Scientists Solve a 40-Year Quantum Mystery That Could Change Electronics Forever

Science and Health

Researchers have confirmed “quantum scars,” patterns formed by confined electrons, using advanced graphene imaging. These findings could enhance electronics efficiency and inform new quantum control techniques. Credit: SciTechDaily.com
Quantum chaos, previously theoretical, has been observed experimentally, validating a 40-year-old theory about electrons forming patterns in confined spaces.
Using advanced imaging techniques on graphene, researchers confirmed “quantum scars,” where electrons follow unique closed orbits. These findings could revolutionize electronics by enabling efficient, low-power transistors and paving the way for novel quantum control methods. This discovery offers insights into chaotic quantum systems, bridging a gap between classical and quantum physics.
Patterns in Chaos Revealed in Quantum Space
Where can patterns emerge from chaos? This question has been answered in the incredibly tiny quantum realm by an international research team co-led by UC Santa Cruz physicist Jairo Velasco, Jr. In a study published on November 27 in Nature, the researchers confirmed a 40-year-old theory suggesting that electrons confined within quantum spaces follow predictable paths rather than creating a random jumble of trajectories.
Electrons are unique because they exhibit both particle and wave-like properties. Unlike a ball rolling predictably, their behavior is often counterintuitive. Under specific conditions, the wave-like nature of electrons can cause interference, concentrating their movement into distinct patterns. Physicists refer to these common paths as “unique closed orbits.”
The pattern of quantum scars captured in the lab of physics professor Jairo Velasco, Jr. Credit: Velasco Lab
Advanced Imaging Techniques in Quantum Research
Achieving this in Velasco’s lab required an intricate combination of advanced imaging techniques and precise control over electron behavior within graphene, a material widely used in research because its unique properties and two-dimensional structure make it ideal for observing quantum effects. In their experiment, Velasco’s team utilized the finely tipped probe of a scanning tunneling microscope to first create a trap for electrons, and then hover close to a graphene surface to detect electron movements without physically disturbing them. 
The benefit of electrons following closed orbits within a confined space is that the subatomic particle’s property would be better preserved as it moves from one point to another, according to Velasco. He said this has vast implications for everyday electronics, explaining how information encoded in an electron’s properties could be transferred without loss, conceivably resulting in lower-power, highly efficient transistors.
“One of the most promising aspects of this discovery is its potential use in information processing,” Velasco said. “By slightly disturbing, or ‘nudging’ these orbits, electrons could travel predictably across a device, carrying information from one end to the other.”
[embedded content]A numerical simulation of the quantum dynamics accomplished in the team’s experiment. Credit: Anton Graf, Harvard University
Quantum Scars Make Their Mark
In physics, these unique electron orbits are known as “quantum scars.” This was first explained in a 1984 theoretical study by Harvard University physicist Eric Heller, who used computer simulations to reveal that confined electrons would move along high-density orbits if reinforced by their wave motions interfering with each other.
“Quantum scarring is not a curiosity. But rather, it is a window onto the strange quantum world,” said Heller, also a co-author on the paper. “Scarring is a localization around orbits that come back on themselves. These returns have no long-term consequence in our normal classical world—they are soon forgotten. But they are remembered forever in the quantum world.”
Harnessing Quantum Chaos
With Heller’s theory proven, researchers now have the empirical foundation needed to explore potential applications. Today’s transistors, already at the nanoelectronic scale, could become even more efficient by incorporating quantum scar-based designs, enhancing devices like computers, smartphones, and tablets, which rely on densely packed transistors to boost processing power.
“For future studies, we plan to build on our visualization of quantum scars to develop methods to harness and manipulate scar states,” Velasco said. “The harnessing of chaotic quantum phenomena could enable novel methods for selective and flexible delivery of electrons at the nanoscale—thus, innovating new modes of quantum control.” 
Classical Chaos vs. Quantum Chaos
Velasco’s team employs a visual model often referred to as a “billiard” to illustrate the classical mechanics of linear versus chaotic systems. A billiard is a bounded area that reveals how particles inside move, and a common shape used in physics is called a “stadium,” where the ends are curved and the edges straight. In classical chaos, a particle would bounce around randomly and unpredictably—eventually covering the entire surface.
In this experiment, the team created a stadium billiard on atom-thin graphene that measured roughly 400 nanometers in length. Then, with the scanning tunneling microscope, they were able to observe quantum chaos in action: finally seeing with their own eyes the pattern of electron orbits within the stadium billiard they created in Velasco’s lab.
“I am very excited we successfully imaged quantum scars in a real quantum system,” said first and co-corresponding author Zhehao Ge, a UC Santa Cruz graduate student at the time of this study’s completion. “Hopefully, these studies will help us gain a deeper understanding of chaotic quantum systems.”  
Reference: “Direct visualization of relativistic quantum scars in graphene quantum dots” by Zhehao Ge, Anton M. Graf, Joonas Keski-Rahkonen, Sergey Slizovskiy, Peter Polizogopoulos, Takashi Taniguchi, Kenji Watanabe, Ryan Van Haren, David Lederman, Vladimir I. Fal’ko, Eric J. Heller and Jairo Velasco Jr, 27 November 2024, Nature.DOI: 10.1038/s41586-024-08190-6
Other co-authors on the paper include Peter Polizogopoulos, Ryan Van Haren, and David Lederman at UC Santa Cruz; Anton Graf and Joonas Keski-Rahkonen at Harvard; Sergey Slizovskiy and Vladimir Fal’ko at the University of Manchester; and Takashi Taniguchi and Kenji Watanabe, at Japan’s National Institute for Materials Science.

