The US Agency for International Development (USAID) is not, in the scheme of things, a big part of the federal government. It dispersed $43.8 billion in the last fiscal year. That adds up to just 0.7 percent of the $6.1 trillion federal budget. USAID isnt even a full Cabinet agency, but a subset of the State Department.But USAID is worth paying attention to, both because it does important work that belies its size and status, and because its become an early case study in how the second Trump administration plans to dismantle major parts of the federal bureaucracy. On his first day back in office, Donald Trump signed an executive order placing a 90-day freeze on all foreign aid spending, a week before issuing a similar order affecting most of the rest of the federal budget. Secretary of State Marco Rubio took implementing the order seriously and issued stop-work orders for essentially all foreign aid on Friday. The pause was sweeping, including life-saving programs like PEPFAR, which provides AIDS drugs and preventative services to tens of millions of people. More than a week after Trumps first order, Rubio signed a partial waiver for humanitarian aid, including some AIDS drugs.Despite the orders questionable legality, sources in the agency tell me USAID staff largely complied. Nonetheless, the Trump team initiated a crackdown: About 60 senior leaders in the agency not political staffers, who usually leave when presidential administrations transition, but career civil and foreign service employees were placed on administrative leave on Monday. Acting Administrator Jason Gray explained the move in an all-staff email to USAID by citing several actions within USAID that appear to be designed to circumvent the presidents executive orders and the mandate from the American people. He did not cite any specific actions.In response to a request for comment, a USAID spokesperson wrote to Vox: We arent going to comment on personnel matters. We are judiciously reviewing all the waivers submitted and have a process in place to ensure urgent humanitarian aid continues. In line with the Presidents E.O. and to execute the implementation of the 90-day foreign assistance pause, several contracts have been paused to include personal services contracts (PSCs). These actions were not terminations or furloughs. These actions allow for a thorough and transparent review of the expenditure of all taxpayer dollars per the Presidents E.O. and Secretary Rubios guidance. There have been no furloughs, no termination of contracts or personnel under the foreign aid freeze E.O.While USAID may not comment on personnel matters, others say the consequences of putting these leaders on leave could be immense. This would lead to the destruction of US foreign assistance as we know it, Jeremy Konyndyk, a former veteran USAID official and current president of Refugees International, said in an interview. Thats probably something they want.Even this, though, was not the end of Trumps changes to the agency. So far he has also hit USAIDs contractor workforce, and his Office of Personnel Management has made USAID civil service staff vulnerable to reclassification and removal under so-called Schedule F moves.Disrupting USAIDs operations could quite literally cost people their lives. To pick one example, it is the primary implementer for the Presidents Malaria Initiative, which funded 36.8 million bednets and 48 million doses of malaria-preventing medication in 2023 alone; even with specific waivers, programs like this have been badly disrupted and lost crucial implementing staff.But this isnt just a story about USAID, but about a strategy that the Trump team is beta-testing there for disrupting the functioning of government agencies in general.Step 1: Pull the fundingTrumps Day 1 executive order was clear: All department and agency heads with responsibility for United States foreign development assistance programs shall immediately pause new obligations and disbursements of development assistance funds to foreign countries and implementing non-governmental organizations, international organizations, and contractors pending reviews of such programs for programmatic efficiency and consistency with United States foreign policy. It stated that the pause would be enforced by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) through whats called apportionment.Apportionment is a usually quarterly process in which OMB allocates funds from yearly Congressional appropriations to specific agencies. In a normal administration, this is a mere formality meant to ensure that appropriated funds are not spent too quickly. But Trump is trying to use it to block the spending of congressionally appropriated funds altogether.This is part of a more general strategy called impoundment, previously attempted by Richard Nixon and the first Trump administration and roundly rejected by the courts as illegal. Trumps nominee to be OMB director, Russ Vought, and Mark Paoletta, his OMB general counsel, have vocally argued that the president has the power to withhold congressionally appropriated funding at will, so long as they do not spend in excess of what Congress appropriated. The Impoundment Control Act of 1974 passed by Congress explicitly states that they do not have this power, and courts have ruled that even before that law, this power did not exist. But the Trump team still insists that the law is unconstitutional and the court precedents are wrong.So far, the courts are holding to their view. On Tuesday evening, US District Court Judge Loren