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30 Sep 16:26

Sci-fi is a big part of Amazon's upcoming TV slate

by Swapna Krishna
When it comes to the new TV shows that Amazon is focusing on, Jeff Bezos handed down a mandate to Amazon Studios chief Roy Price: "Bring me Game of Thrones." It appears that the studio is taking that seriously. They've announced three new high-concep...
30 Sep 16:06

Why buy the cow when you can biofabricate the milk for free?

by Andrew Tarantola
Thought to have been Lord Krishna's favorite animal, the cow has achieved a uniquely sacred status in India. Their slaughter is prohibited through most of the country, beef consumption is largely outlawed as well and woe be the unlucky soul accused o...
29 Sep 12:46

Veep crew, more celebs support Julia Louis-Dreyfus after breast cancer diagnosis

by Josh Glicksman

Veep star Tony Hale and creator Armando Iannucci are among the stars offering support to Julia Louis-Dreyfus following the news that she was diagnosed with breast cancer.

“We love this woman,” Hale wrote on Twitter.

“It is possible to be dignified and fierce at the same time. I, and millions others, send Julia our love and support,” added Iannucci.

Louis-Dreyfus announced her breast cancer diagnosis in an Instagram post on Thursday afternoon. “The good news is that I have the most glorious group of supportive and caring family and friends, and fantastic insurance through my union,” Louis-Dreyfus wrote, adding a plea for univeral health care. “The bad news is that not all women are so lucky, so let’s fight all cancers and make universal health care a reality.”

There has been an outpouring of support from celebrities in the immediate aftermath of the news — with stars like Anna Kendrick, Christina Applegate, and Kathy Griffin offering well wishes via social media.

A source confirmed to EW that Louis-Dreyfus received her diagnosis the Monday following the Emmy Awards and that it had no part in the decision to make the upcoming season of Veep the show’s last.

29 Sep 12:44

Inhumans star Iwan Rheon swears Maximus is no Ramsay Bolton

by Natalie Abrams

Marvel’s world of Inhumans is expanding beyond the quirky-powered S.H.I.E.L.D. allies to the actual royal family — but among them is a dangerous new foe who will be very familiar to Game of Thrones fans.

On Marvel’s Inhumans, the Royal Family, led by King Black Bolt (Anson Mount) with his city-leveling whisper and Queen Medusa (Serinda Swan) with her prehensile hair, lord over the moon-based colony of Attilan that the race of hybrid alien-humans call home. But they’re forced to flee to Earth when the king’s brother Maximus, played by Thrones star Iwan Rheon, usurps the throne with aims of reclaiming their birthright on Earth. Before you feel too sorry for Black Bolt & Co., though, the royals have long demeaned the powerless — including Maximus.

“He’s not an evil person,” Rheon insists. “He doesn’t want to kill his family. He’s ruthless in the execution of his plan because he believes that is the only way to solve this issue.” How does Maximus compare to Ramsay? Read our full interview with Rheon below to get the scoop.

RELATED: Get the scoop on the Inhumans characters here

ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: How was this character first pitched to you?
IWAN RHEON: Initially, when I was up to play the part, I did a little bit of research, and he seemed to be — I wasn’t sure, because it felt like it was something that I’d already played in Game Of Thrones. It took me a little bit of convincing, but Jeph Loeb and Scott Buck spoke on the phone with me, and they explained what they wanted, which was a charismatic leader who really, if you listen to what he says, he’s got some really good ideas, but he’s just frustrated by this situation he’s in, that he feels his brother, the King, isn’t really doing anything to prevent this imminent discovery by the humans of the Inhumans. Also, because his Terrigenesis renders him powerless, he understands what it’s like to be at the lower caste of the Inhuman society, so he understands the people. He’s a man of the people, and he’s a politician, really, who wants to go out to change things for the better for everyone. That was kind of how they got me. They were very adamant they didn’t want me to do the same thing as I’d done in Game of Thrones. They weren’t interested in that. They were like, “No, no, we want you to play this character. It’s a new character. Forget about all the literature. We’re telling a different story,” so it immediately felt to me like something that was really exciting, and I was interested in doing it because of course, it was a big day, because when Marvel asks you to do something, it’s great, and I really wanted to do it. So after speaking to them, I was convinced.

