Usually we see rocket launches from far, far away, but SpaceX just released a compilation of extremely close-up camera views from their recent rocket launches and landings that is maybe a little too close for comfort.
The video features high speed footage from the company’s recent Falcon 9 launches in December of last year as well as more recent ones from May and July of this year. In addition to the incredibly near shots of the rockets as they launch and land, one of the best and most unusual parts of the video is seeing the flames as they burn from below, like so:
Aerial view of three radar stations at the Ballistic Missile Early Warning System in Anderson, Alaska, in 1962. Image: Wikimedia
On May 23rd, 1967, the United States Air Force scrambled to ready nuclear missile-laden aircraft for deployment. Radar systems designed to detect incoming Soviet missiles had just been disrupted, in what the military perceived to be an act of war. But before any nukes were launched in retaliation, it seems Air Force command was told to stand down.
Just in the nick of time, the United States’ newly minted Solar Forecasting Center was able to convey the true cause of the radar jamming: a rash of powerful solar flares. That’s according to a new military history paper, which reveals for the first time just how close humanity came to annihilating itself because of space weather.
“This is what we would characterize as a really near miss,” lead author Delores Knipp, a former Air Force officer and space weather physicist at the University of Colorado, Boulder, told Gizmodo.
Space weather is a catch-all term for a bunch of high-energy material the sun hurls our way during periods of heightened activity. It starts with a solar flare, which sends a burst of x-rays and ultraviolet light streaming off into space. When a flare strikes the upper portion of our atmosphere, called the ionosphere, it acts like an EM pulse, ripping electrons off atoms and building up tremendous electrical charge.
This can cause radio devices to go dead, as Thomas Berger, director of the Space Weather Prediction Center at NOAA, told Gizmodo last summer:
Radio communications are sometimes impacted. Over the horizon radio becomes difficult. When airplanes are flying over the poles, the only way they communicate with control centers is high frequency radio waves bouncing over the continents. But it’s just a temporary difficulty lasting ten minutes to hours at the most.
Following a major flare, the sun typically pops off a giant cloud of magnetized plasma, called a coronal mass ejection (CME). This slow-moving blob of starstuff can take from 12 hours to several days to reach the Earth, but it’s responsible for the most severe consequences of space weather, including the aurora borealis (northern lights) and widespread power blackouts.
As Berger emphasized, space weather is usually a temporary difficulty. But it can lead to much bigger problems if people in power don’t understand what’s happening, as illustrated by the Great Solar Storm of May 1967. At the time, the US military had just begun to routinely monitor solar activity through a network of observers at the Air Force’s Air Weather Service, which provided daily updates to forecasters at NORAD.
A view of the Sun on May 23, 1967, in a narrow visible wavelength of light called Hydrogen-alpha. The bright region in the top center region of brightness shows the area where the large flare occurred. Image: National Solar Observatory
On May 18th, observers noted a group of sunspots concentrating in a single area on the surface of the sun. On the afternoon of May 23rd, a series of bright solar flares were observed and photographed in sequence (including one that would later be classified as the largest solar radio burst of the 20th century). Shortly after the flares were spotted, NORAD’s Solar Forecast Center put out a bulletin predicting a “significant” worldwide geomagnetic storm within 36 to 48 hours.
The forecast came not a moment too soon. Just as it was being issued, the Air Force was placing additional aircraft in “ready to launch” status, in response to its Ballistic Missile Early Warning System (BMEWS) going dark.
That radar system, which operated in far northern latitudes throughout the Cold War, is a textbook example of the sort of technology that can be knocked out by space weather. According to Knipp and her co-authors—some of whom are retired US Air Force officials with close knowledge of the events—it’s likely that information from the Solar Forecasting Center made it to the highest levels of command in time to avert a nuclear disaster.
“The aircraft did not launch—we’re pretty certain of that,” Knipp said. “Was war imminent? What we know is that decisions were being made on the tens of minutes to hours basis, and that information got to the right place at the right time to prevent a disaster.”
About 40 hours later, a geomagnetic storm hit the Earth, disrupting radio communications and igniting the northern lights as far south as New Mexico for about a week.
I’ve argued before that the dangers of extreme space weather are not well appreciated. For instance, if the largest geomagnetic storm on record—the Carrington Event of 1859—were to hit us today, it could fry transformers worldwide, knocking billions of people off the grid for weeks to months. But it hadn’t occurred to me that space weather could trigger an even greater disaster in a militarily-tense era, if the consequences for technology were not well understood.
Rather than spelling the end of modern society, the May 1967 solar storm fueled US interest in space weather monitoring, setting the stage for the forecast tools we have today. Let’s just hope fortune favors us again the next time the sun throws a sucker punch our way.
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Gibson is best known as the visionary author who coined the term “cyberspace” and wrote iconic works like Neuromancer, The Difference Engine, and Zero History. As shown in his new comic-book series Archangel, he’s always demonstrated an uncanny knack for how technological advancement changes human behavior and fractures extant cultures into odd new strata. His writing predicted the reality TV, Internet subcultures, and digital-security hacker panics that we all take for granted today. In Gibson’s most recent novel The Peripheral, an elite oligarch jerk uses advanced quantum computing to reach back across spacetime and manipulate the lives of regular folks struggling to get by in a near-future filled with cheap 3D-printed everything. That’s probably not happening in 2016, but it sure feels like it could.
From 4-5 p.m. Eastern time, the award-winning author has agreed to answer your questions about the unnerving parallels between his science-fiction work and the deeply divided world we’re living in...and just about anything else you want to ask him.
K-2SO from Rogue One: A Star Wars Story. All Images: Walt Disney Pictures
There are loads of exciting things coming with the release of Rogue One: A Star Wars Story but high on that list is K-2SO, the surly droid voiced and motion-captured by Firefly’s Alan Tudyk. The actor dropped a few new details about the droid’s history and his less-than-sunny personality.
