’s newest space telescope
The Roman Space Telescope realizes an idea conceived at UC Berkeley and Berkeley Lab. A Berkeley astronomer now leads a large group of scientists who hope to reap the benefits.
Meditation Could Tune Into Signals from a Mysterious Source—And Enable Extrasensory Powers, Scientist Claims
The controversial idea might help explain experiences like remote viewing and out-of-body feelings.
Scientists restore memory-linked neuron function in Alzheimer's mice
Researchers were able to restore the function of neurons linked to cognitive function and information processing in mice that mimic key features of Alzheimer's disease, showing early promise for the development of a similar targeted therapy in humans.
Scientists Uncover D. Rex: Gigantic New 'King' Fungus From China Traces Its Roots to 65 Million Years
Tall as a traffic cone.
Scientists Uncover D. Rex: Gigantic New 'King' Fungus From China Traces Its Roots to 65 Million Years
Tall as a traffic cone.
NVIDIA Joins European Commission Initiative to Expand AI Resources for Science
Oct. 15, 2026 — Much of today’s scientific progress begins with computation. But turning accelerated computing’s potential into scientific progress — modeling climate systems, designing molecules, simulating materials and more — depends on more than breakthrough technology. Especially for smaller labs, early-career scientists or science-based startups, the hardest part of research can be everything that […]
SMC's Distinguished Scientists Series Returns: Biotech & USC Talks
Free science lectures at Santa Monica College on Oct. 20 and Nov. 19 featuring biotech executives and USC researchers discussing precision medicine and gene therapy.
Enhancing hidden defects to strengthen metal materials
Scientists have found a way to use defects in crystals to engineer stronger materials, according to a new study.These imperfections, usually caused by tiny distortions within the material, could be a powerful design tool for building complex, three-dimensional structures.Using a two-step process to strengthen a pair of metal alloys, researchers ...
Earth system scientist Henri Drake honored as 2026 Packard fellow
Funds will be used to pursue new methods for studying global sea level rise
AstraZeneca - How is AI helping scientists design the next generation of biologic medicines?
Learn how AstraZeneca combines AI drug discovery, laboratory automation and biology to refine biologic molecules and inform earlier decisions.
Scientists Take Step Towards "Schrödinger’s Cat In Real Life" By Moving A One Centimeter Object Using A Quantum Effect
The diamond is pretty tiny by engagement-ring standards, but from a quantum perspective it is truly gigantic.
NBA Star Kyle Kuzma New Business Podcast Read the Room
The Milwaukee Bucks forward and avid investor is launching 'Read the Room,' where he talks with founders, investors, scientists and other guests.
Time’s up for the leap second as scientists swap it for the leap hour
Delegates from 69 countries approve clock changeover after decades of debate – but switch may not take effect for thousands of years
Time’s up for the leap second as scientists swap it for the leap hour
Delegates from 69 countries approve clock changeover after decades of debate – but switch may not take effect for thousands of years
NEWS: Biomedical Studies, NSF-Funded Science, Student-Led Projects, and More on NASA’s SpaceX CRS-35
ISS National Lab-sponsored research aims to advance regenerative medicine, improve understanding of natural hazards, and inspire the next generation of scientists and explorers
Scientists discover an ancient shipwreck dating to when the Great Pyramid was built
The wreck was found with relatively intact cargo on the seabed off the coast of Türkiye and is believed to be between 4,400 and 4,700 years old
Scientific expertise does not guarantee greater credibility in public debates, survey suggests
A study of more than 6,000 people in the U.K. and Sweden suggests that although scientists are generally regarded as credible, their status as experts is more contested when they discuss issues such as ...
Benchling launches Science Foundries, a new way for scientists and agents to work together
/PRNewswire/ -- Benchling today launched Science Foundries, a new way to run scientific processes end-to-end with agents and scientists working together. With...
How This Zombie Foot is Helping Scientists Fight Stingray Strikes
Warm El Niño waters are driving an increase in stingray injuries. These labs are devoted to understanding what’s going on under the surface.
Scientists Find a Way to Turn Desert Sand Into 'Living Sand' That Holds Water Six Times Longer
Microbes give sand new strength.
