The Machine: Film Review

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The Bottom Line

Raging against the machines.

March 21 (UK)

Caity Lotz, Toby Stephens, Dennis Lawson, Sam Hazeldine

Caradog W. James

Do androids dream of robot love and electric children? That is a key question running through this brooding, stylish, highly atmospheric future-noir thriller. Although he clearly shot his second feature on limited resources, the Welsh writer-director Caradog W. James has already picked up numerous awards and distribution deals.

At times the slender budget lets him down, notably during some threadbare action sequences. But The Machine is still a classy slice of cerebral sci-fi with a literary-cinematic heritage stretching back through Blade Runner and Metropolis to Frankenstein. Opening on UK screens later this month, closely followed by DVD and Blu-Rayrelease, it should find a modest but devoted cult audience both domestically and overseas.

TV REVIEW:Resurrection

The setting is a near-future Britain blighted by both economic and literal gloom, a dystopian land of perpetual darkness and military-industrial paranoia. The West is battling China in a new Cold War, with artificial intelligence rather than nuclear weapons fueling the latest superpower arms race. Toby Stephens, best known as James Bonds suave nemesis in Die Another Day, plays Vincent McCarthy, a computer expert seeking to perfect super-intelligent androids for his army paymasters.

McCarthys boss Thomson (original Star Wars trilogy veteran Dennis Lawson) dreams of making the perfect robot weapon, but the anguished boffin is motivated by more tragic personal reasons. The arrival of brilliant young American scientist Ava (Caity Lotz) helps him realize his project, as well as providing an obligatory frisson of sexual tension.

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The Machine: Film Review

2014 AUSA Winter Symposium – Dr. Deborah Barnhart – Preparing Next Gen Aerospace Workforce – Video

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2014 AUSA Winter Symposium - Dr. Deborah Barnhart - Preparing Next Gen Aerospace Workforce
"Preparing the Next Generation Military and Industrial Aerospace Workforce" Dr. Deborah E. Barnhart Chief Executive Officer and Executive Director United Sta...

By: Association of the U.S. Army

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2014 AUSA Winter Symposium - Dr. Deborah Barnhart - Preparing Next Gen Aerospace Workforce - Video

Ball Aerospace-Built GMI Instrument Launches Aboard NASA's Global Precipitation Measurement …

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BOULDER, Colo. - The Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp. Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) Microwave Imager (GMI) successfully launched on NASA's GPM Core Observatory satellite from Tanegashima Space Center, Japan at 1:37 p.m. EST on Feb. 27, 2014. The satellite flew onboard an H-IIA launch vehicle.

Built for NASA, Ball's GMI is a multi-channel, conical-scanning microwave radiometer that flies aboard the GPM Core Observatory. GMI is an essential part of an international satellite mission that will capture next-generation observations of rain and snow worldwide every three hours. The GPM Core Observatory will deliver unprecedented 3-D views of hurricanes and snowstorms and contribute to monitoring and forecasting weather events such as droughts, floods and landslides.

"GMI will provide significantly more accurate data to forecasters tracking extreme weather," said Ball Aerospace President Rob Strain. "GMI's greater accuracy will also enhance the global precipitation dataset used by the world's scientists."

The Ball Aerospace GMI, will deliver more frequent and higher quality data collection than currently available. The eight-foot tall GMI instrument rotates at 32 revolutions per minute and uses four extremely stable calibration points on each revolution to calibrate the data it scans. The instrument minimizes solar intrusion for added accuracy and features higher frequency channels to measure smaller particles of precipitation such as light rain and snow.

GMI will fly aboard the GPM Core Observatory satellite with the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency's (JAXA-s) Dual-frequency Precipitation Radar (DPR) instrument. The GMI captures precipitation intensities and horizontal patterns, while the DPR provides insights into the three dimensional structure of rain, snow and other precipitation particles. Together, these two instruments will provide a database of measurements that will be used with observations of other partner satellites to upgrade the quality of all collected data and to provide uniform precipitation estimates everywhere in the world every three hours.

GMI's design is based on successful microwave sensors built previously by Ball Aerospace, including the Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM), the Spaceborne Imaging Radar-C (SIR-C), the GEOSAT Follow-On (GFO-2) and the Submillimeter Wave Astronomy Satellite (SWAS).

The company is currently performing risk reduction work for the U.S. Air Force on the Defense Weather Satellite Follow-On microwave sounding and imaging instrument. This sensor will greatly leverage the advanced design and hardware of the GMI instrument to measure tropical cyclone intensity, sea ice, soil moisture and ocean surface vector winds for military forecasting.

Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp. supports critical missions for national agencies such as the Department of Defense, NASA, NOAA and other U.S. government and commercial entities. The company develops and manufactures spacecraft, advanced instruments and sensors, components, data exploitation systems and RF solutions for strategic, tactical and scientific applications. For more information, visit http://www.ballaerospace.com/.

Ball Corporation (NYSE: BLL) supplies innovative, sustainable packaging solutions for beverage, food and household products customers, as well as aerospace and other technologies and services primarily for the U.S. government. Ball Corporation and its subsidiaries employ 14,500 people worldwide and reported 2013 sales of $8.5 billion. For more information, visit http://www.ball.com, or connect with us on Facebook or Twitter.

Source Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp.

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Did Humans Evolve On The Savanna? The Debate Heats Up

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Don Emmert/AFP/Getty Images

Don Emmert/AFP/Getty Images

"Without original research or new data, Dominguez-Rodrigo attempts to resurrect 'the spirit of the old savanna hypothesis' via word games and revisionist history ... This attempted resurrection of an obsolete mind-set will stand as a monument to futility. paleoanthropologist Tim White, in response to prehistorian M. Dominguez-Rodrigo's article on the savanna hypothesis of human evolution, in the February 2014 Current Anthropology.

