Happy birthday to us, happy birthday to us, yep it is our 2nd birthday episode. We wish to say thank you to everyone who listens to us. We really appreciate all the support and encouragement we have received. It has been an amazing experience that we have all enjoyed on the Nerds team. Well, here is to another year of Nerdity and fun, we hope you enjoy everything as we continue to look for those items we enjoy learning about and discussing.
First up this week Buck brings us news that Global Warming is being slowed by a phenomenon known as Global Greening. Apparently all the carbon emissions have provided a positive impact for the trees and plants. Now, this is only a small impact and not enough to celebrate with street parties, but still it is some good news. So with this news coming to light and in the wake of the recent bushfires in Australia it might be a good idea to plant some trees or bushes to help the environment. If nothing else it will give the computers and consoles a break for an hour or two.
Next up DJ has the first reactions to the new Dune movie, and it is looking promising. Of course Professor and Buck being the fans they are have some reservations, but are excited to see the latest offering when it is released. There is the usual discussion about who might be the best option for director, what were the failures in the previous movies; and what were the successes from them as well. But hopefully one day an offering will be presented that is worthy of Frank Herbert’s legendary work. DJ continues with a discussion on the impact of the Coronavirus on the Chinese film industry. There have been major disruptions in the Chinese economy and a large section of the industry is on hold while China tries to combat this epidemic. We discuss the broad effects of this, but we wish everyone well and hope that this is contained and treated soon.
Professor has a list of 14 new games that are planned to be released this next fiscal year by EA. We have a look at the offerings and discuss what we think is the most exciting or interesting of these releases. Now it might interest you to know that what we found as the most interesting games to look forward to. We will tell you, to find out listen in and learn what are the games being released that Professor is most interested to see. Also what game Buck thinks should move across to the EA studio catalogue; and what he thinks is an approach to the new Battlefield game if the crew behind Star Citizen were involved.
As usual we have the Shout outs, Remembrances, Birthdays, and Events of Interest for the week. We invite you to check out MySongsSuck, with our man Alex Smith. Also there is there offering of The Story Chunder, which is sure to delight some and perchance disgust others. As always remember to take care of yourselves, look out for each other, and stay hydrated.
Global Greening
- https://phys.org/news/2020-01-planet-greener-global.html
- https://www.nature.com/articles/s43017-019-0001-x
First reaction to the new Dune movie are out
Next victim of the coronavirus hitlist…the Chinese film industry
EA’s plan for 2020…. release 14 games
- https://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2020-01-31-ea-planning-to-publish-14-games-next-fiscal-year
Games Played
Professor
– Quake - https://store.steampowered.com/app/2310/QUAKE/
Rating – 2.5/5
Buck
– Hero Wars - https://www.facebook.com/herowarsgame/
Rating – 1.5/5
DJ
– Ironsight - https://store.steampowered.com/app/715220/Ironsight/
Rating – 2/5
Other topics discussed
One climate change prediction being wrong
Gulf Stream (warm and swift Atlanticocean current that originates in the Gulf of Mexico and stretches to the tip of Florida, and follows the eastern coastlines of the United States and Newfoundland before crossing the Atlantic Ocean as the North Atlantic Current.)
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gulf_Stream
2019 Ozone Hole is the smallest since its smallest
World’s tallest timber tower in Norway
- https://www.dezeen.com/2019/03/19/mjostarne-worlds-tallest-timber-tower-voll-arkitekter-norway/
One way to curb climate change: suck carbon from the sky
Petra (originally known to its inhabitants as Raqmu, is a historical and archaeological city in southern Jordan. The site appeared in films such as: Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade,Arabian Nights, Passion in the Desert, Mortal Kombat: Annihilation, Sinbad and the Eye of the Tiger,The Mummy Returns, Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen,Samsara and Kajraare.)
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Petra
Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker (also known as Star Wars: Episode IX – The Rise of Skywalker) is a 2019 American epicspace opera film produced, co-written, and directed by J. J. Abrams.)
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Star_Wars:_The_Rise_of_Skywalker
Fremen (a group of people in the fictional Dune universe created by Frank Herbert.)
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fremen
Bene Gesserit (a key social, religious, and political force in Frank Herbert's fictional Dune universe.)
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bene_Gesserit
Dune (1984 American epicscience fiction adventure film written and directed by David Lynch and based on the 1965 Frank Herbert novel of the same name.)
