For many, it's the biggest and most nerve-wracking night in the creative calendar. D&AD held its 63rd awards ceremony last night (Thursday 22 May) at London's Southbank Centre and handed out a record-breaking 668 Pencils across all categories. Most significantly, three coveted Black Pencils—the highest D&AD accolade—were awarded to groundbreaking work that exemplified the year's themes of commercial impact and narrative excellence. With no quota system for Pencil awards, D&AD maintains its reputation for uncompromising standards. In some years, no Black Pencils are given out at all, making the awarding of three a significant achievement for these winners: Designing Paris 2024 by W Conran Design won in Graphic Design for its innovative approach to sports marketing. The judges highlighted how the design created a unifying yet distinctive feel that successfully merged heritage elements with modern sporting aesthetics. A$AP Rocky - Tailor Swif by Iconoclast LA won in Music Videos, exemplifying the year's emphasis on narrative storytelling. The winning work featured long-form storytelling where music was integral to the narrative structure rather than an afterthought, demonstrating how narrative arcs can transcend different mediums and artistic disciplines. Spreadbeats by FCB New York won in Digital Marketing for what the agency described as "Innovation through nostalgic technologies." This work aligned with a trend of brands cleverly inserting themselves into events, sports, and games through inventive approaches. Commercial and creative This year's judging process marked a major evolution in D&AD's approach. Jurors emphasised the critical importance of commercial viability, seeking work that demonstrates tangible business impact and drives meaningful behavioural change rather than celebrating creativity for its own sake. In other words, if there was ever a danger that agencies would make work primarily to win awards rather than serve the client, that's now history. In 2025, you have to do both. "This year's awards celebrated the power of design not just as a form of art but as a catalyst for commercial success and behavioural change," noted Dara Lynch, CEO of D&AD. "The idea is that innovative ideas must possess both aesthetic appeal and tangible impact." The Black Pencil winners perfectly embodied this philosophy. For instance, W Conran Design's 'Designing Paris 2024' was recognised for illustrating how design thinking can transform an entire city's attitude and behaviour. Judges from the Graphic Design category praised it as "a breakthrough for sports marketing and traditional sports marketing aesthetics," noting its playful yet scalable approach that successfully blended heritage with contemporary sport. The return of craftsmanship Alongside commercial effectiveness, jurors were looking for exceptional craft. From Radio and Audio to Film, their message was clear: in an increasingly automated creative landscape, looking good simply isn't enough. "The resurgence of craftsmanship stands as a reminder that in an era of automation, true excellence lies in the thoughtful execution of ideas," Dara explained. "It's not enough just to look good; true creative excellence must also leave a lasting impression." This was particularly evident in D&AD's new Creator Content category, where judges called for clearer definitions of craft excellence and higher standards in content creation. The winning entries all demonstrated work that creates meaningful impact and genuinely engages audiences. Global Participation The 2025 D&AD Awards achieved unprecedented global reach, with entries submitted from 86 countries worldwide—the highest number in the awards' history. This international participation resulted in over 30,000 pieces of work from 11,689 total entries. "It's exciting to see so many brands and companies refreshing their identities," said D&AD trustee Lisa Smith, global executive creative director at Jones Knowles Ritchie. "Judging has been challenging. Too many entries follow the same established design codes and trends, making everything start to look and feel alike, regardless of category. The work that stood out was the kind that breaks away from the expected: inspiring, well-crafted, and truly fit for purpose." The awards ceremony also recognised outstanding agency performance across various specialisations. FCB New York claimed the prestigious title of Advertising Agency of the Year, while Serviceplan Design was named Design Agency of the Year for the first time. DIVISION continued their remarkable winning streak, earning Production Company of the Year for the fifth consecutive year. In the network categories, Serviceplan took home Independent Network of the Year, while FCB was also named Network of the Year. Apple received recognition as Client of the Year, acknowledging its commitment to creative excellence across its marketing initiatives. Presidential recognition The 2025 D&AD President's Award went to Koichiro Tanaka, founder of interdisciplinary creative boutique Projector. Chosen by D&AD President Kwame Taylor-Hayford, Tanaka was recognised for his pioneering work at the intersection of storytelling, interactivity, and craft, which helped define a formative era in digital creativity. "I'm very honoured," Tanaka said. "To receive this award from D&AD, which has lived longer than I have, and to feel part of its long story is now something I live with. Being recognised with care and an open heart is a special thing to me." Kwame, who is co-founder of Kin, explained his choice: "Koichiro Tanaka's pioneering work at the intersection of storytelling, interactivity, and craft helped define a formative era in digital creativity. His career journey, bold ideas, and meticulous attention to detail have been a constant source of personal inspiration." Beyond the three Black Pencils, the ceremony awarded three White Pencils, 48 Yellow Pencils, 176 Graphite Pencils and 434 Wood Pencils. Additionally, four Future Impact Pencils were awarded, recognising work that demonstrates potential for significant positive change. The diverse range of winning work spanned 44 categories, from traditional advertising and design to emerging areas like Gaming & Virtual Worlds and the newly introduced Creator Content category. Craft categories collectively garnered 198 Pencils, underscoring the year's emphasis on exceptional execution. The complete list of Pencil-winning work and shortlisted entries are showcased on the D&AD website, while the official D&AD Rankings will be released alongside the digital D&AD Annual. These rankings provide definitive tables of the most successful companies, networks, countries and clients based on the awards results.

Not often have I heard of a mouse overheating and blowing up in the hand. The little computing rodent is safe to deal with. Not surprisingly then, we are consciously okay handling them during those nerve-wrecking battles and work hours extending beyond dawn. But the same cannot be said for sticky, sweaty hands you’re left with on the plasticky mice. Notwithstanding, no one has thought of giving the mouse a fan, until now. Noctua, the famous Austrian computer hardware manufacturer, that has for years kept CPUs cool with its incredible fans, has teamed with Pulsar for a gaming mouse with a built-in fan. The beige and brown Noctua fans have been part of our lives, ever so quietly beefing up our devices’ performance. Now a small Noctua is finding its way into Pulsar’s flagship mouse. The idea of the fan inside a mouse is simple, to keep the hand dry; not that we thought the innards of the mouse required cooling. Designer: Noctua x Pulsar Showcased at the 2025 Computex in Taipei, Taiwan, the Pulsar x Noctua gaming mouse is based on the Pulsar Feinman F01, whose internals have been adjusted to integrate a 40 mm Noctua NF-A4x10 5-Volt PWM fan. The exterior of the mouse is an innovative magnesium alloy exoskeleton with cutouts to direct airflow to your palm, keeping it chill when the going gets tough. For the new collaboration, Pulsar has painted its flagship Feinmann mouse in Noctua colours, including a fan – which of course is in signature beige-brown outfit. The co-branded mouse is called the Pulsar x Feinman Noctua Edition and, despite the fan onboard, is said to have ultra-quiet operation. According to the available information, the fan inside of the mouse runs almost quietly with a noise level of 17.9dB. Since quietness and the idea to keep the sweating palm dry don’t make for a good gaming mouse, the Pulsar x Feinman Noctua borrows all its impeccable features from its predecessor. For a gamer’s benefit, the lightweight wireless mouse has a XS-1 sensor delivering an awesome 32,000 dpi. To ensure smooth gameplay, it offers 8 kHz polling rate, an acceleration of 50G, and a speed of 750 IPS, and comes with its own charging dock. There is no word on the exact weight of the mouse, or how much the fan eats up on the battery, but considering Feinmann F01 weighs only 46g, thanks to its magnesium housing, the fan-based mouse probably weighs just as much. Same is for the price, the F01 costs about $180 and the Pulsar x Feinman Noctua Edition is expected to cost $200, when it goes on sale in November 2025. The post Pulsar x Feinman Noctua mouse has a built-in fan to chill your sweaty palm first appeared on Yanko Design.

