Generative visuals and eerie sound design based on height maps of glaciers, canyons and estuaries. London-based motion graphic designer Sophie Marschner transforms real-world data into a delicate digital topography in Monolith. By using the height maps of various large-scale landmarks, including glaciers, canyons and estuaries, Marschner maps the outside world into a more intimate, digital […]

The post Sophie Marschner turns real-world data into a digital topography in Monolith appeared first on FACT Magazine.

ZINC, the rough-hewn chamber with the shack in its centre, has already cost the Comment Commanders Robert Duvall (Colonel Croesus) and John Nettles (Corporal Wood). Will it also claim the life of Charles Bronson (Sergeant Nemchik)? (Colonel Croesus is an open-to-all game of Combat Mission: Fortress Italy in which Allied forces are orchestrated by commenters […]

Fancy a 1v1 match on Shipment? Of course not. Duels to the death are played out and boring. Subscribing to the view that bigger is indeed always better, Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare has brought back its 10v10 Shipment playlist. After briefly appearing as an April Fool’s jab, Infinity Ward have decided to make 20-player […]

For most of Doom Eternal‘s demonic foes, the best they can expect is to make a nice corpse. A particularly pleasing splash of gore on the Doom Slayer’s boot. But for those lucky few that manage to take down our man in green, a special reward will soon be in store. Doom Eternal’s first major […]

As US-Iran tensions rise following the assassination of an Iranian general and missile attacks on US troops, UN diplomat Neil Walsh warns cyberattacks can be just as impactful

Chinese telecomms firm Huawei will be allowed to provide technology for key parts of the UK's super-fast 5G infrastructure, prime minister Boris Johnson has said, despite opposition from the US

The UK government has announced plans to police content on platforms like YouTube and Facebook, but it won't be able to do more than the social networks are already doing

Adrian Tchaikovsky's latest novel The Doors of Eden rewrites Earth's evolutionary history, with highlights including fish that upload their minds to supercomputers and cats that rule over primates

Doom Eternal does contain gratuitous violence, but the evidence suggests violence in video games doesn't affect people's behaviour in the real world, says Jacob Aron

Flexible displays for wearable devices can now be made using fish scales instead of plastic – and the new displays biodegrade within a month of being discarded

The covid-19 pandemic has many of us stuck at home. The result could completely reshape how we use the internet, writes Annalee Newitz

Can you really be addicted to your smartphone? Daria Kuss has shown that it is only a problem for a small number of people - and she knows how to help

Watch everything unfold in real time, rather than reading about it later.

Please, I implore you: jump on this bandwagon.

"This government has failed to show any self-criticism whatsoever, when it is glaringly obvious to everybody that big mistakes have been made."

It’s quite the spectacle, but the light show is leading people to be less than cautious about social distancing.

Roy “Captain Roy D” Davis has devoted much of the last three years to the QAnon conspiracy theory, writing books pitching the concept to new fans and getting his car repainted with an enormous “Q” on the hood. Through it all, he’s been utterly convinced that former Trump national security adviser Michael Flynn—a central figure to much of the Q community—was the victim of an anti-Trump cabal orchestrated by the leaders of the deep state. He corresponded with other Flynn supporters following his legal case, and donated proceeds from one of his books to Flynn’s legal fund. 

So when Davis saw on Thursday that the Justice Department would drop its charges against Flynn for lying to the FBI, Davis was euphoric.

“He’s a hero of mine,” Davis said. “I wouldn’t do all of these things just out of the blue.”

Read more at The Daily Beast.

Roy Horn, half of the iconic magician duo Siegfried and Roy, has died from complications of the new coronavirus in Las Vegas. He was 75.

Together with Siegfried Fischbacher, Horn, born Uwe Ludwig Horn, created one of the most widely known magic acts in the world, staging shows filled with sleights of hand and exotic animals for packed audiences in Las Vegas for more than a decade. At its height, the glitzy show grossed $45 million per year, according to The Hollywood Reporter, among the highest ever in Las Vegas.

“Today, the world has lost one of the greats of magic, but I have lost my best friend,” Fischbacher said in a statement. “There could be no Siegfried without Roy, no Roy without Siegfried.” Fischbacher thanked the doctors and nurses who cared for his friend.

