'that’s all they have'

Eleven towers and a gateway defended the structure.

'Governments are much more self-interested'

'As soon as we get the government open'

A new technology utilizing coffee and plastic waste is designed to capture carbon dioxide from industrial processes before it’s released into the atmosphere, and has been patented by scientists. The highly novel and detailed method with promising potential to reduce environmental pollution utilizes a blend of spent coffee grounds, polyethylene terephthalate, (PET) and potassium hydroxide, […] The post Female-Led Arab Team Turn Coffee and Plastic Waste into Activated Carbon, Capturing CO2 in the Atmosphere appeared first on Good News Network.

News Percy Jackson and the Olympians Kate McKinnon Joins Percy Jackson and the Olympians Season 3 Cast as Aphrodite The second season of the Disney+ show is set to premiere later this year. By Vanessa Armstrong | Published on October 15, 2025 Credit: NBC Comment 0 Share New Share Credit: NBC The second season of Disney+’s Percy Jackson and the Olympians is set to premiere in a couple of months, and we’ve already gotten a ton of casting news. Today, we got another addition to the call sheet that is equally exciting. According to Variety, Kate McKinnon, the SNL alum whose previous roles include playing Weird Barbie in Barbie, will play herself Aphrodite in a recurring guest role in the third season. Her official description, according to Variety, mentions that she is able to “alter her appearance depending on the beholder,” with her main motivation being that she “must be sure that Percy Jackson (Walker Scobell) respects the power and importance of love before she agrees to offer aid on his quest.” McKinnon joins several previously announced season two additions, including the Gray Sisters, with Sandra Bernhard playing Anger, Kristen Schaal as Tempest, and Margaret Cho playing Wasp. Other casting news revealed Daniel Diemer playing Percy’s half-brother, Tyson the Cyclops. They join series regulars Walker Scobell as Percy, Leah Sava Jeffries as Annabeth Chase, and Aryan Simhadri as Grover Underwood. The second season follows the story laid out in Rick Riordan’s second book, The Sea of Monsters, though it will also include elements from later books. We also know that we’ll definitely get a third season down the road, since Disney Branded Television has already committed to more episodes. We still have to watch season two, however, before we start thinking about season three! We can begin doing so when the second season premieres on Disney+ on December 10, 2025, with new episodes dropping weekly. [end-mark] The post Kate McKinnon Joins <i>Percy Jackson and the Olympians</i> Season 3 Cast as Aphrodite appeared first on Reactor.

News Stranger Things Stranger Things Creators Reflect on “Regrets” After Spending a Decade on the Same Story In an interview with Variety, the Duffer brothers talk about the long road to Stranger Things Season 5. By Matthew Byrd | Published on October 15, 2025 Photo: Netflix Comment 0 Share New Share Photo: Netflix In a sweeping interview with Variety, Stranger Things creators the Duffer brothers discuss everything from their creepy twin magic (“the Duffers have lived inside what [Shawn] Levy affectionately calls a ‘bubble of twinship,’” the interview reveals) to their recently announced deal with Paramount. Mostly, though, the story focuses on Stranger Things’ upcoming fifth and final season.  While the Duffers are unsurprisingly choosing to keep most of the final season’s secrets to themselves, they do discuss the long road to this point in the show. In fact, they say that their time with Stranger Things went a little longer than they initially intended.  “Part of me regrets not having been able to tell more different stories over the course of 10 years,” Matt Duffer reveals. “Sometimes I wonder about that — because it ate up our entire 30s. I wish we had gotten it done a little faster, but it is what it is.” Ross Duffer echoes and expands on that sentiment by adding, “But when we started, it was very early Netflix. And I don’t know how many more opportunities there are going to be to tell stories of this length on that size canvas. So whenever I have the regrets that Matt was saying, I’m excited that we were able to take advantage of this very specific period of time in the industry.” So, why the regrets? Well, some of it is a simple matter of the pair wanting to get into filmmaking. The Duffers have made it clear that their recent deal with Paramount was largely prompted by their desire to make the kind of theatrically released movies that Netflix has largely shied away from. Still, Matt Duffer makes it clear that the pair could have made that decision long ago but stayed with Netflix and Stranger Things simply because they wanted to.  “To go this long was our choice,” Matt says. “We could have jumped ship and done movies, and we elected not to — and I’m glad we didn’t. We finished telling this story, and luckily we weren’t too old when we started it, so we’re OK. I mean, Ridley Scott didn’t start making movies until he was in his 40s.” That age comment is certainly a bit… odd, but the overall sentiment rings true. Throughout the interview, the Duffers say that they want to make sure that Stranger Things doesn’t botch its ending as other famous shows have, so it makes sense that they wouldn’t abandon the series part of the way through.  Interestingly, the interview also brings up a time when Matt told reporters that the brothers saw Stranger Things as a “four and done” show. However, Matt notes that when they decided to go in a different direction with the show’s third season and tell a slightly more isolated story that didn’t advance the overall mythology as much as they perhaps intended, they ultimately decided to push the series to five seasons. Of course, Stranger Things will also live on via spin-off series that the Duffers will oversee. So while it doesn’t sound like the Duffer brothers meant to be working on Stranger Things for five seasons, the show’s final season is still scheduled to debut on Netflix on November 26. The second part of that season will be available via the streaming service starting on December 25, and the finale will debut on December 31. [end-mark] The post <i>Stranger Things</i> Creators Reflect on “Regrets” After Spending a Decade on the Same Story appeared first on Reactor.

