The Apes trailer which takes humanised monkey effects to a whole new level

By GRAHAM SMITH

You'll believe an ape can talk: A five-second preview from the forthcoming Rise Of The Planet Of The Apes took the Internet by storm yesterday. Today a full trailer was unveiled to awestruck science-fiction fans


The original 1960s film was a milestone in prosthetic make-up effects.

Now the latest instalment in the Planet Of The Apes franchise is taking another giant step forward in depicting 'realism' in fantasy cinema.

A five-second preview clip of Rise Of The Planet Of The Apes posted online yesterday, left awestruck science-fiction fans clamouring for more. Today, the full trailer was unveiled.


Spellbinding: Filmmakers have made liberal use of CGI technology to create what looks to be the most realistic depiction yet of a humanised ape


Pop culture icon: Roddy McDowall as Cornelius in Escape From The Planet Of The Apes, the third film in the franchise


Yesterday's tantalisingly brief segment shows an actor - who could be Andy Serkis as Caesar, the part made famous by Roddy McDowall in the original films - in his ape 'make-up'.

This close-up comes at the end of the full trailer for the new prequel, which shows how apes in the present day came to be supremely intelligent beings who take over Earth.


The new prequel, which shows how apes in the present day came to be supremely intelligent beings who take over Earth, stars James Franco (right) as a scientist conducting experiments on the animals


Filmmakers have made liberal use of CGI technology to create what looks to be the most realistic depiction yet of a humanised ape.

By using motion-capture technology - which records and analyses information from markers stuck onto the actor's body, and infrared lights which illuminate him - the special effects team is able to track motion and force.

This 'MoCap' technique has been used in many recent blockbusters, including the Lord Of The Rings trilogy for translating Serkis' movements into Gollum.


Calm before the storm: WETA Digital, an Oscar-winning visual effects company who worked on Avatar, is responsible for the new film's effects


Even the CGI effects in Tim Burton's 2001 remake Planet Of The Apes look dated when placed alongside the new effect.

Rise Of The Planet Of The Apes stars James Franco, Freida Pinto, John Lithgow and Brian Cox and is scheduled for an August release in the U.S.


Rising star: The film also features Freida Pinto (pictured) and veteran acrtors John Lithgow and Brian Cox


Apes escape: What looks to be the start of a simian rampage begins


Too close for comfort? An ape watches over Pinto and Franco asleep in bed


Summer blockbuster? The new film is scheduled for an August release in the U.S.


Big budget: Rise Of The Planet Of The Apes promises to be an action-packed, special effects-driven extravaganza


Rise of the Planet of the Apes (2011) - Trailer (HD)



source: dailymail

Luxurious long vehicle can carry 23 passengers and travel at 155mph

By DAILY MAIL REPORTER

Luxury: The 15ft-long Superbus can carry 23 passengers and reach speeds of up to 155mph


Dutch design team includes Dutch astronaut who worked on Challenger

The seven-year project has so far cost £11.5million


Buses have never been the most glamorous form of transportation.

But that is set to change with the Superbus, a 15ft-long, six-wheeled behemoth that on first glance looks like a cross between the Batmobile and a (very) stretched limousine.

Aerodynamic and luxurious, it can carry 23 passengers and reach speeds of up to 155mph (255kph), although finding a parking space might prove difficult.


Futuristic: The Superbus has six wheels, including two pairs of rear wheels that can turn independently, thereby reducing its turning radius


A design team from TU Delft University, including former Dutch astronaut Wubbo Ockels, once a mission specialist on the Challenger, has unveiled the Superbus at the World Exhibition of the International Association of Public Transport (UITP) in Dubai.

Constructed with super-light carbon fibre materials, it is powered by an electric motor backed up by lithium polymer batteries.

As long as a standard city bus, the Superbus has two pairs of rear wheels that can turn independently, thereby reducing its turning radius.

The low vehicle has 12 gull-wing doors that allow passenger access to cushioned wide seats.


Batmobile? The sleek long vehicle is constructed with super-light carbon fibre materials, it is powered by an electric motor backed up by lithium polymer batteries


Pride and joy: Former Dutch astronaut Wubbo Ockels was a member of the Superbus design team




Slick: The low vehicle has 12 gull-wing doors that allow passenger access to cushioned wide seats.


