Theres never been a better time to curl up with a book that can transport you someplace more wondrous, strange, or exciting. This year will see some big releases from established bestsellers, like a Cosmere short story collection from Brandon Sanderson, and V.E. Schwabs Sapphic vampire epic Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil. There are also a few rumors swirling about, but no confirmed release dates for some hotly anticipated sequels and prequels, including James Islingtons second Hierarchy novel and and a Witcher prequel from Andrzej Sapkowski featuring a teenaged Geralt, already published in Poland late last year.*Fantastical mysteries are having a moment, whether you like them gritty or cozy, including Emily Paxmans Death on the Caldera. But perhaps your preferred flavor of fantasy is much darker. There are some incredible, creepy gothic fantasies coming this year from masters of the dark fiction, including Cassandra Khaws The Library at Hellebore (in a gorgeous deluxe edition, no less) and Leech author Hiron Ennes rat-infested, unhinged latest, The Works of Vermin.Romantasy is still producing the biggest bestsellers with the most gorgeous covers and decorative edges and shows no signs of going away. Rebecca Yarros Fourth Wing sequel Onyx Storm was definitely 2025s most anticipated release, but, as it came out in January the wait is over. But Den of Geek has a list of more upcoming fantasy books that shouldnt be missed.*Note: No, no confirmed Winds of Winter update from George R. R. Martin, but we admire your optimism!The River Has Roots by Amal Al-MohtarMarch 4, TordotcomFans of the bestselling Hugo Award-winning novella This is How You Lose the Time War have been dying to read Amal Al-Mohtars debut solo novel, and with good reason. This fantasy novel is just as compulsively readable, tender, and lyrical as one would hope. The small village of Thistleford sits on the river Liss and on the edge of Faerie. Two sisters, Esther and Ysabel, tend enchanted willow trees and share a powerful bond, until their world gets upended by a Fae lover. Al-Mohtar is a true poet and this enthralling story of sisterhood, song, and riddles will cast a spell over fans of Holly Black and Alix E. Harrow. And can we spare a moment to swoon for that cover?A Drop of Corruption by Robert Jackson BennettApril 1, Del ReyLikely the most popular detective-fantasy mash-up in some time, A Drop of Corruption can stand on its own or be read as a follow-up to 2024s The Tainted Cup. Ana Dolabra is a clever and tenacious investigator called to unravel a locked room mystery at the behest of the Empire. The Empire itself is crumbling at the seams and Ana may have backed into the jaws of a plot to control the true power behind the Empire, stopping its magic altogether. At Anas side, as ever, is the Watson to her Sherlock: the skeptical and loveable disaster bisexual, Dinios Koll. Ana and Din are immensely entertaining and Bennett keeps the surprises and laughs frequent. Expect lots of twists and turns, and youll likely be among the fans salivating for the next installment, too.Sour Cherry by Natalia TheodoridouApril 1st, Tin HouseIs it fantasy or is it horror? Theodoridous distressing retelling of the famous French folktale Bluebeard straddles that line and does so in the good company of writers like Kelly Link and Angela Carter. This is definitely on the more literary side of the spectrum, too. (Dialogue without quotation marks isnt for everyone, but its really not that hard to grow accustomed to, we swear.) A little boy from a grand manor house grows up under a horrible curse. Everything in his path dies, including all of his wives many of whom are left in his wake as a chorus of the dead. Hearing about their brief lives is a particularly heartbreaking element. Theodoridou examines domestic violence, the excuses society makes for abusive men, and generational trauma made quite literal. This is a vicious, beautiful piece of work that will cling to you like a ghost.When the Tides Held the Moon by Venessa Vida KelleyApril 29th, ErewhonJoin our mailing listGet the best of Den of Geek delivered right to your inbox!Set in 1911 New York, this debut novel from illustrator Kelley is about as close to contemporary as any of the other books on this list. Benny Caldera is an orphaned blacksmith from Puerto Rico who is working on a very special, very secret project at Coney Island. A sideshow proprietor has commissioned the lonely young man to make an exhibit case for Ro, a merman caught in the East River. What man and merman find in each other is love and a hope for building a real life together or perhaps Benny is selfish to want to keep Ro in easy reach. This