This south London dwelling by Takero Shimazaki Architects transforms a derelict urban site into a tranquil family retreatThis project was shortlisted in the 2024 AR House awards. Read about the full shortlist hereThe as found a way of appraising the existing conditions of a site was championed by Alison and Peter Smithson and their contemporaries in the Independent Group of the 1950s. Not only adjacent buildings but all those marks that constitute remembrances in a place, explained Peter Smithson. This idea celebrates the prosaic, urging architects to work with the inherent traces of a place rather than erasing them, and reframes architectural practice as one of integration, where the existing context is a vital part of the new design.In Niwa House, tucked away down a narrow lane behind a row of south London terraces, Takero Shimazaki Architects have drawn on this ethos in response to a once derelict brownfield plot. Formerly the site of a glass manufacturer, existing boundary walls have been retained and reconstructed to match the existing London stock brick, anchoring the house to its urban fabric and nodding to the industrial legacy of the site.As well as respecting the sites pre-existing conditions, the house weaves together an architectural language that responds to the British Japanese heritage of the client. The houses timber forest of columns, for example, references the horizontal house typologies of Japan, and is reminiscent of traditional Japanese temple architecture. The house is also rooted in the Japanese concept of ma the art of the interval, in which empty spaces hold as much importance as the built. The interior spaces pivot around two double-height courtyards, puncturing the building to reach the lower ground level and featuring 4m-tall cherry trees. These pocket gardens allow light and air to be drawn into the bedrooms below ground, which are accessed via stairs or a lift.The term niwa, the houses namesake, is Japanese for garden, a reference to the garden in which the house sits, planted with both British and Japanese vegetation. In one corner of the garden, a studio sits on the footprint of a small structure that once housed industrial activity.The site of Niwa House, as found before commencing constructionCredit:Courtesy of Takero Shimazaki ArchitectsViews of the garden are framed by the houses timber structure. The large, uninterrupted spans are possible due to the innovative composite structure; glulam timber is sandwiched between limestone to form the roof, held aloft by a grid of glulam columns. Designed in collaboration with engineers Webb Yates, this structural system used here for the first time in a full-size project minimises embedded carbon while enhancing the thermal performance of the home. The stone also reduces the size of the glulam members by providing added stiffness, allowing a slender structure. As Shimazaki observes, constructing a house out of timber and stone is not common in the UK, and this project offers a fresh way of looking at how houses are made.

Sun Study (Midnight) (2024), acrylic on wood panel, 16 x 16 inches. All images courtesy of the artist, shared with permissionReflections and Human Connections Resonate in Marina Kappos Optical PaintingsJanuary 30, 2025ArtKate MothesIn physics, quantum entanglement describes how particles being generated, interacting, or in proximity to one another cannot have independent quantum states. Albert Einstein referred to this phenomenon as spooky action at a distance. In short, once particles have interacted, they remain connected, even if they are millions of light years apart.For artist Marina Kappos, entanglement inspires an interest in frequency, resonance, and connection through painting. In a peculiar way, I can relate to distant particles affecting one another because I have an identical twin sister, she tells Colossal. I have grown up with a mirrored reflection of myself, but one that is also independent and leading a different life than me. This unique perspective has created a lifelong bond of interconnectedness between my sister and me.188 (2024), acrylic on canvas, 58 x 58 inchesKappos describes her paintings, like her life, as a double or a mirror that reflects in myriad ways. She invokes a kind of buzzing frequency and optical motion that creates the impression that solid, distinct objectslike our bodiesare fluid or malleable.We are inextricably linked to one another and our surroundings, the artist says. Where does the body end and the universe begin? Vibration is a clue that it is closely related. These paintings, combined with my own life experience, have highlighted my evolving awareness of the nature of reality.Kappos applies acrylic paint in semi-transparent layers of color, which overlap to create a resonating or vibrating visual quality. She is interested in portraying human connections, especially women, often emphasizing profiles or hands because they hint at the body but may not be the first detail one notices when seeing reverberating, optical color effects. Many works have light and dark counterparts, like Sister 1 and Sister 2. Like echoes, the repeated motifs almost have a