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

[MIKA27]

Hawking's Interstellar Starship Would Revolutionise The Search For Alien Life

Yesterday, Stephen Hawking and Yuri Milner made the mind-blowing announcement that they want to build a fleet of interstellar spacecraft that can travel at relativistic speeds — up to 20 per cent the speed of light. But it’s not just about reaching our nearest star system, Alpha Centauri, although that is the new Breakthrough project’s moonshot. The technology Hawking and Milner are proposing could revolutionise the search for alien life within our solar system.

“This basically opens the door to missions that are much less expensive and cumbersome, that will allow us to get information currently not retrievable,” Avi Loeb, chair of the Harvard astronomy department and a collaborator on Breakthrough Starshot, told Gizmodo. That “currently unretrievable” information could include the first solid evidence of extraterrestrial life.

So far, humanity’s exploration of the Solar System has involved large, expensive spacecraft that move rather slowly — at least, when compared with the speed of light. Missions like Cassini, Rosetta, New Horizons and Voyager have revealed countless wonders in our cosmic backyard, but each one has taken years if not decades of investment and planning to pull off.

And for every scientific mission that makes the cut, dozens do not. Just consider a few of the space exploration concepts NASA was vetting last spring: a trip to a metallic asteroid, an exploration of near Earth mining prospects, a visit to the Trojan bodies around Jupiter and two missions to Venus. These proposals were selected from a pool of dozens more. Later this year, one or two may be greenlit for further development, with the possibility of a launch by 2020. Any one would cost the space agency over half a billion dollars.

Contrast the slow and pricey trajectory of interplanetary mission development with the rapid pace of discovery surrounding the potential habitability of our solar system’s real estate. There’s Europa, an icy Jovian moon and the focus of a longstanding science fiction trope about alien life. There’s Saturn’s moon Enceladus, which not only has a global ocean beneath its icy crust, it’s spewing free water samples out of a south pole geyser. Another Saturnian moon, Titan, is far too cold for Earth-like biology, but could be home to a different form of life entirely — perhaps microbes whose cells are filled with methane instead of water.

Our solar system is also home to countless comets and asteroids that contain both water and simple organic molecules. Many astrobiologists speculate that the building blocks of life were delivered to Earth via rogue space rocks. Within these frozen time capsules, we stand to find answers to the question of whether we’re alone, but also, pieces of our cosmic origin story.

If only we had the resources to visit hundreds of them. That’s where Breakthrough Starshot comes in. The project, which launched yesterday with a $US100 million ($130 million) initial investment, aims to develop spacecraft that weigh only a few grams but carry scientific equipment capable of doing everything from taking photographs to analysing biological samples. Propelled by metre-sized, razor-thin lightsails, Milner’s “nanocraft” would be as cheap and expendable as NASA missions are expensive and precious. By punting them out of orbit with a 100 Gigawatt laser pulse, we could in theory accelerate the wee spaceships to 20 per cent the speed of light.

“The ability to build very very small spacecraft and send them at high speeds gives us the ability to send a lot of spacecraft to a lot of places,” Pete Worden, executive director of Breakthrough Starshot and the former director of NASA’s Ames Research Center told Gizmodo. “Asteroids might be a place where there’s lots of evidence of life. This enables us to sample thousands if not hundreds of thousands of them.”

In addition to the sheer number of targets a swarm of tiny spacecraft could hit, flying at relativistic speeds would give us the ability to move anywhere in the solar system in a matter of days. And that opens the door to something NASA’s planetary exploration outfits can only dream of: rapid-response.

Imagine if astronomers spotted an eruption on the surface of Europa — it’s happened before — and we could deploy a handful of spacecraft to investigate, right away. “You could imagine flying through a plume like this with a detector that could pick out biological material and organic molecules,” Worden said, adding that the expendability of the vessels means we could even impact a few onto the surface if we wanted to learn about the conditions that led to the eruption.

And since we’re talking space geysers, let’s not forget about Enceladus’ south pole plume. Astronomers have been itching to send a new mission there for years, one that could taste the alien salt spray for signs of life. With Milner’s moonshot, we could send hundreds.

Tiny, fast moving space probes may also be our best, and only, shot at exploring the elusive Planet nine.

It all sounds too good to be true, and maybe it is. As the idea relies on some big assumptions about the inevitable progression of technology, plus the project’s ability to attract billions of dollars of investment. (That large, focused laser array ain’t going to come cheap.) Even Milner admits that the deployment of the first nanocraft missions is probably a “generation” out — a nice vague term that suggests the timetable isn’t at all certain.

Then again, all of the ingredients needed to actualise Milner and Hawking’s vision — super tiny satellites, LightSails, laser propulsion — are now in some stage of development. Meanwhile, an ongoing revolution in the life sciences, toward miniaturisation and automation, places the possibility of doing sophisticated molecular biology in outer space within reach.

And the best part? Once we build our fancy, spacecraft-propelling laser array, the cost — in both dollars and time — of doing any and all science in space starts to plummet. Imagine launching a swarm of spacecraft to Mars in the morning, and receiving all of their reconnaissance data before you head home for dinner.

With technology like that at our disposal, the aliens won’t be able to hide for long.

[MIKA27]

Hong Kong Cloaked In Fog Looks Unreal From The Sky

Aerial photography is nothing new, but really good drone photos, like these shots of Hong Kong blanketed in electric fog, can still make your jaw drop.

Hong Kong photographer Andy Yeung snapped these images with a DJI Phantom 3 Professional, and the results are remarkable. He’s even considering becoming a “fog chaser”. See all of Yeung’s work here, including another series showing off Hong Kong’s seemingly unending urban sprawl.

[MIKA27]

Japan's New Godzilla Movie Looks Pretty Cool

For the first time in over a decade, there’s a new Godzilla movie coming from Japan’s Toho Studios. This one’s being directed by none other than Neon Genesis’ Hideaki Anno and Shinji Higuchi.

There was a short trailer released for Godzilla Resurgence last year, but this is our first proper look at the movie, and man does it look good. It’s fitting that, for a series born out of the fear of nuclear war, this latest film instead looks to the recent Tsunami for visual cues.

[MIKA27]

These Free Abodes on an Archipelago Once Again Prove Scandinavia's Awesomeness

Denmark's South Fyn Archipelago is a downright beautiful region, with rolling coastlines and largely untouched wilderness jetting into the Baltic Sea. Because of its proximity to some of the country's more populous cities (two hours to Odense, four to Copenhagen), it's become a haven for outdoor enthusiasts and general wanderers looking for a bit of respite from urban life. And it's these explorers that LUMO Architects had in mind when designing its series of prefabricated, asymmetrical Blue Landmark shelters. Open to the public all hours of the day, every day of the year, the striking structures offer a place to rest for an afternoon or even overnight.

