Does Renovating Kitchens And Bathrooms Increase A Home’s Appraisal Value?

When it comes to home renovations, one of the most popular choices is to upgrade the kitchen and bathroom. But the question is, does this renovation actually increase the appraisal value of a home? The answer is yes. New kitchens and baths can definitely raise appraisal value, and there are several factors to consider when deciding whether or not to invest in this type of upgrade. From selecting the right materials and appliances to understanding the impact of local real estate market conditions, this article will explore the various ways that new kitchens and baths can increase the value of a home.

Does a kitchen renovation increase home value enough to justify its expense? According to the National Association of Realtors (NAR), kitchen renovations are the third most popular type of home improvement in 2019. The Remodeling Impact Report describes the remodeling process. The return on investment for all types of kitchen renovations, including mid-range and upscale remodels, is expected to fall. According to the National Association of Realtors (NAR), a kitchen renovation experience with a joy score of one to ten is considered to be very enjoyable. Many homeowners cannot afford a $20,000+ renovation. Upgrade your wallet or goals by selecting and selecting the improvements that will be most beneficial to you.

Look for materials that are less expensive but still provide a clean and modern appearance, such as laminate and vail. These materials are now more expensive than they were previously due to the use of modern manufacturing techniques. The appliances you upgrade will add functionality to the space, and they will cost one of the least expensive ways to do so. A new kitchen sink is one of those updates that will save you money on your next home improvement project. If you are unsure where to start, you should consult an electrician to determine the scope of the project. Even if you do not recoup the costs of a kitchen renovation, it will increase the value of your home.

Does An Updated Kitchen Add Value To An Appraisal?

Mid-range kitchen makeover ROI for homes ranges between 50% and 60% of their overall budget, according to the industry. The total cost of remodeling a kitchen is around $69,000, which means you could recoup between $34,500 and $41,400 after all expenses.

How Much Value Does Updated Kitchen Add?

A kitchen is the heart of any home, and an updated kitchen adds a great deal of value to a home. Not only does it make the home more attractive and desirable to potential buyers, but it can also add to the overall comfort of a home. An updated kitchen can include new appliances, countertops, cabinets, and flooring, all of which can increase the value of a home. Additionally, updated kitchens usually come with improved energy efficiency, which can lead to lower utility bills and a more comfortable living space. For those looking to sell their home, an updated kitchen can be a major selling point, making it easier to find a buyer and get a higher price.

The value of a kitchen remodeling project is determined by the extent of the work and the materials used. The Remodeling 2021 Cost vs. Value Report analyzes the costs of minor and major kitchen remodeling projects. The report also includes the average cost of remodeling the kitchens of the following three houses as well as their value added by doing so. The expansion and renovation of your kitchen can be very beneficial to your home. Despite the fact that it can be a difficult task, it is still possible to make some room changes. If you don’t have the funds to go through a complete renovation, you might want to look into smaller, less expensive fixes. The value of a kitchen can rise if it is made more accessible or easier for older people or those with disabilities.

If you have good repair skills, you may be able to make some improvements on your own. However, if your goal is to completely remodel the structure, you should probably go with a professional. Because remodeling can be costly, you should think about it before committing.

By remodeling your kitchen, you can increase the value of your home while also reaping a high return on investment. According to Remax, depending on factors like where you live, how much you spend, and the style you choose, kitchen renovations can increase your ROI by up to 100%. For many years, stainless steel appliances have proven to be the best choice for adding value to your kitchen. According to opendoor’s broker and consumer trends expert, Beatrice de Jong, choosing this timeless style is the best way to get the best return on investment. By selecting the right combination of location, budget, and style, you can maximize the value of your kitchen renovation while keeping your budget as tight as possible.

How Much Does A Kitchen Remodel Increase Home Value 2022?

It is estimated that the average cost of living in the United States will increase by about $2,000, to more than $28,000 this year. The recoupment rate will fall from 71.4% to 71.4%, a 1% drop.

According to an overwhelming majority of homebuyers, the kitchen is the most important room in a home. It makes no difference what condition your kitchen is in if you want to sell your home and get the best price. Kitchens consistently rank high on buyers’ priority lists when it comes to popular home features. A major kitchen renovation with upscale finishes typically returns an average ROI of around 54% across the country. Ascertain that the most important issues in your market are addressed by a local real estate agent. When potential buyers enter your kitchen, they are drawn to cabinets as one of the first things they notice. Countertops and backsplashes are required kitchen features to increase home values.

Homeowners willing to pay more for granite countertops in their kitchens are willing to pay an average of $56 more per square foot. When refinishing existing wood floors in your kitchen as part of your remodeling project, you can expect a 100% return on investment. Replacing your current floor with new wood floors returns a 91 percent ROI on average. Sellers frequently surprise themselves with the return on investment they can get from their kitchen remodeling after taking into account the thoughtful finishing touches. A hardwood floor can cost more than twice as much as a manufactured wood floor. Other benefits that come with remodeling your kitchen can be numerous in addition to the obvious ones. You’ll most likely be able to live better and stay in your current home for longer if you transform your kitchen. When you are ready to sell your home, remodeling will shorten the time it takes to sell it. Your ability to sell your house will be boosted if your kitchen is recently renovated.

How Much Value Does A New Kitchen And Bathroom Add To Your Home

A new kitchen and bathroom can add tremendous value to a home. Not only does it increase the aesthetic appeal of the house, but it also increases the overall resale value. In the kitchen, new cabinetry, countertops, and appliances can make a big difference when it comes to appraising the home. In the bathroom, modern fixtures, tile, and cabinetry can also go a long way in making your home more attractive and valuable. With the right upgrades, a new kitchen and bathroom can be a great investment for homeowners.

How much can a kitchen renovation increase the value of a home? If you sell your home and invest in a new kitchen, you can expect a 52% return on your investment. Mid-range faucets and lighting can result in a 58.6% return on investment in kitchen remodeling. Minor kitchen renovations, such as replacing cabinets, can achieve a higher ROI than major renovations. The cost of a kitchen renovation should range from 6 to 10% of the home’s value. If you plan to live in your home for a long time after the remodel, you should make changes that are convenient to your family. It is not a good idea to spend your entire savings on a major renovation just to get a high return on your investment.

It makes sense to follow the six to ten rule if you are moving right away. If you intend to stay in your home for the rest of your life, you might want to consider spending more. According to the National Association of Realtors, a kitchen renovation has a joy score of 10 out of 10.

Renovations That Increase Appraised Value

When it comes to property appraisals, both pros and cons can be applied. The renovations you have made to your home may increase its value, but not as much as you originally planned.

Renovations can add value to your home, but you’re probably not getting as much value as you spent on them in the first place. You can try to add value to them by doing some renovations. Many of these updates are intended to make outdated homes more appealing to prospective buyers. There is a chance that renovations will work in your favor, but they will not. It is always best to recoup your money’s worth if you are updating outdated features in your home. If you’re remodeling to please someone or because you want to party, you’re in a bind.

Adding Value Through Remodeling

In general, the answer to the question of whether remodeling increases the appraised value of a home is yes, depending on the extent of the remodeling. The remodeling process can take many forms, ranging from simple repairs to a complete renovation, and depending on the improvements made, it may result in a higher property evaluation. Adding a pool, finishing a basement, or adding more bedrooms and bathrooms to a home can increase its value the most. The resale value of a property can rise by up to 7.3% with these renovations, or $22,000. The renovations and other value-adding features on a property, such as its location, are assessed by an appraiser when determining the property’s current market value. As a result, while renovations may increase a property’s value, they should be taken into account when deciding to make them.

Kitchen Renovation Increase Home Value

Your updated kitchen can provide you with an additional boost in value, in most cases. Buyers are willing to pay more for high-quality finishes and thoughtful upgrades. A recent survey revealed that 80% of homebuyer consider the kitchen to be the most important room in their home.

What can a kitchen remodel do to improve the home’s value? It’s not likely that you’ll get anything back when you sell your house because the price you paid for it was the price you paid for it. A kitchen renovation project can cost between $35,000 and $120,000. You’ll almost certainly recoup your money if the job is large enough. According to the National Association of Realtors’ 2019 Remodeling Impact Report, 72% of all home renovations are done inside the home by a professional. If it is a do-it-yourself project, that figure rises to 77 percent. Approximately 90% of homeowners reported a desire to be in their homes as a result of a complete kitchen remodel.

