Hi-Sci-Fi

by Irma Arkus

James Frain, the silver tongued Cromwell from Tudors is Franklin Mott!

Mott will be a new vampire in town, one that will capture the attention and heart of…wait for it…our lovely Tara.

Frain was born in Leeds, England, and does actually sport an English accent. This not only automatically propels him into sexy-land amongst the southerners, but also acts as a pair of “invisible glasses,” ie. sudden rise in perception of intelligence.

Tara will hopefully take him down a notch or two, but I suspect that what we’ll be really witnessing is some kind of anglo-version of a latin lover.

we’ve all been soaking up the new show, and unlike other shows this season, SGU has been consistently offering the much needed hard scifi edge to our viewing.

The show has been renewed for the second season, but according to The Hollywood Reporter, many changes are to be expected.

For one, the communications stones have been a fly in the ointment. And their malfunction led the fans to believe that their use will be suspended, or in the least, heavily curtailed.

As far as visiting other planets and meeting alien creatures, the writers promise some of that, but more of a “District 9” version of aliens, rather than the stereotypical “I have gunk on my face” type.

Robert Cooper says that tThe implications of leaving Rush on the planet, the real division that will cause amongst the crew, the judgment of those characters and their actions are going to have a big impact on the show. we have a lot of things planned for the second half of the season, which will be much more serialized.”

As for the girls, apparently a lot of people have been questioning the open sexuality of women (??) to which Cooper elaborates: “I think our female actors are playing strong female characters and they are proud of the characters they’re playing. We didn’t do a good enough job establishing them early on, it took too long for those traits to come to the forefront, and I think people are recognizing that in the later episodes. But that’s the other big hot button — whether sex belongs in sci-fi. It’s a huge deal with our fan base and I think its bizarre to ignore sex as a part of translating the human condition to fiction. If we’re going to try and tell a more realistic character story we need to include those things.”

SGU is returning after holidays, and the first season story lines and principal photography have already been wrapped up. Now, we just have to wait, watch and enjoy. [TheHollywoodReporter

This week we lament the fall of Mininova.org, bring you some alternatives to the ever popular torrent site, and discuss the issues surrounding copyright.

Also, hold your breath for Santas Parade and the newest UK show, Misfits.

by Irma Arkus

The show that must go on…goes on.

The latest in Thirst News is that while Emmy Awards decided to entirely circumvent the mention of most excellent writing and acting of True Blood productions, the AFI’s list definitely included the series as impressive, relevant and worthy of lavish praises as well as of tiny, shiny figurines.

Indeed, True Blood appears on THE LIST.

In other news, True Blood casting announced some new faces for the upcoming third season. Theo Alexander, a relative newcomer is joining the cast as “that gorgeous vampire named Talbot.”

Denis O’Hare is also joining the cast, appearing as another vampire lording over a district, possibly dating Talbot.

And Grant Bowler, the man better known for his thick New Zealand accent in Ugly Betty, will get a recurring role on the show, which will lead to some major growls and scowls - you see, Bowler will be a werewolf.

There will be werewolves!

Also, Sam is getting a brother. Marshall Allman has been announced as the new kid on the block that will become a “permanent fixture.” Allman has scored a big, recurring role of Sam’s younger, presumed-lost sibling who comes to find him.

Much more is on the horizon for the show that starts taping in mere days from now, and we will be reporting on the up and coming True Blood news. Stay Thirsty!

by Irma Arkus

Oh sure, District 9 may not be in the running for the best film this year, but it sure is named in the special effects category, where all the sci-fi productions go to die.

The special effects Academy Awards have always held a dear, warm spot in my heart, because this would be the only category where my favorite films would somehow end up.

Consider this: the critically beloved, and endlessly mysterious Kubrick’s “2001: A Space Odyssey” won the special effects award in 1968. It may have been nominated for the best director, art direction and set design, and even best screenplay, but it ONLY won the special effects Oscar. Years later, we are still toiling in academia, writing endless papers on what Kubrick attempted to show, and what Arthur C. Clarke meant to write.

So, this year’s nominees are a parade of pride and shame, as ever before, and here are this year’s “suspects:”

- Angels & Demons
- Avatar
- Coraline
- Disney’s A Christmas Carol
- District 9
- G-Force
- G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra
- Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
- Sherlock Holmes
- Star Trek
- Terminator Salvation
- Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen
- 2012
- Watchmen
- Where the Wild Things Are

XKYR43YHUSM4

by Irma Arkus

I haven’t doubted the fact that James Cameron can and will produce a smashing hit with Avatar. What I did not know is how unanimously pronounced the critical support is for the new film, and across the board too.

