The Quest for the Ark Continues
Archaeological quests haven’t been popularly exciting since Indiana Jones went off the screen. Maybe that’s because most archaeological escapades involve a lot of digging in one spot, rather than jumping all across the countryside, being chased by huge perfectly spherical boulders, and shooting at Nazis. However as a history buff, I find this latest story no less exciting for the fact that Indie is missing.
The Ark of the Covenant – the sacred container out of Biblical history that contained the Ten Commandments, written by God for the people of Israel – has long been an item of archaeological interest. When did it disappear, who had it last and where did it go?
Now, German researchers from the University of Hamburg have found the remains of the palace of the Queen of Sheba. In particular, they have found what they believe to be an altar that may once have held the Ark.
The last recorded location of the Ark is in 2 Chronicles, chapter 35, verse 3, of the Old Testament, where King Josiah had placed the Ark in to the Temple. However soon after (chronologically), the Babylonians destroyed Jerusalem and the ark passed in to legend.
Many theories exist, including the deliberate burial of the Ark under the Temple Mount, but the one that is relevant to the German expedition is the theory that together, King Solomon and the Queen of Sheeba had a child together, Menelek I, and that he removed the Ark.
Professor Helmut Ziegert, of the archaeological institute at the University of Hamburg, has been supervising a dig in Aksum, northern Ethiopia, since 1999. “From the dating, its position and the details that we have found, I am sure that this is the palace [of the Queen of Sheeba],” he said.
After the death of the Queen of Sheeba, Menelek replaced the palace with a temple worshiping Sirius (or Sothis, the Greek for the star Sirius). The German researchers believe that the Ark was built in to the altar. “The results we have suggest that a Cult of Sothis developed in Ethiopia with the arrival of Judaism and the Ark of the Covenant, and continued until 600AD,” an announcement by the University of Hamburg on behalf of the research team said.
This recent announcement has once again however spread discontent throughout the world of archaeology. For a long time the discussion has raged as to whether archaeology should be involved in myth-chasing. Because, regardless of whether the Ark is “found”, there is no way that it can be identified as the original that carried the Ten Commandments.
MIT Students Demonstrate the Power of Android
The second half of this year is going to bring with it one of the most highly anticipated technology releases, paralleling last year’s release of the Apple iPhone. Google, the internet search and advertising giant, will be releasing its Android operating system for mobile phones.
Google is billing Android as “a software stack for mobile devices that includes an operating system, middleware and key applications.” Some may call it Google’s answer to the iPhone, and for a long time it was already billed as “the iPhone killer,” long before the software development kit was released.
The Android is going to be a very open platform, where anyone can affect changes. Whereas before, wireless companies had a large amount of control over the phone and its software, with the introduction of Apple’s iPhone, things have been shook up: Google plan to take that a lot further with Android.
Android’s openness has been put through the wringer over at MIT though, after Massachusetts Industry of Technology professor Hal Abelson asked his computer science student’s one question; what do you want your cell phone to be able to do?
Their task was to design a software program for mobile phones that will use the upcoming Android operating system, and though they didn’t have any phones to work on (they used a computer simulator to design their programs), the opportunities they glanced are mesmerizing.
Seven teams of students set to create a program that embodied what they thought a phone should do; and it appears that the general consensus is that it should lock in to your location. One project named GeoLife, is designed to send a message or buzz the user when they pass by a geographical location (a supermarket, chemist, etc) if a note on their to-do list requires them to enter. For example, if you need milk and it’s on your to-do list, then when you pass by your local supermarket… bzzzt!
Another project named Locale was designed to let users configure their phones to automatically adjust their settings upon arriving at a different geographical zone. For example, the phone would switch to vibrate mode in the office, silent mode at the theatre (or at your mother-in-laws house), and ring everywhere else.
Locale was also advanced to the finals of a $10 million Android developers challenge that Google is running.
”This class is a glimpse of the future, and what’s nice, the not-so-distant future,” Abelson said Friday at a gathering where the students presented their final projects.
All of this comes just under a week after Reuters reported on comments made by Professor Jonathan Zittrain in his new book regarding the possibility that this new era of gadgets – blackberry’s, iPhone’s, etc – threaten the future of the internet.
Unlike home computers, new Internet-enabled gadgets don’t lend themselves to the sort of tinkering and collaboration that leads to technological advances, he says. And while Apple’s iPhone has only just opened itself up to third party applications – though with a neurotic caveat that they must pass Apple’s OK first – Google’s Android is definitely going to lay waste to Zittrain’s views.
