Boeing's successful bidAn artist rendering shows an early version of Boeing's proposed design for the US Air Force's sixth-generation stealth fighter. Boeing President Donald Trump announced on Friday that Boeing was selected to develop the future combat aircraft, which will be designated the F-47.The designation is a deviation from typical naming conventions because it was previously used for the World War II-era fighter, the P-47.Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. David Allvin said the designation is a nod to the P-47 escort fighter of World War II, as well as the Air Force's founding year in 1947 and the "pivotal" support of the 47th US President Donald Trump in developing the aircraft.Winning the $20 billion NGAD contract will serve as a much-needed boost not only to its waning defense unit but also to recoup losses from the KC-46 tanker and new Air Force One aircraft.Steve Parker, interim president, and chief executive of Boeing Defense, Space, and Security, said the company made "the most significant investment in the history of our defense business" after being tasked with designing, building, and delivering the sixth-generation fighter to the Air Force."We are ready to provide the most advanced and innovative NGAD aircraft needed to support the mission," Parker said in a statement.The US Air Force's next-gen stealth planeAn early concept art rendering of the US Air Force's sixth-generation fighter. US Air Force The pursuit for America's next-generation platforms began over a decade ago in the early 2010s.The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency launched a study in 2014 to explore strategies to maintain the US' edge in air superiority. It found that simply developing sixth-generation combat aircraft wouldn't be enough to ensure air superiority against US adversaries, instead urging a "family of systems" across multiple domains, including air, space, and cyberspace.Air superiority is the condition where a nation's aircraft can fly at minimal risk from other aircraft and surface-to-air missiles. The US's longtime edge in achieving this is increasingly threatened by the proliferation of air defense missiles and China's aircraft build-up, including two types of stealth fighters.Building upon DARPA's findings, the Air Force launched its own study, Air Superiority 2030, which laid the groundwork for its NGAD program, which envisioned creating a future hybrid fleet of crewed and uncrewed aerial systems.As one of the Air Force's most sensitive and highly classified programs, few details were publicly known about the NGAD program.In September 2020, Will Roper, then-Air Force acquisition chief, officially confirmed that the service had test-flown a prototype of its next-gen fighter. This was the first public acknowledgment of the top-secret program that he said he hoped would garner "greater credibility" on the program's progress.By 2023, Boeing, Lockheed Martin, and Northrop Grumman appeared to be in the running to develop the NGAD platform, floating potential designs for it in promotional materials for their future projects a common practice among US military aircraft manufacturers.Northrop Grumman the lead contractor for the B-2 Spirit and B-21 Raider stealth bombers was also in the running to build the NGAD aircraft but dropped out of consideration as the prime developer in 2023, instead intending to support other bids as a supplier.Early concept designsA video promoting Boeing Phantom Works' upcoming projects appears to show a concept rendering of the next-generation platform. Boeing Defense/X Art renderings of the NGAD fighter show little more than the jet's sleek exterior and wings, revealing few details about the aircraft's final design.But concept designs released by the three competing legacy combat aircraft contractors could give an idea of what the F-47 could look like when it takes to the skies.In a promotional video released by Boeing Phantom Works in 2023, a brief rendering of a 3D model stealth plane showed assembling mid-flight to showcase the digital design capabilities to streamline the development of innovative aircraft.The hypothetical stealth aircraft appears to feature a flat, tailless cranked wing design with two engines.A fighter jet upsetAn art rendering shows Lockheed Martin's proposed design for the US Air Force's sixth-generation stealth fighter. Lockheed Martin Before Boeing was selected to build the F-47, Lockheed Martincombat aircraft production, leading some to believe that it would be the prime contractor of the NGAD platform.Following the fighter jet upset, Boeing's share price jumped 3% to $5.28 a share on Friday, adding $4 billion in market value. Meanwhile, Lockheed's stock"While disappointed with this outcome, we are confident we delivered a competitive solution," Lockheed Martin said in a statement.Boeing has long been a major player in the military aerospace sector, including developing the F-15 and F/A-18 fighter jets and the KC-46 aerial tanker.However, unlike competitors like Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman, which secured domestic contracts for