When replacing old oak cabinets that cannot be replaced, opt for a matte black pull because it instantly transports the cabinets from the 1980s to the present. Choose materials that are less expensive. Countertops and floors can be an excellent place to start when saving money on materials. According to Kolb and Gilbert, the majority of buyers prefer quartz countertops, but they are also quite expensive. If you don’t want to replace all of your kitchen cabinets, staining the ones you do have will make them appear more upscale. A person can achieve the same effect by removing an island rather than tearing down an entire wall. If your kitchen is in terrible condition or requires extensive remodeling, you should leave it alone before listing it.

On Houzz, you can look for local companies that work on the projects you require by ZIP code or project. The best way to hire a contractor is to contact a local real estate agent. If you are remodeling to sell, choose a small project instead of completely remodeling.

Home Appraisal

A home appraisal is an important step in the home buying process. It is conducted by a licensed professional appraiser who inspects and analyzes the home’s condition and value. The appraiser looks at factors such as the home’s age, square footage, condition, upgrades, and the neighborhood. They then calculate a value based on comparable homes in the area. The appraisal amount is used to determine the maximum amount a lender will finance for the property. It is important to remember that the appraised value is not the same as the market value of the home.

A mortgage appraisal is almost always used when purchasing a home, and it is also used when refinancing a home. The lender is concerned that homeowners are borrowing excessively because the home is a security for the mortgage. The cost of an appraisal typically ranges from several hundred dollars to several thousand dollars, but the fee can vary depending on the size and condition of the property. A home appraisal is the first step in the process of purchasing a home. The Uniform Residential Appraisal Report, issued by Fannie Mae, is used by appraisers when evaluating single-family homes. The report also asks for a description of the property’s interior and exterior, as well as the neighborhood. When a home’s appraisal falls below a certain level, you may have to reduce its price to recoup the cost of the appraisal.

When a family member wishes to receive equity in the home as a gift, the home must be appraised. A home appraisal typically costs between $300 and $450 on average. It’s a small box to check if you need to do an appraisal as part of the closing checklist. Neighborhood appeal, curb appeal, and maintenance are just a few of the factors that a home’s value must consider. clutter and dust may have a negative impact on the appraiser, if only unconsciously.

It is critical to comprehend the implications of a home appraisal. Attending an appraisal is a common practice among home buyers, and it can be especially beneficial if a real estate agent is present. It is also critical to be aware of the various factors that can influence the value of a property. The most important factor to consider is where the house is located. The presence of an eyesore such as a junkyard, power lines, or a busy street, as well as the location of the home in an undesirable neighborhood, can have an adverse effect on the property’s value. It is critical to be aware of these factors in order for potential buyers to make educated decisions about purchasing a home.

Unlocking The Value Of Your Home: Appraising Your Property

A home appraisal is critical in determining a home’s value. The appraiser will take into account all of the factors that could affect the property’s value, such as its condition, any upgrades or additions, the size of the lot, and comparable properties recently sold in the same market, in addition to the property’s condition and any improvements or additions The appraisal may be affected by a few factors, including the age and condition of the home’s heating, ventilating, and air conditioning (HVAC, plumbing) systems and appliances, as well as the state of the local real estate market. In New Jersey, the average cost of a home appraisal is around $800, though this can vary depending on the property’s value, size, and condition. The most important thing to remember when dealing with an appraiser is to keep the facts about the house and neighborhood in mind, and to not discuss values. Pressure from a client may cause the appraiser to hit the value, causing the appraisal to stall.

Kitchen Remodel Cost

A kitchen remodel costs around $22,000 on average in the United States. Even though that number represents a number, it does not tell the whole story. Depending on the scope and size of your project, you may be required to pay anywhere from $5,000 to $50,000 or more for a new kitchen. Between the ages of 11 and 33, kitchen remodeling can cost between $12,500 and $33,000.

The average cost of a kitchen remodel in the United States is $25,000, but most people spend between $13,700 and $50,000 on such work. The cost of remodeling a small kitchen is most likely to be in the low end of the price spectrum, but it will also vary depending on the cabinet style, materials used, and so on. How much does it cost to remodeling a kitchen? In general, contracting labor for a kitchen remodeling project is 0-50% of your total budget. The remodeling costs are dominated by materials. What are some of the best name brand appliances with all the latest gadgets? The cost of a single refrigerator ranges between $1,000 and $15,000.

Understanding Estate Tax Appraisals: When And How To Find A Qualified Appraiser

When it comes to estate taxes, one of the most important questions that must be answered is whether or not an appraisal is necessary. For those who are not familiar with estate taxes, they are a tax that is paid when a person dies and leaves behind assets, such as property, investments, or cash. Without an accurate appraisal of the assets, the amount of estate tax that is due can be difficult to determine. This article will discuss the importance of obtaining a professional appraisal for estate tax purposes, when it is necessary, and how to go about finding a qualified appraiser.

What is an appraisal? An appraisal is a meeting between your employer and you in which you can discuss your work performance. In most cases, appraisals are not required by law, but employers conduct them on a regular or semi-annual basis.

There is no requirement as per law, as stated. You do not need to give an employee a raise after each appraisal, but you should make sure that he or she is satisfied with their work for your organization or another.

A qualified appraisal or a thorough description of the method used to determine the fair market value of the gift are acceptable.

What Is The Purpose Of An Estate Appraisal?

The purpose of an estate appraisal is to establish the fair market value of a deceased person’s assets. This is important for determining the value of the estate for tax and distribution purposes. Estate appraisals are typically conducted by licensed appraisers with expertise in the type of property being appraised. For example, if the estate includes a home, a professional real estate appraiser would be hired to assess the value of the property. Estate appraisals can also be used to assess the value of jewelry, antiques, artwork, and other personal items. The appraised value of the estate will help determine how the assets will be distributed to the heirs.

Property appraisals are required for estate administration. These services are not only required for the personal representative of the estate to assess its value, but they also assist in the filing of required tax returns for the estate. You can use an appraisal to help you maximize the value of your home. By evaluating the quality of recent renovations, homeowners can determine how these changes have affected their property’s value and identify areas where they can make improvements to boost the value of their property. Furthermore, appraisals can assist homeowners in determining the most appealing features of their property, which can lead to an increased sale price. Estate administrators and homeowners benefit greatly from using appraisals to their advantage.

Are Appraisals Required For Form 706?

An appraisal of any real estate property is necessary. Make certain that the appraisals are included in the estate return. Taxassessment values are typically not used as fair market values. The exception to the appraisal requirement is when the estate sells real property within one year of the deceased’s death.

Is An Appraisal Required For A Gift Tax Return?

Gifts and estates tax planning necessitates the expertise of an appraiser as well as the collaboration of a client’s legal and accounting professionals. To protect your gift and estate tax claim, you must file an accredited valuation along with all gift and estate tax returns.

Irs Estate Tax Appraisal Requirements

The IRS requires a qualified estate tax appraisal when filing an estate tax return. This appraisal must include an accurate and full description of the property being appraised, the date of the appraisal, the name and qualifications of the appraiser, and the appraised value of the property. The appraiser must use the most appropriate method for the type of property being appraised and must use the fair market value as the basis for the appraisal. The appraiser must also provide sufficient documentation to support the value of the appraisal. Additionally, the appraiser must be independent from the executor or other interested parties. Lastly, the IRS requires that the appraiser provide a signed and dated statement that the appraisal is free from bias or conflict of interest.

Fair Market Value Of Inherited Home: Get A Qualified Appraisal

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) requires a qualified appraisal to be completed by an appraiser licensed by the IRS to determine the fair market value of a home that is inherited. An appraisal must include the contribution’s date, not earlier than 60 days prior to the contribution, as well as the fair market value of the inherited property no later than the contribution date, and no later than the effective date of the appraisal. If the property owner dies, an appraisal is required for income tax purposes because the tax basis is increased to the fair market value at that time. When a property is sold within six months or a year of the previous owner’s death, the IRS generally agrees that the selling price is the fair market value at the time of death if the sale was done fairly and with reasonable terms. If you want your inherited home’s fair market value determined, you should have it appraised by a licensed appraiser.

