DON'T PANIC!

 

In many of the more relaxed civilizations on the Outer Eastern Rim of the Galaxy, the Hitch Hiker's Guide has already supplanted the great Encyclopaedia Galactica as the standard repository of all knowledge and wisdom, for though it has many omissions and contains much that is apocryphal, or at least wildly inaccurate, it scores over the older, more pedestrian work in two important respects. 

First, it is slightly cheaper; and secondly it has the words DON'T PANIC inscribed in large friendly letters on its cover.

Douglas Adams, The Hitch Hiker’s Guide To The Galaxy

May 24th marks the fifteenth anniversary of Towel Day, the annual tribute to the memory of Douglas Adams, author of the Hitch Hikers Guide to the Galaxy.  I've been on and off in my recognition of the day - mostly off this time, I didn't bother to carry the mandatory towel to work with me today, although I did check in at towel.org to see how the rest of the community had celebrated the day.

There was a surprising* (and gratifying)  amount of media attention in addition to the wide array of fan activities, but if there is a prize for the most appropriate event, it would have to go to the Royal Institution of Great Britain** and European Space Agency astronaut Tim Peake, currently serving on the International Space Station:

When we had a chance to send something up to @astro_timpeake on the ISS, this is what we sent. Happy #TowelDay! pic.twitter.com/9QOFshn9Sv

— Ri_Science (@Ri_Science) May 25, 2016

I think that Mr. Adams would heartily approve.  Beat that, NASA.

- Sid

P.S.  If someone reading this knows how to center an embedded Twitter™ posting, please let me know.

* For the most part, May the 4th generally gets a lot more action in the press.

** In some ways the British equivalent of The Planetary Society, but with a broader scientific mandate.

Return of the Attack of the Weregeek.

 

This morning, my co-workers and I were galvanized by a shriek of panic from Kate, the administrative assistant who works at our reception area.  Everyone within earshot - which was actually just everyone, it was pretty loud shriek - rushed to her desk in order to help with whatever issue had caused Kate to start screaming.

As it turned out, Kate had seen an insect on her desk.  She said that it was a centipede, but added that it was huge - "Like Godzilla!"

Unfortunately, as previously established, this sort of comment often gets a reaction from me which may not be exactly what the commenter is expecting.

"Well, no, not Godzilla, Godzilla was a lizard."

"Hmmmm....it wouldn't be Gidrah or Rodan, they could fly, and were also sort of lizards.  Mothra was a giant insect, but obviously more of a giant moth than a centipede.  Gosh, I'm certain that Godzilla must have fought a giant centipede at some point, but I cannot for the life of me bring a picture of it to my mind.  I'm sorry, Kate, I'll have to do some research and get back to you."

Leaving our department head Peter courageously searching the top of Kate's desk, I returned to my workstation, where a rapid* Google search revealed that my memory is either better or worse than I thought.  As I thought, none of the celluloid incarnations of Japan's favourite giant lizard ever fought a centipede monster, but that wasn't the only option when searching for Godzilla's foes.

There was also a short-lived spinoff animated series based on the unfortunate** 1998 Roland Emmerich film which starred Matthew Broderick (and Godzilla). Godzilla: The Series was based on the idea that one of Godzilla's monstrous hatchlings had survived the events of the movie, and imprinted on Broderick's character - perhaps because of residual pheromones from his close encounter with Godzilla's saliva in the movie, I don't completely remember the details. (In my defense, it's been almost 20 years since I last watched the series.)

In Metamorphosis, the ninth episode of Season TWO of G:TS, Godzilla Junior did in fact cross paths with a giant centipede named Megapede.  Using this as a guide, I did a quick image search, and found a few pictures of the many-legged menace.

At this point, Kate, somewhat recovered from her ordeal, approached my desk with a question about digital letterhead.  I showed her the picture that starts this posting and explained that it was a picture of Megapede.

"Yes, that is absolutely what I saw - and Megapede, that's exactly the right name.  Thank you very much!!"

And she returned to her desk, which under the circumstances demonstrated remarkable courage.  If that thing was still lumbering around on my desk and made another appearance, I would probably scream much, much louder than she did.

- Sid

* We're on company time, after all.

** Full confession:  I actually kind of like the 1998 version of Godzilla.  I fully admit that Matthew Broderick really doesn't carry the movie, but the supporting actors cheerfully cast aside any desire to take the film seriously and do everything but chew the scenery in order to help move things forward.  (Jean Reno's Elvis Presley imitation is particularly memorable.)  Not only that, but I thought that the FX team did a good job of envisioning what an actual giant mutant lizard might look like, rather than a rather obvious man in a rubber suit.***

*** When the movie first came out, I commented favourably on the CGI version of Godzilla to my friend Alan, who immediately announced that he preferred a man in a rubber suit.  I gravely promised not to quote him out of context, although I've been tempted more than once over the intervening years.

Bill Nye 3: Planetary.

 Space exploration brings out the best in us. It is inherently optimistic.

- Bill Nye

I think that it's safe to say that an interest in space exploration is common among science fiction fans.  It's not really the same as what we've been reading about, but it's obvious that the global space initiative responsible for things like the International Space Station represents the first steps toward a future where we explore - and perhaps inhabit - more and more of our solar system.*  However, it's more of a spectator sport than anything else, after all, there's not a lot one person can do to move the process forward.

Or at least that's what I would have said until last month, when I found out about the Planetary Society.

The Planetary Society was founded in 1980 by science spokesmen Carl Sagan, Bruce Murray, and Louis Friedman, with the intent of creating an organization that would allow the general public to become more involved in the exploration of space in two ways:  by giving it a voice for advocacy, and by offering opportunities for education and participation.

The Society now has over 40,000 members around the world, making it the largest and most influential public space organization group on Earth - if not the solar system.  Bill Nye is the current CEO, and the Board of Directors and Advisory Council is made up of a Who's Who of space exploration, investigation and advocacy such as Apollo 11 astronaut Buzz Aldrin, science fiction author David Brin, Quirks & Quarks host (and fellow Canadian) Bob McDonald, scientist and SETI president Frank Drake, actor Robert Picardo, Hayden Planetarium Director and astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson, and a host of others, united by a shared commitment to expand humanity's horizons.

I'm proud to say that I'm now literally a card-carrying**  member of the Planetary Society.  The annual membership fee is about $60 CAD, which struck me as a reasonable investment to make in helping to promote our future in space.

Let's face it, sooner or later you have to put your money where your mouth is.

http://planetary.org/

- Sid

* We're progressing toward that future either very quickly or ridiculously slowly, depending on whether you start the clock with Yuri Gagarin or Lucy (the 3.2 million year old fossil Australopithecus, that is, not Charlie Brown's nemesis).

** I got a nice T-shirt, too.