The major COMs formation routes on grain surface. The COMs studied in our simulations have teal background. The species involved in the methanol formation chain are highlighted in bold. The chemical desorption in the COMs surface formation reactions is the main source of the gaseous COMs. The expressions +H and +H/−H2 together denote a pair of reactions, H-atom addition and H-atom abstraction. — astro-ph.GA
We present the results of astrochemical modeling of complex organic molecules (COMs) in the ice and gas of the prestellar core L1544 with the recently updated MONACO rate equations-based model.
The model includes, in particular, non-diffusive processes, new laboratory verified chemical routes for acetaldehyde and methane ice formation and variation of H and H2 desorption energies depending on the surface coverage by H2 molecules.
For the first time, we simultaneously reproduce the abundances of several oxygen-bearing COMs in the gas phase, the approximate location of the peak of methanol emission, as well as the abundance of methanol in the icy mantles of L1544.
Radical-radical reactions on grains surface between species such as CH3, CH3O and HCO efficiently proceed non-diffusively. COMs are delivered to the gas phase via chemical desorption amplified by the loops of H-addition/abstraction surface reactions.
However, gas-phase chemical reactions as well provide a noticeable input to the formation of COMs in the gas, but not to the COMs solid-state abundances. This particularly applies for CH3CHO and CH3OCH3. The simulated abundances of COMs in the ice are in the range 1%–2% (for methyl formate ice) or ∼~0.1% (for CH3CHO and CH3OCH3) with respect to the abundance of H2O ice.
We stress a similarity between the simulated abundances of icy COMs in L1544 and the abundances of COMs in the gas phase of hot cores/corinos. We compare our non-diffusive model with the diffusive model and provide constraints for the species’ diffusion-to-desorption energy ratios.
Katerina Borshcheva (1 and 2), Gleb Fedoseev (3, 4 and 1), Anna F. Punanova (5), Paola Caselli (6), Izaskun Jiménez-Serra (7), Anton I. Vasyunin (1) ((1) Research Laboratory for Astrochemistry, Ural Federal University, Yekaterinburg, Russia (2) Institute of Astronomy of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, Russia (3) Xinjiang Astronomical Observatory, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Urumqi, China (4) Xinjiang Key Laboratory of Radio Astrophysics, Urumqi, China (5) Onsala Space Observatory, Råö, Onsala, Sweden (6) Max-Planck-Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics, Garching, Germany (7) Centro de Astrobiologia (CSIC-INTA), Torrejon de Ardoz Madrid, Spain)
Comments: 34 pages, 13 figures, 10 tables, accepted to The Astrophysical Journal Subjects: Astrophysics of Galaxies (astro-ph.GA) Cite as: arXiv:2507.00338 [astro-ph.GA] (or arXiv:2507.00338v1 [astro-ph.GA] for this version) https://doi.org/10.48550/arXiv.2507.00338 Focus to learn more Submission history From: Anton Vasyunin [v1] Tue, 1 Jul 2025 00:35:09 UTC (629 KB) https://arxiv.org/abs/2507.00338 Astrobiology
Reef scene off the coast of St. Croix, USVI [Photo credit: NOAA CCMA Biogeography Branch]
In a first-of-its-kind study, Stanford researchers have measured how the abundance of ocean life has changed over the past half-billion years of Earth’s history.
Overall, the total mass of marine organisms has generally increased over the past 500 million years, the study showed, albeit with setbacks after major extinction events. The findings align with evidence for a similar rise in marine biodiversity – the total variety of organisms – over the past half-eon from studies dating as far back as the 19th century, suggesting an evolutionary connection between biomass and biodiversity. The research appears in Current Biology June 25.
“Understanding the amount of biomass is important because it represents key traits about an ecosystem that are not captured by the number of species or even the number of niches that they fill,” said study lead author Pulkit Singh, a postdoctoral scholar in Earth and Planetary Sciences in the Stanford Doerr School of Sustainability. “But as we move into the past, our measurements of biomass are very limited, so that was the big gap in biological history we wanted to fill with our study.”
