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The wildfires that blazed through Los Angeles earlier this year, some of the fastest-spreading fires on record, underscored the risk of living in homes known to be at high risk for future fires. One national homebuilder, KB Home, believes that risk can be reduced by building a wildfire-resilient neighborhood. Dixon Trail, a community of 64 homes under construction in Escondido, California, near San Diego, will be the first neighborhood to earn the new Wildfire Prepared Neighborhood standard developed by the Insurance Institute for Business & Home Safety (IBHS). [Image: KB Home]Each individual home will meet the Wildfire Prepared Home Plus certification, an IBHS designation that requires the homes to meet specific material and design standards, including Class A fire-rated roofs, noncombustible gutters, ember- and flame-resistant vents and all-metal fence systems. The town of Paradise, California, which lost 90% of its homes during a 2018 fire, passed a law requiring all homes meet this standard. The entire development is being designed with a holistic vision to reduce fire risks. Homes will be spaced 10 feet apart, with trees, bushes, and other landscaping distanced from structures to reduce the chances fires will start or spread. Wider streets will run through the neighborhood, creating fire breaks between homes and allowing for quicker evacuations. “This is the first neighborhood that cohesively is meeting not just individual property attributes, but is paying attention to fire pathways, and fences and other kinds of landscaping between structures that can become pathways for fires,” said Roy Wright, CEO of IBHS. Last year, roughly 1,200 homes in California earned the Wildfire Prepared Home designation, mostly through retrofits to add more fire resistant features. This is the first ground-up neighborhood to aim for this additional neighborhood-level certification, which will be awarded when it’s finished. There’s real risk in the region for fire; the chaparral on the foothills surrounding the development can easily ignite in the right conditions. Housing shortages in western states like California have pushed more and more development toward what’s called the wildland-urban interface, or WUI, where new development comes up against undeveloped land. Roughly 11.2 million Californians, a quarter of the state’s population, live in the WUI today, which has substantially higher risks of fires than metro areas. The IBHS, which works in service of the insurance industry, arrives at its recommendations via exhaustive testing and research. The group has studied fire and storm risk for years, including the recent Palisades and Eaton Fires. The organization even has a 90-acre test site in South Carolina where it builds and then blasts apart homes, recreating Category 3 hurricanes and wildfires to test the latest in material safety and building codes. The materials recommended for Wildfire Prepared Home Plus were tested at the South Carolina site, and reflected learnings from what kind of homes tend to survive catastrophic wildfires. [Image: KB Home]KB Home began constructing Dixon Trail last June, said Jacob Atalla, KB Home’s Vice President of Sustainability and Innovation. The first homes have been finished, going for roughly $1 million (the median single-family home sale in Escondido last year was $825,000, per Redfin). It’s a small part of KB Home’s overall production in 2024; the company earned nearly $7 billion in revenue, with more than 6,500 homes under construction, including a sizable number in western states with higher fire risks. [Image: KB Home]“This price was set knowing that we are already building these homes to be wildfire prepared, so we didn’t add a premium top of it,” said Atalla. He expects this project to serve as a testing lab, helping the company figure out how to source materials for these kinds of homes in the future and scale up production of more wildfire resistant products. Initially marketed as a neighborhood with mountain views and oversized lots, the new messaging around wildfire risk reflects the sentiment shift since L.A.’s devastating January fires. The certifications will likely reduce the insurance costs for new homeowners, said Atalla and Wright, and lower the total cost of ownership over time. Neither, however, could provide more specifics about the amount of savings, claiming the insurance process is complex and every carrier has their own methodology. California’s home insurance market has become increasingly challenging for homeowners, with rapidly spiking premiums and carriers dropping coverage or leaving the market altogether. That’s why savings on insurance is good business for KB and other homebuilders; in the company’s 2024 annual report, it notes wildfire risk and increasing insurance costs as a risk factor, noting that consumers facing higher premiums “may decide not to pursue purchasing a home or may cancel a home sales contract with us.” Wright says approximately 10 different neighborhoods in California, either through retrofits or new construction, are looking to gain the Wildfire Prepared Neighborhood designation. “This Dixon Trail development is the first, but it will not be the last. I promise you,” he said. “There are plenty of people watching this who intend to emulate it.” View the full article