AliKhan issued a preliminary injunction temporarily blocking the freeze on federal grants; it did not explicitly address foreign aid and its implications there are unclear. On Wednesday, OMB rescinded its memo placing a freeze on all federal grants, though White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt claimed this didnt represent a policy reversal, but rather a clarification on Trumps executive orders.But initially, the order did in fact stop disbursements from USAID. The agency primarily works through implementing partners: for- and nonprofit contractors, nongovernmental organizations, and local government partners in developing countries that actually provide services for which USAID provides funding and/or technical assistance. The orders block to funds to foreign countries and implementing nongovernmental organizations, international organizations, and contractors thus effectively shut down USAIDs work entirely, according to multiple people working at the agency last week. If that were not clear enough, on Friday, Rubio issued a cable ordering employees to ensure that, to the maximum extent permitted by law, no new obligations shall be made for foreign assistance. So USAID couldnt fund its existing programs, and couldnt fund new ones.Step 2: Pull the peopleVolunteers at the Zanzalima Camp for Internally Displaced People unload aid delivery from USAID on December 17, 2021, in Bahir Dar, Ethiopia. J. Countess/Getty ImagesThe first time Trump was president, he tried to cut back on foreign aid spending too not through these impoundment moves, but through his budget proposals. But Congress rejected the cuts each time.This time, he brought back some of his political appointees from his first term, but with a new attitude. This new set of people feel like career government servants impeded their ability to pursue their vision of a MAGA agenda, Konyndyk observes.Multiple current and former USAID officials with knowledge of the situation cited Peter Marocco, the new head of the State Departments Office of Foreign Assistance (which oversees USAID), as the key mover on foreign aid so far this term. Marocco was reportedly in the Capitol during the January 6, 2021, insurrection, and served in the agency during Trumps first term, when his team issued a blistering 13-page dissent memo arguing he was incompetent and actively undermining their effectiveness.Consistent with a feeling of frustration with career staff, then, was the decision of USAID, under Maroccos supervision, to place roughly 60 senior officials on paid administrative leave on Monday evening. The leaders placed on leave span the majority of USAID bureaus; most staff at the agency headquarters in Washington, DC, reported to one of them, through one avenue or another, according to an official with knowledge of the list of people placed on leave. Notably, the Office of the General Counsel saw several leave notices, including two senior attorneys focused on ethics, according to three individuals with knowledge of the situation.Do you know how many people collectively are under the direct reporting lines of 60 career senior executive service staff and senior foreign service staff? one of the officials placed on leave asked me rhetorically. Some of them had dozens if not hundreds of people in their reporting lines, the official said, and the list seemed to include the vast majority of senior civil and foreign service staff at the deputy assistant administrator, senior deputy assistant administrator, or acting assistant administrator levels in DC.Acting Administrator Gray himself is a member of the senior executive service and not a Trump appointee, but he works under Maroccos authority.Adding to the disruption was the dismissal of the agencys institutional support contractors (ISCs). Devexs Elissa Miolene has reported that in the Bureau of Humanitarian Assistance, which handles USAIDs response to disasters like famines and earthquakes, ISCs have all been furloughed, meaning a 40 percent cut to the Bureaus workforce. An ISC in another bureau confirmed to Vox that they received furloughs too. While formally privately employed, these workers sit at USAID desks in the Ronald Reagan Building like any other staffer and are fully integrated into their team. Removing them amounts to a sudden, unplanned-for staffing reduction.As of this past September, some 13,215 people worked at USAID, of whom 2,578 were institutional support contractors, and 1,061 were personal services contractors (another major contractor category). Over one-fourth of the agency, in other words, are contractors, who under a stoppage of all foreign aid contracts cannot be paid. Much of the rest of the agency reported to career officials who are now on indefinite leave.Meanwhile, the 1,886 civil service staffers at the agency will have lesser protections under a memo promulgated Monday by the Office of Personnel Management. It enforces another Day 1 executive order that creates a new Schedule Policy/Career in the excepted service for positions that are of a confidential, policy-determining, policy-making, or policy- advocating character. Agencies are instructed to review their staffing and move any roles of this character into the new schedule, where civil servants can be dismissed more easily. Trump tried to do this in 2020, shortly before losing reelection, calling the new set of positions Schedule F; it appears to have been renamed Schedule Policy/Career.So any civil service officials still at USAID run the risk of being rescheduled to this new