Louise LeGresley//Getty ImagesThere are so many ways to add some life and color to your home, but if caring for plants feels daunting, you may want to opt for a beginner-friendly option, like a schefflera plant, sometimes known as an umbrella plant. Not too dissimilar to philodendrons or ZZ plants, this potted indoor option has beautiful green leaves and are incredibly easy to take care of. As a tropical variety, schefflera does require some maintenanceespecially if you live in a cooler climate. But if you're on the hunt for some greenery that doesn't need a PhD to care for, here is everything you need to know.How much sunlight do schefflera plants need?While umbrella plants don't do well with direct sunlight as it can scorch their leaves, they do require a decent about of sunabout four to six hours of indirect light a day. You'll know if your Schefflera is not getting enough light because the leaves will starts to appear droopy, as opposed to their normal springy appearance. Signs of sunburn can include yellowing or brown leaves. If your home is on the darker side, your umbrella plant can still survivebut it will grow significantly slower than when it's getting proper care. The general consensus is that schefflera plants need to be in an apartment or environment that does not get colder than 60 degrees.How often should Schefflera plants be watered?Because schefflera plants come from tropical climates in naturesuch as Taiwan and New Guineathey do best in warm, humid environments. When you notice the soil is dry, you can soak your umbrella plant to make sure it's absorbing enough water by simply putting your pot in a larger bowl of water and leaving it for a few minutes. Make sure you plant your schefflera in loose, well-draining soil so that it can get rid of the excess. Because these plants love humidity, spraying the leaves with water is a great way to keep it hydrated. You can also bring your plant into a humid environment, such as your bathroom, to allow it to soak up water from the air. Can you propagate schefflera plants?You can absolutely propagate your Schefflera plant. Experts suggest doing this with the stem cutting method. Simply cut off a few inches of your plant, ensuring it has some new growth or buds present on your cutting. The leave it in a glass of water, occasionally swapping in clean water, until roots grow. After they appear, re-plant your baby Schefflera in some nutrient-rich soil and leave in a bright place with indirect sunlight. Cavan Images//Getty ImagesYou can easily propagate your Umbrella plant with cuttings.Should you prune Schefflera plants?Pruning your Umbrella plant can help it become more bushy and encourage new growth. This is best done in the spring and summer when your plant is in its growth cycle. You can trim dead or yellow leaves, or just remove any straggling areas to help keep its shape.How long do Schefflera plants live?With proper, consistent light, water, and heat, your Umbrella plant can live for more than fifteen years. Schefflera plants need time to adjust to new environments, so if you're moving with your plant, do your best to keep it in similar conditions. Are Schefflera plants pet-safe?Schefflera plants are considered toxic to cats and dogs, so keep it out of reach if you have pets. Tatjana FreundFashion & Luxury Commerce EditorTatjana Freund is Hearst's Fashion & Luxury Commerce Editor, covering beauty, fashion and more across multiple brands. Previously, she worked at ELLE.com and Marie Claire. She's a fan of whiskey neat, podcasts that give her nightmares, and one time Zo Kravitz laughed at a joke she made.