Docktober invites folks to join citizen scientists in peeking under docks
In the month of October, naturalist Luan Roberts organizes events and encourages everyone to look at the wildlife living under their local docks and report what they see. She's on a mission to get more people involved in the emerging citizen science known as “dock fouling.”
QuEra Scientists Named Co-Principal Investigators on Three of Nine Teams in Department of Energy's Quantum Chemistry Program, Now Underway
/PRNewswire/ -- QuEra Computing, the leader in quantum computing, today announced that its scientists will work with three of the nine teams selected for the...
'I found the biggest ever haul of organics on Mars.' Meet the scientist at the centre of the search for life on the Red Planet | BBC Sky at Night Magazine
Dr Amy Williams and her team discovered the largest collection of organic compounds on Mars in a sample collected by the Curiosity rover.
Q&A: Expanding climate models to better capture the complexities of public health
About a decade ago, a group of climate scientists described five scenarios for the future. Called the Shared Socioeconomic Pathways (SSPs), these scenarios suggest how socioeconomic development could ...
Johns Hopkins cognitive scientist Shari Liu receives Packard Fellowship
The prestigious award recognizes early-career scientists, mathematicians, and engineers who are shaping the future of their fields
Scientists Made a Wild Friday the 13th ‘Doomsday’ Prediction in 1960, and It’s Almost Here
Sixty-six years ago, a group of scientists published a startling calculation about when humanity could reach a breaking point: They landed on Friday, November 13, 2026. The Independent reported Wednes...
Computational Models as Liminal Models in Neuroscience, a Cognitive Science Speaker Series Presentation | Events
Speaker: Danielle Williams, Ph.D. Title: Computational Models as Liminal Models in Neuroscience Short Bio: Danielle is a philosopher of mind and science whose research examines the role of computation in our theories and explanations of the mind and brain. Her work brings together philosophy of mind, cognitive science, neuroscience, and artificial intelligence, with particular interests in computational theories of mind, computational modeling, and the relationship between different explanatory and modeling strategies in the mind sciences. She also investigates philosophical questions raised by contemporary AI, including the nature of opacity in computational models and its implications for explanation in cognitive science. Alongside this work, she is a historian of cognitive science and AI, examining how the development of computer technology has shaped our conceptions and models of the mind and brain. Abstract: Scientists rely on various types of models to make sense of their phenomena of interest. This has led philosophers to take up a range of semantic, ontological, and epistemological questions about how models represent, what kinds of things models are, what we learn from models, and how they explain. One type of model that has been of particular interest to philosophers is the computational model. Computational models are commonplace in the mind sciences in general and neuroscience in particular, with many asking how computational modeling can help us understand the nervous system and its contribution to cognition and behavior. These questions are particularly pressing in neuroscience, as computational models have become a dominant framework for making sense of cognition. Thus, old questions about model-based science have re-emerged within the context of neuroscience, with many philosophers looking to established frameworks to understand how computational models represent, explain, and contribute to theory development in neuroscience. These established frameworks, however, characterize computational models as a homogeneous type which cannot capture actual modeling practices in neuroscience. In this talk, I argue that computational models in neuroscience are best typed as a kind of liminal model, a type I introduce to capture how the status of a computational model is determined by the epistemic context in which it is deployed. Indeed, the category to which a computational model belongs shifts according to the role it plays within a given context. ASL-English interpreters have been requested. Light refreshments will be provided.
Mysterious brain activity under anesthesia challenges what we know about consciousness
Even under general anesthesia, the human brain can analyze language, recognize different types of words, and predict what comes next in a story, according to a surprising discovery by Baylor researchers. The findings challenge our understanding of consciousness and suggest that the unconscious brain is far more capable than scientists previously realized.
