Daily Archives: March 1, 2017

Before we all get too excited about those new Earth-like planets discovered in the Trappist-1 star system last week, we should all watch "Alien: Covenant," the next installment in Ridley Scott's "Alien" franchise.

The new trailer, posted by 20th Century Fox today, almost feels like a romantic love story with a ship full of couples, and then the eeriness of the mission sets in.

In director Ridley Scott's "Alien: Covenant," the sequel to 2012's "Prometheus," the crew of colony ship Covenant discover what they think is an uncharted paradise.

But the crew is in for a surprise when they learn that this new utopia is actually a dangerous world that is home to the kind of creatures that gave us all nightmares from the original "Alien" movie.

The new trailer shows scenes of the crew exploring a breathtakingly beautiful world, unknowingly stumbling upon aliens eggs spewing facehuggers, screaming shipmates running through their ship, and best of all, more footage of Xenomorphs attacking.

The film stars Michael Fassbender (reprising his role as the robot David), Noomi Rapace (reprising her role as Dr. Elizabeth Shaw), Katherine Waterston, Danny McBride, Billy Crudup, Guy Pearce and James Franco.

"Alien: Covenant" opens on May 19 in the US, May 12 in the UK and May 18 in Australia.

Read the original:

Watch brutal Xenomorph attack in new 'Alien: Covenant' trailer - CNET

All my bags are packed. Im ready to go.

Oh, let me tell you where were going:

Yeah,that2MASS J23062928-0502285, the only-39.5-light-years-away dwarf star that NASA technically revealed in 2016 but re-revealed last week.

Its a dwarf star, but not just any stupid regular-type dwarf star.

Its classified as an ultracool dwarf star. Like,so dope.

And not dope like Dopey, Dwarf Star 1-of-7. Like, dope likeultracool.

I bet youll find 2MASS J23062928-0502285 kicked back against the bleachers after school.

Leather jacket. Motorcycle.

Wait, thats not ultracool. Thats retrocool.

Ultracool like a modern tech kid with good hair and rolled skinny jeans and high-tops.

Yeah, like someone who used to shop at American Apparel before they became woke and spoke out against the companys practices.

Now theyre concerned about political issues, butnot like, political, you know?

That kind of ultracool dwarf star.

2MASS J23062928-0502285 even goes by an ultra-cool name: TRAPPIST-1, in all-caps like its an acronym, but it isnt an acronymcause thats its name, man, but technically it is the telescope they used to find it is the Transiting Planets and Planetesimals Small Telescope ... I dont know where the I comes from.

There is an I in Planetesimals, so maybe there.

But anyway, thats where Im going.

Well ...nearTRAPPIST-1. You cant live there.

Its a star, dummy. Youd get all burnt up.

But it does have seven planets orbiting it. Four of those seven were just found a couple weeks ago, and five of those seven are roughly the same size as Earth, and three of those seven might be able to support life.

See, weve effectively destroyed our planet, because humans are jerks.

And Earth is actively trying to shake us off. We are absolute parasites, killing our host.

So more and more, globes are warming and earths are quaking and canes are hurriing and nadoes are toring and Im looking to get out while the gettins good.

Where better than TRAPPALACHIA-1 itself?

There arent any planets other than Earth in our solar system that we know can support life.

Maybe Mars, but Mars kinda sucks. I sawThe Martian. Thats a lot of red dust to deal with.

So maybe the right planet for me and us is TRAPPIST-1f or maybe TRAPPIST-1g or maybe TRAPPIST-1h. One of those three Earth-like spots. We can start fresh (First up? Changing those lazy names).

Well gather up the best people (who I havent gathered yet) to load up the space shuttle (which I havent acquired yet) with gear and supplies (which havent acquired yet) and well ship out.

Based on our current tech, itll only take us 1,469,400 years to get to TRAPSVEGAS-1.

Drops in the bucket of time, am I right?

Thats actually a butt-ton of time, so maybe we need a loophole.

Look, Ive seenInterstellar. AND Ive seenGravity.

So you can just shut up. I know what Im talking about.

But even with all of this figured outtechnically, theres still the issue of the hardest part of all of this:

How do we manage the humans heading for the new utopia?

Ive seen enough science fiction movies to know that human nature is the worst part of nature, because either someone gets spacecrazy and stabs someone else or someone gets infected by some extraterrestrial somethingorother and then bites a face off or someone decides they can fix the ship and gets snatched out into nothingness or someone lets an alien monster onto the ship by accident which then proceeds to just eat everyone, and thats just a short list.

These are all things that could or could not happen on our trip to NEWTRAPCITY-1.

Not to mention all the problems thatll come up once we get there, like deciding what form of government we should use, or what the best way to grow food is, or how we plan to hunt, or how to avoid being killed by the people or creatures already living there, and you know what this seems like a ton of work after a million-and-a-half years of traveling.

Mars doesnt look so bad now.

Justin Johnson is content editor at the Morning News.

He hopes Reeses Peanut Butter Cups exist elsewhere in the universe.

