Category Archives: Futurism

Sci-fi. Not rated. 106 minutes

Christoph Waltz, left, stars in Terry Gilliam's "The Zero Theorem." Provided by Voltage Pictures (The Denver Post | Provided by Voltage Pictures)

Here's a paradox: Everyone admires Terry Gilliam's weeble-wobble determination to keep making films despite terrible bad luck, and yet the films themselves, even the ones with relatively misfortune-free production histories, are desperately hard to admire. A case in point is "The Zero Theorem," a sci-fi confection that, at best, momentarily recalls the dystopian whimsy of the director's best-loved effort, "Brazil," but ends up dissolving into a muddle of unfunny jokes and half-baked ideas, all served up with that painful, herky-jerky Gilliam rhythm. Gilliam's die-hard fans will rally, but that probably won't be enough to rescue this from niche obscurity.

Scripted by creative-writing professor Pat Rushin, the story is supposedly set in the not-so-distant future, perhaps in London (the film was actually shot on a stage set in Bucharest). It posits a not-hard-to-extrapolate-from-current-conditions world of clutter and noise, where advertising signage can identify exactly who is walking down the street and there's a church dedicated to Batman the Redeemer.

Neurotic scientist Qohen Leth (Christoph Waltz), a hairless recluse who lives in a ramshackle, decommissioned chapel, works for the Mancom Corp., a sprawling tech bureaucracy that requires employees to work in office cubicles that somewhat resemble old-school arcade-style video-game consoles, but where, in a Steampunk twist, software is transmitted in vials of liquid.

In a none-too-subtle shoutout to "1984," signs warn that Management is watching everywhere, incarnated in the figure of a character actually called Management (Matt Damon, sporting, like everyone else in the movie, a ridiculous hairpiece). Despite the dystopian setting, David Warren's production design strews lots of corrugated tubes and DayGlo colors about, making it all feel doubly retro, a nostalgic callback to the kind of pneumatic tube-futurism "Brazil" pioneered in the 1980s.

Qohen, whose name both sounds Jewish-outsidery and plays on the Zen notion or koan, has been assigned by Mancom to prove the Zero Theorem, some kind of contrived nihilistic nonsense that's never properly explained. He does this by jiggling crude-looking CGI Rubik's cubes with mathematical symbols in virtual space, something about as visually interesting as watching someone play 3D Tetris for Windows 98. As if that weren't a portentous enough conceit, he spends his time at home anxiously waiting for a phone call from someone or something that will explain the meaning of his life to him, which (spoiler ahead) never comes through.

At a party, where everyone is listening to music on their cellphones instead of what's on the sound system (one of the film's few amusing gags), Qohen meets Bainsley (fetching but limited Melanie Thierry, "The Princess of Montpensier"), a simpering coquette who later shows up uninvited at Qohen's house to "shoot trouble" when he gets stuck in his work. A halting sort of romance starts up, albeit one based on "tantric" non-penetrative interfacing.

Management's intellectually precocious son, Bob (Lucas Hedges, "Moonrise Kingdom"), also invites himself over, as do various pizza- delivery guys, the obligatory dwarves and David Thewlis as Qohen's backward-toupee-wearing boss, Joby. Altogether, a bunch of nothing happens, more or less, until the film runs out of steam and budget.

Those who made it to the end of "The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus" or "Tideland" will be amazed to find Gilliam sinking even further here than those low-water marks. The production notes, as if trying to forestall inevitable criticism, make many mentions of the quickness with which the production was executed and the challenges of the low budget, all of which is all too apparent onscreen.

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Dystopian "The Zero Theorem" a muddle of unfunny jokes, half-baked ideas

Futurism defined - From Goodbye-Art Academy
A series giving you all the definitions of popular art terms accompanied with visuals to help you better understand the terms. Goodbye-Art Academy http://gbaacademy.com/

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Artists' conception of the MAVEN spacecraft. (Credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center)

At 10:24 pm EDT on Sunday, NASAs MAVEN spacecraft arrived in orbit around Mars. MAVEN, which stands for Mars Atmosphere and Volatile EvolutioN, is a probe designed to explore the upper atmosphere of Mars in order to learn more about it. The spacecraft launched on Monday, November 18, 2013, taking about 10 months to get to the Red Planet.

