APP

Dawn Chorus

There's something primal about waking up to the sounds of nature. Somewhere deep inside the human brain, some nexus of ganglia relates somehow to the eternal chorus of chirps, tweets and caws.

Members of The Studio, a work group associated with the Carnegie Museums of Pittsburgh, uploaded bird-call recordings to a smartphone app that plugs them into the phone's time alarm programming.

Instead of being jolted awake by an abrupt buzz, your dream might be subtly invaded by the sweet whistle of a black-capped chickadee before you gradually awaken to the music of a choir of digital birds.

The app, Dawn Chorus, includes actual recordings of 20 birds native to Western Pennsylvania acquired in part from Cornell University, one of the world's leading centers of avian understanding. The free app is available through Apple store online.

Movie

Beauty hits

Disney's live-action Beauty and the Beast is being screened in Chinese cinemas. The film, featuring Harry Potter star Emma Watson (above) as Belle and the frightening Beast played by Dan Stevens of Downton Abbey fame, set a number of benchmarks, including the biggest debut ever for a PG title both domestically and in foreign markets, where it took $182.3 million. The movie, directed by Bill Condon, is easily the biggest hit of 2017 so far. Analysts expect the film to make $1 billion globally.

Game

Joycestick

College students in Boston are developing a virtual-reality game based on James Joyce's ponderous tome Ulysses.

Joseph Nugent is an English professor at Boston College. He says the goal of Joycestick is to expose new audiences to the works of one of Ireland's most celebrated authors and to give a glimpse of how virtual reality can be used to enhance literature. Nugent hopes to release a version on June 16 in Dublin, during the Irish city's annual celebration of the author and novel.

Agencies