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

[gweilgi]

49 minutes ago, MIKA27 said:

In the months since Logan's release, that early read of the film's energy has proven correct and the use of Cash's music has only become more brilliant in retrospect. Not only do Cash's vocals map perfectly onto the look and feel of the film, but the trailer itself strongly echoes the haunting original music video for "Hurt" from 2002:

 

Not to quibble, but "Hurt" is not a Johnnie Cash original.  It's a cover of the original 1995 song by the Nine Inch Nails.  A most excellent cover, but the NIN deserve their due!

[MIKA27]

1 hour ago, gweilgi said:

Not to quibble, but "Hurt" is not a Johnnie Cash original.  It's a cover of the original 1995 song by the Nine Inch Nails.  A most excellent cover, but the NIN deserve their due!

Not a quibble at all mate, its a fact, thanks for sharing.

And here it is;

 

[MIKA27]

The Witcher Is Getting A Netflix Series

The Witcher series is being turned into an English language Netflix drama by CG visual effects company Platige Image S.A..

The Witcher series was spawned by Polish novelist Andrzej Sapkowski and has spawned highly successful (and wonderful) video games.

"I'm thrilled that Netflix will be doing an adaptation of my stories, staying true to the source material and the themes that I have spent over thirty years writing," said Sapkowski, who will service as a creative consultant, in an official release. "I'm excited about our efforts together, as well as the team assembled to shepherd these characters to life."

The show will be executive produced by Sean Daniel (The Mummy franchise) and Jason Brown (The Expanse). The Oscar nominated visual effects studio Platige Image S.A. is doing the show, but the official release doesn't specifically state if it's CG animated or live-action — or a mix of the two. No stills have been released yet, either.

Previously, Platige Image S.A. has done cinematics for The Witcher games, which were directed by Tomasz Bagiński. He's also going to be one of the show's directors. Maybe that's a hint at what to expect?

 

 

[MIKA27]

The First Trailer For Star Trek: Discovery Is Here To Boldly Go To Beautiful New Worlds

After a brief tease this morning, CBS have just revealed our first full look at Star Trek: Discovery, giving us our best glimpse at what's to come in the future of Star Trek's past.

Revealed at the network's ongoing Upfronts presentation, the trailer marks the first footage from Discovery beyond the initial ship reveal back at San Diego Comic Con last year.

Set before the events of the original series, Discovery follows the crew of the titular Federation starship, helmed by Captain Lorca (Jason Isaacs), from the perspective of its First Officer, Michael Burnham (Sonequa Martin Green).

As well as a better look at the ship, we have glimpses of the new uniforms worn by a pre-Kirk Starfleet, a better look at the Discovery herself, and even a brief hint at the Klingons and Spock's father, Sarek. Star Trek: Discovery — which has also been announced as now having 15 episodes in its first season, up from 13, as well as an accompanying aftershow called Talking Trek — is expected to debut on Netflix this spring.

[MIKA27]

The Latest Transformers: The Last Knight Trailer Is All Explosions And Madness

A new trailer for the fifth Transformers movie is here, and boy... are many, many things happening in it. I'd say it contains a 60/40 per cent ratio of explosions to outright gibberish, which indicates to me that it may be the wildest Transformers movie since Dark of the Moon. Judge for yourself.

So without doing one of our big breakdowns, let's just break this down all simple-like. We have:

• Grimlock hanging around with Mark Wahlberg in a city dump
• Grimlock vomiting, continuing the franchise's theme of Michael Bay's love of robots having bodily fluids
• A bunch of weird robots that are 100 per cent not Transformers apparently determined to murder children
• Another robot which may be a Transformer but looks very humanoid and is freaking me out
• A robot endangering its passenger by forcibly ejecting her onto the pavement, instead of just letting her exit the door, purely to be a dick
• A Transformer probably hanging out with Merlin
• Movie Optimus Prime murdering a Transformer, as is his wont
• Bumblebee hilariously endangering his passenger, Mark Wahlberg, just to do something cool and violent
• Some kind of a giant beanbag cannon breaking through the ceiling of an abandoned apartment building to shoot the comic relief
• A bunch of generic evil military dudes — not to be confused with the generic good military dudes — murdering Bumblebee by shooting all his limbs off
• Bumblebee breaking the wafer-thin Transformers movie continuity by all his pieces magically reattaching so he can murder a bunch of generic evil military dudes

And remember, this still involves a bunch of Transformers hanging out in medieval England and fighting with King Arthur, which is something that somehow all of humanity and all of the Transformers seem to have forgotten.

I'd say this makes The Last Knight look like the new Michael Bay-iest thing I have ever seen, but let's not pretend Bay isn't going to be back for three more movies.

• 
   

 

[MIKA27]

In The First Trailer For The Crossing, Mysterious Migrants From A Future War Land In 2017 America

If the shot of hundreds of bodies floating to the shore of a small fishing town wasn't weird and creepy enough, what if they were the bodies of refugees fleeing from a terrible war in the future? That's the premise behind ABC America's new mystery series, The Crossing, and it looks pretty damn intriguing so far.