the F-22 Raptor and B-2 Spirit stealth aircraft respectively, Boeing's long-term defense production largely relies on foreign acquisition and international defense sales.Boeing and Lockheed previously faced off to develop the fifth-generation multirole fighter as part of the Pentagon's Joint Strike Fighter program. Lockheed's X-35 beat out Boeing's X-32, entering production as the F-35 Lightning II.Lockheed's NGAD designLockheed Martin posted an aircraft outline that appeared to resemble an NGAD-like platform on its Instagram story. Lockheed Martin/Instagram Lockheed's hint at its potential NGAD concept proposal was a lot more subtle. In 2023, Lockheed's Skunk Works division posted a black-and-white aircraft outline on its Instagram to celebrate its 80th anniversary.Despite the lack of details in the cryptic post, the planform appears to resemble a tactical aircraft design, likely related to the Air Force's NGAD program.Lockheed further pointed to its potential future participation in the NGAD by releasing another promotional video later that year, seemingly referring to the Air Force's pursuit of a hybrid fleet. The video features crewed and uncrewed systems flying in formation, with Lockheed's F-35 surrounded by futuristic UAVs.Northrop Grumman withdraws NGAD bidA 2021 video released by Northrop Grumman featured concept renderings of its future aircraft projects, including what appears to be a next-generation fighter jet. Northrop Grumman/YouTube Northrop Grumman was also competing to be the prime contractor behind the Air Force's NGAD aircraft. The company hinted at its interest in participating in the NGAD program in a 2021 promotional video that appeared to include a tailless stealth fighter in a hangar with historic and futuristic aircraft.But Northrop Grumman's bid to build the NGAD fighter was cut short after it pulled out of consideration in 2023, CEO Kathy Warden announced.Warden added that the company was "responding to other bidders' request for proposal as the supplier, that's particularly in our mission system portfolio."Navy's next-gen fighter up for grabsAn artist rendering shows an early version of Northrop Grumman's design for the US Air Force's sixth-generation fighter. Northrop Grumman Northrop Grumman was selected to build the B-21 Raider, the Air Force's first sixth-generation stealth bomber, as part of the service's Long Range Strike Bomber program.The company unveiled the stealth bomber in late 2022, and the aircraft took its maiden flight in November 2023.Northrop Grumman is still in the running against Boeing to develop the Navy's next-generation fighter, the F/A-XX, which aims to replace the F/A-18E/F Super Hornet.Steep ambitions, steep price tagAn artist rendering of the US Air Force's sixth-generation fighter, the F-47. US Air Force The NGAD's steep ambitions to revolutionize the USair superiority missioncome with an equally steep price tag. In 2018, the Congressional Budget Office estimated that the NGAD airframe alone could cost up to $300 million each.Then-Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall said in 2023 that he anticipated the unit cost to be "too expensive to be purchased in large numbers," revealing the service's plan to team each NGAD with two CCAs.From 2022 to 2024, Congress allocated $5.1 billion to develop NGAD-related technologies, which included a "strategic pause" in the program due to high project costs. In 2025, the Biden administration requested $2.75 billion to build an NGAD platform, which could skyrocket to an estimated $5.72 billion by 2029.'China is a threat today'An F-22 flies over Davis-Monthan Air Force Base. US Air Force photo by Airman 1st Class Paige Weldon Kendall emphasized the pressing need for the NGAD "family of systems" amid evolving threats by US adversaries, especially after the Pentagon truncated the procurement of F-22 jets from 750 to 187 in 2009."NGAD will include attributes such as enhanced lethality and the ability to survive, persist, interoperate, and adapt in the air domain, all within highly contested operational environments," Kendall said in May 2023. "No one does this better than the US Air Force, but we will lose that edge if we don't move forward now."The urgency is also spurred in part by China's increasingly sophisticated long-range air defense and electronic warfare systems as China-Taiwan tensions contribute to growing militarization in the Indo-Pacific.The F-47 is expected to operate closely with two new uncrewed fighters, so-called "loyal wingmen" that are capable of flying missions too dangerous for a pilot in the cockpit.In a potential war scenario with China, defense analysts argued the F-22's limited range and payload capacity would be ill-suited for the terrain, consisting of islands spread hundreds of miles apart, leaving the fleet vulnerable to attack during refueling efforts."China is not a future threat; China is a threat today," Kendall said during a 2024 keynote address."I am not saying war in the Pacific is imminent or inevitable. It is not," he added. "But I am saying that the likelihood is increasing and will continue to do so."

