The pergola, seen here, was faithfully reconstructed using Wrights letters as references.The propertys pergola is a long covered walkway that connects the main home to the conservatory. To the average visitor it would be impossible to tell where the original structure ends without that knowledge, though its useful information to understand the massive amount of work that went into faithfully recreating the Martin House complex.Like the rest of Wrights structures, compression and release are important to the design of the Martin House estate. The variation in ceiling height and room size ushers guests into the spaces that Wright intended visitors to linger in. The main homes entryway and its staircase, which might have been a focal point in another architect of the times hands, is decidedly understated.He felt like the upstairs is a personal, private family space, so why would you make the stairs so prominent? Fisher says. Relatively small details, like keeping the light level low in the staircase, indicate Wrights deliberate reimagining of standards in home design.Interior design of the Martin HouseWright designed much of the furniture for the Martin House, including the Barrel Chair, the light fixtures, and the built-in bookshelves that are cleverly hidden throughout the open living space (which is also called the unit room). The furniture within the home is a mix of original pieces and reproductions. A variety of different art glass windows appear throughout the property, creating a soft divide between the interior space and the surrounding landscaping.The library in the Martin HouseThe wisteria mosaic that graces all four sides of the fireplace is one of the most unique elements of the Martin Houses interiors. It stands between the entry hall and the unit room, connecting the two spaces and drawing visitors from the former into the latter. The brown-and-green-colored mosaic was recreated by Botti Studio of Architectural Arts using mostly new tile.Frequently Asked QuestionsWho owns the Martin House?The main house itself is owned by a corporation called Frank Lloyd Wrights Martin House (which was formerly named the Martin House Restoration Corporation). Ownership is currently being transferred to New York State, though. The remaining elements of the estate (i.e. the grounds and all of the buildings other than the main house) will continue to be held by Frank Lloyd Wrights Martin House.How much did it cost to build the Martin House?The Martin House complex cost over $175,000 when it was first built, which is more than $5 million today when accounting for inflation. The decades-long restoration process cost $50 million.

I hate it here Trumps new head of DOT rips up US fuel efficiency regulations Secretary Duffy claims polluting more will make cars cheaper. Jonathan M. Gitlin Jan 29, 2025 9:11 am | 147 We can look forward to more air pollution and more climate change as a result of the Trump administration's policies. Credit: Getty Images We can look forward to more air pollution and more climate change as a result of the Trump administration's policies. Credit: Getty Images Story textSizeSmallStandardLargeWidth *StandardWideLinksStandardOrange* Subscribers only Learn moreUS President Donald Trump's pick to run the Department of Transportation was sworn in to his new job yesterday. And as widely expected, Secretary Sean Duffy moved to immediately rip up the nation's fuel efficiency standards.Duffy issued a memo soon after starting the job on Tuesday evening, ordering the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration "to commence an immediate review and reconsideration of all existing fuel economy standards applicable to all models of motor vehicles produced from model year 2022 forward," with particular attention to the tougher new regulations put in place last year by the Biden administration."The memorandum signed today specifically reduces the burdensome and overly restrictive fuel standards that have needlessly driven up the cost of a car in order to push a radical Green New Deal agenda. The American people should not be forced to sacrifice choice and affordability when purchasing a new car," Duffy said in a statement.In his memo, Duffy repeats the Trump administration's messaging, claiming that making the nation's vehicles pollute more is necessary to "remove regulatory barriers to motor vehicle access," and that doing so will create "a level regulatory playing field for consumer choice."The memo also says that state waivers on vehicle pollutionsuch as California's legally enshrined right to regulate air quality within its bordershould be terminated, as it "function[s] to limit sales of gasoline-powered vehicles." It also calls electric vehicle subsidies an "ill-conceived government-imposed market distortion" that is making cars unaffordable.Duffy's attack on California's waiver was probably superfluoushis boss already issued an executive order doing just that upon being sworn in as president earlier this month.The first Trump administration spent much time attacking fuel efficiency and California's waiver, moves that were slowly reversed during the Biden administration. Even so, under former President Biden, the US Environmental Protection Agency moved to soften the incoming Corporate Average Fuel Economy regs meant to go into effect between