• Watch son of Concorde prototype break sound barrier for first time
    www.digitaltrends.com
    XB-1 First Supersonic FlightBoom Supersonic has achieved the first supersonic flight of its X-B1 demonstrator aircraft, heralding a major step forward in the development of its Concorde-like Overture plane.Recommended VideosTuesdays XB-1 flight marks the first human-piloted civil supersonic flight since Concordes retirement more than 20 years ago, and paves the way for the return of commercial supersonic flights aboard Overture, possibly before the end of this decade.Please enable Javascript to view this contentBooms XB-1 jet took off from the Mojave Air & Space Port in California on Tuesday morning, with chief test pilot Tristan Geppetto Brandenburg at the controls.The one-third-scale demonstrator aircraft reached an altitude of 35,290 feet before accelerating to Mach 1.122 (652 KTAS or 750 mph) 11 minutes and 34 seconds after takeoff, marking the first time for the aircraft to break the sound barrier. You can watch it achieve the feat at the 1:01:25 mark in the video above.XB-1s supersonic flight demonstrates that the technology for passenger supersonic flight has arrived, Boom Supersonic founder and CEO Blake Scholl said in a release shared after the plane returned safely back to base. Next, we are scaling up the technology on XB-1 for the Overture supersonic airliner. Our ultimate goal is to bring the benefits of supersonic flight to everyone.Following its inaugural flight in March 2024, the XB-1 completed 11 human-piloted test flights under increasingly challenging conditions to evaluate systems and aerodynamics, Boom said, systematically expanding the flight envelope through subsonic, transonic, and supersonic speeds.Some of the XB-1s technologies are destined for Overture, which is designed to run on sustainable aviation fuel. They include carbon fiber composites, digital stability augmentation, and an augmented reality vision system for landing visibility, as both the XB-1 and Overture have a long nose and a high approach angle that makes it difficult for pilots to see the runway.Overture will carry up to 80 passengers at Mach 1.7, about twice the speed of todays subsonic airliners, on more than 600 global routes, with Boom already having taken 130 orders from American Airlines, United Airlines, and Japan Airlines.Editors RecommendationsHow to watch the first supersonic flight of Boom Supersonics XB-1 aircraft
    0 Comments ·0 Shares ·44 Views
  • Sertas Presidents Day Sale: Save Nearly $1,000 on Adjustable Mattress Sets
    www.digitaltrends.com
    You dont have to wait for a major holiday to snag deals on mattresses. Serta is offering up to $925 off select styles thatll save you nearly $1,000 during their Presidents Day sale and serve you with some hotel-worthy comfort. Whether youre looking to upgrade your existing bed or are buying your first-ever mattress for a new home, refresh your bedroom without having to pay full price.The best part? Thats not the only sale Serta is hosting. In addition to Presidents Day discounts, the mattress brand is celebrating their 25th anniversary and is giving you $25 Extra Birthday Bucks thatll drop the price on certain mattresses and more sleep essentials. Keep reading to learn how you can get close to $1,000 off on a new mattress.Here are all of the sales you can take advantage of for a limited time: The home brand has dropped up to $925 off Serta iComfort adjustable mattress sets, as well as up to $625 in mattress savings, like on the iComfort Pro Buckingham Plush Pillow Top and Motion Renew Adjustable Base. You dont want to sleep on these offers either, as the sale is only going on until Monday, February 17. With so many discounts to shop through, weve made it easier by breaking down some of the best deals being offered below.Serta iComfortPro Mattress Crafted with a cool-to-touch fabric and memory foam that features five support zones for full body alignment.Serta iComfort Mattress Inside is a latex foam that contours to your body for extra comfort, and its infused with graphite materials to wick away heat and keep you cool.Serta Perfect Sleeper Pro Mattress Coils are used to cradle your pressure points, and a cushy latex foam makes sure you stay comfy and cool as it wicks away heat.Serta Perfect Sleeper X Hybrid Mattress Youll find a smooth top while the interior features a mix of coils and foam to support and relieve pressure off your body.While each mattress is made up of different materials, the one thing they all have in common is their unique five support zone that helps align your body (and spine). Hot sleepers can rest easy knowing that almost every design has temperature cooling properties thatll push away heat and keep you comfortable all night long. You can choose from four different sizes including Twin XL, Queen, King, and California King depending on your needs.RelatedYou dont have to commit right away either, all of the mattresses have a 120-day trial period. If you dont love it, you can exchange the mattress or return it for a refund. Plus, its also backed by a 10-year warranty to ensure you get the best rest every night.Editors Recommendations
    0 Comments ·0 Shares ·44 Views
  • DeepSeeks Rise Exposes Nvidias Weakness
    www.wsj.com
    A new Chinese AI model threatens to diminish the need for Nvidias most-expensive chips, but some say the concerns are overblown.
