Category Archives: Evolution

Mobile slots are some of the most exciting games to play at an online casino. Throughout the world, youll see people playing mobile slots while on the go, during a break at work or while chilling out somewhere.

The online casino industry is growing at a rapid pace alongside the boom the gaming market. But how have mobile slots gotten to be so popular? And how does the history of slots come into play?

In this article well take you through all you need to know about the exciting evolution of online slots. Read on to find out more.

The history of slots

Do you love playing slot machines? Well thats thanks to a car mechanic called Charles Fey who in 1895 created the first mechanical slot in San Francisco. Known as the Liberty Bell, this slot machine had three spinning reels, with heart, spade and diamond symbols painted around each reel as well as an image of a cracked Liberty Bell.

This machine can still be seen in Reno, Nevada at the aptly named Liberty Belle Saloon. But the Liberty Bell wasnt the only slot machine that Charles Fey invented. Other machines of his included the Draw Power, Three Spindle and Klondike. Fey began to rent out his machines to bars and saloons, splitting the profit 50/50.

From there, the slot machine continued to grow in popularity; the demand for Liberty Bells was massive and Fey couldnt keep up despite refusing to sell to manufacturing and distribution rights to casino supply manufacturers. In 1907, a Chicago manufacturer of arcade machines called Herbert Mills created a knock-off of the Liberty Bell which they called the Operator Bell. It was Mills who placed fruit symbols on the machines the ones we all recognize today.

Electronic machines

The era of electric casino machines was the next big step towards the mobile slots we know and love today. It was in 1975 that the first electronic slot machine was created by the Fortune Coin Company.

Although electric casino machines had actually become popular since 1934 when the animated horse race machine PACES RACES was invented. Electronic machines definitely changed the game when it came to casino games; but for those who love them, the best was still to come.

The internet boom and online gaming

It was the internet boom of the 1990s that really changed the world. Almost every industry was effected by the internet, and this of course includes casinos and gaming.

As computers and the internet took the world by storm, the first online casinos were introduced. While in 1996 there were only fifteen online casinos, there were 200 websites offering online casino games by the following year.

As the industry boomed, so did the interest from investors and those wishing to build and develop online gaming companies. More developers were hired and the software behind the games, including online slots, became more and more sophisticated. Many more countries made online casinos legal, which helped fuel the surge in players.

Why are mobile slots so popular?

This is due, in large part, by how fun they are to play and just how sophisticated the technology has gotten over the years. There is continued investment in making the games even better, which is why some of the best animations, graphics and sound are now available as part of slots experiences.

Some gaming companies are looking towards the most exciting new technologies like Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality, which would bring the atmosphere or elements of a casino into your home.

But one of the biggest reasons that mobile slots have become so popular is due to the rise in mobile device ownership. More people than ever own a smartphone, covering all demographics and locations, with more than three billion smartphone users worldwide, a number that continues to rise over the years.

The convenience of being able to play online slots and other casino games on a smartphone means that more people are getting into games like mobile slots. If youre on the go, at a friends house or even just hanging out on the couch, you can enjoy slot machine games.

There are other huge benefits to playing mobile slots, which include the privacy aspect and not having to spend money going to your local casino. And of course, online casinos make setting up an account and depositing money online so easy to do. They also offer a variety of bonuses to encourage customers to stay loyal to their brand.

A further reason why mobile slots are so popular? Theyre easy to play. Unlike other casino games like poker, anyone can play mobile slots as theres no skills required. This is why many people try mobile slots as their first casino game, as you dont have to be good at them to have a chance at winning.

Lastly, mobile slots are just a great form of entertainment. Game companies are always coming up with new and exciting themes, so theres a mobile slots game out there for everyone. Whether its popular culture, movies, music or a historical theme, theres a huge variety to choose from.

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The Exciting Evolution Of Mobile Slots - Android Headlines

Posted by Daniel Gleeson on 29th October 2021

Epiroc is now offering customers conversion kits that, it says, seamlessly transform loaders from diesel-powered to battery-electric driven means, with the company having secured its first order for the solution from Evolution Minings Red Lake gold operations in Canada.

The new offering will speed up the mining industrys shift to an emissions-free future, Epiroc said.

Battery conversions are already underway in Canada, with Epirocs Scooptram ST1030 loader being the first vehicle to undergo the transformation. Evolution Mining, earlier this year, ordered the conversion of two diesel-powered Scooptram ST1030 machines for use at Red Lake, in Ontario. In addition, it also ordered two new Scooptram ST14 Battery loaders and one Minetruck MT42 Battery to add to the fleet at Red Lake.

The company has been helped in this electrification pursuit by Ontario-based FVT Research, a Canada-based company with expertise in converting diesel-powered mining machines to battery-electric vehicles. Epiroc announced plans in September to acquire the company.

Kits to convert the Scooptram ST1030, one of Epirocs most popular loaders, are now available to order through most of Epirocs Customer Centers worldwide, the OEM said. Conversion kits for other machines will follow, including for the Scooptram ST14 loader, which is already being tested as a converted version.

