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

[MIKA27]

CHICAGO’S GANGLAND MAP – CIRCA 1927

The Chicago Gangland Map was created by Frederic M. Thrasher in 1927, it’s based on 3 years of research between 1923 and 1926 documenting 1,313 active gangs in the Chicago area for his book “The Gang: A Study of 1,313 Gangs in Chicago“.

Thrasher was a sociologist at the University of Chicago and his ability to document not only the territory of hundreds of gangs but also their clubrooms is a testament to his thoroughness (and bravery).

“No less than 1,313 gangs have been discovered in Chicago and its environs! Their distribution as shown on the accompanying map makes it possible to visualize the typical areas of gangland and to indicate their place in the life and organization of Chicago.” – Frederic M. Thrasher

The map has been digitised by the team at Cornell University, at a staggeringly high resolution of 5564px wide and 8037px high (and 300 DPI). Although we haven’t been able to find anyone offering posters of the map for purchase – the resolution and DPI mean it wouldn’t be hard to get your own made, which is allowable for non-commercial purposes under the map’s copyright license which can be read here.

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28 minutes ago, MIKA27 said:

Cowboy Bebop Is Getting An American, Live-Action TV Series

You like bounty hunters? You like space? Take a seat, friend, because I've got some good news for you. A live action adaptation of Sunrise's Cowboy Bebop anime is in the works. Prepare yourself.

According to Deadline, Marty Adelstein's Tomorrow studios is partnering with Midnight Radio to produce Cowboy Bebop for television with the blessing of Sunrise, the studio responsible for the original series. In a public statement, Adelstein expressed his excitement at developing the adaptation for American audiences.

"The animated version has long resonated with audiences worldwide," Adelstein said. "With the continued, ever growing, popularity of anime, we believe a live action version will have an incredible impact today."

In the original Cowboy Bebop series that ran for 26 episodes and concluded in 1999, humans have fled an uninhabitable Earth in favour of various colonised planets where groups of bounty hunters make a living tracking down rogue criminals. The series chronicles the adventures of the Bebop, a ship piloted by one Spike Spiegel (a con artist), his partner Jet Black (a former police officer), Faye Valentine (a con artist dealing with amnesia), Ed Wong (a prodigy hacker), and their dog Ein, a superhumanly intelligent corgi.

While Cowboy Bebop has some of the most gorgeous animation you'll ever see, it's the series' soundtrack that people most often bring up in their celebration of it. It will make a jazz fan out of you.

No news about casting or production has been announced as of yet. For now, you'll have to spend your time debating whether or not this adaptation is actually a good idea (could be) and who you want to see as Spike (Keanu, obviously).

 

Oh hell no! Hollywood has already stuffed up Ghost In The Shell, why ruin another perfectly good anime?

Taking a look at past adaptations, they should just leave it alone.

1991 - The Guyver

1995 - Fist of the North Star

2001 - Witchblade

2008 - Speed Racer

2009 -  Dragon Ball: Evolution

2013 - Oldboy

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How Fake Science Saved Lives In Victorian London

Fake health news can feel like an epidemic these days, but it was also rampant during the Victorian era, when bodily ailments were often a matter of life or death. But unlike the questionable remedies you may be familiar with — vaginal steaming for your cramps, or a float tank to chill your anxiety out? — some of the bogus ideas about wellness cultivated in 19th century England actually helped save lives, by bringing public health issues to the forefront.

Louis Pasteur, also known as "the father of microbiology", didn't prove that germs even existed until the early 1860s with his "meat-in-a-jar" experiments, and it wasn't until 1879 that a German doctor, Robert Koch, linked specific bacteria to specific diseases. Once these basics were proven, the knowledge piled up quickly; by 1884, typhoid, tuberculosis, cholera, dysentery, malaria, tetanus, pneumonia and other common bacterial illnesses were connected to their unique microbes.

Cholera "Tramples the victors & the vanquished both". Robert Seymour, 1831.

Before that, health advice was a mixed bag of the silly (leave a bowl of water out to cleanse the air of "carbonic acid") and the just-plain-wrong: The popular health manual Domestic Medicine suggested washing one's body in order to make sure that pores were unblocked: Dirty skin disallowed perspiration, sending toxins deep into the body where they produced illness. (None of this is true, as anyone who has sweated through a layer of dust and dirt on a backpacking trip can tell you — but the false idea of "detoxing" via sweating has stuck around.)

The most spectacularly incorrect Victorian health idea was the belief that the aromatic assaults of city life weren't just unpleasant, they were dangerous. Smells could kill via miasma, which caused disease. Author Lee Jackson, who wrote the disgustingly interesting book Dirty Old London, defined miasma for me as "a foul smell, particularly the stench of rotting matter".

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The most spectacularly incorrect Victorian health idea was the belief that the aromatic assaults of city life weren't just unpleasant, they were dangerous.

And that reeking, composting stuff? It was everywhere, and predictably, worst in the cities, especially the rapidly-growing metropolis of London. Chief among those odours was the stench of urea from men peeing everywhere (there were no public bathrooms, a fact which meant women did not stay away from home long, as very few women would condescend to micturate in the street). Other delightful notes in the urban aromatic profile came from "pigstyes", garbage heaps of household waste on side streets that contained "cinders, bones, oyster-shells… decaying vegetable matter, putrefying fish, or a dead and decomposing kitten," according to Jackson's book.