    0 Comments ·0 Shares ·44 Views
  • Trump executive order calls for a next-generation missile defense shield
    arstechnica.com
    Sleep well Trump executive order calls for a next-generation missile defense shield The White House bills this as an "Iron Dome for America." It's a lot more than that. Stephen Clark Jan 28, 2025 7:52 pm | 43 Israel's Iron Dome aerial defense system intercepts a rocket launched from the Gaza Strip on May 11, 2021. Credit: Jack Guez/AFP via Getty Images Israel's Iron Dome aerial defense system intercepts a rocket launched from the Gaza Strip on May 11, 2021. Credit: Jack Guez/AFP via Getty Images Story textSizeSmallStandardLargeWidth *StandardWideLinksStandardOrange* Subscribers only Learn moreOne of the new Trump administration's first national security directives aims to defend against missile and drone attacks targeting the United States, and several elements of the plan require an expansion of the US military's presence in space, the White House announced Monday.For more than 60 years, the military has launched reconnaissance, communications, and missile warning satellites into orbit. Trump's executive order calls for the Pentagon to come up with a design architecture, requirements, and an implementation plan for the next-generation missile defense shield within 60 days.A key tenet of Trump's order is to develop and deploy space-based interceptors capable of destroying enemy missiles during their initial boost phase shortly after launch."The United States will provide for the common defense of its citizens and the nation by deploying and maintaining a next-generation missile defense shield," the order reads. "The United States will deterand defend its citizens and critical infrastructure againstany foreign aerial attack on the homeland."The White House described the missile defense shield as an "Iron Dome for America," referring to the name of Israel's regional missile defense system. While Israel's Iron Dome is tailored for short-range missiles, the White House said the US version will guard against all kinds of airborne attacks.What does the order actually say?Trump's order is prescriptive in what to do, but it leaves the implementation up to the Pentagon. The White House said the military's plan must defend against many types of aerial threats, including ballistic, hypersonic, and advanced cruise missiles, plus "other next-generation aerial attacks," a category that appears to include drones and shorter-range unguided missiles.In space, Trump's order would accelerate the deployment of the Hypersonic and Ballistic Tracking Space Sensor (HBTSS) layer, a fleet of satellites tuned to detect and track hypersonic missiles, providing warning of an attack against the United States or its allies. These missiles are smaller and more maneuverable than conventional ballistic missiles, which the US military's legacy early warning satellites can detect when they launch. Ballistic missiles are easier to track because they produce a bright exhaust plume and fly a predictable parabolic trajectory through space before reentering the atmosphere near their targets.Hypersonic missiles typically spend more time flying in Earth's atmosphere. Their maneuverability makes them difficult to track. This illustration shows how the HBTSS satellites can track hypersonic missiles as they glide and maneuver through the atmosphere, evading detection by conventional missile-tracking spacecraft, such as the Space Force's DSP and SBIRS satellites. Credit: Northrop Grumman The first two HBTSS satellites were launched last year during a demonstration mission for the Missile Defense Agency. Another network of satellites managed by the Space Force's Space Development Agencyset up during the first Trump administration to develop new space capabilities more quicklywill combine missile detection, tracking, data relay, and targeting functions. Ultimately, SDA plans to field a fleet of hundreds of satellites with global coverage, allowing the network to sense a threatening missile, plot its trajectory, and then create a targeting solution to send to the ground for the launch of an interceptor to shoot it down.The Pentagon wants this multi-layer fleet of missile-tracking satellites to handle all of these tasks autonomously in space and do it fast enough for ground forces to respond to the threat. These are things the military was already working on.What's different with Trump's directive this week is a call for the US military to place weapons in space. Putting military weapons into orbit has been a controversial subject for decades and was a point of criticism made by opponents of the Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI) announced by former President Ronald Reagan in 1983.SDI's cost, which Reagan's opponents tallied as high as $1 trillion, was another thing that sunk the initiative in the 1990s, following the fall of the Soviet Union. Often derided