The results come from an in-depth compilation and review of data from thousands of rock samples containing skeletal remains, which in the oceanic environment primarily comprise shells of animals, certain kinds of algae, and single-celled organisms called protists. Fossils with skeletal remains recorded the amount of biomass – the material comprising and produced by living things – that was preserved across different geological intervals. Biomass reveals the productivity of an ecosystem, indicating the amount of energy (food) present and the quantity of organisms that a system can support. Productivity, in turn, speaks to ecosystem health, and in the broad aggregate, to planetary health.
Researchers have long shied away from attempting to measure biomass, given the immense effort required to gather relevant data and the possibility that data wouldn’t be sufficient for revealing meaningful patterns. Singh undertook the challenge, devoting several years to compiling data published over decades, as well as adding new data from his own samples.
“The first quantitative effort to document and graph biodiversity across geological time was made in 1860, but until Pulkit’s paper, there’s never been a corresponding biomass-across-time paper,” said senior study author Jonathan Payne, the Dorrell William Kirby Professor of Earth and Planetary Sciences at Stanford. “I’m impressed by his intellectual courage to go and take a chance on a project like this.”
Picking through the past
For the study, Singh and colleagues considered more than 7,700 marine limestone samples from all over the world spanning the past 540 million years that have been documented across more than 100 scientific studies. The research team relied on data gathered via a standard method known as petrographic point-counting to assess the percentage of each sample that contained skeletal remains. The time-consuming technique involves cutting and polishing rocks very thinly so light can shine through them, then examining the thin sections of rock samples under a microscope to quantify their composition.
During the Cambrian, the earliest period sampled that started about 540 million years ago, researchers found fewer than 10 percent of the rocks, on average, were composed of shell material. As the Cambrian gave way to the Ordovician Period about 485 million years ago, that percentage climbed, partly reflecting the “Cambrian Explosion,” when life on Earth dramatically expanded in diversity and complexity. Calcifying sponges were initially notable contributors to biomass but were later leapfrogged by newly evolved echinoderms – including ancestors of modern-day starfish – and marine arthropods, including extinct trilobites and ancestors of crabs.
Throughout much of the next 230 million years, shell content soared well above 20 percent, with a significant decrease during one of the “Big Five” mass extinction events in the Late Devonian, about 375 to 360 million years ago. The biggest drop in living history then struck about 250 million years ago during the “Great Dying,” the Permian-Triassic extinction, when shell percentage plummeted to about 3 percent.
Life recovered, and except for subsequent significant mass extinctions – the end-Triassic extinction about 200 million years ago and the Cretaceous-Paleogene about 66 million years ago, which infamously killed off the non-avian dinosaurs – biomass has boomed in our current geological era, the Cenozoic, with shells exceeding 40 percent of rock volume, thanks in part to substantial contributions from mollusks and corals. “The overall pattern that we were able to capture is that it’s a gradual increase,” Singh said.
One of the biggest challenges in conducting the study involved telling whether the increasing shell content in rocks truly signaled a rise in bio-abundances over time or if other ecological factors, such as a decrease in shell-boring and -destroying predators, or methodological sample biases were behind the pattern.
To cross-check their results, the researchers performed a series of rigorous tests. They sorted samples by depositional environment of shallow or deep water, factoring in how shell remains accumulate more frequently in better-populated shallow waters. The researchers also sorted samples by different latitudes and locations and shapes of the predecessors of today’s continents. Through it all, the signal remained strongly consistent across water depths, latitudes, and geologic settings.
“The more tests we did and the more we divided our dataset, we realized that these big biological patterns we were seeing stayed over time,” Singh said.
