The First Berserker: Khazan is an intriguing title for Dungeon and Fighter fans since it shines a light on one of the more mysterious characters in Dungeon Fighter Online, that is, Khazan himself. Though technically a prequel, its also an alternate retelling of the story (as evidenced by several occurrences that arent currently canon in DFO). However, most of you are probably eager to experience his journey after playing the demo and being pleasantly surprised by the combat and aesthetic. And thats completely fair just be warned that the rest of the game doesnt rise much beyond that level.The story of Khazan starts post-betrayal. After defeating the Berserk Dragon, Hismar, and being hailed as a hero by the Pell Los Empire, hes suddenly tortured by the Emperor and exiled. Meanwhile, Ozma, his best friend and closest ally, has already been executed. So, for all justifiable reasons, Khazan wants revenge. In his incapacitated state, the mysterious Blade Phantom ambushes his convoy in Heinmach Pass and possesses Khazan."Aside from a reminder here and there that hell take revenge on the Emperor, there isnt much introspection or character development. We get some flashbacks to the war against the Berserk Dragon, but for the most part, I have so little information on Khazan as a person"Through a few twists and turns, the duo ultimately form a pact Khazan will borrow the Phantoms power to take out the Emperor and his betrayers while the Phantom has a vehicle to complete tasks for his master, Charon. Theres seemingly more to the Phantom than meets the eye while Khazan must also deal with other troubling developments throughout the Empire.I wrote several months back about how revenge paired with anger offers a unique introspection into a characters psyche. Khazan was brutally tortured with the tendons in his limbs severed after all, and his best friend, and closest ally, was murdered. Thats some deep-seated and long-term trauma there, one that warrants closer inspection and could make for compelling drama. Furthermore, theres plenty of contrast to offer against Khazans current actions of brutally slaughtering citizens of the Empire that he once swore to protect.But theres very little of that. Aside from a reminder here and there that hell take revenge on the Emperor, there isnt much introspection or character development. We get some flashbacks to the war against the Berserk Dragon, but for the most part, I have so little information on Khazan as a person other than he doesnt like being betrayed that its bizarre. Wasnt the whole idea of the title to flesh him out more as a character? Instead, this feels more like Epic Medieval Fantasy Quest The Game Starring Khazan From the Dungeon and Fighter series.It also doesnt help that his revenge tour meanders after the first few missions, devolving into introducing other characters who also dont develop much. There are perfunctory twists and turns, some fairly telegraphed and others that wont be the least bit shocking to DFO players. Though it somewhat ties together all these disparate directions into a cohesive purpose and finale, its nowhere near meeting the expectations of Khazan cutting a bloody swathe on the path of vengeance.The voice cast, especially Ben Starr, does their damndest to lend some gravitas and weight to these scenarios. You would think Starr would be perfect for this kind of character, especially after playing Clive from Final Fantasy 16, but his range feels oddly restricted and diminished, and that makes me care about Khazan even less. The heavily marketed rage appears interminably, but its not something thats really inherently built upon in Khazans character."Maybe its because several missions occur in dank caves with muted color palettes that dont leave much to the imagination. Maybe the locations I was looking forward to didnt meet expectations due to the story set-up."Considering the fantasy setting and intonations, the casts ability to draw you in is sufficient. Even the bit players whose horrified voices echo their grisly fates when absorbing Lacrima are worth noting. If only the rest of the plot helped keep the player engaged. While some of the dialogue is acceptable nothing particularly special or memorable some lines caused a double-take at how terribly written they were, and no amount of incredible voice-acting fixes that.On some level, I blame the overall layout of the story. Once your base, The Crevice, is introduced, you venture out and complete missions. Upon returning, perhaps youll interact with the slowly growing pool of characters and repeat. With little memorable traits or room to grow, their real reason to exist is to provide optional missions to Khazan or become vendors. You could bother selecting different dialogue choices and hearing them out, but they rarely offer anything interesting, much less facilitate any meaningful discussion, never mind fueling some growth for Khazan.From a gameplay perspective, the mission design and even how new regions open up is very similar to Nioh 1 and 2. Enter into a mission, maybe converse