June 27, 2016

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Entertainment June 27, 2016

Today in Movie Culture: Deadpool Hijacks 'X-Men' Trailer, Realistic 'Independence Day' Aftermath and More

Here are a bunch of little bites to satisfy your hunger for movie culture:

Movie Promo of the Day:

Watch this Japanese trailer for X-Men: Apocalypse all the way through for a special bonus bit starring Deadpool, crashing the spot to promote his own movie’s release (via The Wrap):

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Real-Life Superhero of the Day:

Speaking of X-Men, we recently saw a guy who turned himself into a real-life Iceman. Now check out a guy trying to be a real-life Cyclops (via Geekologie):

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Weird Movie Tribute of the Day:

1980s movies The NeverEnding Story, The Karate Kid, and The Goonies get a strange homage set to the tune of 1990s one-hit wonder Crash Test Dummies in this catchy video (via Geek Tyrant):

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Casting Depiction of the Day:

Not that Henry Cavill has just been cast as Superman, but rumor has it the character will have long hair in Justice League so here’s BossLogic’s depiction of what that could look like (via Twitter):

Alternate Ending of the Day:

Independence Day: Resurgence shows us one 20-year aftermath of the events of Independence Day. Here’s a lenghty theory of what would really have happened after aliens wiped out most of the planet (via Reddit):

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Movie Trivia of the Day:

In honor of Michael Bay’s The Rock turning 20 this summer, here are some things you may not know about the action movie classic:

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Vintage Image of the Day:

J.J. Abrams, who turns 50 today, shares a scene with Harrison Ford in 1991’s Regarding Henry, one of the first movies he wrote:

Trilogy Tribute of the day:

See recurrences in Richard Linklater’s three Before films in this triptych of scenes played side by side (via Cinematic Montage Creators):

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Alternate Movie Poster of the Day:

Add some color to your Die Hard shrine with this comic-art poster by Chris Weston (via Live for Films):

Classic Trailer of the Day:

Today is the 30th anniversary of the release of Jim Henson’s Labyrinth. Watch the original trailer for the movie, which stars David Bowie and a bunch of Muppets, below.

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Sports June 27, 2016

No Motor(ized) Bikes: Tour De France Unveils New Plan To Catch Cheats

Cyclists in this year’s Tour de France will face new controls for what organizers call “technological fraud.” Here, elite cyclists are seen riding in the Paris-Nice race in March. Kenzo Tribouillard/AFP/Getty Images hide caption

toggle caption Kenzo Tribouillard/AFP/Getty Images

Thermal cameras and other tools that can detect “mechanical doping” — small but powerful motors that boost riders’ power levels — will be used in this year’s Tour de France, in a change race officials announced just days before the prestigious race’s start on July 2.

“This problem is worse than doping,” France’s Secretary of State for Sports Thierry Braillard tells Le Journal du Dimanche. “This is the future of cycling that’s at stake.”

The bid to keep professional cycling clean will rely on techniques developed by a large French government agency that also conducts nuclear research. In the Tour de France, the image tests can be done anywhere, officials say — and they add that they won’t be publicizing the thermal cameras’ locations.

The move is an attack on a method of cheating that had long been suspected but wasn’t proven at the sport’s highest levels until this year. If cycling still had any trusting and faithful fans in January of 2016, the scales fell from their eyes when Belgian Femke Van den Driessche, a promising 19-year-old cyclocross rider, was found to be using a motor during the U-23 World Championships.

As far back as at least 2010, accusations have flown that elite cyclists were turning in superhuman performances with the help of motors that are hidden inside their bike’s seat tube (the one running from the seat down to the pedals).

Commercial versions of such devices can provide a steady power stream of around 200 watts — the lower range of a pro cyclist’s average output in a stage race. They can also be set to assist riders automatically if their pedaling cadence falls below a certain threshold.

Tour de France officials explain how the detection system will work:

“Developed by the CEA (the French Atomic Energy Commission), the method consists of using a thermal imaging camera capable of detecting mechanical anomalies on the riders’ bikes. The checks can be made in the race and on the side of the roads.”

