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A thick layer of frost blankets the landscape, creating a gauzy haze over the tans and pale greens of the Ethiopian Highlands. Amidst the frozen stillness, a rust-colored lump dusted in rime stirs. A black nose appears from beneath a thick tail, and two ears twitch atop an elegantly long head. At last, the wolf rises, arches its back in a long stretch, and shakes. Nearby, several other pack members rise as well, touching noses in greeting....

There are more questions to ask than whether or not something sparks joy. Marie Kondo’s phenomenal success is partly due to the fact that she makes decluttering so easy for people. She has pared down a daunting task to a single question: Does it spark joy? If not, into the trash (or donation bag) it goes! But is it really so simple? Don’t we all have those things in our homes that flicker, rather than spark, or maybe just give us occasional sparks, depending on the circumstances?...

After years of waiting, Andor has finally arrived on Disney+. The Diego Luna-led Star Wars series serves as a prequel to Rogue One, telling the story of its lead character, Cassian Andor, before he becomes the Rebel spy and hero that stole the Death Star plans. The anticipation surrounding Andor has been sky-high, especially after the overwhelmingly positive reactions that it earned from fans and critics. This comes after the fact that it became apparent that it has a minimal amount of Star Wars Easter eggs, making it stand out from other shows that banked on such references, such as Obi-Wan Kenobi and The Mandalorian....

Obi-Wan Kenobi has been a central figure in the Skywalker Saga. The character was first portrayed by Sir Alec Guinness during Star Wars: A New Hope, but the Jedi Master died during the movie at Darth Vader’s hands. Obi-Wan later returned during the prequel trilogy, with the character being played by Ewan McGregor through three movies. Aside from those projects, Obi-Wan was also featured in multiple Star Wars animated series, namely Star Wars: The Clone Wars and Star Wars Rebels....

Despite having only just been announced, the upcoming Iron Man game from Electronic Arts (EA) has received a promising update.Earlier this year, it was rumored that an Iron Man project was in development for Xbox and PlayStation at Motive Video Game Studios. While the announcement didn’t make it into any D23 presentation, less than two weeks later, the title was revealed to the world.Led by Olivier Proulx, who worked on last year’s The Guardians of the Galaxy game, the Iron Man project is set to feature an original story while focusing on giving people the experience of playing the iconic Tony Stark....

People in every industry have been learning from Toyota and going Lean. Can Musk do better? Tesla just announced that it is shutting down production of the Model 3 for six days. According to Autoblog: In a long memo published in Electrek, Musk explains that he has had trouble feeding the machine, blaming the complexity of the supply chain. He blames the suppliers for not meeting his standards. I read all this shortly after having had the honor of speaking at the Lean Construction Conference in Vancouver, on the theme “reducing waste and working smarter....

While fans have yet to receive any news concerning Spider-Man 4, Sony Pictures is busy producing a number of Spider-Man spin-offs. One with potential Multiversal implications is Madame Web which is set to release in 2024. Starring Dakota Johnson, Madame Web is inspired by the comic-book character of the same name. Johnson is joined by Emma Roberts, Sydney Sweeney, and Adam Scott, although most of the roles haven’t been revealed to the public yet....

Forest ecosystems are defined by a “salient” or common set of characteristics that make the forest ecology of a particular area unique. These very complex sets of forest conditions are studied by forest ecologists who try to isolate and classify the common structural patterns that continually reoccur in a particular forest’s environment. The perfect forest ecosystem is where simpler biotic communities live in the same approximate space with increasingly more complex biotic communities to each communities benefit....

It’s a fun exercise in discovering how little you actually need. With my newfound dedication to packing light while traveling, I’ve had to pare down drastically the number of products I take on trips. It has been an interesting exercise in assessing what I truly need – and how many things I don’t. No doubt, some commenters will point out that cosmetics are pointless in general, but as a pale natural redhead, I feel more comfortable with some dark definition around my eyes; otherwise, as has happened on numerous occasions, I am told I look tired or like I’ve been crying....

No part of the country is immune from the effects of Mother Nature. Recent hurricanes have laid bare the fact that many major cities across the United States are woefully unprepared for widespread natural disasters — and that includes people and their pets. In fact, it was the scenes of trapped people and pets that led dog trainer Ines de Pablo to pursue various emergency certifications, including Awareness and Preparedness, and Community Planning for animals in disaster through the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA)....

