We will not be obliterated by an asteroid... today. onlinecollegedegreee.blogspot.com

onlinecollegedegreee.blogspot.com We will not be obliterated by an asteroid... today.

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Asteroid 2014 DX110 will pass within the Moon's orbit at 1 p.m. PST (4 p.m. EST) today. It's not going to hit us, and we're not going to die in a planet-wide coordinated spectacular of death. At least, not today.

DX110 is about 30 meters (100 feet) across. Nothing is published about its composition, but you can make your best guesses and head over to the handy-dandy Impact Calculator (seriously, I love that thing) to find out what would happen if all the orbital dynamics calculations were totally wrong and we got smacked with it anyway (this isn't going to happen; we aren't going to die, blah blah blah don't spazz). From my own tinkering with "So, how bad could it get?" doomsday scenarios, even a dense rock that size would still break up in the atmosphere. As it broke up, it'd explode with the force of several kilotons of TNT, sending out an air pressure wave that would be loud and distressing to people nearby, but unnoticeable on the far side of the country. An impact that severe happens about every 200 years; it's an event of roughly the same magnitude as last year's Chelyabinsk meteor: spectacular, painful for anyone rushing to the window to stare up in awe, but not a planet-killing extinction event.

So, what's actually going to happen? DX110 will come within 350,000 kilometres (217,000 miles, or 0.9 the lunar distance) from Earth and then go about its merry way off into the rest of the solar system. Considering the crazy orbits of most asteroids, it'll be back eventually. Despite our limited capacities and resources for staring at black space for small dark rocks hurtling past at high speeds, we spot about 20 known asteroids coming between us and the moon every year. Just imagine how many we'd see if Spaceguard was properly funded and coordinated to make a serious search for near-Earth objects... Hey, maybe that's why the 2015 NASA budget has a line item for developing asteroid interception or deflection programs.

Image credit and DX110 stats via the JPL press release on AsteroidWatch. For more on the observing history of why we know DX110's orbit with this much confidence, check out the piece on Universe Today. If you want to geek out over orbital parameters, here's DX110's entry in the small-body database.

Related

Goodbye SOFIA, Hello Europa!

Happy (?) budget day! NASA is running a teleconference on how they plan on spending $17.6 billion in 2015. Discussion is lively on #NASABudget, and… Read…

onlinecollegedegreee.blogspot.com We will not be obliterated by an asteroid... today.

Finnick shows off his noose-tying skills in Catching Fire deleted scene onlinecollegedegreee.blogspot.com

onlinecollegedegreee.blogspot.com Finnick shows off his noose-tying skills in Catching Fire deleted scene

Finnick and Katniss share a moment of macabre humor over knot-tying practice in this deleted scene from Catching Fire. And despite herself, Katniss seems charmed by Finnick's grim joke.

The video below is from one of the extras on the Catching Fire DVD, which comes out on March 7th. If you want to skip over the interview with Sam Claflin and Jena Malone, the deleted scene starts at 1:11.

onlinecollegedegreee.blogspot.com Finnick shows off his noose-tying skills in Catching Fire deleted scene

Where the hell are all the great female supervillains? onlinecollegedegreee.blogspot.com

onlinecollegedegreee.blogspot.com Where the hell are all the great female supervillains?

So the other day, I run into this guy in a weird uniform. He tells me he found an abandoned milk truck with a body inside, so he took the clothes, and now he's masquerading as The Milk Man, and trying to unite the disparate peoples of the post-apocalypse by reminding them of the milk service America used to provide. Obviously, I killed him and took his milk. What an asshole, right?

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Eve and Evil

Jude K.:

Sir - My apologies for raising something which surely has been addressed before, however perhaps it is worthwhile to revisit. What's the deal with there not being any prominent supervillainesses? Aside from the difficulty of spelling supervillainess I mean. I can think of a couple villains from DC, Catwoman and Poison Ivy. I'm not a major comic book guy but I'd say I'm a fair bit ahead of the norm and those are all I can think of off the top of my head. Neither are remotely the same league as a Lex Luthor or Doctor Doom. Marvel is if anything even worse! I seem to vaguely remember an X-men foe called the White Queen. While there aren't a ton of female superheroes there are at least a few, and Wonder Woman is commendably high profile. I have no clue who her equivalent of the Joker would be.

Hang in there!