In a new interview with Entertainment Weekly, Tudyk dropped a few more hints about his sure to be popular character. Like, for example, Kaytoo is seven feet, one inch tall and was formerly a security droid for the Empire. An enforcer and guard, hence the size and demeanor. He’s since been reprogrammed to be a sidekick to Rebel captain Cassian Andor, played by Diego Luna.
The character also has an English accent, because Tudyk saw that as a big difference between the Empire and Rebellion. “I feel like a lot of the Imperial characters are English, and the Rebels tended to be like Han Solo, you think of the Americans,” Tudyk told EW. “And because he was a droid, it made sense that it would be more of a proper accent.”
If you followed the news at Star Wars Celebration Europe, you may know that Kaytoo (as he’s called by his friends) is a bit of a curmudgeon, described as an “old person” by Tudyk. “He can say insulting things very casually if he thinks they’re true,” the actor added.
The droid doesn’t really feel or exhibit emotion, unlike some of his counterparts.
“He’s not an overly emotional guy,” Tudyk said. “He’s not like C-3PO, who’s like a fucking neurotic mess. He’s flappable. Kaytoo is much more in the unflappable category.”
And finally, Kaytoo and Cassian have been inseparable for several years by the time Rogue One starts.
“They’ve been around. They’ve been together for a while, a couple years,” Tudyk said. “He wants what Cassian wants. He loves Cassian, because he freed him. It’s also more paternal in that [Cassian] gave him life and took away the bonds of his programming.”
Odds are we’ll see more of Kaytoo soon as there’s a new Rogue One trailer hitting the Internet on Thursday.
Seriously. The list of Aquaman villains people are aware of starts with Black Manta, and then promptly ends with it. Who else would it be?
The Wrap is reporting that Jason Momoa’s Arthur Curry will square off against Black Manta—one of his oldest and most regular rivals in the comics—when Aquaman hits theaters in 2018. No further details about the character were revealed, so while confirmation is nice, it’s not exactly surprising.
Black Manta is without a doubt Aquaman’s most recognizable foe, his answer to Superman and Lex Luthor or Batman and the Joker—on a list of such notable villains as “the Fisherman” or “the Human Flying Fish” (sensing a pattern here?). Who else could Aquaman possibly face in his first movie?
I do not mean that my soul has blackened, since that ship sailed long ago. My other choice for a profession was lawyer, for god’s sake. I mean that my actual, physical body is a broken husk.
If I had to blame someone for this, it would be my mother, from whose side of the family I inherit so many things. Stubbornness, for example, was colloquially known as the “ Yamamoto gene” when I was a kid. Yes, we see being bullheadedness as a familial obligation.
Being accident prone is another fairly prominent trait on my maternal side. My mother, aunts, cousins... so many of them have stories, and not cute, Bella Swan-esque stories. More “where is that screaming coming from?” stories. (The screaming is me, I tripped and am now tumbling from a cliff.)
Whenever I get made fun of, I point to my mother as an example of the genes I’m working with. My mother, who managed to twist both of her ankles walking from her car to a hotel door. My mother, who is a brilliant cook but has removed various parts of her hands with various blades every single year of my life. (The time with the mandolin was especially bad.) And the tune she stuck her fingers in an immersion blender and accidentally turned it on.
My mother passed on to me some fabulously weak ankles. All through my life my ankles, like an MRA commenter, will pop up out of nowhere to scream “Fuck you!” in the hopes of causing me harm. This means I fall over a lot when my ankles give without warning. Also occasionally while I am standing completely still. This got so bad when I was younger that my friends learned to ignore it. I once fell down a flight of stairs while talking to my friends and they just continued the conversation while I was a lump on the floor below them.
Here are some of the more embarrassing examples of my various injuries. Note that not a single one of these occurred while I was inebriated in any way. This is pure, uncut, operating at 100% capacity me:
Eighth Grade: Ran Into a Bus
No, I do not mean I was hit by a bus. I was playing tag and the bus was safe. I misjudged where the open door was and ran into the side of the bus instead.
Ninth Grade: Hit in the Face With a Lacrosse Ball
I got hit in the head with balls a lot, a combination of my lack of attention and hand-eye coordination. I put the lacrosse ball here because it was my face and those balls are unusually hard. It hurt more than the dozens of volley, basket, and soccer balls I usually ended up with bruises from. If you’re wondering what kind of school has lacrosse for P.E., yes, it’s exactly the kind of school you’re imagining.
Eleventh Grade: Slipped Through the Bars of a Catwalk, Had to Be Pulled to Safety
I was trying to hang a light above a stage at my high school, which involved lying on my stomach between the safety rails of a catwalk many feet above the stage. I scooted too far out, lost my grip, and screamed until a friend came to save me.
Twelfth Grade: Walked Off the End of a Stage
I was looking straight into a bright light while a friend was talking to me. I walked towards her and right off the end of the stage. “From my perspective, you were there, and then you were gone,” said my friend. She still laughs about it. When she reads this, she’s going to start laughing again.
Me, basically
Freshman Year of College: Fractured Foot
This story is described by my friends as “the time Katharine broke her foot on the Bible,” which is the funniest way to describe it, but not true. Technically, I fractured my foot on a pile of textbooks that happened to contain a Bible. I also ignored the pain for two days and only went to the hospital after my foot turned purple because I had put it in heels for a holiday party. This happened a few days before winter break, when I was going to go thousands of miles home to show my parents how well I could take care of myself. I showed up in a cast. Shoes have never fit the same again.
