STUFF: News, Technology, the cool and the plain weird

[Fuzz]

Possible Pterosaur Recorded Flying Over Idaho

MIKA: I believe in Cryptids but I call BS on this one. Wing flapping looks too stiff IMO and that manoeuvre is unnatural, not that I've ever seen a pterosaur

Probably just an RC model pterosaur.

[Fuzz]

Dramatic Video Shows Plane Ablaze on Las Vegas Runway

Plane's on fire, have to get out fast... wait, I need to grab my carry-on...

[MIKA27]

Plane's on fire, have to get out fast... wait, I need to grab my carry-on...

Some people never learn mate

[MIKA27]

Apple Joins With Hermès For A Watch Collection You Can't Afford

With news of an OS update on the horizon for Apple Watch, Apple has also announced a far more couture update for their line of smartwatches at their iPhone event overnight. Thanks to a partnership with French fashion icon Hermès, Apple will be releasing the Apple Watch Hermès collection: a series of exclusive designs featuring hand crafted leather bands and exclusive dial designs inspired by classic Hermès watches.

The Apple Watch Hermès comes in three different styles with corresponding price points, depending on how much leather you like wrapped around your wrist. Let the exclusively designed watch face shine with the minimalistic Single Tour, featuring a single band of your choice of fauve Barenia leather, noir box leather or capucine Swift leather. The Single Tour comes in the cheapest of the collection at $1700.

The Double Tour features a double wrapped leather band in classic Hermès style. The same colours are available as on the Single Tour, with the additional options of ‘bleu jean’, a turquoise-looking blue, and ‘etain’, a gunmetal grey. The Double Tour is just a little more pricey than the single at $1780.

The last option is the Cuff, featuring a wide leather cuff (unsurprisingly) with the Apple Watch embedded in the centre. The Cuff doesn’t have as many colour options however: this one is only available in fauve Barenia leather. It will, however, set you back a whopping $2350.

Apple Watch Hermès will be available from October 5 in Australia.

[Fuzz]

Apple Joins With Hermès For A Watch Collection You Can't Afford

I love to mess with the Hermès store people when my friends go shopping there by mispronouncing the name "Her-mees". Get a chuckle as they keep trying to subtly correct me.

Me: What's so good about this her-mees watch band?

Storeperson: Oh, that ehr-mehz band has a lovely design to go with many different watch designs

Me: I'm really looking for a nice her-mees belt...

Storeperson: Ehr-mehz have a nice collection of belts for men.

[MIKA27]

Scientists Have Discovered A New Human-Like Species In South Africa

In a burial chamber deep within a South African cave system, a team of scientists has discovered 15 partial skeletons — of a completely new human-like species.

The discovery, announced this morning by researchers from University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg and published in the journal E-Life, adds a completely new section to the Homo family tree. The researchers have dubbed the new species Homo naledi.

While Lee Berger, the lead researcher behind the study, tells New Scientist that the species “doesn’t look a lot like us,” his team believes that features observed in the skull, hands and teeth of the skeletons make it part of the Homo genus.

They certainly have enough evidence from which to draw that kind of conclusion: the fossil find in the cave system was particularly rich. In fact, the team uncovered an amazing 1,400 bones and 140 teeth during a single field trip to the site. The team reckons the fossils could date back as far as 3 million years — though an accurate date is yet to be confirmed.

Such a large find in a single location is pretty much unheard of in discoveries of Homo remains that are so old. The sheer number of bones found together suggests that the bodies may have been deliberately left in the cave, which in turn hints that primitive humans may have buried their dead. While further investigation is needed, the finding could change the way we think about ancient human behaviour.

Berger claims that thousands more remains are still present in the cave. Rather than digging them all up in one go, though, a decision was made to take the current batch up to the surface and then create a larger-scale project to uncover the rest over the coming years.

The remains that have so far been studied suggest that Homo naledi was an unusual-looking creature. Its pelvis and shoulder are, apparently, reminiscent of apes that lived 4 million years ago, while its feet resemble Homo sapien remains from just 200,000 years ago. Meanwhile, its skull was much smaller, containing a brain less than half the size of modern humans. The team reckon the creature could have stood 1.5 metres tall and weighed almost 45 kilograms.

The find is clearly important, though some researchers are understandably cautious about what it may tell us. Jeffrey Schwartz at the University of Pittsburgh in Philadelphia, for instance, told New Scientist that “the specimens lumped together as Homo naledi represent two cranial morphs.”

That doesn’t detract from the importance of the find, though. While more work is clearly needed — to accurately date the finds, to excavate the other remains, to work out in more detail what we know about Homo naledi — the possibilities provided by such a large collection fossils is huge.

Perhaps most importantly, the find serves to remind us that the soil still have plenty of fossils to offer — and in turn plenty to teach us about the rich history of our ancestors.

[MIKA27]

The Next Version Of OS X Yosemite Is Coming September 30

While Apple was busy trying to make OS X redundant with a giant tablet this afternoon, it also snuck one announcement under the radar: El Capitan, the next version of OS X, will be released to the public on September 30th.

