Credit: Haley Henschel / Mashable My body refuses to fall asleep on planes, though not for lack of trying. I've stayed up late before flights, booked red-eyes, popped melatonin, ordered a couple glasses of red wine from the beverage cart — and yet there I sit, wide awake in my economy seat.I keep busy with in-flight entertainment. I'm not built to be raw-dogging flights, and that tiny seatback screen keeps me sane at 30,000 feet. If I can't binge last year's Oscar nominees or lock into a weird HBO documentaryKnowing this, my extremely brilliant and thoughtful husband gifted me a Twelve South AirFly Pro for Christmas last year. This cult-favorite gadget is a $49.99 Bluetooth adapter that lets you watch in-flight movies with my comfy Bose headphones. It's not a glamorous device — it's just a dongle with an aux cable — but this humble device takes some of the hassle out of flying. Truly, a miracle. I used the AirFly Pro for the first time on round-trip flights between Chicago and London this spring, and I'll never fly without it again. Better yet, it's on sale. Twelve South AirFly Pro $44.99 at Amazon $54.99 Save $10 Fly like a ProWhile wireless headphones and earbuds are vastly more popular than wired models nowadays, the airline industry hasn't adjusted accordingly. (United and Delta have added Bluetooth-enabled screens to some of their planes, but I personally have yet to find one.) So, to watch movies and shows on that seatback screen, you still have to plug in wired earphones with an old-fashioned 3.5mm audio jack.Some airlines hand out complimentary cheapo wired buds for long-haul flights, but they sound terrible and don't offer a lick of noise cancellation. The AirFly Pro exists to bridge the technology gap for a better in-flight entertainment experience. Mashable Top Stories Stay connected with the hottest stories of the day and the latest entertainment news. Sign up for Mashable's Top Stories newsletter By clicking Sign Me Up, you confirm you are 16+ and agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Thanks for signing up! Credit: Haley Henschel / Mashable Setting up the AirFly Pro is ridiculously simple:Plug it into the screen or armrestPress and hold the power buttonTurn on your headphonesWait for them to connectAnd if you're traveling with someone, you can even pair it with both of your headphones at the same time. My AirFly Pro paired instantly with my Bose headphones and remembered them on my return flight.The AirFly Pro's audio sounded fine to me, and I never had connection issues. I did notice that in-flight announcements were a split-second delayed compared to the plane's PA system, but the sound and dialogue on movies always lined up perfectly. Related Stories Twelve South has the AirFly Pro rated at 25 hours of battery life, and that seemed accurate. Mine lasted the full eight-hour flight from Chicago to London, a few hours beyond that (because I forgot to turn it off), and then most of the way through my nine-hour return flight. When it finally died, 10 minutes of charging gave it enough battery for at least 30 more minutes before we landed. Credit: Haley Henschel / Mashable The biggest downsides to the AirFly Pro? The fact that you can't use it while it's charging, and that it's kind of expensive for a Bluetooth transmitter. That said, it works like a charm and feels like a future-proofed purchase, since planes probably aren't getting rid of their 3.5mm audio jacks anytime soon. Where to buy the AirFly Pro Credit: Haley Henschel / Mashable The $54.99 AirFly Pro (currently on sale for $44.99) comes with a soft travel pouch and a keyring cap in addition to its charger. For $20 less, you can pick up the AirFly SE, but you lose some battery life and dual listening mode.I've seen the AirFly line sold at airports before, but I'd recommend snagging one before you jet off on your next trip, as my Pro model is easy to find on sale. At the time of writing, Amazon had it on sale. You can also find them as part of some Bose QuietComfort Ultra headphone and earbud bundles. Shop the Twelve South AirFly line: Twelve South AirFly Pro $54.99 Twelve South AirFly SE $34.99 Twelve South AirFly Pro 2 $59.99 Topics Bluetooth Gadgets Haley Henschel Senior Shopping Reporter Haley Henschel is a Chicago-based Senior Shopping Reporter at Mashable who reviews and finds deals on popular tech, from laptops to gaming consoles and VPNs. She has years of experience covering shopping holidays and can tell you what’s actually worth buying on Black Friday and Amazon Prime Day. Her work has also explored the driving forces behind digital trends within the shopping sphere, from dupes to 12-foot skeletons.

