Alaska, American, Delta, and United all announced records in their latest earnings.American Airlines highlighted the performance of its loyalty program.Delta and United are benefiting from premium cabins and flights to Europe.It looks like airlines aren't just recovering from the pandemic, they're bouncing back with vigor.American Airlines, Delta Air Lines, United Airlines, and Alaska Airlines have all recently announced bumper results.Legacy airlines have benefited from higher ticket prices for domestic flights after budget operators came under pressure and cut unprofitable routes over the summer.Delta and United have also homed in on profitable flights to Europe operating more such routes than ever before.Here's how the four legacy airlines performed financially last year, and their outlooks for 2025.Alaska Airlines The fuselage plug area of Alaska Airlines Flight 1282. Associated Press Alaska Airlines had a testing start to 2024 after a door plug came off one of its Boeing 737 Max 9 planes.Despite the subsequent grounding of its 60 such aircraft, the carrier posted record annual revenue of $11.7 billion."We reported a full-year adjusted pre-tax margin of 7.1%, and had it not been for the four-week 9 Max grounding, Alaska Air Group would have posted the best margin in the industry," CEO Ben Minicucci said on an earnings call.That achievement came despite its acquisition of Hawaiian Airlines opening up new routes to Asia using wide-body planes.Its adjusted earnings per share for the fourth quarter was $0.97, smashing forecasts of $0.50."Just a year ago, following Flight 1282, a third of our Alaska fleet was grounded, operations were severely disrupted and uncertainty loomed," Minicucci added. "Yet our teams rose to the challenge with an unwavering commitment to safety and restored Alaska Air Group to the safe, reliable operation we're known and trusted for."He also said employees will share a record bonus payout of $325 million equivalent to six weeks' pay for many.However, for the first quarter of this year, it expects to make a loss per share of between $0.50 and $0.70, still better than the consensus expectation of $0.75.American Airlines American's share price dropped as it expects to start the year with a loss. J. David Ake/Getty Images American Airlines said fourth-quarter and annual revenues of $13.7 billion and $54.2 billion were both records.On Thursday's earnings call, CEO Robert Isom praised how the carrier achieved its debt-reduction goal a year ahead of schedule, down by $15 billion from its peak in mid-2021.Isom also said its loyalty program broke records in 2024. Loyalty revenues were up 14% in the fourth quarter year-over-year, while AAdvantage members were responsible for three-quarters of premium-cabin revenue. The airline also expects to earn a further $1.5 billion in pre-tax income due to its co-branded credit cards.However, its outlook for the first quarter was less bullish than its competitors.American said it expects an adjusted loss per share between $0.20 and $0.40, based on demand trends and the fuel price forecast.Shares fell more than 8% on Thursday.Delta Air Lines Delta Air Lines planes at John F. Kennedy International Airport. Andrew Kelly/ Reuters Delta also had record fourth-quarter and full-year revenues, at $15.6 billion and $61.6 billion respectively.This came despite the disruption from July's CrowdStrike outage that cost it $380 million.However, Delta was buoyed by retaining its title as the most on-time airline in 2024.It also prides itself on its premium offerings, named No. 1 for business travelers for the 14th consecutive year by Business Travel News. Premium cabin revenue was up 8% compared to 2023 while main-cabin revenue stayed flat.It's bullish on the outlook for 2025 too.CEO Ed Bastian highlighted a continuing strong demand for travel and "consumers increasingly seeking the premium products and experiences that Delta provides."He added that it's positioned "to deliver the best financial year in Delta's 100-year history" with expected earnings per share above $7.35.United Airlines United Airlines stock more than doubled last year. Gary Hershorn/Getty Images United has perhaps the biggest post-pandemic rebound story, with its stock up 136% last year.It posted a record profit for the fourth quarter, with adjusted net income of $1.1 billion up 64% from the same period a year earlier.Across the same timeframe, premium cabin revenue was up by 10%, while revenue from basic economy rose by a fifth.United operated the most flights and carried the most passengers in its history in 2024, as well as being first in on-time performance at its seven US hubs."United had a unique strategy coming out of COVID and our people have delivered for customers leading to a structurally and permanently changed industry," said CEO Scott Kirby.It forecast adjusted earnings per share for the first quarter of $0.75 to $1.25.