ABC America just dropped a bunch of new trailers for its autumn season premieres, and although there's not a hint of Marvel's Inhumans in sight, it did give us a look at Dan Dworkin and Jay Beattie's new sci-fi show. The network would really like you to think it's the next Lost.

Set in modern-day fishing town in Washington state, The Crossing is about the arrival of 47 survivors claiming to have escaped a horrifying war that begins 150 years in the future — and the strange dangers that come with them that threaten to kick off the war in 2017 instead. It's full of intriguing, and maybe even superpowered characters, if the leaping woman is anything to go by. It's sort of like The 4400, but somehow even more grim and depressing from the get-go.

The Crossing is set to begin in the US this autumn (spring in Australia). An Australian broadcaster has not been announced.

[Fuzz]

1 hour ago, MIKA27 said:

The First Trailer For Star Trek: Discovery Is Here To Boldly Go To Beautiful New Worlds

After a brief tease this morning, CBS have just revealed our first full look at Star Trek: Discovery, giving us our best glimpse at what's to come in the future of Star Trek's past.

Revealed at the network's ongoing Upfronts presentation, the trailer marks the first footage from Discovery beyond the initial ship reveal back at San Diego Comic Con last year.

Set before the events of the original series, Discovery follows the crew of the titular Federation starship, helmed by Captain Lorca (Jason Isaacs), from the perspective of its First Officer, Michael Burnham (Sonequa Martin Green).

As well as a better look at the ship, we have glimpses of the new uniforms worn by a pre-Kirk Starfleet, a better look at the Discovery herself, and even a brief hint at the Klingons and Spock's father, Sarek. Star Trek: Discovery — which has also been announced as now having 15 episodes in its first season, up from 13, as well as an accompanying aftershow called Talking Trek — is expected to debut on Netflix this spring.

That ship looks similar to the Vulcan IDIC symbol.

[MIKA27]

25 minutes ago, Fuzz said:

That ship looks similar to the Vulcan IDIC symbol.

Oooh Easter Egg

[MIKA27]

Mysterious Identity of Norway’s Isdal Woman May Be Solved

In 2017, we talk about stolen identities and mistaken identities. In 1970, the buzz all over Norway was about a missing identity. On November 29th of that year, the badly burned body of a woman was found by hikers in Isdalen Valley near Bergen. An intensive investigation involving police in many countries to determine her identity was hampered by roadblocks like the labels being removed from her clothing and the gruesome discovery that her fingerprints had been sanded off. Adding to the mystery was a coded notebook. Forty-seven years later, she is still known as the Isdal Woman … but that may not be for much longer. Norsk Rikskringkasting (NRK), the Norwegian government-owned radio and television public broadcasting company, is sponsoring DNA tests on long-forgotten tissue samples found last year. Will this finally identify the mysterious Isdal Woman? Will it determine if she committed suicide or was murdered? If it was murder, why and by whom?

The location where the body was found

According to extensive reports from the investigations, the corpse of the 30-to-40-year-old woman was found in an area known as Death Valley because it was a grimly popular spot for suicides since medieval times. The cause of death was burns and carbon monoxide poisoning and an autopsy found traces of up to 50 sleeping pills. The nude body and her clothing were described as being arranged in what could have been a ceremonial manner. Witnesses were found who had seen her alive but none could identify her. Two suitcases traced to her contained clothing and pill bottles with all labels and identifying marks removed. Only partial fingerprints were found but she was eventually linked to 13 names, all fake, and appeared to have traveled Europe extensively. The coded diary and burned passport suggested to some she was spy, possibly for the Soviet Union or Israel. She was given a Catholic burial in an unmarked grave in a zinc coffin to preserve her remains. 

Suitcases and prescription medicine with all identifications removed

Last year, her jaw and tissue samples from her lungs, heart, adrenal gland and ovaries were found in storage at the Haukeland University Hospital. Early analysis of the jaw shows 14 fillings and gold crowns, which were unusual in Norway. Isotopic examinations – like DNA tests, not available in 1970 – may pinpoint her country of birth. Researchers have determined that she had genes with European characteristics. Once the testing is done, the results will be compared to international DNA databases in hopes of finding a match to close relatives. As more data is determined, Interpol will be releasing it, along with past and possibly future sketches, to police departments and investigators worldwide.

The code was eventually broken to show places that she traveled

The final results will be released in a documentary by NRK, which is highly anticipated by Norwegians, says journalist Ståle Hansen.

Quote

In Norway, this case is a big enigma for people… there’s a lot of people who want some sort of closure in the case.

After hearing the details, we all do.

[MIKA27]

THE ULTIMATE GUIDE TO DAMASCUS STEEL

If you’ve dipped your toes into the world of everyday carry knives, there’s a pretty good chance that you’ve laid eyes on Damascus steel. You know, those beautiful blades with the wavy and seemingly patternless lines – like a topographical map of a mythical realm – that are nearly always attached to a rare knife handle and a rather high price tag? Yeah, that’s what we’re talking about.