Life-altering events
As to why marine life has generally increased, evidence points to the parallel trends in greater diversity. With marine organisms becoming more specialized and more variable in their specializations, more energy can be extracted from available nutrients and food resources. This enhanced nutrient recycling starts with the autotrophs, such as phytoplankton, that photosynthetically “feed” on sunlight and ends with decomposers returning nutrients to the environment that autotrophs take up.
“The overall idea is that there is more food available in ecosystems and because of that, the ecosystems can support more life, there’s more energy available, and that leads to greater abundance expressed in biomass,” Singh said.
Whether or not the plenitude seen over the last hundreds of millions of years will persist could be in question, considering impacts from human activities. Although people have caused fertilizer runoff, overfishing, ocean acidification, and more during a mere blip in geological time, scientists have widely documented an ongoing, human-driven sixth mass extinction. Accumulating losses in biodiversity could potentially reduce biomass, and vice versa – a signal that perhaps could be captured in the fossil record currently being laid down.
“From our study’s perspective, modern times are quite complicated given the extent of human activity that’s rapidly altering conditions planetwide, including in the oceans,” said Payne, who is also a senior fellow at the Stanford Woods Institute for the Environment. “But our findings show that overall biomass is linked to biodiversity and that losses in biodiversity may suppress productivity for geologically meaningful intervals, adding one more argument of why conserving biodiversity is essential for the health of humans and our planet.”
Additional Stanford co-authors include Jordan Ferré, Bridget Thrasher, and Pedro Monarrez. Other study co-authors are from the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals, Cantrell GeoLogic LLC, Trinity University, and the University of Ferrara. The research was supported by a Frontier Research in Earth Sciences grant from the U.S. National Science Foundation.
Macroevolutionary coupling of marine biomass and biodiversity across the Phanerozoic, Current Biology
HF‑11 Hypercar Revs to 12,000 RPM and Swaps Between Gas and Electric originally appeared on Autoblog.
In a world dominated by hybrid hypercars built by billion-dollar conglomerates, the Oil Stain Lab HF‑11 is a welcome oddity. It’s the creation of two Ukrainian-American brothers, Nikita and Iliya Bridan — ex-Honda, Cadillac and Genesis designers — who decided the only way to scratch their creative itch was to build a 12,000 rpm, dual-drivetrain, 2,000-pound hypercar out of sheer obsession.
Only 25 will be made. Each one costs at least $1.85 million, or $2.3 million if you want both powertrains.
View the 3 images of this gallery on the original article
Twin Madness: Flat‑Six Or EV, Or Both
The HF‑11 is about choice. Buyers can spec a 4.6-liter naturally aspirated flat-six making 600 hp, or step up to the unhinged 5.0-liter twin-turbo flat-six good for a staggering 1,200 hp — all mounted in the middle of a carbon monocoque and sending power to the rear wheels. Both are available with a six-speed manual or a seven-speed sequential box. That alone would be enough for most small-volume hypercars.
But this isn’t most hypercars.
Oil Stain Lab is also building a fully electric version with around 850 hp, and here’s the twist: thanks to a modular subframe system, owners can swap between the ICE and EV powertrains. That’s right — one car, two wildly different personalities, depending on the day, track, or mood.
12,000 RPM And 2,000 lbs
Despite the turbocharged flat-six having “just” six cylinders, it’s designed to scream all the way to 12,000 rpm. When combined with the car’s 910 kg weight, the HF‑11 promises a power-to-weight ratio that puts it well ahead of the Bugatti Chiron and toe-to-toe with the Gordon Murray T.50.
Performance claims remain vague — understandable for a car still in development — but 0–60mph in the low 3s seems conservative. Top speed? Unofficially, well beyond 200mph.
View the 4 images of this gallery on the original article
Inside The Machine
Step into the HF-11 and you’ll find a cockpit that looks like it was designed by a watchmaker having a nervous breakdown inside an F1 wind tunnel. The entire cabin is draped in carbon weave, from the exposed monocoque to the sculpted centre console — not just for weight savings, but sheer visual drama. There’s no touchscreen, no voice assistant, and certainly no cupholders. What you get instead is a bank of heavy-duty toggle switches, rotary dials, and knurled metal knobs straight out of a Cold War fighter jet.
