Pictured above: A dining room in Dallas, Texas, designed by Studio Thomas James.As you design (or redesign) a room at home, you may have specific ideas about the paint color, furniture placement, and even the lighting scheme your space requires to truly sing. But, if you're not also considering what type of rug will ground the entire look, this essential room-finishing touch may end up feeling like an afterthought. After all, one of the best ways to ensure your space looks expertly planned from top to bottom is to opt for a rug that can anchor the whole space—and, in many cases, that means a maximalist rug.A maximalist-style rug, or one that has a bold color, an abstract or asymmetrical pattern, an organic shape, distinctive pile texture, or unconventional application (such as functioning as a wall mural), offers a fresh answer to the perpetual design question, "What is this room missing?" Instead of defaulting to a neutral-colored, low-pile rug that goes largely unnoticed, a compelling case can be made for choosing a design that functions more as a tactile piece of art. Asha Chaudhary, the CEO of Jaipur, India-based rug brand Jaipur Living, has noticed many consumers moving away from "safe" interiors and embracing designs that pop with personality. "There’s a growing desire to design with individuality and soul. A vibrant or highly detailed rug can instantly transform a space by adding movement, contrast, and character, all in one single piece," she says.Ahead, we spoke to Chaudhary to get her essential tips for choosing the right maximalist rug for your design style, how to evaluate the construction of a piece, and even why you should think outside the box when it comes to the standard area rug shape. Turns out, this foundational mainstay can be a deeply personal expression of identity.Related StoriesWhen a Maximalist Rug Makes SenseJohn MerklAn outdoor lounge in Healdsburg, California, designed by Sheldon Harte.As you might imagine, integrating a maximalist rug into an existing aesthetic isn't about making a one-to-one swap. You'll want to refine your overall approach and potentially tweak elements of the room already in place, too."I like to think about rugs this way: Sometimes they play a supporting role, and other times, they’re the hero of the room," Chaudhary says. "Statement rugs are designed to stand out. They tell stories, stir emotion, and ground a space the way a bold piece of art would."In Chaudhary's work with interior designers who are selecting rugs for clients' high-end homes, she's noticed that tastes have recently swung toward a more maximalist ethos."Designers are leaning into expression and individuality," she says. "There’s growing interest in bold patterns, asymmetry, and designs that reflect the hand of the maker. Color-wise, we’re seeing more adventurous palettes: think jades, bordeauxes, and terracottas. And there’s a strong desire for rugs that feel personal, like they carry a story or a memory." Jaipur LivingJaipur Living’s Manchaha rugs are one-of-a-kind, hand-knotted pieces woven from upcycled hand-spun yarn that follow a freeform design of the artisan’s choosing.Jaipur LivingJaipur Living is uniquely positioned to fulfill the need for one-of-a-kind rugs that are not just visually striking within a space, but deeply meaningful as well. The brand's Manchaha collection (meaning “expression of my heart” in Hindi) comprises rugs made of upcycled yarn, each hand-knotted by rural Indian artisans in freeform shapes that capture the imagination."Each piece is designed from the heart of the artisan, with no predetermined pattern, just emotion, inspiration, and memory woven together by hand. What excites me most is this shift away from perfection and toward beauty that feels lived-in, layered, and real," she adds.There’s a strong desire for rugs that feel personal, like they carry a story or a memory.Related StoryHow to Choose the Right Maximalist RugBrittany AmbridgeDesign firm Drake/Anderson reimagined this Greenwich, Connecticut, living room. Good news for those who are taking a slow-decorating approach with their home: Finding the right maximalist rug for your space means looking at the big picture first."Most shoppers start with size and color, but the first question should really be, 'How will this space be used?' That answer guides everything—material, construction, and investment," says Chaudhary.Are you styling an off-limits living room or a lively family den where guests may occasionally wander in with shoes on? In considering your materials, you may want to opt for a performance-fabric rug for areas subject to frequent wear and tear, but Chaudhary has a clear favorite for nearly all other spaces. "Wool is the gold standard. It’s naturally resilient, stain-resistant, and has excellent bounce-back, meaning it recovers well from foot traffic and furniture impressions," she says. "It’s also moisture-wicking and insulating, making it an ideal choice for both comfort and durability."As far as construction goes, Chaudhary breaks down the most widely available options on the market: A hand-knotted rug, crafted by tying individual knots, is the most durable construction and can last decades, even with daily use.Hand-tufted rugs offer a beautiful look at a more accessible price point, but typically won’t have the same lifespan. Power-loomed rugs can be a great solution for high-traffic areas when made with quality materials. Though they fall at the higher end of the price spectrum, hand-knotted rugs aren't meant to be untouchable—after all, their quality construction helps ensure that they can stand up to minor mishaps in day-to-day living. This can shift your appreciation of a rug from a humble underfoot accent to a long-lasting art piece worthy of care and intentional restoration when the time comes. "Understanding these distinctions helps consumers make smarter, more lasting investments for their homes," Chaudhary says. Related StoryOpting for Unconventional Applications Lesley UnruhSarah Vaile designed this vibrant vestibule in Chicago, Illinois.Maximalist rugs encompass an impressively broad category, and even if you already have an area rug rolled out that you're happy with, there are alternative shapes you can choose, or ways in which they can imbue creative expression far beyond the floor."I’ve seen some incredibly beautiful applications of rugs as wall art. Especially when it comes to smaller or one-of-a-kind pieces, hanging them allows people to appreciate the detail, texture, and artistry at eye level," says Chaudhary. "Some designers have also used narrow runners as table coverings or layered over larger textiles for added dimension."Another interesting facet of maximalist rugs is that you can think outside the rectangle in terms of silhouette."We’re seeing more interest in irregular rug shapes, think soft ovals, curves, even asymmetrical outlines," says Chaudhary. "Clients are designing with more fluidity and movement in mind, especially in open-plan spaces. Extra-long runners, oversized circles, and multi-shape layouts are also trending."Ultimately, the best maximalist rug for you is one that meets your home's needs while highlighting your personal style. In spaces where dramatic light fixtures or punchy paint colors aren't practical or allowed (in the case of renters), a statement-making rug is the ideal solution. While trends will continue to evolve, honing in on a unique—even tailor-made—design will help ensure aesthetic longevity. Follow House Beautiful on Instagram and TikTok.

