Nearly 15 years worth of hard-won pollution reduction efforts are set to be undone in the United States, as a wave of data centers powered by gas plants enters construction.
That’s according to a new analysis by the Sierra Club, first reported by Bloomberg, which notes that the US energy grid is expected to belch out 2.1 billion metric tons of carbon dioxide by 2030, assuming the country’s currently-planned AI developments enter operation as scheduled.
That’s a massive rise compared to even 2025 — itself a near-record year for US carbon emissions. If the AI industry and its data center developers get their way, the analysis found, emissions will likely skyrocket by 42 percent over the five-year period, an expected increase of 618 million tons compared to 2025.
“The numbers continue to sort of boggle our minds,” the Sierra Club’s principal advisor for climate and energy Jeremy Fisher told Bloomberg.
Due to major bottlenecks in the electrical grid, many data center developers have opted for on- or near-site power plants, which are overwhelmingly fueled by noxious fossil fuels. Projects like Elon Musk’s 1.2 gigawatt data center near Memphis are already choking out residents with fleets of methane generators, which legal experts say flaunt all kinds of local permitting and federal environmental regulations.
Still, for anybody banking on having clean air to breathe, there is some hope. The number of data center projects at risk of cancellation is rising precipitously as time goes on — driven by grass roots organizing and increasing financial pressures.
So if you’re one of the many activists mounting opposition to data centers in your community, just know that the benefits of a cancelled hyperscale facility extend far beyond your backyard.
More on data centers: Thieves Are Making a Fortune Heisting AI Data Center Equipment
South Korean researchers have developed a software technology that blocks neighbors from peeking at a foldable phone screen by exploiting the reflection that appears between the two displays when the device is folded halfway like a laptop. Because it requires only software on commercially available foldable phones—no special films or extra components—observers say it could be commercialized as a smartphone security feature.
POSTECH announced on the 10th that Professor Hwang In-seok and master’s student Lee Kyu-sik of its Department of Computer Science and Engineering, working with Professor Han Joon of KAIST’s School of Computing, developed the privacy protection technology “Fold2Unfold,” which uses screen reflections. The results were presented at ACM UIST 2026, an international academic conference on user interfaces held in Detroit from November 2 to 5, and received a Best Demo Award. The honor is given to only six of the 127 demos accepted and presented at the main conference—one top prize and five awards of excellence.
So-called “shoulder-surfing attacks”—stealing passwords or personal information by peering over someone’s shoulder at their screen on public transit and in other public places—have recently emerged as a social problem. Privacy films sold on the market narrow the viewing angle of a screen, but they have a limitation: they cannot block the gaze of someone standing directly behind or pressed close to the side.
The research team focused on the fact that when a foldable phone is folded halfway like a laptop, light from one screen reflects off the opposite screen like a mirror. The core of the technology is turning this reflection—normally an annoyance—into a means of hiding information. Fold2Unfold splits a single number into two images and displays them on the two screens. Each image, viewed on its own, is a fragment that cannot be interpreted.
Only when the directly viewed image and the reflected image align precisely does the original number become readable to the user’s eyes. From any other angle, the two images fall out of alignment and appear as a jumbled pattern. The team corrected the problem of the reflected image appearing darker than the real one so that the two blend into a single, natural-looking screen. To keep the screen readable even when the user moves their head slightly, the smartphone’s front camera tracks the user’s eye position in real time and calculates the folding angle, adjusting the position and shape of the two images accordingly.
The performance gap was clear in experiments. With conventional protective films, most numbers could still be read even from 30 degrees to the side, but with Fold2Unfold, numbers became nearly unrecognizable just 7.5 degrees off the user’s line of sight. Assuming the phone is viewed from a distance of 35 centimeters, that corresponds to a difference of about 4.6 centimeters. In effect, the screen cannot be read unless someone is looking from within the user’s own face space. In an experiment recreating PIN entry, nearby observers could identify an average of only 0.65 of the 10 keypad digits.
