Days Gone may never get a proper sequel, but its post-apocalyptic story could eventually make its way to the silver screen. According to Deadline, Sony’s PlayStation Productions unit is developing a film adaptation of the 2019 game. Outlander actor Sam Heughan is reportedly set to star in a script penned by Up in the Air and X-Men: First Class writer Sheldon Turner. Deadline reports Turner envisions the final film being a “love ballad to motorcycle movies.”
After greenlighting adaptations of critically acclaimed games like The Last of Us and Ghost of Tsushima, Days Gone may seem like an unusual choice from Sony. After all, while the game has sold 9 million copies to date, it’s one of the company’s least well-received first-party titles in recent memory. However, since Sony decided to port Days Gone toPC, it has enjoyed newfound success. Search for the game on YouTube, and you’ll find countless videos trying to answer the question of whether you should play Days Gone in 2022. Almost every video on the subject agrees: it’s an experience worth your time. Steam reviews tell much the same story. Across 26,146 submissions, it has a “Very Positive” rating. If there's a project for Sony to take a risk on, it's Days Gone.
A team of scientists may have found a safe and affordable way to destroy “forever chemicals.” PFAS, or perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances, are found in many household items, including non-stick Teflon pans and dental floss. According to the US Environmental Protection Agency, at least 12,000 such substances exist today. They all share one common feature between them: a carbon-fluorine backbone that is one of the strongest known bonds in organic chemistry. It’s what gives PFAS-treated cookware its non-stick quality. However, that same characteristic can make those substances harmful to humans.
Since they’re so durable from a molecular perspective, PFAS can stay in soil and water for generations. Scientists have shown that prolonged exposure to them can lead to an increased risk of some cancers, reduced immunity and developmental effects on children. Researchers have spent years trying to find a way to destroy the carbon-fluorine bond that makes PFAS so stubborn, but a breakthrough could be in sight.
In a study published Thursday in the journal Science, a group of chemists from UCLA, Northwestern University and China found that a mixture of sodium hydroxide, a chemical used in lye, and an organic solvent called dimethyl sulfoxide was effective at breaking down a large subgroup of PFAS known as perfluoro carboxylic acids or PFCAs. When lead author Brittany Trang heated the mixture between 175 and 250 degrees Fahrenheit (about 79 to 121 degrees Celsius), it began breaking down the bonds between the PFAS molecules. After a few days, the mixture can even reduce any fluorine byproducts into harmless molecules. The sodium hydroxide is part of what makes the mixture so potent. It bonds with PFAS molecules after the dimethyl sulfoxide softens them and hastens their breakdown.
Professor William Dichtel, one of the study's co-authors, told The New York Timesthere’s a lot of work to be done before the solution works outside the lab.There’s also the enormity of the problem. In February, scientists estimated that humans are putting approximately 50,000 tons of PFAS chemicals into the atmosphere every year. Another recent study found that rainwater everywhere on Earth is unsafe to drink due to the ubiquity of those substances. However, scientists are understandably excited about Trang’s discovery since it may help researchers find other novel ways to destroy PFAS.
Jurassic World Dominion will begin streaming on September 2nd, Peacock announced on Friday. The service will host two versions of the film. In addition to the original theatrical cut, fans can watch an extended edition that is 14 minutes longer and includes an alternate opening. If you weren’t a fan of the latest movie, Peacock is also adding Jurassic Park, The Lost World and Jurassic Park 3. All three films will arrive on September 1st.
As The Verge points out, Dominion’s move toPeacock isn’t a surprise. At the end of last year, NBCUniversal said the “majority” of its films would appear on the streaming service, with most making the jump as little as 45 days after their theatrical debut. By September 2nd, it will have been 84 days since Dominion debuted in theaters. The longer wait probably has something to do with Dominion being the year's second highest-grossing film.
Imagine if your employer only paid you for the hours you were actively working on your computer. Time spent on the phone, doing tasks on paper or reading isn't part of your compensation since your job can't track those things with monitoring software. It's no far-fetched scenario — it's already happening. Companies are tracking, recording and ranking employees in the name of efficiently and accountability. And as you read this piece, a simulation shows you what it's like to be monitored.
A 29-year-old man sought help from online mental-health startup Done, a company that "prescribes stimulants like Adderall in video calls as short as 10 minutes." Band was already in recovery and lax patient monitoring didn't keep adequate tabs on him. Done advertises on social platforms, "promoting a one-minute ADHD assessment ahead of its 30-minute evaluations" before charging "a $79 monthly service fee for 'worry-free refills' and clinician responses to questions."
Neuralink, a company co-founded by Elon Musk, has been working on an implantable brain–machine interface since 2016. While it previously demonstrated its progress by showing a Macaque monkey controlling the cursor in a game of Pong, it has yet to start human trials. Now, according to Reuters, Musk has reached out to rival company Synchron in recent weeks to discuss a potential investment.
