Who are the Highest Impact Players in Your Organization?
The people who contribute the most think differently from the rest.Continued here �  S5S3� S7S34� S69S11� S39S8� S12S45Shamanism: what you need to know about the fastest-growing 'religion' in England and Wales
According to the latest census, an unlikely “religion” is growing in popularity across England and Wales: shamanism. Just 650 people said they subscribed to the belief system in 2011, but that figure has increased more than tenfold over the past decade to 8,000 people in 2022. This makes shamanism the countries’ fastest-growing religion. So what exactly is it?
Although not an organised religion, shamanism has been around for thousands of years. We don’t know the exact place or moment that shamanism entered human consciousness, but we do know that it has inspired our art, technology and medicine.
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� S6S9S67S7053 years later, a big 'Doctor Who' pivot might get retconned into earlier episodes
In 1970, "Spearhead from Space," created a new standard for Who. Here's how it impacts the rest of the canon, in reverse.
Although Doctor Who didn’t start airing in color until January 3, 1970, with “Spearhead From Space,” one rumor suggests the earliest Who episodes will be colorized for the 60th-anniversary celebrations this year. Here’s why the moment in 1970 when Who went color in the first place was such a big deal and why colorizing even earlier episodes might be awesome.
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S66'Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty' is Team Ninja's new dark fantasy action epic — what to know
The Souls-like genre has exploded in popularity in recent years, from Elden Ring wracking up dozens of Game of the Year awards in 2022, to even games like Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order borrowing heavily from the genre. Outside of FromSoftware itself, Koei Tecmo has been one of the biggest players in the genre with the Nioh games, and the publisher is set to make a huge return to the Souls-like with Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty, a brand new IP from Team Ninja. Wo Long looks every bit as intense as Nioh, and could easily be one of the standout hits of early 2023. With that in mind, here’s everything we know about Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty.
Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty launches on March 3, 2023, for PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, and PC. It’s also important to note that Wo Long is launching day one on Xbox Game Pass.
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S43S40S15The mindset that brings unlimited willpower
We all face demanding days that seem designed to test our self-control. Perhaps you are a barista, and you have some particularly rude and demanding customers, but you manage to keep your poise throughout. Or maybe you are finishing an important project and you have to remain in quiet concentration, without letting your attention slip to other distractions. If you are on a diet, you might have spent the past few hours resisting the cookie jar while the sweet treats silently whisper “eat me”.
In each case, you would have relied on your willpower, which psychologists define as the ability to avoid short-term temptations and override unwanted thoughts, feelings or impulses. And some people seem to have much greater reserves of it than others: they find it easier to control their emotions, avoid procrastination and stick to their goals, without ever seeming to lose their iron grip on their behaviour. Indeed, you may know some lucky people who, after a hard day at work, have the resolve to do something productive like a workout – while you give up on your fitness goals and fall for the temptations of junk food and trash TV.
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S21William Wordsworth and the Romantics anticipated today's idea of a nature-positive life
Musical performances usually happen in concert halls or clubs, but famed cellist Yo-Yo Ma is exploring a new venue: U.S. national parks. In a project called Our Common Nature, Ma is performing in settings such as the Great Smoky Mountains and the Grand Canyon. By making music and bringing people together in scenic places, Ma aims to help humans understand where they fit in the natural world.
“What if there’s a way that we can end up thinking and feeling and knowing that we are coming from nature, that we’re a part of nature, instead of just thinking: What can we use it for?” Ma mused in a recent New York Times article.
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S10S20S46How COVID can disturb your sleep and dreams - and what could help
By the end of 2022, more than 650 million COVID infections had been reported to the World Health Organization. With the true number likely much higher, and the tally increasing by hundreds of thousands every week, the scientific community has been focused on understanding the impact of COVID on our physical health, mental health and brain function.
In the early stage of the pandemic, sleep scientists charted the costs and benefits of lockdowns on sleep patterns. The main finding was that we slept more in lockdown but the quality of our sleep was worse.
