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

[MIKA27]

MAGICAL PHOTOS OF BUDAPEST AT CHRISTMAS TIME

For photographer Rizsavi Tamás, photography is a way to capture an ephemeral moment. It's a way to compare old and new, remember days gone by, and reveal the magic found within a city. And what better city to do that in then the jewel box known as Budapest!

Tamás is a part-time bus driver, part time photographer. He spends a great deal of his time on the streets, working on the bus and soaking in the electric bulb night vibes. And Christmas is the very best time to capture that dazzling atmosphere. During December, the city comes alive with twinkling lights.

"If you are lucky enough, you can see the beautifully lit Christmas tram and trolleybus on the streets of Budapest," he writes.

The city truly transforms into something magical when the Christmas decorations go up. All the lights and fresh evergreen completely reawaken the historic city.

Find more dazzling photos of Budapest, take a look here on Facebook

[MIKA27]

CHESAPEAKE LIGHT CRAFT TEARDROP CAMPER

There’s something to be said about teardrop campers. Not only are they lightweight, and relatively affordable, but they’re size appropriate, allowing campers access to the more secluded campgrounds. Chesapeake Light Craft, based out of Annapolis, MD offers just that. They build kayaks, canoes, skiffs and sailboats and of course – yup you guessed it – camper trailers.

Simply called the CLC Teardrop Camper, each home away from home measures 5’ x 8’ drawn around a 60” x 80” mattress on the inside. For its size it’s surprisingly roomy as well, boasting enough room for two adults and offering enough ventilation to keep things from getting too stuffy. There’s also room for a 12-volt electrical system to run a fan or two, a stereo and charging plugs for outlets. At the rear of the trailer a large galley offers a highly customizable space for storage or even a kitchenette, available as an upgradable optional ‘kit.’ It’s a perfect option for car camping or even tailgating before a football game. Prices start at $1995. [Purchase]

[MIKA27]

NORLAN WHISKY GLASS

Your sense of smell is way more sensitive than your sense of taste. And that's a huge reason why the aromas you inhale from a dram of whisky greatly impact your tasting experience. The makers of the Norlan Whisky Glass know that, but also know that the aesthetic you get from a classic tumbler matters as well, and have combined the best of both worlds in this unique piece of glassware. Each glass is hand-blown from Borosilicate glass and available in sets of two.

Also see @Jeremy Festa thread on this glass.

[MIKA27]

BB-8 Alarm Clock Goes Nuts When It's Time For You to Wake Up

As adorable robots go, it seems almost impossible to ever get angry at The Force Awakens’ BB-8. Which is why turning the little robot into an alarm clock is such a brilliant idea, because no matter how tired or grumpy are, you’ll never be tempted to throw BB-8 across the room when he frantically tries to wake you up.

Created by Japanese clock maker Rhythm, this bedside version of BB-8 features an LCD display hidden behind a pop-out panel showing the current time, and when the alarm will sound.

When it’s time to wake up, BB-8 will start rolling around your night-stand like the Empire is about to bust down your door, while playing either the Star Wars main theme, the Imperial March, that catchy tune from the Mos Eisley Cantina, or one of 10 different BB-8 sound effects.

With a price tag of around $130 when it’s available in Japan come March, BB-8 isn’t exactly the cheapest alarm clock you can buy, but it might actually make you look forward to waking up in the morning.

 

[MIKA27]

The First Official 'Spider-Man: Homecoming' Trailer Is Here

Here it is! The first trailer for Spider-Man: Homecoming starring the best Spider-Man yet, Tom Holland.
The movie hits US cinemas July 7 2017. Australia's release date is yet to be confirmed.

[MIKA27]

'The Fate Of The Furious' Trailer Is Here

Dom and Letty are on their honeymoon, Brian and Mia have retired from the game, and the rest of the crew has been exonerated. But along comes Charlize Theron and here is the trailer for The Fate Of The Furious and there's Helen Mirren and oh my yes this is so going to be so much fun.

The film hits US cinemas April 14, 2017.

 

[MIKA27]

New 17.5-Hour Flight From Australia To London Will Be The Longest In The World

Qantas just announced a new route that will take passengers from Perth to London. But you might want to stock up on sleeping pills. Because with a total flight time of 17.5 hours, it will be the longest nonstop flight in the world.