It’s a provocative idea: that empathy — that is, putting yourself in another person’s proverbial shoes, and feeling what they feel — is a sin. The Bible contains repeated invocations from Jesus to show deep empathy and compassion for others, including complete strangers. He’s very clear on this point. Moreover, Christianity is built around a fundamental act of empathy so radical — Jesus dying for our sins — that it’s difficult to spin as harmful. Yet as stunning as it may sound, “empathy is a sin” is a claim that’s been growing in recent years across the Christian right. It was first articulated six years ago by controversial pastor and theologian Joe Rigney, now author of the recently published book, The Sin of Empathy, which has drawn plenty of debate among religious commentators. In this construction, empathy is a cudgel that progressives and liberals use to berate and/or guilt-trip Christians into showing empathy to the “wrong” people. Had it stayed within the realm of far-right evangelicals, we likely wouldn’t be discussing this strange view of empathy at all. Yet we are living in an age when the Christian right has gained unprecedented power, both sociocultural and political. The increasing overlap between conservative culture and right-leaning tech spaces means that many disparate public figures are all drinking from the same well of ideas — and so a broader, secular version of the belief that empathy is a tool of manipulation has bubbled into the mainstream through influential figures like Elon Musk.What “empathy is a sin” actually meansThe proposition that too much empathy is a bad thing is far from an idea that belongs to the right. On Reddit, which tends to be relatively left-wing, one popular mantra is that you can’t set yourself on fire to keep someone else warm. That is, too much empathy for someone else can erode your own sense of self, leaving you codependent or open to emotional abuse and manipulation. That’s a pretty standard part of most relationship and self-help advice — even from some Christian advice authors. But in recent months, the idea that empathy is inherently destructive has not only become a major source of debate among Christians, it’s escaped containment and barreled into the mainstream by way of major media outlets, political figures, and influencers.The conversation began with an incendiary 2019 essay by Rigney, then a longtime teacher and pastor at a Baptist seminary, in which he introduced “the enticing sin of empathy” and argued that Satan manipulates people through the intense cultural pressure to feel others’ pain and suffering. Rigney’s ideas were met with ideological pushback, with one Christian blogger saying it “may be the most unwise piece of pastoral theology I’ve seen in my lifetime.” As his essay incited national debate, Rigney himself grew more controversial, facing allegations of dismissing women and telling one now-former Black congregant at his Minneapolis church that “it wouldn’t be sinful for him to own me & my family today.” (In an email to Vox, Rigney denied the congregant’s version of events.) Rigney also has a longtime affiliation with Doug Wilson, the leader of the Reformed Christian Christ Church in Moscow, Idaho. In practice, what Rigney is typically decrying is any empathy for a liberal perspective or for someone who’s part of a marginalized community.Now well-known for spreading Christian nationalism, and for allegedly fostering a culture of abuse (allegations he has denied), Wilson’s infamy also comes from his co-authored 1996 essay “Southern Slavery: As It Was,” in which he claimed that “Slavery produced in the South a genuine affection between the races that we believe we can say has never existed in any nation before the War or since.” (“My defense of the South does not make me a racist,” Wilson said in 2003.) Rigney appeared on Wilson’s 2019 podcast series Man Rampant to discuss empathy; their conversation quickly devolved into decrying fake rape allegations and musing that victims of police violence might have “deserved to be shot.” In an email, Rigney told me that both he and Wilson developed their similar views on empathy from the therapist and Rabbi Edwin Friedman, whose posthumously published 1999 book, A Failure of Nerve: Leadership in the Age of the Quick Fix, has influenced not only family therapy but conservative church leadership and thought. In the book, Friedman argues that American society has devalued the self, leading to an emotional regression and a “low pain threshold.” Alongside this he compares “political correctness” to the Inquisition, and frames a “chronically anxious America” as one that is “organize[d] around its most dysfunctional elements,” in which leaders have difficulty making tough decisions. This correlation of emotional weakness with societal excess paved the way for Rigney to frame empathy itself as a dangerous weapon. Despite using the incendiary generalization, “empathy is sin,” Rigney told me that it is not all empathy that is sinful, but specifically “untethered empathy.” He describes this as “empathy that is detached or unmoored from reality, from what is good and right.” (An explanation that begs definitions for “reality,” “good,” and “right.”)“Just as ‘the sin of anger’ refers to unrighteous or ungoverned anger, so the sin of empathy refers to ungoverned, excessive, and untethered empathy,” Rigney told me. This kind of unrestrained empathy, he writes, is a recipe for cultural mayhem. In theory, Rigney argues that one should be “tethered” to God’s will and not to Satan. In practice, what Rigney is typically decrying is any empathy for a liberal perspective or for someone who’s part of a marginalized community. When I asked him for a general reconciliation of his views with the Golden Rule, he sent me a response in which he brought up trans identity in order to label it a “fantasy” that contradicts “God-given biological reality,” while misgendering a hypothetical trans person. The demonization of empathy moves into the mainstreamDespite receiving firm pushback from most religious leaders (and indeed most people) who hear about it, Rigney’s argument has been spreading through the Christian right at large. Last year, conservative personality and author Allie Stuckey published Toxic Empathy: How Progressives Exploit Christian Compassion, in which she argues that “toxic empathy is a dangerous guide for our decisions, behavior, and public policy” while condemning queer people and feminists. “Empathy almost needs to be struck from the Christian vocabulary,” Josh McPherson, host of the Christian-centered Stronger Man Nation podcast and an adherent of Wilson and Rigney’s ideas, said in January, in a clip that garnered an outsize amount of attention relative to the podcast episode itself. That same month, Vice President JD Vance struck a nerve with a controversial appearance on Fox News in which he seemed to reference both the empathy conversation and the archaic Catholic concept of “ordo amoris,” meaning “the order of love.” As Vance put it, it’s the idea that one’s family should come before anyone else: “You love your family, and then you love your neighbor, and then you love your community, and then you love your fellow citizens in your own country,” he said. “And then after that, you can focus and prioritize the rest of the world.” In a follow-up on X, he posted, “the idea that there isn’t a hierarchy of obligations violates basic common sense.” Vance’s statements received backlash from many people, including both the late Pope Francis and then-future Pope Leo XIV — but the controversy just drove the idea further into the mainstream. As part of the odd crossover between far-right religion and online reactionaries, it picked up surprising alliances along the way, including evolutionary biologist turned far-right gadfly Gad Saad. In January, Saad, applying a survival-of-the-fittest approach to our emotions, argued against “suicidal empathy,” which he described as “the inability to implement optimal decisions when our