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dune_(1984_film)
The Chronicles of Narnia film series (The Chronicles of Narnia series of films is based on The Chronicles of Narnia, a series of novels by C. S. Lewis. From the seven books, three were adapted —The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, Prince Caspian and The Voyage of the Dawn Treader.)
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Chronicles_of_Narnia_(film_series)
WHO: Coronavirus is now a public health emergency
- https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/coronavirus-who-declares-global-virus-emergency
Briton who contracted Wuhan virus claims he beat illness with this drink : hot toddy
Battlefield 2142 (2006 first-person shooter video game developed by EA DICE and published by Electronic Arts.)
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battlefield_2142
Original Quake 1 Soundtrack by Trent Reznor
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qVOHTGYoM6E
Longest single spaceflight in history by a woman, NASA astronaut Christina Koch returned to Earth.
- https://www.nasa.gov/press-release/record-setting-nasa-astronaut-crewmates-return-from-space-station
Junkers Ju 87 (German dive bomber and ground-attack aircraft. Designed by Hermann Pohlmann, it first flew in 1935. The Ju 87 made its combat debut in 1937 with the Luftwaffe's Condor Legion during the Spanish Civil War and served the Axis forces in World War II.)
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Junkers_Ju_87
My Songs Suck (TNC Podcast)
- https://thatsnotcanon.com/mysongssuckpod
Nick Cave: Selected Works featuring Your Man Alex Smith from My Songs Suck
- https://www.facebook.com/events/904564969910195/
The Story Chunder (The Story Chunder at Back Dock Arts. Every week a new lot of cunning linguists will spew forth their most entertaining stories for your delight or disapproval.)
- https://www.facebook.com/thestorychunder/
Shout Outs
- 31 January 2020 – Mary Higgins Clark died – https://www.nytimes.com/2020/01/31/books/mary-higgins-clark-dead.html?fbclid=IwAR1CCn7f-sSFWZavHhCCmJIuRNXPic-6SuB29yWK1_91B6sVUoLkbcZq-Ag
Mary Higgins Clark, a fixture on best-seller lists for decades whose more than 50 novels earned her the sobriquet Queen of Suspense. Ms. Higgins Clark, whose books have sold more than 100 million copies in the United States alone, was still writing until recently, her daughter said, and had a book published in November. Her heroes were most often female, her villains male, and she said that she wrote about “nice people whose lives are invaded.” There are, however, two things that won’t be found in her books — sex and profanity — and that choice was deliberate. “Let others decide whether or not I’m a good writer,” she said. “I know I’m a good Irish storyteller.” She passed away at Naples, Florida at the age of 92.
- 3 February 1995 – Astronaut Eileen Collins becomes the first woman to pilot the Space Shuttle as mission STS-63 gets underway from Kennedy Space Center in Florida. - https://www.nasa.gov/image-feature/feb-3-1995-astronaut-eileen-collins-at-the-pilots-station-on-shuttle-discovery
Eileen M. Collins -- the first woman to pilot the shuttle -- is at the pilot's station during a "hotfiring" procedure prior to rendezvous with the Russian Mir Space Station. The successful rendezvous without docking brought Discovery to within 37 feet of the Mir; these flights through the Shuttle-Mir Program prepared the way for the International Space Station.
- 3 Febuary 2020 – Supernova 2020 coming to Adelaide - https://twitter.com/SupanovaExpo/status/1224125683351183360?s=20
Supanova will indeed be returning to Adelaide in 2020! After popular demand from the fans Supanova is going back to basics to bring a show that focuses predominantly on our Supa-Stars, and less on the extras that haven’t resonated as well with fans in S.A. Their return to Adelaide also sees a change to the scheduling of our Brisbane show, which will now run from 6-8 November 2020, with Adelaide the following weekend.
- 3 February 2020 – Gene Reynolds passes away - https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/gene-reynolds-dead-mash-lou-grant-director-producer-was-96-978156
Gene Reynolds, the prolific director, producer and writer who was a driving force behind such socially conscious television series as M*A*S*H, Lou Grant and Room 222. Reynolds started out in Hollywood as a child actor at MGM in such movies as Boys Town (1938). Reynolds and Larry Gelbart created CBS' M*A*S*H, which was based on a novel by Richard Hooker and followed the Robert Altman film adaptation. "In directing, I'm always looking for the little humane touch. Something that is real. It could be very, very small," Reynolds said in a 2000 chat for the Archive of American Television website. "It could be a hand on the shoulder. It could be just an extra lingering look on somebody you care about and so forth, for just a fraction. It could be a reaction from somebody … I'm looking for humanity, really. And that goes with comedy or drama." He died at Providence Saint Joseph Medical Center in Burbank at the age of 96.
