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[MIKA27]

Five Things to Know About UAE’s First Mission to Mars

The Emirates Hope Mission, scheduled to launch this Friday, is the first Arab attempt to reach the Red Planet. Here’s how the UAE will endeavour to make history.

The Hope spacecraft, or Al Amal, was supposed to launch today from the Tanegashima Space Centre in Japan, but bad weather has bumped the launch to Friday, July 17. The 3,000-pound (1,350-kilogram) spacecraft — essentially a Martian weather satellite — will be delivered to space and nudged toward Mars atop a Mitsubishi Heavy Industries H-2A rocket. Come Friday, you’ll be able to watch the action here.

Hope, which will enter into orbit around Mars in February 2021, will be used to study the planet’s atmosphere and weather. Assuming all goes well, this will mark the first Arab mission to Mars, or any other planet for that matter.

The Emirates Mars Mission (EMM) is one of three scheduled missions to the Red Planet during the now-open launch window, the others being NASA’s Perseverance rover, launching in two weeks, and China’s Tianwen-1 lander. (The European and Russian ExoMars mission had to be postponed due to technical delays and the covid-19 pandemic.) This launch window happens once every 26 months, offering the most direct route from Earth to the Red Planet.

Here are five things to know about this historic mission.

Made in the UAE — but With a Little Help From Friends

In the works since 2013, the Hope project was planned, managed, and implemented by an Emirati team, with oversight and funding coming from the UAE Space Agency, according to Arab News.

It cost the UAE some $US200 ($287) million to build, which includes launch expenses contracted out to Mitsubishi Heavy Industries. That’s a fairly modest price tag considering the $US670 ($962) million it cost NASA to build the MAVEN spacecraft, a comparable mission launched to Mars in 2013. Still, nothing compares to India’s Mars Orbiter Mission, with its remarkably low price tag of $US74 ($106) million.

The Hope satellite during development. (Image: UAE Space Agency)

The UAE had never embarked on a project like this before, so it smartly sought out expertise from U.S. institutions, including the Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics (LASP) at the University of Colorado Boulder, which had previously worked on the MAVEN mission. As BBC reports, Emirati and U.S. engineers collaborated on the design and manufacturing of the spacecraft.

“It’s one thing to tell somebody how to ride a bike but until you’ve done it, you don’t really understand what it’s like. Well, it’s the same with a spacecraft,” Brett Landin, a senior systems engineer at LASP, told the BBC. “I could give you the process for fuelling a spacecraft, but until you’ve put on an escape suit and transferred 800 kg [1,765 pounds] of highly volatile rocket fuel from storage tanks into the spacecraft, you don’t really know what it’s like.”

Fair point.

A Point of National Pride

The Emirates Hope Mission will coincide with the UAE’s upcoming 50th anniversary as a nation, which is likely no coincidence.

Speaking to SpaceflightNow, Omran Sharaf, project manager for the EMM, said the “identity of the mission is not just about the UAE, it’s also for the Arab world.” The mission is “supposed to inspire the Arab youth, and send a message of hope to them, and a message that basically tells them if a country like the UAE is able to reach Mars in less than 50 years, then you guys can do much more given the history you have, given the human talent that you have,” he said.

An Arab expedition to Mars will undoubtedly kindle a renewed sense of national pride, but the mission, it is hoped, will also “inspire future Arab generations to pursue space science,” according to the EMM website. What’s more, a “sustainable, future-proof economy is a knowledge-based economy,” writes the UAE Space Agency.

The investment in STEM fields, and space tech in particular, is a smart move for the UAE, especially in consideration of tanking oil prices.

A Unique Orbit for Doing Science

Once at Mars, Hope will enter into a unique equatorial orbit high above the Red Planet. Moving in the same direction as the planet’s rotation, Hope will complete a single orbit once every 55 hours or so. This will allow the probe’s instruments to gaze at a single target for prolonged periods.

The journey to Mars. (Image: UAE Space Agency)

“The desire to see every piece of real estate at every time of day ended up making the orbit very large and elliptical,” LASP scientist David Brain told the BBC. “By making those choices, we will for example be able to hover over Olympus Mons (the largest volcano in the Solar System) as Olympus Mons moves through different times of day. And at other times, we’ll be letting Mars spin underneath us,” to which he added: “We’ll get full disc images of Mars, but our camera has filters, so we’ll be doing science with those images — getting global views with different goggles on, if you like.”

Oooh, a cool new view of Olympus Mons? We can’t wait.

The ‘First Weather Satellite for Mars’

Once in orbit, Hope will study the Martian atmosphere on a global scale. Data gathered by the probe will be used to track changes as influenced by the shifting seasons and as the Martian day turns to night. The probe will also be used to study the planet’s hydrogen and oxygen, some of which is leaching out into space; Hope will study weather patterns in both the lower and middle atmosphere to figure out why.

The Hope probe should also answer questions about Mars’s early history, and how this planet, once wet and blanketed by a thick atmosphere, became the cold, dry, and desolate place it is today.

Being the weather satellite that it is, the probe will improve our understanding of severe weather conditions on Mars, including gigantic dust towers and global dust storms that appear from time to time, such as the epic one that ended the Opportunity mission in 2018.

“We are the very first weather satellite for Mars,” explained Sarah al-Amiri, deputy project manager for the Hope mission, during a webinar back in June. “Past missions have only sporadically studied atmospheric conditions, looking at specific locations at specific times. It’s like me telling you to study Earth at different times of the day in Alaska, London, and the UAE, and then be able to form a complete picture of the weather and climate,” she said.

At a more broader, conceptual level, the Hope satellite will be of assistance to scientists trying to assess the planet’s prior or even current ability to host life. And in addition to refining our sense of Mars as a geological system, Hope will prepare scientists for a future crewed mission to the Red Planet, according to the UAE Space Agency.

Three Tools for the Job

To fulfil these ambitious goals, the Hope spacecraft is equipped with three primary scientific instruments: a camera, an infrared spectrometer, and an ultraviolet spectrometer.

Hope probe instruments. (Image: UAE Space Agency)

The camera, called Emirates eXploration Imager (EXI), will capture high-resolution images of Mars, measure the depth of water ice in the atmosphere, and study the Martian ozone layer, among other things.

The Emirates Mars Infrared Spectrometer (EMIRS) will scan the lower Martian atmosphere in the infrared band, allowing for observations of dust, ice clouds, and water vapour. This instrument can also take the temperature of the surface and lower atmosphere.

The Emirates Mars Ultraviolet Spectrometer (EMUS) will be used to measure the distribution of carbon monoxide, oxygen, and hydrogen at various altitudes and across the Martian seasons. With this data, scientists will compile a three-dimensional map, showing the distribution of oxygen and hydrogen in the atmosphere.

Hope should dramatically improve our understanding of the Red Planet, but we’ll have to wait until early next year for the data to start pouring in. Best of luck to the UAE as the team prepares for this historic launch on Friday.