as "Star Wars," SDI never achieved its lofty goals, but the Army, Navy, and the Missile Defense Agency developed land-based and ship-based interceptors capable of destroying a small number of missiles heading toward US or allied targets.That's good enough for defending against a missile attack from a rogue state or an accidental missile launch by one of the world's other nuclear powers. It's not sufficient to protect against a large-scale missile strike. The Israeli Iron Dome missile defense system (left) intercepts rockets (right) fired by the Hamas movement toward southern Israel from the northern Gaza Strip on May 14, 2021. Credit: Anas Baba/AFP via Getty Images US military officials in the Biden administration were already discussing the reality of putting weapons into space, breaking a long-held taboo on the topic. This followed a Chinese test of a Fractional Orbital Bombardment System in 2021 and reports last year that Russia was seeking to deploy a nuclear anti-satellite weapon in orbit, which Ars covered in December.In addition to placing interceptors into space, Trump's order calls for the Pentagon to shield major cities with their own local missile interceptors and develop a capability to defeat missile attacks prior to launch. The White House edict also says the military will secure the supply chain for the missile defense shield with "next-generation security and resilience features." The Pentagon will also look into "non-kinetic" systems to take out threatening missiles. These options might include lasers or directed energy.There's no estimate on how much this missile shield will cost. The order said Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth and the White House budget office will oversee the development of a budget for the program in time for the start of the next fiscal year, which begins October 1. Congress must weigh in on Trump's proposed budget before it becomes law.Stephen ClarkSpace ReporterStephen ClarkSpace Reporter Stephen Clark is a space reporter at Ars Technica, covering private space companies and the worlds space agencies. Stephen writes about the nexus of technology, science, policy, and business on and off the planet. 43 Comments
    0 Comments ·0 Shares ·45 Views
  • Starbucks to cut a third of its menu offerings this year as the coffee giant streamlines service
    www.businessinsider.com
    Starbucks CEO Brian Niccol said the coffee giant will cut 30% of its menu offerings this year.In an earnings call, Niccol told investors the cuts are part of Starbucks' plan to streamline service.Since becoming CEO in September, Niccol has rolled out efforts to "get back to Starbucks."Starbucks' increasingly complicated menu is a thing of the past, CEO Brian Niccol told investors during a Tuesday earnings call.Niccol said the international coffee chain plans to cut 30% of its food and drink offerings by the end of its fiscal year which for the company is in September as part of his effort to streamline service at Starbucks stores."We've been focused on simplifying our menu to position partners for success, improve consistency, drive customer satisfaction, and enhance our economics," Niccol said. "As part of this work, we made some late simplifications to our holiday product line-up and believe we have more opportunity ahead as we follow a discipline stage-gate process to innovate and bring to market, fewer, better beverage and food offerings that reflect our premium positioning."The Starbucks corporate office will continue to work with its in-store partners for inspiration on new product lines based on changing consumer preferences like it did with its lavender drinks last year, Niccol said, as well as release new cultural offerings like its current Dubai matcha drink.A representative for Starbucks declined to answer specific questions about the planned menu simplification such as which menu items will be targeted or when the cuts will be made when reached by Business Insider.The new CEO, who took the job in September 2024, has rolled out several "back to Starbucks" initiatives in an attempt to fix slumping sales at the coffee giant and improve the chain's reputation, which in recent years has been marred by inconsistent drink preparations and long wait times. One longtime barista previously told Business Insider the chain has become a "soulless fast-food empire" rather than the quirky local coffee shop it started as.Niccol's strategy which includes rolling back surcharges for non-dairy creamers, bringing back handwritten notes on your coffee cup, and installing new, more comfortable decor has earned the approval of Starbucks' former CEO, Howard Schultz, who last year said he has total faith in Niccol's back-to-basics plan.It also appears to be resonating with customers and shareholders, as the company's first-quarter earnings beat expectations, despite a decline in sales, and shares are up more than 10% in the last month.
