Benedict Cumberbatch told Variety he won't be in the next "Avengers" movie, but now he's saying he was wrong.Cumberbatch might be joking; Marvel stars love to play coy with the press to avoid spoilers.He next stars as a grieving father in "The Thing With Feathers," which just premiered at Sundance.Marvel fans already knew they hadn't seen the last of Doctor Strange, but we might be getting more of him sooner than we thought at least if Benedict Cumberbatch's latest comments are to be believed.On the red carpet for the premiere of his new film "The Thing With Feathers" at the Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah, Business Insider asked Cumberbatch about his recent Variety interview, in which it seemed he had accidentally spilled the beans that his MCU hero Doctor Strange wouldn't be appearing in the upcoming "Avengers: Doomsday," out next year."I got that wrong, I am in the next one," Cumberbatch told BI when asked if he'd gotten any sternly worded emails from the notoriously spoiler-averse Marvel team as a result of his previous comments.When I pointed out that other Marvel stars have straight-up lied about their involvement in certain movies before (like Cumberbatch's "Spider-Man: No Way Home costar Andrew Garfield, who gleefully kept secret one of the most satisfying MCU cameos ever), Cumberbatch quickly played coy once again: "Don't ever believe anything I say," he said with a smirk. Benedict Cumberbatch as Doctor Strange in "Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness." Marvel Studios The film, which will see the surprising return of "Iron Man" star Robert Downey Jr. in a new role as the villainous Doctor Doom, marks the beginning of the next chapter in the MCU, based on the "Secret Wars" saga from the comics.In his Variety interview, Cumberbatch said Doctor Strange is "in a lot" of "Avengers: Secret Wars," the 2027 sequel coming out after "Doomsday." (Both are being directed by returning Marvel filmmakers Joe and Anthony Russo, who directed the last two "Avengers" movies.)In the meantime, Cumberbatch can next be seen in writer-director Dylan Southern's "The Thing With Feathers," a darkly comic horror film where he plays a man grieving the sudden death of his wife, leaving him a single father to two young sons. Cumberbatch's character, simply called Dad, spirals into despair and encounters an anthropomorphic giant crow, a seemingly malevolent creature that accompanies the family through their grief journey.Southern called the film a "passion project" for both him and Cumberbatch, who also produces.Though it's quite a different role from the Marvel sorcerer who made him an international star, Southern said Cumberbatch put his signature no-holds-barred work ethic into the performance, which required him to go to some dark emotional places."It was mesmerizing to watch," Southern told BI. "He really went there."

I looked forward to being a father and didn't expect it to be as tough as it has been.I worked hard to be a good dad, but my daughter still made choices my wife and I didn't agree with.No matter what, I'll always be there through the good and bad times for my daughter.I never thought parenting would be a tough job. I looked forward to being a father. When my wife told me we were expecting a baby girl, I couldn't help but start to imagine all of the ways that I would make an impact in her life. I thought of things like play dates at the park, walks on the beach, father-daughter dances and everything I could do to be the very best dad.I remember holding my daughter when she was born. She looked like a fragile, little thing that could disappear in my hands at any second. She opened her eyes to look at me and it was the most beautiful sight. As I was taking her home, I vowed that no matter what, I'll always be there for my daughter.The years went by in a blurThe years passed by and my daughter was already a teenager. At this point, my wife and I went through a parenting phase that we could only describe as a nightmare. Our daughter would skip school, hang out with bad company, and was unruly a majority of the time. My wife and I struggled with feelings of shame and guilt especially because we had done all we could to raise her in the best way we knew how.She was our only child and we had visualized the best life for her, not the reality that we were living. I think I had selfish fantasies of the valedictorian she would be, and how she would ace her math classes and take part in all school projects. I struggled to accept that my precious little girl was now living in a way that only served her. Still, I was an unconditional father, always there to support her no matter what.And then things got even harderAlthough I felt like I was stuck in a teenage trance and an unending roller coaster of emotions, time didn't wait for me to catch up. After constantly being in and out of trouble as a teenager, my little girl faced her first arrest at 19. A night of reckless drinking and driving resulted in a DUI