Read more at The Daily Beast.

GAZIANTEP, Turkey—After five years fighting to preserve Bashar al-Assad’s regime in Syria, Russia now appears inclined to dispose of its infamous client. Assad’s persistent brutality and corruption, and his inability to establish even the semblance of a functioning state, has grown to be a burden Moscow would prefer not to bear.

And then there’s the problem of Iran. Assad, members of his family, and his Alawite clansmen enjoy close, perhaps unbreakable, bonds to the regime in Tehran and to Iranian-backed militias in Syria. All of which undermines Moscow’s primary mission there: to rehabilitate the Assad regime as a symbol of stability capable of attracting hundreds of billions of dollars of foreign investment for reconstruction, which Russian firms would then be poised to receive. 

As long as Assad’s relatives continue to function as a mafia and give free rein to Iranian troops using Syria as base of operations to threaten Israel and plan attacks against U.S. troops in Iraq, those countries likely to foot the bill for Syrian reconstruction—the nations of Europe and the Gulf—are unlikely to come up with the cash. 

Read more at The Daily Beast.

Imagine an alternate universe where the Star Wars movies were released in chronological order - where Episodes I to III were the original, beloved trilogy. How would the internet have reacted to the film that followed? More »

THE CORONAVIRUS lockdown is now causing serious damage to the UK's economy, Tory MP Steve Baker has warned - stressing he was now "gravely concerned" at the situation

Big Oil Companies Face Tough Comparisons as Earnings Near American and European oil giants spend a lot of time talking about their differentiated strategies and approaches to hot-button issues such as climate change. But their bottom lines are still primarily driven by the same common factor: commodity prices. That shared reality doesn’t bode well for […]

Saudi Aramco’s IPO saga has turned into “A Tale of Two Princes.” As Saudi Arabia’s day-to-day ruler Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has guided the IPO far from public view, his half-brother Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman stepped onto center stage in Vienna last week, presiding over a crucial gathering of OPEC and its oil-producing allies […]

Chelsea news and gossip is coming in thick and fast so Express Sport is on hand to bring you all the very latest from Stamford Bridge.

UFC 249 prize money - Express Sport breaks down how much Tony Ferguson and Justin Gaethje are set to pocket for their showdown in Florida.

The summer transfer window is nearly upon us as Manchester United, Chelsea, Liverpool, Arsenal and the rest of the Premier League look to strengthen for whenever the new season starts. Express Sport brings you the latest updates throughout the day.

Astrology is bunk, but a new book exploring its ancient history argues that it has crucial lessons for today's data science with its seemingly opaque algorithms

A strange supernova that’s 100 times brighter than it should be has long been a mystery, but it may be explained by the explosion slamming into a cloud of gas

Astronomers have spotted a star that is exploding with a brightness 100 times less than expected – and it’s a mystery exactly why the explosion is so dim

Strange, powerful blasts of radio waves from space called fast radio bursts sometimes flash repeatedly, but never with any discernible pattern – until now

There’s nothing like crash-landing on an alien planet. Journey to the Savage Planet doesn't always get it right, but it has echoes of classic Metroid Prime, says Jacob Aron

We’ve spotted strange blasts of radio waves from space in a pattern that may be produced by a magnetised neutron star wobbling as it spins

When the Soviet Union lands on the moon first people in the US are shocked. But For All Mankind provides an even bigger surprise when one cosmonaut's identity is revealed, says Emily Wilson

NASA’s InSight lander has been on the surface of Mars for over a year now – here are five of its strangest and most fascinating discoveries from the Red Planet

White dwarf stars are common in the galaxy, but astronomers have found one that doesn't seem to obey the rules. They think it was born when two smaller white dwarfs merged together

When Mars was young, parts of the planet may have been able to sustain RNA, a molecule that probably played a key role in the beginnings of life on Earth

An explosion 4.6 billion light years away has released 10 times more energy than the sun will put out in its lifetime, making it the most extreme supernova ever found

Human movements can teach robots the skills they need to dig holes and—maybe someday—build the first colonies on Mars

John Deere, the nearly 200-year-old tractor manufacturer, now considers itself a software company

In their search for killer apps, robotics companies should look at the amazing evolution of computers

For the first time, NASA's Astrobee robot has demonstrated autonomous free flight in space

Cassie may not have any arms to work with, but that doesn’t keep it from juggling a ball on its head

“Today, the world has lost one of the greats of magic, but I have lost my best friend,” Siegfried Fischbacher said in a statement.

