WAR OF THE WEIGHTS Cutting-edge Chinese reasoning model rivals OpenAI o1and its free to download DeepSeek R1 is free to run locally and modify, and it matches OpenAI's o1 in several benchmarks. Benj Edwards Jan 21, 2025 1:28 pm | 56 Credit: Wong Yu Liang Credit: Wong Yu Liang Story textSizeSmallStandardLargeWidth *StandardWideLinksStandardOrange* Subscribers only Learn moreOn Monday, Chinese AI lab DeepSeek released its new R1 model family under an open MIT license, with its largest version containing 671 billion parameters. The company claims the model performs at levels comparable to OpenAI's o1 simulated reasoning (SR) model on several math and coding benchmarks.Alongside the release of the main DeepSeek-R1-Zero and DeepSeek-R1 models, DeepSeek published six smaller "DeepSeek-R1-Distill" versions ranging from 1.5 billion to 70 billion parameters. These distilled models are based on existing open source architectures like Qwen and Llama, trained using data generated from the full R1 model. The smallest version can run on a laptop, while the full model requires far more substantial computing resources.The releases immediately caught the attention of the AI community because most existing open-weights modelswhich can often be run and fine-tuned on local hardwarehave lagged behind proprietary models like OpenAI's o1 in so-called reasoning benchmarks. Having these capabilities available in an MIT-licensed model that anyone can study, modify, or use commercially potentially marks a shift in what's possible with publicly available AI models."They are SO much fun to run, watching them think is hilarious," independent AI researcher Simon Willison told Ars in a text message. Willison tested one of the smaller models and described his experience in a post on his blog: "Each response starts with a <think>...</think> pseudo-XML tag containing the chain of thought used to help generate the response," noting that even for simple prompts, the model produces extensive internal reasoning before output.Simulated reasoning in actionThe R1 model works differently from typical large language models (LLMs) by incorporating what people in the industry call an inference-time reasoning approach. They attempt to simulate a human-like chain of thought as the model works through a solution to the query. This class of what one might call "simulated reasoning" models, or SR models for short, emerged when OpenAI debuted its o1 model family in September 2024. OpenAI teased a major upgrade called "o3" in December.Unlike conventional LLMs, these SR models take extra time to produce responses, and this extra time often increases performance on tasks involving math, physics, and science. And this latest open model is turning heads for apparently quickly catching up to OpenAI.For example, DeepSeek reports that R1 outperformed OpenAI's o1 on several benchmarks and tests, including AIME (a mathematical reasoning test), MATH-500 (a collection of word problems), and SWE-bench Verified (a programming assessment tool). As we usually mention, AI benchmarks need to be taken with a grain of salt, and these results have yet to be independently verified. A chart of DeepSeek R1 benchmark results, created by DeepSeek. Credit: DeepSeek TechCrunch reports that three Chinese labsDeepSeek, Alibaba, and Moonshot AI's Kimihave now released models they say match o1's capabilities, with DeepSeek first previewing R1 in November.But the new DeepSeek model comes with a catch if run in the cloud-hosted versionbeing Chinese in origin, R1 will not generate responses about certain topics like Tiananmen Square or Taiwan's autonomy, as it must "embody core socialist values," according to Chinese Internet regulations. This filtering comes from an additional moderation layer that isn't an issue if the model is run locally outside of China.Even with the potential censorship, Dean Ball, an AI researcher at George Mason University, wrote on X, "The impressive performance of DeepSeek's distilled models (smaller versions of r1) means that very capable reasoners will continue to proliferate widely and be runnable on local hardware, far from the eyes of any top-down control regime."Benj EdwardsSenior AI ReporterBenj EdwardsSenior AI Reporter Benj Edwards is Ars Technica's Senior AI Reporter and founder of the site's dedicated AI beat in 2022. He's also a tech historian with almost two decades of experience. In his free time, he writes and records music, collects vintage computers, and enjoys nature. He lives in Raleigh, NC. 56 Comments

Artists visualisation of the gas giant planet WASP-127bESO/L. CaladaA vast alien planet has blistering winds racing around its equator at nearly 30 times the speed of sound on Earth.Lisa Nortmann at the University of Gttingen, Germany, and her colleagues used the European Southern Observatorys Very Large Telescope in Chile to observe WASP-127b, a giant gas exoplanet more than 500 light years from Earth. It is slightly larger than Jupiter but is one of the least dense planets we know of. AdvertisementThe team expected to see a light signal from the planets atmosphere that had one distinct peak, but instead found two separate peaks.I was a little bit confused, says Nortmann. But with a little bit more careful data analysis, it became clearer that there are two signals. I was quite excited my first thought was immediately that it has to be some sort of super-rotating wind.The researchers concluded