charge. Someone was injured in the accident and my daughter was sentenced to some time in jail. Jail time. I was shocked, confused, and felt like I had the weight of the world on my shoulders. It's amazing how one day you can wake up and everything is okay, and the next your life is turned upside down. I felt so defeated.I grieved for something I never really hadWhen you do everything you can to ensure a happy existence for your child, it's difficult when things don't turn out the way you anticipate. It's like grieving for something you never really had to begin with.I've always seen myself as a stand-up father and would trade spots with my daughter in a heartbeat. I love her to the ends of the earth and there's nothing I wouldn't do to turn things around for her.Needless to say, jail is a tough pill to swallow, but I'm hoping that time away will be an opportunity for her to reflect on her life and make the changes that we are all hoping for.I'm giving myself graceI realize that parenting never stops. It's a job you take on from the day you have your child to the day you die. It's a for better, for worse commitment that doesn't allow you to let your child down. No matter what, I'll always be there through the good and bad times, and the in-betweens.As a dad, I've been disappointed but the love still flows freely. I wish better decisions were made but it's never too late to work things out. I've stopped overly-criticizing myself and I'm focusing more on trying to do better. I've repurposed my pain and I'm hopeful that someday things will change.

The Logoff is a daily newsletter that helps you stay informed about the Trump administration without letting political news take over your life. Subscribe here.Welcome to The Logoff. Today were focusing on Donald Trumps (and Elon Musks) plan to purge the federal workforce, which has major implications for everyone even if you dont work in government.Whats the latest? The Trump administration last night emailed almost all federal employees with something between an invitation and a threat. The email gave them two options:Resign effective at the end of September. Until then, you can keep your job and dont necessarily have to come to the office.Do nothing and keep working, while subject to new expectations (including in-office work requirements) and without any guarantee of job security.Its the latest in a string of actions designed to force out career government employees. (Career employees are the ones who keep their jobs from one president to the next; political appointees generally turn over with each administration.) Trump has also issued an executive order to temporarily raise the limit on how many noncareer appointees hes allowed to have.Why are they doing this? Trumps team wants to thin the ranks of career employees and replace some of them with political appointees, shrinking government and giving the president more control of what remains.If you dont work in government, why should you care? Because the Trump administration is conducting a giant national experiment, and were all the subjects. Career employees bring longstanding expertise and continuity to the countless functions our government performs everything from keeping airplanes in the sky to reviewing medication to enforcing laws to tracking national security threats.Driving civil service members out of government en masse is a bet that these workers were never necessary to begin with. Many experts have warned that poses great risks for keeping the government functioning. If the purge is successful, well all find out if theyre right.And with that, its time to log off ...Another day of space content? Yes, another day of space content! But can you blame me? Scientists just announced theyve found, and I quote, the basic building blocks for life on an asteroid. No, its not aliens. But its still pretty cool.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:

When it comes to AI, Id consider myself a casual user and a curious one. Its been creeping into my daily life for a couple of years, and at the very least, AI chatbots can be good at making drudgery slightly less drudgerous. But whenever I start to feel convinced that tools like ChatGPT and Claude can actually make my life better, I seem to hit a paywall, because the most advanced and arguably most useful tools require a subscription. Then came DeepSeek.The Chinese startup DeepSeek sunk the stock prices of several major tech companies on Monday after it released a new open-source model that can reason on the cheap: DeepSeek-R1. The company says R1s performance matches OpenAIs initial reasoning model, o1, and it does so using a fraction of the resources. It also cost a lot less to use. That adds up to an advanced AI model thats free to the public and a bargain to developers who want to build apps on top of it.While OpenAI, Anthropic, Google, Meta, and Microsoft have collectively spent billions of dollars training their models, DeepSeek claims it spent less than $6 million