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Category Archives: Transhuman News

‘Neanderthal Man’ Nobel Prize winner Svante Pbo revolutionized anthropology. Here is a look back at his groundbreaking 2014 memoir – Genetic Literacy…

Posted: October 6, 2022 at 12:06 pm

Svante Pbos memoir of how he came to lead a project to sequence the Neanderthal genome Neanderthal Man: In Search of Lost Genomes is at heart about sex. Sex in the sense of sexual behavior, not biological sex.

Sex in the sense of the drawn-out process of discovering whether we, the anatomically modern humans who are the sole survivors of the genus Homo, ever mated and produced children with our extinct nearest relative.

Andlets deal with this first and get it out of the waysex in the sense of Pbos own sex life. His candor about his bisexuality and his lengthy affair with a (female) scientist who also happened to be the wife of a colleague/collaborator who was nearly as well known in evolutionary genetics as Pbo himself. An affair that resulted in a son and marriage on a remote beach in Hawaii. Told with a strong implication that it wasnt that big a deal. That they all lived happily ever after.

A novelty in scientific autobiography, to be sure, and bound to raise more than a few eyebrows. But the candor reveals no drama and recounts no prurient details. Not about his gay life and not about the events leading to that private romantic marriage. Instead, they are matter-of-fact disclosures. Very nearly ho-hum.

This struck me as being fully in line with the trend in public attitudes toward sexual preferences, in the West at least. Which is a shrug and whatever. A revolution, really, but radical chiefly in that it has happened so fast. Fast, but not so fast that it has spilled over into places like Russia and Uganda.

Of course. You dont need to look at genomes to figure that out. [W]hat human groups dont? Pbo asks, rhetorically. So, yes, we had sex with them.

But did we have children with them? Thats the really interesting question. If Neanderthal DNA lives on in us, then it can be said that Neanderthals are not really extinct after all. It could mean we got some useful stuff from them; it would be good to know what it was. And scientists could begin to figure out which genes we possess that they didnt, how and why those genes contributed to the fact that were here, several billion of us, and they are long gone.

There was scientific resistance to this idea of intromission, the decorous term scientists use. Pbo himself doubted it. Thats partly because the first stab at Neanderthal DNA some years ago was to sequence the mitochondrial genome, not the DNA in the cell nucleus. (Nuclear DNA is what we usually mean when we say the genome.) Neanderthal mtDNA turned out to be unlike any human mtDNA around today. Which suggested that Neanderthals had contributed nothing to us.

Mitochondria, generally called the energy powerhouses of a cell, are remnants of bacteria that invaded multicellular organisms billions of years ago and stuck around. (For more on mtDNA, see my GLP article on three-parent babies.) If mtDNA is not the genome, why bother with it? Because, although it contains only 37 genes, there are hundreds and sometimes thousands of copies of it in every cell. Theres only one copy of the genome, the DNA in the cell nucleus. Its much, much easier to recover mtDNA, especially if youre trying to pry fragile DNA from bone thats been lying around in a cave for 40,000 years or more.

Even though Neanderthal mtDNA isnt like ours, the only way to really settle the question of its genetic contribution to us is to look at DNA in the Neanderthal cell nucleus and see if any of it matches our DNA. That horrendous task is mostly what Neanderthal Man is about.

The result: People of European or Asian ancestry have inherited between 1 and 4 percent of their nuclear DNA from Neanderthals, probably from matings that took place in the Middle Eastin present-day Israel, in factbefore the forebears of Europeans and Asians dispersed to the West and East. For technical theoretical reasons, it seems likely that most of these matings involved Neanderthal men with women from what Pbo calls the Replacement Crowd. (Thats us.)

Ive written a number of pieces on ancient DNA, and Ive always known it was tough to find and to analyze. But from Neanderthal Man I learned that I had no idea. DNA can be destroyed easily; ancient bone sources are pretty useless unless theyve been very dry for their thousands of years of storage. It also helps if they are very cold, which is why bones from extinct mammoths have yielded DNA relatively easily. There are no Neanderthals buried in permafrost.

And then theres the contamination problem. Microbes, mostly bacteria, burrow into buried bone and leave their DNA behind. So do the workers who dig up the bones and the museum curators who handle them (and sometimes lick them, a practice that, when he witnessed it himself, nearly caused Pbo to faint dead away.) Recent human DNA contamination is particularly awful because its so similar to Neanderthal DNA; its terribly hard to tell them apart.

And when the scientists finally got probable Neanderthal DNAin their best bone, amounting to only 3 percent of the totalthe tiny fragments had to be run through sequencers hundreds (or thousands) of times to ensure accuracy. The resulting sequences then had to be mapped against contemporary human DNA and ape DNA to figure out where they differ. This, Pbo says, is much like doing a giant jigsaw puzzle with many missing pieces, many damaged pieces, and lots and lots of extra pieces that would fit nowhere in the puzzle.

Im not even going to get in to the computations and programming skills involved in every step, although Pbo explains them quite well even for the mathematically uninclined.

