scottish

Edinburgh-based startup Gravitricity is set to turn one of Europe’s deepest mines into the continent’s first-ever gravity energy storage system.   The gravity tech uses massive weights that are hoisted up the mineshaft during times of surplus energy, and then released back down again during times of peak demand — driving a turbine and sending power to the grid. The system can release large bursts of electricity quickly or release it more slowly depending on what’s required. Gravitricity…

It’s a long way from the windswept waterfront of Campbeltown to Hollywood: but for next month’s Oscar nominees a taste of this remote corner of Scotland awaits, after the owner of the town’s chocolate shop was chosen to produce the sweet treats for the famed $125,000 award ceremony goodie bags.Fiona McArthur, who started creating her chocolates in her mother’s kitchen four-and-a-half years ago, says she’s still pinching herself at the coup. “It’s blowing my mind that my chocolates are going to be eaten by people like…

Get our free weekly email for all the latest cinematic news from our film critic Clarisse LoughreyGet our The Life Cinematic email for freeA group of men at a stag party got a surprise when Margot Robbie interrupted their discussion of the Barbie movie.33-year-old Robbie, who took on the role of Mattel’s iconic doll in the 2023 film, revealed that she was visiting a pub in a remote part of Scotland when she overheard the men chatting about her recent project.“I was in a pub in the middle of nowhere in Scotland and I…

A toddler broke a world record by becoming the youngest person to reach Everest base camp, completing the trek on his father’s back during his family’s year-long Asian adventure and sparking controversy along the way.At only two years old, Carter Dallas reached the south site in Nepal – located 17,598ft above sea level – on October 25, 2023.The young boy completed the trek on his 35-year-old father’s (Ross) back, alongside his mother, 31-year-old Jade.The family, from Glasgow, Scotland, were on a year-long trip around…

Get our free weekly email for all the latest cinematic news from our film critic Clarisse LoughreyGet our The Life Cinematic email for freeAnimal-welfare organisations have slated the makers of a new film featuring a breed of cat associated with “serious health and welfare concerns”.UK charity Cats Protection is among those who have raised concerns over the upcoming film Argylle, which is due to be released by Universal Pictures on 2 February.The film features a Scottish Fold cat, a breed the animal organisations said…

Robert Burns is somehow invincible. In recent years a slew of critics have attempted to shoggle the Ayrshire Bard off his pedestal: Liz Lochhead has called him “very Weinsteinian”, Stuart Kelly has argued that he may have been a rapist, and his links to enslavement have come under the spotlight, leading to accusations of racism. His status, meanwhile, has barely changed.For every article drawing attention to Burns’s flaws, another three articles pop up across the aisle protesting outrage at any attempt to judge an…

The City of Dundee in Scotland planned and paid for an EV charging hub on a former gas station site, and they pretty much thought of everything. A coastal city with a population of 148,000, Dundee takes its EV charging infrastructure rollout seriously: To date, it’s got 370 EV charging stations, 185 of which are owned by the city, and it’s nowhere near being done. (For size comparison, Savannah, Georgia, has a population of 148,000, and it has 275 EV charging stations.) Dundee opened a new EV…

A Highland Song MSRP $18.00 “A Highland Song successfully brings the awe-inspiring freedom of Breath of the Wild to the Scottish Highlands.” Pros Painterly art style Freeform climbing Creative "run" structure Excellent music Cons Players can get stuck…

The story of the computer hacker Gary McKinnon and his long battle against extradition to the Us is to be turned into a feature film.It will tell the story of how a young man hunting for evidence of UFOs found his way into the Pentagon’s system and carried out what American authorities described as “the biggest military computer hack of all time” and then faced the possibility of a long sentence in a US high security prison.The film, The People v Gary McKinnon, will be directed by Paul McGuigan, who made Gangster Number 1…

A new blog post from an ex-Grand Theft Auto developer has shed light on a once-in-development zombie game at the studio, along with details on Agent, an abandoned spy game. The blog post, written by ex-Rockstar North developer Obbe Vermeij, (now deleted, but still available through archive.org) revealed that after GTA: Vice City was released in late 2002, the Rockstar North team thought it would be “nice to do something else”. What the team settled on was a “zombie survival game”, with the idea being to “use the Vice…