Multiple previous studies indicate mouth taping isn't very helpful, and may actually be dangerous. Credit: Deposit Photos Get the Popular Science daily newsletter💡 Breakthroughs, discoveries, and DIY tips sent every weekday. One of social media’s most recent alleged health hacks is “mouth taping.” Countless TikTok accounts and wellness articles are touting the supposed benefits of attaching an adhesive strip of tape over your lips before turning in for the night. Promised results include improved sleep quality, an end to snoring, better oral health, and somehow even a strengthened jawline. It probably doesn’t take much pause before a few questions spring to mind. What if your snoring is particularly bad? What if you deal with sleep apnea? What if you simply aren’t thrilled at the thought of sealing your mouth shut before falling unconscious for hours at a time?  Researchers at Western University in Canada recently reviewed 10 previously published studies that examined mouth taping as far back as 1999. Their resulting paper published on May 21 in PLOS One lays out what may be a pretty predicable conclusion: Please don’t try mouth taping at home without consulting an actual medical professional. Terrible TikTok advice There are many reasons why you may involuntarily switch from breathing through your nose to your mouth when asleep. Simple congestion from a cold or allergies is often enough to block nasal passages, while a deviated septum coupled with other health factors may result in obstructive sleep apnea (OSA). Depending on the individual, relief often comes from any combination of medication, exercise, dieting, or medical devices like a CPAP machine. But in recent months, various media outlets and social media accounts have suggested taping your mouth closed before going to bed as a quick and easy workaround. The implied logic here is that if your respiratory system no longer has your mouth as an option, it’ll simply make sure your nose can pick up the slack. This, if you can believe it, is not how things work. “Mouth taping is a contemporary practice that is often celebrity-endorsed, but is not necessarily scientifically accurate,” the study’s authors explained in a statement. “Many people are not appropriate for mouth taping, and in some cases it can lead to risk of serious health harm.” Scant evidence and an asphyxiation risk To reinforce their warning with actual science, researchers reviewed 10 studies on mouth taping’s efficacy that collectively involved a group of 213 patients. Out of those 10 investigations, just two suggested that a small subset of people with mild obstructive apnea may see “some slight improvement” in their sleep.  Meanwhile, other studies didn’t determine any evidence to support taping your mouth for reducing sleep-disordered breathing, snoring, or apnea. Nearly half of the reviewed studies also included discussions regarding the possibly serious risks of asphyxiation. “There was explicit discussion in four out of ten of the studies indicating that oral occlusion either through taping, sealing, or chin strapping could pose a serious risk of asphyxiation in the presence of nasal obstruction or regurgitation,” the authors write. This danger could be especially serious for people dealing with any number of common respiratory troubles, including sinonasal disease, enlarged tonsils, hay fever, chronic rhinitis, or a deviated septum. Mouth taping isn’t necessarily terrible across the board, however. The reviewers note there appears to be a “very specific use-case scenario” for people with mild obstructive sleep apnea. In those cases, blocking the mouthway “may improve” their apnea-hypopnea index (AHI), a common medical measurement that tallies disruptive sleep events per hour.  But in general, it’s clear that taping your mouth based on the advice of total strangers online is not a great idea.“It seems that there is a potentially serious risk of harm for individuals indiscriminately practicing this trend,” the paper’s authors conclude while cautioning that, “Further studies are required to elucidate any clinical benefit this practice may have.” If you are suffering from poor sleep, excessive snoring, or dry mouth due to sleep issues, the best remedy remains consulting with a qualified medical professional—preferably one who isn’t looking to boost their follower count.

This story appeared in The Logoff, a daily newsletter that helps you stay informed about the Trump administration without letting political news take over your life. Subscribe here.Welcome to The Logoff: The Trump administration moved to deport eight men to South Sudan in what a federal judge in Boston says was “unquestionably” a violation of a court order.What happened? On Tuesday, the US government put eight men — only one a South Sudanese citizen — on a deportation flight to South Sudan, an unstable country in East Africa that is on the verge of civil war, with minimal notice and no chance to speak with a lawyer. Their exact location is now unclear.What have courts ruled about deportations? A court order from April, issued by the same federal judge, Brian Murphy, blocked the Trump administration from deporting immigrants to countries not their own without due process because of the possibility they could face violence or death there.What will happen to the immigrants who were deported? Murphy has ordered the government to keep the men in US custody while considering how to ensure their due process rights, but they won’t be flown back to the US. Murphy also raised the possibility of criminal contempt sanctions for officials involved in the deportations.What’s the context? This isn’t the first time the Trump administration has attempted deportations to a dangerous third-party country. Not only has the administration sent Venezuelan immigrants to a brutal El Salvadoran megaprison, but Murphy, the federal judge in Boston, also intervened earlier in May to block deportation flights to Libya.What does this mean for Trump’s immigration plans? The Trump administration is almost certain to keep testing the limits of what it can do on immigration. In an interview published today, Vice President JD Vance alleged that “you are seeing an effort by the courts to quite literally overturn the will of the American people” on immigration enforcement, raising the specter of more clashes to come. And with that, it’s time to log off…The promise of this newsletter is to help you get the important news, then log off. So we’d be remiss in not sharing Vox deputy editor Izzie Ramirez’s attempt to do just that: For (almost) a full month, she abandoned her iPhone and switched to a “dumbphone” that could do little more than text and call. She writes that the experience encouraged deeper connections and spontaneous hangs, and helped restore her attention span. Couldn’t we all use that? You’ve 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:

Influencer Haliey Welch, who rose to fame as the "Hawk Tuah" girl from a viral TikTok video last year, became the epicenter of a major controversy after launching a dubious cryptocurrency meme coin called $HAWK in December.The token hit the roof in mere hours, reaching a market cap of almost half a billion dollars, before plummeting back down and leaving investors hanging out to dry. The events cemented it as yet another classic pump-and-dump, a recurring fixture in the largely unregulated crypto world.In the months since, and following an investigation by the FBI and the Securities and Exchange Commission, Welch has attempted to repair her reputation, with some seriously mixed results.Now, in a new episode of her podcast "Talk Tuah," the influencer told the story of what had happened, claiming she had absolutely no idea of what was going on at the time, despite her name and brand being plastered all over the meme coin."I couldn’t tell you how crypto worked the day that coin launched," she said. "I had no idea. I don’t know. So that screwed me."Innocent bystander or not, the incident certainly highlights the dangers of investing in dubious meme coins — and how easy it is to get lured in by the promise of a get-rich-quick scheme, something even the president of the United States himself has demonstrated.In her latest podcast episode, Welch recalled how the FBI knocked on her grandmother's door, demanding to search her phone."They went through my phone, so they cleared me," she said. "I was good to go."She also surrendered her phone to the SEC for "two or three days," allowing them to "clone" it.Welch claimed she "wasn't named on the lawsuit," which was filed by investors in New York against the meme coin's creators, mere weeks following its launch.At the time, she wrote in a since-deleted statement that "I take this situation extremely seriously and want to address