Freshman Year of College (Again): Possible Concussion
I tripped over someone’s backpack coming into class. What’s notable about this one is that I fall so much that I remember thinking, “This isn’t that bad of a fall,” right before my head smacked into a desk. I insisted I was fine, and I remember thinking I was totally fine. Right up until the professor asked me a question and I answered in a string of unconnected words. I probably should have seen a doctor.
Senior Year of College: Cracked Two Ribs
I fell walking up the bleachers to see a basketball game. I tumbled down them, hitting every corner of every bleacher with my sides on the way down. Once again, I thought I was fine, up until three days later when I asked an EMT friend of mine if it was a bad sign that breathing really hurt my side. He told me to go see a doctor immediately. I was told I’d cracked two ribs and the prescription was “take these painkillers and don’t lift anything for a while.” Glad I went to a doctor.
Last Year: Sliced My Hand Open Grabbing a Falling Knife
I do not know what is wrong with my brain that I thought to myself, “Oh no! I dropped my knife! Better try to catch it by grabbing the blade!” I blame years of watching my mother slice her hand open for this.
Last Month: Sliced My Leg Open Walking Into a Vent in the Office
I don’t even know, guys. I just know that I now have a giant scar on my shin from trying to dodge someone coming down the hall and walking right into a vent.
I’m not saying that the stereotype of nerds being uncoordinated messes is true of everyone. But, man, is it true of me. I am writing this hopped up on painkillers right now because I threw out my back two nights ago by sleeping weird. Reading and watching TV and movies aren’t just things I do because I like it. They are literally the only safe activities available to me, the walking disaster.
Released last week, the first episode of Batman: The Telltale Series has players controlling a Bruce Wayne who’s trying to balance his life after just starting out on a one-man war on crime. The new title operates on a premise that longtime comic-book readers will find familiar, but there’s a lot that’s really different about this version of Gotham City.
Most everything about the Batman construct Bruce Wayne takes out into the night in Telltale’s new series hits on well-known aspects of latter-day iterations, updated to feel like a very modern Dark Knight. Bruce and Alfred text back and forth with each other, the hot-shit sportscar that Bruce tools around in transforms into the Batmobile, and it’s implied that they have a swarm of drones constantly monitoring Gotham. But the biggest changes in Telltale’s pocket Bat-verse are in the appearances and relationships between character. For example, the Alfred model looks a bit like actor Alan Napier, who played Batman’s butler in the 1960s TV series. Telltale’s saying that this game is a remix of established Bat-history. Here’s a look at the tweaks presented in episode 1:
Oswald Cobblepot Is a Hunky Anarchist Now
The man who would be Penguin sports a look that’s likely inspired by the Oswald showing up on TV screens as part of the Gotham show. In Telltale’s Batman, he’s a childhood friend of Bruce’s who has wound up on the opposite side of the law. When he reunites with Bruce, he spouts a bunch of apocalyptic economic restructuring rhetoric that’s definitely a bit of foreshadowing for future drama.
Harvey Dent and Selina Kyle Are Dating
In episode one, Harvey Dent is running for mayor and asks Bruce to host a fundraiser where his friend will endorse him. Alleged crime boss Carmine Falcone is backing Dent and crashes the party to try and buddy up with Bruce. Later, Harvey and Bruce have dinner, joined by the district attorney’s new girlfriend. Batman and Catwoman tussled in the game’s opening encounter, leaving each other with distinctive injuries that left marks visible in their civilian identities and they have a tense convo about their nocturnal alter egos.
Thomas and Martha Wayne May Have Been Into Some Shady Stuff
In the climactic battle of episode one, Falcone tells Batman that the Waynes were heavily into illegal activity, causing Bruce to question his entire mission.
Hot dogs who want to have sex with buns: this was the original idea behind Sausage Party, the R-rated animated film coming to theaters on Friday. It’s the first R-rated animated film released by a major studio in 17 years, and making it was not without its difficulties.
Directed by Greg Tiernan and Conrad Vernon, Sausage Party is set in a grocery store where all the food believes that being bought is akin to going to heaven. However, when honey mustard realizes humans buy food to eat it—i.e., kill the food—it sends a hot dog named Frank (voiced by Seth Rogen) on a quest across the supermarket to find out the truth and warn his fellow food, especially his girlfriend Brenda, a hot dog bun voiced by Kristen Wiig.
Talking food sounds very silly, but the film is much more than that. Even before Frank goes on his journey, it’s obvious Sausage Party is a debate about faith. “The religious overtones and the belief system that was put in place from day one,” co-director Conrad Vernon told io9. “We knew we had a really funny concept of hot dogs wanting to have sex with buns, but, we knew we weren’t going to be able to carry a 98-minute movie with just that alone.”
So it’s carried by the religious themes, as well as hard R language, violence, and sexual acts that haven’t been seen in a movie theatre since 1970s Times Square.
“No,” both Vernon and Tiernan say when asked if Sausage Party got an R-rating from the MPAA on first pass. “Very succinct answer, there,” laughs Tiernan. “Which we’re very proud of,” adds Conrad. In fact, the rating board had a lot of objections to Sausage Party, most of which were centred on a graphic food orgy that occurs in the film.
“We had a much longer orgy [scene] that had way filthier stuff than what’s in there right now,” said Tiernan. “We knew for a fact that was going to get cut down. We thought there was no way we’d get away with these so, we filled it out with a bunch of way worse stuff and we’re pretty happy with the result.”
When asked specifically what kind of stuff was cut, Tiernan said “It was just taking out the bodily fluids and shaving the pubic hair off of Lavash’s ball sack. We did that.”
And yes, they plan on lots of that stuff being on the Blu-ray. What won’t be on the Blu-ray is the original placement of the scene. Originally the orgy was between just the four main characters and took place earlier in the film.
