Jumpman faces off against an evil ape in this Lego throwback
Lego and Nintendo's latest collab is a brick-by-brick recreation of 1981's Donkey Kong
Lego Super Mario Donkey Kong Arcade (72051)Image: The Lego Group
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Lego and Nintendo just delivered the official details on their previously teased Donkey Kong Lego set, and it seems like another creative build. Inspired by the original 1981 Donkey Kong arcade game, it features Jumpman (aka Mario), Donkey Kong, and Lady (aka Pauline) in a recreation of the game’s iconic first level.
What makes things particularly interesting is that the set features interactive elements. There’s a lever that, when pushed forward, will continuously release rolling barrels. Jumpman can be controlled with a joystick that lets you move him around, and you can press a button to make him leap over barrels.
The Lego Super Mario Donkey Kong Arcade set (72051) consists of 1,367 Lego pieces — including 21 rolling barrels — and will cost $199.99. It’s out on Aug. 1 and up for pre-order now from Lego.com. When built, the set measures 15.5 inches (39 cm) high, 10.5 inches (27 cm) wide, and 5.5 inches (15 cm) deep.
To promote the new Donkey Kong Arcade set, Lego and Nintendo tapped professional Donkey Kong player Steve Wiebe, whose journey to high-score stardom was chronicled in The King of Kong, for a surprisingly haunting teaser video.
Lego and Nintendo have struck quite a partnership in recent years, releasing a creative lineup that ranges from more traditional renditions of its characters to sets that double as physical games. The first collaboration was Lego Super Mario, a lineup of sets built around a Mario figure that could interact with other pieces. For instance, if the Mario figure hit a coin block, its LED screen would display coins, while if it touched fire, it would display flames. After Lego released the original starter course in March 2020, they followed this up with dozens of expansion levels, like a Bowser boss battle and Peach’s castle.
Lego and Nintendo have also rolled out more traditional sets as well, such as a recreation of the Nintendo Entertainment System, a giant Bowser figure, several Animal Crossing sets, Legend of Zelda builds (one of which features Ocarina of Time’s final battle), smart play-enabled Pokémon, and perhaps best received of all, the Lego Game Boy. Given that several Nintendo sets are on Lego’s list of best sellers (including Luigi, Eevee, and the Game Boy), it’s probably safe to assume we haven’t seen the last of this partnership. %!s()
Donald Trump speaks during an event with the Artemis II astronauts in the Oval Office on April 29, 2026. A new White House report criticizes the immigration of scientists to America, arguing it’s bad whether international students stay or leave. (Photo by Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)
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A new White House report criticizes the immigration of scientists to America, arguing it’s bad whether international students stay or leave the country. The opinion expressed, though contrary to the consensus views of educators and economists, is consistent with the Trump administration’s immigration policies. In July, the Department of Homeland Security finalized a rule that restricts international students to four years in the United States unless they obtain an extension. A Sept. 2025 proclamation imposed a $100,000 fee on the entry of new H-1B visa holders, and a proposed rule could make many H-1B visa holders and employment-based immigrants too expensive to hire due to new prevailing wage levels.
Among doctorate holders (Ph.D.’s) in the United States performing research and development as a major work activity, 87% in electrical engineering and 79% in computer and information sciences are foreign-born, according to a National Foundation for American Policy analysis of the National Survey of College Graduates (2023).
Immigrants are responsible for 32% of aggregate innovation in America, over half of which is due to making their U.S.-born collaborators more innovative, according to the model developed by economists Shai Bernstein (Harvard), Rebecca Diamond (Harvard), Abhisit Jiranaphawiboon (Stanford), Timothy McQuade (UC-Berkeley) and Beatriz Pousada (Stanford).
A New White House Report Criticizes The Immigration Of Scientists
A new report to the president argues that the United States loses out by admitting international students who earn a Ph.D. “For decades, the United States has funded large cohorts of foreign students and tolerated technology transfer abroad under lax security standards,” according to the report authored by Michael Kratsios, director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy. “As of 2024, temporary visa holders accounted for around half of U.S. doctoral graduates in computer science and mathematics with confirmed postgraduation plans.”
The report argues that U.S. students are “sidelined.” The White House report states, “This reliance on foreign talent sidelines American students, a deep domestic talent pool that remains under-supported by its own government.” The statement is not supported by U.S. government and other research on the topic.
