2024-12-21T13:16:02Z Read in app Angle down iconAn icon in the shape of an angle pointing down. I rode the Santa Claus Express on a trip to Finland. Eibhlis Gale-Coleman This story is available exclusively to Business Insider subscribers. Become an Insider and start reading now.Have an account? I took an overnight train from Helsinki to Lapland that's called the Santa Claus Express.I paid $73 for my seat and the one next to me, so I was able to stretch out on the ride.Santa didn't appear on the 12-hour ride, but I found the journey exciting and festive anyway.This month, I embarked on the overnight rail experience of a lifetime: Finland's Santa Claus Express.The 12-hour train rides from the Finnish capital of Helsinki to Rovaniemi in Lapland the "official home of Santa Claus," known for its Santa Claus Village.For 70 euros, or about $73, I journeyed from the southernmost point of the country into the Arctic Circle.My trip was a real adventure, but there are a few things I wish I'd known beforehand. Some Helsinki hotels offer special checkout packages for guests catching late-night trains.My train left late at night. Eibhlis Gale-Coleman My train left at 11:13 p.m., so after checking out of my hotel at midday, I went and found a place to store my luggage in the city.I also had hours to kill before boarding, so I visited the Senate Square Christmas Market, Temppeliaukio Church, and the Allas Sea Pool working up a sweat in saunas then jumping in freezing water.However, I later learned that many of Helsinki's hotels offer a late-night checkout package for these late-night trains. I don't regret my afternoon in the city, but others might prefer a quick power nap before the overnight journey. The double-seat booking option was perfect.I'm glad I had two seats to myself for the journey. Eibhlis Gale-Coleman My seat was about 47 euros, but the ability to book neighboring seats at a reduced rate was a game changer.I added the 21-euro upgrade on a whim, but it really improved my experience. At 5-foot-3, I comfortably curled across two carpeted seats and managed to get some shut-eye.Because I was traveling during peak season, all the carriages were booked. If I hadn't reserved the seat next to me, I would've been sleeping upright like a sardine with a neighbor.I felt pretty smug being horizontal. I should've brought an eye mask.The lights were on the whole time. Eibhlis Gale-Coleman The biggest kicker was the conductor's insistence on keeping the carriage lights on overnight, apparently to prevent pickpocketing.I get the gist of the strategy, but I'm actually not sure how effective it was for that purpose everyone just covered their faces with their coats instead.I'd undertaken a similar rail journey in Sweden last year and slept like a baby in the darkened passenger cabin. The low lighting even allowed me to spot the northern lights from the window. On the Santa Express? No such luck.Sleeping with the lights on was much harder. In hindsight, I should've brought an eye mask or invested in a private cabin (40 to 160 euros) where I could control the light switch. I didn't need to worry about the food options on the train.I got a lovely croissant and a cup of coffee. Eibhlis Gale-Coleman I'd been worried about food quality on the train, so I hurriedly ate before boarding.In hindsight, I didn't need to scarf down an 11 p.m. dinner. The train's restaurant car had an impressively varied menu.Food service stayed open for dinner until 2 a.m. and reopened for breakfast at 4 a.m. There was a mixture of refrigerated sandwiches, pizzas, pastries, and alcoholic, hot, or soft drinks. People weren't exaggerating about the dodgy internet.I'm glad I brought my journal with me. Eibhlis Gale-Coleman Around an hour into the journey, both my mobile data and the train's complimentary WiFi stopped working.I'd read other travelers' online reviews, and many people said that this would happen, but I hadn't expected it so early on in the trip, especially since we were still riding past fairly built-up suburbs.Fortunately, I'd prepared for a digital detox and was carrying a pen and paper to jot down story ideas. Old school? Yes, but I have to admit it really amplified the feeling of adventure. The toilets looked pretty but got a bit messy within the first two hours.I was pleasantly surprised by the toilets at first. Eibhlis Gale-Coleman I'm happy that I snapped a picture of the toilets while boarding, as they looked pretty messy within two hours. It was a shame, as the decor and skylights were quite pretty.On reflection, the situation wasn't helped by the small sinks water splattered everywhere with each use of the tap.Throughout the trip, they were usable but unappealing enough to make you think twice about drinking a coffee too fast. Santa doesn't actually make an appearance, but the platform has a magical atmosphere.The exterior of the train has some Santa decor. Eibhlis Gale-Coleman My ride on the Santa Express was sadly Santa-free aside from the large illustrations adorning the carriage exteriors.There was no festive dress-up or meet-and-greet on board, but the platform was magical nonetheless.Carol singers erupted with Christmas songs, and barrier staff exchanged secret grins before allowing floods of giddy families onto the platform in festive Rovaniemi.The excitement was infectious as I headed toward Santa Claus Village and the remainder of my trip in Lapland. TravelHolidaysChristmas More... 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On the Money is a monthly advice column. If you want advice on spending, saving, or investing or any of the complicated emotions that may come up as you prepare to make big financial decisions you can submit your question on this form. Here, we answer a question asked by Vox readers, which have been edited and condensed.Why is money so hard?Dear Letter Writer,You asked this question at the beginning of the year; now that we are coming to its end, I may have an appropriate framework through which to answer it.The literal answer is that money is difficult because it is a representation of value. Unfortunately, we are often unable to earn and spend our money according to what we actually value. Various industries are motivated to pinpoint the exact minimum amount of money were willing to accept for various jobs and the exact maximum amount of money we are willing to pay for particular items, trusting that well give them exactly what they ask for. Much of what is left over goes toward experiences we dont actually value and expenses we cant necessarily control.The metaphorical answer is a little more complicated:It is the holiday season for many of us, a time when we demonstrate our values to one another. The person who values frugality shops the sales, the person who values extravagance shops full price, the person who values