Our slow-moving queue curves around a two-story wooden boathouse filled with props from explorations through distant lands. At the front of the line, a Disney cast member dressed in khaki helps us step onto a quaint little boat for a tour around the jungle.
This is Disneyland’s world-famous Jungle Cruise, filled with animatronic animals and painful puns from your skipper, and old-world set pieces depicting scenes straight out of the Amazon, Congo, Mekong and Nile rivers. It’s a ride that Walt Disney himself had a hand in developing, but something new is coming that separates it from its 1950s origins: a 3D-printed prop.
You may have seen small-scale 3D printing being done by hobbyists at home. But that’s child’s play compared to what industrial-scale 3D-printing workshops can do.
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Haddy, a 3D-printing business based in Florida, says it can build worlds. More specifically, Jay Rogers, co-founder and CEO, tells me the company is installing its first boat in a Disney park.
“It’s in the Jungle Cruise ride,” he says during Disney Demo Day at Walt Disney Studios in Burbank, California, at the end of last year.
3D printing burst onto the scene in the mid-2010s. These printers take little pellets or strands of polymer or liquid resin and turn them into fully fleshed-out designs, like the purple toy octopus and Prada purse that my 3-year-old daughter got from her Uncle Zach for her recent birthday. Using a digital file, you can send a project to the printer to produce — whether it’s a small octopus or an armchair.
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The lit-up Mickey shape hanging from the tree at Walt Disney Studios was 3D-printed by Haddy.
Corinne Reichert/CNET
You can buy small 3D printers, priced between $180 and $400, for home projects, while larger operations require enormous machines that churn out items as big as cafe counters and even houses.
Haddy’s Jungle Cruise boat is a prop canoe that has now been placed on the ride at Disneyland, becoming part of the scenic journey alongside those fake animals on the banks of the Amazon-Congo-Nile-Mekong river.
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Walt Disney Imagineering collaborated closely with the Haddy team to adapt the plans for the boat, ensuring it captured the spirit of the existing props while using 3D-printing technology.
“We had the old boat, and we did do a 3D scan in order to get it dimensionally,” Chris Hill, associate R&D imagineer for Disney, said in January when Disneyland installed the canoe right across from the loading dock. “For the creative part of it, we had a photo of the boat from the 1960s, and so using the dimensions from the 3D scan, I modeled the new boat, which is what we used to 3D print the boat.”
Imagineers 3D-scanned their old canoe, as well as using a reference photo of the boat from the 1960s to create a new one that could be 3D-printed.
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Disney
Do 3D-printed boats have that Disney whimsy?
Founded in 2022, Haddy creates home decor like planters, and furniture like outdoor benches, chairs and tables. Its gig of working with Disney’s Imagineers came about after it was selected as one of the four startups to receive financing, platforming and mentoring via the 2025 Disney Accelerator Program.
Rogers says Haddy can quickly transform imagination into reality, saving a lot of time (and presumably money, although the companies wouldn’t provide specifics). This is in addition to being able to recycle any 3D-printed material for new objects, because once a prop reaches the end of its life, it can be melted down and 3D-printed again into something new.
A 20-foot boat made by a traditional boat-maker can take 1,000 human hours, but not so for the Jungle Cruise canoe prop, says Rogers. “It’s not just faster to make, it’s faster to develop.”
He describes the traditional process, which unfolds over weeks and months: designing the boat, creating and securing a master mold, repeating the mold-making process an average of 30 times per boat and then manufacturing the parts that go onto the boat.
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By comparison, it would take Haddy 70 robot hours in manufacturing. Both processes use a digital file as a starting point. The difference is that Haddy can simply make tweaks to the file and reprint the boat if there are any problems with the final product — no more mold-making necessary.
The new 3D-printed prop canoe at Disneyland.
Disney
Nick Blackburn, executive of technical business operations at Disney, says his team went to a series of conventions and conferences to find the right company to partner with on 3D printing.