FIRST ON THE DAILY SIGNAL—U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents continue to risk their lives arresting criminal illegal aliens even while not being paid during the federal government shutdown, according to the Department of Homeland Security.   ICE agents continue to arrest “pedophiles, murderers, drug traffickers, and other violent thugs from American communities,” said Tricia McLaughlin, DHS assistant secretary.   “Not only are these law enforcement officers risking their lives amid a 1,000% increase in assault against them, bounties on their heads, and threats to their families from foreign and domestic terrorists, but they are now working without pay because of the Democrats’ government shutdown,” McLaughlin added.   The government has been shut down for more than two weeks as Senate Democrats continue to vote against a stopgap bill to fund the government into next month. Most government employees who are deemed “essential” and continue to work during a government shutdown are not paid but will receive back pay when the government reopens.   “It’s time for Democrats to end the government shutdown, so our ICE officers can get their paychecks as they work to make America safe again,” McLaughlin said.   On Tuesday alone, ICE agents arrested illegal aliens who have been convicted of sexual misconduct with a child, aggravated robbery, and third-degree assault.   German Morachel-Lopez  German Morachel-Lopez is from Mexico and has been convicted of sexual conduct against a child in New York City.    Isidro Carrera-Rodriguez  Isidro Carrera-Rodriguez is also from Mexico and has been convicted of offensive touching and third-degree assault in Delaware.    Adrian Alberto Morales-Maldonado  Mexican national Adrian Alberto Morales-Maldonado’s record includes being convicted of aggravated robbery in Texas.    Wenceslao Alvarez-Alvarez  Wenceslao Alvarez-Alvarez of Mexico has been convicted of importation of a controlled substance and conspiracy to commit money laundering in Georgia.   Edgar Ivan Ponce-Aldaco  Mexico national Edgar Ivan Ponce-Aldaco has been convicted of conspiracy to possess with the intent to sell or distribute more than 50 kilograms (110 pounds) of marijuana in Texas.    Continued arrests of criminal illegal aliens coincide with the Trump administration’s nationwide effort to crack down on violent crime. FBI Director Kash Patel and President Donald Trump were scheduled to hold a press conference Wednesday afternoon to address the administration’s progress.   The post EXCLUSIVE: ICE Agents Still ‘Risking Their Lives’ Despite ‘Working Without Pay’ Amid Shutdown  appeared first on The Daily Signal.