As the first orbiter dedicated to studying Mars upper atmosphere, MAVEN will greatly improve our understanding of the history of the Martian atmosphere, how the climate has changed over time, and how that has influenced the evolution of the surface and the potential habitability of the planet, NASA Administrator Charles Bolden said in a press release.

For the next six weeks, the spacecraft will be undergoing a series of tests to maneuver into its proper orbit and to ensure that all of its instruments are working properly. It will then begin its one-year mission to explore the Martian atmosphere.

Its taken 11 years from the original concept for MAVEN to now having a spacecraft in orbit at Mars, Bruce Jakosky, MAVENs principal investigator said in the release. Im delighted to be here safely and successfully, and looking forward to starting our science mission.

The goal of the science mission specifically is to learn more about the composition of the Martian atmosophere and how it interacts with solar wind and other phenomena. The probe will also measure how fast gasses are escaping from Mars slowly thinning atmosphere. When those rates are measured, scientists hope to be able to reconstruct the Martian atmosphere as it existed thousands or millions of years ago. Those reconstructions could help determine if the conditions existed for life to exist on ancient Mars.

The MAVEN probe will also have company soon Indias Mars Orbiter mission is scheduled to enter into Martian orbit this week. That probe also launched in November of 2013, and is loaded with scientific instruments to study the Red Planet. If it successfully enters orbit, Indias space agency will become the fourth to successfully send a probe to Mars, after the U.S., Russian, and the European space agencies.

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NASA's MAVEN Spacecraft Successfully Entered Into Martian Orbit

This 3D printer will be making parts on board the International Space Station (Credit: Made In Space)

On Tuesday morning, a SpaceX Dragon capsule will berth with the International Space Station. Included in its nearly 2 and a half tons of cargo is a first for the final frontier a 3D printer.

This 3D printer was developed by a small startup, Made In Space, which was founded in 2010 and incubated at Singularity University. Since 2011, the company has been actively working on development of their printer with NASA. The company has also received $824,597 in Small Business Innovation Research grants from NASA.

In 2013, NASA awarded Made In Space a Phase III Sole Source contract to build a 3D printer to send to the International Space Station the printer thats on its way to the station right now. The purpose of this printer is the demonstrate that 3D printing can work on board the station. If so, NASA intends to use its printer for experimental purpose with an eye to one day printing parts for the station on-demand.

As you might imagine, 3D printing poses some special challenges when you try to do it in zero gravity.

There are two main categories of problems, Brad Kohlenberg, a Business Development Engineer at the company told me. First is just making work. Second is making it safe in a closed loop environment.

The safety issue is the simple fact that when a 3D printer creates objects from its plastics, it will off-gas emitting toxic gasses into the local air. This isnt a problem on Earth, where doors, windows and HVAC systems allow those gases to diffuse safely. On the space station, however, the atmosphere is strictly controlled and this becomes a real problem.

To solve that problem, the company has developed an environmental control unit that filters out harmful gasses and nanoparticles produced during the printing process. Its so efficient, in fact, that the filter all by itself can purify a room on Earth.

Were actually in talks with other manufacturers about spinning that off, Kohlenberg told me. Doing crazy things that even if you fail to meet your goal, you could revolutionize another industry.

Made In Space tests its 3D printer on a microgravity parabolic flight.

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First Zero-G 3D Printer Is On Its Way To The Space Station

1920s Car of the Future, Weird Invention, Retro Futurism, Archive Footage
From the Kinolibrary archive film collections. To order the clip clean and high res visit http://www.kinolibrary.com. Clip ref WI056 1920s car of the future,...

