The Oscars might have expanded the Best Picture category to 10 spots, but it still limits the nominees in other categories to just fivemaking for a more competitive race, but also resulting in inevitable snubs. Todays Academy Awards announcement brought a lot of glory to box-office hits Wicked and Dune: Part Two, but neither Best Picture nominee garnered recognition for their directors. That did not sit well with Dune star Josh Brolin, who stepped up to defend Denis Villeneuve. Dune fans will recall that while Villeneuve did get nominations in the Best Picture and Best Adapted Screenplay categories for 2022s Dune (it lost both to CODA), he was also passed over for Best Director that year. His only Best Director nomination to date came with 2017s Arrival (he lost to La La Lands Damien Chazelle). Brolin, who played Gurney Halleck in the Dune films and also collaborated on a pair of elaborate art book tie-ins, took to his Instagram stories to air his reaction to Villeneuves snub. As Variety reports, he recorded himself speaking directly to the camera: Just want to say congratulations to the Dune best picture nomination, to Greig Fraser for cinematography, for best visual effects, special effects, for Patrice [Vermett] for production design and for sound, I believe. He continued. Apparently, I am going to quit acting because Denis Villeneuve didnt get nominated. This is just how this thing works. It makes no sense to me. Thats okay. [Editor] Joe Walker, Denis Villeneuve, you deserve it. Its an amazing film. I think it was even better than the first one. But the people who have gotten accolades sure deserve it. Happy to be a part of it. Congratulations everyone. That reference to quitting acting echoes back to an interview Brolin did with Variety in November 2024 where he made the initial declaration: If he doesnt get nominated this year, Ill quit acting. It was a better movie than the first one. When I watched it, it felt like my brain was broken open. Its masterful, and Denis is one of our master filmmakers. If the Academy Awards have any meaning whatsoever, theyll recognize him. (The trade also notes that Brolin posted a similar social media message when Villeneuve was left off the Best Director list for the first Dune.)Presumably, therell be another chance to reward that hard work on Arrakis with Dune Messiah, said to be Villeneuves next project. If somehow Hollywoods Oscar voters drop the ball again, head straight to Brolins Instagram to commiserate. 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.

Nothing Design Co. Headquarters / Range Design & ArchitectureSave this picture! James John JetelArchitects: Range Design & ArchitectureAreaArea of this architecture projectArea:3500 ftYearCompletion year of this architecture project Year: 2024 PhotographsPhotographs:James John JetelManufacturersBrands with products used in this architecture project Manufacturers: Interstate More SpecsLess SpecsSave this picture!Text description provided by the architects. This expansion of an existing structure into a furniture design studio and showroom aims to unify and express a variety of spatial qualitiesto make and house furniture, address daylighting and energy performance considerations for a south-facing facade, and build upon Chicago's historical pattern of common brick structures with face-brick fronts.Save this picture!Save this picture!Save this picture!To expand the volume, common brick-bearing walls were extended vertically and due to the proximity of the property line no openings were allowed in these walls. As a result, access to light was limited to the street and yard facing edges of the building. Taking cues from Chicago's historical pattern of face-brick fronts and common brick sides, terra-cotta colored paver bricks were employed as a brick screen on the street. This creates a distinct and contextual facade that filters natural light thereby reducing the cooling load from the direct southern exposure. At the yard-facing side of the building the brick screen, executed in common brick, transforms a second-floor patio extending the perceived edge of the space. A bi-folding, glazed door folds away to extend the usable area into the patio.Save this picture!Save this picture!Save this picture!Brick, both reclaimed and new, were critical to aesthetic considerations. Chicago is a city of brick; tapestried by the infinite variability of the material's module and mass. The structure is ultimately anchored within this contextthe material is used to provide structure, respond to the context, filter light, and create a distinct identity for the project.Save this picture!Project gallerySee allShow lessProject locationAddress:Chicago, United StatesLocation to be used only as a reference. It could indicate city/country but not exact address.About this officePublished on January 23, 2025Cite: "Nothing Design Co. Headquarters / Range Design & Architecture" 23 Jan 2025. ArchDaily. Accessed . <https://www.archdaily.com/1025619/nothing-design-co-headquarters-range-design-and-architecture&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

The highly anticipated new season of Severance just debuted on Apple TV, and its already making huge waves! Join Josh and Austin as they break down the mind-bending opening scene of Season 2, dissecting the techniques behind each shot. For the video version of this podcast, check us out on YouTube @copilotco.- CoPilot Co. is a global, tech-driven production studio that specializes in XR virtual production, film production, and AI tool development. We are committed to helping people realize their boldest ideas through sharing our expertise, consulting on virtual production studio builds, and creating AI tools for XR environment building. CONNECT: copilotco.iocollabs@copilotco.iohttps://www.instagram.com/copilotco/ https://www.linkedin.com/company/copilotxr/ https://www.tiktok.com/@copilotco https://open.spotify.com/show/1vzV4lv0WjzOnjBEhRpakS https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/flying-blind-a-copilot-production/id1791188534

