Latest news with #E.T.
Yahoo
23-05-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
Could deciphering dolphin language help us communicate with ET?
When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. There are creatures here on Earth that may give us clues on getting "chat-time" with extraterrestrial intelligence — dolphins, which are famously social and smart. Recently, the Coller Dolittle Challenge awarded the winner of its first $100,000 annual prize to accelerate progress toward interspecies two-way communication. A prize of equal value will be awarded every year until a team deciphers the secret to interspecies communication. This year's winning team of researchers has discovered that dolphin whistles could function like words — with mutually understood, context-specific meaning. The winning team was led by Laela Sayigh from the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution. The researchers are studying the resident bottlenose dolphin community offshore of Sarasota, Florida. They were on the lookout for "non-signature" whistles, which comprise approximately 50% of the whistles produced by Sarasota dolphins. Non-signature whistles differ from the more widely studied "signature" whistles, which are referential, name-like vocalizations. Sayigh's team used non-invasive suction-cup hydrophones, which they placed on the dolphins during unique catch-and-release health assessments, as well as digital acoustic tags. "Bottlenose dolphins have long fascinated animal communication researchers," Sayigh said in a statement. "Our work shows that these whistles could potentially function like words, shared by multiple dolphins." Sayigh and her team can now use deep learning in an attempt to "crack the code" and analyze those whistles. But what does all this have to do with E.T.? "My interests are very firmly here on Earth, in learning about how dolphins communicate with each other," Sayigh told "I do know that there are others in the animal communication world that are interested in this, however." One of those researchers is Arik Kershenbaum, an associate professor and director of studies at Girton College, part of the University of Cambridge in England. He's the author of "The Zoologist's Guide to the Galaxy: What Animals on Earth Reveal About Aliens — and Ourselves" (Viking, 2020). Kershenbaum explained that the book is about life on Earth, because "that's all we have to look at." He also contributed a white paper for a workshop at the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI) Institute in California, titled "What Animal Studies Can Tell Us about Detecting Intelligent Messages from Outside Earth." In that paper for the SETI Institute, Kershenbaum and colleagues concluded that animal communication research is the closest we are likely to get to studying extraterrestrial signals, until such signals are actually received. "Many of the challenges facing SETI research are similar to those already addressed in the investigation of animal behavior, and the evolutionary origins of human language," they wrote. "Indeed, the evolution of language on Earth may in fact have been driven and constrained by similar principles to those operating on life on other planets." The researchers have proposed the establishment of a large cross-species database of communicative signals, made available to all SETI and animal behavior researchers. In addition, they also proposed that tools, algorithms and software used to analyze these signals should be made publicly available for application to these data sets, "so that comparative studies can take full advantage of the expertise from the biological, mathematical, linguistic and astronomical communities." The topic of dolphin language interpretation, as well as the vocalizations of humpback whales and the field of non-human communications more broadly, is increasingly drawing the interest of SETI researchers and astrobiologists, explained Bill Diamond, president of the SETI Institute. Humpback whales have very complex vocalizations, Diamond told "where it seems clear that they are transmitting information and not simply making sounds associated with mating, feeding or dealing with threats. They plan ahead and communicate complex instructions to one another." Leading that look is SETI researcher Laurance Doyle, who's working on a project in partnership with the Alaska Whale Foundation to study the vocalizations of humpback whales. Related stories: — Talking to ET? Why math may be the best language — The search for alien life (reference) — Will we ever be able to communicate with aliens? For Diamond, the relevant research question is whether or not there are some fundamental mathematical rules associated with the transmission of information that would be universal — like the laws of physics and chemistry — within our known universe. "If there's an underlying rule structure to the transmission of information, and we can decipher it," Diamond said, "we would firstly be able to recognize a detected SETI signal as containing information, and therefore intelligence. And, possibly, we might even ultimately be able to translate it!" According to Diamond, "there's definitely a connection between SETI/astrobiology and the study of non-human communication and non-human intelligence."
