In its first month of release, Capcom's latest Monster Hunter game has passed an impressive milestone. Read more

You can trust VideoGamer. Our team of gaming experts spend hours testing and reviewing the latest games, to ensure you're reading the most comprehensive guide possible. Rest assured, all imagery and advice is unique and original. Check out how we test and review games hereHelldivers 2 fans are anticipating a new update. This new patch should fix the OP buff Arrowhead has confirmed is a bug, meanwhile, the developer will also soon be fixing a nerf that is a bug, too. While fixes are necessary for a couple of HD2 weapons, a Helldivers 2 leak has also revealed a massive max level increase that requires an insane amount of XP to reach the very top.Helldivers 2 leak reveals level increaseCurrently, the max level Helldivers 2 players can reach is 150. According to Iron_S1ghts, this is set to be increased to 200 with the following XP requirements:Level 151 8,088,010 XPLevel 152 8,205,310 XPLevel 153 8,323,310 XPLevel 154 8,442,010 XPLevel 155 8,561,410 XPLevel 156 8,681,510 XPLevel 157 8,802,310 XPLevel 158 8,923,810 XPLevel 159 9,046,010 XPLevel 160 9,168,910 XPLevel 161 9,292,510 XPLevel 162 9,416,810 XPLevel 163 9,541,810 XPLevel 164 9,667,510 XPLevel 165 9,793,910 XPLevel 166 9,921,010 XPLevel 167 10,048,810 XPLevel 168 10,177,310 XPLevel 169 10,306,510 XPLevel 170 10,436,410 XPLevel 171 10,567,010 XPLevel 172 10,698,310 XPLevel 173 10,830,310 XPLevel 174 10,963,010 XPLevel 175 11,096,410 XPLevel 176 11,230,510 XPLevel 177 11,365,310 XPLevel 178 11,500,810 XPLevel 179 11,637,010 XPLevel 180 11,773,910 XPLevel 181 11,911,510 XPLevel 182 12,049,810 XPLevel 183 12,188,810 XPLevel 184 12,328,510 XPLevel 185 12,468,910 XPLevel 186 12,610,010 XPLevel 187 12,751,810 XPLevel 188 12,894,310 XPLevel 189 13,037,510 XPLevel 190 13,181,410 XPLevel 191 13,326,010 XPLevel 192 13,471,310 XPLevel 193 13,617,310 XPLevel 194 13,764,010 XPLevel 195 13,911,410 XPLevel 196 14,059,510 XPLevel 197 14,208,310 XPLevel 198 14,357,810 XPLevel 199 14,508,010 XPLevel 200 14,658,910 XPObviously, 14 million XP is a ridiculous amount. As pointed out by the leaker, its likely these values will be changed for release as just level 150 to 151 is a 7x increase from 1,168,000 to 8,088,010 XP.While the values are up for debate, introducing a level increase from 150 to 200 is fantastic news for the Helldivers 2 community. It would be even better if Arrowhead added a reward for reaching the very top of the mountain, but its unfortunately unlikely.For more Helldivers 2, check out our guide to thebest warbonds ranked, along with thebest stratagemsandbest throwables. We have also a guide to thebest weapons, and, if youre coming back to HD2 for the first time in a long while, we have a bunch oftips and tricksto help you get reaccustomed to the battlefield.Helldivers 2Platform(s):PC, PlayStation 5Genre(s):Action, Shooter, Third Person8VideoGamerRelated TopicsHelldivers 2 Subscribe to our newsletters!By subscribing, you agree to our Privacy Policy and may receive occasional deal communications; you can unsubscribe anytime.Share

You can trust VideoGamer. Our team of gaming experts spend hours testing and reviewing the latest games, to ensure you're reading the most comprehensive guide possible. Rest assured, all imagery and advice is unique and original. Check out how we test and review games hereAs Marvel Rivals first season comes to a close, excitement is rising around leaks and speculation about Season 2, which will premiere on April 11, 2025. Fans of the popular hero shooter have been humming with anticipation, spurred by datamined clues and insider leaks pointing to new characters, themes, and content.Among the most fascinating rumors is the return of Blade, the renowned vampire hunter, whose probable debut has dominated discussions in gaming communities. Leaks imply that Season 2 will be themed around the Hellfire Gala, an X-Men-inspired event. Still, Blades rumored involvement has players on edge, especially given his important position in Season 1s backstory as Draculas captive.With the Fantastic Four ready to defeat the vampire lord before the end of the season, there is widespread anticipation that Blade will make an appearance as a playable character. Adding fuel to the flames, official Blade merchandise has begun to appear on online sites, confirming his impending presence in Marvel Rivals. Heres what it looks like and how you can get it.Marvel Rivals Blade rumors confirmed for