We’ve had the chance to play with beta versions of El Cap for the last few months, so we’ve got a fairly good idea of what’s in store: a Windows-esque ability to snap programs to the side of the screen, a new and improved Safari, and underlying speed improvements that should make everything a little smoother.

Thanks to an Easter Egg hidden in Apple’s keynote speech (subsequently confirmed by the El Capitan preview page), we now know that the upgrade will be hitting on September 30th. Best of all, it will be free for OS X users with compatible machines.

[MIKA27]

This Is How You Assemble A 21st Century Spacecraft

You’re looking at the critical first manufacturing step being taken to get the United States on the way to Mars.

NASA has just published a whole set of images taken on Saturday in the agency’s Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans, where Lockheed Martin engineers welded together the first two segments of theOrion crew module, in preparation for Exploration Mission-1 (EM-1).

The core of the Orion spacecraft consists of seven large aluminium pieces. The first weld connects the tunnel, that allow astronauts to move between the module and other spacecraft, to the forward bulkhead, which houses many critical systems such as the reentry parachutes.

Welding a spacecraft, however, requires the highest possible technology level our age can offer. As theofficial NASA press release states:

Engineers have undertaken a meticulous process to prepare for welding. They have cleaned the segments, coated them with a protective chemical and primed them. They then outfitted each element with strain gauges and wiring to monitor the metal during the fabrication process. Prior to beginning work on the pieces destined for space, technicians practiced their process, refined their techniques and ensured proper tooling configurations by welding together a pathfinder, a full-scale version of the current spacecraft design.

Through collaborations across design and manufacturing, teams have been able to reduce the number of welds for the crew module by more than half since the first test version of Orion’s primary structure was constructed and flown on the Exploration Flight Test-1 last December. The Exploration Mission-1 structure will include just seven main welds, plus several smaller welds for start and stop holes left by welding tools. Fewer welds will result in a lighter spacecraft.

During the coming months as other pieces of Orion’s primary structure arrive at Michoud from machine houses across the country, engineers will inspect and evaluate them to ensure they meet precise design requirements before welding. Once complete, the structure will be shipped to NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida where it will be assembled with the other elements of the spacecraft, integrated with SLS and processed before launch.

According to the plans, when everything is completed the Exploration Mission-1 (EM-1) flight will test Orion and SLS (Space Launch System) rocket together on September 30th 2018, and the spacecraft will fly around the Moon during a seven day mission. Until then, feast your eyes on these awesome factory photos.

[MIKA27]

The World's Largest Arcade Cabinet Makes Anyone Feel Like A Little Kid Again

Those of us considered adults now didn’t grow up playing video games exclusively in the living room. We often travelled to far away rooms called arcades that were full of giant one-game consoles. And if you think back to being a little kid, Jason Camberis’ over 4 metres tall arcade cabinet is probably exactly how you remember them.

Camberis, who actually builds normal-sized arcade cabinets for a living, built this 14.4-feet tall behemoth as an homage to his youth spend loitering in arcades. And besides a satisfying sense of nostalgia, it also earned him a place in the Guinness World Records.

The two-player arcade machine has matching over-sized joysticks, giant buttons, and a screen that looks straight out of a home theatre — so it should definitely do the crappy pixelated graphics of the ’80s justice. And presumably Camberis’ creation is rigged for infinite credits, or else he’ll have to spend 10 minutes feeding it $100 in quarters before every game.

[MIKA27]

Here's How You Move A 363 Tonne, 404-Year-Old Japanese Castle

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GwfGuqhbm4o

400: That’s about how many years old Japan’s Hirosaki Castle is. It’s also how many (US) tons it weighs. And yet it was successfully lifted two feet in the air and 70 metres down the road

That’s the insane restoration feat accomplished last week in Japan’s Hirosaki City in Aomori prefecture on the main island’s northern tip. The Wall Street Journal reports that it’s all part of a six-year plan to repair the aged stone foundation on which the castle sits. Or sat, as the case would be: Starting last Thursday, city officials lifted the tower up and away, and estimate that the castle can be returned to its position in five years.

To move the building, which was built in 1611, the team used steel hydraulic jacks and moved it with a simple dolly. Considering the castle seems to be hugging a ledge leading to a river, I’d have been especially nervous, but the process was successful.

The process itself, though, is far from new or novel: It’s called “house-moving,” and involves plucking a building from its original establishment and plopping it somewhere else. You can disassemble the structure and rebuild it later, or use dollies to lift the thing whole, then ferry it short distances. CBSreported earlier this year that it’s apparently becoming popular among American homeowners. There are entire companies devoted to it, and there’s even an International Association of Structural Movers. And Hirosaki Castle is far from the only historic gem to be moved in such a fashion.

[MIKA27]

Typhoon Etau Triggers Flooding in Japan

“Unprecedented rain in Japan unleashed heavy floods on Friday that tore houses from their foundations, uprooted trees, and forced more than 100,000 people from their homes,” according to Reuters. One person was missing after rivers burst their banks in cities north of Tokyo following days of heavy rain, caused by Typhoon Etau, pummeling Japan. The Japan Meteorological Agency issued special downpour warnings for Tochigi and Ibaraki prefectures, north of Tokyo, warning of further mudslides and flooding.

