For almost 90 years, filmmakers have been using the method called chroma keying (using blue or green screen) to layer images. That says a lot about how effective the method is. However, it takes a lot of time, especially for the post-production team, to put all the elements together to make a single seamless image, and sometimes, they go frame by frame just to make everything smooth. Creative roadblocks are also another problem with this method.

And here enters The Volume — a combination of high resolution LED panels. This technology has the green screen’s flexibility, but without its drawbacks. Could this be the replacement for the green screen?

Learn more about The Volume through this video by Vox.

(Image Credit: Vox/ YouTube)

My legs would surely feel weak and shaky, and I will definitely freeze and faint upon seeing this horrifying creation. Whoever made this sure loves frightening people.

“If you were walking through the woods and saw this, especially at dusk, what would be your reaction?” writes Jeff Stoker when he posted this picture. Will you run away, or get closer to inspect?

(Image Credit: Jeff Stoker/ Facebook)

If you find it difficult to write icing on cakes, then this might be just for you: an icing syringe made to look like an oversized pencil. You just hold it like how you would hold a pencil. Just that easy, and voila! You’ve successfully added clean writing to the cake.

Via The Awesomer

(Image Credit: The Awesomer)

Because accidentally spilling your drink on the computer mouse can lead to a messy situation, SteelSeries has developed the Aerox 3 and the Aerox 3 Wireless, which are water-resistant computer mice. Yup, even with those holes, the Aerox 3 will keep out all that liquid, and not only that, but also dust, oil, and other grime.

The Aerox 3 costs $60 and the wireless version is $100. Both will be available on November 10th.

Cool!

(Image Credit: SteelSeries/ Engadget)

Between the mighty leaf blower and Charlie the cocker spaniel, who would win in a battle of strength? Both are aggressive, and both are unwilling to back down. Will the leaf blower successfully defend his title, or will the underdog snatch it away from him?

What do you think?

Via Laughing Squid

(Image Credit: Laughing Squid)

G Suite has been recently rebranded by Google. The app collection, which is now known as Google Workspace, now has new icon designs as well. According to Google, these new icon designs reflect a “more connected, helpful, and flexible experience” on the Workspace. But it seems that the new designs create unnecessary confusion, and they don’t seem to help the average user. Tarvin Gill from Mashable has this to say about the new icon designs:

I’m on the fence about this new design. On one hand, I do like the consistency of the new icons. They all share the same colors and stand out from the other app icons on my phone.

But on the other hand, I find myself taking longer to open up any Google app because I have to make sure I’m launching the right app.

How about you? What do you think about this?

(Image Credit: Frederic Lardinois/ Twitter)

Japan — Earlier this month, the Kobe City Medical Center General Hospital received an enormous monetary donation from an unknown donor. Thinking that there might have been a mistake, they decided to return the package, which contained 5 million yen (over $47,700), on the return address provided in it. Days later, however, they received the same package again, this time with no return address. After consulting their lawyers, the hospital then decided to accept and keep the donation.

So, after some initial awkwardness, all was well that ended well. It’s understandable too, as it was probably the sender’s first time doing something like this, and Kobe City Medical Center told [the] media that it was definitely the first time they’d ever received an “anonymous” donation.

More details about this story over at SoraNews 24.

(Image Credit: kobeshinbun/ Twitter)

Baby Schuyler-Mai loves imitating her dad. Whenever she sees her father Anthony with the phone in his ear, she would grab it and put it to the back of her head. But when the phone rang, the 11-month baby had the shock of her life.

The startled little girl begins kicking her legs and waving her legs in panic - leaving the room in hysterics.

Mother Aileen Codd, 22, captured the moment on October 21, and her father Anthony, 34, said that they're still laughing about the 'perfectly timed' video.

[...]

'The phone was on loud and vibrated - I don't think she was expecting it to happen - it was priceless.'

He added: 'It was the first time that she'd reacted like that to the phone ringing - usually she just looks at it and thinks "what's this?"

Check out the video over at Daily Mail.

What are your thoughts about this one?

(Image Credit: Kennedy News and Media/ Daily Mail)

A study of dog DNA has found out that dogs were domesticated some 11,000 years ago, confirming that they were the first animals to be domesticated before any other known species. This would mean that the friendship of humans and dogs is time-tested, and dogs are worthy of the title “man’s best friend”.