We may earn a commission from links on this page. Modern movie audiences seem to be as prudish as ever when it comes to sex on the big screen, as online discourse frequently runs to the tiresome topic of whether or not sex scenes are strictly "necessary" to the plot of any particular film. I'm not convinced movies ought to be so laser-focused on plot anyway—reducing a Shakespeare play to just the dialogue that advances "plot" would have us in and out in 20 minutes—but suggesting sex is somehow uniquely unnecessary strikes me as an overcorrection. Yet it seems explicit sex scenes in Beau is Afraid, All of Us Strangers, Infinity Pool, Passages, Saltburn, Baby Girl, and Queer have been traumatizing unwary theatergoers as of late, even as the Oscars haven't shied away—this year's Best Picture winner, Anora, includes a fair bit of steaminess, while last year's Poor Things, was racy enough to draw controversy and criticism, particularly in the U.K., where only a censored version was initially released. Leaving aside whether I personally find this discussion worthwhile, there certainly are films for which we can draw a straight line between sex scene and plot, or which use sex to reveal their characters (no pun intended). Consider these 31 movies, and see if you come away feeling any better about the existence of characters who fuck. Boogie Nights (1997) Though the sex isn't wildly explicit, it would be altogether silly for a film set in and around the world of 1970s cinematic porn to skip the sex scenes entirely. One moment in particular comes at the outset of Dirk Diggler/Eddie Adams' career, as he's filming his first explicit scene with Julianne Moore's Amber Waves/Maggie. The moment captures Eddie's nervousness as well as his sexual charisma, while also making clear that this is a job for everyone involved. The crew looks on while Maggie gently guides her co-star through his first on-screen orgasm. It's not an overwhelmingly passionate scene, but it is a surprisingly tender one. You can rent Boogie Nights from Prime Video. Boogie Nights (1997) at Prime Video Learn More Learn More at Prime Video Poor Things (2023) Rather hard to choose just one sex scene here, given that the entire movie has to do with the sexual exploration of Emma Stone's childlike Bella Baxter. Running the gamut from deeply icky to aspirational, the movie doesn't lack for sexual energy, but the key moment, perhaps, is a relatively brief moment between Bella and sex worker Toinette (Suzy Bemba). It's a scene that opens Bella up to the possibility of sex as comfortable and companionable, and not merely an animal urge. Socialist Toinette teaches Bella about a world outside of fancy houses and privilege, and the beginning of their relationship marks the moment at which Bella begin her real journey. You can stream Poor Things on Prime Video. Poor Things (2023) at Prime Video Learn More Learn More at Prime Video Brokeback Mountain (2005) OK, granted, the impromptu sex scene at the center of Brokeback Mountain was clearly choreographed and performed by people with only the vaguest notions of what sex between two men can look like—as if there exists not a single queer in Hollywood who might have been consulted. The moment pays off sexual tension that has been building between Ennis (Heath Ledger) and Jack (Jake Gyllenhaal) from the first frame. It's significant that the filmmakers choose to make clear that sex is a component of the attraction here, beyond the cutesy stuff. You can stream Brokeback Mountain on Peacock or rent it from Prime Video. Brokeback Mountain (2005) at Peacock Learn More Learn More at Peacock Oldboy (2003) Park Chan-wook's action classic is not for the faint of heart on any level, and that includes the sex scene between Dae-su (Choi Min-sik) and Mi-do (Kang Hye-jung). It's not that the moment is itself wildly explicit, but the movie's last-act reveal of Mi-do's true identity is genuinely shocking in context, and brings the 15-year timeline of revenge and counter-revenge full circle. You can rent Oldboy from Prime Video. Oldboy (2003) at Prime Video Learn More Learn More at Prime Video Beau is Afraid (2023) A nearly three-hour journey into the headspace of the deeply anxious title character (Joaquin Phoenix), Beau is Afraid was one of the last year's most polarizing films—and was probably my favorite of 2023. Many of Beau's troubles stem from the vaguely psychosexual manipulations of his mother, Mona (Patti Lupone), who made sure to describe to the young Beau the mid-coitus death of his father in excruciating detail. Sexual phobias aren't the entirety of Beau's problems, but they're a key component of his inability to connect with other people. When he does finally have sex, at the movie's climax (ahem), it only makes things so, so much worse for a guy who cannot catch a break. You can stream Beau is Afraid on Max and Paramount+ or rent it from Prime Video. Beau is Afraid (2023) at Paramount+ Learn More Learn More at Paramount+ Saltburn (2023) Another of the year's most hotly debated films, Saltburn transports The Talented Mr. Ripley to Northamptonshire, England, with mixed results. Scholarship student Oliver (Barry Keoghan) has pursued Felix (Jacob Elordi) from Oxford all the way to the guy's ancestral home, only for Oliver to find (*major spoilers coming*) that his plans of getting in with the posh crowd are going to need to involve murder. His dreams of sex with Felix having gone down the drain (somewhat literally), Oliver instead fucks Felix's fresh grave. The scene is there for shock value, sure, but also makes clear that Oliver's machinations to that point were never purely strategic, and that his lust/obsession with Felix was very real. You can stream Saltburn on Prime Video. Saltburn (2023) at Prime Video Learn More Learn More at Prime Video The Terminator (1984) The love scene between Sarah Connor (Linda Hamilton) and Kyle Reese (Michael Biehn) is neither particularly hot nor explicit, but it is essential to the film, and the franchise as a whole. Without the sex-on-the-run between the two, John Connor will never be born to save humanity, and won't be around to send Kyle Reese back in time to train Sarah. Very timey-wimey. The moment makes the great Terminator 2 possible, but also a series of largely forgettable sequels—so it's not all good news for humanity. You can stream The Terminator on MGM+ and The Roku Channel or rent it from Prime Video. The Terminator (1984) at Prime Video Learn More Learn More at Prime Video Atonement (2007) Set over the course of, nearly, a lifetime, Atonement kicks off with Briony (Saoirse Ronan) witnessing mildly rough sex between her sister Cecilia (Keira Knightley) and the housekeeper's son Robbie (James McAvoy). Jealous and confused, the young heiress mistakes what she sees for rape, which clouds her judgement when she accuses Robbie after an actual sexual assault occurs shortly thereafter. Briony's allegation sets in motion a cascade of events that darkens the lives of those around her, allowing the real assailant to go free. As the movie's title suggests, Briony spends much of her life trying to make amends for her mistake. You can rent Atonement from Prime Video. Atonement (2007) at Prime Video Learn More Learn More at Prime Video The Shape of Water (2017) Guillermo del Toro's fantasy romance involves love between a deaf custodian and the mysterious fish man with whom she forms a bond. From that premise, del Toro crafts an instant classic that earned him Best Picture and Best Director Oscars. When Eliza (Sally Hawkins) makes love to her amphibian companion (Doug Jones), it's in a bathroom that's entirely submerged, with an explosive release of water taking the place of a more traditional climax. Eliza later explains the mechanics of the event to a friend—all of this serving to make clear that this love story is both emotional and sensual, and not merely the chaste romance of a Disney movie about mer people. You can rent The Shape of Water from Prime Video. The Shape of Water (2017) at Prime Video Learn More Learn More at Prime Video Gerald's Game (2017) Not much of a spoiler here, since the inciting incident occurs within the first 10 minutes of this Stephen King adaptation: Jessie and Gerald Burlingame (Carla Gugino and Bruce Greenwood) arrive at an isolated lake house, where Gerald tries to engage in a rape fantasy that Jessie is deeply uncomfortable with. The interaction makes obvious the rift that has developed in their marriage, but before Gerald can take things further, the two have a fight during which he has a heart attack and dies...leaving her handcuffed to the bed and totally isolated. Stephen King-style shenanigans ensue. The opening is more troubling than explicit, but without it, the movie doesn't happen. You can stream Gerald's Game on Netflix. Gerald's Game (2017) at Netflix Learn More Learn More at Netflix In the Realm of the Senses (1976) Nagisa Ōshima's gorgeous art film was wildly controversial upon release, largely for the very realistic sex scenes—realistic, because they were largely unsimulated. It's based on the true story of Sada Abe (Eiko Matsuda), a one-time sex worker who begins an obsessive affair with a patron (Tatsuya Fuji) of the hotel where she works. Sada Abe's refusal to conform to societal expectations of her gender and class don't make her a hero, exactly, but it does bestow upon her a strange sort of freedom. The impact comes in part from the film's refusal to undersell Sada Abe's sexual power—sex is a critical part of her story, in the movie and in real life, and Ōshima isn't afraid to show rather than merely tell. You can stream In the Realm of the Senses on The Criterion Channel. In the Realm of the Senses (1976) at The Criterion Channel Learn More Learn More at The Criterion Channel Babygirl (2024) Nicole Kidman stars in this modern erotic thriller as successful CEO Romy Mathis, who begins a dangerous affair with her much younger intern (Harris Dickinson). But the key sex scene isn't between the two of them, but between Romy and her husband in the film's opening moments. After faking an orgasm, Romy waits for Jacob (Antonio Banderas) to leave and then grabs her laptop so that she can masturbate. If we're willing to suspend disbelief and accept Antonio Banderas as a schlubby, sexually disappointing husband (OK, whatever), the scene does a lot of work efficiently setting us up for the boundary pushing exploration to come. You can rent Babygirl from Prime Video. Babygirl (2024) at Prime Video Learn More Learn More at Prime Video Baby Face (1933) Though we're firmly pre-code here, there's nothing explicit in this film—but still, little is left to the imagination. Barbara Stanwyck plays Lily Powers, a young woman working in a speakeasy run by her father, who also prostitutes her to his customers. When her father dies (seemingly because she refused the advances of a politician who'd threatened the speakeasy's existence), Lily finds herself adrift, until she runs across a family friend who introduces her to Nietzsche—as a woman in her position, her choices are to be exploited, or to be the one who does the exploiting. This sets her to climbing the corporate ladder at a Manhattan bank using sex as a tool. The plot turns on a moment that takes place before all that, when Lily and her friend Chico (Theresa Harris) hop a freight train bound for New York. When discovered by a railroad worker, Lily trades sex for a promise that they won't be reported. The scene makes clear that Lily knows sexuality is a commodity to be used to her own best advantage, and is not something for men to control. You can rent Baby Face from Prime Video. Baby Face (1933) at Prime Video Learn More Learn More at Prime Video Mulholland Drive (2001) Analyzing any given David Lynch movie points us immediately toward the problem of determining whether a sex scene is "necessary to the plot," since figuring out the plot is a trick unto itself. Mulholland Drive is a tiny bit more approachable than most of his output, following "Rita" (Laura Herring), an actress who suffers from amnesia following a Los Angeles car crash, who stumbles into a wholesome midwestern transplant (Naomi Watts), who is setting out to become a star. The two set out to uncover Rita's true identity, before engaging in some undeniably hot sex. I'm not sure to what extent it impacts the plot, but the sex scene represents a liminal moment between the two characters, each inhabiting multiple potential identities—for those few moments, the characters connect with such intimacy that questions of identity don't matter in the least. You can stream Mulholland Drive on Paramount+ or rent it from Prime Video. Mulholland Drive (2001) at Paramount+ Learn More Learn More at Paramount+ Y Tu Mamá También (2001) The climax (ahem) of Alfonso Cuarón's instant-classic Mexican road trip film finds the central characters (Luisa, Julio, and Tenoch) engaging in a rather sweet threesome. The trio have been circling one another, emotionally and physically, for the entire film, and this moment flips the script, briefly, on their apparent love triangle—offering the possibility that none of them needs to choose. You can stream Y Tu Mamá También on Hulu and Netflix or rent it from Prime Video. Y Tu Mamá También (2001) at Hulu Learn More Learn More at Hulu Party Girl (1995) A bit of a spoiler here, since the key moment comes toward the climax (ahem). The always brilliant Parker Posey plays Mary, the party girl of the title, who takes a job at a public library in order to pay back bail money she owes after being arrested for hosting an illegal rave. She eventually takes to the work, but also to smart Lebanese street vendor Mustafa (Omar Townsend), who hopes to become a teacher. After hours, the two consummate their romance in the library where she works—a fitting, if slightly on-the-nose sequence that solidifies Mary's transformation from a pure party girl, to a party girl who also has a sweet boyfriend and knows the Dewey Decimal System inside and out. You can stream Party Girl on Peacock, Hulu, Kanopy, The Criterion Channel, and Prime Video. Party Girl (1995) at Peacock Learn More Learn More at Peacock Eyes Wide Shut (1999) Forget about the orgy sequence; let's focus instead on the earlier sex scene between Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman that formed the basis of the scandalous teaser trailer (a true tease back when no one knew what the movie was going to be about). She's mostly focused on looking at herself in the mirror, and while the scene approaches something sweaty, what we mostly feel is the lack of connection between the two. In the context of the film, the sequence makes clear this is a marriage already in the process of disintegrating. You can rent Eyes Wide Shut from Prime Video. Eyes Wide Shut (1999) at Prime Video Learn More Learn More at Prime Video Don't Look Now (1973) Nicolas Roeg's haunting thriller includes one of the most notorious sex scenes in film history, infamous in part because of rumors (still promulgated and still disputed) that the intimate contact between Julie Christie and Donald Sutherland was unsimulated. Whether there's any truth to that or not, it certainly speaks to the authenticity of the moment, which is hardly gratuitous: The movie follows a couple shattered by the death of their only child, and the sex scene is a major emotional turning point: a moment of clear connection right before things go even more wrong. You can stream Don't Look Now on Kanopy or rent it from Prime Video. Don't Look Now (1973) at Prime Video Learn More Learn More at Prime Video Call Me By Your Name (2017) Mainstream movies with gay themes are frequently prudish in the extreme—assuming that audiences might accept the existence of queer people, but not that they might also come now and again. During the sweaty Italian summer of 1983, a frustrated 17-year-old Elio (Tomothée Chalamet) makes reasonably good use of a ripe peach, only to be discovered by Oliver (Armie Hammer)...who finds his own use for the bit of fruit. The scenes captures their character dynamic nearly in full, while offering up something a tiny bit kinkier than we're used to. You can stream Call Me by Your Name on Max or rent it from Prime Video. Call Me By Your Name (2017) at Max Learn More Learn More at Max North by Northwest (1959) OK, maybe it's not entirely essential to the plot, and the sex here is only strongly implied—but Hitchcock's classic caper gets extra credit for being so brazen about it, considering when it was produced. As Cary Grant and Eva Marie Saint begin making out in the top bunk of their train berth, Hitch cuts away (as the censors would have surely demanded) and we watch the train plowing into a tunnel. What plays like a juvenile joke now was a clear middle finger directed at the Hollywood production code. You can rent North by Northwest from Prime Video. North by Northwest (1959) at Prime Video Learn More Learn More at Prime Video My Beautiful Laundrette (1985) Fairly chaste as sex scenes go, but the backroom tumble involving Daniel Day-Lewis and Gordon Warnecke is important, in part, because it is so low-key. There's drama around this same-sex, interracial relationship...but on the folding table in the back of the laundromat, it's just desire. You can stream My Beautiful Laundrette on Prime Video and Pluto TV. My Beautiful Laundrette (1985) at Prime Video Learn More Learn More at Prime Video Happy Together (1997) This Wong Kar-wai film stars Tony Leung and Leslie Cheung as a pair of desperately mismatched lovers whose passion nonetheless keeps bringing them back together. Happy Together opens with the two in their underwear, on a bed in South America. Their kissing turns to tussling, then to wrestling, then to sex, and back again, their entire dynamic laid out in one impressively intense scene. You can stream Happy Together on Max and The Criterion Channel or rent it from Prime Video. Happy Together (1997) at Max Learn More Learn More at Max I Am Curious (Yellow) (1967) Lena Nyman stars in this wildly controversial (in 1967, anyway) Swedish film that uses documentary style to tell the story of a 20-year-old exploring the world as an adult for the first time, and finding her own passion for social justice challenged and expanded. Sex goes right alongside politics for Lena (also her character's name), and one of the key, ostensibly shocking scenes finds her gently kissing her boyfriend's flaccid penis. It's a moment in Lena's growth as a young activist and as a sexual being, but it's also a rare instance of male nudity on the movie screen—particularly way back in the 1960s. You can stream I Am Curious (Yellow) on The Criterion Channel. I Am Curious (Yellow) (1967) at The Criterion Channel Learn More Learn More at The Criterion Channel It Follows (2015) It Follows isn't about just one thing, but there's certainly a pervasive air of tension around young sexuality and its potential consequences, both physical and emotional. Fear of sexually transmitted infections is certainly a lens through which to view the movie's horror conceit—a curse that literally follows its subjects to their deaths, unless (and until) they're willing to pass it along to someone else via sex. Pairing sex and existential dread is a choice, but a choice worth exploring. You can stream It Follows on Max or buy it from Prime Video. It Follows (2015) at Max Learn More Learn More at Max Halloween (1978) Best not to hold Halloween responsible for the many, many imitators that got it all wrong: The slasher genre that this film helped to solidify quickly became laughably sexually conservative in a "sex = death" kinda way, but that wasn't this movie's message. Director John Carpenter wrote most of the scary stuff, but late, great producer Debra Hill wrote everything involving Laurie Strode (Jamie Lee Curtis) and her friends. When Lynda (P.J. Soles) and Bob (John Michael Graham) have sex and get killed, the only intent was to show teens doing normal teen stuff. They were meant to be relatable, not sinners getting what was coming to them. You can stream Halloween on AMC+ and Shudder or rent it from Prime Video. Halloween (1978) at Prime Video Learn More Learn More at Prime Video Bound (1996) The sex scenes between ex-con Corky (Gina Gershon) and Mafia moll Violet (Jennifer Tilly) are as sensual and erotic as they come, sidestepping then- and still-common cinematic lesbian tropes in favor of genuine sexiness. Nothing here feels like it's strictly intended for the straight white gaze, even though the movie toys with that notion in the ways the relationship between the two women eggs on the very straight male insecurities of mobster Caesar (Joe Pantoliano). The Wachowskis hired feminist author and sex educator Susie Bright (who has a cameo in the movie) as an intimacy coordinator before that job even had a name. The finished product makes a very strong case that having someone around who understands sex and intimacy does't put a damper on things; quite the opposite. You can stream Bound on Pluto TV or rent it from Prime Video. Bound (1996) at Prime Video Learn More Learn More at Prime Video The Living End (1992) Gregg Araki's New Queer Cinema masterpiece is as angry as it is jubilant. In an era where queer people were either invisible in cinema, or victims, Araki crafted a narrative about a couple of gay, HIV+ drifters who kill a homophobic cop and a couple of gay bashers before setting out on an uninhibited road trip. Their shower sex scene isn't particularly graphic, but the explicit non-use of a condom and the light choking involved outraged audiences from across the political spectrum—though the movie's dedication to: ”The hundreds of thousands who’ve died and the hundreds of thousands more who will die because of a big white house full of Republican Fuckheads” was more on-the-nose about its intention to offend the wrong type of people. You can stream The Living End on Kanopy or rent it from Prime Video. The Living End (1992) at Prime Video Learn More Learn More at Prime Video The Ice Storm (1997) Director Ann Lee caps the incredibly awkward, instantly regrettable car sex scene between Elena (Joan Allen) and Jim (Jamie Sheridan) with him admitting, "That was awful." In a movie that's all about awkward and ill-conceived sexual encounters, Jim sums it up nicely. You can rent The Ice Storm from Prime Video. The Ice Storm (1997) at Prime Video Learn More Learn More at Prime Video Body Heat (1981) Kathleen Turner stars in Lawrence Kasdan's essential neo-noir as one of cinema's ultimate femmes fatale—matching the energy of Barbara Stanwyck in Double Indemnity, on which this is loosely based, but wearing much less clothing. As in the best noir films, the sex here is all part of the game that she's playing with William Hurt, even as he thinks that he's the one toying with her. When he finally smashes a window just to be with her again, it's clear who's in charge. You can rent Body Heat from Prime Video. Body Heat (1981) at Prime Video Learn More Learn More at Prime Video When Harry Met Sally... (1989) OK, there is no actual sex here, but there is a wildly memorable scene centered around a full-throated discussion of a woman's orgasm. Which was not something that was spoken of in polite company circa 1989! Writer/director Nora Ephron didn't care, and Meg Ryan played it to the hilt. So iconic was the scene that "I'll have what she's having..." became a catchphrase, and Miss Piggy offered up her own climax on an episode of Muppets Tonight. If we still have a long way to go, this scene certainly opened some doors for more transparent discussions of women's sexuality. You can rent When Harry Met Sally... from Prime Video. When Harry Met Sally... (1989) at Prime Video Learn More Learn More at Prime Video Female Trouble (1974) Following a Christmas celebration gone horribly awry (they shoulda gotten her them cha-cha heels!), young Dawn Davenport (Divine) strikes out on her own, hitchhiking and then immediately having an unprotected, and unhinged sexual encounter with a lecherous creep on an old mattress at the dump. Not only is the scene itself one of the most memorably repellant bits in the entire movie, it also sets in motion everything to come: Dawn isn't entirely cut out to be a single mother, and trying to raise Taffy (Mink Stole) only sends her further down the road to depravity. The sex scenes in basically any Waters movie are similarly obscene, which is entirely the point, and entirely necessary. You can buy Female Trouble from Prime Video. Female Trouble (1974) at Prime Video Learn More Learn More at Prime Video The Watermelon Woman (1996) It was the sex scene that all but broke the National Endowment for the Arts. Cheryl Dunye plays herself in this faux-documentary following a filmmaker looking to unearth the story of the "Watermelon Woman," a fictional Black actress from the early days of Hollywood. Genevieve Turner plays Diana, a more overtly confident white woman who flirts with Cheryl as a customer of the video store where she works. This leads to a sweet, but also steamy sex scene, described by City Paper reviewer Jeannine DeLombard as "the hottest dyke sex scene on celluloid"—a bit of an exaggeration, but it's up there, while also being a key moment of personal growth for the sometimes-awkward Cheryl. That blurb made its way to conservative columnist Julia Duin, who decried the film sight-unseen, demanding to know why taxpayers were spending money on lesbian filth (I'm sure that the characters' mixed skin tones had nothing to do with it). The debate made it all the way to the floor in Congress, where politicians tried to claw back the production's $31,000 grant. They ultimately settled on a restructuring of the program so that grants could go only to specific projects, rather than organizations. That, my friends, is a demonstration of the power of hot gay sex to fill the hearts of the dull with jealous rage. You can stream The Watermelon Woman on The Criterion Channel and Kanopy or rent it from Prime Video. The Watermelon Woman (1996) at Prime Video Learn More Learn More at Prime Video Law of Desire (1987) Antonio Banderas becomes both an object of terror, and a muse, following a gentle, lighthearted sex scene between porn-director-on-the-rebound Pablo (Eusebio Poncela) and same-sex virgin Antonio (Banderas). The cute, frank love scene sets up, and helps to subvert, everything that comes after—with director Pedro Almodóvar peppering his thriller with comedy and subverting expectations, as is his usual MO. You can rent Law of Desire from Prime Video. Law of Desire (1987) at Prime Video Learn More Learn More at Prime Video The Last Temptation of Christ (1988) Martin Scorsese's oft-banned portrait of the final days of Christ (Willem Dafoe) pissed off a lot of people for its hallucinatory sex scene between Jesus and Mary Magdalene (Barbara Hershey). The scene itself isn't even PG-13 level, but the very idea sent scolds into apoplexy and fanatics off to firebomb theaters. Unsurprisingly, they'd missed the point entirely: In context, the scene is part of a ploy by Satan—the titular last temptation. He's showing Jesus what his reward might be if he turned away from mankind: a long and normal life instead of an agonizing death on the cross. That moment of lovemaking is central to the sequence, and helps to make clear everything he's sacrificing for humanity. You can stream The Last Temptation of Christ on Prime Video. The Last Temptation of Christ (1988) at Prime Video Learn More Learn More at Prime Video Tangerine (2015) Sean Baker's brilliant, ultra-low-budget comedy-drama follows a Christmas Eve in the life of trans sex workers Sin-Dee Rella (Kitana Kiki Rodriguez) and Alexandra (Mya Taylor). The sometimes funny, sometimes heartbreaking film rides high on gritty realism, and it wouldn't be the same if it didn't give us a sense of their work lives. A central scene finds Alexandra taking refuge from a bad day in the car of a cab-driver client. He's happy about giving her a blowjob while they go through a car wash, and she's happy to earn a few extra dollars from a friendly, trustworthy client. As car wash blowjobs go, it's genuinely sweet, while also making clear that sex workers, too, have their good and bad days on the job. You can stream Tangerine on Max or rent it from Prime Video. Tangerine (2015) at Max Learn More Learn More at Max View the full article