Timothe Chalamet scored the second Oscar nomination of his young career this week, and hes a favorite to take home the trophy. In many ways, his work as Bob Dylan in A Complete Unknown is classic Oscars fare: an Academy darling who donned prosthetics and learned how to play the guitar for his turn as a musical icon. Yet all the same, as Chalamet campaigns assiduously for the trophy, the publicity offense hes mounting doesnt look quite like traditional Oscars campaigns do.Chalamet has always had a flair for the quirky, and now hes playing it up. He rode a bike onto the red carpet for the London premiere of A Complete Unknown and got fined $79.53 for not parking it correctly. In December, he guested on the popular pre-game football show College GameDay to deliver analysis that I, a woman who writes about celebrities for a living, shall not pretend to understand but that I am reliably informed showcased shocking levels of football nerdery. This weekend, he will take a turn as both the host and musical guest on Saturday Night Live, and the promos wink at the viral Timothe Chalamet lookalike contest held in Washington Square Park last fall, where he shocked attendees by showing up in person.Timothe, undeniably the top actor of his generation, and the youngest contender in the Best Actor field this season, isnt subscribing to the usual Oscar playbook and navigating the circuit with the seriousness and maturity of someone a decade older than he is just so some old ass voter in Palm Springs will take him seriously, wrote celebrity commenter Lainey Gossip approvingly after the Golden Globes. Because his work is already serious. His talent is already serious. Thats all that should matter and the rest of it is just who he is.Chalamet has risen to the top of the A-list of his generation in part by being able to reconcile opposites with seeming ease.The whimsy of Chalamets press tour doesnt only work because of the seriousness of his talent and the leeway its bought him. Its also a showcase for one of his greatest strengths as a celebrity: his ability to embody dualities.We tend to like movie stars who can embody both sides of a paradox at once, the way Marilyn Monroe embodied both sex and innocence at once or the way that Marlon Brando represented both authenticity and artistry. Thats the complexity that makes a great star image unforgettable. Chalamet has risen to the top of the A-list of his generation in part by being able to reconcile opposites with seeming ease: masculine and feminine, very young and also ageless and, perhaps most fundamental of all in recent months, artist and bro.Timothe Chalamet as Laurie in Greta Gerwigs Little Women (2019). Columbia Pictures/Courtesy Everett CollectionChalamet looks fundamentally strange for a Hollywood A-lister. Hes tall, but hes pale and skinny; from the moment he made his first gangling teenage steps across the screen in Call Me by Your Name, people started joking about how he looked like a starving Victorian urchin. Hes also undeniably attractive to girls, in the same way Titanic-era Leonardo DiCaprio was: Theres a sort of androgynous waifish beauty to him that speaks tenderly to the hearts of teenagers. He looks very young and very vulnerable, which is part of why its so fun to watch him play against type.Chalamets collaborators have often talked about his performances in terms of those dualities. Denis Villeneuve, who cast Chalamet in Dune as a callow teen who develops into a messiah, told GQ in 2020 that he was drawn to Chalamets combination of age and youth. You feel that he has already lived through several lives, Villeneuve said. And at the same time, he looks so young on camera. Sometimes hed look almost 14 years old. He has this kind of general youth in his features and the contrast with the old-soul quality in his eyesits a kid that knows more about life than his age. Theres a sort of androgynous waifish beauty to him that speaks tenderly to the hearts of teenagers.In Greta Gerwigs Little Women, Chalamet plays Laurie, the music-loving boy with a girls name who is the inverse and best friend of Saoirse Ronans tomboyish Jo. One of the things that we spoke about a lot when we were doing Little Women, in terms of our characters, but also in terms of myself and him as people, is that we both have this masculinity and femininity equally, Ronan told GQ in 2020. And I think that thats one of his strengths, is that he can be incredibly sort of feminine and sensitive and sensual, and also hes a guy that, you know, girls fancy. Chalamet tends to play up this quality on the red carpet, where he favors an extravagant rock and roll androgyny: backless jumpsuits and 70s velvets very much the wardrobe of a man who came of age after the no homo generation.Timothe Chalamet attends the Bones and All red carpet at the 79th Venice International Film Festival on September 2, 2022, in Venice, Italy. Elisabetta A. Villa/Getty ImagesMeanwhile, Eric Vetro, his vocal coach for both Wonka and A Complete Unknown, told GQ in 2023 that Chalamets great strength was his ability to balance exuberance with reverence for the work. He does everything with such a playful air, but theres always that core of real seriousness where he is gonna nail it. Its the same duality that Lainey Gossip is highlighting when she says that Chalamets work has earned him the right to play around on his Oscars campaign: serious and mischievous at once.But the duality that Chalamet is experimenting with right now is one that he hasnt shown off much previously. Its the artist versus the bro. In the past, this duality came to light most clearly through his relationship with Kylie Jenner, which shocked fans when it was first made public in 2023. What, they demanded, was Timothe Chalamet, with his poets face and real actor cred, doing with the Kardashian-Jenner sister most famous for selling lip liner? On the one hand, Timothe was a remarkably talented man. On the other hand, he was a 28-year-old man. A 28-year-old man dating a Kardashian, even! How to reconcile the two?Club Chalamet, a 57-year-old social media poster and the internets most prominent Chalamet fan, hosted a Twitter Spaces at the time where the rest of the fandom could process the trauma of the moment. Kylie, Club Chalamet said, attracts a certain crowd that has very low IQs. Fans worried in tweets that she doesnt have anything to offer Timothee on an intellectual level, that she was too artificial. In the end, however, Club Chalamet concluded, Timothe Chalamet is a 28 year-old man making 28 year-old man decisions about his life and we have to accept that. Regardless, Club Chalamet is here to stay because Timothe is a remarkably talented man who works on projects that are compelling and incredibly exciting.There was the fundamental problem: On the one hand, Timothe was a remarkably talented man. On the other hand, he was a 28-year-old man. A 28-year-old man dating a Kardashian, even! How to reconcile the two?Promoting A Complete Unknown, Chalamet has been toying around with this problem only this time, hes doing so in a way that delights his fans rather than discomfiting them the way his relationship with Jenner did. Thats part of why his appearance on College GameDay was so fun: It played hard against his artistic type, but it showed off his bro side with aplomb.Chalamet has talked about sports in his interviews before in a GQ profile in 2018, he re-created famous Knicks press conferences at the Madison Square Garden pressroom. Yet the idea of Chalamet as a sports fan never particularly took root in his star image, perhaps because the idea of Chalamet as artist, highbrow and feminine-coded, was so strong, and perhaps because he simply didnt look like the kind of guy who was into sports. As GQ put it in 2018, he has the sort of frame thats forged in high schools without football teams.Now, thats changed. In his College GameDay appearance, Chalamet outperformed some of the professional sports commentators on the panel with him. timothee chalamet might be the best we ever seen, commented one Sports Illustrated writer as Chalamets predictions bore out one after the other. Perhaps more revealingly, Chalamet also began to suggest in interviews that hes never been as artsy and Byronic as his pale, skinny appearance and fancy French name would suggest. In a 2024 profile with Rolling Stone, Chalamet revealed that his dream was always to star in action franchises, that he auditioned fruitlessly for roles in The Maze Runner and Divergent, that he was always turned down because he didnt have the muscle tone to look the part.Chalamet also began to suggest in interviews that hes never been as artsy and Byronic as his pale, skinny appearance and fancy French name would suggest.I was trying to put on weight. I couldnt! I basically couldnt. My metabolism or whatever the fuck couldnt do it, Chalamet said. He said he ended up in the indie movies that made him a star more or less by default, because he couldnt land the kind of roles he wanted. I was knocking on one door that wouldnt open, he said to Rolling Stone. So I went to what I thought was a more humble door, but actually ended up being explosive for me.Everyone knows that Chalamet is a great actor, which is why its always been easy to think of him as intellectual and artistically driven his breakout character from Call Me by Your Name, grown perhaps a little older but no less innocent. Which means that the more Chalamet insists that in real life, hes actually a football-loving Kardashian-dating bro, the more impressive his screen work looks by comparison. It takes a generational talent, after all, for a bro to transform into an artist in front of your very eyes. 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:

As President Donald Trumps first week in office comes to a close, his biggest accomplishments are things many of us anticipated: chaos and confusion. Some of the many executive orders the president has signed do threaten democracy and others endanger the planet. But others simply endorse hypothetical policies with more spectacle than is necessary, like printing out tweets on paper, signing them with a black Sharpie, and holding them up for the world to see. The challenge there, of course, is that only legal scholars know at first glance which of Trumps executive orders will affect policy and which will get stuck in court for years to come. Nevertheless, the pieces of paper scare and confuse people. And that confusion will hang around, holding up actual progress for a meaningful amount of time. Trumps first assault on the fictional electric vehicle mandate serves as a perfect example of this strategy.Hours after taking the oath of office, Trump signed an executive order with the cinematic title Unleashing American Energy. In it, he outlines several new policies to, as the title implies, unleash Americas affordable and reliable energy and natural resources. This is code for: promote fossil fuel and hobble the renewable energy transition. While Trump targeted EVs in several questionable ways during his first week, lets focus on one specific thing in this executive order: Section 7, which is titled Terminate the Green New Deal. This section goes after programs that support building out the countrys EV charging infrastructure. It specifically targets the National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure (NEVI) Formula Program and the Charging and Fueling Infrastructure (CFI) Grant Program, which came out of one of former President Joe Bidens signature achievements, the 2021 Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. Together, the two programs allocate $7.5 billion to build out the US charging infrastructure. Trump wants to halt the disbursement of unspent funds from those programs.Trump said he was going to do this on the campaign trail. He falsely claimed that trillions of dollars were unspent, and that his administration would redirect that money for important projects like roads, bridges, dams and we will not allow it to be spent on meaningless Green New Scam ideas. So it was ironic when, after Trump issued the executive order taking aim at US infrastructure, the Federal Highway Administration, which builds roads and dams, halted payments and stopped approving new projects out of an abundance of caution.The Trump administration, to its credit, issued a memorandum a day later, clarifying that the executive order only applied to funds supporting the Green New Deal. The Green New Deal is not the same thing as the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. In fact, while its a popular concept, the Green New Deal is not real its not a law at all. Terminating this concept is part of the latest party platform of the GOP, which refers to it as the Socialist Green New Deal.Since Trump promised to freeze this EV charging infrastructure funding on the trail, legal experts have explained that he cant actually shut down these programs. Doing so would likely violate the Impoundment Control Act of 1974, which prevents US presidents from blocking spending that has been appropriated by Congress. President Trump has also promised to repeal that law and give power to his executive branch. But he would need Congress to do that.Trump will also need Congress to shut down the programs providing funding for EV charging infrastructure. Meanwhile, 22 out of the 25 congressional districts receiving federal funding for EV manufacturing are represented by Republicans. So any real assault on the industry might face resistance on Capitol Hill, where Republicans have narrow majorities in both the House and the Senate.These programs are legally entrenched, widely supported, and designed to withstand political turbulence, said Kathy Harris, director of clean vehicles, climate, and energy at the Natural Resources Defense Council. The rhetoric is designed to grab headlines, but the reality is more complicated.Its