Lion Mountain Park / TLS Landscape ArchitectureSave this picture! Xi ChenLandscape Architecture, ParkJiangsu, ChinaLandscape Architects: TLS Landscape ArchitectureAreaArea of this architecture projectArea:850000 mYearCompletion year of this architecture project Year: 2024 PhotographsPhotographs:Xi Chen More SpecsLess SpecsSave this picture!Text description provided by the architects. Dramatic Lion Mountain in Suzhou is a historical and natural feature that has forever watched over Suzhou. Prominent among local peaks, the Lion looks out to nearby Tiger Mountain and is said to defend its community! In ancient times, poetry relating to "18 Scenes" was carved into stone along its steep trails. Recently, its surroundings have been diminished with a run-down amusement park at its base, a small muddy lake dwarfed by roller coasters, attractions, and an aerial tram up the mountain face. Large billboards and advertisements were plastered on its face. In 2016 TLS won an international competition to restore the greatness of Lion Mountain and create a new lake, park, and district that honors this landmark. After nine years of work, the park is complete.Save this picture!Save this picture!Save this picture!Save this picture!Save this picture!Key to the transformation is the major expansion and development of the lake as a beautiful reflecting surface and ecologically diverse complement to the mountain. Urban runoff flows through wetland terraces and cypress forests to elevate water quality suitable for human contact, hence the thriving small boat program that creates a sociable replacement for the amusement park.Save this picture!A great circular promenade, two kilometers in length binds together the mountain and lake with a social and poetic program that links daily life together with 18 new narrative "scenes" on the mountain to form the natural and cultural anchor for development including a new cultural campus. The campus program includes a Science Museum by Perkins and Will, a Civic Theater by SANAA, and a new satellite of the Suzhou Museum by GMP. The campus has access from a new below-grade subway station - its exit opens to dramatic views of the mountain, and visitors ascend to the promenade level through a "Canyon Garden" with spilling fountain runnels.Save this picture!Save this picture!The forested flanks of the mountain are preserved with new ecozones established on the west side to create habitat. Discrete mountain pathways threaded through the forest and rocky outcrops along with rustic recreation opportunities, bamboo mazes, and children's nature play fill the lower reaches.Save this picture!Save this picture!Music composes the park's art program. A modern forest meditation by local composer, Yifang Han will fill the space of a pavilion along the promenade. At a terraced wood deck overhanging the lake edge, one will hear a traditional/modern composition including sounds of the old amusement park. The work is composed and performed by The Kronos Quartet in collaboration with famed Pipa player, Wu Man. The Lion will be soothed and pleased.Save this picture!Project gallerySee allShow lessAbout this officePublished on March 05, 2025Cite: "Lion Mountain Park / TLS Landscape Architecture" 05 Mar 2025. ArchDaily. Accessed . <https://www.archdaily.com/1027444/lion-mountain-park-tls-landscape-architecture&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

