Editor’s note: This post is part of Into the Omniverse, a series focused on how developers, 3D practitioners, and enterprises can transform their workflows using the latest advances in OpenUSD and NVIDIA Omniverse. As industrial and physical AI streamline workflows, businesses are looking for ways to most effectively harness these technologies. Scaling AI in industrial settings — like factories and other manufacturing facilities — presents unique challenges, such as fragmented data pipelines, siloed tools and the need for real-time, high-fidelity simulations. The Mega NVIDIA Omniverse Blueprint — available in preview on build.nvidia.com — helps address these challenges by providing a scalable reference workflow for simulating multi-robot fleets in industrial facility digital twins, including those built with the NVIDIA Omniverse platform. Industrial AI leaders — including Accenture, Foxconn, Kenmec, KION and Pegatron — are now using the blueprint to accelerate physical AI adoption and build autonomous systems that efficiently perform actions in industrial settings. Built on the Universal Scene Description (OpenUSD) framework, the blueprint enables seamless data interoperability, real-time collaboration and AI-driven decision-making by unifying diverse data sources and improving simulation fidelity. Industrial Leaders Adopt the Mega Blueprint At Hannover Messe, the world’s largest industrial trade show that took place in Germany earlier this month, Accenture and Schaeffler, a leading motion technology company, showcased the adoption of the Mega blueprint to simulate Digit, a humanoid robot from Agility Robotics, performing material handling in kitting and commissioning areas. Video courtesy of  Schaeffler, Accenture, Agility Robotics KION, a supply chain solutions company, with Accenture are now using Mega to optimize warehouse and distribution processes. At the NVIDIA GTC global AI conference in March, Accenture and Foxconn representatives discussed the impacts of introducing Mega into their industrial AI workflows. Accelerating Industrial AI With Mega  Mega NVIDIA Omniverse Blueprint architecture diagram With the Mega blueprint, developers can accelerate physical AI workflows through: Robot Fleet Simulation: Test and train diverse robot fleets in a safe, virtual environment to ensure they work seamlessly together. Digital Twins: Use digital twins to simulate and optimize autonomous systems before physical deployment. Sensor Simulation and Synthetic Data Generation: Generate realistic sensor data to ensure robots can accurately perceive and respond to their real-world environment. Facility and Fleet Management Systems Integration: Connect robot fleets with management systems for efficient coordination and optimization. Robot Brains as Containers: Use portable, plug-and-play modules for consistent robot performance and easier management. World Simulator With OpenUSD: Simulate industrial facilities in highly realistic virtual environments using NVIDIA Omniverse and OpenUSD. Omniverse Cloud Sensor RTX APIs: Ensure accurate sensor simulation with NVIDIA Omniverse Cloud application programming interfaces to create detailed virtual replicas of industrial facilities. Scheduler: Manage complex tasks and data dependencies with a built-in scheduler for smooth and efficient operations. Video Analytics AI Agents: Integrate AI agents built with the NVIDIA AI Blueprint for video search and summarization (VSS), leveraging NVIDIA Metropolis, to enhance operational insights. Dive deeper into the Mega blueprint architecture on the NVIDIA Technical Blog. Industrial AI is also being accelerated by the latest Omniverse Kit SDK 107 release, including major updates for robotics application development and enhanced simulation capabilities such as RTX Real-Time 2.0. Get Plugged Into the World of OpenUSD Learn more about OpenUSD and industrial AI by watching sessions from GTC, now available on demand, and by watching how ecosystem partners like Pegatron and others are pushing their industrial automation further, faster. Join NVIDIA at COMPUTEX, running May 19-23 in Taipei, to discover the latest breakthroughs in AI. Watch NVIDIA founder and CEO Jensen Huang’s keynote on Sunday, May 18, at 8:00 p.m. PT. Discover why developers and 3D practitioners are using OpenUSD and learn how to optimize 3D workflows with the new self-paced “Learn OpenUSD” curriculum for 3D developers and practitioners, available for free through the NVIDIA Deep Learning Institute. For more resources on OpenUSD, explore the Alliance for OpenUSD forum and the AOUSD website. Plus, tune in to the “OpenUSD Insiders” livestream taking place today at 11:00 a.m. PT to hear more about the Mega NVIDIA Omniverse Blueprint. Additionally, don’t miss next week’s livestream on April 26 at 11:00 a.m. PT, to hear Accenture discuss how they’re using the blueprint to build Omniverse digital twins for training and testing industrial AI’s robot brains. Stay up to date by subscribing to NVIDIA news, joining the community and following NVIDIA Omniverse on Instagram, LinkedIn, Medium and X. Featured image courtesy of: Left and Top Right: Accenture, KION Group Middle: Accenture, Agility Robotics, Schaeffler Bottom Right: Foxconn