However Zittrain’s views are emblematic of a naïve and almost obsessive point of view. From the Reuters article; “Society should resist more regulation and place its trust in the Internet’s users. The success of Wikipedia, the online encyclopaedia written and edited by its readers, shows how self-governance can work.”
The idea that Wikipedia has been an unqualified success is far from true, and the “self governance” of the internet has yet to fully prove itself as foolproof. One need only reflect on the level of discourse on Digg to realize that the internet, and the social group, is a long way from rightfully inheriting the reins of devices like the iPhone.
DARPA’s Fight on the Internet Begins
One of a number of groups or people attributed with the creation of the internet are now intent on finding ways to protect from cyber attacks. DARPA – the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency – have announced their desire to create what they are labeling a National Cyber Range.
Pretty much a firing range for nerds!
The goal of the NCR is to provide a virtual world where those who will be defending against cyber attacks in the future can train, learn, and build their skills in doing so. In the wake of allegations that countries like Russia and China have been making cyber attacks on countries like America, this is no wacky mind control experiment; this is the future.
The Broad Agency Announcement (BAA) for the National Cyber Range was published on May 5, in an attempt to sway Congress to allocate money to DARPA for just this project. The 47 page briefing (.doc) outlines everything from top to bottom, and how DARPA hopes that their project will work, and subsequently help fight.
The NCR must be capable of taking a physical computer and rapidly creating a functionally equivalent, logical instance of that machine that can be replicated repeatedly … Given a never-before-seen physical computing device [the Range must be able to] create logical instantiations of the physical native machine that accurately replicates, not only the software on the machine, but hardware to the interrupt level, chipset, and peripheral cards and devices.
Another intriguing idea is one that definitely throws in to the air a whole bunch of metaphysical and philosophical questions. “The NCR must replicate realistic human behavior on nodes.” In other words, the NCR will be filled with simulated human beings to play the role of mythical sysadmins, users, etc. In addition;
Replicant behavior will change as the network environment changes, as the replicated “outside environment” (i.e. DoD DefCon, InfoCon, execution of war plans, etc) changes, and as network activity changes (detected attacks, degradation of services, etc).
These automated replicants will be responsible for controlling all physical interaction with computer peripherals like mice and keyboards, as well as driving all common applications.
But all of that is just the background for what the NCR is all about. “The NCR must provide, on demand, a dedicated, sophisticated OpFor to execute and respond to attacks or defenses as required.” These are not going to be just your average nerd with some latent hacking or cracking ability; these are hardcore nerds with some real talent.
Capabilities include sophisticated cyber activity, from defending national assets, to computer network attack … Provide OpFor with an interface for individuals and teams to replicate cyber adversaries outside an enclave … Provide secure planning and operations space within the facility to support supplemental OpFor provided by the Test Director [and] Establish a defensive tools library for use on the range.
It is going to be really interesting to watch the development of this, and one day I’m looking forward to one of those Discovery channel videos giving us an inside look at the NCR.
Review: Rann-Thanagar Holy War #1
or, Superheroes. In. SPAAAACCCE!
With a Crisis in the DC Universe there inevitably comes a return to Rann and Thanagar. Thus, for all of us who enjoy a bit of the good old science fiction, all of our space heroes come together to deal with some cosmic threat that somehow always ends up focusing on Rann and/or Thanagar.
So the first entry in DC’s Final Crisis turns out to be the Rann-Thanagar Holy War, and it looks as if Jim Starlin, writer of this series, has a definite issue with religion.
As a religious person myself, I was immediately intrigued by the dialogue throughout this story. I was not offended, as it offered an entirely justifiable opinion of much of today’s religion; heavy handed and unnecessarily harsh. Adam Strange – a man who clings to science like a drowning man to a life-raft – is baffled by the Rannians turn away from science to a religion that, in addition to be flimsy, is focusing on the evil of Lady Styx (see below).
Possibly one of the best lines that I’ve seen in comics for a good long while comes from Animal Man, towards the end of this issue, as he sits down with Kory and Adam Strange. “You planning on zeta-beaming a bunch of Jehovah’s Witnesses to Rann or something?” Priceless! It’s what I’d do!
