A new study has discovered that future astronauts who find themselves on Mars may be able to use its natural resources to help make rocket fuel that could assist in getting them back to Earth.

As reported by Space.com, scientists have detailed their findings on the matter in the journal Nature Communications and have shared certain proposals that could save billions of dollars in the mission to get our astronauts home.

As it stands, NASA plans on using rocket engines that are fueled by both methane and liquid oxygen to depart Mars. The problem? Neither of these exist naturally on Mars, meaning that "30 or so tons" of methane and liquid oxygen would be needed to be transported from Earth to Mars for the return trip. NASA estimates this part of the process could cost upwards of $8 billion.

NASA has explored the idea of reducing this cost by using chemical reactions to produce liquid oxygen from carbon dioxide in the Martian atmosphere, but methane would still be needed to be transported from Earth to Mars.

These aforementioned scientists have proposed an alternative solution that would not only let astronauts produce methane and liquid oxygen from Martian resources, but the process would also provide extra oxygen for them to use.

Instead of transporting tons of methane and liquid oxygen, astronauts would bring with them two microbes on their trip to Mars. The first - cyanobacteria - would "use sunlight to create sugars via photosynthesis after given carbon dioxide from the Martian atmosphere and water taken from Martian ice." The second - a genetically modified E. coli bacteria - would "ferment those sugars into a rocket propellant called 2,3-butanediol, which is currently used on Earth to help make rubber."

2,3-butanediol is weaker rocket fuel than methane, but Mars' gravity is only one-third of Earth's, which would make this solution a good option for take-off.

"You need a lot less energy for lift-off on Mars, which gave us the flexibility to consider different chemicals that aren't designed for rocket launch on Earth," study senior author Pamela Peralta-Yahya said in a statement. "We started to consider ways to take advantage of the planet's lower gravity and lack of oxygen to create solutions that aren't relevant for Earth launches."

Enzymes would also be needed to be brought from Earth that could digest the cyanobacteria and free up their sugars and industrial seperation techniques would need to be utilized to "extract the 2,3-butanediol from the E. coli fermnetation broth."

A proposed rocket fuel plant on Mars that would span roughly "four football fields" would be built, and it would "use 32% less power than the strategy that involved shipping methane from Earth and generate 44 tons of excess oxygen to support human crews. However, it would weigh three times more."

The scientists note that further optimizations could increase microbial productivity to use 59% less power and weigh 13% less, all while "still generating 20 tons of excess oxygen."

"Given the distinct advantages that the biological process provides, such as excess oxygen generation for colony formation, we should start thinking about how to engineer microbes for their safe use on Mars," Peralta-Yahya said.

Have a tip for us? Want to discuss a possible story? Please send an email to newstips@ign.com.

Adam Bankhurst is a news writer for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter @AdamBankhurst and on Twitch.

A new study has discovered that future astronauts who find themselves on Mars may be able to use its natural resources to help make rocket fuel that could assist in getting them back to Earth.

As reported by Space.com, scientists have detailed their findings on the matter in the journal Nature Communications and have shared certain proposals that could save billions of dollars in the mission to get our astronauts home.

As it stands, NASA plans on using rocket engines that are fueled by both methane and liquid oxygen to depart Mars. The problem? Neither of these exist naturally on Mars, meaning that "30 or so tons" of methane and liquid oxygen would be needed to be transported from Earth to Mars for the return trip. NASA estimates this part of the process could cost upwards of $8 billion.

NASA has explored the idea of reducing this cost by using chemical reactions to produce liquid oxygen from carbon dioxide in the Martian atmosphere, but methane would still be needed to be transported from Earth to Mars.

These aforementioned scientists have proposed an alternative solution that would not only let astronauts produce methane and liquid oxygen from Martian resources, but the process would also provide extra oxygen for them to use.

Instead of transporting tons of methane and liquid oxygen, astronauts would bring with them two microbes on their trip to Mars. The first - cyanobacteria - would "use sunlight to create sugars via photosynthesis after given carbon dioxide from the Martian atmosphere and water taken from Martian ice." The second - a genetically modified E. coli bacteria - would "ferment those sugars into a rocket propellant called 2,3-butanediol, which is currently used on Earth to help make rubber."

2,3-butanediol is weaker rocket fuel than methane, but Mars' gravity is only one-third of Earth's, which would make this solution a good option for take-off.

"You need a lot less energy for lift-off on Mars, which gave us the flexibility to consider different chemicals that aren't designed for rocket launch on Earth," study senior author Pamela Peralta-Yahya said in a statement. "We started to consider ways to take advantage of the planet's lower gravity and lack of oxygen to create solutions that aren't relevant for Earth launches."