category, potentially setting them up for future dismissal. I cannot think of a civil servant at USAID that would not fit under the sweeping terms of it, a senior career official told me.More immediately, the administration has asked agencies for lists of career staff who are still within one-year probationary periods, making them easier to dismiss than longer-served staffers. This creates an implicit threat for USAID staff in this category: If they displease the administration for whatever reason, their probationary status can be invoked against them.Step 3: Instill fearPerhaps the most important function of the shock-and-awe campaign of funding freeze and mass administrative leaves has been to put the rest of USAIDs workforce on notice.If what youre trying to do is downsize an agency that you feel is bloated in a responsible way, you dont push out the 60 most senior staff and send home all the contractors who make the agency work, Konyndyk says. Those arent things you do if your concern is government effectiveness and efficiency. Those are things you do if you are trying to create an atmosphere of intimidation.The atmosphere included, per reporting by the Washington Posts John Hudson, removing all pictures of aid programs from the USAID headquarters; photos from the office show empty picture frames, with photographs of USAID staff and those benefiting from US foreign aid removed:The USAID staff I spoke with were mostly unwilling to be quoted due to fear of retaliation, and all of them described an atmosphere of uncertainty, unease, and omnipresent fear that one could lose ones job at any moment. This is not an environment in which one can imagine an agency of any kind operating effectively.As of this writing, the Trump administration has walked back its budget offices call for a total shutdown on government grants. But the January 20 executive order ordering impoundment of foreign aid has not been rescinded. One potentially dangerous endpoint here is that the administration reverses course on impoundment in general, while quietly continuing to withhold funding for specific programs, like foreign aid or clean energy. That is likely to provoke less backlash but as USAID is learning already, it has the potential to grind important government functions to a halt regardless.Youve read 1 article in the last monthHere at Vox, we're unwavering in our commitment to covering the issues that matter most to you threats to democracy, immigration, reproductive rights, the environment, and the rising polarization across this country.Our mission is to provide clear, accessible journalism that empowers you to stay informed and engaged in shaping our world. By becoming a Vox Member, you directly strengthen our ability to deliver in-depth, independent reporting that drives meaningful change.We rely on readers like you join us.Swati SharmaVox Editor-in-ChiefSee More:

I just finished writing a feature about the Video Game History Foundation in Oakland, California, and how it is preparing to share its digital archive of games magazines. From 30 January, youll be able to visit the institutes website and explore a collection of about 1,500 publications from throughout the history of games, all scanned in high detail, all searchable for keywords. Its a magnificent resource for researchers and those who just want to find the first-ever review of Tetris or Pokmon. I cant wait to visit.While researching the article, I spoke to John OShea and Ann Wain from the National Videogame Museum in Sheffield, which is also collecting games mags and other printed ephemera. They said something that really fascinated me. The museum is looking for donations to build its archive, but its focus is not so much on the magazines themselves, but on who brings them in. Were particularly interested in fan perspectives, OShea told me. Were not intending to develop an exhaustive collection of every video game magazine ever made were interested in the full suite of an individuals video game experience in how games connect to their lives. Wain continued: Were interested in the stories of why why did they collect these particular things, what were they looking for? Its that kind of social context were after.Collections are about memories more than facts and this applies to games and the cultural matter about them. Im writing this letter to you in my little cellar office, surrounded by piles of games, game magazines and game books. There are things in here that I cherish, including a copy of Devil May Cry signed by game designer Shinji Mikami, and my fathers Sega Mega Drive; there are also some endlessly useful and fascinating things, such as Steven Kents seminal book The Ultimate History of Video Games, and an old Sony personal video monitor, for which I bought special cables allowing me to connect very old consoles. What does all this stuff mean in the end, and what does it say about me?Jet Set Willy: as important as the Smiths. Photograph: YouTubeIm not sure. All I know is, when I happen on TikTok videos of peoples games collections I watch transfixed, over and over. I look at the console formats theyve bought and the magazines they read. It helps me to picture their journey through games history, which may be very different than mine. I think thats why the National Videogame Museum wants this sort of sociocultural context in its collections: the choices other people make are fascinating.Its such a shame that museums and academic institutions have only relatively recently been given the resources to collect material about video