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They created a family of algorithms (software-based instructions for solving a problem) able to complete classic Atari games, such as Pitfall. Previously, these scrolling platform games have been challenging to solve using artificial intelligence (AI). The algorithms could help robots better navigate real-world environments. This remains a core challenge in the fields of robotics and artificial intelligence. The types of environments in question include disaster zones, where robots could be sent out to search for survivors, or even just the average home. The work in this study falls into an area of AI research known as reinforcement learning. A number of games used in the research require the user to explore mazes containing rewards, obstacles and hazards. The family of algorithms, known collectively as Go-Explore, produced substantial improvements on previous attempts to solve games such as the wittily titled Montezuma's Revenge, released in 1984, Freeway (1981) and the aforementioned Pitfall (1982). One way the researchers did this was by developing algorithms that build up archives of areas they have already visited. "Our method is indeed pretty simple and straightforward, although that is often the case with scientific breakthroughs," researchers Adrien Ecoffet, Joost Huizinga and Jeff Clune said in response to questions sent over email. "The reason our approach hadn't been considered before is that it differs strongly from the dominant approach that has historically been used for addressing these problems in the reinforcement learning community, called 'intrinsic motivation'. In intrinsic motivation, instead of dividing exploration into returning and exploring like we do, the agent is simply rewarded for discovering new areas." A problem with the intrinsic motivation approach is that, while searching for a solution, the algorithm can "forget" about promising areas that still need to be explored. This is known as "detachment". The team found a way to overcome this: by compiling the archive of areas it has visited, the algorithm can return to a promising intermediate stage of the game as a point from which to explore further. But there was another problem with previous approaches to mastering these games. "They rely on random actions that may be taken at any point in time, including while the agent is still going towards the area that actually needs to be explored," the scientists told BBC News. "If you have an environment where your actions have to be accurate and precise, such as a game with many hazards that can instantly kill you, such random actions can prevent you from reaching the area you actually want to explore." The technical term for this is "derailment". The new method, described in the prestigious journal Nature, resolves the derailment problem by separating the process of returning to previously visited areas from the process of exploring new ones - and tackles them in different ways. The team members, who carried out their work while employed by Uber AI Labs in California, said the work lends itself to algorithms used for guiding robots in the home or in industrial settings. They say that Go-Explore is designed to tackle longstanding problems in reinforcement learning. "Think about asking a robot to get you a coffee: there is virtually no chance it will happen to operate the coffee machine by just acting randomly." The scientists added: "In addition to robotics, Go-Explore has already seen some experimental research in language learning, where an agent learns the meaning of words by exploring a text-based game, and for discovering potential failures in the behaviour of a self-driving car."

The Cowin X3, a successor to the Chery Tiggo 3 model dating back to 2014, has received a facelift landing with front fascia improvements and a new engine, among other highlights. The car is still 4,335 mm long, 1,796 mm wide and 1,665 mm tall with 2,530 mm between the axles (U.S. LWH: 14.22 / 5.89 / 5.46 feet, wheelbase: 8.3 feet). Exterior changes include the radiator grille and the front bumper. The ground clearance amounts to 190 millimeters (7.4 inches), and tires can be sized 215/60 R17 or 215/55 R18 depending on wheel size. Notable additions inside include a classical analog dashboard with a 7-inch display, a 10.1-inch infotainment touchscreen, and a HVAC system with an air purifier. Chrome accents seem more common than ever before, and you can opt for a dual-tone fake leather. The old 1.5-liter non-turbo mill rated at 116 PS (114 hp / 85 kW) and 143 Nm (105 lb-ft) of torque retires alongside its five-speed manual transmission. A new turbo-four engine with the same displacement volume takes its place, hitting a CVT box with 156 PS (154 hp / 115 kW) and 230 Nm (170 lb-ft). The drive stays locked on the front axle, as usual. Sales in China start tomorrow, February 26, 2021. The pre-facelift Cowin X3 (see video) has been losing customers lately, going down from 24,013 and 24,919 units sold in 2016 and 2017, respectively, to only 6,760 units sold last year.

The 55-year-old star likes to take on physically demanding roles and is known for films like “The Grey,” “Zero Dark Thirty,” and “Captain America: The Winter Soldier.” He moved up to the leading role as Sergeant Leo Barnes in “The Purge: Anarchy” and “The Purge: Election Year.” He was also the main character in the television drama series “Kingdom,” portraying the owner of a mixed martial arts gym that helped train fighters. In real life, Grillo trains with professional athletes, pro boxers and practices mixed martial arts. It’s not just about looking fit on screen, though; it’s also so he doesn’t get hurt as he says he insists on doing many of his own stunts. “I eat really well and I have a pretty good lifestyle,” Grillo said during a recent phone interview. “My only vice is that I like to drink red wine, but my Italian grandparents would say that’s not a vice.” Grillo has a total of eight feature films coming out in 2021. He plays Vin in the indie drama “Body Brokers,” which focuses on abuse in Southern California drug rehab centers, and he stars opposite Gerard Butler in the forthcoming action thriller “Copshop.” He also teams up with Bruce Willis for “Cosmic Sin” and plays a lead in Blumhouse Productions’ new drama “This Is the Night.” His latest film, “Boss Level,” in which he stars and serves as a producer, will be released on Hulu on Friday, March 5. Grillo plays former special forces agent Roy Pulver who is trapped in a time loop that repeats the day of his murder. Before each death, he finds out a little more about who killed him while he races to chase down Colonel Ventor (Mel Gibson) to break the time loop and save his ex-wife (Naomi Watts). Grillo and director Joe Carnahan navigated a last-minute budget change that took filming from 41 days to just 27. Within that time frame, Grillo’s character dies so much it becomes comical. The actor said he had a good time dying on screen in a variety of ways — his character is stabbed, shot, and dropped from a high-rise building, among them (as well as an even more violent demise he mentions in the next quote) — but he got to show off his martial arts skills in all the fight scenes. “What cracks me up every time is getting my head chopped off,” he said of one the character’s gruesome endings. “I have a dummy that follows me. We just finished a movie called ‘Copshop’ and my dummy from ‘Boss Level’ was on that movie, too. It’s just this running joke. My dummy gets his head cut off, my character gets his head cut off … for some reason for me that’s hysterical.” Grillo has a stunt double, Greg Fitzpatrick, who he says can talk him out of doing anything crazy. But that’s not an easy task. “I did 90 percent of that on my own,” he said of his scenes in “Boss Level.” “I did the sword fighting and I did most of my own stunts. I did most of the driving, but I do have a person in double that travels with me on every film. He’s my brother, my guardian. He makes sure if something really is dangerous, he doesn’t let me do it. These are the unsung heroes of the film business.” Though he still enjoys being in front of the camera, he’s learning a lot behind the scenes. Grillo said since he started taking on the responsibility of a producer or executive producer on some of his films he’s gained a new perspective on the business.“Joe Carnahan and I started our company five years ago with the movie called ‘Wheelman,’ and we learned a lot about producing and controlling the process,” he said. “I learned how to be a better actor and not to take things so personally. I remember being a young actor and thinking, ‘Oh, I went in there and I was amazing. It was a great read … why didn’t they pick me?’ There’s so many things that go into choosing the cast and putting a movie together, so it’s been a great education. And look, I’m getting a little long in the tooth, so I have to kind of start learning other skills, and this is a great thing to segue into.” Aside from the films, Grillo is also reprising his role as the villain Crossbones for Marvel’s “What if…?” animated television series on Disney Plus. He said he just finished recording his voiceover for an episode in the closet of his home. Though he’s not suiting up and physically fighting Captain America, Grillo said he’ll do anything that’s related to Marvel. “Whatever legacy I have as an actor, I am part of that Marvel Universe and it has changed my career tremendously,” he said. “I’m a secondary character … so that just goes to show you the power of Marvel and the world is fascinated by these movies and take them very seriously.” In his spare time, he’s hanging out with his three sons at home. They’ve been enjoying the pool and trampoline in the backyard and playing a lot of video games, but Grillo said that like most parents these days he can’t wait for them to return to in-person schooling. He’s also keeping up with his workouts just in case he gets a call to action and he’s been focused on how grateful he is for everything. “To be able to combine that [martial arts and boxing] with what I do for a living and get paid, it’s like, Wow, I must have saved a bunch of nuns on a burning bus in another life,” he said with a laugh. “Somebody blessed me here! I’m at this stage in the game where there’s still an ascension happening and I keep working hard and hoping we can keep pumping out some good stuff.”

