Anatomy

Anatomy of an airborne wilderness river rescue: ‘It took every machine’ – Vertical Magazine

A routine proficiency flight for two Alberta-based rescue pilots on April 28 turned into an eight-hour ordeal involving at least four helicopters when they were called to pluck two men from a swollen Athabasca River.

Located in northeastern Alberta, Fort McMurray is a hub for the regions oil-and-gas industry and an outpost of civilization in an otherwise rugged, remote wilderness. With the onset of spring, river ice on the Athabasca and other waterways in the area is breaking up, causing flooding the likes of which has not been seen in at least half a century.

Its a huge flood. Ive been here since the early 80s and this is the largest flood on record where the river came up over 20 feet in a matter of about a half a day, said Paul Spring, owner of Phoenix HeliFlight and founder of the Local Helicopter Emergency Response Organization (HERO).

It was in those conditions April 28 that an EC135, callsign HERO 1, was flying a routine proficiency mission when a call came from the local fire department asking for help locating aFirst Nations family at a remote cabin on the bank of the Athabasca River. Two men trying to resupply the cabin by four wheeler had been swept away by rising water and lost downriver among the ice floes.

Ken Dueck was at the stick when the call came in about 2 p.m. He and co-pilot Marc McGee abandoned their training run and headed north to search but without a fix on where the lost men might be.

We didnt know how far downstream, but they gave us a rough idea, so we headed that way, Dueck told Vertical. We did our best to locate the individual by cell phone.

They began searching an area north of Fort McKay, which itself is about 58 kilometers (36 miles) north of Fort McMurray. McGee got the victims cell phone number from the fire department and was able to reach him from the cockpit.

However, his cell phone battery was down to three percent, so he gave me a general idea where he was but said he wasnt very familiar with the area, McGee said.

Fortunately, a nearby family member ashore was familiar with local geography and was able to talk the helicopter into the location, about 40 km (25 miles) from the initial guesstimate, McGee said.

From there, we found that party and then I was able to contact the stranded individual again by cell and he was able, once he had visual sight of us, was able to guide us to his location, he said.

It was a daunting spot for the helicopter and crew. Not only were huge chunks of ice flowing downriver, the watercourse was surrounded by 80-foot (25-meter) poplar trees, partially submerged in the flood. To make matters worse, the people needing rescue were wearing camouflage, McGee said. The man was waving a red hat to make himself more visible to the aircraft.

The location was not quite next to the river but in a marsh area that had been flooded out, with very tall poplars, another kind-of creek area that was flooded out as well and he was perched on a log, McGee said. It took us a couple of tries to actually see him in place and then Ken was able to identify him.

McGee dropped a GPS pin on the helicopters Foreflight to mark the location of the rescue because the EC135 was not able to get down to recover the folks in distress. The helicopter also was running low on fuel by this time. Their primary mission of locating the stranded people complete, the crew flew back to the Local Hero Foundation base in Fort McMurray where they could refuel and relay the coordinates to other units that could respond.

Thats when Cameron Spring, Pauls son and a pilot at Phoenix HeliFlight, was called in. The company operates a fleet of single- and twin-engine Airbus helicopters. With just about 400 hours in the cockpit, this was Cameron Springs first real-world rescue.

The younger Spring hopped into an AS350 B2 AStar, flew to downtown Fort McMurray where he picked up two search-and-rescue (SAR) personnel outfitted with immersion suits, and then headed north to the coordinates he received from McGee and Dueck.

It took us a little while to, essentially, find them again because we didnt have good radio communications after the other helicopter left, but we eventually did locate him, Spring said. I hovered down low and looked for a spot where I could let the two SAR guys down . . . but there wasnt anything solid for the helicopter to land on.

Instead of landing near the stranded duo, Spring was able to land and make contact with family members on the shore nearby. The two people were swept away by rising water while trying to drive four-wheelers loaded with supplies to a nearby cabin where the family was planning to ride out the rivers breakup, they learned.

We talked to the family and decided I was going to drop the SAR guys on an ice floe in the channel next to them, Spring said. At this point, I didnt realize there were actually two individuals. One of them was laying in the water, unable to pull himself out onto the ice because he was injured. They were both, again, wearing camo, which was terrible.

While the rescue swimmers crawled and waded over to the two stranded men, the helicopter flew a few miles downstream to the cabin, where there was already a couple of feet of water at the front door to rescue the two women, two children and a pair of dogs.

I was able to land in the front yard with just enough clearance, Spring said. I shut down and was able to load up all four people, their two dogs and some baggage.

The family and their pets were safely transported to the staging area where the various emergency services organizations had parked their trucks and other equipment.

By that time, a Bell 412 Griffon helicopter with a winch was inbound from a practice range near Cold Lake frequented by Canadian and NATO fighter jets. Griffon SAR crews are posted there when the range is active, in the event a jet goes down.

The fire department, knowing this was a water rescue maybe needing a winch, had already requested support from the military, Paul Spring said. The Griffon, because it was on standby for any air crash in the zone, was able to lift off pretty quickly. It was en route, but its at least an hour-and-a-half just to get to town and then another half an hour to get to scene, so theyd be two hours into their fuel by the time they arrived at the subjects that were needing rescue.

Meanwhile, the younger Spring was refueled and flying back to the rescue scene with two immersion-suit-clad fire department personnel on board the AStar. He deposited the pair on another ice chunk near the stranded men and their first round of rescuers.

