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LG’s StanbyMe 2 is a cool TV at a questionably high price

LG’s StanbyMe 2 has all the ingredients of a good follow-up gadget: the 27-inch display is 1440p instead of 1080p, and instead of being trapped on its rollable stand, the screen is detachable for you to use wherever and however you want. It can hang on the wall if you buy a compatible strap, or you can rest it on its included folio cover, much like you would a tablet. It also has more ports beyond the one HDMI port and one USB-A port in the original model. You’ll get USB-C for connecting laptops, too. Its built-in battery can power the screen for up to four hours, and you can recharge it with a power bank so long as it can provide at least 65W charging speeds.

We knew earlier this month that the StanbyMe 2 would be coming soon, but LG waited until it was available to share that it costs $1,299.99 — $300 more than its predecessor did at launch. Just as with the original StanbyMe, I have to take a moment to resist the urge to call this a terrible value, since OLED TVs and brilliant monitors are readily available well under $1,000. But for those who were, at least, mildly enthused about a major manufacturer putting a screen on wheels, perhaps the added versatility in the StanbyMe 2 makes it worth actually considering for your home.

As if one rolling screen wasn’t enough for 2025, LG’s Smart Monitor Switch is another option, although it only works while connected to a power outlet. Similarly, it costs $1,299.99, but it has a bigger 31.5-inch 4K IPS touchscreen display, as well as a stand that offers more points of articulation. It’s more flush with ports, offering three USB-C ports with 65W Power Delivery, and two HDMI 2.0 ports.

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July 29, 2025
Ferrovial delivers strong H1 2025 results,net profit jumps 30% to €540 million Ferrovial

Ferrovial, a leading global infrastructure company, closed the first half of 2025 with solid growth, supported by strong performance in all business divisions. Both revenue and adjusted EBITDA increased, mainly driven by U.S. highways and Construction.

“We saw substantial growth in the first half of the year with strong performance across our North American assets. Our highways provide much needed capacity in growing areas and through targeted offers we aim to address customer preferences. Additionally, our Construction order book reached an all-time high, and the division reported improved profitability, in line with our long-term target. Looking ahead, we see an attractive pipeline of North American assets that continue to deliver value to all stakeholders,” said Ignacio Madridejos, Ferrovial CEO.

Adjusted EBITDA amounted to €655 million in the first half of 2025, a 9.2% increase year over year in like-for-like terms, while revenue totaled €4.5 billion, a 5% growth in like-for-like terms, boosted by substantial growth across the board. Net profit amounted to €540 million, compared to €414 million one year earlier, thanks to capital gains from assets rotation.

Ferrovial closed the first half of the year with a solid financial position, with liquidity of €3.7 billion and consolidated net debt of -€223 million, excluding infrastructure projects in both cases. During this period, the company completed the sale of a 50% stake in AGS Airports for €533 million and received €323 million in dividends from projects. Ferrovial closed the acquisition of a 5.06% stake in the 407 ETR for €1.3 billion, and allocated €334 million to shareholder distributions and €244 million to equity injections in the New Terminal One (NTO) at JFK International Airport.

Operating results

The Highways division’s revenue grew 14.9% in like-for-like terms to €676 million, driven by solid growth in North America, where the company received €240 million in dividends.

U.S. Express Lanes reported robust revenue per transaction growth, significantly outpacing inflation. In Canada, 407 ETR showed outstanding performance during the first half, with double-digit EBITDA growth, despite adverse weather conditions and the Schedule 22 payments for 2025.

The Construction division achieved a 3.5% adjusted EBIT margin, showing an improvement compared to the same period last year and in line with the company’s long-term objectives. Order book reached a new all-time high of €17.3 billion. North America accounted for 45%, Poland 23% and Spain 13%.

In the Airports division, the NTO progressed within expectations, with construction progress reaching 72%. As of July 29, NTO has reached 21 airline agreements, with 13 executed contracts and eight letters of intent. In addition, NTO concluded the refinancing process in July by issuing green bonds close to USD 1.4 billion.