Back in January, Kohl’s announced that it would be closing 27 of its stores across America in order to help the company control costs and increase operational efficiency. At the time, Kohl’s described the closing locations as “underperforming” and said “the closures will occur by April 2025.” And now it looks like Kohl’s remains on track for that “by April” deadline. As first noticed by USA Today, the 27 stores that Kohl’s had previously announced would be closing now list their last day of operation as this Saturday, March 29, on Kohl’s store locator tool. For example, the store locator listing for the Kohl’s located at 1116 1st Street in Napa, California, now lists, in bright red letters, “This store will be closing soon. Our last day of business at this location will be Saturday, March 29th.” Other closing locations also show the same message. The listing for the Napa store goes on to reveal that its store hours for the last day of its operation will be from 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. After that, the store will shut its doors to customers for good. Kohl’s store closures 2025 full list The 27 Kohl’s stores that are closing are spread across 15 states, with California being hit the hardest with 10 stores closing there. After the stores are closed on Saturday, Kohl’s will still operate over 1,120 locations across the country. Announcing the closures in January, Kohl’s CEO Tom Kingsbury said, “We always take these decisions very seriously. As we continue to build on our long-term growth strategy, it is important that we also take difficult but necessary actions to support the health and future of our business for our customers and our teams.” The full list of store closures is below. Alabama Spanish Fort – 21000 Town Center Ave. Arkansas Little Rock West – 13909 Chenal Pkwy. California Balboa (San Diego) – 5505 Balboa Ave. Encinitas – 134 N El Camino Real Fremont – 43782 Christy St. Mountain View – 350 Showers Dr. Napa – 1116 1st St. Pleasanton – 4525 Rosewood Dr. Point West (Sacramento) – 1896 Arden Way San Rafael – 5010 Northgate Dr. San Luis Obispo – 205 Madonna Rd. Westchester – 8739 S Sepulveda Blvd. Colorado Arapahoe Crossing (Aurora) – 6584 S Parker Rd. Georgia Duluth – 2050 W Liddell Rd. Idaho Boise – 400 N Milwaukee St. Illinois Plainfield – 11860 S Route 59 Spring Hill (West Dundee) – 3000 Spring Hill Ring Rd. Massachusetts Stoughton – 501 Technology Center Dr. New Jersey East Windsor – 72 Princeton Hightstown Rd. Ohio Blue Ash – 4150 Hunt Rd. Forest Park (Cincinnati) – 100 Cincinnati Mills Dr. Oregon Portland Gateway – 10010 NE Halsey St. Pennsylvania Pottstown – 351 W Schuylkill Rd. Texas North Dallas – 18224 Preston Rd. Utah Riverton – 13319 S 3600 W Ste 13LOT Virginia Herndon – 2100 Centreville Rd. Williamsburg – 100 Gristmill Plz View the full article

Victory in the Ukraine war would serve as the perfect justification for autocracy at homeView the full article