The shifter itself is a skeletal work of art: part titanium sculpture, part ballistic missile trigger. Above it, the triple-pod analogue dash recalls classic Porsche GT racers, but everything else feels raw, functional, and unapologetically mechanical. Even the starter switch appears to be mounted inside a billet aluminium pod held together with titanium struts. It’s less interior, more exoskeleton.
There’s suede where you need it and structure where you don’t. The HF-11 doesn’t try to coddle you. It tries to connect you — to the drivetrain, to the chassis, and to the road. If you want ambient lighting and a Spotify playlist, look elsewhere. This thing was built to be felt, not filtered.
A Real Car, Built By Real People
The HF‑11’s styling feels familiar but alien. It riffs on classic Porsche silhouettes — there are shades of Carrera GT, 962, even 917 — but everything is dialed up to 11. Giant rear diffusers, razor-edge front wings, and track-ready aero components all scream performance. Yet, inside, it’s raw, stripped-back, and mechanical. Think Group C meets bespoke hot rod.
What makes the HF‑11 more than a concept car with delusions of grandeur is the pedigree behind it. The Bridan twins were involved in cars that sold in the millions, but they’re chasing purity now. Their mission: build the “ultimate human-scale hypercar,” one with minimal electronics, obsessive focus, and mechanical soul.
They already made waves with the viral Half-11, a chopped-up Porsche homage that earned cult status. The HF‑11 is its spiritual evolution — faster, crazier, and far more complete.
This isn’t just an ambitious spec sheet. It’s two engineers turning decades of experience and design frustration into an unfiltered, track-ready love letter to speed. And whether it sells out or implodes spectacularly, it deserves to be noticed.
HF‑11 Hypercar Revs to 12,000 RPM and Swaps Between Gas and Electric first appeared on Autoblog on Jul 6, 2025
This story was originally reported by Autoblog on Jul 6, 2025, where it first appeared.
“The Lord of the Rings,” or LotR to those in the know, isn’t just standard reading among those in the tech industry.
It also inspires their ventures.
Billionaire PayPal cofounder Peter Thiel, for instance, has started several companies inspired by the J.R.R. Tolkien series.
The fantasy trilogy, a sequel to 1937’s “The Hobbit,” was first published in the mid-1950s. It follows an unlikely hero, Frodo Baggins, as he and a team of allies adventure across Middle Earth to destroy a powerful ring that could bring darkness to the world if it fell into the hands of Sauron, the dark lord.
On Halloween in 2018, the Salesforce Tower, a hallmark of the San Francisco skyline, was lit to resemble the ever-watchful “Eye of Sauron.”
“‘Lord of the Rings’ represents a group of people going out and doing something extraordinary,” Quinn Reilly, a longtime fan who helped organize the Salesforce tower lighting, previously told BI. “That’s not unlike the mission that most startups set out to go on.”
Here is an ongoing list of Silicon Valley’s top “Lord of the Rings”-inspired companies.
Erebor
Palmer Luckey pays homage to Tolkien with his latest endeavor, Erebor.
Getty Images/Patrick T. Fallon
Billionaire tech founder Palmer Luckey’s new digital bank for startups and cryptocurrency companies is named after the Lonely Mountain, the wealthy subterranean kingdom and Dwarven stronghold in “The Lord of the Rings.”
The bank is set to be valued at $2 billion, sources told BI, and has funding from Thiel, via his Founders Fund, and Joe Lonsdale, via 8VC.
Anduril
The ‘Anduril’ sword belongs to Aragorn, the hero of “The Lord of the Rings” series. This was a prop used in the film trilogy. Anduril is also the name of Palmer Luckey’s defense tech startup.
Peter Macdiarmid/Getty Images
Another Luckey venture, the defense-tech startup Anduril, founded in 2017, is named after the legendary sword used by Aragorn, a hero in “The Lord of the Rings” story. Anduril means “Flame of the West.”