- 5 February 2020 – Kirk Douglas passes away - https://www.cnn.com/2020/02/05/entertainment/kirk-douglas-obit/index.html
Kirk Douglas, one of the great Hollywood leading men whose off-screen life was nearly as colorful as his on-screen exploits in movies like "Spartacus" and "Champion,". Michael Douglas said that his father's life "was well lived, and he leaves a legacy in film that will endure for generations to come, and a history as a renowned philanthropist who worked to aid the public and bring peace to the planet." He added: "Let me end with the words I told him on his last birthday, and which will always remain true. Dad- I love you so much and I am so proud to be your son." In perhaps the most famous -- and certainly most lampooned -- scene from "Spartacus," his fellow rebels, captured by the Roman army, rise to proclaim, "I'm Spartacus!" when told their lives will be spared if they identify him. He died in Beverly hills, California at the age of 103.
Remembrances
- 3 February 1468 – Johannes Gensfleisch zur Laden zum Gutenberg - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johannes_Gutenberg
German blacksmith, goldsmith, inventor, printer, and publisher who introduced printing to Europe with the printing press. His introduction of mechanical movable type printing to Europe started the Printing Revolution and is regarded as a milestone of the second millennium, ushering in the modern period of human history. It played a key role in the development of the Renaissance,Reformation, the Age of Enlightenment, and the scientific revolution and laid the material basis for the modern knowledge-based economy and the spread of learning to the masses. The use of movable type was a marked improvement on the handwritten manuscript, which was the existing method of book production in Europe, and upon woodblock printing, and revolutionized European book-making. Gutenberg's printing technology spread rapidly throughout Europe and later the world. His major work, the Gutenberg Bible (also known as the 42-line Bible), was the first printed version of the Bible and has been acclaimed for its high aesthetic and technical quality. He died at the age of around 68 in Mainz, Electorate of Mainz in the Holy Roman Empire.
- 3 February 1935 – Hugo Junkers - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hugo_Junkers
German aircraft engineer and aircraft designer who pioneered the design of all-metal airplanes and flying wings. His company, Junkers Flugzeug- und Motorenwerke AG (Junkers Aircraft and Motor Works), was one of the mainstays of the German aircraft industry in the years between World War I and World War II. His multi-engined, all-metal passenger- and freight planes helped establish airlines in Germany and around the world. In addition to aircraft, Junkers also built both diesel and petrol engines and held various thermodynamic and metallurgical patents. He died at the age of 76 in Gauting,Bavaria.
- 3 February 1959 – The Day Music Died -https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Day_the_Music_Died
American rock and roll musicians Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, and "The Big Bopper" J. P. Richardson were killed in a plane crash near Clear Lake, Iowa, together with pilot Roger Peterson. The event later became known as "The Day the Music Died", after singer-songwriter Don McLean referred to it as such in his 1971 song "American Pie". Soon after take-off, late at night and in poor, wintry weather conditions, the pilot lost control of the light aircraft, a Beechcraft Bonanza, which subsequently crashed into a cornfield. Everyone on board was killed. The event has since been mentioned in various songs and films. A number of monuments have been erected at the crash site and in Clear Lake, where an annual memorial concert is also held at the Surf Ballroom, the venue that hosted the artists' last performance.
Famous Birthdays
- 3 February 1480 – Ferdinand Magellan - https://www.onthisday.com/people/ferdinand-magellan
Portuguese explorer who organised the Spanish expedition to the East Indies from 1519 to 1522, resulting in the first circumnavigation of the Earth, completed by Juan Sebastián Elcano. Commanding a fleet of five vessels, he headed south through the Atlantic Ocean to Patagonia. Despite a series of storms and mutinies, they made it through the Strait of Magellan into a body of water he named the "peaceful sea" (the modern Pacific Ocean). The expedition reached the Philippine islands, where Magellan was killed during the Battle of Mactan. The expedition later reached the Spice Islands in 1521 and one of the surviving ships eventually returned home via the Indian Ocean, completing the first circuit of the globe. Magellan had already reached the Malay Archipelago in Southeast Asia on previous voyages traveling east (from 1505 to 1511–1512). By visiting this area again but now travelling west, Magellan achieved a nearly complete personal circumnavigation of the globe for the first time in history. He was born in Sabrosa.
