Former Daredevil showrunner and current Marvel Comics writer Steven S. DeKnight has revealed he won't continue to write for the publisher until current editor-in-chief C.B. Cebulski steps down over his controversial past. In a series of tweets, DeKnight explained that he couldn't stand by and work under a man who "climbed to the top through cultural identity theft," referring to Cebulski's controversial past, as he previously used the pseudonym Akira Yoshida, despite being a white man.
After rumors that he previously used the pen name Akira Yoshida, Cebulski admitted he used the pseudonym after being promoted to editor-in-chief at Marvel Comics. There had long been rumors that Cebulski was using the name to write stories while still an editor at Marvel Comics. Cebulski confirmed that was the case in 2017 after a Bleeding Cool report exposed the entire situation. The ensuing conversation that followed the revelation understandably focused on the problem with a white man pretending to be Asian, with equal concern over how Cebulski walked away relatively unscathed, being given a slap on a wrist for a quite pathetic cover-up attempt. The criticism lobbed his way from the Asian community (and beyond) was fair, and despite calls to fire him, Cebulski managed to convince Marvel his past problematic actions were a mistake.
Steven S. DeKnight voiced his concern about Cebulski's past and position at Marvel Comics once alerted of his previous controversy. The former Daredevil showrunner and writer of two titles in the upcoming Wastelanders series questioned how Cebulski could still have a job while calling his actions "completely unacceptable." DeKnight noted that he loves working with Marvel Comics, but finding out about Cebulski's past changed the equation "drastically," adding, "There are so many great editors there. To allow a man who climbed to the top through cultural identity theft to remain in that position is unconscionable."
DeKnight said that despite working for Marvel being a "childhood dream come true," he couldn't in good conscious continue without the issue being resolved. He called on other creators to join him.
It's great to see DeKnight use his platform to push back against Cebulski. Despite Bleeding Cool's report the editor-in-chief of Marvel was reprimanded for his past and previous pen name, in almost any other situation after revealing the truth, he would have been canned. Cebulski didn't just use a pen name, he actively pretended to be an Asian man to get ahead and continued to deceive Marvel, his editors, and co-workers to do so. Sure, he's helped raise the platform of Asian creators and characters since he took on the role, but that doesn't cancel out his past while pretending to be Akira Yoshida. It will be fascinating to see if DeKnight's actions and words will encourage Marvel Comics to do anything. But, considering how they've handled the situation so far, it's doubtful any further discipline is coming to Cebulski, as Marvel probably considers it a closed issue.
The events of Seinfeld encompassed nine years of shenanigans for Jerry and his friends, including Elaine Benes (Julia Louis-Dreyfus), but how old was Elaine at the start and end of the hit series? As it was with the other three main characters, Elaine’s Seinfeld story explored a long list of failed romantic relationships, mishaps at work, and day-to-day, trivial conversations with her friends in Jerry’s apartment.
Seinfeld rarely noted the ages of these four characters, but based on their activities, pop culture references, and interactions in New York City, it was widely assumed that this was a group of thirty-somethings. Occasionally, there were lines in the show that seemingly confirmed their exact ages. For example, Jerry claimed to be 37 years old in a season 3 episode. The issue, though, is that the series was sometimes inconsistent, thus creating a deal of uncertainty over their actual ages.
This problem extends to Elaine, who didn’t have a defined age in the series. Early on, she said that she was in her “early twenties”, but this doesn’t seem to be factual. Instead, it makes more sense that Elaine was closer to 28 years old in season 1. She was known to be the youngest of the group, but not too much younger than Jerry. Jerry, like the actor himself, is thought to have been 35 years old when the show started. It seems highly unlikely that he was more than a decade older than her. Plus, there are signs that the Seinfeld characters have occasionally lied about their ages. It was revealed at one point that Jerry and George Costanza (Jason Alexander) graduated high school together, which would mean that their stated ages should have lined up, but they never did.
In short, Elaine wouldn’t be the only character on the show to be disingenuous about this when she said she was in her “early twenties”. Julia Louis-Dreyfus was 28 years old at the start of the series, so many have come to the conclusion that this was also the character’s age. After all, character and actor ages usually did match up rather closely in Seinfeld, which was the case with Jerry and Kramer (the oldest of the bunch). In any case, Elaine was presumably close to 30. Since the series lasted for nine seasons, that would put her around 37 years old when the show ended, whereas Julia Louis-Dreyfus was 38 years old at the time.