Season 2 as merch hits online stores Ahead of his anticipated rumored release in Marvel Rivals Season 2, Blade seems to have now been confirmed as a new character that will be added to the next season, as his merchandise is being sold on the Hot Topic website.Blade shirts are going on sale in stores ahead of his Season 2 release rumors. Image by VideoGamer.Earlier this month, a similar listing for Ultron merch was also spotted on the website, which had the exact same leaked art of the character that has been making rounds on social media for quite some time. Similarly, the Blade T-Shirt is also being sold with the leaked character art, and fans can grab it for $19.92 right now. The shirt comes in seven sizes, from XS to 3XL, and features a Blade motif printed on a black tee.Blade can also be currently seen in the newly added Empire of Eternal Night: Central Park, chained in the spawn room. You can also read the Vampire Hunters lore in the Gallery pages of Marvel Rivals, as well as the Midnight Features event quests.While players decrypt whether its an official merch or not, to those unaware, Hot Topic is a website that deals in made-to-order shirts, meaning they can print any graphic on their website on a shirt of your size based on your preference that may or may not have been licensed by Marvel themselves.Marvel RivalsPlatform(s):macOS, PC, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series S, Xbox Series XGenre(s):Fighting, ShooterRelated TopicsMarvel Rivals Subscribe to our newsletters!By subscribing, you agree to our Privacy Policy and may receive occasional deal communications; you can unsubscribe anytime.Share

Stanford researchers have discovered a naturally occurring molecule, BRP, that reduces appetite and body weight in animals similarly to semaglutide (Ozempic) but without its common side effects like nausea and muscle loss. Using AI, they identified BRP from a pool of prohormones, showing it activates distinct brain pathways and may offer a more targeted, tolerable obesity treatment. (Artists concept).A Stanford Medicine study used artificial intelligence to discover a naturally occurring molecule, specifically, a peptide, that reduced appetite and promoted weight loss in both mice and pigs.Researchers at Stanford Medicine have identified a naturally occurring molecule that mimics the appetite-suppressing and weight-reducing effects of semaglutide, the active ingredient in Ozempic. In animal studies, this molecule, called BRP, demonstrated similar benefits without some of semaglutides common side effects, such as nausea, constipation, and significant muscle loss.BRP works through a distinct but related metabolic pathway and activates different neurons in the brain, suggesting it may offer a more precise and potentially safer approach to weight management.The receptors targeted by semaglutide are found in the brain but also in the gut, pancreas, and other tissues, said assistant professor of pathology Katrin Svensson, PhD. Thats why Ozempic has widespread effects including slowing the movement of food through the digestive tract and lowering blood sugar levels. In contrast, BRP appears to act specifically in the hypothalamus, which controls appetite and metabolism.The 12-amino-acid BRP peptide (spheres are atoms and sticks are bonds) suppresses appetite and reduces weight gain in mice and pigs without causing nausea or food aversion. Credit: Katrin SvenssonSvensson, the senior author of the study published on March 5 in Nature, has co-founded a company to begin clinical trials of the newly discovered molecule in humans in the near future. The studys lead author is Laetitia Coassolo, PhD, a senior research scientist.The research was made possible by the use of artificial intelligence, which helped analyze dozens of proteins from a class known as prohormones. Prohormones are biologically inert molecules that become active when they are cleaved by other proteins into smaller pieces called peptides; some of these peptides then function as hormones to regulate complex biological outcomes, including energy metabolism, in the brain and other organs.Each prohormone can be divided in a variety of ways to create a plethora of functional peptide progeny. But with traditional methods of protein isolation, its difficult to pick peptide hormones (which are relatively rare) out of the biological soup of the much more numerous natural byproducts of protein degradation and processing.The researchers focused on the prohormone convertase 1/3, which