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“This project right now is the premiere project that we’re working on to show that we can use advanced fabrication, robotic manufacturing and new materials to bring parks to life faster and more effectively,” Blackburn says.
Still, how much of the whimsy remains? Can a 3D-printed boat evoke the same feelings of nostalgia and fantasy as the ride’s existing set pieces?
During Disney’s Demo Day, I spot what appears to be a wrought iron fence leaning against a tree, and Rogers says it was 3D-printed. Maybe guests won’t even notice if a boat is made of polymer instead of fiberglass-reinforced plastic, and printed by a robot.
Even the light fixtures in the Main Theatre at Walt Disney Studios, where I had just watched a video showcasing various new technologies being used by startups backed by Disney, were made by Haddy for this event. (I had assumed the intricate, glowing blue lights were a remnant of when Frozen 2 was being workshopped in the theater.)
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Haddy’s 3D-printed gate looks just like wrought iron.
Disney
Perhaps 3D-printed objects have a whimsy of their own? CNET Senior Editor James Bricknell, an expert on 3D printing, says yes. The canoe would not only have all the whimsy that an Imagineer can conjure, but would also be manufactured faster and in a far less expensive way — and would definitely float.
“It’s a brilliant idea,” Bricknell says. “You can make them look any way you like, just like the normal boats, but instead of injection molding, you can make each one individual for much less cost.”
Walt Disney Imagineering is “the tip of the spear when it comes to emerging technologies” like AI, robotics and drones, according to Michael Hundgen, portfolio executive creative producer of Walt Disney Imagineering.
With Haddy, Imagineers are exploring the creation of set pieces for attractions in Disney’s theme parks. Beyond the Jungle Cruise, these products could also include closet doors from Monstropolis — for the new Monsters, Inc. ride being constructed at Walt Disney World — and rock work for various lands, such as Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge. There might even be the creation of furniture for thousands of hotel rooms across the Orlando property.
“We’re not just creating technology for technology’s sake; we’re doing it to help our creative teams bring the stories from the company to life,” Hundgen says.
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So now it’s out with the fiberglass-reinforced plastic and in with the polymer pellets. We’ll have to see whether guests truly can tell the difference between the old props and the new.
The United States and Israel launched a war in Iran last week that has already killed more than 1,200 Iranians and spilled out across the Middle East. There are many unknowns about US president Donald Trump’s goals as the conflict enters its second week and the situation seems poised to trigger an energy crisis with reverberations around the world.
Trump ousted Department of Homeland Security secretary Kristi Noem this week. Her tenure was marked by aggressive anti-immigration tactics and ICE and CBP’s killing of two US protesters. A highly sophisticated iPhone hacking tool kit that was likely originally built for the US government is in the hands of multiple other nations as well as scammers who have likely used the tools to infect tens of thousands of phones or more. Some US lawmakers are calling for an investigation into the threat of the decades-old side-channel hacking technique. And WIRED went inside how music streaming CEO Elie Habib built the open-source global threat map World Monitor in his spare time.
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And there’s more. Each week, we round up the security and privacy news we didn’t cover in depth ourselves. Click the headlines to read the full stories. And stay safe out there.
United States Customs and Border Protection has, for the first time, admitted it purchased phone location data from the sprawling, surveillance-heavy online advertising industry. The agency’s acknowledgement was included in a document, called a Privacy Threshold Analysis, obtained by 404 Media through a Freedom of Information Act request. The document relates to a trial that CBP ran between 2019 and 2021.
The publication reports that CBP purchased data linked to real-time bidding processes. When you see ads online or in apps, they have often been shown to you after automated, instantaneous, auctions take place where advertisers bid to show you that specific ad. The murkiest parts of the advertising industry can collect data from your device, including your phone’s identifying details and location data; this is then repackaged and sold to companies and entities. The data has been called a “gold mine” for tracking people’s daily activities.
