March 31, 20259 min readDoes Intermittent Fasting ImproveHealthBeyond Weight Loss?Intermittent fasting has gained a following, in part because of tantalizing hints that it can boost cognition, fend off cancer and even slow agingBy Nic Fleming & Nature magazine TanyaJoy/Getty ImagesAs anyone seeking to lose weight knows, diets come in and out of fashion. The Sexy Pineapple diet, launched by a Danish psychologist in 1970, never really took off. Kelloggs no longer promotes the Special K diet, which swaps out two meals a day for a bowl of the breakfast cereal of that name. These days, you dont hear much about eating according to blood type, cutting out acidic foods or following the potato diet.Intermittent fasting has, however, had unusual staying power for more than a decadeand has grown even more popular in the past few years. One survey found that almost one in eight adults in the United States had tried it in 2023.The enduring popularity of intermittent fasting has been fed by celebrity endorsements, news coverage and a growing number of books, including several written by researchers in the field. More than 100 clinical trials in the past decade suggest that it is an effective strategy for weight loss. And weight loss generally comes with related health improvements, including a reduced risk of heart disease and diabetes. What is less clear is whether there are distinct benefits that come from limiting food intake to particular windows of time. Does it protect against neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimers disease, enhance cognitive function, suppress tumours and even extend lifespan? Or are there no benefits apart from those related to cutting back on calories? And what are the potential risks?On supporting science journalismIf you're enjoying this article, consider supporting our award-winning journalism by subscribing. By purchasing a subscription you are helping to ensure the future of impactful stories about the discoveries and ideas shaping our world today.Neuroscientist Mark Mattson at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine in Baltimore, Maryland, and author of the 2022 book The Intermittent Fasting Revolution, has been studying fasting for 30 years. He argues that, because ancient humans went for long periods without food as hunter-gatherers, we have evolved to benefit from taking breaks from eating. Were adapted to function very well, perhaps optimally, in a fasted state, he says.Fastings deep rootsFasting is far from new. Periodic abstentions from food have long been practised in many religions. In the fifth century bc, the Greek physician and philosopher Hippocrates prescribed it for a range of medical conditions.Recent scientific interest in fasting has its roots in questions raised by research on calorie restriction. Since the 1930s, studies have shown that putting rodents on low-calorie diets can increase their lifespans. Hypotheses proposed to explain this effect include that calorie restriction slows growth, lowers fat intake or reduces cellular damage caused by unstable free radicals.But an observation made in 1990 by researcher Ronald Hart, who was then studying ageing, nutrition and health at the US National Center for Toxicological Research in Jefferson, Arkansas, highlighted another intriguing possibility. Calorie-restricted rodents fed once daily consumed all their food in a few hours. Perhaps the calorie-restricted rodents lived longer because they repeatedly went for 20 or so hours without eating.In the immediate aftermath of a meal, cells use glucose from carbohydrates in food as fuel, either straight away or following storage in the liver and muscles as glycogen. Once these sources are depletedin humans, typically around 12 hours after the last mealthe body enters a fasted state during which fat stored in adipose tissue is converted to ketone bodies for use as an alternative energy source.Intermittent fasting generally refers to various diets that include repeated periods of zero- or very low-calorie intake that are long enough to stimulate the production of ketone bodies. The most common are time-restricted eating (TRE), which involves consuming all food in a 4- to 12-hour window, usually without calorie counting; alternate-day fasting (ADF), whereby people either abstain from food every other day or eat no more than around 500 calories on that day; and the 5:2 diet, which stipulates a 500-calorie limit on 2 days per week (see Three forms of fasting).Some researchers say the resulting shift between sources of energy, called metabolic switching, triggers key adaptive stress responses, including increased DNA repair and the breakdown and recycling of defective cellular components. Those responses, the thinking goes, provide health benefits beyond those from reduced calorie consumption alone. Observational studies have suggested that some religious fasters who fast long enough for metabolic switching to occur see such health benefits, although these studies have a lot of limitations.Getting slim fastControlled diet trials are notoriously difficult to conduct. Peoples diets and behaviours, together with their genetic inheritance and baseline health, make for a lot of variables. Often, people dont stick with the study, and getting participants to track calorie intake accurately is a known challenge.Still, the weight of the evidence suggests that intermittent fasting can help people to lose weight. In 2022, for example, Courtney Peterson, who researches nutrition at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, and her colleagues