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Chinese media announced that the nation's Chang'e-4 lunar lander has successfully reached the far side of the moon, making it the first spacecraft to do so. This is China's recent lunar mission, following Jade Rabbit in 2013, but by touching the side...

Engineering students at Jiao Tong University in Shanghai have invented an artificial intelligence (A.I.) powered self-checkout system called AEYA-Go that scans and identifies the food on customer's plates. The A.I. accomplishes this task by distinguishing the unique color and pattern of various foods. Not only does the A.I. calculate the cost of the order from the identification scan; it also counts the amount of calories present in the food on the tray. The fast and efficient checkout system has been adopted at several universities and foreign investors have expressed interest in the technology. A team at the Jiao Tong University in Shanghai has developed a self-checkout system at canteens, that will tell customers the cost of their food, but also the amount of calories in them. The AI-enhanced system is operational at several universities in Shanghai, and has attracted international investors. Discussion

In “Bandersnatch,” the latest output from the sinister minds at Black Mirror, the viewer follows Stefan Butler (Fionn Whitehead) as he attempts the Herculean task of adapting a Choose Your Own Adventure-style novel into a videogame (also called Bandersnatch), with the occasional bit of guidance from veteran game designer Colin (Will Poulter).

But the viewer is also playing a version of the game, guiding Stefan along by making decisions for him. These choices range from which breakfast cereal to eat to (spoiler) whether to bury or chop up his just-murdered father. Like a Choose Your Own Adventure novel, “Bandersnatch” has multiple possible endings for Stefan and company. Here are all the possibilities, ranked in terms of general awfulness (from greatest to least) — barring the false endings that just force you back to your last choice, and also barring whatever secret ending(s) Charlie Brooker hid somewhere in the episode that we haven’t found yet.

10. Stefan finds out his entire life has been a massive science experiment (P.A.C.S.).

Even though this ending involves no murder, it’s still easily the worst ending for poor Stefan. Murder is a terrible thing that happens; finding out your entire life was a psychological study meant to manipulate you, and the man you thought was your father is really just a stranger being paid by the government to record you and drug your food, is so psychologically devastating that there’s no possible way back. This ending doesn’t just ruin Stefan’s life, it completely demolishes it. This ending Thanos-snaps Stefan’s entire existence. His mom wasn’t even his mom?! Horrible. Sorry, Stefan.

9. Stefan buries his dad, kills Colin, and is arrested for murder. Bandersnatch isn’t released.

If you choose to bury Stefan’s recently ashtray-murdered father, the neighbor’s dog will eventually dig up the body, sending poor Stefan to prison (although you’d think if he keeps talking about Netflix, he should really be able to get off on insanity).

8. Stefan buries his dad, doesn’t kill Colin, and is arrested for murder. Bandersnatch isn’t released.

If you let Colin go (or if Kitty comes to the door instead), it means Stefan only commits a single murder, which is… you know, a little better.

7. Stefan kills his dad, calls the therapist, and is arrested for murder. Bandersnatch gets 2.5 stars.

I guess at least his game gets released in this one, but it’s only a nominal improvement.

6. Stefan chops up his dad. Game gets 5/5 stars before Stefan is arrested.

Sure, it’s fun to see that Bandersnatch got five stars, but at what cost? Making a good videogame is not worth having your father’s severed head slowly bleeding out over your dresser. Stefan also ends up in prison in this ending, but at least in this timeline, Colin’s daughter Pearl is reviving the game in the present day. It’s good to see that she turned out okay, at least until you force her to destroy her computer and realize free will is an illusion.

5. Stefan jumps off the balcony, and Bandersnatch is unfinished, disturbing, and weird.

Jumping off a balcony while tripping on acid is a terrible, heartbreaking accident, but, you know, at least there’s no murder.

4. Stefan goes back in time, gets on the train with his mother, and then dies in the therapist’s office in the present day.

Again, an inexplicable death after extensive hallucinations is strange and terrible, but at least there’s no decapitation.

3. Turns out Stefan is just an actor doing a scene, and he lost track of reality.

You might argue that this ending is equally psychologically devastating as the P.A.C.S. path, but I’m a little more optimistic. Sure, “Stefan” isn’t real, but the actor portraying him is, and he just got a little too into his character. When production ends, “Stefan” can stop being method and get therapy to re-anchor himself in the real world. And bonus points: In the real world, he’s clearly a successful working actor! Did you also star in Dunkirk? Good for you, whatever your name is now!

2. Stefan takes his pills and Bandersnatch is uninspired but just FINE.

It’s a myth that medication makes you less creative. Maybe Stefan just made a mediocre game, and that’s fine. Do you know what he didn’t do? Murder his father with an ashtray and end up in prison. Keep making games, Stefan, but take care of your mental health first!

1. Stefan works on the game at Tuckersoft and Bandersnatch gets 0 stars.

Hey, guess what? Sometimes games don’t succeed, and that can happen for a lot of reasons. Stefan got to work at a massive up-and-coming game company, side by side with a designer he idolizes. Learn from your mistakes and try again! Who cares if your first game wasn’t a success? How old is Stefan anyway, 12? Is he 12? Make another game, Stefan! You have so much time to learn how to work with others without compromising your creative vision, and also without killing people.

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Every Black Mirror episode, ranked (including ‘Bandersnatch’) 11 Easter eggs in Black Mirror’s ‘Bandersnatch’ you may have missed Netflix releases ‘morally compromising’ interactive Black Mirror episode, ‘Bandersnatch‘

This is a really interesting story of an ad fraud scheme that relied on hijacking the Border Gateway Protocol:

Members of 3ve (pronounced "eve") used their large reservoir of trusted IP addresses to conceal a fraud that otherwise would have been easy for advertisers to detect. The scheme employed a thousand servers hosted inside data centers to impersonate real human beings who purportedly "viewed" ads that were hosted on bogus pages run by the scammers themselves­ -- who then received a check from ad networks for these billions of fake ad impressions. Normally, a scam of this magnitude coming from such a small pool of server-hosted bots would have stuck out to defrauded advertisers. To camouflage the scam, 3ve operators funneled the servers' fraudulent page requests through millions of compromised IP addresses.

About one million of those IP addresses belonged to computers, primarily based in the US and the UK, that attackers had infected with botnet software strains known as Boaxxe and Kovter. But at the scale employed by 3ve, not even that number of IP addresses was enough. And that's where the BGP hijacking came in. The hijacking gave 3ve a nearly limitless supply of high-value IP addresses. Combined with the botnets, the ruse made it seem like millions of real people from some of the most affluent parts of the world were viewing the ads.

Lots of details in the article.

An aphorism I often use in my talks is "expertise flows downhill: today's top-secret NSA programs become tomorrow's PhD theses and the next day's hacking tools." This is an example of that. BGP hacking -- known as "traffic shaping" inside the NSA -- has long been a tool of national intelligence agencies. Now it is being used by cybercriminals.

EDITED TO ADD (1/2): Classified NSA presentation on "network shaping." I don't know if there is a difference inside the NSA between the two terms.

Albuquerque, New Mexico's mayor Tim Keller donned a PANTERA Christmas sweater for this past Thursday's (December 27) signing of a bill granting family paid parental leave to city employees. The legislation made Albuquerque the first city in New Mexico to extend paid parental leave benefits to its municipal workforce. Born and raised in Albuquerque, Keller is well-known as a fan of heavy metal music and has often attended shows in the city. He has also introduced metal bands, including ANTHRAX and TRIVIUM, onstage. "Albuquerque has always been pretty strong on the heavy metal front," Keller told The New York Times earlier this year. "What can I say, this is something I've been into for a long time." Keller told the Albuquerque Journal that his favorite heavy metal group is the Brazilian band SEPULTURA. "They are awesome," he said. "It's the music of empowerment." Keller, a Democrat, took over as mayor of New Mexico's largest city in December 2017. He replaced two-term mayor Richard Berry, who did not seek re-election. Keller and his wife, Liz, have two young children.

Russian cosmonauts have printed living tissue in space for the first time after their first effort was thwarted by a Soyuz capsule accident. Using a bioprinter created by medical company Invitro, cosmonaut-researcher Oleg Kononenko printed human cart...

As the rumors suggested, Black Mirror's one-off holiday special is a different kind of show: an interactive drama where you choose how you mess things up. Launching today on Netflix, Black Mirror: Bandersnatch marks the first time the streaming compa...

Black Mirror: Bandersnatch dropped on Netflix earlier today and easter eggs from the choose-your-own-adventure film are already popping up. A gamed called Nohzdyve that is featured in the film is online and available to play, but you'll need to downl...