CBP did not respond to 404 Media’s request for comment on whether it is still buying the data; however, ICE has reportedly planned to purchase access to another system, called Webloc, that allows whole neighborhoods to be monitored for mobile phone movements.
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The FBI was able to identify a protester in Atlanta after ultimately obtaining information from Swiss encrypted email service Proton Mail, court documents have revealed this week. A court document reviewed by 404 Media shows that payment information linked to a Proton email address was provided to US law enforcement by Swiss authorities after a request was made under an Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty (MLAT), which allows agencies to share data internationally.
Swiss officials made a request for the data under Swiss laws to Proton for payment information linked to the email address defendtheatlantaforest@protonmail.com, which was associated with protests in Atlanta. This information was then provided to US law enforcement officials under the international agreements, and they were able to identify an individual linked to the account.
Threat actors are employing a new variation of the ClickFix social engineering technique called InstallFix to convince users into running malicious commands under the pretext of installing legitimate command-line interface (CLI) tools.
The new trick exploits the common practice among developers these days of downloading and executing scripts through ‘curl-to-bash’ commands from online sources without closely inspecting the assets first.
Researchers at Push Security, a browser threat detection and response company, found that attackers use the new InstallFix technique with cloned pages for popular CLI tools that serve malicious install commands.
Since the current security model “boils down to ‘trust the domain’,” and more non-technical users are now working with tools previously reserved for developers, InstallFix may become a larger threat, the researchers say.
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In a report today, Push Security highlights a cloned installation page for Claude Code, Anthropic’s CLI coding assistant, that features the same layout, branding, and documentation sidebar as the legitimate source.
The difference is in the installation instructions for macOS and Windows (PowerShell and Command Prompt), which deliver malware from an attacker-controlled endpoint.
Legitimate (top) and malicious page (bottom) Source: Push Security
The researchers say that apart from the installation instructions, all links on the fake page redirect to the legitimate Anthropic site.
“So a victim that lands on the page and follows the fake instructions could continue normally without realizing anything had gone wrong,” Push Security notes in the report.
The attackers promote these pages through malvertising campaigns on Google Ads, causing malicious ads to appear in search results for queries such as “Claude Code install” and “Claude Code CLI.”
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BleepingComputer could confirm that the malicious websites are still being promoted through Google-sponsored search results. When looking for the query “install claude code,” the first result was a Squarespace URL (claude-code-cmd.squarespace[.]com) pointing to a perfect clone of the official Claude Code documentation.
Sponsored Google search pushing fake Claude install sites source: BleepingComputer
Amatera infections
Based on Push Security’s analysis, the payload delivered through these InstallFix attacks is the Amatera Stealer, a piece of malware designed to steal sensitive data (cryptocurrency wallets, credentials) from compromised systems.
The malicious InstallFix commands for macOS contain base64-encoded instructions for downloading and executing a binary from a domain controlled by the attacker. In one case, BleepingComputer found that the threat actor used the domain wriconsult[.]com, which is currently down.
For Windows users, the malicious command uses the legitimate utility ‘mshta.exe’ to retrieve the malware and triggers additional processes like ‘conhost.exe’ to support the execution of the final payload, Amatera information stealer.
Cloned Claude install guide with malicious commands source: BleepingComputer.com
Amatera is a fairly new malware family, believed to be based on the ACR Stealer, sold as a subscription service (MaaS) to cybercriminals.
The malware was recently observed distributed in separate ClickFix attacks that abused Windows App-V scripts for payload delivery. It can steal passwords, cookies, and session tokens stored in web browsers and collect system information while evading detection by security tools.
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Push Security reports that the attacks are particularly evasive, also because the malicious sites are hosted on legitimate platforms such as Cloudflare Pages, Squarespace, and Tencent EdgeOne.
The researchers also published a video showing how the InstallFix attack works, from the search query to copying a malicious command.
