The new show Sanctuary on Sci Fi is one of the best shows that Sci Fi has ever made.  The show is shot entirely in front of a green screen and they use a lot of visual effects.  There are very few props that are actually real in the show because mostly everything is CGI.  You can tell that the characters in front of the green screen green screen set because mostly the lighting in some scenes is not the same lighting that is on the characters.  Overall the CGI looks very realistic.

The show is about a Doctor Helen Mangus (Amanda Tapping) who holds secrets about a mysterious group of people called the Clandestine.  They are supernatural beings who disguise themselves among the humans.  The Doctor is assisted by her daughter Ashley (Emilie Ullerup), a tech wiz named Henry (Ryan Robbins) and forensic psychiatrist Dr. Will Zimmerman (Robin Dunne).  These people are trying to find out how the Clandestine came to be. 

Sanctuary is a place where Helen Mangus protects the Clandstine people.  The place is a “sanctuary” to those who can’t hide among the humans.  Some of the Clandestine cannot be seen in public because of how vastly different they look.  For example Big Foot, he is a large, hairy being with animal-like facial features.

All of the characters in the show are strong and intelligent people but they are not entirely fearless.  Helen had fallen in love with a man named John Druitt (Christopher Heyerdahl).  She shows fear whenever she is around him because of how power hungry he has become.  She also fears for her daughter’s life because of her daughter’s fearlessness.

The show started in late August is been going for a couple a months and seems to be holding strong.  Another show that is very similar to Sanctuary is the show Special Unit 2, which is almost exactly like Sanctuary.  Special Unit 2 deals with trying to hunt down supernatural creatures and locking them away in an underground place.  The show was made back in the late 90’s and was shortly ended in a few months.  On Sci Fi there is been a lot of shows that have dealt with humans trying to protect or stop supernatural beings.   

The show Sanctuary is like the show Special Unit 2 because they both deal with the capturing of supernatural beings and a secret organization.  The shows are slightly different plots and characters but they still have the a few similarities between them.  The shows both have supernatural beings both friend and foe alike, there is high tech equipment that is used.   Special Unit 2 was set in the 1920s while Sanctuary was set in the present day.  The difference between the two shows is that Special Unit 2 was made in the 90s which you can tell by the visual effects of the show. While Special Unit 2 sort of mirrored X-Files, Sanctuary is more of a drama because some of the character’s histories. 

As more shows came out with similar story lines the evolution of the supernatural shows became more and more popular.  Supernatural was one of those shows much like the before mentioned shows.  All the shows have similar plot lines but they all retain their own individual differences.  Supernatural is much like Buffy the Vampire Slayer, show where there were supernatural entities, but the drama was still prevalent in the show.  Sanctuary has a little of both shows in it. There is a great deal of history with Helen and John which can be concluded with the drama and then there is the fighting the villains.  The show seems very interesting and engaging compare to some supernatural shows.

by S.L.M

The latest Harry Potter Movie trailer has been interesting so far with all the spectacular special effects.  The movie should be great, but very dark due to how dark the book is.  The special effects really benefit the movie because of the magical element added by CGI (computer generated graphics).  You can almost do anything with CGI nowadays, its becoming more and more popular because of high demand from audiences.  You can see the CGI getting better with each Potter Installment.   

 In The Order of the Phoenix, the graphics were outstanding! They really put the time and effort into the CGI.  If CGI did not exist the Harry Potter movies would not exist because you can only do so much with puppets and special effects created by hand. In the scene with Dumbledore fighting Voldemort, when Voldemort “spits” out a fire snake, the fire looks real and could be mistaken for real fire.

With all these interesting visual effects the movie has really stood out from other fantasy movies.  The key thing in a fantasy movie is the visual effects because of the limitations of some special effects made by hand.  Meaning having to use real fire and then bring in the fire department, just in case if the set were to catch on fire. 

