Oh What A Tangled Exoweb...

As everyone in the exoplanet community have noticed, the Exoplanet Encyclopedia (exoplanet.eu) has updated its site with a nifty new look along with new functionalities. It's great. And I love change. The only thing is that it broke my Total Known Exoplanets Chrome Extension. I didn't think anyone ever uses it, until a twitter user inquired on when it will be fixed. So i spent some time to fix it. And now i'm happy to report that the chrome extension is back up online again. Well, at least for now, it's not showing blank. I know it's showing a count that is still late by a factor of weeks but it will be improved on the next deployment. I will now explain the changes that happened under the hood and what it would mean onwards.
When exoplanet.eu changed its pages, my robotic HTML scraper was no longer getting the updated exoplanet count. Much as i tried, I can no longer grab hold of the updated count from that site. So i turned to the coolest open ExoAPI.com to provide the exoplanet count. Using a simple AJAX call, it returns some data that includes the total count. Of course there's always room for improvement and I contacted the awesome developers of ExoAPI to provide a function to grab *just* the total count for speed and lighter load. So now my exoplanet count chrome extension fully depends on ExoAPI to show the latest stats on exoplanets. And I got some new upgrades planned that will make use of ExoAPI some more. Yes, this is another use case showing how important an open exoplanet API is.
Here's some quirky curiousity on how Salaak and Silver Surfer keeps track of planets. I am definitely sure that they maintain a database of planets to do their job (it would be awesome to see at least one issue of green lantern corps mention that 'fact') and that they must have some form of API in order to pass along data and work with other advanced lifeforms' technology. In light of this fiction, can you imagine what it would mean if we suddenly made contact with a more advanced civilization? For some reason, I think that their web developers would be awesome enough as to provide an API for us to be able to access their own planet database. But prior to that, via the Known Worlds Law it is automatic that advanced civilizations have a huge database of planets containing information on gazillions of worlds. And I am optimistic that they will share that information--which would mean access to study trillions of planets!

The Skroderider

I just felt compelled to share what I saw last saturday at the Bionic Garden: The Orchidarium named "Floriguay" by artist Mike Smith had a 'Big Dipper' setup solely for plants! Yes, for plants!!! A set of LED lights was used to simulate the constellation (and some fireflies) for the plants' enjoyment.
I think that the whole setup was fun and awesome. Imagine if plants can actually gaze up at the stars and see constellations. Wouldn't that be amazing? You know, somewhere at the back of my mind, on some other world there exists plant-like creatures that could really see and think.
It's a perfect timing that I've been reading Vernor Vinge's "Fire Upon the Deep" in which there are sentient plants called "Skroderiders" (one of them is aptly named Greenstalk). 
The Skroderiders often become lost in thought when they see spectacular landscapes which I imagine to be stars, constellations, and ringed star systems. They also are perched or riding on a contraption called 'skrodes' that enables them to move around (hence the term Skroderiders) but also contains other mechanisms that aid their memory, among other things. The skrodes were a gift to them by an advanced civilization.
So you can just imagine my delight when i saw the Floriguay, a wheeled frame outfitted with wires and tubes, a laptop, and LED lights and other contraptions. This is a Skroderider in the flesh! Or rather, a Skroderider on a skrode!

Happy Samhain

As I checked twitter today I saw a greeting, "Happy Samhain". I never heard of Samhain before, but it sounded so familiar. A quick look at wikipedia and i found out that Samhain is a Gaelic harvest festival held on October 31. The Modern Irish word Samhain is derived from the Old Irish samain, samuin. And hstorically, Samain or Samuin was the name of the feis or festival at the beginning of winter observed in medieval Ireland.

It only took a minute and suddenly I remembered a planet called Samhuinn in Exodyssey--an awesome book I had for several years now. I quickly grabbed the big hardbound book and opened to the last chapter. And sure enough, the local creatures on the planet, called Samhuinians, had some inspiration from halloween. As a matter of fact, several pages were devoted to what the artists called "Halloweenian Creatures". I feasted my eyes on the biological artworks and wondered about the diversity of alien lifeforms on other planets.

The Call of Cthulhu

Waking up at exactly 3am for no reason at all and then learning that it was H.P. Lovecraft's birthday is nothing short of a call from Cthulhu. I dug through my pile of books and read through a couple of graphic renditions on Lovecraft's work--The Haunter of the Dark (illustrated by John Coulthart), and Graphic Classics that featured several works of Lovecraft. From them I got a sense of what twisted kinds of terrifying imagery will befall the mind of anyone who reads Lovecraft.

Lovecraft's mythos includes The Great Race of Yith, and of course, Cthulhu among others.

