Science & Technology

Study: Exxon Mobil accurately predicted warming since 1970s

Seth Borenstein And Cathy Bussewitz, The Associated Press 7 minute read Thursday, Jan. 12, 2023

DENVER (AP) — Exxon Mobil’s scientists were remarkably accurate in their predictions about global warming, even as the company made public statements that contradicted its own scientists' conclusions, a new study says.

The study in the journal Science Thursday looked at research that Exxon funded that didn’t just confirm what climate scientists were saying, but used more than a dozen different computer models that forecast the coming warming with precision equal to or better than government and academic scientists.

This was during the same time that the oil giant publicly doubted that warming was real and dismissed climate models’ accuracy. Exxon said its understanding of climate change evolved over the years and that critics are misunderstanding its earlier research.

Scientists, governments, activists and news sites, including Inside Climate News and the Los Angeles Times, several years ago reported that “Exxon knew” about the science of climate change since about 1977 all while publicly casting doubt. What the new study does is detail how accurate Exxon funded research was. From 63% to 83% of those projections fit strict standards for accuracy and generally predicted correctly that the globe would warm about .36 degrees (.2 degrees Celsius) a decade.

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How technology used by NASA on Mars could reduce emissions from Canada’s oilsands

Amanda Stephenson, The Canadian Press 4 minute read Preview

How technology used by NASA on Mars could reduce emissions from Canada’s oilsands

Amanda Stephenson, The Canadian Press 4 minute read Thursday, Jan. 12, 2023

CALGARY - The same technology used to search for signs of ancient life on Mars could be key to reducing greenhouse gas emissions from the Canadian oilsands.

At least that's what members of the Pathways Alliance — an industry consortium of this country's six largest oilsands companies — appear to believe. On Thursday, the group announced Impossible Sensing Energy, the Calgary-based affiliate of U.S. space exploration company Impossible Sensing, as the winner in an industry-sponsored global competition aimed at helping to accelerate the widescale use of steam-reducing technologies in oilsands operations.

The company won with a proposal to use optical imaging technology, adapted from its Sherloc system currently installed on the Mars Rover, in an oilsands application.

Just as optical imaging can be used to search for faint traces of potential carbon-based past life on Mars, it can also detect precise amounts of carbon-based solvents in the oil production stream, said Ariel Torre, co-founder and CEO of Impossible Sensing Energy.

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Thursday, Jan. 12, 2023

The Sherloc technology currently installed on the Mars Rover is shown in a handout photo. Proponents say the same technology that is used to search for signs of ancient life on Mars can be used to help decarbonize the oilsands. THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO-NASA/JPL **MANDATORY CREDIT**

The Sherloc technology currently installed on the Mars Rover is shown in a handout photo. Proponents say the same technology that is used to search for signs of ancient life on Mars can be used to help decarbonize the oilsands. THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO-NASA/JPL **MANDATORY CREDIT**

Bat fungus that causes fatal White-Nose Syndrome makes first appearances in Alberta

Bob Weber, The Canadian Press 4 minute read Preview

Bat fungus that causes fatal White-Nose Syndrome makes first appearances in Alberta

Bob Weber, The Canadian Press 4 minute read Thursday, Jan. 12, 2023

EDMONTON - A fungus that causes a disease nearly wiping out bat populations in Eastern Canada and the United States has made its first appearance in Alberta.

The fungus that causes white-nose syndrome, which starves bats to death by interrupting their winter hibernation, was identified in several locations in the province last year after being found in Saskatchewan in 2021.

"It looks like it's spreading about 500 kilometres a year," said Cory Olson of the Wildlife Conservation Society Canada, which conducted the research.

Society researchers collected bat droppings from underneath 800 bridges where the tiny mammals like to rest during the night.

