I Really Wanted To Like Kingsmen...

I truly wanted to like Kingsmen. Adapted from a comic by writer Mark Millar (Kickass, Civil War) and directed by Matthew Vaughn (Kickass, X-Men: First Class) it looked like the comic book action flick I've been dying for this winter. True, the movie had gadgets, eccentric villains, an unlikely hero and a secret society... but when it all came together not only did it fall flat, it made me feel gross for watching it.

Why do all the "best" assassins have a thigh gap these days...

Space Plankton

Space: the final frontier. Where, if you don’t have a pressurized field around you, you either die immediately, or very slowly (depending on which story you’re engaged in). A ridiculous amount of money is needed to build and maintain any life support system needed to survive in such an environment. All of this has been knocked askew now that a galaxy-shattering bit of news has arrived on Earth:

Life can exist in the vacuum of space.

Astronauts aboard the Russian segment of the International Space Station (ISS) took samples from the outside hull of the station, and found marine plankton. Not only was it there, it was thriving, and it has probably been there for years. What one article highlights is that it has been proven that microorganisms can, indeed, survive in space, but what makes this so very peculiar is that it is marine plankton. The plankton in question is not native to the landlocked region the launching area for the Russian segment hails from, but there are several theories as to how it boarded the ISS.

One theory speculates that the plankton hitchhiked on supply ships from areas of the world where the launching stations are closer to water. Another suggestion (by one of the Russian ISS representatives) is that they were carried by air currents the 260 miles between the surface of the planet and the hull of the station. NASA has yet to make an official statement regarding the topic, and one article hints that this may not be news to NASA. Many articles speculate, but all are concrete in affirming that the plankton is from our planet.

This is shattering minds of SciFi nerds across the planet. Shows (like Star Trek and Doctor Who) have had entire plot lines surrounding a species of animal that lives in the vacuum of outer space. In the past, stories like these were less believable because science classes taught us that nothing organic can thrive in the vacuum of space. Those very same plot lines give a new sense of awe because it is possible for such beings to exist. Revisit those episodes, keeping in mind that it is entirely probable that species can evolve to survive in outer space.

Amongst all of this, there are many things that can be done with this knowledge. Although proof that life can exist in the vacuum of space is not new, this is the first we've seen of life reliant on water surviving out there. This still brings about many scientific queries. We can test the reactions of the plankton on the hull of the ISS to different circumstances. It clearly can withstand the cosmic radiation of our galaxy—what about the different kinds of radiation that other parts of our universe can output? How does it react to cooler/warmer temperatures in the vacuum of space? Will the marine plankton respond to high concentrations of ice? The opportunities and possibilities seem nearly endless, and we haven’t even scratched the surface.

Sources:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2728979/Never-mind-alien-life-SEA-PLANKTON-space-Creatures-living-surface-ISS-officials-say.html
http://www.iflscience.com/space/marine-plankton-found-surface-international-space-station
http://www.cnet.com/news/sea-plankton-found-on-the-outer-surface-of-the-iss/


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Ace of Geeks vs Found in the Alley: Movie Draft Super War Update 3!

Update 1!
Update 2!

Welcome back to the next update of the Ace of Geeks and Found in the Alley Movie Draft Super War! Previously, the Ace of Geeks had a commanding lead, leaving our comrades at Found in the Alley in the dust and looking well on our way to winning the whole summer. But the movie business is a fickle one. Did the FitA boys find a comeback since then? Have the tides turned? Read on to find out!

Here are the rules, as always: Only the opening weekend of a film counts, from Friday to Sunday. The total combined dollars of all of our picks will be added up, and at the end of the summer we'll see both which podcast won, and who the winner of each duo was. Bragging rights, and other, more sinister prizes are at stake. Listen to the podcast that started it all for more.

Josh Brolin is Thanos in Guardians of the Galaxy!

"To attack them is to court Death..."

That moment, that turn and smile from the end credits of the first Avengers film has teased us for more than a year now. The moment Thanos made his presence known, even for half a second, comic book fans the world over have wondered how and when the Mad Titan would appear and wreck our heroes' day. Now, thanks to Latino Review, we know.