Doppler effect, where there is an increase or decrease in frequency of light depending on where you stand, Kappos says. The ethereal, transparent layers of paint eventually become profiles of faces, sometimes melding into landscape, at times appearing out of focus, simply buzzing or humming along.199 (Sister 1) (2024), acrylic on wood panel, 24 x 24 inchesMany of these works were recently on view in her solo shows Ultraviolet Catastrophe at The Pit in Los Angeles and Spooky Action at Shrine in New York City. She currently has a piece in the group exhibition Soft Focus at The Holes Los Angeles location. The artist is currently engaged in a residency in Paris at Rsidence artistique Retina, a program established by a medical center in the heart of the city to improve the experience for hospital patients, visitors, and staff.Find more on Kapposs website and Instagram.199 (Sister 2) (2024), acrylic on wood panel, 24 x 24 inchesSun Study (Aurora) (2024), acrylic on wood panel, 16 x 16 inchesVibrating Woman (2020), acrylic on canvas, 72 x 120 inches179 (2024), acrylic on canvas, 58 x 58 inchesUltraviolet Study (Tangle) (2024), acrylic on wood panel, 16 x 16 inchesSpooky Action Study (Skull) (2024), acrylic on wood panel, 16 x 16 inchesUltraviolet Study (Night Rider (2024), acrylic on wood panel, 16 x 16 inchesNext article

Join Fox News for access to this content You have reached your maximum number of articles. Log in or create an account FREE of charge to continue reading. By entering your email and pushing continue, you are agreeing to Fox News' Terms of Use and Privacy Policy, which includes our Notice of Financial Incentive. Please enter a valid email address. Almost everything you do online asks for your email. If you have been using the same one for a while, chances are hundreds or even thousands of services have it. They send promotional messages, social media alerts, newsletters and more, turning your inbox into complete chaos. You can tame this madness using an email alias.An email alias helps declutter your inbox by organizing emails based on their purpose. For example, you can create specific aliases for shopping, newsletters or work and set up filters to sort these messages into separate folders automatically.Aliases also help manage spam. If an alias starts receiving too many unwanted messages, you can disable it without affecting your main email.Lets dive into how to create an email alias on different platforms, including Gmail, Outlook and iCloud. A person setting up an alias email (Kurt "CyberGuy" Knutsson)How to create an alias using GmailGmail doesnt allow you to create a completely separate alias, but it offers workarounds using "+ addressing" or by adding dots to your existing email address. However, these methods dont prevent an unscrupulous sender from seeing your primary address, so exercise caution when using them with untrusted correspondents. Follow the steps below to get started.Option 1: Create an alias using the plus (+) trickUse your existing Gmail address and add a "+" followed by any keyword before "@gmail.com."Example: If your email is yourname@gmail.com, you can use:yourname+work@gmail.comyourname+newsletters@gmail.comyourname+shopping@gmail.comNo additional setup is needed, just start using this alias when signing up for services or sharing your email.Option 2: Create an alias using the dot (.) trickGmail ignores dots (.) in email addresses, so you can create variations of your email:Example: If your email is yourname@gmail.com, you can use:your.name@gmail.comy.o.u.r.n.a.m.e@gmail.comyo.urn.ame@gmail.comAll variations will deliver emails to your main inbox automatically. Setting up an alias on Gmail (Kurt "CyberGuy" Knutsson)How to create an alias in Outlook.comOutlook.com allows you to create additional email addresses (aliases) that are linked to your primary account. Emails sent to an alias will arrive in your primary inbox, and you can send messages using the alias as well.Example:If your primary email is johnsmith@outlook.com, you can create an alias like john.smith123@outlook.com. Emails sent to john.smith123@outlook.com will still go to johnsmith@outlook.com, but you can choose to send emails using either address.Steps to create an alias:Sign in to yourOutlook.com accountClick thegear icon in the upper-right corner to openSettingsScroll down and selectView all Outlook settingsNavigate toMailThen clickSync emailClickManage or choose a primary alias underAccount aliasSelectAdd email and follow theprompts to create your new aliasChoose whether to create a newOutlook.com email as an alias or use anexisting email(non-Outlook) as an aliasClickAdd alias to confirmWHAT IS ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE (AI)?Once added, you can send emails using your alias by selecting it in theFrom field when composing a new message.Important limitations to note:You can add up to 10 aliases in totalThere's a limit of 10 new aliases that can be created in one yearYou can only add two aliases per weekExisting Hotmail, Live, Outlook.com and MSN addresses can't be added as aliasesAliases can only contain letters, numbers, dots (.), underscores (_) or hyphens (-)It's