While the new DLSS 4 will massively boost frame rates in titles like Cyberpunk 2077, it's slightly concerning for future PC ports.

Japans national police suspect hacking group MirrorFace is behind a years-long crime spree.

Cohere on Thursday debuted its early access program for its AI agent platform called North, as it deepens its focus on the enterprise.

The U.S. Interior Department said on Wednesday a congressionally mandated oil and gas drilling lease auction in Alaskas Arctic National Wildlife Refuge received no bids from energy companies.Outgoing President Joe Bidens administration billed the outcome as proof the 19 million-acre refuge, home to species including polar bears and Porcupine caribou, should remain off-limits to fossil fuel development, even as President-elect Donald Trump seeks to encourage expanded drilling there.The lack of interest from oil companies in development in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge reflects what we and they have known all alongthere are some places too special and sacred to put at risk with oil and gas drilling, said Acting Deputy Interior Secretary Laura Daniel-Davis.The U.S. was scheduled to hold a federal auction for some 400,000 acres of the refuge, the minimum required by the 2017 Tax Act, on Friday, but had required bidders to express interest in advance by a Jan. 6 deadline.The lack of interest means no auction will be held.Trumps previous administration had sold oil and gas leases in ANWR in 2021, but the sale generated just $14.4 million in high bids, with an Alaska state agency as the sole bidder for most of the acreage sold.ANWRs 1.6 million-acre coastal area along the Beaufort Sea is estimated to have up to 11.8 billion barrels of recoverable oil, according to government surveys. But oil companies have been hesitant to pursue the resources in part because of high costs of development, and public relations challenges around drilling in a wildlife sanctuary.A native group, Voice of the Arctic Inupiat, which favors drilling, said in a statement ahead of the auction that the sales small size undermined economic potential for the region.The push to open the refuge has been decried by other native groups including the Gwichin Steering Committee, which represents tribes that depend on the caribou for subsistence.The failed lease sale clearly demonstrates that even oil companies recognize what we have known all along: drilling in the Arctic Refuge is not worth the economic risk and liability that results from development on sacred lands without the consent of Indigenous Peoples, the committee said in a release.On Monday, Alaska sued the Biden administration over the planned sale saying curbs on land that Interior offered in ANWR made it impossible or impracticable to develop. The suit said that when combined with the departments cancellation of the leases granted during the last days of Trumps first presidency, the state will get just a fraction of the $1.1 billion the federal government estimated it would get in revenues from energy development.Oil industry group the American Petroleum Institute had criticized the offering as small and ill-placed.Richard Valdmanis and Timothy Gardner, Reuters

When Tiger Woods launched his apparel brand Sun Day Red in 2024, he joked that he wanted to ruin the logoor at least render it obsolete.The mark shows a tiger made from 15 stripes to represent Woodss 15 major titles. He told Today, My goal is to ruin the logo. If the trademark is this, my job is to ruin it [by winning more championships]. But for Woods, whose last major win was at the Masters Golf Tournament in 2019, there are other challenges to face, including a pair of trademark disputes.Puma has filed a notice of opposition over the Sun Day Red logo, adding to the pile-on after Tigeraire, a helmet airflow systems manufacturer that uses a tiger logo, filed its own notice last September.Attorneys for Puma wrote in legal filings that Woodss companys logo is highly similar in appearance to Pumas, and because Sun Day Red applied for a trademark for its logo that covered items including clothing, footwear, and sports equipment, it will cause confusion as to the source, sponsorship, association, or affiliation of those goods and services due to Pumas strong position in the footwear, apparel, and sports industries.Pumas iconic leaping cat logo was designed by German cartoonist Lutz Backes and, according to court documents, its been used in the U.S. since at least 1969. Attorneys for Puma argue that in addition to its similar appearance to Pumas logo, Sun Day Reds logo is applied in similar ways, like on shirts and the backs of shoes; they included examples of social media posts comparing the two logos in their filing.Theres no single threshold for when a logo violates a trademark, but disputes generally center on the possibility that a reasonable person would be confused. Some companies are more aggressive than others about protecting their marks. Apple filed more than 200 trademark oppositions in a three-year period, according to a 2022 Tech Transparency Project report, including against companies that sell products unrelated to Apples as well as businesses that use logos depicting oranges and pears. In a U.K. court in November, Adidas lost its suit against menswear brand Thom Browne for that companys use of a four-bar stripe design.Pumas filing a notice of opposition wont block Sun Day Red from using its logo for the time being, but attorneys asked the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office to refuse Sun Day Reds trademark registration.