with one of the nothing characters who gave you the fetch quest, and move on. Both Nioh titles had the advantage of being set during a real-life historical period in Japan. Even if the transition between plot points wasnt always smooth, you could point to different historical figures, their behavior and involvement, and ground yourself in the circumstances.The fantasy setting of Khazan makes it much more challenging, especially for those who know nothing about Dungeon and Fighter. Heck, even fans wont have much to go on besides recognizing the names of places and various enemy types.Developer Neople does insert some notes and letters that attempt to offer more context on whats happening on some levels, explaining away the corpses and/or vile experiments, but its not enough. Maybe its because several missions occur in dank caves with muted color palettes that dont leave much to the imagination. Maybe the locations I was looking forward to didnt meet expectations due to the story set-up. Maybe its just the underwhelming environmental story-telling that reinforces the straightforward mission-based structure."This brings us to perhaps the most positive aspect of the experience combat. The First Berserker is a Souls-like, leaning more towards Nioh (and the sequels Burst Counters), and as such, you unlock abilities and chain them together with Skill Points."Otherwise, the level layouts are fine. Between knocking down ladders for shortcuts, deactivating barriers with switches and ascending to the top for an elevator that leads back to a Blade Nexus (the de facto bonfire), its nothing structurally different from what youve seen in other titles. Is that lone enemy in the room truly alone, or is there another enemy on either side of the door that will attack as soon as I enter? Classic Souls-like stuff, but also incredibly cliche.However, the pacing feels right, and Neople does put some decent spins in places, lightly playing with verticality and environmental hazards. Levels start pretty linear early on but offer more alternate paths and optional things, like Soulstone Cores or Elite Enemies that provide more XP and gear. If only the side missions were more interesting or varied in terms of objectives. They can also feel short I would have preferred fewer if it meant more memorable tasks and stories.Repetition sets around the early to midway point of the story, especially when the same enemy types are reused. Get ready to fight the same Dragonkind, bandits, skeletons, soldiers, and spiders for a healthy chunk with the occasional Yeti, though things begin to freshen up from the late game onwards. Thats when some truly out-of-field monstrosities start appearing with new tactics and movesets.This brings us to perhaps the most positive aspect of the experience combat. The First Berserker is a Souls-like, leaning more towards Nioh (and the sequels Burst Counters), and as such, you unlock abilities and chain them together with Skill Points. Theres also a Sekiro-like bent focused on parrying and breaking through poise (aka Fortitude) to exhaust enemies and bosses for Brutal Attacks. The core difference is that you dont have an inexhaustible supply of stamina for sprinting and attacking, nor is there a Ki Burst to regenerate whatever youve spent on attacking.The result is a push and pull between the more traditional Souls-like aspects and the parts that want to embrace the unga-bunga. Its as intriguing as it is severe because the reward for properly parrying attacks is that you wont lose that precious stamina needed for attacking. Its a system where merely blocking feels inadequate, but this smoothens past the initial stages. Once you start gaining some levels, discovering higher tiers of gear, unlocking passives, and mastering your weapon of choice, Khazans combat starts to settle into a groove that keeps challenging you."The loot also isnt too exciting, providing stat increases most of the time. Set bonuses can be something to build towards, though theyre once again stat bonuses, with only a handful offering truly unique abilities."For example, you eventually have to deal with punishing status attacks that keep building regardless of those fancy parrying skills. Thats when dodging starts to shine, especially when unlocking passives like Moonlight Stance, which deals damage in the direction you Brink Dodge. Transitioning between attacks and skills, assuming you have the Spirit Points, also feels good. Even Phantom Form, which is absolutely awful when you first get it, comes into its own, even though it forces some different thinking beyond Rage Mode.Its a shame, then, that youre forced to focus on a single weapon due to how stat scaling works. Initially, resetting your stats is difficult because the required item doesnt drop, and you wont unlock the recipe to craft it until much later in the game. While each weapon offers its share of nuance and tactics, sticking with a single type for so long inevitably adds to the repetition.Thankfully, The First Berserker doesnt skimp on its main boss fights. The showdown with