reported results from a trial involving 90 adults with obesity who also received counselling to help them lose weight. She found that those who followed TRE for an average of 6 days per week over 14 weeks lost an average of 6.3 kilograms, compared with the 4 kg lost by participants who ate over 12 or more hours. Peterson says that many people find following a rule about when to eat and when not to eat easier than counting calories or eating healthier. We and others have found that TRE also makes people less hungry, so they tend to naturally eat less and lose weight, says Peterson.Also in 2022, nutritionist Krista Varady at the University of Illinois, Chicago, and her colleagues reviewed 22 randomized trials looking at the effects of ADF, the 5:2 diet and TRE on body weight. ADF and the 5:2 diet produced 48% weight loss after 812 weeks in those with obesity, whereas TRE helped people to lose 34% of their body weight over the same period.Varady has a long-standing interest in fasting. The cover of one version of her 2013 book The Every Other Day Diet features pizza, a doughnut and a burger to illustrate that those doing ADF dont need to cut out unhealthy foods. In the book, Varady argues that restricting intake to no more than 500 calories every other day is a more effective way to lose weight than conventional calorie counting and cutting out fatty and sugary foods.Although most researchers who study intermittent fasting agree that it can help people to lose weight, theyre split on whether there are any benefits beyond those that come from simply eating less. Michelle Harvie, a research dietitian at the University of Manchester, UK, sought to address this question in collaboration with Mattson in a 2010 trial. They found that overweight women who followed a 5:2 diet for 6 months had larger reductions in fasting insulin and insulin resistance than did those on a reduced-calorie diet. Both groups had the same weekly calorie intake and lost an average of around 6 kg. But the difference in insulin levels was small, and the researchers relied on participants to track consumption by keeping food diaries.In a 2018 study, Peterson and her team carefully monitored the diets of prediabetic, overweight men, matching their diets to energy consumption. The participants ate all their food either within 6 hours before 3 p.m. daily, or over 12 hours, for 5 weeks before switching to the other eating schedule. Although both regimes resulted in equivalent small weight loss over the study period, when men were on the more time-restricted diet, they had improved insulin sensitivity, lower blood pressure and reduced oxidative stress, a form of molecular damage.We showed for the first time that intermittent fasting has health benefits and effects beyond weight loss in humans, says Peterson. But the study was relatively small: only 12 adults started the trial, only 8 completed it, and all were male and overweight.Adding to the uncertainty is that other trials have reached seemingly contradictory conclusions. Nisa Maruthur, a physician at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, and her colleagues asked 41 obese adults with pre-diabetes or diabetes to consume diets that matched their energy needs, eating either during a 10-hour daily window or according to their normal schedule. After 12 weeks, there was little difference between the two groups in the average changes to weight, glucose regulation, blood pressure, waist circumference or lipid levels. Weight loss seen in prior studies of TRE was probably the result of eating fewer calories, says Maruthur, whose study was published in 2024. If so, metabolic switching might not come with added health benefits.Peterson, a co-author of that study, disagrees and suggests that the 10-hour eating window might have been too long to achieve the results seen in trials of shorter TRE windows.Even though Varady thinks that intermittent fasting can help people to lose weight, she remains unconvinced that it has effects independent of calorie restriction. Based on current human evidence, I dont think that there are any benefits of intermittent fasting beyond weight loss, she says.Mattson is equally sure of the opposite: There is considerable evidence of benefits of intermittent fasting that cannot be explained by reduction in calorie intake.Mattson and others have looked to animal research in their efforts to understand the physiology of fasting, and to identify mechanisms that could underpin any extra health benefits.Beyond the waistlineAs early as 1999, Mattson and his team began finding evidence that ADF protects rodents against damage linked to neurodegenerative diseases and acute brain injuries such as stroke. Fasting has been shown to increase production of -hydroxybutyrate, a ketone body that protects neurons from damage in rodent models of Alzheimers and Parkinsons disease. Studies in rodents show that intermittent fasting can improve cognitive functions, such as working memory, spatial learning and memory retention. It can also reduce tumour occurrence as the animals age and increase their sensitivity to chemotherapy.Other results have come from Satchin Pandas lab at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies in La Jolla, California. Panda became interested in fasting almost by accident, through his research on circadian rhythms. In a series of experiments beginning in 2009, he and his team found that changing the feeding times of mice had more effect than light cycles did on circadian rhythms in liver gene expression. When mice on high-fat diets were restricted