What Is A Qualified Appraisal For Gift Tax Purposes

The contribution should be made no later than 60 days before the contribution date and no later than the contribution date itself. The fair market value of the contributed property on the effective date of the valuation, as determined by the fair market value of the contributed property.

Estate Appraisals

Estate appraisals are a valuable tool for individuals, families, and businesses that need to assess the worth of a property. They provide an accurate and impartial evaluation of the value of a property based on its size, location, condition, and other factors. Estate appraisers use a variety of methods to evaluate a property, including market analysis and cost analysis. They also take into account the current condition of the property, including any repairs that may be needed, and any improvements that may be made. Estate appraisals are a critical part of the estate planning process, providing a fair valuation of a property to ensure that the final distribution of assets is equitable.

A home appraisal is required in order to determine its value, but it is important to remember that it is not always the best way to assess it. Some appraisers may be objective in their evaluation of comparable properties for sale, and the price range of comparable properties varies widely. If you want to ensure the highest possible return on your investment, you should have your realtor consult with you about a listing strategy and marketing plan for your home. If you have any questions about the listing process, you can also speak with your realtor. An appraisal of a real estate property will include a listing strategy, which is not included in a bank appraisal. Although home appraisals are an important part of the home-buying process, they should not be the only factor used to determine the value of a home.

Improving Home Condition For Optimal Appraisal Outcome

A real estate appraiser’s role is to provide an objective evaluation of a property’s value in order to achieve the best possible return on investment for a property owner. Property values are assessed for both residential and commercial properties, as well as buildings and land. Assessement is performed to determine a property’s worth in part by considering factors such as market conditions, repairs needed, and amenities. Homeowners may wonder if a messy home affects the appraisal process. Even if a messy home is a distraction, it should not have a negative impact on the appraisal. Furthermore, if the property is neglected, such as damaged flooring, outdated appliances, or broken windows, these issues could affect the appraisal and the amount of loan that a lender is willing to lend. Before you have your home appraised, you should make certain it is in top condition.

Qualified Appraisers

A professional appraiser must have the necessary education and training to practice as an appraiser. The designation is awarded to those who have demonstrated competence in valuing the type of property for which the appraisal will be performed.

‘Fairyland’ review: Emilia Jones and Scoot McNairy negotiate prickly father-daughter bonds in 1970s and 1980s San Francisco

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Told from the perspective of a young girl raised by her single gay father to be a woman “strong and tolerant and unafraid of this world.” Wonderland reveals the intensely personal nature of its origins in Alysia Abbott’s 2013 memoir at every step of the characters’ complicated evolution together. Like that sometimes tense relationship, this feature debut from photographer Andrew Durham often feels stuck, but ultimately reaches its destination with clear compassion and an emotionally powerful reconciliation. Those qualities are captured with tremendous sensitivity in the lead roles of Emilia Jones and Scoot McNairy.

 

With a producing team led by Sofia Coppola for American Zoetrope, this is a bittersweet drama about unconventional parenting and alternative families that will resonate loudest with LGBTQ audiences. But the wave of feeling in the final act will appeal to any audience that has ever experienced the startling reckoning that comes with grief.

 

Wonderland

It comes down to

Not always sure, but eventually it will.

Event venue: Sundance Film Festival (premieres)
Form: Emilia Jones, Scoot McNairy, Geena Davis, Cody Fern, Adam Lambert, Maria Bakalova, Nessa Dougherty, Ryan Thurston, Bella Murphy, Isabella Peregrina, Ben Attal, Cabe Thompson, Roman Gonzalez
Director-screenwriter: Andrew Durham, based on the book by Alysia Abbott Fairyland: a memoir of my father
 

1 hour 54 minutes

 

The film opens in 1974 with a middle of the night phone call where a stunned Steve (McNairy) learns that his wife died in a head-on collision with a truck while driving with a patient she had been treating for suicidal depression. . That detail will prove important later on.

 

Steve’s 5-year-old daughter Alysia (Nessa Dougherty) is still struggling to understand her mother’s sudden absence when he takes them from the Midwest to San Francisco in his beat-up orange VW Beetle. He rejects the suggestion of Alysia’s judicious maternal grandmother, nicknamed Munca (Geena Davis), that the girl would be better off being raised by her side of the family.

 

Alysia gets an instant eye-popping education when they move into a shared house with drug-addicted mother Paulette (Maria Bakalova), genderqueer Johnny (Ryan Thurston), and laid-back, guitar-plucking southerner Eddie (Cody Fern), who sits on the couch. but has a wife back in Jackson. That doesn’t stop him from falling into bed with Steve, a development that Alysia seems to pick up on with the same mix of curiosity and supernatural maturity she brings to each magical discovery of the partying bohemian household.

 

In a funny phone call where Munca grills her about life in San Francisco, Alysia talks enthusiastically about her new surrogate family and mentions her bond with Johnny, who wears dresses. “Does your dad wear dresses too?” her grandmother asks, visibly stiffening. “Not anymore. He’s butch now,” Alysia replies cheerfully.

 

The choice to have cinematographer Greta Zozula film the first scenes in grainy 16mm adds to the vibrant sense of time and place, idyllically rendered by frequent visits to Golden Gate Park, with its Dutch windmill and Victorian conservatory. Steve, Eddie and Alysia are seamlessly integrated into rousing archive footage of the Castro as a village full of gay men and early Pride parades, when the event was called Gay Freedom Day.

 

Bringing a writer’s work to life with any sort of vitality can be difficult even for seasoned filmmakers, and Durham struggles a bit to make Steve’s development as a poet and essayist a dynamic part of the story.

 

Some of the cultural context also feels a bit clunky when interwoven through radio newscasts — the Proposition 6 ballot initiative that sought to ban gays and lesbians from working in California public schools; the murder of Harvey Milk; Anita Bryant’s crusade against homosexuality, her role with the Florida Citrus Commission led Steve to snatch the OJ from the breakfast table.

 

The film finds itself on more stable ground as the focus remains tight on Steve and Alysia’s shifting relationship, especially as it heads into her high school years, when Jones steps into the role. While young Alysia seems unfazed by the steady stream of her father’s boyfriends following Eddie’s return to Mississippi – one of the longer term matches, Charlie, is played with warmth and humor by Adam Lambert – teenage Alysia begins to withdraw.

 

At the time, Alysia is a Brit pop-loving hipster in Depeche Mode and OMD, rocking asymmetrical hair and outsized coats. (Jones is beautiful in these scenes and remembers a young Winona Ryder.) But Alysia gets a little less cool about her dad’s sexuality just as the first murmurs about a “gay cancer” start circulating. When she goes to clubs or thrift stores with her best friends Yayne (Bella Murphy) and punky Skid (Isabella Peregrina), Alysia says nothing about the latter’s constant homophobic jokes and keeps them both at a distance from Steve.

 

However, the real conflict between them is less about Steve being gay than about him not being older enough. He romanticizes the artist’s poverty while his daughter wants more comfort. And while he’s convinced that making her self-reliant from a young age would help Alysia figure out who she is, she comes to resent that she’s been given too much independence and too little parental attention. She is also angry because he shares private details of their lives in poetry readings, including things about her mother that Alysia was too young to understand at the time.

 

No doubt based on Abbott’s memoir, Durham deserves credit for refusing to idealize Alysia’s countercultural upbringing as a perfect balance. But there are poignant moments when Steve defends himself and tells her that she has different freedoms than he had at her age, when he had to pretend to be someone else.

 

Their relationship becomes more distant when Alysia attends NYU and then spends a year studying in Paris, where she gets her first serious relationship with sweet-natured Frenchman Theo (Ben Attal). But during visits to San Francisco, she witnesses the ravages of AIDS at a time when the Reagan administration is doing nothing about it. Reality becomes especially confronting when she meets JD (Cabe Thompson), a sick young man who is being cared for by her father at a community hospice.

 

Many of the stories tend to saunter without much focus, viewed through the haze of nostalgia and graced with appropriate needle drops. But a deeper feeling sets in once Alysia receives the inevitable phone call calling her home from France to take care of her father.

