Nature, Published online: 21 November 2024; doi:10.1038/d41586-024-03861-wWe learn that our friends, and our friends friends, have an influence on our gut microbiome and revisit the work of a once-influential behavioural researcher.

Tech titan Marc Benioff says we're near the "upper limits" of LLM use in AI advancement.In a podcast, the Salesforce CEO said the future of AI lies in agents that work autonomously."'Terminator'? Maybe we'll be there one day," Benioff said, referencing the 1984 film about a cyborg assassin.Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff, in an episode of The Wall Street Journal's "Future of Everything" podcast, said he thinks the future of AI advancement lies in autonomous agents not the large language models used to train bots like ChatGPT."I actually think we're hitting the upper limits of the LLMs right now," Benioff said.Over the last several years, Benioff said, we've all "got drunk on the ChatGPT Kool-Aid," leading the average consumer to believe that AI is more powerful than it is and that LLMs are key to advancement in the technology. But there is a burgeoning use of artificial intelligence autonomous agents, which can be deployed to conduct tasks independently, such as executing sales communications or marketing campaigns that he says will be more significant than LLMs have been for companies trying to become more efficient and transform the world of work.Salesforce offers prebuilt and customizable AI agents for clients seeking to automate customer service tasks. OpenAI is closing in on a launch date for its own agents, which Bloomberg reported will be able to complete assigned tasks like writing code or booking travel.Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang recently said he believes we'll all eventually be working alongside agents and "AI employees.""We have incredible tools to augment our productivity, to augment our employees, to prove our margins, to prove our revenues, to make our companies fundamentally better, have higher fidelity relationships with our customers," Benioff said. "But we are not at that moment that we've seen in these crazy movies and maybe we will be one day, but that is not where we are today."Benioff said the general public has learned about the power of AI agents from movies like the 1984 film "Terminator," starring Arnold Schwarzenegger and about a cyborg assassin, and the 2002 hit "Minority Report," about police preemptively arresting would-be criminals using AI-powered technology to detect crime before it occurs.Benioff said there are some industry insiders and AI evangelists who suggest the tech, which hasn't yet evolved too far beyond LLMs, is capable of feats like curing cancer or solving climate change but not only is that overstating what the technology can do, he said, it's misleading to people who could benefit from it through applications in which it is currently useful."This idea that these AI priests and priestesses are out there telling the world things about AI that are not true is a huge disservice to these enterprising customers who can increase their margins, increase their revenues, augment their employees, improve their customer relationships," Benioff said.He added: "Yes, you can do all of these things with AI, but this other part that we are all living in 'Minority Report?' No, we're not there yet. Maybe we'll be there one day. 'Terminator?' Maybe we'll be there one day. 'WarGames' I hope we will never be there."In the 1983 film "WarGames," starring Matthew Broderick, a high school student hacks a military supercomputer, activating the country's nuclear arsenal and risking World War III.Representatives for Salesforce did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Business Insider.