Conference call information

Ferrovial will host a conference call on July 30 at 15:00 CEST / 9:00 a.m. EDT to discuss H1 financial results. To access the earnings call, click here or visit https://ferrovial.com/ir-shareholders

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains forward-looking statements. Any express or implied statements contained in this press release that are not statements of historical fact may be deemed to be forward-looking statements, including, without limitation, statements regarding estimates and projections provided by the Company and certain other sources with respect to the Company’s financial position, business strategy, plans, and objectives of management for future operations, dividends, capital structure, as well as statements that include the words “expect,” “aim,” “intend,” “plan,” “believe,” “project,” “forecast,” “estimate,” “may,” “should,” “target,” “anticipate” and similar statements of a future or forward-looking nature, or the negative of these terms or other similar expressions, although not all forward-looking statements contain these words. Such statements may reflect various assumptions by the Company concerning anticipated results and are subject to significant business, economic and competitive uncertainties and contingencies, and known and unknown risks, many of which are beyond the Company’s control and may be impossible to predict. Any forecast made or contained herein, and actual results, will likely vary and those variations may be material. The Company makes no representation or warranty as to the accuracy or completeness of such statements, expectations, estimates and projections contained in this presentation or that any forecast made or contained herein will be achieved. Risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ include, without limitation: risks related to our diverse geographical operations and business divisions; risks related to our acquisitions, divestments and other strategic transactions that we may undertake; the impact of competitive pressures in our industry and pricing, including the lack of certainty and costs in winning competitive tender processes; general economic and political conditions and events and the impact they may have on us, including, but not limited to, volatility or increases in inflation rates, rates of interest and exchange rates fluctuations, increased costs and availability of materials, and other ongoing impacts resulting from circumstances including changes in tariff regimes, the Russia/Ukraine conflict and the Middle East conflict; the fact that our business is derived from a small number of major projects; cyber threats or other technology disruptions; our ability to obtain adequate financing in the future as needed; statements with respect to our ability to fund future dividends or other distributions, and distribution processes and timelines; our ability to maintain compliance with the continued listing requirements of Euronext Amsterdam, the Nasdaq Global Select Market and the Spanish Stock Exchanges; lawsuits and other claims by third parties or investigations by various regulatory agencies that we may be subject to; our ability to comply with our ESG commitments or other sustainability demands, including changing expectations in connection with sustainability and ESG matters; our legal and regulatory risks given that we operate in highly regulated environments, and the impact of any changes in governmental laws and regulations, including but not limited to tax regimes or regulations; the impacts of accidents or other incidents at our project sites and facilities; physical and transitional risks in connection with the impacts of climate change; risks related to the adequacy or existence of our insurance coverage and any non-recoverable losses; risk associated with the international nature of our business and operations; our reliance on and ability to locate, select, monitor, and manage subcontractors and service providers; risks related to our holding company structure and from our joint venture and partnership operations; and the other important factors discussed under the caption “Risk Factors” in our Annual Report on Form 20-F filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2024 which is available on the SEC website at www.sec.gov, as such factors may be updated from time to time in our other filings with the SEC. Any forward-looking statements contained in this presentation speak only as of the date hereof and accordingly undue reliance should not be placed on such statements. We disclaim any obligation or undertaking to update or revise any forward-looking statements contained in this presentation, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, other than to the extent required by applicable law. Forward-looking statements in this press release are made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions contained in the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. We intend such forward-looking statements to be covered by relevant safe harbor provisions for forward-looking statements (or their equivalent) of any applicable jurisdiction. In addition, certain industry data and information contained in this presentation has been derived from industry sources. The Company has not undertaken any independent investigation to confirm the accuracy or completeness of such data and information, some of which may be based on estimates and subjective judgments. Accordingly, the Company makes no representation or warranty as to the accuracy or completeness of such data and information. Other than as specified, the information contained in this press release has not been audited, reviewed or verified by the external auditor of the Group. The information contained herein should therefore be considered as a whole and in conjunction with all the other publicly available information regarding the Group.

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July 29, 2025
Saudi Arabia, France seek support for declaration on two-state solution between Israel, Palestinians – Reuters
1. Saudi Arabia, France seek support for declaration on two-state solution between Israel, Palestinians Reuters
2. ‘No alternative’ to two-state solution for Israel, Palestinians: French foreign minister Dawn
3. United States Rejects A Two-State Solution Conference U.S. Department of State (.gov)
4. UN Secretary General issues strong condemnation of Israeli actions in West Bank and Gaza Ptv.com.pk
5. Saudi Arabia and France to lead UN push for recognising Palestinian statehood The Guardian
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July 29, 2025
Explore Every Word Found on NYC Streets via Street View

If New York City had source code, it might look something like this.

