Xenoblade Chronicles 3 is one of the year’s best-reviewed Nintendo Switch games, thanks to its deep combat, sweeping story, and giant world that’s fun to explore. The game is engrossing from the moment you start, but there’s a way to get even more immersed in this epic JRPG.
As pointed out by the YouTube channel BoomStickGaming, Xenoblade Chronicles 3 is entirely playable in first-person. Xenoblade series veterans will recognize this as a recurring feature, but as someone who has bounced off most of the prior games in the series, I was completely unaware it was possible.
I’ve now played the first 10-ish hours exclusively in first-person mode (aside from one boss battle), and while it’s probably not the optimal way to experience the entire game, playing in first-person truly helped me sink into Xenoblade Chronicles 3‘s early chapters, and I intend to play as much of the game as possible this way.
how to play Xenoblade Chronicthe 3 in first person
To play in first-person, hold down the ZL button on your Switch controller and push the right thumbstick up to zoom the camera all the way in to a first-person view, then push the stick left or right to adjust the height. You can also adjust the “camera movement” and “camera zoom” speed in the settings menu to suit your preferences. Make sure the “camera position” setting is set to the middle option to center on your character’s head, otherwise your view will be awkwardly offset to the left or right.
To further the sense of immersion, I also disabled the “mini-map,” “auto-targeting,” and “additional information” settings, and made sure to hide or disable all quest markers and notifications whenever possible.
Screenshot: Brendan Hesse
These are optional changes, but they’re worth trying, even if you’re playing in the default camera view. Doing so removes much of the UI clutter, so you can see even more of the world as you’re exploring. It also forces you to pay closer attention to your surroundings, which I find helps me connect to the environment more (you can easily open the map from the shortcut menu if you need to double-check your heading).
Es Xenoblade Chronicles 3 actually playable in first-person?
just because you dog do something doesn’t mean you should, but so far, Xenoblade Chronicles 3’s first-person view feels great to me, though it took some getting used to.
Playing the game in first-person gives you a closer look at the characters, enemies, and locations you interact with, and really emphasizes the world’s massive scale. The obvious comparisons to other large-scale first-person RPGs like The Elder Scrolls are immediately apparent, but running around these vast landscapes dotted with high-tech military bases and populated with alien flora and fauna reminded me of an anime-tinged No Man’s Sky.
Moving, jumping, and picking up collectible items remains easy, and most other actions you’ll perform — like swapping between party members, talking to NPCs, climbing ladders, and interacting with important objects — are intuitive and work as intended.
Combat is the only part of the game that takes some real adjustments to make it work, but it’s doable.
Xenoblade 3 makes a strong first impression. And yes, I am playing exclusively in first-person mode and pretending it’s anime sci-fi Wizardry. pic.twitter.com/877rcFCjDm
Overall, the MMO-like battle system works just fine in first-person. Since the game clearly marks whether you’re standing to the front, back, or side of your target, it’s easy to tell if you’re in the right spot for an attack, even if you’re staring up at a giant alien gorilla , and your party members’ banter will fill you in on what moves they’re using. In first person mode, the battles feel more like the tactical combat in CRPG blobbers like wizardry 8 or Might & Magic X.
That said, you’ll need to tweak some settings if you plan to play Xenoblade Chronicles 3 in first-person for the long haul, since the constant visual barrage of combat UI and other effects can be downright chaotic in that mode. Do as the BoomStickGaming video above suggests and disable all battle numbers except your character’s damage pop-ups in the settings menu. This will make fighting a lot more comfortable in first-person. I also chose to disable the “Battle camera” option to stop the cinematic cutscenes intercuts for certain attacks.
So far I’ve found the game to be entirely playable at the normal difficulty mode after implementing those settings tweaks, but feel free to set the gameplay difficulty to “Easy” if you still find the combat too difficult to manage. You can always pan out the camera just before a battle starts to take advantage of the third-person perspective, then zoom back in while exploring.
No, first-person mode is not the “intended” way to play Xenoblade Chronicles 3, but it’s made it much easier for me to get into one of the year’s best JRPGs. If you prefer first-person games, or just want to try playing Xenoblade Chronicles 3 in a novel way, I definitely recommend giving it a shot.
Michael went into his makeover on Beauty and the Geek excited. He was ready to ditch the beard and get the hair out of his eyes from him.
And while he was certainly expecting a new look, he likely wasn’t thinking that Beauty Tara would react by giving him a huge kiss.
Catch up on the latest episodes of Beauty and the Geek on 9Now.
“I felt really appreciated,” Michael told 9Entertainment. “There were so many people on the other side of that door when I came out that I was excited for them to see my reaction, but none more so than Tara.
“When she ran up and gave me that kiss and a nice warm hug, it was the embodiment of how far we’d made it, embodiment of our journey together.
Michael walked out with a lot of confidence after his makeover. (Nine)
“Then feeling like I’ve got this fresh new look. I felt more comfortable in my skin, and to be validated by this absolutely amazing woman running up to me and giving me a kiss was the cherry on top of a really good day.