New HMD X1 Safe Phone: Security for Parents, Cool Factor for KidsBy John P. Mello Jr.March 5, 2025 5:00 AM PTThe HMD X1 smartphone includes built-in parental controls and works with Xploras parental management app. ADVERTISEMENTAchieve Financial Clarity with SettleGetting accurate product cost data is crucial for growth. Settle unifies invoices, payments, and inventory to help e-commerce operators uncover true costs and boost margins -- all in one platform. Get Started Today! One knock against smartphones with built-in parental controls is that while they may give mom and dad a measure of comfort, theyre just too uncool for kids. Human Mobile Devices (HMD), a Finland-based phone maker, believes it can address that problem with its new HMD X1 phone announced on Sunday.At HMD, we believe kids shouldnt have to choose between safety and having a smartphone they love, Global Chief Marketing Officer Lars Silberbauer said in a statement.Parents have been asking for a solution that balances protection with freedom, and the HMD X1 delivers just that, he continued. Weve worked closely with families on our Better Phone Project to gain insight into how we can create a device that looks and feels like a premium smartphone while offering the safety guardrails parents need.This is a big step in redefining what a first phone should be one that gives kids a safe start in the digital world without feeling left out, he added.HMD launched The Better Phone Project in July 2024 to tackle the impact of smartphone use on the well-being of children and young people worldwide.In its first global survey of 10,000 parents, HMD found that 75% fear smartphones expose their children to internet dangers, while 65% worry about the impact of phone use on their childs mental health. In addition, more than half of parents surveyed regret giving their child a smartphone too soon.Parental Controls in a Phone That SlaysThe new HMD X1 gives parents complete control over their childs smartphone experience. It features a customizable app and internet access, allowing parents to limit social media, browsing, and screen time. It also includes location tracking with safe zones, emergency SOS calling, low battery alerts, and remote device access for parents.Whats more, theres a School Mode function that locks specific apps and features to minimize distractions during school hours. All settings can be managed remotely through an app by Xplora Technologies on a parents device, enabling them to adjust controls in real time based on their childs needs and environment. Oslo, Norway-based Xplora specializes in smartwatches and wearable devices for children.Xploras parental control app allows parents to manage the HMD X1 remotely, including location tracking, messaging, and device settings.As for the hardware, the X1 has a 108MP AI-powered camera, a 5000mAh battery, facial and fingerprint recognition unlock technology, and IP54-rated splash resistance. It also includes a 3.5mm headphone jack, which seems to be making a comeback with the younger set.The phone has a modular design, which can be customized with add-on Outfits. For example, the Gaming Outfit turns the X1 into a gaming console, the Flashy Outfit adds a built-in ring light for selfies, and the Power Outfit provides extra battery life for extended use.HMD X1s modular design allows users to customize their phone with interchangeable Outfits, including a gaming controller and a back-facing ring light for enhanced photography and video recording.Its a solution that checks all the boxes, but in real life, you have to look at what kids want to have, observed John Strand of Strand Consulting, a consulting firm with a focus on telecom, in Denmark. They dont want to go around with a phone thats not cool. They want an iPhone or an Android phone.Its like when I say I want to go to a nice burger bar and get a really good burger, but my kids say they want to go to McDonalds, he told TechNewsWorld. I think the day you can convince your kids to use a phone like this is probably the day you can convince them not to go to McDonalds.Content Monitoring Matters in Kids PhonesKids arent just little adults, and their brains dont work the same way, explained Titania Jordan, chief parent officer at Bark Technologies, a parental control and monitoring solutions company in Atlanta, and author of Parental Control: A Guide to Raising Balanced Kids in the Digital Era.Exposure to social media, violent content, bullying, online predators, and other serious things can drastically affect a childs well-being, she told TechNewsWorld. Because of this, parents need to be super involved in their childs digital world. Unfortunately, phones built for adults your regular iPhones and Androids dont have robust parental controls that actually work. Phones built for kids, on the other hand, should have specific tools to help protect children and put parents in the drivers seat from approving every new contact to managing screen time and blocking inappropriate websites to content analysis, she said.While the HMD X1 is better for a child than an iPhone, it doesnt contain content monitoring to alert parents to the very real dangers that children encounter online, Jordan noted. Unless a parent is going through every text, DM, comment, Google search, and countless other digital activities and thats highly unlikely they are going to miss potential issues and dangers their child encounters, she maintained.Many parents also dont know how to decipher teen slang terms or truly understand the different types of apps they may be allowing for their kids, she continued. One of the largest dangers facing children is the predatory and manipulative nature of chats in games, and content monitoring alerts parents to inappropriate conversations that could lead to grooming.Content monitoring is the defining feature of a thoughtful and safer kids phone because it gives families a digital safety net thats essential in the digital age, she added.Praise for HMD X1 On-Device ControlAlex Ambrose, a policy analyst with the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation, a research and public policy organization in Washington, D.C., cautioned that as the HMD X1 rolls out, it is crucial to consider the privacy implications of some of its features, like parental tracking and remote access.While these tools offer parents valuable oversight, regulations must ensure that privacy protections are built in from the start, she told TechNewsWorld.A childs understanding of privacy evolves as they get older, making it essential that safeguards grow alongside them and do not overburden them as they mature and are able to handle less parental oversight, she continued. Ensuring users are aware of these implications will be key to fostering responsible and informed use of the device. Ambrose praised the use of on-device controls by HMD. Device-level parental controls make it easier for parents and children alike to have a more seamless experience, making sure both apps and websites accessed on a device are child-appropriate a feature app store level verification lacks.Jennifer Huddleston, a technology policy research fellow at the Cato Institute, a Washington, D.C. think tank, contends that the market has generally responded to parents concerns over their kids use of smartphones.We have seen the market respond with various companies offering kid-safe devices that feature significant parental controls, as well as various levels of the tech ecosystem from ISPs and app stores to social media platforms offering a range of solutions to fit parents needs, she told TechNewsWorld.This shows that the market continues to respond to demands for more options for parents and young people, but also that such choices are not a one-size-fits-all approach, she said. In this way, having a variety of options for parents to find what best fits their needs for each child is preferable to many of the restrictive policy approaches that would also impact the speech and privacy rights of users of all ages.The images featured in this article are credited to HMD.John P. Mello Jr. has been an ECT News Network reporter since 2003. His areas of focus include cybersecurity, IT issues, privacy, e-commerce, social media, artificial intelligence, big data and consumer electronics. He has written and edited for numerous publications, including the Boston Business Journal, the Boston Phoenix, Megapixel.Net and Government Security News. Email John.Leave a CommentClick here to cancel reply. Please sign in to post or reply to a comment. New users create a free account.Related StoriesMore by John P. Mello Jr.view allMore in Smartphones