93FT has created the playful interiors of Starwood Hotels’ second UK branch of its Treehouse brand. With chalk boards, patchwork quilts and tree stump furniture, the hotel leans into childhood nostalgia and creative freedom. Aimed at 25 to 45-year-olds, this Treehouse Hotel is housed in a 1970s concrete building in Manchester’s city centre. It started life as an office block, but more recently operated as a Renaissance Hotel. The building started life as an office block This iteration was designed by Sheffield-based 93FT in collaboration with Starwood Hotels’ international design team. “Throughout the project we have followed our brand ethos of ‘carefreedom’ whereby we want to transport guests back to a time when they were children, more carefree and able to explore their world creatively,” says Neil Andrew, Starwood’s vice president, design – EMEA. 93FT co-founder Nick Clark echoes this sentiment. “Treehouses are about escaping. They’re about a sense of nostalgia, and feeling young again.” This extends to every design detail – Barry Sternlicht, the hotel group’s founder wanted these hotels to feel like “a kid had made them,” says Amber Addison, 93FT senior interior designer. The team worked to strike a careful balance and meet health & safety standards The challenge was to make this playful environment also be commercial, comfortable and meet health and safety standards, she explains. And aesthetically, the team had to strike a balance between the designs looking not too ramshackle, but not too polished either. The agency brought in a mishmash of vintage items from different sources including salvage company Retrouvious, plus reclaimed building materials and a variety of fabrics, to capture that spontaneity of children’s creativity. Glass Onion created bespoke cushion covers for all 224 bedrooms, using denim off-cuts For example, vintage clothing business, Glass Onion, which has a store in Sheffield, made cushion covers from denim off-cuts for each of the 224 bedrooms. “A treehouse can be made of things that your mum doesn’t want in the lounge anymore,” Addison says. Hence in the restaurant, Pip, there are eclectic lampshades, and one wall is filled with shelves of rainbow glass bottles of different shapes and sizes, which are intended to conjure up the intuitive collecting habits of children. Meanwhile, the bedrooms are furnished with individually made patchwork quilts, asymmetrical door handles, handmade furniture and larch cladding. Chalkboards lean into childhood nostalgia and creative freedom In the entrance, a mix of reclaimed and handmade windows make up the lobby walls. And some of the chairs are made from tree stumps, with old tool handles embedded in them to form a back rest. This sourcing came easily to 93FT, which brought in 1,400 items for its redesign of London’s Pilgrim Hotel. Other playful elements include chalkboards, which guests are inviting to doodle on, or they can carve their name on small pieces of wood, which are then hung in the lift lobby as an alternative guestbook. The agency initially came up with some strong ideas to bring the treehouse concept to life. “We loved the idea of a treehouse in a Treehouse,” Clark says. “We were going to cut some big shapes into the floorplates, and add a big tree with a treehouse at the top.” Another idea was to have a big swing in the entrance, but neither of these ideas turned out to be feasible. Existing columns are clad in timber, to give them a tree-like appearance They were able to install a big artificial tree clad in real bark, which reaches up through the ceiling of the dark, lower-ground reception. Also on this level, the timber walkway is bathed in dappled light in reference to a forest floor. The effect was created by cutting out organic shapes in the ceiling and carefully placing lighting there. A second tree made of reclaimed timber stands on the mezzanine with a bench at its base. For phase two of the build, 93FT is designing a presidential suite, and Blacksheep in London is designing a rooftop bar. In the UK, Manchester Treehouse follows on from Treehouse London in Marylebone designed by Birmingham agency Keane. It is also a transformation of an existing hotel, and that outpost has city-specific elements including Paddington Bear references and London-centric souvenirs. Further Treehouse locations in the works include Brickell in Miami by Rockwell Group; Riyadh in Saudi Arabia by Blacksheep; and Adelaide in Australia by Woods Bagot. The glass bottles are intended to conjure up the intuitive collecting habits of children The bar area features an eclectic mix of light fittings, adding character and visual interest to the space

Macworld 2027 is the 20th anniversary of the iPhone, and it appears that Apple has some big plans in store. The Information and Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman reported that Apple is going to dramatically redesign the iPhone with a mostly glass, curved iPhone (that will follow the release of Apple’s first folding phone). On Wednesday, a report by Electronic Times sheds a little bit of light on the display that will be used. Apple plans to use “four-sided bending display technologies” that would allow the display to wrap around the edges of the iPhone so that the phone would not have a bezel. Apple also plans to implement an OLED display driver chip that is based on a 16nm fin field-effect transistor (FinFET) process, a change from the 28nm planar process currently used. Implementing FinFET will improve power efficiency, but it is not clear if this results in longer battery life or if the power demands of a four-sided bending display and AI processing offset any gains. One way Apple may address the power demands of the new phone is by using new battery technology, according to the Electronic Times report. Current lithium-ion batteries have a graphite anode, but the 2027 iPhone could use a battery with a silicon anode instead. Silicon anodes store more lithium ions, resulting in higher energy density and longer battery power capacity. Previous reports have stated that Apple is making an effort to design this iPhone without any screen cutouts or minimize its use. The Information and analyst Ross Young have previously reported that Apple plans to most of the Face ID sensors underneath the display. The Information has also reported that the phone would have a small cutout for the front-facing camera, a cutout that would be smaller than the pill-shaped one in the current iPhone. It’s not clear whether Apple would still offer the Dynamic Island feature if the camera cutout shrinks.

