During a screening of Avengers: Infinity War on Wednesday night, the directors of the film – the Russo brothers – confirmed that Loki did in fact die in Infinity War.

Peter Sciretta from Slash Film tweeted updates from a live Q&A after the screening.

“The Russo’s were asked about a fan theory that Bruce Banner is really Loki in disguise. They answered. That ‘Loki is dead,'” Sciretta tweeted.

Despite many fans thinking (or hoping) that the Prince of Asgard was using magic once again, Loki is in fact dead. He will, however, return in Disney’s new streaming service, Disney+ that was announced earlier this month.

Sciretta also tweeted about Anthony and Joe Russo detailing the secrecy of the script for Avengers: Infinity War, saying that no one had the script in its entirety.

“No one actually had the entire script. People who were in the film more than others had access to their scenes and knew more than others. There was also fake scenes and redacted scenes to protect secrecy.”

“An example of a fake scene The Russo Brothers wrote to keep Infinity War secrecy, Gamora threw Thanos off the cliff in the Soul Stone sequence. I’m not even sure if they are kidding,” Sciretta said.

The Russo brothers also said that Guardians 3 being put on hold had no impact on the approach for Avengers 4, as they had already finished shooting at that point. They also talked about stopping by the set of Jon Favreau’s The Mandalorian, and Sciretta noted they said the show is, “being shot in a way unlike any other tv show.”

For more on what we can expect from Avengers 4, stay tuned to IGN. In the meantime, read up about how Joe Russo said Chris Evans is not actually done playing Captain America, how Stan Lee did already film his cameo for Avengers 4, and how Brie Larson’s Captain Marvel film will fit into the universe before Avengers 4.

Jessie Wade is a news writer for IGN and could write about Avengers goodness all day. Chat with her on Twitter @jessieannwade and follow her on Instagram.

When it comes to having healthy teeth and gums, we all know the rituals. Brush twice a day and for some, floss and use oral rinses. These are the gold standard to keep our teeth and gums bright and strong. However, even with these recommendations in place, nearly a quarter of Canadian children and over half of the nation’s teenagers suffer from cavities and at least a third of all Canadians require some type of dental treatment.

Advances in oral health are for the most part few and far between. After all, the time, money, and effort required to develop a treatment can be almost too much to bear. Usually, newer treatments are based on unexpected discoveries linked to much larger goals.

The best example in this case is the use of xylitol to prevent cavities. At the time, the molecule was being tested as a sugar substitute. But when children who were using this sugar seemed to have fewer cavities, the oral health world took notice. Now xylitol is recognized by Health Canada as a means to prevent tooth decay.

Another interesting example is the bacterium, Streptococcus salivarius. It was initially described in 1937 but was thought to be just one of many species of bacteria in the mouth. But in the 1990s, researchers discovered the bacterium competed against species known to cause cavities. This led to the development of gums and tablets used to improve oral health, many of which are also approved by Health Canada.

Now, thanks to an American group of researchers, we may have another oral health breakthrough in the making. They have unveiled a molecule with the potential to keep our mouths healthy. Not surprisingly, much like xylitol and salivarius, this particular chemical is already known in the research community but for an entirely different reason.

It’s called ferumoxytol and while it may not be a household word in Canada, for anyone who has suffered from iron deficiency, also known as anemia, it is one of the more promising treatments. The molecule is also one of the best examples of how we can use nanotechnology to improve health. The chemical comes in the form of a nanoparticle, containing an iron core and a sugar coating. Once injected, it quickly goes to work to release the iron such that it raises the level in the blood.

But this mechanism wasn’t the reason the authors found this chemical so intriguing. Instead, the team wanted to focus on a rather strange phenomenon known as the nanozyme effect. Somehow, when the nanoparticles enter a biological environment, they cause biochemical reactions usually reserved for proteins known as enzymes. In the case of ferumoxytol, the biochemical reactions lead to the production of bacteria-killing free radicals.