Not that long ago, the idea of a robot performing surgery on a human was something out of science fiction. Today, its routine. Robotic surgery increased from 1.8 percent to 15 percent of all surgeries from 2012 to 2018, according to the American College of Surgeons.Today, its used for around 22 percent of surgeries, according to several estimates. And no wonder the method is catching on. Robotic surgery (more accurately described as robotic-assisted surgery) offers less bleeding, less time in the hospital, and faster recovery time with less pain.Easier and Less Painful Surgeries The robot in robotic surgery is actually a very sophisticated machine operated by a highly trained and experienced surgeon. Typically, the surgeon sits at a console and remotely operates robotic arms that hold tiny surgical instruments (yes, the console does look something like a video game controller).One of the arms holds a camera that gives the surgeon a high-definition, magnified view of the surgical site. Though the surgeon is sitting at a console rather than hunched over the incision, they have a much better view of the surgical field. Using robotics allows surgeons to comfortably maneuver in places that are otherwise quite restrictive, including the pelvis or the left atrium, where the mitral valve is located and where Sloane Guy often works.I can drive my camera right into the heart and see exactly where I'm cutting, whereas in an open surgery, I've got to look through a tiny little hole and try to see it, says Guy, director of minimally invasive and robotic cardiac surgery at the Georgia Heart Institute. Its like eating using a fork and a knife and a spoon versus using chopsticks, he says. It just, it gives you more capability and makes the operation easier.Quicker Surgery Recovery TimeRobotic surgery is easier on the patient, too.You don't break open their skeleton. You don't saw their sternum in half. You don't break ribs. You sort of sneak into the chest and fix their problem, Guy says. And that translates into faster recovery.Surgeons have always prioritized safety and effectiveness, but robotic surgery adds a new element: patient satisfaction. Quick recovery is important to patients, he says. Of course, surviving an operation is paramount, and its also important that the operation is effective and durable, says Guy. But its important to patients that it doesn't sideline them for a lengthy period of time.Guy was a pioneer in the field, gaining experience with the technique in the U.S. Army (robotic surgery grew out of a DARPA project), then going on to start five different robotic surgical programs around the country.I got enamored of the robot because I'm kind of a gadget guy, he recalls. And its gadget guys who are taking robotic surgery from fringe to mainstream. Many older surgeons never really embraced the idea of minimally invasive surgery of any kind, much less robotic surgery, says Guy. But now theyre retiring, and youve got a younger generation who grew up with iPhones and video games, and theyre much more open to it.The Medical Procedures of TomorrowNot only is robotic surgery becoming more widespread, its becoming more advanced. Earlier this year, plastic surgeon Victor Chien at Cedars-Sinai in Los Angeles led a team that performed the first robotic microsurgical head and neck cancer reconstructive surgery in the U.S.The robotic system allowed Chien and his team to operate on blood vessels thinner than a human hair. On the other side of the continent, cardiothoracic surgeon Stephanie H. Chang led a team at New York University Langone in New York that performed the worlds first fully robotic double lung transplant.Will we one day have robots operating independently? That may not be as far-fetched as it sounds. A team of researchers at Johns Hopkins University has developed an autonomous robot (Smart Tissue Autonomous Robot, or STAR) that has successfully performed abdominal surgeries on pigs without human help.I have no doubt that there will be robots that will do autonomous functions, not the whole operation, but eventually they'll do specific things, says Guy. I think of it less as a robot doing someone's procedure and more as a partnership between a human surgeon and a robotic system. It might be able to [do] some things better than the human can do because of its ability to process information much quicker.Read More: The Upsetting World of Primitive Brain SurgeryArticle 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:Johns Hopkins University HUB. Robot performs first laparoscopic surgery without human helpAnnals of Medicine and Surgery. Artificial intelligence: revolutionizing robotic surgery: reviewAmerican College of Surgeons. Robotic Surgery Is Here to Stay and So Are SurgeonsUniversity of California San Francisco. Robotic Surgery: Improving Precision and Patient OutcomesAvery 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.