This time, he set the helicopter down on a large chunk of ice, maintaining about 50 percent power, putting just about 500 pounds on the skids, and waited for the Griffon to arrive. The aircraft also served as a large spinning marker for the inbound 412. Once the military chopper was on scene and started hoisting the victims from the river, Spring returned to the staging area for more fuel.

We knew that the B2, from staying on scene so long, was near the end of its fuel cycle and was still needed, so we determined we should probably take some fuel up, Paul Spring said.

The elder Spring loaded 600 pounds of jet fuel in 10-gallon steel kegs into the squirrel cheek compartments of an EC130 and flew up to refuel the AS350 B2 before taking command of the aviation operation on scene. By this time, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, the local fire department, HERO, Phoenix HeliFlight and others were all now involved.

The fish and wildlife officers and police officers, they dont have the radio equipment to interface with the helicopters, he said. Between the B2 and the paramedics and my handheld FM radio, we managed to keep ground to air communications going.

The military Bell 412 was able to hoist one of the stranded victims, in so-called code yellow, from the water and onto the helicopter. His friend was code red, meaning critical condition, but could not be immediately placed into a rescue harness. Needing fuel, the 412 headed to a nearby oil company-owned airport for fuel and to transfer the patient to a ground ambulance before returning for the other patient.

They were having trouble getting the red patient secured for a lift, Paul Spring said. You can imagine, everyone is in the water and cant touch the bottom, so theyre all floating in amongst 80-foot trees . . . bobbing around trying to secure and wrestle a very large gentleman into a harness and then get him in the basket to get him up.

The patient was brought to the staging area where the HERO 1 EC135, which had changed crew, was on standby. What would have been an hour-long drive to Fort McMurray down a gravel logging road took the helicopter 25 minutes. The more seriously injured patient later died at the hospital.

After refueling, the Griffon flew back to the scene to recover the four rescuers still in the water. They were safely returned to the staging area before the party broke up and everyone involved returned to their respective bases.

More than seven hours had elapsed since HERO 1 first received the call at around 2 p.m.

It was a 50-percent success rate on that one, but they would have had zero chance of living if HERO hadnt found them and the B2 hadnt been able to set the swimmers in and get them going into scene, Paul Spring said. It would have been a whole different story. It really took every machine there doing its part, from the Griffon, to the spotter, to the transport and even the fuel chopper.

Original post:
Anatomy of an airborne wilderness river rescue: 'It took every machine' - Vertical Magazine

Anatomy

‘All Day and a Night’ | Anatomy of a Scene – The New York Times

Im Joe Robert Cole, writer/director of All Day and a Night. So in this scene, were following our main character, Jahkor, played by Ashton Sanders, his girlfriend, Shantaye, played by Shakira Janai Paye, and his best friend, TQ, played by Isaiah Johns. The sequence takes place during a distinctly Bay Area gathering called a sideshow. Authenticity was big for me. So I tried to incorporate elements, like the BART train that just passed and local people, as much as possible. The guy on the bike were following is an example. Even the banter and the slang in the background I tried to make specific to Oakland. The film is crafted to root the audience in an intimate way in Jahkors journey. But I wanted to do something a little bit different here. I wanted our three leads here to feel swept up in the whirlwind of people, cars, and culture, and music. So this tracking shot becomes more about how it feels to be at a sideshow than keeping up with them. [OVERLAPPING RAP] I worked out the placement and the camera route with little model cars and people on a schematic in my office. [OVERLAPPING RAP] But I think that the biggest challenge of the scene was figuring out how to safely get our camera between these two moving cars. So as we move into the center coming up here, the car that just passed us ducks out through the crowd. And so we stay focused on this one car here with the ladies in it. And it feels as if the other car is still behind us, when actually, its not there. So at real sideshows, people actually try to hit the cars with their hands when they go by. Where we going to be able to put people that close? The answer to that is no. So we had a lovely VFX house that helped us to place our folks without putting anybody in danger.

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'All Day and a Night' | Anatomy of a Scene - The New York Times

Anatomy

A Hypochondriac’s Obsession is Amplified in Mesmerizing Anatomical Mandalas Cut From Paper – Colossal

Craft#anatomy#animals#installation#mandala#nature#paper

All images Makerie Studio

For a hypochondriac, any sense of pain or discomfort can be a point of fixation, something specifically known as somatic symptom disorder. This type of obsession inspired paper artist Julie Wilkinson to create a project that would not only distract her from this consuming condition but also bring awareness to an often misunderstood disorder. Her project is aptly titled Manifestation.

Wilkinson told Fubiz that shes been hypochondriac for as long as I can remember, and I have always had a fascination with medicine and the psychology related to certain conditions. This project was a way of visualizing the endless cycle that hypochondriacs often find themselves in, where every feeling is magnified, amplified, and where one little ache can turn into multiple symptomsreal or imaginedwhich take up our thoughts entirely.

These layered illustrations of anatomical parts in a mandala motif were cut by Wilkinson with none other than a scalpel. The result is a visual expression of somatic symptom disordera dizzying array of magnified and multiplied sensations across various interconnected body parts and systems. The mandala is befitting of the meditative and healing nature of the project.

Wilkinson and Joyanne Horscroft make up the transatlantic creative duo behindMakerie Studio. While Wilkinson lives in New York, Horscroft is based in London. Not only are they master paper artists but theyre also set designers, who create imaginative and exquisitely detailed paper sculptures for window displays, events, advertising, and special artistic commissions. Theyve gained the attention of Google, Gucci, Nike, and Victorias Secret, to name a few. Wilkinson and Horscroft have developed their own unique paper techniques and are inspired by nature, steampunk mechanicals, and whimsical worlds.

