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☆ Sundance Movies: Brett Kavanaugh and Steph Curry Docs, "Cat Person"
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-06 | by ( Alison Brower | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

The Sundance Film Festival was back in person for the first time since 2020. In five days I saw eight films, and while I'm not a critic, I can affirm that not one of them was a clunker. Asked about the film's aspect ratio in an audience Q&A, Jalali said, "It was prettier that way." The bulk of the films I saw were more commercial, and four of them centered on relationships. And then there was "Cat Person," based on a 2017 New Yorker story about dating by Kristen Roupenian.

☆ The Sundance Film Festival stirs buzz, draws A-list stars, and screens movies that get you talking, but it can't hide the crisis facing independent filmmakers.
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-29 | by ( Alison Brower | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

The Sundance Film Festival was back in person for the first time since 2020. A-list stars like Anne Hathaway and Jason Momoa were present to promote their buzzy films. It was impossible not to feel optimistic about the state of independent film at the opening weekend of the Sundance Film Festival. In five days I saw eight films, and while I'm not a critic, I can affirm that not one of them was a clunker. At an event like Sundance, even amid some hand-wringing over the future, the excitement is contagious.

☆ The Sundance Film Festival: A Lively Market for Indie Cinema
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-27 | by ( Kyle Smith | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +1 min

After two years of Covid-19 fears, the Sundance Film Festival returned to in-person screenings, and exhilaration was in the air. Given the chance to screen most offerings remotely, I attended from my living room. These days, with indie cinema still having trouble attracting ticket buyers, the festival is becoming more and more of a shopping center for streaming services. Drawing a similar price, this time from Apple for its streaming service, was “Flora and Son,” another musical drama from writer-director John Carney (“Once”). Keeping its titular promise, the film is thoroughly campy, far too much for my taste.

☆ George Santos told Brazilian media that he survived an assassination attempt, MSNBC reports
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-24 | by ( Hannah Getahun | Matthew Loh | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

NY Rep. George Santos claimed to Brazilian media that he was the victim of an attempted murder. We go back to our house, it was vandalized because we were at a Republican Party in Florida in December 2020," Santos told the hosts, according to the Rachel Maddow Show translation. Santos did not elaborate on his claim in the clip, according to host Rachel Maddow. interjected podcast interviewer João Batista Jr., per a translation of the clip by the Rachel Maddow show. The clip comes as Santos faces growing controversy over apparent falsehoods in his resume, campaign biography, family history, and religious background.

☆ ‘Wildheart’ Review: Saga of a Scots Pine on PBS
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-18 | by ( John Anderson | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +1 min

Making a single tree the star of a wildlife special wouldn’t seem like the path to electrifying programming, but “Wildheart”—titled after the 500-year-old Scots pine at the center of this “Nature” presentation—is not just enchanting in its approach to the flora, fauna and history of the Scottish Highlands, but a novel way to get into the subject, even if the process does take anthropomorphism to new heights. The tree in question, treated as a character in its own drama by narrator Thoren Ferguson , has been a mute witness to history since Mary Queen of Scots was a child; in a fanciful bit of dramatic recreation, the tiny royal tosses a pine cone, which takes root in the country where she was crowned at nine months of age, betrothed to the son of Henry VIII of England and, after treaties fell apart and tension mounted, secreted away in what the Romans had dubbed the Caledonian forest. By 1549, when the pine had attained a height of about two feet, Mary was already in France, temporarily safe from dynastic battles and French-English-Scottish politics.

☆ It’s Not Every Day That You Run Into a Coyote
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-13 | by ( Joe Queenan | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Recently, while walking my son’s dog in a wooded area near his home in southern Colorado, I turned around to see a large animal staring at us. Collarless, too big to be a household pet, it had an expression on its face that I didn’t like. Neither did the dog. Because there are lots of pushy bears and territorial mountain lions around there, and because I had read that Colorado recently reintroduced certain endangered species to the state, and because I have always been much stronger on flora than fauna, I initially concluded that the animal was a wolf.

OUIDAH, Benin, Jan 11 (Reuters) - On Benin's national voodoo holiday, performers dressed as guardians of the night swirled in costumes resembling technicolour haystacks, delighting worshippers and tourists alike. [1/7] Devotees perform as they take part in the annual celebration of Voodoo festival in Cotonou, Benin January 10, 2023. REUTERS/ Charles Placide Tossou 1 2 3 4 5"For them, there is a lot of interest in discovering the roots of our ancestors, the African roots," she said. Only around 350,000 tourists visited Benin in 2020, although numbers have been rising steadily since 292,000 visited in 2016, according to the most recent annual data from the World Tourism Organization. French tourist Elodie Wine, 23, said seeing the group dances and fantastical costumes of the Ouidah festival was likely to be the highlight of her trip to Benin.

