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This wild Microsoft tech may solve data storage and backup crisis forever

Future data storage backup crises may become a thing of the past, thanks to Microsoft's groundbreaking technology innovation.

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Jul 18 • 8:16 PM EDT • Technology • neowin.net
Scientists identify the rare meteorite that killed the dinosaurs 66 million years ago

The asteroid that wiped out the dinosaurs was likely an exceptionally rare CO chondrite from a distant region of the solar system. Its unusual chemistry suggests that planet-cooling dust and debris, rather than sulfur inside the asteroid, may have delivered the deadliest blow.

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Jul 18 • 8:00 PM EDT • Science • sciencedaily.com
Assassin's Creed Black Flag Resynced sells over 3 million copies, New Game+ is coming

Assassin's Creed Black Flag Resynced seems to be a much-needed Ubisoft hit as it sails past 3 million copies sold in its first week.

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Jul 18 • 7:10 PM EDT • Technology • tweaktown.com
Valve Reportedly Sells 12-15K Steam Machine Units Per Week

When Valve listed its Steam Machine gaming console/PC back in late June, many doubted whether the console would sell due to its high price tag. However, it turns out that Valve's sales data have reportedly been good. Some investigative journalism led to an estimate that Valve is selling anywhere...

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Jul 18 • 5:38 PM EDT • Technology • techpowerup.com
The Clock Is Now Ticking on Netanyahu’s Political Future

Israel’s prime minister is bracing for a fight to stay in power as the parliament dissolves and the countdown to an election begins.

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Jul 18 • 1:00 PM EDT • Politics • wsj.com
Saturday Posted & Toasted Notes: SummerKnicks finale, Brunson’s business, Ant’s cheat code

You would believe there was a regular-season game played on Friday, as the SummerKnicks and the SummerMavs combined for a dumb 198 points in both team’s Summer League Consolation game. New York used 15 players, and Pacome Dadiet had himself a day to preserve his value entering next season while big man Liam Robbins put […]

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Jul 18 • 12:00 PM EDT • Business • sports.yahoo.com
Inside my surreal 4 a.m. 70mm Imax screening of 'The Odyssey'

I joined the sold-out 4 a.m. 70mm Imax screening of Christopher Nolan's 'The Odyssey' in London. It was a scene.

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Jul 18 • 10:38 AM EDT • Business • businessinsider.com
When I lost my business, I started renting out my indoor pool to earn money. Now, it's my full-time job.
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Jul 18 • 9:21 AM EDT • Business • yahoo.com
"There has to be a reason for people to buy an Xbox": Making sense of Microsoft's messy return to console exclusivity

The Saturday Read | Senior leaders across Xbox detail why the platform is returning to console exclusivity, and explain why Gears of War: E-Day and Clockwork Revolution are only the beginning

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Jul 18 • 8:56 AM EDT • Technology • gamesradar.com
51-year-old Sarasota apartment building has sold

The 23-unit community near downtown underwent more than $1 million in improvements since 2022.

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Jul 18 • 8:00 AM EDT • Business • businessobserverfl.com
A small-business mecca in Philadelphia is leaning into World Cup fandom

World Cup boosts East Passyunk businesses in Philadelphia, leading to creative block parties despite denied city permits and limited support.

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Jul 18 • 6:33 AM EDT • Business • yahoo.com
It’s time to retire ‘rigged system’ populism

Populist theatrics, divorced from the prosaic work of consensus-building and problem-solving, degenerate into political escapism.

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Jul 17 • 11:00 PM EDT • Politics • washingtonpost.com
SIFF Cinema Downtown workers walk out before ‘The Odyssey’ showings

Members of SIFF Cinema Workers Union took action before a sold-out matinee of the movie at SIFF Cinema Downtown on Friday. More walkouts are planned.

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Jul 17 • 10:04 PM EDT • Entertainment • yakimaherald.com
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Scientists Solve The 40-Year Mystery of a Giant Structure Towering Over The Milky Way

Mind. Blown.

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Jul 17 • 10:00 PM EDT • Science • sciencealert.com
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Ubisoft Celebrates 3 Million Sales for Assassin's Creed Black Flag Resynced and Promises New Game+ Content

Exactly a week after the game crossed the two-million-sales mark—in less than 24 hours, no less—Ubisoft has announced that Assassin's Creed Black Flag Resynced has officially sold three million units. Black Flag Resynced has also managed fairly decent player retention, with SteamDBstill reporting...

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Jul 17 • 9:45 PM EDT • Technology • techpowerup.com
The Open Championship: Bryson DeChambeau hit with 2-shot penalty Friday after reaching solo 2nd in wild, heated turn at Royal Birkdale

Bryson DeChambeau got into a very, very heated discussion with officials after his round on Friday.

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Jul 17 • 4:44 PM EDT • Sports • sports.yahoo.com
House GOP seeks to push funding deadline to avoid shutdown before midterms

House Republicans released the text for a continuing resolution Friday which would extend government funding at current levels until Dec. 4.

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Jul 17 • 4:06 PM EDT • Politics • washingtonpost.com
Nickel Fingerprints Reveal What the Asteroid That Killed the Dinosaurs Was Made Of

The culprit may have been an unusually dry relic from the outer solar system.

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Jul 17 • 1:59 PM EDT • Science • zmescience.com
Amendment 62: New Opportunity: A.13 Accelerating Earth Solutions

A.13 Accelerating Earth Solutions (AES) seeks to accelerate the use of Earth-observing satellite measurements in decision-making.

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Jul 17 • 1:48 PM EDT • Science • science.nasa.gov
Did this scientist solve humanity’s biggest mystery? The surprising theory explained - Futura-Sciences

From behind the Iron Curtain Gánti was born in Vác, Hungary, on September 10, 1933. He grew up during World War II and the subsequent Soviet occupation. Though he trained as a chemical engineer and worked in industrial biochemistry, his lifelong obsession was a fundamental question: what actually defines something...

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Jul 17 • 1:00 PM EDT • Science • futura-sciences.com
Business owner sells family’s vintage Pokémon cards for personal profit, police say

A business owner is facing felony charges after police said he took a family's vintage Pokémon card collection and sold them for his own profit.