 

The pathos and intimacy of that latter installment is no doubt heightened by the close parallels between Abbott’s experience and that of writer-director Durham, who also grew up in San Francisco during the same period with a gay father, who moved in to care for him through the latter months of his life.

 

A quietly searing scene between Jones and Bakalova, when Paulette has left her partying days behind and gone to work as a pharmacist, opens Alysia’s eyes completely to the heartbreaking reality of living in a tight-knit community where friends are constantly dying. And on a rare trip to the park where they spent so much of their early days together, Steve forces himself to shake off the pain and confusion of an advanced illness long enough to explain to Alysia that he had no idea how he to be a single parent. He deduces that his stalled life as a gay man means that, in a way, he came of age at the same time as his daughter.

 

ChatGPT is writing actual legislation in Congress now

The AI-powered chatbot ChatGPT has been especially prolific in recent weeks, following its introduction back in November. After being given various prompts, it’s produced everything from essays to song lyrics. When Buzzfeed revealed this week that it plans to use the chatbot to create its quizzes and other snackable social media content, it sent the company’s stock soaring 150%. And as if all that wasn’t enough, a US congressman has also just introduced the first legislation penned by ChatGPT.

 

Legislation has now been written by ChatGPT

Congressman Ted Lieu, a Democrat who represents Los Angeles County, on Thursday introduced that legislation — specifically, a resolution that’s the first in congressional history to have been penned by artificial intelligence.

The fact that it’s a resolution means that it’s not a bill with any kind of force of law, but this nevertheless continues to point the way forward for the kind of world that AI is quickly moving us all into. To produce the resulting piece of legislation, Lieu’s office says he gave the ChatGPT chatbot the following prompt: “You are Congressman Ted Lieu. Write a comprehensive congressional resolution generally expressing support for Congress to focus on AI.”

And here’s what the chatbot came up with:

Whereas, artificial intelligence (AI) has the potential to greatly improve the lives of Americans and people around the world, by increasing productivity, improving health care, and helping to solve some of the world’s most pressing problems;

Whereas, AI is rapidly advancing and has the potential to change the way we live, work, and interact with one another;

Whereas, Congress has a responsibility to ensure that the development and deployment of AI is done in a way that is safe, ethical, and respects the rights and privacy of all Americans;

Whereas, Congress has a responsibility to ensure that the benefits of AI are widely distributed and that the risks are minimized:

[Now,] therefore, be it Resolved, That the House of Representatives supports Congress focusing on AI in order to ensure that the development and deployment of AI is done in a way that is safe, ethical, and respects the rights and privacy of all Americans, and that the benefits of AI are widely distributed and the risks are minimized.

Even Google is apparently freaked out

The potential here is incredibly broad and far-reaching, as that text proves. Moreover, you really only need to look no further than the fact that ChatGPT’s capabilities have also reportedly sent Google into “code red” mode to get a sense of the implications here.

Google remains the dominant search engine, and yet the search capabilities this chatbot’s prompt can offer are so potent that Google CEO Sundar Pichai reportedly called in the search giant’s founders — Sergey Brin and Larry Page — to help counter this potential threat.

Even before ChatGPT had been made available, Google had already been shifting resources toward the development of AI products that it may show off to the public as soon as I/O 2023 later this year. Now, though, the company seems to be in full-on panic mode, even though Google previously downplayed the ChatGPT threat to its Search business.

Given that ChatGPT also answers all sorts of questions online without forcing the user to hunt through search results, reports that followed revealed that ChatGPT is forcing Google to change its strategy.or the latest news and updates, follow us on Google News.

MAFS 2023: how much the participants of Married At First Sight will be paid

Former Married At First Sight contestants have dished up the dirt about how much they made while filming the Channel Nine reality show.

While many brides and grooms see money pouring in after the end of their season, the amount they actually earn during production is surprisingly low.

Nasser Sultan, who appeared in season five in 2018, has revealed the exact amount he would earn each day, which didn’t even cover his living expenses.

 

Former MAFS stars have dished up the dirt about how much they made while filming the show. Nasser Sultan (pictured) revealed that his $150 daily allowance was not enough to cover his living expenses

“You get $150 for the day, that’s all,” the former music promoter told Now to Love.

“But on top of that you have to pay the expenses – your living expenses with the woman you marry.”

“It’s not clear $150. You still have to pay rent when you rent, you have to pay your rego and it’s 12 hour movie days,” he added.

Nasser said none of the stars' shopping was covered and that producers would have them shop at the same expensive supermarket during filming.  (Pictured here with 'bride' Gabrielle Bartlett)

Nasser said none of the stars' shopping was covered and that producers would have them shop at the same expensive supermarket during filming.  (Pictured here with 'bride' Gabrielle Bartlett)

Nasser said none of the stars’ shopping was covered and that producers would have them shop at the same expensive supermarket during filming. (Pictured here with ‘bride’ Gabrielle Bartlett)

Nasser, who was “married” to single mother Gabrielle Bartlett, added that none of the contestants’ groceries were covered and that producers would have them shop at the same expensive supermarket during filming.

“Gab and I sometimes spent as much as $70 a day just living, so we didn’t have much left after that,” he said.

The controversial star also claimed he made less than some of his co-stars, calling out Davina Rankin and Sarah Roza, who he said made $50 a day more than him.

The controversial star also claimed he made less than some of his co-stars, calling out Davina Rankin (pictured) and Sarah Roza, who he said made $50 a day more than him.

The controversial star also claimed he made less than some of his co-stars, calling out Davina Rankin (pictured) and Sarah Roza, who he said made $50 a day more than him.

The controversial star also claimed he earned less than some of his co-stars, calling out Davina Rankin (pictured) and Sarah Roza, who he said earned $50 a day more than him

Nasser claimed 'the more you did for the show, the more you got' hence Davina (pictured with her 'husband' Ryan Gallagher) made more as she brought the show a cheating scandal

Nasser claimed 'the more you did for the show, the more you got' hence Davina (pictured with her 'husband' Ryan Gallagher) made more as she brought the show a cheating scandal

Nasser claimed ‘the more you did for the show, the more you got’ hence Davina (pictured with her ‘husband’ Ryan Gallagher) made more as she brought the show a cheating scandal

“Basically, the more you did for the show, the more you got,” he continued.

Mikey Pembroke of the 2020 season said the contestants didn’t make a penny while filming MAFS, and the only money they received was to live on during production.

“You don’t get paid at all — this is something that needs to change,” he said on the I’ve Got News for You podcast.

Mikey Pembroke (pictured with Natasha Spencer) said the 2020 contestants didn't make a cent while filming MAFS, and the only money they received was to live on during production

Mikey Pembroke (pictured with Natasha Spencer) said the 2020 contestants didn't make a cent while filming MAFS, and the only money they received was to live on during production

Mikey Pembroke (pictured with Natasha Spencer) said the 2020 contestants didn’t make a cent while filming MAFS, and the only money they received was to live on during production

“But the show makes an incredible amount of money. And suppose you were, you know, a TV show that’s doing really well, the actors are getting paid more and more because it’s doing so well.”

The 2023 season of Married At First Sight premieres Monday night, with more twists and bombshells than ever before.

But some viewers are convinced that the upcoming season was filmed on a budget after noticing a small detail in the publicity shots of the cast.

Eagle-eyed fans couldn’t help but notice that the photos of the brides and grooms looked “washed out” and hadn’t been color corrected.

MAFS viewers are convinced the upcoming season was filmed on a budget after noticing a small detail in the publicity shots of the cast. Eagle-eyed fans pointed out that the images of the brides and grooms looked “washed out” and had not been color corrected. (Pictured: Tahnee Cook)

A user of the Facebook group Tea Time shared a series of side-by-side photos of brides Tahnee Cook and Bronte Schofield, as well as groom Harrison Boon (pictured)

A user of the Facebook group Tea Time shared a series of side-by-side photos of brides Tahnee Cook and Bronte Schofield, as well as groom Harrison Boon (pictured)

A user of the Facebook group Tea Time shared a series of side-by-side photos of brides Tahnee Cook and Bronte Schofield, as well as groom Harrison Boon (pictured)

“So the new MAFS cast has been announced and I predict major cuts have been made to the show,” one woman wrote in a Facebook group this week.