Luther Burbank High School senior Emili Carrillo is finding ways to learn English — but lately, school isn’t making that easy. The 17-year-old moved from Mexico nearly four years ago with her dad, and works part-time as a cashier at a grocery store. “Working has helped me a lot, because I have to practice my English,” Carillo said about chatting with customers on the job. But learning English at her South Sacramento school — an entirely computer-based activity since last March — is another matter. “It’s been hard for me,” she said about attending classes online, which eliminates opportunities to practice English with peers. “When we were at school … we kind of communicated more with our classmates. And this year, during the pandemic, we don’t even talk sometimes.” As the momentum builds to reopen schools in California, early evidence suggests that English-learning students have fallen behind more than their peers. Education experts say school leaders should act now to reverse a widening achievement gap between students with financial resources and kids with less support at home. “Now is the time where we have to acknowledge that these gaps have widened during the pandemic and really be intentional about providing extra supports,” said Heather Hough, executive director of Policy Analysis for California Education at Stanford University. Hough says that, with the right resources and support, educators can fast-track learning. “And this doesn't have to have a long term catastrophic event on their lives,” Hough said of the pandemic. Hough’s research released in January showed that California students in 18 school districts grew less in mathematics and English language arts than they would have over a typical year. The evidence was most pronounced in the younger grade levels. But the most concerning impacts, according to Hough, were that kids in socioeconomically disadvantaged groups, which in the study included low-income students and English language-learning kids, were further behind than their peers. “In the fifth grade, our research shows that students learning English are about 30 percent behind where they would be in a normal year in English language arts, compared to 10 percent for students that are not learning English,” Hough said. And this is a significant group: English-learning students make up almost a fifth of California’s public school po[CENSORED]tion, according to California Department of Education estimates from 2019. Although some may already be fluent in English, more than 40% of the students enrolled in California public schools overall — some 2.5 million kids — speak a language other than English at home. More than 81% of English-learning students in California schools speak Spanish, according to the state statistics. Larry Ferlazzo teaches history and English to non-native-speaking students of all levels at Luther Burbank. He tries to make the best of “Zoom school” by teaching with humor and interactive online quizzes. But the quality is not the same as learning face-to-face, he said, where gestures and informal interaction can help student comprehension. “There’s no question that grades are suffering, not just for [English-learners], but for all students,” Ferlazzo said about how students are doing nationwide. He writes extensively about education trends and improving school instruction for national outlets such as EdWeek. During a couple of his online classes one recent Wednesday morning, almost all students had their cameras off, with just cartoon characters or animal photos to represent their space on the screen. Students responded to Ferlazzo or teacher aide questions by writing in the chat, instead of verbalizing their answer. But the technical glitches and physical distance are not the only thing preventing non-native English speakers from learning more. Ferlazzo says many of his students are children of immigrants from all over the world — Afghanistan, Central America, Vietnam, and the Pacific Islands — and family responsibilities sometimes keep them from attending class. “Many of our students are having to take care and assist younger siblings,” he said. “A fair number of our students are also having to work nearly full time to help their families during the recession.” And Ferlazzo says he hears of a case of COVID among one of his students, or their family members, at least once a week. “When you’re sick, when you’re worried, you just can’t concentrate,” he said. Hough says the learning gap between disadvantaged groups and other students during the pandemic is directly tied to the different supports kids have at home. “In some families, students have full time tutors, or even a credentialed teacher, who's at home supporting their learning. Or a parent who doesn't work, who's supporting their learning full time,” she said. “On the other end of the continuum, we have families where perhaps there isn't an adult at home during the day at all because all adults in the family are out working multiple jobs.” The California Legislature and Gov. Gavin Newsom are still deadlocked about how to reopen schools, and what resources will be available when they do. Samantha Tran of Children Now says policymakers should focus resources on the most disadvantaged kids, such as English language learners, and that should include summer school and partnerships with community-based organizations. “How do we address some of this learning loss in a way that engages kids, that gets them excited about learning, and dare I say … be fun?” Tran asked. Emili Carrillo has juggled many things during the pandemic, including being a peer tutor for Ferlazzo’s class. She says she knows teachers are trying their best to connect with students during the pandemic, but she still sometimes has trouble communicating. Carrillo will likely be able to feel more connected to her peers and teachers in a couple of months. The Sacramento City Unified School District plans to restart in-person instruction for the youngest grade levels in early April. High schoolers would see each other again in May, but only if the COVID threat level goes down in the county.

Let’s face it, as a small business owner you’ve a lot on your plate, and filing your taxes might seem like an overwhelming task on your long to-do list. But the right online tax filing software can help you save time and money. Tax software programs allow you to complete the filing process online, so there’s no need to deal with the back-and-forth of working with an accountant. And don’t worry if you’re not a tax pro — these services walk you through the filing process, so you can check off all the boxes before you hit file. If you want advice on your tax situation, many online software programs provide the option to upgrade to get live support that may include one-on-one assistance with a tax professional. CNBC Select evaluated po[CENSORED]r tax filing software programs that offer plans focused on people who are small business owners, which generally includes the self-employed, freelancers, sole proprietors and anyone with a side gig (or two). We evaluated these programs on a range of features, including cost, user experience, expert tax assistance and Better Business Bureau rating. (Read more about our methodology below.) Here are the best tax filing software programs for small business owners, so you can file your taxes before the April 15 deadline.