model years 20272032.The updated regulations remained relatively strict but gave automakers more time to reach their targetsand allowed for a greater mix of hybrid vehicles.In a further attack on clean air and climate change mitigation, the acting administrator of the General Services Administration issued a memo late last week that barred the federal government from purchasing any zero-emissions vehicles. In 2021, former President Biden ordered that most federal vehicle acquisitions be zero-emissions vehicles by 2032.Jonathan M. GitlinAutomotive EditorJonathan M. GitlinAutomotive Editor Jonathan is the Automotive Editor at Ars Technica. He has a BSc and PhD in Pharmacology. In 2014 he decided to indulge his lifelong passion for the car by leaving the National Human Genome Research Institute and launching Ars Technica's automotive coverage. He lives in Washington, DC. 147 Comments

Health care pause States say theyve been shut out of Medicaid amid Trump funding freeze The freeze is said to ensure funding aligns with Trump's political ideology. Beth Mole Jan 28, 2025 2:56 pm | 262 The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services office, part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, stands in Woodlawn, Maryland, U.S., on Dec. 28, 2010. Credit: Getty | Jay Mallin The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services office, part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, stands in Woodlawn, Maryland, U.S., on Dec. 28, 2010. Credit: Getty | Jay Mallin Story textSizeSmallStandardLargeWidth *StandardWideLinksStandardOrange* Subscribers only Learn moreAmid the Trump administration's abrupt, wide-scale freeze on federal funding, states are reporting that they've lost access to Medicaid, a program jointly funded by the federal government and states to provide comprehensive health coverage and care to tens of millions of low-income adults and children in the US.The funding freeze was announced in a memo dated January 27 from Matthew Vaeth, the acting director of the Office of Management and Budget, and was first reported Monday evening by independent journalist Marisa Kabas. The freeze is intended to prevent "use of Federal resources to advance Marxist equity, transgenderism, and green new deal social engineering policies," Vaeth wrote. The memo ordered federal agencies to complete a comprehensive analysis of all federal financial assistance programs to ensure they align with the president's policies and requirements."In the interim, to the extent permissible under applicable law, Federal agencies must temporarily pause all activities related to obligation or disbursement of all Federal financial assistance, and other relevant agency activities that may be implicated by the executive orders..." Vaeth wrote.Illinois was the first state to report that it had lost access to Medicaid. According to the Chicago Sun-Times, Gov. JB Pritzker's office expected the freeze to go into effect at 5 pm Eastern Time today but found the state locked out this morning. The Times noted that Medicaid covered about 3.9 million people in Illinois in 2023, including low-income adults, children, pregnant people, and people with disabilities.In a post Tuesday afternoon on the social media platform Bluesky, Senator Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) reported that all 50 states have since lost access. "My staff has confirmed reports that Medicaid portals are down in all 50 states following last night's federal funding freeze," Wyden wrote. "This is a blatant attempt to rip away health care from millions of Americans overnight and will get people killed."Around the same time, Senator Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) posted on social media site X that his state, too, had lost access. "Can confirm. Connecticuts Medicaid payment system has been turned off," he wrote. "Doctors and hospitals cannot get paid. Discussions ongoing about whether services can continue."As of October 2024, Medicaid provided health coverage to over 79 million people across all 50 states and the District of Columbia. Of those, over 37 million (47 percent) were childrenenrolled in either Medicaid's Childrens Health Insurance Programs (CHIP) or enrolled in the Medicaid program.According to a 2023 analysis by KFF, Medicaid provides a critical safety net to a significant swath of Americans. In 2021, Medicaid covered 1 in 4 children and 8 in 10 children in poverty. It covered 1 in 6 adults and about half of adults in poverty. Medicaid paid for 41 percent of births in the US, covered nearly half of all children with special health care needs, and supported 5 in 8 nursing home residents.According to Reuters, the White House has said that mandatory programs such as Medicaid and Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) food assistance would be exempt from the freeze. In a briefing Tuesday, reporters asked White House spokesperson Karoline Leavitt about whether Medicaid was cut off as part of a funding pause and whether she could guarantee that individuals on Medicaid would not be affected. Leavitt responded: "I'll check back on that and get back to you."Beth MoleSenior Health ReporterBeth MoleSenior Health Reporter Beth is Ars Technicas Senior Health Reporter. Beth has a Ph.D. in microbiology from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and attended the Science Communication program at the University of California, Santa Cruz. She specializes in covering infectious diseases, public health, and microbes. 262 Comments

