Saturday 25 July 2015

Diving dog takes flight



Move over Tom Daley, because there's a new diving champ taking flight.
At St Peter's Pool in Malta this man and his Jack Russell are apparently a regular sight, doing their synchronised dives into the naturally formed pool.
The footage was shot by photographer Mark Casser and has already notched up 150,000 views on social media. (CBBC Newsround)

Thursday 23 July 2015

Sony Pictures buys rights to make an emoji movie

Sony Pictures Animation has bought the rights to turn emoji icons into a movie.


Emoji in love

Emojis, which are symbols that help described feelings or emotions, are used by millions of people around the world in texts, online chats and on social media.
It's not clear yet how Sony will turn the yellow round faces into a blockbuster animation.
Emoji
Emojis have developed massively over the years from simple faces to a range of different characters
Emojis were developed in Japan in the late 1990s as smiley-faced emoticons.
They have developed from graphics that represent faces to a wider range of things, including pets, objects and poo.
From CBBC Newsround

An airport terminal for animals is being built at JFK

A new luxury airport terminal for animals is being made at John F Kennedy airport in New York.


Artist drawing of The ARK Development
It will have a swimming pool, kennels, stables and even trees for cats to climb.
Around 70 thousand animals fly in and out of the airport every year, with many of them having to stay for a few days to make sure they're not carrying any diseases.
The building, named the Ark, is costing more than $48 million (£30 million) and is planned to open in 2016.
Artist drawing of The ARK Development shows a cattle handling area the new luxury terminal at New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport
The ARK will have hay-lined stalls for up to 70 horses and 180 cattle, plus an aviary and holding pens for goats, pigs and sheep.
Artist drawing of The ARK Development shows a horse being escorted into the new terminal.
From CBBC newsround

Monday 20 July 2015

Dog rides bus alone to the park in Seattle, US

A dog in Seattle takes herself to the local dog park - by riding on the bus by herself!


The two-year-old black Labrador named 'Eclipse' gets on and off the bus on her own and later meets up with her owner at the park for a nice walk.


From CBBC Newsround

Friday 17 July 2015

The robot footballers hoping for a cup win


Meet the UK's robo-footie team who've been training hard for this year's RoboCup World Championships.



The robots were built by a team at the University of Hertfordshire, and put in a cracking performance last year by grabbing second place in Brazil.
Each robot is programmed with around 50,000 different lines of code to help them to know what to do.
The RoboCup is an annual football competition, which first started in 1997.
Around 500 teams from more than 45 countries will take part in this year's contest, which kicks off in China on 19 July.
From CBBC newsround

Wednesday 15 July 2015

Meet the star of Oscar nominated animation Song of the Sea.

The movie, which comes out in the UK this week, is based on an Irish folk tale.
It follows the story of a boy called Ben and his little sister who meet selkies, giants and faeries on their adventure.
It was made using traditional drawing techniques, and was nominated for the biggest film awards in the world, the Oscars, earlier this year. (CBBC newsround)


Song of the Sea is a 2014 Irish animated fantasy film by Cartoon Saloon that is directed by Tomm Moore. The traditionally animated film, which began production soon after the release of The Secret of Kells (2009), premiered at the 2014 Toronto International Film Festival on 6 September in the TIFF Kids program The film was nominated for Academy Award for Best Animated Feature at the 87th Academy Awards (2015). (in Wikipedia)

Plot

In October of 1981, on an island off the coast of Ireland lives Conor, a lighthouse keeper, his son Ben, his wife Bronagh, who is expecting their second child, and their sheepdog Cú. Bronagh leaves unexpectedly late one night, leaving behind her newborn daughter Saoirse. Six years later, Conor is a depressed alcoholic, Saoirse has yet to utter a single word, and Ben has grown resentful of his sister, associating her with his mother’s disappearance. The family are then visited by Granny for Saoirse's birthday. That night, Ben scares Saorirse with a story of Mac Lir the giant and his mother Macha the Owl Witch, who turned him to stone and stole his feelings. Later that night, Saoirse plays a seashell horn given to Ben by their mother, and it leads her to a white sealskin coat hidden in Conor’s closet. She puts the coat on and is coaxed into the ocean by a group of seals. It is then revealed that she is a beautiful white Selkie. After swimming with the seals, she is found washed up onshore by Granny, who insists upon taking the children back home to the city for their own safety. Conor reluctantly agrees, and throws the chest containing Saoirse's coat and its key into the sea.