Viper, which starts as an elegant dance, transitions into a brutal second phase with an overwhelming air, especially when things go dark, and only the glow of its eyes hints at oncoming attacks. Then theres Maluca, barely above your average Elite bandit before busting out the nitoryu and Judgment Cut End for an SSStylish display of damage. Sure, some bosses can feel slightly over-kitted, but even the scant few who feel similar in their overall strategy have various nuances.Not every boss fight is perfect theres one that looks simply incredible yet is completely bungled by the targeting, and the sheer number of threats with grab attacks is undeniably irritating. I also was disappointed after fighting my first Phantom a spin on the stellar Blade Phantom battle and not similarly facing the others, instead finding items to unlock them. Then again, I havent discovered them all, so perhaps other killer encounters await, but the side missions otherwise offer regular foes turned into bosses.The First Berserker is also primarily a loot-driven game. Youll receive tons of loot, making crafting feel pointless for a significant portion of the game since something higher-level or higher rarity will likely drop shortly after. The loot also isnt too exciting, providing stat increases most of the time. Set bonuses can be something to build towards, though theyre once again stat bonuses, with only a handful offering truly unique abilities. In the end, your playstyle is determined by the weapon type and skills beyond anything else, making the loot feel two-dimensional."I wouldnt consider it anywhere near the genres best, but Neople delivers a decent action RPG better than several of its nearest competitors. Some may be left wanting more while others dig in like its Souls-like comfort food before eventually moving on."As for the presentation, I quite like how Neople has handled the anime stylings of Khazan, which look sleek but have this grunginess. The muted colors and lighting in some environments make it difficult to admire all the details, and theres definitely some visual overload in places.Nevertheless, its a strong balance between macabre and sleek, and the animations are extremely clean, save for a bit of jerkiness when Khazan has to step one foot down from a slope. The music is also fairly underrated at times, it feels like the orchestrals make up for the lack of weight in the narrative, adding to the dark fantasy atmosphere in the process.Despite several of my misgivings with The First Berserker: Khazan, it isnt a bad game and Souls-like action RPG fans, especially those experienced with the Nioh series, will find a healthy amount of content. Beyond its combat, several of the boss fights, and the presentation, it feels lacking in a soul formulaic in many places, repetitive in others, and downright disappointing with the overall plot and Khazans characterization (especially since its a What if scenario to the established Dungeon and Fighter canon).I wouldnt consider it anywhere near the genres best, but Neople delivers a decent action RPG better than several of its nearest competitors. Some may be left wanting more while others dig in like its Souls-like comfort food before eventually moving on.This game was reviewed on PlayStation 5.

Two Canadian projects are among the winners of the2024 Brick in Architecture Awards, an international design competition featuring fired-clay brick.Now in its 35thyear, the2024 winning projects span Canada, the United States, China, England, Mexico and Russia. Judged by a jury of peers, winners include Best in Class, Gold, Silver and Bronze. The overall Craftsmanship Award honours a mason or team of masons that skillfully installs brick in an artful or unique way.The award winners highlight bricks limitless versatility to create inspired, sustainable designs that achieve any aesthetic, said BIA president and CEO Tricia Mauer, who also emphasized how material choice matters in designing for resilience, including bricks enhanced durability, fire resistance and energy efficiency. With the unpredictability of natural disasters, brick provides peace of mindbrick stands for good, she said.The two Canadian winners include the following.Maple House at Canary Landing House. Credit: McNeill PhotographyPaving & LandscapingMaple House at Canary Landing HouseToronto, OntarioDesigner: CCxABrick Manufacturer: The Belden Brick CompanyBrick Distributor: Masons Masonry Supply LTDMasonry Contractor: ORIN Landscaping at RONI GroupHouse 52. Photo credit: Stacey BrandfordResidential Single-FamilyHouse 52Toronto, OntarioArchitect: Izen Architecture Inc.Masonry Contractor: Red Robin MasonryThis years judges include Evan Burch, AIA, associate, ASD | SKY; Stefanie Greenfield, AIA, principal, CambridgeSeven; Chris Sano, AIA, LEED AP BD+C, principal | Design Director, BRW Architects, Inc. and Jay White, AIA, LEED AP, principal, Liollio Architecture.To see the full list of winners, click here.The post Two Canadian projects among winners of 2024 Brick in Architecture Awards appeared first on Canadian Architect.

