Latest news with #GalaxyQuest
Yahoo
4 days ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Off the Grid: Sally breaks down USA TODAY's daily crossword puzzle, It's the Muppet Show!
There are spoilers ahead. You might want to solve today's puzzle before reading further! It's the Muppet Show! Constructor: Justin Werfel Editor: Anna Gundlach ALAN (16A: "Galaxy Quest" actor Rickman) Galaxy Quest is a 1999 movie that parodies and pays homage to sci-fi movies and TV series and their fandoms. In the movie, fans of a fictional cult TV series, Galaxy Quest, become involved in an interstellar conflict with aliens who think the series is a documentary. ALAN Rickman portrays Alexander Dane, the ship's science officer on the fictional series, who is a member of an alien species known for superhuman intelligence, and whose catchphrase is "By Grabthar's Hammer, by the Suns of Warvan, you shall be avenged!" Although I know ALAN Rickman, and so was able to figure out the answer here, I was not familiar with this movie. In learning about Galaxy Quest, I discovered that scenes of the alien planet were filmed at Goblin Valley State Park in Utah. My husband and I have been to that park. It's an amazing place, and with its red rock hoodoos (rock formations) it does look a bit alien. GONZO JOURNALISM (35A: Hunter S. Thompson's reporting style) GONZO JOURNALISM is a non-objective style of reporting that centers personal experience and emotion rather than the detached style of traditional JOURNALISM. Hunter S. Thompson (1937-2005) was a journalist and author. For his 1967 book, Hell's Angels: A Strange and Terrible Saga, he spent a year living with the Hells Angels motorcycle club in order to write a first-hand account of the experience. In 1970, Hunter S. Thompson wrote an article for Scanlan's Monthly titled "The Kentucky Derby is Decadent and Depraved." An editor of The Boston Globe commented on the Kentucky Derby article, saying it was "pure GONZO JOURNALISM." This was the first use of the term GONZO JOURNALISM. TAMPA (8A: Florida city near St. Petersburg) TAMPA is located on the west side of Florida, with coastline on TAMPA Bay and Old TAMPA Bay. The city of St. Petersburg, Florida is also located on TAMPA Bay – it's across the bay from TAMPA. The port of TAMPA BAY is the largest in the state of Florida. APE (13A: Donkey Kong or King Kong) Donkey Kong is the titular gorilla of the Donkey Kong video game franchise. King Kong is a gorilla-like monster who has appeared in movies, comics, video games, and TV series since 1933. An APE is a tailless primate, and the classification includes gorillas. HULU (14A: "Shogun" streaming service) Shōgun is a HULU TV series that premiered in 2024. The show is based on James Clavell's 1975 novel of the same name. A 1980 miniseries of the same name by Paramount Television was also based on the novel. HULU's Shōgun series features a mostly Japanese cast and much of the dialogue is in Japanese. Shōgun won a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Drama Series. It is the first Japanese-language series to win that award. WALDORF ASTORIA (19A: Luxury resort brand of Hilton Worldwide) According to their website, WALDORF ASTORIA has resorts in a number of locations worldwide, including Doha, Qatar; Beverly Hills, California; Osaka, Japan; and Beijing, China. RTS (24A: Some football linemen (Abbr.)) In football, RTS are right tackles. I'm pretty sure I learned that information from a crossword puzzle at some point. LEG (27A: One of a quadruped's four) In this photo, my cat, Willow is showing all four of her LEGs, helpfully demonstrating that she's a quadruped. DUSTS (40A: Does a housecleaning task) My husband and I do a fairly good job of working together to keep our house clean. We make a pretty good team, because we are generally bothered by different types of messes, so we each take responsibility for cleaning those that bother us. However, neither my husband nor I DUSTS on a regular basis; apparently DUST doesn't bother either of us as much as it should. THE (43A: Most common word in English) Just for fun, I counted up the number of times the word THE appears in this article. THE answer is 101 times. ALEC (55A: Actor and comedian Mapa) The comedy special, ALEC Mapa, Baby Daddy, premiered on Showtime in 2015, and is based on ALEC Mapa's one-man show of the same name. The show tells the story of ALEC Mapa's experience of becoming a father through the process of foster adoption. INCA (56A: Creator of a 40,000 km-long