Then there were the backyard cesspools filled with human excrement — yes, even well-to-do households had these, which were serviced by "night-soil men" who scooped the waste out in buckets, and sloshed through city streets with the human manure under the cover of darkness. Poorer families shared an often-overflowing cesspool that might be mucked out occasionally, depending on their landlord's whims. There were no city regulations about how these cesspools were built, but their considerable fetor was the least of the problem: In London "the subsoil was becoming saturated with human detritus, and it began seeping through the earth to pollute the groundwater that fed the wells," writes Ruth Goodman, a voluble DIY historian who has lived as a Victorian herself, and told the tale in the bestseller, How to Be a Victorian.

Vinaigrettes like this one (1701-1800) would hold strong-smelling items like a vinegar-soaked sponge for sniffing in smelly areas of the city to "prevent" disease.

And if you think it can't get worse than raw sewage, how about putrefying dead bodies? In cities, graveyards were more like decomposing grounds, where bodies might be buried temporarily, depending on demand. In the small graveyards, most amidst neighbourhoods, newly dead would be buried on top of the older dead — sometimes the old bones were removed and stored in bone (or charnel) houses to make more room. Spa Fields, a popular burial ground, was "absolutely saturated with dead" by the 1830s. "London's small churchyards were so ridiculously full, that decaying corpses were near to the top soil; 'graveyard gases' were a familiar aroma. In fact, gases from corpses are relatively harmless," wrote Jackson in an email, but the smell of death was terrifying for many nonetheless.

Considering the horrors you'd smell on your daily walks in London, it's understandable that the Victorians, surrounded by diseases with no cure like typhoid, cholera and tuberculosis, would be taken in by charlatan cures. A clean-up, by way of sewerage, cemeteries (an idea pioneered by the French to move dead bodies to the verdant, peaceful countryside for eternal rest — and quickly adopted by the English), public toilets, washhouses, and piped in water rather than wells dug next to cesspools, all reduced miasma. And with the smell, disease subsided, giving Victorian public officials all the proof they needed to keep adding utilities — which they continued to do apace, and for which they are now remembered as the inventors of "sanitary science".

All that smart sanitation was based on the mistaken science of miasma. The health beliefs of influential figures such as Edwin Chadwick, who championed the "sanitary cause" in the 1840s and tirelessly argued that "all smell is disease", led to very real improvements in public health for the lucky Victorians.

"It was an appealing idea — not least because the slums, where epidemics raged, stank. The building of a unified network of sewers in the 1850s-70s undoubtedly saved London from further epidemics of cholera and typhoid. It was done on grounds of 'miasma' but, regardless, the consequences were very positive," said Jackson.

Belief in miasma was problematic in other ways, however. For instance, it was not only believed that miasma caused disease, but that the type of illness one procured had to do with one's moral sensibilities and bad habits. It wouldn't be Victoriana without a little victim-blaming, would it?

Image: Robert Seymour Robert, 1798-1836 via The National Library of Medicine.

"According to the old theory, the same evil miasma could be expressed in one individual as a lung disease and another as a stomach complaint, depending on their constitution and circumstances," writes Goodman. The idea that somehow a disease stems from our mind-set, or can be cured by thinking positively, persists even today, despite being roundly disproved.

Indeed, a striking similarity between the Victorian era and modern times is that incorrect health ideas didn't die easily."Even once we did know the truth about disease vectors, the unpalatable truth is that there wasn't a linear 'march of progress' during the Victorian era, and even the great scientific advances — such as John Snow's discovery that cholera was water-borne — had little practical impact. Sewers, in particular, were built because of a fear of 'miasma', not because of Snow's breakthrough," said Jackson.

Today, fake science usually means ineffective treatment, or worse — it causes death. But in at least one case in the Victorian era, it actually saved lives, and ushered a new era of sanitary living that most of us are a part of today.

[MIKA27]

Incredible Discovery Pushes Back Origin Of Homo Sapiens By 100,000 Years

The remains of five early Homo sapiens have been unearthed at a site in northwest Africa. At around 300,000 years old, the fossils are a whopping 100,000 years older than the previous record, pushing back the origin of our species by a significant margin. And because the fossils were uncovered in Morocco — far from the supposed origin point of our species — the discovery is also resetting our notions of where and how modern humans evolved.

The origin of our species is shrouded in mystery owing to the poor fossil record and a complete dearth of genetic evidence. The surprising discovery of the fossilised remains of five early humans at a site in Jebel Irhoud, Morocco — along with evidence of stone tools, animal bones, and use of fire — is adding an important piece to this frustratingly incomplete archaeological puzzle. As this discovery shows, our species, known in the scientific nomenclature as Homo sapiens, has been around for a lot longer than we realised — a hundred thousand years longer, to be precise. We can now say, with reasonable confidence, that the species to which you and I belong to emerged in Africa around 300,000 years ago. It's conceivable, of course, that archaeologists may find older specimens in the future, but this is now the upper band for the start date of H. sapiens. 