emotional system is tricked into an orgiastic hyperactive form of empathy, deployed on the wrong targets.” (Who are the wrong targets according to Saad? Trans women and immigrants.)In a February appearance on Joe Rogan’s podcast, Elon Musk explicitly referenced Saad but went even further, stating, “The fundamental weakness of Western civilization is empathy — the empathy exploit. They’re exploiting a bug in Western civilization” — the “they” here being the left wing. “I think empathy is good,” Musk added, “but you need to think it through, and not just be programmed like a robot.” By March, mainstream media had noticed the conversation. David French had observed the “strange spectacle” of the Christian turn against empathy in a column for the New York Times. In April, a deep-dive in the Guardian followed. That same month, a broad-ranging conversation in the New Yorker with Albert Mohler, president of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, led to interviewer Isaac Chotiner pressing him about why empathy is bad. The discussion, of deported Venezuelan immigrants wrongfully suspected of having gang tattoos, led to Mohler saying that “there’s no reason anyone other than a gang member should have that tattoo.” (Among the tattoos wrongly flagged as gang symbols were the words “Mom” and “Dad” on the wrists of one detainee.)The pro-empathy backlash is fierce The connective tissue across all these disparate anti-empathy voices is two-fold, according to Christian scholar Karen Swallow Prior. Prior, an anti-abortion ethicist and former longtime Liberty University professor, singled out the argument’s outsize emphasis on attacking very small, very vulnerable groups — as well as the moment in which it’s all happening.“The entire discourse around empathy is backlash against those who are questioning the authority of those in power,” she told me, “not coincidentally emerging in a period where we have a rise in recognition of overly controlling and narcissistic leaders, both in and outside the church.” Those people “understand and appreciate empathy the least.”“Trump made it okay to not be okay with culture,” Peter Bell, co-creator and producer of the Sons of Patriarchy podcast, which explores longstanding allegations of emotional and sexual abuse against Doug Wilson’s Christ Church, told me. (Wilson has denied that the church has a culture of abuse or coercion.) “He made it kind of cool for Christians to be jerks,” Bell said. “He made the unspoken things spoken, the whispered things shouted out loud.”Prior believes that the argument won’t have a long shelf life because Rigney’s idea is so convoluted. Yet she added that it’s born out of toxic masculinity, in an age where stoicism, traditionally male-coded, is increasingly part of the regular cultural diet of men via figures like Jordan Peterson. That hypermasculinity goes hand in hand with evangelical culture, and with the ideas Rigney borrowed from Friedman about too many emotions being a weakness. In this framing, emotion becomes non-masculine by default — i.e., feminine.“Everybody’s supposed to have sympathy for the white male, but when you show empathy to anyone else, suddenly empathy is a sin.”— Karen Swallow Prior, Christian scholarThat leads us to the grimmest part of Rigney’s “untethered empathy” claims: the way he explicitly genders it — and demonizes it — as feminine. Throughout his book, he argues that women are more empathetic than men, and that as a result, they are more prone to giving into it as a sin. It’s an inherently misogynistic view that undermines women’s decision-making and leadership abilities. Though Rigney pushed back against this characterization in an email to me, arguing that critics have distorted what he views as merely “gendered tendencies and susceptibility to particular temptations,” he also couldn’t help reinforcing it. “[F]emale tendencies, like male tendencies, have particular dangers, temptations, and weaknesses,” he wrote. Women thus should recognize this and “take deliberate, Spirit-wrought action to resist the impulse to become a devouring HR department that wants to run the world.”As Prior explains, though, Rigney’s just fine with a mythic national human resources department, as long as it supports the status quo. “Everybody’s supposed to have sympathy for the white male,” she said, “but when you show empathy to anyone else, suddenly empathy is a sin.”What’s heartening is that, whether they realize what kind of dangerous extremism undergirds it, most people aren’t buying Rigney’s “empathy is sin” claim. Across the nation, in response to Rigney’s assertion, the catchphrase, “If empathy is a sin, then sin boldly” has arisen, as heard in pulpits, seen on church marquees, and worn on T-shirts — a reminder that it takes much more than the semantic whims of a few extremists to shake something most people hold in their hearts.See More:

While other streaming services thrive on carefully selected and endlessly curated (meaning: limited) selections of movies, Tubi's a bit different: It feels like the Wild West, with everything from originals; to popular hits; to critically acclaimed favorites; to the lowest-brow, lowest-budget movies you'll find this side of an old Blockbuster. In that spirit, here's a sampling of some of the best stuff currently streaming on Tubi, and it's a wide variety—the streamer will not be pinned down. If you're unfamiliar, Tubi is a free, ad-based service, but generally I find the ads to be less obnoxious and less frequent than on other, similar streamers. Interstellar (2014) Christopher Nolan's mind-bending, but oddly plausible, sci-fi epic takes Matthew McConaughey, Anne Hathaway, and Jessica Chastain on a hunt through space and time to find a new home for humans in a near-future during which we've made Earth unlivable. You can stream Interstellar here.Color Out of Space (2019) Nicolas Cage is at his Nic Cage-iest in this H. P. Lovecraft adaptation about a family's descent into madness. A beautiful, horrifying, utterly unique sensory experience. You can stream Color Out of Space here.Friday (1995) An unquestioned classic of stoner comedy, Friday sees Ice Cube and Chris Tucker accidentally smoking weed that they were meant to sell. And who among us hasn't? The two slackers set out to borrow or make the money back during a misadventure-packed Friday. You can stream Friday here. Everything Everywhere All At Once (2022) Michelle Yeoh and Ke Huy Quan (alongside Stephanie Hsu and Jamie Lee Curtis) led Everything to Oscar glory a couple of years back, with Yeoh starring as Evelyn Quan Wang, a middle-aged immigrant running a laundromat with her husband. An IRS audit leads to a trip through a wildly outlandish, and ultimately emotional, journey through a multiverse of possibilities. You can stream Everything Everywhere here.Dune (1984) You've probably seen the recent Denis Villeneuve adaptation, but you might be less familiar with this messy and fascinating take from director David Lynch. Kyle MacLachlan leads an all-star cast in a movie that doesn't quite an achieve greatness, but nevertheless offers up a bevy of wild ideas, distinctive visuals, and Lynchian madness. You can stream Dune here. Some Like It Hot (1959) Tubi offers up a better assortment of classics than many of the other streamers, most of which have shifted to a newer-is-better focus. Hot stars Jack Lemmon and Tony Curtis as a couple of jazz-age musicians who run afoul of a mob boss, deciding to escape by posing as members of an all-female band (one that, memorably, includes Marilyn Monroe). Director Billy Wilder pitches the farce just right, at the intersection between smart and silly. You can stream Some Like It Hot here. Evil Bong (2006) No socially redeeming value here, just a goofy comedy horror movie about a bong that transports smokers to another planet, one where they're to be murdered by exotic dancers. Tommy Chong co-stars in this movie from Full Moon Features, purveyors of fine low-rent horror movies. You can stream Evil Bong here. Ghost World (2001) Enid (Thora Birch) and Rebecca (Scarlett Johansson) face high school graduation, and a crush on Steve Buscemi, in Terry Zwigoff’s indie dark comedy. You can stream Ghost World here.Donnie Darko (2001) Jake Gyllenhaal stars in this memorable emo mind-bender about a troubled teenager who dodges disaster thanks to a bit of sleepwalking. An instant cult classic, it's the movie all the cool kids were talking about back in the day. You can stream Donnie Darko (director's cut) here, or the theatrical version here. Hollywood Shuffle (1987) Robert Townsend directs himself as Bobby Taylor, a satire about the perils of navigating the Hollywood system for an actor simultaneously too black and not black enough for the tastes of studio bosses. Through elaborate fantasy sequences and parodies of popular movies, Townsend creates a sharp and often extremely funny sendup that’s (sadly) still relevant. You can stream Hollywood Shuffle here.Barbarian (2022) One of the more divisive horror movies of the past few years (I love it), Barbarian stars Georgina Campbell as a woman who rents an Airbnb only to have a man (Bill Skarsgård) show up claiming that he also has rented the house. He seems nice enough, so she lets him in—enough of a premise for a horror movie right there, but Barbarian has twists that you'll never see coming. You can stream Barbarian here.Showgirls (1995) As with most of Paul Verhoeven's other films, it's possible to view his notoriously trashy film as either dark satire or unintended camp. It's tremendous fun either way and, though it quickly gained a reputation as garbage, it's far more watchable than many other better-reviewed films. You can stream Showgirls here.Rec (2007) This Spanish import is top-tier found footage, involving a group of firefighters on an emergency call who wind up trapped inside a building at the center of a creeping zombie infection. That limited, specific geography is key to the movie's brisk, efficient, and nerve-jangling effectiveness. You can stream Rec here.Planet of the Apes (1968) Astronaut Charlton Heston finds himself on an unknown (wink wink) planet in the distant future where he rather quickly finds himself in the power of the world's ape overlords. From a slightly goofy premise came this dark, disturbing, and timely fable. You can stream Planet of the Apes here. The Apartment (1960) Jack Lemmon and Shirley MacLaine star in this searing, bittersweet, but ultimately humane comedy. MacLaine's Fran Kubelik is an elevator operator having an affair with the big boss at an insurance company, while Lemmon's Bud Baxter gets ahead by loaning out his apartment to upper management for various extramarital assignations. The budding friendship between the two threatens both of their careers. You can stream The Apartment here. Whale Rider (2002) Pai is a 12-year-old Māori girl and the direct descendant of their tribe’s traditional notable ancestor, the Whale Rider—except that, traditionally, women can’t lead. Star Keisha Castle-Hughes became the youngest nominee for a Best Actress Oscar for her open, genuine performance. You can stream Whale Rider here. The Descent (2006) Getting lost in those caves is scary enough, even before we discover that we're not alone down there. The ultimate in spelunking horror. You can stream The Descent here.Menace II Society (1993) A searing, raw portrait of urban violence in the 1990s, the Hughes Brothers' film follows Caine Lawson (Tyrin Turner) and his friends as they struggle for a better life amid crime and poverty, but who find themselves drawn deeper into crime and cruelty. The performances here are all phenomenal. You can stream Menace II Society here. Beauty Shop (2005) This Barbershop spin-off follows widowed hairstylist Gina Norris starting over in Atlanta with her daughter, and opening her own shop when a job doesn't pan out. Queen Latifah is as delightful as ever, and is joined by a great cast including Alfre Woodard, Della Reese, Alicia Silverstone, Andie MacDowell, Kevin Bacon, and Djimon Hounsou. You can stream Beauty Shop here.Room 237 (2012) This fascinating documentary explores, without judgement, the many (and often truly wild) theories and interpretations around Stanley Kubrick's The Shining. Probably not what you're after if you want a bit of film analysis, but as an exploration of conspiratorial thinking? You could do a lot worse. You can stream Room 237 here. Terrifier (2016) Damien Leone's low-budget slasher series quietly build into a queasy empire, with the most recent film being a legit box office smash. Here, literal clown-from-hell Art stalks partygoer Tara Heyes and her sister Victoria (Scaffidi) on Halloween night. You can stream Terrifier here. Return of the Living Dead (1985) This horror comedy with punk style is both a knowing parody of zombie movies while also managing to be an impressively gory thriller in its own right that moves the whole genre forward. Plus, it’s got a great death-rock soundtrack. You can stream Return of the Living Dead here.Frankenhooker (1990) A disreputable and goofy but surprisingly effective horror comedy, Frankenhooker stars former Penthouse Pet Patty Mullen as the movie's take on Mary Shelley's monster, made in the image of a med student's dead fiancée and built from sex workers. The style and special effects here are pretty great. You can stream Frankenhooker here.Ghost in the Shell (1995) One of the best anime films of all time, at least when it comes to sci-fi and cyberpunk, Ghost in the Shell boasts impeccable style in addition to the thoughtfulness and complexity of its story. Major Motoko Kusanagi is a cyborg security agent hunting an enigmatic hacker known only as "the Puppet Master" in the rapidly approaching year 2029, a time when the rise of AI threatens even the idea of individual existence. You can stream Ghost in the Shell here. The Leather Boys (1964) A classic of British kitchen sink realism, a movement in the 1960s that saw hyperrealistic portraits of, often, angry teens and young people, The Leather Boys sees young couple Reggie and Dot becoming increasingly estranged when Reggie mostly wants to just hang out with his biker friends. Among those friends is Pete, who seems to be developing an attraction to Reggie that goes a bit beyond that of a typical biker bro. You can stream The Leather Boys here. North by Northwest (1959) One of Hitchcock's best (and that's saying quite a bit), North by Northwest is a nearly non-stop thrill ride, seeing Cary Grant's Roger Thornhill hunted across the country by criminals who've mistaken him for someone else. It's as funny as it is clever, and nearly impossible to stop watching once you've started. You can stream North by Northwest here.Lars and the Real Girl (2007) The sweetest, most charming movie about the romance between a man and his life-like love doll that you're likely to encounter. You can stream Lars and the Real Girl here.They Call Me Trinity (1970) A classic spaghetti western, Trinity (kicking off a trilogy, appropriately enough), stars Terence Hill and Bud Spencer as brothers Trinity and Bambino, who help defend a Mormon settlement from bandits and a land-grabbing Major (Farley Granger). It's a rare comedy to come out of Italy's obsession with westerns, and a lot of fun for it. You can stream They Call Me Trinity here. The Wiz (1978) Long before Wicked reinvented (or at least reinterpreted) L. Frank Baum, the Broadway musical on which this movie is based imagined Dorothy Gale as a Black teacher from Harlem. The joyous film version is nearly a who's who of Black talent in the 1970s: Diana Ross, Michael Jackson, Nipsey Russell, Ted Ross, Mabel King, Theresa Merritt, Thelma Carpenter, Lena Horne and Richard Pryor all play roles, while Quincy Jones, Luther Vandross, and Charlie Smalls all contributed to the music. You can stream The Wiz here. Cabaret (1972) Liza Minnelli and Joel Grey star in this essential musical about the good times and extravagant style of Weimar Germany giving way to the rising tide of fascism. You can stream Cabaret here.

