The actor stars in director James Mangolds biopic, which follows the singer-songwriter during his rise to stardom as a folk-rock revolutionary.

The Icebreaker breaks the bank $2,100 mechanical keyboardhas 800 holes, NYC skyscraper looks No, four figures does not get you a numpad. Scharon Harding Dec 23, 2024 1:09 pm | 9 Credit: Serene Industries Credit: Serene Industries Story textSizeSmallStandardLargeWidth *StandardWideLinksStandardOrange* Subscribers only Learn moreFor $2,100, you could buy over a dozen upper-quality mechanical keyboards. Alternatively, you could buy just one mechanical keyboard kit. Costing the same as a desktop computer, The Icebreaker keyboard commands one of the highest price tags you'll see for a keyboard, and that's more due to its appearance than its capabilities.The Icebreaker, spotted by Tom's Hardware, became available for preorder on Thursday. The prohibitively priced peripheral is the primary product from Serene Industries, which founder Denis Agarkov describes as an outlet for creativity, love of materials, experimentation, and an endless exercise in learning new things."In a February interview with Design Milk, Agarkov said that the profile view of New York Citys Flatiron skyscraper inspired the keyboards design. The building opened in 1902 and measures 285 feet tall with a steel frame and distinct prism shape. The Flatiron Building. GettyThe Flatiron Building. Getty The Icebreaker tries to match the Flatiron's shape. Serene Industries The Icebreaker tries to match the Flatiron's shape. Serene Industries Another angle. Serene Industries Another angle. Serene Industries The Icebreaker tries to match the Flatiron's shape. Serene Industries Another angle. Serene Industries In turn, the Icebreakers profile view shows a sharp wedge shape thats uncommon, but not unheard of, in keyboards striving for a striking appearance."Viewed from the right angle, it seems to be as flat as a sheet of paper," Agarkov told Null Society in January ahead of the keyboard's launch.Serene heavily advertises the aluminum build of the keyboard, saying that it's a "fully CNC'd, solid block 6061 aluminum" alloy chassis. The Icebreaker isnt an outlier in using aluminum; numerous companies sell aluminum alloy keyboard cases for a few hundred dollars. An alternative to cheaper plastic, aluminum is popular for keyboard durability, weight, and custom touches around details like the case's finish and color. The Icebreaker case, being a unified block rather than a top and bottom piece fused together, makes for a unique, massive (17.71.70.9 inches) look.The keycaps, which Serene sells separately for $415, are fully aluminum with about 800 micro-perforations that make up the legends," Serene's website says, "allowing the LED light to pass through. A close-up of the porous keycaps. Credit: Serene Industries The holes are 400 microns in diameter, per the company's Instagram page, which suggests that users can feel the holes with their fingertips. Using tiny holes to construct key legends is something I havent seen in mechanical keyboard kits before. It gives the Icebreaker's keycaps a digital vibe that seems tedious and costly to make, contributing to the keyboard's price. Despite the openings' tininess, I'm still worried about dust and debris with a keyboard littered with holes.What's interesting about the typing feel of this keyboard is the use of low-profile keycaps despite the keyboard supporting full-height mechanical switches. I'm curious if the pairing results in the keycaps feeling too thin or unstable while typing.Other Icebreaker specs include a silicone dampener integrated into the bottom lid both supporting the PCB and doubling as non-slip feet, per Serene. The keyboard's underside. Credit: Serene Industries There's also a 4,000 mAh battery and 1/4-20 threads for professional accessory mounting, such as Picatinny rails. One could also use the threads for mounting the keyboard onto monitor arms and hand grips.And like many high-priced keyboards to come out in the past couple of years, the Icebreaker includes a rotary encoder dial. The dial is programmable, like the rest of the keyboards keys, with the Via configurator.The Icebreaker starts at $1,500 with a clear-colored base, hot-swappable switches, and USB-C cable connectivity. It goes up to $2,100 if you get in black and with Bluetooth connectivity or Hall effect switches, which actuate through the use of magnets. Notably, the Bluetooth version of the keyboard only seems to have one Bluetooth channel, compared to cheaper wireless keyboards that let you pair and toggle across multiple, simultaneously paired devices.The lavish side of mechanical keyboardsUltimately, the keyboard's unique construction, design cues, and lack of mass production contribute to a four-figure price tag that'll shock those not accustomed to the overly luxurious side of mechanical keyboards. Agarkov told Null Society that one of the biggest challenges with making The Icebreaker was "balancing the design with practical considerations.""For instance, the keyboard is intentionally heavy and large, which, funny enough, was a point of confusion for the manufacturers," he added.As you may have determined by now, The Icebreaker's price is more about style and clout than advanced features or high-end typing. In fact, you dont even get a numpad or switches at this price. For comparison, Angry Miaom is no stranger to outrageously priced keyboards, but as of this writing, its only keyboards with MSRPs over $1,000 are split keyboards: Angry Miaos Afa Blade Limited Edition keyboard kit costs $2,049 and uses aluminum, stainless steel, glass, carbon, and aluminum alloy. Credit: Angry Miao Still, The Icebreaker is an example of how dedicated, artistic, and daring mechanical keyboard enthusiasts can be and how much time, effort, and expense can impact crafting a one-of-a-kind keyboard thats sure to get people talking.In the world of mechanical keyboards, unreasonable luxury is par for the course. For the avid collector out there, The Icebreaker can make for one expensive trophy.Scharon HardingSenior Technology ReporterScharon HardingSenior Technology Reporter Scharon is a Senior Technology Reporter at Ars Technica writing news, reviews, and analysis on consumer gadgets and services. She's been reporting on technology for over 10 years, with bylines at Toms Hardware, Channelnomics, and CRN UK. 9 Comments