If one were to look at th movies from the late 80s and early 90s the CGI would appear fairly new and untouched, but as time went on the use of CGI got more and more prevalent.   Ever since Pixar created Toy Story and other great movies the use of CGI has sky rocketed. Not only was Pixar a contributor to the use of CGI, but when New Line Cinema released Lord of the Rings,  the use of CGI added to the audiences’ hunger for better special effects.  Not only fantasy type movies had special effects, but other movies such as Indiana Jones the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, I am Legend, and more.   Almost every movie has at least some CGI in it.    It makes it easy to do explosion scenes without actually creating”real deal”.  CGI helps eliminate danger for when actors/ actresses try to perform stunts needed in the scene.

The gaming industry has also added to the demand for better CGI.  The release of the Xbox 360 and the PlayStation 3 leave people at an awe because of how great the graphics are on the systems. The graphics card on the gaming systems allows the gaming designers to add more features to the game.   With the PS3, the developers are able to add more features to the characters, meaning there will be more textures to surfaces and or people. In the game Drake’s Fortune, Naughty Dog (a video game company, who created Crash Bandicoot) has given a behind the scenes look at how much more they are able to do with graphics.

Since CGI is becoming more and more popular, you can now buy CGI programs.  People can now do their own CGI and can post them on blog sites such as Youtube. There is one CGI video that is of particular interest, Dead Fantasy made by Monty Oum.  The video is broken up into two parts Dead Fantasy 1 and Dead Fantasy 2.  The video is about two video games clashing in an all out brawl to see which one is the best.   The video has just female game characters from Dead or Alive and Final Fantasy. The movie is not yet finished, so part three is still in the making.

CGI is one of the greatest computer programs that has ever existed.  The ability to create anything and everything is endless just like the human imagination.  Since technology is improving the graphics will continue to get better and better until they are almost life-like. 

The date for the next Harry Potter movie is July 14, 2009.  The trailers for the movie look spectacular and hopefully it will be one of the best movies in the coming years.  There will be a lot of expectations from the fans.   If the director sticks to the book then the movie will be great, but of course there will be a few scenes that are going to need to be cut.  You can’t have everything from the book in the movie, right?

The t.v. series House had its first debut November 16, 2004 on Fox. Created by David Shore, this series boomed with success earning numerous awards such as: the Peabody Award in 2005, three consecutive Primetime Emmy Awards from 2006-2008, two Golden Globe awards in 2006 and 2007, and the list doesn’t stop there. It won the Humanist Award and the Edgar Allen Poe Award

(http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0412142/awards). Needless to say, House was an instant success and the series has a season five coming up soon.

Diagnostician, Dr. Gregory House (Hugh Laurie), is a disease specialist who loves taking on bazaar medical mystery cases. House comes of as an annoyed and depressed individual because of the stupidity he has to put up with around him. At times, Dr. House is to medicine as scrooge is to Christmas. Nonetheless, he uses questionable procedures and unconventional thinking to solve these mysterious cases, leaving other doctors dumbfounded.

Although he usually is the one solving these cases, he uses a team of doctors and their input during his quest. His team is made up of highly intelligent doctors who are specialized in many different areas of medicine. Houses neurologist is Dr. Eric Foreman (Omar Epps), whose main fear is becoming just like House; immunologist Dr. Allison Cameron (Jennifer Morrison), who evidently cares too much for her patients and sometimes has conflicting feelings about House; and intensive care unit specialist Dr. Robert Chase (Jesse Spencer), who seems to have lived a life of lavish. There is also a good friend of House, Dr. James Wilson (Robert Sean Leonard), who isn’t actually on his team, but has Houses back and often tells him the harsh reality of things.

Even though House is the boss of his team, he has a boss over him and his team. She goes be the name of Lisa Cuddy (Lisa Edelstein), and hates putting up with Houses unprofessional methods, but knows she can always count on him to save the lives at hand. She has to deal with the legal aspects of medicine, which is an overwhelming task for her because House will do anything when someone’s life hangs in balance and is always being reviewed or sued for it. Despite his controversial methods, his results keep him his job.