Companies pledge free software and computing for AI in science
The European Commission has announced that a group of companies and foundations will offer free services, such as software or access to supercomputers, to European scientists using AI in their research.Unveiled on October 15 at a conference in Dublin, the initiative is the latest step by the Commission to try to help researchers use the technology. Scientists have used forms of AI, such as machine learning, for decades. But advances in deep learning in the past decade, and the wider interest in large language models since the release of ChatGPT in 2022, have spurred governments to invest in new AI tools that could help the scientific process.In July, the US announced it is spending $5 billion on the Genesis Mission, which it describes as a “national effort to harness AI for science,” funding 278 projects across areas such as autonomous labs or new AI tools in astronomy. The Commission has also identified AI in science as a priority, but the €107 million it pledged from Horizon Europe in 2025 does not come close to US spending levels. That said, the vast majority of public research spending in the EU comes from national funds. Today’s announcement at the European AI in Science Summit doesn’t commit any new public money. Instead, it launches the AI in Science Enablers Initiative, a set of voluntary contributions from companies and foundations. The idea is that the companies also benefit by getting access to scientific ecosystems, and feedback on how their tools work. Google, for example, has put up €3 million of cloud computing credits to European researchers. The Novo Nordisk Foundation intends to make its supercomputer, Gefion, available to European researchers, according to the Commission statement. The chipmaker Nvidia said it would provide access to tools, compute, training and collaborative projects.The publisher Elsevier also offered complementary licenses to some of its AI tools, plus AI training for PhD, postdoctoral and master’s students. The French AI firm Mistral will provide the European research community with access to its open-weight models, Vibe seats and application programming interface credits, according to the Commission’s statement. Vibe is one of the firm’s chatbot models. The idea is that more firms and foundations will come on board in the future as the initiative grows.
'I’m very optimistic there's life out there.' This scientist says the search for alien life is only getting started | BBC Sky at Night Magazine
How scientists are using algorithms to search for technosignatures – signs of advanced technology used by intelligent alien species.
Scientists are finding AI may make us remember things that never happened
Studies show that artificial intelligence can distort memories, raising questions about what happens when machines become keepers of the past.
Scientists are finding AI may make us remember things that never happened
Studies show that artificial intelligence can distort memories, raising questions about what happens when machines become keepers of the past.
QED Science launches personalised research discovery tool for life scientists
Tool designed to help life-science researchers identify relevant papers, preprints and conference abstracts
Scientists reviewed studies covering 1.17 million children and found a major research gap
Researchers identified 104 pregnancy and birth cohorts representing more than 1.17 million children across 41 countries, documenting the availability of data on early-life nutrition and neurodevelopment. Approximately 99% of participants in the income-stratified analysis came from high- or upper-middle-income countries, while differences in data collection and assessment methods complicate future international comparisons.
Scientists alarmed as super El Niño collides with 'strange uptick' in Galapagos iguana trafficking
The only lizard in the world that can live and forage at sea may now be in a fight for survival. International scientists warn black-market trafficking of Galapagos marine iguanas is peaking just as the ...
Vietnamese scientist wins ASEAN-US Science Prize for Women
Associate Professor Ha Thị Thanh Huong graduated with top grade in biotechnology from the University of Science under Vietnam National University, HCM City.
Chinese scientists say they spotted possible Israeli electronic warfare units
PLA scientists publish algorithm used to estimate sources of GPS spoofing around Israel using flight data.
Docktober invites folks to join citizen scientists in peeking under docks
In the month of October, naturalist Luan Roberts organizes events and encourages everyone to look at the wildlife living under their local docks and report what they see. She's on a mission to get more people involved in the emerging citizen science known as “dock fouling.”
Stanford Scientists Find New Way to Revive Bleached Coral
Bleached corals have a remarkable ability to recover, when put in contact with a healthy clone and beneficial algae, Bay Area researchers announced in a study published Monday.
Scientists May Have Discovered One Way Microplastics Could Harm the Body
Plastic is usually inert, but in a new lab study, microplastics in water spontaneously produced damaging free radicals. What does that mean for the human body?
Scientists identify avian cholera as major cause of penguin deaths in Antarctica
Thousands of Adélie penguins found dead in Antarctica in 2024 were primarily victims of avian cholera, not high pathogenicity avian influenza (H5N1) as researchers initially suspected, according to a ...
