Cyberpunk 2077 Adds Developer QLOC to Team, Will Support in Development and QA – DualShockers

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January 30, 2020 3:27 PM EST

Cyberpunk 2077 has been in the hotseat recently, first with announcement that the titles release has been pushed back to September and then the reveal that the developers will continue to experience studio crunch to ensure the games release. So the news that QLOCwill be working with CD Projekt Red on Cyberpunk 2077s development and testing is a positive sign to say the least:

QLOC is a team that focuses on co-dev, porting, remastering, quality assurance, and localization. Last year alone they worked on Tales of Vesperia: Definitive Edition for PC, PS4, Xbox One, and Nintendo Switch, did QA testing for Metro Exodus, worked on Nintendo Switch ports of Hellblade: Senuas Sacrifice followed by Dragons Dogma: Dark Arisen and the PC port of Mortal Kombat 11. They also finished the PC port of Yakuza Kiwami 2 earlier in 2019. Needless to say QLOC is a very experienced company with a lot of talent, so their contribution to Cyberpunk 2077 is sure to be a fantastic one.

Concerning the delay of the game itself, once the rumors started circulating about the causes Cory Barlog, Creative Director at SIE Santa Monica Studio and known for his work on the God of War series, spoke up in a multi-tweet thread about delays caused by optimization. EVERY game runs badly until you optimize for the hardware in the final push before gold. GAMES ARE VERY UGLY, FOR A LONG TIME, UNTIL THEY ARE NOT. Traditionally, that is right near the end. This is due to the absolutely fucking bananas level of complexity and moving pieces required to make any game today. Philipp Weber, a Senior Quest Designer at CD Projekt Red, later confirmed that to be the case.

Some of the other developers had already taken to Twitter to assure fans that the delay would be worth it. Senior level designer Miles Tost said that while fans might be let down by the delay, explained that it will be worth it in the end for sure and thanked fans for their support. Likewise, CD Projekt Red QA lead ukasz Babiel said on behalf of the studio that well deliver, dont worry.

The delay also had consequences on the release of its multiplayer mode: Given the expected release of Cyberpunk 2077 in September, and speaking of a series of events we expect to occur after that date, 2021 appears unlikely as a release date for the Cyberpunk multiplayer, stated Michal Nowakowski, CD Projekt Reds SVP of Business Development and Member of the Board.

Cyberpunk 2077 launches on September 17th, 2020 on PS4, Xbox One, PC, and Google Stadia. The game is available for preorder on Amazon now. Check out our timeline of what we know about the game so far.

This post contains affiliate links where DualShockers gets a small commission on sales. Any and all support helps keep DualShockers as a standalone, independent platform for less-mainstream opinions and news coverage.

January 30, 2020 3:27 PM EST

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Cyberpunk 2077 Adds Developer QLOC to Team, Will Support in Development and QA - DualShockers

Why has Cyberpunk 2077 been delayed and what is the new release date? – Metro.co.uk

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Youre going to have to wait a while longer to play Cyberpunk 2077 (Picture: CD Projekt)

Its one of the most anticipated games of 2020 but now it seems well all have to wait a little longer to get our hands on Cyberpunk 2077.

CD Projekts follow-up to The Witcher 3 had been due to hit consoles in the spring but has followed in the footsteps of Final Fantasy 7 Remake and Marvels Avengersin having its release date delayed.

So just what is going on, whys it been put back and when will the game actually be released?

Heres what you need to know

CD Projekt broke the news of the delay last week in a statement on Twitter saying that the release date had been put back to allow them more time to work on the game.

We are currently at a stage where the game is complete and playable, but theres still work to be done, they said.

Night City is massive full of stories, content and places to visit, but due to the sheer scale and complexity of it all, we need more time to finish playtesting, fixing and polishing.

We want Cyberpunk 2077 to be our crowning achievement for this generation and postponing launch will give us the precious months we need to make the game perfect.

Expect more updates on progress as we get closer to the new release date, they added.

Were really looking forward to seeing you in Night City, thank you for your ongoing support!

The game had originally been scheduled to drop on 16 April.

However it wont be released now until 17 September.

While the company has made clear that it needs more time to polish the game prior to release, speculation over the delay has emerged from other sources with one suggesting the makers are having trouble getting the game to run on current gen consoles.

The insider, named Borys Niespielak, claimed on a recent podcast (in Polish) that the Xbox One is proving particularly problematic and current performance is extremely unsatisfactory.

Translations of the podcast on Discord, via altchar.com, suggest that the main storyline of the game was finished three months ago but that the side missions are still being worked on.

MORE: Cyberpunk 2077 on PS5 and Project Scarlett doable but not next year

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Why has Cyberpunk 2077 been delayed and what is the new release date? - Metro.co.uk

Cyberpunk 2077 Previously Undisclosed Content to be Shown This Week at Taipei Game Show – Wccftech

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New Cyberpunk 2077 details may be revealed later this week, as something new is going to be shown at the Taipei Game Show.

According to VG247, previously undisclosed content from Cyberpunk 2077 is going to be shown during the event. This content is apparently going to be premiered to a select audience, so it definitely sounds like it is going to be some new footage that has not been shown before.

Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot January 31st Update to Further Reduce Load Times and More

Last week, it has been confirmed that QLOC is going to help CD Projekt Red for the development of Cyberpunk 2077. The team worked on some high-profile ports and remasters such as Dark Souls Remastered and Tales of Vesperia Definitive Edition. CDPR also addressed the rumor that Cyberpunk 2077 has been delayed due to bad performance on current-gen base consoles.

Of course we're optimizing for the Xbox One, and for the PlayStation, and for the PC, because that's what you do in the last stretches of game development. While the game is made, lots of things are unoptimized, because they're all in flux, changing, and still not finished.

So simple answers like "They delayed the game because of X" might make for a good rumor, but don't hold a lot of truth. There's always many reasons. Among them, and I can speak for myself, simply fixing bugs, so the game is as polished as possible. No hidden agendas, just working on making the game better.

Cyberpunk 2077 was supposed to be released in April, but it has been delayed earlier this month, as the development team needs more time for polish.

We are currently at a stage where the game is complete and playable, but there's still work to be done. Night City is massive full of stories, content and places to visit, but due to the sheer scale and complexity of it all, we need more time to finish playtesting, fixing and polishing. We want Cyberpunk 2077 to be our crowning achievement for this generation and postponing launch will give us the precious months we need to make the game perfect.

Cyberpunk 2077 releases on PC, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One on September 17th.

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Cyberpunk 2077 Previously Undisclosed Content to be Shown This Week at Taipei Game Show - Wccftech

We Went Inside The Cyberpunk 2077/The Witcher Game Studio And It Did Not Disappoint – Press Start Australia

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After attending a preview event for Square Enixs upcoming co-op shooter, Outriders (which well have a bunch of coverage out for soon), we were treated to a studio tour of CD Projekt Red, the studio behind the upcoming Cyberpunk 2077 and The Witcher franchise.

Upon entering their offices, you can find the Collectors Edition statues for both The Witcher III and Cyberpunk 2077 (in huge forms). The Cyberpunk 2077 statue is incredibly detailed and entirely 3D printed. Interestingly enough, if youre lucky enough and happen to be in Poland, you can head into their offices and see these for yourself.

As we walked through the studio, each boardroom is themed from a part of CD Projekt Reds history. So for instance, you have a Cyberpunk themed one (which you can see below), theres a Gwent one, one for The Witcher and an insane archive room where theyve got all of the board game equivalents and collectives for the games that they have created.