The Union Cabinet on Wednesday extended the production-linked incentive (PLI) scheme for the pharmaceutical and technology hardware sectors, approving ₹15,000 crore and ₹7,325 crore worth of incentives, respectively, to encourage domestic manufacturing. The cabinet, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, said the PLI scheme for pharma will be effective over FY21-FY29, while manufacturers of laptops, tablets, all-in-one personal computers and servers, will enjoy the benefits for a four-year period. The move will boost local manufacturing and reduce India’s dependence on imports. The government estimates the scheme will help the pharma sector clock incremental sales of ₹2.94 trillion and incremental exports worth ₹1.96 trillion during the six years, while the IT hardware segment will be able to build production capacity worth ₹3.26 trillion, of which 75%, or ₹2.45 trillion, will be for exports, in the next four years. The government also expects the top five global manufacturers of laptops and tablets, including Apple, Dell and HP, to set up local units.The PLI scheme for pharmaceuticals, the government said, is expected to generate employment for both skilled and un-skilled personnel, estimated at 20,000 direct and 80,000 indirect jobs. “The objective of the scheme is to enhance India’s manufacturing capabilities by increasing investments and production in the sector, and contributing to product diversification to high-value goods in the pharmaceutical sector," electronics and information technology minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said. It is expected to promote innovation for the development of complex and high-tech products, including emerging therapies and in-vitro diagnostic devices, besides building self-reliance in key drugs. It is also expected to improve accessibility and affordability of medical products, including orphan drugs, for the Indian po[CENSORED]tion, it added. The manufacturers of pharmaceutical goods registered in India will be segregated based on their global manufacturing revenue (GMR) to ensure wider applicability of the scheme across the industry and to meet the objectives of the scheme.The Indian pharma industry, the third-largest in the world by volume, is worth ₹4,000 crore, and contributes 3.5% of total drugs and medicines exported globally. India exports pharma products to over 200 countries, including highly regulated markets such as the US, the UK, European Union and Canada.At present, low-value generic drugs account for a majority of Indian exports, while a large part of the domestic demand for patented drugs is met through imports. At present, local pharma companies lack high-value production capabilities and the necessary research and development centres. The government expects the IT and hardware industry to receive additional investment of ₹2,700 crore, besides earning direct and indirect revenue of ₹15,760 crore, besides creating 180,000 jobs in four years.“Production-linked incentive is a very simple term. Come to India, invest in India, set up your factory, manufacture produce, export outside and earn incentive. We have already discussed the scheme with the manufacturers," Prasad added. “The scheme shall extend an incentive of 4% to 2%, 1% on net incremental sales (over base year i.e. 2019-20) of goods manufactured in India and covered under the target segment, to eligible companies, for a period of four years," an official statement said. India imported laptops and tablets worth $4.21 billion and $0.41 billion, respectively, in 2019-20. The market for IT hardware is dominated by seven global companies, which account for about 70% of the world’s market share. “These companies are able to exploit large economies of scale to compete in global markets. It is imperative that these companies expand their operations in India and make it a major destination for manufacturing of IT hardware," it added. The move comes at a time when global manufacturers are looking to diversify their manufacturing locations to mitigate the risks involved in depending on a single market.

Over the past year, the coronavirus crisis has spurred app usage in the United States as people stay indoors to limit contact with others. Mobile games particularly have enjoyed a boom, and among them, games from Chinese studios are gaining po[CENSORED]rity. Games released on the U.S. App Store and Google Play Store raked in a total of $5.8 billion in revenue during the fourth quarter, jumping 34.3% from a year before and accounting for over a quarter of the world’s mobile gaming revenues, according to a new report from market research firm Sensor Tower. In the quarter, Chinese titles contributed as much as 20% of the mobile gaming revenues in the U.S. That effectively made China the largest importer of mobile games in the U.S., thanks to a few blockbuster titles. Chinese publishers claimed 21 spots among the 100 top-grossing games in the period and collectively generated $780 million in revenues in the U.S., the world’s largest mobile gaming market, more than triple the amount from two years before. Occupying the top rank are familiar Chinese titles such as the first-person shooter game Call of Duty, a collaboration between Tencent and Activision, as well as Tencent’s PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds. But smaller Chinese studios are also quickly infiltrating the U.S. market. Mihoyo, a little-known studio outside China, has been turning heads in the domestic gaming industry with its hit game Genshin Impact, a role-playing action game featuring anime-style characters. It was the sixth-most highest-grossing mobile game in the U.S. during Q4, racking up over $100 million in revenues in the period. Most notable is that Mihoyo has been an independent studio since its inception in 2011. Unlike many gaming startups that covet fundings from industry titans like Tencent, Mihoyo has so far raised only a modest amount from its early days. It also stirred up controversy for skipping major distributors like Tencent and phone vendors Huawei and Xiaomi, releasing Genshin Impact on Bilibili, a po[CENSORED]r video site amongst Chinese youngsters, and games downloading platform Taptap. Magic Tavern, the developer behind the puzzle game Project Makeover, one of the most installed mobile games in the U.S. since late last year, is another lesser-known studio. Founded by a team of Tsinghua graduates with offices around the world, Magic Tavern is celebrated as one of the first studios with roots in China to have gained ground in the American casual gaming market. KKR-backed gaming company AppLovin is a strategic investor in Magic Tavern. Other po[CENSORED]r games in the U.S. also have links to China, if not directly owned by a Chinese company. Shortcut Run and Roof Nails are works from the French casual game maker Voodoo, which received a minority investment from Tencent last year. Tencent is also a strategic investor in Roblox, the gaming platform oriented to young gamers and slated for an IPO in the coming weeks.