A mind-bending new project from media artist Yufeng Zhao and data storyteller Matt Daniels has sifted through 18 years of Google Street View imagery to build a searchable map of every word visible on NYC’s streets. The result, hosted on The Pudding, is part sociolinguistic study, part urban scavenger hunt and fully addictive.

Using optical character recognition (OCR) software, Zhao fed eight million Street View panoramas into a tool that transcribed everything from storefront signage to bumper stickers to graffiti tags. In total: 138 million snippets of text, neatly geotagged and searchable. Want to know where the word “jerk” appears? (Hint: It’s more about Jamaican cuisine than personality types.) How about “gold,” “halal” or “beware”? There are maps for each.

Some findings are charmingly predictable, like the 111,290 sightings of “pizza” scattered across the five boroughs or the hot dog hegemony of Sabrett-branded carts. Others are almost poetic in their specificity. “Luxury” gets thrown around citywide but is especially concentrated in Hudson Yards. “Iglesia” maps neatly onto New York City’s Spanish-speaking enclaves. And “Siamese”? Not a feline reference, but an old-school term for a dual fire hose hookup.

The most common phrases across the dataset form a sort of municipal mood board: “stop,” “no,” “do not,” “only” and “limit” dominate—a stern vocabulary of restriction that reflects the city’s built environment. (If you’re wondering, “Fuhgeddaboudit” does appear, too—and it’s actually posted on signs.)

The project’s companion search tool, AllText.nyc, lets users explore these words visually, like decoding the city one frame at a time. But it’s not just fun and games. The project raises fascinating questions about how the city presents itself, what it values and what slips into the visual background.

It also suggests that while Google may have pioneered Street View, it’s indie tinkerers like Zhao who are now pushing its potential. “It feels like sifting through the city’s source code,” the authors write. Or maybe it’s more like an urban poem—written not in verse, but in vinyl decals and awning fonts.

Either way, it’s a New York story told in its own words. Literally.

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July 29, 2025
Cardiologists More Often Send Higher-Risk Patients for CAC Scans vs Generalists

The decade-long, single-healthcare-system study gives insights into how physicians are using CAC tests and in which patients.

MONTREAL, Canada—Whether a patient undergoes coronary artery calcium (CAC) screening depends on the type of doctor they see, with large sex differences observed over the past decade at a single healthcare system, according to retrospective data.

From 2013 to 2023, researchers led by Ato Howard, MD (University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, PA), found that higher-risk female patients were more often referred for a CAC scan when they saw a cardiologist compared with a generalist—defined as a physician who practices community medicine, family medicine, geriatrics, or internal medicine. Additionally, they showed that generalists ordered scans for lower-risk patients regardless of sex compared with cardiologists, but male patients had a lower risk than females who were scanned.

The differences observed between physician types are not unexpected, Howard told TCTMD, as cardiologists would be more likely to keep up with clinical guidelines, which changed in 2019. In the US, measuring CAC is recommended (class IIa) as a noninvasive screening tool for patients at intermediate risk when there is uncertainty about starting statin therapy.

“You would expect cardiologists to at least be more familiar with the cardiology guidelines and also be more familiar with the fact that patients can have traditional and nontraditional risk factors,” he said. “You would expect them to be ordering the studies on the patients who are not necessarily at the highest risk because already they’re high risk and so they already should be treated and not necessarily need further risk stratification.”

A CAC scan is helpful for identifying patients at risk for atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD) who might be “missed” by those traditional risk factors, Howard continued. The findings “made us feel good about ourselves, that we saw that cardiologists were ordering them more for women. In our population of patients, the women tended to have higher risk factor markers for atherosclerotic disease.”

The retrospective study, which was presented recently at the 2025 Society of Cardiovascular Computed Tomography (SCCT) meeting, included 9,868 patients (mean age 60 years; 50.6% female) who underwent CAC scanning at a large healthcare system between 2013 and 2023.

About one-third of patients were referred by cardiologists and the remaining two-thirds by generalists. Female patients were older than males on average (62 vs 58 years) and were at greater risk for ASCVD as measured by a risk-enhancing score that was based on age and several other risk factors and comorbidities (2.22 vs 2.03; P < 0.001 for both).