Floodwaters flow from the burst Kinugawa River (top) into a residential area (bottom) in Joso, Ibaraki Prefecture, on September 10, 2015.

An aerial view shows a flooded area in Joso, Ibaraki Prefecture, on September 10, 2015

A hotel building falls into the floodwaters at the Nikko mountain resort in Tochigi Prefecture, north of Tokyo, on September 10, 2015.

Houses sit amid floodwaters in a residential area inundated by the Kinugawa River, in Joso, Ibaraki Prefecture, on September 10, 2015

A resident is rescued by a member of the Japan Self-Defense Forces (JSDF) as they are lifted by a helicopter over a residential area flooded by the Kinugawa River in Japan on September 10, 2015.

People wait for rescue on the roofs of cars as they are stranded on a road flooded by the Kinugawa River on September 10, 2015

Local residents wait to be rescued on the roof of their home in a flooded area in Joso, Ibaraki Prefecture, on September 10, 2015.

A resident is rescued by a helicopter above a residential area flooded by the Kinugawa River on September 10, 2015

Local residents react as they look at damaged houses and the flooded Kurokawa River, caused by Typhoon Etau, in Kanuma, Tochigi prefecture, Japan, on September 10, 2015.

A resident is rescued by a helicopter of the Japan Ground Self Defense Force (JGSDF) in a flooded area in Joso, Ibaraki Prefecture, on September 10, 2015.

A man looks at floodwaters at a break in the dike of the Kinugawa River in a residential area flooded by the river on September 10, 2015.

People wait for rescue on the roof of a car (left) and beside a utility pole (far right) in an area flooded by the Kinugawa River on September 10, 2015

A police helicopter lifts an evacuee from floodwaters in the city of Joso on September 10, 2015.

A man holding a tray of belongings wades through a flooded road near the overflowing Omoigawa River in Oyama, Tochigi prefecture, Japan, on September 10, 2015.

A man is rescued by firefighters in an area flooded by the Kinugawa River on September 10, 2015.

A man wades through a local shopping area flooded by the Kinugawa River in Joso, Ibaraki Prefecture, on September 10, 2015.

After being rescued by a helicopter from an area flooded by the Kinugawa River, a woman is carried by a Japan Self-Defense Forces member upon their arrival at Ishige Park and Sports Center, which acted as an evacuation center, in Joso, Ibaraki Prefecture, on September 10, 2015.

A family wades through a residential area flooded by the Kinugawa River in Joso, Ibaraki Prefecture, on September 10, 2015.

Vehicles drive through a flooded street in Joso, Japan, north of Tokyo, on September 10, 2015.

Evacuees from an area flooded by the Kinugawa River receive food supplies at an evacuation center in Ishige Park and Sports Center in Joso, Japan, on September 10, 2015.

Evacuees from the flooding take a rest at an evacuation center in Ishige Park and Sports Center in Joso, Japan, on September 10, 2015.

[MIKA27]

DE HAVILLAND VAMPIRE JET

In 1942 during some of the heaviest fighting of the Second World War a team of engineers at de Havilland were hard at work developing a jet-powered aircraft that they hoped would help turn the tide of the war and bring an end to the bloodshed.

The jet engine had only been invented 5 years earlier by British engineer Frank Whittle and much to his chagrin, the RAF had seen his first design as being too complex and unpractical. During early testing of the first prototype the team were flummoxed by the fact that the engine would continue accelerating even after the fuel had been shut off – defying the first law of thermodynamics and leaving the engineers baffled until they discovered that fuel had been leaking into the engine and formed pools that would keep the engine running until it all burnt away.

By the early ’40s the turbojet had been embraced by the RAF and world-renowned engine designer Frank Halford was hard at work developing a simplified version of the prototype created by Whittle. The resulting engine was originally known at the H.1 but would later be renamed the Goblin, and this would be the engine that de Havilland would choose for their first jet – the Vampire.

The first prototype of the Vampire had an all aluminium airframe but this proved to be impractical due to the scarcity of materials during the war thanks to the German Uboats patrolling the North Atlantic. The designers at de Havilland decided to forgo the use of aluminium as much as possible when developing the second iteration of the Vampire’s airframe and instead chose to use moulded plywood under guidance from the Ministry of Defence. The airframe was then clad in an aluminium skin and the engine was placed in the rear of the fuselage (with ample heat shielding).

Despite the best efforts of the deHavilland engineers, the production-ready Vampire Mk 1 wasn’t ready until April 1945 – a matter of days before the surrender of German forces and the end of hostilities in Europe.

Despite missing the action of WWII the de Havilland Vampire would go on to become one of the most important of all the early jets. It was the first jet to ever land and take off from an aircraft carrier, piloted by none other than Captain Eric “Winkle” Brown, it would also be the first jet to cross the Atlantic, and in 1948 it set the new world altitude record of 59,446 ft.

Today there are very few de Havilland Vampires still in airworthy condition, in fact it’s estimated that there are less than 10 still flying from an original production run of over 3,260. This makes planes like the one you see pictured here exceedingly important from a historical perspective, it’s quite possibly the only chance this decade that warbird enthusiasts will have to buy a flight-ready Vampire.

