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Casa Sofia by AMASA Estudio: Adaptive Reuse in Colonia Roma

Casa Sofia | © Zaickz Moz
Casa Sofia, a recent project by AMASA Estudio, addresses the layered complexities of architectural intervention within Mexico City’s Colonia Roma, a neighborhood celebrated for its early 20th-century character but increasingly shaped by speculative pressures and fragmented land use. Just six blocks from Parque México, the house occupies a site caught between cultural significance and economic inertia. Originally built in the 1940s, the building underwent a series of unsympathetic interventions over the decades, most notably its conversion into office space. By the time AMASA Estudio began its work, the house had stood empty for over a decade.

Casa Sofia Technical Information

Architects1-7: AMASA Estudio
Location: Colonia Roma, Mexico City, Mexico
Area: 215 m2 | 2,315 Sq. Ft.
Completion Year: 2024
Photographs: © Zaickz Moz, © Gerardo Reyes Bustamante

The integration of contemporary elements can return life and functionality to the historic constructions of the area.
– AMASA Estudio Architects

Casa Sofia Photographs

© Zaickz Moz

© Zaickz Moz

© Zaickz Moz

© Zaickz Moz

© Zaickz Moz

© Zaickz Moz

© Zaickz Moz

© Zaickz Moz

© Zaickz Moz

© Zaickz Moz

© Gerardo Reyes Bustamante

© Zaickz Moz

© Zaickz Moz
Contextual Framework: Urban Fabric, Zoning, and Speculative Vacancy
The architects were tasked with renovating and negotiating the tensions between preservation and contemporary inhabitation. Zoning restrictions in the area often preclude new development, inadvertently incentivizing abandonment and deterioration. Within this context, AMASA’s approach reclaims architectural value by demonstrating how adaptive reuse, when carefully considered, can simultaneously address housing shortages and preserve urban identity.
Rather than erasing the building’s history, the project adopts a regenerative approach, rethinking the building’s typology and embedding flexibility into the spatial program. In doing so, Casa Sofia becomes a case study of how small-scale interventions can challenge speculative dormancy and reintroduce vibrancy to historic neighborhoods.
Architectural Strategy: Inversion, Layering, and Programmatic Flexibility
The architectural response centers on spatial inversion and vertical stratification. While the original commission envisioned a straightforward single-family restoration, AMASA Estudio identified the need for a more complex program to ensure viability and relevance. The result is a tripartite configuration: a ground-floor apartment, a flexible garage/commercial unit, and a redefined primary residence beginning on the first floor.
This inversion of the conventional domestic hierarchy, placing private spaces on the middle floor and public functions at the top, is more than a pragmatic solution. It reflects a critical rethinking of domestic routines in dense urban contexts. The reallocation of living functions enables three degrees of occupancy: short-term rental, residential use, and commercial potential, each with independent access.
At ground level, the vestibule becomes a threshold of coexistence. To the left is a compact yet complete one-bedroom apartment; to the right is a hybrid space adaptable as a garage or storefront; and ahead is the entrance to the main dwelling. The logic of flexibility is woven into every decision, resisting fixed-use zoning and instead proposing an architecture open to evolving modes of urban living.
On the second floor, the public realm unfolds in an open-plan configuration that deliberately contrasts the spatial enclosure below. A continuous space integrates living, kitchen, and dining functions, culminating in a terrace that extends the domestic interior outward. This gesture, a horizontal void defined by operable walls, foregrounds the importance of architectural porosity in temperate climates.
Light, Circulation, and Spatial Atmosphere
Natural light is not merely admitted but orchestrated. A circular skylight punctures the ceiling above the staircase, casting vertical illumination along the building’s spine and subtly guiding the eye upward. It introduces a moment of tectonic tension, where the logic of light meets the logic of circulation.
This vertical axis becomes the fulcrum of the spatial experience. The spiral staircase, painted in a distinct green hue, is not hidden but celebrated as an expressive sculptural form. It mediates the transition from compression to expansion, from the seclusion of bedrooms to the openness of the social level.
Light enters primarily from above and laterally through folding window panels that open completely to the terrace. The absence of interior partitions on the upper floor allows light to wash uninterrupted across surfaces, emphasizing material textures and the gradient between inside and outside. In contrast, the lower levels, shaded and defined, offer a more intimate atmosphere, underscoring the designers’ sensitivity to light as both a spatial and emotional element.
Casa Sofia Restoration Ethos
Rather than defaulting to nostalgic restoration, the architects embrace a contemporary material palette rooted in coherence and restraint. The project does not attempt to replicate the past but defines a new architectural narrative grounded in contrast and continuity.
The use of a singular green tone for all metalwork, staircases, doors, railings, and furniture introduces a unifying chromatic identity. This bold yet controlled gesture resonates against the subdued gray plaster walls, creating a dynamic interplay between reflection and shadow. The palette is neither flashy nor muted; it is precise, allowing light to animate its surfaces without overwhelming the space.
Importantly, the intervention avoids decorative mimicry. Structural upgrades, new spatial logic, and minimalist detailing coexist with the building’s historical shell. This architectural restraint makes the original form legible while enabling new uses to emerge organically.
AMASA Estudio’s broader practice often grapples with similar conditions: the friction between permanence and transformation, especially in urban areas burdened by regulatory inertia and socio-economic flux. Casa Sofia embodies this approach, presenting architecture not as a static form but as a series of spatial and material negotiations between past and present, regulation and imagination, economy, and poetics.
Casa Sofia Plans

Ground Floor | © AMASA Estudio

First Floor | © AMASA Estudio

Second Floor | © AMASA Estudio

Section | © AMASA Estudio

Isometric View | © AMASA Estudio
Casa Sofia Image Gallery

About AMASA Estudio
Credits and Additional Notes

Lead Architects: Andrea López, Agustín Pereyra
Design Team: Cesar Huerta, Gerardo Reyes
Client: ECOBIART Inmobiliaria
Construction: Erik Cortés Ortega
Structural Engineering: Juan Felipe Heredia
Installations Engineering: Germán Muñoz
Lighting Design: Andrea López, Agustín Pereyra
#casa #sofia #amasa #estudio #adaptive