With this information in hand, the group wanted to see if they could use ferumoxytol to generate free radicals in the mouth to eliminate the bacteria that cause plaque. But before they could get to that stage, they first needed to test the product in the lab to see if it could actually kill plaque bacteria. Not surprisingly, that went incredibly well. The molecule generated the free radicals and eliminated the plaque bacteria.

The next step was to see if the killing action could prevent tooth erosion that leads to cavities. Again, they did this testing in the lab using enamel collected and cultured from human teeth. As expected, the nanoparticle treatment did the job effectively and the tooth’s natural protective coating was maintained.

With these results confirmed, the team believed the molecule was ready for the ultimate test in a living animal. They chose a well-known rat model used to mimic dental damage in children. Baby rats were fed a diet rich in sugar to increase the chances for cavities. They also were exposed to plaque-causing bacteria in high enough concentrations to ensure the teeth would erode. Once the bacteria had started to wear away at the rat’s teeth, it was time to put ferumoxytol to the test.

The nanoparticle was added in the same way as we would use mouthwash. The animals were treated twice a day for three weeks, about the same amount of time as a human might go through a bottle. When the experiment was completed, the teeth were inspected for any signs of damage.

The results were beyond promising. The use of the chemical reduced the presence of any damage by half. But that wasn’t the best part. The treatment had completely eliminated both moderate and severe damage of the teeth. In essence, they had found a way to prevent cavities.

For the authors, ferumoxytol passed all the tests with flying colours. The molecule formed the free radicals, killed the bacteria, and prevented enamel erosion just as they had hoped. The results also opened the door for similar experiments in humans. In light of the already approved status of the nanoparticle, these tests could come sooner than later.

It may still be a few years before you see ferumoxytol in your dentist’s office but the potential to reduce the rather high rates of cavities in children and teenagers is quite high. When this happens, we’ll have another weapon in the fight against tooth decay. Until then, just make sure to keep brushing those teeth twice a day and make that visit to the dentist at least twice per year.

Have you been affected personally by this or another issue? Share your story on HuffPost Canada blogs. We feature the best of Canadian opinion and perspectives. Find out how to contribute here.

The latest message to softball fans anxiously awaiting a decision from the International Olympic Committee (IOC) on the sport’s status for the 2020 Tokyo Games seems to be hurry up and wait.

The Associated Press reported early Friday that the final vote on the 2020 list of sports won’t come until the IOC meeting on the eve of the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, which is a full year longer than had been anticipated. IOC Vice President John Coates told The Associated Press that the original plan to have a decision by this July was “too ambitious.”

“We understand the difficult decision the IOC faces in regards to the 2020 Olympic program agenda,” ASA/USA Softball Executive Director Craig Cress said. “The decision is important to many different sports. Softball and baseball have worked incredibly hard to get to this point of the selection process. ASA/USA Softball will continue to promote and work with all entities in our pursuit of being reinstated into the Olympic program.”

“As much as we would love to see a reinstatement in a quicker time frame, we respect and honor the timeline established by the IOC and look forward to the continued support of softball and baseball internationally.”

International Softball Federation (ISF) Honorary President Don Porter, who worked diligently during his 26-year run as head of that organization to get softball on the Olympic program, then saw softball appear in four Games before it was shockingly voted out in 2005, said via email he still feels good about softball’s chances. 

“While disappointed with the delay, we are optimistic that the decision will be positive for baseball and softball for Tokyo 2020,” Porter said.

Softball — part of a combined bid with baseball to return to the Olympic program for the first time since both were cut after the 2008 Beijing Games —is a favorite among the sports vying to be added, due to Japan’s great love for the sport and the fact that quality stadiums and successful leagues are already in place for both baseball and softball there. Among the sports competing with baseball and softball for a coveted spot on the 2020 Olympic slate include billiards, karate, rock climbing, skateboarding, squash and surfing.

At its December meeting in Monaco, the IOC approved President Thomas Bach’s 40-point “Olympic Agenda 2020” reform package that allows for a more events-based system and abolishes the cap of 28 sports for the Summer Games. That clears the way for host cities to propose additional events for their particular Games, so long as the number of competing athletes remains roughly the same. The group also approved a new bidding process aimed at reducing costs for competing cities that would allow hosts to stage events in multiple cities, or even outside their country, if feasible.

Coates told The Associated Press that Tokyo organizers will receive assessment criteria for the interested sports by the end of April and will have until September to formulate a list of sports they’d like to add to the program for 2020. To that end, Tokyo organizers have created a panel to consider new sports and will have their first meeting this week.

The Olympics will contested in Japan in 2020 for the fourth time in history, and for the second time in its capital city of Tokyo. The Winter Olympics have been held in Sapporo (1972) and Nagano (1998), while the Summer Games were previously in Tokyo in 1964.

OTTAWA — Mail service will resume all across the country at noon Tuesday after the Senate passed legislation ordering an end to five weeks of rotating strikes by postal workers.

Royal assent was granted late Monday shortly after senators approved Bill C-89 by a vote of 53-25. Four senators abstained.

The government had deemed passage of the bill to be urgent due to the economic impact of continued mail disruptions during the busy holiday season. It rushed the bill through the House of Commons last week.

But senators, after holding a special sitting Saturday to debate the bill, insisted on taking a little more time to reflect on the constitutionality of stripping postal workers of their right to strike.

Special sitting

They held another special sitting Monday and only put the bill to a vote after more than five hours of additional debate.

“I thought the extra time we took was valuable and was a demonstration of how the Senate should be reviewing government bills,” said Sen. Yuen Pau Woo, leader of the independent senators’ group.

Sen. Peter Harder, the government’s representative in the Senate, urged senators earlier Monday not to delay any further.

“I’m gratified that after two days of intense debate the Senate did what, in my view, is the right thing and passed this legislation,” he said after the vote.

The Canadian Union of Postal Workers issue a statement declaring that it is “exploring all options to fight the back-to-work legislation.”

“Postal workers are rightly dismayed and outraged,” said CUPW national president Mike Palecek. “This law violates our right to free collective bargaining under the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.”

Some senators — independents, Liberal independents and even some Conservatives — agreed with that assessment and voted against the bill.

But the majority either disagreed or concluded that it’s up to the courts, not senators, to rule on constitutionality.

An amendment by independent Sen. Murray Sinclair, who proposed delaying implementation of the back-to-work order for at least seven days after royal assent, was rejected.

Earlier Monday, Labour Minister Patti Hajdu said that the special mediator had concluded his work and the two sides were no longer negotiating.

Negotiations have been underway for nearly a year, but the dispute escalated more recently when CUPW members launched rotating strikes Oct. 22.

Those walkouts have led to backlogs of mail and parcel deliveries at the Crown corporation’s main sorting plants in Vancouver, Toronto and Montreal.

Picket lines were up Monday in parts of British Columbia, including Vancouver, Richmond and Surrey, and in parts of Ontario, including Hamilton, Ajax, North York, Pickering and London. Workers also walked off the job in Halifax and Dartmouth, N.S.

During debate, Harder told senators that failure to speedily pass Bill C-89 would have severe consequences for those who rely on stable mail delivery service, including the elderly, residents in rural and remote areas and, most especially, retailers who use Canada Post to deliver online purchases.

“It is the government’s strong view that if it does not act now to protect the public interest, it will have acted too late,” he told the Senate, arguing that postal disruptions are “not merely inconvenient.”

“The strikes come at a critical period for retailers,” Harder said.

“Unlike other kinds of e-commerce transactions … lost holiday sales are unlikely to be deferred to a later date. They represent real and actual lost business for these companies.”

Canada Post said Monday that the backlog of mail and parcels is “severe” and expected to “worsen significantly” once online orders from Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales are processed.

In a statement, the post office said it is experiencing delivery delays across the country and that’s expected to continue throughout the holiday season and into January.

Back-to-work with old agreement

The union wants better pay and job security, guaranteed hours for its 8,000 rural and suburban carriers, and equality for those workers with the corporation’s 42,000 urban employees.

CUPW also wants Canada Post to adopt rules that it says would cut down on workplace injuries — an issue the union has said is now at a “crisis” level.

Under the new legislation, the union said postal workers will be forced to go back to work under the old collective agreement, which it asserted would result in at least 315 disabling injuries and thousands of hours of forced, unpaid overtime.

The previous Conservative government forced an end to a lockout of postal workers during a 2011 dispute by enacting back-to-work legislation, which was later declared by a court to be unconstitutional.

But the Liberal government argues Bill C-89 is different, in that it does not impose immediate outcomes affecting postal contracts.

Whereas the 2011 bill imposed a settlement that favoured Canada Post, the current legislation would give a mediator-arbitrator appointed by the government 90 days to try and reach contract settlements. Failing that, a settlement could be imposed either through a decision from the arbitrator or by choosing from one of the final proposals put forward by Canada Post or CUPW.

In drafting the bill, Harder said the government has taken into account court rulings and is confident that its limitations on the right to strike would be upheld as a reasonably justifiable infringement of charter rights in a free and democratic society.

Independent Sen. Marc Gold, a former constitutional law professor, said he’s inclined to agree with the government.

But another independent, Sen. Andre Pratte, said the bill makes “a fair, negotiated agreement impossible by depriving workers of the lone source of their bargaining power, their right to strike.”

“Because the right to strike is a fundamental right … I am convinced that more time should be allowed for negotiations to come to a fruitful conclusions,” he said.

While not all Conservative senators supported the bill, several of their colleagues slammed the Liberal government for failing to put an end to the strikes sooner.

“This government was so concerned with appearances, not wanting to look like previous governments, wanting instead ‘to wag their finger and lift their chin in righteous indignation, that they sat on their hands until it was almost too late. And it still might be too late,” Conservative Sen. Leo Housakos told the upper house.

Fellow Conservative Sen. Don Plett said “the government sat on its hands until the 11th hour and then in a panicked rush suddenly decided something needed to be done.”

Like many professional athletes, Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes plays Fortnite. Thanks to Epic Games’ new partnership with the NFL, Mahomes and other NFL players can encounter people wearing their jerseys on the battlefield. It already happened for Mahomes, who was killed by someone wearing his No. 15 Chiefs jersey.

Mahomes posted about the bizarre encounter on Twitter.

Mahomes is having a breakout season for the Chiefs, leading the NFL in passing yards and touchdowns. As an up-and-coming star, it’s no surprise people are choosing to wear Mahomes’ jersey in Fortnite. What is surprising is that in a match filled with 100 players, a fan found and eliminated the real Patrick Mahomes.

Mahomes and the wide receivers he slings touchdowns to regularly play Fortnite. After Mahomes posted about his recent Fortnite session, Chiefs receiver Tyreek Hill joked that he was the one wearing the Mahomes jersey.

NFL jerseys were added to Fortnite’s in-game store last week. Users can purchase jerseys from all 32 teams. Though player names do not appear on the backs of jerseys, you can choose the number and switch it between matches.

Steven Petite is a freelance writer for IGN. Follow him on Twitter @steven_petite.

TORONTO — Jeremy Dutcher has won the 2018 Polaris Music Prize for his album “Wolastoqiyik Lintuwakonawa.”

The project, which is performed in the Wolastoq language, was selected by an 11-member jury as the Canadian album of the year based on its artistic merit.

The winner receives a $50,000 cash prize and heightened awareness for their album.

At the ceremony in Toronto Monday night, Dutcher began his acceptance speech in his first language, speaking to his community, before addressing the audience in English.

“Music is changing this land,” he said. “And what you see on this stage tonight, this is the future. This is what’s to come.”

The Polaris prize is considered one of the country’s most prestigious music awards. Former winners include Arcade Fire, Buffy Sainte-Marie, Kaytranada and Lido Pimienta.

“Wolastoqiyik Lintuwakonawa” was a culmination of five years of work that involved Dutcher diving into an archive of recordings of his ancestors dating back nearly a century.

The trained operatic singer, who was raised partly in the Tobique First Nation in New Brunswick, sang the album entirely in the endangered Wolastoq language in hopes of preserving its roots.

The idea began as an offshoot of Dutcher’s degree at Dalhousie University in Halifax, where he’d switched from studying music to anthropological research on his Wolastoq community.

A suggestion by one of his elders pointed him towards a bountiful resource of information about his ancestors stored at the Canadian Museum of History in Gatineau, Que.

Dutcher has said he wanted the album to help preserve the language as he saw elders dying and few young people learning to speak it.

“To do this record in my language and have it witnessed not just by my people, but people from every nation, from coast to coast, up and down Turtle Island — we’re at the precipice of something,” he said.

Dutcher said he hopes his win marks a step in the “continuum of Indigenous excellence” that honours both the people who have come before him and the generation that follows.

Etanda Arden’s phone used to ring constantly with calls from bill collectors.

The single mother was studying full-time at Lakehead University, paying for rent and groceries with payments from the Ontario Disability Support Program (ODSP). She was behind by $300 every month, so she’d pay half her bills one month and half the next, never catching up.

Arden struggled with depression and anxiety.

“I found that it really affected me as a student and as a parent. I was always preoccupied, thinking about how we were going to maintain our life. And not wanting my kid to suffer either.”

Since being on Ontario’s basic income pilot project, life is different.

“It just alleviates a lot of stress,” Arden told HuffPost Canada by phone from Thunder Bay, Ont.

She said she feels like a better parent, too, now that she can afford extras like field trips for her 13-year-old daughter, Tyler-Rose.

Her experience is typical for people who enrolled in the basic income pilot, new data shows. Eighty-one per cent of participants reported moderate or severe “psychological distress,” according to a survey obtained by a recipient.

The pilot gave no-strings-attached payments to people living on low incomes in exchange for their participation in a research study. Single people living on less than $34,000 were eligible for up to $16,989 a year and couples living on less than $48,000 were eligible for as much as $24,027 a year. People who are working will see that amount reduced by 50 per cent of their income.

Ontario’s Progressive Conservative government announced in July that it would cancel the payments and the research. This baseline survey provides the first public information about the pilot’s participants. It doesn’t measure the effects of the program, but it sheds a light on who signed up. The introductory survey was completed by 5,077 participants in December 2017.

Watch HuffPost Canada’s video series on the basic income project:

The psychological distress statistic is the most significant piece of information in the survey, said Sheila Regehr, an advocate with the Basic Income Canada Network. She spent more than 30 years working with the federal government on welfare, employment insurance, pensions and poverty solutions.

“If you are distracted in your job you can’t do well. If you’re worried constantly about the daily effort to just put food on the table … you can’t be a good parent or good daughter or a good friend to somebody,” Regehr told HuffPost Canada.

That makes it harder for people on social assistance to land jobs and for people in low-wage jobs to get promotions, she said.

Regehr said she was also “struck” to see that more than 56 per cent of the participants had only a high school diploma or less.

“Education is really important and yet there are so many barriers to actually improving your education, especially for people with low income and especially for people who have had the misfortune to enter the social assistance system.”

For Arden, the stress of not having enough money almost drove her to quit university and go back to work. She decided to stay in school because she wants a different type of job than her previous minimum wage gigs at Chester Fried Chicken and Robin’s Donuts.

“If you don’t have any education, you only qualify for a minimum wage job, which I have done for years and years,” Arden said. “You can’t get ahead.”

Arden’s plans are up in the air now that basic income ends in March. She said she wanted to stay at Lakehead to get an Honours Bachelor of Arts, but that’ll take another year. So instead, she may graduate with her Bachelor of Arts this year and start the search for work.

“What they’re doing is making it harder because they’re putting back that stress and anxiety about not having any money, which is almost what made me drop out in the first place,” she said.

“I don’t know if they’re worried that people will take advantage and nothing will ever come of it. But my plan was to get as much education as I can in three years. So once the three years was up, I’d be self-sufficient. And okay.”

