Alex Morgan doesnt like the word retirement. Ive been saying post-playing career, she said, because retirement makes it sound like Im old. Its definitely more of a transition.Morgan, 35, announced her retirement in September, along with the news that shes pregnant with her second child. In her 15-year career, Morgan was prolific on the pitch, scoring 123 goals for the U.S. Womens National Team (fifth-most all-time) and winning two World Cups, an Olympic gold medal, four Concacaf Player of the Year awards, and many more accolades along the way.Perhaps more importantly, her career spanned a period of meteoric growth in womens sports that saw breakthroughs in gender equality, with Morgan at the fore of some of the most crucial efforts. In 2016, she was part of a group of USWNT players who filed a complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission over inequality in pay and treatment in U.S. womens soccer. In 2022, the results of that filing required men and women to be paid an equal rate for all friendlies and tournaments, including the World Cup. She also fought for anti-harassment policies in the National Womens Soccer League, helping transform team-player relations for a league that eventually grew to set valuation and attendance records in 2024.Morgan recently talked to Fast Company about her retirementwhat it looks like for her, how shes navigated the process, and how shes continuing to support current and future generations of female athletes, on and off the pitch.Fast Company: Its been nearly four months since you announced your retirement. What has life been like, and what does retirement look like for you?Alex Morgan: For me, its been about getting into venture capitaldoing a lot more investing and building my personal portfolio. Ive been doing that quietly for the last four or five years. I have about 15 companies that Ive invested in spanning sports, health tech, and consumer goods. Now, I have my own fund alongside my husband, which has been really exciting, and its something that Ive been able to dedicate a lot more time to.FAST COMPANY: You mentioned you were investing in sports. As an investor, where do you see the most opportunity right now?AM: I think were seeing an incredible opportunity in the WNBA and the NWSL. The valuations of these teams and leagues are continuing to increase. And were seeing it not only here, but in womens sports overseas as well. So what excites me most about my next chapter is that even though Im not able to be on the field, Im able to uplift and support womens sports leagues and teams around the world.FAST COMPANY: You say youre able to support womens sports around the world. How so? What are you doing personally to support these teams and leagues in the U.S. and abroad?AM: I think its an all-around approach. Through my media company, TOGETXER, were working to uplift these women and give them opportunities to share their stories, whether thats through podcasts or short or long-form content. Then theres the investing side and the mentorship and advising roles, which Im still refining to figure out how I can have the biggest impact. Im also continuing to support the NWSL and looking for ways to be most impactful, whether thats with my former team, the San Diego Wave, or the league as a whole. Ive been a big advocate of the NWSL, playing in every season since its inception in 2013.FAST COMPANY: Whats it been like for you to witness the NWSLs tremendous growth over the last 12 years?AM: Its incredible to witness, and to have been part of it. Things really started to turn when we forced the league to be more professional with their standards in 2020 and 2021, pushing the league to adopt anti-harassment policies and regulations that really, at their core, protected players. There was sometimes a power imbalance between coaches or higher-ups and the players, so we wanted players to feel safe and protected and to have control over where they wanted to gowhat city and market they wanted to play in. We wanted them to feel like their contracts were safe for that year and that they couldnt be waived tomorrow and have their contract cut and their [team-provided] housing taken away. I think professionalizing things like that took the league to a whole new level.Now, with the return on investment being so much larger, were seeing all these owners and funds coming in that I never would have imaginedlike Sixth Street [investing $125 million] with Bay FC and Bob Iger and Willow Bay with Angel City FC [valued at $250 million]. Its incredible to see these people not only wanting a piece of the upside in womens soccer but also believing in its trajectory. The players have put in so much to make this work, and seeing it actually successful now is really excitingand validating.FAST COMPANY: You say this is more of a transition than a retirement. Having navigated the process, what advice would you give someone who is going through a similar process of retirement or career transition?AM: The biggest thing Ive learned is that nothing is a steady incline. There were peaks and valleys in my soccer career, and I have them post-career. Getting into venture involves a lot of learning, difficult days, and questioning yourself. Then you get a small win and you celebrate that, and that gives you the motivation to do the next thing. So you celebrate the small wins when you can, but you keep pushing forward and stay on track.The most important thing is dedicating yourself to what youre putting your time and effort into and not giving up when things get hard, because they absolutely will.FAST COMPANY: The landscape of womens sports has changed drastically during your career. How do you think the conversation around mental health has changed?AM: I think athletes want to feel supported. Period. I fought for pay equity, maternity leave, and support for moms as professional athletes. Those are specific needs. But taking care of your overall mental well-being is just as important.Just look at what Powerade is doing now with The Athletes Code, announcing that theyre going to have it written into every athletes contract that