2025 is already bursting at the seams with exciting new anime to watch. From highly anticipated premieres like Cowboy Bebop director Shinichirō Watanabe’s sci-fi thriller Lazarus and FLCL director Kazuya Tsurumaki’s Mobile Suit Gundam GQuuuuuuX, anime fans new and old are absolutely feasting.With so much to watch this year, how do you go about finding the best of the best? If you’re looking for a helpful list to navigate 2025’s best anime season by season, you’re in luck. Each season, we’ll be collecting our favorite anime to air this year and where you can watch them. New additions are ordered by premiere date, from most recent to least. Sakamoto Days Where to watch: Netflix Legendary hitman Sakamoto left his life of crime behind to get married and start a family — but after taking in Shin, a wayward young assassin, Sakamoto unfortunately gets pulled right back into the fray. Instead of navigating the hijinks of a double life, though, Sakamoto Days refreshingly gets the entire family in on the action. And in addition to Sakamoto and his wife and kid, that includes the aforementioned Shin; Lu, the sole heir of a Chinese mafia family; and gullible sniper Heisuke (and his pet parrot). It’s a whole wacky world where being a hitman comes with a lot of bureaucracy and certifications. —Petrana Radulovic The Apothecary Diaries season 2 Where to watch: Crunchyroll The Apothecary Diaries continues to be the absolute perfect blend of medical mystery, court intrigue, and slow-burn romance. Apothecary turned court taster (and unofficial medical investigator) Maomao just wants to experiment with medications and poisons. But because she’s so dang smart, she keeps getting pulled into increasingly complicated mysteries by palace administrator Jinshi. And some of these cases — which involve the Emperor and his family history — are definitely above her pay grade. Throw in a mysterious envoy from the west, a shocking revelation about Jinshi, and a continually frustrating (in the best way) romance, and this season is one heck of a ride. —PR Zenshu Where to watch: Crunchyroll Too many anime are a bit too single-minded. Zenshu is different. This original anime from MAPPA follows overworked anime director Natsuko, who died and went to heaven — or the next best thing: the world of her favorite childhood anime. It could’ve skated by on the usual isekai charms, but Zenshu constantly pushes itself forward, building a more complicated story out of Natsuko’s adventures. It’s fun to watch her charge through the world she knows so well, and it’s neat to see how she changes it — and how it changes her. In the end, Zenshu delicately unpacks burnout and art, making it (in just 12 episodes) an anime for the ages. —Zosha Millman Orb: On the Movements of the Earth Where to watch: Netflix Knowledge is the sum total of generations. No anime better exemplifies this fundamental principle than Orb: On the Movements of the Earth. Told across several lifetimes, the series centers on an ensemble of characters who give their lives to the pursuit of proving heliocentrism in a time where such a belief is considered profoundly heretical and dangerous. Over the course of 25 episodes, Madhouse’s adaptation of Uoto’s historical manga of the same name brilliantly brings its source material to life, weaving a moving saga about the quest for truth in the face of tyrannical, life-threatening opposition. —Toussaint Egan

Turf has launched two new products designed specifically for ceilings, Pantheon and Step. The Chicago-based acoustic solutions provider, known for its distinctive options for walls, now expands its ceiling scapes portfolio with the two new offerings. The PET felt tiles can fill an overhead plane to create an integrated design that is supported using a standard T-Grid. “Step and Pantheon have different aesthetics, but they are both really meant to cover a large amount of square footage,” says Faraz Shah, brand director at Turf. These sound-absorbing forms transform any interior, while accommodating existing features for a seamless look. Pantheon coffered tiles come in six standard types. Each profile has a unique size or position of recess. When coordinated together, the varying pieces form a dynamic enhancement overhead. Rectangular recess tiles, for example, can be either centered or shifted. These particular options are ideal for use along the edge of an array, or to create a slimmer profile. Square styles are perfect for utilization as the corner to an array or to create a consistent field. Open versions of Pantheon leave the ceiling above visible, and can easily accommodate lighting, sprinklers, and other devices. Pantheon can be used to make an assortment of interesting patterns, from a star to an open checkerboard – or anything else a specifier can envision. With Step tiles, users are able to build an array of lifted, sloped, vaulted, or waving visual forms. They can also change depths from anywhere between two to 12 inches, in .5-inch increments. Seemingly simple, Step takes standard ceiling layouts to the next level with dimensionality and an updated twist on a classic element. “The chamfers on Step soften the edges a little bit and make it warmer,” notes Rob Krejci, director of product development at Turf. Designers can create a pop-up, vault, or corner wave layouts with Step, which can be tailored to a variety of settings. All of Turf’s 9mm palettes, Hues, Stone Textures, and Wood Textures can be applied to Step and Pantheon, for a total of 71 options to complement a range of environments. Both ceiling scapes have an anticipated NRC of .95, and they will be available this summer. For more information on Pantheon and Step, visit turf.design. Photography courtesy of Turf.