“All of their photos are not color corrected and they look like they’re frozen,” she added, noting that the photos gave participants more of a “blue tint” rather than simply appearing pale.

In the new season of MAFS, the experts will bring up a range of topics including racism, gaslighting and narcissistic behavior.

In the new season of MAFS, the experts will bring up a range of topics including racism, gaslighting and narcissistic behavior.  Pictured: Bronte Schofield on her wedding day

In the new season of MAFS, the experts will bring up a range of topics including racism, gaslighting and narcissistic behavior.  Pictured: Bronte Schofield on her wedding day

In the new season of MAFS, the experts will bring up a range of topics including racism, gaslighting and narcissistic behavior. Pictured: Bronte Schofield on her wedding day

According to on-set sources, one groom has already been labeled “worse than Bryce,” while another bride and groom have accused each other of “cheating each other” and playing mind games.

“Gaslighting is being addressed again, but other things about the way people treat each other in relationships, which to us — we think we’ve seen it all — is shocking…” MAFS boss Tara McWilliams told Variety last week.

“If we’re still shocked, then you know the content is pretty daring,” she continued.

“We have scandals again, but scandals you haven’t seen. And that’s what I love about this, the reality that gods really smiled on us a little bit.’

Married At First Sight returns on Channel Nine on Monday 30 January at 7.30pm

 

 

TUCKER CARLSON: If you really want to understand how powerful Big Pharma is, consider this

NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles!

How powerful exactly are the big pharmaceutical companies in this country? Well, that’s a big question. There are a lot of ways to measure it, but here are a few ways you can measure it. In this country, Big Pharma can advertise its drugs directly to consumers and that’s a little strange if you think about it, since consumers don’t prescribe drugs, doctors do. So, why are the drugs being advertised directly to consumers?  

That’s allowed in only one other country on the planet, but it’s allowed here. So, it may not surprise you that in this country, drug companies spend more on lobbying the Congress than any other industry, a lot more than any other industry and they don’t do it by accident. They do it because it pays off. In a deal like this, a pretty remarkable deal, the drug companies have worked out with politicians. So, the government uses your tax dollars to buy billions worth of their products and then in some cases forces you to use those products. 

Sometimes those products work, sometimes they don’t work. In some cases, those products can injure you, but no matter what happens, there’s nothing you can do about it because politicians have given these companies complete immunity. If their products hurt or kill you, you can’t sue them. You’re not even really allowed to complain about it. That’s an incredible deal. Imagine if your company had struck a deal like that with Congress. You’d probably be a lot richer than you are.  

So that’s power, but it pales in comparison to what we’re seeing right now. If you really want to understand how powerful Big Pharma is, consider the news that did not break today. The pro-transparency news organization Project Veritas just released an undercover video of a Pfizer executive bragging on camera about how his company conducts a kind of Frankenstein science, manipulating COVID viruses for profit, imperiling potentially the entire world, doing it in secret, possibly in violation of federal law, bragging about this. So, no matter what your politics are, doesn’t matter who you voted for, that’s a huge story and you would think every reporter in this country would be itching to follow up on it, calling Pfizer, telling the public about it, but no, that’s not happening.  

WHITE HOUSE SAYS COVID ‘ISN’T OVER’ AFTER BIDEN CLAIMED THE ‘PANDEMIC IS OVER’ BEFORE MIDTERMS 

Dr. Manjul Shukla transfers Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine into a syringe, Thursday, Dec. 2, 2021, at a mobile vaccination clinic in Worcester, Mass. 
(AP Photo/Steven Senne)

In the 24 hours since Project Veritas posted this footage, it has been viewed more than 12 million times on Twitter. So, the public is very interested. Why wouldn’t they be? But the media are not. No other media outlet has covered the story at all. We checked. MSNBC and CNN, which perhaps not coincidentally, take huge amounts of advertising dollars from Pfizer, those two channels have devoted a total of zero seconds to the story. Well, just go online and find out about it. Well, Google, the biggest search engine in the world, which has a monopoly on search in this country, appears to have gone out of its way to make it much more difficult for users to learn anything about the Pfizer executive pictured in the footage and so there is, in other words, on television and in most places online, a near-total media blackout of this story.  

How powerful is Big Pharma? That powerful, but we have the footage and we’re going to show some of it to you tonight because we think we should. Now, that footage shows a Pfizer executive called Jordon Trishton Walker. He is, according to the documents Project Veritas posted, Pfizer’s “director of research and development for strategic operations and mRNA scientific planning.” It’s a big job. Walker is very highly educated and as we said, he’s a high-ranking executive at Pfizer. In fact, he’s just two reports removed from the CEO of Pfizer, Albert Bourla. His name is Jordon Walker once again. 

JORDON TRISHTON WALKER: You know how the virus keeps mutating? Well, one of the things we’re exploring is, like, why don’t we just mutate it ourselves so we could focus on, so we could create… develop new vaccines, right? So, we have to do that. If we’re going to do that, though, there’s a risk of, like, as you could imagine, no one wants to be having a pharma company mutating f——- viruses. So, we’re like, do we want to do this? So, that’s, like, one of the things we’re considering for, like, the future, like, maybe we’re going to create new versions of the vaccine and things like that.  

JOURNALIST: OK. So, Pfizer ultimately is thinking about mutating COVID? 

TRISHTON WALKER: Well, that is not what we say to the public. No.  

Pfizer’s thinking about mutating COVID? We’re not going to say that to the public. We’re quoting: “One of the things we’re exploring is why don’t we just mutate it ourselves so we can preemptively develop new vaccines.” Now, what does that sound like? That sound familiar?  

COVID OUTBREAK IN CHINA INFECTS 80% OF POPULATION 

Well, it sounds a lot like the gain-of-function research you read about, the research that was occurring at the Wuhan lab just before COVID broke out of the lab and overturned the world and wrecked the U.S. economy. That was the research that Tony Fauci lied about under oath. As The Intercept has reported: “Scientists working under a 2014 NIH grant to the EcoHealth Alliance to study bat coronaviruses combine the genetic material from a parent coronavirus known as WIV1 with other viruses.” Seven virologists told The Intercept that the research “appears to meet NIH’s criteria for gain-of-function research.” 

In other words, it’s exactly what it sounds like it is. So that also sounds like what Jordon Walker just described. So, is Pfizer working on that right now? Well, in the clip you just saw, the Pfizer executive is careful to say it’s not happening right now, but it is something that Pfizer is secretly considering, not telling the public, but in another undercover video also shot by Project Veritas, Walker suggests that research to mutate viruses is ongoing. They just don’t dare call it gain-of-function. 

JOURNALIST: When is Pfizer going to implement a mutation of all these viruses?  

TRISHTON WALKER: I don’t know. It depends on how all the experiments work out because this is, like, something we’re trying, right?  

JOURNALIST: It sounds like gain-of-function to me. 

TRISHTON WALKER: I don’t know. It’s a little bit different. I think it’s different. It’s like this, it’s definitely not gain-of-function.  

JOURNALIST: Sounds like it is. I mean, it’s OK. 

TRISHTON WALKER: No, no, no. Directed evolution is very different.  

JOURNALIST: Direct evolution?  

TRISHTON WALKER: Directed evolution. 

JOURNALIST: Directed evolution, OK. So, I mean, is that what it is then? 

TRISHTON WALKER: Maybe. I don’t — well, you’re not supposed to do gain-of-function research with the viruses. They rather we not, but you do things like selected structural mutations to try to see if you could make it more potent. So, there is research ongoing about that. I don’t know how that’s going to work. There better not be any more outbreaks because, like, Jesus Christ.

JAPAN TO DOWNGRADE COVID-19 CLASSIFICATION TO A LESS SERIOUS DISEASE ON MAY 8 

It’s not gain-of-function. Oh, no, it’s directed evolution. So, if you’re wondering how Tony Fauci was allowed to lie under oath and get away with it — the FBI did not raid his house, he was never handcuffed — maybe it’s because he used a different term for the same thing. At Pfizer apparently, they’re just calling it directed evolution. Problem solved and again, we want to remind you what we just heard and we’re quoting the Pfizer executive: “You’re not supposed to do gain-of-function research with the viruses. We’d rather not, but we do these selected structure mutations to make them more potent. There is research ongoing about that.” Oh, wow, to make the virus more potent? You don’t think COVID is potent enough? It killed millions of people. Well, Walker went on to say that Pfizer is trying to keep this research hidden from the rest of us. 