The cast of this book is definitely going to make for interesting storytelling. Obviously Adam Strange, Kory (aka, Starfire) and Animal Man are going to star, after their long journey home after the last Crisis (check 52 if you missed it). Joining them are names like Tygor, Hawkman (Carter Hall), Comet (though not for long), Starman, Bizarro (who isn’t as villainous as one would immediately imagine), and a host of villains including Find and Seek, Lady Styx (I think) and some other dude I’ve been unable to identify.
Summarizing this issue won’t be easy, so I won’t really try. Following in the footsteps of 52 (and other Crisis events) it follows a multitude of events and characters rather than one. But there does seem to be an overarching anti-religious tone, as I mentioned at the top. Both Thanagar and Rann are experiencing religious revivals, the former bowing to a name called ‘The Profit’ (spelt correctly btw) or ‘The Nameless One,’ and the latter somehow turning their religious fervor to Lady Styx.
For those unfamiliar with the story, Rann has suffered mightily at the hands of Lady Styx previously, after she forced them all to worship her through some sort of virus. Well it looks as if the Rannians have been left with some latent need to have faith in someone or something, and they’ve turned their attention to back Lady Styx.
Another storyline focuses on Hardcore Station, one of those interstellar mining outposts that in any story they appear in always inevitably turn in to a breeding ground for “questionable deals and smuggling.” Captain Comet, now just Comet, has just returned from briefing the JLA and is being contacted by Adam Strange. However a pair of villains I’ve never heard of (the afore mentioned Seek and Find) have turned up on Hardcore to work for some priestly alien looking dude. It’s all connected, I think!
The only other storyline worth mentioning is Starman’s, protector of Throneworld, who encounters Bizarro. Now, sure, Bizarro takes out most of the Throneworld imperial guard before meeting Starman, however it appears that he’s just lost and hungry. So instead of just running in and fighting, Starman has to turn to “somewhere between my royal ears” for the answer, and takes Bizarro inside for something to eat (MEAT!).
There is one last amusing note to make, and that is Comet’s briefing of the JLA. It’s oh so very political, and targeted at the US government (Starlin’s writing, not Comet’s briefing), as Comet announces that “no invasions [of Earth] are planned because no one feels they’re needed.” Why don’t any of the alien groups out “there” feel that they are needed? Because of Earth’s “pollution, especially in the greenhouse gas department, nuclear proliferation, regional wars and [our] out-of-control overpopulation.” Subtle. Very subtle.
Ron Lim’s pencils and Rob Hunter’s inks are really quite nice in this issue, and make up for a bit of a confusing and preparatory storyline. Adam Strange and Hawkman’s early interactions are really well drawn, with hard lines for hard men. Starman also is really well drawn, as the top half of his face is hidden beneath a mask, his mouth is left to do the expressions normally accounted for by mouth and eyes and eyebrows, something that Lim manages perfectly.
The story for this get’s a 4, as I am now immensely curious as to how the rest of this eight part series will fall out. The art gets a 4 as well, detracting points mainly for Kory and Robin’s depictions in the Titans Tower scenes half way through the book, not to mention Red Arrow’s buzz-cut. Either way, this is definitely a Final Crisis book you’ll want to get your hands on!
Colbert talks to the ISS
Speak about your exclusive interviews, check out this clip from The Colbert Report, where he speaks to a member of the current crew aboard the International Space Station. Unlike so many of Colbert’s interviewees, this guy - Garrett Reisman - seriously holds his own!
Review: Logan #3
With the ability to review comics comes a renewed desire to read comics, and I was really looking forward to the conclusion of this story. It’s been an interesting tale that once again put Wolverine, aka, Logan, in to a historical situation. The story is about love found and lost, revenge and seeking a measure of solace.
And it would only work in a Wolverine story, and I think Vaughan knew that as well!
Given Logan’s “pretty much can’t be killed” status, writers up for the challenge are pretty much capable of putting him in to any historical situation over the last century. This time, it really came as no surprise to find out that Logan was there when the bomb dropped on Hiroshima; and I mean there.
This issue picks up once again with Wolverine fighting the burning skeleton, a skeleton mind you that took me far too long to identify, but we’ll get to that in a moment. But after only a few pages we’re taken back to that night 50 years or so ago, prior to Little Boy being dropped. Logan is once again the unschooled uncouth young man, a little out of his depths with another woman.
As I’ve said before, this is a nice throwback to a world where Logan probably hasn’t had his share of half the female population. He isn’t as rough and tough and armored against the world as he now is, and it sheds a little light on his desires to help others.