ASEAN-Korea Centre taps into Cambodia’s tourism competitiveness

Travel

The ASEAN-Korea Centre Monday organized a seminar titled ‘Unlocking Opportunities in the Digital Era: Emerging Technologies and Best Practices to Enhance the Tourism Industry’ at the Courtyard by Marriott Siem Reap Resort in Siem Reap.The seminar organised in collaboration with the Ministry of Tourism of Cambodia, aimed at supporting Cambodia’s transition toward an inclusive digital economy, focusing on leveraging emerging technologies and best practices to optimize processes, management, and promotion within the tourism industry.Leading tourism experts and officials explored strategies for revitalizing Cambodia’s tourism sector.The program featured distinguished speakers such as Phyrum Manit, Deputy Director of the Ministry of Tourism of Cambodia; Shin Hak-seung, Professor of Hanyang University; Nishant Jain, Director at Deloitte India; Cho Yong-won, CEO of Visit Inc.; and Sreat Mom Sophear, CEO of SOPHIYA Travel and Tours.Critical topics including tourism digitalization, smart tourism, and advanced digital marketing strategies to strengthen Cambodia’s position on the global tourism stage were deliberated.A panel discussion facilitated the exchange of insights and ideas, identifying opportunities to enhance Cambodia’s tourism competitiveness through technology and digitalization.The seminar was particularly noteworthy as it coincided with the 27th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Cambodia and the Republic of Korea, a milestone reflecting the enduring partnership between the two nations. The event underscored their mutual commitment to deepening collaboration and fostering progress in tourism and other sectors.Key outcomes from the seminar included the exploration of strategies to elevate Cambodia’s global tourism competitiveness, the evaluation of frameworks and policies for targeted sectoral development, and the identification of potential pathways for growth. These discussions emphasized the critical role of digitalization in modernizing tourism and laid the groundwork for future cooperation between ASEAN and Korea.Since its inception in 2009, the ASEAN-Korea Centre has spearheaded numerous initiatives to enhance the tourism competitiveness of ASEAN Member States. Building on this foundation, the Centre plans to launch bilateral ASEAN-Korea Quality Tourism Development Towards Sustainability projects with all 10 ASEAN Member States over the next three years, further advancing shared goals for sustainable and inclusive growth in the region.Related PostsTags: Asean, Korea