If you’re anything like us, you’ve probably wondered a time or two what the deal is with this mysterious blade material. While not as ubiquitous as other steels, it still appears commonly enough to have piqued our curiosities – yet it is still rare enough that the knowledge of its history, benefits, and purpose are not what one might call pedestrian. In fact, we’ve come to realize that even some well-versed folks in the EDC community are not cued into the story. As such, we’ve taken it upon ourselves to do a bit of research and answer the begging question: What, exactly, is Damascus steel?

THE HISTORY OF DAMASCUS

The history of Damascus steel (Damask, alternatively) actually dates back centuries – as far as the 400s CE to be precise. And though, in one way or another, it derives its name from the Syrian capital city, the steel that Damascus is crafted from doesn’t come from Syria or the Middle East at all. In fact, it was imported from either India or Sri Lanka and wasn’t even called Damascus.

Wootz, so it’s called, is a crucible steel characterized by a series of bands (which resemble topography or waves of water) formed by the creation and/or inclusion of ferrite, martensite and/or pearlite in steel. Ferrite is a crystalline form of iron; martensite is a form of crystalline steel; and pearlite is a combination of ferrite and cementite (AKA iron carbide). It’s actually a bit more complicated than that, but what you need to know is this: Wootz steel is an impure form of steel. But, in this case, they are far from a draw back, as it is from impurities that this steel derives its legendary strength and appearance. But, we’ll get to that later.

There are thought to be two reasons why Wootz steel was referred to as Damascus here in the western world. First, many of the world-renowned Wootz steel swords used by Syrian warriors in ancient times were crafted in the city of Damascus, so it was easy to title them as such. And two, that it was called Damascus steel for its resemblance to Damask fabrics, which were – in turn – named after the Syrian capital. Although the material itself and the method of creating this type of blade steel is now considered a legendary part of history, the original technique behind its creation was actually lost sometime around the mid-1700s. There are a few theories as to why this happened – the breakdown of trade routes, a lack of documentation, or cultural suppression by western imperialism – but the fact remains: we no longer know how Damascus steel was traditionally created.

MODERN METHODS

The loss of the original technique hasn’t stopped people from trying to craft this legendary material, however. In fact, there are people who have dedicated their entire lives to trying to recreate or reverse engineer the stuff. It’s even considered a subfield beneath the larger study known as experimental archaeology – a field dedicated to approximating the technological feasibility of ancient cultural practices to gain a better understanding and deeper knowledge of said cultures. 

Now, There are two commonly used methods for approximating what we will continue to refer to as Damascus steel, billet welding and crucible replication.

Billet Welding: Pioneered by William F. Moran (a now-famous knife designer and the founder of the American Bladesmith Society) and introduced at the Knifemakers’ Guild Show in 1973 – this method is also known as pattern welding. The technique requires a knifesmith to take several different alloys of steel and/or iron, weld them together into a billet (a bar or cylinder of steel), and then work and fold that steel until it forms a desired patterned appearance. This version of steel is commonly (and erroneously) referred to as “Damascus.” Though it is a clever technique and can create both incredibly gorgeous and unbelievably strong blade alloys, it is not, in fact, the same technique originally used in ancient Syria.

Crucible Replication: There are a couple of different historical examples of Damascus steel crucible replication, though it is still impossible to say whether the methods are correct or not. In 1981, for example, an article was published in the New York Times stating that two Stanford metallurgists (by the names of Jeffrey Wadsworth and Oleg D. Sherby) had rediscovered the technique via the creation of a “superplastic” metal alloy. Using contemporary methods, these researchers claim to have almost exactly replicated the ancient Wootz-based steel. A similar technique was discovered and published in a 1998 article by J.D. Verhoeven, A.H. Pendray, and W.E. Dauksch titled “The Key Role of Impurities in Ancient Damascus Steel Blades.” Like we said, it’s hard to determine if they were, in fact, successful in their replication. It’s possible that one or both of these methods are correct. It’s also possible that they, too, are simply close enough. Whatever the case, this variety of Damascus probably more closely resembles the original than billet welded Damascus steel does.

PRESENT APPLICATIONS

What we know of as Damascus steel today is still widely used for the same applications as it was back in ancient times – namely in the creation of bladed tools. And that’s probably because the benefits of the material are also largely the same. If you are at all familiar with blade steels, you already understand the reasoning behind this. Those ‘impurities’ we mentioned earlier – the ferrite, martensite and/or pearlite – are spread throughout the layers of steel, imbuing it with a greater resistance to chipping and shattering and allowing an extreme edge to be honed across the blade.

There’s also a level of craftsmanship associated with this type of steel, because there is such an involved and difficult process to create it. So, if you find an EDC knife with a Damascus steel blade and it’s attached to a very high price tag, remember that’s not just because of the quality of the material (like the edge retention, strength, etc.but also because of all the work that went into creating the sometimes dozens of layers of tempered steel. For reference, a “Master Smith” Damascus (a rating offered by the American Bladesmith Society) is required to have at least 300 layers of folded steel.