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Thursday, Jan. 12, 2023

A Little Brown Bat is shown in a handout photo. A disease that has been nearly wiping out bat populations in eastern Canada and the U.S. has made its first appearance in Alberta. White Nose Syndrome, a fungus that starves bats to death by interrupting their winter hibernation, was identified in several locations in the province last year. THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO-Cory Olson, WCS Canada **MANDATORY CREDIT**

A Little Brown Bat is shown in a handout photo. A disease that has been nearly wiping out bat populations in eastern Canada and the U.S. has made its first appearance in Alberta. White Nose Syndrome, a fungus that starves bats to death by interrupting their winter hibernation, was identified in several locations in the province last year. THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO-Cory Olson, WCS Canada **MANDATORY CREDIT**

US official warns of risks posed by heavy electric vehicles

Tom Krisher, The Associated Press 4 minute read Preview

US official warns of risks posed by heavy electric vehicles

Tom Krisher, The Associated Press 4 minute read Wednesday, Jan. 11, 2023

DETROIT (AP) — The head of the National Transportation Safety Board expressed concern Wednesday about the safety risks that heavy electric vehicles pose if they collide with lighter vehicles.

The official, Jennifer Homendy, raised the issue in a speech in Washington to the Transportation Research Board. She noted, by way of example, that an electric GMC Hummer weighs about 9,000 pounds (4,000 kilograms), with a battery pack that alone is 2,900 pounds (1,300 kilograms) — roughly the entire weight of a typical Honda Civic.

“I’m concerned about the increased risk of severe injury and death for all road users from heavier curb weights and increasing size, power, and performance of vehicles on our roads, including electric vehicles,” Homendy said in remarks prepared for the group.

The extra weight that EVs typically carry stems from the outsize mass of their batteries. To achieve 300 or more miles (480 or more kilometers) of range per charge from an EV, batteries have to weigh thousands of pounds.

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Wednesday, Jan. 11, 2023

FILE - Jennifer Homendy of the National Transportation Safety Board speaks during a news conference, Oct. 3, 2019, in Windsor Locks, Conn. On Wednesday, Jan. 11, 2023, Homendy, the chairwoman of the National Transportation Safety Board, said she is concerned about the risk that heavy electric vehicles pose if they collide with lighter vehicles. (AP Photo/Chris Ehrmann, File)

FILE - Jennifer Homendy of the National Transportation Safety Board speaks during a news conference, Oct. 3, 2019, in Windsor Locks, Conn. On Wednesday, Jan. 11, 2023, Homendy, the chairwoman of the National Transportation Safety Board, said she is concerned about the risk that heavy electric vehicles pose if they collide with lighter vehicles. (AP Photo/Chris Ehrmann, File)

Alberta government won’t release data on snowpack contamination from coal mines

Bob Weber, The Canadian Press 4 minute read Preview

Alberta government won’t release data on snowpack contamination from coal mines

Bob Weber, The Canadian Press 4 minute read Friday, Jan. 6, 2023

EDMONTON - The Alberta government is refusing to release information on toxic contaminants in snowpacks downwind from mountaintop removal coal mines.

The data was collected by two senior provincial government scientists who conducted research into the impact of windblown dust from mines in British Columbia on a pristine Alberta alpine lake. They recently published a paper concluding that sediments in Window Lake are as contaminated as lakes downwind from the oilsands.

They also analyzed contaminants in area snowpacks, data as yet unpublished. That data appears to have been presented to senior Alberta Environment staff in November.

The Canadian Press filed a freedom of information request to have that presentation released. In response, the news agency received a copy of a slide deck containing information that was already public, minus large redactions.

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Friday, Jan. 6, 2023

A sign opposing coal development in the eastern slopes of the Livingston range southwest of Longview, Alta., Wednesday, June 16, 2021. The Alberta government is refusing to release information on toxic contaminants in snowpacks downwind from mountaintop removal coal mines. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jeff McIntosh

A sign opposing coal development in the eastern slopes of the Livingston range southwest of Longview, Alta., Wednesday, June 16, 2021. The Alberta government is refusing to release information on toxic contaminants in snowpacks downwind from mountaintop removal coal mines. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jeff McIntosh

Best of CES 2023: Electric skates, pet tech and AI for birds

Adriana Morga, Haleluya Hadero And Cara Rubinsky, The Associated Press 5 minute read Preview

Best of CES 2023: Electric skates, pet tech and AI for birds

Adriana Morga, Haleluya Hadero And Cara Rubinsky, The Associated Press 5 minute read Wednesday, Jan. 4, 2023

LAS VEGAS (AP) — Tech companies of all sizes are showing off their latest products at CES, formerly known as the Consumer Electronics show.