There are many inconstancies with his team, which forces him to hire and fire new doctors all the time. House has been known to hire people who don’t have medical degrees, or just because he wants to hook up with that certain someone. However, the old team from above still remains at his side to throw in their two cents every now and again, even though they don’t take direct orders from him anymore. When they work together, they are able to solve and diagnose cases most doctors cannot.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0412142/awards

http://www.tv.com/house/show/22374/cast.html

http://www.fox.com/house/

Family guy is an American family sitcom created in 1999 in which Fox airs regularly.  The dysfunctional family is constantly put through ridiculous situations that are often problems found in our society today. The characters are all quite unique in there own way and have a tendency to poke fun at these societal situations in an exceedingly funny manner. It has been compared to South Park because of the liberal messages its tries to get across through each episode. The sitcom is often referred to as sick, twisted, politically incorrect, and freakin sweet.

Because of this sick, twisted, and politically incorrect view of the show, it was canceled by Fox overlords in 2001. They didn’t think dealing with the complaints of socially challenged views, cursing coming from an infant, and many liberal messages were worth the risk. However, this cancelation was short lived due to the high DVD sales and complaints of the show leaving the air. Every society has their views on what is socially accepted, and it goes to show that even though this show has been canceled numerous times, the public likes the fast paced jokes the sitcom covers in society. Family Guy has allowed us to take a look at ourselves as a society and realize that we make a big deal out nothing in most cases.

The Griffins’ as they are referred to, live in the fictional town of Quahog, Rhode Island. Creator “Seth MacFarlane, in an interview with local WNAC TV Fox 64 News, has stated that the town is modeled after a city in Rhode Island .”(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Family_Guy) The skyline of Providence can often be viewed in the sitcom. There are three buildings depicted, One Finacial Center, 50 Kennedy Plaza, and the Bank of America Tower. The Coastline is viewed as if Quahog is west of downtown Providence, and as if it were a real world town, but is rarely shown in many episodes.

The skyline of Providence as viewed from the northwest looking southeast.

Its animated counterpart.

 The Cast of the family include: Seth McFarlane as Peter Griffin, Stewie Griffin, and Brian, Alex Borstein as Lois Griffin, Seth Green as Chris Griffin, and Mila Kunis as Meg Griffin. Each of these cast members have been the voice of their character for over a hundred episodes since 1999 to 2008 off and on. (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0182576/fullcredits#cast)

 

	Seth MacFarlane	…	Peter Griffin / … (116 episodes, 1999-2008)
	Alex Borstein	…	Lois Griffin / … (116 episodes, 1999-2008)
	Seth Green	…	Chris Griffin / … (115 episodes, 1999-2008)
	Mila Kunis	…	Meg Griffin / … (103 episodes, 1999-2008)

 

The T.V. show mainly follows the adventures of Peter Griffin, a fat, Irish rich accented, well intentioned blue collar worker. Peters wife Lois is a stay at home mother who has a rich New York accent due to her upbringing of the wealthy Pewterschmidt Family. Together they have three Children which all are very quirky: Meg, who is the butt of most of her family’s jokes because of her low popularity status and unattractiveness; Chris, an obese teenage boy who shares his fathers intelligence, and therefore lack of; and Stewie, a evil, yet genius infant with homicidal tendencies toward his family. Living with them is the family dog Brian. Brian is more logical than anyone else in the family and is constantly communicating with them in regards to there wrong doings. However, Brain himself walks on two legs, enjoys martinis, cigarettes, and promiscuous activity.