It's unclear what kind of deal Musk has offered — whether it's a collaboration or a financial investment —since none of the players responded or confirmed the report with the news organization. Reuters' sources also said that a deal isn't certain and that Synchron has yet to decide whether to accept Musk's offer. Apparently, the executive approached Synchron CEO after expressing his frustration to Neuralink staff over the company's slow progress.
Neuralink announced way back in 2019 that it would seek approval for human trials in 2020. In January of this year, the company started looking for a clinical trial director who would oversee the testing of its medical device on human subjects. However, that has yet to happen, and the FDA has yet to reveal how far along Neuralink is in the process of securing its approval.
Meanwhile, Synchron announced in July that it had implanted its brain-computer interface into the motor cortex of a human patient in the US for the first time. Doctors in New York's Mount Sinai West did so as part of the company's COMMAND trial, which is aiming to examine the safety of Synchron's implant in patients with severe paralysis. The company also completed a study in Australia, wherein four people were determined to still be safe even after a year with its implant.
Like Neuralink, Synchron is also hoping to provide people with limited mobility the ability to control devices like smartphones and computers with their minds. That will give them the independence to email, text and do various digital tasks. Earlier this year, Max Hodak, the Neuralink co-founder who left the company in 2021, revealed that he took on an advisory role with Synchron. He also financially invested in the company "given [his] excitement for what they're doing."
It's worth noting, though, that Musk reportedly held discussions with other Neuralink rivals in the past. Reuters says he also approached brain-machine interface developer Paradromics in 2020, but those talks were ultimately abandoned.
The following article discusses the themes explored in the documentary, which includes substance abuse, mental health, gun violence and suicide.
We all know, or knew, that guy. Not in your social circle, but known nonetheless; someone’s older brother, cousin or drinking buddy. Whenever they had a captive audience they tell you tales of their exploits when they’re not kicking around suburban Lowestoft. In between puffs of cigarette smoke and the cheapest whiskey available, they’ll say they tried to join the army, but the recruitment people told them they were just too brilliant to waste in an infantry unit. Or they are an off-duty bodyguard who was lying low because The Mafia was looking for them (don’t ask why, shut up). Or that they had just signed a contract to replace The Undertaker at The Wrestling™ and would be jetting off to the US in the near future. The intensity of their testimony may, for a brief second, sucker you in, but you’ll soon realize that these people are more Walter Mitty than Walter White. Now imagine what that guy would look like if they’d been handed $100 million, and you’ll get a fairly decent pen portrait of John McAfee in his later years.
Running with the Devil: The wild world of John McAfee is a new documentary, arriving on Netflix on August 24th. It harnesses footage from the lost, unreleased Vice documentary On The Run with John McAfee, as well as film McAfee commissioned himself. It attempts to chronicle the life of the antivirus software pioneer from when he was named as a person of interest following the death of his neighbor Gegory Faull in Belize, through to his death in 2021. McAfee would spend his last decade on the run from pursuers, both real and imaginary, become embroiled in a cryptocurrency scam, try to run for US president (twice) and loudly declare that he refused to pay his taxes, which attracted the attention of the IRS. Arrested in Spain on charges of tax evasion, he died by suicide in his prison cell.
Devil is broken into three rough parts, each told from the perspective of the people in McAfee’s orbit at the time. Part one focuses on then-Vice editor-in-chief Rocco Castoro and legendary photojournalist Robert King, who accompanied McAfee on his escape to Guatemala. Part Two covers McAfee’s backstory and his relationship with ghostwriter Alex Cody Foster, with whom he sat for a series of interviews. Part Three shows how McAfee would eventually reconnect with Robert King, and asked him to become his personal biographer as he sailed on his yacht, mostly around South America. The footage is interspersed with commentary from McAfee’s partners, as well as Foster, Castoro and King.
Something that’s clear from both the footage and the contributors is that McAfee was obsessed with truth, but not always as you or I would understand it. There are several times when he fixates upon his legacy, his reputation, his image, his story and how he would be perceived. And yet the story was malleable, the facts unclear, and his behavior erratic – while on the run, he would buy a disguise and then proudly tell everyone in the store his name, and pose for photographs. McAfee’s behavior mirrors the cult leader who’s gone all-in on the grand deception, both in his use of charm, and his propensity for violence. More than once he’s pictured or discussed pointing a gun at friends and allies for what feels like nothing more than the pleasure of being a bully, or at least to remind everyone who had the power.
If you’re looking for some sort of truth, or grand coherent narrative to help you grasp who John McAfee was, however, you won’t get it here. That’s not a criticism of the documentary – McAfee loved to hint about who he was without ever saying it out loud, and always muddying his own water. There are scenes where he implies he is responsible for the death of both his abusive father and Faull, but never to anyone’s satisfaction. But it’s similarly clear that much of his bravado disappears when he’s faced with real consequences for his actions. Much is made, too, of his substance abuse, which seems to have supercharged his paranoia and delusional thinking.