sweet, tear-jerking love story is perfect for fans of T.J. Klunes The House by the Cerulean Sea and for anyone who cried over The Shape of Water (of course.) The first edition hardcover also contains delicately beautiful illustrations by the author.The Devils by Joe AbercrombieMay 13, TorBritish author Joe Abercrombie (The First Law Trilogy and Red Country) is getting some fantastic early praise from bestselling authors including Pierce Brown and Anthony Ryan. Set in a fantastical alternate Europe, where a Vatican-like City contains court intrigue and, you guessed it, devils, Abercromie has crafted his biggest story yet. Tasked with putting a thief on the throne and ripping the powerful church apart, a priest is given a flock of convicted murderers, insane necromancers, demons, and new best friends? Its a grimdark fantasy Suicide Squad full of clever jokes, characters who make a lot of bloody mistakes, and a jewelboxs worth of gems about making a bitter world a better home. Fans of First Law know Abercrombie is great at keeping a plot moving and he levels up here by keeping such a large ensemble cast both memorable and clear in purpose. Expect this to be getting a lot of excited fan discussions going all summer.The Knight & the Moth by Rachel GilligMay 20, OrbitAnother book to judge by its absolutely gorgeous cover, this romantasy from a bestselling BookTok author is full of atmosphere, commitment to its lore of Diviner prophetesses and heretics, and full of twists and sexual tension. When her sister Diviners go missing from their shadowy cloister, Sibyl must team up with a blasphemous and frustratingly handsome knight to get to the bottom of the mystery. You only think you know whatll happen between the two, and the ending will have you begging for more. Also: theres a snarky gargoyle sidekick that really brings the laughs to some very heavy scenes. If you think you dont like romantasy, Gilligs skill with characters, world-building, and conflict are more foregrounded here than in her previous books, and can make even the most cynical fantasy fan grin. And, yeah, maybe even swoon.A Song of Legends Lost by M.H. AyindeJune 3, SagaLondon-born author Ayinde makes her novel debut with this truly epic fantasy, the kind that has a map and a large cast of characters in the front. Buckle up and get on this hype train early. The basics: The Kingdom of Nine Lands had a rebellion of greyblood servants that was squashed by a warrior king millennia ago. But the greybloods still exist in their Feverlands and now the warrior kings descendants can call upon their ancestors to go into battle with them. Temi, a young commoner, accidentally summons something that could help her people end this war for good or this spirit could have its own plans. Ayinde keeps deft control of a very large cast, multiple narrative points of view, and a ton of meaty world-building perfect for fans of Brandon Sandersons Stormlight Archive and the dazzling combat of the Final Fantasy games.July 8th, SagaThe realms of Day and Night share a hazy border in Naples, Italy in this buzzy fantasy debut. Oriana lives in a city of Day, controlled by seven immortals who wield fate like a weapon. She waits for the day she can become a smith like her father, but her father has given the business to her twin brother instead. In this border town, men tell tales of Nights beasts and men traveling unchecked after dark. But few know that Oriana has been to Night herself, when she accidentally ended up in the titular secret market of the dead. Determined to take charge of her own destiny, she challenges her siblings to outwit her for her fathers forge and must call on the denizens of Night to help her seal her own fate or die trying. This is De Feos English language debut, having previously written comic books in Italy, including Dylan Dog, the source for 90s cult horror film fave, Cemetery Man.Red City by Marie LuOctober 14th, TorLu might be familiar to fans of her work on the Batman: Nightwalker comics and her bestselling young adult Legends series. Those YA legions of fans are certainly screaming for Lus adult fantasy debut. Set in a Los Angeles full of alchemy and an escalating gang war, two old friends find themselves on opposite sides. Sam, a girl from the lower rungs of society, dreams of becoming a major player in Grand Central, while Ari apprentices for the rival Lumines. Both will become alchemists and transform in ways beyond their wildest imaginings, but the costs will be heavy and Angel City could very well fall from grace. Hyped as The Magicians meets The Godfather, expect to get lost in grit and glamor, and struggle to pick a side in a battle where every soldier can be your favorite.

