CERN lays to rest fears about the plot device of Angels & Demons.

So Fox and J. J. Abrams: together again.  And what do they give us? A story about an initially skeptical FBI agent teamed up with a cooky believer investigating aliens and the paranormal.

Yes, the X-Files is back, people.

Ah, Iron Man.  He was one of my least favorite Marvel characters.  But the movie was very enjoyable.  And I geeked out with the S.H.I.E.L.D. references.  Conservation of energy becomes moot in comic books, and since Tony Stark uses an Arc generator to power an electromagnet to keep a piece of shrapnel from entering his heart, one could give this one a break.  Although I’m pretty sure I read that they use electromagnets to remove shrapnel from delicate body parts, but I digress… (Actually even Marvel realised was a cheesy set-up that was and fixed it, but again, I digress…)

The one thing that occurred to me recently, while watching the trailer again, was he takes some heavy, heavy hit.  The kind of hits that must generate massive amounts of g-force.  Um… how does he survive them?  I can’t imagine Warmachine’s punches are low-g impacts.  Nor the concussion of rockets and artillery shells.  Yet somehow, Tony Stark doesn’t even get a concussion.

The perils of g-forces are often ignored in movies.  For example, crashing a car at high speed.  Without airbags, the impact alone can severely damage your brain without causing the skull to crack on something.  It’s something to think about the next time you see people involved in 55 mph head-on crashes in movies.

Oh dear, what a particularly awful film.  I suppose this seemed like a smart SF movie to people who produce Freddie Kruger.  But I’m here to look at the science.  Spoilers ahead!

OK, I know it’s only a comic book movie, but still: sonar cell phones?

I went to go see The Incredible Hulk.  I liked the Hulk since I was a kid.  I think I was a fan of the TV series then later stumbled into the comic book.  The Hulk is not realistic by any stretch of the imagination.  Complex mammals like humans die when exposed to high levels of gamma radiation, nor is it likely to achieve such an amazing transformation.

But one thing made me laugh during the movie was the Hulk’s weight.

Fun movie, but here’s an open question:

Would the little seedling have survived open exposure to the vacuum of space. My friend thought it would have freezed solid (as I’ve pointed out elsewhere, freezing in space takes longer). I figured the water would have flash-boiled from the plant leaving it dessicated and dead first.

Any other opinions?

I was thinking we should call it “An Inconvenient Singularity”.

I’m an old Indy fan from way back, and I always gave the movies a free-ride because after all: divine wrath melting Nazi faces is not scientifically accurate. But while I did enjoy the roller-coaster that is Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, it’s got some science blunder doozies. (Spoilers below the fold)

“What’s going to happen?”
“Something wonderful!”
— Heywood Floyd and Dave Bowman, 2010: Odyssey Two

When I heard the news, I was floored. One can usually point to what got you into SF, which in my case was Star Wars, but what got me into science fiction was Arthur C. Clarke. 2001: A Space Odyssey certainly drew me in, but it was reading his short stories along with Isaac Asimov and others who helped me appreciate the beauty of well-written science fiction — fiction based solidly in science.

Of course, I also think Clarke was a pretty good writer. If you’ve ever read 2010: Odyssey Two, then you have to remember the suspenseful ending that starts with Dave Bownman sending an instant message to Heywood Floyd. And the redemption of HAL is one of the best scenes in science fiction, IMHO of course.