Mathai D🇮🇳

Service Engineer|Marine Electronics|India.

[Aakash Gupta @aakashgupta]

Paul Walker died with a third of Furious 7 still unfilmed. The studio finished his performance anyway, and audiences cried at 350 shots of a man who was no longer alive.

Here's the part almost nobody knows. Weta Digital had zero scans of Paul to work from. Digital doubles are normally built from full-body captures of the living actor, and Paul never did one. So the team combed outtakes from six Fast movies to build a reference library of his face, then digitally relit that old footage to match every new scene.

His brothers Cody and Caleb wore his wardrobe and played his scenes. In 260 shots, their faces were replaced with the reconstructed Paul. Another 90 shots repurposed footage that already existed, including the final drive next to Vin, which was relit outtake material.

Even the dialogue was assembled from recordings across the franchise, stitched together line by line and handed to the animators to match.

Director James Wan refused to reveal which shots were real Paul and which were digital. Weta's VFX chief Joe Letteri said the whole thing was "barely possible" the year they attempted it.

The movie grossed $1.5 billion. Millions of people said goodbye to Brian O'Conner in that final scene, and most were saying goodbye to footage rebuilt frame by frame.

Now the finale wants him back, and every technical barrier fell a decade ago. Cody says AI plus years of unused footage can do it without body doubles. The decision belongs to one person, Paul's daughter Meadow. In 2014 it took Weta, his two brothers, and a year of frame-by-frame work to bring him back. In 2028 it takes her yes.

[Cultination @Cultination1]

🚨🇺🇸 - Chaque 11 septembre, les pompiers de New York gravissent symboliquement 110 étages sur un tapis de marche, en hommage aux victimes des attentats du World Trade Center et aux 343 pompiers morts en service en 2001.

Même sans se connaître, les participants se réunissent autour d’un même objectif : honorer leur mémoire et rendre hommage à tous ceux qui ont perdu la vie ce jour-là.

[Harsh Goenka @hvgoenka]

Swami Harshanand has advised me “Buy the newly launched Apple Duo so that you can have the pleasure of watching Nifty and Sensex falling simultaneously.” 🙈

[Civixplorer @Civixplorer]

🇬🇱 Greenland is far more than just ice.

[Christopher Landau @DeputySecState]

As someone who’s always had a passion for geography, it’s exciting to experience one of the world’s great geographical anomalies. Kiritimati (Christmas) Island in Kiribati 🇰🇮 is about three hours by plane from Honolulu, Hawaii. Because it’s due south, it’s the same time of day there. BUT, because of a carve-out in the International Date Line, it’s a whole day ahead. The carve-out (the “Kiribati hammer”) was established in 1994 to keep all of Kiribati’s islands on the same day. So my three-hour flight from Honolulu arrived 27 hours later, and my three-hour flight back arrived 21 hours before I left. Every day in the world starts on Kiritimati Island!

[World of Statistics @stats_feed]

ESPN ranked the degree of difficulty for 60 different sports from hardest to easiest. Do you agree with the list?

1. Boxing
2. Ice Hockey
3. Football
4. Basketball
5. Wrestling
6. Martial Arts
7. Tennis
8. Gymnastics
9. Baseball/Softball
10. Soccer
11. Skiing: Alpine
12. Water Polo
13. Rugby
14. Lacrosse
15. Rodeo: Steer Wrestling
16. Track and Field: Pole Vault
17. Field Hockey
18. Speed Skating
19. Figure Skating
20. Cycling: Distance
21. Volleyball
22. Racquetball/Squash
23. Surfing
24. Fencing
25. Skiing: Freestyle
26. Team Handball
27. Cycling: Sprints
28. Bobsledding/Luge
29. Ski Jumping
30. Badminton
31. Skiing: Nordic
32. Auto Racing
33. Track and Field: High Jump
34. Track and Field: Long, Triple jumps
35. Diving
36. Swimming (all strokes): Distance
37. Skateboarding
38. Track and Field: Sprints
39. Rowing
40. Rodeo: Calf Roping
41. Track and Field: Distance
42. Rodeo: Bull/Bareback/Bronc Riding
43. Track and Field: Middle Distance
44. Weight-Lifting
45. Swimming (all strokes): Sprints
46. Water Skiing
47. Table Tennis
48. Track and Field: Weights
49. Canoe/Kayak
50. Horse Racing
51. Golf
52. Cheerleading
53. Roller Skating
54. Equestrian
55. Archery
56. Curling
57. Bowling
58. Shooting
59. Billiards
60. Fishing

[Tom Warren @tomwarren]

13 years later and this is still the most accurate documentary ever made about iOS vs. Android

[Latest in space @latestinspace]

25 years ago today, astronaut Frank Culbertson watched the 9/11 attacks unfold from the International Space Station 💔

He was the only American not on Earth

[Aakash Gupta @aakashgupta]

California shut down 17% of its refining capacity in 10 months. Then the global diesel market got squeezed. The $9.99 pumps are what happens when a fuel island loses its refineries.

Phillips 66 closed its Los Angeles refinery in December. 139,000 barrels a day, gone. Valero's Benicia refinery stopped producing fuel in April. Another 145,000.

Here's the part most people don't know. No pipeline connects California to the Gulf Coast refining hubs that supply the rest of the country. The state runs on its own refineries plus whatever arrives by ship. When Texas runs short, fuel flows in through pipes within days. When California runs short, relief is a tanker that's weeks away.