theater, and its nothing new for Trump. That said, the fact that Trump decided to attack EVs as one of his first acts in office deserves some concern. Hes effectively setting the tone for his presidency, and that tone is decidedly hostile toward the environment.In addition to freezing funding for EV charging infrastructure, Trump rescinded an executive order from President Biden that called for half of all new vehicles sold to be electric by 2030. Trump also plans to roll back EPA rules issued last year that implement stricter tailpipe emissions standards in an effort to fight climate change. Trump also wants to end EV subsidies and incentives, including the $7,500 tax credit for people who buy new EVs. His executive orders, so far, do none of these things.The auto industry, to its credit, does not seem too fazed by any of this. While some companies have rolled back certain plans ahead of Trumps victory Ford notably canceled a three-row electric SUV last August theres little doubt that when it comes to transportation, the future will be electrified. It would be foolish to bet on fossil fuels at this point. In Harriss words, the American auto industry is not in a bubble, and the global auto industry is moving towards these cleaner vehicles.Trump is leaving himself a pretty big opening here. By leading with a ban on EV chargers, hes not taking direct aim at the American auto industry. It almost seems like this executive order is the applause line, and hes waiting to gauge the audiences reaction before axing programs, like tax credits, that directly impact carmakers and buyers. And while hes holding up that order, the signed tweet so to speak, Trump leaves the real stakeholders twisting their caps in their hands, wondering once again if he can really do that. It will take months, if not years, to find clarity here.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:

Assassins Creed Infinity revealed at last and its very underwhelmingAdam StarkeyPublished January 24, 2025 11:57amUpdated January 24, 2025 11:57am Four years for a menu (Ubisoft)Ubisofts previously announced Assassins Creed Infinity platform is now the Animus Hub, which will launch as part of Assassins Creed Shadows.Its been almost four years since Ubisoft announced Assassins Creed Infinity, which was originally pitched as a hub designed to unite all the games across the franchise.Ubisoft never explained what it actually was though and it was quietly rebranded into the Animus Hub last year. Now, ahead of the launch of Assassins Creed Shadows, the company has finally revealed the project although in a surprising low-key fashion.As revealed in a new blog, the Animus Hub is essentially a launcher where you can access games, unlock rewards through in-game missions for Assassins Creed Shadows, and try and unpack the games modern day storyline.The hub is described as a seamless entry point into the Assassins Creed franchise, which will launch inside Assassins Creed Shadows on March 20, 2025. Weirdly, it is only available inside the game, with Ubisoft stating there are currently no plans to make it a standalone download.The Animus hub is split into four separate areas. Memories is where you can access past Assassins Creed titles youve purchased, although the only games accessible at launch are Assassins Creed Mirage, Valhalla, Odyssey, and Origins. Any games before Assassins Creed Origins are not currently supported, but Ubisoft has teased new features and content in the months and years to come.The second area is Projects, where you can access in-game missions for Assassins Creed Shadows called Anomalies. If you complete these missions, youll unlock exclusive rewards through the platform, including new weapons, gear, data files, and keys.These keys (which cannot be bought with real-life cash) are used to buy rewards through the Exchange section of the Animus Hub, which is updated with daily rewards tied to Assassins Creed Shadows. The last section is the Vault, which appears to be a lore dump for the modern day storyline. Ubisoft has said this will be developed further as the Hub evolves, although it doesnt mention if it will recap the very convoluted story from previous titles.Ubisofts blog post describes this as being the first step for the Animus Hub, but it still feels incredibly bare bones considering this was first teased four years ago.Given all the ongoing financial trouble at Ubisoft, coupled with a weirdly understated reveal, its hard not to imagine that the Animus Hub has been trimmed down significantly from its original vision.Back in 2022, the company said it was investigating bringing standalone