Follow Makerie Studios magnificent paper creations and installations on Instagram.

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A Hypochondriac's Obsession is Amplified in Mesmerizing Anatomical Mandalas Cut From Paper - Colossal

Anatomy

Anatomy of Media Lies About the Death of Kim Jong-un – Consortium News

Ben Norton says we just saw another example of how Washington-backed South Korean outlets conduct information warfare against the government in the north.

ByBen NortonThe Grayzone

There may be no other country on Earth lied about more than North Korea. Western corporate media outlets have absolutely zero editorial standards when reporting on the country.

Absurd lies are routinely treated as newsworthy stories, from the cartoonish claim that Kim Jong-un executed his uncle byfeeding him to a pack of starving dogs(fake news), to the notion that all North Koreans are drones forced to choose fromstate-mandated haircuts(racist-tinged fake news), to the assertion that state media swore it uncovered aunicorn lair(insanely stupid fake news based on amistranslation).

But these lies are not just innocuous errors that come out of nowhere; they are part of an insidious pattern, and a decidedly political one. They are a form of information warfare aimed at destabilizing North Koreas government, known officially as the Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea (DPRK), which has an independent foreign policy and geo-strategic location and just so happens to be sitting ontrillions of dollarsworth of mineral wealth.

Many of these fake news stories originate with Korean opposition groups that are funded to the hilt by the U.S. governmentsNational Endowment for Democracy(NED), a CIA cutout created by the Ronald Reagan administration to push regime change against foreign countries that dont sufficiently kowtow to Washington.

The GrayzoneEditor Max Blumenthal published adocumentary demonstrating how the NED bankrolls a global network of regime-change activists, whose unsubstantiated accusations against the DPRK, China, Russia, Venezuela, Nicaragua, Iran and other nations targeted by the U.S. are spun into unquestionable truths. North Korean defectors are a particularly unreliable source of information, and many of their claims have been proven to be false. They are highly incentivized, however, withoffers of nearly $1 millionto continue cranking out the disinformation.

This April, we saw another textbook example of how NED-backed South Korean outlets notorious for spreading fake news are amplified by the international press corps to the point that their deceptions dominate the news cycle for days.

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For nearly two weeks, dozens of major news networks across the globe provided a megaphone to unsubstantiated rumors that North Korean leader Kim Jong-un was dead.

The disinformation campaign kicked off on April 20, when a little-known U.S. government-backed media publication called The Daily NKran a report claiming North Korean leader Kim Jong-un had just undergone heart surgery and was in bad health.

This story was later expanded into a shocking claim: Kim had died, at the young age of 36.

The Daily NKfollowed up with an article stating that avideo confirming that the supreme leader was deadhad been going viral inside North Korea.

These reports unleashed a firestorm. Dozens of media outlets across the globe published story after story claiming Kim was either dead or incapacitated after a botched surgery.

The anatomy of this fake news campaign is dissected below.

And it all began with The Daily NK. But what exactly is this obscure publication?

NED Bankrolls Anti-DPRK Fake News Mill

The Daily NK is a South Korea-based propaganda outlet funded by Washington to conduct information warfare against the government in the north. It was founded by anti-DPRK activists who coalesced around the Network for North Korean Democracy and Human Rights.

This network has received millions of dollars in grants from the National Endowment for Democracy, the CIA cutout.

NED funding for The Daily NK goes backwell over a decade, to when it was founded. A search of theNED grants databaseshows that The Daily NK received $400,000 in U.S. government funding in 2019 alone, and at least $1.2 million in American tax dollars between 2016 and 2019.

Ho Park, the head of North Korean research at Daily NK and one of the publications co-founders, is a grantee who has been publiclyhonored by the NED.

The U.S.-backed Network for North Korean Democracy and Human Rights is also linked to another major grantee called the Unification Media Group, which was given at least$2.4 million from the NEDbetween 2016 and 2019.

The NED notes on its website that the South-Korea basedUnification Media Groupconsists of The Daily NK, Radio Free Chosun and Open North Korea Radio.

In other words, the U.S. government has over the course of several decades carefully cultivated a cadre of anti-DPRK propaganda outlets in Seoul, using them to grease the wheels of a disinformation machine that regularly spreads fake news and rumors from North Korean defectors. This media apparatus is the spearhead of the U.S. governments campaign of hybrid warfare against the DPRK.

Anatomy of a Fake News Campaign

Birthed from the belly of the U.S.-funded disinformation network in Seoul, the global press corps enthusiastically adopted the fake news and delivered it to the Western public.

After the initial Daily NK reports first appeared on April 20, major media outlets inHong Kong and Japanhelped popularize the rumor.

TheNew York Postfollowed with a stunning headline: North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un rumored to be dead. (Like many other outlets, the Post later edited this headline, as it became clear that the story was unconfirmed, but the original headlines of many of these false reports can be seen in their URLs or throughinternet archives.)

The New York Postbased its claims on a report from a Hong Kong broadcast network (later identified as HKSTV Hong Kong Satellite Television), which claimed it had a very solid source that Kim was dead.

The Post also amplified an article in a Japanese magazine insisting the North Korean leader was in a vegetative state. It even claimed that senior Community Party sources in Beijing had confirmed the rumor that Kim died in a botched surgery.

