House for a Goldsmith / Christoph Wagner ArchitektenSave this picture! Eric TschernowHouses, RenovationLanke, GermanyArchitects: Christoph Wagner ArchitektenAreaArea of this architecture projectArea:380 mYearCompletion year of this architecture project Year: 2023 PhotographsPhotographs:Eric Tschernow Lead Architects: Christoph Wagner, Wenke Schladitz More SpecsLess SpecsSave this picture!Text description provided by the architects. A farmhouse in the Mark Brandenburg, half an hour north of Berlin, was to become the client's new home and workplace. The agricultural use of the house was probably abandoned in the 1950s and the stable and workshop rooms were converted into four flats. The client decided to keep the remaining old tenant in the house and not alter this flat. The remaining areas were carefully remodeled and converted into living and working spaces by Christoph Wagner architects with Wenke Schladitz and reoriented towards the surrounding garden. A flat with 140 square meters was created on two floors. It was important to the client and the architects to preserve the character of the house with its traces and layers of time. A complete renovation was not desired. For example, cracks were only repaired where structurally necessary and not for design reasons. Large areas of the building were left untouched.Save this picture!Save this picture!Save this picture!The formerly windowless gable wall now lets the morning sun into the house through a large, off-center round window. The curved brass window plate was shaped in such a way that it elegantly directs the water away from the wood and reflects the light deep into the house. The glass pane does not sit in a separate frame, but the cross-laminated timber (CLT) of the bay window was milled so that the pane could be inserted directly. The round glazing bead was made from brass by a befriended blacksmith and emphasized the special nature of the location. The largest structural intervention in the existing building was the opening in the south faade for the wide terrace window, combined with the ceiling opening for the staircase. The double-shell spandrel masonry of the outer wall is supported above the new window by an externally positioned balcony projection. This made it possible to avoid supports on the inside.Save this picture!Save this picture!The new staircase marks the privacy of the upper floor with the side stringer of the upper flight of stairs raised as a privacy screen. This projects into the room from above as a negative form and meets the volume of the two lower flights of stairs at the landing. Demolition bricks were reused as non-load-bearing interior walls. The floor structure of glass gravel and regional hemp clay fill does not require any waterproofing membranes. Parquet floors demolished elsewhere could be partially reinstalled.Save this picture!Christoph Wagner Architects has often experienced that building owners openly or covertly harbor the wish that an old house should be as comfortable as a new building and ideally be renovated in one go. They consider this to be wrong, and not just for reasons of sustainability. CWA believes that you have to know and understand a house to be able to react appropriately to its character by remodeling and extending it. This is usually a long process. The house in Lanke has now reached an intermediate stage. It is not finished. Just as architecture is never finished anyway and continues to evolve with its users.Save this picture!Project gallerySee allShow lessAbout this officeMaterialsWoodBrickMaterials and TagsPublished on February 07, 2025Cite: "House for a Goldsmith / Christoph Wagner Architekten" 07 Feb 2025. ArchDaily. Accessed . <https://www.archdaily.com/1026509/house-for-a-goldsmith-christoph-wagner-architekten&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

Experimental results of the miniaturized DN2s integrated at the distal facet of a MMF using the 3D GS-TPN fabrication method, showing SEM and white-light microscopy images. Credit: USSTShareFiber optic cables have a bottleneck problem. Although theyre capable of transporting encoded data at the speed of light, translating the encoded data into understandable information often requires slower, much more energy-hungry equipment. Building off of previous innovations in a field known as passive neural networks, however, a team at Chinas University of Shanghai for Science and Technology (USST) is developing a microscopic workaround: A new artificial intelligence chip that utilizes light physics to analyze data using only a fraction of the energy. Whats more, each chip is barely the size of a grain of salt.The recent advances, detailed in a study published in the journal Nature Photonics rely on a form of neural networking first developed by researchers at the University of California, Los Angeles in 2018. Known as an all-optical diffractive deep neural network, this method uses patterned, 3D-printed layers of passive components that are precisely stacked together. The system is then trained to complete complex computations utilizing photons of light.The system was tested using images of numerals transferred through fiber optic wires. Credit: USSTAs New ScientistResearchers relied on three-dimensional two-photon nanolithography to construct each miniscule chip using ultrathin polymer layers. They then attached a chip to the end of a fiber optic wire, where it processed data as it passed through the cables at the speed of light. To test the invention, the team encoded images of numerals into light photons, then sent them through the fiber optic wires. The AI chips then successfully read the data and recreated each number image with minimal fuzziness. This kind of image recognition is now a rudimentary function in many AI systems, the salt-sized chips managed to do so in trillionths of a second. They also do so using only a few thousandths of the amount of energy as todays AI-based image recognition technology.A graph showing the phases of data as it is processed through the optical AI chip. Credit: USST The system is by no means perfect just yet. The slightest chip imperfections can degrade the overall system, and each chip must be specifically customized depending on the job needed. Still, the inventors believe the technology could eventually provide unprecedented functionalities. These might include situations such as endoscopic imaging and potentially even for quantum computing.

