4/01/10: From Space Station to Space City.
Now is the time to take the next step in space exploration from a space station to a space city. NASA is wrestling with the future path of the U.S. space program. Where should we go back to the Moon, to Mars, or should we just send unmanned robots on local missions around our solar system? I think we should push one step further and put all of our energy into creating a new fleet of space shuttles and build a space city that will orbit earth, just the like space station, only much larger.
There are many benefits to having a space city. First of all, we can build and launch rockets at the city without the obstacle of getting through earth's atmosphere and gravity. The reason space travel has not really taken off is because it currently takes $10,000 just to get one pound of material into orbit from earth. Just think if we could set up factories in the space city and produce what we needed to go further into space. There would be the initial expense of getting the materials to the orbiting city but then once the manufacturing plants were set up, they could produce all the materials necessary and subvert the high cost.
Another benefit is that we can conduct valuable experiments in zero gravity that will enhance our lives here on earth. We could build an agricultural sphere to grow crops and also study the human body in space in order to prepare for longer shuttle trips to Mars.
Additionally, there will be a hotel at the space city and the revenue accrued through space tourism would keep it up and running.
Finally, I want NASA to remain in charge of the space program. I fear that if we privatize space exploration we will go nowhere because we will not have a central vision or organization. The U.S. is already losing its dominance in space exploration and it will hurt our status as a world power as well as our pocketbooks. For example, Russia has already made it clear that once the U.S. decides to stop sending Americans into space on its own, they will gladly transport our astronauts on their fleet to the tune of $55 million per person! This is outrageous considering that Russia charges private citizens of any nationality only $35 million for a trip on their rocket!
The U.S needs to build our space program and rejuvenate our manned shuttle fleet. We all benefit so much from the brilliance and technology that goes into space exploration. The future is now - it's time to go forward!
1/01/10: Am I the only one that didn't like Avatar?
Spoiler Alert! I will discuss some aspects of the movie so if you plan on seeing it, come back and read this afterwards.
Everyone I talk to says that they loved the movie Avatar and that it was the best film they have ever seen. Best film...ever... Really? I whole-heartedly disagree - I thought that the storyline was mediocre, the character profiles cliched, and the concept tired. The only redeeming part of the movie was the new technology. I like experiencing a movie in 3-D but it seemed that the film went in and out of 3-D, meaning that sometimes objects and scenery appeared to come out of the screen while other times it seemed just like a regular movie. Why didn't director James Cameron just go for it? Really immerse the audience in 3-D so it would feel like we were in the film the whole time, with creatures brushing past our faces and trees falling into our laps.
Many people tell me how they thought the movie was incredibly beautiful and while the phosphorescent colors of the plants and rainbow-colored creatures certainly did not want for any hue, the horrible storyline and banal dialogue detracted from the visual imagery. And really, how fanciful were those creatures? They were just alterations of what we have here on earth in everyday life, not so special. So the planet Pandora's version of a horse had six legs instead of four? The Ekrans looked like pterodactyls and the black animals that attacked character James Sully (Sam Worthington) moved and looked like jungle jaguars. I would have been more impressed by alien creatures that well...looked alien. The first hour of the film visually entertained me but by the second half I was bored out of my mind as this oh so predictable story rambled on. We've seen this same plot in Dances with Wolves (1990) and even the animated film, FernGully: the Last Rainforest (1992). In Avatar, the characters are boring because they are either good or bad and nothing in between...and how much money did Cameron get from the cigarette industry to have the "rogue" scientist Dr. Grace Augustine (Sigourney Weaver) chain-smoke cigarettes inside her laboratory??? Jeez, I thought Hollywood was trying to move away from the stereotype of the beautiful film star seductively dangling a long cancer-stick from her languid fingers. Not to mention the fact that no serious scientist would ever smoke inside a controlled space especially within a larger bubble of filtered air because the outside planet atmosphere is toxic!
But I think what bothered me the most is that the audience is supposed to root for the Na'vi, the natives on planet Pandora, even when they are attacking the human species. That part does not seem so bad since the 'evil' humans (a.k.a Americans because they all speak English and are clearly from this country) are destroying their planet but this situation is all too familiar; the US has run similar invasions (Iraq) that have destroyed local environments and the people that fight against our attacks are called 'insurgents' or 'terrorists.' Why are the Na'vi heroes and not terrorists? The USA is one of the top consumers of natural resources worldwide. We don't think twice about energy consumption which drives us to look for resources elsewhere, one day we very well could pillage other planets to sustain our way of life, and no one would think twice about the natives, we already do that now. However, that is not why you are supposed to see Avatar - you go for escapism, fantasy, I get it. But the best movies I have seen offer me something else, a way to think about my own life, an intellectual concept that stays with me long after the film is over. When it comes to down to brilliance on all levels, Avatar just did not deliver.
11/11/09: 2009 The International Year of Astronomy
2009 has been designated The International Year of Astronomy with 140 countries worldwide celebrating
the field of astronomy and its contributions to art and culture. 2009 marks the 400th anniversary of Galileo's
first glimpses through a telescope and the birth of modern astronomy. We've come a long way in 400 years!
Check out the Events section on nighttrek.com for more information on local talks and activities commemorating this historic year.
11/12/09: 2012 The End of the World as we know it?
So there's been a lot of talk about the world coming to an end in 2012 compounded by the release of the 2012
movie spectacular on November 13th. Well, 2012 does not mark the end of the world so no point in holding
off your plans for the future. As a student of the arts of Latin America, I feel drawn to dispel some
of the rumors that are circulating about the Maya civilization and their cosmological calendar,
which supposedly predicts the end of the world on the winter solstice December 21, 2012.
This is completely false as Maya art and glyphic writing says nothing about the supposed catastrophic
demise that is coming to a theater near you.
At its height, the Maya civilization flourished in Central America from 250-900 CE. The Maya had
several different sets of calendars (both sacred and solar-based) that would run for a period of
months or even years. The calendars never ended but instead re-set like odometers after designated
phases suggesting that the Maya thought that the world would continue forever.
The Maya were excellent astronomers and their glyphic writings and artwork say nothing about an
impending cataclysmic devastation in 2012. So where did this rumor come from?
In the 1960s and 70s, an American novelist and mystic named Frank Waters wrote a completely
non-academic book about Maya philosophies taken up later by New Age hacks and the Hollywood industry.
The notion that a great cycle of existence will be coming to an end is a completely modern invention
and a clever marketing scheme to get people riled up for no good reason. Anyone remember the Y2K fake-out? Don?t believe the hype.
11/13/09: Top Ten Science Fiction Films of All Time.
I'm trying to decide on the best science-fiction films of all time. Email me the names of your favorite sci-fi movies at
nighttrekker@gmail.com
and I'll keep a tally and post a list of the most popular suggestions.