The flight from Perth to London is 14,466km and will take place on the new Boeing 787 Dreamliners that Qantas will be acquiring next year. The 17.5-hour flight will beat the previously longest flight from Dubai to Auckland, New Zealand on Emirates Airlines. That flight stretches 14,199km and takes 16 hours and 35 minutes.

The new Perth to London flights aren't expected to begin until March of 2018, but Perth is already positioning itself as a new international hub that will link the South Pacific to Europe. As it happens, I'm currently in Perth and had quite a long journey to get here. It was 14 hours from Los Angeles to Sydney and another five (?) hours to Perth. I want to say five hours, but I honestly have no idea. After that first stretch of 14 hours I thought I was going to die and was just thankful that the last bit wasn't nearly as long as the first.

I guess it's all better than the travel times of the 1930s. Back in 1938 a trip from London to Brisbane (the longest on offer at the time) took 11 days and had over two dozen scheduled stops.

Tickets for the new route from Perth to London go on sale in April 2017 but prices have yet to be announced. After my own trip from Los Angeles I think I'd pay twice as much just to go by steamship. I honestly don't even know if that's still a thing and I'm frankly too jetlagged to look it up.

[MIKA27]

Bank Glitch Allows Man To Spend Over $1 Million And Walk Away Free

Normally a glitch is a bad thing. Maybe it means your video game character gets stuck in a wall or maybe a glitch gets you wrongfully arrested. For an Australian man named Luke Moore, a simple bank glitch meant that he was able to blow $US1.3 ($2) million on cars, travel, strippers and drugs over the course of two years.

In March of 2010, Moore was a broke law student and claiming government benefits. He applied at his bank, St. George, for a "Complete Freedom Account" with overdraft protection. He quickly found out just how much freedom the account could afford him.

After hitting $US9,000 ($12,078) in overdrafts, Moore realised that the bank never stopped him from taking out cash.

Moore would take out money from St. George and put it into other banks. He travelled the world, hitting playboy hotspots like Thailand and the Austrailian Gold Coast. He bought an Aston Martin, a Maserati and a Hyundai (really?). He got a speed boat, a signed Michael Jordan Jersey and some art by Banksy. He took care of the little things as well, like insurance and paying the mortgage.

Then it all ended when the bank finally noticed its error, two years and over a million dollars later.

It looked like it was going to be a typical story of hubris when Moore was eventually sentenced to a maximum of four and half years for ­obtaining financial advantage by deception and three years for dealing with proceeds of crime, to be served concurrently. But no, life smiled upon this bumbling broke man. He spent five months in jail, and on December 1st an appeals court overturned his conviction because he "had not been deceptive" when misappropriating the bank's funds. The bank had made no effort to stop him and he never tried to mislead them. By being such an inept criminal, Moore had given himself a way out.

Today, he drives an $US800 ($1,074) car and lives with his mum. He had to give back all the stuff he'd bought. He told the Daily Telegraph he doesn't miss the high life "besides the cocaine, the strippers and fast cars."

[MIKA27]

The Templars' Plans Are Revealed In The Latest Assassin's Creed Trailer

If you've played any of the Assassin's Creed games, then you'll know it's pretty much the same thing they do every night, Pinky: Try to take over the world.

Here's your pretty much mandatory "hey here's the whole story condensed into a two minute cut" trailer for Assassin's Creed, which gives us a lot more time with the shadowy figures behind the abduction of Michael Fassbender's hero, Callum Lynch — the Knights Templar, lead by Jeremy Irons.

Fans of the Assassin's Creed games will recognise the artefact Irons wants to use Callum to find: The Apple of Eden, the all-powerful MacGuffin that has played a major role in the backstory of pretty much every game in the sprawling "stab dudes in the face in exotic locations" franchise.

In fact, it's kind of surprising just how familiar everything in this trailer is, and just how closely Assassin's Creed is sticking to the general premise of its source material. Time will tell if that makes it a contender for the title of "best video game movie" though... even if there's not really much competition to earn such a title, is there?

Assassin's Creed will slowly climb up the side of a tall tower and then promptly leap off the top of it and into theatres January 1.

[MIKA27]

Humanity Prepares For The End In The First Trailer For War For The Planet Of The Apes

And, given the title of the movie, it's probably safe to assume that things are not going to end peacefully.

