The Best of NASA's Pop-Culture-Themed Publicity Photos

for The Daily Dot 2013-04-18 20:20:57 UTC

The ties between Star Trek and NASA go back a long way. Mae Jemison, the first black female astronaut, credits Star Trek character Nyota Uhura as her inspiration to join NASA, and went on to have a walk-on role in Star Trek: The Next Generation. Just this year, a crowdfunded NASA trailer will be be shown before screenings of Star Trek Into Darkness, following a popular Indiegogo campaign

There's a pretty big overlap between space geeks and science fiction fans, and NASA is clearly happy to cater to both audiences. Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield has done much to boost the popularity of current NASA missions, mostly through his gleefully enthusiastic Twitter feed (including chatting to Star Trek alums Wil Wheaton and William Shatner), which he updates from the International Space Station.

Hidden in the Space Flight Awareness section of the NASA website are more nods to NASA's fun-loving-nerd audience. Each expedition to the International Space Station gets its own publicity poster, beginning in the year 2000 with a slightly dorky picture of the three Expedition 1 astronauts in their space suits.

But as the years progressed, someone at NASA got a little more Photoshop-happy and started turning out movie parody posters. The Star Trek comparisons are obvious, but by the late 2000s, they'd branched out into making everything from Beatles posters to Quentin Tarantino. We recommend checking out the entire page, but here are some of our favorites.

OK, we’re not gonna lie to you. There are a lot of other Star Trek–themed posters in the International Space Station’s 35-expedition history. But this is probably the best one, since the astronauts went all-out and actually cosplayed in Next Generation–era uniforms.

No actual giant robots were involved, but Expedition 31 did go for the snazzy Transformers-style typeface. Puzzlingly, their alternate poster has a Van Gogh background.

The poster for Expedition 26 shows astronaut Catherine Coleman in the role of barefoot Paul McCartney. We like the detail of the zebra crossing stripes spelling out the roman numerals for 26.

We don’t know whether to add or deduct points for the groan-worthy pun in the title: “Pilots of the Caribbean.”

With the team from expedition 16 dressing up as the leather-wearing badasses from The Matrix, we’re pretty sure that 2007 was the year when NASA’s publicity team decided to abandon the old-school astronaut posters.

All images courtesy of NASA

This article originally published at The Daily Dot here

Topics: Entertainment, Film, Matrix, NASA, Pics, pirates of the caribbean on stranger tides, pop culture, space, Star Trek, transformers, Television, U.S. The Daily Dot is a Mashable publishing partner that reports on the most important and relevant topics from within, applying tried-and-true principles drawn from community journalism to the growing cultures of the Internet. This article is reprinted with the publisher's permission.

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Most Earth-Like Alien Planet Discovered

for Space.com 2013-04-19 02:46:42 UTC

NASA's Kepler space telescope has discovered three exoplanets that may be capable of supporting life, and one of them is perhaps the most Earth-like alien world spotted to date, scientists announced Thursday.

That most intriguing one is called Kepler-62f, a rocky world just 1.4 times bigger than Earth that circles a star smaller and dimmer than the sun. Kepler-62f's newfound neighbor, Kepler-62e, is just 1.6 times larger than Earth, making the pair among the smallest exoplanets yet found in their star's habitable zone — the just-right range of distances where liquid water can exist on a world's surface.

Kepler-62e and f, which are part of a newly discovered five-planet system, "look very good as possibilities for looking for life," said Kepler science principal investigator Bill Borucki, of NASA's Ames Research Center in Moffett Field, Calif.

The third potentially habitable planet, called Kepler-69c, is 1.7 times bigger than Earth and orbits a star similar to our own. It's the smallest world ever found in the habitable zone of a sunlike star, researchers said, and represents a big step toward discovering the first-ever "alien Earth."

"We're moving very rapidly toward finding an Earth analogue around a star like the sun," Borucki told SPACE.com.

Researchers announced these newfound planets — all three of which are "super-Earths," or worlds slightly larger than our own — today at a NASA news conference. The Kepler-62 discovery paper, led by Borucki, was also published today in the journal Science.

The three potentially habitable worlds are part of a larger haul. All told, the scientists rolled out seven new exoplanets today — five in the Kepler-62 system and two in Kepler-69.

The five newfound planets in the Kepler-62 system, which is located about 1,200 light-years away in the constellation Lyra, range from 0.54 to 1.95 times the size of Earth. Only Kepler-62e and f are potentially habitable; the other three zip around the star at close range, making them too hot to support life as we know it, researchers said.