☆ Why artificial intelligence is set to be a game changer for businesses in 2023, according to 7 founders
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-10 | by ( Jennifer Ortakales Dawkins | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

The most common theme was artificial intelligence and how they thought it would be used this year. Insider surveyed 68 founders for their 2023 predictions and the industries they believed would gain market value in the coming year. Here's why founders are talking about AI and how they think it will be used in 2023. It could have an outsize effect on healthcareMany founders believe we'll see significant advancements in healthcare using AI and similar technologies. Katie Wilson, a cofounder and the CEO of the vegan-snack brand BelliWelli, believes AI and robots will be at the forefront of the industry.

☆ Hiking has become a nationwide New Year's Day tradition
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-01 | by ( The Associated Press | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +3 min

Just 380 people participated in the initial First Day Hike in 1992 at the nearly 7,000-acre Blue Hills Reservation just south of Boston. On Sunday, tens of thousands of people are expected to take part in First Day Hikes at hundreds of parks in all 50 states. The late Patrick Flynn, the former supervisor at Blue Hills, came up with the original plan. In 2012, First Day Hikes went nationwide when the National Association of State Park Directors endorsed the idea. Elijah Bristow State Park near Eugene is even offering a first day horseback ride.

☆ Colombia's oil theft soars, leaving trail of environmental harm
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-23 | by ( Oliver Griffin | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +9 min

Reuters accompanied a police unit tasked with tackling oil theft in September to two sites near Tumaco, a Pacific port in southwest Colombia that is the terminal for the country's Transandino oil pipeline. The animals, the trees - everything is totally burned," said Colonel Johan Pena, commander of the police unit charged with tackling oil theft in Narino, a province bordering Ecuador that is known for cocaine production. Reuters approached more than a dozen environmental groups, rights advocates, government agencies and international organizations who either said they had no detailed information on the extent of the environmental damage in Colombia from oil theft or did not respond to questions. Oil spills on land smother soil pore spaces, restricting microorganisms' access to oxygen, said Martha Daza, a professor at Cali-based university Universidad del Valle's school of engineering of natural resources and the environment. Regional health authorities in Narino did not immediately respond to questions about the health impact of oil spills.

☆ How AI Is helping to reduce landfill waste
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-22 | by ( Sponsor Post | Created Ibm With Insider Studios | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +8 min

But circular economy models can provide smart examples and accessible starting points for how we can work toward avoiding a trashy future, so to speak. For an example of a perfect circular economy, look to nature. Waste management companies, in particular, have an opportunity to minimize landfill waste using artificial intelligence and automation technologies. Evaluating the potential of AI for waste sortingHera personnel analyze waste manually. "The experience with IBM Garage has allowed us to activate a particularly innovative solution in the field of waste collection, selection, and recovery," Zappoli said.

☆ For this company, decorating Park Avenue for Christmas is a family tradition
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-18 | by ( Molly Kaiser | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

The business has maintained the avenue's grassy medians – known as the Park Avenue Malls – for 50 years. Christmas tress installed by City-Scape Landscaping on Park Avenue in New York. "I don't think Park Avenue would have quite the same glamour if the median walls weren't in place," said Vincent Sofield's son, Dylan. "It's people's front yard, front gardens along Park Avenue," said the group's president, Barbara McLaughlin. Christmas tress installed by City-Scape Landscaping on Park Avenue in New York.

In 2019, Cambodia supplied 8,571 of the 33,818 research monkeys imported to the U.S., or 25%. In 2021, the number of monkeys from Cambodia more than doubled to 18,870, making up nearly 60% of the 31,844 research monkeys brought to America. Earlier this year, long-tailed macaques and pig-tailed macaques were listed as endangered species by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. The decades long effort by animal rights groups to derail the monkey trade has made some impact. The incident shined a rare spotlight on the monkey trade, which largely goes on outside the view of the public.

At 190 minutes, the running time of “Avatar: The Way of Water” is longer. Jake and Neytiri have had numerous children and adopted Kiri (Sigourney Weaver), the daughter of a human scientist’s avatar body. Rather than invaders exploring the land they’ve invaded, the second “Avatar” film is about the encounter of two different indigenous societies. But the human colonizers —preparing to strip-mine Pandora for its minerals and its biological resources (including space whale essence) — are the aliens. Rather than invaders exploring the land they’ve invaded, the second “Avatar” film is about the encounter between two different indigenous societies.