In a campaign last week, threat actors used the InstallFix technique with fake OpenClaw installers hosted in GitHub repositories that were promoted by Bing’s AI-enhanced search results.
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Users looking for Claude Code must ensure they get installation instructions from official websites, block or skip all promoted Google Search results, and bookmark software download portals for tools they need to re-download frequently.
The researchers provide indicators of compromise that include the domains for serving the cloned guides, for hosting the malicious payloads, and the InstallFix commands.
Malware is getting smarter. The Red Report 2026 reveals how new threats use math to detect sandboxes and hide in plain sight.
Download our analysis of 1.1 million malicious samples to uncover the top 10 techniques and see if your security stack is blinded.
The recently unveiled 32X3A is a 31.5-inch display that can switch between 4K at 240Hz and 480Hz at a lower resolution, likely 1080p, with a grayscale response time of 0.03 milliseconds. According to ITHome, the OLED display covers 99% of the sRGB and DCI-P3 color gamuts. Anti-glare and anti-reflective coating… Read Entire Article Source link
Microsoft says threat actors are increasingly using artificial intelligence in their operations to accelerate attacks, scale malicious activity, and lower technical barriers across all aspects of a cyberattack.
According to a new Microsoft Threat Intelligence report, attackers are using generative AI tools for a wide range of tasks, including reconnaissance, phishing, infrastructure development, malware creation, and post-compromise activity.
In many cases, AI is used to draft phishing emails, translate content, summarize stolen data, debug malware, and assist with scripting or infrastructure configuration.
“Microsoft Threat Intelligence has observed that most malicious use of AI today centers on using language models for producing text, code, or media. Threat actors use generative AI to draft phishing lures, translate content, summarize stolen data, generate or debug malware, and scaffold scripts or infrastructure,” warns Microsoft.
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“For these uses, AI functions as a force multiplier that reduces technical friction and accelerates execution, while human operators retain control over objectives, targeting, and deployment decisions.”
Threat actor use of AI across the cyberattack lifecycle Source: Microsoft
AI used to power cyberattacks
Microsoft has observed multiple threat groups incorporating AI into their cyberattacks, including North Korean actors tracked as Jasper Sleet (Storm-0287) and Coral Sleet (Storm-1877), who use the technology as part of remote IT worker schemes.
In these operations, AI tools help generate realistic identities, resumes, and communications to gain employment at Western companies and maintain access once hired.
Jasper Sleet leverages generative AI platforms to streamline the development of fraudulent digital personas. For example, Jasper Sleet actors have prompted AI platforms to generate culturally appropriate name lists and email address formats to match specific identity profiles. For example, threat actors might use the following types of prompts to leverage AI in this scenario:
Example prompt 1: “Create a list of 100 Greek names.”
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Example prompt 2: “Create a list of email address formats using the name Jane Doe.“
Jasper Sleet also uses generative AI to review job postings for software development and IT-related roles on professional platforms, prompting the tools to extract and summarize required skills. These outputs are then used to tailor fake identities to specific roles.
❖ Microsoft Threat Intelligence
The report also describes how AI is being used to assist with malware development and infrastructure creation, with threat actors using AI coding tools to generate and refine malicious code, troubleshoot errors, or port malware components to different programming languages.
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Some malware experiments show signs of AI-enabled malware that dynamically generate scripts or modify behavior at runtime.
Microsoft also observed Coral Sleet using AI to quickly generate fake company sites, provision infrastructure, and test and troubleshoot their deployments.
When AI safeguards attempt to prevent the use of AI in these tasks, Microsoft says threat actors are using jailbreaking techniques to trick LLMs into generating malicious code or content.
In addition to generative AI use, Microsoft researchers have begun to see threat actors experiment with agentic AI to perform tasks autonomously and adapt to results.
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However, Microsoft says AI is currently used primarily for decision-making rather than for autonomous attacks.
