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

[MIKA27]

Lost In Space Has Found A Second Season In The Stars, Here's The Teaser Trailer

“I won’t leave without him.” Danger, danger, Will Robinson—you’ve got a friend to save.

Netflix’s Lost in Space is returning for a second season, and this time all eyes are on the Robinson family’s most iconic member, Robot. As the season begins, the Robinsons are stranded in even more dire circumstances than before, and Robot is gone, leaving it up to young Will (Maxwell Jenkins) to spearhead a search for his alien friend, who might be their only ticket home.

The first season of this show, based on the classic Irwin Allen-created series from the ‘60s, was beguiling and full of potential. The new season, based on this brief teaser, seems suitably compelling as a followup; grand vistas and deepening cosmic mysteries greet our spacefaring family. The Robinsons and their crew will be joined by JJ Feild (The Romanoffs), who will take on the guest role of Ben Adler, an academic contemporary of Maureen Robinson’s who serves as chief of advanced systems and artificial intelligence. So, just the kind of resource that might be useful for finding Robot.

As announced today at Lost in Space’s panel at New York Comic Con, the show will have 10 hour-long episodes, and will premiere December 24th on Netflix.

[MIKA27]

The New Terminator: Dark Fate Trailer Is All About Family

We know why the Terminator wanted to kill Sarah Connor. We know why another wanted to kill John Connor. However, with a month left to release, we still don’t know what makes Dani Ramos (played by Natalia Reyes) equally special in Terminator: Dark Fate.

In this new trailer though, which is primarily in Spanish, we see that the film will have lots of scenes with her family (including her brother, played by Diego Boneta) — and that she may just develop a new sort of family, thanks to her special protectors.

So we have to think Dani plays a major role in some kind of future uprising, right? That has to be what makes her so crucial to the future that someone (who?) would send a new Terminator (Gabriel Luna) back to kill her, a super soldier (Mackenzie Davis) back to protect her, and warrant Sarah Connor (Linda Hamilton) and a T-800 (Arnold Schwarzenegger) joining along for the ride.

But what future uprising? Didn’t the events of Terminator 2: Judgement Day solve all that? So many questions!

The best part of this trailer, besides all the new footage, is how it shows a more multi-cultural world that everyone is trying to save. Sometimes that global scale got lost in original Terminators because the stories were so focused on one place. Not in Dark Fate though.

Directed by Tim Miller, produced by James Cameron, Terminator: Dark Fate opens October 31 and we’ll have much more soon.

[MIKA27]

A New King's Man Trailer Asks 'What If Downton Abbey Had Super Spies?'

Before they were posh, super spies saving the present-day world, the heroes of Fox’s Kingsman franchise were posh in an old-timey way befitting of an era where parachutes were considered cutting-edge technology. The latest trailer for Matthew Vaughn’s upcoming Kingsmen prequel, The King’s Man, is light in the way of plot, but it’s rich in the franchise’s signature action sequences that smack ever-so-slightly of camp.

Even though The King’s Man is set almost a decade before the events of the Downtown Abbey film, the two movies exist in a very specific space that both celebrates and pokes a bit of fun at the concept of British aristocracy. Ralph Fiennes’ Duke of Oxford is hellbent on stopping Rhys Ifans as Grigori Rasputin, but he insists on doing so with the dignity and panache befitting of a proper gentleman.

The Duke knows that beneath his immaculately-polished exterior, he’s a lethal killer willing to do whatever it takes to defend his country, the kind of mindset that newcomer Conrad (Harris Dickinson) is going to have to adopt quickly if he really wants to become a part of the nascent organisation of spies.

The King’s Man hits theatres in the U.S. on February 15. An official Australian release date is yet to be set.

[Ken Gargett]

41 minutes ago, MIKA27 said:

Chernobyl's Infamous Reactor 4 Control Room Is Now Open To Tourists

The “highly radioactive” control room at Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant’s Reactor 4 at the centre of the facility’s infamous 1986 catastrophe is open for tourists, so long as they wear a protective suit, helmet, and gloves while inside, CNN reported.

Chernobyl tour agencies confirmed to the network that the control room is now open for guided walkthroughs following Ukrainian President Vladimir Volydymyr’s July decision to proclaim the region an official tourist attraction (and perhaps not coincidentally, a surge of interest following the release of HBO’s wildly popular Chernobyl miniseries). Those who enter the unit must afterward submit to two radiology tests to measure exposure to contaminants.

Chernobyl and the neighbouring town of Pripyat the epicentre of a roughly 1,000-square-mile (3,200-kilometre) exclusion zone, though parts of the area have long been visited by tourists and many places that remain officially off-limits are often entered by thrill-seekers. Reactor 4, including the control room, has been off-limits to all but a handful of people; according to Ruptly, radiation in the room is some 40,000 times higher than normal.

As for what to expect, in 2011 the Guardian reported that the room had largely been stripped of its plastic instrumentation switches by “souvenir-hunters among the decommissioning staff,” though some things such as diagrams on the behaviour of the reactor and aged wiring remained. (Presumably there is no graphite there.) The seriously damaged unit 4 reactor itself and its original sarcophagus has been covered in a 32,000-ton arch called the New Safe Confinement.

Sergiy Ivanchuk, director of SoloEast tours, told Reuters in June that his bookings for tours had risen 30 per cent in May 2019 (when the HBO miniseries was released) compared to years prior, while bookings for the summer months had risen some 40 per cent. Tour guide Viktoria Brozhko told Reuters, “Many people come here, they ask a lot of questions about the TV show, about all the events. People are getting more and more curious... During the entire visit to the Chernobyl exclusion zone, you get around two microsieverts, which is equal to the amount of radiation you’d get staying at home for 24 hours.”

The 1986 incident resulted in 28 deaths from acute radiation syndrome and 15 deaths from child thyroid cancer. The full death toll remains the subject of dispute, with most estimates pegging the number of expected long-term cancer cases from the disaster in the tens of thousands.

always fascinated me. i was, not that i had even heard of the place, about 100-200 ks away from it the week before it blew. of course, it was still several weeks before much news got out. 

40 odd deaths? they are kidding. always remember a terrific canadian girl we'd met just before then. she was travelling by herself in the region at the time. we caught up with her again a few months later in london (never heard anything more of her after that but i have grave fears she lasted much longer). she was a shell of herself from a few months earlier. looked as sick as one could. apparently she'd been travelling in that region for the next few months and was never told by anyone that anything had happened. saw troops active but thought nothing of it. there was no evacuation in the surrounding region. the officials pretended nothing had happened. criminal. so many must have died horribly. 

