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  • Olympic Day 2025 unites millions in global celebration of sport and community

    Olympic Day 2025 unites millions in global celebration of sport and community

    In India, the Abhinav Bindra Foundation hosted a variety of sports and movement activities for young people to participate in on Olympic Day – including skipping, football, cricket, volleyball and kho-kho – together with Olympic-themed arts and crafts. The activity is part of the Olympic Values Education Programme (OVEP), implemented in collaboration with the IOC and the governments of Odisha, Assam and Chandigarh, and has already engaged 10 million schoolchildren

    The Reliance Foundation marked Olympic Day 2025 with a vibrant celebration featuring 1,450 school children and a line-up of Olympians and national champions at the Reliance Foundation School in Navi Mumbai. Olympic archers Atanu Das and Deepika Kumari, alongside athletic stars Ancy Sojan, Tejas Shirse and Sakshi Chavan, inspired young students to embrace sports and embody the core Olympic values of excellence, respect and friendship.

    In China, table tennis player Sun Yingsha, swimmer Pan Zhanle and shooter Sheng Lihao championed Olympic Day 2025 through a series of videos, calling on the public to take on the “Let’s Move +1” challenge – a fun and accessible way to get people moving and ignite passion for physical activity in daily life. More than 13,000 people have participated in the “Let’s Move +1” themed Olympic Mini Program on WeChat, through which they could compete with friends, complete daily challenges, and practise sport together. Worldwide Olympic Partner Allianz held a mini marathon at the company’s Hangzhou headquarters, including online fitness challenges and AI-powered engagement initiatives; whilst Mengniu promoted mass sports, and released an Olympic themed short film, encouraging people to move and “give everyone the strength to power on”.

    Over 350,000 people have already participated in Worldwide Olympic Partner Samsung’s “Let’s Move?” challenge to walk 260,000 steps between 23 June and 21 July. The IOC marked the day in the Olympic Capital, including the traditional Olympic Day run – a 5km public event around Olympic House in Lausanne.

    The theme of this year’s Olympic Day, “Let’s Move?”, shone a light on the benefits of playing sport and working out together, celebrating the motivation, community and joy that movement with others brings. As part of this, everyone was encouraged to invite a “+1” to walk, run, dance, skip and move with them. People were invited to ask a friend to join their team or workout, and could use specially created “Let’s Move?” digital tools. More than 35,000 posts have been shared on social media in relation to Olympic Day.

    “Let’s Move” launched in 2023 in collaboration with the World Health Organization (WHO), following its research that alarming numbers of people across the world are not meeting the minimum activity level required for optimal health: one in three adults and 81 per cent of young people (WHO, 2024). Rallying the power and inspiration of the Olympic Movement to highlight this worrying trend, while aiming to encourage and create opportunities for everyone to move more, “Let’s Move” is part of the Olympic Movement’s mission to make the world a better place through sport and will continue beyond Olympic Day, with the ambition, and the support of the Olympic Movement, to keep inspiring and enabling people to move and enjoy physical activity through resources, activations and content.

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  • Brain Changes Linked to Dementia Found in Ex-Rugby Players

    Brain Changes Linked to Dementia Found in Ex-Rugby Players

    Two studies led by researchers at Imperial College London (ICL) have identified structural brain changes and blood biomarkers linked to dementia in former professional rugby players. 

    The findings provide the first prospective evidence of physical brain and blood abnormalities in this group. 

    Previous research had already shown that elite rugby players face a higher risk of neurodegenerative diseases later in life. The studies examined links between repeated head impacts in rugby and conditions such as Alzheimer’s disease and chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE).

    Post-mortem examinations of former players have shown neuropathologies consistent with repetitive brain trauma.

    Traumatic brain injury, already a known risk factor for neurodegeneration, contributes to an estimated 3%-15% of dementia cases in the general population.

    While recent advances in fluid and imaging biomarkers have transformed dementia diagnosis, these techniques have not been systematically applied to rugby players previously exposed to multiple head impacts.

    Study Cohort and Methods

    The research involved 200 ex-professional rugby players aged 30 to 61 (median age, 44), all of whom had self-referred with brain health concerns but had no dementia diagnosis at baseline. At least one previous concussion while playing was reported by 193 (96.5%) of the former players, with a median of seven concussions.

    The rugby group was compared with 33 age- and sex-matched healthy controls with no evidence of previous head trauma or dementia onset. 

