That market sucks, Lucid Chief Executive Peter Rawlinson says, as Elon Musk pivots Tesla to driverless cars.

The Phoenix Art Museum devotes an exhibition to the Light and Space movement luminary, featuring enchanting, enigmatic work from across his decades-long career.

A whole new world Silo S2 expands its dystopian world Ars chats with cinematographer Baz Irvine about creating a fresh look for the sophomore season. Jennifer Ouellette Nov 16, 2024 10:09 am | 11 Credit: YouTube/Apple TV+ Credit: YouTube/Apple TV+ Story textSizeSmallStandardLargeWidth *StandardWideLinksStandardOrange* Subscribers only Learn moreThe second season of Silo, Apple TV's dystopian sc-fi drama, is off to a powerful start with yesterday's premiere. Based on the trilogy by novelist Hugh Howey, was one of the more refreshing surprises on streaming television in 2023: a twist-filled combination of political thriller and police procedural set in a post-apocalyptic world. It looks like S2 will be leaning more heavily into sci-fi thriller territory, expanding its storytellingand its striking cinematographybeyond the original silo.(Spoilers for S1 below as well as first five minutes of S2 premiere.)As previously reported, Silo is set in a self-sustaining underground city inhabited by a community whose recorded history only goes back 140 years, generations after the silo was built by the founders. Outside is a toxic hellscape that is only visible on big screens in the silo's topmost level. Inside, 10,000 people live together under a pact: Anyone who says they want to "go out" is immediately granted that wishcast outside in an environment suit on a one-way trip to clean the cameras. But those who make that choice inevitably die soon after because of the toxic environment.Mechanical keeps the power on and life support from collapsing, and that is where we met mechanical savant Juliette Nichols (Rebecca Ferguson) at one with the giant geothermal generator that spins in the silo's core. There were hints at what came beforerelics like mechanical wristwatches or electronics far beyond the technical means of the silo's current inhabitants, due to a rebellion 140 years ago that destroyed the silo's records in the process. The few computers are managed by the IT department, run by Bernard Holland (Tim Robbins).Over the course of the first season, Juliette reluctantly became sheriff and investigated the murder of her lover, George (Ferdinand Kingsley), who collected forbidden historical artifacts, as well as the murder of silo mayor Ruth Jahns (Geraldine James). Many twists ensued, including the existence of a secret group dedicated to remembering the past whose members were being systemically killed. Juliette also began to suspect that the desolate landscape seen through the silo's camera system was a lie and there was actually a lush green landscape outside.In the season one finale, Juliette made a deal with Holland: She would choose to go outside in exchange for the truth about what happened to George and the continued safety of her friends in Mechanical. The final twist: Juliette survived her outside excursion and realized that the dystopian hellscape was the reality, and the lush green Eden was the lie. And she learned that their silo was one of many, with a ruined city visible in the background.That's where the second season picks up. Apple TV+ released the footage of the first five minutes last week: Official sneak peek for the second season of Apple TV+'s sci-fi drama Silo. The opening battle, with all new characters, clearly took place in one of the other silos (Silo 17), and the residents desperate to break out did so only to meet their deaths. The footage ends with Juliette walking past their skeletons toward the entrance to Silo 17. We know from the official trailer that rebellion is also brewing back in her own silo as rumors spread that she is alive.The expansion of Silo's world was an opportunity for cinematographer Baz Irvine (who worked on four key episodes this season) to play with lenses, color palettes, lighting, and other elements to bring unique looks to the different settings.Ars Technica: How did you make things visually different from last season? What were your guidelines going into this for the cinematography?Baz Irvine: There's few different things going on. I love season one, but we were going to open it up [in S2]. We were going to introduce this new silo, so that was going to be a whole other world that had to look immediately familiar, but also completely different. We start season one with an exterior of the dystopian, future blasted planet. On the technical point, I saw two things I could do very simply. I felt that the format of season one was two to one, so not quite letterbox, not quite widescreen. When I saw the sets and I saw the art, everything the amazing art department had done, I was like, guys, this needs to be widescreen. I think at the time there was still a little bit of reticence from Apple and a few of the other streamers to commit to full widescreen, but I persuaded them.I also changed the lenses because I wanted to keep the retro feel, the dystopian future, but retro feel. I chose slightly different lenses to give me a wider feel of view. I talked to my director, Michael Dinner, and we talked about how at times, as brilliant as season one was, it was a bit theatrical, a bit presentational. Here's the silo, here's the silo, here's the silo...., So what you want to do is stop worrying about the silo. It is incredible and it's in the back of every shot. We wanted to make it more visceral. There was going to be a lot more action. The start of episode one is a full-blown battle. Apple released the first five minutes on Apple. It actually stops at a very critical point, but you can see that it's the previous world of the other Silo 17.We still wanted to see the scope and the scale. As a cinematographer, you've got to get your head around something that's very unusual: the Silo is vertical. When we shoot stuff, we go outside, everything's horizontal. So as a cinematographer, you think horizontally, you frame the skyline, you frame the buildings. But in the silo, it's all up there and it's all down there, but it doesn't exist. A bit of the set exists, but you have to go, oh, okay, what can I see if I point the camera up here, what will VFX brilliantly give me? What can I see down there? So that was another big discussion. The initial view of what's outside the silo YouTube/Apple TV+ The initial view of what's outside the silo YouTube/Apple TV+ What's actually outside the silo YouTube/Apple TV+ What's actually outside the silo YouTube/Apple TV+ The initial view of what's outside the silo YouTube/Apple TV+ What's actually outside the silo YouTube/Apple TV+ Ars Technica: When you talk about wanting to make it more visceral, what does that mean specifically in a cinematography context?Baz Irvine: It's just such a lovely word. Season one had an almost European aesthetic. It was a lot of very beautiful, slow developing shots. Of course it was world building. It was the first time the silo was on the screen. So as a filmmaker, you have a certain responsibility to give the audience a sense of where you are. Season two, we know where we are. Well, we don't with the other silo, but we discover it. This role for me meant not being head of the action. So with Juliet, Rebecca Ferguson's character, we discover what she sees with her, rather than showing it ahead of time.We're trying to be a point of view, almost hand-held. When she's running, we're running with her. When she's trying to smash her helmet, we are very much with her.On another level, visceral for me also means responding to actionnot being too prescriptive about what the camera should do, but when you see the blocking of a scene and you feel it's going a certain way and there's a certain energy, responding to that and getting in there. The silo, as I said, is always going to be in the background, but we're not trying to fetishize the silo too much. We're going to look down, we're going to look up, we're going to use crane moves, but just get in with the action. Just be with the people. That means slightly longer lenses, longer focal lengths at times. And from my point of view, the fall off and focus just looks so beautiful. So I think that's what visceral means. I bet you somebody else would say something completely different.Ars Technica: Other specific choices you made included using a muted green palette and torchlight flashlight. So there is this sense of isolation and mystery and a spooky, more immersive atmosphere.Baz Irvine: The challenge that I could see from when I read the script is that a large part of season two is in the new Silo 17. So the new Silo 17 hasn't been occupied for 35 years. It's been in this dormant, strange, half-lit state. It's overgrown with plants and ivy. Some of the references for that were what Chernobyl looked like 20 years down the line. When humanity leaves, nature just takes over. But as a counterpoint, we