Reflecting upon these characters with ancient and cosmic backgrounds, I can say that we don't know how many generations of suns have been before our Sol. The fact that Life sprung forth on this planet does not preclude the thought that older civilizations and lifeforms from an ancient generation of stars and worlds may have lived before us elsewhere...or nearby.

Aliens may strike great fear among many, as with how the unknown often strikes terror. Who knows what an ancient form of life will do to unsuspecting humans?

Our species is a young one, and the birth of mankind's consciousness is barely a blip in the timeline of the earth.

Humanity's collective mind is new and we are only beginning to explore new worlds. It is a time of great wonder, but who knows what terror awaits? Carl Sagan said, "We are at a crossroads in human history. Never before has there been a moment so simultaneously perilous and promising."

Apparently, HP Lovecraft has seen a glimpse of this terror deep within man's psyche.

"I have whirled with the earth at the dawning,
When the sky was a vaporous flame;
I have seen the dark universe yawning
Where the black planets roll without aim,
Where they roll in their horror unheeded, without knowledge or lustre or name."

~ H. P. Lovecraft, Nemesis

So Close To Earth

I have noticed recently that several films had placed entire planets so dangerously close to Earth.

In Transformers: Dark of the Moon, the Decepticons attempted to teleport their home planet Cybertron right next to Earth!

Then there’s Melancholia, an upcoming movie that seems to have a planet set to collide with Earth.

Another Earth has the most poignant scene of them all, with a mirror earth (that includes a matching mirror moon) spanning a huge portion of the sky visible in breathtaking detail.

Let me tell you this. Never have I known a bunch of movies released almost simultaneously that has put entire planets so near to earth. Correct me if i’m wrong, but perhaps the last movie ever made about another planet getting this close to earth was in The Fifth Element released in 1997. But further than that, When Worlds Collide was in 1951. But now, in an era when we are at the brink of finding another earth (or earth-like planet), films suddenly turn up with ideas that puts alien planets so poetically close to Earth.

Could it have been that these films influenced by the numerous discoveries of exoplanets that we hear about in the news almost every month? Perhaps. But there are deeper questions to ask.

Are these a reflection of humanity’s deep yearning to understand what all these new worlds mean to us? Does the quest to find another earth reflect humanity’s longing to understand the meaning of our existence by discovering similar worlds with life like our own?

There is no doubt about it. The impact of exoplanet discoveries is now becoming more and more apparent in our culture. These films simply serve as a signal that the impact of other worlds is now here upon us. And with it comes the question that needs to be asked of ourselves: How does the existence of gazillions of worlds that even outnumber the stars change the way you see the Cosmos?

Monsters and Exoplanets

The other day, I chanced upon some illustrations of monsters from the 16th Century via Ulisse Aldrovandi’s History of Monsters (Monstrorum historia). I noticed that these "monsters" were often a mix of land, air, and sea creatures (hybrids), and that the monster characteristics are attuned to the properties of planet earth, of course. But the point is this: As residents of earthworld, humanity has only known the usual land, air and sea environments as we evolved consciousness. And as such, these characteristic environments reflected in the kinds of creatures and monsters that our primal minds conjured from our imagination.

Now, what if the human psyche gets imbued with knowledge of new worlds? And what if we've come to learn of new types of planets, not just the usual terrestrial mix of land and sea that we’ve come to know of?

How will knowledge of new worlds create new mythical creatures from mankind's deepest imagination? Will a new mythos emerge from a new form of exoplanetary consciousness? Do we need to occupy a new planet in order to actually create new myths and legends specific to that planet?

I'm on the lookout for new archetypes of "monsters" that must come out from this era of exoplanets. Sure, it's all just aliens, aliens, aliens. I'm sick and tired of aliens. But although i'm a big fan of Science fiction, I realize that something new should come out from a new level of consciousness brought about by the fact that our planet Earth is just one among an infinite variety of worlds. Can our new generation of imaginative writers create new mythic creatures a la the Lovecraftian Cthulhu or The Great Race of Yith but with a unique exoplanetary twist?

What types of monsters will the modern man come up aside from the cliche of invading aliens, alien-human hybrids, disguised aliens, superhero aliens, artificially-intelligent aliens, and so on? Or are these alien-monster archetypes prevalent in popular culture the final set of otherworldly monsters that our minds can ever come up with? Are they all we can ever have?

Let me know if you have some leads regarding this inquiry. You can reply to me via twitter, or simply comment on this post.

Links:

History of Monsters

Exoplanetary Worms

As your emissary, I have gone to great lengths to bring you exographical discoveries from alien worlds. I even went to war just so I could report about exobiological creatures that I will encounter on my otherworldly adventures.

Of course, in my terms, “otherworldy” include the virtual realms of gaming. So today, I bring you exoworms from Gears of War! But first, here's some background info.