In fact, the explanations of technical matters throughout the book are on the whole admirable. A few scientists write really well, but most dont, and English is not Pbos first language. You wouldnt know it. Some passages made me wonder if a science writer had helped out. Four editors are credited in the brief Preface, but no science writers. Pbo is free with praise and thanks for his many scientific collaborators, so Im inclined to think he would do the same for significant writing help if he had gotten it. I guess thats a compliment, but maybe Im just envious.

Pbo emphasizes how important his lab teams cohesion was to him. He is quite snarky about the two 800-pound gorilla journals, Science and Nature, which have been so eager to be known for hot papers that they have published some dubious ancient DNA studies. (One example is a most unlikely claim to have sequenced dinosaur DNA.) Yet a number of important papers from his lab have appeared there, in part because those venues do the careers of his junior colleagues the most good.

Another example: He and some of his colleagues wanted to patent the Neanderthal genome and license its use elsewhere, especially for use by companies providing DNA sequencing as a consumer product. This money would help fund the labs work. But some in his research group were adamantly opposed, insisting the data should be available freely to all. Pbo bowed to their urgency and gave up the patenting idea.

Cooperation was a hallmark among the many far-flung collaborators too. In the time leading up to publication of the complete Neanderthal genome paper, Pbo feared that the startling news about Neanderthal DNA being found in most of todays humans would leak to reporters. But it never did. Quite remarkable, considering that at least 50 people knew this fascinating fact. That paper, by the way, was nearly book-size. The supplementary material ran to 19 chapters and 174 pages.

Its an interesting question how much the research in Pbos lab (at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig) was eased along by something most of todays scientists are not vouchsafed: stable support. It came from Germanys Max Planck Society. This is funding that doesnt require the anxiety and hassle of annual grant proposals.

I dont know if this is the real Svante Pbo: driven, obsessive, a team-building natural, honest about his errors and his anxieties and his (very occasional) fits of temper. Often modest. The very model of a modern major scientist, and a very nice guy.

I hope so and have no reason to think otherwise. Personal anecdote: Several years ago an editor introduced a fairly serious error into a piece I had interviewed him for. She then posted the final version before I had a chance to look at it. When I did, I was of course horror-struck. I demanded (and got) an immediate fix, and then, visions of my science journalism career in ruins, wrote Pbo a groveling apology. He replied by return email, amused at my panic, telling me not to worry. Whew!

So, yes, to this n of 1, a very nice guy.

Pbos tale describes a process approaching the Platonic Idea of contemporary science: a lot of very smart people collaboratively working their butts off, persisting through mistakes and failures and numbingly repetitive but essential tasks and political machinations and technological inadequacies because they believe the Truth is Out There. And finally finding it.

Others have not yet weighed in, and this being top-level and therefore monumentally competitive science, contrarians may well emerge. But if the Neanderthal genome project was anything like what Pbo describes, we are damn lucky.

Tabitha M. Powledge is a long-time science journalist and a contributing columnist for the Genetic Literacy Project. She writes On Science Blogs for the PLOS Blogs Network.

This article previously appeared on the GLP March 6, 2014.

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'Neanderthal Man' Nobel Prize winner Svante Pbo revolutionized anthropology. Here is a look back at his groundbreaking 2014 memoir - Genetic Literacy...

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Avatar: Where We Were and Where We’re at The Minnesota Republic – Kent Kaiser

Posted: at 12:00 pm

Avatar premiered in 2009 to massive successes both critically and at the box office. The epic science fiction film is written and directed by the world-class director James Cameron. You may know him from his other films such as Titanic, or the Terminator series.

Although Cameron finished the script for Avatar in 1994 (before he even began to film Titanic (1997)), he felt that the necessary technology for the creation of an entirely new world on screen was not available yet. The work on the fictional language in the film, Navi began almost a decade later in 2005. Finally, in 2006 the screenplay was finished and production began on one of the most expensive masterpieces ever produced. Estimates for the filming cost due to groundbreaking revolutionary steps in digital design, computer-generated imaging, and an array of new visual effects have reached numbers upwards of 280-310 million dollars and another 150 million for promotion and marketing for the film.

All of the new technology paid off. The film was critically acclaimed as a world-class performance in visual arts as well as on the screen. Critics and regular viewers alike agreed the film was nothing like anything that had come before and it showed in the box office. To this day it holds the worldwide box office record at 2.878 billion dollars. Thats a billion with a b. With its re-release in theaters this past month it is speculated that the film will end up breaking the 3 billion dollar mark.

I sat down to write this article as a refresher on the success, story, and shock of Avatar and the upcoming Avatar 2. Almost 15 years after the box office hit that was Avatar the world was shocked with the news that Avatar is back and not only for a single sequel but a trilogy (coming ~2024)

So, what happened in the first one and what can the viewer expect in the second?

The film is set in the mid-22nd century as humans begin to colonize new planets looking for natural resources to mine to support their growing population. The mineral they are looking for unobtanium ironic. However, this colonization poses a particularly great risk to the native population of the moon Pandora. The film is titled Avatar because it is the form the human population takes on to communicate with the native population. Characterized by their tall, strikingly blue skin color and braided locks, the human population can literally walk in the Navis shoes down to their very bodies. The film follows a soldier that is transformed into one of these Avatars and falls in love with the native populations culture and people and realizes he must do whatever it takes to defend their land.