Casa Sofia by AMASA Estudio: Adaptive Reuse in Colonia Roma
Casa Sofia | © Zaickz Moz Casa Sofia, a recent project by AMASA Estudio, addresses the layered complexities of architectural intervention within Mexico City’s Colonia Roma, a neighborhood celebrated for its early 20th-century character but increasingly shaped by speculative pressures and fragmented land use. Just six blocks from Parque México, the house occupies a site caught between cultural significance and economic inertia. Originally built in the 1940s, the building underwent a series of unsympathetic interventions over the decades, most notably its conversion into office space. By the time AMASA Estudio began its work, the house had stood empty for over a decade. Casa Sofia Technical Information Architects1-7: AMASA Estudio Location: Colonia Roma, Mexico City, Mexico Area: 215 m2 | 2,315 Sq. Ft. Completion Year: 2024 Photographs: © Zaickz Moz, © Gerardo Reyes Bustamante The integration of contemporary elements can return life and functionality to the historic constructions of the area. – AMASA Estudio Architects Casa Sofia Photographs © Zaickz Moz © Zaickz Moz © Zaickz Moz © Zaickz Moz © Zaickz Moz © Zaickz Moz © Zaickz Moz © Zaickz Moz © Zaickz Moz © Zaickz Moz © Gerardo Reyes Bustamante © Zaickz Moz © Zaickz Moz Contextual Framework: Urban Fabric, Zoning, and Speculative Vacancy The architects were tasked with renovating and negotiating the tensions between preservation and contemporary inhabitation. Zoning restrictions in the area often preclude new development, inadvertently incentivizing abandonment and deterioration. Within this context, AMASA’s approach reclaims architectural value by demonstrating how adaptive reuse, when carefully considered, can simultaneously address housing shortages and preserve urban identity. Rather than erasing the building’s history, the project adopts a regenerative approach, rethinking the building’s typology and embedding flexibility into the spatial program. In doing so, Casa Sofia becomes a case study of how small-scale interventions can challenge speculative dormancy and reintroduce vibrancy to historic neighborhoods. Architectural Strategy: Inversion, Layering, and Programmatic Flexibility The architectural response centers on spatial inversion and vertical stratification. While the original commission envisioned a straightforward single-family restoration, AMASA Estudio identified the need for a more complex program to ensure viability and relevance. The result is a tripartite configuration: a ground-floor apartment, a flexible garage/commercial unit, and a redefined primary residence beginning on the first floor. This inversion of the conventional domestic hierarchy, placing private spaces on the middle floor and public functions at the top, is more than a pragmatic solution. It reflects a critical rethinking of domestic routines in dense urban contexts. The reallocation of living functions enables three degrees of occupancy: short-term rental, residential use, and commercial potential, each with independent access. At ground level, the vestibule becomes a threshold of coexistence. To the left is a compact yet complete one-bedroom apartment; to the right is a hybrid space adaptable as a garage or storefront; and ahead is the entrance to the main dwelling. The logic of flexibility is woven into every decision, resisting fixed-use zoning and instead proposing an architecture open to evolving modes of urban living. On the second floor, the public realm unfolds in an open-plan configuration that deliberately contrasts the spatial enclosure below. A continuous space integrates living, kitchen, and dining functions, culminating in a terrace that extends the domestic interior outward. This gesture, a horizontal void defined by operable walls, foregrounds the importance of architectural porosity in temperate climates. Light, Circulation, and Spatial Atmosphere Natural light is not merely admitted but orchestrated. A circular skylight punctures the ceiling above the staircase, casting vertical illumination along the building’s spine and subtly guiding the eye upward. It introduces a moment of tectonic tension, where the logic of light meets the logic of circulation. This vertical axis becomes the fulcrum of the spatial experience. The spiral staircase, painted in a distinct green hue, is not hidden but celebrated as an expressive sculptural form. It mediates the transition from compression to expansion, from the seclusion of bedrooms to the openness of the social level. Light enters primarily from above and laterally through folding window panels that open completely to the terrace. The absence of interior partitions on the upper floor allows light to wash uninterrupted across surfaces, emphasizing material textures and the gradient between inside and outside. In contrast, the lower levels, shaded and defined, offer a more intimate atmosphere, underscoring the designers’ sensitivity to light as both a spatial and emotional element. Casa Sofia Restoration Ethos Rather than defaulting to nostalgic restoration, the architects embrace a contemporary material palette rooted in coherence and restraint. The project does not attempt to replicate the past but defines a new architectural narrative grounded in contrast and continuity. The use of a singular green tone for all metalwork, staircases, doors, railings, and furniture introduces a unifying chromatic identity. This bold yet controlled gesture resonates against the subdued gray plaster walls, creating a dynamic interplay between reflection and shadow. The palette is neither flashy nor muted; it is precise, allowing light to animate its surfaces without overwhelming the space. Importantly, the intervention avoids decorative mimicry. Structural upgrades, new spatial logic, and minimalist detailing coexist with the building’s historical shell. This architectural restraint makes the original form legible while enabling new uses to emerge organically. AMASA Estudio’s broader practice often grapples with similar conditions: the friction between permanence and transformation, especially in urban areas burdened by regulatory inertia and socio-economic flux. Casa Sofia embodies this approach, presenting architecture not as a static form but as a series of spatial and material negotiations between past and present, regulation and imagination, economy, and poetics. Casa Sofia Plans Ground Floor | © AMASA Estudio First Floor | © AMASA Estudio Second Floor | © AMASA Estudio Section | © AMASA Estudio Isometric View | © AMASA Estudio Casa Sofia Image Gallery About AMASA Estudio Credits and Additional Notes Lead Architects: Andrea López, Agustín Pereyra Design Team: Cesar Huerta, Gerardo Reyes Client: ECOBIART Inmobiliaria Construction: Erik Cortés Ortega Structural Engineering: Juan Felipe Heredia Installations Engineering: Germán Muñoz Lighting Design: Andrea López, Agustín Pereyra #casa #sofia #amasa #estudio #adaptive

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Casa Sofia by AMASA Estudio: Adaptive Reuse in Colonia Roma
Casa Sofia | © Zaickz Moz Casa Sofia, a recent project by AMASA Estudio, addresses the layered complexities of architectural intervention within Mexico City’s Colonia Roma, a neighborhood celebrated for its early 20th-century character but increasingly shaped by speculative pressures and fragmented land use. Just six blocks from Parque México, the house occupies a site caught between cultural significance and economic inertia. Originally built in the 1940s, the building underwent a series of unsympathetic interventions over the decades, most notably its conversion into office space. By the time AMASA Estudio began its work, the house had stood empty for over a decade. Casa Sofia Technical Information Architects1-7: AMASA Estudio Location: Colonia Roma, Mexico City, Mexico Area: 215 m2 | 2,315 Sq. Ft. Completion Year: 2024 Photographs: © Zaickz Moz, © Gerardo Reyes Bustamante The integration of contemporary elements can return life and functionality to the historic constructions of the area. – AMASA Estudio Architects Casa Sofia Photographs © Zaickz Moz © Zaickz Moz © Zaickz Moz © Zaickz Moz © Zaickz Moz © Zaickz Moz © Zaickz Moz © Zaickz Moz © Zaickz Moz © Zaickz Moz © Gerardo Reyes Bustamante © Zaickz Moz © Zaickz Moz Contextual Framework: Urban Fabric, Zoning, and Speculative Vacancy The architects were tasked with renovating and negotiating the tensions between preservation and contemporary inhabitation. Zoning restrictions in the area often preclude new development, inadvertently incentivizing abandonment and deterioration. Within this context, AMASA’s approach reclaims architectural value by demonstrating how adaptive reuse, when carefully considered, can simultaneously address housing shortages and preserve urban identity. Rather than erasing the building’s history, the project adopts a regenerative approach, rethinking the building’s typology and embedding flexibility into the spatial program. In doing so, Casa Sofia becomes a case study of how small-scale interventions can challenge speculative dormancy and reintroduce vibrancy to historic neighborhoods. Architectural Strategy: Inversion, Layering, and Programmatic Flexibility The architectural response centers on spatial inversion and vertical stratification. While the original commission envisioned a straightforward single-family restoration, AMASA Estudio identified the need for a more complex program to ensure viability and relevance. The result is a tripartite configuration: a ground-floor apartment, a flexible garage/commercial unit, and a redefined primary residence beginning on the first floor. This inversion of the conventional domestic hierarchy, placing private spaces on the middle floor and public functions at the top, is more than a pragmatic solution. It reflects a critical rethinking of domestic routines in dense urban contexts. The reallocation of living functions enables three degrees of occupancy: short-term rental, residential use, and commercial potential, each with independent access. At ground level, the vestibule becomes a threshold of coexistence. To the left is a compact yet complete one-bedroom apartment; to the right is a hybrid space adaptable as a garage or storefront; and ahead is the entrance to the main dwelling. The logic of flexibility is woven into every decision, resisting fixed-use zoning and instead proposing an architecture open to evolving modes of urban living. On the second floor, the public realm unfolds in an open-plan configuration that deliberately contrasts the spatial enclosure below. A continuous space integrates living, kitchen, and dining functions, culminating in a terrace that extends the domestic interior outward. This gesture, a horizontal void defined by operable walls, foregrounds the importance of architectural porosity in temperate climates. Light, Circulation, and Spatial Atmosphere Natural light is not merely admitted but orchestrated. A circular skylight punctures the ceiling above the staircase, casting vertical illumination along the building’s spine and subtly guiding the eye upward. It introduces a moment of tectonic tension, where the logic of light meets the logic of circulation. This vertical axis becomes the fulcrum of the spatial experience. The spiral staircase, painted in a distinct green hue, is not hidden but celebrated as an expressive sculptural form. It mediates the transition from compression to expansion, from the seclusion of bedrooms to the openness of the social level. Light enters primarily from above and laterally through folding window panels that open completely to the terrace. The absence of interior partitions on the upper floor allows light to wash uninterrupted across surfaces, emphasizing material textures and the gradient between inside and outside. In contrast, the lower levels, shaded and defined, offer a more intimate atmosphere, underscoring the designers’ sensitivity to light as both a spatial and emotional element. Casa Sofia Restoration Ethos Rather than defaulting to nostalgic restoration, the architects embrace a contemporary material palette rooted in coherence and restraint. The project does not attempt to replicate the past but defines a new architectural narrative grounded in contrast and continuity. The use of a singular green tone for all metalwork, staircases, doors, railings, and furniture introduces a unifying chromatic identity. This bold yet controlled gesture resonates against the subdued gray plaster walls, creating a dynamic interplay between reflection and shadow. The palette is neither flashy nor muted; it is precise, allowing light to animate its surfaces without overwhelming the space. Importantly, the intervention avoids decorative mimicry. Structural upgrades, new spatial logic, and minimalist detailing coexist with the building’s historical shell. This architectural restraint makes the original form legible while enabling new uses to emerge organically. AMASA Estudio’s broader practice often grapples with similar conditions: the friction between permanence and transformation, especially in urban areas burdened by regulatory inertia and socio-economic flux. Casa Sofia embodies this approach, presenting architecture not as a static form but as a series of spatial and material negotiations between past and present, regulation and imagination, economy, and poetics. Casa Sofia Plans Ground Floor | © AMASA Estudio First Floor | © AMASA Estudio Second Floor | © AMASA Estudio Section | © AMASA Estudio Isometric View | © AMASA Estudio Casa Sofia Image Gallery About AMASA Estudio Credits and Additional Notes Lead Architects: Andrea López, Agustín Pereyra Design Team: Cesar Huerta, Gerardo Reyes Client: ECOBIART Inmobiliaria Construction: Erik Cortés Ortega Structural Engineering: Juan Felipe Heredia Installations Engineering: Germán Muñoz Lighting Design: Andrea López, Agustín Pereyra

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2025-05-14 07:29:56 - Translate -