[MIKA27]

4 minutes ago, Ken Gargett said:

always fascinated me. i was, not that i had even heard of the place, about 100-200 ks away from it the week before it blew. of course, it was still several weeks before much news got out. 

40 odd deaths? they are kidding. always remember a terrific canadian girl we'd met just before then. she was travelling by herself in the region at the time. we caught up with her again a few months later in london (never heard anything more of her after that but i have grave fears she lasted much longer). she was a shell of herself from a few months earlier. looked as sick as one could. apparently she'd been travelling in that region for the next few months and was never told by anyone that anything had happened. saw troops active but thought nothing of it. there was no evacuation in the surrounding region. the officials pretended nothing had happened. criminal. so many must have died horribly. 

It certainly fascinates me also. Can't believe it takes something like 2000 years before it's habitable "Safely". I was 10 years old on the day that occurred.

Death toll certainly sounds downplayed doesn't it!

[MIKA27]

Jack Daniel’s Tennessee Apple Whiskey

Over the years, the Jack Daniel Old No. 7 brand has come out with quite a few unique options that break the mold from the traditional Tennessee Whiskey you coming to know and love. They made Jack Daniel’s Coffee, they did Jack Daniel’s Tennessee Fire with cinnamon, and now,  they’re doing Jack Daniel’s Tennessee Apple. Made with real, crisp, green apples that have been blended with Jack Daniel’s Old No. 7 whiskey, this is a bold, refreshing, and exceptionally smooth whiskey with just the right amount of sweetness. It’s great for shots, as an ingredient for cocktails and, as we’re planning to use it, as an ingredient in the best holiday cider that anyone we know will have ever tasted. According to sources, Jack Daniel’s Tennessee Apple whiskey will be available in 50 ml, 375 ml, 750 ml and 1-liter bottles with a suggested retail price of around the normal Jack price of $26.99.

[MIKA27]

Meet the Japanese Contraption Making the Best Whiskey Drinks

Read this fascinating story about how Japanese drinkers saved the classic whiskey concoction, the Highball.

The Whiskey Highball is a thin and insipid drink. It is made by taking perfectly delicious whiskey and diluting it with sparkling water. The name “highball” sounds celebratory and festive and vaguely suggestive, but don’t be fooled: it’s another name for “whiskey and soda.” In an era in which serious drinkers embrace potent, spirit-forward cocktails, Highballs have all the appeal of light beer. 

I’ve never been a Highball fan for the reasons outlined above. So, on a trip to Japan earlier this year as a guest of Beam Suntory, I was puzzled by its ubiquity. It was more common than even the cute, wide-eyed kittens on teenagers’ backpacks—I spotted Highballs on commuter trains as salarymen cracked open tallboys of the stuff. In Tokyo, happy-hour crowds lined up at bars to get Highballs dispensed from futuristic-looking machines. 

And the Highball has invaded the United States—it’s everywhere these days, and it a good contender for the it drink of the year. 

It occurred to me that the problem was not with the Highball, but with me. And my problem, it tuned out, was simple and easily diagnosed: I had grouped Highballs with classic cocktails and rated it accordingly. 

Highballs are, in fact, not cocktails. They are an early form of hard seltzer—in fact, they are the ur-hard-seltzer, a category that would not be invented until more than a century after the Highball first appeared. 

That proto-Highball surfaced sometime in the early 1890s, and was then called a Splificator. (The recipe, in its entirety, from an 1895 bar guide: “One piece ice; let customer help himself to whiskey, and fill up with Apollinaris water.”) It was a hit; by 1898 a popular play appeared called The Highball Family, in which “the wife and the mother of George Highball endeavor to illustrate to him the folly of indulging in too much liquor when he goes out to the club.”

The first decade of the 20th century was peak Highball. The Buffalo Enquirer reported in 1900 that fancy drinks—cocktails, fizzes, cobblers and the like—had faded in popularity, to be “replaced by the whiskey highball and the gin rickey, [which] can be compounded by anyone who knows their ingredients.” 

In New York the same year, the Times Union reported that “whiskey highballs and a number of other combinations of whiskey…and carbonated water” had become all the rage, “and among the summer drinks of which Brooklyn bartenders are so proud.” (I know, classic Brooklyn bartender.)

Highballs persisted through Prohibition, often employing sodas that were flavored and sweetened, like cola and ginger ale. These drinks were easy to make at home, and had the added benefit of masking the taste of crappy bootleg liquor. Highballs continued to be widely consumed in the post-Prohibition years—in the 1940s, Canada Dry marketed its bottled soda water as ideal for Highballs, and touted their “pin-point carbonation” as offering what they called “ear-appeal.” 

Highballs entered into an eclipse in the 1960s, when American Speech magazine noted that, “in sophisticated drinking circles the term high-ball has become practically archaic...The illuminati ask for ‘whiskey and water’ or ‘Scotch and soda.’”

And now, it’s back. 

The Highball’s recent resurgence—The Highball is Taking Over America, was an episode of The Daily Beast’s Life Behind Bars podcast last May—can trace its roots to Japan, which has been enjoying Highballs as long as anyone else. In 1907, it was reported that U.S. Secretary of War William Howard Taft drank “Japanese highballs” with his hosts, although exactly what those consisted of is unclear. (The Japanese whisky industry was essentially non-existent then, although in the 1880s any sort of Japanese alcoholic beverage—including sake—might be referred to as “Japanese whisky.”)

The recent return of the Highball can actually be traced to the fall of Japanese whisky. Around 2008, the House of Suntory was faced with sagging whisky sales—consumers were increasingly drawn to lighter spirits such as vodka and sochu. “Whisky was too hot and aggressive for a younger generation,” said Atsushi “Charlie” Takeuchi, a marketing manager with Beam Suntory. The sales team, where Takeuchi was a member, noticed that whisky Highballs were still selling well at better bars, despite the overall decline in whiskey’s popularity. “The question was, how can we put a highly skilled bartender in a machine,” Takeuchi said.

Beam Suntory partnered with Nittok, a Japanese company that makes beer and beverage dispensers, to develop a machine that could craft the perfect Highball, every time. Suntory paid the development costs and got exclusive rights for several years. They placed the first few in Tokyo bars, where they were an instant hit—some selling upwards of a hundred Highballs a day. Other bars took notice; by the end of 2008, the machines were in 100 bars, and the following year 300. Articles on their appeal were published, as were numerous ads for Suntory Highballs. Bars across Japan clamored for the machines, and today about 5,000 have Highball dispensers. Then consumers wanted drinks at home, so Suntory released canned Highballs in 2009. The Highball’s renaissance was in full flower.