South American road system) In the late 1400s and early 1500s, the INCA Empire incorporated a large part of western South America, including portions of the modern-day countries of Peru, Ecuador, Bolivia, Argentina, Chile, and Colombia. The INCA built an extensive and advanced road system that had two main north-south roads. One of the main roads ran along the west coast of South America, while the other main road was further inland and in the mountains. Both roads had numerous branches. SUET (58A: Beef fat in some bird feeders) This clue feels timely for me, as the birds in our neighborhood have been particularly hungry recently. For the last week I have been putting a new SUET block in the bird feeders on a daily basis. DALAI (1D: ___ Lama) The Dalai LAMA is a spiritual leader in Tibetan Buddhism. The current and 14th Dalai LAMA is Tenzin Gyatso. ELSA (6D: "Frozen" princess) In the 2013 Disney animate movie, Frozen, the princess ELSA is voiced by Idina Menzel. Wait, has it really been 12 years since we first heard "Let it Go," ELSA's iconic song? TAHOE (8D: Lake on the California/Nevada border) Lake TAHOE is located in the Sierra Nevada Mountains on the California/Nevada border, and is the second-deepest lake in the U.S., after Oregon's Crater Lake. MAUI (10D: Second-largest Hawaiian island) and LEIS (27D: Hawaiian necklaces) As the clue informs us, MAUI is the second-largest Hawaiian island; the largest is Hawai'i. If you visit any of the Hawaiian islands, you're likely to receive LEIS. PITA (11D: Bread served with hummus) and ATE (12D: Had some hummus) It's fun to see hummus linking these two consecutive clues together. PITA is making back-to-back puzzle appearances, as we saw it yesterday clued as [Pocketed bread for souvlaki]. MONA (33D: "___ Lisa") Leonardo da Vinci's painting MONA Lisa is on display at the Louvre in Paris, France. BLUE SKIES (34D: Jazz standard that describes sunny weather) The jazz standard "BLUE SKIES" was written by Irving Berlin in 1926. The song was written (as a last-minute addition) for the Rodgers and Hart musical Betsy. Although the musical wasn't much of a success, the song became a hit. It has been sung by numerous artists over the years, including Bing Crosby and Danny Kaye for the 1954 movie White Christmas. "BLUE SKIES, smilin' at me / Nothin' but BLUE SKIES do I see..." RIVER (44D: Tigris or Euphrates) The Tigris RIVER and the Euphrates RIVER both begin in the Armenian highlands of Turkey and then flow, in a somewhat parallel fashion, down through valleys and gorges in a south-easterly fashion before joining and discharging into the Persian Gulf. The Tigris-Euphrates RIVER system lies in the Fertile Crescent region where Mesopotamian civilization flourished. HENRY (47D: Shakespeare wrote seven plays about kings with this name) The seven plays William Shakespeare wrote about kings named HENRY are (rather unimaginatively) titled HENRY IV, Part 1, HENRY IV, Part 2, HENRY V, HENRY VI, Part 1, HENRY VI, Part 2, HENRY VI, Part 3, and HENRY VIII. ORCAS (48D: Whales commonly seen in Haida art) The Haida are indigenous people of the Pacific Northwest Coast of North America. They are one of 231 federally recognized tribes in Alaska. ORCAS are prominent and significant symbols in Haida art and stories. CLUE (53D: You're reading one right now) Self-referential CLUEs always bring a smile to my face. AOL (54D: "You've got mail" ISP) Who else is old enough that they can still hear AOL's "You've got mail" message in their head? I sometimes wish I had saved all of the CDs AOL sent me in the mail, as they surely would have been useful for making some marvelous, creative artwork. (Actually, I'm extremely glad I did not save all of those CDs...) WALDORF ASTORIA (19A: Luxury resort brand of Hilton Worldwide) GONZO JOURNALISM (35A: Hunter S. Thompson's reporting style) ANIMAL CRACKERS (50A: Zoo-or circus-themed snacks) IT'S THE MUPPET SHOW: The first words of the theme answers are names of characters on THE MUPPET SHOW: WALDORF, GONZO, and ANIMAL. Cue The Muppet Show theme song, "It's time to play the music / It's time to light the lights / It's time to meet the Muppets on the Muppet Show tonight..." As a tremendous fan of The Muppet Show, I thoroughly enjoyed this theme. The Muppets we're meeting in today's puzzle are: WALDORF - one of the two elderly men (along with Statler) who sit in the balcony of the show and heckle people, GONZO - a Muppet of ambiguous species who is known for his passion for performing stunts, and ANIMAL - the wild and frenetic drummer of the Muppet band Dr. Teeth and the Electric Mayhem. Congratulations to Justin Werfel on a USA Today debut! Thank you, Justin, for this delightful puzzle. USA TODAY's Daily Crossword Puzzles Sudoku & Crossword Puzzle Answers This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Crossword Blog & Answers for June 2, 2025 by Sally Hoelscher