US National Security Advisor Mike Waltz was one of the top officials who used the Signal app to discuss airstrikes in an apparent breach of security protocol. ALEX WROBLEWSKI/AFP via Getty Images 2025-03-25T22:43:15Z SaveSaved Read in app This story is available exclusively to Business Insider subscribers. Become an Insider and start reading now.Have an account? Military social media is buzzing with memes about officials' use (or misuse) of Signal.Trump officials mistakenly added a journalist to a Signal chat on military operations.The Pentagon recently warned against using Signal due to hacking concerns.Is the cure to male loneliness starting a group text to bomb the Houthis?That's one of the sarcastic questions posed in memes blowing up across military-focused social media after top Trump officials used Signal to discuss airstrikes against Yemen's Houthi militants an operational security violation, or OPSEC, almost certain to be career-ending or worse for a rank-and-file soldier.Vice President JD Vance, Trump's national security advisor Mike Waltz, and other top officials debated whether to strike Yemen in a group chat that mistakenly included Jeffery Goldberg, the editor in chief of The Atlantic, who reported on the chaotic exchange. Goldberg reported that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth shared an attack plan, including the names of those being targeted, before the airstrikes on the encrypted app raising concerns this practice could spoil the operation or endanger troops.President Donald Trump said Tuesday that "there was no classified information as I understand it," and Waltz added, "We have our legal teams looking at it."Signal has been widely used for years throughout lower military levels for communication. But even junior troops with access to top-secret materials, which could include pending missile strikes, have long known that communicating such sensitive details should only be done via government-provided secure lines, like SIPR (secure internet protocol router) email or phone, making the message exchange an intelligence gaffe of preposterous proportions.The founder of Signal, Moxie Marlinspike, mocked the spillage."Now including the opportunity for the vice president of the United States of America to randomly add you to a group chat for coordination of sensitive military operations," he wrote in a post on X Monday.Likely because of Signal's popularity, the Pentagon released new guidance last week discouraging the app's use even for everyday communications, NPR reported Tuesday. According to the memo NPR cites, "Russian professional hacking groups are employing the 'linked devices' features to spy on encrypted conversations," the guidance read."The use of Signal by common targets of surveillance and espionage activity has made the application a high value target to intercept sensitive information."The memo was dated March 18, one week after the baffling Houthi chat began.Memes circulating online poke fun at Hegseth, Vance, Waltz, and Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, all military veterans who presumably had to undergo annual cyber awareness while serving.Many memes and users pondered whether the entire military would be required to brush up on OPSEC (operational security) classes and ask if the adage "different spanks for different ranks," will continue to hold true.Former CIA operations officer John Sipher called the move "worse tha[n] amateur" in a post on BlueSky. "It 100% provides Moscow information on US capabilities and personalities. Information they can use down the line or share with Iran the Houthi enablers. It may provide ongoing access to some participants."Okay this one is my favorite Signal gate meme[image or embed] ex-Lethality Jane (@lethalityjane.bsky.social) March 25, 2025 at 2:04 PM"Member when all we had to worry about was some S2 dork bringing his cellphone into the scif?" asked one commenter, referring to personnel in ultra-secure areas known as sensitive compartmented information facilities. "Pepperidge farms remembers.""Text STOP to unsubscribe from war plan updates," read another."Somewhere a US Army counterintelligence agent is having a minor breakdown over how he has a perfect new case study for his annual OPSEC brief but he won't be able to use it for at least four years," read yet another BlueSky post.Somewhere a US Army counterintelligence agent is having a minor breakdown over how he has a perfect new casestudy for his annual OPSEC brief but he won't be able to use it for at least four years. ex-Lethality Jane (@lethalityjane.bsky.social) March 24, 2025 at 7:50 PMIt's unclear if Waltz, Hegseth, and other top leaders must take the same cyber awareness training that the rank and file are required to complete annually.

Lord of the Rings is no stranger to LEGO, but this new set is notable for its cosiness more than its grandeur here's all we know about LEGO Icons The Lord of the Rings: The ShireTech23:08, 25 Mar 2025Are you here on 'party business'?There's never a dull moment when LEGO is concerned. While we saw the reveal of a Pokemon LEGO collaboration last week, the company is back with a stunning new Lord of the Rings set.While Lord of the Rings has seen plenty of stunning LEGO sets with Rivendell, Barad-Dur, and a handful of BrickHeadz, this new LEGO Icons The Lord of the Rings: The Shire looks absolutely gorgeous and actually kind of cosy.Article continues belowThe new set includes Bilbo Baggins' home, while also including no fewer than nine minifigures, with a real Hobbit (well, actor Sean Astin) revealing all. Here's all we know.Remember, a wizard is never lateNot all those who wander are lost especially when travelling through the astonishing detail of the Shire made out of LEGO bricks! Astin says in a neat video package LEGO has put together.From the smallest hobbit-hole to the grandest fireworks, building this set brought back so many fond memories of Middle-earth.""Now fans can journey there themselves and build their own adventures.The "Unexpected Gathering" set took us to the Shire before, but this is all about Bilbo's famous 'eleventy-first' birthday party from the start of Fellowship of the Ring.Happy Birthday, Bilbo!The set will set you back 229.99, and has 2,017 pieces. It includes the front of Bilbo's home, while also featuring an interior, Merry and Pippin messing around with fireworks, some external decorations and that all-important dragon firework.As for the minifigs, you'll find Frodo and Bilbo, Gandalf, Merry, Pippin, Samwise, Mrs Proudfoot, Farmer Proudfoot and Rosie Cotton the latter three being debutants in LEGO form.Article continues belowFor the latest breaking news and stories from across the globe from the Daily Star, sign up for our newsletters.