Reading Roger Ebert’s review, Cameron has spent his $300m “wisely” and delivered “an extraordinary film.” More importantly, the combination of technology, new species, language, and likeable heroes is what Ebert acknowledges as an “Event,” and with a capital ‘E.’]

And Ebert is only the beginning of a long line-up of praises for a film that LA Times touts as a serious Oscar contender. While it makes a deadly mistake in failing to draw a distinction between fantasy and sci-fi genres, it does question the draw for Academy Awards, asking whether this one will break the mold.
The Hollywood Reporter called it a “jaw-dropping wonder” and even Simon Pegg tweeted “an extraordinary piece of cinema.”

So there. Now we all have to watch it.

by Irma Arkus

over at BoingBoing, hot news item is that Dr. Peter Watts, a scifi Hugo nominee, has been detained at the US border for reasons unknown.

After border patrol decided to conduct a search of his rented vehicle, Watts faced physical abuse by the officers, was stripped half-naked and spent almost a day in a cold detenion cell.

Seizure of his personal computer, flash drive, and even his paper notepad was explained as a way to halt terrorism: “even my fucking paper notepad withheld until they could find someone among their number literate enough to distinguish between handwritten notes on story ideas and, I suppose, nefarious terrorist plots,” explained Peter in his own words.

After being harassed and abused by the border officials, and posted bond for his release, Dr. Watts was sent out in his shirt, in a midst of a cold Ontario snow-storm.

Now, Dr. Watts faces charges of assault against a federal officer. How questioning a search amounts to an assault is still unknown, but one thing is for sure, Dr. Watts will need a lot of financial support to dispute the charges in Michigan.

To help with his situation, please send your support funds via PayPal to donate@rifters.com

Studio Ghibli continues to amaze me, and what I ask, could be better than watching Hayao Miyazaki’s films?

Now, Studio Ghibli is preparing for a much touted media reveal of the new production announcement on Dec. 16th. Apparently, there is something in the bag, we just don’t know yet what the “something” may be.

The interesting thing though is that Miyazaki will be handing the directorial stick to someone else this time, which means that Studio Ghibli will be getting some fresh blood, and potential (as well as much needed) expansion.

Speculations fly on what Cameron will do post-Avatar, and rumours are that Shane Salerno, the very same man who hasn’t updated his imdb photo since the 1980s, the one responsible for the AVP2 film production, has a science fiction script that Cameron will immediately start working on.

Could this be the “Doomsday Protocol” announced in pre-production on Salerno’s work page?

Right now, Doomsday Protocol is described by SciFi cool, as a whiff of the Seven Samurai in Space, but the summary of the film is maintained as “a group of humans and aliens with unique abilities who are brought together to save Earth,” which at this point could mean anything.

While Salerno is touted as a big blockbuster gift to humanity, in terms of writing, his recent films were less than successful. Not that I am pointing any fingers, but Shaft, AVP 1, and Armageddon do not inspire me with a great deal of confidence, no matter what his grandiose wiki entry may say.

Fantastic Mr. Fox offers not only an imaginative, new animation style, but superb hat and excellent writing. And it is in theaters…now!

James Cameron’s final poster for Avatar has been released, and let’s just say it bears no surprises, yet pree-tee

by Irma Arkus

thanks to generalcastro for tip!

Cryptome.org has leaked a 17 page price list from Yahoo! Inc. as a guide to selling the email content of its users to law enforcement and intelligence collecting agencies.

Not only are personal emails available for sale to agencies in question, but the concern has an foreign relations angle, as the increasingly popular free email services provided by telcos, led to many officials across the nations to using them for private and business purposes.

While many responded to this revelation by closing their email Yahoo accounts, users should be warned that the company stores the said accounts for a 90 day period after closure.

Upon release of the whistleblowing documents, Yahoo issued a legal letter to Cryptome, stating that the information hosted on its site is proprietary information and copyrighted to Yahoo, thus. Cryptome’s answer to that is that the copyright on the documentation is not registered in any way, nor does the documentation itself bear any copyright insignia.

