Category Archives: Singularity

Cast your mind back to when Earth was a baby. The solar system was a brutal nursery. Giant fragments of rock whirled chaotically around a fiery young sun, regularly bombarding infant planets. Earth formed during this period, aptly called the Hadean, and without this steady rain of fire building up the bones of our planet, we wouldnt be here at all.

And neither would the moon.

Towards the end of this period, about 4.5 billion years ago, a Mars-sized protoplanet called Theia smacked into Earth in a collision thought to have released 100 million times more energy than the asteroid that ended the dinosaurs. The impact destroyed Theia, threw a titanic plume of material into orbitand gave birth to our moon.

This giant impact scenario is the leading theory for how the moon formed because it fits much of what we observe about the Earth and moon today. But scientists are still debating the details. Early simulations of the impact, for example, suggested the moon would be mostly made of material from Theia, but analysis of lunar rocks shows the geochemical composition of the Earth and moon is nearly identical.

Now, however, a new high-resolution simulation, described in a recent paper by NASA Ames scientists and researchers at Durham University, may help resolve the discrepancy.

According to the paper, the outcomes across a number of possible impact scenarios more closely match observations, including the moons orbit and composition. But perhaps most surprisingly, where prior work suggested the moons formation would have taken months or years, the new simulation suggests our satellite formed and was slingshotted into orbit in mere hours.

In the simulation, shown in the video below, Theia strikes Earth with a glancing blow. An arc of material, originating from both Theia and Earth, whips into orbit and forms two bodies. The larger of these, doomed to fall back to Earth, launches the smaller one, the moon, into a stable orbit. If the initial collision took place at midnight, the moon would have formed by breakfast.

This isnt the first attempt at better fitting our observations to the moons giant impact origin story.

Scientists have proposed and simulated a number of theories to explain the moons geochemical composition. These include higher energy or multiple impacts, a hit-and-run, or the possibility of an earlier impact, when Earth was still covered by an ocean of magma. These are still possible, though each comes with its own set of challenges too.

Here, the team took a different approach, suggesting that perhaps the problem isnt the theory but our simulation of it. Older simulations used hundreds of thousands or millions of particlesyou can think of these as idealized digital stand-ins for chunks of Earth and Theia, each following the laws of physics in the collision. The latest simulation, on the other hand, uses hundreds of millions of particles, each about 8.5 miles (14 kilometers) across.

Its the highest resolution digital recreation of the moons formation yet.

The resolution brought the mechanics of large impacts into focus in a way prior, less detailed simulations simply couldnt. And in the process, the work threw a new, potentially simpler theory into the hat: That the moon formed rapidly, in just one step. The team found this scenario could produce a moon much like ours, from orbit to composition.

However, while the new work is enticing, further reinforcing it will require more high-resolution simulations and, crucially, future missions collecting more samples from the moon itself.

Whatever scientists find, the story of the moons formation has far-reaching implications. Its fate is tied closely to Earths, from tides to plate tectonics and the rise and evolution of life itself. If we find our moon is an outlieras it seems to be in our solar system, at leastperhaps the chances that life arises and survives the long haul elsewhere are lower. We just dont know yet.

Thats why its important to build and study simulations like this one.

The more we learn about how the moon came to be, the more we discover about the evolution of our own Earth, said Vincent Eke, a researcher at Durham University and a co-author on the paper, in a statement. Their histories are intertwinedand could be echoed in the stories of other planets changed by similar or very different collisions.

Image Credit: NASA Ames Research Center

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The Moon May Have Formed Just Hours After Earth Collided With a Protoplanet - Singularity Hub

LEXINGTON, Ky. (Oct. 12, 2022) As part of its 60th anniversary celebration weekend, UK HealthCare will host two nationally esteemed guests for a special event 8-10 a.m. Friday, Oct. 14.The 60th Anniversary Symposium: Advancing Care in Kentucky and Beyond will feature Robert Califf, M.D., commissioner of food and drugs for the Food and Drug Administration, and Daniel Kraft, M.D., physician-scientist, innovatorand founder/chair of Exponential Medicine.

As we reflect on the past 60 years of excellence in health care and medical training here, were also looking toward our future, said Mark F. Newman, M.D., University of Kentucky executive vice president for health affairs. Health equity is a key goal of our efforts here at UK HealthCare, and Im thrilled to welcome Drs. Califf and Kraft to offer their unique perspectives on how we can better serve patients here in Kentucky and beyond.

The symposium will be hosted in the Karpf Auditorium inside UK Chandler Hospital Pavilion A and will also be livestreamed. This event is free and open to the public. Attendees can tune in virtually via Zoom or watch on the YouTube livestream.

About the speakers:

Robert Califf, M.D.:President Joe Biden nominated Califf to head the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and he was sworn in on Feb. 17, 2022. Previously, Califf served as commissioner of food and drugs from February 2016 to January 2017. As the top official of the FDA, Califf is committed to strengthening programs and policies that enable the agency to carry out its mission to protect and promote the public health. Califf served as the FDAs deputy commissioner for medical products and tobacco from February 2015 until his first appointment as commissioner in February 2016. Learn more about Califfs background here.

Daniel Kraft, M.D.:Kraft is a Stanford and Harvard-trained physician-scientist, inventor, entrepreneur, and innovator and is serving as the chair of the XPRIZE Pandemic & Health Alliance Task Force. With over 25 years of experience in clinical practice, biomedical research and health care innovation, Kraft has served as faculty chair for Medicine at Singularity University since its inception in 2008, and is founder and chair of Exponential Medicine, a program that explores convergent, rapidly developing technologies and their potential in biomedicine and health care. He is often called upon to speak to the future of health, medicine and technology and has givenfour TED and two TEDMED Talks and has delivered keynotes to a diverse arrayof organizations. Learn more about Krafts background here.

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UK HealthCare hosting 2 nationally esteemed guests for 60th anniversary symposium - UKNow

Interested in learning what's next for the gaming industry? Join gaming executives to discuss emerging parts of the industry this October at GamesBeat Summit Next. Register today.

Transcend Fund debuted in 2020 as a game-focused venture capital fund, and it has turned out to be one of the top performers among funds created that year, according to Pitchbook.

