Space physics, rocket engineers and Xenomorphs Go behind the scenes with Dan Macarin, our VFX Supervisor on Alien: Romulus, and find out how the transformations of the Offspring and the environment were brought to life. Alien: Romulus | Now streaming on Hulu on Disney+ (U.S. only).#WtFX #VFX

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In case you missed it, the Fab Demo, Q&A and Roadmap Reveal livestream has just wrapped, but you can watch the VoD here: https://epic.gm/fab-roadmap-streamYou can find more on what's coming, release notes, known issues and more over on the Epic Developer Community, here : https://bit.ly/3V5FtMW

President-elect Donald Trump is expected to pick prominent investor Scott Bessent to take on the role of U.S. Treasury secretary, sources told Reuters on Friday, putting him at the helm of a cabinet position with vast influence over economic, regulatory, and international affairs.One source briefed by the Trump transition team and a donor briefed on the plans told Reuters of Trumps intention to pick Bessent. The Trump transition team did not immediately respond to a request for comment.Wall Street has been closely watching who Trump will pick, especially given his plans to remake global trade through tariffs.Bessent was picked from a crowded field of candidates for the coveted role.That list included Apollo Global Management Chief Executive Marc Rowan and former Federal Reserve Governor Kevin Warsh. Investor John Paulson had also been a leading candidate, but dropped out, while Wall Street veteran Howard Lutnick, another contender, was appointed as head of the Commerce Department.Bessent has advocated for tax reform and deregulation, particularly to spur more bank lending and energy production, as noted in a recent opinion piece he wrote for The Wall Street Journal.The markets surge after Trumps election victory, he wrote, signaled investor expectations of higher growth, lower volatility and inflation, and a revitalized economy for all Americans.Bessent follows other financial luminaries who have taken the job, including former Goldman Sachs executives Robert Rubin, Hank Paulson, and Steven Mnuchin, Trumps first Treasury chief. Janet Yellen, the current secretary and first woman in the job, previously chaired the Federal Reserve and White House Council of Economic Advisers.ECONOMYS QUARTERBACKAs the 79th Treasury secretary, Bessent would essentially be the highest-ranking U.S. economic official, responsible for maintaining the plumbing of the worlds largest economy, from collecting taxes and paying the nations bills to managing the $28.6 trillion Treasury debt market and overseeing financial regulation, including handling and preventing market crises.The Treasury boss also runs U.S. financial sanctions policy, oversees the U.S.-led International Monetary Fund, World Bank, and other international financial institutions, and manages national security screenings of foreign investments in the U.S.Bessent would face challenges, including safely managing federal deficits that are forecast to grow by nearly $8 trillion over a decade due to Trumps plans to extend expiring tax cuts next year and add generous new breaks, including ending taxes on Social Security income.Without offsetting revenues, this new debt would add to an unsustainable fiscal trajectory already forecast to balloon U.S. debt by $22 trillion through 2033.Managing debt increases this large without market indigestion will be a challenge, though Bessent has argued Trumps agenda would unleash stronger economic growth that would grow revenue and shore up market confidence.Bessent would also inherit the role carved out by Yellen to lead the Group of Seven wealthy democracies to provide tens of billions of dollars in economic support for Ukraine in its fight against Russias invasion and tighten sanctions on Moscow. But given Trumps desire to end the war quickly and withdraw U.S. financial support for Ukraine, it is unclear whether he would pursue this.Another area where Bessent will likely differ from Yellen is her focus on climate change, from her mandate that development banks expand lending for clean energy to incorporating climate risks into financial regulations and managing hundreds of billions of dollars in clean energy tax credits.Trump, a climate-change skeptic, has vowed to increase production of U.S. fossil fuel energy and end the clean-energy subsidies in President Joe Bidens 2022 Inflation Reduction Act.FED FACINGThe Treasury secretary is also the administrations closest point of contact with the Federal Reserve. Both Yellen under Biden and Mnuchin under Trump typically met weekly with Fed Chair Jerome Powell, often over breakfast or lunch.Bessent has floated the idea of creating a shadow Fed chair. This would entail nominating as early as possible a presumptive Powell predecessor to the Fed Board who would then deliver their own policy guidance so that, as Bessent told Barrons last month, no one is really going to care what Jerome Powell has to say anymore.The next seat to open up at the Fed Board is that of Governor Adriana Kugler, whose term runs to January 2026. Bessent has since said he no longer thinks the idea of a shadow chair worth pursuing, The Wall Street Journal reported.Powells term as Fed chair expires in May 2026, and presidents rarely wait until the Fed chiefs term ends before nominating a successor.FROM FINANCE TO D.C.Bessent, 62, primarily lives in Charleston, South Carolina, with his husband and two children. He grew up in the fishing village of Little River, South Carolina, where Bessent has said his father, a real estate investor, experienced booms and busts.Bessent worked for noted short seller Jim Chanos in the late 1980s and then joined Soros Fund Management, the famed macroeconomic investment firm of billionaire George Soros. He soon helped Soros and top deputy Stanley Druckenmiller on their most famous tradeshorting the British pound in 1992 and earning the firm more than $1 billion.In 2015, Bessent raised $4.5 billion, including $2 billion from Soros, to launch Key Square Group, a hedge fund firm that bets on macroeconomic trends. Key Squares main fund gained about 31% in 2022, according to media reports, but firm assets have declined to approximately $577 million as of December 2023, according to a regulatory filing.By Steve Holland and Alexandra Ulmer(Reporting by Steve Holland, Alexandra Ulmer, David Lawder, Lawrence Delevingne, Ann Saphir, Costas Pitas, Nathan Layne and Jasper Ward; editing by Megan Davies and Rod Nickel)