Despite all the attention on technologies that reduce the hands-on role of humans at work such as self-driving vehicles, robot workers, artificial intelligence and so on researchers in the field of neuroergonomics are using technology to improve how humans perform in their roles at work.Neuroergonomics is the study of human behavior while carrying out real-world activities, including in the workplace. It involves recording a persons brain activity in different situations or while completing certain tasks to optimize cognitive performance. For example, neuroergonomics could monitor employees as they learn new material to determine when they have mastered it. It could also help monitor fatigue in employees in roles that require optimum vigilance and determine when they need to be relieved.Until now, research in neuroergonomics could only be conducted in highly controlled clinical laboratory environments using invasive procedures. But engineering advances now make this work possible in real-world settings with noninvasive, wearable devices. The market for this neurotechnology defined as any technology that interfaces with the nervous system is predicted to grow to US$21 billion by 2026 and is poised to shape the daily life of workers for many industries in the years ahead.But this advance doesnt come without risk.In my work as a biomedical engineer and occupational medicine physician, I study how to improve the health, well-being and productivity of workers. Neurotechnology often focuses on how workers could use wearable brain monitoring technologies to improve brain function and performance during tasks. But neuroergonomics could also be used to better understand the human experience at work and adapt tasks and procedures to the person, not the other way around.Capturing brain activityThe two most commonly used neuroergonomic wearable devices capture brain activity in different ways. Electroencephalography, or EEG, measures changes in electrical activity using electrodes attached to the scalp. Functional near-infrared spectroscopy, or fNIRS, measures changes in metabolic activity. It does this by passing infrared light through the skull to monitor blood flow.Both methods can monitor brain activity in real time as it responds to different situations, such as a high-pressure work assignment or difficult task. For example, a study using fNIRS to monitor the brain activity of people engaged in a 30-minute sustained attention task saw significant differences in reaction time between the beginning and the end of the task. This can be critical in security- and safety-related roles that require sustained attention, such as air traffic controllers and police officers.Neuroergonomics also studies how brain stimulation could be used to improve brain activity. These include neuromodulation technologies like transcranial electrical stimulation, or tES; transcranial magnetic stimulation, or TMS; or focused ultrasound stimulation, or FUS. For example, studies have shown that applying tES while learning a cognitive training task can lead to immediate improvements in performance that persist even on the following day. Another study found that tES may also help improve performance on tasks that involve motor skills, with potential applications in surgical skills training, military tasks and athletic performance.High-stakes ethical questionsThe use of neurotechnology in the workplace has global implications and high stakes. Advocates say neurotechnology can encourage economic growth and the betterment of society. Those against neurotechnology caution that it could fuel inequity and undermine democracy, among other possible unknown consequences.Ushering in a new era of individualized brain monitoring and enhancement poses many ethical questions. Answering those questions requires all stakeholders workers, occupational health professionals, lawyers, government officials, scientists, ethicists and others to address them.For example, how should an individuals brain activity data be protected? There is reason to suspect that brain activity data wouldnt be covered by the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, or HIPAA, because it isnt considered medical or health data. Additional privacy regulations may be needed.Additionally, do employers have the right to require workers to comply with the use of neuroergonomic devices? The Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act of 2008 prevents discrimination against workers based on their genetic data. Similar legislation could help protect workers who refuse to allow the collection of their brain information from being fired or denied insurance.Protecting workersThe data neurotechnology collects could be used in ways that help or hurt the worker, and the potential for abuse is significant.Employers may be able to use neurotechnology to diagnose brain-related diseases that could lead to medical treatment but also discrimination. They may also monitor how individual workers respond to different situations, gathering insights on their behavior that could adversely affect their employment or insurance status.Just as computers and the internet have transformed life, neurotechnologies in the workplace could bring even more profound changes in the coming decades. These technologies may enable more seamless integration between workers brains and their work environments, both enhancing productivity while also raising many neuroethical issues.Bringing all stakeholders into the conversation can help ensure everyone is protected and create safer work environments aimed at solving tomorrows challenges.Paul Brandt-Rauf is a professor and dean of biomedical engineering at Drexel University.This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