Images: CrytekCrysis was released back in 2007, and it was beautiful, which meant it had pretty high hardware demands – something that players still joke about with the "Can it run Crysis?" meme.Crysis's director and Crytek founder Cevat Yerli explained that the team wanted to "make sure Crysis does not age, that [it] is future proofed, meaning that if I played it three years from now, it should look better than today."If you are curious what was going on at Crytek during the development, you're in luck: Michael Khaimzon, former art director at Crytek, who worked on the game, generously shared some insights that you should hear."The back-stories are almost as crazy as the visuals, so I figured I’d start sharing a few," he said on LinkedIn.The developers, based in Frankfurt, Germany, were tasked to build "the most realistic jungle ever.""What do we know about jungles? We book tickets to Tahiti. The brief is simple: study how a real jungle works and shoot enough photos for textures. ... Ironically, none of the photos we took were usable. In the end we decided to model every single vegetation texture in 3D instead. It sounds insane, but that call ends up driving one of the biggest leaps in real-time graphics. So the trip was essentially useless other than a pack of reference shots."With Crysis, the team wanted to delve into photorealism: "Not “pretty,” not “stylized” – we wanted players to squint and wonder if it was real." Before, Far Cry was lauded for its amazing jungle environments, but for this game, the "trick of hand-painting specular and bump effects straight into textures wasn’t gonna cut it.""At the time, no one used high-poly models for foliage. Leaves were painted, not sculpted. Modeling them sounded insane – until we did it. Suddenly, we had full control over layout, and flawless normal maps where every leaf caught light at its own angle."Another solution that made Crysis look so good was light scattering. The developers simulated the color shifts and shadow plays of leaves, used vertex color and bone rigs to make leaves sway realistically, and did some manual alpha tuning for mipmaps to fix long-distance opacity glitches, "but honestly, the two real breakthroughs were high-poly leaves and subsurface light scattering."Yerli wanted to create "something the world has never seen," so art director Magnus Larbrant provided a concept showing winter in the jungle."As production rolled on, our regular jungles started looking insanely good – photoreal, even by today’s standards. Next to them, the icy levels felt gimmicky, but we’d promised them, so they stayed. ... Sometimes the image that sells the game isn’t the one that defines it. Still, that frozen-jungle concept sparked the entire franchise, so here it is for the history books," Khaimzon explained.What players do remember is the Nanosuit, which, it turns out, "wasn’t even planned until a year into production." Apparently, Delta Force agents were supposed to wear tank-looking supersuits mid-game, but "that didn’t strike a nerve, and Cevat was never satisfied with mediocrity," so the developer tried to focus on "the rubbery muscle structure" from early concepts, but it was not enough, still."And then came the franchise-defining idea: strip away all the armor. Keep the muscles only. Let’s go for a ninja-like figure – black, agile, enhanced. We made our first actual nanosuit... ...but it still didn’t work."The muscles were flat, Khaimzon says, so Crytek asked an external concept artist to look at the suite "with a fresh set of eyes, to take our design and separate each major muscle group as much as possible." This resulted in "the most amazing concepting and modeling feat I’ve ever seen."Crytek's artists created a low-poly model using smoothing groups to separate muscles and then a detailed high-poly sculpt."The Nanosuit was born."In 2004, voxels were all the rage, but they didn't suit the game: "No creature with an IQ over 1 would build a spaceship out of blobs and mush." Playing with the shapes, Crytek loved the organic feel and started looking into blending organic and technological forms, "how to make something that looked alien, but also engineered.""We quickly realized that the key to making it look like advanced technology was in repeating, parallel elements – something that looks artificially crafted."Once that was done, the team focused on zero gravity, which sounds great but demands a lot from developers. Players could get nose-to-nose to textures with zero gravity, but they didn't look good that close; they were "pixely and blurry." "Add detail textures, and they barely helped – they only showed when you were right on top of the surface. Using lots of unique textures wasn’t the answer either – it ate up memory and made the surface look noisy and chaotic from afar."So Crytek invented "one of the most unconventional art pipelines" it'd ever used: designing all alien objects using only tiled textures. The entire 1000-meter alien ship and its interiors were built with a handful of unique textures."Artists had to break objects into clearly defined zones, each mapped with a repeating texture. The structure and flow of the texture became part of the design itself. The real challenge? Creating compelling, alien shapes under such a strict limitation. A huge task."I'd say the developers succeeded in their task, creating a game that will stay with gamers for years to come, thanks to its amazing environments, characters, and mechanics that Crytek worked so hard on making work.Khaimzon has shared 6 parts of this exciting journey, and if you want to know more, follow him on LinkedIn.Also, join our 80 Level Talent platform and our new Discord server, follow us on Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, Telegram, TikTok, and Threads, where we share breakdowns, the latest news, awesome artworks, and more.

Nature, Published online: 21 May 2025; doi:10.1038/s41586-025-09028-5Following spinal cord injury, gamified physical therapy that incorporates closed-loop vagus nerve stimulation can aid restoration of arm and hand function.

CT scan of the front of a skate, showing the hard, tooth-like denticles (orange) on its skinYara Haridy Teeth first evolved as sensory organs, not for chewing, according to a new analysis of animal fossils. The first tooth-like structures seem to have been sensitive nodules on the skin of early fish that could detect changes in the surrounding water. The finding supports a long-standing idea that teeth first evolved outside the mouth, says Yara Haridy at the University of Chicago. Advertisement While there was some evidence to back this up, there was an obvious question. “What good is having all these teeth on the outside?” says Haridy. One possibility was that they served as defensive armour, but Haridy thinks there was more to it. “It’s great to cover yourself in hard things, but what if those hard things could also help you sense your environment?” True teeth are only found in backboned vertebrates, like fish and mammals. Some invertebrates have tooth-like structures, but the underlying tissues are completely different. This means teeth originated during the evolution of the earliest vertebrates: fish. Haridy and her team re-examined fossils that have been claimed to be the oldest examples of fish teeth, using a synchrotron to scan them in unprecedented detail. Unmissable news about our planet delivered straight to your inbox every month. Sign up to newsletter They focused first on fragmentary fossils of animals called Anatolepis, which date from the later part of the Cambrian Period, which ran from 539 million to 487 million years ago, and early in the Ordovician Period, which ran from 487 million to 443 million years ago. These animals had a hard exoskeleton, dotted with tubules. These had been interpreted as being tubules of dentine, one of the hard tissues that make up teeth. In human teeth, dentine is the yellow layer under the hard white enamel and it performs many functions, including sensing pressure, temperature and pain. This led to the idea that the tubules are precursors to teeth called odontodes and that Anatolepis is an early fish. That isn’t what Haridy and her team found. “We saw that the internal anatomy [of the tubules] didn’t actually look like a vertebrate at all,” she says. After examining structures from a range of animals, they found that the tubules were most similar to features called sensilla found on the exoskeletons of arthropods like insects and spiders. These look like pegs or small hairs and detect a range of phenomena. “It can be everything from taste to vibration to changes in air currents,” says Haridy. This means Anatolepis is an arthropod, not a fish, and its tubules aren’t the direct precursors to teeth. “Dentine is likely a vertebrate novelty, yet the sensory capabilities of a hardened external surface were present much earlier in invertebrates,” says Gareth Fraser at the University of Florida in Gainesville, who wasn’t involved in the study. With Anatolepis out of the picture, the team says, the oldest known teeth are those of Eriptychius, which is only known from the Ordovician Period. These do have true dentine – in odontodes on their skin. Haridy says invertebrates like Anatolepis and early vertebrates like Eriptychius independently evolved hard, sensory nodules on their skin. “These two very different animals needed to sense their way through the muck of ancient seas,” she says. In line with this, the team found that the odontodes on the skin of some modern fish still have nerves – suggesting a sensory function. Once some fish became active predators, they needed a way to hold onto their prey, so the hard odontodes made their way to the mouth, where they could be used to bite. “Based on the available data, tooth-like structures likely first evolved in the skin of early vertebrates, prior to the oral invasion of these structures that became teeth,” says Fraser. Journal reference:Nature DOI: 10.1038/s41586-025-08944-w Topics:

When Rom Kosla, CIO at Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE), joined the technology giant in July 2023, the move represented a big shift in direction. Previously CIO at retailer Ahold Delhaize and CIO for enterprise solutions at PepsiCo, Kosla was a consumer specialist who wanted to apply his knowledge in a new sector. “I liked the idea of working in a different industry,” he says. “I went from consumer products to retail grocery. Moving into the tech industry was a bit nerve-wracking because the concept of who the customers are is different. But since I grew up in IT, I figured I’d have the ability to navigate my way through the company.” Kosla had previously worked as a project manager for Nestlé and spent time with the consultancy Deloitte. Now approaching two years with HPE, Kosla leads HPE’s technology strategy and is responsible for how the company harnesses artificial intelligence (AI) and data. He also oversees e-commerce, app development, enterprise resource planning (ERP) and security operations. “The role has exceeded my expectations,” he says. “When you’re a CIO at a multinational, like when I was a divisional CIO at PepsiCo, you’re in the back office. Whether it’s strategy, transformation or customer engagement, the systems are the enablers of that back-office effort. At HPE, it’s different because we are customer zero.” Kosla says he prefers the term “customer gold” because he wants HPE to develop high-quality products. In addition to setting the internal digital strategy, he has an outward-facing role providing expert advice to customers. That part of his role reminds him of his time at Deloitte. “Those are opportunities to flex my prior experience and capabilities, and learn how to take our products, enable them, and share best practices,” he says. “HPE is like any other company. We use cloud systems and software-as-a-service products, including Salesforce and others. But underneath, we have HPE powering a lot of the capabilities.” The press release announcing Kosla’s appointment in 2023 said HPE believed his prior experiences in the digital front-end and running complex supply chains made him the perfect person to build on its digital transformation efforts. So, how has that vision panned out? “What’s been interesting is helping the business and IT team think about the end-to-end value stream,” he says. “There was a lot of application-specific knowledge. The ability for processes to be optimised at an application layer versus the end-to-end value stream was only happening in certain spots.” Kosla discovered the organisation had spent two years moving to a private cloud installation on the company’s hardware and had consolidated 20-plus ERP systems under one SAP instance. With much of the transformation work complete, his focus turned to making the most of these assets. “The opportunity was not to shepherd up transformation, it was taking the next step, which was optimising,” says Kosla, explaining how he had boosted supply chain performance in his earlier roles. He’s now applying that knowledge at HPE. “What we’ve been doing is slicing areas of opportunity,” he says. “With the lead-to-quote process, for example, we have opportunities to optimise, depending on the type of business, such as the channel and distributors. We’re asking things like, ‘Can we get a quote out as quickly as possible, can we price it correctly, and can we rely less on human engagement?’” HPE announced a cost-reduction programme in March to reduce structural operating costs. The programme is expected to be implemented through fiscal year 2026 and deliver gross savings of approximately $350m by fiscal year 2027, including through workforce reductions. The programme of work in IT will help the company move towards these targets. Kosla says optimisation in financials might mean closing books faster. In the supply chain, the optimisation might be about predicting the raw materials needed to create products. He takes a term from his time in the consumer-packaged goods sector – right to play, right to win – to explain how his approach helps the business look for value-generating opportunities. “So, do we have the right to play, meaning do we have the skills? Where do we have the right to win, meaning do we have the funding, business resources and availability to deliver the results? We spend time focusing on which areas offer the right to play and the right to win.” Kosla says data and AI play a key role in these optimisations. HPE uses third-party applications with built-in AI capabilities and has developed an internal chat solution called ChatHPE, a generative AI hub used for internal processes. “There are lots of conversations around how we unlock the benefits of AI in the company,” he says. Professionals across the company use Microsoft Copilot in their day-to-day roles to boost productivity. Developers, meanwhile, use GitHub Copilot. Finally, there’s ChatHPE, which Kosla says is used according to the functional use case. HPE started developing the platform about 18 months ago. A pipeline of use cases has now been developed, including helping legal teams to review contracts, boosting customer service in operations, re-using campaign elements in marketing and improving analytics in finance. “We spend time focusing on which areas offer the right to play and the right to win” Rom Kosla, Hewlett Packard Enterprise “We have a significant amount of governance internally,” says Kosla, referring to ChatHPE, which is powered by Azure and OpenAI technology. “When I started, there wasn’t an internal HPE AI engine. We had to tell the teams not to use the standard tools because any data that you feed into them is ultimately extracted. So, we had to create our platform.” Embracing AI isn’t Kosla’s only concern. Stabilisation is a big part of what he needs to achieve during the next 12 months. He returns to HPE’s two major transformation initiatives – the shift to private cloud and the consolidation of ERP platforms – suggesting that the dual roll-out and management of these initiatives created a significant number of incidents. “When I look back at PepsiCo, we had about 300,000 employees and about 600,000 tickets, which means two tickets per person per year. I said to the executive committee at HPE, ‘We have 60,000 employees, and we have a couple of million tickets’, which is an insane number. The goal was to bring that number down by about 85%,” he says. “Now, our system uptime is 99% across our quoting and financial systems. That availability allows our business to do more than focus on internal IT. They can focus on the customer. Stabilisation means the business isn’t constantly thinking about IT systems, because it’s a challenge to execute every day when systems are going down because of issues.” Kosla says the long-term aim from an IT perspective is to align the technology organisation with business outcomes. In financials, for example, he wants to produce the data analytics the business needs across the supply chain and operational processes. “We have embedded teams that work together to look at how we enable data, like our chat capabilities, into some of the activities,” he says. “They’ll consider how we reduce friction, especially the manual steps. They’ll also consider planning, from raw materials to the manufacturing and delivery of products. That work involves partnering with the business.” The key to success for the IT team is to help the business unlock value quicker. “I would say that’s the biggest part for us,” says Kosla. “We don’t even like to use the word speed – we say velocity, because velocity equals direction, and that’s crucial for us. I think the business is happy with what we’ve been able to achieve, but it’s still not fast enough.” Being able to deliver results at pace will rely on new levels of flexibility. Rather than being wedded to a 12-month plan that maps out a series of deliverables, Kosla wants his team to work more in the moment. Prior experiences from the consumer sector give him a good sense of what excellence looks like in this area. “You don’t need to go back to the top, go through an annual planning review, go back down, and then have the teams twiddling their thumbs while they wait for the OK,” he says. “The goal is that teams are constantly working on what’s achievable during a sprint window. Many companies take that approach; I’ve done it in my prior working life. I know what can happen, and I think flexibility will drive value creation.” Kosla says some of the value will come from HPE’s in-house developed technologies. “One of the things that makes this role fun is that there’s a significant amount of innovation the company is doing,” he says, pointing to important technologies, such as Morpheus VM Essentials virtualisation software, the observability platform OpsRamp, and Aruba Networking Access Points. “What I’m proud of is that we now show up to customers with comparability,” he says, talking about the advisory part of his role. “We can say, ‘Look, we use both products, because in some cases, it’s a migration over time.’ So, for example, when a customer asks about our observability approach, we can compare our technology with other providers.” Kosla reflects on his career and ponders the future of the CIO role, suggesting responsibilities will vary considerably according to sector. “Digital leaders still maintain IT systems in some industries,” he says. “However, the rest of the business is now much more aware of technology. The blurring of lines between business and IT means it’s tougher to differentiate between the two areas. I think we’ll see more convergence.” Kosla says a growing desire to contain costs often creates a close relationship between IT and finance leaders. Once again, he expects further developments in that partnership. He also anticipates that cyber will remain at the forefront of digital leaders’ priority lists. More generally, he believes all IT professionals are becoming more focused on business priorities. “I think the blurring will continue to create interesting results, especially in technology companies,” he says. “We want to do things differently.” Read more interviews with tech company IT leaders Interview: Joe Depa, global chief innovation officer, EY – Accounting firm EY is focused on ‘AI-ready data’ to maximise the benefits of agentic AI and enable the use of emerging frontier technologies for its business and clients. Interview: Cynthia Stoddard, CIO, Adobe – After nearly 10 years in post, Adobe’s CIO is still driving digital transformation and looking to deliver lasting change through technology. Interview: Tomer Cohen, chief product officer, LinkedIn – The professional social network’s product chief is leading the introduction of artificial intelligence for the firm’s in-house development processes and to enhance services for users.

