What They Really Found On Mars

NASA's new social media effort, mainly the "7 Minutes of Terror," seemed to work miracles for the general public's interest in space. Based on my own Facebook wall (and my cat's Facebook wall), many, many people who aren't interested in anything that happens outside of about 10ft over their heads, began posting links to information about Mars, links to videos and information, and statuses about how cool space is and Mars is and etc, etc.

I was not surprised, however, (although a bit disappointed) when the excitement died down within 48 hours after the landing. The posts petered out. The likes and comments ceased. A week later, the news posts are even mostly gone (except for the thing with Obama).

I'm a little sad. I had hoped that combining the Curiosity's epic landing with the upcoming election would make space travel and discovery a major topic for the Presidential candidates.

It didn't.

So we're back to the same old grind, with a few new people who are excited about space, and a large number of people ready to jump on the bandwagon if anything interesting happens.

Something interesting did happen, though. Something that no one is talking about. Do you want to know what they don't tell you? Do you want to know what they really found on Mars (besides dirt)? I'll give you a hint. It was the same thing they found on the moon.

Yep. Daleks. We're all going to die. End of the world. Christmas, 2012.

Let's hope the Doctor is ready and waiting.

The Internal Metamorphosis of the Doctor

I am working on a project about values* and the implementation thereof in day-to-day life. So, I thought to myself, I wonder what Doctor Who would consider his primary values? What is it that motivates his actions (besides the constant need to save the Earth/his friends/wherever he happens to be/whomever he happens to be with from impending doom, that is)?

Now, the personality of the Doctor has evolved, for sure. I haven't seen every Doctor yet (still working on it), but I'm going to take a stab at guessing the values of the ones I have.

1: Kindness, wisdom, curiosity

3: Intelligence, perseverance, knowledge, exploration

4. Humor, curiosity, exploration

5. Curiosity, intelligence, open-mindedness

That's all I've seen of the first bunch. Now, looking at the three newest Doctors, it is clear that his attitude and intentions have been changing gradually. He started out (as Christopher Eccleston) pissed at everyone and everything, probably because he had just blown up his planet and killed his entire species. David Tennant was a bit irritable in the beginning, but Rose had chilled him out a lot, and he cooled off majorly through the next three seasons. He became more open and willing to acknowledge his feelings (to a point), as opposed to constantly running away from his feelings. Then, when Matt Smith arrived, the Doctor began to work through his feelings of guilt over what happened to Rose and Donna, then Amy and Rory; he goes through extreme bouts of wishing he would never hurt anyone ever again. So, through out the most recent six seasons, I would say the prioritization of his values changes quite a lot.+

9: Problem-solving, resilience, strength, intelligence, assertiveness, conviction, daring, cunning, ferocity, shrewdness

10: Optimism, passion, playfulness, curiosity, intelligence, exploration, discovery, teamwork, persistence, victory

11: Inquisitiveness, perceptiveness, persuasiveness, self-control, watchfulness, adaptability, appreciation, relationships, giving back, patience

Then, of course, is the whole issue of how his companions' values influence, negate, or keep in check the Doctor's... but that's like a whole book's worth of material.

Thoughts? Agreements? Disagreements? Please, share in the comments below.

Following image found here.

*Here is a list of potential values that anyone might have.
+To clarify: I think that his values remain relatively consistent, but which ones have the most influence on his behavior at any given time change radically throughout the series.

After Curiosity Killed the Cat, She Got a Masters in Astrophysics

Yesterday I was at work. I was lying on the ramp on stage right, waiting for the bloody-long counting house scene to finish, and staring up through the grid at the ceiling--arched-brick vaulted ceilings are very cool. A bit of light bled from stage, but otherwise the only colours immediately visible to my eyes were various shades of black. I started imagining that I was not looking up, but instead looking down.

I kept looking down--down 25 feet with nothing to stop me from falling into the arched-brick trench, except for one lonely pipe sticking out from the grid. It was awesome. I love space--and not just outer space, but all kinds of space (another reason why the ocean is so magnificent).

This should help you understand why I am jealous of the Mars Rover. Curiosity not only gets to soar into the atmosphere and look down on Earth from way up in the sky, but she has blasted completely through the atmosphere into the great vacuum of space surrounding our little tiny planet, and has managed to already (in less than a month!) travel more than 31 million miles towards Mars. That said, she still has over 300 million miles left to traverse. To top it off, she gets to land on a completely different planet and explore miles and miles of countryside more or less untouched by humans.

While I may be a little jealous, I am also extremely excited. Curiosity has a lot of technologically advanced equipment on board. This is what she has planned for us here on Earth:

• Information about rocks (you probably guessed that one)
• What is all this methane from? A theory about whether life does or doesn't exist on Mars. (Finally! Evidence one way or the other!)
• Pictures. IN COLOUR. Let me repeat that. COLOUR PICTURES. Panoramic ones, too! Not just pictures of the rocks, but of the landscape and terrain, and already they are planning to stitch them together. Somebody buy me a poster!
• COLOUR VIDEO. Did you catch that one? COLOUR VIDEO. We get to WATCH the scenery of MARS, as well as the descent from outer space to the surface. Also, let me add this: it's HIGH DEF. I hope it comes out in theatres.
• Best yet, it's going to EMAIL IT TO US FROM MARS. Okay, email might not be quite what is happening, but you get the drift. It's going to send it to us. We don't have to wait. Well, I might have to wait. But the scientists don't. And the sooner the scientists get it, the sooner they share!

Curiosity has three cameras, four spectrometers (which measure light), two radiation detectors, an environmental sensor, and an atmospheric sensor. The size of a small SUV, she has 6 wheel drive, can turn 360 degrees in place, and has the ability to climb steep hills. Basically, she's the coolest robot we've ever made.

Currently, the rover is on a steady, unhindered track towards Mars, and is already working to monitor the effects of radiation while protected by the spaceship, with the hope that this will help us understand how this sort of trip might affect a human.

One day I hope to travel to Mars, although I doubt the chances of that are particularly high. For now, I'll just stare up into the deep dark heights of the theatre, and imagine I'm looking down from a spaceship at the dark arched-brick vaulted side of Mars.