What's more, our species didn't originate from a confined area of Africa, but rather, across the entire continent. As study co-author Jean-Jacques Hublin of the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology explained at a press conference yesterday, "There is no Garden of Eden in Africa, because the Garden of Eden is Africa." Early bipedal hominids from which we're descended may have emerged from the African interior, but the evolutionary drivers that created H. sapiens were in place across the entire continent, and in northwest Africa in particular. These conclusions now appear in two separate studies, both published today in the science journal Nature. In the first paper, the scientists describe the fossils found at the site; in the second, they analyse and date the stone tools.

Before this new discovery, the oldest known samples of H. sapiens were uncovered in Ethiopia, and dated to between 150,000 to 200,000 years old. Strangely, however, Neanderthals and "archaic" Homo sapiens (that is, humans that immediately pre-date H. sapiens, and who lived between 300,000 and 150,000 years ago) diverged from a common ancestor around 500,000 to 600,000 years ago. The lack of fossil evidence prior to 200,000 years ago led some scientists to theorise that H. sapiens must have emerged rather suddenly, likely from a predecessor species known as Homo heidelbergensis. (As an aside, any hominid with the word "Homo" in front of it is considered a human).

Two views of a skull found at the Irhoud site.

This new discovery, which shows that an early version of H. sapiens was hanging out in northwest Africa some 300,000 years ago, now challenges this "rapid emergence" theory. After diverging from a common ancestor, a group of archaic H. sapiens spread across Africa, gradually acquiring the traits that would eventually come to characterise our species.

To reach this conclusion, the authors of the new study combined new and old fossil evidence. Back in the 1960s, human fossils were found at the same site in Jebel Irhoud alongside some animal bones. The fossils were originally dated at around 40,000 years old, and the remains were thought to be some form of African Neanderthal. Unsatisfied with this interpretation, researchers from the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology and the National Institute for Archaeology and Heritage in Morocco decided to renew the investigation, which involved new excavations at the Moroccan site. This led to the discovery of the partial skeletal remains of five individuals — three adults, one adolescent and one child — along with stone tools, animal bones, and signs of fire use. The archaeologists had stumbled upon an ancient cave used by early humans to process and consume animal meat, primarily gazelles and zebras. And yes, the original archaeologists missed these five specimens — but in all fairness, the digs were in-and-around a mine, which is now a giant quarry.

Using a technique known as thermoluminescence, the researchers dated the objects uncovered at the site to between 300,000 and 350,000 years old, and used the stone tools to date the fossils found in and among these artefacts. It's now considered the oldest evidence ever found of the earliest members of the H. sapiens lineage.

Some of the Middle Stone Age tools found at the site. 

Importantly, this discovery shifts the geographical origin of our species away from the interior parts of Africa. Hundreds of thousands of years ago, the Sahara was filled with forests and vast plains, making it possible for early hominids to traverse northward towards what is now Morocco. In the case of these early H. sapiens, they were likely following herds of gazelles as they migrated across Africa, evolving new cognitive skills along the way — cognitive skills that enabled them to create more sophisticated tools and adopt complex social behaviours. By spreading across most of Africa, these hominids acquired the very traits have come to define our species.

Curtis W. Marean, an expert on human origins at Arizona State University who wasn't involved with the study, says the new discovery is important, and not entirely surprising.

"The previous age estimate on the Jebel Irhoud hominin never made sense, for two reasons," he told Gizmodo. "First, the morphology was too primitive for the relatively young age, and second... evidence... suggested that the Maghreb was abandoned during a time when it was almost certainly very arid. So this older age makes a lot of sense. I am happy to see this team solve this problem."

Marean says the fossils bear a striking resemblance to a distinctly human-like skull, called the Florisbad skull, discovered in South Africa back in 1932. "The similarity to [this] specimen suggests that at this time there was a pan-African population that perhaps was the same species," he said. "This is important to know, but perhaps not unexpected."

An almost complete mandible of an ancient adult H. sapiens.

It's important to point out that the term "Homo sapiens" is not analogous to the term "modern humans". The ancient humans found in Morocco were slightly different than humans who are alive today, but these difference weren't significant enough for the researchers to slot them into a separate species, or to brand them as yet another band of archaic H. sapiens. By making micro computed tomographic scans of the fossils, the researchers detected some primitive features, such as a longer, lower braincase, strong brow ridges and a large face. But they also had delicate cheekbones, a distinctly modern-looking face, and teeth and jawbones that were virtually identical to H. sapiens. As Jean-Jacques Hublin pointed out at the press conference, "these people wouldn't stand out if we were to meet them in the street."

Archaeologist Chris Stringer from the Natural History Museum of London, who wasn't involved in the study, says archaeologists and anthropologists should adopt a broad definition of Homo sapiens — but he didn't always feel that way.

"I used to argue that 'anatomically modern humans' — including fossils that essentially look like us today — are the only group that should be called Homo sapiens," he explained to Gizmodo in an email. "Now, I think that anatomically modern humans are only a sub-group within the species Homo sapiens, and that we should recognise the diversity of forms within early Homo sapiens, some of which probably went extinct."