There are 47 independent shelters spread between 17 different sites throughout the archipelago, with five different designs unified by material and theme. Some sleep up to nine people, while others are meant to offer only temporary reprieve. Most come with a designated fire pit to encourage responsible burning practices, and all feature circular portholes to watch the waves roll in. Think of them as a physical invitation to strengthen tourism and environmental awareness in the area.

One more reason to add Denmark to the to-do list this spring.

[MIKA27]

Sean Parker's $US250 Million Plan To Annihilate Cancer

Sean Parker, the billionaire co-founder of Napster and the first president of Facebook, announced a $US250 million initiative to accelerate the development of effective cancer treatments — and he’s asking America’s top scientists to pitch in and openly share their research findings.

The new initiative, called the Parker Institute for Cancer Immunotherapy, will include over 40 research labs and more than 300 researchers from six key cancer centres, including New York’s Memorial Sloan Kettering, Stanford Medicine and the University of California. More are expected to sign on. The institute’s primary focus will be on the emerging field of cancer immunotherapy, in which the body’s immune system is recruited to thwart the growth of cancer cells.

Unlike conventional research efforts, in which hundreds of research labs compete against each other and rarely share their findings, Parker wants contributing scientists to collaborate. In a way, it will be like Napster, the music-sharing website he co-founded; the billionaire philanthropist wants his institute to act as a hub from which critical research data is shared. But more importantly, this research won’t just idly rest on the pages of medical journals. Parker wants to see these findings quickly translated to actually therapies.

“Any breakthrough made at one center is immediately available to another center without any kind of IP (intellectual property) entanglements or bureaucracy,” noted Parker in an interview with Reuters.

Parker is frustrated with the slow progress being made in cancer research, and he’s applying his entrepreneurial experience to remedy the problem. The Parker Institute will encourage scientists to borrow from each other’s labs. Home institutions will continue to conduct their own research, but they will receive additional funding and access to other resources. Each participating university will have a representative on a centralised scientific screening committee.

Some critics worry that this model will introduce “group think” to cancer research, thwarting innovation and out-of-the-box thinking.

In defence, Parker says a central principle behind the institute will be “freedom of innovation in concert with collaboration“. A revenue sharing model will also be put in place to maintain incentive, and as a way to fund future research. Parker himself will take an active role in managing the institute; he says he’s going to be very hands on.

The Parker Institute will have its own central staff of about 50, and will facilitate the patenting of inventions and requisite licensing. It could even launch spin-out companies. One expert described the unconventional model as “academic biopharma”. Though technically not a biotech firm, the institute will drive discoveries towards drug development. In addition to the contributing cancer centres, the effort will include partnerships with patient advocacy groups, as well as over two-dozen private companies, such as Merck, Genentech and Grail.

The Parker Institute, which will be based in San Francisco, will focus on three key research areas: modifying immune cells to target tumours, boosting patient response to current immunotherapy drugs and identifying other targets to attack tumours.

Immunotherapy, which many experts believe is the future of cancer therapy, re-trains the body’s immune cells to attack and destroy certain types of cancer. It can be done by stimulating a patient’s immune system to work harder to attack cancer cells, or it can be done by boosting a patient’s immune system with synthetic proteins. Early results have been promising, with some studies showing significant increases in survival rates and disease-free periods. Research has shown that efficacy of immunotherapies are enhanced by upwards of 20 to 30 per cent when combined with traditional treatments, such as chemotherapy. Recently, an immunotherapeutic drug called pembrolizumab was credited for the success of Jimmy Carter’s cancer treatment.

It’s a promising idea, but one that will require considerable work — and funding. According to the Parker Institute:

Immunotherapy-related research will receive less than 4% of the National Cancer Institute’s $4.9 billion cancer research budget in 2015, and the pharmaceutical industry’s R&D pipeline remains significantly focused on novel chemo and “targeted” agents.

The new institute is the most ambitious effort to combat a disease since Bill and Melinda Gates announced their effort to tackle malaria. Parker’s interest in cancer — a problem he describes as being inherently “hackable” — was sparked by the death of Laura Ziskin, a film producer and friend who died of breast cancer three years ago.

[MIKA27]

Hand-Powered Wheelchair That Can Scoot Around Upright Is Brilliant

Before the Segway, inventor Dean Kamen created a standing, self-balancing wheelchair called the iBot that gave users more independence and freedom. It also cost $US25,000 ($32,440), and is no longer available. But a new all-mechanical alternative might provide the same improvements in quality of life for users, at a much cheaper price point.

Created at the Minneapolis Veterans Affairs Hospital by Dr Gary Goldish, who consulted with a team of engineers to help perfect the mechanics, the wheelchair’s unorthodox design sees the hand-powered drive wheels separated from the wheels that touch the ground. Instead, the two sets of wheels are connected with a series of chains and gears like on a bike.

Using the same kind of gas-powered springs that make heavy car doors easier to open, the wheelchair can be transformed into an upright standing position by the user. And once converted, the hand-powered wheels remain at the user’s side so they can continue to propel themselves manually while befitting from a higher vantage point. Imagine how a wheelchair like this could make grocery shopping, and reaching items on every shelf, so much easier.

For stability, the wheelchair has four wheels that remain on the ground at all times, in either mode. And because it doesn’t rely on electric motors, batteries or any electronics to transform, the cost of building and maintaining the all-mechanical wheelchair will be significantly cheaper than electric alternatives. The Paralysed Veterans of America provided the funding to help build the prototype, but its creators are still working on perfecting and refining its design before they move towards mass production and wider availability.

[MIKA27]

The Toyota uBox Is What Generation Z Will Be Driving In 2020

Young kids want to drive a Johnny Cab. That’s what students at South Carolina’s Clemson University, working with Toyota, has decided — and thus was born the uBox concept, which looks like a soft-roader SUV ate an urban assault vehicle. Apparently the uBox is made for “a young entrepreneur who wants a vehicle that can provide utility and recreation on the weekend” — that’s totally us.

Designed as a collaboration between Clemson’s International Center for Automotive Research and Toyota, the uBox is designed to be everything for the young Generation Z man or woman that might be buying it. That means it should be a bit of fun to drive, not produce an entire planet’s worth of emissions out the tailpipe, and have enough room to suit a host of different requirements — whether that’s carrying an entire car load of people, using your car like a portable office, or working out of it and carrying cargo and charging a bunch of power tools.