Apart from Yahoo, Cryptome has also released ATT, Sprint, Voicestream, Verizon, Nextel, Pacific Telesis, GTE, and Cingular documentation of similar nature. I highly encourage you to review the said documentation at Cryptome.org [Cryptome]

by Irma Arkus

One of the most remarkable lawsuits to surface while discussing copyright legislation in Canada is the most recent one discussed by Michael Geist. It involves artists - yes, those very same huddled masses you often hear of during anti-piracy ads - suing large recording companies: Warner Music Canada, Sony BMG Music Canada, EMI Music Canada, and Universal Music Canada for some $60b worth of copyright infringements, estimated at $20,000 per song, a number based on what the companies are demanding from potential infringing individuals.

Why now and why at all, begs the question, and Geist gives us a rather satisfying answer:

“After years of claiming Canadian consumers disrespect copyright, the irony of having the recording industry face a massive lawsuit will not be lost on anyone, least of all the artists still waiting to be paid. Indeed, they are also seeking punitive damages, arguing “the conduct of the defendant record companies is aggravated by their strict and unremitting approach to the enforcement of their copyright interests against consumers.”

Ta da! But what is the case based on? Apparently, copyright laws have changed in Canada since the 1980s, explains Geist: “The pending list dates back to the late 1980s, when Canada changed its copyright law by replacing a compulsory licence with the need for specific authorization for each use.”

While many artists, including some little known names of McLachlan, Bruce Cockburn, Sloan, or the Watchmen, are at the forefront of the lawsuit, others are more obscure artists, demanding their fair share of the profits.

“It is difficult to understand why the industry has been so reluctant to pay its bills,” says Geist, only to elaborate further:

“the record labels have had little motivation to pay up. As the balance has grown, David Basskin, the president and CEO of the Canadian Musical Reproduction Rights Agency Ltd., notes in his affidavit that “the record labels have devoted insufficient resources for identifying and paying the owners of musical works on the pending lists.” The CRIA members now face the prospect of far greater liability.”

At $20,000 per song, the lawsuit now reaches an estimated $60b. And unlike individuals being sued for loss of profits at $20,000 dollars per song, these corporations can afford it, and have directly profited off of said music. Copyright for all, or copyright for some. Time will tell. [TheStar]

Mininova’s traffic has reportedly plummeted. Now that the largest tracker succumbed to legal pressures and adapted to distributing only legal content, the number of daily downloads represent only 4% of previous traffic.

Over the course of the past week, many have returned to the beloved site, looking for thelatest entertainment releases, but the daily search numbers went from over 10m to 370,000.

But where are these visitors going now that Mininova is no longer providing torrents to films and television programs? As in the case of SuprNova shutdown, there is always someone (Mininova) to pick up from where the site left off, so here are the top ten alternate torrent sites, as per TorrentFreak ratings:

1 TorrentZap
2 Vertor
3 ExtraTorrent
4 KickassTorrents
5 BTjunkie
6 Monova
7 isoHunt
8 yourBitTorrent
9 The Pirate Bay
10 ShareReactor

If you weren’t sure just how preposterous and draconian copyright legislations are, then feast your eyes on this example of human horror.

According to the Chicago’s Sun Times, 22-year old Samantha Tumpach was taping her sister’s birthday party at the local cineplex, catching glimpses of New Moon film during the Happy Birthday song. An employee, most likely one of those poor teens who work for minimum wage and smell of popcorn palm oil grease, caught the glimpse of her handy-cam and called authorities.

Now, Tumpach faces severe charges for recording less than 4 minutes of New Moon, a film production that is not worth anyone’s time or money. She is looking at up to three years in prison, and has been charged with felony. Who’s the vampire now? [Sun Times

Mininova.org had to shut down its operations this weekend, and go through a major revamp of their business model. Currently, Mininova features only registered content, HiSciFi being one of those content providers.

But now, another torrent site has bit the dust. Scenetorrent.org has shut down, even though it is technically a private tracker. It’s 20,000 members have been left dangling without an explanation.

The inventor of Twitter has just shaken the market with his new invention: Square Up.

A small card reader that can be attached to your iPhone is combined with software that automatically creates a receipt that is sent to your email, along with verification of the location of exchange and photo of card carrier.

The card reader is probably not very good at commercial use, but for many freelancers who are charging consulting fees on the run, this would be the perfect solution for generating quick invoicing and receiving payments on the spot.

I am impressed. Check out Square Up

by Irma Arkus

One of the strangest and most delightful petitions to come up as of latest is that of Moon fans. The film, a directorial first by Duncan (Zoowey) Jones, has been one of the best received films this year. Along with District 9, Blomkamp and Jones are touted to have revitalized the almost always denigrated genre.

Sam Rockwell’s performance in Moon can only be called masterful and poignant and if you haven’t seen the film yet, I highly urge you to do so.