How does Maximus handle being powerless? Does that make him more dangerous in certain ways?
Yeah. He went through his teenage years after his Terrigenesis basically being confused, and he was the lowest of the lows. He was only allowed to be around because he was the brother of the king. What that’s meant is that he’s had to develop other skills in order to get by in a very difficult world for him. He was always belittled by the members of the royal family, and he’s constantly reminded that he’s never been Inhuman, which in that society, makes you nothing. He’s had to develop his mind, and he’s had to develop his cunning, and his form of manipulating people. He really understands the people, so he knows how to talk to them, which in theory makes him a very exceptional leader, and he probably would have been a fantastic king had he got power, and he could have been king. It’s kind of tragic really, so it’s made him have to think outside the box, I suppose. He hasn’t had to rely on his status through the power that he developed, so he’s had to find other ways to make himself relevant to the world he knows.

Yes, he is a man of the people, but at the same time, is there part of him that is doing all of this a little selfishly? After years of being put down for his lack of power, is this his revenge?
I don’t think it’s revenge. The thing is he feels that Black Bolt’s lack of action is a danger to them. They all know the threat that humanity has to offer to the Inhumans once they’re discovered, if they’re discovered, so he thinks that the best way to deal with this situation is head on, but Black Bolt’s saying, “We do nothing,” Okay, that’s not a plan, is it? So he just feels that he has to do something, and because he knows how to talk to the people, he knows how to gain people’s trust, and he has their ear, he thinks, “Right, well I’m going to take over.” He doesn’t want to hurt his family, and he tried to convince them time after time, “This is going to be an issue, and you need to deal with this situation,” but they haven’t listened. In terms of politics, there’s always an element of it being personal. He always wanted to be king, and he feels he’d make a better king, and under different circumstances, he probably would. Instead of this quiet, silent man who just spends his entire time in his own thoughts, Maximus is much more extroverted, and I think he would make a good leader. He feels that it’s time to take over, that his brother’s not doing anything, so it’s his go now, and he is the king.

He thinks the Inhumans should take the fight to the people. What does he ultimately want, though? Does he want the Inhumans to take over Earth?
He feels they have to deal with the threat in one way or another, whether it’s taking over Earth, or whether it’s going into a negotiation, but at some point, they are going to have to integrate, because their resources are running out on the moon. They can’t stay hidden, and he knows that, and he thinks that he is a much better person to go down there to maybe speak with the humans to do a deal or they have to do something. In his mind, he’s thinking, “The Inhumans, they’re much stronger, they’re cleverer, and it’s their rightful home.” He doesn’t understand why they can’t just go to earth and try to integrate, or at whatever cost, maybe it wound up in war, and Maximus thinks that he’s the right man for the job to lead them.

How far is he willing to go to get things done?
He’s ruthless. Definitely, he doesn’t want to kill his family. In an ideal world, they’ll listen to him, and he’ll just go, “Look, this is what we should do, this is the best plan, let’s do this,” but because of their loyalty to the king, they follow him blindly, and he doesn’t want to kill any of them. It’s just he gave them the option, join me or you die. He’s ruthless in the execution of his plan because he believes that is the only way to solve this issue, so he has to do it, and it’s just something that he feels like he really needs to do. He’s not an evil person. He doesn’t want to hurt them, it’s just he has to do this. He’s ruthless, so that’s all it is. Obviously, it’s not very nice, but that’s how he thinks.

Can Maximus even be trusted, considering he attacked his own family and usurped the throne?
No. Well, it depends. Trusted by whom? I don’t think he can be trusted by any of his family anymore, but I think he can be trusted. Well, I mean, you’ll have to find out.

Maximus has this infatuation with Medusa. What can you tease of that moving forward?
Well, Maximus and Medusa were best friends, and as soon as his Terrigenesis made him a human, she kind of ditched him and shacked up with his older brother, so you could understand he’s a little bit annoyed about that. You’ll have to see how that develops. At the end of the day, in his mind, she should be his queen, and he believes that he was wronged, which he was. He feels that she should be his queen, and it’s wrong that his brother is on the throne with her as his queen.

The story is basically fear of the unknown or different. Would you say that this is basically a metaphor for what life is like right now in our current political climate?
I think a huge theme in this show is the idea of integration. That’s essentially what the Inhumans are going to have to do in order to survive. They have to figure out a way to get on with the humans or they’re going to have to fight, so I think if you look at it in that way and what’s going on in the world, yeah, it is, but you know, at the end of the day, it’s a story about a bunch of people who live on the moon, so it’s fantasy. You could look into any metaphors and see what you like. I think it’s one of the great things that Marvel do, is the goodie and baddie, the hero and villain, the lines are all blurred. So you have those different shades, which it makes the whole thing a little more interesting for the viewer.