The Toyota uBox is entirely emissions-free with its electric powertrain, and UC-ICAR makes note of the fact that a variety of different 110-volt outlets are built in around the interior and exterior. The vast majority of the car, too, is modular — the 3D-printed dashboard segments can be removed and replaced as needed, and the adjustable seating config means larger cargo like bikes can be slotted in (relatively) easily.

There’s a new piece of tech, too, in the fact that the uBox is partly built from a novel industrial design technique in combining aluminium with carbon fibre — it’s called “pultrusion”, apparently — to create thin roof beams that can support a large, curved glass roof. That doesn’t change the fact that it looks like a Johnny Cab, but there is something a little tempting and ruggedly utilitarian about the uBox.

[MIKA27]

These Creepy Tunnels Are Where Churchill Hid From Nazi Bombs

Abandoned subway stations are equal parts fascinating and creepy. Due to its role in World War II, the Down Street tube station in Westminster, London is historically fascinating and creepy. And soon, it will be open to the public.

The lifespan of Down Street as a tube station actually lasted less than three decades. The station opened in 1907, when the underground lines were electrified, and closed in 1932 after London Underground authorities decided that it wasn’t used enough. Seven years later, on the eve of the war, Down Street was transformed into a bomb shelter for the Railway Executive Committee and, later, Prime Minister Winston Churchill himself. He called it “The Barn”.

Beginning May 7, the London Transport Museum will be giving guided tours deep down into the disused Down Street Tube station as part of their new ‘Hidden London’ season. The Museum will also run tours into the abandoned labyrinth of tunnels under Euston station, Clapham South’s deep-level Second World War bunker, as well as the London Underground’s former headquarters at 55 Broadway near St James’ Park.

If you happen to be in London this year, you should not miss the chance to explore these spaces. (You can buy tickets online starting April 20.) If not, the photos below may give you a chilly glimpse at what was it like to spend days or weeks in 1940, during the Blitz, listening to the murmur of the Nazi bombs.

The spiral staircase down into the underground bunker.

What decades of decay do to the tiles

Inside an old elevator shaft

Another look at spiral stairway that connects the surface and the underground shelter.

A view of walkway into the station

A map on a wall showing the location of the bunker.

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London Just Reopened The Entrance To This Underwater Tunnel For The First Time In 147 Years

The first underwater tunnel ever built opened in London in 1843, paving a path for cities everywhere to expand beneath rivers and oceans. Today, the tunnel’s grand entrance hall reopens to the public for the first time in 147 years. The underground event space is part of an engineering museum that celebrates the famous family who built the tunnel — and much of London.

Cutaway drawing of the tunnel-in-progress and the two entrance halls on either side of the Thames

The Thames Tunnel was designed for horses and carriages to travel under the river, though because of financial problems, the approach for wheeled vehicles was never finished. Instead, the tunnel was embraced by pedestrians and became quite the destination in itself, illuminated by gaslights and lined by vendors. Londoners would come here to take an afternoon stroll along the tunnel’s 396m length, and it was known famously as the eighth wonder of the world.

A drawing of Londoners strolling the tunnel shortly after it was opened. About two million people a year paid a penny to walk below the river.

By 1869, however, the city’s burgeoning rail network took the tunnel over, and it was closed to the public. In 2007, the tunnel needed to be retracked, and the Brunel Museum, which honours the legacy of the tunnel’s engineers, stepped in to take ownership of tunnel’s entrance hall. In 2010, people were allowed to peek into the space for the first time in over a century, and plans were made to transform the space into an accessible venue.

Marc Brunel, Isambard Kingdom Brunel and Henry Brunel were three generations of engineers who pushed London to the forefront of infrastructural innovation. Building upon the accomplishments of each other, the engineers were responsible for key elements of the London Underground, the Great Western Railway, Tower Bridge and the modern ocean liner. The Thames Tunnel was one project where they all participated in some way. At the age of 19, Isambard assisted his father Marc, and Henry was actually the first person to walk under the Thames (although technically he was carried through as he was a baby).

At the time there had been several failed attempts to build a tunnel under the Thames and the Brunels’ plan almost didn’t succeed either. The 18-year project was plagued by construction deaths and financial delays. The soft clay led to frequent flooding, so Marc created what was named a “tunnelling shield”, where the excavation tools become part of a temporary structure that helps to hold the tunnel in place as it’s dug. In fact, what Marc designed became the model for the tunnel boring machines (TBMs) of today, making all future underground rail and vehicle travel possible.

Assembling the new staircase in the space

The conversion of the tunnel into an event space required some crafty engineering as well. The Grand Entrance Hall of the tunnel is a cavernous 15m wide and 15m deep, yet the only access to the space is a small door at the top corner of the room. Architects at Tate Harmer used what they’re calling a “ship in a bottle” approach to build a stairway inside, squeezing the staircase elements into the room piece by piece and assembling them into a freestanding structure that doesn’t touch the walls at all.

The raw walls, blackened from the steam trains that used to run below the river, were left as-is, making for both a cinematic cultural backdrop and striking reminder of the city’s transportation history.

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James Cameron Just Announced A Fifth Avatar Movie

Well, now we have an idea why James Cameron has continued to delay his Avatar sequels. The director came to CinemaCon 2016 to announce that his vision for the world has expanded beyond the previously announced four films. Now there will be five.

Avatar 5 will be released Christmas 2023, following Avatar 2 at Christmas 2018, Avatar 3 at Christmas 2020 and Avatar 4 at Christmas 2022.

Each film will stand alone but also tell a complete story in this epic saga, Cameron said.

For the past several years, Cameron and a team of writers and designers have been working on the scripts and designs for several new Avatar movies. First he was planning it as a trilogy, then as a series of four and now it’s five. At CinemaCon, Cameron said that the stories he and his writers were developing kept growing bigger and bigger. And when you’re following up the highest grossing film of all time, the company is fine with that.

Cameron said that the few people who have seen the designs he and his team are working on have been left speechless. “The pure imagination is far beyond the first film,” he said. There will be new characters, new creatures, new environments and new cultures. A quick flurry of concept art flickered on the screen, and there were Na’vi jumping off cliffs, flying over oceans, burning ships. All of it familiar, but exciting, Avatar imagery.

Now we’ll see if the filmmaker, whose been working on these movies for several years already, can just stop and make them.

[MIKA27]

What Charles Dickens' Career Says About The Future Of Star Wars

Before he was studied in just about every English program in the world, Charles Dickens was considered something of a hack — a low-rent scribbler of trashy serialised novels. That bodes well for Star Wars. Wait what?