The San Francisco-based fund is doubling down on games and benefiting from the rise in games in popular culture and the growth of game platforms and their monetization opportunities. Transcend has already closed on a second fund and 100% of the LPs in Transcend I signed on to Transcend II.

And recent reports from McKinsey, Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, and Citibank underscore the key role of games in the multi-trillion-dollar potential of the metaverse.

Transcend Fund I scored in the top quartile of returns for all 2020 vintage venture funds, according to both Pitchbook and Cambridge Associates. And the debut funds invested rate of return exceeded the top 5% benchmarks for Q1 2022. Thats encouraging considering it is a scary time for VCs.

Back in August, the digital entertainment-focused venture firm added Brett Krause as managing director. He was the former chief investment officer for FunPlus. Krause was also the former president of JPMorgan Chase China and managing director of the early-stage venture capital firm PurpleSky Capital. Krause is based in Zug, Switzerland.

The performance of our fund has been exemplary, said Shanti Bergel, managing director and founder of the fund. It has done extremely well. We have done in the upper 5% for funds that started in 2020. Were very pleased.

Krause has invested in streaming platforms at Funplus and he focused on strategic investments like helping build studios and licensing intellectual property.

Im much more interested in being involved in this type of business, Krause said. I like helping and watching and supporting portfolio companies. The advantage this fund has is all of the partners have experience running game companies and building games.

Last year, Andrew Sheppard, former president of Kabam Studios, joined Transcend Fund as a managing director. Sheppard has more than 20 years of experience in game companies such as Electronic Arts, Gamespot, Gree, and Rakuten Games.

That means that all of Transcend Funds leaders have experience operating game companies, Bergel said. Bergel, a 30-year veteran of gaming, founded the fund in 2020 with a focus on teaming up with accomplished entrepreneurs to transcend the boundaries of video games and digital media.

He noted that some analysts estimate the video game industry will generate over $500 billion by 2028 and recent reports from McKinsey and Goldman Sachs note the key role of games in the multi-trillion dollar potential of the metaverse.

According to Pitchbook data, Transcends first fund is already in the top quartile of returns for all 2020vintage venture funds. In two years, Transcend has built an industry-leading portfolio of nearly 30 companies including one unicorn and the creators of several of the most hotly anticipated titles in thespace.

Transcend also employs finance director Andrew Crankshaw, who served for 12 years as finance director at Atomico, one of the largest venture capital funds in Europe; senior associate Sikander Chahal, who has a background in competitive gaming as well as finance, M&A, and game development advisory; Lirui Ding, a former esports professional and consultant who worked at the strategy and corporate development department at Activision Blizzard; and Naheda Noori, an expert in mobile app services who formerly worked at Miniclip.

The past two years have been incredible, Sheppard said. It is deeply satisfying to see the firms focus on founders, team building, and fund operations really paying off. Our performance to date speaks for itself and we are only getting started in our second Fund. As investors that have spent decades building game companies, we are very excited for the next chapter.

The fund has invested in Thatgamecompany, Possibility Space, Polygon, Singularity 6, Laguna Games,Gardens, Roboto, Venly, IndiGG, Big Run, C2X, Nifty Games, Treehouse Games, Stress Level Zero,Maestro, Fun Country, Arcadia, Trioscope, Bunch, Heroic Story, Kings of Games, Spatial, Goss, Ruckus andseveral unannounced new ventures. Thatgamecompany, headed by Journey co-creator Jenova Chen, raised $160 million recently.

Cambridge Associates noted that new VC firms are consistently among the top 10 performers in the asset class.

Of course, the funding environment has slowed down with the onset of a global downturn, a crypto winter, an NFT price crash, a stock market crash, the war in Ukraine and high inflation.

It was hot then and its less hot now. Thats obvious. What does it mean? Bergel said. If you pull all the way back, there are larger cycles at play. There are financial cycles, hardware cycles, and the things that impact the actual opportunity space that games play in. There are a lot of growth factors that are on a long upward trajectory.

Games are becoming the dominant form of entertainment, he said, and more investors are turning to the games sector.

Games and the economy operate on the same vector sometimes, but not always, Bergel said. The overall core of the business is monstrously strong. Were just as excited today to be investing in games and digital entertainment. I dont think there are many places that grow at this rate. Games are arguably at the intersection of culture and technology.

The net result, he said, is Bergels enthusiasm for games hasnt subsided.

Krause agreed all of the long-term growth trajectories are still intact.

All the things which are headwinds for the global economy over the next 18 months have imminent impact for a fresh startup, Krause said. We cant be complacent. It could last longer than we expect. But there are great opportunities that we shouldnt miss in the next 18 months.

As for sectors, Bergel said esports is interesting as a cultural trend that is helping to drive games forward.

Esports has been a phenomenon, no doubt, he said. But as we look at it today, some of the opportunities that might have been attractive five years ago, such as investing in esports teams, are only accessible in a time machine. Its a harder business to break into at that level.

Bergel said his team gets more excited about cross-platform franchise development, as is being done at Singularity 6, a Los Angeles startup that came out of Riot Games.

Bergel is also optimistic about VR companies like Stress Level Zero, maker of the Bonelab game that just debuted.

If you can find the next League of Legends or the next Valorant, thats the most interesting thing in the esports space, Krause said. I dont think the terms have exciting growth paths for the time being. If youre a great player, you can make interesting money. But the lifespan of that is pretty short. The only thing that makes interesting money is long-term franchises.

Just a few months ago, we saw a huge war for talent in the game industry.

On a macro level, Bergel said the trend is for companies to cut back on staff now rather than pursue lots of scarce game developers. Certain kinds of engineers are still at a premium, and the metaverse category will remain hot in terms of the talent wars. But that is going to happen at the same time we see massive layoffs, he said.

As for the hot regions like Turkey and Finland, Bergel said that the appreciation for good local talent is high.

Some years ago, Sheppard was flying around the world to set up studios for Kabam in the hottest regions for game development.

Its not just about outsourcing or finding areas for low costs anymore, Bergel said. Places like India, Southeast Asia, and Latin America have become real talent bases and real markets in their own right, Bergel said. Mobile is strong in Finland. Social casino games are hot in Israel. And so on.