[MIKA27]

Johnnie Walker Will Soon Come in Paper Bottles, But Let’s Not Cheers to That Just Yet

When future civilisations look back at the geological record, one product will stand out dramatically from this time period: plastic. In an effort to stem the rising tide of plastic pollution just a bit, a top-selling whiskey will soon come in paper bottles. Don’t get excited just yet, though.

Diageo, one of the world’s largest beverage companies, announced Monday that Johnnie Walker bottles will be made with “sustainably sourced wood” starting in early 2021. The company claims the bottle will be fully recyclable. If it works this time around, the company hopes it can use this packaging for other drinks in the future.

This latest news is a piece of the Diageo’s longer-term strategy to improve its carbon footprint and overall environmental impact. For instance, the company announced on June 29 that it was going to build a carbon-neutral whiskey distillery. On June 11, it announced the use of recycled plastic bottles for Seagram’s 7 Crown American whiskey.

Cool, right? One million plastic bottles are purchased every minute, according to the United Nations. That’s a whole lot of plastic that often ends up in our oceans (and, apparently, our national parks and plants, too). Reducing the amount of plastic the world produces is undeniably a good thing. But what we really need to do is reduce the amount of waste the world produces, period. There’s an environmental cost to everything we produce, as well as to everything we recycle. So, sorry, Johnnie Walker. We can’t celebrate this just yet.

“While we appreciate that Johnnie Walker is recognising the severity of the plastic pollution problem and the need for companies to change their business practices to eliminate plastic waste, trading one disposable for another is not the solution,” Claire Arkin, the communications coordinator for the Global Alliance for Incinerator Alternatives, which advocates for zero waste, told Earther in an email. “Using paper packaging comes with its own set of problems: deforestation, potential toxicity, and barriers to effective recycling. Instead of continuing to rely on disposability and foisting the costs of that decision onto cities and consumers, companies must pioneer safe, reusable systems that conserve human and planetary health.”

Amy Moas, a senior forest campaigner at Greenpeace USA, told Earther via email, “nothing about Johnny Walker liquors’ move to paper packaging is sustainable.” She also flagged the need for zero-waste options for consumers and the environmental problems the pulp and paper industry creates.

Making paper bottles requires cutting down trees and that carries a cost, particularly for endangered animals and Indigenous people that live in or near forests being chopped down. Even if the outside of the new Johnnie Walker bottle truly is 100% recyclable, Moas said questioned whether the coating on the inside to keep the whiskey from soaking through is, too.

Diageo did not provide any info to Gizmodo on what these coatings are besides that they are not any type of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, better known as PFAS. Which is good because these can often be found in similar types of packaging and come with their own environmental and health concerns.

Many companies use a thin plastic coating on paper cups that make them harder to recycle. Some companies are moving to bioplastic-based alternatives. But even if it the coating is technically recyclable, Moas said “the vast majority of municipal recycling programs are not equipped to accept them at this time.”

Johnnie Walker may be trying to help the world become a better, less-polluted place. However, our boy Johnnie is going to have to do a lot more to help solve this gargantuan issue. Saving the planet isn’t as simple as switching from plastic to paper. Not when the problems are so much more complex and deeply woven into society.

[MIKA27]

The Batman Universe Will Expand With an HBO Max Cop Show

Robert Pattinson’s Batman hasn’t even finished filming yet but his world is already expanding. Director Matt Reeves and Sopranos producer Terrence Winter are teaming up to do a Gotham City set police procedural on HBO Max that takes place in the same universe as the upcoming film.

Though the show is currently untitled, some are calling it Gotham Central, a reference to the comic book series of the same name by Greg Rucka, Ed Brubaker, Stefano Gaudiano, and Michael Clark. Whatever it’ll end up being called, the show has a straight to series commitment so, there’s little danger it won’t make it to air, with Winter writing and Reeves himself producing.

In a press release, HBO Max describes the show as building “upon the motion picture’s examination of the anatomy of corruption in Gotham City, ultimately launching a new Batman universe across multiple platforms. The series provides an unprecedented opportunity to extend the world established in the movie and further explore the myriad of compelling and complex characters of Gotham.”

Because the show is set in the same universe as The Batman there’s a chance Jeffrey Wright could appear as Commissioner Gordon, or maybe even Pattinson as Batman, but neither are confirmed, and casting has not yet begun.

“This is an amazing opportunity, not only to expand the vision of the world I am creating in the film, but to explore it in the kind of depth and detail that only a longform format can afford,” Matt Reeves said in a statement. “And getting to work with the incredibly talented Terence Winter, who has written so insightfully and powerfully about worlds of crime and corruption, is an absolute dream.”

“Our collaboration with Warner Bros. and DC allows us to elaborate and grow fan connections across these powerful brands for years to come,” added HBO Max chief content officer Kevin Reilly. “This is Batman as most audiences have never seen before and we know fans will want to spend more time in this new world inspired by the film.”

Now, all that said….while it’s very easy to be excited about a new Batman show and expanding the DC Universe and all that, maybe HBO should’ve looked outside its window. Is now really the time to be making another show glorifying police? In 2020? With people flooding the streets to protest police brutality? Don’t we have enough cop shows already? It’s curious timing for a show of this nature, to say the least.

Nevertheless, it is encouraging that Warner Bros. has this kind of confidence in Reeves’ film and vision. And, as shows like Gotham have proved, Batman’s hometown is ripe for compelling storytelling…although we had doubts this latest take will get anywhere near as wild as that last attempt at a Batman cop show.

The Batman is currently scheduled for release October 1, 2021 in the U.S.

[MIKA27]

Rolls-Royce Seeks To Corner Highest Tier Of Insufferable Crypto Dork Market

Rolls-Royce is known for making some incredible limited-run vehicles with wildly unique traits, like preventing you from speeding or (via an outside coachbuilder) permitting elegant dumps to be taken within its leather-slathered interior, but this seems to be the first time a limited run of Rolls-Royces has been inspired by both the look of the Matrix movies and that brain-teaser sculpture in front of the CIA building. Like the CIA sculpture, this Rolls-Royce limited run of 50 cars is called Kryptos, as in the Rolls-Royce Wraith Kryptos Collection.

For the most part, the cars are normal Wraiths, which I think most people would categorise as Rolls-Royce’s somewhat uprated version of a Scion tC, but with suicide doors.

The difference on this series of 50 Krypto Collection Wraiths, though, is in the details, which appear at first to be just a vaguely tech-inspired aesthetic theme, but actually contain:

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“… an encrypted cipher that evolves throughout the car for the clients’ pleasure and amusement, leading them on a journey of discovery and intrigue. To the uninitiated, these ciphers appear, on the surface at least, to be an alluring design purely for aesthetic purposes and devoid of any discernible pattern. However, for those that look closer, those few who hold the key, they will embark on an experience that leads to an enlightening conclusion.”

So, a big puzzle of some sort.

The Bespoke Designer, Katrin Lehmann, describes the inspiration as

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“As a designer, I’ve always been fascinated by the notion that you can communicate messages that are understood by only an elite few, using symbols, pictograms, and ciphers. Finding the key becomes integral to appreciating the full meaning of an item that can otherwise be viewed simply as a work of art.”