to feeding during eight hours at night (the natural feeding time of mice), they were protected from obesity, elevated insulin levels, fatty liver disease and inflammation, compared with mice that ate the same number of calories but fed whenever they wanted during both day and night.I realized these mice didnt have diet-induced obesity as others had concluded; rather, they had circadian-rhythm-disruption-induced obesity, says Panda.Eating in time with circadian rhythms also seems to affect longevity in mice. In a 2022 study, neurobiologist Joseph Takahashi at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas, and his colleagues reported that whereas calorie-restricted mice that fed during the day lived 20% longer than did controls that fed as much as they liked, those on calorie-restricted diets fed at night lived 35% longer, on average.There are hints of a circadian effect in humans, too. In a 2024 review of TRE trials, Peterson found that study participants who ate before 6 p.m. had improved blood-sugar and insulin control, but she did not see the same effect in those who adopted later eating windows. Most peoples blood-sugar control is best in the mid- to late morning, so eating early, in alignment with these circadian rhythms, results in lower overall blood-sugar levels, she says.Research into the physiology of intermittent fasting also suggests that its effects might not be simply a function of calorie restriction. Stem-cell biologist mer Yilmaz at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge, and his colleagues have shown how stem-cell activity increases in the intestines of both calorie-restricted and fasted micean effect triggered by the breakdown of fatty acids. Both caloric restriction and fasting improved intestinal stem-cell activity and health, but the mechanisms involved are very different, he says. If the mechanisms are different, the health implications might vary, too.The work in animals also points to possible downsides of fasting. Because intestinal stem cells can divide frequently, they are a source of precancerous cells. In mice with cancer-gene mutations, there was more tumour development in those that fasted and then ate for a day than in mice that did not fast, Yilmaz and his colleagues reported in 2024. Other animal work suggests that long fasts could blunt immune responses.Researchers say there needs to be more work to understand the implications of animal experiments for humans. For now, doctors caution that fasting could cause blood-sugar levels to drop dangerously in those with diabetes; affect milk supply in people who are breastfeeding; harm growth in children; and increase the risk of complications for those on blood-pressure and heart-disease medications.Although researchers remain intrigued by the physiology of fasting, would-be dieters probably care more about whether intermittent fasting works than why it does so. In her job as a primary-care physician, Maruthur advises people to try it even though she thinks its effects are entirely the result of eating less.If you restrict the window of time in which you eat, then youre likely to consume less, she says. If youre the kind of person whos going to eat fewer calories as a result, it might be worth giving it a go.This article is reproduced with permission and was first published on March 25, 2025.

March 31, 20254 min readTime Spent in Nature Can Be Goodand Sometimes Bad for Your BrainA Goldilocks measure of green space might help stave off dementia, but an excess could lead to cognitive declineBy Teresa Schubert edited by Gary Stix Bob Pool/Getty ImagesThere's nothing like a good walk through your local park to unwind and release stress from a busy day. Taking some time in nature is undeniably good for you, with well-documented benefits to physical and mental health. But new research suggests that when it comes to the risk of dementia and Alzheimers disease, easy access to nature can sometimes help but, at other times, can be too much of a good thing.The causes of dementiaa broad category of conditions that can affect memory, language and other brain capacitiesare multifaceted and complex. There is often a genetic component, but there are also contributions from health risk factors that arise throughout life. In 2024 the Lancet Commission on dementia identified 14 such factors that reliably increase the risk of developing dementia. These include physical health factors such as cardiovascular disease, high LDL cholesterol, diabetes, and obesity and traumatic brain injury, as well as psychological factors such as depression and social isolation.Thousands of studies provide solid evidence about the dangers of these risk factors, but researchers are far from having all the answers about dementia. In the past 10 or so years, researchers have begun looking beyond these established risks to the effect of an individuals physical and social environment, which might be more under our control than factors such as genetic predisposition. You might not be able to change your genes, but in some cases, you can change where you live or your hobbies or habits. According to Marco Vinceti of the University of Modena and Reggio Emilia in Italy, there is growing and convincing evidence that risk of neurodegenerative disease, including cognitive impairment and dementia, can be substantially reduced by environmental and behavioral factors, and this may even be true in individuals having high genetic susceptibility. Studying the role of environmental factors has led to the recent discovery that exposure to air pollution (such