In 2011, the Highball turned its sights west. Suntory sensed opportunity in the United States, and spent five years getting its machines approved and licensed for use here. The first were launched in New York and Chicago in June 2017. Word of mouth spread. Two years later, about 120 Highball machines are located in bars across the United States, with about a quarter of those in New York.

One might be tempted to dismiss their popularity as a potent mix of marketing hype and novelty. But the machines did effectively put a quality bartender in a box. It started with exacting proportions—in the United States, the ratio is one-part whiskey to three-parts sparkling water. (In Japan, where more dilute drinks are favored, the ratio is one to four.) 

The mixing was the easy part. The machines also chilled the whiskey and the soda to near-freezing temperatures before dispensing—37 degrees. That not only helped maintain carbonation, but also reduced dilution when the drink first hit the ice.

The carbonation is also a selling point. The Highball dispensers are engineered to inject higher-pressure gas into the water (which is first filtered in the machine), making it fizzier than what comes out of the standard soda gun. Takeuchi says that gas pressure in a standard soda is about 3.5 to 4.0 volumes. (A volume is a unit of measurement defined as the number of times the total volume of dissolved gas can be divided by the volume of liquid.) Champagne is typically around 5.0 volumes (hence the smaller bubbles and thicker bottles.) The Highball machine produces carbonation at 6.0 volumes, meaning a profusion of small, delicate bubbles, which have been shown (in studies of Champagne⁠) to convey flavor more efficiently. The machine was also designed with a proprietary nozzle that maintained full carbonation to the point of dispensing. 

“Once the machine came out with the highly carbonated soda, it was just kind of word of mouth,” says Gardner Dunn, the New York-based senior whiskey ambassador for Beam Suntory. “It’s all down to the bubbles.” As an added benefit, the machines could dispense carbonated water without whiskey, allowing bars to make all sorts of tall drinks with high-quality soda water. 

The growth of the machines in the United States has been slower than in Japan, owing to the fact that Beam Suntory can subsidize or distribute the machines for free in Japan, but is prohibited by law from doing the same here. Bars have to purchase the Highball machines, and at a price of $5,000 to $7,000, that can be a steep hill to climb. 

But Dunn and Takeuchi believe the Highball and its robot master will continue to spread. 

“We’re a little more health conscious these days, and people are looking for lower ABV and fewer calories,” Dunn says. And with the resurgence of hard seltzers and high-end mixers like Fever-Tree and Q Tonic, “it’s the perfect storm for the Highball.” 

The Highball was arguably the first hard seltzer, and if the current trend pops, it may endure to be the last. I’d wager that in 2120 drinkers will still be drinking whiskey Highballs. White Claw and its brethren will exist only as a Wikipedia entry, and one seldom visited at that.

[Fuzz]

6 hours ago, MIKA27 said:

People Once Wanted Their Cars To Spit Lit Cigarettes At Them

What would the modern equivalent of something like this be? An in-dash coffee maker that shoves a spring-loaded straw in your mouth, ready to inject coffee at preset temperatures and proper cream/sweetner/whatever mixed in?

 

Ask, and it shall be given you....

[MIKA27]

12 hours ago, Fuzz said:

Ask, and it shall be given you....

No...WAY!!  That is soooo cool!

[MIKA27]

Astronomers Just Found 20 New Moons Around Saturn

A survey of Saturn’s outer reaches has resulted in the discovery of 20 new moons. With 82 known natural satellites, Saturn now boasts the most moons of any planet in the solar system, surpassing Jupiter’s 79 known moons.

It’s always special when astronomers spot new moons, but this latest discovery is extreme — 20 new moons confirmed all at once, as announced Tuesday by the International Astronomical Union’s Minor Planet Centre.

The team behind the discovery includes Scott Sheppard from the Carnegie Institution for Science, David Jewitt of UCLA, and Jan Kleyna from the University of Hawaii. The distant orbs were spotted with the Subaru telescope located on Hawaii’s Mauna Kea, according to a Carnegie press release.

As you might recall from last year, Sheppard was involved in the discovery of 12 additional moons around Jupiter, bring the Jovian giant’s total to 79. The new discovery brings Saturn’s total up from 62 to 82 — the most in the solar system.

“Finding new moons of the planets is hard because they are generally very faint and thus hard to track year to year in order to get reliable orbits for them,” Sheppard wrote in an email to Gizmodo. “I have been using some of the largest telescopes in the world to find the new moons and an updated computer algorithm to link the new discoveries year to year, allowing us to officially determine they are orbiting Saturn and thus are new moons of Saturn.”

Two of the new Saturnian moons, shown between the yellow crosshairs.

When asked why it took so long to find these new moons, Sheppard said it’s because they’re so dim. Currently, astronomers are “only able to find moons that are a a few kilometres in size around Saturn because the planet is so far away,” he said. Sheppard and his colleagues suspect there are 100 moons around Saturn larger than 1.5 kilometres in size, “but future larger telescopes will be needed to find these smaller and thus fainter moons.”

Each of Saturn’s newly discovered moons measures between 3 and 4 kilometres in diameter, so yeah, they’re tiny. Of the 20 new moons, three are in prograde orbit (moving in the same direction as Saturn’s rotation) and 17 are in retrograde orbit (you guessed it, moving opposite Saturn’s rotation).

All of the new moons are relatively far from Saturn. Two of the prograde moons require around two years to make a complete orbit of the gas giant, while the remaining 18 moons require more than three years to make a single orbit (our Moon requires 27 days to make a complete orbit around Earth). The most extreme of these new moons, designated S5613a2 m, requires 1,413 days, or 5.3 years, to revolve around Saturn, making it the farthest known moon from the gas giant.

Artist’s conception of the 20 newly discovered moons orbiting Saturn, showing the three groupings and direction of orbit.

The new moons were slotted into three distinct categories depending on the angles at which they orbit around Saturn.

Two of the prograde moons were assigned to the Inuit group (shown in blue in the graphic above), the moons of which are named after Inuit mythology. The Inuit moons are likely remnants of a large moon or object that disintegrated into smaller fragments a long time ago.

The remaining prograde moon was placed in the Gallic group (shown in green), but it’s much farther out than previously known Gallic moons, so this designation may not stick, according to the Carnegie release. All 17 of the retrograde moons have similar inclinations to the Norse group (shown in red), so that’s where they’ve been placed. The Norse group, like the Inuit group, is believed to have originated from a much larger object that broke up into smaller pieces, likely from a collision.

Saturn is farther away from Earth than Jupiter is, so it’s tougher to find moons around Saturn. Seeing that Saturn “has more moons even though it is harder to find them, shows just how many moons Saturn has collected over time,” Sheppard told Gizmodo.