There is simply something about cheats, sheets, and geeks that amuses American masses. The American population consists of millions of individuals, each of whom differs in nearly every aspect. It is a human flaw, a wicked amusement in which we find ourselves enjoying the discomforting situations, the flustering moments, the degrading, demeaning, downright shameful acts of others. We find it hilarious when people cheat. We find bigotry in individuals we don’t know—or really care for, for that matter. We find sexual acts appealing—fights even more so. We interact with the imaginary realm of reality T.V. True, non-scripted, pure entertainment of people just acting like people—so false. The scenes are edited, the people carefully picked out, and the boring ones scrupulously eliminated, that is the true color of our “reality” entertainment. Horror movies are a part of American culture, but to those who are single minded and consider the category “horror” as merely bone-chilling, blood-spilling, scream-filled minutes of terror, then you my friend, are missing out on something. Comedy is something that is miraculously weaved into the tapestry of horror, though at times not exactly meticulously done. Nearing the end of 2008, just releasing the 5^th installment of the Saw series, fans are delighted to greet the reality series entitled: Scream Queen.

MEET THE CAST!

Two friends, an idea, and a message—

“It was weird to be 25 and sitting in a neurological ward and I’m surrounded by people who actually had brain tumors. It was very scary and it was my first proper look at mortality. I really wanted to get my health back and it really hammered how important good health is. If you’ve got that, you’ve got everything,” said Leigh Whannell, screenwriter of the Saw series.

It’s a new branch of horror, where psychological forethought is just as important as the gruesome scenes of blood, organs and whatnots. It takes a look at human inabilities, their faults, their weaknesses—their overall selfish nature. But bottom-line, it’s pure entertainment.

Title: Saw
Rated: R	Genre: Crime, Horror, Mystery, Thriller
Runtime: 103 minutes	Release Date: October 29, 2004
Synopsis: Two men awake to find themselves chained to pipes in a sullied restroom—they don’t know each other, they don’t remember how they got there, but they’re caught within a game, where only one, if at all, has the choice of life.

	Title: Saw III
	Rated: R	Genre: Crime, Horror, Thriller
	Runtime: 113 minutes	Release Date: October 27, 2006
	Synopsis: Even at his deathbed, the game continues. Jigsaw’s new protégée kidnaps a doctor by the name of Lynn Denlon and imprisons her in a warehouse where she is forced to provide care for the ailing man. The game continues as life trickles on by, with Jigsaw’s life in the hands of one of his pawns, who’s none the wiser, and an additional player whose fate is ironically crossed with the woman who’s forced to take care of the man who planned it all.

	Title: Saw IV
	Rated: R	Genre: Crime, Horror, Thriller
	Runtime: 92 minutes	Release Date: October 26, 2007
	Synopsis: A tape is found in the stomach of John Kramer a.k.a. Jigsaw. It seems as if even death can’t put an end to this game. Other players are caught within the malicious web of this brilliant mastermind, all the while trying to save themselves and their loved ones.

Title: Saw V
Rated: R	Genre: Crime, Horror, Thriller
Runtime: 92 minutes	Release Date: October 24, 2008
Synopsis: A test of friendship and a lesson on teamwork. Players within the game are desperately searching for the final apprentice of the late Jigsaw only to encounter a traitor amongst them.

Each film ties into the other. It’s not a sequel, but more of a continuation at the exact spot where the last film left off. Directed by James Wan, David Hackl, Darren Lynn Bousman, and Kevin Greutert, written by Leigh Whannell and others, starring Leigh Whannell, Toby Bell, Danny Glover, and many other notable actors/actresses—Saw became more than just a film, it became a Halloween tradition. Each character was remarkably complicated, and because there seemed to be no end to the movie, they had plenty of time to fully develop. With each Saw installment the complicated makings of the antagonist Jigsaw (John Kramer) became clearer, using flashbacks, the viewers are able to interpret why Kramer became who he was. Each player, no matter how insignificant had a story, and somehow, since the very beginning, the characters were continually tied in with each other. There was plenty of blood, plenty gruesome scenes, some too sickening to even take—sometimes you wonder about the people who thought up such a thing… The franchise deserves 5 out of 5 stars, because it’s more than just the gore, it has development; it has character, atmosphere—all the things that make a good story good. The actors acted well, the script was mind boggling, good directing, and the scenes were absolutely bone chilling. No complaints—can’t wait for Saw VII. 