needed it to feel dark. Most of the electricity has gone, most of the lights have gone out. I needed to have some lighting motivation to give some sense of the shape of the Silo, so that we weren't plummeting into darkness for the whole episode. So I came up with this idea, the overhead lights that power the silo, that light the silo, were in broken -down mode. They were in reserve power. They'd gone a bit green because that's what the bulb technology would've done. Episode one introduces us to people living in a different silo. YouTube/Apple TV+ Episode one introduces us to people living in a different silo. YouTube/Apple TV+ The residents of Silo 17 seem to have met a sticky end. YouTube/Apple TV+ The residents of Silo 17 seem to have met a sticky end. YouTube/Apple TV+ Episode one introduces us to people living in a different silo. YouTube/Apple TV+ The residents of Silo 17 seem to have met a sticky end. YouTube/Apple TV+ Part of the reason to do that is that when you're cutting between two silos that were built identically, you've got to have something to show that you're in a different world. Yes, it's empty, and yes, it's desolate and it's eerie, and there's strange clanking noises. But I wanted to make it very clear from a lighting point of view that they were two different places.The other thing that you will discover in episode one, when Juliet's character is finally working her way through the Silo 17, she has a flashlight and she breaks into an apartment. As she scans the wallshe starts to notice, oh, it's not like her silo, there are beautiful murals and art. We really wanted to play into this idea that every silo was different. They had different groups of people potentially from different parts of the states. This silo in a way developed quite an artistic community. Murals and frescoes were very much part of this silo. It's not something that is obvious, and it's just the odd little scan of a flashlight that gives you this sense. But also Silo 17 is scary. It's sort of alive, but is there life in it? That is a big question.Ars Technica: You talk about not wanting to all be in darkness. I'm now thinking of that infamous Game of Thrones episode where the night battle footage was so dark viewers couldn't follow what was going on. That's clearly a big challenge for a cinematographer. Where do you find the balance?Baz Irvine: This is the eternal dilemma for cinematographers. It's getting notes back from the grownups going, it's too dark,it's too dark. Well, maybe if you were watching it in a dark room and it wasn't bight outside, it would be fine. You have to balance things. I've also got Rebecca Ferguson walking around the silo, and it can't be in so much shadow that you can't recognize her. So there's a type of darkness that in film world I know how to convey it. It's very subtle. It is underexposed, but I used very soft top light. I didn't want hard shadows. By using that light and filling in little details in the background, I can then take the lighting down. I had an amazing colorist in Company 3 in Toronto and we had a chat about how dark we could go.We have to be very dark in places because a couple of times in this season, the electricity gets pulled altogether in the old silo as well. You can't pull the plug and then suddenly everybody's visible. But it is a film aesthetic that, as a cinematographer, you just learn, how dark can I go? When am I going to get in trouble? Please can I stay on the job, but make it as dark as possible? You mentioned Game of Thrones, clearly audiences have become more used to seeing imagery that I would consider more photographic, more bold generally. I try to tap into that as much as possible. If you have one character with a flashlight, then suddenly that changes everything because you point a flashlight at the surface and the light bounces back in the face. You have to use all the tools that you can. YouTube/Apple TV+ YouTube/Apple TV+ YouTube/Apple TV+ YouTube/Apple TV+ YouTube/Apple TV+ YouTube/Apple TV+ YouTube/Apple TV+ YouTube/Apple TV+ YouTube/Apple TV+ Ars Technica: In season one there were different looks (lighting and textures) for different social hierarchies of the social hierarchies. Does that continue in season two?Baz Irvine: I tried to push that a little bit more in season two. I loved the idea of that J.G. Ballard high rise, the rich at the top, everything inverted. The silo is crazy tall. We worked it out. It's about a kilometer and a half.The mechanical is the fun bit because mechanical is the bottom of the silo. Down there, we wet the walls, wet the floors, so that the more greeny, orangey colors you associate with fluorescent lights and more mechanical fixtures would reflect. You keep the light levels low because you get this lovely sheen off the walls. As you move up through the middle, where a lot of the action takes place, the lighting is more normal. I'm not really trying to push it one way or another.Then you go up top where the judicial live, where the money and power is. You're a lot closer to the light source because there only is this one huge light source that lights down in the silo. So up there the air is more rarefied. It's like you're on top of a Swiss mountain. It just feels cleaner. There's less atmosphere, slightly bluer in light, different color temperatures on the practical lighting in offices. It's less chaotic, more like a more modern aesthetic up there. You've got to be careful not to overplay it. Once you establish colors, you run with it and it just becomes second nature. It was a lot of fun to be able to demarcatess long as you remembered where you were, that was always the trick.Ars Technica: What were the most notable challenges and highlights for youwithout giving away anything beyond episode one.Baz Irvine: I think the big thing about episode one is that it's like a silent movie. Rebecca Ferguson has maybe two lines, or maybe she doesn't actually say anything. It's a journey of discovery, and there's some quite scary, terrifying things that happen. There's a lot of action. Also, we find out there's water in Silo 17. Silo 17 is flooded. You don't find that out until she slips and falls and you think she's fallen to her death. From the outset knew that there would be an extensive amount of underwater, or on the surface of the water, filming that would need to take place. We had to do a massive amount of testing, looking at textures of water, what equipment we could use, how we could get the depth, the width. We built a huge tank at one of our studios in London and used Pinewood's famous underwater tank for the fall.Also there was the challenge of trying to do shots of that scale outside because we actually built sets. We could probably see 50 feet beyond Rebecca. We had the surface of the scorched surface, but beyond that is VFX. So we had huge blue screens and all these different cranes and things called Manitous with massive frames and had to control the sun. That was very challenging. You can really go down a very cliched path when trying to imagine what the fallout of a massive nuclear attack would look like. But we didn't want to overplay it too much, we wanted to embed it in some sort of reality so that you didn't suddenly feel at the start of episode one, oh my, you're on the surface of Mars. It had to feel real, but also just completely different from the interior world of the silo.Ars Technica: I assume that there's a lot more exciting stuff coming in the other episodes that we can't talk about.Baz Irvine: There is so much exciting stuff. There's a lot of action. The silo cafeteria, by the way, is just incredible because you have this huge screen. When I turned up, I was thinking, okay, well this is clearly going to be some big VFX blue screen. It is not. It is a projected image. The work that they did to make it feel like it was a camera mounted to the top of the silo, showing the world outside, and the different times of daywe just literally dialed in. Can I have dusk please? Can I have late afternoon with a little bit of cloud? It was such a fun toy box to play with.New episodes of Silo S2 will premiere every Friday through January 17, 2025, on Apple TV+.Jennifer OuelletteSenior WriterJennifer OuelletteSenior Writer Jennifer is a senior reporter at Ars Technica with a particular focus on where science meets culture, covering everything from physics and related interdisciplinary topics to her favorite films and TV series. Jennifer lives in Baltimore with her spouse, physicist Sean M. Carroll, and their two cats, Ariel and Caliban. 11 Comments Prev story