How UX designers can use AI app builders to their advantageAs AI continues to disrupt many industries (particularly software development), it’s critical to continue to stay up-to-date with new tools that change traditional processes–making them more efficient and opening opportunities to more people.UX designers have historically been constrained to creating high-fidelity wireframes or limited prototypes for user testing or developer hand-off. But designers now have the chance to expand their skill set to generating coded versions of their designs using vibe coding.Use vibe coding to go from Figma designs to a live demoVibe coding, coined by Andrej Karpathy, has become the new tech buzzword. With vibe coding, you simply describe what you want in an AI prompt and submit it to an LLM (large language model). For developers, vibe coding can take out some of the manual labor and be used as a starting place to then refine. For designers, vibe coding opens the doors to generating quick, working code without using developer resources.To dive deeper into UX design and vibe coding, let’s review vibe coding for UX designers, best practices for vibe coding, then demo vibe coding in Anima.Table of contentsVibe coding for UX designersBest practices for vibe codingDemo of vibe coding in AnimaVibe coding for UX designersBefore we get into the weeds, vibe coding certainly doesn’t produce code that meets testing standards; at least for now. I’m not saying UX designers can use vibe coding to create code that’s ready to push to a target environment (QA and Security engineers would be appalled by the damage).“Screw the unit tests, the vibes will carry us.”-Persomatey via RedditInstead, UX designers can use vibe coding to produce working prototypes for user testing or to show how specific interactions should function to stakeholders and developers. Designers know how strenuous and time-consuming prototypes can be; even then, the prototypes may not fully reflect interactions (like drag and drop) or just act wonky.Let’s take a look at how vibe coding works, then review the benefits and limitations of vibe coding for UX designers.How does vibe coding work?Vibe coding allows you to use natural language to describe an idea or app you want in a prompt, then have AI build the code for you–no manual coding needed. Developers can use any LLM tool, such as ChatGPT or Claude, to vibe code. Then, insert any simple prompt like, “Create a dashboard for a health tracking app for college students, and use colorful, modern colors and fonts.” After getting the initial AI-generated code, developers will refine and test it to fit their standards.Using Claude to build a dashboard for a “Health tracking app”But for UX designers, we don’t really care about how clean or functional the code is–we just want to see our ideas in action (and quickly). Instead of using an LLM like ChatGPT to generate code, designers can use AI app builders.There are two ways you can use vibe coding tools: start from a prompt with tools like Bubble and Replit, or start with a Figma design with tools like Anima Playground or Lovable (we’ll look at the tools integrated with Figma later).Replit AI app builder allows creation with their agent, templates, or GitHubBenefits and limitationsAs a UX designer, you might be thinking, “I don’t know how to code, so how does vibe coding help me?” The level of code knowledge varies from designer to designer–some can read basic HTML and CSS, while others can write code straight from their designs. Either way, designers can use vibe coding to their advantage to enhance their UX process.But with every benefit comes limitations; let’s examine both to fully grasp how UX designers should use vibe coding.Benefits of vibe coding:Faster iteration: Designers can quickly visualize and interact with UX ideas; this can expedite validating initial concepts with your product team or target usersReduced dependency: To get fully-functional demos to test with users, designers have to wait for development; vibe coding allows designers to jump over this barrier and create demos themselvesGreater exploration: Because vibe coding allows easy and quick creation of live concepts, designers can explore more ideas with stakeholders and users–ensuring optimal design directionLimitations of vibe coding:Complexity: AI app builders struggle with complex projects; for instance, designers can’t upload multiple pages from Figma and ask the AI agent to create interactions between pages (but maybe one day…)Lack of context: The AI agent helping to generate the code for your designs will not have