Phytology investigates the connection between photosynthesis and light wavelengths. It delves into how various wavelengths, whether reflected or absorbed, serve protective, attractive, or growth functions. The series seeks to understand how different individuals and organisms may visualise these wavelengths.

With the latest trailer for Pokemon Legends: Z-A revealing its trio of starter Pokemon from across the franchise's generations, the ultimate pick of Chikorita, Tepig, and Totodile has raised questions as to why Game Freak chose these three. With its predecessor, Pokemon Legends: Arceus, setting the precedent for featuring an intergenerational mix of starter Pokemon, it seemed highly likely that Pokemon Legends: Z-Awould continue the trend with its own starter trio. As a result, rumors and leaks about Legends: Z-A's starter Pokemon have surrounded the game ever since it was first announced in early 2024.

Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii is the latest Gaiden entry in the Like a Dragon series, and continues a trend that began with Like a Dragon Gaiden: The Man Who Erased His Name by allowing players to customize the protagonist's outfits to a much greater extent than we've seen in the rest of the series.

We can now (for example) define a function like T Min<T>(T x, T y), but if we compile something like Min(1, 2), we get Template Min expects 1 sub type(s). This is somewhat expected, but it would be nice if we could implement generic functions alongside their older counterparts, to make it easier to modernize to these new APIs.I'm fine with the requirement of doing something like Min<int>(1, 2), but requiring this breaks a

Dapperwings are flying endemic life in Monster Hunter Wilds. Youll need to capture one as part of an early side quest, Samins Research Report, for the research team at the Windward Plains base camp.Its the follow up to Dareels Research Report, in which you need to capture tracktail lizards.Our guide tells you where to find dapperwings in Monster Hunter Wilds and how to get one to complete the quest.Where to find dapperwing locations in Monster Hunter WildsTo find a dapperwing, youll first need to head to the lush corners of the Scarlet Forest. A good place to start is around the Bower of the Great Tree (Area 7) pop-up camp location. From there, we headed over to Area 6, where we found three different spots with dapperwings.From what we gathered, dapperwings are usually in flocks and can be seen perching on fallen trees and branches. We found multiple of them during the daytime. A good cue is the sound they make, resembling regular birds.For some additional pointers, head east from the 6 on the map, and keep an eye out for the birds on the trees.How to catch a dapperwing in Monster Hunter WildsOnce youve spotted at least one dapperwing, all thats left is to capture them. You can equip your capture net either from the item bar or from your Essential Items radial menu. If you need some extra height to reach the target, mount your Seikret and use the capture net while on top of it.Approach the dapperwings slowly to prevent them from flying away. Unlike tracktail lizards, since dapperwings are usually far from the ground, they wont mind if you walk close to them. With the new rectangle reticle, approach the dapperwing slowly until the reticle turns yellow-orange and fire it.As always, make sure you hit L2/LT and not the usual square/X.Completing the Samins Research Report side mission rewards you with blue mushrooms (ten), honey (five), 50 guild points, and some experience for your hunter rank and palico level. To also help you understand Monster Hunter Wilds, we explain how to capture monsters, how to change weapons, and teach you how fishing and layered armor works.

Some folks seem to believe that the end is nigh for uBlock Origin and maybe other popular extensions for Edge but it very much isnt (yet).

Salesforces Marc Benioff envisions a world where CEOs simultaneously manage humans and AI agents.