Indeed, many different groups of humans existed around this time, but it was Homo sapiens who eventually prevailed, spreading out of Africa some time between 60,000 to 70,000 years ago, and then spreading further still into Asia, Australia, and North and South America. Our species is all that's left of the various hominid evolutionary "experiments" that transpired for hundreds of thousands of years across much of Africa, and to a certain extent in Europe.

But as these new studies show, the defining aspects of our species emerged as the result of our need to move beyond our confines and constraints. How truly human.

 

 

 

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CHANGI AIRPORT UNVEILS THE MOTHER OF ALL INDOOR WATERFALLS

Anyone who has ever set foot inside Singapore’s Changi Airport will tell you that it’s more of a quasi-themepark of fun (unless you’re carrying narcotics) than a facility built for international transit. 

Adding to its already formidable list of leisure attractions which includes a shopping precinct, a butterfly garden, cinemas, a swimming pool and a hotel, Changi Airport will soon be welcoming the mother of all indoor waterfalls within its polished walls. The Jewel complex which is due for completion in 2019 will house a 40 metre indoor waterfall named the Rain Vortex – officially the world’s tallest indoor waterfall. 

The stunning visual feature will form part a striking architectural glass dome and span across multiple levels in Terminal 1 as part of the complex’s $1.63 billion price tag. Inside the climate-controlled dome will also be a five level garden to complement the water feature which recycles rain water collected from the dome’s roof. Come dusk and there’ll even be a light and sound show projected onto the waterfall for a dazzling display that’s sure to cause a many missed flights. 

For those who don’t fear heights, there’s a 50 metre bridge with transparent glass flooring which spans across the Rain Vortex so that you can Instagram until your heart’s content. Failing all of that, the Jewel will boast 300 shops complete with dining and beverage stops.

The Jewel is designed by the team from Moshe Safdie who were also responsible for the now iconic Marina Bay Sands. 

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SPECIAL EDITION RETRO VW FRIDGE

We’re not entirely sure if Slovenian kitchen appliance company Gorenje is actively trying to capitalize on this whole vanlife thing, or if they genuinely just have an affinity for Volkswagen. Either way, we love their new special edition VW fridge.

While this kitchen appliance may take design cues from the mid-century, there is nothing that is old about the technology packed into it. Thanks to the use of IonAire technology and DynamiCooling, it’ll keep all of your food totally cool and preserved. Not only that, but thanks to its high energy efficiency rating, you’ll also end up saving a bundle when it comes to utilities. Given that the VW camper van was largely co-opted by the hippy movement in the 1960s and ’70s, this is more than fitting. And when it comes to fitting – due to the more than ample capacity of 260 liters you won’t have trouble stuffing the weeks groceries into this retro beauty.

 

 

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1953 DISNEYLAND PRESENTATION MAP

Like many grand ideas, Disneyland needed outside funding to get started. In the '50s, however, you couldn't just render your idea and post it on a website. You needed to make your pitch artwork by hand. Which is exactly what Walt Disney and artist Herb Ryman did, inking a piece of vellum with a vision of what would become The Happiest Place On Earth. Vellum doesn't travel well, however, so they transferred and then hand-colored the drawing onto the piece you see here. This 1953 Disneyland Presentation Map was carried by Roy Disney to New York and used in his pitch that secured the funding for the park. It's visible in the background of several photographs of Walt from that era and was eventually given to his friend Grenade Curran, who kept it out of public view for the last sixty years. It has since re-emerged and will be auctioned off by Van Eaton Galleries on June 25th. BID NOW

[MIKA27]

SIERRA NEVADA HOPTIMUM TRIPLE IPA

Back in 2011, Sierra Nevada introduced Hoptimum to the masses, and it quickly rose in the ranks among the best triple IPAs on the market. Six years later, the brewers have re-imagined this hophead favorite with a new recipe and label. Sierra Nevada says the new Hoptimum Triple IPA is their hoppiest beer to date and is packed with Simcoe, Citra, and Chinook hops. This annual release is available in 4-packs of 12-ounce bottles on store shelves at 9.6% ABV.

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MAGNUM SQUARE PRINTS

Magnum's archive of prints includes some of the most iconic images of the 20th century. Magnum Square Prints are an affordable way to bring some home. From the frontlines photography of Robert Capa to Eve Arnold's intimate portraits of Marilyn Monroe, the images span a broad range of styles and subjects, yet each stands alone as a work of art. Printed on Fuji Crystal Archive Matte paper, each museum-quality 6"x6" print comes signed and estate numbered, and is available on its own, or encased in a white or black frame custom made in NYC. A box set of all 78 prints is also available.

[MIKA27]

We Have More Details About Stranger Things' New Monster

The last few days have revealed a number of details about the monster we saw menacing Hawkins in the season two Stranger Things trailer — including what sounds like the ominous name the cast used for it on the set.

This week has already had somewhat contradictory messages about how the monster will show up in season two. Co-showrunner Ross Duffer told Variety that "Hiding the monsters can be more effective than seeing them, so restraint can be a good thing". And yet, at an event on Wednesday, Duffer was quoted as saying, "Last season, a lot of the horror and a lot of what was happening with Will was off-screen in the Upside Down. That's not the case [in season two]. The horror is more up-close and personal." This was interpreted by some as meaning we'll see the monster a lot more in season two than season one, but it could also mean we're going to see the effects of the horror on the characters more. Time will tell.

