Spartan Program

If you know anything about science fiction, or videogames, or most likely both, than you know Halo. If you don't than get out. Close this window and/or look up what it is because A. I don't have the time to explain EVERYTHING, and B. Its awesome and you should know about it. Ill give you a little info... In Halo humanity has created super soldiers named Spartans. They are incredibly strong, quick, and deadly. And these guys are needed to fight aliens, so they gotta be good.

Spartans are genetically modified, and that is how they are incredible at all attributes. In Halo, this Spartan program is seriously ethnically and morally wrong because the Spartans were basically kidnapped as children and turned into soldiers. In the world we live in it would be morally wrong as well obviously but it begs the question, can Spartans be made? And if they could be, would humanity react the same way?

To answer the first question, yes, they can most definitely be created. Getting a really buff guy on steroids makes him stronger than the normal human. Combine that with Exo-suits modern scientists have been working on and we have a close similarity. It isn't quite battling the Covenant in space ready but still, it's an improvement on the modern soldier. But if they did exist in our world it would most likely be the way I previously described it. Our government's PR would have no excuse to back up why they kidnapped innocent children and trained them to be super soldiers, no matter what it was for. People would get enraged that the government has that kind of power, and they wouldn't be wrong in doing so. Many people are upset already with things like the NSA "spying" on them, even if it is for their own good. But to contrast with the popular opinion, creating these immoral super soldiers could end up being a necessary evil in order to keep humanity alive. My thoughts on this are, if a small sacrifice has to be made to save more, or that the pros do outweigh the cons, than take that chance. Nobody can be that selfish in saying their life or their child's life is more important than the human race as a whole. For this reason I'm going to have to side with the Spartan program, that I would hope humanity could muster up a fighting force like that.

A New Hope

The iconic movie. The one that started it all. The first Star Wars movie is fantastic. An unsuspecting farm boy ends up being a key player in saving the galaxy. Along the way he meets memorable characters. Not a very groundbreaking plot really but who cares, its Star Wars. So, what are my thoughts on the movie (you can probably already tell).

Don't get me wrong, I enjoy the prequels just as much as the originals and the originals just as much as the prequels, but a huge plus to the originals is the props. In this movie, all of the props, scenes, etc. it all is a miniature, a costume, or a painted cardboard set. Compare this to the prequel movies where everything and everyone is CGI, this movie holds up better than some of those do. It makes it much more believable. For this reason I am incredibly happy that episode VII will use very little CGI characters and props.

The story of this movie is fine, Luke can seem a bit, whiney, at times but it never takes away from the movie. Honestly I only have one problem with this movie, The Death Star. I mean, if you have a giant space station, why would the hole that could be the end of said space station not be heavily guarded? My problem isn't with the hole itself rather the particularly easy way of getting to the hole. The trench to get there seems needless and there is only a few turrets in that trench. I would have like 4 turrets sitting and waiting at the end of that trench that blew away anyone who came through it. Its stupid simple and seems lazy, even if it is a cool scene. All I'm asking for is a shield there, just something so a small squad of fighters can take thousands of lives with a single missile.

Life without Gravity

Gravity, what comes up must come down. You may not know it but gravity plays a bigger role in your life than you think. Not only does it keep everything on earth but it also keeps your body pretty functional too.

Throughout time, all species on Earth have evolved in some way. A factor in that evolution is gravity, expecially with land mammals. We have evolved to function with Earths gravity. Gravity affects how we grow and without it weird things start happening.

Without gravity we would be immensely weaker. With less pressure on us our muscles would be much weaker. Bones also wouldn't grow as "correctly" as they do now. All of this would probably lead to shorter lifetimes as well.

Even astronauts today who stay up in space for extended periods of time have minor problems that start appearing. Not as severe as the ones previously mentioned but still. So obviously getting to space is one thing, but this proves that staying there is something else. I would be extremely happy to just go to space so I'm not complaining, its just a concern of mine.

Mind Vacation

Remember the movie Total Recall, the old one (good one) not the new one (bad one). If not, in the movie there are machines that basically give you the feeling of doing something so that it feels like a memory you had. For example, want a vacation to Paris but don't have the time, this machine would replicate the experience in your mind; like a dream you get the sense you went on that vacation or that you used to be an astronaut or possibly lived a nicer, more interesting life.

What could technology like this do in the real world? Obviously all of the above was covered in the movie, but what about learning a new subject or language. If this existed theoretically couldn't we just put this machine on and in an hour we learned what could've taken a month of schooling? Think about the extra time people would have. So much more could be accomplished tech like this existed. More people would know more of every subject. Mechanics wouldn't be needed as much because everyone knows how to fix their car, basically most service jobs would be a lot less necessary. Professionals would be less important because most could do what they do. Honestly the world would seem a little more dull, people would be less unique, unemployment would be an issue because everyone can do what you do as good as you do it...

No need to worry though, technology like this is far from reality. There is still alot about the mind and about dreams we don't know yet. We know about dreams, and where they are active in the brain, but there are so many more unknowns. You could think your recalling a past experience when possibly it was all just a dream you had had. See, it isn't far fetched that a machine like this could be used to gain knowledge. A problem that comes to mind is a problem with dreams aswell. Would information gathered while in this machine quickly fade from memory like a dream. Only on rare occation can I ever remember my dreams 10 minutes after I wake up, so does that mean the information would flee my head aswell or would it somehow stick in my memories.

Revenge of the Sith

The third time really must be the charm. The third installment of the prequel trilogy of Star Wars is leaps and bounds better than the first 2 were. Revenge of the Sith is honestly my favorite Star Wars movie, it has everything and very little errors, but could it have done anything better?

Well some complain that Anakins change to the dark side was too abrupt, but I disagree. The Emperor gets in his head and makes him think the jedi are traitorous and evil. Therefore to stop them they must be terminated, and he has to save the love of his life, sure. But killing children is slightly overdoing it...

Next jump to the end when Padmè dies of "heartbreak", what? I mean Anakin force chokes her and she dies of hearthbreak, loses the will to live. I mean couldn't her windpipe have been crushed or something I mean, come on. Its just silly I'm sorry if you think otherwise.

Hold up, one more problem. This time with the script. Before the battle between Anakin and Obi wan, Obi wan says "only a sith deals an absolute". That is an absolute... Are you a sith Obi? How did they not notice this, i mean, it has the word ONLY in it. Its a cool line, but it makes no sense.

Overall still the best of the films in my mind. It's problems are far more minor than the other movies. And since they figured it out mostly at the end I am confident that episode 7 will live up to Star Wars high standard.

Dinosaurs Reborn

Most people know anout the classic Jurassic Park movies. And most people have probably thought, how cool would it be if dinosaurs still existed. Well it's not a subject that could remain science "fiction" for long.

Scientist have been working quite closely in this field. An example is there are plans of placing preserved Wolly Mammoth DNA in an elephant so the elephant gives birth to a "new" species. Think about that, pretty cool. But in a world where polar bears are becoming extinct I'm not so sure a wolly mammoth is the greatest idea.

But if one was to combine that kind of technology with another species we could get some interesting results, or some monstrous results. Because I'm not sure what would give birth to a T-rex. A gorilla? A feret? A lizard? So maybe its less possible than originally thought. Because an elephant and a wolly mammoth are very similar species so one birthing another is possible. With most other dinos a different strategy would have to be in place, if any.

Still, if we did have dinosaurs it wouldn't be like an apocalypse. Obviously we would have some sort of control over them like in jurassic park. Although they had a way of controlling them and it still went wrong. So maybe we stick with the nice dinos, non-human eating ones yes? Sounds good to me.

Attack of the Clones

The second movie in the Star Wars prequels is also very, very unpopular among some fans. The only thing I find repulsive about the movie is the painfully forced romance scenes. If you take those scenes away the movie holds up alright, but is there anything else wrong with it?

It begins with bounty hunters going after Padmè. Obi-wan leaves to search for the assassin and this is where my first question lies. Obi-wan stumbles apon a planet that is manufacturing a clone army for the republic. But nobody knew about this except for Count Dooku who began construction. How did nobody know about this. I assume i cost the Republic a large sum of money so why were no questions asked. And if Count Dooku made the plans for an army why didn't he go and stop construction on the clones once he switched sides, I mean, it would've made his life A LOT easier.

The movies arena battle is one of the coolest parts of Star Wars. It is filled with action, even if it is the most inefficient way of killing a jedi. Its questionable how all those jedi got into the stadium to help, and why they didn't help a lot sooner, but it makes for a cool battle.

All in all the movies action itself holds up well enough and the movie is a step up from Phantom Menace. But it could just be me blinded by nostalgia.