Avatar was nominated for nine Academy Awards, including Best Picture and Best Director, and won three, for Best Art Direction, Best Cinematography, and Best Visual Effects. The films success also led to electronics manufacturers releasing 3D televisions and caused 3D films to increase in popularity.

When speaking to a fellow student this week about the upcoming release this is what he had to say.

Im so excited to see it, I still remember the feeling I had when I saw the original avatar for the first time. I cant even begin to imagine what James Cameron has up his sleeve for this one

Jack Radomski

I know many students feel this way as Avatar was well ahead of its time. With the prevalence of science fiction films in the past few years such as Blade Runner 2049, Arrival, and Dune we are all looking forward to what masterpiece James Cameron will follow up the original Avatar with.

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Avatar: Where We Were and Where We're at The Minnesota Republic - Kent Kaiser

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Glitching Time and Time-Based Media The Brooklyn Rail – Brooklyn Rail

Posted: at 12:00 pm

To find a form that accommodates the mess, that is the task of the artist now.

Samuel Beckett in an interview with Tom Driver,Columbia University Forum, 1961

Time is a socio-technological system with profound organizing qualities. It feels, these days, exceedingly oppressive. Theres never enough time! For anything. Calendars are the earliest containing device with the purpose of determining a social order; the history of the Roman calendar reveals the role of international and national politics that play out across each new temporal infrastructure. Ours have been designed through the global proclamation of Greenwich Mean Time in 1884 by colonial empires, the apocalyptic anxiety provocations of the doomsday clock established in 1947, the insistent instant-ness of digital time since the 1970s exacerbated by strings of video chat meetings of the last couple years, and the frenetic branding of our social/professional lives demanded by transnational corporate technologys mediation of everyone and everything, all the time. Its a mess.

Temporal orders produce certain affects and engagements, ideas and beliefs. Now, we find ourselves living time across different scales in different contexts, from our own physiological cycles to overnight software updates to the long term consequences of ecological well-being. The scholar Achille Membe succinctly articulates how the layering of time has become more explicit of late:

In layered time, we can get confused about which scale is leading, guiding, and why. We often dont think about time, however, until something goes wrong. As Legacy Russell writes in Glitch Feminism (2020), A glitch is an error, a mistake, a failure to function. Within technoculture, a glitch is part of machinic anxiety, an indicator of something having gone wrong. As she continues across the book, the glitch therefore acts as a form of resistance. Im suggesting it can also disrupt the gasping sense of too much, too soon, too late of time. Heres the thing. No authoritative regime is going to suddenly grant any of us more time. To hope for more time is even, perhaps, to default again into capitalist excess. This is our time. Glitching it is a punk move to assert your own pace and engage alternatives.

Glitching produces a sense of wrongness that may be productive to countering hegemonic orders. We accept the ordering that time projects, until seeing it altered, manipulated, reset allows us to consider how our time might be conceived of differently. Artists formalize the cultural mess in their jabs at time and remind us to question what we mindlessly accept as the order of things.

In fall 2020, Sean Kelly Gallery presented the exhibition Existential Time by Joseph Kosuth, a canonical figure of conceptual art who frequently works with language, meaning, philosophy, and here brought our attention to temporality. Pandemic alienation made the show all too prescient. In contrast to many of Kosuths installations where words and objects intertwine, the works in Existential Time felt startlingly distinct. The eight quotes about time were spaced along the long gallery wall and none of the glow from the white neon lettering overlapped. That separation invited a slow pace, a meditative contemplation, while on the opposite wall, each 16 clock was stuffed with a similar quote and the hands spun at various rates. The rapid cycling disrupted a certain kind of self-seriousness that conceptual art can sometimes evoke and tempered the privileged pretentiousness of thinking about time in such philosophical terms. Standing between the two, I could laugh at my own effort to establish one time for all things. Time varies according to the moment.

As early as 1965, Kosuth was disrupting any stable notion of time with Clock (One and Five), English/Latin Version. The five-part work presented an object, its copy, and textual definitions: a photograph of a clock in proportion to the actual clock placed next to it, and three texts on time, machination/machine/machinery, and object seemingly photocopied and enlarged out of an English/Latin dictionary. The work doesnt evoke time-based mediatypically delimited to video, film, slide, audio, or computer technologiesbut as conceptual art, its engagement with temporal representations and infrastructures aligns it.

Kosuths photograph of the clock is an indexical appeal later expanded upon by Christian Marclay in The Clock (2010), a wonderful 24 hour film excerpting displays of clocks from cinema for each moment of the day. The media work makes evident the persistent representation of time in our lives, especially screen based lives, and its organizational influence. Time looms every minute of the day, with drives to be ever more productive, professionally and even personally. The notion of free time aims to distinguish it from the constant assignment of labor, except now we fill it with self-enhancing, self-improving labor. Its never enough.

Contemporaneity is inherently an issue of time, of being with time. Typically assigned the same starting period of the 1960s, time-based media arts come to the fore with contemporary art. And yet, so was it to be modern, from the Latin modo just now. It is worth noting that this compulsion to be present appears as a guiding concept at the end of the Victorian periods strictures to be timely. This modernity, this being here now, would however launch a constant disruption of that order.