The regional variation of the industry is very interesting, Bergel said.

Krause said that Southeast Asia is definitely interesting. Places like Vietnam, Indonesia, and Malaysia are all seriously competing with each other to dive into the hot game development trends first.

There is definitely a lot of innovation happening in regions, and we have to learn how to prioritize, Krause said.

I also asked Bergel about the metaverse and blockchain investments. Heres what he said in an email.

Transcend is known as an audience-first fund. The audience is the one true compass in all of entertainment. Our approach is rooted in decades of direct experience in the games industry reading that compass and building for those audiences. Billions in revenue experience across defining franchises and entertainment companies informs our first principles approach to early stage investing in general, including the sectors you mention.

The metaverse has recently become a powerful narrative that blends some existing industry dynamics such as social gameplay and UGC with longer term visions like interoperability. Our investment thesis however is driven by what audiences care about and will dedicate time to. Transcend works with entrepreneurs intent on creating something distinct and momentous for a passionate global audience. So, while we welcome big visions and ambition, it is always with an eye to how it plays against the larger backdrop of audience growth and change. For us, the democratization of participation brought about by innovation in technology, community, and interaction models are the engine. The metaverse is just one of the possible destinations but, along the way, we expect to see an increasing number of game communities in our portfolio become significant platforms unto themselves.

Blockchain is an interesting tool that, in the hands of talented craftspeople, can be used to explore new use cases. Independently verifiable ownership brings with it the promise of potentially disruptive economic and interaction models. It is early days however and our investments in the sector have tended toward the infrastructure necessary to create experiences smooth and enjoyable enough to build an audience sizable enough to fulfill the promise.

GamesBeat's creed when covering the game industry is "where passion meets business." What does this mean? We want to tell you how the news matters to you -- not just as a decision-maker at a game studio, but also as a fan of games. Whether you read our articles, listen to our podcasts, or watch our videos, GamesBeat will help you learn about the industry and enjoy engaging with it. Discover our Briefings.

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Why Transcend Fund believes the opportunity for game investments is only getting bigger - VentureBeat

Roxana Hadadi is a TV critic who also writes about film and pop culture, with the closed captions on and motion smoothing off.

Photo-Illustration: Vulture; Photos Courtesy of Hulu and Warner Bros./YouTube

Austin Powers is classic cinema probably isnt a descriptor Mike Myers could have anticipated when International Man of Mystery was released in theaters 25 years ago. But nods to Myerss British spy who railed against capitalist pigs, never forgot a pussy (cat), and starred in sequels The Spy Who Shagged Me and Goldmember are comedys hottest mini-trend, nestled into Bros, released in theaters September 30; the third season of Ramy, released on Hulu also on September 30; and the first but hopefully not last season of This Fool, released on Hulu on August 12. In each of these comedies, the references to the late-90s/early-00s James Bond parody trilogy are, of course, played for laughs, whether as compliments (like in Bros, when Luke Macfarlanes hunky Aaron praises Billy Eichners Bobby on his chest hair) or impressions of the trilogys ensemble (the mimicry of Austin and Dr. Evil in This Fool, and of Fat Bastard in Ramy). But the intention here, say both This Fool co-creator and writer Pat Bishop and Ramy creator Ramy Youssef, isnt to mock Myers or his work. They each separately call the man a genius and Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery (streaming on Netflix and HBO Max) an unexpectedly emotional work with a tragic narrative subtext about how irrelevance and aging can be our greatest enemies.

As a comedy writer now, Im someone who satirizes things, says Bishop, who watched International Man of Mystery a year or so after its release in 1997 because the films deluge of sex stuff initially made his parents wary. It was kind of instructional as a way to make fun of another thing while also telling a real story on its own. There is this real, grounded sort of trauma that Austin Powers goes through, of traveling through time and learning that everyone he knew is dead or old it manages to be a parody, but also have emotional stakes.

That singularity is what inspired Bishop and co-writer Johan Miranda to center Austin Powers in This Fools fifth episode, Sandy Says, after also considering and discarding various other 90s and aughts comedies, like Ace Ventura: Pet Detective and Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy, that didnt have quite the right pathos or immediate recognizability. In Sandy Says, ex-con Luis (Frankie Quiones), during group-sharing sessions with his peers in the Hugs Not Thugs program, ceaselessly quotes Austin Powers. Instead of engaging with what the other program members are saying about their regrets and anxieties, he uses Austin Powers lines as commentary: Does porn make you randy, baby? he asks porn addict Randy (Treach); Im just trying to make Group Hug more groovy, baby, he argues to cousin Julio (Chris Estrada) when asked to stop. The episode is packed with moments in which Luis falls back on the movie while struggling to admit his own feelings of displacement like when he tells the organizations therapist Sandy (Freda Foh Shen) to Shh!, in Bishops favorite reference before finally engaging in Group Hug and voicing his realization that The world is ever-changing, homey. I gotta change with it. Thats what Austin Powers is all about.

Quiones is in fine form this episode, with sharp comedic timing as he slices through the Austin Powers dialogue and contrasting restraint as he talks about how much the movie reminds him of his relationship with his father and the family hes lost. The admission serves as a bonding moment for both Luis and the other members of Hugs Not Thugs, and for Luis and Julio, who are disgusted to learn that Sandy hasnt seen the movie. (What, did she live in a cave or something?) When the cousins leave Hugs Not Thugs that day, they do so to Just the Two of Us which Dr. Evil and Mini-Me (Verne Troyer) performed together in The Spy Who Shagged Me and struggle to leave their boxed-in parking spot (a re-creation of Austins inability to execute that three-point turn in the original film).

Everything Austin-esque included in Sandy Says was as he and Miranda originally intended, Bishop says, except for one thing: the moment Luis shows up to Group Hug wearing a dinosaur costume.