The types of blades that are created with Damascus steel are also quite varied. It’s possible to find everything from small tactical fixed blades to ornate high-end pocket folders. It can even be found, fairly commonly, as a material used in the creation of specialty chef’s knives. But, just because Damascus steel is most commonly found in knives, it’s not relegated exclusively to that application. It can be crafted into literally anything that steel can be made into – including multi-tools, everyday carry pens, wallets… the possibilities are practically endless.

MARVEL OR MYTH?

While the original techniques will forever remain elusive, it doesn’t mean that modern varieties aren’t worth your time. In fact, it’s quite the opposite. Most of the products out there that boast “Damascus steel” in their construction are of extremely high quality – so long as they come from a reputable source. Much of that is because these brands and makers already have a reputation to uphold. Or because folks in the world of metallurgy are wont to share any space-changing breakthroughs in technique or technology. It can even be said that sub-par imposters are generally kept in check by the larger everyday carry community.

Still, it’s important that you stay as vigilant with Damascus steel as you would with any other knife blade steel or handle material, because unworthy offerings can still slip through the cracks. Do your research, trust the craftsmen that deserve it, and stay far far away from anything that seems too good to be true. And remember, even the original technique for crafting legendary Damascus steel was lost to history, there are still plenty of ingenious metal workers making magic in their forges.

 

 

[MIKA27]

Shake Shack: Recipes & Stories

Shake Shack needs no introduction, but the people behind Shake Shack: Recipes & Stories might. Randy Garutti is the CEO of Shake Shack. Mark Rosati is the Culinary Director of Shake Shack. Written by the two of them and renowned food author Dorothy Kalins, along with an introduction by Danny Meyer, Shake Shack: Recipes & Stories is part culinary blueprint for recreating Shack classics like ShackBurgers, crinkle-cut fries and frozen custard shakes at home and part well-spun yarn about what happens behind the scenes at the burger chain and how it got there. From chapters based on everything from Born in a Hot Dog Cart and Burger Bliss to The Art of the Opening and Chills & Thrills, Shake Shack: Recipes & Stories tackles everything that made Shake Shack the cultural phenomenon it is today. We’re willing to say that it’s a cookbook every man should own if for no reason other than to be able to recreate those favorites late at night when you can’t get your fix.

[MIKA27]

Chris Cornell's Last Tweet Shows Just How Surprising His Death Was Yesterday At 52

When a celebrity dies unexpectedly, there's a strange new ritual that fans partake in as we remember the person's contributions to our lives. We scour the internet for social media posts for a glimpse of their last moments. In the case of Chris Cornell, the lead singer for Soundgarden who died yesterday at the age of 52, we have his last tweet.

Chris Cornell: #Detroit finally back to Rock City!!!! @soundgarden #nomorebullshit 10:06 AM - 18 May 2017

 

The tweet was posted at 8:06PM ET (10:00AM AEST) and showed the marquee in Detroit just before his last show. At just 52-years-old, we assumed Cornell had a long life ahead. Brian Bumbery, a representative for Cornell, told the Associated Press that his death was "sudden and unexpected".

Local news in Detroit were reporting yesterday that it was a possible suicide:

Quote

 

Sources confirm to 7 Action News that Cornell died at MGM Grand Detroit following a show at Fox Theatre. Detroit police say it appears he died from a possible suicide.

Police say Cornell's wife called a family friend and asked him to check on his well-being. The friend forced opened the door and found Cornell on the bathroom floor, according to police. We're told Cornell was pronounced dead on the scene.

 

The medical examiner has since determined that Cornell's death was indeed suicide by hanging. If you or someone you know is thinking about or threatening suicide, please tell someone. The suicide hotline in Australia is Lifeline on 13 11 14. International numbers can be found here.

Aside from Cornell's own tweets, we also have the social media posts of fans who saw Cornell's last Soundgarden concert.

the show last night was amazing, man. rest easy, c...

[MIKA27]

The John Wick 2 Blu-Ray Has The Best Special Feature Ever

John Wick: Chapter 2 is out in cinemas at the moment. Sure, you should go and see it. But you should also buy the Blu-ray, because it has a special feature. The best special feature.
The Blu-ray release of John Wick: Chapter 2 includes one very special feature: Dog Wick, the Rocket Jump original short that we loved back in February.

It's a surprisingly funny inclusion from a film that — on the surface, at least — is all serious expressions and steely gazes. But at the same time, who doesn't want to watch a puppy running around shooting bad guys?

The John Wick 2 Blu-ray also has some other stuff, too, I guess:

• Deleted Scenes

 

• "RetroWick: Exploring the Unexpected Success of JOHN WICK" Featurette

 

• "Training John Wick" Featurette

 

• "WICK-vizzed'' Featurette

 

• "Friends, Confidantes: The Keanu/Chad Partnership" Featurette

 

• "As Above, So Below: The Underworld of JOHN WICK" Featurette

 

• "Car Fu Ridealong" Featurette

 

• "Beat Down: The Evolution of a Fight Scene" Featurette

 

• "Wick's Toolbox" Featurette

 

• "Kill Count" Featurette

 

• Audio Commentary with Keanu Reeves and director Chad Stahelski

I mean, I'll listen to the audio commentary once or twice, but guys. Dog Wick.