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Jul 17 • 12:54 PM EDT • Business • wgal.com
New Deadline For NASA Astrobiology Science Conference (AbSciCon) Announcement for Partnership Proposals (AFPP)

NASA’s Science Mission Directorate (SMD), Astrobiology Program, is pleased to extend the deadline for the Announcement for Partnership Proposals (AFPP): Astrobiology Science Conference (NNH26ZDA009L) on the NASA Solicitation and Proposal […]

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Jul 17 • 11:46 AM EDT • Science • astrobiology.com
State warns of new "Mr. Finance" investment solicitations from man accused of running Ponzi scheme

The Illinois Secretary of State is warning a businessman known as Mr. Finance, already accused of running a Ponzi scheme, may be soliciting investments in an allegedly sketchy new business.

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Jul 17 • 11:31 AM EDT • Business • cbsnews.com
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Lexington bakery finds new owners after struggle to sell business

Bluegrass Baking Company, a bakery local to Lexington, has officially been sold to new owners, according to the Lexington Herald-Leader.

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Jul 17 • 11:12 AM EDT • Business • wkyt.com
The Directors: Two leaders in data science have a warp speed vision for AI, with cancer clinical trials leading the way Knudsen and Thoelke: “It’s actually solving for bottlenecks and challenges that we’ve been unable to overcome for so long”

The United States has a translation problem. Scientific breakthroughs in oncology are accelerating, but clinical trial infrastructure hasn’t kept pace. The solution: Speed up clinical trial enrollment by using AI to reduce costs and eliminate bureaucratic red tape. Tasks that ordinarily require hours of manual work for each patient in a single study can now […]

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Jul 17 • 10:58 AM EDT • Science • cancerletter.com
U.S. National Science Foundation, NSF National Radio Astronomy Observatory, and U.S. Naval Observatory Partner on Pathfinder for Next Generation Very Large Array

The U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF), the NSF National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NSF NRAO), and the U.S. Naval Observatory (USNO) are advancing a new collaboration to support the future of high-resolution radio astronomy and astrometry, with the development of a pathfinder instrument for the proposed Next Generation Very Large Array (ngVLA).

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Jul 17 • 9:50 AM EDT • Science • newswise.com
Scientists Finally Learned How a Tiny Mouse Survives Near the Andes Death Zone at 7,000 Meters

World's highest-living mouse survives in thin air by solving a problem that no other mammal can—not even you, human

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Jul 17 • 8:21 AM EDT • Science • zmescience.com
Philadelphia politics is shaped by low voter turnout.

Philadelphia’s low-turnout primaries and one-party rule let a small slice of voters shape who leads the city.

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Jul 17 • 8:15 AM EDT • Politics • resolvephilly.org
Elevating citizen science: How IUCN Members are advancing a global conservation tool

This article shares reflections from an IUCN Member organisation about its efforts to elevate citizen and community science within the global conservation community. We demystify the IUCN motions process and show how it contributes to the IUCN Strategic Vision and Programme through the IUCN World Conservation Congress and its quadrennial cycle. Specifically, we outline the steps to organise support for Resolution 125 'Advancing citizen science to support and democratise conservation'.

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Jul 17 • 7:55 AM EDT • Science • iucn.org
'Superworms' help scientists with a vexing task: Cleaning animal specimens

The larvae of a beetle native to South and Central America, the critters are the perfect solution to sticky problem: How to prepare an animal skeleton for scientific use.

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Jul 17 • 7:00 AM EDT • Science • npr.org
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Knesset dissolves: How will Israel vote in October’s general election?
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Jul 17 • 6:10 AM EDT • Politics • aljazeera.com
Kris Jenkins trade idea might solve some Bengals problems

This might be a trade option the Bengals explore during training camp.

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Jul 17 • 5:31 AM EDT • Sports • sports.yahoo.com
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Allston Gordon building: Alpha Management takes over; stores wary

After a longtime landlord sold one of Allston's most iconic commercial buildings, tenants say they are facing steep rent hikes, costly new fees, and the possibility of having to leave the place they've called home for decades.

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Jul 17 • 5:30 AM EDT • Business • bostonglobe.com
Sports without politics is a fantasy and the World Cup proves it