that the two peaks came from rapid winds in a jet stream around the planets equator, with half the wind moving towards Earth and the other half moving away from it. The wind, which appears to be made up of water and carbon monoxide, seems to be moving at 33,000 kilometres per hour, making it the fastest wind ever measured on a planet. Voyage across the galaxy and beyond with our space newsletter every month.Sign up to newsletterWere talking about 9 kilometres per second. The wind speed on even Jupiter is like a few hundred metres per second, so this is really an order of magnitude larger, says Vivien Parmentier at the University of Oxford.You wouldnt be able to feel these extreme speeds if you were in this wind, because it would be moving around you at the same speed, he says. But you would experience temperature differences of hundreds of degrees over a matter of hours, as the winds moved from the hot side of the planet, which is permanently facing its star, to its cold side, which sits in constant darkness.The researchers dont know why WASP-127b has such extreme winds, but Nortmann says the planet has certain special properties, such as its low density and its wonky orbit around its star, that could play a role. However, no clear connection has been established between those facts and the particularly strong winds.Journal reference:Astronomy & Astrophysics DOI: 10.1051/0004-6361/202450438Topics:exoplanets

President Trump signed an executive order on Monday giving TikTok 75 more days to operate in the US.The move came after TikTok briefly shut down to comply with a divest-or-ban law.Legal analysts say Trump's order may not be enough to bring TikTok back to US app stores.TikTok is back online for existing US users after briefly going dark over the weekend to comply with a divest-or-ban law.But it's still gone from US app stores. The app may face an uphill battle to get back there despite President Trump's executive order on Monday granting TikTok and its partners 75 more days to operate without drawing the ire of the Justice Department.Trump's executive order directed the attorney general to send a letter to TikTok's service providers telling them they would not face liability related to the law, which required TikTok's owner, ByteDance, to separate from its US assets by January 19. ByteDance did not follow through on that requirement.Even with Trump's assurance of non-enforcement, the general counsels at Apple or Google's parent company Alphabet may be too risk-averse to add TikTok back to their stores, legal analysts told Business Insider.The divest-or-ban law, if enforced, could imposehundreds of billions of dollars in fineson service providers that don't cut ties with TikTok and other ByteDance apps, a terrifying prospect for any company lawyer. A letter from the attorney general promising they won't act on the law may not cut it."If I were the GC of Alphabet or Apple, I don't think a letter would assuage my fears," said G.S. Hans, a clinical professor of law at Cornell Law School who last year joined an amicus brief opposing the divest-or-ban law.However, he added: "The heads of those companies may differ with their legal counsel and potentially even override them."The executive order contains language that might raise red flags for in-house lawyers, too, said Matthew Schettenhelm, a litigation and policy analyst at Bloomberg Intelligence.In section three of the executive order, for example, the document states that nothing in the order shall "impair or otherwise affect" the "authority granted by law to an executive department or agency," which seems to undercut the idea that the attorney general would never take action under any circumstance, Schettenhelm said."The whole thing is a recipe for a legal mess," Schettenhelm said. "It, therefore, shouldn't make service providers feel comfortable about violating a law tied to such massive liability exposure."While legal teams at Apple and Google may not be rushing to bring TikTok back to their stores, the stakes for TikTok are different. The company needs to be in app stores to sign up new users and send technical updates to its existing ones. Without those updates, the quality of its app would likely degrade over time.Apple and Google may still decide to play ballOther legal analysts were more bullish about the possibility that TikTok could return to app stores following Trump's order.Aram Gavoor, associate dean for academic affairs at the George Washington University Law School, thought the order would offer an effective "safe harbor" to TikTok's partners, including the app stores. He was not concerned about the apparent contradiction in the third section of the order, describing that language as a "boilerplate.""Once that attorney general letter is transmitted and received, you have a safe harbor to continue hosting that app on your store," Gavoor said. "It's almost like the IRS issuing a no-action letter for a taxpayer within a given tax year. This conduct is not unlawful, and therefore, that's a basis upon which you can engage in continued lawful conduct."Apple and Google have not indicated yet whether they will add TikTok back to their app stores after Trump's order. Neither company responded to a request for comment; Google earlier declined to comment.This weekend, as it removed TikTok and other ByteDance apps from its store, Apple wrote in a statement that it was "obligated to follow the laws in the jurisdictions where it operates," which included complying with the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act.The White House and the Justice Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

