Hasta La Gadget!

Video games are supposed to provide us an escape from the grinding and anger produced on an average day. Now one of the real world’s most contentious aggravations has slithered its way into Fortnite AND Rocket League. The Cybertruck, Tesla’s electric vehicle that replaced the pink Hummer as the official car for total jerks, makes its digital debut in both games today.

The Cybertruck add-ons are part of a new “Summer Road Trip” promotion bundle for Fortnite and Rocket League. Both bundles come with a vehicle that looks like a door stop and special body decals such as “Baja Off-Road,” “CyberCamo,” “MatteBlack,” “Stainless Steel” and “OMG Cybertruck,” which recreates the window that Elon Musk broke while trying to prove the strength of the Cybertruck’s windows. Did they also include the sticky accelerator?

Psyonix/Tesla

Presumably, the OMG stands for “Oh my God! (Can’t I go one day without seeing that ego on wheels we call the) Cybertruck?” The Baja Off-Road skin paired with the douchey Cybertruck in particular just screams, “I wear a lot of Ed Hardy!”

We have… some questions. Will the rain in Fortnite cause widespread rusting of the chassis? Will the Rocket League ball dent the “shatterproof” window like a metal ball famously did way back in 2019? Will players be able to finish a whole game if there’s another recall alert? If you really must, you can find out in both games now.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/the-cybertruck-is-coming-to-fortnite-and-rocket-league-because-were-being-punished-210309356.html?src=rss

Researchers at the University of Stuttgart have developed a groundbreaking quantum microscopy method that allows for the visualization of electron movements in slow motion, a feat previously unachievable. Prof. Sebastian Loth, managing director of the Institute for Functional Matter and Quantum Technologies (FMQ), explains that this innovation addresses long-standing questions about electron behavior in solids, with significant implications for developing new materials.

In conventional materials like metals, insulators, and semiconductors, atomic-level changes do not alter macroscopic properties. However, advanced materials produced in labs show dramatic property shifts, such as turning from insulators to superconductors, with minimal atomic modifications. These changes occur within picoseconds, directly affecting electron movement at the atomic scale.

THE IMAGING TIP OF THE TIME-RESOLVING SCANNING TUNNELING MICROSCOPE CAPTURES THE COLLECTIVE ELECTRON MOTION IN MATERIALS THROUGH ULTRAFAST TERAHERTZ PULSES. PHOTO CREDIT: © SHAOXIANG SHENG, UNIVERSITY OF STUTTGART(FMQ)

Loth’s team has successfully observed these rapid changes by applying a one-picosecond electrical pulse to a niobium and selenium material, studying the collective motion of electrons in a charge density wave. They discovered how single impurities can disrupt this collective movement, sending nanometer-sized distortions through the electron collective. This research builds on previous work at the Max Planck Institutes in Stuttgart and Hamburg.

Understanding how electron movement is halted by impurities could enable the targeted development of materials with specific properties, beneficial for creating ultra-fast switching materials for sensors or electronic components. Loth emphasizes the potential of atomic-level design to impact macroscopic material properties.

The innovative microscopy method combines a scanning tunneling microscope, which offers atomic-level resolution, with ultrafast pump-probe spectroscopy to achieve both high spatial and temporal resolution. The experimental setup is highly sensitive, requiring shielding from vibrations, noise, and environmental fluctuations to measure extremely weak signals. The team’s optimized microscope can repeat experiments 41 million times per second, ensuring high signal quality and making them pioneers in this field.

Breakthrough Quantum Microscopy Reveals Electron Movements In Slow Motion

, original content from Ubergizmo. Read our Copyrights and terms of use.

Humble Games has reportedly laid off all 36 of its staff, a move that seems to signal the end of the company. Former employees posted about the layoffs on social media. Humble Games is owned by media conglomerate Ziff Davis, which counts IGN, Eurogamer and GamesIndustry.biz among its gaming portfolio. Humble Games confirmed in a LinkedIn post that there had been a “restructure” at the company, but did not reveal the number of jobs lost.

The layoffs at Humble Bundle are the latest in a sweep across the gaming business. Last year saw a shocking number of cuts across studios of all sizes, and the trend has sadly continued into 2024.