Theres magazine walls for each of their games, so youve got walls dedicated to The Witcher 1 and 2 (including the Playboy cover, where the first time a CGI character was an official playmate), The Witcher 3 magazine wall and a Cyberpunk magazine wall.

The toilets have Yen and Geralt signage, which was cool to see (and a nice touch to their most popular characters) and theres GOG and The Witcher art work all over the wall.

We got a brief look at the Cyberpunk development area, but this was restricted due to the recent delay, but there were neon signs and cool Cyberpunk areas, which is what youd expect. What is immensely evident, is just how much these studios care about the game worlds that they have created. The little details that youll find in their games are littered throughout the office.

Enjoy some of the 50+ photos that we took below. It doesnt quite deliver the feeling of being inside one of the most popular studios, but hopefully theres a few little cool tidbits that you can take from it.

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We Went Inside The Cyberpunk 2077/The Witcher Game Studio And It Did Not Disappoint - Press Start Australia

Cyberpunk dungeon crawler Conglomerate 451 to leave Early Access this February – Flickering Myth

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1C Entertainment and developer RuneHeads have announced that their cyberpunk dungeon crawlerConglomerate 451will be leaving Steam Early Access on 20th February. Having received multiple updates during the early access phase, this first person dungeon crawling adventure will launch with lots of new features, including new enemies, areas, bosses, roguelike features and more

Conglomerate 451puts players in the role of the CEO of a special agency that has been tasked with cleaning up sector 451 of Conglomerate city, a district of the city that has become the playground for corrupt corporations. Thanks to a recently signed constitutional decree, players will have access to all manner of advanced technology including cloning, cybernetic implants, DNA manipulation and more.

With Roguelike elements that add weight to the smallest decisions, players will need to make effective use of agents, hacking techniques and high tech tools developed by the R&D department.

The game features:

Conglomerate 451will leave Steam Early Access on 20th February.

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10 Cyberpunk Games to Play While You Cope With the Cyberpunk 2077 Delay – Twinfinite

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Observer

Observer is one of those uniquely cyberpunk ideas, letting you play as a detective that can hack into peoples brain implants and see their memories and thoughts.

Its not often that you see cyberpunk games combined with psychological horror, but the team behind Layers of Fear does it well in Observer.

The entire game is played from a first-person perspective, and it revolves around investigation and interrogation mechanics, as per the detective theme.

2084 Krakow, Poland is a fascinating place to experience in Observer, and if you love cyberpunk themes and aesthetics, boy youll find a lot to love here.

Deus Ex is still the quintessential cyberpunk game, a throne that Cyberpunk 2077 may challenge upon its release. While you could certainly go back and play the original game which is a classic, youll have an easier time jumping into Human Revolution and its sequel, Mankind Divided.

Needing no prior knowledge of the series, Human Revolution tells the story of Adam Jensen, the head security officer for Sarif Industries, the worlds leading producer of augmentation.

Like its predecessors, Human Revolution provides a fantastic amount of freedom in its gameplay, and how you approach each and every situation, whether its through stealth, hacking, or straight up shooting.

Theres an abundantly interesting world and set of characters to explore, and Human Revolution comes packed with heavy cyberpunk themes; transhumanism, secret society conspiracies, a world ruled by corporations, and more.

Va11- Hall-A is one of the most unique experience you can find in the cyberpunk genre, and its description is just like it sounds, mixing bartending action with a visual novel.

You play as a bartender at the dive bar VA11-HALL-A, and the bulk of the action has you mixing drinks for customers while they tell you their problems of living in a cyberpunk dystopia.

The most interesting part, however, is that the story can change depending on which drinks you serve patrons, and how you respond to them.

An engrossing narrative and quirky cast of characters help keep things surging along.

Ironically, despite its name, Remember Me hasnt been remembered as more than a flawed cult classic, but its a fascinating cyberpunk title.

Developed by Dontnod, the creators of Life is Strange, Remember Me takes place in 2084 Neo-Paris. A company called Sensen has created a technology that allows users to upload their memories to the net, and even remove memories they dont want.

Story is the most interesting part of Remember Me, and its a unique take on the dystopic cyberpunk future, told through the lens of a strong protagonist named Nilin.

In terms of gameplay, Remember Me is a pretty typical platformer and melee brawler with Arkham-esque combat.

Adventure games are the perfect fit for exploring cyberpunk worlds, and you cant get much more engrossing of a world than in Red Strings Club. In the games world a corporation called Supercontinent Ltd. is at the forefront of giving humans enhancements through implants.

You follow three characters, an enhanced freelance hacker named Brandeis, the implantless owner of the Red Strings Club named Donovan, and an android formerly owned by Supercontinent named Akara-184.

These threes paths cross when they try to stop Supercontinent from releasing Social Psyche Welfare, a program designed to eliminate negative emotions like sadness and anger from all implanted humans.

Interestingly, Red Strings Club actually has unique gameplay for each character. As Donovan you mix drinks for customers, trying to probe them for information in the process. Akara creates implants via a pottery wheel-like device to insert into subjects, and Brandeis uses stealth to sneak into Supercontinent headquarters.

Some seriously dark themes and a gorgeous pixel art style help make this one of the more unique cyberpunk games out there.

Shadowrun is one of the forerunners of both strategy and cyberpunk games, and 2014s Shadowrun Returns brought the franchise back in a big way.

A deep character customization system lets you create your own cyberpunk hero to drop into the world of Shadowrun. The long-running series combined cyberpunk with elements of fantasy, with a cyberpunk world inhabited by races like humans, elves, dwarves, orcs, trolls, and more.

The futuristic fantasy setting makes Shadowrun Returns much different from the bulk of cyberpunk content out there, and the isometric turn-based strategy harkens back to the best days of Shadowrun and XCOM.

There have been a number of Souls-likes over the years, but the Surge and The Surge 2 are some of the best weve seen. Both games take place in a world where humanity has exhausted natural resources, leading to a strained society and diseases that drive humanity to the brink of extinction.

Augmentations and enhancements are a huge part of both the story and gameplay. The Surge 2 has a unique dismemberment system that lets you collect weapons or enhancements from body parts that you cut off of enemies.

Challenge is, of course, central to the experience, and The Surge 2 lives up to the Souls-like name, giving you a ton of options for equipment, weapons, and playstyle.

The Surge 2 drastically improves upon the setting of the first game, with a full-fledged city to explore. So if youre looking for an ultra-challenging cyberpunk experience, the Surge games are for you.

Katana Zeros precise, methodical gameplay is an absolute joy to experience. Each level has you navigating a 2D side-scrolling environment, with nothing but your katana to use. Theres no health and each blow is a one-hit kill, but you have plenty of tools at your disposal, like the ability to block bullets with your sword, slow down time, and dodge projectiles.

The game takes place in a dystopic future, set in New Mecca. The story chronicles the experiences of Subject Zero, an assassin enhanced with a drug called Chronos, letting him predict the future and slow time.

The narrative is full of conspiracies, and its insanely stylish in its presentation.

Far Cry: Blood Dragon feels like a fever dream you had one night after playing too much Far Cry 3. The neon-splashed shooter is basically a parody of 1980s films and video games, putting you in the shoes of a military cyborg named Rex Power Colt.

Blood Dragon takes place in a dystopic version of 2007, where you have to stop a rogue colonel named Sloan from reverting the planet back to a prehistoric state.

Everything about Blood Dragon is tongue-in-cheek, from the ridiculous weapons and shooting, to the cheesy one-lines and gruff cyborg soldiers.

Its a fairly linear experience, but a neo-futuristic one that you definitely wont regret playing.

Transistor comes from the talented team at Supergiant Games, makers of Bastion and Pyre. Just like their other titles, Transistor combines gorgeous art with phenomenal storytelling to make for a highly emotional experience.

