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Experienced Belgium right-back signs two-year deal

Competing in Europa League was ‘big factor’ in move

Sunderland have completed the signing of the experienced Belgium right-back Thomas Meunier on a two-year deal as Régis Le Bris’s team step up preparations for a second successive season in the Premier League alongside a Europa League campaign.

Meunier, who has just returned from the World Cup, has been capped 83 times by Belgium and was a free agent after the expiration of his contract at Lille. The 34-year-old is Sunderland’s first summer signing.

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A week from tomorrow, the entertainment world will descend upon the San Diego Convention Center once more for the 2026 iteration of San Diego Comic-Con , and guests continue to line up. Much of the attention is on the big names and studios in attendance, like Marvel, which is returning with a massive presentation including this year's Avengers: Doomsday after skipping their typical Hall H showcase last year. Expect massive reveals and insights on everything from Star Trek to Blade Runner 2099 , Ray Gunn , anniversary panels for classics like Pan's Labyrinth with Guillermo Del Toro , and multiple Collider-hosted conversations with directors, producers, showrunners, and more. Now, one of the most exciting films out of Cannes is charting a course for the convention courtesy of Neon .

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Rebecca Yarros, author of the widely popular fantasy romance book series Fourth Wing (The Empyrean series), announced the title of a new book called Threshing Day, which will be released on September 29, 2026.

Yarros originally revealed the hotly rumored book without a title, but with the ability to preorder back in April. Fans instantly speculated on what it was; Yarros had disclosed it was an "Untitled Empyrean" book, but that it was not book 4. Despite the lack of details, the preorders shot the book to #2 on Amazon .

It turns out the official title reveal was being held for Conscription Day, July 15, which is a day in the series where cadets need to prove themselves by surviving through a life-or-death challenge in order to become dragon riders.

Yarros shared the announcement and details in an Instagram post , stating the book will contain a collection of 13 stories from fan-favorite characters during their Threshing Day (the day they get their dragons).

The deluxe edition will have 16 original art pieces in full color by the artist Joe Requeza .

Yarros also confirmed Xaden's story – one of the main characters of the series, which has been a long-time POV request from readers – will be included in the book, as well as published on her website.

Yarros confirmed she is still in the process of writing book 4, and readers are waiting patiently for any release date news. Book 1 in The Empyrean series, Fourth Wing, was published on May 2, 2023. Book two, Iron Flame, came out on November 7, 2023, and book 3, Onyx Storm, released January 21, 2025.

Due to the bursting popularity of The Empyrean series and the fantasy romance genre in general, a Fourth Wing TV series is in the works at Amazon MGM Studios and Michael B. Jordan’s Outlier Society. It's unknown if any character details from Threshing Day will be included in the show.

For more on The Empyrean series, check out our Fourth Wing hub with everything from latest news to how to buy the books to cool board games to play with fellow dragon riders!

For those looking to get your gloved hands on Threshing Day, you can preorder the book right here , which will release in stores on September 29, 2026.

Jessie Wade is Associate Director of Editorial Programming at IGN. You can find her playing cozy games on her Switch or watching the latest rom-com and drama shows, as well as getting lost in way too many fantasy romance books. She would be a dragon rider at Basgiath War College (even though a Scribe also sounds cool).

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A four-legged robot has learned to change the way it runs while navigating forests, staircases and obstacle courses. — seamlessly switching between a steady trot and a faster bounding gait without instructions from a human operator.

The 100-pound (45 kilograms) robot, called KAIST HOUND, uses cameras and lidar to scan the ground ahead, then selects an appropriate gait and adjusts its movements in real time. In outdoor tests, it crossed a 0.7-mile (1.1- kilometers) university campus route and a 0.2-mile (0.3 km) forest trail strewn with roots, logs and slippery leaves.

The researchers described the robotic framework on July 15 in the journal Science Robotics .

Changing gait

Animals naturally change their gait depending on their speed and surroundings. A dog might trot carefully across uneven ground, for example , before bounding over a fallen branch. Reproducing this adaptability in robots is tricky because different movements are often controlled by separate, highly specialized coding systems, and transitions between them can cause a lag that drives the robot to stumble.

To overcome this issue, researchers developed a special training framework called action pretrained transformer–based reinforcement learning (APT-RL). This is an artificial intelligence (AI) training system that first studies many examples of actions, uses a transformer to understand patterns across those actions, and then improves through rewards and penalties.

The training began with a simple, two-dimensional computer model of the robot. Using trajectory optimization — a technique that calculates physically workable movements for the robot — the team generated 180,000 short trotting and bounding sequences, including the joint forces the robot's legs need to perform. The dataset represented about 15.5 hours of movement but took only around eight minutes to produce.

During reinforcement learning — a machine learning technique where AI learns to make the best decisions by engaging with a particular environment through trial and error — an AI system then learned how to select and modify those skills while negotiating simulated stairs, stepping stones, hurdles, gaps and rough ground.

In digital simulations, the robot dog was not limited to copying its prerecorded movements. It could also make corrections for three-dimensional terrain and unexpected situations, such as jumping over a log — a behavior that wasn't included in the original, flat-ground training data.

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Finally, the researchers configured the system to include the robot's depth camera and lidar scanner in the simulation.

In one indoor test, HOUND bounded across an obstacle 2 feet (60 centimeters) high while briefly achieving 9.5 mph (15 km/h). It also jumped down a three-step staircase. The robot generally chose trotting at lower speeds on irregular ground, while bounding became more common at higher speeds or when it encountered larger steps, hurdles or gaps. The AI system that could select either gait performed more consistently across the different simulated environments than the version restricted to trotting or bounding alone.

The researchers suggest the technology could eventually help robots navigate disaster zones or other places inaccessible for wheeled machines. However, the current framework only allows two gait choices and mainly handles forward movement. Rapid turning, sideways motion and other behaviors like crawling remain future goals for the research team.

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Rex the Dinosaur is regarded as one of Jacksonville’s most lovable roadside landmark. Built in the 1960s, he was originally installed as part of Goony Golf, a mini-golf and family-fun complex which closed its doors and putting greens in the late 1990s.

When the land was purchased for redevelopment, locals protested his destruction and, in 2007, Rex was not only saved but restored with help from students in the University of North Florida's Building Construction Management program.

Rex still stands at his original location, now developed into a small shopping center. He has been featured on Jacksonville City merchandise and was a prize for a 2025 scavenger hunt where players could find 3D-printed miniature Rex replicas hidden around Duval.

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For those yearning for the golden age of fantasy television, there is good news. Shows like The Witcher and Vikings were the crown jewels of lore-inspired fantasy, and now there is more to come. Netflix’s adaptation of Andrzej Sapkowski’ s fantasy series mastered the art of action and musical interludes under the stewardship of Henry Cavill and, later, Liam Hemsworth . Vikings also featured a seasoned warrior, though in a slightly more realistic setting. The History Channel series follows the historical Viking Ragnar Lothbrok, played by Dune: Prophecy star Travis Fimmel .