Recently on Earth, a species of extremophilic nematode worms (named Halicephalobus mephisto, after Mephistopheles, a nickname for the Devil) were discovered deep below the South African mines. It's the first multicellular organism to be found at such depths. The discovery challenged the assumption that deep subsurface ecosystems cannot support multi-cellular lifeforms because everyone assumed that underground environments several miles deep are too hostile because of the pressure, hot temperatures, and lack of oxygen and space.

Now scientists are saying that it may have implications in the search for life on other planets. And I couldn’t agree more! Especially when this discovery comes at the perfect time when I was slogging through the Gears of War series (on a tight deadline to prepare myself for the final installment to its trilogy).

That’s why after hearing the news of the 'devil' worms, I was distracted when I encountered the rockworms and riftworms in Gears of War. In the game's backstory set on an earth-like planet Sera, these riftworms were used by the nemesis Locust Horde to burrow directly underneath the cities of human colonies to sink them. Then I liked that these rockworms eat some bioluminiscent substance--which was subtly incorporated in the gameplay.

Suddenly, I began to think that exoplanetary worms aren’t so far-fetched anymore, especially when I remember the fact that the ancient animals here on earth were giants compared to their sizes now. (Ancient ants used to be the size of a hummingbird!)

In that regard, I would advise future human colonists to check deep underground before setting up their colonies on other planets.

That's all for now. Frag out!

Links:
Deep-Earth devil worms

The Titan Mines of Dead Space, and Science within Videogames

Last week, I had the utmost pleasure of viewing Saturn from several astronomer's powerful telescopes along the sidewalks of Highline Park in NYC, thanks to the members of Amateur Astronomer's Association (AAA). As I peered through the eyepiece of one of the refracting telescopes aimed at Saturn, I gasped at the tiny point of light near the the left tip of the inclined rings of Saturn. It was Titan.

There's something magical about getting a glimpse of a faraway place with your own eyes, especially when one has immersed within the virtual representation of that place. Right then and there, I knew that I had to post something about Titan and what i think of videogames as it intersects with reality.

The setting of the first Dead Space was inside a planetcracker mining ship called the Ishimura orbiting around an exoplanet named Aegis VII. But on its second release, the setting is on Sprawl, a city on a shard of Titan, Saturn’s largest moon.

The reasons for not going exoplanetary was explained in-game which I happened to capture during my foray into its narrative.

"Shockpoint drives were in their infancy, so extrasolar mining was out of the question--and the dangers of planetcracking were still unknown."

Despite being dismayed at DeadSpace2 being less than interstellar, it didn’t stop me from playing this wonderfully horrific game. In heart-thumping fashion I’ve finished its single-player campaign twice and reached Level 60 in multiplayer mode inspite of my horrible k/d ratio. (Note: i don't care about k/d ratio)

Apparently, in Dead Space 2’s multiplayer mode, there is a map called “Titan Mines” so it always reminds me of one of the most exotic worlds in our solar system.

Titan has liquid methane on its surface, with a nitrogen atmosphere sprinkled with some ethane clouds and nitrogen-rich organic smog. However, none of these things were depicted in the game. The reason is that in the story, Titan has been dismembered into shards of rock by the planetcracker mining ship. So most of the action happens inside a tightly-controlled environment of the Sprawl.

The cold, freezing temperatures on Titan makes me wonder how the necromorphs would survive, until I remembered that the Titan Mines map setting is an underground mine. So silly me (again) the environment is tightly-controlled. Too bad for the science behind it--there isn't much. This is my complaint about Dead Space.

I wish more videogames would employ more science behind their settings. Mass Effect has done a great part in mixing ample astrophysics into their story, but we need more games to engage people in indirect learning. As technology becomes more and more powerful, and games strive to immerse gamers even more--the initiative to model reality will make Science an integral part of the gaming world.

Links:
Titan-like Exoplanets
Are there more Titans than Earths in the Milky Way?
Titan: Callisto with the weather
Sailing the Titan Seas
Aegis VII on Freebase

What it means to be "outside" our solar system

What started innocently enough as a single tweet (or retweet) led me to investigate further what is considered as being "outside" our solar system. Being "exo", so to speak.

So I wrote about it in a different process which employed a story-like way of presenting it. I tried storify and I found the process quite pleasing. It somehow aids the process of writing in a different way. It looks like I might utilize storify more in the future. I hope you'll enjoy the result of my quick investigation via twitter and storify which is embedded below.

Videogames and Exoplanets

So you've heard that planets are more numerous than stars? That discovery is mind-blowing by itself, but even more fascinating is how that exogasmic discovery was made. Dig deep into the technology behind Gravitational Microlensing and you’ll find out something playfully interesting; A graphics card originally intended for videogames was used to discover the rogue planets!