From ancient Greece to Nazi Germany, sport and politics have long been intertwined. Nevertheless, we still imagine that international sport can be kept above the fray and serve as a neutral arena where nations compete on merit alone. In this article, diplomacy scholar Geoffrey Allen Pigman argues the 2026 FIFA World Cup shows this is a dangerous illusion. When international sport is left entirely to revenue-maximizing private bodies like FIFA, it doesn't escape politics, but rather surrenders to its worst expressions. With the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics fast approaching, the IOC must decide whether to learn that lesson or repeat the same mistakes. The largest and most lucrative FIFA World Cup ever draws toward its climactic conclusion amidst a swirl of controversy. Team members, staff, fans, and spectators have been denied their right to enter the United States to participate, and US President Donald Trump intervened with FIFA boss Gianni Infantino to overturn a referee’s call that Trump believed disadvantaged the US national team. It is a moment to step back and reflect on what the purposes of international sport mega-events like the World Cup, and international sport more broadly, are, and what they should be. Does international sport serve public purposes? Is there a public interest? Or is it primarily a private endeavor organized by commercial enterprises to entertain the global public (and generate profit in the process), which is occasionally used by governments and leaders for raisons d’etat? Central to the idea of sport is the principle of fair play, which in the international context demands that games be free from political interference. However, it is impossible to separate sport from politics, all claims to the contrary notwithstanding. The most positive political use of international sport through the millennia has been to facilitate diplomacy. The use of international sport for diplomatic objectives has existed since at least the time of the ancient Olympic Games, around which was instituted the custom of the Ekecheiria, or Olympic Truce, between participating states to facilitate fair competition and diplomatic achievements by ensuring that participants could travel safely to the Olympiad. In his seminal work On Diplomacy (1987), diplomacy scholar James Der Derian characterized the objectives of diplomacy as overcoming alienation and mediating estrangement between governments and between peoples. One increasingly important diplomatic tool in the technology-infused media environment over the past century has been public diplomacy, under which governments and non-state diplomatic actors (e.g. transnational corporations) communicate to global publics about their international policy objectives and to shape their global brand image. Political scientist Michał Kobierecki, in his important book Sports Diplomacy (2020), views sports diplomacy as falling broadly within the ambit of public diplomacy, as international sport intimately involves the participation of global publics as spectators and consumers of global media. Diplomacy scholar Stuart Murray and this author, in a 2013 article, distinguish between international sport used for diplomatic purposes and international sport-as-diplomacy, which encompasses the range of diplomacy that occurs as teams and competitors, spectators and fans, and government officials all converge for international sporting events like the Olympic Games and FIFA World Cup. Diplomacy scholar H.E. Chehabi, in a 2001 article on US-Iran sports diplomacy, describes the interaction between spectators and fans at international sporting events as “people-to-people diplomacy,” in which relationships develop independently of governments and their objectives. Diplomacy by the aforementioned definitions is often unsuccessful. Moreover, all too often the tools of diplomacy may be employed by governments and other actors to thwart or oppose the objectives of diplomacy as characterized by Der Derian. Governments routinely use the tools of public diplomacy to disseminate propaganda, spreading misinformation in the attempt to deceive global publics about their objectives and to create misleading impressions about their brand identity. Within sports diplomacy, the term “sportswashing” has been coined recently to describe how governments invest in and promote international sport to create positive global public impressions of their nations and, in doing so, to distract the global public from their deficient records in areas such as human rights and democratic governance. Murray, in his 2018 book Sports Diplomacy: Origins, Theory and Practice, introduces the concept of sports anti-diplomacy, wherein governments intentionally use international sport to advance aggressive and nationalistic objectives. Obvious historical examples include Hitler’s use of the 1936 Berlin Olympics to glorify his Third Reich and the 1969 El Salvador-Honduras football “war.” SUGGESTED READING The beautiful game made ugly By Emily Ryall FIFA argues that it is and seeks to be apolitical in its stewardship of international Association Football (soccer). FIFA policies governing bids to host the World Cup require uninhibited and non-discriminatory access for players, team staff, and spectators of all participating countries to host nations and venues. It became clear soon after Trump returned to power in the United States in January 2025 that Trump’s political intentions and objectives to limit non-US citizens from living and working in the United States and, in numerous cases, even visiting the country, would collide with FIFA’s host nation policies. Beginning soon after the start of the second Trump administration, US federal authorities imposed restrictions on entry to the United States of citizens of between 20 and 40 countries for any purpose, with only limited exceptions. Federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) began arresting non-US citizens in the United States, including persons with and without legal status, holding them in jails, concentration camps, and other detention facilities until they were deported to their home or third countries, where they faced substantive risks to their personal safety. FIFA boss Gianni Infantino, in an effort to ensure the most successful and lucrative World Cup in history, engaged diplomatically with President Trump in an attempt to facilitate entry to the US for World Cup participants. Infantino did all in his power to ingratiate himself with Trump, to the extent of creating a FIFA “Peace Prize,” which he awarded to Trump in December 2025 at a ceremony in the then Trump-controlled John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, DC, on the occasion of the World Cup draw. The prize was an ersatz consolation for someone who aspired in vain to win the rather more prestigious and well-known Nobel Peace Prize. And in the run-up to the World Cup, conditions became worse. In February 2026, Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu launched a war of aggression against Iran, illegal under international law, under the false pretence that Iran’s government was preparing to attack the United States and Israel. During the US aerial bombardment of Iran, US planes bombed Azadi Stadium, the facility where Iran’s national football team trained. As the 2026 FIFA World Cup began, it was clear that Infantino’s efforts had been for naught: the Trump administration would not adhere to FIFA policies governing access to World Cup host nations. World Cup referee Omar Artan, a citizen of Somalia, was denied a US visa to enter the United States to participate in the World Cup. Trump’s government only granted US visas to Iran’s football team ten days before they were scheduled to arrive for the tournament. Numerous members of the support staff for Iran’s team were denied US visas. Iran’s team, which had been scheduled to train in Arizona, was directed to shift its training site to Tijuana, Mexico, notwithstanding that all three of their group stage matches took place at US venues. The US Department of Homeland Security only permitted the Iranian team to enter the US on the day before each scheduled match and then to return to Mexico immediately after playing. Members of Iraq’s and Switzerland’s football teams were delayed for hours by US officials at the US border, and an Iraqi team photographer was refused entry. Spectators and fans from Haïti and Iran were denied entry to the United States altogether. A large number of fans from a range of countries had their applications for US visas rejected. There were multiple off-ramps through which participants could have avoided the negative consequences of Trump’s decisions for the 2026 World Cup. Once it was clear that the Trump government intended to violate the established expectations for World Cup hosts, FIFA could have shifted the matches scheduled to take place in the United States to Mexico and Canada. The three nations were already designated as co-hosts, and host cities and venues had been selected. Once it was clear that FIFA, governed by FIFA boss Gianni Infantino’s dependent and dysfunctional relationship with Trump, would never consider this option on its own, it fell to the national football federations to act. The national federations, particularly some combination of federations of the leading contenders (France, Spain, Brazil, Argentina, Morocco, England, Germany, etc.), could have refused to participate under the US-imposed conditions or, at the least, demanded an ironclad agreement with the Trump government that FIFA policies on access would be respected. ___ International sport is inextricably entangled with diplomacy of different sorts, for good or ill, it cannot be considered to be in the purely private realm and left to revenue-maximizing private actors. ___ Why did neither FIFA nor the national football federations act to protect the interests of players, team staff, referees, fans, and spectators? In essence, the relentless engines of capitalism prevailed over norm observance, ethics, and fair play. The revenue interests of FIFA, sponsors, global media, and host cities won out. FIFA’s managers viewed hosting another World Cup principally in the United States as a veritable pot of gold for FIFA and its collaborators. FIFA has estimated its own revenue over the 2023-26 budget cycle, which includes the 2026 World Cup, at $13 billion, revised up from an initial projection of $11 billion, and 72% higher than the previous revenue cycle. Of that total, FIFA is estimated to have generated $8.9 billion from the Cup itself in revenue from TV rights ($3.92 billion), sponsorships ($2.69 billion), ticket sales ($3.1 billion), licensing rights, and other sources. A joint study by FIFA and the World Trade Organization estimates that the World Cup will contribute over $40 billion to global GDP, including nearly $14 billion in direct visitor spending in the three host countries (but principally in the United States, which hosted the lion’s share of the matches). The FIFA World Cup is now reportedly “the single most lucrative recurring commercial property in global sport.” And yet, notwithstanding the Trump government’s uses of the World Cup for sports anti-diplomacy, and the climate of anxiety that this created for participants and spectators, diplomacy that did not depend upon governments was able to thrive at the World Cup. Examples of successful people-to-people diplomacy were legion, as citizens of towns and cities across the States, as well as in Mexico and Canada, welcomed team members, their families and supporters, to training sites across North America. Fans of different teams joined together in person in stadiums for matches, at watch parties and bars, and at welcome events sponsored by host cities. The joy and camaraderie shared between the citizenry of Boston and Scotland’s “Tartan Army” of fans is but one example of how the “Beautiful Game” brings people together. Friendships forged across continents are likely to endure well beyond the Cup final. Even those achievements cannot be seen as unalloyed, however. As South African football fan Byron Pillay commented to Al Jazeera, “Football is called the Beautiful Game for a reason, for its ability to unite people. But it’s hard to believe in that magic with the politics and war rhetoric off the field of play, especially when one of the tournament hosts is central to that.” Ultimately, the experience of the 2026 FIFA World Cup illustrates that, as international sport is inextricably entangled with diplomacy of different sorts, for good or ill, it cannot be considered to be in the purely private realm and left to revenue-maximizing private actors. As long as there is the possibility of diplomatic progress in mediating estrangement between governments or between peoples, there is a broad and overarching public interest in international sport. Likewise, as it would be difficult to put on an international sport mega-event without international sporting organizations like FIFA and the International Olympic Committee (IOC), global media firms, and companies purchasing sponsorships, public and private interests in international sport must coexist, most likely somewhere on a shifting spectrum between partnership and rivalry or cross purposes. As the World Cup wraps up, the IOC needs to consider its lessons before the scheduled 2028 Los Angeles Olympics if they want to avoid a media-hyped Trump version of the 1936 Berlin Olympiad. The IOC and the National Olympic Committees need to set conditions on and make demands of Trump’s government with clearly articulated consequences for non-compliance, up to and including cancellation of the Games. Time is running out for the IOC, as unlike with the FIFA World Cup, there is no at-the-ready alternate venue for Los Angeles.