Because many IT worker campaigns rely on the abuse of legitimate access, Microsoft advises organizations to treat these schemes and similar activity as insider risks.
Furthermore, as these AI-powered attacks mirror conventional cyberattacks, defenders should focus on detecting abnormal credential use, hardening identity systems against phishing, and securing AI systems that may become targets in future attacks.
Microsoft is not alone in seeing threat actors increasingly using artificial intelligence to power attacks and lower barriers to entry.
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Google recently reported that threat actors are abusing Gemini AI across all stages of cyberattacks, mirroring what Amazon observed in this campaign.
Amazon and the Cyber and Ramen security blog also recently reported on a threat actor using multiple generative AI services as part of a campaign that breached more than 600 FortiGate firewalls.
Malware is getting smarter. The Red Report 2026 reveals how new threats use math to detect sandboxes and hide in plain sight.
Download our analysis of 1.1 million malicious samples to uncover the top 10 techniques and see if your security stack is blinded.
During the 1990s the Chornobyl Nuclear Power Plant – formerly the Chernobyl NPP – continued operating with its remaining three RBMK reactors, but of course the 1970s-era automation with its very limited SKALA computer required some serious modernization. What was interesting here is that instead of just replacing this entire Soviet-era mainframe with a brand-new 1990s one, the engineers responsible opted to build a new system – called DIIS – around it. This is detailed in a recent video by the [Chornobyl Family] on YouTube.
This SKALA industrial control system was previously detailed in a video, covering this 24-bit mainframe computer and its many limitations. It wasn’t quite a real-time control system, but it basically did what it was designed to do. Since at the time it was not clear for how long these three RBMKs would be kept running, they didn’t want to go overboard with investments either.
Ultimately Unit 2 only was active until 1991 due to a turbine fire, Unit 1 until 1996 and Unit 3 was shutdown for the last time in 2000, so this a sensible decision. During those years, an auxiliary information-measurement system (DIIS) was the big upgrade, which got bridged into SKALA via a Ukrainian-made SM-1210 minicomputer, with the latter connected to an 80386 PC which itself was connected to an ARCnet hub.
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Best part of this DIIS upgrade was that it made it possible to run modeling algorithms for the reactor core based on measurements, without having to send data all the way over to the central control office in Moscow. Now reactor parameters could be visualized in real-time, and adjustments made via the same PRIZMA program’s magnetic tapes of the SKALA system as before.
Although the result was a bit of an odd mixture of 1970s Soviet mainframe design, 1980s-derived Ukrainian mainframe design and 1990s Intel computing power, it worked well enough to bring the ChNPP to the very doorstep of the 21st century with no issues worthy of note. Definitely a testament to the engineers who hacked this upgrade together and made it work so smoothly.
Looking for the most recent Wordle answer? Click here for today’s Wordle hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Mini Crossword, Connections, Connections: Sports Edition and Strands puzzles.
Meze Audio has unveiled a new high-end pair of in-ear monitors aimed squarely at serious listeners.
Called the ASTRU, the new earphones promise flagship-level sound performance. However, they stick to a surprisingly simple design: just a single dynamic driver.
That approach is a bit unusual at this level. Many premium IEMs rely on multiple drivers to achieve greater detail and separation. However, Meze says the ASTRU is engineered to deliver similar layering and resolution using a single 10mm dynamic driver.
The secret lies in its unusual diaphragm design. The driver uses a multilayer composite structure with more than 80 ultra-thin layers of gold, applied through a 48-hour vacuum sputtering process.
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Furthermore, that dome is bonded to a titanium layer and mounted on a PEEK base. This combination, Meze says, helps balance fast transient response with the warmth and physical punch dynamic drivers are known for. The result, at least on paper, should be a sound profile that’s detailed but still full-bodied.
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The build quality is just as ambitious. Each ASTRU shell is CNC-machined from a single block of pure titanium, then finished with a multi-stage electroplating process to create a satin texture.