Built in the early 1970s, the E9 3.0 CSL was the first BMW M touring coupe. Apart from achieving the fastest production-car lap time at the Nürburgring Nordschleife, the 3.0 CSL managed to take home six European Touring Car Championship trophies. The car featured aggressively flared fenders and a massive rear wing that earned it the nickname “Batmobile.” Although it was not officially badged as an M car, the 3.0 CSL is still one of the best BMW M cars in history. Its legendary performance made it the face of BMW’s Motorsports efforts and forged the way for other M cars. Produced between 1984 and 1989, the E24 M635CSi is one of the best cars to ever come out of BMW’s M division with confidence enough to represent its era with style and class. The M635CSi, often considered the top model in the E24 series, embodied the ultimate combination of luxury and wild performance. Considered avant-garde in its time, today, the E24 M635CSi is one of the most sought-after classic BMWs thanks to its typical M characteristics. The car is powered by the M88 in-line 6-cylinder engine established by the legendary BMW M1. After BMW’s withdrawal from F1 racing in 1986, its Motorsport division diverted its efforts to touring-car racing. This pivot brought to life one of the most adored M cars, the original BMW M3. Under its hood was a DOHC 2.3-liter four-cylinder engine that produced 192 horsepower. This mill helped the M3 win more than 1500 races, including two European Touring-Car Championships and two DTM trophies. In 1990, the M division released 600 models of the M3 in a lightweight, racing-spec Sport Evolution semblance. The Sport Evolution represented the zenith of the revered M3 and came with a more powerful, 2.5-liter four-cylinder powerplant that delivered 235 horsepower. Even before the M5 adopted an eight-cylinder engine to become the peerless E39 M5 in 1998, it had already built a legacy itself. It was one of the fastest sports sedans of the 20th century. Under its hood lay a sonorous 5.0-liter V-8 engine that produced 394 horsepower and 368 lb-ft of torque. The massive V8 was paired with a six-speed manual transmission and the car could accelerate from 0 to 60 mph in 4.8 seconds. With intuitive controls, stunning body design, and a business-class cabin, the E39 M5 was one of the most desirable sedans of its time. Even in the modern days, the E39 is widely regarded as a benchmark sports sedan. In 2003, BMW M released yet another beautiful version of the M3, the E46 M3 CSL. The car borrowed its lightweight sports coupe nomenclature from the iconic 3.0 CSL but focused more on reduced weight. BMW used carbon-fiber-reinforced plastic on the door panels, the center console, front and rear bumpers, and the roof. These weight-cutting efforts reduced the car's curb weight to just slightly above 3,000 pounds, 243 pounds lighter than the standard M3. BMW naturally added power to the M3's 3.2-liter inline-six engine from 343 to 360 horsepower. A touch of a button on the steering wheel activated a Track driving mode. The E46 M4 CSL accelerated from 0-60 mph in 4.9 seconds with the launch control function activated. M cars were not powered by V8 engines until 1998 when the then-new E39 M5 debuted with one. The next-generation E60 M5 took things a notch higher by adding two more cylinders to the already mighty V8. The 2007 E61 was powered by a 5.0-liter V-10 powerplant inspired by BMW's F1 racing engines. The 10-cylinder engine produced 500 horsepower and 383 lb-ft of torque, redlining at a screaming 8250 rpm. What made the E61 M5 so special was that it brought back the station-wagon body style to the lineup. Who doesn't love V10 screaming under the hood of their family hauler anyways? BMW M cars did not have all-wheel-drive systems until 2010 when the original X5 M and X6 M SUVs debuted. Both muscle SUVs came with BMW's corporate V8 that powered the X5 and X6, 5-series, and 7-series. The V8 was upgraded with twin-scroll turbochargers and BMW's first-ever crossover exhaust manifold. Although many BMW fans didn't love the tall SUVs, the E71's mill produced 555 horsepower and 500 lb-ft of torque that helped the massive vehicle go from 0-60 mph in less than 5 seconds. In 2016, BMW M decided to do things differently by building a special edition M4, the F82 M4 GTS. This was not a car for everybody; it was made available for a select group of 300 lucky Americans. The GTS was an M4 coupe running an innovative water-injection system that helped boost the twin-turbocharged inline-six engine's power from the base coupe's 425 horsepower to 493 horsepower. This power also helped push the GTS around the Nürburgring in a blistering seven minutes and 28 seconds. The two-door also set a time of 2:52.9 around Virginia International Raceway, around 8 seconds quicker than the regular M4. With a 0-60 mph acceleration time of 3.2 seconds according to BMW, the latest-generation F90 M5 is one of the quickest M cars ever produced. The vehicle achieves these impressive numbers with the latest and the most muscular version of BMW's corporate V-8 engine. The twin-turbocharged 4.4-liter V-8 produces 600 horsepower and 553 lb-ft of torque, 40 hp and 53 lb-ft more potent than its predecessor. A new M-specific all-wheel-drive system called M xDrive helps distribute this massive power to the pavement, allowing the F90 M5 to achieve its swift acceleration. Here comes the mighty king of the M lineup, the M8 Competition. At the heart of this powerful missile of a car lies BMW's S63 twin-turbocharged 4.4-liter V-8 engine with 617 horsepower and 553 lb-ft of torque. The standard M8 produces 600 horsepower. The massive V8 powerplant is paired with BMW's M-specific all-wheel-drive system, the M xDrive, which sends power to the rear wheels. The M8 Competition accelerates from 0-60 mph in just 2.5 seconds and clears the quarter-mile in 10.7 seconds at 129 mph.

In 2011 Turia Pitt’s life changed forever when she was caught in a bushfire while competing in an ultra-marathon. The mining engineer suffered burns to 65 per cent of her body and wasn’t expected to survive her injuries. But despite the odds Turia recovered and has since flourished becoming a best-selling author, motivational speaker and mum of two. In news.com.au’s new podcastHow To Be Happy, Turia tells host, journalist and former news.com.au editor-in-chief Kate de Brito, about the surprising reason why she is happier now than she was before the burns incident. “I think the Turia from 10 years ago, it’s not like I was unhappy because I was a happy person, but I was very much focused on what I didn’t have in my life,” she said. “I was focused on what wasn’t going good for me.” Turia said being caught in the fire taught her “to be grateful for my life as it is now”, which she admits can sound counterintuitive at first if you’re ambitious. “Whenever we’re focusing on what we’re grateful for in our lives we’re focusing on the positives and I think that helps us to build a more positive mindset,” she said. In her new book, Happy (and other ridiculous aspirations), Turia explains her GSA method to being happier: gratitude, savouring and anticipation. “Savouring is about I guess being mindful in the moment that you’re in and trying not to get caught up in massive to-do lists and the laundry and all the work you’ve got to do … just enjoy the present moment and savouring in it and relishing in it,” she said. But what about when the present is not-so-good? Well, Turia believes the bad shouldn’t be skipped over. It’s much more gratifying to instead drop the “bulls**t facade that everything is OK” and acknowledge what is happening, she said. “If the moment isn’t pleasant I would probably recommend that you don’t try and savour and relish and extenuate that moment,” she said. “But I also think if you’re having a bad day, whether that’s a flat tyre or going through this coronavirus pandemic that a lot of us are facing right now, if you’re having a bad day there’s a real power in just accepting it and acknowledging it and saying it’s actually a really crap day.” Turia’s other happiness tips include: It’s not always going to be lattes and laughter at work: Remember that not all aspects of your job, especially when you’re working towards a bigger goal, are going to be great all the time. “I’m sure even Beyonce has to eat some kind of s**t sandwiches that she doesn’t necessarily froth on, I think we all do,” Turia said. “It’s just about how many s**t sandwiches are you willing to eat to get to where you want to be.” Your tribe will impact your vibe: “I think if you’re spending time with people that make you feel like s**t and like crap then they’re probably not the best people to be spending time with,” Turia said. “And I think conversely if you spend time with people who make you feel good about being the person that you are and that accept you for who you are, I think you’re going to feel a lot better about yourself.”