An isometric action-RPG, Transistor takes place in the futuristic city of Cloudbank, where you play as a famous singer named Red. A failed assassination attempt on her by a mysterious group named Camerata, leads Red to discover a sword called the Transistor. Buried in the chest of a man, the Transistor has taken his consciousness as well as Reds voice.

A fantastic soundtrack by Darren Korb is essential to every aspect of the game, and its story unravels in subtle ways that you dont usually see.

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10 Cyberpunk Games to Play While You Cope With the Cyberpunk 2077 Delay - Twinfinite

Satiate Your Cyberpunk 2077 Hype With 7th Sector, Coming February 5th – Pure PlayStation

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With Cyberpunk 2077 delayed until September 17th, 2020s first half seems severely lacking in dystopian sci-fi. Thankfully, 7th Sector, a mysterious cyberpunk puzzle game from one-man developer Sergey Noskov, seems set to fill that void when it comes to PS4 on February 5th.

7th Sector has you piecing together a dark, branching narrative as you control several different characters, all with their own distinct abilities. With unique puzzles, an ominous atmosphere and an immersive soundtrack by Nobodys Nail Machine, 7th Sector looks like the ideal antidote for your Cyberpunk 2077 woes.

7th Sector releases for PlayStation 4 on February 5th. Check out the games trailer above.

To keep up to date with all of our latest news and reviews, follow us on Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube. Thanks, you sexy beast.

We sometimes link to online retail stores. If you buy something from our links, we may make a small commission which goes towards keeping the lights on and coffee in the pot.

Max is a lover of games, fine whisky and dogs with soft faces. Often seeking out games Chris dubs artsy sh*t, some say Max has a refined taste, while others simply consider him pretentious. Wherever you stand on the matter, he undeniably writes words. His other hobbies including leading a cult, touching dogs faces and telling everyone he is vegan.

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Satiate Your Cyberpunk 2077 Hype With 7th Sector, Coming February 5th - Pure PlayStation

Fans might need to wait a little longer for Cyberpunk 2077. Will the delay be worth it?? – Gizmo Posts 24

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Cyberpunk 2077 is an upcoming role-playing game to be released this year. It is developed and published by CD Projekt. The date of the game release is just getting delayed as there is still work to do on the game. It is an adaptation from the Cyberpunk franchise, and the game takes place in dystopian Night City, which is an open world with a total of 6 distinct religions.

The game also has Keanu Reeves as a special role and even of Elon Musks Cybertruck.

The players will be able to play the game from a first-person perspective that sometimes switches to third person depending on situations with abilities of machinery and hacking. They will also have a lot of range of weapons and an option for melee combat if needed.

Cyberpunk 2077 is developed by using the REDengine 4 game engine. About 500 members are involved in the making of the game. This number of staff members were also not involved in making the companies previous game The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt. The game also broke the record set by The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt for the most number of pre-booking of the game.

There is a lot of shooting in the Cyberpunk 2077 with lots of customizable guns like street-modified Tech Shotgun and a sniper rifle whose bullet follows the enemy. The fights will be fast-paced and chaotic, but not that aggressive.

You can also customize your character from the skin to the tattoo to hairstyle or clothing. Almost everything can be customized.

The game can further be delayed because the latest test on the console was not good. It could delay up to 2021, but nothing is sure now.

Here is the reasons for the delay, check it out the views.. !!!!

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Fans might need to wait a little longer for Cyberpunk 2077. Will the delay be worth it?? - Gizmo Posts 24

The Last of Us 2, Cyberpunk, and More Confirmed for Taipei Game Show – GameRant

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Taipei Game Show is right around the corner, and with it comes news and brand new previews of the most anticipated games of the year. A number of huge names in the industry are expected to show up to the four day exhibition, including Sony, who won't be appearing at E3 this year.

For those unfamiliar with TGS (not to be confused with Tokyo Game Show), the event is a four day showcase of upcoming games and gaming tech. Starting in 2003, the show has attracted developers from around the world to Taipei, Taiwan, however, this year seems to be boasting some of the most impressive sets from the past few years.

RELATED: Final Fantasy 7 Remake Players At Risk of Losing Their Pre-Orders

Among the highly anticipated titles coming to TGS, Sony's displays, including Last of Us 2, Final Fantasy 7 Remake, and Nioh 2, are among the most notable. However, CD Projekt Red may trump the tech giant with a new look at the recently delayed Cyberpunk 2077, giving players a never before seen look at the game. Similarly, Sega seems to also be planning to dominate the show with 10 new games, including Yakuza 7, the latest title in one of the company's best selling franchises.

A number of the games announced to be showcased at TGS have faced delays and long development roads in the past, so their appearance at the show is at least a positive for players looking forward to releases like Last of Us 2 to be hitting shelves soon. In addition to the big names in the industry heading to Taipei for the show, a reported 233 indie developers will be arriving from all over the world to showcase the next wave of independent titles. With representation from at least 21 countries, TGS will be a true melting pot of game developers that will be sure to have a lasting impact on gaming in 2020.

As always, an exhibition like TGS is sure to have its surprises, and considering how the dates line up with certain PS5 rumors, February may be a month to remember for game reveals. Regardless of rumors and hearsay, there is still plenty going on at the show to get fans excited for, especially with some hopefully positive news coming for all of the recently delayed titles that will be making an appearance. The show begins on February 6th and goes until February 9th, so next week should prove to be a big week for game reveals.

Taipei Game Show is scheduled to run from February 6th to February 9th.

MORE: CD Projekt Red Says Cyberpunk 2077 Delay Was Not Because of PS4, Xbox Performance

Source: VG24/7

Xbox Series Leak Shows How Microsoft Could Top Sony's PS5

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The Last of Us 2, Cyberpunk, and More Confirmed for Taipei Game Show - GameRant

Lazr is a cyberpunk platformer with a free demo and a thing for cloth physics – PC Gamer

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Lazr is an explosive cyberpunk platformer where youthe titular freelancing android with laser eyeshave to shoot and leap your way through corporate offices and neon streets. For all your futuristic tricks, however, you're a lo-fi gal at heart, and one of Lazr's most notable features is its cloth physics.

Sure, Lazr's a walking weapon with preternatural speed, but sometimes the most effective way to infiltrate a megacorp is just by climbing up a rope. Maybe that rope is also on fire. Indeed, the very first mission of the demo immediately tasks you with clambering up a burning rope ladder while assholes shoot lasers at you. It doesn't mess around.

Even at the best of times, my reflexes betray me, but on a Monday I'm even more useless than usual, so I confess I spent most of my time with Lazr dead and swearing. You've got to be nimble, dashing through closing doors and grabbing walls and ropes so you don't fall to your death, usually while avoiding a hail of lasers and bullets. Expect a lot of stopping and starting as you memorise the levels, but once you do Lazr has a compelling rhythm.

Lazr's shell is customisable, so you can upgrade your abilities and add skills like auto-fire and other handy tricks that make the bastard-hard levels a bit less crushing. More importantly, you can also get your hands on a holographic dog, which comes in a choice of colours. Maybe this dystopian future isn't so bad.

Creator Garrick Campsey made the prototype to test dynamic cloth simulation in a platformer, but now it's going to be a full game; though Campsey needs help from prospective Kickstarter backers to make that happen. Lazr's campaign is live now and is looking for $10,000.

"Lazr's original concept came from a challenge posed by a fellow programmer to add verlet (dynamic motion simulation) cloth simulations into a platformer," Campsey explains on the Kickstarter page. "A prototype was built, and it turned out to be so much fun, that a decision was made to turn it into a larger demo. A video recording of the demo went viral on Twitter, and a decision was made to make Lazr into a full fledged game. However, in order to achieve this goal, Lazr needs your support!"

