Riddle of 'bang' in Birmingham intensifies as British Geological Survey issue statement  Birmingham Live

Ancient underwater landslides help Brit scientists predict tsunamis  Metro.co.uk

British Geological Survey welcomes visit from Rushcliffe MP  Agg-Net

Did the earth move for you? British Geological Survey has asked if Cumbrians felt an earth tremor last week  News & Star

Phase-contrast enhanced micro-computed tomography reveals huge discontinuities at the interfaces between dental fillings and the tooth substrate. Despite the complex micromorphology, gaps in bonding could be visualized and quantified in 3D.

The U.S. National Academies recognize the significance of the opioid crisis and have been at the forefront of efforts to advise our nation on how to combat it.

Actors Benedict Cumberbatch and Sophie Hunter arrive at the 26th Annual Palm Springs International Film Festival Film Festival Awards Gala at Palm Springs Convention Center on January 3, 2015 in Palm Springs, California.; Credit: Frazer Harrison/Getty Images

The 26th Annual Palm Springs International Film Festival opened this weekend, distinguished by robust audience turnouts, megawatt celebrity visitations and constant reminders of the unique space PSIFF occupies and the specialized services it provides to Hollywood.

Falling as it does just before Sundance and just after the Golden Globes nominations, Palm Springs is as much a part of the awards season calendar as it is the festival circuit. Big ticket screenings are presented with all the photo op pomp that would greet a major world premiere at, say, the Los Angeles Film Festival, but in many cases this is to build buzz for (or to re-energize) films that are already in theaters.

At Sundance or Tribeca, the suspense is usually about whether the films in competition will get good reviews and/or find distribution. At Palm Springs, especially on opening weekend, it's more about whether you'll run into Brad Pitt in the guest and industry suite at the Renaissance Hotel.

At the PSIFF awards gala, Golden Globe nominee Reese Witherspoon took home the oddly gender specific Chairman's Award for her performance in "Wild."

J.K. Simmons received something called a Spotlight Award for his superb turn as the menacing music instructor in "Whiplash."

David Oyelowo grabbed the "Breakthrough Performance Award (Male)" for depicting Martin Luther King Jr. in "Selma." Brad Pitt's sing-along presentation of Oyelowo's award became the meme for much of the post-event press coverage.

Sing-a-long with Brad Pitt

Rosamund Pike got the "Breakthrough Performance Award (Female)" for "Gone Girl."

Michael Keaton presented the Director of the Year award to his "Birdman" collaborator Alejandro G. Iñárritu.

And the Palm Spring Convention Center stage was home to two young British heartthrobs who are in Oscar contention this year for period biopics about scientific genius: Eddie Redmayne, who grabbed the Desert Palm Achievement Award (Male) for portraying ALS sufferer Stephen Hawking in "The Theory of Everything," and Benedict Cumberbatch, who split glory with the cast of the Alan Turing biography "The Imitation Game" as co-winner of the Ensemble Performance Award.

The Desert Palm Achievement Award (Female) went to Julianne Moore in the Alzheimer's drama "Still Alice."

Every single one of the movies honored is in theaters now, almost all of them in the midst of slowly expanding release patterns as they mount their long slow march toward the Academy Awards.

The generous "one award per movie" policy and the care with which PSIFF avoids alienating celebrity affections by giving out trophies with such blunt and unequivocal titles as "Best Actress" or "Best Actor" mark the PSIFF awards gala as a psuedo-event: a kind of open-armed Hollywood team huddle before things get grim and serious with the Oscar announcements at the end of the month.

Even an Oscar-worthy oddity like Richard Linklater's "Boyhood" managed to find a place in the parade, with Linklater, who directed Shirley MacLaine in the 2010 black comedy "Bernie," presenting the 80-year-old actress with the Sonny Bono Visionary Award, essentially for career achievement.

Meanwhile, the festival's generous supply of indie, studio and foreign movies churned away in various local movie theaters, a really quite remarkable cluster of buzzworthy pictures, almost all of which have played elsewhere, including at Sundance and Toronto and Tribeca, and in many cases at your local multiplex.

This programming approach can be a double-edged sword. Director Ava DuVernay, whose civil rights-era epic "Selma" opened the festival, was unable to stay for her full run of Palm Springs personal appearances because her movie has been out long enough to spark a rather bitter controversy over its depiction of President Lyndon Johnson. DuVernay abandoned a Palm Springs Q and A in order to defend her film on Charlie Rose. 

While some audience members were bitterly disappointed at missing the chance to hear one of this year's golden ones, I'm sure the PSIFF Board of Governors understood completely. This time of year, you have to play the long game, and, in the words of the civil rights anthem, "keep your eyes on the prize."