separates prohormones at specific amino acid sequences and is known to be involved in human obesity. One of the peptide products is glucagon-like peptide 1, or GLP-1, which regulates appetite and blood sugar levels; semaglutide works by mimicking the effect of GLP-1 in the body. The team turned to artificial intelligence to help them identify other peptides involved in energy metabolism.Peptide PredictorInstead of manually isolating proteins and peptides from tissues and using techniques like mass spectrometry to identify hundreds of thousands of peptides, the researchers designed a computer algorithm they named Peptide Predictor to identify typical prohormone convertase cleavage sites in all 20,000 human protein-coding genes. They then focused on genes that encode proteins that are secreted outside the cell a key characteristic of hormones and that have four or more possible cleavage sites. Doing so narrowed down the search to 373 prohormones, a manageable number to screen for their biological effects.Katrin Svensson. Credit: Stanford UniversityThe algorithm was absolutely key to our findings, Svensson said.Peptide Predictor predicted that prohormone convertase 1/3 would generate 2,683 unique peptides from the 373 proteins. Coassolo and Svensson focused on sequences likely to be biologically active in the brain. They screened 100 peptides, including GLP-1, for their ability to activate lab-grown neuronal cells.As expected, the GLP-1 peptide had a robust effect on the neuronal cells, increasing their activity threefold over control cells. But a small peptide made up of just 12 amino acids bumped up the cells activity tenfold over controls. The researchers named this peptide BRP based on its parent prohormone, BPM/retinoic acid inducible neural specific 2, or BRINP2 (BRINP2-related-peptide).When the researchers tested the effect of BRP on lean mice and minipigs (which more closely mirror human metabolism and eating patterns than mice do) they found that an intramuscular injection of BRP prior to feeding reduced food intake over the next hour by up to 50% in both animal models. Obese mice treated with daily injections of BRP for 14 days lost an average of 3 grams due almost entirely to fat loss while control animals gained about 3 grams over the same period. The mice also demonstrated improved glucose and insulin tolerance.Behavioral studies of the mice and pigs found no differences in the treated animals movements, water intake, anxiety-like behavior, or fecal production. And further studies of physiological and brain activity showed that BRP activates metabolic and neuronal pathways separate from those activated by GLP-1 or semaglutide.The researchers hope to identify the cell-surface receptors that bind BRP and to further dissect the pathways of its action. They are also investigating how to help the peptides effects last longer in the body to allow a more convenient dosing schedule if the peptide proves to be effective in regulating human body weight.The lack of effective drugs to treat obesity in humans has been a problem for decades, Svensson said. Nothing weve tested before has compared to semaglutides ability to decrease appetite and body weight. We are very eager to learn if it is safe and effective in humans.Reference: Prohormone cleavage prediction uncovers a non-incretin anti-obesity peptide by Laetitia Coassolo, Niels B. Danneskiold-Samse, Quennie Nguyen, Amanda Wiggenhorn, Meng Zhao, David Cheng-Hao Wang, David Toomer, Jameel Lone, Yichao Wei, Aayan Patel, Irene Liparulo, Deniz Kavi, Lianna W. Wat, Saranya Chidambaranathan Reghupaty, Julie Jae Kim, Tina Asemi, Ewa Bielczyk-Maczynska, Veronica L. Li, Maria Dolores Moya-Garzon, Nicole A. J. Krentz, Andreas Stahl, Danny Hung-Chieh Chou, Liqun Luo and Katrin J. Svensson, 5 March 2025, Nature.DOI: 10.1038/s41586-025-08683-yResearchers from the University of California, Berkeley; the University of Minnesota; and the University of British Columbia contributed to the work.The study was funded by the National Institutes of Health (grants R01DK125260, P30DK116074, K99AR081618 and GM113854), the SPARK Translational Research Program at Stanford, Stanford Bio-X, the Stanford Maternal and Child Health Research Institute, the American Heart Association, a Stanford Medicine Deans Fellowship Award, the Carlsberg Foundation, and the Wu Tsai Human Performance Alliance.Svensson and Coassolo are inventors on patents regarding BRP peptides for metabolic disorders. Svensson is a co-founder of Merrifield Therapeutics.