The show is getting back to normal after going completely virtual in 2021 and seeing a significant drop in 2022 attendance because of the pandemic.

Exhibitors range from big names including Sony and LG to tiny startups. You might see the next big thing or something that will never make it past the prototype stage.

On Tuesday night, the show kicked off with media previews from just some of the 3,000 companies signed up to attend. CES officially opens Thursday.

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Wednesday, Jan. 4, 2023

Exhibitor Toru Yamanaka wears a Loovic augmented reality device during CES Unveiled before the start of the CES tech show, Tuesday, Jan. 3, 2023, in Las Vegas. The IoT device, worn around the neck, uses tactile notifications and bone conduction audio to help guide the user without having to constantly look at a map app on their phone. (AP Photo/John Locher)

Exhibitor Toru Yamanaka wears a Loovic augmented reality device during CES Unveiled before the start of the CES tech show, Tuesday, Jan. 3, 2023, in Las Vegas. The IoT device, worn around the neck, uses tactile notifications and bone conduction audio to help guide the user without having to constantly look at a map app on their phone. (AP Photo/John Locher)

‘That ’90s Show,’ ‘The Menu,’ ‘The Last of Us’ among January streaming highlights

David Friend, The Canadian Press 5 minute read Wednesday, Jan. 4, 2023

TORONTO - Here's a look at some of the standout TV series and films debuting on subscription streaming platforms in January:

“That ‘90s Show”

Swap out your bell bottoms for cargo pants and disco records for grunge CDs. Many things changed in the two decades between “That '70s Show” and its new sitcom update, but one hasn’t: Red and Kitty Forman. The Wisconsin parents watched their teenage son Eric grow up and marry his high school sweetheart Donna. And now, their granddaughter Leia is staying with them for the summer. That’s where “That ‘90s Show” picks up, as the cast quickly eases back into the familiar suburban habits: from high school crushes to getting high in the basement. Newcomer Callie Haverda steals the show as the youngest Forman, while many of the original “That '70s Show” cast members return for appearances throughout the season. (Netflix, Jan. 19)

"The Menu"

Birth of nine calves sparks hope for endangered North Atlantic right whales

Hina Alam, The Canadian Press 5 minute read Preview

Birth of nine calves sparks hope for endangered North Atlantic right whales

Hina Alam, The Canadian Press 5 minute read Monday, Jan. 2, 2023

FREDERICTON - Scientists who study the endangered North Atlantic right whale are cautiously optimistic about the current breeding season after nine calves were spotted during its first few weeks.

Moira Brown, senior scientist with the Canadian Whale Institute, said fewer than 100 of the 340 surviving animals in the waters along Canada's eastern coast are mothers.

"Every calf is valuable," she said. "It's a little bit of hope for the future. The last 10-to-12 years have been pretty hard on right whales."

The calving season for North Atlantic right whales starts in mid-November and runs through mid-April.

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Monday, Jan. 2, 2023

This Jan. 19, 2021 photo provided by the Georgia Department of Natural Resources shows a North Atlantic right whale mother and calf in waters near Wassaw Island, Ga. A scientist who studies the endangered North Atlantic right whales is cautiously optimistic after nine calves were spotted this season in the waters along the eastern coast.THE CANADIAN PRESS/AP-Georgia Department of Natural Resources/NOAA Permit #20556 via AP

This Jan. 19, 2021 photo provided by the Georgia Department of Natural Resources shows a North Atlantic right whale mother and calf in waters near Wassaw Island, Ga. A scientist who studies the endangered North Atlantic right whales is cautiously optimistic after nine calves were spotted this season in the waters along the eastern coast.THE CANADIAN PRESS/AP-Georgia Department of Natural Resources/NOAA Permit #20556 via AP

Researchers warn of bias as Montreal health network to use AI to reduce wait times

Jacob Serebrin, The Canadian Press 5 minute read Preview

Researchers warn of bias as Montreal health network to use AI to reduce wait times

Jacob Serebrin, The Canadian Press 5 minute read Friday, Dec. 30, 2022

MONTREAL - Artificial intelligence researchers say a Montreal hospital's plan to reduce emergency room wait times with an AI algorithm is an appropriate use of the technology — if it’s done carefully.