“I felt really really really flattered. It was a surprise I didn’t go completely red in the face. You probably couldn’t tell because of the spray so over the top of it. I felt really good. I felt the best I ‘ve felt in years.”
READMORE:Jason reveals the moment that had him worried before undergoing a dramatic makeover on Beauty and the Geek
Tara revealed that in the moment she was blown away with Michael’s transformation.
“At first I was like, ‘Who is this? Who is this person?’ It was great to see, and even to see how great he felt and how much more confident he looked walking out,” Tara said, adding that she finds confidence to be an attractive trait in a man.
Tara was ecstatic after seeing Michael’s transformation. (Nine)
“I was just thinking, ‘He’s a little bit of a hottie and I want to give him a kiss so I’m going to.’ I ran up and couldn’t really stop myself. I’m not a runner but I will run for that.”
Before the makeover Tara had felt a little differently. Having already entered a relationship with Michael, she’d wanted as little change as possible.
“I love the way he is,” she said. “I was open to anything but I couldn’t really picture it. I was so infatuated with the guy the way he currently looked for me it was bizarre to think it could get any different or any better.”
Tara ran up to give Michael a big kiss after he unveiled his new look. (Nine)
While Michael welcomed the fresh haircut, there was one part of the makeover that he found a little confronting.
“I got spray tanned. I’ve never had to stand with someone in a little cloth G-string and be sprayed with cold spray. It was a bit confronting but mostly cold,” Michael said.
(Nine)
“You know, standing there feeling the cold wind hit my butt cheeks and realizing there’s a camera on me I’m going. ‘Oh no, what have I done?’ I’d say definitely the spray tan was the most confronting thing. I never thought I’d get a spray tan in my entire life.”
The Geek was in awe of himself when looking in the mirror. (Nine)
On the flip side, Michael found getting a tailored wardrobe do be a huge highlight of his makeover experience.
It comes after the Geek has struggled with style due to being color blind.
“Whenever I’ve bought clothes for myself I’ve always wanted to bring a girl with me like my sister or my mum and get them to help me out with colors. The color I see is not what other people are seeing,” he explained.
“To have someone who was professional, who knew my look and knew what would look good on me, and who would tell me here are the colors you need and here’s how you’re going to put them together, and then to see myself in I was like ‘Wow, that’s really brought something out in me I didn’t know I had,’ so that was really good.
“I really did enjoy it. I came out the other side feeling like I knew a lot more about myself and how I could look and how I should look.”
In Pictures
Geeks before and after their Beauty and the Geek makeovers in 2022
Anthony shocks with dramatic new look.
ViewGallery
Beauty and the Geek continues Tuesday and Wednesday at 7.30pm on Channel 9 and 9Now.Catch up on the latest episodes of Beauty and the Geek on 9Now.
Oscar Piastri said he won’t drive for Alpine next season, mere hours after the Formula One team promoted the Australian reserve driver to replace Fernando Alonso.
Alonso surprised the team Monday when he informed Alpine he’ll move to Aston Martin next year. Alpine needed just one day to announce it would promote its 21-year-old budding talent to race alongside Esteban Ocon in 2023.
But the Melbourne native said that’s not happening.
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“I understand that, without my agreement, Alpine F1 have put out a press release late this afternoon that I am driving for them next year. This is wrong and I have not signed a contract with Alpine for 2023. I will not be driving for Alpine next year,” he wrote on Twitter.
Alpine’s news release had not included any comments from Piastri. There has been speculation that the current F2 champion was working on a better deal with another team.
In Alpine’s announcement, team principal Otmar Szafnauer said Piastri is “a bright and rare talent” who is “more than capable of taking the step up to Formula 1.”
Aston Martin on Monday signed the 41-year-old Alonso, a two-time world champion, to replace Sebastian Vettel, who announced his retirement last week. Alonso’s contract with Alpine was ending this season.
It’s been a hectic six days of F1 “silly season” that opened ahead of the Hungarian Grand Prix with Vettel announcing he’ll retire at the end of the year. Alpine said Alonso had not given the team any indication he was leaving as late as Sunday night after the race, and the Piastri promotion was quickly announced. Williams, meanwhile, said American driver Logan Sargeant will make his F1 debut when he runs the first practice session at the United States Grand Prix later this year. Sargeant, a current F2 driver from Florida, will be the first American to participate in an F1 weekend since Alexander Rossi in 2015.
Oscar Piastri. (Mark Thompson/Getty Images)
Alpine said Piastri has already been undergoing “an intensive and comprehensive training program” this season to “prepare him for the next big step” into F1.
“As our reserve driver he has been exposed to the team at the track, factory and testing where he has shown the maturity, promise and speed to ensure his promotion to our second seat alongside Esteban,” Szafnauer said. “Together, we believe the duo will give us the continuity we need to achieve our longterm goal of challenging for wins and championships.”
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Commonwealth Games in pictures: English swim star Adam Peaty apologises for ‘arrogant’ interview
Take a walk in the bush, and you’ll find yourself immersed in a soundscape of chatter.