- 3 February 1859 – Hugo Junkers – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hugo_Junkers
German aircraft engineer and aircraft designer who pioneered the design of all-metal airplanes and flying wings. Amongst the highlights of his career were the Junkers J 1 of 1915, the world's first practical all-metal aircraft, incorporating a cantilever wing design with virtually no external bracing, theJunkers F 13 of 1919 (the world's first all-metal passenger aircraft), the Junkers W 33 (which made the first successful heavier-than-air east-to-west crossing of the Atlantic Ocean), the Junkers G.38 "flying wing", and the Junkers Ju 52, affectionately nicknamed "Tante Ju", one of the most famous airliners of the 1930s. He was born in Rheydt, Rhine Province.
- 3 February 1939 – Vladimir Yevgenyevich Preobrazhensky – http://www.astronautix.com/p/preobrazhensky.html
Russian engineer cosmonaut 1965-1980. Graduated from Moscow Aviation Institute Soviet Air Force, liaising with aircraft industrial enterprises. Cosmonaut training November 1965 - December 1967. Worked at Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center. He was born in Leningrad.
- 3 February 1970 – Warwick Davis - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warwick_Davis
English actor, television presenter, writer, director, comedian and producer.[4] He played the title characters in Willow and the Leprechaun film series, several characters in the Star Wars franchise (most notably the Ewok Wicket), and Professor Filius Flitwick and Griphook in the Harry Potter films. Davis also starred as a fictionalised version of himself in the sitcom Life's Too Short, written and directed by Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant. Davis is a founder of the Reduced Height Theatre Company, which stages theatrical productions cast exclusively with short actors and using reduced height sets. In April 2010, Davis published his autobiography, Size Matters Not: The Extraordinary Life and Career of Warwick Davis, with a foreword by George Lucas. He was born in Epsom,Surrey.
Events of Interest
- 3 February 1961 – The United States Air Forces begins Operation Looking Glass, and over the next 30 years, a "Doomsday Plane" is always in the air, with the capability of taking direct control of the United States' bombers and missiles in the event of the destruction of the SAC's command post. - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Looking_Glass
It provides command and control of U.S. nuclear forces in the event that ground-based command centers have been destroyed or otherwise rendered inoperable. In such an event, the general officer aboard the Looking Glass serves as the Airborne Emergency Action Officer (AEAO) and by law assumes the authority of the National Command Authority and could command execution of nuclear attacks. The AEAO is supported by a battle staff of approximately 20 people, with another dozen responsible for the operation of the aircraft systems. The name Looking Glass, which is another name for a mirror, was chosen for the Airborne Command Post because the mission operates in parallel with the underground command post at Offutt Air Force Base. The Looking Glass was also designed to help ensure COG, continuity and reconstitution of the US government in the event of a nuclear attack on North America. Although the two types of aircraft are distinct, the Doomsday Plane nickname is also frequently associated with the E-4 "Nightwatch" Advanced Airborne Command Post mission and aircraft.
- 3 February 1966 – Lunik 9 lands on lunar surface - https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/lunik-9-soft-lands-on-lunar-surface
On February 3, 1966, the Soviet Union accomplishes the first controlled landing on the moon, when the unmanned spacecraft Lunik 9 touches down on the Ocean of Storms. After its soft landing, the circular capsule opened like a flower, deploying its antennas, and began transmitting photographs and television images back to Earth.
- 3 February 1981 - John Buster and the research team at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center announce history's first embryo transfer, from one woman to another resulting in a live birth. - http://thebusterclan.blogspot.com/2016/08/john-e-buster-doctor-that-helped-create.html
In the procedure, an embryo that was just beginning to develop was transferred from the woman in whom it had been conceived by artificial insemination to another woman who gave birth to the infant 38 weeks later. The sperm used in the artificial insemination came from the husband of the woman who bore the baby. This scientific breakthrough established standards and became an agent of change for women suffering from the afflictions of infertility and for women who did not want to pass on genetic disorders to their children. Donor embryo transfer has given women a mechanism to become pregnant and give birth to a child that will contain their husband’s genetic makeup. Although donor embryo transfer as practiced today has evolved from the original non-surgical method, it now accounts for approximately 10% of in vitro fertilization recorded births.
Intro
Artist – Goblins from Mars
Song Title – Super Mario - Overworld Theme (GFM Trap Remix)
Song Link - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-GNMe6kF0j0&index=4&list=PLHmTsVREU3Ar1AJWkimkl6Pux3R5PB-QJ
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