Helena Hedblom, Epirocs President and CEO, said: Converting existing diesel machines to battery electric will be a smart and cost-efficient alternative for mining companies that want to electrify their operations. It will be an important part as we together continue the drive toward emissions-free operations.

The conversion involves removing the diesel engine, adding the battery and changing to an electric drive line. The end result is the same or higher performance level as diesel machines with all the added benefits of battery technology, which includes zero emissions and a healthier underground environment for operators, Epiroc said.

Epirocs service organisation will offer a quick turnaround time for the conversion, which is included in a midlife rebuild and puts machines back on site ready for heightened performance without unnecessary disruptions to production, it added.

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Epiroc's battery conversion offering comes to life with Evolution Mining Red Lake order - International Mining

High-powered fiber laser cutting machines have introduced a new level of productivity to the job shop. They also have forced company owners and managers to take another look at their nitrogen supply plan.

The increasing adoption rate of high-powered lasers is not likely to end anytime soon. With laser cutting power reaching 20 kW, these devices are capable of cutting materials up to 1.5 in. with precision, a thickness once reserved for waterjets and plasma cutting machines.

Adopting these high-powered devices comes with new considerations, however. All metal fabricators love the increased cutting capacity. For example, on average, a new 20-kW fiber laser can increase cutting speeds by up to 50% when compared to a 10-kW fiber laser power source. That comparison is valid when the cutting is done using nitrogen as the laser assist gas, and thats important to note because nitrogen gas consumption rises dramatically with these new high-powered fiber laser cutting machines. Legacy equipment simply cant match the range of material thicknesses that can be cut efficiently with nitrogen on high-powered fiber laser cutting machines.

Nitrogen is the gas of choice because it prevents the laser-cut edge from becoming oxidized, which is what happens when oxygen is used as the assist gas. (Powder coatings and paint often cannot adhere to oxidized metal edges.) That leads to the following scenario: A metal fabricator loves producing more parts per hour than it ever could on its older laser cutting machine, and to minimize downstream handling, such as grinding the edges to remove evidence of oxidation, it uses nitrogen as the assist gas. As a result, the fabricator likely is going to use more nitrogenespecially if it is cutting platethan it ever did before.

Does the shop seek out larger bulk tanks? Thats a possibility, but it might not be the most cost-effective answer. Relationships with gas suppliers require contracts, which lock metal fabricating companies into a financial arrangement that offers little flexibility. Also, in many instances, the farther away a fab operation is from the gas supplier, the more expensive the gas is.

Increased consumption of nitrogen also begs the question if a facilitys piping system can accommodate the new volume of gas. Re-piping the entire infrastructure might be required with the upsizing of bulk tanks.

After having invested in a new high-powered laser cutting machine including material handling and parts sorting automation, any metal fabricator would show interest in trying to minimize the ongoing costs of running the laser. Thats why more of them are showing an interest in nitrogen generators as part of the equipment mix when they embrace high-powered laser cutting.

Nitrogen generation isnt new to the metal fabricating sector, but it is being more widely embraced. Many shops might have been suspicious of the technology at one time and found traditional bulk containers or dewars more reliable. Today the high-powered fiber lasers thirst for nitrogen is changing any lingering doubts into full-fledged interest.

Nitrogen-generation devices dont really create nitrogen but extract it from the surrounding atmosphere. Nitrogen makes up approximately 78% of the air humans breathe, and oxygen accounts for about 21%. The rest is argon and traces of other gases like carbon dioxide and methane.

There are essentially two methods of generating high-purity nitrogen: membranes and pressure swing adsorption. In the membrane process, gas flows through a collection of hollow fibers; the oxygen molecules flow through because they are smaller than the fibers pores, and nitrogen molecules, which are larger than the pores, migrate to the laser (see Figure 1).

Pressure swing adsorption involves a two-tank setup with a carbon molecular sieve on both tanks to trap oxygen molecules. As one tank is trapping the oxygen, the sieve allows the nitrogen molecules to pass vertically to the second tank. When the first tank can no longer adsorb additional oxygen molecules, a pressure swing occurs between the two tanks, with the second tank becoming pressurized and the first tank expelling its collection of oxygen. The first tank then is filled with nitrogen, and the separation cycle begins again. The entire process is in a constant state of balance (see Figure 2).

Figure 1. The membrane process of generating nitrogen is focused on having gas flow through a collection of hollow fibers. The oxygen molecules flow through the fibers because they are smaller than the fibers pores, and nitrogen molecules, which are larger than the pores, pass through to the laser cutting machine.

Currently the pressure swing adsorption approach is the most common for nitrogen generation for laser cutting. It can produce a very pure nitrogen gas and deliver strong flow rates at higher pressures for those laser cutting machines that require them.

In recent years a lot of research has been conducted with gas mixingadding another gas to nitrogen during the laser cutting process. The primary motivation was increased cutting rates; the idea was that the presence of some oxygen could elevate the cutting temperatures, thereby removing metal at a higher rate. This worked in many instances, but not in all cases.