Meanwhile fans have coalesced around the idea that Rockwell should receive the Oscar nom this year, organizing a petition:

http://samrockwelloscar.org

The long lost Halloween episode rises from the grave to haunt us…with goodness!

This week we bring you the sexual lives of bats, cartoons, and some major asteroid attacks…oy!

Also we discuss the future of comic book entertainment with Adam McCormick of Greyhaven Hobbies, give you the deal on Spiderman 4, Captain America, and Thor. And we give you the latest in comic books - Sweettooth and all.

Today, news hit that Stephen Spielberg and Stephen King will attempt to bring King’s most recent novel to the small screens. But I feel like I’ve already seen it.

Who can forget the much anticipated Simpson’s Movie released in the summer of 2007 with a blizzard of promotional tie-in products. (I still have my Krusty-O’s box)

While most of the tie-in merchandise from the movie release has long since disappeared from 7-11 store shelves* Steven Kings book of the film entitled “Under The Dome” was released earlier this month. As with the movie the book details the sudden appearance of an impenetrable clear dome which cuts off an average American town from the rest of the world and the resulting character drama as neighbor turns against neighbor within.

It is not clear how the novel interprets the significance of Spider Pig.

Do to the delay in release King’s publishers have attempted to market this book as a stand alone work separate from the 2007 Simpson’s Movie. Going as far as to claim that King has been working with this story since the late 1970’s. The ruse has been continued by King, remarking on his personal site that “I can’t speak personally to this, because I have never seen the movie”. Despite these claims King himself has admitted that he began writing the bulk of this work in 2007 obviously to coincide with the ‘summer of Springfield’ sparked by the movie’s release.

*a notable exception being those suspect frosted sugar cookies bearing the likenesses of our familiar friends from Springfield which for some reason still seem to be available.

by Irma Arkus

Check out the Fathead’s new Han Solo design. Due to the photographic imagery, it actually does look like Han Solo hovers three feet above the floor. I am seriously considering gifting it to myself.

Fathead also has C3P0, Yoda, Darth Vader, Luke Skywalker and two versions of Princess Leia (I presume one for the bedroom, and one for the bathroom). [Fathead]

by Irma Arkus

This day in history marks the beginning of one of my favorite television shows of all time, possibly the show that sucked me into the world of science fiction forever: Doctor Who premiered on BBC TV for the first time, back in 1963.

Today, Doctor Who is known as the longest running show on television, and is going through quite the upheaval too.

For those unfamiliar with the Doctor, do tackle the best: all of the fourth Doctor, starring Tom Baker, as well as the new Doctor series by Russell T. Davies are my absolute favorites.

However, David Tennant, the latest of the Doctor incarnations, together with Russel T. Davies, is leaving the show, and is about to be replaced by a much younger version of himself (to think of it, he is progressively getting younger), as portrayed by the newcomer Matt Smith.

The latest Doctor Who special was “The Waters of Mars.”

It not only brought back David Tennant, but it depicted a conflicted Doctor, undergoing some interesting psychological processes. “The Waters of Mars” presented the Doctor with a dilemma.

Upon landing on Mars, the Doctor realizes that he is caught at a particular spot in time and space, marked in history books as a source of great tragedy and inspiration.

If he assists the crew of a science station on Mars, battling the alien creatures trapped in Mars water, he will potentially change the history and halt the progress of human aspiration to reach the stars. Then again, if he does nothing, where does that leave him? What kind of a timelord does that make him?

Undoubtedly, the Doctor is going through some rough patches at the moment.

Now, we await the next Christmas special, “The End of Time” featuring not only the Doctor, but also his nemesis, the only other, albeit mad, timelord in existance, known as the Master.

See preview for The End of Time below:

by Irma Arkus

The latest episodes of SGU left me dangling on the sidelines.

For one, our demands to see our heroes outdoors were answered with a smart, time-travelling short, where a potential loop enabled survival of the Destiny.

The outdoors was dangerous. Not only was the crew quickly succumbing to a dangerous and deadly bacteriae, but the planet itself was crawling with…creepy crawlies.

This week though, marks the spot of the painful character development. Once again, the crew is mostly swimming in the sea of desperation, as psych evaluations uncover the surfacing of suicidal behaviours.

While the usual suspects are doing yoga and jogging circles across the bow of Destiny, Young is experiencing further clashes with Colonel David Telford. Who knew that Phillips Lou Diamond would make for such an excellent baddie?

