Unlike a traditional air conditioner, the system doesn’t blow cold air, helping it use 25%-35% less energy. While many other systems are built into walls, Cascara says that its add-on version is easier to retrofit into old buildings.

The pilot will test technology from a startup called Cascara Energy. Pipes with chilled water or refrigerant are installed in a wall or ceiling, absorbing heat from a room and then pumping the warm water away.

On the scale of "apocalyptic hellscape of doom" to "absolute cult-like reverence," quantitative futurist Amy Webb considers herself an AI pragmatist. Watch her full episode of Adventures in AI here: https://youtu.be/-OS2eP9i5zU

How did Chili’s become one of the last homes of middle-class indulgence? Here's how focusing on affordability, kitchen innovation, restaurant design, and an unhinged social media strategy has propelled Chili's forward: https://youtu.be/yr9aDlrySRM?si=npYtxbKd4sCuYmsw

In the current era of AI-powered search, publishers are watching as their content is scraped by LLMs, users hold concerns about not being able to opt out of AI features, and Big Tech companies stand to benefit the most. Now, users and publishers are pushing for regulation: https://bit.ly/4vfSItG

TikTok trends, affordable meals, and Gen Z hype transformed Chili's into one of casual dining's biggest comeback stories. Follow Fast Company's @isaluzarraga.bsky.social as she dives into the chain's viral revival. Watch the full video: https://youtu.be/yr9aDlrySRM?si=G3Z9rTJwwg-xKLy5

He’s proving critics wrong—and filling dining rooms—by restoring so many of the small details the past decade had stripped from hospitality. The chain's more than 1,000 restaurants will undergo a redesign over the next decade, complete with custom-made toile wallpaper and technicolor tiling.

While other casual-dining chains are struggling, Chili’s is pulling of a massive comeback—thanks in large part to young diners who fill social media feeds with videos of its dishes. The brand’s Margarita of the Month program has become such a sensation that it has its own line of merch.

A 2025 survey from the American Academy of Sleep Medicine revealed that 78% of adults lose sleep to financial stress. That double whammy of financial stress and bad sleep can lead to a slew of health problems. Get advice from experts on how to protect your sleep: https://bit.ly/4vdkW8a

As Gen Zers turn to Instagram to network and find job opportunities, employers are learning they need to show—not just tell—what it’s like to work there. Read more: https://bit.ly/4wr7pev

“For the short term we’re gonna take direct shots at what everyone thinks of as InfoWars and goof on that pretty directly. We’ve been calling that phase one," Heidecker said. "Then phase two is to become a player and a competitor to the various... social media platforms.”

InfoWars.com is still in limbo, but a new InfoWars website is launching today all the same, as a sort of pirated brand. The site collides the visual urgency of a 24-hour news cycle with the low-fi, low-res graphics of desktop-era websites, print tabloid ads, and overnight infomercials.

In May, Barnes & Noble CEO James Daunt shared how he plans for the chain to adapt to the AI era: stocking AI-written books at its over 700 locations worldwide. Multiple publishers have since announced partnerships with AI companies. Read more: https://bit.ly/4wc5f1X

The rise of generative AI makes it far easier to create the mirage of political popularity online. With just a few prompts and access to the right platform, you can simply generate videos of a bevy of real-ish seeming people. Learn more about how to identify astroturfing: https://bit.ly/4ew6C5R

For physician and epidemiologist Dr. Seth Berkley, global health is an essential part of international security. Listen to his conversation with co-host Yasmin Gagne on the latest episode of the Most Innovative Companies podcast: https://bit.ly/4itb7yj

Corporate America is making it harder than ever for senior-level mothers to thrive. So Fast Company put out a call on LinkedIn, asking women on how they're actually making it work. Over 100 wrote in and their responses reveal that senior-level women are barely hanging on. https://bit.ly/4vAtNlH

When Carley Fortune wrote her debut novel "Every Summer After," she wanted to create something for herself. Everything that followed—five best-sellers, two projects in development at Netflix, and an adaptation charting in the top ten on Prime Video—she never anticipated. https://bit.ly/3SuvEd0

There’s a deadly heat wave in Europe. Experts are begging media outlets to stop making it look fun. Images of crowded beaches or people swimming in pools are known to make extreme weather seem less dangerous. Read more: https://bit.ly/4vrYysH

At Cannes Lions in southeastern France, budding partnerships have become the focus of the creative marketing event that was once all about awards. As Jeff Beer notes in his latest dispatch, attendees are more focused on making deals for the future as opposed to reveling in last year's success.

In France, schools are covering windows with chalk to block out the heat this summer. A chalk powder called Blanc de Meudon is mixed with water and painted on windows to reflect light.

Rotterdam, the second-largest city in the Netherlands, designed green rooftops connected by air bridges. Since cities create heat islands, green rooftops with gardens, or even rooftops painted light colors to absorb less heat, can lower temperatures about 5 degrees Fahrenheit.

Barcelona’s underground metro now uses an AI ventilation control system to monitor air quality and temperature, and, helpfully, it reduces the temperature in stations by about 2.3 degrees Fahrenheit.

Paris designed “cooling islands” that use water, vegetation, and shading structures to keep a space roughly 4 to 7 degrees Fahrenheit cooler than it otherwise would be. Over time, the city has expanded its number of cooling spots from more than 800 in 2019 to more than 1,400 today.

Cannes Lions, the annual gathering of creative marketing leaders from around the world, has long been considered the Oscars of Advertising. But as more influencers and self-employed creators fill the beach in southeastern France, we're wondering, is Cannes even about awards anymore?

"If one thing's true about this moment in tech history, it's that as soon as you think you're keeping pace with the leading edge of AI—poof!—the edge moves." That's how Editor in Chief Brendan Vaughan prefaces the latest Fast Company issue centered around the age of autonomy. Get your copy now.

Senior-level mothers are caught in a two-way trap: the intensification of work and the intensification of parenting. Staff Editor Shalene Gupta found that many are turning to artificial intelligence to cope. Listen to the full conversation: https://bit.ly/4itb7yj

For the new Fast Company series "Adventures in AI," filmmaker Daniel Kwan and tech ethicist Tristan Harris examine how AI companies have created a financial incentive to replace human labor at scale—and what that means for the average person. Watch the full episode: https://bit.ly/43FHuDt

When your NBA team wins a championship for the first time in 53 years, you take off work to join the festivities.   Fast Company chatted with Knicks fans about what it took for them to attend the ticker tape parade today in Manhattan.

Fast Company Staff Editor Shalene Gupta put out a call on LinkedIn, asking senior-level mothers how they are balancing work and familial obligations. Their responses reveal that while senior-level women might be making it work, they’re barely hanging on: https://bit.ly/4vAtNlH

Why? Because AI, just a few years after LLMs such as ChatGPT and Claude began remaking the global economy, is already seeking its next act.⁠ ⁠ Li believes it will center on what she calls “spatial intelligence”: AI that can go beyond next-word prediction and learn how the real world works.⁠