Photo Credit: iQOO iQOO Neo 10 Pro+ will come in Shi Guang White, Shadow Black and Super Pixel shades Highlights iQOO Neo 10 Pro+ will launch alongside the Pad 5 series, Watch 5 and more It is confirmed to pack a 7K “Ice Vault” vapour cooling chamber The iQOO Neo 10 Pro+ will have a 2K display with 1.5mm side bezels Advertisement iQOO Neo 10 Pro+ will launch in China on May 20 alongside the iQOO Pad 5 series, iQOO Watch 5, iQOO TWS Air 3 and more devices. It is expected to join the standard iQOO Neo 10 and the Neo 10 Pro variants in the country, which were unveiled in November 2024. The upcoming Neo 10 Pro+ smartphone will be equipped with a Snapdragon 8 Elite SoC and a 2K display. Now, the company has revealed the RAM, storage and a few key other details about the phone.iQOO Neo 10 Pro+ Key SpecificationsThe company previously confirmed that the iQOO Neo 10 Pro+ willl be powered by an octa core Snapdragon 8 Elite SoC. The company revealed in a Weibo post that the chipset will be optimised with iQOO's Blue Crystal technology. The post added that the handset will support LPDDR5x Ultra RAM and UFS 4.1 storage. The phone is claimed to have scored 3,311,557 points on the AnTuTu benchmark test.In another post, the brand said that the iQOO Neo 10 Pro+ will boast its largest yet 7K “Ice Vault” vapour cooling chamber for thermal management and heat dissipation, claiming to improve cooling efficiency by 15 percent.Previously, iQOO revealed that the upcoming Neo 10 Pro+ will sport a 2K display with 1.5mm side bezels and a glass back panel. It will be offered in Shi Guang White, Shadow Black, and Super Pixel (translated from Chinese) colourways. The "prism pixel design" of the latter option has been developed in collaboration with BMW M Motorsport. Older reports have suggested that the iQOO Neo 10 Pro+ will likely come with a 6.82-inch flat OLED screen. It is expected to house two 50-megapixel cameras at the back. It could pack a 7,000mAh battery with 120W fast wired charging support. The handset may feature 16GB of RAM and ship with Android 15-based OriginOS 5. KEY SPECSNEWSDisplay 6.78-inchProcessor Snapdragon 8 Gen 3Front Camera 16-megapixel Rear Camera 50-megapixel + 8-megapixel RAM 12GBStorage 256GBBattery Capacity 6100mAhOS Android 15Resolution 1260x2800 pixelsKEY SPECSNEWSDisplay 6.78-inchProcessor MediaTek Dimensity 9400Front Camera 16-megapixel Rear Camera 50-megapixel + 50-megapixel RAM 12GBStorage 256GBBattery Capacity 6100mAhOS Android 15Resolution 1260x2800 pixels For the latest tech news and reviews, follow Gadgets 360 on X, Facebook, WhatsApp, Threads and Google News. For the latest videos on gadgets and tech, subscribe to our YouTube channel. If you want to know everything about top influencers, follow our in-house Who'sThat360 on Instagram and YouTube. Sucharita Ganguly Sucharita is a writer with Gadgets 360 and is mostly found playing with her cat in her free time. She has previously worked at breaking news desks across organizations. Powered by coffee, The Beatles, Bowie, and her newfound love for BTS, she aims to work towards contributing to a better media environment for women and queer folk. More Related Stories

North Boulder Library / WORKacSave this picture!© Bruce DamonteLibrary•Boulder, United States Architects: WORKac Area Area of this architecture project Area:  12800 ft² Year Completion year of this architecture project Year:  2024 Photographs Photographs:Bruce Damonte Manufacturers Brands with products used in this architecture project Manufacturers:  ELEVATE, Holcim, Alucobond, American Hydrotech, Daltile, Forbo, Guardian Glass , InCord, Kawneer, Montel, Overhead Door Corp., Swing Set Mall, Wilsonart More SpecsLess Specs Save this picture! Text description provided by the architects. The Boulder Public Library issued an open Request for Proposal (RFP) in 2018 for a new branch library in North Boulder, a project the community had anticipated for over two decades. The RFP called for an "iconic" building, which many competitors interpreted as a visually striking design. However, WORKac www.work.ac - the architecture firm based in New York City and led by Amale Andraos and Dan Wood - proposed a vision where the library's iconic status would stem from its sustainability and its positive impact on the community and environment.Save this picture!Save this picture!Save this picture!This innovative approach resonated with the library. The building stands out as an original project rooted in WORKac's significant past experiences. Andraos and Wood have always been deeply committed to issues in education, a dedication that culminated in Andraos' role as Dean of the Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation (GSAPP) at Columbia University, where Dan Wood is an Associate Adjunct Professor. At the time this project was commissioned, their Kew Gardens Hills Library in Queens, NY had just recently opened, a source of pride for its community, and their joyful Miami Museum Garage - which inventively transforms the simple and often frustrating act of parking a car into an unexpected opportunity for social interaction - had reached wide international resonance.Save this picture!Save this picture!Rooted in community engagement - The North Boulder Library is situated within a diverse neighborhood that blends new developments for young professionals, art studios, galleries, and two manufactured home communities that include Boulder's largest Spanish-speaking population. The chosen site is a triangular plot bordered by Broadway to the west and Three Mile Creek to the south, with stunning views to the Boulder Flatirons. WORKac's approach to the project was deeply rooted in community engagement.Save this picture!Save