Check our list of all the Black Mirror: Bandersnatch endings and how to get them.

This interview contains light spoilers for Black Mirror: Bandersnatch, which is currently available to play/watch on Netflix. You can check out our spoiler-free review here. 

Device Support: Available across most newer devices, including TVs, game consoles, web browsers, and Android and iOS devices running the latest version of the Netflix app. It’s not yet supported on Chromecast, Apple TV, and some legacy devices.

Netflix is calling its latest entry in Charlie Brooker's imaginative Black Mirror anthology series an "interactive movie." And while the interactive elements of "Bandersnatch" are clearly there - featuring a unique decision-making system that alters how the story unfolds - it's difficult to not notice the similarities the film shares with video games.

Continue reading…

Have you chased the Bandersnatch down a rabbit hole into the maze that is Netflix’s interactive Black Mirror film? If so, here’s a quick FYI for your binging pleasure.

By now you probably know there are a trillion narrative various to the story of Bandersnatch, which follows Stefan, an aspiring video game programmer hoping to create an adaptation of a controversial book by an author who ended up going mad and beheading his wife in the process. Like the book and the game, Bandersnatch is a choose-your-own adventure watching experience in which the viewer (that’s you) chooses which path the main character (played by Dunkirk‘s Fionn Whitehead) takes.

As such, there are five main endings to this story and it may seem like a chore to keep looping back to make different decisions until you discover them all. But, as the folks at Vulture found in that regard, it’s best to do nothing.

When the viewers are prompted with decisions, you have a finite amount of time to choose your answer — and once you choose, you don’t have the luxury of rewinding to change it. But, if you do nothing, Netflix will make the decision for you. Sometimes it will be the wrong answer, but it will lead you down to one of its multiple conclusions, like what happens when Stefan accepts a job at Tuckersoft or what happens when he finds a mysterious message on his computer screen.

If you decide to keep going and not opting to head to the end credits, it will keep making decisions for you until you’ve seen all the main story endings.

Yes, it will take some time, well beyond that marketed 90-minute runtime.

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Picture credit: CNSA

China is orbiting the moon – and is about to (try to) land on it. Almost exactly 50 years after NASA's Apollo 8 mission successfully put astronauts in orbit of our satellite for the first time, a Chinese probe called Chang’e-4 (CH-4) now circling the moon is about to send a lander to the moon's far side.

That's a destination no space agency has visited before, and it will be a huge test of China's space technology – and a massive source of national pride if it comes off. Could it be the beginning of another space race to get back to the Moon?

How to watch China's moon landing live on TV

There's a belief that the China National Space Administration (CNSA, the national space agency of China), is quasi-military and keeps everything under wraps, but in reality, it's little different to NASA.

A few years ago it broadcast the landing of its Chang'e-3 (CH-3) moon probe live on Chinese state broadcaster China Central Television's English language channel. You can watch it all live online at CGTN. It's due to land December 31, but that could very easily (and most probably will) slip to the first few days of January.  

What is the 'dark side of the moon'?

There is no such place. The phrase was popularised by prog-rock band Pink Floyd's concept album Dark Side of the Moon in 1973, which became one of the best selling albums of all time. Some think that the "I'll see you on the dark side of the moon" refrain is something about insanity, and perhaps a metaphor for humanity’s dark side. It's definitely not about our satellite, which has no 'dark' side.

Yes, it's tidally locked to Earth, so shows us only one face. It takes as long to rotate on its own axis as it takes to complete one orbit of Earth, which is also the length of one day on the moon – 29 days. 

Its face wobbles a bit, but essentially when you look at a Full Moon it always looks the same. However, the phase of the moon depends on its position relative to the Earth and the sun, and the opposite side – the 'far' side of the moon – gets just as much sunlight, and therefore has the same phases, as the near side. 

Why land on the far side of the moon? 

CH-4 is headed for the Von Kármán crater in the moon's South Pole-Aitken Basin. As well as being unexplored, it may have water. CH-4 will test for that and take photos. Also, the moon's far side lacks electromagnetic radiation, which Earth's proximity causes on its near side. So astronomers think that it could be a good place to put telescopes. CH-4's lander has a few of its own, so will test that theory.

The far side is also an impossible place to communicate with from Earth. During the Apollo missions, the crew in the command modules went out of radio contact for about 45 minutes during each orbit. However, last summer China launched a satellite called Queqiao to relay signals from CH-4 back to China. That's great news because it means the entire event can be shown live on TV. 

When did CH-4 leave Earth? 

China's latest mission to the moon began on December 7, when it lifted-off from Xichang Satellite Launch Centre in China’s Sichuan province atop a Long March-3B rocket. On December 12, it slammed on the brakes after about 240,000 miles/385,000km from home and went into orbit around the Moon. It's sitting there now, testing its systems. 

Who else is going to the Moon?

In March 2019, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) plans to send its Chandrayaan-2 probe to the lunar surface, a mission that will also have a rover. The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) also has plans to put a lander and a rover on the lunar surface, as does Israeli space company SpaceIL, which wants to measure the Moon's magnetic fields early in 2019. NASA also has its own plans to revisit the moon using private companies. 

What is the Chang’e-5 mission? 

Chang’e-5 (CH-5) is an even more ambitious planned mission that in 2019 or 2020 will land on the moon, scrape-up a rock sample, then launch it back to China.

Technically speaking it's the first step towards a crewed mission, but even on its own, it will instantly put China in the 'moon rock' club alongside the US and Russia. That would be highly symbolic and would underscore China’s rapid advance as a space power even more than CH-4's projected moon landing in the New Year.

• This month's SpaceX's 'rideshare' rocket may help change the internet forever

Finding the best headphones to suit your style and listening habits can be difficult. Especially these days when there are many different models to choose from, you can pick up a pair of true wireless earbuds and cut the cord completely or prioritise immersive sound with the best noise-cancelling headphones available right now.

Our list of the best headphones of 2020 all deliver on comfort, great-looking design, top audio fidelity, and a range of fantastic features, including built-in voice assistants and wireless connectivity. 

A great pair of headphones is essential for anyone who loves podcasts, listens to loads of audiobooks or music lovers who prioritise top sound quality over anything else. The good news is, there’s plenty of choice. You can find headphones to suit you whether you're looking for audiophile sound quality or budget-friendly earbuds for working out.

And there’s more choice on the way soon. Rumors of the first-ever Apple over-ear headphones and the AirPods Pro Lite have been gaining traction in the run up to WWDC 2020 on June 22.

With many options to choose from, making the right buying decision can be tricky. That’s why it’s our mission to hook you up with the best headphones for your needs (and your budget).

We encourage you to look at all of the headphones listed here on TechRadar. But if you're in a hurry and just want to find the best headphones your money can buy right now, then check out the top picks from every category below. 

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The Sony WH-1000XM3 Wireless Headphones are the best headphones you can buy in 2020.

A dominant noise-cancelling pair of headphones, the Sony WH-1000XM3 can beat anything Bose has with ease.

That’s because, while Bose has done a tremendous job working out its noise cancellation algorithm over the years, Sony has spent that time perfecting audio playback while simultaneously creating an adaptable algorithm that doesn’t just create a single sterile sound barrier, but multiple kinds that can tailor itself to whatever situation you’re in. 

Beyond being exceptional at keeping external noises at bay, these impressive Sony headphones are Hi-Res Audio-ready, sporting aptX, aptX HD and LDAC codecs, and offer the smarts of Google Assistant right on-board. If you need a pair of headphones that can live up to any challenge and excel in any environment, these are the pair for you.

We could soon see a new contender for the top spot though; rumors of an imminent Sony WH-1000XM4 release date have been circling since an FCC filing from Sony revealed the model number of what could be a brand new pair of noise-canceling headphones. 

Read more: Sony WH-1000XM3 review

After spending a few weeks with both the 1MORE Triple Driver in-ear headphones, we were blown away by the great value for money they represent – that's why they're the best headphones for those who like wired earbuds.

For $100 / £100 (about AU$168), it’s hard to think of a better-sounding and more well-built pair of earphones than the 1MORE Triple Drivers. (That said, if you want just that little extra refinement and luxury materials, the 1MORE Quad Drivers are still a bargain at twice the price.)

There’s very little we can fault the Triple Drivers for. Sure, the inbuilt remote feels a little cheap, but that's more than made up for by the lush sound quality offered by these luxe-looking earbud.

For the price, it’s impossible to do better than 1MORE's Triple Driver in-ear headphones. 

Read more: 1More Triple Driver In-Ear Headphone review

If you have a tendency to lose or break headphones, but you still value sound quality, it’s hard to think of a better value pair of earbuds than the RHA S500u. 