In time for the holidays Flu surges in Louisiana as health department barred from promoting flu shots Flu is rising around the country, but Louisiana is well ahead of the curve. Beth Mole Dec 23, 2024 12:35 pm | 37 A masked person stands by a sign advertising flu shots. Credit: Getty | Noam Galai A masked person stands by a sign advertising flu shots. Credit: Getty | Noam Galai Story textSizeSmallStandardLargeWidth *StandardWideLinksStandardOrange* Subscribers only Learn moreFlu season is ramping up across the US, but Louisianathe state that has reportedly barred its health department from promoting flu shots, as well as COVID-19 and mpox vaccinesis leading the country with an early and strong surge.Louisiana's flu activity has reached the "Very High" category set by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, according to the latest data. The 13-category scale is based on the percentage of doctor's visits that were for influenza-like illnesses (ILIs) in the previous week. Louisiana is at the first of three "Very High" levels. Oregon is the only other state to have reached this level. The rest of the country spans the scale, with 13 jurisdictions at "High," including New York City and Washington, DC. There are 11 at "Moderate," 10 at "Low," and 19 at "Minimal." Map of ILI activity by state Credit: CDC Last week, NPR, KFF Health News, and New Orleans Public Radio WWNO reported that the state had forbidden the health department and its workers from promoting annual flu shots, as well as vaccines for COVID-19 and mpox. The policy was explicitly kept quiet and officials have avoided putting it in writing.In a response to Ars Technica, health department spokesperson Emma Herrock did not deny the claim or dispute any of the outlets' reporting. Instead, Herrock provided a statement confirming that the department's policy had shifted, specifically, it moved "away from one-size-fits-all paternalistic guidance" and to the stance that "immunization for any vaccine ... are an individuals personal choice." Discussions and decisions about vaccines should be between an individual and their health provider, the statement read.The statement seemed to offer an assurance that other vaccines were not subject to the new restrictions. "Changes regarding seasonal vaccines like COVID and influenza do not change the Departments policy or messaging regarding childhood immunizations," it read.This flu season, the health department has reportedly canceled standard vaccination events and clinics. On social media, the department has avoided mentioning flu shots in posts about the flu, instead advising people to wash their hands and cover their coughs.While Louisiana is seeing an early surge in influenza, the rest of the country is on an upward trend in what appears to be a normal-looking season so far. Nationally, the percentage of doctor visits that were for ILIs is 3.8 percent, with the upswing in ILI activity similar to what was seen in the 20192020 flu season at this point in the year. At the peak of flu seasons, the percentage of visits for ILIs usually tops out around 7 percent to 8 percent. US ILI activity charted by week across several flu seasons Credit: CDC Two children died last week of flu, bringing the season's total pediatric deaths to four. In the 20232024 season, 206 children died with influenza-associated disease. Most of the deaths occurred in early 2024.COVID-19 is also ramping up a winter wave. While standard disease burden indicatorshospitalization and deathsare low, they're trending positive. Wastewater surveillance, meanwhile, is showing a steep incline, with levels of the virus being detected at "moderate" levels.Beth MoleSenior Health ReporterBeth MoleSenior Health Reporter Beth is Ars Technicas Senior Health Reporter. Beth has a Ph.D. in microbiology from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and attended the Science Communication program at the University of California, Santa Cruz. She specializes in covering infectious diseases, public health, and microbes. 37 Comments

EarthA large number of damaging and deadly hurricanes, volcanic eruptions, wildfires, floods and droughts this year were photographed from land, air and space 23 December 2024 Hurricane Milton churning in the Gulf of MexicoCIRAThe ominous swirling grey of Hurricane Milton is captured in the Gulf of Mexico in this shot from the Cooperative Institute for Research in the Atmosphere. In October, Milton became one of the most powerful Atlantic hurricanes ever recorded over the Gulf of Mexico, with winds hitting 285 kilometres per hour. Once it made landfall as a category 3 storm in Florida, it caused storms and flooding that wrecked homes and power lines. It killed at least 35 people, 32 in the US and three in Mexico.The Fagradalsfjall volcano in

Academic anxiety can exacerbate dermatological conditionsThomas Lohnes/Getty ImagesEven if you dont wear your heart on your sleeve, your skin may betray your mental state.There is a very strong connection between the brain and skin, and a connection between stress and skin diseases, says Gil Yosipovitch at the University of Miami, Florida. This is evident, he says, in his encounters with patients: I always ask, for instance, does anything aggravate your itch? And many patients will tell you its stress. This observation is also borne out in clinical studies.On a physiological level, it all comes down to hormones. Psychological stress, whether it be chronic or acute, causes our bodies to produce hormones called glucocorticoids, which keep us more alert and provide energy for the fight-or-flight response in dangerous situations. But they also harm the skin in two ways.Anxiety-induced acne and eczemaFirst, they can diminish the functioning of the epidermis. This top layer of skin locks in moisture and serves as the first layer of defence between our bodies and the environment. Consistently high levels of some of these hormones, like cortisol, can also cause inflammation. Second, glucocorticoids decrease the production of antimicrobial proteins in the skin.The combined effect is skin that is dry or inflamed, is prone to infections and heals more slowly, leading to a heightened susceptibility to clinical skin conditions. There is a direct connection between stress and a tendency to get sick, says Peter Elias at the University of California, San Francisco.In a review of 21 studies, Yosipovitch