this picture!WORKac worked for almost eight years on the project, including a three-year Community Engagement and Site Planning process, which entailed more than twenty public presentations of the design during different phases to community groups, politicians, and stakeholders. More than 3,000 people attended the opening ceremony on June 29, 2024. "Today and every day we endeavor to render architecture more human, to turn the pragmatic fantastic, and to reclaim the 'best' in 'best practice' away from the technocratic and towards the creative. We approach every project, regardless of scale, program, type or context with the same passion, drawing resolute realism together with polemical optimism," say Amale Andraos and Dan Wood.Save this picture!Site, Program and Architecture - Boulder's unique geographical position at the intersection of the Rocky Mountains and the Great Plains has historically shaped its rugged architectural vernacular. The North Boulder Library design celebrates this context, acknowledging the area's complex relationship with the natural environment. Through its connections with the urban surroundings, the library not only reflects its environment but also enhances its visual and functional relationship with the local community.Save this picture!The design of the North Boulder Library was directly informed by the community's input, leading to the inclusion of key programs such as Boulder Reads, which supports literacy development for children and adults, and a "Maker Kitchen," which evolved from the community's desire for a maker space together with ideas for a community garden and kitchen area. "Our greatest delight is for others to feel a sense of joy, of belonging, and of possibilities for the future," state the architects.Save this picture!The building negotiates the triangular site that includes a seasonal creek running diagonally through it with a building that respects the scale of its residential neighbors to the north while opening up to views of the Flatiron Mountains and Rocky Mountain foothills to the south and west. The library is designed with the major community spaces on the second floor. The lower northern side integrates a shallow, fully- accessible ramp that allows these second-floor community and ESL classrooms to open at night when the library is closed, reinforcing the library's role as a community hub. This ramp is enhanced by a public art installation by Montreal-based Daily tous les jours that plays music as users ascend or descend. Despite its modest size, the building has four entrances and a variety of public spaces that seamlessly extend outdoors, connecting with both the residential neighborhood to the north and the Fourmile Canyon Creek park to the south.The building's design is both intriguing and unexpected. Its irregular geometry, a convergence of triangular forms, mirrors and influences the internal layout. This interplay of shapes creates a series of surprising spatial experiences.Save this picture!Save this picture!The main public floor is divided into a large reading room for adult patrons and a children's area with a private nook for story-reading and windows onto a slide that can be accessed through a rope climbing structure, allowing kids to climb up through the building and slide down into the library's new playground. Other key areas on the ground floor include the Maker Kitchen, which connects to an edible garden and playground, and large windows that offer breathtaking views of the mountains. The interior design incorporates custom elements like a wallpaper by graphic designer Andrew Freeman, principal at afreeman, featuring historical photos from Boulder's archives, celebrating the region's indigenous heritage. The building's exposed ceiling structure adds to the space's acoustic performance and aesthetic richness.Save this picture!WORKac's architecture is both unpretentious and inspiring. It embodies a sense of freedom that invites people to engage with the space and take ownership of it. This approach reflects a profound commitment to civic responsibility. Sustainability is a central focus of the project, with initial plans aiming for net-zero energy. Although some features were scaled back due to the COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent economic challenges, Boulder's stringent sustainability regulations ensured that the library maintained its high green building standards. A rooftop solar array supplies a significant portion of the building's energy, while the site includes a rainwater garden planted with native, butterfly-attracting flowers and shrubs to protect the seasonal creek from runoff.Save this picture!A testament to the power of thoughtful design - The North Boulder Library is a testament to the power of thoughtful, community-driven design. Despite a modest budget, WORKac has created a building that is both beautiful and functional, serving as a model for equitable public architecture. Funded entirely by the City of Boulder, the library stands as a beacon of progressive values, sustainability, and community engagement, reflecting the spirit of the city it serves. WORKac is the recipient of the 2023 Arts and Letters Award in Architecture, a prestigious honor given by the American Academy of Arts and Letters to recognize exceptional American architects whose work embodies artistic excellence and has made a significant impact on the field of architecture. They are currently working on the Beirut Art Museum in Lebanon and projects at Vassar College, including a renovation to its main library.Save this picture! Project gallerySee allShow less Project locationAddress:Boulder, United StatesLocation to be used only as a reference. It could indicate city/country but not exact address.About this officeWORKacOffice••• MaterialSteelMaterials and TagsPublished on May 14, 2025Cite: "North Boulder Library / WORKac" 14 May 2025. ArchDaily. Accessed . <https://www.archdaily.com/1030123/north-boulder-library-workac&gt ISSN 0719-8884Save世界上最受欢迎的建筑网站现已推出你的母语版本!想浏览ArchDaily中国吗?是否 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