35 of the greatest movies with Marvel actors that aren’t Marvel movies

Arts & Culture, Film & TV

The Marvel Cinematic Universe boasts some of the greatest actors working in modern Hollywood. For many of them, however, their work outside the confines of the MCU are just as superheroic. Since 2008, the Marvel Studios machine has made careers and revived others while some seem to disappear in the roles entirely. When Robert Downey Jr. was cast to lead Iron Man in 2008, it was deemed by the press a risky decision given RDJ’s very public stints in rehab and one-year prison sentence. But after Iron Man took off as a multi-million dollar blockbuster, gone was RDJ’s radioactive aura. He was a movie star again, and it was only the beginning of Marvel’s reputation to turn Hollywood’s overlooked scraps into genuine heroes. The vast and expansive Marvel Cinematic Universe franchise has recruited countless actors into its ranks. But the MCU isn’t all-encompassing, and thus many Marvel stars have done impressive work outside the MCU. Here are 35 of the greatest movies with Marvel actors that aren’t Marvel movies.35. Swingers (1996) with Jon Favreau(Image credit: Paramount Global)Before his work on The Mandalorian, before he was Happy in the MCU, before even Elf, Jon Favreau wrote and starred in Swingers, still one of the greatest and freshest portrayals of modern dating. Favreau stars as Mike, an aspiring comedian in Los Angeles still picking up the pieces of his broken heart after his girlfriend of six years dumped him. After a spontaneous trip to Las Vegas goes south, his best friend (Vince Vaughn) commits to getting Favreau back in the dating pool. Though the movie was directed by Doug Liman, Swingers possesses a lot of Favreau’s unique voice and perspective, which makes it unsurprising he’s found success in the big budget franchise realm.34. The Gangster, The Cop, The Devil (2019) with Don Lee(Image credit: Well Go USA)To mainstream moviegoers in the English-speaking world, Don Lee was virtually unknown when he joined the Marvel Cinematic Universe in Eternals; standing on stage at San Diego Comic-Con, his biggest movie with international reach was the buzzy zombie flick Train to Busan in 2016. But the armwrestling champion-turned-actor has a high profile in his native South Korea, and among his greatest movies to date is the slick-as-oil The Gangster, The Cop, The Devil. Don Lee plays a feared gang boss whose reputation is damaged after he’s attacked by a stranger. Upon teaming up with a police detective, the two find that the man they’re looking for is a notorious serial killer. The movie sees Don Lee flex his muscles as a formidable leading man as one of the coolest movie stars in the modern era.33. Mississippi Grind (2015) with Ben Mendelsohn and Ryan Reynolds(Image credit: A24)With Deadpool & Wolverine, Ryan Reynolds is officially a Marvel Cinematic Universe icon. But a year before Reynolds wore the red spandex of Deadpool, he was in the 2015 comedy-drama Mississippi Grind, co-starring with another soon-to-be Marvel star Ben Mendelsohn, who plays Talos in Captain Marvel and Secret Invasion. The movie sees the two men play gamblers who hit the road to enter a high-stakes poker game in New Orleans. (Imagine The Color of Money with poker, basically.) The movie’s MCU connections go further, being the movie that filmmakers Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck did prior to directing Captain Marvel.32. Unbreakable (2000) with Samuel L. Jackson(Image credit: Touchstone Pictures)Before he was Nick Fury, Samuel L. Jackson was Mr. Glass. In M. Night Shyamalan’s acclaimed cerebral thriller Unbreakable, Bruce Willis plays a family man who discovers he might have incredible superpowers. Jackson co-stars in the movie as Elijah Price, aka “Mr. Glass,” an enigmatic art collector and comic book fanatic who is obsessed with Willis’ latent gifts. Released the same year X-Men blew up at the box office, Shyamalan’s movie feels like it foresaw the next few decades of mainstream cinema and came early to offer something totally different.Bringing all the latest movie news, features, and reviews to your inbox31. Challengers (2024) with Zendaya(Image credit: Amazon MGM Studios)In the MCU, Zendaya is Spider-Man’s girlfriend. But in Luca Guadagnino’s Challengers, she’s the villain. Centered around a steamy love triangle of highly competitive tennis pros, Challengers chronicles the broken friendship of Patrick (Josh O’Connor) and Art (Mike Faist). Starting from their tight-knit bond in college to their estrangement in adulthood, the men compete in a low-stakes regional tennis match. Victory on the court isn’t what’s on the line, however, but their own worth in front of the calculating and ambitious Tashi Donaldson (Zendaya), herself a once-promising tennis star until a bad injury stalled her career.30. Much Ado About Nothing (2012) with Clark Gregg(Image credit: Lionsgate)In 2011, while on vacation from post-production of what would become one of the highest-grossing movies of all time – 2012’s The Avengers – writer/director Joss Whedon indulged his Shakespearean fandom with his micro-budget movie Much Ado About Nothing. Essentially a home video version of The Bard’s romantic comedy, the black and white picture stars many of Whedon’s own friends from in and around Hollywood and is filmed inside his actual California home. Among the movie’s stars is Clark Gregg, whose supporting role as Agent Coulson in The Avengers gives the team their name. After The Avengers, Gregg spent several years starring in Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D..29. Wind River (2017) with Jeremy Renner and Elizabeth Olsen(Image credit: Lionsgate)Avengers co-stars Jeremy Renner and Elizabeth Olsen team up in Wind River, a striking neo-noir Western from Yellowstone’s Taylor Sheridan. Prompted by Sheridan’s outrage at widespread violence against American Indigenous women, the movie follows a wildlife officer (Renner) and an FBI agent (Olsen) who track down the culprit behind the rape and murder of an 18-year-old American Indian woman on a Wyoming reservation. Amid their investigation, they find their own lives are in jeopardy. A snow-covered thriller, Wind River is not one to be missed.28. Rush (2013) with Chris Hemsworth and Daniel Brühl(Image credit: Universal Pictures)Ever wanted to see Thor and Baron Zemo race on the fast lane? Then check out Ron Howard’s blistering sports drama Rush. Released in 2013, the movie dramatizes the real-life rivalry between Formula One racers James Hunt and Niki Lauda circa 1976. Hemsworth stars as the brash and showy James Hunt, from Britain, who challenges the methodical, focused veteran from Austria, Lauda (Brühl) to claim the top spot of their game. Rush reveals how their machismo rivalry takes on dangerous degrees of severity before ultimately ending in mutual respect. 