She also claims that humans have been using cryptography since the “dawn of time,” as she walks us through the car in this video that’s only a little bit silly, mostly because of the whispered, echoed repetition of certain words like “shadows”:

OK, it’s all pretty silly and cloyingly elitist, but, whatever, it’s kind of fun, too. I guess if you’re super-rich and can find the Easter Egg hidden in the Atari 2600 Adventure cartridge in your sleep, this is a logical next step.

The fundamental form of the cryptogram can be seen on the base of the Spirit of Ecstasy hood ornament, where the Flying Lady’s base-orb is ringed with a Morse-code-like series of dashes and dots, some untinted, some coloured in “Kryptos Green.”

The closest thing to a clue to get one started on decoding their car appears to be on the headrests, on which

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“…elements of the cipher are embroidered into Wraith’s headrests, where the customary ‘double-R’ emblem can so often be found.”

That would suggest that these markings equate to “RR”:

In Morse, “R” is “•–•” and this doesn’t seem to be that, which isn’t surprising, as that would be way too easy. What’s a bit confusing is that if it’s to be read as “:=” then the blue one is reversed from the grey, which is “=:” and it seems like they’re both supposed to be R’s.

They seem to overlap a bit, like Rolls-Royce’s actual logo Rs do, though I’m not sure if that’s significant.

Anyway, that seems to be a starting point, at least.

The circuit-tracing-inspired headliner supposedly hides big crypto data in there, and is animated as well (depicting an “in-motion data-stream,” according to RR) which I’m sure looks nice and engaging and fun, a perfect way to impress all your friends who may be feeling down after making zero progress trying to break the mysterious Cicada 3301 cryptographic challenge.

Supposedly, only two people at Rolls-Royce know the solution, the designer and the Chief Executive, and if you think you’ve figured it out, you can submit your efforts only through the invite-only Rolls-Royce phone app, called, irritatingly, Whispers.

I was unable to even crack this code.

I’m guessing the 50 rich people who buy these may likely hire actual cryptographers to help them solve their car-puzzle, so I suggest all of you take some time to try figuring it out and make your progress known here in the comments, in hopes of luring some moneybags to pay you for your efforts.

So, get cracking! Decode those dots and dashes and whatevers!

[MIKA27]

The First Teaser For Halloween Kills Is Here, But the Movie Won’t Be Until 2021

 

[MIKA27]

This Crazy LEGO Nintendo Entertainment System Set Is Definitely Not Cake

Say, do you feel like having a Nostalgia Explosion? As part of their ongoing Super Mario line, LEGO has announced a brand new set: The Nintendo Entertainment System, or NES, itself. You can straight up build a classic toy out of another classic toy, making this objectively the Inception of LEGO sets. And just thinking about building an NES brick by LEGO brick makes my nostalgic inner child simply shake in delight.

The kit will contain all of the bricks needed to craft an immaculately accurate rendering of a Nintendo Entertainment System. It also includes “a controller with a connecting cable and plug and even an opening slot for the Game Pak with a locking feature” — all made out of GD LEGO bricks! Plus — and this might be the piece de resistance, pun fully intended — it comes with the materials needed to build a delightfully retro 80s-leaning CRT television set that has an 8-bit LEGO mario on it, and boy does that take me back to lying on a carpet-covered basement floor drinking grape juice and playing NES all day. Finally, if you happen to “scan an included action brick with LEGO Mario from the LEGO Super Mario Starter Course,” you can even interact the on-screen LEGO Mario and watch him play a small-scale LEGO version of the classic game! 

The LEGO Nintendo Entertainment System costs $229.99 and is available August 1, 2020. 

[MIKA27]

‘Ghost of Tsushima’ Launch Trailer Teases the Gorgeous Samurai Epic for PlayStation 4

PlayStation has just released the launch trailer for the upcoming PlayStation 4 game Ghost of Tsushima. You play as one of the last surviving samurai on the island of Tsushima after a Mongol invasion, and you must adapt your tactics to fight back the hordes and reclaim the land for your people. However, to do this means possibly forsaking the way of the samurai and becoming a fearsome predator known as “the ghost.”

I decided to finally pull the trigger and pre-order this one because while I’m still not 100% sold on the gameplay, the artistry by developer Sucker Punch is too good to be ignored. It looks like they’re really pushing the PlayStation 4 to its limits as we approach the arrival of the PlayStation 5 this holiday season. Even if it ends up having repetitive missions, I’ve discovered that I’m pretty okay with that in my open world games as long as I like the open world I’m traversing. If Ghost of Tsushima is nothing more than “Go here, clear out this village, find this collectible” then at least we’ve got it set in a gorgeous 13th century Japan, and it’s not like there are a lot of games making use of that setting.

The game arrives on the PlayStation 4 this Friday, July 17th.

[MIKA27]

‘Ghost Houses’ Haunt a Rapidly Aging Japan
Young heirs are abandoning the family homes of their forebears.

In municipalities across Japan sit an increasing number of forgotten, dilapidated homes known as “ghost houses.”

Despite the name and oft-eerie appearance, however, these are not haunted houses in need of an exorcism. Rather, ghost houses, or akiya as they are known in Japanese, are abandoned homes that towns cannot get rid of through demolition or resale. Impacting rural towns the hardest as young residents flock to the country’s major cities, the glut of ghost homes has prompted some municipalities to come up with creative solutions to deal with the problem.

Japan’s population figures have been on a troubling trajectory in recent years. A rapidly greying society, combined with low birthrates and virtually non-existent immigration, has put Japan on the path of significant population contraction. In 2018 the population declined by 449,000, the largest such drop since record-keeping began in 1968. Census figures show a population contraction of nearly 1 million people since 2010.

Compounding the issue is what Meiji University professor Hisakazu Kato calls the “pole society” phenomenon, wherein the poorer, rural prefectures with higher birth rates lose residents to the economically strong, but low-birth rate, metropolises such as Tokyo and Osaka. That one-two punch has contributed to the country’s chronically low birthrate, putting the country on the path of a projected loss of one-third of its population by 2065.

As a town’s older residents move to assisted living facilities or die, their homes pass down to their heirs. Younger generations, now increasingly located in Japan’s major cities, often have no interest in inheriting or maintaining the family’s ancestral home deep in the countryside, beyond paying the required property taxes. In other cases, officials are unable to locate or identify the proper heirs, leaving the fate of the property in a state of limbo.

Greenery surrounds a disused farmhouse in Ehime. 

As a result, homes increasingly sit abandoned, becoming overgrown and run-down in the process. Government statistics as of 2018 consider 13.6 percent of properties in the country to be ghost houses. Put another way: By 2040, the total size of abandoned properties in Japan is estimated to equal the land size of Austria. This presents a challenge for local governments over how to handle these properties. In contrast with other countries, Japanese law does not allow municipalities a quick right of eminent domain, leaving them instead to try to track down and negotiate with absentee heirs. Where local law empowers a town to demolish abandoned houses, municipalities often balk at the associated cost, leaving the structures to waste.