Squid ScrapperNo Man's Sky's Worlds Part 2 update brings "billions of new stars and planets" including huge gas giants, but I'm curious about the wrath of its trippy flying squid mumsLook, all those new worlds can wait, I'm off fishing and I may never return.Image credit: Hello Games News by Mark Warren Senior Staff Writer Published on Jan. 29, 2025 Hey, No Man's Sky developer Hello Games has just deployed the second part of the huge Worlds update it served up the first bit of last year. Just because it's only part 2 of an update, don't let that convince you it's missable, there are "billions of new stars and planets" packed into it, as well as trippy wrathful squid things that I find pretty interesting.Alongside Worlds part one, NMS got a whole bunch of other interesting updates over the course of 2024, bringing stuff like fishing, and the return of the Normandy from Mass Effect. It's certainly cool to see the game get closer and closer to properly fulfilling the promise that caused all that hype around its release back in, er, I'll not tell you so you don't feel old.To see this content please enable targeting cookies. As outlined in the blog post about the Worlds update part 2, it brings "billions of new stars and planets" to the game, including new gas giants and purple-class stars, boasting more advanced and detailed features as Hello Games continues to push the technical envelope."Gas giants are truly epic, ten times bigger than our biggest planet," said Hello founder Sean Murray, "Its truly end-game stuff to explore them with huge storms that rage across the surface. New tech allows oceans that can be several kilometers deep.Watch on YouTube"A new lighting system makes them look so different. New caustics, light shafts and the deeper that you explore the darker it gets. Ive had these moments where youre exploring and suddenly some huge creature comes into view and its just incredible. Every element of our lighting has been rewritten."Murray adds that: "Theres this huge quest that ties together some strands that weve been building for years. Weve got an expedition that takes you on a tour of all the new worlds that were building and its got some incredible rewards."Here's the thing through, I'm more interested in this one new thing I've spotted in the blog post. They're called Deepwater Guardians, and as you can see below, they look to be trippy flying squid things that can now show up after you do some dredging in a sea, to beat you up in revenge for their "watery children". So, yup vengeful, trippy squid mums that glow blue and fly about. Help! Vengeful, trippy squid mum alert! | Image credit: Hello Games"In the depths of the ocean and on land theres these new creatures to discover. I think weve gone probably weirder than ever before," Murray said. Aye, quite.Are you weirdly curious about invoking the wrath of a Deepwater Guardian? Or will you be exploring the new planets like a normal person? Let us know below!

Get Your PassportYes, Shadow's love for telenovelas in Sonic the Hedgehog 3 is because of that one meme, and no, I don't understand why the Sonic fandom is like this eitherNo judgement here, though.Image credit: Paramount/ Sega News by Oisin Kuhnke Contributor Published on Jan. 29, 2025 Every Sonic fan knows that Shadow loves Latinas, and as it turns out, so does the director of the films.Where do I even start with this one? Shadow the Hedgehog loves Latinas. This is a character trait decided upon by fans, thanks in part to a TikTok edit, that later blew up even more on YouTube thanks to a meme dub based on a viral Twitter post. If this sounds particularly on brand for the Sonic fandom, you would be dead right, but even if I (a Sonic fan, to boot) might not understand it, I will not judge it. Why am I bringing all this up? Well, the tiniest of spoiler warnings I guess, but there's a small running gag in Sonic the Hedgehog 3 that starts with Eggman watching a dramatic Latin American soap opera, which later loops back around to Shadow watching a different episode of the show and getting super invested in it. It's funny!To see this content please enable targeting cookies. When I saw the film, I thought it was just a funny coincidence with the meme, but as it turns out, it's actually a subtle reference to the meme. Now that the film is out digitally, you can also watch it with a commentary track from director Jeff Fowler and voice of Sonic, Ben Schwartz. And in the clip, Fowler shared that Shadow's love of telenovelas does come from the meme everybody knows and loves. "Shadow loves Latinas, that's another meme we found a place for in the movie," Fowler said, with Schwartz immediately asking what he meant by that. To see this content please enable targeting cookies."Shadow loves Latinas, it's true, you can Google it after we finish," Fowler continued. "Half the time, we fire away at these things it's just magic, these opportunities to honor what fans know and love and the memes they know and love. It just falls in our lap - and we love it." I guess you can start placing your bets as to what memes get referenced in Sonic 4 (which just recently got a release date).

