A small songbird soars above Ithaca, New York, on a September night. He is one of 4 billion birds, a great annual river of feathered migration across North America. Midair, he lets out what ornithologists call a nocturnal flight call to communicate with his flock. Its the briefest of signals, barely 50 milliseconds long, emitted in the woods in the middle of the night. But humans have caught it nevertheless, with a microphone topped by a focusing funnel. Moments later, software called BirdVoxDetect, the result of a collaboration between New York University, the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, and cole Centrale de Nantes, identifies the bird and classifies it to the species level.Biologists like Cornells Andrew Farnsworth had long dreamed of snooping on birds this way. In a warming world increasingly full of human infrastructure that can be deadly to them, like glass skyscrapers and power lines, migratory birds are facing many existential threats. Scientists rely on a combination of methods to track the timing and location of their migrations, but each has shortcomings. Doppler radar, with the weather filtered out, can detect the total biomass of birds in the air, but it cant break that total down by species. GPS tags on individual birds and careful observations by citizen-scientist birders help fill in that gap, but tagging birds at scale is an expensive and invasive proposition. And theres another key problem: Most birds migrate at night, when its more difficult to identify them visually and while most birders are in bed. For over a century, acoustic monitoring has hovered tantalizingly out of reach as a method that would solve ornithologists woes.In the late 1800s, scientists realized that migratory birds made species-specific nocturnal flight callsacoustic fingerprints. When microphones became commercially available in the 1950s, scientists began recording birds at night. Farnsworth led some of this acoustic ecology research in the 1990s. But even then it was challenging to spot the short calls, some of which are at the edge of the frequency range humans can hear. Scientists ended up with thousands of tapes they had to scour in real time while looking at spectrograms that visualize audio. Though digital technology made recording easier, the perpetual problem, Farnsworth says, was that it became increasingly easy to collect an enormous amount of audio data, but increasingly difficult to analyze even some of it.Then Farnsworth met Juan Pablo Bello, director of NYUs Music and Audio Research Lab. Fresh off a project using machine learning to identify sources of urban noise pollution in New York City, Bello agreed to take on the problem of nocturnal flight calls. He put together a team including the French machine-listening expert Vincent Lostanlen, and in 2015, the BirdVox project was born to automate the process. Everyone was like, Eventually, when this nut is cracked, this is going to be a super-rich source of information, Farnsworth says. But in the beginning, Lostanlen recalls, there was not even a hint that this was doable. It seemed unimaginable that machine learning could approach the listening abilities of experts like Farnsworth.Andrew is our hero, says Bello. The whole thing that we want to imitate with computers is Andrew.They started by training BirdVoxDetect, a neural network, to ignore faults like low buzzes caused by rainwater damage to microphones. Then they trained the system to detect flight calls, which differ between (and even within) species and can easily be confused with the chirp of a car alarm or a spring peeper. The challenge, Lostanlen says, was similar to the one a smart speaker faces when listening for its unique wake word, except in this case the distance from the target noise to the microphone is far greater (which means much more background noise to compensate for). And, of course, the scientists couldnt choose a unique sound like Alexa or Hey Google for their trigger. For birds, we dont really make that choice. Charles Darwin made that choice for us, he jokes. Luckily, they had a lot of training data to work withFarnsworths team had hand-annotated thousands of hours of recordings collected by the microphones in Ithaca.With BirdVoxDetect trained to detect flight calls, another difficult task lay ahead: teaching it to classify the detected calls by species, which few expert birders can do by ear. To deal with uncertainty, and because there is not training data for every species, they decided on a hierarchical system. For example, for a given call, BirdVoxDetect might be able to identify the birds order and family, even if its not sure about the speciesjust as a birder might at least identify a call as that of a warbler, whether yellow-rumped or chestnut-sided. In training, the neural network was penalized less when it mixed up birds that were closer on the taxonomical tree. Last August, capping off eight years of research, the team published a paper detailing BirdVoxDetects machine-learning algorithms. They also released the software as a free, open-source product for ornithologists to use and adapt. In a test on a full season of migration recordings totaling 6,671 hours, the neural network detected 233,124 flight calls. In a 2022 study in the Journal of Applied Ecology, the team that tested BirdVoxDetect found acoustic data as effective as radar for estimating total biomass.BirdVoxDetect works on a subset of North American migratory songbirds. But through few-shot learning, it can