Just over a month since the game dove from a Seikret and latched onto the back of the gaming world, Monster Hunter Wilds has sold over 10 million units across all platforms. This figure smashes the previous one-month sale record for Capcom, cementing the game as a massive financial success as well as a critical darling. Read more

Back In BotlackA year on from Malevelon Creek's memed-to-death liberation, Helldivers 2 pulls the trigger on sending players back there to stop the bots achieving "greatest net desecration"Also, if AVX2 issues have suddenly rendered you unable to play on PC since the last patch, Arrowhead says a fix is coming.Image credit: Arrowhead News by Mark Warren Senior Staff Writer Published on March 31, 2025 Helldivers 2's Galactic War has made its way back to the infamous Malevelon Creek just in time for the one year anniversary of the fierce fighting that led the planet - dubbed Robot Vietnam by players - getting its own memorial day canonized into the game's lore.Yep, as folks were speculating last week, The Creek is back as a major order focus, with the mission having plenty of call-backs to the battle on it last year, which has since generated endless memes within the HD2 community. Basically, vets who fought in that battle keep telling newer players that they weren't there, man.To see this content please enable targeting cookies. Anyway, now the planet's being battled for again, as an Automaton assault led by flamethrower toting bots called the Incineration Corps threatens to target it."This hallowed ground is the resting place of many, many brave Helldivers whose ultimate sacrifices freed the planet from the Automatons early in the war," Arrowhead wrote in its briefing for this major order, "Now, the enemy seeks to defile their gravesobviously having calculated that seizing the planet on the upcoming Malevelon Creek Memorial Day would result in the greatest net desecration."So, as of writing, players have just over five days and two hours left to secure Malevelon Creek and keep it under Super Earth control "by any means necessary", with the fighting not quite having reached the famed planet yet. Instead, the battle's currently raging on Popli IX in the Xzar system that neighbours the Creek's system - that being the Severin Sector. To see this content please enable targeting cookies.Arrowhead's also dished out a new stratagem to everyone that might help you if you're dropping in to help hold off the bots. It's the E/GL-21 Grenadier Battlement, and it drops in to deploy you a barricade you can take cover behind, or in one case so far, host some kind of Illuminate Voteless mosh pit.It's also worth noting that if you've been struggling to play Helldivers 2 without issue on PC since the last patch, 01.002.200, Arrowhead community manager Katherine 'Baskinator' Baskin has announced via the game's Discord that its devs are "currently working on a fix" for an "AVX2 issue". This issue appears to be related to a change to howe the game does AI calculations.For now, it looks to be PC-specific and mainly affecting those trying to run the game on machines with older CPUs that may well be under its listed minimum recommended system requirements. However, some players with up-to-date hardware are also reporting noticing a performance diference in higher-difficulty missions that's more pronounced than the "slight trade-off" Arrowhead indicated in the notes.Are you diving in to help protect The Creek and have you been running into any issues with Helldivers 2 since that last patch? Let us know below!