Japanese studio Schemata Architects has used locally sourced timber planks to clad this series of low-lying, angular guesthouses overlooking the sea on Kouri Island, Okinawa.Located on the eastern coast of the small island in northwestern Japan, the project named Yawn Yard comprises seven individual guesthouses spread across two nearby sites connected by a road.Schemata Architects has completed Yawn Yard in OkinawaTokyo-based Schemata Architects designed each of these guesthouses with an irregular, hexagonal plan. Created by two rectilinear blocks angled to create a V-shape, they shelter a central terrace and pool facing the sea."The freestanding villas for families and groups of several people were all designed to allow guests to stay in privacy without worrying about the noise of adjoining guests," said Schemata Architects founder Jo Nagasaka.Each guesthouse has an irregular, hexagonal plan"Considering the inefficiency of making different plans for the individual buildings, we developed a more efficient design method using an inverted V-shaped unit combining two standardised plans," Nagasaka added."The openings of the V-shape are adjusted and each unit is positioned according to the direction of the sea view and the site shape."The units are raised on concrete plinths that double as patiosIn each of the Yawn Yard guesthouses, a block containing a bedroom and bathroom sits opposite a block containing another bedroom and kitchen, encouraging "seamless" movement between indoors and outdoors throughout the day.They are raised on a concrete plinth, which also provides the surface for the external courtyards, and finished both externally and internally in wooden planks and panels that were made from locally sourced timber.Read: Feldman Architecture creates hilltop house in California's wine countryFurniture and custom light fittings were designed with local design companies, with the aim of immersing visitors to Yawn Yard in local craft and culture.To the east, a larger communal block contains visitor facilities including a restaurant with a menu developed by local chef Takashi Kamieda with a focus on local ingredients and dishes.Locally sourced timber linesYawn Yard externally and internally"Aiming to create a place where guests could experience Okinawan culture, we worked with an Okinawan construction company, Shinyo, for the buildings and used as much Okinawan-made furniture as possible," explained Nagasaka."We also collaborated with many Okinawan artists, in particular Luft Nami Makishi and Chinako Okeda introduced us to local teams including Yuria Wood Workshop, Hachiman Tile Factory, and Ryuko Construction that process local materials such as Okinawan wood, Ryukyu bricks and limestone."Local design companies created the furniture and light fittingsOther recent projects by Schemata Architects include the transformation of a 145-year-old townhouse in Kyoto into a store for perfumery brand Le Labo and the conversion of a brick and concrete structure in Seoul into an art gallery.The photography is courtesy of Ju Yeon Lee.The post Schemata Architects clads Yawn Yard guesthouses in Japan with local timber appeared first on Dezeen.