no longer possible to create new aliases with @hotmail, @live.com or @msn.com domains Setting up an alias using Outlook.com (Kurt "CyberGuy" Knutsson)How to create an alias using your Apple IDApple allows you to create up to three email aliases through iCloud. These aliases can be used for specific purposes, helping you manage your inbox effectively. Heres how to create one:Go toicloud.com/mail and sign in to your Apple Account if necessaryClick the gear icon at the top of the Mailboxes list, then chooseSettingsClickAccount, then clickAdd AliasProvide therequested information: Alias address - Enter the text to create your alias (e.g., alias@icloud.com). The alias must contain between three and 20 characters; Label - Assign a label for the alias. Aliases are listed alphabetically by their labels; Full Name - Enter the name that will appear in the From field of emails you send using this aliasClickCreate to finalize the aliasOnce created, any email sent to this alias will be forwarded to yourprimary iCloud email address. For example, if your primary email is yourname@icloud.com and you create an alias shopping@icloud.com, any emails sent to shopping@icloud.com will appear in your yourname@icloud.com inbox. This allows you to use different addresses for different purposes while keeping everything in one placeIt's important to note that you can still create up to three email aliases through iCloud. Remember that while these aliases provide some flexibility, they do not create separate Apple IDs or completely hide your primary iCloud email address. Setting up an alias using Apple ID (Kurt "CyberGuy" Knutsson)Understanding email aliasesWhile many email providers offer basic alias functionality, most have significant limitations. Gmail's "+" addressing and dot tricks, Outlook's linked aliases and Apple's iCloud aliases all provide some flexibility, but they often fall short of true privacy protection.For those of you seeking comprehensive email privacy and robust alias management,my No. 1 pick for private and secure email platforms contains no ads, no tracking and powerful privacy features like password-protected email and unlimited disposable email addresses.See my review of the best secure and private email services here.How to keep scammers out of your inboxProtecting your inbox from scammers requires a combination of smart practices and proactive tools. Using email aliases is an effective first step. By creating specific aliases for different activities, such as shopping, subscriptions or work, you can track where spam is coming from and deactivate problematic aliases as needed. Below are some other steps to take.1.Avoid sharing your primary email address publicly on forums, social media or other platforms to minimize exposure. Most email providers offer robust spam filters, so ensure they are enabled and customize them as neededGET FOX BUSINESS ON THE GO BY CLICKING HERE2.Invest in personal data removal services. While no service promises to remove all your data from the internet, having a removal service is great if you want to constantly monitor and automate the process of removing your information from hundreds of sites continuously over a longer period of time.Check out my top picks for data removal services here.3.Enable two-factor authentication on all your email accounts to add an extra layer of security.4. Be cautious of suspicious links and attachments. Never click on links or download attachments from unknown senders, as these could be phishing attempts.5. Use strong antivirus softwareto protect against potential malware that might come through spam emails. The best way to safeguard yourself from malicious links that install malware, potentially accessing your private information, is to have antivirus software installed on all your devices. This protection can also alert you to phishing emails and ransomware scams, keeping your personal information and digital assets safe.Get my picks for the best 2025 antivirus protection winners for your Windows, Mac, Android and iOS devices.6.Regularly update your email passwordand make it strong and unique, avoiding common words or easily guessable combinations. Consider using apassword manager to generate and store complex passwords.These steps will provide a more comprehensive approach to protecting your inbox from scammers and reducing unwanted emails.Kurt's key takeawayTaking charge of your inbox doesnt have to be overwhelming. By implementing the tips and tools mentioned above, youll create a more secure, efficient and manageable email experience. Whether youre battling spam or organizing your digital life, email aliases and secure services are great things to put into place.CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APPWhich email platform do you use most often, and how do you organize your messages there? Let us know by writing us at Cyberguy.com/Contact.For more of my tech tips and security alerts, subscribe to my free CyberGuy Report Newsletter by heading to Cyberguy.com/Newsletter.Follow Kurt on his social channels:Answers to the most asked CyberGuy questions:New from Kurt:Copyright 2025 CyberGuy.com.All rights reserved.