    Participants were 90% male. The median rugby career lasted 10.5 years, with 63% playing as forwards and 37% as backs.

    Mental Health and Behavioural Symptoms

    The former players scored higher on self-rated scales of depression, anxiety, and post-concussion symptoms than those in the control group, though not on sleep quality.

    These symptoms, along with behaviour ratings of executive dysfunction and neuropsychiatric symptom severity, were more prevalent among individuals who had experienced a greater number of self-reported concussions. However, this was unrelated to the number of years played, or position of play. 

    Despite frequent subjective memory complaints, the performance of players in cognitive testing did not differ significantly from that of the control group. However, 24 former players, particularly those who had played as forwards and those who had reported more concussions, met the research criteria for CTE syndrome based on neurobehavioural disturbance. This was determined with low provisional levels of certainty: 21 were classed as ‘suggestive’, three as ‘possible’, and none as ‘probable/definite’. Seven of the 24 had cognitive impairment, 12 had neurobehavioral dysregulation, and five had both.

    Imaging Findings

    3T MRI imaging showed the presence of cavum septum pellucidum in 24% of players, compared with 12% of controls. This was more common in those who had experienced more concussions. They also showed reduced volumes in the frontal and cingulate cortices, with reduced white matter and lower hippocampal volume associated with longer career durations. 

    Only 4.6% showed trauma-associated white matter changes on diffusion tensor imaging.

    Elevated Blood Biomarkers

    Using ultrasensitive digital enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays, researchers analysed fluid biomarkers associated with neurodegeneration. 

    Key findings included:

    • Phospho-tau217 levels were 17.6% higher in former players
    • 23.1% had elevated phospho-tau217
    • 9.0% had raised plasma neurofilament light

    While levels were lower than in late-onset Alzheimer’s patients, players with elevated markers had more severe neuropsychiatric symptoms, including depression and anxiety.

    Frontal brain volumes correlated negatively with neurofilament light, and hippocampal volumes correlated negatively with phospho-tau217.

    The findings were published simultaneously in two papers in the journal Brain.

    Professor David Sharp, director of the UK Dementia Research Institute Centre for Care Research & Technology at ICL, who co-led the work, said: “We didn’t see any cases of early dementia in this group of former players, which is reassuring. However, the changes in blood biomarkers and brain imaging abnormalities show some long-term effects of repeated head impacts on the brain.”

    The studies are set to continue for a further 4 years.

    Calls for Action on Player Safety

    “Nearly half of dementia cases are linked to known health and lifestyle risk factors, including traumatic brain injury from contact sports like rugby,” said Dr Jacqui Hanley, head of research at Alzheimer’s Research UK. While not much is known about how such injuries cause changes to the brain, “deepening our understanding could ultimately help lower dementia risk for professional sportspeople”.

    Hanley called for stronger efforts to reduce head injury in contact sports, stating: “Reducing traumatic brain injury in contact sports is critical to help prevent brain damage and minimise dementia risk for the players.”

    The Alzheimer’s Society echoed the concern, noting that professional rugby players face approximately twice the risk of dementia. They called for accurate data on injury patterns and their long-term effects. However, they also stressed that physical activity remains one of the most effective ways to reduce dementia risk.

    The Dementia Trust has warned that repeated tackles, scrums, and collisions can contribute to CTE among rugby players, and noted a rise in early-onset dementia among retired professional players. 

    In 2023, a group of 260 former professionals launched a lawsuit against World Rugby, the Welsh Rugby Union, and the Rugby Football Union. They alleged negligence in failing to protect players from the risk of neurodegenerative diseases. 

    Dr Sheena Meredith is an established medical writer, editor, and consultant in healthcare communications, with extensive experience writing for medical professionals and the general public. She is qualified in medicine and in law and medical ethics. 

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  • Israeli forces martyred 118 Palestinians in unprovoked firing incidents in Gaza – RADIO PAKISTAN

    1. Israeli forces martyred 118 Palestinians in unprovoked firing incidents in Gaza  RADIO PAKISTAN
    2. Israel kills more than 300 in Gaza in 48 hours as focus intensifies on GHF  Al Jazeera
    3. 95 Palestinians martyred amidst continued Israeli aggression  Ptv.com.pk
    4. 12 killed in Israeli strike on shelter for displaced: Gaza rescuers  Dawn
    5. ‘Beyond anything imaginable’: dozens killed at busy Gaza seafront cafe  The Guardian

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  • Google’s most advanced AI video model, Veo 3, is now available in the Middle East | World News

    Google’s most advanced AI video model, Veo 3, is now available in the Middle East | World News

    Google’s Veo 3 enables Middle East creators to generate hyper-realistic AI videos from text prompts on the Gemini platform./ Image: GoogleArabia/X

    Google has officially rolled out Veo 3, its latest AI-powered video creation tool, to Gemini users across the Middle East, marking a major expansion in the region for its generative media technology. Now available to paying users of Gemini, Veo 3 allows people to generate cinematic video clips from simple text prompts, complete with synchronized sound, music, dialogue, and realistic visuals.