The script first had Luis in an Austin Powers getup like the various velvet suits and frilly shirts he wears in the trilogy before what Bishop bemusedly describes as a six-month legal battle between Hulu owner Disney and Warner Bros., which owns the rights to the Austin Powers franchise, over whether This Fool could depict the characters likeness. When told they couldnt dress Luis like Austin, Bishop and Miranda rewrote the scene to include Luis trying to find an Austin costume at Party City but failing (another sign of his outdatedness), and going with a dinosaur costume anyway, to make it all the more confusing, Bishop explains. (And to avoid any additional legal wrangling, Bishop and Miranda simply didnt write the use of Just the Two of Us into the script: We were like, Lets just not mention it to them, and hopefully they havent seen the films and wont catch all the references were secretly doing, he adds with a laugh.)

While Sandy Says uses Luis to voice Austin Powerss varying goofiness and melancholy, the Ramy reference in third-season penultimate episode A Blanket on the Television came not from the writers room, but from an on-set imitation, Youssef says. On a late night of filming, as Youssef, co-star Shadi Alfons, and the rest of the cast and crew pounced on a hot meal, Alfons surprised everyone with a Scottish-accented Get in my belly! Fat Bastard impression. The moment was so out of nowhere yet recognizable that Youssef immediately knew he had to work Alfonss impression into an episode, and after getting home at like, three in the morning, he rewrote the Chinese restaurant scene of A Blanket on the Television to accommodate it.

The episode is mostly a thematically dark one, with Laith Naklis Uncle Naseem tumbling into paranoia, May Calamawys Dena lying to her parents Maysa (Hiam Abbass) and Farouk (Amr Waked), and Maysa and Farouk fighting over the troubled state of their marriage. A family dinner at a local Chinese restaurant is strained by those resentments and Ramys absence. But all those unspoken tensions pause when Egyptian cousin Shadi (Alfons) slides a steamer of dumplings toward him, maneuvers his face into an excited grin, and blurts out, Get in my belly!

That silliness briefly punctures the groups otherwise dourness and allows for a line of dialogue that Youssef would give to cinephile Farouk and make the episodes tagline: Austin Powers is classic cinema. Until Uncle Naseem pulls a gun on the table and ruins the whole vibe, Shark Tank and Arab movie fan Farouk bonding with Dude, Wheres My Car? and American Pie adorer Shadi over a sex- and drugs-filled film franchise is pretty adorable. Shadi is so funny. He really was making us laugh, and he kept it going between takes, Youssef says. That scene was such a monster to shoot. Its so many people at the table, things are crazy, and he kept it light. Everybody broke. That scene is the record for the most breaks, probably, on our set.

Bros, Ramy, and This Fool differ in their execution, with Bros offering the quickest salute, Ramy the zaniest, and This Fool the most rigorous. But together, they serve as a nostalgic triptych a demonstration of how Austin Powers crystallized satire for millennials now making their own films and series, and a reminder that theatrical comedies used to have the kind of sprawling appeal that united generations like Luis and his father and Shadi and his uncle Farouk. Theres nothing more pathetic than an aging hipster, Dr. Evil sneers to his nemesis in International Man of Mystery, but per usual, hes wrong. In the words of Bishop: Austin Powers forever.

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Austin Powers References in This Fool, Ramy, Bros - Vulture

Product Info

Bayonetta 3October 28, 2022

PlatformsNintendo Switch

PublisherNintendo

DeveloperPlatinum Games

Expected Price$59.99

Expected Release DateOctober 28, 2022

The Witching Hour is almost upon us, as after a rather long wait, Bayonetta 3 finally arrives on Nintendo Switch later this month. The Umbra Witchs latest was announced all the way back in 2017, and for years very little about the game was shared, leading some to speculate it would end up as vaporware. Thankfully, that didnt end up being the case.

This time around, Bayonetta is trying some new things, with different demon forms allowing her to change her appearance and moveset and the Demon Slave mechanic giving players the chance to control giant demons. The games story also promises to be its most multilayered yet. So, strap on your gun heels and scroll on down for all the key info you need to about Bayonetta 3

This time around, Bayonetta wont be taking on the angels or demons of the past, but rather a new type of manmade weapons called Homunculi, with an evil force known as the Singularity seemingly being behind them. This Singularity is threatening to destroy the known worlds and its up Bayonetta to stop them. The fight will take you to various locales around the world, including Japan, China, and other places beyond. As of now, thats about all Nintendo and Platinum have shared officially.

Getting into more speculative territory, there is heavy fan suspicion that the Bayo you play as in Bayonetta 3 is actually a different version of the character. Specifically, many have posited that shes actually Cereza, the kid version of Bayonetta seen in the first game, all grown up. While the exact identity of Bayonetta 3s protagonist is unclear, Nintendo has confirmed that youll meet a virtual coven of Bayonettas over the course of the game, so the theory is actually fairly plausible. Youll also get to play as new character Viola, described as a mysterious Third Witch whos undoubtedly closely tied to Bayonetta as well. While there are many specifics yet to be revealed, Bayonetta 3 seems to be the franchises Into the Spider-Verse with plenty of multiverse and time loop twists and turns in store.

Bayonetta 3 is stylish action game that carries forward many of the core mechanics from the first two entries in the series. Players can unleash combos by inputting the proper button sequences and enter slow-motion Witch Time by dodging attacks at just the right moment. The devastating (and gruesome) Torture Attacks that Bayo can unleash when she stuns an enemy also return.

The powerful Wicked Weave attacks, Beast Within animal transformations, and weapon system of past games have now been combined into the new streamlined Demon Masquerade system. As before, weapons come with their own unique movesets and Wicked Weave attacks are unleashed by completing combos, but this time around, each weapon also allows Bayo to transform into a new demon-inspired form for greater mobility in fights (Madama Butterfly, Gomorrah, and Phantasmaraneae forms have been revealed thus far).

Ultimately though, the biggest addition (literally) is the Demon Slave system, which allows you to summon various large kaiju-like demons to fight by your side. You have full control over these demons attacks, allowing you to continue combos with them. Watch out though Bayonetta herself is largely defenseless while a demon has been summoned and if it absorbs too much damage you may lose control of the beastie.

Finally, Bayonetta also introduces Viola, an all-new playable character. Violas playstyle differs from Bayonettas in a few key ways for instance, she enters witch time by blocking and parrying rather than dodging, and she can still move and attack independently while her Demon Slave (a big freaky cat named Cheshire) has been summoned.