Like most Americans, I took Social Security for granted for most of my life. Until about 10 years ago, I carried a vague idea that the program had been promised to Moses on Mount Sinai (whaddya mean Grandpa didnt have a Social Security number until he was 27?). Combined with that assumption was my hazy belief that its benefits would dry up by the time I reached my sixties.My eyes were opened when I was asked to literally write the book on Social Security in 2015. (Forgive the shameless plug.)In researching and writing that book, I learned that Social Security represents the best of American federal policyand that the widespread misunderstanding of this program puts itand usin peril.Since then, I have become a dedicated Social Security fangirl who believes its important for all Americans to better understand and appreciate this program. Heres why.The gritty origin storyThe Social Security Act was signed into law on August 14, 1935, a date that dedicated students of history will recognize as smack-dab in the middle of the Great Depression. Thats not a coincidence. America faced a staggering 25% unemployment rate during the 1930s, and more than half the elderly population lived in poverty. This was not the economic reality Americans wanted for their grandparentsor themselves.In 1934, President Franklin D. Roosevelt appointed Labor Secretary Frances Perkins (the first woman appointed to a presidential cabinet and a stone-cold badass) to be chair of a newly formed committee on economic security. Perkins created a report that included a legislative proposal for what would become the Social Security Act.An elegant designA common misconception about Social Security is that you are contributing money to your future benefits. You might assume there is an account with your name on it where your contributions go to wait until you retire. Its an understandable mistake since thats how your 401(k) and other retirement accounts work.But Social Security was designed as a direct handover from current workers to current beneficiaries. By setting up the program so that people currently working made contributions to people currently retired, the government does not have to hold or invest money for the future.This design means that Social Security can never run out of money. The money is consistently transferred from current workers to current beneficiaries, which means there will be money for benefits when you retire.Yes, you.A history of tinkeringSince Social Security is federal legislation, its subject to change as the economy and society change. For example, the original Social Security Act excluded coverage for many jobs, including agriculture, domestic work, teachers, librarians, and nurses. The program was expanded to include these in 1950.Some other major changes included the 1962 legislation that allowed dependent husbandsnot just wivesto receive benefits after becoming widowed, and the 1972 introduction of cost of living adjustments (COLA) to benefits. One of the biggest changes occurred in 1983, in anticipation of the future mass retirement of baby boomers.Between 2011 and 2029, approximately 10,000 boomers turn 65 every single day, which is a rate of retirement that Social Security was not originally designed to handle. The 1983 legislative changes to Social Security gradually raised the age of full retirement for boomers and subsequent generations, lowering the cost of their benefits.Future planningThe 1983 legislation, like every change to Social Security, increased the programs complexity, which is a common source of frustration about the program.While changes to the program have sometimes led to unintended consequences, every single legislative decision reflects good faith, good intentions, and long-term planning.Consider the fact that in 1983, the oldest boomers were in their thirties, but Congress was already looking ahead to their retirement. Thats because the United States is the only country in the world that uses 75-year projections for its social insurance program. Most other countries use a shorter timeline. Only Japan, with a 95-year projection, uses a longer one.This kind of forethought and projection means were (theoretically) able to avert oncoming problems decades before they arrive.The greatly exaggerated reports of Social Securitys demiseWhen I tell a contemporary that they can count on Social Security in the future, they often struggle to believe meand for good reason. You dont have to go far to find headlines describing the programs imminent insolvency.Heres the reality: The Social Security Trust Fund will run out of money in 2035. At that point, the Social Security program will only be able to pay out approximately 83% of promised benefits. Most people focus on the run out of money half of that sentence, glossing right over the youll get 83% of your promised benefits part.While a 17% reduction in your promised benefits is crappy, its a hell of a lot better than no benefits at all. Thats why I encourage Americans to remember that Social Security is facing an imminent shortfall, not an imminent bankruptcy.To avert the shortfall, Congress just needs to make some adjustments to the legislation. (Yeah, Im not holding my breath, either). But this is a fixable problem, if we as a country are willing to do the work.The real threat to Social SecurityI like to tell people that if Social Security benefits are not there for us when we retire, it means we have bigger problems than retirement income.Because I have a waggish sense of humor, Ill often name the kinds of fantastical and unlikely threats that would truly dismantle Social Securitya meteor heading straight for Earth, a robot apocalypse, or a fascist takeover of the American government.In other words, Social Security is about as close to a financial guarantee as we can have, but that doesnt mean its immune to threatsespecially the outlandish threats that are a lot less funny than they used to be.As a federal program, Social Security can be fundamentally changed or even rescinded with the stroke of a pen. And its more likely this will happen if the American citizens who are the beneficiaries of this amazing, flawed, and life-saving program believe the lies about it.This is why Ill spend Social Securitys 90th year touting its merits to everyone who will listen. The better we understand and claim Social Security as our own, the more secure it will beeven in the unlikely event of a zombie apocalypse.