TV Guide got a few more details out of the cast: Finn Wolfhard (Mike) said, "The Shadow Monster, the new one, the big one in the sky, that was crazy for us." This seems to be what the cast and crew were calling it on set — but is that its real name, or just a codename the show is using to keep people off track?

Either way, the name is interesting, because when the kids resume their Dungeons & Dragons game in the season one finale, they're fighting a Thessalhydra. Since the D&D game earlier in season one had the kids fight a Demogorgon, which then went on to be the the season's monster, it was assumed that season two's monster would follow the same convention.

However, we've seen the new monster twice, once in Will's drawing:

And then alive in the trailer:

This thing only somewhat appears like a Thessalhydra, assuming all those tendrils are the creature's many necks. But visually, that seems like a stretch, even if the creature is half-hidden in the mists (it's worth noting that in D&D lore, the Thessalhydra does not have any sort of shadow powers). Plus, Will's drawing seems to very clearly give it only one head.

Perhaps the most likely scenario is that the Shadow Monster and the Thessalhydra will show up in season two to menace the inhabitants of Hawkins. Producer Shawn Levy told TV Guide, "It was clear that we're no longer in the world of a single Demogorgon threat. The threats are more varied, and definitely darker and more menacing."

 

[MIKA27]

SCIENTISTS HAVE DISCOVERED A NEW WAY TO DETECT FAKE WHISKY

2017 has brought ‘fake news’ to the world and now sceptics can also add fake whisky to that list. 

Scientists from Germany have developed an ‘artificial tongue’ which can help novice drinkers determine the difference between a Scottish malt whisky and a Japanese blend. This so-called ‘artificial tongue’ is a series of glowing dyes which have been engineered to react with a unique fluorescent signature when it encounters different trace flavours and chemicals used in whiskies.

In other words, a novice can literally possess the skills of a professional whisky taster without requiring years to develop their palette. Dr. Uwe Bunz at Heidelberg University, Germany who headed the study suggested to Newscientist that their magic glowing liquids could even detect fake whiskies. 

“If you buy a crate of expensive whiskies, you can test if they are actually what you think they are.”

As a new technology the ‘artificial tongue’ could potentially change the whisky industry which has seen a meteoric rise in recent years. The only downside? Whisky lovers will need to sacrifice a single drop of their prized liquid gold to determine if they’re counterfeit or not. 

“You need to mix a drop of whisky with each polymer separately to obtain a useful signal,” he told the Daily Mail. “That is not an issue as we only need three different polymers. This could be used to look for counterfeit whiskies both on the mass market end and also at the super-high end.”

However, the reaction from professional tasters has been lukewarm. Leonardo Ciaccheri of the Italian National Research Council told Newscientist that the synthetic tongue needs to be exposed to many more whiskies in order to be reliable. 

The results from researchers showed that the dyes could distinguish between a Bowmore from a Poit Dhubh, but that still isn’t precise enough according to Ciaccheri.  

“One is a single malt and the other is blended,” told the publication. Instead Ciaccheri believes that the researchers need to try both single malt and blended whiskies from the same distillery. 

Bunz isn’t slowing down for anyone though. He’s already onto developing a synthetic tongue for tasting red wine. In the mean time the need for counterfeit whisky measures will continue to grow as prices skyrocket to as high as US$600,000 for a Japanese collection that recently went to auction.

[MIKA27]

NASA’s Mars Rover Looks Exactly As a Space Car Should

It’s not inconceivable that we’ll get humans on Mars within our lifetime, so we better have some cool cars waiting for us when we get there. Judging from NASA’s recently unveiled Mars rover concept, we don’t have to worry. The angular design is the perfect melding of what the 1950s thought space travel would look like and what will actually work according to NASA scientists. The dark color scheme is a nice touch, as most of what we think of for space travel is white or slightly off-white and we’re glad to see some variety. On Earth, the rover can reach highway speeds, which, through complicated math we don’t understand, translates to roughly 15 mph on the Martian surface. It’s an enormous vehicle too, coming in at 28 feet long, 14 feet wide, and 11 feet tall, so initial human exploration of Mars is going to be done in what’s pretty much a space tank. Finally, this isn’t just a design concept. The announcement saw the rover actually drive to its display rather than pop out from behind a curtain or something.

 

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Richard Hammond Crashes A $3.5M Electric Car, Escapes Serious Injury

"Richard Hammond was involved in a serious crash after completing the Hemburg Hill Climb in Switzerland in a Rimac Concept One, an electric super car built in Croatia, during filming for The Grand Tour Season 2 on Amazon Prime, but very, fortunately, suffered no serious injury," a spokesperson for The Grand Tour said.

"Richard was conscious and talking, and climbed out of the car himself before the vehicle burst into flames. He was flown by Air Ambulance to hospital in St Gallen to be checked over revealing a fracture to his knee," the spokeperson confirmed.

"Nobody else was in the car or involved in the accident, and we'd like to thank the paramedics on site for their swift response. The cause of the crash is unknown and is being investigated."

The crash occurred on the 11 July.