These in-ear headphones have no business sounding so good for $40 / £30 / AU$52, sporting a balanced soundstage with a slight mid-bass bump to power you through your workouts and make your music sound great. 

Bass is slightly emphasized but not egregiously and features good impact while maintaining good control – and highs, while sibilant at times, makes music sound more exciting. In short, these are the best headphones you can buy if you're on a strict budget.  

Read more: RHA S500u review

If you’re looking for wireless headphones with active noise cancellation and you're not put off by the $399 / £349 / AU$600 price tag, the Bowers & Wilkins PX7 are well worth considering. The title of best wireless headphones still goes to the Sony WH-1000XM3 of course, but there's not much in it. 

With sophisticated noise cancellation, much-improved sound quality, and a honed aesthetic, the PX7 could give any of the headphones on this list a run for their money. 

Plus, they're packing aptX Adaptive for improved stability and latency between the headphones and your device, as well as high-quality (24-bit) streaming aptX HD brought to the table. That's why they're the best headphones if you're looking for a strong pair of all-rounders.

Read more: Bowers & Wilkins PX7 Wireless Headphones review

For years, the Plantronics BackBeat Pro 2 were among our favorite wireless headphones because of their excellent sound, build quality and features. Unfortunately, they were also kind of expensive. 

For a lot less ($150 / £140 / AU$240), Plantronics now sells the brilliant BackBeat Go 810, which use less premium materials but sound nearly identical to its more expensive predecessor – and sport an equally chic design. 

With that in mind, the BackBeat Go 810 are the best headphones for those that want wireless connectivity without the high price tag.

Read more: Plantronics BackBeat Go 810 review

Considering it's still rare to get noise cancellation in wired earbuds at all, the fact that Sony has managed to pack it into a pair that are not only wireless, but true wireless is very impressive indeed. 

The Sony WF-1000XM3 manage to offer a level of noise-cancelation that's very good for a pair of earbuds – they won't offer the same isolation as a pair of over-ear cans, but if you're after a sleek form factor then the compromise is worth it. 

That being said, in spite of a few minor problems we feel that Sony has knocked the ball out of the park with the WF-1000XM3: not only are these hands-down the best-looking true wireless earbuds out there, but they also combine serious noise cancelling tech with fist-pumping musicality. 

If you don’t want the inconvenience of carrying full-size cans, these true wireless earbuds are a persuasive and smart alternative.

Read more: Sony WF-1000XM3 Wireless Earbuds review

You may not have heard of up-and-coming audio brand Lypertek yet, but expect to hear a lot from it soon – its Lypertek Tevi are among the best true wireless earbuds we’ve tried, especially given their low price tag ($130 / £99 / AU$185).

With USB-C charging, a well-balanced sound, lengthy battery life, and waterproofing, they tick every box you could ask for, from what are basically a pair of budget buds. 

The Lypertek Tevi, surprisingly, might just blow you away, punching well above their weight and rivaling buds from some of the biggest audio brands on the planet – and making it onto our round up of the best headphones. 

Consider us pleasantly surprised.

Read more: Lypertek Tevi true wireless earbuds review

The NuForce BE Sport4 wireless earbuds are a rare find: headphones that are great for basically all situations, whether you're looking to take them out on a run or just wear them around town. 

They're ideal for exercise, although any urbanite will also find their lightweight functionality and impressive sound isolation highly appealing when traveling on crowded trains or navigating busy streets. 

If you want proof that wireless earphones can now contend with the best headphones of 2020, look no further.

Read more: Optoma NuForce BE Sport4 review

If the Sony WH-1000XM3s are the true king of noise-cancelling headphones, the Bose Noise Cancelling Headphones 700 are next in line for the throne – and for the sake of offering an alternative, we've included them in this list.

By applying noise cancellation to phone calls as well as music, Bose has made great strides in the field of noise-cancelling headphones. The sound quality is undeniably good, with a vibrant, lively character and well-balanced soundstage.

If you’re trying to decide between buying the Sony WH-1000XM3s and the Bose Noise Cancelling Headphones 700, we’d recommend going for the former because of that lower price and better battery life – they're the best headphones of 2020 for a reason. That being said, you wouldn’t be making a mistake if you opted for the Bose cans instead (and we wouldn’t blame you if you did) – they sound great, look stunning, and the noise cancellation is out of this world. 

Read more: Bose Noise Cancelling Headphones 700 review

Sennheiser is well-known for its great-sounding noise-cancelling headphones, and its latest, the $199 / £159 (about AU$280) Sennheiser HD 450BT, offer a cheaper alternative to previous models like the Momentum 3 Wireless and class-leaders like the Sony WH-1000XM3. 

With a minimal design and built-in noise cancellation, these fully-foldable wireless headphones are aimed squarely at the commuting crowd. Their well-balanced profile should appeal audiophiles and bass-hunters alike. 

Battery life and connectivity are both very good, and the noise-cancelling works well enough, although you might find that these headphones don’t quite block out all external noise. 

Read more: Sennheiser HD 450BT review

For your money, you can't do any better than Grado's SR60e. The third-generation of the Brooklyn, NY-based company's Prestige Series are its best and most refined yet. 

The SR60e in particular are a smart choice if you're looking for an entry-level pair of headphones that sound far more expensive than they really are.

Their open-backed earcup design makes them feel more breathable than most on-ear headphones, delivering a wide, natural soundstage. In a few words, they're our gold-standard when it comes to on-ears.

(Our review is for the SR60i, but the newer SR60e headphones are largely similar in design and performance.)

Read more: Grado SR60e review

While the original Plattan headphones were just fine for a pair of on-ear headphones, Urbanears wasn’t satisfied with being mediocre. The company took customer feedback to heart and addressed many complaints about comfort, sound quality and isolation. 

For the most part, Urbanears succeeded, making the Plattan II a worthy sequel to the company’s most popular headphone.  

In short, these are basic headphones without a ton of features. But, because they're feature-light, you get a good-sounding pair of wired headphones for significantly less than you would otherwise. 

Read more: Urbanears Plattan II review

While Beyerdynamic may not be as well known as its German brother, Sennheiser, the audio company has a history of creating some of the best sounding audio gear on the market.

Enter the Beyerdynamic DT 1990 Pro, an open-back version of the Beyerdynamic DT 1770 Pro, which won our Editor’s Choice for their imaging, design and value for the money. Both headphones are priced the same ($599 / £589 / AU$1,159), so you won’t find a deal picking up one over the other. The difference here comes down to sound. 

As they’re open-back, the DT 1990 Pro are meant to be used at home or in the studio for serious analytical listening. Sound is able to get in and out, but the good news is that the open-back design gives the DT 1990 Pro a great sense of space. The soundstage is quite wide, too, allowing even the most lackadaisical listener to pinpoint the exact location of where each instrument is playing.  

If you've been searching for a pair of high fidelity cans that are used by some of the world's leading audio engineers, these are the best headphones for you.

Read more: Beyerdynamic DT 1990 Pro review

JBL is a popular name in the world of headphones and Bluetooth speakers, and rightly so. Solidly dependable, consumers know what to expect from the brand – decent sound quality for a decent price. 

That's what we found with the JBL Live 650BTNC last year – and now, ready to take their place are the JBL Tune 750BTNC, a superior successor to the 650BTNC's as a high-spec and well-priced set of over-ear headphones.

The JBL Tune 750BTNC sound great, look great, and they fit well. Reliable and easy to use, you might miss waterproofing and a few minor features – but at this price, it feels foolish to complain too readily.

Read more: JBL Tune 750BTNC review

If you ignore the price, the Focal Stellias are perhaps the best headphones on the planet. Their wide-open soundstage and detailed, accurate sound treatment means they make any genre of music sound brilliant.

If you listen to songs you think you know inside out, the Stellias' precise separation of the frequencies means that you will probably hear details you’ve never noticed before.

If you like to keep things minimal in the headphones department, you probably won’t like the showy, opulent design of the Focal Stellias, and they can feel a little chunky for wearing on the commute into work. 

But if luxury is your thing, the full-grain leather cups, woven cables, brushed copper accents, and matching carrying case are likely to appeal. 

That luxury feel is translated right down to the presentation of the user manuals in a neat little leather-style wallet – and you may well expect to find this level of detail in exchange for parting with $3,000. Ouch. 