The ability to fly wont save you from becoming a land predators next meal. At least, thats what one pterosaur may have found out. An international research team recently discovered rare neck vertebrae from a prehistoric flying reptile that was likely bitten by a crocodile-like animal 76 million years ago during the Cretaceous Period.The team published their recent findings in the Journal of Palaeontology.This rare find could help researchers better understand the predator-prey dynamics of that time and give a better understanding of how crocodilians found their foods.A Rare VertebraDuring an international field course in 2023, the research team unearthed the neck vertebra of a juvenile pterosaur. The fossil was found in Canadas Dinosaur Provincial Park, which is located in Alberta a hot spot for prehistoric discoveries. According to a press release, the vertebra has a circular four-millimeter-wide puncture mark from a crocodilian tooth, and is a rare find.Pterosaur bones are very delicate so finding fossils where another animal has clearly taken a bite is exceptionally uncommon. This specimen being a juvenile makes it even more rare, said Caleb Brown of the Royal Tyrrell Museum of Palaeontology and lead author of the paper, in a press release.The team believes it was the vertebra of Cryodrakon boreas, an Azhdarchid pterosaur. This species was only recently identified in 2019 after a research team uncovered remains of a different C. boreas in Dinosaur Provincial Park.The findings indicated that this was one of the largest species of flying reptiles in that area at that time with a wingspan of about 32 feet.The specimen uncovered in 2023 was only a juvenile and likely had a 6-foot wingspan.Prehistoric InteractionTo verify if the puncture mark was indeed a bite and not caused during excavation or fossilization, researchers ran the vertebra through micro-CT scans and compared it to other fossilized pterosaur vertebrae.After confirming that the scans showed a bite mark, the research team could then begin piecing together what life was like in this region during the Cretaceous Period, over 70 million years ago. According to the study, understanding the food chain in a prehistoric ecosystem is a major goal in paleontology.There is currently little evidence of predators that consumed pterosaurs. This may be because pterosaurs had fragile bones, making it difficult to find well-intact fossilized remains. Flight may have also been an advantage to avoid predation, but again, there isnt enough evidence to support it. What this find does help researchers understand, is how these two species may have interacted.Bite traces help to document species interactions from this period. We cant say if the pterosaur was alive or dead when it was bitten, but the specimen shows that crocodilians occasionally preyed on, or scavenged, juvenile pterosaurs in prehistoric Alberta over 70 million years ago, said Brian Pickles from the University of Reading and co-author of the paper, in the press release.This is the first evidence of prehistoric crocodilians in North America as opportunistic feeders, especially on giant pterosaurs. Other crocodilian bite marks have been found on pterosaur fossils in other countries, such as Romania. 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:Journal of Palaeontology. A juvenile pterosaur vertebra with putative crocodilian bite from the Campanian of Alberta, CanadaJournal of Vertebrate Paleontology. Cryodrakon boreas, gen. et sp. nov., a Late Cretaceous Canadian azhdarchid pterosaurA graduate of UW-Whitewater, Monica Cull wrote for several organizations, including one that focused on bees and the natural world, before coming to Discover Magazine. Her current work also appears on her travel blog and Common State Magazine. Her love of science came from watching PBS shows as a kid with her mom and spending too much time binging Doctor Who.

Computer modeling shows that Nyasasaurus could be the earliest known dinosaur, or else a close relative of early dinosaurs. (Credit: Mark Witton/The Trustees of the Natural History Museum, London)NewsletterSign up for our email newsletter for the latest science newsJust because we havent found dinosaur bones near the equator doesnt mean they dont exist just that we havent looked in the right places.A study modeling the extinct beasts evolution, published in Current Biology, points to the earliest dinosaurs establishing themselves near the Earths center, then spreading out to other parts of the globe. So far, the oldest known dinosaur fossils dating back about 230 million years hail from farther south, including Brazil, Argentina, and Zimbabwe.Rethinking Dinosaur OriginsBut, because fossils from each area differ so much from each other, that suggests the creatures were already evolving. Following that line of logic meant that earlier versions of the creatures must have lived elsewhere. Experts hadn't yet established where that where was and the ambiguity inspired the research team.Dinosaurs are well studied but we still dont really know where they came from, Joel Heath, a University College London graduate student and an author of the study, said in a news release. The fossil record has such large gaps that it cant be taken at face value.To point out possible dinosaur origin locations, the team built a computer model based on known fossil sites, evolutionary trees of dinosaurs and their reptile relatives, and geography. Perhaps most importantly, it treated areas that have not yet yielded dinosaur bones as areas where no fossils have been found not where no fossils exist.After putting all that information together, the team came up with a likely location an equatorial supercontinent known as Gondwana. This area, which encompasses todays Amazon, Congo basin, and Sahara Desert, was likely a hot, dry environment.So far, no dinosaur fossils have been found in the regions of Africa and South America that once formed this part of Gondwana, said Heath. However, this might be because researchers havent stumbled across the right rocks yet, due to a mix of inaccessibility and a relative lack of research efforts in these areas.Pinpointing Dinosaur Ground ZeroFrom that location, the creatures moved as they evolved, some south, into the areas where the oldest known fossils have been found. Others travelled north into Laurasia, the supercontinent that eventually split into Europe, Asia, and North America.The fossil record supports the equatorial area as a sort of Dino Ground Zero, because it is literally a midpoint. Evidence of the earliest dinosaurs have been found in southern Gondwana, while other fossils of close relatives have been identified Laurasia.The researchers suspect that if and when any dinosaur fossils are found there, they will be much smaller than fearsome beasts like Tyrannosaurus rex more dog-sized than Godzilla-sized. Those bones will also likely be outnumbered by other small reptiles.But first, paleontologists will need to start digging closer to the equator.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: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.1 free article leftWant More? Get unlimited access for as low as $1.99/monthSubscribeAlready a subscriber?Register or Log In1 free articleSubscribeWant more?Keep reading for as low as $1.99!SubscribeAlready a subscriber?Register or Log In