their own skills handcrafts ornaments or puts calligraphed labels on jars of jam but no matter what you choose, you generally end up spending an unusual amount of time or an unusual amount of money. Most of us pick the money route, and even the people who choose the DIY route have to purchase the Mason jars and calligraphy pens. So we set budgets some of us, anyway and divide our holiday shopping lists into affordable allotments. This much money for gifts, this much money for clothing, this much money for travel, and so on.At this point, if were thinking practically, we book the travel first. Somehow it costs more than we were expecting, even if we set aside more money than we did last year. This is because the airlines, rental car companies, and hotels understand that reaching a particular destination for the holidays is a top-level value in nearly everybodys minds a value that is taught and reinforced by much of the media associated with the holiday season, as well as societal expectations and these companies can charge precisely what the market will bear.So we end up booking the flights or the rental cars or the hotel rooms, or we look at the cost of gas and estimate how much it might cost us to drive, and whether it would be possible to pack a cooler instead of stopping to eat along the way, and then we tell ourselves that we can always make our budget balance by spending a little less on the presents.Except we dont want to spend less on the presents. We want to let the people we love know how much we love them, and the amount we love them hasnt changed since we booked our flights, so why should the amount we spend on their gifts have to decrease? We dont want our families to have to bear the burden of an inadequate budget. We dont want to face disappointed children or disapproving relatives. And so because we value the people we love, and because we very much value the idea of ourselves as generous and holiday-spirited we spend more than we can afford.Should you combine finances with your partner?How to cope with inflation and lifestyle creepHow are you supposed to start investing?Do you have questions related to personal finance? Submit them here.Sometimes this overspending comes from what might be considered a necessity. This is the year to give your child a bike, for example, because next year might be too late. However, many of us quickly get into the kind of overspending that is less useful. This would be the well, were giving Nana three gifts, so I had better make sure Pop-Pop has three gifts too thing, the kind of financial imprudence that leads to comically unnecessary novelty purchases or the dregs of drugstore sales bins. Nobody wants these gifts, and yet we feel as though they ought to be given, and so we exchange money we cannot afford or have not yet earned.Theres another level of overspending that occurs when someone else tasks you with a holiday responsibility you werent expecting. This year, your team is doing Secret Santa. This year, you got invited to a themed party that requires you to buy an ugly sweater or a silly hat. This year, Nana and Pop-Pop want everyone to send in family photos so they can make a calendar. This year, your neighbor gave you a gift, and so you had better give them something too.And so we spend, and spend, and spend, and tell ourselves well sort it out later, maybe well get a raise or pick up a side hustle or apply for a 0 percent intro APR balance transfer credit card because thats what were supposed to do at this time of year. Everything in us and around us tells us to book the travel and buy the presents and attend the parties and take the pictures, and if we dont enjoy all of this as much as we ought to, or cant afford to spend as much as we want to, weve failed.That is why money is hard, dear Letter Writer: Because the way we spend the holidays is the way we spend our lives.Fortunately, New Years resolutions are just around the corner. This year, consider resolving to understand both what you value and what value you have to offer. From there, you may be able to improve the rate at which you exchange your value for money and exchange your money for what you value. Its the only way through this mess of personal finance, and it isnt easy but Ive done it, and other people I know have done it, so I hope you can too.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:

By Matthew Gault Published December 21, 2024 | Comments (0) | Dry cask storage is used to store spent fuel at the Entergy Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant in Vernon, VT on Oct. 20, 2015. Photo by Don Ramey Logan Theres a field in Wiscasset, Maine (Population 3,742) protected by armed guards. On the field is a chain link fence surrounding a pad of concrete. On the pad are 60 cement and steel canisters that contain 1,400 spent nuclear fuel rods, the leavings of a power plant that shut down almost 30 years ago. The containers are full of nuclear waste. The locals dont love it, but theres nowhere for it to go. The issue of what to do with Americas nuclear waste is a problem thats solved in theory but stalled in practice thanks to a decades-long political fight. The country needs more power, and faster, and tech companies such as Google, Microsoft, Meta, and Amazon all announced this year that theyre moving forward with plans to go nuclear.That means theres going to be more nuclear waste than ever before. Where will it go? If the current system holds, itll be stored near the reactors. Right now, nuclear waste is put in stainless steel containers and sealed in a concrete structure called a dry cask. Dry casks are, by all accounts, remarkably safe. If theyre undisturbed, they could remain so for centuries. But the world is not static. The climate is changing. Wildfires, earthquakes, and rising ocean levels pose a threat to those dry casks. An earthquake, flood, or fire swallowing up one or two dry casks might not cause a problem. But theres about to be more of them. Photo by Gabe Souza/Portland Press Herald via Getty Images Aerial photographs of the old Maine Yankee site in Wiscasset taken Wednesday, February 6, 2013, showing the steel-lined concrete containers that hold spent fuel assemblies. Big Techs nuclear push Americas nuclear waste is piling up. Its a political problem, not a scientific one. Other countries with nuclear infrastructure bury their waste deep underground in specially designed storage facilities called deep geological repositories. We could do that in America. We even started building one. The problem is that no one wants a giant cave filled with nuclear waste in their backyard. Its hard to blame them. The U.S. has a terrible track record when it comes to handling waste. For years, wed store it in barrels and dump it into the sea. Waste leftover from the Manhattan Project is still