The statue Brooklyn by Daniel Chester French being hoisted at the Brooklyn Museum in 1964 Brooklyn MuseumIn 1823, civic-minded merchants met in a tavern to establish a public library, later soliciting book donations with a wheelbarrow. They aimed to provide education for the youth of the village of Brooklyn, then a community of over 7,000 people. By 1825, the founders had a three-story building on the corner of Henry and Cranberry streets for the Brooklyn Apprentices Library. A teenage Walt Whitman was acting librarian there in 1835. In 1843, the library merged with the Brooklyn Lyceum and formed the Brooklyn Institute. Within several decades, the enterprise began collecting artifacts and art, alongside books.Today, after 200 years full of name changes and evolutions, that modest community library in Old Brooklyn Heights is known as the Brooklyn Museum, New York Citys third-largest art museum. Housed in a grand fin de sicle edifice by McKim, Mead and White, the architects of the old Penn Station and parts of Columbia Universitys neo-Classical campus, the museum of today holds more than 140,000 objects in its collection.It is celebrated for its permanent installations, from an ancient Egyptian gallery and Mummy Chamber (the special section that explores mummification) to The Dinner Party (1974-1979), an elaborate triangle of three 48-foot-long dining tables by feminist artist Judy Chicago that honors mythical and historically famous women. Since its inception, avant-garde contemporary and African art have been central missions. In 1923, curators mounted an exhibition of African objects as art pieces, rather than as specimens, considered a first for a museum in the U.S. At times, artworks have stoked protest and controversy. In 1999, New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani tried to close the museum for exhibiting Chris OfilisThe Holy Virgin Maryin Zimbabwe and experimented with on his canvases.For generations, the Brooklyn Museum has stood at the forefront of art and culture in a uniquely responsive way, reflecting the boroughs diverse fabric and broad scope. To mark its bicentennial, the museum recently unveiled Breaking the Mold: Brooklyn Museum At 200, an exhibition that shares both the story of its inception and growth, and the history of Brooklyn as a hotbed of the nations creativity.McKim, Mead and White's Design for the Brooklyn Museum, Francis L. V. Hoppin, watercolor, pen, and ink on paper, 1893 Brooklyn MuseumThe show features artworks, documents and artifacts from the museums permanent holdings; spotlights recent paintings, sculptures and photographs donated to the museum by individuals, galleries and various foundations over the past year or so in honor of its anniversary; andBrooklyn Museum curator of photography Pauline Vermare notes that the museum was one of the first institutions to collect photography, a medium historically marginalized in favor of painting and sculpture. Throughout the exhibition, its clear that theres a lot of photography and that the Brooklyn Museum has always been supporting women artists, she says. In the realm of painting, one piece is a conversation between generations of feminism, Vermare notes. The contemporary artist Ewa Juszkiewicz is responding to an 18th century portrait by lisabeth Louise Vige Le Brun.Vermare wonders what will be present at the museum 200 years from now: What are artists doing? What kind of work do you see? What are they talking about? The Brooklyn Museum has always collected contemporary art for the time, so its quite exciting.Coney Island, Stephen Salmieri, gelatin silver print, 1972 Brooklyn Museum / Stephen SalmieriThe museums original ambitions trace back to the Gilded Age, an era of tremendous modern urbanization, in New York. The Brooklyn Bridge, an engineering marvel connecting the boroughs of Brooklyn and Manhattan, opened to the public in 1883; the Statue of Liberty was dedicated in 1886. In 1892, the idea was to build the biggest museum in the world, bigger than the Louvre, says Abigail Dansiger, director of libraries and archives at the museum. The Brooklyn Institute of Arts and Sciences, our governing body then, had an architectural design competition, won by a very prominent firm, McKim, Mead and White, but they ran out of money. Really, we were meant to be much bigger.One way that the museum obtained some of the pieces in its collection is through crowdsourcing, notes Meghan Bill, the museums coordinator of provenance, an expert who researches and documents an objects history. Works by James Tissot, John Singer Sargent and Winslow Homer, from 1900 through 