my fans, the investors who have been affected, and the broader community."For her part, Welch claimed in her podcast this week that she only "got paid a marketing fee" and never made a "dime from the coin itself."Apart from dodging a bullet by not getting roped into a lawsuit, Welch appeared apologetic."It makes me feel really bad that they trusted me, and I led them to something that I did not have enough knowledge about," she said. "I did not have enough knowledge about crypto to be getting involved with it. And I knew that, but I got talked into it, and I trusted the wrong people."The money she took for promoting the money has since gone to "PR crisis, a new lawyer, stuff like that," Welch said. "So I’ve really come out with nothing. All that trouble for nothing."While the class action lawsuit filed against $HAWK's creators is still ongoing, Welch's experience highlights the importance of reading the small print.In many ways, even a simple Google search for meme coins and the likelihood of things going south could've sufficed. "Rug pulls," as they've become known, have become dime a dozen, with fraudsters absconding with millions of dollars worth of crypto after selling investors on a lie."I don’t have anything to hide," Welch said in the footage. "I wish we knew then what we know now. It would've saved us a lot of trouble.""But it was a big mess," she admitted.Share This Article

Google I/O 2025 was chock full of announcements. The problem is, Google isn't always clear about which features are new, which have already been released, and which are coming out in the future. While there are plenty of features to look out for on the horizon, and a number still that you've been able to use for some time, there are brand new features Google rolled out immediately after announcing them. Here are all the Google I/O features you can check out right now—though some do require you to pay.Imagen 4 Credit: Google Google's latest AI image generation model, Imagen 4, is available today. Google was sparse on too many specific upgrades with this new model, but says that Imagen is faster, and now capable of images up to 2K resolution with additional aspect ratios. The change the company focused most on is typography: Google says Imagen 4 can generate text without any of the usual AI errors you associate with AI image generators. On top of that, the model can incorporate different art styles and design choices, depending on the context of the prompt. You can see that in the image above, which uses a pixelated design for the text to match the 8-bit comic strip look.You can try the latest Imagen model in the Gemini app, Whisk, Vertex AI, and through Workspace apps like Slides, Vids, and Docs. AI Mode Credit: Lifehacker AI Mode essentially turns Search into a Gemini chat: It allows you to ask more complicated and multi-step questions. Google then uses a "query fan-out" technique to scan the web for relevant links and generate a complete answer from those results. I haven't dived too deep into this feature, but it does largely work as advertised—I'm just not sure if that's all that much more useful than searching through links myself.Google has been testing AI Mode since March, but now it's available to everyone in the U.S. If you want to use it, you should see the new AI Mode option on the right side of the search bar on Google's homepage. "Try it on" Credit: Google Shopping online is so much more convenient than going in-person, in all ways but one: You can't try on any of the clothes ahead of time. Once they arrive, you try them on, and if they don't fit, or you don't like the look, back to the store they go. Google wants to eliminate (or, at least, greatly cut down on) this from happening. Its new "try it on" feature scans an image you provide of yourself to get an understanding of your body. Then, when you're browsing for new clothes online, you can choose to "try it on," and Google's AI will generate an image of you wearing the article of clothing. It's an interesting concept, but also a bit creepy. I personally do not want Google analyzing images of myself so that it can more accurately map different types of clothes on me. Personally, I'd rather run the risk of making a return. But if you want to give it a go, you can try the experimental feature in Google Labs today.Jules Jules is Google's "asynchronous, agentic coding assistant." According to Google, the assistant clones your codebase into a secure Google Cloud virtual machine, so that it can execute tasks like writing tests, building features, generating audio changelogs, fixing bugs, and bumping dependency versions.The assistant works in the background and doesn't use your code for training, which is a bit refreshing from a company like Google. I'm not a coder, so I can't say for sure whether Jules seems useful. But if you are a coder, you can test it for yourself. As of today, Jules is available as a free public beta for anyone who wants to try it out—though Google says usage limits apply, and that they will charge for different Jules plans once the "platform matures." Speech translation in Google Meet Credit: Google If you're a Google Workspace subscriber, this next feature is pretty great. As shown off during the I/O keynote, Google Meet now has live speech translation. Here's how it works: Let's say you're talking to someone on a Google Meet call who speaks Spanish, but you only speak English. You'll hear the other caller speak in Spanish for a moment or two, before an AI voice dubs over them with the translation in English. They'll receive the opposite on their end after you start speaking. Google is working on adding more languages in the coming weeks.Google AI Ultra subscription Credit: Google There's a new subscription in town, though it's not for the faint of heart. Google announced a new "AI Ultra" subscription at I/O yesterday, that costs a whopping $250 per month. That extraordinary price tag comes with some major AI features: You get access to the highest limits for all of Google's AI models, including Gemini 2.5 Deep Think, Veo 3, and Project Mariner. It also comes with 30TB of cloud storage, and, amusingly, a YouTube Premium subscription. You really have to be a big believer in AI to drop upwards of $3,000 a year on this subscription. If you have a budding curiosity for AI, perhaps Google's "AI Pro" plan is more your speed—this is the new name for Google's AI Premium subscription, and comes with the same perks, plus now access to Flow (which I'll cover below). Veo Veo 3 is Google's latest AI video model. Unlike Imagen 4, however, it's only available to AI Ultra subscribers. If you're not comfortable with spending $250 a month on Google's services, you'll have to stick with Veo 2. Google says Veo 3 is better at real-world physics than Veo 2 and can handle realistic lip-syncing. You can see that in the clip above, which shows an "old sailor" reciting a poem. His lips do indeed match the speech, and the video is crisp with elements of realism. I personally don't think it looks "real," and it still has plenty of tells that it's an AI video, but there's no doubt we are entering some dangerous waters with AI video.AI Pro subscribers with access to Veo 2 have some new video model capabilities, as well, however. You now have camera controls to dictate how you want shots to look; options for adjusting the aspect ratio of the clip; tools to add or remove objects from a scene; and controls to "outpaint," or to add on to the scene of a clip. Flow Google didn't just upgrade its AI video model: It also released an AI video editor, called Flow. Flow lets you generate videos using Veo 2 and Veo 3, but it also lets you cut together those clips on a timeline and control the camera movements of your clips. You can use Imagen to generate an element you want to add to a scene, then ask Veo to generate a clip with that element in it. I'm sure AI film enthusiasts are going to love this, but I remain skeptical. I could see this being a useful tool for story boarding ideas, but for creating real content? I know I don't want to watch full shows or movies generated by AI. Maybe the odd Instagram video gets a chuckle out of me, but I don't think Reels are Google's end goal here.Flow is available for both AI Pro and AI Ultra subscribers. If you have AI Pro, you can access Veo 2, but AI Ultra subscribers can choose between Veo 2 and Veo 3.Gemini in Chrome Credit: Google AI Pro and AI Ultra subscribers now have access to Gemini in Google Chrome, which appears in the toolbar of your browser window. You can ask the assistant to summarize a web page, as well as inquire about elements of that web page. There are plans for agentic features in the future, so Gemini could check out websites for you, but, for now, you're really limited to two functions.