By Matt Novak Published May 14, 2025 | Comments (0) | A Sherman Tank crushes a Tesla with the license plate "FASCISM" in a YouTube video. Screenshot: YouTube / Led by Donkeys Tesla CEO Elon Musk gave two Nazi-style salutes the day President Donald Trump was inaugurated back in January, giving the public explicit confirmation of what everyone knew already. The billionaire oligarch was aligning himself with some of the most evil people in history. And a new viral video sends a hopeful message about who will ultimately land on top. Ken Turner, a 98-year-old veteran of World War II, is featured in a new video showing exactly what he thinks of fascism. Turner served in the British Army and the video shows this hero rolling a Sherman tank over a Tesla. “I’m old enough to have seen fascism the first time around, now it’s coming back,” Turner says in the video while sitting in the U.S.-made tank. “Elon Musk, the richest man in the world, is using his immense power to support the far right in Europe and his money comes from Tesla cars,” Turner continued. “Well, I’ve got this message for Mr. Musk: We’ve crushed fascism before, and we’ll crush it again.” The video, which was created by a British political group Led By Donkeys, is available on Bluesky and YouTube. The Tesla Model 3 has a license plate that reads “fascism” and gets absolutely crushed by the tank. It’s pretty satisfying to watch. Hilariously, defenders of Musk and his companies seem to think the video demonstrates something positive for Tesla. Teslarati, a pro-Tesla blog, wrote that the video is actually good for Tesla. The website seems to think it demonstrates just how durable the vehicle is. “As could be seen from the wreckage of the Tesla Model 3 after its Sherman encounter, only the glass roof and windows of the all-electric sedan were crushed,” Teslarati wrote. “Looking at the wreckage of the Model 3, it seemed like its doors could still be opened, and everything on its lower section looked intact.” You’ll notice the website only focused on the durability of the Tesla without acknowledging Musk’s embrace of fascism. Because the billionaire oligarch not only spent a quarter of a billion dollars to help get Trump elected, he’s currently dismantling the government in the most corrupt power-grab of the modern era. And it’s really hard to deny that Musk is a far-right extremist. Musk actually would eventually deny he was doing a Nazi salute on Jan. 20. But it was much, much later, coming only after he kept making Nazi jokes and embracing the attention he was getting online for his salutes. But we all knew what we saw. The billionaire told podcaster Joe Rogan he was making a gesture meant to communicate, “My heart goes out to you.” But there’s no universe in which any reasonable person looks at the gesture Musk made and believes he was expressing love. That’s the look of a man determined to make a fascist salute. Elon Musk appears to give one of two Nazi salutes on Jan. 20, 2025. © Photo by ANGELA WEISS/AFP via Getty Images In fact, Musk didn’t do just one salute, which may have given him more plausible deniability. This guy did two Nazi-style salutes on that stage. As you can see by the expressions of the people behind him, everyone knew what was happening. And they loved it. © Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images Even before Musk made his salutes, many politically middle-of-the-road people who had to serve under Trump understood what the MAGA movement stood for. Former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs, Gen. Mark Milley, was extremely worried about the possibility of Trump attempting a coup after he lost the 2020 election. Milley was correct, and Trump tried a self-coup on Jan. 6, 2021, when he instructed a mob to descend on the U.S. Capitol. After Jan. 6, Milley held drills with top military and law enforcement officials in preparation for Joe Biden’s inauguration. It was their job to protect Washington D.C. if they tried it again. “Here’s the deal, guys: These guys are Nazis, they’re boogaloo boys, they’re Proud Boys. These are the same people we fought in World War II. We’re going to put a ring of steel around this city and the Nazis aren’t getting in,” Milley was quoted as saying by CNN. Trump would later call for Milley to be executed for treason. Most Americans hate what Musk is doing, and Tesla’s profits have plunged 71%, all because the world can see what he’s doing to advance the cause of fascism. And we can take at least one World War II vet’s word that all of this needs to be crushed immediately. Elon Musk is a fascist. He’s spent hundreds of millions of dollars to further the MAGA cause, and he’s currently in the Middle East as an unelected representative of the U.S. government, getting lucrative deals with the leverage of a corrupt oligarch. None of this stops without Musk getting stripped of his power. And while the billionaire keeps saying he’ll leave government eventually, we’ll believe it when we actually see it (like we saw his salutes). Daily Newsletter You May Also Like By Lucas Ropek Published May 13, 2025 By AJ Dellinger Published May 13, 2025 By Matt Novak Published May 13, 2025 By Ed Cara Published May 13, 2025 Laura Newcombe Published May 12, 2025 By AJ Dellinger Published May 8, 2025