For Daishiro Kitayama, speed is of the essence in finding buyers for ghost houses before their condition deteriorates. “It is necessary to try to sell as soon as [a home] becomes vacant,” says Kitayama, chairman of the non-profit Hometown Fukui Support Center, which works to match vacant homes with buyers in Fukui Prefecture in Japan’s Chubu region. “Renovation and remodeling costs are inevitable when purchasing a vacant house,” he says, with such costs often cited as a significant barrier to potential purchasers. These costs, however, can be substantially reduced if the home is purchased early before being left to sit idle and untended.

Convincing buyers to take the plunge on a ghost house is nonetheless an uphill challenge, leading towns to devise creative solutions aimed at resolving both the issue of vacant homes and declining population numbers.

An abandoned house in Hokkaido.

In the town of Toyoshima-ku in Tokyo, the local government has adopted a policy of 100,000-200,000 yen ($921-$1843) subsidies for renovating ghost homes. In Hyogo Prefecture, subsidies of up to one-half the cost of a basic renovation are available for those who meet certain conditions. Designed to encourage young residents to purchase unwanted ghost houses, these subsidies often require homeowners to live in and maintain their homes for a certain period in order to qualify.

The town of Okutama, two hours outside of Tokyo, made international headlines in 2018 after giving away ghost homes to interested parties. There are, of course, conditions. Recipients must meet certain age requirements and have at least one child under the age of 18 in order to qualify for free digs.

Some towns, such as Yokosuka on the outskirts of Tokyo, operate websites dedicated to offloading ghost houses, with properties selling for just $5,400. In Gifu Prefecture, local officials negotiate the donation of ghost homes to municipalities, to be maintained by city staff, and resold with an aim towards drawing younger residents. One website even lists ghost properties up for sale at no cost, though as the photos would indicate, it is often a case of get-what-you-pay-for.

For buyers such as Hideo Katagata, the chance to purchase a ghost house is too good of an opportunity to miss. “It was around the time when I was thinking about moving anyway,” wrote Katagata in an email, “so when I went to see the property, I immediately decided [to buy it] because I liked the atmosphere of the area and the house.”

Katagata, who purchased his home in a remote area of Miyagi Prefecture in March, admits there have been challenges in renovating his former ghost house, including water damage to wooden support beams and columns, as well as hidden colonies of Japan’s fearsome mukade centipedes.

But he also cites a number of positive aspects of owning a ghost house: “You can customize [the house] to your own style while making the best use of the old structure.”

[MIKA27]

Play 36 Iconic Retro Video Games On Sega’s Astro City Mini Desktop Arcade

Prior to the launch of at-home consoles, video game arcades experienced a golden age in the ‘80s and ‘90s, with a number of legendary cabinets and games forever leaving their mark on the industry and emerging sub-culture. First released in 1993, one such cabinet was the Astro City, which is now being celebrated with the release of a 1/6 scale console version of the ‘90s arcade icon.

Produced by Sega, the Astro City Mini comes preloaded with 36 legendary video game titles, including Alien Syndrome, Alien Storm, Altered Beast, Beast King, Fantasy Zone, Golden Axe, Columns II, Dark Edge, Puzzle & Action: Tant-R, Tantoar, and Virtua Fighter. Boasting resin construction, the console utilizes HDMI inputs and is powered via USB. The Astro City Mini is operated via a built-in joystick and six buttons (plus the “Start” and “Select” buttons), however, there’s also an optional controller pad (for approximately $26) that allows some titles to be enjoyed by two players.

The Sega Astro City Mini is scheduled for a release at the very end of 2020.

 

[Meklown]

3 hours ago, MIKA27 said:

Johnnie Walker Will Soon Come in Paper Bottles, But Let’s Not Cheers to That Just Yet

It's good that any kind of environmental effort is being pursued by corporates. However, there is no word on whether there is a lifespan on these bottles. It's always interesting to drink old bottles of liquor from a different era (to experience both the effect of aging in the bottle and the difference in production), so if these bottles don't keep for more than a few years, well, it would be a shame really. 

[Fuzz]

2 hours ago, Meklown said:

It's good that any kind of environmental effort is being pursued by corporates. However, there is no word on whether there is a lifespan on these bottles. It's always interesting to drink old bottles of liquor from a different era (to experience both the effect of aging in the bottle and the difference in production), so if these bottles don't keep for more than a few years, well, it would be a shame really. 

Scotch doesn't age in the bottle, but it will oxidize.

[Meklown]

1 hour ago, Fuzz said:

Scotch doesn't age in the bottle, but it will oxidize.

Agreed! In some quarters, oxidising can be considered part of the aging process.. so depends on the word you may want to use. Samaroli always insist that bottle aging does his bottlings good. Maybe it was lost in translation or simply just a different usage of terms?

[MIKA27]

Move Over Aquavit: Scandinavia’s Booming Whisky Scene

The Scandinavians are known for their love of aquavit, but now they’re turning their affections to a different kind of spirit: whisky.

You could argue that whisky is actually written into Scandinavian DNA. After all, their Viking ancestors frequently travelled to Scotland and Ireland. And the region’s famous liquor, aquavit, which is flavored with herbs and spices, including caraway and dill, is very similar to aquavitae, the predecessor to Scotch whisky.

Perhaps, it’s the shared cold, bitter climate that makes warming up with a dram one of both Scotland’s and Scandinavia’s most cherished ways to pass a long dark evening. Whisky certainly embodies the Danish concept of hygge—that sense of conviviality and contentment that comes from sipping a delicious spirit in front of a blazing fire on a cold night.

So, it seems only natural that the region has fallen in love with whisky and established its own scene, becoming a hotbed for whisky innovation across Denmark, Norway and Sweden, as well as the rest of the Nordics.

Over the last two decades, more than 40 new whisky distilleries have been established. While many of these brands draw upon techniques well-honed by their Scottish cousins, some distillers are also creating whiskies that are shaped by their local climate, cultural identity and the region’s signature approach to design.

While it may seem like Scandinavia’s whisky scene has sprung up overnight, the region’s first modern single malt distillery, Mackmyra in Sweden, actually dates back nearly 20 years.

Considered the mother of Scandinavian whisky, Mackmyra began operation in the village of the same name in 2002. It started out with a simple ethos: creating a whisky that is quintessentially Swedish, using local barley, spring water and Swedish oak. It even harvests local peat and juniper to smoke its malted barley. 

“We were the first single malt distillery in Sweden,” says Magnus Dandanell, co-founder of Mackmyra. “Since then, more distilleries have started and new world whisky has become a phenomenon worldwide with more and more Scandinavian malt enthusiasts learning to appreciate locally distilled whisky.”

In 2011, when the company built a second distillery six miles east, Mackmyra adopted a simple yet functional Scandinavian architectural design for its new, unique facility. The first of its kind, the “Gravity Distillery” is one of the world’s most energy efficient, laid out vertically in a 35-foot tower with ingredients transported between phases of production using the force of gravity. (This is an idea that has been used to build wineries for centuries.)