Yahoo
22-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
ESAI MORALES TO CO-HOST THE NATIONAL MEMORIAL DAY CONCERT, STEPPING IN FOR JOE MANTEGNA
WASHINGTON, May 22, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Acclaimed actor Esai Morales (MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE – THE FINAL RECKONING) will join Gary Sinise to co-host the 36th annual NATIONAL MEMORIAL DAY CONCERT, airing live from the West Lawn of the U.S. Capitol on Sunday, May 25. Morales steps in this year for longtime host Joe Mantegna. Sinise and Morales will lead a distinguished lineup that includes Robert Patrick, Blair Underwood, Gretchen Mol, Mary McCormack, with musical performances by Loren Allred, Scotty Hasting, Yolanda Adams, Angel Blue and the National Symphony Orchestra under the direction of top pops conductor Jack Everly. The NATIONAL MEMORIAL DAY CONCERT airs live on Sunday, May 25, 2025, from 8:00 to 9:30 p.m. E.T. on PBS, as well as to our troops serving around the world via the American Forces Network. The concert will also stream on YouTube and and available as Video on Demand, May 25 to June 8, 2025. For images and additional information, visit PBS Pressroom at the program website at Connect with us on: (#MemorialDayPBS) (@memdayPBS)@memdaypbs on Tik Tok View original content to download multimedia: SOURCE Capital Concerts
Yahoo
22-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
ESAI MORALES TO CO-HOST THE NATIONAL MEMORIAL DAY CONCERT, STEPPING IN FOR JOE MANTEGNA
WASHINGTON, May 22, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Acclaimed actor Esai Morales (MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE – THE FINAL RECKONING) will join Gary Sinise to co-host the 36th annual NATIONAL MEMORIAL DAY CONCERT, airing live from the West Lawn of the U.S. Capitol on Sunday, May 25. Morales steps in this year for longtime host Joe Mantegna. Sinise and Morales will lead a distinguished lineup that includes Robert Patrick, Blair Underwood, Gretchen Mol, Mary McCormack, with musical performances by Loren Allred, Scotty Hasting, Yolanda Adams, Angel Blue and the National Symphony Orchestra under the direction of top pops conductor Jack Everly. The NATIONAL MEMORIAL DAY CONCERT airs live on Sunday, May 25, 2025, from 8:00 to 9:30 p.m. E.T. on PBS, as well as to our troops serving around the world via the American Forces Network. The concert will also stream on YouTube and and available as Video on Demand, May 25 to June 8, 2025. For images and additional information, visit PBS Pressroom at the program website at Connect with us on: (#MemorialDayPBS) (@memdayPBS)@memdaypbs on Tik Tok View original content to download multimedia: SOURCE Capital Concerts Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Yahoo
21-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
‘Music by John Williams' Doc Director on How Spielberg Convinced the Legendary Composer to Do the Film
When it comes to film music, there is no name more recognizable than John Williams, known for scores to movies like Jaws, Star Wars, E.T., Indiana Jones and Jurassic Park in a career that has spanned seven decades. It's shocking, then, to know that there has been no documentary about his life and career until now. 'I have felt — as a filmmaker who loves to document people who inspire me, and who inspire people — that it was missing,' Music by John Williams director Laurent Bouzereau tells THR. 'I've known John 30 years, and there's not been a year where I've not said to him or to his representative or to Steven Spielberg, 'When are we going to do a doc on John?' ' More from The Hollywood Reporter How World-Building Took Over Television Chris Brown Freed on $6.7 Million Bail in Assault Case, U.K. Court Rules UMG to Move New York Offices in 2027 Turns out, all it took was a gala at The Kennedy Center celebrating Williams' 90th birthday to get the ball rolling. Bouzereau was tasked with interviewing directors who had worked with the legendary composer for a birthday greeting, but 'when I sat across all those people, they had incredible stories about John, and so I told Steven, 'We have to do this film. This is not a why. It's a why not.' ' Spielberg, with whom Bouzereau has a 30-year professional relationship, was the one who convinced Williams to do the documentary, although he was 'tentative' at first. 'I got a chance to talk to John directly, and he said, 'I don't really want to do this. I don't want to talk about myself.' And I said, 'John, it's not about you, it's about your music.' That reassured him, and by the end, he just couldn't get enough of us!' Bouzereau, who has made retrospective documentaries on Spielberg's Jaws and E.T., among others, knew that the anchor of the film would be Williams' relationship with Spielberg. 'Trying to find a point of entry in the film was very difficult, because when someone has lived close to a century and has been making music since he was 5 years old, where do you begin?' he says. 'So I thought, 'What is the one score that started him with us, the viewers and the audience?' And it was really Jaws.' The documentary takes audiences through Williams' prolific career and showcases how score elevates a scene — imagine, for example, the shark attacking from beneath without the synonymous 'bum-bum bum-bum.' To capture the composer's artistic impact, the film also features interviews with Spielberg, Kathleen Kennedy, George Lucas, Ron Howard and Coldplay's Chris Martin, among many more. The pressure to profile someone known to so many generations was 'gigantic,' says Bouzereau. 'I didn't want it to be a hit parade — I wanted to tell a story, and I wanted it to be inspiring to people, like how you fall in love with a craft and how you hold on to that dream. And even though John's is an incredible success story, he also acknowledges that he was at the right place at the right time.' This story first appeared in a May stand-alone issue of The Hollywood Reporter magazine. To receive the magazine, click here to subscribe. Best of The Hollywood Reporter 'The Goonies' Cast, Then and Now "A Nutless Monkey Could Do Your Job": From Abusive to Angst-Ridden, 16 Memorable Studio Exec Portrayals in Film and TV The 10 Best Baseball Movies of All Time, Ranked
Buzz Feed
21-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Buzz Feed
Lilo & Stitch 'Travesty' Or 'Disney's Best Remake Yet'?
