The Failure of Mars One

I missed out on Pi Day and St. Patrick's Day on the blog, but it warmed my hear to see so many other blogs observing some math nerdiness! The truth is that I am still a little busy at the moment, so I couldn't really give Pi Day its proper due. And St. Patrick's Day? Living in neither the US nor Ireland, I can assure you that the only place that was a "thing" was in Stockholm's Irish pubs.But I'm taking half a minute out of my life to talk a bit about Mars One.

This is a project that has been getting a lot of hype, and it's not hard to see why: most sane people are concerned about the potentially irreversible changes we're triggering in our planet (or they at least agree that it will eventually be a problem for someone to deal with). If we've unequivocally ruined Earth, expanding out into other space and other planets is our only hope for long-term survival. Even if we manage to salvage Earth's climate so that it remains more or less hospitable for humanity, there's nothing we can do about the Sun's inevitable life cycle—either way, space travel is part of our future, if humans are going to play the really long game. Space colonization and extraterrestrial life is the premise of so much science fiction, from the classic (Star Trek) to the obscure (Henry Martinson's Aniaria), that the appeal is no surprise.

It seems like the Mars One project has taken that appeal and turned it into a poorly-organized cash grab. This Medium.com article has a great run-down on it. That's really all you need to read on the topic.

I really hope that I can live to see a successful mission to Mars. I think it's entirely possible, but maybe it isn't.

March Read Play Blog: Multiplayer or Single Player?

Read Play Blog is a meme about video games and books, posted every 16th of the month. Bloggers are encouraged to answer a discussion question, and recommend a video game that is similar to a book they liked. Hosted by Happy Indulgence Books & Read Me Away.

This month's question: Single or multiplayer?

If a game isn't fun or playable in single player mode, I have no interest in it. Sure, there are plenty of games I like to play with JV (Little Big Planet, Super Mario Galaxy, Minecraft, once in a while some Sonic 2 or Streets of Rage 2 from his SEGA arcade collection), and who doesn't love a few rounds of their favorite fighting game among friends, or a marathon co-op beat 'em up run? But overall, gaming has always been a solitary, withdrawn activity for me. It's one of the things I like to do when I've had too many people.


Currently playing:

Minecraft, mostly. I think this is what I was playing in February, too. Sometimes I just gotta go on a block bender, I guess!

But truthfully February and early March were crappy, busy times for me. I've been too busy doing things like filing taxes, renewing a whole bunch of ID paperwork, and preparing for a Swedish oral exam—very little focus left over for games. I couldn't handle much more except plunking down in front of the TV for a couple hours, losing myself in the almost-hypnotic task of shearing my pen of sheep and the ambient mellow-out Minecraft soundtrack.


Recommendation:

Can we all take a moment to remember how great Streets of Rage 2  was? This game sucked away hours of my free time and despite all of that I've never managed to beat it...

There were so many great beat 'em ups from this era, I know, but this one is my favorite.

Five Fandom Friday: My Fictional BFFs

5 Fandom Friday is a weekly meme from The Nerdy Girlie and Super Space Chick. This week's topic is your five fictional best friends!

I kind of blogged about this before, but not really. My favorite fictional BFF pairings aren't necessarily the ones that I would be friends with in real life, after all, though don't be surprised if you see some overlap. ;)

1. Janie and Sport (Harriet the Spy)

Janie is kind of eerily similar to my real-life high school best friend. That's how I know we'd get along if she were real. Sport's cool too, so he can tag along.


2. Randal Graves (Clerks)

I am a Dante. It's just how it is. Naturally, Randal Graves is pretty high on my list of potential fictional best friends. He would do a great job at bringing me out of my shell and getting me to live a little, and if we got in trouble he'd suffer the consequences with me. Friendship.

3. Henry David Thoreau

Okay, so he's not fictional, but Walden is one of my favorite books. I don't know if I could have hacked living out in the woods like he tried to, but then again neither did he, quite—regular trips to town so his mom could do his washing up and so he could trade beans for other food and books and things. But I think we could have had a beautiful "being alone together" friendship if we weren't, you know, born like 150 years apart.