The Centre hospitalier de l'Université de Montréal, one of the city's two main hospital networks, is testing an artificial intelligence algorithm intended to help administrators plan emergency room staffing and accelerate the admission of patients.

The health centre says the AI system will use data from the past 20 years to predict when its emergency rooms will be particularly busy, allowing the network to increase staffing levels on certain days and schedule elective surgeries when fewer patients are expected.

Abhishek Gupta, founder of the Montreal AI Ethics Institute, says algorithms can be useful to help reduce wait times, but he warns that the hospital will have to be careful to avoid perpetuating biases.

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Friday, Dec. 30, 2022

Health-care workers walk across a sky bridge at a hospital in Montreal, Sunday, Feb. 6, 2022. Researchers who study responsible artificial intelligence say a Montreal hospital network's plan to use AI to reduce emergency room wait times is an appropriate use of the technology, if it’s done carefully. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Graham Hughes

Health-care workers walk across a sky bridge at a hospital in Montreal, Sunday, Feb. 6, 2022. Researchers who study responsible artificial intelligence say a Montreal hospital network's plan to use AI to reduce emergency room wait times is an appropriate use of the technology, if it’s done carefully. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Graham Hughes

Paradox between warming climate and intense snowstorms, say scientists

Hina Alam, The Canadian Press 5 minute read Preview

Paradox between warming climate and intense snowstorms, say scientists

Hina Alam, The Canadian Press 5 minute read Saturday, Dec. 24, 2022

FREDERICTON - There is a complex, counterintuitive relationship between rising global temperatures and the likelihood of increasingly intense snowstorms across Canada.

Winters are becoming on average milder and warmer than they used to be, but there has also been a noted rise across the country in extreme weather events, such as intense snowstorms, said John Clague, a professor of geosciences at Simon Fraser University, in Burnaby, B.C.

People might think it illogical that parts of the country are seeing more snowstorms as the climate warms, he said. "What climate modelers are finding is that climate change involves more frequent extremes."

"That means during summer, you can have extreme high temperatures, kind of life-threatening high temperatures, such as they've experienced in India and Pakistan in recent years. And you also can have, during winter, these extreme cold conditions."

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Saturday, Dec. 24, 2022

A Canada Post letter carrier crosses a snow-and-ice covered road while delivering mail in Burnaby, B.C., on Wednesday, Dec. 21, 2022. A snowstorm dumped more than 30 centimetres of snow in Metro Vancouver this week. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck

A Canada Post letter carrier crosses a snow-and-ice covered road while delivering mail in Burnaby, B.C., on Wednesday, Dec. 21, 2022. A snowstorm dumped more than 30 centimetres of snow in Metro Vancouver this week. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck

Dining dinosaur fossil has mammal in belly, sheds light on ancient ecosystems

Bob Weber, The Canadian Press 4 minute read Preview

Dining dinosaur fossil has mammal in belly, sheds light on ancient ecosystems

Bob Weber, The Canadian Press 4 minute read Wednesday, Dec. 21, 2022

EDMONTON - A rare fossil of a dining dinosaur is shedding new light on ancient ecosystems and behaviours.

"It's one of the few things that really give you an idea of ecology and behaviour in the fossil record," said University of Alberta paleontologist Corwin Sullivan, who describes what he and his colleagues found in the belly of a 120-million-year-old Microraptor Zhaoianus in a newly published paper.

Zhaoianus (pronounced zhay-OHN-us) was a crow-sized, birdlike dinosaur. Fully fledged but with a bony tail and a jaw full of sharp little teeth instead of a beak, it likely glided around the forests, swamps and lakeshores of the early Cretaceous era.

"It's transitional between dinosaurs and birds," Sullivan said.