New England Biolabs honors 11 scientists at Passion in Science Awards
New England Biolabs hosted the winners of its fifth Passion in Science Awards at its Ipswich headquarters last week, during a two-day event. The company announced the 11 honorees Sept. 10 in a news release. The awards recognize scientists whose work enriches the arts, humanitarian service, environmental stewardship and science mentorship, according to the release. […]
Planetary genealogy: Milky Way worlds belong to 1 of 2 ‘families,’ scientists find
"There is a genetic link between planetary systems and their stars, and that, depending on the star around which they are born, this link also determines their fate."
Ubisoft plans cuts at German studios, adding to wave of workforce reductions
Ubisoft is planning to reduce its workforce in Germany, where it operates a trio of studios, by about 100 workers, Game File has learned. The company wants to offer employees buyouts to, should enough people accept, avoid having to lay anyone off. “In Germany, we initiated discussions with the Works Council last week regarding a proposed voluntary departure plan across Ubisoft Dusseldorf, Ubisoft Berlin & Ubisoft Mainz,” a company rep told Game File. A “works council” is a union-like group representing employees. “The voluntary plan is the primary measure being proposed to support the intended organizational changes,” the Ubisoft rep added. The company declined to confirm the scale of the potential headcount cut. Of the impacted studios, Mainz might be the best known to the public. It leads development of the Anno series and shipped the well-reviewed strategy game Anno 117: Pax Romana in November 2025. Berlin and Dusseldorf operate as support studios within Ubisoft’s creative network. Berlin recently supported the development of Rainbow Six Siege and the Rayman Legends Retold remake. Dusseldorf also contributed to those projects, as well as The Settlers and Ubisoft-branded escape rooms. Dusseldorf is the biggest of the three studios, with some 400+ workers, compared to just over 100 at the other two, a source familiar with the reductions and the teams told Game File. More than half of these new reductions of about 100 people are expected to happen at Dusseldorf. The planned cuts were announced at a town hall for the German studios on Tuesday of last week. In an email follow-up, the studio group’s managing director, Benedikt Grindel, said the cuts were intended to “best position our German studios for the future... with a clearer focus on their role, capabilities and organizational setup needed for the work ahead.” The email was an echo of the past. In January 2025, Grindel had emailed the Ubisoft developers in his region (or studio “zone”) to explain that a round of 185 cuts at the time, including about 65 at Dusseldorf, were “essential to improve our operational efficiency and ensure the long-term sustainability of our studios, the zone and the company.” A half-decade of continued job cuts Ubisoft has been aggressively cutting its headcount for years. At the end of September 2022, it had 20,729 workers. By the end of March 2026, that total was down to 16,590. Studio management is trying to trim costs as it grapples with a changing industry and a drought of releases, let alone hits. The company announced earlier this year that it had reduced its costs since 2022 by “nearly €325 million” ($362m) and planned to lower them through 2028 by another €180 million ($200m). In June the company said it was closing down its Winnipeg and Belgrade studios and cutting roles in its Barcelona team. Even commercial and creative success hasn’t spared studios from this ongoing company-wide contraction. As Game File was nailing down details around the proposed cuts in Germany, Ubisoft management was informing workers of cuts in its Singapore studio, which shipped a hit remake of Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag this past July. Some 70 positions in Singapore are being eliminated “to align the studio with upcoming production needs,” per a company rep’s statement to Game File. In early 2024, a large team in the Singapore studio launched the multiplayer pirate game Skull & Bones. It performed poorly but has been supported with regular content updates since. Many of Ubisoft’s studios around the world are heavily subsidized via regional grants and tax breaks. Singapore had been among them for years, but received no such local assistance in the 12 months ending this past March. News of the Singapore cuts broke today alongside word that Ubisoft is also proposing the closure of RedLynx, pending negotiations with officials. The Finnish studio behind the motorbike series Trials was founded in 2000 and sold to Ubisoft in 2011. As reported by VGC (and corroborated by Game File), Ubisoft management told employees it could not come up with a new, sustainable assignment for RedLynx. The 2025 workforce at Ubisoft Dusseldorf were straight-up cuts. This time, Ubisoft is hoping the reductions at its trio of German studios will