Published June 7, 2025 10:00am EDT close Tennessee DMV experiencing long lines ahead of REAL ID deadline May 7 is the deadline to get a REAL ID, and some DMVs are facing large crowds and major backup. FOX's Asher Reed spoke with FOX 35 Orlando from outside a DMV in Antioch, Tennessee, with more on the issue. NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles! If you've received a text message claiming to be from your state's Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) and threatening you with fines or penalties unless you pay up, you're not alone. A new wave of scam texts is sweeping across the country, targeting drivers in states like Connecticut, Pennsylvania, Georgia, Florida, New York, California, Illinois, New Jersey, Virginia, Colorado, Vermont, Texas, North Carolina and even Washington, D.C.These messages look official and urgent, warning you about supposed unpaid tickets or tolls and demanding immediate payment. But don't be fooled, as these texts are sophisticated scams designed to steal your personal information or money. The scammers are getting better at making their messages look real, so it can be tricky to spot the fraud. But with a few simple tips, you can learn how to recognize these scams and protect yourself before you click or respond. DMV scam text. (Kurt "CyberGuy" Knutsson)How the DMV scam text message worksThese scam messages vary slightly depending on the state you're in, but they’re generally structured in the same way. The text threatens consequences, such as credit score damage, revoked driving privileges, suspended vehicle registration or increased toll fees, if you do not pay the bill you have supposedly incurred. To make the message appear legit, the scammers often include a date for penalties to begin, a fake administrative code and a link that appears to be an official DMV website.FBI WARNS OF SCAM TARGETING VICTIMS WITH FAKE HOSPITALS AND POLICEPro tip: If you're instructed to copy the link into your browser rather than clicking it directly, it's a scam. A person receiving a scam text message on their phone. (Kurt "CyberGuy" Knutsson)Why DMV text scams are so convincingThe scam relies on two key elements to be effective: fear and a sense of urgency. These are two powerful psychological motivators that can send you into a panic since your driving privileges are at risk, or you're facing financial consequences. The aim is to get you to act hastily without pausing to verify the source. The messages also mimic legitimate government communications by including familiar terms, official-sounding codes and web addresses that appear authentic. Here is an example of what the text might look like: DMV scam text. (Kurt "CyberGuy" Knutsson)States known to have issued warnings about DMV scam texts (as of June 2025):ConnecticutPennsylvaniaGeorgiaFloridaNew YorkCaliforniaIllinoisNew JerseyVirginiaColoradoVermontTexasNorth CarolinaWashington, D.C.Reports are surfacing across the U.S., and the list of affected states is likely to continue growing as more residents come forward.How to spot and avoid DMV text message scamsIf you receive a suspicious text message claiming to be from your state's DMV and demanding payment or personal information, follow these steps to protect yourself:1. Be skeptical of any message creating urgency or panic: Scammers rely on fear and urgency to trick you into acting without thinking. If a message pressures you to act immediately, that's a major red flag.2. Check for obvious red flags: Look for signs like strange sender addresses, awkward language, misspellings or links that don't match your state's official DMV website.3. Do not click any links or reply, and use strong antivirus software: Legitimate DMVs will not ask for payments, personal details or sensitive information via unsolicited text messages. The best way to safeguard yourself from malicious links that install malware, potentially accessing your private information, is to have antivirus software installed on all your devices. This protection can also alert you to phishing emails and ransomware scams, keeping your personal information and digital assets safe. Get my picks for the best 2025 antivirus protection winners for your Windows, Mac, Android and iOS devices.4. Verify directly with your DMV: If you're concerned the message might be real, contact your state's DMV using the official website or a trusted phone number. Never use the contact information provided in the suspicious text.5. Consider a Personal Data Removal Service: Your personal information is widely available online, which can make you a bigger target for these types of scams, therefore you might look into a personal data removal service. These services work by submitting opt-out requests to data brokers that collect and sell your information, helping to reduce your digital footprint and making it harder for scammers to find your contact details. GET FOX BUSINESS ON THE GO BY CLICKING HEREWhile no service can guarantee the complete removal of your data from the internet, a data removal service is really a smart choice. They aren’t cheap — and neither is your privacy.  These services do all the work for you by actively monitoring and systematically erasing your personal information from hundreds of websites. It’s what gives me peace of mind and has proven to be the most effective way to erase your personal data from the internet.  By limiting the information available, you reduce the risk of scammers cross-referencing data from breaches with information they might find on the dark web, making it harder for them to target you. Check out my top picks for data removal services here.6. Delete the message immediately and block the sender: Removing the text helps prevent accidental clicks and reduces the risk of falling for the scam later. Also, be sure to block phone numbers and texts that send spam or scam messages, reducing future risk.7. Register your number with the National Do Not Call Registry: While this won't stop all scams, it can help reduce unwanted communications.8. Don't provide any personal or financial information: Never share your Social Security number, driver's license number, banking information, or passwords in response to an unsolicited text.9. If you clicked the link or gave out information, act quickly: If you accidentally entered personal or financial information, contact your bank, credit card provider or local law enforcement right away to minimize potential damage.10. Keep your phone's security features updated: Ensure your device's operating system and security software are current to help block known scam numbers and malicious links.11. Report the scam: Forward the message to 7726 (SPAM) to alert your mobile provider and help block similar messages in the future. Mark the message as junk or spam within your messaging app, if possible. File a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission at reportfraud.ftc.gov or the FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center at ic3.gov.Kurt’s key takeawaysScam texts pretending to be from the DMV are getting more convincing, but you don't have to be their next victim. Staying skeptical of urgent messages, double-checking anything that seems off and never clicking suspicious links can go a long way in protecting your personal information. Remember, the real DMV will never pressure you for payment or sensitive details over text. By staying alert, you can help prevent these scams and keep your personal information and money secure.CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APPShould tech companies and telecom providers be doing more to protect you from scam texts, or does the responsibility ultimately fall on you to keep your digital life safe? Let us know by writing to us at Cyberguy.com/ContactFor more of my tech tips and security alerts, subscribe to my free CyberGuy Report Newsletter by heading to Cyberguy.com/NewsletterAsk Kurt a question or let us know what stories you'd like us to cover.Follow Kurt on his social channels:Answers to the most-asked CyberGuy questions:New from Kurt:Copyright 2025 CyberGuy.com. All rights reserved.   Kurt "CyberGuy" Knutsson is an award-winning tech journalist who has a deep love of technology, gear and gadgets that make life better with his contributions for Fox News & FOX Business beginning mornings on "FOX & Friends." Got a tech question? Get Kurt’s free CyberGuy Newsletter, share your voice, a story idea or comment at CyberGuy.com.

