Get Lectured continues with a look at the events in store this semester for the Sam Fox School of Design & Visual Arts at Washington University in St. Louis.Kicking off the Spring are lectures from FORMAs Miroslava Brooks and Daniel Markiewicz (January 24); Alfonso Garduo (January 27); artist Blas Isasi (January 30); Jane Hutton (February 3); and author/illustrator Carson Ellis (February 6).Eric Hweler of Hweler + Yoon visits campus next for a lecture on February 14. His appearance will be followed by a February 21 panel discussion related to the exhibition 'Seeds: Containers of a World to Come' at theKemper Art Museum and a lecture from Janette Kim on February 24. Painter EJ Hauser (March 17); Beatriz Cortez (March 26); and RMA Architectsfounding principal Rahul Mehrotra (April 14) follow her to conclude the term.Want to share your school's lecture series? Send us your poster and details toconnect@archinect.com.

The SOM Foundation has announced its 2024 Research Prize and European Research Prize winners as part of a competition that yearly honors the most groundbreaking initiatives on the built environment from both the United States and Europe.Two teams from Auburn University and the University of Minnesota, respectively, were awarded the $30,000 Research Prize. The firstled by Aurlie Frolet, Emily McGlohn, and Jillian Maxcy-Brownexpands on past work through the universitys influential Rural Studio to deliver better wastewater infrastructure resources to communities in the Black Belt of Alabama that had previously been forced to adapt substandard treatment options which, in turn, induced major health and environmental crises.

Rebel Wolves, the studio behind upcoming RPG The Blood of Dawnwalker, has revealed more details about the game. In an interview with PCGamer, creative director Mateusz Tomaszkiewicz spoke about the studios approach to making the game, and how when its out, players will get to experience what Tomaszkiewicz describes as a narrative sandbox.Tomaszkiewicz explained that narrative sandbox means that the game allows the player to affect the story around them by interacting with the world. This means that players will have plenty of choices to make in not only the story itself, but through gameplay to effect the titles narrative. While The Blood of Dawnwalker wont be a pure sandbox game, players will still get to make plenty of decisions to effect outcomes of various stories.So narrative sandbox refers to the way we craft our content, said Tomaszkiewicz in the interview. Its how we allow you, the player, to interact with it. So the core of it is maximising players agency and freedom of choice, while, at the same time delivering the high-quality narratives that we are known for crafting in the past. Dawnwalker is not going to be a game where its a pure sandbox, where youre just focusing on the gameplay. We do want you to experience these moments with the world of the characters, and the emotions that these situations can evoke, and so on, and so forth. But, at the same time you are looking for ways of maximising freedom as you do.He also went on to say that just about all of the quests in The Blood of Dawnwalker are being designed with this idea in mind, and not just the main quests. Even small, seemingly inconsequential encounters might end up having much larger consequences in the long run, and sometimes even tying into the games main story.Narrative sandbox informs not only the main questit also informs all the other types of content that we have, Tomaszkiewicz continued. We are trying to make tie-ins from these. You know, you might encounter seemingly inconsequential, smaller activities of the world, but we are trying to make them tie into this main narrative. It kind of feels like a synergetic approach where all this content helps each other to be this cohesive whole. Its not like there is the main story, and there are just sidequests that are unrelated to it. All of it kind of overlaps a little bit, if that makes sense.Design director Daniel Sadowski also helped further explain the concept of the narrative sandbox, by saying that the studio is trying our best to balance everything out, and there is a lot of cool content that you can interact with.We are trying to tie-in all of that content so that things affect each other in cool ways, and give you a lot of freedom as to what to do next, explained Sadowski. Sometimes it feels like playing a paper RPG where you can really just go into the world, and pick your adventures. Thats sort of what we are aiming for here with the narrative sandbox as well.Quite a few details about The Blood of Dawnwalker have been revealed through these interviews, including game director Konrad Tomaszkiewicz revealing that, not only will the protagonist not be overpowered, but also that the decision was made because it allows the studio to make a more interesting story. He also revealed that the upcoming title will not have flashy magic, and any magic players see in the game will revolve more around subtle manipulation rather than epic fireballs.The Blood of Dawnwalker is the first major title by Rebel Wolves a studio made up of industry veterans that have worked on titles like The Witcher 3. While the game doesnt yet have a release date, we do know that it is coming to PC, PS5 and Xbox Series X/S.