Monster Hunter Wilds will introduce a new Monster and much, much more with its free title update dropping in the coming weeks here's everything we learned todayTech23:03, 25 Mar 2025Mizutsune should prove a challengeCapcom held its first look at the Monster Hunter Wilds Title Update today, and it certainly looks impressive.The free update, which forms the first part of an ambitious post-launch roadmap, will introduce a returning monster with the 'bubble dragon' Mizutsune, as well as more challenging encounters.Article continues belowThe game hit huge player numbers on launch day, despite some performance issues on PC, so Mizutsune will soon be coming up against millions of Hunters. Thankfully, the new Grand Hub should make it easier to party up with friends and like-minded comrades (something players had been complaining about).Here's all we learned today, with the full presentation below.The highlight is definitely Mizutsune, the 'bewitching dancer' who looks lethal in the new footage as it uses bubbles and swiftness. You only need to hit HR 21 to tackle the monster, too, which is nice.Naturally, a new monster brings new gear, too, so players can deck themselves and their Palico out.The new armour sets look greatMizutsune isn't alone, either. Arch-tempered Rey Dau, a tougher version of the lightning dragon, will arrive as part of an Event Quest on April 29, and offers its own rewards. You'll need to be HR 50 or above to take on the electrifying beast.Zoh Shia will be added as a repeatable foe, and comes with yet more slick armour to earn. And, it'll be easier than ever to team up with friends with the new Grand Hub.The new area comes with Barrel Bowling, arm wrestling, and The Diva, who you can watch while enjoying your time. It's accessible after reaching HR 16.Time trials are here as part of new Arena Quests, too, and you'll get Pendants for doing so. Better times give snazzier Pendants, while Challenge Quests will set your equipment before you fight.Yes, there's new Palico armour from Mizutsune New outfits for Alma, classic gestures, and a cosmetic pack will also arrive on April 4.As for what's next, a Seasonal Event called Festival of Accord: Blossomdance will kick off on Tuesday April 22. Interestingly, Capcom is teasing a 'Capcom Collaboration' at the end of May.Interestingly, it seems Lagiacrus could be the headline monster of Title Update 2. That's planned for Summer.Monster Hunter Wilds is Capcom's fast-selling game in the company's history, selling more than 8 million copies in its first three days.Article continues belowFor the latest breaking news and stories from across the globe from the Daily Star, sign up for our newsletters.

A24 and filmmaker Alex Scharfman are ready to shine a new light on unicorn lore with the arthouse distributors latest genre release. In Death of a Unicorn, Jenna Ortega (Wednesday) and Paul Rudd (Avengers: Endgame) play a daughter and father who accidentally run over a baby unicorn on the way to an important meetingone that could make or break their familys dealings with the dads mega-rich employer. The bizarre sequence of events leads to a discovery that could change the world, if it actually gets out of the realm of a mansion in the secluded magical woods. io9 recently sat down with Scharfman to discuss the films genesis, the decision to cast Ortega alongside some of the funniest actors working today, and why satire in todays world needs to be fantastical in order to be able to laugh at it. Sabina Graves, io9: So, Im not usually a unicorn fan, but I think you finally made me a unicorn girly. So thank you for that. Alex Scharfman: Thats what Jenna said too. Jenna was not into unicorns. I mean, I wasnt into unicorns until I started researching the movie. But yeah, I think hopefully people are getting a layer of depth that we didnt know was there for a while. io9: I get it now. They can be metal as hell. Lets start at the beginning. What is the backstory on you taking on this project specifically? Because its a wild ride.Scharfman: The idea just kind of came to me; the opening scene sort of splodged in my head somewhere and I dont really know where that came from. But sometimes that sort of thing happens, where you imagine a scene and youre like, Where does that go? This very naturally just started pulling the thread of like, Where does that lead? and What if someone hits a unicorn with their car? What is a unicorn? Like, what do we bring to that as a people? io9: When you imagined this happening to a daughter and her father, did you think, Oh yeah, Paul Rudd would be that dad?Scharfman: At the time, no, it was before actors or charactersit was a scenario. And I didnt know what was going on or where they were going or what it was; [it was] just something that stuck out in my mind. It took me a couple of years to even start exploring it. io9: Definitely. And it also gave me the vibes of a Kurt Vonnegut short story that takes fantastical elements to tell a very real satire tale. Scharfman: Can I just say Im a huge Kurt Vonnegut nerd? And he actually has a story about a father and son in the Middle Ages, which is weird.io9: Oh yeah, his unicorn hunting story. A24 Scharfman: Unicorn Trap.io9: Right! Scharfman: Yeah, okay. So you know the story. io9: Did you actually think about that while you were writing this, or was it happenstance?Scharfman: That was kind of happenstance to be honest. I have read and have the full Vonnegut anthology. Ive read every short story hes ever written. But that one was not one that I was actively thinking of, because the unicorns arent actually that big of a central figure in that. Its more about the father and son. io9: Definitely with that in mind, obviously youre a huge fan of satire then. Do you think there are fundamentals to making a satire film like this, especially during a time where literally every day in real life feels like a satire? Scharfman: Its funny, when I started writing this, I started outlining it like 2019. And I think fall 2019, Knives Out had just come out and I was like, Oh, cool, satire. Obviously, weve had a lot of satire lately in a class commentary vein. I think there was something