“The games industry is volatile, it’s been inundated by people who only want exponential growth at the expense of making great games with great teams,” Emilee Kieffer, a former lead quality assurance analyst with Humble Games, wrote on LinkedIn following the layoffs.

The indie publisher helped bring almost 50 video games to market, including notable hits such as Slay the Spire, Unpacking, Wandersong and Coral Island. Humble Games also had several upcoming games slated for release, such as Never Alone 2, a second delve into mythology and stories from the indigenous Iñupiat people in Alaska. It’s unclear at this stage how the closure will impact those projects, but it seems they may still be released.

“This decision was not made lightly; it involved much deliberation and careful thought, with the goal of ensuring the stability and support of our developers and ongoing projects,” Humble’s statement said. The company also did not confirm if these layoffs would be followed by the studio’s closure.

This business is a separate operation from the charity storefront Humble Bundle, which is also part of Ziff Davis but does not appear to be impacted by today’s news. We’ve reached out to Ziff Davis and Humble Games for more information and will update if we hear back.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/humble-games-reportedly-lays-off-its-entire-staff-201923446.html?src=rss

Researchers at the University of Stuttgart have developed a groundbreaking quantum microscopy method that allows for the visualization of electron movements in slow motion, a feat previously unachievable. Prof. Sebastian Loth, managing director of the Institute for Functional Matter and Quantum Technologies (FMQ), explains that this innovation addresses long-standing questions about electron behavior in solids, with significant implications for developing new materials.

In conventional materials like metals, insulators, and semiconductors, atomic-level changes do not alter macroscopic properties. However, advanced materials produced in labs show dramatic property shifts, such as turning from insulators to superconductors, with minimal atomic modifications. These changes occur within picoseconds, directly affecting electron movement at the atomic scale.

THE IMAGING TIP OF THE TIME-RESOLVING SCANNING TUNNELING MICROSCOPE CAPTURES THE COLLECTIVE ELECTRON MOTION IN MATERIALS THROUGH ULTRAFAST TERAHERTZ PULSES. PHOTO CREDIT: © SHAOXIANG SHENG, UNIVERSITY OF STUTTGART(FMQ)

Loth’s team has successfully observed these rapid changes by applying a one-picosecond electrical pulse to a niobium and selenium material, studying the collective motion of electrons in a charge density wave. They discovered how single impurities can disrupt this collective movement, sending nanometer-sized distortions through the electron collective. This research builds on previous work at the Max Planck Institutes in Stuttgart and Hamburg.

Understanding how electron movement is halted by impurities could enable the targeted development of materials with specific properties, beneficial for creating ultra-fast switching materials for sensors or electronic components. Loth emphasizes the potential of atomic-level design to impact macroscopic material properties.

The innovative microscopy method combines a scanning tunneling microscope, which offers atomic-level resolution, with ultrafast pump-probe spectroscopy to achieve both high spatial and temporal resolution. The experimental setup is highly sensitive, requiring shielding from vibrations, noise, and environmental fluctuations to measure extremely weak signals. The team’s optimized microscope can repeat experiments 41 million times per second, ensuring high signal quality and making them pioneers in this field.

Breakthrough Quantum Microscopy Reveals Electron Movements In Slow Motion

, original content from Ubergizmo. Read our Copyrights and terms of use.

Microsoft has been taking a lot of hits over its Xbox Game Pass price hike and the overall lackluster offering of games. So to make up for it, they are offering a Call of Duty game for the first time on its virtual buffet. Unfortunately, it’s Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III, one of the lowest rated games in the series.

Calling the reviews for Modern Warfare III “mixed” would be generous. IGN’s Simon Cardy said its single-player campaign was “shallow,” “dull” and “the worst Call of Duty single-player campaign I’ve played.” Jump Dash Roll’s Derek Johnson wrote that its main campaign is “genuinely not worth playing” and its signature Zombies mode “isn’t quite as atrociously terrible as its single-player but that doesn’t mean it’s anything resembling something fun.”

Modern Warfare III won’t be the only Call of Duty game available for Xbox Game Pass subscribers. Xbox Game Pass will provide day one access to Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 in October. Of course, we don’t know how good the game will be but one imagines it’ll garner a bit more favor from critics compared to Modern Warfare III.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/a-call-of-duty-game-is-coming-to-xbox-game-pass-just-not-one-anyone-wants-175255224.html?src=rss