[MIKA27]

The First Black Panther Teaser Trailer Is Here And It's Epic As Hell

 

After making us wait for literally years in feverish anticipation, Marvel has finally released the first Black Panther teaser trailer, and it's every bit as intense as you were hoping it would be.

As secretive and notoriously isolationist as Wakanda has always been, nearly everybody knows about it in Marvel's comics universe. The Black Panther trailer, though, opens with Everett K. Ross (Martin Freeman) being schooled by a captured Ulysses Klaw (Andy Serkis) about how little the world knows about the mysterious country.

The "textiles, shepherds and cool outfits" that everyone seems to associate with Wakanda, Klaw laughs, are all a front hiding the truth that no one's ever made it out of Wanda (alive) to expose.

"Explorers have searched for it. Called it El Dorado," Klaw explains. "They looked for it in South America, but it was in Africa the whole time."

From there, the rest of the trailer sets up some of Black Panther's larger plot elements like the fact that the world as a whole is changing as more of Wakanda's riches are exposed. Within Wakanda itself, T'Challa's seemingly faced with Erik Killmonger staging an insurrection against the royal family. Also, multiple squads of Dora Milaje are present in nearly every single shot where they steal. The. Damn. Show.

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Humans Heading To Mars Could Face A Disturbingly High Cancer Risk

Practically everyone who likes space and has lots of money is trying to get to Mars in the near future. But before anyone reaches the Red Planet, there are plenty of concerns to mull over, most notably that our bodies were not built to live in a barren litter box with a thin atmosphere. But the journey to Mars is an equal concern. An unnerving new study suggests that the trip to Mars could put passengers at a higher risk to develop cancer — possibly two times greater than what experts previously thought.

The research, led by Frank Cucinotta — a professor in department of health physics and diagnostic sciences at the University of Nevada Las Vegas — asserts that current models of cancer risk from long duration spaceflight are incomplete. For context, astronauts in space are exposed to galactic cosmic rays while they're in space — after all, they don't have Earth's magnetosphere to protect them from harmful particles. These cosmic rays are concerning, since they can cause DNA damage and mutation, and obviously, the longer someone's in space, the more they're exposed to these particles. The team's work has been published in the May 2017 edition of Scientific Reports.

NASA's current risk models assert that radiation-based cancer mainly comes from cosmic rays messing with our DNA, but the team's new model suggests the reality could be far worse. After studying tumours in mice, the researchers believe that cells damaged by cosmic rays could actually impact other healthy cells around them, like a deadly domino effect.

"Galactic cosmic ray exposure can devastate a cell's nucleus and cause mutations that can result in cancers," Cucinotta explained in a statement. "We learned the damaged cells send signals to the surrounding, unaffected cells and likely modify the tissues' microenvironments. Those signals seem to inspire the healthy cells to mutate, thereby causing additional tumours or cancers."

Worst of all, spacesuits probably won't help much.

"Exploring Mars will require missions of 900 days or longer and includes more than one year in deep space where exposures to all energies of galactic cosmic ray heavy ions are unavoidable," Cucinotta said in a statement. "Current levels of radiation shielding would, at best, modestly decrease the exposure risks."

Clearly, more research will have to be conducted in order to confirm just how at-risk Martian explorers will be, and what can be done to protect them from cosmic rays (mice aren't humans, after all). But to add one last bummer layer of news, Mars has a super thin atmosphere — less than one per cent of Earth's — so it will expose people to even more radiation once they land. Hopefully, this all gets sorted out soon before the Martian colonies begin, because goddamn would that be disastrous.

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Go Inside James J. Fox, the World’s Oldest Cigar Store

James J. Fox is the world’s oldest cigar merchant, operating under the same name since it opened in Dublin in 1881 and moved to London in 1947. Their clientele includes movie stars, politicians, and regular people, with Winston Churchill being one of their London location’s most famous early customers. A small museum in the store commemorates important historical events in the cigar world as well as collects tobacco themed artefacts. Even though their museum’s supply isn’t for sale, the store’s vaults hold cigars made from before Castro took power, meaning you can still buy and smoke history if you have the money.

[MIKA27]

Forza Motorsport 7 Wants To Be The Racer To End All Racers

Forza as a brand has some serious cachet. 4.8 million monthly active players across the entire franchise can't be wrong, right? As a game, it has mainstream appeal: Porsche unveiled a new 911 GT2 RS at Xbox's E3 event — a new car at a games show. And the team wants the next Forza game to bring all of those fans together in one place.

It helps that Forza 7 is, hands down, the best-looking game that Turn 10 has ever made. Horizon looked pretty good last year, but on Xbox and on PC, by virtue of the fact that it's built for the native 4K and extra power of the One X and not the lesser One S, Forza Motorsport 7 has HDR and photogrammetry and all the buzzwords Microsoft is talking up this year.

Dynamic weather adds an element to the new title's gameplay as well as a visual one. Instrument clusters, in-car details and other minor elements have been tweaked on cars. There'll be a much larger emphasis on being a completionist and collecting cars, too — the more you have, the larger your rewards will be each time you level up.

And those rewards now include driver gear — new suits for your driver, which don't matter so much when you're racing but are a fun cosmetic for the drivatar your friends will see when they visit your profile and you play against them. It's a small addition but one that might go towards making the game a little more social and add some longevity.

