Latest news with #Villain
NZ Autocar
3 days ago
- Automotive
- NZ Autocar
Will Alpine launch a hydrogen-powered supercar eventually?
Alpine is continuing with development of its hydrogen-powered Alpenglow concept, now evolved into the Hy4 prototype. First revealed in 2022, the Alpenglow's transformation into the Hy4 suggests Alpine is increasingly serious about hydrogen combustion technology. The Hy4, built on a Ligier LMP3 racing chassis, swaps the original single-seat layout for a more conventional two-seat set-up, suggesting a shift towards a road orientation. The Hy4 was set to debut at the World Endurance Championship in Spa-Francorchamps, Belgium. However, an electrical fault prevented that. Alpine's design chief, Antony Villain, is still optimistic. He said that the Alpenglow was always envisioned for both road and track ends. Villain added that Alpine is considering a small production run of the hydrogen-powered supercar. He stressed that both hydrogen-combustion and battery-electric technologies are being pursued at present. Development was always aimed at eventual production, he said, calling the Alpenglow more of a 'programme' than a concept. Future versions will evolve with improved styling and added everyday utility. A critical part of this update is a new V6 hydrogen engine being developed entirely in-house by Alpine. It is set to replace the existing turbocharged 2.0-litre four-cylinder sourced from motorsport partner Oreca. The new V6 should add both power and efficiency. The Hy4's range currently stands at around 100km at race pace. Le Mans racers generally run 10–20 laps of the 14km circuit before refueling so added efficiency is an imperative. Racing vehicles director François Champod stressed the engine will offer accessible, user-friendly power, unlike a high-revving F1 unit. There are still engineering challenges to overcome. Alpine's hydrogen engineer, Pierre-Jean Tardy, explained that while hydrogen combustion produces similar engine response and sound to petrol, it behaves differently. Running lean for efficiency and low NOx emissions leads to cooler exhaust gases, creating challenges for turbochargers, especially increased lag. In addition, hydrogen's wide flammability range complicates combustion control, increasing the risk of engine knock. Mixing hydrogen gas with air uniformly is another major stumbling block, especially at high engine speeds. Hydrogen is injected at very high velocities, making it harder to mix properly and increasing the risk of abnormal combustion. Temperature management within each combustion chamber must also be uniform to avoid reliability issues. Alpine acknowledges that its hydrogen-combustion technology is in its infancy. The V6 has only recently begun testing on a dynamometer. But the goal is to power the Alpenglow with hydrogen by year's end. While Alpine is eyeing entry into the hydrogen-combustion class at the 2027 Le Mans 24 Hours, it has not made a formal commitment yet. A road-going hydrogen car from Alpine remains a long-term possibility. Champod warned that the broader hydrogen infrastructure will determine its future. The current hydrogen refueling network can only support a limited number of vehicles. However, Renault Group's Hyvia venture, focused on hydrogen-powered vans, could aid infrastructure development. Trucks and light commercial vehicles (LCVs) are expected to lead the rollout of hydrogen stations, indirectly supporting niche vehicles like the Alpenglow. Fuel storage on board remains a significant challenge. Hydrogen tanks require more space than petrol equivalents—over 350 litres versus 50 litres—posing packaging problems. Moreover, Alpine insists hydrogen use must be 'clean' to justify its environmental benefits. That means only decarbonized hydrogen (with carbon capture) or green (via renewable-powered electrolysis).
Gizmodo
09-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Gizmodo
Who Was Syril Karn?