The demo has been updated for the Kickstarter and now features 15 levels split into missions, challenges, training and social levels. There are a couple of boss fights, too, and 24 mods that you can stick on Lazr. You can grab it on Itch.io now. If you're playing on Windows and want to use an Xbox controller, grab the DX demo. If you want to play on Mac, Linux or use a Dualshock controller instead, you'll need to download the OpenGL version.

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Lazr is a cyberpunk platformer with a free demo and a thing for cloth physics - PC Gamer

7th Sector Review: Cyberpunk Puzzler Makes You Think Outside The Box – Screen Rant

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It's easy to say that 7th Sector won't appeal to all gamers, but for those who like to solve puzzles and discover the secrets of an abstract storyline, this title is a must-play. Revealing its secrets through gameplay, 7th Sector is a cyberpunk puzzle adventure that takes the idea of puzzle games into new territory.

Players begin their life inside 7th Sector as a shadowy figure on a television set. But somehow, this figure can morph into a tiny spark. Thisspark of energy must travel along a series of wires, triggering machines to open doors to allow it to continue its way forward. Eventually,the sparkcan take over machinery, including electronic balls to large robotic dog-like creatures that can shoot their way through enemies. There are however, no tutorials, and while traveling through the game, the player must solve a series of puzzles to keep moving on. The puzzles are as varied as the things that the spark can inhabit, and include easy jigsaw-like challenges to contrivances that will require the player to remember everything they learned in high school algebra.

Related:Lost Ember Review - A Breathtaking Journey Seen From The Eyes of Many

To say that these puzzles are often difficult is an understatement, but there's a real feeling of accomplishment when figuring them out and moving on to the next level. Forget about looking for walkthroughs, too, because many of these puzzles change with each playthrough. Each level of the game offers up details about the game's setting, a cyberpunk city of the future, while also telling an abstract story that at times feels a lot like The Matrix, particularly towards the end. How players make their way through each level, though, affects the outcome of the story. This, along with the changing puzzles, gives the game good replay value.

The only issue players might find with 7th Sector has to do with its controls. It's easy to move the spark from wire to wire, but once the spark is inhabiting something like a remote-controlled toy car, things get a little tricky. The controls work great in moving from left to right and vice versa, but when a player needs to move an object in three dimensions, the controls can make those efforts frustrating.

Where 7th Sector shines, though, is with its mood. There is no dialogue, only sound effects and music that set the scene. The graphics are gorgeous and lend themselves to the futuristic dystopia the player finds themselves in, and the visual style is nothing short of extraordinary. The feeling this game gives the player is akin to Limbo, another "simple" sidescrolling platform game that knew how to use atmosphere to evoke emotion. This is especially true when players fully realize the game's true story.

Again, though, 7th Sector isn't for everyone: this is a challenging puzzle game that can get frustrating at times. However, those up for the challenge will find their intellects stimulated by the unique puzzles, but also sucked in by the story the game ultimately wants to tell.

Next:Weakless Review - This Gorgeous & Complex Puzzler Is Far Too Short

7th Sectoris available for PC and will arrive on Nintendo Switch, Xbox One and PlayStation 4 on February 5, 2020. A digital copy of the PS4 game was provided to Screen Rant for the purposes of this review.

4 out of 5 (Excellent)

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Robin Burks is an entertainment and science/technology writer, as well as a published author, avid con-goer and costumer/cosplayer. She currently writes about pop culture and entertainment for ScreenRant.com, but has also written for TechTimes.com and DVICE.com.Robin is also the author of a series of speculative fiction novels: Zeus, Inc.; The Curse of Hekate; and Return of The Titans. In 2014, Indie Reader named the protagonist of that series, Alex Grosjean, as one of its Top Five Smart, Strong and Relatable Female Characters. The series was also inducted into the 2018 Darrell Awards Coger Hall of Fame in Memphis, TN. Since then, she has published her fourth novel, Madame Vampire, and is currently working on a series of young adult novels.Robin, who currently lives in Missouri with her five cats, loves all things French and has a serious obsession with Doctor Who. Visit Robin's website for more information on her fiction work or to contact her.

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USA vs Iran: Tehran’s ally list and FIRST point of attack exposed in terrifying prediction – Express.co.uk

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Fears of an all-out war have seemingly been silenced by both the US and Irans determination to find a peaceful resolution to the killing of Iranian General Qassem Soleimani. However, Iran international editor and presenter Sadeq Saba argued this could be short-lived. He told Express.co.uk in a massive conflict in the Middle East, Iran would likely strike the USAs allies in the region.

He said: I think if there is a serious war between Iran and the United States Iran may ask its allies in Lebanon to attack.

Iran itself may fire missiles against targets in the Gulf countries like Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and other countries.

This is because they cannot reach American soil.

But they can reach American bases in both countries.

DON'T MISS:WW3 shock: Who Russia and China will side with in US Middle East war

Iran has repeatedly said if America uses its bases from any country in the Persian Gulf area, Iran will see those countries as enemies.

And Iran will retaliate.

Mr Saba also explained who China and Russia would side with, in a major Middle Eastern conflict against the US.

The Iran expert said China would likely stay neutral in the conflict.

He noted Russia would be most likely to side with the West but may continue to arm Iran with weapons and technology.

However, Mr Saba explained Russia would not send Russian forces to support Iran or its allies in a major Middle Eastern conflict.

The Iran expert said: The way that history goes when it comes to the crunch is China usually remains neutral.

READ MORE:Iran on the brink: Ex-Trump aide exposes exactly why US[INSIGHT]World War 3: Missile strike kills eight pro-Iranian militia members[EXPLAINER]World War 3 outbreak: BBC expert stuns Newsnight in Iran crash claim[ANALYSIS]

Russia will vote with the West.

I remember when there was some kind of a resolution against Irans nuclear activities, Russia always voted with the West.

Yes, Iran is becoming more and more reliant on Russia for weapons and technology.

Although on the surface Russia is friendly with Iran, ideologically they are worlds apart.

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EU warning: How defence restrictions were imposed on UK despite WW3 threat – Express

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During the Seventies, as the Cold War raged, the UK boasted a huge nuclear arsenal of 520 strong warheads as a continuous deterrent to the Soviet Union and the rest of the world.But, since joining Euratom a treaty established by the EU's precursor, the EEC, in 1973 the UK has gradually reduced those numbers to 120, which arenow fielded solely by its Vanguard-class submarines under its maritime-only deterrence strategy, which house the Trident nuclear system.Euratom implements nuclear safeguards, including the United Nations' sponsored Nonproliferation Treaty (NPT) to reduced nuclear capabilities and safeguard nuclear activities inside Europe, reporting back to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) on their steps towards the complete removal of nuclear deterrence.

In accordance to the treaty,the UK decommissioned fissile material production facilities or converted them for peaceful use in 1995 and three years later dismantled thelast of its Nuclear Gravity Bombs at AWEAldermaston.

The UK has also decreased the number of warheads each Vanguard-class submarine can carry from 48 to 40,decreased the requirement for available warheads from 160 to 120, and decreased the number of operational missiles on each submarine to 8.

In addition, Downing Street hascommittedto reducing the country's nuclearweapons capabilities to 180 missiles by mid-2020.

Meanwhile,the UK provided significant financial support to EU security activities through its contribution to theBrusselsbudget, financing approximately 16 percent.

READ MORE:World War 3: How US came seconds from total annihilation after horrific nuclear mishap

It also provided personnel, expertise and equipment for EU missions, most notably maritime support to combat piracy off the Horn of Africa and to prevent smuggling in the Mediterranean.