games. Although classic games are now being carefully archived, the VGHF estimates that 87% of classic video games released in the United States are critically endangered Im sure the situation is the same elsewhere in the world. Games discs and tapes deteriorate and become unplayable; the machines they ran on break down. Games magazines were considered ephemeral and throwaway, and are only now being seen as cultural artefacts in the same way as music and movie publications. Theres a lot of history to catch up on. If we really want to remember the youth culture of the 1980s, we need to think just as much about Jet Set Willy and Crash magazine as we do about the Smiths and NME.As OShea said in our chat, cultural memory exists in the detritus of our lived lives. Last year, a good friend and I went to the Naomi Campbell exhibition at the V&A. In one area, the curators recreated the models dressing room a chaotic explosion of discarded clothes, wet wipes and makeup. It told us as much about her as anything else on display. We are what we surround ourselves with, and what were passionate about. All my books and games are, in the end, me.Perhaps this is why I felt emotional when OShea and Wain talked about how games mags are important for their social and personal context. And actually, I had a very recent experience of their intimate value. A couple of weekends ago, I help my mum clear out a few old things at her house. In a dusty corner, we found a plastic bag that had obviously been safely stored away by my dad, who died in 2003. I discovered it contained a pile of games magazines that I had worked on Edge, DC-UK and others, as well as some copies of my first stories for the Guardian.I used to post him these things because he was interested in games and cool new gadgets. I thought hed have a quick flick through and chuck them out. But there it all was: my career in a plastic bag, as collated and archived by my dad. Those magazines are in my collection now once they were about me, now theyre about him. We all have a natural ability to share and ascribe cultural meaning and emotional value. As well as bringing us joy, the things we collect are a message to others. This was important once; take care of it and youll understand why.What to playThe Reuters game and story Cosy Comfort. Photograph: ReutersWhen is a news article not a news article? Um when its a game? Reuters has just run a lovely introductory article about cosy games such as Spiritfarer and Animal Crossing, which have proven mental health benefits for stressed or anxious players.The Reutuers feature is also an interactive role-playing game, Cosy Comfort, which allows you to guide a cutesy anthropomorphic Radish around the teeny village of Rootersville as you read, customising its clothes and house en route. This is such a lovely, relevant way to present a positive story.Available on: PC, Mac and smartphone Estimated playtime: skip past newsletter promotionSign up to Pushing ButtonsFree weekly newsletterKeza MacDonald's weekly look at the world of gamingPrivacy Notice: Newsletters may contain info about charities, online ads, and content funded by outside parties. For more information see our Privacy Policy. We use Google reCaptcha to protect our website and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.after newsletter promotionWhat to readIs a Sims rerelease on the horizon? Photograph: EA/MaxisThere are rumours that Electronic Arts is preparing to rerelease The Sims and Sims 2 to celebrate the games forthcoming 25th anniversary. Kotaku reports on teases from the publisher and I hope theyve got it right: the origins of this 200m-selling life sim havent been available to download and play for many years. I wonder if my old saves will work?Alice Bell has written a beautiful article for Eurogamer about how video game spaces have become memorials to friends we have lost. This makes complete sense in the digital era when so many relationships play out online and in virtual worlds.Yet more games industry job losses this week as Ubisoft announced it is closing its Leamington studio and downsizing Ubisoft Reflections in Newcastle, Ubisoft Dsseldorf and Ubisoft Stockholm. According to GI.biz, 185 staff will lose their jobs.What to clickQuestion BlockTunic is a game to bring an old friend back to the console again. Photograph: FinjiThis weeks question comes from Martha, who asks:My friend and I live together and we are avid gamers. Not into sport or platformers but we love all the modern greats; GTA, Last of Us, Uncharted, Days Gone, Horizon ZD and FW, Spider-Man (and Stardew Valley). You get the picture! A friend of ours who hasnt gamed since the 90s wants us to help get her into gaming again. So it needs to be something we enjoy with a good learning arc. What would you recommend? We are PlayStation gamers.Of the games youve mentioned, Spider-Man, Uncharted and Horizon are all excellent introductions to modern games and they all have good easy modes. If they were playing in the 1990s, they might recognise a few of the franchises still going today, so Rise of the Tomb Raider and Resident Evil Village might be a good idea. I also love Stellar Blade and The Quarry, which have quite a 90s gaming vibe to them. Also, as you mentioned, Stardew Valley, which has a real Super Nintendo look and feel, Id recommend Tunic and Roots of Pacha, which both look as if theyve come from that wonderful era.If youve got a question for Question Block or anything else to say about the newsletter hit reply or email us on pushingbuttons@theguardian.com.

