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Tucked in a forest of trees in Luxembourg City is a hulking piece of urban infrastructure that, if all goes to plan, will soon be taken over by birds. The structure is a two-columned concrete water tower that has been designed to function as a habitat for local and migratory birds. In contrast to most essential elements of a city’s infrastructure that usually try to avoid being infested by wild animals, this water tower had birds in mind from the very start. The water tower habitat was designed by Temperaturas Extremas Arquitectos SLP, an architecture firm based in Madrid. The project’s site is part of Natura 2000, a European ecological network of areas dedicated to…

There are certain social media rules we can all agree on: Ghosting a conversation is impolite, and replying “k” to a text is the equivalent of a backhand slap (violent, wrong, and rude). But what about the rest of the rules? When can we really remind someone of our old Venmo request? What happens when someone tries to flirt with you on LinkedIn? Fortunately, terminally online writers Delia Cai and Steffi Cao are here to answer all your digital quandaries, big or small. Welcome to Fast Company’s new advice column, Posting Playbook. This week, Steffi opines on what you should do when you don’t want to be tagged in the group photo. How should I tell my friend I look …

Meta Quest 3 users will now be able to explore detailed 3D scans of sculptures, rock formations, plant life, and other interesting objects from around the world. The 3D images, which users can virtually zoom in on or walk around, are part of a new app from Pokémon Go-maker Niantic called Into the Scaniverse. Last year, the company released the latest version of a smartphone Scaniverse app letting users create detailed images of public scenes or objects within their phones, with the ability to add public images to a shared map. Already, the map includes more than 50,000 3D scenes, including renderings of Stonehenge, ancient ruins in Europe, Japanese temples, and even a shr…

For years, I thought saying yes was the key to success. Yes, to my parents’ dream of me becoming a doctor. Yes, to the long hours in medical school. Yes, to a career that others admired, even as I felt a growing sense of unease. I loved medicine’s ability to make a difference in people’s lives, but deep down, I had questions: Did I truly want to be a doctor, or was I fulfilling the role others expected of me? Every yes felt like another step away from myself. One pivotal moment came while I was working in a hospital in the Cook Islands. I treated patients with heart failure so advanced that basic mobility was a struggle. What struck me most wasn’t the lack of reso…

Want more housing market stories from Lance Lambert’s ResiClub in your inbox? Subscribe to the ResiClub newsletter. Zillow economists use an economic model known as the Zillow Market Heat Index to gauge the competitiveness of housing markets across the country. This model looks at key indicators—including home price changes, inventory levels, and days on market—to generate a score showing whether a housing market favors sellers or buyers. Higher scores point to hotter, seller-friendly metro housing markets. Lower scores signal cooler markets where buyers hold more negotiating power. According to Zillow, a score of 70 or above means it’s a “strong sellers mark…

Many people have been waking up over the last 24 hours to find that they have received a payment of around $40 from Facebook. The first question people have is whether the payment is legitimate. And the good news is: yes, it is. Here’s what you need to know about the Facebook payment you may have received since yesterday. Why did I get a payment from Facebook? Starting yesterday, people began posting on social media that they had received a payment of around $40 from Facebook. That payment is actually part of a class action lawsuit settlement Facebook agreed to back in 2022. At the center of the class action suit was the allegation that between April 22, 2010, …

The Army helicopter and regional American Airlines jet that collided over Washington are both workhorse aircraft that operate around the world on a daily basis. There were 60 passengers and four crew members on the jet, a Bombardier CRJ700, officials said. Three service members were on a training flight on the UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter. None are believed to have survived the Wednesday night collision, which caused both aircraft to plunge into the frigid Potomac River. What to know about the aircraft: Sikorsky UH-60 Black Hawk There are about 5,000 Black Hawks in use around the world, according to the aviation site FlightGlobal.com. The twin-engine, four-b…

OpenAI released a new base model on Thursday called GPT-4.5, which the company said is its best and smartest model for chat yet. It’s not a reasoning model like OpenAI’s o1 and o3 models, but it can be used to train other models to be reasoning models. Notably, GPT-4.5 was trained using 10 times the computing power (scores of GPUs in data centers) than its predecessor, GPT-4o. The result is a model whose outputs feel more natural and human, OpenAI said in its press release, and demonstrate a better general understanding of the world. Its writing and programming skills are better, and it hallucinates less. It also displays a higher level of emotional intelligence abou…