The company has been at the forefront of AI-powered innovations in warfare, from drones to autonomous weapons systems.
Palantir
Palantir — founded in 2003 by Peter Thiel, Joe Lonsdale, Stephen Cohen, and Alex Karp — is a government-focused software giant. It takes its name from the mystical, all-powerful seeing stone in “The Lord of the Rings” series.
Mithril Capital
Billionaire Peter Thiel has named several of his companies after “The Lord of the Rings.”
John Lamparski/Getty Images
Thiel launched Mithril Capital in 2012 to invest in late-stage startups. The firm, which counts Vice President JD Vance among its alumni, takes its name from a valuable and rare precious metal used to make armor and jewelry in “The Lord of the Rings.” It’s a symbol of wealth and status.
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Durin Mining
The startup, founded by Ted Feldmann last year, builds and automates drill rigs for mineral discovery. Its name is inspired by a lineage of dwarf kings in “The Lord of the Rings.” Dwarves are famous for their mining skills.
Rivendell One LLC
A scene from Rivendell, the fictional elven sanctuary, in “The Lord of the Rings” movies.
New Line Cinema
Rivendell, often described in the novels as a hidden sanctuary in Middle Earth, is home to the elven kingdom. It is also a trust that Thiel uses to invest and manage his Facebook shares.
Lembas LLC
Lembas, another investment vehicle Thiel founded, is a special food made by elves in “The Lord of the Rings” series. It’s light and nutritious and a good snack that sustains elves as they travel across Middle Earth.
Valar Ventures
Valar Ventures, a venture capital firm cofounded by Thiel, Andrew McCormack, and James Fitzgerald, is a reference to a group of powerful beings with godlike powers revered in Middle Earth.
There’s also a startup called Valar that is building gigasites for nuclear reactors.
Sauron Systems
The Eye of Sauron in “The Lord of the Rings.”
YouTube/Warner Bros
This home security system that leverages AI is named after Sauron, the main character of “The Lord of the Rings,” who seeks the powerful ring to rule all of Middle Earth. The Eye of Sauron is ever-watchful and all-seeing.
While the China technology story hasn’t changed enough to warrant major changes to portfolios, local stock investors are now being encouraged to take a more conservative turn as they gear up for the second half. “We caution against a potential volatility surge in the next month or two,” a team led by Morgan Stanley’s chief China equity strategist Laura Wang said in a report Thursday. The analysts noted that sentiment toward mainland Chinese stocks, known as “A Shares,” dropped in the past week as Chinese policymakers have so far failed to bolster growth, nor are they expected to in a Politburo meeting later this month. In addition, the deadline for U.S. trade deals with most countries looms on July 9, with the 90-day tariff truce with China set to expire in mid-August. Mainland China stocks rose slightly last week, while more globally connected and tech-dominated Hong Kong stocks fell. Dividend plays While continuing to endorse some AI names, Morgan Stanley’s Wang on Thursday also recommended “maintaining some exposure to dividend yield plays.” One of Morgan Stanley’s favored picks for the near term is Hong Kong-listed Chinese insurer PICC P & C , which analyst Rick Zhao highlighted in June as offering a dividend yield of 4.5% and the potential to benefit from growth in auto insurance. The Wall Street investment bank swapped PICC for Pop Mart , the maker of Labubu toys, on its China-Hong Kong Focus List in mid-June. Other local Chinese analysts are also highlighting high dividend plays in their outlooks for the second half of the year. “Amid uncertainties, our focus is diving into fund flow structure and market style,” UBS Securities China equity strategist Lei Meng said in a report last Monday. He noted that medium- and longer-term investors favor high-dividend stocks and banks, which are also supported by increased state-backed stock buying. For the second half of the year, Meng expects inflows into tech-related sectors to slow after strong allocations in the first six months. Foreign and domestic investor sentiment toward tech stocks improved earlier this year on the back of renewed optimism toward Chinese artificial intelligence , while the outlook for China’s broader economic growth was more muted. Varied performance The contrast played out in the performance of individual stocks and leading market indexes. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index, dominated by tech stocks like Alibaba Group and Tencent Holdings , gained about 20% in the first half of the year, while mainland China’s Shanghai Composite — containing more state-owned financial and industrial companies — rose by less than 3%. Also driving interest in high-yielding Chinese stocks is mainland China investors looking for higher returns than generally available domestically, a team led by J.P. Morgan’s Wendy Liu said in a late June report. Their preferred high-yielding stocks include PetroChina , with a 7.3% dividend yield, and CR Power, with a 6.1% yield. Both are listed in Hong Kong. Increased interest from mainland Chinese investors comes at the same time as they face more restrictions in reaching the U.S. and other markets. In contrast, global institutional investors still largely see U.S. stocks as the lowest risk, and can look to Europe, China or emerging markets when they need to diversify, said Liqian Ren, head of quantitative investment at WisdomTree. For “investors outside China, the unglamorous stocks [such as utilities], it’s not going to be where they park their cash,” she said. Ren also noted that several leading Chinese AI companies, such as ByteDance, are not publicly traded. —CNBC’s Michael Bloom contributed to this report.
Apple and Samsung smartphones have often been called identical in many ways, and to an extent that is very true: modern flagship phones don’t differ much in power and cameras. However, two separate reports have come in from reputable sources about the Galaxy S26, and it seems that it will differ in one key aspect compared to the iPhone 17.The reports, courtesy of two reliable sources, pertain to both companies’ upcoming flagship products: the Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra and the iPhone 17 Pro Max. While previous reports have alleged that the next Pro Max will increase in thickness, these new reports add on to that and reveal that the Ultra will be even slimmer.
From what I can tell, Samsung is applying its design philosophy for the Galaxy S25 Edge to its top tier model, while Apple is opting for more battery space instead.
If current rumors (not confirmed reports) are anything to go by, then the iPhone 17 Pro Max will come with a 5,000 mAh battery. However, so will the S26 Ultra, with some predicting that Samsung may finally use denser battery technology to achieve the same capacity in less space.
The S25 Ultra continued Samsung’s trend of 5,000 mAh batteries. | Video credit — Samsung
According to the reports, the iPhone 17 Pro Max will be 8.76 mm thick, and the S26 Ultra will be less than 8 mm but over 7 mm. The current iPhone 16 Pro Max is 8.25 mm thick, which means that Apple is no longer trying to slim down its flagship model each year. If an Apple user wants a slimmer experience, they’ll have to go for the iPhone 17 Air, which will only have a battery capacity of 2,800 mAh.
Apple is doing what I’ve been wanting phone companies to do for a long time: increasing battery capacity instead of slimming down an already very slim phone. And if Samsung really is continuing to slim down its phones, then the following few years will introduce a major difference between the iPhone and Galaxy phones.
Chinese phones are hitting the limit of silicon batteries, with some phones even reaching 8,000 mAh capacities: like the Honor Power. While 5,000 mAh on the iPhone 17 Pro Max isn’t much, it’s still more than its predecessor. I’m glad that at least one of these two top dogs is moving in what I think is the right direction.
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While the mood on the ground is bleak, one senior executive at the Xbox Game Studios Publishing division chose to offer a surprising, if not baffling, solution: turn to artificial intelligence, he said; it can help you cope with the depression of being laid off.
‘The best advice I can give’
In a LinkedIn post that garnered widespread attention after being shared by game developer Brandon Sheffield on the social network Bluesky, Matt Turnbull, a senior producer at Xbox, wrote: “I know these types of tools engender strong feelings in people, but I’d be remiss in not trying to offer the best advice I can under the circumstances.”