But it’s not just the Swedes who are distilling. This past February, the Copenhagen Distillery in Denmark released a single malt whisky, which was the first to be distilled and aged in the city. Everything about the whisky screams Danish, from the local malted barley base to the maturation in European oak casks seasoned with beechwood smoke in the style of a traditional smokehouse. The distillery even draws on the country’s design heritage by bottling the whisky in individually unique, hand-blown glass bottles made by local artisans Holmegaard. 

The Copenhagen Distillery may be the first company producing single malt in the country’s capital, but Denmark is now home to around 13 whisky distilleries, all of which have been established in the last decade. 

Why the surge of new distilleries now? It’s partly the result of steadily rising interest in single malt across Europe during the 1980s and ’90s, combined with the lifting of manufacturing monopolies in Scandinavia that allowed private companies to distill spirits. But the early restrictions on whisky availability prompted the emergence of whisky clubs, where friends would meet to taste different bottles and share information, which was pretty limited at the time. As members became more serious about their whisky they would travel, visiting distilleries in Scotland and further afield, picking up new whiskies to take back to their friends.

Indeed, many of the new Nordic distilleries have been started by groups of friends with no prior experience in distillation, but who share an intense passion for whisky. The idea for Mackmyra was conceived by eight schoolmates during an annual skiing trip; Denmark’s Stauning was established in a deserted slaughterhouse by nine whisky enthusiasts; while Finland’s Kyrö was dreamed up by five friends while they were in the sauna. 

After an investment from Diageo-backed Distill Ventures, Stauning has since moved to West Jutland and into a new building with 24-stills. Again, its focus is on using traditional Scottish distilling techniques and local ingredients, but with a distinctly Scandinavian approach.

“Stauning is a perfect distillation of the Western Jutland mentality,” explains co-founder Alex Munch. “The distillery was built by local people. Our whisky reflects the surroundings: the wind, crops, soil, peat, heather. The way we make it mirrors the local mindset: self-sufficient, determined, able to improvise, doing things their way. We employ a mix of old and new world methods in our whisky making and we have revived some methods long lost to industrialization.”

Those methods include distilling in direct-fired alembic pot stills (the style used to make Cognac in France) and floor-malted rye and barley, both processes largely abandoned by Scotch whisky producers. Meanwhile the building itself is a true reflection of its environment—built to resemble Danish farmhouses, the buildings are clad in scorched black wood that resemble the interior of a charred whisky barrel.

For Roar Larsen, CEO of Myken distillery, which is located on the eponymous island 32 kilometers off Norway’s western coast, producing a whisky that’s a reflection of its environment is also vital. “When we started there was no Norwegian malt to be had commercially, but over the last five years or so, together with the large number of local beer producers, we have been able to convince some adventurous farmers to start malting Norwegian barley.”

As well as local barley, the distillery makes its whisky using desalinated seawater from the Arctic Ocean, and matures every drop on the tiny island in conditions that Larsen claims impacts the whisky’s flavor. “The air is saturated with salt and maritime aromas, and this air goes in and out of the casks with varying temperatures, humidity and air pressure, and will over time also impart its own signature on our fluids,” he says. “It is no accident that our brand is the same as the name of our island: Myken. We believe we are distilling and bottling the essence of these islands.”

Back on mainland Norway, Aurora Spirits is drawing on its unique environment in the Arctic Circle to make the world’s most northerly whisky under the glow of the Northern Lights. Situated near the Lyngen Alps, the distillery uses purified glacial water alongside Nordic barley, while distillation occurs in Aurora’s still, which it calls a “fusion of modern distilling technology and tradition.” Meanwhile, maturation occurs in small casks resting in underground bunkers built by the Nazis during German occupation in WWII. 

This summer the distillery launched its first single malt, Bivrost, the Viking name for the Northern Lights that were thought to be a magical rainbow bridge linking our world with the Norse realm of Åsgård. With Norwegian tourism on the rise and widespread interest in Norse mythology thanks to the Thor films, the stories of the Vikings and their Gods will play a strong role in putting this remote distillery on the map. 

Regardless of location, whisky presents a whole new world for Scandinavia’s spirits industry. While aquavit will continue to play a central role in the region’s food and drink scene, it will now need to share the limelight with its not-so-distant relative.

[MIKA27]

Megan Fox Stars As A Mercenary In New Film Rogue, Coming August 28th

I put this up for laughs all..... I mean, I'm all for women in roles such as this in movies, Charlize Theron, Sigourney Weaver to name a couple, but that's because they sell it as actors. This.... Megan Fox? 

[MIKA27]

Vlad Dracul #1 Review: A Complicated Depiction of the Horror Icon

Dracula has been adapted and reimagined and recycled through countless novels, movies, and comics for longer than any of us have been alive. It takes a bold creative team to look at all of that and go, "Yeah, I have a story to tell about that guy." That's precisely what writer Matteo Strukul and artist Andrea Mutti did with Scout Comics' Vlad Dracul #1. Does their tale stand out from the crowd?

An odd bit: the solicitation credited Andrea Mutti as both artist and writer, which we'd reported on earlier, but interestingly the comic itself lists Matteo Strukul as the sole writer. Mutti is listed as the artist, with no story credit. No matter how that happened and if Mutti contributed to the story or not, the two creators work in sync here to create something that feels like a single-minded, cohesive piece of work.

Vlad Dracul is a clever yarn in what it chooses to show and, even more than that when it chooses to give us information. This allows Strukul to play on the reader's expectation, especially because we're going in with a lifetime's worth of preconceived notions about who Dracula is. He is introduced in the dark of the woods on the tail of a pack of wolves, cutting the figure of a predator in the scene. Then, as the story progresses, we see Dracula play a role that approaches heroic: he saves a brother and sister, lost in the woods; he refuses to give a thousand children up after a Sultan, to whom Dracula is supposed to be subservient, demands he do so, and he even saves the life of a woman he claims to love. In this scene, in particular, he is even given a hero's entrance reminiscent of superhero comics.

It's only then, after that, that we begin to see the cracks in the veneer once a new character who has a close relationship with him is introduced. This calls into question his motivation in the previous scenes, making for a complicated portrait of Dracula indeed.

Andrea Mutti's art is classic in every sense of the word: it evokes a certain old-world mood without feeling dated. It's artful in the way it depicts violence, with creeping, dark shadows and blurs of action. The story is engaging from beginning to end, but this book, with its painterly art and beautifully rendered horror, is first and foremost a treat for art collectors. The lettering by Joel Rodriguez, while never distracting, could have matched the style of the book a bit closer. The way that it uses elements of the artwork to pop out over the dialogue bubbles is slightly overdone, giving an unnecessary 3D element that would work nicely in superhero comics, but not with this more understated, moody style. It certainly doesn't take away from the experience, but a lighter touch would have added to it.

Vlad Dracula #1 is out from Scout Comics on Wednesday, July 22nd.

[MIKA27]

Zack Snyder Considers His Justice League Cut to Be Mostly Standalone

Changing a movie that’s already been released causes many fascinating challenges. In the case of Zack Snyder’s Justice League, one of those challenges is the fact that other DCEU movies took what happened in the theatrical cut as gospel. So where does that leave the “Snyder Cut”? Snyder himself has a few thoughts.