The serial in its many forms (soap operas, comic books, ’40s sci-fi shorts) is often looked down on as cheap, lacking artistic integrity and baldly commercial. In part it has this reputation due the inherent need to delay gratification and continue the work as long as possible. In his earliest serials, Dickens wasn’t even commercially successful. As Nerdwriter explains, his Pickwick Papers books didn’t take off until he introduced a character named Sam Weller who the working class identified with. That led the character’s expansion, and tremendous success for Dickens and his publishers.

Star Wars is a modern serial, susceptible to the same audience pressures the Pickwick Papers were 180 years ago — especially now that the Disney-helmed franchise is about to spawn an infinite number of side stories and spin-offs, starting with Rogue One. Nerdwriter’s thesis essentially is that, commercial success or not, a serialised universe empowers fans to become stewards of the work and choose the direction it grows in.

After the critical failure of the prequels, with their lack of diversity and reliance on stale CGI, The Force Awakens answered fans’ distaste with better roles for women, a broader palette of ethnicities and a return to the practical effects that made the original Star Wars (and newer throwbacks like Mad Max: Fury Road) a success — while still retaining a sincere respect for the original work. Fans have already made shown their ability to shape the future of the franchise, and that power will only grow as the Star Wars universe expands.

[MIKA27]

Scientists Finally Made Carbyne, A Material Stronger Than Graphene, That Lasts

Several years ago, scientists calculated the properties of an exotic form of carbon — called Carbyne — and found that it promised more strength and stiffness than any other known material. Now, it’s finally been made in a stable form inside an Austrian lab.

Researchers from the University of Vienna in Austria report in Nature Materials that they have managed to synthesise the material far more successfully than ever before. It’s proved so tricky in the past because Carbyne is a long one-dimensional chain of carbon atoms linked one to the other. Its structure makes it highly reactive, which means that as quickly as it’s manufactured, it’s destroyed.

But the Austrian researchers have found a way to make it while avoiding such destruction. They took two sheets of graphene, laid them on top of each other, then rolled the whole thing up to create a double-walled tube. Think of it as a graphene Thermos. Then, they synthesised the Carbyne inside the tube, providing a protective casing which allowed the material to remain in tact.

The record for stringing together carbon atoms like this in the past had been 100 in a row; now, the team can put 6400 atoms together, and have them remain in a chain for as long as they want. That is, of course, as long as they sit inside the carbon Thermos. It remains to be seen how useful Carbyne will be whilst wrapped up, but for now it’s the best that researchers can achieve.

Regardless, other researchers will doubtless clamour to try and exploit the newly produceable material: Previous calculations have shown that Carbyne is stronger than both graphene and diamond, and around twice as stiff as the stiffest known materials. That sounds pretty promising to us.

[MIKA27]

In Pictures: How to Make Woodford Reserve Bourbon

When they started distilling it some two decades ago, the folks at Woodford Reserve had a simple goal: craft a bourbon with a flavor profile every bit as complex and sophisticated as the world’s finest scotches and cognacs. In other words, they were trying to do something that had never been done before.

“We were going to have what I would call a global or international flavor appeal,” says Chris Morris, the master distiller behind Woodford Reserve, one of the most award-winning bourbons and one widely regarded to be responsible for kicking off the bourbon revolution we are currently lucky to be living through. “That meant it had to have flavors in it that would appeal to this diverse palate of appreciation. It had to be complex—it had to have a certain persnicketiness to it.”

The process of making whiskey is essentially the same whether it’s made in Ireland, Canada, or Woodford County, Kentucky, where bourbon was first distilled in 1812: take water, add a grain (majority corn in the case of bourbon), ferment, distill and then age. So, in order to craft a bourbon with the sophistication and complexity Woodford was after, Morris and his team had to rethink and reimagine nearly every step of that process, from the yeast used in fermentation to the barrels used in aging.

Persnickety? You don’t know the half of it.

Here is a visual look at every step of the often unique and singular process that makes Woodford Reserve one of the most deliciously complex and voraciously celebrated bourbons out there.

Water: Does any resource have quite the legend attached to it as the limestone-filtered water of Kentucky? It is the key ingredient in both raising thoroughbred Derby champs and crafting the state’s singular spirit. The key to the Bluegrass State’s mythic water lies in the minerals it contains—a multivitamin-like combination of magnesium, zinc, and potassium, as well as the one it filters out, iron (a bourbon no-no).

“Those naturally occurring compounds serve as micronutrients in the fermentation process for your yeast,” explains Morris. “That is what allows the yeast to go about its work of making compounds that are flavors. The rich mineralogy of the water is going to aid in the formation of flavor.”

Wood: In using white oak to age their bourbon, Woodford Reserve is in keeping with the industry standard. But by having their own cooperage to craft their own barrels to their own exacting specifications, they stand alone.

The only U.S. spirit-maker using its own cooperage to make its own barrels, Woodford owns something like a laboratory as a result. The company can experiment with barrels, toasting and charring them to the Master Distiller’s specifications. It’s a big win: the barrel can be responsible for up to 70% of the bourbon’s flavor, and is what gives the spirit its amber color.

Grains: Wonder where Woodford Reserve’s clove, anise, pepper and other spice flavors come from? Credit the grain profile of the mash, which, at 72% corn, 18% rye and 10% barley, has a higher percentage of rye than industry standard, giving it unique flavor notes.

Fermentation: The industry standard process is to ferment the mash with the yeast for two days. Woodford Reserve ferments for five to six. The longer fermentation brings forth more fruit and ester notes, and is the result of a proprietary yeast strain specifically developed for Woodford Reserve and based on the heirloom strains that have been helping to ferment bourbon in Kentucky for centuries.

“If this yeast were to publish an autobiography, it would be called The New Kid on the Block,” says Morris. “This is a brand new strain of yeast, developed for this unique project of creating a bourbon whiskey that people around the world would find something they like in. I like to compare it to the horse country we’re in: the Kentucky Derby champion is the result of siring a champion with a champion mare. That is what our microbiologists did with this yeast strain.”

Distillation: Another distinguishing factor: part of Woodford’s distillation process occurs in Scotland-made copper-pot stills. And, just like the yeast, they are unique to Woodford Reserve, the only bourbon made in copper-pot stills with a triple distillation process. Triple-distillation isn’t the most efficient process—heating the liquid three times means it has more opportunities to evaporate—but it’s worth the price, creating richer alcohol vapors.

Maturation: That said, the liquid that results from distillation is crystal clear. It is during maturation that it really takes on the qualities that we think of when we think of bourbon. Here, Woodford again does things a little differently, maturing their bourbon in a heat-cycled, brick and stone warehouse.