While inflation has slowed to 2%, prices are still 20% higher than they were four years ago. Fidelity released the findings of its 2024 State of Wealth Mobility study, which consisted of 1,900 American adults over the age of 18, and set out to identify their thoughts on managing their money and meeting their financial goals. Here are some of the key highlights:Most Americans do not feel confident about their wealth: Only 10% of those surveyed consider themselves wealthy; and across all income levels, 40% said they worry about losing their money. Only 35% believe theyll be wealthy in their lifetime. However, the study showed almost 75% of Americans think the next generation will be wealthy.The next generation isnt confident either: While one-third of baby boomers dont think they need a financial plan, 54% of Gen Z do think they need onethe highest of any generation. However, 74% of participants agree that there are more opportunities for making money than there were in their parents lifetime.Talking about money with family is helpful: 56% said they didnt discuss finances with their parents as kids, and 82% said it would have been helpful. Today, 67% of respondents say theyre talking with their children about family finances.One of the most important components of financial planning is for people to engage their family and loved ones in the process, Rich Compson, head of wealth solutions at Fidelity Investments, said via email. And yet, more than half of Americans say they never spoke with their parents about family financeswhich is critical to help the next generation be prepared before life gets more complex. Reassuringly, most Americans today are changing course and giving the young people in their lives the financial education they never received.

Belgian architect Theo de Meyer and production firm Public Art Company have created installations at the Desert Air Music Festival in Palm Springs, California, that reference industrial forms and modernist architecture.De Meyer, who is a member of the Belgian architecture studio Stand van Zaken, sought to recontextualise industrial materials for the sculptures and stage at the festival, which took place at the Palm Springs Air Museum, adjacent to the small desert city's international airport.It included functioning smokestacks, sculptures with elements representing airplane wings, and a stage using simple materials such as corrugated metal and plywood.Theo de Meyer and Public Art Company used industrial materials for the production design of a music festival in Palm Springs. Photo by Nicole Busch"The materials were sourced locally, focusing on industrial components that are functional, durable, and easily reusable a hallmark of Theo's practice," Public Art Company founder Raffi Lehrer told Dezeen."The stage and its sculptures incorporate elements like corrugated metal, plywood, and truss, blending Palm Springs' mid-century modern textures with the utilitarian aesthetics of an airport."The elements also included concrete dance platforms edged with safety tape and a light-up sculpture made to resemble the flight boards that showcaseAviation-informed elements reference the festival location, Palm Springs Air Museum. Photo by Nicole BuschWith only a few days to construct and no access to the site beforehand, De Meyer, Lehrer and the team tried to utilise the simple materials to create a sense of time while being efficient under the time crunch. Each piece was set up as an individual zone for participants to cluster around and interact with."Building an environment rather than a linear stage allowed for a more dynamic audience interaction," said Lehrer.The team only had a few days to inspect the site and build the installations. Photo by Nicole BuschThe goal was to give the elements a sense of scale while still allowing for crowd movement and simple construction.De Meyer noted that the legacy of Palm Springs, known for its experimentation in modernist residential architecture, especially the work of Swiss architect Albert Frey, also informed his approach.A light-up installation was designed to look like an airport flight board. Photo by Nicole BuschThe Palm Springs Art Museum recently reconstructed Frey's modular metal house, which had sat in storage for years, on its grounds."[Frey's] work wasn't so much about creating a specific aesthetic, but rather about responding to the surroundings with an economy of means," De Meyer told Dezeen."Even something as simple as safety tape can become an opportunity for creativity. The goal is to let the materials remain true to their function while transforming them into something new and meaningful lo-fi and abstract."Read: Ten outdoor music festival installations and pavilionsDe Meyer also commented on the unique conditions of designing temporary installations for a music festival. He said that the constraints allow for experimentation that is not found in other architectural projects."The beauty of temporary structures is that there's less fear of failure, which frees up space for creative exploration," he said."This openness allows for more flexibility, where the boundaries of what we define as 'good architecture' become more fluid. In this way, a festival's environment becomes just another opportunity to observe human behavior and refine the design, much like architecture does, but with a more direct, experimental approach."It took place next to an active airstrip. Photo by Tyler BorchardtDuring the festival, which featured acts by musicians such as Kaytranada and Jamie xx, many of the elements were illuminated by coloured ground lighting.Throughout, the adjacent airport remained functioning, with planes taking off and landing during the performances.Architects and designers often utilise music festivals as places for experimentation and play. Recent examples of festivals with large-scale architectural installations include Burning Man in Nevada and Rally in London.The post Theo de Meyer uses "utilitarian aesthetics" for Palm Springs festival design appeared first on Dezeen.