27. Parachute (2024) with Dave Bautista(Image credit: Vertical)Following his role as Drax in Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy, retired pro wrestler turned actor Dave Bautista has won acclaim for his commitment to his craft and preference to work with auteurs over cheap paydays. While Bautista has an impressive oeuvre – including his show-stealing bit role in Blade Runner 2049 – his most interesting and most overlooked film is the 2024 indie drama Parachute. Directed by Brittany Snow (whom Bautista co-starred in the indie thriller Bushwick in 2017), the movie centers around a woman with an eating disorder. Bautista has a small but notable role as the main protagonist’s boss who runs a novelty murder mystery dinner theater. 26. Widows (2018) with Elizabeth Debicki, Carrie Coon, Daniel Kaluuya, and Brian Tyree Henry(Image credit: 20th Century Studios)Widows, Steve McQueen’s muscular remake of a classic British TV show, sports an array of different Marvel actors, but the movie is good enough to warrant its own attention. The movie centers around a group of Chicago women who work to steal millions from a local politician in order to pay their late husbands’ debt to a crime boss. Elizabeth Debicki, who stars in the Guardians of the Galaxy movies, leads the movie with Brian Tyree Henry (Eternals), Daniel Kaluuya (Black Panther), and Carrie Coon (the voice of Thanos minion Proxima Midnight).25. Room (2015) with Brie Larson(Image credit: A24)Room turned Brie Larson from an up-and-coming actress to legit Oscar winner. In Room, Larson stars as a young woman with a son who finally breaks free after eight years of forced captivity. (Jacob Tremblay co-stars as her son.) Most of the movie deals with the fallout of their new freedom, including the struggle to acclimate to a much bigger world and to reconcile with old wounds. Larson shows why she deserved her Oscar through her immense range as a woman haunted by her traumas but resolute to start a new life; all the while, her surrounding family learns to love her innocent son who carries the DNA of the man who ruined all their lives. 24. Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (2011) with Benedict Cumberbatch(Image credit: Universal Pictures)From the mind of legendary spy author John le Carré comes Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, le Carré’s 1974 novel turned 2011 movie. The story centers around the hunt for a Soviet double agent working in British secret service; Gary Oldman takes center stage as the movie’s main character, but Doctor Strange star Benedict Cumberbatch has a supporting role as Peter Guillam (a recurring character in le Carré’s novels) who is recruited by Oldman into the investigation. While Cumberbatch has led many of his own movies, still among his best is Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, a labyrinthine spy movie that’s more complex than any of the Sorcerer Supreme’s magic spells.23. The Before Trilogy (1995-2013) with Ethan Hawke(Image credit: Columbia Pictures)Before he was the villain of Moon Knight (get it?), Ethan Hawke was a wandering romantic in Richard Linklater’s revered Before Trilogy. Spanning three movies across three decades – Before Sunrise (1995), Before Sunset (2004), and Before Midnight (2013) – Hawke plays an American traveler who falls for a beautiful French student (Julie Delpy) while on a train to Vienna. The first movie follows the two on a sweeping night of spontaneous romance before vowing to meet one year later. The sequel Before Sunset stages their reunion in Paris after nearly a decade, and years after their first promised reunion. The final movie Before Midnight sees how their lives have ended up together. Among the most romantic movies ever made, Hawke shines as a handsome lead, showing range beyond his cult leader antagonist in the Marvel series.22. Annihilation (2018) with Natalie Portman, Tessa Thompson, Benedict Wong, and Oscar Isaac(Image credit: Paramount Pictures)In 2018, Jeff VanderMeer’s novel Annihilation (the first in his Southern Reach book series) hit the screen with Thor star Natalie Portman along with a slew of other Marvel veterans. Portman plays one of several female scientists who enter a dangerous quarantined zone known as “The Shimmer,” a sprawling forest area brimming with mutant alien fauna. Also from the MCU are Tessa Thompson (Portman’s co-star in Thor: Love and Thunder), Benedict Wong (from the Doctor Strange and Avengers movies), and Oscar Isaac, who starred in the Marvel series Moon Knight in 2022. 21. Stardust (2007) with Charlie Cox, Michelle Pfeiffer, and Ben Barnes(Image credit: Paramount Global)The cult romantic fantasy Stardust, based on the Neil Gaiman novel, happens to feature quite a few Marvel actors before they were ever in the MCU. Set in 19th century England, the movie follows young Tristan (Daredevil’s Charlie Cox) as he seeks a fallen star to impress his crush only to find that the star in question is herself a beautiful young woman, Yvaine (Claire Danes). Recurring Ant-Man star Michelle Pfeiffer plays the lead villain Lamia, part of a trio of witch sisters, while The Punisher’s Ben Barnes has a minor role as the younger version of Tristan’s father. A cool bonus: From the DCEU, Man of Steel’s Henry Cavill also appears as Tristan’s romantic rival, the studly Humphrey.20. Birdman (2014) with Michael Keaton and Edward Norton(Image credit: Fox Searchlight Pictures)In the immediate aftermath of The Avengers, the impact of the Marvel Cinematic Universe was hard to ignore. Feeling that fatigue quite early, Mexican director Alejandro González Iñárritu teamed up with Michael Keaton – still remembered for his Batman movies – to deliver Birdman, an experimental dark comedy that follows the emotional breakdown of a has-been star of a fictional superhero film series as he attempts a career comeback on Broadway. While the movie is remembered for its novel form as one long continuous take, Birdman muses over the might of commercial intellectual property over art with perspective. The movie also stars Edward Norton, who played the Hulk (in 2008’s The Incredible Hulk) before being recast, while Keaton himself later starred in Spider-Man: Homecoming as another winged character, Vulture.19. Lost in Translation (2003) with Scarlett Johansson and Bill Murray(Image credit: Focus Features)After a career of mostly youth-oriented fare, Scarlett Johansson stepped into a new level of stardom in Sofia Coppola’s acclaimed drama Lost in Translation. The actress known for playing the Avengers heroine Black Widow plays a young wife to a music photographer who feels neglected during a stay in Japan. She soon connects with a past-his-prime movie star, played by Bill Murray, and the two enjoy each other’s company over whiskey dinners and late-night karaoke parties. Murray himself eventually joined the Marvel Universe, playing a minor role in the 2023 movie Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania. 18. Seven (1995) with Gwyneth Paltrow(Image credit: Warner Bros. Discovery)David Fincher’s unforgettable dark psychological thriller Seven, about a serial killer whose murders are modeled after the Biblical Seven Deadly Sins, is mostly shouldered by its stars Morgan Freeman (as a weary, seasoned police detective), Brad Pitt (as his rookie partner), and Kevin Spacey (as the elusive serial killer who outwits them both). But along for the ill-fated journey is Gwyneth Paltrow as Tracy, the wife of Pitt’s character who represents innocence that is later ravaged. Without giving too much away, the movie’s iconic ending is not for the faint of heart. Try not to lose your head over it.17. Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga (2024) with Chris Hemsworth(Image credit: Warner Bros. Discovery)Of all the Chrises in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Thor’s Chris Hemsworth might have one of the most interesting bodies of work outside the Avengers. Movies like Blackhat (2015), Bad Times at the El Royale (2018), and Spiderhead (2022) show Hemsworth willing to color outside his perceived box, while his commercial-oriented fare just seem like smart career moves. In 2024, Hemsworth showed his mettle as an actor willing to really go there in George Miller’s Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga, the unstoppable prequel to his own Mad Max: Fury Road. Living up to the legacy of Fury Road, Furiosa chronicles the origins of its title heroine (played by Anya Taylor-Joy) while Hemsworth hams it up as a warlord with Roman emperor panache who has the appropriate name of “Dementus.”16. The American President (1995) with Michael Douglas and Annette Bening(Image credit: Sony Pictures Entertainment)Predating The West Wing is Aaron Sorkin’s political romance The American President, directed by Rob Reiner and written by Sorkin. Michael Douglas, who played the first Ant-Man in the MCU’s vast canon, steps up as President Andrew Shepherd, a U.S. President and widower who falls in love with an environmental lobbyist played by Annete Bening, who is also in the MCU via the 2019 Marvel movie Captain Marvel (as the Supreme Intelligence). The American President was critically acclaimed when it opened in 1995, earning several Golden Globe nominations including Best Picture. 15. Natural Born Killers (1994) with Robert Downey Jr. and Tommy Lee Jones(Image credit: Warner Bros. Discovery)While Oliver Stone’s media satire/crime movie Natural Born Killers drew polarizing reviews in 1994, it has enjoyed reappraisal as a movie so prescient in the media’s inordinate power to turn dangerous figures into public personas. The movie stars Woody Harrelson and Juliette Lewis as a sort of 1990s Bonnie and Clyde – runaway outlaws and killers who roam America while becoming celebrities thanks to media sensationalism. Iron Man’s Robert Downey Jr. plays a major role in the movie as Wayne Gale, a tabloid TV host whose coverage of Harrelson and Lewis’ criminal anti-heroes ruin the American psyche. RDJ has done countless great movies in his career, from Chaplin to Zodiac to Tropic Thunder to Oppenheimer, but his performance as a slimy media personality makes Natural Born Killers deserving of outstanding mention.14. Inside Llewyn Davis (2013) with Oscar Isaac(Image credit: Paramount Global)Before he suited up as the troubled superhero Moon Knight, Oscar Isaac picked up his guitar and strummed through the hardships of life in the Coen Brothers’ modern classic Inside Llewyn Davis. Set around the last gasp of the folk revival in 1960s New York City, Isaac plays aspiring folk singer Llewyn Davis who travels to Chicago and back, hoping to find the success and peace that eludes him. Inside Llewyn Davis turned Oscar Isaac into an overnight movie star, catapulting his profile for good. Though he had an unpopular performance as the villain Apocalypse in the 2016 movie X-Men: Apocalypse, Isaac found real footing in the MCU proper in his starring role in the Disney+ series Moon Knight.13. Prisoners (2013) with Hugh Jackman and Jake Gyllenhaal(Image credit: Warner Bros. Discovery)Hugh Jackman: Wolverine. Jake Gyllenhaal: Mysterio. These characters may never meet in the MCU. But in Denis Villeneuve’s searing 2013 thriller Prisoners, Gyllenhaal and Jackman are a lit fuse and a powder keg waiting to explode. This early 2010s crime drama stars Jackman as a father whose daughter (and her friend) go missing on Thanksgiving Day. Gyllenhaal co-stars as a haunted police detective who works to track down the girls and find the kidnapper, while making sure Jackman’s aggrieved and impatient father doesn’t jeopardize the investigation. Prisoners is utterly absorbing, being a far cry from any of the Marvel movies both men have appeared.12. Collateral (2004) with Jamie Foxx and Mark Ruffalo(Image credit: Paramount Global)In Spider-Man: No Way Home, Jamie Foxx jumped dimensions to reprise his Electro (from 2014’s The Amazing Spider-Man 2). But back in 2004, Foxx was just a cab driver stuck with one bad customer in Michael Mann’s exceptional L.A. thriller Collateral. The movie sees Foxx forced to drive around a hitman (Tom Cruise, sporting a blonde dye job) who conducts a series of lucrative murders around Los Angeles in one night. Hot on their tail is an LAPD detective, played by Avengers star Mark Ruffalo. Foxx’s return to the MCU is in question, but at least in this one movie, Electro evades the Hulk.11. No Country for Old Men (2007) with Josh Brolin and Tommy Lee Jones(Image credit: Paramount Global)In Avengers: Infinity War, Josh Brolin held the power of the Infinity Stones. In the Coen Brothers’ new millennium classic No Country for Old Men, he’s just a guy with a briefcase full of money. In this celebrated adaptation of the Cormac McCarthy novel, Brolin plays a pronghorn hunter who stumbles upon the site of a drug deal gone wrong and $2 million in cash. While stashing the money, he attracts the attention of a ruthless killer (Javier Bardem). No Country for Old Men is one of the most acclaimed movies of all time, a Best Picture recipient whose stature is still understood today. 