You might hear birds bantering to one anotheras they forage for food, or swarms of insects serenading potential partners.
But the quietest life forms are having some of the liveliest conversations.
Trees might seem like the type who prefer to keep to themselves, but beneath your feet they are busy forming secret relationships with vast networks of underground fungi.
Big, old trees rely on this “wood-wide web” to shuttle nutrients to their younger neighbors, while others use it to send chemical signals that warnnearby trees of looming threats, such as diseases and pests.
“The symbiosis is important for all aspects of plant growth, but also the diversity we see in our landscape,” says Ian Anderson, a fungal ecologist at Western Sydney University.
It’s a friends-with-benefits arrangement that’s been around for millions of years, but researchers are only just beginning to unravel the secrets of how trees and fungi interact, particularly in Australian ecosystems, says Tom May, a mycologist at the Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria .
“It’s just as challenging a frontier as deep space — it’s deep in the soil.”
Roots that wear socks
If you could shrink yourself down and dive beneath the forest floor, you would encounter a wonderland of miniature life forms working hard to keep the ecosystem running.
Among the busy mites and microbes, you’d be surrounded by dozens of tree roots wearing ghostly white “socks”.
These sock-like coverings are known as ectomycorrhizal fungi, the most common type of symbiotic fungi in forests.
The friendly fungi reach into the soil with their hyphae—long, cobwebby filaments that are thinner than a strand of human hair.
Mycorrhizal fungi form massive networks of white filaments called hyphae in the soil. (Getty Images: luchschen)
In the northern hemisphere, these fungi “fingers” make up an estimated 30 per cent of the biomass in forests.
“There’s kilometers of hyphae in just handfuls of soil,” Dr May says.
These bundles of hyphae—or mycelium—are tasked with doing the food shopping for their tree hosts.
As they branch out into the soil, the hyphae release special enzymes that turn hard-to-access nutrients like nitrogen and phosphorous into forms that the tree can readily consume, Dr May says.
“They slobber over their food.”
In exchange for their nutrient-scavenging efforts, host trees send their fungal partners a pay check of sugar and carbon, which they produce from sunlight via photosynthesis.
You can sometimes see mycorrhizal fungi above ground, like this Pisolithus fruiting body. (Supplied: Jonathan Plett)
This gives the fungi the energy they need to grow and scour every crevice of soil for tree nutrients.
“There’s almost like an economy,” says Jonathan Plett, a molecular mycologist at Western Sydney University.
Trees are generous hosts, providing a home for dozens of species of mycorrhizal fungi that each have a role to play.
“Some of those fungi are connecting up to different trees of the same species, sometimes they’re connecting up to different trees of different species,” Dr May says.
“It’s very complex.”
Interested in trees? Read about a selection of Australia’s best natives — and vote in our poll to choose your favorite!
Australia’s invisible friendships
Over the past two decades, most of the research exploring the relationship between fungi and trees has focused on northern hemisphere ecosystems, such as pine forests.
Studies from this side of the world have revealed that trees don’t just rely on their mycorrhizal fungi to look after themselves.
Tree-fungi relationships are relatively well described in northern hemisphere forests, but their role in Australian ecosystems is still a mystery. (Getty Images: Darrell Gulin)
One 2015 study found that drought-ravaged Douglas fir trees (Pseudotsuga menziesii) — which are native to North America — offload their carbon and send chemical stress signals to nearby ponderosa pine (pinus ponderosae) trees.
But the conversations between Australian native trees and their mycorrhizal fungi are still largely shrouded in mystery.
Over the past few years, Dr Plett and his team have been digging into the nitty-gritty of how mycorrhizal fungi help eucalyptus trees thrive and communicate.
While Aussie tree-fungi relationships share some similarities with their northern hemisphere counterparts, Dr Plett has noticed some striking differences.
For one, his experiments have shown that Australian mycorrhizal fungi have evolved to take some heat.
Mycorrhizal fungi associated with eucalypts have adapted to Australia’s harsh conditions. (Getty Images: Photography by Mangiwau)
Dr Plett has found that mycorrhizal fungi from the northern hemisphere don’t cope well when they are exposed to temperatures above 25 degrees, leaving their tree partners vulnerable as a result.
“They either die or they go dormant and just kind of sit there… they don’t help the plant anymore,” he says.
It’s a different story for Australian fungi, which continue thriving at temperatures as high as 37 degrees.
“They love it,” Dr. Plett says.
“If you think of the Australian environment… they’ve had that temperature extreme long enough that they’ve somehow adapted to that.”
Dr Plett and his team have also found eucalyptus trees aren’t quite as loyal to their fungi partners as northern hemisphere tree species, which tend to stick with the same type of mycorrhizal fungi for life.
As seedlings, eucalypts pair up with arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi — a group that usually favors crops and grasses over trees.
But like teenagers who drift away from childhood friends, eucalypts switch over to ectomycorrhizal fungi as they grow into adults.