Researchers Discover That Chimps Drum Rhythmically, Suggesting Human Musicality Originated in Our Last Common Ancestor

Researchers Discover That Chimps Drum Rhythmically, Suggesting Human Musicality Originated in Our Last Common Ancestor
Not only do chimpanzees maintain a rhythm while drumming on tree roots, but two subspecies use distinct tempos and techniques, according to a new study

A new study finds chimpanzees drum against tree roots with rhythm, suggesting they share an evolutionary trait with humans passed down by a last common ancestor.
DaFranzos via Pixabay
Wild chimpanzees often drum their limbs against the large roots of giant trees, sending out loud, booming sounds that resonate through the rainforest.
Previous research identified the behavior as a form of communication and demonstrated that the animals have individual drumming styles.
Now, a new study published Friday in the journal Current Biology shows chimpanzees also follow distinct, regular and non-random rhythms—traits that are building blocks of human music.
This suggests the origin of our own musicality may have originated in a last common ancestor with chimpanzees.
“They’re actually drumming often with their feet, so they’re using their hands to hold onto those roots, and then they’re kind of dancing,” Catherine Hobaiter, a co-author of the study and a primatologist at the University of St.
Andrews in Scotland, tells NPR’s Jon Hamilton.
“And sometimes they’re jumping between the roots and getting all of those different beat structures down, throwing a hand in if you want to get a little syncopated.”In the study, Hobaiter and her colleagues analyzed 371 drumming bouts produced by eastern and western chimpanzees in 11 communities across Côte d’Ivoire, Guinea, Senegal, Tanzania and Uganda.
The drumming “had a predictability to it,” Hobaiter tells the Guardian’s Nicola Davis.
“And when you’ve got predictability, you’ve got a really strong indicator that there’s rhythm there.”
Though some earlier studies indicate that captive chimps can drum rhythmically, this new paper is the first to truly demonstrate that ability in wild chimpanzees, says Valérie Dufour, an animal cognition biologist at the University of Clermont Auvergne in France who did not participate in the research, to Science’s Rodrigo Pérez Ortega.
“Showing that chimpanzees share some of the fundamental properties of human musical rhythm in their drumming is a really exciting step in understanding when and how we evolved this skill,” Hobaiter explains in a statement.
“Our findings suggest that our ability to drum rhythmically may have existed long before we were human.”
The team’s analyses revealed striking differences in drumming rhythm between the two subspecies: Western chimps used more regular intervals, while their eastern counterparts were more likely to alternate between faster and slower beats.
The two groups also integrated the drumming into their vocalizations in different ways: Western chimps drummed more and faster, and they combined it into their vocalizations—known as pant-hoots—earlier than eastern chimps did.
These contrasts might be linked to differences in social behaviors between the subspecies, researchers say.
Eastern chimpanzees tend to be more aggressive, live in bigger groups and have more hierarchical societies than the more egalitarian western chimpanzees.
The variations between their drumming styles might reflect differences in human language, reports National Geographic’s Olivia Ferrari.“This is the kind of science that wakes us up to the fact that every single population of chimpanzees is worth conserving and preserving,” Hobaiter tells National Geographic.
“We’re starting to recognize that they might have cultures in their communication, in their rhythm, in their social behavior… if you lose a group, you lose the unique culture that goes with it.”
In a similar way, two other recent papers are also shedding light on chimp behaviors that are uncannily close to human ones.
A study published May 7 in Biology Letters suggests western chimpanzees often throw previously collected rocks against tree trunks as a form of communication.
And other research published May 9 in Science Advances shows the primates communicate complex meaning by combining vocal sounds.
Taken together with recent work detailing a headbanging sea lion that can keep a beat and a key linguistic pattern in whale song, the research suggests humans’ rhythm and language abilities might not be as unique as we once thought.
“Humans are intrinsically rhythmic creatures,” Hobaiter tells BBC Science Focus’ Hatty Willmoth.
“We have rhythm in our music and in our dance and in our song, but also in our conversations—and it’s a human universal, so it might be part of our evolutionary heritage.”
Get the latest stories in your inbox every weekday.

Source: https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/researchers-discover-that-chimps-drum-rhythmically-suggesting-human-musicality-originated-in-our-last-common-ancestor-180986607/" style="color: #0066cc;">https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/researchers-discover-that-chimps-drum-rhythmically-suggesting-human-musicality-originated-in-our-last-common-ancestor-180986607/
#researchers #discover #that #chimps #drum #rhythmically #suggesting #human #musicality #originated #our #last #common #ancestor

Researchers Discover That Chimps Drum Rhythmically, Suggesting Human Musicality Originated in Our Last Common Ancestor
Researchers Discover That Chimps Drum Rhythmically, Suggesting Human Musicality Originated in Our Last Common Ancestor Not only do chimpanzees maintain a rhythm while drumming on tree roots, but two subspecies use distinct tempos and techniques, according to a new study A new study finds chimpanzees drum against tree roots with rhythm, suggesting they share an evolutionary trait with humans passed down by a last common ancestor. DaFranzos via Pixabay Wild chimpanzees often drum their limbs against the large roots of giant trees, sending out loud, booming sounds that resonate through the rainforest. Previous research identified the behavior as a form of communication and demonstrated that the animals have individual drumming styles. Now, a new study published Friday in the journal Current Biology shows chimpanzees also follow distinct, regular and non-random rhythms—traits that are building blocks of human music. This suggests the origin of our own musicality may have originated in a last common ancestor with chimpanzees. “They’re actually drumming often with their feet, so they’re using their hands to hold onto those roots, and then they’re kind of dancing,” Catherine Hobaiter, a co-author of the study and a primatologist at the University of St. Andrews in Scotland, tells NPR’s Jon Hamilton. “And sometimes they’re jumping between the roots and getting all of those different beat structures down, throwing a hand in if you want to get a little syncopated.”In the study, Hobaiter and her colleagues analyzed 371 drumming bouts produced by eastern and western chimpanzees in 11 communities across Côte d’Ivoire, Guinea, Senegal, Tanzania and Uganda. The drumming “had a predictability to it,” Hobaiter tells the Guardian’s Nicola Davis. “And when you’ve got predictability, you’ve got a really strong indicator that there’s rhythm there.” Though some earlier studies indicate that captive chimps can drum rhythmically, this new paper is the first to truly demonstrate that ability in wild chimpanzees, says Valérie Dufour, an animal cognition biologist at the University of Clermont Auvergne in France who did not participate in the research, to Science’s Rodrigo Pérez Ortega. “Showing that chimpanzees share some of the fundamental properties of human musical rhythm in their drumming is a really exciting step in understanding when and how we evolved this skill,” Hobaiter explains in a statement. “Our findings suggest that our ability to drum rhythmically may have existed long before we were human.” The team’s analyses revealed striking differences in drumming rhythm between the two subspecies: Western chimps used more regular intervals, while their eastern counterparts were more likely to alternate between faster and slower beats. The two groups also integrated the drumming into their vocalizations in different ways: Western chimps drummed more and faster, and they combined it into their vocalizations—known as pant-hoots—earlier than eastern chimps did. These contrasts might be linked to differences in social behaviors between the subspecies, researchers say. Eastern chimpanzees tend to be more aggressive, live in bigger groups and have more hierarchical societies than the more egalitarian western chimpanzees. The variations between their drumming styles might reflect differences in human language, reports National Geographic’s Olivia Ferrari.“This is the kind of science that wakes us up to the fact that every single population of chimpanzees is worth conserving and preserving,” Hobaiter tells National Geographic. “We’re starting to recognize that they might have cultures in their communication, in their rhythm, in their social behavior… if you lose a group, you lose the unique culture that goes with it.” In a similar way, two other recent papers are also shedding light on chimp behaviors that are uncannily close to human ones. A study published May 7 in Biology Letters suggests western chimpanzees often throw previously collected rocks against tree trunks as a form of communication. And other research published May 9 in Science Advances shows the primates communicate complex meaning by combining vocal sounds. Taken together with recent work detailing a headbanging sea lion that can keep a beat and a key linguistic pattern in whale song, the research suggests humans’ rhythm and language abilities might not be as unique as we once thought. “Humans are intrinsically rhythmic creatures,” Hobaiter tells BBC Science Focus’ Hatty Willmoth. “We have rhythm in our music and in our dance and in our song, but also in our conversations—and it’s a human universal, so it might be part of our evolutionary heritage.” Get the latest stories in your inbox every weekday. Source: https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/researchers-discover-that-chimps-drum-rhythmically-suggesting-human-musicality-originated-in-our-last-common-ancestor-180986607/ #researchers #discover #that #chimps #drum #rhythmically #suggesting #human #musicality #originated #our #last #common #ancestor