    Veo 3: From Prompt to Production

    Initially unveiled at Google I/O 2024, the company’s annual developer conference in May, Veo 3 has quickly drawn attention for its high realism, advanced physics simulation, and precise lip-syncing capabilities.“From prompt to production, Veo 3 delivers best-in-class realism, physics, and lip syncing,” said Eli Collins, Vice President of Product at Google DeepMind, during the launch event at Google I/O.Users can input a short description of a scene, such as “a foggy street in old Tokyo with neon lights and light rain,” and Veo 3 responds by generating an eight-second, 720p video that integrates ambient sound, spoken dialogue, realistic effects, and visual elements that closely mirror the input description.According to Collins, Veo 3 not only performs standard text-to-video generation, but also supports image prompting and introduces a new benchmark in responsive AI video design. He wrote in a blog post:“Veo 3 excels from text and image prompting to real-world physics and accurate lip syncing,” highlighting its strengths in realism, responsiveness, and user control.

    Competing with Sora and Raising the Bar

    With its ability to generate native audio, including background noise, soundtracks, and voiceovers, Veo 3 positions itself as a direct rival to OpenAI’s Sora, which is also in the race to dominate the generative video space.What sets Veo 3 apart is the combination of multi-modal generation (text, image, sound) and its physics-aware rendering, making it capable of crafting scenes that feel lifelike and cinematic, whether it’s for a dreamlike short film, a product concept, or even a viral meme.One example that gained popularity on social media involved a surreal AI-generated clip of Will Smith eating spaghetti, which drew attention across platforms like X (formerly Twitter).

    Transparency Through Watermarking

    To ensure content authenticity, all Veo 3 videos come with an embedded SynthID watermark, Google’s invisible digital signature designed to label AI-generated content. This helps in tracing and verifying the origin of synthetic media, particularly in an era of increasing deepfake risks.In addition to the hidden watermark, Veo-generated videos, except those created by Ultra-tier members using Google’s new Flow filmmaking platform, will also carry a visible watermark to clearly indicate that the video was AI-generated. Google is also testing a SynthID Detector tool to help individuals and platforms identify synthetic media with greater ease.

    Expanding Global Access

    Having made its debut in other markets earlier this year, Veo 3’s launch in the Middle East opens the door for regional creators, filmmakers, marketers, and digital storytellers to explore high-end AI video creation without the need for traditional equipment or editing tools.The rollout is part of Google’s broader strategy to integrate generative AI into everyday creative workflows, especially through its Gemini platform, which continues to gain traction among professionals and hobbyists alike.


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  • Smartphones Passively Detect Mental Disorders

    Smartphones Passively Detect Mental Disorders

    Credit: Tom Merton/Getty Images

    Smartphones sensors can detect major forms of psychopathology and could provide a promising way to identify early symptom deterioration and deliver “just-in-time” tailored interventions, research suggests.

    The findings, in the journal JAMA Network Open, provide further evidence that passively collected information from these devices can relate to transdiagnostic dimensions of these mental disorders.

    The study further suggests that the devices could one day be used as symptom monitoring tools and lead to more precise and effective treatment.

    In an editorial accompanying the study, Massachusetts-based researchers Christian Webb, PhD, from McLean Hospital in Belmont, and Hadar Fisher, PhD, from Harvard Medical School in Boston, suggest that smartphones and wearables could provide low-burden support aligned to a person’s real-time state.

    “Passive sensing via smartphones and wearables offers a powerful lens on individuals’ lives beyond the research laboratory and clinic walls,” they maintained.

    “When used wisely, it may augment our understanding of psychopathology—capturing aspects of functioning that matter for mental health, enabling personalized monitoring, and potentially prompting earlier interventions.”

    For example, smartphone sensors that detected a notable increase in time spent at home, decreased physical activity, and reduced initiation and response to communication could trigger a brief assessment of either depressive symptoms or a lack of appreciation for activities typically enjoyed.