At eight months pregnant with my first child, I walked into my boss’s office, ready for a pivotal meeting. I had spent months designing a new crisis management program for our university—one that would improve student outcomes and reduce institutional risk. This was the moment I’d learn whether my work would be implemented. I had poured everything into this project. It reflected my expertise, positioned the university at the forefront of best practices, and—for me personally—offered the challenge and recognition I craved. My current role felt stagnant, and this opportunity was exactly what I needed. My boss was thrilled with my proposal and agreed I was the right person to lead it. Then, she hesitated. “But,” she said, “you may not want it.” I was stunned. Of course, I wanted it. It was a promotion I had essentially built for myself. But she smiled and, with what she saw as kindness, said, “Once the baby comes, you may find that you’re less interested in work. You might be less . . . ambitious. You’re going to find that you’re a different person.” I assured her I wanted the role, and the promotion was official. But her words cast a shadow over the good news. Less ambitious? Change my identity? What kind of sexist nonsense was that? I knew exactly who I was, and I wasn’t about to prove her right. When motherhood becomes a career liability I hadn’t even given birth, yet I was already experiencing the motherhood penalty—a term that refers to the economic and career disadvantages that mothers often face in the workplace compared to their childless counterparts and fathers. Sociologists have long studied this phenomenon and have found that, to compensate, working mothers often feel pressured to downplay their parental responsibilities to be taken seriously at work. When I returned to work after maternity leave, I found myself doing exactly this. I shared my parenting experiences with only a small group of trusted colleagues, wary of confirming anyone’s biases. My boss’s words still echoed in my head. Even in an institution more supportive of working parents than most, I didn’t want anyone to doubt my dedication. The COVID-19 pandemic briefly shattered this illusion. When kids interrupted Zoom meetings asking for help with virtual school, hiding our parental roles became impossible. But now many of us feel pressure to return to the pre-pandemic norms of keeping motherhood in the background. The unspoken expectation remains: Be present as a professional first, a parent second. Of course, the pressure to separate our professional and personal identities comes at a steep cost. When employees feel they can’t be authentic at work, they disengage, burn out, or leave. This isn’t just a loss for individuals—it’s a loss for organizations that miss out on the creativity, resilience, and leadership working parents bring to the table. Bridging the gap Ironically, my boss was right—but not in the way she expected. After having my son, I did change. I returned to work with a broader perspective, increased flexibility in my thinking, and with a deeper well of empathy. And these changes made me a different kind of professional—they made me better. Parenthood forces us to develop skills that translate directly into leadership: patience, conflict resolution, adaptability, and emotional intelligence. It forces us to prioritize, make decisions under pressure, and manage competing demands. These skills and perspectives are deeply needed in today’s workplaces. We need to stop pretending that work and parenting exist in opposition. The more we integrate these identities, the stronger we become—as professionals, as leaders, and as humans—and the stronger our organizations become. It’s time to rewrite the narrative. Parenthood deepens our capacity for leadership, strengthens our problem-solving skills, and fuels our drive to create a better world for the next generation. The real challenge isn’t whether working parents can stay committed to their careers—it’s whether workplaces can evolve to recognize the full value they bring. So instead of downplaying our role as parents, what if we embraced it as an asset? What if we stopped proving our worth by pretending caregiving doesn’t exist, and instead reshaped professional culture to reflect the reality that so many of us live? The more openly we integrate our identities, the more we create space for others to do the same. I didn’t lose my ambition when I became a mother. If anything, it sharpened. The question isn’t whether we change after parenthood—it’s whether we allow those changes to make us stronger. And whether the workplace is ready to keep up. View the full article

Gen Z isn’t just watching creators—they’re choosing them over traditional TV and movies. That’s the big takeaway from Deloitte’s 19th annual Digital Media Trends survey. The report finds that 56% of Gen Z and 43% of millennials find social media content more relevant than traditional entertainment options, and about half feel a stronger personal connection to social media creators than to actors or TV personalities. The entertainment industry is in a battle for attention, competing for an average of six hours of daily screen time per person. But that number isn’t increasing. In this landscape, tech platforms have the upper hand over traditional studios and streamers, with online creators catering to every niche imaginable. And younger consumers don’t just watch creators—they trust them. A majority of Gen Z and millennials say creator content is their favorite type of video, and about half feel a stronger bond with influencers than with TV personalities or actors. These parasocial relationships keep fans invested, scrolling, and coming back for more. For younger audiences, viral videos aren’t just entertainment—they’re the new primetime, and creators are today’s stars. That doesn’t mean the grass never looks greener. A number of creators are making the leap to network TV and streaming platforms, where they can secure lucrative and stable contracts, gain exposure, and grow their audiences. Just as creators are building on their fame in traditional media, celebrities are also establishing themselves as brands and amassing followings on social media. It’s not just attention that media and entertainment companies are fighting for—it’s also a limited pool of consumer spending. Subscription fatigue is real, and there are no signs of people paying more for streaming services. Instead, many are frustrated by rising prices and the hassle of juggling multiple subscriptions to access the content they want. Nearly half of those surveyed by Deloitte feel they’re overpaying for streaming services, and 41% say the content isn’t worth the cost. To compete for views in today’s media landscape, traditional studios and streamers need to get with the program. As recently as two decades ago, pay TV was considered just as essential in the household as toilet paper. Fast forward to today, and for younger generations, TV is background noise while they scroll on their phones. View the full article

Apple Watch sales are enduring a years-long backslide. While Apple first launched its watch in 2015, sales didn’t spike until the pandemic, when consumers were highly focused on their health. But competitors quickly caught up, with fitness-focused companies like Garmin integrating more smart technology. Meanwhile, Apple stumbled in adding compelling new features—getting into some legal spats along the way. For the past three years, Apple Watch sales have declined year-over-year, according to research firm IDC. In 2022, Apple sold 43 million units; by 2024, that number dropped to 34 million. The Apple Watch also lost market share, falling from 29.6% to 22.5%, while high-end competitor Garmin and budget alternatives like Huawei and Xiaomi gained ground. And although Apple doesn’t break out revenue by individual product, its “Wearables, Home and Accessories” segment was the only one to decline year-over-year in the fourth quarter of 2024. “Apple is in a weird spot,” says Jitesh Ubrani, a research manager at IDC studying wearables. “They make great stuff but, at least on the watch side, things are a little bit iterative.” Where did the Apple Watch upgraders go? Apple Watch sales have fallen far from their 2022 peak. While some analysts remain optimistic—Ubrani expects Apple will regain modest growth in 2025—the numbers are still well below pandemic highs. Part of the drop, experts say, comes down to durability. “A lot of people bought a new smartwatch or replacement smartwatch during the pandemic,” says Ben Hatton, analyst of connected devices for CCS. “Those devices are yet to reach the point where they are beginning to be replaced. So there’s that longevity of device, especially for the top-end devices, that does hamper growth.” Unlike the iPhone, which users often upgrade for new features, the Apple Watch hasn’t changed dramatically in recent years. Ubrani notes that the device’s health and fitness sensors have remained largely consistent across generations. “You’re not getting a whole new experience, apart from maybe a shiny new case,” he says. (Apple did not respond to a request for comment.) That could soon change. According to Bloomberg, Apple is currently testing watches with added cameras and Apple Intelligence. Ubrani says these updates could appeal to Apple loyalists—but they’re already standard features among competitors. “If we’re talking AI, I think Apple is behind, and visual intelligence would be a part of that,” he says. “In terms of adding cameras, they wouldn’t be the first one.” Who needs an Apple Watch these days? Apple isn’t the only company facing headwinds; the entire smartwatch industry has seen declining sales over the past three years, per IDC. But Apple’s competitors have weathered the downturn more gracefully. In 2023, when Apple Watch sales fell 15.8%, Google’s declined just 4.3%. And while both are expected to return to growth in 2025, Google’s projected 9.4% gain far outpaces Apple’s 4.9%. Even in a shrinking market, Garmin is gaining ground. Though its share remains modest at about 5%, the company sold nearly two million more watches in 2024 than the previous year. “You’ve got a group of consumers that are looking to buy the best, top of the range fitness trackers,” Hatton says. “They may have gone into them through the Apple Watch or the Samsung Watch, but increasingly, they’re realizing that what they want it for is the pure fitness element. Garmin is probably best positioned to serve that demand.” The wearables category has also diversified. Watches once dominated the space, but now consumers can choose from smart rings that track sleep, headbands that boost focus, and AI-powered sunglasses. While these devices are still niche, Hatton says their rapid growth poses a longer-term threat. Apple sold an estimated 40 million watches last year; by contrast, only about 2 million smart rings were sold across all providers. “If they continue to grow very quickly, then they may start to become a real challenger to watches,” he contends. And some consumers are simply over it. Maybe they grew tired of the endless notifications. Maybe they were shamed for wearing an Apple Watch at their wedding. Maybe they just missed the feel of a classic timepiece. “There’s been a resurgence of traditional watches,” Ubrani says. “People like the idea of having something that’s a little less mass produced, something that’s away from the mainstream.” View the full article

Opposition says law to bring politicians into selection process will bring Israel ‘to the brink of civil war’View the full article

A few years ago, I was in the middle of an important client meeting when my phone started vibrating. Buzz. Buzz. Not wanting to be impolite, I kept my focus on my client. Buzz. Buzz. Buzz. Finally, I excused myself, peeked at my screen, and saw a string of texts from my son, increasing in urgency. The last few read simply: MOM. MOM. MOM. As the mother of three teenage boys, I had gotten texts like these before. There was no way to know how badly my son needed me: Was he just locked out of the house? Or was this a true, red-alarm emergency? In the end, he was fine—no blood or broken bones, no panic attacks or thoughts of self-harm. But as a parent and caregivers, these are the moments that send your heart rate through the roof. In the conference room that day, I was in two places at once. And I felt like no one else could know. That was the day I realized I’d gotten something important wrong about parenting. When my boys became teens, I figured the “hard part” was over. But in fact, it was just beginning. At exactly the moment our kids are going through some of the toughest years of their lives—facing bullying, pressures from social media and mental health challenges in record numbers—benefits and support programs for parents tend to disappear. In place of paid parental leave, pamphlets on feeding and sleep training, and friends and colleagues asking how we’re doing (and how they can help!), we face an endless stream of advice that only reinforces the sense of shame that so many of us feel: Here’s how to get your kid into a top college! Here’s how to turn your angsty teen into a happy, healthy, successful adult! Often implicit in all of this is possible judgment (or the feeling of being judged) that if our kids are struggling, it’s our fault. That with enough screen time monitoring and elbow grease, these challenges can be optimized away. But parents don’t need more advice. They need recognition and support. In recent years, the U.S. has made great strides in acknowledging the importance of supporting new parents. Thanks to tireless advocacy, policies like paid parental leave, affordable childcare, and flexible schedules have gone from fringe “family” issues to core economic ones. They’re discussed on presidential debate stages, integral to competitive benefit packages, and a key part of any serious conversation about the cost of living. The data on the economic impact of raising healthy kids in psychologically safe, loving environments—and giving parents and caregivers the tools they need to do this—is undeniable. And research has shown employers with strong policies can see the positive impact on their businesses firsthand, in the form of improved employee productivity, better recruitment and stronger retention. Of course, we’re nowhere near where we need to be; paid leave and affordable childcare remain inaccessible to too many. But we have changed the conversation around how we acknowledge, value and support parents of young kids—and with it, the lives of millions of people. Now it’s time we did the same for all parents and caregivers—finding new and better ways to support people whose sleepless nights don’t involve changing diapers but, instead, comforting a teen who may be suffering from depression or anxiety. Solutions won’t look the same as they do for new parents, and if history is any guide, public-sector reform is a long way off. But the first step toward meaningful change is to explore ideas that have a good track record in other contexts and a high likelihood of success. This is where business leaders can lead the way. We can start by recognizing that parents of kids at any age are still, and forever, parents. We can offer schedule flexibility for caregivers of all types. Robust coverage for mental health treatment. Family leave that includes caring for teens in crisis. Tools for team leaders. And resource groups for parents and caregivers of adolescents. Small changes, like explicitly and proactively stating that caregiver leave can be taken to help a child going through a mental health crisis, can go a long way. Beyond corporate policies and benefits, supporting parents and caregivers of teens means building a culture of genuine interpersonal support and understanding, where employees feel welcome and included. You don’t need a handbook to do that: No matter where you sit, you can be part of that change today. I wonder what would have happened around that conference table if, instead of reacting with embarrassment and trying to split my brain in two, I had simply told my client that my teen was in distress and needed me. It might have created a moment of connection and understanding. It might have made my client think about their own experiences, or that of parents on their teams. By normalizing these conversations and supporting caregivers all the way through their journey, we can make a lasting difference for kids and families—and for businesses and society along with them. View the full article