On Sunday, TikTok and some US tech companies ignored a TikTok ban law at the urging of Donald Trump.Trump wasn't president at the time. Once he became president, he signed an order that's supposed to put the law on hold.Does Trump have that power? It's unclear. That's a problem for tech companies.Here's a 2025 conundrum for Big Tech companies: Do they follow the president's orders? Or do they follow the law?That's what the likes of Apple, Google, and Oracle are grappling with following a chaotic weekend that saw TikTok voluntarily shut itself down in the US, then re-start less than a day later, claiming that "President Trump" said it was OK to do so.A couple problems with that argument: Donald Trump wasn't president of the United States this weekend Joe Biden was still in the White House. And yes: Trump immediately signed an executive order after he once again became president on Monday, telling TikTok and other tech companies to ignore a law that says TikTok can't operate in the US while it's owned by a Chinese company. But it's far from clear how much weight Trump's order holds.So in the very near term, attorneys and executives at tech companies need to decide if they're willing to take Trump's word, or if they need additional assurances.At the moment, it looks like Oracle, controlled by Trump backer Larry Ellison, is going with Trump's assurances, and is providing cloud services that are keeping TikTok running in the US. Apple and Google, which used to distribute TikTok via their app stores, don't seem convinced: TikTok disappeared from their stores on Sunday and has yet to return. That means US users can have all the TikTok they want, but it prevents TikTok from updating the app for maintenance and repairs something that could eventually cause problems over time. (I've asked Oracle for comment; Google declined to comment and Apple didn't respond to requests for comment.)One possible out for Google and Apple: Trump has ordered his attorney general, who seems likely to be Pam Bondi, to send letters to Apple, Google, and other providers giving them the all clear to ignore the law. But Bondi isn't attorney general yet, and even when Apple et al get that letter, it's not clear if it will be enough to satisfy them.I'm not going to get into the weeds about the nature of executive orders vs. laws or whether Trump's claim that he can at least temporarily override a law because of national security concerns would hold up in court. Suffice it to say that there isn't any clarity about any of this: Even Trump allies like Sen. Tom Cotton and Speaker Mike Johnson have put out statements that seem to conflict with Trump's statements.The point is that no one can say, with a straight face, that they have 100% confidence about whether a law, passed overwhelmingly by Congress last year and upheld by a unanimous Supreme Court decision last week, is binding. That's an astonishing place for us to be.It's also not one that we can pin completely on Trump. In his last days in office, Biden also said he wouldn't enforce the law he signed last year though he did it via anonymous officials speaking to reporters, and eventually his press secretary, and not via an official order. At the same time, some Democrats who voted for the bill last spring, like Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, spent the past few days arguing that the sell-or-ban law they approved should be delayed.But Trump is taking the uncertainty and super-charging it: In social media statements and a press conference he held Monday, he seemed to suggest that the US government itself might end up owning TikTok. Or that maybe it would be American companies that own half the operation. He also argued that TikTok's Chinese ownership really doesn't matter, since the US already uses lots of other stuff made in China, like "telephones." And that even if China is snooping on US users, that probably also doesn't matter because TikTok is mostly used by kids, and, "If China's going to get information about young kids I dunno. To be honest, I think we have bigger problems than them."It's worth watching all three minutes of this White House press conference clip, just to get a sense of how off-the-cuff Trump seems to be treating the whole thing. Imagine running a trillion-dollar company and being forced to decipher this: @dailymail President Donald Trump shared his views on TikTok as he signed executive orders in the Oval Office on inauguration day. #news #tiktokban #trump #donaldtrump original sound - Daily Mail We have been here before, of course. America and the rest of the world spent much of the first Trump administration trying to figure out if Trump really meant what he was saying, or if he could actually act on what he was saying, and whether he'd change his mind a little while later.One big difference this time around: Tech executives, along with many other US leaders, are scrambling to tell Trump how supportive they are of his presidency this time. But it's one thing to praise Trump, or cut him a check, or to be conspicuously on-camera during his inauguration. Trusting that his say-so is good enough to get you out of trouble for violating a law if that's what actually happens is brand-new ground.