'Who are you?' is the question that haunts Syril Karn for his entire life. From the moment we met him, prim and proper security uniform modified to be just so, a sense of purpose in a vast and uncaring universe has been at the core of understanding what makes Syril tick. The journey that took him across the galaxy reached a climactic moment in Andor's penultimate arc this week, and raised that haunting question once more. But the answer is more complicated than mere villain in Andor's narrative, doubting or otherwise. Because even as the hero of his own story, the man we know Syril to be, until the very end, is shaped less by himself and more by the systems and structures that made a tool of him. This doesn't excuse Syril of being responsible for what he abets by the end of his story on Ghorman, of course. No matter how much he doubts by the time of the massacre unfolding around him what he's helped bring about, he still made the choice to be an agent of Imperial interests, both willing soldier and dutiful boyfriend. In not getting the chance to see the light, but to instead face one last ignominy, being so thrown by the villain he built up in his head as Cassian Andor, staring at him blankly and asking that dreaded question—who are you—that he fails to either take the shot he's waited years to take or notice the kill shot being lined up on himself is fitting punishment for those choices, after all. But the question is left as unanswered to us as it was to Cassian and Syril alike. Who was Syril Karn? He was whoever anyone needed him to be. As long as it meant recognition, as long as it meant service, and in many ways, as long as it meant love. As misguided as he might have been, one thing that is repeatedly shown to us throughout Syril's arc is that he does at the very least try to do what he thinks is right. It's presented to us as an almost comically annoying trait when we first meet him, but we're introduced to Syril as a corporate security officer unwilling to sweep the death of two of his colleagues under the rug, in the name of doing things not just for justice, but by the book he was given. It comes up again and again in his journey, this desire to do the right thing being tied into and twisted by what is, ultimately, an similar desire that breeds subservience to authority, regardless of that authority's scruples. When we meet Syril's mother Eedy in that brilliant, intoxicatingly characterful moment of her slapping him across the face before giving him a hug, we're immediately told the kind of environment Syril grew up in. An absent father, and a mother similarly obsessed with status and hierarchy as he would come to be, created an environment primed for Syril to seek approval and validation outside of his family, regardless of the source. Perhaps, if Syril had been born 50 years earlier, that desire could've forged him into model citizen of the Galactic Republic—imperfect in its own ways, but still a structure that would've satiated his yearning for order in the chaos of the universe, a satisfaction with regulation and servitude, and moulded him a long a different line of thought. But instead, Syril came of age in the Republic's twilight, and was an impressionable young adult at the exact moment an authoritarian regime like the Empire and its corporate system cousins needed exactly that. That's how you get the low-level security officer who surreptitiously modifies his uniform, in the hopes of recognition. It's how you get the same officer willing to overcommit a dozen men to a murder investigation, in spit of pressure to do otherwise, forever changing the course of his life. It's how, when that investigation blows up in his face, you get Syril simultaneously committing to a life of bureaucracy while also practically throwing himself into the arms of the ISB, a level of even higher authority. Young men like Syril—seeking order and the warmth of recognition, of a kind of love, in equal measure—are perfect for Star Wars' Imperial structure, because they make for willing sculptures, to be shaped into tools and into weapons as the structure so desires: the Empire runs on evil, but that evil is aided and abetted, and normalized across a galaxy, by a generation of Syrils Karn. The blurred line between love and recognition in this structure becomes even further blurred in Andor's second season, as the unlikely, compellingly off-putting romance between Syril and Dedra flourishes alongside the latter's use of him as an eager field agent. At last, Syril seemingly has everything he wants: getting to play the dutiful Imperial citizen helping out in any way he can, while also getting the literal love of that regime through loving Dedra. But as much as the Empire craves people like Syril to use up in its engines, it similarly craves pushing them further and further as its desire for power and control becomes more brazen with confidence. So when Dedra and the Empire alike push that need, that yearning in Syril, to the limit on Ghorman, there was no other way he could break than badly. His physical abuse of Dedra when he finds out how much she knew about the Empire's plans for the Ghor is horrific, but it's a response born out of the thing the Empire made Syril into, a violent response to the betrayal of his subservience—of his love of Dedra and his love of the structure she represents—that dictates itself through violence. And it's all that that sets the stage for his final act. Syril's final encounter with Cassian is a fascinating foil to his first all those years ago on Ferrix, a question of identity at gunpoint. On Ferrix, it was Cassian aiming the gun, uncaring of who exactly it was that it was pointed at. He needed information that Syril had; whoever he was or turned out to be was inconsequential, and not even worth the blaster bolt Luthen growled at Cassian to put in him. Who Syril Karn was was not a question worth asking in that moment. Five years later, amid the chaos of the Ghorman massacre—a slaughter Syril abetted as he yearned to have an answer to that question, to have purpose—it's only fitting that Cassian finally asks it. In doing so, Syril is broken one last time: the answer he thought he had built up over those years had just been ripped away from him, the love he thought he'd had as empty as the institution he had given his life to. All that could be left, really, was the silence as the blaster bolt seared through his head. Used up and abandoned, in his final moments Syril Karn was nothing—another victim of the Empire on a day filled with them.