We know who Ramsay is as a character, and now we have a sense of who Maximus is as a character from this interview. Who do you personally think is worse?
Definitely Ramsay. Ramsay’s a sociopathic egomaniac who just wants to inflict pain on people for no real reason, just that he enjoys it. His quest for power is all for himself and ego and he’ll more than happily kill a whole group of people. He’s the kind of person who, if the King asked their most trusted knights, and there’s a room of children there, “I want you to go and kill them for the realm,” Ramsay would absolutely jump at. Most sane people would be like, “Oh, I don’t want to do this,” but through loyalty, they might do it. Ramsay would be, “I’ll do it, that will be great fun!” Maximus isn’t that. He doesn’t want to hurt people. He’s got no interest in causing people harm, just he has a very strong political view, and he feels that this is the only way to carry it through. Ramsay’s a miserable human being, definitely, he’s complete evil. Maximus isn’t evil, he’s just had a life that was led into this point, and he’s been wronged in so many ways growing up that this is the effect of that coming through.

How does it feel for you to be on a superhero show but have no superpowers?
It’s interesting. It means I have to speak a lot more. I have a lot more lines. It’s good, and obviously you want a power, but I’m happy. Until people started asking me that question in interviews and stuff, I hadn’t really thought about it, to be honest, and it hadn’t really bothered me because I was playing the character and I play the given circumstances of the character, whatever they are, so I hadn’t really thought about it, but yeah, when you look at it now, it’s a bit annoying, yeah. I’d like a superpower, something great. So would Maximus.

What superpower would you want, if you could?
If I could? I’d get teleportation, I think. I think it’d be the number one. People say flying, but if you could teleport, you wouldn’t need to fly. Brilliant. You’d get so fat because you just get lazy and just teleport to the refrigerator to get a drink. I just wouldn’t do any exercise, so you’d have to keep that up.

This is why Lockjaw is so heavy.
Exactly, yeah. He was tiny, he used to be tiny. He was a tiny little creature. Yeah, he got really fat. He’s not looking after himself.

Marvel’s Inhumans debuts Friday at 8 p.m. ET on ABC.


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29 Sep 11:24

Worldwide flight delays caused by glitchy check-in system

by Steve Dent
Passengers around the world have been enduring long delays thanks to a glitchy passenger reservation system, passengers, airlines and airports are reporting. Airports as far flung as London's Gatwick, Paris Charles de Gaulle, Melbourne and Baltimore...
29 Sep 10:57

Why Burger King Russia Is Trying to Ban Stephen King's IT

by Jordan Sirani
Roumen.ganeff

Zis is ridiculous

Burger King Russia is attempting to ban Stephen King's IT from the country, due to perceived similarities between Pennywise and Ronald McDonald.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, the fast food company filed a complaint with Russia's Federal Anti-Monopoly Service, suggesting IT should no longer be shown in Russian theaters. Burger King claims the blockbuster horror movie doubles as advertising for McDonald's because of the aforementioned similarity between the film and restaurant chain's mascot.

The service issued a response to THR, saying while they'll evaluate whether or not IT includes advertising or product placement, it "can't be concerned with the content of the film because the writer and director have their own creative understanding of any character."

Continue reading…

29 Sep 10:55

Stephen King's IT Passes Major Box Office Milestone

by Hope Corrigan

The critically acclaimed horror reimagining IT has passed the $500 million mark at the worldwide box office.

Warner Bros. announced today Stephen King's latest novel adaption has surpassed that milestone, long having eclipsed The Exorcist's long-held record as the highest-grossing horror film of all time — $441 million.

The Exorcist held the record for 44 years with $441 million made. Of course, that number is unadjusted for inflation, not taking into account the various changes worldwide.

In addition to being the new top-grossing horror film, IT has also broken records for having the biggest opening weekend for the genre in over 30 markets.The film has yet to release in Germany, Italy, and Japan.

Continue reading…

29 Sep 07:50

Facebook sends help to Puerto Rico to get the island back online

by Timothy J. Seppala
Facebook has touted its ability to provide infrastructure for disaster-stricken areas before, and now it's dispatching a team to Puerto Rico to help reestablish internet connectivity. "We're sending the Facebook connectivity team to deliver emergency...
29 Sep 07:49

SpaceX unveils Mars city plan, will fly two cargo missions by 2022

by Mariella Moon
SpaceX hopes to land at least two cargo missions to Mars a mere five years from now. The aerospace company's chief, Elon Musk, discussed its plans at the International Astronautical Congress (IAC) in Australia. He talked about how SpaceX intends to u...
28 Sep 12:36

Scientists record a fourth set of gravitational waves

by Mallory Locklear
Last year, researchers confirmed the existence of gravitational waves with two Laser Interferometer Gravitational-wave Observatory (LIGO) detectors. Shortly thereafter, they detected two additional gravitational wave-causing events that sent ripples...
27 Sep 21:52

Researchers test method to print mass-market medications

by David Lumb
University of Michigan researchers have developed a technique to print medications onto a disposable strip or patch. In tests, these were just as effective as traditionally-produced medications at destroying cultured cancer cells. What's more, the te...
27 Sep 08:18

Elisabeth Moss says 'f---' during Emmy speech for Handmaid's Tale

by Shirley Li

After receiving seven nominations throughout her career, Elisabeth Moss won her first Emmy on Sunday, in the Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series category, for playing Offred in Hulu’s harrowing The Handmaid’s Tale.