With an estimated hammer price of between £70,000 and £90,000, it’s not as cost prohibitive as you might imagine, but I would expect that as with any aircraft of this era the real expenses will be encountered when paying for maintenance. If you’d like to read more about the aircraft or register to bid, you can click here.

[MIKA27]

Science Seeks Answers to Riddles of the Mysterious Basques

Myths and legends associated with the Basques of Spain and France have long persisted throughout the ages. One of the most culturally distinct groups in Europe, the Basques managed to remain independent until well into the 19th century, even speaking a language with no easily discernible connections to other languages spoken in Europe. Hence, their obvious distinction from other cultures has only fueled speculation about their unique heritage.

Scientists now believe they may have unraveled clues about this mysterious lineage, however, following the study of a small group of human skeletons recovered from Northern Spain, which bear characteristics that are similar to the modern day Basque people:

An analysis of the genomes of the eight Stone Age human skeletons from El Portalon in Atapuerca, northern Spain conducted by Mattias Jakobsson from Uppsala University in Sweden shows that the early Iberian farmers are the closest ancestors to present-day Basques.

Further comparisons with other ancient European farmers show that agriculture was brought to Iberia by same migrant groups that introduced it to central and northern Europe, Prensa Latina news agency reported.

Apart from their cultural distinctiveness, there are other things pertaining to the myths and traditions among the Basques that have remained of interest. It is amidst the Basque people that an odd prevalence of one human blood type, known as Rh-negative, also becomes prevalent. For purpose of clarification, the use of Rh here denotes “Rhesus,” since the blood type denotes a common factor between humans and that of the Rhesus monkey. The most common manifestation among the Rhesus blood factor in humans is known as Rh-positive blood.

Rhesus monkey

The Rh-negative factor differs greatly enough from the Rh-positive varieties that a number of conditions can occur when a mix between the two occurs. For instance, the condition known as Hemolytic disease can result, in which an expecting mother that is Rh-negative can suffer an allergic reaction to the presence of the fetus if it is Rh-positive. Antibodies are built up within her body, which can have the effect one would expect of any foreign body or virus entering one’s immune system; hence, the infant may also suffer a variety of complications, or even death from heart failure in the womb, as these antibodies produced by the mother pass along to the infant through the placenta.

It remains among one of the most curious genetic mysteries of the modern era that a mutation such as the Rh-negative factor might occur in such a way that it would cause a developing fetus to be treated as though it were literally alien to its mother in this way? Yet this is precisely what medical science has found to occur. Apart from being so prevalent among the Basques, the origins of the curious Rh-negative factor itself remains quite the mystery.

As more of the enduring history of the Basque people is revealed over time, perhaps answers about the peculiar genetic anomaly will also be uncovered with the help of modern science. And yet, apart from their cultural and genetic distinctiveness, there are other things pertaining to the myths and traditions among the Basques that have remained of interest.

For instance, one version of the “snake god”, an archetype which has often been present throughout numerous world mythologies, also comes of interest to us here. The Basque culture features such a character, known as Sugaar, which had often been depicted as a snake or dragon. Sugaar had been a sort of companion of the greater pre-Christian Basque goddess, Mari, one of the principle deities in the Basque tradition. Mari was described as being an entity capable of travel through the sky, who would often traverse an area between the Balerdi and Elortalde mountains.

When this periodic journey would occur, Mari was said to have the appearance of a great fireball; it is easy to imagine the ancient people of the region observing bolides and other astronomical wonders, which might have served as the basis for such legends;

similar folk beliefs of deities which appeared as balls of flame passing through the sky are recorded in Native American legends, as well as those stemming from cultures in other parts of the world.

As science continues to search for answers about the Basques and their mysterious origins, the rich cultural history of these unique people may hold the key to unraveling other mysteries of ancient Europe. But as is so often the case with seeking to understand the curiosities of the ancient world, perhaps a number of those kept by the people of the Euskal Herria — the traditional name given to the Basque country by its people — will remain curious to the rest of us.

[MIKA27]

Uncovered Records Show Nazis Were High on Meth

A new book proves a long-discussed rumor that Hitler’s Nazi soldiers were addicted to Pervitin, a pill form of crystal meth.

Adolf Hitler was intoxicated with drugs—nearly all of them. Throughout his reign of terror, he shot up anything from steroids to heroin before sending Nazis 35 million pills of meth—on one occasion alone.

The fact, long discussed in Nazi lore, has resurfaced with new details in a book out Thursday by German writer Norman Ohler titled Der Totale Rausch (The Total Rush). Ohler, an award-winning novelist and screenplay writer, spent years sifting through German and U.S. records to uncover more details about the Fuhrer’s drug-induced genocide, which led to the death of 11 million Jews.

To keep up with Hitler’s fast-paced killing machine, Nazis relied on what was essentially a pill form of crystal meth, called Pervitin. Synthesized by a chemist in Berlin and marketed for alertness, the drug was initially sold over the counter in pharmacies across Europe. Just one pill, says Ohler, gave the Nazi’s the alertness they needed to remain awake for hours. Thanks, in part, to the ease with which they could obtain it, the Nazis believed it to be just “like coffee.”