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S53What Israel’s New Far-Right Government Means for Palestinians
Last week, Israel's new government was sworn into office, with Benjamin Netanyahu—already the country's longest-serving Prime Minister—at the helm for the sixth time. Netanyahu has assembled the most far-right cabinet in Israel's history, with notable posts given to ultranationalists: Itamar Ben-Gvir, who is the new minister of national security (a position that oversees the police), and Bezalel Smotrich, who will have significant power over Israeli settlements in addition to his role as finance minister. The government has promised to expand those settlements, and to weaken the authority of the judiciary; members of the new coalition have also made extensive comments denigrating the L.G.B.T.Q. community, and called for stricter definitions of who qualifies as Jewish. Making its larger vision clear, the government released policy guidelines last week announcing the Jewish people's "exclusive and inalienable right to all parts of the land of Israel."
To talk about what the new government will mean for Palestinians, I recently spoke by phone with Raja Shehadeh, a Palestinian lawyer and activist who co-founded the human-rights organization Al-Haq. His latest book, out next month, is called "We Could Have Been Friends, My Father and I: A Palestinian Memoir." During our conversation, which has been edited for length and clarity, we discussed what will and will not change for Palestinians in the West Bank, the increased discrimination that Palestinian citizens of Israel are likely to face, and how to think about the Netanyahu government in the context of other far-right movements around the world.
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S14Embrace Mistakes to Build a Learning Culture | Ben Laker
Mistakes and critical incidents inevitably happen: Websites crash, products break, customers get angry. How leaders react and respond can inform an organization’s culture — for better or worse. Blame leads to finger-pointing, resentment, distrust, and unproductive behavior. It can cause an organization to stagnate, with people feeling that their efforts are not valued. In contrast, responding without blame creates an environment of learning and growth in which employees recognize that mistakes are part of the process and that their efforts are appreciated — a blameless culture.
Within a blameless culture, leaders blame processes, not people. They focus on understanding why something happened, not who is responsible. By striving to identify the root cause of an issue, they create systems that prevent it from happening again. Leaders in blameless cultures also recognize that they are part of the system, so they take responsibility for their own mistakes — such as communicating insufficiently about an important issue or making a poor decision — and don’t expect perfection of themselves or others. This encourages employees to be open about their mistakes and use them as learning opportunities instead of hiding them in fear of retribution.
As Amy C. Edmondson’s psychological safety theory suggests, by acknowledging that mistakes are inevitable, organizations allow employees to experiment and take risks without fear of punishment or embarrassment. This encourages creative problem-solving, collaboration, and innovation — all essential components of successful businesses. Creating spaces where employees feel safe to try something new and, crucially, to make mistakes without fear of repercussions or judgment helps to encourage them to step outside their comfort zones, learn from their experiences, and develop innovative solutions that help propel the organization forward.
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S47S13S27S22On New Year's Day, Buddhist god Hotei brings gifts and good fortune in Japan
The new year brings a fresh start, symbolized in some cultures by the cherubic baby New Year who replaces the old year that has come to a close. In Japan, the roly-poly god Hotei, who is often identified with Santa Claus, ushers in the new year along with six other gods of good fortune; together, they form the Seven Lucky Gods, or shichi fukujin in Japanese.
As a scholar of East Asian religions who studies deities’ transformations over time, I often explain to my students that cross-cultural encounters produce new understandings and images of gods.