“The industry has abandoned the process of heat cycling,” says Chris Morris. “We still do it, because over the years we have identified the advantages of it. We are not knocking anyone for not doing it that way—heating a large building filled with whiskey in the winter is expensive, and because we do it our angel’s share—the lost spirit—is more dramatic. But what results from heat cycling is a more concentrated, elegant and complex flavor.”

And if Woodford’s reputation has anything to say, Morris is doing something right.

[MIKA27]

Nine Dead as a Magnitude 6.5 Earthquake Hits Southern Japan

A magnitude-6.5 earthquake hit southern Japan overnight, killing a confirmed nine people and injuring 765 more. Japanese Meteorological Authority officials have said the quake was unusually strong for the area, on Japan's southernmost island of Kyushu.

The quake struck at 9:26 PM (GMT+9) on April 14 just outside of Kumamoto, the island's third largest city.

Authorities have set up 500 shelters around the prefecture, which are currently housing some 44,400 people evacuated from their homes. Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has deployed 1,600 soldiers to the area, as well as police, emergency services, and firefighters.

The quake is the largest in Japan since 2011, sometimes known as the Great Japanese Earthquake, which triggered the tsunami that damaged the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant. At this stage, Japanese authorities are reporting there is no tsunami risk.

Government spokesperson Yoshihide Suga said Electric Power Co.'s Sendai nuclear plant on Kyushu, the only nuclear facility still operating in Japan after Fukushima, wasn't affected by the quake.

The town of Mashiki, home to more than 30,000 people, was the hardest hit. It registered a 7 on Japan's earthquake intensity scale, the country's highest possible level. More than 20 homes in the town have collapsed. Officials warn that more people could be in danger, trapped under collapsed buildings.

"There was a ka-boom and the whole house shook violently sideways," Takahiko Morita, a Mashiki resident told Japan's national news agency NHK. "Furniture and bookshelves fell down, and books were all over the floor."

All shinkansen rail services have been suspended in the area following the quake, as authorities warn of continued aftershocks.

[MIKA27]

HAMILTON KHAKI FIELD BLACK WATCHES

Hamilton, the American-made, Swiss-influenced watch company pays tribute to its proud military heritage with their Khaki Field Black watches, suited up in total black stealth gear. It’s an extension of the Khaki field watch line and we must say that it’s easily our favorite addition yet.

The Khaki Black is made for lovers of adventure, embodying the essence of the original Hamilton military watches produced and distributed to the US Army during the World Wars. They’re a brilliant interpretation of the watches from these times and feature several new additions giving them a 21st-century feel. The lineup is comprised of three versions, all offering applied hour markers, recognizable Khaki Field hands coated with grey Super-LimiNova, and red-tipped seconds hands pointer adding just a touch of rotation color to the black dial. They’re also enhanced by black PVD coated stainless steel cases and rubber black straps with 3D pattern and Hamilton’s signature H-shaped pin buckles. Well done, Hamilton. [Purchase]

[MIKA27]

CHALET ZERMATT PEAK

Equal parts cabin and Cosmopolitan, Chalet Zermatt Peak is one of the area's finest accommodations. Available by the week, this stunning five-level abode offers all the privacy you'd expect with a level of service normally reserved for resorts. The living and dining areas occupy one whole floor, as huge windows afford outstanding views of the town below and the Matterhorn in the distance. Five bedrooms are spread throughout, each with an en suite, and the bonus of a private jacuzzi in the master and a glass roof on the top floor. There's also a hot tub, walk-in wine cellar, outdoor dining area, fitness room, and ski room, and the on-site housekeeping service, personal chef, and masseuse will ensure your stay is as opulent as the home you're staying in.

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MOON LUNAR GLOBE

We've had globes of the Earth for ages. It's time our only natural satellite got its due. The Moon Lunar Globe is a truly accurate 1/20 million replica of the Moon featuring every detail — craters, hills, and ridges — in full 3D, created using topographic data from NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter. All that detail does no good if you can't see it, so it has a ring of LED lights that spin around it, illuminating the correct side of the moon, recreating the lunar phases as seen from Earth, and putting every impressive detail into sharp relief. Also available without the lights, and as a larger, 1/11.5 million scale globe.

[MIKA27]

Spider-Man: Homecoming wants Michael Keaton for its villain

If early reaction to Captain America: Civil War is anything to go by, audiences are going to be chomping at the bit for Spider-Man's upcoming solo film - which we now know is titled Spider-Man: Homecoming- once they get a look at Tom Holland's new webslinger in action. The final pieces of the Jon Watts directed reboot are coming into place, and some new info suggests the villain is close to being cast.

Variety is reporting that Michael Keaton is in early talks to play the villain in Spider-Man: Homecoming. Exactly who the baddie is remains under wraps, but if Birth Movies Death's recent report is anything to go by it might be Vulture (which, when you look at the picture below, makes total sense...).

Of course, Keaton is no stranger to comic book films; the actor famously starred as Batman in both Tim Burton movies, and while Birdman wasn't a superhero movie it had lots of interesting things to say about the genre.

Should Keaton sign on the dotted line, he would join the small group of actors who have played iconic DC and Marvel characters. It would be a big win for Marvel and Sony too; Keaton has been at the top of his game of late with films like Birdman and Spotlight, and whether it's Vulture or another of Spidey's rogues it would be really interesting to see what he brings to a villainous role.

Directed by Jon Watts and starring Tom Holland, Marisa Tomei, and Zendaya, Spider-Man: Homecoming will swing into cinemas on July 7, 2017.

[MIKA27]

Here's The First Image From 'Ghost In The Shell'

Production is officially underway in Wellington, New Zealand on Ghost In The Shell.

Starring Scarlett Johansson and directed by Rupert Sanders (Snow White and the Huntsman), the film is due for release in Australia on 30 March 2017.

Based on the famous Kodansha Comics manga series of the same name written and illustrated by Masamune Shirow, Ghost In The Shell follows the Major — special ops, one-of-a-kind human-cyborg hybrid, who leads the elite task force Section 9. Devoted to stopping the most dangerous criminals and extremists, Section 9 is faced with an enemy whose singular goal is to wipe out Hanka Robotic’s advancements in cyber technology.

The film is produced by The Amazing Spider-Man‘s Avi Arad as well as Ari Arad and Steven Paul from Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengance. Michael Costigan (Prometheus) Tetsu Fujimura (Tekken), Mitsuhisa Ishikawa (whose animation studio Production I.G produced the Japanese Ghost In The Shell film and television series) and Jeffrey Silver (300) will executive produce.