A major report in Dar Spiegel from 2005 initially told the story of how the drug was initially introduced to the German military force (Wehrmacht) after a military doctor’s experimentation of it on 90 college students led him to the conclusion that it would “help win the war.” Less than six months later, millions of the pills were flown to the front lines and handed out to the Nazis before invasions.

Overtime the habit turned to an addiction, as evidence in letters from the time. In November of 1939, one Nazi in Poland sent a letter to his family with a note that read: “It's tough out here...Today I'm writing you mainly to ask for some Pervitin.” Six months later, he wrote again: “Perhaps you could get me some more Pervitin so that I can have a backup supply?" Then two months later: "If at all possible, please send me some more Pervitin.”

Ohler says the drug was used specifically for Blitzkreigs, including the invasion of Sudetenland, Poland, and France. The Nazis found Pervitin effective at keeping them awake for “days at a time,” allowing them to hike as many as 36 miles in a day.

Their use of the drug was no secret, at least in the beginning. Ohler found British press at the time glorifying the drug as a “miracle pill.” While use of the drug began to diminish once it was outlawed in 1941, Ohler spoke with one general who said it continued much longer.

It’s unclear whether or not Hitler used meth, but Ohler suggests he didn’t use Pervitin. If so, it was one of the few things he didn’t try. Based on the personal notes from Hitler’s own physician, Dr. Theodor Morrell, Hitler was “ceaselessly” injected with doping agents, dubious hormones, and hard drugs. By the time of his last offensive in the winter of 1944, Hitler had “long known no more sober days.”

Meth undoubtedly played a role in the Nazi’s ruthless and murderous rampage, at first flooding their brains with serotonin and dopamine, then later (when it began to wear off) sending them into fits of severe irritability, anger, and rage. Hitler’s use of heroin could have done even more damage. Entering his bloodstream near-instantly, the drug would have delivered him a rush of euphoria before spiraling him into a bleary-eyed state of delirium. But when the drug’s effects wore off it would give way to profuse sweating, severe agitation, and uncontrollable anger.

Both drugs cause significant long-term damage—specifically neurological. Continued use of meth can lead to mental deficiencies, aggressive behavior, and psychosis. Chronic use of heroin has been shown to deteriorate the brain, impairing decision-making and fueling irrational responses to stress.

But while other armed forces have been known for using drugs, it’s Hitler’s rampant drug use that Ohler says shocked him the most—an addiction that he says led him to “maintain his delusion until the end.”

[MIKA27]

Zack Snyder: Sorry Marvel, ‘Batman v. Superman’ Transcends Superhero Movies

Between his upcoming Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice and his plum gig shepherding the foreseeable future of the DC cinematic universe, Man of Steel director Zack Snyder has superheroes on the brain—even on a rare day off spent promoting Doritos’ final, high-stakes Super Bowl filmmaking contest.

“I’m going to leave here today and go see [DC Comics’ CCO] Geoff Johns and we’ll hang out and talk about Aquaman or something like that,” he laughs as we sit in a theater, on the Warner Bros. lot he calls his studio home.

Snyder first launched his career with a successful run in commercials before making his feature debut with the 2004 zombie remake Dawn of the Dead. His 300 and Watchmen scored over half a billion dollars combined for Warner Bros. and made him a star filmmaker for the studio. About a decade after launching his Hollywood career, he inherited the reins to WB’s DC Comics superhero universe.

Now he’s embracing his ad roots as part of the last-ever Crash the Super Bowl contest, which will award one fan-filmmaker a broadcast debut on Super Bowl Sunday, a cool million dollars in cash, and a gig working with Snyder and Warner Bros. on the DC franchise films.

Snyder’s serious about giving the winner their chance to launch a bona fide career under his wing. He’s been working with some of the same folks since his film school days spent with Michael Bay and Tarsem and future collaborators like Sucker Punch co-writer Steve Shibuya and frequent DP Larry Fong.

“I mean it in good faith: Tell me what you really want and we’ll see what we can do,” he said. “People get off their sofas, get a camera, get their friends, shoot a spot, and literally it gets shown to 150 million people. And by the way, you can win a million bucks. That’s not a small amount of money! And I’ll be standing there going, ‘OK! Now, what do you want to do?’”

That Cinderella shot could lead to a gig on, say, 2017’s Justice League: Part One. Snyder’s already preparing to direct the first of two Justice League films while simultaneously finishing next summer’s Batman v. Superman after an epic 140-day shoot in Detroit with stars Ben Affleck, Henry Cavill, and Gal Gadot.

“Chris Terrio and I worked on the [batman v. Superman] script, and he did an amazing job,” Snyder said of the March 25, 2016, blockbuster, which pits Affleck’s Batfleck against Cavill’s Man of Steel and will lead off 10 more planned DC superhero flicks. “It’s great fun, but it also has an eye toward the future—it’s going toward Justice League. Early on, once we decided that we were going to put Batman in the movie, then I was like, ‘OK, good! Because you know what that means? It means the floodgates can open!’”

He considered the obvious comparisons between DC and its ambitious slate of superhero team-ups and standalones to the Marvel Cinematic Universe anchored by the Iron Man, Thor, Captain America, and Avengers films. The key difference between DC’s Shakespearean superheroes and Marvel’s, he says, is that DC’s are more epic.