they can pause their partnerships to prioritize their mental healthwith continued pay and support, no questions asked. I think its extremely important in the landscape of professional sports. Because athletes do need that support. Every sport is as much mental as it is physical, and taking care of the mental sideeven though you cant see itis just as important as the physical.Its something that I have absolutely needed to do in my career. When I came back after having my first child, it was really mentally drainingnot getting a full nights sleep and having a full-time job while playing for the National Team and Orlando and just trying to do it all at once. It was a lot. And I applaud Powerade for providing the kind of support athletes in those kinds of situations, and in general, require.Having the ability to take a pause without retribution, without consequence, is extremely important because every athlete goes through periods where their sport becomes their identityits how theyre validated in the community, how they value themselves or how others value them. That alone can be mentally draining. So I can see what Powerade is doing having a ripple effect in the sports community.FAST COMPANY: Why is it especially important for female athletes to have this kind of support from their sponsors and partners?AM: From my personal experience, soccer opens a lot of doors to these brand partnerships, but these partnerships actually account for more of my annual compensation than my sport alone. And I think thats the case for a lot of female athletes and athletes who compete on the Olympic stage. A lot of their brand partnerships actually support them financially more than their sport can. So they disproportionately rely on their brand partners.FAST COMPANY: So you think athletes have more support now than ever before?AM: I think the evolution of everything outside of the physical aspect of sport has done a complete 180 from when I entered the game. And I think athletes perform at their best when theyre completely supported. Thats all athletes want. That involves pay equity. It involves accepting and embracing female athletes who want to become moms while staying at the top of their game. And it involves talking about mental health within sports.I feel like we went through a dark time with athletes being vulnerable and then being shamed just because people couldnt see their suffering. But I think were in a good place now, and Im really proud of the work that Ive put inthe work that a lot of my teammates and other athletes have put in, and now the work that the brands are putting into change that.To see that now after playing professionally for 15 years, it feels good to be able to leave the sportat least in a playing senseknowing that not only do I walk away as a world champion and an Olympic champion, but I walk away actually leaving the sport better, and having athletes come into the sport where they feel supported enough to just play and be the best at it. Thats the best feeling for me.

Andrew Ng came up with a theory almost 15 years ago: What if Google, the internet giant, thought of machines like the brain and trained neural networks on mass amounts of data using computational power in an attempt to lead to artificial general intelligence?Google bit on Ngs line of thinking, and in 2011 he helped launch Google Brain, one of the most ambitious artificial intelligence programs at the time. Flash forward: Ng has cemented his status as one of the most respected figures in computer science.Earlier this year, Ngs AI Fund, which backs small teams of experts using AI to solve key problems, said it planned to raise over $120 million for its second fund. A June filing with the SEC showed that the fund had amassed $69.75 million from 13 partners.Ng launched the AI Fund in 2018 with $175 million, and initial backers included Sequoia and Softbank Group. Its made 43 investments to date, according to Crunchbase data.In April, Amazon also named Ng to its corporate board of directors, a further sign the tech giant wants to advance its profile in the space. In addition to his time at Google, Ng helped build out Baidus AI development.Part of Ngs efforts have been getting more people to understand the field of artificial intelligence.Ng has been working for years to democratize deep learning by teaching more than 8 million students through online courses through projects like Coursera and DeepLearning.AI. (More than one in 1,000 persons on the planet have taken an AI course from me, Ng tells Fast Company.)Ngs name has come up again and again in the past year as Ive spoken with people in the tech world. He is not only, as Fast Company put it in 2017, one of the most important people in AI but an AI superstar.This is all to say, Ng can be considered central to AIs future. Now, Ngs thinking about how agentic AI could shift the intelligence space.Earlier this year, Ng put out a prediction through DeepLearning.AI saying that agentic AIessentially, AI-powered agents that can autonomously solve taskswas going to be a big focus in the tech space in the coming years as it would contribute even more to progress in AI than scaling up large language models would.It was a slightly controversial prediction, he says. To be sure, agentic workflows are starting to cement their status as the next keyword.Google, for example, recently announced a slew of agentic prototypes. Microsoft has Copilots to help businesses automate tasks. Anthropics Claude released a feature that lets users create their own AI assistant.Agentic workflows have really taken off and are driving meaningful business results, Ng says. What Im seeing is that it feels like an early and accelerating phase of development of agentic workflows where more and more technology companies are trying to build platforms to better support agentic workflows and more and more applications are also being built using it.This story is part ofAI 20, our monthlong series of profiles spotlighting the most interesting technologists, entrepreneurs, corporate leaders, and creative thinkers shaping the world of artificial intelligence.