poisoning people today. In South Carolina, radioactive alligators once roamed the Savannah River Site where pieces of nuclear weapons were made. The Hanford Site in Washington state is sitting on 54 million gallons of waste that may never be cleaned up.To meet Big Techs energy demands, well add more to the pile. 2024 was the year Big Tech went all in on nuclear energy. Data centers are power-hungry beasts and the increased use of number-crunching artificial intelligence systems means that tech companies need more energy than ever before. To solve the problem, Meta, Google, Microsoft, and Amazon are all betting on nuclear energy.Google announced a partnership with Kairos Power aimed at building multiple small modular reactors (SMR) in October. Amazon also announced it was building SMRs in cooperation with Energy Northwest, X-Energy, and Dominion Energy. Meta, later to the game than the others, asked companies for proposals on how it could generate 1-4 gigawatts (the equivalent of hundreds of millions of LED light bulbs) using nuclear power. Microsoft, who has been working on this for a long time, is partnered with TerraPower to build SMRs. It also announced a partnership with Constellation Energy that would reopen the Three Mile Island nuclear power plant in Pennsylvania.Nuclear power is hard to do. Its fuel sources are rare and heavily regulated. When it works, it provides clean and efficient fuel for millions of people. When it goes wrong, its a disaster that can help topple governments and give cancer to millions. Traditional reactors require billions in investment and decades of construction time. But Big Tech isnt looking to go the traditional route. Theyre talking about new kinds of reactors. Theres been a talk of a renaissance for decades. Depending on who you talk to, we could be in our third or fourth renaissance, or our eighth or ninth. So lets leave the R-word aside, Cindy Vestergaard, a senior fellow and director of Converging Technologies for the Stimson Center, told Gizmodo. Vestergaard is a nuclear supply chain expert who focuses on nonproliferation.When people think of nuclear power they often picture the enormous cooling towers and sprawling complexes filled with scientists. The dream of SMRs is that they could do away with much of that. There are dozens of designs, but the basic concept is that these new reactors would be tiny compared to traditional reactors (some of them would even be portable) and can be spun up and decommissioned to match the demands of the grid. A lot of these designs have been around for decades, Vestergaard said. Its just that the economic incentives didnt exist to make them a reality. Thanks to climate change and the demands of Big Tech, thats changed. Solar and wind are great in many ways, but they need to be supplemented. Big Tech may understand business, but energy companies are a whole different thing. We have a newbie engaging in thiswhich means we have a lag time in what it all means, Vestergaard said. They have a lot of money, so deep pockets, I think, help drive a lot of innovation going forward that we would not have seen in the past. So I think that gives them a nuclear leg-upmost investors do not understand the long game in nuclear.The pitch for many of these SMRs is also that theyre safer and theyll produce less waste. Vestergaard isnt so sure. We hear oh, theyre safer, theyre more efficient. Well, we dont know that. Maybe on paper. We have to test and demonstrate this. I reached out to Google, Amazon, Meta, Microsoft, and some of their nuclear power partners to see how theyre thinking about how to manage waste. Meta and Microsoft referred me to posts on their websites about sustainability. Amazon told me to reach out to its energy partners. Google didnt respond. Of Big Techs partners, only TerraPowerwho is working with Microsoftgot back to us. It said that its Natrium reactors will produce more energy and less waste than any other reactor on the planet. The Natrium technology will reduce the volume of waste per megawatt hour of energy produced by two-thirds because of the efficiency with which it uses fuel, it said. The waste the Natrium reactor does produce will be stored safely and securely onsite through proven methods used at plants throughout the country until the United States identifies a permanent geologic repository. TerraPower identified the core problem of nuclear waste in the U.S. The government needs to identify a permanent geologic repository. Its having trouble doing that. Photo by David Howells/Corbis via Getty Images A test nuclear waste load, heated to 400F to see the reaction of the surrounding rocks deep inside the Yucca Mountain Nuclear Waste Repository in Nevada. | Location: Yucca Mountain, Nevada, USA. Not in my backyard According to Vestergaard, Big Tech may not be ready for something its been bad at in the pastdealing with an angry populace. The local populations pay billions into these huge infrastructure projects, she said. Big tech, historically, has not had a good sense of what its like to have engagement at the local level. Thats another thing where theyre going to have to learn, and adjust, and adapt to public hearings. People come out when nuclear waste enters their backyards. The risk of cancer, radioactive animals, and environmental destruction is real. And people know it.These reactors will be built in someones backyard. Several of the companies are talking about building them on-site, next to data centers. Taxpayer cash will go towards these reactors and itll expect to get something in return. Not all the power can go to the data centers and large language models. Itll all generate waste. Waste with nowhere to go. After decades of mismanagement, the federal government attempted to get hold of Americas nuclear waste problem in the 1980s. Its solution was to build a deep geological repository in Yucca Mountain, Nevada. It even started construction. The people of Nevada, who have long borne the brunt of Americas nuclear ambitions, didnt want it there.In the United States, theres never really been public consent. Its not like they went to Nevada and said What if we put it here? What do you guys think about it? Vestergaard said. The United States itself is incredibly split and stuck on its nuclear waste problem, So theres a law, back from the 80s, that says its gotta be at Yucca Mountain. She added that, at this point, America has enough nuclear waste waiting around to fill Yucca Mountain three times over. So even if Yucca Mountain was still a viable option, it isnt. Particularly for new nuclear reactors that would be coming on board, she said. Opponents called the law the Screw Nevada Bill. The same law that designated Yucca Mountain as the site of future nuclear waste also created the Office of the United States Nuclear Waste Negotiator. The