A member of the astrophysics team named Joe Ling has turned his love of computer games into a way of discovering the wandering planets in our galaxy. He took a $400 gaming graphics card and wired it into the team's computer, which sped up the process known as microlensing modelling.

Without the gaming card it would take hundreds of computers and cost thousands of dollars; and it would take one month to process on a normal desktop computer. But with the graphics processing unit inside the gaming card it only takes six hours.

Gaming not only inspires imagination and creativity, it's also a source of technological marvels as it constantly strives for deeper levels of immersion. No wonder I've been rekindling the joy of immersing myself into the virtual worlds of videogames even more. And I often find myself reflecting and realizing that there is no difference between "virtual" and "real". The intersection of Videogames and Exoplanet Science is just one proof of that metaphysical fact.



Links:
Planets Outnumber Stars
Intersection of Videogames and Exoplanet Science
Videogames: A Path to Reflection and Self-enlightenment (Kill Screen)

The Immer and the Out: A Review of Embassytown

Humans breathing off gasses from aeoli. Animals as sources of energy. Zelles that perspire electricity. Living biorigged tools and weapons. Beasts that defecate fuel. A town in the middle of an alien city. Welcome to the world of Embassytown.

On another world, comes a living city that straddles between the immer and the out. And from it comes a bagful of new words: biorigging, terretech, shiftparents, floaking, miab, autom, immer, sopor, augmen, exot, trunc, curio, biopolis, citynaut.

Never have I seen so many chopped words in a single novel (such as ‘autom’ which my brain tries to complete as ‘automata’) and never have I seen so many new ones invented from cropped words.

Clearly, China Miéville had so much fun treating words like lego. Names weren't spared of this cut-half practice. After seeing so many names of characters being chopped into two constituents, I ended up doing the same thing to my name. I imagined each syllable as coming from each of the two hemispheres of my brain.

I swear I had no previous knowledge of Embassytown when I posted my inquiry about Exonoology. It was a few days later after I read that review by Ursula K. Le Guin that my ears, or fanwings, perked up. I suspected Embassytown had something to do with Xenoology.

Many science fiction stories may give you some pause as to how otherworldly beings think. But Embassytown explores the alien mind, their nuos, in relation to language and the symbols that come with it.

I remember my previous encounter with speculative biology such as that which I think comes from Alastair Reynolds; an alien reads by looking at two sets of symbols simultaneously from two different eyes. The information from each eye is merged by the alien mind to comprehend what was written.

We humans do the same thing for stereoscopic vision to perceive depth. But Mieville’s Embassytown takes it further in the domain of language. The Arieken 'words' are meant to be spoken simultaneously in a method called cut+half. Represented as fractions of words instead of numbers.

The alien hosts' communicative physiology is where the story started to build upon the conceptual level that connects Language with how the Ariekies perceive the world.

Simile was used to highlight the fact that metaphor influences how we think. To the aliens, simile is an actual living human that they need to reference in order to speak/think. That's where the protagonist's role comes in, Avice Benner Cho, an immerser-human.

Another class of humans are called the Ambassadors, the intermediary for communicating with the Arieken hosts. The ambassadors remind me of the conjoined twins who share brains. Each sibling can 'hear' or perceive the thoughts of the other, which makes me wonder whether their physiology can allow the to fuse into one consciousness, one mind, if they wanted to.

And the Ariekene hosts' Language is spoken from two vocal holes simultaneously (imagine talking and farting at the same time). Language for the Ariekei was both speech and thought. Truth. Hence they cannot lie.

Embassytown is cognitively engaging and it is a pure win as a soft scifi novel, and perhaps as an interstitial one, too. However, it could've been better. I longed for Mieville to describe more of the planet Areike, or more worlds from out of the immer for that matter.

At times, Mieville's writing has become difficult to read. I had to squint and re-read some passages twice. I had the feeling that Mieville himself was speaking Ariekan language (or got influenced by it).

Nevertheless, the novel is worth reading as it is very rich with metaphors and subliminal underpinnings. For a moment, I could glimpse conceptual references with the Bible (and the mode of reading it), starting with a character named EzRa. In short, if you enjoy thinking deep into concepts, then by all means, read this novel.

All in all, I love the novel's immer and the out, to which I can relate because Exoplanetology is all about the "out" and being immersed in the immer of otherworldliness. As such, Embassytown is a great work from an author who is now beginning to explore the science and the fiction of new worlds.

Tunnels Between the Stars

In an issue of Green Lantern Corps, entitled "Recharge" from way back in 2006, a nemesis called "The Spider Guild" sneaked to the home planet of the Green Lantern Corps by passing through a wormhole connecting the stars. These tunnels between the stars are called "The Subspace Web". By entering another star (or blackhole) from a different sector of the universe, the 'spiders' traversed through subspace web and then emerged directly from within Oa's sun and attacked the Green Lantern's base "from out of the light".