Gizmodo
6 days ago
- Entertainment
- Gizmodo
A Brief History of the ‘Galaxy Quest' TV Show
It's just a passing nugget in a new interview with producer Mark Johnson. But since it's been 10 years since we first heard about a potential TV show based on the much-loved 1999 cult classic Galaxy Quest, any update at all is worth seizing upon. Speaking to Deadline, Johnson was asked about the most recent iteration of the project. In 2023, we learned it was still in the works at at Paramount+, the home of Star Trek's recent TV renaissance. He couched his response in a way that also covered a TV show based on the recent Oscar-winning drama The Holdovers: 'Both are being written, so we'll see.' At least he didn't say 'the Galaxy Quest TV show is dead in the water,' which might be what some fans had started to think. The show was first announced a decade ago; a brief Variety article published April 21, 2015, wrote that 'Robert Gordon, who co-wrote the DreamWorks feature with David Howard, is in negotiations to work on the TV adaptation, as are original director Dean Parisot and executive producers Mark Johnson and Melissa Bernstein.' No further details were given, but the trade speculated it would be a re-telling of the movie's story spread out across a season of episodes. (For the three people who haven't seen Galaxy Quest, it's about the washed-up stars of a cult-beloved sci-fi series; aliens, believing the show to be real, recruit the actors to help win a real-life intergalactic conflict.) A few months later, in August 2015, Entertainment Weekly reported the Galaxy Quest TV show was in development at Amazon. By 2017, comedian Paul Scheer had come aboard the project. He spoke about it to Slashfilm then and explained a bit more about his vision. 'Right now, I just handed in my first script to Amazon, so I'm in that zone. I'm excited about it … The thing I keep on saying about it, without giving too much away—because it's going to be so long before people get to see it, I don't want people to get too burnt out on me telling you what it's about before it gets to that point— but for me, it was really important to do service to a Galaxy Quest story that gives you everything that you want and indoctrinates people who have never seen Galaxy Quest into what the fun of that world is … and also to continue the story of our original characters and have consequences from the first film.' He also noted that the show would be 'mixing two casts. It's separate kind of adventures that kind of merge, and I'm looking at this first season not as episodic, but as a serialized story. So, the only way I've been looking at it is, using everything from the first movie and making the reasons for everything not just—I want to avoid anything that could be viewed as a reboot for reboot's sake. There are real reasons behind these choices—maybe too much so.' Talking to the Wrap in 2018, Scheer said it would be a good-natured spoof not just of Star Trek, but also Star Wars and nerdy fandom at large. 'My pitch for Galaxy Quest was, 'How can we kind of blow this out and pay off things for the fans that love Galaxy Quest, but more importantly—and the thing that I really wanted to do is—appeal to the 'me' of now. Who's the 18-year-old version of me that loved Galaxy Quest now? What would they want to see? Because I think that that is a movie that we haven't really made yet: the Tropic Thunder in the world of modern-day science fiction … When Galaxy Quest came out, it was a niche thing, Star Trek fandom is a niche thing. Now it is selling out Hall H in Comic-Con, so that's kind of the impetus for the continuation.' That all sounded very promising, but after 2018, Galaxy Quest more or less went radio silent. Then in 2023—after covid, but just before the summer of industry strikes—fans got a fresh update. Variety wrote that the show had shifted to Paramount+, with only Johnson still attached. That article also noted that the original push to adapt the movie had faded after the death of Alan Rickman, but he passed in early 2016—long before Scheer, who is seemingly no longer involved, was talking about his pitch for