“It’s a tricky process, setting up the DC universe, or Justice League,” Snyder said. “The credit goes to [batman Begins director] Chris Nolan because he set the die for the DC Universe in a great way that I tried to emulate. I look at it as more being mythological than, say, bubblegum. And I think that that’s appropriate for Batman and Superman because they’re the most mythological of our superheroes.”

Steven Spielberg’s recent doomsday prediction that “there will be a time when the superhero movie goes the way of the Western” got many a fanboy’s spandex in a bunch. Ahead of our chat, in an interview earlier in the day, Snyder responded to Spielberg’s comments—and when I brought it up, he was flabbergasted that the Internet had already jumped all over the brewing debate. “That was this morning!” he exclaimed, before jovially admitting that Spielberg might be right while throwing some playful shade at the competition.

“It goes to the mythological nature of the movies that we’re making,” he said. “I feel like he’s right. But I feel like Batman and Superman are transcendent of superhero movies in a way, because they’re Batman and Superman. They’re not just, like, the flavor of the week Ant-Man—not to be mean, but whatever it is. What is the next Blank-Man?”

Besides, even if the Western cycled out of fashion, the genre had a pretty fantastic run, Snyder pointed out: “Didn’t he say it was kind of like the Westerns? But there are still great Westerns. I think it’s whenever anything becomes a ‘genre,’ you have to sort of look at it and try to understand it.”

He also addressed recent rumors that the focus of Batman v. Superman is skewing more Batman than Superman with six months left to go before it hits theaters.

“Only in that because it’s a different Batman than the Batman that was in the Chris Nolan movies, so we have a little bit more explaining to do—and you just had a whole Superman movie,” he smiled. “But I think only in that way, because you need to understand where Batman is with everything. And that’s more toward the beginning, but it evens back out as it goes on.”

Snyder described how he views the personal and philosophical conflict that pits Gotham City’s vigilante Dark Knight against its godlike Kryptonian savior, whose costly victory over Zod in Man of Steel left a swath of death and destruction in its wake.

“They’re actually opposite sides of the same coin,” said Snyder. “It’s interesting because Batman’s a man and Superman’s a god, if you think about it in those terms. So their relationship is very contentious. What Superman sees as Batman’s limits, Batman sees as Superman trying to control him, acting like an absolute dictator.”

“What we went after was the humanity of each character,” he continued. “We tried to say, ‘What would Batman have to do to unravel Superman, and what would Superman have to do to unravel Batman?’ Their conflict is based on each others’ understanding of the other’s weakness. The fun of that is when you’re dealing with these mythological creatures—to make them human again, bring them back to earth. And to do that you have to know the rules before you can break them. They have to go all the way to the stratosphere before you can bring them back down.”

Speaking of cyclical mythological moviemaking: I asked Snyder about a rumor that’s been floating around for years that he’d pitched Lucasfilm on a Star Wars standalone film inspired by Akira Kurosawa’s Seven Samurai—a classic that also inspired one of history’s great Westerns, The Magnificent Seven.

“Where’d you hear that from?” He laughed. Again, the Internet. He played coy and downplayed the likelihood, now that Disney’s already charted its Star Wars course. “It’s possible. It was before the sale…and they kind of have their own direction now, I think.”

Maybe after he maps out the known DC cinematic universe Snyder can revisit the galaxy far, far, away, I suggested. He laughed again at the thought. “Well, as they say—we’ll see!”

[MIKA27]

SAMUJANA LUXURY VILLAS KOH SAMUI THAILAND

Samujana is an exclusive luxury accommodation in private residences in Koh Samui Island, Thailand. The spectacular villa estate has scooped a number of prestigious awards and has been officially recognized as the finest villa development in South East Asia, and you can see why in the mind-blowing photos. All villas are perched on a hillside overlooking a coral cove with private beach access, and incorporate original rock outcrops and indigenous trees into the spacious open space areas. All offer infinity edge swimming pools, outdoor dining areas, jacuzzi, landscaped rooftops, BBQ areas, fully equipped gym, games room, and are equipped with the latest in audio and media amenities including a private cinema. A range of services provided by the resort is also available on request, including chefs and full-time staff, even a 40 foot Catamaran you can charter.

[MIKA27]

ABSINTHE COFFEE

Absinthe was banned in the United States and in several European countries one hundred years ago, but now is flourishing with over 200 active brands. ThisAbsinthe Coffee is testament to the popularity of the once vilified concoction, infused with fennel, wormwood, licorice, and anise flavors. A unique coffee drinking experience that is made in the USA and only available at World Market.

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BREW SHUCKER

For whatever reason, fresh oysters and cold beers just go together. The Brew Shucker lets you enjoy both using a single tool. With a high-carbon stainless steel blade and easy-to-grip plastic handle, it can pry apart and cut out fresh oyster meat with ease, while the built-in bottle opener gives you quick access to more suds. And if you should decide to indulge in a full-on seafood feast, it can also crack the shells of crab, lobster, and shrimp.

