For those who have been reading this blog for while may know that I am an obsessed fan of Star Wars.  Always have been and always will be.... but that's besides the point. 

A couple of things, look for Star Wars In Concert in an Arena Near You!  I recently saw a special on my local pbs station on the making of it and it was incredible.  It's everything a junkie like myself would want and apparently good enough to make new fans-- at least that's what some of the audience members said coming out of the show.  So look for it! If you are unsure go the Star Wars in Concert website and look for showtimes or go to Ticketmaster Online and check there!

Second, I stumbled upon (truly did) The Sound Design of Star Wars.  Excellently cool stuff on how Ben Burtt and his crew came up with the sound for the Laser Fire, Imperial Walkers and everything else.  It's a very cool website you should check it out!  http://www.filmsound.org/starwars/

Well that's all have on the Star Wars front today!  I'll keep my eyes peeled.  Rebel Scum out!

-Clare                                                                        

Newborn Babies Cry in Native Tongue

By Charles Q. Choi, Special to LiveScience

From their very first days, the cries of newborns already bear the mark of the language their parents speak, scientists now find.

French newborns tend to cry with rising melody patterns, slowly increasing in pitch from the beginning to the end, whereas German newborns seem to prefer falling melody patterns, findings that are both consistent with differences between the languages.

This suggests infants begin picking up elements of language in the womb, long before their first babble or coo.

Prenatal exposure

Prenatal exposure to language was known to influence newborns. For instance, past research showed they preferred their mother's voice over those of others.

Still, researchers thought infants did not imitate sounds until much later on. Although three-month-old babies can match vowel sounds that adults make, this skill depends on vocal control just not physically possible much earlier.

However, when scientists recorded and analyzed the cries of 60 healthy newborns when they were three to five days old — 30 born into French-speaking families, 30 into German-speaking ones — their analysis revealed clear differences in the melodies of their cries based on their native tongue.

for more click http://www.livescience.com/culture/091105-baby-language.html

Anthony Hopkins has been cast in “Thor,” the Marvel Studios production that begins production in January.

Hopkins will play Odin, the king of Asgard and the father of Thor and Loki. Chris Hemsworth is playing Thor, and Tom Hiddelston plays his nemesis, Loki. The pic is directed by Kenneth Branagh.

Natalie Portman is also set to play Thor’s love interest, Jane Foster.

Tentative release day July 16, 2010

thanks to Variety!

Peter Berg is attached to direct a bigscreen adaptation of Frank Herbert's classic sci-fi novel "Dune" for Paramount Pictures.  Herbert's 1965 novel is a sweeping, futuristic tale set on the remote desert planet Arrakis, which produces the interstellar empire's sole source of the spice Melange -- used for distant space travel. An empirewide power struggle ensues over the control of the spice. Berg would be the latest helmer to take a crack at the property, which spawned a 1984 David Lynch film as well as a 2000 Sci Fi Channel miniseries starring William Hurt.

The project is out to writers, with the producers looking for a faithful adaptation of the Hugo- and Nebula Award-winning book. The filmmakers consider its theme of finite ecological resources particularly timely.

Actor-turned-helmer Berg most recently directed the upcoming Will Smith starrer "Hancock." His directing credits include "The Kingdom" and "Friday Night Lights."

He is also set to direct the film adaptation of the fantasy novel "Bran Mak Morn" about an adventure that mixes the historical with the fantastical as the title character, a mythical king of ancient Britain, who forges an alliance with supernatural troops to contest the unstoppable forces of the Roman Empire.

Thanks to Variety for the info!

Everyone, I think NASA is in trouble again.  I tell you, if JFK were listening he would probably turn over in his grave. 

Here is an article from the Washington Post on the Blue Ribbon Panel on NASA's future.  It is my understanding that the basics of the report is as follows:   the 10-person committee says that we must either add a LOT more money to NASA or forget about manned flight right now.

Here are some of the highlights: 

On the Ares 1 Rocket and the Space Station--

"It's a very expensive vehicle," Augustine said after a news  conference in Washington. Under current budgets, Ares 1 won't be ready  to take astronauts to the International Space Station until 2017 at 
the earliest, the committee estimated.   Instead, the committee reported, NASA could pump billions of dollars into a public-private partnership to build a simpler, cheaper,  no-frills spacecraft that could ferry astronauts to orbit by 2016.  Such a "commercial" program would be a break with tradition at NASA  and controversial in the aerospace industry. But NASA should be  devoting its money and skills to building spaceships that can travel to distant destinations "rather than running a trucking service to low  earth orbit," Augustine said.