as from wildfire smoke or heavy traffic) increases your chances of developing dementia. This is also the line of questioning that led researchers to discover the positive effects of green space.On supporting science journalismIf you're enjoying this article, consider supporting our award-winning journalism by subscribing. By purchasing a subscription you are helping to ensure the future of impactful stories about the discoveries and ideas shaping our world today.The benefits of green space for mental and brain health are numerous. Living near and spending time in green space (including parks, wooded areas and even farmland) can decrease the risk of cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes and is associated with a lower risk of Alzheimers disease and other forms of dementia later in life. According to Anjum Hajat, an epidemiologist at the University of Washington School of Public Health, access to green space is important because it provides people with an easy, low-cost option to improve their health. Spending time in nature may have other benefits, too, like increasing physical activity or increasing time spent with friends and family; both of these things have many health benefits.Based on this research, you might be ready to give up city life. You might presume that more green space is better, and that living on a few wooded acres with nothing but trees for miles around will lead to the lowest possible chance of dementia. It turns out this is not so simple. A 2022 research study led by Federico Zagnoli of the University of Modena and Reggio Emilia revealed that more green space is not always better. The researchers found a U-shaped association between exposure to green space and dementia risklow levels of green space were associated with a higher likelihood of developing dementia, and medium levels were linked to a lower risk. But the highest level of green space exposure didnt reduce dementia risk relative to the medium leveland in some cases even increased it! In other words, too little green space has an adverse effect, but so might too much of it.Why might more of a good thing be bad? Living out in nature can mean lower access to medical and social services, fewer places to socialize and higher chances of social isolationcircumstances that would otherwise support brain health and reduce dementia risk. Although research on some of these factors is still ongoing and not yet certain, there is solid evidence for the risks of social isolation. As Vinceti puts it, The higher risk of dementia associated with extremely high green spaces around the place of residence is likely attributable to social isolation and socioeconomic disadvantage in certain rural areas. Rurality may also be correlated with other risk factors, such as lower socioeconomic status or high pesticide exposure. So the conclusion is that green space itself is not bad for your brain health, but living on a few acres of land surrounded by forest and farmland might increase your risk of dementia in other ways. Although trees have a positive effect, they are no substitute for a nearby hospital, local community center and a walkable neighborhood with friendly neighbors. Aiming for the lowest possible dementia risk is all about a balance: enough neighborhood density to have easy access to services and social support but plenty of trees for a walk in the park..

If you cast your minds back to last year, you may recall Pocketpair releasing a trailer for a dating sim spin-off called "Palworld! ~More Than Just Pals~". This was all part of some good ol' fashioned April Fools Day fun or was it? Read more

Previously promised RoboCop VR game sounds super shady, as development halts following lack of official licenceMurphy's law.Image credit: Coffee Moth Games News by Victoria Kennedy News Reporter Published on March 31, 2025 A previously announced RoboCop VR title has been kiboshed after it transpired that the game wasn't officially licensed before its reveal.RoboCop: Streets of Anarchy, as it was known, was a VR game based on the sci-fi film which first made the rounds earlier this month, when it appeared on developer Coffee Moth Games' website.At this time, the game was said to be being created in partnership with Amazon-MGM and would promise an "original narrative and complex storylines interwoven with bombastic action".This INCREDIBLE Mod Makes HUNDREDS Of Flat Games Support VR! Watch on YouTubeHowever, fast forward a couple of weeks, and those promises are going to have to be left unfulfilled, as it turns out RoboCop: Streets of Anarchy wasn't actually officially licensed before its reveal.An Amazon MGM representative told UploadVR the company never actually entered into any agreement with Coffee Moth Games. "Furthermore, Amazon MGM advised that RoboCop isn't officially licensed with that studio, and the official website page for Streets of Anarchy has since been removed," UploadVR continued.The publication had previously been in contact with Coffee Moth Games, and a representative from the studio revealed they're actually an outsourcing company with no direct relationship to Amazon MGM. However, "the company responsible for contracting the rights from Amazon MGM contacted us for the game's development," the representative said. To see this content please enable targeting cookies.The landing page for RoboCop: Streets of Anarchy and the developer itself is currently locked away behind a password, and therefore can not be accessed by the public (I just tried).Eurogamer has reached out to Coffee Moth Games for further information.