canjoena - stock.adobe.comNewsMajor obstacles facing Labours AI opportunity action planSkills, data held in legacy tech and a lack of leadership are among the areas discussed during a recent Public Accounts Committee sessionByCliff Saran,Managing EditorPublished: 30 Jan 2025 16:12 Among the takeaways from the Public Accounts Committees 30th January 2025 session looking at the governments AI strategy is that achieving tangible results will require strong leadership, skills development and recognition that legacy IT needs updating.During the session, Sarah Munby, permanent secretary for theDepartment for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT), said: Its always hard as an organisation to be truly self-critical, and I think we do have to be self-critical about digital leadership across government.Citing the State of the statereport, she added: Many non-digital public sector leaders with sizable delivery responsibilities have insufficient technical expertise and lack the digital orientation to implement tech-enabled programmes, or they dont fully understand mission critical technology dependencies or high priority opportunities such as AI.Another challenge in the public sector, according to Munby, is that digital leaders are not well represented at executive level: The report into the state of digital government says we have very serious challenges and an enormous amount of work to do to close the gap between reality and ambition.Speaking on the skills and hiring crisis, Catherine Little, chief operating officer for the civil service and permanent secretary for the Cabinet Office, said: Just at macro level, we have got a huge challenge and were not alone. You know the private sector and other public sector organisations have exactly the same challenge in deploying these technologies at scale and making sure [theyve] got professional experts at scale. Were all competing for the same [people], and thats a massive challenge for central government and for the civil service.During the session, David Knott, chief technology officer for the UK governments Central Digital and Data Office, was asked about the technical challenges that government departments face. I think it varies by department, he said. There are many challenges and they are not evenly distributed.Knott said that a series of workshops was run last year with departments to understand the challenges and obstacles they face. Skills still remain a challenge, and the data the departments need to use to train models are often locked inside legacy systems, he said.Knott acknowledged that there has been uneven progress in remediating these legacy systems. The third area identified by the workshops is market maturity, since many AI products that could be deployed in government are developed commercially.Part of the reason were trying to find the right balance between guiding procurement centrally, without stifling the ability to buy locally from SMEs, is that lots of people want help to understand how they should think about the stability of the companies theyre buying from. We see lots of volatility in the market, he added.The fourth challenge Knott discussed is change management and how it relates to AI: What people realise now is that these tools start to show up in peoples daily work and it can be a significant shift to their working patterns. He compared the change as the shift to a graphic user interface from command line programs.Read more about the governments AI opportunity action planGovernment funding to help businesses discover AI value: The government is betting the bank on the power of artificial intelligence to fix the public sector, mend roads and boost the UK economy.Can UK government achieve ambition to become AI powerhouse: The artificial intelligence opportunities action plan has been largely well received, but there are plenty of questions about how it will be achieved.In The Current Issue:World Economic Forum: Digital supply chains at risk as world faces two years of turbulenceData sovereignty and security in the UKDownload Current IssueConfluent: Shifting the paradigm to (real-time) data engineering CW Developer NetworkVision for the technology landscape of 2025 Data MattersView All Blogs