Off-Ramp contributor R.H. Greene, former editor of Boxoffice Magazine, is in Palm Spring this week to cover the 26th Annual Palm Springs International Film Festival. Look for his missives here, and listen Saturday to Off-Ramp for his report on the festival.

This content is from Southern California Public Radio. View the original story at SCPR.org.

Britain’s freshwater ecosystems are on the brink of an invasional meltdown, a new study concludes. Examining 23 freshwater species from south-east Europe, researchers investigated whether individual species in the group would ‘pave the way’ for others, resulting in a rapid increase in establishment of invasive species. The results showed that 76% of the interactions between the species were positive or neutral, highlighting the possibility of severe consequences for Britain’s freshwater ecosystems.

To estimate the losses of wild pollinators across Great Britain, a study mapped records of 353 wild bee and hoverfly species, collected across the country from 1980 to 2013. It found that a third of species decreased, while a tenth increased. On average, the geographic range of bee and hoverfly species declined by a quarter, which equates to a net loss of 11 species from each 1km grid square (with uncommon species more harshly affected), highlighting a significant risk to biodiversity, pollinators, and their ecosystems.

An exhibition examining themes of race opens in North London next month.

A COLLECTION of work exploring artists’ responses to the Battle of Britain and the Blitz is set to go on display at the Royal Air Force Museum London next month.

A museum’s new exhibition will feature work by one of the most influential British book illustrators.

Watford fighter Ellie Harber took her 2020 record to five wins from five, culminating last weekend at the IFMA Great Britain Team Trials at Watford’s Woodside Leisure Centre.

To provide complete care for its residents, Chaseley Trust, offers amenities such as a movie theater, a gymnasium and a pool table. And strippers.

A Utah bobcat named Mr. Murderbritches was captured in 2018 after he was caught eating a farmer's chickens.

Urn-believable you say? Columbia University's DeathLAB will soon find out.

Which shortlisted bridge proposal for Tintagel Castle would King Arthur himself choose?

With help from Kickstarter, the campaign to revive an expansive network of long-forgotten 1930s-era cycleways in the U.K. begins.

A tsunami that struck the UK in 2011 was caused by a storm roiling the ocean hundreds of miles away

Airbnb celebrates its presence in L.A. with a city-wide 'hospitality experience' revolving around prefab studios with celebrity-designed interiors.

British Airways partners with an American biofuel firm to build a massive facility outside of London that will produce garbage-based jet fuel.

Through a pioneering waste-to-energy scheme, the spoiled stock at a Sainsbury's superstore will be used to keep the lights on.

Two major home improvement retailers in the U.K. pledge to pull gardening products containing bee-harming insecticides from their shelves.

The red brittle star appears to use its color-changing powers for vision.

Sometimes scientists infuse some pop culture into their species names. Can you match the celeb to the critter?

From Buckingham Palace to the BBC, British institutions are putting the kibosh on single-use plastic.

Environmental groups celebrate the bee strategy announcement — but only briefly before turning their focus to specifics and timing.

Kids in England have been raising money to fund solar for schools in Africa, but now they are bringing it closer to home too.

Goodies included many Earth-friendly items.

Plus: Notes from around Hollywood.

Plus: Heidi Klum’s Earth Day and Howard Stern’s animal instincts.

Marilu Henner and others stage reading 'Surviving Grace,' a play about Alzheimer's.

Each day will symbolize one year that Nelson Mandela spent in prison.

These storied specimens have been shortlisted for Britain's Tree of the Year contest.

Heatherwick Studio's mighty pretty design for Maggie's Centre Yorkshire resembles a cluster of massive potted plants.

England is poised to introduce a sweeping ban on the import of endangered animal parts, including those from "trophy" kills.

At GBK gift lounge, the famous get goodies and charities benefit.

Embracing their local heritage, young women in Brittany, France are paying homage to the region's legacy of lace.

Thousands of people support Nicola Thorp, the London receptionist who wrote a petition asking for change in dress code laws.

Why have inmates manufacture license plates when they can help put an end to a housing crisis?

Celebrities are asked to show off their hidden talents, and Oprah surprises with her ability to make dog poop stains vanish.

Ford is partnering with Grenier's new green lifestyle website SHFT.com, and I was there to kick the tires on the C-MAX Hybrid, eat the organic snacks, and try i

Fiat offers loaner bikes to drivers in need, the Atlantic ocean gets its own garbage patch, and researchers find a massive oil plume lurking beneath the Gulf of

Who knew that one of the founders of Western philosophy had a favorite chef?

Our data crunchers take a look at how the eco-stars stack up.