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How Space-Aged Whiskey Tastes: Smoked Fruit, Antiseptic, Rubbery Smoke

Back in 2011, Ardbeg Distillery, of Islay in Scotland, sent a sample of unmatured malt whiskey into space aboard the International Space Station. Now, the samples have been tested — and here’s how it tastes.

Samples of the distillery’s whiskey were aged aboard the space station: sealed in something calledMixStix, astronauts were able to release the whiskey into the presence of the wood used to age the liquor at a predetermined moment in time. Meanwhile, a control sample also sat quietly in Scotland, ageing the way the spirit usually does.

The samples came back from space last year, but a series of scientific tests — including gas chromatography and high-pressure liquid chromatography as well as the more conventional taste testing — mean that the results have only just been published.

You can read the full report from Ardberg, including plenty of technical results. But crucially, its report also contains tasting notes which compare the whiskey aged aboard the International Space Station to that which sat on Earth. Here you go:

Earth sample: “The sample had a woody aroma, reminiscent of an aged Ardbeg style, with hints of cedar, sweet smoke and aged balsamic vinegar, as well as raisins, treacle toffee, vanilla and burnt oranges.

“On the palate, its woody, balsamic flavours shone through, along with a distant fruitiness, some charcoal and antiseptic notes, leading to a long, lingering aftertaste, with flavours of gentle smoke, tar and creamy fudge.”

Space sample: “Its intense aroma had hints of antiseptic smoke, rubber and smoked fish, along with a curious, perfumed note, like violet or cassis, and powerful woody tones, leading to a meaty aroma.

“The taste was very focused, with smoked fruits such as prunes, raisins, sugared plums and cherries, earthy peat smoke, peppermint, aniseed, cinnamon and smoked bacon or hickory-smoked ham. The aftertaste is intense and long, with hints of wood, antiseptic lozenges and rubbery smoke.”

In fact, Ardbeg concludes that the two whiskeys have “a dramatically different flavour profile, which will give rise to the potential development of new flavours.” They add that that the “difference in flavour between the ISS and control samples is so marked, that further analysis will be carried out to elucidate the creation of the different flavours.”

In practical terms it’s unlikely that whiskey will be aged in space any time soon as the costs would be astronomical. But maybe one day, when we colonize Mars, we can look forward to new and interesting tastes in our liquor.

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Mysterious Shootings in the Southwestern U.S. May Suggest “Serial Sniper”

A series of unexplained shootings occurring near Phoenix, Arizona over the course of the last two weeks have had authorities on alert, with concerns that a “serial sniper” may be on the loose.

Beginning on August 29, a number of incidents involving possible gunfire have shattered windows on vehicles along Interstate 10. Thus far, the only injuries related to the incidents have been a minor cut sustained on the right ear of a 13-year-old passenger in one of the vehicles.

Huffington Post reports that in one of the more recent incidents, the passenger side window of a Phoenix police sergeant’s personal vehicle was reportedly shattered during his commute to work, according to the sergeant’s report of the incident given to Arizona State Troopers.

The unsettling series of shootings have many Phoenix residents concerned, and while authorities have not linked gunfire to all the incidents involving broken windows along Interstate 10, the mysterious incidents bear a striking similarity to a series of similar shootings that occurred in Colorado only months ago.

Beginning in April, a number of commuters along Interstate 25 in northern Colorado became victims to frightening incidents involving shattered windows, as the Larimer County Sheriff’s Department investigated possible shootings. Then on April 22, Cori Romero was driving along I-25 when her window not only shattered, but she suffered a gunshot wound to the neck. Romero, upon realizing she had been injured, managed to pull over and contact authorities for help.

Within a month of the incident that left Romero injured, 48-year-old John Jacoby sustained a gunshot wound during a morning bike ride in the town of Windsor, Colorado. Jacoby, who was shot in the neck, died from his injuries, and while FBI investigators and local authorities initially said no link existed between the shootings, further investigation seemed to refute this, with Windsor police issuing a statement that the two incidents were indeed believed to be connected.

Then on Thursday, June 4, New York Times reported on an additional incident that occurred less than half an hour away near Loveland:

Questions about the unsolved shootings deepened after the police reported the death of a 65-year-old man who was found bleeding on a sidewalk just before 11 p.m. on Wednesday in downtown Loveland, Colo., about 15 miles away from the earlier shootings.

The numerous incidents prompted police and FBI investigators to form a special task force to investigate the shootings, which many began attributing to a “serial shooter” or possible sniper.

With similar shootings now beginning to occur in the Phoenix area, authorities are investigating the incidents as speculation has begun to appear regarding possible connections with the Colorado shootings earlier this year.

On Thursday, LA Times reported:

A shooter or shooters appears to be firing at random, and police investigators have little to go on. The targets have included passenger cars, pickup trucks, box trucks and a commercial bus. Sometimes the attacks happen at night, sometimes just before lunch.

Has the “phantom sniper” of Colorado relocated in recent months, or are the Phoenix shootings just remarkably similar to the shootings that occurred more than 900 miles away in Colorado earlier this year?