1908, were purchased through public subscriptions in local newspapers, popular in the museums earlier days.There would be calls put out that the Brooklyn Museum is hoping to acquire works from certain artists, and members of the city of Brooklyn pulled together their resources to ensure that would happen, says Bill. Today, you have to have a certain amount of capital to purchase the works that end up in museum galleries, and we are grateful for that. Public subscriptions were a unique model where an average citizen of Brooklyn could feel a source of pride and contribution to the collection.Winter Scene in Brooklyn, Francis Guy, oil on canvas, ca. 181920 Brooklyn MuseumIn 1903, the museum established a Department of Ethnology, tasking curator Stewart Culin with acquiring expedition materials to represent the creativity of the worlds peoples. Culin was a product of his time and operating under an assumption that Indigenous peoples were dying out and their art-making practices were going to die with them, Bill says. In those days, it was called salvage ethnography, the idea being that you had to collect the products of people before they disappear. To that end, the exhibition features Indigenous works that he acquired, as well as other works purchased by the museum, including a ceremonial mantle, or cloak, dated to 100-300 C.E. called a Paracas textile, which Bill describes as a global icon of Andean weaving and embroidery. Dyed fibers depict human and supernatural beings, surrounded by native flora and animals. A repeating pattern of 32 colorful faces portray Oculate Being, the deity of agricultural fertility.Part of the exhibition considers the way Brooklyn has been conceptualized by artists who are passing through, like Georgia OKeeffe, residents, native or not, says Liz St. George, the museums assistant curator of decorative arts. It explores the creative practice of Brooklyn makers, but also how Brooklyn is imagined as the epicenter for this creativity throughout time.Brooklyn Bridge, Georgia OKeeffe, oil on Masonite, 1949 Brooklyn MuseumThe Greenpoint section of Brooklyn in particular, she notes, was a dynamic hub for ceramics, glass printmaking and architectural metalwork. One example is an oyster plate from the museums significant archive of Union Porcelain Workslocated in Greenpoint, and one of the first manufacturers to mass-produce hard-paste porcelain in the United States, from 1863 to around 1922. The firm sold a range of designs at various price points, from utilitarian handles and knobs to skillfully decorated serving plates. Its pretty fabulous, she says. To do it in this way democratized it.An enchanting carousel horse, thought to be made by Marcus Charles Illionsan influential Brooklyn carousel carver who was born in Lithuania and who traveled to the U.S. in 1888 with an animal showmanlends context to the famous ornate Coney Island style of carousel design.The magic of Brooklyn is its multitude of peoples, says St. George. You will see the contributions of immigrants and migrants, of people not only native to the borough, but of new folks bringing new ideas in.Get the latest Travel & Culture stories in your inbox.Filed Under: Artists, Arts, Exhibitions, Installations, Museums, New York City, Painting, Photographers, Photography, Pop Culture, Walt Whitman

Photographs selected by Donny Bajohr Text by Tracy Scott ForsonThe purpose of libraries is to archive and store books, but with ceiling-to-floor shelving of often colorful volumes, they sometimes turn out to be works of art themselves. Thats not to mention those libraries with actual paintings covering the walls or sculptures filling grand halls. The books are only one of many reasons to visit these dependable depositories.Around since the seventh century B.C.E., libraries continue to pop up in countries, states, counties, cities and small communities all over the world, evolving to fulfill the needs of their neighbors, while protecting and preserving the past and present, and looking toward the future. Take a look. A beam of light illuminates the striking woodwork, distinct railing and ornate architectural details of the Teylers Museum library in the Netherlands. There are books there, too! Jaap de Raat, Netherlands, 2010 The architecturally stunning main library at the University of California, San Diego, is named in honor of one of the worlds most popular and best-selling authors, Theodor Geisel, who used the pen name Dr. Seuss. James McDonnell, California, 2020 If visitors eyes tire of staring at the many words of books at the Strahov Library in Prague, they can gaze upward at the