Suspension of Disbelief is at times hard to Suspend

Image via Wikipedia

I love science fiction and well any fiction for that matter. I am willing to overlook many things in a science fiction story if it is compelling and well acted with good special effects. However, (and you just knew that however was coming!), there are times I cannot buy what the writers and directors are selling me. For example, there was this episode of Star Trek:TNG called "The Next Phase" where two characters were present on the ship in another phase of matter. They could pass through solid material including humans, consoles, and even walls. There was a "bad guy" in the same phase and a great chase with a fight ended with the bad guy being thrown through the hull of the ship into outer space. I kept asking myself the entire time, "Why don't they fall through the floor!?" Overall, I like the episode and how Ro and LaForge deal with death, but I always remember that particular element about the floor.
Another example of something I really cannot buy is when a character ages due to an illness or diabolical potion or some DNA mutation. The character gets long grey hair, wrinkled skin, age spots, maybe even a hump. Then someone has a magical cure and the aging is reversed. Poof! No more wrinkles, age spots, grey hair! I want that cure please!
Just as bad is when a character mutates into another creature with webbed hands or bug eyes and blue skin, actual cranial and other bone changes. I understand stopping the process but reversing it! The hands go back to normal, the skin is pink, and the bones the way they were, WOW!
Oh well, it is all in good fun!

The Ultimate Star Trek, Battlestar, Stargate Video

There are some creative people out there in Youtube land. I like to browse in there once in a while because I can find unique videos and learn what things interest people from around the world. They put together all types of videos including some fun videos with interesting music especially in the science fiction genre. I found an interesting one if you like battle sequences, I know I do, and my family usually looks at me oddly and with true bewilderment about some of the science fiction I watch. Usually I get "How can you like that?" or "I thought you were for peace in the world?" I guess I just like the fantasy and the special effects. When I watch science fiction or read a novel, it takes my mind completely away from reality. It is one of few ways I can completely forget about work, chores, etc. Even more so with a fictitious space battle that we hope would not really take place so I cannot even relate it to my daily life. Again, one of the numerous reasons I adore sci fi.
In this video, see if you can keep track of the different ships ranging from the Star Trek series(it looks they covered the entire franchise),Star Wars, Stargate, and Battlestar Galactica. I wish they would have included more hand to hand combat but overall the video is fun and clever.
Enjoy your day and enjoy the video it is less than four minutes in length.

Bjork and Fembots

The Japanese made female robot has been in the NEWS again. When I saw the robot it reminded me of a Bjork video that came out several years ago. The robots look very similar in design and color and focus on emotion and facial expressions.
When I think of Bjork I rarely envision science fiction but this video she made for the song "All is Full of Love" is sci fi in content. She focuses on the robots and the emotions that we apply to them. I like Bjork and her music, she is fringe but since I am a science fiction fan, I am also a fan of most things fringe. I like "out there" creativity and pushing the envelope in music, art, writing, television, and movies.
Bjork takes risks because she is creative and sometimes it works and other times not, but the point is that she takes a risk without worrying about the criticism she may receive. That is the very thing I enjoy with science fiction: extreme situations, creativity, dreaming about other worlds or our own world in the future and what we could make of it. Very cool stuff indeed.
Enjoy the video and your day!

Exercise in Space!

The space shuttle Discovery is off on another mission but the exercise bike is broken! I would go crazy if I could not ride my bike everyday! I love cycling and think it is great they have this piece of equipment on the shuttle.

"The annoying glitch has stymied repair efforts by the seven astronauts aboard Discovery, especially since the stationary bicycle can be a challenge to set up in the shuttle's cramped quarters. The shuttle is due to dock at the International Space Station later today at 5:13 p.m. EDT (2113 GMT).

"It's a kind of cycle in the middeck that we all use to keep in shape," shuttle astronaut John Phillips said late Monday after trying to get the space bike up and running. "It's quite a piece of work to get it put together."

But after assembling the exercise bike, known in NASA parlance the "cycle ergometer," Phillips and his crewmates found its pedals stuck fast."

It is interesting to see how difficult it can be to problem solve in zero gravity. Quite a difference from solving a problem on the starship Enterprise! In artificial gravity and with the help of trusty replicators, a problem can be fixed in no time at all! Just ask the computer for a tool or part to fix a machine and you are all set. If that doesn't work, then just replicate a new bicycle.

