When it comes to the de-extinction of the mammoth‚ Ray Nayler’s eco-thriller The Tusks of Extinction takes a similar approach to Michael Crichton’s Jurassic Park: The Ice Age creatures are dug out of the frozen earth‚ their DNA extracted and mixed with that of elephants‚ the embryos birthed by the last few elephants living in captivity generations after they themselves were hunted nearly to extinction. But no wild elephants have roamed the planet for a long time at the start of this ambitious if overstuffed novella. The next best thing? Dr. Damira Khismatullina‚ the foremost expert on the species. The only wrinkle is that Damira died a hundred years ago‚ brutally murdered by the poachers she attempted to protect the last elephants from. The solution‚ then‚ exceeds Crichton’s resurrection by embedding Damira’s consciousness into the mammoth matriarch‚ so that she might teach the nascent herd at least a fraction of what was long-ago pure instinct. Though this seems like a rather straightforward premise‚ Nayler layers it with several more subplots that simultaneously distract from Damira’s fascinating and noble undertaking yet nonetheless provoke thought‚ making for an expansive yet frustratingly brief tale. The best way to take this story is in context with similar works. For one‚ it’s a lovely companion piece to Brooke Bolander’s 2018 novelette The Only Harmless Great Thing‚ which dances between an alternate-history 20th-century linking Topsy the elephant and the Radium Girls‚ and a future in which humans implore sentient elephants to solve the atomic priesthood problem. Both stories center on an impassioned woman with an expertise in elephants—idealistic scientist Kat‚ versus doctor and anti-poaching activist Damira—begging these wise creatures for the nigh-impossible‚ more for humans’ sake than for their own. Like Harmless‚ Tusks never lets the reader forget that humans will always be at least one degree removed from these magnificent creatures. Kat can only approximate a trunk’s fluid signing in Proboscidian; Damira’s expertise‚ though as rare and treasured as ivory‚ will never transcend the purely academic. At least‚ until the hypothetical becomes the new reality‚ and her lived experience as a mammoth sets a new precedent. But while tapping into ancient herd dynamics falls squarely on Damira’s shoulders‚ it is not her sole responsibility to actually keep the mammoths alive; that is complicated by the human greed that muddies the noble mission of the geneticists that resurrected the mammoths‚ and her‚ a century after her death. Buy it Now That massive time-jump is important to the premise‚ cementing Damira’s expertise‚ but has little bearing on the plot. Far-future Russia seems not that different from near-future‚ in that both have developed thought-related technology beyond our current scope. So think less that it’s Nayler covering such a broad span of time in 112 pages and instead inhabiting two fixed points that happen to be a hundred years apart. In fact‚ that seems to be by design with how the story sets itself up‚ introducing human Damira and mammoth Damira almost interchangeably‚ until you catch on to the different ways in which she inhabits the Kenyan savannah versus the Siberian steppe. The hop-skips of both perspective and timeline are at first difficult to adjust to; there is so much information to impart that it would initially seem more useful to lay it out more chronologically. However‚ it soon becomes clear that this style of semi-free-association—especially for Damira‚ switching between mammoth and human recollections from the barest whiff of scent—mimics the elephant’s memory web. Once you settle into that rhythm‚ Tusks charges ahead‚ albeit in an unexpected direction. While I expected such a slim story to occur entirely within Damira’s consciousness‚ she actually shares about equal space with two other characters: Syatoslav‚ the teenage son of poachers‚ and Vladimir‚ whose rich husband Anthony invites him on a secret billionaire hunting trip—all with the mammoths in their sights. By exploring these young men’s relative dependence on fathers and spouses‚ whether through financial or age-related autonomy‚ as well as their personal ambivalence to the cruelty of hunting‚ Nayler makes these supposed antagonists