4. Jane Lane (Daria)

Since I get compared to Daria a lot, I'm sure Jane would be a suitable companion. Her art skills and insights would be a huge boon when it comes to making jewelry, and maybe we could even collaborate on a graphic novel project or two. I'm surprised she and Daria didn't do anything like that on the show, actually, given Daria's implied penchant for the written word. Plus I can guarantee that there wouldn't be any boy trouble, since JV is way cooler than Tom.


5. Brian Ralph Johnson  (The Breakfast Club)

I guess I have a soft spot for nerdy guys who get pressed over not getting an A in shop class. But I understand that obsession with grade-grubbing and that need to always get everything right on the first go. But Brian is the only one in the whole movie who understands how the social system works (the whole "We're going to go back to school on Monday and nothing will be different, we won't be friends at all" speech he gives) but also at least has enough confidence in himself to not get caught up in a roleplay to deal with it (which is how Allison's aggressive weirdness comes off at times, never mind her stupid makeover at the end....ugh, John Hughes, what is it with your crappy female characters?). 

Trek Thursday: Requiem for Methuselah

#33: Requiem for Methuselah 

In case you forgot:  The Power Trio touches down on what's supposed to be an uninhabited planet for some supplies to stop the deadly Rigelian fever that's spreading among the crew. They meet an old man called Flint and spend some time relaxing with him while a robot does the menial labor. Eventually they learn that Flint is was born in 1518 in the village of Glenfinnan....oh wait, sorry. He is immortal, though, or close enough, and life is hard. After some shenanigans with his android companion, the Power Trio gets what they came for and leave.

 Meditations on what immortality (or near-immortality) would be like haven't really lost their appeal for me. The premise is a solid one. Even Flint intentionally using the Power Trio (or well, Kirk) to try to develop human emotion in his android companion is an interesting one. I like them enough that even though the rest of the episode frustrated me, I still enjoyed the episode.

Though, you know what was better? The Man From Earth, which was also written by Jerome Bixby. You should watch it, if you haven't already.

Spock's mind-meld-y type instruction to Kirk to "forget" is touching, and a testament to their friendship. It's not quite "Amok Time," but it's nice.

The reveal that Flint is something like 6000 years old doesn't bug me, but the idea that he would have spent his life on Earth just casually being so many famous geniuses is just too much. There's also the problem of using a deadly fever aboard the Enterprise as little more than a MacGuffin. This isn't the first time some kind of medical catastrophe has been the impetus for this week's adventure in space, but is the first time the crew of the Enterprise is in that sort of danger, a fact the Power Trio is totally willing to conveniently forget (because it's a MacGuffin). How many people on the Enterprise are dying because you're fucking around, Kirk?!


Much as I like Spock doing Kirk a favor and helping him to forget Rayna, it's impossible to take Kirk's grief over Rayna seriously, unless it's poorly-communicated guilt over being the instrument of her death (or well, "death").

Five Fandom Friday on Saturday: Snacking and Drinking While Blogging

Quick reminder that today is the last day of the #SciArt tweetstorm! Feel free to share your favorite Kokoba pieces, or any other piece of scientific art, with the #SciArt hashtag. Also feel free to just browse the tag to find some wonderful science-inspired treasures to favorite and RT them! (I will probably do a round-up post on Monday or so, for the Twitter-phobic who nonetheless would like to see a sampling of what #SciArt has to offer.) Let's all help make this successful so it can become a regular smörgåsbord of scientific delights.

Yesterday's 5 Fandom Friday was all about SNACKS and holy shit you guys I LOVE FOOD.

I know it's a bad habit but I admit that I can sometimes be found at the computer with a drink and a snack beside me. Sometimes I'm just so busy! So here are the snacks and drinks I usually choose from.

5. Tea or Smoothie

It depends on the season if I want a hot fruity drink or a cold one. I like water more than anything else, but in the winter it's nice to have something warm. My favorite tea at the moment is the Swedish Söder tea, though I also enjoy anything with fruits or berries (most often a black tea blend, though sometimes white tea as well; I can't drink green tea).


4. Grapes

Grapes are nature's perfect snack! They come in little bite-sized portions and leave almost no nasty mess behind. Though, I'm usually having grapes with something else, like a cheese sandwich or some chips...