Man Rays Object to be Destroyed (Objet dtruire) (1922-3) is a metronome with a photograph of an eye on the pendulum. He would set it to go faster and faster. One day its silence irritated him and he smashed it. In 1933, he remade it but it was lost in the exigencies of World War II. A reproduction in 1958 got a new title: Indestructible Object (1933). There is no destroying what captures the cultural imagination, be it object or a temporal order, even if both as physical artifacts might be smashed, lost, exploded, or eliminated. We can bring criticality to their influence, however, and glitch what doesnt work for us.

Time is a knowledge regime and industrial clock time was integral to colonization. Missionaries were donated clocks by wealthy patrons to ensure that people around the world would adopt and conform to the Protestant (and capitalist) virtues of timeliness, the organizing principle behind industrial labor. Charlie Chaplin opens Modern Times (1936) with a clock to launch his somewhat comical (depending on your perspective) depiction of automations requirement of punctuality, the increase in speed with any form of success, and the bodys inability to match progressive machine time.

Michael Mandiberg appropriated Chaplins classic by hiring gig workers from Fiverr to reproduce scenes for Postmodern Times (2017). The global site for one-off jobs introduces an international element into this film and a reminder that industrys response to desiring an inexhaustive labor force was to expand around the world for a 24hour labor force. By splicing scenes together, the film also enacts the cut and paste exactitude that is crucial to film as a medium and made me consider the fracturing of thought I can accept due to the cut and paste nature of writing now.

In 1970, UNIX time provided a centralized international standard for digital timekeeping that organizes all computers when they come online, except its doomed to fail. January 19, 2038 will be a new Y2K as UNIX time uses a 32 bit integer system that can't compute past a set number of seconds since the launch on January 1, 1970. I have argued elsewhere how digital time, presented in the Pulsar Time Computer wristwatch that launched in 1972, abandons duration for the instant and so atomizes our experience contributing to an alienated and hyper-individualist culture. Media culture emerged amidst that tension between centralized hierarchies and atomized individuals, and the artists of this period did wonders to showcase the effects we now decry.

Nam Jun Paiks T.V. Clock (1963/1981) presented an electric line across 24 televisions, each screen representing one hour of the day, in an allusion to the global technocratic connectivity enabled by this device even before the global broadcasts of Our World (1967) or the moon landing (1969). Lynda Benglis interacts with a prerecorded image of herself in Now (1973), dissolving the audiences ability to distinguish between the real and the virtual, which ironically occurs despite the fact that both are mediated. To be now, to be present, to be current is to be mediated. Even in person, we carry with us the mediated encounters of our shared histories. The static effects in color and sound of Benglis's work produce that glitch effect that problematizes the real we want to ascribe to the virtual and invokes the real that is in the virtual anyway. Its remarkable to think that Benglis made this work 50 years ago.

The writer Jeremy Rifkin wrote in 1987 about the impact of computer programs in Time Wars, arguing that astronomical timekeeping introduced the notion of cycles, mechanical timekeeping produced the concept of fixed, linear time, and computers unraveled that for associative relations, It is a stepchild of psychological consciousness, just as the concept of linear time was a stepchild of historical consciousness. Mandibergs Quantified Self Portrait (One Year Performance) (2016-7) includes the line I worked late, got caught in loops, and had a meltdown; zero progress, but no way to let go which speaks to the free associative wandering that the internet encourages with hyperlinks from which we force ourselves to return to the original point. How many have bemoaned lost time in a YouTube rabbit hole. Yes, it was designed that way. The quote also points to the cultural value of the looping aesthetic found in some digital art.

The LA-based artist Raphael Arar produced a sculpture called Capitalist Clock (2022) that uses a punch card metaphor for the labor we produce through our activity on social media sites. A live search pulls idioms including "time well spent," "serve time," "time is money," "invest time," "get time off," "borrowed time," "free time," "save time," "a waste of time," "no time to lose," "best use of time" to put it into a queue. It's displayed on the LCD screen and subsequently punched in by the solenoid, registering the labor of the tweeter for the data driven economy of social media. All the components are made visible to counter the opacity of tech capitalisms black boxes. Its a necessary reminder for NFT-Twitter whose quasi-anarchic stance against federal bank systems and global capitalism while shilling their works on this data capitalist platform is, at best, ironic.

Now, I see digital artists working with blockchain producing works about a variety of temporal orders in no small part because that emergent technology introduces and establishes an entirely new system of time, eloquently described by the artist Anna Ridler. These artists are glitching this temporal order by introducing other experiences of time. They reinstate corporal somatic time (Lauren Lee McCarthys Good Night 2022), transform the three months of corporate dividend quarters into a gift economy (Sara Friend, Lifeforms 2022), remember the persistent cycle of even obsolescent satellite surveillance (Xin Liu, Atlas 2022), and more. They compelled my musings on these times in which we live.