Heavy smoke rises from a wildfire in Irvine, California, in September 2024Qian Weizhong/VCG via Getty ImagesAn alarming trend of wildfires in the western US lofting smoke higher in the atmosphere is set to worsen. As fires grow larger with climate change, they are more likely to produce towering storm clouds that can send smoke all the way to the stratosphere.These really large wildfire-plume rise heights are the ones that are burning the most area and probably producing the most smoke, says Derek Mallia at the University of Utah, who presented the research at the American Geophysical

Fibrous foods like beans, nuts, and seeds feed the "good" microbes in the gut.Most Americans are not meeting the daily recommended fiber intake.Emily Leeming opts for whole grains instead of white carbs and sprinkles seeds on her breakfast.When it comes to your gut health, eating enough fiber is crucial.Emily Leeming, a dietitian and gut microbiome researcher at King's College London, told Business Insider how to improve.From our immune system to our emotions, a growing body of research suggests that the state of our gut health affects the whole body.The gut microbiome, the trillions of "good" and "bad" microbes that live in the digestive lining, is heavily shaped by what we eat, said Leeming, the author of "Genius Gut: The Life-Changing Science of Eating for Your Second Brain."The Dietary Guidelines for Americans recommends adults eat 14g of fiber per 1,000 calories. They say more than 90% of women and 97% of men do not.Leeming, who used to work as a private chef, takes a simple approach to meeting her daily fiber goal, while keeping her meals tasting good.She shared four tips for easily adding more fiber to your diet.Stock up on high-fiber foodsLeeming knows which foods are particularly high in fiber and she makes sure to add them to her shopping list."There are high-fiber foods that probably surprise people like dark chocolate and avocados," she said. One avocado is about 10 grams of fiber, and two pieces of dark chocolate contain about two grams.Leeming focuses on what she calls the "B-G B-Gs," which stands for beans, greens, berries, grains, and seeds."It's the beans, whole grains, nuts and seeds that tend to contain more fiber than the fruits and vegetables," she said, adding that fruits and veggies are of course still important.She said berries tend to be higher in fiber than other fruits because they contain seeds.Make your grains wholegrainWholegrains such as oats, quinoa, wild rice, and wholemeal bread, are great sources of fiber, Leeming said. Opting for a wholegrain such as brown rice over its white counterpart is an easy swap that will up your fiber intake, she said."I absolutely love pasta. So I do wholegrain pasta," she said. Leeming also adds legumes such as beans or lentils to dishes to up the fiber content even more."I'm a really big fan of beans and lentils with tomato sauce and some green veggies or maybe a salad on the side," she said.Sprinkle nuts and seeds on top of any dishSprinkling some mixed nuts and seeds over a dish is a quick way to add some more fiber into your day."You can add them to anything. It could be your breakfast in the morning, it could be a salad that you've just made," Leeming said.Chia seeds and flax seeds are particularly high in fiber, she said. Chia seeds contain about 30 grams of fiber per 100 grams, and 20 grams of flax seeds provide about 6 grams of fiber.Keep healthy snacks in your line of sightLeeming also keeps a jar of mixed nuts by her kettle so that she can snack on them when she goes to make a cup of tea."The things that I want to eat more of, I keep in my line of sight. That just visually prompts you to go for them as a first step," she said.

Lively and her "Gossip Girl" costar Leighton Meester reportedly "avoided each other like the plague" while filming.Blake Lively and Leighton Meester as Serena and Blair in "Gossip Girl" season one. The CW/Max While their "Gossip Girl" characters swung wildly from the ultimate BFF duo to toxic frenemies almost every other episode, off-screen, Lively and Meester were said to have had a frosty relationship.The CW teen drama ran for six seasons between 2007 and 2012. Lively played the effortlessly cool, free-spirited Serena Van der Woodson, the foil to Meester's controlling queen bee Blair Waldorf.New York Magazine reported in 2008 that the two stars were said to "avoid each other like the plague" while on set shooting the show's early seasons, with tensions running so high that their castmates were forced to "choose sides.""Blake and Leighton have never been best friends, and never professed to be. Blake goes to work, does her job, and goes home," a publicist for Lively said at the time, per Harper's Bazaar.However, speaking to Vanity Fair for a retrospective on the series published in 2017, showrunner Joshua Safran said the pair got on fine on set."Blake and Leighton were not friends. They were friendly, but they were not friends like Serena and Blair," he said. "Yet the second they'd be on set together, it's as if they were."In the same article, recurring cast member Michelle Trachtenberg denied rumors of a full-blown feud between the two."It's funny," she said. "Because when we were filming, there was, 'Leighton hates Blake, Blake hates Leighton, everyone hates Blake, everyone hates Leighton, everyone hates Chace,' and blah, blah, blah. It really wasn't. We were all chill. It was cool."Incidentally, as of 2024, Lively and Meester do not follow each other on Instagram. Meester does, however, follow two of her other costars, Chace Crawford and Penn Badgley. Rumors swirled that Lively was somehow involved in Armie Hammer's exit from "Gossip Girl."Armie Hammer on "Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen" in 2017. Chris Haston/Bravo/NBCU Photo Bank/NBCUniversal via Getty Images Appearing on "Watch What Happens Live With Andy Cohen," Armie Hammer was asked by an audience member to name the "biggest diva" on the set of "Gossip Girl."Hammer had a four-episode arc