Netflix
Much of the footage shot by King is low-res, untreated first-person digital video, although there’s little shakycam here. It instantly dates the footage back to the start of the last decade, and sets the scene perfectly given the turn-of-the-millennium anxieties it creates. It works here, too, because it captures the unpleasant stale air in rooms that haven’t had their windows opened for too long. Rooms scattered with dirt and loose tobacco flakes, a half-empty whiskey bottle resting on its side next to some bath salts and a loaded handgun. It helps capture the smallness of the man in his decline, especially as he rages against not the dying of the light, but to the world’s seeming indifference. I imagine that anyone trying to dock a yacht in a foreign country with a cadre of automatic weapons and mercenaries on board would be greeted with a frosty reception from the local police. But, for McAfee, it’s all part of the grand conspiracy the world has contorted around him, and it’s sad. But you can’t feel too much sympathy for him given the trail of destruction left in his wake, and there’s little closure offered for his victims here.
If there’s one thing I wish the film did better, it’s helping the audience keep track of who, and where, everyone is at each point. I’m not always a fan of documentaries with hand-holding narrators, but this is the sort of film that really needs you to have Wikipedia to hand. That’s not to say it’s not worth watching, both if you knew of McAfee or if the original saga had passed you by. But if it lacks something, it’s enough of a sense of place and time to help you keep track of all of the things that McAfee was up to, and when.
It’s funny, several of my colleagues met with McAfee over the years – including this Engadget Show segment back in 2013. (Back then, McAfee said that he was parodying and leaning in to his insalubrious reputation while he made his viral videos. The documentary makes it clear that there was perhaps more truth than he was prepared to admit.) I’d even walked past McAfee several times at CES, often sitting alone in a sparsely-attended corner of one of the smaller show halls. I often wondered if I should go and speak to him, but there was something of the That Guy even when he was ostensibly on his best behavior. I could imagine him clamping his hand on my shoulder, fixing me with his dark eyes and spinning a fresh bewitching tale of mystery and intrigue, although as it turns out, the truth was probably wilder.
The FBI’s search of former President Donald Trump's residence inspired a flurry of online death threats directed at law enforcement personnel. Now, members of the House Oversight Committee want information from major social platforms, including the number of threats that have surfaced on their sites and what they’ve done in response. The Washington Postreported that lawmakers on Friday sent letters to eight different platforms, including Meta, Twitter, TikTok and the messaging app Telegram, as well as the right-wing leaning platforms Truth Social, Rumble and Gettr.
“The Committee is seeking to understand how your company responds when users post threats against law enforcement, how your company plans to prevent your platform from being used to incite violence against law enforcement personnel, and whether legislative reform is necessary to protect law enforcement personnel and increase coordination with federal authorities,” wrote House Oversight Committee Chairwoman Carolyn B. Maloney (D-NY) and House national security subcommittee Chairman Stephen F. Lynch (D-MA.) No Republicans signed on to the letter.
Earlier this month a man attempted to break into an FBI field office in Ohio, armed with a nail gun and rifle. The suspect was later shot by officers and pronounced dead at the scene. Media outlets later reported that the suspect posted numerous times about his plans on Trump-owned Truth Social in the days leading up to the attack. “We must not tolerate this one,” the suspect wrote in one post.
So far, only Gab has responded to the Post's request for comment. CEO Andrew Torba sent the Post links to blog posts, one which mentioned it is still "considering" its request to Congress. Gab has ignored a prior request from Congress regarding posts related to the January 6th insurrection, claiming that it does not possess such information. A hacker later exfilterated data from millions of accounts on Gab, including many associated with prominent white supremacists and far-right extremists on the platform." The House panel has given the companies until September 2nd to respond to the request.
Are you considering a Lucid Air, but worried you might not outrun a Model S Plaid in a drag race? That might not be a problem if you have a large-enough bank account. Lucid has introduced a Sapphire badge devoted to "ultra-high-performance" EVs. The first model in the line, the Lucid Air Sapphire, promises to outperform Tesla's Plaid cars in at least some conditions — and not just in a straight line.
The Air Sapphire centers around a tri-motor system (one front, two rear) producing over 1,200HP, topping even the no-longer-available Dream Edition. In tandem with better cooling, the new powerplant reportedly delivers a 0-60MPH sprint in under two seconds, 0-100MPH in less than four seconds and a quarter-mile time below nine seconds. You can expect a top speed above 200MPH. While that's not guaranteed to demolish a customized Model S Plaid, this is also a factory-stock car that doesn't need a preconditioning period (like Tesla's Drag Strip Mode) to reach its full potential.
