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You know that sinking feeling you get when you witness the destruction of an entire planet? Rodimus and company are about to feel that. Hardcore. |
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The illustrated story of a lonely alien sent to observe Earth, where he meets all sorts of creatures with all sorts of perspectives on life, love, and happiness, while learning to feel a little better about himself—based on the enormously popular Twitter account. Here is the unforgettable story of Jomny, an alien sent to study Earth. Always feeling apart, even among his species, Jomny feels at home for the first time among the earthlings he meets. There is a bear tired of other creatures running in fear, an egg struggling to decide what to hatch into, a turtle hiding itself by learning camouflage, a puppy struggling to express its true feelings, and many more. The characters are unique and inventive—bees think long and hard about what love means, birds try to eat the sun, nothingness questions its own existence, a ghost comes to terms with dying, and an introverted hedgehog slowly lets Jomny see its artistic insecurities. At the same time, Jomny’s curious presence allows these characters to open up to him in ways they were never able to before, revealing the power of somebody who is just there to listen. Everyone’s a Aliebn When Ur a Aliebn Too is also the story behind the widely-shared and typo-filled @jonnysun twitter account. Since the beginning, Sun intentionally tweeted from an outsider’s perspective, creating a truly distinct voice. Now, that outsider has taken shape in the character of Jomny, who observes Earth with the same intelligent, empathetic, and charmingly naïve voice that won over his fans on social media. New fans will find it organic, and old fans will delight at seeing the clever words that made them fans in the first place. Through this story of a lost, lonely and confused Alien finding friendship, acceptance, and love among the animals and plants of Earth, we will all learn how to be a little more human. And for all the earth-bound creatures here on this planet, we will all learn how sometimes, it takes an outsider to help us see ourselves for who we truly are. |
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In this groundbreaking, bestselling graphic memoir, Alison Bechdel charts her fraught relationship with her late father. In her hands, personal history becomes a work of amazing subtlety and power, written with controlled force and enlivened with humor, rich literary allusion, and heartbreaking detail. Distant and exacting, Bruce Bechdel was an English teacher and director of the town funeral home, which Alison and her family referred to as the "Fun Home." It was not until college that Alison, who had recently come out as a lesbian, discovered that her father was also gay. A few weeks after this revelation, he was dead, leaving a legacy of mystery for his daughter to resolve. |
By: Jaclyn Cascio (@jaclynator)
Replacing and growing heads, spooky action, and crazy color vision are just the start. You can also become a citizen of Asgardia. If none of this sounds familiar, you’ve got some catching up to do! So ICYMI, here’s some of the science news from the last week!
Italian neurosurgeon Sergio Canavero has made no secret of his goal to complete the world’s first human head transplant. In the meantime, he is working on smaller projects to make steps toward the ultimate goal. In his latest published paper, Canavero severed the spinal cords of mice and then reconnected them using special biological glue (polyethylene glycol). He has claimed in his paper that the mice recovered motor functions and their ability to walk less than a month after the “glue” was used. The rodents only lived for about a month, so it looks like there are still a lot of obstacles to overcome for Canavero, including ethical and legal blockages. The whole thing is starting to feel a little like scenes from Mars Attacks!
Einstein described quantum entanglement as “spooky action at a distance.” The mysterious phenomenon involves two or more particles that link and affect one another, even at long distances. Scientists have been working on quantum entanglement, hoping to one day have more effective communication systems using quantum networks. But researchers have previously only managed to link particles and split them apart by 100 kilometers. However, a new study has managed to distribute two entangled particles more than 1200 kilometers apart! That’s a new record!
While America and other countries have been looking to the stars for some time, China has been a little behind the curve…until this week! On Thursday, China launched their first astronomical satellite into space, mounted with three x-ray telescopes pointing at different angles. X-rays of events like black holes and neutron stars don’t penetrate Earth’s atmosphere, so the only way to get a look is to send instruments outside the atmosphere to observe such events and send back data. Now China’s space science program is making a new contribution to the astronomy world, and it’s a welcome addition!
Flatworms have a superpower. They have incredible regeneration capabilities. Cut a flatworm into pieces and those pieces will grow new heads or tails (depending on where they are cut). Researchers sent some of these unique creatures to the International Space Station (ISS) to learn more about how space’s microgravity and magnetic field affect cell activity. The study on the worms, published this week, showed the worms who went to space and returned exhibited some changes. When placed in a petri dish in bright light, the space flatworms were less likely to move toward any darker portions of the space than their Earth-bound counterparts, and they also showed some different behaviors when placed in water. Most interestingly, however, was one of the astronaut worms who was cut into pieces and grew two heads (rather than a head and tail), which is an apparently rare phenomenon. When the heads were cut off, the segment grew two heads, again! There are a lot of factors to take into account, but the study should give scientists some insight about cell behavior and how those factors affect such activity.
A new study supports the idea that the first planet of our solar system to form was gas giant Jupiter. The giant size of the planet suggests that as the solar system formed it was the first to collect material and form. By studying meteorites from a belt of space rocks in our solar system, the team behind the study also believes that the meteorites came from both the inner and outer solar system, which they theorize came to be divided early on by Jupiter’s formation. Even the atmosphere of Jupiter suggests that it was early to form, taking materials that are now less likely to be found on other planets that likely formed after. Jupiter was the first-born of the planets within the solar system, and appears to have been a big player in the formation of other planets within the system!
A fungus that naturally kills mosquitos carrying malaria already exists in the wild. It takes some time and lots of fungal spores to work, so scientists have been working to improve the process, hoping to eliminate the threat of malaria-bearing mosquitos. The team has genetically engineered the fungus to produce toxins found in the venom of spiders and scorpions. The team has had success in creating potent strains that can kill the mosquitos with a single spore. The strain has also successfully stopped mosquitos from blood feeding. The combination has effectively reduced transmission of malaria by 90% within five days. The team is continuing tests to ensure that their methods won’t negatively affect other species and organisms, if their transgenic fungus were to be spread in an open environment. But it’s a great step forward in a disease that can kill so quickly and strikes so many down!