Ashton also questioned how Mas’ud came to be in custody in the U.S. — something that remains unclear. Late last month, local Libyan media reported that Mas’ud had been kidnapped by armed men from his residence in Tripoli, the capital. He was convicted of 270 counts of murder, was given a life sentence and was the only person convicted for their involvement in Lockerbie. The release was met with scenes of jubilation in Libya, where al-Megrahi was greeted by thousands of well-wishers in the capital, Tripoli. He is among the victims’ family members who question the evidence used to convict al-Megrahi in 2001.

☆ A lost ecosystem revealed in Greenland by oldest environmental DNA
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-10 | by ( Ashley Strickland | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

A long time agoAn artist's illustration reconstructs Greenland's unique ecosystem as it existed 2 million years ago. Beth ZaikenScientists in Denmark have found the world’s oldest DNA sequences in sediment from the ice age. The core, taken from northern Greenland, revealed that the polar region was once abundant with plant and animal life 2 million years ago. Mastodons, reindeer, geese, lemmings and hares lived in an ecosystem that was a mix of temperate and Arctic flora and fauna. The fossil includes the head, neck and body together — a rare discovery for the marine reptiles, which didn’t preserve well in one piece.

☆ Companies Face Prospect of New Biodiversity Rules From U.N.’s COP15 Summit
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-08 | by ( Dieter Holger | Joshua Kirby | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +3 min

Participants at a United Nations biodiversity summit under way in Montreal hope to hash out an agreement to help protect nature by pushing countries and businesses to minimize their environmental impact. Unlike the 2015 deal, the proposed biodiversity framework targets companies as well as nations. Biodiversity reporting would add to the challenge, particularly as the metrics are more varied and complex than carbon-emissions data. Biodiversity reporting has been done in different forms for many years. For instance, mining companies often enlist experts to produce an environmental impact report for governments before they start a project.

☆ 'Disenchanted' review: Amy Adams turns the page on a princess' storybook ending on Disney+
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-18 | by ( Review Brian Lowry | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

CNN —“Disenchanted” asks the existential question, “What comes after ‘Happily Ever After?,’” which is, naturally, a sequel … only (because it’s 15 years later) for streaming. Amy Adams nimbly steps back into the role of an animated princess trying to adapt to the live-action world, in an epilogue to “Enchanted” that has moments of magic without completely delivering on the premise. As recounted in storybook fashion, Adams’ Princess Giselle settled down with her unexpected prince, single dad Robert (Patrick Dempsey), and had a baby with him. If there appeared to be room to creatively advance the mythology, “Disenchanted” merely chooses to recycle it. “Disenchanted” premieres November 18 on Disney+.

☆ The Day the Sun Rose Twice: A Tour of Atomic New Mexico
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-04 | by ( Nina Burleigh | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

About an hour southeast of the Trinity Site, I reached Three Rivers Petroglyph site, the largest rock art site in the Southwest. Around 600 years ago, the Jornada Mogollon people etched 21,000 images of flora and fauna, people and crypto-beasts into the basaltic rubble along the foothills of the Sacramento. Alamogordo is 15 minutes east of the White Sands National Park, 275 square miles of gypsum dunes that form one of the world’s most breathtaking natural wonders. The park is open to camping and hiking for a $25 fee. After a breakfast of Hatch green chile eggs (a word to the wise: pack the Pepcid), I drove an hour west on U.S. 70 to the White Sands Missile Range Museum, just inside the gate to White Sands Missile Range.

Organizations: White, cumulus, Trinity, White Sands, Missile, Museum Locations: Alamogordo, New Mexico, Sacramento, Rivers, Mexico, U.S

☆ 'Ticket to Paradise' review: George Clooney and Julia Roberts get some mileage out of their rom-com pairing
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-21 | by ( Review Brian Lowry | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

CNN —Think of “Ticket to Paradise” like a postcard of beautiful people having fun in a beautiful place and you’ll get along just fine. Giving it much more thought than that won’t help this rom-com vehicle for George Clooney and Julia Roberts, although the “com” part proves a trifle deficient in a movie that’s significantly better when it’s sweet than salty. Here We Go Again”), “Ticket to Paradise” fares better in the inevitable softer moments, allowing the leads to mug less and feel more. “Ticket to Paradise” does tend to shine when Clooney and Roberts soften their rough edges or let their hair down, as they do during a game of drunken mystery-alcohol (not beer) pong. “Ticket to Paradise” premieres in US theaters on October 21.