If that level of sophistication seems unwarranted, consider that the hidden motors are seen as the most obvious of the mechanical doping techniques. A sneakier – and lighter – method involves magnets hidden in the wheels. From the Fittish blog over at Deadspin:

“Unlike cheating with heavy tube motors, moto-doping via electromagnetic wheels is much more subtle. A series of neodymium batteries are hidden inside the rear wheel, and a coil tucked away below the seat generates an induction force, which gets you 60 extra watts of power. The field is controlled via a bluetooth activator.”

Such magnet-based systems are seen as being beyond the reach of all but the most well-funded cyclists. If you’re wondering how the seat-tube motors work, here’s how Vivax Assist, a German company, describes its device:

“Sophisticated motor power is hidden in the bike’s seat tube. It only weights 1.8 kg (inkl. battery). Press the button and the motor delivers 200 watts to the crankshaft. Press the button again and the motor stops.

“Without motor power the bike functions as normal without any kind of resistance. The Lithium-Ion high-performance battery, which fits into a conventional saddlebag, provides you with motor-assisted cycling lasting for min. 60 minutes (6 Ah) or min. 90 minutes (9 Ah). The special design of the drive unit allows it to be built into any bicycle frame with the requisite seat tube internal diameter of 31.6 mm or 30.9 mm and is therefore invisible on the bicycle – except the on/off switch, which is unobtrusively located on the bar end.”

Here’s how it went when a couple of cyclists decided to try out a similar system:

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Business June 27, 2016

In Quest For Happier Chickens, Perdue Shifts How Birds Live And Die

Perdue will study the effects of features such as perches in chicken houses. It hopes to double the activity levels of its chickens in the next three years.

Perdue will study the effects of features such as perches in chicken houses. It hopes to double the activity levels of its chickens in the next three years. Business Wire hide caption

toggle caption Business Wire

One of the country’s leading poultry companies, Perdue Farms, announced plans Monday to make both life and death a little easier for its chickens.

The changes are a break with current standard practices in the industry, and animal welfare groups are cheering.

Jim Perdue, chairman of Perdue Farms, says there’s a simple motivation behind the new initiative. Consumers, especially millennials, “want to make sure that animals are raised in as caring a way as possible. With the least stress, the least discomfort.”

On that score, his industry is under pressure. Animal rights groups have released videos recorded inside poultry houses that show chickens with broken legs or with breasts dragging on the floor.

A year or so ago, Perdue Farms invited one of those groups, the Humane Society of the United States, to visit the company and lay out its critique.

“We went through the top issues regarding the poor treatment of animals in the chicken industry,” says Josh Balk, senior food policy director at the Humane Society, adding that the company itself recognized some of the problems.

Attitudes were shifting inside the corporate headquarters at Perdue Farms, in part because of the company’s decision to acquire Coleman Natural, an organic chicken producer, in 2011.

Bruce Stewart-Brown, a veterinarian and senior vice president of Perdue, says his company started to appreciate some of the advantages of organic production methods. “You go into those chicken houses and … there’s several things that really jump out at you,” he tells The Salt. “The chickens are more active. You enjoy being in the chicken house. And you come back and you go, ‘Look, maybe we can transfer some of these techniques to the rest of our chickens.”

One result was an industry-leading initiative to drop the use of antibiotics in conventionally raised chickens.

Perdue is now announcing a new initiative focused on animal welfare. Balk, from the Humane Society, calls it “precedent-setting.”

One part involves procedures for slaughtering chickens and turkeys. Currently, when birds arrive at a typical poultry processing plant, they’re hung upside down in moving shackles. Their heads then go into a water bath that contains an electrical current, which stuns them and renders them unconscious before they’re slaughtered.

Perdue is now promising to abolish the shackles and knock the birds out with gas instead. “It’s a dramatically less cruel way to kill these animals,” says Balk.

Perdue is also planning to change the poultry houses, adding windows to provide natural light and perches for chickens to sit on. This is supposed to encourage chickens to be more active.