Vancouver-based creative studio Zenga Bros has created a series of furniture pieces that convert into skate ramps, rails and quarter pipes as a "radical way to transform office space".Supported by watch brand Swatch, the Skate Break collection consists of five pieces of furniture including an oversized steel lamp and a boardroom table that can be transformed to create skateable pieces for a more playful work environment.The Zenga Bros have created a furniture collection that converts into skate ramps and railsDesigners and brothers Benny and Christian Zenga of Zenga Bros worked with skateboarder Andy Anderson to test and prototype the pieces, which they displayed in an interactive exhibition in Vancouver earlier this year.According to the pair, the project was part of a longer-term vision to create a "dream studio space" to host their own practice, which includes design, building, filmmaking, and skating.The collection includes a desk, lounge chairs, table, lamp and small electric truck"Are there more radical ways that we could transform the office space?" Christian Zenga told Dezeen. "Skateboarding is one of the only acts that I do that's like a meditation. It requires focus because it's dangerous, but also it's a very creative thing.""Unlike other exercise, skateboarding is like a form of play. So we asked, 'what if you played during your lunch break'?"The Vancouver-based studio used plywood and steel to create durable pieces that could withstand skatersLargely relying onsteel, pulleys, release pins, levers and thick layers of plywood, the Zengas designed and built two lounge chairs, a boardroom table, a desk, a lamp and a small truck that all open into various combinations for skateboarding.The materials were used because they proved durable enough to handle the "abuse" skateboarders put on objects and also provided a "retro" aesthetic."The aesthetics came out of having to follow transitions and things you could skate, but also the durability," said Christian. "The plywood was intentional too, [we wanted] a retro, 1970s, cool, studio space."One of the more striking pieces, the Lamp Ramp is a six-foot-tall steel object that resembles a floor lamp with a fanning shade and arched stand. The removal of a release pin allows the shade to lean forward, where it eventually rests on the ground and creates a volcano ramp and rainbow rail.A large steel floor lamp doubles as a railA set of dumbells attached to the piece acts as counterweights, a design decision that came out of quick, "fun" manual prototyping the Zengas said drove the project."If you look closely at the lamp ramp, it actually has these large dumbbells on it as counterweights," Benny Zenga told Dezeen. "The design-build prototype was phenomenal. When we landed on the final design, we had built it within a week."The lamp shade folds over to act as a ramp and a base for a rail"It's fun to have had that opportunity to immerse ourselves in the project, but also the speed, that iteration of build, it put ourselves to the test, it was a challenge."The collection's boardroom table, lounge chairs and desk also fold open with the release of pins or latches.Read: Skateparks are "one of the world's great kinds of public space" says Iain BordenThe Desk Ramp is a "standing desk" attached to a wooden wall unit backed by a large computer screen, pinboard and shelving. A lever releases the desk, which slides down a hidden track, and converts into a ramp.The screen is protected by transparent plexiglass so a skater can traverse over it on their way up the wall.A pair of lounge chairs fold open into rampsThe brothers also converted a small, electric orange truck into a mobile ramp for studio "transportation". Called the Ramper Camper, it also contains a woodstove and a mini bookshelf.It's part of a larger design concept by the pair to create a skateable "house truck" that could be taken into communities that lack access to skating.A small electric truck doubles as a mobile ramp and a small library with a woodstove"The idea was you could do a cross-country trip with a pro skater and go to small towns that usually wouldn't have a skater show up, because there's no park," said Christian. "So it was sharing and playing with communities that don't get access to that."Ultimately, the pair hopes the collection creates dialogue and experimentation.The collection is meant to spark experimentation with space and furniture"We really want to encourage other people to mess around," said Benny. "Skaters look at the world like this already, skaters look at things from another perspective. It's a 'what if' dialogue what would your studio look like?"The Zenga Bros are a design and build studio based in Vancouver, Canada founded in 1999 by the Zenga brothers, a group of eight that specialise in skills ranging from architecture and filmmaking to fabrication and heavy machinery repair.Other skating-related projects include a colourful, temporary skatepark by artist Raphal Zarka and architect Jean-Benot Vtillard that sat in front of the Centre Pompidou and a series of skateparks by PlayLab Inc in partnership with Vans.The photography is by Gordon NicholasThe post Zenga Bros creates convertible office furniture for skateboarding breaks appeared first on Dezeen.