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 hereAmazon Game Prime gaming has given away the final batch of free games for March 2025, meanwhile, Steam Deck users have some free games they need to claim right now before they expire in just a few days. While Amazon will announce the freebies for April soon, right now Steam Deck users have limited-time remaining to buy one of the scariest horror games of all time for 40% off.Steam Deck users can buy one of the scariest horror games for 40% offOn Steam, there is currently a sale for Visage until April 6th. The sale sees the game priced at 16.67, which is 40% off its regular price of 27.79.As for how well Visage plays on Steam Deck, the game is rated as Gold on ProtonDB, and its official Steam page says it is playable on Valves handheld platform. The games compatibility rating lists the following pros and cons:Pro This game shows Steam Deck controller iconsPro This games default graphics configuration works well on Steam DeckCon Some in-game text is small and may be difficult to readCon Some functionality is not accessible when using the default controller configuration, requiring use of the touchscreen or virtual keyboard, or a community configurationWhile its not a juggernaut name like Resident Evil or Silent Hill, Visage is arguably way scarier, and is considered one of the scariest games of all time. Its an absolutely mind-bending experience with horrifying frights, and its definitely worth checking out if youre a fan of horror.There are very few horror games with as clever scares and spinechilling tension, so we cannot recommend it enough.Another great horror game alternative is Madison. Theres no sale right now, but it is only 29.99, and it is officially verified for Valves handheld system.Related TopicsSteam Deck 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 hereAfter suffering an invasion of Ukraine, a relocation to Prague and a massive office fire, GSC Game World is steadily rebuilding after the release of Stalker 2: Heart of Chornobyl.Following the games release in November, GSC Game World has continued to hire new employees. With the games massive sales already bringing the project to profit, the studio is sizing back up to continue work on the title post-launch.Stalker 2 devs expand for post-launchWith updates planned to address A-Life issues and reintroduce cut content, the studio is continuing to hire new devs. As the studio continues to hire, a roadmap of updates is also in the works to be more transparent with fans.Via ITC, the Stalker 2 developer has hired more than 50 developers in the last few months. By the time of the titles Gamescom showing in August 2024, the studio had a total of 220 developers. The studio now has over 270 developers.GSC Game World isnt the only Ukrainian game studio to continue hiring, but it is the most successful. With more than 50 new hires since the release of the game, the studio is a market leader for Ukraine which, lets be honest, is expected of a studio that took down the regions internet on launch day.With millions of players still excited for the future of the game, GSC Game Worlds Stalker 2: Heart of Chornobyl is a massive success. While the studio is focused on improving the core gameplay for the time being, there are also expansions in the works that will offer fresh perspectives on the Zone.Additionally, GSC is working on more advanced mod tools for the future so that fans can create more powerful mods. Nevertheless, modders are still creating some truly fantastic mods such as Stalker Infinity and the brilliant Desolation pack which makes the game much harder.S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of ChornobylPlatform(s):PC, Xbox Series S, Xbox Series S/X, Xbox Series XGenre(s):Action, Adventure, RPG, Shooter, Survival HorrorSubscribe to our newsletters!By subscribing, you agree to our Privacy Policy and may receive occasional deal communications; you can unsubscribe anytime.Share

The story of this house is a long and winding one, Heidi Caillier says, as she begins describing her latest project. In fact, it almost didnt happen. In 2020, when the Seattle-based AD100 and AD PRO Directory designer first met the clients, a young couple putting down roots in southwest Colorado, she asked them which other designers they were interviewing to reimagine the 70s farmhouse on their 13-acre ranch. I remember thinking Im not going to get this job because were not aligned aesthetically, says Caillier, who is known for her colorful, layered approach. Im not going to do a ton of beige everywhere.Fast forward four years and theres hardly a lick of beige in sight. Ultimately, the designers and clients visions merged into a home that feels both deeply personal and enduring. I think the nice part about a project that has a life cycle thats this long is that it gives the clients a chance to understand who they are in their design aesthetic, Caillier reflects. We really grew together in that way.Building materials with patina, like the reclaimed limestone floors in the entry, were used to give the new build character. The hallway and stairs are swathed in wallpaper by Michael Smith and painted with Farrow & Balls Pigeon. The chair, table, rug, and pendant light are all antique, while the stairwell sconces are from Besselink & Jones.Farrow & Balls Wimborne White casts a soft glow in the living room. A floral Howe sofa upholstered in Rose Macclesfield fabric pairs seamlessly with George Smith armchairs in a C&C Milano textile, while a Nickey Kehoe sofa in a deep blue Zak+Fox fabric adds contrast. Layered lighting includes vintage sconces with Rose Tarlow shades and a Besselink & Jones floor