ornate ceiling where works of art have distracted readers for centuries. Thomas Arnhold, Czech Republic, 2023 Lots of wood, but not many books, grace the walls and spiral staircase of the public Canada Water Library in London. Zhenhuan Zhou, England, 2023 Inside the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam, an incredible library with a magical light-dappled environment awaits. Clerio Back, Netherlands, 2023 There arent any books to be checked out at what remains of the Library of Celsus in ancient Ephesus, where more than 12,000 scrolls were once housed, but it still attracts plenty of tourists and readers. Pierre Lorillard, Turkey, 2023 Rows and rows of books line the shelves of a beautiful old library in the Biltmore Mansion. Brad Balfour, North Carolina, 2022 Now known as the Morgan Library & Museum, this Manhattan venue, with its three-story inlaid walnut bookshelves, began as the personal library of financier, collector and cultural benefactor J. Pierpont Morgan. Kayley To, New York, 2022 The Malatestiana Library in Cesena, lined with reading desks, was built in the 15th century and still functions as a public library today. Lorenzo Terraneo, Italy, 2020 The National Library of Brazil in Rio de Janeiro holds much about the countrys culture and heritage. It is one of the largest national libraries in the world and the largest in Latin America. Duo P, Brazil, 2019 In the city of Spijkenisse, the public library is called the Book Mountain. Climbing gear may not be helpful, but a ladder might be useful. Peter van Haastrecht, Netherlands, 2018 The many colorful books at the University of Washingtons Suzzallo Library in Seattle are illuminated with overhead lighting, creating a kaleidoscope of colors. Yatharth Gupta, Washington, 2011 When visiting the Library of Congress, dont forget to look up to view the ornate, colorful ceiling in its Great Hall. Attila R. Kovacs, Washington, D.C., 2020 The library at Trinity College Dublin features busts of great philosophers, writers and men who supported the college, including the clergyman Patrick Delany. Michael McRuiz, Ireland, 2019Get the latest Travel & Culture stories in your inbox.

Traffic Noise May Be Making These Bright Yellow Birds More Aggressive in the Galpagos Islands, Study SuggestsMale Galpagos yellow warblers appear to be shifting their behavior and adjusting their calls in response to the din of passing vehicles The Galpagos yellow warbler is a genetically distinct subspecies of the yellow warbler, which might be familiar to residents of the United States. Alper YelimliesThe Galpagos Islands are famous for their pristine, natural ecosystems. But even on this remote and mostly undeveloped archipelago, human activity is affecting animals.Researchers recently discovered that traffic noise may be causing male Galpagos yellow warblers to behave more aggressively when defending their territories. Even exposure to just a handful of cars on a regular basis changed the birds habits, according to a new paper published last week in the journal Animal Behaviour.For the study, scientists focused on the Galpagos yellow warbler (Setophaga petechia aureola), a small songbird thats endemic to the archipelago. The Galpagos Islands, which famously inspired British naturalist Charles Darwins theory of evolution, are located roughly 600 miles off the coast of mainland Ecuador, in the Pacific Ocean.Males have bright yellow feathers covering most of their bodies, with a reddish-brown cap atop their heads during the breeding season. They are territorial birds that defend their turf from other males. Typically, males will sing loudly to warn approaching intruders to stay away. But, if necessary, they will engage in physical fights.Birds use song during territorial defense as an aggressive signal, study co-author alar Akay, an ecologist at Anglia Ruskin University in England, says in a statement. He and his team wondered whether traffic noise might be affecting the birds interactions. If external noise such as traffic interferes with the signaling, effectively blocking this communication channel, increasing physical aggression would be an appropriate response.Traffic noise and bird songWatch on To test this, they visited 38 yellow warbler nesting sites on two different islands: Santa Cruz Island, which has more than 15,000 human residents and more than 1,000 cars, and Floreana Island, which has less than 100 human residents and approximately ten cars. Some of the nesting sites were near roads (within 164 feet), while others were farther afield (more than 328 feet away).At each site, they played two different