Author: Admin

Brain scans reveal which ‘vegetative’ patients are alert, trapped in bodies

A man who had appeared to have been in a vegetative state for 12 years knew his name and knew where he was, Canadian researchers report in a study showing it’s possible to use MRI brain scans to establish communication with people who seem completely unconscious.

Three people tested using a special form of MRI called functional magnetic resonance imaging were able to answer simple “yes” or “no” questions, the team at Western University in London, Ontario report.

They say their findings don’t mean everyone in a coma or a persistent vegetative state is conscious, but it should help doctors find out who is and who isn’t…

Is 3D still cool or a ‘Tax’ on moviegoers? Three top directors say the format’s overused

Alfonso Cuaron, Edgar Wright and Marc Webb discussed everything from high school teachers to Buster Keaton at Comic-Con on Thursday, but there was one subject where they were all in agreement – 3D.

Even though both Cuaron and Webb’s next films were shot in 3D – “Gravity” and “The Amazing Spider-Man 2,” respectively – they both acknowledged there are too many 3D movies out there.

“In most cases it’s not necessary,” Cuaron said…

https://movies.yahoo.com/news/3d-still-cool-tax-moviegoers-three-top-directors-230141745.html

Blockbuster busts: Big summer flicks in peril

The world may have ended several times at the movies this summer, but it’s the blockbuster itself that is really in peril.

“Pacific Rim,” the post-apocalyptic, monsters-versus-robots action thriller, did perform slightly better than predicted at the box office with a $38.3 million weekend take. But the Warner Bros. film has a long way to go before it can declare itself even remotely successful.

Raleigh (Charlie Hunnam) and Mako (Rinko Kikuchi) prepare to fight monsters in “Pacific Rim.”

Kerry Hayes / Warner Bros. Pictures

Charlie Hunnam and Rinko Kikuchi play the pilots of giant robots in “Pacific Rim.”

Directed by Guillermo del Toro, “Rim” cost nearly $200 million to make and placed third behind “Grown Ups 2,” which collected $42.5 million, and “Despicable Me 2,” which netted nearly $48 million in its second weekend.

So even though “Pacific Rim” opened a little above its $30 million domestic estimate, it will need a huge boost internationally to avoid being designated a total flop…

https://www.nbcnews.com/entertainment/pacific-rim-fails-save-summer-box-office-6C10620418

Future of 3D TV dims as ESPN yanks in-your-face channel

TV sports in 3D was supposed to be a slam dunk, but viewers never got the picture. And, then there were those stupid-looking glasses, too.

This week, ESPN acknowledged the future for in-your-face screen action looks dim when it announced it was pulling the plug on ESPN 3D, almost three years after launching it with considerable fanfare…

https://www.nbcnews.com/business/future-3d-tv-dims-espn-yanks-your-face-channel-6C10312930

Steven Spielberg: Big tickets, big budgets make film industry ‘implosion’ imminent

Movie ticket prices have long been a subject of grumbling among theater-goers, who have balked (but paid) for years as admissions rose ever higher into the double digits. But as two of Hollywood’s leading directors recently noted in a panel discussion, it’s likely to get a lot worse…

https://www.today.com/entertainment/steven-spielberg-big-tickets-big-budgets-make-film-industry-implosion-6C10321443

We’re not ready to upload our brains to a computer yet

…futurists like Ray Kurzweil predict that “singularity” will be reached, the moment when machine learning will surpass human intelligence. It’s not the first science-fiction tale to explore human-computer hybrids (see “What are Little Girls Made Of” in the first season of the original “Star Trek” series) or even the perils of virtual reality becoming too real (see the “Matrix” triology). But it does posit some questions that real-world researchers are just now tackling.

The European Union, for example, recently announced it was funding a $1.3 billion project to build a human brain on a silicon substrate. That’s about 1 1/2 cents per neuron…

https://science.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/05/20/18377499-were-not-ready-to-upload-our-brains-to-a-computer-yet?lite

Hollywood movies may be too dumb for China

Blockbusters like ‘Iron Man 3’ battle more subtle Chinese fare as audiences choose plot and complexity over explosions and 3-D.

…The film studios blame the Chinese government, which imposed a two-month blackout of foreign films last year when they began making too much money and offered theaters a bonus for showing domestic films, according to The Times. Local film critics, however, note that the Chinese moviegoer isn’t all that taken with the explosion-laden, CGI-painted blockbusters that drive revenue-boosting add-ons like IMAX (IMAX +0.18%) and 3-D showings. “Lost In Thailand,” for example, took in more than $200 million last year and drew more moviegoers than “Avatar” did during its run in China.

Critics and industry analysts note that Hollywood’s one constant in China is its repeated underestimation of the college-educated Chinese moviegoer…

https://money.msn.com/now/post.aspx?post=d8d6ca44-bbb5-4c6f-b436-c4bfdca30df3