the show. Variety's 2023 story said Paramount+ and Paramount Television Studios were 'in the nascent stages of adapting the cult classic comedy film into a television show.' It also noted 'there have [since 2015] been various writers attached to the project, though none of their versions have ultimately gone forward.' Today's Deadline interview with Johnson notes that Paramount Television Studios is no more, but by Grabthar's Hammer, the Galaxy Quest TV show is seemingly still holding on. If there are any future developments besides the fact that it's 'being written,' we will certainly keep you posted. Do you think there's hope for this one—and will it be worth the wait if it ever happens?
Forbes
07-04-2025
- Business
- Forbes
The Art Of Quitting
Janine Schindler, MCC is a Leadership Coach & Facilitator For The Left-Brained Analytical Leader & Founder of JAS Leadership. getty Quitting has a bad rap. How often are we told to "keep going" and "never give up?" The catchphrase from the movie Galaxy Quest comes to mind—"Never give up. Never surrender!" Parents often encourage children to continue a sport or activity they do not like and can show disappointment when they want to leave. Or we quietly judge a friend for quitting something, whether it is a relationship, a goal, an activity or a job. Ultimately, those sentiments come from a good place. Yes, we should not quit everything we ever try, and phrases such as "a quitter never wins, and a winner never quits" on motivational posters are meant to encourage us to keep going even when we encounter challenges. However, that type of encouragement can go too far—making people feel guilty for wanting to leave something that simply does not make them happy or denies them the opportunity to flourish. In fact, I would argue that sometimes quitting is essential for success. In many ways, I have seen successful entrepreneurs and business leaders starting to normalize quitting—in a good way. We recognize the truth that sometimes we must give things up to make space in other areas of our lives. January 1 is a prime example for what I call "positive" quitting. On New Year's Day, people vow to give up smoking or other vices. In recent years, "Sober January" has become popular—a month in which partied-out people choose to give up alcohol. In the Christian tradition, Lent is a season of giving something up for 40 days. Some men celebrate "Movember"—a month in which they give up shaving to raise awareness for men's health. The practice of quitting is more celebrated in our culture than we may have previously thought. What lessons can executive leaders take from the practice of "quitting" something? After all, saying "no" to one thing frees up time and energy that we can invest in other projects and initiatives. I speak from personal experience. When my career began, I was working in a corporate role, and my boss immediately recognized my love for working with others to help them succeed. He fostered that drive within me, and asked me to build, launch and support an internal team. From that experience, I knew that coaching was for me. I dived into leadership books and training materials and enrolled in coaching school, earning my first coaching certification. After a few years, I decided to take a leap and quit the corporate role to start my own company and pursue coaching full time. By saying "no" to a more traditional salaried job, I had the time and energy to pursue my true calling, which turned out to be highly successful and fulfilling. To become a trusted figure and leader in the coaching industry, I had to quit something else first. But quitting does not have to be as drastic as leaving your job. Perhaps it is giving up on a project, either delegating to another team or trashing it completely. It is saying "no" to unnecessary meetings. Freeing up that time and energy allows for more intentional, focused work elsewhere. While I believe in saying "no" to certain things, I also encourage my clients to be intentional with their quitting strategy. Do not quit a difficult project just because it is challenging. Instead, quitting should be reserved for leaving one thing that limits you from succeeding in other, more important projects. In a way, quitting is an art form. It requires a lot of thought on the "why" and "how." So what does quitting mean for you? Is there a project that you should say "no" to? Forbes Coaches Council is an invitation-only community for leading business and career coaches. Do I qualify?