“So crazy,” Moss opened her acceptance speech at the 69th annual Emmy Awards in Los Angeles before thanking Hulu, the Academy, the Handmaid’s Tale cast and crew, Margaret Atwood, and, ultimately, her mother.

“You are brave and strong and smart,” Moss said, addressing her mom, who was sitting in the audience. “You have taught me that you can be kind and a f—ing badass.” She was then cut off by the censors for swearing, something that also happened when she was boarding the stage.

In Hulu’s critically acclaimed drama based on Margaret Atwood’s bestselling novel, Moss starred as Offred, one of few fertile women who have been forced to become “handmaids” — women whose sole purpose is to undergo ritualized rape by male masters to bear children for elite families — in a militarized society called Gilead where the United States used to be. The 10-episode first season depicted a bleak and unsettling reality that not only disturbingly echoed the misogynistic politics of the real world, but also seemed eerily possible. The similarities between the series’ and today’s attitudes, Moss says, shouldn’t be ignored.

“The material is more personal to me than anything else I’ve ever done because of the parallel paths that I have to walk,” Moss told Entertainment Weekly Radio (Sirius XM, Channel 105) in April. “For me, as a woman who is a card-carrying feminist, these are all issues and things that are really important to me… I wish this was a fantasy; I wish it was sci-fi.”

Moss, who had previously been nominated for her work on Mad Men and Top of the Lake, beat out fellow nominees Robin Wright (House of Cards), Viola Davis (How to Get Away With Murder), Keri Russell (The Americans), Claire Foy (The Crown), and Evan Rachel Wood (Westworld).


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27 Sep 07:43

Archie Panjabi returns to CBS (but not for long, sadly)

by Lynette Rice

Archie Panjabi is coming back to CBS — but the visit is only temporary (dang it).

The actress best known for her beloved turn as Kalinda Sharma on The Good Wife will guest-star on the second season of Bull, EW has learned exclusively.

Panjabi will play Arti Cander, who the drama describes as “a brilliant and resourceful British trial scientist with no shortage of charm.” Here’s her official logline: “Bull meets his match in the Oxford-educated Cander, a successful former D.C. lobbyist who’s more than a worthy adversary for him. She knows how to read a jury as well as he does, and is ready to prove to everyone that Bull isn’t the only trial scientist in town.”

Panjabi will film her episode next week. It will air in November.

After winning an Emmy for starring on the CBS drama The Good Wife, Panjabi left the show in 2015. She went on to make appearances in Brooklyn Nine-Nine and Blindspot as well as the British comedy Next of Kin.

The second season of Bull premieres at 9 p.m. ET Sept. 26 on CBS.

27 Sep 07:41

Arrow, The Flash, Supergirl, Legends unite for 'Crisis on Earth X' crossover

by Chancellor Agard

WB has finally revealed details about this year’s big four-way superhero crossover.

The Flash, Arrow, Supergirl, and DC’s Legends of Tomorrow will join forces in a crossover event called “Crisis on Earth X,” which begins production today. In this year’s crossover, all of the superheroes come to town for Barry (Grant Gustin) and Iris’ (Candice Patton) wedding (sounds like couples’ therapy ended up working); however, villains for Earth-X crash the festivities with a deadly agenda.

“We conceived this year’s crossover to be evocative of the annual Justice League/Justice Society crossovers we grew up with and looked forward to as kids,” said executive producers Marc Guggenheim and Andrew Kreisberg in a statement. 

To celebrate this two-night event, they commissioned legendary Wonder Woman artist Phil Jimenez to create a custom cover for the event, which is filled to the brim with spoilers.

Check it out below:

The biggest revelation is that “Crisis” with introduce the Ray from CW Seed’s animated series Freedom Fighters: The Rayy (seen in the top left corner)  into the live action Arrowverse. Captain Cold can be seen in the bottom left corner, which means Wentworth Miller will likely return for the big event, and  Zari (Tala Ashe), Legends of Tomorrow‘s new hacktivist from the future, is wearing a mysterious amulet on the cover, too.