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S16The 21 best TV shows of 2022
Given the literal and metaphorical heat inside a restaurant kitchen, it would seem to be a perfect crucible for drama. So it's surprising that there hasn't been a top-flight restaurant-centred show – ok, Bob's Burgers aside – until this June, when Hulu production The Bear premiered in the US and quickly became the breakout hit of the summer. In a star-making performance, Jeremy Allen White plays the fine-dining chef returning from New York to his native Chicago to take over his family's sandwich shop following the suicide of his brother. But as he tries to revive its fortunes, he comes into conflict with the joint's long-standing staff, as does his new hire, keen young sous chef Sydney (Ayo Edebiri). Altogether, it makes for the very opposite of comfort TV, both tightly wound and exhilaratingly kinetic – as well as mouthwatering, for carnivores at least, with its depiction of Chicago's famous beef sandwich, among other things. (HM)
This year saw us bid farewell to a few all-time-great series (including Atlanta, below), but perhaps no finale was a bigger deal than that of this Breaking Bad spin-off exploring how the once flawed but well-intentioned Jimmy McGill (Bob Odenkirk) became Saul Goodman, aka Walter White's deeply crooked lawyer. What started out as a spin-off project that even creator Vince Gilligan wasn't totally sure about ended up arguably outshining its acclaimed predecessor with its more nuanced depiction of a man succumbing to moral compromise. And perhaps most impressive of all was the way it managed to stick the landing in its final season: without giving anything away, it confirmed the show, in the words of the New Statesman, as a "a high point in television drama: never has a series better conveyed the complexities of human lives". (HM)
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S35S64'Evil Dead Rise' trailer: Brutal new teaser flips the franchise on its head
Sam Raimi’s Evil Dead franchise has been delivering zombie scares for decades, and in 2023 the action is going to reach new, bloody heights. Even without Bruce Campbell, the franchise’s iconic star who even made a cameo in the 2013 reboot, Evil Dead Rise looks like it’s got the potential to be the gnarliest yet, combining the secluded slasher with some classic zombie action. Don’t believe us? Watch the new trailer and judge for yourself.
Evil Dead Rise follows the formula of many Evil Dead movies: there’s a main character, an evil book, and a lot of Deadites. But the twist is just how isolated the story seems to be. While other Evil Dead movies, and other zombie stories in general, love to show crowds of zombies clamoring for brains, this one appears to focus on just one zombie. But this zombie is also the mother of children. That’s right, she’s a MOMbie. Check out the trailer below.
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S25Beyond Section 230: A pair of social media experts describes how to bring transparency and accountability to the industry
One of Elon Musk’s stated reasons for purchasing Twitter was to use the social media platform to defend the right to free speech. The ability to defend that right, or to abuse it, lies in a specific piece of legislation passed in 1996, at the pre-dawn of the modern age of social media.
The legislation, Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, gives social media platforms some truly astounding protections under American law. Section 230 has also been called the most important 26 words in tech: “No provider or user of an interactive computer service shall be treated as the publisher or speaker of any information provided by another information content provider.”
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S31How the philosophy of the past can help us imagine the economy of the future
The economy keeps making headlines for all the wrong reasons — stories about rising prices, supply shortages and a looming recession have been frequently making the front page these days.
The current economic crisis is deepening the long-standing issue of social inequality, widening the gap between the rich and poor — a problem that was already accelerated by the Great Recession of 2008 and the economic shock brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic.
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S48Why happy rather than sad music soothes newborns - new research
Children might have even greater exposure to music than adults do. Survey data shows that 54% of teachers in South Korea use background music in schools. We also know music is played as often as 6.5 times per hour to help children’s learning in US classrooms.
But how early do children develop a real appreciation for and understanding of music? Our recent study, published in Psychological Studies, suggests newborns may be rather musical, finding happy music soothing in particular.
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S17The historical origins of the de-cluttered home
Strictly speaking, the word "minimalist" belongs to the world of fine art. It was first used in the early 20th Century to describe an uncompromisingly abstract artwork by avant-garde Russian painter Kazimir Malevich, The Black Square, 1915. Later, in the 1950s and '60s, the label was given to an emerging band of like-minded US artists who sought to distance themselves from Abstract Expressionism. The new generation of Minimalists exchanged wild self-expression for hard-edged or monochrome paintings or sculptures in the form of grids or crisply rectilinear cubes.
Yet the label didn't stick exclusively to art for long, and was soon used to more broadly to describe music, fashion and even cookery that shared an aesthetic preference for extreme simplicity. The late Minimalist artist Donald Judd encouraged a crossover between minimalist art and interiors when he transformed a former factory in SoHo, New York into his home and studio. Now open to the public, this space boasts his collection of around 200 artworks, all displayed in gallery-like, sparsely furnished interiors. He lived there with his then wife, dancer Julie Finch, and their top-floor bedroom featured a sleeping platform designed by Judd, topped by white, floor-level beds, and surrounded with art by Judd, Claes Oldenburg and Dan Flavin.