According to him, he has recently been exploring ways to integrate AI-based tools, such as ChatGPT and Microsoft Copilot, to help laid-off workers deal with the emotional and cognitive burden that comes with losing a job.
Turnbull explained that he created a collection of prompts that could ease the burden on those feeling overwhelmed. Among other things, he suggested using AI as a personal career coach—asking it to help identify new job directions, improve résumés, or even rewrite the “About Me” section on LinkedIn.
Some of Turnbull’s recommendations include ready-made texts that can be sent to former colleagues or industry contacts, such as: “Hey, just wanted to let you know I’m exploring new opportunities,” or a message expressing interest in a new job.
But the moment the post veered into the almost surreal came in a section Turnbull titled “Emotional Clarity and Self-Confidence.” There, he suggested turning to emotionless AI tools to help cope with feelings of worthlessness. One recommended prompt: “I’m struggling with imposter syndrome after being laid off. Can you help me reframe this experience in a way that reminds me what I’m good at?”
The backlash was swift
Perhaps Turnbull’s comments might have been received differently under other circumstances. There’s been talk about the benefits of consulting AI tools, even in the realm of mental health support (though typically with tools specifically designed for this purpose, rather than general-purpose chatbots like ChatGPT). But given the current situation at Microsoft and Xbox, many found the advice tone-deaf.
The original post has since been deleted and is no longer viewable on LinkedIn. However, on Bluesky, the responses came quickly and harshly. One commenter wrote, “Gross.” Another added, “This is completely detached from reality. I’m sure he meant well, but what the hell was he thinking?”
Turnbull himself acknowledged that “these tools provoke strong emotions in people”—a statement that could be seen as disconnected, especially considering the intensity of criticism facing a company that simultaneously pushes the development and adoption of AI while conducting wave after wave of mass layoffs.
At a time when many view artificial intelligence as a threat to jobs, human creativity, and even mental health, the suggestion to use it as a support tool for freshly laid-off workers—especially when coming from a top company executive—felt to many like insensitivity, or worse: mockery of the unfortunate.
Long established as an allegory for the immigrant experience, especially when viewed through the personal histories of Superman‘s comic book co-creators — second-generation Jewish immigrants Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster — DC Studios co-CEO James Gunn said his forthcoming film entry of Kal-El keeps in tune with the original 1938-created vision.
“I mean, Superman is the story of America,” the Superman helmer told The Times U.K. in a new profile. “An immigrant that came from other places and populated the country, but for me it is mostly a story that says basic human kindness is a value and is something we have lost.”
When asked how the blockbuster may be perceived in predominantly red versus blue states, especially amid prevailing anti-immigrant and refugee sentiment, Gunn responded, “Yes, it plays differently, but it’s about human kindness and obviously there will be jerks out there who are just not kind and will take it as offensive just because it is about kindness. But screw them.”
Releasing July 11 in theaters, David Corenswet stars as the iconic bespectacled superhero, depicted in the movie as an already established reporter at the Daily Planet dating Lois Lane (Rachel Brosnahan). When he gets drawn into conflict at home and abroad, the Man of Steel — and his trusty flying dog Krypto — must contend with swiftly shifting public opinion as tech billionaire Lex Luthor (Nicholas Hoult) spots an opportunity to ascend.
“Yes, it’s about politics,” Gunn said of his take. “But on another level it’s about morality. Do you never kill no matter what — which is what Superman believes — or do you have some balance, as Lois believes? It’s really about their relationship and the way different opinions on basic moral beliefs can tear two people apart.”
While Gunn said the Warner Bros. Pictures movie aims to balance its message and fun family appeal, the ultimate goal is to tell a human story.
“This Superman does seem to come at a particular time when people are feeling a loss of hope in other people’s goodness,” the Guardians of the Galaxy director shared. “I’m telling a story about a guy who is uniquely good, and that feels needed now because there is a meanness that has emerged due to cultural figures being mean online.”