While the rest of the main cast ended their Seinfeld journeys well into their 40s, Elaine’s wrapped up while she was still in her late 30s. As for why there’s such confusion over this aspect of characters like Elaine, many attribute the mystery – and rightly so – to Jerry, Elaine, and George’s well-earned reputation for lying, among many other morally questionable decisions that they made over the course of Seinfeld’s nine-season run.
Whitney Rose recently took to social media to call out The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City co-star Lisa Barlow. Whitney believes that Lisa's behavior towards her has been unkind and hypocritical. Whitney and Lisa's friendship has always seemed to be a rocky one, and the drama between the two has recently become explosive.
During The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City season 1, Whitney and Lisa's relationship was a tense one. When Whitney brought up the fact that she had run out of the tequila Lisa provided for a party of Whitney's, Lisa quickly became defensive. More fuel was thrown into the fire when Whitney told co-star Jen Shah that Lisa had been speaking about Jen's marriage behind her back, and the season 1 drama between Whitney and Lisa finally came to a head during the reunion when Whitney expressed that Lisa's attitude toward her had been condescending. Their issues with one another carried over into RHOSLC season 2 and reached a critical point when Whitney discovered that she is distant cousins with Angie Harrington, an allegedly close friend of Lisa's. At one point, Lisa told Angie that she would "never control who people are friends with," but Lisa asked Angie not to acknowledge Whitney as her family over text and later went so far as to call the two “inbred polygamy cousins.”During a confrontation at a casino event, Angie began to suspect that the catering had been sabotaged by Lisa and claimed that other people suspected the same. Lisa denied the claims that she had anything to do with the catering mishap.
As The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City season 2 episode 4 aired, Whitney began sharing videos of the confrontation involving her, Angie and Lisa. In a clip where Lisa expresses discomfort with the fact that Angie is related to Whitney, almost as though it were something Angie was capable of changing, Whitney tweeted, "Oh yes yes...I have heard it before...Anyone else sensing the hypocrisy???"Whitney continued to criticize Lisa's behavior by once again labeling it as hypocritical, tweeting, "Oh the hypocrisy,"along with a video of Lisa claiming that her friendships with Meredith and Jen was not Angie's business. In addition to calling Lisa hypocritical, Whitney shared a screenshot in which Lisa referred to Whitney as "trash" and addressed Lisa, saying, "Me telling you that I am hurt by the name calling, talking behind my back and trying to get me kicked out of the group is not a character assassination...THIS HOWEVER IS A CHARACTER ASSASSINATION." In another post, Whitney brought up Lisa's condescension towards her, saying, "Not only in her eyes am I not worthy of being in her circle but now I am not even worthy of being a human???" in reference to a clip in which Lisa referring to Whitney as "this" rather than using a personal pronoun.
Whitney's criticisms of Lisa regarding the confrontation between the three did not conclude there. Whitney tweeted several additional comments about Lisa and also quote-tweeted photos of herself and Angie, saying that she is "happy to claim" all of her family members. Whitney continued, calling the entire ordeal "exhausting" and expressing relief in the fact that Lisa admitted to sending the text messages about Whitney to Angie, saying, "OMG FINALLY...She admits it. It’s not to me but I think for now I’ll take it because this is exhausting." When one fan asked how Whitney felt about Lisa telling Angie not to acknowledge Whitney as being her cousin, she replied that while her feelings were hurt, "this is what I have been trying to say for 2 years, I am just satisfied that what has been done in the dark as come to the light."
Regardless of what Lisa may say about the situation, it seems to be obvious that she and Whitney will not be making up anytime soon. Angie coming to the defense of her distant cousin Whitney instead of siding with Lisa proves that bonds made by blood are thicker than bonds made over a mutual love of fast food. Much like Jen, Lisa's dishonesty and tendency to quickly become defensive rather than truly apologizing have been consistent throughout both RHOSLC season 1 as well as season 2. Denying accusations and causing a scene in an effort to avoid addressing any wrongdoing is a common theme with The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City, and while Lisa and Jen seem to excel at the activity, Lisa may have made a mistake in doing so with Whitney, who came prepared with a near excess of receipts and a big family.