The Superbus prototype is loaded onto a cargo plane at Schiphol Airport for transportation to the World Exhibition of the International Association of Public Transport in Dubai


Vredestein Ultrac Sessanta Superbus


source: source: dailymail

Futuristic fly-by: Wing-to-wing, Virgin's spaceship and Airbus soar over San Francisco en route to new £238m airport terminal

By GRAHAM SMITH


Air show: Virgin America's A320 Airbus (left) flies in tandem with White KnightTwo, carrying SpaceShipTwo, over San Francisco Bay yesterday


San Francisco International Airport's Terminal 2 will be home to both Virgin America and Virgin Galactic


Even by Virgin's standards it was a markedly grand opening ceremony.

The new Virgin America A320 Airbus yesterday flew over San Francisco in tandem with WhiteKnightTwo, a carrier aircraft holding SpaceShipTwo, the world's first commercial passenger spaceship.

The planes were en route to land at San Francisco International Airport to become the first aircraft to arrive at the redeveloped £238million ($388million) Terminal 2, which officially opens on April 14.

Guests onboard the A320 - aptly named My Other Ride Is A Spaceship - included Virgin founder Sir Richard Branson and legendary astronaut Buzz Aldrin.


City by the bay: The planes were en route to land at San Francisco International Airport to become the first aircraft to arrive at its redeveloped Terminal 2, which officially opens on April 14


Virgin America will occupy seven gates at the new terminal. American Airlines will occupy six gates and there will be one common-use gate.

David Cush, Virgin America spokesman, said: 'We’re proud to unveil a new home that similarly reinvents the travel experience for the modern flyer - and that also reflects the innovative, forward-looking spirit of our San Francisco home.'


Star-studded: Guests onboard the A320 (left) included Virgin founder Sir Richard Branson and legendary astronaut Buzz Aldrin


Terminal 2 will also be the home of Virgin Galactic, the world's first commercial spaceline.

Carrier craft WhiteKnightTwo represents a giant leap forward in aerospace design and will enable access to space for private individuals and academic researchers.

The world’s largest all carbon composite aviation vehicle and the most fuel efficient aircraft of its size, WhiteKnightTwo possesses the high-altitude heavy-lift capability to air-release the world’s first commercial manned spaceship – SpaceShipTwo – on its journey into sub-orbital space.

SpaceShipTwo is a rocket-powered space plane, which is intended to air-launch via a ground-breaking feather re-entry system.


WhiteKnightTwo (top) carries SpaceShipTwo, a rocket-powered space plane intended to air-launch via a ground-breaking feather re-entry system


Virgin Galactic spokesman George Whitesides said: 'Virgin America has the most advanced and carbon-efficient commercial fleet in the U.S. and when it touches down today at its new home it will share the runway with the future of commercial aerospace – SpaceShipTwo and WhiteKnightTwo.

'We’re proud that two Virgin-branded companies can link the cutting-edge present to the future of commercial aviation. It is also fitting that yesterday’s flights are helping to inspire the next generation of scientists, engineers and aviators.'

Virgin Galactic's flight test program is set to run throughout this year before passenger travel is scheduled to begin in 2012.

SpaceShipTwo will be carried to an altitude of about 50,000ft and then released by the mothership.

Powered by a single rocket motor, the spaceship will be flown by a crew of two and carry six passengers on a Mach 3 thrill ride through the edge of the atmosphere for a brief zero-gravity experience and views of the Earth far below before gliding to a landing.


Looking to the future: Virgin Galactic's flight test program is set to run throughout this year before passenger travel is scheduled to begin in 2012

Such suborbital flights are similar to the 1961 flights of Mercury astronauts Alan Shepard and Virgil Grissom - up into space and then back down without circling Earth.
But by launching SpaceShipTwo from a high-flying carrier aircraft, there's no need for the massive rockets that propelled the Mercury capsules.

Motherships have been used for decades by Nasa and the military for 'captive-carry' tests and launches of such craft as the X-15 rocket planes.

The novel part of its design is its 'carefree re-entry' system.

SpaceShipTwo has tailbooms extending rearward from its wings. In space, the booms pivot upward to a 65-degree angle. The position causes drag and slows the descent in the upper atmosphere before the booms pivot back to horizontal.



Guided tour: Sir Richard Branson is shown around San Francisco International Airport's Terminal 2 by its architect Arthur Gensler (left)


Virgin Galactic over San Francisco Bay



source: dailymail

Video of babies 'talking' takes the Internet by storm and is viewed TEN MILLION times on YouTube

By DAILY MAIL REPORTER

Online hit: Twins Sam and Ren McEntee, aged just 17 months, enjoy a lively exchange in which they laugh, raise their hands emphatically and nod their heads


A home video of two babies engaged in an animated conversation in a kitchen has become an Internet phenomenon.