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Researchers Discover That Chimps Drum Rhythmically, Suggesting Human Musicality Originated in Our Last Common Ancestor
Researchers Discover That Chimps Drum Rhythmically, Suggesting Human Musicality Originated in Our Last Common Ancestor Not only do chimpanzees maintain a rhythm while drumming on tree roots, but two subspecies use distinct tempos and techniques, according to a new study A new study finds chimpanzees drum against tree roots with rhythm, suggesting they share an evolutionary trait with humans passed down by a last common ancestor. DaFranzos via Pixabay Wild chimpanzees often drum their limbs against the large roots of giant trees, sending out loud, booming sounds that resonate through the rainforest. Previous research identified the behavior as a form of communication and demonstrated that the animals have individual drumming styles. Now, a new study published Friday in the journal Current Biology shows chimpanzees also follow distinct, regular and non-random rhythms—traits that are building blocks of human music. This suggests the origin of our own musicality may have originated in a last common ancestor with chimpanzees. “They’re actually drumming often with their feet, so they’re using their hands to hold onto those roots, and then they’re kind of dancing,” Catherine Hobaiter, a co-author of the study and a primatologist at the University of St. Andrews in Scotland, tells NPR’s Jon Hamilton. “And sometimes they’re jumping between the roots and getting all of those different beat structures down, throwing a hand in if you want to get a little syncopated.”In the study, Hobaiter and her colleagues analyzed 371 drumming bouts produced by eastern and western chimpanzees in 11 communities across Côte d’Ivoire, Guinea, Senegal, Tanzania and Uganda. The drumming “had a predictability to it,” Hobaiter tells the Guardian’s Nicola Davis. “And when you’ve got predictability, you’ve got a really strong indicator that there’s rhythm there.” Though some earlier studies indicate that captive chimps can drum rhythmically, this new paper is the first to truly demonstrate that ability in wild chimpanzees, says Valérie Dufour, an animal cognition biologist at the University of Clermont Auvergne in France who did not participate in the research, to Science’s Rodrigo Pérez Ortega. “Showing that chimpanzees share some of the fundamental properties of human musical rhythm in their drumming is a really exciting step in understanding when and how we evolved this skill,” Hobaiter explains in a statement. “Our findings suggest that our ability to drum rhythmically may have existed long before we were human.” The team’s analyses revealed striking differences in drumming rhythm between the two subspecies: Western chimps used more regular intervals, while their eastern counterparts were more likely to alternate between faster and slower beats. The two groups also integrated the drumming into their vocalizations in different ways: Western chimps drummed more and faster, and they combined it into their vocalizations—known as pant-hoots—earlier than eastern chimps did. These contrasts might be linked to differences in social behaviors between the subspecies, researchers say. Eastern chimpanzees tend to be more aggressive, live in bigger groups and have more hierarchical societies than the more egalitarian western chimpanzees. The variations between their drumming styles might reflect differences in human language, reports National Geographic’s Olivia Ferrari.“This is the kind of science that wakes us up to the fact that every single population of chimpanzees is worth conserving and preserving,” Hobaiter tells National Geographic. “We’re starting to recognize that they might have cultures in their communication, in their rhythm, in their social behavior… if you lose a group, you lose the unique culture that goes with it.” In a similar way, two other recent papers are also shedding light on chimp behaviors that are uncannily close to human ones. A study published May 7 in Biology Letters suggests western chimpanzees often throw previously collected rocks against tree trunks as a form of communication. And other research published May 9 in Science Advances shows the primates communicate complex meaning by combining vocal sounds. Taken together with recent work detailing a headbanging sea lion that can keep a beat and a key linguistic pattern in whale song, the research suggests humans’ rhythm and language abilities might not be as unique as we once thought. “Humans are intrinsically rhythmic creatures,” Hobaiter tells BBC Science Focus’ Hatty Willmoth. “We have rhythm in our music and in our dance and in our song, but also in our conversations—and it’s a human universal, so it might be part of our evolutionary heritage.” Get the latest stories in your inbox every weekday.

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2025-05-14 04:24:43 - Translate -

Feeding Flamingos Create Underwater Tornado-Like Vortices to Capture Their Prey, Study Finds

Feeding Flamingos Create Underwater Tornado-Like Vortices to Capture Their Prey, Study Finds
Rather than passively filter-feeding, the birds use their heads, beaks and feet to generate motion in the water that funnels invertebrates into their mouths

A new study reveals how Chilean flamingos are so adept at finding food.
Victor Ortega Jiménez / UC Berkeley
Flamingos have a natural ability to filter out food, like shrimp and worms, from the surrounding water, even in the most food-poor environments.
Now, a new study published Monday in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences reveals how the birds use the power of physics to nab their elusive prey.
Victor Ortega Jiménez, an integrative biologist at the University of California, Berkeley, and lead author of the study, first became interested in flamingos’ eating behavior after a visit to Zoo Atlanta in 2019.
The pink birds stomped their feet and submerged their beaks, but from the surface, he saw only ripples.
The researcher wanted to know what was happening underwater.
“We don’t know anything about what is happening inside,” he says in a statement.
“That was my question.”
Flamingo model tornado vortex
Watch on
So, Ortega Jiménez and his team took a closer look with the help of three Chilean flamingos at the Nashville Zoo.
They trained the animals to feed from a water-filled tray over several weeks and used high-speed cameras and lasers to monitor the process.
Then, the researchers created 3D printed models of the birds’ heads, feet and bills to more closely study how they make the water and particles move.
The final step of the work involved attaching a real flamingo beak to a machine that snaps it open and shut, with a small pump to simulate the bird’s tongue.
The researchers found that the flamingos use the motion of water to their advantage, combining techniques to funnel water—and the invertebrates within it—to their mouths.
They’ll stomp their feet in dance-like motions to bring food up to the surface.
Then, they’ll quickly bob their heads up and down to create tornado-like underwater vortices that help catch their prey more efficiently.
The birds also snap or “chatter” their beaks and move their tongues in and out—and that chattering allows flamingos to capture seven times more brine shrimp.
“We are challenging the idea that flamingos are just passive filter feeders,” says Ortega Jiménez to Rachel Nuwer at the New York Times.
“Just as spiders produce webs, flamingos produce vortices.”
Tornado flamingo chattering
Watch on
The team calculated just how quickly the flamingos chattered their beaks and bobbed their heads.
To create a tornado-like vortex, a bird would retract its head in a short burst of speed at nearly 16 inches per second.
The chattering motion involved the lower beak snapping about 12 times per second.
The study is “an outstanding demonstration of how biological form and motion can control the surrounding fluid to serve a functional role,” adds Sunghwan Jung, a biophysicist at Cornell University who was not involved in the study, to the New York Times.
Flamingo brine filtering foot
Watch on
Flamingos’ feeding prowess can even benefit other birds: A 2018 study found that Wilson’s phalaropes can double their food intake by following behind a stomping flamingo.
Next, Ortega Jiménez wants to study what goes on inside flamingos’ beaks during feeding, in hopes that it can inspire new technologies that harness the strength of vortices to capture toxic algae or microplastics from water.
“These behaviors that look kind of silly are generating these really useful water flows,” Elizabeth Brainerd, a functional morphologist at Brown University who was not involved with the study, told Elizabeth Pennisi at Science when the work was presented at a conference in 2023.
“That’s unexpected … and quite elegant.”
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Source: https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/feeding-flamingos-create-underwater-tornado-like-vortices-to-capture-their-prey-study-finds-180986614/" style="color: #0066cc;">https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/feeding-flamingos-create-underwater-tornado-like-vortices-to-capture-their-prey-study-finds-180986614/
#feeding #flamingos #create #underwater #tornadolike #vortices #capture #their #prey #study #finds