largely come from workers taking a payout to leave. The company offered such voluntary dismissals at its Massive Entertainment studio (The Division) a year ago. For the German studios’ buyouts this time around, Ubisoft and the Works Council had discussed a formula that’d pay a worker’s monthly salary multiplied by 1.5 and by the number of years they’ve worked at the company, according to Game File sources. The formula is still subject to negotiations with the Works Council and has not yet been part of an official offer to workers. It could be adjusted up or down, and it could be supplemented with additional bonuses. Asked about the floated payout formula, a Ubisoft rep told Game File, “The terms of a potential voluntary departure program remain subject to negotiation with employee representatives. No final agreement has been reached, and we won’t comment on specific proposals while discussions are ongoing.” 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: Epic’s AI adventures Epic Games (Fortnite, the Unreal engine) is all-in on using AI to try to transform the way it makes video games and game-making tools. It’s leaders appear to be undeterred by any resistance among gamers and some game developers around generative AI—and instead emboldened by advances, particularly in AI-assisted programming. A recap of the last three days: On Monday, Bloomberg reported that Epic management told workers last week that development of an upcoming game combining Star Wars and Marvel characters would be “AI first.” Employees would be expected to use AI models such as Claude to code the game. A manager told Epic’s developers there would be “[n]o more hand-written code” and that art for the game would be “generated with full AI workflows,” per the outlet. Just ahead of that story running, Epic founder Tim Sweeney tweeted: “We have a huge pivot underway here at Epic, moving developers around to retool for maximum AI acceleration. The aim isn’t to do the same stuff with fewer people, but to enable everyone here to build MORE and BETTER stuff, and to bring the benefits to all teams using Unreal.” In a follow-up, Sweeney predicted that most game development processes would be at least three times faster a year from now than they were in January 2026, thanks to AI. To a person on X who told him he was failing to read the room, Sweeney said: “Much of the room wants it to be 2016 again, but it’s not. Our job, as the provider of tools and technology to much of the industry, is to design for the present that is and the future that will soon be.” On Wednesday, Epic announced it was releasing a faster launcher for its Epic Games Store marketplace. It did so by stating in a blog post as clear as could be that the launcher is an AI-enabled, vibe-coded project: Programming is hard. So, instead of doing that, we vibe coded a new Epic Games Launcher that’s way faster and more responsive than the current one, and has a new look. Programming is hard? That was unexpected phrasing from a company founded by a legendarily great programmer. Back in 2011, Sweeney told me that he’d picked up programming quickly as a kid and rejoiced at the power it gave him. “I could look at any program that anybody else had written and, with enough effort, build something cooler.” Item 3: The Xbox Labs experiment (and one of the people behind it) Microsoft’s Xbox division, which is flooding the zone with announcements lately, yesterday revealed a new internal tech-tinkering team called Xbox Labs. In the words of Xbox boss Asha Sharma Labs is “a small group of game makers, engineers and scientists whose job is to turn emerging ideas into things our players and developers can experience.” Conventional wisdom coming out of the announcement is that Labs is a team that’ll focus on ideas driven by generative AI. In her announcement, Sharma cited some of the dizzying achievements in tech and gaming over the past month as AI agents and other AI tools have been deployed to swiftly figure out how popular games work, then rebuild them and mix them up. She mentioned seeing ”games rapidly decompiled and rebuilt to run on hardware they were never originally designed to support” and said “[p]erhaps more surprisingly, we’ve seen many of the biggest games in the world have been remixed into the source code of another.” (Minecraft plus Elden Ring, for example, or Fortnite + Super Monkey Ball + Overwatch + Diablo + others.) Sharma also cited the work of Windows PC games being ported to run in browsers, a seeming reference to a recent AI-assisted fan port of Halo. Or perhaps Call of Duty or GTA. Sharma didn’t use the specific term “AI” in her memo, but she came close, citing AI “agents” and their potential for game-making tools that Labs could help craft: I think XBOX has an important role to play here. Coding became the first major workload for agents because they can write, run, and test software. Games share many of those same properties, and people spend more than 72 billion hours a year playing XBOX games, roughly five times the estimated