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According to the National Science Foundation (2007), “An increase in enrollment of 1.0 foreign students is associated with an enrollment increase of 0.33 for white U.S. students, an increase of 0.02 for U.S. underrepresented minority students, and a decrease of 0.07 for U.S. Asian students. With the exception of the odd, if small, decrease for U.S. Asians, an increase in enrollment for one group is associated with increases in enrollment for all groups—a result inconsistent with displacement.” (Emphasis added.)
A study by Kevin Shih, currently an economics professor at the University of California, Riverside, produced even stronger results, concluding “foreign graduate students increase native enrollment.” Shih’s research findings “suggest that an additional foreign student leads to one additional native.”
The White House report also argues that it is bad when international students leave the United States. “At the same time, we train extraordinary global talent at enormous expense, only to lose this effort when foreign governments recruit them to build up their own technological enterprises. The interest of vast scores of Americans in using taxpayer dollars to invest in our STEM pipeline has, consequently, eroded.” The report does not cite a source to support the claim that support for investing in the STEM pipeline has “eroded.”
According to the National Science Foundation, the long-term stay rate for U.S. science and engineering doctoral degree recipients with temporary visas at graduation is approximately 68%, much higher than implied by the report’s statement about individuals recruited by foreign governments.
The report also asserts, “America’s over-reliance on foreign students also creates a security challenge our institutions are ill-equipped to address.”
“The White House report treats foreign students earning advanced degrees in America as a threat to American science while here in school, a threat if they stay to work in America and a threat if they leave after graduation,” said Mark Regets, a labor economist and senior fellow at the National Foundation for American Policy, in an interview. “The reality is that American science gains from all three of these things. They invigorate our grad programs, provide valuable brains for our research and development, and connect us to the majority of the research done elsewhere in the world.”
Regets points to data showing the number of U.S.-born workers in STEM fields has grown more rapidly than the labor force as a whole at the bachelor’s and Ph.D. levels. “It is not true that we are not funding American talent, but our needs for the most highly skilled talent have grown even faster,” he said.
“Foreign graduate students create opportunities for American students rather than take them away,” said Regets. “Many graduate programs would close their doors without foreign students, and the research done within those programs would not be done without graduate student labor.”
According to an NFAP study by Madeline Zavodny, an economics professor at the University of North Florida, “Without immigrants, international students and the children of immigrants, the undergraduate student population in America would be almost 5 million students smaller in 2037 than 2022, or about two-thirds of its current size, while the graduate student population would be at least 1.1 million students smaller, or only about 60% of its current size.”
White House Report Echoes Vance And Miller On Immigration
The administration’s science report offers arguments similar to those made against immigration by Vice President JD Vance and White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller. Vance spoke of how America landed on the moon largely without immigrants, and Miller said, “During the middle of the 20th century—when the U.S. achieved unquestioned global scientific dominance—there was net zero migration.”
Analysts point out that Miller’s statement overlooks the significant scientific achievements produced by immigrants in the post-war period. Between 1945 and 1974, 16 of the 30 U.S. winners of the Nobel Prize in physics were immigrants, according to NFAP. During those same years, 15 of the 36 U.S. Nobel Prizes in medicine were awarded to immigrants. Albert Sabin, an immigrant from Poland, and Jonas Salk, the son of an immigrant, developed the vaccines that ended polio as a threat to Americans.
More recently, according to a National Foundation for American Policy analysis, “Immigrants have been awarded 40% of the Nobel Prizes won by Americans in chemistry, medicine and physics since 2000.”
The administration’s science report makes other arguments. “The Manhattan Project succeeded not only because of brilliant physicists, but because we built new institutions capable of coordinating the activity of thousands across the basic science and immense engineering challenges needed to build the bomb,” according to the White House report. “The Apollo Program reached the Moon because NASA could marshal resources and talent in ways no university or company could match. Each represented not merely new funding, but fundamentally new ways of organizing scientific work.”
The report overlooks the role of immigrants in these endeavors. German scientists who came to America after World War II were instrumental in the United States landing men on the moon. According to NASA, “Dr. Wernher von Braun was one of the most important rocket developers and champions of space exploration in the twentieth century. . . von Braun became director of NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center and the chief architect of the Saturn V launch vehicle, the superbooster that would propel Americans to the Moon.”