JOURNALIST: Tell me more, like, what’s developing with the whole, you know, virus mutation process? 

TRISHTON WALKER: Well, they’re still kind of conducting experiments on it, but it seems like from what I’ve heard they’re kind of optimizing it, but they’re going slow because everyone is very cautious. Obviously, they don’t want to accelerate it too much, but I also think they are just trying to do it as an exploratory thing because you obviously don’t want to advertise that you’re trying to figure out future mutations. 

They’re still kind of conducting experiments on it. You just don’t want to advertise that you’re figuring out future mutations. Figuring out? Sounds like they’re causing future mutations. Now, it’s obvious why this man seems a little uncomfortable with what the company he works for is doing because the plan he describes — and we can’t verify it’s happening, we can only show you what its executive said — that plan could very easily cause a new pandemic and kill millions of people and, by the way, that’s why gain-of-function research was banned until 2017, when Tony Fauci helped restart it and the result was, of course, COVID.  

So, if that happened again, anyone could trace it to Pfizer, that would destroy the company, if not the world. So, Walker in this tape made it very clear that Pfizer is worried about a repeat of the COVID lab leak. Wait a second. We’re all agreeing there was a COVID lab leak? Yeah, Pfizer’s never said that in public, that the COVID strain started in the Wuhan Institute of Virology in China, where this kind of research was occurring, but apparently everyone just knows that’s true. 

TRISHTON WALKER: You have to be, like, very controlled to make sure that this virus that you mutate doesn’t create something that, like, you know, just goes everywhere. 

JOURNALIST: Something crazy. 

TRISHTON WALKER: …which I suspect is the way the virus started in Wuhan to be honest, like, it makes no sense that this virus popped out of nowhere.  

JOURNALIST: Yeah, I know. 

TRISHTON WALKER: It’s b——-.

COVID HOSPITALIZATIONS, DEATHS COULD RISE IN COMING WEEKS, ACCORDING TO THE CDC 

So, we just went through this three years ago this month and there was a global pandemic as a result, that again, killed millions of people and destroyed entire countries. It really hurt ours. So, why would you even think about doing something like that on purpose once again? Why would you conduct this kind of research when everybody knows the consequences? Well, again, we can’t say for sure. We can only tell you what Jordon Walker said and of course, the point is to make money.  

JOURNALIST: Isn’t that the best business model, though? Like, just control nature before nature even happens itself, right?  

TRISHTON WALKER: If it works. 

JOURNALIST: What do you mean if it works? 

TRISHTON WALKER: Because, like, sometimes there were just mutations that pop up and we’re not prepared for it, like with delta or omicron and things like that. So, who knows? I mean, either way, it’s going to be a cash cow. COVID will probably be a cash cow for us for awhile going forward, which I obviously like…

JOURNALIST: Well, I think the whole, you know, I think the whole, like, research of the viruses and mutating it, like, would be the ultimate, like, cash cow. 

TRISHTON WALKER: Yeah, it’d be perfect. 

Now, a couple of things to notice about that exchange. One, Walker has thought this through. This is not just off the top of his head. He’s not stupid and he’s clearly thought through the potential consequences of this research, but he also is honest enough to admit that it could be a cash cow and then he says, and he laughs as he says it, COVID has been a cash cow for us. So, imagine two pharma executives meeting in the bar and want to say, “How can we get kids to smoke more cigarettes because, you know, cancer is a cash cow for us?”  

People would recoil in horror and by the way, regulators would be on this. Where are the regulators? You can’t just come up with a drug, claim it works, get the government to enforce people’s requirement to take it. You have to go through regulators. Where are they? Why aren’t they regulating a company like Pfizer? Could it be that regulatory capture is real? We don’t have to guess anymore because Jordon Walker explains it for us. 

YEARLY COVID VACCINE AS PROPOSED BY FDA? ‘CART BEFORE THE HORSE,’ SAYS DOCTOR 

TRISHTON WALKER: …is a revolving door for all government officials for any industry though. So, in the pharma industry, all the government officials who review our drugs eventually come work for pharma companies and the military… defense government officials eventually go work for the defense companies afterwards. 

JOURNALIST: How do you feel about that revolving door?  

TRISHTON WALKER: It’s pretty good for the industry to be honest. It’s bad for everybody else in America.  

JOURNALIST: Why is it bad for everybody else?  

TRISHTON WALKER: Because when the regulators who review our drugs know that once they stop being a regulator, they want to go work for the company, they are not going to be as harsh on the company where they’re getting their job.

JAMES O’KEEFE: You work for Pfizer. My question for you is, why does Pfizer want to hide from the public the fact that they’re mutating COVID virus?  

TRISHTON WALKER: Is this real life? I’m literally a liar. I was trying to impress a person on a date by lying. This is absurd. Please stop. Why are you doing this to someone who is just working in a company to literally help the public?  

So, that was the end of it. James O’Keefe of Project Veritas shows up and informs Walker he’s been recorded and he’s clearly upset and, of course, you can understand why. He’s shocked. He didn’t know anyone was filming. Someone was, but what’s so interesting is his first excuse is “I was lying” when in fact, he has explained in a very sophisticated and very believable way how Washington works. We just promise to hire the regulators and then they don’t really regulate us. 

AARON RODGERS BLASTS ‘WOKE CULTURE,’ SAYS STANCE ON COVID MADE HIM A ‘VILLAIN’ 

Syringes loaded with the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine lie ready for use by a nurse, in Jackson, Miss., on Sept. 21, 2021.  (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis)
(AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis)

What you see happening in the defense industry with generals from the Pentagon happens in pharma, too. The regulators hope to get rich working here, and that’s true, and no executive at a pharma company has ever been filmed saying that on camera before. That’s not a lie. That’s the truest thing ever spoken in Washington, D.C., and then the situation begins to degrade.  

So, Walker, who is supposed to be a highly credentialed man of science, a clear-thinking scientist, completely loses control of himself. He becomes hysterical and violent. At one point, he calls the police to complain there are too many White people in his presence and he feels unsafe and then, of course, he becomes violent again. “Stop hitting me,” he says as he punches you in the face. It’s a remarkable scene. Here’s part of it. 

JAMES O’KEEFE: Do you want to put me in jail for asking you a question? 

WALKER to 911 operator: Yes sir? 

O’KEEFE: What is your intention of calling the police? 

WALKER: They have like — no one’s injured right now, but we have several witnesses. 

O’KEEFE: Can I talk to you please about this video? 

WALKER: OK so there’s one, two, three, four, five White people. 

O’KEEFE: Why would you bring race into this? 

WALKER: Please bring the cops as soon as possible. I’m feeling very unsafe right now. 

WALKER: This is insane.

O’KEEFE: Please unlock the door. 

WALKER: Give it!  

O’KEEFE: Please open the door. 

WALKER: You can’t just record people like that! He’s assaulting me! He hit my head! Do not record me. Do not record me! 

O’KEEFE: Unlock the door. Unlock the door. 

Wow. Well, that didn’t go well. That man it doesn’t seem like much of a scientist. Anyone kind of feel for him? On the other hand, what was that? But more than anything, you’ve got questions. What was that? This guy’s a pretty high-level Pfizer executive confirming a lot of things you already suspected and telling you things you had no idea were going on.  

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP 

So, of course, you’d want to know, what? Was that real and what does Pfizer have to say about it? Well, no one else is calling Pfizer, so we did. We called them repeatedly today and we asked very basic questions. Does this guy, Walker, still work for you and if not, when did he leave the company? And more than anything, are you actually conducting experiments or considering conducting experiments to mutate new and more dangerous coronaviruses because it would be a cash cow?  

And if you are doing that or thinking about doing it, have you received any U.S. government funding? Are taxpayers paying for this? And by the way, do you agree with this executive that COVID came from a lab? We didn’t have complex questions, very simple ones. We called and emailed Pfizer all day, but despite their famously well-funded PR department, all the lobbying money they spend, they did not get back to us. They refused to answer. 