Enzymes would also be needed to be brought from Earth that could digest the cyanobacteria and free up their sugars and industrial seperation techniques would need to be utilized to "extract the 2,3-butanediol from the E. coli fermnetation broth."

A proposed rocket fuel plant on Mars that would span roughly "four football fields" would be built, and it would "use 32% less power than the strategy that involved shipping methane from Earth and generate 44 tons of excess oxygen to support human crews. However, it would weigh three times more."

The scientists note that further optimizations could increase microbial productivity to use 59% less power and weigh 13% less, all while "still generating 20 tons of excess oxygen."

"Given the distinct advantages that the biological process provides, such as excess oxygen generation for colony formation, we should start thinking about how to engineer microbes for their safe use on Mars," Peralta-Yahya said.

Have a tip for us? Want to discuss a possible story? Please send an email to newstips@ign.com.

Adam Bankhurst is a news writer for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter @AdamBankhurst and on Twitch.

N64's Goldeneye 007, one of the most iconic multiplayer games to ever be released, has been unbanned in Germany, sparking speculation that this could be a sign it may be on its way to Nintendo Switch Online or another platform.

Goldeneye 007 has been part of the German Federal Review Board for Media Harmful to Minors list for some time, but Schnittberichte.com has reported that it was recently removed, meaning it is now legal to advertise and sell in stores in Germany.

This development is made even more interesting because there is usually an automatic review of any media on the list after 25 years, but Goldeneye 007 was released only 24 years ago in 1997. This could mean someone was lobbying for its removal from the list early.

Schnittberichte.com also notes that Stadlbauer Marketing - a toymaker who also licenses Mario Kart for its Carrera slot car line - has the German rights to Goldeneye 007. This could be a big hint that someone wants to re-release it in some form, be that on Nintendo Switch Online, on Xbox as original developer Rare is owned by Microsoft, or for licensed toys.

While this may be a promising sign, bringing Goldeneye 007 to modern platforms requires much more to actually happen. One of the biggest reasons is Nintendo or another company would have to do its part in negotiating the rights for the James Bond license and possibly the actors' faces that appear in it in digital form like Pierce Brosnan.

Hopefully, when/if Goldeneye 007 is added to Nintendo Switch Online, it will be in a bit better shape than it is in now. Players who have already upgraded to Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pack to play N64 and SEGA games have reported issues of input lag, sound delays, frame rate issues, and incorrect controller layouts.

For more on Goldenye 007, check out a fan's remake of Goldeneye in Far Cry 5, how a Goldeneye 007 remaster was canceled by Nintendo with only a few bugs to fix, and how Nintendo's Shigeru Miyamoto wanted to make Goldeneye more family-friendly.

Have a tip for us? Want to discuss a possible story? Please send an email to newstips@ign.com.

Adam Bankhurst is a news writer for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter @AdamBankhurst and on Twitch.

N64's Goldeneye 007, one of the most iconic multiplayer games to ever be released, has been unbanned in Germany, sparking speculation that this could be a sign it may be on its way to Nintendo Switch Online or another platform.

Goldeneye 007 has been part of the German Federal Review Board for Media Harmful to Minors list for some time, but Schnittberichte.com has reported that it was recently removed, meaning it is now legal to advertise and sell in stores in Germany.

This development is made even more interesting because there is usually an automatic review of any media on the list after 25 years, but Goldeneye 007 was released only 24 years ago in 1997. This could mean someone was lobbying for its removal from the list early.

Schnittberichte.com also notes that Stadlbauer Marketing - a toymaker who also licenses Mario Kart for its Carrera slot car line - has the German rights to Goldeneye 007. This could be a big hint that someone wants to re-release it in some form, be that on Nintendo Switch Online, on Xbox as original developer Rare is owned by Microsoft, or for licensed toys.

While this may be a promising sign, bringing Goldeneye 007 to modern platforms requires much more to actually happen. One of the biggest reasons is Nintendo or another company would have to do its part in negotiating the rights for the James Bond license and possibly the actors' faces that appear in it in digital form like Pierce Brosnan.

Hopefully, when/if Goldeneye 007 is added to Nintendo Switch Online, it will be in a bit better shape than it is in now. Players who have already upgraded to Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pack to play N64 and SEGA games have reported issues of input lag, sound delays, frame rate issues, and incorrect controller layouts.

For more on Goldenye 007, check out a fan's remake of Goldeneye in Far Cry 5, how a Goldeneye 007 remaster was canceled by Nintendo with only a few bugs to fix, and how Nintendo's Shigeru Miyamoto wanted to make Goldeneye more family-friendly.