“The theatrical version of Justice League is tighter in continuity to what [Warner Bros.] is doing now in the DCU,” Snyder said in a new interview with Beyond the Trailer. “But because of this and because Warner Bros. has done the kind and amazing gesture of saying ‘Zack, go finish your vision,’ it’s going to be divergent in some ways, just by its nature. And I think that’s a thing you want because it allows more, and more is more.”

In particular, Snyder mentions James Wan’s billion-dollar hit Aquaman, which takes place after Justice League, as well as the upcoming Wonder Woman 1984, which is set before but based on the character’s previous two appearances and will at least partially be beholden to the events that occur in the theatrical cut of Justice League. Shazam also exists with that film in mind, though Snyder doesn’t mention it.

To better explain how that’ll work, Snyder compared this new version of Justice League to kind of a limited run of a comic where a specific artist or writer takes over, does their own thing, and then leaves. “The power of DC and one of its cool strengths is this sort of multiverse concept,” Snyder said. “And also they put filmmakers first and say ‘You know what guys? We want to hear your individual voices. Take these characters and do your run…in sort of the great tradition of comic book writing.’”

That’s more the case now — with films like Matt Reeves’ The Batman and the “Snyder Cut” of Justice League — than it was with movies like Suicide Squad or Batman v Superman, but the change has certainly worked. Films like Shazam and Aquaman have become big hits, while others, like Birds of Prey, have taken big, interesting risks, without being bogged down by those other films.

But though the Snyder Cut won’t have direct continuity with the movies that follow, the director does explain he feels his run of Man of Steel, Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, and Justice League will have a continuity of its own. “What you’ll see with Justice League is there’s continuity across those three movies that’s really [cohesive],” Snyder said. “That’s my main focus, to satisfy that narrative structure.”

There’s much more about the film in the Beyond the Trailer interview, so head there if you’re curious. Snyder also promises to reveal more information, and a clip, at a fan-run event called “Justice Con” this weekend. You can check that out on the Justice Con YouTube.

[MIKA27]

Please Enjoy These Planes Nailing the Most Bullshit Landings in the World

Flying can be scary even in perfect conditions. But plenty of airports around the world don’t have that luxury — especially when it comes to mountainous regions and small islands. Fuelled by a lack of travel and too much Flight Simulator, I recently fell down a rabbit hole of watching dangerous airport landings on YouTube. Please enjoy.

Lukla Airport, Nepal

Lukla, also known as the Tenzing Hillary Airport is popular because of its proximity to Mount Everest.

It also happens to be a perfect storm of terrible landing conditions, making it one of the most dangerous airports in the world. In addition to having a cliff on one side the runway a mountain on the other, pilots also have to contend with low air pressure, wind shear and the airport itself not having electricity sometimes.

The runway is also extremely short at just 1,729 feet and there’s really no where to go if you miss the approach.

Courchevel Altiport, France

Courchevel Altiport in France has a similar runway length to Nepal at just 1,788 feet. It has an 18,6% gradient to help planes stop quicker. And since it’s the the Alps pilots also have to deal with snow, fog and storms.

The wildest part about this is watching the plane fly right above people as the casually ski. It’s shudder-inducing.

Gustaf III Airport, St. Barths

From the mountains to the sea. This airport at St Barth’s requires pilots to fly barely above a busy road to land on its 2,100 feet runway. If a plane can’t stop in time it ends up in the ocean. Oh and the beach attached to it is public.

And here’s one where it ends up in the drink.

Gibraltar International Airport, Gibraltar

Gibralter Airport is dangerous mostly due to its proximity to the city-centre. It’s right in the middle of it. Not only that, it intersects with one of the busiest streets in the territory. Yes, cars and pedestrians pass through the runway. Every time a plane the lands the street needs to be closed.

Barra Airport, Scotland

The runway for Barra Airport is literally just a beach. As such, arrivals and departures need to be scheduled around the tide, which is awesome.

This landing is particularly gorgeous:

 

[MIKA27]

Netflix’s The Witcher Is Getting a Live-Action Prequel Series

It’s time to go back to where it all began. Netflix has announced that The Witcher is getting a six-part limited series, The Witcher: Blood Origin, that tells the story of the very first of their kind.

According to an emailed press release, The Witcher: Blood Origin takes place 1,200 years before the events of the Henry Cavill-led Netflix series. Set in the Elven world that’s largely been lost to history, Blood Origin will focus on the events that led to the worlds of humans, elves, and monsters coming together — otherwise known as the “conjunction of the spheres.”

The Witcher writer Declan de Barra will serve as showrunner for this limited series, with The Witcher showrunner Lauren Schmidt Hissrich coming onboard as an executive producer. Series author Andrzej Sapkowski will serve as a creative consultant. In a statement, de Barra said he was excited to explore the origins of the Witcher lore, as well as what Elven society was like before humanity arrived and changed everything.

“A question has been burning in my mind ever since I first read The Witcher books: What was the Elven world really like before the cataclysmic arrival of the humans? I’ve always been fascinated by the rise and fall of civilizations, how science, discovery, and culture flourish right before that fall. How vast swathes of knowledge are lost forever in such a short time, often compounded by colonisation and a rewriting of history. Leaving only fragments of a civilisation’s true story behind,” he said.

The Witcher: Blood Origin is not the only Witcher spinoff in the works. There’s also The Witcher: Nightmare of the Wolf, an anime that will tell the story of Geralt’s mentor, Vesemir. The second season of The Witcher is getting ready to resume production, following a pause due to the novel coronavirus pandemic. There’s no word of an expected release date for Blood Origin.

[MIKA27]

Extreme Chernobyl Fungus Could Protect Astronauts From Deadly Radiation

An experiment done aboard the International Space Station demonstrates the potential for a hardy fungus to shield astronauts from cosmic radiation. This fungus has already proved its mettle inside one of the most hostile places on Earth: the ruined Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant.

Galactic cosmic radiation remains a troubling impediment to a sustained human presence in space.

This unresolved problem is starting to get a bit urgent, with NASA’s Artemis Moon landing scheduled for 2024, along with promises of crewed missions to Mars and the establishment of Martian colonies. A 360-day round trip to the Red Planet, for example, would expose unprotected astronauts to two-thirds of their allowable lifetime exposure, or 662 mSv, making them vulnerable to numerous health risks, including fatal cancers.

Scientists and engineers have proposed various solutions to address the problem, including a Star Trek-like deflector shield and a proposal to manufacture radiation-shielding bricks from the dusty Martian regolith.

But as new research uploaded to the preprint bioRxiv points out, a ready-made solution may already exist in the form of an extremophile fungus known as Cladosporium sphaerospermum.

Scientists first discovered this organism back in 1886, and it has been found growing in radioactive environments, including the cooling pools of the damaged Chernobyl nuclear plant, where radiation levels are three to five orders of magnitude higher than normal background levels. C. sphaerospermum is a melanized, radiotrophic fungus — an organism capable of converting radioactive energy into chemical energy, which it does using melanin pigments inside its cell walls. Sounds weird, but it’s analogous to photosynthesis, in which plants convert energy from visible light to useful energy.

