Category Archives: Weekly

by | February 20, 2015 · 11:00 am

Around the Web February 20, 2015

Starting off this week’s Around the Web is something I am super excited about. Fox has confirmed that there will be a new Alien movie and it will be directed by Neill Blomkamp! For those who remember, a few months ago, Blomkamp had posted some amazing concept art with the regrettable caption that it looked like the project was off. It’s thought that this was due in large part to the lackluster performance of Prometheus, the semi-Alien prequel. I am super excited for this news as I was really disappointed that Blomkamp’s previous announcement had indicated that there would be no Alien project with him. Also, given his success with other, less conventional science fiction stories like District 9, I’m exceptionally optimistic that this will be a stellar film. Let’s face it, there is no possible way on Earth, or any other planet, that it could be worse than Alien3 .

I want this soooooo bad!

I want this soooooo bad!

This might have been the best news I’ve heard all 2015.

Samuel L. Jackson is one of the most badass motherf!@#ers in pop culture–just ask him! (I would personally ask just because I want to hear him say motherf!@#er.) Recently, Mr. Jackson told MTV that he couldn’t figure out why DC has been unable to energize it’s fans as much as Marvel has. I’m a huge Batman fan and I like 95% of Man of Steel, but I have to admit that I agree with Sam on this one. Marvel has done an overall better job at making their cinematic universe accessible to the masses. They take place in the same cities we live in and their heroes are flawed and more relate-able, on a personal level. This is of course one of the time honored arguments in the Marvel Vs. DC debate, but at least when it comes to movies, Marvel is winning this one.

RASPUTIN

Motherf!@#er!

Now on to a front that DC has definitely had the lead in for quite some time:  television. Fox has announced that they will be creating a pilot for Lucifer. A spin off of Neil Gaiman’s Sandman, Lucifer follows the ruler of hell after he abandons his post and decides to move to Los Angeles. While many people have been particularly hard on Fox’s current DC based show Gotham (which personally I quite enjoy), there is hope for this one as there is an all-star production team on board, including veteran producer Jerry Bruckheimer and Californication writer Tom Kapinos. I’m not exactly sure what made DC choose this particular story, especially given the rough start that their other supernatural show, Constantine, has had. Whatever the case may be, I will certainly give the show a try and do my best to judge it on it’s own merits.

lucifer16

There is something fitting about Lucifer moving to LA. I mean it’s basically hell on Earth already. 😉

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by | February 13, 2015 · 5:26 pm

Winning Science February 13, 2015

Happy Friday the 13th!

Emoji and emoticons have become a part of our every day life. Now, they are becoming an everyday part of court proceedings. Wired has an article out that discusses three different cases in which emoticons were used as evidence and the role they now play in conversation. Although they are still relatively new and not understood by everyone, the reality is that emoticons aren’t all that much different from speech. They can be as unclear and loaded with subtext as must conversations. It falls to the prosecutor to prove motive for the sentiment, just like they must prove motive for speech. The results have been mixed, with one of the example cases resulting in the charges being dropped and another resulted in convictions.The-Evil-Emoticons

It’s important to point out that no cases have relied solely on these icons as evidence.

This next one is a long post but it’s well worth the read. An excerpted chapter from Serving the Reich: The Struggle for the Soul of Physics under Hitler, which discusses science under the Third Reich, goes into a fascinating exploration of attempts by two Nobel winning physicists to undermine and debunk Einstein’s work, merely because he was Jewish. Because these two men didn’t understand the work that Einstein and other theoretical physicists were doing, they used their personal antisemitism and the Nazi ideals to launch an unbelievable campaign against real science. As an idea of how nuts these guys were, even the Nazis didn’t get behind the ideas they were pushing as alternatives to the theory of relativity.9780226204574

Some of the other ideas they did support were still pretty nuts, including the idea that ice is the fundamental element of everything in the universe.

Alzheimer’s is a truly horrifying disease that effects thousands of people each day. I’m not afraid to admit that the idea of being diagnosed later in my life is terrifying. New news however makes those fears subside just a little. By giving mice more of a particular protein found in the brain, scientists seem to be able to prevent the damage that Alzheimer’s will cause from toxin proteins. While this is still only a lab experiment in mice, it certain holds a lot of promise to help stop patients’ brains from degrading. The next step will be to find medications that increase these proteins, or mimic their effects.

The more I read these kinds of articles, the more I appreciate these little lab mice.

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by | February 6, 2015 · 11:00 am

Around the Web February 6, 2015

After George R. R. Martin managed to piss off just about every nerd on the planet by effectively coming out and saying that the next Game of Thrones book isn’t coming out this year, he decided to do something nice for a change. Mr. Martin recently donated a rare, first edition of The Hobbit to the library at Texas A&M in honor of their receiving their 5 millionth volume. Not only is this an impressive feat for a library, but it’s also nice to see Martin celebrating it with the college through his gift. Additionally, Martin will have a public reading of excerpts of the book, which will be free and on a first come first served basis. Martin became familiar with the library in the 70’s, when he started attending local scifi/fantasy cons at the school.

Worried that he won't finish his most famous series? Martin has something for you.

Worried that he won’t finish his most famous series? Martin has something for you.

Martin has previously donated several other items to the library.

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by | January 30, 2015 · 11:03 am

Around the Web January 30, 2015

Of course the biggest news this week is the announcement of an all female cast for the reboot of Ghostbusters. Reactions have been mixed and I have to say that I’m a bit skeptical myself. Now, to be clear, I have no issue with the fact that it’s an all female cast, or any of the specific women that were cast. My skeptisism comes from the idea of the movie being a reboot. Sure, I’d love another Ghostbusters movie and when this one comes out, you can bet that I’m going to go see it. But as a friend of mine recently put it, why would you reboot what is possibly the most perfect comedy in history? Unfortunately, no matter how good the movie is, it is likely that people will think less of it because of its amazing predecessor. On the positive side,  both Dan Aykroyd and Ernie Hudson have come out in support of the new cast (as has Terry Crews).

ghostbusters

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