idea was that this office would negotiate with states and tribal leaders in the U.S. to find an interim storage solution for nuclear waste. Created in 1987, the position wasnt filled until 1990. It was eliminated in 1995.One of the problems is that, according to the laws, nuclear waste can no longer be stored in a state or patch of tribal land without the consent of the people who live there. And no one wants it. So instead of going to a central location for permanent disposal, it sits on sites near where its made, some 94 locations and growing. Kissing casks Science and nuclear influencers love to kiss nuclear waste. I kissed a cask (of nuclear waste) and I liked it, Isabelle Boemeke, known as Isodope online, said in a post on X on December 19. The attached pictures show her kissing a dry cask filled with nuclear waste. Boemeke is one of a number of nuclear influencers who use their platform to agitate for more nuclear power. The kissing a cask of nuclear waste stunt is popular among science YouTubers and the only thing strange about Boemekes post is that its come after so many other people have done it.Yes, dry casks are incredibly safe, Vestergaard said. I put my hand on them as well and stood by them. The problem is not that casks arent a great way to store nuclear waste, they are, its that they stick around on the site where the waste was made. Boemekes pic was at the Diablo Canyon Power Plant in California. The plant is Californias last operational nuclear power site and the state planned to shut it down. Then Boemeke and Grimes started making PSAs online about why it needed to remain. It worked. Regulators voted to extend the life of Diablo Canyon to at least 2030. That means the site will generate more nuclear waste. Waste which will remain on site. Diablo Canyon is next to major fault lines. Its near San Luis Obispo, a community now perennially threatened by wildfires. The San Onofre nuclear power plant south of Los Angeles sits on a major faultline. Its also sitting on 3.6 million pounds of nuclear waste. For some experts, the dry casks are a fine solution and the benefits of nuclear power generation far outweigh the negatives of nuclear waste. Climate change is a clear and present danger of global scale with a wide range of damaging impacts on geologic time scales, Jesse D. Jenkins, an Assistant Professor at Princeton University, said in a post about nuclear waste on BlueSky. Small volumes of spent nuclear fuel can be contained safely in dry cask storage for century+ time scales.The entire history of US civilian nuclear power, which has produced 1/5th of our electricity for decades with no CO2 or air pollution, has produced less than 100,000 tons of high-level waste. We burn billions of tons of fossil fuels EVERY YEAR, Jenkins said. That means the entirety of spent nuclear fuel fits in less than 10,000 dry casksThats it. All of it. And this is the nuclear waste problem that means we should supposedly eschew this proven source of emissions-free electricity? Nah. I am not arguing that we shouldnt adopt nuclear energy. Jenkins and others are right. Dry casks are mostly safe. But I do think nuclear waste is a problem. And more reactors mean more spent fuel that needs to be managed, more dry casks spread across the country, and more armed guards on patrol like those in that field in Maine. A 2024 report from the Government Accountability Office uncovered something shocking. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission, the government agency that manages waste, hasnt studied the effects of climate change on the dry casks and nuclear power plants. NRC primarily uses historical data in its licensing and oversight processes rather than climate projections data, the report said. When the GAO interviewed officials at the Commission, they told investigators that they had it under control. However, NRC has not conducted an assessment to demonstrate that this is the case, the report said.The report detailed the hazards facing nuclear power plants. According to our analysis of U.S. Forest Service and NRC data, about 20 percent of nuclear power plants (16 of 75) are located in areas with a high or very high potential for wildfire. More than sixty percent of nuclear power plants, 47 of 75, are located in areas with exposure to Category 4 and 5 hurricanes and in an area where NOAA predicted the sea levels will rise. Big Tech is going to build more nuclear power plants. Oil and gas are dirty sources of power. Nuclear has the potential to be much cleaner and more efficient. Nuclear energy is also mostly safe, the problem is that when things go bad they go catastrophically bad. More reactors mean more points of failure and more waste. Waste thats in need of a permanent home. One can only hope that the same lobbyists Big Tech rolls out whenever it needs something done in Washington can help them find a permanent home for Americas spent nuclear fuel.Daily NewsletterYou May Also Like By Matthew Gault Published December 20, 2024 By Florence Ion Published December 19, 2024 By Matt Novak Published December 18, 2024 By Lucas Ropek Published December 17, 2024 By Kyle Barr Published December 16, 2024 By Kyle Barr Published December 14, 2024

By Margherita Bassi Published December 21, 2024 | Comments (0) | A gene inherited from Neanderthals influences the thickness of certain teeth, according to new research. Arvind Philomin/Pexels While many people worry about the photogenic layout of their teeth, chances are most dont think about individual tooth shape. Well, you shouldbecause it might be partially determined by your Neanderthal ancestry. An international team of researchers co-led by Kaustubh Adhikari of University College London (UCL) have discovered tooth differences among ethnicities, including an apparent feature determined by a gene inherited from Neanderthals. Their research, published on December 12 in Current Biology, could one day aid in diagnosing and treating genetic dental conditions. The researchers, including experts from Fudan University in China, used 3D scans of dental plaster casts to analyze tooth measurements of 882 volunteers of European, Native American, and African descent. They then compared these dimensions with the volunteers genetic data and pinpointed 18 genome regions involved in the size and shape of various teeth. Notably, 17 of these regions were identified for the first time as being connected to tooth dimensions. Teeth can tell us a great deal about human evolution, as well-preserved ancient teeth are particularly important to archaeologists, shedding light on milestones such as when we transitioned to cooked food and human tooth sizes began to shrink. But little is known about the genetic basis of variation within the modern human population on tooth size and shape, partly due to challenges in