In this 3 part Blender tutorial series Ryan King creates this stylized low poly forest river animation.Source

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Oscar-winning VFX supervisor Steve Preeg joins Chris Nichols for CG Garages 500th episode! From virtual production to real-time rendering and AI in filmmakinghow has VFX evolved? Lets dive in.Steve Preeg was one of the first guests interviewed for CG Garage, and it is fitting that he would return to celebrate the remarkable milestone of the podcasts 500th episode! To walk down memory lane, have a listen to episode 3 here. What has changed since the days of working on land usage cases, legal animation, Tupac holograms, and digital humans for films like The Curious Case of Benjamin Button and Tron: Legacy? Dive into the 500th episode recap to find out.Memories made and collected: Chris Nichols captures the artistic spirit of each CG Garage guest with the snap of a Polaroid.SummaryIn the past decade, Steve shares that the VFX industry has evolved with virtual production, broader use, but also greater audience scrutiny, making careful planning essential to enhancing storytelling.Real-time rendering enhances pre-vis and post-vis by creating a more polished look earlier in production, reducing reliance on render farms for background elements, and accelerating the animation approval process.AI is rapidly evolving in filmmaking, making tools more accessible and enabling individual creators to generate entire films, though authentic artistic storytelling will remain essential.Newcomers should embrace new technologies, understand filmmaking language, and ensure their visual effects work aligns with the directors vision and overall story.Career transition from Digital Domain to MPCVFX Supervisor Steve Preeg transitioned from Digital Domain to MPC following his work on Cats. He then worked on Call of the Wild before embracing Rescue Rangers for its ambitious script and extensive VFX, including 1,200 unique characters and a late-stage human-to-cartoon transformation.Visual effects: Changes in the last 10 yearsSteve reflects on how VFX was so challenging in the past that every shot had to be meticulously planned in advance. This is not the case nowadays. Of course, now, with virtual production, everyone is aware of its many advantages but forgets that it requires earlier decision-makinga critical step that many people dislike. In his view, poor decision-making and being rushed are essentially what affect the quality of visual effects. Weak storytelling also often leads to misplaced blame on the visual effects team.Weve given directors so much freedom that now they think, Lets not write the third act until were in post and realize how we want the movie to end.Steve Preeg, VFX SupervisorIn addition, audiences have become more critical of visual effects, often focusing on minor flaws instead of appreciating the overall story. Steve likens this to focusing on a single tree rather than being in awe of the entire forest.Todays audience is obsessed with picking apart pixels instead of watching the story. Nobody looked at Jason and the Argonauts and asked, Is that a real Cyclops? They just enjoyed the story.Steve Preeg, VFX SupervisorReal-time rendering in action: Use case examplesReal-time rendering can be utilized in both pre-visualization (pre-vis) and post-visualization (post-vis) to achieve a more polished appearance earlier in the production process. It offers valuable benefits, such as reducing the load on render farms by rendering background elements in real-time and significantly speeding up the animation approval process.With real-time rendering, you could have something that looks like a cohesive film all the way from pre-vis rather than having gray-shaded playblasts and post-vis that looks really funky. You could start crafting the film.Steve Preeg, VFX SupervisorSteve gives the example of a scene in Rescue Rangers where the director chose to edit first and animate later, a process he found unusual. After editing, the director saw the completed animation and realized the emotional depth it added made the scene feel overly drawn out when combined with music. This forced a late-stage edit, frustrating the VFX team. Steve highlights this as a challenge in filmmaking.Directors often lack a way to visualize animated performances fully early on, making it difficult to structure scenes confidently without second-guessing. He suggests that real-time rendering could help bridge this gap by providing a more accurate preview, reducing the need for last-minute adjustments.Whats fascinating is that the challenge of visualizing animations early on to prevent high costs isnt limited to just VFX. Brick Visual, a leader in archviz, has significantly reduced iteration times by embracing real-time rendering to create high-quality animations with real-time ray tracing. Their workflow is a great example of how real-time tools like Vantage enhance storytelling while maintaining visual fidelity.AI in filmmakingAI tools are advancing rapidly, and Steve acknowledges that they will likely play a significant role in the future of filmmaking. Their potential uses include making the filmmaking process and tools more accessible to creators worldwide and enabling individuals with great ideas to generate entire films on their own, much like what open-source filmmaking has done but on a whole other level.AI is coming. You can either embrace it or stand in front of the tidal wave and drown In a few years, people will be making entire movies with AI from their