LEGO Star Wars is just around the corner, and many fans are excited to finally return to a galaxy far, far away—but this time in brick format. While there were previous LEGO games in the franchise, this time, it’s all re-created from the ground up; every Skywalker movie, Episode I-IX. Players will have a lot to look forward to when the game finally arrives. Not only will there be a massive amount of story content, but also about 300 different characters to play as....

The MCU is about to travel one of its wildest roads to date thanks to the universe-shattering events in the Season 1 finale of Loki. With the introduction and subsequent death of He Who Remains, also known as a Variant of Kang the Conqueror, the God of Mischief now has to bear witness to the MCU’s multiverse ripping apart. This helped Loki accomplish what neither of its Disney+ predecessors had by setting up potentially lasting ramifications for future movies and shows alike in Phase 4....

An insider revealed that Marvel Studios supposedly restricted a Tom Holland Spider-Man cameo in Sony’s Venom-verse. The MCU brain trust has been incredibly calculated in crafting their super-powered universe, and no hero has required more finagling from these higher-ups than Tom Holland’s Spider-Man. Seeing as Spidey’s big screen rights are still owned by Sony Pictures, and that studio continues to pump out entries into its own Sony Spider-Man Universe (SSMU), Marvel Studios has had to walk the tight-rope of playing nice with the webhead’s rights-holders and using the character in their own story....

The mysterious organism looks like a mushroom but acts like an animal, and it’s one of my favorite beings ever. I don’t use superlatives lightly, so when I say that Physarum polycephalum, the star of a new exhibit at the Paris Zoological Park, is the weirdest living thing, I mean it. Just how weird is P. polycephalum? Really freaking weird … and in the best way. Given the unfortunate common name of “slime mold,” the single-cell organism has been stumping scientists ever since it was discovered....

Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania star Paul Rudd addressed the big continuity mistake in Avengers: Endgame.The latest Avengers film, which is now going on four years old, was the culmination of over a decade’s worth of storytelling. It’ll be what audiences remember about the titular team until The Kang Dynasty lands in 2025 (if it’s not delayed).As fantastic as many feel it is, it isn’t without its problems.One of those admittedly small issues comes in the form of a small (giant?...

Fans were disappointed to learn that Disney didn’t have any plans to release any of its original streaming content on Blu-ray, at least according to Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige. Considering Warner Bros’ initial push for HBO Max, some fans feared the worst and worried shows like Peacemaker wouldn’t make it to Blu-ray either. It makes sense why companies with streaming services would do this, since if audiences could just buy physical media of shows they want to watch, they wouldn’t become a monthly subscriber to their streaming service....

Robert Pattinson’s The Batman is one of the intriguing entries in the DCEU’s massive slate of films in the coming years. Directed by Matt Reeves, the film will provide a fresh new take on The Dark Knight, pushing the hero’s detective skills to the forefront while still mainly being grounded on the crime-ridden streets of Gotham. So far, plot details about The Batman are still being kept under wraps, but the film’s highly-talked-about trailer from DC FanDome might’ve provided fans with several clues on how the narrative will play out....

December 2021 has finally arrived, which means fans are gearing up in a big way for the long-awaited release of Spider-Man: No Way Home in just a couple of weeks. With five Multiversal villains confirmed to play a role and the chances increasing that Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield will return as Spider-Man, anticipation for this threequel’s release is sky-high. Now that No Way Home is so close, Marvel and Sony are ramping up their efforts on the movie’s largely sporadic promotional tour....

The Flash is set to push the Multiverse into the forefront. The upcoming DCEU movie will serve as Ezra Miller’s first solo film for the franchise, and he will be joined by a stellar ensemble led by Michael Keaton’s Batman and Sasha Calle’s Supergirl. Plot details of the movie are still being kept under wraps, but it has been confirmed to be inspired by the famous Flashpoint storyline from the comics....

The creator of The Mandalorian has gone on record discussing how the upcoming third season is connected to The Book of Boba Fett.The iconic bounty hunter’s solo series wasn’t received all too well—in fact, many thought it was easily Star Wars’ worst Disney+ show.Despite that, there are two key episodes most fans love anyhow: “Return of the Mandalorian” and “From the Desert Comes a Stranger”.Basically, they were unofficial episodes of The Mandalorian, completely focusing on Mando and Grogu as their separate paths eventually converged once again, something that will be the basis of the upcoming Season 3....