on using the equipment to train R1s predecessor, DeepSeek-V3. (Disclosure: Vox Media is one of several publishers that has signed partnership agreements with OpenAI. Our reporting remains editorially independent.)To get unlimited access to OpenAIs o1, youll need a pro account, which costs $200 a month. DeepSeek does charge companies for access to its application programming interface (API), which allows apps to talk to each other and helps developers bake AI models into their apps. But what DeepSeek charges for API access is a tiny fraction of the cost that OpenAI charges for access to o1. So it might not come as a surprise that, as of Wednesday morning, DeepSeek wasnt just the most popular AI app in the Apple and Google app stores. It was the most popular app, period.The main reason people are very excited about DeepSeek is not because its way better than any of the other models, said Leandro von Werra, head of research at the AI platform Hugging Face. Its more that its an open model, and coming from a place where people didnt expect it to come from.So as Silicon Valley and Washington pondered the geopolitical implications of whats been called a Sputnik moment for AI, Ive been fixated on the promise that AI tools can be both powerful and cheap. And on top of that, I imagined how a future powered by artificially intelligent software could be built on the same open-source principles that brought us things like Linux and the World Web Web. This could be wishful thinking and a little bit naive. After all, OpenAI was originally founded as a nonprofit company with the mission to create AI that would serve the entire world, regardless of financial return. Thats no longer the case. But this is why DeepSeeks explosive entrance into the global AI arena could make my wishful thinking a bit more realistic. While my own experiments with the R1 model showed a chatbot that basically acts like other chatbots while walking you through its reasoning, which is interesting the real value is that it points toward a future of AI that is, at least partially, open source. It indicates that even the most advanced AI capabilities dont need to cost billions of dollars to build or be built by trillion-dollar Silicon Valley companies. That means more companies could be competing to build more interesting applications for AI. And while American tech companies have spent billions trying to get ahead in the AI arms race, DeepSeeks sudden popularity also shows that while it is heating up, the digital cold war between the US and China doesnt have to be a zero-sum game.DeepSeeks unconventional, almost-open-source approachWhile you may not have heard of DeepSeek until this week, the companys work caught the attention in the AI research world a few years ago. The company actually grew out of High-Flyer, a China-based hedge fund founded in 2016 by engineer Liang Wenfeng. High-Flyer found great success using AI to anticipate movement in the stock market. That, however, prompted a crackdown on what Beijing deemed to be speculative trading, so in 2023, Liang spun off his companys research division into DeepSeek, a company focused on advanced AI research.From the outset, DeepSeek set itself apart by building powerful open-source models cheaply and offering developers access for cheap. In the software world, open source means that the code can be used, modified, and distributed by anyone. In the context of AI, that applies to the entire system, including its training data, licenses, and other components. Thanks to DeepSeeks open-source approach, anyone can download its models, tweak them, and even run them on local servers. The major US players in the AI race OpenAI, Google, Anthropic, Microsoft have closed models built on proprietary data and guarded as trade secrets. Meta has set itself apart by releasing open-source models. Conventional wisdom suggested that open models lagged behind closed models by a year or so. DeepSeek apparently just shattered that notion.RelatedOpenAIs new anti-jobs programDeepSeeks models are not, however, truly open source. Theyre whats known as open-weight AI models. That means the data that allows the model to generate content, also known as the models weights, is public, but the company hasnt released its training data or code. Von Werra, of Hugging Face, is working on a project to fully reproduce DeepSeek-R1, including its data and training pipelines. One of the goals is to figure out how exactly DeepSeek managed to pull off such advanced reasoning with far fewer resources than competitors, like OpenAI, and then release those findings to the public to give open-source AI development another leg up. If more people have access to open models, more people will build on top of it, von Werra said.Still, we already know a lot more about how DeepSeeks model works than we do about OpenAIs. DeepSeek published a detailed technical report on R1 under an MIT License, which gives permission to reuse, modify, or distribute the software. A similar technical