That setup worked as long as in-state capacity covered demand. Since 2020 the state has lost roughly 20% of it. Marathon converted Martinez to renewables. Phillips 66 converted Rodeo. Then the two full closures this year.

So when US refineries hit 98% utilization and drone strikes started knocking Russian refineries offline, every state felt it. Diesel set a national record at $5.98. But California diesel sits at $7.91, up 70% since January, because the state absorbed a global shock with two fewer refineries and no pipe to borrow from anyone.

The pumps showing $9.99 have four digits. The people who installed them never imagined needing five.

[Polymarket @Polymarket]

JUST IN: Micron will give its 15,000 employees in Taiwan a roughly $32,000 cash bonus plus additional stock rewards as AI-driven profits soar.

[Watcher.Guru @WatcherGuru]

JUST IN: Apple $AAPL to reportedly pay Samsung $250 per iPhone Duo for its foldable OLED screens.

[Epic Maps 🗺️ @theepicmap]

Median household income in every U.S. state

🇺🇸 District of Columbia — $109,870
🇺🇸 Massachusetts — $103,960
🇺🇸 Maryland — $103,678
🇺🇸 New Jersey — $103,556
🇺🇸 Hawaii — $100,389
🇺🇸 California — $99,122
🇺🇸 New Hampshire — $99,031
🇺🇸 Washington — $98,141
🇺🇸 Connecticut — $95,781
🇺🇸 Colorado — $95,470
🇺🇸 Utah — $95,166
🇺🇸 Virginia — $93,170
🇺🇸 Alaska — $92,788
🇺🇸 Minnesota — $89,062
🇺🇸 Rhode Island — $87,796
🇺🇸 New York — $85,974
🇺🇸 Delaware — $84,954
🇺🇸 Illinois — $83,390
🇺🇸 Oregon — $83,011
🇺🇸 Vermont — $81,203
🇺🇸 Arizona — $79,964
🇺🇸 Texas — $78,476
🇺🇸 Nevada — $78,260
🇺🇸 Pennsylvania — $77,971
🇺🇸 Idaho — $77,800
🇺🇸 Wisconsin — $77,485
🇺🇸 Georgia — $77,353
🇺🇸 North Dakota — $76,657
🇺🇸 Nebraska — $76,475
🇺🇸 Wyoming — $76,176
🇺🇸 South Dakota — $75,081
🇺🇸 Iowa — $75,059
🇺🇸 Maine — $74,733
🇺🇸 Florida — $74,568
🇺🇸 Kansas — $74,275
🇺🇸 Michigan — $72,875
🇺🇸 Montana — $72,509
🇺🇸 North Carolina — $72,388
🇺🇸 Indiana — $71,957
🇺🇸 Ohio — $71,389
🇺🇸 Missouri — $70,702
🇺🇸 Tennessee — $69,595
🇺🇸 South Carolina — $69,324
🇺🇸 Oklahoma — $65,039
🇺🇸 New Mexico — $64,059
🇺🇸 Alabama — $63,999
🇺🇸 Kentucky — $63,726
🇺🇸 Arkansas — $60,773
🇺🇸 Louisiana — $60,756
🇺🇸 West Virginia — $59,608
🇺🇸 Mississippi — $56,447

Note: Median annual income across all households, 2024

Source: U.S. Census Bureau / NIH

[Vince Langman @LangmanVince]

Here's what happened twenty-five years ago today!

[Evan @StockMKTNewz]

MICRON'S TAIWAN WORKERS JUST GOT A BONUS EQUALING 35 TO 68 MONTHS OF PAY

Micron $MU said it will give its Taiwanese employees a $31,600 cash bonus and additional stock rewards.

All global employees will receive equities as part of an annual performance-related bonus pool

[9/11 Revisited @911Revisionist]

The 9/11 Memorial "Tear Drop" sit's directly across from NYC, in Bayonne New Jersey, just the other side of the Statue of Liberty, yet we hear nothing about it.

This beautiful, 100 ft tall monument was gifted to the people of the United States by the people of Russia in 2006, in memory of all those who lost their lives on that fateful day, September 11, 2001.

The breaking in the cracked façade forms the shape of the two towers.
The giant suspended tear drop signifies the tears of the entire world that day.

Maybe it's something that needs to be known, starting today.

[Harsh Goenka @hvgoenka]

‘Business Class’ buses now in Kerala!

[Trung Phan @TrungTPhan]

Inside of iPhone (2007) vs. iPhone Duo (2026)

[Mario Nawfal @MarioNawfal]

🇶🇦🇺🇸 Qatar, the world’s biggest LNG exporter before the war, is now in talks to BUY U.S. LNG under long-term contracts.

Qatar still has enormous gas reserves, but damaged LNG facilities and dangerous shipping through Hormuz have crippled its ability to export them.

Buying U.S. LNG would let Qatar supply customers from outside the Gulf and keep fulfilling long-term contracts.

The scale of the disruption is extraordinary: Qatar’s LNG exports have reportedly collapsed 96%; just 18 cargoes in six months versus 509 a year earlier, costing an estimated $24 billion.

Source: Bloomberg / Writer: Mhedi

[Polymarket @Polymarket]

JUST IN: 2,977 drones recreate the Twin Towers at full scale over New York Harbor, with 1 light honoring each victim of the 9/11 attacks.

[Massimo @Rainmaker1973]

In the Santiago Bernabéu Stadium, the real grass is moved underground when the stadium hosts concerts and events.

This allows the field to stay healthy while the space transforms for huge crowds.