Sydney Rare Book Fair and Sydney Rare Book Week

Arts & Culture, Books

The Sydney Rare Book Fair runs October 24 – 26, concluding this year’s Sydney Rare Book Week.Organized by The Australian and New Zealand Association of Antiquarian Booksellers with the support of the University of Sydney, it returns to MacLaurin Hall, at the university in Camperdown.Exhibitors include Ankh Antiquarian Books, The Antique Bookshop & Curios, Antique Print Map Room, Blue Mountains Books, Bridget McDonnell Gallery, Josef Lebovic Gallery, Kenneth Hince Old & Fine Books, Mark’s Book Barn, Owl & Lion Bindery, Rare Aviation Books, Sartoni Antique Prints, Somerset House Books, Sydney Rare Book Auctions, and Wyrdbooks. Among the program of free talks, workshops and tours on October 24 are:Gems from the City of Sydney Archives with archivists Dominique Novak d’Hennin and Naomi Crago, including the marginalia of former Town Clerk John Rae, rare albums of disappeared Sydney streetscapes, and the archive’s letterpress correspondence books.An introduction to the Carrington Albums, put together while Lord Carrington was Governor of New South Wales (1885-1890) which contain illuminated addresses, greetings and well-wishes from residents, towns and associations from across the StateA guided tour of the State Library’s exhibition Peter Kingston with co-curator Mathilde de Hauteclocque, focusing on the library’s major collection of Kingston’s limited-edition artists’ booksArtists’ libraries at the Art Gallery of New South Wales, with librarians from the gallery’s Edmund and Joanna Capon Research Library exploring the libraries of Australian artists such as Margaret Preston, Grace Crowley and Rayner Hoff[embedded content]

Raj Kapoor’s daughter has also been a part of the big screen, this is her first and last film – Hindustan News Hub

Arts & Culture, Film & TV

Image Source : INSTAGRAM Raj Kapoor’s daughter has also worked in the film.
The Kapoor family has given many stars to Bollywood, but most of them have been male stars. There was a time when the daughters of the Kapoor family did not work in films and if someone married the son of the Kapoor family, they were also not allowed to work in films. This tradition of the Kapoor family has been very old, which is why after marriage, Babita and Neetu Kapoor also stayed away from films after marrying the sons of the Kapoor family. However, Raj Kapoor’s granddaughter Karisma Kapoor broke these traditions and turned to the film world and after her her sister Kareena also made her Bollywood debut. But, do you know that years ago another daughter of the Kapoor family was seen on the big screen.

Raj Kapoor’s daughter appeared on screen for a few seconds
Yes, this daughter of the Kapoor family had shown a glimpse on the big screen in ‘Shree 420’ released years ago, although she appeared on the screen only for a few seconds. After this he never faced the camera. Do you know about this daughter of Kapoor family? Actually, the daughter of the Kapoor family we are talking about here is Ritu Nanda. Ritu Nanda was also seen in the song ‘Pyaar Hua Iqrar Hua’ from Raj Kapoor and Nargis starrer Shri 420, released in 1955.
The three children seen in the song were Raj Kapoor’s.
In this song, three children were shown crossing the road, one of which was Rishi Kapoor, Randhir Kapoor and Ritu Nanda. There is a line in the song Pyaar Hua Iqraar Hua Hai, ‘Tum na rahoge, I will not stay, still there will be traces…’ During this, three children are seen. According to Twitter handle Movies N Memories, the three children seen in the song belonged to Raj Kapoor.
Raj Kapoor-Krishna Raj Kapoor’s children
Raj Kapoor and Krishna Raj Kapoor married in 1946 and from this marriage they had 5 children, three sons and two daughters. Raj Kapoor’s three sons Rishi Kapoor, Randhir Kapoor and Rajiv Kapoor worked in films, while daughters Reema Kapoor and Ritu Nanda, following the family tradition, maintained distance from the film world.
Latest Bollywood News

Tesla CEO Elon Musk Sours On Blade Runner 2049 After EV Giant Gets Sued Over ‘False Endorsement’ Accusations: ‘That Movie Sucked’

Arts & Culture, Film & TV

Tesla Inc TSLA CEO Elon Musk on Tuesday slammed Alcon Entertainment‘s Blade Runner 2049 movie after the Los Angeles-based production company alleged copyright infringement during Tesla’s robotaxi event.