Upgrading your health is arguably the single most important thing for your survival in Doom: The Dark Ages. To make it through all the challenges entailed by fighting demons with minimal suffering, improving your health could mean the difference between life and death. And you can considerably improve your chance of staying alive if you upgrade your health in Doom: The Dark Ages. But your health bar is not a simple task. First, you need to prove yourself by fighting stronger – and quite annoying – demons and sucking their essence to make you stronger. In this Doom: The Dark Ages guide, we explain how to upgrade your health plus show you where to find all health upgrades. How to upgrade health in Doom: The Dark Ages While your guns, shield, and melee attacks can be upgraded using special currencies to buy new abilities in a Sentinel Shrine, increasing your health requires a little more fighting. Following the same idea as upgrading your ammo capacity and armor, health upgrades are permanent and obtained when you defeat leaders that grant those upgrades. All you need to do is to defeat them to collect their Demonic Essence.  Leaders are stronger than your usual demons. You can identify them with ease, since they have a blue-hued plus sign floating above their head. Below, see maps showing the locations of all health upgrades in Doom: The Dark Ages and the requisite leaders they’re associated with. Hebeth (Chapter 2) You face the first leader in the Doom: The Dark Ages in the second level, Hebeth. You find the leader of this level in the final segment of the map. Before you can challenge them, you must clear all the waves of enemies with all kinds of demons you found until then. A short cutscene will play when you’re done, showing the leader. They are a stronger version of the Pinky Rider demon. They still shoot a Hell Surge projectile to attack you, but their special move is a wave of shields. One of the shields is green and you must try to parry it. If you pay attention, the beast has armor. Even though it protects them from your attacks, the armor follows the rule as the regular metal shields some enemies carry. Superheat the armor then use the Shield Throw to remove it completely. Since this is a tough enemy, consider keeping some of the other demons alive during the fight so you can follow one of our tips and kill them to recover life. The Holy City of Aratum (Chapter 5) As you fly through the Holy City of Aratum in Chapter 5, you can land your cyberdragon on secret landing zones. The leader you want to fight in this chapter to receive a Health upgrade is in the first secret landing zone, a small tower on the left side of the starting gate. You must defeat a Titan who is defending the place before you can actually land in the arena. Once you’re there, enemies will spawn. Defeat some of them for the leader, a Pinky Rider demon, appears. Be careful with the other demons in the arena and focus on breaking the leader’s shield with the Accelerator. Parry their Hell Surge arrows and survive long enough to claim their Demonic Essence. Siege – Part 2 (Chapter 7) The third leader who gives you a Health upgrade is found in Chapter 7 “Siege – Parte 2”. You can’t miss them since they are a mandatory encounter in the main mission. While you are trying to defend the city and rescue Novik, you reach a part of the main building marked as a red zone on the map with a crowned skull icon. This is where you will be facing the leader. The leader is an armored Hell Knight. You have already faced one of these jumpy annoying demons when collecting the first Ammo upgrade. They keep pressuring you with melee attacks and throwing their axe at you.  Keep a distance and bait their Hell Surge axe attack to parry it. Break Hell Knight’s armor as soon as possible and keep your eyes open for the incoming attacks from the regular Hell Knights who are following the leader. Ancestral Forge (Chapter 9) In Chapter 9 “Ancestral Forge,” you find the next leader to fight as you progress in the main mission. They are in the red zone on the right side of the map, close to where you find the Purple Key.  When you get to the location of the encounter, you first need to clear the area of some groups of regular enemies. After a few minutes — and many demon bodies on the ground — the leader will appear. You face another armored Hell Knight, which is great considering this is the same kind of demon you defeated to get your last Health upgrade. Follow the same strategy and you will be fine. The Forsaken Plains (Chapter 10) While the enemies you’ve faced so far were not a breeze, be ready to meet a new kind of challenge when hunting leaders. Chapter 10 “The Forsaken Plains” has a Cyberdemon leader and they have a morale bar. You find them while you’re looking for the Hell Cannons to destroy them as your main mission. The arena where you fight the Cyberdemon is in front of one of these cannons. Before you can fight the leader, you need to deplete their morale bar and disable their shield by killing other demons. The leader doesn’t take damage while they have the shield up so you can’t rush the process. The best approach to a fight against a Cyberdemon is to get closer to them and bait their melee attacks, which you can parry. It is dangerous though, so learn to read their moves and parry all their Hell Purge attacks. Sentinel Command Station (Chapter 12) The sixth Health upgrade available for you is in Chapter 12 “Sentinel Command Station.” To find the leader in this chapter, just follow the main mission which asks you to defend the Command Station. Eventually, you will have to look for the Hangar Card key and also find a new weapon, the Ravager. When you get to this point, you’re right beside the leader’s room. The arena is a large space and the leader won’t appear until you have cleared the place by killing some of the demons who are already there. The leader this time is a Pinky Rider. You’ve already beaten many of these demons so go get their Demonic Essence. Spire of Nerathul (Chapter 14) Although it is not actually hidden, the leader in Chapter 14 “Spire of Nerathul” can be easily missed if you ignore the secondary objectives of this chapter. To find them, you move forward after deactivating the first Stasis Emitter.  On the path to find the second one, you will find a red zone with a crowned skull icon. All you will see in the area is a tree with a red portal above it. Once you destroy it, the leader and many other demons will appear. The leader is another Cyberdemon, but this time they have a morale bar. Begin by killing all the other demons to deplete the Cyberdemon’s bar. Start fighting them as soon as the shield goes down. City of Ry’uul (Chapter 15) As you explore the alien corridors of the City of Ry’uul in Chapter 15, finding the leader whose Demonic Essence raises your maximum Health is a matter of time. Follow the main mission until you get into a large circular room using a water tunnel.  There are some strong enemies – a Vagary and a Cacodemon Hybrid – waiting for you in this room. Kill them for the leader to finally appear. This time you fight an Agaddon Hunter leader. The best strategy is to learn their move set and parry their attacks. If you’re feeling overwhelmed by their attacks, run from them and look for weaker enemies to kill and recover Health, Armor, and Ammo.  Harbor of Souls (Chapter 19) Your main mission in Chapter 19 “Harbor of Souls” is to find the way to the Mortal Realm and you can imagine it’s going to be one hell of a journey. In the middle of the way, there is also a leader for you to defeat. The arena where you find the leader is after the first gate that requires the Red key. Keep following the path indicated by the game and you will eventually reach the place. Before you can actually fight the leader, you need to kill a Cosmic Baron and an armored Pinky Rider.  The leader is a Komodo, a complicated foe to face. They are quite agile and hit really hard, always pressuring you with their sequences of attacks. Wait for the right moment and use the Rocket Launcher. Since the leader is always close to you, it’s easy to land your shots. Resurrection (Chapter 20) The leader of Chapter 20 “Resurrection” is the first major enemy you face in the chapter. After the cutscene, pass over the Sentinel Shrine and you will see a vast area filled with demons. This leader, a Revenant, has a morale bar, which means that you must kill every demon you see before you can go land some shotgun bursts onto the leader. Since this is one of the last chapters in the game, you will find all kinds of enemies in the area. From a Cyberdemon to a Pinky Rider, there are enough deadly creatures ready to rip you apart if you don’t pay attention. 