After The New York Postarticle, the fake news spread like wildfire through tabloids fromTMZto TheDaily Express, toMetro,toThe Sun (UK), to TheToronto Sun, to TheIrish Post, and finally,The Mirror.

It was then picked up bynumerouslocalmedianetworksin the United States andother countries.

Next, seemingly respectable media groups fueled the fake news frenzy, including TheNational Interest, TheInternational Business Times,Yahoo News, andForeign Policy.

Neoconservative American politicians pounced on the rumors in predictable fashion. RepublicanLindsey Graham,the most fanatically militaristic member of the Senate since the death of his friend John McCain, told Fox News with an air of confidence, I pretty well believe he [Kim] is dead or incapacitated.

Graham continued, Id be shocked if hes not dead or in some incapacitated state, because you dont let rumors like this go forever or go unanswered in a closed society, which is really a cult, not a country, called North Korea.

Americans gut instincts that the fake news just feels true, after decades of consuming a steady diet of loony regime-change rumors, was taken as proof that it must be true.

On Twitter, the hashtag #KimJongunDead went viral as well, and millions of users swallowed the fake news whole.

Next, a photoshopped picture went viral on social media purporting to show Kim dead in a glass coffin. The image was reported on by Western media outlets likeThe Sun,a tabloid owned by the same right-wing Rupert Murdoch-owned media group that controls The New York Post.

As the fake news spread across the media ecosystem, Western journalists and professional Korea watchers began mulling the possibility that the presumably dead North Korean leaders sister, Kim Yo-jong, was being groomed to replace him.

Without any solid evidence, dozens of outlets ran stories confidently asserting that Yo-jong was preparing to take her brothers place.The Daily Beasteven published a piece purporting to explain why she is so feared in the country.

The Washington Postprinted an op-ed by Jung H. Pak, a former senior analyst at the CIA and senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, with the title, Why we shouldnt rule out awoman as North Koreas next leader.

The Guardian,Foreign Policy, theBBC, TheNew Yorker,TIME,Deutsche Welle,The Australian andNewsweekall added to the baseless speculation.

While some of these outlets amplified the phony story while feigning a tone of skepticism, VICE Newsthrew all caution out the window. The hipster arm of the empire published an article trumpeting, A Prominent North Korean Defector is 99% Certain Kim Jong Un Is Dead. Its source was a defector trained and funded by the NED.

Days before, the U.S. government-funded Daily NK had also praised VICE for producing a slick documentary that effectively amounts to fawning PR for the disinformation outlet, in a perfect circle of propaganda.

Another Dead Foreign Bogeyman Shows Up on TV

Then on May 1 the same day VICE News claimed there was a 99 percent chance Kim was dead the house of cards came crumbling down, as DPRK state media published photos of the leader cutting a ribbon at a fertilizer plant.

Now that it is indisputable that the rumors they amplified were totally unfounded, some of the aforementioned news outlets have scrambled to edit their headlines and leads to soften the language, noting there was still confusion at the time. But archived links do not lie.

And the fact of the matter is it was apparent from the beginning, to anyone with a brain, and the capacity to think critically outside of the corporate media bubble, that the rumors should not be trusted.

Actual experts, or even just expats in Korea who tweet in English, could tell from the get-go that this campaign was bogus.

Critics also pointed out that Hyangsan Hospital the hospital where Daily NK said Kim had undergone heart surgery is similar to a community clinic and isnt a facility where operations or surgeries can be performed.

But one didnt need to be a Korea specialist to recognize the pattern of disinformation. Anyone who is even mildly familiar with the practically non-existent standards of media reporting on North Korea knows how these fake news cycles work, and knew not to jump to conclusions.

In a refreshing albeit rare example of cautious skepticism, the media watchdogFairness In Accuracy and Reporting (FAIR)called out corporate media outlets for spreading these rumors without any solid evidence, even before Kim appeared on state TV.

And while impressionable Western journalists were heavily circulating the fake news,South Koreas governmentmade it clear, Kim Jong Un is alive and well. He has been staying in the Wonsan area since April 13. No suspicious movements have so far been detected.

Chinese media outletsalso emphasized from the beginning of the disinformation campaign that it was clearly false. But their insistence was dismissed as Chinese propaganda.

This was not even the first time that rumors went viral claiming Kim Jong-un had died.Back in 2012, a strikingly similar fake-news frenzy erupted when social media posts alleging Kim had passed away were momentarily amplified by mainstream outlets.

The latest paroxysm of propaganda was hardly the only regime-change disinformation campaign blown out of the water in recent weeks. In April, The Grayzone documented the wave of bogus corporate media stories claimingNicaraguan President Daniel Ortega was dead before he, too, appeared on TV very much alive.

Indeed, the deployment of fake news is of a part with a larger strategy of information warfare aimed at nations that refuse to bow to U.S. domination.

From the waves ofdubiously sourcedreports about Chinas supposed concentration camps full of millions ofUighur Muslims, to unhinged warnings of Russias supposed plans tohack the U.S.electrical gridin the dead of winter, to lurid stories of$750 condoms in Venezuela, to breathless presentations ofIranian nuclear weapons files, the program is always the same: lie without shame and shrink away after the deception is revealed for what it is.

Because by then, the damage has already been done.

Ben Norton is a journalist and writer. He is a reporter for The Grayzone, and the producer of theModerate Rebels podcast, which he co-hosts with Max Blumenthal. His website isBenNorton.com, and he tweets at @BenjaminNorton.