Dr Pontus Skoglund, co-author of the study and group leader of the Ancient Genomics laboratory at London's Crick Institute, told BBC News: "Dogs are really unique in being this quite strange thing if you think about it, when all people were still hunter gatherers, they domesticate what is really a wild carnivore - wolves are pretty frightening in many parts of the world.

"The question of why did people do that? How did that come about? That's what we're ultimately interested in."

Learn more about the study over at BBC.

(Image Credit: pixel2013/ Pixabay)

Back in the day, Halloween was taken seriously. Back then, this was believed to be the day when the world of the gods became visible to us, and this resulted in “supernatural mischief.” Some people would offer treats and foods to these gods, while others wore animal skins and heads to disguise themselves as wandering spirits. In doing so, they won’t be disturbed by these spirits. And that is why Halloween back then was really scary.

Know more about the history of Halloween over at CNN.

(Image Credit: Toby Ord/ Wikimedia Commons)

Samir Mazahem thought that he was saving numbers on the lottery app. What he had done, however, was very different from what he thought he was doing. Apparently, he had just bought an extra ticket with the same numbers that he had picked for the previous ticket that he bought. When he realized that he spent an extra $2 for the June 9 Mega Millions Game, he got upset. But he didn’t think much about it.

But his mistake turned out to be a blessing in disguise.

As he logged on recently, he found out that he had two $1 million winners.

“I couldn’t believe it was real,” Mazahem said. “It took several days for the reality to set in that my mistake had paid off to the tune of $2 million!”

He recently claimed his prize and plans to buy a new house and save the rest.

Lucky guy.

(Image Credit: Pixabay)

It is one thing to hear about stories about bikers getting hurt, or even killed, by drivers. You get angry and you get frustrated about drivers upon hearing these stories. It is another thing, however, when you get to see the story unfold with your own eyes — when you get to be the driver, who happened to seriously injure a biker on the road. When Brooke Warren experienced this, she realized that anyone could be “that driver.” It was a traumatizing, but enlightening, experience for her.

Read about Warren’s story over at Outside Online.

(Image Credit: Alexas_Fotos/ Pixabay)

Counting and keeping an eye on a certain group is a daunting task. It requires steady focus and attention. I can’t seem to imagine how difficult it would be if I was tasked to monitor 300,000 penguins. Thankfully, we have machines that could make our jobs easier and faster.

How do you keep a close and regular eye on 300,000 nesting pairs of Adélie penguins spread over two square kilometres of ice? Send in the drones, of course.

But not without a plan. It helps to have an algorithm that can partition the space, assign destination points to each drone and figure out how to move them through those points in the most efficient way, limiting backtracking and redundant travel.

Get that right, and you can do detailed visual surveys in a couple of hours rather than a couple of days. Researchers at Stanford University, US, developed just such a system and put it through its paces at Cape Crozier, near McMurdo Station in Antarctica.

Know more about this story over at Cosmos Magazine.

(Image Credit: Kunal Shah/ Cosmos)

The British explorer James Clark Ross was the first one to determine the position of the magnetic North Pole in June 1831. At his time, he found it at Cape Adelaide on the Boothia Peninsula. At that time, it was already known that the magnetic pole moves, but in a slow manner.

Seventy-two years later, in 1903, the Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen found the magnetic North Pole again, albeit in a slightly different position. Over the next 90 years, the pole would move northwards at a rate of up to 15 kilometers per year.

Then, in 1990, it suddenly began to accelerate northwards. In 2017, it passed the geographic North Pole and is now heading south towards Siberia.

Scientists usually update the position of the magnetic pole every five years. But in 2019, the movement was so fast and unexpected that scientists were forced to issue an extra, irregular update so that navigation devices that rely on it could be corrected.

What causes the sudden acceleration of the magnetic North Pole?

Find out the answer over at Discover Magazine.

(Image Credit: Nietjuh/ Pixabay)

It was a new word that neuroscientist R. Douglas Fields encountered one night as he read his copy of Science. The word refers to the ability of the neurotransmitter dopamine to enter a cell’s nucleus and control genes. That’s right. Dopamine apparently can control the genes in one’s body.

As I read the paper, I realized that it completely upends our understanding of genetics and drug addiction. The intense craving for addictive drugs like alcohol and cocaine may be caused by dopamine controlling genes that alter the brain circuitry underlying addiction. Intriguingly, the results also suggest an answer to why drugs that treat major depression must typically be taken for weeks before they’re effective. I was shocked by the dramatic discovery…

Learn more about dopaminylation, and how this could be used in future studies, over at Quanta Magazine.

(Image Credit: Jynto/ Wikimedia Commons)