Half-Life 2 Week These are the lasting things that Half-Life 2 gave us, besides headcrabs and crowbars Beyond the game itself (which rocks), Half-Life 2 had a big impact on PC gaming. Kevin Purdy Nov 16, 2024 6:45 am | 17 This article is part of our 20th anniversary of Half-Life 2 series. Credit: Aurich Lawson This article is part of our 20th anniversary of Half-Life 2 series. Credit: Aurich Lawson Story textSizeSmallStandardLargeWidth *StandardWideLinksStandardOrange* Subscribers only Learn moreIt'sHalf-Life 2week at Ars Technica! This Saturday, November 16, is the 20th anniversary of the release ofHalf-Life 2a game of historical importance for the artistic medium and technology of computer games. Each day up through the 16th, we'll be running a new article looking back at the game and its impact.Well, I just hate the idea that our games might waste peoples time. Why spend four years of your life building something that isn't innovative and is basically pointless?Valve software founder Gabe Newell is quoted by Geoff Keighleyyes, the Game Awards guy, back then a GameSpot writeras saying this in June 1999, six months after the original Half-Life launched. Newell gave his team no real budget or deadline, only the assignment to follow up the best PC game of all time and redefine the genre.When Half-Life 2 arrived in November 2004, the Collectors Edition contained about 2.6GB of files. The game, however, contained so many things that would seem brand new in gaming, or just brave, that its hard to even list them.Except Im going to try that right here. Some will be hard to pin definitively in time to Half-Life 2 (HL2). But like many great games, HL2 refined existing ideas, borrowed others, and had a few of its own to show off.Note that some aspects of the game itself, its status as Steams big push title, and what its like to play it today, are covered by other writers during Ars multi-day celebration of the games 20th anniversary. That includes the Gravity Gun. How many film and gaming careers were launched by people learning how to make the Scout do something goofy? Credit: Valve How many film and gaming careers were launched by people learning how to make the Scout do something goofy? Credit: Valve The Source EngineIts hard to imagine another game developer building an engine with such a forward-thinking mission as Source. Rather than just build the thing that runs their next game, Valve crafted Source to be modular, such that its core could be continually improved (and shipped out over Steam), and newer technologies could be optionally ported into games both new and old, while not breaking any older titles working perfectly fine.Source started development during the late stages of the original Half-Life, but its impact goes far beyond the series. Team Fortress 2, Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, Portal 1/2, and Left 4 Dead, from Valve alone, take up multiple slots on lists of the all-time best games. The Stanley Parable, Vampire: The MasqueradeBloodlines, and a whole lot of other games used Source, too. Countless future game developers, level designers, and mod makers cut their teeth on the very open and freely available Source code tools.And then, of course, where would we be as a society were it not for Source Filmmaker and Garrys Mod, without which we would never have Save as .dmx and Skibidi Toilet.Half-Life: Alyx is a technical marvel of the VR age, but it's pulled along by the emotional bonds of Alyx and Russell, and the quest to save Eli Vance. Credit: Valve Half-Life: Alyx is a technical marvel of the VR age, but it's pulled along by the emotional bonds of Alyx and Russell, and the quest to save Eli Vance. Credit: Valve A shooter with family dynamicsNovelist Marc Laidlaw has made it clear, multiple times, that he did not truly create the Half-Life story when he joined Valve; it was all there when I got there, in embryo, he told Rock Paper Shotgun. Laidlaw helped the developers tell their story through level design and wrote short, funny, unnerving dialogue.For Half-Life 2, Laidlaw and the devs were tasked with creating some honest-to-goodness characters, something you didnt get very often in first-person shooters (they were all dead in 1994s System Shock). So in walked that father/daughter team of Eli and Alyx Vance, and the extended Black Mesa family, including folks like Dr. Kleiner.These real and makeshift family members gave the mute protagonist Gordon Freeman stakes in wanting to fix the future. And Laidlaws basic dramatic unit set a precedent for lots of shooty-yet-soft-hearted games down the road: Mass Effect, The Last of Us, Gears of War, Red Dead Redemption, and far more. Remember when a Boston-area medical manufacturing firm, run by a Half-Life fan, got everyone thinking a sequel was coming? Fun times. Credit: Black Mesa Remember when a Boston-area medical manufacturing firm, run by a Half-Life fan, got everyone thinking a sequel was coming? Fun times. Credit: Black Mesa Intense speculation about what Valve is actually doingAnother unique thing Laidlaw helped develop in PC gaming: intense grief and longing for a sequel that both does and does not exist, channeled through endless speculation about Valve's processes and general radio silence.Half-Life 2 got Episodes but never a true numbered Half-Life 3 sequel. The likelihood of 3 took a hit when Laidlaw unexpectedly announced his retirement in January 2016. Then it got even less likely, or maybe just sad, when Laidlaw posted a barely disguised snapshot of a dream of Epistle 3 to his blog (since deleted and later transposed on Pastebin).Laidlaw has expressed regret about this move. Fans have expressed regret that Half-Life 3 somehow seems even less likely, having seen Valves premiere writer post such a seemingly despondent bit of primary source fan fiction.Fans of popular game eager for sequel isn't itself a unique thing, but it is for Half-Life 3s quantum existence. Valve published its new employee handbook from around 2012 on the web, and in it, you can read about the companys boldly flat structure. To summarize greatly: Projects only get started if someone can get enough fellow employees to wheel their desks over and work on it with them. The company doesnt take canceled or stalled games to heart; in its handbook, its almost celebrated that it killed Prospero as one of its first major decisions.So the fact that Half-Life 3 exists only as something that hasnt been formally canceled is uniquely frustrating. HL2s last (chronological) chapter left off on a global-scale cliffhanger, and the only reason a sequel doesnt exist is because too many other things are more appealing than developing a new first-person shooter. If you worked at Valve, you tell yourself, maybe you could change this! Maybe. What, you're telling me now it's illegal to break in, take source code, and then ask for a job? This is a police state! Credit: Valve What, you're telling me now it's illegal to break in, take source code, and then ask for a job? This is a police state! Credit: Valve Source code leak dramaThe Wikipedia pages List of commercial video games with available source code and its cousin Later released source code show that, up until 2003, most of the notable games whose source code became publicly available were either altruistic efforts at preservation or, for some reason, accidental inclusions of source code on demos or in dummy files on the game disc.And then, in late 2003, Valve and Half-Life superfan Axel Gembe hacked into Valves servers, grabbed the Half-Life 2 source code that existed at the time and posted it to the web. It not only showed off parts of the game Valve wanted to keep under wraps, but it showed just how far behind the games development was relative to the release date that had blown by weeks earlier. Valves response was typically atypical: they acknowledged the source code as real, asked their biggest fans for help, and then released the game a year later, to critical and commercial success.The leak further ensconced Valve as a different kind of company, one with a particularly dedicated fanbase. It also seems to have taught companies a lesson about hardening their servers and development environments. Early builds of games still leakwitness Space Marine 2 this past Julybut full source code leaks, coming from network intrusions, are something you dont see quite so often.Pre-loading a game before releaseIt would be hard to go back in time and tell our pre-broadband selves about pre-loading. You download entire games, over the Internet, and then theyre ready to play one second after the release timeno store lines, no drive back home, no stuffed servers or crashed discs. It seems like a remarkable bit of trust, though its really just a way to lessen server load on release day.Its hard to pin down which game first offered pre-loading in the modern sense, but HL2, being a major launch title for Valves Steam service and a title with heavy demand, definitely popularized the concept.Always-online for single-player gamesHeres one way that Half-Life 2 moved the industry forward that some folks might want to move back.Technically, you can play HL2 without an Internet connection, and maybe for long periods of time. But for most people, playing HL2 without a persistent net connection involves activating the game on Steam, letting it fully update, and then turning on Steams Offline Mode to play it. Theres no time limit, but you need to keep Steam active