This article is from The Grayzone.

The views expressed are solely those of the author and may or may not reflect those ofConsortium News.

>>PleaseDonatetoCNs 25th Anniversary Spring Fund Drive<<

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Anatomy of Media Lies About the Death of Kim Jong-un - Consortium News

Anatomy

Attack on Titan Anatomy: 5 Weird Things About the Colossal Titan – CBR – Comic Book Resources

Warning: The following contains spoilers for Attack On Titan.

In Attack on Titan,the shocking revelation of humans being given the power to transform into fearsome titans caused a rift between the characters, with former brothers in arms eventually becoming enemies. The reveals that Annie and Reiner were the Female Titan and Armor Titan, respectively, were somewhat obvious in retrospect. Conversely, there was almost no reason to suspect the connection between the unassuming Bertolt and the Colossal Titan, making his reveal genuinely surprising.

The Colossal Titan appeared at the very beginning of the series, giving viewers a glimpse of its menacing presence as it loomed over the walls. Its subsequent appearances were few, but always managed to create lasting impacts because of its unique abilities. Armin is now the holder of this power after he wassaved by Levi and ate Bertolt. Here are five things to know aboutthe Colossal Titan that make it a devastating force of nature.

As with the other special titan powers, the Colossal Titangets its namefrom its most recognizable feature: its immense size. It towers over pretty much everything at a whopping 60 meters, making it even larger than the Beast Titan. For further height comparison, Eren's Attack Titan only reaches slightly above the Colossal Titan's ankle. It is also the only Titan shown to overshadow the walls.

Though the Colossal Titan is quite intimidating due to its size, the trade-off is in how incredibly slow it moves. The Titan is slow to the point where it allows Survey Corps members to use their vertical maneuvering equipment to latch onto its body easily. Its other abilities make up for its slowness.

RELATED: Attack on Titan: Why Levi Chose Armin Over Erwin

Given how slow the Colossal Titan is, one would assume it is highly susceptible to attacks from enemies. This conclusion is wrong due to how the Titan expelsheat and steam, and uses this ability both offensively and defensively.It can produce pressurized steam strong enough to deflect cables from the Survey Corps' equipment, as well as repel anyone in close proximity. Additionally, the Colossal Titan has the ability to increase the steam's temperature, makingthe air around it so hot that it sears flesh. An example of this is when Armin managed to hook onto the Titan's body and hold his position, but ended up as a burnt corpse.

What's unusual about the Colossal Titan is how it doesn't need to cool down as other Titans are shown to do. Even more intriguing is how Bertolt's human body doesn't sustain any heat damage while using the Titan power.

Whenever any shifters use their power to transform, a surge of energy surrounds them. Eren and Reiner appear to be struck by lightning during their transformations. What differentiates Bertolt from the rest is his control over how much energy is released when turning into the Colossal Titan. This can range from small amounts of energy that simply knock away Survey Corps members with bursts of wind, to large explosions causing massive amounts of damage in its wake similar to a bomb. The latter is seen when Bertolt transforms in Shiganshina, leaving behind destroyed buildings and a small mushroom cloud.

RELATED: Attack On Titan: Eren Yeager is a Bad Protagonist...and That's Great

Speaking of transformations, Bertolt is the only titan shifter who can revert back to his human form almost instantaneously.This is evident when Eren confronted the Colossal Titan only to witness it disappear completely a few moments after. A similarly fascinating ability Bertolt had was partial transformations. This is demonstrated when he and Reiner finally reveal themselves as shifters to the Survey Corps, with only the upper body of the Colossal Titan being fully formed.

As with most of the other special Titans, the Colossal Titan has enhanced strength and regeneration. Only it and the Armored Titan were capable of easily damaging or breaking through the walls, making them two of the strongest Titans. The Colossal Titan was able to destroy most of the upper portions of Wall Rose, and all of its cannons, with one sweeping motion of its arm. It also broke through Wall Maria's south gate with one strike of its foot, damaging all nearby buildings. The Colossal Titan was even capable of halting Eren's Titan transformation by jumping onto him from the top of the wall, albeit in an incomplete form, which left a large crater in the ground.

The Colossal Titan is definitely a force to be reckoned with. It is still unclear whether Armin will inherit these abilities or have to learn them, but he may become unstoppable when he combines the power with his brilliant mind.

KEEP READING: Like Lord of the Rings, Attack On Titan's REAL Heroes are its Most Unsung

Boruto: Sasuke's Lone Wolf Attitude Has Truly Doomed Naruto's Konoha Utopia

Andrew is a Toronto-based freelance writer whose main interests include anime, video games and films.

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Attack on Titan Anatomy: 5 Weird Things About the Colossal Titan - CBR - Comic Book Resources

Anatomy

Grey’s Anatomy star reveals what it’s like to work on Station 19 – digitalspy.com

Grey's Anatomy star Kim Raver has revealed what it's like to work on spin-off show Station 19. The actress, who plays Dr. Teddy Altman in the long-running medical drama, appeared in season 3, episode 11 of Station 19 and has also been confirmed for the season 3 finale.

Station 19 may be focused on firefighters, but Kim says she's been made to feel part of the family during her time on the spin-off.

"Its so interesting because its like part of the family but who you dont know very well, you know?" she told BriefTake.

Related: Grey's Anatomy star has issue with famous scene

"You know some of the people because some of the people migrated from Greys Anatomy over there, so its like Ive got some close family members there and then also some cousins that youve heard of or really dont know but get to know. And it runs so well.