The Fast Company Impact Council is a private membership community of influential leaders, experts, executives, and entrepreneurs who share their insights with our audience. Members pay annual membership dues for access to peer learning and thought leadership opportunities, events and more. Virgin lithium mining is a focal point for the U.S. and is necessary for the nation’s growth in the critical minerals market. Yet, there is another primary source to secure key battery materials (lithium, nickel, cobalt, and manganese), and that is recycling end-of-life and scrap batteries. Domestic sourcing is crucial to expanding our manufacturing efforts, and it’s imperative …

There are plenty of questionable examples of companies shoehorning useless artificial intelligence features into their products (Meta’s AI-powered profiles say hello!), but finally, Crocs has found one that actually makes sense. The casual footwear brand has partnered with ABLO, an AI fashion design platform, to let people use AI to design their own Jibbitz charms. Crocs are already all about customization, a strategy that’s helped the brand grow its revenue 4% over last year. Jibbitz charms, which can be plugged into the holes on the shoes’ upper and heel strap, add an extra layer of personalization, and AI takes that to the next level. “We have Jibbitz for ever…

Clearly, automation will affect labor in 2025. But we maintain that when implemented well, automation elevates our employees and empowers our American workers to make U.S. businesses more competitive on the global stage. This is our “why.” Now Chang Robotics’ president, Kate McAfoose, will address the “how.” These are remarks she shared at a recent Delaware Valley Goods Movement Task Force quarterly meeting panel. New automation brings new challenges Yes, new challenges emerge with increased automation and digitalization. As an engineering firm, our company is coming from an engineering culture into companies ranging from manufacturing to warehousing, transportati…

There’s never a dull day in the world of weight-loss medication. This week brought new restrictions on compounded GLP-1 medication, the cheaper, copycat versions of brand-name drugs that telehealth companies like Hims & Hers and Noom had been offering. Other developments include news that GLP-1 pills are on the way, and that a bankruptcy filing by weight-loss giant WeightWatchers is imminent. Let’s dive in. The end of copycat weight-loss drugs When the Food and Drug Administration declared that GLP-1 drugs were in short supply in 2022, it opened the door for compounding pharmacies to legally fill the gap and make copies of brand-name medications by altering som…

Innovation doesn’t happen in environments bogged down by rigid rules, excessive oversight, or unnecessary bureaucracy. The most transformative ideas actually emerge when employees have the freedom to experiment, take risks, and truly own their work. As a former executive at Oracle and the current CEO of the software company Incorta, I’ve seen firsthand that traditional leadership structures often do more to stifle innovation than foster it. Instead of relying on rigid processes, leaders should focus on creating an environment where employees feel empowered to challenge the status quo. Here are four ways to cultivate that kind of workplace. 1. Hire for Capabil…

Recently, an ear infection and subsequent case of hives kept me in bed for a week. The first few days, I was tired and told myself to rest. But the rest of the week? Well, I enjoyed staying in bed, drinking coffee, and lingering over Wordle, Spelling Bee, and emails. So, the following week, I stayed in bed a little longer than usual, too. Turns out, I was hurkle-durkling. Hurkle-durkle is a Scottish term that originated in the 1800s. It means “to lounge in bed when you should be up and about.” While it was meant to be judgmental, it became a TikTok self-care trend with mindful mornings that prioritize mental health over productivity. In the U.S., the practice goe…

Rebecca Yarros’s romantasy novel Onyx Storm stormed the book charts in January, becoming the fastest-selling adult novel in 20 years. Indeed, demand for romance content—in books, on screens, and on TikTok—has grown exponentially in recent years. Enter audio erotica company Quinn. Founded by 27-year-old Caroline Spiegel, the 6-year-old platform publishes dozens of creator-driven, female-centric erotic audio stories each week. Creators, who write and perform the audio, receive a portion of the app’s subscription fees ($4.99 per month or $47.99 per year) based on user engagement. To date, Spiegel has raised $10 million from venture capital firms and investors such as Ent…