be trained to detect other, similar birds with just a few training examples. Its like learning a language similar to one you already speak, Bello says. With cheap microphones, the system could be expanded to places around the world without birders or Doppler radar, even in vastly different recording conditions. If you go to a bioacoustics conference and you talk to a number of people, they all have different use cases, says Lostanlen. The next step for bioacoustics, he says, is to create a foundation model, like the ones scientists are working on for natural-language processing and image and video analysis, that would be reconfigurable for any specieseven beyond birds. That way, scientists wont have to build a new BirdVoxDetect for every animal they want to study.The BirdVox project is now complete, but scientists are already building on its algorithms and approach. Benjamin Van Doren, a migration biologist at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign who worked on BirdVox, is using Nighthawk, a new user-friendly neural network based on both BirdVoxDetect and the popular birdsong ID app Merlin, to study birds migrating over Chicago and elsewhere in North and South America. And Dan Mennill, who runs a bioacoustics lab at the University of Windsor, says hes excited to try Nighthawk on flight calls his team currently hand-annotates after theyre recorded by microphones on the Canadian side of the Great Lakes. One weakness of acoustic monitoring is that unlike radar, a single microphone cant detect the altitude of a bird overhead or the direction in which it is moving. Mennills lab is experimenting with an array of eight microphones that can triangulate to solve that problem. Sifting through recordings has been slow. But with Nighthawk, the analysis will speed dramatically.With birds and other migratory animals under threat, Mennill says, BirdVoxDetect came at just the right time. Knowing exactly which birds are flying over in real time can help scientists keep tabs on how species are doing and where theyre going. That can inform practical conservation efforts like Lights Out initiatives that encourage skyscrapers to go dark at night to prevent bird collisions. Bioacoustics is the future of migration research, and were really just getting to the stage where we have the right tools, he says. This ushers us into a new era.Christian Elliott is a science and environmental reporter based in Illinois.

Apple has published a white paper that backs the European Union's policy of interoperability between rival technology firms, but says the law is open to risky interpretation.EU asks Apple to open up iPhone to competitorsIn a similar move to its March 2024 raising of security concerns about the Digital Markets Act, Apple has published a white paper about the EU's interoperability laws. Interoperability is the requirement that Apple share its technology with rivals, so that they can provide users with features such as recording audio through an iPhone's microphone.It follows the EU's publication of a document asking Apple to change its proprietary technology to be accessible by competitors. Apple's white paper, called "It's getting personal", argues that "abuse of the DMA's interoperability mandate could expose your private information." Continue Reading on AppleInsider | Discuss on our Forums

On its face, the EU DMA is meant to stop monopolies from abusing their market position, but Meta appears to be abusing this legislation in an attempt to gather unprecedented access to iPhone user data.Meta trying to use the EU DMA to gain access to iPhone user dataMeta, Facebook's parent company, has reportedly filed 15 interoperability requests through the European Union's Digital Market Act (DMA). These requests are meant to provide competitors access to technologies to give them an equal footing, but it seems Meta is going a step further.According to a report from Reuters, Apple has shared a statement suggesting Meta is abusing the DMA's interoperability request system. Meta has filed more requests than any other company, seeking deep access to Apple's proprietary systems. Continue Reading on AppleInsider | Discuss on our Forums

Elevation Lab's TimeCapsule is a case for AirTag that adds more battery life, extending the time between battery changes to up to ten years.ElevationLab's TimeCapsule AirTag Battery Case - Image credit: ElevationLabApple's AirTag is extremely useful when it comes to tracking down lost or stolen items, with many stories detailing how it's helped reclaim personal property. However, while it's small and handy, its battery life can be a problem.The AirTag uses a CR2032 battery, and that cell lasts for about a year before you need to change it out. While this isn't a massive problem when using it on a keyring, it can be a struggle to regularly replace if it's in a well-hidden and hard to access spot, such as underneath a vehicle. Continue Reading on AppleInsider | Discuss on our Forums

Santiago Calatravas marvelous yet befuddling pedestrian bridge at the Ponte della Costituzione in Venice is now in the process of reconstruction in the wake of the city governmentissuing fines in response to slip and fall injuries that followed its opening in September 2008. All 284 glass steps are to be replaced with safer stone upgrades, according to The Timess reporting. The repairs, which were finally agreed to by officials in 2022, will cost approximately 500,000 ($518,000 USD). That's enough for almost 13 of his newGbelin watches!