On Monday, his first day back in office, President Donald Trump issued a wave of executive orders. Some are ridiculous, such as an order purporting to rename the Gulf of Mexico the Gulf of America. Others are ominous, such as an order seeking to drastically increase the number of federal civil servants who can be fired at will. Many of the orders seek to implement the kind of harsh immigration policies that have always been at the heart of Trumps political message.The most alarming of these immigration orders seeks to strip millions of future Americans of their citizenship.There isnt even a plausible argument that this order is constitutional. The Constitution is absolutely clear that all people born in the United States and subject to its laws are citizens, regardless of their parents immigration status. The Supreme Court recognized this principle more than 125 years ago. Nevertheless, Trumps order, labeled Protecting the Meaning and Value of American Citizenship, purports to deny citizenship to two classes of Americans. The first is children born to undocumented mothers, whose fathers were not themselves citizens or lawful permanent residents at the time of birth. The second is children whose fathers have similar immigration status, and whose mothers were lawfully but temporarily present in the United States at the time of birth.Almost immediately after this executive order was released, pro-immigration advocates started naming prominent Americans who might not be citizens if this order were in effect when they were born including former Vice President Kamala Harris. That said, the order does not apply to current US citizens, and is not retroactive: It only attempts to deprive persons who are born within the United States after 30 days from the date of this order of citizenship.Sign up for The Logoff newsletterOverwhelmed by Trump news? Our new daily newsletter features the most important updates on the new administration followed by thought-provoking story recommendations so you can stay informed without letting political news take over your brain. Sign up here.It is likely that immigration advocates will obtain a court order blocking Trumps executive order soon a group of civil rights groups, including the ACLU, already filed a lawsuit seeking such an order. And, because the Supreme Court has already ruled that birthright citizenship is the law of the land, any lower court judge hearing that lawsuit should be bound by the Courts 125-year-old decision.But the current Supreme Court also has a 6-3 Republican supermajority, which recently, and surprisingly, ruled that the president is allowed to use the powers of his office to commit crimes. So there is always some risk that this Court will ignore settled law and rule in Trumps favor.The Constitution is absolutely, positively, crystal clear that Trumps executive order is illegalThere are difficult questions in US constitutional law. The question of whether the federal government can deny citizenship to nearly anyone born in the United States is not one of them.The 14th Amendment provides that all persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the state wherein they reside. All persons means all persons, including people with two noncitizen parents, or even people with two parents who are undocumented immigrants.Of course, this amendment does contain one exception to its broad rule. Only babies who are subject to the jurisdiction of the United States when they are born are entitled to birthright citizenship. The word jurisdiction refers to an entitys power to exercise legal authority over that person. A court, for example, has jurisdiction over a particular litigant if it has the power to issue binding rulings against that person. Or, as Judge James Ho, an exceedingly conservative Trump appointee to a federal appeals court, wrote in a 2011 op-ed, a foreign national living in the United States is subject to the jurisdiction thereof because he is legally required to obey U.S. law.Basically, if someone is present in the US at birth, they are with just a handful of exceptions that Ill explain below subject to the countrys laws. They are therefore under US jurisdiction and, according to the text of the 14th Amendment, have a right to birthright citizenship.Trumps executive order posits that many children of immigrants arent under US jurisdiction. However, that creates a problem for the government. If Trumps claim is correct, that would not simply mean that these children are not entitled to birthright citizenship. It would also mean that they would be free to ignore US law, and that it would be unlawful for the government to arrest, detain, or deport them.In any event, the Supreme Court rejected Trumps position in United States v. Wong Kim Ark (1898), which held that a man born in San Francisco to parents of Chinese descent was a citizen. Wong Kim Ark listed three