These issues are very artsy in that they are not an action packed storyline, but rather a sentimental story with heart emotion written on the page. Logan lets his mind wander to the sensations he felt when he was with Atsuko.
However the pair was not entirely alone in this comic, with Lieutenant Warren playing his own macabre part. Last issue we saw him plunge a sword in to Atsuko’s heart, just prior to the bomb dropping. It was revealed that Warren was a mutant, unable to die – not healing like Logan – just unable to die. So all of a sudden – and far too late given the clues I now recognize – I realize that Logan’s fiery opponent is in fact Warren.
And now he’s ripped out Logan’s heart.
We’re safe in the knowledge that Logan will grow a new one, but Warren is not so in on the joke as we are. But nevertheless, Warren makes a show of eating Logan’s heart, when unexpectedly he is returned to his flesh and blood form (eat heart = become whole again apparently).
Some soliloquizing later, and Warren turns around to see Logan standing again, much to his disappointment. It was never going to go well for the young man, unable to deal with mutant powers, and he soon loses his head in a tight situation.
OK, that is a horrible pun, yet I do not apologize. Yes, if you haven’t read it, Logan decapitates him for what he did to Atsuko.
The story is capped off with Logan meeting Atsuko in some sort of limbo state, where she offers to take away a measure of pain and memories from him, specifying their time together, Warren and the bomb included. Logan is soon awake, and looking in to a very fiery Japanese looking sunset, and I’m not quite sure if he accepted her offer.
But my point in all of this is that the story told was neither action filled, thrilling or a roller-coaster ride, but it was nevertheless thoroughly enjoyable. Brian K. Vaughan knows very well how to tell a story, and I think that he really got a grasp of the Logan history and character really well.
Now I’ve mentioned in previous Logan reviews that the art seemed to irk me a little. But after sticking to a book for three months for the storyline, Eduardo Risso’s artwork became less and less of a problem. The watercolors by Dean White were suitably artistic for this books style and the imprecision in Risso’s work – while no means a trademark of all his work – did not end up affecting the book as I would have assumed.
There were a few points – such as where Logan has his heart ripped out – where you’re not quite sure what is happening due to the lack of finishing on the artwork, but all in all, less of a problem than I imagined.
Logan #3 get’s 3 for the artwork and a 5 for the story. I’m not sure how mini-runs like these get picked up in trade, but I do hope that it does, as it would be a pity not to find a TPB version of this in the near future. Either way, try and get your hands on this story, it’s well worth your time!
Man’s Mission to… 2000 SG344?
Those who keep track of such things will know that there is a lot of discussion as to where man will head next, in its continuing journey in to space. Bush wants us to head back to the Moon in 2020, and set up a lunar outpost. Experts want us to forget the Moon and head straight to Mars.
But a new report out of NASA is looking at sending a two man crew to rendezvous with 2000 SG344, an asteroid discovered in 1999 and with a diameter of 40 meters.
The asteroid, which was in 2000 given a high chance of striking Earth (but has since been relegated to unlikely, along with so many others), has been identified as a potential landing site for astronauts. However, more than just the next step in our outward journey, this mission would also provide experts with invaluable data about long term journeys.
The journey, approximately three months in total, would provide scientists with information on the psychological effect of a long term journey. In addition, it would give the astronauts the chance to test kits to convert subsurface ice in to drinking water, breathable oxygen, and possibly even hydrogen to top up the rocket fuel. All of these would greatly benefit NASA in their quest to eventually send man to Mars.
We’ve discussed many times that by the end of 2010 NASA’s fleet of shuttles will be put out to pasture. NASA will then replace them with their new spacecraft Orion, to be launched using a set of Ares rockets. In a study to be published next month, written by engineers from NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston and Ames Research Center in California, the plan to create a round trip mission to the asteroid are fleshed out fully, and provide experts with a taste of more complex missions, like ones that may one day face us as we head to Mars.
“An asteroid will one day be on a collision course with Earth. Doesn’t it make sense, after going to the moon, to start learning more about them? Our study shows it makes perfect sense to do this soon after going back to the moon,” said Rob Landis, an engineer at Johnson Space Centre and co-author of the report, which is due to be published in the journal Acta Astronautica.
Some of the complications they will face are the fact that asteroids do not have any gravity of their own. Thus the capsule would need to attach itself to the asteroid, possibly via firing anchors in to the surface. In addition, astronauts would not necessarily be able to walk around on its surface without being kicked in to orbit around the asteroid, or simply out in to space.
Landis also believes that, compared to a return trip to the Moon, a mission to a moving target such as an asteroid would capture the imaginations of the people more. “When we head back to the moon, I think we’ll see many of the same scenes we saw in the 60s and 70s Apollo programmed. We’ve been to the moon; we got that T-shirt back in 1969. But whenever we’ve sent robotic probes to look at asteroids, we’ve always been surprised at what we’ve seen,” he said.
Another bonus of heading to an asteroid is the possible answers it could provide scientists about the beginning of the universe. Many asteroids are remnants of the early universe, being formed from impacts and explosions many millions of years ago. Analyzing samples from them could thus shed light on conditions that existed well before Earth was around.
Worst Job in the World Finally Found
When you hear the term “worst job in the world” you are going to conjure up a multitude of images. Those dealing with sewage, explosives, Britney Spears; the list goes on. So what would you say if I believed the worst job in the world belonged to one person working at NASA?
No, this person doesn’t work as a janitor, or with highly explosive fuels, or even radioactive materials. This person’s job consists of sitting at a panel, during a shuttle lift off, and checking to make sure that the Shuttle doesn’t tragically veer off course and threaten populated areas.
If the Shuttle does, however, this person’s job is to flick a pair of switches that will arm, and then detonate explosives attached to the fuel tanks lifting the shuttle in to space. It’s a failsafe measure that, when you think about it is entirely necessary, yet doesn’t take away the sheer weight of responsibility that must weigh on the shoulders of whoever mans those switches.
“If something happens when it’s just off the pad, there’s only a couple of seconds [to react],” says Bryan O’Connor, a former shuttle commander and NASA’s chief of safety and mission assurance.
The danger continues though, even after the craft is assured of not veering off course. If its flight controls or engines malfunction, toxic fuel and fast-moving debris could also threaten people below. The range safety officer is still on duty then, until about 2 minutes in to the flight, when the solid rocket boosters are spent of their fuel and drop away, taking the explosive charges with them.
Of course the problems do not stop there. However, if there are problems severe enough to threaten people on the ground there are two options for the crew of the shuttle to make.
First of all, if the shuttle is capable, they would enter a low Earth orbit and attempt to fly around the Earth for a landing at California’s Edwards Air Force Base. However, if that is not possible, they’re next option is only to ditch the shuttle in to the sea. The astronauts would have to ditch the aircraft at 20,000 feet armed only with parachutes, survival suits and individual rafts.
Thus, I challenge you to find another job in the world where the pressure and responsibility is as high and demanding as this.
Invincible Iron Man Comic Trailer
Marvel has recently begun making trailers not just for their movies and animated TV series, but for their comics as well. Check out the trailer for Invincible Iron Man after the jump.
To be written by Matt Fraction and drawn by Salvador Larroca, Invincible Iron Man ‘pits Iron Man against a villain who rivals Tony in intelligence, but is both younger and more vicious! Plus, what ties does this new villain have with one of Shellhead’s oldest enemies?’
The trailer tells the story of a young man who rivals Tony in smarts, and seems to have a vicious streak worthy of a teenager (that seems to be how he is being drawn). The comic is on sale now, for $2.99 wherever you buy your comics.
Wolverine and the X-Men Trailer
Animated TV series have often been the geek’s guilty pleasure, and with Wolverine and the X-Men coming to a TV near you in the first quarter of 09, add another guilty pleasure to the list. Here’s the trailer!
Wolverine and the X-Men begins as an explosive event shatters the lives of the X-Men and takes away their mentor, Professor X. The beaten heroes, including Beast, Storm, Cyclops and Nightcrawler, walk away from it all but then they are given a rare glimpse into the future, where they see a world in utter ruin…ruled by giant destructive robots. They discover the world has spiraled out of control because the X-Men have given up. So now the most legendary of all X-Men, Wolverine, must take the lead on the ultimate mission — to prevent the world’s destruction — while fending off enemies Magneto and The Brotherhood.
The nearly 4 minute video is really a great teaser for a show that looks like it will deliver. Logan must take control of the X-Men, so that it is him and not Scott Summers, aka, Cyclops leading, is a gem in and of itself. We see Emma Frost’s first animated appearance, make a trip to Genosha, and see another retelling of the mutant-hunter robots, the Sentinels.
Check out the trailer above, or watch a larger version at Marvel.com’s video section via the source link below.