report on the V3 model released in December says that it was trained on 2,000 NVIDIA H800 chips versus the 16,000 or so integrated circuits competing models needed for training. Training took 55 days and cost $5.6 million, according to DeepSeek, while the cost of training Metas latest open-source model, Llama 3.1, is estimated to be anywhere from about $100 million to $640 million. But because Meta does not share all components of its models, including training data, some do not consider Llama to be truly open source.When it comes to performance, theres little doubt that DeepSeek-R1 delivers impressive results that rival its most expensive competitors. A comparison of models from Artificial Analysis shows that R1 is second only to OpenAIs o1 in reasoning and artificial analysis. It actually slightly outperforms o1 in terms of quantitative reasoning and coding. The big tradeoff appears to be speed. DeepSeek is kind of slow, and youll notice it if you use R1 in the app or on the web. It does show you what its thinking as its thinking, though, which is kind of neat.Now, the number of chips used or dollars spent on computing power are super important metrics in the AI industry, but they dont mean much to the average user. The most basic versions of ChatGPT, the model that put OpenAI on the map, and Claude, Anthropics chatbot, are powerful enough for a lot of people, and theyre free. They can summarize stuff, help you plan a vacation, and help you search the web with varying results. But chatbots are far from the coolest thing AI can do. The challenge to Americas global AI supremacyWhats most exciting about DeepSeek and its more open approach is how it will make it cheaper and easier to build AI into stuff. This is a huge deal for developers trying to create killer apps as well as scientists trying to make breakthrough discoveries. Its also a huge challenge to the Silicon Valley establishment, which has poured billions of dollars into companies like OpenAI with the understanding that the massive capital expenditures would be necessary to lead the burgeoning global AI industry.Its not an understatement to say that DeepSeek is shaking the AI industry to its very core. The stock markets reaction to the arrival of DeepSeek-R1s arrival wiped out nearly $1 trillion in value from tech stocks and reversed two years of seemingly neverending gains for companies propping up the AI industry, including most prominently NVIDIA, whose chips were used to train DeepSeeks models. It also indicated that the Biden administrations moves to curb chip exports in an effort to slow Chinas progress in AI innovation may not have had the desired effect. Joe Biden started blocking exports of advanced AI chips to China in 2022 and expanded those efforts just before Trump took office. However, Chinas AI industry has continued to advance apace its US rivals. DeepSeek is joined by Chinese tech giants like Alibaba, Baidu, ByteDance, and Tencent, who have also continued to roll out powerful AI tools, despite the embargo. What this means for the future of Americas quest for AI dominance is up for debate. President Donald Trump praised DeepSeeks ability to come up with a faster method of AI and much less expensive method. He added, The release of DeepSeek, AI from a Chinese company should be a wakeup call for our industries that we need to be laser-focused on competing to win.But were far too early in this race to have any idea who will ultimately take home the gold. This is like being in the late 1990s or even right around the year 2000 and trying to predict who would be the leading tech companies, or the leading internet companies in 20 years, said Jennifer Huddleston, a senior fellow at the Cato Institute.What is clear is that the competitors are aiming for the same finish line. Liang said in a July 2024 interview with Chinese tech outlet 36kr that, like OpenAI, his company wants to achieve general artificial intelligence and would keep its models open going forward. He added, OpenAI is not a god. Liangs goals line up with those of Sam Altman and OpenAI, which has cast doubt on DeepSeeks recent success. Microsoft and OpenAI are reportedly investigating whether DeepSeek used ChatGPT output to train its models, an allegation that David Sacks, the newly appointed White House AI and crypto czar, repeated this week. There is, of course, the chance that this all goes the way of TikTok, another Chinese company that challenged US tech supremacy. It was originally Trump who cited national security concerns as a reason to ban the app, which is owned by ByteDance. Congress and the Biden administration took up the mantle, and now TikTok is banned, pending the apps sale to an American company. DeepSeek uses ByteDance as a cloud provider and hosts American user data on Chinese servers, which is what got TikTok in trouble years ago. The concern here is that the Chinese government could access that data and threaten US national security. DeepSeek also says in its privacy policy that