According to Bloombergs Mark Gurman, iPhone 17 Air will feature a number of features from the iPhone 16 Pro, including Camera Control and ProMotion. Rumors have long suggested that the entire iPhone 17 lineup would feature ProMotion, but it wasnt quite clear whether or not iPhone 17 Air would feature Camera Control. Despite the thinness though, it now seems likely the phone will feature Camera Control.Apple had also considered making the iPhone 17 Air its first port-free iPhone, and going all in on wireless charging. The company ultimately decided against this.As previously rumored, Apple is working on a much thinner iPhone for the iPhone 17 lineup. Its expected to come in at 5.5mm, with a roughly $900 price tag, similar to the iPhone 16 Plus it replaces. Itll also have a few compromises. It wont have a second speaker, and itll only have a single rear camera, unlike the iPhone 16 Plus it replaces. Nonetheless, itll pack a 6.6-inch display.One area that it wont compromise in is battery life. Apple didnt want to compromise in this department, according to Gurman:Skinnier phones require thinner batteries, and that often mean fewer hours of battery life. Apple didnt want to compromise here, so it sentengineers back to the drawing board to redesign display and silicon components, as well as software,to make the device more efficient.Additionally, the iPhone 17 Air will offer the C1 chip, Apples first 5G modem. This chip initially debuted in the new iPhone 16e, and will also make its appearance in the iPhone 17 Air. This does mean that the iPhone 17 Air wont support mmWave, though Apple still totes the iPhone 16e as offering Superfast 5G cellular.This is the second time weve heard an analyst suggest a $900 starting price for the iPhone 17 Air. Back in December, The Wall Street Journal also reported such. If this price point holds up, the phone will probably perform particularly well. Itll certainly be the first iPhone to look truly new in quite some time.Apple had also considered making the iPhone 17 Air its first iPhone to have no charging port, though the company ultimately decided against this. Apple likely wouldnt have been able to make this change anyways, due to European regulation.My favorite Apple accessories on Amazon:Follow Michael:X/Twitter,Bluesky,InstagramAdd 9to5Mac to your Google News feed. FTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links. More.Youre reading 9to5Mac experts who break news about Apple and its surrounding ecosystem, day after day. Be sure to check out our homepage for all the latest news, and follow 9to5Mac on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn to stay in the loop. Dont know where to start? Check out our exclusive stories, reviews, how-tos, and subscribe to our YouTube channel

According to Bloombergs Mark Gurman, Apple is potentially working on a third generation Studio Display, codenamed J527. This would be a version ahead of the already rumored second generation Studio Display, which is codenamed J427 but feature advantages of the third generation display are unknown. Its also plausible that this isnt a third-generation monitor at all. Lets discuss.Last month, Bloombergs Mark Gurman reported that Apple begun development on a new external display, codenamed J427, for release in 2026. This would be a Studio Display successor, rather than a new Pro Display.However, Apple is also working on an additional monitor, codenamed J527, per Bloomberg:Now, heres one twist.Im told Apple is working on a second new monitor code-named J527. At this point, it seems unlikely that the device would be a subsequent generation,given the amount of time between updates and that were still a bit away from the J427.Gurman suggests that J427 and J527 might end up not being distinct products, and instead Apple is just prototyping with multiple options for a second generation Studio Display. This would make a fair bit of sense, given the fact that its been over 3 years since the first generation Studio Display debuted, and theres still over a year before the rumored second generation model will launch.Additionally, Gurman speculates that J527 could end up being a second model with a different screen size or set of specifications, and mentions the fact that Apples Pro Display XDR is nearing 6 years old.All in all, it isnt necessarily clear what this J527 rumor means. Could it be a third generation Studio Display? Studio Display Pro? Pro Display XDR 2? Who knows. The 27 number in the codename would heavily suggest that this will have a 27 display size, at least.My favorite Apple accessories on Amazon:Follow Michael:X/Twitter,Bluesky,InstagramAdd 9to5Mac to your Google News feed. FTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links. More.Youre reading 9to5Mac experts who break news about Apple and its surrounding ecosystem, day after day. Be sure to check out our homepage for all the latest news, and follow 9to5Mac on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn to stay in the loop. Dont know where to start? Check out our exclusive stories, reviews, how-tos, and subscribe to our YouTube channel