One thing is for sure, Diamond is growing into a villanous presence, perverting what Young cares for the most, his already-shaky marriage.

But the claustrophobia felt by the Destiny’s crew is something that the viewers are already familiar with, and unlike on BSG, the crew is not relating to each other, or having any semblance of private lives, if not for any other reason, then for the fact that they are not busy enough, or even better yet, for the overuse of the convenient communication stones that allow them brief visits to Earth.

They are painfully attempting to maintain their relationships at home, rather than ensuring the development of new ones. And these are literally holding them back from progress on the ship.

Scott’s teen affair, for example, is exposed as a teen pregnancy that instead of an abortion, resulted in a fruitful birth of a boy. Too bad that the mother is hopeless, abandoned, looking for salvation in a new job of an exotic dancer.

Eli’s mother, on the other hand, is shown to be ill from not just anything, but AIDS, contracted via (EDIT: an accidental stab from an needle). Where is the sarcophagus when you need one I ask?

There are some signs that this small group of characters that SGU writers have been focused on is about to expand. For one, I noticed the appearance of Zach Santiago, a Vancouver veteran actor, and a relation of an acquaintance. I expect to see a lot more of Santiago, and development of characters that thus far sat at the sidelines.

The stones are problematic. Thus far, they’ve served only in as much as to introduce further clashes between Young and Telford. Furthermore, Scott noticed a strange shared memory feed from Telford, due to the use of the stones. Either they are about to become a major problem, or their use will be minimized.

I do hope to see some sunshine, some action, some substantial movement of the crew. Something? Anything?

The one character that does stand out is Robert Carlyle’s Dr. Nicholas Rush, whose cantankerous, manipulative, yet logical nature excels at being masterful, dangerous and interesting at the very same time.

Until next week, that is.

by Irma Arkus

One of the biggest, and yet, strangely uncelebrated production jumps from video games to the silver screens, is Prince of Persia.

The uber-successful franchise of video games that started during the era of Commodore 64, has transitioned nicely onto contemporary consoles. Prince of Persia is one of those games that had enough magic, substance and anxiety to keep generations of gamers interested.

Now, the film version of the game is coming out, with Jake Gyllenhaal as the Prince Dastan, and he is joined by Ben Kingsley, Alfred Molina, and Gemma Arterton.

by Irma Arkus

The Greeks (and Romans, countrymen) are back! For one, while not sci-fi related, but a definite personal favorite, “Rome” the series, is finally approved for a film treatment. I did a little dance around the living room, celebrating the return of Lucius Vorenus and Titus Pullo. Admittedly, I am not a huge fan of the buddy-cop comedies, but when you turn them into raucus Greco-Roman stories, it seems I can’t get enough of them!

This also bodes well for Kevin McKidd and Ray Stevenson who, by all accounts, should have experienced a kind of stardom after the wrap-up of the series.

Stevenson did a fantastic job as “The Punisher” and is generally an actor that I am eager to see more of. But watching “Outpost,” a zombie-nazi-sci-fi action thriller, was one of the longest and most painful experiences of my life. And “Babylon Fields,” a pilot for another, more intriguing television show about zombies, was excellent, but never took off.

McKidd similarly had his try at “Journeyman,” a soft-drama with a supernatural, time-travelling twists, that ended with a whimper after a season.

But that is only the begining of the Greco-Roman revival.

The legendary “Clash of the Titans” (1981) is revived with a remake. Perseus has to save the love of his life, Andromeda. In the midst of this “Operation Save Andromeda,” Zeus of course, interferes continuously, forcing Perseus to face numerous challenges.

Sam Worthington, newly minted from his success as the nicer, heartfelt Terminator, in “Terminator: Salvation,” and “Avatar” is starring as Perseus. The film is overloaded with familiar faces and special effects, a kind of “2012” with a Greek myth edge, including Ralph Fiennes, Liam Neeson, Mads Mikkelsen, and Jason Flemyng.

And then, surprisingly, there is “Percy Jackson and The Olympians: The Lightning Thief.”

The film is obviously aimed at family adventure crowd, and even I tend to watch an occasional stab at the genre, even if it has been Nicholas Cage-d as of lately.

Kevin McKidd is starring as the angry Poseidon. Percy Jackson is Logan Lerman, a fresh faced, pretty teen who will assuredly be the next big thing that most of us will never understand or care about, and there are also Uma Thurman, Pierce Brosnan, Catherine Keener, Steve Coogan and Sean Bean.

So there we are. Lots of deities, Greek gods, angry Romans, and an occassional appearance by Zeus and Poseidon.