By TREVOR HOGG Denis Villeneuve (Dune: Part Two) finds the difficulty of working with visual effects are sometimes the intermediaries between him and the artists and therefore the need to be precise with directions to keep things on track. (Image courtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures) If post-production has any chance of going smoothly, there must be a solid on-set relationship between the director, cinematographer and visual effects supervisor. “It’s my job to have a vision and to bring it to the screen,” notes Denis Villeneuve, director of Dune: Part Two. “That’s why working with visual effects requires a lot of discipline. It’s not like you work with a keyboard and can change your mind all the time. When I work with a camera, I commit to a mise-en-scène. I’m trying to take the risk, move forward in one direction and enhance it with visual effects. I push it until it looks perfect. It takes a tremendous amount of time and preparation. [VFX Supervisor] Paul Lambert is a perfectionist, and I love that about him. We will never put a shot on the screen that we don’t feel has a certain level of quality. It needs to look as real as the face of my actor.” A legendary cinematographer had a significant influence on how Villeneuve approaches digital augmentation. “Someone I have learned a lot from about visual effects is [Cinematographer] Roger Deakins. I remember that at the beginning, when I was doing Blade Runner 2049, some artwork was not defined enough, and I was like, ‘I will correct that later.’ Roger said, ‘No. Don’t do that. You have to make sure right at the start.’ I’ve learned the hard way that you need to be as precise as you can, otherwise it goes in a lot of directions.” Motion capture is visually jarring because your eye is always drawn to the performer in the mocap suit, but it worked out well on Better Man because the same thing happens when he gets replaced by a CG monkey. (Image courtesy of Paramount Pictures) Visual effects enabled the atmospherics on Wolfs to be art directed, which is not always possible with practical snow. (Image courtesy of Apple Studios) One of the most complex musical numbers in Better Man is “Rock DJ,” which required LiDAR scans of Regent Street and doing full 3D motion capture with the dancers dancing down the whole length of the street to work out how best to shoot it. (Image courtesy of Paramount Pictures) Cinematographer Dan Mindel favors on-set practical effects because the reactions from the cast come across as being more genuine, which was the case for Twisters. (Image courtesy of Universal Pictures) Storyboards are an essential part of the planning process. “When I finish a screenplay, the first thing I do is to storyboard, not just to define the visual element of the movie, but also to rewrite the movie through images,” Villeneuve explains. “Those storyboards inform my crew about the design, costumes, accessories and vehicles, and [they] create a visual inner rhythm of the film. This is the first step towards visual effects where there will be a conversation that will start from the boards. That will be translated into previs to help the animators know where we are going because the movie has to be made in a certain timeframe and needs choreography to make sure everybody is moving in the same direction.” The approach towards filmmaking has not changed over the years. “You have a camera and a couple of actors in front of you, and it’s about finding the right angle; the rest is noise. I try to protect the intimacy around the camera as much as possible and focus on that because if you don’t believe the actor, then you won’t believe anything.” Before transforming singer Robbie Williams into a CG primate, Michael Gracey started as a visual effects artist. “I feel so fortu- nate to have come from a visual effects background early on in my career,” recalls Michael Gracey, director of Better Man. “I would sit down and do all the post myself because I didn’t trust anyone to care as much as I did. Fortunately, over the years I’ve met people who do. It’s a huge part of how I even scrapbook ideas together. Early on, I was constantly throwing stuff up in Flame, doing a video test and asking, ‘Is this going to work?’ Jumping into 3D was something I felt comfortable doing. I’ve been able to plan out or previs ideas. It’s an amazing tool to be armed with if you are a director and have big ideas and you’re trying to convey them to a lot of people.” Previs was pivotal in getting Better Man financed. “Off the page, people were like, ‘Is this monkey even going to work?’ Then they were worried that it wouldn’t work in a musical number. We showed them the previs for Feel, the first musical number, and My Way at the end of the film. I would say, ‘If you get any kind of emotion watching these musical numbers, just imagine what it’s going to be like when it’s filmed and is photoreal.” Several shots had to be stitched together to create a ‘oner’ that features numerous costume changes and 500 dancers. “For Rock DJ, we were doing LiDAR scans of Regent Street and full 3D motion capture with the dancers dancing down the whole length of the street to work out all of the transition points and how best to shoot it,” Gracey states. “That process involved Erik Wilson, the Cinematographer; Luke Millar, the Visual Effects Supervisor; Ashley Wallen, the Choreographer; and Patrick Correll, Co-Producer. Patrick would sit on set and, in DaVinci Resolve, take the feed from the camera and check every take against the blueprint that we had already previs.” Motion capture is visually jarring to shoot. “Everything that is in-camera looks perfect, then a guy walks in wearing a mocap suit and your eye zooms onto him. But the truth is, your eye does that the moment you replace him with a monkey as well. It worked out quite well because that idea is true to what it is to be famous. A famous person walks into the room and your eye immediately goes to them.” Digital effects have had a significant impact on a particular area of filmmaking. “Physical effects were a much higher art form than it is now, or it was allowed to be then than it is now,” notes Dan Mindel, Cinematographer on Twisters. “People will decline a real pyrotechnic explosion and do a digital one. But you get a much bigger reaction when there’s actual noise and flash.” It is all about collaboration. Mindel explains, “The principle that I work with is that the visual effects department will make us look great, and we have to give them the raw materials in the best possible form so they can work with it instinctually. Sometimes, as a DP, you might want to do something different, but the bottom line is, you’ve got to listen to these guys, because they know what they want. It gets a bit dogmatic, but most of the time, my relationship with visual effects is good, and especially the guys who have had a foot in the analog world at one point or another and have transitioned into the digital world. When we made Twister, it was an analog movie with digital effects, and it worked great. That’s because everyone on set doing the technical work understood both formats, and we were able to use them well.” Digital filmmaking has caused a generational gap. “The younger directors don’t think holistically,” Mindel notes. “It’s much more post-driven because they want to manipulate on the Avid or whatever platform it is going to be. What has happened is that the overreaching nature of these tools has left very little to the imagination. A movie that is heavy visual effects is mostly conceptualized on paper using computer-generated graphics and color; that insidiously sneaks into the look and feel of the movie before you know it. You see concept art blasted all over production offices. People could get used to looking at those images, and before you know it, that’s how the movie looks. That’s a very dangerous place to be, not to have the imagination to work around an issue that perhaps doesn’t manifest itself until you’re shooting.” There has to be a sense of purpose. Mindel remarks, “The ability to shoot in a way that doesn’t allow any manipulation in post is the only way to guarantee that there’s just one direction the look can go in. But that could be a little dangerous for some people. Generally, the crowd I’m working with is part of a team, and there’s little thought of taking the movie to a different place than what was shot. I work in the DI with the visual effects supervisor, and we look at our work together so we’re all in agreement that it fits into the movie.” “All of the advances in technology are a push for greater control,” notes Larkin Seiple, Cinematographer on Everything Everywhere All at Once. “There are still a lot of things that we do with visual effects that we could do practically, but a lot of times it’s more efficient, or we have more attempts at it later in post, than if we had tried to do it practically. I find today, there’s still a debate about what we do on set and what we do later digitally. Many directors have been trying to do more on set, and the best visual effects supervisors I work with push to do everything in-camera as much as possible to make it as realistic as possible.” Storytelling is about figuring out where to invest your time and effort. Seiple states, “I like the adventure of filmmaking. I prefer to go to a mountain top and shoot some of the scenes, get there and be inspired, as opposed to recreate it. Now, if it’s a five-second cutaway, I don’t want production to go to a mountain top and do that. For car work, we’ll shoot the real streets, figure out the time of day and even light the plates for it. Then, I’ll project those on LED walls with actors in a car on a stage. I love doing that because then I get to control how that looks.” Visual effects have freed Fallout Cinematographer Stuart Dryburgh to shoot quicker and in places that in the past would have been deemed imperfect because of power lines, out-of-period buildings or the sky. (Image courtesy of Prime Video) Visual effects assist in achieving the desired atmospherics. Seiple says, “On Wolfs, we tried to bring in our own snow for every scene. We would shoot one take, the snow would blow left, and the next take would blow right. Janek Sirrs is probably the best visual effects supervisor I’ve worked with, and he was like, ‘Please turn off the snow. It’ll be a nightmare trying to remove the snow from all these shots then add our own snow back for continuity because you can’t have the snow changing direction every other cut.’ Or we’d have to ‘snow’ a street, which would take ages. Janek would say, ‘Let’s put enough snow on the ground to see the lighting on it and where the actors walk. We’ll do the rest of the street later because we have a perfect reference of what it should look like.” Certain photographic principles have to be carried over into post-production to make shots believable to the eye. Seiple explains, “When you make all these amazing details that should be out of focus sharper, then the image feels like a visual effect because it doesn’t work the way a lens would work.” Familiarity with the visual effects process is an asset in being able to achieve the best result. “I inadvertently come from a lot of visual effect-heavy shoots and shows, so I’m quick to have an opinion about it. Many directors love to reference the way David Fincher uses visual effects because there is such great behind-the-scenes imagery that showcases how they were able to do simple things. Also, I like to shoot tests even on an iPhone to see if this comp will work or if this idea is a good one.” Cinematographer Fabian Wagner and VFX Supervisor John Moffatt spent a lot of time in pre-production for Venom: The Last Dance discussing how to bring out the texture of the symbiote through lighting and camera angles. (Image courtesy of Columbia Pictures) Game of Thrones Director of Photography Fabian Wagner had to make key decisions while prepping and breaking down the script so visual effects had enough time to meet deadline. (Image courtesy of HBO) Twisters was an analog movie with digital effects that worked well because everyone on set doing the technical work understood both formats. (Image courtesy of Universal Pictures) For Cinematographer Larkin Seiple, storytelling is about figuring out where to invest your time and effort. Scene from the Netflix series Beef. (Image courtesy of Netflix) Cinematographer Larkin Seiple believes that all of the advances in technology are a push for greater control, which occurred on Everything Everywhere All at Once. (Image courtesy of A24) Nothing beats reality when it comes to realism. “Every project I do I talk more about the real elements to bring into the shoot than the visual effect element because the more practical stuff that you can do on set, the more it will embed the visual effects into the image, and, therefore, they’re more real,” observes Fabian Wagner, Cinematographer on Venom: The Last Dance. “It also depends on the job you’re doing in terms of how real or unreal you want it to be. Game of Thrones was a good example because it was a visual effects-heavy show, but they were keen on pushing the reality of things as much as possible. We were doing interactive lighting and practical on-set things to embed the visual effects. It was successful.” Television has a significantly compressed schedule compared to feature films. “There are fewer times to iterate. You have to be much more precise. On Game of Thrones, we knew that certain decisions had to be made early on while we were still prepping and breaking down the script. Because of their due dates, to be ready in time, they had to start the visual effects process for certain dragon scenes months before we even started shooting.” “Like everything else, it’s always about communication,” Wagner notes. “I’ve been fortunate to work with extremely talented and collaborative visual effects supervisors, visual effects producers and directors. I have become friends with most of those visual effects departments throughout the shoot, so it’s easy to stay in touch. Even when Venom: The Last Dance was posting, I would be talking to John Moffatt, who was our talented visual effects supervisor. We would exchange emails, text messages or phone calls once a week, and he would send me updates, which we would talk about it. If I gave any notes or thoughts, John would listen, and if it were possible to do anything about, he would. In the end, it’s about those personal relationships, and if you have those, that can go a long way.” Wagner has had to deal with dragons, superheroes and symbiotes. “They’re all the same to me! For the symbiote, we had two previous films to see what they had done, where they had succeeded and where we could improve it slightly. While prepping, John and I spent a lot of time talking about how to bring out the texture of the symbiote and help it with the lighting and camera angles. One of the earliest tests was to see what would happen if we backlit or side lit it as well as trying different textures for reflections. We came up with something we all were happy with, and that’s what we did on set. It was down to trying to speak the same language and aiming for the same thing, which in this case was, ‘How could we make the symbiote look the coolest?’” Visual effects has become a crucial department throughout the filmmaking process. “The relationship with the visual effects supervisor is new,” states Stuart Dryburgh, Cinematographer on Fallout. “We didn’t really have that. On The Piano, the extent of the visual effects was having somebody scribbling in a lightning strike over a stormy sky and a little flash of an animated puppet. Runaway Bride had a two-camera setup where one of the cameras pushed into the frame, and that was digitally removed, but we weren’t using it the way we’re using it now. For [the 2026 Netflix limited series] East of Eden, we’re recreating 19th and early 20th century Connecticut, Boston and Salinas, California in New Zealand. While we have some great sets built and historical buildings that we can use, there is a lot of set extension and modification, and some complete bluescreen scenes, which allow us to more realistically portray a historical environment than we could have done back in the day.” The presence of a visual effects supervisor simplified principal photography. Dryburgh adds, “In many ways, using visual effects frees you to shoot quicker and in places that might otherwise be deemed imperfect because of one little thing, whether it’s power lines or out-of-period buildings or sky. All of those can be easily fixed. Most of us have been doing it for long enough that we have a good idea of what can and can’t be done and how it’s done so that the visual effects supervisor isn’t the arbiter.” Lighting cannot be arbitrarily altered in post as it never looks right. “Whether you set the lighting on the set and the background artist has to match that, or you have an existing background and you, as a DP, have to match that – that is the lighting trick to the whole thing,” Dryburgh observes. “Everything has to be the same, a soft or hard light, the direction and color. Those things all need to line up in a composited shot; that is crucial.” Every director has his or her own approach to filmmaking. “Harold Ramis told me, ‘I’ll deal with the acting and the words. You just make it look nice, alright?’ That’s the conversation we had about shots, and it worked out well. [Director] Garth Davis, who I’m working with now, is a terrific photographer in his own right and has a great visual sense, so he’s much more involved in anything visual, whether it be the designs of the sets, creation of the visual effects, my lighting or choice of lenses. It becomes much more collaborative. And that applies to the visual effects department as well.” Recreating vintage lenses digitally is an important part of the visual aesthetic. “As digital photography has become crisper, better and sharper, people have chosen to use fewer perfect optics, such as lenses that are softer on the edges or give a flare characteristic. Before production, we have the camera department shoot all of these lens grids of different packages and ranges, and visual effects takes that information so they can model every lens. If they’re doing a fully CG background, they can apply that lens characteristic,” remarks Dryburgh. Television schedules for productions like House of the Dragon do not allow a lot of time to iterate, so decisions have to be precise. (Image courtesy of HBO) Bluescreen and stunt doubles on Twisters. (Image courtesy of Universal Pictures) “The principle that I work with is that the visual effects department will make us look great, and we have to give them the raw materials in the best possible form so they can work with it instinctually. Sometimes, as a DP, you might want to do something different, but the bottom line is, you’ve got to listen to these guys because they know what they want. It gets a bit dogmatic, but most of the time, my relationship with visual effects is good, and especially the guys who have had a foot in the analog world at one point or another and have transitioned into the digital world.” —Dan Mindel, Cinematographer, Twisters Cinematographers like Greig Fraser have adopted Unreal Engine. “Greig has an incredible curiosity about new technology, and that helped us specifically with Dune: Part Two,” Villeneuve explains. “Greig was using Unreal Engine to capture natural environments. For example, if we decide to shoot in that specific rocky area, we’ll capture the whole area with drones to recreate the terrain in the computer. If I said, ‘I want to shoot in that valley on November 3rd and have the sun behind the actors. At what time is it? You have to be there at 9:45 am.’ We built the whole schedule like a puzzle to maximize the power of natural light, but that came through those studies, which were made with the software usually used for video games.” Technology is essentially a tool that keeps evolving. Villeneuve adds, “Sometimes, I don’t know if I feel like a dinosaur or if my last movie will be done in this house behind the computer alone. It would be much less tiring to do that, but seriously, the beauty of cinema is the idea of bringing many artists together to create poetry.”