The current Feral File exhibition curated by Julia Kaganskiy, Harbingers, came out of conversations with artists Pinar Yoldas and Zach Blas. All were interested in the idea of having works disintegrate over time in opposition to the insistent speculation within the NFT market; this degeneration is a recurring theme that artists have been exploring, also perhaps due to the rhetoric of immutability that attaches to blockchains temporal ordering. Artist and coder Sage Jenson produced a custom JavaScript shader that progressively glitches the five participating artists works based on their respective blockchain transaction data. This disintegration helps unpack the ideologic notions surrounding finality in blockchain: on one hand, it may safeguard economic transactions but that urge to have something finalized, immutable, unchanging creates an aspiration for permanence that undermines the necessary cycles of change and review for democratic participatory engagement. New technologies create new relational situations that alter the social. Making sense of multiple temporal orders contributes to the sense that life is very messy, and that perhaps it once wasntback before we were thinking about it.

Shu Lea Cheang, LES MUTANTS, #2. Video (color, sound), 1920 1080 pixels. 1 minute, loop. Edition of 40, 1AP.

In an interview with The Observer, Kosuth noted how Existential Time "is a reflection on how we make meaning with the experience of our lives. The tension between the temporal disordering caused by quarantining alongside our newly zoom-ified connectivity was perfectly present in that exhibit. Making meaning has always been hard but it has been a notably existential period for many.

To be contemporary is to be with these times, convoluted as they are. The existentialist Camus wrote amidst the disorder of World War II in 1942 that the absurdist is one who is not apart from time. To be here now demands acceptance of our own absurd position. To avoid the oversimplifications of optimism or pessimism, of moral grandstanding or ends-justifying-the-means solutionism requires glitching hegemonic orders, including temporal systems. Some artists working with time-based media have a particular call to do this: to glitch, to move out of tunethe root meaning of absurd, to mobilize instead their own rhythm. But, we can all find ways to glitch the temporal orders that subsume us. The times perhaps even call for it.

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Glitching Time and Time-Based Media The Brooklyn Rail - Brooklyn Rail

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The Wrangler Clone Jeep Wants To Ban – SlashGear

Posted: October 2, 2022 at 4:56 pm

Within months of being slapped with the import ban, Mahindra redesigned the Roxor. Soon after, the U. S. ITC modified its ban order and noted that the Roxor models made after 2020 can be imported and sold in the country because they no longer violate the Jeep Wrangler's "trade dress" aka signature design. However, Mahindra was not content with the victory and asked the court to lift the ban on pre-2020 Roxors, as well.

In January 2022, Fiat Chrysler went knocking at the doors of the 6th U. S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Detroit, filing a fresh complaint that the modified Roxor still infringes on its Jeep design property. Mahindra, on the other hand, was waiting for its own legal results. Fast forward to March, when Mahindra & Mahindra's petition to get the import ban on pre-2020 Roxor lifted, was discarded. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit upheld the ITC's original import ban decision.

Earlier this month, Fiat Chrysler Automobiles got another lifeline from a federal court in Detroit regarding its fresh petition. The court argued that wrong standards were applied while judging the case and classified Mahindra as a known infringer. "The simple fact that a known infringer's redesigned product is non-infringing does not support the conclusion that the safe distance rule should not apply," remarked one of the judges. Fiat Chrysler is now fighting again, seeking a permanent ban on all Roxor sales in the country.

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The Wrangler Clone Jeep Wants To Ban - SlashGear

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Before Dark Web, The First Appearance Of Spider-Clone Ben Reilly – Bleeding Cool News

Posted: at 4:56 pm

Okay, so they didn't know this would be Ben Reilly. Not back then, anyway. The cloned Spider-Man, Peter Parker, who was meant to have passed on, would be revived in the nineties. Believed to be the real Peter Parker, while Peter Parker was believed to be the clone, until that was revealed to be a mistake when Marvel editorial completely changed their mind about the matter. well it all began here, in Amazing Spider-Man #149. Currently up for auction from Heritage Auctions, graded at 8.5 by CGC, going under the hammer today, and currently with bids totalling $164. For now.

The Amazing Spider-Man #149 (Marvel, 1975) CGC VF+ 8.5 White pages.Origin and "death" of the Jackal. First appearance of the Spider-Man clone. Gwen Stacy clone appearance. Gil Kane cover. Ross Andru art. Overstreet 2022 VF 8.0 value = $96; VF/NM 9.0 value = $211. CGC census 9/22: 173 in 8.5, 701 higher.

This comes ahead of the return of Ben Reilly, recently headlining the Amazing Spider-Man comic book while Peter Parker was incapacitated. Kicked to the curb by the corporation controlling him. And now returning to prominence with fellow rejected clone Madelyne Pryor in the upcoming Spider-Man/X-Men event, Dark Web, the existence of which Bleeding Cool scooped back in February. Might this event draw a spotlight on Ben Reilly's origins almost fifty years ago once more?

Dark Web by Zeb Wells and Adam Kubert will see Spider-Man and the X-Men joining forces against the two wronged clones teaming up as Chasm and Goblin Queen to raise hell across the Marvel Universe and bring back the events of Inferno. Dark Web will be bookended by two one-shots, subtitled Dusk and Dawn, and will continue the story in the pages of Zeb Wells' run on Amazing Spider-Man. The saga will tie into various limited series, including Gold Goblin, Mary Jane & Black Cat, Dark Web: Ms Marvel and Dark Web: X-Men.