"NASA has long known that the muscles and bones of astronauts in space weaken over time since they don't have to work against the pull of Earth's gravity when floating in weightlessness. Aboard the space station, astronauts have to work out about two hours every day to maintain their muscle strength during six-month spaceflights."

Again, the problems of zero gravity! These astronauts actually need to workout to keep their muscles and bones healthy. There is no artificial gravity to keep your bone density in normal levels.

Seriously, I do love the scenes in Star Trek: TNG in which they are practicing Klingon martial arts or horse back riding in the holodeck. On Star Trek: Enterprise, they included an exercise room with treadmills and weights and even a basketball court.
I like to see my action heroes running and defending themselves which implies they need to have a certain level of physical ability. It is part of the overall perceived physical and mental discipline required for space travel. In most of my favorite shows, there is a preferred sport such as baseball, golf, basketball, or some variation of martial arts, that is regularly practiced. The inclusion of sports is another of the many reasons I love to watch science fiction!
I have included a link to a video on exercise in NASA's space shuttle HERE. The video is seven minutes long and very interesting about how the crew exercises.
Space Exercise Bike Article HERE

Nanotechnology

I have the great opportunity to read medical journals and studies at my work. Although I do not understand the medical science fully as a trained scientist would, I can appreciate the implications of the research being conducted and the potential it holds for us in the future. One area of research I find most interesting is that of nanotechnology. This sounds like something straight out of science fiction but is actually being studied as ways to work on and in the human body. More specifically, research is being conducted using gold nanoparticles that are heated up by infrared light to destroy cancer cells. This technique in concert with traditional cancer treatment could be the wave of the future so to speak. Scientists have discovered that gold nanoparticles in the shape of pyramids achieve a more efficient resonance when heated by light and destroy the cancerous cells. The article at the website Nanotechweb.org is very interesting and provides more detail as well as other interesting articles on the site. The Foresight Institute also has many articles on the topic of nanomedicine.

As I was reading the material about nanotechnology, I thought about my favorite episode of Stargate Atlantis entitled, "The Real World" in which Dr. Weir has been infected by nanites. These nanites have the special ability to self-replicate and utilize organic matter. While Dr. Weir appears to be living out her life, she is actually in a coma being treated by the Stargate medical team. I like the many layers of ideas in this episode.
First, the idea that the Real World is really an illusion, a topic explored before in many movies and books. The Matrix comes to mind when referring to an illusory world.
Second, I like topics that take a hard look at the thin line between reality and our own perceptions of what the world is about. Is our reality the same as someone else? What reality are we then referring to? A mental reality or physical reality?
Thirdly, talking to someone who is in a coma may make all the difference in the world in their recovery, of course that also depends on the type of coma and level of brain damage.

I have included the websites about nanotechnology and check out the episode of Stargate Atlantis.
Enjoy your day!

Friday the 13th

Cover via Amazon

This year we will have three Fridays that have attached to them the number thirteen. We already had one last February, tomorrow is next, and November will have the final "unlucky" day. Some interesting tidbits about Friday the thirteenth can be found HERE.
I want to shift my attention to the series of movies called Friday the 13th(1980) and the 11 sequels. Can you believe it! Eleven sequels to a movie and they should have kept on going and made it 13 sequels. As it is there are 12 movies totaled, but I guess they felt it unlucky to make 13 in all. Even more frightening is that I have seen most of the movies with the exception of Jason Takes Manhattan and Jason goes to Hell. I even watched Jason X!
The sequels were just ok but I do have fond memories of the original. There is something fun about remembering the first time I saw the movie in the theater with my date, getting scared, eating popcorn. Even when I watch the movie now, it has a classic feeling about it. Low tech, suspense that takes place at a camp. I remember telling ghost stories at camp then staying up all night because we were all too scared to go to sleep(of course no one would admit this).
Kevin Bacon looks so young in the movie and the other actors were unknown. That is the kind of movie I really like, actors that are relatively unknown, a simple setting, not tooo gorey, and pure mindless entrtainment.
Jason X is extreme but fun to watch if you like stuff in outer space.
The movies are not deep or meaningful but really fun. Enjoy!

