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

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There's Something Super Eerie About Watching Thunderstorms Unfold In Black And White

Looking for a good reason to justify spending thousands of dollars on a gigantic 8K TV? Look no further than storm chaser Mike Olbinski's latest timelapse, Breathe. It isn't only the first to be edited in full, eye-slapping 8K resolution, it's also been edited in black and white, making the brewing storms Olbinski captured feel especially unsettling.

There's always been something haunting to me about old black and white movies, which is why I refuse to watch the start and end of The Wizard of Oz, or really anything made before Technicolor became a fad. While Olbinski's full-colour storm timelapses often look like beautiful paintings come to life, Breathe feels more like the apocalypse is nigh, which is maybe more appropriate for 2018?

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Massive Diamond Discovered In Lesotho Is World's Fifth Largest

Workers at Lesotho's Letšeng mine have discovered an absolute whopper of a diamond, rated at 910-carats. Roughly the size of two golf balls, the precious gem has an estimated value of $US40 million ($50 million).

The rock, uncovered in the landlocked southern African country of Lesotho, is a 910-carat, D-colour Type IIa diamond. This type of diamond makes up about one to two per cent of all natural diamonds, containing no measurable impurities such as nitrogen atoms. Type IIa's are typically colourless, and are practically transparent in ultraviolet light. At 910-carats, it weights 182g. The Letšeng mine in which the diamond was unearthed is owned by Gem Diamonds, a British-based global diamond mining business.

"Since Gem Diamonds acquired Letšeng in 2006, the mine has produced some of the world's most remarkable diamonds, including the 603 carat Lesotho Promise, however, this exceptional top quality diamond is the largest to be mined to date and highlights the unsurpassed quality of the Letšeng mine," Clifford Elphick, Gem Diamonds' Chief Executive Officer, said in a statement. "This is a landmark recovery for all of Gem Diamonds' stakeholders, including our employees, shareholders and the Government of Lesotho, our partner in the Letšeng mine."

The Letšeng mine is renowned for producing big, high quality diamonds. Back in 2015, Gem Diamonds sold a 357-carat rock for $US19.3 million ($24.2 million), and in 2006 it discovered the 603-carat Lesotho Promise. The company didn't say how it would sell the diamond, or disclose its worth, but as Bloomberg Quint reports, the precious stone could be worth $US40 million ($50 million) if it's devoid of large internal defects.

This announcement caps off an amazing week for the struggling company. Last week, Gem Diamonds announced the discovery of 117-carat and 110-carat stones. Stocks in the company jumped 18 per cent in light of these finds.

As noted, this is the fifth largest diamond ever discovered. The largest diamond, a 3106-carat stone found in Pretoria, South Africa was cut into two stones and set in the Crown Jewels of Britain. The other big ones are the 1109-carat Lucara diamond, the 995-carat Excelsior, and the 969-carat Sierra Leone.

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Burning Oil Tanker Sinks, Creating Huge Spill In East China Sea

After burning for nearly an entire week, the Sanchi oil tanker has finally plunged to the bottom of the East China Sea. A large, toxic oil slick now threatens the region, with models suggesting it won't reach land for another three months.

As reported by the BBC, the slick now measures 120 square km, doubling in size from just yesterday. The slick is primarily comprised of the heavy fuel that was used to power the vessel, but the Sanchi's cargo - 136,000 tonnes of ultra-light crude oil from Iran - has likely leaked from the sunken ship as well. This crude condensate, which is used to make products such as petrol, jet fuel and heating fuels, is colourless and odourless, but more flammable than conventional oil. This form of crude is not easily detectable, and the wreck could be producing a giant and toxic underwater slick. Both the ship's fuel and the condensate could harm marine life.

The Sanchi collided with a cargo ship on January 6, about 260km off the coast of Shanghai. All 32 crew members were killed in the incident. Some bodies were airlifted from the beleaguered vessel before it sunk over the weekend. The cause of the collision is still unknown, but the ship was in waters not typically traversed by large vessels, which tend to travel closer to the Chinese coast or nearer to Japan.