Image Credit (Meze Audio)
According to Meze, producing each matched pair takes up to seven days of precision processing. This is a sign the company is leaning heavily into its usual craftsmanship-focused design philosophy.
The earphones ship as a complete portable listening setup. In the box you’ll find a premium balanced cable with a 4.4mm termination, CNC-anodised aluminium hardware, and a 4.4mm-to-3.5mm adapter for broader device compatibility. Five ear tip sizes (XS to XL) are included. Additionally, there is a protective pouch and a soft PU leather carry envelope.
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On the spec sheet, the ASTRU features a 10mm dynamic driver, a 5Hz–35kHz frequency range, 32-ohm impedance, and 111dB sensitivity. Total harmonic distortion is listed below 0.1% at 1kHz.
The ASTRU will make its public debut at CanJam New York on March 7. Afterwards, it will go on sale worldwide from March 20, 2026 via Meze’s website and selected retailers.
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Pricing is set at £819 / $899 / €899, positioning the ASTRU firmly in the premium IEM space. Though it is still short of the four-figure prices many flagship earphones now command.
Platform reviewed: PS5 (on PS5 Pro and PlayStation Portal) Available on: PS5 Release date: February 12, 2026
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But before a collective “Boy!” could be bellowed in celebration of all this news, we also got word that a new series’ spin-off game is rumored to be in the works. Given that you’d need a Leviathan Axe to cut through all these recent reveals and rumors, you could be excused for overlooking God of War Sons of Sparta, a brand-new prequel entry that was shadow-dropped shortly after the Greek trilogy remake reveal.
A retro-flavored 2D action-platformer starring a teenage Kratos, Sons of Sparta is a far cry from what the franchise has previously delivered. Borrowing heavily from the Metroidvania genre, the smaller-scale game has also earned the ire of some players – including series’ creator David Jaffe – who’ve been less than impressed by this fresh direction for the franchise.
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But while the game never reaches the epic highs of its predecessors, I’ve mostly had a good time stabbing, puzzle-solving, and exploring the would-be god-slayer’s early stomping grounds, especially when braving its land of Laconia on my PlayStation Portal.
Admittedly, Sons of Sparta doesn’t make a fantastic first impression. Its action is slow to start, and its early environments sport a muted tone that can come off a bit drab on a large display, like the 65″ 4K TV I started my journey on.
The game’s combat and world didn’t immediately grab me, but its characters and narrative did.A collaboration between Sony Santa Monica Studio, who penned the story, and Mega Cat Studios, Sons of Sparta is cleverly framed as a tale adult Kratos – voiced by the protagonist’s first performer, TC Carson – tells his young daughter Calliope.
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Narration from the older Kratos, as well as some fun exchanges between him and his little girl, are peppered throughout the lengthy campaign. But the bulk of the storytelling is delivered by young Kratos and his brother Deimos. The siblings, who are enduring the agoge in hopes of becoming Spartan soldiers, are richly realized with top-notch writing and quality voice acting.
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In fact, it’s the brothers’ engaging, evolving dynamic that drew me to revisit the game on my PlayStation Portal after all but abandoning it following a short session on my PS5 Pro. And I’m so glad I returned to it, as Sons of Sparta is not only a perfect fit for the portable platform, but investing more time in it allowed me to appreciate what it had to offer after its subpar start.
The game’s combat, which feels a bit plodding in the opening hours, really finds its footing a few hours in. Kratos can’t do a whole lot with his equipped sword and shield initially, but it’s not long before your inventory is brimming with abilities, upgrades, and skills. The franchise’s familiar red orbs, as well as other collected resources, can be invested in a variety of offensive and defensive skills, while a number of weapon attachments can be acquired and upgraded.
The gods also get in on the action, gifting Kratos with a number of cool tools – like a fire-spewing tree branch – that can combat baddies, assist with puzzle-solving, and open previously obstructed parts of the map.