Image: Digital EclipseIf you have been holding off picking up last year's Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: Rita's Rewind until a boxed edition punched its way into view, you're in luck! Today, Digital Eclipse has announced just that, with a Standard and Deluxe edition available to pre-order right now.According to the publisher's announcement on BlueSky, both boxed copies are set to release on 30th May and can currently be found on the Atari website.The Standard edition ($34.99) is the straightforward option for those who just want a box to put on the shelf, but the Deluxe option ($49.99) packs in some more merch for the mightiest fans out there. This beefier version includes a steelbook case, a 3D lenticular postcard, a poster showing the Rangers in action and a pack of six collectable pixel art trading cards, all bundled up in a larger collector's box. Nice.Subscribe to Nintendo Life on YouTube794kWatch on YouTube You wanted it, you got it! #RitasRewind physical copies are coming for Switch & PS5 on May 30, 2025. Preorders for the Standard & Deluxe editions start today -- secure yours at atari.com/collections/... or your retailer of choice!www.digitaleclipse.com/media/pre-or... Digital Eclipse (@digitaleclipse.bsky.social) 2025-01-29T14:07:26.938ZIf you're a beat 'em up fan who missed out on this one last year, we'd give Rita's Rewind a firm recommend. We described the latest adventure as "probably the best Power Rangers game weve ever played" in our review, praising the nostalgic charm, lengthy campaign and Digital Eclipse's eye for detail. Mighty, indeed. What is it with you hero types? Always the same lineWill you be picking up the Rita's Rewind physical later this year? Let us know in the comments.[source atari.com, via bsky.app]Related GamesSee AlsoShare:01 Jim came to Nintendo Life in 2022 and, despite his insistence that The Minish Cap is the best Zelda game and his unwavering love for the Star Wars prequels (yes, really), he has continued to write news and features on the site ever since. Hold on there, you need to login to post a comment...Related ArticlesNintendo Expands Switch Online's SNES Library With Three More TitlesIncluding a special Super Famicom release...Opinion: My Daughter Made Me Realise That Mario Wonder's Difficulty Options Need WorkYoshi or Nabbit, make your choiceRandom: Donkey Kong Country's Artist Reacts To Nintendo's Redesign"Everything changes!"Sega Launches Its Own Free Account Service With Unique Member RewardsSign up! Y'know, if you wantXenoblade Chronicles X: Definitive Edition Metal Poster Pre-Order Bonus RevealedAvailable now in the US

Captured on Nintendo Switch (Docked)A few years ago, developers Adglobe and Live Wire (which, fun fact, also developed Harvestella) released a Metroidvania called Ender Lilies: Quietus of the Knights to high praise. Combining a heavy atmosphere with tough, Soulslike combat in a dark fantasy world, it stood out as a notably quality addition to a genre that feels like it gets at least one new entry every week. The sequel, Ender Magnolia: Bloom in the mist, is a strong iteration on its predecessor's formula. It's everything a Metroidvania should be and, even if its not exactly revolutionary, it executes its vision well.Ender Magnolia is set a number of years after Ender Lilies, placing you in the role of Lilac, a young girl who awakens from a long slumber in a strange and decaying world. Whats left of society is occupied by two different races: humans and the creepy machines called Homunculi. Some Homunculi could easily pass as human while others have much more monstrous or animalistic traits, and all are susceptible to corruption from a mysterious mist called fumes. Luckily, Lilac happens to be an Attunersomeone who can directly purify corrupted Homunculiso you set out on a journey to uncover her lost memories and do what you can to set the world straight.Captured on Nintendo Switch (Handheld/Undocked)Much akin to genre peers such as Hollow Knight, a lot of the story here is inferred and pieced together via environmental clues and item descriptions. Some may wish for a more straightforward narrative, but we felt that the developers did a great job of balancing the worldbuilding herethe world always feels mysterious, but not to the point of being completely unreliable.The only point against the story, and really this is more of a nitpick, is that it can feel a little too angsty at times. You can only encounter so many NPCs that are either cynical, self-loathing, or utterly depressed before the melancholic atmosphere starts to feel a little too heavy-handed. Still, its an enjoyable enough narrative that perfectly supports the excellent game design.Gameplay is nothing you havent seen before, but what it lacks in innovation it comfortably makes up for in polish. The standard Metroidvania structure is played straight here, tasking you with exploring a sprawling, nonlinear world stuffed with all kinds of collectibles and upgrades that grant boons to your combat or exploration abilities.Captured on Nintendo Switch (Handheld/Undocked)While exploration always