The cast includes Beat Takeshi Kitano (Battle Royale) as Daisuke Aramaki, Juliette Binoche (The English Patient) as Dr. Ouelet, Michael Pitt (Hannibal) as Kuze, Pilou Asbæk (Lucy) as Batou, and Kaori Momoi (Memoirs Of A Geisha).

“We are so pleased to be in Wellington to shoot Ghost In The Shell” said producers Avi Arad, Ari Arad, Michael Costigan and Jeffrey Silver. “The crew-base in New Zealand working on the film is first class, and working with Sir Richard Taylor and the team at Weta Workshop is inspirational on every level.”

Paramount Pictures and DreamWorks Pictures have entered into a marketing agreement with the New Zealand Film Commission (NZFC), Tourism New Zealand (TNZ), Callaghan Innovation and the Ministry of Business Innovation and Employment (MBIE) which recognises the significant economic, cultural and industry development benefits the production will bring to New Zealand.

[MIKA27]

How Your Body's Unique Biosignatures Are Used For Surveillance

Not long ago, fingerprints were the cutting edge of biometric profiling. Today, the use of biosignatures to identify individuals has expanded to include everything from iris and facial scans right through to DNA profiling and even the unique shape of a person’s arse. Here’s what you need to know about how companies and governments are tracking your biometrics.

Facial Recognition

Facial patterning is a particularly powerful biometric technique, mostly because of how easy it is to have our pictures taken (both knowingly and covertly) and how often our mugs appear on the internet. What’s more, mobile devices and laptops are potent and ubiquitous vectors for acquiring and disseminating this information. It’s also not easy for us to hide our faces.

Indeed, some members of U.S. Congress have been pressuring Google into blocking facial recognition software on Google Glass. The company has implemented a ban on this technology, but it probably won’t last forever. In fact, Google is planning to launch its open software tool-kit service, Rekognition, for Glass in the near future. Already today, and for better or worse, Google Glass is being worn by police in some jurisdictions.

Looking to the future, upgraded versions of these technologies will be able to detect and identify faces hidden in the photos of eyes. And the company Animetrics is developing proprietary software that can turn 2D images into simulated 3D models of a person’s face, allowing users to change the person’s pose. The system can boost success rates from 35% up to 85%, and it’s already being implemented the on police officers’ iPhones.

Iris and Retina Recognition

Both of these techniques involve the eye, but they’re actually two different things.

Iris scanning is one of the best authentication and identification processes in use today. Our Iris — the externally visible coloured ring around the pupil — is as unique as a snowflake. It exhibits a distinctive pattern that forms randomly in utero in a process called chaotic morphogenesis. In fact, it’s estimated the chance of two iris being identical is 1 in 1078. The scanning process involves taking a picture of the iris, which is then cross-reference for matching purposes. The technology is fairly straightforward, utilising systems similar to what’s found in camcorders.

Retina recognition was developed back in the 1980s. It’s a well known technique, but not widely used. It works by mapping the unique patterns of a person’s retina; the blood vessels within the retina absorb more light more readily than surrounding tissue, making it easily identifiable with appropriate lighting. The scan is performed by casting a beam of low-energy infrared light into a person’s eye as they peer through an eyepiece. The beam traces a standardised path on the retina. Once a retinal image has been captured the software takes care of the rest, compiling the unique features of the network of retinal blood vessels into a template.

Nose Scanning

Good luck trying to disguise your face with a pair of sunglasses. Your nose is rather hard to conceal, and it’s not susceptible to changes in expression. What’s more, they provide a fixed point for scanning devices.

Researchers from the University of Bath’s Department of Electronic & Electric Engineering have developed a photometric stereo image acquisition program called PhotoFace. The system scans the 3D shape of noses and uses computer software to analyse them according to the six main nose shapes, namely Roman, Greek, Nubian, Hawk, Snub, and Turn-up. It then considers three characteristics of the nose during analysis, including the ridge profile, the nose tip, and the nasion or section between the eye at the top of the nose.

Ear Profiling

The human ear is also unique. It’s comprised of a series of structures that can generate a host of measurable characteristics.

Ear scanning and profiling technologies are currently being developed by researchers at the University of Southampton. Their system, which considers both outer and inner ear areas, is up to 99.6% accurate. It’s also a good substitute to facial recognition, which is often confused by facial wrinkles, crow’s feet around the eyes, and other signs of ageing. Our ears, on the other hand, develop relatively gracefully, growing proportionately larger over time, while our lobes become more elongated.

Posterior Profiling

But why stop at faces, noses, and ears when we can also measure a person’s arse?

A team at the Advanced Institute of Industrial Technology in Tokyo designed its posterior sensor as an anti-theft measure for cars. The group claims that these prototype seats can recognise the owner’s butt with 98 per cent accuracy.

Voice Recognition

Our voices exhibit a distinct wave pattern that can be matched by software to pre-existing samples.

The FBI Audio Lab has a system that does this — a voice analyser which captures the frequency, intensity, timbre, and other elements to match a voice to a person, or to determine the authenticity of a voice in a recording.

Palm Vein Patterns

This technique is already being used in some U.S. schools. It typically involves an unobtrusive near-infrared scanner that doesn’t require physical contact. Our blood veins are formed during the first eight weeks of gestation in a chaotic manner, influenced by environment in a mother’s womb. This is why vein patterns are unique to an individual — even to twins. Veins grow along with our skeleton, and while capillary structures continue to grow and change, vascular patterns are set at birth and don’t tend to change over the course of one’s lifetime.

PatientSecure, a manufacturer of these technologies, describes how it works:

To scan the veins, an individual’s hand is placed on the hand guide (the plastic casing of the scanner device) and the vein pattern is captured by lighting the hand with near-infrared light. Veins contain deoxidized hemoglobin, an iron-containing pigment in the blood that carried oxygen through the body. These pigments absorb the near-infrared light and reduce the reflection rate causing the veins to appear as a black pattern. An individual’s scanned palm vein data (biometric template) is encrypted for a protection and registered along with the other details in his/her profile as a reference for future comparison.

Heart Rhythms

Our hearts pound at different rates throughout the day. Each person has a unique overall pattern, typically based on the size and position of the heart within the body. The Canadian firm Bionym has a system, called the Nymi Bracelet, which uses electrocardiogram technology to read these rhythms and confirm the wearer’s identity.

DNA Fingerprinting

Every person has a unique DNA signature, which can be extracted from blood, hair, skin, or other sources. Also called chemical biometrics, it involves the identification of an individual by analysing segments of DNA. It’s done by isolating the DNA from human tissue, which in turn is cut using special enzymes, sorted, and passed through a gel. It then gets transferred to a nylon sheet, where radioactive probes are added to produce the pattern — the so-called DNA fingerprint.