The cover also shows Legends of Tomorrow‘s Captain Cold in the bottom left corner, which hints that Wentworth Miller will be reprising his role, and

“Phil was the perfect choice to bring the comic book cover iteration of this idea to life. You can count on one hand the number of artists who could compellingly represent so many characters in a single image. Phil is one of them. And his design invokes the cover of Justice League #207, which was the 20th Annual JLA/JSA crossover. Our 10-year-old selves are in heaven,” the producers said.

“Some of the first DC Comics I ever read were those insane crossovers with a dozen characters from alternate earths and dimensions — the kind of stuff I later became known for!” added Jimenez. “So when CW asked me to do an homage cover inspired by those amazing team-up covers, I couldn’t resist the chance to draw all of The CW’s DC superheroes in one crazy action sequence.”

The four-way crossover will air across two nights Monday, Nov. 27 and Tuesday, Nov. 28 on The CW. For this crossover event, Arrow will air on a special night Monday at 9 p.m. ET following Supergirl, while the other DC shows will remain in their regularly scheduled time periods.


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27 Sep 07:38

The Blacklist's Megan Boone on how Red reveal changes everything

by Natalie Abrams

After The Blacklist revealed what we’ve all suspected from the beginning — Red (James Spader) is Liz’s (Megan Boone) father! — the show will return to its season 1 roots in tone this year.

“Liz and the show are lighter without that mystery hanging over the Red/Liz dynamic,” Boone tells EW. “She’s empowered when she is let in on the secret, and she might even be having actual fun trying to keep it all together now.”

The problem now becomes the balance between being an FBI agent and being the daughter of a criminal mastermind, made even more precarious by the mysterious suitcase left in Tom’s (Ryan Eggold) possession that is on its way to Liz. Suffice it to say, Red is still keeping secrets from Liz. Talk about daddy issues! Actually, Boone does just that below:

ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: How is Liz dealing with knowing Red is her father?
MEGAN BOONE: Liz and the show are lighter without that mystery hanging over the Red/Liz dynamic. Now she just has to keep her pesky dad out of trouble enough to get away with The Blacklist mission and keep him in enough trouble to access the criminal underworld and catch bad guys.

How do you think she’s a different character now knowing this?
Navigating the interpersonal and moral negotiations of a criminal informant’s liaison in the FBI is a risky balancing act, especially when he happens to be your father. That adds a layer of complexity to the relationship, and while Liz just couldn’t seem to get it together in the past when she didn’t know who either of her parents were or why Red had a vested interest in her, a weight has been lifted. She’s empowered when she is let in on the secret, and she might even be having actual fun trying to keep it all together now. The challenges are exciting without all of that confusion.

How do those changes affect her dynamics with those around her?
Adventures with her dad, Red, get her out of her overly serious life, and she moves Red a little closer to a moral center. Everyone else on The Blacklist Taskforce will ultimately cast dispersions at some point, because her actions as a CI’s liaison will sometimes be colored with her allegiance to her father.

Is she even more loyal to Red following the news?
I think what she will do — because of her loyalty to him — surprises her sometimes, but her work means a lot to her. She ultimately wants to be a good agent.

Will Liz learn more, or at least want to know more, about her background now that she knows the truth?
She’s been ready to move on from this and is taking this new information as an opportunity to live her life.

What can you tease about the reunion between Tom and Liz?
I remember jumping on Tom. It wasn’t scripted, but I think it expressed how happy we were to have him back on the show.

Tom has this suitcase with supposed explosive information. Will Liz be filled in relatively quickly and how will that color her dynamic with Red moving forward?
Tom is on a collision course with Red by trying to reveal this information. Tensions are running high again between those two.

What new threats will the team be facing?
We are trying to rebuild Reddington’s criminal empire while also trying to appease new superiors at the bureau who don’t understand the value of our operation yet. The criminals we meet along the way are my favorite kind of threat — they’re risky and smart, unpredictable and unique, and in real Blacklist form, we have great actors coming in to color our precarious world.

Will we get to see Liz and Dom interact this season?
Not so far, but good question for the writers.

What themes will the show be exploring this season?
We’re continuing to explore the moral gray area, and asking the question of whether criminal activity is within the nature of man or a human reaction to the societal and economic systems in which we are forced to contend in our lives. Also, that bad behavior is fun.

The Blacklist returns Wednesday at 8 p.m. ET on NBC.


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27 Sep 07:35

Vikings exclusive: See Floki in Iceland

by Darren Franich

To celebrate Fall TV and our huge Fall TV Preview issue — buy it here now!— EW is bringing you 50 scoops in 50 days, a daily dish on some of your favorite shows. Follow the hashtag #50Scoops50Days on Twitter and Instagram to keep up with the latest, and check EW.com/50-Scoops for all the news and surprises.

The fourth season of Vikings decimated a whole generation of warriors, leaving Kings Ragnar and Ecbert dead. By the finale, powerful younger figures were rising among the Vikings and the Saxons alike. And where does that leave poor shipbuilding Floki, once Ragnar’s closest ally, now a Viking elder who outlived his wife and daughter? You had to wonder: Was his story over?

Not by a long shot. The upcoming fifth season premiere will see Floki setting sail toward a new corner of Vikings‘ world, landing in a curious new country that will someday be known as Iceland. Upon arriving, Floki sees a waterfall – and something else. Check out the exclusive clip above.

Floki’s adventures in Iceland will serve an intriguing counterbalance to Bjorn’s adventures in the desert, which we previously revealed here. Check out some exclusive images of Floki (Gustaf Skarsgard) here:

Vikings returns at 9 p.m. Nov. 29 on HISTORY.


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27 Sep 07:19

Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. heads to space in new season 5 poster

by Natalie Abrams

It’s official: Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. really is heading to space next season.

EW has an exclusive first look at the poster for season 5, and while it doesn’t provide an actual premiere date other than a winter return, it does offer a pretty sizeable clue that Coulson (Clark Gregg) probably isn’t the only one in space.

In the season 4 finale, Coulson & Co. were enjoying a last meal, expecting to be arrested by government agents, but instead were seemingly frozen in place by some shadowy figures and kidnapped before viewers picked up with Coulson sometime later in space. (Read more about that here.)

While the organization’s identity was not revealed, a running theory posits that they’re members of S.W.O.R.D., the Sentient World Observation and Response Department, which is basically a military agency designed to protect Earth from intergalactic threats.

Are they really S.W.O.R.D.? Could this be how Lance Hunter returns? We’ll find out this winter when Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. returns following the run of Marvel’s Inhumans!


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25 Sep 17:49

Microsoft and Facebook’s massive undersea data cable is complete

by Swapna Krishna
Last year, we reported that Microsoft and Facebook were teaming up to build a massive undersea cable that would cross the Atlantic, connecting Virginia Beach to the northern city of Bilbao in Spain. Last week, Microsoft announced that the cable, call...
24 Sep 20:44

How Prequel Young Sheldon Is Different from The Big Bang Theory

Even though it serves as a prequel to The Big Bang Theory, CBS' Young Sheldon is a different kind of show for executive producer Chuck Lorre.
24 Sep 14:39

Synthetic muscle breakthrough could lead to 'lifelike' robots

by Saqib Shah
A breakthrough in soft robotics means scientists are now one step closer to creating lifelike machines. Researchers at Columbia Engineering have developed a 3D printed synthetic tissue that can act as active muscle. The material, which can push, pull...
24 Sep 14:35

Some brave soul volunteered for a completely robotic dental surgery

by Mallory Locklear
A robot just implanted two 3D-printed teeth into a woman's mouth all on its own. The procedure took place recently in China and the researchers who developed it hope it can help the country's dentist shortage problem, reports the South China Morning...
24 Sep 14:25

Hurricane Maria wreaks havoc on Arecibo radio telescope

by Jon Fingas
Puerto Rico is suffering on an unimaginable scale in the wake of Hurricane Maria. Many have been displaced from their homes, and the entire territory may go without electricity and reliable communication for months. And while the human tragedy is cle...
24 Sep 07:39

Why This Mom Can’t Go to the Playground With Her Kids

by lskenazy

In this 9-minute video  you’ll meet Shawna, an Oklahoma mom not allowed to play with her kids on the playground because of a “sex offense” she committed at age 19: She had consensual sex with a boy, 14. That was 15 years ago. She is on the registry for life, and registrants are banned from playgrounds.

This short was made by David Feige, a public defender and documentarian. Below it I have excerpted some of what he wrote about Shawna and another “offender” you’d probably be proud to have as your son. Don’t read it if you can’t stand feeling rage at the way we have taken the decent, human desire to protect our kids and twisted it to justify sadism.

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Feige met Shawn at a group therapy session for sex offenders he was attending to gather information for his documentary, Untouchable. As he writes at The Marshall Project:

Listening to Shawna’s story, it became immediately clear that she was far from the kind of person we imagine when we think about sexual predators. She wasn’t some serial rapist or violent pedophile, but rather a young woman who happened to hook up with the wrong guy on her birthday. And as we continued to work on the film, we consistently found others consigned to the margins of society and slapped with a “sex offender” label that didn’t quite seem to fit.

In a desolate parking lot a few months later, I met Adrian. And while his story ultimately didn’t become part of the film, it stuck with me. Adrian was a junior at North Dakota State majoring in business management, when he travelled to Miami for spring break. There, he met a girl at an 18-and-over club. They flirted and danced, then walked to the beach where they had sex. They spent about five days together, hanging out on and off and occasionally hooking up.