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S51Urban light pollution is a danger for marine ecosystems
Head of Science: Marine Biogeochemistry and Observations, Plymouth Marine Laboratory
Cities are artificially lit to allow humans to make use of the night. This light pollution means that stars are often barely visible in urban skies. But reduced stargazing is not the only impact of artificial light at night.
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S61Bionic pig penises offer a "promising" new erectile dysfunction treatment
We can rebuild the human penis. We have the technology. Whether we can make the organ of many an insult, joke, or admiration better, stronger, or faster is another thing entirely, one may argue. But modern science is coming up with yet more ways to fix the ol’ pecker when it can’t… well, peck.
In a study published Wednesday in the journal Matter, researchers in China developed an artificial material that mimics a connective tissue, the tunica albuginea, responsible for keeping the penis erect during sexual arousal. When placed into pig penises with tunica albuginea injuries, the innovative material was able to restore erectile function. It could eventually do the same in humans with an injured or impaired tunica albuginea due to conditions like Peyronie’s disease. It could also one day help repair other organs, like the heart and bladder.
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S62'M3GAN' review: A perfectly programmed campy horror hit — with one small flaw
From the moment that M3GAN twirled, twerked, and cartwheeled her way toward one of her many bloody kills in the latest Blumhouse movie, it was clear: campy horror is in a new era, and it is thriving. M3GAN, directed by Gerard Johnstone from a screenplay by Akela Cooper and a story by Cooper and James Wan, picks up the bonkers, go-for-broke absurdity of Wan’s own Malignant and runs with it. But where Malignant so precariously balanced its wildly diverging tones to the point that people were unsure whether to scream or laugh, M3GAN is made to be memed. It’s woven into the viral dance scene, into one impeccably ludicrous needle drop, and into the scarily realistic face of the murderous doll — which, for some reason, every character just accepts as normal, or even cute.
But beneath the ridiculous antics of its uncanny-valley villain and Black Mirror-knockoff plot lies a surprisingly touching story about grief and family bonds. And even deeper beneath that is a movie where a killer robot rips off a child’s ear.
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S18Your style of social media use may be connected to your wellbeing
Are you a doom scroller or a frequent Tweeter? Do you pass the time by flicking endlessly through others’ posts on social networking sites, or perhaps you use these platforms to share your own content? Psychologists believe our style of social media usage has important effects on our psychological wellbeing, but we’ve struggled to measure people’s online behaviour accurately – until now.
It’s estimated that more than 4 billion people use social media worldwide, which is expected to rise to a staggering 6 billion by 2027. Although many people consider social media to be a good thing, helping us to connect with vast social networks, others argue that replacing meaningful, real-world interactions with virtual ones is having negative effects on our mental health.
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S41Stock exchanges: has Paris really stolen the limelight from the City of London?
Maître de conférences en Sciences économiques, LabEx RéFi, Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne
In late 2022, the French press exulted at the news that Paris’s market capitalisation had overtaken London’s. While these financial centres have been competing for more than two centuries, Paris faded from view from 1914 to 1985 before enjoying “a renaissance”. We read that it has now topped London as Europe’s biggest stock exchange. But what does that mean?
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S19Putin's plan to stop Ukraine turning to the west has failed -- our survey shows support for Nato is at an all-time high
When Vladimir Putin sent his war machine into Ukraine last February, one of the reasons he gave for the invasion was to ensure Ukraine’s neutral status and prevent its government from moving the country further towards the west. Though there is more behind this war, the Russian leader has long expressed concerns about the possibility of Ukraine seeking closer military cooperation with Nato, with an eye to eventually joining the alliance. The “special military operation” aimed to stop this in its tracks.
But ten months of bloody warfare has had the reverse effect. There is now a larger Nato military footprint in Ukraine than ever before. Military support – from medical equipment to training and advanced weaponry – has exceeded US$20 billion (£16.8 billion) from Washington alone.