Have a tip for us? Want to discuss a possible story? Please send an email to newstips@ign.com.

Adam Bankhurst is a news writer for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter @AdamBankhurst and on Twitch.

Nintendo is shuttering its offices in Redwood City, California and Toronto, Ontario — a move that will reportedly affect more than 100 employees. The decision coincides with the reported resignation of Senior Vice President of Sales and Marketing Nick Chavez, who will be leaving Nintendo to join Kentucky Fried Chicken.

First reported by Kotaku, Nintendo of America confirmed that the offices would be closing in a statement to IGN.

"Nintendo of America headquarters are in Redmond, WA, and Vancouver, BC. We are moving more of our employees and operations into those headquarters and will be closing small satellite offices in Toronto, ON, and Redwood City, CA, over time," the statement says.

It continues, "Devon Pritchard, Executive Vice President, Business Affairs and Publisher Relations for Nintendo of America (NOA), will assume interim leadership of Sales, Marketing and Communications following the departure of Nick Chavez. Ms. Pritchard will oversee strategy and execution of sales, marketing and communications across the U.S. and Canada."

According to Kotaku, staff were reportedly "upset" by the decision to close the Redwood City office.

Until their closure, the Redwood City and Toronto locations were satellite offices that primarily housed Nintendo's sales and marketing teams. IGN was in the Redwood City office last month to see the Switch OLED and play Metroid Dread, and the location was almost totally empty.

Like many other companies, Nintendo has had to scramble to adapt to new work from home protocols and other issues related to the COVID-19 pandemic. It appears that this is an attempt to consolidate its physical offices as the pandemic wears on.

Kat Bailey is a Senior News Editor at IGN.

Nintendo is shuttering its offices in Redwood City, California and Toronto, Ontario — a move that will reportedly affect more than 100 employees. The decision coincides with the reported resignation of Senior Vice President of Sales and Marketing Nick Chavez, who will be leaving Nintendo to join Kentucky Fried Chicken.

First reported by Kotaku, Nintendo of America confirmed that the offices would be closing in a statement to IGN.

"Nintendo of America headquarters are in Redmond, WA, and Vancouver, BC. We are moving more of our employees and operations into those headquarters and will be closing small satellite offices in Toronto, ON, and Redwood City, CA, over time," the statement says.

It continues, "Devon Pritchard, Executive Vice President, Business Affairs and Publisher Relations for Nintendo of America (NOA), will assume interim leadership of Sales, Marketing and Communications following the departure of Nick Chavez. Ms. Pritchard will oversee strategy and execution of sales, marketing and communications across the U.S. and Canada."

According to Kotaku, staff were reportedly "upset" by the decision to close the Redwood City office.

Until their closure, the Redwood City and Toronto locations were satellite offices that primarily housed Nintendo's sales and marketing teams. IGN was in the Redwood City office last month to see the Switch OLED and play Metroid Dread, and the location was almost totally empty.

Like many other companies, Nintendo has had to scramble to adapt to new work from home protocols and other issues related to the COVID-19 pandemic. It appears that this is an attempt to consolidate its physical offices as the pandemic wears on.

Kat Bailey is a Senior News Editor at IGN.

ReedPOP has announced that it will be shutting down PAX South for the time being.

"While each of our other events has flourished, some of them drawing hundreds of thousands of attendees from around the world, PAX South hasn't expanded and to some extent has remained the same show that it was when we opened it in 2015," wrote the PAX team in a statement.

They continued, saying, "Faced with that reality, and compounded by the impact of COVID-19, we have made the difficulty decision to bring PAX South to an end for the foreseeable future."

We have made the difficult decision to bring PAX South to an end for the foreseeable future. See the full statement below: pic.twitter.com/hW8J6wBzxb

— PAX (@pax) October 29, 2021

Understandably, fans who were looking forward to PAX South's return in 2022 will be disappointed. However, the wording in the statement suggests that it could return sometime down the line if more favorable conditions happen.

The first ever PAX event started in 2004 in Bellevue, Washington and has expanded to five different cities since its inception. PAX South started in 2015 in San Antonio in an attempt to draw fans from Texas and surrounding states, but ultimately failed to take off.

In related news, PAX West returned this year as an in-person event. It was canceled last year and replaced by a nine-day digital-only event as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Initially, the event's return was criticized for not applying enough safety measures, but eventually pivoted to requiring proof of vaccination cards or negative COVID tests upon entry.