Category
Conventional privacy film
Fold2Unfold
Angle at which screen is readable
Most numbers readable even at 30 degrees to the side
Unreadable when 7.5 degrees off the user’s line of sight
Deviation at 35cm viewing distance
About 20cm
About 4.6cm
Digits identified by bystanders during PIN entry
Most identified
Average of 0.65 out of 10
Additional hardware
Requires attaching film
None (software implementation)
Note: Angle and distance figures are based on the experimental conditions disclosed by the research team.
The technology could be useful when handling personal information, such as entering a mobile banking password or checking sensitive messages. In particular, because it is implemented purely in software without extra components, observers say foldable phone makers may adopt it as a default security feature. The growth of the foldable phone market—with larger exposed screen areas and more varied use cases in the folded state—is also cited as a backdrop for broadening the technology’s applications.
Lee Kyu-sik, a POSTECH master’s student and the paper’s first author, explained, “The goal was to let users read the screen normally while making it hard for people around them to make it out. We focused on keeping the screen looking natural even as eye position or folding angle changes.” Professor Hwang said, “It is meaningful that we turned the screen reflection, which was considered a nuisance, into a means of protecting user information. I hope this serves as a catalyst for more active privacy protection research that leverages the physical characteristics of devices.”
NAGDADALANG-TAO na ang dating dancer sa show ni Willie Revillame na si Lea Carla Santos, o mas kilala bilang si Luningning.
Kasabay ng pagdiriwang ng kanyang 43rd birthday, ibinandera ni Luningning na nadadalang-tao na siya sa unang anak nila ng asawang si John Gonzaga.
Sa pamamagitan ng Facebook, masayang ibinahagi ng dating choreographer at dancer ng dating noontime show ni Willie na “Wowowee” ang good news.
Kalakip ang mga litrato niya kung saan makikita ang kanyang baby bump, sinabi ni Luningning na isang napakalaking blessing ang ibinigay sa kanya ng Diyos.
“At 43, life has given me the most beautiful miracle — the blessing of becoming a mom for the first time.
“A dream I never imagined would unfold this way, but God’s timing is always perfect,” mababasa sa caption ng FB post ng dancer.
Pagpapatuloy niya, “My heart is full of gratitude for His love, grace, and this precious gift growing inside me.
Baka Bet Mo: Willie Revillame rumesbak sa dating intern: Bata ka pa lang, siraulo ka na!
“This birthday feels more meaningful than ever, as I celebrate not only another year of life, but the beautiful new chapter God has written for me.
“Thank You, Lord, for this miracle. My greatest blessing is yet to come,” mensahe pa niya.
Ikinasal sina Luningning at John Gonzaga noong 2024 at una nilang in-announce na magiging mommy at daddy na sila noong September.
“Our family is growing, and our hearts are full. Thank You, Lord, for this answered prayer,” ang post ni Luningning sa socmed.
Nitong nagdaang buwan, nagdaos ng intimate gender reveal ang mag-asawa kung saan ibinandera nila na they expecting a baby boy.
“The sweetest reveal of our greatest blessing,” ang post ni Luningning.
“Thank you to my family for all the love, and a special thanks to my sister @alleahsantos and tatay for arranging our gender reveal! So grateful for you all!” aniya pa.
Nakilala at sumikat si Luningning sa “Wowowee” kasama ang kapwa dancers na sina Milagring at Mariposa.
Matapos mawala ang naturang programa, nagtuluy-tuloy lang siya sa pagsasayaw at naging fitness instructor, choreographer, pole at aerial dance instructor.
Siya rin ang may-ari at managing director ng Stardanz Fitness Studio.
The post Luningning, ex-dancer ni Willie, ibinandera pagbubuntis sa edad 43: MIRACLE! appeared first on Bandera.
Vice President Sara Duterte received P64,194.72 from the Davao City government in January 2023 as payment for salary differentials dating back to her previous terms as mayor, a defense witness said on Tuesday.
Grab Philippines recently officially launched GrabCar, GrabFood, GrabMart, GrabExpress, and its digital payment services in Puerto Princesa, in partnership with the City Government and the City Tourism Office.
