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According to a report by The Washington Post, scientists with the Environmental Protection Agency’s Office of Water were told by “political appointees” to stop work on studies that were headed for publication, as they’ll now be “subject to a new review process.” Staffers were reportedly given the instructions in a town hall meeting this week. The only papers exempt are those for which “scientific journals had already returned proofs — the final step in the academic publication process,” reports The Washington Post, which spoke to two agency employees. Among other things, the role of the Office of Water is to ensure the safety of drinking water. 

It’s the latest in a string of changes at the EPA under the Trump administration, and raises yet more concerns for public health. In May, the agency announced plans to roll back limitations for some perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), known as “forever chemicals,” that had been set by the Biden administration, saying it would keep only the limits for the two most common, PFOA and PFOS. In July, the EPA laid off thousands of employees and announced it would shut down its scientific research office. The same month, the EPA proposed rescinding certain greenhouse gas emissions standards, and just last week announced a plan to do away with the Greenhouse Gas Reporting Program that requires some of the nation’s biggest polluters to report their emissions.

Following the latest orders, staffers with the Office of Water who spoke to The Washington Post said they were not given a reason to provide scientific journals as to why the papers have been halted, and no details on the new review process have been shared. One employee told the publication, “This represents millions of dollars of research, potentially, that’s now being stopped.”

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/science/epa-scientists-were-reportedly-ordered-to-halt-publication-of-research-papers-183751436.html?src=rss 

From a disastrous AMA on Monday to disappointing Legion Go 2 preorder customers on Friday, the Lenovo team is having a hell of a week. To kick things off, the Lenovo Legion team hosted an AMA on Reddit revolving around its gaming handheld launch. The Legion Go 2 generated a ton of hype, being Lenovo’s next-gen gaming handheld with more powerful specs and a higher price tag, but the team only answered 10 questions before abandoning the thread. On Wednesday, Lenovo apologized for not being prepared enough to answer all the questions, but followed it up with a bombshell in an edit posted on Friday, adding that “we will need to cancel some preorders placed directly on Lenovo.com” for the Legion Go 2.

According to the Lenovo team, the demand “substantially exceeded our projections” and led to “unforeseen delivery range extensions.” While the orders with Lenovo’s retail partners, like Best Buy, aren’t affected, anyone who preordered the Legion Go 2 directly on the Lenovo website may see some frustrating news in their inboxes. The cancellations might not be a total shocker, since some user reports are circulating that Lenovo already pushed initial ship dates from September to October with “zero communication about the delay.”

To try to save face, Lenovo explained that “as soon as our inventory is replenished, Lenovo.com will show updated availability and ordering will reopen.” There’s no indication yet if those with canceled orders will get priority with the next batch of available devices, but the Lenovo team said it would respond to the AMA thread’s questions over the rest of the month. However, if Reddit comments are any indication, there’s a good chance a lot of customers won’t reorder following this catastrophic launch.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/lenovo-abruptly-cancels-some-legion-go-2-preorders-due-to-overwhelming-demand-161250775.html?src=rss 

Some of the year’s biggest blockbuster games have just dropped or are coming very soon. But among the likes of Borderlands 4, EA Sports FC 26 and Battlefield 6, there are a ton of neat indie games popping up. We’re here to tell you about some of ’em and what else is going on in the space with our weekly indie games roundup.

There were showcases this week from Critical Reflex (which was packed with neat oddities), Game Devs of Color, Six One Indie and Convergence. There’s far too much cool stuff in these for us to highlight everything — during the Six One Indie preshow alone, I added three games to my Steam wishlist. So, if you’re into indie games and have the time, I recommend checking these streams out.

If all of that isn’t enough for you, there’s another indie showcase coming next Wednesday called Indie Fan Fest from The Mix and Digital Bandidos. That’s not all: a Capcom stream is taking place on September 24 (not exactly indie, but Pragmata looks interesting) and rumors of a PlayStation event are ramping up ahead of Tokyo Game Show next week.

Elsewhere, I’ve been keeping an eye on an Itch.io game jam that’s been running this past week. It’s all about falling block games. I’m really enjoying the updates that a developer named Wallaber is sharing on Bluesky for a project called Jelly Well.