Of course, as with past games in the series, Bayonetta wont be all about combat. Battles will be interspersed with short exploratory sections and over-the-top action set pieces. You never quite know what a Bayonetta game might throw at you next.

You dont need to be too worried. While Platinum has a reputation for demanding games, and theres certainly a lot of room for mastery for those who want to grab those Platinum medals, you dont have to be a high-level player to get through the game with Silver and Gold medals in most battles.

Platinum seems to have made an effort to make Bayonetta 3 more approachable than past games. Players can change the games difficulty setting whenever they want, and a special accessory, the Immortal Marionette, lets players execute combos by mashing a single button. Of course, if you want a hard game, you can pump the difficulty up and revel in the punishment.

Sooooo the Bayonetta series does have a reputation for being a bit horny. Okay, a lot horny. The sexiness is relatively playful and harmless, but it can be pretty shameless at times. The trailers and promo materials for Bayo 3 have been a bit less over-the-top, but that could just be Nintendo downplaying that aspect of the game.

That said, Platinum has included a new Nave Angel mode in Bayonetta 3 that will censor some of Bayonetta 3s nudity and more risqu scenes for those who want something less edgy or are playing in front of people who may not appreciate such things. I have a feeling even this mode wont entirely eliminate the naughty stuff, so its really going to come down to your own personal comfort level.

Bayonetta 3 launches on Nintendo Switch on October 28 of this year. The standard edition of the game will cost you $60 and can be pre-ordered here. The Bayonetta 3 Trinity Masquerade Edition, featuring a 200-page art book and reversible covers for each game in the series, has been offered for $90, but it seems to be sold out at all retailers at the moment.

Unlikely. Bayonetta 2 has still never appeared on a non-Nintendo platform, and much like that game, Bayonetta 3 has been fully bankrolled by The Big N. Series creator Hideki Kamiya pretty much says you should just buy a Switch if you want to play. Ultimately, Bayonetta is essentially a Nintendo character at this point, so dont expect her to cast her spell anywhere else.

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Bayonetta 3 Everything You Need to Know About this Bewitching Beat em Up - Wccftech

The point of this text is not to predict how many people will ever live. What I learned from writing this post is that our future is potentially very, very big.

If we keep each other safeand protect ourselves from the risks that nature and we ourselves posewe are only at the beginning of human history.

Our actions today impact those who will live in that vast future that is ahead of us.

The fact that our actions have an impact on the large number of people who will live after us should matter for how we think about our own lives. Those who ask themselves what they can do to act responsibly towards those who will live in the future call themselves longtermists. Longtermism is the ethical view that we should act in ways that reduce the risks that endanger our future, and in ways that make the long-term future go well.1

Before we look ahead, lets look back. How many came before us? How many humans have ever lived?

It is not possible to answer this question precisely, but demographers Toshiko Kaneda and Carl Haub have tackled the question using the historical knowledge that we do have.

There isnt a particular moment in which humanity came into existence, as the transition from species to species is gradual. But if one wants to count all humans one has to make a decision about when the first humans lived. The two demographers used 200,000 years before today as this cutoff.2

The demographers estimate that in these 200,000 years about 109 billion people have lived and died.3 It is these 109 billion people we have to thank for the civilization that we live in. The languages we speak, the food we cook, the music we enjoy, the tools we usewhat we know, we learned from them. The houses we live in, the infrastructure we rely on, the grand achievements of architecturemuch of what we see around us was built by them.

In 20227.95 billion of usare alive. Taken together with those who have died, about 117 billion humans have been born since the dawn of modern humankind.

This means that those of us who are alive now represent about 6.8 percent of all people who have ever lived.

These numbers are hard to grasp. I tried to bring it into a visualization to put them into perspective.4 Its a giant hourglass. But instead of measuring the passage of time, it measures the passage of people. Each grain of sand here represents 10 million people: each year 140 million babies are born. So we add 14 grains of sand to the hourglass. Every year, 60 million people die; this means 6 grains pass through the hourglass and are added to the large number of people who have died.5

How many people will be born in the future? We dont know. But we know one thing: The future is immense, and the universe will exist fortrillions of years. We can use this fact to get a sense of how many descendants we might have in that vast future ahead.

The number of future people depends on the size of the population at any point in time and how long each of them will live. But the most important factor will be how long humanity will exist.

Before we look at a range of very different potential futures, lets start with a simple baseline. We are mammals. One way to think about how long we might survive is to ask how long other mammals survive. It turns out that the lifespan of a typical mammalian species is about one million years.6 Lets think about a future in which humanity exists for a million years: 200,000 years are already behind us, so there would be 800,000 years still ahead.

Lets consider a scenario in which the population stabilizes at 11 billion people (based on the UN projections for the end of this century) and in which the average life length rises to 88 years.7 In such a future, there would be 100 trillion people alive over the next 800,000 years.

The chart below visualizes this. Each triangle represents 7.95 billion peopleit is the green triangle shape from the hourglass above and corresponds to the number of us alive today.

Each row represents the birth of half a trillion children. For 100 trillion births there are 200 rows.

If you disagree with the numbers I use in my scenario it is easy for you to see how different numbers would lead to different futures. Here are two examples:

The chart shows how many children might be born in the next 800,000 years, a future in which humans survive for as long as a typical mammalian species.

But, of course, humanity isanything buta typical mammalian species. One thing that sets us apart is that we nowand this is a recent developmenthave the power to destroy ourselves. Since the development of nuclear weapons, it is in our power to kill all of us who are alive and cause the end of human history.

But we are also different from all other animals in that we have the possibility to protect ourselves, even against the most extreme risks. The poor dinosaurs had no defense against the asteroid that wiped them out. We do. Wealready haveeffective and well-funded asteroid-monitoring systems and, in case it becomes necessary, we might be able to deploy technology that protects us from an incoming asteroid. The development of powerful technology gives us the chance to survive for much longer than a typical mammalian species.

Our planet might remain habitable for roughly a billion years.9If we survive as long as the Earth stays habitable, and based on the scenario above, this would be a future in which 125 quadrillion children will be born. A quadrillion is a 1 followed by 15 zeros: 1,000,000,000,000,000.