Adrian returned to college after the trip and all seemed well, until seven months later when he got a call from a detective with the Florida Department of Law Enforcement. As it turns out, the girl had used a fake ID to get into the club. She was actually 15 years old at the time. Her mom filed a complaint when she found out what had happened.

Asked to return to Miami to answer some questions, Adrian took a bus back to Florida. He explained to the detective that everything was consensual, and that he’d assumed the girl must have been 18 or older since she was in the club. Officers recorded his statement, thanked him for his co-operation, handcuffed him and placed him under arrest. Unable to post the $40,000 bond set by a judge, Adrian remained in jail for nearly eight months. It was the first and only time he’d ever been arrested.

In Florida, as in most other states, the fact that the girl was a willing participant was not a defense. Having admitted to the affair and facing some twenty years in prison, Adrian had no choice but to plead guilty to four counts of lewd and lascivious battery of a person under 16. That guilty plea guaranteed he’d spend the rest of his life listed on Florida’s sex offender registry.

Is there any silver lining to these cases? Some evidence that our sex offender laws are at least making children safer?

Study after study has shown that our sex offender registries are utterly ineffective at reducing sexual violence, and that public notification about sex offenders may actually increase recidivism by making reintegration into society nearly impossible. But what Adrian and Shawna’s stories highlight is a more general problem with our approach to sex offenders: In our zeal to protect children and get tough on crime, we have allowed our criminal justice system to run amok — expanding categories and exacting punishments that upon closer inspection few of us would really condone.

Five years after his guilty plea, Adrian had been rejected from more jobs than he could count. Unable to find housing that complied with a Miami ordinance that prevents registrants from living within 2,500 feet of any public or private school, daycare center or playground, Adrian was was forced into homelessness. He slept in a car parked in a lot — one of the few places sex offenders are actually allowed to reside. His college career was over, as was any hope he ever harbored of having a productive life. Then, two years ago, almost a decade after his conviction, Adrian failed to properly register his whereabouts with the police. As a result, he was sentenced to three years in prison.

There are more than 800,000 Americans who are now required to register as sex offenders. And contrary to popular belief, violent serial pedophiles do not fill the ranks of the registered. Rather, a wide swath of sexual thoughts and actions can lead to the lifetime of stigmatization that being on the sex offender registry entails.

Read the rest here. As for what we can do to turn our country away from ineffective, cruel punishment toward policies that actually make kids safer?

My suggestion for today is: Share this video. – L

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Shawna had consensual sex on her 19th birthday with a boy, 14. For this she is on the Sex Offender Registry for life and not allowed on playgrounds.

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24 Sep 07:36

Dad Teaches his Kids to Ride the Bus. Then CPS Tells Him They Can’t Even Go Outside Alone till Age 10

by lskenazy

Adrian Crook, the dad behind the blog 5Kids1Condo, taught his four oldest kids — 7, 8, 9 and 11 — how to ride the city bus to and from school for the past two years in Vancouver.

The result? Fantastic. The kids love it, and became friends with the bus drivers. Once Adrian even received an email from a random bus passenger saying what a pleasure his well-behaved kids were.

BUT (you knew there had to be a BUT) recently someone reported these “unsupervised” kids to the Ministry of Children and Family Development — the Canadian equivalent of Child Protective Services — and the agency opened an inquiry. They came to Adrian’s house and interviewed each child separately. Aware of the stakes, Adrian tried to be cordial. He provided character references. And, adds Adrian:

I even suggested the Ministry shadow the kids on a bus ride, but they declined.

While the Ministry conducted their weeks-long investigation, they had me sign a “Safety Plan” stating that the kids wouldn’t take the bus alone until the investigation was completed.* I returned to spending several hours a day transiting the kids back and forth from school, a reduction in freedom the kids didn’t understand.

Then decision day finally came.

Can you guess? My guess is you can.

It started off in a favourable way, with the supervisor insisting that I’d gone “above and beyond” what any parent should have to do to train their kids to be responsible and conscious transit riders….

Ultimately, however, the Ministry had checked with their lawyers “across the country” and the Attorney General, and determined that children under 10 years old could not be unsupervised in or outside the home, for any amount of time. That included not just the bus, but even trips across the street to our corner store, a route I can survey in its entirety from my living room window.

 

That bizarre and benighted decision was based on a British Columbia case we’ve discussed here, when a judge ruled that no child under 10 can stay home alone. As terrible as that decision was, it didn’t even relate. That was about one 8-year-old, home alone, not four kids together, on the bus.

So what?