So what was a frantic search and rescue mission has now turned into a clean-up operation. The Sanchi sunk on the border of the East China Sea and the Yellow Sea, and the slick now threatens the coasts of China, South Korea and Japan. A fire on the water was recently extinguished, and ships are now spraying the surface with chemical agents to dissolve the oil.

Computer models run by the National Oceanography Centre and the University of Southampton suggest the slick will reach the Korean coast, but not for another three months. The ultimate fate of the oil is still not known, as it could evaporate (a distinct possibility given its low density) or it could mix in with the ocean water for a prolonged period. This ocean region features complex, strong and high variable surface currents, making predictions difficult. Also, officials aren't entirely sure how much of the Sanchi's crude condensate has spilled into the sea, and given that spills of ultra-light crude condensate are rare, it's difficult to know how it will evolve from here.

"Oil spills can have a devastating effect on the marine environment and on coastal communities," said NOC researcher Katya Popova in a statement. "Strong ocean currents mean that, once released into the ocean, an oil spill can relatively rapidly spread over large distances. So understanding ocean currents and the timescale on which they transport ocean pollutants is critical during any maritime accidents, especially ones involving oil leaks."

The researchers used a computer model called NEMO to simulate the slick. They ran multiple simulations, each with slightly different variables. The results varied significantly, so the researchers aren't entirely certain how the slick will move, or where it might reach land. Suffice to say, this story is far from over.

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Keanu Reeves' John Wick TV Series Is Officially Happening

We're still more than a year away from the third entry in the John Wick franchise - starring Keanu Reeves as the titular assassin, who's really just trying to bond with a dog - but fans of the series will be pleased to learn that the previously rumoured television spinoff has found a home on Starz.

Set in the same world as the John Wick films, The Continental will tell the story of the Continental hotel, a place where the world's deadliest assassins go to lay low when they aren't out and about killing people. Though Reeves has not been confirmed to reprise his role as Wick on the series, he'll serve as co-executive producer along with Basil Iwanyk and Chad Stahelski, who directed all three John Wick films. Chris Collins (The Man in the High Castle, The Wire) will serve as showrunner and writer.

Though The Continental's home on television might make you assume that the show won't be nearly as action-packed as the film series it's tied to, Starz is confident that the show will be able to deliver on epic fight scenes. Said Starz CEO Chris Albrecht today at the Television Critics Association winter press tour:

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The Continental promises to include the thunderous fight sequences and intensely staged shootouts between professional assassins and their targets that fans have come to expect in the John Wick movie franchise as well as introducing some new, darkly compelling characters who inhabit this underground world.

Given how visually stunning some of John Wick's choreography was, The Continental has some fairly large shoes to fill. Hopefully, we can expect those shoes to be filled (with blood) when The Continental drops some time in the near future.

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Aussie Scientists Visit Biggest Underwater Volcano In Last 100 Years, Reveal Deep Sea Mystery

Scientists knew something strange happened when they heard reports of a raft of floating rock near New Zealand back in 2012. That raft eventually grew to around 241km² -- remains of the largest underwater volcanic eruption in the 20th or 21st century to date, bigger even than Mount St. Helens.

But when researchers actually visited the Havre volcano, it was nothing like they expected. Instead of the explosive, underwater Krakatoa-type eruption expected, they found signs of slower-moving lava flows... and realised that a whole lot of data they could have been using literally floated away.

"This is often the case with work in the deep oceans," said study author Adam Soule from the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute. "We had preconceived notions of what we'd find, but not until we got out there did we get a sense of what had happened."

There really isn't a whole lot of data on these underwater volcanoes, especially not data taken soon after the eruption occurs. The quantity of that floating rock, or pumice, implied the existence of an explosion.

So the team of researchers from Australia, New Zealand and the US, led by Rebecca Carey at the University of Tasmania in Australia, sent the autonomous vehicle Sentry to map the area and the remotely operated vehicle Jason to observe and collect the volcanic material.

When the vehicles arrived at the site, they spotted signs of flowing lava, as well as domes from magma heaping around the vent -- signs of a gentler, less-explosive eruption. These could potentially be the result of an eruption occurring at such high pressures so deep underwater, Soule thought.