10. I Kill Giants (2017) with Zoe Saldana(Image credit: XYZ Films)A moving piece of magical realism, I Kill Giants follows Barbara (Madison Wolfe), a bullied young teenager preparing for the imminent death of her mother. In Barbara’s imagination, fantastical giants roam and are fast approaching her sleepy harbor town. Guardians of the Galaxy’s Zoe Saldaña plays a school psychologist who tries to help Barbara cope with her inevitable sadness, and to discern reality from fiction without shutting off the light that makes Barbara special. After its 2017 premiere in Toronto, I Kill Giants went overlooked when it was released in March 2018, being dwarfed by Saldaña’s other big movie – Avengers: Infinity War – that opened just a few weeks later.9. Creed (2015) with Michael B. Jordan and Tessa Thompson(Image credit: Warner Bros. Pictures)Nearly a decade after Sylvester Stallone officially hung up his gloves as Rocky, Michael B. Jordan stepped into the ring for the sequel franchise Creed. Jordan stars as the forgotten son of famed boxer Apollo Creed (played by Carl Weathers in the Rocky series) who bursts onto the scene under the tutelage of Rocky Balboa (Stallone). Helmed by Black Panther director Ryan Coogler, Creed was no featherweight sequel, but bonafide championship material thanks to both Jordan’s handsome charisma and Coogler’s exceptional direction. Tessa Thompson, from the Thor movies, co-stars as Creed’s neighbor and love interest.8. Spotlight (2015) with Mark Ruffalo, Michael Keaton, and Rachel McAdams(Image credit: Open Road Films)In 2002, the Boston Globe and its specialized “Spotlight” team reported on the Catholic Church’s ghastly decades-long cover-up of systemic child abuse. The exhaustive efforts by the Globe’s journalists – including suing the Church in a Catholic town – were dramatized in Todd McCarthy’s sober and infuriating Oscar-winning film Spotlight. Mark Ruffalo stars as real-life reporter Michael Rezendes, who spearheads the work alongside Sacha Pfeiffer (Rachel McAdams, from the Doctor Strange films) and Walter Robbinson (Michael Keaton, from Spider-Man: Homecoming). In this movie, sleepless reporters show as much strength, relentlessness, and conviction as costumed heroes – everyday people who see evil and work to end their reigns of terror.7. May December (2023) with Natalie Portman(Image credit: Netflix)Todd Haynes’ troubling and harrowing drama May December stars Natalie Portman as a movie actress who meets the real-life figure she’s set to portray: Gracie (Julianne Moore), who gained notoriety in the 1990s for being a 36-year-old grooming a 13-year-old boy. With Gracie’s story set to become a movie, Portman’s character visits Gracie’s family, including her younger husband – the former 13-year-old (played by Charles Melton) – and their two high school-aged children. May December has an utterly fantastic Portman, who shows more raw power than her Thor-ified Jane Foster from Thor: Love and Thunder.6. Crimson Peak (2015) with Tom Hiddleston(Image credit: Universal Pictures)Guillermo del Toro’s sense of romance and horror swirl in his poorly marketed gothic picture Crimson Peak, released to rave reviews and a bad box office in 2015. The movie stars an aspiring author (Mia Wasikowska) who moves into a crumbling English mansion with her husband, played by Tom Hiddlestoon, and his sister/her sister-in-law, played by Jessica Chastain. While Hiddleston has done so much more than play Loki in the Marvel franchise, 2015’s Crimson Peak is still among his greatest if also most misunderstood movies of his career.5. Da 5 Bloods (2020) with Chadwick Boseman and Jonathan Majors(Image credit: Netflix)The last movie starring Chadwick Boseman to be released during his painfully short life and career is Spike Lee’s Da 5 Bloods. A stunning war drama about legacy, capital, and reparations, the movie follows a group of Black Vietnam War veterans who return to Saigon in search of buried gold they left behind. Boseman plays a pivotal role in the movie as Norman, their deceased squad leader who appears in their collective memories. Boseman is thunderous in Lee’s film, being an alluring figure of masculine energy. Jonathan Majors, who was briefly the Marvel villain Kang the Conqueror, also has a major role as David, the son of one of the veterans.4. Under the Skin (2013) with Scarlett Johansson(Image credit: A24)A year after Scarlett Johansson co-starred in The Avengers, she was anything but superheroic in Jonathan Glazer’s dark sci-fi Under the Skin. Based on Michel Faber’s novel, Under the Skin tells of a strange alien (Johansson) who preys on lonely men in Scotland. (One of her targets: Adam Pearson, who also appeared with Marvel regular Sebastian Stan in the 2024 movie A Different Man.) Hailed by critics for its themes exploring sexism and identity, Scarlett Johansson is truly out of this world in her performance as an alien who barely knows what it’s like to be her victim.3. In the Mood for Love (2000) with Tony Leung(Image credit: Criterion Collection)Tony Leung was an established movie star in Hong Kong when he made his Hollywood debut in Marvel’s Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings (as the villainous but handsome father of Shang-Chi, Wenwu). One of his biggest movies of world renown is Wong Kar-wai’s deeply romantic drama In the Mood for Love, where Leung plays a married salaryman who learns that his wife is engaged in an affair with his boss. Maggie Cheung co-stars as said boss’ own spouse, and together, Leung and Cheung work to keep their romantic feelings for each other at bay. While many of Wong Kar-wai’s movies drip with sweeping emotions lit under neon street lights, In the Mood for Love deserves special recognition. Its sense of yearning and passion is almost too much to bear. 2. Pulp Fiction (1994) with Samuel L. Jackson and Tim Roth(Image credit: Paramount Global)A movie that needs no introduction, Quentin Tarantino’s Pulp Fiction transformed Samuel L. Jackson from working actor to bonafide movie star, in his role as Bible-quoting hitman Jules. Jackson is just one piece of the quilt that Tarantino weaves in his landmark sophomore movie, an interconnected narrative of different characters and fates who dwell in the underbelly of Los Angeles crime. Jackson’s machine gun dialogue would be the most quotable ever in movie history, if actually saying them out loud didn’t draw nasty looks from everyone at the diner. Also in the movie: Tim Roth, as the diner robber before his Marvel role as the Abomination.1. Snowpiercer (2013) with Chris Evans and Tilda Swinton(Image credit: RADiUS-TWC)In the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Chris Evans is the ultimate hero and role model as Captain America. But in Bong Joon-ho’s awe-inspiring multilingual movie, Snowpiercer (based on Jacques Lob’s graphic novel series), he is a revolutionary haunted by his own inhumanity. In the grim, frosty dystopia of Snowpiercer, a massive train roams Earth containing the remnants of humanity. The poor are relegated to the back while the rich enjoy the clean luxuries of the front. Evans takes charge in Snowpiercer as Curtis, who has quietly planted the seeds for a proletariat uprising to make it to the front of the train. You can poke all the holes in its logic and worldbuilding all you want, it doesn’t stop Bong Joon-ho’s movie from hitting harder than a front charge of Cap’s shield.