Speaking of the game’s sprawling navigational interface, viewing and using the tool on the Portal’s 8-inch, rectangular display immediately struck me with a satisfying sense of nostalgia. Having spent my youth studying maps in Metroid and Castlevania entries – as well as other classic side-scrollers – on Nintendo’s many handhelds and Sony’s own PlayStation Portable and Vita, it was a blast witnessing Sons of Sparta‘s map blossom in all directions on the more diminutive screen.
But playing on the Portal did more than recall my favorite map-navigating memories. The prequel’s painterly, hand-drawn pixel art style really pops on the portable hardware’s 1080p HD display. Where the game felt a bit small and swallowed up by my TV’s 65″ screen, its varied, vibrant environments arguably presented much better on the smaller LED screen.
Of course, the innate intimacy of playing on a portable platform also deserves credit for putting the game in its best light; I was able to appreciate far more detail playing Sons of Sparta a few inches from my face rather than squinting at it from across my living room.
It also doesn’t hurt that the Portal’s handgrips deliver the same immersion-ratcheting features as the PS5‘s DualSense Wireless Controller. From feeling the rhythmic cadence of Kratos readying his Solar Sling – another fun gift from the gods – to the intense, sustained pulse that builds when opening a treasure chest, the handheld’s haptic feedback and adaptive triggers are easily on par with the standard DualSense controller.
And speaking again to that more intimate portable experience, seeing Sons of Sparta’s action unfold directly between those rumbling, vibrating handgrips adds a level of immersion and immediacy that playing on a console just can’t match.
I further complemented my time behind Kratos’ spear and shield by pairing Sony’s PlayStation Pulse Elite headset with the Portal. As expected, this allowed me to absorb every detail of the game’s dynamic soundscape, from ear-rattling boss encounters to the nuanced echo of water dripping in the game’s atmospheric Grand Cistern environment.
Sons of Sparta is undoubtedly a smaller-scale entry in a series known for making big, bold, blood-soaked splashes with each release. But while the stakes of its story are lower, and it lacks some of the epic set pieces, cinema-rivaling effects, and adrenaline-pumping action of its predecessors, it still delivers a solid, albeit quite different, God of War action-adventure.
If you’re expecting a 2D take on Kratos’ previous god-slaying exploits, Sons of Sparta will likely disappoint. But if you’re craving a fresh, canon story supported by a serviceable metroidvania structure, deep combat, and plenty of fan-pleasing call-outs to the larger franchise, this unconventional prequel’s got you covered…especially when enjoyed on the PlayStation Portal.
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Should you play God of War Sons of Sparta?
Play it if…
Don’t play it if…
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Accessibility features
God of War Sons of Sparta includes an impressive suite of accessibility features, from various audio adjustments and visuals assists – including options for customizing color filters, text sizes, and blood and gore effects – to motion reduction aids and gameplay settings for decreasing difficulty.
In addition to including a number of presets for accessibility features, the game also offers plenty of individual selections for a more tailored experience.
I played a few hours of God of War Sons of Sparta on my PlayStation 5 Pro, on my 65″ 4K display, before fully committing to it – and enjoying it much more – on my PlayStation Portal, streamed from the Pro.
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I tested Sons of Sparta‘s audio with both the PlayStation Pulse Explore earbuds and PlayStation Pulse Elite headset, with the bulk of my 25-hour playtime using the latter. I paid particular attention to how the game looked and played on the portable device versus the console, and noted the various ways it incorporated the handheld’s DualSense features.
The Soundcore Q20i headphones, priced at $39.99 (was $70), give impressive performance at a reasonable price. This over-ear model from Anker’s Soundcore brand combines hybrid active noise cancellation, a long battery life, and configurable sound profiles into a product that constantly receives high praise for being one of the best value-for-money options available.