    The researchers note that current, in-person clinical observation provides only a narrow snapshot of a patient’s status, with lengthy patient-reported outcome measures only administered episodically.

    Digital phenotyping using mobile sensing could address these limitations, collecting key information on symptoms and daily functioning that occur in the days and weeks between clinical encounters that is missed in current monitoring practices.

    To investigate further, Whitney Ringwald, PhD, from the University of Minnesota at Minneapolis, and co-workers examined which forms of psychopathology relate to behavior that can be assessed through smartphone sensors.

    The team continuously collected data from 557 adults using smartphone sensors for 15 days, following baseline assessments of psychopathology.

    The study used six types of smartphone sensors: global positioning system (GPS); accelerometer; motion; screen on/off; battery; and call logs. These were used to derive 27 behavioral metrics.

    Results showed that passively sensed behaviors were associated with all six major transdiagnostic psychopathology domains, with the strongest associations for detachment and somatoform symptoms.

    Even after accounting for shared variance across domains, all but one domain—thought disorder—retained unique associations with smartphone-derived variables. For example, detachment was linked with lower physical mobility and disinhibition to lower telephone battery charge.

    The p-factor, which reflects general impairment and is a general psychopathology dimension, was associated with a distinctive cluster of behaviors that included later bedtimes, reduced physical mobility, more time spent at home, and less telephone charge.

    “These findings suggest that smartphone sensors can detect not only domain-specific behavioral patterns but also broad behavioral signatures of general psychopathology, with potential applications for monitoring and intervention,” the editorialists noted.

    Ringwald and team concluded: “These results suggest that the findings from this study may advance research on day-to-day maintenance mechanisms of psychopathology and inform development of symptom monitoring tools.”

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  • Romero Games makes layoffs after Microsoft cancels project funding

    Romero Games makes layoffs after Microsoft cancels project funding

    Irish studio Romero Games has seemingly laid off a number of employees after suddenly losing project funding.

    Notably, a number of Romero Games workers claim the cutbacks at Romero are a direct result of Microsoft’s latest layoff spree—which saw the company make significant redundancies across its video game division.

    Romero Games detailed the situation in a post on Bluesky but didn’t name Microsoft directly.

    “We have some difficult news to share. Last night, we learned that our publisher has cancelled funding for our game along with several other unannounced projects at other studios,” reads the post.

    “This was a strategic decision made at a high level within the publisher, well above our visibility or control. We deeply wish there had been something, anything, we could have done to prevent this outcome.”

    Romero Games working to support employees after publisher pulls funding

    Studio CEO Brenda Romero explained the company is currently evaluating next steps and working to support its team. “Many of us have worked together for more than a decade, some for over 20 years,” she added. “It’s an extremely difficult day.”

    It’s currently unclear how many people have been impacted by the cuts. According to job listings posted online, Romero Games had been working on a brand new shooter featuring an original IP. 

    Related:Xbox closes The Initiative and cancels its Perfect Dark reboot

    A number of employees impacted by the layoffs shared the news on Linkedin and laid the blame firmly at Microsoft’s door.

    “Unfortunately, I was affected by the recent layoffs from Microsoft and have lost my role as a material and texture artist at Romero Games, a studio full of incredibly kind, talented, and inspiring people,” reads one post. 

    “With a heavy heart, my time at Romero Games has come to an end as a result of our publisher’s layoffs,” reads another, this time from a producer and project manager. 

    One environment artist claimed Romero Games is “closing down,” but it’s unclear whether that statement is accurate at the time of writing. Meanwhile, another environment artist stated their time at the studio ended “due to the recent layoffs that happened within Microsoft.”

    Game Developer reached out to Romero Games for comment and was referred back to the public statement shared online. We have also reached out to Microsoft for more information on the status of the company’s publishing operations. 


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  • Was Thatcher right to ban ‘video nasties’? I binged Zombie Flesh Eaters and Slaughtered Vomit Dolls to find out | Horror films

    Was Thatcher right to ban ‘video nasties’? I binged Zombie Flesh Eaters and Slaughtered Vomit Dolls to find out | Horror films

    Later this month, the cult film service Arrow will do something that would once have plunged the UK into screaming fits of utter chaos. That’s right, it’s going to stream Zombie Flesh Eaters.