A billion years is a thousand times longer than the million years depicted in this chart. Even very slow-moving changes will entirely transform our planet over such a long stretch of time: a billion years is a timespan in which the world will go through several supercontinent cyclesthe worlds continents will collide and drift apart repeatedly; new mountain ranges will form and then erode; the oceans we are familiar with will disappear and new ones open up.

But if we protect ourselves well and find homes beyond Earth, the future could be muchlarger still.

The sun will exist for another five billion years.10 If we stay alive for all this time, and based on the scenario above, this would be a future in which 625 quadrillion children will be born. How can we imagine a number as large as 625 quadrillions? We can get back to our sand metaphor from the first chart.

We can imagine todays world population as a patch of sand on a beach. Its a tiny patch of sand that barely qualifies as a beach, just large enough for a single person to sit down. One square meter.

If the current world population was represented by a tiny beach of one square meter, then 625 quadrillion people would make up a beach that is 17 meters wide and 4,600 kilometers long. A beach that stretches all across the USA, from the Atlantic to the Pacific coast.11

And humans could survive for even longer.

What this future might look like is hard to imagine.Just as it was hard to imagine, even quite recently, what today might look like. This present moment used to be the unimaginable future, as Stewart Brand put it.

A catastrophe that ends human history would destroy the vast future that humanity would otherwise have. And it would be horrific for those who will be alive at that time.

The people who live then will be just as real as you or me. They will exist, they just dont exist yet. They will feel the sun on their skin and they will enjoy a swim in the sea. They will have the same hopes, they will feel the same pain.

Longtermism is the idea that people who live in the future matter morally just as much as those of us who are alive today.12 When we ask ourselves what we should do to make the world a better place, a longtermist does not only consider what we can do to help those around us right now, but also what we can do for those who come after us. The main point of this textthat humanitys potential future is vastmatters greatly to longtermists. The key moral question of longtermism is what can we do to improve the worlds long-term prospects?

In some ways, many of us are already longtermists. The responsibility we have for future generations is why so many work to reduce the risks from climate change and environmental destruction.

But in other ways, we pay only little attention to future risks. In the same way that we work to reduce the risks from climate change, we should pay attention to a wider range of potentially even larger risks and reduce them.

I am definitely frightened of these catastrophic and existential risks.13 In addition to nuclear weapons, there are two other major risks that worry me greatly: pandemics, especially from engineered pathogens, and artificial intelligence technology. These technologies could lead to large catastrophes, either by someone using them as weapons or even unintentionally as a consequence of accidents.14

We dont have to think about people who live billions of years in the future to see our responsibilities.The majorityof todays children can expect to see the next century. Some of our grandchildren might live long enough to see the 23rd century. A catastrophe in the next decades would be horrific for people very close to us.

The focus of this text is the long-term future, but this shouldnt give the impression that the risks we are facing are confined to the future. Several large risks that could lead to unprecedented disasters are already with us now. The use of the nuclear weapons that exist at this moment would kill millions immediately andbillionsin the nuclear winter that follows (seemy poston nuclear weapons). Not enough people have registered how the situation we are in has changed. AI capabilities and biotechnology have developed rapidly and are no longer science fiction; they are posing risks to those of us who are alive today.15

Similarly, this text focuses mostly on the loss of human lives, but there would be other losses too: nuclear war would devastate nature and the worlds wildlife; existential catastrophes would destroy our culture and our civilization.

The point is that even if we only consider the impact of these risks on the present generation and only consider the potential loss of lives, theyre among the most pressing issues of our time. This ismuch morethe case if we consider their impact beyond mortality and their impact on future generations.

The reduction of existential risks is one of the most important tasks of our time, yet it is extremely neglected.

The current pandemic has made it clear how badly the world has neglected pandemic preparedness. This illustrates a more general point. By reducing the risk of the catastrophes which would endanger our entire futurefor example, the very worst possible pandemicswe would also reduce the risk of smaller, yet still terrible, disasters, such as Covid-19.

As a society, we spend only little attention, money, and effort on the risks that imperil our future. Few of us are longtermists. Only very few are even thinking about these risks, when in fact these are problems that should be central to our culture. The unprecedented power of todays technology requires unprecedented responsibility.

Technological development made the high living standards of our timepossible. I believe that a considerable share of the fruits of this growth should be spent on reducing the risks and negative consequences of particular technologies.

More researchers should be able to study these risks and how we can reduce them. I would love to see more artists who convey the importance of the vast future in their work. And crucially I think it needs competent political work. I imagine that one day countries will have ministries for the reduction of catastrophic and existential risks and some of the worlds most important institutions will be dedicated to the far-sighted work that protects humanity.

It will be too late to react once the worst has happened. This means we have to be proactive; we have to see the threats now.

The current situation in which these risks are hardly receiving any attention is frightening and depressing. But it is also a large opportunity. Because these risks are so very neglected, a career dedicated to the reduction of these risks is likely amongthe best opportunitiesthat you have if you want to make the world a better place.

So far Ive only spoken about the risks that we face. But our large future means that there are large opportunities too. Problems are solvable. This is for me the most important insight that I learned from writing Our World in Data over the last decade.

Compared to the vast future ahead, the two centuries shown in this next chart are only a brief episode of human history. But even in such a short period, we have made substantial progress against many large problems.

Given enough time we can end the horrors of today. Poverty is not inevitable;we canachieve a future where people are not suffering from scarcity. Diseases that are incurable today might be curable in just a few generations; we already have an amazing track record inimproving peoples health. And we can achieve a world in which westop damaging the environmentand achieve a future in which the worlds wildlifeflourishes.

Our children and grandchildren can continue the progress we are making, and they may create art and build a society more beautiful than we can even imagine.

The point of this text was to see that the future is big. If we keep each other safe, the huge majority of humans who will ever live will live in the future.

And this requires us to be more careful and considerate than we currently are. Just as we look back on the heroes who achieved what we enjoy today, those who come after us will remember what we did for them. We will be the ancestors of a very large number of people. Lets make sure we are good ancestors.

For this, we need to take the risks we are facing more seriously. The risks we are already facing are high. Giving this reality the attention it deserves is the first step, and only very few have taken it. The next step will be to identify what we can do to reduce these risks and then set about doing that.

Lets also see the opportunity that we have. Those who came before us left us a much better world; we can do the same for the many who come after us.