“Because these new moons are on inclined orbits far from Saturn itself, we believe these new moons were captured by Saturn just after the planet formation process. These moons are the remnants of the objects that helped form the planets, so by studying them, we are learning about what the planets formed from.”

Excitingly, a contest has been created for the public to choose names for the 20 moons. Sorry, but Saturn McSaturnFace won’t be allowed, as the names have to conform to their mythological groupings, along with other naming conventions.

[MIKA27]

Apex: The Secret Race Tells The Tale Of A Mad Record-Breaking Drive Across America

There was a time in America, starting in the mid-1970s and ending in the early 1980s, when the most daring car enthusiasts in America were the ones gunning to get from New York to Los Angeles by car quicker than anyone had done before. It was known to most as the Cannonball Run. And in 1983, a 32-hour, 7-minute record was set that was considered unbeatable.

It was until 2006, when Alex Roy and a small group of his lunatic friends stepped into an extensively modified E39 BMW M5 and beat that record by a full hour and three minutes. (Roy’s record was later beaten by Ed Bolian in 2013.)

It’s a wild story, the kind of story that deserves a movie. So it got one. This is Apex: The Secret Race Across America. And you’ll be able to watch it later this month.

You’ve probably heard about this story. And you might know Alex Roy, someone I think is best described as a bon vivant of speed. But his book on the matter and the many articles devoted to the record run can only tell part of the story.

This film aims to tell all of it, including the history of transcontinental speed runs in America, through interviews with the participants and footage from when the runs were done. It features Roy, Matt Farah, the late, great Brock Yates, SimCity creator and record holder/participant Will Wright and more telling the stories of what really happened.

It’s also narrated by Ice-T, and I could listen to that dude talk about anything.

It’s perfectly fair to have mixed feelings about the Cannonball Run, to say the least. Some see it as a crucial part of American car culture, a rebellion against traffic laws and perceived encroachments on freedom of movement. Others see it as a pointless and dangerous provocation. In truth, it’s all of those things and more, and I’m eager to see the full picture painted by this film.

The movie premieres October 21 on NBC Sports in the U.S. and will be available on iTunes later.

[MIKA27]

SULLIVANS COVE $1,800 LIMITED EDITION RELEASE COULD BE THE BEST AGED WHISKY MONEY CAN BUY

When you think of whisky you probably think of either Scotland or Ireland, the former has its own version of whisky and the latter is home to the oldest licensed distillery in the world. Australia is probably not the country you think of, but a distillery from Tasmania has been slowly changing that attitude.

How do you change attitudes? Well if you’re Sullivans Cove Distillery you focus on your product and make great whisky, in fact they hold the record of being the only distillery in the world to have won the World’s Best Single Cask Single Malt twice in a row. As part of their 25th anniversary, the distillery is releasing a recently found barely-legal 21 years aged whisky which will be the oldest ever official distillery release of Australian single malt whisky. 

Turns out the latest release by Sullivan Cove happened entirely by accident after a call out of the blue from a Hobart warehouse. The warehouse had discovered four cases of whisky produced by the label prior to 1999 which fortunately when drunk still had a richness and depth to the character. Considering the age and low volume of the casks, the small amount of leftover whisky was married together to yield 500 bottles which according to managing director Adam Sable is incredibly rare to be able to offer.

Quote

“When we found these casks, we were thrilled that they still had quality whisky inside. In the Australian climate, it’s very difficult to age whisky for this long without it all evaporating, so it’s a very special thing to be able to offer”

The 49.6% ABV drop is of course presented in a crystal decanter with a label design reflecting the packaging of Sullivans Cove’s first release in the late 1990s. Considering the rarity of the bottle, the $1,800 price tag doesn’t sound too bad. Just remember to add on the price of a plane ticket to Tasmania for it as its only available for sale to members of its mailing list and visitors of the Cellar Door. 

[MIKA27]

Bruce Davison Battles the Devil in Exclusive ‘Along Came the Devil 2’ Exorcism Clip

In the mood for a little early exorcism today? Good news, we’ve got an exclusive clip from Along Came the Devil 2 that should get the job done. The followup to last year’s Along Came the Devil, which centers on a new battle against the forces of evil. The first film starred Euphoria breakout Sydney Sweeney as a young woman who came face-to-face with the demonic force that may have caused her mother’s disappearance. The sequel centers on her older sister, Jordan, who receives distressing phone and returns home to discover their long-estranged father in a town that’s been infected by demonic possession, and the local priest might just be their best hope.

Director Jason DeVan returns for the sequel, which he co-wrote with Heather DeVan (Mindless). The film stars Bruce Davison (X-Men Series), Laura Slade Wiggins (Shameless), Mark Ashworth (The Magnificent Seven), Cassius DeVan (Mindless), Tiffany Fallon (The Competition) and Heather DeVan. Gravitas Ventures will release the film in theaters, on digital, and On Demand October 11, 2019. 

[MIKA27]

Shark-like “Invictus” is Bell’s bid for Army’s future attack-recon aircraft

Single-rotor light helicopter design aims to take on scout role now held by Apaches.

Bell Textron has unveiled the design for the company's entrant into the US Army's Future Attack Reconnaissance Aircraft (FARA) program: a single-rotor helicopter called the Bell 360 Invictus. The shark-like design, which uses rotor technology developed for the Bell 525 Relentless medium-lift helicopter, will be "optionally manned" capable—meaning it can either carry a crew of two or fly autonomously.

The Army is looking for a "knife fighter" for the FARA role—a high-speed, agile, and lightly armed helicopter capable of defending itself while probing enemy positions—rather than a heavy attack helicopter. A winning FARA design will have to be able to maneuver in urban environments, fly at speeds above 200mph (322km/h), and fly without pilots to perform intelligence and reconnaissance missions.

The Army retired its last dedicated scout helicopter, the Bell OH-58 Kiowa, in 2017; since then, the Army's armed reconnaissance squadrons have flown the Boeing AH-64 Apache instead. But the Army is looking to retire about half of the Apache fleet with whichever aircraft wins the FARA competition, beginning in 2028.

Bell's competitors in the FARA design competition include Lockheed's Sikorsky unit and Boeing (which teamed on a design for the Army's other major new aircraft effort, the Future Long Range Assault Aircraft program). Airbus has also indicated that it has submitted a design for the competition.