Image: Square EnixNier Automata is widely regarded as one of the finest action games in recent years thanks to its remarkably compelling gameplay and deceptively deep storytelling.In a new interview with AV Watch (thanks, Automaton), PlayStation vet Shuhei Yoshida went so far as to credit Automata as the "game that changed everything". He said that it effectively reversed the Japanese game industry's fortunes after years of struggle during the late 2000s and early 2010s when it tried too hard to appeal to Western tastes.Subscribe to Nintendo Life on YouTube801kWatch on YouTube Yoshida said "I think Yoko Taro (director) created it without paying any mind at all to making it sell overseas, but it was a tremendous success". Indeed, these words echo the sentiments of Masahiro Sakurai, who recently stated the importance of Japanese developers making games with domestic appeal rather than overseas appeal.Yoko Taro went one step further, however, and claimed on social media that he was actually ordered by producer Yosuke Saito to ignore what the West would ultimately think of his game."I'm honored that Automata is being praised, but it was Saito-P who ordered me to 'make it for the Japanese market without worrying about overseas reviews'.To be more precise, I remember him saying something like, 'You can't make a game for overseas, so (at least) do your best to make it for Japan'."Saito responded to this statement to soften the message somewhat, saying:What I said at the time went more like this:"Since were Japanese people, theres no need for us to go out of our way to cater to people overseas. Surely, well be able to attract at least a million players among all the people out there who genuinely want to play a Japanese game made by a Japanese person (the one and only Yoko Taro).Whatever the task was at the time, we think it's safe to say that the resulting game was an absolute banger, and well-deserving of its enduring praise. When we reviewed it for the Nintendo Switch, we called it a "modern classic" and awarded it a score of 9/10. The 15th anniversary takes place next yearNieR-ly perfectHave you played Nier Automata on Switch or elsewhere? What do you make of it? Share your thoughts with a comment down below.Related GamesSee AlsoShare:00 Nintendo Lifes resident horror fanatic, when hes not knee-deep in Resident Evil and Silent Hill lore, Ollie likes to dive into a good horror book while nursing a lovely cup of tea. He also enjoys long walks and listens to everything from TOOL to Chuck Berry. Hold on there, you need to login to post a comment...Related ArticlesNintendo Direct Confirmed For Today, 27th March 202530 minutes of news for OG Switch gamesMetroid Prime 4: Beyond's Official Switch Box Art Is Absolutely StunningAhhhh we want itPokmon Scarlet & Violet: Mystery Gift Codes ListAll the current Pokmon Scarlet and Violet Mystery Gift codesRumour: A Switch 1 Direct Presentation May Take Place This WeekColour us sceptical, thoughRound Up: Everything From Japan's Nintendo Direct Broadcast (March 2025)More games are on the way!

Image: Nintendo LifeWell, that was somewhat short-lived. After briefly witnessing a new Nintendo release on the podium, the Big N's latest has seen quite the fall in its second week.Yes, last week's silver medal wasn't enough to keep Xenoblade Chronicles X: Definitive Edition in the race this time, with the latest RPG dropping all the way down to 13th. Assassin's Creed Shadows continues to kill off the rest of the competition from the top spot, and Fireshine's British apocalyptic survivor, Atomfall, debuts at number two.Subscribe to Nintendo Life on YouTube801kWatch on YouTube This leaves Nintendo's old faithful to pick up the slack, once again. Mario Kart 8 Deluxe and Minecraft keep chugging along in seventh and eighth, while