all the context you have–leaving gaps; expect more surface-level functionality and designCode quality: The code generated through these AI agents typically includes bugs and errors–requiring someone with a deep understanding of programming to fix; for designers, vibe coding should only be used to explore ideas withBest practices for vibe codingAs vibe coding gains more traction and you begin to incorporate AI app builders into your UX workflow, it’s critical to know vibe coding’s best practices to ensure you get useful and optimized output from the AI agent.1. Use specific and simple promptsPrompts should be only 1–2 sentences longUse any context-specific language for more predictable resultsPrioritize specific information, such as the target audience and their overall goal2. Start with Figma (if you can)Use a Figma plug-in, such as Anima or Builder.ioImport any level of fidelity UI design from Figma into the AI agent to referenceBuild the intended interactions and remaining app from the initial UI designAnima’s Figma plugin allows you get working code straight from your designs3. Breakup complex tasksStart with a base request for the AI agent to completeRefine the output to meet your expectations for design and functionalityAdd additional criteria for the AI agent to build (still considering simplicity)4. Use the AI agent as your collaborative partnerBe patient as you try multiple times to get the output you wantAI agents are designed to be conversational–use it to your advantageGive the AI agent any helpful examples (images, scripts, etc.) to referenceDemo of vibe coding in AnimaThere are many AI app builder tools out there–some are better for UX designers versus others. Most designers want to start out with the designs they’ve built in Figma instead of starting from scratch with a prompt for the AI agent. Tools like Anima, Lovable, and Framer each integrate with Figma to allow this.I prefer Anima to Lovable since Lovable requires you to use the Builder.io Figma plug-in to then import into Lovable. On the other hand, Anima allows you to go straight from Figma into the Anima Playground tool (plus you get good functionality on the free plan!).Let’s look at how you can vibe code in the Anima Playground tool.1. Import Figma designs into Anima PlaygroundThere are two ways you can import into Anima:I. Paste the Figma link into the Anima desktop siteHere, you can customize the framework, UI library, language, and styling using the dropdowns below the URL text field (I kept the default selections).Paste your Figma link in Anima’s desktop site to get working codeII. Use Anima’s Figma plug-inIn the plug-in, select the purple button name, “Prompt in Playground” to automatically import the Figma designs into Anima Playground.Select “Prompt in Playground” to import the Figma designs into Anima2. Review and refine the live preview of your working designsIn Anima Playground, you can toggle between the code, preview, and Figma design. As you begin interacting with the first draft of the working app, you’ll probably notice some items you want to change–this could be a button’s hover state, the color palette, or the responsiveness of the app.Request changes to the design and code using the Anima Playground chatHere are two prompts I asked in the chat after getting the initial preview of the coded designs:Make the designs responsive to the screen size changingAdd a login modal once you select “Sign in to add”Full-screen preview of the designs and interactions made from Anima PlaygroundYou can make requests to the AI agent in a natural and conversational way–making it easy to get changes in the working preview.3. Publish the live app or website in AnimaOnce you’re happy with the live preview of the designs, you can publish the live app or website using the “Publish” button near the top-right of the Anima desktop site.This will allow you to share the link with the live app to users for testing sessions or to developers for hand-off.Publish your Anima project to get a URL link to the live versionNote: You can download the code and push to GitHub, but you must upgrade to a paid plan to access these features.AI will continue to improve and disrupt our UX processes. Fortunately, certain AI tools, like Anima, allow designers to vibe code–expediting steps in the design process that are usually time-consuming and tedious.Instead of waiting for engineering resources, UX designers can take their ideas into their own hands and create full-functional demos to show stakeholders or test with target users.Vibe coding opens more opportunities for designers, no matter their experience with programming, to generate working demos to explore, iterate, and test (then repeat).Testing your UX ideas with vibe coding was originally published in UX Collective on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

