Heave Media

By: Amy Dittmeier & Ben Kessell

Buckyball Turns Twenty Five

The Fourth marked a very important anniversary, this week; Twenty-five years ago Buckminsterfullerene was discovered. More commonly known as the “buckyball” this Carbon structure is the granddaddy of nanotechnology and the one of the reasons your expensive fixed-gear bike is so light and strong. A buckyball is simply 60 atoms of carbon (C₆₀) arranged in a sphere of 20 hexagons and 12 pentagons. Such an elegantly simple structure has given birth to many amazing forms of carbon, known as the fullerenes.  Leading to amazing discoveries like carbon nanotubes; being stronger, in some forms, than diamond. A few geeks might remember the atomic-sized steam engine that was built a few years ago. You can thank buckyballs for that, and you better. This will, eventually, lead to paper batteries, paint-able solar cells, and “smart” vaccines. Thank your local nanotechnologist, today! – Ben Kessell 

Mice are getting ready to take over

How lame would it be if you were a scientist and had to study mice in their natural habitat for three years?  Pretty lame.  But what if these mice were bigger and cuter than the average field mouse?  All of a sudden this job sounds a little more interesting.  Scientists are conducting a three year study on the St. Kilda island stain near Benbecula (which if you don’t know where that is, it’s here) on this new sub-species of “super mice.”  These mice can grow to twice the size of a common filed mouse, weighing up to 50 grams.  Imagine if that thing was in your cereal box eating up your noms.  Terrifying.  Scientists are somewhat baffled as to how these mice have gotten so big.  The St. Kilda islands have been uninhabited by humans since the 1930s when extreme weather conditions, poor soil, and an influenza outbreak caused the population to abandon the island. Scientists think that because of their lack of natural predators and food competitors and the fact that these mice are able to adapt to the island’s extreme weather conditions are the reason that they are thriving.  The BBC has a nice video segment that shows these cute yet oddly huge creatures running around St. Kilda, making the land it’s bitch. – Amy Dittmeier 

Welcome back Duke Nukem!

Since we’re talking about the amazing and important, it’s worth mentioning that “Duke Nukem Forever” was uncancelled and revealed this week! Not only has this video game been in development for 13 years (seriously), it’s experienced more false-starts than any other digital entertainment franchise. Five times, since 1997, Duke’s original developer, 3DRealms, released interviews, movies, and endless “leaked” screenshots. The first of which turned out to be a complete rip-off of another popular first-person shooter; just a “re-painting” of Quake 2. For those of you asking what the hell is a Duke Nukem and why you should be excited about this: just wait a second, okay?! God. Duke Nukem was a very adult side-scrolling action game back in the late 80’s through early 90’s; as one of the first of it’s kind it quickly became a cult-hit. Moving into the new-and-exciting genre of first person shooters, an even more risque version was born. Duke Nukem 3D was a game where all women were babes and strippers and stepping in a dog turd only meant the hero would say something hilarious. While quipping “Death before disco” you’d gun down the possessed members of the LAPD (mutant pigs, of course) then take a puff of your ever-present cigar and discuss the finer points of ass-kicking. It ticked a lot of conservative journalists off (who were aware of it) but it made most of the nerd population laugh to beat the band. Since Duke’s daddy, 3DRealms, went bankrupt and closed the doors, Gearbox software just picked up where they left off. In fact, they went a step further, the provided a playable demo for the folks at the Penny Arcade Expo in Seattle! Hail to the king, baby; always bet on Duke! – Ben Kessell 

Neil Gaiman’s Sandman is coming to your TV

Warner Bros. TV is finalizing talks about acquiring Neil Gaiman’s seminal comic book series Sandman into a TV show.  And I am skeptical.  For starters this isn’t the first comic books series to be purchased for television.  Fables had a tv deal a while back.  Have you seen the Fables show?  You haven’t?  That’s because nothing became of it.  Warner had Watchmen for the longest time before it became a film.  And Sandman had been previously purchased to be made into a film.  At this time Gaiman is not officially attached to help develop the series into a show if purchase, but that may change.  Previous to Warner’s involvement HBO was talking to DC about adapting it for a show on their network, which would actually be a hell of a lot better.  HBO often gives creative freedom it it’s writers and for a series based on a deity who personifies dreams and has a rabid fan base, that is key.  We’ll see how this turns out. – Amy Dittmeier