A recently discovered benefit of gas mixing is the ability to reduce the fiber burrthat burr and dross on the bottom side of metal, particularly aluminum, which appears after metal is cut with any high-powered fiber laser using an inert gas such as nitrogen. This burr results from the material cooling too fast as it is ejected through the bottom surface and recast on the edges of the profile. The presence of oxygen in the gas mix and resultant increase in cut temperature helps to minimize the burr to the point that many metal fabricators can live with the laser-cut results and not worry about downstream deburring.

The results of using this type of gas mix can be pretty dramatic when compared to using straight nitrogen. For instance, a test involving a 6-kW fiber laser cutting 0.375-in. mild steel revealed that a gas mix of 97% nitrogen and 3% oxygen produced a cutting speed of 110 IPM, which was a marked improvement over the 90 IPM using only nitrogen as the assist gas.

The results get more dramatic with higher-powered machines. A 10-kW fiber laser processing the same material and using the same gas mixture achieved cutting speeds as high as 230 IPM. Using straight nitrogen as the laser assist gas, the same machine reached only 183 IPM.

Those are just two examples, but metal fabricators can expect higher-quality edges, increased cutting speeds, and reduced nitrogen consumption when using these gas mixes. Obviously, the results will differ depending on the laser cutting machine being used and the prescribed gas ratio mixtures.

Metal fabricators worried about oxidation of edges when using a gas mix with oxygen have every right to be concerned, but they also might be surprised. Some metal manufacturers have found that parts cut with a gas mixture of 95% nitrogen and 5% oxygen accepted a paint coating well enough and performed satisfactorily in scratch-resistance and weather tests. On the other hand, some manufacturing companies that required parts stand up to extensive salt spray testing, where parts are blasted with salt and water over a long period of time, discovered that using the gas mix during laser cutting opened the door to more test failures. Again, the application and user expectations drive whether the use of this gas mix makes sense.

These gas mixes are delivered to the laser cutting machine through an on-demand gas-mixing system, which is both small in size and inexpensive. The gas mixer makes it easy to dial in the correct ratio of nitrogen and oxygen for the cutting application.

These gas mixers are connected to the nitrogen-generation system and typically high-pressure dewars of oxygen. A bulk supply of oxygen typically doesnt work for this setup because the feed pressure is too low. The feed pressure from one of these oxygen tanks might be 145 PSI, which is inadequate when compared to the feed pressure of 350 PSI from the nitrogen-generation system. If the incoming oxygen feed pressure is 20 PSI less than the nitrogen feed pressure, the nitrogen will displace the oxygen, and the gas flow will become unbalanced. The high-pressure dewars of oxygen keep that gas mixture in the correct balance.

The overall size of the nitrogen-generation system comprises two main parts: the generation unit and the storage tanks. The generation unit takes up about a 6 by 6 sq. ft. and stands about 8 ft. tall. The storage tanks, which look like a stack of scuba tanks, are stacked close to the generation unit, adding a few feet to the overall footprint. The on-demand gas mixer is small by comparison: 2 by 2.5 ft. and about 3 ft. tall.

Figure 2. Pressure swing adsorption systems are commonly used to generate nitrogen for laser cutting.

The size of the nitrogen-generation equipment makes it a good candidate for placing it above the laser cutting machine, say in a mezzanine. To make the most of their existing square footage, shops are looking to go vertical wherever they can with ancillary support equipment for their workhorse machine tools. A nitrogen-generation system is a suitable candidate for this approach.

Research on gas mixing is likely to continue as laser cutting machines grow in power and metal fabricators open their minds to what is possible beyond using pure nitrogen as an assist gas. Machine tool companies will explore just how much oxygen they might be able to introduce for a cutting application that boosts cutting speed and improves cut edges without leaving too much evidence of oxidation. These companies also will take a look at alternative gases to add to the mix, especially given the increased amount of titanium and other specialty metals that fabricators are being asked to cut for the growing commercial space industry.

Despite all the positives associated with nitrogen generation and the new gas mixes that are available with these systems, some metal fabricators are still dragging their feet. The initial capital investment can be a turnoff, particularly if their current gas delivery method and storage tanks work.

Thats where these company owners and managers need to change their perspective. Nitrogen generation represents a chance for metal fabricators to improve production rates, achieve cost certainty, and even boost product quality, with the potential to see further improvements thanks to continuing industry research. Its getting to the point where fabricators cant afford to ignore nitrogen generation if they are running high-powered laser cutting machines.

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High-powered lasers and the evolution of assist gases - The Fabricator

A new fossil discovery in the Mackenzie Mountains, Northwest Territories, Canada, may change how we consider animal evolution. Image via The Conversation.

By Elizabeth C. Turner, Laurentian University

Ever wonder how and when animals swanned onto the evolutionary stage? When, where and why did animals first appear? What were they like?

Life has existed for much of Earths 4.5-billion-year history, but for most of that time it consisted exclusively of bacteria.

Although scientists have been investigating the evidence of biological evolution for over a century, some parts of the fossil record remain maddeningly enigmatic, and finding evidence of Earths earliest animals has been particularly challenging.