What Happened: “That movie sucked,” Musk wrote about Blade Runner 2049.

Earlier this week, it was reported that Alcon has filed a copyright lawsuit against Tesla and Warner Bros Discovery, accusing them of using an AI image generator to create promotional art for Tesla’s “We, Robot” event that allegedly bears a striking resemblance to stills from the 2017 sci-fi film, the copyright of which is owned by Alcon.

The lawsuit claims that Tesla and Warner Bros. sought permission to use imagery from the film just hours before the event. However, Alcon denied the request due to concerns it would be construed as a “false endorsement” of Musk and Tesla. The production company cited Musk’s controversial behavior, which they viewed as detrimental to their brand.

Despite Alcon’s refusal, Tesla allegedly used shots from Blade Runner 2049 to create a stylized image displayed prominently during the event.

Why It Matters: Musk’s new comment comes as a reversal of a comment he made at the ‘We, Robot’ event earlier this month. Musk then said that he loves Blade Runner but would prefer a fun and exciting future instead of an apocalyptic one.

Late last year, Musk said that Tesla’s stainless steel Cybertruck is something that Bladerunner would have driven. In fact, Musk has made references to Blade Runner as long back as 2018 on his X account, formerly Twitter.

However, Blade Runner 2049 is a sequel to the 1982 movie Blade Runner and it is unclear if Musk is a fan of the original alone.

Tesla’s ‘We, Robot’ event held on Oct. 10 at Warner Bros. Discovery Inc.’s movie studio near Los Angeles was dedicated to showcasing Tesla’s efforts in the field of autonomous driving and robotics. Tesla unveiled its 2-seater Cybercab and also a 20-seater Robovan at the event.

Check out more of Benzinga’s Future Of Mobility coverage by following this link.

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Photo courtesy: TeslaMarket News and Data brought to you by Benzinga APIs© 2024 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.

Nicole Kidman, 57, says she had to pause filming ‘Babygirl’ because she didn’t want to ‘orgasm’ anymore: ‘I hate doing this’

Arts & Culture, Film & TV

Nicole Kidman admitted she was “so turned on” while filming her new erotic drama “Babygirl” that she had to temporarily hit the brakes on production.

In the kinky movie, Kidman plays a powerful businesswoman who risks her career and family life to have a passionate affair with her much younger intern, played by “Where the Crawdads Sing” actor Harris Dickinson, 28.

Nicole Kidman needed to take breaks during filming “Babygirl” because she was “so turned on.” A24 / YouTube

The Oscar winner admitted the intense sex scenes were a challenge. A24 / YouTube

The 57-year-old Oscar winner said performing sexual scenes with Dickinson and Antonio Banderas, who plays her husband in the movie, sometimes became too much to handle.

“There were times when we were shooting where I was like, ‘I don’t want to orgasm any more,’” Kidman told The Sun.

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Kidman plays a businesswoman having a steamy affair with an intern portrayed by Harris Dickinson. A24 / YouTube

The “Big Little Lies” star took on the project to challenge herself, however the process brought moments that were simply too much for her to handle.

In fact, Kidman admitted that she would often say, “don’t come near me” and “I hate doing this” during filming.

Kidman’s co-star Antonio Banderas plays her husband in the drama. AP

“I don’t care if I am never touched again in my life!” she added.

Even Dickinson revealed in a press conference that he would tell the cast and crew “go away for a second” when he needed space on set.

The upcoming film’s steamy trailer is already giving moviegoers a glimpse of what’s to come with sexual tension spilling over the screen.

“It was so present all the time for me that it was almost like a burnout,” Kidman said.