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Jul 16 • 8:00 PM EDT • Politics • iai.tv
The U.S. youth sports problem that connects soccer and baseball

The father of an MLB All-Star and VP of MLS development shares similar yet solvable challenges in diversifying the United States talent pool.

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Jul 16 • 2:30 PM EDT • Sports • andscape.com
Astronomers Find an Atmosphere on a Nearby Earthlike Planet

It’s the first potentially habitable world known to host an atmosphere, making it a lead contender in the search for life beyond our solar system.

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Jul 16 • 2:27 PM EDT • Science • nytimes.com
Earth-like exoplanet could have life-supporting water on its surface

Scientists discover the first confirmed atmosphere in habitable zone outside our solar system on LHS 1140b

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Jul 16 • 2:00 PM EDT • Science • theguardian.com
This “exotic weirdo” exoplanet has a rocky surface and an atmosphere

Astronomers found a helium atmosphere around a rocky exoplanet — a good sign for the search for life outside the solar system.

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Jul 16 • 2:00 PM EDT • Science • sciencenews.org
I'm Glad That Moss Is On Console Now, But It's Not The Same

There's a wall built up between us

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Jul 16 • 12:08 PM EDT • Technology • kotaku.com
FDA approves first cholesterol pill of its kind

Enlicitide, the new oral PCSK9 inhibitor from Merck, will be sold under the brand name Lipfendra. It is approved to reduce LDL-C in patients with hypercholesterolemia, including HeFH.

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Jul 16 • 11:45 AM EDT • Business • cardiovascularbusiness.com
Swatch’s New Gold MoonSwatch Solves the Problem of the Nightmare Royal Pop Launch

Swatch's latest MoonSwatch is the Mission to the Moon 1969, a limited-edition model with components crafted from Omega’s 18K Moonshine Gold. To get one, you'll have to join a lottery.

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Jul 16 • 11:37 AM EDT • Technology • wired.com
LSU students build AI solutions to help Baton Rouge businesses work smarter

LSU students showcased practical artificial intelligence solutions for four Baton Rouge organizations during the Spring 2026 LSU AI Showcase, the culminating event for a selective capstone course that partners technically advanced students with industry sponsors to solve real-world business challenges. Throughout the semester, student teams worked closely with representatives from MMR Group, Baton Rouge Community […]

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Jul 16 • 10:31 AM EDT • Business • businessreport.com
PENN Entertainment (NASDAQ:PENN) Shows Strong Breakout Setup with High Technical Strength

PENN ENTERTAINMENT stock shows a strong uptrend with a 7/10 Technical Rating and a high 9/10 Setup Rating, signaling a tight consolidation pattern near resistance for a potential breakout entry.

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Jul 16 • 7:40 AM EDT • Entertainment • chartmill.com
Pluto flyby mission wakes up after long sleep nearly 6 billion miles from Earth

NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft recently came out of hibernation to continue its journey through an unexplored part of the solar system.

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Jul 16 • 7:30 AM EDT • Science • cnn.com
CVS Health floats cost solutions

Health care conglomerate CVS Health is looking to leverage technology and artificial intelligence to drive down health costs.

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Jul 16 • 6:00 AM EDT • Health • politico.com
"High-T Department": Hegseth approves testosterone screening in military

Hegseth says he is authorising hormone screening to ensure US troops "operate at your absolute best".

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Jul 16 • 5:10 AM EDT • Health • bbc.com
Physician lawmakers introduce bipartisan fix for radiologist Medicare pay woes

Members of the Democratic and GOP Doctors Caucuses are proposing the Patients First Act, bolstering incentives to save independent practices and “reversing decades of consolidation.”