This is a video of the result of Youtuber Lil'Alien [Agentalex9 Alt.] feeding Rick Astley's rickrolling classic 'Never Gonna Give You Up' into the Jukebox neural network developed by OpenAI to create more song lyrics for the song. The music video consists of AI upscaled gifs from the original video. If you're really interested in the technology utilized and just what the hell is going on, there are a bunch of links on the video's Youtube page HERE. I just managed to watch the whole video and I can attest that, uh, that was really something. "Something good?" Haha, now let's not get ahead of ourselves. Keep going for whatever this is.

This is a video from Russia's Zapad-2017 military exercises where a KA-52 Alligator helicopter accidentally fired two missiles towards a group of journalists covering the event (allegedly as a result of a short-circuit in the helicopter's electric system according to the Russian military *eyebarrelroll*). Three of the journalists were injured in the incident (amazingly not critically either), including the one seen strolling along the highway to the danger zone the video. Man, those missiles come QUICK. If you think you're gonna outrun one of those things like a tarantula in Animal Crossing, think again. I mean sure The Flash could do it, but he could also pleasure himself infinitely in the time it took you to read this article. "Huh?" How his penis doesn't catch fire is beyond me, there must be other superpowers at play too. Keep going for a couple versions of the video (the second with slow-mos), as well as a news report which includes the copter's gun view.

Because we don't have enough on our plates as it is, now we've got 'murder hornets' flying around the United States. Murder hornets (actually Asian Giant Hornets, but that name didn't strike enough fear into the masses) have a sting powerful enough that China recommends medical treatment if stunk more than ten times, and emergency treatment if stung more than 30. *pours out a little liquor for Macaulay Culkin in My Girl*. And where is his glasses?! He can't see without his glasses! Put his glasses on! Here's a video of Coyote Peterson getting stung by one (the Japanese Giant Hornet was previously believed to be a subspecies of the Asian Giant Hornet, but has since been recategorized as a color morph). This is a video of a praying mantis eating a Giant Asian hornet until it's just a pile of limbs. So yeah, praying mantises -- start breeding them. And make sure to selectively breed them too so we can produce them bigger and bigger until they're preying on us because the way things are going how is that not how this ends? Keep going for the video while I surround my Animal Crossings town with preying mantises to protect my villagers and keep my five-star rating (okay, three).

This is a video from the Parque del Cidacos in Calahorra, La Rioja, Spain of a controlled burn of the poplar fluff (the very fine, kinda dandelion-like seeds released by female poplar trees) atop the grass in the park. As you can see, the fluff burns incredibly quickly, leaving the grass below unharmed. The time I spelled my girlfriend's name in gasoline in her parent's yard and set it ablaze? Thank God their homeowner's insurance covered detached garages! Keep going for the full video.

This is the Popcorn Popping Lid with Butter Vents available from Uncommon Goods ($11). You just fill a microwave-safe 10-inch bowl with your choice of popping corn, set the lid on top, add a pat of butter to each of the lid's butter vents, and let the microwaving begin! Of course if you're anything like me you'll balance as much butter as you can atop each of those vents because, I don't know if you knew this about me, but I love butter. I don't really like it cold but *microwave beeping* sometimes when I'm really feeling down I'll just melt two sticks and drink it. Keep going for a couple more shots because they exist.

Because the internet never stops churning out the hits, this is a video of seals barking edited to perform a snippet of Seal's 1995 Batman Forever closing credits classic 'Kiss From A Rose'. I insisted my girlfriend watch it and she hated it. Although as a rule anything that I laugh out loud watching on my phone next to her in bed, she hates. I don't even wait for her to ask what I'm laughing at anymore because I know she doesn't want to see it. It's heartbreaking really. Great now she's glaring at me. Keep going for the video.

Drill detected no glitches, but improvements could still be made.