Microsoft inks deal with Nintendo and NVIDIA as it defends pending Activision deal

• The deal is part of Microsoft’s effort to help convince regulators to approve the acquisition, which would be the company’s largest of all time. The FTC is attempting to block the deal and Microsoft is facing similar headwinds in Europe, where Microsoft President Brad Smith is meeting with EU antitrust regulators this week. Microsoft also announced a similar deal with NVIDIA on Tuesday. Read more. 

Amazon apparently found now to be a Prime time to try out some new branding on its delivery vans, as quirky slogans were spotted on vehicles around Seattle.

• The campaign started Feb. 1 and will expand across the U.S. with such lines as “Warning: Contents may cause happiness” added to the sides of vans. Read more.

Existing home sales in the U.S. fell to a 12-year low in January as high mortgage rates continue to impact the housing market. 

• But the pace of decline is slowing, providing some optimism for real-estate giants such as Zillow Group and Redfin, which reported their latest financials last week.

A House bill to designate an official Washington state dinosaur moved a step closer thanks to an ancient leg bone, and the efforts of schoolchildren.

• The dinosaur fossil found in 2012 is the first ever discovered in Washington and the Legislature has been considering honorary status for Suciasaurus rex since 2019. (Wikipedia Image) Read more.

Dayton Mills dropped out of high school in 2015 to pursue a career in game design, and initially began by running private Minecraft servers for profit.

• Now the Seattle-based entrepreneur and recent “Forbes 30 under 30” awardee is CEO of a Seattle startup behind a growing Web3 video game. Read more. 

A prime target in the search for extraterrestrial life is Europa, a moon of Jupiter that’s covered with a sheet of salty ice. But what kind of salt is there? 

• Scientists from the University of Washington and other institutions say a new type of salt crystal, created in the lab, could exist on Europa and other ice-covered worlds — and may figure in the search for extraterrestrial life in the oceans below. Read more.