We all know Microsoft is gearing up to phase out Windows 10. Its sad, but its also old news. Upgrading your OS is kind of like paying registration for your car: annoying but consistent. No, the real reason to choose now to upgrade to Windows 11 Pro is because it normally costs $199, and who wants to pay full price?Instead, you can get Windows 11 Pro for $14.97, but this isnt going to last long.Why Windows 11 Pro?Windows 11 Pro isnt just a fresh coat of paint. It has a lot of features that really make a difference. If youre someone who juggles tasks or works on multiple devices, youll appreciate the multitasking improvements. Features like Snap Layouts and Desktops let you organize your workspace like a pro. Redocking is seamless, and finding what you need is easier than ever with the improved search functionality. Whether youre bouncing between apps or running demanding programs, Windows 11 Pro keeps everything running smoothly.And when it comes to security, Windows 11 Pro has you covered. TPM 2.0 (Trusted Platform Module) and BitLocker device encryption keep your data safe and secure. Plus, with support for biometric authentication and Smart App Control, its a little easier to protect your computer.One of the coolest additions is the AI-powered Copilot. Whether youre writing, coding, or just need help organizing your work, Copilot can lend a (digital) hand. That also means you might be able to cancel a few of those expensive AI subscriptions.March 30 at 11:59 p.m. PT is the deadline to get Windows 11 Pro on sale for $14.97.StackSocial prices subject to change.Microsoft Windows 11 Pro $14.97See Deal

The black hole at the Milky Ways heart neither slumbers nor sleeps. Instead, the ring of plasma surrounding it flickers constantly, punctuated by superbright flares, observations show.Astronomers used the James Webb Space Telescope to observe Sgr A* and its disk for hours at a time over the course of a year, from April 2023 through April 2024. These were the longest continuous observations yet of our galaxys central supermassive black hole.The telescope revealed a constant bubbling in the disks light that changed every few seconds or minutes, says astrophysicist Farhad Yusef-Zadeh of Northwestern University in Evanston, Ill. A few times a day, and seemingly at random, the disk would emit a blindingly bright flare, Yusef-Zadeh and colleagues report in the Feb. 20 Astrophysical Journal Letters.The supermassive black hole, called Sagittarius A* or Sgr A* for short, is about 4 million times as heavy as the sun and lies about 26,000 light-years from our solar system. The black hole is fairly quiet most of the time, only occasionally gobbling up material in its vicinity and letting out bursts of light and energy.But that doesnt mean its just lying there. Earlier observations, including the first image of the black hole, had suggested that the white-hot disk of plasma that accretes around it is constantly flickering. Computer simulations of how material flows in the accretion disk predicted that the disks brightness should vary from minutes to years. The new observations not only confirm those ideas, but also shed light on how the flickering happens.JWST has some advantages over other telescopes that allowed it to catch the disks variability in action. Because the telescope is not in Earths orbit, Earth never gets in its way, letting the telescope take longer continuous looks. It can also observe objects in two different wavelengths of light simultaneously.We can see things in color, rather than black-and-white, Yusef-Zadeh says.The researchers think there are two processes at work, Yusef-Zadeh says. Turbulence in the disk itself causes the bubbling. Meanwhile, the process behind the big flares could be analogous to magnetic reconnection events, in which two lines of magnetic field collide and release bursts of energy. These events also happen during solar flares.The team has requested a full 24 hours of continuous observation time with JWST to find out more.

Nature, Published online: 05 March 2025; doi:10.1038/d41586-025-00656-5Trials of therapies that enhance the light-sensitivity of cells in the retina are returning surprisingly positive results in people with retinitis pigmentosa.

Nature, Published online: 05 March 2025; doi:10.1038/d41586-025-00620-3To mark International Womens Day on 8 March, six award-winning female scientists highlight women who have inspired them by pushing innovative research and creating opportunities for others.

Colossal scientists just created "woolly mice" in another step towards their ultimate goal of resurrecting woolly mammoths. But should we be tinkering with extinct species? Take our poll and have your say.

The mantis shrimp's club uses a built-in vibration shield that filters out damaging shock waves to enable it to strike with bullet-like force without breaking.