He continued, “And I include myself in this. It is ad infinitum, millions of people having tantrums online. How are we supposed to get anywhere as a culture? We don’t know what’s real, and that is a really difficult place for the human brain to be. If I could press a button to make the internet disappear I’d consider it. And, no, I don’t make films to change the world, but if a few people could be just a bit nicer after this it would make me happy.”
After a year of musical chairs in fashion, September is gearing up to be one of its biggest show months ever: with debut collections slated from new creative directors at brands including Matthieu Blazy at Chanel and ex-Balenciaga designer Demna at Gucci.
On Sunday in Paris, Michael Rider, who recently succeeded Hedi Slimane at Celine, decided to get a head start.
Acting as a sort of amuse bouche for how he plans to shape the brand’s future, Rider showed a mixture of men’s and womenswear.
The show took place at the brand’s sprawling atelier, a short hop from the Tuileries Garden. Guests included the actor Naomi Watts and, fresh from 18 months of South Korean military service, Kim Taehyung, from the K-pop band BTS, who attempted to shelter from the rain under a giant silk foulard that had been erected above a courtyard.
It was a full-circle moment for Rider, an American designer who previously worked under Phoebe Philo during her tenure at the brand from 2008 to 2017.
Celine spring 2026 collection. Photograph: Photo: Fior/Dragone/Gorunway.com
While fans of her work, known as “Philophiles”, had hoped Rider would reinstate that era of louche tailoring and minimalism, his opening looks quickly curtailed such expectations. Instead of oversized silhouettes, there was a series of skinny jeans and even skinner trousers, hugging calves so tightly, they should have come with a circulation warning.
These lean silhouettes were a nod to his predecessor, Slimane, who honed his signature sharp-edged style during his stints at Saint Laurent and Dior Homme before introducing it to Celine.
Despite initial criticism, Slimane proved lucrative for Celine’s parent company LVMH. According to analysts, he was estimated to have doubled Celine’s annual sales to €2.5bn (£2.1bn), transforming it into LVMH’s third-largest brand, sitting behind Louis Vuitton and Dior. However, in October, he resigned with rumours of failed contract negotiations to blame.
It’s now up to Rider to pick up that moneyed baton.
Rider’s appointment comes at a difficult time in the fashion industry, with a significant slowdown across luxury markets (for the first quarter of 2025, LVMH reported a 4% sales drop across fashion and leather goods).
At the annual general meeting in April 2024, LVMH’s chief executive, Bernard Arnault, said: “Celine is chic, hip, sexy fashion for young people even if the prices are what they are, and it works.”
Rather than wiping the slate clean, during this period of uncertainty, it appears that Rider is set on evolving on the brand’s existing tried and tested formula.
Speaking backstage after the show, Rider said he “did not want there to be a sense of erasure”, adding that “there was a foundation to build on. That to me felt modern, it felt ethical, it felt strong.”
Rider balanced this homage to the past by intertwining it with his own fashion story. There were nods to his American roots and recent stint as design director of Polo Ralph Lauren, with punchy, coloured knitted V-neck jumpers, neat Oxford shirts and striped ties. Simple evening looks in black including an off-the-shoulder dress and satin lapelled blazers seemed to subtly recall his previous time at Celine.
Accessories, which are easier for luxury brands to shift than a £5k coat, were a focus. Models’ fingers came covered in multiple gold and primary coloured rings. Chunky bangles were stacked on forearms. Giant chain link necklaces were mishmashed. Keyrings jingled with everything from dices to miniature Eiffel Towers.
Rider said he wanted to inject an element of fun. “I would never want to be perceived as cynical. Having a sense of humour in the luxury space is a beautiful thing,” he said.
Bags ranging from colossal woven baskets and enormous leather totes to dainty pouches were emblazoned with logos ranging from a simple C to a “Triomphe” monogram, first created by the house’s founder Céline Vipiana in 1971.
Rider said he was drawn to a logo’s fluid nature. “They can move from something really tasteful to quickly something that is very different from that. They can be many things.”