multiplayer experiences as part of Infinity, and while these could appear down the line (a multiplayer title inspired by Fall Guys is rumoured), it feels like plans have changed significantly since the original annoucement.If anything, this Animus hub basically feels like an equivalent of Activisions launcher for Call Of Duty, which ties together the mainline games to battle royale spin-off Warzone.Why was Assassins Creed Shadows delayed?Following its second pushback from February to March this year, Ubisoft has explained the reasons behind the small delay for Assassins Creed Shadows.Speaking to IGN, game director Charles Benoit said it was mostly about polishing but that the team also needed extra time to refine the parkour system due to the architecture in Feudal Japan.The Japanese architecture, the roofs [are] super complex, he said. Probably the most complex thing that I ever worked with if we compared to Odyssey and Syndicate. We needed more specific codes and specific animations to support something super fluid, changing the transition of the parkour to make it even more fluid.So thats one of the specific feedback that we heard that we wanted to address, and it really improved since the last few months.More TrendingAhead of the games launch, Ubisoft has also announced the first expansion for Assassins Creed Shadows titled Claws Of Awaji. A trailer promises 10+ hours of content, including a new region, weapon, and side activities. Its set to launch later this year. Assassins Creed Shadows arrives in March (Ubisoft)Emailgamecentral@metro.co.uk, leave a comment below,follow us on Twitter, andsign-up to our newsletter.To submit Inbox letters and Readers Features more easily, without the need to send an email, just use ourSubmit Stuff page here.For more stories like this,check our Gaming page.GameCentralSign up for exclusive analysis, latest releases, and bonus community content.This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply. Your information will be used in line with our Privacy Policy

Courtyards have long been a fundamental aspect of traditional Chinese architecture, serving as central spaces around which domestic life is organized. These spaces play a vital role in creating a harmonious living environment, offering benefits that range from regulating indoor temperatures to enhancing social interactions and fostering a close connection with nature.

Les Violettes School Complex and Recreation Center / HEMAA ArchitectesFranceArchitects: HEMAA ArchitectesAreaArea of this architecture projectArea:1997 mYearCompletion year of this architecture project Year: 2025 PhotographsPhotographs:Sergio Grazia, Nicolas Da SilvaMore SpecsLess SpecsSave this picture!Text description provided by the architects. The Parisian agency HEMAA (Charles Hesters and Pierre Martin-Saint-Etienne) completed the Les Violettes school complex in November 2024 in Mareil-Marly (France), commissioned by the city. This project includes 16 classrooms, comprising a new kindergarten, an extension of six classrooms for the elementary school, and a recreation center. Area: 2,000 m. Budget: 7.10 million. The Les Violettes school complex is a village within the village of Mareil-Marly. Located on the heights of the town, the site is bordered by numerous remarkable trees and enjoys an unobstructed view to the west of the Paris metropolitan area, with the towers of La Dfense visible in the distance. The existing buildings, with varied architectures from different periods, are nestled among trees and greenery, providing a privileged setting for children. HEMAA designed a garden school that preserves and enhances the qualities of this natural environment. The building, with its material palette of wood and glass, reflects the foliage of the trees, while the spatial layout emphasizes transparency between building volumes and openness to the sky.Save this picture!Save this picture!To maximize the surface area available for playgrounds sheltered from prevailing winds, the two new buildings are situated in the western corner of the site. The two new volumes and the existing elementary school building are linked by two luminous gaps that accommodate the double-height through-halls: the first, at the junction with the existing structure, serves as the elementary school hall, while the second, combining the kindergarten hall and covered play area, brings abundant natural light to the interior street. The kindergarten is entirely on the ground floor, with all classrooms offering direct access to the courtyardan essential request from the teaching staff. In both the old and new courtyards, the open-ground areas