on the series during its second season. He played Gabriel Edwards, a conman who briefly dated Lively's character.In response to the question, Hammer diplomatically said: "Let me just say that was a tough show to film, and I didn't end up actually filming all of the episodes I was supposed to because it was such a tough film.""Really? Literally, you said, 'Get me out of this'?" Cohen asked."It was also like, 'Get him out of here,'" the actor said.Cohen followed that up by asking whose love interest he played in the series, prompting Hammer to drop Lively's name.Chelsea Handler, who also appeared on the talk show, joked, "Sounds like she was the problem."Cohen added: "It sure does, Chelsea. That's exactly what I was thinking.""No, no, that's not what I'm saying," Hammer replied, laughing awkwardly. In 2012, Lively and Ryan Reynolds married at a slave plantation in South Carolina. Reynolds said the couple didn't know about the venue's history until after their ceremony.Ryan Reynolds and Blake Lively in New York City. Gotham/GC Images/Getty Images In 2012, Lively and her husband, Ryan Reynolds, tied the knot at Boone Hall plantation in South Carolina. The plantation features nine slave cabins built between 1790 and 1810, which are referred to as "Slave Street."Reynolds apologized for the decision in a 2020 interview with Fast Company after the couple was called out for the hypocrisy of a joint statement accompanied by a $200,000 donation to the NAACP Legal Defense they shared on Lively's Instagram following the murder of George Floyd by police.Reynolds said they chose Boone Hall based on Pinterest photos and only realized it was a "place built upon devastating tragedy" after the event.Reynolds added that after learning of Boone Hall's history, the actors had another wedding at home years later.Lively has not addressed the backlash over her wedding venue. Lively's now-defunct lifestyle website ran a fashion editorial that romanticized the Antebellum South in 2014.Blake Lively walks the red carpet at the 2014 Annual Cannes Film Festival. Andreas Rentz/Getty Images Two years after her wedding at Boone Hall, Lively launched a lifestyle website called Preserve.In just a matter of months, it attracted controversy when its fall issue featured a photo shoot and article that appeared to romanticize the monied world of the Confederate South.Titled "Allure of Antebellum," the photo shoot featured a white, blonde-haired model in a floppy hat, high-heeled pumps, and a leopard-print mini-skirt.In the accompanying article, the unnamed author wrote about the "innate sense of social poise" and "unparalleled warmth and authenticity" of the pre-Civil War era women."The term Southern Belle came to fruition during the Antebellum period (before the Civil War), acknowledging women with an inherent social distinction who set the standards for style and appearance," the Preserve article read."These women epitomized Southern hospitality with a cultivation of beauty and grace, but even more with a captivating and magnetic sensibility."The publication of the editorial immediately attracted criticism, with Refinery29 arguing: "The authors use the word antebellum in a misty-eyed, nostalgia-tinged way that completely ignores the brutality endured by Southern women not lucky enough to be born into privilege."A year later, in October 2015, Lively shuttered the site, explaining to Vogue in an interview that it was because she and her team had "launched the site before it was ready." Lively is rumored to have had a falling out with her "A Simple Favor" costar, Anna Kendrick, although their costar denied any friction.Anna Kendrick and Blake Lively at the New York premiere of "A Simple Favor." Jimi Celeste/Patrick McMullan via Getty Images Lively and Anna Kendrick starred alongside each other in the 2018 movie "A Simple Favor."According to reports, the two had a falling out on the set of the film.Claire Parker, cohost of the popular podcast Celebrity Memoir Book Club, previously said in a TikTok video that by the end of the movie, Lively and Kendrick "were not speaking," citing an unnamed studio source.While neither Lively nor Kendrick has addressed the rumors, their costar Henry Golding has denied the claims of a feud, saying he thought the two stars got on "reasonably well.""Definitely no friction that I noticed," he said when asked about the rumors on "Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen."Despite this, fans have continued to speculate about sensing tension between the two stars who are set to reunite for a sequel next year in joint interviews. After a clip from a resurfaced 2016 interview went viral, Lively was criticized for being rude to a journalist.Blake Lively attends the New York premiere of "Caf Society" in 2016. Sylvain Gaboury/Patrick McMullan via Getty Images ReporterKjersti Flaa interviewed Lively and her costar, Parker Posey, about the film "Caf Society" in 2016.Flaa reshared the interview eight years later at the height of Lively's "It Ends With Us" backlash when she uploaded it to YouTube with the title "The Blake Lively interview that made me want to quit my job."In the video, Lively offered a snarky response to Flaa after she congratulated the actor on her pregnancy."First of all, congrats on your little bump," Flaa said, kicking off the interview."Congrats on your little bump," Lively responded, although Flaa was not pregnant.Later in the interview, Lively challenged Flaa for asking a question about clothes. The actor also seemed to ignore Flaa in parts of the interview and angled her body toward Posey."It actually took me a while to get over the experience," Flaa previously told Business Insider, adding, "I have met moody celebrities, but nothing like this interview."Flaa told MailOnline that Lively's comment was particularly hurtful because she wasn't able to conceive."It's true that the comment hurt me because I was never able to have kids myself, but of course Blake did not know that so I can't blame her for the pain that I felt," she later told BI. Lively sparked outrage among sexual assault survivors for defending Woody Allen.The cast of "Caf Society" poses with Woody Allen at the 2016 Cannes Film Festival. George Pimentel/WireImage Lively's 2016 film "Caf Society" was directed by Woody