Dune Awakening could be the biggest game in the survival genre since Palworld, and we had the chance to speak to Scott Junior, Executive Producer about the game's development

Dune: Awakening might be one of the most exciting shakeups of the survival sandbox in years, aiming to offer a slick experience from start to endgame and I've played it

Science & technology | What doesnt kill youWhy carbon monoxide could appeal to the discerning doperProfessional cycling is debating whether to ban the poisonous gasPhotograph: Getty Images Jan 30th 2025CARBON MONOXIDE is best-known as a poison. Each year around 30,000 people worldwide die from exposure to the gas, which can be produced by cooking stoves or indoor fires. But could it also have something to offer the hard-pressed athlete looking for an edge?Explore moreThis article appeared in the Science & technology section of the print edition under the headline Riding highFrom the February 1st 2025 editionDiscover stories from this section and more in the list of contentsExplore the editionReuse this content

Just when you think filmmakers have exhausted every possible take on zombies, a new movie comes along to remind you that there are still fresh stories waiting to creep out of the grave. An io9 review said nearly the same thing about Handling the Undead, which played the Sundance Film Festival in 2024and 2025s currently underway event has a similarly offbeat zombie tale in Didnt Die. Set two years after an unspecified outbreak transformed most of the population into biters, Didnt Die introduces us to Vinita (a charismatic Kiran Deol), whose main coping mechanism is creating her podcastwhich is actually broadcast over the radio, since theres no internet in the post-apocalypse. She dwells within a hard shell crafted mostly of sarcasm; its allowed her to face her dystopian new reality with an upbeat spirit, though she also clings to the comforting knowledge that while her parents might be out of the picture, her brothers are still a big part of her life. After time spent traveling around interviewing fellow survivors for the podcast, which is also titled Didnt Die, Vinita and younger brother Rish (Vishal Vijayakumar) have returned to their hometown, more specifically to their childhood home, to stay with older brother Hari (Samrat Chakrabarti) and his wife, Barbara (Katie McCuen). Theyre doomsday-prepped in that they seemingly have plenty of food stockpiled, and their existence feels relatively secure, all things considered. The cozy status quo gets a shake-up when Vinitas much-despised ex Vincent (George Basil) shows up with a babynot his, but a foundling spared when her family was killed. That requires some awkward adjusting, but theres also another, more urgent shift in circumstances: biters, which were formerly strictly nocturnal, have evolved and are now emerging in the daylight. Paul Gleason Most of Didnt Die is filmed in black and white, echoing back to George Romeros Night of the Living Deadthe grandaddy of zombie films thats also referenced here by naming a character Barbara, and by having most of the action take place in an isolated country house. But while Night of the Living Dead focused on a group of strangers who must frantically work together to survive, all while not really understanding what theyre up against, Didnt Die digs into the emotional toll of an ongoing disaster, as experienced by a family that may not always agree on strategy, but shares a deep love.Didnt Dies script, by director Meera Menon and co-writer Paul Gleason, draws inspiration from the real-life pandemic, especially the wide range of reactions it pulled out of people. For Rish, its fear; Hari is overly protective; Vincent chooses self-isolation; Barbara takes a sudden interest in crafting; and Vinita becomes fixated on her podcastthough even she admits Nobody told me the apocalypse was gonna be so boring. Living in the home where they grew up, the siblings cant help but slip back into nostalgia, which Didnt Die illustrates with gauzy, happy flashbacks. But despite fleeting moments of joy in lockdown, there are literal monsters prowling around outside, and as Vinita herself tells her listeners, its important to live for the future, rather than wallowing in memories of what can never be again.Though it doesnt deliver many outright frights, Didnt Die does an admirable job of capturing the unease of unprecedented times, with a particularly eerie sound design that conveys the ambient night-time noise of hungry howls from every direction. The characters have become used to it after hearing it for so long, but its freaky all the same. Didnt Die also, perhaps surprisingly, has doses of humor sprinkled throughout, with welcome moments that keep the characters monochromatic world from feeling too gloomy. Didnt Die premiered at the 2025 Sundance Film Festival; it does not yet have a release date. Want more io9 news? Check out when to expect the latest Marvel, Star Wars, and Star Trek releases, whats next for the DC Universe on film and TV, and everything you need to know about the future of Doctor Who.