“Eucalypts are one of only a very few hosts that do that,” Professor Anderson says.
Because arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi typically sustain plants in nutrient-poor soils — a key feature of the Australian landscape — Professor Anderson suspects they give young eucalypts a good start in life until they’re ready to meet their long-term partners.
“It is another peculiarity of the Australian native ecosystem.”
Proteins as passwords
But not all underground fungi are interested in making friends with trees.
For instance, the Australian honey fungus (Armillaria luteobubaline) is the main culprit behind root rot in eucalyptus trees, and can spread from tree to tree like an underground wildfire.
The Australian honey fungus invades the roots of eucalyptus trees, causing root rot. (Wikimedia Commons: Lord Mayonnaise/Mushroom Observer)
So, how can trees tell the difference between friend and foe?
The answer liesin tiny molecular differences. Dr Plett has found that when mycorrhizal fungi encounter a tree’s roots, they secrete special proteins that can unlock thetree’s root cells without setting off its alarm bells.
If trading nutrients is like a conversation between trees and fungi, then proteins are the language mycorrhizal fungi use to “talk” to the tree’s immune system, Dr Plett says.
“That’s what allows that fungus to actually push into the root without the plant killing it off.”
Some species of fungi will go even further to maintain a loving bond with their chosen trees.
The Pisolithus microcarpis fungus—stained green—shares some of its genetic material with eucalyptus roots.(Supplied: Jonathan Plett)
Earlier this year, Dr Plett and his colleagues reported evidence that a fungus called Pisolithus microcarpus manipulates gene activity in the roots of flooded gum trees (Eucalyptus grandis).
As this fungus colonises the gum tree roots, it releases microRNA — small chunks of genetic material that control the production of certain proteins — a strategy that’s more common among pathogenic fungi.
In the lab, Dr Plett and his team found that the fungus donated some of these genetic scraps to itshost tree’s roots, helping it form a lasting bond with its woody partner.
But it wasn’t a one-sided relationship. The researchers also found that seedlings with the fungal microRNA in their roots pulled more nutrients from the soil than those without it.
The study showed that the fungus gave the trees some genetic tweaks that boosted their immune response and nutrient-processing capabilities.
The perfect match for regeneration
While eucalyptus seedlings are often inoculated with mycorrhizal fungi before they are planted in the wild, the results are hit and miss.
Some seedlings will grow up strong and robust, while others struggle to establish themselves, even if their roots are wrapped with the same type of mycorrhizal fungi.
Eucalyptus seedlings are inoculated with mycorrhizal fungi before they are planted in reforestation areas, but getting the right balance is tricky. (Getty Images: Odairson Antonello)
Part of the problem is that not all fungi — even those within the same species — are willing to share the fruits of their labor, with some hoarding the nutrients they collect.
This could be due to subtle genetic and metabolic differences among individuals, Dr Plett says.
“Different types of fungi colonize different types of trees, much like we gravitate to certain people and not others.”
By cracking the riddle of how trees rely on fungi to thrive and communicate, Dr Plett hopes to identify the most compatible tree-fungi partnerships — a boon for the nursery industry and bush regeneration efforts.
Jonathan Plett and his team are working to identify the most beneficial fungi for eucalyptus trees.(Supplied: Kristin Plett)
And while trying to play matchmaker is painstaking work, the pay-off could be huge.
Dr Plett estimates that inoculating eucalyptus and pine seedlings with the right mycorrhizal partners could cut fertilizer use by up to 40 per cent, and even help store more carbon underground.
Getting this delicate balance right is also important for restoring landscapes that are out of whack to begin with, such as cleared farmland.
For instance, in soil with abnormally high nitrogen and phosphorous levels, some trees dump their mycorrhizal partners as they get their nutrient needs met elsewhere, Dr May says.
But independent living has its downsides.
“[The trees] don’t get all the other benefits, like disease protection,” he says.
Given that roughly 50 species of Australian fungi are now on the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species, cataloging our native fungi and understanding their role in Australia’s forests is more important than ever, Dr May says.
This means turning our attention to the underworld, instead of the heavens.
“It’s interesting how people are really captured by cataloging the stars … there’s nothing going on out in space that we need to worry about,” Dr May says.
“But if we don’t crack on here and get an understanding of what we’ve got, in 50 years’ time it could be gone.”
Sen. Joe Manchin (DW.Va.) says he is exchanging materials with Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.) To help her better understand the broad tax reform and climate bill he negotiated with Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer (DN.Y.) and says he is open to her suggestions for her as Democrats seek 50 votes to put the bill on the floor.
Manchin finally got a chance to speak to Sinema after lunch Tuesday, when she was scheduled to preside over the chamber.
Manchin was tight-lipped about the details of the conversation but made clear that he’s willing to consider changes she might want to make to the deal, which would raise $739 billion in new revenue over the next decade and reduce the deficit by more than $300 billion .
“We had a nice time. We had a nice time. Next?” Manchin said Tuesday when reporters pressed him for details of his chat with Sinema while she sat at the Senate dais.