The two-minute clip shows twin brothers Sam and Ren McEntee, aged just 17 months and barely able to stand, enjoying a lively exchange in which they laugh, raise their hands emphatically and nod their heads.

So far the footage has attracted a staggering 9.4million views on YouTube.

This is probably because the boys' conversation is so adult in its mannerisms and they appear to genuinely understand what each other is saying.

Transfixed viewers even made suggestions as to what the brothers might be talking about - before comments on the video were disabled.

Suggestions had included one brother telling the other 'That diaper is so 2010', before receiving a response of 'If you're so smart, where is your other sock, Einstein?'

The babies' mother Abby has a blog, twinmamarama.com, on which she writes about her experiences as a twin sister raising twin boys.


Good times: The home video has been watched almost ten million times


Mrs McEntee wrote on Wednesday: 'We've had a fascinating time seeing language blooming around here. Now the experts weigh in on this kind of twin language.

'I remember my own folks talking about my sister and I sending out verbal signals (essentially squeaks and shouts) in an attempt to pinpoint the location of our twin sister around the house!'

Child development specialists have even chimed in to say how natural and healthy it is for babies to develop language skills as they mature.


An early 15 minutes? The brothers arrive to make in Times Square, New York, to make an appearance on Good Morning America this week


Professor Karen Thorpe, of the Queensland University of Technology’s School of Psychology and Counselling, told ABC News: 'Babies are wired for communication from the start and we see here a fine example of how sophisticated and beautiful communication in even young children can be.'

The broadcaster also reported that 40 per cent of twins develop what appears to be their own language.

However, they are mimicking sounds and mannerisms that they have heard or seen, rather than actually understanding what each other is saying.


twin baby boys have a conversation - OFFICIAL VIDEO



source: dailymail

A robotic performance: Japanese android actress Geminoid F appears on stage alongside human in play

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By DAILY MAIL REPORTER

Geminoid F in her stage debut in a play in Japan. The android took part in a play alongside a human actress


Her performance could perhaps be described as being a little mechanical.
But this new actress treading the boards in Tokyo has a good excuse: she's a robot.

Humanoid robot Geminoid F has appeared on stage alongside a human actress for the first time in a play called 'Sayonara,' or 'Goodbye', last week.

Geminoid F - a robot designed to look and act like a human - played alongside a human actress, American Bryerly Long. in a play directed by Japanese director Oriza Hirata.


Geminoid F remained seated on a chair throughout the performance, while she carried out conversations and monologues


'It won't be that a robot replaces human beings on a drama stage, it's more as if a new type of actor has emerged in the theatrical world,' said Hirata, who had already put on two plays featuring ordinary, non-android robots.

Long plays a girl suffering from a fatal illness whose parents hire an android carer and then abandon her. The android, made to resemble a part-Russian, part-Japanese woman with long hair parted in the middle, recites poetry to her.

Seated on a chair throughout the performance, the human-sized Geminoid F carried out conversations and monologues, dressed in a dark, scoop-necked shirt and dark trousers.

Her eyes blinked and her chest rose and fell as if she was breathing even as she spoke, smiled and looked surprised, though her faced lacked the depth of expression of a real person.

Her voice and gestures were created by an actress in a soundproof chamber behind the stage whose head and body movements were detected by a camera and replicated by the android. Microphones were used for her voice.

Geminoid F was produced by Hiroshi Ishiguro, a renowned robot designer at Osaka University in western Japan, whose usual androids come with a steep $1.2 million price tag.


American actress Bryerly Long worked alongside the robot in a Japanese play titled Sayonara. She said Geminioid F t lacks 'human presence', making her feel 'alone' on stage


A model (right) touches the face of a humanoid robot called 'Geminoid-F' shaped to resemble her


For the play, he modified one to give it only the bare essentials needed to preform the given acting, which cut costs to one-tenth of the usual. All the android's movements were carried out with only 12 motors.

'Androids can look very similar to human actors, but more than that, we can technically create a superior actor by featuring all the good techniques of human actors such as staring, moving and talking,' said Ishiguro.

Despite the raves, Geminoid F's human counterpart said she felt as if she was performing solo.

'There's a bit of distance. The robot has a quite particular position because it's got a voice, but it's not some kind of human presence,' Long said.

Some in the audience also had doubts.

'It looked like an android playing an android,' said 28-year-old Chihiro Aikawa.
Hirata said androids are not only good actors but also great for boosting ticket sales. About 600 people were expected to watch the play over a two-day Tokyo run.