Information about evolutionary events hundreds of millions of years ago is mainly gleaned from fossils. Familiar fossils are shells, exoskeletons and bones that organisms make while alive. These so-called hard parts first appear in rocks deposited during the Cambrian explosion, slightly less than 540 million years ago.

The seemingly sudden appearance of diverse, complex animals, many with hard parts, implies that there was a preceding interval during which early soft-bodied animals with no hard parts evolved from simpler animals. Unfortunately, until now, possible evidence of fossil animals in the interval of hidden evolution has been very rare and difficult to understand, leaving the timing and nature of evolutionary events unclear.

This conundrum, known as Darwins dilemma, remains tantalizing and unresolved 160 years after the publication of On the Origin of Species.

There is indirect evidence regarding how and when animals may have appeared. Animals by definition ingest preexisting organic matter, and their metabolisms require a certain level of ambient oxygen. It has been assumed that animals could not appear, or at least not diversify, until after a major oxygen increase in the Neoproterozoic Era, sometime between 815 and 540 million years ago, resulting from accumulation of oxygen produced by photosynthesizing cyanobacteria, also known as blue-green algae.

It is widely accepted that sponges are the most basic animal in the animal evolutionary tree and therefore probably were first to appear. Yes, sponges are animals: they use oxygen and feed by sucking water containing organic matter through their bodies. The earliest animals were probably sponge-related (the sponge-first hypothesis),and may have emerged hundreds of millions of years prior to the Cambrian, as suggested by a genetic method called molecular phylogeny, which analyzes genetic differences.

Based on these reasonable assumptions, sponges may have existed as much as 900 million years ago. So, why have we not found fossil evidence of sponges in rocks from those hundreds of millions of intervening years?

Part of the answer to this question is that sponges do not have standard hard parts (shells, bones). Although some sponges have an internal skeleton made of microscopic mineralized rods called spicules, no convincing spicules have been found in rocks dating from the interval of hidden early animal evolution. However, some sponge typeshave a skeleton made of tough protein fibers called spongin, forming a distinctive, microscopic, three-dimensional meshwork, identical to a bath sponge.

Work on modern and fossil sponges has shown that these sponges can be preserved in the rock record when their soft tissue is calcified during decay. If the calcified mass hardens around spongin fibers before they too decay, a distinctive microscopic meshwork of complexly branching tubes results appears in the rock. The branching configuration is unlike that of algae, bacteria or fungi, and is well known from limestones younger than 540 million years.

I am a geologist and paleobiologist who works on very old limestone. Recently, I described this exact microstructure in 890-million-year-old rocks from northern Canada, proposing that it could be evidence of sponges that are several hundred million years older than the next-youngest uncontested sponge fossil.

Although my proposal may initially seem outrageous, it is consistent with predictions and assumptions that are common in the paleontological community: the new material seems to validate an extrapolated timeline and a predicted identity for early animals that are already widely accepted.

If these are indeed sponge fossils, animal evolution can be pushed back by several hundred million years.

The early possible sponges that I describe lived with localized cyanobacterial communities that produced oxygen oases in an otherwise low-oxygen world, prior to the Neoproterozoic oxygenation event. These early sponges may have continued living in similar environments, possibly unchanged and unchallenged by evolutionary pressure, for up to several hundred million years, before more diverse animals emerged.

The existence of 890-million-year-old animals would also indicate that biological evolution was not substantially affected by the controversial Cryogenian glacial episodes so-called snowball Earth that began around 720 million years ago.

My unusual fossil material may provide a new perspective on Darwins dilemma. However, radical new ideas are generally not fully accepted by the scientific community without vigorous discussion; I expect lively controversy to ensue. At some point, probably years in the future, a consensus may develop based on further work. Until then, enjoy the debate!

Elizabeth C. Turner, Professor, Earth Sciences, Laurentian University

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

Bottom line: Elizabeth Turner said her new fossil discovery may be the oldest animal fossil on record. The 890-million-year-old sponge would push back the evolutionary timeline for animals.

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New fossil discovery may add 100s of millions of years to animal evolution - EarthSky

The professional growth of a photographer, and therefore the maturity of his or her projects, passes through several phases. Different phases require different skills from the photographer. In each phase the work and the goal of photography change, the maturity of his or her work grows.

Borrowing ideas from Greiners growth model (good designers copy, great designers steal), I came up with a model for the evolution of the commercial photographer. Just like Greiners famous model, my model has different phases. It also has crisis moments marking the transition from one phase to the next. And I want to say right away that this is a rather subjective model, and Im sure its different for everyone.

The foundation of photography is creating beautiful images. This is a fundamental skill of any photographer. Its what is taught in art school. Thats why photographers become photographers, to create beauty. Its what makes photography appealing. Its what most people imagine when they think of photography.

The creator uses classic tools and possesses aesthetic skills: color grading, rhythm, form. Further professional growth depends on learning and mastering to create more beautiful things.

The first moment of crisis comes when the photographer succeeds. The better the photography gets, the more photo projects he or she can work on. The photographer needs to collaborate with more people and create projects on a larger scale. It requires tools that help to create more complex photography.