vege - stock.adobe.comNewsMicrosofts results show cloud AI balancing actCEO acknowledges efficiency of DeepSeek and need to assess model optimisation rather than just buying more AI serversByCliff Saran,Managing EditorPublished: 30 Jan 2025 15:00 DeepSeek and the drive to greater artificial intelligence (AI) efficiency was the subtext underlying Microsofts latest quarterly filing. The companys cloud business reported revenue of $69.6bn for the quarter that ended 31 December 2024.Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella said Microsoft Cloud surpassed $40bn in revenue for the first time, up 21% year-over-year. Enterprises are beginning to move from proof-of-concepts to enterprise-wide deployments to unlock the full ROI [return on investment] of AI, he said. And our AI business has now surpassed an annual revenue run rate of $13bn, up 175% year-over-year.During the earnings call, Nadella acknowledged that the challenge for hyperscalers is the need to ensure they have a fleet of the most modern AI-optimised hardware balanced with the emergence of new, more efficient AI models that do not need the latest hardware.You dont want to buy too much of anything at one time, he said. Because of Moores Law, every year is going to give you 2x [performance improvement]. Your [software] optimisation is going to give you 10x. You want to continuously upgrade the fleet, modernise the fleet, age the fleet, and at the end of the day, have the right ratio of modernisation and demand-driven monetisation.For now, Microsoft is having to buy expensive AI acceleration hardware, which is impacting its margins. Chief financial officer Amy Hood said that Microsoft Cloud margins are down year-over-year driven by the impact of scaling our AI infrastructure. However, she noted that this scaling is not necessarily enabling it to grow its installed base significantly. For instance, Microsoft only expects moderate growth in the annual renewal rate of its E5 and M365 Copilot subscriptions, due to the size of the existing installed base.When asked about the impact of DeepSeek, which is seen as a rival to US AI dominance, Nadellas view was that it has some real innovations. One of these is in terms of cost both the cost of the hardware required to train and run inference workloads and the cost to use it, which is measured in tokens.Responding to a question on whether Microsoft is taking a backseat in OpenAI funding due to the recent Stargate Project, he said: One of the key things to note in AI is you dont just launch the frontier model. If its too expensive to serve, its no good. It wont generate any demand. Youve got to have that optimisation so that inferencing costs come down and they [the model] can be consumed broadly.Read more about DeepSeekDeepSeek explained: Everything you need to know: DeepSeek, a Chinese AI firm, is disrupting the industry with its low-cost, open source large language models, challenging US tech giants.DeepSeek's AI breakthrough challenges Nvidias chip dominance: DeepSeeks budget-friendly AI model challenges chip giants like Nvidia and could spark competition that lowers costs and expands access in the tech industry.This equates to a lower price per token, which makes the AI model more affordable to use. With more efficient large language models like DeepSeek, the hardware required to run the model is also significantly lower.When token prices fall, inference computing prices fall; that means people can consume more, said Nadella. And there will be more apps written. Its unimaginable to think that here we are in the beginning of 25, where on the PC, you can run a model that [previously] required pretty massive cloud infrastructure.He said DeepSeek demonstrated that AI will be much more ubiquitous, and represented an opportunity for the Microsoft business. For a hyperscaler like us, a PC platform provider like us, this is all good news as far as Im concerned, said Nadella.His prepared remarks also touched on the emergence of more efficient AI models, and although the prepared statement does not reference DeepSeek directly, Nadella added: As AI becomes more efficient and accessible, we will see exponentially more demand.In The Current Issue:World Economic Forum: Digital supply chains at risk as world faces two years of turbulenceData sovereignty and security in the UKDownload Current IssueConfluent: Shifting the paradigm to (real-time) data engineering CW Developer NetworkVision for the technology landscape of 2025 Data MattersView All Blogs

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Swimmers in the infinity pool of Art'otel London Battersea Power Station see smoke rising from one ... [+] of the former power station's chimneys.Carlton ReidWhy is smoke rising from two of the chimneys of Battersea Power Station, you might think as you gaze lazily from the stupendous, rooftop infinity pool of the Artotel London Battersea Power Station hotel? As a knowledgeable guest, you would know that Battersea Power Station last generated electricity for power-hungry London 42 years ago. The former turbine halls now house an upscale shopping mall, 3,000 staffers in what is Apples UK headquarters, and, on the roof, there are glass-clad apartments apportioned into some of the most expensive Thames-view real estate in London. The power station was decommissioned in 1983, so again you might continue to ponder from the pool, there must be some good reason you can still see vapor rising from the former sulfur-scrubbing chimneys, but which should now be smoke-free.Could it have anything to do with the warm water gently lapping over your arms as you crane your neck to take