about this that was attractive to me, when I started researching unicorn mythology and unicorn lore, which I think at a certain point I realized was kind of inherently about class and about social structures and strata. But especially the tapestries that we encounter in the movie that are referenced throughout, those are about a lord sending out his court and his minions to go kill a unicorn and bring it back to him so he can possess it forever. Its very much about commodifying nature and social hierarchy that allows one person to say, Go do this for me and bring it back here so I can own something, which I think is fundamentally about class and satire. I thought the story was kind of naturally asking for that. In terms of the context of 2025, I think when youre doing a horror satire, the fun of that is being able to do both horror and satire. [They] are genres that live well with metaphors and I think theres a fun opportunity to align metaphors. However, I do think that theres something intentionally unsubtle about the movie that I think is because we live in unsubtle times. And maybe thats what we do at this moment is, you know, we live in an era when the worlds wealthiest man has an office in the White House; its very much like its all on the surface. Now I feel like things used to be a lot more veiled and there were certain degrees of decorum or norms that have since been kind of chucked out the window. It felt appropriate to me to make something that was direct and hopefully cathartic, and I certainly thought about the unicorns having a sense of violent restorative justice, which feels appropriate for the moment we live in. io9: Like the whales versus yachts! Amazing. No, its so wild that this just happened to get on that wavelength, because I was dying from Will [Poulters] petulant tech bro performance. Because Im just like, wow, like were seeing a person like that all the time now, normalized, but he just nailed that role.Scharfman: I couldnt agree more. Im so lucky Will is in the movie and delivers the performance that he did because I think its funny and its wild and over the top and big, but its also very grounded in this kind of human psychology that I think speaks to a larger degree of, How do we get here? What kind of personality type did we as a society develop and foster into existence? This millennial man-child tech bro, these self-styled masters of the universe who think they have all the answers through a degree of bravado and just bolstering forward. A24 io9: He and everyone you surrounded Jenna with are the funniest people. So its kind of wild to see her up against the bonkers likes of Richard [E. Grant] and Paul [Rudd] with a straight face. That bit with Anthony [Carrigan] and the damn grandfather clock. I did not catch it on the first view until Jenna pointed it out!Scharfman: That was one of my favorite jokes; it really kills me. The movie takes inspiration from a lot of creature features from the 70s to 90s, but also class satires in the sense of genre, like Luis Buuels The Exterminating AngelGosford Park. These movies are real ensemble movies, which, I love an ensemble movie where you kind of have all these characters standing in for archetypes for social structures or things bigger than themselves. And because theyre this ensemble in a very contained way, they get to be a little bit larger than life. In this very contained ecosystem [of a film] it affords people the opportunity to be a little big from time to time, and to kind of lead it to that theatricality and that fun dash of camp. It was just fun populating that and then Jenna was kind of the audiences surrogate. Shes our eyes and ears. Shes the person whose values we agree with. That was kind of the nature of the story, [it] was always [Jennas character] Ridley at the center of this bizarre world and dealing with these crazy people, with the Leopold family and their schemes. Pauls character really recognizes [they] are crazy, but he wants things from the crazy people, so hes acting as if theyre not and shes not down with the game. io9: Touching back on your inspirations for the creature feature aspect of this, I for sure got John Carpenter and Amblin vibes. What are the mechanics of getting deep into thatobviously creating unicorns where they are a combination of practical and CG, and how you wanted to frame them in the story? Im so happy you didnt shy away from hiding them. Scharfman: I think in a contemporary creature feature, you need to satisfy that for the audience, and especially with a movie thats intentionally reinventing a creature. Keeping them in shadow, keeping them in fog, obscuring them for a while but by the end of the movie theyre in broad daylight just walking down the stairs, you know, and giving you that pleasure of saying Were actually going to get a good clean look at this thing.io9: What did the actors have to act against for all those suspenseful scenes? Scharfman: It was a combination of things we had. At times we had live horses on set, we had puppets on set. We had really large beautiful puppets. I love the puppets; they were so much fun. And whenever possible we use the puppets. It was really important throughout the whole process to have as much as possible practical elements in place, not just for the actors but for me composing shots, just wanting to see those as much as possible. Theres certainly VFX, but even when we had VFX, we had our puppet heads that were more of a VFX lighting reference head. We would have puppeteers still walk through the shots so that the actors knew where the creature would be, and knew what the creature would look like in each position, and how it would be moving around. Theres a real tactility to them; theres some shots that are just puppets, obviously, in the movie. Its always exciting when you can figure that out its part of the puzzle of the filmmaking process for a movie like this. Death of a Unicorn opens this Friday. Want more io9 news? Check out when to expect the latest Marvel, Star Wars, and Star Trek releases, whats next for the DC Universe on film and TV, and everything you need to know about the future of Doctor Who.