First, Wonder Woman's arch-nemesis is the Cheetah. The crazy cat-lady. She's technically imbued with the power of the Goddess of the Hunt, which ostensibly means she's an actual threat to Wonder Woman, but in reality she's just a furry with a bad attitude, and while she's been a frequent antagonist for WW, she's not a particularly formidable one. Certainly not in the Lex Luthor/Joker/Doctor Doom league.

As you've pointed out, this is indicative of a larger problem in American comics, which seemingly can't handle major female villains. Hell, once a villainess gets too popular, they soften her image and even occasionally turn her into an anti-hero, which is what happened to Poison Ivy, Catwoman, Harley Quinn, and Emma "White Queen" Frost. Meanwhile, the other villainesses are minor threats, unless they team up with other, invariably male villains like the Legion of Doom or Masters of Evil.

I think the basic problem is that most superheroes are men, and their powers are primarily based around action. And the comics industry finds it (understandably) problematic for big, muscled men to punch women in the face, even if those women are about to kill a bank full of hostages, say. Regardless of superhero gender equality, it just looks bad, and it's no wonder they avoid it, by either having villainesses face off solely against heroines (because women punching women is totes okay) or by having villainess who do tangle with male heroes do so not with physical harm, but through "womanly wiles" like mind control, seduction, and mind-controlled seduction (looking at you, Poison Ivy and Enchantress). Then a matter of the hero defeating the villainess is simply a matter of breaking the spell or seeing through the deceit, and no one has to beat up girls.

The end result of all of this is there a few supervillainess out there that rank among the great supervillains. And that's a shame.

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Expanding Your Mind

Ben Z.:

Postman:

I came of age in the 90's and latched onto everything Star Wars after the Special Editions came out. I read most of the Expanded Universe books and comics up to the early 2000's, when I became disenchanted with the saga after watching the prequels. I developed a real fondness for the post-Return of the Jedi books written by Timothy Zahn, Michael Stackpole, and Aaron Allston. I haven't re-read them since, but I started to like those books as much as the classic films. Ever since they announced Episode 7, I have been simultaneously grieving the death of post-Jedi Expanded Universe continuity and excited that Disney is trying something new.

Lately I have been listening to the Star Wars Minute podcast hosted by two guys who grew up with the original movies and bash the Expanded Universe as much as they bash the prequels. When I go on Episode 7 news sites, I see a lot of comments written by prequel fans who also like to bash the post-Jedi Expanded Universe. I feel sandwiched in between two groups of haters. My question is: Were the Star Wars books in the 90's actually any good or am I experiencing delusions of grandeur?

Some of them were, to be honest, quite godawful. I remember The Courtship of Princess Leia in particular being so awful that I gave up on Star Wars novels entirely, and this is when I was still reading Dungeons & Dragons Forgotten Realms novels, so you know it must have been dire. To be honest, while I liked Timothy Zahn's Thrawn trilogy, the novels that kicked the expanded universe off, I hardly think they were perfect, what with their "Luke" clones and animals that projected Force bubbles.

Since I quit pretty early, I can't tell you if all the Expanded Universe novels are crap, although odds are they aren't. I don't think the Zahn novels are crap, I just don't need them to be the basis of the new trilogy. But if you enjoy them, that's what matters. Even if they are crap and I could give you detailed evidence as to why they're problematic, who cares? I love a lot of crap. It's not a crime.

I will tell you this, though: A few years ago, I picked up one of my favorite Forgotten Realms books — R.A. Salvatore's The Crystal Shard — and tried to re-read it for nostalgic kicks. It was so terrible I had to tear my eyes out and throw them into a fire. Just keep that in mind, okay?

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Her and Herc

Brian:

Dear postman,

Do you think Marvel's Hercules would get along with Wonder Woman?

Hell yes. Another person of ancient Greek decent? Another powerful warrior? Another child of Zeus? Of course he'd get along with Wonder Woman, by which I mean he'd try to get into her star-spangled underwear. Now, would Wonder Woman get along with Marvel's Hercules? Probably not so much.

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Toying with our Emotions

Utsav:

Hey Rob,

My question is about the relationship between studios, franchises and merchandising. Why does merchandising affect the fate of a franchise so strongly? Take Tron, Young Justice, Tower Prep or any other such show/movie, their fates had been sealed the moment the producers realized that they were not selling enough toys! How much of revenue do toys bring in, and should this culture be done away with? I mean Batman & Robin and the whole Transformers franchise are just shameless multi-million dollar Toy commercials, I can be fine with that, but if studios start basing their entire revenue models on the success or failure of toy lines, then something is terribly wrong!