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S60Your ultimate 'Persona 4 Golden' quiz and exam cheat sheet
JRPG fans on Nintendo Switch, PS4, and Xbox will finally get to experience the classic Persona games, as hot on the heels of Persona 5 Royal Atlus is releasing ports of Persona 3 Portable and Persona 4 Golden. Like the other entries, Persona 4 Golden casts you as a not-so-ordinary high school student, this time solving a deadly murder mystery in the sleepy town of Inaba.
While you investigate the murders and a strange “TV world,” you’ll still need to go about your daily life and school activities. Of course, this entails answering a selection of pop quiz questions, along with specific exams. Acing all of these questions can give you a huge boost to your personal stats, so you’ll want to make sure you get everything right if you’re looking to see and do everything in Persona 4 Golden.
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S23'Whisper networks' thrive when women lose faith in formal systems of reporting sexual harassment
These networks form when women are determined to protect each other once they learn of misconduct, because their experience has shown them that formally reporting incidents is slow and generally doesn’t work.
The women I interviewed were 18 to 64 years old, with almost half from 35 to 44. Most were white, highly educated and either married or in domestic partnerships. A majority were full-time employees, but others were self-employed, worked part time or were students. Their professions and incomes ranged widely.
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S33When Nobel met Booker: Dario Fo, Barry Unsworth, and one shambolic Italian summer
Director, postgraduate Writing, Editing and Publishing program, The University of Queensland
The summer of 1985 is oppressive around the medieval Italian town of Gubbio. Thick heat is held captive in the wooded ravines and the windless slopes that climb and crawl across Umbria and on to the foothills of the Apennines. A short winding drive into the hills behind the town is the Libera Università di Alcatraz, a secluded retreat that is in the process of establishing itself as a gathering place for artists, writers and thinkers – a place where they can escape to nature and create.
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S26S28Kevin McCarthy: why Republicans are preventing their own leader becoming US speaker
For the first time in 100 years, the US House of Representatives has failed to elect a speaker after a first round vote. Indeed, as of the time of writing, the House has held six ballots over two days and still not agreed who should be its presiding officer.
Republican leader in the House Kevin McCarthy led his party to a narrow victory in November’s midterms with 222 seats to the Democrats’ 213. This was supposed to be the Republicans’ opportunity to showcase their legislative power in the lower house of Congress. Instead, what ensued was farce and chaos.
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S29Dora Maar: a great photographer hidden behind the master of painting
Profesora Titular de Historia del Arte, UNED - Universidad Nacional de Educación a Distancia
In the inevitable tide of recognition of so many women artists of the past 20th century who passed simply as muses, lovers, wives or companions, when their work was truly as strong, beautiful and original as that of their partner, Dora Maar, for many reasons, occupies a special place.
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S59Get ready to rumble: Everything you need to know about 'WWE 2K23'
In many ways, WWE 2K22 was a welcome addition, especially after the popular series took a year off in 2021. WWE 2K22 performed well — critically and commercially — and was regarded as a return to form, while also introducing fresh features and mechanics. So, what about a follow-up? While 2K hasn’t yet officially announced WWE 2K23, we do know it’s coming. What else do we know about the upcoming WWE 2K installment? Details are sparse, sure, but we’ve gathered everything we know about WWE 2K23.
Since 2K hasn’t officially announced WWE 2K23, it’s unclear when it will launch. However, based on previous games, we can infer it’ll launch soon.
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S38S58Roku is finally ready to start making TVs of its own
Roku will be making its own TVs that will come in HD or 4K models, ranging from 24 to 75 inches.
Roku is fed up with white-label branding. The streaming mainstay has decided to go it alone, by making its own Select and Plus Series TVs and debuting them at CES 2023. These TVs will be the first-ever Roku TVs that were actually designed and made by the company itself, meaning they weren’t designed by a third-party TV maker and branded with Roku after the fact.
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S42By helping Rohingya women, Canada can do the right thing and demonstrate global leadership
The UN Security Council recently adopted its first resolution on Myanmar in more than seven decades. The resolution demanded an end to the violence and called on Myamnar’s military junta to release all political prisoners. In 2021, the military seized power in the country in a violent coup that saw thousands killed and jailed.