lamp.But getting there wasnt simple. The project began as a renovation, but architectural challengesplus the news that their toddler daughter would soon be joined by twin sisterspushed the clients to scrap the original structure and start fresh. Still, they wanted something that felt like it had been there for generations, rather than a brand-new build dropped onto the landscape. Thats always the challenge with new builds, Caillier says. How do you make them look, well, not new?To ensure the house had a sense of history, Caillier leaned on a familiar collaborator, architect Lauren Crocco, and a design scheme that embraced the imperfect. Rough-hewn reclaimed wood beams, varying door heights, and intentionally mismatched vintage hardware create an authenticity often lacking in new construction. We were getting calls from the contractor every week, saying, Are you sure this measurement is right? Or This has been used, and it looks old, Caillier laughs.Bathed in the earthy green of Farrow & Balls Lichen, this sun-drenched sitting room layers vintage finds with patterned textiles. A custom ottoman in a Guy Goodfellow stripe pairs with an Anthropologie sofa draped in a floral throw, while a vintage rattan chair, reupholstered in Pierre Frey fabric, adds a relaxed touch. The floral armchair, clad in Clarence Houses Dahlia Handblock, lends a painterly flourish beside a vintage side table.The kitchen features a moody paletteFarrow & Balls Brinjal on the cabinetry and Pantalon on the island. Caillier layered textures by mixing marble and walnut countertops with brass fixtures from Waterworks. The oversized pendant lights, sourced from Jamb, add a touch of old-world charm, complementing the rustic wood beams overhead.An antique dining table and well-worn farm chairs from 1stDibs lend the kitchens breakfast nook a sense of history. A midcentury Italian pendant adds a bold pop of red overhead, juxtaposing the rooms timeworn elements. The built-in banquette is upholstered in a Decors Barbares fabric. The antique cabinet is from Arcadia. The walls are painted in Portola Paints Blondie.Pattern and patina define the dining room, where Morris & Co. wallpaper serves as a backdrop. A custom St. Frank textile drapes the windows. The antique hutch brims with collected ceramics. At the center, a Shoppe Amber Interiors dining table is surrounded by classic Windsor chairs from Shaker Shoppe. Overhead, a rope-wrapped chandelier from Hollywood at Home adds a touch of rustic charm.The living areas draw inspiration from a mix of eras and styles. In the kitchens breakfast alcove, a midcentury Italian light fixture hangs near a rustic country cabinet. While in the dining room, deep red checkered upholstery meets Delft tile and a blue scalloped trim. Every corner brims with custom details. Theres even a hidden passage from the sitting room to the dining room via a jib door, a feature the kids have already claimed as their own secret hideaway.Upstairs, a long hallway with built-in storage separates the girls rooms from the primary suite. We pictured this as their little hangout area, Caillier says of the landing. In the eldest daughters room, a cozy nook is nestled beneath the sloped ceilings swathed in a Robert Kime wallpaper. Its where she reads and the cats curl up. An adventurous mix of fabrics brings warmth to the primary suite, without overwhelming the space. Reclaimed terra-cotta floors ground the adjoining bath, where a vintage dresser became a vanity and a Calacatta Viola shower is framed in a glass and brass enclosure.In the primary bedroom, a custom bed upholstered in Michael Smith fabric is dressed in a Hollywood at Home coverlet, while vintage floral sconces frame the headboard. Matching vintage Paolo Buffa armchairs in a C&C Milano textile create a cozy seating area beside a Westenholz side table, all anchored by a patterned rug from Tibetano. Custom Robert Kime drapery softens the large windows, while the built-in armoire, designed by Caillier, adds storage and a historic feel. The walls, ceiling, and millwork are all painted Farrow & Balls Dead Salmon.A Water Monopoly tub, fitted with Drummonds brass fixtures, anchors the primary bath. A vintage pendant from Obsolete hangs above the tub, while Rose Uniacke sconces flank the vanity. Vintage terra-cotta hex tiles from Cl Tile ground the room in rustic texture, while Heather Taylor Home caf curtains add a touch of homespun charm to the sunlit window. Caillier had an antique English chest of drawers topped with a slab of Calacatta Viola marble to create the vanity. The woodwork is painted in Farrow & Balls Vert de Terre, while Portola Paints Blondie limewash coats the walls.The cabinetry in the airy sunroom is painted in Breakfast Room Green by Farrow & Ball. The floor is composed of reclaimed limstone, and the rug is a vintage find.Both practical and polished, the mudroom is designed to handle muddy boots and overflowing garden clippings in style. The cabinetry, painted Benjamin Moores Dark Olive, contrasts with the warmth of a walnut countertop. Reclaimed limestone flooring and an exposed stone wall offer patina. The brass plumbing fixtures are by Devol. The caf curtains feature Pindlers Danville Natural fabric.A late-stage addition turned into one of the wifes favorite spaces: a greenhouse room tacked onto the primary bedroom, via yet another camouflage door. With its sun-drenched windows and organic connection to the outdoors, the space feels like it was always meant to be there.Now the house is exactly what the clients hoped it would be: a forever home. Its timeless, says the wife. In 10 years, Im not going to want to redo my kitchen. Her husband agrees: Every room feels