in the full splendor of the iconic chimneys?Why, yes, it could. Much of the heat and power for the $11.2 billion 42-acre Battersea Power Station estate is provided by a combined heat and power (CHP) plant known as the Energy Centre sited deep in the bowels of the former coal-fired power station.Steam venting from one of the four chimneys of today's Battersea Power Station building.Carlton ReidBattersea Power Stations northeast and southwest chimneys contain flues that evacuate steam from the Energy Centres two CHP engines and three boilers. So, that smoke you see from the infinity pool is, indeed, the result of electricity (and heat) generation, alhough the generation is now much greener than when Battersea Power Station churned through mountains of coal following its completion in 1935.Todays Energy Centre is situated 33 ft below Battersea Power Station and supplies heating, cooling, and electricity to the redeveloped estate. CHP engines produce electricity via the combustion of gas, which in turn generates heat as a by-product. This heat is harnessed and transferred into usable energy for hot water. Similarly, the chillers use electricity to drive a compressor in a refrigerant cycle, which transfers cool energy to a water circuit to produce chilled water.MORE FOR YOUTugs and barges on the water by Battersea Power Station, 1950s. (Photo by ... [+] Hulton-Deutsch/Hulton-Deutsch Collection/Corbis via Getty Images)Corbis via Getty ImagesHot water is distributed through insulated district heating pipework to provide heating and hot water for the estates buildings. Afterward, it returns to the Energy Centre to be reheated by the CHP. Generating electricity and heat through one fuel simultaneously is much more efficient than traditional power generation as there is less wasted energy, improving energy efficiency by 40-45%. Carbon emissions are also reduced by 5,000 tonnes per year compared to conventional forms of energy generation. Placing the Energy Centre underground and just in front of the former turbine halls provides natural soundproofing to neutralize the sound of the engines.The Energy Centre provides heat and energy to the Battersea Power Station estate and residents nearby. This has historical resonance because the original Battersea Power Station provided hot water directly to the post-war Churchill Gardens housing estate in Pimlico on the opposite side of the Thames. This innovative-for-the-time waste-not-want-not project was known as the Pimlico District Heating Undertaking and provided central heating for about 10,000 people, using heat from Battersea Power Station that would have otherwise been vented to the air.Pimlico District Heating Undertaking still exists, although it no longer gets its hot water from across the river.A light installation called "Run Beyond" by Angelo Bonello is seen on the launch day of the Light ... [+] Festival at Battersea Power station on January 13, 2022 in London, England. (Photo by Leon Neal/Getty Images)Getty ImagesBattersea Power Station is now a thriving estate of upmarket shops, a cinema, a hotel, cafes and restaurants, its own and new Underground station and a stopping point for the Uber-branded taxi boats that ply the River Thames.The former power station is a Grade II listed historic property and could not, therefore, be demolished after the end of its (first) useful life. There were plans for it to become a theme park, but the heritage works expense saw this scheme flounder.The brownfield former industrial estate, with its much-loved building designed by celebrated architect Sir Giles Gilbert Scott, designer of Britains red telephone boxes, was bought in 2012 by Malaysian investors SP Setia and Sime Darby Property and the Employees Provident Fund. They were joined in 2018 by the Malaysian sovereign wealth fund Permodalan Nasional Berhad.Managed by Park Plaza Hotels, Artotel London Battersea Power Station is located within Battersea Roof Gardens in a wavy building designed by Foster + Partners. Spanish artist Jaime Hayon oversaw the bright, classy interiors.The hotel, which opened in 2023, has 164 rooms, including a signature suite one floor beneath the rooftop infinity pool. The building also features an efficient faade design, which was also a key consideration at Artotels other property in London, the newly opened Artotel Hoxton, located in the South Shoreditch Conservation Area.Fins and Banksy artwork on the Art'otel Hoxton hotel in London.Carlton ReidOccupying a prominent corner site where Old Street meets Great Eastern Street, the street-art-inspired hotel sports two external Banksy artworks and features external twisting aluminum fins that provide solar shading, reducing cooling loads and carbon emissions.Both Artotel hotels have achieved BREEAM Excellent status, a sustainability assessment.Back to that eco heated infinity pool. Its open until 11 pm every night so plenty of time to stare at those plumes of steam.