categories of individuals who would not automatically become citizens even if they were born in the United States: children of diplomatic representatives of a foreign state, children born of alien enemies in hostile occupation, and some children of members of the Indian tribes.The third of these three exceptions is no longer relevant: The Indian Citizenship Act of 1924 bestowed citizenship on all noncitizen Indians born within the territorial limits of the United States. But the two remaining categories the children of diplomats and members of foreign occupying armies both involve people who are not subject to US jurisdiction. Foreign diplomats typically have diplomatic immunity from the laws of the country where they serve, and hostile occupiers are not subject to US law because the entire point of such an occupation is to displace the US government.Other noncitizens, by contrast, are still required to obey US law while they are present in the United States. So the 14th Amendment provides that their children are US citizens.Trumps executive order doesnt even try to justify itself legallyIts notable that Trumps birthright citizenship order never makes a legal argument justifying the presidents decision to defy an almost universally accepted interpretation of the Constitution that was embraced by the Supreme Court nearly a century ago. Instead, it simply declares that the Fourteenth Amendment has never been interpreted to extend citizenship universally to everyone born within the United States (which is true, because the children of diplomats do exist), then lists the categories of US citizens Trump wishes to target.That said, some of Trumps allies have previewed the kinds of legal arguments his administration might make to justify this order.In a 2020 op-ed questioning Harriss eligibility for the vice presidency, for example, Trump lawyer John Eastman (who is currently facing disbarment proceedings in California) made an argument similar to Chief Justice Melville Fullers dissent in Wong Kim Ark. According to Eastman, the 14th Amendments reference to people subject to the jurisdiction of the United States really means subject to the complete jurisdiction, not merely a partial jurisdiction such as that which applies to anyone temporarily sojourning in the United States. Eastmans op-ed is brief, so he doesnt fully explain his argument; its unclear why he thinks, for example, that temporary visitors to the United States are only partially subject to US law. But the most obvious problem with Eastmans argument is that the Constitution does not say subject to the complete jurisdiction it simply says subject to the jurisdiction.Similarly, in a 2018 op-ed, former Trump administration official Michael Anton claimed that the 14th Amendment does not apply to people who owe allegiance to another country. Though much of Antons argument is difficult to parse, he appears to believe that people who have sufficient ties to another country cannot have children who are US citizens at birth.This argument, however, is precluded by Wong Kim Ark. The US citizen at the heart of that case was born to persons of Chinese descent, and subjects of the emperor of China. That is, his parents were found to have allegiance to China. Yet the Supreme Court held that this man was entitled to birthright citizenship nonetheless.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:

Rep. Dan Crenshaw (R-TX) is upset that Apple Maps still calls the Gulf of America the Gulf of Mexico. So upset that he tagged Apple CEO Tim Cook on X and said hed filed a complaint. Hey @tim_cook, just noticed Apple Maps still calls it the Gulf of Mexico. Sent a report through the app, but thought youd want to know! said the former Navy Seal. It seems that Crenshaw is upset, triggered if you will, that Big Tech isnt changing as fast as hed like it to. Hes so upset that he did a cringe post in the style of a suburbanite upset at Target. Crenshaws whining typifies a behavior Ive seen in right-wing pundits and politicians in the last few years, the rise of a kind of post and style once attributed to the left in online spaces. Crenshaw is posting cringe and doubling down on the culture war. Theyre obsessed with identity politics, attempting to cancel their enemies, policing gender norms, and demanding that the culture bend to their whims despite the culture not being interested. This is all the stuff theyve long accused the left of doing. Less than 24 hours ago, as of this writing, Trump signed an executive order titled Restoring Names that Honor American Greatness. Along with a host of other changes, the order said that the U.S. would henceforth call the Gulf of Mexico the Gulf of America. Google and Apple havent updated the name.These things take time. But just because Trump says the name is different doesnt make it so. Its a body of water thats not exclusively used by the U.S. and