    The film comes with a tremendously confusing backstory. In Italy, George A Romero’s Dawn of the Dead was recut by Dario Argento and retitled Zombi. Zombi, no relation to Bambi, was such a success that a sequel was commissioned, using the script of an unmade movie entitled Nightmare Island. This film became Zombi 2. In the UK, Zombi 2 was renamed Zombie Flesh Eaters. And then it was banned.

    This was largely down to the campaign waged against so-called “video nasties” in the early 1980s. Driven by newspaper front pages screaming things like “BAN VIDEO SADISM NOW”, police officers began conducting raids on video shops, confiscating anything they saw as breaching the Obscene Publications Act.

    The confiscations felt arbitrary (in Slough, officers seized Dolly Parton’s The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas, under the impression it was pornography), but eventually 39 films were successfully prosecuted under the act. Zombie Flesh Eaters was one of them. And now its unimaginable horrors are available to stream, uncut and in pin-sharp 4K.

    In truth, it’s been around for a while. Around the turn of the century, the BBFC loosened its regulations, and the banned films began to trickle out. Not all of them – 1969’s Nazi sex film Love Camp 7 is still routinely refused a certificate, as is the thematically similar Gestapo’s Last Orgy – but Zombie Flesh Eaters has been available to legally watch uncut for two decades now.

    More fleshed out … Cannibal Holocaust. Photograph: Ronald Grant Archive

    Which means that I probably should have watched it by now. After all, if you grew up in the 80s and 90s like I did, nothing gave a movie more cachet than being banned. All these films had a too-hot-for-TV thrill to them; if you weren’t allowed to watch them, they had to be good. And yet I never got around to watching Zombie Flesh Eaters.

    Turns out I didn’t need to bother. Not because the Thatcher government was right and the film has turned me into a depraved subversive, but because it lumbers on for ever, grinding through endless overlong, overacted dialogue scenes that go nowhere and do nothing. Admittedly there are hints of gleeful gore here and there. In one scene a woman’s eyeball is impaled, and there’s a tremendous underwater sequence with a zombie, a topless woman and what appears to be an actual live shark. Maybe there was some religious outrage that has lost its impact over the years (OK, a zombie does get its head caved in with a crucifix), but otherwise it contains nothing that wouldn’t be found in a workaday Game of Thrones episode.

    Would it get banned today? Unlikely. In an age where Damien Leone can release three Terrifier movies (where, variously, a man is chainsawed to death through his scrotum and a woman has a rat-filled pipe hammered down her throat), it’s practically daytime television. I grew up scared and fascinated by the prospect of Zombie Flesh Eaters corrupting my mind. Now that I have actually seen it, I’m afraid to report that Zombie Flesh Eaters is no Zombie Flesh Eaters.

    Were all the banned films like that? Has society moved on so much that everything we once feared would undo society has become unimaginably hokey? I decided to watch some of the other 39 films to find out. I started with the most notorious, John Alan Schwartz’s Faces of Death.

    Harrowing … Faces of Death. Photograph: Courtesy: John Felice

    No film was arguably bolstered more by a banning than Faces of Death. A mockumentary that combines unaired news footage with material shot for the film, Faces of Death presented itself as a compilation of every kind of death: accidents, executions, suicide, cannibalism. Back when nobody could see it, it sounded like a kind of aggressively violent precursor to You’ve Been Framed. But that isn’t what it is at all. It is, in fact, a harrowing look at human suffering. There’s Holocaust footage. There are starving children. There’s violence against animals (staged) and footage of body parts scattered across the ground following a plane crash (real). It is, to put it lightly, an incredible bummer to watch.

    Despite its reputation, Ruggero Deodato’s Cannibal Holocaust was slightly easier to watch. You can understand the nerves around releasing it – it features graphic sexual violence, and more than one scene of animals being killed – but at least it had the benefit of having an identifiable point of view. The film is a satire about cultural appropriation and media sensationalism, in which an American documentary crew travel to the Amazon rainforest and get in over their heads. Which in terms of intent puts it above a lot of the other banned films, but the execution muddles the message. After all, if you have to kill an animal to make a point about media sensationalism, you’ve already lost the argument.

    And then there’s Meir Zarchi’s I Spit on Your Grave, a film that lacks either the intellectual rigour of Cannibal Holocaust or the fun of Zombie Flesh Eaters. It is one of the least enjoyable films I have ever watched.