As much as Apple keeps hyping them up, those 4K 60fps videos will chew through your iPhone's storage space like you wouldn't believe. When you get to the point where you have to choose between keeping videos of your kids and clips from that beloved once-in-a-lifetime vacation, you have a problem. But I've got a solution—not all videos need to be stored at full quality, at all times.There are many ways to go about compressing your iPhone videos, but like most things in life, the simplest option is often the best. Kompresso is a free to use, native iPhone app that uses the powerful processor on your smartphone to compress files. This means there's no need to upload or share your video files to online compression websites. Another plus? Most of the compression apps you'll see on the App Store are filled with popup ads, and are quite nickel-and-dimey. Kompresso is differen, while still being plenty robust. You can compress a video by 30% without even changing the resolution. And a drop in resolution can lead to 70% or higher file size savings. Why you might need to compress videosMost people think of video compression as the last tool in their belt, but it doesn't have to be that way. There are many reasons why you might want to compress videos, even if all you're thinking of is backup.The storage space issue: The biggest factor here comes down to storage space. Perhaps your iPhone is running out of storage space, and you've realized that there are 30 GBs of videos on it that you don't even remember taking.Data usage and upload issue: When it comes to uploading or sharing videos, file size really hurts. It takes longer to upload large files, and there are sites that won't even allow for videos above a certain size. Not to mention the bandwidth required, and the data charges when you try to upload a 5GB video straight from your iPhone, using 5G.The speed issue: The bigger the data size, the longer the transfer, and it doesn't matter if it's happening offline, when you're offloading a video from the iPhone to your computer, or if you're transferring the file using an online service.The playback issue: A large iPhone video plays great on your iPhone, and your Mac, but that might not be the case when you transfer it to your parents' Windows PC and they try to play it on their TV (true story, this happened to one of my wedding videos, which lagged and stuttered like crazy).The Cloud issue: Apple is already bad at giving us affordable storage space. And if you're on one of the cheaper tiers of its cloud plan, like 50GB or 200GB, a couple of videos can push you to upgrade to the 2TB plan that costs $9.99/month. Do you really want to give Apple $120 per year just to store some large video files?What does compressing your videos do?Good video compression is all about striking a balance between file size and visual quality. Compression algorithms try to reduce the file size while still keeping all the visual elements of the video intact, or at least at an acceptable quality.The software analyzes the video frame by frame, and then looks for redundancies and patterns across the video. This can be between a single frame, or between multiple consecutive frames.In a single frame, the algorithm might compress adjacent pixels with similar color and brightness. For example, it might store color details for a large part of a sky shot in one spot, instead of having data on every single blue pixel.When it comes to multiple frames, the algorithm might also save on details from a static background.Of course, once video is compressed, you might notice that the video quality is slightly reduced. You might see visible pixelation, or blockiness in some videos with fast motion. Although, with good programs, this isn't that common. If this does happen, you can try compressing again, just using less harsh parameters, or perhaps without dropping down the resolution.How to compress vidoes on iPhone using KompressoThe Kompresso app offers two options for compressing videos. By default, you'll see a simplified three tier option. Add any video and choose between High, Medium, and Low quality. As you change the option, you'll see the file size savings you'll get up top. Credit: Khamosh Pathak Keeping the highest quality will keep the same resolution but will reduce the bitrate and will use the compression tricks I talked about above. This will make the video take up around 30% less space. The Medium quality option will reduce the resolution to 720p, and the Low Quality option will take it all the way down to 480p. Personally, I wouldn't suggest going down that far.In fact, if you find you need to select the "Low" preset to make a dent in your storage space, it might be better to switch to the Advanced Options tab to customize your size savings manually. Credit: Khamosh Pathak Here, you can fine tune the Compression settings to focus on one of three presets: Less Space, Balanced, and Better Quality. Next, make sure to choose H.265 encoding, as it's highly efficient. Then, you can choose the resolution, frame rate, and even the format to export.Finally, tap the Compress button and wait a while as the video is compressed. Now, you can directly share the video, to save it to the Photos app. Once the new video is saved, make sure you go to the Photos app to delete the old video, and then again, to clear it from the Recently Deleted folder.Kompresso is free to use for up to three compressions a day, and you can unlock all limits by paying $1.99/month or $9.99 to fully unlock it for life.

