Links

One of the Films on This Year’s Black List is an Alternate History of Stanley Kubrick Faking the Moon Landing

One of the screenplays inducted onto this year’s Black List (check out the complete list here) is by self-described “newbie” Stephany Folsom, and is intriguingly titled, 1969: A Space Odyssey or How Kubrick Learned to Stop Worrying and Land on the Moon (an obvious reference to both the title of Stanley Kubrick’s classic black-comedy satire from 1964, and to the director’s 2001: A Space Odyssey from 1968).

Folsom’s 108-page script (a drama) focuses on “Barbara,” a lone wolf working in the publicity department at NASA’s office in Washington, DC, in 1969. The story is an alternate history of how, as the Cold War rages, Barbara reaches out to and convinces acclaimed director Stanley Kubrick to work with NASA to fake the moon landing and one-up the Soviets.

“Hijinks ensue,” Folsom says.

The film is partly inspired by the famous conspiracy theory that Kubrick was recruited by the US government to direct a fake moon landing. “I’m a big conspiracy fan,” Folsom tells Mother Jones. “Now, I don’t necessarily believe in conspiracy theories—but I liked the idea.”

One of the Films on This Year’s Black List is an Alternate History of Stanley Kubrick Faking the Moon Landing

Read more "One of the Films on This Year’s Black List is an Alternate History of Stanley Kubrick Faking the Moon Landing"

Neanderthals could speak like modern humans, study suggests   

The hyoid bone is crucial for speaking as it supports the root of the tongue. In non-human primates, it is not placed in the right position to vocalise like humans.

An international team of researchers analysed a fossil Neanderthal throat bone using 3D x-ray imaging and mechanical modelling.

This model allowed the group to see how the hyoid behaved in relation to the other surrounding bones.

Stephen Wroe, from the University of New England, Armidale, NSW, Australia, said: “We would argue that this is a very significant step forward. It shows that the Kebara 2 hyoid doesn’t just look like those of modern humans – it was used in a very similar way.”

Neanderthals could speak like modern humans, study suggests   

Read more "Neanderthals could speak like modern humans, study suggests   "

Polynesian people used binary numbers 600 years ago

Only about 600 Mangarevan speakers now remain on the island, and in any case its indigenous number system has long been superseded by Arabic digits because of the influence of French colonialism. But Bender and Beller have reconstructed it from descriptions written by (mostly European) authors in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.

They find that the former Mangarevans combined base-10 representation with a binary system. They had number words for 1 to 10, and then for 10 multiplied by several powers of 2. The word takau (which Bender and Beller denote as K) means 10; paua (P) means 20; tataua (T) is 40; and varu (V) stands for 80. In this notation, for example, 70 is TPK and 57 is TK7.

Bender and Beller show that this system retains the key arithmetical simplifications of true binary, in that you don’t need to memorize lots of number facts but follow only a few simple rules, such as 2 × K = P and 2 × P = T.

Polynesian people used binary numbers 600 years ago

Read more "Polynesian people used binary numbers 600 years ago"

Polynesian people used binary numbers 600 years ago

Only about 600 Mangarevan speakers now remain on the island, and in any case its indigenous number system has long been superseded by Arabic digits because of the influence of French colonialism. But Bender and Beller have reconstructed it from descriptions written by (mostly European) authors in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.

They find that the former Mangarevans combined base-10 representation with a binary system. They had number words for 1 to 10, and then for 10 multiplied by several powers of 2. The word takau (which Bender and Beller denote as K) means 10; paua (P) means 20; tataua (T) is 40; and varu (V) stands for 80. In this notation, for example, 70 is TPK and 57 is TK7.

Bender and Beller show that this system retains the key arithmetical simplifications of true binary, in that you don’t need to memorize lots of number facts but follow only a few simple rules, such as 2 × K = P and 2 × P = T.

Polynesian people used binary numbers 600 years ago

Read more "Polynesian people used binary numbers 600 years ago"

A creepy 15th century language experiment took place on this island

image
This is Inchkeith Island, the Scottish Isle with the least romantic history possible. Not only was it a quarantine island for the earliest cases of syphilis, it was also home to two kids who were subjected to a very creepy language experiment.
A creepy 15th century language experiment took place on this island

Read more "A creepy 15th century language experiment took place on this island"

Dinosaur asteroid ‘sent life to Mars’

The early Martian atmosphere appears to have been warm and wet – prime conditions for the development of life.