    I Spit on Your Grave is a film in which a woman exacts revenge against a group of men who gang rape her. It was banned in the UK, as well as in Canada, Iceland, Ireland, Norway and West Germany. This is likely due to the point of the film being the rape itself. So much time is dedicated to the rape sequence that the revenge part feels tacked on, as if it wants to trick you into thinking that it’s a feminist film. It’s worth pointing out that I Spit on Your Grave still hasn’t been released here uncut – some heavily eroticised rape scenes still contravene BBFC guidance – but the edited version available on Amazon Prime was still so unpleasant that it represents the only time I have ever welcomed the intrusion of interstitial ads.

    Sickening … Slaughtered Vomit Dolls. Photograph: MUBI

    And yet by modern standards, even these video nasties pale next to what is now circulating online. For the purposes of this feature, my editor ushered me towards a 2006 film called Slaughtered Vomit Dolls, part of Lucifer Valentine’s Vomit Gore trilogy, along with ReGOREgitated Sacrifice and Slow Torture Puke Chamber. A surreal satanist film about a woman with an eating disorder, Slaughtered Vomit Dolls contains scenes of torture and several scenes in which people vomit various fluids, some of which are gobbled straight back up. It was awful. If this was 1983, it would have been banned in a heartbeat.

    Because time has rendered Zombie Flesh Eaters so quaint, my assumption was that all the other banned films would be equally silly and kitschy. After all, we’re talking about a government so jumpy that it also banned the third word in the title of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. But that isn’t the case, since a lot of these films are still genuinely repellent. What has changed, though, is our attitude to them. Clearly, banning them only served to boost their reputation, whereas if they had been allowed to remain in public, I’m convinced that they would have all died in obscurity decades ago. In other words, less “BAN VIDEO SADISM NOW” and more “LET’S WATCH SOMETHING THAT’S ACTUALLY GOOD”.

    Zombie Flesh Eaters is available to stream on Arrow and on Limited Edition 4K UHD from 28 July

    Information and support for anyone affected by rape or sexual abuse issues is available from the following organisations. In the UK, Rape Crisis offers support on 0808 500 2222 in England and Wales, 0808 801 0302 in Scotland, or 0800 0246 991 in Northern Ireland. In the US, Rainn offers support on 800-656-4673. In Australia, support is available at 1800Respect (1800 737 732). Other international helplines can be found at ibiblio.org/rcip/internl.html

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  • Young Researchers Featured at Conference of Society for Digital Mental Health

    Young Researchers Featured at Conference of Society for Digital Mental Health

    The fourth annual virtual conference of the Society for Digital Mental Health (SDMH), June 9-10, 2025, featured presentations and panel discussions on innovative online therapeutics, and on policy affecting their approval, access, and application.

    Investigations by students and young researchers were also presented, with these 5 recognized by the organizing committee as best of conference.

    Assessing Acceptance in Minorities

    While digital therapeutics has the potential to increase access to mental health care, 3 of the featured studies examined how access to, as well as acceptance of, the technology can be problematic for minority groups.

    Sigdha Kamarsu, Anxiety Research, Treatment, and Technology (ARTT) Lab, Georgia State University, Atlanta, GA, presented their investigation1 into whether sexual and gender minority groups encounter additional or different barriers than majority group peers. The investigators applied standardized, self-report measures of attitudes towards psychological online intervention with internet based cognitive behavioral therapy (iCBT) and perceived barriers to psychological treatment. The cohort of 632 participants was grouped into women, men, and gender-queer categories, with sexual orientation categorized as heterosexual, lesbian/gay/bisexual (LGB), and other sexual minority identities (OSMI).

    Kamarsu reported that concerns about lack of personal contact when using iCBT were greater for gender-queer individuals compared with men and women, and greater for OSMI compared with heterosexual individuals. OSMI individuals indicated greater confidence in the effectiveness of iCBT than LGB individuals.

    “Our results corroborate our hypothesis that sexual and gender minority individuals experience greater negative attitudes, greater attitudinal barriers, and greater practical barriers than their majority group peers,” Kamarsu indicated.

    Taylor Myers-Brower, Program for Anxiety, Cognition and Treatment (PACT) Lab, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, described their efforts to culturally tailor MindTrails, a cognitive bias modification program targeting anxious thinking patterns, for Latinx Spanish-speaking individuals.

    Eleven treatment-seeking participants provided feedback on a Spanish version of the app over a course of 3 interviews. Factors considered in the interviews varied from technical issues, sources of confusion and the domain of discrimination, to variables affecting engagement and suggestions on personalizing content. The investigators used the feedback to guide iterative changes to the app.