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Wednesday, Dec. 21, 2022

A mammal's foot is seen inside the belly of a fossil of a crow-sized, birdlike dinosaur in an undated handout photo. University of Alberta paleontologist Corwin Sullivan says the fossil is an exceedingly rare glimpse into not only how these ancient animals looked, but into how they behaved and what their environment was like. THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO-University of Alberta, Alex Dececci, *MANDATORY CREDIT*

A mammal's foot is seen inside the belly of a fossil of a crow-sized, birdlike dinosaur in an undated handout photo. University of Alberta paleontologist Corwin Sullivan says the fossil is an exceedingly rare glimpse into not only how these ancient animals looked, but into how they behaved and what their environment was like. THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO-University of Alberta, Alex Dececci, *MANDATORY CREDIT*

Senior Environment Canada climatologist’s top weather stories of 2022

The Canadian Press 4 minute read Preview

Senior Environment Canada climatologist’s top weather stories of 2022

The Canadian Press 4 minute read Wednesday, Dec. 21, 2022

From "springuary" for the winter that wouldn't leave to "hotumn" for the fall that never came, Canadians got a whole new vocabulary for wild weather this year.

Here is a list of Canada's top 10 weather stories for 2022 compiled by Environment Canada senior climatologist Dave Phillips:

1. Hurricane Fiona Slams the East Coast — Fiona combined elements of a hurricane and a cyclone to lash the East Coast with lots of everything. A buoy off Cape Breton recorded 30-metre waves. Prince Edward Island's beloved red sand beaches were badly eroded. More than 600,000 homes and businesses lost power and insurance claims topped $700 million.

2. Derecho Rakes Ontario and Quebec — A powerful line of thunderstorms that would normally stay north cruised through southern Ontario and Quebec. Winds of over 100 km/h advanced in a line 100 kilometres long and 1,000 kilometres wide, causing more than $1 billion in damage and killing 11.

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Wednesday, Dec. 21, 2022

Snapped trees and down power lines lay on the ground in Uxbridge, Ont., on Tuesday, May 24, 2022, after a major storm hit parts of Ontario on Saturday, May 21, 2022, leaving extensive damage. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jon Blacker

Snapped trees and down power lines lay on the ground in Uxbridge, Ont., on Tuesday, May 24, 2022, after a major storm hit parts of Ontario on Saturday, May 21, 2022, leaving extensive damage. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jon Blacker

‘Weird and wacky’: Hurricane Fiona top weather story in stormy, wet, windy, dry year

Bob Weber, The Canadian Press 4 minute read Preview

‘Weird and wacky’: Hurricane Fiona top weather story in stormy, wet, windy, dry year

Bob Weber, The Canadian Press 4 minute read Wednesday, Dec. 21, 2022

If nothing else, 2022 gave Canadians a slew of new weather words.

There was "springuary" for the winter that wouldn't leave. There was "hotumn" for the fall that never came.

"Derecho" got new currency after the powerful winds flattened a swath of Ontario. Rain-swamped Montreal gave us "urban flooding."

And east coasters learned just what a "hybrid storm" means from hurricane Fiona -- the top pick of Environment Canada's senior climatologist for top weather story of 2022.

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Wednesday, Dec. 21, 2022

A person looks out over Lake Ontario as a thunderstorm rolls through Toronto on Thursday, August 4, 2022. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Nathan Denette

A person looks out over Lake Ontario as a thunderstorm rolls through Toronto on Thursday, August 4, 2022. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Nathan Denette

‘Hallowed space’: Divers pull 275 artifacts from 2022 excavation of Franklin ship

Bob Weber, The Canadian Press 6 minute read Preview

‘Hallowed space’: Divers pull 275 artifacts from 2022 excavation of Franklin ship

Bob Weber, The Canadian Press 6 minute read Sunday, Dec. 18, 2022

Eleven metres below the surface of the Northwest Passage, deep within the wreck of one of Capt. John Franklin's doomed ships, something caught the eye of diver Ryan Harris.

Harris was in the middle of the 2022 field season on the wreck of HMS Erebus. The team had been hauling dozens of artifacts to the surface -- elaborate table settings, a lieutenant's epaulets still in their case, a lens from someone's eyeglasses.