while playing.Its not so much the particular connection demands of HL2 that make it notable, but the pathway that it, and Steam, created on which other companies moved ahead, treating gaming as something that, by default, happens with at least a connection, and preferably a persistent one. It's Game of the Year. Which year? Most of them, really (until Disco Elysium shows up). Credit: Valve It's Game of the Year. Which year? Most of them, really (until Disco Elysium shows up). Credit: Valve A place on All-time video game rankings foreverHalf-Life 2 introduced many ground-breaking things at oncedeep facial animations and expressions, an accessible physics engine, a compelling global-scale but family-minded storywhile also being tremendously enjoyable game to play through. This has made it hard for anyone to suggest another game to go above it on any "All-time greatest games" list, especially those with a PC focus.Not that they dont try. PC Gamer has HL2 at 7 out of 100, mostly because it has lost an understandable amount of Hotness in 20 years. IGN has it at No. 9 (while its descendant Portal 2 takes third place). Metacritic, however fallible, slots it in universal second place for PC games.So give Half-Life 2 even more credit for fostering innovation in the arbitrary ranked list of games genre. Rock Paper Shotguns top 100 is cited as the best to play on PC today, as they have paid no mind to what was important or influential. And yet, Half-Life 2, as a game you can play in 2024, is still on that list. Its really something, that game.Kevin PurdySenior Technology ReporterKevin PurdySenior Technology Reporter Kevin is a senior technology reporter at Ars Technica, covering open-source software, PC gaming, home automation, repairability, e-bikes, and tech history. He has previously worked at Lifehacker, Wirecutter, iFixit, and Carbon Switch. 17 Comments Prev story

Readers rated AI-mimicry of Shakespeares poems above the authors real worksNorth Wind Picture Archives / AlamyMost readers cant distinguish classic works by poets such as William Shakespeare and Emily Dickinson from imitations generated by artificial intelligence. And when asked which they prefer, they often chose the AI poetry.Over 78 per cent of our participants gave higher ratings on average to AI-generated poems than to human-written poems by famous poets, says Brian Porter at the University of Pittsburgh in Pennsylvania.Porter and his team prompted OpenAIs

The shadow of a laser beam appears as a horizontal line against the blue backgroundAbrahao et al. (2024)Light normally makes other objects cast shadows but with a little help from a ruby, a beam of laser light can cast a shadow of its own.When two laser beams interact, they dont clash together like lightsabers in Star Wars, says Raphael Abrahao at Brookhaven National Laboratory in New York. In real life, they will simply pass through each other. Abrahao and his colleagues, however, found a way for one laser beam to block another and make its shadow appear. AdvertisementThe crucial ingredient was a ruby cube. The researchers hit this cube with a beam of green laser light while illuminating it with a blue laser from the side. As the green light passed through the ruby atoms, it changed their properties in a peculiar way that then affected how they reacted to the blue light.Instead of letting the blue laser pass through them, the atoms affected by the green light now blocked the blue light, which created a shadow shaped exactly like the green laser beam. Remarkably, the researchers could project the blue light on a screen and see this shadow of a laser with the naked eye.Abrahao says he and his colleagues had a long discussion of whether what they created really qualified as a shadow. Because it moved when they moved the green laser beam, they could see it without any special equipment and they managed to project it onto commonplace objects, like a marker, they ultimately decided in the affirmative. Untangle the weirdness of reality with our monthly newsletter.Sign up to newsletterHistorically, understanding shadows has been crucial for understanding what light can do and how we can use it, he says, and this experiment adds an unexpected technique into scientists light-manipulation toolbox.TomsChlouba at the University of ErlangenNuremberg in Germany says the experiment uses known processes to create a striking visual demonstration of how materials can help control light. The rubys interactions with the laser, for instance, are similar to those of materials used in laser eye surgeries, which must be able to respond to laser light by blocking it if it gets dangerously intense.Journal reference:Optica DOI: 10.1364/OPTICA.534596Topics:

Don Saladino, a personal trainer to celebrities, said he's in the best shape of his life at 47.Saladino strives to challenge himself continually and build muscle. His training regime includes strength and interval training, and hockey.At age 47, the personal trainer Don Saladino is in the best shape of his life."Is my body composition better now than it was when I was in my 20s? Yes," Saladino, whose clients include Ryan Reynolds, Blake Lively, Sebastian Stan, and Anne Hathaway, told Business Insider. "Am I as strong now as I was when I was in my 20s? Yes. Can I do all the things now that I did when I was in my 20s? 100%. No doubt. I feel like my physique gets better and better."Saladino's goal is to keep challenging himself and building muscle (without gaining body fat), and he is calculated with both his nutrition and training to help to achieve it, he said. While his schedule often changes as he juggles working with high-profile clients and managing the online community on his app, he always finds time to train, he said."I enjoy feeling really good and I enjoy my body responding a certain way and looking a certain way," Saladino, who is based in New York, said. "As I get older, it's like the more I put into this, the more I'm going to get out of it."Saladino broke down how he works out and recovers. Don Saladino (center) with Ryan Reynolds and Blake Lively. Courtesy of Don Saladino Lifting at least four times a weekSaladino lifts four times a week, split between upper body and lower body movements.For three days, he focuses on powerlifting movements: bench presses, low bar back squats, and snatch grip deadlifts. On day four, he focuses on pushing and pulling movements, such as overhead presses and pull-ups.If he can fit a fifth lifting day into his week, Saladino does accessory movements such as arm exercises and ab interval work.Strength training is well established as the best way to build muscle and bone density, and it aids fat loss.Intervals and steady-state cardioTo improve his cardiovascular fitness, Saladino does tough interval workouts twice a week."It's super short, like four minutes of work, but super intense," Saladino said.He usually sprints on a curved treadmill or track, or uses an air bike, Versaclimber, or ski erg.He also does one steady-state cardio workout, such as jogging or using a stair mill.Research suggests that cardio alongside weightlifting is effective in boosting longevity.Playing hockey for fun Don Saladino (second from left) plays hockey twice a week. Lars Niki/Getty Images Saladino plays hockey twice a week, often at 6:30 a.m., he said.Hockey is a fun group activity as well as a workout to Saladino but he pushes his body a lot harder in his interval workouts, he said. "Playing the game is about scoring, winning, having fun, and intervals are about: you're going at this time for this specific reason," Saladino said. "Sport is amazing for you. It's very healthy, but I think you can limit yourself from training specific energy systems because it's not structured."Research suggests social connection, whether through group sport or sharing a meal with friends, plays an important role in well-being and longevity.Cold plunges and saunas for recoverySaladino is a fan of cold plunges after hockey games as his body often feels a bit "imbalanced" afterward, he said."I just really like how it gets my body to calm down a bit," Saladino said. "It really helps reduce some of the soreness in the hips from playing."Saladino enjoys saunas too, and will often go from there to a cold plunge for two to three minutes. Research suggests that hot and cold therapy can help the body manage stress better, but research on ice baths for aiding recovery and muscle growth is mixed."For someone my age who is in the game right now, it's about, 'How can I rinse and repeat, rinse and repeat?' I come back every day and do the things I love," Saladino said.Saladino also uses Normatec massage boots and has been experimenting with red light therapy for recovery. Although science may not be conclusive about the benefits of such recovery protocols, he doesn't think that's a reason not to try them.Saladino is also conscious of cumulative fatigue and listens to his body when he needs to slow down and destress. "We have to allow our body to recover," he said.