Ozempic is medicine for adults with type 2 diabetes that along with diet and exercise may improve ... [+] blood sugar. It is often also used for weight loss.Corbis via Getty ImagesOfficials in the U.K. have warned that increasingly popular weight-loss drugs like Ozempic may carry extra risks for people who need surgery.The drugs slow the release of food and liquid from the stomach, making patients feel fuller for longer and helping many shed excess pounds. But this same mechanism may increase the risk of rare surgical complication called aspiration, where the contents of the stomach enter the lungs.Patients normally fast before surgical procedures to reduce the chance of them inhaling any food or liquid from their gut while under anesthetic. But those on certain weight-loss and diabetes medications may still have leftovers in their system after a standard pre-surgical fast, according to an alert from the U.K.s Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency.Ozempic-Like Drugs And Slow Gastric EmptyingGLP-1 and dual GIP/GLP-1 receptor antagonists the active ingredients in semaglutide (Ozempic and Wegovy) and tirzeparide (Zepbound and Mounjaro), respectively can cause this slow gastric empyting. But people using the drugs may not be aware of the risks it may add to general anesthetic and deep sedation.MORE FOR YOUIf content from the stomach gets into the lungs, it can cause severe complications including a lung infection known as aspiration pneumonia. This potentially deadly condition often requires antibiotics to treat.The MHRA says its received a small number of reports of U.K. patients on the drugs inhaling stomach contents during surgery. In one case, a patient developed aspiration pneumonia.The agency says patients should make sure their healthcare team know if theyre taking the drugs ahead of time, the regulator said. But they shouldnt change or stop taking medications unless advised by a doctor.Anesthetists and other healthcare professionals should assess this extra risk when managing surgical patients using a drug like Ozempic or Zepbound, particularly if they have other health issues that increase their chance of delayed gastric emptying, the MHRA says.Is Ozempic Safe For Surgery?Medical authorities in Europe and the U.S. have issued similar warnings as the popularity of Ozempic and other weight-loss drugs has risen. In the U.S. alone, at least 12% of adults have tried a GLP-1 RA, according to a recent JAMA Network poll.Last summer, the European Medicines Agency released a set of guidelines for managing surgical patients on drugs including Wegovy, Mounjaro and Tirzepatide.The EMA didnt find a causal link between taking the drugs and inhaling stomach contents. But it did find a biologically plausible risk" after reviewing available case reports and other literature.Back in 2023, the American Society of Anesthesiologists recommended patients stop taking drugs like Ozempic and Trulicity altogether ahead of surgeries.The Food and Drug Administration, which announced it was investigating the safety of weight-loss drugs around surgery last January, has been more conservative with its statements. In November, it updated labeling on drugs including Ozempic to reflect a small number of cases of stomach contents entering the lungs.Labels now state that while there isnt enough evidence to support recommendations like stopping the drugs before surgery, patients should make sure their healthcare teams know theyre using them in advance of any procedures.The MHRA doesnt advise a blanket halt on drugs like Ozempic or Mounjaro before surgeries either. Instead, it points to a recent consensus statement from several U.K. anesthetist groups that calls instead for individual risk assessments and risk-limitation measures for patients using the drugs.

Forward-looking: The next version of Android will introduce unprecedented restrictions for app developers. All apps targeting Android 16 must be adaptive, meaning custom UI choices that don't scale properly on larger screens will no longer be allowed. Google is clearly fed up with developers who ignore adaptability when designing their apps. The tech giant is currently working on Android 16, an operating system set to introduce significant changes to UI orientation and "resizability" for full-screen apps.According to Google, the global Android ecosystem now includes more than three billion devices, making it more diverse than ever. The mobile OS powers smartphones, foldables, tablets, Chromebooks, car infotainment systems, and more. With this diversity, users expect the apps they download to function seamlessly across all their devices. However, some developers still force their apps to follow rigid, fixed UI paradigms.Many Android apps are still designed for a single screen orientation or restrict users from resizing the interface. With Android 16, that's set to change. The new OS will enforce a standardized model for adaptive apps, ensuring that every app interface automatically adjusts to different screen sizes and orientations.Android 16 will begin phasing out manifest attributes and runtime APIs that allow apps to restrict orientation and resizing, Google has confirmed. Initially, these changes will apply only to "larger" screens devices where the smaller display dimension is at least 600dp. This includes foldable phones, tablets with desktop windowing capabilities, desktop environments, and Chromebooks.Google provided a list of attributes and APIs that Android 16 (SDK 36) will ignore on larger screens. However, there are exceptions apps can still enforce UI restrictions on smaller screens or in specific gaming scenarios. To prepare for these changes, Google recommends developers avoid stretched UI components, ensure camera compatibility in both orientations, and preserve app state across different window sizes. // Related StoriesBuilding fully adaptive apps benefits both developers and users. Google cited FlipaClip as an example of how adaptive UIs can drive growth: after optimizing its app, the company reportedly saw a 54 percent increase in tablet users within four months.Google also shared a timeline for these API changes. In 2025, Android 16 will include an option to opt out of the new adaptive paradigm. However, by 2026, all apps targeting API level 37 will be required to support larger screens, with no opt-out option.