“In one cut of the movie, the orgy was actually at the end of act two,” said Vernon. “I think we screened that for the studio and it felt like we had, well, for a lack of a better term, shot our loads. And so we said, ‘That’s the highlight of the film, why aren’t we ending with that?’ So we put it at the end, and that’s just where it naturally fit the best. The climax of the film, so to speak.”
With scenes like that in a movie, Vernon and Tiernan admitted making Sausage Party was one of the oddest things they’d ever done. “Many times, people would just stop and say, ‘I can’t believe I’m sitting in a production meeting and discussing ‘Who cums on who,’ and ‘Who sticks what in somebody else,’” said Tiernan. “There were lots and lots of conversations. But that all added to the fun”
And, of course, many of those conversations were the film’s producers, Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg. According to the directors, Rogen and Goldberg would come in once a week to go over what work had been done and rarely interfered.
“This is, 100 percent, a Seth Rogen/Evan Goldberg movie,” said Tiernan. “It would not have even been considered to be made if it wasn’t for those two guys. Conrad and I are proud of the work we did, cause we were the animation jocks behind this, But yeah, this is Seth and Evan’s game for sure.”
If the film is a hit, though, it won’t just be Rogen and Goldberg getting the credit, it’ll be the film’s directors too.
“Seth and Evan are very respectful of the fact we were the directors they chose to make the movie,” added Tiernan. “We worked for them and with them, and they included us in every step of the way. I’m very proud to be mentioned in the same sentence as those to guys as well.”
Getting from to Anthony’s Comics Book Art in Moonachie, New Jersey, from New York involves a short drive on the highway and a longer stretch through a series of industrial parks. They’re all single-story warehouses you normally find huddled around airports or shipping yards. The roads have been ravaged by overloaded 18-wheelers and the tiny car we’re in makes a loud kathunk as tire hits pothole.
Anthony’s stands apart not because of the sparkling white delivery van outside—they’re a dime a dozen in this neighborhood, or because of the building itself—a low to the ground brick building that has more storage space than parking space. It’s the sun-bleached signs stuck in the window that tell us we’ve arrived at the 8000-square-foot warehouse that houses some of comic books’ most important history.
Anthony and his assistant greet us, and banter as we set up our shoot. Anthony is quick to give a tour, guiding us through the place before we ever turn a camera on. He points out Dum Dum Dugan’s bowler from First Avenger as casually as we’d point to our laundry in the corner. Nods to the very last oil palette Frank Franzetta ever used like some vase picked up at Wal-Mart.
The bulk of Anthony’s Comics Book Art is two giant rooms, housing millions of comics. He always buys entire collections instead of single issues, so one enormous room, with long boxes stacked 10 feet high, is full of comics his staff has yet to sort through. There’s some diamonds there in the pile—or at least some little piece of history that collectors will find important.
But the real jewels of his collection are stored in black tubs up front. They’re a few hundred books filled with artwork from comics both in print and retired. He whips out the Birds of Prey book because I tell him I’m a fan, then ask his assistant to track down the Walking Dead ones—Anthony currently has the largest collection of Walking Dead art outside of the artists who create the stuff. But he’s not a fan himself. I tell him I’m not a fan either. Zombies scare me.
Eventually we get to recording the latest episode of Show Me Your Nerd. While we’re rifling through old toys and press books from classic films Anthony’s sent his assistant rushing across Jersey. And when we come back to the front of the store Anthony casually opens a case loaded with comic book history.
There are Michael Turner’s pencils for the splash page of Supergirl’s reintroduction in 2005—her first official appearance in comics, in costume, since 1986. It’s $12,500 of art history Anthony doesn’t mind me handling like a comic fresh from the shop today. And there’s more Super history in his case, like a piece Curtis Swan penciled for John Byrne so Byrne could get comfortable inking Superman before his iconic Superman run. Byrne would be the guy who would change things around so that Clark Kent was the person and Superman the mask, while Swan’s art is the source of all officially licensed Superman products in the U.S.
The piece is signed by both at the bottom. Anthony shrugs while I sputter. He’s still casual. It’s too valuable for him to sell, but he’s okay with us both handling it.
He’s even okay with us handling a rare production book from the first season of Batman: The Animated Series. Inside, next to two no-name gangsters, is the very first official rendering of Harley Quinn. Back before she was the crux of a multimillion dollar disaster of a movie, she was the animated equivalent of a walk-on role as Joker’s moll.
But what is completely gobsmacking is the Jack Kirby piece, one of the jewels of Anthony’s collection. The original pencils and inking of the first page of The X-Men #4. It’s a piece of art that’s pristine despite being drawn in 1963 and never intended to be held onto.
You can see each individual stroke of Paul Reinman’s marker on the page, the indentation created by Jack Kirby’s pencil, and on the back, scribbled in a hand that might be Stan Lee’s, is the name of the X-Men’s original foes, the Brotherhood of Mutants. X-Men #4 would introduce the bad guys, including Scarlet Witch, and someone, presumably Stan Lee, has jotted out ideas for her name all over the back of the page.
Miss Witch?
Lady Witch?
THE Witch?
Scarlet Witch is ultimately underlined, just beneath Mastermind.
Like the Curtis Swan/John Byrne collaboration, and the Batman: TAS production book, it seems like something better suited for a museum than a case that Anthony takes with him nearly everywhere.
But it won’t end up there anytime soon—not unless the museum buys it from Anthony first. He’s firmly of the belief that everything has a price.
We all knew this was coming, but it doesn’t hurt our wallets any less. Disney has just announced that Star Wars: The Force Awakens is coming to 3D Blu-ray November 15. The four-disc set will include a feature commentary by J.J. Abrams and new deleted scenes.