In 2022, Canada announced its long awaited Indo-Pacific strategy. The strategy focuses on deepening economic ties with Pacific countries and boosting Canada’s military and cyber security in the region.
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S37What happens to your body on a long-haul flight?
I am a medical doctor specialising in General Practice and Aerospace Medicine, as well as a professional pilot currently working as a flight instructor and charter pilot across regional Australia.
If crowded airports are a sign, Australians are keen to get back into the skies. And if you’re flying long haul, in a few years you could have an even longer option.
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S54In the Trenches with the Foreigners Fighting for Ukraine
Luke Mogelson, a contributing writer at The New Yorker, is one of the rare reporters who has seen the war in Ukraine from the front lines. He recently spent two weeks embedded with a group of fighters from around the world who had chosen to travel to Ukraine and join the war against Russia. In a new story in the magazine, he writes about the sophisticated and incessant violence of the war, and the mentality that keeps these volunteer soldiers there, fighting on behalf of a country that is not their own. He joins Tyler Foggatt to discuss what he witnessed.
Personal History by David Sedaris: after thirty years together, sleeping is the new having sex.
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S44Politicians are getting older - shutting young people out of decision-making around the world
US president Joe Biden is clearly frustrated about the focus on his age. In mid-December last year he reportedly vented to allies, saying: “You think I don’t know how fucking old I am?” But, as attention turns to the 2024 election, the prospect of Biden – now 80 years old – running for another term which would last until he is 86, means that this is an issue that is unlikely to go away.
And rightly so – Biden is the oldest US president in history. Taking into account other prominent US politicians such as Donald Trump (who is 76) and Senate majority leader Chuck Schumer (who is 72), the age of American political leaders has become a hotly debated topic.
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S65The best 'Warzone 2.0' Minibak loadout lets you dominate at mid-range
Having all your bases covered in Call of Duty: Warzone 2.0 will set you up for success, and it starts by coming equipped with the best loadout. There are plenty of fantastic weapons for close-quarters and afar, but what about mid-range? Currently, one standout choice is the Minibak, aka “The Bullfrog,” thanks to its ease of use and high ammo count. But with so many attachments, building the best weapon is certainly an overwhelming process. Here, we’ll show you the best Minibak loadout in Warzone 2.0.
There’s certainly no shortage of ways to build the Minibak, but we highly suggest prioritizing speed and mobility, along with high bullet velocity to make those mid-range firefights go more smoothly.
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S36S57Is Netflix lying about 'Kaleidoscope's random episode order? An investigation
Kaleidoscope is currently holding the #1 TV show title on Netflix, largely due to its unique approach: No numbered episodes. Instead, the first seven episodes of the heist show appear in a randomized order, each showing a different part of the story from 24 years before the heist to six months after it. All of this leads to the finale, which covers the heist itself.
It’s an intriguing prospect, but now that the series is out, there’s evidence to suggest that, while Netflix did indeed shuffle some episodes around, a few key parts were the same for everyone.
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S24S63'Genshin Impact' 3.4 livestream start time, how to watch, and Alhaitham banner
Genshin Impact 3.4 ushers in the new year with two highly anticipated Dendro characters. There’s Alhaitham, who has starred in many segments of the Sumeru Archon questline, and Yaoyao, a Liyue Adepti trainee that was leaked back during Genshin Impact 2.3.
HoYoverse just announced the Genshin Impact 3.4 livestream, which will likely provide details on these characters, along with other information like new world additions and events. Here’s when you can tune in and what you can expect.
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S49Yes, intermittent fasting can boost your health, but how and when to restrict food consumption is crucial
On top of kickstarting a new exercise regime, the new year is traditionally a period when many people reconsider their eating habits. In recent years, intermittent fasting has become a popular habit – and has been credited with some health benefits, be it to manage excess weight, chronic illnesses or flagging energy levels. But what exactly is intermittent fasting? And does all the hype around it stand up to scientific scrutiny?