Suggestions on where we should go--

"Going to Mars, the most attractive target for exploration, would be cost-prohibitive given today's technology and plausible NASA budgets, the committee found. "Mars is the ultimate destination for human exploration of the inner solar system, but is not a viable first destination beyond low-Earth orbit," the report states.

 The committee said a Moon-first option is a viable strategy, but the report cites the advantages of what it calls the "flexible path" approach, in which a heavy-lift rocket would blast astronauts millions 
of miles into space, perhaps to a near-Earth asteroid or even to one of the moons of Mars.  "It is likely that the Flexible Path approach would engender more Public Engagement than the Moon First approach. In every flight, the  Flexible Path voyages would visit places where humans have never been  before, with each mission extending farther than the previous one, potentially leading to a full dress rehearsal for a Mars landing," the report states."

I want you to read it for yourself.  Here's the link:  http://media.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/nation/science/documents/HSF_Cmte_FinalReport102209.pdf

A nation without exploration is a nation mired in its past.

I still say you should proofread your work before you submit it to an Editor because he or she will not be as impressed with this article as you are now! 

Most people when consider writing about an ancient civilization, they automatically think of Ancient Egypt.  Though very powerful and influential there were a great number of civilizations in the ancient near east who not only left their mark on the world but also had a very complex and interesting culture. 

Ancient Sumeria: Former Location Mesopotamia, the Fertile Crescent, in around the area now known as Iraq. 

   The name of the god Anu/An in cuneiform.  Also represented by the number 60.

Explore your ability to write by choosing the mythology of ancient Sumeria.  For example, Anu is the sky god. He is the supreme ruler of all the gods. His symbol is the horned cap.   

Mesopotamian myths tell the story of how the earth was separated from heaven at the beginning of time. In these myths, heaven becomes Anu's home.

Anu controls shooting stars, called 'kishru'. Anu is also in charge of the Bull of Heaven who can be sent to earth to avenge the gods.

Although Anu is an important Mesopotamian god, there are no known pictures of him.

To be published in Taking the Red Pill: Science, Philosophy and Religion in The Matrix (Ben Bella Books, April 2003). Published on KurzweilAI.net March 3, 2003.

As the essays throughout this book demonstrate, the Wachowski Brothers designed The Matrix to work at many levels. They carefully thought through the film's philosophical underpinnings, religious symbolism, and scientific speculations. But there are a few riddles in The Matrix, aspects of the film that seem nonsensical or defy the laws of science. These apparent glitches include:

• The Bioport—how can a socket in your head control your senses? How can it be inserted without killing you?

• The Red Pill—since the pill is virtual, how can it throw Neo out of the Matrix?

• The Power Plant—can people really be an energy source?

• Entering and Exiting the Matrix—why do the rebels need telephones to come and go?

• The Bugbot—what's the purpose of the bugbot?

• Perceptions in the Matrix—how do the machines know what fried chicken tastes like?

• Neo's Mastery of the Avatar—how can Neo fly?

• Consciousness and the Matrix—are the machines in the Matrix alive and conscious? Or are they only machines, intelligent but mindless?

This essay addresses these questions and shows how these seeming glitches can be resolved.

THE BIOPORT

Can the machines really create a virtual world through a bioport? And how does it work? The bioport is a way of giving the Matrix computers full access to the information channels of the brain. It is located at the back of the neck—probably between the occipital bone at the base of the skull, and the first neck vertebra. Wiring would best enter through the soft cartilage that cushions the skull on the spinal column, and pass up through the natural opening that lets the spinal cord into the skull. This avoids drilling through bone, and maintains the mechanical and biological integrity of the skull's protection. A baby fitted with a bioport can easily survive the operation.

The bioport terminates in a forest of electrodes spanning the volume of the brain. In a newborn, the sheathed mass of wire filaments is pushed into the head through the bioport. On reaching the skull cavity, the sheath would be released, and the filaments spread out like a dandelion, gently permeating the developing cortex. Nested sheaths would release a branching structure of filamentary electrodes. As each sheathed wire approaches the surface of the brain, it releases thousands of smaller electrodes. In the neonate, brain cells have few synaptic connections, so the slender electrodes can penetrate harmlessly.

for more go to this link http://www.kurzweilai.net/articles/art0553.html?printable=1

Every writer dreads that time when they look at their story and asks "Is that all there is?"  We fear those times because if we ask it, we know the reader will be asking the same thing.  So I've taken the liberty of posting a few resources to keep you from ever experiencing that dreaded moment.

These are but a few for more go here!  http://dresdencodak.com/2009/05/11/42-essential-3rd-act-twists/