This is quite an obstacle for a creator who was taught in art school to work solo on a single project and who has mastered the craft to perfection.

When photographers overcome the obstacles of collaboration and systems thinking, they become art directors. They now work with larger teams of stylists, agencies, and even approach retouching and color grading differently. Further growth will ensure better collaboration and sharpened systems thinking.

An art director works with stylists, brands, location scouts, magazines, editors, etc. He or she develops beautiful and on-trend projects. Now the final picture has more impact because the scale is bigger. But sometimes the team does their work not according to the assignment, but in the way they want or know how to do it. And thats where the problems come in

If the team wants more impact, the next hurdle they have to overcome is establishing the perfect point of interaction. The photographer (AKA art director) needs to become a problem solver, not a picture maker. For the photographer to allow others to participate in his or her process is a big leap.

If the photographer can connect to all stakeholders and develop organizational skills, he or she can create much bigger solutions. To establish a dialogue, the photographer must understand the language of the business.

Even if youve worked it all out, put ideas together in powerful mood boards, youre faced with the fact that the reality of your idea is too complex to implement. Creating large-scale projects takes a lot of time and money, and in our complex world doesnt bring enough value. Either the world has changed since TikTok, or it turns out youve drifted far into creativity. To solve this problem, the photographer must become a researcher, or better yet, a scientist. Scared?

Scientists are able to build, measure, and learn, apply their unique perspective, mindset, and skillset to lift projects to a higher level. Such a hybrid approach of the artistic, combined with analytical thinking, allows them to create even more valuable projects. Visual thinking, ability to create concrete things, creativity, courage, and ability to see connections all contribute to the quality and success of the projects. They no longer do tasks, they create them. Take a look at Nick Knights photography projects, for example.

And thats when they discover their superpowers, they want more. They want maximum influence: to lead people according to their visions.

And now the photographer faces the final crisis. It needs to raise his or her leadership status. When the photographer was an art director, he or she was already leading a team. But now the playing field has changed. It is no longer just influencing a team, it is about influencing entire organizations.

Its not just about learning how to communicate properly like when it was at the connectors phase. Its a step up. It requires understanding how modern designers, brands and entire industries think and work. To break the rules, you have to learn them first.

There is a growing need in business for a new type of leadership based on imagination. A powerful image can be a tremendous force for change.

About the author: Dmitry Ostrovsky (@ostrovsky) is a photographer and editor of the independent editorial board EDITTS (@editts.class), which is the most useful and beautiful blog about contemporary photography on Instagram in Russia and the CIS. The opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the author.

Image credits: Header photo licensed from Depositphotos

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The Evolution of the Pro Photographer Through Phases and Crises - PetaPixel

Between 2.5 and 4 billion years ago, a time known as the Archean eon, Earths weather could often be described as cloudy with a chance of asteroid.

Back then, it was not uncommon for asteroids or comets to hit Earth. In fact, the largest ones, more than six miles wide, altered the chemistry of the planets earliest atmosphere. While this has all been generally accepted by the geologists, what hasnt been as well understood is how often these large asteroids would hit and how exactly the fallout from the impacts affected the atmosphere, specifically oxygen levels. A team of researchers now believe they have some of the answers.

In a new study, Nadja Drabon, a Harvard assistant professor of Earth and planetary sciences, was part of a team that analyzed remnants of ancient asteroids and modeled the effects of their collisions to show that the strikes took placemore often than previously thought and may have delayed when oxygen started accumulating on the planet. The new models can help scientists understand more precisely when the planet started its path toward becoming the Earth we know today.

Free oxygen in the atmosphere is critical for any living being that uses respiration to produce energy, Drabon said. Without the accumulation of oxygen in the atmosphere we would probably not exist.

The work is described in Nature Geoscience and was led by Simone Marchi, a senior research scientist at the Southwest Research Institute in Boulder, Colorado.

The researchers found existing planetary bombardment models underestimate how frequently asteroids and comets would hit Earth. The new, higher collision rate suggest impactors hit the planet roughly every 15 million years, about 10 times higher than current models.

The scientists realized this after analyzing records of what appear to be ordinary bits of rock. They are actually ancient evidence, known as impact spherules, that formed in the fiery collisions each time large asteroids or comets struck the planet. The energy from each impact melted and vaporized the rocky materials in the Earths crust, shooting them up in a giant plume. Small droplets of molten rock in that cloud would then condense and solidify, falling back to Earth as sand-sized particles that would settle back onto the Earths crust. These ancient markers are hard to find since they form layers in the rock that are usually only about an inch or so.

You basically just go on long hikes and you look at all the rocks you can find because the impact particles are so tiny, Drabon said. Theyre really easily missed.

Scientists, however, have caught breaks. Over the last couple of years, evidence for a number of additional impacts have been found that hadnt been recognized before, Drabon said.

These new spherule layers increased the total number of known impact events during the early Earth. This allowed the Southwest Research Institute team to update their bombardment models to find the collision rate had been underestimated.