The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City airs Sundays at 9pm on Bravo.
Jenny Slatten from 90 Day Fiancé: The Other Way is not happy with Sumit Singh’s mom Sadhna’s latest sly strategy to disrupt their relationship. Ever since their first meeting in 2013, Indian man Sumit and Palm Springs resident Jenny have wanted to get married. The fact that Sumit’s parents Anil and Sadhna didn’t approve of Jenny being 63 didn’t affect the American woman who was blindly in love with the call center employee even after he catfished her and got a secret wife. However, despite Sumit’s divorce, he couldn’t call Jenny his wife due to his mother’s emotional blackmailing. And as Jenny’s future in India looks worrisome than ever, Sadhna has hatched a new plan to ruin the 90 Day Fiancé love story.
Delhi resident Sumit’s dishonesty has always been something that fans have called him out for and in a recent 90 Day Fiancé: The Other Way episode, he revealed that the reason behind him always lying is his mom. As it turns out, Sumit and his household consider Sadhna “the boss” due to whom he learned to either lie or suffer. Having lost her daughter when she was 8 months old, Sadhna filled the hole in her heart with Sumit’s ex-wife who she grew close to. But it was due to Jenny that Sumit divorced the woman. Sumit now thinks that his mother is out to get revenge from him and Jenny for taking her “other daughter” away from her by not accepting their relationship or giving them permission to marry.
In the latest of Sadhna’s endeavors to sabotage Sumit and Jenny’s coupling, she will be moving into their house along with her husband Anil. According to a preview for 90 Day Fiancé: The Other Way episode 7 posted by People
, Sumit, Jenny, Anil, and Sahna are seated at a counselor’s office and the matriarch announces that she wants to stay with Sumit and Jenny to teach the elderly American lady to become an ideal Indian bride. “I want for our entire family to live together,” adds Sadhna, and when Sumit translates her Hindi for Jenny and revealed she wants to “shift,” Jenny’s only reaction to it is “hell no!” Sadhna also tells the counselor that if she thinks Jenny “is capable of being like an Indian daughter-in-law, then I’ll think about it.”
When a producer asks Sadhna what her real motive was behind taking this drastic decision, the mom reveals that she “never got the idea from anywhere,” but that she’s made up her mind that she’ll “live in Sumit’s house.” Sadhna also adds, “I wanted to live with him because I have an attachment to him and Sumit is very attached to me,” but she confesses that she “cannot let go of Sumit, absolutely not.” According to Sumit, his parents are giving them a “chance to prove” that Jenny and he “deserve” each other. “It’s test, you can say that,” Sumit explains and also makes it clear that it’s what he wants as well.
Although Jenny scoffs at the idea, Sumit is happy to get a chance to show his parents how much he’s progressed in life, while at the same time he’s “shocked” and “very nervous” too. Sumit does feel that his mom possibly has a wrong intention to create trouble for him and Jenny. Still, mama’s boy Sumit is taking it as a positive sign without taking Jenny’s opinion into consideration, clearly. It appears that Jenny now has another hurdle to worry about on 90 Day Fiancé: The Other Way. And unless she manages to impress Sadhna with all her might, she might just have to come back to the U.S.A.
Warning! Spoilers ahead for Marvel's What If...? season 1 finale.
Marvel's What If...? season 1's missing Iron Man (Mike Wingert) and Gamora (Cynthia McWilliams) episode being bumped to season 2 creates a storytelling problem. Imagining what the Infinity Saga would look like if one element in it was changed, the MCU's first animated series wrapped up with the introduction of the Guardians of the Multiverse. Like Marvel Studios narrative format in the Sacred Timeline, What If...?'s finale was a culmination of everything that transpired in its first eight episodes.
That meant that what seemed to be standalone arcs all came together as the Watcher (Jeffrey Wright) was forced to intervene once it became clear that the Infinity Stone-wielding Ultron (Ross Marquand) needed to be stopped. After hatching a plan with Doctor Strange Supreme (Benedict Cumberbatch), the cosmic entity scoured the multiverse to assemble the Guardians of the Multiverse which included Captain Carter (Hayley Atwell), T'Challa's Star-Lord (Chadwick Boseman), King Killmonger (Michael B. Jordan), Party Thor (Chris Hemsworth), a variant of Gamora (Cynthia McWilliams), and the evil sorcerer. Each featured hero was previously introduced earlier in the series — except for Gamora who was with Iron Man in Nidavellir when she was recruited for the team.