Sorry if you were hoping for an explosion, but there's still a lot of mystery and important science to be done. The results prove that there's plenty we don't know about ocean volcanoes, which make up 70 per cent of the magma Earth spits out according to the paper published Wednesday in Science Advances.

It's hard to directly observe these underwater volcanoes for obvious reasons, there's no data on how long they last, and this is the only time one has been mapped shortly after an eruption. Even with this most recent observation, we are left with only more questions -- why does some pumice float and others sink? How does the water depth affect the behaviour of the volcano?

On top of that, maybe the volcano was explosive, the paper continues -- but the explosivity was just different from what you'd expect from your usual volcano on the Earth's surface. More data is still needed to really determine what's going on. And there's no model to help scientists understand what happens to all that pumice that floats away. The material lost to the tides must remain "a source of uncertainty" when trying to understand these volcanoes.

With all the science and mystery, "it's really a cool volcano event," said Soule.

 

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PIAGET UNVEIL THE THINNEST AUTOMATIC WATCH IN THE WORLD

The Piaget Altiplano Ultimate Concept is a name to be revered in modern horology. That’s because it’s currently the world’s thinnest automatic timepiece.

Unveiled at SIHH 2018, the Altiplano Ultimate Concept clocks in at a wafer-thin 2mm for the entire thickness of the watch (and not just the movement). It also comes as the successor to Piaget’s 900P which previously held the title at 3.65mm.

The question is, how did the Swiss watchmaker achieve this feat of eradicating an entire 1.65mm of watch from an already svelte body? Technical ingenuity.

Once again pushing the boundaries of ultra-thin watchmaking, Piaget have reimagined the conventions of watch construction with careful attention given to the balance and balance spring – and by special attention we mean they’ve negated the balance cock, the shock absorbing system and balance staff. This factors most into creating one of Piaget’s thinnest profiles.

If that’s not compelling enough to convince punters of the exacting detail the designers have gone through then there’s also the watch crystal which clocks in at a ridiculous 0.2mm thick, the coverless mainspring barrel, the absence of a conventional bezel and a flat crown which seamlessly follows the case’s radial curvature.

Speaking of case, this one’s rather special too. The 41mm case is made from “High tech cobalt alloy” which serves as a rigid base for the intricate movement living inside that comprises of up to 283 components.

Holistically, this innovative approach to watchmaking sees the Ultimate Concept afford a power reserve of 44 hours alongside 30 metres of water resistance despite its minimalist frame. To protect its design integrity Piaget even enlisted five dedicated patents on this timepiece that’s not even on sale.

To polish things off the Altiplano Ultimate Concept is beautifully paired with a black dial and a 1.1mm thick alligator leather-kevlar strap.

 

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Jameson Caskmates IPA Edition

About four years ago, Jameson finished its Irish whiskey in barrels that once held a roasty, toasty stout and released “Caskmates” onto the world. The result was a bottle of hooch with coffee and chocolate notes faint enough to work instead of distract. Now Jameson is playing mad scientist again. Jameson Caskmates IPA Edition is an Irish whiskey finished in Irish Pale Ale-seasoned barrels. Couple things to unpack here. First, we’re not sure how an Irish Pale Ale differs from the IPA you’re used to, though we’d guess it’s a little more malt driven with a more pronounced bitterness. Second, we’re not sure how much of the flavor would appear in the whiskey, as those notes aren’t as aggressive as some roasted malts. According to Jameson, the whiskey packs floral notes with some grapefruit, and a citrus component comes through with every sip. Our best advice is to try it for yourself to find out, which is exactly what we plan on doing. 

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Seiko Prospex Black Series

Seiko have presented the limited edition Black Series from their popular Propex line of diver watches. The Seiko Prospex Black Series features three blacked-out watches: the automatic "Turtle” (SRPC49K1), the solar-powered chronograph (SSC673P1), and a solar-powered three-hander (SNE493P1). All three watches sport a blacked out body whose coating reflects the darkness of the sea, and feature water resistance to 200m, screw-down crowns, LumiBrite on the hands and indices, black silicon rubber straps, and are driven by a solar-powered caliber V157 movement. 