Next up in our 21st-Century Architecture: 25 Years 25 Buildings is Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles by Gehry Partners, an icon of deconstructivism.Disney Hall is perhaps the most famous building by Frank Gehry who, despite being Toronto-born, is one of, if not the most, famous living American architects.Its completion in 2003, after more than 15 years of stops and starts, marked the return of Frank Gehry's rising architectural stardom to his adopted home city of Los Angeles, where the architect had been living since the 1940s.Frank Gehry's Walt Disney Concert Hall was the most significant building of 2003. Photo is by Carol M Highsmith via Wikimedia CommonsWith its crescendo of complex stainless steel panels, the symphony hall is considered an iconic example of deconstructivism a movement that tended towards asymmetrical forms.Though Gehry himself eschewed being labelled a deconstructivist, his work brought global attention to the style.In the early 21st century Gehry designed countless projects, but this building's significance also stems from the near-ubiquitous influence of the Disney media empire's role in contemporary culture, though the building is owned by LA county's Music Center.It is widely considered an icon of the deconstructivist school of architecture. Photo is by Anthony Fomin via UnsplashA relatively rectilinear concert hall, which hosts the Los Angeles Philharmonic symphony, sits tucked inside of the imposing metal shell.At its heart is a sculptural organ made up of functional, asymmetrical tubes created in collaboration with tonal designer Manuel Rosales and organ builder Caspar Glatter-Gtz.Read: Herzog & de Meuron's Tate Modern was the most significant building of 2000The interior was clad with Douglas fir, chosen for its "psychological effect" according to Gehry, who worked with Yasuhisa Toyota of Japanese firm Nagata Acoustics to design the auditorium for sound.Gehry said that he designed the building "inside out", first focusing on the music hall and then moving outwards to the now-famous external stainless steel shell, which has been described alternatively as resembling petals or sails.Gehry designed the petal-like building "inside-out", focusing on the concert experience. Photo courtesy of Frank O Gehry/Getty Research InstituteThe building was intended to be a democratised version of a private arts complex, with Gehry stating he intended the Disney Hall to be a "living room for the city" with its lobby accessible to the public.The concert hall itself extends this sense of democratisation. Informed by Hans Scharoun's Berlin Philharmonie hall, the hall holds a relatively modest 2,200 people, the terraced, vineyard-style hall lacks columns and boxes."There is no obvious hierarchy," wrote critic Paul Goldberger in the New Yorker in 2003.The concert hall was designed first and features a non-hierarchal vineyard-style seating arrangement. Photo by Adam Latham courtesy of LA PhilharmonicDisney Hall was originally commissioned in 1987 by Lillian Disney, the widow of American animator Walt Disney, who donated $50 million (38.5 million) to the project in memory of her late husband.With this seed money, a block of county-owned land on Grand Avenue was set aside and government funds were allocated to begin work on construction.The most gallant building you are ever likely to see Herbert Muschamp in the New York TimesThat a deconstructivist design was selected for such a large, high-profile structure in an American city may have come as a surprise, especially in the context of Downtown Los Angeles with its modernist pavilions and glass-clad highrises.However, Disney as a company had already chosen avant-garde designs with its selection of postmodern American architect Michael Graves.Lillian Disney herself was not immediately sold on the design but gave Gehry leeway. In return, the architect included a number of homages to her tastes, including the floral patterns on the seats of the auditorium and a garden that included a sculpture made of pieces of Delft pottery.The lobby is open to the public and includes massive wood-clad columns that resemble the shape of the organ in the concert hall. Photo courtesy of Frank O Gehry/Getty Research InstituteThe project progressed slowly and by 1995 only the foundations had been built. In 1997 the project received a boost with another round of funding after a campaign by American businessman Eli Broad and then-Los Angeles mayor Richard Riordan.When the building finally opened in 2003 it was well received by the clients, concert-going community and architecture critics.At the time of its opening, New York Times architecture critic Herbert Muschamp wrote that Disney Hall was the "most gallant building you are ever likely to see".Floral designs in the hall are a homage to the taste of funder Lillian Disney. Photo courtesy of Frank O Gehry/Getty Research InstitutThe building is often referenced in the same breath as the titanium-clad Guggenheim Museum Bilbao a building that was credited for the artistic and economic upturn in the small Spanish city a phenomenon named the "Bilbao effect".However, the funding and plans for Disney Hall had been hatched nearly a decade before Bilbao's completion.It is a serene, ennobling building that will give people in this city of private places a new sense of the pleasures of public space Paul Golberger in the New YorkerThe success of Bilbao would ultimately play a role in shifts in the design. For example, Gehry originally intended for the facade to be clad in stone for its ability to create a soft glow at night.Gehry said he thought the metal would make the building look "like a cheap refrigerator" at night, eventually relenting.During the day though, it shone perhaps too much. Just a year after it completed the facade had to be sanded down after the glare from its reflection was considered a hazard to drivers.At first, Gehry resisted plans to clad the building in metal, preferring stone. Photo by Adam Latham courtesy of LA PhilharmonicDespite the similarities with Bilbao, the architecture of Disney Hall became iconic in its own right and represented Gehry's indelible mark on Los Angeles."The building is a fantastic piece of architecture assured and vibrant and worth waiting for," wrote LA Times critic Christopher Hawthorne. "It has its own personality, instead of being anything close to a Bilbao rehash."Gehry-designed high-rises recently went up across the street. Photo by Tim HurleyAt the opening, mayor Riordan said that the building was a "symbol" of Los Angeles "finally having a downtown".Whether or not the structure inaugurated a Bilbao Effect in depressed Downtown Los Angeles remains to be seen Gehry himself thought the structure should go elsewhere.Development in the area has continued, if slowly, with a pair of mixed-use towers by Gehry and the Diller Scofidio + Renfro-designed The Broad museum rising in the vicinity in the decades since. Gehry is also at work on the Colburn School for music nearby.Read: Zaha Hadid's Bergisel Ski Jump was the most significant building of 2002Goldberger wrote in 2003 that he wouldn't "bet" on the building jumpstarting renewed growth in the area, but also that it "doesn't matter"."It is a serene, ennobling building that will give people in this city of private places a new sense of the pleasures of public space."The Disney and Gehry names together make this structure beyond emblematic of this century, and the question of sculptural architecture's role in the American city continues to be worked out in the petal-like shadows of Disney Hall.Did we get it right? Was Frank Gehry's Walt Disney Concert Hall the most significant building completed in 2003? Let us know in the comments. We will be running a poll once all 25 buildings are revealed to determine the most significant building of the 21st century so far.This article is part of Dezeen's21st-Century Architecture: 25 Years 25 Buildingsseries, which looks at the most significant architecture of the 21st century so far. For the series, we have selected the most influential buildings from each of the first 25 years of the century.The illustration is byJack Bedford.21st-Century Architecture: 25 Years 25 Buildings2000: Tate Modern by Herzog & de Meuron2001: Gando Primary School by Dibdo Francis Kr2002: Bergisel Ski Jump by Zaha Hadid2003: Walt Disney Concert Hall by Frank GehryThis list will be updated as the series progresses.The post Frank Gehry's Walt Disney Concert Hall was the most significant building of 2003 appeared first on Dezeen.