AI requires enormous amounts of energy, threatening global net zero goals.Tech giants may use fossil fuels short-term, raising concerns about clean energy commitments.AI is also ushering in an era of nuclear power, however, which is cleaner.The rapid development of AI is likely to affect global net zero goals in both positive and negative ways.Tech companies are investing in nuclear power plants to fuel AI data centers. Many of these power plants generate power through nuclear fission, which is considered cleaner than fossil fuels and more reliable than wind or solar power.Silicon Valley investors, meanwhile, are investing innuclear fusion, a still-nascent technique for generating power that fuses the nuclei of atoms. It could generate even more energy than fission, with fewer greenhouse gas emissions and less radioactive waste.Some industry leaders believe that nuclear energy might be the only reliable way to meet the demands of the AI revolution."AI requires massive, industrial-scale amounts of energy," Franklin Servan-Schreiber, the CEO of nuclear energy startup Transmutex, previously told Business Insider. "Only nuclear power will be able to supply this massive energy demand in a reliable manner."However, developing a reliable network of power plants is still a long-term goal that will necessitate huge investment and government support.As of August 2023, there were only 54 nuclear power plants operating in the United States, according to the US Energy Information Administration. Companies like Amazon and Google have struck deals with companies building smaller, modular reactors that are faster to roll out than traditional reactors. However, the money is still "a drop in the bucket" compared to the billions these companies will ultimately need, physicist Edwin Lyman, director of nuclear power safety at the Union of Concerned Scientists in Washington, DC, told Nature.In the meantime, tech giants may turn to fossil fuels to meet their short-term energy needs."Tech is not going to wait 7 to 10 years to get this infrastructure built," Toby Rice, the CEO of natural gas producer EQT, said in an interview with The Wall Street Journal. "That leaves you with natural gas."Rice told the Journal that at a recent energy conference, he was repeatedly asked two questions: "How fast can you guys move? How much gas can we get?"According to the Financial Times, last week, at the UN COP29 climate summit in Baku, Azerbaijan, Big Tech companies flew under the radar more than usual. Many opted out of displaying in the conference's business area, known as the green zone. Some attendees speculated that the surge in energy use for AI data centers has put the tech industry's clean energy commitments under scrutiny."If our industry starts getting treated similar to oil and gas, the public relations to counter that are going to be very expensive," said Kevin Thompson, chief operating officer at Gesi, a business group focused on digital sustainability, told the FT.Data centers now powered by a mix of natural gas, coal, and renewable energy sources are expected to rise from a current rate of 3 %to 4% of US power demands to 11% to 20% by 2030, according to a report from McKinsey.AI leaders, however, hope the intelligence revolution will inevitably lead to an energy revolution."My hopes and dreams is that, in the end, what we all see is that using energy for intelligence is the best use of energy we can imagine," Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang said in an interview at Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, after receiving an honorary degree last week.

With the GOP regaining control of Congress, Republicans are looking to slash health care spending, specifically eyeing Medicaid cuts and work requirements. While those fights are almost certainly going to garner a lot of coverage, its important to also pay attention to some of the less splashy policies also on the chopping block.These might not be major programs. You might not have even heard of some of them. But Americas social safety net relies on a patchwork of many different, sometimes low-profile, subsidies that many of us take for granted. Some of these programs might only appear in spending bills as a small line item that few people notice, and that makes it just that much easier for lawmakers to slowly but surely dismantle our social safety net.Heres one example: For millions of families, a spike in health care costs might be around the corner because crucial subsidies are set to expire at the end of next year. Some families will see their premiums rise by thousands of dollars; others might lose their insurance altogether. In 2021, President Joe Biden signed into law the American Rescue Plan Act, which included a provision that enhanced the premium tax credit a piece of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) that subsidized the cost of premiums for some lower- and middle-income families. The Biden-era enhancements, which essentially expanded the number of people who qualify for the tax credit, were originally set to expire at the end of 2022, but Congress extended them through 2025 when it passed the Inflation Reduction Act. (For families at or slightly above the poverty line, the enhanced tax credit subsidizes the full premium. For people making more than 400 percent of the poverty line people who were previously ineligible for this subsidy it caps their premiums to 8.5 percent of their income.)The enhanced premium tax credits contributed to a record number of insured people in the United States. In February 2021, before Congress expanded the premium tax credits, 11.2 million people were enrolled in health coverage through ACA marketplaces. By 2024, that number shot up to 20.8 million people.There are many reasons for the dramatic increase in marketplace coverage including the fact that millions of people were disenrolled from Medicaid coverage after Covid emergency measures lapsed and had to turn to other forms of insurance, including the marketplace but the enhanced premium tax credit played a critical role. Its expansion was the main reason so many more people were able to enroll in health care coverage from the ACA marketplace, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation.If Congress allows the enhanced premium tax credits to expire, millions of people will see a noticeable rise in out-of-pocket expenses. Many will likely lose their coverage, and thats without considering how much more will be at stake if Medicaid gets slashed as well. For low-income families, particularly those who live just above the poverty line, that could be a nightmare. Whos at risk of seeing higher costs?The enhanced tax credits didnt overhaul the health care system, and you probably dont remember hearing candidates talk about them much, if at all, during the election. But they proved to be a crucial, if small, improvement to the system already in place, and had immediate and tangible results when it came to getting more people insured.The premium tax credit improvements really led to huge pocket savings for people $700 [per year] on average, said Gideon Lukens, a senior fellow and director of research and data analysis at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities (CBPP). They were really the primary reason that marketplace enrollment increased and the uninsured rate fell to an all-time low.As of now, around 93 percent of people enrolled through the ACA marketplace receive a premium tax credit. But if these tax credit expansions arent extended or made permanent, 3.4 million people could lose their insurance, according to the Congressional Budget Office. The Urban Institute similarly estimates that 4 million people could lose their insurance if Congress doesnt act in time.According to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, Black and Latino people benefited most from the enhanced premium tax credit, so they will likely be disproportionately affected by cuts. Marketplace enrollment among Black people, for example, grew by 186 percent after the enhanced premium tax credit went into effect, and for Latino people, it grew by 158 percent. By contrast, marketplace enrollment for other racial groups grew by 63 percent during the same period. More than 19 million people will likely see higher premiums without the enhanced tax credit. Many families could see costs go up significantly, especially if they have moderate incomes or have older members, who already have to pay higher premiums. A 60-year-old couple making $82,000 a year, for example, could see their monthly premiums triple, which means they would owe an additional $18,400 out of pocket, according to the CBPP report.The GOP will be responsible for deciding whether the enhanced premium tax credits should expire or be extended. Given the success of the tax credits leading to a record-high enrollment rate it would be a mistake to let the enhancements lapse.While the GOP might not necessarily be so eager to expand social programs it tried and failed to repeal the Affordable Care Act during Donald Trumps first term the benefits of the enhanced premium tax credit are extremely tangible, and if theyre gone, millions of Americans will quickly notice. That could give Democrats room to put pressure on Republicans to strike a deal that, ideally, would make these enhancements permanent. So while lawmakers should fight tooth and nail to minimize or avoid cuts to major programs like Medicare or Medicaid, they should also remember that these small adjustments are worth fighting for as well, including things like the enhanced premium tax credit or, say, what people can buy with food stamps, these provisions still lower the cost of living for millions of families.As Republicans regain control of Congress and the White House, its easy to lose hope that any meaningful antipoverty efforts will happen at the federal level. But while elections have consequences, they also arent permanent. Thats why, over the coming months, Ill be focusing on what antipoverty policies states across the country are experimenting with experiments that could one day be replicated at the federal level when its more politically feasible. Have you benefited from state or local programs that you think would be a good model for the rest of the country? If so, Id love to hear from you. Please email me at abdallah.fayyad@vox.com.One more thingMeet the 2024 Future Perfect 50! Voxs third annual celebration of the individuals who are imagining and building a better future includes people who are fighting global poverty.This story was featured in the Within Our Means newsletter. Sign up here.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:

Two. Trillion. Dollars.Thats how much Elon Musk, co-chair of President-elect Donald Trumps new Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, has said he can cut out of the annual federal budget. Musk and his partner Vivek Ramaswamy have suggested that they can achieve this through mass head-count reductions across the federal bureaucracy, by cracking down on spending unauthorized by Congress, and large-scale audits of federal contracts. Their target wouldnt be entitlement programs like Medicare and Medicaid, they say, but waste, fraud, and abuse that nearly all taxpayers wish to end.If you could actually cut this much, it would wipe out the USs $1.9 trillion deficit and put the country into surplus for the first time since the 2001 fiscal year. But lets be clear: There is no way in hell Musk and Ramaswamy are going to be able to identify $2 trillion in annual spending to cut, and they certainly will not get anywhere near that number without congressional action.To see why, consult this simple chart of projected federal spending in fiscal year 2025, which began on October 1:Im using the current fiscal year, but youll see something similar in any given year. The biggest single program is Social Security (which Ive grouped here with its companion program, Supplemental Security Income). Trump has promised he will not cut 1 cent from Social Security, so thats roughly $1.6 trillion out of the $7 trillion budget off the table.The next-largest is interest payments on federal debt, accumulated from prior deficits. Musks America PAC has bafflingly listed this as a form of government waste, but failing to pay interest on past debt would constitute a US default and likely lead to a national, and probably global, financial crisis and recession. While we can reduce future deficits and pay less interest in the future, were obligated to pay interest on debt weve already accumulated. So theres nothing to save here either. Already weve ruled out over a third of total spending.Next up is defense spending. Musk and Ramaswamy highlighted wasteful Pentagon spending in their Wall Street Journal op-ed, so this money could face some cuts. But Trump massively increased defense spending in his first years in office, and his congressional allies, like incoming Senate Armed Services chair Roger Wicker (R-MS), have proposed trillions in additional spending to counter China. Trumps attitude toward the defense budget, as with his attitude on so many things, vacillated wildly during his first term, so perhaps he will side with Musk and Ramaswamy and seek to lower defense spending. But thats far from guaranteed. If defense spending is off the table, weve ruled out more than half the budget.So what would they likely cut? They might look first to Medicare and Medicaid, which are responsible for over $1.5 trillion. Musk and Ramaswamy insisted that these are not their targets, but its hard to see how theyd avoid that. For one thing, there are places where Medicare in particular overspends where policymakers in both parties want to crack down; its practice of paying more for care in hospitals than at smaller facilities is a prime example. For another, Trump proposed massive cuts to Medicaid last term.Then theres non-defense discretionary spending, a grab-bag category that includes all spending authorized through annual appropriations bills rather than mandated by other legislation. The biggest category is transportation, which pays for things like air traffic control and national highways. Next up is veterans care and benefits. Support for science, public health/research, law enforcement, and education (including federal support for K12 schools) each receive around or a little over $100 billion annually. This category has been cut to the bone since the 2010s as it is, and its hard to imagine Musk and Ramaswamy going up against veterans or cops.Finally, theres other mandatory spending, not broken out in the above chart but including a wide array of safety net programs:Huge chunks of this feel politically and practically off-limits. Military retirement and veterans benefits (which fall under both the non-defense discretionary and mandatory parts of the budget) seem politically impossible to cut, and even civilian employee retirements would be difficult to cut back given that employees have paid into those accounts themselves for years. The Childrens Health Insurance Program and foster care have long enjoyed bipartisan support. Trump and JD Vance have proposed expanding the child tax credit, making savings there unlikely. That leaves programs like food stamps, the Affordable Care Act health insurance credits, and unemployment insurance.Lets suppose that Musk and Ramaswamy decide to really go for it. Theyre going to cut non-defense discretionary spending in half, maybe by shutting down all scientific and health research and K12 school aid. Theyre slashing Medicare and Medicaid by a quarter, and theyre eliminating food stamps, ACA credits, and unemployment insurance entirely. These, to be clear, are all cuts that would require congressional approval and that