The Ministry of Defences Permanent Joint Headquarters is the operational headquarters for some EU missions, including Operation Atalanta.

As of today, it is oneof only two member states possessing full-spectrum military capabilities, the last remaining nuclear deterrence and joined all other nuclear weapon-possessing states in boycotting the 2017 Nuclear Ban Treaty.

Euratom was established on March 25, 1957, with the original purpose of creating a specialist market for nuclear power in Europeby developing nuclear energy and distributing it to its member states while selling the surplus to non-member states.

It is legallydistinct from theEUbut has the samemembership, and is governed by many of thebloc's institutions.

It isthe only remaining community organisation that is independent of theblocand therefore outside the regulatory control of the European Parliament.

Europe's defence is not a competence of the EU, NATO is the overarching structure for international co-operation, yet theUK participates in EU security and defence initiatives through the Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP).

Withdrawal from Euratom will require changes in the UK approach to safeguards and in domestic provisions for providing IAEA information and access.

Some experts argue that the UK will need to renegotiate its voluntary access safeguards agreement and additional protocol with the IAEA, given that the Euratom measures are part of the UK arrangements with the agency.

Dame Sue Ion, Chair of the UK Nuclear Innovation and Research Advisory Board,told a House of Lords Select Committee in 2019that the UK will need to evolve other arrangements between the UK regulator and the IAEA.

She said that the Government will need new arrangements that pretty much mirror Euratom.

There is Government interest in remaining in Euratom, as leaving will see a stoppage of trade of nuclear isotopes, used in many diagnostics and treatment applications by the NHS.

Currently, these medical radioisotopes cannot be produced in the UK, and many of them have a shelf-life of only a few days.

Without replacement Nuclear Trade Agreements in place by the time of Brexit, access to these materials would be lost.

After Friday, the Office for Nuclear Regulation (ONR) will assume these responsibilities. ONR will require additional support, funding, staff, skills, tools and equipment in order to discharge these new duties.

An addition of approximately 4million will be required annually for this purpose.

However, it is very possible the UK will complete a separate deal with Euratom, becoming an "associated state" like Switzerland.

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EU warning: How defence restrictions were imposed on UK despite WW3 threat - Express

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Houston, we have a bake-off! We finally know what happens when you bake cookies in space – Space.com

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It turns out that, even in space, freshly baked chocolate-chip cookiessmell incredible.

Recently, a batch of chocolate chip cookies the first food ever baked in space returned to Earth aboard aSpaceX Dragon capsule (three of the five cookies, which were baked one at a time, were returned to Earth). The cookies started out from the DoubleTree by Hilton hotel chain as Earth-made dough, which launched to the International Space Station along with the Zero G oven (the first oven designed to work in space) on Nov. 2, 2019.

Now, following the cookies' return, we have the final results from this delicious experiment.

Related:Space Food Evolution: How Astronaut Chow Has Changed (Photos)

So, first things first, the astronauts aboard the space station were able to smell the second, third, fourth and fifth cookies they baked, a press representative said in an email statement (the first cookie turned out underbaked and didn't cook long enough to emit an aroma). In space, even without gravity, smells travel via individual aroma molecules. In the microgravity environment aboard the space station, these molecules travel in whatever direction they are moved. (On Earth, the aroma molecules move in all directions due to random collisions with air molecules.)

Now, smelling the chocolate-chip cookies on the space station, where astronauts can eat only "space foods," you might assume that the spacefliers wouldn't be able to resist sneaking a bite of a freshly baked cookie. However, "while the brand's chocolate chip cookies were likely fit for consumption after they were baked on the ISS, additional testing is required before any food can be considered officially 'edible,'" the representative told Space.com in an email.

"But don't worry," the representative added, "astronauts aboard the ISS enjoyed special pre-baked DoubleTree chocolate-chip cookies that were sent up on Nov. 2, 2019!"

Related:DoubleTree Offers Limited Edition 'Cookies in Space' Tin

Before the cookie dough headed to the space station, there was speculation about how the dough would bake in microgravity. Would it puff up and bake into a sphere? Would it look like a regular cookie? Would the cookie take longer to bake? Would it take less time?

On Earth, the average cookie made with this DoubleTree chocolate-chip cookie dough took 16-18 minutes to bake in a convection oven at 300 degrees Fahrenheit (150 degrees Celsius). The astronauts, who baked the first four cookies at 300 F and the fifth cookie at 325 F (165 C), were instructed to figure out exactly how long it would take to properly bake a cookie in space.

In baking the first cookie, they found that after 25 minutes it was underbaked. The second cookie only started to fill the station with its delicious aroma after a whopping 75 minutes in the oven.

The cookies that seemed to bake the best were the fourth and fifth cookies, which baked for 120 and 130 minutes, respectively, and were then left to cool outside the oven for 25 and 10 minutes, respectively.

So, were they spherical? Weird looking? Apparently not. The cookies looked just like cookies baked on Earth, according to a DoubleTree statement.

"Perfecting the baking process for our DoubleTree cookies took time, even on Earth, so we were excited to learn that our cookies appear to look and smell the same on the ISS as they do in our hotels," Shawn McAteer, the senior vice president and global head of DoubleTree by Hilton, said in the statement. "The innovation displayed throughout this experiment and emphasis on making long-duration space travel more hospitable underscores our ongoing commitment to ensuring guests always have a comfortable stay, wherever they may travel."

Want to see the cookies for yourself? First, the cookies will undergo more testing, informing our understanding of how food bakes in microgravity so that future crewed missions might be more comfortable, according to the statement.

Then, after testing, the cookies are to be preserved and put on display. One of the cookies has also been offered as a donation to the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum, where it is being considered for display in the collection.

Follow Chelsea Gohd on Twitter @chelsea_gohd. Follow us on Twitter @Spacedotcom and on Facebook.

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Houston, we have a bake-off! We finally know what happens when you bake cookies in space - Space.com

Vacation on Mars? NASA astronaut talks space travel at Bloomsburg University – NorthcentralPa.com

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Bloomsburg University of Pennsylvania will present a lecture about the challenges of human travel to Mars by Jim Pawelczyk, Ph.D. titled What Price a Martian? Human Limits to Exploring the Red Planet on Wednesday, February 19, at 6 p.m. in McCormick Center, room 2303. The special lecture is free and open to the public.

Pawelczyk, associate professor of physiology, kinesiology, and medicine at Penn State University and a former NASA astronaut, will explain current plans for human planetary exploration and highlight knowledge gaps and opportunities for human biologists to help reach the most audacious destination that humankind has ever contemplated, a trip to Mars.

A human trip to Martian orbit is expected to be possible in the late 2020s, followed by landing operations between 2030 and 2040. The 30-month mission would expose humans to reduced loading; heavy, high-energy, ionizing radiation; confinement; and environmental conditions far outside the Earths.

Pawelczyks current research focuses on blood pressure regulation and how disuse atrophy affects regulation. Problems with moment-to-moment regulation of blood pressure lead to orthostatic intolerance, an inability to maintain adequate blood flow to the brain that affects as many as 500,000 Americans. The condition is routinely observed following spaceflight, which Pawelczyk has studied as a NASA-funded investigator for the past six years.

In 1995, he was selected as a payload specialist for the Neurolab space shuttle mission and flew aboard STS-90 on the space shuttle Columbia in April and May of 1998. He logged 16 days and 6.4 million miles in space, circling the earth 256 times and conducting neuroscience.

Pawelczyk earned bachelors degrees in biology and psychology from the University of Rochester in 1982, a masters degree in physiology from Penn State University in 1985, and a doctoral degree in biology from the University of North Texas in 1989. In 1995, he joined the faculty at Penn State.