measuring teeth, Adhikari said in a UCL statement. We have now identified numerous genes that impact the development of our teeth, some of which are responsible for differences between ethnic groups. Interestingly, scientists suggest that one of the identified genes originates in Neanderthals, with whom ancient humans interbred during our relatively brief prehistoric coexistence. The genetic variant, found only in volunteers of European ancestry, was associated with thinner incisors (measured front-to-back). Researchers also noted that individuals with this variant tended to have smaller teeth overall. Additionally, the team found that the gene EDAR, previously linked to incisor shape in East Asian people, also affects the width of all teeth.However, our findings did not shed light on whether the genes that identify tooth shape were selected in evolution due to particular advantages to dental health, so its possible that the genes may have been selected due to the influences they have in other areas, with tooth shape differences resulting as a side effect, Andrs Ruiz-Linares of UCL and Aix-Marseille University, who co-led the study, explained. Simply put, the researchers arent sure why the genes developed to impact tooth shape in this way. Some of the genes that contribute to the normal variation of tooth dimensions among healthy people can also contribute to pathogenic variation, such as teeth failing to grow in or other dental health conditions, said Qing Li of Fudan University, who co-led the study. Pathogenic variations are genetic differences that increase an individuals chances of developing a particular disease or genetic disorder. In other words, the genes that determine tooth measurements might also determine health issues.Consequently, we hope that our findings could be useful medically, if people with particular dental problems could undergo genetic tests to help in diagnosis, or if some dental anomalies could be treated one day with gene therapies, Li added. It remains to be seen how this research might lead to practical medical applications. In the meantime, the Neanderthal teeth join a host of other features we may have inherited from our long-lost relatives, including pain tolerance and nose shapes.Daily NewsletterYou May Also Like By Margherita Bassi Published December 19, 2024 By Isaac Schultz Published December 12, 2024 By Isaac Schultz Published December 10, 2024 By Isaac Schultz Published November 17, 2024 By Isaac Schultz Published November 7, 2024 By Adam Kovac Published October 10, 2024

Celebrating the Lives of Inspiring Architects Who Passed in 2024Presented by:Save this picture!East-West/West-East / Richard Serra. Image Nelson GarridoAs the year comes to an end, we take a moment to honor the careers and contributions of celebrated architects, designers, and artists who passed away in 2024. These influential figures have left a lasting legacy in the built environment, prompting deeper thought about the role of their disciplines in society and their ability to evolve over time.Whether through their work in academia, professional practice, or the arts, each of these individuals stood out for their dedication to advancing the fields of architecture, landscapes, design, materiality, and more. From Pritzker Prize-winning architect Fumihiko Maki to renowned sculptor Richard Serra, each showcased a unique vision and approach to design, leaving behind a wealth of knowledge to explore.Read on to discover the works and ideas of these admired architects, designers, and artists who shaped their fields and whose influence endures beyond this year.Antoine Predock (1936-2024)Save this picture! The mission of any architect is to have his deepest inner content made visible through work. The role of an architect is to be true to his mission. - Antoine Predock Architect, writer, and educator Antoine Predock developed a distinctive style by working beyond urban centers and finding a connection between landscapes and the human experience of space. Alongside his long-standing role as a faculty member at the University of New Mexico, Predock completed renowned projects such as the Nelson Fine Arts Center, the Tang Teaching Museum and Art Gallery at Skidmore College, and the Canadian Museum for Human Rights in Winnipeg, Manitoba. Inspired by nature and geology, he worked at the intersection of architecture and landscape. With a portfolio spanning over 230 projects worldwide, his bold and poetic designs continue to inspire and provoke thought. From the Center for Communication and Journalism to the Canadian Museum for Human Rights, his architectural language, deeply rooted in his spiritual connection to New Mexico, has left an indelible mark on the built environment.Richard Serra (1938-2024)Save this picture! I wanted the viewer to become the subject of his own experience. - Richard Serra Sculptor Richard Serra, recognized for monumental steel structures that transformed contemporary art, explored space, materiality, and site in his works. Characterized by massive inclined corridors and spirals of steel, Serra's sculptures invite viewers to navigate and experience their forms deeply. Awarded with the Architectural League of New York President's Medal in 2014the first artist to receive the honorhis career evolved from early experiments to large-scale steel installations that redefined spatial perception. Showcased globally, Serra's works challenged conventional artistic boundaries and required specialized handling and installation, engaging in a dialogue with space and materiality. Often placed in urban or natural settings, his sculptures prompted reflection on the relationship between human intervention and the built environment. Serra's legacy as an artist with architectural sensibilities extends beyond his artistic achievements, encompassing a deep understanding of spatial dynamics and a commitment to challenging artistic boundaries.Gaetano Pesce (1939-2024)Save this picture! You cannot bring a style of architecture to a place without considering the environment. You must consider geography, tradition, and climate. A place is like a person. You can't assume it functions like anyone else. You must spend time and get to know it, because people are unique. Places and people depend and survive on healthy relationships. Gaetano Pesce, in an interview for PIN-UP Italian architect and industrial designer Gaetano Pesce devoted over six decades to his multifaceted work in architecture, product design, and art. Driven by the desire to create new forms and expose people to diverse materials, Pesce explored color, texture, materials, and storytelling as they relate to their time. Best known for the UP5 chair for B&B Italia (2000) and the Organic Building in Osaka, Japan (1993), he studied architecture at the University of Venice under Carlo