Author: Rahul M

Universal Pictures RATING : 7 / 10 Pros The great acting and artistry of Part 1 carries over here Greater focus on the Animals is welcome Cons The script remains underdeveloped and oddly paced Fewer great songs than Part 1 “Wicked: For Good” finally brings us to the downsides of Universal’s experiment in splitting one stage musical into two full movies. Director Jon M. Chu had miraculously avoided such problems bringing down the first “Wicked” (called “Wicked: Part 1” in its opening titles, though curiously “For…

From a distance, it appears like a medium-sized power bank. On a closer look, it looks akin to a small-form-factor workstation computer along the lines of the Mac Studio. This is the KEO, short for Knowledge-driven, Economical and Open-Source computer–a low-cost computer launched on the first day of the Bengaluru Tech Summit, Tuesday. What are its features? What is the price? Arguably the cheapest plug-and-play device, when available in the market, the KEO houses a 64-bit quad core processor and 8 GB of RAM. While the device has a capability to handle one TB of external storage, it has 32…

The Earth’s relatively uneventful billion-year stretch between 1.8 and 0.8 billion years ago has long been dismissed by scientists as biologically and geologically stagnant. But new findings, reported in Earth and Planetary Science Letters, show that tectonic shifts during this period may have quietly transformed Earth’s surface into a more habitable environment for early eukaryotes. This period—often nicknamed the “Boring Billion” or the “Earth’s Middle Ages”—has been considered a static era in Earth’s evolutionary timeline. Tectonic activity was stable, climate change minimal, and biological evolution seemed to inch forward. But behind this apparent stasis, recent studies have begun to unearth…

Insects might not be the first thing that comes to mind when one thinks of the extensive collections and archives of the museums of Bengaluru, but that is exactly what a lucky visitor might expect to see at the National Insect Museum at the National Bureau of Agricultural Insect Resources (NBAIR) campus in Hebbal.Story continues below this ad While the museum is only accessible to the public on designated days or for school visits, the section most visitors will see is the main display gallery. The gallery contains a host of information about insects. Starting from the evolution of insects,…

Google has introduced Gemini 3, its smartest artificial intelligence model to date, with cutting-edge reasoning, multimedia, and coding skills. As talk of an AI bubble grows, the company is keen to stress that its latest release is more than just a clever model and chatbot—it’s a way of improving Google’s existing products, including its lucrative search business, starting today.“We are the engine room of Google, and we’re plugging in AI everywhere now,” Demis Hassabis, CEO of Google DeepMind, an AI-focused subsidiary of Google’s parent company, Alphabet, told WIRED in an interview ahead of the announcement.Hassabis admits that the AI market…

A special court for cases registered under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (Pocso) Act issued a summons to BJP leader and former Karnataka chief minister B S Yediyurappa and three others on Tuesday in connection with a child sex abuse case booked by the Bengaluru police in 2024.The FIR was filed on March 14, 2024, against Yediyurappa, 82, on the basis of a complaint filed by the mother of a teenager stating that her daughter had been subjected to sexual assault by the former chief minister during a visit to his house on February 2. The summons for…

“Predator: Badlands” did a lot to change the “Predator” universe, including opening the door to something longtime viewers have been patiently waiting for. Want to know more? Click our video above to learn how “Badlands” may be making the dreams of fans everywhere come true. Perhaps more than anything else, “Predator” fans have always wanted a coherent way to link it to the “Alien” franchise — that doesn’t involve the sometimes-thorny “Alien vs. Predator” movies. While previous non-crossovers have hinted at the connection between these two worlds, “Badlands” gives an explicit link to…

Universal Pictures The 1960s TV series “Get Smart” is a lighthearted spoof of the spy genre, lampooning the likes of the James Bond movies. It stars Don Adams — whose career faded after winning an Emmy — as bumbling secret agent Maxwell Smart. In 1980, Adams returned to the role of Smart for a follow-up titled “The Nude Bomb,” but the theatrically released film was so awful that the people behind the franchise chose to pretend it didn’t exist when the time came for a made-for-TV sequel movie, 1989’s “Get…

Laos accelerates infrastructure upgrades to boost growth Vientiane, Nov 18 (IANS) The Laos government continues to advance infrastructure development, particularly road upgrades and the rapid repair of damaged routes, to facilitate transportation and tourism and support national socio-economic growth. During a press conference, Vice President of the Laos National Assembly (NA) Sommad Pholsena presented the NA’s proposals for the government’s socio-economic development plan. He emphasised the need to accelerate infrastructure improvements, urging the government to prioritise budget resources for repairing damaged roads, enhancing public travel and tourism, and enforcing strict measures against overweight trucks, Xinhua News Agency reported. Speaking during…

Telangana delegation in Madina to assist families of accident victims Hyderabad, Nov 18 (IANS) The Telangana government’s delegation led by Minorities Welfare Minister Mohammed Azharuddin reached the holy city of Madina on Tuesday to assist the families of 45 Umrah pilgrims who died in a bus accident near Madina late on Sunday night. The delegation which also includes Minorities Welfare Secretary B. Shafiullah and AIMIM MLA Majid Hussain is coordinating with Saudi authorities and the Consulate General of India in Jeddah. Azharuddin posted on ‘X’ that the delegation met Consul General of India in Jeddah, Fahad Ahmed Khan. “We are…