3. Digestives

Only the ones covered in dark chocolate will do.

2. Yogurt

Strawberry flavor and all of its variants, please. The only problem with yogurt is that it's become such a "diet" snack is that many brands in the US are flavored with artificial sweeteners. I don't oppose them on principle, but the problem is that the artificial sweetener du jour is Splenda and it tastes like copper. This trend is not as big in Sweden, thankfully, so all of the yogurt we get tastes as it should. 

1. Cheese-flavored puffed corn snacks

Cheetos, cheese balls, whatever you want to call them. I am a sucker for that savory, salty umami flavor, especially when it tastes more or less like cheese. There was a time when I exhibited no self control around these at all, but I'm a mature enough adult now that I know when I've had enough. I also eat these with grapes because the two tastes just go so well together! (And it keeps me from filling up entirely on the cheese balls....)


What do you munch on while you're writing (or doing anything else)?

Friday Finds: #SciArt TweetStorm!

There is a rad blog over at SciAm: Symbiartic. All of this week they have been pushing and promoting for a "tweetstorm" for the #SciArt hashtag. This is basically a call to action/promotional/sharing space for scientific artists (and lesser beings like yours truly) to promote their stuff and to share others' work. I have been a little busy lately, which is why the Etsy shop has exactly 1 item in it, but I have found the time to RT a few cool things. For the Twitter-phobic, I'll share them here!

#sciart: I love mitochondria, especially cheerful ones. https://t.co/bF4IvCPLt4 pic.twitter.com/PZ2Mjn57v7
— Michele Banks (@artologica) March 3, 2015

Emerald Glass Frog by Gregory Basco, @naturesbestpics Winner of "Art in Nature" http://t.co/wSfnTJbCrk #sciart pic.twitter.com/7ast1mcsci
— Smithsonian's NMNH (@NMNH) March 3, 2015

#SciArt Imaginary Friends of Science: Maxwell's, Descartes' & Laplace's Demon linocuts http://t.co/uFqzGdn2dj pic.twitter.com/i0FDfHCXQ3
— Ele (@minouette) March 3, 2015

Sonja Hinrichsen creates experiences, not objects, with snow. http://t.co/CJYemReAkr #sciart via @artologica pic.twitter.com/XYuj3zgEC9
— The Finch and Pea (@finchandpea) February 25, 2015

An Atlantic fourhorn octopus (Pteroctopus tetracirrhus) made of glass @HarvardMuseum #SciArt #BioArt #MolluscMonday pic.twitter.com/QgCiiRBaK4
— ArtBioCollaborative (@artbiocollab) February 23, 2015

But there is sure to be a bunch of new, cool stuff if you dive into the #SciArt hashtag right now. It's running until March 7th (so, um, tomorrow) but of course the tweets and links will be up there for a while to come.

Trek Thursday: The Lights of Zetar

#34: The Lights of Zetar

In case you forgot: The Enterprise is delivering Mira Romaine to her first station, Memory Alpha. On the way, the ship gets caught up in some kind crazy storm that incapacitates much of the crew and Mira most of all. Eventually we learn that the the storm is actually the collective will of a dead race looking for some bodies to inhabit. While all of the workers on Memory Alpha are lost, at least Scotty's new girlfriend Mira survives the ordeal.

I love that Shari Lewis wrote this, but man it's weird that a woman famous for puppets wrote a body snatchers episode of Star Trek. It's just so thematically appropriate but also makes you wonder about her attitude towards Lambchop. (Apparently she wrote another script, too, but nothing ever came of it. Would have been interesting to see.) I also love that Lewis intentionally wrote a love interest for Scott as a response to Kirk always getting the girl. He's a little overprotective and paternalistic, but on the whole it comes off more cute than creepy, so I'm counting it as a point for.


Nonetheless, another woman who exists basically to be a love interest is still kind of disappointing, even if she was written by Shari Lewis. Scott also plays down Romaine's visions to a point that's (somewhat) to the detriment of the crew. Does space sickness make you psychic, Scotty? I doubt it. The way the bodysnatchers are driven out of Romaine is a bit slapdash but that's how the show goes, sometimes.