The ways roads are used, with ever larger and heavier vehicles, have dramatic consequences on the environment – and electric cars are not the answer Today, there is an average of 37 tonnes of road per inhabitant of the planet. The weight of the road network alone accounts for a third of all construction worldwide, and has grown exponentially in the 20th century. There is 10 times more bitumen, in mass, than there are living animals. Yet growth in the mass of roads does not automatically correspond to population growth, or translate into increased length of road networks. In wealthier countries, the number of metres of road per inhabitant has actually fallen over the last century. In the United States, for instance, between 1905 and 2015 the length of the network increased by a factor of 1.75 and the population by a factor of 3.8, compared with 21 for the mass of roads. Roads have become wider and, above all, much thicker. To understand the evolution of these parameters, and their environmental impact, it is helpful to trace the different stages in the life of the motorway.  Until the early 20th century, roads were used for various modes of transport, including horses, bicycles, pedestrians and trams; as a result of the construction of railways, road traffic even declined in some European countries in the 19th century. The main novelty brought by the motorway was that they would be reserved for motorised traffic. In several languages, the word itself – autostrada, autobahn, autoroute or motorway – speaks of this exclusivity.  Roman roads varied from simple corduroy roads, made by placing logs perpendicular to the direction of the road over a low or swampy area, to paved roads, as this engraving from Jean Rondelet’s 19th‑century Traité Théorique et Pratique de l’Art de Bâtir shows. Using deep roadbeds of tamped rubble as an underlying layer to ensure that they kept dry, major roads were often stone-paved, metalled, cambered for drainage and flanked by footpaths, bridleways and drainage ditches Like any major piece of infrastructure, motorways became the subject of ideological discourse, long before any shovel hit the ground; politicians underlined their role in the service of the nation, how they would contribute to progress, development, the economy, modernity and even civilisation. The inauguration ceremony for the construction of the first autostrada took place in March 1923, presided over by Italy’s prime minister Benito Mussolini. The second major motorway programme was announced by the Nazi government in 1933, with a national network planned to be around 7,000 kilometres long. In his 2017 book Driving Modernity: Technology, Experts, Politics, and Fascist Motorways, 1922–1943, historian Massimo Moraglio shows how both programmes were used as propaganda tools by the regimes, most notably at the international road congresses in Milan in 1926 and Munich in 1934. In the European postwar era, the notion of the ‘civilising’ effect of roads persevered. In 1962, Valéry Giscard d’Estaing, then‑secretary of state for finances and later president of France, argued that expanded motorways would bring ‘progress, activity and life’. This discourse soon butted up against the realities of how motorways affected individuals and communities. In his 2011 book Fighting Traffic: The Dawn of the Motor Age in the American City, Peter D Norton explores the history of resistance to the imposition of motorised traffic in North American cities. Until the 1920s, there was a perception that cars were dangerous newcomers, and that other street and road uses – especially walking – were more legitimate. Cars were associated with speed and danger; restrictions on motorists, especially speed limits, were routine.  Built between 1962 and 1970, the Westway was London’s first urban motorway, elevated above the city to use less land. Construction workers are seen stressing the longitudinal soffit cables inside the box section of the deck units to achieve the bearing capacity necessary to carry the weight of traffic Credit: Heritage Image Partnership Ltd / Alamy To gain domination over cities, motor vehicles had to win priority over other street uses. Rather than restricting the flow of vehicles to minimise the risk of road accidents, a specific infrastructure was dedicated to them: both inner‑city roads and motorways. Cutting through the landscape, the motorway had, by definition, to be inaccessible by any other means of transport than motorised vehicle. To guarantee the fluidity of traffic, the construction of imposing bridges, tunnels and interchanges is necessary, particularly at junctions with other roads, railways or canals. This prioritisation of one type of user inevitably impacts journeys for others; as space is fragmented, short journeys are lengthened for those trying to navigate space by foot or bicycle.  Enabling cars to drive at around 110–140km/h on motorways, as modern motorways do, directly impacts their design, with major environmental effects: the gradient has to be gentle (4 per cent), the curves long (1.5km in radius) and the lanes wide, to allow vehicles to overtake each other safely. As much terrain around the world is not naturally suited to these requirements, the earthworks are considerable: in France, the construction of a metre of highway requires moving some 100m3 of earth, and when the soil is soft, full of clay or peat, it is made firmer with hydraulic lime and cement before the highway’s first sub‑layers are laid. This material cost reinforces the criticisms levelled in the 1960s, by the likes of Jane Jacobs and Lewis Mumford, at urban planning that prioritised the personal motor vehicle. When roads are widened to accommodate more traffic, buildings are sliced and demolished, as happened in Dhaka’s Bhasantek Road in 2021 Credit: Dhaka Tribune Once built, the motorway is never inert. Motorway projects today generally anticipate future expansion (from 2×2 to 2×3 to 2×4 lanes), and include a large median strip of 12m between the lanes, with a view to adding new ones. Increases in speed and vehicle sizes have also translated into wider lanes, from 2.5m in 1945 to 3.5m today. The average contemporary motorway footprint is therefore 100 square metres per linear metre. Indeed, although the construction of a road is supposed to reduce congestion, it also generates new traffic and, therefore, new congestion. This is the principle of ‘induced traffic’: the provision of extra road capacity results in a greater volume of traffic. The Katy Freeway in Texas famously illustrates this dynamic. Built as a regular six‑lane highway in the 1960s, it was called the second worst bottleneck in the nation by 2004, wasting 25 million hours a year of commuter time. In 2011, the state of Texas invested US$2.8 billion to fix this problem, widening the road to a staggering total of 26 lanes. By 2014, the morning and afternoon traffic had both increased again. The vicious circle based on the induced traffic has been empirically demonstrated in most countries: traffic has continued to increase and congestion remains unresolved, leading to ever-increasing emissions. In the EU, transport is the only sector where greenhouse gas emissions have increased in the past three decades, rising 33.5 per cent between 1990 and 2019. Transport accounts for around a fifth of global CO₂ emissions today, with three quarters of this figure linked to road transport. Houston’s Katy Freeway is one of the world’s widest motorways, with 26 lanes. Its last expansion, in 2008, was initially hailed as a success, but within five years, peak travel times were longer than before the expansion – a direct illustration of the principle of induced traffic Credit: Smiley N Pool / Houston Chronicle / Getty Like other large transport infrastructures such as ports and airports, motorways are designed for the largest and heaviest vehicles. Engineers, road administrations and politicians have known since the 1950s that one truck represents millions of cars: the impact of a vehicle on the roadway is exponential to its weight – an online ‘road damage calculator’ allows you to compare the damage done by different types of vehicles to the road. Over the years, heavier and heavier trucks have been authorised to operate on roads: from 8‑tonne trucks in 1945 to 44 tonnes nowadays. The European Parliament adopted a revised directive on 12 March 2024 authorising mega‑trucks to travel on European roads; they can measure up to 25 metres and weigh up to 60 tonnes, compared with the previous limits of 18.75 metres and 44 tonnes. This is a political and economic choice with considerable material effects: thickness, rigidity of sub‑bases and consolidation of soil and subsoil with lime and cement. Altogether, motorways are 10 times thicker than large roads from the late 19th century. In France, it takes an average of 30 tonnes of sand and aggregate to build one linear metre of motorway, 100 times more than cement and bitumen.  The material history of road networks is a history of quarrying and environmental damage. The traces of roads can also be seen in rivers emptied of their sediment, the notches of quarries in the hills and the furrows of dredgers extracting sand from the seabed. This material extraction, arguably the most significant in human history, has dramatic ecological consequences for rivers, groundwater tables, the rise of sea levels and saltwater in farmlands, as well as biodiversity. As sand is ubiquitous and very cheap, the history of roads is also the history of a local extractivism and environmental conflicts around the world.  