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It's taken centuries of human advancement, but soulslikes and demanding third-person action games have finally reached a level of cultural proliferation where we as a society can ask the all important question: What if the dinosaurs could have simply parried the meteor?

That's the tantalizing possibility suggested by Dinoblade, a probably paleontologically accurate soulslike launching on Steam later this week that portrays dinosaurs just as the fossil record tells us they lived: As big lizards getting into sick as hell swordfights by swinging around weapons they're holding in their teeth.

"Step into the role of a young Spinosaurus, wielding a colossal Great Sword forged from ancient power," says developer Team Spino in Dinoblade's store description. "Confront rival dinosaurs, some armed with brutal weapons of their own, all in a desperate fight to prevent a looming extinction."

The latest Dinoblade trailer is like a highlight reel of all the coolest things we would have daydreamed about as dinosaur-obsessed youths before society taught us how to be ashamed of imagination: There are tyrannosaurs with battleaxes. There are tyrannosaurs with halberds. There are tyrannosaurs biting down onto ankylosaurs to use them as weapons. Meanwhile, the spinosaurus player character is unleashing some of the wildest combat animations anyone has ever caused a spinosaur animation rig to perform.

And, as alluded to earlier, the trailer ends with that heroic spinosaurus seemingly preparing to enter a boss battle with the very meteor that wiped out all of dinosaur-kind.

(Image credit: Team Spino LLC, Boltray Games) Unfortunately, dinosaurs didn't know about i-frames. But that might change! And I'm clearly not the only one eager to see how it might: Earlier this month, Team Spino announced that Dinoblade has amassed over 500,000 wishlists on Steam. And frankly, I'd be concerned for us all if it hadn't.

Dinoblade launches on Steam on July 23, but there's a demo available now if you can't bring yourself to wait.

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A common culprit behind severe gum disease may also stiffen and narrow the heart's aortic valve, preliminary research suggests. This may help explain links between gum problems and poor heart health.

Scientists have long linked severe gum disease to inflammation throughout the body and a higher risk of heart problems , including coronary artery disease , which can raise the risk of heart attack. Studies have also found that treating gum disease can improve blood-vessel health.

Now, researchers suggest that Porphyromonas gingivalis , one of the main bacteria involved in severe gum disease, may also contribute to calcific aortic valve disease (CAVD), a condition in which calcium builds up in the heart's aortic valve. The findings were presented in July at a meeting of the American Heart Association in Boston and have not been peer-reviewed yet.

Dr. Elena Aikawa , a professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School who was not involved in the study, said the findings "fit well with our current understanding of calcific aortic valve disease as an active, inflammation-driven disease rather than simply wear and tear of the valve."

Periodontal disease is likely just one contributor among many, rather than the sole cause of CAVD, she added. But the study does identify a biologically plausible pathway linking oral health to heart health that could open new opportunities for prevention and treatment.

How mouth bacteria harm the heart

CAVD affects millions of people worldwide , and there are no approved drugs that slow or stop its progression. As the disease worsens, people may develop fatigue, shortness of breath and chest pain, and in severe cases, they often require valve-replacement surgery .

Meanwhile, prior to the new research, it was known that bacteria and inflammatory signals from the mouth can sometimes enter the bloodstream and affect distant tissues, said Richard Lamont , chair of oral immunology and infectious diseases at the University of Louisville School of Dentistry, who was not involved in the study. Over time, these effects can accrue and gradually reshape how the immune system behaves, he said.

In CAVD, calcium builds up in the aortic valve, which connects the left side of the heart to the large artery that carries oxygen-rich blood to the body. (Image credit: Noctiluxx via Getty Images) P. gingivalis is known to be particularly destructive to gum tissue, causing lots of inflammation, and it's been tied to cardiovascular disease in the past. To see if the bacterium might be directly impacting heart health, researchers at Fuwai Hospital in Beijing looked for P. gingivalis in aortic valve tissue removed during valve-replacement surgery. They compared this diseased tissue to valves that weren't calcified.

The calcified valves contained much higher levels of P. gingivalis DNA and proteins made by the bacterium. " P. gingivalis was about 30 times more abundant in calcified valves than in non-calcified valves," study first author Dr. Chenyang Li , a doctoral candidate at Fuwai Hospital, told Live Science in an email.

To test whether the bacteria might directly contribute to valve damage, Li and colleagues injected live P. gingivalis into the bloodstreams of healthy lab mice. The bacteria reached the animals' aortic valves, triggering inflammation, calcium buildup and narrowing of the valve.

"We were surprised to see valve calcification even in mice without high cholesterol," Li said. "This suggests P. gingivalis may directly contribute to valve disease, beyond traditional cardiovascular risk factors."

A comparison group of mice was given antibiotics before the injection and had less bacteria in their aortic valves and slower disease progression. Meanwhile, mice injected with dead P. gingivalis bacteria did not show any changes in their aortic valves.

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The researchers traced the changes in the mice's hearts to interleukin-1 beta, a signalling molecule that normally helps the body fight infections. Exposure to P. gingivalis ramped up the production of this molecule, and in turn, the immune signal switched on genes that pushed healthy valve cells to behave more like bone-building cells, which is a hallmark of CAVD . This switch causes the cells to lay down calcium in the surrounding valve tissue.

When the scientists blocked interleukin-1 beta in some mice, the animals developed much less valve calcification even when the bacteria reached the valve. Lamont said that the mouse experiments strengthen the case that there's a biological mechanism directly linking gum and heart diseases. However, he cautioned that mice have very different oral microbiomes than humans, making it difficult to know whether the exact same process occurs in people.

That said, the team also saw the same pattern in human valve cells grown in the lab. Exposure to P. gingivalis increased inflammation and calcium buildup among the cells, while blocking interleukin-1 beta blunted those effects.

Both Aikawa and Lamont said more research is needed to confirm the relationship in humans. The findings give researchers a new pathway to explore for future treatments, raising questions of whether targeting inflammatory signals like interleukin-1 beta could help slow the progression of this widespread heart disease.

This article is for informational purposes only and is not meant to offer medical advice.

What do you know about the body's hardest-working muscle? Find out with our heart quiz!

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Marilla Country Store has been open for business since 1851, which means it has outlasted the Civil War, two World Wars, the Great Depression, the rise of the shopping mall, and a global pandemic without ever shutting its doors.

Three families have owned it across that span, and the current owner, whose family took over in 1979, can tell you the life story behind nearly everything on the shelves and most of the people who walk in to buy it. Inside, there's a 1917 safe still bearing the dents from a long-ago dynamite job, a collection of guestbooks going back 25 years that doubles as an oral history of the surrounding community, and a shelf of locally made specialty foods that have nothing to do with the hardware sitting next to them.

It is, somehow, still a working general store rather than a museum about one — the kind of place where regulars get asked about their kids by name, and where a woman once drove all the way from New Jersey just to see it for herself, then drove straight home, satisfied.

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Samsung’s Galaxy Tab S12 and S26 FE just showed up referencened in the Google app.

Google compiles a list of future devices set to arrive with a free premium Google AI trial for new owners.

The new models may launch sometime this September — if not sooner.

We are just days — hours, even — away from Samsung’s next Galaxy Unpacked event , when, this Wednesday, we expect to see it introduce the latest Galaxy Fold, Galaxy Flip, and Galaxy Watch models . But for as excited as we are about those launches, they aren’t the only new Samsung products currently on our radar. Looking a little further out, we’re also anticipating some new tablets with the Galaxy Tab S12 series, as well as the next addition to the Galaxy S26 family with the launch of the Galaxy S26 FE . While those will likely have to wait for another Samsung event, we’ve already got some early evidence showing that prep work for their arrival is well underway.

You’re reading an Authority Insights story. Authority Insights brings you all the latest exclusive reports, app teardowns, leaks, and in-depth tech coverage from the Android Authority team that you won’t find anywhere else.

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Left 4 Dead writer Chet Faliszek hears you crying about PlayStation's decision to end physical game discs in 2028 , and he's shoving your own fist in your mouth to make you stop. You caused your own suffering, he wants players to know.

"You, the consumer, have made a choice, and your choice is for digital," Faliszek says plainly in a new YouTube video on the subject. "I keep seeing this, like, 'Oh, they should do memory cards. They should do…' Right now, today – the games we are talking about are available at retail today . The used games are available at retail today, and you aren't going into retail and buying them."

Unfortunately for the thousands of commenters spamming Sony's last trailer for Marvel's Wolverine with emoji pitchfork and torches, he's right. Circana industry analyst Mat Piscatella just revealed only seven PlayStation games managed to crack 100,000 physical sales in the US this year.

Even worse, "Anybody who's reporting software sales right now, and they're doing digital and retail, they're all under reporting," Faliszek says, "because they're not reporting Steam. Let's not even get into mobile. And what was Game Pass? Game Pass was digital only. You as the consumer have forced the large corporations hand, and you've told them 'Stop with retail.'"

Once you, apparently, regretted your decision to invest almost entirely in digital, you didn't start buying Crimson Desert discs while you could, nor did you abstain from making digital purchases altogether. Now it's too late, says Faliszek.

"You should have started protesting Game Pass, and stop buying Xbox games, and stop buying digital," says the frustrated writer. "But you didn't, because it's easier."

The Steam Machine isn't doing exclusives because Valve thinks "restricting where people can play" doesn't work .

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NATO wants eight allies to share satellite power without surrendering national control

HALO aims to connect military satellites for faster communications and missile tracking

NATO says isolated satellite fleets remain vulnerable to jamming, cyberattacks, and destruction

NATO has confirmed plans to build a shared satellite constellation designed to strengthen military communications, surveillance and missile tracking across the alliance.

The initiative, dubbed HALO , was unveiled at the recent NATO Summit Defence Industry Forum in Ankara, brings together eight member nations under a single space framework.

Denmark, Canada, Finland, Germany, Norway, the Netherlands, Sweden and Turkey have all agreed to take part in this emerging space project.

NATO seeks a more resilient military space network

HALO, Hybrid Alliance Layered Operations in Space, is intended to link national satellite systems while allowing participating countries to retain ownership and control.

Officials say individual satellite constellations run independently by member countries remain vulnerable to cyberattacks, jamming and physical destruction during conflict.

NATO Deputy Secretary-General Radmila Šekerinska said such fragmented systems are also too slow to relay large volumes of data effectively.

"So this new model will be particularly helpful for high-speed communications, intelligence and missile tracking, overcoming the cost, the time and coverage limitations of single-nation satellite fleets," she added.

HALO is therefore intended to improve how allied space assets work together during military operations.

The project could also allow NATO members to combine national capabilities without creating a single satellite fleet controlled by one country.

“I’m really pleased to announce…HALO, opening a new chapter in allied space operations,” Šekerinska said.

Canada and other allies expand space commitments

The announcement came alongside several other space-related commitments made during the NATO Summit Defence Industry Forum in Ankara.

Canada became the 15th NATO member to join STARLIFT, a multinational initiative examining launch capabilities for quickly sending allied assets into orbit.

The programme seeks to develop access to launch services from spaceports across the alliance, potentially giving NATO members more options when deploying satellites at short notice.

The effort is separate from HALO but reflects the broader push to strengthen allied space infrastructure.

Spain also became the 19th country to join NATO’s Alliance Persistent Surveillance from Space initiative, pledging to support coastal surveillance through imagery supplied by its Atlantic Constellation satellites.

Turkey, meanwhile, announced plans to develop two additional high-resolution satellites intended to expand regional space capabilities.

These separate commitments show how NATO members are pursuing both shared networks and national systems at the same time.

HALO remains at the exploratory stage, meaning the participating allies have not yet established a final constellation design, deployment schedule or confirmed satellite count.

Its success will depend on whether different national systems can share data securely while maintaining sovereign control.