Asked again to shed any light on whether Sinema will vote for the bill, which would give President Biden the biggest legislative victory of this first two years in office, Manchin said his colleague would make her own decision.
“We’re exchanging text back and forth,” he said, adding that Sinema is “extremely bright. She works hard. She makes good decisions based on facts. I’m relieved on that.”
Manchin said Schumer is “working with all the caucus” to get buy-in from all 50 members to get the budget reconciliation bill to the floor later this week.
Even though Sinema played a major role in negotiating the prescription drug reform component of the bill and set the broad parameters of the tax chapter, she learned about the deal at the same time as all of her colleagues and the general public — through a press release .
Manchin said he’s open to considering changes suggested by Sinema, including on a proposal to close the carried interest tax loophole, one of his priorities.
“We’re just basically exchanging back and forth whatever I have that she hasn’t seen. And our staffs are working together very closely,” he said, adding that he’s also exchanging materials relevant to the bill with other Democratic and Republican senators.
Asked if he would be willing to change the bill’s carried interest provision, Manchin responded, “Everyone is still talking.”
But Manchin defended closing the loophole that allows money managers to pay capital gains tax rates on income they collect from managing profitable investments.
Asked whether Sinema is upset that she didn’t get looped into last week’s talks with Schumer, which produced the surprise deal, Manchin said he didn’t want to get anyone’s hopes up when he didn’t know whether an agreement was even possible.
“She’s my dear friend,” he said. “But why bring anyone in and all their aspirations get high and the drama we go through and it doesn’t work out?
“I wasn’t really sure” a deal could be reached, he said.
“I’m not in control of the timing” of the announcement of the deal, he said. “Sen. Schumer is in control of the timing.”
“People getting mad because they think this is some kind of orchestrated coup against them is just so wrong,” he added.
For years Craig Wright has claimed that he is the mythical figure who created bitcoin. But a legal bid by the Australian computer scientist to defend his assertion that he is Satoshi Nakamoto resulted in a pyrrhic victory and a tarnished reputation on Monday.
A high court judge in London ruled Wright had given “deliberately false evidence” in a libel case and awarded him £1 in damages after he sued a blogger for alleging that his claim to be the elusive Nakamoto was fraudulent.
“Because he [Wright] advanced a deliberately false case and put forward deliberately false evidence until days before trial, he will recover only nominal damages,” wrote Justice Chamberlain.
Wright had sued blogger Peter McCormack over a series of tweets in 2019, and a video discussion broadcast on YouTube, in which McCormack said Wright was a “fraud” and is not Satoshi. The issue of Nakamoto’s identity was not covered by the judge’s ruling because McCormack had earlier abandoned a defense of truth in his case.
Wright claimed that his reputation within the cryptocurrency industry had been “seriously harmed” by McCormack’s claims. He said he had been invited to speak at numerous conferences after the successful submission of academic papers for blind peer review, but 10 invites had been withdrawn following McCormack’s tweets. This included alleged potential appearances at events in France, Vietnam, the US, Canada and Portugal.
But McCormack submitted evidence from academics challenging Wright’s claims, which were then dropped from his case at the trial in May. Wright later accepted that some of his evidence of him was “wrong” but said that this was “inadvertent”, Chamberlain said in his judgment of him.
The judge noted that there was “no documentary evidence” that Wright had a paper accepted at any of the conferences identified in the earlier version of his libel claim, nor that he received an invitation to speak at them except possibly at one, and that any invitation was withdrawn.
Wright’s explanation for abandoning this part of his case because the alleged damage to his reputation from the “disinvitations” was outside England and Wales “does not withstand scrutiny”, the judge added.
He concluded: “Dr Wright’s original case on serious harm, and the evidence supporting it, both of which were maintained until days before trial, were deliberately false.”
Lawyers for McCormack had argued that his tweets were made in “flippant and lighthearted terms” and were in response to posts by Calvin Ayre, a Canadian businessman, “goading others into accusing Dr Wright of being a fraud”. They also claimed there were “numerous other individuals who had posted the same allegations about Wright”, Chamberlain explained in his ruling on him.
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Chamberlain concluded that although the tweets were “flippant in tone”, they came from “a well-known podcaster and acknowledged expert in cryptocurrency”.
“They were unequivocal in their meaning. Many people who read them would have known that there was a lively debate about whether Dr Wright was Satoshi, but some of them must have been influenced by reading Mr McCormack’s trenchantly expressed contribution to that debate,” the judge continued.
“The fact that he was willing to state his views so brazenly in response to threats of libel proceedings is likely to have made those who read them more, not less, likely to believe them.”
But the judge said that Wright’s pre-trial case over the serious harm to his reputation made it “unconscionable” that he should receive “any more than nominal damages”.
The judge asked for both sides’ legal teams to make submissions on the award of costs.
Chamberlain found that McCormack’s comments in the video discussion, which included calling Wright a “liar” and a “moron” were defamatory, while the video and a majority of the tweets caused “serious harm” to Wright’s reputation.