Mexico, and the rest of the world will still call it the Gulf of Mexico. A lot of people who dont live in the U.S. use Google and Apple Maps and its a good bet that the name wont change for them. Wikipedia also hasnt changed the name on its entry for the Gulf. Even if it was official, America does not get to own Wikipedia entries. [It] stays the Gulf of Mexico as the rest of the world calls it, said an unnamed Wikipedia editor in the editing history of the page.This is a modern version of the Freedom fries jingoism, having nothing to do with geography and everything to do with politics, another Wikipedia editor said, referring to a post-9/11 attempt by conservatives to rename french fries. We have the same sort of thing as a perennial complaint with British Isles from a series of Irish editors. This nothing new or special, and can be documented on its own and with simple passing mention in the article if and when it becomes more than a sound bite at a news conference. But Conservatives like Crenshaw will publicly make the demand, posting cringe and embarrassing themselves. Ignoble in victory, they now exhibit the traits theyve long accused their opponents of having. The American right has control over the Supreme Court, the presidency, and the legislature. That kind of total political victory isnt enough. They want you to like them too. They want you to laugh at their jokes, take their memes seriously, and call the Gulf of Mexico the Gulf of America.The pinned post on Crenshaws X account is a Conservative Guide to the Culture Wars from 2021. The second item on the list is the claim that a victor mentality is better than a victim mentality. Over the next four years, I suspect well see a lot more cringe posts from Crenshaw and others as the victors twist themselves into victims when every little thing doesnt go their way. Or when it doesnt go their way quite as fast as theyd want.

Severance is back, and though season two is just one episode in, fans are already formulating theories about whats really going on as Apple TV+s sci-fi thriller enters its next chapter. Well have to be patient as the puzzle pieces drop in the weekly release, but the season premieres opening scene sets up the breathless, disorienting path that the charactersespecially Adam Scotts Mark S.will be traveling as they seek to unravel the mysteries behind Lumon Industries. In a new video from Vanity Fair, executive producer Ben Stiller, who also directed season premiere Hello, Ms. Cobel, and star Scott go behind the scenes of that frantic sequence. It took four to five months to complete and involved more special effects and logistical maneuvering than Severance usually requires. As the pair explains, Mark takes off running as soon as he steps off the elevatorback in his innie mindspace for the first time since realizing his Lumon co-worker Ms. Casey is actually Gemma, the wife his outie believes was killed in a car crashbecause his first impulse is to find Ms. Casey and share this incredible discovery with her. But the route to the wellness room proves far more of a journey than the viewer has ever realized. Lumons severed floor feels like a miles-long maze of stark white corridors and right-angle turns. While Marks so confident he knows the way hes able to sprint there, capturing his mad dash was far more technically challenging than simply following Scott around with a Steadicam. It involved a bulky piece of camera equipment called a bolt arm, as well as a patchwork of shots of the hallway set whenever it was set up to support the sequenceand a treadmill for Scott in certain places.We dont like to use visual effects too much in the show in terms of creating backgrounds and environments, Stiller says. But we needed to for this shot because of the bolt arm taking up all the space. The video goes on to explain why Stiller didnt use a Steadicam (it would have been too cumbersome for the operator to use while keeping up with Marks escalating pace), as well as how Scott knew whenever hed be filming a portion of the high-intensity scene when he was asked which flavor of Gatorade he preferred. We always felt that we really wanted to kick off the season in a way that would be exciting and fun, and kind of give an indication of where we were going for season two, Stiller says. [The shot] felt like, All right, were gonna indicate to the audience that this is some new stuff happening. Oh, and that dude who pops up behind Mark once he reaches the former wellness room? Scott and Stiller point him out in the video, but dont reveal anything more about his identity. Add that to your ever-growing list of theories! New episodes of Severance arrive Fridays on Apple TV+. Want more io9 news? Check out when to expect the latest Marvel, Star Wars, and Star Trek releases, whats next for the DC Universe on film and TV, and everything you need to know about the future of Doctor Who.