basements.Steve Preeg, VFX SupervisorDespite this, its important to note that film genres are ever-evolving, and new authentic stories are essentialartists dedicated to creating highly specific content will always be in demand.To learn more about how Chaos plans to implement ethically sound machine learning and AI in its future visualization projects, listen to CG Garage episode 473, in which Dan Ring, Senior Machine Learning Team Lead, goes into generative AI, Gaussian Splats, NeRFs, and more!Advice for newcomers to the industrySteves primary advice to aspiring VFX artists is to be open to learning and understanding the language of film and filmmaking. They should understand how their work fits into the overall story and try their best to grasp the directors vision and what is expected of them.Embrace new toolsets, even if you dont like thempull a Phil Tippett And more important than understanding VFX is understanding the language of film and storytelling.Steve Preeg, VFX SupervisorWhat does the future of VFX look like?When asked about the future of VFX and what the industry should focus on going forward, Steve shares that collaboration is key. Directors and DPs should have greater control over visual effects, and they should remember that VFX is a hammer, not a Swiss Army knife. We dont need to eliminate VFX, but we definitely need to reevaluate the way we use it and integrate it more intelligently.Virtual production is at your fingertips.Explore Chaos Arena.Learn more

In just a few days, France will host the Artificial Intelligence Action Summit, with heads of state flocking to Paris to meet global tech leaders. Theyll most likely announce some big investments and diplomatic agreements focused on safety or the environmental impact of artificial intelligence.Ahead of the summit, early-stage VC firm Galion.exe, growth investment firm Revaia, and advisory firm Chausson Partners teamed up to create the French AI Report, which looks at the current trends in the tech ecosystem.While all eyes are currently on the U.S. and China with OpenAI looking to raise tens of billions of dollars and DeepSeek capturing everyones attention, there has been a boom in AI startups in Europe, too. In 2024 alone, AI companies represented around 20% of all VC funding in the region.In total, that represents around $8 billion in funding for AI startups in 2024. That metric is most likely going to grow rapidly, as AI startups are still relatively young. Seventy percent of the capital raised by AI startups in 2024 was for a seed to Series B round.European countries that tend to attract VC funding in general have also become the main AI investment hubs, with the U.K. leading the group, France and Germany following suit, and the Nordics punching above its demographic weight. Heres the breakdown from 2020 to 2024:Interestingly, as AI companies become bigger, they tend to attract international investors, with U.S. VC firms accounting for around 50% of money invested in AI companies at the Series C round and later.In France more specifically, there are more than 750 startups that have created 35,000 jobs and operate in all areas that are transforming todays society, Minister Delegate for artificial intelligence and digital technologies Clara Chappaz said at a press conference.She also mentioned that there are 2,000 scientists focused on AI research and 600 doctorate students working on artificial intelligence. And you may have noticed that there are quite a few French engineers and researchers working for AI companies in the U.S., too.The team behind the French AI Report looked more closely at the top 400 AI startups in France and tried to identify the rising stars. While Mistral AI and Poolside are already some familiar names for readers who have followed the AI industry, the vast majority of AI startups arent working on the next foundation model.On the infrastructure front, some companies are optimizing the data workflows and pipelines, such as Linkup and Kestra, or improving inference performance, such as ZML, or developing agents that can sift through large data sets and improve productivity. Dust is a good example of that.But the reality is that most AI startups in France are focusing on applications for specific verticals. Based on this report, two important areas for AI startups in France are health and climate.Owkin and its spin-off biotech company Bioptimus have been leading the pack on the health tech front, but its a surprisingly diverse group of companies with three big areas of interest: imaging tools, drug discovery, and medical treatment improvement.Similarly, while a large chunk of the AI industry is focused on productivity gains for office workers, artificial intelligence is also actively being used to build the next-generation of climate startups. In addition to agritech, carbon and energy management two topics that are related seem to be a big focus. There are also a handful of promising new materials companies that are emerging (Altrove, for instance).All the companies included in the list can be found here. Youll also find plenty of AI companies working on one job function sales, customer care, HR or legal and using AI to simplify the most common tasks.Of course, some companies arent going to be there in five years. But many of them are currently growing at a rapid pace. Were still at the beginning of the AI revolution, and though its easy to think about the AI industry as a zero-sum game with one country or one company winning over the others, it seems like the AI boom is more distributed than expected.