And yes, Lucid believes the Air Sapphire can handle turns and twists. You can expect a slightly wider body to accommodate new Aero Sapphire wheels with special Michelin tires. The motors' torque vectoring, meanwhile, promises both better turn-in while upgrading stability in straightaways. You can also expect a stiffer suspension, stiffer bushings and custom tuning for everything from the antilock brake system through to power steering. Range and other details are forthcoming.
Lucid Motors
Most of the interior changes revolve around software. While there is a new visual theme and "highly bolstered" seating, the centerpiece is an updated interface with more performance-oriented features that include a dedicated Sapphire Mode.
None of these optimizations come cheap, however. Lucid will ask $249,000 for the limited-run Air Sapphire, with pre-orders in the US and Canada starting August 23rd at 9AM Eastern. That makes the $179,000 Grand Touring trim seem like a relative bargain, and even Porsche's $187,400 Taycan Turbo S is more affordable. In this category, though, bragging rights often help justify any premiums.
This might also represent an important strategy switch for Lucid. The fledgling EV maker has had to drastically cut its production targets in light of supply chain problems, and now expects to make no more than 7,000 cars in 2022 instead of the originally planned 20,000. Sapphire will arrive too late to help this year, but it might offset future financial trouble by increasing Lucid's profit from the cars it ships.
Mark Zuckerberg says that Meta has “major updates” planned for its VR graphics after previously sharing an image of his own VR avatar that was widely mocked. He said the company would share more details about the changes at its upcoming Connect conference.
Zuckerberg’s update comes several days after a screenshot from Horizon Worlds, the company’s social VR environment, went viral on Twitter.
The images were originally shared last week alongside an announcement that Horizon Worlds was launching in France and Spain. The screenshot showed a nearly featureless Zuckerberg avatar in front of a VR Eiffel Tower and Barcelona’s Sagrada Familia. The image quickly took on a life of its own on Twitter as people mocked the low-res and amateur-looking graphics. In particular, many questioned why Zuckerberg’s avatar was so flat and lifeless when the company has spent billions of dollars and staked its future on the success of the metaverse.
Come work for Meta, where the most brilliant technologists of the day have achieved 1995 level graphics https://t.co/mHJJohZo1i
Though Zuckerberg didn’t directly address the critiques, he acknowledged the image he had previously shared was “pretty basic,” and promised improvements. His latest post included two new, much more detailed and lifelike renders: his avatar and an outdoor scene depicting ancient ruins.
“I know the photo I posted earlier this week was pretty basic — it was taken very quickly to celebrate a launch,” Zuckerberg wrote. “The graphics in Horizon are capable of much more — even on headsets — and Horizon is improving very quickly.”
PowerWash Simulator players can now take part in a research project that looks at the links between gaming and mental health. Developer FuturLab has teamed up with independent researchers from the Oxford Internet Institute for what it calls a "a one-of-a-kind anonymous research study centered around the wellbeing of PowerWash Simulator’s players."
FuturLab says it's working on in-game rewards for participants. If you'd like to take part, you'll need a copy of the game on Steam. You'll also need to download a separate build of PowerWash Simulator. From the Betas menu under Properties, select the "research-edition – Research Edition 2022" option.
As Eurogamer points out, this build will provide two types of anonymized data to the researchers. They'll receive information on players' progress, item purchases and other activities as part of a "base telemetry" dataset.
The second type of data is obtained through questions that the researchers will be able to ask players about their experience. These will seemingly only take players a couple of seconds to answer. Players will also be able to provide feedback to researchers through a "Tell us how you feel" button in the menu. FuturLab won't have access to these responses.
We’re incredibly excited to announce the launch of PowerWash Simulator’s Research Edition on Steam.
In partnership with @oiioxford, we've made an optional branch to monitor players' well-being and will add to broader gaming and mental health research.
Your game progress won't carry over between the regular game and the Research Edition (though taking part in the study will earn you cosmetic rewards in the main game). This is to help make sure study data is consistent and to avoid issues with save data. In addition, the Research Edition won't have a multiplayer mode and it will only have English-language support. FuturLab added that the Research Edition will be available for at least three months.
PowerWash Simulator, at least from my experience, is a relaxing game. It's just you, a power washer, perhaps a friend or two, maybe some soap and a whole lot of virtual gunk to blast away. It's not hard to see why many folks might find it soothing.
A number of studies into the benefits of gaming on mental health and wellbeing have been conducted over the years with mixed results. One suggested that playing Animal Crossing: New Horizons and Plants vs Zombies: Battle for Neighborville, both of which have sturdy social gaming features, may be good for you (the study was conducted in the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic). However, a recently published study, which looked at the gameplay habits of nearly 40,000 people, found that gaming had no significant impact on wellbeing.