Nicole Kidman won the Best Actress award at the 2024 Venice Film Festival for her role in “Babygirl.” A24 / YouTube

“There were times when we were shooting where I was like, ‘I don’t want to orgasm any more,’” Kidman said. A24 / YouTube

This isn’t the first time Kidman has pushed the boundaries with sexual roles.

She appeared in an orgy scene in the 1999 film “Eyes Wide Shut” with her then-husband Tom Cruise, and played a prostitute who faked an orgasm to Ewan McGregor’s character singing a song in 2001’s “Moulin Rouge.”

“I’ve always been on a quest as an actor, I’m always going, where have I not been? And what can I explore as a human being?” she recently told People.

The film hits theaters on Christmas Day. A24 / YouTube

Kidman is married to country superstar Keith Urban. Getty Images for The Met Museum/Vogue

Off the big screen, the mom of four is married to country superstar Keith Urban. They wed in 2006 and have two kids named Sunday and Faith.

She was previously married to Tom Cruise from 1990 to 2001, and the pair adopted two kids: daughter Isabella, 30, and son Connor, 28.

“Babygirl” hits theaters on Christmas Day.

2024 Nobel Prize acknowledges advancements in protein science

Science and Health

David Baker, Demis Hassabis and John Jumper have been awarded the 2024 Nobel Prize for Chemistry. One half of the prize has been awarded to David Baker “for computational protein design” and the other half jointly to Demis Hassabis and John M. Jumper “for protein structure prediction.”

Protein design
The remarkable work by David Baker and colleagues in computational protein design, which recently has been revolutionised by Al, has made it possible to custom-build protein according to a researchers specifications, which shows how far this understanding has reached.
This is opening whole new avenues in fundamental and biomedical research. David Baker has made fundamental contributions to protein structure prediction and design over the last three decades, and has engaged both the community through the development of numerous algorithms, tools and techniques.

Protein structure prediction
AlphaFold is a revolutionary artificial intelligence (AI) system that can accurately predict the structure of proteins. 
“AlphaFold is the first AI system to send such ripples throughout the life sciences,” said Edith Heard, EMBL Director General. “This demonstrates the potential of AI as a tool for biology and a way to unlock new insights to address global challenges such as infectious disease, climate change, and food security.”
EMBL partnered with Google DeepMind to make the AlphaFold 2 predictions freely and openly available to all, through the AlphaFold Protein Structure Database. 
The team from EMBL’s European Bioinformatics Institute (EMBL-EBI) have integrated the structure predictions into the existing life sciences data infrastructure, storing, indexing, integrating, and displaying them to ensure that AlphaFold delivers on its potential impact for the life sciences community.
“Public data were essential to the development of AlphaFold,” said John Jumper, Director at Google DeepMind. “The careful curation of such large data resources, representing the collective output of an entire subfield of biology, is exactly what enables our machine learning models to generalise well across such a huge range of proteins, enabling further breakthroughs in machine learning in other scientific areas.” 
The AlphaFold database is a powerful example of the virtuous cycle of open data. AlphaFold was trained on data that structural biologists have shared over many decades using data resources such as the ones managed by EMBL-EBI. Now, the AlphaFold 2 predictions and database inform a new era of structural biology and life sciences research. 
“Huge congratulations to the team at Google DeepMind for this fantastic honour,” said Ewan Birney, Deputy Director General of EMBL. “The future is clearly bright for AI in molecular biology, and I’m certain we’ll see many more research questions answered by leveraging AI and open access to large amounts of high quality curated data.”
“The long lasting impact of AlphaFold will be defined by how the researchers around the world use its predictions to gain new insights into how life works,” said Sameer Velankar, Team Leader at EMBL-EBI who coordinated the AlphaFold Database project. “Since launch, the database has had over one million users from nearly every country. Thousands of scientific papers that mention AlphaFold have already been published. I’ve never seen anything quite like it.”