The main draw is hybrid noise cancellation, which uses four microphones, two in each cup and two on the outside, to reduce ambient noise by up to 90%. Low rumbles from engines or air conditioning are immediately muted, while background chatter is reduced to the point that talks with someone nearby feel far away. The transparency mode switch flips this around, allowing you to let outside sounds in when necessary, such as when you’re on a train or at a station and want to hear announcements, or just want to keep attentive when out for a walk. Users have reported that the device functions effectively in real-world circumstances such as flights, buses, and extremely crowded workspaces, yet if you’re in a really loud location, you may still experience some bleed through.
Hybrid Active Noise Cancelling: 2 internal and 2 external mics work in tandem to detect external noise and effectively reduce up to 90% of it, no…
Immerse Yourself in Detailed Audio: The noise cancelling headphones have oversized 40mm dynamic drivers that produce detailed sound and thumping beats…
40-Hour Long Battery Life and Fast Charging: With 40 hours of battery life with ANC on and 60 hours in normal mode, you can commute in peace with your…
People are blown away by the battery life; with noise cancellation switched on, you get a respectable 40 hours of playback, which increases to a stunning 60 hours if you turn it off. A 5-minute charge provides an additional 4 hours of playback, which is ideal for those occasions when you are trapped in a conference or forgot the charger in the meeting room. Bluetooth 5.0 handles all connections seamlessly, since you can link with two devices at once and it will cheerfully switch between them for you, which is quite useful when you need to transition from a laptop music to a phone call.
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The sound is produced by 40mm dynamic drivers, which benefit from BassUp technology while maintaining crisp details. If you connect the headphones to the provided 3.5mm connection, they will also play Hi-Res music, giving you a snappier high end and a more layered sound. Many listeners have described the profile as engaging and exciting, with deep bass that gets going without overwhelming the mids or voices. The Soundcore app takes things to the next level, with 22 pre-set EQ profiles and the option to tweak the settings to make it exactly right for you. If you need to relax or avoid interruptions, the white noise settings are a wonderful addition.
The memory foam ear cushions are pleasant and snug, and the lightweight frame weighs only approximately 9oz, so you won’t experience sore ears even after wearing them for lengthy periods of time. The foldable form makes them ideal for putting in a bag or backpack for travel, and they still feel rather strong, despite the fact that the plastic construction isn’t exactly fancy. The built-in microphone handles calls well, picking up your voice above background noise and allowing you to hold a regular conversation.
It was 2022’s DART mission where NASA crashed a spacecraft into an asteroid — and the experiment “could have implications for protecting Earth from future asteroid strikes,” writes ScienceNews:
A spacecraft slowed the orbit of a pair of asteroids around the sun by more than 10 micrometers per second… Within a month, researchers showed that the impact shortened Dimorphos’ 12-hour orbit by 32 minutes. Some of the rocks knocked off of Dimorphos fled the vicinity completely, escaping the gravitational influence of the Dimorphos-Didymos pair, says planetary defense researcher Rahil Makadia of the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. Those rocky runaways took some momentum away from the duo and changed their joint motion around the sun.
To figure out how much that motion was affected, astronomers watched the asteroids pass in front of distant stars, dimming some of the stars’ light like a tiny eclipse. These blinks, called stellar occultations, can be visible from anywhere on Earth and are predictable in advance… Calculating how far off occultation timings were from predictions revealed that the asteroids’ orbit around the sun was about 150 milliseconds slower than before the DART impact…
Didymos and Dimorphos are not a threat to Earth, Makadia says, and weren’t before DART. But knowing how a deliberate impact changes one asteroid’s orbit can help make defense plans against another, “in case we need to do a kinetic impact for real.” The researchers spent nearly two and a half years to collect 22 measurements of the asteroid’s post-crash position, relying on amateur astronomers “to go out into the middle of nowhere and observe the necessary stellar occultations,” acvcording to their paper. Planetary defense researcher even tells ScienceNews “There was an observer who drove two days each way into the Australian outback to get these measurements.”