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DRIE FONTEINEN OUDE GEUZE BEER

Lambic brewing is a tradition that dates back to the times of the Roman Empire. And the blending of young and old lambics results in what is called geuze. Drie Fonteinen is one of the only traditional geuze blenders left in Belgium, using 100% spontaneously fermented lambic beer, aged in oak casks, with no artificial sweeteners or other additives. Their Oude Geuze is one of their standouts and is a blend of lambic from three Belgian breweries expertly blended by the proprietor Armand Debelder.

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COMME DES GARCONS X MONOCLE COLOGNE

To call Monocle's editors well traveled would be an understatement. Now they're using those travels as inspiration for the lineup of Comme des Garçons x Monocle Cologne. Produced exclusively for Monocle by Comme des Garçons' perfumer Antoine Maisondieu, each of the three scents represents a particular memory from Monocle's adventures across the globe, like a chilly morning in Kyoto, the sharp smells of Batroun, Lebanon, and ornamental Japanese cedar. Made in France and delivered in 1.7 fl oz bottles.

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RED SPARROW

Undercover spy. Blonde bangs. Licence to kill. Jennifer Lawrence is giving us major Atomic Blonde vibes in her first reunion with Hunger Games director Francis Lawrence. Based on the novel by Jason Matthews, Lawrence is a prima ballerina turned deadly assassin after being recruited for Sparrow School. Set for theaters March 2, 2018.

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ROMAN AND WILLIAMS GUILD

Roman and Williams are known for their impossibly authentic designs for Ace Hotels, The Chicago Athletic Association, and Greydon House. Now you can bring a piece of their aesthetic home at the Roman and Williams Guild. The SoHo-based shop offers furniture and knick-knacks, including the pair's own Founding Collection, as well as vintage pieces. It's also home to a French café run by chef Marie-Aude Rose, a flower shop by Emily Thompson, and a bookstore/library stocked with editions from Phaidon. Unlike most establishments, everything from the door hardware and water fixtures to the plates and display vases is available for purchase, but you'll be equally rewarded by simply showing up, grabbing a spot on a couch, and flipping through an inspirational tome.

 

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REDEMPTION THE ANCIENTS 36-YEAR-OLD BOURBON

The interest in premium, extra-aged bourbon is at its peak. And the release of this 36-year-old expression from Redemption raises the bar even further. The bourbon is sourced from only four barrels due to 94% evaporation over the three-and-a-half decades of aging. The precious liquid is limited to just 18 bottles and weighs in at 97.6 proof. As a special touch, each bottle has a penny from 1978 embedded in its wood stopper. $1,200

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New Trailer For Britannia Asks 'What If Game Of Thrones Had Druid Raves?'

The Romans have invaded Westeros.

A new trailer is up for Sky Atlantic's historical fantasy Britannia. Set during the Roman invasion of Celtic Britain, the show focuses on a Roman general named Aulus Plautius (played by The Walking Dead's Governor, David Morrissey) who is attempting to conquer the Celtic heart of Britannia, which the series calls "a mysterious land ruled by warrior women and powerful druids who can channel the mysterious forces of the Underworld". Sounds like an awesome place.

The trailer doesn't show any actual magic being used, but there's a lot of sexy Druid dancing set to rock music.

The show's cast includes Morrissey, Kelly Reilly (Sherlock Holmes) and Zoë Wanamaker (Madame Hooch from Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone). Emperor Palpatine also shows up (Ian McDiarmid), taking on the role of King Pellenor. Hopefully he'll shoot lightning here too.

Britannia debuts in Australia on Showcase on January 22, and will run for 10 episodes.

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This Giant Fireball Over Michigan Was Visible From Six US States And Canada

The National Weather Service says that the most likely explanation for an object which sent out illumination and a sonic boom throughout southwest Michigan, five other US states, and Canada on Tuesday night local time was the breakup of a meteor, WXYZ reported. The American Meteor Society collected at least 200 reports of the incident, which for around a second was so bright it lit parts of the Detroit region like it was daytime.

Gizmodo reader Dan McGhee sent in the above footage of the meteor, saying a motion-triggered camera installed on his house in Ypsilanti, Michigan, roughly 48km west of Detroit, caught the object at about 8:08PM ET.