    0 Comments ·0 Shares ·40 Views
  • The best and worst outfits celebrities have worn at the 2025 Sundance Film Festival so far
    www.businessinsider.com
    Jennifer Lopez nailed theme dressing with a sheer gown covered in crystal spider webs.Jennifer Lopez attends the 2025 Sundance Film Festival. Neilson Barnard/Getty Images Lopez wore the Valdrin Sahiti piece for the premiere of her new film, "Kiss of the Spider Woman."Its black lace design had long sleeves, a mock neckline, and a slit in the back of its long skirt. She wore it with platform heels, a Tyler Ellis bag, and an updo hairstyle.The outfit was glamorous, fun, and one of the most memorable at the event.Sarah Jessica Parker mixed too many pieces of different styles.Sarah Jessica Parker attends the 2025 Sundance Film Festival. London Entertainment /Getty Images Parker attended numerous events at the Sundance Film Festival on Friday, and she did so in dramatic fashion.The "Sex and the City" star wore a blue button-up blouse beneath a ruffled gray dress, a chunky tan cardigan, and purple velvet boots. She also wore a black puffer coat when walking outside.Unfortunately, the outfit looked more messy than fashionable, and its outer pieces distracted from her fun dress and shoes.Benedict Cumberbatch kept things cool and casual with a three-piece outfit.Benedict Cumberbatch attends the 2025 Sundance Film Festival. Cindy Ord/Getty Images He was photographed at "The Thing About Feathers" premiere in a $2,200 corduroy top from Prada. He wore it with a black turtleneck, matching trousers, and shining dress shoes.The outfit was cool and cozy enough for a winter premiere in Utah while also being fashionable with a subtle designer touch.There were too many bold elements involved in Questlove's denim look.Questlove attends the 2025 Sundance Film Festival. Deadline/Getty Images The musician wore green cargo pants, a denim poncho from Greg Lauren, and $950 Marni clogs made with furry, long-haired calfskin.His shoes and top were unique and would have made great statement pieces if worn separately.When styled together, however, they made for an overwhelming combination.Alison Brie looked sharp in a suit and lace corset.Alison Brie attends the 2025 Sundance Film Festival. Neilson Barnard/Getty Images Her Alex Perry set included a black blazer with sharp shoulder pads and skinny ankle-length trousers. She wore them with a sheer, structured top from Giuseppe Di Morabito, which retails for $910.Her suit was perfectly tailored, and its professional look made for an interesting contrast to her daring corset top. Brie looked sharp, chic, and feminine.The denim pieces that Rachel Sennott wore didn't work together.Rachel Sennott attends the 2025 Sundance Film Festival. Deadline/Getty Images For a Deadline event, Sennott paired a sheer $670 Coperni top with light-wash jeans. In theory, the outfit should have been seamless.However, her long-sleeved blouse had denim cuffs, a collar, and pockets that were darker in color than her pants.The two garments looked mismatched, and her brown heels blended in too much with the carpet to add more depth to the look.A bold print and fluffed silhouette worked for Chlo Sevigny.Chlo Sevigny attends the 2025 Sundance Film Festival. Deadline/Getty Images She wore a white Vivienne Westwood set that included a button-up cardigan with a built-in necktie, a skirt with the same matching gray print, and a black undershirt.Its thick knit fabric was the perfect choice for a winter fashion moment, and its flowery print added a feminine flair.She wore the outfit with black leather boots.There were too many bold elements to Sara Bareilles' red-carpet look.Sara Bareilles attends the 2025 Sundance Film Festival. Neilson Barnard/Getty Images The main piece of the musician's eye-catching look was her $260 Farm Rio top. It had long, puffy sleeves, a high neckline, exaggerated shoulders, and an all-over multicolored print.The blouse would have looked stunning with jeans and her $275 suede, fringed boots from Sam Edelman.Instead, she wore both with a $298 skirt from Marie Oliver that was too stiff in silhouette and too bold in its blue color.Ayo Edebiri proved that green is her color.Ayo Edebiri attends the 2025 Sundance Film Festival. Isaiah Trickey/Getty Images She walked the carpet for the "Opus" premiere in a two-piece ensemble from The Row. It included a sleeveless knit dress beneath a poncho-style coat that wrapped around the actor's body.The outfit was simple and understated but still made a statement thanks to its shapeless design. Its olive color also perfectly suited Edebiri and her berry-colored makeup.