Understandably, there were questions regarding this partnership as it hasn't been tackled on the Disney+ project before. As it turns out, their episode was pushed to What If...? season 2 after the coronavirus pandemic hampered work on the show. That's a welcome development since many are interested in how exactly the pair came together in the first place. However, this also poses a storytelling problem for Marvel Studios. As seen in What If...? season 1, it seems like each year will end with a culminating event wherein all of its primary characters assemble for a bigger mission. With Gamora already factoring in the Guardians of the Galaxy's first outing as a team, her origins story with Space Iron Man could feel out of place in the bigger scheme of things in season 2.
The creators behind the animated series have been vocal about what fans can expect from What If...? season 2. While its debut year focused on revisiting the Infinity Saga, its subsequent narratives will be more inclusive of Phase 4 scenarios. That means that storylines focusing on Shang-Chi from Shang-Chi and the Legends of the Ten Rings and Eternals from the upcoming Eternals film will more likely happen. As exciting as this, it would only further highlight how out of place Iron Man and Gamora's episode will be in the broader sense. That's assuming that at the end of season 2, various universes will once again come together for a culminating storyline. Otherwise, Marvel Studios can just leave their outing out entirely. After all, fans know the backstory about why it has been delayed to What If...? season 2 anyway.
In any case, it's clear that viewers are eager to learn about Iron Man and Gamora's universe, especially since What If...? has made a habit of killing the former in every episode that he was featured. The aforementioned missing outing sounds like it's the only story in the show thus far that won't see the death of Tony Stark. Given his survival, it's curious if there's any future for him past his upcoming Sakaar adventures with Thanos' adopted daughter.
Apple TV+'s Ted Lasso has been one of the biggest surprises in recent television history. The sports sitcom quickly became beloved by fans not for its depiction of Premier League football, but for its quirky characters, its wholesome humor, and its commitment to all things kindness in a television landscape filled with cynicism.
With season 2, however, Ted Lasso has consistently revealed that there is much more to the show than what viewers may have initially expected. Season 1 has been beloved by fans and critics alike since it was first released in 2020, but it just might be the case that the series' sophomore season is even better.
10 Characters Are More Fully Explored
Most shows spend a good deal of time establishing their universe, and their main characters, in their first seasons. It's only in a potential second season that supporting characters are really given their time to shine, and Ted Lasso is no exception to this trend.
Season 2 starts off right off the bat with incredible character development for characters like Dani Rojas, who is forced to reconsider his "football is life" attitude after a shocking accident, and Isaac McAdoo, who has just become the team's new captain in the wake of Roy Kent's retirement.
9 Jamie Tartt Grows Up
Even in the world of sitcoms, characters who function primarily as sources of conflict are common. In season 1, Jamie Tartt filled this role incredibly well. The show makes it clear that Jamie has always been used to being the best of the best, and only ever looks out for number one.
But season 2 gradually pulls the layers back on Jamie's character, revealing the abuse he suffered at the hands of his father. Although he may still not be the most likable character in Ted Lasso, Jamie undergoes an incredibly emotional journey in season 2, learning how to put petty feuds aside and becoming a real team player.
8 The Pub Regulars Got Shine
The pub The Crown & Anchor features prominently in Ted Lasso from the beginning of the series. Not only do Ted and his friends and colleagues frequently dine there, but the pub has a real devoted social scene of AFC Richmond fans who watch every game there. Three patrons - Baz, Jeremy, and Paul - have emerged as real fan favorites.
The three men are incredibly vocal and loyal both in their Richmond fandom, but also in their friendship. Season 2 allows their characters to feature more prominently, particularly in the memorable episode "Beard After Hours," where they get to experience a dream come true by running around Nelson Road when the pitch is empty.
7 Roy And Keeley's Relationship
Ted Lasso the character isn't the only one who believes in "rom-communism." The development of the relationship between the surly Roy Kent and the bubbly Keeley Jones shows that Ted Lasso the series believes in "rom-communism," too. Opposites do tend to attract, especially in the world of the sitcom, but Roy and Keeley have never once been a conventional sitcom couple.