In our population of patients, the women tended to have higher risk factor markers for atherosclerotic disease. Ato Howard

Importantly, use of CAC scans increased steadily throughout the study for both sexes and type of referring physicians, with a slowed annual growth observed between 2017 and 2021 and an inflection point thereafter likely caused by a surge of patients being seen following the change in guidelines, increased reimbursement, and the end of the COVID-19 lockdown protocols, Howard said.

Cardiologists overall referred higher-risk patients for CAC scanning compared with generalists (2.31 vs 2.02; P < 0.001). Women remained higher risk than men regardless of whether they were referred by a cardiologist (2.35 vs 2.25; P = 0.04) or generalist (2.13 vs 1.93; P < 0.001).

The reasons why physicians in the study made the referrals remain unclear, according to Howard. “I think it showed us that cardiologists are actually maybe using the coronary artery calcium study in a way that maybe they’re looking for patients who generally would be missed more often than not,” he said. It’s possible some female-specific risk factors like pregnancy and timing of menopause, which were unaccounted for, might have led to differences in referrals, he added.

“At least for now, we’re able to identify that there is some signal that there’s a difference in the ordering patterns between providers, and especially if they’re either a cardiologist or not a cardiologist,” Howard continued.

He said he’d like to see similar data from other centers to see how they compare. Ultimately, “it goes to show at least how we should be approaching our patients—always trying to think about how a test can be helpful for people and also trying to think about what the test is going provide from an information standpoint to help us make a decision,” he concluded. “Theoretically, we could be making a difference by testing the patients who are actually going to benefit from it if we’re able to find something that they can be treated for.”

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July 29, 2025
Doja Cat Mocks Controversial Spots

Pop’s most dedicated troll, Doja Cat, has officially chimed in on the extremely-online uproar over Sydney Sweeney’s new jeans campaign for American Eagle.

On TikTok, Doja Cat spoofed the ad copy Sweeney delivered in one of the videos for the campaign, which has come under fire for its half-baked attempt at clever wordplay with “jeans” and “genes.” In a thick, hyper-exaggerated Southern drawl, Doja Cat says, “Genes are passed down from parents to offspring, often determining traits like hair color, personality, and even eye color. My jeans are … bleee.” (In the actual ad, Sweeney says “blue.”)

While there’s good reason the “all press is good press” maxim usually holds true, Doja’s video — which has been viewed nearly 11 million times, and received 2.5 million likes in less than 24 hours — probably isn’t the kind of extra viral exposure the marketing wizards behind the “jeans/genes” campaign were hoping for. Then again, neither is the overall conversation around the “Sydney Sweeney Has Great Jeans” ads.

The decision to center the promos around the “jeans” and “genes” homophone has turned the campaign into a culture-war flashpoint. It’s exacerbated by the fact that Sweeney was, through no fault of her own, already a culture-war flashpoint thanks to the weird, often creepy politicization of her body, especially by those on the right. (See, for example, the “commentary” piece that ran in the National Post last year with the opening line: “Are Sydney Sweeney’s breasts double-D harbingers of the death of woke?”)

It’s no surprise, then, that pairing Sweeney — who has blonde hair and blue eyes — with the tagline “has great jeans/genes” has led some on the left to accuse the campaign of subtly (or not-so-subtly) dog-whistling eugenics and white supremacy. Meanwhile, some on the right are celebrating the campaign for allegedly doing just that, calling the spots yet another harbinger of the death of woke.

Trending Stories

Neither Sweeney nor American Eagle have returned Rolling Stone’s requests for comment on the controversy.

Sweeney previously addressed the way others have politicized her appearance, telling NME last year, “There’s not anything I can do.” She added: “I think it’s important to be aware of everything and then use that information however I may well. But I’m just being me, that’s all.”

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July 29, 2025
NASA Selects Firefly for New Artemis Science, Tech Delivery to Moon
NASA has awarded Firefly Aerospace of Cedar Park, Texas, $176.7 million to deliver two rovers and three scientific instruments to the lunar surface as part of the agency’s CLPS (Commercial Lunar Payload Services) initiative and Artemis campaign to explore more of the Moon than ever before.

This delivery is the first time NASA will use multiple rovers and a variety of stationary instruments, in a collaborative effort with the CSA (Canadian Space Agency) and the University of Bern, to help us understand the chemical composition of the lunar South Pole region and discover the potential for using resources available in permanently shadowed regions of the Moon.