Hello everyone!Im a sound designer looking to collaborate with VFX artists by adding sound to your portfolio piecesfor free. I offer this because I love designing sound for isolated VFX. Also to expand my portfolio and connect with fellow creatives.If you are interested feel free to email meyoull find my contact info on my website: https://sergisabater.carrd.co/#freevfxHope to chat with some of you soon. Have a good one!

Additions to a cooperative housing block in Zrich by Ltjens Padmanabhan aim to extend the inhabitants existence, both in the building and on the planetIn 2007, French practice Lacaton & Vassal with Frdric Druot published Plus, a manifesto for never demolishing, never removing or replacing, but always adding, transforming and reusing. A cornerstone of their proposal was extending and adding balconies and winter gardens to postwar housing blocks a theory the architects went on to realise in three renovation projects, most famously at Grand Parc in Bordeaux in 2016. Balcony extensions were not invented by Lacaton & Vassal the augmentation of limited outdoor spaces, either formally or through more precarious or extralegal means, is nothing new but this work brought the potentially transformative impact of extending balconies on existing apartment buildings to international attention.If these vast, statefunded rehabilitation programmes have a distinctly French flavour, then the latest example by Ltjens Padmanabhan, in a peripheral district of Zrich, is decidedly Swiss. The modest ninestorey block is a far cry from the behemoths of Lacaton & Vassals Grand Parc, and the building is owned and managed by a nonprofit housing cooperative, rather than a state housing provider. In Zrich, nearly one in four dwellings is managed by a cooperative or public foundation; social housing owned by the state is rare. Inhabitants are active participants in the running of the building, rather than intermittently consulted and frequently dictated to, as is often the case for state social housing tenants.The apartment building is located in Hirzenbach, a garden suburb designed by the city architect Adolf Wasserfallen and built between 1955 and 1967, with gardens by landscape architect Willi Neukom. The neighbourhood was conceived as a mix of fourstorey collective villas, ninestorey blocks and a handful of 18 or 19storey towers, distributed like Lego blocks across a green blanket of parkland. Like the surrounding Schwamendingen district, the area was inhabited largely by Swiss workers employed in the local engineering industry.However, following the deindustrialisation of the city in the 1980s, many original residents moved away. Hirzenbach is not a wealthy neighbourhood; eight per cent of residents received welfare payments in 2023, double the citys average. The city has made attempts to rejuvenate the neighbourhood: Stettbach station was opened in 1990, connecting to Zrichs central station in 10 minutes, and a 2005 city directive advocated and offered guidance for the development of the Schwamendingen district. Today, the area is undergoing intense densification, with the population predicted to soar in the coming years. Rents are beginning to rise and many of the current residents are having to move further out of the city.In contrast, the co-operative on Hirzenbachstrae is committed to maintaining low rents but this has not manifested in a lack of investment. The building was extended in 2007; stacks of large kitchendiners were added to the two and threebedroom apartments facing the street, and the former kitchens were converted into large family bathrooms, to designs by KLP Architekten and at a cost of CHF10 million (around 9 million).Just over a decade later, in 2020, residents decided to extend again, launching an architectural competition which was won by Ltjens Padmanabhan. Their proposal extended the existing balconies by more than a metre to a generous depth of 2.2m. The added concrete slabs are supported by a galvanisedsteel armature of Isection columns, besides which silvery rainwater pipes snake to the ground. Balconies are efficiently separated by white metal dividers and the existing acidgreen awnings were preserved and moved outwards to the new balcony edge. Throughout the yearlong construction period, residents were able to remain in their homes.The new balustrades are formed from angled metal grilles, jutting out like the serrated edge of a grater. The decision was made by the members of cooperative a few months into the project, just before work had begun onsite, to add photovoltaic (PV) modules to the grilles an ambition which the design could gracefully adopt with few changes. The solar cells are set in a pattern that allows light through the glass around them, throwing op artesque shadows through the gridded balustrades. From across the garden that unfurls at the buildings base, the solar cells add a granular texture and rhythm to what otherwise appear as monumental bands stretching 65m across the building, like the slats of a monumental Venetian