around the existing trees have been enlarged. Rainwater is redirected into these slightly recessed areas to encourage natural infiltration.Save this picture!Save this picture!Save this picture!Save this picture!Evocative and Poetic Materiality. The choice of a lightweight, prefabricated French wooden structure reduced the noise and duration of the construction work, minimizing the impact on the site, which remained in use by the school community. The design highlights the fragmented nature of the structure with distinct treatments for the ground floor and the upper level. The ground floor, a visual anchor for the children, forms a base that is widely open to the courtyards. It is clad in factory-treated vertical wooden slats. This cladding, made of French Douglas fir, is pre-aged with a gray finish to ensure its appearance remains stable over time. The upper level is wrapped in a reflective skin of mirrored aluminum panels interspersed with glass windows. The facade reflects the foliage of the trees, the sky, and the distant landscape, causing the building to change its appearance and colors with the seasons and weather. The softly curved and taut roofs appear to float above the courtyards.Save this picture!Save this picture!Inside, raw materials are prioritized. The wooden framework is exposed throughout and the prefabricated concrete walls of the halls, which stabilize the structure, are left untreated. Acoustics are managed with compacted natural wood fiber placed between the structural beams. The insulation is made of wood wool. The utility systems are exposed and neatly integrated. The compact design of the building, which prioritizes playground space, led to the installation of central corridors that distribute rooms on both sides. To naturally illuminate these spaces, windows are incorporated into the walls separating classrooms and corridors. The ends of these circulation spaces are also glazed, ensuring that every point offers a view of the outdoors and surrounding greenery.Save this picture!Save this picture!Project gallerySee allShow lessAbout this officeHEMAA ArchitectesOfficePublished on January 24, 2025Cite: "Les Violettes School Complex and Recreation Center / HEMAA Architectes " [Les Violettes School Complex and Recreation Center / HEMAA Architectes ] 24 Jan 2025. ArchDaily. Accessed . <https://www.archdaily.com/1026105/les-violettes-school-complex-and-recreation-center-hemaa-architectes&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

Learn more about V-Ray and get a free trial at https://bit.ly/vray-try Dive into a world where anything is possibleepic space battles, mythical creatures, breathtaking environments, and unforgettable characters. Every frame is a testament to the limitless possibilities of Chaos tools and the boundless creativity of the artists who wield them. So grab your favorite seat, press play, and get ready to be inspired. We are endlessly amazed by the artistry and innovation of the VFX community. To every artist and studio featured here, thank you for continuing to dream big and make magic:a52AreveraBUCKDeckard DigitalDigital DomainDreamWorks AnimationFlooulFrame 48Ghost VFXGoodbye Kansas StudiosJAMMKORBLunar AnimationMAKEREALTIMEScanline VFXSpace Office VFXTATUnit ImageZoic StudiosEditor: Andrs Garcia Diaz, FIUMUMusic: Elliot Middleton 'We Will Soar'Thumbnail credit: Scanline VFX

Fords Raptor T1+ was built for the Dakar Rally, a grueling two-week off-road challenge in Saudi Arabia.Image: MARIAN CHYTKA / Ford ShareThe Dakar Rally, one of the toughest and most respected off-road races in the world, covers a distance greater than the total combined mileage of an F1 season in just two weeks. Over some of the most unforgiving desert terrain in the world, the Dakar attracts tenacious, dogged competitors who push their vehicles (and themselves) to the max.For the 2025 rally, Ford entered the T1+ category with purpose-built Raptors piloted by a collection of fierce competitors. The team included notable names like Carlos Sainz, Sr., a four-time Dakar champion; rallycross expert Mattias Ekstrm; King of the Hammers star Mitch Guthrie Jr.; and Nani Roma, a two-time Dakar champion in both motorcycle and car categories.The 47th edition of the Dakar kicked off with the Prologue Stage on Friday, January 3, and finished on Friday, January 17. Together, the Ford teams piloted vehicles equipped with 5.0-liter V8 engines that werent quite stock, but started out as the same V8 thats available in a new F-150.Built for unrelenting miseryLaunched in 1979 with a grueling route between Paris, France and Dakar, Senegal, the Dakar Rally required teams