    “Early findings suggest positive impressions of a culturally-tailored MindTrails app and highlight potential enhancements to better address the needs of the target audience,” Myers-Brower reported.

    Olive Chung-Hui Huang, Department of Psychology, University of Windsor, Ontario, Canada reported on a single arm clinical trial3 conducted with the Center for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH), Toronto, Ontario that investigated how adoption and acceptability of mindfulness-based apps are affected by social determinants of health such as race, gender, and education.

    A mindfulness-based app was provided to a cohort of 183 treatment-seeking adults (65% women, 38.5% sexual minority, 36.1% Black, indigenous, or People of Color [BIPOC], and 35.5% without college education).In the 1-month trial and 3-month follow-up, adoption was indicated by completion of any in-app exercises, acceptability of the app was assessed by questionnaire, engagement was reflected in the number of app exercises completed and the number of minutes in meditation, and attrition was determined from the number of assessments left uncompleted.

    Huang reported finding that women, sexual minorities, and below-college educated individuals were more likely to engage with a mindfulness app, and BIPOC persons tended toward less engagement. She anticipates that their future research will “evaluate how mindfulness apps meet the needs of BIPOC or non-binary individuals, and the capacity for apps to be more gender-, trauma-, or culturally-informed.”

    Adopting AI and ML

    Tyler Schmitt, University of Pittsburgh, reported progress on a project4 utilizing a youth research collaborative to validate machine learning (ML) classifiers of social media content. Their goals included identifying social media interactions that expose youth to loneliness and social isolation and developing a mitigating algorithm to improve connectedness and social support.

    “Loneliness and perceived isolation are linked to disproportionately higher rates of mental health problems in marginalized youth,” Schmitt related. “These youth may use social media to seek support and connectedness that they cannot find offline.”

    The youth collaborative of 14 participants was constituted in partnership with 3 Pittsburgh-based community organizations serving Black, Latinx, and LGBTQ+ youth. The youth held monthly meetings, alternating between in-person and online, that focused on the 4 key concepts of loneliness, social isolation, connectedness, and social support.

    “Our youth research partners married research-informed theory and their personal experiences to create working definitions of mental health risk and protective factors that they will use to validate ML classifiers of social media content,” Schmitt explained.

    The project is ongoing, with 11 meetings held as of the presentation, of which 9 directly focused on the stated goals. To this point, the project has established consensus on which parts of the working definitions were accurate and identified gaps in the working definitions to be further analyzed in building ML parameters.

    Steven Siddals, King’s College London, London, UK, described the experiences of 19 study5 participants using generative AI chatbots, like ChatGPT, for mental health issues ranging from symptoms of anxiety and depression to distress over romantic relationships, dealing with loss, and resolving stress and conflict. Siddals et al compared experiences of participants using rule-based chatbots to those using generative AI chatbots and between generative AI chatbots and therapist-guided treatment.

    Utilizing semi-structured interviews and reflexive thematic analysis, the investigators derived 4 themes from the reported experiences: emotional sanctuary (validating, nonjudgmental); insightful guidance (valued advice, new perspectives); joy of connection (human-like companionship beyond traditional apps); and “AI Therapist” (augmented therapy, creative new uses). Within these 4 themes, the investigators noted caveats: for emotional sanctuary, appropriate guardrails could be absent; for insightful guidance, there could be insufficient challenge; for joy of connection, it could have been more accessible; and the “AI Therapist” did not lead the process.

    In comparing the reported experiences with rule-based vs generative AI chatbots, Siddals related that the former was perceived “more predictable,” “more explainable,” and to have lower risk of bias; while the latter appeared to have “better engagement,” “deeper understanding,” “more flexibility,” and to offer “better quality advice.”

    Comparing the experiences with generative AI chatbots to those with clinician-guided treatment, the former was valued by users for around-the-clock availability, lower cost, feeling “less judgmental,” and offering “creative new uses.” In comparison to the bot, the human clinician could lead the process and provide real human connection, and was appreciated for providing “deeper empathy” and “sense of commitment.”

    In an earlier published report6 on this study, the investigators addressed the safety concern with generative AI chatbots accessed by users in crisis. They relate that several of the study participants experienced meaningful crisis support from generative AI, and they advocate for its use in these circumstances as long as guard rails remain in the algorithm.

    While acknowledging that early generative AI chatbots had tragically supported users in dying by suicide, Siddals and colleagues argue against “underestimating the capabilities of generative AI to respond to crisis, and…limiting those capabilities at the times that matter most.”