To make a match, scientists use polymerase chain reaction — which amplifies specific regions of a DNA strand — and restriction fragment length polymorphism — the process of creating and differentiating DNA fragments. Both of these techniques produce genetic fingerprints that can yield a match with 99.99% accuracy. The technique is still expensive, but it’s coming down in price.

An example of DNA fingerprinting, 10 individuals are tested for 6 loci (Alila Medical Media/Shutterstock):

Relatedly, DNA can be used to create “mugshots” and predict hair and eye colour of suspects. But once our DNA profiles are made available online, they can be hacked, stolen, and used for target marketing.

Body Odor

A Polytechnic University research group is working with the Spanish engineering consulting firm Ilía Systems Ltd. on the development of “personal odor” biometrics. Indeed, as anyone who’s worked with a bloodhound knows, we have recognisable patterns in our odor that remain fairly constant (though body odours vary on account of disease, diet change, and even mood swings). These researchers have developed a sensor that can detect volatile elements present within body odor to 85% accuracy.

Scarily, capturing someone’s body odor can be as easy as having them walk past a sensor. It’s far less intrusive than fingerprint readers or iris scanner.

Related research is also underway at the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. Its system, which will be used in lie detector tests, can track odor changes like galvanic skin response in a polygraph.

Gait and Walking Style

Even if you’ve somehow managed to disguise yourself and your stinky smells, the peculiar way you walk will still give you away. Our gait can be measured, scanned, and cross-referenced like any other biosignature. Japanese researchers, for example, have developed a 3D imaging technique that captures gait and walking style up to 90% accuracy. And its barefoot print analysis is at 99.6% accuracy — which could help airport security officials identify travellers as they walk through security without their shoes on.

Also, engineers from Southampton’s School of Electronics and Computer Science (ECS) have been working on a computer system that can analyse the gait of criminals caught on security cams and then compare them with those of a suspect. Indeed, sometimes investigators have only grainy and limited surveillance camera footage to work with.

Here’s how it works:

[A] working prototype is in operation in the form of an innovative tunnel that can track and record an individual’s gait. On first appearance the tunnel is a strange patchwork of multicoloured one-foot-squares. This is a novel form of chromakey — a digital image capturing technique often used in film production where the background can be ‘erased’ from the shot, leaving just the subject behind. The gait recognition version of chromakey differs from the film version because it must track individuals wearing a large array of colours, so different colours are used for each square. ‘We use the tunnel footage alongside other images of the individual walking in an everyday environment to build up a complete picture of how the individual moves.’ The tunnel uses eight cameras to record the movement of the individual as they walk, which is then recreated digitally using novel software back in the lab. Thus the individual can be viewed from any angle once they are digitally recreated. From there the team can characterise and map the unique walking patterns. The individual’s walk can then be recorded on a database and matched to CCTV footage.

Hand Geometry

This technique has been around since the 1980s and it’s fairly straight forward. Devices can be used to measure and record the length, width, thickness, and surface area of a individual’s hand while guided on a plate. These systems use a camera to capture a silhouette image of the hand.

Motion Identification

Though motion identification may not be able to prove the identify an individual (at least not yet — but that’s obviously coming), it can work to recognise certain physical activities. Researchers at Cornell University, for example, reverse engineered a Microsoft Kinect to identify common household activities like cooking and brushing teeth.

There’s also DARPA’s Mind’s Eye project — an attempt to create a camera with “visual intelligence.” Once operational, the system will not only be able to function as a conventional camera, it will also be able to recognise human activities and predict what might happen next. Should it encounter a potentially threatening scene or dangerous behaviour, it could sound the alarm and notify a human agent.

Signature Recognition

Again, like fingerprints and hand measurements, this one’s a classic biometric technique. When performing signature recognition (or handwriting analysis), experts consider static and dynamic aspects. Static is a visual comparison between one scanned signature and another scanned signature, or a scanned signature against an ink signature. Advanced algorithms take care of the rest. Dynamic works by capturing X, Y, T and P coordinates from the signing device.

Keystroke Signatures

This is a behavioural biometric in which software is used to measure the speed, rhythmic patterns, and other peculiarities found in our unique typing styles. This is particularly effective when scanning a password entry, which tends to be very consistent. Keystroke dynamics and/or recognition is probably one of the easiest biometrics forms to implement and manage.

The Future

Lastly, and in the future, our bodies could be scanned any number of ways, including electronic circuits integrated into our skin and by readers that can scan our blood.

[MIKA27]

Why J.J. Abrams is betting on 'immersive cinema' with Star Trek Beyond

Over the past few years movie theaters have been eagerly rolling out new technologies to get people back into theaters, ranging from 3D and laser projectors, to shaking seats that shoot water at your face. This week J.J. Abrams’ production company Bad Robot announced that it’s testing one of the newest innovations, diving into "immersive cinema" with the forthcoming release of Star Trek Beyond. The film will be released in the multi-screen Barco Escape format, a modern take on the kind of ultra-widescreen spectacle made famous by things like Cinerama decades ago.

In the most basic terms, Escape is a panoramic setup that adds two additional screens to the sides of the movie theater frame you’re used to seeing. The result is a movie theater experience with a 270-degree field of view that filmmakers can use for super-widescreen imagery, or treat as three discrete screens, each with their own shots and action, if desired.

"I saw a demo of it last year, and immediately started talking to J.J. about it," producer (and Bad Robot technology guru) Ben Rosenblatt tells me over the phone. "When we’re looking for partners, we’re trying to think, ‘Okay, what would be exciting for us creatively, and what would be exciting for audiences to enhance those theatrical experiences?’ We found that in Barco Escape, like we found enhanced value in IMAX, and Dolby with their Dolby Vision theaters and Atmos sound."

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Over the past few years movie theaters have been eagerly rolling out new technologies to get people back into theaters, ranging from 3D and laser projectors, to shaking seats that shoot water at your face. This week J.J. Abrams’ production company Bad Robot announced that it’s testing one of the newest innovations, diving into "immersive cinema" with the forthcoming release of Star Trek Beyond. The film will be released in the multi-screen Barco Escape format, a modern take on the kind of ultra-widescreen spectacle made famous by things like Cinerama decades ago.

In the most basic terms, Escape is a panoramic setup that adds two additional screens to the sides of the movie theater frame you’re used to seeing. The result is a movie theater experience with a 270-degree field of view that filmmakers can use for super-widescreen imagery, or treat as three discrete screens, each with their own shots and action, if desired.

"I SAW A DEMO AND IMMEDIATELY STARTED TALKING TO J.J."