Heartland Film bringing ‘Merry Movie Nights’ back to the big screen

Arts & Culture, Film & TV

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) – Heartland Film hopes to give people a big-screen view of classic holiday movies this weekend, with Merry Movie Nights.
For the third year, the nonprofit is hosting its Merry Movie Nights series. Starting on Thursday it will show five different Christmas-themed movies. Each movie has an activity to go with the screening.
Marketing director Jessica Chapman says they hope to bring a cheap night out for the family.
“Everyone loves classic holiday movies, but we really bring them to life with these merry activations, we like to call them,” Chapman said. “Our ticket price includes an activity and it’s just such a fun way to bring the whole family out.”
Tickets are $7 for adults and $5 for kids.
Heartland Film runs the popular Heartland International Film Festival and Indy Shorts International Film Festival each year.
While the movie series doesn’t directly support the festivals, Creative Manager Angelo Auriemma says still supports the group’s mission of promoting a community around film and the arts.
“We want to bring people back out, get that communal holiday spirit,” Auriemma said. “It could be tough for families to go out and see movies nowadays … We want to build that sort of camaraderie — that Christmas spirit.”
The first night will feature the time-honored classic musical “White Christmas,” and an ugly sweater contest.
Auriemma says it’s a great way to kick off the season.
“We have a sing-along version of that film so you can belt out your favorite songs,” Auriemma said. “[We have] 1st, 2nd, 3rd prize [for the ugliest sweaters] … you can get some rewards for it.”
There’s also a charitable side to the movie series. Throughout the weekend, Heartland Film will be hosting a toy drive for patients at Riley Hospital for Children. Click here for a list of toys the drive is looking for.
Merry Movie Nights kicks off Thursday at 7 p.m. All showings will be at the Heartland Film HQ, 8950 Otis Ave., Indianapolis.
Merry Movie Nights Schedule

“White Christmas” – Thursday, 7 p.m.

Ugly Holiday Sweater Competition

“Elf,” – Friday, 7 p.m.

Gingerbread House Building Competition

“A Disturbance in the Force: How the Star Wars Holiday Special Happened” – Saturday, 7:30 p.m.

Red carpet photo opp with “special guests from a galaxy far, far away”

“The Muppets Christmas Carol” – Sunday, 12:30 p.m.

Puppet show and photo opp with Santa

“Last Holiday” – Sunday, 5 p.m.

Wine & Chocolate Tasting

Microsoft, TikTok and AI are ‘disrupting’ book publishing. But do we want their effortless art?

Arts & Culture, Books

Publishing is one of many fields poised for disruption by tech companies and artificial intelligence (AI). New platforms and approaches, like a book imprint by Microsoft and a self-publishing tech startup that uses AI, promise to make publishing faster and more accessible than ever.

But they also may threaten jobs – and demand a reconsideration of the status and role of books as cultural objects. And what will be the impact of TikTok owner ByteDance’s move into traditional book publishing?

Microsoft’s 8080 Books

Last week, Microsoft announced a new book imprint, 8080 Books. It will focus on nonfiction titles relating to technology, science and business.

8080 Books plans “to test and experiment with the latest tech to accelerate and democratize book publishing”, though as some sceptics have noted, it is not yet entirely clear what this will entail.

The first title, No Prize for Pessimism by Sam Schillace (Microsoft’s deputy chief technology officer) arguably sets the tone for the imprint. These “letters from a messy tech optimist” urge readers to embrace the disruptive potential of new technologies (AI is name-checked in the blurb), arguing optimism is essential for innovation and creativity. You can even discuss the book with its bespoke chatbot here.

Elsewhere, in the self-publishing space, tech startup Spines aims to bring 8,000 new books to market each year. For a fee, authors can use the publishing platform’s AI to edit, proofread, design, format and distribute their books.

The move has been condemned by some authors and publishers, but Spines (like Microsoft) states its aim is to make publishing more open and accessible. Above all, it aims to make it faster, reducing the time it takes to publish to just a fortnight – rather than the long months of editing, negotiating and waiting required by traditional publishing.

TikTok is publishing books too

Technological innovations are not just being used to speed up the publishing process, but also to identify profitable audiences, emerging authors and genres that will sell. Chinese tech giant and owner of TikTok, ByteDance, launched their publishing imprint 8th Note Press (initially digital only) last year.