    0 Comments ·0 Shares ·41 Views
  • Games Inbox: What is the best Tomb Raider video game?
    metro.co.uk
    Is the original still the best? (Aspyr)The Wednesday letters page thinks it knows what Nintendo is planning for Donkey Kong, as a reader discusses the secret to Grand Theft Autos success.To join in with the discussions yourself email gamecentral@metro.co.ukUltimate RaiderI know the Tomb Raider IV-VI Remastered compilation has had some criticism in the Inbox, but Im really interested in playing it, even though I didnt really like any of the games at the time. Im especially interested to see if they can actually improve Angel Of Darkness, although Im doubtful they can turn it into an actually good game.But that made me think about what is regarded as the best Tomb Raider and I dont think theres any real accepted answer to that. The short list, as far as Im concerned, are Tomb Raider 1/Anniversary, Legend, and Rise Of The Tomb Raider.Theres usually good stuff in all the games (and usually very bad stuff too) but I honestly dont know if theres anything thats overall better than Anniversary/the remaster in Tomb Raider I-III Remastered.There is clearly a lot of space for an ultimate Tomb Raider game though, so despite how many thereve been I feel we do need the series to continue. Whether itll be any good is another matter though and I feel its about time Crystal Dynamics gave someone else a chance with the series. Although its a bit late for that now.KraigBack to basicsIm fine with the Donkey Kong redesign but I do agree that it all points towards a new game early on, if not at launch, for the Switch 2. You wouldnt make that kind of change just for Mario Kart, but you would want to do it far enough in advance that the redesign didnt become the only thing people talked about when you unveil the new game.I dont know what the new game is going to be but if you dont just want to be repeating the past, like Donkey Kong Country Returns, the obvious thing to do is go back to the original game, which in this case is the coin-op where you controlled Mario. What that looks like in a modern game I dont know but I can easily believe the Super Mario Odyssey team are working on it.Its essentially the same method Nintendo used to reboot Zelda, where they used the very original game as their inspiration and ignored everything else, in order to get to the root of what the series is about.System4Bad oddsIm going all in and calling it now, that the Nintendo Switch 2 will have Game Pass and Nvidia GeForce Now apps available.I know its mostly wishful thinking on my part, but it makes perfect sense with the mouse function. It would also potentially entice some of the Xbox and handheld/casual PC market. Come on Inbox magic!WallaceEmail your comments to: gamecentral@metro.co.ukHistorical troublesI cant see why Microsoft cant go third party if Game Pass is what theyre interested in. Im sure if they say to Sony, Let us put Game Pass on your consoles and we will leave the race all together I think Sony would say yes, I really do.When Xbox brought out the Xbox One they was losing money on everyone, now they have brought out a more powerful one then that they must be losing money on again. It wont be long now till most broadband will be perfect for streaming games and as for having the right device for playing Game Pass, you can get a Firestick for 50.The only problem I can see in Microsoft going third party is Sony would have the golden egg, they could charge what they like, when they like. Games would go up to 100 each. PlayStation Plus would go up because there is no competition. Yes, Nintendo is still there but Sony and Nintendo are both doing their own thing. Xbox going third party would be good for them but for the players itd be the worse thing in gaming history.DavidVirtual portWill GC be reviewing Virtua Fighter 5 R.E.V.O.? I admit to being a little confused as to what it actually is, as Sega were talking about a new game but I assume this is not it? Why is it only on PC?Ive tried to get into the series a number of times over the year, because I always hear its the deepest 3D fighting game, and the move lists seem to bear that out, but Ive always found it very difficult to get into, with generic characters and no real story.JohnsonGC: Theres not really any point, as its essentially just a port of Virtua Fighter 5 Ultimate Showdown on PlayStation 4. A brand new game is underway at the moment, with a few gameplay snippets already having been shown off.One and onlyId be fine with Trevor being killed off in GTA 6, although I thought he died at the end of GTA 5, but perhaps Im misremembering that. Its surprising till you think about it, but there are actually relatively few characters that ever crossover from one game to the next and I think thats one of the smaller secrets of the games success.GTAs been around for over 25 years now but nobody ever has to ask which one they should play first to catch up with the story or what they need to know about the