Hulu in talks to revive Community!

Say it with me now - Six Seasons and a Movie.

SIX SEASONS AND A MOVIE.

SIX SEASONS AND A MOVIE.

Comic Books Have Saved Cinema. by Mike Fatum

Beast seriously looks like he's photobombing here.

Warning: This post will contain spoilers for the end of Days of Future Past.

The Avengers should never have worked. By conventional logic, a major summer tentpole movie that requires audiences to have seen at least three other movies is insane. Centering a good chunk of the movie on characters who hadn't been in a film in years (Hulk) or were only bit players in films before (Black Widow) is just as insane. Audiences just aren't that smart, conventional wisdom says. You have to hold their hands at every stage of the game and just hope they can follow even the least convoluted plot line. Movies must be simple.

SAWS Challenge Keeps the Indy GT Spirit Alive. by Seth Oakley

I’m never really sure how Google knows what is going on. I mean, they could have a lot of really smart people that research issues and make predictions. They could collect a lot of data and then use it to predict trends. That was the conclusion of classical mechanics as I understand them: If you knew the location and velocity of every particle, you could predict everything that was to come. Further research has shown that you can’t know both pieces of information, but still Google is able to predict, almost to the minute, how long it will take me to drive up to Sacramento to hang out with my friend Dan and cover the SAWS Challenge, a 5 round Warhammer Fantasy Grand Tournament. Google Maps put the drive at 2 hours, 10 minutes. I would be leaving San Francisco on a Friday evening, so traffic would be rough. Maybe the estimate went up. I ride a motorcycle and can cut through most of it, so maybe the estimate went down. I would be taking 80, and there was road construction, so the estimate goes up. It’s 80, so people are going like 75 mph, so the estimate goes down. I got lost and had to stop and look at a map, estimate goes up. Still, 2 hours and 10 minutes later, there I was, at the hotel, right at the time Google had told me I would be there. Can they manipulate traffic signals to control this flow of cars? Did they turn off the lights of the signs that would have guided me? All good questions for another time.

The Ace of Geeks vs Found in the Alley - Movie Draft Super War Update 2

Update 1

Welcome back to the ongoing summer movie draft between The Ace of Geeks and our frenemies at Found in the Alley. Last week, the Ace of Geeks had a commanding lead, leaving their compatriots at FiTa in the dust. I'm pleased to report that very little has changed. Here's a quick refresher:

Wizards of the Coast Announces FREE Dungeons and Dragons!

We were already pretty excited around here about the next edition of Dungeons and Dragons. After playtesting as "D&D Next" for about a year, the new edition will finally launch this summer in a series high quality, hardcover books, starting with the D&D Starter Set on July 15th. But I hear you out there - the economy sucks, and paying $60-$80 for a bunch of books just to play feels like a tug on the wallet. Why not stay with the huge amount of 4E or Pathfinder books we already have?

Well, if you're that worried about paying too much for D&D...how about paying nothing?

Are you an Ambassador, or a Gatekeeper? by John Garcia

I couldn't resist. -Ed

One of the first times I had to look up the word “Geek” was after watching one of Kevin Smith’s  “Evening With” shows. He gave a sort of an etymological flashback of the word, telling the audience that a “Geek” in its original meaning, was a circus performer who bites the head off of chickens. I thought about it, and decided it was a proper definition.  In addition to being a synonym to “freak,” as one who lives outside the mainstream, a sub-category of geeks do it for the acclaim, attention,( and sometimes alcohol) because they are so desperate for such things that they would sacrifice their own dignity.

The "Fake Geek" is Not The Problem When It Comes to "Fake Geek Girls" by Chris Brecheen

It's possible that I'm not quite this bad.

I've now been to about twenty conventions. Comic book conventions, lots of gaming conventions, an anime convention, and a couple of conventions that defied categorization in a way that I wouldn't consider complimentary. ("Are those Pokemon yiffing in the lobby?")

I've sat with geeks of every stripe. Star Wars fans. Trekkies. Browncoats. Role players. LARPers. Cosplayers. SCAers. Comic Book lovers. Gamers. Even people who love civil war strategy games.