And if Martian microbes ever did exist, transfer to Earth is “highly probable” due to the heavy traffic of meteorites between our planets, Ms Worth told BBC News.

“Billions have fallen on Earth from Mars since the dawn of our planetary system. It is even possible that life on Earth originated on Mars.”

While her team are not the first to calculate that panspermia is possible, their 10-million-year simulation is the most extended yet, said astrobiologist Prof Jay Melosh, of Purdue University.

“The study strongly reinforces the conclusion that, once large impacts eject material from the surface of a planet such as the Earth or Mars, the ejected debris easily finds its way from one planet to another,” he told BBC News.

“The Chicxulub impact itself might not have been a good candidate because it occurred in the ocean (50 to 500m deep water) and, while it might have ejected a few sea-surface creatures, like ammonites, into space, it would not likely have ejected solid rocks.

"I sometimes joke that we might find ammonite shells on the Moon from that event.

"But other large impacts on the Earth may indeed have ejected rocks into interplanetary space.”

Another independent expert on panspermia, Mauricio Reyes-Ruiz of the National Autonomous University of Mexico, said the new findings were “very significant”.

“The fact such different pathways exist for the interchange of material between Earth and bodies in the Solar System suggests that if life is ever found, it may very well turn out to be our very, very distant relatives,” he said.

Dinosaur asteroid ‘sent life to Mars’

Read more "Dinosaur asteroid ‘sent life to Mars’"

Curiosity Finds Evidence Of Ancient Freshwater Lake On Mars

“The chemistry of the lake would have been congenial to organisms known as chemolithoautotrophs — mineral-eaters. Whether such organisms, which thrive on Earth in exotic environments such as caves and deep-sea hydrothermal vents, actually existed on the young Mars is a question Curiosity lacks the tools to answer.”

Curiosity Finds Evidence Of Ancient Freshwater Lake On Mars

Read more "Curiosity Finds Evidence Of Ancient Freshwater Lake On Mars"

Guns for Armes: The Amazing True Story of the World’s First Real Life Superhero

grinderbot:

Every night dozens of people around the world don masks and costumes and venture into the streets to fight crime.

Phoenix Jones and Master Legend are perhaps the most famous, but there are hundreds of costumed would-be crime fighters and their activities range from attempting to apprehend criminals to watching over the homeless while they sleep to make sure their positions aren’t stolen.

These caped crusaders aren’t mutants, aliens or cyborgs — they’re just concerned citizens. They have no superhuman powers. But with advances in technology — such as exoskeletons and bionic limbs — you might think it’s only a matter of time until we see the first grinder superhero.

Actually, we’ve had him for quite some time.

http://grinding.be/2013/12/06/guns-for-armes-the-amazing-true-story-of-the-worlds-first-real-life-superhero/

Guns for Armes: The Amazing True Story of the World’s First Real Life Superhero

Read more "Guns for Armes: The Amazing True Story of the World’s First Real Life Superhero"

ISS crew over the moon with new gourmet menu

“Special occasion” meals are enjoyed on the space station – first inhabited in November 2000 and continuously occupied ever since – on birthdays, holidays, and whenever a crew member goes on a mission outside the station or there is a change-over of staff.

The ISS orbits the Earth just over 15-½ times a day at an altitude of between 205 and 270 miles and an average speed of 17,100mph. On non-special occasions, crew members eat preserved food in vacuum-sealed plastic bags, which are, reportedly, as popular as the average school dinner.

ISS crew over the moon with new gourmet menu

Read more "ISS crew over the moon with new gourmet menu"

Cambodia temple discovery

A new report released by the U.S.-based National Academy of Sciences (NAS) highlighting the results of an April 2012 airborne laser survey – the first of its kind in Asia, covering 370 square kilometers of northwest Cambodia’s Khmer Empire archaeological sites – has revealed a much grander Angkor landscape, one without parallel in the pre-industrial world.

Even more sensational, the June announcement of the findings confirmed the existence of a huge medieval city buried beneath impenetrable jungle on a remote mountain.

Cambodia temple discovery

Read more "Cambodia temple discovery"