By Matthew Gault Published January 30, 2025 | Comments (22) | Part of the wreckage is seen as rescue boats search the waters of the Potomac River after a plane on approach to Reagan National Airport crashed into the river near Washington, DC, on January 30, 2025. Photo by ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS/AFP via Getty Images Last night a commercial airliner carrying 64 passengers collided with a U.S. Army Black Hawk helicopter over the Potomac River near Reagan International Airport in Washington D.C. This morning authorities said theyd pulled 27 bodies from the crash. They dont expect to find any survivors. The plane was a 20-year-old Bombardier CRJ700 on its way from Wichita, Kansas, and approaching its runway at the airport. The Black Hawk was flying a training mission out of nearby Fort Belvoir. The night was clear and both FAA and Army officials have told the public that there were no indications of malfunctions or miscommunications. The jet was flying north towards its runway. The helicopter was coming south from the fort. They collided with each other just after 9 p.m. on Wednesday. The crash was captured on video and uploaded to social media after it occurred and the debris field spread across the water of the Potomac. Recovery efforts are ongoing. The hunt for an explanation or someone to blame has begun. In a post on Truth Social last night after midnight, President Donald Trump suggested that air traffic controllers were at fault.The airplane was on a perfect and routine line of approach to the airport, Trump said on Truth Social. The helicopter was going straight at the airplane for an extended period of time. It is a CLEAR NIGHT, the lights on the plane were blazing, why didnt the helicopter go up or down, or turn. Why didnt the control tower tell the helicopter what to do instead of asking if they saw the plane. This is a bad situation that looks like it should have been prevented. NOT GOOD!!! The tragedy comes less than a month after the start of his presidency and just days after the Senate confirmed Pete Hegseth as the Secretary of Defense. The Federal Aviation Administration is, at the moment, leaderless.Michael Whitaker assumed the post in 2023 and announced his intention to resign back in December following Trumps victory. Whitaker was a vocal critic of SpaceX and had chastised Elon Musks space program for skirting safety regulations. The only way to bring them to heel, he said, was to levy massive fines. Musk told him to resign from the FAA in a post on X. Whitaker did just that, leaving his post on January 20. At the moment, its unclear who is running the FAA. The administrator is a post that requires Senate confirmation but Trump hasnt named a successor. Former FAA official Chris Rocheleau returned to the agency recently and sources inside D.C. have told some news outlets that hes the de-facto leader. So the FAA is officially leaderless after the first major mid-air collision in the U.S. in 16 years. Adding to the confusion is the federal hiring freeze, which Trump enacted by dictate and has been unevenly applied and widely misunderstood. Though the executive order appeared to have a carve-out for officials related to safety, there was mass confusion about whether or not that involved air traffic controllers.On January 22, a week before the crash, ranking members of the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure called out the hiring freeze in a joint statement. Hiring air traffic controllers is the number one safety issue according to the entire aviation industry. Instead of working to improve aviation safety and lower costs for hardworking American families, the Administration is choosing to spread bogus DEI claims to justify this decision, Rick Larsen (D-WA) said in the statement. Im not surprised by the Presidents dangerous and divisive actions, but the Administration must reverse course. Lets get back to aviation safety and allow the FAA to do its job protecting the flying public.On /r/ATC, a subreddit dedicated to air traffic controllers, members vented their confusion and asked what was going on with jobs. Anybody else notice that all ATC job postings on usajobs have been removed besides DOD positions? Ive been told that all vacancy announcements that closed before today will still go through the selection process. Anyone else heard anything? One Redditor said three days ago. Conditions at some federally-run aviation towers are so bad that theyll soon be completely unstaffed. According to a memo fromAirport Manager Gretchen Kelly, the San Carlos Federal Contract Tower will have absolutely no ATC services starting in February. The FAA has awarded a new contract for air traffic services at SQL to Robinson Aviation, the letter said. However, the contract does not include locality pay to account for the high cost of living in the San Francisco Bay Area. As a result, none of the air traffic controllers decided to stick around The FAA was formed in 1958, in part, because a series of mid-air collisions convinced Washington and the public that a federal agency was needed to regulate the skies.Daily NewsletterYou May Also Like By AJ Dellinger Published January 29, 2025 By Matt Novak Published January 29, 2025 By Matt Novak Published January 28, 2025 By Matt Novak Published January 27, 2025 By AJ Dellinger Published January 24, 2025 By Lucas Ropek Published January 24, 2025