shockingly sympathetic. After all‚ each is a member of his own particular tribe‚ whether born or married into that family; yet neither has enough control to break away from the herd—at least not before this moment of confrontation on the frigid steppe. Furthermore‚ within all of these pseudo-herds there are tiers‚ based on class disparities and self-perceived issues of importance to history. There are the people like Damira‚ whose memory is deemed important enough to be uploaded to the Moscow Institute’s Mind Bank‚ while her former schoolmate and friend Yelena is just the tech grunt pressing buttons. (Yet let’s not put aside the fact that one of Damira’s most indelible human memories is trading backstories with another elephant activist‚ Wamugunda‚ and her shame at him “coming from somewhere” (his upbringing in Kenya) and her “coming from nowhere” (she loved elephants as a child).) It’s another thing that the intellectual class has in common with the poachers; the latter realize that while they do the grisly work of killing the animals‚ they are merely delivering to their rich buyers what they already own‚ i.e.‚ the tusks that they won’t dirty their hands to get said hands on. This ever-present theme of imbalanced payment grimly illustrates the losing endeavor of the cruelly-named ivory trade; at least one human always loses so that another human may gain nothing more than a trophy. It’s very telling that the key human trait that Damira teaches the mammoths is revenge‚ and that she’s so mystified to discover that they learn mercy all on their own. Nayler withholds some key information about the end of Damira’s human life‚ which will recontextualize the aforementioned teachings and discoveries that mark the next stage for her herd. Similarly‚ he reveals some fascinating bits of worldbuilding via technology that many a reader would likely want another whole novella about: more about the Mind Bank as a system and an archive‚ for one; and a century later‚ the Alexander‚ a seashell-shaped device that allows its wearer to project their thoughts one-way to eager listeners. He’s woven a fascinating web yet dips into so many different pockets that the end result is certainly affecting but feels unfinished. The Tusks of Extinction is available from Tordotcom Publishing. Natalie Zutter is a writer and pop culture critic based in Brooklyn. Talk futuristic mind-bending stories with her on Twitter and Bluesky!

Modern Warfare 3 Season 1 Reloaded is giving us HRM-9 and TAQ Evolvere‚ two powerful new weapons to experiment with. First things first‚ you need to unlock HRM-9 and TAQ Evolvere in MW3 or Warzone — here’s how. How to unlock HRM-9 in MW3‚ Warzone‚ or MWZ Image: Activision You only need to unlock HRM-9 and TAQ Evolvere through one Call of Duty game mode to unlock it universally. That means you can play MW3 or Warzone to unlock HRM-9. So far‚ the only way to unlock HRM-9 is via the Battle Pass. Related: How to get the TYR Conversion Kit in MW3 Screenshot: PC Invasion You have to earn XP by doing anything in Warzone‚ MW3‚ and/or MWZ to earn Battle Pass Tokens. Then‚ spend those Tokens to get to the A21 tile on the Battle Pass which is right next to the starting A1 tile. In total‚ you need to spend 10 Battle Pass Tokens to unlock the HMR-9. HRM-9 is an SMG that has a high fire rate and great mobility and handling. The base...

Sorcerer is a fun Charisma-based spellcasting class that uses Metamagic to augment their spells. If you want to multiclass with this class‚ here are the best Sorcerer multiclass builds in Baldur’s Gate 3. It’s best to choose other Charisma-based classes to multiclass with a Sorcerer‚ since you can make use of your already high CHA modifier. Here are the best multiclass options. Baldur’s Gate 3: Best Sorcerer multiclass builds Screenshot: PC Invasion Sorcerer (8)/Warlock (4) Another Charisma-based spellcasting class is the Warlock class‚ so this makes for probably the best way to multiclass as a Sorcerer. I’d put eight of your levels into Sorcerer‚ then four into Warlock. For subclasses‚ I think the Draconic Bloodline Sorcerer would do great with The Fiend Warlock. The Fiend gives you extra Fire damage spells like Burning Hands and Scorching Ray‚ which can deal extra damage as Red (Fire) Draconic Ancestry. It’s be...