A quick note for any indie developers who are joining us before we check out some of this week’s new releases: submissions for the December edition of Day of the Devs are open. Landing a spot in that showcase is one of the highest-profile spotlights an indie developer can get these days, so if you have a cool game to show off, shoot your shot.

New releases

The team behind Patapon is back with a spiritual successor to that classic rhythm game series. There are strategic and roguelike elements in Ratatan, which is from TVT Co. Ltd., Ratata Arts and publisher Game Source Entertainment. There’s co-op for up to four players as well.

You’ll need to match the beat of the soundtrack to defeat enemies, and battles can feature more than 100 characters. It all looks quite charming, though I can’t help but think of that song by Babymetal and Electric Callboy whenever I read the game’s title (the immensely catchy “Ratatata” is rarely far away from my thoughts anyway). Ratatan is out in early access on Steam for $25, but there’s a 10 percent launch discount until September 28.

Lego Voyagers is a lovely-looking co-op adventure from Light Brick Studio (Lego Builder’s Journey) and publisher Annapurna Interactive. It’s out now on PS4, PS5, Xbox Series X/S, Nintendo Switch, Switch 2, Steam and Epic Games Store.

Here, you and a partner (there’s local co-op and online support) will go on a journey to rescue an abandoned spaceship. Your lil’ bricks can snap together and combine with other Lego pieces to solve puzzles as you make your way through this land. It’s said to be a fairly short game, clocking in at between three and five hours, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing given how much bloat there is in many games.

I’ve had my eye on Henry Halfhead — from Lululu Entertainment and co-publisher Popagenda — for a while and I’m looking forward to checking out this sandbox adventure. You play as Henry, who is just the top half of a human head. You can transform into any nearby object and play around with things in the environment. A narrator will react to your escapades as you solve challenges and guide Henry through life. There’s a co-op mode too.

Henry Halfhead is available on Steam, Switch and PS5. It typically costs $13, but there’s a 25 percent launch discount until September 30.

11 Bit Studios’ Frostpunk 2 has now landed on Xbox Series X/S and PS5 after debuting on PC this time last year. It’s a city-building survival sim that starts 30 years after a blizzard ravaged the planet and caused an eternal winter.

I dig the set up and aesthetic here. City builders in this vein aren’t usually my kind of thing, but since Frostpunk 2 is on Game Pass, I might give it a try.

Don’t Die, Collect Loot hit early access on Steam this week. This is a vertically scrolling Vampire Survivors-esque roguelite from solo developer Dan Marchand (aka Dan Makes Video Games) and indie.io.

If you’ve been looking for a new way to watch numbers go up and live out a power fantasy, this one might be of interest. For what it’s worth, I love the chiptune music in the trailer. Don’t Die, Collect Loot costs $10 and there’s a 10 percent discount until October 3.

A trailer for Troleu hooked me in during publisher Critical Reflex’s showcase. At its essence, this is a trolleybus conductor simulator, but it looks like things will get very much out of hand. You’ll get into fist fights with unruly passengers (who may include aliens) and punt them from the vehicle if necessary. There are multiple routes, leaderboards and even a T. rex. It all seems quite chaotic.

Troleu, which was made by solo developer andrground, is out now on Steam. You can get it for 20 percent off the regular price of $10 until September 29.

Speaking of aliens, here’s a theme park (and zoo?) simulator with a difference: it’s set in the universe of Mars Attacks. In Mars Attracts, you can abduct humans and experiment on the lowly primates for the entertainment of Martians, who come for the cruelty. The Convergence Games showcase featured a short look at the early stages of the game — experimenting on the loely specimens is your path to unlocking upgrades.

Outlier’s Mars Attracts is in early access on Steam. The $25 game has a 10 percent discount until September 22, and I might just pick it up.

Upcoming

Relooted was one of the more exciting games that caught our attention during Summer Game Fest. South African developer Nyamakop is creating a heist game that sees your crew setting out to reclaim plundered African artifacts from the hands of private collectors. It’s a terrific setup, and you can now find out how the game actually plays thanks to a demo that dropped this week on Steam.