Backyard House / super future collectiveSave this picture! Kim FohmannArchitects: super future collectiveAreaArea of this architecture projectArea:150 mYearCompletion year of this architecture project Year: 2022 PhotographsPhotographs:Kim FohmannManufacturersBrands with products used in this architecture project Manufacturers: PREFAMore SpecsLess SpecsSave this picture!Text description provided by the architects. A plot of land on Frther Street in Nuremberg is being developed to close a construction gap in the backyard, creating new residential space. A three-story residential building with three units was constructed, oriented towards the courtyard. The building fits into the plot's volume, which is surrounded by buildings on three sides. As a result, a shared courtyard is established between the existing front house and the new rear house, available for use by all residents. For the new rear house, large faade openings were chosen to ensure sufficient lighting for the north-facing apartments in this densely built-up area.Save this picture!Save this picture!Save this picture!Access to the residential units is via an external, freestanding staircase. The deep stair landings also serve as open areas for the residents, offering views of the courtyard. Each of the three residential units follows the same floor plan: a single room, which is divided by a rear addition containing the bathroom, dressing area, and storage space. The sleeping area can be separated from the living and dining area by a curtain. A long bench at the window facing the courtyard provides storage space and a flexible seating option for the kitchen-dining area.Save this picture!Save this picture!Save this picture!The building features a faade cladding made of bare aluminum in a jagged form, which strongly distinguishes it from the surrounding context, giving it an independent architectural identity. This light-colored faade reflects onto the courtyard, adding extra brightness to the space. At the same time, it also reflects the colors of the surroundings and the sky, changing slightly each day.Save this picture!Due to war-related soil embankments, the building had to be founded on micro-drilled piles. The construction was built as a solid structure using high-hole bricks with a ventilated, cladding faade. The ceilings consist of prefabricated elements, similar to the stairs. As a color accent, the balustrades of the access area and the wood-aluminum sliding windows are painted green. This color can also be found as an accent in the visible screed of the apartments and in small details such as the cabinetry and bathroom tiles.Save this picture!Project gallerySee allShow lessAbout this officePublished on January 30, 2025Cite: "Backyard House / super future collective" 30 Jan 2025. ArchDaily. Accessed . <https://www.archdaily.com/1026174/backyard-house-super-future-collective&gt ISSN 0719-8884Save!ArchDaily?You've started following your first account!Did you know?You'll now receive updates based on what you follow! Personalize your stream and start following your favorite authors, offices and users.Go to my stream

Most of us hope well be healthy into our late 80s or early 90s and then die peacefully in our sleep, preferably after a wonderful evening with loved ones. But thats rarely the way it works out. All too often, our later years are plagued with ill health.Life expectancy has been steadily increasing throughout the world since 1900, but those gains have not been matched by equivalent gains in health, says Armin Garmany, a researcher who studies regenerative medicine at the Mayo Clinic.People outlive their good health by an average of 9.6 years 12 years for those who live in the U.S. according to research by Garmany and Andre Terzig, a pioneer in the field of regenerative medicine, also at Mayo.Garmany and Terzig were the first to quantify the gap, but the idea has been around for decades. In a paper published in Science in 1987, John Rowe and Robert Kahn introduced the term health span, a measure not of how long we live but of how long we live without significant health problems. Since then, scientists have increasingly embraced the concept and are working to close the gap.Addressing Shorter Health SpansRecent advances in medicine, both surgical and pharmaceutical, have made aging much easier, dramatically improving the quality of life of older people. Joint replacements, stents, and medicines for controlling cholesterol blood pressure, and maintaining heart function are just a few examples.But these therapies do not eliminate illnesses; they just make them easier to live with. And they come with a cost, says Kenneth Boockvar, geriatrics director at the