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This easy method gets you crispy, fluffy baked potatoes in half the time.
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These secret Netflix codes make picking what to watch way less painful.
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I try to play as broad a swathe of games as I can, including as many of the major releases as I am able to get to. Baldur's Gate 3 garnered near-universal praise when it arrived in 2023, and I was interested in trying it. But when I watched gameplay videos, the user interface seemed distressingly busy. There were far too many icons at the bottom of the screen and my brain crumbled at the sight of them. I am yet to try Baldur's Gate 3.
Two years later, I had similar feelings ahead of checking out Overwatch 2's Stadium, a major new mode for a game I play nearly every single day. Blizzard gave members of the press a spreadsheet that detailed all of the possible upgrades and powers for each hero, as well as a list of modifiers that any character can use. With two dozen or so unlockables for each of the 17 heroes that will be in Stadium at the jump and about 70 general upgrades, that's hundreds of different options Blizzard is adding to the game all at once.
As I scrolled through the list, I was surprised that a feeling of dismay washed over me. I started to worry that Stadium might not be for me.
Figuring out how to combine the items and powers in effective ways for so many different characters seemed completely daunting. It doesn't help that I'm growing tired of more and more major games having RPG elements with deeper character customization. Taking some of the decision making out of my hands by giving a character a defined set of abilities and weapons with no stat or gear upgrades to worry about is more my speed.
Thankfully, Blizzard has some good ideas on how to welcome players into this new mode. And, as it turns out, once I actually started playing Stadium, my anxious feelings swiftly melted away and I had
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In neuroscientist Kelly Lambert's lab at the University of Richmond, rats hop into cars, rev their engines and skid across the floor of an arena. Researchers taught these tiny rodents to drive — and turns out, they really like it. But why?
Host Regina G. Barber talks with Kelly about her driving rats, and what they tell us about anticipation, neuroplasticity, and decision making. Plus, why optimism might be good for rats, and for humans too.
Want to hear more fun animal stories? Let us know at shortwave@npr.org — we read every email.
Listen to every episode of Short Wave sponsor-free and support our work at NPR by signing up for Short Wave at plus.npr.org/shortwave.
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