They are now partnering with Zando (an independent publishing company whose other imprints include one by actor Sarah Jessica Parker and another by the Pod Save America team’s Crooked Media) to produce a fiction range targeted at Gen Z readers. It will produce print books, to be sold in bookshops, from February.

8th Note Press, BookTok’s imprint, is housed by a publisher who also hosts imprints by Sarah Jessica Parker and Crooked Media.
Stefan Postlestle/Richard Shotwell/AAP

8th Note Press focuses on the fantasy and romance genres (and authors) generating substantial followings on BookTok, the TikTok community proving invaluable for marketing and promoting new fiction. In the United States, authors with a strong presence on BookTok have seen a 23% growth in print sales in 2024, compared to 6% growth overall.

Access to Tiktok’s data and the ability to engineer viral videos could give 8th Note Press a serious advantage over legacy publishers in this space.

Hundreds of AI self-publishing start-ups

These initiatives reflect some broader industry trends. Since OpenAI first demoed ChatGPT in 2022, approximately 320 publishing start-ups have emerged. Almost all of them revolve around AI in some way. There is speculation that the top five global publishers all have their own proprietary internal AI systems in the works.

Spotify’s entry into the audiobook market in 2023 has been described as a gamechanger by its CEO, and is now using AI to recommend books to listeners. Other companies, like Storytel and Nuanxed, are using AI to autogenerate audiobook narration and expedite translations.

The embrace of AI may produce some useful innovations and efficiencies in publishing processes. It will almost certainly help publishers promote their authors and connect books with invested audiences. But it will have an impact on people working in the sector.

Companies like Storytel are using AI to narrate audiobooks.
Karolina Grabowska/Pexels

Publishing houses have been consistently reducing in-house staff since the 1990s and relying more heavily on freelancers for editorial and design tasks. It would be naïve to think AI and other emergent technologies won’t be used to further reduce costs.

We are moving rapidly towards a future where once-important roles in the publishing sector – editing, translation, narration and voice acting, book design – will be increasingly performed by machines.

Spines’ CEO and co-founder, Yehuda Niv, has said, when queried, “We are not here to replace human creativity”. He emphasised his belief this automation will allow more writers to access the book market.

Storytel and Nuanxed have both suggested the growth of audiobook circulation will compensate for the replacement of human actors and translators. Exactly who will benefit the most from this growth – authors or faceless shareholders – remains to be seen.

Side hustles, grifts and ‘easy’ writing

I appreciate Schillace’s genuine, thoughtful optimism about AI and other new technologies. (I will admit to not having read his book yet, but did have a stimulating conversation with its bot.) But my mind is drawn back to the techno-utopianists of the 19th century, like Edward Bellamy.

In his 1888 novel, Looking Backward, Bellamy speculates on a future in which art and literature flourishes, once advanced automation has freed people from the drudgery of miserable labour, leaving them with more time for cultural pursuits.

The inverse seems to be occurring now. Previously important and meaningful forms of cultural work are being increasingly automated.

I could be shortsighted about this, of course. The publishing disruption is just getting underway, and we’ve already made some great strides towards dispensing with the admittedly often quite miserable labour of writing itself.

We’re moving closer to ‘dispensing with the admittedly often quite miserable labour of writing itself’.
Polina Zimmerman/Pexels

Soon after the launch of ChatGPT, science-fiction magazines in the US had to close submissions, due being inundated with AI-generated short stories, many of them almost identical. Today, there are so many AI-assisted books being published on Amazon, they have had to limit self-publishing authors to just three uploads per day.

AI-assisted publishing enterprises range from side hustles focusing on republishing editions of texts in the public domain, to grifts targeting unsuspecting readers and writers. All these schemes are premised on the idea writing can be rendered easy and effortless.

The use of AI may have other, delayed, costs though.

Can AI be a ‘thinking partner’?

When I was younger, writing and publishing a lousy short story just obliterated my time and personal relationships. Now I can do so with a one-sentence prompt, if I have a mind to – but apparently, this will destroy a lake somewhere.

Of course, as the No Prize for Pessimism bookbot takes pains to remind me, using AI in the writing process needn’t be a matter of lazy auto generation. It can be used for generative drafting, which is then revised, again and again, and integrated into the text.

AI can operate as a “thinking partner”, helping the writer with ideation and brainstorming. The technology is in its infancy, after all: there is bound to be some initial mess. But whatever way it is used, AI will help writers get to publication faster.

8080 Books’ charter offers a lot of rhetorical praise for the form of the book. We are told that books “matter”, that they impart “knowledge and wisdom”, that they “build empathy”. 8080 Books also wants to “accelerate the publishing process” and see less “lag” between the manuscript submission and its arrival in the marketplace. It wants books that are immediate and timely.

Slow can be good

But what is a book if it arrives easily and at speed? Regardless of whether it is AI-generated or AI-assisted, it won’t be quite the same medium.

For much of their history, books have been defined by slowness and effort, both in writing and the journey towards publication. A book doesn’t always need to be up to date or of the moment.

Indeed, the hope might be that the slowness and effort of its production can lead to the book outlasting its immediate context and remaining relevant in other times and places.

Greater speed and broader access may be laudable aims for these publishing innovations. But they will also likely lead to greater disposability – at least in the short term – for both publishing professionals and the books themselves.