'All of their acting problems can ultimately be solved if I only invest enough time, and the audience always loves to see them acting,' he said.


source: dailymail
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Green Float: The futuristic concept that sees humans live in giant skyscrapers on floating water lilies in the middle of the Pacific

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fXbYRxl16SAendofvid

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By NIALL FIRTH

The majority of people on the cells would live in huge towers 1km high surrounded by lush green fields


Humans in the future could live in mini floating cities that drift across the Pacific as if on giant water lilies.

The startling new concept has been dreamed up by Japanese technology firm Shimizu and is designed to be a way of harnessing green technologies and creating carbon-neutral cities.

The Green Float concept involves a number of cells, each one kilometre wide, that house between 10,000 and 50,000 people.

Each individual cell would be free to float on the Pacific Ocean near the equator but could also be joined together with other cells to form larger towns and even cities.

A group or modules, a collection of cells, would become a country in its own right.
Most people in this brave new world would live in a 1 kilometre-high ‘City in the Sky’ at the centre of each cell. More people would live in residential areas around the edge of the cell.

The central towers would be surrounded by grassland and forests and be self-sufficient in terms of food, while livestock and other farming would take place in 'plains' also surrounding the tower - all built on a lattice of 7,000-tonne honeycomb pontoons.

The towers would be built from super-light alloys with the metal deriving from magnesium in seawater.

The imaginative plan is designed to create a future carbon-neutral society and the Shimizu developers claim that living on cells in this way would cut carbon emissions by 40 per cent.


The floating cells, each with a City in the Sky structure at its centre, can join together to form larger modules


The City in the Sky skscrapers are designed to be carbon negative with extensive environmental technologies and recycling facilities built in


The cells would create zero waste and recycle every product and covert waste into energy using new green technologies. Islands of waste would drift around the ocean and could be ‘harvested’ to provide energy
The location of the islands is key to their success too, the designers claim.

Each group of cells would be near the equator where the climate is at its most stable and a range of technologies would be used to protect the floating cities from tidal waves and extreme weather.

To protect the inhabitants from large waves, strong elastic membranes would be attached to the lagoons around the outer edge of the cells, with the shallows above the membranes standing 30 feet above sea level.

Shimizu scientists calculate that the water pressure difference between the lagoons and the ocean would limit the movement of the membranes and buffer the force of the open sea waves.

Seawalls as high as 100 feet could also be constructed. And tsunamis in the open sea are far less dangerous than those that hit coastal areas, the designers say.


A country consisting of one million people would be formed after modules joined together one by one


Lightning rods would be fitted around the circumference of the towers and mesh lightning conductors will be placed on the exterior walls to protect against lightning strikes.

Shimizu wants to develop the first cells by 2025 and is concentrating on developing the technologies to make it happen. The concept was displayed at a recent Japanese university conference.

This is the not the first outlandish idea that Shimizu has come up with. The firm also proposes encircling the moon in a belt of solar collectors that would collect solar energy and transmit it to Earth.


source: dailymail [endtext]

Why laughing is instinctive but we have to learn how to cry

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5P6UU6m3cqkendofvid

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By FIONA MACRAE


Babies are instinctively able to laugh but other sounds have to be learned


We are born to laugh - but learn to cry, research suggests.

Research suggests that giggling when tickled or chuckling at a joke is instinctive but most other 'emotional vocalisations' are picked up through experience.

Dutch researchers asked 16 volunteers, half of whom were deaf, to make the sounds behind a range of emotions without using words.

The interpretations of sadness, terror, relief, anger, hilarity and other emotions were then played back to 25 people with normal hearing, who were asked to name the emotion.

Only laughter and sighs of relief were easily identifiable on the tapes of the deaf volunteers, this week's New Scientist reports.

All the other sounds, including cries of terror and sobs of sadness, were much easier to guess when made by volunteers without hearing problems.

As the deaf volunteers would never have had the chance to hear other people laugh, it suggests that it is something that we are born knowing how to do.

But learning how to convey other emotions, such as sadness, comes with experience, an Acoustical Society of America conference will hear next week.

Researcher Disa Sauter, of the Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics in Nijmegen, says that laughter and smiling likely evolved as ways of diffusing confrontation.

She said: 'Even other primates laugh, if you ticked a gorilla or orangutan.'
Professor Sophie Scott, an expert in the biology of speech from London's Institute of Neuroscience, said: 'The laughter finding makes a great deal of sense and laughter has been described as being more like a different way of breathing than a way of speaking.'

But Professor David Ostry, of the University of Montreal, cautioned that deaf people may learn to laugh simply by watching how hearing people do it.

Learning more about which sounds are instinctive and which are picked up through experience could make it easier to work out when deaf babies are in distress.






source: dailymail [endtext]