A new video showcasing the gameplay for upcoming Souls-like action RPG Wuchang: Fallen Feathers has been released. The video, which you can check out below, includes Chinese commentary on the game, as well as a rundown on how development on the title has been going since it was first announced all the way back in 2021.The video gives us a rundown of the story in Wuchang: Fallen Feathers. Taking place in the Ming Dynasty during the outbreak of a mysterious plague, players are put into the shoes of protagonist Wuchang, who finds herself with not only amnesia, but also some strange supernatural powers.The video also gives us a solid look at the upcoming titles gameplay, including combat against a host of different enemies, and even a quick glimpse at what appears to be a mystical boss fight. Keeping with its Souls-like roots, Wuchang: Fallen Feathers will also tell its story in esoteric ways, complete with NPCs that appear stark raving mad.The video also makes a point of mentioning how much more polished Wuchang: Fallen Feathers appears this time around, especially when compared to the rough gameplay we saw back when the title was first announced.Among the encounters showcased in the video are what appear to be minor boss fights, as well as sprawling levels that will have players fight as well as solve puzzles across various vertical levels. Bosses showcased in the video include the Man-Eating Monk, the Feathered Priest, Ogre, and the Giant Centipede. It is worth noting that these are rough translations of the boss names from the games original Chinese language.The title also seemingly helps players not get lost during exploration by providing subtle hints about what they can expect when they walk down a path. For example, a compass will show up on the UI with arrows pointing to a nearby campfire where players can rest. On the other hand, if a path has strong enemies, the game will make use of environmental storytelling.Interestingly, the Wuchang: Fallen Feathers also seemingly has fewer campfires to rest at thank other Souls-like titles, with developer Leenzee Games instead opting to make use of more shortcuts to help players traverse across its world.The video also gives us a quick idea of how progression in Wuchang: Fallen Feathers works. Rather than leveling up to raise attribute points, the title will instead allow players to get new skills through a comprehensive skill tree. Interestingly, this also allows players to focus on a single weapon type, allowing their skills to get more efficient when it comes to damage and resources spent.Leenzee Games and publisher 505 Games had revealed back in June that Wuchang: Fallen Feathers would be released some time in 2025. While no solid release date has been announced since then, we do know that the title will be coming to PC, PS5 and Xbox Series X/S. In the mean time, you can check out the trailer from back in October, which gave us a vivid look at some of the games locations, bombastic combat, and different weapons.

The cattle tyrant (Machetornis rixosa) is a species of bird in the family Tyrannidae, the tyrant flycatcher. It has a disjunct distribution, consisting of one race in a region from northern Argentina and Bolivia to the north-eastern tip of Brazil, and the two other subspecies ranging from Panama to Venezuela and eastern Ecuador. It inhabits drier open and semi-open habitats, and avoided forested and wooded areas. It can be found in savannah, pastureland, parkland, agricultural land and even gardens. The capybara (Hydrochoerus hydrochaeris) is the largest living species of rodent, classified within the genus Hydrochoerus, the only other extant member of which is the lesser capybara (H.isthmius). Its close relatives include guinea pigs and rock cavies, and it is more distantly related to the agouti, the chinchilla, and the nutria. The capybara is a highly social species and inhabits savannas and dense forests, living near bodies of water. It is hunted for its meat and hide and also for grease from its thick fatty skin. This photograph, taken in the Pantanal, a wetland region in western Brazil, shows a cattle tyrant perching on the head of a capybara.Photograph credit: Charles J. SharpRecently featured: In the LogeRacial segregation in the United StatesRoadside hawkArchiveMore featured pictures