Danish studio CF Mller Architects has completed Tampere Psychiatric Clinic in Finland with calming spaces that are intended to aid with patient wellbeing.Located at the edge of the Tampere University Hospital campus overlooking a pine forest, the 30,000-square-metre facility accommodates 180 patients across a series of brick- and timber-clad forms that hug external courtyards.As in many of its healthcare projects, CF Mller drew on the principles of "healing architecture" - an approach based on research into the impact of architecture on wellbeing that prioritises access to the outdoors, natural materials and daylight.CF Mller Architects has completed a psychiatric clinic in Finland"Every element, from spatial organisation to material choices, was tailored to enhance recovery and wellbeing," said studio partner Maibritt Dammann and associate partner Mrten Leringe."The clinic's placement amidst pine forests and the inclusion of outdoor spaces, such as courtyards and private balconies, highlight the healing benefits of nature, enhancing mental wellbeing and embodying the principles of healing architecture," they told Dezeen.To maximise connections to the outdoors, Tampere Psychiatric Clinic is organised as three U-shaped volumes around a central landscaped courtyard. This is wrapped by an internal "therapy walk" connecting the wards.Its design is based on the principles of "healing architecture"The plan also places administrative spaces in shared cores closer to the centre of the building, meaning patient rooms look outwards to benefit the most from external views.Around the perimeter of the site, each of these U-shaped blocks hugs additional garden spaces, one of which contains an entrance square with steps and a lift.Courtyards wrap around Tampere Psychiatric Clinic"Each ward is designed to be flexible and adaptable to different stages of recovery, balancing communal and private spaces," Dammann and Leringe said."Staff areas are strategically placed for efficiency, ensuring easy accessibility while maintaining a separation from patient zones," they added.Read: Exposed concrete frame creates "resilient" spaces for maritime academy in DenmarkA pale palette of natural materials defines Tampere Psychiatric Clinic's interiors, including wooden panelling and furniture that is complemented by white walls and areas of warm yellow, orange and green tones.Large windows break up the brick exterior of the clinic to ensure that spaces are well-lit even on grey days, with vertical brise soleil providing shade and privacy.Large windows illuminate the clinic's interior"The material palette was inspired by Tampere's industrial heritage, featuring durable and tactile materials like brick, ceramics, and wood," described Dammann and Leringe"These materials provide a warm, welcoming atmosphere while establishing a connection to local history and craftsmanship," they added.Wood panelling and white walls are used throughoutCF Mller Architects was founded by Christian Frederik Mller in 1924.Its other recent projects include a flood defence system doubling as a nature park in Denmark and the headquarters for toy company Lego, which is adorned with giant versions of Lego building blocks.The photography is by Wellu Hamalainen.The post CF Mller Architects uses principles of "healing architecture" for Finnish psychiatric clinic appeared first on Dezeen.

The ingenious design has already won the hearts of fans.

Plus: Googles U-turn on creepy fingerprint tracking, the LockBit ransomware gangs teased comeback, and a potential US ban on the most popular routers in America.

On Christmas Eve, NASA's fastest-moving probe will come closer than ever to the surface of the sun.

Microbes found in green spaces can transfer into your body, increasing bacterial diversity and potentially boosting the strength of the immune system.