blind.The grilles could easily incorporate the solar panels, the inflection benefiting the PV systems efficiency though the 77 angle is far from the optimal angle of 39 at this latitude. The balconies also face west, rather than south. The array, in addition to a small existing PV installation on the roof, is estimated to generate 53,200kWh annually; a rough calculation indicates this could supply around 30 per cent of the electricity for the buildings 81 apartments.Coined Balkonkraftwerk (balcony power station), the addition of solar panels to existing balconies is enjoying a rise in popularity; to date, PVs have been installed on 1.5 million homes in Germany and are increasingly common in Spain, France, Italy and Poland though this phenomenon refers to plugin panels installed in individual properties, rather than the communal array in Hirzenbach. Solar power at any scale remains something of a novelty in Switzerland: of the electricity Switzerland produces, only six per cent is solar according to the International Energy Agencys latest figures; the majority is hydro or nuclear.As Daniel Knott has written in The Architectural Review, at a building scale, PV technology is not a silver bullet. PVs can contribute to an increased urban heat island (UHI) effect and can often be a missed opportunity for urban greening; in this case, the original plan to trail vegetation on the balustrades was shelved with the introduction of PVs, as it would interfere with the panels efficiency. In the leafy, periurban fringe of Zrich, this seems a compromise worth making for lower energy bills, and the carbon cost of producing the PVs (significantly, the processing of silicon) and constructing the concrete and steel armature on which to hang them, will be offset by the renewable energy they will produce within a few years. The carbon cost is dwarfed when compared with the emissions of demolishing the building and building a new one as the architects argue, the projects sustainability is contingent on extending the buildings functionality and usability.It is important, however, not to overlook the ecological damage caused by both PV manufacture and concrete and steel production, which cannot be offset. The possibility of constructing the balcony extensions out of timber was not entertained by the architects, opting for steel due to structural demands (the structure is 26m tall) and fire regulations, and concrete slabs as this was the simplest and structurally easiest. These materials withstand weather pressure the best, leading to a longer lifespan in Zrichs climate. Whether these reasons justify the use of highcarbon materials at this critical stage of the climate emergency remains contentious, and the fact that renewable materials are still not more forcibly encouraged in a city like Zrich is increasingly urgent and disappointing.The communal garden room was conceived as a hut in a clearing. The rippling fibre-cement board imitates the fabric of a marquee tent, while the acid-green door frames reference the green awnings on the buildingCredit:Philip HeckhausenIn contrast, the small garden room that also formed part of the project is largely built from timber. Conceived as a hut in a clearing, the structure borrows the language of modest, provisional periurban buildings part prefab Scout hut, part garden marquee, part woodcutters fairytale cottage. The tentlike illusion is aided by the corrugated fibrecement board walls which undulate like pleated curtains. The building nods knowingly to the 18thcentury socalled Guards Tent at Drottningholm Palace in Sweden, made of copper rather than the textile it imitates. At close quarters, the panels of fibre cement pull away at the corners, revealing the timber battens holding it together, like a house of cards that could be blown away in a strong gust.Inside, silver stripes and strings of lights drape down from the pitched timber ceiling like the inside of a circus tent. The corner of the enclosure holding a toilet and storage is fashioned into a green column that appears to hold up the tent like a maypole (it is in fact not loadbearing). The acidgreen column and door frames reference both the green awnings of its backdrop and, architect Oliver Ltjens suggests conspiratorially, James Stirlings Neue Staatsgalerie. The various whispered references are there for those in the know but perfectly enjoyable for those who are not. Some are accidental a neighbouring bike shed in the same corrugated fibrecement board is also inadvertently implicated in the joke.Inside, the festive atmosphere intensifies, with string lights and silver stripes emulating a circus tentCredit:Philip HeckhausenA paved area balloons out from the hut to accommodate overspilling festivities, and a playground has been installed on the southern edge of the grounds. The perimeter fence dividing the plot from its neighbours was removed during construction; there is currently no plan to reinstate it, and Ltjens hopes it stays that way, so that the new playground can be shared with