bends

Copper, platinum, aluminum, gold. Metals have been so important in human history that we’ve named historical epochs (the Bronze Age, the Iron Age) for their transformative power. These materials, with their characteristic ability to conduct electricity, are no less vital to our modern era—they are found in essentially every technology that has enabled the information age. Yet despite metals’ utility, scientists are still trying to decipher their inner workings.After centuries of study, physicists have a good understanding…

Image: NetflixNetflix’s Avatar adaptation may have suffered a similar critical fate to its predecessor in the M. Night Shyamalan movie, but that didn’t stop it from becoming the biggest show on the platform since in launched a few weeks ago—so it should surprise no one to learn that more is on the way.How The Last Airbender Inspired Lisette OliveraNetflix has now confirmed in its renewal of the show that, just like the animated series before it, Avatar: The Last Airbender will run for three seasons. A new poster…

This artist’s illustration shows a cross-section of the supermassive black hole and surrounding material in the center of our galaxy. The black sphere in the center represents the event horizon of the black hole, the point of no return from which nothing, not even light, can escape. Looking at the spinning black hole from the side, as depicted in this illustration, the surrounding spacetime is shaped like an American football. The yellow-orange material to either side represents gas swirling around the black hole. This…

A material developed by Asst. Prof. Sihong Wang and Prof. Juan de Pablo can stretch more than twice its original length without disrupting its ability to emit light and display a clear image. Credit: Image courtesy of Wang GroupResearchers have developed a highly flexible and stretchable digital display material that emits a fluorescent pattern. The material, which can bend in half and stretch to more than twice its original length, has potential applications in wearable electronics, health sensors, and foldable computer…

According to a draft proposal recently seen by the media, the European Commission has reportedly added an amendment to its 2035 combustion vehicle ban that allows for the sale of internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles after the expiry, as long as they run entirely on climate-neutral e-fuels. This move is the latest chapter in a saga to ban ICE vehicles in the EU that has recently been stifled by countries insisting on the additional e-fuel exceptions, led by automotive juggernaut, Germany.…

A drive along the ocean on the Palos Verdes Peninsula is Southern California at its finest. Sunlight dances on the water. Coves are pristine, unsullied by development. Catalina Island appears so near you can almost spot the bison.Look a bit closer, though, and you’ll see signs of a disaster waiting to happen.An above-ground sewage pipe snakes along the road. The pavement on Palos Verdes Drive South is rutted and warped, jutting up and down like an asphalt roller coaster. The hills are strewn with houses on makeshift…

The Roald Dahl purists have won. After a week of controversy and outrage over imposed sensitivity changes to the words of the Charlie and the Chocolate Factory author, publisher Puffin has announced that a collection of 17 Dahl works will be re-released untouched as part of the Roald Dahl Classic Collection. Netflix, which purchased the Roald Dahl Story Company in 2021 in a rumored $1 billion deal, had no comment on the development. “We’ve listened to the debate over the past week, which…

Get our free weekly email for all the latest cinematic news from our film critic Clarisse LoughreyGet our The Life Cinematic email for freeWith Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, Marvel has ushered in the so-called fifth phase of its (infinite?) conveyer belt of superhero media. Supposedly, the distinction is important. Post-Quantumania, though, it seems like it’d be far more helpful to label the next batch of Marvel films and TV shows as “the Jonathan Majors phase”. He’s just that good.Majors – of TV’s Lovecraft Country…

It capped an event-filled year for developed-world central bankers in which the Federal Reserve lifted its benchmark rate above 4% and the European Central Bank moved up to 2%. The inflationary forces that pushed the U.S. into rapid clampdown mode proved so powerful that even Japan’s central bank, which long stuck to near-zero rates, felt it had to budge—in part to protect the value of the yen, analysts said. The Bank of Japan said it would let the yield on the 10-year Japanese government bond, which it has kept under its…

Hollywood loves capitalizing on a hot trend, jumping on the bandwagon, and then running it into the ground as quickly as possible, with the 1990s marking the apex of the John Grisham adaptation’s short-lived stint in the spotlight. In fact, it’s been almost 20 years since one of the author’s signature legal thrillers was brought to the big screen, with Runaway Jury unknowingly marking the craze’s final stand. As tended to be the case with every Grisham movie, Runaway Jury recruited a star-studded cast to bring gravitas…