Under the rally cry of “Altadena Is Not for Sale,” the people of the multi-racial, middle-class town of Altadena, California, are aiming to take charge of their own recovery and rebuilding from the Los Angeles Eaton fires, which killed 17 people, burned more than 14,000 acres, and destroyed over 9,000 homes and businesses. Three community organizations and the local Native American tribes reflect the various perspectives, and collective unity, on how Altadena might avoid the fate of other communities whose recovery ended up being controlled by big developers. Altadena: Not For Sale, My Tribe Rise, and Altadena Strong are three community organizations who have cohosted…

The category of unbuilt and fantastical design ideas known as “paper architecture” may have no better exemplar than the radical British architecture group Archigram. Founded in the early 1960s, its experimental architectural concepts envisioning everything from temporary cities to inflatable structures have never been built—but nonetheless have become staples of modern architecture canon. Archigram initially published its iconoclast ideas in the form of a self-published, self-titled magazine, which came out in 10 issues between 1961 to 1974. These days though, the magazines are rarely seen. Only a few complete sets exist in libraries. That is until now. [Pho…

Peavey Industries LP, Canada’s largest farm and ranch retailer, has announced the shuttering of all its locations across the country following its filing for creditor protection under the Companies’ Creditors Arrangement Act (CCAA), granted by the Court of King’s Bench Alberta. The closures will impact 90 Peavey Mart stores and six MainStreet Hardware locations, with liquidation sales starting immediately, marking the end of nearly six decades of operations for the Alberta-based company, which has long been a key player in Canada’s rural and suburban retail landscape. ‘A profoundly difficult decision’ The news comes as Canada’s retail industry faces unpreceden…

The Fast Company Impact Council is a private membership community of influential leaders, experts, executives, and entrepreneurs who share their insights with our audience. Members pay annual membership dues for access to peer learning and thought leadership opportunities, events and more. Healthcare navigation was supposed to be the ultimate guide—a GPS for the healthcare maze. Instead it’s more like an old paper map with half the roads missing. What was meant to simplify care has become just another layer of complexity, dressed up as concierge support but too often steering people based on cost, not quality. At a time when AI, telehealth, and integrated care mo…

David Beckham is entering the $152 billion supplement industry with IM8, a health and wellness brand launched in partnership with Prenetics. View the full article

The Fast Company Impact Council is a private membership community of influential leaders, experts, executives, and entrepreneurs who share their insights with our audience. Members pay annual membership dues for access to peer learning and thought leadership opportunities, events and more. From a young age, feedback from authority figures shape our self-perception. Unfortunately, too many young people internalize the message that they should only pursue what comes easily to them. I know this firsthand. As a student, I was interested in STEM but found it challenging. After an educator told me to focus on what I was “good at,” I believed I could never succeed in sci…

As the Eaton Fire spread on January 7, curators at the Gamble House—an Arts and Crafts-era residence in Pasadena by the architecture firm Greene and Greene, which Back to the Future fans might recognize as Doc Brown’s mansion—kept refreshing evacuation maps and checking in with each other on a group text: Would the fires reach the house? They expected high winds, based on forecasts the night before, but not the fast-moving wildfires raging in neighboring Altadena. As the evacuation zone inched closer and the house entered the warning zone the morning of January 8, Jennifer Trotoux, director of collections and interpretation at the Gamble House, feared that the structu…

The Fast Company Impact Council is a private membership community of influential leaders, experts, executives, and entrepreneurs who share their insights with our audience. Members pay annual membership dues for access to peer learning and thought leadership opportunities, events and more. Sterile, isolating, and stressful: Today’s hospitals can kindle deep discomfort. Because they must be designed adequately for everyone, they’re designed perfectly for no one. So, what would our healthcare experience look like if physical hospitals were to disappear altogether? Artificial intelligence that is generative, predictive, and integrated, combined with the power of …

In a 2014 commencement address at her alma mater Dartmouth College, TV writer and producer Shonda Rhimes told students, “Whenever you see me somewhere succeeding in one area of my life, that almost certainly means I am failing in another area of my life. If I am killing it on a Scandal script for work, I am probably missing bath- and storytime at home.” Her comments are true reflections of what work-life balance is, says Janna Koretz, clinical psychologist and founder of Azimuth, a Boston-based provider of therapy services. “When people think about balance, they think about it feeling good and being the right amount of everything,” she says. “I think—especially m…