Heatherwick Studiohas updated the new Xian Centre Culture Business District upon its first public opening after sharing details of the project with Archinect last November.The development occupies space between the ruins of the Temple of Heaven and the famed Shaanxi TV Tower.Central to its design is the artistic heritage of ceramics in the region. A nod to the historical presence of the Terracotta Army can be seen in the exterior tiled cladding on each of its buildings facades.Photo credit: Qingyan ZhuThis confers an inviting tactile impression that will further lure its users. The studios founder, Thomas Heatherwick, says it also results in an "unexpected three-dimensional urban landscape" equalling 155,000 square meters (or more than 1.6 million square feet).Photo credit: Qingyan ZhuWithin its pedestrian-centric "sensory experience" comprised of a retail podium, offices, a hotel, and apartments, activity converges around a central plaza with a 187-foot high vertical park ...

The latestAIA/Deltek Architecture Billings Index (ABI) for November has recorded a second consecutive flat reading. The slight decrease to 49.6 indicates a near-equal balance between the number of firms experiencing a decrease in billings versus those seeing increases. Inquiries into new work continued to grow, while the value of newly signed design contracts declined for the eighth month in a row."Given the extended weakness in business conditions at architecture firms, increasing firm profitability remains the top concern for 2025, with one-third of firm leaders selecting it as a major issuethe highest since 2017," Kermit Baker, the AIA's Chief Economist, said in a statement."Negotiating appropriate project fees ranked second, chosen by 21 percent, while 20 percent identified finding new clients and markets or improving business planning and marketing as a top concern, up from 18 percent last year," his statement continued.Related on Archinect: Architecture Business Metrics ...

Architizer's 13th A+Awards features a suite of sustainability-focused categories recognizing designers that are building a greener industry and a better future. Start your entry to receive global recognition for your work!Theres a joke that goes: A camel is a horse designed by a committee. Its lumpy and bumpy and doesnt make sense. A horse would, of course, be a better choice, no? Well, not if youre a nomad traveling through the desert.In 2024, design by committee is becoming commonplace, and the resulting architecture is up for debate. The internet, neighborhood workshops and global competitions are giving the crowd a louder voice than ever before. Its messy, democratic, and reshaping how buildings come to life.Participatory design is not new. Architects have long engaged communities in consultations, especially for civic or public-facing projects. However, in recent years, the tools and scale have shifted dramatically. The rise of social media, forums and structured competitions have introduced new ways for communities, users and architecture enthusiasts to weigh in on design proposals before theyre realized. Its a shift that reflects the culture we currently live in. We vote on reality shows, instagram polls and share opinions without a second thought, it was inevitable then, that architecture, too, would be pulled into collective conversations.Boston City Hall Public Spaces Renovation by Utile, Inc., Boston, Massechusetts| Photos by Anton GrasslBoston City Hall Plaza is an example that shows how engaging with the public can rehabilitate even the most contentious of spaces. Its Brutalist architecture, iconic yet polarizing, once alienated the citizens of Beantown. Through the Re-invent City Hall Plaza initiative, the redesign team invited public input to shape the spaces key features. The result? A space that is more accessible, more welcoming, and more usable. Enhanced pathways, energy-efficient lighting and new seating areas transformed it from an imposing relic into a lively civic center. By engaging the people it was meant to serve, the project reconnected a landmark to its community.Meyer Memorial Trust Headquarters by LEVER Architecture, Portland, Oregon | Photos by Jeremy BittermannOf course, not all participatory processes happen in public workshops. Meyer Memorial Trust Headquarters in Portland took a more internal approach, involving the foundations staff in every stage of its design. Built in the historically Black Albina neighborhood, the building reflects the trusts mission of equity and sustainability. Its welcoming front