Time and again, these two have faced what seem to be stereotypical sitcom tropes - the threat of a looming love triangle, insecurities over work/life balance - and each time, they come away stronger than before. Ted Lasso has allowed Roy and Keeley to become one of the series' strongest storylines, all without taking focus away from any other integral part of the series.
6 The Christmas Episode
It may have taken viewers by surprise when Ted Lasso featured a Christmas episode in the middle of its summer-airing season. But Ted Lasso's Christmas episode, "Carol of the Bells," is not just one of season 2's best episodes, but one of the series' best episodes overall. The sweet, low-stress adventure episode highlights much of what makes Ted Lasso work so well.
No one is allowed to be alone or lonely on Christmas in the Ted Lasso universe. Everyone has a place and a purpose, whether coming together for a multicultural holiday feast at the Higgins home, or bringing toys to children in need. Sitcom Christmas episodes can be hit or miss, but "Carol of the Bells" goes far beyond the familiar holiday tropes.
5 Expectations Are Routinely Subverted
On multiple occasions, Season 2 sets up new storylines and teases reveals that would be expected of a lesser, more obvious sitcom. But almost every time, Ted Lasso finds new, refreshing ways to challenge the viewers' expectations, and redefine sitcom conventions in the process.
Rebecca connects online with an anonymous suitor. But is it Ted like viewers would believe, based on sitcom history? Of course not, as it's Sam, one of the team's star players. Likewise, when Jamie foolishly professes his love to Keeley during Rebecca's father's funeral, does it result in a messy reconnection and love triangle? Absolutely not. Instead, it leads to Jamie healing his fractured bond with Roy, and Roy and Keeley's relationship growing stronger.
4 Dr. Sharon's Presence
Introducing a therapy narrative into a series is something that has to be done carefully, for more than one reason. Mental health discussions are incredibly sensitive and vitally important, especially in the modern era of television and the increased focus on representation. But on the other hand, therapy sessions can get pretty talky, and lean heavily into the telling rather than showing.
By introducing the team psychiatrist Dr. Sharon, however, Ted Lasso finds a character who needs analysis just as much as she provides it. In fact, Dr. Sharon even has her own therapist. Through her conversations with Ted, in particular, Dr. Sharon imparts the kind of wisdom and profound emotional truths not often found in sitcoms, which often shy away from these sensitive, but true-to-life experiences.
3 Sam Obisanya's Rise
Few characters have as incredible a journey in season 2 of Ted Lasso as the beloved Sam Obisanya does. There is barely a moment of Sam's jam-packed narrative in the series that feels wasted. He takes on a protest against team sponsor Dubai Air when he learns of their destructive influences in his home of Nigeria, showing his moral character.
As the season progresses, Sam finds love in his unexpected romance with Rebecca, which also emboldens him to further prioritize his own needs and his journey. When he is sought after by a wealthy Ghanian businessman to serve as a key player in his new football team, Sam instead rejects this offer and further settles into his leadership role with AFC Richmond, even launching into a new business venture by planning to open a Nigerian restaurant.
2 Ted's Backstory Is Explored
Ted Lasso is a character who has so much more going on inside than anyone would ever imagine based on his sunny disposition. Although best known for his puns, his impossible enthusiasm for everything in life, and his genuine appreciation for everyone he comes across, Ted struggles with the long-lasting effects of a profound trauma he endured in his youth: his father's suicide.
Season 2 finds Ted further struggling with his own anxiety, having panic attacks and other anxious episodes, while also trying to reckon with his complicated feelings about his father's death, for which he blames both his father and himself. This devastating reveal adds new, profound levels of nuance to Ted's cheery demeanor, and to Jason Sudeikis's Emmy-winning performance.
1 It's Not Afraid To Get Deeper And Darker
Season 2 of Ted Lasso has frequently been compared to Star Wars' original sequel film, Empire Strikes Back. There is a new mentor character introduced (Dr. Sharon/Yoda), and there are shocking reveals about the main character's father (Ted's father's suicide/Darth Vader's identity). Overall, the tone is much darker and more serious.
Even the season's ending feels ominous, in the same way, that the ending of Empire Strikes Back does. There is a new threat looming in the form of Nate Shelley, a character the series has taken on an unexpected, completely believable journey from underdog to villain in just two seasons. Ted Lasso may not be the same happy, easy comfort show that it was for so many in season 1, but season 2 proves that the show can masterfully switch tones and genres.