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The Fascinating And Bloody Family Tree Of The British Royal Family

As we all learned from Game of Thrones (and definitely not sitting through high school history), when there’s a chance to sit on a throne and rule a kingdom, everybody who can sit seemingly wants to be king and queen, even if it means fighting your family members for the chance. Here’s a really fun look at the history of the British Royal Family, from 1066 until today. It plays out like a comedy.

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Here's How Elon Musk Described Terraforming Mars To Stephen Colbert

Elon Musk has engineered a next-generation rocket and built an electric car empire. But on the Late Show last night Musk seemed very human, nervously chuckling as Stephen Colbert lobbed questions at him.

Nerves aside, Musk made an interesting guest for Colbert’s second-ever Late Show — once Colbert got the requisite super-villain joke (to which Musk did not seem to have a good response) out of the way and got down to real talk: How are we going to warm up Mars to support biological life? Musk nonchalantly says there’s an easy way and a hard way. The easy way? Nuke it. The hard way? Greenhouse gasses.

Musk did have a couple of his own jokes, though. When Stephen showed a clip of Tesla’s creepy prototype recharging robot, asking “is that thing gonna attack me in my sleep?,” Musk quipped in return: “For the prototype, I’d recommend not dropping anything while you’re near it.”

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SpaceX's Crew Dragon Capsule Looks Like A Luxury Sports Car

Well, it’s official: The days of blasting into space in a rattly aluminium can are over. SpaceX has just unveiled the very first images of the interior of its Crew Dragon capsule. As you might expect, it looks a lot like a luxury sports car.

The capsules, which SpaceX is developing for NASA to ferry astronauts to and from the ISS, include seven seats for its crew (made of the finest carbon fibre and Alcantara cloth money can buy). Video displays light up with information about the vehicle’s position and on-board environment. The astronauts will even be able to adjust the temperature inside the capsule — anywhere from 65 to 80 degrees Fahrenheit! This thing kicks the crap out of my apartment building. Most importantly, the capsules have a handful of windows that will offer a sweeping view of the stars.

I don’t see any big red buttons, which is a bit of a bummer, but it’s probably for the best — those have a tendency to backfire. There is, however, a large ‘execute command’ button in one of these renderings, which I can only assume is to be used for hyperspace jumps or switching on Elon’s global space Internet.

If that wasn’t enough to make you want to kiss planet Earth goodbye, check out this promo video! Now if only Elon could actually warm up Mars, I’d be sold.

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HUGE MOTO CUSTOM MOTORCYCLE KIT

Thanks to this awesome bolt-on kit by Huge Design, you can now transform your Honda CBR1000RR into a spectacular Sci-Fi Streetfighter. The Huge Moto custom Motorcycle kit lets you customise any Honda CBR1000RR from 2008 or beyond, without the use of any special equipment or welding, simply use standard tools to mount the provided hardware and follow the instructions provided. The kit includes unique upgrades such as stacked headlights, levers with integrated turn signals, bikini fairing, a solo tail with integrated brake and turn signals, new ignition and speedo mount, and more, allowing you to create your own "cafe-fighter”.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z-uzbKIWGYQ

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A Four Tonne Head Of Lenin Was Dug Up In Berlin

Berlin is a city that’s been dramatically shaped by the recent past, where history is a living part of the urban fabric — or in some cases, rests just below its surface.

When the Berlin Wall fell in the 1989, it marked the beginning of a decades-long process that saw the dismantling of many Soviet monuments around the German Democratic Republic side of the formerly divided city. Of course, there’s plenty of pieces of the former GDR still evident, but in other cases, statues were torn down and monuments razed as East Berlin and West Berlin slowly began to knit themselves back together.

Take a 19 metre tall granite state of Lenin that once presided over Leninplatz, or Lenin Square. The massive statue was crafted by a famous Russian sculptor named Nikolai Tomsky, who created monuments to Stalin, Lenin, and other figures around Eastern Europe in the 50s and 60s — he even worked on the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, which still stands today in Moscow.

In 1970, Tomsky shaped the likeness of Lenin against a shattered background of pink granite, dedicating it in Friedrichshain against a backdrop of plattenbau, or prefabricated housing:

It was one of the monuments demolished after Reunification — it was torn down “hastily,” according toDer Spiegel, in 1992. The pieces of the structure were buried.

It seemed that this gargantuan relic was lost forever. But The Guardian has the story of its return, beginning with a film team that unearthed part of it for a documentary in the 90s — a few years ago, public interest rekindled in the buried statue once again. Finally, the massive head of the monument was fully unearthed by a team in Berlin this morning.

The fragment, which weighs almost four tons, will be part of an ongoing exhibit of former monuments from Berlin at the Spandau Historical Museum.

The inclusion of Lenin in a public exhibit signals an important and interesting moment for German culture. Remembering the past in Germany has been a complex and fraught topic for decades, but as first-generation Germans who lived through World War II age, younger generations are becoming more adamant about addressing history publicly.

Then there’s the phenomenon of Ostalgie, a neologism of “east” and “nostalgia” that sprang up about a decade ago as people who were young in the GDR grew up — and had enough distance from the past to begin feeling nostalgia for it.

Displaying this relic of former East Berlin doesn’t have anything to do with nostalgia, but it does stem from the same thread of interest in the city’s past — which, in so many cases, is just a few inches below the ground.