The Forza Driver's Cup is the reimagined career mode in the game, and while there'll still be some instances where you're stuck driving some of the car classes you don't like — I'm not a racing truck fan, for example — that'll be largely avoidable through the wide range of events and over 700 cars that you can jump into throughout the campaign.

There are some competitive elements to Forza Motorsport 7, too, like clean- and dirty-racing leaderboard tables like previous titles — and Microsoft's goal is to get competitions and real-world events happening around the world. Next week, the finals of the Forza Racing Championship will be played at Le Mans while the actual race happens, and virtual winners will be crowned alongside real ones.

There's a bit of broader Microsoft family love throughout the game, too — like the fact that music from a player's OneDrive can be played in the game as ambience, during car customisation in the garage or during races from grandstands. But that's secondary to how the game actually feels when you're sitting down and putting time behind the wheel.

But What's It Like To Play?

So far at least, my time with the game has left me impressed with how it actually drives. I've played a few minutes of Forza Motorsport 7 both on a Xbox One X with a controller — how most of the franchise's more casual players will consume it — as well as on a PC running at 4K with a full force-feedback racing seat and Fanatec Porsche wheel setup.

With the full, circa-$50,000 seat and wheel and 4K TV contributing to the experience, Forza Motorsport 7 feels great. It's not surprising that it feels great; a lot of money has gone into making that happen for the attendees at E3 lucky enough to sit in on it. But that also requires the game itself be deserving of those peripherals, and it is.

Forza's car physics, for me, hit that point that's just about right between on-rails arcade racing and actual simulation titles like iRacing — which I actually find tiresome because they're too realistic and I like a bit of easy slidey-action fantasy. But that's not to say it's not hardcore enough for a racing game fanatic.

If you're even slightly into driving, you'll want to kill off the braking and steering assists and opt for manual rather than automatic shifts, but it is possible to skew it too extreme for my tastes — which is probably good for the hardcore simmers. Different cars feel different, sound different and perform differently on different tracks.

At the end of the day, the actual driving experience is gratifying in how responsive your inputs are, and the level of feedback you get through controller or wheel. It's a formula that the Forza team has refined over years of iteration. And that's what will go the furthest towards Forza Motorsport 7's potential success when it launches on PC and Xbox on October 3.

[MIKA27]

Why Exuberant Street Art and Smooth Cognac Make a Perfect Pair

Donning a white jumper over paint-splattered denim, JonOne plunged his brush into buckets of primary colors. Black Star blared from a corner speaker as he threw blue and yellow paint at two oversized canvases on a studio wall in Les Lilas, along the eastern outskirts of Paris. Expressive and intuitive, the Dominican-born, New York-raised, and now fully Parisian artist embodies the boundary-indifferent, rules-flouting, culture-crossing dynamo that is street art. As graffiti leapt from sidewalk to auction block and museum collection, JonOne followed suit. His exuberant hues and rich impasto feel as much at home in an alleyway or at Grand Palais Paris. Although he's been around long enough to have spray-painted the Berlin Wall before it came down, he is more likely these days to receive a commission than a citation for tagging boxcars. With his global citizenship and universal language of color and form, he is also the ideal provocateur to design a bottle for the world's most important Cognac house.

Hennessy is launching its next Very Special Limited Edition Series at the end of June, the seventh in an ongoing series that includes Scott Campbell, Ryan McGinness, Shepard Fairey, Os Gemeos, and Futura. JonOne's custom design is a totem that blends urban art with the distiller's craft. Admittedly, Cognac isn't exactly a street drink, and Hennessy is no six-pack of suds or hip flask of whiskey, yet behind the heady notes of pear, bananas, and butterscotch, there's a hint of contrarian.

Interest piqued, I left JonOne behind in Paris and boarded a bullet train to Cognac, the brandy's homeland just 90 minutes from the hallowed vineyards of Bordeaux, to join Hennessy cellar master Renaud Fillioux de Gironde for lunch. The famed maison's eighth-generation Master Blender was just announced last year, taking over the role as "guardian of the temple" from his uncle. Those 250 years of tradition–not to mention the sealed casks from the 1830s and stone cellars housing back stocks under lock and key–made me sit up a little straighter.

As a sommelier, I know wine, I understand gin, and I appreciate Chartreuse. But Cognac? It had always been a little elusive. I think many of us have treated it as old hat, and I'm as guilty as any. Yet something clicked when I put a boot into the clay and limestone soils and stood next to copper stills so revered they have names–Jéremy, Antoine, Féliæ. After sipping purposefully with one of the official Tasting Committee members, I saw why Ugni Blanc is the most widely planted white wine variety in France, and I tasted how distillation, blending, and maturation transform this high-acid workhorse grape into a smooth, complex, and noble Cognac–almost like JonOne converts spray paint, brash strokes, and ribbons of bright acrylics into fine art.

As JonOne said back in Paris, "The world is beautiful. I try to believe that. Even though there is a lot of suffering–and it seems as though shit is going to hit the fan soon–we must appreciate this moment." Since returning from Europe, Hennessy has edged into heavy rotation in my home bar, not just for contemplative sipping, but at midday with ginger ale and during cocktail hour with white rum, triple sec, and lemon juice for a Between the Sheets, or with lemon juice, simple syrup, and Champagne for a classic French 75. Maybe all that is missing are some Krylon initials on my glassware.