They are invisible to the naked eye, but can leave a streak of light across an astronomer’s telescope. Above our heads, the constellation of small satellites orbiting the Earth is expanding every month. Often no bigger than a fridge, they are part of a new space race as rivals compete to beam broadband internet to the hardest-to-reach places on Earth.
The frontrunners are Starlink, backed by US tech entrepreneur Elon Musk, and OneWeb, which is part- owned by the British taxpayer. The latter’s plan to build a network of 650 satellites is a centrepiece of the UK’s space strategy, unveiled in September.
In 2020, OneWeb was facing insolvency and the government was persuaded to rescue it. To Boris Johnson it was a gift from the heavens. The UK had been bounced by Brexit from the European Union’s Galileo satellite project, and there was Dominic Cummings, technology wonk and chief adviser, touting the network as a pathway back into space.
OneWeb at the time was focused on using satellites to provide accurate positioning information for anything from smartphone maps to emergency services tracking.
Johnson’s splurging of £400m of taxpayer money on a 20% stake was seen by Cummings as a perfect example of the high-risk, high-reward investment the government needed to avoid being left in the technological slow lane. Others called it a nonsensical gamble of public money and “nationalism trumping solid industrial policy”. Some experts suggested Britain had “bought the wrong satellites”. OneWeb’s lower Earth orbit internet satellites were, they said, inferior to higher-orbiting positioning systems such as Galileo, America’s GPS and Russia’s Glonass.
But now, with demand for satellite broadband exploding, Britain may – perhaps inadvertently – have bought itself a prime seat in another innovative yet fledgling space industry.
Rejuvenated OneWeb has attracted investment from Japan’s Softbank, the US’s Hughes Network Systems and India’s Bharti Enterprises. Bharti is the largest shareholder, with 38.6%, while the UK has sold down from 45% to 19.3%, on a par with Softbank and France’s Eutelsat, which is planning a further £120m injection this month.
OneWeb and Starlink are the only broadband operators to have actually placed satellites into space, and OneWeb is poised to provide a blanket of fast internet access, particularly to remote areas. The problem, analysts say, is that Johnson, who just weeks ago unveiled the UK’s ambitious new space strategy – promptly dubbed Galactic Britain – has yet to see its potential.
“When the UK withdrew from Galileo, we lost access to certain types of service that were essential for our national infrastructure,” said Marek Ziebart, professor of space geodesy at University College London. “The government tried to spin OneWeb as a cheap and quick way of delivering PNT [positioning, navigation and timing] services, and that was just a very bad idea. They haven’t let go of this idea yet.”
The flipside, he says, is that with 322 OneWeb satellites already in orbit and its constellation almost half complete, the UK is well positioned to cash in on a lucrative and geopolitically advantageous broadband market.
“Once you’ve started to occupy a part of space by launching satellites, it’s rather like the wild west land grab: other people are going to find it much harder to operate there as well,” Ziebart said. “You can see lots of people lining up to try to launch that kind of technology [and] it would put the UK in a technologically leading position if it all works. It’s in the UK government’s interest to have access to that kind of communications infrastructure. From a space policy perspective, getting a slice of the low Earth orbit communications satellite paradigm is really sensible, because that is the new paradigm.”
Washington State-based Starlink, with the resources of Musk and the entire SpaceX fleet at its disposal, has stolen a march on rivals, including Amazon’s Kuiper project. It has launched almost 1,800 satellites, has approval for another 10,000, and has submitted an application for a constellation of 42,000 – all while everyone but OneWeb is still on the ground.
Possible clients for satellite broadband could be those dodging censorship in regimes such as North Korea and Afghanistan
Starlink is also the only operator to have developed a functional ground terminal to process signals from space into an internet service of up to 300Mbps, which Musk says is on schedule to finish its year-long beta testing stage this month. It expects to offer a mobile version of its fixed-location receiver, nicknamed Dishy McFlatface, by the end of the year.