Feeding Flamingos Create Underwater Tornado-Like Vortices to Capture Their Prey, Study Finds
Feeding Flamingos Create Underwater Tornado-Like Vortices to Capture Their Prey, Study Finds Rather than passively filter-feeding, the birds use their heads, beaks and feet to generate motion in the water that funnels invertebrates into their mouths A new study reveals how Chilean flamingos are so adept at finding food. Victor Ortega Jiménez / UC Berkeley Flamingos have a natural ability to filter out food, like shrimp and worms, from the surrounding water, even in the most food-poor environments. Now, a new study published Monday in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences reveals how the birds use the power of physics to nab their elusive prey. Victor Ortega Jiménez, an integrative biologist at the University of California, Berkeley, and lead author of the study, first became interested in flamingos’ eating behavior after a visit to Zoo Atlanta in 2019. The pink birds stomped their feet and submerged their beaks, but from the surface, he saw only ripples. The researcher wanted to know what was happening underwater. “We don’t know anything about what is happening inside,” he says in a statement. “That was my question.” Flamingo model tornado vortex Watch on So, Ortega Jiménez and his team took a closer look with the help of three Chilean flamingos at the Nashville Zoo. They trained the animals to feed from a water-filled tray over several weeks and used high-speed cameras and lasers to monitor the process. Then, the researchers created 3D printed models of the birds’ heads, feet and bills to more closely study how they make the water and particles move. The final step of the work involved attaching a real flamingo beak to a machine that snaps it open and shut, with a small pump to simulate the bird’s tongue. The researchers found that the flamingos use the motion of water to their advantage, combining techniques to funnel water—and the invertebrates within it—to their mouths. They’ll stomp their feet in dance-like motions to bring food up to the surface. Then, they’ll quickly bob their heads up and down to create tornado-like underwater vortices that help catch their prey more efficiently. The birds also snap or “chatter” their beaks and move their tongues in and out—and that chattering allows flamingos to capture seven times more brine shrimp. “We are challenging the idea that flamingos are just passive filter feeders,” says Ortega Jiménez to Rachel Nuwer at the New York Times. “Just as spiders produce webs, flamingos produce vortices.” Tornado flamingo chattering Watch on The team calculated just how quickly the flamingos chattered their beaks and bobbed their heads. To create a tornado-like vortex, a bird would retract its head in a short burst of speed at nearly 16 inches per second. The chattering motion involved the lower beak snapping about 12 times per second. The study is “an outstanding demonstration of how biological form and motion can control the surrounding fluid to serve a functional role,” adds Sunghwan Jung, a biophysicist at Cornell University who was not involved in the study, to the New York Times. Flamingo brine filtering foot Watch on Flamingos’ feeding prowess can even benefit other birds: A 2018 study found that Wilson’s phalaropes can double their food intake by following behind a stomping flamingo. Next, Ortega Jiménez wants to study what goes on inside flamingos’ beaks during feeding, in hopes that it can inspire new technologies that harness the strength of vortices to capture toxic algae or microplastics from water. “These behaviors that look kind of silly are generating these really useful water flows,” Elizabeth Brainerd, a functional morphologist at Brown University who was not involved with the study, told Elizabeth Pennisi at Science when the work was presented at a conference in 2023. “That’s unexpected … and quite elegant.” Get the latest stories in your inbox every weekday. Source: https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/feeding-flamingos-create-underwater-tornado-like-vortices-to-capture-their-prey-study-finds-180986614/ #feeding #flamingos #create #underwater #tornadolike #vortices #capture #their #prey #study #finds

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Feeding Flamingos Create Underwater Tornado-Like Vortices to Capture Their Prey, Study Finds
Feeding Flamingos Create Underwater Tornado-Like Vortices to Capture Their Prey, Study Finds Rather than passively filter-feeding, the birds use their heads, beaks and feet to generate motion in the water that funnels invertebrates into their mouths A new study reveals how Chilean flamingos are so adept at finding food. Victor Ortega Jiménez / UC Berkeley Flamingos have a natural ability to filter out food, like shrimp and worms, from the surrounding water, even in the most food-poor environments. Now, a new study published Monday in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences reveals how the birds use the power of physics to nab their elusive prey. Victor Ortega Jiménez, an integrative biologist at the University of California, Berkeley, and lead author of the study, first became interested in flamingos’ eating behavior after a visit to Zoo Atlanta in 2019. The pink birds stomped their feet and submerged their beaks, but from the surface, he saw only ripples. The researcher wanted to know what was happening underwater. “We don’t know anything about what is happening inside,” he says in a statement. “That was my question.” Flamingo model tornado vortex Watch on So, Ortega Jiménez and his team took a closer look with the help of three Chilean flamingos at the Nashville Zoo. They trained the animals to feed from a water-filled tray over several weeks and used high-speed cameras and lasers to monitor the process. Then, the researchers created 3D printed models of the birds’ heads, feet and bills to more closely study how they make the water and particles move. The final step of the work involved attaching a real flamingo beak to a machine that snaps it open and shut, with a small pump to simulate the bird’s tongue. The researchers found that the flamingos use the motion of water to their advantage, combining techniques to funnel water—and the invertebrates within it—to their mouths. They’ll stomp their feet in dance-like motions to bring food up to the surface. Then, they’ll quickly bob their heads up and down to create tornado-like underwater vortices that help catch their prey more efficiently. The birds also snap or “chatter” their beaks and move their tongues in and out—and that chattering allows flamingos to capture seven times more brine shrimp. “We are challenging the idea that flamingos are just passive filter feeders,” says Ortega Jiménez to Rachel Nuwer at the New York Times. “Just as spiders produce webs, flamingos produce vortices.” Tornado flamingo chattering Watch on The team calculated just how quickly the flamingos chattered their beaks and bobbed their heads. To create a tornado-like vortex, a bird would retract its head in a short burst of speed at nearly 16 inches per second. The chattering motion involved the lower beak snapping about 12 times per second. The study is “an outstanding demonstration of how biological form and motion can control the surrounding fluid to serve a functional role,” adds Sunghwan Jung, a biophysicist at Cornell University who was not involved in the study, to the New York Times. Flamingo brine filtering foot Watch on Flamingos’ feeding prowess can even benefit other birds: A 2018 study found that Wilson’s phalaropes can double their food intake by following behind a stomping flamingo. Next, Ortega Jiménez wants to study what goes on inside flamingos’ beaks during feeding, in hopes that it can inspire new technologies that harness the strength of vortices to capture toxic algae or microplastics from water. “These behaviors that look kind of silly are generating these really useful water flows,” Elizabeth Brainerd, a functional morphologist at Brown University who was not involved with the study, told Elizabeth Pennisi at Science when the work was presented at a conference in 2023. “That’s unexpected … and quite elegant.” Get the latest stories in your inbox every weekday.