Read more: Focal Stellia headphones review

Best headphones of 2020, at a glance

• Best headphones 2020: Sony WH-1000XM3
• Best in-ear headphones: 1More Triple Driver In-Ear Headphone
• Best budget in-ear headphones: RHA S500u
• Best wireless headphones: Bowers & Wilkins PX7 Wireless Headphones
• Best budget wireless headphones: Plantronics BackBeat Go 810
• Best true wireless earbuds: Sony WF-1000XM3 True Wireless Earbuds
• Best budget true wireless earbuds: Lypertek Tevi
• Best Bluetooth earbuds: Optoma NuForce BE Sport4
• Best noise-canceling headphones: Bose Noise Cancelling Headphones 700
• Best budget noise-canceling headphones: Sennheiser HD 450BT
• Best on-ear headphones: Grado SR60e
• Best budget on-ear headphones: Urbanears Plattan II 
• Best over-ear headphones: Beyerdynamic DT 1990 Pro
• Best budget over-ear headphones: JBL Tune 750BTNC
• Best luxury headphones: Focal Stellia

Choosing the best headphones for you can be an agonizing decision – but it doesn't have to be if you look for a few key features. 

Above all, sound quality is the most important thing to look for. That doesn't mean you have to buy the most expensive audiophile headphones on the market; it just means that you should have an idea of what kind of sound you like. 

How you define good sound quality depends on your personal taste. Do you like a warm, well-rounded sound, or do you prefer ultra high-fidelity that allows you to hear every single detail of your music? Are you a dedicated bass head or a classical music junkie?

If you're all about that bass, the best headphones for you will probably contain dynamic drivers that displace lots of air, leading to a bassy soundstage. If detail is everything, look for large frequency ranges – 20Hz to 20 kHz is the standard, so anything larger than this may allow for more detail in the highs and lows. 

It's also important to consider the soundstage as a whole; if you love a wide, open sound, try a pair of open-back headphones. Worried about sound-leakage when you're in the company of others? Try a pair of closed-back cans with a secure fit to stop your tunes bothering the people around you.

You also need to consider the design of your new headphones. Do you want the freedom of true wireless earbuds or the security of a pair of sturdy over-ear headphones?

Wireless or wired is also an important consideration. A few short years ago, we may have tried to dissuade you from buying a pair of wireless headphones (the technology had issues with wireless connectivity over Bluetooth and sound quality took a dive as a result). 

Nowadays however, advances in Bluetooth technology means that wireless headphones can sound fantastic and rarely experience annoying dropouts. If you're going for wireless headphones, make sure the battery life is decent, too.

You should also think about what you'll be using your new headphones for; if you need to soundtrack your workout, you'll want to look at the best headphones specifically designed for running or swimming.

Lastly, you need to consider price. You don't have to break the bank when your buying the best headphones for you, as evidenced by our guide to the best cheap headphones of 2020.

Press on to page two to see how to pick out a good pair of headphones along more of our recommendations.

Check out our videos below for a roundup of the best headphones available.

Not sure how to pick the best headphones for your needs? We've provided a breakdown of what you can expect from each form factor, from tiny true wireless earbuds to big over-ear headphones.

What headphones should you buy? Check out our video below for everything you need to know.

In-ear headphones

This type of headphone, more commonly referred to as an earbud or earphone, is usually the cheapest and easiest way to pump audio into your ears. If you've purchased an MP3 player like the iPod touch (7th generation), it's likely that a set was included with the purchase. But that doesn't mean you have to stick with what you're given, as our guide to the best earbuds will attest.

Earphones rest in or just outside the ear canal, creating a tight seal to keep air out and sound in. Compared to other types of headphones, these are the most discreet ones you'll find. Their small form-factor also makes them the king/queen of portability and the prime choice for athletes.

You're not likely to find strong performers at the low-end of the price spectrum. Their sound delivery is generally muddled, lacking bass and overcompensating for that with harsh mids and highs. That said, it won't cost you much money at all to find a value-packed option complete with inline controls and a microphone.

• Check out our pick of the best in-ear headphones

On-ear headphones

While similar to over-ear headphones in appearance, they fit to your head a little differently. Instead of enveloping your ears with a soft cushion, on-ear headphones create a light, breathable seal around your ear. Thus, the noise isolation is much less effective than in-ear or over-ear options. This might be a dealbreaker for some, but there are big benefits to consider here.

On-ear headphones are usually more portable than their over-ear brethren, and as such they appeal to travelers and make good fitness headphones. Taking a walk or a jog around town is also safer, as you can hear traffic go by and be aware of potential hazards.

• We've put together a list of the best on-ear headphones

Over-ear headphones

This ear-muff style of headphone generally provides greater richness and depth of sound, which allows listeners to pick apart the instruments and sounds much easier. Additionally, over-ear, or circum-aural headphones, go around the ear and offer a generous amount of padding.

The price range for a set of on-ear headphones begins around $100 / £100 and from there, the sky's the limit – for example, the excellent Focal Stellia cost $3,000 / £2,799. It's definitely not necessary to spend that much, but you do tend to get what you pay for.

If your headphone budget is in the low hundreds or less, you'll still find plenty of options that have excellent build quality, premium materials and amazing sound and features like ANC (active noise cancellation.)

• Here's our pick of the best over-ear headphones

Wireless headphones

Wireless headphones can be split into three different categories: wireless earphones connected via a neckband, wireless on-ear headphones, and wireless over-ear headphones – all are battery-powered and use Bluetooth to connect to your smartphone, laptop, portable music player, or even your turntable. 

For wireless over-ear and on-ear models, you simply lose the wire connecting them to your device – otherwise, they look pretty much the same as your regular pair of wired cans, and give you the noise-isolating prowess of over-ears without the need for cumbersome wires to connect to your device.

Wireless in-ear models, earphones, or earbuds (depending on your preferred vernacular), have a neckband connecting each earbud, making them ideal for runners who want the freedom of a wireless connection with the security of a wire keeping their earbuds firmly around their neck. 

Opting to go wireless will cost you a premium of anywhere between $50-100 over the price of wired cans. Going futuristic isn't cheap. One important thing to consider is that your music player must support the Bluetooth wireless protocol, as it's required to use this type of headphone.

Speaking of Bluetooth, it has become exponentially more reliable over time, but it's always susceptible to disturbances in the force.

True wireless earbuds

True wireless earbuds on the other hand, have no cord whatsoever; no wires to get caught in your zipper, and nothing to keep each bud connected to each other. For some, this means true freedom; for others, untethered true wireless means constant danger of losing their expensive audio kit down the drain – or terrible connections. 

The latter, at least, has changed now – thanks to advances in Bluetooth technology like aptX HD, the best true wireless earbuds have never sounded better.

These advances have also paved the way for true wireless earbuds to dominate the audio market. You just have to look at the popularity of the Apple AirPods (2019), Beats Powerbeats Pro, and Samsung Galaxy Buds, to understand how successful the true wireless market has become in recent years. 

• These are the best true wireless earbuds you can buy

Noise-cancelling headphones

This category, like wireless headphones, isn't limited to a form factor. You can find this clever mix of technologies integrated into the ear pieces of in-ear and over-ear headphones alike.

Many companies falsely claim to offer true noise cancelation with just the padding included around the ear cups. Don't believe it. This is PNC (passive noise cancelation), and it doesn't amount to much. You can even replicate this effect by cupping your hands around your ears, so why shell out the big bucks for it?

On the other hand, ANC (active noise cancelation) is the real deal. This technique employs a set of external microphones, which detect the decibel level outside. Once it has an idea of the incoming noise level, the headphone speakers inside transmit a noise generated to dampen the racket. The end result is an effect that hushes the outside noise, allowing you to focus.

• More options to help keep the noise out: the best noise-cancelling headphones

• Try Amazon Music Unlimited with a FREE trial: US | UK | AU

Kenneth Branagh can’t have all the fun. While the star and director of Murder on the Orient Express plans another big-screen jaunt in the world of Agatha Christie, John Malkovich suits up as the mustachioed detective Hercule Poirot in Amazon’s trailer for The ABC Murders.

The famous fictional crime-solver is on the case of a serial killer who goes by the name “ABC” when he find Hercule in the drama. A couple of Harry Potter veterans join the fray, Rupert Grint and Shirley Henderson, while the cast also features Andrew Buchan, Anya Chalotra, Eamon Farren, Jack Farthing, Tara Fitzgerald, Bronwyn James, Freya Mavor, and Michael Shaeffer.

And yes, Ms. Fitzgerald’s lady of the trailer, it’s sure to be “spectacularly grisly.”

Set in 1933, a killer travels the length of Britain through the railway network, leaving a trail of bodies in his wake and a copy of the ABC railway guide accompanying each crime scene. A cat-and-mouse game ensues as Hercule attempts to match wits with the murderer and solve the mystery.

The limited series already received glowing reviews from a few critics in the U.K., where the show aired on BBC One. Apparently the lack of mustache prominence did not deter viewers.