Which, honestly, are the biggest selling points. The 3D will surely look great at home (I’ve almost always had better 3D experiences at home than the theater) but it’s those new features that get me. What will Abrams say? What are the deleted scenes? The answers are probably “Not Much” and “Things not as exciting as the first release,” but it’s still intriguing.
Here’s a trailer, of sorts, for the 3D version. It’s basically just a scene that’ll look great in 3D, and features my favorite non-Rey cue from John Williams’ score.
The release will also come with the regular Blu-ray, DVD, digital copy (hence the four discs) and these features, copied from the press release:
Audio Commentary with J.J. Abrams – Enter the mind of visionary director J.J. Abrams as he reveals the creative and complex choices made while developing the first film in the new Star Wars trilogy.
Foley: A Sonic Tale – Foley artists, consisting of old pros and new talent, unite to bring the world of “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” alive through the matching of sound to action.
Sounds of the Resistance – Hear how the epic sound design of “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” moves the Star Wars legacy forward.
Deleted Scenes – View never-before-shared scenes that didn’t make the film’s final cut.
Dressing the Galaxy – Costume Designer Michael Kaplan reveals how the costumes of the original Star Wars movies were re-envisioned for a new generation.
The Scavenger and the Stormtrooper: A Conversation with Daisy Ridley and John Boyega – The two new stars share the thrill of working together on the adventure of a lifetime and becoming part of the Star Wars legacy.
Inside the Armory – Take a fascinating tour through the design and creation of the weaponry in “Star Wars: The Force Awakens.”
So if you didn’t buy this already, you’re in luck. If you did, well, welcome to Star Wars.
Deadline reports that Michael Chernus has been cast in Homecoming as Phineas Mason, better known as the Tinkerer. Making his first appearance in only the second ever issue of The Amazing Spider-Man back in April 1963, the Tinkerer was an incredibly intelligent engineer who made a career out of developing gadgets and weaponry for criminals—and occasionally for himself, so he could go on sprees as the “Terrible Tinkerer.”
No further details were given about Chernus’ role, but considering the nature of the Tinkerer as a character, it’s probably a good guess that he helps the Vulture—played by Michael Keaton—develop his snazzy-looking wingsuit in the movie. Spider-Man: Homecoming is set to hit theaters July 7th, 2017.
Akira is one of the best and most beloved anime* of all time. Full stop.
Naturally this has led to a number of fan projects of the years—notably the Simpsons crossover Bartkira. But for the first time I can remember, excerpts of Akira has been gorgeously created in 3D by two fans—Brad Kremer and Dean Fowler. Neo-Tokyo looks every bit as grim and menacing, and the creators made the very wise decision not to render Tetsuo or Kaneda’s faces... because that would look weird as hell.
Someone get these guys a full team and a budget. I, for one, would absolutely watch a full theatrical release.
*Yes it started as a manga. No one gives a shit. It’s Senior Week and arguably the anime had a greater cultural impact here in the west. Fight me.
Certain esteemed video game-related websites might tell you that the likes of Tracer or D.Va are the best characters in Overwatch, Blizzard’s crazy-fun shooter about wacky heroes and quasi-superheroic shenanigans. I am using the opportunity of Gawker Media’s Senior Week to tell you that they are wrong.
I have been angling to bother my delightful editor Rob Bricken with hot Overwatch takes pretty much since the game came out and dominated my limited free time over the past few months. While thanks to our glorious world in which everything is a transmedia franchise behemoth I’ve managed to sneak someposts under the radar, our celebratory Senior Week—and it’s surprisingly petrifying editorial freedom—now gives me free reign to educate you on why the Overwatch hero I play the most is the best, and your favorite sucks.
He’s a Robot Monk
In Overwatch’s backstory, some bad stuff went down with artificial intelligence before the events of the game. Basically, a bunch of robots rebelled against their human masters, something called the Omnic Crisis. The Overwatch organization was formed to defeat the robots—and they did—but in the wake of the war, a certain sect of them chose to form a religious order, promoting peace with the humans through faith.
Zenyatta is one such monk, who eventually left the order to travel the world and dispense his own brand of spiritual justice, which involves telekinetically flinging balls into peoples faces at deadly speeds. That’s way cooler than “Morally ambiguous architect” or “Shitty Cowboy” if you ask me.
He’s a Healer, So You Get to Feel Morally Superior to Everyone Else
The life of an Overwatch support character—the class of character designated as specializing in providing healing, utility, and buffs for their teammates rather than specializing in offensive or defensive abilities—is certainly a thankless one. Zenyatta especially so, though, as he’s actually the hardest healer to get a grasp on in the game.
Unlike his fellow healers, Zenyatta’s healing orbs are a bit weak. They also require you to stay in line-of-sight with whoever they’re being used on, and given that Zenyatta is a squishy healer, that means leaving him in danger. And that means to be an effective healer you have to be on your game constantly, but hey—you get to feel better than those assholes who always pick the damage-focused characters and nothing else, judging them as they spam the “I need healing because I did something dumb!” button.
He’s Also a Cold-Blooded Killer
Where Zenyatta also differs from his fellow healers is that he’s surprisingly lethal. One of his special abilities is a debuff that makes his target take extra damage, and combined with his deadly ranged attacks he can melt most of the other characters in Overwatch. As he’s slow and vulnerable most people don’t expect it, but Zenyatta can and will beat the living crap out of you if you don’t pay attention. It’s almost hilariously schizophrenic that a healing monk also floats around the battlefield killing people left, right, and center.
He Says the Darndest Things
Speaking of that, while he’s either healing people or smashing them into itty bitty bits of pulp, Zenyatta’s voice is excellently chill. He’s fairly monotone, and just waltzes around saying cute lines like how he dreamt he was a butterfly while murdering the living daylights out of people.