characters or background lore. Every game is self-contained and while its in the same universe its just an exaggerated version of the real-world, so you can start playing straight away.I dont know how intended this was but if its by accident its really worked out for them. Thats why I dont think Trevor will be in GTA 6, because then youve got to explain who he is and thats not the GTA way.Its interesting that Red Dead Redemption is very different though and I wonder if they did they on purpose. Although, to be honest, I found the attempts to connect with the first game kind of annoying, especially the boring epilogue to the second game.RoryGC: Therere multiple endings to GTA 5.Fixed positionThe Inbox is a wee bit hard to find on the homepage these days, on mobile at least. I know the old trick of using the tags, but I wonder if theres any way to keep it near the top of the feed like it used to be?As a Teletext dinosaur (double-extinct) its a fixture of my mornings (due to quality contributions like this one).MagnumstacheGC: Except for weekends, Its always the second story, directly below the main one on mobile?Ordinary peopleGod Of War being set in Egypt has seemed super obvious for ages, but I wonder whether its really as good a fit as people think. Its probably the third most well known pantheon of gods, that arent worshipped today, but I dont know if we really need to see Kratos working his way through them all, snapping their necks and whatever.Id hope for either a more obscure religion or something where he has to deal with the fact that nobody believes in Greek or Norse or Egyptian gods anymore and so thats why they went away, not because Kratos killed them.For me, the biggest fault of the reboot games is that it was never clear what time they were set in or where all the ordinary humans were. It cant be prehistory, because the Greek games werent, but it certainly felt like that. Maybe Im forgetting something, but I dont think there were any mortals in the game at all, unless you count the dwarves and other fantasy races.Id like the next game to address that and explain what ordinary people are thinking about all this. Are they turning to modern religions instead or is the game just going to disconnect itself from reality and say that all the gods died? Id be interested in either outcome but just doing the same thing again with a different set of characters doesnt seem like the right move.CheetahInbox also-ransI wonder if the Switch 2s mouse controls are going to make things like The Sims a lot bigger on console? That could be why EAs interested in bringing back the older games, as I bet The Sims 2 could be ported over really easy.ZeardId like to say that I actually like Resident Evil Zero. Or at least I really liked the train bit and the rest was okay. If I was making a remake Id have it all set on the train, and then you dont have to worry about the mansion overlapping with a Resident Evil 1 remake.GabsMore TrendingEmail your comments to: gamecentral@metro.co.ukThe small printNew Inbox updates appear every weekday morning, with special Hot Topic Inboxes at the weekend. Readers letters are used on merit and may be edited for length and content.You can also submit your own 500 to 600-word Readers Feature at any time via email or our Submit Stuff page, which if used will be shown in the next available weekend slot.You can also leave your comments below and dont forget to follow us on Twitter.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
    0 Comments ·0 Shares ·35 Views
  • Wickeds Cynthia Erivo on Elphabas Musical Evolution Into the Wicked Witch of the West
    gizmodo.com
    This years Oscar nominations went all in on genre, and Wicked star Cynthia Erivo is up for a leading actress statue. Cinemas Wicked Witch of the West was on Jimmy Kimmel recently and the late night host revealed Erivo was on a plane when the announcement was made. True to form. I was defying gravity, Erivo laughed. I didnt mean it to be that way, but the universe does what the universe does. In this case were hoping it fulfills her destined EGOT, if not for Wicked than for the upcoming Wicked: For Good. Wicked has quickly become a fan-favorite pick for awards with people from all ages being inspired by the Witches of Oz. There are countless TikTok recreations of Ariana Grandes What Is This Feeling? choreographyand apparently, many folks have taken it upon themselves to recreate Erivos take on Elphabas war cry at the end of Defying Gravity in front of the star. Kimmel asked if people would corner her with their versions of the intricate note. They just sometimes just go straight into it, she shared about experiencing the Wicked fandom in the wild, which is something shes still figuring out how to react to. Sometimes its really delightful. Sometimes its really, really wonderful. And I think whats lovely is that people are willing to try anyway. I think if the emotion has moved you to do that without even introducing yourself, then I think weve done something