Note: Synopsis was written by me as well

“I must not fear. Fear is the mind killer. Fear is the little-death that brings total obliterations. I will face my fear. I will permit it to pass over me and through me. And when it has gone past I will turn the inner eye to see its path. Where the fear has gone there will be nothing. Only I will remain.” The rapid thumping of our beating hearts, the running adrenaline that courses through these veins, the ever reassuring whisper of “I’m alive” that sounds within these deft ears—heart at ease, smiles on faces—the images that flicker upon the large screen—the film that runs—horror, thriller, the ever familiar R rating is just another part of today’s culture.

The fine lines between fiction and “non” has long since been broken. Sadistic, one may call it. When faced with reality things become clearer, relatable—more frightening. Consideration to the victim(s) and the persons involved is never a thought at the forefront of our minds—we seek entertainment—and entertainment is what we get.

Reel? Or real? That is the question. Whether fact or fiction, the story has been told time and time again and will forever remain as a classic American folklore. The 2005 rendition was a bland remake of the original 1979 version, but Hollywood worked its magic in hopes of establishing another box office hit. Producer Michael Bay and screenwriter Scott Kosa, whose notably known for the other “based upon truer events” classic entitled, Texas Chainsaw Massacre, has combined as a beatable duo. It is not to say that the movie was horrible, but it certainly wasn’t a bone chilling experience nor a thought provoking one at that. Ryan Reynolds and Melissa George starred as George and Kathy Lutz, the roles of the children, Father Callaway, Jodie DeFeo was respectably casted—all in all, the acting was superb. The general development of each character, especially George, was minimal—I mean, the man was a happy-go-lucky father one moment, then a deranged psycho killer the next—where’s the in-between? The scenes of “scary” events happening weren’t exactly frightening, but more of a disgusting, “who in their right mind,” kind of situation. When George, clearly possessed hacks up the family dog, the babysitter ordeal, or even the floor that turns into a “pit of doom,” is more of a grotesque situation then a fear instilling one. The family lasted for 28 days in the house; the reason for staying was simply financial issues—but it’s quite ironic that they’d rather live day to day in fear in a fairly decent, large, cheap house then run for their lives, but it’s a movie. I’d give it 3 out of 5 stars. Not good, not bad—good movie to watch on a rainy night (one of those stars was given simply because certain events might’ve happened).  

Upon hearing the word “legitimacy,” the words “truth” or “accuracy” is simply implied. Today’s generation does not doubt the source, does not turn the weary eye away from the infamous names of Wikipedia, Google, Yahoo…etc. we accept them—foolishly, with blind faith. Search engines are this generations Dewey Decimal System. Faster, easier—did I mention faster? Society is driven on time. Habitual habits of waking up at the crack of dawn, going to work from nine to five, thirty minute lunch at twelve, bed at eleven…people are consumed with their daily day-to-day schedules. Technology is the path to a faster and brighter future, but at the same time, it is a path towards a possible lazy one. Search engines may bring up hundreds upon hundreds of results for a simple word like “cheese,” but it is not the responsibility of the computer to decipher between what is fact and fiction, essentially, the burden falls upon the writer and or reader. The information is out there, reliable ones and the not so…

Plagiarism, the unauthorized use of another person(s) work—essentially the sugarcoated word for cheating. It is a known fact that people amongst higher learning have a higher probability of plagiarism. To succeed in such a competitive society is burden as is, but the temptation of an easier way out never seems to leave one’s sight. Another year brings further advancements and better improvements. Finding resources, finding examples…finding anything—is merely a “click” away. People of today are consumed by time, blinded by capital means, and longing desperately for a place of complete comfort within this world we live in. Society has taught that cheating, that distorting, that bottom-line stealing is an act that is frowned upon—but what are we but individuals among the masses? There are millions upon millions of men and women out there, people of all ages, coming from all sorts of social backgrounds, harboring all sorts of hidden talents. We are who we are, and sadly there are those that succumb to things that are socially and albeit, morally known as unjust and wrong. Plagiarism is unacceptable. Stealing is unacceptable. Taking the easy way out will lead a person nowhere. Society has made it easier to cheat, but at the same time it has counteracted with programs and methods in which one could check legitimacy. To source another person’s work takes no more than a few minutes, and yet people still manage to find excuses. It depends on the individual—would you risk getting caught?  

No, that is why we follow our schools rules against plagiarism. As Charles Kuralt once said, “I could tell you which writer’s rhythms I am imitating. It’s not exactly plagiarism; it’s falling in love with good language and trying to imitate it.” Taking the time to go through multiple websites, books, newspapers, and magazines, and not being able to find the material you need, can be very frustrating. So, why not take the easy way out and take information from someone else? They already have done the work and it would better than you could ever do. However, that would be considered plagiarism, and be very wrong. The consequences for plagiarizing are very serious and can get one in a lot of trouble. Michigan State has its very own policy for students who commit the crime of plagiarizing. As stated on the website that states Michigan State’s policy on plagiarism, “A student who recycles his or her course work from one class to another may face an allegation of academic dishonesty. An instructor who believes a student has committed an act of plagiarism should take appropriate action, which includes the issuing of a “penalty grade” for academic dishonesty.” All universities, high schools, and middle schools do not have a place for plagiarism within their curriculum.  According to Kuralt, “it’s not exactly plagiarism, it’s falling in love with good language and trying to imitate it,” however, falling too in love with someone else’s work can result in a broken heart. 

Do the risks outweigh the benefits? Knowing how easy it is to do and knowing the repercussions for doing it, makes it a hard thing to deal with in today’s society. Our lives don’t stop, but we are expected so much. Plagiarism is cheating point blank. It doesn’t matter how competitive our society is, how fast paced it is, or how easy it is to get a hold of someone else’s work, cheating is not gratifying and it not fair to the author who you are stealing from. They put in the work, they deserve the credit. The choice for one to take the easy way out will only result in failing or expulsion. It is far less hassle to just sight your sources. To be legit, it must be truthful, it must be accurate. Everything that we do within today’s society have some sort of rules or regulations to them. One must act independently to expand one’s own knowledge. In the end, hard work with earn its just deserts—will it not?

Source

1. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/legitimacy

2. http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/programmes/bbc_journalism/

3. http://www.spj.org/ethicscode.asp

            The Matrix, Terminator, and Fringe; two movies and a show that revolve around the idea that science can and will evolve beyond human control. For years the media has raised this issue in many ways, showing the problem in cinemas and televisions throughout the world. Though is it possible that machines could rise up to overthrow the human race (Terminator)? Could a strain of toxin be the downfall to humankind (all Zombie movies)?  In order to figure out if any of these concepts are possible one must find out if people will ever go into that dangerous realm of science, the part of science that is on the fringe. Is it possible that humans will finally explore realms of science so horrible and revolutionary that people will lose control of their own projects?

            According to the show Fringe the answer is a resounding, YES! Mind control, people with the ability to walk through walls, plants that can crush a human heart from the inside; all are possible in the world of Fringe. Set in the present, the show is described as a cross between The X-Files, The Twilight Zone and Dark Angel.  Following FBI Special Agent Olivia Dunham, scientist Walter Bishop and his son Peter, they investigate aspects of fringe science (telepathy, levitation, invisibility, reanimation, genetic mutation, etc).

            All over the world many horrifying and untheical experiments, known as “the pattern,” are occurring for unknown reasons. The trio is in charge of investigating these strange events to determine there source. From the start the pattern becomes linked to a company called Massive Dynamic; a leading global research company that holds hundreds of patents new and important technologies.

            The scariest part of the show is that most of it is based on fact. According to insidescience.org the two media consultants, Glen Whitman and Rob Chiappetta, for Fringe base the show on an extensive archive of science and technology journals. “By the time we were hired, the archive had several hundred articles and we had both become very familiar with recent developments in the world of science. A lot of times we have a scene where something will happen and we have to figure out how this can be justified scientifically, so we will come up with three ideas and the writers choose,” said Whitman (1).

            “One week we are pouring over journals and focusing on the latest neuroscience research and the next week we are learning all about hormones,” said Chiappetta (1).

            Many of the articles come from credible and well known sources such as Wired, Discover, and Seed magazines.

            “We find examples everyday where the fringe sciences on the show are talked about [in the news],” Chiappetta said. “There was this physicist at CERN (European Organization for Nuclear Research) on 60 Minutes talking about the Large Hadron Collider, and when they asked him what would be a practical application of LHC research, he said maybe in ten years – teleportation.” (1)

            But in the end Fringe is just a television show, not real life. Though well researched and based on some truth, the show is made to make money not to spread the truth. In order for society to realistically be worried that science will become beyond our control, there must be proof that it is going on in the real world, not only in the world of science fiction.

            Looking at the past, scientists have had many fantastic, futuristic and odd ideas. Some of these were even seen as on the fringe; for example, Copernicus’s theory of heliocentricity (the earth revolves around the sun) and Darwin’s theory of evolution. But in today’s society with advances as far as they are, it almost seems that there is only one truly unknown realm of science, that is fringe science. Some aspects of this odd science include research into the ability that would allow people to walk through walls, read each other’s minds, even teleportation. This far stretched part of science has been explored by many, but never has made any major and world changing advancements, at least not to the public’s knowledge. Since there has been no advancements in this area in the thousands of years it could be concluded that there is nothing to discover, essentially that it is a dead realm of science. But in actuality fringe science is very plausible and even occurring today.

            Ray guns have been synonymous with science fiction since television started and now they are a reality. According to economist.com “the most famous weapon of science fiction is rapidly becoming fact (2).” Multiple ‘directed energy weapons’ or ray guns are in development today, three already completed or in experimental phases; known as Zeus, LADS (Laser Area Defense System) and ABL (Airborne Laser). The least offensive of the three, Zeus, already has a prototype in the field today. Purely defensive, it was created to detonate unexploded bombs in order to make an area safer for soldiers and civilians. On the other hand the ABL, once testing is finished, will be used to explode rockets in their boost faze. The boost faze is when the rocket is powering up before it is launched.

             On the other side of the spectrum the US Army is currently investing in an aspect of ‘fringe’ science, a thought sending helmet. Reported by Psysorg.com, the US Army has recently given a four million dollar contract to researchers from the University of California at Irvine, Carnegie Mellon University and the University of Maryland to study the concept.  
             During the initial stages of creating the helmet, the Army’s concerns lay with “making [the] thought helmet a feasible piece of equipment for soldiers. [In order for this to happen] scientists need to combine advances in computing power together with our understanding of the human brain (3).”
Currently the thought helmet concept consists of 128 sensors embedded in a soldier’s helmet. For it to work “soldiers would have to think in clear, formulaic ways; which is similar to how they are already trained to talk (3).” The key challenge to making the system work is creating a software system that can read an electroencephalogram (EEG) generated by the sensors, pick out when a soldier is thinking words, and what those words are. Essential to the success of the project is making improvements to a computers computing power, which would allow it to understand the large amounts of complex data the brain creates.
            Though it will likely be more than a decade before the Army’s thought transmitting helmet will be functional, other researchers have been working on more commercial uses for other brain-computer interfaces. One example is Emotiv Systems´ brain-wave headset for video games, expected to be out next summer.
             Now is a terrifying time to live in.

Gone are the simple days where a dumb barbarian or simple plague could kill everyone you know. We live in a time where the possibilities are endless and happening soon. Advancements are made every day, and another hundred the next. Though it is a great time to live (the internet, iPod, Hybrid Cars) it is also a scary one (SARS, Ray Guns, Paris Hilton). The world is evolving fast, maybe even too quickly. It is all I can hope that when a scientist discovers a toxin to reanimate the dead, they don’t let the technology get away from them and make the best choice. Some discoveries shouldn’t be made.

Some discoveries shouldn't be made...

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