Not every emergency calls for grabbing your bug-out bag and running out the door. Some are less severe, shelter-in-place, short-term scenarios. But no matter the situation, life is more dangerous in the dark, especially when you weren’t expecting the lights to go out. A little bit of preparation can go a long way when it comes to emergency illumination. “When power outages strike, having the right lights on hand can make all the difference,” says George Carrillo, former sheriff’s deputy and current CEO of the Hispanic Construction Council. “Not just in convenience but in ensuring the safety and comfort of your loved ones.” While candles can be handy in a pinch (especially if you have candles specifically meant for survival situations), you’ll want a more robust strategy for emergency illumination. Whether you need to be ready for a short electrical blimp or a prolonged blackout, it doesn’t take much to keep your home lit and provide your household with peace of mind.  Sterno 100-Hour Emergency Candles – Long Burning Unscented Candles for Emergencies These liquid wax candles provide up to 100 hours of steady illumination each. Sterno Why have emergency lighting? First off, let’s look at why you should plan ahead when it comes to emergency lighting. “I’ve seen how critical it is to be ready for the unexpected,” says Carrillo. “One area that’s often overlooked until it’s too late is emergency lighting.” You don’t want to wait until after the lights have already gone out to start looking for a solution. At that point, you’re in the dark, and finding and preparing lights will be much more difficult, if not impossible. This may be a mere inconvenience during a short blackout, but for longer outages it can have a significant impact on your household’s comfort and well-being. In more catastrophic scenarios, when the power might be out for long periods of time, emergency lighting or the lack thereof can make a major difference in terms of security. A dark house is not only a tripping hazard for those inside, but it’s a potential target for those outside looking to take advantage of the situation.  What’s more, the likelihood of experiencing a power outage is high. According to the US Census Bureau, one in four homes report losing power each year, with 70 percent of those reporting at least one outage longer than six hours. For a quarter of American homes, households, it’s not a matter of if but when. So your first step should involve getting lights before you need them. Once you have them, make sure they’re ready to go. Have backups to the backups According to Carrillo, “A layered approach to emergency lighting is essential.” That means equipping your home with multiple lighting elements that provide light in different ways. Carrillo advises having personal lights and room lights powered by a combination of batteries and solar. Personal lighting MagLite ML300L LED 3-Cell D Display Box, Black The classics are classics for a reason. MagLite Be sure that you have easy access to a few personal lighting options. That means flashlights, and Carrillo also suggests having a headlamp, “which allows hands-free lighting so you can handle tasks such as checking the breaker box or navigating cluttered areas without a hassle.” COAST POLYSTEEL 600 1000 Lumen LED Flashlight with Pure Beam Twist Focus Focusing allows you to control the width and concentration of the beam. Coast Polysteel He specifically recommends flashlights from “Maglite or the Coast Polysteel series because they’re compact, sturdy, and provide powerful beams to light your way,” as well as the Black Diamond Spot headlamp. BLACK DIAMOND Spot 400 LED Headlamp Black Diamond Room lighting It’s also important to have a number of stationary lanterns and other larger lighting options capable of illuminating a room. This not only helps with visibility to reduce accidents, but can make your home much more comfortable during an outage. Goal Zero Lighthouse Core Lantern and USB Power Hub It looks like an old school lantern, but it’s rechargeable and lasts for a long time on a charge. Goal Zero “The Goal Zero Lighthouse Core is an excellent choice,” says Carrillo, “offering long battery life and the added perk of charging other devices during an outage.” The Goal Zero Torch 500 is also a great option as it doubles as both flashlight and lamp, its rechargeable battery has an impressively long lifespan, and an integrated solar panel allows for charging in sunlight. Goal Zero 500 Lumen Torch Light, Multi-Use Weatherproof LED Flashlight and Solar Lantern More versatile lighting options offer options without taking up tons of space. Goal Zero While lanterns can be stored somewhere accessible, it’s also a good idea to keep one readily available in each room you expect to use the most, like your living room and bedrooms. (Consider keeping BioLite Inflatable Camping Lanterns in various drawers/cabinets.) Flood lights Most households under most power outage situations should be fine with the aforementioned indoor lighting. But if you expect the lights to be out for longer periods, worry about security, or simply may need to do something outdoors, consider using some form of battery-powered flood lights.  Beams MB3000 High Performance 500 Lumen Wireless Battery Powered Motion Sensing LED This light is useful even when there isn’t a blackout. Beams Flood lights come in several varieties. Some are designed for outdoor installation, much like a typical garage door motion detector light. The only difference is that in this case, you’ll need to look for models that can be powered by batteries or solar panels. For battery-powered models, we’re fans of the Beams MB3000, which is easy to install, adjustable, and plenty bright, and for solar, we suggest Intelamp for all the same reasons. DEWALT 20V MAX LED Work Light You can use the same batteries that run your power tools to provide light. DeWalt Alternatively, free-standing work lights can be a good option as you can move them as necessary. We like the Dewalt 20V MAX because it’s bright, versatile, and folds down for easy storage.  Power sources Whatever lights you choose, Carrillo recommends having multiple power sources. In addition to flashlights and lanterns that are rechargeable or use batteries (whether single-use or rechargeable), consider getting a backup hand-crank flashlight that can be powered no matter what happens. Eton – Scorpion II Rugged Multipowered Portable Emergency Weather Radio & Flashlight In addition to the illumination, this model also includes a radio. Eton Solar power has also become increasingly efficient, and these days, you can get flashlights that can charge in the sun during the day in preparation for the night. Solar power generators can provide a substantial source of backup power for charging rechargeable lights and other devices. The Jackery 2000 Plus is a good option as it offers an excellent balance between capacity and portability. The ultimate backup power source is a whole-home generator, which can provide enough juice to keep your entire home lit while using additional appliances or ensuring the consistent operation of essential medical equipment. The DuroMax XP13000HX is one of our top recommendations for emergency situations thanks to its high output, dual-fuel versatility, and all-around reliable build quality. DuroMax XP13000HX Dual Fuel Portable Generator A generator is an investment, but it can make a huge difference in an emergency. DuroMax Keep in mind that it is still wise to have flashlights and lanterns available even if you plan on lighting your home with a generator. Final thoughts on emergency lighting In the end, an effective emergency lighting array is pretty straightforward. “Preparedness doesn’t have to be complicated,” says Carrillo. “A flashlight in your bedside table, a lantern on the bookshelf, and a headlamp in your toolbox can transform how you handle emergencies. Having backup options like these ensures you’re prepared even during prolonged outages. The right tools not only provide safety and peace of mind but also allow you to face unforeseen challenges with confidence.”