Pawelczyk assists the formation of U.S. space life sciences strategy. He has testified before the United States Senate Subcommittee on Science and Space and is an active member of the NASA Advisory Councils Research Subcommittee for Human Exploration, the National Research Councils Committee on Biological and Physical Sciences in Space, and the Institute of Medicines Committee on Aerospace Medicine and Extreme Environments.

Planning for the event is being done by the Department of Exercise Science and the lecture is sponsored by the Dean of the College of Science and Technology.

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Voyager 2 just missed a spin in interstellar space. But it should be fine, NASA says. – Space.com

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NASA's venerable Voyager 2 spacecraft is recovering from a glitch, but engineers are confident that the probe will be back to normal science operations soon, the agency said.

The issue began on Saturday (Jan. 25), when, mission scientists believe, the spacecraft failed to take a quick spin that it needed to make to calibrate an instrument. That meant that two power-hungry systems stayed on longer than usual. To cope with the sudden power shortage, the spacecraft automatically turned its science instruments off, according to a NASA statement.

NASA engineers are troubleshooting the problem, but it's slow going given Voyager 2's distance from Earth. With the probe 11.5 billion miles (18.5 billion kilometers) away, signals take 17 hours to travel one way and mission personnel must wait a total of 34 hours to see whether a command worked.

Related: Voyager 2 Went Interstellar the Same Day a Probe Touched the Sun

However, Voyager 2's engineers think they've coaxed the spacecraft into shutting down one of the power-sucking systems and rebooting its science instruments, although the probe is not yet gathering data again.

As the mission continues, power issues become ever-more serious for both Voyager probes, which launched in 1977. Each spacecraft carries a radioisotope thermoelectric generator as a power supply. But at more than 40 years old, those generators are steadily losing their oomph, leaving each spacecraft with a little less power.

In response to power reduction over the years, engineers on the Voyager team have turned off instruments and heaters that are less relevant to the mission's science goals, saving the spacecraft's resources for where they really count.

Both spacecraft are focused on studying the region just outside the heliopause, a sheath created by the solar wind of charged particles that constantly streams off the sun. Voyager 2 crossed that boundary in November 2018, joining its twin, which had done so in 2012.

NASA isn't sure how much longer the Voyager probes will be able to keep running, but scientists on the mission estimated in November 2019 that the spacecraft could lose power within about five years.

Email Meghan Bartels at mbartels@space.com or follow her @meghanbartels. Follow us on Twitter @Spacedotcom and on Facebook.

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Voyager 2 just missed a spin in interstellar space. But it should be fine, NASA says. - Space.com

From Cordless Vacuums to In-flight WiFi, These Innovations From NASA Changed Life on Earth – Travel+Leisure

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Thanks to NASAs quest to explore Mars, your car has better radials. Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company worked with NASA to develop a special fibrous material which was used on parachute shrouds to soft-land Viking space probes on the surface of Mars. The fibre contains a chain-like molecular structure which makes it five times stronger than steel without added weight. Goodyear realized that the increased strength and durability of this material would have useful applications on the road, and, in 1976, developed a new radial which lasted 10,000 miles longer than others. Viking was not the only collaboration between Goodyear and NASA.

In 2009, a dedicated team of Goodyear engineers and NASA researchers at the NASA John H. Glenn Research Center collaborated on the development of a new airless Spring Tire which uses 800 load bearing springs which provides improved traction on rocky surfaces and can bear weight in extreme temperatures without deflating, as pneumatic tires might. While originally developed to fit the needs of NASAs Lunar Electric rover, Goodyear also saw applications for off-road vehicles here on Earth.

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From Cordless Vacuums to In-flight WiFi, These Innovations From NASA Changed Life on Earth - Travel+Leisure

Soon women will also be from Mars: why space missions should address gender imbalance quickly – The National

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In the next 50 years, up to one million people could be living on Mars, Elon Musk claimed last month. Mr Musk is a technology entrepreneur who founded SpaceX in 2002 to revoluntionise space technology so that people can one day live on other planets. But he is not alone in suggesting that human beings will be able to form societies in space within our lifetimes. Takeshi Hakamada, the chief executive of Japanese firm iSpace a company that develops lunar robotic modules with the goal of mining the moon believes that by 2040, there will be a community of at least 1,000 people living and working on the moon.

Those kinds of numbers make you sit up and pay attention, especially when you realise that only 564 people have been to space thus far. And even more startling is the fact that only 65 of them have been women, a paltry 11.5 per cent. This gender imbalance is common wherever space is involved. For example, the majority of Nasa's employees are male 66 per cent and among those, women only hold 14 per cent of senior positions.

There are exceptions, of course. The UAE space programme is overseen by a woman Sarah Al Amiri, who is the Minister of State for Advanced Sciences and involves many notable women.

More countries should take note of the UAE's lead because, if we are going to have a realistic chance of creating societies on other planets, we need to bring more gender balance. And this needs to happen urgently.

This is not about ticking diversity check-boxes. Although we do need to get beyond the notion that it is all about giant leaps for mankind, this is a far more existential issue about how we structure healthy communities in the future.

It will not happen by accident. Human beings are not suddenly going to play fair in space. Sexism will not evaporate as we pass through the earths outer orbit. And the effects of patriarchy have every chance of survival in zero gravity. If anything, we are set to take all the mistakes we have made on earth with us. And in the rarefied, controlled circumstances of space they will be magnified.

The problem is, we have already started to inject sexism into our quest for multi-planetary living without even realising it.

So far, male bodies are the norm by which our planning for space has been conducted and female bodies the ab-norm, from spacesuit sizing, to the width between ladder rungs, to the size of hand drills and much more.

Take the case of the cooling system that helps reduce sweat inside a space suit. Men and women have different physiological patterns when it comes to perspiring. But the system is designed only for the way mens bodies work. Toilets, too, are designed for mens use. Womens bodies respond differently to space radiation but we have little data about its impact on fertility, hormonal cycles and reproduction.

Without womens involvement, these design errors dating as far back as the 1950s will only spread to other aspects of space travel planning.

Aside from hardware design, have we thought about the values and ideas we will need to ensure that we build healthy societies? In many ways, that is far more important for long-term survival. Yet it is treated as an after-thought if thought of at all.

Take the case of the First Lady Astronaut Trainees, a group of American women who trained to go to space in 1959 but whose missions were terminated before they got off the ground. The programme organiser, Dr William Randolph Lovelace, wanted women in space not for reasons of gender equality but because he felt male astronauts would need nurses and secretaries jobs traditionally held by women. This was despite the acknowledgement that sending typically smaller-bodied female astronauts made more sense because they would be a lighter load and consume less food. But they sent the men anyway.

There are also examples of of sexism at the workplace. Consider Judith Lapierre, a Canadian astronaut candidate who arrived at a simulation of the International Space Station in Moscow to enact a mission to Mars and see the effects of close proximity. There were four men and Ms Lapierre. In less than a month since the programme got under way, she was sexually assaulted by the captain. It was only 10 days later that leaders of the study took her safety seriously and agreed to install locks. Worse, she had been told not to complain about the assault as this would be considered taboo by the host country.

The fact is women are already facing the same problems in space missions as on earth, whether it is in stereotypes, inappropriate technology, or fundamental disregard of safety, well-being, physical and mental health. Unless we act urgently, it is all coming with us as we journey through the galaxy.

The book Men Are from Mars, Women Are from Venus, written by John Gray and published in 1992, captured people's imagination for, among other things, its title. The idea is that men and women are so different in many ways that, metaphorically speaking, they live on different planets. But we seem to have taken this title too literally by building our aspiration for space travel and extra-terrestrial human existence around male bodies, attitudes and privilege.