“Through CLPS, NASA is embracing a new era of lunar exploration, with commercial companies leading the way,” said Joel Kearns, deputy associate administrator for exploration, Science Mission Directorate, NASA Headquarters in Washington. “These investigations will produce critical knowledge required for long-term sustainability and contribute to a deeper understanding of the lunar surface, allowing us to meet our scientific and exploration goals for the South Pole region of the Moon for the benefit of all.”

Under the new CLPS task order, Firefly is tasked with delivering end-to-end payload services to the lunar surface, with a period of performance from Tuesday to March 29, 2030. The company’s lunar lander is targeted to land at the Moon’s South Pole region in 2029.

This is Firefly’s fifth task order award and fourth lunar mission through CLPS. Firefly’s first delivery successfully landed on the Moon’s near side in March 2025 with 10 NASA payloads. The company’s second mission, targeting a launch in 2026, includes a lunar orbit drop-off of a satellite combined with a delivery to the lunar surface on the far side. Firefly’s third lunar mission will target landing in the Gruithuisen Domes on the near side of the Moon in 2028, delivering six experiments to study that enigmatic lunar volcanic terrain.

“As NASA sends both humans and robots to further explore the Moon, CLPS deliveries to the lunar South Pole region will provide a better understanding of the exploration environment, accelerating progress toward establishing a long-term human presence on the Moon, as well as eventual human missions to Mars,” said Adam Schlesinger, manager of the CLPS initiative at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston.

The rovers and instruments that are part of this newly awarded flight include:
- MoonRanger is an autonomous microrover that will explore the lunar surface. MoonRanger will collect images and telemetry data while demonstrating autonomous capabilities for lunar polar exploration. Its onboard Neutron Spectrometer System instrument will study hydrogen-bearing volatiles and the composition of lunar regolith, or soil.
  Lead development organizations: NASA’s Ames Research Center in California’s Silicon Valley, and Carnegie Mellon University and Astrobotic, both in Pittsburgh.
- Stereo Cameras for Lunar Plume Surface Studies will use enhanced stereo imaging photogrammetry, active illumination, and ejecta impact detection sensors to capture the impact of the rocket exhaust plume on lunar regolith as the lander descends on the Moon’s surface. The high-resolution stereo images will help predict lunar regolith erosion and ejecta characteristics, as bigger, heavier spacecraft and hardware are delivered to the Moon near each other in the future.
  Lead development organization: NASA’s Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia.
- Laser Retroreflector Array is an array of eight retroreflectors on an aluminum support structure that enables precision laser ranging, a measurement of the distance between the orbiting or landing spacecraft to the reflector on the lander. The array is a passive optical instrument, which functions without power, and will serve as a permanent location marker on the Moon for decades to come.
  Lead development organization: NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland.
- A CSA Rover is designed to access and explore remote South Pole areas of interest, including permanently shadowed regions, and to survive at least one lunar night. The CSA rover has stereo cameras, a neutron spectrometer, two imagers (visible to near-infrared), a radiation micro-dosimeter, and a NASA-contributed thermal imaging radiometer developed by the Applied Physics Laboratory. These instruments will advance our understanding of the physical and chemical properties of the lunar surface, the geological history of the Moon, and potential resources such as water ice. It will also improve our understanding of the environmental challenges that await future astronauts and their life support systems.
  Lead development organization: CSA.
- Laser Ionization Mass Spectrometer is a mass spectrometer that will analyze the element and isotope composition of lunar regolith. The instrument will utilize a Firefly-built robotic arm and Titanium shovel that will deploy to the lunar surface and support regolith excavation. The system will then funnel the sample into its collection unit and use a pulsed laser beam to identify differences in chemistry compared to samples studied in the past, like those collected during the Apollo program. Grain-by-grain analyses will provide a better understanding of the chemical complexity of the landing site and the surrounding area, offering insights into the evolution of the Moon.
  Lead development organization: University of Bern in Switzerland.
Through the CLPS initiative, NASA purchases lunar landing and surface operations services from American companies. The agency uses CLPS to send scientific instruments and technology demonstrations to advance capabilities for science, exploration, or commercial development of the Moon, and to support human exploration beyond to Mars. By supporting a robust cadence of lunar deliveries, NASA will continue to enable a growing lunar economy while leveraging the entrepreneurial innovation of the commercial space industry.