Affiliates of Bleeding Cool buy from and/or consign to Heritage Auctions.

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Before Dark Web, The First Appearance Of Spider-Clone Ben Reilly - Bleeding Cool News

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Range Rover stolen in Birmingham found in Scotland with cloned plates – Birmingham Live

Posted: at 4:56 pm

A luxury car which was stolen in Birmingham has been found 320 miles away. The Range Rover was discovered in Scotland a week after it went missing.

It was already displaying cloned number plates when officers discovered it in Glenrothes, Fife, on Saturday (October 1). The posh motor was r eported stolen from Birmingham on September 24.

The Daily Record reports how Police Scotland gave details of the discovery in a tweet. It was accompanied by a picture of the dark-coloured vehicle being loaded onto the back of a flatbed truck.

Read more:Tragedy as woman on mobility scooter dies in collision with car in Chelmsley Wood

It will now be examined by specialist forensic officers in a bid to catch the culprits. Police Scotlands Road Policing Unit shared the picture on the social media post.

The tweet said: Fife Road Policing recovered this stolen Range Rover in Glenrothes today. It was originally stolen in Birmingham on the 24/09/22 and was found displaying cloned number plates.

Hopefully the owner will get it back after our forensics colleagues have a look at it. Police Scotland have confirmed that enquiries are ongoing.

The 10 Best Clones in ‘Star Wars’ Canon, Ranked – We Got This Covered

Posted: at 4:56 pm

Image via Star Wars: The Bad Batch

The Star Wars universe is absolutely rife with intriguing characters of all races, origins, and backgrounds.

Many of the characters that take center stage in Star Wars creations are human, but that is set to change with the official debut of Ahsoka on Disney Plus. The upcoming series will star Ahsoka Tano in the lead role, making history as the first Star Wars series to divert from human-centric stories.

The Ahsoka series will also likely include some of the clones fans are familiar with from existing Star Wars media. Fans whove kept their focus solely on the live-action films wont recall much about the identical characters that were introduced in Attack of the Clones, but hardcore fans of the franchise have fallen in love with countless clones over the years. A number of favorites debuted across the Star Wars animated series, many of whom fought alongside Ahsoka and Anakin during the years-long Clone Wars that preceded the rise of the Empire and the destruction of the Jedi.

Fans are already looking forward to seeing several of their favorite clones appear in live-actionsometimes for the first timewith treasured characters like Rex being listed as potential additions to the Ahsoka cast. As viewers set their gazes on the live-action introductions of some of these beloved characters, were taking a look at the very best clones in the Star Wars universe.

Hundreds of thousands of clones have made their mark on the Star Wars universe, but some made more of an impact than others. Several of the franchises spin-off series orient themselves around the various clones that fought in the Clone Wars, as well as the few that survived Order 66 unscathed. These series helped to cement characters like Rex, Cody, and Omega as permanent favorites among many in the fandom, taking up residence in fans brains and purchasing real estate. They might look alike, but not all clones are cut from the same cloth, so here are the 10 best clones in the Star Wars universe, ranked from worst to best.

He doesnt have the name recognition of characters like Rex or Cody, but Waxer is an enduring favorite among fans of The Clone Wars. Charming and sweet with a clear soft spot for kids, Waxer is easily one of the most slept-on clones in the entire Star Wars universe. He stands out from many of his brethren in his persistent empathy, which he showcases pretty much any time hes on screen.

A character whos legacy unfortunately outlived his actual presence in the Star Wars story, Hevy is fondly remembered by fans of the Clone Wars series. The capable rookie clone entered the story as a relatively typical lone wolf stereotype, but soon proved himself to be far more nuanced and capable than he initially seemed. He quickly established himself as an adept leader and reliable ally, but the same heroic personality that made him a quick fan-favorite led him to sacrifice himself on the Rishi Moon Outpost, trading his life for the cause.

A truly cherished member of the Clone Wars lineup, 99 is a malformed clone that serves as a sort of father figure to many of his fellow clones. He isnt counted among the clone troopers, given his inability to perform in combat, but his empathy and careful guidance left an indelible mark on several of the clones he served with. Following his death, he was mourned as a true warrior after giving his life trying to aid in the Battle of Kamino.

One of the most charming members of the Bad Batch lineup, Wrecker is a former clone commando turned deserter. His love for explosives makes him an essential member of any team hes on, as do his massive size and impressive strength. He was among the defective clones who were unaffected by Order 66, and were left to watch in bafflement as their formerly loyal brethren turned on the Jedi. His delightful dialogue helps to keep things light in The Bad Batch, and quickly cemented him as a favorite among fans.

Obi-Wan Kenobis commander is one of the few clones to make a prominent appearance in the live-action Star Wars films. Exclusively live-action viewers will likely remember him largely in the wake of Order 66, but fans of The Clone Wars know Commander Cody as he was before his inhibitor chip forced him to turn on his friends and allies. His steadfast resolve mirrors that of his Jedi companion, and his impact on the Star Wars universeand his longtime friend Rexremains long after his departure from the franchise.