A VPN (virtual private network) can help you stay safe online and one of our top picks is currently on sale. A two-year subscription to the ProtonVPN Plus plan is currently $86.16. That’s 64 percent off the usual price. The deal drops the cost from $10 to $3.59 per month, and it reduces the overall price for 24 months by $153. This plan allows you to use ProtonVPN on up to 10 devices at a time. It should be pretty easy to find a server to route your internet traffic through as well, since ProtonVPN has more than 8,600 of them across north of 110 countries. ProtonVPN is our pick for the best VPN overall due to a blend of its security, usability and privacy. ProtonVPN has a no-logs policy. That means it doesn't keep any records of information that passes through its network. In other words, it doesn't track your internet activity while you're using it, helping to protect you and your anonymity. Other features of ProtonVPN Plus include ad-, malware- and tracker-blocking, as well as fast performance. In our testing, ProtonVPN had a minimal impact on connection speeds in our geoblock, streaming and gaming tests. ProtonVPN is also open source, meaning that anyone with enough knowhow can take a look under the hood and validate Proton's technical claims. Follow @EngadgetDeals on X for the latest tech deals and buying advice.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/deals/two-years-of-protonvpn-is-64-percent-off-right-now-152355980.html?src=rss

Toshiba's unveiled a new portable vinyl record player set to be shipped this month, but while it looks like a lot of fun, serious vinyl collectors may be a little wary.

The music streaming giant did not provide details about the scope of the outage.

At first, the bar association for immigration attorneys began receiving inquiries from a couple students a day. These were foreigners studying in the U.S., and they’d discovered in early April their legal status had been terminated with little notice. To their knowledge, none of the students had committed a deportable offense.In recent days, the calls have begun flooding in. Hundreds of students have been calling to say they have lost legal status, seeking advice on what to do next.“We thought it was going to be something that was unusual,” said Matthew Maiona, a Boston-based immigration attorney who is getting about six calls a day from panicked international students. “But it seems now like it’s coming pretty fast and furious.”The speed and scope of the federal government’s efforts to terminate the legal status of international students have stunned colleges across the country. Few corners of higher education have been untouched, as schools ranging from prestigious private universities, large public research institutions, and tiny liberal arts colleges discover status terminations one after another among their students.At least 790 students at more than 120 colleges and universities have had their visas revoked or their legal status terminated in recent weeks, according to an Associated Press review of university statements and correspondence with school officials. Advocacy groups collecting reports from colleges say hundreds more students could be caught up in the crackdown. Students apparently targeted over minor infractions Around 1.1 million international students were in the United States last year—a source of essential revenue for tuition-driven colleges. International students are not eligible for federal financial aid, and their ability to pay tuition often factors into whether they will be admitted to American schools. Often, they pay full price.Many of the students losing their legal status are from India and China, which together account for more than half the international students at American colleges. But the terminations have not been limited to those from any one part of the world, lawyers said.Four students from two Michigan universities are suing Trump administration officials after their F-1 student status was terminated last week. Their attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union, Ramis Wadood, said the students never received a clear reason why.“We don’t know, and that’s the scary part,” he said.The students were informed of the status terminations by their universities via email, which came as a shock, Wadood said. The reason given was that there was a “criminal records check and/or that their visa was revoked,” Wadood said, but none of them were charged or convicted of crimes. Some had either speeding or parking tickets, but one didn’t have any, he said. Only one of the students had known their entry visa was revoked, Wadood said.Last month, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the State Department was revoking visas held by visitors who were acting counter to national interests, including some who protested Israel’s war in Gaza and those who face criminal charges.But many students say they don’t fall under those