It's all Science Fiction, so far. Right?

Now for the Science part.

A recent study suggests that wormholes might exist between distant stars. However, it's not easy to detect if a star could harbor some passageway hidden deep within its center. But the scientists are saying that they could be distinguishable from normal stars (or even from normal neutron stars). And it's because these wormholes are not empty tunnels, rather they contain a perfect fluid that flows back and forth between the two stars, giving them a detectable signature via their pulsations.

Wait. It's still Science Fiction!

Nope. Actually, real scientists and astrophysicists are saying this. See for yourself on their ArXiv paper. And take note: Kepler has detected a lot of pulsating stars in their Asteroseismological studies. Yes, Kepler also deals with Asteroseismology--the science that involves probing the interiors of stars and quantifying their global properties, such as radius and age, through observations of normal modes of oscillation. So, ya never know! Our good ol' Kepler might discover some wormhole-bearing stars! Heh!



Now back to the fiction. To cut a long story short, by sheer teamwork, inspired by a massive recital of their green lantern oath (in brightest day, in blackest night...blah...blah), the Green Lantern Corps managed to push back the invading marauders back into the star--including the star itself! Their own sun got pushed into the wormhole-tunnel from the outside-in and was destroyed along with the Spider Guild's nest. So now, in that episode, the green lantern's planet Oa has actually become a starless planet, a rogue planet!

And there you have it, folks. Just a brief excursion in the world of scifi on a friday night! Happy Friday!

Links:
A Star Harbouring a Wormhole at its Center (PDF)
Stars Could Have Wormholes At Their Cores (Tech. Review)
the possibility of wormholes between stars (Physorg)

Exoplanets are not Planets

How long will exoplanets keep on destroying our predefined notions? Just a few days short of smashing our theories of planetary formation into smithereens, now we have two exoplanets sharing one orbit.

According to the International Astronomical Union (IAU) a planet should clear its orbit of other objects. This condition was a source of heated debate among astronomers that rages on to this very day. It was this alienating third criterion that dethroned Pluto and other dwarf planets from planetary status.

So when I heard that KOI-730's exoplanets were sharing orbits, my first reaction was, “Hey wait a minute...if we try to apply the ‘official’ definition of 'planet' to these exoplanets, they would not be planets at all!”

This is just one instance, but i'm sure there are many derivatives of the case of KOI-730's co-orbiting exoplanets that "share" orbits with other objects. Think of intersecting resonant orbital paths, or locked LaGrangian exoplanet orbits, or exoplanets still in the process of clearing out debris in their path. (It would take millions of years for young planets to clear their orbital zones, mind you.)

I’ve always thought that exoplanets are planets. But today, I'm rethinking that. Yes, exoplanets continue to surprise us, and it's for that reason that I once concluded, Exoplanet is the new 'Planet' by virtue of the awe and wonder that they instill upon us. But now, I’ve come to another realization: Exoplanets are not Planets, and that is liberating. It frees the mind from a limited way of thinking, because the mindset needed for understanding exoplanets is different. Exoplanet discoveries forces you to unlearn, and it frees your mind from the confines of your own star system. Exoplanets require a novel way of thinking. And that is why I love exoplanets so much. They make us think in new ways. Exoplanets make us think outside the sphere! And all that is possible because of Science.

It frustrates me when some astronomers deny dwarf planets of being planets, and yet speak of exoplanets as planets in a carefree way. I want to avoid being annoyed by such inconsistent mindset. So I am letting go of the debate about planets. (Of course, I still consider dwarf planets as legit planets) I will simply let planets be planets, and exoplanets be exoplanets. Just that. I will not try to make exoplanets fit in as planets. I will not even attempt to redefine what a planet is, or grumble about its flawed definition. In fact, I'd rather we keep the current planet definition the way it is now. Let it be a reminder, a tainted bygone--an old ugly chapter in the history of Astronomy.

Perhaps someday, a new definition of the planet will emerge, one that is more universal, that will encompass exoplanets as well. But for now, we are experiencing a temporary chaos brought about by the "growing pains" in our effort to understand the universe.

But until then, with the narrow-minded planet definition we have arrogantly locked ourselves into, who can say with certainty that exoplanets are planets?

This is a new era of planetary thinking. Humanity’s concept of the Planet is of the past, but Exoplanets are of the future.