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Jul 16 • 4:13 AM EDT • Business • radiologybusiness.com
U.S. and U.K. soldiers participate in Armed Forces Entertainment All-Star Soccer Tour

U.S. Army Soldiers assigned to V Corps subordinate units, Scottish soldiers from the U.K. army and professional soccer players touring with the Armed Forces Entertainment Heat Wave Summer Series, pose for a group photo after completing the scrimmage game during the All-Star Soccer Tour clinic at Tapa Army Base, Estonia, July 9, 2026. The AFE summer programming brings world-class entertainers, athletes, and performers overseas to connect with service members stationed around the globe. By providing unique opportunities for Soldiers to engage with professional talent, build morale, and share memorable experiences away from the mission, the program strengthens the resilience, camaraderie and sense of community that are essential to the military. V Corps is the U.S. Army's only forward-deployed corps, serving as the senior tactical headquarters for Army forces in Eastern Europe to deter conflict and provide combat-ready forces alongside our NATO allies. V Corps is operationalizing and expanding the Eastern Flank Deterrence Initiative with Allies, rapidly integrating emerging technologies into training and tactical plans. (U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Aaron Kaczur, 196th Mobile Public Affairs Detachment)

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Jul 16 • 4:08 AM EDT • Entertainment • dvidshub.net
Clarity Act Stalls on Ethics Rules Curbing Trump’s Business Interests

President Trump was expected to sit down with U.S. senators Thursday afternoon at the White House to try to resolve the ethics provision blocking the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act, an ethics provis...

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Jul 16 • 3:59 AM EDT • Business • yahoo.com
What science loses when T. rex becomes a trophy

Sold for a record price of more than $50 million, ‘Gus’ was described by Sotheby’s as more than 60% complete.

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Jul 15 • 11:36 PM EDT • Science • washingtonpost.com
Yankees Top Trade Candidates Respond to New York Rumors

There's absolutely no telling what the New York Yankees have up their sleeves heading into the second half of the season after Major League Baseball's All-Star break.

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Jul 15 • 9:58 PM EDT • Sports • sports.yahoo.com
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Scientists finally solved how a common gut bacterium triggers colon cancer

Researchers solved a long-standing mystery behind how a bacterial toxin associated with colorectal cancer damages the colon. The toxin first binds to a receptor called claudin-4, giving it access to attack the cells' protective barrier. After identifying this weak point, the team designed a decoy protein that successfully blocked the toxin in mice. The discovery could pave the way for new therapies to prevent inflammation and colon tumors.

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Jul 15 • 8:00 PM EDT • Science • sciencedaily.com
Vance says Trump administration ‘screwed up’ communications around Epstein files

Vice President JD Vance said the Trump administration “absolutely screwed up the comms” around the Jeffrey Epstein files and should have released everything immediately, while insisting the administration was not trying to conceal information.

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Jul 15 • 7:24 PM EDT • Politics • cnn.com
How a teen turned a candy hobby into business sold at Disney World

An 18-year-old has transformed her COVID-era hobby into a thriving business, with her freeze-dried candy now sold at Disney World and other prominent locations.

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Jul 15 • 6:23 PM EDT • Business • ketv.com
When Surveillance Becomes Science: The Data the FDA Should Not Trust - Petrie-Flom Center

In 2024, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) banned a data broker called X-Mode Social from selling sensitive location data, charging that the company sold precise phone location data that could be used to track visits to reproductive health clinics, addiction treatment centers, and other sensitive sites.

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Jul 15 • 4:58 PM EDT • Science • petrieflom.law.harvard.edu
The States Try to Topple WarnerMount…Thus Begins the Local Antitrust Era