In statement Wright said: “I intend to appeal the adverse findings of the judgment in which my evidence was clearly misunderstood. I will continue legal challenges until these baseless and harmful attacks designed to belittle my reputation stop.”
A biofilm-powered sensor, on the neck, that measures the mechanical signal of swallowing. Credit: Liu et al., 10.1038/s41467-022-32105-6
Researchers at the University of Massachusetts Amherst recently announced that they have figured out how to engineer a biofilm that harvests the energy in evaporation and converts it to electricity. This biofilm, which was announced in Nature Communicationshas the potential to revolutionize the world of wearable electronics, powering everything from personal medical sensors to personal electronics.
“This is a very exciting technology,” says Xiaomeng Liu, graduate student in electrical and computer engineering at UMass Amherst’s College of Engineering and the paper’s lead author. “It is real green energy, and unlike other so-called ‘green-energy’ sources, its production is totally green.”
That’s because this biofilm—a thin sheet of bacterial cells about the thickness of a sheet of paper—is produced naturally by an engineered version of the bacteria Geobacter sulfurreducens. G. sulfurreducens is known to produce electricity and has been used previously in “microbial batteries” to power electrical devices. But such batteries require that G. sulfurreducens is properly cared for and fed a constant diet. By contrast, this new biofilm, which can supply as much, if not more, energy than a comparably sized battery, works, and works continuously, because it is dead. And because it’s dead, it doesn’t need to be fed.
“It’s much more efficient,” says Derek Lovley, Distinguished Professor of Microbiology at UMass Amherst and one of the paper’s senior authors. “We’ve simplified the process of generating electricity by radically cutting back on the amount of processing needed. We sustainably grow the cells in a biofilm, and then use that agglomeration of cells. This cuts the energy inputs, makes everything simpler and widens the potential applications.”
Schematic view (r) and actual photo (l) of a biofilm device. Credit: Liu et al., 10.1038/s41467-022-32105-6
The secret behind this new biofilm is that it makes energy from the moisture on your skin. Though we daily read stories about solar power, at least 50% of the solar energy reaching the earth goes toward evaporating water. “This is a huge, untapped source of energy,” says Jun Yao, professor of electrical and computer engineering at UMass, and the paper’s other senior author. Since the surface of our skin is constantly moist with sweat, the biofilm can “plug-in” and convert the energy locked in evaporation into enough energy to power small devices.
“The limiting factor of wearable electronics,” says Yao, “has always been the power supply. Batteries run down and have to be changed or charged. They are also bulky, heavy, and uncomfortable.” But a clear, small, thin flexible biofilm that produces a continuous and steady supply of electricity and which can be worn, like a Band-Aid, as a patch applied directly to the skin, solves all these problems.
An integrated device array powers a small LCD screen. Credit: Liu et al., 10.1038/s41467-022-32105-6
What makes this all work is that G. sulfurreducens grows in colonies that look like thin mats, and each of the individual microbes connects to its neighbors through a series of natural nanowires. The team then harvests these mats and uses a laser to etch small circuits into the films. Once the films are etched, they’re sandwiched between electrodes and finally sealed in a soft, sticky, breathable polymer that you can apply directly to your skin. Once this tiny battery is “plugged in” by applying it to your body, it can power small devices.
“Our next step is to increase the size of our films to power more sophisticated skin-wearable electronics,” says Yao, and Liu points out that one of the goals is to power entire electronic systems, rather than single devices.
New green technology generates electricity ‘out of thin air’
More information:
Xiaomeng Liu et al, Microbial biofilms for electricity generation from water evaporation and power to wearables, Nature Communications (2022). DOI: 10.1038/s41467-022-32105-6
citation: Researchers engineer biofilm capable of producing long-term, continuous electricity from your sweat (2022, August 2) retrieved 2 August 2022 from https://techxplore.com/news/2022-08-biofilm-capable-long-term-electricity .html
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Beauty and the Geek shocks fans with FOUR major makeovers that leave host Sophie Monk gobsmacked
By Caleb Taylor For Daily Mail Australia
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Beauty and the Geek unveiled four major makeovers on Monday night.
The shows geeks left the beauties and host Sophie Monk gobsmacked with their new incredible new looks.
Jason was the first to be revealed sending shockwaves through the group after he admitted he wears his PJ shorts while shopping.
Beauty and the Geek shocked fans with FOUR major MAKEOVERS on the show on Monday night, leaving host Sophie Monk (pictured) gobsmacked
He admitted he couldn’t even look women in the eye when he began the experiment.
Following the transformation, he admitted he felt ‘incredible’, before the mirror was flipped for him to see himself.
‘What the hell. I couldn’t believe who I was looking at. It’s amazing. I do not know what to say, ‘Jason said of his transformation of him.
‘What the hell. I couldn’t believe who I was looking at. It’s amazing. I do not know what to say, ‘Jason said of his transformation of him. Right, before. Left, after
Aaron was next to be revealed with Karly admitting he needed a ‘big change’ in his look.
‘I’m ready to start living now,’ said Aaron, who also revealed he wears false teeth during the episode.