The following night on Halloween, Saoirse plays the shell, alerting a group of Faerie creatures to her presence. Ben and Saoirse begin attempting to travel home, but encounter the Faeries who hope that Saoirse will sing the Song of the Sea and allow them and all their brethren to travel home to Tír na nÓg. Unfortunately, they are attacked by Macha's owls, who turn the Faeries to stone. The siblings take a bus into the country, where they run into Cú, who had originally been following them to the city, and come across a sacred well. Unfortunately, without her coat, Saoirse is rapidly growing deathly ill, shown by her hair turning white. She falls into the well, while Ben tries to follow her and meets the Great Seanachai. The Faerie tells Ben his sister has been kidnapped by Macha's owls, and he gives the boy one of his hairs that will lead him to the witch’s house, and in the process sees that the night his mother left, she departed into the sea and left Saoirse with their father, and realizes how unfair he's been to Saoirse all these years. Ben then meets Macha, who is not the villain he imagined. She claims that when her son, Mac Lir, suffered from a broken heart, she took away his suffering, turning him into the small island near Ben's home. She is determined to do the same for everyone, even herself.



Ben manages to rescue Saoirse and the shell’s song releases Macha's feelings back into her, which helps her recognize the gravity of her actions. The witch helps Ben, Saoirse, Cú fly back home with the spirits of Mac Lir's dogs. The children arrive home during a storm, and Conor attempts to take them back to the mainland to get Saoirse to a hospital; at the same time, Granny is on her way to their island in search of her missing grandchildren. Ben dives into the sea in search of Saoirse's coat, which he recovers with help from the seals and his father. The group is then washed up on Mac Lir's island, where Saoirse, reunited with her coat, is restored to health and sings her song. Faerie creatures from across Ireland rise and travel to Mac Lir's island, and Mac Lir himself emerges with Macha and his dogs as they head to Tír na nÓg. Bronagh appears with the sad news that she and Saoirse must depart as well. However, since Saoirse is part human, Bronagh is able to take her coat and leave her behind to live as a human while she departs. After a tearful goodbye, the Faeries depart across the sea, and Ben and his family happily return home to their island, where Granny finally arrives, and decides the children can stay with their father. (in Wikipedia)

     
Song of the Sea
Song of the Sea (2014 film) poster.jpg
Theatrical release poster



Facts File



Directed by
Tomm Moore
Produced by
  • Paul Young
  • Claus Toksvig Kjaer
Written by
Will Collins
Story by
Tomm Moore
Starring
  • David Rawle
  • Brendan Gleeson
  • Fionnula Flanagan
  • Lisa Hannigan
  • Lucy O'Connell
  • Jon Kenny
  • Pat Shortt
  • Colm Ó Snodaigh
  • Liam Hourican
  • Kevin Swierszcz
Music by
  • Bruno Coulais
  • Kíla
Edited by
Darragh Byrne
Production
company
  • Cartoon Saloon
  • Mélusine Productions
    Big Farm
    Super Productions
  • Noerlum Studios
  • Irish Film Board
  • Film Fund Luxembourg
  • Eurimages Fund of the Council of Europe
  • Broadcasting Authority of Ireland
  • Film and Audiovisual Centre of Wallonia Brussels Federation
  • Inver Invest
  • Versus Productions
  • Magellan Films
  • Tax Shelter Programme of the Federal Government of Belgium
  • Belgacom
  • Danish Film Institute
  • West Danish Film Fund
Distributed by
  • StudioCanal (Ireland)
  • O'Brother Distribution(Belgium)
  • Haut et Court (France)
Release dates
  • 6 September 2014 (TIFF)
  • 10 December 2014(France/Belgium/Luxembourg)
  • 19 February 2015 (Denmark)
  • 10 July 2015 (Ireland)
Running time
93 minutes
Country
  • Ireland
  • Belgium
  • Denmark
  • France
  • Luxembourg
Language
English
Box office
$841,122 (US)



Saturday 11 July 2015

Princess Charlotte: Norfolk church creates knitted christening

Knitters have recreated Princess Charlotte's christening in wool as part of a church fundraising festival.
The replica royal event is at St Peter and St Paul's church in Norfolk - one of six churches taking part in a Blossom and Yarn Festival.
Over 11,000 squares were used to create themed scenes for the six churches.

