Tuesday 14th May 2024

Hamantaschen: The iconic jam-filled biscuits that are the signature treat at Purim

The ancient dramatic tale of Purim is celebrated every spring with the buttery, triangular-shaped biscuits called hamantaschen.

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Eat beans and live longer: One reason why many Ikarians live to be 100

In The Ikaria Way, Greek American chef Diane Kochilas offers a roadmap for people who want to incorporate aspects of the Mediterranean island's "Blue Zone" diet into their lives.

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AI Hype and Skepticism: Economist Paul Romer

The spring 2024 issue’s special report looks at how to take advantage of market opportunities in the digital space, and provides advice on building culture and friendships at work; maximizing the benefits of LLMs, corporate venture capital initiatives, and innovation contests; and scaling automation and digital health platform.

The spring 2024 issue’s special report looks at how to take advantage of market opportunities in the digital space, and provides advice on building culture and friendships at work; maximizing the benefits of LLMs, corporate venture capital initiatives, and innovation contests; and scaling automation and digital health platform.

Paul Romer once considered himself the most optimistic economist. He rightfully predicted that technology would blow up as an economic driver coming out of the inflation of the 1970s but acknowledges he did not foresee the inequality that technology advances would lead to.

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This Tiny Humanoid Robot Makes Tesla’s Optimus Look Sluggish

Tesla recently updated its Optimus to a second-generation model, but Unitree’s latest robot may give it a literal run for its money. The robotics company introduced its new humanoid robot called the G1, which comes with a starting price of $16,000.

The market for humanoid robotics is still nascent, to say the least, but Unitree’s G1 represents a serious competitor offering a high level of articulation for a decent price. Sure, $16,000 doesn’t sound cheap, but compare that to the G1’s predecessor that went for around $90,000. Now, Unitree has focused on a much more affordable design that rivals the likes of Boston Dynamics’ revamped Atlas bot and Tesla’s Optimus.

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2024's Best Epic Series is Repeating a Troubling TV Trend

In 1980, a television event captured America’s attention. From September 15 to September 19, viewers tuned in for a sweeping adaptation of James Clavell’s 1975 novel Shogun. The series earned a Golden Globe, an Emmy, and even a Peabody, but a week later the story was over and gone. The miniseries was recut for a theatrical release, but there was no surprise ending setting up the Anjin’s further adventures.

Forty-four years later, that’s about to change. And while good television may come out of this, it’s still a problem for Shogun’s story — and television as a whole.

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Square Enix's New Strategy Proves Console Exclusives Just Don't Work Anymore

Alongside its most recent financial results, Square Enix has announced a massive company reboot that sees the publisher move away from console exclusives and “aggressively” pursue multiplatform games. On top of this, Square Enix has also said it is shifting from quantity to quality, refocusing its efforts on big catalog titles, instead of the wealth of smaller games it’s been releasing over the last few years. These changes in strategy honestly feel like a long time coming, but looking past just Square Enix itself, this pivot could be the final nail that proves the console exclusive as we know it is done — unless you’re Nintendo.

In new financial results, Square Enix reported that digital entertainment sales, including video games, rose by 2.6%, but profit fell by 15.8%. On HD games, the company saw a massive operating loss of ¥8.1 billion (approximately $51.9 million). What all this boils down to, is that the profits of games like Final Fantasy XVI, Foamstars, and Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth simply didn’t cover the ever-rising costs of development. It’s no secret that the costs of AAA game development continue to inflate at an alarming rate, and while we don’t have exact numbers for any of these games, it’s now clear that being limited to a single console hasn’t helped these games recoup their costs.

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'Elden Ring': What Does Arcane Do and Who Should Use It

To make it through the punishing world of Elden Ring, you need to gather your strength by leveling up, but of course, From Software makes that more challenging than just collecting enough experience. Where you choose to allocate your stats is far more important than just increasing your level, with different playstyles and weapons meriting investment in various attributes. Before you go spending your Runes unwisely, here’s what Arcane does in Elden Ring, and when you should increase it.

Strength, Dexterity, Intellect — if you’ve played enough RPGs then you probably have a good idea of what these basic stats do. But like all From Software games, Elden Ring isn’t content to stop with such basic stats. And while attributes like Vigor and Mind might be a little confusing, Arcane is the strangest-sounding of all. And as it turns out, it’s also the most niche stat in the game, affecting only a handful of weapons and spells, along with more abstract bonuses.

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'X-Men '97' Season 2 Could Fix Marvel's Most Controversial Villain

There’s been no shortage of horrifying villains causing mayhem in X-Men ‘97 — but believe it or not, the new animated series has yet to introduce its biggest threat. With just one episode left in its first season — and a second already in development — X-Men ‘97 isn’t shy about what’s coming around the corner.

Based on what’s going down in its three-part finale, “Tolerance Is Extinction,” it seems like an even bigger, and very divisive Marvel villain is making a comeback. And in doing so, it’s possible that X-Men ‘97’s Season 1 finale is setting up the Season 2 big bad with shocking ramifications. Spoilers ahead for X-Men ‘97 episodes 1-9.

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Auroras On The Rise! Here’s Where To See The Dazzling Light Show

Stunning auroras decorated skies across the world this past weekend. The lights were the result of a burst of solar flares and coronal mass ejections from the sun. And this may be just the beginning: Over the next year and a half, we will likely see more such enchanting displays, thanks to the Sun’s new season of extreme weather.

Auroras are incredible displays of band-like structures called arcs that can stretch several thousand miles long and meander into finger-like curls. The phenomenon can be seen around the world. When viewed from the northern hemisphere, it's known as the Northern Lights or the Aurora Borealis; from the southern hemisphere, it's called the Southern Lights or the Aurora Australis.

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16 Years Later, Nintendo Quietly Releases an Indie Puzzle Gem

The redux of this seminal indie classic reminds players why it was such a big deal in the first place.

When the original Braid was released in 2008, it greatly changed my perception of what video games could be. The novelty of bite-sized video games was still an exciting frontier for console gamers like myself, as we were still months away from the likes of the first Geometry Wars, PixelJunk Monsters on PlayStation, and Valve’s Portal.

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