Sikorsky would appear to have a fairly long lead in terms of initial execution on its design—the S-97 Raider, a helicopter with advanced coaxial rigid rotors and a single pusher rotor, capable of an airspeed of 280mph (440km/h or 240 knots), was developed with the scouting mission in mind and first flew in 2015. But Boeing is reportedly looking at a high-speed design derived from the Apache AH-64E Guardian. And Airbus has proposed a design based on its Eurocopter X3 experimental high-speed hybrid helicopter with two outboard pusher rotors.

The Bell design is less radical than Sikorsky's and Airbus' designs on the surface, but Bell claims that the aircraft will have similar performance capabilities. The 525 Relentless rotor system has been able to achieve speeds "above 200 Knots True Air Speed (KTAS)" (230mph, 370 km/h). And the Invictus design includes lift-sharing wings to reduce the lift requirements on rotors during high-speed forward flight—intended to help reduce the retreating blade stall effect experienced by conventional helicopters at high speed.

The Bell design also includes a 20mm cannon in the nose and integrated "munitions launchers" on each side, capable of carrying Hellfire missiles and other current and future air-launched weapons. It also will carry "enhanced situational awareness and sensor technologies," according to a Bell press statement. It will incorporate a "Digital Backbone" created by Collins Aerospace to accommodate the Defense Department's desire for a "Modular Open Systems Approach" to avionics and systems—an engineering mandate to make rapid upgrades possible and lower later acquisition costs.

[MIKA27]

FLOR DE CANA V GENERACIONES RUM

Located at the base of the San Cristobal volcano in Nicaragua, Flor de Caña has been a standout rum distiller since 1890. Their latest release is one of the most prestigious in their storied history and was released to celebrate their 130th anniversary in 2020. V Generaciones is a 30-year-old rum aged in a single barrel since 1988 and pays homage to the five family generations behind the company. Only 411 bottles were made available, each of which features a metallic label that is individually numbered and bears the signatures of the five generations. Each bottle arrives in a black leather case and is topped with a cap that is crafted from volcanic rock and a replica of the iconic 1902 volcano postal stamp of Nicaragua. LEARN MORE FROM FLOR DE CANA / $1,200

[Ken Gargett]

Just now, MIKA27 said:

FLOR DE CANA V GENERACIONES RUM

Located at the base of the San Cristobal volcano in Nicaragua, Flor de Caña has been a standout rum distiller since 1890. Their latest release is one of the most prestigious in their storied history and was released to celebrate their 130th anniversary in 2020. V Generaciones is a 30-year-old rum aged in a single barrel since 1988 and pays homage to the five family generations behind the company. Only 411 bottles were made available, each of which features a metallic label that is individually numbered and bears the signatures of the five generations. Each bottle arrives in a black leather case and is topped with a cap that is crafted from volcanic rock and a replica of the iconic 1902 volcano postal stamp of Nicaragua. LEARN MORE FROM FLOR DE CANA / $1,200

i really hope i am not breaking any embargo in mentioning this although none has been mentioned. 

so far, it has only been exported to the US. not sure what they got. australia will be the next market and we will get ten bottles. no idea of the price but the owner of flor de cana is flying out to sydney in a couple of weeks to release it (so presumably, nine bottles for the market). have got an invite to fly down for the release. not unhappy about that. will report back. 

[MIKA27]

Seiko’s Striking New Automatic Watch Honors Its First-Ever Chronograph

Back in the 1940s, the Japanese watchmakers at Seiko were well on their way to stardom, introducing one of, if not the first, chronograph timepieces. While the company’s earliest variants were brought to the masses under the guise of a pocket watch silhouette, it wasn’t long until they would implement the same chronograph layout in a wrist-worn variant, including the 1969 Caliber 6139, which was the world’s first automatic chronograph with a column wheel and vertical clutch.

Before the 1969 release, however, Seiko released the Crown Chronograph. This groundbreaking example was both Seiko, and Japan’s, first chronograph watch, boasting a handsome design, one-push mechanism, column wheel, and the ability to control the timepiece’s start, stop, and reset functions. Now, for the Crown’s 55th Anniversary, the company has introduced the Presage-based SRQ031 model, paying homage to one of watchmaking’s most influential examples. Like its predecessor, the SRQ031 features a nostalgic design accented by a box-shaped crystal, a slim bezel, and tilted case to give the watch a pronounced aesthetic. Inside, an upgraded 8R48 movement, vertical clutch, column wheel, and heart-shaped cam provide wearers with unparalleled precision. Only 1,000 examples are slated for release, so head over to Seiko’s website to procure one of your own for $3,735.

[MIKA27]

ASTROLAND AGENCY

Once you land on Mars, you probably won't be coming back. So before you take off for the Red Planet, it'd be best to test drive your new abode. Aspiring astronauts can do just that with the Astroland Agency. The experience begins at home with virtual training courses along with some coaching in climbing and speleology. Once completed, a team of 10 Astrolanders will be fitted for custom astronaut suits and head to the Ares Station — a mock colony located inside a massive cave in Spain. The mission will replicate the harsh conditions and extreme isolation that will be common on Mars, allowing for research and experimentation of current technologies that will be useful for future Martians.

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MIT Confirms A Bridge Leonardo Da Vinci Designed 500 Years Ago Was An Ancient Engineering Marvel

Some 500 years after his death, researchers are still discovering just how talented and brilliant Leonardo da Vinci was. Architects and civil engineers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology used a 3D printer to create a replica of a bridge da Vinci designed, but never built. To their surprise, not only did it work, but it would have also revolutionised bridge design five centuries ago.

As the story goes, in 1502 A.D. the Sultan Bayezid II wanted to build a bridge to connect the city of Istanbul to its neighbour, Galata. One of the proposed designs came from Leonardo da Vinci, who had already made a name for himself in the arts and sciences at the time. In a letter he sent to the sultan, accompanied by a notebook full of sketches, da Vinci described a bridge that would span the proposed distance using a single, flattened arch design, supported by bases on either shore.

Bridges at the time were typically made using a series of semicircular arches, and to span the distance between the two cities would have required at least 10 evenly spaced piers in between to support the entire structure. Da Vinci’s design, which would have easily allowed sailboats to pass beneath it, was radically different (and centuries ahead of its time), which is probably why the sultan decided not to take the risk. Half a millennium later, researchers were curious if it would have succeeded.

The original notes and illustrations describing the bridge didn’t specify what materials would be used to build it, or how it would actually be constructed. But the MIT researchers concluded that the only material that would have provided adequate strength was stone, and based on the building techniques commonly employed around the same time da Vinci came up with this design, the bridge would have probably been engineered to rely on gravity to hold all of its pieces together.