The ABC Murders — the latest in a series of, well, series based on Christie’s novels for Amazon — will premiere on the streaming platform this Feb. 1.

Related content:

John Malkovich is Hercule Poirot in Amazon’s ABC Murders The 10 best Agatha Christie adaptations Amazon sets multiple Agatha Christie TV adaptations

Watch its unimaginably long credit roll and you’ll spot a number of researchers whose roles were dedicated to making sure Red Dead Redemption 2 reflected a historical reality. Outside of the simulation genre, video game tends to play very fast and loose with history, but Rockstar Games has gone above and beyond to make the world seem deeply believable while functioning within the parameters of an open world entertainment experience. This dedication to realism exercised by Rockstar is commendable, but the team also clearly understood that pure, unadulterated retellings of real-world events and frontier life also wouldn’t perfectly serve their creative purposes.

Continue reading…

Kevin Spacey posted a bizarre video Monday in character as House of Cards’ Frank Underwood, alluding to his sexual misconduct allegations and hinting at an attempted comeback.

The actor shared the YouTube video on his official Twitter account, speaking to the camera in a clip titled “Let Me Be Frank.”

“I know what you want,” Spacey tells the camera. “You want me back. Of course, some believed everything and have just been waiting with bated breath to hear me confess it all. They’re just dying to have me declare that everything said is true and that I got what I deserved. Wouldn’t that be easy if it was all so simple? Only you and I both know it’s never that simple. Not in politics and not in life. But you wouldn’t believe the worst without evidence, would you? You wouldn’t rush to judgments without facts, would you? Did you?”

Netflix had no comment.

The two-time Oscar winner was fired from House of Cards last year after multiple allegations of sexual misconduct. The show’s final season debuted in November on Netflix, with Robin Wright leading the series after killing Spacey’s character off screen.

In the video, which is Spacey’s first public appearance since an Oct. 2017 Twitter apology after the allegations first surfaced, Spacey alludes to his character’s off-screen death.

“I know what you want,” Spacey tells the camera. “Oh sure, they may have tried to separate us, but what we have is too strong, it’s too powerful. I mean, after all, we shared everything, you and I. I told you my deepest darkest secrets, I showed you exactly what people are capable of. I shocked you with my honesty, but mostly I challenged you and made you think. And you trusted me, even though you knew you shouldn’t.”

The video was posted as Boston authorities announced that Spacey will face a felony charge for allegedly sexually assaulting a teenage boy at a Nantucket bar in July 2016, according to the Boston Globe. Former Boston news anchor Heather Unruh came forward last year to publicly accuse Spacey of sexually assaulting her son in 2016.

A legal representative for Spacey did not immediately reply to EW’s request for comment.

In October 2017, actor Anthony Rapp alleged that Spacey made unwanted sexual advances towards him about 30 years ago, when Rapp was only 14. At the time, Spacey released a statement that he did not remember the encounter but owed Rapp “the sincerest apology for what would have been deeply inappropriate drunken behavior.” He also publicly came out as gay, with many criticizing him for using his coming-out to deflect the allegations.

In August, the LAPD was investigating a sexual assault case against Spacey, and London’s Old Vic Theatre, where the actor served as artistic director from 2004-2015, conducted its own investigation, resulting in “20 personal testimonies” of “alleged inappropriate behavior” carried out by the actor. Spacey has not commented on those allegations, and the investigations have not resulted in any formal charges.

Related content: 

House of Cards showrunners on final season without Kevin Spacey: ‘It was a significant pivot’ Kevin Spacey criticized after coming out as gay amid Anthony Rapp allegations Man claims Kevin Spacey groped him, became ‘incredibly angry’ when rejected Former Boston news anchor accuses Kevin Spacey of assaulting her son

Ulefone this week introduced its new high-end shockproof and waterproof smartphone. Dubbed the Rugger Armor 6, the ruggized phone combines an IP68-rated chassis, a large display, multiple special-purpose sensors, and a high-performance SoC. Clearly keying in on a specific market segment for the new phone, the Armor 6 will also ship with multiple pre-loaded applications that are intended to be useful during traveling or just in various harsh locales.

Broadly speaking, most rugged smartphones have to make trade-offs to reach their design goals, such as using an inelegant chassis, mediocre hardware inside, or rather ordinary displays. While the general reasons behind such design decisions are more or less obvious (e.g., keep their BOM costs and heat soak in check), there are many people who prefer to have a rugged smartphone without making quite so many compromises. The Ulefone Armor 6 in turn is looking to carve out a niche for itself in that market by offering a rugged design with above-average hardware.

On the outside, the Armor 6 has a a rather decent looking chassis featuring a die cast frame covered with protective rubber and red or grey metallic inlays. The enclosure is rated to handle drops from 1.2 meters, submersion into water (up to 1.5 meters for up to 60 minutes), thermal shocks, corrosive environments, and so on. Meanwhile, framing a 6.2-inch 2246×1080 LCD display protected using Corning’s Gorilla Glass 5, the Armor 6 is generally pretty large and heavy: it is 160 mm tall, 13.3 mm thick, and weighs 228 grams. All of which makes the Armor 6 a lot larger than standard consumer smartphones, but is fairly typical for this market segment.

Moving on to the insides of the Ulefone Armor 6. The smartphone is powered by MediaTek’s Helio P60 SoC, a eight-core design with quad A73 and quad A53 Arm cores as well as Aem's Mali-G72MP3 GPU. The SoC is paired with 6 GB of DRAM and 128 GB of NAND flash storage. Many recent ruggedized smartphones have been based on cheaper SoCs with low-power Cortex-A53 CPU cores, so the Armor 6 is notable for its performance potential. As it appears, Ulefone decided not to cut corners and used a relatively high-performance SoC with Cortex-A73 cores in order to ensure that owners of the handset can use all applications they need to with a comfortable level of performance.

As far as connectivity is concerned, the handset supports 30 frequency bands as well as GPS/AGPS+GLONASS+Beidou positioning. As a result it can be used in 90% areas over the world, which is particularly useful for people who travel to various remote corners of the globe. As for local connectivity, the Armor 6 supports 802.11ac Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 4.2, NFC, as well as a USB 2.0 Type-C port for data transfers and charging of its 5000 mAh battery. Speaking of charging, the phone also supports 10 W Qi wireless charging.

One particularly interesting feature of the Armor 6 are its advanced imaging capabilities, which are comprised of a 16 MP + 8 MP main camera with an ƒ/2.0 large aperture and dual LED flash, as well as an 8 MP selfie camera with an ƒ/2.0 large aperture. In order to improve the resulting image quality and boost the effective resolution of photos taken with the phone, it's configured to use both cameras at once, combining their inputs using a special algorithm designed by Arcsoft and running on the SoC ISP. While a neat feature in and of itself, the unfortunate side-effect is that Ulefone is advertising this higher interpolated resolution as the native resolution of the camera system, which in practice isn't the case.

Meanwhile when it comes to sensors, the Ulefone Armor 6 has plenty that its target audience should appreciate. Among other things, the smartphone is equipped with a p-sensor, an ultraviolet sensor, a coulometer, along with the other more common sensors found in current-generation smartphones. The smartphone comes pre-loaded with multiple special-purpose applications (e.g., Sound Meter, Pedometer, Bubble Level, Barometer, Protractor, UV Light Tester, Plumb Bob, etc.) that take advantage of the sensors, making it easier to access the phone's full capabilities.

