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DeathscytheX

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  2. Posted · Report reply

    http://www.comingsoon.net/news/movienews.php?id=73652

    Warner Bros. Pictures has announced that Henry Cavill will play Clark Kent/Superman in the Zack Snyder-directed Superman movie:

    Warner Bros. Pictures and Legendary Pictures announced today that Henry Cavill has won the coveted role of Superman, the iconic superhero.

    The film will be directed by Zack Snyder, who stated, “In the pantheon of superheroes, Superman is the most recognized and revered character of all time, and I am honored to be a part of his return to the big screen. I also join Warner Bros., Legendary and the producers in saying how excited we are about the casting of Henry. He is the perfect choice to don the cape and S shield.”

    Charles Roven, Emma Thomas, Christopher Nolan and Deborah Snyder are the producers of the film. The screenplay is being written by David S. Goyer based on a story by Goyer and Nolan. Thomas Tull and Lloyd Phillips are serving as executive producers.

    Cavill recently wrapped production on “The Cold Light of Day” and stars in the upcoming “Immortals,” opening this fall.

    Targeted for release in December 2012, the new Superman movie will be distributed worldwide by Warner Bros. Pictures, a Warner Bros. Entertainment Company.

  6. Posted · Report reply

    4WiZLkwVYcc

    A raging Battlestar Galactica fan was looking over my shoulder as I watched this official gameplay trailer for Bigpoint's browser-based online combat game based on the hit science fiction series. She was not pleased.

    My fiancée was draw to my work desk by the haunting sounds of Bear McCreary's original score, ears perked up in a way that I will not describe as doglike in the interest of self-preservation. Then she stared in horror as the lifeless Adama puppet appeared on the screen.

    "Oh, poor Six," she exclaimed as Tricia Helfer's likeness came into focus, lamenting the fact that her breasts were combined into one unwieldy uni-boob.

    I'm no Battlestar fan myself, but this reaction from the biggest one I know does not bode well.

    Battlestar Galactica Online is currently in closed beta testing in North America in Europe, with open beta starting within the next few months. Will you be playing?

    The physics look wack... characters run like there is moon gravity in the Galactica. Character models could make the Sega Saturn jealous maybe... The only saving grace for this game is if the space battle engine is somewhat like Colony Wars or Wing Commander... doubt it.

  14. Posted · Report reply

    http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/01/09/seattle-superhero-phoenix_n_805004.html?ref=fb&src=sp

    Video in the link

    Batman. Spiderman. The Green Hornet. And now, Phoenix Jones.

    By day, he may be your average Joe. By night, however, one Seattle, Wash. man assumes a philanthropic persona to lend a helping, albeit gloved, hand.

    KIRO reported that Phoenix Jones, unknown by any other name, stopped an in-progress grand theft auto recently by chasing away the perpetrator.

    The would-be victim, who asked to be referred to as "Dan," couldn't believe his eyes.

    "From the right, this guy comes dashing in, wearing this skin-tight rubber, black and gold suit, and starts chasing him away."

    Phoenix Jones is no stranger to danger. He said he has been patrolling the streets for the past nine months, keeping what he feels to be evil at bay. One adversary managed to stab him in the past, but he said most of his enemies flee at the sight of him.

    "When I walk into a neighborhood, criminals leave because they see the suit. I symbolize that the average person doesn't have to walk around and see bad things and do nothing."

    Superman may have his phone booth, but Phoenix Jones opts to use a local comic book store to transform.

    In November, Jones spoke with the Seattle Post-Intelligencer about his qualifications. He said he understands that with great power comes great responsibility.

    "I don't condone people walking around on the street with masks. Everyone on my team either has a military background or a mixed martial arts background, and we're well aware of what it costs to do what we do."

    Yes, he has a team.

    With names like "Catastrophe," "Thunder 88" and even "No Name," they are a part of the Rain City Superhero Movement, a group of nine disguised defenders dedicated to ridding the city of crime.

    The network doesn't stop there. Real-life superheroes have become a national phenomenon, with multiple online forums and a photographic gallery, The Real Life Super Hero Project. For those interested in participating in a caped crusade, a reference manual, created by the enigmatic superhero community is available for a complete ethics code.

    Local law enforcement officers tolerate them as neighborhood watchers, but are not enthused. Jeff Kappel of the Seattle police department told the Seattle Post-Intelligencer that their crime-fighting sometimes falls short of effective when they refuse to reveal their identity.

    "There's nothing wrong with citizens getting involved with the criminal justice process -- as long as they follow it all the way through."

  17. Posted · Report reply

    http://www.comingsoon.net/news/movienews.php?id=73379

    Warner Bros. Pictures announced today that Anne Hathaway has been cast as Selina Kyle (AKA Catwoman) in Christopher Nolan's The Dark Knight Rises. She will be starring alongside Christian Bale, who returns in the title role of Bruce Wayne/Batman.

    Christopher Nolan stated, "I am thrilled to have the opportunity to work with Anne Hathaway, who will be a fantastic addition to our ensemble as we complete our story."

    In addition, Tom Hardy has been set to play Bane. Nolan said, "I am delighted to be working with Tom again and excited to watch him bring to life our new interpretation of one of Batman’s most formidable enemies."

    Nolan will direct the film from a screenplay he wrote with Jonathan Nolan, from a story by Christopher Nolan and David S. Goyer. Nolan will also produce the film with his longtime producing partner, Emma Thomas, and Charles Roven.

    The Dark Knight Rises is slated for release on July 20, 2012. The film will be distributed worldwide by Warner Bros. Pictures, a Warner Bros. Entertainment Company.