Not every product in your life needs to be the latest and greatest. Sometimes just a reliable workhouse that can get the job done is exactly what you need, and that role can be filled without breaking the bank. Thats exactly what this refurbished MacBook Air can be for you.This Apple laptop from 2017 originally launched with a price tag of $999, but because you patiently waited until now to grab a second-hand one in 2025, you will only pay $199. Thats a 79% discount and nearly $800 you get to keep in your wallet.See at StackSocialNow we wont lie, this isnt going to be the product for everyone. If youre someone who does intensive video editing work, deals with massive databases and spreadsheets, or is hoping to play the latest Assassins Creed, this MacBook Air will not serve you one bit. However, if some easy web browsing, email drafting, and word processing is more your speed, this refurbished artifact from our Presidents first term will serve you well.The 13.3 widescreen retina display laptop comes with 8GB of RAM and 128GB of storage. The Intel Core i5 1.8GHz processor will help you check off all of the days to-dos. The Intel HD Graphics 6000 will render high-quality video when streaming without a hitch, displaying in resolutions up to 1440 x 900. It has built-in Wi-Fi and Bluetooth so you can stay connected online and to all of your devices.The laptop has a silver aluminum case with multiple ports including an SD card slot. Sure, you could go spend a couple months rent on the newest model if thats what you desire, or you could hop on this deal and score the the kind of performance you need at a way lower price.Grade A/B RefurbishedThe 2017 MacBook Air available in this deal is marked with a Grade A/B rating from StackSocial. What this means is the seller is guaranteeing the laptop will arrive in near-mint condition with minimal to zero-amounts of scuffing on the case. Its battery will still be at a minimum health of 80% of what it once was. That works out to lasting you about 12 hours on a single charge and the laptop comes with a MagSafe wall charger.New does not always mean best. You need to identify what matters to you most and consider the price of each feature. If youre just looking for something you can check Facebook on that isnt your phone, then this refurbished MacBook Air from 2017 might be whats best for you. Get it now for just $199.See at StackSocial

Beauty Acupuncture Clinic Ryu no Ana / td-AtelierSave this picture! Matsumura KoheiArchitects: td-AtelierAreaArea of this architecture projectArea:73 mYearCompletion year of this architecture project Year: 2024 PhotographsPhotographs:Matsumura Kohei Lead Architects: Tada Masharu, Endo Shojiro More SpecsLess SpecsSave this picture!Diagonal of The Tenement House: Reconfiguration of the Two Townhouses Along Diagonal Axes A corner lined with townhouses a little south of Kawaramachi Shijo in Kyoto. Between the two townhouses, there is a tunnel alley leading to the back, and beyond that, there are rows of houses. Two townhouses in a row facing the tunnel alley were renovated and reborn as an acupuncture clinic. The two buildings in tandem have an extremely long and narrow space with a frontage of 3.5m and a depth of 21m. In order to use this efficiently, we set diagonal axes for the two townhouses and arranged functions along them.Save this picture!Save this picture!Save this picture!Save this picture!The roadside is a treatment building for acupuncture and moxibustion, and the space at the back, where you approach through the tunnel alley, is a relaxation building for meditation. The two buildings are connected by a courtyard and engawa.Save this picture!The exterior wall is set back 1.6m from the road, creating a distance from the city while the extended floor becomes a bench and provides a small place for the city to hang out. In the treatment building, the floor runs diagonally to avoid the old pillars, beams, and mud walls of the townhouse, and the treatment rooms, waiting area, and hot water supply space are placed on both sides. This is a space where the line of sight flows from the road to the courtyard along the diagonal axis. In contrast, in the relaxation building, the meditation room and water area are arranged as two white volumes. It is a space where you can walk through the gaps between the volumes.Save this picture!Save this picture!It is an architecture in which the boundary between inside and outside is shaken, with the courtyard coming into the room and the floor extending outward and jumping out. It was the wisdom of old Japanese people to seek comfort by blurring the inside and outside with things like shoji screens and verandas, but the modern arrangement of the middle area gives people solace.Project gallerySee allShow lessAbout this officetd-AtelierOfficePublished on March 25, 2025Cite: "Beauty Acupuncture Clinic Ryu no Ana / td-Atelier" 25 Mar 2025. ArchDaily. Accessed . <https://www.archdaily.com/1028296/beauty-acupuncture-clinic-ryu-no-ana-td-atelier&gt ISSN 0719-8884Save!ArchDaily?You've started following your first account!Did you know?You'll now receive updates based on what you follow! Personalize your stream and start following your favorite authors, offices and users.Go to my stream