 

[MIKA27]

The Practical Effects In 'Alien: Covenant' Are Incredible

Adam Savage explores the techniques used to create the creatures - and the sets - on the latest film in the Alien franchise. This stuff is amazing, take a look.

 

[MIKA27]

Surprise, a Dark Crystal Prequel Series Is Coming To Netflix

The last time we heard anything about a prequel to Jim Henson's fantasy classic The Dark Crystal, it was in book form, not in Netflix original series form. But that has changed today, with the announcement of The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance. It will run 10 episodes and yes, there will be puppets.

TV Line reports that Louis Leterrier (Now You See Me, The Incredible Hulk, The Transporter) will direct and executive produce the series. Netflix's official description reveals this about the plot: "When three Gelfling discover the horrifying secret behind the Skeksis' power, they set out on an epic journey to ignite the fires of rebellion and save their world."

"Horrifying secret" implies there won't be any skimping on the scarier elements of the 1982 film, though this is aimed at a family audience. The fanciful characters will be brought to life with a mix of puppetry and CG, the latter of which will no doubt add a bit of polish to the original film's all-practical effects.

So far there's no word on when The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance will air other than "coming soon", but it sounds like a fairly labour-intensive endeavour so we wouldn't expect it to be too soon. We'll be keeping our all-seeing detachable eyeball on this one.

[MIKA27]

There Are No Plans In Place, But Kevin Feige Would Love The X-Men To Meet The Avengers

Five years ago, if you asked anyone if Spider-Man would ever appear in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, the answer would have been no. There was no way Sony was going to share Marvel's most popular superhero with Disney. But, miraculously, it happened. That leaves only a few major Marvel superheroes who aren't in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, most of which reside at 20th Century Fox. Of course, the X-Men are the biggest ones, including Wolverine, Deadpool and the rest, but there's also the Fantastic Four.

Speaking with us last month, Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige explained that even though Spider-Man: Homecoming is coming together well, that in no way changes how things are at Fox.

Quote

We're committed to including Spider-Man in our upcoming Avengers films and into producing the next Spider-Man film after that. Beyond that, we don't know. But no, there's no correlation between that and Fox. Fox is doing their own thing and having great success doing their own thing. And it was a very special set of circumstances and people behind the scenes that took all sorts of studio politics and egos, to put them aside, to do what everyone believed was best for the most important character for Sony and for Marvel.

However, that doesn't mean he doesn't want it to happen. Speaking with another site, Feige admitted he'd love to eventually get everyone under one roof.

Quote

My goal is to replicate the experience that comic book fans have reading the books up on the screen and we've been able to accomplish that beyond my wildest dreams over the last ten years. And certainly, including Spidey in Civil War, in the upcoming Infinity War, is yet another dream that I didn't even dare to talk about publicly because I thought the odds of it were very slim. So, no plans beyond that for the few remaining characters that aren't already in the MCU but never say never. Who knows what can happen in the future?

And, if you remember correctly, Wolverine fighting the Avengers would be the only scenario that could bring Hugh Jackman's portrayal of the character back from the dead.

[MIKA27]

Check Out The First English Trailer For The Manga-Turned-Live-Action Film, Blade Of The Immortal

We’d just been writing the other day about the fact that Hiroaki Samura’s manga to live-action adaptation of his Blade of the Immortal had scored an upcoming American release by way of Magnet Releasing (the genre division of Magnolia Pictures). Now we’re back on the topic once again, and this time it’s with the first English-language version of the trailer.

Sure, we know that many fans will prefer to stick with the original language with subtitles, but for others who might prefer their films in English, this one’s for you.

The story follows Manji, a highly skilled samurai, becomes cursed with immortality after a legendary battle. Haunted by the brutal murder of his sister, Manji knows that only fighting evil will regain his soul. He promises to help a young girl named Rin avenge her parents, who were killed by a group of master swordsmen led by ruthless warrior Anotsu. He can only be released from the curse by killing 100 evil men.

Blade also marks the 100th film by director Takashi Miike.

[MIKA27]

The Daring Laborers Who Sandblast Chernobyl’s Radioactive Metal

The explosion of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant blanketed a vast swath of the western Soviet Union with radioactive fallout. Thirty years later, 1,600 square miles of northern Ukraine and southern Belarus remains a wasteland except for the hardiest wildlife, a small holdout of elderly citizens, and industrial workers, some who roam the countryside scavenging radioactive metal. They dismantle the abandoned equipment, railroads and buildings that still stand, sandblasting away any irradiated material and consuming lots of vodka.

“There’s this belief that vodka cleans everything,” says Pierpaolo Mittica, who spent two months following the scavengers for his photo series The Radioactive Gold of Chernobyl.