Around the world, on separate continents that had no contact with each other, multiple groups of ancient humans invented farming more or less simultaneously and scientists still don't know how or why.Known to archaeologists and anthropologists as the Neolithic Revolution, the discovery of this historical head-scratcher is by no means new. Nevertheless, it continues to fascinate folks like Michael Marshall, an author at New Scientist who pondered this phenomenon in a new piece about this quantum leap in human development.As a 2023 PNAS paper cited by Marshall suggests, the things scientists do know about this incredible happenstance are what make it so captivating.After the great ice sheets age of the Pleistocene Epoch began to retreat about 11,700 years ago, humans who had gradually migrated to at least four continents Africa, Eurasia, and North and South America moved from hunting and gathering to domesticating plants. In as many as 24 separate sites of origin, the paper explained, people began farming within a few thousand years of each other, with no means of contact between them.Across scientific disciplines, researchers have long been trying to figure out why this leap in evolutionary behavior occurred with so many groups simultaneously. Anthropologist Melinda Zeder, the senior scientist emeritus at the Smithsonian Institute, toldPNAS in 2023 that some of her colleagues even argue that humans may have been "tricked into it by plants" but still, there's nothing near consensus about why, exactly, our ancestors all picked up farming around the same time.In his more recent musings, Marshall, the New Scientist writer, pointed out that agriculture may have emerged as a response to any number of external factors: food shortages, climate change, or even sociopolitical reasons as evidenced by research suggesting that a rudimentary form of property rights may have begun around the same time that farming emerged.He then went on to hypothesize something that hasn't been studied outright before: that Neanderthals, or any other early hominin groups, may have "tried their hands at gardening, if only in a small way.""If they were lacking some crucial cognitive or physical capability to enable gardening, Im not sure what it was," Marshall wrote. "And if they did enjoy tending their own small gardens, that would have given our species a head start on creating full-blown farms."Even if Neanderthalsdid make early attempts at agriculture, however, it wouldn't explain why subsequent evolutionary groups wouldn't have immediately followed suit, or why there was suddenly a global explosion of farming activity more than 100,00 years after the first known deforestation projects took place in modern-day Germany.Like many worthwhile mysteries, this one doesn't have a neatly-packaged answer and unless something unprecedented about our ancestors' agricultural practices is uncovered, it may never be explained at all.More on our origins: Something Mysterious Swept Over Our Entire Solar System, Scientists SayShare This Article

Tesla's highly divisive Cybertruck has long garnered a reputation for falling apart, getting stuck, and generally strugglingto keep up with its truckly competition.Aside from all that nevermind becoming the number one target of mockery and vandalism on the road due to Tesla CEO Elon Musk's abhorrent behavior it now sounds like the Cybertruck is contending with new woes.As Electrek reports, Tesla delivery specialists have been telling waiting Cybertruck customers that there's a "containment hold" on all deliveries, a problem that's seemingly related to a giant piece of metal becoming unglued from the car's stainless steel-clad exterior.It's the latest in a long list of glaring problems plaguing the truck. The vehicle has been hit with more than half a dozen recalls in less than a year of being on the road, highlighting the EV maker's shoddy design work and questionable quality control.Prospective owners are noting on the Cybertruck Owners Club forum that their delivery dates have been canceled, with dealerships informing them that the truck "needs additional inspection."While Tesla has yet to and likely won't comment on the matter publicly, some users of the forum were informed that it's an issue related to the Cybertruck's "cantrail" trim, a massive exterior piece of stainless steel that arcs over the top of the vehicle's driver and passenger windows.We've already come across plenty of incidents involving the nine-foot piece of boomerang-shaped window flying off, seemingly as the result of a botched gluing job."I ran a quick errand tonight," one driver complained in a post on the Cybertruck Owners Club forum last month, "and while merging and accelerating on the interstate in normal traffic, at about 70 mph, I heard a loud ripping sound and the metal panel liberates and flew into traffic behind me.""I was not able to stop as I was in the middle of a highway split," they continued. "I rolled the window down and felt for it, and yes, the trim was gone."Car enthusiast publication Road & Track identifiedmultiple casesof the same panel peeling off its adhesive.In a video published last month, YouTuber and Cybertruck owner Reid Tomasko warned that the panel can easily fall off, especially when exposed to freezing temperatures."This is actually really dangerous," he said. "I've seen quite a few people online where these have come off on the highway."While his hadn't detached on its own, he voluntarily ripped it off so it wouldn't come unstuck at highway speeds.And it's not just the cantrail panel. The truck's massive front plate has also been glued on by the carmaker,and images circulating online show how easily the panel can be ripped off.As Electrek points out, Tesla has yet to issue a public service bulletin related to the issue and it remains unclear if the cantrail trim piece is indeed the reason why deliveries are being halted.But as many owners have found out the hard way, it's a glaring problem that the EV maker will have to address one way or the other.More on the Cybertruck: Cybertruck Goes to Mardi Gras Parade, Gets Bombarded by Trash and Flees in ShameShare This Article

The Trkiye Pavilion Presents "Grounded" Theme Taking Soil As A Vital Source At Venice Biennalehtml PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40/loose.dtd"Grounded, curated by Ceren Erdem and Bilge Kalfa, will be on display at the 19th International Architecture Exhibition of the 2025 Venice Architecture Biennale through the Trkiye Pavilion, which is organized by the Istanbul Foundation for Culture and Arts (IKSV).The 2025 Venice Architecture Biennale will take place fromMay 10 to November23 November 2025 at the Giardini, the Arsenale and various venues in Venice, Italy.Grounded emphasizes soil as a dynamic, underappreciated resource that is essential to comprehending ecosystems, civilizations, and sustainable existence. Through artistic interpretations, scientific research, and sensory experiences, the exhibition showcases the unique properties of Turkish soil.Gulle Games, 2019, Sinem Disli, archival pigment print, courtesy of IKSVGrounded positions soil at the center of the pavilion, portraying it as a living thing with intelligence and agency, in contrast to architecture's propensity to repress earthiness in the goal of controlled environments. By interacting with its texture, scent, and sound, visitors experience it as a living repository of human and natural history as well as an ecological system.As it examines Turkey's rich history, archaeological sites, and environmentally friendly building techniques, Grounded also considers the effects of human endeavors like construction. The exhibition explores architectural approaches that honor environment and culture by fusing traditional methods with modern advances, encouraging more harmonious ways of living.Poster of Grounded. Image courtesy of IKSV"With Grounded, we invite visitors to view soil not as something separate, but as an integral part of the same fabric of life that surrounds us," said Ceren Erdem and Bilge Kalfa, the curators of the exhibition."It is not merely a surface beneath us or a resource to be extracted; rather, it is a dense, intelligent world in its own right one we are already part of.""Through material experiments, artistic documentation, and scientific observation, the exhibition encourages us to rethink our role in this dynamic exchange. It prompts us to recognise the structures we erode and the possibilities we often overlook.""In doing so, it suggests ways of living and building that do not impose but instead listen to and engage with the environment," Erdem and Kalfa added.Cosmic Core, 2024, Mono Earth, Solidified, rammed earth. Image Zeynep AksinThe projects individual participants are Hseyin Aksoy, Michael Akstaller, E. Fsun Aliolu & Senem Akay, Ali Mahmut Demirel, Sinem Dili, Yelda Gin, Ali Miharbi, zgl ztrk, Serkan Taycan and Orkan Telhan. Bire-Pan, Common Action Walls, Herkes in Mimarlk & Poolana Works, Mono Earth, Ozruh, Rec II, ReYard House, Solidified and Yaln Architects are the participant teams. The architectural research intern team includes Enes Ylmaz, Leonie Todd, Karim Gohary, Neha Goel and Simonida Galovic, while Dicle Beta serves as the curatorial assistant.Balkta cave (January 2025) & Karadere Mining Field (October 2023), from multimedia installation Gods of Latmos (ongoing), 2024, Multimedia Installation, Ali M Demirel, archival pigment print, courtesy of IKSVThe architectural project is designed by Bilge Kalfa Architecture. Exhibitions visual identity and book are designed by Paleworks, and the editor is Melis Cankara.Thanks to IKSV's initiative and the assistance of twenty-one sponsors, Arsenale's Sale d'Armi was acquired for a twenty-year term between 2014 and 2034, allowing the Trkiye Pavilionto be a member of the International Architecture Exhibition since 2014.Alongside the exhibition, a book edited by Melis Cankara and designed by Paleworks (Ozan Akkoyun, Yamur Rzgar) is also being prepared. Featuring texts by the curators and artwork descriptions by the participants, the publication will also include contributions from Aytek Soner Alpan, Sevince Bayrak, mr Harmanah, Enise Burcu Karaizmeli, Burcu Serdar Kknar, Asl Odman, Blent Tanju, and Evren Uzer. The book aims to explore the themes addressed in the artworks from diverse perspectives.Reflecting the layered and dynamic nature of the theme of soil, the book will be published in two volumes, in both Turkish and English. English volume will be available at the Biennale bookstores.Photography from press conference. Ceren Erdem, Bilge Kalfa. Image Fatih YlmazIn addition to this announcement, Qatar announced that it will build a national pavilion in the historic venue of Giardini della Biennale, which first opened to the public in 1895. Moreover, the Pavilion of the United Arab Emirates announced its theme, Pressure Cooker, and details for the 2025 Venice Architecture Biennale.Also, the Finland Pavilion will explore The Pavilion Architecture of Stewardship, highlighting the various types of labor that go into building and maintaining architecture. The Austrian Pavilion will explore the theme of Agency for Better Living, focusing on affordable housing and tackling the cities of Vienna and Rome.The top image in the article: Common Action Walls (CAW), 2017. Project coordinators Fulya Ozsel Akipek, Tugrul Yazar, Istanbul bilgi University Department of Architecture, PotPlus DRG.> via IKSV

The movie has it all: little CGI lions, Lin-Manuel Miranda songs and a Blue Ivy Carter performance.

Tech's artificial intelligence boom is moving fast and some fear it's breaking things vital to human creativity.

Captured on Nintendo Switch (Docked)In this charming indie, an aspiring writer gets lost in a scenic coastal destination while searching for inspiration. Diana Caproni wanders Borga Marina, making friends and solving mysteries in this low-intensity detective story.Italian developer Memorable Games has crafted a gorgeous setting that serves as an ode to Ligurian communities and Mediterranean vistas. The location and sleuthing format also recall seminal adventure titles of yesteryear - particularly the sun-soaked vibrancy of the Broken Sword series.Struggling to improve her writing, Diana (who, like everyone else in this world, is an anthropomorphic animal) hops on her scooter and motors off to get her creative juices flowing - and to uncover more about a familial connection to an idyllic resort town. Immediately puzzling her way into the locals hearts, Dianas journey takes her through one mystery after another.Captured on Nintendo Switch (Handheld/Undocked)Gameplay is a mix of dialogue sequences, minigames, and detective puzzles. Diana collects cards from every interaction and discovery she makes around Borga Marina. These cards are stored in her mind palace, where they can be reviewed at any time for context on the unfolding story.During investigation sequences, certain areas hide a set of clues tied to past events. Fortunately, Diana possesses a 'chronolens', a device that gives her the ability to peer into the past. This enables her to uncover clues used in the investigation minigame. It's always handy to have temporal manipulation gadget when you need one.Investigations take place in a charming, board-game-style diorama. This turn-based activity has Diana applying the clues shes gathered in the correct sequence. As the story progresses, the boards become more complex, but the sequencing remains approachable. If she gets stuck, Diana can use joker cards to simplify the investigation or boost the chronolens's ability to find clues.Captured on Nintendo Switch (Docked)As she explores the town, Diana meets companions - some of whom will tag along on her adventures. These relationships unlock additional minigames. Taking a part-time job as a waitress unlocks a chibi serve-'em-up game. There's also competitive marbles and a mail delivery gig, all in a day's work for a complete stranger trying to solve a spate of robberies.Engaging with these activities changes the world around Diana, adding a light social sim element that complements the mystery-solving dynamic. A day cycle resets minigame opportunities and adds progression to relationships, which creates a loop that can be satisfying to explore. There's a lot to do here, an activity around each corner.Despite its various systems, On Your Tail maintains a calming and cosy atmosphere for the most part. However, Dianas peaceful sojourn is frequently disrupted by technical issues and performance hiccups on Switch.Captured on Nintendo Switch (Docked)For a game that encourages exploration and regularly sends our inquisitive hero trekking across Borga Marina, the frequent loading kills momentum. Simply walking from one side of town to the other can trigger a significant number of loading screens. Entering buildings or transitioning between story scenes also takes a noticeably long time.In our review copy, area load transitions occasionally caused crashes, further slowing Dianas holiday. These crashes are accompanied by numerous technical issues, including frequent texture pop-in and environments failing to load as Diana runs through them. The cards displayed for dialogue and location discovery often struggle to load as well. Its worth noting that these visual issues seemed a bit less prevalent in handheld mode.Elsewhere, conversations occasionally bug out completely, leaving Diana (and you) stuck between dialogue transitions. This can be resolved using a pause menu option labeled 'Unstick Player' - an odd addition that seems to suggest these scripting issues are both expected and unavoidable.Captured on Nintendo Switch (Docked)Its a shame to encounter so many technical hurdles while playing On Your Tail, because the overall experience is clearly designed with care. The developers have lovingly built Borga Marina and its inhabitants; the music and relaxing soundscape pair beautifully as you stroll through the winding streets in search of clues.ConclusionAn engaging blend of life sim and detective mystery, On Your Tail has a wonderful setting and great characters. Unfortunately, the overall experience is bogged down by painful load times and debilitating technical issues. The game isn't a graphical powerhouse and the Switch is more than capable of maintaining a stable day in Borga Marina. Heres hoping Memorable can patch in some improvements post-launch so that Dianas search for inspiration feels less like a slog.Borga Marina is a wonderful settingWell written charactersMystery investigation is engagingPunishing load timesGlaring technical issuesFrequent crashesNot Bad 6/10