For Chimpanzees, Peeing May Be ContagiousJust Like Yawning Is for Humans, Study FindsScientists suggest captive chimpanzees engage in socially contagious urinationthat is, when one primate starts peeing, others quickly follow suit A new study on "contagious urination" only looked at captive chimpanzees, but researchers suspect the phenomenon may also exist in the wild. Kumamoto SanctuaryIf you see or hear someone yawn, you might suddenly feel the urge to do the same, thanks to a well-studied phenomenon known as contagious yawning. Now, new research suggests urination may function in a similar way: Captive chimpanzees that saw their peers peeing were more likely to take a tinkle themselves.Scientists describe their evidence for this socially contagious urination in a new paper published Monday in the journal Current Biology.Study co-author Ena Onishi, a primatologist at Kyoto University, first became interested in chimp urination in 2019. While researching captive chimpanzees at the Kumamoto Sanctuary in Kyoto, Japan, she noticed that the animals all tended to pee at the same time.This observation reminded her of certain human behaviorsincluding contagious yawning and the tendency for people to go to the bathroom in groups.In Japan, my home country, there is a specific term called Tsureshon, which refers to the act of urinating in the company of others, Onishi tells Science News Gennaro Tomma.In addition to Tsureshon, the researchers also point to an Italian proverb that says whoever doesnt pee in company is either a thief or a spy.So, Onishi decided to conduct an experiment to learn more. She and her colleagues recorded the sanctuarys 20 chimpanzees for more than 600 hours, capturing 1,328 urination events in their footage.After analyzing the videos, the team confirmed their suspicions: When one chimp started peeing, others quickly followed suit.Their data also revealed more nuanced findings: For instance, chimpanzees with a lower social rank were more likely to urinate when they saw their peers peeing. Physical proximity to the initial urinator also increased the likelihood that other chimps would follow suit.Social closenessor how tightly bonded a pair of chimps seem to be, based on how much time they spend grooming or hanging out with each otherdid not appear to influence the contagious urination. Thats a departure from contagious yawning in humans, which does seem to be affected by social closeness.Since humans are known to visit the restroom together, the findings suggest contagious urination may have a deep evolutionary origin, study co-author Shinya Yamamoto, also a primatologist at Kyoto University, tells Live Sciences Olivia Ferrari. The behavior may even trace back to a shared ancestor. (Chimpanzees, along with bonobos, are humans closest living relatives.)In humans, we know that our decision to urinate is influenced by social contexts that lead us to urinate simultaneously with others, and that this simultaneous urination could also promote further social bonding, Yamamoto adds. Our study with chimpanzees clearly shows that they share some similarities in this phenomenon.Though the study only included captive chimpanzees, researchers suspect contagious urination probably exists in the wild, too. Future studies might investigate the behavior among wild chimps, as well as among other social species.If you walk with great apes in the wild, you often see that group members really coordinate what theyre doing, says Martin Surbeck, an evolutionary biologist at Harvard University who was not involved with the paper, to the New York Times Annie Roth.Why do chimps seem to pee at the same time? The study doesnt answer that question definitively, but the researchers have developed a few theories. Contagious urination might help reinforce social bonds and boost cohesiveness, or it might be a defensive move to prevent predators from tracking the groups movements.Humans and non-human animals share many social phenomena linked to group livingwere all influenced by the presence of others, even in everyday activities, Onishi tells Salons Matthew Rozsa. For instance, behaviors like yawning, walking, rhythmic tapping and even changes in pupil size are contagious in both humans and chimpanzees. Our study fits into this framework by showing that urination, a seemingly simple physiological act, can also spread socially within a group.Get the latest stories in your inbox every weekday.Filed Under: Animals, Evolution, Human Evolution, Human Origins, Japan, Mammals, New Research, Primates, Social Sciences, wildlife