categories. Students have filed lawsuits in several states, arguing they were denied due process.In New Hampshire, a federal judge last week granted a temporary restraining order to restore the status of a Ph.D. student at Dartmouth College, Xiaotian Liu. On Tuesday, a federal judge in Wisconsin issued a similar order, ruling the government could not take steps to detain or revoke the visa of a University of Wisconsin-Madison gradate student. In a break from past, feds cancel students’ status directly At many colleges, officials learned the legal immigration status of some international students had been terminated when staff checked a database managed by the Department of Homeland Security. In the past, college officials say, legal statuses typically were updated after colleges told the government the students were no longer studying at the school.The system to track enrollment and movements of international students came under the control of Immigration and Customs Enforcement after 9/11, said Fanta Aw, CEO of NAFSA, an association of international educators. She said recent developments have left students fearful of how quickly they can be on the wrong side of enforcement.“You don’t need more than a small number to create fear,” Aw said. “There’s no clarity of what are the reasons and how far the reach of this is.”Her group says as many as 1,300 students have lost visas or had their status terminated, based on reports from colleges.The Department of Homeland Security and State Department did not respond to messages seeking comment.Foreigners who are subject to removal proceedings are usually sent a notice to appear in immigration court on a certain date, but lawyers say affected students have not received any notices, leaving them unsure of next steps to take.Some schools have told students to leave the country to avoid the risk of being detained or deported. But some students have appealed the terminations and stayed in the United States while those are processed.Still others caught in legal limbo aren’t students at all. They had remained in the U.S. post-graduation on “optional practical training,” a one-year period—or up to three for science and technology graduates—that allows employment in the U.S. after completing an academic degree. During that time, a graduate works in their field and waits to receive their H-1B or other employment visas if they wish to keep working in the U.S.Around 242,000 foreigners in the U.S. are employed through this “optional practical training.” About 500,000 are pursuing graduate degrees, and another 342,000 are undergraduate students.Among the students who have filed lawsuits is a Georgia Tech Ph.D. student who is supposed to graduate on May 5, with a job offer to join the faculty. His attorney Charles Kuck said the student was likely targeted for termination because of an unpaid traffic fine from when the student lent his car to a friend. Ultimately, the violation was dismissed.“We have case after case after case exactly like that, where there is no underlying crime,” said Kuck, who is representing 17 students in the federal lawsuit. He said his law firm has heard from hundreds of students.“These are kids who now, under the Trump administration, realize their position is fragile,” he said. “They’ve preyed on a very vulnerable population. These kids aren’t hiding. They’re in school.”Some international students have been adapting their daily routines.A Ph.D. student from China at University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill said she has begun carrying around her passport and immigration paperwork at the advice of the university’s international student office. The student, who spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of being targeted by authorities, said she has been distressed to see the terminations even for students like her without criminal records.“That is the most scary part because you don’t know whether you’re going to be the next person,” she said. __Seminera reported from Raleigh, N.C., and Keller reported from Albuquerque, N.M. The Associated Press’ education coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP’s standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at AP.org. —Annie Ma, Makiya Seminera and Christopher L. Keller, Associated Press

This folding Z-Down chair is by 20th-century Danish furniture designer Erik Magnussen. Magnussen ingeniously figured out how to create the form using just two pieces of bent tubing and two connectors, with the leather seat and backrest slung between them. It is the leather that holds the chair together; sitting in puts the leather in tension and creates a bit of springiness, as you can see in the video below. Shortly after its design in 1968, the chair went into production by Danish manufacturer Torben Ørskov. It continued to sell throughout the 1970s before eventually being discontinued. Today they fetch a pretty penny on secondhand sites.