MacworldAt a glanceExpert's RatingProsStylish, colourful graphicsCombat feels fast and fluidMultiple difficulty levels availableConsOnly available on the Mac App StoreNo DLC packs currently availableWorks best with a controllerOur Verdict The precise timing needed for the games combat and movement can be frustrating if youre not used to arcade games, but its good to see Prince Of Persia back on the Mac, and this latest chapter is one of the best arcade games currently available for the Mac.Price When ReviewedThis value will show the geolocated pricing text for product undefinedBest Pricing TodayIts been a long time since any of the Prince Of Persia games was available on the Mac, and The Lost Crown episode was itself first released for Windows PCs at the start of 2024. However, its just appeared on the Mac App Store with very little fanfare and is rapidly working its way up Apples games chart.For more Mac games recommended by us read:Best Games for Mac.The Lost Crown turns out to be a real blast from the past too, as its a side-scrolling metroidvania a game that combines combat and platform-jumping elements from the Metroid and Castlevania arcade games (which were never officially available on the Mac). You dont need any knowledge of the previous games, though, as The Lost Crown has its own story, in which you play a young warrior called Sargon, who is a member of a group that modestly call themselves The Immortals. The game starts simply enough, with the kingdom of Persia under attack from an enemy army, and Prince Ghassan taken captive and imprisoned on the magical Mount Qaf. Sargon and chums head off to rescue the Prince, but soon discover that Mount Qaf is full of mystical enemies, puzzles and obstacles that have to be overcome.The game uses detailed and colourful graphics that seem to be in 3D at least for the main characters but is presented like an old-school 2D platform game where you mostly run left or right across the screen and use the Space bar to jump over obstacles. The game looks great, though, with detailed backgrounds that create a real sense of atmosphere, whether youre charging along corridors in the royal palace or hacking and slashing your way through a forest. FoundryThe only bad news is that the game doesnt run on Intel Macs, and requires an M1 processor or later, and macOS 12.0 (Monterey) or later. However, the 2D presentation means that it doesnt need a powerful Mac, and we had no trouble running it with high graphics settings at 4K resolution on a MacBook Pro with an M2 Pro chip.Combat is fairly straightforward during the early stages of the game, with basic and heavy attacks assigned to your mouse buttons, as well as the ability to dodge and parry incoming attacks. The opening section acts as a tutorial that introduces the main moves, but the game also provides five difficulty levels so that newcomers can ease themselves into the action, along with more challenging perma-death and speed-run modes for more experienced players. Combat is fast and fluid, but will probably be easier with a game controller, as I found that parrying attacks using keyboard and mouse controls required very precise timing, and it took me quite a few attempts to slice and dice my way past the first Boss battle at the start of the game.FoundryThere arent many games on the Mac that also focus on parkour movement like Prince Of Persia, where you have to run, jump and climb with great precision in order to get past various obstacles. This can be tricky too, as you need to hit the Space bar for a quick jump, or press-and-hold to jump higher, and many obstacles require you to rapidly jump left and right in quick succession in order to reach areas that are otherwise out of reach. Thats a bit tricky on a keyboard, so again it might be easier playing with a controller (there is an assist option that can help you out with some of these obstacles, but much of the fun lies in learning to master your combat and movement abilities).As you progress further into the game, youll learn to master a magical energy called Athra that gives you more powerful attacks, and you can also find or buy magical amulets that provide additional powers too. And, of course, the traditional calling card of the Prince Of Persia games is the use of time powers that allow you to manipulate time in order to escape death or outwit your enemies. Should you buy Prince Of Persia: The Lost CrownThe need for really precise timing during combat and movement may be frustrating for newcomers, but if youre a fan of arcade games then The Lost Crown is a great way to re-live your misspent youth. Its a little annoying, though, that the Mac version currently seems to be exclusive to the Mac App Store, which means that people who already own the PC version on Steam or Epic dont get access to the Mac version as well (and Steam and Epic also seem to have additional DLC packs that arent currently available on the App Store too).