it can use this data to review, improve, and develop the service, which is not an unusual thing to find in any privacy policy.Unsurprisingly, DeepSeek does abide by Chinas censorship laws, which means its chatbot will not give you any information about the Tiananmen Square massacre, among other censored subjects. But its not yet clear that Beijing is using the popular new tool to ramp up surveillance on Americans. At least, its not doing so any more than companies like Google and Apple already do, according to Sean OBrien, founder of the Yale Privacy Lab, who recently did some network analysis of DeepSeeks app.From a privacy standpoint, people need to understand that most mainstream apps are spying on them, and this is no different, OBrien told me. Its just a question of whos doing the spying. Which brings us back to that paywall question. Theres an old adage that if something online is free on the internet, youre the product. So while its exciting and even admirable that DeepSeek is building powerful AI models and offering them up to the public for free, it makes you wonder what the company has planned for the future.In the meantime, you can expect more surprises on the AI front. You might even be able to tinker with these surprises, too. OpenAI recently rolled out its Operator agent, which can effectively use a computer on your behalf if you pay $200 for the pro subscription. This week, people started sharing code that can do the same thing with DeepSeek for free.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:

Call of Duty Black Ops 6 and Warzone have reached Season 2, but while there's plenty to enjoy fans have been left disappointed by the increasingly zany skin offerings

While all eyes are on Nintendo's Switch 2, Microsoft's console strategy appears to be paying dividends as Xbox was the world's biggest publisher in December 2024

Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Donald Trumps nominee to head the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, has vowed to solve Americas chronic health epidemic, and, in so doing, Make America Healthy Again. Part of this national health glow-up involves bringing new levels of transparency to the federal government, Kennedy has argued, which is ironic because, during his confirmation this week, Kennedy made it as clear as mud what everybody should expect from his tenure at Americas most important health agency. During Wednesdays hearing, Kennedy refused to answer basic questions about a variety of subjects. Would he support bans on abortion medications, like mifepristone? Did he believe school shootings were caused by anti-depressants? Would he support making cuts to Medicaid? Did he support extending set-to-expire tax credits that have allowed low-income Americans access to healthcare? In all of these issues, Kennedy preferred equivocations to definitive answers. There was one question, however, that Kennedy was able to answer with relative certainty: Is healthcare a human right? Bernie Sanders asked the nominee, at one point. The answer was simple: No. The HHS head nominee said that healthcare was not a human right in the same way that, say, free speech was a human right because, unlike free speech, healthcare costs money and money, as we all know, is the only thing that matters in America. Kennedy was also treated to a grilling from Sanders about a website associated with an organization that Kennedy previously foundedthe Childrens Health Defensethat sells anti-vax baby clothes. One of the issues at play during Kennedys hearing was whether he would continue to profit from his anti-vaccination activism during and after his public service. Kennedy noted that he had recently parted ways with the organization in preparation for his federal position. Sanders then switched tactics. Are you supportive of these onesies? Sanders hilariously yelled at Kennedy, as the flustered nominee sputtered evasively. Sanderss onesie digression added some much-needed levity to the hearing, which was otherwise a grim spectacle of political maneuvering. While his critics see him as a wacky ideologue, Kennedys supporters largely view him as a valiant subversive dedicated to fighting the monied forces that rule the food and healthcare industries. I submit, however, that Kennedy is actually neither of these things. Instead, I believe he is just another power-hungry twit with a penchant for grifterism who wants to hold office and is willing to do whatever is necessary to accomplish that goal. Indeed, there is currently no evidence that Trump plans to do anything to make America healthy again, or to advance Kennedys bizarre health crusades, or to let him go wild, as he previously quipped. For instance, one of the areas of the food industry that RFK has often espoused concern for is seed oils, which Kennedy has claimed are harmful to Americans health. Trump recently picked Kailee Tkacz Buller to be the chief of staff at the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). Bullers