Yahoo
13-03-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Suits LA Video: Rick Geeks Out Over Veronica Mars as He's Tasked With Getting Enrico Colantoni Out of Jail
Papa Mars, you scandalize us! On this Sunday's Suits LA (NBC, 9/8c), Veronica Mars vet Enrico Colantoni guest-stars as himself, and he needs the legal help of entertainment attorney Rick Dodson (played Bryan Greenberg) in TVLine's exclusive sneak peek. More from TVLine Suits LA Video: Gabriel Macht's Harvey Specter Meets Ted Black in Contentious First Introduction Suits Star Rick Hoffman Returning as Louis Litt on NBC Spinoff Daniel Radcliffe Boards NBC's Tracy Morgan Comedy Pilot From Tina Fey Rick's boss, Samantha, first brings him the case by asking if he's 'by chance a Veronica Mars fan,' and as it turns out, the lawyer is a big Marshmallow. 'Are you kidding me?! I've had a crush on Kristen Bell since — you don't need to know that,' he replies. And Rick's not just a fan of the blonde who played the titular teenage P.I. He's also well acquainted with her TV dad and the firm's client, rattling off Colantoni's notable credits, Galaxy Quest, Just Shoot Me and the FX comedy English Teacher. 'I need you to get him out of jail,' Samantha instructs Rick. 'He carved a sculpture into his neighbor's hedge.' While we don't see the photo of said sculpture, it's clear from Rick's shocked expression that it's something inappropriate. (Papa Mars, how could you?!) So now Rick and criminal attorney Stuart are tasked with representing Colantoni, whom Samantha describes as 'particular' and 'not the easygoing character he plays on screen.' As previously reported, this Sunday's episode also features original Suits star Gabriel Macht reprising his role as Harvey Specter. Get a first look at his introduction to Stephen Amell's Ted Black, who got to know Harvey during their time as prosecutors in New York. 'It's just like in the middle of an episode, you're going to have a flashback scene, and you're like, 'Oh, my God, there's Harvey!'' creator Aaron Korsh told TVLine. 'We tell the story of what their relationship was in the past in the first couple of episodes he's in, and then in the third episode, he shows up in the present day, and they take care of some unfinished business.' Press PLAY above to watch the sneak peek, then hit the comments with your thoughts. Best of TVLine Summer TV Calendar: Your Guide to 85+ Season and Series Premieres Classic Christmas Movies Guide: Where to Watch It's a Wonderful Life, Miracle on 34th Street, Elf, Die Hard and Others What's New on Netflix in June
Yahoo
06-03-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
An AI Slop "Science" Site Has Been Beating Real Publications in Google Results by Publishing Fake Images of SpaceX Rockets
If you were searching Google for SpaceX news ahead of this week's delayed Starship launch, be warned! You might have run into AI slop masquerading as news — which often floated to the top of Google results ahead of real journalism. Google has been promoting an AI slop-filled "science" site titled Science Magazine — which publishes bizarre, error-ridden articles alongside fantastical AI-generated images of nonexistent spacecraft and other oddities — in coveted positions in Google results, including top positions in its News tab and "Top Stories" feature. Our testing showed that the automated site's content permeated the top search and News results for multiple Google queries, where it held rank alongside real publishers like Ars Technica, NBC News, and CNN, while crowding out other outlets. To make matters worse, Science Magazine's many articles — which are often laced with misleading or inaccurate details and exaggerations, or are wholly fabricated — are bylined by a roster of fake writers boasting made-up bios designed to boost the perception of legitimacy. Science Magazine covers — if you can call it that — a range of topics related to science and technology, with a particular emphasis on space exploration (in addition to the occasional perplexing post about the Dallas Cowboys.) One of its favorite subjects is SpaceX, the Elon Musk-helmed private space company. In particular, Science Magazine posts a lot about SpaceX's megarocket, Starship, which has been in the news this week ahead of an anticipated test launch that's been pushed back a few times. Indeed, two of Science Magazine's Starship stories were promoted by Google in its Top Stories results for the simple query "SpaceX Starship." Both of the top-ranking Science Magazine articles are complete with fake, AI-generated images. They were interspersed alongside