"I love going over there because its a similar energy to Greys but different. I just had so much fun."

Related: Grey's Anatomy confirms stars for Station 19 finale

She continued: "Also Tom Verica directed the episode, the first one I did out there, and we worked together years ago. We worked together on a show called The Nine, so it was fun to see him again.

"Hes also worked on Greys a ton. Also Jason George, who we all know from Greys, was there. So its like an extended family. Also its great to be doing a different show but the same character, so its very fun to go back and forth."

Kim's inclusion in the season 3 finale of Station 19 will come as a sort of compensation, as her recent storyline in Grey's Anatomy was cut short, due to season 16 ending four episodes early.

Grey's Anatomy airs on Thursdays on ABC in the US. It airs on Sky Witness in the UK with selected episodes also available on NOW TV.

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Grey's Anatomy star reveals what it's like to work on Station 19 - digitalspy.com

Anatomy

The Anatomy of a Lockdown – Havana Times

By Alfredo Fernandez

HAVANA TIMES In Chinese, especially in the Mandarin dialect, the words crisis and opportunity are written with the same two Chinese characters. This ancestral wisdom tells us that something good is also inevitably born from every misfortune.

In Cuba, I remember old people saying that Every cloud has a silver lining. Wise people know that hardship goes hand-in-hand with sufficient means, and misfortune is the neighbor of good fortune, in some way or another. It has always been this way.

This lockdown might be the beginning of a new path for the human being, and I want to take a moment to note that I see human being and not humanity. Indeed, the challenge we have today as individuals is to change ourselves before changing anything else.

Fate (if thats what it was) has worked magic and has imposed quarantine on us at the most unexpected time. People are in isolation to heal society, from a pandemic in this case. We have been forced into solitude, but this solitude also means introspection. Knowing how to make the most of it is a challenge, which we as individuals have before us.

I am almost sure that those of us who have managed to make this lockdown creative; in terms of quality of thought, work plans, as well as taking up personal goals that we had put on the backburner; will come out of this situation with a much more solid emotional base to face the future.

This situation will undoubtedly bring countless good things, especially for the individual and their self-fulfillment. Never before, in modern times, have people had such a long period of time for themselves, to be able to reflect, think about the meaning of life, friendship, Nature, of what is truly important.

Cuban TV host and motivational speaker, Ismael Cala, has introduced the term Creative quarantine, in which he recommends the following to keep us on track: only watching the news twice a day, as an overload of information can make us lose our center. Cala also proposes we travel within and seek moments of solitude and silence, as well as to keep an appreciation diary: writing four or five things in the morning for what we are most thankful for in our lives, at the moment we leave our dreams and take on our physical body again.

Cala tells us that these small pieces of advice will help us start our day, with a calm head, which is the key to keeping our personal decisions under our control and not in the hands of our base emotions.

The lockdown transformed into Creative quarantine, by a personal decision, can be the vehicle that guides us to a better relationship with ourselves. There is no doubt about it. It can be the process in which one identifies (better even) how to live their lives, who the energy thieves are, and where to place our real priorities in life, once and for all. The ones that support self-fulfillment.

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The Anatomy of a Lockdown - Havana Times

Anatomy

Gotham Anatomy: The 5 Weirdest Things About Joker’s Body | CBR – CBR – Comic Book Resources

On the surface, the Joker might not look like much more than a bad Halloween costume. However, his simply clown makeup and bright suits hide one of most fearsome villains in the DC Universe. Since he debuted in Bill Finger, Jerry Robinson and Bob Kane's Batman #1 in 1940, the Clown Prince of Crime has built an enduring legacy of spreading chaos around Gotham City and the rest of the DCU.

While DC's other iconic villains have cosmic powers or super-strength, the Joker's abilities are far more subtle, which makes them that much more dangerous too. Even though the Joker's unique mental state might seem like a compelling explanation for his fearlessness, he has a surprising amount going on under his red hood -- so to speak -- to make him a danger to heroes who seemingly outclass him in every way. Now, we're peeling the skin off of Gothams greatest villain and see what makes his sense of humor so lethal.

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Outside of the rictus grin that's permanently etched onto most versions of the Joker's face, the villain's most striking feature is his alabaster white skin. Although some of his live-action appearances have simply reduced it to clown make-up, the genesis this unhealthy glow usually comes courtesy of a fateful dip into a vat of chemicals that warped his mind as much as his body.

Aside from being one of his most identifiable features, the skin that peels off of him is often topped with green hair, which completes his signature appearance. While providing no inherent advantages of its own, the look provides an unsettling aesthetic for anyone looking to cross him, and it instills fear and commands respect from anyone in Gotham.

While it could be argued that the Joker's most defining gadget consists of acid sprayed through a pin on his jacket, a cloud of his famous Joker Toxin seems to follow him everywhere he goes.

The gas asphyxiates by forcing the victim to laugh themselves to death all the while contorting their face into a morbid laugh. Thanks to decades of exposure, his famous dip in a chemical bath and his own self-experimentation, the Joker is now immune to its effects. In Frank Miller, Klas Janson and Lynn Varley's Batman: The Dark Knight Returns, he's shown as being completely capable of breathing it in as if it were air.