Kepler-62e and f take 122 and 267 days, respectively, to complete one orbit around their star, which is just 20 percent as bright as the sun. While nobody knows what the two exoplanets look like, a separate modeling study suggests they're both probably water worlds covered by endless, uninterrupted global oceans.

"There may be life there, but could it be technology-based like ours? Life on these worlds would be under water with no easy access to metals, to electricity, or fire for metallurgy," lead author Lisa Kaltenegger, of the Max Planck Institute for Astronomy and the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, said in a statement.

"Nonetheless, these worlds will still be beautiful blue planets circling an orange star — and maybe life’s inventiveness to get to a technology stage will surprise us," she added.

Not surprisingly, Kepler-62e should be warmer than its more distantly orbiting neighbor. In fact, Kepler-62f may require a greenhouse effect to keep its ocean from freezing over, researchers said.

“Kepler-62e probably has a very cloudy sky and is warm and humid all the way to the polar regions," co-author Dimitar Sasselov of Harvard said in a statement. "Kepler-62f would be cooler, but still potentially life-friendly."

The new modeling study has been accepted for publication in The Astrophysical Journal.

The $600 million Kepler observatory launched in March 2009 to hunt for Earth-size exoplanets in the habitable zone of their parent stars. Kepler finds alien worlds by detecting the tiny brightness dips caused when they transit, or cross the face of, their stars from the instrument's perspective.

Kepler has used this technique to great effect, spotting more than 2,700 potential planets since its March 2009 launch. While just 120 or so of these candidates have been confirmed to date, mission scientists estimate that more than 90 percent will end up being the real deal.

While Kepler has yet to discover a true Earth twin, it's getting closer and closer, Borucki said, pointing to the confirmation of Kepler-69c as an example. (That planet lies 2,700 light-years away, in the constellation Cygnus. Kepler-69c's neighbor Kepler-69b, which is about twice the size of Earth and too hot to host life, was also announced today.)

"I think we're making excellent progress in that direction," Borucki said. "We have a number of candidates that look good."

Such steady progress makes sense, since Kepler will of course spot more transits the longer it looks. The telescope needs to observe three transits to flag a planet candidate, so detecting a potentially habitable world in a relatively distant orbit can take several years.

Kepler cannot search for signs of life on worlds like Kepler-62e, Kepler-62f and Kepler-69c, but the telescope is paving the way for future missions that should do just that, Borucki said.

"This is one of the early steps, but there's no mistake — we are on our way to explore the galaxy, to learn about life in the galaxy," he said.

Image courtesy of NASA/Ames/JPL-Caltech

This article originally published at Space.com here

Topics: alien planets, exoplanets, NASA, space, U.S., US & World, World Space.com is a Mashable publishing partner that is the world's No. 1 source for news of astronomy, skywatching, space exploration, commercial spaceflight and related technologies. This article is reprinted with the publisher's permission.

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'Fish Out of Water' Is an Adorably Addictive iOS Game

Chelsea Stark2013-04-18 19:03:24 UTC

Full disclosure: Jetpack Joyride is still one of my favorite iOS games. It was simple enough to figure out and play a game while waiting for a train, but the achievements, power-ups and depth meant I probably spent, over time, a dozen hours playing. So when I learned creator Halfbrick's newest game was out this week, I had high expectations.

Fish Out of Water [iTunes link] is an endearing title that asks you to skip fish across the ocean's surface for a high score. It sounds simple, but the beauty of all Halfbrick's games is that the simple, goofy premise leads to a lot of depth in gameplay.

You're given six fish (well, two are ocean mammals, but let's not get technical) to pick from, and they range in size, shape and skipping ability. For example, Finlay the purple dolphin is good for distance, but it takes some nuance to get him to skip more often. Olympus — an orange, square-shaped fish with bulgy eyes — is much lighter, and you can flick him across the waves easily, but he won't travel as far. The Brothers are actually a group of fish that separate and add to your skip total.

After three tries skipping the fish, you're judged by a panel of five crabs, Olympics style, and each crab judges on different merits. The centermost crab judges you on how many times your fish bounced on surface of the water, making it clear that it's not just about distance in Fish Out of Water.

Your scores are also displayed to any of your friends playing in the same league as you. The game allows you to set up simple leagues, and there is a daily ranking of players. You can also connect and share your scores on Facebook and Google+. There doesn't seem to be much tied to being top of the leaderboard beyond bragging rights, but maybe the function will be expanded to give you power-ups or something for that honor.

