It is 6:09am and I am about to start Alien.

 

Hehe.

So Prometheus was decent. Not sure why some of the reviewers really panned it hard. Kind of weird seeing an entirely new set of characters populate an old, familiar universe, but worth watching at any rate.


Looking back on that shot above of the Newborn reminds me of something. Is Joss Wheadon familiar with the concept of pressure differentials?

So, NB's backside was pressed up against a window with a little hole in it. It looked a lot smaller than 1 sq. in., but we'll say that that's how big it was to make things easy.

While older-gen spacecraft typically used pure O2 in a partial-pressure environment (4-5 PSIA, typically), modern spacecraft such as the Shuttle, the ISS and the Soyuz maintain a cabin atmosphere comparable to that of earth; nitrogen/oxygen blend at around 14.5 PSI.

Let's assume that in the 24'th century, spacecraft construction is at least as sound as today, and that the Betty also maintains an earth-like atmosphere for the comfort of the crew. The pressure hull, therefore, is subjected to an outwards force of ~ 14.5 pounds per square inch when it is operating in space. And therefore, any foreign body (such as the backside of an alien) which is acting to cover a hole in the pressure hull is also subjected to that same force.


Take your finger, and press on your backside with a force of 14.5 pounds. Did your finger pierce your skin?

 

I have often mused over the description of space as a "vacuum". A vacuum is a negative pressure as I understand it, but space is more of a zero pressure environment. I get that it is less than sea level pressure but it isn't technically a vacuum, right?

 

No perfect vacuum exists in nature, but outer space is the closest thing as I understand it -- only a handful of atoms in a given cubic meter.

 

Well, the term "vacuum" is just a relative measurement- when one region is at a lower pressure than another region. We consider there to be "vacuum" in the intake manifold, because the pressure there is typically less than atmospheric pressure. On the surface of uranus, a jar containing a gas at 50 PSI would be considered to contain a vacuum, as that pressure would be lower than the surrounding atmospheric pressure.


To mgeoffriau's point, it's true that an "absolute vacuum" is more-or-less impossible, however from a practical perspective, most of what we consider to be "space" is close enough that it doesn't really matter. At 100 km altitude above Earth, the pressure is about 3.2 × 10−2 Pa (0.000032 kPa), so if the reference pressure (inside the spaceship) is 100 kPa, the difference between 0 kPa and 0.000032 kPa on the outside of the spaceship is so insignificant that it is barely worth noting. It would certainly not make one bit of difference as to whether or not your body would be extruded through a hole with an area of 1 square inch because of it.

 

So I saw some guy walking around my campus earlier today with the weyland yutani corp shirt, and thought back on reading this thread and actually knew what it meant.

Just thought I'd share

 

MT.net: spreading the geek.

 

ftfy

 

fun read : List of references to Aliens in Halo - Halo Nation

We are getting so close, Hicks...we are coming.

 

Ok, the first thing that came to me, as soon as I saw the word "Tyrell" was.... Dallas? Corban Dallas?

MULTIPASS!

 

Ok, I give up. How does Tyrell figure into the Fifth Element?


Also, Josh, I'm slightly saddened that you haven't noticed the location in my profile.

 

This has me thinking, as well. The Fifth Element is also one of my favorite sci fi movies. I've never tried to make a connection between it and other movie worlds, though.


I noticed it now. That's awesome

Joe, did you watch the video of the game play footage for Colonial Marines? What's impressing me the most so far is the guy who is in charge of production. He's a total Alien freak and will probably wipe the floor with me if we compared Alien knowledge.

 

I guess I need to watch the director's cut...

 

It's easy. I am SO out of touch with pop culture and hollywood that I actually confused Harrison Ford with Bruce Willis.

I'm a worthless human being. They DID both have Dallas in their names.

 

I did.

To be honest, I'm just not that into computer gaming these days. At least, not the sort of "look at this massive, ultra-realistic environment that we have created for you to explore, with an immersive storyline and lots of campaigns and so forth" type that seem to be all the rage these days.

I do love me some Team Fortress 2, though. Mostly because it's simple and doesn't require a huge commitment of my time. There are no storylines, no continuity, no save-points, no need for me to really become invested in it. I can just log in and spend a few minutes shooting ridiculous weapons at cartoonish buffoons running around a small map, and that's that.

 

So I walked past a coworkers desk today and noticed a familiar picture.


That is his background on his 30" apple display.

 

Engage Nerd Mode! Maximum Power!

I don't normally do wallpaper, but you guys convinced me. I modified one I found online to give it a somewhat more sophisticated / realistic look:



You can grab it if you like:




This was the original that I started with: http://www.desktopwallpapers.org.ua/...g.ua-10145.jpg

 

Yutani actually existed as a Japanese industrial manufacturer and in the early 80's was purchased to become a subsidiary of the Kobe Steel company (Kobelco) and was also at one point involved in a joint venture with Mitsubishi Heavy Industries subsidiary MDI on some hydraulic excavators .

















I know it is something else, but every time you guys mention Yutani that is what I think of.

 

How very interesting.

The canonical account of the origin of W-Y claims that the name was selected essentially at random. Specifically, in the book "The Authorized Portfolio of Crew Insignias from The United States Commercial Spaceship Nostromo Designs and Realizations," Ron Cobb, who was a set and costume designer for the original film, writes:* = In the original Alien movie, it was in fact spelled "Weylan" rather than "Weyland". The company's name is never actually spoken aloud by any of the cast, however. They simply refer to it as "The Company" in all on-screen dialogue. The logo and name are visible only incidentally in the background on certain areas of the ship and on certain uniform pieces. In the 1986 sequel Aliens, James Cameron created a much larger role for W-Y, authoring an extensive back story and re-designing the logo into the form commonly known today. It was at this time that the trailing D was added to Weyland, however I can find no information as to whether this was intentional or merely an accident.


Bonus trivia: In Alien³, the name Weyland-Yutani appears on screen numerous times in both English and Japanese, written as ウェイランド湯谷. Joss Whedon (original author of Alien Resurrection) later re-used this theme in his television show Firefly. Set in the 26th century, part of the back-story involves a giant multi-national conglomerate which bears a strong and intentional resemblance to W-Y. Reflecting the economic landscape of the early 2000s (in contrast to the late 1970s), The Blue Sun Corporation is an American-Chinese partnership. Their logo appears prominently in many locations, and is almost always displayed in both English and Chinese (as 篮日) one above the other.

Ironically, there are a number of companies in operation on present-day Earth with the name Blue Sun. They include an aircraft charter and maintenance service, a Biodiesel refinery, and a software consulting firm for spacecraft control systems. In the Firefly universe, these are precisely the sort of divisions which one might expect a conglomerate such as Blue Sun to own.

 

Joe, thank you for the nice wall paper.

Steve, I totally did not just search ebay for a used Yutani manual.

Speaking of awesome. I'm re-watching the movies (Anthology Blu-Ray set) to get in shape for the new game. I still have a hard on for this woman....






Also a fun watch if you're interested in just how much video games and other things related to sci fi, have ripped things from Alien and Aliens.

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