Albania: Franceska RustemMiss Albania 2024. Courtesy of Miss Universe Franceska Rustem, 19, is one of the youngest contestants featured in this year's Miss Universe competition.Born in Durrs, Albania, she works as a model and television host. She's also outspoken against bullying across her social media platforms. Angola: Nelma FerreiraMiss Angola 2024. Courtesy of Miss Universe Nelma Ferreira, 26, works in company management and administration.While she describes herself as being committed to volunteering and supporting social causes, Ferreira is particularly passionate about improving gender equality and reducing world hunger.She also leads a project called Kamba, which provides sexual and reproductive education to young women in Angola. Argentina: Magal BenejamMiss Argentina 2024. Courtesy of Miss Universe Magal Benejam, 29, is a model who's walked in fashion shows, starred in advertisements, and appeared in magazines.She's taken makeup, hairstyling, public speaking, and runway classes to compete in Miss Universe, and describes herself as a perfectionist.Benejam is also a vegetarian and supporter of animal rights. Armenia: Emma AvanesianMiss Armenia 2024. Courtesy of Miss Universe Emma Avanesian, 32, wears many hats. Now a mother and the founder of a modeling agency, she's previously worked as a singer, dancer, model, fitness instructor, and financier.She dreams of working as an actor and cinematographer on Hollywood films and is passionate about guiding young women to success. Aruba: Anouk EmanMiss Aruba 2024. Hector Vivas/Getty Images Anouk Eman, 32, was close to achieving her dream of becoming an Olympic synchronized swimmer when she suddenly needed spinal surgery to manage severe scoliosis.She told the Miss Universe organization that the 24 iron rods now installed in her back have transformed her into an "iron woman."In her free time, she often volunteers with Red Cross Aruba. Australia: Zoe CreedMiss Australia 2024. Courtesy of Miss Universe Zoe Creed, 23, holds two jobs: model and owner of an online pilates training service.She's especially passionate about advocating for women's health.Inspired by her experience with endometriosis, she's now outspoken against women's concerns being dismissed and hopes to encourage others to stand up for themselves. The Bahamas: Selvinique WrightMiss Bahamas 2024. Hector Vivas/Getty Images Selvinique Wright, 32, founded her organization, Women's Health Us First, after being diagnosed with uterine fibroids.Through the platform, she aims to raise awareness about the condition and encourage women to take ownership of their health. Bahrain: Shereen AhmedMiss Bahrain 2024. Courtesy of Miss Universe Shereen Ahmed, 30, was raised by a single mother and has now made it her mission to advocate for others. Her initiative, Hope Bahrain, aims to provide resources to moms in need and uplift their spirits.She works as a journalist, television host, and social-media content creator. Bangladesh: Aniqa Maisha AlamMiss Bangladesh 2024. Courtesy of Miss Universe Aniqa Maisha Alam, 32, holds many titles: mother, makeup artist, and women's empowerment advocate.She got married seven years ago and welcomed her first child, a son, last year. Belarus: Eleonora KachalovskayaMiss Belarus 2024. Hector Vivas/Getty Images Eleonora Kachalovskaya, 24, is passionate about sports, traveling, and advocating for children and teenagers with special needs.She previously graduated from the Belarusian State University of Culture and Art. Belgium: Kenza AmelootMiss Belgium 2024. Courtesy of Miss Universe Kenza Ameloot, 22, is a business student and a professional model. But her biggest passions are helping children in need and furthering students' education.In her spare time and on holidays, Ameloot often visits her mother's home country of Rwanda. Belize: Halima HoyMiss Belize 2024. Courtesy of Miss Universe Halima Hoy, 30, has roots around the world. She was born to a Garifuna mother from Guatemala and a mestizo Muslim father, as she told the Miss Universe organization.As for work, Hoy is a certified personal trainer. She also volunteers with Unicef Belize to raise awareness for children, the elderly, and others vulnerable to non-communicable diseases. Bolivia: Juliana BarrientosMiss Bolivia 2024. Hector Vivas/Getty Images Juliana Barrientos, 27, holds the titles of biochemist and pharmacist. She's worked specifically on in vitro fertilization and is an advocate for women's empowermentHer hobbies include playing piano and speaking multiple languages. Bonaire: Ruby PouchetMiss Bonaire 2024. Courtesy of Miss Universe Ruby Pouchet, 29, works as a communications specialist and government official. Her biggest passion is protecting the environment, and she believes women can lead the fight for sustainability.Pouchet is the first woman to represent Bonaire in the Miss Universe competition in 25 years. Botswana: Thanolo KeutlwileMiss Botswana 2024. Courtesy of Miss Universe Thanolo Keutlwile, 28, is a doctor of women's health at the Princess Marina Hospital in Botswana. She previously graduated with degrees in medicine and surgery.Her initiative during the Miss Universe competition is titled Diamond For Development. It highlights how her home country has used diamonds to its advantage and supports the industry's sustainable growth. Brazil: Luana CavalcanteMiss Brazil 2024. Courtesy of Miss Universe Luana Cavalcante, 25, made history as the first married woman and mother to earn the Miss Universe Brazil title.She works as a model and has one son, whom she hopes will one day be inspired by her Miss Universe journey. British Virgin Islands: Deyounce LowenfieldMiss British Virgin Islands 2024. Courtesy of Miss Universe Deyounce Lowenfield, 20, is an entrepreneur who recently graduated with a business administration degree.She's practiced yoga to prepare for her appearance in Miss Universe and aims to empower younger generations through her work and platform. Bulgaria: Elena VianMiss Bulgaria 2024. Hector Vivas/Getty Images Elena Vian, 38, previously earned a master's degree in economics from the University of Bordeaux. She's also a mother and designs costumes for various stage performances in her spare time.Vian describes herself as an animal rights activist and regularly shares photos of her travels on social media. Cambodia: Davin PrasathMiss Cambodia 2024. Courtesy of Miss Universe Davin Prasath, 33, spends much of her time volunteering and providing community service.She's particularly passionate about empowering women and children to overcome poverty and educational barriers. Prasath started her initiative, Voice for Change - Tuk Chet Association, to speak for these groups and make an impact. Cameroon: Noura NjikamMiss Cameroon 2024. Courtesy of Miss Universe Noura Njikam, 25, has many passions, with art and culture among her top interests.But she's also outspoken online about ending domestic violence and encouraging young people to use their voices and speak out against injustices. Canada: Ashley CallingbullMiss Canada 2024. Hector Vivas/Getty Images Ashley Callingbull, 35, is a member of the Enoch Cree Nation and serves as a First Nations activist within her community. This role has led her to give a speech at Harvard University and receive a United Nations Role Model award.But her skills don't stop there. Callingbull is also a sports television host, model, and actor. Cayman Islands: Raegan RuttyMiss Cayman Islands 2024. Courtesy of Miss Universe Raegan Rutty, 22, made history in 2020 when she represented the Cayman Islands as a gymnast at the Olympic Games. She began the sport at age 4 and is also a fisherwoman.She's also passionate about ending the stigma surrounding mental health. Chile: Emilia DidesMiss Chile 2024. Hector Vivas/Getty Images Emilia Dides, 25, isn't new to competition. In 2019, she was crowned the winner of a famous Chilean singing contest and is still pursuing her music career.Dides believes that music can greatly promote strong mental health and is eager to share the benefits of music therapy with the world. China: Jia QiMiss China 2024. Courtesy of Miss Universe Jia Qi, 26, was formerly a sprint athlete, something she began when she joined the National Youth Athletics Team at age 10.Health and fitness are important to Qi, who regularly shares her wellness tips on social media. Colombia: Daniela Toloza RochaMiss Colombia 2024. Courtesy of Miss Universe Daniela Toloza Rocha, 30, works in senior management and public relations and is also a fashion designer who focuses on inclusive garments.She regularly posts about her outfits on Instagram and dresses in meaningful garments that honor women and her home country. Costa Rica: Elena HidalgoMiss Costa Rica 2024. Courtesy of Miss Universe Elena Hidalgo, 32, is a mother and model who advocates for gender equality.She's also determined to prove that you can reach any dream you set out to achieve. Hidalgo is doing so herself by studying to earn a degree in nutrition. Cte d'Ivoire: Marie-Emmanuelle DiamalaMiss Cte d'Ivoire 2024. Courtesy of Miss Universe Marie-Emmanuelle Diamala, 21, is on a mission to change the world for women. After earning a degree in finance, she's now focused on fighting maternal mortality with her Miss Universe initiative.She also promotes peace on Instagram and aims to blend modernity and tradition in her home country. Croatia: Zrinka oriMiss Croatia 2024. Courtesy of Miss Universe Zrinka ori, 23, is a student at the Zagreb School of Economics and Management. When she's not in class, she works at an IT and distribution company.But ori's true passion is humanitarian aid through her project Cycle of Support, which brings hygiene and menstrual supplies to girls in Tanzania. Cuba: Marianela AnchetaMiss Cuba 2024. Hector Vivas/Getty Images Marianela Ancheta, 31, is the first woman to represent Cuba in the Miss Universe competition since 1967. On Instagram, she said she felt honored to wear the country's sash.Additionally, Ancheta works as a model and a businesswoman and advocates for mental-health support. Curaao: Kimberly de BoerMiss Curaao 2024. Courtesy of Miss Universe Kimberly de Boer, 19, dreams of working in the art industry. She's currently a graphic design student and wants to study art history in the Netherlands.She's also a painter who uses the craft as a form of artistic expression and mental-health exercise. Cyprus: Katerina DimitriouMiss Cyprus 2024. Courtesy of Miss Universe Katerina Dimitriou, 29, is bringing her fashion skills to the Miss Universe competition. She began modeling at age 12 and now works as a social-media influencer.On Instagram, Dimitriou often documents her outfits in the various countries she travels to. Czech Republic: Marie DaniMiss Czech Republic 2024. Courtesy of Miss Universe Marie Dani, 28, describes herself as a "movie and theatre nerd." She also plays basketball and loves trying new food.During the Miss Universe competition, Dani aims to remain true to herself and advocate for individual authenticity throughout industries. Denmark: Victoria Kjr TheilvigMiss Denmark 2024. Hector Vivas/Getty Images Victoria Kjr Theilvig, 21, has accomplished her dance dreams across Europe. Now, she aims to become a lawyer.Additionally, Theilvig regularly advocates for mental-health support, supports animal rights causes, and works as a beauty entrepreneur. Dominican Republic: Celinee SantosMiss Dominican Republic 2024. Courtesy of Miss Universe Celinee Santos, 24, is now completing an internship at the San Cristbal Court in Santo Domingo after graduating from law school.Sustainability and building a better world are also important to Santos, an advocate for young girls in the Dominican Republic. Democratic Republic of the Congo: Ilda AmaniMiss Democratic Republic of Congo 2024. Courtesy of Miss Universe Ilda Amani, 26, is from the province of South Kivu. Though her home is in the midst of conflict, Amani aims to promote peace through her career ventures and amplify the voices of Congolese women on the Miss Universe stage.She has a degree in business administration and management. Ecuador: Mara TopiMiss Ecuador 2024. Hector Vivas/Getty Images Mara Topi, 29, is a director and actor who has appeared on shows like "Law and Order" and worked alongside artists such as Daddy Yankee.Her Miss Universe initiative, Mentes Valientes, advocates for mental health and translates to Brave Minds. Egypt: Logina SalahMiss Egypt 2024. Courtesy of Miss Universe Logina Salah, 34, graduated with a degree in finance. But her accomplishments surpass a single field.She's now a mother, model, TV presenter, makeup artist, and life coach. Salah is also using her current platform to de-stigmatize Vitiligo, a skin condition she has. El Salvador: Florence GarcaMiss El Salvador 2024 Courtesy of Miss Universe Florence Garca, 26, is bilingual and multitalented.Though she's now a philanthropist and entertainment reporter, she's also pursuing a double major in business administration and mass communications. Equatorial Guinea: Diana Angono MouhafoMiss Equatorial Guinea 2024. Courtesy of Miss Universe Diana Angono Mouhafo, 25, is now a model but previously graduated with a degree in commerce and marketing.She also has a 4-year-old son and is studying business administration.