But this, sitting within the steward's pantry, was something else.

"It's probably the most remarkable find of the summer," said Harris, one of the Parks Canada team of archaeologist divers who have been excavating Franklin's two lost ships since they were found under the Arctic seas.

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Sunday, Dec. 18, 2022

Parks Canada underwater archaeologist Jonathan Moore observes a washing basin and an officer's bedplace on the lower deck of the wreck of HMS Erebus during a dive in this September 2022 handout photo in the Northwest Passage. THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO, Parks Canada, Marc-Andre Bernier *MANDATORY CREDIT*

Parks Canada underwater archaeologist Jonathan Moore observes a washing basin and an officer's bedplace on the lower deck of the wreck of HMS Erebus during a dive in this September 2022 handout photo in the Northwest Passage. THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO, Parks Canada, Marc-Andre Bernier *MANDATORY CREDIT*

Oppenheimer wrongly stripped of security clearance, US says

Associated Press, The Associated Press 3 minute read Preview

Oppenheimer wrongly stripped of security clearance, US says

Associated Press, The Associated Press 3 minute read Saturday, Dec. 17, 2022

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Biden administration has reversed a decades-old decision to revoke the security clearance of Robert Oppenheimer, the physicist called the father of the atomic bomb for his leading role in World War II’s Manhattan Project.

U.S. Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm said the 1954 decision by the Atomic Energy Commission was made using a “flawed process" that violated the commission’s own regulations.

“As time has passed, more evidence has come to light of the bias and unfairness of the process that Dr. Oppenheimer was subjected to while the evidence of his loyalty and love of country have only been further affirmed," Granholm said in a statement on Friday.

Oppenheimer, who died in 1967, led the Manhattan Project, which developed the atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki during World War II. The theoretical physicist was later accused of having communist sympathies and his security clearance was revoked following a four-week, closed-door hearing.

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Saturday, Dec. 17, 2022

This image released by Universal Pictures shows Cillian Murphy as J. Robert Oppenheimer in a scene from the film "Oppenheimer," written and directed by Christopher Nolan. (Universal Pictures via AP)

This image released by Universal Pictures shows Cillian Murphy as J. Robert Oppenheimer in a scene from the film

New this week: Mariah Carey special, ‘Maverick,’ ‘Best Man’

The Associated Press 5 minute read Preview

New this week: Mariah Carey special, ‘Maverick,’ ‘Best Man’

The Associated Press 5 minute read Monday, Dec. 19, 2022

Here’s a collection curated by The Associated Press’ entertainment journalists of what’s arriving on TV, streaming services and music platforms this week.

MOVIES

— At long last, “Top Gun: Maverick” is coming to a streaming hub. The biggest film of the year is gearing up to land on Paramount+ as of Thursday after its high-flying run in theaters in which it became the highest grossing film of the year with over $1.4 billion in worldwide ticket sales. In the unlikely chance you’ve been holding out for this moment to finally watch the film which finds Tom Cruise back in the cockpit, the AP’s Mark Kennedy, in his review, wrote that "Top Gun: Maverick" is "a textbook example of how to make a sequel.”

— Netflix also saved a big gun for the holiday corridor with Rian Johnson’s “Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery” hitting the service on Friday. The crowd-pleasing whodunnit brings back Daniel Craig’s honey-voiced detective Benoit Blanc and puts him on a private Greek island with a group of self-styled disruptors to solve a new mystery (what the mystery is is even part of the mystery this time). The star-studded cast includes Edward Norton, Janelle Monáe, Kate Hudson and Dave Bautista. With its wealthy protagonists, intrigue and enviable vacation fashions, it’s a terrific chaser for those mourning the loss “White Lotus” season 2.

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Monday, Dec. 19, 2022

This combination of images shows "Top Gun: Maverick," streaming Dec. 22 on Paramount+, left, "The Wheel," a celebrity game show hosted by British comedian Michael McIntyre, premiering Dec. 19 on NBC, center, and "Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery" streaming Dec. 23 on Netflix. (Paramount+/NBC/Netflix via AP)

This combination of images shows

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