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As if he wasn't already toxic enough, the Jokers blood itself is also poisonous. In the Batman: Arkham Asylum video game, the Joker injects himself with Titan, a formula developed with an intent to turn the citizens of Gotham into rampaging, hulk-like monstrosities. The Joker's body was an incubator for Titan Disease in Batman; Arkham City, and after mixing in with the various properties already in the Joker's bloodstream, it became a deadly disease that could kill anyone within a day, even the Joker himself.

Ironically, the only cure for the condition caused by the Joker's blood was Batman's blood, which had the antibodies needed to mitigate the disease's most lethal side effects.

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As one of Batman's most usual punching bags, the Joker knows how to take a hit, and he has an incredibly high pain tolerance. Mixed with his own sadomasochistic tendencies, the Joker has even enjoyed some of his most brutal injuries, and he's given one of them to himself.

In Tony Daniel's Detective Comics #1, the Joker hired the Dollmaker to cut off his face as part of his plans to get under Batman and his allies' skin in a very literal sense. Taken with his long history of broken bones, concussions, drops and lacerations, the Joker is just as comfortable taking as a serious blow as he is at receiving one.

While he may tout the virtues of chance and uncertainty, randomness and luck could never account for the success that Joker has had against Batman over the years. As Grant Morrison and Howard Porter's JLA #11 revealed in 1997, the right hemisphere of the Joker's brain is smaller than the analytical left hemisphere, which means that his thought process is incredibly difficult for anyone else to understand.

As a master of strategy and forethought, many of the Jokers seemingly haphazard and half-baked schemes actually contain immense forethought and contingencies that have been shaped by the totally unique way his brain works. In the Emperor Joker crossover, he was shown as being clever enough to outsmart an extra-dimensional deity like Mister Mxyzptlk and turn the entirety of reality on its head.

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A content creator since 2005, Kai's work has netted several awards in the online community. From fiction to documentary, page or screen, you'll find much of his work covers a little bit of everything. Follow him on Instagram as @themediabay

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Gotham Anatomy: The 5 Weirdest Things About Joker's Body | CBR - CBR - Comic Book Resources

Anatomy

X-Men Anatomy: The 5 Weirdest Things About Cable’s Body | CBR – CBR – Comic Book Resources

From his early days as an infant with the X-Men to his role as X-Force's founder and leader, Cable has one of the most complex, complicated histories in modern comics, and Nathan Summers' body is just as strange as his life story. In fact, his body is one of the major reasons behind his complicated backstory.

Now, we're taking a closer look at the man behind the giant guns and equally giant shoulder pads to get under Cable's skin. While Cable might not have the most famous body in the Marvel Universe, the power that lies inside of his head and the Techno-Organic virus coursing through his veins changed the course of history in the Marvel Universe.

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One of Cable's eyes always glows when he uses his psionic abilities, and sometimes when his emotions are heightened. This eye is usually the one that's infected by theTechno-Organic virus, al though it can switch sides along with his scar depending on the artist.

At a glance, it's easy to assume that the glow is a side effect of his T.O. Virus, but it's mostly part of his natural mutation, as a visual representation of his telepathic powers. His Age of Apocalypse counterpart Nate Grey -- who grew up uninhibited by T.O. -- also usually displays a single glowing eye when using his powers.

For virtually all of Cable's existence, he has sported a trademark head of silver or white hair. While this could be chalked up to his being in his 40s or 50s, his years of time travel make it hard to quantify his age. However, comics that depict his childhood and the current young incarnation of Cable that is running around Krakoa these days, reveal that his hair started going gray as a teen.

Assuming that the source of the gray hair isn't just part of his natural physiology, it could be caused by the stress of growing up as a rebel and future messiah in a dystopian wasteland. However, it could also stem from the strain his immense powers put on his body, since Nate Grey has a similar hair color.

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Cable's scarred eye is another trademark of his appearance, but it has an inconsistent backstory. When he first appeared in comics as a mysterious mercenary, he only had a single scar across his right eye. Over time, that scar grew and changed into a star-like pattern, which evolved into its standard design. kept from then on out. The story behind the scar in the comics was eventually explained as the point where Cable was first infected with the Techno Organic virus as a baby before he was sent into the far future for treatment.

Similarly to his glowing eye, the scarred eye is also prone to switching sides depending on whoever is drawing Cable at the time. Sometimes, the scar is put over the left eye instead of the right and/or combined with the glowing eye.

During a particularly body-horror heavy storyline in Fabian Nicieza and Patrick Zircher's Cable& Deadpool, the dysfunctional duo were temporarily fused together after getting infected by the Facade virus. As a result, they weregenetically linked, which left Cable with a much weaker version of Deadpool's healing factor for a while.

Hilariously, this also meant that Cable's DNA-based teleportation -- or "bodysliding" as it was known in the future -- technology would also bring Deadpoolalong for the ride, dragging him to Cable's location. The activation phrase "Body Slide By Two" became the catalyst for several wacky misadventures between the pair that helped deepen the friendship between the two characters.

Since Apocalypse attacked him as an infant, Cable has been infected with theTechno-Organic (or T.O.) virus that's infected over half of Cable's body. Under normal circumstances, the virus slowly converts an organic host intoa metallic, essentially lifeless form.To keep the rest of his body from being consumed Cablehas beenforced from a very young age to use a significant amount of his telekinetic powers and concentration to hold the virus at bay, keeping him from ever fully utilizing his incredibly strong psionic abilities.