Shoving and rutting is the bulging and rippling of the pavement surface. Once built, roads require extensive maintenance – the heavier the vehicles, the quicker the damage. From pothole repair to the full resurfacing of a road, maintenance contributes to keeping road users safe Credit: Yakov Oskanov / Alamy Once roads are built and extended, they need to be maintained to support the circulation of lorries and, by extension, commodities. This stage is becoming increasingly important as rail freight, which used to be important in countries such as France and the UK, is declining, accounting for no more than 10 per cent of the transport of commodities. Engineers might judge that a motorway is destined to last 20 years or so, but this prognosis will be significantly reduced with heavy traffic. The same applies to the thousands of motorway bridges: in the UK, nearly half of the 9,000 highway bridges are in poor condition; in France, 7 per cent of the 12,000 bridges are in danger of collapsing, as did Genoa’s Morandi bridge in 2018. If only light vehicles drove on it, this infrastructure would last much longer. This puts into perspective governments’ insistence on ‘greening’ the transport sector by targeting CO2 emissions alone, typically by promoting the use of electric vehicles (EVs). Public policies prioritising EVs do nothing to change the mass of roads or the issue of their maintenance – even if lorries were to run on clean air, massive quarrying would still be necessary. A similar argument plays out with regard to canals and ports, which have been constantly widened and deepened for decades to accommodate ever-larger oil tankers or container ships. The simple operation of these infrastructures, dimensioned for the circulation of commodities and not humans, requires permanent dredging of large volumes. The environmental problem of large transport infrastructure goes beyond the type of energy used: it is, at its root, free and globalised trade. ‘The material life cycle of motorways is relentless: constructing, maintaining, widening, thickening, repairing’ As both a material and ideological object, the motorway fixes certain political choices in the landscape. Millions of kilometres of road continue to be asphalted, widened and thickened around the world to favour cars and lorries. In France, more than 80 per cent of today’s sand and aggregate extraction is used for civil engineering works – the rest goes to buildings. Even if no more buildings, roads or other infrastructures were to be built, phenomenal quantities of sand and aggregates would still need to be extracted in order to maintain existing road networks. The material life cycle of motorways is relentless: constructing, maintaining, widening, thickening, repairing, adding new structures such as wildlife crossings, more maintaining.  Rising traffic levels are always deemed positive by governments for a country’s economy and development. As Christopher Wells shows in his 2014 book Car Country: An Environmental History, car use becomes necessary in an environment where everything has been planned for the car, from the location of public services and supermarkets to residential and office areas. Similarly, when an entire economy is based on globalised trade and just‑in‑time logistics (to the point that many service economies could not produce their own personal protective equipment in the midst of a pandemic), the lorry and the container ship become vital.  The final stage in the life of a piece of motorway infrastructure is dismantling. Like the other stages, this one is not a natural outcome but the fruit of political choices – which should be democratic – regarding how we wish to use existing roads. Dismantling, which is essential if we are to put an end to the global extractivism of sand and aggregates, does not mean destruction: if bicycles and pedestrians were to use them instead, maintenance would be minimal. This final stage requires a paradigm shift away from the eternal adaptation to increasing traffic. Replacing cars and lorries with public transport and rail freight would be a first step. But above all, a different political and spatial organisation of economic activities is necessary, and ultimately, an end to globalised, just-in-time trade and logistics. In 1978, a row of cars parked at a shopping centre in Connecticut was buried under a thick layer of gooey asphalt. The Ghost Parking Lot, one of the first projects by James Wines’ practice SITE, became a playground for skateboarders until it was removed in 2003. Images of this lumpy landscape serve as allegories of the damage caused by reliance on the automobile Credit: Project by SITE Lead image: Some road damage is beyond repair, as when a landslide caused a large chunk of the Gothenburg–Oslo motorway to collapse in 2023. Such dramatic events remind us of both the fragility of these seemingly robust infrastructures, and the damage that extensive construction does to the planet. Credit: Hanna Brunlöf Windell / TT / Shutterstock 2025-06-03 Reuben J Brown Share

As Country Living’s Senior Homes and Style Editor, I’ve seen my share of kitchens over the years, so I know what decorating ideas do and do not actually work in a kitchen. As well, I know which ideas are best for achieving the kitchen style you like, whether you want to embrace cottage style, have a farmhouse-style kitchen, create a British-inspired cook space, or make it something a little in between. Here at Country Living, we have been fans of cottagecore long before the internet deemed it cool. Of all the styles of kitchens, a cottage-style kitchen is tops for having the most personal charm and character (read: sink skirts, colored cabinetry, open shelving filled with personal one-of-a-kind collections, inviting breakfast nooks...). You see, cottage living is all about embracing imperfection and a timeless lived-in style. While those ideas might seem antithetical to kitchen design, they really are not. Even the newest, most state-of-the-art kitchens can benefit from patinaed, less-than-perfect accents. Below, I have rounded up some of the best (and designer-approved) ways to channel that humble cottage look in your kitchen. From ideas for painting your cabinetry to fresh approaches for backsplash tile, these ideas are guaranteed to make your space into something Beatrix Potter herself would envy! For more kitchen decorating ideas, check out these stories:1Lean Into Existing ArchitectureRikki Snyder for Country LivingIf your home is lucky (yes, lucky!) enough to have quirky architectural features, lean into them and allow them to inform your palette and decor as designer Christina Salway did in her wood-filled New York kitchen. TOUR THE ENTIRE HOUSE2Embrace a Cheerful PaletteBecky Luigart-Stayner for Country LivingNothing gives off cottage charm like an equally charming color palette. In this Alabama kitchen, soft, buttery yellow cabinetry pairs with a fruit-themed wallpaper to create a perfectly prim palette. Get the Look:Cabinet Paint Color: Sudbury Yellow by Farrow & BallWallpaper: Fruit by Morris & Co. TOUR THIS KITCHENAdvertisement - Continue Reading Below3Add A Stove CoveBecky Luigart-Stayner for Country LivingStove coves are a great way to add architectural interest to your kitchen. Back the inset space with beadboard, like designer Trinity Holmes did here, for added cottage appeal. TOUR THIS KITCHENRELATED: Here’s Everything You Need to Know About Stove Coves4Go Wild with WallpaperBrian Woodcock for Country LivingWhile it may seem counterintuitive, bold wallpaper is a great for adding character to smaller spaces. For cramped kitchens with little natural light, stick to brighter, tonal patterns such as the one shown here. Get the Look:Wallpaper: "London Rose" by House of HackneyRELATED: Our Best Kitchen Wallpaper Ideas EverAdvertisement - Continue Reading Below5Wrap the Room in Open ShelvingHelen Norman for Country LivingDoes your cottage kitchen lack serious storage space? No worries. Display your favorite ceramic finds on kitchen-spanning open-shelving like photographer Helen Norman did here in her farmhouse kitchen. RELATED: These Open Shelving Ideas Will Have You Ready to Rip Out Your Cabinetry 6Mix Your MaterialsHelen Norman, styling by Matthew GleasonIn this colorful cottage kitchen, worn woods and happily patinaed copper craft a curated-over-time feel that amps up the coziness factor. Mix up materials to easily give your kitchen a lived-in feel.TOUR THIS ENTIRE HOUSERELATED: 40 Pretty and Practical Kitchen Backsplash IdeasAdvertisement - Continue Reading Below7Build Out a Breakfast NookKirsten FrancisNo cottage kitchen is complete without a cozy breakfast nook. In this Connecticut kitchen, designer Stephanie Perez installed a banquette along her wall of windows and paired it with a chippy blue table. Hanging baskets add extra cottage charm. RELATED: Check Out All of Our Best Breakfast Nook Ideas8Mount a Peg RailJody BeckMix utilitarian appeal with classic style by mounting a peg rail along your kitchen’s workspace. While this works especially well with wood-paneled backsplash, it can be used with tile too. Advertisement - Continue Reading Below9Add Timeworn Character With Unlacquered BrassAnnie Schlechter for Country LivingChanging up the hardware in your kitchen is an easy and inexpensive way to give the space a fresh look. Swapping builder-grade knobs and pulls with unlacquered brass pieces will add timeworn character in an instant. (And, they’ll only look better over time!)RELATED: The Best Blue Paint Colors for Your Kitchen Cabinetry10Skirt Your SinkDavid Tsay for Country LivingTake a note from Heather Taylor and add a skirt to your sink! This quick upgrade, which can be DIY’d in just an afternoon, adds sweet cottage cheer to any kitchen. If you don’t want to DIY, get crafty with store-bought café curtains. RELATED: Sink Skirts Are the Nostalgic Trend Designers Are Loving Right NowAdvertisement - Continue Reading Below11Hang Café CurtainsStacy Zarin GoldbergIn fact, go all-in on café curtains! These humble window coverings are in the midst of a resurgence thanks to the rising popularity of happily twee decorating. Pick pretty patterns for a white kitchen or stick to calm neutrals in an already pattern-filled space. RELATED: See Why Designers Are Loving Café Curtains Right Now12Stick to Simple TileRead McKendreeIn a house with interesting architectural elements, pick simple finishes and