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AI 'resurrects' 54 Roman emperors, in stunningly lifelike images

An artist used machine learning to create the photorealistic portraits. Ancient Roman emperors' faces have been brought to life in digital reconstructions; the unnervingly realistic image project includes the Emperors Caligula, and , among others.  The features of these long-dead rulers have been preserved in hundreds of sculptures, but even the most detailed carvings can't convey what these men truly looked like when they were alive. To explore that, Canadian cinematograph........

Beyond Region and Language: SP Balasubrahmanyam's Mother Tongue was Music

There has hardly ever been any playback singer in the history of Indian films who could transcend the borders of regionalities and languages and move millions of hearts with his/her songs like SP Balasubrahmanyam always did. Fondly known as SPB, he sang in 16 different languages, including Telugu, Tamil, Kannada, Hindi, and Malayalam. However, his mother tongue was always music. He would often tell his fans, "You all have made me sing in so many........

Veteran Singer S P Balasubrahmanyam Passes Away

Popular playback singer S P Balasubrahmanyam, who had been undergoing treatment at a hospital in Chennai after testing positive for COVID-19 on August 5, passed away after a prolonged illness. He died on Friday afternoon at 1.04 PM. He was 74 and survived by his wife, a son, and a daughter. He was admitted to the MGM Health Care hospital with mild COVID19 symptoms on August 5. His condition had deteriorated on August 13. His condition saw much improvement early this month and his son even declare........

The movements that betray who you are

While leafing through some old research papers, Hillary Elfenbein noticed something strange about the photographs in one famous study. The research from the late 1980s had asked volunteers if they were able to in the faces of Japanese and Caucasian people. Some of the “Japanese” faces were posed by Japanese-Americans, the rest by Japanese nationals. When Elfenbein herself looked at photographs, . Her collaborator, Abby Marsh, found that she could too. So they ran an experiment. They found that the ........

Meet Priyanshi Somani, Human Calculator Who Broke World Records At 11 Years Old

In our school days, one of the most challenging subjects that we had to deal with was (at least for me it was). What started as basic addition, subtraction and multiplication advanced to bringing in geometry and algebra that truly screwed with our minds. In the year 2006, when she was around seven years old, just a year after learning mental maths, she became the National champion in abacus and mental arithmetic competit........

Could Singing Spread COVID-19? Yes, Says Study; Advices People to Avoid Loud & Consonant-Rich Singing

In a fight against novel coronavirus (Covid-19), the researchers have found that singing — particularly loud and consonant-rich singing — spreads a lot of aerosol particles and droplets into the surrounding air — increasing the spread of Covid-19 virus. “We have studied the amount of particles we actually emit when we sing — and by extension — if we contribute to the increased spread of Covid-19 by singing,” said the study authors from Lund University (LU) in Sweden. There are many reports about the spreading of Covid-19 in connection with choirs singing. Therefore, di........

Playback Singer SP Balasubramanyam Tests Negative for COVID-19

Playback singer SP Balasubramanyam who has been in the intensive care unit of a Chennai hospital after contracting the COVID-19 disease, has tested negative for the virus. In a video message to his fans, SP Charan qualified it as a significant development, considering that his lungs are healing. The singer has been watching a lot of tennis on his mobile device inside the hospital, and is all primed for the forthcoming short format cricket series IPL. Earlier, Charan had denied a news report that his fathe........

World Photography Day: Remembering Cameras That Advanced the Art Over 130 Years

The iconic Leica M3 (1954), often credited as the forefather of the venerable Leica M-system cameras that are worshipped today. World Photography Day is here, and is likely the first time in living memory where we would all be urged to celebrate from the confines of our home, thanks to the Covid-19 pandemic. Despite that, it is impossible to imagine a world today, where taking photographs would not exist. In fact, photography is so taken for granted t........

Seven Thousand Wonders Of India: An Artistic Pilgrimage Of India's Lesser Known Temples-Part I

How to see a temple - in all its grandeur, glory and artistic magnificence? Here is a series of articles that will take you on a virtual tour of the lesser known temples of this land where the wonders are endless. This is an introduction to equip the reader with tools to undertake the journey with the writer over the next few weeks. “Full many a gem of purest ray serene, the dark unfathom’d caves of ocean bearFull many a flower is born to blush unseen, and waste its sweetness in the desert air.” -Thomas Gray, Elegy in a country churchyard........

Haute Handloom, Khadi Couture

It was a common sight outside most metropolitan malls—the swish set emerging with dozens of bags dangling from their wrists. Their attire and their shopping haul proclaimed the recognisable logos of international brands that sell the same dresses and shirts across the world, whether in Mumbai or Madrid, fresh out of factories in Bangladesh or Vietnam. This hamster wheel of fast fashion and international supply chains, however, has come to a jarring halt after the pandemic. Now, with the prime minister’s call to be “vocal for local”, the fashion indus........

Who is Shakuntala Devi, India's Human-Computer Whose Math Prowess Inspired Vidya Balan Movie?