You’ll get to play through the tutorial and one mission while getting a sense of the game’s story. Before you grab any of the valuable artifacts, you’ll need to spend a little time planning your escape from a given area with the help of your crew. You can replay the mission to try different options and routes.

I enjoyed the demo quite a bit. The movement is slick (it reminds me a bit of Aerial_Knight’s Never Yield) and the light strategy and puzzle solving sits just right for me. There’s no release date for Relooted as yet, but I’ll absolutely be playing it. The game is coming to Steam, Epic Games Store and Xbox Series X/S.

Dispatch is a game we’ve covered a few times, and now it has a release date. This is a superhero workplace comedy from AdHoc Studio, a team of former Telltale developers. It’s about a sidelined hero who becomes a superhero dispatcher.

The animation and art look sumptuous, and there’s an outstanding cast that includes Aaron Paul, Laura Bailey, Matthew Mercer and Jeffrey Wright. Dispatch is coming your way on October 22 on Steam (where you can check out a demo) and PS5.

Jupiter Junkworks had flown under my radar, but it’s firmly on there after a gameplay trailer was featured in the Convergence showcase. It’s a Tetris-style game in which you can slam parts of each tetromino into gaps further down the screen.

This arcade puzzler from Pixel Drake has a narrative that involves a trio of ragtag travelers learning to work together and make something of a spaceship salvage yard. Jupiter Junkworks is coming to Steam and Switch, and there’s a demo on the former.

It wouldn’t be an indie game roundup without a Metroidvania, and this week Critical Reflex showed off one that’s also a dating sim. There’s a new Steam demo available (but no release date as yet) for 2Awesome Studio’s Altered Alma, the trailer for which is drenched in a lovely “cyberpink.”

Okay, how about another Metroidvania? Solo developer Eric Manahan (aka The Matte Black Studio) is billing Lucid as the first “Celestoidvania” — take a wild guess which platformer it’s taking inspiration from.

One other reason to get excited about Lucid is that it features music from bearbot and the legendary David Wise, who famously worked on the Donkey Kong Country series. Fingers crossed that the crystalpunk aesthetic of this game will lead Wise to create a piece that’s on par with “Aquatic Ambiance.” In any case, a demo for Lucid is available on Steam now. There’s no release date as yet for this game, which Apogee Entertainment is publishing.

A Heavy Morning was the most compelling game to me in the Game Devs of Color showcase. It’s a narrative adventure focused on mental health. The aim is to help a young woman who is struggling to get out of bed to start her day. Among other things, you’ll enter her mind to help remove mental blocks with the help of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy techniques.

The latest trailer for this game from Saf Interactive and co-publisher Bright Gambit features an absolutely lovely art style. You’ll be able to play it on Xbox and Steam this fall.

I’ll take any excuse I can to write about Skate Story. Every time a new trailer pops up (as was the case during the Game Devos of Color showcase), I think it’s one of the coolest-looking games I’ve ever seen. Publisher Devolver Digital has now confirmed that along with the previously announced Steam and PS5 releases, Sam Eng’s Skate Story is coming to Nintendo Switch 2.

Alas, there’s still no release date for Skate Story. But Devolver says it will arrive by the end of the year, so I’m glad it hasn’t been pushed back to 2026.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/patapons-spiritual-successor-co-op-lego-and-other-new-indie-games-worth-checking-out-110022924.html?src=rss 

President Donald Trump has signed a new executive order, which adds a $100,000 fee to H-1B visa applications. It’s not a one-time fee either: The New York Times has reported that companies will have to pay $100,000 a year for any employee it brings over to the US on the visa for up to six years. The Secretary of Homeland Security will restrict approval for visa applications unless accompanied by the fee, though the rule “allows case-by-case exemptions if [it’s] in the national interest.” This new requirement will only apply to new visa applicants, a White House official told The Times, and it will likely face legal challenges. If it does get implemented, though, it could deal a huge blow to the tech industry. 