After all these years, Napster is apparently worth $207 million. That’s how much artificial intelligence and extended reality company Infinite Reality purchased the former file-sharing service for on Tuesday. Under its new ownership, Infinite Reality said Napster will become a virtual concert venue that sells physical and virtual merchandise to musicians’ super fans and is capable of hosting social listening parties and gamifying fan engagement and loyalty. “By acquiring Napster, we’re paving a path to a brighter future for artists, fans, and the music industry at large,” Infinite Reality CEO John Acunto said in a statement. “This strategic move aligns with Infinite Reality’s vision to lead an internet industry shift from a flat 2D clickable web to a 3D conversational one—giving all creators modern tools to better engage, monetize, and measure their audiences.” [Image: Infinite Reality] Napster on repeat The bet is the Napster brand has some life left in it still, but the new owners face a challenge. The recent history of Napster shows it’s hard to buy an old brand for parts and transfer its nostalgic goodwill to a new but related service. When Napster operated in its original form from 1999 to 2001, it was a peer-to-peer platform that offered users free, though illegal, access to music online (not to mention computer viruses). It served as a precursor and catalyst for the music industry’s switch from physical music formats to digital downloads and streaming, and Napster’s new owners hope it will again lead the way to a new era for popular music “Napster revolutionized digital music in the ’90s and now, with Infinite Reality, we’re ready to do it again,” said Jon Vlassopulos, Napster’s CEO and the former global head of music at Roblox. “The internet has evolved from desktop to mobile, from mobile to social, and now we are entering the immersive era. Yet, music streaming has remained largely the same. It’s time to reimagine what’s possible.” The plans for the reimagined Napster mirror those of other companies seeking to bridge music, VR, and super fans. Meta has hosted virtual concerts by artists including Charli XCX and Sabrina Carpenter, Fortnite has sold special-edition skins, or virtual outfits, that match what artists like Ariana Grande and Travis Scott wore during their in-game concerts, and Spotify is considering a “Super-Premium” subscription tier for fans to pay for access to perks like early releases and exclusive deluxe editions of albums. If Infinite Reality has its way, the new Napster could be all of that and more, save for two big problems. The metaverse turned out to be a failure, and many before have tried and failed to attach the Napster name to a new music-based service. Zombie branding at its finest Functionally, Napster has become a music streaming platform, though far less popular than category leaders like Spotify and Apple Music. Napster’s assets have been previously owned by companies that tried merging it with the online music services Pressplay and later Rhapsody, and it was even owned by Best Buy from 2008 to 2011. Since 2020, Napster has changed hands between the virtual reality concert app MelodyVR to an investment group that bought it in 2022 and said it would “revolutionize the music industry by bringing blockchain and Web3 to artists and fans,” to its current owner today. Other turn-of-the-century tech brands have similarly bounced around owners and pivoted to new technologies, like the peer-to-peer file-sharing service LimeWire, which got into AI music generation. MySpace morphed from an early social network to a music-focused site once owned by Fox News parent company News Corporation. For its part, Napster is a zombie brand that’s still widely recognized but worth far less than during its Y2K-era heyday, and it’s seemingly resistant to being repurposed. Music is so tied to youth culture—and today’s youngest listeners are too young to even remember Napster. Plus, its recent history has shown you can’t just buy its brand assets and wear them like a skin. Napster once revolutionized music and technology, but whether its brand name and assets alone can still inspire that same sense of being on popular music’s cutting edge a quarter of a century later seems unlikely. View the full article

Nearly 30 million Americans annually are impacted by water scarcity and don’t have reliable access to clean water. The water crisis stems from a wide range of issues, ranging from extreme weather events like hurricanes and flooding to depleted aquifers and overuse of wells. Our aging water infrastructure alone leaks 6 billion gallons per day, while pipe failures lead to nearly 10,000 “boil water” notices every year. Water is an essential and increasingly limited resource. It shapes where we live (or don’t). Vast lands across America remain undeveloped due to a lack of natural water resources, exacerbating the housing crisis. Water increasingly restrains and defines how we live. These crises expose a fundamental flaw in our water infrastructure: It’s centralized, fragile, and slow to adapt. For centuries, we’ve relied on massive, fixed water systems—municipal plants, aquifers, and reservoirs—assuming they’d always be enough. But droughts, disasters, and rising demand are pushing these systems to the brink. Neither resilient nor quite renewable, the problem isn’t just scarcity—it’s rigidity. Energy faced a similar challenge. Grids dependent on fossil-fueled centralized plants proved vulnerable to extreme weather and surging demand, while adding to pollution and climate change. The solution? Resilient and renewable eistributed energy resources (DERs)—solar panels, batteries, and microgrids that gave homes and businesses power independence. What if water worked the same way? What if atmospheric water generation (AWG), smart storage, and rainwater harvesting built a new paradigm of distributed water resources (DWRs)? This would make water supply resilient, renewable, and independent. Just as DERs revolutionized energy, distributed water will redefine water. The crucial foundation of DWRs is a renewable water source like rainwater collection and atmospheric water generation—producing clean water directly from the air. While the concept isn’t new—the U.S. military has explored it since the 1930s—early technologies were energy-intensive, expensive, and impractical for widespread use. Until now, atmospheric water was limited to niche applications. But today, technological advancements have changed the game. Large-scale atmospheric water capture is a reality, and when integrated with storage, entire homes and communities can be sustained with water sourced directly from the air, feeding into showers, kitchens, and more. (One of our companies, Brian Sheng’s Aquaria, builds and sells AWG systems.) This is a water equivalent to a renewable microgrid—the hydrogrid—and it’s already here. In Texas, rural homeowners have implemented a DWR model themselves, standing up rainwater systems, AWGs and water storage, and unplugging from their failing wells. In Hawaii, a developer is building a pioneering residential community integrating a hydrogrid with a rainwater harvesting system to secure a year-round independent water supply. No need to further stress—or rely on—overstressed terrestrial water sources and infrastructure. An Aquaria Hydropack unit is integrated with a rainwater catchment system in this off-the-grid home in Hill Country, Texas. [Photo: Aquaria] Big water infrastructure can’t close the supply-and-demand gap quickly At the Texas Water Day at the Texas Capital in March, water advocates shared that it costs about $2 million to build one mile of new municipal-type water pipe—pipes that only have about a 35-year life! As we expand our urban centers with new suburbs and exurbs, there’s no easy path to finance urgently needed new water systems to support growth. Like the energy grid, our water infrastructure is fragmented. A recent McKinsey report on water resilience found that of the nation’s nearly 50,000 water systems, 91% service small communities of under 10,000 people. It’s hard to imagine how these small-scale, rural systems will be able to afford the considerable costs associated with upgrading and maintaining water pipes. As McKinsey sees it, the overall infrastructure funding gap for water utilities in the U.S. could reach $194 billion by 2030. An Aquaria water generator and tank installed at a South Texas home supplements its water supply during drought conditions. [Photo: Aquaria] DWRs are the resilient solution that humanity needs Rural communities highlight why a DWR model is the most reliable, resilient, and adaptable approach to water infrastructure. Traditional hub-and-spoke systems are prone to pipeline failures, contamination, and supply disruptions, leaving entire communities without water or forcing them to live with “boil water” notices. By pairing localized rainwater collection and atmospheric water generation with storage, communities can remain self-sufficient and resilient—producing, storing, and using water on demand, reducing reliance on distant water. The amount of water in the air at any given time is about 3,100 cubic miles. This stays consistent and regenerates every week or so through natural cycles of precipitation and evaporation. This quantity is about 200 times more than humans consume annually. Water in the air is not only abundant, it is limitless. A homeowner can install an AWG and storage tank starting at around $20,000—comparable to the average cost of a residential solar installation. Installation is straightforward, requiring only a connection to the home’s water system and can typically be completed within a week. Residential rainwater systems range from humble rain barrels to large-scale systems with 50,000-gallon tanks to maximize collection during the season, plus water treatment, sensors, and even predictive modeling to manage use. Scaling rainwater harvesting and AWGs for community-level water generation is equally practical. These AWG systems are housed in containerized units, similar to container battery storage systems, making them highly modular and deployable within days. A single unit can produce thousands of gallons of clean water per day, and multiple units can be deployed in parallel or distributed to different locations based on demand. Aquaria’s Hydropack X unit, installed with a storage tank for backup water supply that’s needed due to unreliable piped water supply in Austin [Photo: Aquaria] Envisioning a new future for water In an ever-changing world, the time to secure water independence is now. Homeowners can install DWR systems into their homes to secure personal water supplies, while local, state, and federal governments can implement these systems at scale to protect their communities amid disaster and climate change, while protecting terrestrial water sources with renewable water. DWRs also enable new development opportunities. Land once considered unbuildable due to lack of infrastructure can now support housing, agriculture, and industry without costly municipal expansion. Imagine if we unlock a new way to harvest and deliver abundant water wherever it’s needed. A new model of distributed water resources can unveil a radical range of new possibilities in the same way that distributed energy resources did—delivering reliability, flexibility, sustainability, and independence in an uncertain future. The world is experiencing a growing and urgent water crisis. As Niccolò Machiavelli once said, “Never waste the opportunity offered by a good crisis.” World Water Day has now come and gone, but we must continue to acknowledge the state of the water crisis and recognize the urgency of strategic, communal action. We live in an era of both rapid technological advancement and accelerating water scarcity—and now is the time to bridge the gap. View the full article