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#333;">Why one obscure app could help crumble Meta’s empire
If the question, “Who is Meta’s biggest rival?” were on a Family Feud survey, TikTok would likely be the winning answer.
In the Federal Trade Commission’s antitrust case against the Facebook and Instagram owner, the government’s response probably wouldn’t even make the top 10: a small blockchain-based platform called MeWe.
MeWe looks a fair amount like Facebook at first glance, except that you make an account using the Frequency blockchain — which the company explains is a decentralized protocol that lets you move your social connections to other (mostly hypothetical at this point) apps that support Frequency.
The company says 20 million users have joined, but when I make a MeWe account and log in, I scroll through my autopopulated feed and think, “Who are these people?” I search for a few of my Verge colleagues, figuring if anyone has tried this obscure app, it might be one of them, but I come up short.
I try some public figures: Tim Cook? Jeff Bezos? Mark Zuckerberg? There are some accounts with these names, but it seems unlikely they’re the ones I have in mind.The claim that MeWe is a closer competitor to Facebook and Instagram than TikTok might be baffling if you’re not steeped in antitrust law or the specifics of the FTC’s complaint.
Meta CEO Zuckerberg testified he hadn’t even heard of the app before this case was filed.
But the FTC has spent the past three weeks laying out its logic.
Using Meta’s own internal discussions about how it views itself and its competition, it says that Meta has historically, and to this day, competed in a market for connecting with friends and family online — and when it saw its dominance in that space threatened by the rise of Instagram and WhatsApp, it bought them to squash the competition.Whether Judge James Boasberg buys this could determine who wins the case — if the FTC can also show that Meta acted illegally through its acquisitions of Instagram and WhatsApp to solidify its alleged monopoly power.Antitrust law is supposed to ensure fair competition, which usually means that people have options for a useful class of goods and services — what’s known as a relevant market.
The FTC says that here, that market is “personal social networking services,” or PSNs: spaces where a core purpose is helping people connect with friends and family.
While there are many online platforms that overlap with Meta’s services, the FTC argues that virtually none of them serve that market.
If internet users want to find and hang out with people they know — as opposed to, say, watching influencers or making work connections — then it’s Mark Zuckerberg’s way or… in the government’s telling, Snapchat, BeReal, and MeWe.
Beyond that core definition, PSNs have some other unique features and norms: The apps feature a social graph of users’ friends and family connections, as opposed to mapping users primarily based on their interests.
Users can look up and find people they know in real life.
And they come to the app to share personal updates with those people.Facebook and Instagram increasingly display videos and photos from influencers and celebrities, but the FTC argues personal social networking remains a core service.
It used Instagram chief Adam Mosseri’s testimony to most clearly make this point.
In that testimony as well as posts to his own Instagram account, Mosseri said that it’s still important for the app to connect users with their friends.
The FTC argues that even if that use case is a smaller portion of what Meta’s apps do these days, it’s still a significant need users have that can virtually only be fulfilled by Facebook and Instagram.
While someone might connect with people they know in real life on LinkedIn, they likely won’t primarily share personal updates there.
And while they also could follow and interact with people they know on TikTok or YouTube, they’re more likely to passively watch videos from people they don’t.Meta says this is an entirely wrong way to think about it.
Social media platforms compete for users’ time and attention, so whether a particular app is squarely aimed at so-called friends and family sharing is beside the point.
Facebook and Instagram have evolved to show more content from people like influencers, shifting further from the use case the FTC says Meta has illegally dominated.
The company has already landed some important points that could help its case, and it will get more time to push back on the agency’s framing when it calls its own witnesses in the coming weeks.But as the FTC’s case-in-chief continues into its fifth week, its argument for Meta’s dominance is becoming a lot clearer.Why do people use Facebook?When defining a market, each side is trying to answer a key question: why are people choosing one particular company’s product? A lot of goods and services compete with each other in some sense, but this doesn’t mean they serve the same niche.
In the case of sodas, for example, “you could buy lemon-lime, but many people would never see that as a close substitute for buying Coke or Pepsi,” says George Washington Law professor and former FTC Chair Bill Kovacic.
In the tech world, Netflix has claimed its biggest competitors are Fortnite and sleep — but those comparisons probably wouldn’t stand up in court.The FTC says that outside of Facebook and Instagram, only apps like Snapchat and MeWe can fulfill a users’ desire to broadcast personal updates with friends and family online.
To make its case, it brought in a string of executives from other social media companies to explain why their apps can’t quite scratch the same itch for users.
Strava’s former VP of connected partnerships Mateo Ortega testified that sure, users of the fitness-tracking social media app could share baby photos on the platform, but they probably wouldn’t unless it was in a running stroller.
“It’s all about fitness, and while you can post other stuff, it just doesn’t seem as relevant,” he said.
“You could buy lemon-lime, but many people would never see that as a close substitute for buying Coke or Pepsi”Pinterest’s former head of user growth Julia Roberts testified that users who come to Pinterest “expecting it to be like other social media apps … tend to be confused about how to use the product.” That’s because the app is so much not about connecting with other people that it works much differently from other social media platforms.
Pinterest is more about finding things users are interested in, she said, so “following is not a big part of the Pinterest experience.”TikTok has a tab where users can watch videos from their friends — identified as people who mutually follow each other.
But head of operations Adam Presser testified only about 1 percent of videos watched on the platform are there.
The company doesn’t think of itself as competing with Meta’s apps for personal social networking, he testified.
And even though side-by-side screenshots of TikTok, Instagram Reels, and YouTube Shorts look identical, Presser said, “when you click out of this view for these other platforms, you would get to essentially what I think of as their core business,” which for Instagram, includes a feed and stories that often contain at least some content from family and friends.At times, Meta’s cross-examination of rival company executives showed the limits of apps’ similarities.
When questioning Apple director of product marketing Ronak Shah, Meta sought to show that group chats in Apple’s messaging feature could serve as a social media feed for friends and family sharing.
But Shah testified that feed would be limited to 32 people at most, and users can’t just look up each others’ profiles like they would on social platforms.
Still, Meta pointed out, Apple’s messages app is listed under social media on its own app store.However, Meta also made important arguments about why the judge should question the FTC’s framing.
It pointed out that some documents from TikTok and YouTube owner Google claiming their products are very different from Meta’s were submitted to foreign officials to try to avoid getting drafted into potentially frustrating regulations.
It also pointed out when TikTok briefly went dark in the US ahead of a (now-aborted) ban, users flocked to Meta apps, showing consumers see it as a substitute on at least some level.
That’s because, Meta argued, competition for users is really about winning their time and attention.Companies can “sometimes make mistakes.
They misjudge who their users are”But X VP of product Keith Coleman testified it’s not that useful to think about competition this way.
Instead, “it’s much more helpful to understand what people are trying to accomplish in their lives and to try to help them accomplish that.” Under former CEO Jack Dorsey, then-Twitter leaned into focusing on news and users’ interests, Coleman testified, because that’s why people were coming to the platform.
Coleman was later surprised at how his own website characterized the product in its help center as a “service for friends, family, and coworkers to communicate and stay connected through the exchange of quick, frequent messages.” “I can’t believe that’s on the website,” he said.
“That’s pretty wacky.”This point was “a caution that not everything a company writes down or says is necessarily decisive in establishing what the boundary of a market is,” Kovacic said.
Companies can “sometimes make mistakes.
They misjudge who their users are.”There are real ramifications for internet users here.
Going back to Netflix’s comparisons, if the streaming video service went down, some people would probably be happy to play a video game or get a few hours of shut-eye instead.
But others would be frustrated that they couldn’t watch a movie, which is why it’s good that Hulu, HBO, and Amazon Prime Video also exist.
The FTC’s argument isn’t that Meta owns the only social apps on the internet, it’s that the company faces little competition for a service many people specifically want — so the fact that you probably don’t know anyone using MeWe is sort of the point.How will the judge decide?Ultimately, Boasberg’s market definition — whether it’s Meta’s, the FTC’s, or his own — will come down to a few things: how Meta views itself, how competitors see it, and his own intuition, says Kovacic.
”Notice how much the FTC has been questioning Meta witnesses on the basis of its own internal documents,” he says.
“Does the story in the courtroom match the story of your own internal documents?” So far, the documents have shown that Meta has clocked that at least some portion of users come to its products to connect with family and friends, but also that the rise of TikTok has had it looking over its shoulder.
In September 2020, Meta told its board that Instagram revenue would be “meaningfully lower” than planned in the second half of the fiscal year because TikTok was drawing users’ attention.
But other internal documents have shown Meta’s well aware that at different points in time, users have come to its apps to connect with family and friends, and worriedly took note of other apps entering that space.
In a 2018 presentation, Meta found that the highest percentage of surveyed users said they come to Facebook, Instagram, and Snap to “see daily casual moments” and “see special moments.” By contrast, users came to Twitter’s feed for news and YouTube’s for entertainment.
And even as Instagram expands into entertainment, the FTC notes that it still advertises its sign-up page as a place to “see photos and videos from your friends.”“Instagram will always need to focus on friends”In a 2018 email, Zuckerberg told Mosseri that “Instagram will always need to focus on friends.” And even though a lot has changed in the social media landscape since then, Mosseri testified that to this day on the app, “friends are an important part of the experience.” Even though users may share fewer of their own updates on Facebook and Instagram, Mosseri admitted that two friends talking in the comments of a public figure’s post counts as an interaction between friends — and one that Instagram actively tries to facilitate.Meta has argued that this special focus on friends and family sharing makes up a shrinking portion of its offerings as it works to compete with fierce rivals like TikTok.
But the FTC says it’s still significant enough to monopolize.
It’s a scenario that came up in another major tech monopolization case, Kovacic says: the late-1990s lawsuit US v.
Microsoft.
In that case, Microsoft argued the Justice Department was ignoring how computing would soon move beyond the personal computer to the Internet of Things, meaning it couldn’t truly lock up the computing ecosystem as much as the government alleged.“Judge Jackson in the Microsoft case said, yeah, those things are happening, but not happening fast enough to deny you real market power in this PC and laptop-based market that the Justice Department is emphasizing,” Kovacic says.Still, he adds, a market niche can at some point become so small that it’s no longer significant in the eyes of antitrust law.
“You can have a process of change that ultimately renders the market segment unimportant,” he says.
“And the hard task of analysis for the judge is to say, has it already happened?”See More:
#666;">المصدر: https://www.theverge.com/antitrust/665308/meta-ftc-antitrust-trial-market-definition-tiktok-mewe-snap" style="color: #0066cc; text-decoration: none;">www.theverge.com
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Why one obscure app could help crumble Meta’s empire
If the question, “Who is Meta’s biggest rival?” were on a Family Feud survey, TikTok would likely be the winning answer. In the Federal Trade Commission’s antitrust case against the Facebook and Instagram owner, the government’s response probably wouldn’t even make the top 10: a small blockchain-based platform called MeWe. MeWe looks a fair amount like Facebook at first glance, except that you make an account using the Frequency blockchain — which the company explains is a decentralized protocol that lets you move your social connections to other (mostly hypothetical at this point) apps that support Frequency. The company says 20 million users have joined, but when I make a MeWe account and log in, I scroll through my autopopulated feed and think, “Who are these people?” I search for a few of my Verge colleagues, figuring if anyone has tried this obscure app, it might be one of them, but I come up short. I try some public figures: Tim Cook? Jeff Bezos? Mark Zuckerberg? There are some accounts with these names, but it seems unlikely they’re the ones I have in mind.The claim that MeWe is a closer competitor to Facebook and Instagram than TikTok might be baffling if you’re not steeped in antitrust law or the specifics of the FTC’s complaint. Meta CEO Zuckerberg testified he hadn’t even heard of the app before this case was filed. But the FTC has spent the past three weeks laying out its logic. Using Meta’s own internal discussions about how it views itself and its competition, it says that Meta has historically, and to this day, competed in a market for connecting with friends and family online — and when it saw its dominance in that space threatened by the rise of Instagram and WhatsApp, it bought them to squash the competition.Whether Judge James Boasberg buys this could determine who wins the case — if the FTC can also show that Meta acted illegally through its acquisitions of Instagram and WhatsApp to solidify its alleged monopoly power.Antitrust law is supposed to ensure fair competition, which usually means that people have options for a useful class of goods and services — what’s known as a relevant market. The FTC says that here, that market is “personal social networking services,” or PSNs: spaces where a core purpose is helping people connect with friends and family. While there are many online platforms that overlap with Meta’s services, the FTC argues that virtually none of them serve that market. If internet users want to find and hang out with people they know — as opposed to, say, watching influencers or making work connections — then it’s Mark Zuckerberg’s way or… in the government’s telling, Snapchat, BeReal, and MeWe. Beyond that core definition, PSNs have some other unique features and norms: The apps feature a social graph of users’ friends and family connections, as opposed to mapping users primarily based on their interests. Users can look up and find people they know in real life. And they come to the app to share personal updates with those people.Facebook and Instagram increasingly display videos and photos from influencers and celebrities, but the FTC argues personal social networking remains a core service. It used Instagram chief Adam Mosseri’s testimony to most clearly make this point. In that testimony as well as posts to his own Instagram account, Mosseri said that it’s still important for the app to connect users with their friends. The FTC argues that even if that use case is a smaller portion of what Meta’s apps do these days, it’s still a significant need users have that can virtually only be fulfilled by Facebook and Instagram. While someone might connect with people they know in real life on LinkedIn, they likely won’t primarily share personal updates there. And while they also could follow and interact with people they know on TikTok or YouTube, they’re more likely to passively watch videos from people they don’t.Meta says this is an entirely wrong way to think about it. Social media platforms compete for users’ time and attention, so whether a particular app is squarely aimed at so-called friends and family sharing is beside the point. Facebook and Instagram have evolved to show more content from people like influencers, shifting further from the use case the FTC says Meta has illegally dominated. The company has already landed some important points that could help its case, and it will get more time to push back on the agency’s framing when it calls its own witnesses in the coming weeks.But as the FTC’s case-in-chief continues into its fifth week, its argument for Meta’s dominance is becoming a lot clearer.Why do people use Facebook?When defining a market, each side is trying to answer a key question: why are people choosing one particular company’s product? A lot of goods and services compete with each other in some sense, but this doesn’t mean they serve the same niche. In the case of sodas, for example, “you could buy lemon-lime, but many people would never see that as a close substitute for buying Coke or Pepsi,” says George Washington Law professor and former FTC Chair Bill Kovacic. In the tech world, Netflix has claimed its biggest competitors are Fortnite and sleep — but those comparisons probably wouldn’t stand up in court.The FTC says that outside of Facebook and Instagram, only apps like Snapchat and MeWe can fulfill a users’ desire to broadcast personal updates with friends and family online. To make its case, it brought in a string of executives from other social media companies to explain why their apps can’t quite scratch the same itch for users. Strava’s former VP of connected partnerships Mateo Ortega testified that sure, users of the fitness-tracking social media app could share baby photos on the platform, but they probably wouldn’t unless it was in a running stroller. “It’s all about fitness, and while you can post other stuff, it just doesn’t seem as relevant,” he said. “You could buy lemon-lime, but many people would never see that as a close substitute for buying Coke or Pepsi”Pinterest’s former head of user growth Julia Roberts testified that users who come to Pinterest “expecting it to be like other social media apps … tend to be confused about how to use the product.” That’s because the app is so much not about connecting with other people that it works much differently from other social media platforms. Pinterest is more about finding things users are interested in, she said, so “following is not a big part of the Pinterest experience.”TikTok has a tab where users can watch videos from their friends — identified as people who mutually follow each other. But head of operations Adam Presser testified only about 1 percent of videos watched on the platform are there. The company doesn’t think of itself as competing with Meta’s apps for personal social networking, he testified. And even though side-by-side screenshots of TikTok, Instagram Reels, and YouTube Shorts look identical, Presser said, “when you click out of this view for these other platforms, you would get to essentially what I think of as their core business,” which for Instagram, includes a feed and stories that often contain at least some content from family and friends.At times, Meta’s cross-examination of rival company executives showed the limits of apps’ similarities. When questioning Apple director of product marketing Ronak Shah, Meta sought to show that group chats in Apple’s messaging feature could serve as a social media feed for friends and family sharing. But Shah testified that feed would be limited to 32 people at most, and users can’t just look up each others’ profiles like they would on social platforms. Still, Meta pointed out, Apple’s messages app is listed under social media on its own app store.However, Meta also made important arguments about why the judge should question the FTC’s framing. It pointed out that some documents from TikTok and YouTube owner Google claiming their products are very different from Meta’s were submitted to foreign officials to try to avoid getting drafted into potentially frustrating regulations. It also pointed out when TikTok briefly went dark in the US ahead of a (now-aborted) ban, users flocked to Meta apps, showing consumers see it as a substitute on at least some level. That’s because, Meta argued, competition for users is really about winning their time and attention.Companies can “sometimes make mistakes. They misjudge who their users are”But X VP of product Keith Coleman testified it’s not that useful to think about competition this way. Instead, “it’s much more helpful to understand what people are trying to accomplish in their lives and to try to help them accomplish that.” Under former CEO Jack Dorsey, then-Twitter leaned into focusing on news and users’ interests, Coleman testified, because that’s why people were coming to the platform. Coleman was later surprised at how his own website characterized the product in its help center as a “service for friends, family, and coworkers to communicate and stay connected through the exchange of quick, frequent messages.” “I can’t believe that’s on the website,” he said. “That’s pretty wacky.”This point was “a caution that not everything a company writes down or says is necessarily decisive in establishing what the boundary of a market is,” Kovacic said. Companies can “sometimes make mistakes. They misjudge who their users are.”There are real ramifications for internet users here. Going back to Netflix’s comparisons, if the streaming video service went down, some people would probably be happy to play a video game or get a few hours of shut-eye instead. But others would be frustrated that they couldn’t watch a movie, which is why it’s good that Hulu, HBO, and Amazon Prime Video also exist. The FTC’s argument isn’t that Meta owns the only social apps on the internet, it’s that the company faces little competition for a service many people specifically want — so the fact that you probably don’t know anyone using MeWe is sort of the point.How will the judge decide?Ultimately, Boasberg’s market definition — whether it’s Meta’s, the FTC’s, or his own — will come down to a few things: how Meta views itself, how competitors see it, and his own intuition, says Kovacic. ”Notice how much the FTC has been questioning Meta witnesses on the basis of its own internal documents,” he says. “Does the story in the courtroom match the story of your own internal documents?” So far, the documents have shown that Meta has clocked that at least some portion of users come to its products to connect with family and friends, but also that the rise of TikTok has had it looking over its shoulder. In September 2020, Meta told its board that Instagram revenue would be “meaningfully lower” than planned in the second half of the fiscal year because TikTok was drawing users’ attention. But other internal documents have shown Meta’s well aware that at different points in time, users have come to its apps to connect with family and friends, and worriedly took note of other apps entering that space. In a 2018 presentation, Meta found that the highest percentage of surveyed users said they come to Facebook, Instagram, and Snap to “see daily casual moments” and “see special moments.” By contrast, users came to Twitter’s feed for news and YouTube’s for entertainment. And even as Instagram expands into entertainment, the FTC notes that it still advertises its sign-up page as a place to “see photos and videos from your friends.”“Instagram will always need to focus on friends”In a 2018 email, Zuckerberg told Mosseri that “Instagram will always need to focus on friends.” And even though a lot has changed in the social media landscape since then, Mosseri testified that to this day on the app, “friends are an important part of the experience.” Even though users may share fewer of their own updates on Facebook and Instagram, Mosseri admitted that two friends talking in the comments of a public figure’s post counts as an interaction between friends — and one that Instagram actively tries to facilitate.Meta has argued that this special focus on friends and family sharing makes up a shrinking portion of its offerings as it works to compete with fierce rivals like TikTok. But the FTC says it’s still significant enough to monopolize. It’s a scenario that came up in another major tech monopolization case, Kovacic says: the late-1990s lawsuit US v. Microsoft. In that case, Microsoft argued the Justice Department was ignoring how computing would soon move beyond the personal computer to the Internet of Things, meaning it couldn’t truly lock up the computing ecosystem as much as the government alleged.“Judge Jackson in the Microsoft case said, yeah, those things are happening, but not happening fast enough to deny you real market power in this PC and laptop-based market that the Justice Department is emphasizing,” Kovacic says.Still, he adds, a market niche can at some point become so small that it’s no longer significant in the eyes of antitrust law. “You can have a process of change that ultimately renders the market segment unimportant,” he says. “And the hard task of analysis for the judge is to say, has it already happened?”See More:
المصدر: www.theverge.com
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Why one obscure app could help crumble Meta’s empire
If the question, “Who is Meta’s biggest rival?” were on a Family Feud survey, TikTok would likely be the winning answer. In the Federal Trade Commission’s antitrust case against the Facebook and Instagram owner, the government’s response probably wouldn’t even make the top 10: a small blockchain-based platform called MeWe. MeWe looks a fair amount like Facebook at first glance, except that you make an account using the Frequency blockchain — which the company explains is a decentralized protocol that lets you move your social connections to other (mostly hypothetical at this point) apps that support Frequency. The company says 20 million users have joined, but when I make a MeWe account and log in, I scroll through my autopopulated feed and think, “Who are these people?” I search for a few of my Verge colleagues, figuring if anyone has tried this obscure app, it might be one of them, but I come up short. I try some public figures: Tim Cook? Jeff Bezos? Mark Zuckerberg? There are some accounts with these names, but it seems unlikely they’re the ones I have in mind.The claim that MeWe is a closer competitor to Facebook and Instagram than TikTok might be baffling if you’re not steeped in antitrust law or the specifics of the FTC’s complaint. Meta CEO Zuckerberg testified he hadn’t even heard of the app before this case was filed. But the FTC has spent the past three weeks laying out its logic. Using Meta’s own internal discussions about how it views itself and its competition, it says that Meta has historically, and to this day, competed in a market for connecting with friends and family online — and when it saw its dominance in that space threatened by the rise of Instagram and WhatsApp, it bought them to squash the competition.Whether Judge James Boasberg buys this could determine who wins the case — if the FTC can also show that Meta acted illegally through its acquisitions of Instagram and WhatsApp to solidify its alleged monopoly power.Antitrust law is supposed to ensure fair competition, which usually means that people have options for a useful class of goods and services — what’s known as a relevant market. The FTC says that here, that market is “personal social networking services,” or PSNs: spaces where a core purpose is helping people connect with friends and family. While there are many online platforms that overlap with Meta’s services, the FTC argues that virtually none of them serve that market. If internet users want to find and hang out with people they know — as opposed to, say, watching influencers or making work connections — then it’s Mark Zuckerberg’s way or… in the government’s telling, Snapchat, BeReal, and MeWe. Beyond that core definition, PSNs have some other unique features and norms: The apps feature a social graph of users’ friends and family connections, as opposed to mapping users primarily based on their interests. Users can look up and find people they know in real life. And they come to the app to share personal updates with those people.Facebook and Instagram increasingly display videos and photos from influencers and celebrities, but the FTC argues personal social networking remains a core service. It used Instagram chief Adam Mosseri’s testimony to most clearly make this point. In that testimony as well as posts to his own Instagram account, Mosseri said that it’s still important for the app to connect users with their friends. The FTC argues that even if that use case is a smaller portion of what Meta’s apps do these days, it’s still a significant need users have that can virtually only be fulfilled by Facebook and Instagram. While someone might connect with people they know in real life on LinkedIn, they likely won’t primarily share personal updates there. And while they also could follow and interact with people they know on TikTok or YouTube, they’re more likely to passively watch videos from people they don’t.Meta says this is an entirely wrong way to think about it. Social media platforms compete for users’ time and attention, so whether a particular app is squarely aimed at so-called friends and family sharing is beside the point. Facebook and Instagram have evolved to show more content from people like influencers, shifting further from the use case the FTC says Meta has illegally dominated. The company has already landed some important points that could help its case, and it will get more time to push back on the agency’s framing when it calls its own witnesses in the coming weeks.But as the FTC’s case-in-chief continues into its fifth week, its argument for Meta’s dominance is becoming a lot clearer.Why do people use Facebook?When defining a market, each side is trying to answer a key question: why are people choosing one particular company’s product? A lot of goods and services compete with each other in some sense, but this doesn’t mean they serve the same niche. In the case of sodas, for example, “you could buy lemon-lime, but many people would never see that as a close substitute for buying Coke or Pepsi,” says George Washington Law professor and former FTC Chair Bill Kovacic. In the tech world, Netflix has claimed its biggest competitors are Fortnite and sleep — but those comparisons probably wouldn’t stand up in court.The FTC says that outside of Facebook and Instagram, only apps like Snapchat and MeWe can fulfill a users’ desire to broadcast personal updates with friends and family online. To make its case, it brought in a string of executives from other social media companies to explain why their apps can’t quite scratch the same itch for users. Strava’s former VP of connected partnerships Mateo Ortega testified that sure, users of the fitness-tracking social media app could share baby photos on the platform, but they probably wouldn’t unless it was in a running stroller. “It’s all about fitness, and while you can post other stuff, it just doesn’t seem as relevant,” he said. “You could buy lemon-lime, but many people would never see that as a close substitute for buying Coke or Pepsi”Pinterest’s former head of user growth Julia Roberts testified that users who come to Pinterest “expecting it to be like other social media apps … tend to be confused about how to use the product.” That’s because the app is so much not about connecting with other people that it works much differently from other social media platforms. Pinterest is more about finding things users are interested in, she said, so “following is not a big part of the Pinterest experience.”TikTok has a tab where users can watch videos from their friends — identified as people who mutually follow each other. But head of operations Adam Presser testified only about 1 percent of videos watched on the platform are there. The company doesn’t think of itself as competing with Meta’s apps for personal social networking, he testified. And even though side-by-side screenshots of TikTok, Instagram Reels, and YouTube Shorts look identical, Presser said, “when you click out of this view for these other platforms, you would get to essentially what I think of as their core business,” which for Instagram, includes a feed and stories that often contain at least some content from family and friends.At times, Meta’s cross-examination of rival company executives showed the limits of apps’ similarities. When questioning Apple director of product marketing Ronak Shah, Meta sought to show that group chats in Apple’s messaging feature could serve as a social media feed for friends and family sharing. But Shah testified that feed would be limited to 32 people at most, and users can’t just look up each others’ profiles like they would on social platforms. Still, Meta pointed out, Apple’s messages app is listed under social media on its own app store.However, Meta also made important arguments about why the judge should question the FTC’s framing. It pointed out that some documents from TikTok and YouTube owner Google claiming their products are very different from Meta’s were submitted to foreign officials to try to avoid getting drafted into potentially frustrating regulations. It also pointed out when TikTok briefly went dark in the US ahead of a (now-aborted) ban, users flocked to Meta apps, showing consumers see it as a substitute on at least some level. That’s because, Meta argued, competition for users is really about winning their time and attention.Companies can “sometimes make mistakes. They misjudge who their users are”But X VP of product Keith Coleman testified it’s not that useful to think about competition this way. Instead, “it’s much more helpful to understand what people are trying to accomplish in their lives and to try to help them accomplish that.” Under former CEO Jack Dorsey, then-Twitter leaned into focusing on news and users’ interests, Coleman testified, because that’s why people were coming to the platform. Coleman was later surprised at how his own website characterized the product in its help center as a “service for friends, family, and coworkers to communicate and stay connected through the exchange of quick, frequent messages.” “I can’t believe that’s on the website,” he said. “That’s pretty wacky.”This point was “a caution that not everything a company writes down or says is necessarily decisive in establishing what the boundary of a market is,” Kovacic said. Companies can “sometimes make mistakes. They misjudge who their users are.”There are real ramifications for internet users here. Going back to Netflix’s comparisons, if the streaming video service went down, some people would probably be happy to play a video game or get a few hours of shut-eye instead. But others would be frustrated that they couldn’t watch a movie, which is why it’s good that Hulu, HBO, and Amazon Prime Video also exist. The FTC’s argument isn’t that Meta owns the only social apps on the internet, it’s that the company faces little competition for a service many people specifically want — so the fact that you probably don’t know anyone using MeWe is sort of the point.How will the judge decide?Ultimately, Boasberg’s market definition — whether it’s Meta’s, the FTC’s, or his own — will come down to a few things: how Meta views itself, how competitors see it, and his own intuition, says Kovacic. ”Notice how much the FTC has been questioning Meta witnesses on the basis of its own internal documents,” he says. “Does the story in the courtroom match the story of your own internal documents?” So far, the documents have shown that Meta has clocked that at least some portion of users come to its products to connect with family and friends, but also that the rise of TikTok has had it looking over its shoulder. In September 2020, Meta told its board that Instagram revenue would be “meaningfully lower” than planned in the second half of the fiscal year because TikTok was drawing users’ attention. But other internal documents have shown Meta’s well aware that at different points in time, users have come to its apps to connect with family and friends, and worriedly took note of other apps entering that space. In a 2018 presentation, Meta found that the highest percentage of surveyed users said they come to Facebook, Instagram, and Snap to “see daily casual moments” and “see special moments.” By contrast, users came to Twitter’s feed for news and YouTube’s for entertainment. And even as Instagram expands into entertainment, the FTC notes that it still advertises its sign-up page as a place to “see photos and videos from your friends.”“Instagram will always need to focus on friends”In a 2018 email, Zuckerberg told Mosseri that “Instagram will always need to focus on friends.” And even though a lot has changed in the social media landscape since then, Mosseri testified that to this day on the app, “friends are an important part of the experience.” Even though users may share fewer of their own updates on Facebook and Instagram, Mosseri admitted that two friends talking in the comments of a public figure’s post counts as an interaction between friends — and one that Instagram actively tries to facilitate.Meta has argued that this special focus on friends and family sharing makes up a shrinking portion of its offerings as it works to compete with fierce rivals like TikTok. But the FTC says it’s still significant enough to monopolize. It’s a scenario that came up in another major tech monopolization case, Kovacic says: the late-1990s lawsuit US v. Microsoft. In that case, Microsoft argued the Justice Department was ignoring how computing would soon move beyond the personal computer to the Internet of Things, meaning it couldn’t truly lock up the computing ecosystem as much as the government alleged.“Judge Jackson in the Microsoft case said, yeah, those things are happening, but not happening fast enough to deny you real market power in this PC and laptop-based market that the Justice Department is emphasizing,” Kovacic says.Still, he adds, a market niche can at some point become so small that it’s no longer significant in the eyes of antitrust law. “You can have a process of change that ultimately renders the market segment unimportant,” he says. “And the hard task of analysis for the judge is to say, has it already happened?”See More:

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