While several sectors in the US use the program to bring skilled workers into the country, some of its biggest beneficiaries are in the tech sector. According to the US Citizen and Immigration Services, Amazon has the most number (over 10,000) of workers on the H-1B visa. Microsoft, Meta, Apple and Google are also in the top ten list of employers that brought over H-1B workers, with between 4,000 and 5,500 employees on the visa. Walmart, Intel, IBM and NVIDIA have a considerable number of H-1B workers, as well. As TechCrunch has noted, Elon Musk, who used to be close to the president, came over to the US on the H-1B, as did Instagram co-founder Mike Krieger. 

In the White House’s announcement, the administration explained that some employers have abused the H-1B visa to “artificially suppress wages,” creating a disadvantageous market for Americans. “Information technology (IT) firms in particular have prominently manipulated the H-1B system, significantly harming American workers in computer-related fields,” the announcement read. 

Trump has also signed an order for a new visa program called the “Gold Card,” which the administration says will prioritize “the admission of aliens who will affirmatively benefit the Nation, including successful entrepreneurs, investors, and businessmen and women.” It’s an expedited immigrant visa program, available to anybody who can afford the “requisite gift” the government asks for. Specifically, the gift made to the US Department of Commerce must be “$1 million for an individual donating on his or her own behalf and $2 million for a corporation or similar entity donating on behalf of an individual.”

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/big-tech/trump-administration-to-impose-a-100000-per-year-fee-for-h-1b-visas-041417692.html?src=rss 

The long-promised deal to “save” TikTok remains elusive even as the US and China seem to be inching toward an agreement. On Friday, President Donald Trump did little to clarify where the deal currently stands following a call with Chinese President Xi Jinping.

In a post on Truth Social, Trump said both that the two had “made progress” on “approval of the TikTok Deal” and that he “appreciate[s] the TikTok approval.” Trump also told reporters in the Oval Office that “he approved the TikTok deal,” Reuters reported.

But Chinese state-run media reported the call a bit differently, according to The New York Times, saying that Xi conveyed that the government “respects the wishes of the company in question and is glad to see business negotiations in line with market rules and a solution that conforms to Chinese laws and regulations and takes into account the interests of both sides.”

TikTok owner ByteDance did little to clear things up when it issued the following statement. “We thank President Xi Jinping and President Donald J. Trump for their efforts to preserve TikTok in the United States. ByteDance will work in accordance with applicable laws to ensure TikTok remains available to American users through TikTok U.S.”

This week, there have been multiple reports that the two sides were reaching the final stages of negotiations. The proposed terms reportedly include a brand new app for TikTok’s US users that will continue to use ByteDance’s technology for its algorithm, US investor control and a multibillion-dollar payday for the Trump Administration.

When all of that will be made official, though, is still anyone’s guess. Trump also granted TikTok an extension on a full-on ban for a fourth time, so the two sides now have until December to figure it out.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/social-media/us-and-china-agree-to-agree-on-a-tiktok-deal-231254041.html?src=rss 

Starting on October 3, Microsoft says Xbox consoles will be getting yet another price bump, this time ranging anywhere from a $20 increase on the company’s entry-level model to $70 for a special edition model with 2TB of storage. If all of this sounds familiar, there’s a good reason, the last time xbox prices were raised was only a few months ago in May.

The price increases breakdown as follows:

Xbox Series S (512GB): $400, up $20 from $380

Xbox Series S (1TB): $450 up $20 from $430

Xbox Series X Digital: $600, up $50 from $550

Xbox Series X: $650, up $50 from $600

Xbox Series X 2TB Galaxy Special Edition: $800, up $70 from $730

Those are fairly significant increases, especially when you start comparing Microsoft’s higher-end Xbox Series X consoles to the competition. For example, the Series X Digital (which doesn’t have a disc drive) now costs $50 more than a PS5 Digital Edition. For the $800 Xbox Series X 2TB Galaxy Special Edition price comparisons are even worse. It’s now more expensive than the $750 PS5 Pro, and at least Sony’s console gets you better performance for its high price.

Developing…

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/xbox/microsoft-is-making-xbox-consoles-even-more-expensive-in-the-us-192443699.html?src=rss