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Juan Enriquez (2009) MONEY BIOLOGY (FUTURISM)
Juan Enriquez (2009) MONEY BIOLOGY (FUTURISM)

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An Atlas V rocket lifts off with the mysterious CLIO satellite. (Credit: ULA)

Tuesday night at 8:10 EDT, a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket lifted off from Kennedy Space Complex after a short weather delay. This marks the 11th successful launch for ULA this year.

The rocket was carrying a satellite known only as CLIO, which it delivered into an unidentified (though probably geosynchronous) orbit. This satellite was built by Lockheed Martin and based on that companys A2100 Satellite bus. This framework is typically used for telecommunications satellites, and according to Lockheed, over 40 satellites with the A2100 bus are currently in orbit.

The level of secrecy for this satellite is somewhat unusual, especially since the which U.S. government agency is the customer for this satellite hasnt been identified at all. For example, even satellites intended for use to gather intelligence data are typically identified as being launched on behalf of the National Reconnaissance Office.

In a press release, Lockheeds executive VP, Rick Ambrose, merely commented as follows: We are very proud to deliver mission success for our U.S. Government customer. Our A2100 bus provides outstanding reliability, flexibility and proven performance, all at an affordable cost to our customers.

The next launch for ULA is scheduled for October 29, 2014, when an Atlas V rocket will deliver next generation GPS satellites into orbit on behalf of the Air Force. The next launch scheduled for September is a SpaceX launch on September 20, where it will deliver a Dragon capsule loaded with cargo to the International Space Station.

You can watch a video with highlights from the launch below:

To see what else has launched and whats planned to launch this month, please see ourSeptember launch schedule.

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Mystery U.S. Government Satellite Is Now In Orbit

The dwarf galaxy M60-UCD1 has a supermassive black hole five times more massive than the Milky Way's. (Credit: NASA, ESA and A. Seth - University of Utah, USA)

An international team of astronomers have announced that theyve discovered a supermassive black hole at the center of the galaxy M60-UCD1. This is the smallest known galaxy to have a supermassive black hole.

It is the smallest and lightest object that we know of that has a supermassive black hole, lead researcher Anil Seth said in a press release. Its also one of the most black hole-dominated galaxies known.

M60-UCD1 is about 50 million light-years away from Earth and is much smaller than our own Milky Way. Its one of many ultra-compact dwarf galaxies that astronomers have discovered. Its diameter is only 300 light-years 1/500th of the diameter of our galaxy. And those 300 light years are packed with 140 million stars.

Despite their compactness, these types of galaxies still tend to be more massive than astronomers would otherwise expect. This has led some astronomers to theorize that as small as they are, these galaxies may contain supermassive black holes at their center.

We had already published a study that suggested this additional weight could come from the presence of supermassive black holes, but it was only a theory, co-researcher Steffen Mieske of the European Southern Observatory said in a statement. Now, by studying the movement of the stars within M60-UCD1, we have detected the effects of such a black hole at its center.

The astronomers detected the black hole by studying images of the galaxy that had been made with the Hubble Space Telescope and the Gemini North telescope in Hawaii. These images were then studied to determine the effect of the unseen black hole and determine information about it.

Through this data, the scientists determined that the black hole has the mass of about 21 million Suns five times more massive than the black hole at the center of the Milky Way. This black hole is so massive, in fact, that it comprises about 15 percent of the total mass of M60-UCD1. By comparison, the black hole at the center of the Milky Way comprises less than about 0.01% of the galaxys total mass.

If this type of black hole is discovered at the center of other ultra-compact galaxies, it could provide a good theory for how these galaxies form in the first place.

This finding suggests that dwarf galaxies may actually be the stripped remnants of larger galaxies that were torn apart during collisions with other galaxies, rather than small islands of stars born in isolation, Seth added in a release. We dont know of any other way you could make a black hole so big in an object this small.

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Astronomers Find A Supermassive Black Hole In A Tiny Galaxy

Blue Origin tests its BE-3 rocket engine. (Credit: Blue Origin)

The Jeff Bezos-founded commercial space company Blue Origin announced today that it has entered into a partnership with the Boeing-Lockheed Martin joint venture United Launch Alliance. The jointly-funded partnership is aimed at developing the BE-4, a new, U.S.-built rocket engine to be used in ULAs next generation of rockets.