Chernobyl blew on April 26, 1986 in a disaster that forced 200,000 people from their homes. Entire towns stand vacant in an exclusionary zone that extends up to 60 miles from the plant. Prospectors started pillaging the region for valuables, and by some estimates, they’ve retrieved at least one million tons of metal. The Ukrainian government eventually granted licenses to recycling companies, which decontaminate the scrap and sell it throughout Europe.

Some reports claim grinding radioactive metal can lead to cancer, while others say the risk of radiation is are low. “The extent of contamination of individual metal pieces will depend on their history,” says Neil Hyatt, an expert in radioactive waste management at the University of Sheffield. “For example, machinery that has been used to move nuclear fuel or core materials is likely to remain highly contaminated, whereas railroad tracks used to move contaminated materials would be expected to have much less residual contamination if any.”

Mittica has made a career of photographing environmental disasters, and has visited the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone 20 times since 2002. He learned of the recycling in 2015, when he met a metal worker. The fellow showed him around a factory that recycles 30 tons of metal each year. The workers earn not quite 300 euros each month cutting scrap metal into manageable sizes and sandblasting it. They use Gieger counters and mark any radioactive spots with chalk, then take another pass with the sandblaster. They ship the scoured metal to factories throughout Europe that melt it down and recycle it.

Although some of the workers shunned protective suits, Mittica wasn’t taking any chances. He donned a gas mask, and occasionally availed himself of the vodka. “Obviously to protect myself from radiation,” he says. Obviously.

More pictures:

[MIKA27]

Discommon Goods Unveils Their Lowball Sequel “The Pinch”

If you don’t remember the name Discommon Goods, they’ve produced everything from fantastic straight razors and an absurd watch wallet to a positively ridiculous Ferrari piston keychain and one of the best whiskey tumblers out there in the original Lowball tumbler. That original machined aluminum tumbler was so popular that it sold out in record time, which led the team to start work on the Lowball 2. After the perfect amount of maturation—like any good whiskey—the new Discommon Goods Lowball 2 is here for all your whiskey drinking needs. Dubbed “The Pinch” in reference to the surfaces pinching to sit ergonomically regardless of holding position, the new Lowball 2 uses a similar CNC process to create an hourglass interior and a gorgeous exterior out of aerospace grade aluminum. This time around, the tumbler has sections with multiple peaks and valleys that look almost hand-chiseled despite the fact they were created on a CNC machine and the “glass” is black on black on black. Get one before they sell out again.

[MIKA27]

Resident Evil Is Getting A Six-Movie Reboot

The Resident Evil movie franchise may have recently come out with The Final Chapter, but the curtain's not drawn on this series just yet. Variety is reporting that there are plans to make a six-movie reboot of the video game film series.

According to the report, Constantin Film board chairman Martin Moszkowicz confirmed at Cannes Film Festival that the German studio is developing a Resident Evil series reboot. Constantin Film, which has produced all the previous Resident Evil films, still owns rights to the franchise. According to Moszkowicz, the goal is to milk six movies out of the deal, which is the same number as the original series. While it might sound sudden, it's not really surprising they'd want to bring back this series. The original franchise brought in $US1.2 ($2)-billion worldwide, and it's the highest-grossing film series based on a video game.

The production company isn't revealing anything else at this time, including possible directors and stars, or how/if it would fit into the existing series canon. It doesn't seem likely that Paul W.S. Anderson, who wrote all six original films and directed four of them, would be involved this time around... especially since he's currently working on Monster Hunter. And if Anderson is out, that probably means Milla Jovovich would be out too, given their marriage and frequent work partnership. We'll keep you posted as we learn more.

MIKA: Just...let...it...die already!

I think this series went on about 5 movies too long, was mediocre at best.

[MIKA27]

Arnold Schwarzenegger Will Reteam With James Cameron For The Next Terminator Movie

Arnold Schwarzenegger has just announced he'll be starring in the next Terminator movie, which is not at all a big deal. It's definitely less exciting than the news from January that James Cameron would be regaining rights to the franchise he created, and was working on a new, possibly good Terminator film. But Cameron and Arnold, back together on Terminator? Yes, please.

Via Screen Daily:

Quote

 

Speaking to Screen in Cannes, [...] Schwarzenegger confirmed that he will star in a new Terminator film produced by James Cameron.

"It is back," commented Schwarzenegger, who revealed that he had met Cameron recently and discussed the project. "It is moving forward. He [Cameron] has some good ideas of how to continue with the franchise," the actor added, "I will be in the movie."

 

Well, I'm glad Cameron has some good ideas, as the series has been devoted to exploring increasingly terrible ideas ever since Cameron left. The last film, Genisys, was even worse than you'd think a film that intentionally misspelled "genesis" and "genisys" could be.

