'Warrior' Season 4? Star Andrew Koji Thinks There's a "Very Good Chance"

S53

'Warrior' Season 4? Star Andrew Koji Thinks There's a "Very Good Chance"     For three seasons on the acclaimed martial-arts crime drama Warrior, the 35-year-old actor has been getting pummeled, punched, and pulverized every which way. All the while, his character Ah Sahm — a martial artist who travels to San Francisco in search of his sister and gets caught up in the Tong Wars of the late 1870s — has become a local folk hero. The newfound fame earns Ah Sahm a glowing reputation in the frequently-ravaged Chinatown, but it also earns him a target on his back that forces him to fight all manner of axe-wielding gangsters and bigoted cops. Which, in turn, forced Koji to level up his fighting skills.“The training’s always tough,” Koji tells Inverse in an interview conducted before the SAG-AFTRA strikes. “And getting older is always tough because I’m 35 now, and I know it's not old, old, but for that kind of level of action, it's a lot on the body.” Continued here

S52

Robo-Taxis Are Legal Now     The California Public Utilities Commission—a state agency that regulates power, water, and telecommunications companies, as well as movers, taxicabs, rideshare services, and self-driving cars—is headquartered in a large, curved building on Van Ness Avenue, in San Francisco, that looks a bit like a sun visor. Last Thursday morning, a small group of protesters gathered on the steps in advance of the commission’s vote on whether to allow the autonomous-vehicle companies Cruise and Waymo to expand their fleets, and charge for rides, like a taxi service, in the city. A man holding a megaphone denounced corporate greed, while other people unfurled hand-painted banners. One depicted a dead dog lying in the street—possibly a reference to the small dog killed earlier this summer by a Waymo car. Another showed an autonomous vehicle in flames bearing down on a crowd of firemen, police officers, and taxi-drivers. “Shut the robos down,” the protesters cried.Members of Cruise’s public-affairs team held a press conference off to the side. Nearby, another demonstration, organized by Waymo, was forming. People wearing yellow shirts that read “SAFER ROADS FOR ALL” were congregating behind Tim Elder, the president of the California chapter of the National Federation of the Blind, as he addressed a row of cameras, touting the benefits of autonomous vehicles, or A.V.s, for blind passengers. Continued here

�

S56

Tiffany Haddish Thinks Her Bees Are From Outer Space     The Landscape With Invisible Hand star reveals her passion for her bees — and the mysterious plant they feed on. The actor just appeared in Disney’s new Haunted Mansion movie and had her own spotlight episode on The Afterparty Season 2 on Apple TV+, but her newest role is something completely different: hardworking mom Beth Campbell in Cory Finley’s touching sci-fi drama Landscape With Invisible Hand. Continued here

S44

70 years ago, an Anglo-US coup condemned Iran to decades of oppression - but now the people are fighting back     The 1953 coup d'etat in Iran ushered in a period of exploitation and oppression that has continued – despite a subsequent revolution that led to huge changes – for 70 years. Each year on August 19, the anniversary of the coup, millions of Iranians ask themselves what would have happened if the US and UK had not conspired all those years ago to overthrow Iran’s democratically elected leader. Iran, the Middle East and, arguably, the whole world may well have been profoundly different. Apart from rewriting the destiny of Iran and its neighbours, the coup paved the way for a series of imperialist interventions and the toppling of democratically elected governments across the global south. Perhaps Washington might have thought twice before plotting coups in Guatemala in 1954, Congo in 1961 or Chile in 1973, if they’d been unable to overthrow Iran’s prime minister, Mohammad Mosaddegh, so easily and profitably. Continued here