The Virtual Screenventure event in Honkai Star Rail features familiar bosses that players are probably tired of fighting at this point‚ but there are new twists that force you to change up your strategies. Because of this‚ you’ll need super specific team compositions to achieve the highest possible score. This event has two difficulty modes: Normal and Despair. Most of the rewards can be obtained on the Normal difficulty‚ but you’ll need to clear the harder Despair battles in order to get everything. Thankfully‚ Stellar Jades and most of the important things are Normal mode rewards. Best Teams for Everlasting Dream Best Teams for Confusing Lies Best Teams for Heavenly Blade’s Afterimage Best Teams for Old Memories of the Icy Post Best Teams for Cry of the Frozen Fantasy Land All Virtual Screenventure Rewards in Honkai Star Rail Image: PC Invasion To earn all of the rewards for a Virtual Screenventure stage‚ you...

Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth is shaping up to be one of the biggest releases of 2024. With many new and returning features‚ players anxiously await the end of February to get their hands on it. But a few rumors have made players wonder: can you play without Cloud in Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth? Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth — Can you play without Cloud? Image: Square Enix Unlike FF7 Remake‚ Rebirth is slated to have a larger amount of party members than players can use in battle. This is something that people have expressed their feelings about vehemently. But what we do know‚ is that the likes of Red XIII‚ Yuffie‚ and Cait Sith will be playable‚ along with Aerith‚ Tifa‚ and Barret. And while he is the story’s central character‚ you may want to try different party comps that don’t include Cloud. Related: Final Fantasy 7: Rebirth gets spicy new gameplay trailer at Summer Game Fest The ability to swap who you control mid-fight was a feature introdu...

Narratives concerning the marginalized have come to dominate American institutions and popular culture. The plight of a plethora of minorities is regularly alluded to‚ from Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson’s allusions to America’s “legacy of discrimination” in her dissent of SFFA v. University of North Carolina to the numerous months dedicated to racial and sexual minorities. Narratives about America’s systemic racism‚ sexism‚ and other “-isms” have become prefaces to the missions of leading cultural‚ civic and political institutions. Vaclav Havel dared to ask in his day what Americans cannot do today: Why are the rich and powerful telling the country that the rich and powerful are responsible for the daily oppression of the ruled? His answer for the denizens of the former Soviet Union offers important lessons for those in America today who question why so many blindly regurgitate lies and ahistorical Manichaean narratives about our country. Havel’s most famous play‚ “The Memorandum‚” chronicles the struggles of Josef Gross at his job as a director in an unnamed government bureau. Gross receives a memo concerning an audit that has been typed in a constructed language called Ptydepe. Unable to translate Ptydepe‚ Gross questions his deputy‚ Ballas‚ as to why his memo is written in Ptydepe. Ballas‚ sensing an opportunity to accumulate more prestige and power‚ blackmails Gross into institutionalizing Ptydepe for use in the bureau. Then he takes Gross’ job. What follows is an odyssey through the bureau‚ in which Gross struggles to get his memo translated and regain his old job. The triumph of bureaucratic authority over truth is unfortunately a familiar feature of American life‚ too‚ especially in the university world. When professor Bret Weinstein objected to the call for white people to voluntarily leave the campus of Evergreen State University for a “Day of Absence‚” he was run out of town by a mob. He did not have the proper authorization to object. Weinstein’s challenge to Evergreen students‚ that “one’s right to speak—or to be—must never be based on skin color‚” was a challenge to the dominant narrative of America being a white supremacist nation. But once a false narrative has been enshrined within a petty bureaucratic culture‚ questioning the narrative or pointing out its absurdities is useless. Much like Gross‚ Weinstein was blackmailed into approving the action taken against him. When that was unsuccessful‚ the mob resorted to open oppression‚ much like Ballas did in seizing Gross’ job. As Gross’ frustration builds‚ the play has become so repetitive that many in the audience are left with a similar sense of tiredness at the repetitive nature of the play‚ the dull‚ unfeeling bureaucratic set‚ and the absurdity of Gross’ circling round and round the stage as he dashes from one department to the next. Havel maintains suspense‚ however‚ by having the staff watcher be an ever-present character in the play. The staff watcher’s job is self-explanatory; he is charged with spying on all the bureaucrats. His obvious job serves as a contradiction to the absurdities of Ptydepe and the bureaucrats whose roles and speeches are twisted‚ awkward and repetitive. The staff watcher’s job is a microcosm of Gross’ predicament as well: His menacing presence indicates to the audience that everyone knows his job is to uphold Ptydepe as the official language‚ regardless of how ridiculous it is. The staff watcher is the consequences of conformity personified. Gross ends his day out of his job and has failed to translate his memo. Gross does find a reluctant secretary‚ Maria‚ who can translate his memo the next day. However‚ Maria does not possess the proper permit to translate Gross’ memo‚ as his continued presence at work is considered to be damaging. Maria serves as the foil to Gross and the system of Ptydepe. Her translation of Gross’ memo is a repudiation of “the automatism” of the bureau. By forgoing this willingness to live within Ptydepe’s byzantine lie‚ Maria refuses to allow the system to use her to perpetuate itself. Maria’s character transcends the suffocating communist system. For doing so‚ her job is terminated. Ironically‚ Maria’s translation of Gross’ memo inspires the other Ptydepe learners and translators to give up on the language‚ while Gross regains his job from Ballas. Maria’s decision to shatter the bureau’s “world of appearances trying to pass for reality” forces Gross to eventually rule that all work will be conducted in the employee’s mother language. The play ends abruptly and rather humorously as the employees break for lunch. Havel rightly saw the hilarity and darkness that this kind of conformity bred among the citizens of Soviet Czechoslovakia. With every citizen hiding their true selves and allowing weak-willed men like Ballas and Gross to perpetuate the system‚ there ultimately was no hope once the system was turned against Gross himself. That sounds an awful lot like modern America. A longer version of this article was originally published by Law &; Liberty and made available via RealClearWire. The Daily Signal publishes a variety of perspectives. Nothing written here is to be construed as representing the views of The Heritage Foundation. Have an opinion about this article? To sound off‚ please email letters@DailySignal.com and we’ll consider publishing your edited remarks in our regular “We Hear You” feature. Remember to include the url or headline of the article plus your name and town and/or state. The post When Truth Is Lost in Translation: A Cold War-Era Parable for Today appeared first on The Daily Signal.

It turns out Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis may have paid a huge amount of taxpayers’ money to a chief investigator who is also her boyfriend. Further‚ special prosecutor Nathan Wade was reportedly using the taxpayers’ money to buy Willis gifts and vacations. When the story broke‚ even The New York Times had to cover it. When sex‚ power‚ and money combine into one story‚ the news media simply can’t resist—even if it ruins one of their favorite hobbies (attacking Donald Trump). As a nonlawyer‚ it hit me instantly that Willis had almost certainly broken the law and should be subject to criminal prosecution. A friend of mine who is a lawyer in Georgia confirmed my instinct. He sent me a whole range of crimes that may be implicated by Willis having misused (read stolen) public money for her private pleasures and purposes. He suggested a preliminary review led to a series of potential federal and state criminal violations. His list included:  Honest services fraud‚ or essentially kickbacks (18 USC 1346).  Violation of public oath (Ga. Code Ann.‚ § 16-10-1). Bribery (Ga. Code Ann.‚ § 16-10-2). Improper influence of a government official (Ga. Code Ann.‚ § 16-10-5). Criminal conspiracy (Ga. Code Ann.‚ § 16-4-8). Conspiracy to defraud government (Ga. Code Ann.‚ § 16-10-21). Racketeering (Ga. Code Ann.‚ §§ 16-14-1 through 12). False statements and concealment (Ga. Code Ann.