"I was actually on the phone at the time and saw the bright flash (it was very bright) out of my windows," McGhee told Gizmodo, adding that he initially thought the noise could have been thundersnow, which isn't uncommon in the region.

Per CBS, numerous other social media users captured shots of the moment the suspected meteor broke up in the skies over Michigan. Ingham County Emergency Management Update informed residents that they had not received any "indication that anything landed on the ground or caused damage".

Cranbook Institute of Science astronomy chief Michael Narlock told CBS he suspected the object was a bolide meteor - a type of very bright fireball that sometimes ends with visible fragmentation of its components. Tens of thousands of meteors larger than 10g of material fall to Earth each year, though the vast majority fall over rural or oceanic regions well away from direct human observation.

 

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Humans, Not Rats, May Have Been Responsible For Spreading The Black Death

The Black Death, a plague responsible for killing around a third of the population of Europe during the 14th century, spread to millions of humans by rats that carried infected fleas - right? That's the story we've long been told by historians. A new study upends this conventional thinking, showing that humans, and not rodents, were the primary spreaders of the dreaded disease.

The horrific Black Death, caused by the bacterium Yersinia pestis and often referred to simply as "plague", was spread by human fleas and body lice, and not similar parasites found on rats, according to research published yesterday in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. In other words, humans were primarily responsible for spreading the disease to other humans. It seems the rats were innocent, at least according to mathematical models produced by researchers from the University of Oslo and the University of Ferrara.

From 1347 to 1353, the Black Death killed an estimated 75 million to 200 million people across Europe and Asia. The disease repeatedly reared its ugly head in ongoing waves that lasted from the 14th to 19th centuries, affecting populations in Europe, the Middle East and North Africa. The disease is still around today, spreading to humans from infected fleas on rats, or through the inhalation of infectious droplets in the air.

Things got a bit rough in the 16th century, as the Black Death continued to ravage parts of Europe (Image: The Triumph of Death by Pieter Bruegel the Elder, c. 1562/Wikimedia)

Despite the fact that the Black Death wiped out a sizeable portion of the human population, little is known about the ways in which the disease spread. "While it is commonly assumed that rats and their fleas spread plague during the [Black Death], there is little historical and archaeological support for such a claim," write the authors in the new study. That said, scientists have been studying recent outbreaks of the disease in Africa, showing that human fleas and lice are responsible for spreading Yersinia pestis among humans. Yes, the disease initially makes the jump from rodents to humans, but from there, human parasites take over.

This relatively recent revelation got researchers Katherine Dean, Boris Schmid and their colleagues to wonder if a similar thing happened during the Black Death. For one, the Black Death had a wider spread and was far deadlier than its predecessor outbreak, the Plague of Justinian (6th to 8th centuries). What's more, rats actually weren't that common in Europe during the 14th century (a claim backed by archaeological evidence). And then there's the recent evidence from outbreaks in Africa showing that Yersinia pestis can spread among humans via human parasites.

To see if human parasites were indeed responsible for the Black Death, the researchers turned to maths. "Mathematical modelling can provide strong insight into mechanisms of plague transmission for past epidemics," write the authors.

Using data collected from nine different plague outbreaks in Europe from the 14th through to the 19th century, the researchers modelled various scenarios to visualise how the disease may have spread. Three different transmission models were tested: Through the air (pneumonic), by infected fleas on rats, and via infected fleas and lice on humans and clothing. In several of the nine models, the researchers discovered much greater consistency and similarities with the human-spreading model - an observation that backs the "human ectoparasite hypothesis" of the Black Death.

"We have developed a compartmental model that captures the dynamics of human ectoparasite transmission," conclude the authors in their study. "We have shown that, in seven out of nine localities, the human ectoparasite model was the preferred model to explain the pattern of plague mortality during an outbreak, rather than models of pneumonic and rat - flea plague transmission."