In February 2021, Morgan Wallen's future as country music's golden goose was hanging in the balance.First, there were the reports of drunken disorderly conduct during a night out in Nashville. Then, a video of Wallen flouting COVID protocols at a party in 2020 resulted in the postponement of his "Saturday Night Live" debut. But his then-latest incident, in which he was caught using a racial slur on camera, threatened to torpedo his career.As quickly as the industry had lifted him up as the genre's next global star, Wallen was disinvited from awards shows, criticized by peers, blocked from radio play, and suspended by his record label. Country music cable network CMT announced it would scrub his appearances from its platforms, saying Wallen's words and actions were "in direct opposition to our core values that celebrate diversity, equity, and inclusion."Then, something happened: People kept listening anyway.Four years later, Wallen, now 32, is bigger than ever. His 2023 album "One Thing at a Time" spent 19 weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard 200, the longest reign ever for a country album. He went back on "Saturday Night Live," where his latest viral controversy, in which he walked offstage while the cameras were still rolling, garnered him enough defenders to launch a cheeky merch line. (It's now sold out.) His new album, "I'm the Problem," only needed one day to become Spotify's most-streamed country album of 2025.These days, it pays to be the problem.The making and marketing of a modern antihero Morgan Wallen released his fourth album, "I'm the Problem," on May 16, 2025. Spidey Smith Sonically, there's nothing particularly special about Wallen's brand of stadium country music. His signature Tennessee twang is pleasant enough, but it pales in comparison to the richness of Shaboozey's, for example, or the expressive texture of Chris Stapleton's. The melodies aren't any catchier than the average single by Luke Combs or Florida Georgia Line, and his lyrics are teeming with tropes: the word "whiskey" is sung no fewer than 18 times on "I'm the Problem." In a genre historically obsessed with first-person storytelling and narrative cohesion, Wallen also isn't distinguished by his songwriting: he's not listed as the sole songwriter on any "I'm the Problem" tracks, and on 15 out of 37, he's not credited at all. (Forty-nine other songwriters are credited throughout.)However, a closer look at the album's title track and opener offers insight into a core element of Wallen's appeal. On the taunting kiss-off, addressed to an ex who's equally flawed but can't bear to share the blame, Wallen is equal parts self-loathing and vindictive: "You hate that when you look at me, you halfway see yourself / And it got me thinkin' / If I'm the problem / You might be the reason." These themes are woven into the fabric of Wallen's songs, many of which double as sly implications. He often sings about drunken screw-ups and toxic relationships that paint his friends, lovers, and listeners as co-conspirators, or even instigators. "Don't Think Jesus," his first solo release after returning to the spotlight in 2022, makes this theme explicit: "World likes to rear back and throw a few stones / So boy wants to throw a few stones of his own." In his big hit from last year, the Post Malone duet "I Had Some Help," Wallen reasons, "It ain't like I can make this kinda mess all by myself."John Malanga, a 21-year-old rising senior at James Madison University, said he likes Wallen more than other country stars because he sees him as authentic: the themes of his music align with his unpolished, unapologetic public persona."He recognizes his flaws and yeah, he's kind of like this young guy who's a little bit of a douchebag sometimes, but that's his character," Malanga said. "It seems like he's really not afraid of that."Devin Selvala, a Boston-based 27-year-old who said she's been in Wallen's top 1% of Spotify listeners for at least three years, agreed."Nowadays in the music industry, it's easy to be consumed by the machine," Selvala said. "He isn't one that's willing to be shape-shifted and evolved based on how the industry or how 'big music' wants him to be. I think he's very, 'Take me as I am or leave me.'"Still, not everybody has accepted Wallen's career rebound. When Tate McRae was announced as a feature on "I'm the Problem," some of her fans objected based on Wallen's reputation and presumed political views, describing their team-up online as tone-deaf and meme-ing McRae as a MAGA Republican.The Wallen fans I spoke to were well aware of the singer's slur scandal and didn't let it slide, either, calling his language "repulsive" and inexcusable. (Wallen, for his part, said much of the same at the time, instructing his supporters to stop defending him in a video shared online.) But none said the incident ultimately deterred them from enjoying and supporting Wallen's music, especially following his public apology."I know I've never called anybody the N-word, but I've called people other things and done really crappy things. I think everybody has," Laragh Thooft, a 32-year-old from Iowa, told me. "I would never stop listening to music that I like, or stop watching a movie that I like, because it's somebody doing really dumb and potentially hateful things if they're not seeming to me to be a dumb and hateful person.""If we start doing that," she added, "then we're just gonna have to listen to only AI music."Wallen doesn't innovate — he resonates Morgan Wallen performs during the "Dangerous" tour in Los Angeles. Getty/John Shearer Wallen's relatability is also bolstered by streaming-optimized savvy.His music is extremely popular on TikTok, a platform that rewards broad appeal and repetition to serve users content that echoes what they already know and love. To this end, Wallen and his collaborators are masters at integrating other sounds and genres into his well-worn country formula. His songs bear tones of '70s rock, radio-friendly pop, electronic, and hip-hop, and his duet partners are carefully selected to help legitimize those unions: Hardy ("Come Back as a Redneck"), Tate McRae ("What I Want"), Diplo ("Heartless"), Lil Durk ("Broadway Girls"). Wallen's most high-profile collaborator in recent years, Post Malone, has achieved similar success hopping between rap, pop, and country trends.Wallen also releases a lot of music. Like, a lot. "One Thing at a Time" had 36 songs on its tracklist, just one fewer than "I'm the Problem." Its predecessor, 2021's "Dangerous," was a double album with 32 songs total, including bonus tracks.Wallen is the ideal avatar for an attractive idea — a feeling of freedom, of open roads and judgment-free zones.Much has been written about the "more is more" strategy that excels in the streaming era, and Wallen is far from the only artist to take advantage of it. But he arguably does it better than anyone else. The proof is in the pudding, which is to say, his chart performances. As of Wednesday, tracks from "I'm the Problem" dominated nearly half of Spotify's Top 50 in the US, with four of the top five slots. "We see that the demand is there and we are happy to meet that demand," Wallen said in a press release for the album.In the process, Wallen avoids disappointing any fans who prefer specific flavors in his sound. It's a familiar failsafe — something for everyone — and it suits Wallen's creative process, which he has characterized as relatively directionless. "We just went with our gut. That's what we do a lot of times, we don't necessarily have a plan," he told Rolling Stone of his debut album, "If I Know Me," in 2018. "Hopefully it sounds good." Wallen may not be leading the writing or production of his songs, but there is something to be said for his sonic pliability. Paired with his everyman ease and nonconformist attitude, Wallen is the ideal avatar for an attractive idea — a feeling of freedom, of open roads and judgment-free zones.After all, Wallen was right: He had some help. His record label resumed promoting his music a few months after he apologized for the slur incident in 2021. Last year, he was nominated for male video of the year at the CMT Music Awards and won entertainer of the year at the CMAs. He's hitched a ride on a powerful pendulum, one that's swinging away from DEI initiatives and toward self-styled free thinkers and rebels against social etiquette.Consider "Working Man's Song," a track from Wallen's new album, which echoes recent anti-establishment, anti-elite hits like Oliver Anthony's "Rich Men North of Richmond" and Jason Aldean's "Try That In a Small Town": "I punch the clock, wanna punch a ticket to New York and punch the boss," Wallen sings. Never mind that Wallen's 2023 tour grossed over $300 million, making it the highest-grossing country tour of all time. When he moans about the indignity of 9-to-5 jobs and "underpaid checks," it strikes a nerve.For a lot of Wallen's fans, Selvala theorized, "It's not just the music. It's the embodiment, the aesthetic of everything.""When I think of country music, I think of long drives, being with my friends, feet in the grass, sunny and 75, beers in the cooler," she said. "A lot of amazing memories I have over the years, just like being with people I love, have Morgan playing in the background.""I'm the Problem" concludes as it begins, with a double-edged confession. In the chorus of "I'm A Little Crazy," Wallen casts himself as a "coyote in a field of wolves" — scrappy, perhaps, and proud to stand out, yet no more wild than anyone else."Yeah, the only thing keeping these tracks on the train," Wallen sings, "Knowing I'm a little crazy, but the world's insane."

Back in 2010, when Cartoon Network first announced its plan to reboot the beloved 1985 animated TV series Thundercats, the first thought that went through my mind was, “That’s great! Do Blackstar next!” In 2014, when Boat Rocker Media announced its reboot of 1981’s Danger Mouse, same thing: “Huh, interesting, but do Blackstar next.” 2016’s Disney reveal about its reboot of 1987’s Duck Tales? “Rad. But… Blackstar?” And so it went, year after year, with the announcements about 2018’s Netflix reboot of She-Ra: Princess of Power, 2021’s He-Man reboot Masters of the Universe: Revelation, the CG version of Inspector Gadget, the American Voltron update Voltron: Legendary Defender, half a dozen new Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Transformers projects, a little-loved second Thundercats series, and every single Smurfs movie. I get it — the kids of the ’80s are producers and writers and showrunners now, with enough clout to get their childhood memories turned into new shows. But apparently none of them watched Blackstar, easily one of the coolest animated series of the 1980s, built around the coolest sword. There’s a direct genetic line between the success of 1977’s Star Wars and the wave of space-set, fantasy-themed Saturday morning cartoons that closely followed. Star Wars beget ABC’s popular Thundarr the Barbarian, a post-apocalyptic dystopian-future fantasy about a muscular hero who fought oppressive magical villains while wearing a fur skirt, hanging out with a leotard-clad sorceress, and more or less carrying a lightsaber and traveling with a Wookiee. Thundarr helped inspire Blackstar, CBS’ equivalent show, about a muscular hero who fought oppressive magical villains while wearing a fur skirt, hanging out with a leotard-clad sorceress, and carrying his own form of laser sword. (No Wookiee, though — instead, series hero Blackstar got to ride a dragon.) Both shows were on the leading edge of the post-Star Wars dark fantasy wave, leading to movies like Excalibur, Conan the Barbarian, and Dragonslayer. But unlike most of those ’80s fantasies — Flash Gordon aside — Thundarr and Blackstar kept a foot in Star Wars’ science fiction roots, hanging onto the idea of worlds where technology and mysticism met and clashed. Thundarr was more popular, but Blackstar was more compelling: a weirder, darker, richer world with a lot more going on, and a much more imaginative sword that wasn’t just a lightly reskinned lightsaber. Though the show only managed a single season and 13 episodes (compared with Thundarr’s two-year, 21-episode stint), Blackstar’s potential still sticks with me decades later. The story in brief: An astronaut from a future Earth, John Blackstar, enters a black hole in his experimental timeship, and winds up trapped on an ancient alien world, full of magic and monsters. (It’s essentially an isekai series, decades before isekai was the hottest trend in anime and manga.) The local Sauron equivalent, the Overlord, dominates the planet Sagar with an artifact called the Powerstar, a huge two-handed crystalline energy sword. Somehow, the Powerstar gets broken into identical halves, producing two badass weapons: the Power Sword, which the Overlord still holds, and the Star Sword, which falls into Blackstar’s hands. Blackstar winds up as the figurehead in a growing rebellion against the Overlord’s. Meanwhile, the Overlord wants not just to squash this budding rebellion, but to reclaim the Star Sword and take up the Powerstar again. In a series of interviews for Blackstar’s 2006 DVD release, the creators and writers cop to some of their influences in writing the show: The protagonist is a little bit John Carter of Mars (the original Edgar Rice Burroughs version, not the 2012 fantasy-movie version) and a little bit Flash Gordon, though he also closely resembles the protagonist of the 1979 live-action series Buck Rogers in the 25th Century. The Trobbits — tiny comedy-relief people who find and rescue Blackstar after his timeship crashes — take a little inspiration from J.R.R. Tolkien’s hobbits, and a lot more from Disney’s seven dwarfs, complete with the “one personality trait apiece” dynamic, and a youngest member who never speaks. (There are also seven of them.)  