The Ministry also said that in other provinces, the legal age to be unsupervised is much higher. In fact, only three provinces have legislated minimum ages at which kids can be left home alone (and BC isn’t one of them): Ontario (16), New Brunswick (12) and Manitoba (12). Only Quebec has a statutory minimum age for being left alone in a vehicle, and that’s 7 years old.

 

Does anyone really think there are no children under 16 being left unsupervised in Ontario?

Of course not. But does anyone really think common sense is what we’re talking about here? The social workers gave every made-up reason for grounding the kids:

 

[They] stated that the comparatively wide-ranging freedoms we enjoyed in our childhood were, “before we knew better” – despite widely available crime statistics that demonstrate our kids live in a safer world today than the one we grew up in. ….

Anyone who knows me can tell you I’m a firm believer in evidence-based policy-making, so this fear-driven assertion rung hollow for me.

What’s more, the kids already had been taking the bus for two years — safely! So clearly this investigation “safety” plan was only in reaction to the busybody’s call, for that is all it takes:

It’s a “Cover Your Ass” culture, where even if a trivial issue is reported the Ministry cannot condone it, lest they be responsible for future issues. The Ministry has no incentive or ability to dismiss a report or allow a situation to continue – regardless of how many steps a parent has taken to ensure the safety and well-being of their children.

 

Unt so?

Our family’s freedom of mobility has been dramatically restricted for little reason beyond the complaint of an anonymous person.

The dad is running a GoFundMe page to pay for the legal case he hopes to make against the government. In the meantime, he reminds us all that when the state insists that the only acceptable parenting is helicopter parenting, it is committing a serious crime of its own: Robbery. It “robs our children of agency, independence, and responsibility.”

*The Meitiv family in Maryland had to do the same thing.

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Adrian Cooks kids where they are no longer allowed to be without an adult.

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20 Sep 20:52

Netflix's ‘Punisher’ trailer shows us a haunted, murderous antihero

by David Lumb
While the second season of Netflix's Daredevil didn't quite measure up to the first, Jon Bernthal's take on antihero The Punisher was a standout addition. The streaming company wasted little time announcing the haunted criminal-killer would get a sho...
20 Sep 20:52

'Tomb Raider' trailer teases the cinematic reboot of Lara Croft

by Saqib Shah
What's worse: Reboots or video game adaptations? The new Tomb Raider manages to be both, which means it's already facing an uphill battle. The trailer for the wannabe blockbuster is here, with Alicia Vikander picking up the mantle from the original L...
19 Sep 08:22

Tomb Raider Movie - First Poster Released

by Alex Gilyadov

Warner Bros. has unveiled the first poster for its Tomb Raider movie reboot.

The image, which you can view below, is heavily inspired by the 2013 game reboot and Rise of the Tomb Raider.

The Tomb Raider poster featuring her trademark ice axe.

 

Alicia Vikander, who plays Lara Croft in the film, is holding what seems to be a red climbing axe, the same type of weapon players wield in the recent games. She also seems to have picked up a similar wound on her right arm, just like in the 2013 game reboot.

Continue reading…


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19 Sep 08:22

Good Omens: First Look at David Tennant's Demon

by Alex Gilyadov

Neil Gaiman has shared the first look at David Tennant and Michael Sheen as a demon and an angel in Good Omens.

The image, via Twitter, features Tennant dressed up as the demon Crowley and Sheen as the fussy angel Aziraphale.

"They are amazing. This is them in the opening scenes, 11 years ago, in St James's Park. David and Michael, demon & angel," Gaiman tweeted. Check out the photo below.

David Tennant as Crowley and Michael Sheen as Aziraphale. Image via Twitter.

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17 Sep 07:13

Game of Thrones to Film Multiple Season 8 Endings

by Jordan Sirani

In an attempt to combat leaks, HBO will shoot multiple endings for Game of Thrones' series finale.

"I know in Game of Thrones, the ending, they're going to shoot multiple versions so that nobody really know what happens," said Casey Bloys, HBO's president of programming (via The Morning Call). "You have to do that on a long show. Because when you're shooting something, people know. So they're going to shoot multiple versions so that there's no real definitive answer until the end."

The move comes after the series suffered multiple leaks last season. Season 7's fourth episode, "Spoils of War," was leaked ahead of its debut by an HBO distribution partner, while hackers uploaded draft scripts for five episodes of the hit series' most-recent season before they aired.

Continue reading…

15 Sep 16:14

Watch SpaceX blow up a lot of rockets while trying to land them

by Steve Dent
During the early days of SpaceX's rocket landing attempts failure was definitely an option, so instead getting depressed, Elon Musk embraced it. Knowing that everyone loves a good (harmless) explosion, he just released a full-on fail highlight reel o...