Virgin Galactic test flights in 2012

 
I like Richard Branson because he knows how to use his billions of dollars wisely. If I had that much money I would be researching space travel myself. Alas, I don't even have a fraction of the $200,000 that Virgin Galactic is charging for a flight into space, but 500 other people have already booked their ticket... lucky bums. This year Virgin Galactic plan suborbital tests of SpaceShipTwo, the first of the five ships in their fleet, designed by Scaled Composites. They have already conducted 31 test flights inside Earth's atmosphere, some attached to a carrier aircraft named WhiteKnightTwo, and other glide tests. They hope to start testing their rocket motors later this year, and the plan is to offer commercial flights by 2013 or 2014. Time to start saving if you want to see the Earth against the backdrop of space and join the 68 mile high club.

30,000 Year Old Plant

 
Russian scientists have successfully revived a 30,000 year old plant from seed cells dug up in the Siberian permafrost. Their findings were published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Maybe they can also revive the little squirrel that buried those seeds... Okay that's a little less likely, but ice certainly has a way of preserving cells. Carbon dating on the seeds themselves came back at 31,800 years. It makes you wonder what other treasures are buried in the vast frozen soil that covers such a large majority of our planet. The plant, once grown, bore fruit and seeds the same as any modern day plant. Interesting stuff... Now let's revive a mammoth.

I watched... TAKE SHELTER

We all know that the world is going to screw us over one day, the real question is how... Take Shelter plays on the idea that something catastrophic is on the way, but instead of going all Emmerich on us, it focuses on a single family, and how their life begins to change when the father starts having visions of the impending doom. Played convincingly by Micheal Shannon, the Curtis character has nightmares and visions of deadly storms, and although the movie does a good job of making us question his sanity, the character himself chooses to act on his feelings, and spends his time and money building a storm shelter for his family. Although the movie is a little slow, the storm visuals are well done, and the movie does build some suspense as we try to decide if Curtis is crazy. To find out for sure you'll have to watch the movie. Now I'm all excited to see Michael Shannon play General Zod in Man of Steel. It's clear he's a good actor but it will be interesting to see how he handles playing the lead villain in a huge blockbuster. I think it's going to work out very well. Kneel before Zod!