In this post I’ll be reviewing the famous sci-fi/horror movie Alien directed by Ridley Scott. The plot of this classic movie from 1979 occurs when a commercial spaceship responds to an unknown transmission from a near by planet. The crew goes to investigate the signal, believing it may be a SOS, but when they arrive at the planet they find a strange and unnatural structure. While investigating the structure, one of the members of the crew is attacked by a strange alien that attaches itself to his face, putting him in a coma and feeding him oxygen to keep him alive. The crew brings him back into the ship, where eventually the alien detaches itself from his face and dies. All seems good until the crewmember who’d been attacked suddenly starts to seize and a small, disgusting alien bursts from his chest, running off into the enormous ship. This alien quickly grows and changes into a huge and terrifying beast that hunts down the entire crew, killing them. Only one crewmember survives, eventually blowing the alien out into space. Whether you like killer aliens, gigantic spaceships, flamethrowers, evil robots, or just Sigourney Weaver in her underwear, this movie has something for everyone.

Before reviewing the cinematic aspects of this movie, I’d first like to comment on the accuracy of the science behind the movie. I found that this movie did an excellent job of sticking to basic scientific principles, that many other movies ignore, and the imagination behind those things that science does not necessary apply to goes above and beyond.

The first thing that caught my eye was in the opening sequence. The movie opens with a sweeping shot of the huge space ship, showing the back of the space ship, where the thrusters are located. I was struck by the small fact that the thrusters were not pumping out fire or even lit up the way that you see in movies like Star wars. The simple truth of the matter, and I apologize to any diehard Star wars fans, is that there’s no need for thrusters on a spaceship once it’s left the atmosphere. There are no forces to act against a moving object in open space, and, as we know from Sir Isaac Newton, an object in motion will stay in motion, unless acted on by an outside force.

The second point that I thought was very scientific, if not simply logical, was the cryogenic freezing chambers that the crew awakens from when the ship detects the unknown transmission. Obviously one could make the argument that, with the theory of relativity, time would be experienced differently for the crewmembers in the fast moving spaceship. However, if the crewmembers were to be awake throughout the entire trip, they would require a large amount of food, which would cost a large amount of money. For all we know it could be more economic to provide the crew with cryogenic freezing chambers than to feed them on a long journey. Perhaps this bit of science was unnecessary, but I hardly felt it was not scientific or even illogical.

SPOILER ALERT! The next thing I’d like to comment on is a particular twist in the movie that no one could see coming. A little bit more than halfway through the movie, we discover that one of the crewmembers, the doctor, has been a robot the whole time. The robot doctor is covered in a very realistic rubber skin and appears to everyone to be human. His purpose on the ship, as it turns out, has been to direct the ship to this planet and discover the killer alien and bring it back to earth so that the company funding the voyage can use it as a weapon. Now it may seem unrealistic that a robot could programed to exhibit all the intricacies of human personality and decision-making. In order to reconcile with this fact, we must remember that this movie takes place in 2037. I personally believe it’s more than possible that by the year 2037 we could have robots capable of masquerading as human beings. Of course we do already have IPhones with the Siri program, capable of answering questions based on internet searches, and even responding to insults with witty retorts. While that’s a far cry from humanistic robots, I still believe it’s a good example of how close we’ve come already.

There are many other scientific aspects to this movie that I would love to comment on, but at this point I think I’ll move on to one of the most striking aspects of the movie: the creativity and believability of the Ridley Scott’s killer alien. This alien is like nothing that had been imagined before or anything imagined since. It’s not your typical humanoid alien with a big green head and skinny limbs, nor does it have any of the hallmark Star trek or Star Wars alien characteristics, i.e. a human being with scales and horns, or big floppy ears and a beak. No this alien is truly a one of a kind. In its original form, the form in which it attacks the host crewmember, it most closely resembles a squid with sharp insect legs. When the crew tries to cut through one of the legs in an effort to remove it from their friends face, a green acid pours out, burning through the floor and two more levels of the ship below it. The doctor also comments that its skin seems to be made of a strong silicon crystal structure that replaces itself periodically, making it nearly immune to any severe climate changes.

The next form the alien takes, when it burst from the host’s chest, is even more disgusting and terrifying that the original. It is a small, brown creature with no eyes and a strange bulbous forehead and unnatural skin. Most terrifying are the alien’s large sharp teeth and the eerie hissing noise it makes before darting off.

The aliens final form easily the most impressive. It is first seen after one of the crewmembers hunting finds an odd skin, apparently shed by the alien, like a snake. The new form is probably around 7 to 7 and half feet tall, blue, apparently bipedal, although it’s never really clear, eyeless, and covered in sharp spikes. It has the same bulbous forehead and huge claws. The signature of the killer alien though, is its mouth. At first it appears as though the alien has nothing more than a mouth of long sharp teeth, nothing new by sci-fi terms, but when the alien opens its mouth, we see that its tongue is in fact a long white tube with another mouth, also full of sharp teeth, at the end.

At its core, Alien is a horror movie. It taps into a deep, dark human fear: the fear of being hunted by someone, or something bigger, faster, stronger and extremely adept at killing mercilessly; it’s the fear of helplessness. In his last moments, the robot doctor tells the remaining crewmembers that the alien is “the perfect organism”, meaning of course that it cannot be killed. This is the moment when the feeling of helplessness truly sinks in for both the characters and the viewer. Trapped in a spaceship in deep space with a vicious alien that cannot be killed, the only answer seems to be death.

This is what makes Alien, to me, a true masterpiece. It accomplishes the two tasks of wowing us with sci-fi creativity, and simultaneously scaring our pants off, with complete seamlessness.  This is what sets Alien apart from any other sci-fi movie, or even horror movie for that matter. 5 stars.