“Melanin may be also how the fungus protects itself from the harmful effects of radiation, with the ‘side-effect’ of an energy plus, which has probably lead to the fungus finding ideal habitats in radioactive environments,” Nils Averesch, a co-author of the study and a scientist at NASA Ames Research Centre, explained in an email.

Given this fungi’s unusual appetite for radiation, Averesch’s co-authors, Graham Shunk and Xavier Gomez, former high school students with the Higher Orbits “Go for Launch!” Program (a non-profit promoting STEM fields), and others, conceived of an experiment to determine how much radiation this organism might absorb while in space. They also sought to evaluate its suitability as a medium for a radiation shield.

“They postulated that if an organism utilises radiation, it should also be resistant to it and able to reduce it, also in space,” said Averesch. “They developed a concept for an experiment that would test this with radiation in space (since space radiation is quite different from radioactive environments on Earth) and were awarded through the Higher Orbits foundation.”

The chosen venue for this experiment was the International Space Station, which features a unique radiation environment not unlike the surface of Mars.

To run the test, a petri dish was divided in half, with one side featuring C. sphaerospermum and an empty side serving as the negative control. The fungi were allowed to grow for 30 days, while radiation levels were monitored every 110 seconds with a Geiger counter. Results showed that the fungi were capable of adapting to the microgravity environment of low Earth orbit and live off the incoming radiation. What’s more, the experiment showed that a 1.7-millimetre-thick layer of growth, or a “fungal lawn” as the researchers described it, blocked incoming radiation somewhere between 1.82% to 5.04% compared to the negative control.

“The error [range] is due to uncertainty in mathematical determination of this value,” said Averesch. “While this is not enough to sufficiently protect astronauts, it is a starting point for the further development of a live radiation shield.”

Fungal growth (as seen on the left side of the petri dish) as observed during the first 48 hours of the experiment. (Image: G. K. Shunk et al., 2020)

“In the experiment, we were able to prove that the fungus does not only thrive on ionizing radiation on Earth but also in space,” said Averesch. “In addition to not being destroyed by the radiation… the fungus does, in fact, reduce radiation of the measured spectrum.”

The researchers hypothesize that a fungal lawn measuring 8.2 inches (21 centimeters) thick could “could largely negate the annual dose-equivalent of the radiation environment on the surface of Mars,” as they wrote in the study. C. sphaerospermum is thus ranked as “among the most effective radiation attenuators,” making it a promising candidate for protecting astronauts against galactic cosmic radiation, they write.

As an added benefit, the fungus is a self-sustaining, self-replicative substrate capable of living off even the smallest doses of radiation and biomass. It can also be grown on many different carbon sources, such as organic waste.

“This significantly reduces the amount of shielding material that one would have to bring to Mars, which is maybe what makes it most exciting, as the up-mass is very restrictive in any Mars-mission scenario,” explained Averesch.

Averesch said no single solution will likely solve the problem that is space radiation, but the fungus could conceivably be used as part of a multi-component system. The fungus is not harmful to humans, he said, but exposure would likely be minimal, at any rate, because the microorganism could be grown within a double wall.

So, a promising start to this potential solution, but more experiments and data are needed. Looking ahead, Averesch would like to perform more tests with fungal growths “to strengthen the data and findings of the study” in preparation for submitting the paper to a peer-reviewed science journal.

Should this solution actually work, future space explorers would be wise to acknowledge their fungal companions — creatures capable of withstanding the intense radiation found within the Chernobyl nuclear plant. There’s something oddly reassuring about that.

[MIKA27]

Joe Manganiello Might Be an Interdimensional Super Hero in the Threatening Trailer for Archenemy

A good trailer doesn’t have to communicate the story of a film. Sometimes, just capturing a mood is enough. And, boy, does Archenemy have a mood.

Directed and written by Adam Egypt Mortimer (Daniel Isn’t Real) and starring Joe Manganiello, Archenemy is, according to the short blurb released with its latest trailer, the story of Max Fist — a man who claims to be a superhero from another dimension, whose powers were lost in transit. No one believes him, except for Hamster, a local teen. What proceeds from that premise is unclear, but it seems violent, uneasy, and intense.

This trailer has bad vibes, and I mean that in the best way possible. Archenemy is produced by Legion M, a “fan-owned” entertainment company that uses crowdfunding for its productions, alongside Voltage Pictures and Spectrevision. Notably, this collaboration produced Mandy, the ultra-gory hallucination of a film starring Nicolas Cage that was immediately heralded as a cult classic. Archenemy’s trailer here clearly wants to tap into the same vibe, emphasising blood and style, promising something a good deal more grindhouse than standard superhero fare.

Slated for release in 2021, the film also stars Glenn Howerton, Skylan Brooks, Zolee Griggs, and Joseph D. Reitman. It looks like a nasty, fascinating time.

MIKA: Is it just me, but I can't take Joe Manganiello as a serious actor nor did I like the movie Mandy either. Way too trippy for my liking.

[MIKA27]

For All Mankind’s Season 2 Teaser Blasts Off Into a New Space Race

The Cold War is really heating up in the second season of For All Mankind. In Saturday’s virtual San Diego Comic-Con panel, showrunner Ronald D. Moore was joined by fellow cast and crew members of the alternate history Apple TV+ show and provided a sneak peek at what the future holds.

While the first season of the show began with the Soviet Union beating the United States to the moon in the late 1960s, season two picks up in the early 1980s. Like real life, Ronald Reagan is president and there is a rising and continual threat from the Soviet Union. On the show, that conflict comes from the space race, which is as propulsive as ever. NASA is bigger than ever, heading out on countless missions, and even coordinating with the military — based on the number of guns on the moon, it could even get deadly. Check out the teaser, shown at the end of the panel.

During the panel, Moore discussed the new timeframe for the second season, which has bumped things up to 1983. He said that while we can expect a classic 1980s soundtrack (“Sweet Dreams” by The Eurythmics is featured in the teaser), they actually worked hard to avoid overdosing on nostalgia. After all, it’s an alternate history version of the 1980s, not the real deal. A big focus this season is on relationships — whether it’s Ed (Joel Kinnaman) trying to fix his marriage with Karen (Shantel VanSanten), or Tracy (Sarah Jones) struggling to balance her relationship with her newfound stardom.

Before production was shut down due to the pandemic, Moore said he’d already shot eight of the second season’s 10 episodes, and he and his team are already thinking ahead to season three.

Season two of For All Mankind premieres on Apple TV+ later this year.

[MIKA27]

This is what goes into making a luxury Hublot watch worth over $70,000

Since being patented well over a century ago in 1868, wristwatches have evolved to become far more than a time-telling necessity.

As most of us casually glance at our phones, computers or screens to pinpoint the time of day, watches are now seen as a statement piece, status symbol or accessory just as much as they are a useful tool.