Immigrants played a crucial role in the Manhattan Project. U.S. universities and others found ways around quotas in the Immigration Act of 1924 after fascist governments threatened many brilliant individuals in Europe. Immigrants Albert Einstein and Leo Szilard signed a letter that Russian-born economist Alexander Sachs used to convince President Franklin Delano Roosevelt to start the Manhattan Project. Breakthroughs by Niels Bohr, born in Denmark, and Enrico Fermi, born in Italy, were crucial in developing the atomic bomb. Immigrant and U.S.-born scientists working together turned theory into reality in the race to build the bomb before Nazi Germany.
The favorable immigration policy views of Donald Trump toward international students are missing from the White House science report. On June 19, 2024, then-presidential candidate Donald Trump taped a podcast interview with venture capitalists on All-In. Trump said, “What I want to do and what I will do is you graduate from a college, I think you should get automatically as part of your diploma a green card to be able to stay in this country.” Trump promised to address the issue on “day one.” %!s()
Trump administration says ‘historic’ agreement will ‘reinforce global nonproliferation standards’ and create jobs in US.
The United States and Saudi Arabia have reached a civilian nuclear cooperation deal, the administration of US President Donald Trump announced, as Washington and Riyadh push to deepen ties.
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The US Department of Energy hailed the agreement as “historic” on Wednesday, saying that US companies will provide nuclear technology to the kingdom.
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The deal consists of an accord under Section 123 of the Atomic Energy Act of 1954, known as a 123 agreement, “alongside an accompanying bilateral safeguards agreement”, the department said.
“These agreements reflect our two nations’ shared commitment to strengthening US-Saudi commercial relations, delivering prosperity at home and security to our allies abroad,” Energy Secretary Chris Wright said in a statement.
“Rest assured, these agreements uphold the highest standards of nuclear safety and nonproliferation, while relying on the world’s best nuclear technology and scientists, designed right here in the United States.”
Some US media reports have suggested that the deal will allow Saudi Arabia to enrich uranium domestically rather than import nuclear fuel from the US.
The Energy Department’s statement did not provide details on enrichment. If the reports are confirmed, the deal is likely to face opposition in Washington.
‘Reinforce global standards’
The statement called the agreement a “decades-long, multi-billion-dollar partnership” and said it will now be submitted to Congress for review.
Trump, together with Israel, launched a war on Iran in February to prevent the country from enriching uranium and acquiring a nuclear weapon, which Tehran denies seeking.
The US and Israel also bombed Iran’s nuclear facilities last year.
The Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) does not prohibit uranium enrichment – a process of isolating and garnering the most radioactive variant, or isotope, of the uranium atom. But highly-enriched uranium can be used to produce nuclear weapons.
Israel is the only country in the region that is believed to possess a nuclear arsenal.
The Trump administration said the deal with Saudi Arabia will create jobs in the US, “reinforce global nonproliferation standards”, and strengthen the strategic partnership with Riyadh.
The announcement comes as the US-Israel war on Iran continues to rage. During the hostilities, Iran has launched missiles and drones against bases hosting US troops in the region, as well as some energy facilities in the Gulf. %!s()
Google is rolling out five updates to AI Mode and AI Overviews that make source attribution more visible and informative.
New features like inline citations, hover previews, and enhanced publisher attribution are designed to encourage more users to visit external websites.
The updates address long-standing concerns from publishers about declining referral traffic from AI-generated search experiences.
As AI search evolves, creating authoritative, citation-worthy content is essential for maintaining organic visibility.
Marketers should continue monitoring traffic patterns and adapt their SEO strategies as Google’s AI experiences mature.
AI search and AI Link Attribution is changing how people find information, and how publishers reach them. Google’s AI Overviews and AI Mode now deliver direct answers inside the search results page, which has raised a real question: if users never need to click, what happens to your traffic?
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Google’s latest update is a direct response to that concern. The company announced five improvements to how AI Mode and AI Overviews credit sources, making citations more visible and giving users more paths to explore beyond the AI-generated answer.
Here’s what changed and what it means for your SEO strategy.
What Changed in Google’s AI Link Attribution?
Google’s latest update goes beyond adding more links. The focus is on making AI link attribution more useful.