A mouthful of chewing gum might also be a mouthful of microplastics, according to the results of a small pilot study. The research, presented at the spring meeting of the American Chemical Society, suggests that a single piece of chewing gum could introduce as many as 3,000 microplastic particles into the saliva, positioning them for potential ingestion.Our goal is not to alarm anybody, said Sanjay Mohanty, a study author and an engineering professor at the University of California, Los Angeles, according to a press release. But we know we are exposed to plastics in everyday life, and thats what we wanted to examine.Some Chewing Gum Is PlasticMost of us use products that expose us to microplastics each and every day. In fact, its thought that our food, our drinks, and our plastic packaging can cause us to ingest tens of thousands of microplastics each year, with every piece sitting at around 1 micrometer to 5 millimeters across. But chewing gums impact on our ingestion of microplastics isnt well studied.To fill this gap, Mohanty and Lisa Lowe, an engineering student also at the University of California, Los Angeles, set out to study the ingestion of microplastics from natural and synthetic gums. While natural gums are made from plant-based polymers, such as tree sap, synthetic gums are made of petroleum-based polymers and are essentially sticks of synthetic plastic.Our initial hypothesis was that the synthetic gums would have a lot more microplastics because the base is a type of plastic, Lowe said, according to the release. Surprisingly, both synthetic and natural gums had similar amounts of microplastics released when we chewed them.Ultimately, Mohanty and Lowes tests isolated an average of around 100 microplastic particles and a maximum of around 600 microplastic particles per gram of gum. That correlates to a maximum of around 3,000 microplastics in a larger piece of gum, all of which could be ingested through the saliva.Microplastic in SalivaAssessing five brands of natural gum and five brands of synthetic gum, Mohanty and Lowe asked a single participant to chew gum from each brand, creating a steady sample with consistent patterns of chewing and saliva production. In one test, the participant chewed gum from each brand for 4 minutes. In another, they chewed gum from each brand for 20 minutes. In both, they periodically provided saliva samples, which revealed the amount and rate of microplastic release over time. The testing showed that the majority of the microplastics were shed into the saliva within 2 minutes of chewing, while 94 percent were shed within 8 minutes. Interestingly, the chewing released these microplastics, rather than the presence of saliva, as the act was abrasive enough to tear tiny plastic particles from the larger pieces of gum.While capable of capturing plastics that measured as few as 20 micrometers across, Mohanty and Lowes method missed the smaller microplastics, meaning that more plastic particles were probably present in the participants saliva that they couldnt catch. The plastic released into saliva is a small fraction of the plastic thats in the gum, Mohanty said, according to the release.Is Gum Safe for Our Bodies?Ultimately, while it is clear that chewing gum exposes us to microplastics, it isnt clear what that exposure is doing to us. Scientists dont know if microplastics are unsafe to us or not, Mohanty said, according to the release. There are no human trials. However, studies on animals and on human cells have shown that microplastics can cause harm, so it makes sense to reduce our exposure to them when we can.To limit your intake of microplastics, Lowe recommends chewing on a single piece of gum for a long period of time rather than several pieces of gum for a shorter period of time. (Mohanty also recommends being careful about where you toss your chewed gum, as it could contribute to environmental plastic pollution.) Of course, removing gum from your everyday routine can also reduce your exposure to microplastics. By cutting down on gum, you could swap a satisfying chew for a mouth a little less full of tiny plastic particles.This article is not offering medical advice and should be used for informational purposes only.Read More: How Microplastics Sneak Into Our BodiesArticle SourcesOur writers at Discovermagazine.com use peer-reviewed studies and high-quality sources for our articles, and our editors review for scientific accuracy and editorial standards. Review the sources used below for this article:American Chemical Society. Chewing Gums: Unintended Sources of Ingested Microplastics in HumansAmerican Chemical Society. Chewing Gum Can Shed Microplastics Into SalivaAmerican Chemical Society Publications. Human Consumption of MicroplasticsSam Walters is a journalist covering archaeology, paleontology, ecology, and evolution for Discover, along with an assortment of other topics. Before joining the Discover team as an assistant editor in 2022, Sam studied journalism at Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois.

