NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory had its annual Open House event this past weekend. It was gratifying to see how packed it was – that so many people were inspired by science to head out to the West Coast, La Cañada Flintridge campus several miles north of Hollywood on a weekend. However, as I navigated the crowds and looked at the gadgets on display, it struck me how sad it was that now the Shuttle program is reduced to a terrestrial tourist attraction, our government has all but abandoned the space race.
There were a lot of satellites, robots and assorted landers on display, but without people it has all the excitement of sending a Kenwood Chef into space.
Like the Kenwood Chef, I’m sure these machines can multi-task and do lots of really cool things, but sending them into space isn’t going to inspire humanity like the Apollo and Shuttle missions did.
Is it just me, or does this blinged out, gold foil covered satellite look like it has eyes, a nose, and a silly hat? At least we’re sending something with a face into space!
Q: Why did the rover cross the road? A: Because NASA doesn’t have the funds to send it into space.
If science rocks your world, you might like to join SG’s Mad Scientists group. And if reaching for the stars is more you thing, check out our Space and Time group.
WHY DO YOU LOVE IT?: I love my cat, I love your cat, I love cats!!!! This group is a great place to talk to like minded kitty lovers and show off your feline kids. Not only are there cute pictures to swoon over daily, it’s really a great place for support from people who feel the same about their animals as you. When my kitty died I posted about it and everyone was really comforting.
DISCUSSION TIP: As long as you are all cat loving not much can go wrong. Don’t be asking for any diagnosis on your kitties health problems though – go to the vet for that.
BEST RANDOM QUOTE: “Why are you suddenly being so nice? Am I dying? Are you dying? Is one of us dying? …oh God, you finally planted the bomb that’s going to kill us both didn’t you?” from “Things you never thought you’d say but ended up saying to your cats.” That thread really makes me giggle.
MOST HEATED DISCUSSION THREAD: The group is pretty warm and fuzzy, unless there is mention of cruelty or mistreatment of cats in any way, and then understandably things get heated. I think the last one was “Declawing, just no. ”
WHO’S WELCOME TO JOIN?: Anyone with a fondness for felines.
“Well I’m crazy but a different kind of crazy.”
– Nick Nolte
Nick Nolte said it himself, he’s crazy and I would tend to believe the man. Nolte is easily one of the best actors in the world but he has never gotten an Academy Award and his work is often overlooked because he does mostly independent films now. His latest flick is The Beautiful Country, an amazing film about a half Vietnamese half American who leaves his native country to try and find his father in America.
Microsoft kicked off the major E3 conferences on Monday morning. They started the show off with a bang, introducing the next game in the Xbox flagship series Halo 4. It focuses once again on Master Chief and is full of your favorite past enemies as well as an exciting new threat. Following the Halo 4 debut, was news of the next game in the Splinter Cell series, Blacklist. A handful of other sequels were featured, including: Resident Evil 6, Call of Duty Black Ops 2, Gears of War: Judgment, and a new addition to the Tomb Raider series. There were a few new titles showcased as well, the most impressive of which was the new South Park game where the player creates a character and joins the gang in an episode.
Microsoft also showed off the new Microsoft Smart Glass, which is an application that will work with Windows 8, and Windows Phones and tablets. The smart glass can link with the Xbox to enhance the in game experience. Smart Glass has multiple applications, among other things, it allows the wireless device to double as a controller or an interface to look up outside information on the game without having to exit it.
Two game developers had large press conferences that were streamed live, EA Games and Ubisoft. EA showed several expected follow-ups including: FIFA 13, Need for Speed: Most Wanted, and a new Sim City. E3 also announced they acquired the rights to future UFC games. Ubisoft took things in a different direction. They introduced one new IP called Watch Dogs. They also touched on Assassin’s Creed III and future games for the Wii U.
Sony had several announcements at this year’s E3. The electronics giant displayed the latest addition to the PS3 lineup, Beyond Two Souls, the enticing tale of a girl who speaks to ghosts. They also introduced another new IP called All-Stars Battle Royale, Sony’s version of Super Smash Bros. All-Stars will feature characters such as Kratos, Sweet Tooth, Sly Cooper, and Big Daddy. After talking about the future of the Vita and the new Play Station Plus subscription service that will offer members discounts and other perks, Sony closed with their two most keenly awaited titles: God of War Ascension and The Last of Us.