news hits from credible publications including NBC News, and NASASpaceFlight. When we clicked on the articles themselves, the full picture of how truly garbage-tier Science Magazine's articles are quickly became clear. One of the posts, titled "Countdown Begins: A Bold New Era of Space Travel with Starship's Imminent Launch," is outfitted with a featured image of a spacecraft that looks nothing like Starship — or like any existing spacecraft, for that matter. Instead, it resembles science fiction-imagined vessels; think the "Star Wars" series' Millennium Falcon, or the Protector craft from the film "Galaxy Quest." There are no disclaimers to note the use of AI to create the image, nor is there a caveat to say that this isn't, in fact, what SpaceX's Starship actually looks like. And the article itself is immensely weird. Though it claims to be a countdown, it never actually says what time the launch is, where it will be, or provides any other relevant information. Instead, it waxes poetic about the launch as a concept, describing the idea of liftoff with a starry-eyed fan fiction sensibility. It never explains where the information is actually coming from, either; it doesn't cite other outlets or mention any sources. "A low roar builds on the horizon, heralding the dawn of a new chapter in space exploration. The much-anticipated launch of the Starship, a marvel of modern engineering, edges closer, capturing the imagination of dreamers and doers alike," reads the article's opening paragraph. "As this colossal vessel prepares to touch the heavens, it carries with it the hopes of breaking through the boundaries of what was once deemed impossible." In short, it isn't news. It's AI slop designed to game Google's algorithm. Things unravel further at the byline. The article is attributed to an alleged person named "Sylvia Jordan," who's described in a lengthy bio as a "seasoned author and expert in emerging technologies and financial innovation." Jordan is also said to have a "Master's degree in Technology Management from Stanford University," and "combines a strong academic foundation with pragmatic insights drawn from her extensive career in the fintech sector." She's said to have "held pivotal roles" at a fintech company called "NextGen Finance." But we were unable to find any Sylvia Jordan that matched that description. Jordan has no writing history beyond Science Magazine; there also doesn't appear to be any company called "NextGen Finance" with a record of an employee by that name. Stanford, meanwhile, doesn't even offer a master's degree in technology management. The other article ranking in Google's Top Stories, titled "SpaceX Starship: A Fiery Setback Sparks Innovation and Resilience," is similarly bleak. Its featured image is a close-up image of a rocket that looks nothing like Starship supposedly exploding — it sort of just looks like it's taking off from a runway like an airplane? — and is complete with telltale AI artifacts, like a botched SpaxeX-ish logo that reads more like "SPPXCX." Again, there are no AI disclaimers on the image. To be sure, there are plenty of real images of SpaceX spaceships exploding; at this point, SpaceX is as famous for its catastrophic Starship explosions as it is for its successful launches. That the webpage would instead feature an image like this without disclosure of AI use speaks in part to the site's heavy automation, as well as to its lack of editorial standards. The article's text, meanwhile, is yet another odd blend of lauding, poetic praise for SpaceX that spins half-truths and blanket statements devoid of any real context, or really any information at all — you know, the thing that people using Google are probably looking for. To wit: the article begins by declaring that "SpaceX's Starship recently faced a dramatic trial, soaring through azure Texas skies before the flight was suddenly halted by an alarming series of failures." This is technically true! SpaceX's last Starship launch before Monday's delay, which took place in January, ended in a disastrous explosion, treating cruise-goers to an awesome-yet-terrifying light display over the Caribbean and littering Turks and Caicos with remnants of the craft. But this is just the latest Starship launch attempt that's ended in literal flames; the Science Magazine article, however, never actually clarifies which launch it's talking about. It fails to provide a date for the launch it's discussing, makes no note of where the explosion occurred, and never mentions the debris or where it ended up. And then there's the author. This time around, the