Well, first of all let me assure you something is terribly wrong, although this is a problem that primarily affects animation. Again, major movies are so big that they don't give a shit what happens to anyone else; remember how Paramount delayed G.I. Joe 2 at the last minute, thus effectively destroying Hasbro's toy sales? Hollywood enjoys merchandising profits, but they aren't beholden to it in any way.

Animation, on the other hand, is another story. Because of the glory days in the '80s when every cartoon was accompanied by a zillion dollars in toy revenues — e.g. He-Man, Transformers, G.I. Joe — companies make these cartoons with unrealistic and completely invalid expectations that Teen Titans, Young Justice, Tron: Uprising and the like should also sell a zillion dollars worth of toys, when that's no longer how the toy market or animation industry work. Which is why you can have perfectly good, popular shows —again, Teen Titans, Young Justice, Tron: Uprising and the like — that have fine ratings, but get canceled so the network can try another show that could sell a shit-ton of toys but never will.

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What's Up, Doc

David H.:

Do we really have to have Peter Parker back? Octavius is superior.

As I told everybody who freaked out when Peter Parker "died" and Doc Ock took over Peter's body, "Don't worry. It's a comic book. He'll be back eventually."

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Sign for the Package

Robert M.:

Hello Mr. Postman,

Given your demonstrated expertise in fictional character genitalia, I thought you'd be the appropriate resource to answer this: What in the hell do you think is the deal with Baron Ashura's genitals?

If we go by the last Mazinger animation out there (spoilers ahead), Dr. Hell decided that taking two tragic lover's bodies in suspended animation, rotting half of each via alien waste, then stitching the remains together to create a half-man, half-woman hybrid was a better method of mind control than, say, hypnosis, brainwashing or lobotomy. But, practical decisions aside, how would such a madman resolve the genitalia part?

I think it would be impossible to stitch half a penis to half a vagina, but I somehow think Dr. Hell would not simply preserve both sets as individual systems for each side. I can't decide if he'd go for full mutilation, or by frankensteining something like a, I don't know, a pegina? A vagenis? What do you think?

It's a vagina with a retractable penis inside it, which extends exactly like the tiny mouth inside an Alien's mouth. Don't ask me how I know.

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Do you have questions about anything scifi, fantasy, superhero, or nerd-related? Email the postman@io9.com! No question too difficult, no question too dumb! Obviously!

onlinecollegedegreee.blogspot.com Where the hell are all the great female supervillains?

Craig Venter's new longevity startup will make "100 the new 60" onlinecollegedegreee.blogspot.com

onlinecollegedegreee.blogspot.com Craig Venter's new longevity startup will make "100 the new 60"

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Biotechnologist Craig Venter — the first scientist to map the human genome and create synthetic life — now wants to dramatically extend the human lifespan. His new company, Human Longevity Inc., will use both genomics and stem cell therapies to help people stay healthy and vibrant for as long as possible.

This news comes seven months after Google's announcement that it had founded a similar company, Calico — a startup that will focus on health, well-being, and extending the human lifespan. The corporate race to prolong life, it would seem, is starting to heat up. And rightly so; there's a ton of money to be made — and saved — through preventative medicines.

Venter, along with stem cell pioneer Robert Hariri and X Prize Foundation founder Peter Diamandis, are hoping to see the startup make a batch of new discoveries.

"We think this will have a huge impact on changing the cost of medicine," Venter said on a conference call announcing the venture.

To date, the company has received $70-million in private backing. It's even procured two ultrafast HiSeq X Ten gene sequencing systems from Illumina Inc, a leading manufacturer of DNA sequencing machines, with the option to buy three more. The technology will be used to map the 40,000 human genomes as the company builds the world's largest database of human genetic variation. It will contain sequences from the very young through to the very old, both diseased and healthy.

"This will be one of the largest data studies in the history of science and medicine," said Venter.

Remarkably, the startup will also gather whole genome data on the trillions of microbes that populate the human body, including bacteria, viruses, and fungi. The goal is to develop better probiotics and diagnostic tools and drugs to improve health and wellness.

Initially, the company plans to address some of the toughest age-related diseases, namely cancer, diabetes and obesity, heart and liver diseases, and dementia.