A child-size table and small chairs make up the centerpiece of a playroom. It’s where children do crafts, host tea parties for their dolls, play hide-and-seek, and build forts. So it makes sense that people buy a lot of them: By 2030, Americans will spend an estimated $12 billion on play tables. [Photo: Bauen] The market is flooded with sets, ranging from inexpensive ones like Ikea’s $50 version to more design-forward varieties like Lalo’s $300 set. Still, husband-and-wife entrepreneurs Lynn and Cassidy Rouse believe there’s room in the market for a better-designed version. More specifically, they wanted to create a set that was indestructible, easy to assemble, usable indoors and outdoors, and even portable. And they wanted to create chairs that were almost impossible to tip over. The Rouses—who have two young children—spent two years designing a play table and chairs, exploring hundreds of prototypes and materials, until they arrived at their final design: a whimsical-looking set made from recyclable plastic. The product has already won an iF Design Award. This week, they’re launching a $649 play table and chair set through their new brand, Bauen. Over time, they expect to redesign other children’s furniture. A Packed Market Child-size furniture has been around since the 18th century, when well-to-do families wanted to give their children opportunities to play and develop. Today such items are a staple of childhood. But when the Rouses scoured the market for a play table for their kids, they found most options lacking. Thanks to the rise of cheap, mass-produced furniture, you can find many affordable options from Target, Walmart, and Amazon. The problem is that most of them are made of inexpensive materials that break easily. “When we spoke to experienced parents, they said that they had gone through several sets of play tables,” Cassidy says. “It’s become a norm to get an inexpensive play set and expect to throw it out after a few years. If you have a second child, you just buy a whole new set.” [Image: Bauen] Outdoor play sets are slightly more durable, since they are made using heavy-duty plastic, but they’re often designed like picnic tables, and don’t look good indoors. “So you end up buying two sets—one for indoors, and another for outdoors,” he says. Today, thanks to improved child-safety laws, companies need to follow regulations when designing furniture for kids. After receiving reports of injuries, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission established a rule that chairs marketed for children younger than 5 must go through a stability test issued by a third-party testing agency. The test involves putting the chair at an incline to show that it will not easily tip over if the child sits too far back or leans to one side. But in focus groups, the Rouses heard parents say their kids frequently tipped over in play chairs, partly because often they often sit quietly at the table, instead playing vigorously and leaning backward at an unsafe angle. “We didn’t think the standard accommodated the way children actually interact with this furniture,” Lynn says. [Image: Bauen] Redesigning a Classic So they set out to create a better product, starting by designing a chair that is more tip-resistant than others on the market. When you first see the chairs, their proportions look a little comical. They have a very wide seat, a very short 8-inch back, and thick legs (a now patent-pending design). All of this creates a low center of gravity, which makes them harder to tip over. “Most children’s chairs are designed like smaller versions of adult chairs,” Cassidy says. “But we had a breakthrough when we realized that toddlers don’t need a large, supportive back; their bodies are often leaning forward to see what is in front of them. By creating a wide seat and a low back, the chair is much more stable.” [Image: Bauen] Rethinking the chairs led the Rouses to rethink almost every aspect of the set’s design. They wondered whether it was possible to create furniture that would look good indoors but also be practical outdoors. They ended up using polyethylene, a type of durable plastic that’s often used to construct outdoor furniture. They sourced it from a company whose products are deemed toxin-free by the EU, which has higher product safety standards than the U.S. [Image: Bauen] Despite being plastic, the set doesn’t look like a traditional picnic table and chairs meant for the backyard. The furniture has interesting curves. Depending on how it’s styled, it can look fun and cartoony in a kid’s bedroom, or sleek in a modern home. But when the sun comes out, you can easily carry the set out to a deck or garden, so kids can eat and play outside. After trying out many other products on the market, the Rouses discovered things they disliked and avoided them in their own design. For instance, they didn’t like the way liquid would spill right off tables, so they designed raised edges so spills would stay contained. Lynn found it annoying that many chairs were not large enough for adults to sit on. “We wanted it to fit an adult bottom,” she says. “That way you can sit with your child at the table. But you can also bring it to the bathroom and sit on it while giving your kid a bath.” [Image: Bauen] Finally, they wanted to make the set easy to assemble. The chairs don’t require any assembly. For the table, you only have to attach the legs. It doesn’t require any tools, and it takes less than two minutes. Importantly, the table is designed to be disassembled easily so you can store it and transport it. “You might want to bring it on holiday with you,” Lynn says. The Bauen set is certainly thoughtfully designed, but it’s also much more expensive than other kids’ furniture on the market. At $649, it is more than double the cost of the Lalo set, which is already considered expensive. The table will likely be appealing to affluent, design-conscious parents. But the Rouses are also trying to make the case that their product is much more durable than others on the market, so it’s a good value for money. View the full article

We live in an era of rapid technological change, where the rise of AI presents both opportunities and risks. While AI can drive efficiency and innovation, it also increases the temptation for leaders to prioritize short-term gains—automating decisions for immediate profit, optimizing for productivity at the cost of employee well-being, and sidelining long-term sustainability. Organizations that focus solely on AI-driven efficiency risk creating burnt out workforces, extractive systems, and fragile organizations that cannot withstand economic, social, or environmental disruptions. To build resilient organizations that can weather the future, leaders must embrace regenerative leadership. This requires shifting from exploitative business models that prioritize efficiency to people-centered leadership that actively seeks to restore and enhance resources, whether human, environmental, or technological. Regenerative leaders recognize that AI should augment human potential, not replace or exploit it. They create strategies that use AI to enhance long-term human, business, and environmental well-being rather than diminishing them. The key principles of regenerative leadership A regenerative leader creates sustainable systems. Unlike traditional leadership, which focuses on efficiency, profit, and centralized control, regenerative leadership nurtures ecosystems. Here are the key principles a regenerative leader follows: Systems Thinking: Sees organizations and ecosystems as interconnected, ensuring decisions benefit the whole rather than just isolated parts. Living Systems Approach: Draws inspiration from nature’s regenerative cycles to create adaptive, self-renewing teams and businesses. A self-renewing team is one that continuously learns and evolves. Purpose-Driven Leadership: Aligns business and leadership goals with meaningful long-term impact. Human Well-being: Prioritizes employee and stakeholder well-being including creating psychological safety and a collaborative environment. Resilience & Adaptability: Leads with agility in uncertain times, designing organizations that can thrive in change. Regenerative Value Creation: Moves beyond extraction of resources, talent, and energy to creating lasting value for people, communities, and nature. Collaborative & Decentralized Power: Encourages participatory leadership, where teams self-organize and contribute to a larger mission. Regenerative leadership in action Here’s how different companies have implemented regenerative leadership: Business Strategy: Companies like Patagonia and Interface have pioneered sustainable business practices that go beyond carbon neutrality and actively regenerate ecosystems. Both companies saw improved brand loyalty, cost savings, and competitive advantage from these efforts. Patagonia’s ethical stance boosted sales, making it one of the most trusted brands globally, while Interface’s sustainable innovations led to higher efficiency, lower production costs, and increased demand for eco-friendly products. Corporate Culture: Microsoft prioritizes employee well-being through flexible work policies, continuous learning programs, and mental health support. This fosters a positive work environment that enhances engagement, productivity, and ultimately long-term business success. Community Impact: The Hershey Company has made significant strides in community impact through its commitment to sustainable cocoa sourcing and education programs. These programs ensure a stable supply chain, enhance brand trust, and meet consumer demand for ethical products, driving long-term success. Developing regenerative leadership skills Regenerative leadership is not an innate talent but a skillset that can be cultivated. Here are some suggestions for becoming a more regenerative leader: 1. Expand awareness to think in systems, not silos. Regenerative leaders recognize that businesses must work in harmony with both the environment and human nature. Companies like Patagonia restore ecosystems through regenerative practices. They emphasize that great leadership works with natural flows rather than imposing rigid control. By shaping organizations that evolve organically, like ecosystems, leaders cultivate resilience, innovation, and lasting success. 2. Practice deep listening to lead with empathy. Success will start with deep listening to employees, customers, and stakeholders. The Buddhist concept of mindfulness will remind leaders to be present, ask the right questions, and cultivate trust, creating cultures where innovation thrives. 3. Embrace a growth mindset to stay adaptive. Regenerative leaders will see challenges as opportunities for reinvention. The Zen principle of Shoshin (beginner’s mind) will encourage curiosity, adaptability, and a culture of continuous learning, ensuring organizations do not just survive but evolve. 4. Foster collaboration and build networks, not hierarchies. The best leaders will empower teams, encourage co-creation, and shift from competition to co-elevation. By fostering inclusive, participatory decision-making, they will build self-renewing, resilient organizations. 5. Measure impact beyond profits. Success is more than profits—it includes ethical usage of technology, employee well-being, biodiversity restoration, and community impact. Regenerative leaders track holistic KPIs, driving sustainable business transformation. The future of leadership is regenerative By embracing regenerative leadership, leaders will move beyond short-term survival tactics and instead drive innovation, resilience, and long-term success while creating lasting positive impacts. This approach will become an ongoing practice of learning, adaptation, and alignment with the broader ecosystems of business, society, and technology. The choice will be clear: Leadership must not only sustain but regenerate—leveraging AI and emerging technologies as forces for good. View the full article