Fox has released the first full trailer for the film this morning, painting a dire situation for both Ceasar and his simian friends and the few remaining humans, as tensions between the two camps start to boil over into full out war.

Either way, things are looking pretty grim, whether you're a human or an ape. War for the Planet of the Apes hits theatres 13 July 2017.

[MIKA27]

GREYDON HOUSE

Pairing an 1850s Greek Revival home with an amazingly similar three-story addition, Greydon House offers not just 20 rooms, but a unique sense of Nantucket's identity. Calling to the site's seafaring history, the hotel has details like a pine-paneled check-in area, murals of far-off ports, and bespoke beds, all courtesy of designers Roman and Williams. The result is a space that's both perfectly matched to its surroundings and yet entirely its own, and thanks to its central location, it's also a perfect base from which to explore the rest the architectural time capsule of an area has to offer.

 

[MIKA27]

TEELING 33 YEAR OLD SINGLE MALT IRISH WHISKEY

The latest release from the Teeling Vintage Reserve Collection just happens to be one of the oldest single malts ever bottled. Teeling 33 Year Old Single Malt Irish Whiskey was distilled in 1983 and aged in two ex-bourbon barrels. After such a long time aging, the barrels produced only 275 bottles of whiskey. Each bottle comes with a special commemorative booklet that documents the story of Teeling Whiskey and is printed and bound by one of the oldest bookbinders in Ireland.

[MIKA27]

AVI-8 PEGASUS AV-4047 WATCH

The latest release in the Hawker Harrier line from AVI-8 continues to draw its name and inspiration from the unique avionic engineering behind the Hawker Harrier, and its custom built Pegasus engine from Rolls Royce. And just like the Pegasus, the Avi Pegasus AV-4047 Watch's Miyota Japanese made 21 jewel self-winding movement is the heart and soul of this watch. It registers time using a set of 3 individual discs showing the hour, minutes, and hands rotating across the layered dial. Each timepiece is crafted out of Marine Grade 316 stainless steel with a sapphire lens and fits comfortably on your wrist thanks to a buffalo hide genuine leather strap with bi-color detailing. Available in Solid Stainless Steel or in a version featuring Titanium Carbide plated onto the case.

[MIKA27]

Netflix's Brand New Show Looks Awesome

Netflix has had a helluva year in terms of its 'Netflix Originals' and in three days time it's about to put a cherry on top.

This show is called The OA and it looks pretty sweet.

[MIKA27]

UPSLOPE BREWING WILD CHRISTMAS ALE

Each year, the folks at Upslope Brewing release a limited, small-batch, holiday beer that is the companion to their Christmas Ale. Upslope Brewing Wild Christmas Ale is this year's installment, and marks Volume 10 of the Lee Hill Series for the brewery. It's a sour ale that clocks in at 9% ABV, and spend 11 months aging in Leopold Bros Rye Whiskey barrels before re-fermenting with 500 pounds of cranberries. It's a unique release for the holiday season that is sure to please fans of wild and sour ales.

[MIKA27]

Scientists Have A Crazy Plan To Nuke Deadly Asteroids Out Of The Sky

If an enormous asteroid struck the Earth, humanity would be, in a word, screwed. To prevent that from happening, and hopefully inspire a sweet Armageddon reboot in the process, a team of scientists is exploring the possibility of nuking asteroids out of the sky. Yes, you heard that correctly.

Nuking asteroids to prevent the apocalypse sounds like science fiction, but among scientists working in planetary defence — a field concerned with safeguarding the Earth against deadly bolides — it's a delightfully legitimate idea. At a press conference at the American Geophysical Union meeting this week, researchers from Los Alamos National Laboratory and NASA's Goddard Spaceflight Center spoke about the best approaches for preventing a sequel to the KT-extinction. It turns out there are really only two good options: Kinetic impactors, which jostle Earth-bound comets and asteroids onto more benign orbits, and explosives, which blow them to smithereens.

There are 15,000 known near Earth objects that could, at some point in the future, pose a threat to our planet. Planetary defence, the concept of protecting ourselves against these cosmic interlopers, has been around for decades, but it's gained considerable momentum this past year, with the launching of NASA's Planetary Defence Coordination Office.

