Showing posts with label extraterrestrial. Show all posts
Showing posts with label extraterrestrial. Show all posts

June 11 - Premiere of E.T.

   Posted on June 11, 2022     


This is an update of my post published on June 11, 2011:



This science fiction film - which premiered in theaters on this date in 1982 - is about a friendly extraterrestrial creature stranded on Earth and the children who help him to re-establish contact (“Phone home!”) with his spaceship so he can go home. This movie was hugely popular, when it was first released; it became the highest-grossing film of all time, over Star Wars (A New Hope) - a record that stood for 11 years, only to be eclipsed by Jurassic Park (the first one!). It was nominated for nine Academy Awards and won four Oscars plus other awards.

This movie was notable to me - at the time when it was released - because it was one of the few that portrayed alien creatures in a positive light. (Another that did, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, was created by the same director as E.T., Steven Spielberg.)

How about doing a research project about how aliens are portrayed in movies and books? 

How many authors and screenwriters show aliens as monsters who attack humans and who need to be destroyed? 

How many show aliens as interesting possible friends? 

How many show aliens as powerful, technologically advanced good-guys?

How many show aliens who are super mysterious and impersonal and aloof, or hard to recognize as sentient in the first place?

Here are some movies that could be part of such an analysis:
Warning: some of these are really scary, and some movies may be rated R. But you can check plot summaries on the internet, rather than watching them.

  • Alien movies
  • Star Wars movies
  • War of the Worlds
  • Independence Day
  • Contact
  • Starship Troopers
  • Cocoon
  • Starman
  • Invasion of the Body Snatchers
  • The Day the Earth Stood Still
  • 2001: A Space Odyssey and 2010: The Year We Make Contact
  • K-Pax
  • Star Trek movies
  • Avatar
  • Battle: Los Angeles
  • The Blob
  • Men in Black movies
  • Guardian of the Galaxy movies
  • Close Encounters of the Third Kind
  • Ender's Game
Posted by at No comments:
Labels: , , , ,

January 16 – Happy Birthday, Jill Tarter


Posted on January 16, 2017

Perhaps you have heard of the great divide between the two kinds of science? There's life science way over here -- you know, biology, botany, zoology, microbiology, physiology, anatomy, medical science. And then, over there are the physical sciences -- physics, chemistry, astronomy, geology, meteorology...

 When you're in middle school, it seems as if there is a separation between the two general branches of science.

 But then...

 ...Then you realize that there are ALL these connections.

  • Organic chemistry and biochemistry are about the chemistry that happens in living things. 
  • Astrobiology is about extraterrestrial life (and also the possible future of life on Earth).
  • Biophysics is the study of living things with the focus of how the laws of physics affect them.
  • Ecology and environmental science combine non-living (physical) and living things, including landforms, climate, plants / animals / other living things.
  • Oceanography includes physical aspects of the ocean, such as plate tectonics and waves and tides, with the biology of marine animals and other living things.

Today's famous birthday is a hero of one of these interdisciplinary sciences. Jill Tarter earned a Bachelor of Engineering Physics Degree and a Master's and PhD in Astronomy...but most of her work has dealt with astrobiology.

She worked on the search for extraterrestrial intelligence (SETI), using radio telescopes to search for intelligent signals from other creatures with technologies. She retired from her career in 2012 but is now on the Starmus Board of Directors. This group puts on an international festival that celebrates astronomy, space exploration, music, art, and other sciences that touch on astronomy (cosmology, astrobiology, etc.). Talk about interdisciplinary!

 Here are some wise words from Tarter:




Enjoy Tarter's TED Talk, "Join the SETI Search."

 Have you ever considered how really very unlikely it is that E.T.s will look almost exactly like us?



Instead, they may look crazy different from us:







  

 Also on this date:





















Plan ahead:

Check out my Pinterest pages on:
And here are my Pinterest boards for:
Posted by at No comments:
Labels: , , , , , , , , ,

February 12, 2013 - Kanaval in Haiti

 There are almost as many names and traditions for “Mardi Gras” or “Carnival” as there are nations! Whether people are participating in a pancake race, throwing oranges or beads to parade-watchers, eating way too many pastries, soaking others (and being soaked) with water, or creating elaborate floats and costumes and masks for the annual parades and balls and parties—well, this “last hurrah” before Lent can be colorful and fun and rowdy!

In Haiti, Carnival is often called Kanaval. It features many familiar themes, such as parades with floats, costumes, and masks. An important part of the festivities is musical concerts of zouk, Haitian rap, and other Haitian music. The crowds move and dance as they are urged with creole cries such as mete men nan le (put your hands in the air!) and sote (jump up!) – cries that have inspired English-speaking hip-hop artists. 


(A creole language is a language that developed from a mix of two or more languages.)

For more on Carnival around the world, check out this and this other earlier posts.




Extraterrestrial Culture Day in New Mexico

This is totally wild! A “memorial” (not law) passed in the New Mexico legislature in 2007, making the second Tuesday of February each year officially set aside “to celebrate and honor all past, present, and future extraterrestrial visitors in ways to enhance relationships among all citizens of the cosmos, known and unknown.”

Wow!

I am in total agreement that we should celebrate and honor extraterrestrial visitors in order to enhance our relationships with all the aliens in the universe...

...but I want to point out that there are zero known extraterrestrial visitors in Earth's past...

...and as of today, 2/12/2013, zero known extraterrestrial visitors in Earth's present.

So...that leaves the future!

If we ever do meet alien intelligences, it would be amazing to learn about their history and cultures and biology, of course! It would be useful to be able to compare with our own human history and culture and biology!

If you're interested in being a part of the search for extraterrestrials, check out this astrobiology course  and the SETI organization. 

By the way...

If you have heard and believe that extraterrestrials crashed at Roswell, New Mexico, in 1947, you should check out this article by Kal Korff, which analyzes evidence and eyewitness testimonies about that incident and explains the true nature of the crash debris and the governmental cover-up. (Hint: the explanation is interesting, but entirely earthly.) 

These are just two of the fun
sights you can see in Roswell,
New Mexico, today!













Also on this date:


























Posted by at No comments:
Labels: , , , , , , , , ,
Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)