article is attributed to one "Kaleb Brown," who's described as a "distinguished author and thought leader in the realms of new technologies and financial technology " who "holds a Master's degree in Business Administration from the prestigious Morningside University." Though business administration is a real degree at Morningside University, we again were unable to find a Kaleb Brown that matched the lengthy Science Magazine bio. (There's a Kaleb Brown who recently played football for the University of Iowa, and Morningside University is in Iowa. Maybe that's where Science Magazine's AI drew its hallucination?) These are just two of several Science Magazine articles we found occupying coveted Google positions. A search for "Blue Ghost lunar lander," for example, referencing the US-based aerospace firm Firefly's successful landing of its historic lunar spacecraft, included more Science Magazine slop — including a fake image of a nonexistent version of the lander! — in Google's Top Stories, where it ranked alongside real journalism from CNN, and Reuters. A search for "Webb Telescope breakthrough" saw more Science Magazine slop snag the very top result in the News tab. Though the groundbreaking James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) has captured many real and mindblowing images of our awe-inspiring cosmos, the article instead includes a strange, AI-generated rendition of the JWST. Yet another search, this one for "plasma rocket," also returned a Science Magazine-generated story in the top results under the News tab, showcasing another faux image of an alleged spacecraft. All of these stories were bylined by more sham authors with equally bogus bios, and are each characterized by similar issues: they offer no sources or citations, instead making sweeping, grandiose declarations about purported advancements while offering little to no data, context, or criticism. Elsewhere in Science Magazine, we found the site pushing even more blatant misinformation, peddling bogus stories about SpaceX making breakthroughs in quantum-powered teleportation (it hasn't.) The site also fabricated an article about a nonexistent breakthrough in quantum computing at Columbia University, which it claimed was pioneered by a person named Stephen Coffey. There does appear to be a student at Columbia by that name, but there's no indication that his research has anything to do with quantum computing. From a publisher's perspective, rubbish like this slipping into eyeball-driving Google slots is admittedly frustrating. Though pivots to subscription models and newsletter-based publishing formats are on the rise, click-based ad revenue is still a central pillar of the digital publishing industry — and Google, still the reigning monopolist of the search economy, remains at the heart of that model. Seeing cheap, churn-and-burn AI slop crowd out real, thoughtful writing and reporting, all the while holding visual rank — and thus, perceived legitimacy — in results alongside work from actual news outlets, is, in a word, bleak. And from the view of a news consumer, as far as usefulness goes, this stuff serves no real purpose. All it does is muddle the information ecosystem, polluting the web with weird, low-quality text and fake imagery that absolutely no one needs. The point of real news is to provide consumers with factual reporting, analysis, and perspective. The point of this garbage? It only exists to cash in on clicks — and for a while, at least, it seemed to have worked, with the help of some images of fake spacecrafts. But Science Magazine's days in the Google Sun might just be over. After we reached out to Google with questions about this story, we noticed that the faux magazine stopped surfacing in the tech giant's search results, even when we searched its headlines verbatim — suggesting that Google may have manually demoted the publisher in its search algorithms. In a statement to Futurism, Google declined to comment on Science Magazine specifically, but said it does sometimes manually demote sites. "Our policies prohibit producing content at scale for the primary purpose of manipulating search rankings — whether automation, humans or a combination are involved," a spokesperson for the company said in an emailed statement. "While we don't comment on actions taken against individual sites, when we identify violations of our policies, we take action, which may include manual removal. We go to great lengths to fight webspam in our search results, and 99 percent of Search visits are spam free." More on AI slop: Pinterest Is Being Strangled by AI Slop