Integrative Center for Aging Research at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. The trade-off is that we face a life of taking medicines, getting injections, and interacting with the healthcare system. We may be maintaining our health, he says, but it is taking some work.Garmany and Terzig think we can do better. In a 2021 paper, they describe several new approaches that would go much further toward eliminating illness. For example, as more patient data becomes available, scientists can use artificial intelligence to analyze that data and identify people at risk for developing disease, enabling physicians to intervene before people become ill, or as Terzig puts it, extinguish the fire before the fire even starts.Another approach involves targeting aging cells and preserving healthy cells, something called anti-senescence. And then theres regenerative medicine, therapies that aim to restore the form and function of diseased or aging organs using stem cells or other methods. Advances in these areas open the possibility of not only mitigating the symptoms of disease but ultimately finding cures, says Garmany.Preventing the GapHowever, closing the health span/lifespan gap is not just about cutting-edge technologies. Prevention plays a huge role, too. We can reduce the chances of getting those illnesses that so often plague our later years by eating well, exercising, maintaining a healthy weight, and avoiding behaviors that put us at risk, such as smoking and excessive alcohol use, says Boockvar.The consequences may come late, but prevention starts early and is often a matter of public health. Terzig points out that the foundation of a healthy life begins with programs that get children off to a healthy start, as well as education, both at school and at home, about healthy living.Maximizing Good HealthThe steady increase in lifespan over the past two centuries is partly due to factors such as better nutrition, sanitation, neonatal healthcare, vaccines, antibiotics, reductions in poverty, and an emphasis on disease prevention. Maximizing the years of good health will also require extending these improvements in public health to more of society.We have a healthcare I hesitate to say system because it doesnt feel like a system to me that is largely commercial, and insurance is not available to everyone, says Boockvar. People often defer healthcare because of the cost or because they dont have access to care. A federal campaign to provide basic healthcare to everybody could narrow the disparities.If we are to narrow the gap between lifespan and health span, well need to focus on all these approaches new technologies, improved public health, greater access to care, timely interventions, and better prevention.The impact of medicine, even during my career, has advanced more than I would have expected, says Boockvar. Hes hopeful that this progress will continue until were able to enjoy robust health until the moment we die.Article SourcesOur writers at Discovermagazine.com use peer-reviewed studies and high-quality sources for our articles, and our editors review for scientific accuracy and editorial standards. Review the sources used below for this article:Our World in Data. Life ExpectancyAvery Hurt is a freelance science journalist. In addition to writing for Discover, she writes regularly for a variety of outlets, both print and online, including National Geographic, Science News Explores, Medscape, and WebMD. Shes the author of Bullet With Your Name on It: What You Will Probably Die From and What You Can Do About It, Clerisy Press 2007, as well as several books for young readers. Avery got her start in journalism while attending university, writing for the school newspaper and editing the student non-fiction magazine. Though she writes about all areas of science, she is particularly interested in neuroscience, the science of consciousness, and AIinterests she developed while earning a degree in philosophy.

NewsAnimalsFeeding sharks junk food takes a toll on their healthA diet of poor-quality scraps is changing the behavior and physiology of blacktip reef sharks Blacktip reef sharks (Carcharhinus melanopterus) on the island of Mo'orea receive food scraps from tourists, but it may not be great for their long-term health.Johann MourierBy Jake Buehler11 seconds agoIn general, sharks have a reputation as swimming garbage cans that unflinchingly dine on whatever they can fit in their jaws. But in French Polynesia, blacktip reef sharks that frequent places where tourists toss them low-quality scraps are taking a hit to their metabolic and reproductive health, researchers report December 24 in Animal Conservation.Around the world, snorkeling or diving tourists who want to see sharks in their natural habitat may lure them with food. A particularly popular location for shark feeding is Moorea, a small island near Tahiti.On the sand bank shallows, tourists in boats and kayaks congregate to see the sharks and stingrays, tossing them everything from frozen squid to human food scraps.