Science & Technology – Page 5 of 9

What can be said of the human mind? Todd Phillips’ Joker may have answers…

18Nov

By Luna TrimmingNo Comments

Science & Technology

What can be said of the human mind? Todd Phillips’ Joker may have answers…

When Todd Phillips did a commentary of the opening scene of his film Joker for Vanity Fair (which was published on to YouTube), he explained that he was most proud of the overall tone of the film. Specifically, he referred to it as an ‘unsettling tone, that sort of slow, ramp-up into insanity…’ an insanity that perhaps many of us who have watched the film may be able to sympathise with; within reason of course. Phillips explains that the unsettling nature of the film is deliberately manoeuvred, as well as carefully structured through camera movement and the staging of each scene, illustrating the isolation and the mania that the Joker feels within himself. Are we to argue that the feelings of separation from reality and the questioning of one’s sanity is not totally incompreh...

Embodying Chaos: Why the Joker and the Goose are the Same Character

15Nov

By Alex WhitemanNo Comments

Culture & Literature, Film & TV, Science & Technology

Embodying Chaos: Why the Joker and the Goose are the Same Character

Warning; Spoilers for 'Joker' and 'Untitled Goose Game' There were two significant releases in entertainment recently. The first was the movie ‘Joker’, a bleak take on DC Comics’ darkest villain, re-imagined as a downtrodden, mentally-ill byproduct of a decaying city and a disinterested upper class. The second was ‘Untitled Goose Game’, a video game in which you pester the residents of a quaint English village as an annoying goose. Believe it or not, ‘Joker’ and ‘Untitled Goose Game’ share a lot of similarities. First, they’re both about two hours long. Secondly, they both received mixed to positive reviews. And lastly, they both feature the exact same main character, and are in fact two interpretations of the same story.I’m not kidding.Let’s start with the locations each story takes place...

15Nov

By Tiger-Lily GoldsmithNo Comments

Science & Technology

Fresh Footprints on the Moon

Following the 50th anniversary of the moon landing a few months past, this historic event remains a key milestone in the history of humanity. In total, six crewed ships granted 12 men the chance to leave their footprints on the moon, the last of these landings taking place in 1972. But many are left with the question: when did the enthusiasm for moon exploration evaporate? Arguably, the main motivator behind the Space Race of the 1960s was the Cold War. Once the US had claimed victory against Russia in the rush to reach space, the moon slowly became a “been there, done that” situation. The mission for humanity to make its mark on the moon was complete. With the moon out of the spotlight, this left NASA without the support needed to keep returning as frequently as it had been. A...

League of Legends Finals at Clapham Grand

10Nov

By Rachel HainsNo Comments

Science & Technology

League of Legends Finals at Clapham Grand

FunPlus Phoenix (FPX) was able to beat G2 esports (G2) 3 nil in the finals.The event was held by @Cosxpo, @FNATIC and @budlightHad awesome cosplays on show as well as having a pretty cool and chilled vibe. This Sunday, Insanity Radio 103.2FM was able to attend a screening of the finals for 2019 League of Legends World Championship at Clapham Grand. The event was sponsored by Cosxpo, FNATIC and Budlight. The League of Legends final had FunPlus Phoenix (FPX) playoff against G2 Esports (G2). With FPX earning a cool 3 nil victory over the European team, allowing them to earn the right of champions of the championship. What was of particular interest and perhaps as a reflection of the events last year, was that the event was started with a holographic hip-hop concert. With last year sho...

19Mar

By Alexander ClarkNo Comments

Science & Technology

Drones

London Gatwick Airport’s flight schedule grinded to a halt on the evening of 12th December 2018 after a single drone was reportedly spotted over the airfield. You have probably seen the chaos on national news: 760 flights grounded the following day due to disruption; passengers interviewed on the news claiming to have lost anywhere between £70 and £4,000 on missed-out flights and holidays; the detention of two suspects who turned out not to be guilty after all, and who were called “the morons who ruined Christmas” by The Sun; rumours that there wasn’t even a drone after all. It was all a big embarrassment that a small commercial drone could seemingly fool the public, the Police, the Army, and the entire British Government. The mystery of the Gatwick drone has exposed how integrated drones...

26Feb

By Jessica CopelandNo Comments

Science & Technology

The Death of the Kepler Satellite

After 9 years in operation, the Kepler space satellite has finally run out of the hydrazine fuel used to control its orientation. NASA has decided to retire the satellite while it is still in a safe orbit far from Earth. Launched in March 2009, Kepler was originally intended to look at one patch of the sky and detect planets orbiting around distant stars. This patch in the constellation of Cygnus contained 150,000 stars. Four years in, a fix for a mechanical issue led to the development of the K2 mission where the satellite had to be periodically reoriented, expanding its field of view to a further 500,000 stars. How to Find a Planet The satellite’s only scientific instrument was a photometer designed to detect drops in brightness that occur when a planet passes in front of a star, ...

25Feb

By Samantha DavisNo Comments

Science & Technology

Life is a Battlefield

It is undeniable that there is a need for diversity and equality in anything created in the modern day. However, there is still a question as to whether this holds in the recreation of historical events that were dominated by white males. This debate has been forced back into the public's attention after the release of the trailer for DICE’s upcoming Battlefield V. Promising to be the most realistic World War II first person shooter game, Battlefield V is said to allow gamers' to explore “unseen locations and untold stories”, creating the most genuine representation of the gritty realities of the war. Consequently, when the trailer first premiered with the inclusion of female soldiers the creators received a lot of backlash. Some fans of the previous Battlefield games took to the intern...

23Feb

By Noelle SpillmannNo Comments

Science & Technology

Deepfakes

Deepfake is an image editing technique that uses artificial intelligence (specifically deep learning) to superimpose one (video) image onto another - akin to Photoshop for photos. What might sound boring in theory in practice has led to public outrage, debates about the nature of privacy, paranoia and some very funny compilations of Nicholas Cage starring in hollywood classics. Deepfake technology first garnered mainstream media attention in 2017 when a Reddit-User using the pseudonym ‘Deepfakes’ uploaded multiple adult videos featuring celebrities’ faces being superimposed upon adult-film actresses’ bodies (for example the adult actresses’ body with Gal Godot’s face and voice.) Despite having been created using a computer program, the results (so called deepfakes) looked surprisingly r...

24Nov

By Catherine LithgowNo Comments

Science & Technology

Marijuana as Medicine

Marijuana Prescribed Marijuana has been illegal in the UK since 1928 but, as of the 1st November 2018, the National Health Service is permitted to prescribe medicinal cannabis to certain patients for the treatment of epilepsy, multiple sclerosis (MS), chronic pain, and the nausea brought on by chemotherapy. This long-time disreputable substance is making a new name for itself through helping sufferers of epilepsy, multiple sclerosis and cancer. The recently publicised cases of two children suffering with epilepsy, Alfie Dingley (6) and Billy Caldwell (13) appear to have been the catalyst that finally prompted the legalisation of medical cannabis in the UK. Both boys suffer from life-threatening epileptic seizures, treatable only with cannabis-based medication. On June 11th this year,...

Are clouds effected by the extra terrestrial?

29Oct

By Amal AbdiNo Comments

Science & Technology

Are clouds effected by the extra terrestrial?

Cosmic rays are charged particles that come from outer space and bombard the Earth’s atmosphere. These particles usually decay in the early stages of the Earth’s atmosphere, raining down a shower of product particles onto the Earth’s surface. If you have never heard about cosmic rays, this may seem very alarming. But the fact is that these particles have been showering over you for your entire life, and can cause little harm. However, a collaboration of scientists from across the globe have been wondering whether this continuous barrage of extra terrestrial particles has an effect on the Earth’s atmosphere, and more particularly its cloud formation. To investigate this question, the Cosmics Leaving Outdoor Droplets (CLOUD) experiment, was formed. Since 1750 the Earth’s surface temperature...