(Welcome to the “Most Important Story of the Week”, my bi-weekly strategy column analyzing the most important (but often not buzziest) news story of the last two weeks. I’m the Entertainment Strategy Guy, a former streaming executive who now analyzes business strategy in the entertainment industry. Please subscribe.) Well, it looks like it’s time for another strategy column. Can I finally avoid writing about M&A? No, it seems I cannot. Admittedly, I’m a week early with this column, since I usually put it out every other week. But this news couldn’t wait. This will make three “Most Important Stories” in a row with a merger or acquisition as its centerpiece. First, Roku-Fox (an acquisition), then Comcast-NBCUniversal (a divestment!), and now the State AGs and the WGA’s lawsuits against Paramount’s pursuit of Warner Bros. Discovery (antitrust). M&A is usually the “most important” topic any given week, simply because a giant company merging or breaking up (or preventing those outcomes) can have the biggest impact on the streaming board. If you think about these companies as players in a game, changing the number of players is one of the biggest changes you can make. I shouldn’t really complain, either, since this lawsuit is very good news for customers and suppliers (econ speak for talent, workers and indie studios in Hollywood). So let me answer some questions about this potential trial, along with (shudder) making some heavily caveated predictions. I’ll also look at whether Hollywood must consolidate, whether or not the states can win, trouble at X-Box, Netflix’s YouTube binge, and more. Plus, I have five images that visualize this merger and the harm, including three brand new data looks you’ve never seen before. Subscribe Most Important Story of the Week - Can The States and the WGA Stop Hollywood’s Consolidation (Crisis)? If every other newsletter and news outlet is writing about the same story, I try to avoid writing about it as well, but I can’t ignore a story this consequential. The story of the last year was the fate of Warner Bros. Discovery, and this development potentially extends that saga into 2027. As I tried to figure out my angle, I realized, like my last column, I’m again faced with a series of questions. These questions, though, are much more forward-looking. Will the states win? Will the WGA win? If so, what happens to Warner Bros. Discovery? Either way, will this chill the market for future mergers? So you know what that means: predictions. About the future, no less, the hardest thing to predict.1 Just remember: nothing here comes with a guarantee. And the more confident someone is in their predictions, the less you should trust them. This situation is incredibly fluid, nuanced, uncertain and tenuous. So let’s try to explain what may happen. Question: Why File this Lawsuit? I’ll admit, a few months back, I was fairly pessimistic about the fate of this lawsuit. Rumors had started bubbling up that the state Attorneys General (in particular California) wanted to settle with either some minor divestments (usually CNN) or behavioral remedies. And that tracked for me: the states usually settle lawsuits, like the recent John Deere right-to-repair suit. Yet, they plan to fight this. (As they did the LiveNation-Ticketmaster monopolization trial and the Nexstar-Tegna merger.) Honestly, that also makes a ton of sense. Frankly, this move is just good politics for these State AGs. Most are still running for higher and higher office in blue states—some folks have emphasized that only Democratic AGs joined this suit, but given the Ellison/Trump ties, and fears of retribution, that tracks—and a high profile case like this will help them move up the electoral ladder, especially since Paramount and its leadership (the Ellisons, father and heir) have sided with the other side of the political aisle. That makes them unsympathetic to Democratic voters and Hollywood workers in particular. Why did this lawsuit happen? In addition to the very real concerns about industry consolidation, this is why. That said, I don’t think we would have seen this lawsuit for Netflix and Warner Bros., simply because they’re more sympathetic and aligned with Democrats. But those consolidation concerns are real. The “town”—meaning Hollywood and such—really is seeing the damage of mergers on this industry. That’s why the WGA also filed its own lawsuit in defense of workers as well. (Wildcard: What about Europe? Will they try to stop the deal, too? There have been some rumors out of the UK they may try to fight the deal, and UK enforcers just stopped a Getty Images-Shutterstock tie up, so there is precedence. This argument could go either way, though. On one hand, the EU doesn’t need to step in, cause they states are handling it. On the other hand, this could make the EU’s case easier. Just imagine if both sides coordinated. I’ll simply say, “We’ll see!”) Question: Will The State AGs or the WGA Win? Can the state AGs play David to Paramount-Skydance’s Goliath here? That’s really the whole thing, isn’t it? If you know this result, you could make a lot of money. When things are uncertain, it’s tempting to shrug and say, “Eh” meaning it’s a 50/50 proposition. I wouldn’t, though. When in doubt, you should expect that the merging parties succeed. AT&T did successfully buy Warner Bros., after all, and Disney bought Fox without any challenges. Many judges are extremely sympathetic to mergers, and I’d bet the state AGs get a judge who will allow the merger. (Even Obama-appointed judges often allow mergers.) As I understand it, we’ll see two main attacks. First, theatrical films. The AGs are arguing that, when it comes to share of box office and the number of both “wide releases” and blockbuster (or “tentpole”) films, the merging parties will have over 27% market share. Now, the Supreme Court once ruled from on high that any merger that exceeds 30% is presumptively illegal, but that’s guidance, not an ironclad bar. Still, the states will have to argue that this is close to having too much power, and with that power, this will likely further worsen the theater/studio splits in particular. Indeed, as Matthew Stoller pointed out, “just five studios are responsible for 95% of all blockbusters; if this merger goes through, then Paramount and Disney will control 60% of that.” So yes, movie studios will be very concentrated after this merger. Want me to visualize some of that? Well, here’s the share of films that grossed over $200 million at the domestic box office since 2022. (Note: this isn’t all films released in over 3,000 screens, but it is a good look at market power.) First, here are the 43 films by studio: Notice all the blue (Disney), orange (Universal), and purple (Warner Bros)? Yeah, those studios are powerful, and this combines Paramount with one of them. Here’s the look by studio and share of the films that grossed over $200 million: Now, if you look at that and also think, “Huh, should we break up Disney?” I’m with you. I’ve seen some folks poo-poo this idea that this is a real category, but it is! For an upcoming article, I’ve been pulling data on the share of top 100 films at the box office as a share of total box office, and it’s massive. Here’s the chart: (This analysis looks at The-Number’s top 100 films and total domestic box office each year.) To be clear, tentpoles make up 80.7% of the box office each year, so I do think it’s a genuine market. (To be clear, films grossing over $50 million make up 80% of the domestic box office, and films grossing over $100 million make up 64.1%.) I mean, the top 100 films at the box office make up 95% of each year’s grosses. Worse, the combined studios will likely cut output to flex that market power. Everyone can just look at what happened to Disney and Fox to see the precedent. (With fewer films, the remaining theaters have to give more for those few films that remain.) Here’s an image I’ve used a lot, the share of wide-release films from Disney and Fox over time: The AGs will also argue that this consolidation will also impact the cable industry. In this case, the consolidation is actually worse, but that environment is…complicated. Paramount will argue that the cable industry is shrinking. That said, predictions that cable will “go to zero” also don’t look very well supported by the data, as the declines are shrinking, meaning “cable” or “vMVPDs” will likely stabilize at some point. Can the state Attorneys General win on those two main arguments? I honestly don’t know. Again, I’d bet no, since history in general supports that, but it depends on the judge/jury and how they interpret the arguments. Notably, Paramount won’t face accusations about monopoly power in other areas, like streaming, news, sports rights, or vertical integration. I tend to disagree with leaving out sports rights, but I also see the appeal for a simpler case. The states also aren’t really pushing novel theories about labor harm either, which should help. (By the way, Sean McNulty at The Ankler wrote a great run through of potential options, and Capitol Forum also wrote a great paper on theatrical consolidation. Both these pieces predated the lawsuit. Matthew Stoller is also out with his analysis of the pros and cons of the case too.) In some ways, the WGA’s case is even stronger. Quoting Sean McNulty’s summary: “The WGA is citing WARNAMOUNT as crossing a 30% market share in multiple sectors, a number that the Supreme Court has precedent for deeming “presumptively anticompetitive” in a market. According to the WGA numbers, WARNAMOUNT would have represented: - 35% of film writing jobs between 2021 and 2024 - 36% of TV writing projects between 2022 and 2025 - 38% of overall deals between 2021 and 2024” Notably, antitrust enforcers did win recently in the Penguin-Simon & Schuster merger by focusing on labor impact, so don’t count this thinking out. (Wildcard: Will the states try to get a jury trial? Most likely no, they’ll let a judge handle it. If I’m them, though, I’d try to put this in front of a jury. Juries tend to understand monopoly power in a more realistic way than judges faced with legions of economists.) Question: What if They Win? What if They Lose?

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47 revelatory hours with Assassin’s Creed Black Flag Resynced