Most farmers' leaders are of the view that despite all their efforts through kisan panchayats and mahapanchayats in several states, the message is not percolating well, especially in southern part of the country. Hence, they are thinking of new ways to send the message to grassroots. While several mechanisms are being thought about how to make it a more inclusive agitation, but so far, the organisers haven't been successful. The reason is a language barrier. But now, farmers have found a new way of sending the message across masses and even in states which are yet not connected with the movement. Farmers' leader Jagtaar Singh Bajwa tells India Today TV, "Most of our leaders deliver their speeches in either Hindi or Punjabi. It is difficult to make people in non-Hindi speaking states understand their language. Hence, we are now posting all important speeches with English subtitles." The decision was not quite easy as there are several local dialects and providing transcripts in regional languages is not an easy job. To overcome this challenge, a team led by young leaders has been assigned this job. Rajkishore Singh, who looks after the co-ordination with media at Ghazipur border, explains, "We actually want to translate the speeches in multiple languages like Bengali, Oriya, Tamil, Telegu, Malayalam and Kannada. But it's not possible to provide simultaneous subtitles in all these languages. We have started with English and will provide subtitles in other languages later on." While farmers have been camping at Delhi borders for over three months, their protest isn't limited just to the national capital. Kisan panchayats and mahapanchayats are being routinely held and well-attended in several states. Farmers' leader Baljinder Singh Mann while explaining the new strategy says, "We are now working as an IT cell of the entire farmers' movement. Our job is to track all speeches. We keep our eyes on important points made in a particular speech. For example, if Rakesh Tikait is addressing a crowd, then we listen to his speech through Facebook and immediately after it ends, we prepare subtitles." The team is growing every day. Its members also include college students. Prince Das is the young brain behind it. He says, "We are already a team of 15-20 people. All of them are from different backgrounds and states. In days to come, we will have volunteers from almost all states for translation and transcription." The farmers say the idea behind this is to keep spreading their message u

HPE’s Cloud-Based Machine Learning Sales Proposal Breakthrough Hewlett Packard Enterprise Tuesday unveiled a breakthrough cloud-based machine learning platform that slashes the time it takes for partners to do custom sales proposals from as much as 45 days to just 45 seconds, said HPE Storage Senior Vice President and General Manager Tom Black. Black—the hard-charging leader of HPE’s storage business who conceived of the new AI platform—said the Software Defined Opportunity Engine (SDOE) is a game-changer for partners looking to drive sales growth based on a detailed AI-based cloud assessment of a customer’s IT environment. “This is a massive productivity increase for partners looking to get to the sales close meeting and get the PO [purchase order],” said Black. “When you partner with HPE, we help you go fast. We help you increase your revenue. We help you increase the velocity of your growth and increase your customer relevancy in a way that our competitors currently do not have the ability to do. Sales productivity goes up substantially with the SDOE. What used to take 45 days can now be done in 45 seconds.” The SDOE is simply one more example of HPE’s commitment to use cutting-edge AI technology to help its partners increase sales, said Black. “When you partner with us you can be assured we have invested in modern cloud technology and software to make you more profitable and to help you grow faster,” he said. “And we don’t charge partners for this. This is a benefit of doing business with HPE.” Here is a look at five top things partners need to know about the SDOE.

Graphs—data structures that show the relationship among objects—are highly versatile. It's easy to imagine a graph depicting a social media network's web of connections. But graphs are also used in programs as diverse as content recommendation (what to watch next on Netflix?) and navigation (what's the quickest route to the beach?). As Ajay Brahmakshatriya summarizes, "Graphs are basically everywhere." Brahmakshatriya has developed software to more efficiently run graph applications on a wider range of computer hardware. The software extends GraphIt, a state-of-the-art graph programming language, to run on graphics processing units (GPUs), hardware that processes many data streams in parallel. The advance could accelerate graph analysis, especially for applications that benefit from a GPU's parallelism, such as recommendation algorithms. Brahmakshatriya, a Ph.D. student in MIT's Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science and the Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory, will present the work at this month's International Symposium on Code Generation and Optimization. Co-authors include Brahmakshatriya's advisor, Professor Saman Amarasinghe, as well as Douglas T. Ross Career Development Assistant Professor of Software Technology Julian Shun, postdoc Changwan Hong, recent MIT Ph.D. student Yunming Zhang Ph.D. '20 (now with Google), and Adobe Research's Shoaib Kamil. When programmers write code, they don't talk directly to the computer hardware. The hardware itself operates in binary—1s and 0s—while the coder writes in a structured, "high-level" language made up of words and symbols. Translating that high-level language into hardware-readable binary requires programs called compilers. "A compiler converts the code to a format that can run on the hardware," says Brahmakshatriya. One such compiler, specially designed for graph analysis, is GraphIt. The researchers developed GraphIt in 2018 to optimize the performance of graph-based algorithms regardless of the size and shape of the graph. GraphIt allows the user not only to input an algorithm, but also to schedule how that algorithm runs on the hardware. "The user can provide different options for the scheduling, until they figure out what works best for them," says Brahmakshatriya. "GraphIt generates very specialized code tailored for each application to run as efficiently as possible." A number of startups and established tech firms alike have adopted GraphIt to aid their development of graph applications. But Brahmakshatriya says the first iteration of GraphIt had a shortcoming: It only runs on central processing units or CPUs, the type of processor in a typical laptop. "Some algorithms are massively parallel," says Brahmakshatriya, "meaning they can better utilize hardware like a GPU that has 10,000 cores for execution." He notes that some types of graph analysis, including recommendation algorithms, require a high degree of parallelism. So Brahmakshatriya extended GraphIt to enable graph analysis to flourish on GPUs. Brahmakshatriya's team preserved the way GraphIt users input algorithms, but adapted the scheduling component for a wider array of hardware. "Our main design decision in extending GraphIt to GPUs was to keep the algorithm representation exactly the same," says Brahmakshatriya. "Instead, we added a new scheduling language. So, the user can keep the same algorithms that they had before written before [for CPUs], and just change the scheduling input to get the GPU code." This new, optimized scheduling for GPUs gives a boost to graph algorithms that require high parallelism—including recommendation algorithms or internet search functions that sift through millions of websites simultaneously. To confirm the efficacy of GraphIt's new extension, the team ran 90 experiments pitting GraphIt's runtime against other state-of-the-art graph compilers on GPUs. The experiments included a range of algorithms and graph types, from road networks to social networks. GraphIt ran fastest in 65 of the 90 cases and was close behind the leading algorithm in the rest of the trials, demonstrating both its speed and versatility. GraphIt "advances the field by attaining performance and productivity simultaneously," says Adrian Sampson, a computer scientist at Cornell University who was not involved with the research. "Traditional ways of doing graph analysis have one or the other: Either you can write a simple algorithm with mediocre performance, or you can hire an expert to write an extremely fast implementation—but that kind of performance is rarely accessible to mere mortals. The GraphIt extension is the key to letting ordinary people write high-level, abstract algorithms and nonetheless getting expert-level performance out of GPUs." Sampson adds the advance could be particularly useful in rapidly changing fields: "An exciting domain like that is genomics, where algorithms are evolving so quickly that high-performance expert implementations can't keep up with the rate of change. I'm excited for bioinformatics practitioners to get their hands on GraphIt to expand the kinds of genomic analyses they're capable of." Brahmakshatriya says the new GraphIt extension provides a meaningful advance in graph analysis, enabling users to go between CPUs and GPUs with state-of-the-art performance with ease. "The field these days is tooth-and-nail competition. There are new frameworks coming out every day," He says. But he emphasizes that the payoff for even slight optimization is worth it. "Companies are spending millions of dollars each day to run graph algorithms. Even if you make it run just 5 percent faster, you're saving many thousands of dollars."