Allen.Two years before "Caf Society" premiered, The New York Times published an open letter by Dylan Farrow, Allen's adopted daughter, reiterating the accusation that he groomed and sexually assaulted her as a child.Farrow originally accused her famous father when she was 7 years old. At the time, a state's attorney in Connecticut said he had "probable cause" to prosecute but declined to file charges.In the 2014 essay, Farrow called out Hollywood stars like Cate Blanchett, Emma Stone, and Scarlett Johansson for working with Allen in recent years and ignoring the allegation against him."Woody Allen is a living testament to the way our society fails the survivors of sexual assault and abuse," she wrote.During the press tour for "Caf Society," French comedian Laurent Lafitte cracked a joke about Allen dodging accountability during the opening ceremony for the 2016 Cannes Film Festival.Later at the festival, Lively made it clear she disapproved of Lafitte's material."I think any jokes about rape, homophobia, or Hitler is not a joke," Lively told Variety. "It was more disappointing for the artists in the room that someone was going up there making jokes about something that wasn't funny."At the same event, Lively also said she hadn't read Ronan Farrow's new op-ed in the Hollywood Reporter, in which the investigative reporter defended his sister and criticized powerful people for "sweeping aside her allegations.""I don't want to speak on something I haven't read," Lively told Vulture. "I think that's dangerous. It's definitely something that being at the festival, the media these days, you come to a film festival about film and people talk about all different types of things. You know? That can be definitely tricky to navigate."Lively continued to praise Allen throughout the press tour, describing his director style as "very empowering.""It's amazing what Woody has written for women," she told the Los Angeles Times, adding that she did not consider Allen's personal life while shooting the film."It's very dangerous to factor in things you don't know anything about," Lively said. "I could [only] know my experience. And my experience with Woody is he's empowering to women."In 2017, Farrow published another op-ed in the Los Angeles Times that questioned Allen's role in the #MeToo movement, casting Lively as a hypocrite for condemning Harvey Weinstein but continuing to support Allen.In 2018, Lively posted in support of Hollywood's anti-sexual harassment initiative Time's Up, writing, "I'm honored to be a part of this movement. The time is NOW!"Farrow replied, "You worked with my abuser, @blakelively. Am I a woman who matters too?"Farrow's account of her assault has remained consistent over the years, most recently in the 2021 HBO docuseries "Allen v. Farrow," while Allen has repeatedly denied the allegation. Lively apologized for poking fun at Kate Middleton's "photoshop fails" after the princess went public with her cancer diagnosis.Blake Lively and Kate Middleton both photographed in 2024. Eric Charbonneau/Mark Cuthbert/UK Press/Getty Images Amid the social media storm that erupted after the release of a digitally manipulated portrait of the princess and her children following Middleton's mysterious retreat from the public eye, Lively jumped on the trend of mocking her "photoshop fails."She shared an edited photo on Instagram to promote her beverage line. The photo showed Lively sitting in a chair by a warped pool with a comically enlarged thumb and a lemon floating above her head.According to People, she captioned the photo: "I'm so excited to share this new photo I just took today to announce our 4 new @bettybuzz & @bettybooze products! Now you know why I've been MIA."Middleton later announced that she had been diagnosed with cancer and was undergoing chemotherapy.Lively later deleted her post and shared a note on her Instagram Story apologizing to the British royal and her own followers."I'm sure no one cares today, but I feel like I have to acknowledge this. I made a silly post around the 'photoshop fails' frenzy, and oh man, that post has me mortified today. I'm sorry. Sending love and well wishes to all, always," she wrote. Lively has since accused Baldoni of sexual harassment on set and orchestrating a smear campaign to "bury her."Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni costarred in "It Ends With Us." Jeff Spicer/Getty Images for Sony Pictures; Gotham/WireImage On December 21, Lively filed a legal complaint against Baldoni, accusing her director and costar of sexual harassment, retaliation, and coordinating attempts to damage her reputation.According to the filing, obtained by Business Insider, Lively's strategy for promoting "It Ends With Us" which drew backlash for making light of the film's themes was "in accordance with the marketing plan created and delivered by the film's distributor Sony."The marketing plan directed the cast to avoid discussing sad or heavy themes, in order to frame the film as "a story of hope."At the same time, Lively alleged that Baldoni "abruptly pivoted" his talking points in an attempt to explain why he'd been unfollowed by much of the film's cast and crew on social media apparently prompted by Baldoni's inappropriate behavior on set."To that end, he and his team used domestic violence 'survivor content' to protect his public image," the legal filing reads.As Business Insider previously reported, Baldoni hired a public-relations crisis team, including veteran PR manager Melissa Nathan, as rumors swirled that he was on the outs with Lively and other castmates. According to Lively's lawsuit, Nathan's team helped Baldoni orchestrate an online smear campaign against Lively, partially to distract fans from speculating about his conduct on set."He wants to feel like she can be buried," a publicist working with Mr. Baldoni wrote in a message to Nathan, per the legal complaint."You know we can bury anyone," Nathan replied.A rep for Baldoni called the allegations "shameful" and "categorically false" in a statement to Business Insider.A rep for Lively told The New York Times, "I hope that my legal action helps pull back the curtain on these sinister retaliatory tactics to harm people who speak up about misconduct and helps protect others who may be targeted."