Scarpa and Ernesto Rogers. Since the 1960s, Pesce investigated the function and form of utilitarian objects, producing pieces for B&B Italia, Vitra, and Cassina. His works, models, and drawings are part of over 30 permanent collections in prestigious museums, including MoMA in New York and San Francisco, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Vitra Museum in Germany, and the Victoria and Albert Museum in London. Notable architectural works include the Organic Building in Osaka, Les Halles ACIH (1979), and Parc de la Villette (1985) in Paris, France.Italo Rota (1953-2024)Save this picture! Everything turns around the passion: you need to be happy with what you're doing because without this positive sensation, you're not going to do much. Italo Rota, in an interview for Klat Innovative Italian architect and designer Italo Rota sought to weave his ideas inviting to reflect and challenge dominant conventions with avant-garde visions. Through his studio, Italo Rota Building Office, often collaborating with CRA-Carlo Ratti Associati, he worked on projects like the Italian Pavilion for Expo Dubai 2020 and the master plan for Rome's bid to host the 2030 World Expo. A graduate of the Polytechnic University of Milan, Rota co-founded Lotus International, demonstrating his fascination for architecture's intersection with culture and print media. Expanding its field of action, he proposed embracing new visions for the design of the urban and cultural fabric of the 20th century. Throughout his career, he shared his expertise as a professor at institutions such as UP8 Paris-Belleville and the New Academy of Fine Arts in Milan. His architectural legacy includes projects like the Museo del Novecento in Milan and the Foro Italico Promenade in Palermo, which earned the Italian Gold Medal for Public Space in 2006. Rota's designs reflect innovative thinking, meticulous attention to detail, and a deep connection to Italian culture and heritage.Fumihiko Maki (1928-2024)Save this picture! Architectural design is perhaps the strangest activity undertaken by the many professions, and a group that engages in architectural design is likewise a curious organization. Architecture is a highly ambiguous field - Fumihiko Maki Pritzker Prize-winning Japanese architect Fumihiko Maki made significant contributions to modernist architecture, blending Japanese heritage with contemporary design principles. Notable works include the 4 World Trade Center, a skyscraper on the site of the former World Trade Center in New York. With a consistent focus on integrating new technologies, Maki sought to capture the essence of place and time, ensuring his buildings could adapt to human interactions. His academic journey began at the University of Tokyo and continued at Harvard Graduate School of Design. His portfolio includes iconic projects such as the Spiral Cultural Complex in Tokyo's Aoyama district, the Makuhari Messe Convention Center in Chiba Prefecture, and the Kyoto National Museum of Modern Art. Winner of the 67th AIA Gold Medal, Maki's work envelops a distinctive taste that combines Japanese heritage with modernist principles and bridges Eastern and Western cultures by prioritizing innovation in construction. Colin Fournier (1944-2024)Save this picture! Fundamentally, I believe it doesn't really matter how creative, innovative or experimental a single building is, it's really the city as a whole that should change. I have always had this psychological swing, so when I am doing architecture, I think I should do more on the city scale, but when I am working on a city, I feel it would really be nice to work out some details. I've always been torn between the two. - Colin Fournier British architect and urban planner Colin Fournier co-founded the visionary architectural collective Archigram and served as a professor of Architecture and Urbanism at the Bartlett School of Architecture at University College London. Renowned for co-designing the Kunsthaus Graz in Austriaone of the most iconic cultural landmarks of its eraFournier received Austria's Goldener Ehrenzeichen Medal in 2005 for his contributions to the architectural landscape. Trained at the Architectural Association in London, Fournier was an associate member of Archigram, which reimagined the future of urban living. Dedicated to fostering experimental approaches in design, he mentored countless students at institutions worldwide, from Hong Kong to Paris. His academic and professional contributions have left an enduring impact on architectural thought and practice.This article is part of the ArchDaily Topics: Year in Review, presented by Gira.Minimalism with character and clear shapes reduced to the essentials. The Gira design lines are suitable for a variety of furnishing styles, in different colours and materials. With the introduction of the Gira E2 light grey recycled material, Gira is setting a strong example for sustainability and innovation in switch design.Every month we explore a topic in-depth through articles, interviews, news, and architecture projects. We invite you to learn more about our ArchDaily Topics. And, as always, at ArchDaily we welcome the contributions of our readers; if you want to submit an article or project, contact us.Image gallerySee allShow lessAbout this authorAgustina IiguezAuthorCite: Agustina Iiguez. "Celebrating the Lives of Inspiring Architects Who Passed in 2024" 21 Dec 2024. ArchDaily. Accessed . <https://www.archdaily.com/1024124/paying-tribute-to-the-influential-architects-we-have-lost-in-2024&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

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The latest Cozy Clashmas update has brought new events, challenges, and global tournaments for fans to enjoy in Supercells real-time strategy game, Clash Royale. One of them is the Triple Elixir Tournament, which has just begun. This limited-time worldwide challenge runs for four days, from December 21 to December 25.

The HBO series Dune: Prophecy blends telling an original story while adapting material from Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson's Great Schools of Dune novel trilogy. One key event retained from the novels sees House Harkonnen enact bloody revenge on House Atreides after the latter was responsible for the former's exile and shame.

Despite coming off the unprecedented success of 2019's Joker, this year's Joker: Folie Deux was a critical and commercial disappointment. While the sequel has been lambasted among audiences and critics alike, a positive sentiment shared among the two emphasized the acting prowess of the film's leads, Joaquin Phoenix and Lady Gaga. Now, as the awards season approaches the film industry, Joker: Folie Deux is beginning to garner some prestigious recognition that could give the much-derided sequel a victory.

