Fearless, intelligent, devoted, determined Samus Aran in Metroid Prime 4. Fearless, intelligent, devoted, determined Samus Aran in Metroid Prime 4. Being a woman who loves video games has often felt lonely, like being on a hostile planet - but Metroid's female space hunter has been with me all the way Anyway, this new game has you in its grip. You are a lone astronaut exploring a hostile alien planet full of ancient, mysterious structures. This astronaut looks human enough - but this distinctly alien place is full of objects that power up their spacesuit's capabilities. Each new ability allows you to explore a new area, and as you do, you realise that the entirety of the planetary base you're exploring is one, massive, interconnected maze. Hours later, you finally defeat Mother Brain and set off a timed self-destruct sequence. Upon your escape, you're treated to an endgame screen: the little astronaut faces you as text on screen implores you to "pray for peace in space".

The games industry's obsession with visual fidelity is costing them money and talent Big developers are discovering that the technical progress of photorealism doesn't always translate into the creative spark that gives gamers joy - and keeps them playing Don't get Pushing Buttons delivered to your inbox? The Guardian's journalism is independent. We will earn a commission if you buy something through an affiliate link. L ast week, Asha Sharma, the new head of Xbox, laid out her vision for the future of the console and interestingly, the two titles she picked out as potential areas of growth were Minecraft and Candy Crush Saga - games that don't exactly scream next-generation entertainment. Neither relies on hyper-realistic visuals, which is the north star that games consoles and gaming PCs have been aiming at for the past 40 years.

A 400-year-old document recording a Spanish Inquisition exorcism at the Antiquariat Forum BV and Inlibris stall at the 2026 Rare Book Fair. A 400-year-old document recording a Spanish Inquisition exorcism at the Antiquariat Forum BV and Inlibris stall at the 2026 Rare Book Fair. 'More than just objects': Australian booksellers raise alarm over'horrific' destruction of rare titles to feed AI "S ometimes books tell you more than the content," says Tim White, as he lines up carefully dust-jacketed books and pamphlets in plastic sleeves on temporary shelves in Melbourne University's Wilson Hall. For people like White, who runs independent bookshop Books for Cooks, the book as a physical object is just as important as what's inside it. "We're interested in where food and society connect So we just keep pushing the boundaries, looking for things that show unusual aspects of that, things that tell us a bit more about what it is to be human," he says.

George Dover poses for a portrait at his home in Beaverton, Oregon. Dover was laid off in 2024. George Dover poses for a portrait at his home in Beaverton, Oregon. Dover was laid off in 2024. Every weekday, Matt, a software engineer, looks forward to his four-hour train commute to Pawling, New York.

The Starship Technologies six-wheelers have been roaming the streets of the city for more than eight years. The Starship Technologies six-wheelers have been roaming the streets of the city for more than eight years. D riving down an endless string of identical roundabouts in the dead heat with hardly a human in sight, you see robots roving around on grassy pavements, whizzing past obstacles to hurriedly reach their final destination. The robots aren't a new arrival to the Buckinghamshire city, the UK's largest new town and a longtime marvel for city planning enthusiasts fascinated by its American-influenced layout and postwar history. They've roamed its streets since 2018 - and could soon be coming to a town or city near you.

The scroll was recovered from the library of a luxury Roman villa in Herculaneum, near Naples, that was blasted by heat and buried under ash in AD79. The scroll was recovered from the library of a luxury Roman villa in Herculaneum, near Naples, that was blasted by heat and buried under ash in AD79. The surviving part of an ancient scroll that was burnt to a crisp when Mount Vesuvius erupted nearly 2,000 years ago has been virtually unwrapped and read with help from artificial intelligence. Researchers uncovered 20 columns of previously hidden text covering more than a metre of charred papyrus without physically unrolling the scroll. The age of the scroll, named PHerc 1667, makes it one of the oldest in a collection of hundreds recovered from the library of a luxury Roman villa in Herculaneum that was blasted by heat and buried under ash in the volcanic eruption that destroyed nearby Pompeii in AD79.

'AI cannot and will never render us obsolete' Cory Doctorow at home in Los Angeles. 'AI cannot and will never render us obsolete' Cory Doctorow at home in Los Angeles. The writer who coined the word'enshittification' tells us why AI will never deliver what it promises - and why it still appeals so much to those in power A "centaur", in automation theory, is a person assisted by a machine, and a "reverse centaur", hero of Cory Doctorow's new book, The Reverse Centaur's Guide to Life After AI, is a "human who is conscripted into acting as an assistant a machine". Every warehouse worker who ever had to urinate in a water bottle because they couldn't otherwise meet the fulfilment targets set by an algorithm is a reverse centaur. Reaching into the future, everyone who has to sit in a self-driving truck to make sure it doesn't crash, presumably on minimum rather than truck-driver wages, is a reverse centaur; as is every lawyer no longer on lawyer's money checking Gemini's command of precedent, every indie band scraping a living doing covers of AI-generated hits, and so on. That, anyway, is the promise: AI is coming for your job, and it is coming for your kids' jobs, and there is no point fighting it because the future's already here.

I n a small, crowded room in Taipei, Pan Chien-chin is trying to keep a drone hovering steadily. Imagining himself flying a plane, he gently nudges controller joysticks to guide the insect-like device as it hums through the air. Cheers break out as Pan, who has never flown a drone before, steers it around a rectangular course marked by traffic cones without crashing. Around him are about two dozen fellow trainees, all signed up for the same course: Taiwan's first civil defence drone training programme. "The war in Ukraine has really changed how drones are used," says Pan, 48, a food company worker. "It's like giving myself another skill, something I can use if it's ever needed one day," he adds.

'Musk profits where there are as few regulations as possible and he can dominate.' 'Musk profits where there are as few regulations as possible and he can dominate.' Ten years ago, after complaining that traffic was'driving him nuts', Musk's Boring Company began building underground tunnels to ease congestion on the roads. I t's another blindingly bright day in Las Vegas but I'm 30ft underground and strapped in for a rocket ride to the future. And it's pretty slow - my driver tells me the speed limit down here is 30mph. It's also pretty short: the journey is over in a matter of minutes.

Tim Smith: 'Today's short-form, fast-paced, highly captivating content may affect children's attention, comprehension and emotional response'. Tim Smith: 'Today's short-form, fast-paced, highly captivating content may affect children's attention, comprehension and emotional response'. Pioneering UK Nerve Lab harnesses AI to map effect of children's screen time P arents are constantly being told to limit their children's screen time. A relatively slow-paced programme such as Bluey offers a very different viewing experience to a fast-moving action series such as PAW Patrol, yet both are broadly considered suitable for young children. This challenge is growing as the type of content children are exposed to evolves.