May 21, 20255 min readOne Woman’s Pharmaceutical Journey to a Good Night’s SleepWhen insomnia took hold of this journalist, she relied on her science reporting to find a medication that (mostly) workedBy Rachel Nuwer Malte MuellerThis Nature Outlook is editorially independent, produced with financial support from Avadel.I never had issues with sleep until the COVID-19 pandemic. A couple of months into lockdown in 2020, I found myself unable to fall or stay asleep. My worries played on an unstoppable loop, and the longer I lay in bed, the more anxious I became about not sleeping. This vicious cycle left me exhausted. After a few months, I became depressed. It was time to get professional help.This was the start of a years-long odyssey to find an effective sleep aid without negative side effects. The first medication I tried was 50 milligrams of an antihistamine called hydroxyzine, prescribed to me after a five-minute telehealth appointment. It effectively knocked me out, but it left me feeling so groggy the next morning that I struggled to get out of bed. I stopped taking it.On supporting science journalismIf you're enjoying this article, consider supporting our award-winning journalism by subscribing. By purchasing a subscription you are helping to ensure the future of impactful stories about the discoveries and ideas shaping our world today.I lacked the energy to meet with a physician again, so I went back to relying on a grab bag of pills. These included over-the-counter melatonin, a hormone used to treat sleep problems; diphenhydramine, an antihistamine and sedative commonly sold as Benadryl; my husband’s gabapentin, which is prescribed to treat epilepsy and nerve pain but is commonly given as an anti-anxiety sleep aid; and tablets of questionable provenance that were labelled as alprazolam, used to treat anxiety conditions, which I acquired on a pre-pandemic trip to Sri Lanka. I rotated through these remedies in an attempt to not become overly reliant on any one of them.Last year, my struggle to sleep markedly worsened. Stress still seemed to be in limitless supply. My identity is wrapped up in my job as a science journalist, but as the media industry continues to collapse in on itself, it is becoming more and more difficult to make ends meet. At night, my chest would tighten as I tried to imagine a viable future in my chosen career. Layered on top of that were the stressors of the 2024 US presidential election and interpersonal drama with my increasingly conservative father.I found a sympathetic primary-care provider in the form of a physician’s assistant (PA) — a licensed medical professional who, in some states, can prescribe medications but isn’t actually a physician. She listened to my problems and asked me questions about my life. At the end of the appointment, she agreed that I should try the antidepressant bupropion. I was still having trouble sleeping, however, and my night-time anxiety spiked following the election. “Sadly, we are getting a lot of these messages,” my PA said when I told her about this. We added buspirone, an anti-anxiety medication, to my daily regimen. I immediately started sleeping better. But buspirone left me feeling deflated, numb and unmotivated during the day. My PA suggested that, as long as I didn’t develop serious depressive thoughts, I should stick it out for a month to give my body time to adjust.I agreed to give it more time. Then, about three weeks in, I woke up one night from a nightmare and felt something crawling through my hair. Then, I saw a flash of light, as though someone was standing over me taking a photograph. I quickly realized that these had been hallucinations that occurred in the transition from sleep to wakefulness. Nothing like this had ever happened to me before, and the vividness of the experience was extremely disconcerting. The next day, I learnt that disturbed sleep is a side effect of buspirone. My PA agreed that I should stop the drug.But, I still needed help to fall asleep. The obvious choice would have been benzodiazepines or ‘Z-drugs’ — classes of medications that have a sedative effect. But these drugs can also lead to dependency. Worryingly, too, a study in mice, published this year, found that one of these drugs, zolpidem (Ambien), might interfere with the brain’s ability to clear waste, including toxic molecules associated with Alzheimer’s disease. These results still need to be replicated in humans, but they do mirror findings from at least one observational study. I told my PA I wanted to steer clear of these medications.Through reporting for another story on sleep medication for this Nature Outlook, I was cautiously excited to learn about a new class of insomnia medications known as dual orexin receptor antagonist (DORA) drugs. These work by blocking a molecule that promotes wakefulness, and they have fewer side effects and a lower risk of dependence compared with other sleep aids. My PA was familiar with one of them, Belsomra, and said I could try it.It took almost three weeks for me to receive the prescription, and my insurance would not cover it. There are no generic DORA drugs. Thirty daily tablets of Belsomra was going to cost me an astronomical US$500. But, I was desperate to get some sleep and my pharmacist was able to find a coupon that knocked $150 off the bill. I sucked it up and paid.As I write this, I’ve been taking Belsomra on and off for a month. When it works well, I fall asleep quickly and soundly, and wake up feeling clear-headed and rested. About one-quarter of the time, however, my anxiety manages to cut through the medication and I struggle to fall asleep. My PA said that I can try doubling my dose to the maximum 20 milligrams, by taking two tablets each night. But I haven’t tried this yet, because I’m aware that each pill I pop before bed is about the same price as ordering a fancy cocktail.I held out hope that my health-insurance company, one of the largest in the United States, would eventually agree to cover Belsomra. The initial rejection note that the company sent included a list of eight cheaper, generic Z-drugs and benzodiazepines — all have a risk of dependency — that they required me to try first. My PA and I worked through the list of prescriptions in an effort to make a case that none of them were suitable. And finally, in late March, we had success: the insurance company agreed to pay for Belsomra for the next year. Even with that coverage, however, I’m still required to pay a steep $150 for a month’s supply of the drug, which my pharmacist confirmed is normal for this medication. So, until a generic DORA drug comes out, this particular sleep solution will unfortunately be available only for those who have enough extra income to be able to pay for the privilege.I’m certainly aware that my trials and tribulations with insomnia have benefited from a tremendous amount of privilege. I have found an understanding and supportive PA, and my insurance pays for my appointments with her. I live in a country where these medications are available — DORA drugs are not available everywhere yet and I have enough disposable income to pay hundreds of dollars in the interest of self-care. I also have a level of education, and a job as a science journalist, that allows me to access and comprehend the latest health-care findings, and speak directly with scientists at the forefront of research. I can only imagine the collective exhaustion and frustration of the hundreds of millions of people around the world who are not in my position, and who are struggling on their own to get a good night’s sleep.It should not be like this. Medical professionals should be the ones calling the shots on what care their patients need — not insurance companies that are focused on ringing out as much profit as possible from clients who are already paying exorbitant premiums. However, until the system changes, millions of people will continue to take the same tortuous path that I have been forced onto, and resort to medications that might have harmful long-term effects while the most advanced therapies remain tantalizingly out of financial reach.