previous position was as the President and CEO of the National Oilseed Processors Association (NOPA). This is consistent with Trumps first administration when he hired Buller and other lobbyists from the snack food and corn syrup industries to write Americans dietary guidelines and helm pivotal food agencies. Trump also famously likes snack foods, so its unclear why anyone would think he would be harsh on the companies responsible for developing them.In general, Kennedy has revealed himself to be full-of-shit phony who will betray any and all of his most frequently espoused beliefs just for a chance to suckle at the power teat. Indeed, he somehow managed to spend over a decade lobbying on behalf of the environmental movement, only to turn around and endorse a political leader who has openly stated he wants to gut the EPA, politicize disaster relief funds, and open up public lands for drilling and development. Since being offered a top spot in Trumps administration, he has also significantly backtracked on his vaccine skepticism, and reined in his more kooky talking points, in an apparent effort to skate through his current confirmation process and allow himself a smooth transition. What became apparent at Kennedys hearing, however, isnt just that the man is willing to compromise most of his beliefs for access to power. It also became apparent that he is more than willing to act as a surrogate for the true policymakers in the Trump administration: the billionaire-backed libertarian right that wants to smash the federal bureaucracy, dismantle public welfare programs, and return all the money and the power to the private sector. Kennedy openly criticized government-administered healthcare programs like Medicaid and the Affordable Care Act and seemed to imply that those programs should be discarded for purely market-based approaches to health services. Kennedy also pimped Medicare Advantage, a partially privatized version of Medicare that has been widely criticized for being more difficult to use and providing less coverage. We need to listen to what people prefer to be on, Kennedy said, which is funny since there has been an outpouring of public anger against the Medicare Advantage plans, which have been characterized by patients as shitty and entrapping.Still, this is all very much the line of the people who helped Trump get elected and who are currently busy writing his policies. Project 2025s plan for HHS states a desire to push Americans into Medicare Advantage plans which, The Nation notes, would be a boon to private insurance companies, since it essentially privatizes the wildly popular public program. The project has also suggested instituting work requirements for Medicaid recipients, suggests the abolition of the Head Start program, would aggressively go after abortion access, and would, generally, work to undermine the public sectors role in healthcare administration.

By AJ Dellinger Published January 29, 2025 | Comments (27) | Donald Trump appears in front of a banner that reads 'Protect Our Food' Win McNamee/Getty Images Last Friday, President Donald Trump purged several agencies of their inspectors general, demanding that at least 17 people in the role immediately turn in their work laptops and ID badges. One of those IGs, Phyllis Fong at the US Department of Agriculture, decided not to leave, believing the order to be illegal. According to a report from Reuters, she was escorted from the building today by security. Fong is a 22-year veteran of the inspector general office with the USDA. And while that multi-decade career is probably in part why the Trump administration axed her (something something swamp, something something career bureaucrat, etc.), she also likely carried among the most institutional knowledge of IG operations in the federal government. In 2008, she was named the first Chairperson of the Council of the Inspectors General on Integrity and Efficiency (CIGIE) and sat on the Recovery Accountability and Transparency Board that oversaw federal spending related to disaster relief. Per her biography on the USDA website, she was also the recipient of numerous awards in recognition of her leadership in enhancing sound financial management practices and policies in the Federal Government. Seems like the kind of person that youd want around if your whole thing is eliminating wasteful spending and inefficient operations. Of course, perhaps there is some other reason that youd want to sack a person who is an expert in your stated goals. Maybe, just for instance, she was heading up an investigation into Neuralink, a company run by Elon Musk that is seeking to implant chips into peoples brains. Then maybe youd fire her as retributionhypothetically speaking, that is. Regardless of why Fong and some of her colleagues were fired, her position that the axings were illegal seems like it may hold weight. CIGIE responded to the firings by stating they appeared to violate federal law, with chairman Hannibal Ware writing in a