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  21. Posted · Report reply

    http://kotaku.com/5733372/watson-is-a-machine-and-he-will-kick-your-ass-at-jeopardy

    An IBM supercomputer codenamed "Watson" just played two of Jeopardy's greatest human players and emerged the victor.

    Ken Jennings and Brad Rutter, two former champions of the TV quiz game show, went up against Watson in a practice match yesterday ahead of a live TV special, reports Wired. And while they were good, Watson — thanks to the 200 million pages of reference material, novels and movie scripts scanned inside his mighty mechanical brain — was better.

    Capable of 80 trillion operations a second, Watson is also an expert at speech recognition, meaning he can listen to a question, analyse the words within, compare it to his programming and come up with an answer in around three seconds.

    Machines beating people at chess or go is one thing, but something that's a walking library capable of understanding human speech? We are officially one day closer to our ultimate demise at the hands of our mechanical overlords.

    UPDATE - Now, courtesy of Engadget, with terrifying video footage!

    M3On3Td9x8g

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  24. Posted · Report reply

    http://kotaku.com/5732889/brain-making-too-much-noise-reboot-it

    As many as 23 million adults in the United States suffer from tinnitus - a ringing sound in the ears that won't go away. Scientists may have found a way to ease the currently cure-less affliction by rebooting the brain.

    Tinnitus is more common than you think. One in ten seniors and 40 percent of military vets suffer from this affliction, which causes the brain to generate a noise that no one else can hear. It can be a ringing or a chirping, a whooshing or a clicking - no matter what it sounds like, only the person afflicted can hear it. I can only imagine how maddening that must be.

    What causes this affliction?

    "Brain changes in response to nerve damage or cochlear trauma cause irregular neural activity believed to be responsible for many types of chronic pain and tinnitus," said Michael Kilgard of the University of Texas...We believe the part of the brain that processes sounds — the auditory cortex — delegates too many neurons to some frequencies, and things begin to go awry," he said.

    Kilgard is the co-author of a study published in the journal Nature that could give tinnitus sufferer's some relief from this aggravating condition.

    The key is sending a reset signal to the auditory cortex.

    Using lab rats as test subjects, researchers electronically stimulated the vagus nerve, which runs from the head down the neck and into the abdomen, while playing a high-pitched tone. When stimulated, the vagus nerve encourages the brain to produce neurotransmitters like acetylcholine and norepinephrine, which in turn encourage changes in the brain, effectively reorganizing the neurons to respond to the correct frequencies.

    Rats treated with the combination of stimulus and sound exhibited normal levels of activity in their auditory cortex following treatment, indicating that the tinnitus had disappeared. Researchers say the rats remained unaffected by the affliction for up to three and a half months.

    So it's a temporary fix, but it's potentially more effective than any other temporary fix.

    "The key is that, unlike previous treatments, we're not masking the tinnitus, we're not hiding the tinnitus," said Kilgard. "We are returning the brain from a state where it generates tinnitus to a state that does not generate tinnitus. We are eliminating the source of the tinnitus."

    Clinical trials are expected to kick off in the coming months.

    Vagus nerve stimulation - the rebooting method - is already being used to treat people with epilepsy and depression, with the neural plasticity generated by the effect making it easier for scientists to handle brain circuits. Pair it with sound treats tinnitus. Perhaps pairing it with scent could help people suffering from olfactory reference syndrome?

    The more we poke about the brain the better we get at fixing it. Isn't science grand?

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  25. Posted · Report reply

    http://kotaku.com/5731593/scientist-plan-probe-to-study-uranus

    Uranus is a cold and distant world that hasn't been seen up close for 25 years. British scientists propose a plan to launch a satellite in that could shed new light on the mysteries of the frozen planet.

    The seventh planet in the solar system and the third largest, Uranus was first discovered in 1781 by Sir William Herschel from Bath, England. Largely comprised of ice and rock, Uranus has the coldest atmosphere of any planet in the solar system, with brutal 500 mile-per-hour winds racing across its surface.

    It's been a long time since we've gotten up-close and personal with Uranus. The last good look was back in 1986, when the NASA's Voyager 2 probed passed close to the planet on its way out of the solar system.

    Because of this lack of familiarity, scientists have many unanswered questions regarding Uranus. Why does it give off so little heat? Why is it tilted on its side, rolling about the solar system like a ball, causing half of the planet to face away from the sun for 42 years at a time?

    The Uranus Pathfinder Project wants those questions answered.

    Backed by more than 160 scientists and headed by Dr. Chris Arridge of University College London's Mullard Space Science Laboratory, the Pathfinder Project is dedicated to developing a plausible mission concept for sending a probe on a 15-year journey to the distant planet.

    Dr. Arridge explained to Skymania.com why this mission is so important.

    "We've only really scratched the surface of Uranus. It is very difficult to observe from Earth because any detail is smeared out. Since Voyager flew by we know the rings and atmosphere have changed. We need close-up measurements. Uranus is ripe for learning a lot from. It is so different among the planets."

    To reach their lofty goal, the project has submitted a proposal to the European Space Agency, detailing a £400 million (roughly $630 million USD) joint project with NASA to launch a probe into orbit around Uranus. The nuclear-powered craft would be launched in 2021 and would slingshot past other planets to build up speed, shortening the trip to a mere decade and a half.

    Once in place the probe would enter Uranus' orbit in order to study the planet, its five moons, and the various bits of debris surrounding them.

    The price tag may seem large, but to the European Science Agency this would be a medium scale mission, and one that Dr. Arridge says would make up its cost and then some in science.

    "We see this as medium scale only in terms of price. For the amount of science you get back it is a large scale mission for quite low cost."

    It remains to be seen if the ESA and NASA are willing to pay $630 million to look at Uranus.

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