children from the surrounding blocks.As we enter the second half of the 2020s, we must not be satisfied with carbon compromisesThe projects cost was subsidised by Zrichs city council on account of the PVs, and footed by the cooperative, supplemented by a small increase in residents rent no more than 10 per cent which was previously agreed with residents. Compared with Lacaton & Vassals Grand Parc, which cost roughly 50,000 per unit, this project cost around 50 per cent more. While the balconies in Zrich were extended by just over a metre, in Bordeaux the envelope was expanded by 3.8m, with some floor plans doubling though the Swiss residents did also gain a communal garden room and some energy sovereignty. In both cases, the considerable carbon saving of preserving the existing building and not building anew was compromised by extending using highcarbon materials.As we enter the second half of the 2020s, nine years on from the completion of Grand Parc, we must not be satisfied with carbon compromises. While Ltjens Padmanabhans project and others like it are to be commended it is almost utopian from the perspective of many of us living in cities like London adulation must be cautious.2025-02-05Eleanor BeaumontShare AR February 2025ExtensionsBuy Now

This threat is hard to believeGetty ImagesThe FBI is warning smartphone users to beware the threat from dangerous calls that will cost you a significant amount of money if you make a mistake. Now that warning has taken a nasty twist, with a new threat that is genuinely hard to believe.The FBIs warning focuses on scam calls pretending to from banks or technical support, that trick users into moving money from their account or installing dangerous software on their device. The bureau says such scam calls may even be able to spoof the caller ID number, making the threat even harder to detect.The FBI advice is very simple. Any such call that comes at you unsolicited, where you havent first reach out to your bank or technical support, will be a scam. The chance of such a call being legitimate is so small that its never worth taking the risk. You need to be absolutely sure beyond any doubt that the caller is legitimate.While a call from the bank to warn that your account is under attack is worrying enough, how about a call from the police warning that you need to pay to avoid being arrested. One police department in Virginia is just the latest to warn of such malicious tactics. As local media reports, this is an ongoing phone scam in which suspects pose as local law enforcement and coerce victims into giving money.MORE FOR YOUThis particular campaign has been running for several weeks, and the local police warns that this type of scam has occurred throughout the region, including Alexandria, and across the country. Scams have variations but generally the caller will identify themself as a law enforcement officer and tell the victim, falsely, that a warrant has been issued because they missed a court date, did not show up for jury duty, have an overdue fine or something similar, and they will be arrested unless they pay right away.This doesnt happen. Ever. And while the scammers often use the names of actual deputies or police officers, and they may disguise their phone number to make it look like they are calling from a local law enforcement agency, its just a trick.As we see with such attacks per another recent FBI warning the scammers insist the matter is urgent, giving you little time to think. If you find yourself talking to a law enforcement officer who is demanding money or any other similar request, then you can hang up. If youre concerned, then call local law enforcement using a publicly available number and explain what has happened.Such reports are now coming through from local media outlets across the U.S., and the situation will get worse. Scams that spread like this do so because they work. According to one police department in New York, detectives have been made aware of at least three incidents during which a resident was contacted by phone by a caller identifying themselves as a member of the Suffolk County Police Department who says the resident has a warrant for their arrest and for them to send money."And its not a scam confined to local law enforcement. CBP has also warned that we are seeing a spike of phone calls from concerned citizens about scammers posing as CBP employees seeking information about suspected illegal activity. If CBP suspects illegal activity, we will not call a suspect or a victim requesting money or social security numbers. To be clear, CBP will not make telephone calls threatening citizens that law enforcement is on the way or promising money for information.The advice is always the same end the call as soon as the coercion starts, dont listen to the well-rehearsed script. The longer you listen, the more likely you are to fall victim remember, this is what that person does every day. As CBP says, you should recognize that it is a scam regardless of how authentic the caller may sound.