The Hideaway on Palm / Benjamin Hall DesignSave this picture! Logan HavensHousesPhoenix, United StatesArchitects: Benjamin Hall DesignAreaArea of this architecture projectArea:42 mYearCompletion year of this architecture project Year: 2023 PhotographsPhotographs:Logan Havens, Winquist PhotographyManufacturersBrands with products used in this architecture project Manufacturers: Echelon Masonry, Sierra Pacific Windows Lead Architect: Benjamin Hall More SpecsLess SpecsSave this picture!Text description provided by the architects. Building a Phoenix Identity: Starting in Our Own Backyards - Benjamin Hall Design has made a name for itself by embracing unique and challenging locations to create compact, livable spaces that defy traditional standards. The latest project, featuring one-bedroom apartments at 544 square feet (50m), is discreetly nestled behind a suburban house near downtown Phoenix. This "stealthy architecture" approach maintains a low profile while significantly contributing to the local urban landscape.Save this picture!Save this picture!Save this picture!Embracing Regional Identity - Sunbelt cities often struggle with a distinctive architectural identity, making it difficult to tell neighborhoods in Arizona, Texas, or Atlanta apart. However, Benjamin Hall Design is leading the charge to establish a unique architectural identity for Phoenix. Combining desert environmentalism, gained from studying at the University of Arizona, with efficient space planning honed while living in Copenhagen, Denmark, Benjamin Hall is creating a new path for multi-family housing in Phoenix. By reviving Phoenix's local masonry tradition and applying simple building forms with meticulous detailing, he is addressing the critical demand for "missing middle" housing in the area.Save this picture!Save this picture!Innovative and Durable Design - The success of previous projects likeWhite Stone StudiosandWhite Stone Flats demonstrated Benjamin Hall Design's ability to act as both architect and developer. With "The Hideaway on Palm," the goal was to leverage this experience to show that this innovative approach could be adopted by local architects in traditional construction projects. The key was educating the client with the use of proforma data resulting in a shift in the client's mindset from short-term gains to long-term yields by reducing long-term maintenance costs, emphasizing that good design leads to lasting benefits.Save this picture!Examples of Durable, Sustainable Practices - 1. Concrete Floors: Hard-troweled, clear-sealed, and left bare for low maintenance. 2. Storage Cabinetry: Floor-to-ceiling white birch wood (A wood species abundant in the local market), adding warmth to the space. 3. Kitchen and Bathroom Cabinetry: Made of white solid-surface Corian for durability and ease of maintenance. 4. Minimal Paint and Drywall: Reducing the need for repairs and repainting. 5. Concrete Block Walls: Monolithic construction with internal foam insulation for thermal mass, aiding in cooling inertia and energy cost reduction.Save this picture!Cost-Effective Customization - Benjamin Hall Design unapologetically leverages IKEA products, a method Tom Kundig calls "hot rodding"customizing mass-produced items to make them unique. For instance, bedroom spaces are designed based on four IKEA closet modules in a row, creating a custom built-in appearance. Benjamin Hall Design is paving the way for a new architectural identity in Phoenix, combining efficiency, sustainability, and regionalism to create innovative housing solutions that stand the test of time.Save this picture!Project gallerySee allShow lessAbout this officeBenjamin Hall DesignOfficePublished on January 21, 2025Cite: "The Hideaway on Palm / Benjamin Hall Design" 21 Jan 2025. ArchDaily. Accessed . <https://www.archdaily.com/1025873/the-hideaway-on-palm-benjamin-hall-design&gt ISSN 0719-8884Save!ArchDaily?You've started following your first account!Did you know?You'll now receive updates based on what you follow! Personalize your stream and start following your favorite authors, offices and users.Go to my stream