Very soon, however, women will also be from Mars. And if we do not address the biases that seem to have been injected into our space plans, it will not be just the women who suffer. It will lead to a failure of the project for multi-planetary living.

So as we cross the final frontier, let us ensure we take the opportunity to leave behind some of humankind's problematic attitudes, one of them being misogyny.

Shelina Janmohamed is the author of Love in a Headscarf and Generation M: Young Muslims Changing the World

Updated: January 30, 2020 06:53 PM

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Space tourism To Become A Reality In Spain’s Andalusia From 2021 – Euro Weekly News

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Space explorers: we have lift-off!

Ever since Californian businessman Dennis Tito paid Russia $20m to blast into orbit in 2001, wealthy thrillseekers have dreamt of hitching a ride to the great beyond. The wait may be getting shorter. And recreational human space travel from Spains Andalusia is on the horizon with space travel to be offered as of next year thanks to Zero 2 Infinity.

From Andalusia to Space, a Spanish company has launched its own Space tourism enterprise and will launch its stratosphere travel program in 2021.

Zero 2 Infinity proposes simplifying Access to Space as the company promotes on their website:

We are building a brighter future in which access to Space is frequent, affordable, secure and reliable for everyone.

From the public to the gurus of aerospace, most people still think that Space will remain the realm of a few superpowers, large defence contractors and the odd billionaire

but we wont settle for that. At Zero 2 Infinity we chose to carry the burden of proof that there is indeed a better way, one that allows you to realize your dreams in Space.

This kind of space travel will be made possible by three projected launch bases across the globe. One will be in Neom in Saudi Arabia, another in Baja California in Mexico and the third in Jan, Spain.

The Spanish base, in Jan, makes it clear that it intends to offer a more modest experience that will simultaneously be more environmentally friendly. Rather than a rocket, passengers will travel in a pressurised cabin or pod, propelled by a balloon fuelled by helium gas, and it will remain in Near Space which is higher than planes fly but below the altitude of satellites. The advantage of Zero 2 Infinitys excursions is that there is no carbon footprint.

The other advantage of these flights is that no preparation or astronaut gear is necessary.

The technology for Zero 2 Infinitys tourist space program has been developed by the companys founder and CEO, Jos Mariano Lpez-Urdiales, an aerospace engineer at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

At present, trips can only be booked directly with the company, though it is expected that soon bookings will be made available through travel agencies specializing in adventure tourism.

Cost aside, a space trip is not to everyones taste, while Zero 2 Infinitys excursions sound milder and safer than other space flights. The dangers are real, as are the discomforts.

Some of the space flights offered by other companies will take passengers into suborbital space: high enough to cross the lower boundary of space and get an experience of weightlessness. But as costs fall, the industry will get off the ground and its expected that by 2030 space tourism could be worth as much as $3bn a year.

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The Hayden Planetarium’s Worlds Beyond Earth is dazzling – Fast Company

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We were sailing past the rings of Saturn, the disc of rocks, ice, and moonlets that circle our second-largest neighborso naturally my whole body was rattling. It was only after the lights came up that I noticed the actual reason: metal boxes beneath each seat, designed to vibrate our butts in sync with the universe.

I was atWorlds Beyond Earth, the new show at the Hayden Planetariums Giant Sphere theater at New Yorks American Museum of Natural History. And the simulated sensation of spaceflight goes way beyond seat shakers. The museum now boasts what its president, Ellen J Futter, said last year is not only the most advanced planetarium on the planet but the most advanced planetarium ever attempted.

Earth is surrounded by a strong magnetic fieldpowered by its hot, churning outer coreforming a shield that deflects solar wind and protects our atmosphere. [Photo: AMNH]Since 1935, the planetarium near Central Park has been a special sort of cosmic cathedral. When it reopened in 2000 as a giant illuminated orb, designed by Polshek Partnership, it appeared to float within a six-story glass case. The planetarium also upgraded its famous Zeiss star projector, which has dazzled generations of starry-eyed kids with its detailed, glimmering replica of the night sky and its tilting-and-whirling mechanism. The current model is the worlds first Zeiss Mark IX.

The legendary Zeiss, however, is being eclipsed. Since the turn of the century, the Hayden, like many planetariums, has increasingly also relied on so-called fulldome projectors that can cover the entire inside of the dome, immersing the audience in sophisticated imagery. Rather than just letting viewers gaze at the night sky, it lets the planetarium fly audiences to any time and place within it. The current system, built by a company called Christie Digital and installed over the summer, is made up of six custom synchronized projectors that bathe the dome in 8K-resolution laser light at 60 frames per second, with the widest available color range and contrast. (The dome also features 23 speakers and two subwoofers, along with those seat shakers.)

Those features mean that the systems ability to reproduce the universes most vivid colors is unrivaled, says Carter Emmart, the museums astro-visualization director. And then there are its blacks: blacker than any blacks hes seen in a fulldome show, the black of space. That kind of blackness, he says, this is the holy grail.

Academy Award winner Lupita Nyongo is the narrator of Worlds Beyond Earth. [Photo: D. Finnin/ AMNH]But the projectors arent even the biggest stars of the show. Worlds Beyond Earth is the first new film at the Hayden in six years. The last one, Dark Universenarrated by Hayden director and Pluto-demoter Neil de Grasse Tysonwas about the phenomena that help to explain the formation of the universe. Worlds, written by geologist Natalie Starkey, is more literal and local: in half an hour, we learn how our solar system came to be, what makes for such unwelcoming conditions on other planets, and in turn what makes Earth so habitable. The larger subtle point is underlined near the end by the narrator, the actress Lupita Nyongo: the Earths climate is just right for nurturing life, which means its also easy to mess up.

Look at our next-door neighbor Venus. We could almost call it Earths twin, says Nyongo as we swoop below its thick clouds. Thanks to the Magellan spacecraft, we know that Venus is covered with volcanoes that can feed the atmosphere with water vapor and other gases. Except Venus has no magnetic field, which left it exposed to harsh solar winds that stole its water, allowing carbon dioxide to build up in its atmosphere. That resulted in a global greenhouse effect so intense that the planets surface is hot enough to melt lead. Understanding how that happened has taught us about the runaway effects that come with adding more carbon dioxide to our own atmosphere. (The film doesnt mention it, but our own CO2 levels are now the highest theyve been in 14 million years.)

I think its really interesting that we did not set out to make a show about Earth, says Vivian Trakinski, the Haydens director of science visualization, who produced the film. The idea was to focus on the surprising attributes of other planets, but as we developed the script, that inevitably led us to the conclusion that it really was about our own understanding and appreciation of the Earth.

The shows curator, Denton Ebel, a geologist who runs the museums department of Earth and planetary sciences, said he wanted to showcase the worldly phenomena that tie our planets together but also set them apart. We have all these processes that are similarwe have magnetic fields, we have volcanoes, we have atmospheres, we have gravity, he says. And yet these processes lead to this huge diversity of outcomes.

Jupiters moon, Io (right), is the most volcanically active object in the solar system despite being covered by ice. [Photo: AMNH]The film begins at the birth of the solar system, before taking us on a time-traveling tour of our moon, Saturn and its moon Titan, Jupiter and Io, Venus, and Mars. Theres a ride-along with a comet, which is like a small world onto itself, carrying not only dust and ice but also amino acids, the basic ingredients for life. Astronomers have found that comets may have ferried vital chemicals like phosphorus to Earth, giving rise to life here four billion years ago.