Hearing aids, like canes or orthopedic shoes, are something you don’t think about a lot when you’re young. But maybe you should.You probably either know someone who needs hearing aids, or you’ll need them some day yourself. About 30 million people in the United States, aged 12 and older, have hearing loss in both ears, and about two-thirds of people end up with hearing loss, which can range from mild to severe, by their 70s. But talking to your parents or grandparents about getting hearing aids can be tough — I’ve done it. They might not like the idea of sticking things in their ear canals or confronting the difficult realities of aging and health. They surely shy away from the price tag of hearing aids, which can cost thousands of dollars and are not covered by insurance or Medicare. But plugging tiny and exorbitantly expensive speakers into your ears isn’t the only way. Your mom might already own hearing aids without even knowing it.Hearing aids have never been more accessible — or futuristic. In April, a company called Nuance started selling glasses that double as hearing aids thanks to microphones and beam-forming speakers built into the frame. Although at $1,200, they’re not cheap, they cost far less than a pair of prescription hearing aids, which tend to range from $2,000 to $7,000.The Nuance glasses joined an increasingly crowded market of FDA-regulated over-the-counter hearing aids that includes everything from the latest Apple AirPods Pro, which gained the capability through a software update, to bean-sized buds from Sony. Prices for these devices start as low as $100, and you don’t need an audiologist to help set them up. Hearing aids have never been more accessible — or futuristic.You can also buy something that’s legally considered a personal sound amplification product (PSAP), which is not designed to treat hearing loss but does make things louder. Some of them can play music and handle phone calls too. In the age when earbuds are ubiquitous, these devices appeal to all ages.“It’s good that we’re seeing people in their 30s, 40s, and 50s, talking about it, because it’s totally changing the paradigm for them of engaging in hearing care earlier,” Nicholas Reed, a faculty member at the NYU Grossman School of Medicine, told me.I’m a millennial, but I’ve also dealt with hearing loss my entire life. A bad stretch of childhood ear infections left me mostly deaf in one ear and pretty spotty in the other. I learned to read lips as a teenager and avoid conversations at loud parties in college. Some surgery in my 20s brought me closer to normal, but I could still use a little help. I’ve spent the past few weeks trying out the Nuance glasses in various settings. They’re remarkable, not only because they feel almost indistinguishable from my regular glasses but also because I forget they’re hearing aids. Made by EssilorLuxottica, the company behind Ray-Ban and dozens of other glasses brands, the Nuance glasses employ some of the same technology that the Ray-Ban Meta glasses use to play music and help you talk to AI. And while the Nuance glasses don’t currently offer the option to stream audio, they do help you hear what your friend is saying in a loud bar.The AirPods Pro 2, which retail for $250, work equally as well. After Apple announced last fall that a software update would unlock an accessibility setting — it’s appropriately called Hearing Aid — I started using it all the time, toggling between listening to podcasts to ordering cold brew in a crowded coffee shop. In instances where I may have needed to ask people to repeat themselves in the past, I hear them fine the first time. I just have to wear AirPods all the time, which makes the glasses solution even more appealing. For most people, hearing loss typically starts in your 50s and gains momentum in your early retirement years. If you’ve ever been to a busy restaurant with your parents or grandparents, you know this can be alienating for the person left out and frustrating for the hearing person, too. The social isolation can lead to loneliness and anxiety, which can hasten cognitive decline and lower life expectancy.Nevertheless, neither traditional clinical hearing aids or the newer category of devices are easy fixes. Once you start wearing any sort of hearing aid, it takes time to adjust, and you might need help tweaking the sound as you get used to it. That’s one reason why so many people avoid it — only one in five who need hearing aids actually have them. You can’t put them in your ears and immediately have perfect hearing. Your brain adjusts over time, and so it may take weeks or months to adapt to the new frequencies hearing aids help you hear.Still, it’s a worthwhile project.“Sensory input is so key to our existence, but we just sort of overlooked it for so long,” Reed said. “It’s something that’s vital to your existence and how you connect with other people.”It’s not clear how the latest hearing aid innovation will move the needle on adoption. Even though over-the-counter hearing aids have been available since 2022, when the FDA implemented new regulations for the devices, it’s still an uphill battle to get people to wear them. “Sensory input is so key to our existence, but we just sort of overlooked it for so long.”