Previously, one of the biggest criticisms of AI Overviews was that source attribution often felt secondary. Users could receive an answer without clearly understanding where the information came from or why a particular website had been cited.
The latest changes make attribution much more visible throughout the AI experience.
Each update is worth a closer look.
Inline Citations Appear Next to AI-Generated Text
One of the most noticeable changes is the placement of citations directly alongside the content they support. Instead of grouping sources at the end of an AI-generated response, Google now places links next to the relevant text, making it easier for users to identify where specific information originated.
On desktop, users can now hover over many citations to preview information about the linked webpage before clicking. These previews provide additional context about the source, helping users decide whether they want to explore the website further.
Google is also giving news publishers greater visibility by displaying clearer publisher branding and, in some cases, subscription information alongside AI-generated responses. Providing more context about where reporting originated helps users identify and access the original source.
Google is also improving how it references social content.
AI Mode now provides richer attribution for social media content by displaying creator names or profile handles alongside links, giving users enough context to recognize who created the content before they click.
Suggested Research Angles Encourage Deeper Exploration
The final update may have the biggest long-term impact.
Rather than ending with a single AI-generated answer, Google now suggests additional questions and related topics users may want to explore. These prompts push users to keep researching instead of treating the AI response as the final word.
Since AI Overviews launched, one concern has dominated conversations among publishers and SEO professionals: will AI answers reduce website traffic? It’s a reasonable one. If users receive complete answers directly in search results, fewer people may feel the need to visit the websites that originally produced the information.
Google has consistently argued that AI search should help users discover high-quality content, not replace it. These latest attribution updates reinforce that message.
Citations now sit closer to the relevant text, and hover previews add context before a click. Publisher identities are easier to spot too. Together, these changes make it easier and more appealing for users to continue their journey beyond Google’s interface.
These updates are a positive step. They show Google listening to publisher feedback and working to balance the user experience with the health of the open web as generative search matures.
Whether these improvements lead to higher click-through rates remains to be seen, though they demonstrate that Google recognizes the importance of supporting the broader web ecosystem as AI search evolves.
What These Updates Mean for SEO
Google’s attribution updates don’t change the fundamentals of SEO, but they do reinforce what Google values as AI-powered search continues to evolve. Rather than introducing a new ranking system, these changes make it easier for users to discover and engage with the sources behind AI-generated answers. For marketers, that means authoritative, user-focused content is still the clearest path to visibility.
AI Visibility Creates New Opportunities
As AI Overviews and AI Mode become a larger part of the search experience, earning a citation within an AI-generated response becomes another opportunity to reach potential visitors. Google’s latest updates make those citations more prominent, giving brands another way to stand out beyond traditional organic rankings.
Authority Drives AI Citations
AI-generated answers rely on trustworthy sources. That raises the value of original research and firsthand expertise. Content that demonstrates real knowledge and offers something users can’t find elsewhere is more likely to earn both traditional rankings and AI citations.
Richer Attribution Improves Click-Through Rates
Google’s new attribution features are designed to help users better understand where information comes from before they click. Richer source information and hover previews create a more transparent search experience that could encourage users to visit the original content instead of stopping at the AI-generated summary.
How to Optimize Your Content for AI Attribution
Google’s latest attribution updates don’t require a completely new SEO strategy. Instead, they reinforce what has always contributed to search visibility: content that’s original, built on real expertise, and useful to the people reading it. As AI search continues to evolve, these qualities remain the foundation of search visibility.
Publish Original Insights
Google’s AI systems need reliable information to reference. Original research, proprietary data, or genuine firsthand experience gives your content value that AI-generated answers can’t easily replicate.
Strengthen Your EEAT Signals
Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness (EEAT) remain key indicators of content quality. Clear author credentials and reputable sourcing help establish credibility, and regularly updated content reinforces it further for both users and Google’s AI systems.
Create Citation-Worthy Content
Well-organized content is easier to understand and easier to cite. Use descriptive headings, answer questions directly, and support key points with statistics or concise explanations that can stand on their own.
Monitor AI Search Performance
As Google continues refining AI Overviews and AI Mode, keep a close eye on your analytics. Monitoring changes in impressions, click-through rates, and referral traffic can help you understand how new AI features affect your organic visibility and where your strategy may need to adapt.