The Ulefone Armor 6 Ruggedized Smartphone
		Specifications
Display		6.2" 2246×1080 (402 ppi) Corning Gorilla Glass 5
SoC		MediaTek Helio P60 (MT6771) 4 × ARM Cortex-A73 at 2 GHz 4 × ARM Cortex-A53 at ? GHz ARM Mali-G72 with 3 EUs
RAM		6 GB RAM
Storage		128 GB + microSD
Local Connectivity	Wi-Fi	802.11ac Wi-Fi
	Bluetooth	Bluetooth 4.2
	Data/Charging	USB 2.0 Type-C + Qi Wireless Connectivity (10 W)
	Audio	No TRRS connector USB Type-C to 3.5 mm headset adapter is bundled
	NFC	Yes, Google Pay
Network		2G GSM: 1900/1800/850/900 (B2/3/5/8) 2G CDMA: 850/900 (BC0/BC1) 3G WCDMA: 2100/1900/1700/850/900 (B1/2/4/5/8) 3G TDSCDMA: 2015/1900 (B34/B39) 4G FDD-LTE: 2100/1900/1800/1700/850/2600/900/700/700/850/800/700/700 (B1/2/3/4/5/7/8/12/17/19/20/28A/28B) 4G TDD-LTE: 2015/2500/1900/2300/2500 (B34/38/39/40/41)
LTE		Down: 300 Mb/s Up: 150 Mb/s
Navigation		GPS, GLONASS, Beidou, digital compass
Rear Camera		16 MP (interpolated to 21 MP) + 8 MP (interpolated to 13 MP) ƒ/2.0 large aperture Dual LED flash
Front Camera		8 MP (interpolated to 13MP) ƒ/2.0 large aperture
Battery	Capacity	5000 mAh
	Expected Life	Standby Time: 440 hours Talk Time: 25 hours Music Time: 34 hours Video Time: 9 hours
SIM Size		Nano SIM + Nano Sim
Sensors		G-sensor, P-Sensor, L-sensor, Gyro, Electronic Compass, Touch Sensor, Coulometer
Biometric Security	Fingerprint	Capacitive touch sensor with 0.1 s response speed
	Facial Recognition	Yes, 0.2 ms response speed
Dimensions	Height	160 mm
	Width	83 mm
	Thickness	13.3 mm
Weight		228 grams
Colors		Black + Grey or Black + Red
Protection	Drop	1.2 meters
	Ingress Protection	IP68: Sand, dust, dirt, water resistant Waterproof: Up to 1.5M for 60 minutes
	Thermal Shock	Operational: -20°C (-4°F) to 60°C (140°F) for up to 6-8 hours Non-Operational: -40°C (-40°F) to 80°C (176°F)
	Low Pressure	57 kPa at 25°C for 4 hours
	Humidity	50% - 90% at 23°C - 60°C for 6-8 hours
	Acidic Atmosphere	4.17 PH at 35°C for 2 hours spraying/22 hours storage
	Solar Radiation	1120 W/m² at 49°C for 20 hours
	Military Standard Tests	MIL SPEC 810G
OS		Google Android 8.1 Oreo
Launch Countries		?
Price		?

Ulefone said that its Armor 6 smartphone will ship in 2019, though they aren't supplying an exact timeframe. The company also hasn't yet announced a price, though if it's any pattern, the company’s current-gen high-end rugged smartphones run for $350 – $370 in the US.

Related Reading:

• The Ulefone T2 Pro Hands-On: A 6.7-inch Stunner Smartphone
• Cat at MWC 2018: S61 Smartphone with FLIR Cam, Laser Distance Measurer, Air Quality Sensor
• Rugged Hands-On: The Land Rover 'Explore' Smartphone

Source: Ulefone

Saint Alicia is heading into the danger zone.

Julianna Margulies, who fans of The Good Wife knew and loved as attorney Alicia Florrick, will appear next spring in National Geographic’s adaptation of The Hot Zone, the 1994 nonfiction best-seller by Richard Preston. In this six-part adaptation, Margulies plays Nancy Jaax, an Army scientist engaged in a race to contain the Ebola virus after it’s been detected within a group of imported monkeys in a Virginia research facility. And EW has the first look!

The Hot Zone tells the story of the origins of Ebola, a deadly virus from the central African rain forest that arrived on U.S. soil in 1989. Jaax, together with a secret, specialized team, put her life on the line to head off the outbreak before it spread to the population.

Margulies — who costars with Noah Emmerich, Topher Grace, James D’Arcy, and Robert Sean Leonard in the Lynda Obst Productions and Scott Free Productions series — was especially committed to authenticity when it came to depicting an infectious-diseases specialist in those terrifying times, starting with donning a 50-pound rubber hazmat suit. Realistic it may have been, but camera-ready it wasn’t: Margulies says it was impossible to hear what her fellow actors said because the suit was so thick, to say nothing of how cumbersome it was to actually move in. 

“My respect quadrupled for people who run the CDC, just by putting on the suit itself,” Margulies tells EW. “These people are our heroes. They put their lives on the line.”

The Hot Zone is expected to premiere in May.

To read more on 2019’s most anticipated TV shows and movies, pick up the new issue of Entertainment Weekly on stands Friday, or buy it here now. Don’t forget to subscribe for more exclusive interviews and photos, only in EW.

The wasteland of Rage 2 is your playground – your very bloody playground – and in a world where there are no rules, insanity rules. Go anywhere, shoot anything, explode everything. Rage 2 will be available on PlayStation 4 from 14th May 2019. Get a fresh look at the chaotic and crazy world in the latest trailer.

Open-world mayhem

The seamless open world of Rage 2 is full of opportunity for an enterprising Ranger. Any time you want to veer off the main path, you’ll find a lot to explore. As id Software Studio Director Tim Willits explains, there’s never a dull moment when you’re prowling the wasteland.

“Once you leave the starting area, the entire world is open, and you’ll encounter dynamic events everywhere you go,” says Willits. “You may find a bandit outpost to clear out, or a race you want to run, or a convoy that needs destroying. Completing these types of activities will also help your relationship with some of the key characters in the main story. Everything you do will be rewarded.”

Races

The Torn Plains Racetrack is heaven for speed demons and adrenaline junkies. Win different cars by racing on the curvy, multi-path tracks, riddled with jumps and hazards. You can also come across drivers anywhere in the wasteland and challenge them to a quick pick-up race. The starting and ending points for a pick-up race are based on where the race is initiated, so no two courses are the same.

Convoys

Convoys are massive, heavily defended fortresses on wheels; they’ll require skillful driving and all your combat expertise to take them down. Convoys consist of a monstrous leader that is protected by a number of different vehicles, from fast attack bikes to medium-sized muscle cars, all armed to the brim and ready to tear you to pieces. Both the Immortal Shrouded and the Goon Squad have their own convoys with unique faction vehicles that patrol different areas of the world.

Mutant Bash

Face off against wave after wave of progressively more challenging enemies in the Mutant Bash arena to win prizes and wasteland fame. Now hosted by a woman named Desdemonya, this new Mutant Bash TV is more twisted and cruel than ever before. Be sure to stock up on ammo, grenades and Wingsticks before you attempt Mutant Bash. There’s a resupply phase between waves, but it’s just barely enough to keep you in the fight.

Ark hunting

Locating Arks is your key to upgrading Walker with new gear and nanotrite abilities, but not all of them are easy to find. Some you’ll discover through missions, and some you’ll locate by gathering valuable intel around the wasteland. Talk to folks in town and keep an eye out for data pads or audio recordings that might hold some useful information.

Helping out allies

Your allies in the wasteland are going to have plenty of work for you. Go back to them often to see if they have additional quests (with additional rewards, of course).

Bounties

Feel like doing a little hunting? Some of the hub cities will have bounties you can pick up. Hunt down your target and take them out for a sweet prize. There’s no “dead or alive” in the post-post-apocalyptic wasteland.

Saving friendly drivers

Just because you’re saving the world doesn’t mean you can’t help the little guys. While cruising around the wasteland, you may come across someone getting chased by a group of bandit vehicles. Should you manage to get all the attacking cars off the civilian’s tail, you’ll be roundly rewarded.

Authority attacks

With their unrivaled control of the skies, the Authority can strike at any time, anywhere in the wasteland. Incoming Authority aircraft are capable of dropping both troopers and Sentry Turrets, which should be avoided at all cost until you’ve got enough firepower to wipe out a small town.

Create your own chaos

“I like to say that Rage 2 has a high ‘distraction factor’ when playing,” jokes Willits. “I often get sidetracked by something as I drive past, or something happens dynamically in the world. I find that I can spend hours just driving around or flying. I really enjoy the Icarus mini-copter the best. It’s an amazing way to see all the sights. One of the cool things about the Icarus is that it’s a reward for people who explore. It isn’t found on the ‘golden path’ of the game. It’s not just given to you, you need to earn it. But once you have the Icarus, the whole game opens up to you in a new, exciting way.”

Rage 2 is coming to PlayStation 4 – 14th May, 2019. Pre-order to receive the exclusive Cult of the Death God mission and don Nicholas Raine’s legendary armor and Settler Pistol. The RAGE 2 Collector’s Edition is also available for pre-order. Get the full breakdown of all the included goodies here: RAGE 2 Collector’s Edition & Deluxe Edition.

The post Rage 2 PS4 release date confirmed – watch the new trailer appeared first on PlayStation.Blog.Europe.

With the Doom Patrol debuting on the DC Universe streaming service in their own series, now's a great time to dig into where this colorful cast of tragic heroes came from in the comics. (Check out our DC's Doom Patrol pilot review.)

The Doom Patrol may not be the most well-known of DC's various super-teams, but fans know that this group is a perfect fit for the streaming format. Here's everything you need to know about the Doom Patrol and their strange comic book history.