Shakuntala Devi was born in 1929 to Kannadiga parents. Her ability to solve complex mathematical problems amazed her family and relatives from an early age. This was more astounding as she had not received any formal schooling. She demonstrated her remarkable brain skills at public shows with the help and encouragement of her father, who was a circus performer. Soon her shows picked up craze as people could not believe her immense grip on the huge numbers. This earned her enough money to help contribute to the family. Devi was popular enough ........

Ennio Morricone, Oscar-winning film composer, dies at 91

He died at dawn in a Rome hospital after falling and breaking his leg, his lawyer, Giorgio Assumma, said. Morricone is best known internationally as the composer behind the instantly recognizable melodies from "The Good, the Bad and the Ugly" and "Once Upon a Time in the West." The Italian composer was famous for the tension-filled scores of spaghetti Westerns, and won an Academy Award for his soundtrack for Quentin Tarantino's "The Hateful Eight" in 2016, after five previous nominations and an Honorary Award in 2007 that ........

Conversations with Adoor Gopalakrishnan

The novel and the cinema are often autobiographies in disguise; they can be more intimate and revealing than diaries or memoirs. During long afternoons and evenings in Shimla last summer with Adoor Gopalakrishnan, who steps into his 80th year this July, I found myself searching for the person behind Elippathayam (1982) and Mathilukal (1990). Critics now hail vulnerable male characters in recent Malayalam films like Kumbalangi Nights (2019); few recall that Adoor has ........

Once Hyderabad aristocracy's favoured weave, how 'Telia Rumal' gained new lease of life post-Independence

In the rich portmanteau of weaves which originated in the handloom clusters of south India, the Telia Rumal (Telia means oil, Rumal means cloth) holds a special significance. The Telia Rumal (a square piece measuring around one metre square) belongs to the larger tradition of handkerchiefs which were created to meet specific purposes during the 18th and 19th century. While some wore it around the neck, others used it as a headscarf. The distinguishing characteristics of the Telia Rumal when it was created........

The woman who has become India's 'corona voice'

For millions of Indians, Jasleen Bhalla's is a familiar voice. When you dial a phone number in India you don't always hear a ringing as you wait for the other person to answer, but sometimes a piece of music or a message, known locally as a "caller tune". And for the past two-and-a-half months, her warm and soothing tones are the first thing people hear when they make a telephone call. The voiceover artist, with her message instructing Indians how to behave during the pandemic, has come to be known as India's "corona voice". ........

7 Designer Wall Clocks to Beautify Your Interior

There was a time when wall clocks helped us to manage our life. We depended on it to plan our daily routine. But its role changed with time. Clocks have shifted from being an item of utility to an element of style and beauty, all thanks to the advent of technology. Now, the wooden clocks are classic décor pieces that not only add character to your house but also double up as a fashionable centrepiece. Here are some timeless pieces of anti........

Javed Akhtar becomes the only Indian to win the Richard Dawkins Award 2020

aved Akhtar has been one of India's most prolific lyricists. Known for his way with words and weaving rhymes, the lyricist has won many accolades to his credit. He has also been vocal on issues and has never shied away from criticising the wrongs in our society. The lyricist has now won the Richard Dawkins Award 2020, in a proud moment for Indians around the world. Javed Akhtar is the only Indian so far to have won the prestig........

‘A Mob Destroyed My Coffee Shop And Opened The Door To A Film’ | Outlook India Magazine

Nasir’s eponymous protagonist writes poetry and endearing love letters to his wife. He is a Muslim salesman trying to negotiate his straitened circumstances as sectarianism simmers in Coimbatore. Its 27-year-old director, Arun Karthick, stayed in a Muslim neighbourhood for three years to get the right texture and flavour for the film. Nasir’s world premiere is at IFFR 2020, where it has won the NETPAC award (best Asian feature film). At his hotel close to de Doelen, the main festival venue, Arun talks about the making of the movie, its unique stylistic........

He has sung 40000 songs in 16 languages

An engineering student who dropped out to pursue a career in playback singing in the 1960s, he was quickly launched across three major languages, beginning with mother tongue Telugu, Kannada and then Tamil. After being in the second rung of the top layers of the southern world, the late 1970s saw him catapult to the very top with the death of Ghantasala in 1974 and the introduction of Ilaiyaraja in 1976. Like the magnetic combo of Kishore- Asha in Hindi under R D Burman and others in the 1970s, he paired with ........

In Sharanya Ramprakash's Kannada play Nava, a guide for greater transgender presence in Indian theatre

Last year’s observances took place at the Lakshmipuram burial ground which also houses a temple dedicated to Kali at her most potent and dangerous. An intrigued onlooker at the event was the Bengaluru-based theatremaker Sharanya Ramprakash, who had begun work on Nava, a play in Kannada featuring an ensemble of nine urban trans women, some of whom participated in the Karaga ritual. "It was striking to see them in their element against this backdrop, where symbols of womanhood are u........