The Oscars dont have a Best Poster category. (Or even a Best Title Sequence category, which they did sort of have for the very first Academy Awards in 1929 beforefor shamedropping it in 1930.) So this year, as in the past, we asked some of our favorite poster designers which Best Picture nominee should win Best Poster. Like book cover designers, key art creators are tasked with the unwieldy ask of distilling an entire universe of story into a single visual. Its another standard of excellence in cinemaand wed argue that theres indeed correlation between great posters and great films. Consider: In our (admittedly wildly unscientific!) 2023 best poster poll, all participants nearly unanimously selected the off-the-wall treatments for the off-the-wall Everything Everywhere All At Oncewhich took home Best Picture. Last year, Vasilis Marmatakiss unsurprisingly inventive posters for the unsurprisingly inventive Poor Things dominatedand the film subsequently nabbed Best Actress, Best Production Design, Best Makeup and Hairstyling, and Best Costume Design.Beneath our water-cooler correlation lies another truth: When a designer utterly nails the brief and creates a poster that rises to a films artistic heights, its transcendentand it often yields the singular image were left with in our minds long after leaving the theater.Below, a panel of prosJay Bennett, who has worked with Netflix and others; Marie Bergeron, who has worked with Sony, Marvel, Ubisoft, and Warner Bros.; Tori Huynh, who has worked with the Criterion Collection, A24, HBO and more; and Eric Garza and Mitch Putnam, creative directors of pop culture and poster powerhouse Mutantsound off on their picks for this years best Best Picture poster.[Photo: A24]The most effective movie posters make you want to see the movie. A24s one-sheet for The Brutalist delivers fully in this regard. Director Brady Corbets film epic is a bold and uncompromising work that celebrates minimalism and maximalism in equal measure. The poster supports that minimalist/maximalist approach with a design-forward layout that follows principles of Bauhaus and Brutalist design. The art challenges our expectations of traditional movie posters with its bold typography and asymmetrical layout, and is punctuated by an equally impactful visual of Lady Liberty turned on her headsignaling some of the films main themes. Its not just an advert for the film, it feels like an extension of its worldview. Eric Garza[Photo: MUBI]This one got my attention because of its simplicity, boldness, and because it says what it needs to say with very few elements. Its [difficult to encapsulate a] story with only one image, and I always think that the best posters nail this part. Also, Ive seen the film and its one of my favorites this year, so maybe [thats why I chose it, too]. Marie Bergeron[Photo: MUBI]One of my favorite films of 2024 was The Substance. I love when horror films center the unimaginable dread of being a woman. Strange, sterile, and a pastel gore nightmare, I feel like the posters capture the bizarre icons within the film really well. What came first, the chicken or the egg? Or was the chicken modified, processed and fried beyond our comprehension [so] it is no longer recognizable from its original form? Summarizing all of these elements, and without showing Demi Moores face, no less, is such a bold choice. I also love the condensed typeface they used for the title and kept within the entirety of the film. From the look of the key art into the picture, I appreciate the commitment to consistency within the branding. Tori Huynh[Photo: Focus Features]I have landed on the U.K. one-sheet for Conclave. I think its a bold approach for what is essentially a religious drama to lead with such a vibrant, thriller-esque palette, with the character arrangement creating a hint towards the split of the vote. The highlighted eye as Cardinal Lawrences main weapon in this conflict is a nice touch. Jay Bennett[Photo: NEON]Many times, independent studios will try to push posters that feature big, loud graphic design or illustrative work to help their films stand out. That can be effective, but sometimes a simple piece of set photography is so perfect, it has to be used. Anora had my favorite poster of the year for exactly this reason. The photo screams youth, energy, love and euphoria, which is a hell of a lot to convey in one shot. The type perfectly complements the image and communicates everything necessary while also stepping back just enough so as to not compete for focal dominance. Uncomplicated in its design, this is one of those I couldve done that posters. But you probably couldnt have. Mitch Putnam

Let's raise a glass to 'The Dress'.