I SHOULD WORK ON MY NOVEL

the-science-llama:

If Earth Had Rings

First off, they would be really pretty to look at. They would also dominate the sky in both night and day at exactly the same place as they would never rise nor set. And at night you would see the Earth’s shadow swing across the rings, like in the 4th photo here.

However, life would be very different on Earth if this were the case. Nocturnal animals would have a hard time being nocturnal, as the light reflecting from the rings would illuminate the night.

Because we are closer to the Sun than Saturn is, the rings would be more rocky than ice, making them less bright but still pretty bright. In fact, you would see far less stars at night (living anywhere other than the equator or the arctic circle) because of the light pollution and not to mention ruin most meteor showers because of that.

During the day the rings would block sunlight in certain regions of the planet creating wild weather cycles and effecting plant life as well. So basically, they would be definitely pretty to look at but they would also make a whole lot of things screwy.

Illustrations by Ron Miller // io9
— Click the photos for captions

superficial-skull:

lokizillas:

兄上の思いつき / はがた

Adorable omg

(via also-also)

commanderbishoujo:

searchingforknowledge:

ultralaser:

logical-deduction:

tazeffect:

jazuthewasianprincess:

beeishappy:

TDS | 2013.05.13

AH, I HAVE DISCOVERED WHY I HATE YOUR GUTS.

He acts like Star Trek is no longer needed for its ability to address social issues, so now why not just turn it into a bright and shiny action flick and nothing else? Dizzy bastard.

He took a project on without really realizing what it meant to so many people. I’m not just talking about those “crazy” nerds that stand in lines at conventions for hours. I’m talking about Martin Luther King Jr., who begged Nichelle Nichols not to quit the show. I’m talking about the hundreds of men and women that joined the navy or airforce, worked in the space industry, or became astronauts because of Star Trek. He’s forgotten all those people. He didn’t have faith that Star Trek in its purest form could reach all people– because it never reached him. So he molded it into something very different to fit a societal standard of action movies that pervades Hollywood today. 

He missed that mark. And he pats himself on the back for it.

it’s the mlk / nichelle nichols bit that really hammers things home for me where jj dropped the ball on this franchise.

like, he wants it to be accessible popcorn entertainment without as much heady philosophy, i can get that, i can even get behind it to a point, except it’s also completely ridiculous coming out of his mouth bc //what do you think lost was jj//.  also this and the other gifset misses out the part where he says he finally got way into star trek during production and now loves it.  (though the preponderance of enterprise references and the dip in ambition between movies does remind me more of voyager playing it safe than ds9 taking risks, but paramount stopped believing in the idealism of the franchise themselves about fifteen years ago so that’s not even surprising.)

no, it’s the fact that uhura even //existing// was revolutionary in the eyes of martin luther king jr.  in //nineteen sixty seven//.

in 2009?  chekov being a russian dude wasn’t diversity.  five of the seven main cast being white males wasn’t diversity.  less than a third of the characters with names and dialogue being not-white-males wasn’t progress.  //half of the female characters dying// wasn’t progress.  the female uniforms being sexy sexy where the men get practical clothing was the //opposite// of progress.

and hey, they didn’t bother to mix up the core seven by making chekov a russian //girl// genius or bones idris elba or spock sendil ramamurthy or kirk katee sackhoff or whatever.  but it’s okay, that’s only seven characters out of an infinite canvas.  and they did another movie, they levelled up, they added nothing but diversity to the cast, right?

replaced tyler perry with peter weller.  kirk wakes up in bed with //literal japanese catgirl twins// who aren’t named or seen again.  all the poc and aliens are (still) background scenery.  there are women wearing something other than the sleeveless gogo skirt //but only in the background//.  the new villain, who was a man of color as strong, smart, and capable as kirk back in the 60s / 80s, is now a white man with a desi name.  8/10 of the major characters are still white men.  and the only character written as a person of color is //still// zachary quinto.

jj, this is my problem.  you have officially failed to represent the future as //better//.  you’ve adopted a ridiculous colorblind ideology that amounts to ignoring the varied experiences of not-white-males, but failed to pair it with //casting mostly or even just 50% not-white-males//.

in the future, men are still disproportionately represented in the workforce?  //white// men still dominate all the hierarchies of power?  the only important places on earth are in the usa and great britain?  less than half the named characters are women?  we have transfer students from other planets but there are only terrestrial minorities in crowd shots?  white people are a demographical minority worldwide //today// but don’t tell the future that?

in 2004 edward james olmos, talking about new galactica, commented that that was the first time we’d seen latinos in space.  //that shouldn’t still be true//.

white people’s ideas of the future are TERRIFYING.

fuck nu trek

this is why i never gave a shit about it and will continue to not give a shit about it

Jon Stewart seemed a little unimpressed with JJ in this interview, and so was I TO SAY THE LEAST. They were talking about the differences between Star Wars and Star Trek and Jon was trying to lead him to a path of saying Wars was a bit more simplistic in its morality and Trek was more nuanced and JJ just DID NOT GET IT.

I still want shiny new Trek movies but this one really cinched it for me that JJ and the writers don’t get that Star Trek is all about the best and worst that humanity can be, not just cheap entertainment.

(via kittyjimjams)