To review this month’s supposed remake of 2013’s Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag, I must first correct the record. Assassin’s Creed Black Flag Resynced isn’t a game about pirates (and assassins) in the 18th century Caribbean. Sure, sure, that’s what the trailers would have you believe. They’ve go their clips of Edward Kenway swinging his swords and steering his pirate ship into cannon-blasting combat against British frigates. Is Resynced truly a pirate game? Of the 47 hours I spent playing Resynced over the past few weeks, I will admit I spent maybe 44 (?) of them collecting plunder with Blackbeard, drinking rum with Anne Bonny and debating the pros and cons of the lawless pirate-run settlement Nassau with Benjamin Hornigold. I may in fact have spent dozens of hours sailing to remote islands, reading treasure maps, opening messages left in bottles, sinking the odd Man o’ War with a well-timed broadside, collecting sea shanties for my crew, befriending a pet monkey, and hunting whales. I am nevertheless neither so Gullible nor so Narrow-Minded as to call the magnificent Resynced a “pirate remake.” Oh no. Forget any reviews of Assassin’s Creed Black Flag Resynced you may have read. Forget what you yourself may have played, if you’ve spent any time with the game since its launch. What Assassin’s Creed Black Flag Resynced is really about I’m here to give you the scoop (spoilers for Resynced’s Animus menu lore, which many players are probably not going to see): Assassin’s Creed Black Flag Resynced, the new game whose development was led by Ubisoft Singapore, is set in the year 2096. It’s about a societal split, about revolution, about an old Assassin’s Creed adventure repurposed in the series’ distant future as propaganda or samizdat. It’s about the overheated future of 2096, essentially conquered by the series’ well-established nefarious Templar-run company Abstergo. (In this future, Abstergo is, among other things, remaking a 2013 pirate movie called Devils of the Caribbean, but this time in VR. The VR version will be backed by a marketing plan that involves AI influencers, a 10,000-avatar “metaverse premiere event” and that manufacturing of memes aimed at “50 million VR nodes.” See what I mean about Abstergo being evil?) Resynced is about a late 21st-century population mollified by the widespread use of Abstergo’s Animus devices which let people experience the lives of historical figures culled from “genetic memories.” It’s about an insurgent faction of Assassins. And it’s about a plan to wake the population into revolutionary fervor by showing them the memories of 18th century pirate Edward Kenway, who—as depicted in the original Black Flag and again in Resynced—gradually comes to an understanding about the Assassins of his day and their centuries old fight for freedom. Resynced is also about an AI developed within the late 21st-century Animus, called Ego. It has found a way to alter genetic memories, to create and show Animus users false ones. The game is about Ego’s efforts to tell the people experiencing Edward Kenway’s memories that Kenway was wrong, that fighting against order is folly, that we should crave a world where “compliance is rewarded with power.” Who are we in this game? We’re an unnamed Animus user in 2096 who experiences Kenway’s journey virtually. At four moments during Kenway’s exploits in the Caribbean our virtual jaunt can be interrupted for 10-15 minutes, as we explore Animus “rifts” where Ego explicitly tries to tell us how wrong Kenway was. None of this is what 2013’s Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag was about, of course. That was a different game, even if you also spent dozens of hours pirating as Kenway in that game, across missions and a map that’s been faithfully reintroduced and rebuilt for Resynced. The 2013 Black Flag was about you playing as an unnamed researcher newly hired in 2013 by Abstergo Entertainment, the video game development wing of the Templars’ evil-corp. In that game, you were assigned to use the Animus to dive into the genetic memories of Desmond Miles, a man who died in Assassin’s Creed III and who was descended from a long line of Assassins (and at least one Templar) whose adventures were featured across the prior AC games. In 2013’s Black Flag, your mission was to plumb the Edward Kenway experience for material that Abstergo could use in productions such as the motion picture Devils of the Caribbean, though the Templars had some ulterior motives for the assignment. Resynced is therefore not a remake of 2013’s Black Flag. It’s a sequel. It is a new game about a new exploration of Edward Kenway’s pirate/assassin journey, set 83 years after the framing sequences of the original game. Resynced provides a new narrative framework that, thanks to the concept of an AI that wants to alter historical memories, arrives with creative justification to tweak a now-classic 13-year old game. That makes Resynced, already a hot seller, a tantalizing hint of where Ubisoft could go with a line of Assassin’s Creed remakes. They could remake the first game, the Ezio games, even the recent ones set in ancient Egypt and Greece. And for each, they could not just modernize the graphics and controls but expand and alter their sequences of events to use them as reference points for a conflict set in the late 21st century, as rival factions try to weaponize historical memories. Game File is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, even when that work consists of ravings about Assassin’s Creed’s modern day plot, please consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. Subscribe A story most players will probably miss If you didn’t know any of this, I’m not surprised. If you played the game and still didn’t catch it, I’m not a bit shocked. If Ubisoft has no plans to do more of this, I won’t fall down. Almost all of what I’ve described is optional and missable in Black Flag Resynced. I nearly missed it myself, as I planned for a breezy playthrough of an old Assassin’s Creed favorite. Instead, I found myself in a 40+ hour hunt for the “real” story, buried deeper in Resynced than any gold-filled chest. The story of 2096 is Resynced’s meta-story, told in two remote pockets of the game: 1) four optional playable “rifts” that players may find as they proceed through Resynced’s pirate fantasy , 2) in dozens of text files tucked three menus deep in the game’s barely-interactive Animus hub. Assassin’s Creed games have almost always had a meta-story about people in the 21st century (usually matching the game’s release year) and their connections to the main history portions you play. Those meta-stories have always been squeezed into the margins, though seldom as severely and as, uh, graphiaclly simple, as in recent games. Back in 2013, the modern-day exploits of you as an Abstergo Entertainment employee were prominent. They were portrayed via first-person portions that occasionally interrupted the third-person Kenway experience and could be explored for hours, complete with their own missions, side quests and puzzles. Resynced’s 2096 story—of Assassin “Watchers” vs. Abstergo/Tempar goons, of rogue AIs, of panicking scientists, of a woman wondering why her Animus-addicted husband is muttering about Mary Read (“What does he mean by Assassins?”), of a fight for the population’s hearts and minds via varying interpretations of Edward Kenway’s life choices—is mostly told through unlockable text files. The files are interesting. Offered via diary entries, intercepted chats and news reports, they present varied perspectives of a world in crisis. One set works as a narrative puzzle as it reveals the Rashomonic interpretations of a massacre, or was that a successful Assassin hit? Another favorite reveals the rising bitterness of a person who, through Edward Kenway’s journey, now shakes at the ignored evil around him. One surmises that Ubisoft is averse to putting the Assassin’s Creed’s meta-story in the way of more marketable pirate playgrounds and ninja/samurai epics. Instead, we get a better-than-nothing text-in-menus approach introduced in 2025’s Assassin’s Creed Shadows. In Shadows, players unlocked the meta-story text files largely via time-gated missions that called on the user to kill X number of enemy type Y, clear three enemy castles, re-win a three-phase fighting tournament, and other grinds. Time restrictions on accessing these missions and unlocking the files meant it could take players months to access the full story in-game. But even in the most hardcore Assassin’s Creed hangouts, the fanbase instead seemed to throw up their hands rather than grind to keep up. In Resynced, Ubisoft has shown some mercy, diminishing the amount of new text files that are tied to timed grinds. Now, most of the text-based 2096 lore are associated with “data file” collectibles that players can find in the world. That includes a batch of written entries that explain a historical link between the feudal Japan era in Shadows and the piracy adventures in Black Flag. Players who explore a lot will find dozens of data files, though the game does not appear to offer any in-game tracker for finding each one. You just need to keep looking for them. As of this writing, I have most of them, but not all. I can’t find any full guide for them online. And even Ubisoft’s optional $5 microtransaction that reveals lots of items in-game does not appear to reveal the locations of the text files (at least the official description omits them from its collectibles list). That’s not a huge bother, because tracking the data files down compelled me to re-explore the waves and islands of Black Flag. That was a thoroughly pleasant task to do for the first time in a dozen years. I expect many players, though, will be content to wait for the files to be reproduced in an online AC wiki somewhere, the easier to read on a web page. It may not seem enticing to play a video game in order to gradually unlock pages of text to read. Why not, you may ask, just read a book, where they put the pages in order? For one, they’ve not tucked this latest installment of Assassin’s Creed’s meta saga in a book. I also enjoy the unordered delivery, the dawning comprehension of a story about 2096’s desperate people and questionable tech, which I glimpsed first at its middle, then the end, then the front, then other moments in between1. I am also enamored with the idea of the Assassin’s Creed games I’ve previously played, including Black Flag, being repurposed for an information war. The ideas in Resynced’s meta-story, which builds off characters and ideas in Shadows’ chunks of text, are strong. The potential of where they could go with it is exciting. As for the pirate stuff? Looks great, controls pretty well, is fun to play and oh so speedy in terms of how much of a good time you can have with each sit-down. It never gets old to chase a new shanty page across a rooftop, bombard a fort with upgraded mortars or use a diving bell to explore sunken wrecks (hats off to the team at Ubisoft Barcelona that worked on the underwater portions in Resynced; that team is now facing layoffs, such is the misery of modern gaming and oft-troubled Ubisoft). New pirate missions in Resynced involving new ally characters are brief, dramatic and add more to Edward’s story, even if the gameplay perks they provide barely enhance the gameplay. A new denouement for high-class pirate Stede Bonnet is affecting; a new hunt for Blackbeard’s treasure is a welcome extra moment. A new epilogue to hunt down a pirate killer, on the other hand, over-complicates Kenway’s character. The ending credits remain my favorite of any game I’ve ever played. Black Flag provides great source material. The revisit is well-made and a great sign of what could be. It is offered in a different wrapper that hints at an opportunity for more interesting remakes to come, should Ubisoft choose to pursue such treasures—and as we brace to resist or comply with an Abstergo future. 1 The messages that Edward Kenway finds in bottles tell another out-of-order story, one about a man reckoning with the strange memories and voices he’s heard in his head since he was a boy. That tale was also in the 2013 game and develops into one of Black Flag’s most compelling character arcs. In Resynced, it has lost its climax, because the bottle story previously paid off in the halls of the first-person Abstergo Entertainment, which is exclusive to the older game. An altered resolution, written by the 2013 game’s lead writer is fine, doesn’t invalidate the 2013 version, but makes for an inferior final note.