Nintendo held two separate press conferences. The main one was used to show off the Nintendo Wii U. There are several new game properties making their way to the device such as Pikmin 3 and New Super Mario Bros U. The new Nintendo IP for the Wii U is Nintendo Land, a theme park based game that offers mini-games based on your favorite Nintendo characters. A few third party games were revealed as well including Mass Effect 3 and Ninja Gaiden 3.
The second conference Nintendo held was focused on the 3DS. There were many games featured, starting with Castlevania: Lords of Shadow – Mirror of Fate. Many new games for classic Nintendo titles were displayed as well, including: Luigi’s Mansion 2, Epic Mickey: Power of Illusion, Paper Mario Sticker Star, and more information about Pokemon Black and White 2 was also divulged.
Many other games were showed off during the conference as well. One of the most talked about games at E3 has been Injustice: Gods Among Us, which pits DC heroes against each other in an all-out fighting game. Bethesda also released the first teaser trailer for The Elder Scrolls Online.
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“The important thing is not to stop questioning. Curiosity has its own reason for existing.”
~ Albert Einstein
Curiosity and a search for our origin is the heart of the new Ridley Scott film Prometheus which opens in theaters on today. In many ways the film was engineered as a moderate prequel to the popular Alien franchise, also launched by Scott some thirty-plus years ago.
Following the discovery of some ancient cave paintings that show early man pointing towards the a group of planets, scientists on Earth realize that these same images show up over and over again in different relics all over the world in civilizations that never, ever touched one another.
It’s with the premise of discovering where humanity started that the starship Prometheus is launched to try and find these planets, and possibly the origin of our species.
Archaeologists Charlie Holloway (Logan Marshall-Green) and his girlfriend Elizabeth Shaw (Noomi Rapace) are on the hunt for how humanity was born. Was it all spawned from some ancient alien race from another world that brought life to Earth?
As they land on a desolate moon that looks similar to Earth, the crew of the Prometheus soon discover a vast pyramid that houses perfectly breathable oxygen and the remains of an alien race whose DNA matches perfectly that of humans.
Without giving away too much plot at this point, it’s clear to see that there is something amiss with this planet and the species that once inhabited it, and needless to say all hell breaks loose shortly thereafter.
Prometheus plays on the very old idea that curiosity sometimes kills the cat, and the crew of this ship is definitely a little too curious for their own good. The leader of the ship played by Charlize Theron is a cold detached bureaucrat sent into space to guide this crew of scientists on their mission to find out where life first started.
But the real star of the film is Michael Fassbender, who plays the ship’s resident android named David. Like the other films in the Alien franchise where actors like Lance Henricksen and Iam Holm stole the show as robots who come to life, it’s no different with Fassbender who is simply brilliant in this movie. A secret motive behind every action, Fassbender is calculating and cold with his actions, but creepy and sly with his familiar smile.
The biggest problem with Prometheus is the fact that the film pulls the audience in too many different directions with plotlines that head in numerous directions. Throughout the 2-hour affair, there are several references to the Alien franchise, which call out to the idea that this really is a prequel to the popular science fiction series.
But what Prometheus also attempts to do is pull the story in a whole new direction with the questions about the origin of our species and where we all came from. It almost seems like too much by the time the film comes to an end, and you are left wondering which storyline you were supposed to care about more.
While the acting in Prometheus was largely very well done, the lead actress in the film, Noomi Rapace, fails to show the same kind of strong female character that Sigourney Weaver did in the original series of Alien films. It may not be fair to compare anyone to what Weaver was able to do with her character of Ellen Ripley, but Ridley Scott has made strong, female characters a centerpiece of these series of films and Rapace fails to repeat even a small part of Weaver’s powerful presence.
On its own, Prometheus is a solid film worth seeing, but ultimately when it was over the biggest feeling I was left with wasn’t about a sequel for this movie (which will inevitably happen), I just wanted to go home and watch the 1979 Alien classic.