In this post, I’ll be responding to a New York Times article from 2003 called Does Science Matter? by William J. Broad and James Glanz. To read the article, go to:

 http://www.nytimes.com/2003/11/11/science/does-science-matter.html?pagewanted=all&src=pm

My response to the question of whether or not science matters can only be answered through, ironically, a scientific idea: realitivity. Science has done great things for human kind, such as cure polio, put a man on the moon, and invent the automobile. To the individual however, science can also be quite discomforting. I for one do not like to think that when I die my body will decay in the ground and no part of who I was will ever exist again. It is certainly more comfortable to believe that I will go to heaven and live my after life in bliss.

Science also brings with it as many new terrors as it does advances. With each new development we create, we bring about some new unholy terror that wreaks havoc on either the environment or our own sense of safety. The invention of plastic has led to the near extinction of many species of animals and the pollution of many, once beautiful environments. The creation and use of nuclear weapons has caused wide spread panic across the globe for decades.

There is no doubting that science has had its upside. We phones that slide into our pockets, AC units that keep us cool in the dog days of summer, and planes that take us across the country in hours. These brilliant inventions, and many more, have given us incredibly comfortable lives, but have they truly made us happy? If ignorance is truly bliss, then wouldn’t we be equally, if not more, happy living off the land, with no phones or emails or microwaves? If we had never invented or even imagined these creations our lives would certainly be different, but would they really be worse? I don’t believe they really would. In the end we must all die someday. When that day comes, I certainly hope I can bring myself to believe that maybe science does not have all the answers. Maybe there is something after death.

I suppose the point that I’m getting at is that the importance of science comes down to relativity. Sure science has been great in the perspective of the entire human existence, but to the individual it can often be more comforting to believe in something beyond science; something mystical. Whether it be God, reincarnation, angels, or just the occasional miracle or two, it can be a very good feeling to believe that science is not actually all that important. At the end of the day, all you can really worry about is your own personal happiness, and in that, I believe, science will often fall short.

Hello readers! If you don’t already know, this is a blog about physics, especially pertaining to astronomy and life in the universe. I’ll be focusing primarily on scientific topics, although this blog will also include a review of at least one science fiction book and one science fiction movie.
But before I get into any of that good stuff, I think I’ll answer the burning question on all of your minds: who the hell am I?
My name is Forrest Corcoran and I’m a first year student at Colorado College. My first year class at Colorado College (which uses the unique Block System) is…you guessed it, topics in Physics: Life in the Universe.
Before taking this class, I took two physics classes in high school. The first was a remedial physics class that I took as a sophomore. It covered the very basics of physics, such as basic mechanics, electromagnetic theory, and wave mechanics. The second physics class I took was a senior elective where I focused on the theory of relativity and quantum mechanics.
Although I’m currently a physics student, my primary interest in life is not science. I plan on majoring in business or economics. I feel, or at least hope, that my interpersonal skills and “fiscal understanding”, for lack of a better term, will benefit me well in either of these two fields.
I was born and raised in a suburb in Connecticut, just outside of Hartford, in the town of Farmington. For those of you unfamiliar with the geography of Connecticut, (almost all of you I assume) here’s a map of the area.

https://maps.google.com/maps?client=firefox-a&channel=fflb&q=map+of+connecticut+hartford+area&ie=UTF-8&hq=&hnear=0x89e65311f21151a5:0xcc8e4aa8e97d5999,Hartford,+CT&gl=us&ei=SAslUpXIIuGNygH6nYGYCg&ved=0CCwQ8gEwAA

At the ripe age of 14, I left my cozy little hometown to attend boarding school at Phillip’s Exeter Academy, where I spent four years living and learning in Wentworth Hall dormitory.
I played both football and lacrosse in high school, along with a short, two-year stint on the JV hockey team. Of these three sports, my passion was always lacrosse. I play four years on the varsity squad and attained the rank of captain my senior year. I’ll be continuing my lacrosse career here at my new home in Colorado Springs.
All of this having been said, I feel it’s imperative to purvey one important detail about myself: I am NOT a “lax bro”; I’m a lacrosse player. I don’t wear pastel shorts and lax pennies, rain or shine. I don’t have long hair, or talk like a meathead with marbles rolling around in my skull. I hate the stereotype that follows lacrosse players around like a plague and I try to avoid being that guy every chance I get.
Hopefully this gives you, as the reader, a general sense of what type of guy I am, and a little bit about my background, both in and out of the classroom.
Getting back to the topic of physics, I suppose I’ll let you know what I hope and expect to get out of Topics in Physics: Life in the Universe. My hope is to attain a greater understanding of what makes us, as humans, the way we are, from a biological stand point. I also hope to better understand the broad and unknown universe in which we live.
I recently became very interested in the topic of extraterrestrial life from the now infamous YouTube video in which a former Minister of Defense for the Canadian Parliament, Hon. Paul Hellyer, speaks in front of the US Congress, claiming to know of many different alien species, at least four of whom have been visiting earth for thousands of years. He goes on to even name several of the species and the solar systems from which they derive. While this all seems very shocking, it is nothing compare to his statement that at least two extraterrestrial are working inside the United States government. Here is a link to the entire 25-minute speech.   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hX06nI04j0g
The idea of extraterrestrial life has been glamorized by moviemakers and science fiction writers to the point that aliens are often lumped in with Bigfoot, the chupacabra, the Loch Ness Monster, and the Easter Bunny. However, it is my distinct belief that intelligent alien life must exist somewhere in the universe. I can only hope to live long enough to experience the finding and realization of life outside our solar system.