Photo by Robin Röcker on Unsplash
New Silent Hill 2 Remake Trailer and Early Reviews Go Viral
- Written by Andrea Miliani Former Tech News Expert
The Polish video game development studio Bloober Team has released a new story trailer for the upcoming remake of Silent Hill 2 . The video has gone viral on social media and gamers’ expectations are high as multiple websites have shared early reviews today, ahead of the official launch of the game for PlayStation 5 and Steam, set for October 8.
“’James, honey, did something happen to you?’” wrote Bloober Team in a post on X, alluding to the first dialogue in the new trailer. “Watch the official story trailer for SILENT HILL 2 now and discover the emotional stories behind the characters James will encounter.”
“James, honey, did something happen to you?” Watch the official story trailer for SILENT HILL 2 now and discover the emotional stories behind the characters James will encounter. Coming to PlayStation 5 & PC via Steam on October 8. #SILENTHILL #BlooberTeam #KONAMI pic.twitter.com/dyPd60gURn — Bloober Team (@BlooberTeam) August 19, 2024
The new game appeals to gamers’ nostalgia as it replicates the original Silent Hill 2 game released in 2001 by Team Silent from the Japanese entertainment company Konami—publishers of the game. Bloober Team’s purpose with the remake in 2024 is to “terrify modern audiences,” according to the information shared on their website .
“I am 41 years old. One of the defining games of my life. The music, the story, the atmosphere… I can’t wait to buy it!” wrote another user on Youtube today. However, not all fans seemed to like the fresh trailer. “I’m still not seeing a good reason to play this over the original,” wrote an X user .
The gaming website IGN shared a hands-on video preview on YouTube showing players what to expect from the game—the reporter played the game for more than 3 hours—and it reached over 20,000 views within the first 2 hours.
Another official reviewer from PlayStation Japan shared a hands-on report on the PlayStation Blog, explaining how the story begins and develops as well as more details about sound and visual effects from Bloober Team’s adaptation. TechRadar and PCGamer also shared opinion pieces.
Other gaming companies like Atari have also appeared to users’ nostalgia by relaunching games from previous generations this year.
Image by metamorworks, from Adobe Stock
Researchers Aim To Improve AI’s Role In Chemistry
- Written by Kiara Fabbri Former Tech News Writer
- Fact-Checked by Justyn Newman Former Lead Cybersecurity Editor
Researchers are working to understand how AI makes decisions to enhance its use in chemistry, especially drug development. New research on this topic will be presented at the American Chemical Society’s Fall meeting, from August 18 to 22. The meeting will feature over 10,000 presentations on various scientific topics.
Today, the American Chemical Society announced in a press release that researchers will present findings on using Explainable AI (XAI) to understand how AI make decisions in chemistry. By demystifying these complex systems, experts aim to increase trust and improve AI’s effectiveness.
Rebecca Davis, a chemistry professor, explains that current AI models are often seen as “black boxes,” with their decision-making processes concealed. She states, “If we can come up with models that help provide some insight into how AI makes its decisions, it could potentially make scientists more comfortable with these methodologies.”
Additionally, XAI can provide valuable information to refine AI programming and enhance its performance in the field. “I want to use XAI to understand what information we need to teach computers about chemistry,” says Hunter Sturm, a graduate student in Davis’ lab presenting the work at the meeting.
The researchers began by feeding databases of known drug molecules into an AI model designed to predict a compound’s biological activity. To understand the model’s decision-making process, they employed an XAI model developed by collaborator Pascal Friederich at Germany’s Karlsruhe Institute of Technology.
This allowed them to identify the specific molecular features influencing the AI’s predictions. By analyzing these factors, Davis and Sturm gained insights into the AI’s criteria for categorizing molecules and determining their potential as drug candidates.
Preliminary findings suggest that XAI can detect things humans might overlook, since it can analyze far more variables at once.
For example, when analyzing penicillin molecules, the AI discovered something unexpected. Scientists generally believe the core structure of penicillin is crucial for its antibiotic properties. However, Davis explained that the XAI identified the parts attached to this core as the key factor in determining the molecule’s antibiotic activity. She states that this could explain why some modified versions of penicillin with the same core structure are less effective.
As a next step, the researchers plan to collaborate with a microbiology lab to create and test potential antibiotic compounds identified by the improved AI models. Their ultimate goal is to use AI to develop new and more effective antibiotics that can combat the growing threat of antibiotic resistance.
In a presentation , Davis states, “Machine learning now offers us the opportunity to do this on a much larger scale, where we’re likely to see trends that we have never seen in chemical behavior and will allow us to create molecules and materials at a much faster rate than we ever have in history.’’
As AI continues to evolve, transparency and comprehension are essential for fostering public as well as scientific trust. By unraveling the complexities of AI, scientists are making progress towards harnessing its full potential for societal benefit.