Knitted royal christening
The christening scene has been recreated in wool at the church in Griston

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Woolen Prince George even has a knitted teddy bear.


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The Bishop of Norwich said he was full of admiration because he "couldn't knit a bishop".

Prince Harry - who was unable to attend the event at Church of St Mary Magdalene at the Queen's Sandringham estate last Sunday - is in attendance at the knitted version.
Most of the figures and many other items, including roses, small animals and cakes, were made from 10cm knitted squares.
More than 31 human figures were created by more than 100 knitters.
From CBNBC Newsround



Friday 10 July 2015

How do pandas survive on bamboo?











Bamboo famously makes up about 99 percent of a panda's diet.


So how do the black-and-white bears from the misty mountains of central China survive on a diet almost exclusively of a low-nutrient food like bamboo?
Scientists at the Chinese Academy of Sciences' Institute of Zoology in Beijing have discovered an answer.
They found pandas have a particularly low metabolism, meaning their bodies burn energy from food very slowly.
A 90 kilogram panda burns less than half the energy of a human with the same weight, scientists have found.

Guzzling bamboo

However, pandas still have to eat a lot of bamboo - one needs up to 23kg a day.
The researchers also found wild pandas rested for more than half of any given day and travelled only about 20 meters per hour.
This is the way they save their energy and make up for their bad digestion.

Critically endangered

The critically endangered panda is the only one of the world's eight bear species with a vegetarian diet.
There are only about 1,800 giant pandas left in the wild, according to the World Wildlife Fund.
From CBBC Newsround


Could Microdave be the UK's smallest horse?



Measuring in around 45cm tall, Microdave is the newest contender for the title of Britain's smallest horse.
So cuuute!

Born in Kent, in the south-east of England, the American miniature stallion is half the size of a regular foal of the same breed.
Microdave got his unusual name from his dad, who is called Littledave.
His owner Jen Baldwin-Murphy, says that Microdave is very cheeky, and has become really popular with visitors.
From CBBC Newsround

Tuesday 7 July 2015

Minecraft global gathering comes to London

Heaven was a place on earth for the biggest fans of Minecraft this weekend as Minecon - the global gathering for players of the hugely popular game - came to London.



It was the first Minecon held for 18 months during which time the 70 millionth copy of the game was sold and Mojang itself was sold to Microsoft for $2.5bn (£1.6bn).
In total, 10,000 fans visited the Excel convention centre in London's Docklands for Minecon and, in doing so, set a Guinness world record for an event dedicated to one video game.
The convention drew attendees from more than 73 countries, with some coming from as far away as New Zealand just to join in.
Minecon filled every hall at the sprawling Excel exhibition centre. The main presentation stage hosted the opening ceremony, a Minecraft game show, costume competition and a dance show celebrating the game. Another hall was given over to an expo involving a tournament area, Minecraft-themed funfair booths, statues of blocky Minecraft animals and merchandise stalls.
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The show floor featured statues of many familiar Minecraft creatures such as this creeper
As well as being a hit with many individual players, the game's success has made stars of many people who make Minecraft-themed videos - day in, day out. This year Minecraft became the most watched game of all time on video-sharing site YouTube.
Any vlogger or YouTuber recognised as they walked around the show was mobbed by fans who waylaid them to get an autograph or take a selfie with their idols.
One of the most popular sessions at the show was with a Q&A on Saturday on the show floor with a group of of popular vloggers and YouTubers known as The Pack. Between them the members of The Pack - Mr Woofless, PrestonPlayz, JeromeASF, BajanCanadian, Vikstarr123HD and Lachlan - have an average age of 20, and more than 15 million subscribers.

Future features

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At the convention, Mojang also talked about features in forthcoming versions of the game which will include letting characters carry and use objects in both hands. In addition, some elements of the game, an area known as The End and its final boss - the Ender dragon - are also getting updates.
An exhibition of Minecraft-themed art was on show at Minecon

The first trailer for Minecraft: Story Mode - which turns the game into an episodic adventure - was aired at the show and gave people a glimpse of the story that will be played out in that.
Mojang owner Microsoft also took the opportunity to give attendees a glimpse of the version of Minecraft it is preparing for the Hololens augmented reality system. Microsoft staged a competition to pick 50 convention goers who were able to don the helmet and get a look at the invention.
But despite the enthusiasm and creativity on show, not everyone who attended was sold on Minecraft's appeal.
adapted and abridged fro BBC news/Technology