Musk, Ramaswamy, and Trump could not achieve through executive action alone. Furthermore, theyre cuts that seem politically impossible to push through. For the sake of argument, lets suppose this is the package.Doing the math, even this unbelievably ambitious package would amount to a little over $1.1 trillion annually. Its barely halfway to Musks stated goal.The notion that the federal government is hopelessly bloated due to waste that every reasonable person wants to eliminate is an appealing myth, but its a myth. Government spending overwhelmingly goes to wildly popular programs like Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, veterans benefits, and the defense budget. You cant make much of a dent in it without touching those areas, and once you touch them, youre going to get immense backlash.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:

The Roto VR Explorer is a 799 gaming chair that swivels left and right with your head as you play in a Meta Quest 3 headset, allowing for physical movement for the first time while seated

The 10 most iconic video game final boss fights of the 90sMichael BeckwithPublished November 25, 2024 1:00am What do you think are the most iconic final bosses of the 90s? (Picture: Nintendo)GameCentral names 10 of the most iconic final boss fights of the 90s, spanning the SNES, Mega Drive, and original PlayStation.The final boss is an important element for most video games, especially those from the 1990s. Its the last obstacle to overcome before you can truly say youve completed a game and can either be the ultimate test of skill or a power fantasy to reward players for making it that far.There is a lot that goes into making a final boss stand out. While challenge can be an important factor, being difficult doesnt automatically make one iconic and an overly challenging or frustrating final boss can be memorable for the wrong reasons. The most iconic fights are those with the perfect blend of satisfying gameplay, music, visual design, and just overall atmosphere.So, weve looked through the best games the 90s had to offer on Sega and Nintendos consoles from the era, as well as the first PlayStation and put together a list of what we believe are the final bosses that defined the decade for a generation of gamers.Bowser (Super Mario 64)Bowser serving as the final boss in Mario games was already getting old by 1996 but, of all the 90s entries, his boss encounters in Super Mario 64 have stuck in fans minds for a reason. Grabbing him by the tail and swinging him out of the arena (and onto a bomb) felt revolutionary at the time, when 3D movement was a brand new concept. But the third and final fight stands out for demanding you throw him three times instead of one, as the arena collapses around you.Death Egg Robot (Sonic The Hedgehog 2)The original Sonic The Hedgehogs final boss was kind of a dud, with Dr Robotnik eschewing any sort of mech for a bunch of pistons to crush Sonic with. The Death Egg Robot in the sequel was an undeniable step up, offering a far more intimidating challenge, since you had to hit it from behind. This fights so beloved that Sega and Sonic Team have brought it back multiple times, and it was adapted into the second live-action Sonic movie.Dracula (Castlevania: Symphony Of The Night)By 1997, Castlevania fans had bested Dracula several times, but his appearance in Symphony Of The Night may be his most memorable, thanks in part to the delightfully over-the-top voice acting. His fight is a fitting reward for besting the games second act and, compared to his encounters in previous games, perhaps the most fun to play. Its not especially difficult, though, if you know what youre doing and have the right kit, but that seems to be entirely purposefully.Ganon (The Legend Of Zelda: Ocarina Of Time)Just when it seems the evil Ganondorf has been crushed under his own ruined tower in The Legend Of Zelda: Ocarina Of Time, he bursts from the rubble and transforms into his porcine alter ego Ganon. This marked the first time Ganon had been depicted in 3D and really made apparent what kind of monster he is, thanks to his terrifying design (at least by 90s standards). Having the arena almost cloaked in darkness, with flashes of lightning briefly illuminating Ganons lumbering silhouette, was extremely frightening to 90s kids.Giygas (Earthbound)Giygas is easily one of the most iconic final bosses not just of the 90s but of all time. Not so much because of the fight itself, but the ending in its entirety, which wed spoil if we explained more but remains memorable and surprising to this day. A formless alien creature that can best be described as a swirling mass of red and black, that almost looks like a face writhing in agony, even his words and attacks are incomprehensible, making for a fight that is disturbing while its going on and wonderfully uplifting when its finished.Golden Silver (Gunstar Heroes)The absolute best boss in Treasures Gunstar Heroes in fact, perhaps the best boss of all time is the legendary Seven Force but hes not your final opponent in the game. Instead, its Golden Silver, whos a very menacing figure that just stands there, not even flinching as you unload copious amounts of bullets into him. Thats because youre actually meant to shoot the