The Overlord is somewhere between Darth Vader and Ming the Merciless, while Blackstar’s sorceress companion, Mara, is basically just a reskin of Thundarr’s Princess Ariel, with very similar powers, a similar elegant, educated personality and role as party historian, and similar obvious crush on the oblivious hero. Although these characters rarely feel unique, the mythology and setting of Blackstar’s world very much do, and the central plot device of the Powerstar is unique in fantasy animation. The symmetry of the central villain and hero each having half of the world’s most legendary weapon — which is to say, half of the power left in a world struggling to define itself — is a clever riff on the idea that heroes and villains should mirror each other for maximum thematic impact. Their connection through the sundered Powerstar gives the protagonist and antagonist an intimate personal connection, a reason to clash again and again. It also helps define their characters, and what they do with power. It’s no coincidence that in the Overlord’s hands, the Power Sword is all blunt force, used solely to blast or slash, while Blackstar uses the Star Sword as a finesse weapon with flexible magical abilities. (Too flexible, really: Its magic is ill-defined, and the show’s writers invented new Star Sword powers in nearly every episode.) The idea of these two swords as yin and yang, perfect halves that assemble into a greater whole, is unusually elegant for an ’80s cartoon — and one of the series’ many ideas that was never really explored to full advantage. For modern viewers Blackstar is fairly close to unwatchable. Its production company, Filmation, emerged from a series of commercial jobs in the 1960s, but by the 1980s, it specialized in budget-priced television animated entirely in America, rather than in cheaper overseas production houses. That necessitated a lot of cost-saving devices, like recycling the same hand-drawn sequences many times over, often within the same episode, and using a hilariously limited library of sound effects. Blackstar’s sound design is garish and repetitive, with vocal work that sounds like almost everyone is shouting. The scripts are clunky: Blackstar is conceived as a quippy hero who peppers his foes with snarky one-liners, but his jokes are cataclysmically stiff. About the best he can muster is a jaunty “Putting on a little weight, aren’t you, Rocko?” when hefting one rock elemental to toss it onto another during a battle. And the series is designed for the syndication of the era, meaning that episodes might re-air in any order. So there’s no story development, no character arcs, not even an opening episode to establish Blackstar’s origins. Continuity glitches, inconsistent design and storytelling, and budget-saving slow pans across paintings abound. But the world it’s set in is fascinating. There are hints here and there of ancient technologies and centuries-old civilizations buried under what’s become a verdant forest, centered on the magic of the gigantic central Sagar tree, a mystic font of power the Trobbits live in and tend to. Sagar is a world full of weird creatures that seem either like evolutions of familiar animals, or like magical constructs — shark-bats and frog-rabbits and monkey-birds, long before Avatar: The Last Airbender made these kinds of amalgams a running joke. Those slow-pan, cash-saving painting backgrounds are rich, elaborate, and colorful, suggesting a world with the darkness and detail of Jim Henson’s The Dark Crystal.  While so much of 1980s animation was about the clear line between good and evil, there’s a sense throughout Blackstar that most of the world of Sagar isn’t aspected in such a black-and-white way. It’s just a chaotic ruin, where hungry monsters, prim but weary civilizations, and barbaric enclaves all exist side by side, divided by lethal geography. Every scattered outpost and wandering monster is equally dangerous to Blackstar and the Overlord, but ripe for either of them to exploit for an advantage in their ongoing war. There are even hints at a nuanced system for magic, where the mental power of sorcery and the elemental power of nature magic are different things that work in different ways. After Blackstar’s single season ended, Filmation immediately followed it with the Mattel-backed and far better funded He-Man and the Masters of the Universe, a series based on an existing toy line, but just as clearly based on elements borrowed from Blackstar. Once again, there’s a muscular hero in a fur skirt with a magic sword, battling a sorcerous villain in a chaotic technofantasy world packed with environmental hazards and weird, wildly diverse humanoids. Filmation regular Alan Oppenheimer voiced both Blackstar’s Overlord and He-Man’s Skeletor; similarly, Linda Gary voiced Blackstar’s leading lady Mara and He-Man’s Teela. Filmation staff writer Tom Ruegger developed the series bible for both shows, and it shows, in everything from the similar heroes’ and rogues’ galleries to the sprawling high-and-low-tech world where magic and robots co-exist. One He-Man episode, “The Remedy,” even reused several Blackstar sequences, reintroducing Blackstar’s dragon-horse Warlock as a beast He-Man saves from a giant spider, then rides around. While He-Man had many of the same budgetary and aesthetic limitations as Blackstar — frequently recycled animation, obnoxious sound design, goofy and often ineffectual comedy relief — He-Man was immediately more popular. So popular, in fact that toy maker Galoob tried to nab some of Mattel’s sales success by putting out a weirdly modeled toy line for Blackstar, two full years after the show was canceled. (Those toys did not do well.) Now, we’re in an era where He-Man gets reboot after reboot — an all-ages animated version, a CG version for kids, a new live-action movie scheduled for 2026 — while Blackstar is all but forgotten. And I find that so strange. The bid to reboot and update every hit cartoon of the 1980s seems like a natural enough progression for an era of media fueled by nostalgia, but I’ve never understood why there isn’t more of it for Blackstar, a series that was more imaginative and ambitious than either the predecessor it was trying to outdo or the follower that got all the glory. In the way of so many other ’80s cartoons, my interest in a reboot is much less about re-creating an often janky, limited, cheaply made TV series, and much more about realizing the potential these characters and this world couldn’t take advantage of in the 1980s. A modern version with up-to-date animation could give John Blackstar a proper backstory, and actually make some sense of the biggest hero/villain themes the ’80s version lightly touched on. It could take advantage of the retro-future magic setting and the sprawling original world of Sagar in ways Filmation never dreamed of.  And most importantly, a proper modern update could finally dig into the event that split the Powerstar and turned its two halves into thematic weapons. There are so many story possibilities for that particular cool sword, just waiting to be discovered by a new generation.