Why are protein structures important?
Proteins are tiny molecular machines that underpin all biological processes in all living things. Scientists have catalogued over 200 million highly curated proteins in the UniProt database. Each protein has a unique shape – also called a structure – which is closely linked to what the protein does – its function. 
Knowing a protein’s structure offers clues about the protein’s role, how it is linked to health and disease, and what kind of chemical compounds or medicines it reacts to. For example, determining the structure of the SARS-CoV-2 viral proteins enabled scientists to understand how the virus operates, to identify treatments and develop new vaccines.
Over the last 60 years, biologists have managed to determine the structures of over 190,000 proteins using experimental methods such as X-ray crystallography or cryo-electron microscopy (cryo-EM). The AlphaFold system uses a deep learning algorithm to predict the structure of proteins, which means it can scale up very well. 
The AlphaFold Database launched in July 2021, with just over 360,000 protein structure predictions, including all known human proteins, and has since grown to a staggering 200 million protein structures, from over one million organisms.

About The European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL)
The European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL) is Europe’s life sciences laboratory. We provide leadership and coordination for the life sciences across Europe, and our world-class fundamental research seeks collaborative and interdisciplinary solutions for some of society’s biggest challenges. We provide training for students and scientists, drive the development of new technology and methods in the life sciences, and offer state-of-the-art research infrastructure for a wide range of experimental and data services.
EMBL is an intergovernmental organisation with 29 member states, one associate member, and one prospective member. At our six sites in Barcelona,​​ Grenoble, Hamburg, Heidelberg, Hinxton near Cambridge, and Rome, we seek to better understand life in its natural context, from molecules to ecosystems.

USA Swimming Names Chris Plumb as Head Coach for 2024 World Short Course Championships

Technology

USA Swimming has announced its coaching staff for the 2024 World Short Course Swimming Championships, including Chris Plumb of the Carmel Swim Club in Carmel, Indiana as the head coach for the 32-swimmer contingent.
He leads a staff of four assistants, the same size staff as the 2022 meet. The rest of the Team USA assistants all serve in associate head coaching roles at collegiate programs in their normal coaching assignments.
U.S. Coaching Staff, 2022 Short Course Worlds

Head coach – Chris Plumb, head coach, Carmel Swim Club
Assistant coach – Josh Huger, associate head coach, Cal
Assistant coach – John Long, associate head coach, Indiana
Assistant coach – Katie Robinson, associate head coach, Stanford women
Assistant coach – Jake Shrum, associate head coach, Virginia

The role is Plumb’s first head coaching assignment for a senior-level international team. He previously served as an assistant coach at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games and the 2023 World Championships, among other appointments.
Plumb has one athlete on the team: Alex Shackell, who recently announced that she was decommitting from Cal and deferring her college enrollment by a year to remain at Carmel and train with Plumb. He also had two current and one former athlete on the US Olympic Team over the summer: Alex Shackell, her older brother Aaron Shackell, and Drew Kibler.
“Carmel Swim Club sets a standard for success as a USA Swimming club, due largely to Chris’ influence on deck for over 20 years,” said USA Swimming Chief Operating Officer and interim Chief Executive Officer Shana Ferguson. “His club leadership and international experience make him a perfect fit to lead this team as our athletes close out the 2024 calendar year on the international stage in Budapest.”
The Cal training group will send two athletes, Dare Rose and Jack Alexy, to the meet along with Huger. Current Indiana-trained members of the team include Matt King and Lilly King (no relation) alongside coach John Long. Stanford’s Torri Huske, who won Olympic gold in the 100 fly, will accompany Katie Robinson, while Jake Shrum and Virginia will send Jack Aikins, Kate Douglass, Katie Grimes, Alex Walsh, Gretchen Walsh, and Emma Weber.
Team USA will also send a specialized medical staff that for this meet will include Physician Dr. Ankit Shah, athletic trainer Cami McCallum, and licensed massage therapists Jeff Kuelling and Emily Robinson.
The 2024 World Short Course Swimming Championships will take place from December 10-15 at the Duna Arena in Budapest, Hungary.
U.S. roster and current event entries, which are expected to shift slightly ahead of the championships, are below.
Men’s Roster