"By denying [the] evidence [for the savanna hypothesis], White exemplifies perfectly Kuhn's idea that when a paradigm is assaulted, supporters of the old guard remain intentionally blind to the mounting evidence or selectively utilize data in order to resist change."

Dominguez-Rodrigo's reply to White's critique.

In a word, wow.

By the standards of discussion these days on blogs and discussion boards, this exchange may seem relatively mild. But it's acidic stuff for a peer-reviewed science article, even in the contested arena of human-evolution research. When I read Dominguez-Rodrigo's article and White's reply last week, I wondered, is this sort of exchange good for science?

I find journals like Current Anthropology and Behavioral and Brain Sciences both fun and informative because they publish, at the conclusion of their main articles, a set of response commentaries by experts on the topic. The immediate payoff of reading these multiple perspectives is an extra level of engagement and critical thinking on my part. I love it too when these exchanges get a little heated. Vigorous debate is a vital avenue toward deeper understanding of the issues, and may spur new hypothesis-testing.

But should there be some boundaries? Should we strive for the high road in terms of civility in peer-reviewed publications?

I say "yes" to both questions. To me, the printed Dominguez-Rodrigo and White exchange doesn't do science any favors. (The full exchange is much longer than the quotes that I selected from the article.)

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Did Humans Evolve On The Savanna? The Debate Heats Up

Comets crush Blackhawks to start sectional play

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ALEXANDRIA It may take a full four quarters to make a basketball game, but Eastern showed you can get the job done in just one during its Class 2A Sectional 39 opener with Sheridan Wednesday night.

Tied at 19-all two quarters in, the Comets busted out of the locker room on fire to start the second half, outscoring the Blackhawks 24-6 in the third frame to go up 43-25 and cruising to a 52-33 win.

Eastern (4-17) advances to face Madison-Grant (9-12), a 55-49 winner over Elwood in OT Wednesday, in Fridays second semifinal. Tipton and Taylor square off in the first semifinal. The Comets and Argylls didnt meet in the regular season.

Eastern blistered the nets at a 77 percent clip (10 of 13) in the third quarter on the way to the 18-point advantage heading into the final frame, including 3-of-3 from beyond the arc in the period.

Couldnt have asked for a better third quarter, Eastern coach Mike Springer said. We stressed at half time that we needed to win the third quarter and win it big. We called some plays for Noah [Cope] to get a three to start the half and he did. We hit some big shots and turned the tide our way.

Cope, who finished with 15 points to lead Eastern, connected from downtown just 12 seconds into the second half and when Sheridans Brock Kitchel answered with one at the other end, the Comet junior did it again, putting his squad up for good, 25-22, at 7:19.

Eastern strung together an 18-3 run to close out the period, its lead swelling to double digits, 34-24, on Blake Shraders trey at 3:24 and continuing to climb to the 18-point margin heading into the final eight minutes.

Comparatively, Sheridan (3-18) shot just 2 of 15 in the period and finished the second half shooting just 14 percent (3 of 21) from the field.

One team came out with desire. That team punched us in the mouth, and we just laid down and took it, Sheridan coach Cory Dunn said. They had some kids who shot better than they have every single time Ive watched them. You start giving guys confidence and then you cant do anything on the other end and turn the ball over, that just keeps building up that other teams momentum.

Things continued to collapse for Sheridan in the fourth quarter. The Blackhawks committed half of their 14 turnovers in the final eight minutes as the Comets lead grew to 23 points, 48-25, on Jacob Kinders hoop with 6:28 to play.

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Comets crush Blackhawks to start sectional play

FIFA inspectors give Auckland thumbs up

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FIFAs new U-20 World Cup Trophy will travel through Auckland in May

Some of the most senior officials from footballs world governing body, FIFA, have given Auckland a huge thumbs up as it prepares to host FIFAs second largest global tournament - the U-20 World Cup in 2015.

FIFA Inspectors were in Auckland today to inspect the Citys host stadium North Harbour and various training venues for this landmark event and agreed that the venue was in great shape to showcase the worlds biggest game.

During the inspection tour, the Local Organising Committee (LOC) of the FIFA U-20 World Cup 2015, also announced that the iconic FIFA U-20 World Cup trophy, a brand new trophy for this tournament, had now been entrusted to the LOC and would be taken on a nationwide tour of New Zealand in May.

The trophy will be in Auckland for three days, arriving from Whangarei on 7 May and working its way around the Auckland region before heading to Hamilton.

FIFA U-20 New Zealand 2015 CEO, Dave Beeche said: "Auckland has a fantastic reputation of hosting highly successful world sporting events so we know that this great city will turn it on again for FIFAs second biggest tournament when it hits town on 30 May 2015.

"We are also delighted that Auckland football and sports fans will be among the first in the world to see the new FIFA U-20 World Cup trophy, which will be housed in the city until the tournament begins next year," Beeche added.

One of the FIFA officials inspecting the North Harbour Stadium was the Senior Competitions Manager Rhiannon Martin, who has worked for FIFA for almost 17 years.

She said: "We know how successful FIFA tournaments have been at North Harbour stadium and were pleased to see that the venue will be improved even further by the time the FIFA U-20 World Cup arrives next year. We feel confident that this stadium will be a fantastic arena to showcase the very best young talent that our sport has to offer."

Auckland Tourism Events and Economic Development (ATEED) Chief Executive Brett ORiley was on hand to welcome the FIFA delegation and said that Auckland looks forward to welcoming the worlds best young football stars for this iconic sporting event.

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FIFA inspectors give Auckland thumbs up