And Perdue says it will at least study the idea of using breeds of chickens that grow a little more slowly. That could allow birds to support their weight a little better and walk around more easily. Whole Foods recently announced that it will shift to selling slower-growing breeds of chickens.

Slower growth rates currently come at a cost, though. A slow-growing chicken requires more feed — and thus more money — to accumulate the same amount of meat. Bruce Stewart-Brown admits that this is a “critical” consideration. He’s hoping research will allow the company to minimize the additional cost.

The company is also hoping that any additional costs will be outweighed by increased sales. Jim Perdue says he’s encouraged by the company’s experience so far with its antibiotic-reduction initiative. “We feel that as long as we stay in tune with the consumer, we’ll be OK,” he says.

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Health June 27, 2016

Texans React To Supreme Court's Ruling On State Abortion Law

People in Texas react to the Supreme Court’s decision Monday overturning a state law cutting the number of health clinics that perform abortions.

Transcript

ROBERT SIEGEL, HOST:

Since Texas passed the law at the center of the Supreme Court case, more than half of the clinics in the state that perform abortions have closed. That means that today’s ruling was an emotional one for people on both sides of the debate there. NPR’s Wade Goodwyn has their reaction.

WADE GOODWYN, BYLINE: In women’s clinics across the state, abortion rights advocates gathered this morning and waited to hear the Supreme Court’s ruling. At the Houston Women’s Clinic, they sat together hopefully, anxiously, fearfully, their eyes glued to their cell phones, waiting for the website SCOTUSblog to report the news. Houston Public Media was there, too. Women’s Clinic counselor Jessica Rossi saw it first.

JESSICA ROSSI: Yes. The decision of the 5th Circuit is reversed. Yes, the vote is 5-3.

(CROSSTALK, CHEERING)

ROSSI: Five-three, 5-3. It’s 5-3.

GOODWYN: In Austin, they gathered at the now-closed Whole Women’s Health Clinic. Whole Women’s Health was the lead plaintiff in the case. Heather Busby was there. She’s the executive director of NARAL Pro-Choice Texas. Busby says that while today’s decision was a major win, over the last five years, the state has wrecked its women’s health care infrastructure.

HEATHER BUSBY: Since 2011, we’ve lost more than 80 – that’s eight-zero – family planning clinics around this state. And now we’ve lost abortion care clinics which also provided family planning and well women exams and STI screening and treatment. So we have a broken reproductive health care system in this state. Rebuilding it will not happen overnight. The fight continues. It continues to go on because Texas is still very hostile to reproductive health care.

JOE POJMAN: We are very disappointed that the Supreme Court ruled the way it did today.

GOODWYN: Joe Pojman is the executive director of Texas Alliance for Life.

POJMAN: We think it’s a big setback – no question about it. It means that the state of Texas is not going to be able to enforce what we believe are very reasonable safety standards. And that’s a very big disappointment to us.

GOODWYN: The movement and its allies in the Republican-dominated Texas Legislature say that while they may be wounded, they’re ready with another strategy. John Seago is the legislative director of Texas Right to Life. Seago says they will shift focus from protecting the health of the woman to protecting the fetus from pain. They’ll urge the Texas Legislature to pass new laws that prohibit certain types of abortion procedures.

JOHN SEAGO: So in Texas, we’re recommending passing the dismemberment abortion ban, a law that would prohibit dismemberment abortion, the method – specific method of abortion that takes the life of the preborn child by taking its limbs apart.

GOODWYN: As for Planned Parenthood, instead of fighting a rear guard defensive action as it has the last three years, it will use the Supreme Court’s decision to go on the offensive and remove state restrictions on abortion rights. Dawn Laguens is the executive vice president of Planned Parenthood.

DAWN LAGUENS: States like Texas, Ohio, Arizona, Louisiana, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin – all should have regulations that should fall as a result of this.

GOODWYN: And so the passionate fight over abortion moves to its next front, each side every bit as determined as before. Wade Goodwyn, NPR News, Dallas.

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