Sony is planning to bring more of its PlayStation games to PC. First up will be Days Gone this spring, Sony president and chief executive officer Jim Ryan told British GQ. Developer Bend Studio also confirmed the news via Twitter, adding: “Stay tuned for more details.” In the past, Sony has shown reluctance to port games to PC, though it notably eased its stance last year when it announced Guerilla Games’ Horizon Zero Dawn would receive a PC port, which launched last August. Asked why the company seems to have changed its tune, Ryan told the publication that there are a few factors at play. “We find ourselves now in early 2021 with our development studios and the games that they make in better shape than they’ve ever been before,” he said. “Particularly from the latter half of the PS4 cycle our studios made some wonderful, great games. There’s an opportunity to expose those great games to a wider audience and recognize the economics of game development, which are not always straightforward. The cost of making games goes up with each cycle, as the calibre of the IP has improved.” Ryan added it’s easier as well to make PS games available to non-console owners, making it “a fairly straightforward decision for us to make.” It’s still unclear which other PlayStation titles might make the jump to PC.

Tesla's years-long dominance of electric-car sales may soon end as traditional automakers introduce a slew of new battery-powered models, BMW CEO Oliver Zipse said. Tesla delivered almost 500,000 vehicles last year, up 36 percent from 2019. While that growth in the midst of a global pandemic sent Tesla shares soaring, Zipse said Monday that established automakers are countering with more EV offerings. "It won't be easy for Tesla to continue at that speed because the rest of the industry is moving ahead big time," Zipse said during the DLD All Stars tech conference. Auto executives rarely make public digs at competitors, so the CEO's remarks reflect new-found self-confidence among traditional manufacturers pouring billions into electrifying their lineups. BMW is adding battery-powered versions of its X1 SUV as well as the 5 Series and 7 Series, and will introduce a new flagship model, the iX. Tesla said last month it expects to increase vehicle deliveries by about 50 percent annually over multiple years, and that it will grow faster than that in 2021. BMW's larger peer Volkswagen Group may not be far off from eclipsing Tesla's EV sales this year. VW plans to at least double the share of its sales that are full electric in 2021, with the high end of its target range suggesting it could come close to Tesla's expected deliveries of at least 750,000 cars. VW launched its first ID model, the compact ID3 hatchback, in the second half of 2020. By the end of the year, VW had sold more than 54,000 ID3s in Europe, with the model trailing only the Renault Zoe (more than 99,000 sales) and the Tesla Model 3 (more than 85,000 sales) among EVs in the region, according to data from JATO Dynamics. VW has also launched a second ID model, the ID4, which is the first global EV from the ID family. By 2030, the automaker expects to have built a total of 26 million EVs worldwide. Tesla CEO Elon Musk plans to start making Model Y crossovers at a plant under construction near Berlin in the middle of this year.

Anyone watching Netflix's latest hit show, "Bridgerton," knows that the matchmaking Queen Charlotte had a penchant for Pomeranian pups. And in fact, this fondness was true of the real-life Queen Charlotte. She brought them with her when she moved from Pomerania in central Europe to the United Kingdom to marry King George III in 1761. Her love of the lap dog was then passed down through the royal generations. Her son, King George IV also liked the breed and Queen Victoria owned dachshunds, pugs and Pomeranians. One of the most famous royal dogs was a small terrier called Caesar. "[He] had a prominent place in Edward VII's funeral procession ahead of the other monarchs who attended in 1910," said Richard Fitzwilliams, a royal commentator based in London. Further down the line, King Edward VIII — who was forced to abdicate in disgrace in order to marry the American divorcée Wallis Simpson in the 1930s — also owned pugs, which we know from another Netflix period drama, "The Crown." But are the British royals really responsible for kicking off the lap dog craze? And when exactly did these toy breeds become po[CENSORED]r beyond court life? "Perfect Pets" is the ultimate guide to the world’s most po[CENSORED]r animal companions. Find out what makes dogs man’s best friend, why cats were worshipped in ancient Egypt, plus plenty of other fascinating facts about our furry, feathered — and even some scaly — friends. Inside you’ll learn all about these amazing animals and their unique abilities, plus some top training tips and care guides to help keep your pets happy and healthy. Small dogs emerged not long after dogs were domesticated; one of the oldest little dog remains was found in the Middle East and dates to 12,000 years ago, a 2010 study in the journal BMC Biology found. But it's hard to know when these tiny canines became in vogue because large datasets on breed po[CENSORED]rity don't go back that far in time. However, the available research does indicate that people are significantly influenced by trends and celebrity culture when it comes to picking their pooches. Stefano Ghirlanda, a professor of psychology at Brooklyn College, showed this influence by delving into the American Kennel Club's puppy registration data between 1926 and 2005. In a 2013 study in the journal PLOS One, he and colleagues cross matched the po[CENSORED]rity of registered dog breeds with their typical characteristics such as health, longevity and behavioral traits, including aggression, trainability and fearfulness. You'd expect there to be a link between desirable traits and breed po[CENSORED]rity, but that just ain't so. "We found absolutely no correlation in anything when we did this," Ghirlanda told Live Science. "Breed po[CENSORED]rity fluctuates quite a lot and that made us think it was just a question of fashion."