But the study is not without limitations. It's based almost entirely on mathematical modelling, so it's showing a simulation of what might have happened, and not the real thing. Also, the models didn't account for local conditions that can influence an epidemic, such as war, famine, immunity and public health interventions. And as the authors themselves admit, "we did not model mixed transmission routes, and this makes it difficult to fully assess the contribution of pneumonic plague, which commonly occurs during bubonic outbreaks [i.e. when spread by infected parasites]."

Ben Bolker, a mathematician and statistician from McMaster University who wasn't involved with the study, said he's unhappy with some of the statistical procedures used by the researchers.

"I think the way they analysed their data means that they are probably overstating the strength of evidence for the difference among models," Bolker told Gizmodo.

So while the new result is interesting, it isn't nearly complete. At best, it stands as a good starting block for further research that could confirm what the mathematical models suggest. Epidemics are influenced by a wide host of factors, and every region, with its own distinct population, is going to be a little different.

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Is China Really Planning To Destroy Space Junk With Lasers?

There may be at least half a million pieces of man-made junk orbiting this planet. Tiny pieces can travel around 10km/s, far faster than a bullet. The International Space Station has had to adjust its orbit just to avoid the stuff. People are rightfully concerned about what to do with all this orbital litter.

Recently, a team of Chinese scientists published a paper about removing the debris with a space-based laser station. Specifically, they discussed how the orbit of such a station would impact its ability to remove the junk. But are we close to seeing such a system? Will it ever exist?

The problem of space junk is real - the scientists point out that most concerning are the pebble-sized pieces of junk that space agencies aren't tracking. These can cause a lot of damage to an unprotected spacecraft. The Chinese researchers write that lasers serve as the most promising option to eliminate this debris, noting that Earth's geography and the vast distance between ground and orbit make a land-based laser a limited solution.

"Hence, it is necessary to study the basic principle and feasibility of space-based laser debris removal," they write in the paper published in the journal Optik.

This paper has lead to some press coverage - but the idea is not especially new. Scientists have been researching these solutions for many years, although one 2015 paper says there's been a sort of recent renaissance for the idea of a junk-clearing space laser. That 2015 paper, published by Austrian researcher Manuel Schmitz and others in Acta Astronautica, explains that the debris isn't really being blasted, as some coverage seems to imply. Instead, the laser would impart energy into the hunk of debris, causing it to fall out of orbit and burn up in the atmosphere or deflect out of the way of a spacecraft.

The new paper in Optik consists solely of modelling, but really, it's further experimentation that's needed: "Only a broader campaign of experiments can verify the elaborate theoretical models, and create sufficient credibility and proof that the laser-ablative propulsion mechanism performs as expected when used with space debris targets," says the 2015 paper.

And what country is going to let another world power put such a laser in space? "It could be used for military," Victor Apollonov, a physicist who studies high-powered lasers at the Russian Academy of Sciences' General Physics Institute, told Gizmodo. "Due to that, it is questionable." He noted that people have been speaking about the idea since the early 2000s. "I believe the first step should be some world-scale discussion about" deploying such a laser in space.

So, yes, there are teams researching a space-based debris-removing laser. But whether countries will allow one another to actually deploy such an object is a question that has yet to be answered.

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Zac Efron Shares First Images of Himself as Ted Bundy in ‘Extremely Wicked’

Get your hot takes ready, people, because Zac Efron is playing Ted Bundy in an upcoming movie and that’s sure to inspire some mixed and… confusing … feelings. Titled Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil, and Vile, the Bundy biopic stars the Greatest Showman in the World star as the serial killer, rapist and necrophile who has somehow been mythologized into a sexy ladies man (thanks Anne Rule). While I’m not crazy about furthering that mythology, the film piques my interest thanks to director Joe Berlinger, who previously helmed the Paradise Lost documentary trilogy, which investigated the infamous West Memphis Three trial.

Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile was written by Michael Werwie and approaches Bundy’s story from the point of view of his longtime live-in girlfriend Elizabeth Kloepfer, played by Okja‘s Lily Collins, during the years that he hid his crimes from her. John Malcovich is also set to star in the film as Judge Edward Cowart, who presided over the serial killer’s 1979 trial and ultimately sentenced him to death.