To test their assumptions, the team at MIT created a 1:500-scale replica, measuring about 80cm long, that would be assembled from 126 blocks of varying shapes and sizes, created by a 3D printer. The real bridge, had it actually been built, would have required thousands of precisely chiselled stone blocks for its assembly, but the approach MIT took for the replica still allowed them to properly test the feasibility of its design.

Not only did the bridge work, remaining strong and stable without the use of any mortars or fasteners, but the team at MIT also realised that da Vinci had even engineered a way to minimise unwanted lateral movements in the structure, which would have quickly led to its collapse.

The footings on either side of the arched bridge featured designs that splayed outwards to add a considerable amount of stability. The bridge would have even survived most earthquakes, which were common at the time in that area, as the MIT researchers discovered by putting their replica on two movable platforms. It wasn’t indestructible, but it would have been an ancient architectural marvel.

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Ancient Egyptian 'Industrial Zone' Uncovered In Luxor's Valley Of The Monkeys

The Egyptian Ministry of Antiquities has announced new archaeological discoveries in Luxor, highlighted by a remarkable “industrial zone” in which workers manufactured items for royal tombs.

Egyptian archaeologist Zahi Hawass, who headed the excavations, made the announcement on Thursday at a press conference in Luxor, reports Ahram Online. Khaled El-Enan, Egypt’s antiquities minister, along with Mostafa Wazir, the secretary general of the Supreme Council of Antiquities, attended Thursday’s press briefing.

The discoveries were made in the West Valley, commonly known as the Valley of the Monkeys, and in the East Valley, also known as the Valley of Kings—the final resting place of King Tutankhamun.

Excavations in West Valley, which started back in 2017, have yielded an ancient Egyptian industrial zone in which funerary ornaments were produced on a mass scale. It’s the first of its kind to ever be found in the area.

“Each workshop had a different purpose,” Hawass told CNN. “Some were used to make pottery, others to produce gold artifacts and others still to manufacture furniture.”

A limestone fragment discovered at a new excavation site at the Valley of the Monkeys. 

Within this zone, the archaeologists uncovered 30 workshops, which consisted of houses used for storage and the cleaning of funeral furniture meant for the tombs of royalty, said Hawass, who added that pottery found at the site dates back to Dynasty 18. The 18th Dynasty—from circa 1549 BCE to 1292 BCE—marked the period in which Egypt emerged as a world power.

Within this area, the archaeologists also discovered an oven used to burn clay and metal and a “tank”—or more accurately, a pit—that once held drinking water for the workers, according to an Egyptian Ministry of Antiquities statement published at its Facebook page. Accordingly, the discovery could shed light on the working conditions at the time.

This hole once held drinking water for ancient Egyptian workers.

Other recently discovered items included a scarab ring, hundreds of inlay beads (including beads decorated with the wings of the Egyptian god Horus), and gold foil used to adorn royal coffins.

Excavations are ongoing in the West Valley in an ambitious attempt to uncover the tomb of Queen Nefertiti and her daughter, Queen Ankhesenamun—the wife of King Tut. The team is also hoping to uncover the tombs of three prominent pharaohs: King Amenhotep I, King Tuthmose II and Ramses VIII, reports CNN.

An assortment of artifacts found in Luxor. 

In the East Valley, Hawass’s team found a tomb, designated KV 65, which still contained some of the tools used for its construction. Excavations in the Valley of Kings were described as being the largest since the time of Howard Carter, the famous discoverer of King Tut’s tomb. These digs are happening near the tombs of Ramses VII, Hatshepsut, and Ramses III, according to Ahram Online.

Excitingly, the excavations in the East Valley near King Tut’s tomb resulted in the discovery of other artifacts, including 42 small huts used to store tools, noted the antiquities ministry. Here, the archaeologists also found some hieroglyphic paintings, fragments of carved tombs, and rings from the Ramesside period, which kickstarted the 19th Dynasty (1292 BCE to 1189 BCE).

It’s unreal how, after so many years of digging, Egyptian archaeologists are still able to uncover new tombs, structures, and artifacts. It’s testament to the massive cultural footprint left behind by the ancient Egyptians.

[MIKA27]

Ancient Assyrian Tablets Seem To Contain References To A Massive Solar Storm

Scientists report that they may have found the earliest written record of a solar storm in ancient Assyrian tablets.

Recent analyses have found evidence of an extreme solar storm that left energetic particles in tree rings and ice cores across the world sometime around 660 BCE.

With this in mind, a research team in Japan and the United Kingdom wondered if they’d be able to find evidence of this storm in ancient astrological records — and they may have found something in Assyrian tablets.

Back in the 19th century, archaeologists uncovered thousands of tablets dating back to the Assyrian empire in Mesopotamia, which documented treaties, stories, including the now-famous epic of Gilgamesh, and astrological reports. These reports included observations of the planets, phenomena like comets and meteorites, and of course, predictions of omens.

The researchers (today’s researchers) scanned through a collection of these astrological reports in search of auroral-type events, which they define as “reddish luminous phenomena in the sky” and are caused by the Sun’s particles interacting with the atmosphere. Many of the reports weren’t dated, but the researchers could at least produce date ranges based on the astrologer who wrote the report.

They found three reports that seemed to mention auroral phenomena: one reporting a “red glow,” another a “red cloud,” and a third reporting that “red cover[ed] the sky,” according to the paper published in The Astrophysical Journal Letters.

The records correlate with date ranges of 679 BCE to 655 BCE, 677 BCE to 666 BCE, and 679 BCE to 670 BCE, respectively. Assyria might seem too far south to view the aurora, being at approximately the same latitude as North Carolina, but past research shows that the North magnetic pole was much closer to the Middle East in the 7th century BCE (and especially strong solar storms can cause the aurora to move south).

These records seem to correspond to tree ring data and ice core data showing quick increases in radioactive elements associated with solar activity during this time. Obviously they’re just correlations — but perhaps these tablets are the earliest-yet records of intense auroral activity.

The ice core and tree ring data suggest that the 660 BCE storm would have been quite powerful. A blast of particles following a solar flare could have even punched a hole in the ozone layer. It’s one of the strongest candidate solar proton events on record, alongside similar-looking events from 775 CE and a weaker event around 993 CE.

Scientists hope to better understand and eventually be able to predict these storms, since they’d wreak havoc on our electrical infrastructure. And if you’re an ancient Assyrian, surely a red cloud would be a bad, bad omen.

[MIKA27]

The Ultimate Game Boy Clone Perfectly Plays Every Classic Handheld Game You Ever Loved

It’s become painfully clear that Nintendo has no plans to release a throwback console to celebrate the Game Boy’s 30th birthday this year. But you won’t lament the Game Boy Classic Edition not happening now that the Analogue Pocket has been revealed. It’s a portable console that flawlessly plays cartridges from almost every portable game system every made on a glorious hi-res screen: and without sloppy emulation.