☆ Bhutan holds high-altitude race to highlight climate dangers
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-13 | by ( Gopal Sharma | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

KATHMANDU, Oct 13 (Reuters) - Twenty-nine runners set off on a rare high-altitude race in Bhutan on Thursday to highlight the dangers of climate change to the Himalayan kingdom sandwiched between China and India, two of the world's biggest polluters. South Asia’s only carbon-negative country, with a population of fewer than 800,000 people, is vulnerable to the effects of climate change, which is speeding up the melting of its glaciers and causing floods and unpredictable weather patterns. Its government and the United Nations have blamed climate change. "I've probably completed maybe around 30 ultra marathons, but never like this,” American runner Sarah Keyes told the state-run Bhutan Broadcasting Service. Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com RegisterReporting by Gopal Sharma; Editing by Robert BirselOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Video shows the head of a shadowy mercenary group recruiting at a Russian prison, offering inmates freedom if they fight in Ukraine but death if they run
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-14 | by ( Charles R. Davis | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Wagner is a Russian private military company with close ties to the Kremlin that is now in Ukraine. In a video shared on Telegram, the group's founder can be seen recruiting at a Russian prison. Wagner's Yevgeny Prigozhin claims the men will receive pardons if they agree to fight in Ukraine. Prigozhin's offer to Russian prisoners — to fight in a conflict he bills as being far more difficult than the war Russia fought in Chechnya and Afghanistan — comes with other conditions beyond the threat of execution for deserters. In the video, Prigozhin says he's prepared to accept men between the ages of 22 and 50 but can accept younger recruits with the consent of their families.

☆ The forest growing in the world’s hottest sea
▼ + stars: | 2022-08-04 | by ( Barry Neild | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +9 min

Jubail Mangrove Park is a green expanse of gray mangrove trees on the northeastern edge of Abu Dhabi’s Al Jubail island, where shallow tidal waterways spill out into the clear blue Arabian Sea. It’s a tranquil world away from the shimmering skyscrapers and heat-hazed hustle of downtown Abu Dhabi, albeit just a short drive away. Dreamlike destinationThe Jubail Mangrove Park is an unexpected green escape from the deserts of Abu Dhabi. And observing those genes in action in Abu Dhabi could be a good sign. “It is the only place in Abu Dhabi where you can see so much green.”

☆ (foto) Rezervația „La Castel”, o minune peisagistică moștenită de la mama natură
▼ + stars: | 2021-06-30 | by ( Onixmedia Srl | ) diez.md time to read: +1 min

Rezervația peisagistică „La Castel” este o arie protejată, situată în apropierea satului Gordinești, de-a lungul văii Racovățului, pe o fâșie cu lățimea de 200 de metri și lungimea de cinci kilometri, în raionul Edineț. Fotograful Roman Friptuleac a surprins prin obiectivul său frumusețea moștenită de la mama natură și a expus peisajele într-o serie de fotografii. Din castel a rămas doar înălțimea stâncilor și amintirile despre o fată frumoasă, întemnițată cândva în zidurile castelului. Părinții erau împotriva logodnei tinerei cu iubitul ei și el a decis să o ascundă de părinții săi în castel. Nici o tânără frumoasă, nici un stăpân, nici un castel nu au rămas.

Persons: Roman Friptuleac, Roman Locations: Edineț

☆ (VIDEO) Imagini inedite surprinse cu drona în „Pădurea Domnească”. Vezi cuiburile de bâtlani de la altitudinea zborului de pasăre
▼ + stars: | 2021-06-28 | by ( Publika.Md - Aici Sunt Știrile | ) www.publika.md time to read: +1 min

Imagini video inedite au fost surprinse de dronă în Ţara Bâtlanilor, o zonă protejată din Rezervația Naturală „Pădurea Domnească”. Deşi accesul spre această fenomenală colonie de păsări este dificil și interzis, în filmuleţul ce urmează, putem urmări şi asculta aceste zburătoare unice în spațiul nostru. Imaginile captate de dronă le oferă curioşilor posibilitatea de a plana alături de bâtlani şi de a admira cuiburile, care, urmărite de la altitudinea zborului de pasăre, par a fi nişte ghemuleţe albe-cenuşii aterizate la extremele coroanei copacilor. Rezervaţia ,,Pădurea Domnească" a fost creată la 2 iulie 1993 cu scopul păstrării, redresării ecologice şi restabilirii biodiversităţii ecosistemelor de luncă din ţară. Fauna rezervaţiei ,,Pădurea Domnească" este alcătuită din 47 specii de mamifere, 15 specii de reptile şi amfibieni şi 159 specii de păsări, dintre care 21 de specii sunt introduse în categoria speciilor rare de animale.

Locations: Domnească, Republicii Moldova

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