‘I’m speechless. I’ve never felt more sexy ever. I just want to say I feel like the luckiest geek in the world,’ he added.
‘I’m ready to start living now,’ said Aaron, who also revealed he wears false teeth during the episode. Here: before and after
He quickly embraced a tearful Karly before saying he felt ‘worthy’ and ‘desirable’ for the first time.
Anthony was next off the block with him showing off his suave new look.
‘I feel handsome,’ he said, admitting he was shaking at the reveal.
Anthony was next off the block with him showing off his suave new look. ‘I feel handsome,’ he said, admitting he was shaking at the reveal. Left, before. Right, after
Anthony started to cry as he looked at himself in the mirror.
‘It was very emotional. Why can’t you love yourself and be proud of who you are,’ Anthony said of himself.
Tegan went on to say it was ‘better than she expected’ before saying he’s ‘got it on the inside, now he has it on the outside’, referring to his looks.
The last reveal was hunky Michael, with many of the beauties, including Tara, anxiously awaiting him to come out of the elevator. Left, before. Right, after
The last reveal was hunky Michael, with many of the beauties, including Tara, anxiously awaiting him to come out of the elevator.
‘Oh damn,’ he said, adding, ‘Okay. I’ll accept this.’
Tara went on to say Michael was already a ‘cutie’ but now he was a ‘hottie’.
Beauty and the Geek continues Tuesday at 7.30pm on Channel Nine
Beauty and the Geek continues Tuesday at 7.30pm on Channel Nine
Commonwealth Games sevens bronze medalists Theresa Fitzpatrick and Tyla Nathan-Wong and World Cup winners Victoria Subritzy-Nafatali and Charmaine McMenamin will join the Black Ferns for the O’Reilly Cup series against Australia.
Director of rugby Wayne Smith named the quartet in a 33-strong squad for two tests in Christchurch on August 20 and Adelaide on August 27.
Inside back Ruahei Demant will be joined as co-captain by Waikato loose forward Kennedy Simon with former skipper Les Elder again overlooked.
Elder’s hopes of making the World Cup now look dim after missing selection for a second time this year.
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Demant led the Black Ferns to the Pacific Four tournament victory in June while Simon was the 2021 Black Ferns Player of the Year but missed the most recent series with a knee injury.
Smith said the return of loose forward McMenamin and inside back Subritzky-Nafatali added experience and depth.
“Charmaine brings a huge work rate and a wise head, and it’s been her form in FPC [Farah Palmer Cup] that clinched her selection. She has recovered from what could have been a career-ending injury, so we’re excited to have her in the team.
“Vic isn’t your ordinary player – she is mercurial. She’s returning after a long layoff and has done incredibly well to get to this point, so having her back in the mix is great.”
Maarten Holl/Stuff
Black Fern Victoria Subritzky-Nafatali celebrates winning the 2017 Rugby World Cup at a civic function in Wellington.
Nathan-Wong – a Black Ferns Olympic sevens gold medalist – is one of three new caps in the test squad, along with Chiefs props Awhina Tangen-Wainohu, 24, and Santo Taumata, 19.
Smith said the standard of play in the Farah Palmer Cup set a strong platform for players coming into this series.
SPARK SPORTS
The Black Ferns clinch the Pacific Four Series title with a third successive win in Whangārei.
The beauty of the FPC at the moment is there is huge attacking intent, players are in better condition and as a result we are seeing fast, open and exciting games.
“The trial we held early last month also added real depth to our game. It did end up a bit one-sided but regardless of the result there were players from both sides who showed up and we saw humility, honest endeavor and drive, which are attributes we are looking for,” said Smith.
Aaron Gillions/PHOTOSPORT
Black Ferns captain Ruahei Demant (L) and director of rugby Wayne Smith with the Pacific Four tournament trophy.
The two-match test series holds special importance to Smith, named after his former coaching mentor and friend Laurie O’Reilly.
“Laurie inspired me to be a coach and I feel really fortunate to have had such a great relationship with him.
“These are test matches and they are called that for a reason – they test our ability to play under pressure against other world-class players. These are incredibly important games from a historical perspective, an emotional one and as a selection tool for the World Cup,” said Smith.
Black Ferns squad for O’Reilly Cup series
Hookers: Luka Connor (Chiefs, Bay of Plenty), Natalie Delamere (Matatū, Bay of Plenty), Georgia Ponsonby (Matatū, Canterbury).
props: Tanya Kalounivale (Chiefs, Waikato), Pip Love (Matatū, Canterbury), Krystal Murray (Blues, Northland), Amy Rule (Matatū, Canterbury), Awhina Tangen-Wainohu (Chiefs, Waikato), Santon Taumata (Chiefs, Bay of Plenty ).
Locks: Chelsea Bremner (Matatū, Canterbury), Joanah Ngan Woo (Hurricanes, Wellington), Maiakawanakaulani Roos (Blues, Auckland).