— Nicholas Reed, faculty member at the NYU Grossman School of Medicine“We are not seeing large increases in hearing aid uptake since over-the-counter hearing aids have become available,” said Tricia Ashby, senior director of audiology practices at the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA). “And I have to say that mimics other countries who had over-the-counter hearing aids before the US did.”Given the fact that the older people who need them most are potentially less likely to try the latest technology, it might still take a few years for over-the-counter hearing aids to go mainstream. Given the precedent set by companies like Apple and Nuance, though, it’s possible that more devices will add hearing assistive features to existing products. You can imagine a future where you wear earbuds that are the interface for your voice assistant as well as your lifeline on a loud plane. You might have glasses that project walking directions onto your field of view and help you hear which direction traffic’s coming from when you have to cross the street. These kinds of features together only get more important as you get older and need a little more help.“We are in an age now where you’re thinking about optimizing aging, and how do you do it?” Reed said. “And it’s things like this.”A version of this story was also published in the User Friendly newsletter. Sign up here so you don’t miss the next one!See More:

Imagine Montessori School | © Mariela Apollonio Located along the edge of the En Dolça ravine in Paterna, Valencia, the Imagine Montessori School by Gradolí & Sanz Arquitectes reimagines the relationship between educational space and nature. More than an academic facility, the project is a mediating layer between the urban grid and a Mediterranean pine forest. With an architectural strategy that prioritizes child-centered learning, spatial legibility, and material authenticity, the school articulates a pedagogical framework through its built form. Imagine Montessori School Technical Information Architects1-23: Gradolí & Sanz Arquitectes Location: Paterna, Valencia, Spain Area: 2,922 m2 | 31,449 Sq. Ft. Project Year: 2017 – 2024 Photographs: © Mariela Apollonio The building is not intended to be an object in the landscape, but a part of it, an extension of the terrain that disappears so that nature becomes the true façade. – Gradolí & Sanz Arquitectes Imagine Montessori School Photographs Street View | © Mariela Apollonio Entrance | © Mariela Apollonio Facade | © Mariela Apollonio Facade | © Mariela Apollonio Courtyard | © Mariela Apollonio Opening | © Mariela Apollonio Facade | © Mariela Apollonio Terrace | © Mariela Apollonio Balcony | © Mariela Apollonio Stairs | © Mariela Apollonio Interior | © Mariela Apollonio Classroom | © Mariela Apollonio Classroom | © Mariela Apollonio Classroom | © Mariela Apollonio Classroom | © Mariela Apollonio Classroom | © Mariela Apollonio Contextual Foundations: A Site-Driven Pedagogy The school’s defining gesture is its orientation, not toward the street but toward the landscape. In rejecting the street-facing urban façade, the building signals a reversal in conventional institutional typologies. The access route begins within a pine grove, where children traverse elevated wooden walkways between trees. This procession is not simply aesthetic but symbolic: a transition from the ordered rhythms of the city into the fluid, unpredictable logic of nature. Here, the site is not an inert backdrop but an active participant in shaping architectural decisions. The building emerges as an extension of the ravine itself, folding, settling, and disappearing beneath a green roof that mimics the topography. The landscape is not curated; it is left raw and wild, with pinecones, roots, and mushrooms serving as didactic tools. The design resists the sanitization often found in contemporary schoolyards and instead engages directly with the ecological conditions of the terrain. Spatial Strategy and Pedagogical Integration Formally, the building adopts an elongated S-shaped footprint, generating two distinct outdoor voids: a western entry plaza and an eastern natural playground. This configuration does more than optimize views; it choreographs an internal spatial rhythm aligned with Montessori principles. Each classroom opens onto the ravine, allowing daylight, ventilation, and natural stimuli to become integral components of the educational environment. Interior planning is liberated from hierarchical spatial orders. There is no teacher’s desk nor any central focal point. Classrooms are divided into five zones: sensory, practical life, language, mathematics, and cultural studies, enabling fluid movement and diverse learning modes. Circulation is not relegated to corridors but expanded into informal gathering spaces: widened paths, seating niches, double-height voids, and interior balconies foster spatial democracy and autonomy. Crucially, the architecture speaks to children through scale. Arched thresholds, lofted alcoves, and floor-level seating areas are intentionally designed to accommodate bodies in formative stages. These gestures create an environment where children encounter the building not as a fixed container but as a responsive medium. Imagine Montessori School Material Honesty The building’s construction is didactic. Clay and timber, the two principal materials, are left exposed, allowing the tectonic logic of the building to remain legible. The 60 cm-thick brick walls serve as a load-bearing structure, thermal mass, and finish. There is no applied cladding; instead, the imperfections of material tool marks, tonal variation, and subtle cracks are embraced as part of the building’s expression. Wood complements clay in both structural and experiential ways. Timber roof panels, partitions, and joinery elements soften the masonry mass, introducing warmth and tactile variation. Concrete use is minimized, restricted primarily to foundations, while steel appears only in strategic elements such as railings and slender columns. Mechanical and electrical systems are not concealed behind ceilings or walls. Their visibility transforms the building into