time spent writing code worldwide. We’ve spent 25 years learning how to make great games, and I want our game makers to help shape what these new technologies make possible. As we learn, we’ll share the tools we build with developers across the industry, just as we always have. When I asked an Xbox rep if Labs was an AI-centric team, they said genAI was not the focus, describing it as having a broader mandate for using new tech in new ways in gaming. As an example, they pointed to Xbox’s recently launched disc-to-digital gaming usage rights program. Microsoft didn’t specifically name anyone involved full-time in Xbox Labs yesterday, but on social media and LinkedIn, I spotted Adrian Mato IDing himself as leading the creatio of tools at Labs and talking up the launch. Mato first caught my attention in late September, when he said on X that he was “starting to build a new team at Xbox focused on products and tools for how games get built and distributed as agentic tools become more capable.” At the time, he framed AI-based tools as a supplement to traditional game dev tools. “I don’t think we need to replace them,” he said. Since then, he’s publicly shown interest in AI and in games. He’s recently spent some of his X feed marveling at the power of AI agents and praising the lighting in the latest Gears of War. Following the Labs announcement yesterday, he enthused about the Xbox Labs’ stylish landing page. He wrote: “We built some fun tools to art-direct shaders in real time, experimented with interactive ASCII art, and sprinkled in lots of tiny details. “Move your mouse to leave a colorful trail that reveals the original footage, or interact with the video to trigger bursts of particles. “A lot of love went into making it all feel just right. “More to come”
Scientists establish new genus of deep-sea 'spaghetti worms'
Scientists have announced a new genus of deep-sea segmented marine "spaghetti worms" with suction cups on their bodies, showing just how much undiscovered biodiversity is out there in the deep seas around ...
New facility builds on long WSU, USDA partnership to boost agriculture
The new building is more than 20 years in the making and features broad support from ARS scientists, multiple WSU administrations, and Washington congressional members.
Bleached Coral Rebounded After Touching Healthy Coral, Study Finds
After sick corals were placed in direct contact with healthy ones of the same genetic make-up, they recovered at “incredible” speed, scientists found.
NIH appears to shut down public comments on science peer-review rule change ahead of schedule
The proposed change to how the National Institutes of Health handles grant applications has been criticized by scientists as reducing transparency
Scientists Unlock 700,000-Year-Old Secrets Hidden Inside a Giant Elephant Tooth
A giant elephant’s tooth has preserved clues to the watery world that sustained early humans nearly 700,000 years ago. Researchers studying elephant remains from Gesher Benot Ya’aqov (GBY-NBA) in northern Israel have reconstructed a Pleistocene environment rich in water, vegetation, and wildlife. Published in Quaternary Science Reviews, the study reveals the landscape shared by enormous
Cold-proof alloys: Scientists find new class of metal that resist cracking at minus 423°F
Two niobium-titanium alloys stayed damage tolerant at 20 kelvin, minus 423°F, using twinning instead of dislocations.
Commonly prescribed blood-pressure drug may stimulate 'healthy' brown fat
Scientists have discovered that the drug losartan, commonly prescribed for high blood pressure, boosts brown adipose tissue activity in mice, enhancing their metabolism. This indicates that repurposing ...
They Created a Cell That’s Almost Alive. What to Do With It Now?
SpudCells may one day produce new medicines and materials. But first scientists have to improve them — and make sure they aren’t misused.
Climate Change Is Accelerating Faster Than We Can Respond, Scientists Warn
“Earth’s climate system is moving deeper into uncharted territory,” scientists warn.
Climate scientists issue a sobering diagnosis about Earth's 'vital signs'
“The climate emergency is already here”
New NASA data shows why scientists struggle to model Western rivers
New satellite observations show that some global river models struggle to account for dams, reservoirs and other human influences, raising questions about their reliability for water planning.
13-Year-old Raji Doshi named America's Top Young Scientist for inventing an algae-aragonite alkalinity system to reduce CO2-driven ocean acidification
3M and Discovery Education today named 8th grader Raji Doshi as the winner of the 2026 3M Young Scientist Challenge, the nation's premier middle school science competition. Raji lives in...
Student scientists warm up at home before heading to national science fair
Scientific research can be both time consuming and tedious when designing a project that can achieve meaningful and accurate results. Wrangell High School students were honored for doing just …