shrinking Nemo Incredible shrinking clownfish beats the heat Shrinking down to size boosted clownfish survival rates up to 78 percent during heat waves. Jennifer Ouellette – May 21, 2025 2:00 pm | 7 Credit: Morgan Bennett-Smith Credit: Morgan Bennett-Smith Story text Size Small Standard Large Width * Standard Wide Links Standard Orange * Subscribers only   Learn more Pixar's Finding Nemo immortalized the colorful clownfish, with its distinctive orange body and white stripes, in the popular imagination. Clownfish, like many other species, are feeling the stress of rising temperatures and other environmental stressors. Fortunately, they have a superpower to cope: They can shrink their body size during dangerous heat waves to substantially boost their odds of survival, according to a new paper published in the journal Science Advances. “This is not just about getting skinnier under stressful conditions; these fish are actually getting shorter," said co-author Melissa Versteeg, a graduate student at Newcastle University. "We don’t know yet exactly how they do it, but we do know that a few other animals can do this too." Many vertebrates have shown growth decline in response to environmental stressors, especially higher temperatures. Marine iguanas, for example, reabsorb some of their bone material to shrink when their watery habitat gets warmer, while young salmon have been known to shrink at winter's onset. This can also happen when there is less food available. And social factors can also influence growth. When female meerkats, for example, are dominant, they have growth spurts, while a disruption in their social status can cause stunted growth in male cichlids What has been lacking in prior research is an investigation into how environmental and social factors interact to influence growth rates, according to Versteeg et al. They thought clownfish were the best species to study to fill that gap, since they've been extensively studied and are well understood. The fish live on Indo-Pacific coral reefs where heat stress has been increasing and has become more severe—an environment that is close to the thermal tolerance limits of clownfish. Clownfish also live in social groups: They form breeding pairs with a dominant female and subdominant male, sometimes adding subordinate non-breeding fish. The dominants tend to grow to match the size of the host anemone, while the subordinates only grow to a size that ensures there are sufficient resources—otherwise they risk being evicted and likely dying. Let’s get small The team observed 67 breeding pairs of wild clownfish—briefly caught and photographed for distinctive markings and measured before being returned to the water—living on single anemones in Kimbe Bay, Papua New Guinea, between February and August 2023. This happened to coincide with the world's fourth global bleaching event. They measured the body size of the fish once a month and measured the temperature around the individual anemones every four to six days. Then the team analyzed the collected data. "Individual fish can shrink in response to heat stress." Credit: Morgan Bennett-Smith The results: Over the course of those months, 101 of the 134 clownfish shrank at least once in response to heat stress, and doing so boosted their likelihood of survival up to 78 percent compared to the 33 fish that did not shrink. And between breeding pairs, there were distinctive growth ratios between the dominant and subordinate fish; those pairs that shrank together were also more likely to survive the heat waves. “We were so surprised to see shrinking in these fish that, to be sure, we measured each fish individual repeatedly over a period of five months," said Versteeg. "In the end, we discovered it was very common in this population. It was a surprise to see how rapidly clownfish can adapt to a changing environment, and we witnessed how flexibly they regulated their size, as individuals and as breeding pairs, in response to heat stress as a successful technique to help them survive.” Versteeg et al. have not yet identified a possible mechanism for the shrinkage, but suggest the triggering of neuroendocrine pathways via thyroid hormones might play a role, since those hormones regulate growth. The adaptive strategy could also be a means of adjusting to changing metabolic needs. But there are trade-offs: While shrinking in response to heat waves ensures greater survivability, there can also be a corresponding decrease in birth rates. "Our findings show that individual fish can shrink in response to heat stress, which is further impacted by social conflict, and that shrinking can lead to improving their chances of survival," said senior author Theresa Rueger, also of Newcastle University. "If individual shrinking were widespread and happening among different species of fish, it could provide a plausible alternative hypothesis for why the size of many fish species is declining, and further studies are needed in this area.” Science Advances, 2025. DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.adt7079  (About DOIs). Jennifer Ouellette Senior Writer Jennifer Ouellette Senior Writer Jennifer is a senior writer at Ars Technica with a particular focus on where science meets culture, covering everything from physics and related interdisciplinary topics to her favorite films and TV series. Jennifer lives in Baltimore with her spouse, physicist Sean M. Carroll, and their two cats, Ariel and Caliban. 7 Comments

Photographer Who Scales Buildings to Get the Perfect Shot Arrested at Opening Night of His First Solo Exhibition Isaac Wright was detained for climbing the Empire State Building’s spire in 2024. The photo he took during the climb was on display at the show in New York City Lillian Ali - Staff Contributor May 21, 2025 2:01 p.m. And When We Die It Will Feel Like This (2023), one of Wright's photographs on display at the exhibition Drift / Robert Mann Gallery At the opening for his first solo gallery exhibition, photographer Isaac Wright was speaking with the crowd when a woman tapped him on his shoulder. She revealed that she was a plainclothes officer and told him he was under arrest. “I really thought it was a joke,” Wright, who is known as Drift, tells the New York Times’ The incident occurred just after 8 p.m. on May 15, the opening of Wright’s show, titled “Coming Home,” at the Robert Mann Gallery in New York City. After the plainclothes officer informed him of his arrest, uniformed officers entered the exhibition and led Wright to the back of a squad car. Wright’s lawyer, Priya Chaudhry, tells the Cincinnati Enquirer’s Cameron Knight that the artist has been charged with misdemeanor criminal trespassing. The charges are linked to a photograph on display at the exhibition, which Wright shot after climbing to the top of the spire of the Empire State Building in 2024. “Ansel Adams probably trespassed in his day to get a great photo; plenty of photographers did,” gallery owner Robert Mann, who has exhibited works by renowned photographers including Adams and William Eggleston, tells the Times. “But in all my years, I have never seen an artist taken out of an opening in cuffs.”Urban explorer Vitaliy Raskolov expressed a similar disbelief to Now Media’s Matt Medved, saying that over 16 years of scaling buildings and photographing his escapades, he had “never seen anything like this before.” Wright began climbing buildings in 2018 to cope with post-traumatic stress disorder resulting from his years of service in the Army. When he was stationed with a battalion in Louisiana, he started acting as an “ad hoc chaplain, filling in as needs dictated,” as the Cincinnati Enquirer reported in 2022. “Part of my job was helping our soldiers reintegrate into life at home after deployment,” Wright told the publication. “Without a chaplain in the unit, many soldiers came to me for counseling and to talk about their struggles with suicide.” At the end of his service, he was diagnosed with PTSD and depression. He decided to take up photography, and he found solace in the hobby. One day, he took the stairs to the roof of a skyscraper in Texas to get a more interesting shot. “[I] just ended up sitting there for two or three hours, all by myself, taking in the view,” he tells the Times. “And this wave of catharsis and peace came over me. I was so present and alive, and I remember thinking, ‘Oh my God, I don’t know what this is, but I have to keep doing it.’” The recent gallery opening wasn’t the first time Wright’s art has led to encounters with police. In late 2020, the artist, who is from Ohio, sneaked onto the rooftop of the Great American Tower, the tallest building in Cincinnati.Weeks later, police shut down an interstate to arrest him in Arizona. They had been told that he was a veteran with specialized military training and PTSD, and that he might be armed. “Five to ten officers approached my vehicle with handguns and assault rifles pointed at me,” he told the Cincinnati Enquirer After a judge set his bond at $400,000, Wright spent months in jail. He ultimately accepted a plea deal, agreeing to pay $5,500 in restitution and enroll in a treatment program. At that time, the artist had around 13,000 followers on Instagram. Today, he has about 225,000. Wright regularly posts and sells photos taken from the tall buildings he scales. In 2022, he donated $500,000 from his art sales to the Bail Project, which helps low-income Americans pay bail. Wright was released last week and is scheduled to return to court on June 4. The artist explains that this encounter with the law has been less harrowing than his previous arrests. “I had always been treated as some sort of dangerous weapon for what I do, even though I had never hurt anyone,” he tells the Times. “This time, the cops were very respectful. In the cop car, they even told me they liked the art.” “Coming Home” is on view at the Robert Mann Gallery in New York City through June 28, 2025. Get the latest stories in your inbox every weekday.