Hot Topic 🔥 Full coverage and conversation on Disney Disney's live-action remakes have always been something of a mixed bag, but the reviews for the new adaptation of Lilo & Stitch are suggesting it could be one of the most polarising yet. Disney Based on the 2002 animated classic, this new take on Lilo & Stitch moves the action into the real world, with live-action actors portraying the human characters and realistic CGI animation used to help depict its various aliens. Ahead of the film's cinema release later this week, critics have begun sharing their thoughts on the remake, which range from reducing it to a 'travesty' and a 'monstrosity' to hailing it as being among Disney 's best live-action remakes to date. Here's a selection of the reviews so far to help get across just how divided critics are about the new Lilo & Stitch … The Guardian (1/5) 'Disney's latest unnecessary remake is a monstrosity monstrosity [...] there's hardly a single smile in Lilo & Stitch '25 not generated through the stolen valor of the earlier screenplay, and hardly a poignant moment that's not more admirably raw in the G-rated version.' The Independent (1/5) 'Disney's live-action Lilo & Stitch is a travesty. This pointless remake saps the original film of its humour, satire and queerness – and sands down the titular alien into a blander, more easily marketable CGI rascal.' Disney The Hollywood Reporter 'For adults, a little of the visual chaos will go a long way, with Stitch, cute as he is, not exactly E.T. in terms of appeal. But younger viewers should eat it all up.' Empire (3/5) 'It's not bad; it can't be – it's too similar to the 2002 film that is one of Disney's all-time best. But it's time to either give filmmakers the room to cut loose with these remakes and dare to do something very different, or stop doing them.' Variety ' Lilo & Stitch isn't an embarrassment. Few of these Disney remakes are, since they're made with far too much care. But instead of deepening our love for the originals, they tend to chip away at it, undermining the magic on which Walt founded the company.' Deadline 'The chaos of these moving pieces is partly what made the original so successful, a carnival of hilarious and poignant ping-ponging elements. But here, the scales are too often tipped into the realm of the treacly, and the entire affair feels a bit sluggish.' ''Ohana' might still mean 'family', but this Lilo & Stitch deserves to be left behind – and forgotten.' TheWrap 'Did you ever wonder what Lilo & Stitch would look like if it was live-action, a lot longer and not quite as good? If you did, you're thinking like a Disney executive. The House of Mouse has been chewing away at its own foundations for nearly two decades now and it's found something else to gnaw on.' IndieWire '[The original animated film] works so well because of its wily combination of packaging and messaging. But it also works significantly less well when that packaging changes, switched from bright and bubbly animation to a live-action setting that can't help but constantly remind viewers of the supposed reality of the situation.' The Telegraph (3/5) 'Whether through some (relatively subtle) plot adjustments or just by dint of flipping the story into the flesh-and-blood realm, Lilo & Stitch has been tamed into one of those naughty-pet family comedies that used to roll off studio production lines with thud-thudding regularity, until the form fell out of fashion somewhere around 1994.' USA Today 'This [film] settles on being a fine retread instead of a rabble-rousing romp. Stitch, in his own peculiar way, sums it up perfectly: This Lilo & Stitch is 'broken but still good'. Even if it's ultimately an unnecessary new take on a chaotic masterpiece.' Entertainment Weekly (B+) 'At its core, this new version of Lilo & Stitch is the same as its animated predecessor, but most crucially (and surprisingly), it's also interested in telling a deeper story that shades in much of Lilo and Nani's grief with colours that imbue the project with a glorious richness.' Disney Radio Times (4/5) 'The film has been made with great care, attention to detail and love for Hawaiian culture, with the story fleshed out nicely. Although the animated characters are appropriately out of this world, the film is grounded by its appealing and sensitively drawn relationships and enhanced by its eccentricity.' 'Disney's best live-action remake yet [...] it's clear from the film that Disney is finally beginning to understand that these live-action remakes need to be as warm and inviting as their animated counterparts.' IGN (8/10) 'Where the weakest Disney remakes feel like they're parroting the original without capturing any of their genuine emotion, Lilo & Stitch retains and often amplifies the most stirring aspects of the rightfully beloved animated film.'