‚ § 16-10-20). Fulton County’s gift ban (Fulton County Code of Laws § 2-69(a)). Similar Georgia laws against public corruption. Given Willis’ enthusiastic pursuit of the former president and many of his associates using a series of dubious interpretations of various laws—there is a certain irony that she may now be prosecuted under a similarly wide range of criminal charges. This entire case blew open because several of the defendants Willis went after methodically reviewed her office’s expenditures. Their investigation led to what may be an even more shocking and powerful set of insights. By tracking the expense reports of Willis’ boyfriend and reviewing his justification for various trips‚ they learned that Wade had secretly coordinated with House Democrats’ select committee investigating the Capitol riot of Jan. 6‚ 2021. Even more astonishingly‚ the expense reports indicated he had at least twice met with the Biden White House in developing the case against Trump and his associates. Amazingly‚ the defendants’ homework may blow apart the Jan. 6 cases—and all the cases in Georgia. They may also have proven that the Biden White House was deeply involved in coordinating these legal cases against President Joe Biden’s political opponent. All this devastating material has been laid out in the motion the defendants filed to disqualify Willis and her office‚ which you can read for yourself here. Clearly‚ the Georgia case is so contaminated by corruption and political coordination that all the charges should be thrown out. Those who previously pleaded guilty should be absolved of actions taken after being pressured by a clearly corrupt prosecutor. As for Willis‚ she will almost certainly be disbarred and may face prosecution and jail time. Congress now has an obligation to dig into the corruption‚ law-breaking‚ and dishonesty of its Jan. 6 committee. Critically‚ Congress must also uncover how much coordination has been going on between the Biden White House and the various cases against Trump. It is conceivable that every case is contaminated by White House interference and will have to be thrown out. Willis may be a small part of a much larger‚ deeply corrupt legal war against Biden’s political opponent. This commentary was published originally by RealClearPolicy and made available via RealClearWire Have an opinion about this article? To sound off‚ please email letters@DailySignal.com‚ and we’ll consider publishing your edited remarks in our regular “We Hear You” feature. Remember to include the URL or headline of the article plus your name and town and/or state.  The post DA Fani Willis and the Price of Arrogance and Corruption appeared first on The Daily Signal.

If you're tired of censorship and dystopian threats against civil liberties‚ subscribe to Reclaim The Net. At the World Economic Forum‚ Naomi Oreskes‚ Professor of the History of Science at Harvard University‚ complained about what she said is the spread of disinformation on social media‚ notably attributing a significant part of this issue to social media companies and even President Trump and certain business entities. Her proposed solutions raise alarming implications for free speech and highlight the dangers of censorship. https://video.reclaimthenet.org/articles/world-economic-forum-2024-trump-social-media-disinformation.mp4 “President Trump; it’s been well written about‚ he had over 30‚000 false or misleading claims in his four years as a president. If that comes from the top‚ is that part of the issue and the problem as well?” asked Urs Gredig‚ the moderator. “Yeah‚ absolutely‚” Oreskes responded. “I mean and it’s one of the reasons this issue has become so vexed in the United States because now ordinary people are getting a lot of disinformation in social media‚ almost much of which is coming from private sector interests‚ but then it gets amplified when it gets reposted and resent by ordinary people who think‚ oh this is interesting‚ I’ll pass this on.” Oreskes complained that what she called “disinformation” was being “amplified at the top” by social media companies‚ and said that the “business community has a big role to play” in challenging this. Despite President Trump and his supporters facing the brunt of online censorship over the last several years‚ Oreskes suggested that it was the opposite and that social media platforms aren’t censoring Trump‚ saying they’re “biting their tongue” because they think Trump will “cut corporate taxes.” Oreskes called upon the elites at the WEF to challenge this and suggested that the private sector should be censoring more. “I really hope that the World Economic Forum will take this issue on board and think harder about the role that the private sector can play in standing up against disinformation‚ even if they might like the fact that that politician would cut their taxes‚” she said. The post World Economic Forum Panelist Harvard Professor Naomi Oreskes Blames Trump for “Disinformation” on Social Media and Asks Private Sector and the WEF To Do Something About It appeared first on Reclaim The Net.