Links:
NewScientist: Two exoplanets found, sharing one orbit
Life, Unbounded: Make Me a Planet
Theories of Planetary Formation, Busted
Exoplanet is the new 'Planet'

Mass Effect 2 Review

If there's any video game that has all the fictional planets with the coolest names ever, then it's Mass Effect 2 (ME2). It's probably the only game that made me read the short stories about its fictional planetary settings. I admired all the beautiful exoplanetary landscapes and terrains, and the views of cities that set my minds on worlds beyond. ME2 made me pay attention to the dialogues between the characters because it matters; getting to know each of the characters that make up your team is crucial to the success of the final mission.

What’s great about Mass Effect 2 is that the storyline is not exactly the same for each player. Meaning, no two players can experience the exact same events that unfolded during their game play. For example, here’s how my own storyline went: Legion, my favorite Geth sustained a fatal headshot in the final mission. I felt really bad losing him because I loved talking to him. Legion was the only casualty in my team. But other players did not lose a single team member. Or some lost two or more.

Another example is that Miranda was totally pissed at me. Thus, I ended up with ‘Jack’ on a rough scene below the deck of Normandy, not with Miranda in the engine room that some players brag about with a wide grin.

Another thing I love about Mass Effect 2 is that it touches upon so many human aspects. Here’s some of them; Emotion: Miranda shed a tear after seeing her twin sister, and Kazumi keeps a memory of a loved one. Romance: Go figure. Humor: Mordin sang (he's my least favorite because he resembles Jar Jar Binks). Philosophy: My conversations with Legion the Geth was very interesting as it dealt with existentialism. Aggression: Grunt just wants to crush every body. Psychology: Thanes was pretty deep with his Zen quips. Politics and Ethics: Tali, keeps a secret, Zaeed wasn’t too happy with me for foiling his revenge in exchange for saving lives. Morality: The “Renegade” (bad cop) and “Paragon” (good cop) feature has a bearing on the outcome of the game. Apparently, ME2 has something for the evil within you, and it will show up in your face.

As you can see, the scope of the game reaches deep into the humanity of the player while managing to touch upon larger topics such as: Exploration: the quick bits of story and context behind the in-game planets were very good. It was fun reading through the narratives behind each planet. Science: Loads of astrophysics were integrated into the stories behind each exoplanet. It made me think that an astrophysicist and astrobiologist were consulted in this game.

The writers really did a great job of appealing to the different dimensions of the human psyche, and the narratives were well written. All in all, I consider Mass Effect 2 as a masterpiece.


Notes:

This mini-review is long overdue. I actually dug this from my google.docs and hurriedly posted it, hoping that some items from my wish-list could get to the game developers in time to get implemented in the upcoming Mass Effect 3, which is due this year 2011. Also, since I am now getting immersed in a new high-adrenaline game, I needed to get this out prior to posting my review of Dead Space 2. So, hey Bioware, please take a look at my wish list below:

Wish list:
1) Mass Effect should work with Kinect!
2) “Game-within-a-game” (unlocking and hacking) should be more diverse and varied than just pattern matching and memory game.
3) Multi-player mode
4) Should have more references to Astronomical objects. I already love the inclusion of Eagle Nebula and Crescent Nebula, and so on. I wish there were more. Perhaps add Orion Nebula...
5) Mining the planets made me fall asleep several times (so i let my son mine minerals for me) Not sure if mining could be made more exciting

Glitches:
1) Lack of Mass in planetary properties
2) Text is too small and unreadable. I had to get HDMI cable to read the short stories about the planets
3) Some bugs: (I was unable to move in some spots. This happened around 4 times)
4) Mordin eerily reminds me of Jar Jar Binks. Could you please change his face or change the way he talks?

The Search for Exoplanets and ExoLife

This is a great presentation about the search for exoplanets. Featuring the techniques (transit and radial velocity), instruments (Kepler and Keck), and the ongoing challenges involved in finding these diverse far-away worlds. Aside from noting the race to find the first earth-sized exoplanet, it also touches upon the prospect of finding life on exoworlds--one of the main goals of the Science of Exoplanets. It also includes some great quotes from leading astronomers and scientists. Watch it in its entirety. Highly recommended!

"We're gonna have an existential shock, looking at the night sky. Realizing that there--there-there are earth-like twins in outer space. And then we're gonna wonder: Is there anyone looking back?" ~ Michio Kaku

"The 64 million dollar question is whether or not there are other intelligent life in the universe. The answer is definitely yes!" ~ Geoff Marcy

"I think it's inevitable that we're gonna find another intelligent life in outer space. Get used to it." ~ Michio Kaku

Links:
Planet Data to Hunt for Life

Exodyssey

By not posting my review of Exodyssey last year, I have done great injustice to this excellent work of art entitled Exodyssey by Steambot Studio. Exodyssey is actually the first art book ever that used the word “exoplanet” for the very first time. As such, credit is due to them. But even moreso, they deserve the utmost kudos for producing the most amazing concept art book ever.