"I saw a demo of it last year, and immediately started talking to J.J. about it," producer (and Bad Robot technology guru) Ben Rosenblatt tells me over the phone. "When we’re looking for partners, we’re trying to think, ‘Okay, what would be exciting for us creatively, and what would be exciting for audiences to enhance those theatrical experiences?’ We found that in Barco Escape, like we found enhanced value in IMAX, and Dolby with their Dolby Vision theaters and Atmos sound."

Escape currently has a very small footprint compared to something like IMAX — there are just 15 Escape screens in the United States, though Barco will get that up to at least 50 by the time Star Trek comes out in July — with the system getting early adoption from special sequences in the first two Maze Runner films. After watching demos here at CinemaCon, I found it to be an intriguing approach that feels like it’s still searching for the right application. BASE jumping footage shot by Red Bull was breathtaking; the expanded field of view filling my peripheral vision until I felt unmoored from my seat, flying through the air along with the performers. In that sense Escape is closer to something you’d find at an amusement park than a mall multiplex, and it’s easy to see how it would pair well with action films or space adventures. Projects that used the three screens as individual canvases, however, felt significantly more jarring. During a short film revolving around a poker game, I kept turning from screen to screen to see the different footage that was being shown on each of the three screens. Interesting and novel, yes, but not the kind of thing I’d necessarily want to do when sitting down for two hours to be told a story.

Star Trek Beyond won’t lock the viewer into the Escape format for its entire runtime, but it will feature at least 20 minutes of Escape footage, with much of the ultra-widescreen imagery consisting of expanded visual effects shots (the Barco deal was closed after director Justin Lin had shot the film, though conversations had started in pre-production). But Rosenblatt tells me they do intend to experiment with using extra scene coverage and other unused shots on the side screens, provided it doesn’t pull people out of the movie itself. "The best example is being on the Enterprise bridge when everything’s going crazy. Your main action is going to be on the front screen, but for all of those sequences we have a bunch of coverage of different people at different consoles," he says. "That’s an example where it’s not quite an intentional split-screen. It feels like one environment, one image. So we’re just experimenting with all that stuff, and at the end of the day J.J. and Justin will figure out what feels right and appropriate for the movie."

While now somewhat common for blockbusters, the success of natively-shot IMAX sequences in tentpole movies was originally due to filmmakers like Christopher Nolan just trying the format out to learn what did and didn’t work. That same experimentation process will be required if alternative formats like Barco Escape are to really take off in the mainstream. Sometimes that technological evolution can be controversial — Abrams himself was famously opposed to making films in 3D before Paramount forced his hand with Star Trek Into Darkness — but a prominent theme at CinemaCon this year has been that theatrical exhibition has to innovate if it wants to stay ahead of increased competition from home viewing and streaming services. For companies like Bad Robot, that means proactively embracing emerging options when they present themselves.

"In Star Wars there was this great 3D shot of the Star Destroyer. We would look at that shot and go, ‘This is why you paid additional money to go see it in 3D.’ And J.J. got so excited about it," Rosenblatt says. "So I think the truth is that starting with the 3D transformation experience we’ve all been learning how to embrace new technology. And when someone’s offering an experience that we can see being really exciting, we sort of run towards it now instead of backing away from it. I think that’s probably the approach everyone wants to take if our collective mission is to keep people going to the movies."

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For The Love Of Spock's First Trailer Is As Heartwarming As You'd Expect

It’s been just over a year since the icon that is Leonard Nimoy passed away, and we still can’t help but get a little teary-eyed about it. A new trailer for a documentary remembering him, directed by his own son, isn’t helping alleviate those teary eyes either.

For the Love of Spock — which raised just over $US662,000 ($859,011) in funding on Kickstarter last year — features interviews with Adam Nimoy conducted with a whole host of Star Trek cast and crew, spanning from original series alums like William Shatner and George Takei to associates from the new movie franchise like Simon Pegg or Zach Quinto (who also narrates the documentary). It is understandably bittersweet to hear them recall their fondness for a dearly missed colleague, but this looks like it’s going to be a great tribute to Nimoy.

For the Love of Spock will debut at the Tribeca film festival this Saturday, April 16, before being made available to stream later this year.

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A Drone Hit A Passenger Plane And Nothing Happened

Earlier today, a British Airways pilot on approach to London Heathrow said that he thought he collided with a drone. It’s the nightmare drone pilots, but according to British Airways, the plane didn’t get a scratch.

The Airbus A320 was flying from Geneva, Switzerland, to London Heathrow. The pilot reported an object hitting the front of the plane, although it doesn’t appear to have caused any damage. A British Airways spokesperson said: “Our aircraft landed safely, was fully examined by our engineers and it was cleared to operate its next flight.”

The police are investigating the incident, but no arrests have been made yet. In the UK, flying a drone near an airport is an offence punishable by up to five years in prison.

A drone colliding with a passenger aircraft is the absolute worst-case scenario, something that the FAA in the states has been warning of for years, and taking steps to prevent. But what would actually happen if a normal consumer drone hit an aircraft has always been unclear. Research suggests that drone being sucked into the engine would only result in injury 0.2 per cent of the time. Guess we’ve got another data point to add to the collection.

[MIKA27]

Check Out The Goddamn Bear-Man In This Russian Superhero Movie

Man-Bear? Bear-Man? Either way, this Russian superhero movie looks rather intriguing. Directed by Sarik Andreasyan, Guardians is set during the Cold War, when a team of super-powered men and women was brought together as The Patriots from across the Soviet Union, to safeguard Russia from supernatural threats — only to re-emerge years after the end of the Cold War, to protect their homeland once more.

Also, maybe Bear-Men? I dunno, Bear Man is probably a good guy. But hey, it’s not every day we get to see something like this. Pretty neat! Maybe this means we’ll finally get our long-awaited Bearantula movie?

Guardians is due to hit Russian theatres February, 2017.

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The Wright Brothers' Plane Patent Was Misplaced For 36 Years

The patent for the Wright Brothers’ “flying machine”, the invention that gave birth to modern aviation as we know it, was returned to the National Archives earlier this week. What’s strange is that it was never missing in the first place.

While it’s fun to imagine Orville and Wilbur’s plans as the centrepiece of an Oceans Eleven-style heist, the truth of its absence is far more pedestrian: someone simply misplaced it.

In 1978, the patent — along with several other documents of historical importance — were lent to the Smithsonian Institution’s Air and Space Museum for the 75th anniversary of the Wrights’ first successful flight. The patent was marked as returned but filed it incorrectly back at the National Archives and due to this clerical error it took over three decades for someone to find.

Given how much is stored there (269 million pages worth), it’s hard to blame them.