Hello Kitty Island Adventure starts strong on Switch and debuts in 10th.But that's quite enough chit-chat. Here's a look at the full top 40 for this week, with platform breakdowns for all of the titles available on other consoles as well as the Switch:Last WeekThis WeekGamePlatform Split11Assassin's Creed ShadowsNEW2Atomfall33Astro Bot44EA Sports FC 25Switch 42%, PS5 32%, PS4 20%, Xbox Series 6%55Split FictionNEW6The First Berserker: Khazan77Mario Kart 8 Deluxe88Minecraft99Call of Duty: Black Ops 6NEW10Hello Kitty Island Adventure611WWE 2K251112Super Mario Party Jamboree213Xenoblade Chronicles X: Definitive Edition1814Hogwarts LegacySwitch 47%, PS5 26%, PS4 12%, Xbox Series 8%1015Monster Hunter Wilds1216It Takes TwoSwitch 80%, PS4 20%2017Topspin 2K251918Nintendo Switch Sports1719Animal Crossing: New Horizons1320Super Mario Bros. Wonder1621Grand Theft Auto V2922EA Sports UFC 51523F1 242124MySims Cozy Bundle2825The Witcher III: Wild Hunt Complete Edition2226Red Dead RedemptionPS4 76%, Switch 24%3027Donkey Kong Country Returns HD2628Sonic SuperstarsSwitch 64%, PS5 23%, Xbox Series 7%, PS4 6%2329Armored Core VI: Fires of Rubicon3630Super Mario Odyssey-31Disney Epic Mickey: RebrushedPS5 61%, Switch 35%, Xbox Series 3%3432Just Dance 2025 EditionSwitch 97%, PS5 3%3733Sonic X Shadow GenerationsPS5 49%, Switch 35%, PS4 10%, Xbox Series 10%3834Marvel's Spider-Man 23335LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker SagaPS5 67%, Switch 23%, PS4 5%, Xbox Series 5%-36Star Wars Jedi: Survivor3537Pokmon Violet-38Sniper Elite: Resistance-39Star Wars Outlaws2540Need For Speed: Hot Pursuit - RemasteredSwitch 99%, PS4 1%[Compiled by GfK]< Last week's chartsDid you pick up anything new this week? Let us know what you think of the latest charts in the comments below. Robot JoxRelated GamesSee AlsoShare:03 Jim came to Nintendo Life in 2022 and, despite his insistence that The Minish Cap is the best Zelda game and his unwavering love for the Star Wars prequels (yes, really), he has continued to write news and features on the site ever since. Hold on there, you need to login to post a comment...Related ArticlesRumour: Nintendo Switch 2 To Launch In June With 3-Phase Software PlanGoing through phaazesNintendo Direct Confirmed For Today, 27th March 202530 minutes of news for OG Switch gamesMetroid Prime 4: Beyond's Official Switch Box Art Is Absolutely StunningAhhhh we want itPokmon Scarlet & Violet: Mystery Gift Codes ListAll the current Pokmon Scarlet and Violet Mystery Gift codes

Shaders Plus is a game-changer for Blender the most popular and leading addon for achieving industry-standard shader effects. In this video, were giving it the attention it deserves.This entire session is dedicated to showcasing the full power of this addon. Over the next 40+ minutes, well demonstrate each of its key features: real-time caustics, thin film effects, and spectral dispersion thats incredibly physically accurate. We wont just show you what it can do, well also walk you through how to harness its potential for your own projects.Links and credits:SMOUSE Everything Bundle use a coupon code gleb10 to get an extra 10% discount (a limited number of copies)SMOUSE on Gumroad the coupon code gleb10 should still work!Shaders PlusUnderwater Caustics Shader (Free and Pro versions)Music: Spooky Boop Otis McDonaldLuxCoreRenderPolyhaven (HDRI panoramas, CC0)Brown Sneakers by yanix, CC AttributionBlaps mortisaga by Virtual Museums of Maopolska, CC0 Public DomainSanta Maria del Fiore Entrance by Shahriar Shahrabi, CC AttributionJeff Koons Balloon Dog by Jorge Vsquez Prez, CC Attribution2022 Volkswagen Lamando L 280 TSI by Ddiaz Design, CC AttributionPixabay (free images)Blender to Resolve: a Freemium Video CourseThe post SMOUSE Add-ons Shaders Plus appeared first on Creative Shrimp.