If you're tired of censorship and dystopian threats against civil liberties‚ subscribe to Reclaim The Net. The President of the European Commission‚ Ursula von der Leyen‚ delivered an alarming pro-censorship proclamation at the annual Davos World Economic Forum. She expressed her concern that “misinformation” and polarization in societies pose a serious threat to the international business community. https://video.reclaimthenet.org/articles/wef-2024-ursula-von-der-leyen-public-private-sector-disinformation.mp4 “For the global business community‚ the top concern for the next two years is not conflict or climate‚” she said in her speech to elites. She argued that the bigger problem is “disinformation and misinformation‚ followed closely by polarization within our societies.” Related: Bill Gates Hopes AI Can Reduce “Polarization‚” Save “Democracy‚” Ignores Censorship Implications In her exhortation‚ Leyen said that there needs to be partnerships formed between governments and the private sector to curb “disinformation.” “Many of the solutions lie not only in countries working together but‚ crucially‚ on businesses and governments‚ businesses and democracies working together‚” she said. Leyen suggested that it was especially important as 2024 will be “the biggest electoral year in history.” She added: “Even as the insidious spread of misinformation and disinformation threatens the cohesion of societies‚ there is a risk that some governments will act too slowly‚ facing a trade-off between preventing misinformation and protecting free speech‚ while repressive governments could use enhanced regulatory control to erode human rights.” The post European Commission Chief Ursula von der Leyen Calls for Public-Private Collaboration To Fight 2024 Election “Disinformation” appeared first on Reclaim The Net.

If you're tired of censorship and dystopian threats against civil liberties‚ subscribe to Reclaim The Net. The World Economic Forum (WEF) annual gathering of elected and unelected elites from around the world is once more under way in Switzerland’s Davos‚ and this year AI is unsurprisingly garnering a fair share of attention. More precisely‚ how to harness its power‚ including through new regulation‚ but as one participant‚ DeepLearning.AI founder Andrew Ng put it‚ not of the tech itself‚ but rather of its “applications.” Related: Bill Gates Hopes AI Can Reduce “Polarization‚” Save “Democracy‚” Ignores Censorship Implications A natural stance‚ some may say‚ for a person selling some version of AI. Ng told the WEF that while there is amplification of warnings about problems arising from AI‚ calling them hypothetical‚ and of risk assessments that are sensationalist – what he says as the real potential issues get overlooked. So let’s not vilify AI – but let’s still seek to control‚ i.e.‚ regulate it‚ via “applications.” And here Ng seems to go straight for the sensationalist‚ only under a different pretext‚ mentioning rather broadly defined “systems that can emotionally manipulate people for profit” as something that would be justified to regulate. DeepLearning.AI founder’s opposition to regulating AI tech itself is explained touching on all the right concerns (in terms of hypothetical new rules)‚ such as that they may stand in the way of open source‚ innovation‚ competitiveness. So – let the technology run free‚ supposedly for these noble reasons – but then tighten the screws when it comes to how it can be used. And here‚ Ng wants “AI applications‚” (uses) to be designated according to “degree of risk.” The way to do it is to make this designation “clear” – and at first‚ Ng was doing rather well‚ mentioning “actually risky” cases‚ such as medical devices. But then‚ his “clear” identification becomes muddier‚ and we finally meet our old friend “disinformation” again. According to him‚ “chat systems potentially spewing disinformation” is something that can not only be straight-forwardly identified‚ but is also “actually risky” – and needs to be censored‚ i.e.‚ regulated in a “tiered” manner. Ng is also not a fan of proposals to do this taking into account the size of a model used by an AI project‚ and believes that both small and large ones can be equally dangerous when it comes to the two things he seems “stuck” on – “bad medical advice” and‚ “generating disinformation.” The post Davos Attendee Calls for AI Regulation To Prevent Chatbots From “Potentially Spewing Misinformation” appeared first on Reclaim The Net.