That office, whose mission is to ensure the detection of "potentially hazardous" objects (greater than 30-50m across) within 0.05 AU of the Earth, already has several exciting projects in the works. These include OSIRIS-Rex, an asteroid sample return mission that launched in September, and the Asteroid Redirect Mission (AIM), which seeks to visit a near-Earth object, collect a multi-tonne boulder from its surface and tractor beam that bad boy back to a stable orbit around the Moon.

Missions like OSIRIS-Rex and AIM are the first steps toward understanding the threat posed by near-Earth objects. Responding to a deadly space rock in a timely manner, however, is another challenge entirely.

"It is really imperative that we reduce our reaction time," said Joseph Nuth of NASA's Goddard Spaceflight Center, noting that the Oort cloud comet C/2013 A1 passed "within spitting distance of Mars" just 22 months after its discovery in January 2013. If astronomers were to spot an object like C/2013 A1 on a collision course with Earth, there's "not a hell of a lot we can do about it," Nuth said.

Nuth envisions a well-defended planet Earth outfitted with "observer spacecraft" which, like watchmen, keep their eyes peeled for dangerous near Earth objects. If the observers spot something, they relay all the details they can gather to "interceptor spacecraft" which are kept in storage planet-side.

Concept art for the European Space Agency's Asteroid Impact Mission. Image: ESA — ScienceOffice.org

"An observer can document the asteroid's spin axis, shape, and orbit, so that we have the maximum probability of deflecting it from Earth," Nuth said. Ideally, once an object with a high likelihood of impact has been identified, one or more interceptors will be launched within a year.

Catharine Plesko, a researcher at Los Alamos who uses supercomputers to model asteroid deflection scenarios, says that with decades to centuries of lead time, the more pacifistic kinetic impactor approach is preferred for asteroid deflection. But if our interceptor spacecraft are crunched for time and if their target object is very large, we may have to go nuclear.

"A kinetic impactor is basically a giant cannonball," Plesko said. "Cannonball technology is very good, because you're intercepting the object at a very high speed. But if you really need a lot of energy, a nuclear burst is the way to go."

"It encompasses the largest amount of energy and the smallest mass," added Robert Weaver of Los Alamos National Laboratory. Most of the energy generated in a nuclear explosion, Weaver says, comes in the form of X-rays, which heat up and vaporise the surface of nearby objects. In the case of a nuke detonating near an asteroid, this causes the rock to recoil in the opposite direction of the material being vaporised. "If it's a really last minute thing, we can even disrupt the asteroid entirely," Weaver added.

To be clear, there are no green-lit missions, at NASA or elsewhere, that involve strapping a bunch of nukes to a spacecraft. For now, the idea exists in supercomputers and the imaginations of scientists, although it was fleshed out a bit more concretely last year, with the first draft of a NASA mission proposal called Hypervelocity Asteroid Mitigation Mission for Emergency Response (HAMMER).

Plesko, Weaver, Nuth and their colleagues plan to continue refining HAMMER this year as they consider various aspects of the deflection problem, including how many nukes would be needed to head off asteroids or comets of different sizes. For these scientists, the important thing is to get a real conversation around planetary defence started sooner rather than later.

"Natural disasters happen all the time," said Galen Gisler of Los Alamos National Laboratory. "This is one natural disaster we can see coming and prevent."

[MIKA27]

David Ayer Will Direct The Harley Quinn Spinoff Movie, Gotham City Sirens

The "Harley and other Female DC characters" movie Warner Bros. has been developing with Margot Robbie now has a name and two familiar faces: The name is Gotham City Sirens, which is now set to star Margot Robbie returning as Harley Quinn, along with Suicide Squad's David Ayer as director.

No other characters were teased, but they now specifically say that it will be a villain team-up movie,rather than the previously rumoured Birds of Prey angle. Geneva Robertson-Dworet, who penned the script for Sherlock Holmes 3 and the upcoming Tomb Raider reboot, will write the screenplay. That clashes with reports that Christina Hudson was tapped to write the script when the Birds of Prey name was still attached, so it's possible that's developed into a different movie without Harley.

It's perhaps an unsurprising move considering Ayer's involvement in the character's debut in the DCEU, but fans who didn't exactly love Suicide Squad might be a little disheartened to see his return. The THR report also says a Deadshot spinoff is being looked at too, but Gotham City Sirens was "furthest along" and will now be fast tracked into production.