Comet 67P is a frozen object traveling between the inner and outer solar system that the European Space Agencys Rosetta spacecraft chased for 10 years. [Photo: AMNH]One reason we know this about comets is that, rather than just study them through telescopes, now we can actually land on them. The profusion of new data from an array of spacecraft and robots means that untangling the solar systems mysteries increasingly involves not only astronomers but geologists like Ebel (hes the first one to curate a Hayden show). These up-close-and-personal encounters with the solar system are also what make many of the sequences in Worlds Beyond Earth so realistic. For much of the film, these arent garden-variety simulations were looking at, but elaborate data visualizations.

The ability to give Hayden audiences such a precise view of space is something new. We actually use the termwhich is interestingwe say reconstruction, based on all the imagery, Emmart told me. In the case of images from Saturn with Cassini, we can reconstruct exactly the view from the spacecraft.

The idea was not just to show the world we know but give a sense of how we know it.

The idea was not just to show the world we know but give a sense of how we know it, Trakinski said. Its not animation. Its really an exploration of the science itself.

Worlds Beyond Earth visualizes authentic data from NASA, ESA, and Japan Aerospace Exploration (JAXA) missions, telescopes, supercomputer simulations, and research conducted at institutions around the globe. [Photo: D. Finnin/ AMNH]There are still simulated sections and cinematic flourishes, like stunning visualizations of Earths and Jupiters magnetic fields, and a body-shaking moon landing, with the Apollo 15 lunar module. For the latter sequence, the Hayden tapped a few experts: John Knoll, the chief creative officer of Industrial Light and Magic, cocreator of Adobe Photoshop, and amateur Apollo historian; and Dave Scott and Charlie Duke, who piloted the Apollo 15 and Apollo 16 lunar modules respectively.

To craft the landing sequences sounds and visuals, Emmart wanted to know what the astronauts recalled as they deftly guided their crafts to the moons dusty surface. [Scott] said, I was trying to land this thing, so I had to be totally in the zone!' But both reported feeling the kick of the engine and the thrusters, says Emmart.

[Duke] didnt say it kicked like a mule, but he definitely felt it. So I said, lets put that into the seat players!

Modern science revolves around continuously updated models of the universe, and planetariums have followed suit. In 1923, just as Einsteins theory of relativity was making waves, the prototype for the first modern planetarium, known as the Star Theater, opened on the roof of the Zeiss Works in Jena, Germany, with a pioneering multi-lens projector situated in the center of a new type of domed building. About a decade later, banker Charles Haydeninspired by Chicagos groundbreaking Adler Planetariumpledged to build an even bigger planetarium for New York City, donating $150,000 in the depths of the Great Depression. The goal, he explained, was to give the public a more lively and sincere appreciation of the magnitude of the universe . . . and for the wonderful things which are daily occurring in the universe. When it opened in October 1935, lines stretched down the block.

Emmart remembers being stunned by the Haydens first laser projector system, the Lazarium, in 1974. With its simple but spectacular vector drawings set to music, the system was a sensation, and helped launch another planetarium tradition: laser Pink Floyd shows. The Hayden stopped doing those in 1997; fulldome projection made its debut the following year.

Laser light, which can offer a brighter, sharper image than LCD or LED and other technologies, led the Hayden and other planetariums to upgrade their systems again in the early 2000s. Six years ago, museum officials began discussions with Christie, a leading digital projector maker, about a more radical upgrade to the Giant Sphere. The result, the Eclipse, is built around six digital micromirror devices, or DMDs, allowing for the widest display of colors possible in any projector. Christie says it can encompass nearly all of what cinema nerds call the Rec. 2020 color gamut, a spectrum of hues that are easy for, say, a vivid supernova to generate, but heretofore impossible to re-create.

The new projectors are capable of an unprecedented 20 million-to-1 contrast ratio, and can display images in the expansive Rec. 2100 color palette [Photo: C. Chesek/ AMNH]This range also makes for remarkable contrast levels, the difference between the brightest and darkest image: the new system boosts the planetariums existing contrast ratio from 7,000-to-1 to 1,000,000-to-1. (Most movie theater projectors have a ratio of only 2,000 to 1.) That solves a central problem of laser projectors: displaying bright objects like suns or quasars can disrupt the darkness of the night sky in other parts of the image. That means the Hayden comes closer than anything else on Earth to mimicking not only the vibrant colors of the universe but the actual darkness of the night sky. For anyone used to New Yorks bleached night skies, this is quite black.

It brings out the black of space and allows us to visualize these things as theyre really there, Emmart said.

(The quest to emulate the night sky has also led to the worlds blackest paint. The pigment known as Vantablack was designed by NASA scientists with a coating of carbon nanotubes, and meant to be applied to satellites so they wont reflect light and thus disrupt ground-based astronomy. When the artist Anish Kapoor exclusively licensed the pigment in 2016, he sparked an art-world battle over the blackest black.)

The hyperrealism of the Haydens simulacraspace black, 8K resolution, shaking seats, the renderings, the data itselfmay invite ruminations about just how real simulations can get, about where models end and reality begins, and about how to teach science.

What we can show you of the universe can take you back.

As we sailed around Saturn, I got a glimpse of that future, when planetariums wont just show us models of the solar system but send us out into ever realistic models of it. This idea excites Emmart. The planetarium could democratize what he says will be the elite sport of civilian space travel as envisioned by companies like Virgin Galactic and SpaceX.

My joke is, Honey, sell the house, Ive got to go to space for 15 minutes,' he says. There are lots of people for whom the price of a house is nothing, I guess, so theyre the ones that are going to go. For the rest of us, experiences such as the Haydens new show will be the next best thing, and theyll keep getting better.

What were doing is honing this ability to provide authentic travel through the known universe, adds Emmart. Call it data, call it knowledge, call it what you will, based on imagery and sensors and all of this. But this all comes together as an authentic experience.

Under the dome, he can immerse people in things and places long gone, stuff no one ever saw, billions of years old. Its like the museums famous ancient dioramas.

Visualizations based on 13 years of data from NASAs Cassini spacecraft shows Saturns rings bubbling with moonletshouse-size baby moonsthat form through a process that scientists think may parallel planet formation in the solar system. [Photo: D. Finnin/ AMNH]I revere our dioramas because they are a suspension in another place, says Emmart. You come to this museum and youre suddenly standing on the Plains in Wyoming looking at buffalo, and youre not only standing looking at buffalo, because the buffalo and these millions of herds, theyre no longer thereyoure seeing something from the past. Maybe it doesnt hit you quite as much as dinosaur bones, but youre seeing something that just doesnt exist anymore. So even the dioramas are like a time machine. And in large measure, what we can show you of the universe can take you back.

Getting to go back is an eye-opening treat. Near the start of the new show, we sail toward a simulation of our young sun, some 4.5 billion years ago, as the solar system was just starting to take shape. Our neighborhood likely began as whats known as an accretion disc, a cloud of matter swirling around the sun much in the way those rocky rings circle Saturn today. Within this disc of debris, materials glommed together like chunks of chocolate in a violent mix of cookie dough, eventually gathering themselves into their own orbits, and then into the giant orbs we call Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, and Neptune, along with the rest of the mysterious stuff floating around the solar system. Over time, all kinds of accidents happened. You realize how Earth could have turned out like these other places, but didnt, at least not yet. Which is good, because, among other things, now we can go to the planetarium.

This story has been updated to clarify that while fulldome projection debuted in 1998, laser fulldome projectors arrived the following the decade; and to correct the attribution of a quote by Apollo astronaut Dave Scott, which had previously been attributed to his colleague Charlie Duke. We regret the errors.

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The Hayden Planetarium's Worlds Beyond Earth is dazzling - Fast Company