Kayla Barnes-Lentz spends much of her day optimizing her health to try to live to 150.She also runs her own business, so has to fit her biohacking around her busy workday.She has a 2 hour morning routine, takes regular biohacking breaks, and goes to bed by 8:30 p.m.From the second Kayla Barnes-Lentz wakes up, her day is built around enhancing her health.Barnes-Lentz, 33, told Business Insider that her extensive biohacking routine has helped her to reverse her biological age by 11 years. Biological age is a measure of how healthy a person's cells and organs are, but scientists don't agree on the definition.As a coowner of a longevity clinic in Cleveland and the host of a podcast about health optimization, she counts this routine as part of her work."During work, I have my office optimized for optimal productivity, and I incorporate health optimization practices throughout the day," she said.Barnes-Lentz's habits aren't all scientifically proven. But she and other biohackers, such as the millionaire entrepreneur Bryan Johnson, take a chance on experimental treatments to live as long as possible. Barnes-Lentz wants to reach 150, while Johnson's mantra is "don't die." Barnes-Lentz and her husband, Warren Lentz, in their sauna. Masha Maltsava She's inspired by naturopathic medicine, which she said involves "new age tech."health protocols." She said she has also hired female Ph.D. candidates to "dive into the literature" around women's health and longevity to inform her female-focused protocols, which she sells as part of a membership program.Medical experts say that for the average person, getting the basics right can make a big difference in how long they live. A study published last year found that a healthy diet could increase lifespan by up to 10 years, and Nathan K. LeBrasseur, a physiologist at Mayo Clinic, previously told BI that spending just 3% of your day exercising can contribute to healthy aging.Barnes-Lentz shared how she fits biohacking around running her business.Before work, she spends 2 hours biohackingBarnes-Lentz's morning routine takes about 2 hours. She starts with what she describes as an "oral protocol," which includes tongue scraping, water flossing, and oil pulling. Tongue scraping and flossing are commonly recognized as effective ways to reduce bacteria and plaque in the mouth. But there's not enough evidence that oil pulling, an Ayurvedic practice that involves swishing oil around the mouth, is beneficial enough for oral health to be recommended by the American Dental Association.She also does her first round of pulsed electromagnetic field therapy, a noninvasive treatment in which bursts of electric currents are sent through soft tissue across the body."I think of our body as a battery, and PEMF can increase your charge," she said. Barnes-Lentz uses a PEMF machine several times a day. Magdalena Wosinska Some research suggests that PEMF could be useful in treating osteoarthritis and bone fractures, but more evidence is needed to draw a connection, said the authors of a 2023 review of research published in the International Journal of Molecular Sciences.Barnes-Lentz also works out, gets some sun exposure to regulate her circadian rhythm, spends time in a sauna, showers, and measures her biometrics (body composition, grip strength, lung health, and blood pressure) before breakfast.She does red-light therapy while workingBarnes-Lentz works from 7:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. most days, running her longevity business, podcast, and social media accounts, including her Instagram account, which has 383,000 followers. She tries to do 10,000 steps a day and move her body as much as possible.To do that, she takes calls while walking and takes breaks every 90 minutes to walk or do what she considers a biohack, such as standing on a whole-body vibration plate. Barnes-Lentz standing on her whole-body vibration plate. Magdalena Wosinska Even when she does desk-based work,In her office, she has an air-filtration system and uses natural light instead of LEDs to avoid interrupting her circadian rhythm. In a 2023 report published in the journal Frontiers in Photonics, researchers found that blue light from LEDs can disrupt sleep when people are repetitively exposed to it for prolonged periods at night.Barnes-Lentz also inhales humid air using a NanoVi machine which is advertised as a way to repair proteins in the body damaged by oxidative stress to improve her cognition and brain health. Research suggests that oxidative stress, which is caused by factors including sunlight, alcohol, and certain medications, plays a role in aging and the development of neurodegenerative diseases.A small 2022 study published in the International Journal of Molecular Science suggested that the NanoVi could help improve cellular health and cognition in older people. The study involved four people with cognitive impairment who used a NanoVi over 12 weeks, so more research is needed.A cold plunge at lunchtime Barnes-Lentz and her husband take cold plunges as part of their daily biohacking routines. Masha Maltsava "My midday routine consists of a whole body vibration plate and cold plunge, which gives me a natural increase in energy, followed by a hyperbaric chamber session," Barnes-Lentz said.She does five, hourlong sessions in a hyperbaric chamber each week, using the time to catch up on messages on her phone. Hyperbaric oxygen chambers contain a pure, pressurized form of the gas to increase its absorption in the body. They are used to treat conditions including burns, wounds, skin and bone infections, and hearing and vision loss.anti-aging benefits,After work, she goes for a walk and optimizes her sleep scheduleBarnes-Lentz and her husband eat dinner at around 5 p.m., more than three hours before they go to bed at 8:30 p.m., to help them sleep.She knows that a varied diet is good for the gut microbiome, so she has different organic, seasonal vegetables and fruits delivered each week. The structure of her meals is always the same: vegetables, high-quality proteins, healthy fats, and carbohydrates that don't spike her blood sugar too much, she said.After dinner, the couple walks for 50 minutes in the hills around their Los Angeles home to aid digestion, catch up on their days, and get in more zone-two cardio."Then, we begin our wind-down routine, which may involve more PEMF or relaxing together. At sunset, we ensure that the house is only red light to promote the release of melatonin," she said.Some studies have found that using artificial red light at night can improve sleep quality, but a 2023 study published in the journal Frontiers in Psychiatry found no evidence that red light increases melatonin secretion and, in some cases, can increase alertness."I've worked really hard to build the life that I have," Barnes-Lentz said. "I'm incredibly blessed and very fortunate that I get to move my body and get to do all these things. And I'm excited to see what that's going to lead to in the future."Correction: December 23, 2024 An earlier version of this story misrepresented Barnes-Lentz's naturopathic approach to medicine. It involves "new age tech," not herbs and massage.