Years ago, comedy writer Mike McMahan got the opportunity of a lifetime an interview to join the writing staff of a new Star Trek series, the first in over a decade. McMahan was a massive Trekkie and had recently made a splash with a parody Twitter account called TNG Season 8, in which he summarized goofy, imaginary episodes of Star Trek: The Next Generation. Hed even sold the idea to Simon & Schuster and written an entire episode guide for the bogus season. Now, he was getting a chance to work on the real thing and he turned it down.McMahan had been working on a new animated series that had not yet premiered, but that he loved working on and didnt want to walk away from. To hear McMahan tell it, the folks at Secret Hideout, Alex Kurtzmans production company in charge of the new Trek spinoff, thought he was crazy.The show McMahan was working on was Rick and Morty, which went on to be a massive pop culture sensation. More confident than ever in McMahans instincts, Secret Hideout reached out again in 2018, this time to ask him what he wanted to do. McMahan answered with a pitch for an animated sitcom based in the Star Trek universe, a truly wild swing for the typically reverent and cerebral sci-fi franchise.This gamble paid off, too, as his series Star Trek: Lower Decks has become an overwhelming fan favorite with an appeal that has reached beyond the Starfleet faithful. As the series comes to a close after five seasons, Polygon caught up with McMahan about how his wacky passion project made its mark on one of American pop cultures most cherished legacies.This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity. Polygon: I just saw on Bluesky someone surfaced the preface to your collection of Star Trek Season 8 posts where you said, Im never going to write for Star Trek.Mike McMahan: But even worse than that, I wrote those TNG Season 8 posts, and then I sold the idea to Simon & Schuster and wrote a fake guide to a fake season of Star Trek: The Next Generation. And in the intro to that book, I talked about never having a Star Trek show, so this book is going to be it. And people bring it up and Im just like, Man, 10-years-ago Mike, what were you doing?No, I mean, it all worked out for you! Its very aspirational, Im sure, for a lot of fans thinking, This is something that can and has happened. Right?Yeah. It was cool because when I was becoming a writer in TV and writing my own stuff all the time, I was watching Star Trek with my wife, being like, Man, I wish Star Trek was still around, because it was in the in-between phase. And I remember being like, Im just gonna write Star Trek whether somebody pays me to or not. And, eventually people saw me doing that especially Aaron Baiers, who became the head of Alex Kurtzmans company. He and I were assistants back in the day, and he saw me doing that on my own volition. And then when I worked on Rick and Morty, it became like a natural sort of thing. So, if youre a big fan of stuff, what I would say is: Keep loving that stuff, but also work on all sorts of other stuff you love, and then it might converge. That was the lucky part, was the convergence of it.Sure. I mean, luck is usually something that only works in your favor if youve done a lot of hard work first, right?Yes.Did you ever write a Trek spec script, just like a proper a TNG script for fun?I never did because I always wanted it to be funny. And like, TNG is funny, but I wanted it to be Lower Decks funny. So, I had written things that were kind of like, not really TNG, but were basically like The Orville kind of versions.A thing that I appreciate about this whole new era of Star Trek is that each new series has pushed the boundaries of what Star Trek is, but in a different direction. In the early days, Discovery seemed to be aiming to be a Game of Thrones-y thing. And your project is almost in the exact opposite direction of that.So what Id like to explore with you today is essentially the rules of the Lower Decks writers room, and how they evolved over five seasons. How did you come to define what this was both within and without the bounds of Star Trek?So, season 1, I went into it day one having actually like a bible written up for the shows style guide for the artists and the writers. I knew that the show had to feel like it took place seven years after Star Trek: Nemesis, that we had to fit into the timeline both technologically and with design and with all of the character attributes that that would come with. So that we recognize this as kind of like the last of the TNG-era shows. When it comes to the narratives that were telling, every episode right off the bat had to have a big Star Trek story happening to the ship and the bridge crew that was affecting our Lower Deckers, but that their main storyline was a social, emotional, comedic story pulled from experiences people had at work or dating or in life in their 20s and 30s. So we always had two stories happening at the same time the big sci-fi story and the getting to know who you are in life story.On top of that, the first season was all, Oh, I cant believe I get to make a Star Trek. Im going to play, Im going to do the hits. Were going to see a Klingon in the second episode. Were going to have a trial episode. Were going to have a big bad that has a metaphorical political social commentary at the end of the season. The first season it felt like we were Doing a Star Trek. And then the second season, we understood the characters better. We had spent a lot more time with the actors and finding stories with the characters. And thats when we became Were doing a Lower Decks.Thats when we were like, We want to incrementally move these characters forward. When they learn stuff, we dont want to have them unlearn it the next episode, like a classic sitcom. And the main goal the whole time was that the big surprise of this show should be that its funny, but its also thoughtful Star Trek and that theres different ways to do that.Like, I love the original animated series. I think its fascinating and I grew up watching it too, but I didnt want Lower Decks to become that. I didnt want Lower Decks to be an asterisk show, a show that, like, people probably had never heard of or didnt care about. Our goal was, if youre talking about your favorite Trek shows, you should at least admit that Lower Decks is one of the Trek shows. And I feel like we maybe overshot that a little bit, because a lot of people love Lower Decks.I think that of the crop of new shows, Lower Decks is the predominant favorite.Which is crazy! We must have lucked into that, because I think they did some amazing stuff on those other shows. And weve just been doing, you know, literally what we set out to do from day one. It feels very lucky that we got to do it, and that people respond to it feels lucky, too, because sometimes I feel like Im making the show for me, whether or not other people are going to like it. So when they do, its a very nice surprise.Im curious, when you were working on that first season, what kind of conversations you were having with your fellow storytellers about the accessibility of the show versus Were a bunch of fans and we want to see these things.We werent worried about the accessibility because the only people who think Lower Decks isnt accessible to outside viewers are people who know a lot of Star Trek. And people who dont know a lot of Star Trek are just meeting aliens that are not too complex to figure out for the episode. Like, when you meet a Klingon, you know who they are in the first 30 seconds. In Lower Decks, you dont need to know who Kahless is. If a Klingon is talking about Kahless on Lower Decks, the lines are designed for you to understand the meaning it has to them, even if you dont know all the apocrypha, just like you can watch any episode of Star Trek and not have to have seen them all.In Rick and Morty, we were creating pastiches of other sci-fi characters all the time that felt like it was world-building, but you didnt have to know the backstory of the aliens they were meeting. That was the same way we were treating legacy species in Lower Decks. But luckily, with, say, the Cardassians, there are many episodes that define them for us. We just get to kind of give a slightly broader take on them. So for me, the stuff that a lot of people were