Bellevue, Washington, is the home of thousands of Microsoft employees. Its AI-powered traffic monitoring system lives up to such expectations. Using existing traffic cameras capable of reading signs and lights, it tracks not just crashes but also near misses. And it suggests solutions to managers, like rethinking a turn lane or moving a stop line. But this AI technology wasn’t born out of Microsoft and its big OpenAI partnership. It was developed by a startup called Archetype AI. You might think of the company as OpenAI for the physical world. [Image: Archetype AI]“A city will report an accident after an accident happens. But what they want to know is, like, where are the accidents that nearly happened—because that they cannot report. And they want to prevent those accidents,” says Ivan Poupyrev, cofounder of Archetype AI. “So predicting the future is one of the biggest use cases we have right now.” Poupyrev and Leonardo Giusti founded Archetype after leaving Google’s ATAP (advanced technology and projects) group, where they worked on cutting-edge projects initiatives like the smart textile Project Jacquard and the gadget radar Project Soli. Poupryev details his history of working at giants like Sony and Disney, where engineers always had to develop one algorithm to understand something like a heartbeat, and another for steps. Each physical thing you wanted to measure, whatever that may be, was always its own discrete system—another mini piece of software to code and support. There’s simply too much happening inside our natural world to measure or consider it all through this one-problem-at-a-time approach. As a result, our highest-tech hardware still understands very little of our real environment, and what is actually happening in it. What Archetype is suggesting instead is an AI that can track and react to the complexity of the physical world. Its “Newton” foundational model is trained on piles of open-sensor data from sources like NASA—which publishes everything from ocean temperatures gathered with microwave scanners to infrared scans of cloud patterns. And much like an LLM can infer linguistic reasoning by studying texts, Newton can infer physics by studying sensor readings. [Image: Archetype AI]The company’s big selling point is that Newton can analyze output from sensors that already exist. Your phone has a dozen or more, and the world may soon have trillions—including accelerometers, electrical and fluid flow sensors, optical sensors, and radar. By reading these measurements, Newton can actually track and identify what’s going on inside environments to a surprising degree. It’s even proven capable of predicting future patterns to foresee actions ranging from the swing of a small pendulum in a lab to a potential accident on a factory floor to the sunspots and tides in nature. In many ways, Archetype is constructing the sort of system truly needed for ambient computing, a vision in which the lines between our real world and computational world blur. But rather than focusing on a grand heady vision, it’s selling Newton as a sort of universal translator that can turn sensor data into actionable insight. “[It’s a] fundamental shift to how we see AI as a society. [Right now] it’s an automation technology where we replace part of our human labor with AI. We delegate to AI to do something,” Giusti says. “We are trying to shift the perspective, and we see AI as an interpretation layer for the physical world. AI is going to help us better understand what’s happening in the world.” Poupyrev adds, “We want AI to act as a superpower that allows us to see things we couldn’t see before and improve our decision-making.” [Image: Archetype AI]How does Archetype AI work? Lenses.In one of Archetype’s demos, a radar notices someone entering the kitchen. A microphone can listen for anything prompted, like washing dishes. It’s a demonstration of two technologies that reside in many smartphones, but through the context of Newton, sensor noise becomes knowledge. In another demo, Newton analyzes a factory floor and generates a heat map of potential safety risks (notably drawn in the path of a forklift coming close to people). In yet another demo, Newton analyzes the work of construction boats, and actually charts out a timeline of their active hours each day. Of course, physics alone can’t extrapolate everything happening in these scenes, which is why Newton also includes training data on human behavior (so it knows if, say, shaking a box might be inferred as “mishandling” it) and uses traditional LLM technology for labeling what’s going on. Each different front-end UX described above required some custom code, and Archetype has been working with its early partners in a white-glove approach. But the core logic at play is all built upon Newton. “Our companies don’t care about some AGI benchmark we can meet and not meet,” Poupyrev says. “What they care about is that this model solved their particular use cases.” Much like entire apps are now built upon OpenAI’s ChatGPT and Anthropic’s Claude, Archetype is making Newton AI available as an API (and customers can request access now). Technically, you can run Newton from computers operated by Archetype, on cloud services like AWS or Azure, or even on your own servers if you prefer. Your primary task is simply to feed whatever sensor data your company already uses through a Newton AI “lens.” The lens is the company’s metaphor for how it translates sensor information into insight. Unlike LLMs, which work on question-answer queries that lead us to metaphors like conversations and agents, sensors output streams of information that may need constant analysis. So a lens is a means to scrutinize this data at intervals or in real time. And the operational cost of running Newton AI will be proportionate to the amount and frequency of your own sensor analysis. [Image: Archetype AI]Tuning the lens is surprisingly simple: You can use natural language prompts to ask the system something like “alert me every time there’s a safety issue on this floor” or “notify me if an alarm goes off.” But what’s particularly exciting to the company is that in analyzing sensor waveforms, Newton AI has proven that it doesn’t just understand a lot of what’s happening, but it can actually predict what may happen in the future. Much like autocomplete already knows what you might type next, Newton can look at waveforms of data (like electrical or audio information from a machine) to predict the next trend. In a factory, this might allow it to spot the imminent failure of a machine. To demonstrate this idea, Archetype shares data from an accelerometer measuring the swing of an elastic pendulum (aka a pendulum on a spring—which is a classic way to generate chaotic behavior). Even though the model has never been trained specifically on pendulum equations or been programmed to understand accelerometers, Archetype claims that it can accurately track the swing of the chaotic pendulum and predict its next movements. Poupyrev says the same is true for thermoelectric behaviors, like we might see in electronics. By observing patterns normally ignored, and coupling that information with predictive analysis, Archetype believes it can revolutionize all sorts of platforms, ranging from industrial applications to urban planning. And for its next act, the company wants Newton to output in more than text; there’s no reason why it can’t communicate in symbols or real-time graphs. The claims are, on one hand, outrageously large and tricky to grok. But on the other, Poupyrev has built his entire career on building mind-bendingly novel innovations from existing technologies—that actually work. For any company interested in Newton, Archetype is still working closely with partners to use their API. Pilots start in the mid-six figures, while annual projects range into the millions, depending on scale. View the full article

Growing up in the mountains of western Guatemala, Feliciano Perez Tomas cultivated the same type of native maize his family had for generations. The breed of corn was central to his Indigenous K’iche’ community’s diet, a grain and pulse-heavy intake that dates back to the time of the Maya Civilization. But over the years, more frequent and intense rains—linked to climate change—came earlier in the year, disrupting the harvest. “Before it rained in March and we would sow seeds when it happened, but these days the rains can begin in February, and there can be a lot of ice and colder conditions,” said Tomas, 42. “We would have to work so hard, but receive little.” Indigenous communities around the world are losing the crops their forebears had bred over centuries to a changing climate, deforestation, and industrial farming. Three-quarters of the world’s plant genetic diversity has been lost over the last century, according to the UN Food and Agriculture Organization, with only 30 plants fueling 95% of the calories that all humans consume globally. Such a homogenized food system raises the risk of crop failures, pests and diseases, malnutrition, and the extinction of unique and ancient plant species. Perez Tomas, left, at his local seed bank. [Photo: ASOCUCH] Though it’s difficult to gauge exactly how much the biodiversity crisis is costing farmers, one 2023 survey suggests smallholder farmers are spending $368 billion of their own income every year on measures to adapt to climate change, which include pest control, soil improvements, and biodiversity conservation. Increasingly, farmers like Tomas are turning to seed banks. These modest, community-run storage hubs—typically located within walking distance of the fields—preserve Indigenous, climate-resilient seeds adept at dealing with harsh conditions, while also providing farmers like Tomas with a free, direct supply of seeds. In turn, proponents say seed banks can help to protect biodiversity. A 2022 survey by the company Terraformation found more than 400 seed banks operating in 96 countries worldwide. “There are so many uses of the seed banks,” says Sergio Alonzo, senior technical manager of ASOCUCH, a Guatemalan nonprofit that works with 16,000 farmers in the Huehuetenango region where Tomas lives. “They protect biodiversity. They protect incomes. If there’s a disaster or emergency, they are there as a kind of insurance for farmers.” ASOCUCH launched its seed bank program in 2007 and Tomas joined in 2010. It has provided him with long-term, protective storage for his native seeds, meaning he no longer has to pay for them at the market, and crucially, a kind of insurance for when extreme weather strikes. Research by ASOCUCH has also found that cultivating these native seeds in banks has tripled farmers’ yields. “They increase food availability for families and create income from the sale of surpluses,” said Alonzo. Tomas’ local branch of the seed bank, run by a committee of local farmers of which he is a member, has seen his community through crop-destroying frosts, floods, heat waves, and a severe seed shortage in 2018. “Without the seed banks, it would have been disastrous,” Tomas said. “You save a lot of money not having to buy seeds, too.” Each storage hub holds hundreds of containers of seeds, divided into sections for each farmer. Seeds shown to be resistant to harsh weather are prioritized. Some farmers visit the bank every month, while others just use it in case of emergencies. When Tomas first joined the bank, he was one of only six participating farmers in the community—now there are more than 40 of them. “They saw the need,” he says. “Many farmers now see the importance of the banks.” Agricultural experts say that supporting the use of traditional seeds, also known as heirloom varieties, could minimize the likelihood of food shortages, improve diets amid growing malnutrition, and bolster the resilience of rural farming communities. “Farmers have long been conserving seeds—and the banks support them to do this,” said Ronnie Vernooy, a genetic resources specialist at the Alliance of Bioversity International and CIAT, a nonprofit. “It’s so important because we are losing crop diversity everywhere. We have to take action to protect seeds.” The emergence of modern seed banks follows in the path of the ancient Indigenous practice of seed-keeping, which is becoming increasingly important for areas relying on subsistence farming as they are disproportionately affected by climate change. “Before the focus was on national seed banks,” says Vernooy. “They would put seeds in a freezer and store them for as long as possible. But that has its limits. And that’s very far away from the farmers.” Instead, community seed banks provide a living use of seeds, at once supporting farmers and their families, helping to secure the future of native and climate-resilient seeds, as well as encouraging social cohesion, equality, and knowledge exchange among farmers. “They become more than a physical area, they increase interchange, sharing of seeds,” said Vernooy. A 2023 study co-authored by Vernooy focusing on community banks in Kenya and Uganda found that 2,630 smallholder farmers protected 72 “unique” crop and tree species, serving as a platform for community action and women’s empowerment. “Women have always played a key role in seed saving and management,” he says. Similar projects are sprouting up across Central America, home to large Indigenous populations who are knowledgeable about seed keeping, yet also on the frontlines of climate change. Many of these communities suffer high rates of malnutrition. In Nicaragua, a Swiss NGO is working with more than 7,000 farmers to identify native breeds of maize, grains, beans, and other legumes and develop new drought-resistant varieties. Mexico’s national FES Iztacala Seed Bank, a state-led initiative, works directly with community seed banks and international partners to conserve about 12% to 13% of the country’s 23,000 plant species. In the United States, volunteers gathered seeds to regrow native plants in areas of Southern California devastated by January’s wildfires. Seed Savers Exchange, based in Iowa, is one of the nation’s largest nongovernmental seed banks, holding some 20,000 species. But in order to live up to their potential, which could allow farmers to generate extra income through sales, advocates say the seed banks need more support from national governments. “Support is improving, but it remains lacking,” Vernooy said. Alonzo of ASOCUCH agreed that institutional backing would make it easier for farmers to develop and independently maintain their own seed banks while recognizing their crucial role in protecting biodiversity. “Even if the banks are working, climate change still presents challenges,” he says. “If we want to safeguard the needs, we need to recognize the value of these smallholder producers.” —By Peter Yeung, Nexus Media News This story was originally published by Nexus Media News, an editorially independent publication of MEDA (Mennonite Economic Development Associates). View the full article