[MIKA27]

FERRARI J50

Created to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Prancing Horse in the land of the rising sun, the Ferrari J50 is a highly limited one-off from Maranello. It's based on the 488 Spider, with new low-slung bodywork from the Ferrari Styling Center. Powered by a 680 hp version of the company's 3.9L V8 mounted in the mid-rear, it also has several other functional upgrades, including a redesigned front bumper to pump air to the more tightly packed radiators, a lowered windscreen rail that directs more air to the rear spoiler, and the dynamic full LED headlights. Only 10 examples will be built, each to the specifications of its buyer.

[MIKA27]

Star Trek: Discovery Casts The Walking Dead's Sonequa Martin-Green As Its Lead

As previously announced, the focus of Star Trek: Discovery won't be the ship's captain, but a lieutenant commander "with caveats". Bryan Fuller, the former showrunner, said a while back that the idea was to buck the tradition and "see a character from a [new] perspective on the starship — one who has different dynamic relationships with a captain, with subordinates, it gave us richer context".

Entertainment Weekly broke the casting news, but no fresh information about the character has surfaced. We don't even have a name, just a rank. Martin-Green will supposedly continue to have a regular role on The Walking Dead as Sasha Williams, but we'll see how long that lasts.

[MIKA27]

Dunkirk – Official Trailer

 

With Dunkirk, we see Christopher Nolan stepping into something new: History. Gone are the mental obstacle courses and speculative sciences that filled films like Interstellar, Memento, and Inception. What we get instead is a harrowing look at the evacuation of Dunkirk during World War II, where Allied soldiers attempted to escape the beaches of Dunkirk, France, after being surrounded by German forces. Zero time traveling. No hacked dreams. Few mindfucks—outside of war itself. How will this play for Nolan? Well, he boasts a pretty impressive track record, even if this film is different from his others. And if this trailer is any indication, he’s going to knock it out of the park.

 

[Fuzz]

22 hours ago, MIKA27 said:

David Ayer Will Direct The Harley Quinn Spinoff Movie, Gotham City Sirens

Here's hoping for a non-PG Harley Quinn and Poison Ivy team up....

[MIKA27]

Mount St. Helens Earthquake Swarms Hint At Imminent Eruption

The United States Geological Survey (USGS) has reported a disquieting level of seismic activity below the infamous Mount St. Helens in Washington State. The volcano erupted in an extremely violent explosion in 1980, killing 57 people and thousands of livestock. Now, the USGS has detected over 120 earthquakes which have occurred in four separate “swarms,” creating worry that another eruption might soon be on the way.

While the earthquakes were all relatively weak – between .2 and .5 on the Richter scale – they have geologists speculating that the volcano could be recharging for another potentially deadly explosion. According to a USGS press release, the volcano is likely “recharging:”

Quote

The magmatic system is likely imparting its own stresses on the crust around and above it, as the system slowly recharges. The stresses drive fluids through cracks, producing the small quakes. Subtle evidence of recharge has been observed since 2008 and can continue for many years. It is a sign that Mount St. Helens remains an active volcano.

The earthquakes hint at another potential eruption. Unfortunately, there is no way of knowing when that might be.

Weston Thelen, a USGS seismologist with the Cascades Volcano Observatory, told the Seattle Times that while these earthquakes are a sobering hint that the volcano is still active, there is no way of knowing exactly when the next big one will be:

Quote

Each of these little earthquakes is a clue and a reminder we are marching toward an eruption someday […] there’s nothing in this little modest seismicity, and none since 2008, that is a really good indicator of when that eruption will be.

Earlier this year, a similar swarm of 180 earthquakes was detected under the volcano. The frequency of these earthquake swarms is particularly worrying given other current developments in Mount St. Helens research. Just last month, a team of seismologists conducted surveys of the underground network of lava tunnels beneath Mount St. Helens, revealing that there remains much we don’t know about the inner workings of this once-deadly volcano.

[MIKA27]

Here's How Rogue One Got Its Hands On Unseen Star Wars Footage

Rogue One might be the first standalone film in the Star Wars universe, but that doesn't mean it's detached from the original saga. In fact, director Gareth Edwards went to great lengths to ensure continuity between Rogue One and A New Hope, including adding previously unseen Star Wars footage to push one scene even further into the canon.

While some of the CGI effects were a bit odd-looking (I'm looking at you, Tarkin), one of the most impressive feats was how Rogue One digitally resurrected Garven Dreis and Jon Vander, the Red and Gold Leaders from A New Hope. The characters were added into Rogue One's Battle of Scarif pretty seamlessly, leading many to wonder just how the hell Edwards was able to do it.