Loose forwards: Alana Bremner (Matatū, Canterbury), Tafito Lafaele (Blues, Auckland), Charmaine McMenamin (Blues, Auckland), Kaipo Olsen-Baker (Hurricanes, Manawatū), Kendra Reynolds (Matatū, Bay of Plenty), Kennedy Simon (Chiefs, Waikato ).
Munz told News Corp: “I do not know how many people received this unsolicited and unwanted email, but when I got it, I rejected it out of hand.”
Guy told nervous MPs in the Liberal party room that the swift resignation of his top adviser would clear the decks and allow the Coalition to continue criticizing the government’s record on integrity, which the opposition was planning to make a central campaign issue before the November election.
Mitch Catlin.Credit:Tash Sorensen
However, some MPs expressed concern about the political impact of the revelations and in a meeting of Coalition MPs former leader Michael O’Brien spoke up about the importance of integrity.
Addressing the media on Tuesday morning, Guy said Catlin offered his resignation even though the contract was never signed, and he denied forwarding the email to the donor.
Credit:Matt Golding
Guy also committed to introducing a code of conduct for his advisers, which Dr Catherine Williams from the Center for Public Integrity previously flagged as “a gaping hole in Victoria’s integrity framework”.
“I value integrity,” Guy said. “We didn’t do this. We didn’t agree to this. Nothing was signed. There was nothing signed.
“We value integrity, which is why Mitch has resigned today despite signing and agreeing to nothing.”
Asked whether the proposed payments were linked to Catlin’s employment as his chief of staff, Guy said “of course that was part of the discussion”.
“But the point is that it was not considered transparent enough… and nothing was ever [acted] on,” he said. “Mitch and I believed it was better to have everyone employed through the [regular] budget, which is what it is today.”
The Age on Tuesday reported details of a proposed agreement for a donor, who rejected the proposal, to pay $8,333 a month to Catlin’s private marketing company, Catchy Media Marketing and Management, for services as a contractor described as “supporting business interests”.
“Hey MG. Attached is the proposed agreement between [the donor] and Catchy Media Marketing and Management,” Catlin wrote in an email, obtained by TheAge, to Guy’s private Hotmail address. “It’s as per the original email agreement between you and me. Can I leave you to forward onto him?”
Speaking under parliamentary privilege on Tuesday, which protects MPs from defamation action, Pearson claimed Guy and Catlin had conspired to subvert the state’s strict donation laws.
“[It was a] scheme designed to donate to the Liberals through sham contracts … This person cannot be trusted,” he said.
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“It’s up to the authorities to investigate this matter and do their job.”
In addition to IBAC, the government asked Victoria Police, the Victorian Electoral Commission, the Victorian Ombudsman and the Australian Federal Police to look into the matter.
Guy said the government’s request for authorities to investigate the matter was a “desperate attempt from a tired, corrupt and arrogant government to distract from its own integrity failings”.
He said he would fully co-operate with any investigation and “will not waste taxpayer money to block the work of integrity agencies and cover-up the truth. Unlike Daniel Andrews, I will increase, not cut, the funding and powers of the ombudsman and the IBAC.”
In Pearson’s letter to Redlich, he asks that IBAC consider whether Guy and Catlin’s proposal could have constituted corruption as outlined in the IBAC Act of 2011 if it:
Adversely affects the honest performance of the function of a public officer;
constitutes or involves the dishonest performance of functions as a public officer;
Constitutes or involves a public officer knowingly or recklessly breaching public trust;
Constitutes a conspiracy or attempt to engage in such conduct
Further, Pearson wrote that the proposal may have breached the Electoral Act of 2002, which prohibits “entering into” a scheme to circumvent donation laws.
The Victorian Electoral Commission posted on social media on Tuesday that it was “aware of recent issues raised regarding political donations being potentially disguised as alternate payments or funding to political entities”. It did not name any individual MPs or staff.
“We take the regulation of political donations very seriously and have commenced preliminary inquiries into these issues. In the lead-up to state election, we’ll continue to monitor and follow up on activities that may constitute an offense against the Electoral Act, including where a person appears to have entered into a scheme to avoid donation disclosure and reporting requirements.”
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Integrity experts told The Age that if the proposed contract was acted upon and was determined to be a donation, it could breach the state’s $4,210 cap on donations.
Former opposition leader Michael O’Brien, an ex-barrister, said during the meeting of Liberal MPs on Tuesday that opposition MPs and staff often took pay cuts to be involved in politics because it was a service to the public.
On Tuesday afternoon, O’Brien tweeted: “Sick of dodgy politics? So am I. It’s why I’ll fight for more power and more funding for our anti-corruption watchdogs.”
Coalition MPs expressed nervousness about the potential political damage that could be caused by the episode. In particular, they were worried that Guy was susceptible to attacks on political integrity because of the “lobster with a mobster” dinner, where he dined with an alleged mafia boss, and scandals as a planning minister in the Baillieu-Napthine government.
Federal Liberals were also worried if Guy could withstand any further revelations about his involvement in the proposed arrangement with Catlin.
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Screenshot: Brendan Hesse