In a state known for its alligators, theme parks, and sun-seeking tourists of all stripes, Burmese pythons (Python bivittatus) are one unwelcome visitor. Thousands of these roughly 13-foot-long snakes usually found in Southeast Asia have been slithering around parts of Florida for about the last 40 years, wreaking havoc on native species and harming the ecosystem. While the exact number is unknown, some scientists estimate that there could be as many as 100,000 to 300,000 pythons in the Sunshine State. Get the Popular Science newsletter Breakthroughs, discoveries, and DIY tips sent every weekday. By signing up you agree to our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy.To combat this invasive species, the state sponsors a popular annual hunting contest in an effort to cull the population and works with various groups to catch the snakes. Scientists are also experimenting with finding the snakes with the environmental DNA that they leave behind. Now, University of Florida scientists have statistically analyzed data collected Burmese python contractors to figure out the most efficient way to remove the reptiles. The findings are detailed in a study recently published in the journal Scientific Reports.Burmese pythons are considered generalist predators. They can eat pretty much anything and numerous speciesincluding large deerhave been found in their gut during necropsies. They also eat protected and threatened Florida species including the wood stork and Key Largo woodrat. They can consume meals equivalent to 100 percent of their body mass. However, there have been no reported human deaths from wild-living Burmese pythons in Florida.A sample diet for an average Burmese python. CREDIT:SFWMD Python Elimination Program/Skip Snow/Stephan Secor. Pythons disrupt food webs, altering predator-prey dynamics and reducing populations of key native species, Alex Romer, a study co-author and a quantitative ecologist at UF/IFAS Fort Lauderdale Research and Education Center, said in a statement. By refining removal strategies, were working to give native wildlife a chance to adapt and persist.The data was collected between May 2020 and April 2022 and the team analyzed a total of 4,092 surveys from python contractors totaling over 16,000 hours of effort in finding and containing the snakes. They looked through the data to see if factors like time of day or temperature impacted the chance of successfully removing a python. The team also analyzed whether the most surveyed areas in the state aligned with the highest python removals. This way, state officials can pinpoint regions where few contractors are catching a lot of pythons, indicating that more contractors should be working in these spots to remove more snakes.The analysis indicated two regions where efforts to remove pythons could be bolstered with more surveying. The western edge of Big Cypress National Preserve in the south central portion of the state and a stormwater treatment area in Palm Beach County to the east.The team also identified the optimal conditions that appear to improve survey outcomes.Python surveys are most successful and efficient from May through OctoberFloridas wet season. A drop of barometric pressure the day before also increases the likelihood of a successful python survey.The most efficient time to look for pythons is between the hours of 8 p.m. and 2 a.m. Surveying overnight generally yielded better results, except during periods of extreme cold. In Florida, this occurs when daily air temperatures reach 50 degrees Fahrenheit or lower.[ Related: Burmese pythons stretch their mouths even wider than we thought possible. ]Boats, canoes, kayaks, and airboats can also enhance survey effectiveness.According to the team, this data can inform new guidelines for state and local governments for successful detection and removal efforts. It also highlights the importance in citizen science, the data was collected as part of the SFWMD Python Elimination Program. The project trains individuals from all backgrounds to safely locate and contain pythons.Managing pythons is an enormous effort, undertaken by Floridians deeply invested in restoring the intricate ecological processes that define the Everglades, said Romer. This work is about safeguarding one of the worlds most unique ecosystemsnot just for today, but for generations to come.

A plume of ink can help hide a cuttlefish as it scuttles away from a predator. But that smoke screens stench may also warn sharks to stay away.The inks primary component, melanin, strongly sticks to sharks smell sensors more so than the odorant in mammalian blood, researchers report January 8 in G3 Genes|Genomes|Genetics. The finding hints that in the common cuttlefish (Sepia officinalis), ink evolved to exploit sharks keen sense of smell.Nicknamed swimming noses, some sharks can sniff their way home from almost 10 kilometers away. But that remarkable sense spans a narrow range of scents. Researchers have sequenced the genomes of nearly 40 shark and ray species. On average, the animals possess genes for 43 odor-detecting molecules known as receptors. (Mammals have, on average, around 850 smell receptor genes.)That limits the number of smells sharks can distinguish, although they may be fine-tuned for scents relevant to survival, says sensory biologist Colleen Lawless of the University of Massachusetts Amherst.Past research has shown that after encountering cuttlefish ink, sharks dart away, she says. Its almost like if you walk into a room and someones farted really bad and you just want to completely run the opposite way.But scientists werent sure how the inks chemical compounds interact with sharks smell receptors.So, while at University College Dublin, Lawless and colleagues created 3-D computer models of 146 smell receptors using genetic data from the cloudy catshark (Scyliorhinus torazame), small-spotted catshark (Scyliorhinus canicula) and great white shark (Carcharodon carcharias). The modeled shapes revealed that melanin, responsible for the dark color of a common cuttlefishs ink, possesses a molecular structure and other properties that let it strongly stick to all the tested smell receptors. Melanins binding affinity for the receptors surpassed that of the compound responsible for mammal bloods metallic odor.The effect probably extends to all shark species, Lawless says. Sharks generally share the same core set of smell receptors, despite species different lifestyles and ecological niches.Sharks great sense of smell is also their Achilles heel, Lawless says. Cuttlefish ink has found a way to take advantage of their limited number of smell receptors and use it against them.