Extremely Wicked rolls into production tomorrow, and on the eve of the shoot Efron has debuted the first look image of himself as the serial killer and he looks… well, he looks like Zac Efron. All the same, check out his debut as Bundy in the image below:

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Daniel Radcliffe Is a Drug Runner in Crisis in the First ‘Beast of Burden’ Trailer

Just one last job and he’s out of the life forever. I bet you can guess what happens next — yep, it all goes terribly wrong. Classic Rock enthusiasts look elsewhere because you’ll find no Rolling Stones connection here, Beast of Burden stars Daniel Radcliffe as Sean Haggerty, a drug-running pilot who teams with the DEA to bring down the cartel on the promise of medical treatment for his ailing wife. Naturally, Sean’s last job turns into a nightmare when nothing goes to plan, and he has to chose between his allegiance to the cartel, his deal with the government, and navigating his increasingly tense relationship with his wife.

Radcliffe is a great performer whose consistently made bold, interesting choices in his post-Harry Potter career so I’m always excited to see what he does. That said, this trailer is has that dimly-lit, low-budget thriller vibe that makes me nervous about film’s allover quality. Good performances and tight scripting go a long way, but it’s hard to tell when you can’t see what’s happening on screen.

Beast of Burden arrives in select theaters, on VOD and Digital HD February 23, 2018. The film also stars Pablo Schreiber (American Gods), and Grace Gummer (Mr. Robot), and is directed by Jesper Ganslandt (The Ape) from a script by Adam Hoelzel.

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CASCADE BREWING SANG ROUGE BEER

After a three year absence, Cascade Brewing is bringing back Sang Rouge to kick off 2018. The beer is a blend of sour red ales aged in red wine barrels and oak puncheons for up to 24 months with some barrels exceeding 30 months. The foundation of their Sang Series, this sour's return features notes of roasted malts, toasted oak, and plenty of tart fruit.

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Divers In Mexico Have Discovered The World's Largest Flooded Cave

The Yucatan Peninsula is renowned for its extensive network of submerged tunnels and caves. Now, after searching for near two decades, divers with the Gran Acuífero Maya project have proven that two massive caverns are connected, making it the largest known flooded cave on Earth.

The low-altitude, limestone-laden expanse of the Yucatan peninsula is the perfect place for the formation of submerged underground caves - geological features the ancient Maya people referred to as "cenotes". For the past 10 months, a diving team led by Robert Schmittner has been swimming through these labyrinthine passageways, searching for a link that connects two gigantic caverns: The 263km-long Sac Actun system and the 83km-long Dos Ojos system.

On January 10, at a location near the archaeological ruins of Tulum, the divers finally found the elusive connection, showing that the two systems are actually one - a monster underwater cave system that measures 347km long. It's thought to be the largest submerged cave system on Earth.

Prior to the discovery, the Ox Bel Ha system, located just south of Tulum, was ranked as the world's largest at 270km. According to caving naming convention, when two cave systems are found to interconnect, the largest cave absorbs the smaller one. So the Dos Ojos system is no more, subsumed by the larger Sac Actun system.

During the survey, the divers cataloged 358 submerged cave systems, representing about 1400km of flooded tunnels. They also found a new system, an 18km-long, 20m deep cavern dubbed "the mother of all cenotes", which was listed as an individual system. But the Gran Acuífero Maya team claims that it's very close to connecting it with the Sac Actun System, too.

This work could shed light on the cultural practices of ancient Mayans, who conducted ceremonies and sacrificial offerings around the cenotes.

"This immense cave represents the most important submerged archaeological site in the world, as it has more than a hundred archaeological contexts, among which are evidence of the first settlers of America, as well as extinct fauna and, of course, the Mayan culture," Guillermo de Anda, a researcher at the National Institute of Anthropology and History, said in a statement.

For the next stage in the project, the team is hoping to analyse the quality of the water quality in the Sac Actun system, study the biodiversity that depends on it, and launch conservation efforts to protect this extraordinary geological feature.

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In The New Tomb Raider Trailer, Lara Croft Goes Careening Into Danger For Family

The first look at the Tomb Raider reboot gave us plenty of tomb-raiding action, with a lot of it inspired by the 2013 video game reboot of Lara Croft's escapades. The latest trailer shows us a lot of what's been added to the film beyond the inspiration of the game series - and it's pretty much all about the legacy of Lara's mysterious dad.