railing on and worried about was not going to be a problem for me because all of the little legacy stuff, all of the design choices, the understanding that Mariner has seen the holologs of the things that we call episodes, that all of that stuff is to turn Star Trek into a world so that we can have comedy take place within it. Its kind of like when I worked at Second City in Chicago, there were a lot of sketches where you kind of have to live in the city to get what theyre making fun of here, but they were doing it in a way that even if youre in it from out of town, youre still laughing in the scene. It just has a different kind of resonance for you. That is what the deep-cut stuff in Lower Decks usually plays as. Now, sometimes, just to be little stinkers, well put in, like, an extremely deep cut that makes no fucking sense to you unless youre way in.Like the Spock helmet.Yeah, the Spock helmet, or Mariner referencing Xon. Thats a character who never even ended up on screen. Those moments are for deep, deep fans. But in a way, I always talked about Lower Decks being sort of like a translator for all other Trek. Like, if you watch Lower Decks, you could go pop into any other Trek and you kind of get the gist because the Lower Deckers either encountered somebody or talked about it or we did an episode that sort of honored it. You know, you could pop into Voyager, you could pop into Enterprise or TOS. I mean, our characters literally popped into Strange New Worlds. Like, they should feel kind of like an Every-Trek, in a way.And I think that as a fan, you always worry especially as a Star Trek fan that somebody using the things you liked from before are gonna ruin them, or theyre gonna be the wrong version of them, or theyre gonna lessen the thing you liked about it. But we always talk about Star Trek as being like going to a national park. Like, when were writing and designing stuff, you have to enjoy it, to enjoy being there, but dont change it so that the next person cant enjoy what you liked about it.Right. You always want to be additive to what youre working on.Yeah, additive and celebrating it. And originally, there wasnt even a big drive to have legacy actors reprise their roles on the show. But, I had met Jonathan Frakes when I was shooting a Short Trek that I wrote, and he was directing an episode of Discovery. And I showed him the pitch that we were about to take out for Lower Decks, and he was cracking up and he made me promise him that we would have Riker show up in it. And thats why Riker shows up at the finale of the first season, because I was like, Oh man, I promised Frakes we would do this, and we better get Marina [Sirtis] in there. And then, you know, we had Q show up for a quick bit. But that created the feeling of, like, Oh, I guess part of this show is having these characters come back. How are we going to do that? Weve got to keep them funny. Weve got to honor what they set up before. And everything on Lower Decks is really hard to write because its got to be funny, but also deeply thoughtful.So it sounds like you didnt have to have anybody in the writers room who was just like a casual Star Trek fan who could be your test audience, like you could kind of just trust that it was going to work.You know, it was a mix. In the first season, it was me, Ben Rodgers, Brad Winters, David Wright, M. Willis. Like, the writers room was a mix of comedy writers, animation writers, and deep, deep Star Trek fans, but not somebody who had worked on Star Trek before. Brad Winters, my producer, has a brain that is so deep in Trek. Like, we can have a conversation when we have an episode written where hell be like, You have the characters doing this here, but theres an episode in the middle of Voyager that says this cant happen. So lets talk about why you wanted to do it and how we can fit it in.So everything is always, when it comes to the Trek lore, guiding us to what we wanted to do, and then sometimes we just have to adjust. We also have Dr. Erin [Macdonald], who is our science advisor, and shell get every script, because part of what feels right about Star Trek is that the science actually makes sense, even if were doing something silly. She does a pass on every script to make sure that Im not making stuff up thats crazy. And then we have the Star Trek franchise team, like John Van Citters and Marian Cordry and Dayton Ward. Not only have they worked on so many episodes of Trek, but also on all of the side stuff, the comics and the books and everything. Ill have them look at everything and make sure that it passes the sniff test with them too. So, like, we would have a lot of Star Trek fans, you know, watching the stuff and like, the reviews we always got were, Oh, yeah, a new Lower Decks episode just came in! You know what I mean? It felt like we were doing something right.Like in almost any show, but especially in comedy, theres usually a period early on where the writers and the actors are all kind of figuring out the characters together. Like how it takes a season and a half for TNG to really find Will Riker as he gradually becomes more like Frakes. And Im curious how the animation workflow affects something like this, going back and forth between writer, actor, and animator. It really does feel when you see interviews with Tawny Newsome and Jack Quaid and Nol Wells and Eugene Cordero, that theres so much of them in these characters.Yeah.Do you feel like you can pinpoint a moment where you all found your stride, and how did it come about?It kind of came about naturally. It was, you know, I had done a lot of direct, like, voice directing on Rick and Morty and on Solar Opposites. So, when we started recording Lower Decks, I just kind of put them through hell at first. Like, I would have Tawny do, like, 25 takes of each line, and then we found those characters together. And, over time, Brad, my producer, also was able to start voice directing the show primarily because over time, we all started to understand the characters together. Not only from watching the show together and performing the show together, but Tawny and Eugene were going to conventions and having really interesting conversations with fans of the show and with actors on other Star Trek shows.Like, at first there were no wrong answers. And then over time, as you start to learn the characters, its like, Oh, Rutherford wouldnt say that. Whats a Rutherford way to say that? And you dont have that at first because you dont know Rutherford. But I think it just speaks to the patience and the talent of the cast. We really lucked out in some respects in casting, that we made some right choices right off the bat. Jack Quaid didnt know anything about Star Trek coming in, but hes an amazing actor and hes super funny. And he wanted to know about Star Trek. He wanted to know what it means to be in love with Starfleet. Every actor had that desire. There wasnt really any one miracle moment. It was just really loving to work with this cast, really believing in the scripts and the cast thinking theyre funny too. Nobody was at odds with each other and there was tons of communication. Anybody on the cast could call and ask questions beforehand or when were there, and we were never trying to force them into something. We were trying to find the best version all together from the very first episode.Well, now youve got sort of a legacy being built out of that experience. Tawnys in the writers room for one Star Trek show and apparently developing another one, which Im sure you cant tell me anything about.I cant, but Tawnys a genius and everybody shes working with seems amazing. Like, everybody on the show feels like a mega star I got before the rest of everybody else found out. You know what I mean? So, yeah, I would think Tawny can do literally anything that she wants to do in this world.And on top of that, just wrapping up here, can you tell me anything about Starbase 80?Starbase 80 smells really weird; its systems are very old. Its like a mix of Enterprise, TOS, lots of stuff.Are we going to be going there again?I would love to go there again. There are no plans to go there again. I pitched a Starbase 80 spinoff to CBS like, three years ago, which is where a lot of this came from. I would love to go back to Starbase 80, but right now there are no plans to do it.