LOS ANGELES — Grand Theft Auto has never been much for following the rules.
Nearly three decades after a video game built around stealing cars, outrunning police and embracing criminal mayhem first arrived, the franchise has survived controversy, transformed open-world gaming and become one of the biggest sellers in entertainment.
Now, after a 13-year wait since its last main instalment, Grand Theft Auto VI is preparing for another big score. The latest chapter arrives Nov 19 with a return to the neon-soaked streets of Vice City with two protagonists.
For longtime fans, GTA VI is a highly anticipated return. For everyone else, here’s what to know about the blockbuster video game, its characters and the enormous business riding on its release.
Why is Grand Theft Auto such a big deal?
The franchise began in 1997 as a relatively simple, top-down game that allowed players to roam fictional cities, steal vehicles, evade police and commit crimes.
The release of Grand Theft Auto III in 2001 helped redefine open-world gaming. It gave players greater freedom to explore a sprawling three-dimensional city, pursue missions and interact with their surroundings.
Later installments expanded that freedom with larger environments, cinematic storytelling, social satire and detailed worlds. The influence reached far beyond games about stealing cars.
Ubisoft’s Assassin’s Creed series brought open-world exploration to historical settings, while Bethesda’s The Elder Scrolls games expanded their own longstanding tradition of open-ended fantasy role-playing.
Nintendo’s The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild later emphasised experimentation and discovery, allowing players to use the environment itself to solve problems.
For Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas and Grand Theft Auto V, Rockstar Games recruited real-life gang members to help bring authenticity to background characters and dialogue.
Former writer and audio director Lazlow Jones has said some performers challenged scripted lines, prompting developers to let them use language drawn from their own experiences.
That attention to detail helped create the sense of a living world that became a hallmark of the franchise, even as the series drew criticism for its depictions of violence, crime and women.
But controversy did not stop the franchise’s commercial rise.
According to publisher Take-Two Interactive, the franchise has sold more than 470 million units worldwide. Grand Theft Auto V, released in 2013, accounts for more than 230 million of those units and reached US$1 billion (S$1.2 billion) in retail sales in just three days.
Its online multiplayer component, Grand Theft Auto Online, has helped keep players engaged through years of updates, new activities and in-game purchases.
A billboard for the video game “Grand Theft Auto VI” is pictured above Hollywood Blvd. on Nov 4, in Los Angeles. PHOTO: Associated Press
What’s the story behind Grand Theft Auto VI?
This time, the action returns to Vice City, Rockstar’s fictional version of Miami, and expands across the surrounding state of Leonida, a Florida-inspired setting filled with beaches, highways, nightlife and criminal enterprises.
At the centre are Lucia Caminos and Jason Duval, a couple trying to improve their circumstances through a life of crime. Lucia has recently been released from prison while Jason, a former soldier who became involved with drug runners in the Leonida Keys, is looking for a different path.
Their plans become more complicated when a seemingly straightforward criminal job goes wrong, drawing them into a conspiracy that stretches across Leonida.
The trailers suggest a story mixing romance, robberies, betrayals and the series’ familiar satirical take on American culture.
Rockstar has revealed several supporting characters, including bank robber Raul Bautista, aspiring music executive Dre’Quan Priest and nightclub owner Boobie Ike.
Who’s in the cast?
Rockstar has kept much of the voice cast under wraps, including the performers behind Lucia and Jason.
One familiar actor has confirmed his involvement: Stephen Root, known for his work in Office Space, King of the Hill and Barry. He told The Associated Press in September that he appears in the game, adding that fans had already recognised his distinctive voice in promotional footage.
Root has been identified in reports as the voice of Brian Heder, an aging drug runner operating out of the Leonida Keys. Rockstar has introduced the character but has not publicly confirmed Root’s casting in that specific role.
What makes this instalment different?
Beyond the return to Vice City, one of the biggest changes is the focus on two protagonists whose relationship drives the story.
Grand Theft Auto V featured three playable main characters. The new instalment centres on Lucia and Jason as partners navigating the criminal underworld together.