Even in moments of failure, he sounds adorable:
You just wanna pat his little robot head.
Goodness Gracious, Great Balls of Fire
Given that it’s a first-person shooter, everyone has a weapon in Overwatch. There’s bows, shurikens, shotguns, pistols and assault rifles, even wilder options like Mei’s cryo-beam or Reinhardt’s rocket-powered hammer. Zenyatta ignores that and throws metal balls with his mind. And then reloads them by clapping his hands in prayer.
Seriously, look at that gif. That’s gorgeous. Now imagine getting to see that all the time, instead of something boring like shotguns or SMGs. Balls are the ultimate video game weapon, apparently.
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If you’re worried that you won’t get a ton of use out of this thing, note that in addition to standard pressure cooking, you can also use the Instant Pot as a slow cooker, rice cooker, steamer, and more. Plus, it carries a stellar 4.6 star review average from nearly 3,000 customers, so there’s not much risk of this thing letting you down. Just be aware that this is a Gold Box deal, meaning this price is only available today, and it could sell out early.
Dell’s P15Q series 4K monitors have long been the most affordable 4K IPS displays on the market, but today the 24" version is all the way down to $367, within a few bucks of an all-time low on Amazon.
Update: Now up to $383, which is historically still a solid price, but not nearly as good as $367.
If you aren’t familiar, IPS displays boast superior color accuracy and viewing angles compared to the TN panels you’ll find in most cheap 4K monitors, and with this deal, you’re basically getting IPS for “free” compared to the going rate for similar 4K displays. I happen to own this exact model, and I absolutely love it.
Today on Amazon, the TCL UP130 is down to $600, and the US5800 is just $500. They’re both 55", and they both include built-in Roku software, but the UP130 though includes an enhanced remote with a microphone, 802.11ac Wi-Fi (rather than 802.11n), and improved styling. As far as picture quality goes, they should be essentially identical, so it’s up to you whether the extra accoutrements are worth $100.
If you missed out in theaters, Amazon and iTunes will rent you an HD copy of Quentin Tarantino’s The Hateful Eight for just a buck right now. As with all digital rentals, you’ll have 30 days to start watching, and then 24 (iTunes) or 48 (Amazon) hours to finish, so you don’t have to find time to watch it tonight.
A small new batch of $20 Nintendo Selects games will be released on August 26, and if you have Amazon Prime, you can get any or all of them for just $16 (discount shown at checkout).
iClever’s BoostCube travel USB charger isn’t as small as the Aukey we highlighted earlier this week, but it can put out 12W and 2.4A per port, rather than sharing that amount of power between both. That’s a ton of power for $7 (with code DEALBIG1).
In addition to a $100 discount from from $300 to $200, Best Buy will throw in an official GoPro Wi-Fi remote, an extended battery BacPac, and a $20 Shutterfly credit with your purchase today. A la carte, those extras would cost you about $150 on any given day, so if you’ve been on the fence about picking up a GoPro, this might be the time to pull the trigger.
It should go without saying that this $66 hexacopter isn’t as advanced as a DJI Phantom, but it still has a pretty impressive feature set for the price.
The most interesting thing about the UDI U845 is that it can fly in headless mode, meaning you can control it relative to the position of the transmitter, rather than the direction it’s facing. You also get a pair of batteries good for 6-9 minutes each, a built-in 720p camera with live FPV streaming to your phone, and most importantly, a button to do flips.
You don’t necessarily have to have children to appreciate Babyganics’ scent-free, hypoallergenic products, and Amazon’s taking an extra 35% off over a half a dozen products. Head over to this post for the full list!
Speaking of deals to make your bike smarter, this $18 gadget from KMASHI is an LED headlight, Bluetooth speaker, and USB battery pack all rolled into one. That means you can roll between Pokéstops all night long, and be able to hear when a new Pokémon comes into range.
Ninja’s new high-end coffee maker has all the bells and whistles you could want in a coffee machine, and you can pick one up for $140 today, one of the best prices we’ve ever seen.
The headlining feature here is Ninja’s Auto-iQ system, which automatically adjusts the water level based on the brew size and type you select, but you’ll also get a permanent filter, milk frother and tumbler in the box. Just note that this deal is only available today, so don’t sleep on it.
Mpow brought affordable Bluetooth headphones to the mainstream, and today, they’ll sell you a pair with active noise cancellation and IPX4 waterproofing for $15. Awesome haircut not included.
If you don’t already own a water filtration pitcher, this PUR 11-cup model is marked down to an all-time low $23 today. This particular model includes an LED indicator light to remind you to change the filter, and the filters themselves are less expensive than Brita’s.
I’ll tell you a secret: I don’t really care that much about filtration. I mostly like these because they mean I always have ice cold water ready to go at all times.
You all know the drill with these dry bags by now. They keep your phone safe from the elements whether you’re surfing in the ocean, swimming in a pool, or just lounging on the beach, and $7 for a three-pack is about as cheap as you’ll ever see them.
While supplies last, if you buy a $5 Crest sample box from Amazon, you’ll get a $5 credit to spend on your next Crest purchase from the site. Even if Crest isn’t your usual brand, those sample sizes are perfect for traveling, so you should definitely get some use out of them.
If reliability is something you crave in a pair of shoes (if it isn’t, you may need to reconsider), I bet you have Cole Haan in your closet. And if you’re looking for a new pair but don’t want to spend the normal asking price, they’re giving you an extra 40% off sale items with the code EXTRA40, for both men’s and women’s styles.
Once again, LOFT is here to make your summer wardrobe better. Get 40% off everything (including New Arrivals) when you use the code BESTFRIENDS to celebrate their Friends & Family event. It’s a LOFT summer, if I do say so myself.