A while back one of my friends forwarded me the John Safran’s TV special “John Safran vs God” which left me panting for more. As it turns out, Safran is a bit of a autobiographical essayist with a dash of comedy, and a twist of ballderdashery that reminds of Sasha Baron Cohen’s wiley interviews with unsuspecting participants.

Unlike Cohen though, Safran is right now a new face, still unrecognized by North Americans, allowing him a greater degree of freedom to experiment with various interviews and identities.

I highly encourage you to check out his new show, “John Safran’s Race Relations.” Must warn you that initial impetus for the show is a bit lessened as material wears thin in the latter episodes, but the series is yet another Safran’s personal odyssey exploring his open wish to marry a Eurasian girl (identity yet to be determined) rather than court the local Jewish girls.

But Safran also asks the tough questions. For one, he questions the “stick with your tribe” philosophy which is a somewhat racist and culturally insular, yet socially tolerated position on interracial or better yet, intercultural couples.

However, today I want to share with you the true genious of John Safran: his Master Chef pilot. I must warn you - it is highly graphic and does involve a lot of blood.

by Irma Arkus

I understand that the economy is bad, and as per usual, when that happens we turn our attention to the post-apocalyptic visions of future, or even worse, corporately-owned future in which we feel entirely powerless to resist our pinstriped overlords. And during the last few years, we’ve seen some real movement on the post-apocalyptic stage in terms of entertainment.

On TV, we’ve watched Lost, a group huddling together, fighting unknown people and mysteries after a horrific plane accident. Then we watched (correction, some of us did) Jeremiah, travelling across the lands wiped by a deadly plague, and Jericho, a town surviving in a land after a massive nuclear war across 30 American cities.

On the silver screen we’ve hungrily watched Will Smith battle transformed remnants of humanity in I Am Legend, and much more importantly, we experienced Children of Men, a masterful depiction of post-apocalyptic society facing loss of all hope.

But now awaits us something equally delightful, and I hope, as equally important. Penned by Cormac McCarthy in 2006, The Road is meant to engage us in another human survival story. The feature film by the same title has an enviable roster of actors, including Viggo Mortensen, Guy Pearce, Molly Parker, Robert Duvall, Charlize Theron, and Garret Dillahunt. Yes, that’s 2 for Deadwood, but I digress.

The Road is a simple story that packs a punch. A father (Viggo Mortensen) and a son are facing a harsh landscape in a post-apocalyptic future. Nature packs a punch, even when cities are intact. Many lost hikers and misguided adventurers are lost on annual basis, because surviving tends to be more difficult than most suspect.

In this world though, nature is corrupted by an event that covers the sun with its thickened ash cloud covers, so much so that breathing is often difficult, and even plants have given way to death rather than life. The world that the father and the son are attempting to survive in bears the remnants of human depravity. The only remaning social graces are cannibalism and willingness to commit acts of gruesome violence.

The father’s only goal is to ensure the survival of his child, and with that, perhaps gain a vision of a more hopeful future. They traverse great distances, going south.

McCarthy is a master of the written word. The last film production that was based on one of his novels was the masterful No Country For Old Men. The Road received that many more positive critical responses.

It is also an important work from an environmental perspective. While many tout climate change as a great force for building more tourist locals closer to polar bears and penguins, most scientists are concerned with disturbances to climate patterns that may result in death of countless species of animals and plants, ultimately destroying not only their habitat, but our own as well. The Road succinctly cuts through our ignoble ignorance and presents us with the worst case scenario in harsh, realistic terms. And the end result is simply Horrifying Hopelesness.

by Irma Arkus

Recent efforts to drill core samples of ancient frozen lakes in Antarctica and Arctic have been controversial to say the least.

Many in scientific circles have been outspoken over the facts that drilling those samples may contaminate precious life that still may exist in the lakes underneath the permafrost. Others have warned that collecting ice samples may even release ancient bacteriae and viruses.

But the value of these samples is undeniable. Not only do they represent an immense amount of information in terms of climate change, but recently, samples have uncovered a remarkable number of viruses which may shed light on evolution of life in general.

Recent study revealed some 10,000 virus species present in the samples from Lake Limnopolar at Antarctic Peninsula.

Furthermore, the viruses are extremophiles, meaning that many of them are still very much alive, prone to surviving in extreme conditions including low grade temperatures, low light, oxygen deprivation and low nutrient factors. [SciAm

The soft spongy properties of its body allow the robot to move and manouver through squeeze spaces.