AI Search Is Becoming a Gateway Instead of a Destination
One of the biggest concerns surrounding AI search has been that users might get all the information they need without ever leaving Google’s results page.
These attribution updates suggest Google is moving in a different direction.
By making citations more visible and giving users richer context around sources, Google is positioning AI search as a gateway to high-quality content rather than a replacement for it.
For marketers and publishers, that’s an encouraging signal. While AI search will continue to evolve, success will still depend on creating original, trustworthy content that’s valuable enough for users and Google’s AI systems to reference.
FAQs
What are Google's AI link attribution updates?
Google introduced five enhancements to AI Overviews and AI Mode that improve how sources are displayed, covering inline citations, hover previews, publisher attribution, social media context, and suggested follow-up topics. Together, they’re designed to make it easier for users to find and visit the content behind AI-generated answers.
Why is Google improving AI attribution?
The updates appear to address concerns from publishers and content creators about declining referral traffic from AI search experiences. By making sources more visible and informative, Google aims to create a better balance between providing instant answers and driving users to the original content.
How can I optimize my content for AI citations?
Focus on publishing original, authoritative content that demonstrates expertise and provides unique value. Strengthening your EEAT signals, organizing information clearly, and supporting claims with credible sources can improve your chances of being referenced by Google’s AI systems.
Will AI Overviews replace traditional SEO?
No. Traditional SEO remains essential, but AI search introduces another layer of visibility. Rather than replacing organic rankings, AI Overviews create additional opportunities for authoritative content to reach users through AI-generated responses.
Conclusion
Google’s latest AI link attribution updates may seem like small interface improvements, but they represent a meaningful shift in how AI-powered search connects users with the broader web.
By making citations more prominent and adding richer context around publishers and creators, Google is acknowledging that high-quality content remains the foundation of its search experience, even in the era of generative AI.
For marketers, the takeaway is clear. The best way to earn visibility in AI search isn’t to chase every new feature. It’s to continue producing original, authoritative content that users and Google’s AI systems can trust.
As these experiences continue to evolve, keep a close eye on your analytics and be prepared to adapt your strategy. The fundamentals of SEO haven’t changed, but the ways users discover your content certainly have.
If you want to stay ahead of Google’s latest search developments, explore our resources on AI SEO and content strategy, or reach out to the NP Digital team to learn how emerging search experiences can fit into your long-term marketing strategy.
It's been 23 years since Concorde darted passengers across the Atlantic Ocean in record time, but we could be close to a decades-long ban on overland supersonic flights being scrapped. The Federal Aviation Administration is working to establish new acceptable noise thresholds for supersonic flight by mid-2027. To collect data to set these standards, NASA will conduct test flights to survey the population's reaction to the noise.
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The sonic booms that heavily restrained supersonic air travel could be a thing of the past. Boom Supersonic hopes to capitalize on a concept it calls "Boomless Cruise." The startup successfully used the Mach cutoff phenomenon on its XB-1 demonstrator, causing sound waves to refract off the atmosphere rather than reach the ground. With a similar goal in mind, NASA took its X-59 test plane supersonic for the first time in June to produce sonic "thumps" instead of booms. On the future of supersonic flight, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said in an FAA release:
"The Trump Administration is continuing its unprecedented work to deliver exciting new travel options to the American flying public — and we're ensuring people on the ground won't be subject to excessive noise."
There's a lot of money behind this supersonic revival
Boom Supersonic
The Trump administration claims it wants to lift restrictions to stimulate the economy. In fairness, Boom Supersonic already has 35 orders for its debut airliner, the Overture, from American Airlines and United Airlines. With the new plane carrying a sticker price of $200 million, there's a lot of money on the line for investors. The airlines view supersonic flights as the ultimate halo product to outshine the competition. Also, Boom founder and CEO Blake Scholl coincidentally met with the President in the Oval Office last year.
Financial upside aside, the larger concern should be the impact on the general population. NASA will hopefully use caution when conducting its test flight over populated areas. It was a completely different story when the federal government tested how Oklahoma City's residents reacted to sonic booms in 1964. U.S. Air Force jets bombarded the city with 1,253 sonic booms over six months. The massive backlash eventually led to the FAA's 1973 ban on overland supersonic flights. If this ban is overturned, it should be due to advances in technology, not moneyed interests. %!s()