feels like the main focus, combat notably plays more of a role when compared to many genre peers, with a Soulslike tinge to the way youre encouraged to approach each conflict (more on that later). It all comes together impressively well, making for an addictive and rewarding gameplay experience that stands out in this crowded genre.Much of what makes exploration in Ender Magnolia so enjoyable is its focus on mobility and true nonlinearity. It's not a game where you can easily get lost, but youre usually given more than one route to follow, granting options if the enemies and bosses of a given area are above your current skill level. Wherever you choose to go, theres always something worthwhile to ferret out, whether a flat upgrade to your health or a new relic you can later equip when you find the next checkpoint.Naturally, you acquire more movement abilities as you progress, giving you new ways to traverse obstacles and granting you some additional combat utility. You unlock a double jump and air dash relatively early on, which can be used both to help you reach distant ledges that were once beyond your reach and give you more manoeuvrability in combat.Captured on Nintendo Switch (Handheld/Undocked)That combat takes a rather measured approach that favours learning your opponents moves and waiting for openings to present themselves. Most enemies eyes will flash red to tip you off that an attack is coming, and you have a wealth of attacks to respond with that can be somewhat stacked to maximise damage. Alongside your typical melee combo, you can also trigger cooldown attacks, lay down some support fire with ranged attacks, and have a hovering satellite nearby that independently dishes out some pain.It all lands right in that sweet spot of feeling suitably challenging without being overly frustrating or discouraging. You have all the tools you need for success, but just mashing and refusing to learn a new boss attack patterns will almost always result in getting sent back to the last checkpoint. Even outside boss rooms, common enemies hit hard and can gang up on you if youre not careful, making the push for the next checkpoint fraught with tension as you eye your dwindling potion supply.Character progression is handled via a mixture of RPG-lite elements and simple exploration, giving you a decent amount of agency to work out a build. Levelling up from combat will give you simple stat buffs across the board, and you can bolster this by finding more pickups in your travels or donning relics that give you passives on top of minor stat boosts. Considering the limited space for equippable relics, you have to consider your playstyle and what abilities will give you the most utility.Captured on Nintendo Switch (Docked)Each weapon also has a few different forms, such as your primary being either a slow and heavy axe, a quick and scrappy scythe, or a sword that falls somewhere between the two. New forms are unlocked through pickups as you explore and defeat bosses, and your favoured forms can then be upgraded to increase their potency. We appreciated the flexibility that this character growth system offers, as it caters to a variety of playstyles without bogging you down with too many distinct options.Part of what makes Ender Magnolia so enjoyable is the attention paid to various quality-of-life features that make the gameplay flow much smoother. Backtracking as you gain new powers is a feature of the genre and Ender Magnolia supports you by allowing quick and generous fast travel and by colouring in areas of the map which youve already fully emptied of secrets.Features such as this may not sound like a big deal, but they make it clear that the developers put a lot of thought into the end-user experience and worked to reduce or eliminate as many friction points as possible. This is the sort of game that you sit down to play for 15 minutes and then realise an hour has passed, and much of that comes down to its ability to minimise frustration and keep you immersed.Captured on Nintendo Switch (Handheld/Undocked)As for its visuals, Ender Magnolia reminds us a bit of a grimdark take on Vanillawares iconic art style, seen in games such as Unicorn Overlord. The hand-drawn nature of the cutesy-but-creepy graphics stands out among genre peers, and though many environments can get a little too similar with all the takes on the smoggy, decrepit aesthetic, some biomes find colourful and interesting ways of bucking the trend. Perhaps best of all, everything runs at a buttery smooth 60fps in both docked and handheld, an absolute must for a game that demands this level of precision in combat.Going right along with the dark and sad vibe of the visuals is a soundtrack that equally sounds heavy. The soft piano notes and strings present in most tracks maintain an atmosphere of contemplation and mourning, as you explore this ruined world. Some of the tracks naturally play up the wonderment or ratchet up the energy a little bit, but the audio makes it clear that this game isnt meant to have a fun vibe in the same way as something like Guacamelee or one of the Shantae games.

