The Daily Populous

Sony Finally Admits It Doesn’t Own Bach and It Only Took a Bunch of Public Pressure

Authored by eff.org

In this situation, a combination of copyright bots and corporate intransigence led to a Kafkaesque attack on music.

Musician James Rhodes put a video of himself playing Bach on Facebook.

Sony Music Entertainment claimed that 47 seconds of that performance belonged to them.

It’s what happened after Rhodes got Sony’s notice that earned it a place in the Hall of Shame.

Rhodes took his story to Twitter, where it picked up some steam, and emailed the heads of Sony Classical and Sony’s public relations, eventually getting his audio restored.

Public pressure and the persistence of Rhodes was the only reason this complaint went away, despite how the rules are supposed to protect fair use and the public domain.

We hear about these misfires roughly the same way they get resolved: because they generate enough noise. »

The Reason Chris Pratt Stole His 'Guardians Of The Galaxy' Costume Will Melt Your Heart

Authored by huffingtonpost.ca

Chris Pratt is officially our hero, and we're not talking about his role in "Guardians of the Galaxy.".

"Right now, it means high profile, cool jobs coming up, big press tour, and all the excitement of it all.

Pratt and his wife, Anna Faris, are parents to their son Jack, who was born in August 2012. »

Chile Just Converted 11 Million Acres Into New National Parks

Authored by forbes.com

Chile set aside 11 million acres of land for national parks aided by the largest private land donation from a private entity to a country.

The Tompkins Foundation of one million acres will help form a network of 17 national parks along Patagonia that spans most of Chile.

The total 11 million acres of protected national park land is larger than Denmark and three times larger than Yosemite and Yellowstone National Parks in the US combined. »

'It Looked Like Armageddon': 1 Killed in Explosions, Fires

Authored by necn.com

A series of gas explosions caused 60 to 80 fires in homes across three communities in the Merrimack Valley region of Massachusetts on Thursday, killing a local teen and forcing entire neighborhoods to evacuate.

Emergency crews responded to reports of multiple explosions and fires in Lawrence and North Andover, Massachusetts on Thursday afternoon.

Emergency crews responded to reports of gas-related multiple explosions and fires in Lawrence and North Andover, Massachusetts, on Thursday afternoon. »

Plants communicate distress using their own kind of nervous system

Authored by sciencemag.org

And now, plant biologists have discovered that when a leaf gets eaten, it warns other leaves by using some of the same signals as animals.

The new work is starting to unravel a long-standing mystery about how different parts of a plant communicate with one another.

Now that they have seen the calcium wave and the role of glutamate, researchers can better monitor and—perhaps one day even manipulate—the plant’s internal communications. »