This article was originally published onOur World in Dataand has been republished here under a Creative Commons license. Read theoriginal article.

Image Credit: Cdd20 /Pixabay

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Longtermism: The Future Is VastWhat Does This Mean for Our Own Life? - Singularity Hub

Secretary of State Frank LaRose is consolidating the work of various staff members into one public integrity division in the hopes of creating a more efficient investigation process into elections violations.

The announcement comes even though LaRose and other Ohio Secretaries of State of both parties have acknowledged that voter fraud is extremely rare.

A statement from the Secretary of States office said the division will be a collection of its current investigative work, such as the review of campaign finance reporting, voting system certification, voter registration integrity. It would also include the people who scrutinize documents for new businesses.

Being able to put all of these things under one roof is going to make it more efficient so that the same group of investigators can work on both of these and really have sort of a singularity of purpose and focus, LaRose said.

The division will eventually hire one or two, full-time investigators, after the 2022 election. LaRose's office said that will be funded by their existing budget.

In February, after completing its review of the 2020 election in Ohio, LaRoses office referred just 62 cases of potential fraud to investigators.

Of those cases, 27 involve non-U.S. citizens who allegedly cast a ballot in the 2020 General Election. Thats 27 potential cases of voter fraud out of more than 5.9 million votes cast, or 0.0005%.

LaRose said the public integrity division is still important even though voter fraud is exceedingly rare.

He said, The way that you keep crime rare is by making sure that it's efficiently and thoroughly investigated, and that when people violate the law, they face consequences for it.

LaRose is running for re-election against Democratic candidate Chelsea Clark and independent candidate Terpsehore Maras, a podcaster who supports former president Donald Trump and has made the false claim that the 2020 presidential election was rigged.

LaRose has been criticized for the new division being announced so close to the election.

Matt Keyes, communications director for the Ohio Democratic Party, said LaRose is playing politics with the creation of the new division and noted that because voter fraud is so rare the division is a waste of money.

Voter fraud is rare, not only in Ohio, but across the country. Americans are more likely to be struck by lightning than commit voter fraud. So, it's not like Frank LaRose is doing something special or his vigilance is keeping voter fraud rare. It's just not a problem in Ohio or across the country, said Keyes.

LaRose has been endorsed by Trump, who has continued to support the big lie that the 2020 presidential election was rigged. Keyes also criticized LaRose for campaigning with other Ohio Republican candidates that purport the false allegation that the election was stolen.

So, when you have elected officials in positions of authority spreading election lies, that's going to trickle down to the voters. And ultimately, I hold politicians like Frank LaRose responsible for that, said Keyes.

LaRose said he has been critical of any leader who questions the results of an election without proof.

I have been clear that it is not responsible when Republicans or Democrats claim that an election was fraudulent and don't have the facts, said LaRose.

The public integrity division will launch on October 10, one day before the deadline to register to vote in Ohio, October 11. New investigators would be hired after the 2022 election.

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Ohio creates elections integrity office while voter fraud is already 'exceedingly rare' - ideastream

Elon Musk is alone against all.

The world's richest man has been the target of criticism since October 4 in Western democracies, which are united in their condemnation of Russia following its unprovoked invasion of Ukraine on February 24.

The war that has since followed has been unanimously criticized by NATO, which has provided crucial military and logistical aid to Kyiv since the start of the conflict.

For the countries of the West, to end the war, which has already caused thousands of deaths and the displacement of millions of others, Russia, the aggressor, must withdraw from Ukraine.

But Musk has just disrupted that consensus by proposing a peace plan perceived as pro-Russian. The CEO of Tesla proposed that Ukraine recognize that its region of Crimea, annexed in 2014 by Russia, is Russian territory and that Kyiv renounce its plans to become a member of NATO and the European Union.

Unsurprisingly, the plan was massively rejected by the Ukrainian authorities and the Ukrainians who see it as a request to capitulate. This is also the opinion in political circles in the West.

"Suggesting we end the Russian invasion by simply giving Russia parts of Ukraine - after all the suffering - is dumb," lambasted US senator Lindsey Graham on Twitter on October 5. "It is also an affront to the bravery of the Ukrainians fighting to defend their homeland."

After this intense criticism, Graham gave a lesson in history and diplomacy to Musk.

"It was an agreement signed by Russia that included protecting Crimea and the Donbas as part of Ukraine. If you want peace in Ukraine which we ALL do simply demand Russian honor the boundaries they agreed to in 1994 and withdraw their forces," Graham added.

He continued: "To do otherwise is to legitimize a bait and switch by Russia and a signal to other bad actors to take what you want - by force! If Elon Musk and others want the world to continue to be in chaos, then by all means capitulate to Putin and reward his aggression."

But the billionaire is not one of the CEOs who do not respond to attacks. The Musk brand is based on singularity and attacking regardless of the strength and power of the opponent. Musk strikes blow for blow and he has just proven it again by answering Graham point by point.

"Assuming you believe that the will of the people matters, we should, in any given conflict region, support the will of those who live there," the tycoon responded. "Most of Ukraine unequivocally wants to be part of Ukraine, but some eastern portions have Russian majorities and prefer Russia."

He then accompanied his remarks with an electoral map of Ukraine from 2012 - before the annexation of Crimea by Russia - whose aim was to show that there are regions of the country which are pro-Russian.

"Obviously, not everyone who voted for the pro-Russia party wanted to join Russia, but it would also be inaccurate to say that none did," the billionaire added.

This post caused supporters of Ukraine and Russia to accuse each other of bad behavior since 2012. To which Musk replied: "There are no angels in war."

But all these explanations do not calm the critics who continue to corner him.

"The@elonmusk situation is clearly getting out of hand, and it seems like pride and vanity play a behemoth role in his attempt to pose as an expert on #Ukraine.Just stop, Elon. It's ok to admit that you overdid smth. Just stop," asked the Kyiv Post, which describes itself as the top international source of English-language news about Ukraine since 1995.

This last message led Musk to explain that his position was motivated by the fear of a world war, a fear which he had already exposed the day before by saying that the Russia-Ukraine conflict could escalate into an all-out war with enormous consequences not only for Ukraine but also for the world.

