Armageddon: Asteroid Splitting Doesn’t Work A team of grad students has called BS on Armageddon’s asteroid nuking, Earth-saving climax. Of course, this is only a surprise if you happen to ignore the rest of the movie, which is Day After Tomorrow-level unscientific. I mean, they put Bruce Willis in space, which would never happen, as he’s an official national treasure. Would we launch the Declaration of Independence into space?! Back to the bomb … Check out Jennifer Ouellette’s breakdown of the boom-boom-induced breakup, and you’ll be surprised at how much energy it would actually take to split a killer asteroid with enough force that it would miss Earth. We’re talking Sun-level energy. Essentially, picture the biggest nuclear weapon ever built. Now picture a billion of those. (via Discovery News)
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Armageddon: Asteroid Splitting Doesn’t Work

A team of grad students has called BS on Armageddon’s asteroid nuking, Earth-saving climax. Of course, this is only a surprise if you happen to ignore the rest of the movie, which is Day After Tomorrow-level unscientific. I mean, they put Bruce Willis in space, which would never happen, as he’s an official national treasure. Would we launch the Declaration of Independence into space?!

Back to the bomb …

Check out Jennifer Ouellette’s breakdown of the boom-boom-induced breakup, and you’ll be surprised at how much energy it would actually take to split a killer asteroid with enough force that it would miss Earth. We’re talking Sun-level energy.

Essentially, picture the biggest nuclear weapon ever built. Now picture a billion of those.

(via Discovery News)

Source: news.discovery.com

The Amazing Spider-Math Equation

Just so you know, most directors consult some sort of actual scientists to get the details of their superhero movies right. The Amazing Spider-Man went a step further, to design an equation for a chalkboard scene that would describe how cell regeneration and mortality would work.

Because if you don’t get the scientific details right, Neil deGrasse Tyson will find you, ridicule you, and make you change your movie.

(↬ Boing Boing)

Source: Boing Boing

discoverynews:

In the movie Contagion, panic ensues as an unknown illness threatens to become a global epidemic. To make this scenario as accurate as possible, producers consulted with real life virus hunter Dr. Ian Lipkin.

Is there a real killer virus out there?

Hoping to see this ASAP. I usually hate movies with science references because I keep yelling at the screen (in my own head). I mean, sue me if I can’t take WIll Smith’s pipetting technique seriously, ok?

But Contagion seems to be getting it right, from most reviews. Strong the science is with this one. And attractive stars to boot! Win/win for us all.

Steven Soderbergh’s ‘Contagion’ gets the science right on deadly outbreaks in our modern, interconnected world. Scientists spent weeks on set ensuring that the lab scenes were accurate, that they were based in real-world science, and that the outbreak premise was sound. I’ll be putting this one on the “must-see” list. And for more about the science that went into this outbreak disaster film, head on over to Scientific American. (via NYTimes)
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Steven Soderbergh’s ‘Contagion’ gets the science right on deadly outbreaks in our modern, interconnected world.

Scientists spent weeks on set ensuring that the lab scenes were accurate, that they were based in real-world science, and that the outbreak premise was sound.

I’ll be putting this one on the “must-see” list.

And for more about the science that went into this outbreak disaster film, head on over to Scientific American.

(via NYTimes)

Source: The New York Times

Viral ad campaigns are getting way more advanced. First there was the whole Oceanic/Lost/Hanso Industries thing. Now a campaign for the Green Lantern movie has been launched under the guise of helping “Dr. Amanda Waller” analyze a boatload of strange telescope images. It’s pretty neat on its own, but the coolest part is that is uses real telescope imagery of the Milky Way as its source material.

That means that by taking part, not only are you having fun in DC Comics’ world, but you can do real astronomy too. More background here. Play with the “telescope imagery” here: Spitzer Data Interface.

Oh, and since we’re talking about the movie (and to gratuitously please the men and women in the Tumblr audience), here is Blake Lively and here is Ryan Reynolds.

Source: spitzer.deo-br.com