Along with just trying to satisfy your crabby judges, there are achievements to unlock as you play, and each set outs a fun goal to shoot for. It's a system Halfbrick borrowed from Jetpack Joyride, which is great because it adds hours of replayability to mobile games as you shoot for more and more difficult goals. After completing three achievements you'll level up.

The world you play in changes dynamically, too. Each hour the weather changes, and different conditions mean a different ocean course to play on. Cloudy days bring out bouncy jellyfish to give you a boost if you land on one, while storms seem to limit your distance.

There are a few powerups in the game. You'll have a boost meter that pools between your three fish, so use it wisely. Thankfully there are nuggets of boost juice along your path to snag, but it's still important to manage resources. There are also gems to collect after each level, and you can combine them for a temporary power boost that varies depending on their color.

All these layers in a 99-cent game are quiet impressive, and Fish Out of Water has enough depth to keep you interested for a long time. It's great gameplay, ridiculously cute art and addictive achievement system make it worth the pickup on iOS, and double if you plan on competing with friends.

Images courtesy of Halfbrick

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FBI: These Are Our Boston Bombing Suspects

Alex Fitzpatrick2013-04-18 17:57:13 -0400

The Federal Bureau of Investigation posted to YouTube Thursday surveillance camera footage which it says shows the bureau's two suspects in its investigation of Monday's attack on the Boston Marathon.

The bureau is requesting the public's help in identifying the suspects, but said the two men are considered armed and extremely dangerous. It urged the public not to approach them.

FBI Special Agent Richard Deslauriers said during a press conference that one of the men in the video, seen wearing a white cap, was recorded placing a bag at the location of the second blast just moments before that explosion.

The FBI also published several stills of the suspects, causing its website to load extremely slowly — likely due to the sudden rush of traffic. The man seen in the red hat is not one of the suspects.

Anybody with information on the suspects should contact the FBI by emailing boston@ic.fbi.gov or calling 1-800-CALL-FBI (1-800-225-5324) and selecting prompt #3, the Boston Police Department said via Twitter.

Do you know these individuals? Contact boston@ic.fbi.gov or 1-800-CALL-FBI (1-800-225-5324), prompt #3 twitter.com/Boston_Police/…

— Boston Police Dept. (@Boston_Police) April 18, 2013

Images courtesy of fbi.gov

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Kenneth Cole Draws Ire Over Gun Control Tweet

Lauren Indvik2013-04-19 01:34:58 UTC

Perhaps fashion designer Kenneth Cole should stay off Twitter during sensitive political moments — or at least, his social media manager should.

After provoking harsh criticism for a February 2011 tweet, in which the designer used the protests in Cairo to promote his spring collection, Cole was at it again Thursday.

This time, the brand used the fact that the Senate voted down a mild gun control measure on background checks — one supported by 90% of Americans, according to polls — to make a joke about footwear.

On Twitter, the joke went down like a lead balloon. Some sample reactions:

@laureni Oof. AGAIN with the awful current events ties? My word.

— Victoria Ashley (@VictoriaAshley4) April 18, 2013

@laureni Is @kennethcole the brand that consistently tweets stupid things at the wrong times on the wrong issues?

— Jon (@JustJon) April 18, 2013

@laureni Not again. #FAIL

— Amber Harris (@TheNuwanda) April 18, 2013

The tweet is by no means as offensive as his previous tweet about Cairo, which suggested that the pro-democracy rioting was brought on by the brand's spring collections. Still, you might expect Cole would have learned not to take advantage of trending topics on sensitive issues to fete his own products. Or, for that matter, his views on bare feet.

Image courtesy of Flickr, Ian Muttoo

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Watch: LG's Men's Room Experiment Prompts 'Stage Fright'

Todd Wasserman2013-04-18 21:01:17 UTC

LG, last seen terrorizing elevator riders (or at least pretending to), has moved on to the men's room to make the case that its monitors are "so real it's scary."

To test the theory, the company installed its LG IPS 21:9 UltraWide monitors above urinals in Amsterdam. The monitor showed images of attractive women waving, blowing kisses and occasionally laughing. This resulted in a 16-second "average stage fright delay" and a failure to launch rate of 26%.

Can your monitor do that?

Image courtesy of YouTube, LG

Topics: Advertising, Business, LG, Marketing if(window.pageChanged) window.omni({"channel":"business","content_type":"article","top_channel":"business","content_source_type":"Internal","content_source_name":"Internal","author_name":"Todd Wasserman","age":"0","pub_day":18,"pub_month":4,"pub_year":2013,"pub_date":"04/18/2013","isPostView":true,"post_lead_type":"No Lead Image"}); metaData = {"link":[["canonical","http://mashable.com/2013/04/18/watch-lgs-mens-room-experiment-prompts-stage-fright/"],["image_src","http://rack.3.mshcdn.com/media/ZgkyMDEzLzA0LzE4LzMxL0xHLjQzOTk5LmpwZwpwCXRodW1iCTcyMHg3MjAjCmUJanBn/dda9e4a9/91d/LG.jpg"]],"meta_property":[["og:url","http://mashable.com/2013/04/18/watch-lgs-mens-room-experiment-prompts-stage-fright/"],["og:title","Watch: LG's Men's Room Experiment Prompts 'Stage Fright'"],["og:type","article"],["og:site_name","Mashable"],["og:image","http://rack.3.mshcdn.com/media/ZgkyMDEzLzA0LzE4LzMxL0xHLjQzOTk5LmpwZwpwCXRodW1iCTcyMHg3MjAjCmUJanBn/dda9e4a9/91d/LG.jpg"],["og:article:published_time","2013-04-18T21:01:17Z"],["og:article:modified_time","2013-04-18T22:26:09Z"]],"meta_name":[["description","LG uses its monitors to play a prank -- and prove a scientific point -- about men and urinals. "],["keywords",["advertising","marketing","lg","uncategorized","business"]],["twitter:title","Watch: LG's Men's Room Experiment Prompts 'Stage Fright'"],["twitter:description","LG, last seen terrorizing elevator riders (or at least pretending to), has moved on to the men's room to make the case that its monitors are \"so real it's scary.\" To test the theory, the company insta..."],["twitter:image","http://rack.1.mshcdn.com/media/ZgkyMDEzLzA0LzE4LzMxL0xHLjQzOTk5LmpwZwpwCXRodW1iCTU2MHg3NTAKZQlqcGc/27b91848/91d/LG.jpg"],["twitter:site","@mashable"],["twitter:url","http://mashable.com/2013/04/18/watch-lgs-mens-room-experiment-prompts-stage-fright/"],["twitter:creator","@mashable"],["twitter:card","photo"],["twitter:image:width","560"],["twitter:image:height","750"]],"short_url":[["short_url","http://on.mash.to/YxTL3B"]]};

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George Soros, Reported Dead at XXX, Is Actually Alive

Sam Laird2013-04-19 00:35:22 UTC

Reuters accidentally published a pre-written obituary for George Soros on Thursday afternoon, declaring that the business titan had died at the ripe old age of "XXX."

Soros is alive and 82 years old, as a spokesperson confirmed to Quartz soon after.

The obituary recapped Soros' years as an investor and financier, while detailing his massive wealth, which is estimated to be $19 billion in total. New agencies frequently write framework obituaries for aging, prominent citizens years ahead of their eventual deaths, so it's likely that someone at Reuters simply hit "publish" by accident. But that still didn't stop the false story from becoming an immediate hot topic online, and Soros' name became a worldwide Twitter trend.

Reuters posted this tweet after noticing the mistake:

Reuters published an obituary of George Soros in error. Reuters withdrew the article as soon as it appeared.

— Reuters Top News (@Reuters) April 18, 2013

Many people still said they could access the article, however. And even after it had come down — more than an hour after its initial publication — entering "George Soros" into Google produced this results page:

So, to recap: George Soros is alive.

Photo by ChinaFotoPress/Getty Images

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Microsoft Announces Q3 Revenue of $20.49 Billion, CFO Departure

Emily Price2013-04-18 20:52:04 UTC

Despite reports that Windows 8 has been torpedoing PC sales, Microsoft's third quarter wasn't too bad. The company's revenues of $20.49 billion were just under what analysts were expecting and its earnings per share of $0.72 beat expectations.

“The bold bets we made on cloud services are paying off as people increasingly choose Microsoft services including Office 365, Windows Azure, Xbox LIVE, and Skype,” said Steve Ballmer, chief executive officer at Microsoft, in a statement. “While there is still work to do, we are optimistic that the bets we’ve made on Windows devices position us well for the long-term.”

By division, Microsoft Business reported at 8% increase over last year, Server & Tools an 11% increase, Windows a 23% increase, Online Services an 18% increase, and Entertainment and Services jumped 56% over the year-ago quarter.

The company says that it now has 46 million Xbox LIVE members worldwide, and 18% over last year.

In addition to numbers, Microsoft also announced the departure of its CFO, Peter Klein Thursday. Klein will leave the company at the end of the current fiscal year after spending four years as CFO, and 11 years at Microsoft as a whole. Microsoft will be selecting a new CFO from its current finance leadership team in the coming weeks.

Image via Getty, Robyn Beck

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