special. Each space within the home is designed to evolve with their family, aging gracefully rather than feeling stuck in any particular period. We always envisioned passing this house on to our kids and grandkids, the husband says. Thanks to Cailliers deft hand, that dream feels possible.Nestled in the rugged beauty of the familys 13-acre ranch, the newly built home embraces a timeless sensibility with its shingled faade, sweeping roofline, and copper-accented dormers. Earthy tones help the structure blend seamlessly into the landscape, while expansive windows frame panoramic mountain views.In this guest bedroom, Farrow & Balls Setting Plaster envelops the walls in a warm, muted pink. A Chelsea Textiles spindle bed is dressed in a richly patterned antique coverlet and is flanked by Furbish Studios nightstands. A custom Eliko rug introduces subtle texture underfoot, and a custom armchair in a Michael Smith fabric offers an inviting corner for reading. The lantern-style pendant overhead is by Jamb.In the guest bathroom, Cl Tile in a checkerboard pattern creates a striking backdrop, with deep plum and chocolate tones. A brass-framed shower enclosure and Drummonds plumbing fixtures add a layer of old-world elegance. Walls painted in Farrow & Balls Tailor Tack soften the look.Lush Pierre Frey wallpaper envelops the powder room, while a pleated Decors Barbares sink skirt adds a romantic, textural contrast. The vintage-inspired Water Monopoly sink is fitted with Drummonds brass fixtures. An antique tramp mirror introduces an element of rustic craftsmanship and is flanked by classic Ann Morris sconces.A Robert Kime wallpaper cocoons the eldest daughters bedroom. The custom bed is upholstered in a Carolina Irving fabric and topped with an ochre John Derian coverlet. Olive-hued Chelsea Textiles nightstands flank the bed. The star of the space is a hidden nook, lined in Robert Kime and Penny Morrison fabrics.The eldest daughters bathroom is defined by its custom shower tile, designed by Caillier in collaboration with Tempest Tileworks. The scalloped vanity from Studio HM is finished with a stone countertop and waterworks brass plumbing. The Nickey Kehoe chair is upholstered in a Rose Tarlow fabric. A gauzy Le Gracieux window treatment and walls painted Farrow & Balls Wimborne White lend the space an airy feel.Another powder room is swathed in Michael Smith wallpaper. A midcentury Italian bamboo mirror is flanked by a duo of antique brass tole sconces. The sink and fixtures are by Water Monopoly.In the twin daughters bedroom, a custom plum-hued wallpaper by Zina Studio is offset by Pierre Frey drapery in a bold buffalo check. Virginia Tupker beds with woven headboards add natural texture, dressed in vintage kantha quilts sourced from Etsy. Lumfardo sconces illuminate a Chelsea Textiles nightstand. The John Derian armchair in a Robert Kime fabric features a sweet stripe.In the twin daughters bathroom, the walls and custom cabinetry are painted in Portola Paints Magic Potion. The wall-mounted brass fixtures are by Water Monopoly. The Urban Electric sconces feature pleated fabric shades. A shower curtain in 36 Bourne Street fabric introduces a subtle pattern.Set atop flagstone pavers, the outdoor dining area is designed for alfresco meals. The custom table is surrounded by modern chairs from DWR.

This time around, she focuses exclusively on strategies relating to water, so vital for life even as its frequently framed as a threat. Included among the case studies are the seasonal weirs that the Baka people of southeastern Cameroon construct out of dead tree trunks, sludge, and plants to trap fish, yielding perhaps the greenest damming system imaginable. Another chapter spotlights the raised fields that the Xochimilca people erected in Mexicos Lake Xochimilco, the organic vestiges of which still grow crops andthanks to the beds combination of living and decaying organic materialcleanse wastewater. Then there are profiles of contemporary architecture projects, such as Chinas Sanya Mangrove Park, one of landscape architect Kongjian Yus sponge city developments. Using a cut-and-fill technique employed by Chinese farmers, he created a series of interlocking pools and embankments that draw water from the nearby bay and thereby prevent flooding.An atoll of Micronesia, home to the floating islands of the Poluwat and Yapese people.Watson, an activist and consultant who lectures on ancestral futurism, hopes the book will inspire educators and designers to use these technologies in their work, and to do so in a respectful and reciprocal way. For her part, she coauthored the sections on TEK systems with members of the Indigenous nations to which they belong, and provides readers with a template for an oral contract ensuring that these communities not only retain ownership of their knowledge, but are justly compensated for its adaptation. This element is a preview of an art piece that Watson and others will debut at Dutch Design Week this fall before it travels to Dsseldorfs K21 museum in Germany.An agricultural canal of Mexicos Xochimilca people.In this way, Watson, who grew up in a house designed by the Australian Arts and Crafts sculptor L.J. Harvey (we used to dig up these porcelain statue heads in the garden) and, for a time, wanted to be an artist, has honored another childhood dream. Though shes the sort to look forward at least as often as she looks back. Watson has dedicated LoTEK Water to her children, Ocean Sy and Cyprian Blue, andin a nod to the time span the Haudenosaunee consider when making decisionsto their next seven generations.This story appears in ADs April issue. Never miss a story when you subscribe to AD.