In my opinion, the best time to buy winter apparel is when it isn’t winter. For one, you don’t need to scramble to find something warm, and secondly, most things are on sale. Like, Nordstrom Rack’s The North Face sale going on right now. Save up to $100 on The North Face outerwear and get ready for the months ahead.
The T-Mobile version has some T-Mobile branding and claims to be optimized for Wi-Fi calling, but under the hood, it’s just a standard (and very popular Wi-Fi router). The deal is available to everyone, even if you aren’t a T-Mobile customer, but we don’t expect it to last long at all.
Like the original Evolution, the Evolution Cool is made of memory foam, and wraps all the way around your neck to provide support if your head nods off to the side while you’re traveling. The key difference is the integrated vent running along the middle of the pillow, which should keep your neck from getting too sweaty.
If you have any long trips on the horizon, you can save 20% on all four colors today with promo code LBYL79GJ. Cabeau’s pillows never go on sale, so if you’ve had one on your wish list, this is a great opportunity.
By now, most of you probably have a USB battery pack or two to keep your phones charged, and that’s great! But I’m willing to bet most of them won’t start your car if its battery dies.
The $59 Anker compact car jump starter has your standard pair of USB ports and a 10,000mAh built-in battery, but it also ships with a set of removable jumper cables to jolt your car’s engine to life in a pinch. Once you’re up and running, it’ll even recharge itself via an included 15V car charger, so it never even has to leave your glove box.
Hopefully you don’t need to use this often, but it’s one of those things you’ll be really glad you bought when the time comes. This particular model has been a little cheaper during a couple of Amazon Gold Boxes, but today’s price is still well below its usual $70-$80.
This 20V Worx string trimmer isn’t the most powerful model out there, but it should get the job done for most normal yards, and it critically includes two batteries (roughly 20 minutes each) and a charger for just $80.
Can’t wait for fall? Neither can Sperry. They’re marking down their fall styles to $75 for both men and women. So if you need a new pair of boat shoes, now the chance to grab a pair for $20 off.
Amazon’s currently offering several colors and sizes for $119, or about $11 off its MSRP. No, that’s not a huge deal, but it’s about as good as you’re likely to see these days.
Lärabars are great for starting your day or fueling up on the go, and Amazon’s taking an extra 25% off when you buy various multipacks as part of a back-to-school promotion. Just pick your favorite flavor, and you should see the extra savings at checkout.
We’ve shared lots of deals on 32 and 64GB flash drives that include microUSB plugs for your Android devices before, but here’s one on a massive 128GB model. In case you haven’t seen these yet, they’re perfect for storing videos to watch on your tablet during a long flight, or sharing large amounts of vacation photos from your phone without using a computer.
No Man’s Sky, $48 for Prime members. Discount shown at checkout.
There’s a little-known indie game called No Man’s Sky out today on PS4, and if you have Prime, you can snag a copy for $48 (discount shown at checkout).
In case you weren’t aware, this 20% video game discount is available for Prime members on all preorder and new release games (physical copies only), out to two weeks post-release. So if you’re ready to take off an explore the universe, this is an easy way to save $12.
Only luddites use tape measures anymore. This laser distance measurer takes instant distance readings that are accurate to within 1/16 of an inch, and includes several built-in area calculation functions, in case you’re a little rusty on your middle school math.
You spend 1/3 of your life in contact with a pillow, so it had better be a good one. This Langria bed pillow is stuffed with chunks of shredded memory foam, and it can be yours for only $24 today with code BACKTOSS. Don’t sleep on this deal.
You never want to be in a situation where you need a solar and hand crank-powered weather radio with a flashlight and USB port for charging your phone, but when you can get one for $18, you probably should buy it just in case.
The thing that’s really frustrating me about No Man’s Sky is that I bought an Xbox One, so I can’t play it. If you’re in the same boat, this $280 console deal is about as cheap as PS4s ever get. Just note that you won’t get any bundled games.
Amazon bills this buy two and save $5 promotion as a back to school special, but I’m not going back to school anytime soon, and I would still love to buy some of these snacks. Eligible products include everything from Lays chips to Starbucks Refreshers to oatmeal, so head over to Amazon and pick out your two favorites.
The Halo 5: Guardians Limited Edition must have been a real flop, because it’s selling for just $27 on Amazon today, an all-time low by $10, and miles and miles from its original $100.
That gets you the game, limited edition packaging, dossiers, the Halo: The Fall of Reach animated series, requisition packs, a Metal Earth Guardian model, and more. This was certainly not the best Halo game, but it’s still worth playing if you’ve enjoyed the rest of the series.
You know the little charging brick that came with your phone? Throw it out, and spend $7 on this replacement from Aukey (with code AUKEY12W). It’s basically the same size as Apple’s standard iPhone charger, but it includes two ports, folding prongs, and 2.4A of current (instead of 1A) to charge your devices faster.
The strip packs in 1.5 LEDs per inch, which far exceeds most competing models, and you can use the included remote to dim them or choose from over 4,000 different colors. They’re certainly not the cheapest strip lights we’ve seen, but outside of expensive Philips Hue strips, they might be the most versatile.
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Some serious academics, according to Google Image Search.
Last week, a Serious Academic™exhausted hundreds of words denouncing the use of social media by his colleagues while insinuating that selfie culture poses an existential threat to academic life. The social media backlash from other serious academics was swift and on point, reminding us that many scientists are voluntary participants in the broader experiment of human society.
I have an opinion about this. It’s an opinion that’s guaranteed to bite me in the ass for years to come—sorry future self, yolo Senior Week—but here it is anyway:
Serious Academics* are full of shit. They are full of Serious Doodoo.