Grocery Bags and Space Junk

I have had it up to my eyeballs with talk about banning grocery bags. Yes, I am for a clean environment but grocery bags!? I save all my plastic bags I get from the store and fold them and use them and re-use them again if I can. I even bring my lunch to work in them. I do not buy plastic bags in any size or shape which can be tricky if you have plants in your yard to trim but it can be done.
Now I love those disaster movies that show how we pollute the environment and help to speed up global warming. I like the special effects and how Hollywood likes to destroy national monuments. For me, the bigger lesson from these movies and science in general is that automobile and factory emissions are what damage the environment more than bags. I have seen the data about the grocery bags and the horrid pictures of the poor sea creatures that suffer, but in my opinion that is due to people who are careless and litter. I have seen so many people shamelessly throw trash in any spot! I am constantly picking up trash, sweeping, cleaning, to keep my small areas I inhabit here on Earth clean. I recycle, I ride my bike to work, walk to pay my bills. I use my car only once in a while if I have to go grocery shopping and I love my plastic bags. If we ban plastic bags, then we need to ban ALL bags that are plastic, reduce the amount of packaging used to sell and promote products, and all around simplify our lives in order to not use up so many precious natural resources required to make these packages.
We even have litter orbiting the planet! I read an article years ago on Space.com about the JUNK orbiting the Earth and the risk it poses to astronauts, satellites, and Earth.
I think that instead of focusing only on plastic bags (because in my jaded opinion I think grocery stores want to save money), we should all walk, skate, ride, or use public transportation, buy products with less packaging, and do not litter, especially at the beach.
I think that will save us money, protect resources, and could improve our health all at the same time.

Science Fiction and the Medical Point of View

Have you ever tried to watch a science fiction show or movie with a doctor? My spouse and sister-in-law are medical doctors and if I happen to be watching a sci fi show or movie with one or the other it is almost impossible for me to sit back and relax without hearing a running commentary on the technical mistakes being made by the good doctor of the show or movie. I try to remind them that it is simply fiction, but I get in response that basic mistakes should not be made if they are going to have a medical doctor treating people(which they invariably do!) The doctor is usually the beloved character in a series or movie and is highly trained in alien physiology or using technical gadgets. The techno babble usually sounds good to the untrained ear but look out if you have someone who knows medicine!
I hear the loudest complaints and sometimes outright laughter whenever I watch Star Trek in any incarnation, and to a lesser degree while watching Stargate. (Forget about watching ER, I know it is not sci fi, but if I want some drama and fun I need to watch it alone!)
While it is very useful to get the perspective from a trained professional it can also get tiresome. The funny thing is that neither can control themselves, they automatically point out what is wrong and that in and of itself can be very amusing to me. Suddenly I will be startled with "if that were true the person would be seizing, are they an alien or what?" Most of the time I don't mind and to outsiders it is amusing, but sometimes I want to relax in my fantasy science fiction world where broken spines can be replaced, we can read minds, and have bionic hearing!

NASA's Kepler Satellite

The Scientific American is reporting on the Kepler satellite that will be launched later this week.

Next week brings a milestone in the search for extraterrestrial life with the scheduled launch Friday of NASA's Kepler satellite. The mission, named for 16th- and 17th-century German astronomer Johannes Kepler, will study a group of stars for three-plus years in search of subtle, periodic dips in stellar brightness—the telltale signs of planetary orbits. Although more than 300 planets outside the solar system have already been found using this method, among other techniques, Kepler's strength will lie in its instruments' sensitivity to smaller, cooler planets more hospitable to life and more like our own.

Can you imagine what would happen if worlds with life were actually found? Or let's say that these worlds have intelligent beings who realize we are here and contact us? How would human beings react?
I ask myself these questions because observing how we behave here on good old planet earth towards each other, I am not sure that we humans could get our act together to meet aliens from other worlds.
Would we take a "protectionist" attitude? (This is the new buzz word as of late.)
Would we listen to new aliens and learn about their way of life?
Would we try to exploit them?
Would they be friendly or hostile?
Will some think it is the end of the world?
A lot of people panic at the prospect of anything new and different. Aliens from another world would be REALLY different.
Could people handle a visit from another world? Who knows but I hope so.
I am happy that scientific research is continuing in this area and I do look forward to the day when we can participate in first contact.
Here is the entire ARTICLE. Enjoy!

Related articles by Zemanta

• NASA delays Kepler launch for rocket checks (theregister.co.uk)