Researchers then modeled how all these impacts would have influenced the atmosphere. They essentially found that the accumulated effects of meteorite impacts by objects larger than six miles probably created an oxygen sink that sucked most of the oxygen out of the atmosphere.

The findings align with the geological record, which shows that oxygen levels in the atmosphere varied but stayed relatively low in the early Archean eon. This was the case until around 2.4 billion years ago, during the tail end of the time period when the bombardment slowed down. The Earth then went through a major shift in surface chemistry triggered by the rise of oxygen levels known as the Great Oxidation Event.

As time went on, collisions become progressively less frequent and too small to be able to significantly alter post-GOE oxygen levels, Marchi said in a statement. The Earth was on its course to become the current planet.

Drabon said next steps in the project include putting their modeling work to the test to see what they can model in the rocks themselves.

Can we actually trace in the rock record how the oxygen was sucked out of the atmosphere? Drabon wondered.

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Asteroid, comet strikes stunted evolution of atmosphere - Harvard Gazette

Appearing at the recent DC FanDome event, The Batman star Zo Kravitz and director Matt Reeves have teased the evolution of the infamous villain-slash-accomplice-slash-love interest, Catwoman. Much like the Dark Knight himself, the noirish comic book movie outing will introduce an early-years version of the crusading cat burglar, building a foundation for the character before slowly allowing her to become a more familiar iteration.

"I obviously understand the gravity of a character like this and what she means to so many people," Zo Kravitz said during DC FanDome last weekend. "But what felt really important was to really focus on the story that we're telling in this moment, you know, and try and create a real human being. I don't want her to be an idea. You know, I want her to be a real human being in a real situation, in a real city, trying to survive and reacting to her own pain, and her history. So I really, really focused on this particular story in this particular moment in this woman's life."

Kravitz will star in The Batman as Selina Kyle, the alter ego of Catwoman, a nightclub worker and cat burglar who comes into contact with the Caped Crusader while searching for her missing friend. It was important for Kravitz to craft a three-dimensional character for herself, and thus avoid simply portraying an icon or coasting on the ideas created by past portrayals. Something which will certainly make the character more endearing as she evolves into the Catwoman we all know and love (and sometimes hate).

"Because this is the foundation that we're setting right now, right?" Kravitz continued. "As we move forward and see her become Catwoman, that heart and that humanity will always be there."

Giving Selina Kyle her own story outside of Batman was equally as important to director Matt Reeves who added, "I think it was about trying to find a way... to ground her so that she felt like she had an emotional journey that made sense for who she was that ended up being Selina Kyle, but was one that we hadn't seen before. And yet, in some ways, it does connect to the comics. I mean, that's the thing which would be fun to share with an audience is that there are very there are a lot of iconic Selina Kyle aspects to the story, but I don't think any version of any of the Batman stories that have done any Selina stuff have done it in this way."

Directed by War for the Planet of the Apes' Matt Reeves, who has written the screenplay alongside Peter Craig, The Batman will reboot the DC franchise, introducing audiences to the titular superhero in his second year of fighting crime. Batman uncovers corruption in Gotham City that connects to his own family while facing a serial killer known as the Riddler.

The Batman stars Robert Pattinson as Bruce Wayne AKA Batman, alongside Zo Kravitz as Selina Kyle/Catwoman, Paul Dano as Edward Nashton/Riddler, Jeffrey Wright as James Gordon, John Turturro as Carmine Falcone, Peter Sarsgaard as Gil Colson, Andy Serkis as Alfred Pennyworth, and Colin Farrell as Oswald "Oz" Cobblepot, also known as The Penguin. These comments were made during the recent DC FanDome event.

Topics: The Batman, Catwoman

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The Batman Star and Director Tease the Evolution of Catwoman - MovieWeb

Each year, Herms sets a creative theme for its design studios, with the aim of sparking conversation and providing some unified direction among its myriad propositions, ranging from entry-level scarves to high-end handbags and custom yacht upholstery for the happy few. This years theme, the Odyssey, is about confronting the worlds uncertainties without losing our identity, chief executive Axel Dumas said in a July presentation.

Its an apt metaphor for the French brand to adopt as it navigates the post-Covid fashion market: On the one hand, Herms ultra-classic, stable positioning at the top of luxurys pyramid has made it one the sectors largest and most resilient players, with sales bouncing back quickly from coronavirus lows as consumers flocked to its range of timeless, status-conveying items. On the other hand, despite its aura of staid permanence, Herms recent statements suggest a faster pace of change at the company, including adding new product categories and ramping up initiatives linked to sustainability, technology and omni-channel retail to meet the demands of the market.

Sales in the first nine months of this year rose 60 percent year-over-year, and by 43 percent compared to 2019s pre-pandemic levels, Herms said Thursday. With full-year sales expected by analysts to exceed 9 billion ($10.5 billion), the house is in striking distance of reclaiming its title as luxurys third-biggest brand (behind Louis Vuitton and Chanel) from Gucci, which surpassed Herms in 2017 but has rebounded more slowly from the pandemic.

The 2021 numbers look as if the pandemic never happened, or even a bit better, Bernstein analyst Luca Solca said. The brand remains in a league of their own, according to Citi analyst Thomas Chauvet.

That Herms has come out ahead of the pack following the coronavirus crisis is no surprise: The brand has long been luxurys most defensive player, insulated from market shocks by a deep well of client demand that exceeds supply for its prized Birkin and Kelly bags, despite the company ramping up production by opening new manufacturing sites each year. (The bags have an outsized financial impact for Herms as fans of the brand are known to court salespeople by loading up on other items and tend to jump at any chance to finally acquire one of the bags crisis or not.)

Whats perhaps more noteworthy is how much the brand is foregrounding new initiatives and innovations, challenging its reputation for playing it safe.

Tradition and experimentation

Herms is moving forward with the rollout of its nascent beauty unit, which debuted last year with a line of lipsticks packaged in eye-catching striped enamel tubes. The new division has since added the brands first-ever makeup, a range of $77 blushes announced with an influencer marketing campaign that triggered unboxing videos galore. (The campaign was a rare move for Herms, which has typically avoided the practice of gifting products to influencers.) The new division launched in July in China and is now rolling out a line of nail polishes and hand creams ahead of the holiday season.

The companys Perfume and Beauty unit still makes up less than 5 percent of sales. But beyond its financial impact, the division is giving the brand new topics to drive the marketing conversation and a chance to play at a lower price point than ever before ($200 neckties and $450 scarves had previously been the groups entry-level items par excellence).

While the brand doesnt sign endorsement deals with celebrities, recent efforts to push into the spotlight have paid off on the red carpet as well. The brand managed for the first time in recent memory to cozy up to a star and dress her for the Oscars, outfitting director Chlo Zhao in an Herms gown as she won both Best Picture and Best Director for Nomadland.

And while other brands have dipped in and out of the wearable tech space with one-off partnerships that often felt forced, Herms pursued the category further this year by launching new items with Apple, building on a partnership that goes back to the launch of the first Apple Watch in 2014. It designed leather cases for the California tech giants new line of AirTag geo-trackers, as well as revamping the design of its popular Apple Watch wristbands to fit a new-generation model being launched this month.

When Herms does something they usually dont try to make a splash. They dont come out and say: Were preparing for the next wave of young clients. But they are making changes, Zuzanna Pusz, luxury analyst at UBS, said.

The brand is also spotlighting efforts related to sustainability, a subject where it typically tries to fly under the radar: In March, the brand for which prestigious leather goods make up half the business became the first major luxury name to experiment with mushroom-derived leather substitutes when it used a material called mycelium on a special edition of its Victoria duffle. And in September it opened the first dedicated store for its Petit h line of upcycled leather items made from remnant materials.

In its quarterly results presentations this year, the brand has started adding a list of favourable designations in various sustainability and corporate responsibility rankings. Its a sign theyve understood investors care about this, Bernsteins Solca said.

Influencer marketing campaigns, red-carpet celebrity placements and touting sustainability wins might all sound like par for the course for a top luxury brand. But the moves each represent a shift for tradition-steeped Herms.

Chloe Zhao poses in the press room at the Oscars on Sunday, April 25, wearing Herms. Getty.

Further evolution could be on its way.

While the brand doesnt seem close to giving up controversial exotic skins, like Chanel, in a meeting with analysts Thursday the brands management said it was limiting production of items like top-priced crocodile-skin Kelly bags as it worked to increase its control of the supply chain for those materials down to the farm, citing ethical factors as well as a desire to boost quality.

The brand has also said it wants to update its approach to e-commerce. Herms regional e-commerce sites have always been managed as their own stores, managing their own stocks independent of brick-and-mortar boutiques (and with little access to sought-after bags). The gap between the e-commerce and physical store assortment means younger shoppers cant effectively indulge their proclivity to inform themselves about products and prices online before visiting stores. Now, CEO Axel Dumas is considering a more integrated approach. Its very important to think in terms of omni-channel and let clients decide where they want to buy, he said.

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Read more from the original source:

Tracking the Evolution of Herms - The Business of Fashion

On June 25, Tyler, the Creator released his sixth studio album, "Call Me If You Get Lost."

The album, his first since 2019's "Igor," is an amalgamation of his experiences and life lessons, touching on themes such as success, unrequited love and identity (links to albums contain explicit lyrics).

There are songs like "Lemonhead," where Tyler is braggadocious and ruminating about his material wealth, and songs like "M-ss-" and "Runitup," which simultaneously sift through his own childhood memories and the summer uprisings of 2020. More personally driven songs like "Wilshire" explore his romantic shortcomings and display Tyler at his best, where listeners hear his succinct, powerful storytelling and his growth from the early, controversial days of his career.

In a world that represses Black men, Tyler's work, while controversial, has served as a stubborn rejection against the white status quo. Zoomers, specifically black zoomers, admire his work because he routinely broadcasts different, complicated, yet authentic parts of himself. As a Black zoomer, particularly as a Black Catholic zoomer, his work feels refreshing.