In 2004, life as a Democrat was pretty bleak.The party lost a presidential election to George W. Bush for a second time. Adding insult to injury, Democratic nominee John Kerry lost the popular vote. The party was seemingly losing ground, after having won the popular vote in 2000 and losing the Electoral College thanks only to an exceedingly close (and contested) loss in Florida. It was a different world back then, but Democrats sensed that voters resoundingly had rejected what they had to offer even while running against a Republican candidate broadly considered vulnerable.In 2024, life as a Democrat is pretty bleak in many of the same ways it was two decades ago. Ballots are still being counted after the presidential election, but the Democratic presidential nominee is on track to lose the popular vote for the first time in 20 years.Related:The lefts comforting myth about why Harris lostThat popular vote loss has forced a broader reckoning: Winning the popular vote acted as a kind of salve: Yes, the Electoral College may have delivered Bush and Trump the presidency, but on some level, their administrations were illegitimate, unsanctioned by the popular will, said Nicole Hemmer, a political historian at Vanderbilt University focused on media, conservatism, and the presidency.Without a but the popular vote fallback, Democrats are confronting a harsh reality. For the first time since 2004, this election felt like an embrace of conservatism, albeit a much different kind of conservatism than the one associated with the 2004 winner, said Kyle Kondik, managing editor of Sabatos Crystal Ball at the University of Virginia Center for Politics. Now, as in 2004, Democrats are engaging in what can be generously viewed as introspection (or, less generously, a circular firing squad) to chart a new course back to power and assess what went so very wrong this time around. The blame for that is up for debate: It may have been the economy, Democrats embrace of wokeness, President Joe Bidens decision to run for a second term, the fact that many Americans actually liked what Trump was selling, or any number of other factors.Though it may take months for what specifically went wrong to become clearer, the 2004 election and its aftermath might provide some insight into how Democrats can move forward.After all, four years after the Bush-Kerry debacle, Democrats won the 2008 election in a landslide, with Barack Obama beating John McCain by nearly 10 million votes and entering the White House with massive congressional majorities at his back.What Democrats today can learn from the partys loss in 2004 There are obvious differences between 2004 and 2024. The aughts election was dominated by 9/11 and the Global War on Terror that followed. This year, those topics barely registered, while Trump and Bidens respective records, the economy, and the culture wars took center stage. Further, Kerrys campaign started with winning a very competitive primary, whereas Vice President Kamala Harris took over after Biden stepped aside and gave her his endorsement.But the vibes among Democrats are similar, and what they do next may determine whether they see a revival in the 2026 midterms and the elections that follow.Overall, Democrats took three lessons from 2004. Whether one believes those lessons apply to 2024 depends, in large part, on what one believes went wrong for Harris in her loss to Trump. But, given Democrats successful recovery from 2004, its a history lesson worth taking.1) They pursued a 50-state strategyFollowing the 2004 loss, a popular meme rocketed around the (still somewhat nascent) internet: a map that depicted the Democratic United States of Canada as existing along the coasts and a Republican Jesusland encompassing the vast majority of land in the US.If that seems reductive and problematic on multiple fronts, youre not wrong, but the map, aforementioned problems aside, served in part as shorthand for pointing out Democrats turnout problem. Yes, Kerry had turned out 9 million more votes than Al Gore had four years before, but he still fell almost 3 million short of Bush.That gap revealed a vulnerability for Democrats: their inability to mobilize a broad coalition in swing states and beyond that would translate into an Electoral College victory. Kerry couldnt summon the kind of voter enthusiasm necessary to match Bushs strong performance in rural areas and outer suburbs.To goose turnout, Democrats looked to Howard Dean, who ran a populist primary campaign but lost to Kerry.Elected as chair of the Democratic National Committee in 2005, Dean became a proponent of a 50-state strategy. The idea behind this strategy was that Democrats need to try to compete in every state, maximizing turnout in Democratic areas while cutting into Republican margins where possible.This year, former DNC chair Donna Brazile, like Dean, believes part of the solution could be the return of the 50-state strategy. Theyre not alone: We cannot run in just the few states that we need, said Claire Potter, a professor emerita of history at the New School. The Democrats have, in some ways, really backed off that strategy, and I think theyre wrong to have done so.The Harris campaign for very understandable reasons did not utilize Deans method. With only a few months to campaign, Harris focused on swing states and select demographic groups. She largely did not visit historically safe Democratic states. While its not clear that she could have stanched the bleeding in those places, there were significant rightward shifts from New York City to Southern California.And its not clear how well the 50-states theory has aged. After all, Hillary Clinton ran up the popular vote total after winning big in solidly blue states, but she got to serve as president for exactly zero days.That strategy was later credited with helping Democrats make gains in the 2006 midterms and with helping to put Obama in the White House in 2008.And after 2024, where Democrats lost ground in just about every county in the US, a plan to boost the partys popularity nationally is not one it can afford to ignore.2) Democrats reevaluated their messagingIn 2004, Democrats didnt have a response to the rise of the right-wing blog Drudge Report and Fox Newss consolidation around Republicans. Kerry was often cast as an elitist with an expensive haircut, and right-wing commentators successfully turned one of his strengths as a candidate his military service in Vietnam into a liability through viral attack ads. There is this kind of disingenuous attack on Kerry as the Harvard boy, as somebody whos faking having really fought in Vietnam, Potter said. Bush is able to play the card of being an outsider, even though he is an incumbent, even though he went to Yale, even though his father was president.In response, Democrats sought to reevaluate their overall messaging strategy. The influential book Dont Think of an Elephant! by the cognitive linguist George Lakoff served as a guidebook for reframing debates in their own terms and for explaining their policy positions by evoking values of empathy, fairness, and community without adopting the language of conservatives. They also embraced Dean dubbed by the Washington Post in 2005 as an outsider insurgent who wore beat-up shoes and flew coach, spending most of his time outside of DC. In 2024, Democrats were again outflanked by a new Republican media machine this time, including the likes of Joe Rogan and Theo Von to deliver their message. Harris, for her part, declined to appear on Rogans podcast, reportedly for fear of how it would be perceived within the party.3) Democrats sought to become a party of ideasKerry campaign adviser Kenneth Baer said that, in 2024, Democrats repeated their mistake in 2004 of defining themselves as being the opposite of Republicans. Smart people seem to have come around to the idea that you cant just say Trumps terrible, Baer said, arguing that Democrats had the same issue in 2004, when Kerry spent much of his time on the campaign trail criticizing Bush instead of defining affirmative reasons to vote for Democrats. That called for Democrats to rethink all our policies and our approaches, Baer said.Baer went on to found the magazine Democracy: A Journal of Ideas as a platform for those ideas. Thats where Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), then a Harvard Law School professor, published a 2007 manifesto about how financial products like mortgages and credit cards should be regulated by the government. That idea would later give rise to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.Today, some Democrats say the party still needs to better connect with the working class, but Baer noted that there is disagreement about what that means and whether that should involve an economic or cultural approach. The limits of political strategyDemocrats would very much like a silver-bullet strategy that guarantees them a post-2004-esque recovery. But the truth is, political strategy and planning can only go so far. And that may be one of the biggest lessons from two decades