Architecture firms that specialize in science and technology work, or larger companies with divisions that specialize in lab and research facilities, have spent the last few years pivoting toward different project types, as the boom years of biotech building continue to fizzle. The designers who specialize in building spaces for innovation need to innovate how they sell their services and find work. A pandemic-era upswing in life sciences investment created a lab building boom in 2021 and 2022, which has since created a supply glut, with tens of millions of square feet of brand-new, empty lab space in top markets such as San Diego, Boston, and the Bay Area. The resultwith a third of the nations lab space empty and in search of tenantshas been a near-complete shutdown in new lab construction and corresponding demand for lab architecture.Cooper Carry renovation of Halyard Health Corporate Research and Development Facility (Courtesy Cooper Carry)Its down across the country, except for a few exceptions in Texas and across the Front Range in the Rocky Mountains, said Ed Cordes, Perkins&Wills leader of the firms science and technology practice, which employs about 300. We think were about three years out before all the new lab supply gets absorbed. Its not great.In addition, the Donald Trump administration has severely curtailed federal support for research funding and universities. The push to cap whats called indirect costs at 15 percentsupport for basic research including materials and labormeans billions of fewer dollars will go to universities that would support the ongoing operations of new and existing research centers. Ken Richter, National Life Science Sector Lead for Project Management Advisors, an industry consultancy, said these cuts represent a significant headwind for an important part of the industry, and some research institutions are canceling or putting large developments on hold. Gavin Keith, Life Science Core Market Leader at DPR, said that over the last four years, the lab real estate most affected by oversupply have been the commercial biotech developments for startups and emerging markets done by commercial developers and real estate investment trusts. Architects tend to focus on the academic research and medical lab facilities.Weve seen very little activity when it comes to that commercial part of the lab market, said Keith.The loss of the AAAA commercial biotech lab market, and the shrinking federal contribution to research funding, has created a gap in the market for science and technology architects, which firm leaders seek to fill with related projects. Designers with the skills to design around complex workflows, understand sophisticated science and inquiry, and work with high-tech machines, tend to have transferable skills.Franklin Antonio Hall at the University of San Diego, designed by Perkins&Will (Nick Merrick)Within biotech, theres still a heavy focus on diagnostics and medical devices, as well as pharmaceutical research and manufacturing, especially by Big Pharma firms like Eli Lilly and Johnson & Johnson. Keith said theres tremendous investment in research and development, just in private companies that arent dependent on venture capital.Architectural firms should look to pivot from pure research and discovery to diagnostics and medical devices, and labs for healthcare companies to do translational research, said Keith. Cordes said theres also an explosion in academic medical center projects, including the rebuilding of schools of medicine and allied health, a response to the aging U.S. population.But overall, the academic market has become more challenging. Brent Amos, principal and leader of the Science + Technology Studio at Cooper Carry, said hes seen a significant drop-off in the number of RFPs for large projects in the last year, and his firm has mostly been doing renovations and studies for future projects.Northwestern Querrey Biomedical by Perkins&Will (James Steinkamp)Perkins&Will made a larger pivot and redeployment of their science and technology team a few years ago, when they observed changing interest rates and shifting market demands. Part of this shift has been working more in advanced manufacturingincluding working on micro-nuclear reactors for powering data centers. Cordes said the division isnt booking, but staying busy. Cooper Carry has been making similar pivots, working on advanced manufacturing projects as lab work remains unsteady. The shift that this sector of the architecture profession is making mirrors the evolution of labs, which has grown from just encompassing traditional visions of labs, with benches and test tubes, to the growth of specialty labs for various industries, from semiconductor labs to ag-tech labs making fake meats.Everyone talks about designing facilities that are flexible and adaptable, said Cordes. There is no better example of it than right now, and designing some of these speculative lab buildings. The spaces will be different in the next ten years than theyve been in the past ten years.Patrick Sisson is a Chicago expat living in Los Angeles who covers design, policy, and the trends that shape our cities.