James Naismith, the inventor of basketball, holding a soccer ball and a basket Public domain via Wikimedia CommonsIt was the winter of 1891 in Springfield, Massachusetts. At the International YMCA Training School, now known as Springfield College, football season had ended, baseball season had yet to begin, and indoor sports were limited to marching, calisthenics and some gymnastics.The young men in James Naismiths class were restless until, at the request of school superintendent Luther H. Gulick, Naismith invented a new game for his students. He called it basket ball and introduced the game on December 21.Naismith was a 30-year-old graduate student and physical education teacher from Almonte, a mill town in Ontario, Canada. At first, when tasked with his superintendents request for a good indoor sport, he attempted to modify existing games like football and soccer to no avail.As Naismith wrote in his posthumously published 1941 book, Basketball: Its Origin and Development, I began to study games from the philosophical side, analyzing the common elements of popular sports. An illustration from Naismith's original 13 rules of basketball Public domain via Wikimedia CommonsA good game, he reasoned, had to be easily learned. Games with small ballsbaseball, tennis, cricket, lacrosserequired additional equipment, like a stick, bat or racquet, that took time to master. Sports that used big balls, like rugby and football, were more easily learned, but tackling would not work indoors. So players of this new sport, Naismith concluded, should not run with the ball.Drawing inspiration from childhood memories of a game called Duck on a Rockin which one team of kids tossed rocks to try and knock the other teams duck (a separate rock) off a larger rockNaismith concluded that the ball should be thrown in an arc into a horizontal goal, so as not to encourage roughness.With a soccer ball and two peach baskets he borrowed from the gyms building manager, Naismith set up a court and tacked a preliminary set of rules on the bulletin board.Some of Naismiths original rules of the game remain today. Rule 1: The ball may be thrown in any direction with one or both hands. Rule 3: A player cannot run with the ball. Rule 13: The side making the most goals shall be declared the winner.KU Origins: James Naismith's rules of basketballWatch on But nascent basketball had critical differences from todays game. Naismith made no provision for dribbling, for instance: Once a player had possession, they had to shoot or pass the ball. After two fouls, a player had to sit out until the next basket was made, and any three fouls in a row for one team resulted in a point for the opponent.When the first student walked into class on December 21, he gave what sounded like a death knell to the nervous Naismith: Huh! Another new game!Though quaint equipment slowed the pace of the game, and the players had to retrieve the ball from the closed peach baskets after every point, the first few games were a success.The players were interested and seemed to enjoy the game, Naismith wrote. Word soon got around that they were having fun and only a few days after the first game we began to have a gallery.The first public basketball game was held in Springfield on March 11, 1892, in front of 200 spectators. The players were teachers (including Naismith) versus students. The University of Kansas basketball team in 1899. Naismith is standing in the back row at the far right. Public domain via Wikimedia CommonsOne teacherfamous football coach Amos Alonzo Stagg, who was working at the school at the timemanaged to have a hand in every scrimmage, the Springfield Republican wrote. But his football expertise hampered him. He was perpetually making fouls by shoving his opponents.The teachers worked hard and performed wonders of agility and strength, the Republican reported, but they were not in it with the students, who had the advantage in science. The students won the game 5-1.As basketball spread around the United States and the world as a popular indoor sport, aided by the YMCA network, it evolved to include open-bottomed baskets, dribbling and its own specialized ball, eventually taking the shape of todays game.In recognition of the sports founder, who remained an educator at Springfield College and the University of Kansas, the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame was established after his death. Naismith, fittingly, was part of its very first class.Get the latest stories in your inbox every weekday.