Humans typically have three types of cone cells in their eyes, allowing the trichromats to see about 1 million different colors. Those who suffer from color blindness often suffer because they only have 2 types of cones (much like most other mammals, such as dogs), leaving them with the ability to see only about 10,000 shades. Researchers have recently found a woman with four types of cone cells (a tetrachromat), which means she sees about 99 million more colors than the typical trichromats! The scientists believe there are other functioning tetrachromats out there who just haven’t been found yet! Imagine the ability to see colors that have no words in any language!
Asgardia is an organization with big plans to start a space nation. At a press conference this week in Hong Kong, Asgardia announced plans to launch a satellite this fall where citizens of the “space nation” will be able to load with their own data. They also announced hopes to have an Earth-orbiting residential space station (and a moon station) in the future. The company doesn’t stop there! They released a national calendar and hope to form their own Parliament of Asgardia in the next six months. (With 10,000 supporters, you can become a member of Parliament yourself!) Beginning June 18, voting will also kick off for the space nation’s constitution, flag, and national anthem. If you want to be an Asgardian, you can sign on! Just head to the website and sign up!
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The war for Cybertron is over—now the hard part begins! BUMBLEBEE and his fellow AUTOBOTS struggle to maintain control of a world without OPTIMUS PRIME! Bumblebee's provisional government is struggling and Prowl defends it against the DECEPTICONS but how far will he go—and who will chose to stand by his side? |
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Harley is set to begin her new life, but she needs a job first. Enter the Coney Island Roller Derby! It’s game time as Harley sets out to destroy her competition—literally. |
By: Justin Jasso (@jjasso007)
Almost exactly a year ago, a nice little film came out titled The Shallows. Blake Lively stars as a woman in need of an escape after her mother’s death, and heads to her mother’s old surfing spot to catch a few waves. Yet, while surfing all alone, she’s attacked by a great white shark and left stranded on a rock some 200 yards from the shore with the predator circling. This simple story regenerated interest in shark-themed films. Flash forward to today, and director Johannes Roberts brings us another shark film in 47 Meters Down.
Lisa (Mandy Moore), who recently broke up with her boyfriend for being “boring” of all things, heads on a preplanned getaway to the Mexican Coast (it was supposed to be romantic!). But instead of her boyfriend, she brings her fun, globetrotting sister, Kate (Claire Holt). After the typical night out where they meet a couple of cute locals (What else do you do when off in a foreign country?), they decide to go with these guys on a rickety old boat for a cage diving adventure to see sharks. Lisa is hesitant, but Captain Taylor (Matthew Modine) seems trustworthy enough. Yet, with any shark film, things don’t go as planned. The chain snaps, sending the women 47 meters down to the ocean bottom. With limited air in their tanks, sharks swimming above, and the inability to swim directly to the top with getting decompression sickness (AKA the ‘bends’), the situation doesn’t look too promising for the sisters.
The story, as you can ascertain from the synopsis, is pretty standard. Two girls in a foreign country meet guys, hook up, spend the next day together, and shenanigans ensue. But in this film, these shenanigans just happen to involve hungry sharks. It’s skeleton story only necessary to get us into the water where the real perils lay. Up until the point of the plunge, the film is hard enough to watch with its forced dialogue and clichéd after clichéd moment. Yet once in the water, the CGI sharks are rendered very well. And as we dive towards the 47 meters mark, the darkness envelopes and the claustrophobia of the surrounding darkness engulfs everyone. The best parts of the film are when the dialogue ceases and we are allowed to be in the silence that is common when under water. And it is in that silence we know the predators lurk, building that sense of fear and anticipation.
Unfortunately, that silence is few and far between. And what we are stuck with is forced, stereotypical dialogue, mostly between Lisa and Kate. The script is pretty bad overall, and the actors really don’t have a lot of quality material to work with here. And in order to progress the story, we need actors to deliver content. Unfortunately, we’re left with Moore and Holt screaming and panting for a good portion of their time underwater, with repetitive dialogue between the two, as communication to the top is lost unless they swim out of the cage a few meters toward the surface to re-establish communication and find out when they’ll be rescued.
But the real reason we’re watching is for the sharks and, as I mentioned, they look good for CGI. Sad to say, they are few and far between, making quick appearances here and there. Even the stars of the film choose not to be on screen too often.
47 Meters Down feels rushed, like it was trying to piggyback off the success of The Shallows and the upcoming Jason Statham film, Meg. Even the ending, which builds up to be exciting, winds up being sort of a letdown. This is summer blockbuster season, and we expect just that. Unfortunately, on our dive into the darkness of the ocean, we come out with a B movie. Instead of saving this one, studios should have left it 47 meters down.
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#1 New York Times Best Seller! Following his ground-breaking, critically acclaimed run on Detective Comics, writer Scott Snyder (American Vampire) alongside artist Greg Capullo (Spawn) begins a new era of The Dark Knight with the relaunch of Batman, as a part of DC Comics—The New 52! After a series of brutal murders rocks Gotham City, Batman begins to realize that perhaps these crimes go far deeper than appearances suggest. As the Caped Crusader begins to unravel this deadly mystery, he discovers a conspiracy going back to his youth and beyond to the origins of the city he's sworn to protect. Could the Court of Owls, once thought to be nothing more than an urban legend, be behind the crime and corruption? Or is Bruce Wayne losing his grip on sanity and falling prey to the pressures of his war on crime? |