"Im a big fan of Ukraine, but not of WW3," Musk said on Oct. 6.

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Elon Musk Warns of World War III - TheStreet

Picking up lead from the previous issue, the question that arises: how comes the Devatas, the individually evolved ones had to face the humiliation at the hands of evil forces? Evidently, there had to be something wrong with them, which brought them to such a pass. Possibly, overtaken by their egotistic sense of being superior ones; they mistook themselves to be unassailable. And they were so engrossed in their individualistic pursuits that impending danger eluded their attention. Also, they did not care to remain true to their collective obligations. The inevitable had to happen. It implies that just being placed on a high pedestal, would not suffice ensuring ones own well-being, unless the collective existence is well secured.

It is important to note that individual energies provided by the Devatas, when put together, turned into a mighty force, which is personified as Durga, that tamed the demons. The obvious implication is that only when we put in all acts together, both individually and collectively, that we could be at our best. Second, life does not necessarily move to our asking. We need to be well geared up to take on impending challenges if any, to ensure individualistic as well as collective well-being.

Even otherwise, we are to necessarily contend with disparate people all around, quite good in number, some of them even acting weird. Our plane of living, therefore, remains a fertile ground for arousal of conflicting interests. We, therefore, need to be prepared to take on danger inherent in the existential order itself. So, no matter how virtuous a person individually is, unless he remains live to existential needs, life may turn into a nightmare, both individually and collectively. Therefore, the callings of life need to be attended holistically. The Devatas would have been caught unawares during one of their unguarded moments, which led to their humiliating defeat at the hands of the evil-forces.

The legend pertaining to the making of the Mother does also hint on evolution and devolution of nature driven energies from a singularity to multiple chains, and then back to the primal-source - which drives through the world process. In a related sense, it may be quite fair to reason out that the Mother contains in Her, the essence of all forces in operation in the universe, which is why when they all joined, She could make her appearance. She, therefore, symbolises convergence of all nature driven energies, vital to our existence. It is in this spirit that She is named Durga, which in linguistic terms means something ordinarily unassailable. Out of that primal source has evolved a complex chain of creative forces, each personified as a Devata specific. And, which following an intelligent design laid down by nature, creates, sustains, and recycles the manifest dynamic world. And, with time, having exhausted their sustainable limit, these forces, and thereby the world, may revert to the primal source. Out of the seeds of life that these forces carry back, a fresh creation chain may get excited. Thus, goes on a continued chain of evolution and devolution with no beginning or end in final sense.

Now, why the form of a Mother, and not a male or just a feminine presence? Ancient Indias learned masters, seeing truths from human perspective, had very well understood double propensity inherent in all empowerment tools, be they physical, material, or intellectual. Accordingly, they felt the need to educate all and sundry on how to judiciously use Shakti, in the larger interest of the individual self, humanity as a whole and overall existential needs. As we are aware, a mother uses her Shakti and all resources available, to bear, produce, and nurse her child, till they qualify to manage on their own. She bears with all the pains in the process, yet she rejoices for what she has brought up. And, in her true motherly spirit, it remains a selfless exercise on her part, as she does not expect anything in return thereof at least in immediate terms. There can be, therefore, no better simile than that of a mother, which may be suggestive of judicious and selfless application of Shakti.

Let us now have a look at wholesome form in which the Mother Goddess is popularly visualised. Mounted on a Lion, She is usually perceived having 10 hands. In 8, She is shown holding different weapons, each offered by one or the other Devata. In remaining two, She is shown with a conch shell (Blowing instrument) in one and Lotus flower in the other.

Continued

The writer is an astrologer, vastu consultant

and spiritual counsellor. Connect with him at

Tel: 91-11-9818037273/9871037272

Email: bharatbhushanpadmadeo@gmail.com

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Durga reminds us of our collective obligations - Daily Pioneer

Instagram was the first form of social media that I ever had. My first posts consisting of throw-back-Thursdays and screenshots of Will Ferrell tweets serve as a time capsule for how its function and purpose has shifted over time. The days of throwbacks and selfie-Saturdays were overtaken by photo dumps and birthdays posts. And now more than ever, Reels and other video content has been given priority by Instagrams algorithm.

While this might seem like a natural progression from pictures to video that reflects a shift in the type of content users prefer to engage with, many Instagram users are holding on to the original Instagram format to maintain their ability to share photos in a way that other platforms do not. Particularly, small artists and creators whose work is best portrayed in photos are struggling to continue to drive engagement and make the shift to video.

The New York Times captures the experience of comic illustrator Mx. Lee who owes their success in illustrating published work to Instagram yet fears that a shift in the algorithm may limit future success. They explain that artists whose work relies on still images arent seeing as much engagement as they used to, and many are giving up on Instagram for other platforms like VSCO, LinkedIn and Twitter.

Mx. Lee also shares that the profitability from shifting to video content to reach more users is almost non-existent. The article even shares illustrators and artists who have tried to animate their otherwise still work to appeal to the algorithm.

In an effort to compete with other platforms, Instagram has directed users towards more video content in a once photo-driven space, leaving artists who dont conform at risk of losing their social media communities in a sea of algorithmically-recommended creators whose content do match the mold that Instagram has set. An algorithm should not have a say in the type of content we push out and it should not force people to compromise their creative agency for views, likes, and exposure.

I disagree with the decision to compete with other platforms by mimicking their content and features. I use Instagram to look at photos and short-form content that allow me to keep up with the lives of my friends and family. I go to TikTok for vine-like videos and slightly longer-form content. I go to Snapchat to keep up with my friends Stories and BeReal to share a small snapshot of my day.

Each platform has a different purpose and that is what keeps people engaged and coming back to a specific platform. If every platform had all of the same functions, then whos to say people wont just choose one and ditch the rest? And this is not the first time that social media has come under fire for copying other platforms. TikTok has added a new Now section that holds the exact same functions as BeReal. The Stories component on Instagram closely resembles that of Snapchat.

These decisions are a way to compete with each other, but they also come with drawbacks: the quality of these platforms is threatened by replacing their singularity and losing whole communities whose content is being hidden from the algorithm.

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Glitch in the algorithm - The Bucknellian