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Digital Planet: Gravity

Factual: Science & Nature

Gravity with Sandra Bullock and George Clooney

15/10/2013

Gravity

BBC World Service - Digital Planet, Gravity

How sound is a character in films like Gravity

How sound is a character in films like Gravity.

Kenya’s Disaster Tool
Following the disaster at Kenya’s Westgate Shopping Mall where many people were killed and injured, technologists have been inspired to come up with a texting tool to let friends and family know you’re safe in the aftermath of a disaster.  Ping is a simple and quick way of sending the alert.  It has been devised by the non-profit company Ushahidi.  Erik Hersman from Ushahidi joins Click to describe how it works.

Gravity
The Hollywood film, Gravity, has already met with glowing reviews about how it conjures the beauty and dangers of space.  As well as the outstanding performances of Sandra Bullock and George Clooney, the soundtrack is the star.  It reflects decades of advances in technology that unifies music, sound effects and speech.  Click hears from Steven Price, the composer of Gravity’s soundtrack and from the critic and composer Neil Brand about how sound is increasingly a character in film.

Ada Lovelace Day
Ada Lovelace was an early pioneer of computer programming. Working in the 19th century she conjured an algorithm for Charles Babbage’s Analytical Engine and in so doing lay down the foundation for the workings of computers now at the heart of our civilisations. But for many years, Ada Lovelace, like many female pioneers, was written out of history.  Click is joined by Suw Charman-Anderson to commemorate Ada Lovelace on the day now devoted to her.


(Photo credit: used with the kind permission of Warner Bros)

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