Born in 1991 in Ladera Heights, California, Tyler formed the infamous millennial rap collective, Odd Future, at 16 years old, which brought something unique to rap and more broadly, contemporary pop culture. Tyler and other musicians like Frank Ocean, Hodgy Beats, Left Brain and Casey Veggies, who were all either teenagers or young adults at the time, created their own sound and style, combining indie, hip-hop and skater culture.

Though there were some critics and cultural gatekeepers who were impressed by the journey Odd Future was embarking on, especially on work like "The OF Tape Vol. 2 '' and "12 Odd Future Songs," others were confused and shocked by Odd Future's unorthodoxy. Along with their embrace of various subcultures, these teenagers adopted some rather preposterous methods at gaining attention. Sometimes they would ingest cockroaches, other times they would carelessly blurt out homphobic slurs.

In his solo work, Tyler adopted, and amplified, the horrorcore a subgenre within hip-hop music Odd Future became known for.

His first studio album, "Goblin," was released two years after his 2009 mixtape, "Bastard," and contains many of the elements found in horror rap: violence, homophobia, suicidal ideation and psychological horror. At times, the 15 tracks feel like a gory journey one just wants to end. On "Yonkers," Tyler opens with the line, "I'm a f---ing walking paradox," before verses touching on sex, dinosaurs, Jesus and suicide. On "She," the fourth track filled with '80s synths, chunky drums and Frank Ocean's heart-wrecking voice, Tyler narrates the inner monologue of his alter ego while committing femicide.

The album, and Tyler's work more broadly, has been criticized for its misogyny and sadism. When publicly addressing the critiques, Tyler would often mention how these weren't his thoughts. Rather he was writing through the perspective of an enigmatic alter ego. However, the whole point of pristine and emphatic storytelling is to masterfully convey the point in question and on "Goblin," the plotlines were always murky.

While "Goblin" was never a display of ardent and skillful narration, Tyler slowly evolved as a rapper, from an abrasive lyricist to a dynamic chronicler.

On 2013's "Wolf," he showcases his lyricism and art outside of the bloody, violent scenarios he described in his earlier work, especially on songs like "Tamale," which was a record so distinctly Californian, showcasing the undeniable effect of Latinx culture around Los Angeles. Although Tyler's third studio album, "Cherry Bomb," was a bit bloated and lagged and demonstrated his early musical tendencies, like those seen on "Goblin," it was filled with an appreciable amount of glimmers, foreshadowing the musical heights Tyler would reach in the coming years on projects like "Flower Boy" (2017) and "Igor" (2019).

Both albums show him transform melodically, and he becomes more mature. Earlier on in his career, Tyler framed his homophobic outbursts as harmless jokes. But underneath the radar, this homophobic rhetoric was a way of shielding himself from his own truth regarding his sexuality. Once he was able to be more upfront about his queer identity in "Flower Boy," his music felt less stifled. The artist blossomed and grew into something magical, transporting listeners while challenging us to more fully center and understand the nuances of Black, queer identity.

As a Black Catholic teenager, seeing a Black man who is in the alternative space has affirmed my identity in such an important way. His music has helped me to think more deeply about redemption and what it means to shed toxic masculinity.

Tyler's artistic and personal evolution shows young people like me that we can be different while retaining our blackness. And while Tyler, the Creator is an atheist/agnostic, I see how God moves through the rapper's work and evolution.

View post:

'Call Me If You Get Lost' and the evolution of Tyler, the Creator - National Catholic Reporter

Photo: Peter Brandt/Getty Images

These are the stories making headlines in fashion on Friday.

Tracking the evolution of HermsHerms is undergoing something of a transformation as it navigates the current state of retail. "On the one hand, Herms' ultra-classic, stable positioning at the top of luxury's pyramid has made it one of the sector's largest and most resilient players, with sales bouncing back quickly from coronavirus lows as consumers flocked to its range of timeless, status-conveying items," writes Robert Williams for Business of Fashion. "On the other hand... Herms' recent statements suggest a faster pace of change at the company, including adding new product categories and ramping up initiatives linked to sustainability, technology and omni-channel retail to meet the demands of the market." {Business of Fashion}

Founders Studio wants to support Black-owned beauty and wellness brandsMarketing agency BrainTrust is introducing Founders Studio, a branch of the company to "facilitate access for Black founders of beauty and wellness brands to the resources they need to strengthen their businesses," writes Beauty Independent's Rachel Brown. Founders Studio has already racked up an impressive group of corporate partners, including JPMorgan Chase & Co., Salesforce, Afterpay, Clearco and SHE Media. {Beauty Independent}

The FTC may be cracking down on MLMsMulti-level marketing companies like LuLaRoe have been exempt from the FTC's "business opportunity rule" which establishes a set of requirements for people trying to get others involved in a business opportunity for the last decade. But that could be changing, reports Emily Stewart for Vox: "The FTC announced in June that it would review the business opportunity rule as part of a revised 10-year review schedule and there is hope that, this time around, MLMs might be roped in."{Vox}

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Must Read: The Evolution of Herms, A New Resource for Black-Owned Beauty and Wellness Brands - Fashionista