types of audio recordings: one with the sound of a male Galpagos yellow warbler and traffic noises, and another with only the male bird call, unobscured by the sound of cars. Then, they watched to see how the birds responded.The male Galpagos yellow warblers that lived near roads on both islands reacted more aggressively when they heard the recording of the intruding male alongside traffic. They approached the speaker and repeatedly flew by itwhich researchers used as a proxy for physical aggression. The birds that did not live near roads, by contrast, behaved less aggressively when they heard the recording of the intruder and traffic noises.Its possible that the birds were flying closer to the speaker simply to make themselves heard over the din of traffic. But the males didnt always sing as they approached.And, even if the birds were flying closer simply to talk it out with the intruder, they might still be putting themselves in harms way, says Akay to the London Times Akshay Raja.Getting closer might be interpreted as an aggressive signal, he adds. If youre flying back and forth to defend your territory, some of these birds will have territories on either side of the roads, so they will actually have to fly over the road and they get killed by the vehicles.Indeed, the studys authors note that the Galpagos yellow warbler is the most commonly killed bird on Santa Cruz Islands main road. Galpagos yellow warblers are endemic to theGalpagos Islands. alar Akay / Anglia Ruskin UniversityResearchers noticed other changes in the birds behavior, which they call behavioral flexibility. Male birds increased the minimum frequencies of their songs when they heard the recordings that contained traffic sounds, regardless of where they lived. They likely made this change so their vocalizations did not overlap with the low-frequency vehicle sounds, the scientists suggest.The birds on Santa Cruz Island sang for longer durations when they heard the traffic noise recordings, while the birds on Floreana Island sang for shorter durations. Birds that lived far from roads on both islands also increased the peak frequency of their vocalizations.These findings suggest the birds are trying to cope with the road noise by adjusting their song, even on the sparsely populated Floreana Island, per the study. The team hopes future conservation efforts will include strategies for mitigating noise pollution, which seems to affect wildlife behavior even in relatively remote destinations.Even that little experience [of traffic on Floreana Island], apparently, has some effect, Akay tells the Guardians Nicola Davis. We have to think about noise pollution even in places like Galpagos, I think, and the impact of noise pollution on the unique species there.Get the latest stories in your inbox every weekday.Filed Under: Animals, Biology, Birds, Cars, Charles Darwin, Conservation, Ecology, Ecuador, Evolution, Land Birds, New Research, Wildlife, Zoology

A section of Eugne Delacroix'sStudy of Reclining LionsHtel DrouotFrench auctioneer Malo de Lussac was examining the contents of a property in Frances central region of Touraine when he came across a treasure: an original oil-on-canvas painting by Eugne Delacroix, one of Frances great 19th-century Romantic artists.Titled Study of Reclining Lions, the previously unknown painting has been owned by the same family since the mid-1800s, as La Nouvelle Rpubliques Julien Proult reports. Later this month, its heading to auction, where its expected to fetch up to $330,000.The owners were not sure that it was a Delacroix, De Lussac tells Agence France-Presse (AFP), per a translation by Artnets Brian Boucher. When I arrived in the living room, my gaze was attracted by his magnetism. It was very moving. Delacroixs works are seen very regularly in museums but very little in private hands. The24- by 20-inch canvas had been hanging in a family's living room. Htel DrouotThe 24- by 20-inch canvas depicts seven lions lounging in a palette of ochres and deep browns, according to a statement from Htel Drouot, an auction house in Paris. The lions bodies are visibly muscular, and their expressive faces are framed by flowing manes. Six of the animals are depicted in detail, while the seventh is a simple line sketch.Born in 1798, Delacroix made his artisticdebut at the Paris Salon, a prestigious exhibition sponsored by the French government, in 1822, when he showed his first masterwork,The Barque of Dante. The young artists work was characterized by rich, vivid colors, and he quickly became a leader of the Romantic movement. One of his most famous pieces is Liberty Leading