UVeye started as a play to scan cars for security threats, but the Israeli startup really hit its stride when its founders realized the AI-powered computer vision systems could perform more typical vehicle inspections.Now, the company is evolving its funding strategy. UVeye announced Wednesday morning a $191 million extension to its 2023 Series D round led by Toyotas Woven Capital growth fund. The round includes a mix of $41 million in equity financing with participation from UMC Capital and MyBerg and a $150 million debt facility structured by Trinity Capital.Were installing at quite a lot of locations, and were getting a lot of data, and weve signed some very strategic deals in the past year, and we have, right now, more demand than we can actually support, UVeye CEO and co-founder Amir Hever told TechCrunch in an interview. So theres a need to be able to fund more systems, deploy more units, and scale really, really quickly.The debt includes a $100 million initial commitment and an option for an additional $50 million, and will help UVeye deploy close to 700 of its inspection systems in 2025, Hever said.The systems which cars can drive through and use cameras to scan the undercarriage, exterior, and interior have been popular with customers that include Amazon, CarMax (which invested in the 2023 Series D), and even car dealers and manufacturers.Hever said working with those customers has influenced the evolution of UVeyes tech and business model. The company was initially focused on a cars undercarriage, since it was trying to modernize roadside security screenings. But customers started asking for the ability to inspect things like tire wear, or scan the cars exterior for damage.It was kind of a step-by-step [process] to really understand the market needs, and how they are inspecting vehicles today, and how we can help them to be more efficient, to increase their revenue, to support our business, Hever said.Now, Hever said, UVeye is scanning nearly one million cars per month.

Lily Vittayarukskul was studying aerospace engineering when her aunt was diagnosed with terminal colon cancer. Her aunt had lived under the same roof as Vittayarukskul while she was growing up and helped raise her. We went all in on her care, she recalled.Post-chemotherapy, Vittayarukskuls aunt became very frail, so her family originally from Cambodia navigated about two and half years of her daily long-term care needs. It wiped us out financially, she told TechCrunch.The emotional and financial impact was so traumatic that it prompted Vittayarukskul to pivot her studies to genetic and data science.Ultimately, she founded Waterlily, a now four-year-old, San Francisco startup aimed at helping individuals and advisors navigate long -term care options by modeling costs and funding strategies. Its goal, according to Vittayarukskul, is to make it easier for financial advisors and insurance agents to recommend the right financial products based on a familys predicted long-term care needs.Explained Vittayarukskul, Usually individuals start to think about long-term care when theyre between the ages of 65 and 70, or just when they need it. But in many cases, that can be too late.Waterlily uses artificial intelligence to predict a familys future long-term care needs and costs and then guides them in building a care plan and figuring out the right way to pay for it, Vittayarukskul told TechCrunch. That might mean buying life insurance with a long-term care rider, purchasing a dedicated LTC policy, using annuities, or simply self-funding.Waterlilys predictive AI can be used for any individual over 40.The company pulls from over 500 million data points and machine learning algorithms using its AI modeling software in an effort to make highly personalized care and cost predictions and forecast the when, how, and how much of someones potential long-term care needs.We have formal data-sharing agreements with long-term care providers, government databases, academic research studies, and individual users these include the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services and the Federal Long Term Care Insurance Program and were finalizing similar contracts with insurance carriers to securely ingest their anonymized data, Vittayarukskul said.Vittayarukskul initially started Waterlily as a solo founder until Evan Ehrenberg, a small angel investor, came along. Ehrenberg who had previously founded and sold Clara Health helped with early research, and was struck by the industrys response. Curious, he tested the platform himself and was shocked by his long-term care predictions so much so that he changed his diet, hired a personal trainer, and updated his financial plans.That experience pulled him