President Joe Biden commuted the sentences of nearly all federal death row inmates on Monday, meaning that 37 men who were slated to be executed will instead spend the rest of their lives behind bars without the possibility of parole. The pardons will also help contribute to what has become a notable criminal justice trend a sharp reduction in the number of executions carried out by the United States. Bidens action applies only to federal prisoners the president does not have the power to pardon or commute sentences handed down by state courts and it leaves just three prisoners remaining on federal death row. Biden did not commute the sentences of three particularly notorious criminals: Robert Bowers, who killed 11 people at a synagogue in Pittsburgh; Dylann Roof, a white supremacist who murdered Black parishioners at a South Carolina church; and Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, one of two brothers responsible for the 2013 Boston Marathon bombing.Bidens action will likely prevent the incoming Trump administration from beginning with a wave of executions. In 2020, the last full year of President-elect Donald Trumps first presidency, the federal government resumed executions for the first time in two decades, killing a total of 13 people before Trump left office the first time. Biden instructed the Justice Department to issue a moratorium on additional federal executions during the first year of his presidency.Bidens commutations, moreover, contribute to a longstanding trend on all US death rows, both state and federal: Thanks to a variety of factors, including an overall decline in crime and better criminal defense lawyers for capital defendants, death sentences are on the decline in the United States, and have declined sharply since the 1990s. These trends are most pronounced in state criminal justice systems, which perform the overwhelming majority of executions again, at the federal level, there have been no recent executions at all except during the later part of the first Trump administration.For much of the 1990s, the United States (at the state and federal levels) sentenced more than 300 people a year to die. By contrast, according to the nonprofit Death Penalty Information Center (DPIC), 26 people received a death sentence in 2024, as of December 16. According to DPICs data, 2024 is also the 10th consecutive year when fewer than 50 people were sentenced to die. DPICs data also shows a declining trend in the number of people who were actually executed (the particularly pronounced dip in 20202022 is likely due to the Covid-19 pandemic). Death Penalty Information CenterThat said, there are two factors that could conceivably reverse this trend. One is that the Supreme Court, with its relatively new 6-3 Republican supermajority, is extraordinarily pro-death penalty and has signaled that it may roll back longstanding precedents interpreting what limits the Constitutions prohibition on cruel and unusual punishments places on government executions. The other is that Florida recently overtook Texas as the state with the most new death sentences a development that likely stems from a 2023 state law that allows Florida courts to impose the death penalty if eight of 12 jurors hearing a case agree to impose this sentence. Should other states adopt similar laws, that could potentially cause a rapid increase in the number of sentences. Most states require a unanimous jury verdict before a death sentence may be imposed.Still, many of the structural factors causing the death penalty to decline are longstanding, and are unlikely to be reversed unless federal and state law changes drastically.Why has use of the death penalty declined so sharply in the United States?There are many factors that likely contribute to the death penaltys decline. Among other things, crime fell sharply in recent decades the number of murders and non-negligent manslaughters fell from nearly 25,000 in 1991 to less than 15,000 in 2010. Public support for the death penalty has also fallen sharply, from 80 percent in the mid-90s to 53 percent in 2024, according to Gallup. And, beginning in the 1980s, many states enacted laws permitting the most serious offenders to be sentenced to life without parole instead of death thus giving juries a way to remove such offenders from society without killing them.Yet, as Duke University law professor Brandon Garrett argues in End of Its Rope: How Killing the Death Penalty Can Revive Criminal Justice, these and similar factors can only partially explain why the death penalty is in decline. Murders, for example, have declined modestly since 2000 (by about 10 percent), Garrett writes. Yet annual death sentences have fallen by 90 percent since their peak in the 1990s.Garrett argues, persuasively, that one of the biggest factors driving the decline in death sentences is the fact that capital defendants typically receive far better legal representation today than they did a generation ago. As Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg said in 2001, People who are well represented at trial do not get the death penalty.The Supreme Court briefly abolished the death penalty in Furman v. Georgia (1972). Though Furman produced a maze of concurring and dissenting opinions and no one opinion explaining the Courts rationale, many of the justices pointed to the arbitrary manner in which death sentences were doled out. The particular death sentences before the Court in Furman, Justice Potter Stewart wrote, are cruel and unusual in the same way that being struck by lightning is cruel and unusual because death sentences appeared to be handed down to just a random handful of serious offenders.Four years later, in Gregg v. Georgia (1976), the Court allowed states to resume sentencing serious offenders to death but only with adequate procedural safeguards. Gregg upheld a Georgia statute that allowed prosecutors to claim that a death sentence is warranted because certain aggravating circumstances are present, such as if the offender had a history of serious violent crime. Defense attorneys, in turn, could present the jury with mitigating circumstances that justified a lesser penalty, such as evidence that the defendant had a mental illness or was abused as a child. A death sentence was only warranted if the aggravating factors outweigh the mitigating factors.This weighing test is now a centerpiece of capital trials in the United States, which means the primary job