If you're trying to achieve "room serenity" in your home, that is, a calming design that immediately makes you feel more relaxed when you walk through the door, the best person to ask is a therapist. One of the most important parts of their job is making you feel at ease, so you feel comfortable being vulnerable. The design of their office is a huge part of that—if you feel like you're walking into an examination room, you might not want to spill your secrets. Interior designers who work with therapists (or use neuroscience findings to inform their choices) take this into account. "A therapist’s office is, at its best, a sanctuary of stillness," interior designer Rachel Blindauer says, "I often ask my therapist clients: Where do you want the eye to rest? Where do you want the heart to land? That conversation becomes the foundation of the design. I build in asymmetry to avoid rigidity, muted palettes for safety, and natural materials—linen, wool, unfinished wood—that ground the space in the sensory world. Vulnerability requires softness, but also containment. It’s a delicate balance."The lessons you can learn from therapeutic design can make any home feel more tranquil. You don't need to limit yourself to a specific aesthetic, either. People often gravitate toward Japanese-inspired wabi-sabi, organic modernism, Scandinavian minimalism, or Japandi styles for serenity. But it's more about the intention than a particular design style. "What they all share is restraint, reverence for texture, and a belief in negative space," Blindauer says. "It’s not just what you put in—it’s what you leave out." Scroll on for expert advice from designers and mental health professionals on everything to add to achieve "room serenity"—and what to avoid.Related StoriesBring in Biophilic FeaturesKirsten Francis, Design by Augusta HoffmanOne of the easiest ways to add some serenity to your space is to integrate themes from the natural world. Biophilic design, which centers around elements of nature, is your best friend here. This includes everything from live houseplants to small water fountains. Anita Yokota, licensed therapist-turned-interior designer, leans toward materials like wood, rattan, and stone to offer a grounding energy. "These connect us back to something primal and steady," Yokota says. Think beyond live plants and moss, though. Even nature-inspired patterns in your rugs or art can bring a sense of ease. "We are drawn to fractals—repeating natural patterns found in ferns, leaves, even firelight—because our brains process them easily and pleasurably," says Erica McLain, a Science in Design-certified interior designer. Related StoryIncorporate Nature-Inspired Colors Kirsten Francis, Design by Augusta HoffmanIn a similar vein, when selecting a serene color palette, you can never go wrong with earth tones. This is not the space for overly vibrant hues. Steer clear of the saturated, high-contrast primary colors, as this can easily feel overstimulating. Yokota recommends muted hues like blush, lavender, and sage green, "as long as they have gray undertones to soften their intensity and invite quiet."That doesn't mean it has to be dreary, though. Licensed psychologist Hannah Holmes designed her own therapy office for a balance of calmness and alertness, wanting her clients to feel safe yet inspired. "I balanced cool tones—gray carpet, gray and blue area rug, and cool florals—with pops of warmth—brown leather, wood accents, and orange accents—to make the space feel both peaceful and 'alive,'" Holmes says. Another thing to keep in mind: Blindauer cautions against painting your space in a too-trendy color. "A serene room should feel timeless, not timestamped," Blindauer says.Related StoryLayer Your LightingPhoto: Julie Soefer, Design: Marie Flanigan InteriorsAs you might've expected, the "big light" often isn't conducive to room serenity. Harsh overhead lighting creates more tension than calm. Instead, make sure to have warm and dimmable sources of lighting placed throughout the room. Eryn Oruncak, a Science In Design-certified interior designer, focuses on the following: "beautiful lamps with warm bulbs, quality task lighting on the desk, and as much natural light as you can get." "This kind of layered lighting creates gentle contrasts between shadow and glow, which helps the brain regulate and feel cocooned," Yokota says. "Neuroscience shows that soft, indirect lighting lowers cortisol levels and helps shift the body from 'fight-or-flight' to 'rest-and-digest.'" To help achieve this, look for bulbs with a color temperature of 3000K or less. Krista Walker, Clinical Director of The Ohana Luxury Addiction Treatment Center, advises that smart lighting is ideal for this look, as it's some of the most easily adjustable lighting technology.Arrange Your Seating in an Inviting WayCredit: Lindsay Brown, Design: Avery CoxThough "therapeutic seating" might conjure the image of a Freudian chaise lounge, there are plenty of other furniture styles that'll help put you at ease. The main features you want to look for? Soft lines and rounded silhouettes. As Yokota puts it, "no sharp edges, no emotional armor."It's not just the chairs themselves that matter, though. It's their positioning. The arrangements should place people on equal footing. To soften power dynamics, Yokota often recommends slightly angled seating, which is a touch less intense than face-to-face seating. Holmes pays attention to how the position of her seating can impact a sense of safety, and keep you from feeling penned in. "I intentionally positioned seating within the room so that both the client's seating options and mine are easily accessible to the door—which is helpful to a person who may have a history of trauma or stressful experiences—and offer a view out the window," Holmes says. Related StoryChoose Soothing and Soft TexturesPhoto: Madeline Tolle, Design: Mandy ChengWalker knows the importance of soft textures to rest against. They communicate warmth, and touching them can help calm clients’ nerves. "Texture is the unsung hero of serenity," Blindauer says. "Bouclé, washed linen, matte clay—all these create a tactile lullaby. I avoid anything slick or too cold to the touch." It's not just the blankets and throw pillows, though. The same principle applies to your upholstery and flooring. Focus on rich fabrics and soft rugs underfoot for a cozy feel all around."Soft, tactile materials like velvet, linen, or chunky knits enhance comfort and emotional safety, inviting physical touch to help occupants feel supported and emotionally grounded," interior designer Christina Kelley says.Avoid Anything That Feels ColdIf there's one important takeaway to achieving "room serenity," it's to avoid anything that feels too formal and cold. You want your home to feel peaceful, comfy, and lived-in, not sterile like a spaceship. "You want to avoid overly clinical spaces that remind clients of being at a hospital," Walker says. "Avoid rigid chairs and seating. Also, avoid overcrowded spaces." Glossy glass tables might be great for the dining room, but many people can feel on edge around them. Keep the sharp edges in task-oriented spaces. "Avoid slatted blinds, ceiling tiles, large square downlights, busy patterns, harsh lighting, corporate finishes, hard-edged furniture, stark contrasts, and highly reflective surfaces, as these can feel cold, sterile, and overly stimulating rather than soothing," Kelley says. The beauty of creating a serene room is in the little things. You don't have to undergo the stress of a major renovation to invite ease. "Even small details—an armrest that yields, a pillow that invites—can subtly signal that here, you’re safe to exhale," McLain says.Follow House Beautiful on Instagram and TikTok.