There’s been a shake-up at England’s youngest manager table following the new permanent appointments at Bradford City and Bristol Rovers, with one of the incumbents yet to blow the candles on his 30th birthday cake. Below we cast an eye over the 10 youngest managers currently employed in England’s top-four divisions - that’s the Premier League, Championship, League One and League Two - which feature the likes of Joey Barton, Wayne Rooney, and Mikel Arteta... 1. Conor Sellars: Bradford City (29) At the top of the pile we have a brand new face: Conor Sellars. Aged just 29, Sellars is now the youngest permanent manager in English football after League Two side Bradford City made the rare decision to give the job to not one but two managers (more on joint-boss Mark Trueman in a moment). In mid-December the duo were installed as caretaker managers following the exit of Stuart McCall. A couple of weeks later the pair were named interim managers, then in February (2021) they were deservedly handed the reins full-time following a remarkable transformation. The decision - made by CEO Ryan Sparks who is only 29 himself - came after a cracking run of form which saw Selles and Trueman bag seven wins from 11 games, losing only once. This is made even more impressive considering that the club had previously won none and lost seven of Stuart McCall’s final eight matches. Sellars, son of former Blackburn and Newcastle winger Scott, enjoyed a varied playing career in Portugal, Iceland, and at non-league level in England. The Englishman, who secured his UEFA A Licence in 2019 and speaks Portuguese, has been at Bradford since 2014, during which he’s held various roles, including Academy Coach, Head Foundation Phase Coach, U18 Professional Development Phase Coach, and now manager! The aforementioned Mark Trueman is the second youngest boss in the top-four divisions, behind his Bradford associate Conor Sellars. Trueman, who turned 34 earlier this month, has enjoyed a fantastic start to life in the Bantams dugout (see above section). Similarly to Sellars, Trueman spent his playing days in the non-league circuit, and only recently (October) was on the books at Thackley. He took his first steps into coaching with FC Halifax Town, where he won the National League U19 Alliance. Then ventured over to Bradford Academy, where he was the U18 boss. Up until the joint-manager appointments at Bradford City, it was Russell Martin who had the title of ‘youngest manager in England’. The now 35-year-old was a surprise replacement for Paul Tisdale in the MK Dons dugout back in November 2019, when he was still a player. Martin had a tough task on his hands with the newly-promoted club stuck in the League One relegation zone, however despite his inexperience he impressed in his new post and later steered the club to safety while he also managed to finish above rivals Wimbledon. He’s now got his side up in the top-half of the table; the play-offs could even be within reach with 17 games still left to play. A bright future awaits Martin whose superb start to life in management recently saw him linked with Championship side Bristol City, although this following quote was no doubt music to the ears of MK Dons fans: “I'm very happy here, I'm so invested in the people I work with, the culture we've brought here and I want to continue to improve and grow that. And I'm invested in the club. We've got a lot of work to do, and that's all I'm focussing on.”

Splice, the New York-based, AI-infused, beat-making software service for music producers created by the founder of GroupMe, has managed to sample another $55 million in financing from investors for its wildly po[CENSORED]r service. The GitHub for music producers ranging from Hook N Sling, Mr Hudson SLY, and Steve Solomon to TechCrunch’s own Megan Rose Dickey, Splice gained a following for its ability to help electronic dance music creators save, share, collaborate and remix music. The company’s po[CENSORED]rity has made it from bedroom DJs to the Goldman Sachs boardroom as the financial services giant joined MUSIC, a joint venture between the music executive Matt Pincus and boutique financial services firm Liontree in leading the company’s latest $55 million round. The company’s previous investors include USV, True Ventures, DFJ Growth and Flybridge. “The music creation process is going through a digital transformation. Artists are flocking to solutions that offer a user-friendly, collaborative, and affordable platform for music creation,” said Stephen Kerns, a VP with Goldman Sachs’ GS Growth, in a statement. “With 4 million users, Splice is at the forefront of this transformation and is beloved by the creator community. We’re thrilled to be partnering with Steve Martocci and his team at Splice.” Splice’s financing follows an incredibly acquisitive 2020 for the company, which saw it acquiring music technology companies Audiaire and Superpowered. In addition to the financing, Splice also nabbed Kakul Srivastava, the vice president of Adobe Creative Cloud Experience and Engagement as a director for its board. The funding news comes on the heels of Splice’s recent acquisitions of music-tech companies Audiaire and Superpowered, creating more ways to improve and inspire the audio and music-making process. Splice is also pleased to announce that Kakul Srivastava has joined the company’s board. Splice’s beefed up balance sheet comes as new entrants have started vying for a slice of Splice’s music-making market. These are companies like hardware maker Native Instruments, which launched the Sounds.com marketplace last year, and there’s also Arcade by Output that’s pitching a similar service. Meanwhile, Splice continues to invest in new technology to make producers’ lives easier. In November 2019 it unveiled its artificial intelligence product that lets producers match samples from different genres using machine learning techniques to find the matches. “My job is to keep as many people inspired to create as possible,” Splice founder and chief executive Steve Martocci told TechCrunch. It’s another win for the serial entrepreneur who famously sold his TechCrunch Disrupt Hackathon chat app GroupMe to Skype for $85 million just a year after launching.

Govt will soon add more items to the list of defence hardware that cannot be purchased from foreign suppliersUnion defence minister Rajnath Singh on Monday said the government will soon be adding more products to the list of hardware that cannot be purchased from foreign suppliers, even as Prime Minister Narendra Modi assured the industry that the military hardware, which Indian firms were capable of designing and manufacturing in the country, will not be procured from abroad. Both Modi and Singh were speaking at an event hosted by the Confederation of Indian Industry and the Society of Indian Defence Manufacturers on the budget proposals to boost domestic manufacturing of defence hardware.

Note: All stats and records through games played on Sunday, Feb. 21 Feb. 22 Trail Blazers (18-11) at Suns (19-10) 9 p.m. ET, NBA League Pass It’s a battle between two of the most clutch players in the game – Damian Lillard ranks second in the league with 82 clutch points (on 61.5% shooting from the field, 58.8% on 3-pointers and 100% on free throws), and Chris Paul ranks fifth with 63 clutch points this season and let the entire league last season with 150 clutch points. The Suns and Blazers enter the week ranked fourth and fifth in the Western Conference; could this game turn out to be a first-round playoff preview? This is the first meeting of the season between the Suns and Blazers; they split last year’s seasons series with the four games separated by just one point. Feb. 23 Kings (12-18) at Nets (20-12) 7:30 p.m. ET, NBA League Pass The Nets enter Week 10 riding a six-game win streak – the longest active streak in the league, as they just swept the Pacific Division in five straight road games. One of those wins came in Sacramento as Kyrie Irving (40 points, nine 3-pointers made) and the Nets set a franchise record with 27 3-pointers on 47 attempts (57.4%). The Nets became the fifth team to ever shoot 57% or better when attempting at least 40 3-pointers in a game. While the Nets are the hottest team in the league at the moment, the Kings are looking to get back on track as they have lost seven straight games. Prior to this losing streak, the Kings had won seven of eight games; is it time for the pendulum to swing back in the wins direction? Warriors (16-15) at Knicks (15-16) 7:30 p.m. ET, NBA League Pass Stephen Curry at The Garden – need I say more. Just a reminder that Curry posted the first 50-point game of his career at Madison Square Garden against the Knicks back in 2013. That 54-point performance remained his career high until this season as he has topped that mark twice already. The Knicks are currently seventh in the Eastern Conference with Julius Randle making a strong push for All-Star consideration from the league’s coaches. He is one of four players averaging at least 20 points, 10 rebounds and five assists this season.The last two teams to represent the Eastern Conference in the NBA Finals meet for the third time this season after splitting their first two meetings on Jan. 20 and 22 in Toronto. The Heat are back at full strength and coming off a 96-94 win over the Lakers in a Finals rematch. Since returning to the Heat on Jan. 30, Jimmy Butler has averaged 21.1 points, 9.0 rebounds, 8.7 assists and 1.8 steals over the past 12 games. Pascal Siakam is one of four other players besides Butler to average at least 20 points, five rebounds, five assists and 1.5 steals over the past dozen games. Anthony Edwards just had the dunk of the year on Friday night against the Raptors. Now the rookie will face another high-flier in Zach LaVine – the two-time winner of the Slam Dunk contest at NBA All-Star 2015 and 2016.