to cross through Algeria, Niger, Mali, and Upper Volta on their way into the heart of western Africa. As geopolitical winds shifted, the rally moved from Europe and Africa to South America and resumed in 2020 across Saudi Arabia.Wind whips through the region on a daily basis, filling every crevice with sand as it emancipates itself from a massive carpet of dunes. Based on what I know about competing across 2,000 miles in eight days for the Rebelle Rally, driving 5,000 miles in 14 days for the Dakar sounds like a feat for superhumans.With two Fox shocks at each corner, the Raptor T1+ is equipped to handle extreme terrain.Image: Ford Robert GrayIts two weeks of unrelenting misery, to be honest, says Jay Ward, the director of global Ford Performance communications. Hes only half joking.To conquer that kind of terrain, Fords team created the Raptor T1+ with extreme toughness in mind. However, Ward says, the Dakar vehicles include very specific attributes from Fords mass-production Raptor trucks. Take a look at the front grille and kick plates, and youll recognize elements from the Raptor line. Its as if Ford took an F-150 and injected it with some kind of potion that beefed it up and gave it superhero powers.Weve tried to bring some of the attributes of [our mass production vehicles] into the Raptor T1+, but ultimately what it has to do is extraordinary, Ward says. As good as our street cars are, not even they could take this on.To power the rally vehicles, the Ford team looked at all of the engines across its entire portfolio, including the hybrid setups. Ultimately, Ward says it came down to needing a powerplant that would be ultra-reliable and tested in the toughest environments. Fords modular Coyote V8 enginethe same one that powers the 500-hp Mustang Dark Horserose to the top as the clear choice.I wouldnt say the entire program was built around the [Coyote V8] engine, but it became very obvious very quickly we could start building the vehicle around it, Ward says.Magic carpet seats and dampersOnce the engine was selected, the rest of the Raptor T1+ fell into place. A tubular chassis forms the base; Ward explains that a standard chassis brings inherent compromises to the table. If youre going to win, you need to start from scratch with a modular tube frame, he says.The shocks play an important role in this truck, as the challenging course necessitates a huge amount of suspension travel. Ford chose Fox shocks, which are also used in its F-150 pickups. The Raptor T1+, however, has two shocks at each corner that can take on anything that the Dakar Rally would throw at it, says director of product communications Mike Levine.Body panels were crafted from carbon fiber for its lightweight properties, and that meant if any part was damaged during testing, it had to be tossed and another piece installed. Carbon fiber is expensive, which contributes to the total cost of each build; a conservative estimate for each truck of this caliber might approach the $1 million mark.The Raptor T1+ employs Fords legendary Coyote V8 engine, which is used in the Mustang GT and available in the F-150.Image: Ford Seats are also critical, as the drivers and co-drivers are sitting in the cabin for at least eight hours per day for two weeks straight. As tempting as it might have been to use a lightweight sport racing seat in the Raptor T1+, the build team knew the competitors would be very uncomfortable within a half hour. In fact, Ward had the unique opportunity to ride along with Sainz, Sr on a test run in Morocco to see exactly how well the seats turned out.[Carlos Sainz] launched this thing into the future, and as we came towards a gully I thought, Well, this is going to be by far the biggest accident of my life. If I survive it, Ill be a lucky man. And we hit this thing and honestly, it was like being on a bloody magic carpet. The thing just floated straight over the top of it.At the end of the Dakar Rally, the Ford Raptor T1+ notched a third-place podium finish in the Ultimate category in its debut year. The Blue Oval will take what it learned and come back next year with new enhancements. Even more importantly, the data Ford gathers from this custom Raptor T1+ will be applied to its passenger cars and trucks, making them better in the long run as well.

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Nature, Published online: 22 January 2025; doi:10.1038/d41586-024-04211-6Bursts of electromagnetic radiation that share similarities with birdsong have long been observed close to Earth. A detection farther out in space confirms a key part of the theory of their origin, but also poses questions.