Sunday, May 8
Cannes Film Festival
Veteran French actor Vincent Lindon will head the main jury at this year’s Cannes Film Festival which awards the coveted Palme d’Or top prize, organisers said Tuesday.The jury under Lindon, who co-starred in the 2021 winner “Titane”, will choose between 21 movies in the main competition at the film fest which runs from May 17 to 28.
Lindon, 62, will be accompanied by eight fellow jurors.
They are British actress and director Rebecca Hall, Indian actress Deepika Padukone, Swedish actress Noomi Rapace, Italian actress and director Jasmine Trinca, Iranian director Asghar Farhadi, French director Ladj Ly, American director Jeff Nichols, and Norwegian director Joachim Trier.
The line-up for this year’s festival, the 75th Cannes edition, is a mix of cult arthouse directors and Hollywood glamour.
Canadian horror maestro David Cronenberg, US filmmaker James Gray and France’s Claire Denis are among the competitors for the Palme d’Or.
They are expected to bring a bevy of stars to the red carpet, with Cronenberg’s sci-fi/horror cross-over “Crimes of the Future” starring Kristen Stewart, Lea Seydoux and Viggo Mortensen. READ MORE...
Life After Roe V Wade
Here in my state of Texas, there is appropriate pro-life satisfaction as we hear of a 60% reduction in abortions since last year's passage of the heartbeat law, which curtails the procedure once fetal cardiac activity is detected.
This was precisely the plan. With the window for terminating pregnancies narrowed to roughly six weeks, the measure has the effect of limiting abortion availability while stopping short of an outright ban that would run counter to the Roe v. Wade Supreme Court precedent.
The probable extinction of Roe later this Supreme Court term has energized some states to expand protections for the unborn. But as we wait for the Court to hand down a decisive ruling, those states should not kid themselves. Two things are sure to happen in any state that constrains abortion—fewer abortions within that state, and more women gassing up the car and heading to clinics in a neighboring state.
The monthly abortion total in Texas dropped from about 5,400 last August to about 2,200 last September. Does anyone believe that 3,200 women simply decided to choose life? Nothing would please me more, but evidence points to another outcome: Abortion providers in various nearby states are seeing an influx of Texas visitors.
Arkansas, Oklahoma, Kansas and Missouri all report a surge in Texas abortion clients, as women unable to exercise that option at home simply pursue it in more lenient environments. A Guttmacher Institute study found some Texas women seeking abortion clinics in 12 states that do not even border Texas. Many women in the Lone Star State may well have chosen adoption, or to raise their babies after all, but no one should underestimate the energies at least some women will expend to pursue a goal of abortion. READ MORE...
Molten Salt Reactor
Norwegian maritime solutions company, Ulstein, has unveiled a new vessel concept that holds the potential to deliver zero-emission cruises and other ocean industry applications, the company said in a press release.
For over a century, Ulstein has been involved in designing and building ships and delivering sustainable maritime solutions. The maritime industry is staring at a major overhaul in its bid to electrify transport over the waters, and Ulstein may just have the solution, a molten salt reactor (MSR) that can deliver this vision.
How does a molten salt reactor work?
An MSR uses a naturally occurring metal with low radioactivity to produce electricity. Usually, thorium is dissolved in molten salt, and the chain reaction that ensues heats up the salt to produce steam, which is then used to drive turbines and produce electricity without any emissions.
"MSRs have enormous potential for enabling clean shipping. There is so much uncertainty over future fuels, but here we have an abundant energy source that, with the right approach, can be safe, much more efficient, cheaper, with a smaller environmental footprint than any existing alternative," noted Jan Emblemsvåg, an expert in the field of thorium and nuclear power generation and a professor at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology said in the press release.
While MSRs have been used to produce power on land, they haven't been used at sea before, and Ulstein has designed a concept vessel, Thor, to serve as a blueprint for making future electric vessels self-sufficient. READ MORE...
An MSR uses a naturally occurring metal with low radioactivity to produce electricity. Usually, thorium is dissolved in molten salt, and the chain reaction that ensues heats up the salt to produce steam, which is then used to drive turbines and produce electricity without any emissions.
"MSRs have enormous potential for enabling clean shipping. There is so much uncertainty over future fuels, but here we have an abundant energy source that, with the right approach, can be safe, much more efficient, cheaper, with a smaller environmental footprint than any existing alternative," noted Jan Emblemsvåg, an expert in the field of thorium and nuclear power generation and a professor at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology said in the press release.
While MSRs have been used to produce power on land, they haven't been used at sea before, and Ulstein has designed a concept vessel, Thor, to serve as a blueprint for making future electric vessels self-sufficient. READ MORE...
Saturday, May 7
Largest Cave Art in Alabama
American photojournalist and founder of the Ancient Art Archive Stephen Alvarez in the 19th newly identified but unnamed cave in Alabama. (Image credit: A Cressler; Antiquity Publications Ltd)
Archaeologists in Alabama have discovered the longest known painting created by early Indigenous Americans, a new study finds.
Indigenous Americans crafted this 1,000-year-old record-breaking image — of a 10-foot-long (3 meters) rattlesnake — as well as other paintings, out of mud on the walls and ceiling of a cave, likely to depict spirits of the underworld, the researchers said.
The cave has hundreds of cave paintings and is considered the richest place for Native American cave art in the American Southeast, the researchers said.
The cave has hundreds of cave paintings and is considered the richest place for Native American cave art in the American Southeast, the researchers said.
To investigate its historic art, the team turned to photogrammetry, a technique that involves taking hundreds of digital images in order to build a virtual 3D model. Using this method, the researchers spotted five previously unknown giant cave paintings, known as glyphs.
"This methodology allows us to create a virtual model of the space that we can manipulate," study first author Jan Simek, a distinguished professor in the Department of Anthropology at the University of Tennessee, told Live Science.
"This methodology allows us to create a virtual model of the space that we can manipulate," study first author Jan Simek, a distinguished professor in the Department of Anthropology at the University of Tennessee, told Live Science.
"In this particular case, the ceiling of the cave is very close to the floor. So your field of vision is limited by your proximity to the ceiling. We never saw these very large images because we couldn't get back far enough to see them."
Previous Solar Flares - Geomagnetic Storms
Experts at SpaceWeather.com stated: "A beautiful solar flare (M4-class) on April 29th hurled a CME into space. It might sideswipe Earth today.
"The glancing blow, if it occurs, could spark a minor G1-class geomagnetic storm on May 2nd or 3rd."
A CME stands for coronal mass ejection, a type of solar flare.
It's essentially a huge expulsion of plasma from the Sun's outer layer, called the corona.
This mass ejection of particles from the Sun travels through space and the Earth uses its magnetic field to protect us from damaging radiation.
Each solar storm that hits Earth is graded by severity and this one is only expected to be a "G1 minor".
This means it could cause weak power grid fluctuations and have a small impact on satellite communications.
Fortunately, solar storms aren't thought to be dangerous to humans on Earth. READ MORE...
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