View original post here:

JUSTIN JOHNSON: It's a TRAP! - SCNow

Stellaris: Utopia brings even greater depth and variety to a game already celebrated for its story-telling power and near endless possibilities. Are you ready for perfection?

One of the core improvements in Utopia is the introduction of Ascension Perks. As your species advances and gains new traditions, it can choose how it wants to evolve as it is further enlightened. You can choose between a biological path, a psionic path or a synthetic path, with various options within these broad categories. Body, Mind or Machine - how will your species challenge the future?

Utopia Also Includes: Megastructures: Build wondrous structures in your systems including Dyson Spheres and ring worlds, bringing both prestige and major advantages to your race. Habitat Stations: Build tall and establish space stations that will house more population, serving the role of planets in a small and confined empire. Rights and Privileges: Set specific policies for which of the many species under your thumb will have the rights and privileges of full citizenship. Build an egalitarian paradise or follow a caste system. And even more improvements and updates, including (as is traditional with all of our paid content releases) free updates for every Stellaris owner!

Visit link:

Stellaris: Utopia Path to Ascension release date trailer - Gameplanet

An empty rail car that was being stored on a stretch of railway in Utopia derailed off the track due to suspected vandalism and the company who manages the cars is reminding people it is a criminal offense to tamper with railway equipment.

Sometime around Feb. 24, railcars that were being stored on a stretch of the Barrie Collingwood Railway had their hand breaks disengaged and a car rolled about 15 feet before derailing.

Cando Rail Services has been storing the railcars in Utopia since last year when they signed a contract with Town of Collingwood. The contract was expected to generate $28,800 per year for the town, which will help offset the $45,000 Collingwood spends annually to maintain the corridor.

We had some rail cars being stored there and somebody came by and released the hand brakes off a section of the cars and they lifted the operating lever which cause the cars to roll, Jeff Allen, general manager of eastern operations for Cando Rail Services, said. It was an act of vandalism.

Police were on the scene on Feb. 27 to investigate after Cando called to report the suspected vandalism. Police say they cant confirm whether it was an accident or vandalism and that they have no suspects.

The railcar has since been put back on the rails.

Steve McKever, who lives within 80 feet of the railroad, had started a petition last year to have the railcars removed. The recent derailment has reaffirmed his wishes to see the cars gone.

Theyre supposed to be storing these cars there safely, he said. Obviously they cant be stored safely.

McKever also noted that the new railcars that were being stored there have been moved and older railcars have since taken their place.

Allen confirmed that they have moved the new cars out and put old ones in their place. He also confirmed that the agreement between Collingwood and Cando Rail Services allowing them to store railcars has been extended.

We extended the contract with Collingwood for another year, he said, noting the first contract expired in January.

McKever was concerned the old cars may still have some product in them and pose an environmental risk but Allen says they have been purged.

Theres absolutely no commodities in the cars whatsoever, he said.

As far as keeping the railway, the railcars, and the public safe, Allen says Cando has measures in place to monitor activity at the site, and that they perform regular inspections as part of their risk assessment process.

We do a regular inspection twice a week to make sure all of the safety appliances are still in order, he said, noting that they discovered the derailment during an inspection on Feb. 24.

Allen noted that tampering with railway safety equipment is a criminal offense.

McKever says he has still has concerns, and that he has seen kids playing near the railcars recently. There is only one solution in his mind.

There is only one solution and its get them out of there, he said.

See the rest here:

Railcar derailment in Utopia due to vandalism: Cando Rail Services - Simcoe.com

(Last Updated On: March 1, 2017)

Paradox Interactive will be launching the first major expansion for Stellaris called Utopia. The new expansion pack is set to arrive on PC starting April 6th.

The pack will be available both on the Steam store and through the Paradox digital storefront for $19.99.

The description of the expansion reads

One of the core improvements in Utopia is the introduction of Ascension Perks. As your species advances and gains new traditions, it can choose how it wants to evolve as it is further enlightened. You can choose between a biological path, a psionic path or a synthetic path, with various options within these broad categories. Body, Mind or Machine how will your species challenge the future?

The expansion will contain all new mega-structures in which to decorate your planets with, along with habitat stations that can extend your population growth, and all new rights and privileges. You can see what the expansion entails with the trailer below.

The trailer is well put together, showing the different cultures and what they would do if they managed to get their hands on unimaginable resources. No matter what, everyone is intent on getting to Utopia.

The trailer isnt just there for fluff and pomp, its actually a representation of how players can establish their space colonies and direct and manage their resources.

Its completely possible to be a benevolent and giving diplomacy, or a hard-nosed militaristic regime. The choice is all yours. If you enjoy the 4x grand strategy games that have become hugely popular amongst sci-fi fans, then Stellaris seems like the kind of game thats worth checking out.

You can look to get your hands on the expansion starting April 6th. The base version of Stellaris which became a sleeper hit when it launched last year is currently available right now from participating digital distributors.

Read more from the original source:

Stellaris Utopia Set To Launch April 6th - One Angry Gamer (blog)