Listening to both men talk about all aspects of BMW’s design, it’s clear that the ‘separator’ reasoning is the philosophy behind what they’re doing. Dukec justifies it with the amount of noise they’ve created: “If you want to create something that stands out, it must be distinguished and it has to be different. If you want to reach some customers, you have to stand out. It’s not our goal to please everyone in the world, but you have to please your customers.” This, then, is at the heart of what van Hooydonk and Dukec are trying to do – sell cars. “It all comes back to the customer,” is how Dukec puts it. It’s difficult to argue with the numbers as, Covid-aside, 2020 was a good year for BMW. The group’s sales recovered later in the year, with the 686,069 vehicles sold in the final quarter marking a 3.2% increase on the same period in 2019. Not that it’s been easy or without risk. It’s the age-old compromise of acknowledging the past but also moving a company forward, a job that’s not easy with a back catalogue as long as BMW’s. As van Hooydonk is all too aware of. “There is some friction when your old product is so successful, and that’s what we’re seeing,” he says. “If your market success isn’t there, then you have to change. That’s a very stressful situation as a company. It’s better to have this kind of stress [the controversy], even though it would be even better to have market success and universal praise for the changes. But somehow that’s rarely the case.” What’s clear is that both men feel a huge amount of responsibility towards BMW. Both are well aware of the history of the brand – indeed, they’ve justified their current strategy by looking back to the 1960s, when BMW pioneered a sports car that came with a healthy dose of limousine. Cars like the 1500, which set the standard for the company for years to come, right up to today. These days, the fragmentation of what customers want (and Dukec is clear on this: he’s aiming for customers to want his cars, not need them) means that van Hooydonk and Dukec have identified two groups they want to appeal to. They’ve called them the elegant creators and the expressive performers. While it’s tempting to dismiss this as marketing hyperbole, it does make sense when you view it in terms of the product. The creators tend to sit in the odd-numbered cars – the traditional 3, 5 and 7 Series – while the performers are the even-numbered buyers, with cars like the M4 or X6. It boils down to how people will use their cars. As Dukec has it, the creators want a car “more focused on the cabin, but it still has to have a fluid silhouette and nice proportions”, while the performers don’t want such a practical car. The cabin will be smaller, like a suit that’s “not the most comfortable one, but it’s the one in which you look the best. They want a car that’s almost irrational.” What does all this mean for the cars you’ll see in the street? Traditional BMW styling cues, like the kidney grille, quad headlights and Hofmeister kink will remain, but you’ll see increasing fragmentation across the range. The sportier models will get vertical grilles and fuller bodies with sculpted surfacing, while electric cars will have a similar treatment to the recently revealed iX. The grille on that car remains vertical because of all the high-tech equipment, such as autonomous driving sensors, that needs to be positioned in the centre. The saloons, meanwhile, probably won’t get a vertical grille or even a big one: Dukec actually used the word “narrow” to describe it. It will depend on the customer and the car’s character. This separation is an entirely deliberate ploy. As van Hooydonk says: “We are expanding the vocabulary of the BMW brand with each new model and we’re pulling them further apart. And that’s deliberate. We are making them stronger in character without taking the brand apart.”

There are some actors whose faces speak volumes, who can convey emotion and pathos with a simple twitch of the lip, or a raised eyebrow. Frances McDormand is such an actor, and she brings her inimitable talents to Chloé Zhao’s quiet and contemplative elegy Nomadland. The two-time Oscar winner plays Fern, a flinty widow living out of her converted van who travels across the country chasing seasonal work. A stint with Amazon’s Camperforce, a job in a rock quarry, and a campsite host are just a handful of jobs Fern takes on to fund her itinerant lifestyle. Fern is a vandweller, part of large but little seen community of older folks who found themselves struggling after the financial recession of 2008. While the nomadic lifestyle is a choice for some, for others it is a last resort, after steady work dried up and mortgages couldn’t be paid. This older, roaming workforce was the subject of the 2017 non-fiction book Nomadland: Surviving America in the Twenty-First Century by Jessica Bruder, which inspired the film. In fact, aside from McDormand and fellow actor David Strathairn, the cast is made up of real life vandwellers, several of whom were featured in Bruder’s book, including Bob Wells, who runs a po[CENSORED]r YouTube channel called CheapRVliving and a non-profit called Homes on Wheels Alliance to help people transition to the lifestyle. Wells also hosts the Rubber Tramp Rendezvous, a two-week gathering of nomads in Quartzsite, Arizona, where folks take workshops, trade wares, and meet fellow travelers. Zhao artfully showcases both the supportive community of vandwellers and the intense isolation of the lifestyle. Fern’s loneliness is magnified against the stunning natural landscapes she visits, like Badlands National Park and Sequoia National Park. Though the film shies away from overt political messaging, viewers can’t help but contrast the stunning geography of America with the country’s failure to provide a social safety net for its most vulnerable. Grief is a recurring theme in the film, both the personal grief of losing a loved one and the larger cultural grief of the American Dream. So many of these vandwellers spent their lives working hard, and thanks to the ruthlessness of capitalism, they are left with nothing. It’s an American tragedy we’ve seen time and time again, like a modern day take on Steinbeck’s The Grapes of Wrath. And while these landscapes function as a co-star of sorts, it’s McDormand’s performance that takes your breath away. As Fern, she struggles with grief on multiple levels. Fern is faced with not only the death of her husband, but the death of Empire, Nevada, the town she called home. Empire was built around the US Gypsum plant that manufactured sheetrock, and the closing of the factory decimated the company town. A mere six months after the factory closed, the town’s zip code was discontinued. Perhaps it is why Fern keeps on driving and refuses to put down roots. And while she remains friendly and amiable to the characters she encounters on her journey, she remains committed to the road. “I’m not homeless. I’m just houseless,” Fern tells a friend at the beginning of the film. But what do you call home when your hometown becomes a ghost town? With its haunting beauty and stirring performances, Nomadland may be the best film of the year. It’s already racked up awards like the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival, and has garnered 4 Golden Globe nominations. Academy Award nominations are sure to follow. As for Zhao, her next film, Marvel’s Eternals, will be quite a departure from the indie sensibility of Nomadland. But if Nomadland is anything to go on, she may deliver the most artful MCU film ever. Nomadland is currently streaming on Hulu. (featured image: Searchlight Pictures)