The left side of Cable's body is the most obviously affected by the virus and gives him a cyborg-like appearance. Technically he is a cyborg of sorts, since that part of his body is not solid medal but made up of ahighly complex series of cybernetics that requires careful maintenance and repair if damaged. Despite its downsides, this technology can come in handy, and it allows Cable to plug into the internet, download and upload programs, and hostmicrocomputers or AI.

Though it mightlook like only Cable's left side is fully infected, the virus has actually spread much, much further than that.His entire skeleton, nervous system, and several vital organs are all at least partially converted to a T.O. material and cybernetically enhanced. This makes Cable much stronger and more durable than most usual, and it enhanced his senses and reflexes as well. In a pinch, Cable can even get enough of a grasp on the T.O. with histelekinesis to alter the metallic portions of his body, which lets him spontaneously change his size, sprout knives or spikes or tinker with the capabilities of his internal hardware.

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X-Men Anatomy: The 5 Weirdest Things About Cable's Body | CBR - CBR - Comic Book Resources

Anatomy

Gotham Anatomy: The 5 Weirdest Things About Batman’s Body | CBR – CBR – Comic Book Resources

Without any real superpowers of his own, Batman has done more for the DC Universe than some of its most powerful heroes. Ever since a young Bruce Wayne watched the murder of his parents and dedicated his life to crimefighting, the Dark Knight has honed his mind and body to the peak of human perfection.

In some ways, Batman redefined what the human mind and body were capable of in the context of a superhero universe. Through his unparalleled training and the sheer force of his will, Batman pushed his physiology past its perceived limitations and forged himself into a human who could stand next to a god as an equal. Now, we're taking a closer look at what exactly Batman has one of the most unique bodies in the DC Universe.

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Batman's unparalleled stamina is the crux of every great attribute Batman has. The Dark Knight possesses an otherworldly level of mental toughness that allowed him to curate the massive skill-set needed to be a founding member of the Justice League and protect Gotham City. He persevered through a lifetime of training, mastering 127 combat styles along the way. He's gone through grueling injury rehabilitation, intense emotional trauma and countless brawls with metahumans and super-criminals.

In Batman: Knightfall, Bane breaks Batman's back over his knee in a famous moment that left Batman paralyzed. While injuries like that usually take years to fully recover from, Batman displayed an inhuman mental toughness and determination as he rehabilitated and retrained himself -- with some fantastical means -- in under six months to return as the Dark Knight and take Gotham back from Bane.

Many of Batman's foes use unique different types of chemicals to enhance themselves or attack Bats. Bane injects himself with venom to increase his strength, the Joker weaponized his DNA, Scarecrow uses Fear Gas and Copperhead has a poisonous bite. Through the years, Batman has been exposed to seemingly all of these chemicals to varying effects and comes out on top every single time.

As Batman explained in Grant Morrison and Tony Daniel's Batman #681, he has some degree of immunity to many poisons through repeated exposure. In Gregg Hurwitz and David Finch's Batman: The Dark Knight #15, Batman even used the antibodies in his blood to create an antidote to Scarecrow's Fear Toxin, which he then spread around Gotham City.

In his prime, Bruce Wayne was a glowing example of extreme endurance and stamina. With essentially no regular breaks, Batman operates at all times of day and night, regularly patrolling the city and getting into fights with evildoers of all stripes. Plus, he also has a robust list of responsibilities with Wayne Enterprises that are crucial for paying for all of Batman's wonderful toys.

Throughout all of that, Batman has suffered several lifetimes' worth of scars. While some timelines lead Batman to a violent death, Batman Beyond clearly shows an elderly Bruce meandering around the Batcave and guiding Terry McGinnis with little more than a cane and his watchful dog Ace. Living well into his 80s, it's clear that Bruce has an inherent constitution that most could never match, even after putting his body through decades of punishment.

Batman designs and builds sophisticated forensic technology, supercomputers and vehicles all himself. In the world of Sean Gordon Murphy's Batman: White Knight, he's used his expertise in design and engineering to create an entire fleet of Batmobiles, a mechanized Batsuit, and his usual assortment of utility belt gadgetry.

In addition to letting him speak roughly 40 languages, Batman's brain makes him one of the most talented detectives in all of fiction. Warren Ellis and Bryan Hitch's The Batman's Grave #1shows Batman's full array of detective skills. He has hologram tech that creates an identical lifesize 3D model of a crime scene. This allows him to walk through the crime scene to study every minute detail to get into the head of his victim. "

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With his nocturnal activities, it's impossible for Bruce Wayne to keep a normal sleep schedule, and this idea has been addressed in several different ways. Judd Winnick and Dustin Nguyen's Batman #682 explains that he figured out how to supplement three to four hours of sleep with "regular problem-solving micro naps" to function at high-levels for days on end.

Bruce believes he can compress a full night's sleep into half the time, but he could also have some help from an inherent genetic mutation as well.There is a special DNA mutation that allows a tiny proportion of the population to function well off four hours of sleep instead off eight. Since Bruce Wayne is anatomically gifted in many other ways, he may very well have this rare genetic mutation as well.

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Jonathan Olsen-Koziol has been training for this his entire life. Since he was a young child he's been consuming and studying comic books, movies, video games, heroes, villains, story arcs, and pop-culture. Now he gets to relay a lifetime of passion and knowledge to the people! If his writings find you; hopefully you leave entertained. Jon graduated from Central Washington University with a Bachelor's in journalism and concurrently works as a head editor and digital content specialist for RespectMyRegion.com.

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Gotham Anatomy: The 5 Weirdest Things About Batman's Body | CBR - CBR - Comic Book Resources