right, and Im just gonna go with it. Finding her voice as Elphaba to stand apart from Wickeds OG Elphie Idina Menzel and The Wizard of Ozs Wicked Witch of the West, Margaret Hamilton, was very important to Erivo. I wanted to make sure that I used the music as though it was the emotional heartbeat throughout her story. So I wanted to make sure that she grew within the songs you cant be at Defying Gravity right at the beginning, Erivo explained. She has to kind of grow to get there. She continued, adding in singing for emphasis. When the first time you really hear her sing, its The Wizard and I. So The Wizard and I has more youth in the sound. And then later on you have Im Not That Girl, which is a little bit more wistful and theres more heartbreak before you get to Defying Gravity, which has more ground in it. And [then] with Defying Gravity, in the beginning its like a cry, its grounded.Erivos own Wicked work has been recognized this awards season, but there are homages to the original Oz witch, like her clawsand of course a tease at her own version of the classic cackle. You heard a little bit in the first [movie], she said of the moment she sneaks it into a giggle fit during What Is this Feeling? and added Youll hear it in the second one for sure. Kimmel went on to share he was afraid of the original Wicked Witch of the West, and Erivo turned the tables. Do you think it was because of the Wizard of Oz that you were scared of Margaret Hamilton? she asked, speaking to Hamiltons legendary performance, which Erivo always fittingly admired. I dont think I ever experienced feeling afraid of her. Maybe thats the reason Im here.Watch the whole Wicked interview segment here: Wickedis out now in theaters anddigital.Wicked: For Goodopens this Thanksgiving. 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.
    0 Comments ·0 Shares ·46 Views
  • JINS Ohtone Store / Tadashi Hirai Design Studio
    www.archdaily.com
    JINS Ohtone Store / Tadashi Hirai Design StudioSave this picture! Kenta HasegawaRetail InteriorsKazo, JapanArchitects: Tadashi Hirai Design StudioAreaArea of this architecture projectArea:193 mYearCompletion year of this architecture project Year: 2022 PhotographsPhotographs:Kenta Hasegawa Lead Architects: Tadashi Hirai More SpecsLess SpecsSave this picture!Text description provided by the architects. This is a plan for a roadside store for the eyewear brand "JINS" in Kazo City, Saitama Prefecture. Several rivers of the Tone River system, including the Tone River, flow in the vicinity of the site, and one cannot help but feel the presence of a large river. We wanted to create an architecture that would be in harmony with this large river and its surroundings.Save this picture!Save this picture!Save this picture!Save this picture!Although the road in front of the building is a new road developed through land readjustment, it is planned to leave a certain area of land from the surrounding rivers and old waterways, so that the shape of the building inevitably gives the impression of a natural river-like flow. While the architecture is arranged to follow the flow, the plan is bent into a dogleg shape so that it is directly opposite a large commercial facility in close proximity.Save this picture!As you proceed through the tube-shaped space, which is bent in a dogleg shape with repeated steel frames, at the bending points that were previously the interior space becomes the eaves, and conversely, the eaves become the interior, alternating. Here the interior space is at its narrowest, strengthening the connection to the outside.Save this picture!By installing plants that connect the inside and outside there and providing an entrance that can be passed through from the sidewalk, we aimed to create a space that is easy for people to visit, without any distinction between inside and outside. If you think of the open-ended tubular space as a river, it is like having stepping stones placed where the river narrows, and you can cross from bank to bank by stepping on the stepping stones. In this way, we aimed to create a store space that could be experienced only in this location.Save this picture!Project gallerySee allShow lessProject locationAddress:Kazo, JapanLocation to be used only as a reference. It could indicate city/country but not exact address.About this officePublished on January 29, 2025Cite: "JINS Ohtone Store / Tadashi Hirai Design Studio" 28 Jan 2025. ArchDaily. Accessed . <https://www.archdaily.com/1026065/jins-ohtone-store-tadashi-hirai-design-studio&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
    0 Comments ·0 Shares ·39 Views
  • Want to get a species protected? Publish in a small, niche journal
    www.nature.com
    Nature, Published online: 29 January 2025; doi:10.1038/d41586-025-00144-wStudies are more likely to influence conservation law if they are published in specialist journals but researchers worry that their true impact is being ignored in hiring and promotion decisions.
    0 Comments ·0 Shares ·43 Views