The term intermittent fasting covers several approaches, each based on different principles. It is important to note that no matter which method is used, the restrictions only affect food – never water – intake.
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S52How 'clap for our carers' made some informal caregivers feel undervalued and unseen
Almost three years into the pandemic, the UK’s 10.6 million informal carers face an uphill struggle. If the cost of living crisis is a concern for everyone, for those providing some level of primary care for a family member or friend it is financially and emotionally crippling. This was most keenly demonstrated by a woman in Tayside, Scotland, facing a £17,000 energy bill to keep her disabled child alive.
When COVID hit in March 2020 and the “clap for our carers” movement was initiated by Annemarie Plas, a Dutch yoga teacher living in London, to recognise the heroic efforts of NHS staff, care workers and key workers. Informal carers were not mentioned.
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S56HyperX is making the wise choice to 3D print cat-shaped keycaps
The HP gaming brand is introducing new 3D-printed custom gaming accessories and a premium wired Xbox controller.
HyperX is spicing up its gaming accessories with a new personalization program called HX3D. The brand is leveraging 3D printers from HP (its owner as of 2021) to create the accessories for HX3D, including various customizations for keyboards, headsets, and mice.
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S55Benedict XVI’s Most Powerful Influence on the Catholic Church Came Before He Was Pope
One of the most significant acts of the papacy of Benedict XVI, who died on New Year's Eve, at the age of ninety-five, was, his obituaries seem to agree, his stepping down from it, in February, 2013. And rightly so: the first papal resignation in nearly six hundred years was a momentous act. It diminished the monarchic qualities of the papacy, making it more akin to an elective office with a limited term of service. It set a precedent for Pope Benedict's successors—especially the immediate one, Pope Francis, who is eighty-six and has spoken of the possibility of resigning due to age or ill health. And it was an act of humility on the part of a man who decided that he could no longer lead the Catholic Church, and its more than 1.3 billion members, during a period of scandal.
But Benedict's resignation was also an apt expression of the trait with which he left the deepest mark on the Church: his practice of dramatically affirming the negative. His final "no"—to the papacy—capped a long career of saying "no" to the faithful: it can be argued that the most consequential role he played in Rome was not as the Pope but when he was still Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, as the prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, the Vatican's doctrinal office. In that position—which he held from 1981 to 2005, for nearly the entire papacy of the doctrinally strict John Paul II—he was the Pope's closest collaborator, and his often harshly supervisory refusal to let Catholics deal openly with the questions of the age is a root cause of the fix that the Church is now in.
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S30Toxoplasma: the parasite that takes over our brains
A recurring fantasy in science fiction is the implantation of tiny elements in peoples’ brains, which would be used to control and direct our actions and emotions. Regardless of the direction that technological development may take in this sense, in nature these tricks were invented millions of years ago. Different types of parasites are able to modify the behaviour of organisms that host them, forcing them to stop acting to conserve their own genes to become promoters of foreign ones.
Toxoplasma gondii is one of the most common parasites in humans. It is hosted by approximately one third of people. Even so, most of us only know of its existence during pregnancy, when pregnant women receive instructions to not eat uncooked meat because it might cause toxoplasma gondii. Nevertheless, all signs point to the fact that it plays an important role in many aspects of our lives.
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S32How to feed your garden birds if you want to attract and support native species
As vegetation is removed to make way for urban development, wild species experience a dramatic loss of habitat, making it more difficult for city dwellers to interact with wildlife.
Studies show a lack of connection to nature might lead to anxiety and depression for people in cities. Birds are among the most accessible and aesthetically attractive connection points. Hence, thriving bird communities in cities can have a positive effect on people’s health and wellbeing.
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S50January 6 US Capitol attack: deep state conspiracies haven't gone away
Two years after the January 6 attack on the US Capitol building, the conspiracy theories about a malign group controlling the country have not gone away. This continues to corrode US democracy, fuelling stark polarisation that is deepening distrust and political violence.
Many in the mob on January 6 2021 believed that there was a “deep state” in control of their country, which had taken over powerful positions and were making decisions.
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