You Might Like

�

�

�

S54

55 Years Ago, the Most Fascinating Piece of Sci-Fi Trash Kickstarted an Unstoppable Trope     If you’re sick of seeing nothing but superhero films hit theaters, imagine going to the multiplex in the ’40s and thinking, “Great, not another damn war movie.” War dramas were pumped out by the dozens, with the occasional comedy or musical thrown in to lighten the mood. When World War II ended, new angles emerged. Servicemen readjusted to life at home, war criminals were hunted down… every conceivable story was told. The deluge continued into the ’60s, but as the war started fading into history, a new subgenre became popular: mad Nazi schemes.Nazis and mad science go together like Mecha-Hitler and the chaingun bullets used to blow up Mecha-Hitler. Inspired by horrific real-life experiments and tales of mythical wunderwaffe superweapons that supposedly could have turned the tide, movies like The Yesterday Machine and The Frozen Dead imagined outlandish plots to revive the Third Reich with time travel and zombies. They Saved Hitler’s Brain was one of the first films to give Nazis a sci-fi twist… and it’s inarguably the worst. Continued here

S38

How genetically modifying mosquitoes could strengthen the world's war on malaria     It’s been 126 years since British medical doctor Sir Ronald Ross discovered that mosquitoes in the Anopheles family are primarily responsible for transmitting malaria parasites between vertebrate hosts. Since his discovery, mosquitoes have been found to carry and transmit many other diseases that pose a major threat to public health. Among them are yellow fever, dengue and Zika. Continued here

S40

As BRICS cooperation accelerates, is it time for the US to develop a BRICS policy?     When leaders of the BRICS group of large emerging economies – Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa – meet in Johannesburg for two days beginning on Aug. 22, 2023, foreign policymakers in Washington will no doubt be listening carefully.The BRICS group has been challenging some key tenets of U.S. global leadership in recent years. On the diplomatic front, it has undermined the White House’s strategy on Ukraine by countering the Western use of sanctions on Russia. Economically, it has sought to chip away at U.S. dominance by weakening the dollar’s role as the world’s default currency. Continued here

S48

An Emotional Timeline of Going on Vacation     Daydream about a trip. You’re currently sitting in an office chair that has permanently memorized the shape of your butt. But imagine if you were sitting on a beach, sun-baked sand between your toes. Or on the steps of an ancient ruin. Or at a rustic wooden table, drinking great wine with beautiful locals with whom your only shared language is laughter. This is possible, you know. The world is your oyster, and it’s filled with amazing, faraway places that are begging you to visit them!Book it. That’s right—you’re doing it. You’re really doing it. In a few clicks and a few short months, you will be somewhere else, becoming a happier, more interesting person who will return home with a happier, more interesting life. You deserve it. Ride this high all the way to the airport. Continued here

You Might Like

�

�

�

S37

Five bizarre historic leisure activities to try with friends - from gurning to stereoscopy     Leisure activities flourished in 19th-century Britain, as legislation was passed limiting the length of the working day and working week, giving people more free time. If you’re struggling to know how to spend your own free time this summer, take a leaf out of the Victorians’ book with these strangely fun leisure pursuits. Put you hand above your right ear. Do you feel a bump? Then you are clearly selfish! Partly in response to the growth of new cities packed full of strangers, and partly out of a desire to better understand themselves, the Victorians embraced the idea that character could be read from one’s outward appearance, especially one’s skull shape. Continued here

S46

Montana youth win unprecedented climate case: What does this ruling mean for Canada?     Jason MacLean is a member of the board of directors of the Pacific Centre for Environmental Law and Litigation (CELL), and East Coast Environmental Law (ECELAW). On Aug. 14, a Montana court delivered what is being hailed as a game-changing ruling in a much anticipated youth-led climate change case, Held v. State of Montana. Continued here

�

S42

Why we think that some extinct giant flying reptiles cared for their young     But how do we do this for extinct animals? In a recent scientific paper,palaeontologist Zixiao Yang and colleagues compared the growth of small and giant pterosaurs. These were flying reptiles that were alive between about 228 million years ago and 66 million years ago – sharing the Earth with dinosaurs. Yang and colleagues wanted to understand what, if anything, was different about how the giant animals got so big. Continued here

S31

Georgia indictment and post-Civil War history make it clear: Trump's actions have already disqualified him from the presidency     Co-Director, National Security and Civil Rights Program, Loyola University Chicago After three indictments of former President Donald Trump, the fourth one in Georgia came not as a surprise but as a powerful exposition of the scope of Trump’s efforts to remain in power despite losing the 2020 presidential election. Continued here

�

S36

Tipping etiquette and norms are in flux - here's how you can avoid feeling flustered or ripped off     The ever-growing list of situations in which you might be invited to tip includes buying a smoothie, paying an electrician, getting a beer from a flight attendant and making a political donation. Should you always tip when someone suggests it? If yes, how do you calculate the right amount? And if you don’t, are you being stingy? Continued here

S55

Marvel Book Finally Answers an Overlooked Question About 'Avengers: Endgame'     Ant-Man tells all! Just a few short months after debuting in Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, Scott Lang’s international best-seller Look Out for the Little Guy! will soon be available to own — not just in Marvel’s Cinematic Universe, but in our own. Yes, really. Disney and Hyperion have teamed up to bring us the very first memoir from a real-life Avenger. Look Out for the Little Guy! will reacquaint us with the hero we all know as Ant-Man, charting his rise as a scientist-turned-corporate-whistleblower, his checkered past as a convict, and of course, his tenure as one of Earth’s mightiest heroes. Continued here

�

S68

Here's Exactly How Long It Takes to Beat 'God of War Ragnarok'     Over four years after God of War’s Norse mythology,arc kicked off, Sony Santa Monica and its numerous support teams delivered God of War Ragnarok, concluding the story with an epic clash that sees Kratos and Atreus pushed to their absolute limits. With a 94 on Metacritic, the game has seen near-universal acclaim, with praise for the story and scope, while also focusing on how the quality of the side quests has improved, with some reviews even comparing them to The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt. Being a bigger game means players have a lot to explore, especially if they want to do everything, finding all the collectibles like Odin’s Ravens and uncovering secrets that can’t be found until after the main story is done. We’ll go into detail on exactly how long God of War Ragnarok takes to complete, all chapters in the game, and what to expect from the post-game. Continued here

S49

Talking to Conservatives About Climate Change     Even in a summer of record-breaking heat and disasters, Republican Presidential candidates have ignored or mocked climate change. But some conservative legislators in Congress recognize that action is necessary. David Remnick talks with a leader of the Conservative Climate Caucus about her party’s stance on climate change, her belief that fossil fuels cannot be rapidly phased out, and the problems she sees with the Inflation Reduction Act. Then the authoritative climate reporter Elizabeth Kolbert talks with Ben Jealous, who was recently named the executive director of the Sierra Club, about his strategy for building support in Republican-led states. Plus, the writer Tessa Hadley talks to the New Yorker fiction editor Deborah Treisman about the long process of settling into her true voice.Mariannette Miller-Meeks, an Iowa Republican, feels that the G.O.P. hasn’t engaged enough with this critical issue. But she won’t vote for Democratic bills that “take away choice.” Continued here

�

S45

Yellowknife fires: Evacuees will need culturally specific support services     On the evening of Aug. 16, due to rapidly moving wildfires, an evacuation order was issued for the entire city of Yellowknife. Thousands of residents faced a long, stressful drive on the only road out of the city. The goal was for as many people as possible to flee one of the largest cities in Canada’s North before the deadline for safe exit of Aug. 18 at noon Mountain Daylight Time.In May 2016, a large fast-moving wildfire jumped from the surrounding rural areas and into the city of Fort McMurray, Alta., causing approximately 88,000 people to flee. Canadians were shocked and saddened by the televised images of slow-moving lines of cars passing in close proximity to massive walls of flames. Continued here