porch and public event spaces extend Meyers commitment to community engagement, while the design shaped by significant staff input meets practical needs and embodies shared values. Even its material choices celebrate the regional and cultural context.Yet, participatory design is not without its pitfalls. Platforms like Instagram, where aesthetics dominate, risk prioritizing what looks good over what truly works. Public votes on design elements, such as colors, shapes or layouts, can lead to spaces that photograph beautifully or that follow contemporary aesthetic trends yet fail to meet practical needs or consider budget restraints. The study of architecture is long and difficult for a reason, and each potential buildings unique complexity must be considered as a whole.Even in structured settings, participatory design raises questions about expertise and authorship. Who gets credit for a building co-created by architects, residents and consultants? Can public input replace years of training in balancing function, form and materials? Architects, after all, solve problems, predict behaviors and navigate regulations. Public participation must be balanced with professional judgment to avoid designs that dilute creativity or compromise integrity.O de LErdre by Claas Architects, Nantes, FrancePublic housing is one area where participatory design is gathering speed. It can be a complicated industry, with residents actual needs often being overlooked or ignored because of budgets, gaps in understanding of the local cultural environment or single-minded design vision. Thankfully, that is changing; in Nantes, de lErdre, the power of participatory housing design is clear as day. Future residents worked alongside Claas Architectes to shape their potential homes, from individual layouts to shared spaces. Together, the teams created a collaborative vision of community that resulted in a design combining privacy with community. The tiered timber construction allows for private terraces and a sense of individuality while providing strong neighborly connections.Technology has made collaboration easier, but the cultural demand for transparency and inclusion is just as important. People no longer want to live, work, or gather in spaces that feel imposed upon them. They want to feel invested in the places they inhabit and see their identities reflected in the landscape around them.Mercat del Peix Research Center by Double Twist and ZGF Architects, Barcelona, Spain | Jury Winner, Unbuilt Institutional, 12th Annual A+AwardsWhile localized engagement drives some projects, global competitions offer a different kind of participation. Barcelonas Mercat del Peix Research Center is the product of an international design competition, drawing proposals from ten countries. This approach allows for a much broader spectrum of ideas and provides opportunities for smaller or less well-established design practices to showcase their work. It has the potential for designs to be backed on a more democratic basis, with the best design being approved rather than the biggest name.Currently under construction, the winning scheme by ZGF and MIRAG/Double Twist is designed to bridge scientific research and public engagement. Public spaces like a gallery, rooftop gardens, and STEM-focused makerspaces are integrated into the complex, allowing the community to connect with the groundbreaking work happening within.While useful, in many cases, participatory design is unlikely to replace traditional architecture, but it doesnt need to. Projects like the Mercat del Peix and de lErdre show how collaborative processes can deliver results that are both innovative and deeply personal. Meanwhile, initiatives like Boston City Hall Plaza and Meyer Memorial Trust Headquarters prove that even established spaces and institutions can serve their communities better when they are invited to contribute and collaborate.Architects dont have to give up control, but opening the conversation can create something much more meaningful when the project is right for it. Even the best architect in the world, without all the information, might specify a horse when, in fact, its a camel that is required, so why not just ask and find out?Architizer's 13th A+Awards features a suite of sustainability-focused categories recognizing designers that are building a greener industry and a better future. Start your entry to receive global recognition for your work!The post Crowdsourced Design: Building Communities Through Participation and Collaboration appeared first on Journal.