I’ve been posting pictures from my micro-reviews of the book
since last year (and the year before that). And here is a page
from my own copy of the book which is about
the exoplanet called Samhuinn.

The book is truly inspiring as it gives room for your own imagination to run wild and free. The “awe-mazing” artworks simply gives ‘prompts’ as a starting point for your mind to build upon. This book has that feel of a graphic novel, a comic book, a concept illustration book, and an artist’s scrapbook/portfolio--while managing to be *not* any of those in itself--which makes this book truly unique. It’s like five books in one!

Also, the storyline is great. Check out my summary of their script:

Exodyssey is the name given to the long and war-filled period of time during which humans departed for exo-planets in order to survive their own destruction. The book chronicles the journey of Harry, a highly gifted engineer...a descendant of the first wave of colonists who decided to leave earth. Harry is the key to discovering the origins of an extraterrestrial invasion and is provided the means to travel to a planet called Samhuinn.

I would end my mini-review of Exodyssey by telling you how I useful this book is to me: Whenever i need visual or conceptual inspiration, every now and then, I pull this gem from out of my bookshelf and browse through its pages to take me to a futuristic otherworldly journey which I can describe as an amazing exodyssey!

Links:
Exodyssey

Exoplanetary Dreamscapes

As a follow-up to my installments about artsy exoplanetary sceneries, i bring you Exoplanetary Dreamscapes from Kahn & Selesnick. This time, i dare not use the word “surreal” as it will not suffice to describe these otherworldly works of art that send my mind to the wild exo-yonder.
Let my words be few. The links below points you to more of their work which can be accessible via their tumblr and their book, Mars Adrift on the Hourglass Sea.

Links:
Kahn & Selesnick (Tumblr)
Exoplanetary Dreamscapes
Mars Adrift on the Hourglass Sea (book)

Surreal Exoplanet Landscapes

One of Joan Fontcuberta's recycled landscape.

For a while now, I’ve been quite lapse on featuring some exoplanet art on this blog. Allow me to make up for it with this post featuring an unlikely source of imaginary digital realms that give a glimpse of exoplanet landscapes.

In Joan Fontcuberta’s Landscapes without Memory, the method in how these landscapes were produced is as interesting as how they were generated. Instead of inputting maps into the scenery-rendering Terragen software, Fontcuberta entered masterpieces by Paul Cezanne, Andre Derain, Gustave LeGray, Jackson Pollock, Edward Weston, and others to make 3D landscapes from the two-dimensional artworks. "The contours and tones of these painted and photographic landscapes were transformed into three-dimensional mountains, rivers, valleys, and clouds. The result gives the user the illusion of navigating in three dimensions which had previously been visualized only as a flat image".

To me, Fontcuberta’s work offers a glimpse of otherworldly landscapes, and it mirrors the unexpected surprises that exoplanets provide as we continue to discover these worlds that could prove to be more surreal than we could ever imagine.

Links:
Joan Fontcuberta’s Recycled Landscapes (From FlavorWire)
Landscapes Without Memory (Book)

Our Holy Grail

There’s always that Quest, that insatiable quest to find the most important thing of all. In the field of Exoplanet Science, planet-hunters are actively pursuing to discover the first earth-like planet, or the first inhabited exoworld. Is that the holy grail in exoplanet science? Perhaps.

But in stories where the holy grail is mentioned within the plot, they often contain twists that leave the audience in awe of the unexpected. Such a twist is worth re-telling in this post because it is a monumental event in the history of Exoplanetology.

One night, after his talk on exoplanets at the American Museum of Natural History, the astrophysicist Ben Oppenheimer poignantly answered this question, "What is the Holy Grail in Exoplanet Science?"

“For me, the Holy Grail in Exoplanet Science is simply being part of it. It’s not making the best exoplanet discovery, or being in the news and all that; It’s simply being part of the collective efforts of the people around the Science of Exoplanets.”

I still remember that idea so clearly, despite the slight tipsiness from the booze of red wine and olives served at the SciCafe event. As I headed home that night, I couldn’t fathom how the common folk would ever be able to find planets at all. And I wondered how simple citizens could help well-trained planet-hunters.

For many months thereafter, I looked into different Citizen Science projects that show potential. I even wrote about the need to enable the common folk to contribute to the hunt for exoplanets, 'subtly' urging astronomy-oriented organizations to embark on such a project.

Then one day, I became excited about Zooniverse’s Milky Way Project, wishing that they make one for exoplanets, too. I asked the hive mind...almost pleading: When will Zooniverse make one for Exoplanets?

I was shocked a few days later. Along came Planet Hunters, the latest project by Zooniverse that enables citizens to find exoplanets!