    Dr Bender reports on medical innovations and advances in practice and edits presentations for news and professional education publications. He previously taught and mentored pharmacy and medical students, and he provided and managed pharmacy care and drug information services.

    References

    1. Quirk HD, Anderson PL. Do sexual and gender minority (SGM) groups endorse different barriers and attitudes toward mental health treatment than majority group peers. Presented at annual conference of the Society of Digital Mental Health, June 9-10, 2025.

    2. Taylor L, Myers-Brower E, Englander-Fuentes E, et al. User perceptions of a culturally tailored digital cognitive bias modification for interpretation program for anxious Hispanic individuals. Presented at annual conference of the Society of Digital Mental Health, June 9-10, 2025.

    3. Huang O, Patel A, Daros A, et al. Social determinants of health are associated with differences in acceptability and engagement with a mindfulness app: Moderation by gender, sexual orientation, race/ethnicity, educational attainment. Presented at annual conference of the Society of Digital Mental Health, June 9-10, 2025.

    4. Schmitt TN, Win E, Sreenivasan L, et al. Establishing a youth research collaborative to validate machine learning classifiers of social media content: Leveraging human centered design and youth research partnership. Presented at annual conference of the Society of Digital Mental Health, June 9-10, 2025.

    5. Siddals S, Torous J, Coxon A. ChatGPT for mental health? Start by listening to real-life stories. Presented at annual conference of the Society of Digital Mental Health, June 9-10, 2025.

    6. Siddals S, Torous J, Coxon A. “It happened to be the perfect thing”: experiences of generative AI chatbots for mental health. Npj Ment Health Res. 2024;3(1):48.

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  • New Battlefield Leak Reveals (Extremely Brief) Look at the Start of a Battle Royale Match, as EA Issues Takedowns

    New Battlefield Leak Reveals (Extremely Brief) Look at the Start of a Battle Royale Match, as EA Issues Takedowns

    Despite the non-disclosure agreements, Battlefield leaks are still coming fast and freely via its closed playtest. The most recent leak has revealed a peek at the upcoming shooter’s free-to-play battle royale mode.

    Battlefield dataminer Temporyal (via Insider Gaming), took to social media to share more unannounced details, including evidence that the map is set in California, insertion is via a CH-47 Chinook, and the “destructive ring [is] made of a compound called NXC.” We’re not yet clear on the lore behind why it’s there yet, though.

    The info comes attached to a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it seven-second introductory cutscene that seems to show a squadron of helicopters heading towards a battle zone in a way that’ll look familiar to anyone who’s spent time with Call of Duty battle royale Warzone.

    The Battlefield playtest has proven to be leaky indeed, and developer DICE has “loads of feedback from the very active testers selected.” Unlike Battlefield 2042’s lukewarm reception, fans seem pretty pleased with what they’ve seen so far, and for some time EA wasn’t even trying to take them down. That’s changed somewhat since, however, although there’s still plenty of information around if you’re quick enough to catch it before the takedown notices go out.

    So far, we’ve seen evidence of a new drag mechanic and the ability to cling on to vehicles, as well as improved in-game movement, 3D maps, and improved destruction.

    EA has been playing its cards pretty close to its chest about the new Battlefield, and we still don’t know when, exactly, it will launch. But EA’s last financial report suggested it’ll come out by the end of March 2026.

    Vikki Blake is a reporter for IGN, as well as a critic, columnist, and consultant with 15+ years experience working with some of the world’s biggest gaming sites and publications. She’s also a Guardian, Spartan, Silent Hillian, Legend, and perpetually High Chaos. Find her at BlueSky.


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  • Inside The Manufacture: Glashütte Original’s New Dial Factory Illuminates The German Watchmaker’s Past & Future

    Inside The Manufacture: Glashütte Original’s New Dial Factory Illuminates The German Watchmaker’s Past & Future

    The number of individual steps to create these dials is absolutely staggering, starting with, in some cases, a hand-applied silver plating of the blank base. From there, a myriad of different techniques are used depending on the specifics of the model, some performed by laser and machining (though still closely monitored, guided, and executed by dial makers) to hand application and finishing. The dial featured in the new PanoLunarTourbillon, for example, takes up to three to four months to fully produce. When I first was told that number, I confess, I was skeptical. But after seeing just how intricate each detail is and the care with which it is applied, that figure makes much more sense.


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