The Kuiper project, meanwhile, with a $10bn investment from Jeff Bezos, has federal approval for 3,236 satellites, and in April signed a contract with United Launch Alliance for its first nine deployment flights, on dates yet to be determined. Other projects include a 13,000-strong constellation from China; a micro-satellite venture from the private company Astranis that is targeting Alaska; and Telesat, a Canadian company that won a CA$1.44bn (£841m) government grant for its planned 298-satellite network.
The EU is investigating launching a constellation to provide satellite broadband by 2024. “We cannot have the first service in 2040. If we do that, we are dead,” Jean-Marc Nasr, head of Airbus Space Systems, who is leading a feasibility study, told the European Space Conference in January. Last month, however, the Sunday Telegraph reported that Brussels was mulling its own investment in OneWeb, raising the prospect of the EU joining the existing UK-Indian consortium to take on Starlink.
Yet even OneWeb, with secured investment already close to $5bn, is unlikely to be able to match Starlink, and eventually Kuiper, for scope, wealth or size of client base.
Nor is it trying to. OneWeb chief executive Neil Masterson told CNBC he believed the demand for satellite broadband could support several vendors. “There are some areas where we will compete, but governments will always buy more than one service,” he said. “Multiple players will be able to be successful in addressing their market.”
Satellite broadband has also attracted criticism. Astronomers and environmentalists are angry at light pollution from satellites in low orbit, and trackers of space debris point to vastly increased collision risks. Ziebart’s students modelled a 10-year scenario showing an alarming spike in the numbers of orbiting satellites.
Professor John Crassidis of the University at Buffalo, who advises Nasa on space junk, said: “We already monitor some 23,000 objects of softball size and bigger. To add to that many more satellites is going to be an issue in terms of collision avoidance.”
But the market appears limitless. One possible client group, highlighted by business website Quartz, could be those wishing to circumvent censorship in regimes such as North Korea and Afghanistan. More traditional customers would include emergency services, the military, agriculture and the cruise industry – anyone seeking fast internet access where wired connections are unavailable.
Cummings, architect of the government’s investment in OneWeb, is long gone from government, but with Britain’s space industry worth £16bn a year and 45,000 jobs, Johnson has no reason to pull back from OneWeb.
At some point in life, you have probably enjoyed a 'flow' state – when you're so intensely focused on a task or activity, you experience a strong sense of control, a reduced awareness of your environment and yourself, and a minimized sense of the passing of time.
It's also possible to experience 'team flow', such as when playing music together, competing in a sports team, or perhaps gaming. In such a state, we seem to have an intuitive understanding with others as we jointly complete the task at hand.
An international team of neuroscientists now thinks they have uncovered the neural states unique to team flow, and it appears that these differ both from the flow states we experience as individuals, and from the neural states typically associated with social interaction.
"In individual flow, the brain shuts down external stimuli that are unrelated to the task. In team flow, the brain still shuts down external stimuli except for the information about the flow state of the teammate. Hence, the team brains start to synchronize more," neuroscientist Mohammad Shehata, who co-authored the study, told ScienceAlert.
Our brains are made up of billions of neurons that give off electrical output when they fire, and these collective electrical signals can be aligned to certain frequencies.
Some examples of the frequencies are alpha, beta, and gamma, which are measured in hertz (Hz) or cycles per second. Typically, these different frequency bands are present when we perform certain cognitive tasks, and this is the type of neural activity the researchers were investigating.
Participants' neural activity was measured using an electroencephalography (EEG) machine, where electrodes are placed on the cranium, detecting activity happening within the brain.
In the main phase of the experiment, 38 participants were asked to play a game similar to Guitar Hero on an iPad, where you tap on the screen in sync with the rhythm-based cues of a song; they worked in pairs, and the researchers prioritized pairing up two friends wherever possible.
The research team devised three conditions for the trial; in one, participants played the game while separated from their partner by a black foam-board partition, giving the researchers data on the brain when in an 'individual' flow state. In the second condition, people played the game with a partner, but every now and again the researchers would play discordant music to disrupt the flow.
In the third condition, labeled as 'team flow', the participants played the game together with their partner. The music sequence they had to play on their iPads was identical in all tasks, to minimize any cognitive load.
To ensure participants actually entered a state of flow in the desired conditions, researchers employed two techniques. On a subjective level, after completing the task in one condition, participants would then have to rate certain statements like 'I felt in control while playing this trial', and 'How time flies during this trial'.