Name
Event(s)
Hometown
Training Location
College Affiliation

Jack Aikins
100/200 BK
Atlanta, Ga.
University of Virginia
Virginia, ’26

Jack Alexy
50/100 FR
Mendham, N.J.
University of California-Berkeley
California, ’25

Michael Andrew
50/100 BR
Encinitas, Calif.
MA Swim Academy
N/A

Hunter Armstrong
50/100 BK
Dover, Ohio
California Aquatics
Ohio State, ’24

Shaine Casas
200 IM
McAllen, Texas
Longhorn Aquatics
N/A

Charlie Clark
1500 FR
Sandusky, Ohio
Ohio State University
Ohio State, ’24

Carson Foster
200/400 IM
Cincinnati, Ohio
Longhorn Aquatics
Texas, ’24

Chris Guiliano
50/100 FR
Douglassville, Pa.
Notre Dame University
Notre Dame, ’25

Zach Harting
100 FL
Huntsville, Ala.
Cardinal Aquatics
Louisville, ’19

Luke Hobson
200 FR
Reno, Nev.
University of Texas
Texas, ’25

Trenton Julian
200 FL
Glendale, Calif.
Mission Viejo Nadadores
California, ’21

Matt King
Relay
Snohomish, Wash.
Indiana Swim Club
Indiana, ’25

Daniel Matheson
800/1500 FR
Peoria, Ariz.
Arizona State University
Arizona State, ’25

AJ Pouch
200 BR
Henderson, Nev.
Virginia Tech
Virginia Tech, ’24

Dare Rose
50/100 FL
Jersey City, N.J.
California Aquatics
California, ’24

Kieran Smith
200/400 FR
Ridgefield, Conn.
Gator Swim Club
Florida, ’22

Women’s Roster

Name
Event(s)
Hometown
Training Location
College Affiliation

Phoebe Bacon
200 BK
Chevy Chase, Md.
Wisconsin Aquatics
Wisconsin, ’24

Katharine Berkoff
100 BK
Missoula, Mont.
Wolfpack Elite
NC State, ’23

Lilla Bognar
400 IM
Travelers Rest, S.C.
Team Greenville
Florida, ’29

Jillian Cox
1500 FR
Cedar Park, Texas
University of Texas
Texas, ’28

Kate Douglass
50/100 FR; 200 BR; 200 IM
Pelham, N.Y.
University of Virginia
Virginia, ’23

Katie Grimes
800 FR; 400 IM
Las Vegas, Nev.
Sandpipers of Nevada
Virginia, ’28

Kate Hurst
1500 FR
Hillsdale, N.J.
University of Texas
Texas, ’28

Torri Huske
100 FR; 100 FL
Arlington, Va.
Stanford
Stanford, ’25

Lilly King
50/100 BR
Evansville, Ind.
Indiana Swim Club
Indiana, ’19

Paige Madden
200/400/800 FR
Mobile, Ala.
Sun Devil Swimming
Virginia, ’21

Alex Shackell
200 FL
Carmel, Ind.
Carmel Swim Club
California, ’29

Regan Smith
50/100/200 BK; 200 FL
Lakeville, Minn.
Longhorn Aquatics
N/A

Alex Walsh
200 BR; 200 IM
Nashville, Tenn.
University of Virginia
Virginia, ’24

Gretchen Walsh
50 FR; 50/100 FL
Nashville, Tenn.
University of Virginia
Virginia, ’25

Emma Weber
100 BR
Denver, Colo.
University of Virginia
Virginia, ’26

Claire Weinstein
200/400 FR
White Plains, N.Y.
Sandpipers of Nevada
California, ’29

In movies like Smile 2 and Trap, pop stardom looks pretty terrifying

Arts & Culture, Film & TV

UNITED STATES – Around this time in 2023, audiences were heading to movie theatres to experience the joy of being in the presence of a pop star.
Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour (2023) had just been released, prompting Swifties and the Swift-curious to descend on multiplexes, friendship bracelets adorning their wrists. Weeks later, the Beyhive would don silver cowboy hats for the release of Renaissance: A Film By Beyonce (2023).
Attending one of these concert films meant having a great time and revelling in the glory of the women onstage who seemed to be doing the same.

Now, being a pop star at the movies looks a lot more terrifying.
Horror centred on pop stars is all the rage these days.
In American director M. Night Shyamalan’s Trap, released in August, the concert by the fictional Lady Raven (Saleka) is an elaborate set-up to nab a serial killer (Josh Hartnett).

Now showing in Singapore cinemas, Smile 2, directed by American film-maker Parker Finn, follows Skye Riley (Naomi Scott), a troubled Grammy winner with a history of addiction who comes to be possessed by a demon that drives her mad with violent hallucinations.

To her fans and her team, it looks like she is on another, possibly drug-induced spiral, but really a monster is goading her into killing herself.
Both these movies are a product of a time when the business of being a pop star is bigger than ever. Events like the Eras and Renaissance tours became zeitgeist-defining moments, as well as fodder that film-makers could mine for inspiration.
Shyamalan was even direct about it in an Empire interview. His premise for Trap: “What if The Silence Of The Lambs happened at a Taylor Swift concert?”

But both Trap and Smile 2 prove that beyond the fun of the set-up, the life of a pop star is actually thematically ripe for horror. It is a high-pressure job in which you never know whether you are meeting a fan or a predator.
Smile 2 articulates this particularly well early on when Skye is doing a meet-and-greet. She has recently been infected with what is known as the “Smile entity” after witnessing her drug dealer gruesomely smash his own face in with a weight plate.
At the event, Skye signs autographs and smiles for photos with people who fawn over her. But then an unnerving man approaches. His hair is long, his skin is bad and his gaze is lecherous. He soon makes a pass at Skye and must be escorted away.
After a breather, she returns to her duties and is approached by a little girl in pigtails. The child does not say anything, just wears the creepy smile of the evil monster that has infected Skye.
Who is the real villain here? The gross man? The little girl? Or both? Viewers are left wondering which is a fan crossing a line or someone more sinister.

Applied Science University Ranks 25th in QS Arab University Rankings for 2025

Science and Health

TDT | Manama                                                      
The Daily Tribune – www.newsofbahrain.com
Email: [email protected]
Applied Science University (ASU) has proudly secured the 25th spot in the QS Arab University Rankings for 2025, solidifying its position as a top private university in Bahrain and a distinguished educational institution in the region. This milestone underscores the university’s ongoing commitment to academic excellence and its increasing impact on both regional and international education landscapes.
Prof. Waheeb Al-Khaja, Chairman of the Board of Trustees, extended heartfelt congratulations to Prof. Hatem Masri, the University President, and the entire ASU community for their relentless efforts in elevating academic standards. He highlighted that this achievement would have a lasting, positive effect on both the university and its students, enhancing the quality of education and shaping graduates to meet the demands of the public and private sectors alike.
Prof. Hatem Masri expressed his gratitude to Mr. Sameer Nass, Chairman of the Board of Directors, and Prof. Waheeb Al-Khaja, along with all board members, for their unwavering support. He credited the university’s success to its collaborative efforts with regional and global partners and its alignment with labor market needs. Prof. Masri also recognized the vital contributions of the Supreme Council for the Development of Education and Training, the Ministry of Education, and the Higher Education Council for their role in advancing Bahrain’s education system.
Dr. Mohamed Youssef, Vice President for Administration, Finance, and Community Engagement, echoed the pride in ASU’s top-25 ranking. He noted that this recognition aligns with the university’s mission to position itself as a premier private higher education institution in the Arab world.
During the official QS ranking ceremony in Jordan, Prof. Masri and Dr. Youssef represented ASU, celebrating the university’s significant rise from 45th place in 2019 to 25th in 2025. This achievement is a testament to ASU’s continuous progress.
The QS ranking, one of the world’s top three university rankings published by Quacquarelli Symonds, evaluates thousands of institutions globally and serves as a reliable measure of academic quality and institutional advancement. ASU’s recognition in the QS rankings reflects its steadfast commitment to excellence and its growing influence in higher education both regionally and internationally.