Blue Origin successfully performed its 29th New Shepard flight and 14th payload mission from Launch Site One in West Texas on Tuesday. While most of the recent New Shepard flights have had paying passengers aboard, this one carried science payloads rather than people.Lets look at the NS-29 Lunar-G flight from liftoff to landing. pic.twitter.com/KpU4Ep9HtK Blue Origin (@blueorigin) February 4, 2025Notably, Mission NS-29 simulated lunar gravity an apparent first for a suborbital flight with 29 of the rockets 30 payloads designed to test lunar-related technologies.Recommended VideosTo achieve lunar-like conditions, the capsules reaction-control thrusters fired in a way that spun the crew module up to 11 times a minute, simulating one-sixth of Earths gravity for around two minutes.Please enable Javascript to view this contentCommercial companies are critical to helping NASA prepare for missions to the moon and beyond, Danielle McCulloch, program executive of NASAs Flight Opportunities program, said in a release. The more similar a test environment is to a missions operating environment, the better. So, we provided substantial support to this flight test to expand the available vehicle capabilities, helping ensure technologies are ready for lunar exploration.The payloads included LUCI (Lunar-g Combustion Investigation), which aims at better understanding material flammability on the moon, compared to Earth. This is an important component of astronaut safety in habitats on the moon and could inform the design of potential combustion devices there, NASA said.Other payloads aboard the NS-29 mission included research aimed at reducing the impact of lunar dust, and one concerned with construction and excavation on the lunar surface. Instruments designed to detect subsurface water on the moon were also tested during the flight. The search for water moleculesa big part of upcoming Artemis missions to Earths nearest neighbor.New Shepards ability to provide a lunar gravity environment is an extremely unique and valuable capability as researchers set their sights on a return to the moon, said Blue Origins Phil Joyce. This enables researchers to test lunar technologies at a fraction of the cost, rapidly iterate, and test again in a significantly compressed timeframe.Tuesdays flight saw the New Shepards crew capsule reach an altitude of almost 342,000 feet before returning to Earth in a parachute-assisted landing just over 10 minutes after launch.Editors Recommendations

Paul Graham advised Elon Musk to work with the government carefully because it is not "just a company."Musk's actions mirror how he worked in 2022 when he bought Twitter, now X.DOGE aims to cut $1 billion to $2 billion from government spending, Musk has said.Paul Graham, the founder of the startup accelerator Y Combinator, cautioned Elon Musk about his work with the Department of Government Efficiency."I'm generally sympathetic to what you're doing. But I hope you will take your time and do it carefully. This isn't just a company,"Silicon Valley leaders have long subscribed to the "move fast and break things" leadership philosophy. Musk, who is leading DOGE under the Trump administration, appears to be running the agency much like some of his companies.Trump's administration launched an immediate overhaul of the federal workforce, starting with a strict return-to-office mandate andMusk's actions mirror what he did in 2022 when he bought Twitter, now X. He sent a similar email to Twitter employees asking them to commit to an "extremely hardcore" schedule or get laid off. The subject line was "A fork in the road" the same phrase used by the Trump administration when asking for federal worker resignations.The Tuesday thread between Musk and Graham began when Graham wrote a post on X about the US Agency for International Development. After his post, the agency announced it was putting nearly all employees on administrative leave from Friday. On early Monday morning, Musk said that he "spent the weekend feeding USAID into the wood chipper."DOGE's changes would transform USAID, which managed about 0.47% of 2024's federal budget and oversees humanitarian aid programs in 65 countries, including emergency food assistance and lifesaving medical services.On Monday night, Graham wrote on X that the Department of Defense "surely" has more waste than USAID, but tougher access.In response, Musk wrote, "Every aspect of government needs to be much more efficient, no exceptions. Classified world especially."Last year, Graham offered constructive criticism to Musk, including about X's user experience, and the Y Combinator cofounder has praised Musk's leadership at X.Graham,founder mode" took the tech and business communities by storm.Neither Musk nor Graham responded to requests for comment.