Doom Patrol Explained: The Basics

The simplest way to describe the Doom Patrol is that they're DC's answer to the X-Men. They're a team of misfit heroes led by a brilliant man in a wheelchair and who fight to protect a world that hates and fears them. Though depending on whom you ask, the Doom Patrol concept might have been developed first (more on that below).

Continue reading…

Why has it survived when so many other cat species have become endangered or even extinct? The answer is in the size of its range, for sure, but also the sheer adaptability of the bobcat has ensured its survival. It is most happy in wooded areas but can also survive without problems in semi-desert and swampland areas as well as at the periphery of urban districts.

It has had time to adapt: the species has been around for so long that there are twelve recognized sub-species ranging from southern Canada to northern Mexico. It has been prying on rabbits, hares, rodents and deer for 1.8 million years, in fact, and made its first appearance in the Irvingtonian stage of the geological timescale.

Let’s do a comparison.  Homo sapiens appeared in Africa about two hundred thousand years ago, making the bobcat nine times older than us as a species. When you think that modern man only reached behavioural modernity around fifty thousand years ago then the bobcat as a species is positively ancient compared to us.

Yet when the bobcat arrived in the Americas it did look different – the modern version we see evolved around twenty thousand years ago.  However, its progenitors crossed the Bering land bridge many hundreds of thousands of years before that – and it is thought that these ancestors evolved from what was to become the Eurasian Lynx.

Although the bobcat resembles the Canadian Lynx, the latter arrived from Asia rather than Europe and settled in the north of the continent. However, despite their distant relationship there has been evidence of hybridization between the two species.

The coat of the bobcat is variable, according to the sub-species to which it belongs and the length of its coat seasonal. Tan to browny-gray they have black streaks on their bodies and bars on the tail and forelegs.  These patterns evolved as a form of camouflage – to keep it hidden from its prey in the dense woodland of America before European settlement.

As you might suspect, the bobcats in the south are lighter than those in the northern states. Melanism has also been known to occur and a number of melanistic bobcats have been caught in Florida.  Although they seem to the eye to be black at first they do still retain their patterns of spots and stripes.

The bobcat is a crepuscular creature and is at its most active from three hours or so before sunset until a couple of hours after sunrise.  Although they are more active during the day in winter, this is only because their prey is, because of the lack of food, forced to forage during the day time hours.

Although the territory of a bobcat varies in size they are very well defined and marked with urine and feces. The bobcat will also claw trees in its territory – a clear sign to other members of its solitary species to leave and find its own, unoccupied, place to live. Yet the male of the species is more tolerant of strangers wandering in to its territory – there is often even an overlap. Sometimes a hierarchy is established when there is multiple overlap with the most dominant male keeping the central and most favoured territory exclusively to himself.

Although the bobcat can go for a long time without food in lean period it will gorge itself when prey is plentiful.  Its chosen method of hunting is to stalk and then ambush, either with an athletic pounce or a short chase. Its favoured food is by far rabbits and hares. However, it is opportunistic (and not too fussy!) and unlike its cousin the Canadian Lynx will vary its food source if necessary.

Like all cat species, the bobcat is a ruthless hunter.

The bobcat breeds usually from its second years and litters usually have two to four kittens. However, litters of up to six kittens have been spotted.  The kittens are born fully furred but only open their eyes after more than a week.

Weaned at about two months they will be expected to hunt on their own by the fall of their first year. Once they can successfully hunt and look after themselves the kittens disperse to discover new territories for themselves.

The story of the bobcat is one of adaption, both to shifting climates and the intrusion of large bipedal mammals in to their historic ranges. The fact that they remain numerous and are not endangered is a testament to their ability to alter and adjust their natural behaviour to suit change.

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The case is about to close: CBS’ Elementary will come to an end after its upcoming season, EW has confirmed.

The long-running procedural, which debuted in 2012, will wrap with its seventh season. The decision to end the series was made when the series was renewed for season 7, and the final season has already finished production.

Elementary put a modern spin on Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s tales of Sherlock Holmes. Starring Jonny Lee Miller as Sherlock and Lucy Liu as the gender-flipped Watson, named Joan, the series saw the pair investigating cases in New York City alongside the NYPD, with Joan initially serving as Sherlock’s sober companion and later becoming his partner-in-crime-solving. The season 6 finale saw the duo finally move to Baker Street in London, though the 13-episode season 7 will reportedly find them back in New York at some point.

Executive producer Robert Hewitt Wolfe reacted to the news of the show’s cancellation on Twitter, thanking his colleagues and calling the chance to work on the series a “career highlight.”

“Once again, just wanted to say what an incredible honor it was to work on this show. From creator Rob Doherty and his partner-in-crime Carl Beverly, to my fellow writers, our amazing cast and crew, our top notch editors, #Elementary was a 1st class group in every way,” he said in the first of four tweets.

He continued: “Working on #Elementary was a career highlight and I’m insufferably proud of what we’ve achieved. Doyle wrote 60 Holmes mysteries, we did 154. Jonny Lee Miller and @LucyLiu have played Holmes and Watson on screen more than any pair in history.”

Once again, just wanted to say what an incredible honor it was to work on this show. From creator Rob Doherty and his partner-in-crime Carl Beverly, to my fellow writers, our amazing cast and crew, our top notch editors, #Elementary was a 1st class group in every way.

— Robert Hewitt Wolfe (@writergeekrhw) December 18, 2018

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Working on #Elementary was a career highlight and I'm insufferably proud of what we've achieved. Doyle wrote 60 Holmes mysteries, we did 154. Jonny Lee Miller and @LucyLiu have played Holmes and Watson on screen more than any pair in history.

— Robert Hewitt Wolfe (@writergeekrhw) December 18, 2018

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Holmes & Watson are eternal. They'll always be out there, somewhere, on stage, screen, or page, solving mysteries and depending on each other. We gave them voice for a time, and now we move on, leaving them waiting for the next interpretation, the next mystery. Adieu. #Elementary

— Robert Hewitt Wolfe (@writergeekrhw) December 18, 2018

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Wolfe added that the seventh season will likely air in the late spring or early summer, though the network has yet to set an official premiere date.

Deadline first reported the news.

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Warning: This story contains plot details from Thursday’s episode of The Good Place, titled “Janet(s).”

In Thursday’s stellar, bizarro episode of The Good Place, D’Arcy Carden shined as Janet. And as Jason, too. Plus, Eleanor. Also: Chidi. Oh, and don’t forget Tahani!

Yes, the extremely pleasant, ultra capable, not-a-robot named Janet devised a clever plan to hide the already-doomed quartet in her stark white void, also known as a subdimension outside of space and time at the nexus and consciousness and matter, tethered to her essence. This action did not come without glitchy consequence, though, as it rendered each member of the Soul Squad as Janet look-alikes/sound-alikes, which Janet was able to only semi-remedy by outfitting each one in their usual clothes. What resulted was a trippy journey into the self, a rekindling of romance between Eleanor (Kristen Bell, eventually) and Chidi (William Jackson Harper), and an absurdly perfect comedy showcase for Carden (who will play Gretchen Carlson’s executive producer in the Jay Roach-directed Roger Ailes movie, and will return to Barry and Broad City).

Meanwhile, as the foursome worked out their issues alongside accidental adorable puppies, actual Janet and Michael (Ted Danson) journey to the afterlife accounting department, which was run by cake-obsessed head accountant Neil (Stephen Merchant), who was assisted by Neutral Janet (played by more Carden). There, the duo learned that the Bad Place had somehow rigged the points system so that no one had been admitted into the Good Place in 521 years, and all six members of Team Cockroach locked themselves in the special room with the pneumatic tube that goes directly to the Good Place and shot themselves into what appears to be profanity-free paradise. Before the just-renewed show goes next level in its January return, let’s speak with the Good Place breakout who took you to comedy heaven in this episode.

ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: So… that was suitably bonkers. What was the first thing that popped into your surely melted mind when Mike pitched you this episode?
D’ARCY CARDEN: I remember just being stunned. I remember putting my whole entire hand over my face and sort of peeking out between two fingers, like not sure if I could even face it. I knew months ahead of time, and so it was like this big exciting, terrifying thing that was coming up that I was equal parts couldn’t wait to dive into and also hoped someone would change their mind. I was thrilled at the chance to do it and also can’t explain how overwhelmed with gratitude that they would even trust me with something like this — “they” being Mike and the writers and producers. I texted Mike just the other day, “I’ll never get over you guys trusting me with this.”