The only female clone, Omega has yet to make any live-action appearances, but that isnt stopping hardcore Star Wars fans from obsessing over her. Shes one of the main characters in The Bad Batch, serving as the heart for many of its hardened members. Her inexperienced but optimistic nature is perfectly paired against her far gruffer counterparts, and many fans believe shell serve a vital role in the future.

Arguably one of the best characters in the entire Clone Wars series, clone trooper Fives boasts a level of depth that is simply unexpected in a series that is largely aimed at children. His efforts nearly led to the early reveal of the clones inhibitor chips, after he discovered the insidious Order 66 plot and attempted to expose it. While these efforts unfortunately fell short, his impact lived far past the unfortunate trooper. He never managed to warn General Kenobi or Ahsoka about Chancellor Palpatine or the Sith, but his work was ultimately instrumental in the fight.

One of far too-few clone troopers to crop up in both The Clone Wars and The Bad Batch, Echo is one of Star Wars most fleshed-out characters. He earned his nickname early on, thanks to a tendency to repeat orders. He entered the story as an overly-dedicated trooper, to the point of annoyance, but grew immensely over the course of several seasons. His transformation is more affecting than many of those in the Star Wars story, and exemplify the quietly stellar storytelling sprinkled throughout the animated series.

Of all the clones in the extended Star Wars series, Rex is a clear favorite among viewers. He crops up consistently throughout both the Clone Wars and Rebels series, serving as a capable warrior, steadfast leader, and loyal companion to a number of the franchises most beloved characters. His relationship with Ahsoka, in particular, tugs on fans heartstrings, and his persistent presence in her life has fans dreaming up a Rex cameo or two in the characters upcoming live-action series. Even the Star Wars creators love Rex, retconning the franchise canon wherever they can to wedge the beloved clone trooper in.

A chunk of the Star Wars fandom completely ignores the supplemented animated series, and these fans will never know the glory that is young Boba Fett. The franchise explored the infamous bounty hunter in his younger years via The Clone Wars, providing a far deeper look at one of the franchises most widely-known names. Even surface-level Star Wars fans are familiar with Boba, however, despite the fact that many may not remember his origins as a clone. Hes technically not a clone trooper, and he sports entirely unaltered Jango genes, but Boba is a clear winner among his clone brethren. Despite his often malicious leanings, the popular bounty hunter persists as one of the most popular characters in the entire Star Wars franchise. When stacked up against mainstays like Han Solo, Luke Skywalker, and even beloved newcomers like Poe Dameron, his popularity is a truly impressive feat.

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The 10 Best Clones in 'Star Wars' Canon, Ranked - We Got This Covered

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Lori Harvey is Dating ‘They Cloned Tyrone’ Star John Boyega – TheTealMango

Posted: at 4:55 pm

We have a new couple in the town! Its Steve Harveys adopted daughter Lori Harvey and Hollywood actor John Boyega. As per the reports of Media Take Out, at the moment, Lori is off the dating market.

Lori Harvey is dating The Woman King star John Boyega. Continue reading further to catch more insights into the whirlwind romance of Lori and her new beau John Boyega.

Yes, you read that right. At this point in time, Lori Harvey is dating Hollywood actor John Boyega. Not long ago, a source close to Lori told Media Take Out that the couple met each other for the first time nearly six months ago at the Met Gala that took place in New York City.

The insider told the media outlet, Lori was a big fan, from Star Wars, and so she started talking to John while at [The Met Gala]. It has been reported that the two of them had a great conversation and they went on to exchange numbers.

As per the reports of Media Take Out, over the summer, John and Lori texted and Facetimed each other. Then, after a while, these two went out on their first date. A close source has also told the publication that the pairs romance has blossomed quickly.

The insider further added, Its moving very fast and Lori is really happy with the way things are moving. Of all the men shes dated, hes the most serious and they get along the best.

Before dating John Boyega, Lori was in a relationship with the Black Panther star Michael B. Jordan. The pair began dating in November of 2020. At that time, the two were spotted out and about in public together at an airport in Harveys hometown of Atlanta, Georgia.

Michael and Lori made their romance Instagram official in January of 2021. While making an appearance on iHeartRadiosThe Steve Harvey Morning Show, Steve Harvey spilled the beans on the couples romance and said, I like this one.

Harvey further added, I still got my eye on him. I mean I like him, but like I say to all of em, I might like you, I might approve of you, but I got a thumb-size section of my heart filled with nothing but pure hatred for your ass. Just in case I need it.'

Michael B. Jordan and Lori Harvey called it quits nearly after a year and a half of dating. They parted ways in June 2022. At that time, a source told People magazine, Michael and Lori are both completely heartbroken.

The source went on to say, They still love each other. Michael matured a lot over the course of their relationship and was ready to commit for the long term. He let down his guard with her, opening up emotionally in a romantic relationship for the first time. They had great times together and brought out the best in each other.

Do you think Lori Harvey and John Boyega are a match made in heaven? Kindly let us know your thoughts in the comments section below. Dont forget to stay tuned with us for the latest updates from the world of showbiz.