We'd heard that Cameron would be involved in the new Terminator movie, other than he was working with Deadpool director Tim Miller. We didn't know for sure Cameron's exact level of involvement, which could have ranged anywhere from directing the film to writing down a basic story idea on a cocktail napkin, and unfortunately the latter felt a bit more likely to me seeing as Cameron seems plenty busy working on those 80 Avatar sequels or whatever.

So the news he'll be producing the movie indicates he'll be significantly involved, which makes Schwarzenegger's return something potentially cool instead of shrug-worthy. Frankly, Schwarzenegger could come or go, as far as I'm concerned — Terminator films without Cameron have been bad at best, while Schwarzenegger has been zero guarantee of quality. Now at least the next Terminator film has a chance at not being awful.

[MIKA27]

Flat Earthers Won't Believe This News On Antarctica's Climate

The Arctic is the fastest-warming place on our overheated planet, but so far, its polar opposite has managed to stay pretty cool. Why is Antarctica warming so slowly compared with the Arctic? The answer is complicated, but a new study suggests we're overlooking a basic reality of geometry.

Parts of our round Earth are flat; others are rugged and mountainous. Antarctica is a diverse landscape of snow-covered mountains, gaping chasms, rivers, lakes and waterfalls, with the highest average elevation of any continent. Marc Salzmann, researcher at the Institute for Meteorology at the University of Leipzig, thinks that extra height helps explain why Antarctica is warming up slowly, while the Arctic sizzles away like an ice block in the summer sun.

"Originally, most people thought that the reason you have rapid ice melting in the Arctic is because the ice disappears and leaves a darker surface," Salzmann told Gizmodo. "That leads to stronger amplification of warming. But in recent years, it has turned out there are other effects causing strong warming in the Arctic. I wanted to find out why those effects don't play out so much in Antarctica."

To test the hypothesis that elevation may be buffering Antarctica from the heat of seven billion gas guzzling humans, Salzmann ran computer models of the landscape in a world with double the atmospheric carbon dioxide of the present. In one scenario, Antarctica was given its normal topography, in another, it was flatted out the way Shaq would want it to be. All else equal, his model runs showed that if the land height is reduced, temperatures respond more strongly to rising greenhouse gases.

"Antarctica warmed a lot more quickly when flattened out," Salzmann said, noting that the continent became "more comparable to the Arctic", but that land elevation couldn't completely explain the discrepancy between the two. Salzmann says that a flat Antarctica allows more advection of warm air from the tropics to sweep over the continent.

It's important to note that this is just one model that doesn't account for every factor, and plenty of other scientists have their own ideas for why Antarctica is responding slowly to global warming compared with the Arctic. Those ideas include deep ocean convection around Antarctica, the ratio of land to water, and perhaps, additional heat uptake in the Southern Ocean thanks to the ozone hole. (Nice job, humans.)

Ken Caldeira, a climate scientist at the Carnegie Institute for Science, told Gizmodo that Salzmann's mechanism "seems plausible" and "is almost certainly operative". His only question is how important it is.

"Another thing to note is that Antarctica being high means that more of the atmosphere is pushed to the rest of the planet," Caldeira said. "Because Antarctica is high, everyplace else has a little more greenhouse gas over it and thus a little more warming influence."

It's also worth emphasising that Antarctica is heating up, will continue to heat up, and that we should be worried about the consequences. The West Antarctic ice sheet's Amunden sea embayment, which contains enough frozen water to raise global sea levels by 1.2m, is already melting rapidly. Several years back, researchers at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory declared its eventual collapse "unstoppable".

Sometimes, the little things you'd never think of, like the reality of living on a lumpy ball, can have a big impact. So, too, can a few whiffs of invisible gas in the air.

[MIKA27]

'World's Hottest Chilli' Will Have You Breathing Fire, But It Won't Kill You

Not all chillies are created equal, and few are as unequal as the Dragon's Breath chilli — a new breed that may soon find itself atop the "world's hottest" throne. Forged by Wales horticulturalist Mike Smith, the red-orange, fingernail-sized fruit is the unintentional product of a trial of a new performance-boosting plant food developed by Nottingham Trent University. Smith says the ferocious fruit is the spiciest on the planet, just over 1.5 times as spicy as a Carolina reaper — the current record holder. That's pretty fiery, but despite what much of the media coverage of this new chilli has claimed, the Dragon's Breath is not lethally hot.

Smith had the chilli tested and claims it registers 2.48 million Scoville heat units (SHUs), which, if verified by the folks at Guinness, would be a world record for heat. But in case blinding agony isn't enough to dissuade a daredevil's heart, the Daily Post, which was first to report on the chilli, includes an even graver warning paraphrased from the university: "...it could potentially cause a type of anaphylactic shock for someone who eats it, burning the airways and closing them up." It didn't take long for the chilli's alleged lethality to dominate the news coverage, burning its way across the internet like actual dragon's breath.

As with all chilli, the Dragon's Breath chilli's extreme heat is mainly the result of capsaicin, which tricks sensory neurons into telling the brain that they are literally burning. Eat enough of it, and you can experience more serious effects, like vomiting, abdominal pain and yes, even death — but only at high enough doses. A study in mice found the minimum lethal dose of capsaicin is 100mg per kilogram of body weight. Since the average adult person weighs 58-81 kilograms, a fatal human dose would be between 5.8 and 8.1g, if we go off of the mouse numbers.