UK studioZaha Hadid Architects and local studio Bureau Cube Partners are set to transform a paper mill in Belgrade, Serbia, into a museum with an elliptical roof informed by the scientific work of Nikola Tesla.In an effort to preserve Belgrade's architectural history, the Nikola Tesla Museum will be located in the Milan Vapa Paper Mill, which was originally built in 1924.The Nikola Tesla Museum will have an elliptical roof informed by magnetic fieldsZaha Hadid Architects and Bureau Cube Partners will preserve some of the mill's facades and vaulted ceilings while converting it into a cultural destination.The museum will be dedicated to celebrating the legacy of Serbian-American engineer and inventor Nikola Tesla, who is known for inventing the Tesla coil and his contributions to the development of alternating-current electricity.The museum will be located in a former paper mill. Image by Zaha Hadid ArchitectsAccording to Zaha Hadid Architects, Tesla's scientific work has informed the curving shapes in the museum's design."The museum's design draws on Tesla's research into magnetic fields and wireless energy transfer," said Zaha Hadid Architects."Informed by concepts of magnetic forces and interconnectivity, the design incorporates dynamic elliptical curves radiating from the old factory chimney, the site's dominant feature."Read: Zaha Hadid Architects unveils sweeping culture centre for ChinaA circular opening will puncture the building's west facade to become the Nikola Tesla Museum's main entrance.Through this entrance, visitors will arrive in a triple-height atrium with an elliptical roof built around the building's original factory chimney.An existing masonry chimney will be preservedAdditional curved openings will be inserted in the building's internal walls to improve visitor circulation between gallery and exhibition spaces."To enhance circulation and functionality in the building's continued life as a museum, ellipsoidal sectional openings will be carved within the walls that divide the old factory's interior," said Zaha Hadid Architects."These openings define a series of three-dimensional spherical voids that create an extended perspective viewed from the western entrance, through the atrium and terminating at the Tesla memorial at the eastern end of the museum."The museum will celebrate the work of Nikola Tesla. Image by XuniverseElsewhere in the museum, there will be a cafe, a multipurpose hall and a rooftop restaurant that overlooks the Sava River.In front of the museum, the Nikola Tesla Square will provide public space with curved paths and gardens informed by electromagnetic fields.Other designs recently unveiled by Zaha Hadid Architects include a cultural centre in Uzbekistan with a weaving brick form and an arts centre in China with a sweeping roof.On 20 December 2024, the High Court ruled that the studio must continue paying to use founder Zaha Hadid's name, in the latest legal battle betweenZaha Hadid Architectsand theZaha Hadid Foundation.The images are by Norviska unless otherwise stated.Project credits:Architects: Zaha Hadid Architects and Bureau Cube PartnersSustainability engineering: Max FordhamStructural engineering for new additions: Lanik I SAStructural engineering for restoration: DB EngineeringMEP engineering: Conventus ConsultantsLighting designer: Lichtvision Design LtdThe post Zaha Hadid Architects references magnetic forces for Serbian mill conversion appeared first on Dezeen.

While Meta enacts the X playbook, TikTok is on the verge of being declared illegal. Who wins? Probably not internet users.