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John Oliver Warns Us About a Trump Clone With the Army on His Side – Rolling Stone

Posted: at 4:55 pm

On this weeks Last Week Tonight, John Oliver began by acknowledging Mahsa Aminis death in Iran and the protests that have followed, serpentine Florida Governor Ron DeSantiss political stunt in which he (probably illegally) shipped 50 migrants to Marthas Vineyard We could spend the rest of this show talking about DeSantis and why he always looks like hes wearing a suit under his suit, Oliver said and Puerto Ricos ongoing misery brought about by natural disasters and currupt and/or incompetent officials. Then Oliver moved onto his main story about Brazils upcoming presidential election.

Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, who for the past four years has pursued far-right policies while quite literally encouraging the relentless destruction of Amazon rainforests, is currently running well behind his challenger, former President Luiz Incio Lula da Silva. Lula, as he is affectionately known, was given a 12-year prison sentence in 2018 for his alleged role in a massive corruption scandal. The case against him was annulled by Brazils Supreme Court due to procedural errors, and a suddenly free Lula aimed to get his old job back. Based on polls, it looks like hes going to succeed.

Except, many Brazilians fear that Bolsonaro, who has often been described as Brazils Donald Trump, may not accept election results and will instead refuse to give up power. Hes already alleged that judges and election officials are trying to sabotage him and called into question the reliability of electronic voting machines despite the fact that they have been nothing but reliable for the past 25 years.

There are only three alternatives for me, Bolsonaro recently told cheering supporters. To be arrested, to be killed, or to be victorious. And I tell those scumbags, I will never go to jail.

Speaking of Trump, Bolsonaro and his administration are facing multiple investigations for wrongdoing. And, uh, also speaking of Trump, Bolsonaro made the effects of the pandemic in Brazil far worse than they had to be. He publicly mocked those concerned about Covid, sowed distrust about vaccines, and for months actively avoided the please of vaccine makers trying to get doses to Brazilians.

Once vaccines were finally available, almost 100 percent of the residents of Rio de Janeiro and the capital, Brasilia, got vaccinated, which is a pretty good indication that Bolsonaro was putting in place policies opposed by a large majority of the country. Imagine that!

Luckily for us, Oliver said, Trumps allies were generally limited to a shirtless man in a fur hat, a perpetually hoarse pillow baron, and some of his dumber children. But Bolsonaro has significant military support. Generally, when someone threatens democracy, its a lot easier to say, You and what army? when youre absolutely certain that person doesnt have an actual army behind them.

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John Oliver Warns Us About a Trump Clone With the Army on His Side - Rolling Stone

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Hold court in house once owned by Clones rugby and tennis star – Independent.ie

Posted: at 4:55 pm

Crossmoyle House, Clones, Co Monaghan

Asking price: 585,000 Agent:Sherry FitzGerald (01) 237 6402

James Cecil Parke fit more achievements into his sporting life than any other sportsperson could only dream of.

The Monaghan man was an Irish rugby international, with 20 caps from 1903 to 1909. However, tennis was said to be his favourite sport, as he represented the British Isles in the Davis Cup in Australia six times, at a time when the journey would have taken six weeks by sea. In 1908, he won a silver medal at the London Olympics in the mens doubles and won the mixed doubles at Wimbledon in 1912 and 1914.

If that wasnt enough, he was also a cricketer, an international golfer and a noted sprinter. Not one to shirk his responsibilities, he also managed to fight in World War I and study to become a solicitor.

He was born in Crossmoyle House in Clones, Co Monaghan in 1881. For any budding sportspeople who would like a bit of Parkes magic to rub off on them, the house is now for sale for 585,000. With 4.32 acres of land to run through as well as tennis courts on the grounds, there is no excuse to sit around the 2,770 sq ft house.

The five-bedroomed period home sits on the edge of the heritage town of Clones. Belgravia lampposts line the driveway that winds up through the landscaped grounds to the front of the house. The long entrance hall has a gentlemens room to one side and a formal drawing room on the other. The renovated kitchen is at the back of the house and there is also a dining room with panelled walls, a utility and a shower room.

Upstairs there are five bedrooms, a bathroom and a Scandinavian-style sauna room. Outside, there are well-maintained lawns, the aforementioned tennis court, a stable yard with loft, a workshop, storage sheds and a greenhouse.

It is being sold for 585,000 by Sherry FitzGerald (01) 237 6402.

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Hold court in house once owned by Clones rugby and tennis star - Independent.ie

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Category Archives: Transhuman News

‘Neanderthal Man’ Nobel Prize winner Svante Pbo revolutionized anthropology. Here is a look back at his groundbreaking 2014 memoir – Genetic Literacy…

Avatar: Where We Were and Where We’re at The Minnesota Republic – Kent Kaiser

Glitching Time and Time-Based Media The Brooklyn Rail – Brooklyn Rail

The Wrangler Clone Jeep Wants To Ban – SlashGear

Before Dark Web, The First Appearance Of Spider-Clone Ben Reilly – Bleeding Cool News

Range Rover stolen in Birmingham found in Scotland with cloned plates – Birmingham Live

The 10 Best Clones in ‘Star Wars’ Canon, Ranked – We Got This Covered

Lori Harvey is Dating ‘They Cloned Tyrone’ Star John Boyega – TheTealMango

John Oliver Warns Us About a Trump Clone With the Army on His Side – Rolling Stone

Hold court in house once owned by Clones rugby and tennis star – Independent.ie

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