In a world filled withvibe coding, Zach Yadegari, teen founder of Cal AI, stands in ironic, old-fashioned contrast.Ironic because Yadegari and his co-founder, Henry Langmack, are both just 18 years old and recently graduated from high school. Yet their story, so far, is a classic.Launched in May, Cal AI has generated over 5 million downloads in eight months, Yadegari says. Better still, he tells TechCrunch that the customer retention rate is over 30% and that the app generated over $2 million in revenue last month.Although TechCrunch couldnt validate his download and revenue claims, Cal AI does have a 4.8-star rating on the Apple App Store, with 66,000 reviews, and over 1 million downloads on Google Play with a 4.8-star rating on nearly 75,000 reviews.The concept is simple: Take a picture of the food you are about to consume, and let the app log calories and macros for you.Its not a unique idea. For instance, the big dog in calorie counting, MyFitnessPal, has its Meal Scan feature. Then there are apps like SnapCalorie, which was released in 2023 and created by the founder of Google Lens.Cal AIs advantage, perhaps, is that it was built wholly in the age of large image models. It uses models from Anthropic and OpenAI and RAG to improve accuracy and is trained on open source food calorie and image databases from sites like GitHub.We have found that different models are better with different foods, Yadegari tells TechCrunch.Along the way, the founders coded through technical problems like recognizing ingredients from food packages or in jumbled bowls.The result is an app that the creators say is 90% accurate, which appears to be good enough for many dieters.Cal AI founding team:Jake Castillo (bottom right); Blake Anderson (top right); Henry Langmack (top left); Zach Yadegari (bottom left)Image Credits:Cal AITeen coders and a hacker houseYadegari is also earning some fame for his early success. But, unlike teen coders growing up with AI copilots, he was mastering Python and C# in middle school, he said.Yadegari built his first business in the ninth grade and sold it for $100,000 to another game company, FreezeNova, when he was 16, he tells TechCrunch.After quarantine, schools gave out Chromebooks to all of their students, and unsurprisingly, kids tried to abuse this by playing games in school, he said.The school responded by blocking web access to those game sites. So he saw an opportunity to build a website that gave access to all unblocked games.The best part? He called the website Totally Science so the school wouldnt block it, too.With that sale, he and Langmack watched Y Combinator videos and socialized with the coder crowd on X looking for a new idea. He met Blake Anderson on X, who also became a Cal AI co-founder. Anderson, now 24, had earned notice as a young consumer app coder, too, for creating ChatGPT dating advice apps like RizzGPT and Umax.Yadegari and Langmack had their idea after Yadegari began hitting the gym to gain weight and impress girls, he said, smiling.Then they made another clich choice: They moved to San Francisco to live in a hacker house while building their prototype.But while there, Yadegari, the son of two lawyers, learned a contrarian lesson. He discovered he wanted to go to college and not become a classic Silicon Valley dropout type.Twenty-four-seven grinding, sleeping on the floor, actually, one of the nights, and it was a very fun time, and it taught me a lot, he said of the experience.But he looked around. We were surrounded by people that were in their late 20s or 30s all day. And I realized that if I didnt go to college, this is what life would be like.While he hasnt yet determined which university hell attend, he and Langmack are still having fun running their company. It now includes another co-founder, Jake Castillo, 28 who is COO and running influencer marketing, as well as eight full-time employees between developers, a designer, and social media managers.