This Hennessy iteration, which carries the unmistakable markings of JonOne, will be available for $35 USD via retailers and ReserveBar.com on June 26. Catch one if you can.

[MIKA27]

SINGER REIMAGINED TRACK 1 CHRONOGRAPH

Singer Vehicle Design, the California auto shop known for refurbishing and customizing gorgeous Porsches, just made an announcement that has us floored. They’re launching an entirely new brand dubbed Singer Reimagined and they already have their first watch; the Track 1 Chronograph.

It is hard to know where to start on this watch. First and foremost, the thing is beautiful. The face of the timepiece obviously pulls its inspiration both from vehicle dashboard instruments and from the classic watches of the 1960s and ’70s. Unlike most chronograph watches you’ll see – this one features no subdials. The two chronograph dials are situated coaxially around the exterior of the watch face. Just as striking as the timepieces design is the movement that drives the thing. Dubbed the AgenGraphe, this 67 jewel automatic movement is made up of 447 different parts and is the result of over 10 years of work. The whole thing – face and movement – are both encapsulated in a 43mm grad 5 titanium case. This material, when paired with the calf leather pin-buckle strap, make it as pleasant to wear as it is nice to look at. The watch will be limited to 50 units, and will retail for roughly $41,000.

[MIKA27]

Sound Heroes are the Least Boxy Bluetooth Speakers You’ve Seen

Not every Bluetooth speaker has to be a box or a pill. Some of them can be futuristic robot superheroes. The Kalium Sound Hero is exactly that, a polygonal statue standing tall on its bass pumping base, spewing sound of the highest quality from its chest. The statues come in two sizes, Prime at 17.7 inches and Premium at 28.3 inches, each with their own suite of features. AD’OM Premium (these things have like six names, so it might get a little confusing) is slightly more capable, as you’d expect. It’s the one that comes with a subwoofer and smoke machine in its base, and its speaker gets louder and is a bit clearer. Both models light up though, and you can configure whatever lighting best suits your space. There’s also a whole world of lore for you to explore too, so if you ever thought your JBL Flip didn’t have a tight enough backstory, you’ll probably like the Sound Hero. $240

 

[MIKA27]

TransAm Race Bike

This impressive bike was built by Rob of English Cycles to tackle the Trans Am Bike Race, an ultra tough endurance 4.200 miles (6.800 km) bike race across America from west to east, in a transcontinental adventure of epic proportions. The racers rely solely on their fitness, mental fortitude, and meticulously chosen gear. There are no follow vehicles, no support teams, and no outside assistance, you are under your own power. To learn more about this ultra-light road touring bike that frame builder Rob English has built for his attempt at the race, and for more information on how to order your complete bike or frame, head over to his website.    

[MIKA27]

ISFJORD ARCTIC MALT WHISKY

Water is one of the most essential elements for whisky distillers. And the water used in the making of Isfjord Arctic Malt Whisky is some of the most unique in the world. Made using ice harvested as it floats freely in a fjord that is said to be between 10,000 and 180,000 years old, it's pollutant and pesticide-free. The whisky is matured in Oloroso Sherry casks from Spain for eight to nine years and bottled at 84 proof. Available in 500ml bottles and limited to 800 bottles.

[MIKA27]

ATARIBOX

We know nothing beyond this 20-second teaser video, but it appears Atari is returning with a new gaming console. Being touted as "a brand new Atari product... years in the making," the Ataribox looks to be encased in the familiar simulated-woodgrain-and-slatted-black-plastic. Time will tell whether this is a console pre-loaded with Atari classics or a machine for playing modern games — or both.

[MIKA27]

FOUR ROSES 50TH ANNIVERSARY BOURBON

This year, to celebrate Senior Brand Ambassador Al Young, Four Roses is releasing a special Limited Edition 50th Anniversary Small Batch Bourbon in his honor. Young spent a good chunk of his tenure as Distillery Manager before being named Brand Ambassador in 2007. Also, Young literally wrote the book on Four Roses bourbon that was published in 2010. This unique blend of bourbons includes 15-year-old OBSK, 13-year-old OESV, 12-year-old OBSF, and 23-year-old OBSV — which was produced during Al's time as Distillery Manager. And the bottle design is exclusive as well, as the Four Roses team dipped into their archives to re-create the look of the bottles produced in 1967, the year Young started his career.

[MIKA27]

SCARP RIDGE LODGE

Originally built in 1885 as a saloon and dancehall for Croatian workers, the Scarp Ridge Lodge now serves as a comfortable, all-inclusive seven-room property in Crested Butte, a well preserved, historic silver mining town. The building's facade has hardly changed in its 100+ years, but the interior has received a major upgrade with more contemporary furnishings, an indoor saltwater pool, a gourmet kitchen, a library, a cinema, a bar, and a children's playroom. Outside, you'll find plenty to do, as skiing, rafting, kayaking, fly-fishing, and hiking are all available nearby, and as with everything else at the Lodge, the attentive staff will make sure you have the proper gear and guides to make the most of your adventures.