Some call this the greatest graphic novel ever. I tend to agree. Written and drawn by a young Hayao Miyazaki between 1982 and 1994, his final Japanese manga reached 1,100 pages. The current English translation consists of an oversized 2-volume hardcover boxed set (or a smaller format 7 volume paperback set). The story takes place in a post-apocalyptic earth and is rife with concern for the environment as well as feral fantasy creatures. Miyazaki would later animate it into his first feature length film by the same name. The obsessive detail in each drawing sucks you into a complete immersion into his world. Like all Miyazaki creations, it is lyrical, uplifting yet slightly dark, with villains who have redeeming qualities, and vice versa. It’s suitable for young adults.
Nausicaä of the Valley of Wind Vol. 1 by Hayao Miyazaki
VIZ Media
2004, 136 pages, 7.1 x 10.1 x 0.5 inches (paperback)
$9 Buy one on Amazon
After arriving on the red carpet at London's Leicester Square for the premiere of his film Legend, Tom showed off his best bud—an adorable mutt named Woody.
The star was also joined by his wife Charlotte Riley, who is expecting a child. But all eyes were on Woody.
The lovable pooch even took his chance in the spotlight to show off his bird-chasing skills. Just how long until Woody makes an appearance in one of Hardy's epic dub smashes? The public needs to know.
Italian singer Adriano Celentano's "Prisencolinensinainciusol" hit the #1 pop song spot on the Italian charts in 1972. The lyrics consist of gibberish designed to sound like English. My brain tries to extract meaning from the nonsense words even though it knows there's nothing there. It's also a great song!
Italian singer Adriano Celentano wrote the song to mimic the way he thought American English sounded. “Ever since I started singing, I was very influenced by American music and everything Americans did,” said Celentano during a 2012 interview with All Things Considered. “I thought that I would write a song which would only have as its theme the inability to communicate. And to do this, I had to write a song where the lyrics didn’t mean anything.”
Related: How English sounds to non-English speakers
Bipolar planetary nebulae occur when a twin star system lies at the center, forming beautiful wing-like symmetrical lobes. The Hubble team estimates this translucent beauty occurred only 1200 years ago.
The characteristic shape of the wings of the Twin Jet Nebula is most likely caused by the motion of the two central stars around each other. It is believed that a white dwarf orbits its partner star and thus the ejected gas from the dying star is pulled into two lobes rather than expanding as a uniform sphere. However, astronomers are still debating whether all bipolar nebulae are created by binary stars. Meanwhile the nebula’s wings are still growing and, by measuring their expansion, astronomers have calculated that the nebula was created only 1200 years ago. Within the wings, starting from the star system and extending horizontally outwards like veins are two faint blue patches. Although these may seem subtle in comparison to the nebula’s rainbow colours, these are actually violent twin jets streaming out into space, at speeds in excess of one million kilometres per hour. This is a phenomenon that is another consequence of the binary system at the heart of the nebula. These jets slowly change their orientation, precessing across the lobes as they are pulled by the wayward gravity of the binary system.
Below is an example of the precessing jet of M2-9, a planetary nebula.
More specifically, he’s shooting for 2039, the 70th anniversary of his own Apollo 11 moon landing, although he admits the schedule is “adjustable”.
He envisions using Mars’ moons, Phobos and Deimos, as preliminary stepping stones for astronauts. He said he dislikes the label “one-way” and imagines tours of duty lasting 10 years.
“The Pilgrims on the Mayflower came here to live and stay. They didn’t wait around Plymouth Rock for the return trip, and neither will people building up a population and a settlement” on Mars.
I know it is fictional.... but the prospect of this fills me with awe and wonder.
There are plenty of people who are already sold on The Martian, the latest sci-fi drama from Ridley Scott. It’s one of our 30 Movies to Be Excited for Before the End of 2015, and the most recent trailer really showed how good it looks.
But 20th Century Fox still has a little over a month to go before the film hits theaters, and they’re continuing their impressive viral marketing campaign with yet another cool video focusing on the crew of the Ares 3, another manned mission to the surface of Mars. This time, famed astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson examines the upcoming mission in the style of the recent Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey series.
Watch The Martian Neil deGrasse Tyson video after the jump!
Aside from examining the Ares 3 mission on which the movie The Martian is focused, Tyson also gives us some information about the world in which the story exists. For example, the first manned mission to Mars happened back in 2029, and Hermes is the space station orbiting around Earth that will take the crew to Mars.
If it wasn’t for the fact that the crew of the Ares 3 is composed of famous actors like Matt Damon, Jessica Chastain, Kate Mara and more, someone might actually believe that this is a real video talking about an actual mission to Mars. Between this and the previous interviews with the crew after isolation training and the viral video from the Hermes with the crew on board, The Martian has one of the best viral marketing campaigns in recent memory, maybe the best since The Dark Knight.
Don’t forget, The Martian has moved up to an earlier release date on October 2nd, and you can watch the most recent trailer for the movie right here. Stay tuned for anymore cool viral marketing updates.
During a manned mission to Mars, Astronaut Mark Watney (Matt Damon) is presumed dead after a fierce storm and left behind by his crew. But Watney has survived and finds himself stranded and alone on the hostile planet. With only meager supplies, he must draw upon his ingenuity, wit and spirit to subsist and find a way to signal to Earth that he is alive. Millions of miles away, NASA and a team of international scientists work tirelessly to bring “the Martian” home, while his crewmates concurrently plot a daring, if not impossible, rescue mission. As these stories of incredible bravery unfold, the world comes together to root for Watney’s safe return. Based on a best-selling novel, and helmed by master director Ridley Scott, THE MARTIAN features a star studded cast that includes Jessica Chastain, Kristen Wiig, Kate Mara, Michael Pena, Jeff Daniels, Chiwetel Ejiofor, and Donald Glover.
Retrospecs is an app by software developer John Parker that converts ordinary photos into retro computer or video game pixel art. Users can choose from a collection of fun filters to make their images look like they should be displayed on an 8-bit Commodore 64 computer, an old school Nintendo Game Boy, and more. The app is currently available to purchase for iPhones, iPods, and iPads from the iTunes App Store.
Retrospecs lets you convert/capture images so that they appear as they would on a variety of home computers and consoles from the 70’s, 80’s and 90’s. It’s part camera app, part tribute to the sort of computers I lusted after whilst pouring over copies of Byte magazine as a lad.
These horrific detonations that occurred at a storage facility in Tainjin, China, which was captured on camera from a variety of angles, officially caused over 700 injuries and 50 deaths.
Jay. Infamous BlueJay. INFAMOUS BLUEJAY. I just need the gloves+wings thing! I NEED THEM.
(Because let’s be honest, I can pull everything else out of my wardrobe already, and there is no way in hell I am asking anyone to make a knife-pleated skirt)
The astronauts first cleaned the lettuce with a citric acid-based wipe to ensure the lettuce was safe to eat, and ate half their lettuce crop while the other half will be sent back to Earth for further study.
The technology used to grow the lettuce is important for the future of long-term space travel, and could one day be used to help colonize Mars. It also has applications here on Earth where similar technology can help grow food in harsh climates.
“And So It Begins” is the latest in the long-running series of over-the-top Old Spice commercials. The spot sees the return of former Old Spice spokesman Isaiah Mustafa as he does battle with his replacement Terry Crews over which Old Spice scent is superior. Mustafa is fighting on behalf of the Timber scent, and Crews is battling for Bearglove.
