CC Devilicious #13(IO) - Page 101

A new start"up known as Hyperloop Transportation Technologies is planning to develop a supertube that would take passengers from Los Angeles to San Francisco in 35 minutes flat at a speed of 760 miles per hour. The trip currently takes up to 12 hours by train and more than six hours by car.

Hyperloop, the tube transport dream of SpaceX founder and Tesla Motors CEO Elon Musk, could be ready for passengers in as few as 10 years, the Daily Mail reported.

Over 100 engineers from across the world are working on Musk's supertube. Inside the tubes, hyperloop pods are mounted on thin skis made out of inconel, an alloy that can withstand high pressure and heat.

Air is pumped into the skis via small holes to make an air cushion with each pod having air inlets at the front.

An electric turbo compressor would compress air from the nose and route it to the skis and the capsule.

Magnets on the skis and an electromagnetic pulse would provide the pod its initial thrust.

The capsules carrying six to eight people would depart every 30 seconds.

"The only resistance would be the air in front of the capsule which we moved to the back by using a compressor," Hyperloop CEO Dirk Ahlborn was quoted as saying.

According to Musk, Hyperloop would be a practical solution for travel between cities separated by 1,000 miles or less.

Actor Amitabh Bachchan revealed on Sunday that he was diagnosed with tuberculosis in 2000, but fought back.

The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) recently roped in Mr. Bachchan as an ambassador for its anti-tuberculosis campaign. "I was diagnosed with tuberculosis when Kaun Banega Crorepati was to be launched in 2000. TB can happen to anyone," Mr. Bachchan said at the launch of the campaign: TB Harega Bharat Jitega.

"I would feel tired, loss of appetite. I was diagnosed with TB. The ailment can be treated, one does not need to stop daily routine. I worked on KBC without any problem."

Chennai Filmmaker Soundarya Rajinikanth is expecting her first child with industrialist husband Ashwin Ramkumar.

The Kochadaiiyaan' director, who is the younger daughter of Rajinikanth and Latha, took to Twitter to express her excitement.

"Thank you all for the love and wishes! The whole family is excited and I feel very blessed. #babyontheway #motherhood," Soundarya, 30, tweeted.

Soundarya and Ashwin tied the knot in 2010 in Chennai.

Reality star Kim Kardashian has become the most followed person on Instagram by surpassing Justin Bieber, after he lost more than 3.5 million followers in a fake follower purge.

Bieber, 20, originally had 23.8 million followers, which went down to 20.3 million losing his first place to the Keeping Up With the Kardashian' star and is now on third place after the singer Beyonce Knowles, reported Ace Showbiz.

Kardashian, 34, also lost around 1.3 million followers after the purge, closing the day at 22.2 million followers. Knowles also lost around 866,000 followers and is currently on second place with 21.4 million followers.

Other celebrities who has a large number of followers on Instagram includes Akon, Tyga, Ariana Grande, Rihanna, Selena Gomez and P Diddy. Famous 90s rapper Mase has reportedly deleted his Instagram account after losing 1.5 million followers in a short while.

Oscar-winning actress Kate Winslet is in negotiations to play the female lead role in the untitled Steve Jobs biopic.

The "Titanic" star will join the Danny Boyle-directed film if the deal is sealed and will star alongside Michael Fassbender and Seth Rogen, reported Ace Showbiz.

Previously, it was reported that Jeff Daniels was eyed to play former Apple CEO John Sculley.

Based on Walter Isaacson's biography, the upcoming film has Aaron Sorkin to work on the script.

Scott Rudin, Mark Gordon and Guymon Casady serve as producers. Natalie Portman previously was linked to an unspecified role, but she apparently decided to pass on it.

The biopic is eyeing a 2016 release.

Winslet, 39, now has some projects underway. She played Jeanine in "Divergent" and is reprising the role in its follow-up "The Divergent Series: Insurgent".

The list of contenders for best foreign film got a bit smaller Friday as the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences announced the nine features that will advance to the next round of voting.

Included are Ruben Ostlund's patriarchy-skewering avalanche film "Force Majeure" from Sweden, Andrey Zvyagintsev's "Leviathan," about a property dispute in a small Russian costal town, and Pawel Pawlikowski's Polish drama "Ida," about a young woman with dreams of being a nun who discovers some dark secrets in her family's past. All recently received Golden Globe nominations, too.

Damian Szifron's black ensemble comedy "Wild Tales," from Argentina, also made the shortlist, as did Estonia's "Tangerines," the Golden Globe-nominated film about a man caring for a wounded soldier.

Other films on the shortlist include Abderrahmane Sissako's "Timbuktu," the first Mauritanian film ever submitted, Georgia's "Corn Island," the Netherlands' "Accused," and Venezuela's "The Liberator."

Missing from the list were a few high profile films, such as the drama "Two Days, One Night," from the Dardennes brothers. Star Marion Cotillard has been singled out for her performance as a young mother in a desperate situation in a number of recent critics' awards. Eighty three countries submitted films for consideration. Xavier Dolan's critically beloved coming-of-age drama "Mommy" also failed to make the cut.

Of the 83 countries who submitted entries, six were chosen by a committee of several hundred Academy members based in Los Angeles who were tasked with screening the original submissions. Three additional features were then added by the Academy's Foreign Language Film Award Executive Committee.

The five final nominees will be selected from this group of films and announced, along with the other Academy Award nominees, live on Jan. 15. Winners will be presented at the 87th Academy Awards on Feb. 22.

Indian movies nowhere in sight.