If, as Smith contends, the Dragon's Breath registers 2.48 million Scoville heat units, it'd be nearly one million SHUs more intense than the Carolina reaper, which averages 1.57 million. The Scoville scale is based on dilution: 1000 SHUs means that you have to dilute the extract from 1g of dried chilli 1000 times before you stop tasting the heat. Pure capsaicin registers a staggering 16 million SHUs. Scientists can convert between the amount of capsaicin per gram of dried chilli and SHUs; the Dragon's Breath's 2.48 million SHUs translates to 0.155g of capsaicin per gram of dried chilli. Since chillies are approximately 85 per cent water, that means there are 0.023g of capsaicin per gram of fresh Dragon's Breath.

So, to consume the minimum lethal dose of 5.8g of capsaicin, you'd have to eat nearly 250g of chilli. For an habanero-sized chilli, which look twice as large as the fruits Smith created, that would be about 25-30 chillies.

Realistically, it's probably impossible to breed a chilli so spicy that just one could kill you with its heat. That's because if we assume a chilli is around 10g in size (habanero to jalapeño-sized), more than half of its tissues by weight would have to be capsaicin — which doesn't leave a lot of room for the chilli's structural parts, let alone water (a Dragon's Breath chilli is approximately 2.3 per cent capsaicin). You could potentially create a lethal single chilli if you bred one that is far larger and much hotter at the same time. A strain twice as hot as a Dragon's Breath at the size of a capsicum would theoretically do it, but is not likely biologically feasible.

But what about that note about anaphylactic shock issued by the university? That's just a standard medical warning.

Anaphylactic shock occurs when allergic reactions go nuclear. There are tens of thousands of known allergens out there, any of which could potentially cause a life-threatening case of anaphylaxis in someone who is allergic. And yet, despite decades of study including injection trials, there are no published cases of capsaicin-induced anaphylaxis. Capsaicin and similar chemicals are being explored as a way of reducing allergic responses.

Chillies can carry other allergens, however. Spice allergies, including those to chilli-derived paprika and cayenne, do exist, but they are rare and due to pollen-like compounds, not capsaicin. There have also been severe allergic reactions to capsicums, all of which means that doctors can't rule out the possibility that someone could have an allergic reaction to the Dragon's Breath. Similar warnings are common for any drug or supplement where anyone has had a serious reaction, including Advil and Aspirin.

In the end, the only people who have to worry about anaphylaxis from Dragon's Breath are those who are already allergic to chillies or chilli-derived spices of any kind, and they have as much to fear from a jalapeño as they do from this new one. Smith, for his part, believes the Dragon's Breath may wind up serving a beneficial medical purpose, as the potent oils from its flesh could be used as anaesthetic.

So chilliheads out there — with their iron stomachs and appetite for pain — can rejoice in knowing that the Dragon's Breath is not especially lethal. Not that they will get their chance to experience the cripplingly-hot flesh of this chilli any time soon. The only way to see the chillies for now is to attend the Royal Horticultural Society's Chelsea Flower Show in the UK next week, where Smith will be displaying his prized creation.

[MIKA27]

The Venom Movie Has Chosen Its Star/Symbiote Host: Tom Hardy

Variety is reporting that Tom Hardy, who played Bane in Christopher Nolan's The Dark Knight Rises, will next play another iconic comic book villain, Venom. The frequent Spider-Man villain is getting his own film next year, which will be directed by Ruben Fleischer, who made Zombieland.

A few months back, Sony surprised movie fans everywhere by putting a Venom movie on their release schedule. Rumours of a film based on the character had been going around for years but, once Spider-Man started being shared with Marvel Studios, they sort of went away.

With Hardy and Fleischer now aboard, Venom will lead what's expected to be Sony's own unique sliver of the Marvel universe — one that will feature other famous Spider-Man rogues, and may include a Black Cat and Silver Sable film. No one knows if these villain films will crossover, or just tell one-off comic book stories; what is almost certain, however, is that Spider-Man won't be part of them.

Sony confirmed the news on their Twitter:

Tom Hardy is Eddie Brock in #Venom, the upcoming film from Sony’s Marvel Universe releasing October 5, 2018 – production starts this fall.

Venom is scheduled for release in the US 5 October 2018.

[MIKA27]

Trintec aviator watch

Trintec makes aviation focused watches, they were the first watchmakers to produce and sell an aviation inspired watch which featured the design elements of an aircraft altimeter. Yes, way before Bell & Ross. Inspired by vintage aircraft clocks from the WWII era through the late 70s, many of these clocks can still be found working in aircraft cockpits today. The primary design objective of these sleek timepieces was to retain as many of the design characteristics of the original aircraft clocks as possible, and to transform the design elements into a very unique and functional aviation inspired wrist watch.