How did you prepare for this episode? Were you studying mannerisms of the other characters from previous episodes like game film — or is it mostly just institutional character knowledge for you?It’s a little bit of both. If they said, “You’re doing this tomorrow” and I had no preparation, I would know what to do because I know these characters so well, and I know the actors so well. I almost think any fan of the show could tap into the different mannerisms and little quirks that each character has, but I had months to watch them and study them. I creepily lurked a lot, especially when we were filming. I either would not be in the scene, or we were rehearsing the scene, and I would find myself standing like them or whispering their lines back to myself — weird little creepy things that I’m sure was very off-putting for my castmates. They were like, “Why are you turning into such a creep all of the sudden?”…  The editing team put together — did you say “game tape?”

Yes, like in football — studying and breaking down footage from previous games or practice.That is exactly what they did. They made me a little reel of each character, the way they would walk, the way they would sit the way they would point to something. Things like that are super helpful, but they also can get you in your head a little bit. It was nice to have some prep time, and I definitely took advantage of the prep time and sort of lost my little mind in the process.

The most helpful things that I found — we did do one in-costume rehearsal on the void stage with each actor. So Kristen playing Eleanor, Will playing Chidi, et cetera. Everybody had scripts in hands — it was just very informal — but they filmed it and then the editing team cut it together like a real episode and they sent it to me the next day…. I had game tape, and then I had this rehearsal that I could watch back and see how Kristen puts her hands in her back pockets or whatever. And then I recorded that rehearsal on my phone so that I could listen to it constantly, so I could memorize . Even just the memorizing of this episode was daunting. In the days leading up to it, I truly didn’t do anything else but just listen to it. I was driving down Sunset, listening to it full-blast in my car, and then I spotted William Jackson Harper just walking down the street. So I pulled over and rolled my window down and blasted what I was listening to. He came up to my window and heard his own voice bellowing back at him and he was like, “Oh no, you’ve gone crazy, you’re losing your mind, I’m so sorry.”

What was the biggest challenge in bringing this whole episode to life?The biggest challenge was acting opposite a pole with a piece of tape on it. You kind of lose your mind a little bit. Not to mention that we’re in a big white room, so your brains are tripping out anyway. Any actor wants an acting partner. I need it. It felt like a new way of acting that I hadn’t experienced before, so I had to wrap my brain around it. Ted is in that first scene with me, so he had the experience of acting opposite four poles with tape on them, and after he was done, he was like, “Oh, no, no, no, this is not for me. Good luck, I don’t want to do this anymore.” … I did have to adjust to that, and we had some really amazing stand-ins wearing Janet wigs and Janet costumes. They were all incredible and so, so helpful. But we couldn’t always use them; very often it was just a pole with a tennis ball or tape on it. I don’t know if I can accurately explain how helpful, more than helpful , from Morgan , the director, to the costume department. It was very long, crazy hours and everybody was losing their mind, but it was such a good vibe on set. It was one of the best weeks of my life. It truly was. I even remember thinking, “I don’t know if I ever want to watch this episode because I don’t want anything to change my memory of how great this week was.”

Which character was hardest for you to nail down — and which was the easiest?Jason and Tahani were on the easier side. Jason was the most fun for sure, without a doubt. If I could just switch roles with Manny from now on, I would do that. And yeah, maybe Manny would want to put on the Janet outfit, I would not mind seeing that…. I would say Kristen is so subtle, her little things were very hard. She does so much in such subtle ways that you don’t really know if you’re capturing it or not. Will was extremely hard. I could hear him in my head, and I couldn’t do him, if that makes sense. We didn’t really want to do sketch-style impressions, SNL impressions. But you had to still know who each character was. I was most frustrated playing Chidi because I could really see and hear him in my head, but not necessarily get it out.

One of the scenes that hurt my brain in the best way was when you’re playing Eleanor pretending to be Jason to get information from Chidi, who you’re also playing. What do you remember about pulling off the absurdity and complexity of that moment?I mean, it’s so goofy. I’m sitting there as Eleanor playing Jason, or I guess as Janet, but I’m also not acting with anybody. I’m talking to myself like a lunatic. That might have been the scene that really broke my brain too because we’re not doing perfect impressions, we’re not doing over-the-top impressions, but also now there’s this other weird layer where I’m like, “I should be doing a sort of bad Jason, but not too bad so that the joke is given away.” It’s all a bit of a weird blur in my head. Morgan Sackett and the two writers, Josh and Dylan were so helpful. It was almost like the four of us were sharing a big weird brain. I relied on them so, so, so much… I would say a line and just look at them right away and be like, “Did we get it? Do it again? What do you think? Help me, help me.” That was definitely a fun one — not to mention getting to play Jason dressed as Eleanor in the background saying that he was “Arizona shrimp-horny.”

This episode is such a big swing. How nervous was everyone that this was viable? As great and ambitious as this idea was, did you ever discuss that you might have to abandon it if it doesn’t work?I think everybody was extremely nervous. Definitely more nervous for this than we’ve ever been for any other episode, just because we’re like, “Will it even work?” I will say that I trust Mike Schur with everything I have, with my life, so when he’s —  I wouldn’t even say confident because he wasn’t necessarily confident about this — but when he got the idea and was like, “I want to do this weird thing,” I was like, “I will follow you to the ends of the earth. I trust you, I believe you. If you think we can do this, if you think I can do this, let’s just jump in.”

I remember the first day of filming; it was such a question mark. We wanted to try to get through something like four scenes that day, maybe five. We got through one scene. It just took so long, and there was so much more to it than we expected. They had definitely crossed every t and dotted every i. They were over-prepared, but still it was different than we thought it would be. With a different group of people, there would have been a lot of complaining and a lot of eye-rolling and a lot of grumbling under their breath, but there just wasn’t that. It was a bunch of people saying to each other, “How can I help the job?” Everybody had the same goal to make this weird thing work. It was awesome, it was such an awesome experience.

As a big fan of the Medium Place, I was happy to meet Neutral Janet. How did you approach that role? Did you just pretend the light went out in your eyes?Yes. I tried to think what would my face look like if I was dead.

Can you rank the three Janets — Good, Neutral, Bad — in order of how fun they are to play?Good Janet, No. 1. Bad Janet, No. 2. Neutral Janet, No. 3. But it’s so close. It’s almost like 1, 1.5, it is so close. We had a whole weird walk that Neutral Janet had that we don’t really get to see. We definitely found some fun weird things for Neutral Janet. Who knows if we’ll ever see her again, but I definitely enjoyed that new version. And then Bad Janet is just such a thrill. It feels like a little mean to be that mean to people, especially when the directors are like, “Improvise, be meaner to Ted Danson.” But it’s so freeing and fun. And then obviously I have such a soft spot and love for regular Janet. Janet Proper is what Mike Schur calls her.

NEXT PAGE: Carden on what happens now that they’re in the Good Place

It’s all over for Raymond Reddington (James Spader).

Well, not all over. When NBC’s The Blacklist returns, Red — or rather, whoever’s been posing as Red for 30 years — won’t expose who he is to Liz Keen (Megan Boone), but he will be arrested and put behind bars. The twist comes early in season 6, and according to EP John Eisendrath, has been an arc the writers have wanted to do for a long time.

“We’ve always thought that someday on the show we would like to dramatize Red getting arrested,” he says. “He’s the most wanted man in America, a fugitive who’s managed to elude the authorities for 30 years, so we always thought, just in theory, that it would be a great story to see what happens when he is in fact arrested.”

As seen in the exclusive trailer for the new season above, Red faces consequences for his crimes. Because Liz and the task force must disavow him to protect themselves, he has no way out — for now. “They can’t just go in and say, ‘Hey, guess what, he’s on our team,'” EP Jon Bokenkamp points out. “Red’s sort of left on this island out there trying to fend for himself. Seeing what his life would be like completely turned upside down and how he navigates that system — we just thought that was a really interesting, dark story to tell that we haven’t done yet.”

Though he may seem just as calm and collected as always in the teaser, Red’s “shocked,” Eisendrath teases. “He’ll wonder going forward, ‘How did this happen? Did it happen on accident or with someone who is trying to get me?'”

That’s a discussion he’ll have with Liz, who visits Red in prison. She obviously knows he’s not the real Raymond Reddington, as she learned in the season 5 finale, but she’s also unsure of what her next steps should be. “Not only is she trying desperately to unravel the truth of who this man is and why he entered her life and why he chose her, but she’s also having to try to be present in a very caring way, because he doesn’t know that she knows the truth,” Bokenkamp explains. “It makes for some really interesting and complex situations to put her in. She’s sort of feigning concern for him while still trying to work the mystery and unravel a greater sort of truth.”

Below, EW can share three exclusive photos from the upcoming season:

The Blacklist returns for a two-part, two-night premiere starting Thursday, Jan. 3, at 10 p.m. ET on NBC.

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