Hear ye! Hear ye! The Holy Grail of Exoplanet Science is not an object. It’s not even a special exoplanet. Rather, it is the swarm of people--the community--embarking on a mission to find exoplanets. Ultimately, such undertaking will lead us to answer some of man’s greatest questions: Are there worlds like ours out there? Is there life on other worlds?

Planet Hunters is a Citizen Science project that allows volunteers to sieve through data taken by the NASA Kepler space mission. Participants search for possible transit events by looking at light curves and identifying dips in brightness that occurs when a planet passes in front of the star - with the goal of discovering a planet (hence the name "Planet Hunters").

The response to Planet Hunters was enormous. So much that in only a few weeks, there’s already a couple of exoplanet candidates flagged by several Citizen Planet Hunters (CPH). So far, I’ve not been so lucky of being among these sharp-eyed exoplanet hunters, but I am just happy contributing in the search for planets, no matter how small it is. I’ve tagged a few stars, and identified some dips from several light curves, and so far the experience is awesome. Perhaps it's a subjective experience, that the holy grail in exoplanet science could mean many things to different people. But one thing i know, is that this is my holy grail--our holy grail--for all those who take part in it, and drink from its cup.

Links:
The Holy Grail in Exoplanet Science
Data Mining Age in Exoplanet Science
Planet Hunters by Zooniverse

Exoplanet is the new Planet

I try to stay away from the debate about Pluto. My issue is not about Pluto. It's about the Planet. One can mock Pluto a thousand times over, and the best (or worst) it could do is annoy people. Sometimes it does get to me, so i have to remind myself that I am more concerned about the concept of the planet, and the idea it represents, and the ideal it imparts to the human psyche.

Let me begin by saying that I think I am falling in love with planets. I don’t know how, but during the course of following the saga of exoplanets it must have been inevitable (after all, the ‘exoplanet’ bears the name of ‘planet’).

With new discoveries that pour in almost daily about planets in other star systems, Exoplanets are a constant source of amazement. They continue to remind me that I can never know enough, that this fascinating universe is an endless source of wonder.

But...something keeps getting in the way. Something mind-numbing creeps in when I read something about what a ‘planet’ is defined to be. It has bothered me so much that I had to use “worlds” as an alternative keyword to hook me back in wonder about these spherical objects in space.

Why? What happened with the term “planet”? What happened with the magical and mythical concept that the Greeks once started with, saying that these mysterious points of light are ‘wanderers’?

The problem began when mankind started to *define* the Planet. We relentlessly squished the concept of a planet with words so that it could fit within our tiny skulls.

I looked into the two sides of the debate, learning as much as I can to understand, but the mandated definition of the Planet really does not appeal to me. In the spirit of freethinking, I humbly decline to subscribe in the 'official' definition of the planet.

Why? What have humans done to the concept of the planet?

There is nothing inherently wrong with classifying things, and certainly nothing wrong with identifying the boundaries in order to characterize objects, but I think we had the wrong attitude when we made up the criteria for planets.

And that is the sad thing about it. Instead of trying to widen the concept of the Planet, we tried to limit it. The kind of thinking that is promoted by the current definition of the planet is a divisive mode of mentality. You see, in our world, much strife is borne out of a discriminating mindset--a way of thinking that focuses on the differences and not on the similarites.

"The major problems in the world are the result of the difference between how nature works and the way people think." ~Gregory Bateson

Today, dwarf planets are not considered planets at all, despite calling them 'dwarf planets'. Is it a matter of linguistic fallacy that makes it all nonsensical? (Dwarf galaxies are galaxies, and dwarf stars are stars, but dwarf planets are not planets?)

Or is it just the mode of thinking? Why deny dwarf planets of being planets? Such judgement mirrors a way of thinking that is alienating and divisive.

It is certainly valid if you consider dwarf planets as a subset or variation of the wide scope of planets. This alternative method of classification exemplifies a way of thinking that respects differences and yet aims to see things as One.

You can choose a mindset that seeks to see all kinds of planets in a wholistic fashion, and delight in their diversity. Or you could choose a discriminating mentality, segregating a class of planet-worlds that don’t fit in your limited notion based on one star system alone--yours.

The Pluto debate is a clash of mentalities. And it has marred the concept of the planet. I hope that the next generation never inherits the discriminating mentality that is present in that conflict.

I rest my case in the lessons that exoplanets are teaching us. They continue to challenge our pre-defined notions of what a planet truly is. They continue to be a source of wonder, in the same way that the Ancient Greeks felt about their ‘wanderers’. In our modern era, only the Exoplanet can conjure that feeling of mystery and discovery ascribed to such mysterious objects.

For me, Exoplanet is the new Planet.

I wish we never end up defining the Exoplanet in the same way we did for the Planet, for I wish to keep the concept of the Exoplanet with awesomeness and wonder.