+25% Trump on car tariffs: I couldnt care less if they raise prices Consumers will have to pay the price of the president's unnecessary trade war. Jonathan M. Gitlin Mar 31, 2025 9:09 am | 80 Credit: Getty Images Credit: Getty Images Story textSizeSmallStandardLargeWidth *StandardWideLinksStandardOrange* Subscribers only Learn moreLate last week, President Donald Trump decided to upend the automotive industry by levying a new 25 percent import tariff on all imported cars, which goes into effect on April 2. An additional 25 percent tariff on car parts is set to go into effect within the next month, which promises to make US-made cars more expensive as well, as many parts and subassemblies used in domestic manufacturing come from suppliers in Canada or Mexico.During the election campaign (and in the years preceding it), Trump repeatedly claimed that the cost of tariffs would be borne by the exporters. But tariffs don't work that waythey're paid by the importer, at the time of import.The White House does not appear to have any concerns about this, despite a report in The Wall Street Journal last week claiming that Trump had warned automakers not to pass the costs on to their customers.Relying on only anonymous sources, the WSJ quoted "people with knowledge of the call," saying that the president told them to be grateful for eliminating a so-called EV mandatereally just tougher emissions and fuel economy standards that Trump and his party opposeand then followed that with "a lengthy pitch for how they would actually benefit from tariffs."However, those claims were directly contradicted by Trump this weekend."No, I never said that. I couldn't care less if they raise prices, because people are going to start buying American-made cars," Trump told an NBC interviewer."The message is congratulations, if you make your car in the United States, youre going to make a lot of money. If you dont, youre going to have to probably come to the United States, because if you make your car in the United States, there is no tariff," Trump said, apparently unaware that even the Teslas built by his benefactor Elon Musk in Texas and California contain a significant percentage of parts made in Mexico and Canada, parts that will cost 25 percent more as of next month.Trump also told NBC that his tariffs will be permanent, although in the past we have seen the president flip-flop on such matters. Analysts are still trying to reach consensus on how much the Trump tariff will add to the prices of domestic and imported cars, but expect prices to rise by thousands of dollars as automakers and dealerships try to preserve some of their profit margins.Jonathan M. GitlinAutomotive EditorJonathan M. GitlinAutomotive Editor Jonathan is the Automotive Editor at Ars Technica. He has a BSc and PhD in Pharmacology. In 2014 he decided to indulge his lifelong passion for the car by leaving the National Human Genome Research Institute and launching Ars Technica's automotive coverage. He lives in Washington, DC. 80 Comments

Microsoft released a new Windows Insider build of Windows 11 to its experimental Dev Channel today, with a fairly extensive batch of new features and tweaks. But the most important one for enthusiasts and PC administrators is buried halfway down the list: This build removes a command prompt script called bypassnro, which up until now has been a relatively easy and reliable way to circumvent the otherwise mandatory Microsoft Account sign-in requirement on new Windows 11 PCs and fresh installs of Windows 11 on existing PCs.Microsoft's Windows Insider Program lead Amanda Langowski and Principal Product Manager Brandon LeBlanc were clear that this change is considered a feature and not a bug."Were removing the bypassnro.cmd script from the build to enhance security and user experience of Windows 11," Langowski and LeBlanc write in the post. "This change ensures that all users exit setup with internet connectivity and a Microsoft Account."Of course, the removal of bypassnro makes life harder for people whowant to exit Windows setup without Internet connectivity or a Microsoft Account. You might be setting up a computer in a place with no Internet connection, or you might simply prefer a local user account like the ones that all past Windows versions allowed you to use.There are benefits to a Microsoft Accounteasy access to any existing Microsoft 365 or OneDrive subscriptions, automated encryption for your local disk and backup of your drive's encryption key for recovery purposes, and syncing of certain settings between PCs. But using a local account reduces the number of notifications and other upsells that Windows 11 will bother you with. Whatever your reasoning, you'll need to find a different workaround for future Windows versions.