Rockstar has promoted a larger, more detailed setting that stretches beyond the city into the wider state of Leonida. The game also arrives in a vastly different technological landscape from its predecessor, with newer consoles capable of supporting more elaborate environments and character interactions.
But not every detail is known. Rockstar has offered trailers and promotional previews, while questions remain about the full range of activities, how the game’s systems will work and the future of its online multiplayer experience.
What about the music?
Music has long been part of Grand Theft Auto’s identity. It has included everything from fictional radio stations to the songs accompanying players as they cruise through the game’s cities.
Grand Theft Auto VI is expanding that tradition with an original score by Justice, the Grammy-winning French electronic duo of Gaspard Auge and Xavier de Rosnay.
Rockstar says the score adapts to players’ actions and experiences throughout the game, shifting with the environments and situations they encounter.
A 30-track score album is scheduled for Dec 11, featuring collaborations with artists including Tame Impala, SZA, King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard and Gesaffelstein.
The game also features in-game radio stations and a separate collection of original songs, continuing the franchise’s connection to popular music.
Angelina Jolie has arrived in the Philippines ahead of the 2026 ASEAN Inclusive Growth Summit, where she is set to join prominent personalities and regional leaders in discussions on economic development and inclusive growth.
The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) on Tuesday said the Philippine government is not picking fights with China amid tensions in the West Philippine Sea (WPS).
Microsoft just filed a patent for an AI product that would be able to transform live video in real time to alter speakers’ words and faces.
The patent, as first flagged by patent-tracker Patentlyze, is described by its inventors as a “near real-time artificial intelligence (AI) enhancement of video or augmented reality (AR) presentations of live events.”
Using AI agents, the system would identify and alter or remove certain words, while editing a speaker’s face and mouth to match. The agents would rely on set parameters or user profiles to make the changes, and would also edit the video and audio just before and after a removed or replaced word to allow for “smooth transitions.”
In an era of media and the internet increasingly defined by AI-fueled deepfakes, disinformation, and information-muddling slop, the system described in this patent may represent a new world of filtering tools that subtly alter reality as it takes place, in this case on a highly-personalized level. Viewers, the patent suggests, could consume whatever live event they want to without hearing what they don’t want to hear.
The potential use cases floated in the patent vary. One possible application is real-time translation, with the system allowing for broadcasts and other live footage to be both heard and seen in a viewer’s preferred language.
The patent also posits that such a tool could be used to remove filler words like “um” or “ah” from live speech, or to erase stutters or speech impediments.
Other possible use cases, though, go much further. According to the patent, the system could be used to cut down on “personal words or phrases” like “coined terms,” as well as “colloquial terms” like the term “y’all” or the phrase “bite the bullet.” The patent also claims that the system could eliminate “mumbled words, mispronounced words, misused words, misspoken words, offensive words, insensitive words, or inappropriate words.” Replacement words, it adds, may come from an “internet search.”
In other words, live broadcasts may not be so live anymore after all.
Microsoft didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
Dubbing has existed for ages, and video footage is edited all the time, both for normal and for insidious reasons. Automatically editing live videos in this way with the help of AI agents, however, could change how audiences fundamentally engage with live footage. As it stands, if people don’t like what they hear, they can simply turn something off; the system outlined by Microsoft describes an environment where people can instead adjust someone else’s speech to their personal taste. Language translation aside, does using a tool that eliminates errors, or erases words and phrases associated with a speaker’s local dialect, move us further into personalized bubbles? What’s so bad about hearing someone from the South say “y’all?”
To that end, the patent does mention that an event’s original live video and audio may be recorded and stored for the sake of “ground truth,” nodding to potential misuse and confusion that could arise from such a tool.
The kinds of live footage that could be transformed by the system include lectures, presentations, a range of television productions — awards ceremonies, game and cooking shows — and live sports, among several others.
More on Big Tech patents:Meta Patents Technology to Detect Your Mood by Constantly Analyzing Your Tone of Voice