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Jul 14 • 3:17 PM EDT • Technology • gamefile.news
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Jul 14 • 11:30 AM EDT • Technology • usatoday.com
Utah Helicopter Flights Test NASA’s DAVINCI Mission to Venus

To prepare their spacecraft for Venus, NASA's DAVINCI scientists traveled to the most Venus-like place on Earth.

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Jul 14 • 11:10 AM EDT • Science • science.nasa.gov
Michael Stella

After successfully leading some of DSI’s most significant industrial developments, Michael Stella has been promoted to Director of Construction at Development Solutions, Inc. (DSI).

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Jul 14 • 10:37 AM EDT • Business • chicagobusiness.com
These Microbes Removed 96% of Dissolved Uranium From Mine Water

The microbes don't exactly digest uranium, but their metabolism made it far less mobile.

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Jul 14 • 10:18 AM EDT • Science • zmescience.com
Dying Light: The Beast Cancelled for PS4 and Xbox One Consoles, 10 Months After Current-Gen Launch

This gruesome open world isn't making its way to last-gen machines.

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Jul 14 • 9:27 AM EDT • Technology • digitalfoundry.net
How Cycling Solved Sleep

AURILLAC, France — Is the Tour de France is the most competitive sleep environment in sports? “Probably, yeah,” answered Dr. Jon Greenwell, EF-Education EasyPost’s Head Doctor when I asked him. Every athlete needs to recover, though the demands on professional cyclists at the biggest race in the sport are unique. Riders have to be fresh…

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Jul 14 • 8:59 AM EDT • Technology • defector.com
Dad Says He ‘Created Quite the Drama’ by Telling 3 Kids He’s Leaving His $30 Million Business to Youngest — ‘This Success Belongs to Her’

A $30 million company can solve a lot of problems. It can also create a few. In a post on Reddit, one father said he "created quite the drama" after telling his three children that only his youngest daughter would...

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Jul 14 • 8:01 AM EDT • Business • finance.yahoo.com
Scientists Finally Solved the Mystery of Earth’s ‘Great Dying.’ It’s Bad News for Our Future

The greatest mass extinction of all time was triggered by climatic conditions that are beginning to reappear today, scientists warn.

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Jul 14 • 7:30 AM EDT • Science • gizmodo.com
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Solis Mammography opens 2 new imaging centers

On top of two other centers opened in Florida earlier this year, Solis now operates 15 locations across the Sunshine State and over 170 outposts nationwide.

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Jul 14 • 6:03 AM EDT • Business • radiologybusiness.com
Researchers Claim to Have Solved the Perplexing ‘Reverse Sprinkler’ Problem

Scientists have argued over the question since 1883.

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Jul 14 • 5:02 AM EDT • Science • nytimes.com
Building better therapeutic antibodies: the science, progress and ...

As therapeutic antibodies become more complex, where is the field making real progress and which problems are proving hardest to solve? Hear leading experts share their perspectives.

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Jul 14 • 4:44 AM EDT • Science • drugtargetreview.com
12 ideas for tackling the U.S. alcohol epidemic

The U.S. can save lives from excess alcohol use without taking drastic measures. Here are 12 steps that can help.

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Jul 14 • 4:30 AM EDT • Health • statnews.com
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