We’ve shared enough words on why emulation is not the best way to replay the classic video games of your youth, which is why Analogue continues to go the FPGA route with its throwback consoles, which have so far included the Analogue Nt, the Super Nt, and the Mega Sg. An FPGA (or Field-Programmable Gate Array) is a custom chip that can be programmed to function exactly like all the silicon found inside old consoles. The result is a gameplay and sound experience that’s an exact recreation of what classic hardware offered, and occasionally even better.

In the case of the new Analogue Pocket, there are actual two FPGAs inside. One emulates classic handheld consoles including the Game Boy, Game Boy Colour, Game Boy Advance, whose cartridges can all be slotted in the back, as well as the Sega Game Gear, Atari Lynx, and the Neo Geo Pocket Colour, whose cartridges will require adapters. The other FPGA is there to allow developers to transform the Analogue Pocket into other portable devices, so it remains to be seen what other functionality it will eventually offer.

The Analogue Pocket includes a 3.5-inch backlit LCD screen with a resolution of 1600x1440 pixels, so titles from systems with wider screens, like the GBA, will require letterboxing. But Game Boy games should look unbelievable, and you won’t have to strap on some bizarre light accessory to play games in the dark.

It will also include a microSD card slot, and though not an official feature, support for games loaded via ROMs will undoubtedly be an option, as it is with the company’s hardware like the Super Nt. All that should be worth the price of entry, but Analogue has added one other excellent Nintendo-inspired feature.

Like the Switch, the Analogue Pocket will be able to dock (sold separately) and connect to a TV over HDMI so that any of the games it can play can be enjoyed on a giant screen. Yes, the idea of playing a Game Boy game, which had a resolution of 160×144 pixels, on a 4K TV with over 8.8 million pixels seems ludicrous, but imagine stacking Tetris blocks the size of your head. The dock also supports controllers, both Bluetooth wireless and USB-tethered, so you can take the overkill to a whole new level.

Portable consoles have traditionally enjoyed a much longer life than gaming systems you connect to a TV: I haven’t touched an NES in years but still have a working GBA on my desk. But in recent years the Game Boy has been especially popular amongst chiptune musicians who use the system to create electronic music. For them, the creators of the Analogue Pocket will include a popular digital synthesiser and sequencer app called Nanoloop, but given its capabilities, you can expect to see even more music creation apps brought to the new handheld once it’s available to developers.

When it launches sometime in 2020, the Analogue Pocket will sell for around $300, which seems pricey given it costs the same as the Nintendo Switch Lite. But having reviewed all of Analogue’s previous console clones, it’s proven itself a company that focuses on delivering an unparalleled gaming experience and build quality with its hardware.

So if you’re willing to splurge, you probably won’t be disappointed. Besides, the $220 Playdate, also enroute for 2020, will initially launch with a series of just 12 games released on a weekly basis, while the Analogue Pocket will be able to play over 2,780 from Nintendo alone. Aren’t you glad the Playdate hasn’t opened its pre-orders yet?

[MIKA27]

Drink Like Ron Swanson: Meet the Lagavulin Offerman Edition Single Malt Scotch Whisky

Actor Nick Offerman talks about his special edition of peaty Lagavulin Single Malt Scotch Whisky, his new one-man comedy show, and woodworking.

From George Clooney to Lykke Li to Jon Bon Jovi just about every celebrity now has his or her own brand of liquor. You haven’t truly made it until you’re selling booze. 

But even in this star-obsessed era, there are just a few bottles that actually feature a famous name or face, including the Pol Roger Winston Churchill Champagne Cuvée, the Frank Sinatra edition of Jack Daniel’s and John Wayne Duke Bourbon.

Joining this select group is actor and woodworker Nick Offerman. Lagavulin Single Malt Scotch Whisky is immortalizing him with a limited-edition 11-year-old bottling that is now being released across the country. The special dram even features a line drawing of him right on the label.

The so-called Lagavulin Offerman Edition ($75) grew out of a running gag on the TV series Parks and Recreation. Offerman’s character, the blustery Ron Swanson, loves the Islay whisky and he drinks it on multiple episodes. How was the brand selected for the show? “It’s some pretty hilarious serendipity,” he told me. “Lagavulin was the first Scotch anybody ever gave me. I was 29 years old at the Chicago Film Festival, and my friend the filmmaker Scott King bought me a glass of Lagavulin. I tasted it and it’s a campfire in a glass. And I said ‘holy cow, I see what all the fuss is about when it comes to delicious single malt Scotch.’ And little did I know that it was such an intense and particular flavor that it ruined me. I’m not persnickety, if there’s whiskey to be had then we’re in luck, but when given my druthers I always have asked for Lagavulin—it became my easy favorite.”

Offerman admits that he was amazed and slightly baffled when he opened his desk drawer on the set of Parks and Recreation and discovered a bottle of Lagavulin. He assumed that somehow the props department had found out that he liked the brand and the bottle was ultimately featured five or six times in the first season alone. Only a year later at a birthday party for Mike Schur, the creator of the show, did he realize it was also his favorite Scotch and that’s why it had been chosen in the first place. “We marveled because at the time it was really pretty unheard of especially for a couple of dumb American guys in their 30s,” he says.

Thanks to the success of Parks and Recreation, Offerman has gotten to work on a number of projects with Lagavulin, including a memorable yule log video for the holidays. So when this idea for a special whisky “was pitched to me I was absolutely gobsmacked,” he says. “I feel like I’m being invited to pitch a game for the Cubs or something. It just seems out of the realm of possibility.”

With Lagavulin distillery manager Colin Gordon he tasted different whiskies from the brand’s warehouses to help select the special-edition Scotch. What was Offerman looking for in the samples? “I suppose it’s interesting, it feels like it’s right in pace with my woodworking tastes. I like simple and bold things,” he says. “So I like to build a Craftsman oak table in the style of Gustav Stickley much in the same way that I like my Scotch to have signature peat and smokiness. For some reason, I tend towards the bucolic so I want to taste some leather and some soil. If there’s some actual oak sawdust stirred into the mix it won’t hurt my feelings.”

While Offerman is specific in terms of what he’s looking for in a Scotch, when it comes to drinking he just likes “it in a glass. That’s my favorite way to drink any Lagavulin.” He’s actually serious and doesn’t like to add ice or even water to his whisky, since “to my way of thinking you’re just diluting your good time.”