Although there's plenty of action - including a lavish sequence where Lara (played by Ex Machina's Alicia Vikander) falls off a crashed plane, down a waterfall, and smack-bang into a forest that's right out of the 2013 game - the main focus of this trailer is Lara's relationship with her estranged father (played by Dominic West).

Turns out daddy Croft had a bit of an unsavoury background that led to some run-ins with the villain of the piece, Walton Goggins' Mathias Vogel, who finds himself tussling with Lara now that she's on the hunt to learn what happened to her missing father. And, much like the Tomb Raider reboot game, also seemingly to try and avoid killing herself in as many elaborate and gruesome manners as possible. That tree-smack has to hurt.

Tomb Raider hits theatres March 15.

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WEARABLE SUPERHERO ARMOR

Like most kids @Fuzz, at one time or another we wanted to be the superheroes we read about in comic books and watched in movies. As we got older, however, we realized how impractical and dangerous that could actually be. Nowadays we’d take a safer alternative: looking like them. And now we can with Full Body Armors’ wearable superhero suits.

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[Fuzz]

Time to start saving up some money for a new suit!

[MIKA27]

WORLD’S FIRST WHISKY INVESTMENT FUND IS PROMISING BIG RETURNS

Sweden is one of the world’s leading countries when it comes to fiscal innovation. They gave us the world’s first bank note in the 1660s and have since been the first to suggest a national cryptocurrency. Today the Swedes are taking it a step further with the arrival of the world’s first whisky investment fund known as The Single Malt Fund.

Founded by a group of Swedish scotch enthusiasts, the fund will own its very own collection of ultra rare and limited edition whisky as opposed the current NYSE-listed funds which simply invest in spirits companies that produce Jack Daniels, Johnnie Walker and other brands.

Christian Svantesson who is the The Single Malt Fund’s CEO and co-founder explained to Business Insider that, “It’s essentially a commodity fund, but instead of gold we buy liquid gold”.

The audacious concept comes after one and a half years of “arduous” work from Svantesson and his team who had to get around some serious regulatory hurdles. The fund has since been approved by the Swedish financial watchdog as an alternative investment fund (AIF) and its founders are now positioning it to go public.

So what kind of returns can investors expect from The Single Malt Fund?

Given that rare whisky returned almost 28% in the past year only, it’s the long term outlook that will really get potential investors talking – 370% since 2010, according to the RW Apex 1000, which is an index of the world’s 1000 most valuable single malts compiled by the independent database known as Rare Whisky 101.

Christian Svantesson of The Single Malt Fund believes rare whisky is an untapped fiscal market

“In the past decade, the basket has averaged almost 25% growth per year – and we are opening up this opportunity to the broader masses,” says Svantesson.

“We asked ourselves, why isn’t this done professionally and under regulation, when there’s such a huge market? The historic return on whisky investments have been outstanding.”

It might sound like a lucrative proposition but even Svantesson is careful not to get ahead of himself too soon with a stated return target of 10% per year that’s non-inclusive of a 2.5% management fee. Investors who do take the plunge will undoubtedly expect more.

Rare single malt Scotch currently holds an edge over other commodities and spirits since there’s a a huge demand for it in China, India and the US. It’s a fact that is further reinforced on the supply side with the inventory’s long production times which isn’t diminishing people’s tendency to consume it.

In the coming month The Single Malt Fund will be accepting €1,000 EUR investments as a minimum before it officially gets listed on the Stockholm-based Nordic Growth Market (NGM-NDX) on March 12th.

Meanwhile, the dedicated whisky lover and pioneer of the fund hopes that his idea will open up the world of rare and limited whisky – once reserved for enthusiasts and experts – to the public.

And if you’re after investor perks, there’s none better than being able to get your hands on some of these rare bottles via The Single Malt’s own inventory.

“As some of the whisky could be difficult to get your hands on, we think this perk will be appreciated by many investors and collectors. And they will basically be buying from themselves, indirectly!,” says Svantesson.