in deeper. He saw parallels between long-term care and issues hed encountered in clinical trials. Clara Health had helped tens of thousands of patients find trials, but he also saw how many turned to them not for cutting-edge treatments, but for generic copycats of existing drugs because insurance wouldnt cover the name-brand drugs they needed. Long-term care brought a similar realization health insurance doesnt cover it, and many are unprepared for the financial burden, noted Vittayarukskul.After six months of working together, we knew it was a great fit and made him a co-founder, she said.Ehrenbergs own backstory is interesting: After graduating from UC Berkeley at 16, he became MITs youngest neuroscience Ph.D. Today, he also serves as Waterlilys chief operating officer.Standing out in a complicated spaceOther tools exist that help with long-term planning, but Vittayarukskul believes they differ from Waterlilys more personalized offering. Genworths cost of care calculator, for example, shows zip-code averages. NaviPlan, eMoney, MoneyGuidePro, and RightCapital are broader financial-planning platforms that include basic long-term care modules or cost calculators as one of their multiple functions.According to her, While these tools help advisors model retirement and insurance scenarios, their LTC assumptions are typically driven by national averages or Monte Carlo simulations in order to stress-test financial planning by introducing noise into a basic default simulation. Waterlily, by contrast, blends deep predictive modeling with an easy-to-use platform.Waterlily only launched its platform publicly in March of 2024 so it doesnt have year-over-year metrics yet, but Vittayarukskul told TechCrunch the startups monthly recurring revenue (MRR) today is greater than 22x what it was after its first month in the market. And, she said, its average month-over-month MRR growth since its launch has been 58%.The company currently has eight major enterprise customers, including Prudential and several other Fortune 100 insurance carriers. There are also hundreds of independent financial advisors and insurance agents who use Waterlily, according to Vittayarukskul. Its revenue model is SaaS-based, with the company charging $250 per advisor or agent seat per month.And now the startup has raised $7 million in seed funding led byWaterlily plans to use its new capital, which was raised via a SAFE, to build out its engineering data science and enterprise management teams, as well as to continue strengthening its AI models and data partnerships. It also plans to increase its sales and marketing efforts.Presently, the startup has 9 full-time employees in addition to contractors.Looking ahead, Waterlily is looking at disability, critical illness, hospital indemnity and Medicare planning, or really any area where advanced predictive modeling would help families make better life and health coverage decisions, Vittayarukskul said.The company says it is also receiving interest from insurance carriers that want to use its data in underwriting. It potentially might expand internationally as well to Canada, the UK and parts of Asia.Investor Kim, who is also former president of New York Life, told TechCrunch that he put money into Waterlily because he believes it is the first AI native guidance tool to assist in the single largest need as Americans age.He added: LTC insurance is a large and growing need, and largely underserved by trusted advisors today. Waterlilys guidance tool has no comparable offering. It provides a customized and personalized recommendation for ones LTC needs. I believe it will be a game changer for the LTC insurance marketplace.Want more fintech news in your inbox? Sign up for TechCrunch Fintechhere.Want to reach out with a tip? Email me atmaryann@techcrunch.comor send me a message on Signal at 408.204.3036. You can also send a note to the whole TechCrunch crew attips@techcrunch.com. For more secure communications,click here to contact us, which includes SecureDrop and links to encrypted messaging apps.

Breakdown & ShowreelsDune Prophecy: VFX Breakdown by Important Looking PiratesBy Vincent Frei - 29/01/2025 In Dune: Prophecy, Wallach IX isnt just a settingits a character. Thanks to the artistry of Important Looking Pirates, this iconic world bursts to life with breathtaking detail and cinematic brilliance. Prepare to be captivated by the home planet of the Bene Gesserit as youve never imagined it before!WANT TO KNOW MORE?Important Looking Pirates: Dedicated page about Dune: Prophecy on Important Looking Pirates website.Mike Enriquez & Terron Pratt: Heres my interview of Production VFX Supervisor Mike Enriquez and VFX Producer Terron Pratt. Vincent Frei The Art of VFX 2025