To learn more about CLPS and Artemis, visit:

https://www.nasa.gov/clps

-end-

Alise Fisher
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-2546
alise.m.fisher@nasa.gov

Nilufar Ramji
Johnson Space Center, Houston
281-483-5111
nilufar.ramji@nasa.gov
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July 29, 2025
Should Spotify clearly label AI music like “Velvet Sundown”?

The Swedish music streaming giant Spotify reported earnings Tuesday: A $100 million loss in the quarter gone by but monthly active users up 11%, nearing 700 million.

Not sure what hold music they used for the earnings call today, but my gut tells me it wasn’t anything by the Velvet Sundown. That’s the band with 1 million monthly listeners that became a kind of viral sensation on Spotify when some internet detectives found signs that the band actually wasn’t a human band and that its songs were most likely made with artificial intelligence.

As of right now, Spotify isn’t labeling AI-generated music as AI-generated. But should they?

Nika Danilova, an indie synth pop recording artist, goes by the stage name Zola Jesus. She agreed to listen to Velvet Sundown and give a real-time review.

Danilova admitted the singer was surprisingly soulful. But overall, she’s not a fan. She said if she has to share a streaming platform with robots, listeners should know when they’re listening to AI.

“To put me alongside Velvet Sundown or whatever, it’s like, it feels a little condescending in a way. It kind of degrades the context of what I devoted my entire life for,” she said.

Spotify has not said publicly how much of its library it thinks is AI-generated and the company declined an interview request.

When French music streamer Deezer launched its own program to identify AI songs earlier this year, chief innovation officer Aurélien Hérault was surprised at just how prolific the robots were.

“It’s almost 20% of what we receive every day, not every year. It’s every day,” he said.

While identifying AI music isn’t a perfect science, Ed Newton-Rex, an AI music expert at the nonprofit Fairly Trained, said it’s technologically easier than identifying AI-generated text.

But he said the burden of saying something is made with AI should extend to AI music startups and their users.

“It needs to be made clear to everyone that when you generate a song and you distribute it on streaming platforms, you have to be open and honest about the fact that you’ve used AI to generate it,” he said.

Of course all this presumes that listeners will in fact prefer human-created music to AI creations.

Nika Danilova said she has changed her musical style in response to AI — more stripped down vocals and piano, less synth and computers. She said her fans have loved it.

Related Topics

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July 29, 2025
Christian Lundgaard, Will Power Charge Back In

Editor’s Note: Power Rankings is a feature after every NTT INDYCAR SERIES race in which INDYCAR.com staff writer Eric Smith ranks the top-10 current drivers in the series based on objective recent and season-long performance statistics and the subjective “eye test” of what he sees during race weekends.

Alex Palou captured his series-leading eighth victory of the season July 27 at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca, defeating Christian Lundgaard by 3.7965 seconds.

Lundgaard’s runner-up finish burnished a strong season for Arrow McLaren. The team boasts 11 podium finishes this season between Lundgaard and fourth-place finisher Pato O’Ward, a team record. The previous high was 10 between O’Ward, Felix Rosenqvist and Alexander Rossi in 2023.

After 14 races, O’Ward trails Palou by 121 points heading into the next race, the BITNILE.com Grand Prix of Portland, on Sunday, Aug. 10 at Portland International Raceway (3 p.m. ET, FOX, FOX Sports app, INDYCAR Radio Network).

Here are the updated Power Rankings following the Java House Grand Prix of Monterey as the series heads into an off weekend:

↑10. Will Power (No. 12 Verizon Team Penske Chevrolet; Last Rank: NR)

Power returns to the Power Rankings for the first time since mid-June, following the Bommarito Automotive Group 500 at World Wide Technology Raceway. He earned his second consecutive Firestone Fast Six appearance and finished seventh at Laguna Seca, his second top-10 in the last four races.

↓9. David Malukas (No. 4 Clarience Technologies Chevrolet; Last Rank: 8)

Though Malukas finished 13th at Laguna Seca, he holds on to a spot in the rankings with two top-10 finishes in his last three starts. He enters Portland 10th in the points standings.