S50

The Spectre of Andrew Cuomo Continues to Haunt New York     Two years ago, when New York Governor Andrew Cuomo resigned in disgrace after an investigation found that he had sexually harassed almost a dozen women, he had eighteen million dollars in his reëlection-campaign coffers. Some reports suggested that Cuomo might use the money to run for office again, once the controversy died down. Instead, as campaign-finance disclosures recently revealed, the ex-governor has, over the past two years, spent more than half of the funds, much of it on lawyers and storage lockers. (When he moved out of the Executive Mansion, Cuomo was technically homeless.)Sexual harassment was really just one factor in Cuomo’s downfall. The governor spent a decade ruthlessly dominating New York politics. Even as his daily televised pandemic press briefings briefly made him a national Democratic Party star in early 2020, he was covering up the state’s true number of COVID-19 nursing-home deaths, ordering state employees to help him produce a triumphant pandemic-response memoir that netted him a multimillion-dollar book contract, and threatening his critics with public humiliation and personal ruin. (“I will destroy you!” Cuomo screamed over the phone at one state lawmaker.) When legislative leaders in Albany turned against him, and started counting votes for a possible impeachment, it was recognition not just that Cuomo was personally a bad actor but that he was, politically, out of control. Continued here

S63

Best Order and Strategies for the 'Pok     Like most other Pokémon titles, Pokémon Scarlet and Violet have eight gym leaders that players need to take down in order to prove themselves through the games’ story. Due to the open world structure of Scarlet and Violet, you can technically fight the gym leaders in absolutely any order you want, a first for the series. “Can” and “should” are very different things though, because the gym leaders aren’t going to scale or change their Pokémon based on the order in which you play. That means that unless you’ve got a really good reason, you should try and fight each gym leader in increasing order of difficulty based on your level. Continued here

S32

Risk of death related to pregnancy and childbirth more than doubled between 1999 and 2019 in the US, new study finds     Black women were more likely to die during pregnancy or soon after in every year from 1999 through 2019, compared with Hispanic, American Indian and Alaska Native, Asian, Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander, and white women. That is a key finding of our recent study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association. The risk of maternal death increased the most for American Indian and Alaska Native women during that time frame. Maternal deaths refers to death from any cause except for accidents, homicides and suicides, during or within one year after pregnancy. Continued here

S41

How the tourism industry - and other travellers - can help families of autistic children get the break they deserve     The Family Fund - gave advice with respect to accessing participants and shared our questionnaire with their networksGoing on a family holiday is not always a relaxing experience. It can involve traffic jams, airport queues and stress. Even so, most of us look forward to going away for the change of scenery and break from our everyday routines. Continued here

S43

Teamwork is not always the best way of working - new study     Throughout the 21st century, teamwork has come to define the modern work environment. Driven by advances in communication technology, working collaboratively is, as management experts will tell you, how you harness the “collective intelligence”.Collective intelligence is often seen as greater than the sum of its parts: superior to the cumulative individual intelligence of the group’s members. Capitalising on it is said to improve task accuracy (finding better and more correct answers), and enhance task efficiency (finding good answers faster). This in turn leads to quicker and higher quality completion. In other words, when we work together, our performance improves. This has been one of the major factors shaping our modern societies. Continued here

S39

Europe's wild bird species are on the brink - but there are ways to bring them back     Almost two out of every five species of wild bird are of conservation concern across Europe, according to an updated and comprehensive assessment of their population status. That means these species are declining and becoming more scarce across the continent. Among the birds of conservation concern are some familiar species, including dunnock, goldcrest and meadow pipit.Since the first assessment, which was carried out in 1994, the number of European bird species that are of global conservation concern has trebled. Snowy owl, northern lapwing, Eurasian curlew, steppe eagle and bearded vulture have all been unlucky enough to make this list. Continued here

S34

Memes about animal resistance are everywhere -- here's why you shouldn't laugh off rebellious orcas and sea otters too quickly     Memes galore centered on the “orca revolution” have inundated the online realm. They gleefully depict orcas launching attacks on boats in the Strait of Gibraltar and off the Shetland coast.One particularly ingenious image showcases an orca posed as a sickle crossed with a hammer. The cheeky caption reads, “Eat the rich,” a nod to the orcas’ penchant for sinking lavish yachts. Continued here

S47

Hurricane Hilary triggers Southern California's first tropical storm warning ever, with heavy rain and flash flooding forecast     Hurricane Hilary headed for Mexico’s Baja peninsula as a powerful Category 4 storm on Aug. 18, 2023, and was forecast to speed into Southern California at or near tropical storm strength as early as Aug. 20. For the first time ever, the National Hurricane Center issued a tropical storm warning for large parts of Southern California.Hurricane scientist Nick Grondin explains how Hurricane Hilary, with help from El Niño and a heat dome over much of the country, could bring dangerous flash flooding, wind damage and mudslides to the U.S. Southwest. Continued here

S57

'War of Being': How One Band Is Using Gaming To Redefine How We Experience Music     To promote its upcoming record, War of Being, a small development team — which includes TesseracT’s singer, Dan Tompkins — designed a first-person sci-fi VR exploration game that ties to the album’s themes, immersing you in the music. The game, also titled War of Being, is available in early access on Steam and is playable both in VR and non-VR formats.To entice people to play, TesseracT released its single “The Grey” within the game. Until now, this kind of immersive game/music tie-in hasn’t really been done before. Continued here

S65

'Ahsoka' Just Broke a Huge Streaming Rule -- And Made a Change for the Better     Ever since the first days of Netflix originals, there have been unspoken rules about streaming releases. New movies and TV episodes were almost always made available at midnight PST, meaning any east coast fans would have to wait until 3:00 am (or, more realistically, the following day) to watch something new. There were exceptions, like HBO’s releases in parallel with its cable channel broadcasts, but the standard was set at midnight PST. The timing makes sense from a marketing standpoint, as it ensures releases come out on the same day worldwide, with no confusion caused by the International Date Line. But for hardcore fans who wanted to watch right away, it meant late nights or early mornings on weekdays. Continued here

S62

How To Pick the Best Starter in 'Pok     Some gaming traditions don’t go away, such as picking a unique Pokémon to start your adventure. Pokémon Scarlet and Violet keeps that tradition going, asking if you if you’d prefer a critter with fire, water, or grass-type affinity. The Generation IX starters include the “attention-seeking” Grass-type Sprigatito, the “laid-back” Fire-type Fuecoco, and the “earnest and tidy” Water-type Quaxly. But which one is truly you?The wider gaming community affectionately dubbed Sprigatito “wéed cat” because of the cannabis-looking leaf on its face. Meanwhile, Fuecoco looks like a goofy crocodile with a huge, beaming smile on its face. And Quaxly? He’s just a dapper little duck. But for all those would-be Pokémon Champions out there, what’s the best starter? Continued here

S66

The Best Armor for Kratos for Every Stage of 'God of War Ragnarok'     Ragnarok is here, and with it, we’ve got an action-packed, contemplative final act to the Norse arc of Kratos’ story, though there are dark hints as to where we’ll go next. The gods of Asgard are vindictive and the Nine Realms are packed to the brim with danger. There are enemies ready to destroy Kratos and Atreus around every corner, which means you’ll need some good armor. Fortunately, going off the beaten path and taking time to explore the Realms means finding useful equipment and resources, which can be used to improve your survivability against the game’s greatest foes. Here are the best armor sets for every stage of God of War Ragnarok. Continued here

S69

Moment's New Phone Lenses Will Kill Your Digital Camera Once and for All     With most phones now having an ultra-wide and/or telephoto lens, I thought Moment had given up on making its excellent mobile lenses for iPhone and Android, but I was wrong. The creator-focused brand has announced a new “T-Series” collection of lenses to take your smartphone photography and videography to the next level.Like the old V2 M-series lenses for smartphones, the T-Series comes in different focal lengths. There’s the classic 18mm “wide” lens that fits more in a frame, a 14mm for a fisheye-like POV, a 58mm telephoto, a 10x macro, and two tyles of anamorphic lenses (1.55x and 1.33x). You can even attach a filter to the telphoto’s threaded mounting ring. Continued here