Forbes
01-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Forbes
New York Through The Eyes Of ‘Maybe Happy Ending' Star Helen J. Shen
"Maybe Happy Ending" Star Helen J Shen The romantic musical comedy Maybe Happy Ending is one of the biggest Broadway hits this season. Set in Seoul, it's about two robots who fall in love and is surprisingly emotional. Helen J. Shen, 24, stars in the lead as Claire and gives a performance that will have you talking long after the show is over. Helen landed the role after auditioning only once and too, through a single self-tape performance. The town is abuzz about Helen's talent and impending stardom. I was lucky enough to catch up with her recently about her New York loves. Where do you live in New York? The Upper West Side, I love my proximity to Central Park and Riverside Park. It's a lovely respite to the hustle and bustle of New York City. What is your favorite neighborhood in NYC and why? I honestly love where I live. There are a bunch of amazing restaurants and bars, and the people watching (and dog watching) is impeccable. Can you share some of your favorite spots in a Theater District and what makes them so great? Bryant Park is a lovely green space on the East Side of Broadway. The library is also there, which is beautiful to look at, or a great place to get work done. The best place for a pre-or post-theater meal and why. What are the dishes to order? Din Tai Fung is a new addition to the Theater District, and you CAN'T miss the Sticky Rice Shao Mai or the Chocolate Xiao Long Bao with a side of salted cream. The entire menu is pretty solid, you can't go wrong. Best Theater District watering hole and the drink to get? Miss Nellie's is a lovely vibe post-show, and have a wonderful assortment of cocktails and mocktails. I also have to shout out The Long Room, across the street from the Belasco Theater because they have a Maybe Happy Ending drink that's gin based. It's floral and fresh-- exactly the kind of drink you'd want while you contemplate your mortality after watching Maybe Happy Ending. Insider tips for enjoying a Broadway show. Anything to make the experience better? Go in with an open mind. You can read reviews, ask around, but go to the theater to be affected by what you see. Let yourself form your own opinions and bring your lived experience to the viewing experience. In this day and age, being unadulteratedly present is a rarity. This one moment, this one performance will never happen again. Isn't that wonderful? The New York City theater you love to go to and why? I'm biased, but the Belasco is a stunning theater. It's intimate and ornate. It also happens to be considered the most haunted theater on Broadway, though I've never seen any ghosts.... yet. My biggest takeaway from the show is: We all have a finite amount of time on Earth, and we need to use that time to connect with each other instead of isolate from one another. What other Broadway shows are on your radar right now? John Proctor is the Villain seems to be right up my alley. As soon as there's a performance that I can catch during our show schedule, I'm sat. Share your insider New York gems. New York City has some amazing escape rooms. Gotta shout out Mysstic Rooms because they have a theater-themed room that was SO much fun. Can you share your favorite theaters around the world and why? I saw Guys and Dolls at the Bridge Theater in London, and it was one of my favorite theatrical experiences to date. Besides the stellar performances, the space was used in such an innovative way and opened my mind to the different possibilities of theater staging.
&w=3840&q=100)
First Post
29-04-2025
- Entertainment
- First Post
Sharad Kelkar on voicing for Wolverine in Marvel's Wastelanders: 'Getting Saif Ali Khan, Kareena Kapoor, Jaideep Ahlawat together...'
In an exclusive interview with Firstpost, he spoke about his prep, adding his own touch, and his upcoming projects read more Actor Sharad Kelkar has lent his voice for the iconic character of Wolverine in Marvel's Wastelanders on Audible. In an exclusive interview with Firstpost, he spoke about his prep, adding his own touch, and his upcoming projects. Edited excerpts from the interview What do you want to say about your collaboration with Audible? How did you prepare for voicing Wolverine in this particular season? Did you draw inspiration from the English adaptation, or did you go for something completely different? STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD Working on this project has been an incredible experience. Marvel's Wastelanders has been in the making for the last few years, with five individual titular series focusing on different characters, leading up to this final battle. Each character has a rich history filled with pain and struggles, making their team-up against the ultimate Super Villain even more exciting. Audible has created an incredible world and I'm thrilled to be a part of this high-octane action podcast. Preparing for Wolverine meant understanding his age, his pain, and his history. He carries deep scars and experiences, which I had to bring out through my performance. As an actor, I didn't just rely on my voice but fully embodied the character. I'm a huge fan of Wolverine, so when I got this opportunity, I was very honoured. Wolverine has a comic streak, sharp one-liners, and raw anger—he is wild, blunt, and unpredictable, which made him very interesting to voice. I made sure to add my own touch and bring my own style to him. You have one of the best voices in the industry. How well has it suited the character you've voiced? The response I got from the audience gives me the satisfaction that I have done justice to the character. Even if it didn't suit Wolverine perfectly, I would have still done it (laughs) because it's a dream role. Wolverine is my favourite Super Hero, and I was honoured when I got the opportunity to voice the character in this Hindi Audible Original series. Was there any particular scene or moment in Marvel's Wastelanders that was especially exciting or challenging for you during recording? The action sequences were very challenging. In a studio, it's tough to perform such intense scenes. If you look at videos of actors recording action scenes, you'll see that they actually run, kick, and punch inside the studio. I did the same, and it was very tiring but also quite funny at times because of how physically involved I had to be. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD What's your take on the growing popularity of Marvel's Wastelanders? What do you think makes this audio series unique compared to other Marvel stories? The uniqueness lies in its immersive storytelling and the depth of character development. The audio format allows listeners to imagine and create their own visuals in their minds, which makes the experience even more engaging. Our goal was to create such an immersive experience for listeners. The production quality, sound mixing, and background score are top-notch. Audible never creates a mediocre product, and that's why this series has such a strong lineup of artists—Saif Ali Khan voicing Star-Lord, Kareena Kapoor Khan being Black Widow, Jaideep Ahlawat as Hawkeye, Ashish Vidyarthi voicing Doctor Doom, to Yashaswini Dayama being Valeria Richards. Getting so many stars together for one project might seem impossible, but Audible made it happen. The response has been overwhelming. How has working in the audio medium influenced your perspective as an actor? STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD Voice acting is a learning experience. On camera, you have visual aids, sets, props, and co-actors to support your performance. But in voice acting, you just have a studio and a mic—everything depends on your imagination. If I have to show the weight of an object on screen, I can do it visually, but in audio, I have to convey it entirely through my voice. It has been a great learning process. Creating Wolverine solely through voice was unique and rewarding. It was definitely challenging but also a fun experience…to develop the voice, understand the character's age, personality, features, and emotions, then apply the right texture and modulation to performance. It's an incredibly enriching experience. I think every actor should do at least one or two audio series in their career, it will help them a lot. Could you tell something about your upcoming projects? I have some releases lined up this year, though I can't reveal the names just yet. Two films are set to release in the second or third quarter. By the end of the year, a new series will also be out. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD
USA Today
14-04-2025
- Entertainment
- USA Today
Fairytale fashion: Shop Aldo's new Disney collab for magical purses, heels, jewelry ✨
Fairytale fashion: Shop Aldo's new Disney collab for magical purses, heels, jewelry ✨ Disney fans can get their very own Cinderella glass handbag, chic Snow White sneakers and charm bracelets inspired by popular Disney princesses. Ever dreamed of living inside the world of a Disney fairytale? While you might not be able to move into Sleeping Beauty's castle (yet), you can at least look the part of a Disney princess—or villain—thanks to the new Aldo x Disney Princess and the Villain collection. The latest capsule from the two brands pays homage to Disney's most famous heroins and anti-heroes, with a 19-piece collection that includes a variety of magical styles—from dreamy Cinderella-inspired purses and dramatic pumps to dainty accessories that are the perfect fit for a princess. Standout finds include Aldo x Disney sneakers with a Snow White twist and a kitschy fairytale tote. Ahead, shop the just-launched Aldo x Disney collection and stock up on these enchanting styles before they inevitably sell out. Plus, shop other popular Disney collections including a discounted Kate Spade x Disney tote and a Brooks x runDisney collaboration. Shop the Aldo x Disney Princess and the Villain collection 1. Aldo x Disney Princesstote 2. Aldo x Disney Princesscharms 💎 Keep shopping: Check out more jewelry from the Aldo x Disney Princess and the Villain collection 3. Aldo x Disney Snowwhitekicks 4. Aldo x Disney Arielshades 5. Aldo x Disney Stepsistersheel 👠 More: Shop other heels from the Aldo x Disney Princess and the Villain collection 6. Aldo x Disney Cinderellapurse 7. Aldo x Disney Cinderellabow 💝 More: Shop more accessories from the Aldo x Disney Princess and the Villain collection 8. Aldo x Disney Arielheel 🧜♀️ More: Shop this Aldo x Disney heel in a black colorway 9. Aldo x Disney Snowwhiteheel 10. Aldo x Disney Arielclutch Shop the Aldo x Disney Princess & the Villain collection What is the Aldo x Disney Princess and the Villain collection? Aldo and Disney have collaborated on several exclusive capsules together over the years. In their latest collection, the Aldo x Disney Princess and the Villain capsule, the storied brands pay homage to Disney's most famous princesses and villains, with styles that range from whimsical handbags to dramatic heels and other romantic accessories. Prices start at $25. Catch up on your favorite Disney movies: Get a Disney+ and Hulu streaming bundle today Sign up for Disney+