Architects: Want to have your project featured? Showcase your work throughArchitizerand sign up for ourinspirational newsletters.Glass blocks are making their mark in contemporary architecture, proving theyre more than just functional. Their ability to filter natural light, improve insulation and add texture has made them a go-to material for creating visually striking and efficient designs.By softening boundaries and framing light and shadow, architects are rethinking conventional approaches to space and materiality. Integrated into homes, public spaces and cultural landmarks, these projects highlight how glass blocks can shape environments in thoughtful and unexpected ways. From the Arctic landscapes of Greenland to bustling Bangkok, explore seven projects that redefine glass blocks, transforming them into architectural highlights.Common SkyBy Studio Other Spaces, Buffalo, New YorkThis project transforms a museum courtyard into a public gathering space under a sculptural glass and mirror canopy. Designed to be free and open to everyone, it creates a space for reflection, interaction and connection with nature. Visitors experience the changing sky, light and seasons through the structure, emphasizing inclusivity and environmental awareness.The canopy uses alternating transparent glass and mirror panels. The glass invites natural light into the courtyard, while mirrors reflect and refract the surroundings, creating shifting perspectives. The patterns transition from triangles at the edges to hexagons at the center, balancing openness with shading to manage heat and light. A single column grounds the structure, drawing in elements like rain and sunlight while minimizing the need for additional support. This thoughtful use of materials turns the canopy into an architectural feature that integrates nature and the built environment.Refraction HouseBy RAD+ar ( Research Artistic Design + architecture), Jakarta, IndonesiaRefraction House reimagines an east-west-facing tropical home to optimize natural light and reduce heat gain in challenging climatic conditions. Designed for a modern family, the house explores alternatives to traditional walls, transforming barriers into functional design elements that promote illumination and airflow. Glass blocks replace solid walls, refracting daylight deep into the home and ensuring consistent lighting levels without increasing heat.To manage the intense tropical sun, front and back terraces are enclosed with open-air balconies that dissipate heat vertically. These interventions allow the home to remain bright while reducing thermal discomfort. Small internal gardens punctuate the design, creating green pockets that complement the glass blocks without obstructing light. This flexible approach preserves much of the original structure while fostering adaptability for future family needs.The Glass FortressBy Archismith, Bangkok, ThailandThis sales gallery in Bangkok provides a retreat from urban noise and activity while promoting a condominium project. Built with approximately 20,000 custom rectangular glass blocks, the design encloses a hidden garden, balancing privacy with filtered natural light. The glass blocks extended edges reduce visible joints, creating a continuous glass-like surface and improving insulation to minimize heat and light transmission.The 8-meter-tall glass walls bring light into the space while allowing for natural ventilation through openings at the base and top. A misting system helps regulate the temperature, ensuring a comfortable environment for visitors. By using glass for both functional and aesthetic purposes, the gallery establishes a unique architectural identity and creates a thoughtful space within the citys dense urban fabric.Wheres House WarehouseBy pbm, ThailandWheres House Warehouse redefines the relationship between living, working and storage within a single structure. Designed for a company specializing in vaccine and supplement distribution, the building integrates office and warehouse functions while maintaining a connection to its residential surroundings. The open-plan layout maximizes natural light and air circulation, reducing the reliance on air conditioning and creating a more sustainable environment.A triple-volume central court serves as a semi-outdoor gathering space, featuring staircases, walkways and relaxation areas. Glass blocks play a central role in the design, reflecting the businesss focus on hygiene while allowing light to filter through and maintaining privacy. These translucent elements help soften the boundaries between internal and external spaces, creating a unified aesthetic that aligns with the village context. Wheres House Warehouse prioritizes functionality and well-being, offering a thoughtful approach to multi-purpose architecture.Qaammat PavilionBy Konstantin Arkitekter, Sarfannguit, GreenlandPopular Choice Winner, 10th Annual A+Awards, Cultural PavilionsThe Qammat Pavilion in Sarfannguit, Greenland, celebrates Inuit cultural heritage and the connection between the local community and its natural environment. Located at a UNESCO World Heritage site, the pavilion serves as a landmark and gathering point along a planned trail, offering panoramic views of the surrounding fjords and landscape. The site was chosen