Geophysicists have found sunken worlds in the Earths mantle the planets bulky middle layer that, according to both earlier imaging and understanding of plate tectonics, simply shouldnt be there.When neighboring tectonic plates continue their slow-motion collision, sometimes one subducts, or slides underneath the other, often leaving geological remnants behind. Now, new imaging techniques have revealed similar leftovers far from tectonic boundaries. Geophysicists detected these secret worlds beneath large oceans or under the middle of continents even though there is no record of subduction in those areas, according to a study in Scientific Reports.Apparently, such zones in the Earth's mantle are much more widespread than previously thought, Thomas Schouten, a graduate student at ETH Zurich and an author of the paper, said in a news release.Learning About Secret WorldsThe team of geophysicists from Switzerland and the California Institute of Technology found these zones by looking for them in a new way. Scientists have long recorded seismic waves as they move away from their source, measuring how they are partially absorbed, bounced, or redirected, among other properties. They then calculate backward, to find these waves origins. These calculations have always led to tectonic boundaries, where one plate subducts.But not this time. The findings run against conventional geological wisdom, because the newly discovered areas lie far from any tectonic boundaries and cant be associated with any known geological activity. A New Mantle MysteryInstead of clarifying how tectonic movement shapes the mantle, the study adds confusion and mystery to it. That's our dilemma. With the new high-resolution model, we can see such anomalies everywhere in the Earth's mantle, Schouten added in the release. But we don't know exactly what they are or what material is creating the patterns we have uncovered.Andreas Fichtner, the ETH researcher who developed the tool, compared its use to medical imaging. Doctors can see certain things with X-rays. But when they add CT or PET scans, they sometimes find additional information.Now that these unexpected areas have been identified, the next step is to figure out how and why they were created. There is no shortage of theories.It could be either ancient, silica-rich material that has been there since the formation of the mantle about 4 billion years ago and has survived despite the convective movements in the mantle, or zones where iron-rich rocks accumulate as a consequence of these mantle movements over billions of years, said Schouten.Finding a solid reason that explains the discovery will likely require new ways of thinking about how different kinds of waves travel through the Earth and what that information says about the mantles makeup and activity.Article SourcesOur writers at Discovermagazine.com use peer-reviewed studies and high-quality sources for our articles, and our editors review for scientific accuracy and editorial standards. Review the sources used below for this article:ETH Zurich. Sunken worlds under the Pacific?Before joining Discover Magazine, Paul Smaglik spent over 20 years as a science journalist, specializing in U.S. life science policy and global scientific career issues. He began his career in newspapers, but switched to scientific magazines. His work has appeared in publications including Science News, Science, Nature, and Scientific American.

It doesnt matter if you attempt an occasional repair or youre doing full-on construction projects every chance you get, an impact driver and a drill are essential tools for your kit. Right now, Amazon has a ridiculous deal that gets you both Dewalt tools, a pair of 20V batteriers, a charger, and a carrying case for just $134. This kit has retails for $229 and only sometimes hits the $250 mark, so were even cheaper than that right now. Go grab some becasue these tend to sell out when theyre discounted.Dewalt This is the core of any good power tool kit. The impact driver has a built-in LED to help you find the screws. Plus, its short head makes it easy to fit in tight places. The multi-speed drill also has an LED to help spot pencil marks in low light. The 20-volt compact batteries work with more than 300 tools in the Dewalt arsenal. Plus, you get a charger and a bag. If you dont already have both of these tools, they will make almost any project simpler. If you already have them, you know they tend to take a beating so it might be time for a refresh.