floating gems above him. Otherwise, hes completely invincible, which is a trick many dont realise until its too late.Hitler (Wolfenstein 3D) Hitlers popped up in several Wolfenstein games, but this is the only time you fight him (Reddit)For a series all about fighting Nazis there can be no other final opponent in Wolfenstein 3D, the 1992 game that popularised the concept of first person shooters, than Adolf Hitler himself. After descending into Hitlers bunker, and fighting off waves of fakes equipped with flamethrowers, the real Fhrer appears in a mech suit equipped with chainguns. That imagery alone is so iconic that we often forget its only phase 1, with Hitler jumping out once the mechs destroyed for a futile last stand.Mother Brain (Super Metroid)Were aware there are a lot of Nintendo final bosses on this list (Andross from Star Fox/Starwing almost made the cut too) but the 90s were home to some of the companys best end-of-level baddies. Mother Brain is especially good as, at first, her fight seems to be a simple repeat of the original Metroids final boss. But upon her defeat, she rises again with a delightfully hideous new body. Do enough damage and she fires an impossible-to-dodge laser that makes you think youve failed, until the baby Metroid appears to perform an equally iconic sacrifice and gives Samus the power she needs to put Mother Brain down for good.Nemesis (Resident Evil 3)After spending the entirety of Resident Evil 3 running away from Nemesis, finally putting the monster down for good in the climax is immensely satisfying, both for the player and the protagonist Jill Valentine. It can be a frantic encounter for a first-time player since it not only takes on an even uglier form, thats like 30% mouth, but your own weapons cant kill it. You need to power up the nearby rail cannon and lure Nemesis in front of it. All of which is handled much better than in the Resident Evil 3 remake, which somehow omitted Jills zinger: You want stars? Ill give you stars.Safer Sephiroth (Final Fantasy VII) The one-winged angel himself (Picture: YouTube)Estuans interius, ira vehementi, Sephiroth. Those five words have been seared into players brains for over 25 years thanks to Nobuo Uematsus masterpiece of a final boss theme and almost singlehandedly made Safer Sephiroth as iconic as he is. Combined with his twisted angelic design, the heavenly backdrop, a difficulty level that gets higher if your party are at level 99, and his deadly Supernova attack (which has an animation that lasts two whole minutes and involves the destruction of several planets), its no wonder Safer Sephiroth remains the gold standard for final boss fights in Final Fantasy games.Emailgamecentral@metro.co.uk, leave a comment below,follow us on Twitter, andsign-up to our newsletter.To submit Inbox letters and Readers Features more easily, without the need to send an email, just use ourSubmit Stuff page here.For more stories like this,check our Gaming page.GameCentralExclusive analysis, latest releases, and bonus community content.This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply. Your information will be used in line with our Privacy Policy

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Ever since he showed up inCaptain America: The Winter Soldier and popped out those wings of his, folks have been wanting Anthony Mackies Sam Wilson to get a spotlight to himself. Since Brave New World marks his first solo movie, everyone involved wants to do right by him in multiple ways, particularly on the action front. During Disneys recent APAC Contest Showcase in Singapore (thanks, Deadline), Mackie touched on how Sam stands out from Steve Rogers and John Walker. Despite his new position as a leader of his community in the country, Sams still working as a trauma counselor for military veterans. As such, Mackie said his character is more of a friend to everyone, and employs more thought into his actions. This is particularly important, given the pressure hes under in the film: not only is he Black and operating as Cap after Walker killed a man in public, his friend Isaiah Bradley kicks the plot in motion by trying to assassinate President Ross for no discernable reason. That same level of thought will also apply to Brave New Worlds action scenes. Steve and John had the benefit of the Super Soldier Serum, but Sam is ultimately a guy with a pair of high-tech wings, and people in the Captain America movies tend to die easier than characters in other MCU series. Mackie explained that Sam has to be smart and engineer different ways of defeating [enemies], particularly since hes going up against guys like Red Hulk. His Wakandan-made suit helps even the playing field by taking all of my skills to a completely different level, said the actor. I can kick harder, fly faster, and it gives me the ability to be more agile in my skills.Previous movies and shows havent always been the best at showing off Sams strengths. Well see for sure how he fares on his own when Captain America: Brave New Worldhits theaters on February 14, 2025. Want more io9 news? Check out when to expect the latest Marvel, Star Wars, and Star Trek releases, whats next for the DC Universe on film and TV, and everything you need to know about the future of Doctor Who.