the People, painted in response to the July Revolution of 1830.Liberty Leading the People, Eugne Delacroix, 1830 Eugne Delacroix / Public domain via Wikimedia CommonsDelacroix was also partial to wild beasts, especially lions, which he painted often, per the statement. The artist frequented theJardin des Plantes menagerie in Paris, which housed captive tigers and lions. He also studied taxidermy and observed animal dissections on several occasions.How necessary it is to stick ones head out of doors and try to read from creation, which has nothing in common with cities and the works of man, Delacroix oncewrote.When one of the menageries lions, Coco, died in 1829, Delacroix wrote to inform his friend, sculptorAntoine-Louis Barye, with whom hed often observed the animals. The lion is dead, Delacroix wrote. Ride at full speed!Over about a decade, Delacroix painted a series called The Lion Hunt, which depicted violent confrontations between lions and horsemen bearing swords, spears and shields. Writing for Artnet in 2018, critic Ben Davis called one of these worksStudy for Lion Hunt (185556)a career-summarizing manifesto and an example of art as the quest for intense sensation.The recently discovered Study of Reclining Lions comes with two pieces of documentation, according to thelot listing: a 1973 certificate from collectorPierre Dieterle and a 1966 letter written byLee Johnson, a Delacroix specialist. The paintings back is also marked with the wax seal from Delacroixs studio sale, which occurred the year after his death in 1863.This painting is De Lussacs second big discovery in the past two years: In 2023, he appraised a piece that turned out to be an authentic work by Pieter Bruegel the Younger, a famous 17th-century Flemish artist. I was very, very surprised, De Lussac told the Washington Posts Jonathan Edwards in 2023. It sold for about $850,000.Study of Reclining Lions is now on display at Htel Drouot, where it will be auctioned on March 28.Get the latest stories in your inbox every weekday.Filed Under: Animals, Art, Art History, Artists, Arts, Auctions, Cool Finds, France, Painters, Painting

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Dion Harris of Nvidia helped us piece together the context for Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang's GTC 2025 keynote.Read More

Apple is getting closer to launching Priority Notifications, a feature that uses AI to automatically detect important iPhone notifications and makes them more visible on your lockscreen. The feature is included in the iOS 18.4 release candidate rolled out on Monday, as spotted earlier by MacRumors.Along with Priority Notifications, the iOS 18.4 release candidate enables support for Matter-compatible robovacs, allowing you to control a wider range of devices through Apple Home. Other features expected to arrive with the update include AI-generated review summaries on the App Store, new shortcut actions, and Apple Intelligence support for the iPhone 15 Pro.There are also more details about whats coming to watchOS 11.4, too. The release candidate notes show an option to allow Sleep Wake Up alarm to break through Silent Mode. That means you can have your Apple Watch sound an alarm even if you mute all other notifications. Apple also launched release candidates for iPadOS 18.4, macOS 15.4, tvOS 18.4, and visionOS 2.4.The company is expected to release the final versions of its software next month.

Xs director of engineering, Haofei Wang, has suddenly left the company, according to sources with knowledge of the matter.Wang first joined Elon Musks X in July 2023 and has been an integral part of the companys leadership, often serving as a conduit between Musk and the rest of the companys engineers. More recently, he was seen internally as Xs defacto head of engineering and product, especially with Musk recently focusing more of his time on xAI and DOGE. Its unclear why Wang is departing now. Neither he nor a company spokesperson responded to a request for comment in time for publication.X recently added other engineering leadership: Mike Dalton and Uday Ruddaraju, both previously technical leads at Robinhood, joined in January. Their LinkedIn profiles show that they also work at xAI, which has become increasingly intertwined with X over the last year.Do you work at X or xAI?Id love to chat. You can reach me securely on Signal @kylie.01 or via email at kylie@theverge.com.Thanks to the growing profile of xAI and Musks newfound political influence, Xs business appears to be turning around. The company reportedly just obtained a $44 billi …Read the full story at The Verge.