With Christmas now just days away, its about time to wrap up the holiday shopping season. Everyone is in the midst of hurrying to get their last minute gifts sorted. If you havent found something for someone special quite yet, heres some iPhone-centric accessories and Apple gift ideas.My recommendations are the Mujjo iPhone 16 leather case, SwitchBot Wallet Finder card, Belkin portable phone charger, a Continuity Camera mount, and the Apple TV 4K. More details about these picks after the break The go-to iPhone gift idea is probably AirPods, and I expect AirPods 4 to fly off the shelves this holiday season. But AirPods are on the expensive side, and a lot of people already have them, so they are hard to suggest as gifts without qualifiers. The below list of five are trying to pick things that your friends and family may not already have, but will enjoy and find value in. Frivolous and throwaway gifts make for fun stocking fillers, but when it comes to tech, I think you want to gift something that people will be inclined to use on the regular.SwitchBot Wallet Finder cardIf you know someone who is prone to misplacing their wallet, then the SwitchBot Wallet Finder is an inexpensive gift idea with a lot of utility. The Wallet Finder integrates natively with the Apple Find My app, so you can track it from any iOS device and even ask Siri. The Wallet Finder form factor is a slim credit card shape, so it can be slipped into a pocket in your wallet without adding bulk. Then, you can make your wallet beep on command or track its location on a map and this is a gift with no strings attached as no ongoing subscription or additional purchase is required, as it all just works through the Apple Find My network. Nearby iPhones pick up the Bluetooth beacon from the Wallet Finder, securely and anonymously tracking its location on your behalf.Other options:Apple AirTag: best for keeping tabs on your keys, but additional accessory holder requiredChipolo ONE: like an AirTag, but features an integrated hole to attach directly onto a keychainMujjo iPhone 16 caseDo you know if a friend or relative has just got a shiny new iPhone 16? Maybe theyd like to protect it with stylish flair. Apple has stopped making its own leather cases, but the third-party market fills the gap. I really like the Mujjo leather case options. They are very reminiscent of Apples case design and feature minimal branding. The Mujjo Monaco Blue color, in particular, adds a splash of color to any Pro model iPhone. Featuring full-grain leather and microfiber internal lining, the case feels great in the hand, and offers your phone some additional protection from daily bumps and dings.Other options:Mujjo iPhone 16 case with Card Holder: same aesthetics, additional functionality with included pouch for credit cardsOtterbox Cactus Leather Case for iPhone 16: alternative option with leather substitute material Belkin Portable Charger, USB-C Power BankI like getting gifts that I know people will actually use. If the person in mind has an older iPhone, they are probably never too far from a plug. A portable charger helps reduce that anxiety and makes keeping an older iPhone running for longer much more enjoyable. Theres a bevy of portable phone chargers on the market of course. I like this Belkin USB-C Power Bank, with a slim design that holds enough juice to charge my phone from zero three times over. It was an essential must-have when I went camping at Silverstone this year. Its small enough to slip into purses or jacket pockets, and features both USB-C and USB-A ports, and you can even charge multiple devices at once at up to 15W speeds.Other options:Belkin 10,000 mAH Power Bank: similar design but with slightly battery capacityAnker MagGo: portable charger that sticks directly onto the back of your iPhone with MagSafeBelkin Continuity Camera mountEveryone is doing FaceTime and Zoom calls these days, and your phone has a much better camera than your laptop. This Belkin Camera Mount lets you clip your phone over the top of your laptops screen, allowing you to use your iPhones camera as if it was your MacBook webcam. The capability is enabled using the Continuity Camera feature of Apples ecosystem, so make sure your friend has a MacBook as well as a MagSafe-compatible iPhone to take advantage of this little clip.You can also get a mount meant to position your phone underneath a television, perfect for enabling family FaceTime calls through Apple TV.Other options:Belkin Continuity Camera mount for desktops and displaysBelkin iPhone Mount for Apple TV 4K: designed for placing the phone on top of your living room TV Cooper Chat Stand: a vertical phone stand that can position your front-facing camera at any angleApple TV 4KThis is the more spendy gift idea of the bunch probably more suited for close friends or family. A streaming set-top box is something people dont know they need until they have one, and informed friends shouldnt let their friends endure the suffering of smart TV operating systems.It also features full support for 4K HDR with Dolby Vision, making your TV shows and movies look breathtaking on modern OLED TVs.The Apple TV 4K makes using all your streaming apps a breeze, with fast loading and smooth navigation using the trackpad on the Siri Remote. Youll also love Apple ecosystem benefits like browsing your iCloud Photos library on a huge screen, using your phone as the remote control, a rich Apple Music experience with sing-along lyrics, run Fitness+ workouts, and maybe even play some family-friendly Apple Arcade party games this holiday season. Other options:Google TV Streamer 4K: a nice streaming box alternative, with rich universal searchAmazon Fire Stick 4K: cheaper streaming stick, albeit riddled with ads and a bit sluggish at timesAdd 9to5Mac to your Google News feed. FTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links. More.Youre reading 9to5Mac experts who break news about Apple and its surrounding ecosystem, day after day. Be sure to check out our homepage for all the latest news, and follow 9to5Mac on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn to stay in the loop. Dont know where to start? Check out our exclusive stories, reviews, how-tos, and subscribe to our YouTube channel