As AI takes on a greater role in our media ecosystem, many journalists look at it like a farmer sees an invasive species: as a force that threatens to slowly choke, kill, and replace their work, potentially threatening their livelihood. There’s good reason for this: For reporters and editors, AI represents an assault on multiple fronts. Not only can large language models (LLMs) take over many tasks within journalistic work—research, writing, editing—AI systems also threaten to substitute media publications entirely. The more readers get their information from AI, the less reason they have to engage with publishers or journalists directly. Ask a journalist how it’s going these days, and you’re likely to hear, “Not great.” Many are understandably skeptical, if not outright antagonistic, toward AI. And while the many rounds of recent layoffs at media companies aren’t happening because AI is replacing journalists en masse, its growing presence in newsrooms is certainly a factor in how those organizations are restructuring themselves. There’s another perspective, however. While the rise of AI is, in many ways, painful for journalists, it may actually be healthy for journalism. Audiences are moving on The fact is more and more people are using AI to find news and information. ChatGPT now has 400 million weekly active users, and it’s showing up on top 10 lists of the most popular sites on the internet. A recent study from Adobe found that the amount of traffic that AI services are sending to retail sites has increased 1,200% in just the last seven months. Despite generating far fewer clicks than traditional search, AI tools are driving a massive spike in traffic—proof of their growing reach. AI use may be climbing fast, but it’s all a drop in the bucket compared to regular search. A recent analysis from search expert Rand Fishkin revealed that ChatGPT searches are less than 1% of overall search activity. Google’s “10 blue links” may still rule the day, but Google is going deeper into AI, too. Its AI Overviews—topic summaries at the top of search results—now appear in searches for more users, and it has recently expanded the availability of “AI mode,” which produces a summary that does away with the links altogether. While Google hasn’t yet begun applying these tools to current news articles in a significant way, the trend is clear: more AI in search, not less. So whichever way you turn, the picture is clear: a significant part of our future media ecosystem will be AI-mediated. The key question: How will these systems surface the content for the summaries they give? This is a difficult question to answer definitively, partly because AI companies aren’t eager to open up their “black boxes,” but also because the technology itself makes the decisions LLMs make fairly opaque. But we can infer a lot from the outputs they create, and what companies do say. OpenAI publishes a model spec for its LLMs—basically a set of first principles. One of them is “seek the truth together,” by which it means the AI and user collaborate to find whatever the truthful output is for the user’s query. Taken at face value, that’s well aligned with journalistic principles. Balance and neutrality are also encouraged by AI systems. Most topics in the news have left- and right-leaning takes, with chatbots giving a blended summary, possibly with a note that “opinions differ.” Overall, AI summaries are the result of a multisource approach that tends to reward depth and uniqueness. The new incentives of AI Deep and unique content that takes a balanced and neutral approach to the truth? We used to call that good journalism. If AI optimizes for these factors and allows for a business model that works, it would alter media incentives for the better. Because we couldn’t do much worse than the last decade. When search referrals and social reach ruled the day, publisher incentives were often not aligned with journalistic best practices. Even if you overlook the worst excesses of that era, such as clickbait and content farms, most digital newsrooms were obsessed with running up page views and unique visitors so they could sell big numbers to advertisers. As a result, incentives aligned around content that was provocative and disposable rather than thoughtful and rich. Success in the AI era, however, will be measured by how often your stories are cited in AI summaries. The content will need to be “definitive” in some way—that leaving it out would weaken the answer to the point where it’s incomplete or wrong. That’s great motivation for journalists to produce scoops, original quotes, and analysis you can’t get anywhere else. Of course, this all hinges on a big assumption: that AI systems can actually maximize accuracy and minimize bias—and be trusted to do so. Recent evidence suggests that’s far from a sure bet: An extensive study from Newsguard revealed an effort to influence LLM outputs to favor the Russian point of view on the Ukraine war. And it was apparently successful: the brute-force campaign affected the outputs of all the popular AI chatbots and search engines. OpenAI might align its model “seek the truth together” with the user, but reinforcements may be needed. There’s another snag: the copyright question. The major AI labs have attracted so many copyright lawsuits that elaborate data visualizations are required to keep track. That’s led to several AI companies inking content deals with various publishers, which might be good for business, but there’s a big downside for users: information in AI summaries will favor partners, which may not necessarily be the best possible sources. OpenAI, for instance, has said that ChatGPT does this, and it avoids citing, linking, or summarizing content from anyone litigating against it. Courts and legislators could step in, but they might not do so in a way that benefits news publishers. If they decide that the data ingestion that all AI systems do is fair use, that would instantly reduce the value of journalism in the AI market and disincentivize publishers from appearing in AI summaries at all. Extremely strong copyright, on the other hand, might make the information too expensive for AI companies to even offer a wide range of summarized news. This isn’t a surrender. It’s a strategy. So yes, there a lot to be sorted out before we declare a golden AI age of journalism. But the tools are there to create an ecosystem with the right incentives: a media that can build sustainable business through summarization, a journalism community where talent and hard work are rewarded instead of quick hits and clickbait, and a public that benefits from thorough and fair summaries of topics. The potential of such a vision is worth fighting for, and certainly a much more productive struggle than pushing back against AI as an existential threat. The fact is AI is here to stay, but there’s an opportunity to help shape a new system that rewards truth, originality, and transparency. Sure, robots can do a lot, but when journalists do the hard work of telling stories that matter, that impact should be apparent—even to a machine. View the full article

Office for Budget Responsibility warns a global trade war risks eliminating UK chancellor’s fiscal headroom View the full article

In mountain ranges around the world, glaciers are melting as global temperatures rise. Europe’s Alps and Pyrenees lost 40% of their glacier volume from 2000 to 2023. These and other icy regions have provided freshwater for people living downstream for centuries—almost 2 billion people rely on glaciers today. But as glaciers melt faster, they also pose potentially lethal risks. Water from the melting ice often drains into depressions once occupied by the glacier, creating large lakes. Many of these expanding lakes are held in place by precarious ice dams or rock moraines deposited by the glacier over centuries. Too much water behind these dams or a landslide into the lake can break the dam, sending huge volumes of water and debris sweeping down the mountain valleys, wiping out everything in the way. Today, over 10 million people across the world are vulnerable to glacial lake outburst floods. In High Mountain Asia alone, these flooding hazards are projected to triple by 2100, especially with continued high emissions. 📸⬇️ Read full @Nature paper: https://t.co/PsXcyH2jFC pic.twitter.com/RgZ44VF6v4 — International Cryosphere Climate Initiative (@ICCInet) May 30, 2024 These risks and the loss of freshwater supplies are some of the reasons the United Nations declared 2025 the International Year of Glaciers’ Preservation and March 21 the first World Day for Glaciers. As an earth scientist and a mountain geographer, we study the impact that ice loss can have on the stability of the surrounding mountain slopes and glacial lakes. We see several reasons for increasing concern. Erupting ice dams and landslides Most glacial lakes began forming over a century ago as a result of warming trends since the 1860s, but their abundance and rates of growth have risen rapidly since the 1960s. Many people living in the Himalayas, Andes, Alps, Rocky Mountains, Iceland, and Alaska have experienced glacial lake outburst floods of one type or another. A glacial lake outburst flood in the Himalayas in October 2023 damaged more than 30 bridges and destroyed a 200-foot-high hydropower plant. Residents had little warning. By the time the disaster was over, more than 50 people had died. Juneau, Alaska, has been hit by several flash floods in recent years from a glacial lake dammed by ice on an arm of Mendenhall Glacier. Those floods, including in 2024, were driven by a melting glacier that slowly filled a basin below it until the basin’s ice dam broke. Avalanches, rockfalls and slope failures can also trigger glacial lake outburst floods. These are growing more common as frozen ground known as permafrost thaws, robbing mountain landscapes of the cryospheric glue that formerly held them together. These slides can create massive waves when they plummet into a lake. The waves can then rupture the ice dam or moraine, unleashing a flood of water, sediment, and debris. That dangerous mix can rush downstream at speeds of 20 to 60 mph, destroying homes and anything else in its path. The casualties of such an event can be staggering. In 1941, a huge wave caused by a snow and ice avalanche that fell into Laguna Palcacocha, a glacial lake in the Peruvian Andes, overtopped the moraine dam that had contained the lake for decades. The resulting flood destroyed one-third of the downstream city of Huaraz and killed between 1,800 and 5,000 people. Teardrop-shaped Lake Palcacocha, shown in this satellite view, has expanded in recent decades. The city of Huaraz, Peru, is just down the valley to the right of the lake. [Image: Google Earth, data from Airbus Data SIO, NOAA, U.S. Navy, NGA, GEBCO] In the years since, the danger there has only increased. Laguna Palcacocha has grown to more than 14 times its size in 1941. At the same time, the population of Huaraz has risen to more than 120,000 inhabitants. A glacial lake outburst flood today could threaten the lives of an estimated 35,000 people living in the water’s path. Governments have responded to this widespread and growing threat by developing early warning systems and programs to identify potentially dangerous glacial lakes. Some governments have taken steps to lower water levels in the lakes or built flood diversion structures, such as walls of rock-filled wire cages, known as gabions, that divert floodwaters from villages, infrastructure, or agricultural fields. Where the risks can’t be managed, communities have been encouraged to use zoning that prohibits building in flood-prone areas. Public education has helped build awareness of the flood risk, but the disasters continue. Flooding from inside and thawing permafrost The dramatic nature of glacial lake outburst floods captures headlines, but those aren’t the only risks. As scientists expand their understanding of how the world’s icy regions interact with global warming, they are identifying a number of other phenomena that can lead to similarly disastrous events. Englacial conduit floods, for instance, originate inside of glaciers, commonly those on steep slopes. Meltwater can collect inside massive systems of ice caves, or conduits. A sudden surge of water from one cave to another, perhaps triggered by the rapid drainage of a surface pond, can set off a chain reaction that bursts out of the ice as a full-fledged flood. Thawing mountain permafrost can also trigger floods. This permanently frozen mass of rock, ice and soil has been a fixture at altitudes above 19,685 feet for millennia. Freezing helps keep mountains together. But as permafrost thaws, even solid rock becomes less stable and is more prone to breaking, while ice and debris are more likely to become detached and turn into destructive and dangerous debris flows. Thawing permafrost has been increasingly implicated in glacial lake outburst floods because of these new sources of potential triggers. In 2017, nearly a third of the solid rock face of Nepal’s 20,935-foot Saldim Peak collapsed and fell onto the Langmale glacier below. Heat generated by the friction of rock falling through air melted ice, creating a slurry of rock, debris, and sediment that plummeted into Langmale glacial lake below, resulting in a massive flood. A glacial outburst flood in Barun Valley started when nearly one-third of the face of Saldim Peak in Nepal fell onto Langmale Glacier and slid into a lake. The top image shows the mountain in 2016. The lower shows the same view in 2017. [Figures: Elizabeth Byers (2016)/Alton Byers (2017)] These and other forms of glacier-related floods and hazards are being exacerbated by climate change. Flows of ice and debris from high altitudes and the sudden appearance of meltwater ponds on a glacier’s surface are two more examples. Earthquakes can also trigger glacial lake outburst floods. Not only have thousands of lives been lost, but billions of dollars in hydropower facilities and other structures have also been destroyed. A reminder of what’s at risk The International Year of Glaciers’ Preservation and World Day for Glaciers are reminders of the risks and also of who is in harm’s way. The global population depends on the cryosphere—the 10% of the Earth’s land surface that’s covered in ice. But as more glacial lakes form and expand, floods and other risks are rising. A study published in 2024 counted more than 110,000 glacial lakes around the world and determined 10 million people’s lives and homes are at risk from glacial lake outburst floods. The U.N. is encouraging more research into these regions. It also declared 2025 to 2034 the “decade of action in cryospheric sciences.” Scientists on several continents will be working to understand the risks and find ways to help communities respond to and mitigate the dangers. Suzanne OConnell is a Harold T. Stearns Professor of Earth science at Wesleyan University. Alton C. Byers is a faculty research scientist at the Institute of Arctic and Alpine Research at the University of Colorado Boulder. This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article. View the full article

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