Nature, Published online: 07 February 2025; doi:10.1038/d41586-025-00317-7In episode 2 of What's in a name we look how choosing names can help, or hinder, attempts to communicate important messages.

Nature, Published online: 05 February 2025; doi:10.1038/s41586-024-08460-3A hybrid analoguedigital quantum simulator is used to demonstrate beyond-classical performance in benchmarking experiments and to study thermalization phenomena in an XY quantum magnet, including the breakdown of KibbleZurek scaling predictions and signatures of the KosterlitzThouless phase transition.

The adult orcas swam around the ice demonstrating how to pull a seal off by its tail.

Unusual weather patterns and climate change have been driving stark changes in the northwestern state. Now, new satellite images show the extent of this transformation.

Warhorse StudiosKingdom Come: Deliverance II, released on February 4, has shown a triumphant launch and has already sold one million copies over its first day.The information is confirmed on the official X/Twitter account of Warhorse Studios, the games developer. Also, in a recent interview, Daniel Vvra, the studios co-Founder, said (via Games Radar+) that the developers are content with the results that the game had demonstrated: Before the launch, we were betting in the studio on how many copies we could sell. And I won. I missed by 300 units. Were happy with the numbers, and if the trend continues at the same pace, it will be great.Daniel Vvra also showed SteamDB statistics with more than 185,000 concurrent players over the first day:Metacritic has rated the medieval RPG the best game so far, with 88 Metascore and 8.7 User Score.The audience highly anticipated the title, and the community welcomed the decision to move its release date a week earlier. Check out the official live-action of Kingdom Come: Deliverance II shared by the developers before the games launch:This February is packed with game releases, with Sid Meiers Civilization VII launching on February 11, Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii on February 20, Avowed on February 18, Monster Hunter Wilds on February 28, and more.Dont forget to join our 80 Level Talent platform and our new Discord server, follow us on Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, Telegram, TikTok, and Threads, where we share breakdowns, the latest news, awesome artworks, and more.Source link The post Kingdom Come: Deliverance II Has Sold One Million Copies On Its First Day appeared first on CG SHARES.

RockstarDespite occasional rumors or speculations that GTA 6 will be delayed, Take-Two has provided positive news regarding the games launch: No, it wont be postponed.During the companys Q3 FY25 Earnings Call, which you can read the transcript of here, the company expressed great optimism about its planned pipeline for fiscal 2026, including Grand Theft Auto VI launching this fall.What also remains unchanged is the platform on which the game will be available. Console players only need to learn the specific release date to prepare themselves, while PC players are still waiting for a word on if the game will be available on PC, and if so, when. Although Take-Twos CEO Strauss Zelnick said that the PC platform would grow and that it would not be complicated for the company to support it, so far, there has been no answer.Regarding sticking with the announced release window, Zelnick also shares this positivity with IGN, saying that although the risk of delay is always there, the developers feel really good about it. He discusses the anticipation and pressure they faced while preparing for the release of such a highly anticipated game:Look, I think the game is eagerly anticipated both internally and externally. We know that Rockstar seeks perfection. I never claim success before it occurs. Im fond of saying arrogance is the enemy of continued success, so were all running scared and looking over our shoulders and we know that the competition is not asleep. Our whole organization is super excited.The Earnings Call also acknowledged the franchises status, saying that The Grand Theft Auto series remains our industrys standard bearer for excellence. According to Take-Two, Grand Theft Auto V has sold more than 210 million copies in its lifetime.Join our80 Level Talent platformand ournew Discord server, follow us onInstagram,Twitter,LinkedIn,Telegram,TikTok, andThreads,where we share breakdowns, the latest news, awesome artworks, and more.Source link The post GTA 6 Will Be Released This Fall As Promised, But Dont Expect a PC Version Yet appeared first on CG SHARES.