If you don’t have a strong relationship with watches, though, the stark price difference between a cheap watch and a luxury watch may seem baffling — how can the cost of an item that serves the same functionality vary so drastically?

Ultimately, the time invested in converting raw materials into a luxury watch is indicative of its price tag. As opposed to a plastic watch that gets churned out and replicated in factories using cheap materials, it can take hundreds of man-hours to produce just one luxury watch, with the price reflected accordingly.

Swiss luxury brand Hublot, often considered a pioneer in the watch industry, has had 40 years to perfect its watch craftsmanship, having just released its latest fusion of technology and tradition in the form of the Big Bang Integral model.

Here’s the process behind crafting each watch before they hit boutiques worldwide with a $73,200 price tag.

Materials are sourced

Before the assembly of luxury watches can take place, brands must first decide on the materials used for the internal mechanisms, case and wristband.

While being known for its rubber bracelets, Hublot has switched gears for its latest release, Ricardo Guadalupe explained to Revolution magazine.

“An integrated bracelet to create was a real challenge for us as it is totally new for Hublot,” Guadalupe stated. “There are not that many iconic bracelets in our industry and we wanted to present something different, innovative and unique, and we decided to use high-tech materials — titanium, black ceramics and King Gold.”

Other materials in the brand’s arsenal include sapphire, scratch-proof 18-carat gold, stainless steel, carbon fibre and coloured ceramics.

Creating unique movements

The intricate mechanisms hiding under the face of any luxury watch are where a significant portion of attention is focused.

Hublot has opted for its own in-house movements — the first of its kind — including the Unico, Meca-10, MP-11 and Tourbillon Power Reserve, which are all designed and executed by the Hublot team.

The Unico movement, for instance, is made up of 330 components and has a power reserve of 72 hours.

Each movement design varies in terms of components and power reserves (how long the watch can run), with prices significantly increasing between Unico’s 72-hour power reserve and Tourbillon’s five-day power reserve.

The accuracy of each movement is also crucial to the overall craftsmanship of any luxury watch.

Manufacturing

For the Hublot wristwatches made with Magic Gold, the team’s watchmakers were tasked with creating an entirely new manufacturing process in order to accommodate for this new, scratch-proof gold material.

The manufacturers adopted new processes such as electro-erosion and wire-cutting, laser-drilling and milling to meet the incredibly high standards required of a luxury watch.

As mentioned, any luxury watch valued over $30,000 can take weeks, if not months to produce. This is primarily what you’re paying for when you buy something this high-end — the knowledge that what you’re wearing has not been mass-produced and is not accessible to every man and his dog.

The precision required of each luxury watch is painstaking and arduous — akin to designers who spend hundreds of hours crafting dresses for extravagant events — which arguably warrants a mind-boggling price tag.

And if you were wondering how it is you can spot a luxury watch from a mass-produced knock-off at a glance? Its weight, sound, movement and hallmarking (or lack thereof) are the first and most obvious indicators.

[MIKA27]

Dave Prowse, the Actor Beneath Darth Vader’s Armour, Has Died at 85

Dave Prowse, born in 1935 in Bristol, was an actor and bodybuilder best known for his role as Darth Vader in the original Star Wars trilogy, a role he played on screen while James Earl Jones dubbed over his voice. Now, the actor has passed away. He was 85 years old.

The news comes courtesy of his agent, Thomas Bowington, who shared the news on Twitter, saying, “It’s with great regret and heart-wrenching sadness for us and millions of fans around the world, to announce that our client DAVE PROWSE M.B.E. has passed away at the age of 85.”

Prowse began his career as a bodybuilder, training alongside the likes of Arnold Schwarzenegger before transitioning to a career in Hollywood, working as an actor and personal trainer for talent like Christopher Reeves, for whom he helped prepare for his role as Superman. After playing a bodyguard in A Clockwork Orange, he was asked to audition for Star Wars by George Lucas, where he netted the role of Darth Vader. Well, mostly — his voice stayed on the sound stage. He didn’t get to show his face in the role, either, as that honour in Return of the Jedi went to Sebastian Shaw.

All the same, Prowse and his tall, muscular physicality are inseparable from the role of Darth Vader, and he deserves substantial credit for bringing the villain to life in an imposing fashion. It wasn’t his only big nerdy film role, either — he guested on shows like Doctor Who in the 1970s and also played Frankenstein’s Monster a few times. He also played the Green Cross Code Man, a superhero designed to promote British road safety, which in 2014 he called “the ultimate honour.”

Reportedly, the actor died after a short, unspecified illness. He will be missed.

[MIKA27]

Cyberpunk 2077 Gets A New Gameplay Video For PlayStation

CD Projekt Red has released another gameplay trailer for Cyberpunk 2077, this time showing off the game on the PlayStation. Specifically, this video showcases the game running on both PlayStation 4 Pro, and on the PlayStation 5 via backward compatibility. Which is really weird we don't have a next-gen version to look at. As far as the video below goes, the gameplay is taken from the Nomad lifepath. This is one of the three playable backstories you will be able to choose from and jump into when you begin the game. You get to check out a bunch of action from the Badlands, which is the desert area that surrounds Night City, and you get to look at some of the streets of Night City itself to get a feel for the land. Enjoy the video as we now wait to see if the game will actually make the latest release date the company has planned out for it on December 10th, 2020, or if we're getting another push back this week.

[MIKA27]

THE SCHWARZENEGGER WATCH – THE SEIKO PROSPEX “ARNIE” WATCH FROM PREDATOR

Predator is one of Arnold Schwarzenegger’s most famous ’80s action films and if you zoom in on his wrist you’ll see that he’s wearing the tough-as-nails 1982 Seiko Hybrid Diver’s Watch.

Seiko have reissued the watch, they were careful to keep the design the same as the Schwarzenegger-worn original but it now features modern internals, and it’s now called the Seiko Prospex SNJ025 AKA the “Arnie Watch”.

The Prospex has a built-in solar cell that charges the battery when exposed to light as you wear it, once charged the battery has a 6 month power reserve. Seiko originally designed the watch to be suitable for diving, it’s water resistant to 200 meters (660 feet) and it follows ISO standards ensuring that it’s suitable for scuba use.

The watch has a black one-way rotating elapsed timing bezel for diving or keeping tabs on parking meters and it has a bold analog dial designed to make it clearly legible in low light and underwater. It also has an inset digital display that can show a different time zone, date, battery levels, and operate the alarms and stopwatch functions.

Seiko developed the Prospex with a power reserve function that activates when the watch is not exposed to light for an extended period of time, this helps to conserve the battery and ensure the watch will be ready when you need it.

Each watch comes with a waterproof silicone strap and there are three colorways on offer, including army green, black, and black/blue. They all use the Seiko Caliber H851 quartz movement, a screw down crown, the case measures in at 47.8 mm, and they use a LumiBrite lume.

Although it may not make you or I look like Schwarzenegger, the Seiko Prospex does bestow significant bragging rights on its owner. The rest is up to you, your gym, and your protein powder. We’ve shown all three colorways here, Schwarzenegger wore the black version in the film but both of the other options look great too. Visit