ago.The partys return to power in 2008 was principally driven by two factors: Obama was a generationally politically gifted politician. George W. Bush was a generationally terrible president whose second term featured a bungled and deadly response to Hurricane Katrina; an even more disastrous and deadly handling of the Iraq War (the false pretenses of which came fully to light during Bushs second term); and the 2008 financial crisis and ensuing economic meltdown.The conditions that would collapse Bushs support in his second term were already in place when he won reelection, Hemmer, the political historian, said. So how Democrats do in 2026, 2028, and beyond will likely have a lot to do with Trumps performance during his second term.Today, preliminary exit polls suggest Trump is unpopular, his proposed tariffs could be disastrous for the economy, Democrats may mobilize against his policies as they did in his first term, and he may only have a very narrow House majority to work with, potentially hampering his agenda. If such a collapse happens, however, Democrats also have to be prepared to seize on it.Youve read 1 article in the last monthHere at Vox, we're unwavering in our commitment to covering the issues that matter most to you threats to democracy, immigration, reproductive rights, the environment, and the rising polarization across this country.Our mission is to provide clear, accessible journalism that empowers you to stay informed and engaged in shaping our world. By becoming a Vox Member, you directly strengthen our ability to deliver in-depth, independent reporting that drives meaningful change.We rely on readers like you join us.Swati SharmaVox Editor-in-ChiefSee More:

After last weeks presidential election, something unusual started happening in my neighborhood: On a walk to a wine bar on November 11, I saw stoops lined with pine garlands next to skeletons and spider webs, relics from Halloween a mere week and a half prior. Someone had set up two life-size nutcrackers on their front porch; someone elses brownstone windows offered a peep into their living room, where a fully lit Christmas tree was already aglow inside. But according to people all over the country, it wasnt just my neighborhood. The early start to the most festive season seemed to be a reaction to what else the results of the election, which plunged many Americans into an uncanny mood they havent experienced since the last time Donald Trump was elected in 2016. Or, as Massachusetts social worker Dylana Becker put it: Holiday lights because my daughter may have no fucking rights.Becker started putting up Christmas decor on November 6th. Rachael Kay Albers, a marketing professional in Chicago, told me she just bought a 10-foot tree, not even on sale, with the philosophy, Fuck it, its time for twinkles. Rachel Lewis, a social media manager in North Carolina, erected an inflatable penguin on her roof that same week. Our neighbor said, Isnt it early? And we said No, its not.Much like how interest in elaborate skincare routines exploded in the wake of Trumps 2016 election, Americans seem to be diverting their anxieties into holiday cheer, if only by sheer force. Its not exactly a mystery as to why: In uncertain times, we seek escape and comfort, and nothing occupies a cozier or more nostalgic place in the American imagination than Christmas. Couple that with a late Thanksgiving, and people are seeing little point in waiting for the turkey to be done to put up their trees. For some, Christmas came even before the polls closed. Mia Moran, a childrens book editor in Queens, said she went shopping for Christmas pillows at Target in early November. This year it just feels like we needed something, she tells me. [Christmas] is a good outlet, and also a neutral sense of pure joy. Its not charged in any way. Its ironic, considering the decades-long right-wing mania about the supposed war on Christmas by the media establishment. This year, for the first time in recent memory, perhaps its the left whos more fervently embracing the holiday. When the polls close in your state, you are officially allowed to begin playing Christmas music, tweeted First Amendment lawyer Adam Steinbaugh on the evening of the election. After it became clear Trump was winning, comedian Mike Drucker posted, Im listening to Christmas music starting tomorrow cuz fuck this shit.According to the Wall Street Journal, forcing holiday spirit is a healthy response to election stress, one that beats sitting there saying, Oh my god, this is an existential threat to the world and Im going to enter a doom and gloom loop, explained Kevin Smith, a political science professor at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Its also entirely possible that it isnt just the election thats caused this years bout of Christmas creep, a term thats been discussed and debated since the 1980s. The phenomenon itself has existed far longer, however: Early Christmas sales (and complaints about them) can be traced back to the Victorian era. Its typical for customers to be annoyed by businesses using far-off holidays as marketing tools. Whats less common is for Americans to seemingly all agree, individually, that the time for twinkle lights is now. This year, per Axios, retail experts say that holiday deals are starting early partly because of the fact that there are five fewer days between Black Friday and Christmas this year, and partly because of election uncertainty. Lowes, for instance, launched its holiday decor line in July, a month earlier than the year before, while Amazon moved its Prime Day up to early October. Americas favorite coping mechanism has always been buying stuff, and if Christmas spending is any indication, weve been getting steadily more anxious for years. The National Retail Federation expects the typical consumer will spend $902 on Christmas gifts and decor, up $25 from last year, reports Business Insider. Prophecy Market Insights projects that the Christmas decoration industry will nearly double in the next decade, from $8.45 billion in 2024 to $13 billion in 2034. Charles Scheland, a professional modern dancer in Manhattan, says that in addition to putting up his tree, string lights, and nutcracker statue, hes also already started pulling his favorite Christmas music to teach in his dance classes. He says that part of that is due to the shock and disappointment of what began as a galvanizing Democratic campaign. I really think that the joy of the Harris campaign and the optimism of that movement got people excited, and to have that so deafening crushed, people just want to get some of that joy, he says. Theres also another reason for the skip from Halloween to Christmas, he posits. Thanksgiving is a tricky holiday because it is often celebrated with extended family, and sometimes we dont agree with our extended family. So rather than getting into the trickier holiday, were just jumping ahead to the next.In the years since 2020, holidays, and to an even greater extent, seasons, have become celebrations not just IRL in the form of decor and activities, but online. People on TikTok and Instagram began to document their winter arcs, their Meg Ryan falls, and their hot girl summers as a way of marking the passage of time when it seemed like the only way to feel alive was watching someone elses life through a screen. As Ive argued before, dividing ones life into seasons and leaning heavily into seasonal aesthetics is a way of romanticizing your life while also dissociating from it, a potentially useful tool when it feels like nothing makes sense. Im not immune, either. After my unexpectedly festive neighborhood walk, two wines deep, I decided that I absolutely needed to make a reservation at one of those bars in Manhattan where they deck it out with festive decor for the month of December. In most respects, these are miserable establishments the kind of bars that are overpriced and crowded to the point of sweltering, places marketed with the promise of quaintness and communal cheer but mostly exist as traps for tourists to take photos in. But in that moment, being surrounded by a million twinkling wreaths and giant red bows and exhausted holiday shoppers from New Jersey sounded like not the worst place to be. In fact, I could think of much worse things: a decaying democracy, or a man investigated for sex crimes being installed as attorney general, for instance. So screw it, its Christmas now. May we all find merriment where we can.Youve read 1 article in the last monthHere at Vox, we're unwavering in our commitment to covering the issues that matter most to you threats to democracy, immigration, reproductive rights, the environment, and the rising polarization across this country.Our mission is to provide clear, accessible journalism that empowers you to stay informed and engaged in shaping our world. By becoming a Vox Member, you directly strengthen our ability to deliver in-depth, independent reporting that drives meaningful change.We rely on readers like you join us.Swati SharmaVox Editor-in-ChiefSee More: Culture