Habitat by The Lake / Studio PrakriyaSave this picture! Pranit BoraHousesSatara, IndiaArchitects: Studio PrakriyaAreaArea of this architecture projectArea:5000 ftYearCompletion year of this architecture project Year: 2024 PhotographsPhotographs:Pranit Bora, Manthan YadavManufacturersBrands with products used in this architecture project Manufacturers: Tata Steel Lead Architects: Pratik Devi More SpecsLess SpecsSave this picture!Modern Interpretation of Traditional Wada Architecture: Embracing Nature by the Lake.Architectural design reflects cultural heritage, technological advancements, and natural surroundings. The modern lakeside house is a synthesis of these elements, inspired by traditional Wada architecture while incorporating contemporary aesthetics and functionality. With its exposed brick exterior, central courtyard, landscaping, a swimming pool by the lake, and a narrow alley entrance reminiscent of old Wadas, this residence harmonizes historical architecture with modern living.Save this picture!Save this picture!Wada houses, traditional to Maharashtra, India, are known for their robust construction and inward-facing design centred around a courtyard, fostering social interaction and climate protection. Adapting this classic design for a modern residence involved retaining the Wada's essence while addressing contemporary needs. The client's connection to his ancestral Wada, which was demolished, added emotional depth to the design process. It was crucial to evoke nostalgia and honour his heritage.Save this picture!Save this picture!Save this picture!The house features a substantial faade of exposed brick, providing visual continuity with traditional Wadas and utilizing locally sourced materials. This choice offers thermal mass for regulating internal temperatures. The exterior's fortress-like appearance contrasts with the openness of the interior, characteristic of modern design.Entering through a narrow alley, visitors experience an intimate transition from the outside. Inside, open spaces with large glass walls and folding doors connect the indoors to the lake. The central courtyard serves as a focal point, allowing natural light to flood the home and enhancing the connection to nature.The design carefully considers human scale, ensuring functional and comfortable spaces. Elements like doorways and ceiling heights create intimacy, reflecting the human-centric approach of traditional Wada architecture.Save this picture!Save this picture!Save this picture!Two landscaped courts separate bedrooms from living areas, acting as natural buffers. These spaces integrate seamlessly with the architecture, enhancing tranquillity. Mature trees provide privacy and shade, enriching the home's environmental quality.Save this picture!Save this picture!The design thoughtfully integrates the house with its lakeside setting. Large windows and terraces offer unobstructed views, creating a dialogue between indoor and outdoor spaces. The robust exposed brick is paired with light, reflective interiors to maximize natural light and lake views. A small swimming pool at the lake's edge adds modern luxury while maintaining harmony with the environment, offering a relaxing space for family enjoyment.Save this picture!Save this picture!Incorporating modern sustainability practices while honoring traditional roots, the house features a rainwater collection system for efficient water management. Natural ventilation and passive cooling are enhanced by advanced insulation and smart climate control systems.Save this picture!This modern lakeside house transcends mere residential structure; it reinterprets traditional Wada architecture, blending historical reverence with contemporary innovation. The exposed brick, central courtyard, and landscaped courts reflect a balance between past and present. By integrating natural elements with sustainable practices, the house pays homage to its roots while addressing modern living demands, serving as a heartfelt tribute to the client's cherished ancestral Wada memories.Save this picture!Project gallerySee allShow lessAbout this officeStudio PrakriyaOfficeMaterialsConcreteBrickMaterials and TagsPublished on November 25, 2024Cite: "Habitat by The Lake / Studio Prakriya" 24 Nov 2024. ArchDaily. Accessed . <https://www.archdaily.com/1023853/habitat-by-the-lake-studio-prakriya&gt ISSN 0719-8884Save!ArchDaily?You've started following your first account!Did you know?You'll now receive updates based on what you follow! Personalize your stream and start following your favorite authors, offices and users.Go to my stream