Turns out, the whole thing kind of started by accident. Edwards told RadioTimes that he came across some never-before-used footage while hanging out at Skywalker Ranch doing some research for the upcoming film.

"As we're walking around, and doing all the cool things and looking at the Millennium Falcon and trying on Han Solo's jacket and things like that, in the back at the bottom was all these cans of film," Edwards said. "And we said, 'What are they?' and they said, 'Oh, it's Star Wars.'"

Edwards was told the footage hadn't really been looked through in a while because it wasn't digitised, so he grabbed the negatives and pored through the footage himself. There, he found original negatives from A New Hope that included deleted scenes of the pilots, mainly from the Death Star attack at the end of the film. There was even an X-Wing call sign exchange that didn't make it into A New Hope.

Edwards figured out how to add the pilots' scenes into the script during the Scarif battle, so with the help of Industrial Light and Magic, Edwards digitally cut around the footage of the pilots and inserted the characters into the cockpits used in Rogue One. It's a really impressive feat, especially just for a few seconds of footage that could easily be done with new actors. Plus, it great to see these characters in action again, especially because they're killed during the Battle of Yavin.

Edwards said he didn't think that bringing Garven Dreis and Jon Vander back from the cinematic dead was something a lot of people would care about — but lo and behold, this is Star Wars we're talking about. We notice everything.

"At the world premiere in LA, there was this massive cheer at a particular point in the film," Edwards said, referencing the pilots' appearance. "It was the only time during the premiere where I actually punched the air."

[MIKA27]

Skiing Through These Ice Caves On A Glacier Looks Majestic

Watching Sam Favret ski through Mer de Glace makes me think that there probably aren't too many places in the world that are more fun to ski than the beautiful valley glacier. Located in the Mont-Blanc massif in the French Alps, there are all these narrow pathways to zip through with huge ice walls surrounding you, little mysterious ice caves to explore and makeshift ice halfpipes and ramps to pull tricks off of. Sure, crashing would hurt like hell, but the views are incredible.

 

[MIKA27]

Two Billion-Year-Old Water Found In Canadian Mine

Canadian geoscientists have uncovered water that dates back a whopping two billion years. It's the oldest water ever discovered on Earth, and it could broaden our understanding of how life emerged on our planet — and possibly elsewhere.

The University of Toronto researchers found the primordial water at a depth of 2.4km in Kidd Creek Mine, which is located in Timmins, Ontario. The team, co-led by geoscientist Oliver Warr, explained their findings at an American Geophysical Union meeting held earlier this week in San Francisco. These findings are set to appear in a future edition of the journal Nature.

Three years ago, these same researchers discovered 1.5 billion-year-old water in the same active copper, zinc and silver mine, but at a shallower depth. They decided to look deeper, finding pools of water that date back to a time when the Earth was just 2.5 billion years old. Incredibly, this ancient water was freely flowing, and not embedded within rock formations as some geoscientists had assumed.

The ancient water was literally gushing out from the rocks.

"When people think about this water they assume it must be some tiny amount of water trapped within the rock," said U of T geochemist Barbara Sherwood Lollar in a conversation with the BBC. "But in fact it's very much bubbling right up out at you. These things are flowing at rates of litres per minute — the volume of the water is much larger than anyone anticipated."

A chemical analysis of the water revealed traces of helium, argon, neon, krypton and xenon. These gases accumulate in the water over time, allowing the researchers to calculate its age. The water also contains trace metals and salt (about eight times the amount found in seawater). "It won't kill you if you drank it, but it would taste absolutely disgusting," noted Warr in a CBC article.

The researchers describe the water as an "interconnected fluid system" deep in the Canadian Shield that's billions of years old and capable of supporting life. "We are just slowly beginning to understand that in fact we are looking at a whole new hydrosphere on the planet," explained Lollar to the National Post. And indeed, several regions on Earth contain ancient isolated water in geological formations below the surface.

This is what two billion-year-old water looks like.

Further analysis of this old timey H2O could reveal new insights into the state of the Earth's atmosphere two billion years ago. Importantly, this water could also tell us something about how life might have once existed at these extreme depths, and the kind of life we might expect to find on alien planets.