in collaboration with the local community to honor the spiritual and historical significance of the area.Anchored into the rocky terrain using rock anchors similar to traditional local construction methods, the pavilions curving walls are made of glass blocks. These blocks reflect and absorb the shifting light and colors of the seasons, creating an ethereal interplay with the landscape. Designed as a pathway open at both ends, the structure invites visitors to engage with the surroundings while the glass blocks transparency and reflective qualities create a sense of expanded space and connection to the environment.Exhibition Center of Longquan National Archaeological Park of ChinaBy OfficeOffCourse, Longquan, Lishui, ChinaPopular Choice Winner, 7th Annual A+Awards, Cultural GalleryPopular Choice Winner, 7th Annual A+Awards, Cultural Architecture +GlassThe Longquan Celadon Visitor Center serves as a gateway to the National Archaeological Park, preserving historical kiln sites in Dayao village. Designed to integrate with the natural terrain, the centers structure is composed of separate rooms scattered across the hillside. This arrangement allows visitors to explore the spaces and landscapes in a free-flowing sequence, fostering a sense of discovery. The program includes exhibition galleries, a film display room, a waiting lounge and research offices, all linked by courtyards and pathways.Glass bricks form the primary material for the walls, creating an atmosphere of subtle light and shadow that complements the exhibits. A double-layered brick system provides display shelter while maintaining the mysterious ambiance of the galleries. Glass floors in two elevated galleries allow visitors to view pottery ruins beneath, offering a unique connection between archaeological heritage and contemporary architecture.Modern Pour-Over TeaBy `MOC DESIGN OFFICE, Wuhan, ChinaThe Modern Pour-Over Tea space integrates glass as a central element to complement its minimalist aesthetic and enhance the tea experience. At its heart is a glass tea room, designed for traditional tea ceremonies, which introduces a sense of transparency and openness amidst the raw texture of fair-faced concrete. The glass walls of the tea room allow natural light to filter through, highlighting the intricate golden screen insidea deliberate contrast to the minimalist surroundings that underscores the rituals importance.The glass elements connect different zones within the space, creating visual continuity while maintaining a sense of separation. This interplay of transparency and material solidity reflects the philosophy of whole-leaf tea: preserving its pure essence while offering a modern twist. Visitors at the minimalist bar can see into the tea room, creating a layered experience where the contemporary and the traditional coexist within the clean, architectural lines of the design.Architects: Want to have your project featured? Showcase your work throughArchitizerand sign up for ourinspirational newsletters.The post Glass Acts: 7 Global Projects Transmitting New Possibilities for Glass Blocks and Panels appeared first on Journal.

This past November, Licensing Rush continued to grow, with more than 25,000 photos submitted from participating photographers around the world. All month long they competed to have the most new and exclusive photos accepted to Licensing, earning bonus points for each photo with an attached model release. The results have been counted and its time to reveal the winners with the most points!Taking first place is ghanwa111Altaf Shah$300 US prize. Altaf is a UK-based aerial and drone photographer, who claimed first place in this Licensing Rush with an impressive 6,423 points. Altaf took the gold without the need for any bonus points. Aerial photography is great for Licensing because it highlights the beauty of nature through different landscapes and shifting perspectives.Coming in second place is necmettinsobutayNecmettin Sobutay$150 US prize. Necmettin Sobutay takes second place with a score of 2,360 points. Using the bonus points to his advantage, Necmettin had 1,862 new and exclusive photos accepted and earned 498 bonus points for attached model releases. While focusing on landscapes, nature, and the great outdoors Necmettins work connects with travel, adventure, and seasonal change.Last but not least, in third place is ElmarWeissElmar Weiss$50 US prize. Elmar Weiss is a seasoned photographer, based in Germany, whose passion behind the lens has taken him on adventures around the globe. Elmar secured third place by earning 2,040 points. Licensing pillars of wildlife and nature photography, which often connect with concepts of sustainability, ecology, and adventure, can be seen throughout Elmars Portfolio.November saw the fiercest Licensing Rush yet, with more than 25,000 photos submitted. The next Licensing Rush winner could be anyone, as 500px photographers continue to embrace the challenge and compete to earn the top spots.Be the first to know about the next 500px Licensing Rush by opting in for 500px Licensing News!Check out our Licensing Quests for more opportunities to win prizes. Not on 500px yet? Click here to learn about Licensing with 500px.The post Novembers Licensing Rush winners are here! appeared first on 500px.