OKLAHOMA CITY — Single session tickets for the 2015 WBSC Junior Women’s World Championship (JWWC), which will be held August 9-15 in Oklahoma City, Okla., are available for purchase online, the Amateur Softball Association (ASA) of America and USA Softball announced today. The Junior World Championship, a World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC) sanctioned event, will include 18 of the top teams in the world.

The following countries are scheduled to appear: Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, Chinese Taipei, Columbia, Czech Republic, Ecuador, Great Britain, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Nigeria, New Zealand, Puerto Rico, United States and Venezuela.

Click here to place your order or CALL 1-800-654-8337 (8 am-4 pm CST Monday-Friday).

“We’re excited to host the WBSC Junior Women’s World Championship for the first time at the ASA Hall of Fame Complex,” said Craig Cress, Executive Director of ASA/USA Softball. “Oklahoma City is known to many as the ‘Softball Capital of the World.’ Hosting this Championship further cements that legacy. Fans of the sport will be exposed to the future stars of international softball. The single-session ticket will provide spectators the chance to see whichever games they are most interested in or come the days that best suit their schedule.”

The general admission single-session tickets will allow fans the opportunity to pick which days they plan on attending during the Championship. All single-session tickets are good for the entire day and can be picked up at ticket will-call at the ASA Hall of Fame Complex. There are no shipping options for single-session tickets.

In addition to single-session tickets, fans have the option to purchase the Gold Pass. The Gold Pass includes all-session tickets for the seven day event, official event t-shirt, and a program for the international event. This Pass also will provide fans with the opportunity to have a personalized name slide on the video board at OG&E Energy Field at the ASA Hall of Fame Stadium, with additional photo opportunities. Fans that hold the Gold Pass will also have open seating in the reserved Gold Pass section (click here to view seating chart), providing spectators the chance to see every pitch from the best seats in the house. Tickets will be shipped out in July.

The WBSC JWWC, will include some of the top teams in the world, including Team USA who will look to reclaim the Gold Medal after falling 4-0 to Japan at the 2013 WBSC JWWC in Brampton, Ontario, Canada.  This also marks the first time since 1987 that the WBSC JWWC has been held in Oklahoma City.  The complete game schedule for the WBSC JWWC will be announced at a later date.

For updates, including the future announcement of participating countries, check or the tournament website 2015JWWC.com. Fans can also visit www.wbsc.co for more information.

About ASA/USA Softball
Founded in 1933, the Amateur Softball Association (ASA)/USA Softball is the National Governing Body Softball in the United States and a member of the United States Olympic Committee. One of the nation’s largest sports organizations, ASA/USA Softball sanctions competition in every state through a network of 74 local associations and has grown from a few hundred teams in the early days to over 165,000 teams today, representing a membership of more than 2.5 million.  ASA/USA is responsible for training, equipping and promoting the six USA Softball National Teams that compete in international and domestic competitions. The USA Softball Women’s National Team is one of only two women’s sports involved in the Olympic movement to capture three consecutive gold medals at the Olympic Games since 1996. The U.S. women have also won nine World Championship titles as well as claimed eight World Cup of Softball titles. For more information about ASA/USA Softball, please visit http://www.asausasoftball.com/.

About the World Baseball Softball Confederation

Headquartered in the Olympic Capital city of Lausanne, Switzerland, the World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC) was established in April 2013 and granted recognition as the sole competent authority in baseball and softball by the International Olympic Committee at the 125th IOC Session in September 2013. The WBSC represents a united baseball/softball sports movement that encompasses over 65 million athletes worldwide. The WBSC governs all international competitions involving any of the National Teams of its 141 National Federation members.  The WBSC oversees the Softball World Championships, The Premier 12, the World Baseball Classic, and the U12, U15, U18, U21 and Women’s Baseball World Cups.  For further information, please go to www.WBSC.co or follow the WBSC on Twitter at @WBSC_co

— Courtesy of ASA/USA Softball