letter to the White House that At this point, we do not believe the actions taken are legally sufficient to dismiss Presidentially Appointed, Senate Confirmed Inspectors General. Senator Adam Schiff has also explicitly called the firings illegal. Even Republican Senator Chuck Grassley put out a statement urging the Trump administration to explain the firings and why there was no 30-day notice as required under the law. Will any of them actually do something about it, though? Thus far, the Democrats have proven feckless in the face of Trumps shock and awe campaign. When confusion over a Trump executive order seemed to lead to Medicaid portals becoming inaccessible across the country, Dem leadership announced an emergency meetingfor the next day.Maybe theyll get around to trying to reinstate the USDAs inspector general next week if they have time. Its not like the agency is currently monitoring a bird flu outbreak at the moment or anything. No rush!Daily NewsletterYou May Also Like By Matt Novak Published January 29, 2025 By Matt Novak Published January 28, 2025 By Matt Novak Published January 27, 2025 By AJ Dellinger Published January 24, 2025 By Lucas Ropek Published January 24, 2025 By Matthew Gault Published January 24, 2025

Pinnacle Mountain State Park Visitor Center / Polk Stanley Wilcox ArchitectsSave this picture! Timothy HursleyUnited StatesArchitects: Polk Stanley Wilcox ArchitectsAreaArea of this architecture projectArea:14000 ftYearCompletion year of this architecture project Year: 2024 PhotographsPhotographs:Timothy Hursley, Reese Rowland Lead Architects: Reese Rowland, Amanda Sturgell, Wendell Kinzler, Alex Longley, Jim Thacker More SpecsLess SpecsSave this picture!Text description provided by the architects. A new visitor center at Pinnacle Mountain State Park weaves through the trees as a structured, undulating canopy, lightly rooted into the sloping site and forming a gateway to not only Pinnacle Mountain but all Arkansas State Parks.Save this picture!Save this picture!Save this picture!Of the 52 State Parks that grace the state of Arkansas, Pinnacle Mountain State Park is unique in that it sits adjacent to the capital city of Little Rock, which has grown to border the park. With over 750,000 people living in the metro area, Pinnacle Mountain may be for many their only experience with visiting a State Park; 600,000 people visit this park each year. While the park offers every geographic characteristic found in the state from steep cliffs to wetlands, the park's most prominent feature, and one of the state's as well, is the mountain itself. Climbing to the summit is a rite of passage for many children with their parents, and its trails are covered each day.Save this picture!Save this picture!Save this picture!While other state parks in the Ozark and Ouachita mountains have a variety of historic lodges and structures from the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) period that set their architectural style, Pinnacle Mountain did not have a precedent; its urban connection, and the younger city patrons that canoe, kayak, hike, climb and bike the mountain said it should connect in a different way. State Parks desired a building that fit seamlessly with the mountain, as part of the mountain. For those that have not ventured past this park, this Visitor Center needed to be not only a gateway to Pinnacle but to all of State Parks.Save this picture!In studying the site as long-time patrons, the most striking feature is a vein of rocks that runs from the peak down the mountain to a clearing that became the perfect location for access to trails, lower park amenities, and Highway 300. The design solution creates three rock "outcroppings" of functional spaces spread along the grade at this vein, all under one undulating roof canopy that reacts to the terrain and weaves through the actual tree canopy. Under that roof canopy, two buildings form a gateway for the trail opening to the mountain and the lobby. Reception, gifts, and exhibits all view the mountain through a continuous glass wall enclosure where education occurs inside/out to connect visitors visually, physically, and spiritually to the mountain. The Loblolly Outpost sits free under the canopy, offering visitors an outdoor caf setting to celebrate conquering the summit. The roof is lifted to match the mountain's slope to open the view up, direct water to the downward slope, and limit the view of the roof from above and below the mountain. Glass reflects nature by day but creates a dynamic open pavilion at night for returning hikers. The glulam beams structural bracing pattern at the roof emulates the organic order seen in nature.Save this picture!Save this picture!Save this picture!The Pinnacle Mountain Visitor Center blends perfectly into the mountain as both gateway and destination with a progressive language that bridges the urban and natural environments.Save this picture!Project gallerySee allShow lessProject locationAddress:Location to be used only as a reference. It could indicate city/country but not exact address.About this officePublished on January 29, 2025Cite: "Pinnacle Mountain State Park Visitor Center / Polk Stanley Wilcox Architects" 29 Jan 2025. ArchDaily. Accessed . <https://www.archdaily.com/1026233/pinnacle-mountain-state-park-visitor-center-polk-stanley-wilcox-architects&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