allow the space’s character to shine through. In this 17th century New England cottage designed by Stephenie and Chase Watts, a simple white Zellige tile backsplash extends to the ceiling, allowing the warm wood beams and original flooring to take center stage. RELATED: Should Your Kitchen and Bathroom Tile Match? Designers Weigh InAdvertisement - Continue Reading Below13Go All-In on VintageMarta Xochilt Perez for Country LivingThrifted finds are the quickest way to bring character to an all-white cottage kitchen. Opt for vintage pieces inspired by your locale and lean into crustier, worn pieces for the ultimate curated look. TOUR THIS ENTIRE HOUSERELATED: 10 Old-School Finds That Add Instant Charm to a Kitchen14Match Your Trim To Your CeilingChase DanielLooking for a weekend project to up the design ante in your kitchen? Then it’s time to bring out a paint can! In this humble Texas cottage, a happy duck egg blue paint color was used on the trim, ceiling, and cabinetry to tie the space together with an easy, approachable feel. A reproduction wallpaper ("Larkspur 1872" designed by William Morris) adds just a pop of pattern. Get the Look:Trim and Ceiling Paint Color: Jamestown Blue by Benjamin MooreTOUR THIS ENTIRE HOUSEAdvertisement - Continue Reading Below15Pretty Up a Pass Through Dustin HalleckIf your cramped kitchen leaves little room for serving, look into installing a pass-through window! These are steeped in old-school charm and add foster a casual, come-as-you-are atmosphere. RELATED: These Old House Features Need to Make a Comeback Right Now16Paint Your FloorsDana GallagherIf channeling old-school charm is your preferred method of character-building, then try painting your floors! A classic black-and-white checkerboard pattern is a timeless choice, but the options are only limited by your imagination. Psst...old house owners, this is also a budget-friendly way to cover your wonky floors! RELATED: Everything You Need to Know About Painting Your Floors Advertisement - Continue Reading Below17Mount a Plate RackCarina OlanderDon’t overlook the power of a classic plate rack, which offers the same (if not better) organizational efforts as regular upper cabinetry or open shelving. Paint the plate rack to match your lower cabinetry or go with a contrasting wood stain. RELATED: 7 Kitchen Storage Mistakes You’re Definitely Making, And How to Fix Them18Go MoodyAli Harper for Country LivingNot every cottage kitchen needs to be light and bright. Lean into the cozy vibes of your home with a dark palette. This Alabama cottage features chocolate brown walls, which are complemented by unexpected hits of primary red and blue. Get the Look:Wall Paint Color: Dark Chocolate by Benjamin MooreRELATED: These Are the Best Brown Paint Colors, According to DesignersAdvertisement - Continue Reading Below19Use Salvaged Pieces Reid RollsAdd personality to your kitchen with unique salvaged pieces. Source them from your local architectural salvage yard or antique store, like designer Leanne Ford did with this repurposed china cabinet.TOUR THIS ENTIRE HOUSERELATED: 100+ Best Places to Shop for Salvage and Other Antiques and Vintage Online20Go for Butcher BlockDavid A. LandInstalling butcher-block countertops is a sure-fire way to add humble character to your cottage kitchen. Pair it with other wood accents, like designer Hadley Wiggins did here, for a timeless look.TOUR THIS ENTIRE HOUSERELATED: Everything You’ve Ever Wanted to Know About Butcher-Block CountertopsAnna LoganSenior Homes & Style EditorAnna Logan is the Senior Homes & Style Editor at Country Living, where she has been covering all things home design, including sharing exclusive looks at beautifully designed country kitchens, producing home features, writing everything from timely trend reports on the latest viral aesthetic to expert-driven explainers on must-read topics, and rounding up pretty much everything you’ve ever wanted to know about paint, since 2021. Anna has spent the last seven years covering every aspect of the design industry, previously having written for Traditional Home, One Kings Lane, House Beautiful, and Frederic. She holds a degree in journalism from the University of Georgia. When she’s not working, Anna can either be found digging around her flower garden or through the dusty shelves of an antique shop. Follow her adventures, or, more importantly, those of her three-year-old Maltese and official Country Living Pet Lab tester, Teddy, on Instagram.  

Given their abundance in American backyards, gardens and highway corridors these days, it may be surprising to learn that white-tailed deer were nearly extinct about a century ago. While they currently number somewhere in the range of 30 million to 35 million, at the turn of the 20th century, there were as few as 300,000 whitetails across the entire continent: just 1% of the current population. This near-disappearance of deer was much discussed at the time. In 1854, Henry David Thoreau had written that no deer had been hunted near Concord, Massachusetts, for a generation. In his famous “Walden,” he reported: “One man still preserves the horns of the last deer that was killed in this vicinity, and another has told me the particulars of the hunt in which his uncle was engaged. The hunters were formerly a numerous and merry crew here.” But what happened to white-tailed deer? What drove them nearly to extinction, and then what brought them back from the brink? As a historical ecologist and environmental archaeologist, I have made it my job to answer these questions. Over the past decade, I’ve studied white-tailed deer bones from archaeological sites across the eastern United States, as well as historical records and ecological data, to help piece together the story of this species. Precolonial rise of deer populations White-tailed deer have been hunted from the earliest migrations of people into North America, more than 15,000 years ago. The species was far from the most important food resource at that time, though. Archaeological evidence suggests that white-tailed deer abundance only began to increase after the extinction of megafauna species like mammoths and mastodons opened up ecological niches for deer to fill. Deer bones become very common in archaeological sites from about 6,000 years ago onward, reflecting the economic and cultural importance of the species for Indigenous peoples. Despite being so frequently hunted, deer populations do not seem to have appreciably declined due to Indigenous hunting prior to AD 1600. Unlike elk or sturgeon, whose numbers were reduced by Indigenous hunters and fishers, white-tailed deer seem to have been resilient to human predation. While archaeologists have found some evidence for human-caused declines in certain parts of North America, other cases are more ambiguous, and deer certainly remained abundant throughout the past several millennia. Human use of fire could partly explain why white-tailed deer may have been resilient to hunting. Indigenous peoples across North America have long used controlled burning to promote ecosystem health, disturbing old vegetation to promote new growth. Deer love this sort of successional vegetation for food and cover, and thus thrive in previously burned habitats. Indigenous people may have therefore facilitated deer population growth, counteracting any harmful hunting pressure. More research is needed, but even though some hunting pressure is evident, the general picture from the precolonial era is that deer seem to have been doing just fine for thousands of years. Ecologists estimate that there were roughly 30 million white-tailed deer in North America on the eve of European colonization—about the same number as today. A 16th-century engraving depicts Indigenous Floridians hunting deer while disguised in deerskins. [Photo: Theodor de Bry/DEA Picture Library/De Agostini/Getty Images] Colonial-era fall of deer numbers To better understand how deer populations changed in the colonial era, I recently analyzed deer bones from two archaeological sites in what is now Connecticut. My analysis suggests that hunting pressure on white-tailed deer increased almost as soon as European colonists arrived. At one site dated to the 11th to 14th centuries (before European colonization) I found that only about 7% to 10% of the deer killed were juveniles. Hunters generally don’t take juvenile deer if they’re frequently encountering adults, since adult deer tend to be larger, offering more meat and bigger hides. Additionally, hunting increases mortality on a deer herd but doesn’t directly affect fertility, so deer populations experiencing hunting pressure end up with juvenile-skewed age structures. For these reasons, this low percentage of juvenile deer prior to European colonization indicates minimal hunting pressure on local herds. However, at a nearby site occupied during the 17th century—just after European colonization—between 22% and 31% of the deer hunted were juveniles, suggesting a substantial increase in hunting pressure. This elevated hunting pressure likely resulted from the transformation of deer into a commodity for the first time. Venison, antlers and deerskins may have long been exchanged within Indigenous trade networks, but things changed drastically in the 17th century. European colonists integrated North America into a trans-Atlantic mercantile capitalist economic system with no precedent in Indigenous society. This applied new pressures to the continent’s natural resources. Deer—particularly their skins—were commodified and sold in markets in the colonies initially and, by the 18th century, in Europe as well. Deer were now being exploited by traders, merchants and manufacturers desiring profit, not simply hunters desiring meat or leather. It was the resulting hunting pressure that drove the species toward its extinction. 20th-century rebound of white-tailed deer Thanks to the rise of the conservation movement in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, white-tailed deer survived their brush with extinction. Concerned citizens and outdoorsmen feared for the fate of deer and other wildlife, and pushed for new legislative protections. The Lacey Act of 1900, for example, banned interstate transport of poached game and—in combination with state-level protections—helped end commercial deer hunting by effectively de-commodifying the species. Aided by conservation-oriented hunting practices and reintroductions of deer from surviving populations to areas where they had been extirpated, white-tailed deer rebounded. The story of white-tailed deer underscores an important fact: Humans are not inherently damaging to the environment. Hunting from the 17th through 19th centuries threatened the existence of white-tailed deer, but precolonial Indigenous hunting and environmental management appear to have been relatively sustainable, and modern regulatory governance in the 20th century forestalled and reversed their looming extinction. Elic Weitzel, Peter Buck Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Smithsonian Institution This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