The BE-4 will be fueled by liquid oxygen and liquid nitrogen gas to produce a total of about 550,000 pounds of thrust. Blue Origin has already built a liquid natural gas testing facility in Texas, and the company says that testing of various engine components is already underway. The goal of the partnership is to have the BE-4 engine ready for testing by 2016 and flight by 2019. Two BE-4 engines will be used for ULAs next-gen rocket in order to deliver a combined thrust of 1,100,000 lbf.

In December 2013, Blue Origin debuted the BE-4s predecessor engine, the BE-3. That engine is a liquid hydrogen fueled engine that can deliver 110,000 pounds of thrust.

One thing that was mentioned today by the two companies is that contrary to previous reports, the BE-4 is not intended to serve as a replacement for the Russian-built RD-180, which currently serves as the primary engine for ULAs Atlas V rocket.

The BE-4 is not a direct replacement for the RD-180 that powers ULAs Atlas V rocket, however two BE-4s are expected to provide the engine thrust for the next generation ULA vehicles, the companies said in a FAQ document sent to the media. The details related to ULAs next generation vehicles which will maintain the key heritage components of ULAs Atlas and Delta rockets that provide world class mission assurance and reliability will be announced at a later date.

According to both ULA and Blue Origin, this development will be 100% privately funded no government money involved. However, the engine will be built to meet Air Force requirements for its Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle program, for which ULA is the primary vendor. Both companies aim to develop the engine in a way that reduces the costs of current launches.

The team at Blue Origin is methodically developing technologies to enable human access to space at dramatically lower cost and increased reliability, and the BE-4 is a big step forward, Bezos said in a statement. With the new ULA partnership, were accelerating commercial development of the next great US-made rocket engine.

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Jeff Bezos' Space Company Enters Partnership To Build Next Gen Rocket Engine

Concept art of Dragon docking with the space station. (Credit: SpaceX)

NASA officially announced today that both Boeing and SpaceX have been awarded Commercial Crew Transportation Capability contracts. These contracts are for the development of spacecraft that will be able to take astronauts to the International Space Station, with a target start date of 2017. The third company in the running for a contract, Sierra Nevada Corporation, did not receive an award.

This announcement from NASA partially contradicts earlier reports that Boeing was to be the primary winner of the contract, with SpaceX only receiving a secondary award. Instead, NASA doesnt appear to be distinguishing between the two companies as a primary or secondary provider, although there is a difference in the financial value of the two contracts.

Both companies are developing manned capsules which will ferry up to seven passengers and payloads to the International Space Station. Boeings CST-100 is planned to be launched by Atlas 5 rockets, which are built and operated by United Launch Alliance, a joint venture between Boeing and Lockheed. The SpaceX Dragon capsule will be launched by SpaceXs own Falcon 9 rocket.

Artist conception of Boeing CST-100 approaching the ISS. (Credit: Boeing)

According to Commercial Crew Program Manager Kathy Lueders, both companies will have to meet five separate certification milestones, and will receive payment upon completion of each one. That certification process will include a flight with one astronaut on board. Once the spacecraft are certified for delivery, each company will be contracted to conduct at least two and up to six spaceflights to the ISS with four crew members and cargo payloads.

This will enable NASA and its international partners to perform more research on the international laboratory, nearly doubling its research potential, Lueders said.

The spacecraft will also have the capability to serve as a lifeboat for up to 210 days in the event of an emergency, she added.

According to NASA Administrator Charles Bolden, the total value of the contracts to the two companies will be worth up to $6.8 billion over the life of the contract. Boeings potential award is $4.2 billion and SpaceXs potential award is for $2.6 billion.

According to Lueders, both contracts have the same goals and requirements. The values of the contracts are based on the proposals submitted by the companies themselves and the amount of money the companies believed they would need to meet the contract requirements.

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NASA Awards Boeing And SpaceX Contracts To Deliver Astronauts To The Space Station