Going further, the research team also wanted to gain an objective measure of the participants' flow state, something that's notoriously difficult in flow studies.
"We utilized the intense task-related attention and the reduced sense of external awareness dimensions of flow, and the well-known effect of selective attention on the auditory evoked potential (AEP)," they write in the study.
"During each trial, we presented task-irrelevant beeps to the participants. The more the participants were immersed in the game, the weaker the strength of the AEP in response to the task-irrelevant beeps."
So what characterized the brains of participants when they were in a state of team flow?
Researchers found increased beta and gamma brain wave activity in the left middle temporal cortex. This region of the brain is typically associated with information integration and key functions like attention, memory, and awareness, which are "consistent with higher team interactions and enhancing many flow dimensions", the team writes.
However, what was unique about team flow, was that participants' neural activity appeared to synchronize. When participants were performing the task as a unit, their brains would mutually align in their neural oscillations (beta and gamma activity), creating a "hyper-cognitive state between the team members".
If brains can be functionally connected through inter-brain synchrony, does this mean it is not only our brain that contributes to our consciousness? It's a curious question, but the authors warn it is much too soon to tell.
"Based on our findings, we cannot conclude that the high value of integrated information correlates with a modified form of consciousness, for instance, 'team consciousness'," they write.
"Its consistency with neural synchrony raises intriguing and empirical questions related to inter-brain synchrony and information integration and altered state of consciousness."
Rockstar this week revealed the game's worst secret: remakes of Grand Theft Auto 3, Vice City, and San Andreas.
In addition, Rockstar has confirmed its plan to remove the original version from all digital retailers on PCs and consoles starting next week and to replace it in several storefronts with Grand Theft Auto: The Trilogy - The Definitive Edition.
The decision to remove these classics is a blow to video game preservation and obviously bad for player selection, but Rockstar is unlikely to be giving up - at least not anytime soon.
And so fans flocked to Steam to show people buying the original before they lost their chance - probably forever.
"Before you leave Steam, make sure your ass has a triple," wrote Pink Diamond in a GTA 3 Steam review. "Buy this to be removed next week," GrunkleBran said in a review on Vice City Steam.
"Buy it before you remove it," User Park said in a review on San Andreas Steam.
Game owner fans use Steam rating to say goodbye. One of them was particularly interesting to me, from a Steam user with an incredible 2780 hours recorded with San Andreas:
"I have to say all the time I've been playing this game in terms of speed and mode etc it's the best game I've ever played in a GTA game. Great, good world and a lot of work too." do and find. "
Steam Dime user wrote in the GTA 3 review: "Hello old friend." Rockstar is removing you from Steam so the Definitive Edition can make money for you. Thanks for your memories ... "
GTA 3 is 20 years old, Vice City is 19, and San Andreas is 17 years old. The games currently available for download on Steam, PlayStation Store, and Xbox Marketplace are not the original versions. For example, the San Andreas version for sale in the Xbox Download Store is the Xbox 360 version, which is backwards compatible with the Xbox One, Xbox Series X, and S. The Vice City version that can be downloaded from the PlayStation Store is the PlayStation 2 version that has been converted for the PlayStation 4. You need a PS2 and a physical version of each game to get the real core experience, and Rockstar won't do anything next week. Avoid getting people on eBay. In the Rockstars announcement, Grand Theft Auto: The Trilogy - The Definitive Edition will be available for the PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox X and S series, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch and Rockstar Games Launcher. Steam has not specifically mentioned it and is proposing to remove the original version from the Valves platform and not replace it with anything else.
Rockstar warns that earlier versions and packages of these games will be removed from digital retailers starting October 11th. We don't know the exact date it was created, but if you're interested, today is your last day to shop digitally.
Anyone who has bought one of the previous versions can of course download them after deleting them and run them on their shopping platform.
The popular WhatsApp messaging app is currently developing a new feature of the app that will allow users to "pause" while voice messaging.
WhatsApp is working on an update to improve in-app messaging performance, according to WABeta.
What is special about this function?
The expected update will be very useful for WhatsApp users as they will no longer have to pause, delete and re-record new messages.
Instead, the new feature allows users to stop the audio recording by tapping the pause button and resume recording from where they left off. This feature has been observed in the development of WhatsApp updates for iOS. This app is now also available for Android.