a diagram of its operation, offering students insight into energy, water, and ventilation flows. This transparency reinforces the project’s pedagogical ethos: education begins not only in the classroom but also in the fabric of the building itself. Landscape as Curriculum Rather than isolating the building from its context, the project incorporates the landscape into every facet of the educational experience. Each classroom opens directly to a semi-covered terrace with a water fountain, a deciduous tree, and tiered seating. These thresholds become spatial hybrids, neither entirely interior nor exterior, blurring the division between architecture and ecology. The ravine functions as a temporal and sensory field. Its shifting hydrology during rains, the seasonal shedding of trees, and the growth of wild asparagus are not distractions but phenomena to be observed and interpreted. There is a deliberate absence of traditional sports infrastructure; the sloped terrain is manipulated into ramps, climbing walls, and caves, inviting exploration and risk within a safe environment. This approach aligns with contemporary ecological pedagogy but avoids its typical tropes. There is no simulation of “naturalness” through curated green spaces or artificial turf. Instead, the landscape is allowed to be what it is: dynamic, coarse, unpredictable, and children are entrusted to navigate it. Imagine Montessori School Plans Ground Level | © Gradolí & Sanz Arquitectes Level 2 | © Gradolí & Sanz Arquitectes Roof Plan | © Gradolí & Sanz Arquitectes Sections | © Gradolí & Sanz Arquitectes Elevations | © Gradolí & Sanz Arquitectes Imagine Montessori School Image Gallery About Gradolí & Sanz Arquitectes Gradolí & Sanz Arquitectes is a Valencia-based architecture studio founded by Carmel Gradolí and Arturo Sanz, known for their context-driven, materially honest, and environmentally conscious designs. Since 1993, the practice has developed a diverse portfolio of public and private projects that respond sensitively to their cultural and physical surroundings. Their work often engages with heritage, pedagogy, and sustainability themes, characterized by restrained formal language and thoughtful use of local materials. Guided by a commitment to civic responsibility and architectural clarity, the studio seeks to create functional and emotionally resonant spaces. Credits and Additional Notes Lead Architects: Arturo Sanz, Carmel Gradolí, Fran López Collaborating Architects: J. Luis Vilar, María Navarro, Daniel López Quantity Surveyor: Francisco Vallet Traditional Structure Engineering: Adolfo Alonso Timber Structure Engineering: Albura Wood & Concept Acoustic Consultant: Silens Acústica  Green Certification Consultant: GBCE  Phase 1 Installations & BREEAM Consultant: Zero Consulting  Phase 2 Installations: GME  Lighting Design: Cosmo Stil General Constructor: Grupo Valseco Brick Vaults: Cercaa Exterior Wood Carpentry: Morata Interior Carpentry: DISBEA Showlutions  Metalwork: Martí Cots  Glasswork: Cristalería Crevillente  Landscape Design (Phase 1): GM Paisajistas  3D Visualizations: Drawfield Client: Zubi Educational Real Estate Built-up Area: 2,922 m² Usable Floor Area: 2,298 m² Plot Size: 4,556 m² Construction Cost: €4.6 million

At Sotheby's Modern Evening Auction last night, Frank Lloyd Wright's double-pedestal lamp broke a record when it sold for $7.5 million after an 11-minute battle between bidders. The iridescent lamp, in shades of gold, green, blue, and purple, is now the most valuable Wright work ever sold at auction, more than doubling his previous record. The price is four times what the lamp sold for when it was last on the block in 2002. Courtesy Sotheby'sFormally titled "An Important Double-Pedestal Lamp for the Susan Lawrence Dana House, Springfield, Illinois," the piece was initially commissioned for one of Wright's early residential homes. There are just two versions of this lamp in existence: the one that sold last night and one that Illinois Governor Jim Thompson and the Dana-Thomas House Foundation acquired in 1988 for the permanent collection of the Dana-Thomas House, which is now a museum.Courtesy Sotheby'sThe lamp is made from iridized and opalescent glass and bronze in a brass-plated “colonial” zinc frame. Wright designed the work in 1903 and it was executed by the Linden Glass Company in Chicago the next year. The lamp's gold, amber, and green shade features geometric patterns and the "sumac motif," a prairie plant Wright used as design inspiration throughout the Dana-Thomas House. Parts of the lamp gently move: the two vertical blue-green glass panels on each side have hinges. Sotheby's notes that these panels may reference Japanese “shoji” screens—believed to repel evil spirits—which Wright admired during visits to Japan.Courtesy Sotheby's Overall, this sale is a boon to the architect's already storied legacy. Jodi Pollack, Sotheby’s chairman and co-worldwide head of 20th century design notes that the sale, "celebrates not only a remarkable piece of American design but a landmark moment in the legacy of one of the most visionary architects in history."She continued: "A true testament to his genius, the lamp stands as a beacon of the American pursuit of design, innovation and progress that reflects Wright’s lasting influence on American architecture and culture." Annie GoldsmithSenior EditorAnnie Goldsmith is the senior editor and digital lead at ELLE Decor, where she covers design, culture, style, and trends. She previously held positions at The Information, covering technology and culture, and Town & Country, writing about news, entertainment, and fashion. Her work has also appeared in Vogue, Rolling Stone, and the SF Standard.