*I have many friends who I consider to be serious academics and yet who are not overheated sweater vests. This post is in no way a criticism of them. Sweater vests, you know who you are. #NotAllAcademics
These fun-hating, highfalutin’ smarties have fought to maintain an exclusive and exclusionary scholastic environment since the first Ivory Towers were built. This is an opinion I have formed through nearly nine years of higher education at R1 research universities, which afforded me ample exposure to the aggrandizing affect and xenophobic tendencies of the Serious Academic. And if I hadn’t already decided to quit science because blogging is honestly much more fun than pipetting, the exhausting self-importance of Serious Academics would have made me jump ship eventually, I’m sure of it.
Which brings me to a confession: I have a PhD. I suppose that makes me a doctor? It doesn’t really matter—I wrote a dissertation on soil and microbes (technically “carbon biogeochemistry,” which has implications for understanding our biosphere as a holistic system and predicting future climate change blah blah blah), but as I have yet to meet another human being who openly identifies as a dirt doctor, I will continue to assume that this is not a thing one does.
Regardless, it is the truth. I may be a blogger/reporter/writer/occasional internet loudmouth today, but I also identify as a scientist, and to some degree as a serious academic. What that doesn’t make me is smarter, or more important, or more deserving of respect, than you. What that doesn’t make me is free from the responsibility to participate in society, or to explain how I am using your taxpayer dollars. And it sure as hell doesn’t absolve me of the obligation to treat my fellow human beings as equals.
And if you’re wondering what any of this has to do with academics rolling their eyes at other academics who take selfies with gators, I’ll tell you: scientists who engage with the public are put down, forced on the defensive, and labeled a “waste of time” by their Smarter, More Serious, and Definitely More Anonymous academic peers, pretty much all the time.
Here’s the thing about scientists: we’re all just a bunch of nerds. Like many of my peers, I was inspired to walk the path of science thanks to an excessive dose of science fiction as a child. My heroes were Ellie Arroway, Beverly Crusher, and even total dweebs like Wayne Szalinski. Scientists were go-lucky explorers who spent their days fearlessly charting the unknown and rescuing their peers from impossible situations, and I wanted to be one of them.
Of course, I got older and discovered that real science is not about fighting alien monsters or building interdimensional laser beams. It is about The Slog. In high school and college I worked in a behavioral neuroscience lab, a microbiology lab, a nutritional biochemistry lab, and a soil science lab. I spent countless hours feeding mice, breeding fruit flies, plating bacteria, running PCRs and enzyme assays. I learned that science is mostly boring, and I made my peace with that.
But scientists aren’t drawn to their profession because they love mind-numbing repetition and enormous spreadsheets full of meaningless numbers. They are drawn to science because they are inspired by big ideas, or because they are obsessed with a burning question, or because they can’t stop dreaming of an awesome technology. In other words, because they are nerds who love science. So why are scientists giving other scientists shit for live-tweeting conferences, writing op-eds, doing public outreach, and finding creative ways to share their passion with the world and make that day-to-day slog more bearable?
The answer is complex. It involves enduring cultural norms, weird academic incentive structures, and institutionalized fears about the democratization of scholarship. It’s beyond the scope of this blog post, which I fear has already become a bit serious for Senior Week.
But I do hope the culture changes over time. When I was nearing the dissertation finish line, I remember telling a senior scientist who I admired that I wanted to become a science writer. I distinctly recall her gasping—gasping!—before imploring me to reconsider this aberrant and clearly incorrect life choice. I was, she told me in the most ass-backwards compliment I’ve ever received, “far too good for that.”
I’m not bitter about leaving science—I couldn’t be happier working with these freaks over at Gizmodo. But whenever I hear a Serious Academic opine that his Great Institution of Higher Learning is being sullied by the frivolities of Common Folk, I can’t help but roll my eyes and wonder how many other serious academics feel trapped on the inside.
The involvement of Carmichael—whose name has been repeatedly floated as a potential helmer for Marvel’s Captain Marvel movie—in the adaptation of Shannon Watters, Grace Ellis, Noelle Stevenson, and Brooke Allen’s smash hit supernatural all-ages comic was first reported by The Wrap. The comic’s publisher, Boom! studios, confirmed it on Twitter:
The adventures at Miss Quinzella Thiskwin Penniquiqul Thistle Crumpet’s Camp for Hardcore Lady Types have regularly been some of our favorite comics around in the last few years, so it’s nice to see that the movie is moving forward again. Hopefully we’ll start hearing more things soon.
Today at the TCA panel, CBS entertainment president Glenn Geller explained that moving Supergirl to the CW was a great move for them and the show. And that “If we heard the right superhero pitch, we would absolutely buy it.” Let’s help him find it.
Actually, the perfect CBS superhero pitch already exists, and it’s The Flash, because that is a show about a superhero who is also a crime scene investigator. It is totally on the wrong network. But since that’s taken, please come up with others. Glenn Geller and CBS are counting on you!
The upcoming Harry Potter prequel, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, has just added Mad Max: Fury Road and X-Men: First Class actress Zoe Kravitz. Which is outstanding. But you’re probably wondering, “Doesn’t that movie come out in like four months?” Yes. Yes, it does.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, Kravitz was added “after production began,” which could either mean days later or months. The latter sounds plausible too, because apparently while Kravitz’s role in this year’s movie is small, she’ll have a larger role in the sequel, which screenwriter J.K. Rowling has already penned for a November 2018 release.
Basically, we guess one of these two scenarios occurred. Either Kravitz’ role is so small, she filmed it completely under the radar, or Rowling created a new character while writing the sequel and realized after production had wrapped they still had time to work her into the first movie as a tease. The former is certainly more likely, but the conspiracy theorist in me wants to believe the latter.
Warner Bros. had no comment on Kravitz’s addition to the film.
Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them opens November 18. The sequel opens two years later, on November 16, 2018.