Although Mars is known for being a dry and desolate desert, its landscape hasnt always been so hostile. Rivers and lakes were once present on the Red Planet before it began to dry up somewhere around 3 billion years ago. The latest research has explored evidence from this distant chapter of Mars past, revealing ancient sources of water in the Gale crater region that evaporated and left behind wave ripples.Researchers have investigated these geological clues in a recent study published in the journal Science Advances. They concluded that the presence of wave ripples formed 3.7 billion years ago indicates that Mars climate was warm and dense enough to maintain bodies of water not covered by ice, and therefore open to the Martian air."The discovery of wave ripples is an important advance for Mars paleoclimate science," said John Grotzinger, geology professor at Caltech and a principal investigator of the study, in a statement. "We have been searching for these features since the Opportunity and Spirit landers began their missions in 2004."Discovering the RipplesThe ripples were first discovered in 2022 as NASAs Curiosity traversed through Mars Gale crater, an 96-mile-wide (154 km) impact basin that had been filled with lakes and streams billions of years ago.Researchers found one set of ripples in an area called the Prow outcrop, which used to contain wind-blown dunes; another set of ripples was found in the nearby Amapari Marker Band (AMB), a layer of rock likely tied to a 2-meter-deep ancient lake that previously existed. The AMB ripples occurred slightly later in Mars history than the Prow outcrop ripples, suggesting that the atmospheric conditions for both ripple formations occurred at multiple points in time.Evidence of a Shallow LakeIn the new study, the ripples were analyzed in computer models to determine the size of the lake and where they originated. The ripples themselves were only 6 millimeters high and spaced 4 centimeters to 5 centimeters apart, conveying that the movement of small waves formed them. This led the researchers to deduce that the lake was shallow, at less than about 2 meters deep.The researchers assert that the ripples represent wind blowing on open water. Some studies in the past have advanced the possibility of ice-covered lakes on Mars, but the AMB and Prow outcrop ripples distinctly show evidence of ice-free bodies of water."Earlier missions, beginning with Opportunity in 2004, discovered ripples formed by water flowing across the surface of ancient Mars, but it was uncertain if that water ever pooled to form lakes or shallow seas. The Curiosity rover discovered evidence for long-lived ancient lakes in 2014, and now 10 years later Curiosity has discovered ancient lakes that were free of ice, offering an important insight into the planet's early climate," said Grotzinger.Why Did Mars Dry Up?The study of the AMB and Prow outcrop ripples has helped to fill in a murky part of Mars history going back billions of years. Scientists arent certain, however, about the exact details surrounding the transition of the planets climate from wet to dry. Billions of years ago, Mars was also warmer than it is now the median surface temperature of Mars today is around negative 85 degrees Fahrenheit (negative 65 degrees Celsius).The climate of ancient Mars struck a balance that allowed water to exist; in particular, the late Noachian period (about 4.1 billion years to 3.5 billion years ago) is thought to have been a time when Mars was potentially habitable, even having rainfall that caused erosion.The most common interpretation for Mars transition to a dry climate is that intense solar wind stripped a significant amount of carbon dioxide (which also kept the planet warm) from the atmosphere, making it much thinner. A 2024 study in Nature Geoscience also claimed that the drying period was not one single transformation, but seven fluctuating climate transitions that may have even allowed water to exist periodically after 3 billion years ago.Although a consensus on the climatic mysteries of Mars hasnt yet been solidified, scientists are still hard at work trying to find any signs of life that may have once existed on the planet.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:Science Advances. Wave ripples formed in ancient, ice-free lakes in Gale crater, MarsJack Knudson is an assistant editor at Discover with a strong interest in environmental science and history. Before joining Discover in 2023, he studied journalism at the Scripps College of Communication at Ohio University and previously interned at Recycling Today magazine.