I wondered if his wife actresses Megan Mullally likes his eponymous whisky, especially since she drinks a river of Martinis on her show Will & Grace. Offerman lets me down gently. “She’s never had a Martini in her life,” he reveals. “It’s a testament to her chops that she can pull that off.” While they used to drink beer or wine, now “as a top-drawer singer both on the Broadway stage and touring with her band Nancy & Beth, she has pretty much foregone alcohol entirely.” 

The Lagavulin Scotch is not the only project that Offerman is working on right now. He is finishing 12 ukuleles that he built from scratch and the second season of crafting show Making It that he co-hosts with Amy Poehler, is finished and will air this winter. He’s also in the middle of a tour for his new one-man comedy show, All Rise, which runs through December 14 and makes stops at New York’s Beacon Theater and D.C.’s The Kennedy Center.

While it’s probably too early to say, he’d like to do another special edition of Lagavulin. “This piece of good fortunate strikes me as utterly ridiculous. Getting the job as Ron Swanson was like winning the biggest lottery a boy could ever hope for and then from that this relationship with Lagavulin sprouted and it’s been just absolutely wonderful,” he says. “I get to go to a beautiful island in Scotland once a year and shoot dumb funny commercials for this product that’s been my favorite libation for most of my adult life and so as long as they still find me adorable, I’m happy to come to any dinner party they care to throw.”

[MIKA27]

‘The Outsider’: Watch the Trailer for the HBO Limited Series From Stephen King

Everything is coming up Stephen King these days, what with the recent success of IT: Chapter Two and the upcoming releases of season two of Castle Rock and the long-awaited The Shining sequel Doctor Sleep. The master of horror is keeping the streak going with the new trailer for the HBO limited series The Outsider, featuring an impressive cast led by Ben Mendelsohn.

The trailer begins with Terry Maitland (Jason Bateman) coaching a little league game when two officers arrest him for the murder of 11-year-old Frankie Peterson. Maitland is incredulous and insists he is innocent, which Detective Ralph Anderson (Mendelsohn) is inclined to believe. Maitland used to coach Anderson’s son, and on top of that, the evidence is confusing – fingerprints place Maitland at the scene of the murder, but video surveillance footage shows Maitland was 60 miles away when the boy was killed. How could Maitland be in two places at once? Cue eerie Stephen King music.

“I have no tolerance for the unexplainable,” Anderson says in a voice-over, as we’re bombarded with a series of increasingly creepy images that suggest he’s going to have to revise his stance in order to solve the case. Cynthia Erivo’s psychic investigator Holly Gibney responds, “Well then, sir, you’ll have no tolerance for me.” Rounding out the cast is Paddy Considine, Mare Winningham, Bill Camp, and Julianne Nicholson.

The 10-episode series is adapted from King’s novel by Richard Price, the creator, producer, and writer of HBO’s critically-acclaimed crime drama The Night Of. Price also worked on The Wire, also known as “the greatest television show ever,” so fans of both Price’s and King’s work should be excited to tune in when The Outsider premieres on January 12.

[MIKA27]

Divers Looking For WWII Shipwreck Find Enormous, Gelatinous Orb With Thousands Of Baby Squid Inside

Time and again, the deep sea reveals the most extraterrestrial-looking life we’ll ever see without actually leaving Earth. This was precisely the case during a recent dive in the waters near Ørstafjorden, Norway.

According to the Daily Mail, the divers were on their way back after visiting a World War II shipwreck, when they stumbled upon a mysterious translucent orb floating just 50 feet above the ocean floor.

Upon first glance, the massive orb — as large as the curious divers swimming around it — looked completely alien, with some sort of tissue-like material inside the giant blob. One of the researchers documented the strange encounter on video.

As it turned out, the otherworldly-looking object was actually a giant squid egg sac.

In the two-and-a-half minute recording of the encounter, divers Ronald Raasch and Nils Baadnes can be seen curiously circling the enormous ball, which appeared translucent in the cloudy water. As they inspected the orb closer, they shined their flashlights onto the surface of the object’s exterior — illuminating the silhouettes of the swarms of tiny, maggot-like creatures wriggling around inside. The egg sac was likely carrying thousands of baby squids.

The official account for the researchers’ REV ocean vessel tweeted out the full video of the encounter, complete with the divers’ conclusions about the strange-looking orb: “#Mysterysolved! Captain Baadnes & Ronald Raasch discovered this giant gel ball while diving in Orstafjord, which is actually an eggmass of 10-armed.”

These egg masses are very rarely glimpsed because the sacs fill up with water and sink down toward the bottom of the ocean floor, where it is difficult for divers to reach. But this latest sighting in the deep waters off the shores of Norway isn’t the first time that marine researchers have unexpectedly crossed paths with these giant jelly nurseries.

In 2015, squid expert Danna Staaf captured her encounter with a 13-foot-wide red flying squid egg mass while diving in the Gulf of California. In the subsequently-released study, Staaf noted that the giant egg sac likely functioned as a protective shield for the squid embryos inside it, keeping them safe from predators and parasites.

“We know that mama squid has these special glands in her body that make jelly and she mixes that jelly with her eggs in some way,” Staaf explained in a video published by National Geographic.

“And it’s concentrated. So when she produces it, it’s just a concentrated ball of snot with eggs in it, basically. We don’t know exactly what the chemicals are but they have some reaction, some ability to absorb water and expand in water. And we’ve all seen artificial chemicals like that… but this is just nature’s version of that.”

Todarodes sagittatus, the European flying squid that lives in the Norwegian Sea and which might have been the species that laid the egg sac in question.

The elastic nature of the egg sac is also believed to help maintain enough space between each squid embryo so that each egg can get enough oxygen to somehow support the development of the baby squids.

When Staaf and her team tried to grow young squid inside the laboratory using in vitro fertilization, the embryos — grown without the protective egg sac from their mother — became infected and were unable to mature properly.

One unsolved question still remains from Baadnes’ and Raasch’s recent egg encounter: Which species of squid did the egg sac come from? Although the REV account attributed the eggs to a “10-armed squid,” there are no known squid species with that many tentacles.

It’s difficult to pinpoint which species may have laid the giant egg sac. For one, several different species lay their eggs inside similar jelly-like protectors. The egg sacs between different species aren’t easily distinguishable simply by looking at them, either.

Some possible species known to live in the Norwegian waters are the Boreoatlantic armhook squid (Gonatus fabricii) and the European flying squid (Todarodes sagittatus), but we’ll never know for sure where this enormous egg mass came from.

There is much that scientists still don’t know about these elusive sea creatures and how they breed, and the little we know about these animals might as well make them alien to us after all.