↑8. Christian Rasmussen (No. 21 Liquid Science Chevrolet: Last Rank: NR)

Rasmussen earned his third top-10 finish in the last four races by finishing ninth at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca. This marks the highest he has climbed in the Power Rankings.

↓7. Kyle Kirkwood (No. 27 JM Bullion Honda; Last Rank: 4)

Kirkwood’s slide continues with his third finish of 16th or worse in the last four races. Despite five top-eight finishes in the last eight starts, including two wins, his recent inconsistency is concerning.

↓6. Marcus Armstrong (No. 66 SiriusXM/Root Insurance Honda; Last Rank: 5)

Armstrong finished eighth Sunday, his seventh top-10 result in the past eight races. The lone outlier was a 14th-place finish in Toronto, where a pit lane penalty disrupted a promising run that began with a third-place start.

↑5. Christian Lundgaard (No. 7 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet; Last Rank: NR)

Lundgaard storms back into the rankings after his runner-up finish at Laguna Seca, his second podium in five races and fifth of the season. In comparison, he had just three podiums in 52 starts with Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing. The No. 7 Arrow McLaren car had four podiums in 81 starts before his arrival.

↑4. Colton Herta (No. 26 Gainbridge Honda; Last Rank: 7)

Herta moves into the top five for the first time since the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach in April. His third-place finish at Laguna Seca marked his third top-four result in the last five races. He had only two in the nine races before that.

↔3. Scott Dixon (No. 9 PNC Bank Chip Ganassi Racing Honda; Last Rank: 3)

Dixon surged from 19th to fifth at Laguna Seca, earning his seventh consecutive top-10 finish. The streak includes a win at Mid-Ohio and a runner-up at Iowa Speedway.

↔2. Pato O’Ward (No. 5 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet; Last Rank: 2)

O’Ward qualified second and finished fourth at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca for his seventh top-five finish in the last eight races, six consecutively.

↔1. Alex Palou (No. 10 DHL Chip Ganassi Racing Honda; Last Rank: 1)

Palou rebounded from a 13th-place finish in the Ontario Honda Dealers Indy Toronto to lead 84 of 95 laps after claiming the NTT P1 Award in qualifying to take his third victory at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca. Palou has two wins in the last three races.

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July 29, 2025
Andrew Curwen—the “Secret Weapon” of New York’s Buzziest Designers—Unveils An Electrifying Debut Collection

Still, after three years he was ready to “move back to the front end of fashion,” meaning the creation. In 2021, Curwen reached out to Velez, then a budding industry name, and offered to assist her. He stayed for three seasons, developing runway pieces, before moving on to Jane Wade, another New York up-and-comer, where he leaned into the production aspect of the job. (Wade was at Sunday’s event too.)

Curwen started developing this collection—a tight capsule of 11 looks—in February. “This is my way of introducing myself to an industry I love, one to which I’m giving all of myself to in a way that feels romantic,” he says. And indeed, his devotion to fashion is contagious and beguiling. You could sense it on Sunday night, as his peers gathered to watch the show, and it was written all over his face as he took his final bow, visibly trembling from the—let’s be frank—shock of having pulled it all off.

The skirt in his opening look, a shape he’d been “thinking about for years,” required three bolts of cotton voile to make. On subsequent looks, he shirred and shredded silk into shearling-like shapes that included a top, a bustle, and a cascading voluminous skirt, and cut the sharpest of shoulders into both suit jackets and a hoodie.

Asked to describe his own work, he turned to metaphor. “It’s difficult to say the words vulnerability and fantasy in the same sentence. Fantasy is the world that we escape to; vulnerability is showing a person a map to your safe place. But I wanted this to feel like that. This is where fashion could go. What fashion can feel like. A lot of fashion can get very sterilized and I wanted to make it exciting.”

Curwen’s inspirations—in particular the work of Alexander McQueen—were palpable in both look and spirit. That’s not a criticism, it’s a compliment. Few young designers are producing work worthy of comparison. He may be influenced by the way fashion looked and felt when he was coming of age, but what Curwen evoked with this debut was the rawness and sincerity of those times. He plans to keep the project small early on. “I’ve seen designers white-knuckle it, but I don’t see this growing quickly,” he said, “I want to keep this ship on a steady course.” All that to say, it’s too early for Curwen to be able to clearly chart his path forward. Often, the hardest thing to do is just start. He managed that part with aplomb.

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July 29, 2025