George Yang is a freelance writer for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter @yinyangfooey

ReedPOP has announced that it will be shutting down PAX South for the time being.

"While each of our other events has flourished, some of them drawing hundreds of thousands of attendees from around the world, PAX South hasn't expanded and to some extent has remained the same show that it was when we opened it in 2015," wrote the PAX team in a statement.

They continued, saying, "Faced with that reality, and compounded by the impact of COVID-19, we have made the difficulty decision to bring PAX South to an end for the foreseeable future."

We have made the difficult decision to bring PAX South to an end for the foreseeable future. See the full statement below: pic.twitter.com/hW8J6wBzxb

— PAX (@pax) October 29, 2021

Understandably, fans who were looking forward to PAX South's return in 2022 will be disappointed. However, the wording in the statement suggests that it could return sometime down the line if more favorable conditions happen.

The first ever PAX event started in 2004 in Bellevue, Washington and has expanded to five different cities since its inception. PAX South started in 2015 in San Antonio in an attempt to draw fans from Texas and surrounding states, but ultimately failed to take off.

In related news, PAX West returned this year as an in-person event. It was canceled last year and replaced by a nine-day digital-only event as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Initially, the event's return was criticized for not applying enough safety measures, but eventually pivoted to requiring proof of vaccination cards or negative COVID tests upon entry.

George Yang is a freelance writer for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter @yinyangfooey

New World, Amazon Game Studio’s first MMORPG, had a successful launch but the honeymoon period may be coming to an end as players are discovering some ridiculous bugs. Including one where players can inject HTML code directly into the game’s general chat and crash the game for unsuspecting players.

As reported by YouTuber Josh Strife Hayes and currently a hot topic on the New World subreddit is an apparent bug in New World with the text chat. Normally, a text chat is there so players can communicate with one another, but apparently, New World’s text chat has it so that it can accept HTML code outright.

Now, this has led to some pretty funny instances. People have used HTML to begin linking oversized images into the global chat, making it so that anyone in the instance will see some random picture of sausages while playing.

But, for trolls adept at HTML, they can also send injecting images coded to kick players out of the game if they hover over a specific word or picture.

As Hayes reports, this is not the first time this issue has happened in an MMORPG as World of Warcraft once had a similar bug. And it sounds like an easily fixable programming mistake though one that never should have been made in the first place.

When New World was finally released in September, it quickly became one of the most popular online games around. Players were so interested in trying out this new MMO that queues became hour-long waits, forcing Amazon to double servers.

But as the weeks progressed, more and more bugs have been discovered ranging from silly invulnerability cheeses to an actual currency crisis. This HTML bug is ultimately more of an inconvenience because while hovering over an image of a giant sausage that crashes your game might be annoying, it doesn’t appear to pose any serious security or data risk to other players.

For more on New World, check out IGN’s review or our boots-on-the-ground virtual war report.

Matt T.M. Kim is IGN's News Editor. You can reach him @lawoftd.

Additional reporting by Kat Bailey.

New World, Amazon Game Studio’s first MMORPG, had a successful launch but the honeymoon period may be coming to an end as players are discovering some ridiculous bugs. Including one where players can inject HTML code directly into the game’s general chat and crash the game for unsuspecting players.

As reported by YouTuber Josh Strife Hayes and currently a hot topic on the New World subreddit is an apparent bug in New World with the text chat. Normally, a text chat is there so players can communicate with one another, but apparently, New World’s text chat has it so that it can accept HTML code outright.

Now, this has led to some pretty funny instances. People have used HTML to begin linking oversized images into the global chat, making it so that anyone in the instance will see some random picture of sausages while playing.

But, for trolls adept at HTML, they can also send injecting images coded to kick players out of the game if they hover over a specific word or picture.

As Hayes reports, this is not the first time this issue has happened in an MMORPG as World of Warcraft once had a similar bug. And it sounds like an easily fixable programming mistake though one that never should have been made in the first place.

When New World was finally released in September, it quickly became one of the most popular online games around. Players were so interested in trying out this new MMO that queues became hour-long waits, forcing Amazon to double servers.

But as the weeks progressed, more and more bugs have been discovered ranging from silly invulnerability cheeses to an actual currency crisis. This HTML bug is ultimately more of an inconvenience because while hovering over an image of a giant sausage that crashes your game might be annoying, it doesn’t appear to pose any serious security or data risk to other players.

For more on New World, check out IGN’s review or our boots-on-the-ground virtual war report.

Matt T.M. Kim is IGN's News Editor. You can reach him @lawoftd.

Additional reporting by Kat Bailey.