Cicadas are back at it again in 2025, already emerging in droves to announce the approach of summer with their screeches. If you live in the Eastern U.S., get ready to meet (and hear) Brood XIV (14), this year’s batch of periodical cicadas. Cicadas in Brood XIV have begun to pop up in multiple states, climbing out of the underground holes that they’ve spent the last 17 years in. Now, they’ll dedicate the entire month of June to mating and laying eggs before dying. Learn more about the lives of these noisy insects and what makes Brood XIV so noteworthy. Cicadas From South to NorthPeriodical cicadas consist of seven species, falling under 15 broods that either emerge every 13 or 17 years. They’re not the same as annual cicadas, which arrive every summer in much smaller numbers and don’t have the same synchronized development.Most years, one brood of periodical cicadas makes an appearance above ground. However, 2024 was an extraordinary year for cicadas because two adjacent broods (XIII and XIX) overlapped. The rare double-brood event was a must-see, since the next double-brood won’t occur until 2037 (IX and XIX will emerge together, but they aren’t adjacent). This year’s Brood XIV — a 17-year brood — won’t bring as much cicada chaos as last year, but its range is undoubtedly impressive. Cicadas will appear mostly in the Midwest and South, with a large swath concentrated from southern Ohio, down through Kentucky, and Tennessee. Their prevalence in Kentucky has led some to designate Brood XIV as the “Bourbon Brood”.Cicadas in Brood XIV will also appear as far south as northern Georgia and as far north as Long Island, New York, and Cape Cod, Massachusetts. Brood XIV is notable for being the second largest brood after XIX, a 13-year brood referred to as “The Great Southern Brood." Brood XIV is also considered to be the ancestral group from which all other 17-year broods have been shaped. This brood holds a special place in history, as its forebears were first recorded by the Pilgrims in the Plymouth Colony in 1634. Understanding the Cicada Lifecycle Cicadas in Brood XIV were last seen above ground in 2008; the ones that lived back then laid the eggs that have now become the fully-fledged cicadas emerging this year. The cicada life cycle starts when eggs that are located underground hatch into nymphs, which eat fluid from the roots of trees. The nymphs undergo five juvenile stages over the course of years, molting with each stage. They eventually crawl out of exit tunnels and find a spot to molt one final time, marking the start of adulthood. Once the adult cicadas’ exoskeleton hardens, they then focus on mating. The males climb up trees and produce their shrill songs en masse, using muscles to vibrate a rigid part of their exoskeletons called tymbals. After mating, a female cicada lays upwards of 600 eggs that will hatch after six to ten weeks, long after all of the adults have died. The newborn nymphs will then fall out of trees and burrow underground to begin the cycle anew. The Issue with Stragglers Tracking and mapping periodical cicadas of each brood is an ongoing process that needs updating nearly every year. The majority of broods come out on time, but it turns out that not all cicadas are flawless in their timekeeping.One factor that complicates tracking efforts is the existence of stragglers, cicadas that emerge earlier or later than their brood is supposed to. Stragglers that arrive at the wrong time could potentially mix with separate, adjacent broods, causing gene flow. For example, the concern this year is that previous broods could have stragglers that appear late and intermingle with Brood XIV. These stragglers could come from Brood X, which last emerged 4 years ago (and stragglers tend to emerge 1 or 4 years after their parent brood). There usually aren’t many stragglers for any given year, and they’re often picked out quickly by predators. However, some survive and influence nearby broods that emerge on time, which can throw off the data that scientists collect. Beyond the inevitable racket that they’ll create, cicadas are entirely harmless. They don’t bite or sting, but at the very least, be prepared for a loud month ahead. Article SourcesOur writers at Discovermagazine.com use peer-reviewed studies and high-quality sources for our articles, and our editors review for scientific accuracy and editorial standards. Review the sources used below for this article:University of Connecticut. Brood XIVArizona State University. Cicada Life CycleUniversity of Connecticut. Straggling and core 17-year broodsJack Knudson is an assistant editor at Discover with a strong interest in environmental science and history. Before joining Discover in 2023, he studied journalism at the Scripps College of Communication at Ohio University and previously interned at Recycling Today magazine.

CADENAS GmbH, a software company based in Augsburg, Germany, has joined the KEYENCE Group. The acquisition is intended to advance the development of 3Dfindit, CADENAS’ engineering platform, and enhance its digital catalog capabilities for global users. Founded in 1992, CADENAS operates a platform that connects around 10 million engineers and designers with suppliers of 3D CAD components. The company has steadily expanded over three decades, providing catalog-based solutions that support digital part integration across multiple manufacturing sectors. This strategic shift comes after more than 30 years of independent growth. KEYENCE, a Japanese corporation specializing in automation and inspection equipment, has reported consistent annual growth of 10% for the past 25 years. As of March 2024, it ranked among the five largest companies in Japan by market capitalization. With operations in 46 countries and a customer base of 350,000 businesses, the group’s acquisition of CADENAS is positioned to extend its reach in digital engineering infrastructure. According to the Augsburg-based firm, existing customer relationships will remain unchanged. It stated that its team will stay intact, with ongoing independent development of its software. “We will remain a neutral, reliable partner for manufacturers and companies of all kinds, regardless of industry,” reads the company statement. It also clarified that customer data will continue to be handled internally. The new arrangement is expected to contribute to KEYENCE’s long-term objective of expanding its technology offering and support systems. While the engineering platform will continue operating under its current structure, it will now complement the broader industrial automation ecosystem of its new parent company. Take the 3DPI Reader Survey — shape the future of AM reporting in under 5 minutes. CADENAS becomes part of the KEYENCE Group. Image via CADENAS GmbH. Strategic acquisitions reshape digital manufacturing landscape In March, United Performance Metals (UPM) acquired Fabrisonic, an Ohio-based manufacturer known for its ultrasonic additive manufacturing (UAM) technology. Following the acquisition, Fabrisonic was integrated into UPM’s processing network, which includes sites in Connecticut, Ohio, and California. The supplier of specialty metals stated that Fabrisonic’s technology and expertise would enhance its ability to develop advanced materials and expand its manufacturing capabilities. Fabrisonic General Manager Jason Riley credited the company’s engineers as key to its progress and said the acquisition would support the next phase of growth. A month later, Nano Dimension completed its $116 million acquisition of Markforged Holding Corporation, a U.S.-based manufacturer of FDM 3D printers. The transaction followed a period of internal restructuring at Nano Dimension, including leadership changes and the resolution of legal disputes related to other merger agreements. Markforged, which reported annual revenues exceeding $85 million, brings an installed base of 15,000 systems, along with capabilities in metal and composite manufacturing and AI-driven production software. As part of the agreement, Markforged’s CFO, Assaf Zipori, was appointed Chief Financial Officer of Nano Dimension. Ready to discover who won the 20243D Printing Industry Awards? Subscribe to the 3D Printing Industry newsletter to stay updated with the latest news and insights. Featured image shows CADENAS becomes part of the KEYENCE Group. Image via CADENAS GmbH. Anyer Tenorio Lara Anyer Tenorio Lara is an emerging tech journalist passionate about uncovering the latest advances in technology and innovation. With a sharp eye for detail and a talent for storytelling, Anyer has quickly made a name for himself in the tech community. Anyer's articles aim to make complex subjects accessible and engaging for a broad audience. In addition to his writing, Anyer enjoys participating in industry events and discussions, eager to learn and share knowledge in the dynamic world of technology.