Nature, Published online: 23 January 2025; doi:10.1038/d41586-025-00231-yIn an unprecedented move, research-grant reviews have been suspended indefinitely at the worlds largest public funder of biomedical research.

Nature, Published online: 22 January 2025; doi:10.1038/s41586-024-08457-yThe maternal X chromosome in female mice impairs cognition through the silencing of certain genes and accelerates ageing of the hippocampus.

A solar explosion called a coronal mass ejection is poised to graze Earth on Friday or Saturday (Jan. 24 or Jan. 25), potentially triggering colorful auroras over the northern U.S.

UPD: Starbreeze has confirmed to 80 Level that the layoffs did take place, affecting no more than 10 people who, according to the studio, were not assigned to any specific projects, suggesting that the layoffs are unlikely to affect the games the company currently has in the works.We can confirm that we did a number of reductions in December involving fewer than 10 roles in total, as part of our regular efforts of aligning resources with all of our projects current and future needs, a Starbreeze representative told us. As such, they were not tied to any specific project.Original article: It seems like the consequences of Payday 3, the ill-fated 2023 installment of the iconic crime simulator franchise, continue to haunt its developer Starbreeze Studios to this day, with the company quietly firing a number of developers in December 2024 a move that has only recently come to public attention.StarbreezeAccording to a LinkedIn post shared by Starbreezes former Creative Director, Tancred Dyke-Wells, several employees, including Dyke-Wells himself, were laid off last December. The post mentioned that the cuts affected the companys UK and Sweden offices, leaving the fate of the Barcelona and Paris branches up in the air.In November 2024, Starbreeze had reported having around 200 developers, and with that number still listed on their website and no public announcements about the layoffs on their social media or the websites News section, its unclear how many of the studios employees had their Christmas ruined last year. It is also unknown how the layoffs might affect Project Baxter, a cooperative multiplayer adventure game based on the Dungeons & Dragons franchise that Starbreeze is developing in collaboration with Wizards of the Coast.Although Dyke-Wells didnt explicitly state the reason for the terminations, its reasonable to assume that the failure of Payday 3 played a significant role. Since its launch, the game has been plagued with problems, earning it the label of disastrous from Starbreezes Lead Producer Andreas Penniger and even resulting in the dismissal of the studios CEO, Tobias Sjgren.In November, it was reported that Starbreeze had reduced the size of the team working on Payday 3, with no mention of layoffs, however, as we now see, the cuts did indeed come just a month later. As it stands, Payday 3 is among the AAA titles that have failed both commercially and critically, bringing in far less revenue than its creators expected and earning a less-than-stellar 3.2/10 rating, with daily player counts hovering around a mere thousand or fewer.For comparison, Payday 2 continues to attract tens of thousands of players daily, sitting at an impressive 31,000 at the time of writing despite turning 12 years old this year.80 Level has reached out to Starbreeze for confirmation and will provide an update if a response is received.Dont forget to join our80 Level Talent platformand ournew Discord server, follow us onInstagram,Twitter,LinkedIn,Telegram,TikTok, andThreads,where we share breakdowns, the latest news, awesome artworks, and more.Source link The post Payday Developer Starbreeze Quietly Fired a Number of Developers in December appeared first on CG SHARES.

As the latest installment in one of the best shooter franchises of all time, Doom: The Dark Ages seemed like a good candidate for multiplayer options. But as part of today's Xbox Developer Direct, Bethesda and id Software have revealed that there will be no multiplayer in The Dark Ages. Regardless, it sounds like Doom fans are getting the best possible game in return for that tradeoff.As reported by Eurogamer, Doom: The Dark Ages executive producer Marty Stratton confirmed that the new game is laser-focused on creating an "epic campaign.""We made that decision early so we could really just go all-in on the campaign," said Stratton. "It's our largest, most expansive, most epic campaign ever, and we're just really happy with the decision."Continue Reading at GameSpot