of a capital defense lawyer is often to humanize their client in the eyes of a jury. Defense counsel must explain how factors like an abusive upbringing, mental deficiencies, or personal tragedy led their client to commit a terrible crime.Doing this well, Garrett argues, takes a team. It requires investigators who can dig into a clients background, and it often requires social workers or other professionals who have the time and the ability to elicit sensitive, embarrassing, and often humiliating evidence (e.g., family sexual abuse) that the defendant may have never disclosed.And yet, especially in the years following Gregg, many states didnt provide even minimally competent legal counsel to capital defendants much less a team that included a trained investigator and a social worker.Virginia, for example, was once one of the three states with the most executions (alongside Texas and Oklahoma). A major reason is that, for quite some time, Virginia only paid capital defense lawyers about $13 an hour, and a lawyers total fee was capped at $650 per case.In 2002, however, the state created four Regional Capital Defender offices. And, when state-employed defense teams couldnt represent a particular client, the state started paying private lawyers up to $200 an hour for in-court work and up to $150 an hour for out-of-court work. As a result, the number of death row inmates in Virginia fell from 50 in the 1990s to just five in 2017. (Virginia abolished the death penalty entirely in 2021.)Virginias experience, moreover, was hardly isolated. As Garrett notes, many states enacted laws in the last four decades that provided at least some defense resources to capital defendants.Brandon GarrettAnd in states that did not provide adequate resources to defendants, several nonprofits emerged to pick up the slack. In Texas, for example, an organization called the Gulf Region Advocacy Center (GRACE) was formed in response to a notorious case where a capital defense lawyer slept through much of his clients trial.Capital defendants, in other words, are much less likely to be left alone or practically alone with an incompetent lawyer during a trial that will decide if they live or die. And that means that they are far more likely to convince a jury that mitigating factors justify a sentence other than death.The Supreme Court could potentially blow up this trendThe largest threat to the trend of fewer death sentences and executions is the Supreme Courts Republican supermajority, which is often contemptuous of precedents handed down by earlier justices who Republican legal elites view as too liberal. And the Courts most recent death penalty decisions suggest that a majority of the justices may be eager to roll back constitutional safeguards for capital defendants.Most notably, the Courts 5-4 decision in Bucklew v. Precythe (2019) suggests that at least some of the justices want to revolutionize the Courts approach to criminal sentencing altogether, opening the door to far harsher sentences for many offenders. Decisions like Furman and Gregg are rooted in the Eighth Amendments ban on cruel and unusual punishments. This reference to unusual punishments suggests that the kinds of punishment forbidden by the Constitution will change over time, as certain punishments fall out of favor and thus become more unusual. As Chief Justice Earl Warren wrote in Trop v. Dulles (1958), the Eighth Amendment must draw its meaning from the evolving standards of decency that mark the progress of a maturing society.Indeed, under this framework, there is a strong argument that the death penalty has itself become unconstitutional because it is so rarely used.Bucklew did not explicitly overrule the long line of Supreme Court precedents looking to evolving standards of decency to determine which punishments are allowed, but it seemed to ignore the last several decades of Eighth Amendment law altogether. Instead, Justice Neil Gorsuchs majority opinion in Bucklew suggested that the Courts Eighth Amendment decisions should put greater weight on what legal elites in the 1790s might have classified as cruel and unusual, than on which punishments are out of favor today.Death was the standard penalty for all serious crimes at the time of the founding, Gorsuch wrote in Bucklew. And, while his opinion does list some methods of execution dragging the prisoner to the place of execution, disemboweling, quartering, public dissection, and burning alive that violate the Eighth Amendment, Gorsuch argues that these methods of execution were unconstitutional even when the Eight Amendment was written because by the time of the founding, these methods had long fallen out of use and so had become unusual.Warrens framework, in other words, asks whether a particular punishment has fallen out of favor today. Gorsuchs framework, by contrast, asks whether a particular punishment was out of favor at the time of the founding.Although four other justices joined Gorsuchs Bucklew opinion, it is as yet unclear whether a majority of the Court actually supports tossing out decades worth of Eighth Amendment law in favor of Gorsuchs more narrow approach since Bucklew, the Court has moved more cautiously, often ruling against death row inmates, but on narrower grounds than the sweeping reasoning Gorsuch floated in Bucklew.Still, Bucklew does suggest that there is some appetite on the Court for an Eighth Amendment revolution. Among other things, Gorsuchs declaration that death was the standard penalty for all serious crimes at the time of the founding suggests that he would overrule Gregg, with its elaborate procedural safeguards limiting when the death penalty may be used even against murderers. And the Court has only grown more conservative since Ginsburg died in 2020 and was replaced by Republican Justice Amy Coney Barrett (though Barrett has, at times, taken a less pro-death penalty approach than her other Republican colleagues.)If Trump gets to replace more justices on the Court, and especially if he gets to replace some of the Courts relatively moderate voices, Gorsuch could gain allies for the broader rollback of Eighth Amendment rights that he seemed to announce in Bucklew.For the time being, however, the Supreme Courts rightward turn has not reversed the broader trend against the death penalty. Both the number of new death sentences, and the number of executions, declined sharply since the 1990s.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: