American and oppose the SOPA/PIPA copyright/internet censorship bills? Use this list to find out where your representatives stand, then give them a call to say “thanks” or lobby to change their mind.

Posted on 18 January 2012 by Mika | Leave a comment

Related Reading

2011 Link Fest

Posted on 30 December 2011 by Mika | Leave a comment

Science & Entertainment Exchange

Posted on 29 December 2011 by Mika

I have a new article up on The Science and Entertainment Exchange about the process of science consulting. For more Stargate-centric stories, check out the older Physics Today piece.

Posted in Stargate | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Book Review: Raptor Red

Posted on 17 December 2011 by Mika

Raptor Red by Robert T. Bakker

Raptor Red by Robert T. Bakker


Raptor Red by Robert T. Bakker is possibly the most entertaining way to learn his theories on early Cretaceous social behaviours of assorted critters. Bakker is a paleontologist who consulted for Jurassic Park, and is an early advocate for science in fiction:

Nature is a drama. It is the most ripping yarn ever written. You’ve got life and death and sex and betrayal and the best way to approach it is through individual animals.

(I can’t access the original US Today article listed as the quote source, but it follows his philosophy outlined in the introduction, so I’ll count it as plausibly accurate.)

Raptor Red is not a particularly compelling story, namely because his editor forgot to explain the concept of “Show, not tell.” The style is painfully similar to journal articles. On the flip side, it is a very fun excursion on speculating about behaviours not expressly forbidden by the fossil record. From this book, he’s particularly adamant that top predators need a lively sense of curiosity and strong social bonds to survive dinner fighting back. The dryness of his digressions into describing the behaviours of each and every creature in technical precision can be forgiven for the sheer joy of envisioning Gastonia taking an indecent amount of pleasure in being a spiky ball of defensiveness, and the squeakiness of Aegialodon dreams. Of everything, the idea too fun to disprove is raptors sledding down hills with growly-giggles of glee.

Posted in Books, Fiction | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Extraterrestrial Mining

Posted on 14 September 2011 by Mika

In my last field camp, I watched a pair of movies on aliens invading LA to exploit our resources. Skyline‘s aliens wanted our brains, and Battle Los Angeles‘s aliens were seeking water.

Ignoring the big question of why the aliens started their Earth-invasions in deserts (Want brains? UCLA, CalTech, and a whole lot of other universities are just barely inland. Want water? The Pacific Northwest is a temperate rainforest…), the entire premise of extraterrestrial mining is an interesting one for just how desperate your resource situation needs to be to justify the economics of transportation. Locally, we may one day get around to mining the moon, and a few technical papers have investigated the potential challenges of mining near-earth asteroids, but I’m trying to imagine a lifeform evolving a need for consuming brains that doesn’t have enough smarts to farm a local supply, or technology that allows interstellar travel but can’t make water out of gas giants.

Posted in Astronomy, Movies, Planetary Science | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

OpenScience Friends of the Future camp

Posted on 19 June 2011 by Mika

The Institute For The Future is hosting a meeting in one week on 26 June “to discuss and spark ideas around the bleeding edge futures of scientific exploration across multiple disciplines over the next decade.” Roughly two thirds of the participants are on Twitter; it’s both delightful and odd to eavesdrop via Twitter before meeting them.

Current topics range from distributed citizen-scientist projects, the interaction of social media and science, and, of course, open science. I’m uncertain if I’ll be contributing more from spending far too much time thinking about science in fiction, or disasters (a subject enhanced by citizen-science like “Did you feel it?” and social media), but either way I’m looking forward to the conversations.

Posted in Science | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Near Earth Objects: movies in impact catastrophes

Posted on 9 June 2011 by Mika

I’m currently seeking recent movies/mini-series where great big chunks of rock hit the planet. I’m attempting to update my scifi examples to replace Deep Impact (1998) and Armageddon (1998). So far my list is:

Impact (2008)
Meteor (2009)
Meteor Storm (2010)
Meteor Apocalypse (2010)

Any other suggestions? I’m happy with anything from fairly good to downright awful science as long as the special effects are spectacular. Movies that people may have actually seen (less hidden-cult-classics) would be an unexpected bonus.

Posted in Fiction, Movies | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

PAX: Science in Entertainment

Posted on 8 June 2011 by Mika

Cool ideas only happen if people are interested in making them happen. Read on, then if you are a fan of Penny Arcade and think this is a neat idea, please mosey over to the PAX Prime forum and express your interest. If you think you’d make a good panelist, contact me. If you have ideas or questions for the panel, comment.

The Convention: Penny Arcade Expo (PAX)

August 26-28 2011, Seattle
PAX is a three-day game festival for tabletop, videogame, and PC gamers with approximately 60,000 attendees. In addition to dedicated tournaments and freeplay area, PAX has got nerdcore concerts, panel discussions, the weekend-long Omegathon event, and an exhibitor hall filled with booths displaying the latest from top game publishers and developers. More info.

The Panel: Science in Entertainment

We’ve all laughed at flux capacitors, reversing polarity, and all the other terrible science that fills in the gaps in mass-market entertainment. But sometimes, a bit of real science sneaks in. Why? What sort of influence does a science consultant have during production, and what is the job actually like? This panel features a mix of philosophy, practical guidance on blending science and fiction, and backstage stories from the industry.

The Pitch: Seeking Panelists

UPDATE: I have sufficient panelists for this event. However, I plan on doing more events like this, so contact me if you’d like me to keep you in mind for future events.

I’m a science consultant in the tv industry, with five seasons experience working for Stargate. This is the sort of work I do.

I’m looking for co-panelists to talk about both the practical aspects of including plausible science in entertainment (film, tv, games, books, comics…), and the philosophical reasons for doing so. This means I’m looking for:

  1. Other science consultants: What projects have you worked on? What is the job it like? Why do you do it? Do you work with S&EE?
  2. Entertainment industry members who have used science consultants: When? Why did you consult a scientist? Do you work with S&EE?
  3. Communications experts in popular culture: What is the value of having plausible science in entertainment? What impact does it have on science? on entertainment?

I’m also looking for a panel moderator. Experience running academic panels or other group discussions is valued.

The Payoff: Benefits if the Panel is Accepted

  • You receive a Speaker’s pass to the (sold-out) Penny Arcade Expo.
  • You have the opportunity to meet the bound-to-be-interesting co-panelists.
  • You get to talk to a room at full-capacity (almost all PAX panels have huge lines and fill up).
  • You get to try convincing a room of game-loving geeks that having plausible science in entertainment is a worthy goal, thus increasing demand for higher quality entertainment.
  • You get to add a very unusual speaking position to your resume/CV.
  • You may end up with the opportunity for repeat appearances in future years.

The Logistics: Boring, but Necessary

I need to submit the names of panelists by 14 June 8 July 2011.

You can contact me by leaving a comment on this post (unscreened public comments), a comment on the Contact post (screened private comments), via @mikamckinnon on twitter, or by emailing mika at this domain.

As far as I can determine, this conference does not offer financial support for transportation or accommodation in Seattle.

Posted in Fiction, Science | Tagged , , | 9 Comments

Lessons for Science Consultants

Posted on 1 June 2011 by Mika

I already covered 8 lessons from being a science consultant over on Physics Today last month; now it’s time a few more promised stories that were cut from the final draft. To bring it up to a numerically-satisfying 10:

Be consistent.

Cramped into an office.

Now, add five more people...

Replicablity is the hallmark of experimental research, consistently producing similar results in repeated tests to establish data as a reflection of reality and not an experimental fluke. On-screen science demands every variable stay identical between takes, consistent results with no tolerance for standard deviation.

 

 

Camera operators perch on ladders and squeeze to stay out of frame during filming of Stargate: Universe “Human,” too many people and too much equipment crammed into a tiny office in the summer heat. Each cut, I dart in to reset equations, replace thrown pens, remove crumpled paper, and slip back out. I watch filming from a room away, tucking behind the woman in charge of continuity, her eyes split between a monitor and the script. Her praise is rare and valued, earned when the scene starts with the same equals sign over the actor’s left shoulder, an alpha by his hip, take after take after take.

Be fast.

Uncounted tasks need to be performed as a scene is repeated in endless variations and filmed from countless angles. Lighting and sound adjusted, camera angles changed, makeup fixed, hair perfected, and objects returned to their original locations. Each department designates someone to care for their tasks, rapidly resetting for the next take.

I fall into a pattern: photograph, erase an actor’s equation, and re-write mine they erased in turn. The on-set property crew takes his own photographs, scoops up thrown and dropped objects and deposits them in their starting locations. Tasks completed, we retreat and watch the reset continue. He gives me a grin that we once again finish not first, but far from last, and will not be the ones to have an entire production waiting for us to finish.

Yes, I’ll dig out a few more stories once I’ve finished unpacking my luggage!

Posted in Science, Stargate | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

The Crazy Hall

Posted on 2 May 2011 by Mika

Chloe contemplates orbital dynamics.

I’m travelling without my computer so I can’t add any more behind-the-scenes science stories until June, but I can elaborate on an anecdote about the curiosity of the Stargate cast.

When Chloe Armstrong walked into the Crazy Hall of spaceship Destiny (SG:U s2 e4), she realized a hidden talent for orbital dynamics and solved an intercept problem that gave Eli and Rush headaches in the previous season. Moments later, her actress Elyse Levesque requested a quick primer on the history of the universe. We managed to get through the big bang, the static of an early universe too hot for atoms, 300,000 years of cooling, the cosmic microwave background radiation marking the start of a transparent universe, and a fast summary of what that static means for the shape of the universe in less than 2 minutes. …although the ending may have been a bit rushed when I realized Robert Carlyle was distracted from Dr. Nicholas Rush’s next scene by wanting to know the ultimate fate of the universe.

Related Reading

Geochemistry of SG:U Air
Cryptography of SG:U Human
Atmospheric Science of SG:A Brain Storm

Posted in Fiction, Stargate: Universe | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment