Blog Archives
The Space Between Truth and Fiction Is Not so Strange Anymore
A black hole is photographed for the first time, thanks in part to Katie Bouman.
“Three years ago, Bouman led the creation of an algorithm that eventually helped capture this first-of-its-kind image: a supermassive black hole and its shadow at the center of a galaxy known as M87. She was then a graduate student in computer science and artificial intelligence at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.”
–Michelle Lou and Saeed Ahmed, CNN, ‘That image of a black hole you sae everywhere today? Thank this grad student for making it possible’
Amazing. And this amazement applies to the first image of a black hole in space as well as Ms. Bouman’s ground–well, space–breaking algorithm.
Life is about pushing boundaries, which is a particular topic of interest with the release of ‘First Man’ starring Ryan Gosling and Claire Foy and the recent theatrical release of the CNN documentary ‘Apollo 11’ chronicling America’s groundbreaking moon landing. While in awe of the image shown above, American theoretical physicist and Nobel laureate Kip Thorne and the science fiction epic ‘Interstellar’ by Christopher Nolan immediately came to mind. ‘Interstellar,’ while fiction, is painstakingly rooted in real science. Creating a realistic depiction of a black hole was pivotal to the story for the filmmakers, writers, and audience.
Was the ‘Interstellar’ crew right with their image of a black hole back in 2014?
Kip Thorne, Christopher Nolan, and the entire ‘Interstellar’ team were pretty damn close with their depiction of a black hole in 2014 to the first image of a black hole in 2019!
Who else is going to watch ‘Interstellar’ again?
This scientific revelation as compared to a cinematic epic validates and builds upon the lore of Mr. Nolan’s brilliance as a filmmaker and storyteller of spaces beyond our earthly realities. More importantly, the first image of a black hole is a game-changer in ways we are only just beginning to comprehend.
Yesterday was another giant leap for mankind.
Happy Monday!
If you can inject movie magic into your day, then it’s been a successful day. And if that magic is somehow related to composer Hans Zimmer and filmmaker Christopher Nolan, then your day will truly be memorable.
Case in point:
Kids say play the darndest things.
Have a Better Week Than Last Week.
Extending Our Brief History in Time
“If humanity is to continue another million years, our future lies in boldly going where no one else has gone before,” Hawking said, BBC reported.
Stephen Hawking continued his remarks.
“To leave Earth demands a concerted global approach, everyone should join in,” he said. “We need to rekindle the excitement of the early days of space travel in the sixties.”
He added one more thing.
“It is time to explore other solar systems. Spreading out may be the only thing that saves us from ourselves. I am convinced that humans need to leave Earth.”
You have our attention, Mr. Hawking.
The famed scientist made this bold delcaration at a recent arts and science festival known as Starmus. This event took place in Norway. Whether or not people or nations rush to join this intergalactic effort (aside from Dubai and the United Arab Emirates, what countries can afford this challenge right now?), the premise of rededicating ourselves to exploring the unknown of outer space is an exciting point to make in remembering America’s historically inspiring recent past. There are countless policies, specifically concerning the economy, entitlement reform and foreign policy/defense, that need to be crafted and enacted. Absolutely. Having said that, exploring space should jump back to being a national priority.
Instantly after reading Mr. Hawking’s eye-opening remarks, a specific film came to mind.
Christopher Nolan’s movies are always an experience and about something more than just the initial story and characters. And it seems that one of the leaders of the scientific community had more to say (knowingly or unknowingly) about the seemingly prescient cinematic event of 2014.
That cinematic event being Interstellar.
The Lesson: Watch more movies.
The Stellar Sound of the Space Around Us
They say that “tails never fails.” Except for, you know, roughly 50% of the time. Anyways, how about this:
The ear can hear what we fear, and cheer.
Be kind, it’s a first draft with rough edges galore.
This blog has made the case that orchestral numbers can strike something profoundly powerful inside us that doesn’t necessarily offer confirmations to our myriad of questions, but stirs a wonderful mixture of mystery, caution and, incredibly, an unyielding pursuit of discovery. Once again, Christopher Nolan’s space operatic epic Interstellar is the focus of yet another blog post. This time, the form is the music from the film’s long past third trailer from late 2014 (with admittedly the faintest hint of audible lyrics at the end).
To quote a line from a fellow Nolan cinematic achievement, “And here we go.”
So, where will that music take you?
Wherever it leads you, just know that attempting to save the human race is always a crowd-pleaser. However, I myself may start with something slightly less grand…for the moment anyways.
Jimmy's Daily Planet 