Malayalam movie on Lord Ayyappa becomes a superhit as it enters the Rs 100 crore club, Hindi version to release soon

Malikappuram, a recent Malayalam movie starring Unni Mukundan, has the actor on cloud nine. The film, which debuted on December 30, 2022, and with a megre budget of Rs 3.5 crore, has grossed close to Rs 100 crores at the box office.

Unni Mukundan had three back-to-back hits after this movie’s popularity, including Meppadiyan and Shafeekinte Santosham. The 12th Man actor discusses popularity, Malikappuram, and getting trolled in a exclusive interview with IndiaToday.in.

The blockbuster Malikappuram, helmed by Vishnu Sasi Shankar, will be released in Tamil, Telugu, and Kannada on January 26 in light of the success of the original Malayalam version. This was confirmed by Unni. A week later, the Hindi version will be available.

How sure was he that Malikapuram would work? “I was very confident about the script. It revolves around Sabarimala and Lord Ayyappa. I knew that it would do well in Kerala because of the Sabarimala issue, but Malikappuram is not about the controversy and it is non-controversial,” stated Unni Mukundan.

He added that despite the fact that his previous films, Mepaddiyan and Shafeekinte Santosham, received accolades and were financially successful, he still encountered bashing on social media.

“Even with this film on Lord Ayyappa, some people tried to do that but this movie is not about Hinduism. Some people hesitated to watch the film because they thought it had religious undertones, but when they saw it, they realised it is a beautiful story of a young girl who wants to meet Lord Ayyappa,” added Unni Mukundan. “It is about the concept of tatvamasi – the idea that God is within you.”

Unni is an ardent follower of Ayyappa. In order to express his gratitude to Lord Ayyappa for the movie’s success, he recently made a visit to Sabarimala. “People should watch the film and enjoy the film and appreciate the effort put in by the actors, including the young kids – Deva Nandha and Sreepath. Malikappuram is designed as cinema and is meant to entertain,” said the Bro Daddy actor with a gleaming smile.

Malikappuram was screened before Thalapathy Vijay’s Varisu and Ajith Kumar’s Thunivu, the two Pongal movies, in Tamil Nadu. “When these two films released in Kerala, they cut down the number of screens for Malikappuram but the audience chose to watch my film and the movie has made Rs 4 crore so far. It’s one of the highest-grossing Malayalam films now. Obviously, stars and bigger films will take the bigger piece of the pie, but I believe that it’s the movie that makes a star. For me, a national release is more important than competing with anyone,” remarked Unni Mukundan.

“Things will change for me once Malikapuram is released across India. You know, the script for this film was floating around in the industry for four years. Mepaddiyan was also rejected by others before I said yes to it. I am grateful we were able to make Malaikapuram so well in 40 to 50 days despite the limited resources we had. If it had been a bad film, it would have backfired,” the Shefeekkinte Santhosham actor declared honestly.

When asked how he dealt with the trolling he received on social media, Unni responded, “I am a 90s kid and I try to cope with all these social media comments. I realize that people will have an opinion of you no matter what. When I gained weight for a role, I got trolled for it. I am used to having face-to-face interactions and dealing with all these anonymous faces is not so easy for me.”

Unni disclosed that he is reading screenplays for his forthcoming movies, but he is now working on the two-part film Gandharva Jr., which is being directed by rookie Vishnu Arvind. “This fantasy movie will appeal to the youth, kids and families. I was in Samantha’s Yashoda and I am also looking at Telugu scripts because they offer me roles which Malayalam cinema doesn’t offer. I don’t want to sign films in all languages just because I am being offered them, it’s not the right strategy. I think after India sees Malikappuram, my career will definitely change,” observed Unni Mukundan.

For the first time since the pandemic, family audiences are returning to movie theatres in big numbers because to Unni Mukundan’s Malikappuram, which has been a resounding triumph for the whole film industry. The film has already established itself as Unni’s biggest success.

New NASA Satellite to Map the Earth’s Seas

In Dec. 2022, NASA and its international space agency partners launched a new, sophisticated satellite from California that will scan the world’s water. The Surface Water and Ocean Topography (SWOT) satellite, an SUV-sized device, will survey and map the planet’s oceans, rivers, lakes and reservoirs. Over time, such maps could give scientists new insight into climate-related changes from hurricane damage to rising seas and disappearing coastlines.

The joint mission, shared with France, Canada and the United Kingdom, will use a cloud-penetrating radar to scan almost 90% of the Earth’s water—basically everything except the planet’s poles—in order to create high-resolution maps. SWOT can image lakes larger than 15 acres (roughly 820 ft. x 820 ft.), and rivers wider than 330 ft. across, SWOT team’s hydrology science lead Tamlin Pavelsky says. Globally, therefore, SWOT will survey millions of lakes and trace roughly 1.3 million miles of rivers – many of which are data-poor because they’re difficult to access by land.

“The key advance for SWOT is that we’ll be able to simultaneously measure the extent and height of water. Adding that new dimension is critical because it allows us to think about things in terms of changes in volume over time,” says Pavelsky.

The key to this new imaging power is SWOT’s Ka-band Radar Interferometer – or KaRIn. This instrument sends a 1.5 kilowatt radar pulse to the ground and waits for the reflected signal a few milliseconds later. Two antennae, each at the end of a 33-foot boom, read the signal back. The slight difference between initial and reflected signals allows the KaRIn to triangulate to determine the height of water.

“This instrument will be able to measure the height of water with centimeter accuracy. To think we can improve accuracy by a factor of 100 [over existing satellites], and from a distance of almost 900 kilometers away from the surface, is kind of incredible,” says Daniel Esteban-Fernandez, a NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) engineer who helped develop KaRIn.

Steve Nerem, a University of Colorado scientist who uses satellite data to study sea-level rise, says, “Instead of a ‘pencil beam’ moving along the Earth’s surface from a satellite, it’s a wide swath. [SWOT]’ll provide a lot more information, a lot more spatial resolution, and hopefully better coverage up close to the coasts.” He is not involved with SWOT.

The satellite will orbit the entire planet and repeat its imaging of every place every 21 days during its three-year mission. Comparing such images, scientists can interpret how water cover is changing over time. This data can be used in a variety of applications, including understanding water availability for crop irrigation in rural areas to measuring the extent of flooding events to assessing climate vulnerability in developing nations.

The precise satellite data will help quantify and illustrate the future of sea-level rise, floods and droughts across the globe. “Within our satellite record, we’ve seen sea-level rise along US coastlines going up fast over the past three decades,” says JPL sea-level rise scientist and SWOT science team member Ben Hamlington. Indeed, the rate of sea-level rise is accelerating, especially on the Gulf and East Coasts of the US.

Hamilton also argues that the data means we aren’t doomed; we can use the new information to fend off the most extreme projected outcomes. “Reducing emissions takes some of the higher projections of sea-level rise off the table,” he says. “Since catastrophic ice sheet loss will only occur under very warm futures, if we can limit warming going forward, we can avoid worst-case scenarios.”


New Red Sea Aggressor IV to explore Southern Egyptian Red Sea

The prestigious Ocean Art Underwater Photo Competition, organized by the Underwater Photography Guide, has announced the results of the 11th Annual competition and the world’s largest underwater photo contest.

The competition organiser’s said:

“It is clear from this year’s winning images that our community of underwater photographers has dived into a new and exciting post-pandemic era. An unprecedented caliber of photos was ushered in by the lifting of travel restrictions – including our best in show image featuring another teachable moment from an octopus. This photo, captured in Palm Beach, Florida by Kat Zhou, depicts the bittersweet final days between a mother octopus and her young before dying of old age.”

Winning photos can be seen at the Underwater Photography Guide at https://www.uwphotographyguide.com/ocean-art-contest-winners-2022

 

This year’s competition debuted a new Mobile Phone category, with inspiring images captured by a tool that almost every ocean lover has in their pocket. Other extraordinary winners included extra-terrestrial blackwater scenes of the crazy domain of pelagic critters, images that brought hope and solutions for ocean conservation, exhibitions of imaginative photographic technique, and inspiring animal portraits.

14 different categories ensure a competitive contest for all levels and disciplines of underwater photography. The judges evaluated thousands of entries from 96 countries before selecting the final set of images as Ocean Art winners. Ocean Art 2022 judges included prestigious underwater photographers Tony Wu, Mark Strickland, and Marty Snyderman.

Over $100,000 in prizes  was awarded provided by some of the world’s top scuba diving resorts, liveaboard dive yachts, and underwater photo gear manufacturers.

As the world resumes activities once considered normal, Ocean Art 2022 is a testament to the promise of novel photographic talent and innovation ahead. The competition was overseen by Nirupam Nigam, Editor-in-Chief of the Underwater Photography Guide and a partner in Bluewater Photo and Bluewater Travel.

Nirupam commented: “The winners of Ocean Art 2022 surprised me. I expected an “instagramable” moment to steal the show. Instead, each image is that of photographic excellence or poetic reflection of the natural world around us. These images will be seared in my mind of years to come.”

Complete list of winners:

Best in Show
“Octopus Mother” by Kat Zhou

Best of Show – ‘Octopus Mother’ – Kat Zhou

Wide Angle
1st Place Renee Capozzola
2nd Place Daniel Nicholson
3rd Place Martin Broen
4th Place Julian Gunther
Honorable Mention Josh Blank
Honorable Mention Adam Martin

1st place Wide Angle – Renee Capozzola

Macro
1st Place Kat Zhou
2nd Place Matthew Sullivan
3rd Place Nicolas Remy
Honorable Mention Novrizal Herdananto
Honorable Mention Kat Zhou

Best of Show and 1st place Macro – Kat Zhou

Marine Life Behavior
1st Place Galice Hoarau
2nd Place Bryant Turffs
3rd Place Tom Shlesinger
4th Place Mirko Zanni
Honorable Mention Luc Rooman
Honorable Mention Mark Green

1st place Marine Life Behavior – Galice Hoarau

Portrait
1st Place Kuo-Wei Kao
2nd Place Gabriella Luongo
3rd Place Kim Briers
4th Place Andrew Cummings
Honorable Mention Frank Begun
Honorable Mention Jeff Molder
Honorable Mention Lorenzo Terraneo

1st place Portrait – Kuo-Wei Kao

Coldwater
1st Place Nicolas Remy
2nd Place Yannick Gouguenheim
3rd Place Jon Anderson
Honorable Mention Shouhao Ren
Honorable Mention Sage Ono

1st place Coldwater – Nicolas Remy

Nudibranch
1st Place Aleksei Permiakov
2nd Place Veronika Nagy
3rd Place Luke Gordon
Honorable Mention Mayumi Takeuchi-Ebbins
Honorable Mention Talia Greis

1st place Nudibranch – Aleksei Permiakov

Blackwater
1st Place Dennis Corpuz
2nd Place Josh Raia
3rd Place Steven Kovacs
4th Place Marcello Zof
Honorable Mention Steven Kovacs
Honorable Mention Galice Hoarau

1st place Blackwater – Dennis Corpuz

Underwater Conservation
1st Place Lawrence Alex Wu
2nd Place Caroline Power
3rd Place Gabriella Luongo
4th Place Celia Kujala
Honorable Mention Alessandro Giannaccini
Honorable Mention Daniel Pio

1st place Underwater Conservation – Lawrence Alex Wu

Underwater Art
1st Place Sarah Teveldal
2nd Place Julian Nedev
3rd Place Lilian Koh
Honorable Mention Jenny Stock

1st place Underwater Art – Sarah Teveldal

Black & White
1st Place Martin Broen
2nd Place Brooke Pyke
3rd Place Piers Baillie
Honorable Mention Renee Capozzola
Honorable Mention Richard Condlyffe

1st place Black & White – Martin Broen

Compact Wide Angle
1st Place Enrico Somogyi
2nd Place Felix Beck
3rd Place Martina Favero

1st place Compact Wide Angle – Enrico Somogyi

Compact Macro
1st Place Eunhee Cho
2nd Place Regie Casia
3rd Place David Pleuvret
4th Place Ipah Uid Lynn
Honorable Mention Martina Favero
Honorable Mention Andrew Michelutti
Honorable Mention Man Bd

1st place Compact Macro – Eunhee Cho

Compact Behavior
1st Place PT Hirschfield
2nd Place Sheryl Wright
3rd Place PT Hirschfield
4th Place João Pontes
Honorable Mention Sofia K. Tenggrono

1st place Compact Behavior – PT Hirschfield

Mobile Phone
1st Place Buzzichelli Alessandro
2nd Place Chris Gug
3rd Place Grega Verc

‘Time to fight like hell for white sharks’

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The effective abandoning of Mexico’s Guadalupe Island to all activities other than commercial and illegal fishing will lead not to the protection of great white sharks but to their “extermination” – at what many divers regard as the world’s best white shark location.

So says Mike Lever, owner of Nautilus Dive Adventures, one of the cage-diving operators whose liveaboards would be barred from Guadalupe under a new five-year biosphere reserve management programme claimed to outlaw diving and sports fishing. 

But Lever denies that the closure of the park is already in force, as reported on Divernet on 19 January – because he contends that such an action would be illegal.

“The park is open – this is verifiable through any Mexican attorney familiar with environmental law,” he has told Divernet. “The temporary closure ended 1 January – the government is illegally trying to push through a new management plan that will allow commercial fishing to continue but stop all tourist activities.

“If it is successful, it dooms the shark population to extermination from poaching and illegal fishing – we’re fighting that in court, and with every resource that we have. 

“Its process is illegal in that it is required to consult with the consejo (council of stakeholders), hold public hearings and such.  It can’t just write a management plan and make it the law!”

Costs of closure

Guadalupe lies 160 miles into the eastern Pacific from Baja California, has been visited regularly by dive-operators since 2001 and has been a marine reserve since 2005. Great whites, often large individuals in the 25-50 age range, feed on seals and other pinnipeds in the area, especially between November and June.

Mexico’s National Commission of Natural Protected Areas (CONANP) administers the park, and its announcement of the permanent closure to dive-boats cited “bad practices” including the use of “attractants and observation cages”.

In its earlier report Divernet cited Lever’s long-held stance that the regular presence of shark-diving boats deterred poachers and facilitated scientific study at Guadalupe, and that closure would cost the local economy and the marine park itself up to US $25 million a year in lost fees.

The operators have not presented an entirely united front since the marine park was temporarily closed last year – there has been an element of blame-gaming for the incidents said to have brought them under fire from the authorities, and finger-pointing for alleged inequalities in fighting the ban.

For his part, Lever insists that his concerns are now solely for the sharks’ survival rather than about maintaining cage-diving operator profits, and says that he has in any case remodelled Nautilus commercially to compensate for the interruption to Guadalupe cage-diving. 

“We have already pivoted our business, with new products like glamping and luxury camping with the most extraordinary whale interactions on the planet,” he says. “Our airplane-supported mobula ray and orca trips have mostly sold out and our marlin Mexico Sardine Run trips are doing well.  Socorro is very popular. 

“But what keeps me up at night is my intense worry that this unique population of great white sharks is going to be exterminated by poachers and illegal fishing.  I fought like hell for Socorro 20 years ago – it’s time now to fight like hell for these white sharks.”

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Spread the word

Lever is urging divers to spread the word about Guadalupe and to watch an informative 15-minute Ocean Talks video by Carlos the Malibu Artist that sums up the situation as he sees it. 

While acknowledging that up to six sharks might have been injured or died over 22 years in connection with cage-diving interactions, the video puts this into the context of an estimated 300,000 cage dives, with the benefits these have brought in terms of cash, education and shark protection. It also suggests that lessons learnt have brought improved regulation in the wake of each rare incident.

Chumming was banned and, because the Guadalupe sharks were naturally well-fed, operators needed only to use frozen tuna head as an attractant, it says. No touching of the animals was allowed, and venturing outside cages was stopped some years ago.

The video also maintains that the marine park has been effectively abandoned by the authorities since the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic, and that although scientific studies of the sharks were meant to have been carried out in that time, no such reports have yet been published. 

With CONAMP known to be under-funded and under-resourced, and commercial fishing still allowed, the fear now is that the large-finned great white sharks of Guadalupe will also prove irresistible to criminal groups conducting illegal fishing operations.

Also on Divernet: My Great White Adventure, Great White Shark Captivates Freedivers, When Hunter Becomes Prey