In Pacific Palisades, neighbors are still haunted by what they saw last January when the night sky turned blood orange. The air crackled with panic as families fled, clutching photos and pets, watching wildfire erase homes, memories, and 12 precious lives. For months, all anyone has wanted is justice and a way to feel safe again. That justice came last week, but not the way anyone expected. The break in the case didn’t come from a brave bystander or a lucky tip. It came from a chatbot. The accused, authorities say, was a rideshare driver obsessed with fire—who left behind a digital trail of chats that even wildfire couldn’t erase. In the weeks leading up to the fire, he fed ChatGPT questions and scenarios about destruction, even typing frantic apparent confessions the night the flames rose. In the end, the witness that really talked was the one nobody saw. The “digital confessional” is the star on the stand. Families are cheering, and rightly so. Artificial Intelligence did the job. An accused arsonist is finally in custody. Closure, that rarest and most needed reward in tragedy, is finally within reach. But this isn’t just a story of justice served. It’s a warning. The AI that caught a madman wasn’t simply doing its civic duty. Like an informant in a mob movie, that same assistant wore a virtual “wire,” recording every secret. And if AI can put an arsonist behind bars, it can just as easily rat out the rest of us. Every day, millions of Americans trust AI with their mistakes, fears, and rawest feelings. Parents seek reassurance about a sick child at midnight. Patients type desperate questions they are too scared to ask out loud. Workers vent about their bosses, couples brainstorm apologies, students admit errors hoping for help. All those keystrokes live somewhere, often nowhere near as private as imagined. Picture a custody fight where one parent’s chatbot transcript is handed over by court order. Picture an insurer scouring records to challenge a claim, digging for “contradictions” in someone’s AI venting. Picture a daughter denied a scholarship after an algorithm reveals an essay was brainstormed with AI. Courts and lawmakers are waking up. Recent rulings have forced tech companies to preserve every digital chat log, fueling privacy lawsuits and discovery fights. The CEO of OpenAI, the company behind ChatGPT, admits these conversations carry no special shield. Users get no more protection than they do with a casual text or an overheard call at Starbucks.  Other countries are catching on. In Britain, courts have warned about AI “evidence,” real or fake, now surfacing in everything from criminal trials to corporate meltdowns. Don’t get the wrong message. The lesson here isn’t that AI is the enemy. Americans should celebrate when innovation makes us safer and the Palisades families get the justice they deserve. But the public’s relationship with technology is all about trust. If every bot is bugged, who will ever type what really matters again? Guardrails aren’t the end of progress; they’re the start of it—a way to unlock AI’s full power, not throttle it. We need real warnings that are clearly stated, real deletion rights that are simple and enforceable, and strict rules about when conversations can become evidence, with penalties for anyone who abuses that trust. In my work, I’ve heard from clients terrified that what they typed or said to AI after a hard day or in a moment of fear could someday upend their businesses and lives. That isn’t paranoia. It’s prudent skepticism about new digital risks Americans never asked for but now must guard against. The mob knew a thing or two about wires, and so should we. AI has made us safer, smarter, and faster. Unless we act now, we risk turning the best assistant in human history into the world’s nosiest snitch—recording every tap of the screen. The Palisades case should be remembered as both a triumph of innovation and a clarion call. We can fight crime without letting our own technology turn on us. Let’s build a future where justice and privacy stand side by side—where AI’s greatest role isn’t catching us at our weakest but helping us live braver, freer, and bolder. That future is as close as the phone in your hand. But unless we set the rules, the wire stays live—and sooner or later, it won’t just be criminal suspects who get caught talking. We publish a variety of perspectives. Nothing written here is to be construed as representing the views of The Daily Signal. The post AI Chats Helped Catch an Arsonist—Now They Could Be Used Against You appeared first on The Daily Signal.

Office of Management and Budget Director Russ Vought isn’t going to let the government shutdown slow his mission of cutting government waste, he said on “The Charlie Kirk Show” podcast on Wednesday. A government shutdown “slows down the administration, so the administration can’t do as much of what it was doing on behalf of the American people,” he explained. “We, to the best of our abilities, want to minimize that, that slowdown in momentum,” Vought said. “And I think the president is kind of doing that himself with solving Middle East peace and in all the manner of things that he spends his time in. But one of the things we want to do is, if there are policy opportunities to downsize the scope of the federal government, we want to use those opportunities.” Vought will do everything he can to take advantage of opportunities to downsize the government, he said, adding that Americans should expect the number of people laid off in government shutdown reductions in force will increase. About 4,000 federal workers have been laid off so far. “I think it’ll get much higher,” he said. “We’re going to keep those RIFs rolling throughout this shutdown,” he continued. “We think it’s important to stay on offense for the American taxpayer.” Republicans have proposed keeping spending at current levels via a clean, stopgap continuing resolution, and Democrats have countered with $1.5 trillion in demands, the OMB chief said. Democrats want to repeal President Donald Trump’s “One Big, Beautiful Bill,” expand the Biden administration’s health care policies, and repeal rescissions cutting funding to PBS, NPR, and USAID. “The magnitude of their demands is madness,” Vought said, “and so, we’re trying to get that out to the American people.” The post ‘It’ll Get Much Higher’: Trump’s Budget Chief Previews Future Layoffs appeared first on The Daily Signal.