Bob Dylans Drafts of Mr. Tambourine Man Lyrics Sell for $508,000 at AuctionThe rare papers were part of a larger collection from rock journalist Al Aronowitz, a close friend of Dylans in the 1960sElla JeffriesStaff ContributorJanuary 21, 2025 4:25 p.m. The two sheets of yellowed paper contain three typewritten drafts of the iconic song. Julien's AuctionsBob Dylans legendary Mr. Tambourine Man, one of the defining folk-rock tracks of the 1960s, has once again captured the spotlightbut this time, its not through a song recording.The original drafts of the songs lyrics, which offer a rare glimpse into Dylans creative process, have been sold for $508,000 at a recent auction. The sale, held by Juliens Auctions in Nashville, adds to the heightened interest in Dylans legacy, especially after the recent release of A Complete Unknown, a biopic chronicling Dylans rise to fame in 1960s New York.The two sheets of yellowed paper that sold for over half a million dollars contain three typewritten drafts of the iconic song. These drafts are not the final version, but offer unique insights into Dylans songwriting methods. Handwritten notes and changes in the margins show the evolution of the lyrics, with one draft even nearing the final version, though still featuring significant variations. For fans and experts alike, these drafts present an opportunity to see how one of the 20th centurys most influential songwriters shaped his work.Its absolutely mind-blowing, and confirmation that this is how genius works, Richard Thomas, a Harvard University classics scholar who also teaches a course on Dylans writing, told Ali Watkins of the New York Times.Bob Dylan - Mr. Tambourine Man (Official Audio)Watch on The drafts were part of the personal collection of Al Aronowitz, a renowned rock journalist who was a close confidant of Dylans in the 1960s. Dylan wrote Mr. Tambourine Man in early 1964 at Aronowitzs home in Berkeley Heights, New Jersey, where he spent a night at the journalist's breakfast bar, writing away on a portable typewriter while listening to Marvin Gayes Can I Get A Witness.Aronowitz later recalled that, after Dylan left, he found a wastebasket filled with crumpled pages, the discarded drafts of the song. But after Aronowitzs death in 2005, his family couldnt locate the lyrics and believed the drafts were lost. His son, Myles Aronowitz, who played a key role in finding the lyric pages, said the discovery came after years of searching through family archives.This was family lore, Myles told David Browne of Rolling Stone in December. My father talked about it, but he had no idea where they were. He thought he lost them or someone stole them. It took us years going through the archives folder by folder to find them.In total, the Aronowitz archive sold for $1.5 million, with other items fetching impressive sums. Among the highlights were a 1983 Fender Telecaster owned by Dylan, which sold for $222,250, and an original 1968 oil painting by Dylan, which went for $260,000.My family and I are thrilled with the auction, Myles said in a statement, per Daniel Kreps of Rolling Stone. These items were evidence of the unique and intimate place my father had in musical and cultural history with his good friend Bob Dylan, and all the other iconic artists of his day.Myles and his wife hope to organize another auction, and eventually place the entire collection in a library or museum, according to Ali Watkins of the New York Times.Dylans Mr. Tambourine Man, which was eventually released in 1965 on his album Bringing It All Back Home, became a landmark song in the folk-rock genre. While the Byrds 1965 cover of the song was a chart-topping hit, Dylans version would go on to be one of his most celebrated tracks.Get the latest stories in your inbox every weekday.Filed Under: Auctions, Music, Musicians, Pop culture, Rock and Roll, Rock Musicians

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Indie blockbuster Balatro tops 5m units sold | News-in-briefDeveloper invites players to "make a habit" of playing indie gamesImage credit: LocalThunk News by Vikki Blake Contributor Published on Jan. 21, 2025 This is a News-in-brief article, our short format linking to an official source for more information. Read more about this story by following the link below:Indie blockbuster Balatro tops 5m units sold