NASAs James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) has caught yet another spectacle in a newly released image of a cosmic tornado forming billows of gas and dust that appear to be crowned with a spiral galaxy. This colorful display, known as Herbig-Haro 49/50, illustrates an outflow that was originally launched from a young star and is now zipping through space at breakneck speed.The galaxy sitting at the summit of the colorful arc is really much more distant than it seems and entirely unrelated to the outflow. In a stroke of luck, however, the two features have aligned to create a satisfying image that is helping scientists understand the eccentricities of star formation.Creation of the Cosmic TornadoLocated in the Chamaeleon I Cloud Complex 625 light-years from Earth, Herbig-Haro 49/50 (HH 49/50) was first spotted by NASAs retired Spitzer Space Telescope in 2006. Inspired by its helix-like appearance, scientists nicknamed it the cosmic tornado, yet they werent so sure about the bright, fuzzy object at the top of this tornado. Enhanced imaging from JWSTs Near-Infrared Camera and Mid-Infrared Instrument has led to the realization that the object is actually a spiral galaxy making the perfect cameo.Like other Herbig-Haro objects, the extraordinary design of HH 49/50 originated from a developing star that expelled a jet of gas; barreling through dense regions of space at speeds of 60 miles to 190 miles per second, the jet heated up cosmic gas and dust that eventually cooled to produce the reddish-orange tornado appearance.JWST captured hydrogen molecules, carbon monoxide molecules, and grains of dust that have been jostled by shockwaves from the jet, causing them to emit light at visible and infrared wavelengths.The Star Where It All BeganThe updated image of HH 49/50 has given scientists a clear view of the jets movement. Based on previous observations of the outflow, they suspect that a protostar (the earliest phase in stellar evolution) called Cederblad 110 IRS4 located about 1.5 light years away from HH 49/50 may be the original source.Scientists now have a better idea of what direction the jet is coming from, but not all arcs in the outflow can be traced back to the same location. One anomaly is an outcrop feature at the top right of the main outflow, which scientists think could be associated with a different outflow that may have also fortuitously aligned with HH 49/50 in the image. However, it could also be a portion of the main outflow that has broken apart.Guest Appearance of a GalaxyIn the JWST image, the spiral galaxy at the top of HH 49/50 can be seen with a blue center, which is where a collection of older stars lies. The bulge at the center shows signs of side lobes, indicating that this could be a barred spiral; these common subtypes of spiral galaxies contain a bar of stars that stretches across the center (the Milky Way is also a barred spiral, as are two-thirds of all spiral galaxies). Bars are believed to play an important role in the evolution of host galaxies, transporting gas from outer regions to the innermost regions.HH 49/50 will continue to move across space, and after thousands of years, it will appear to cover up the spiral galaxy. Although Herbig-Haro objects are transient phenomena, meaning they eventually disappear, the accidental alignment of HH 49/50 will still endure for quite a long time. Article SourcesOur writers at Discovermagazine.com use peer-reviewed studies and high-quality sources for our articles, and our editors review for scientific accuracy and editorial standards. Review the sources used below for this article:NASA. Types of GalaxiesAstronomy and Astrophysics. Effect of bars on the galaxy propertiesJack Knudson is an assistant editor at Discover with a strong interest in environmental science and history. Before joining Discover in 2023, he studied journalism at the Scripps College of Communication at Ohio University and previously interned at Recycling Today magazine

Its the perfect time to start training for that marathon or century. I mean, not for me. Im good with just biking from brewery to brewery. But when I do, Im even gooder if its pint > Pitbull > pint > Prince > pint you get it. And you can get it for less if you buy a portable Bluetooth speaker or exercise-friendly earbuds while theyre discounted during Amazons Big Spring Sale. Ultimate Ears MINIROLL Ultra-Portable Waterproof Bluetooth Speaker $59.99 (was $79.99)Tony WareSee ItThe MINIROLL is Ultimate Ears smallest, cheapest portable Bluetooth speakera diminutive disk with a hookable strap that has helped us keep pace on purposeful rides. You can use this personal speaker to pump motivation or just navigation prompts. The big volume buttons, with pause/play on the side, mean you never need to stop and get out a phone to control the sound. Its rated IP67 and has 12 hours battery life, so will keep going as long as you can. And its as easy to attach to a backpack when youre hiking as it is handlebars while youre in the saddle.SHOKZ OpenRun 2 Open Ear Bone Conduction Sport Headphones $149 (was $179)Tony WareSee ItPrefer not to share your guilty pleasures? The SHOKZ OpenRun 2 is an open-ear bone-conduction headphone that vibrates your facial bones to transfer sound to your inner ear. This allows you to listen to your favorite music or podcasts without losing situational awareness. Typically, this style isnt good for bass, but SHOKZ has addressed this by adding an 18mmx11mm racetrack woofer pointed at your ear to produce lower lows. Its this combinationplus the 12-hour battery life and IP55 ratingthat make these one of our favorite options for running, cycling, and just working out in general.More Amazon Big Spring Sale personal audio dealsSony WH-1000XM5 Wireless Noise-Canceling Headphones $328 (was $399)Sony WH-1000XM4 Wireless Noise-Canceling Headphones $248 (was $348)JBL CHARGE 5 Portable Waterproof Bluetooth Speaker $119 (was $179)JBL Go 4 Ultra-Portable, Waterproof & Dustproof Bluetooth Speaker $39 (was $49)TREBLAB HD-Go Ultra-Portable Hand-Held Speaker with Clip $29 (was $35)TREBLAB HD77 360 30W IPX7 Bluetooth Speaker $60 (was $102) TREBLAB X3 Pro True Wireless Earhook IPX5 Earbuds $51 (was $99)Bose QuietComfort Ultra Bluetooth Noise-Cancelling Headphones with Spatial Audio $349 (was $429)Bose QuietComfort Bluetooth Noise-Cancelling Headphones $249 (was $349)JLab Go Air Sport+ Wireless Earhook Workout Earbuds $19 (was $29)JLab Epic Air Sport ANC Gen 2 IP66 True Wireless Earhook Earbuds $59 (was $99)The post Our favorite cycling speaker is $20 off during Amazons Big Spring Sale appeared first on Popular Science.