"Using the combined power of our core areas of expertise — genomics, informatics, and stem cell therapies, we are tackling one of the greatest medical/scientific and societal challenges — aging and aging related diseases," noted Venter in a release. "HLI is going to change the way medicine is practiced by helping to shift to a more preventive, genomic-based medicine model which we believe will lower healthcare costs. Our goal is not necessarily lengthening life, but extending a healthier, high performing, more productive life span."

Methinks Venter is being both insincere and humble. By tackling these problems in this way, his company is very well positioned to become a leader in the development of bona fide life extension technologies. It's possible Venter is avoiding the seemingly radical talk about "not necessarily lengthening life" to maintain credibility. But based on Venter's work in the past, it's clear this guy is thinking big.

[Via Reuters]

Image: Craig Venter Institute.

onlinecollegedegreee.blogspot.com Craig Venter's new longevity startup will make "100 the new 60"

What fictional tech do you most want to become real? onlinecollegedegreee.blogspot.com

onlinecollegedegreee.blogspot.com What fictional tech do you most want to become real?

Sometimes fictional technologies become reality (submarines! tablet computers!) and sometimes they remain firmly in our imaginations (where is my tricorder, future?). Today, we want to know what fictional tech you most want to see inspire a real world invention.

Tell us in the comments what fictional invention you most hope to see become reality, where it comes from, and just what you would do with it.

Image: Data uses a tricorder.

onlinecollegedegreee.blogspot.com What fictional tech do you most want to become real?

Watch the trailer for Afflicted, Best Horror winner at Fantastic Fest onlinecollegedegreee.blogspot.com

onlinecollegedegreee.blogspot.com Watch the trailer for Afflicted, Best Horror winner at Fantastic Fest

Found-footage horror flick Afflicted had a pretty good run at Fantastic Fest (THE festival for all things genre). The pictured walked out with Best Picture, Best Screenplay and Best Director in the horror category. Now take a look at the trailer.

Directed, written and starring Derek Lee and Clif Prowse, Afflicted is getting a lot of love. Here's the official synopsis:

This terrifying horror thriller follows two best friends who set out on the trip of a lifetime around the world. Their journey, documented every step of the way, soon takes a dark and unexpected turn after an encounter with a beautiful woman in Paris leaves one of them mysteriously afflicted.

And it hits theaters on April 4th, 2014.

onlinecollegedegreee.blogspot.com Watch the trailer for Afflicted, Best Horror winner at Fantastic Fest

NASA plans a robotic mission to search for life on Europa onlinecollegedegreee.blogspot.com

onlinecollegedegreee.blogspot.com NASA plans a robotic mission to search for life on Europa

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It looks like it's finally going to happen, an actual mission to Jupiter's icy moon Europa — one of the the solar system's best candidates for hosting alien life.

Yesterday, NASA announced an injection of $17.5 billion from the federal government (down by $1.2 billion from its 2010 peak). Of this, $15 million will be allocated for "pre-formulation" work on a mission to Europa, with plans to make detailed observations from orbit and possibly sample its interior oceans with a robotic probe. Mission details are sparse, but if all goes well, it could be launched by 2025 and arriving in the early 2030s.

This is super-exciting. Recent evidence points to a reasonable chance of habitability. Its massive subsurface ocean contains almost twice as much water as found on Earth. The water is kept in liquid state owing to the gravitational forces exerted by Jupiter and the moon's turbulent global ocean currents. Excitingly, a probe may not have to dig very deep to conduct its search for life; the moon's massive plumes are ejecting water directly onto the surface.

According to NASA, the high radiation environment around Jupiter and extreme distance from Earth are the primary challenges (it took NASA's Galileo six years to get to Jupiter from the sun). The space agency will now be looking at competing ideas for the proposed Europa mission. NASA is still not sure how big the mission should be, or how much it will cost.

Image: NASA/JPL.

onlinecollegedegreee.blogspot.com NASA plans a robotic mission to search for life on Europa

Major Hints for X-Men, Avengers: Age of Ultron, and Orphan Black! onlinecollegedegreee.blogspot.com

onlinecollegedegreee.blogspot.com Major Hints for X-Men, Avengers: Age of Ultron, and Orphan Black!

Hugh Jackman mulls an eventual Wolverine recast. How will ScarJo's pregnancy affect Avengers 2? Check out new promos for Captain America 2 and Divergent, along with some Orphan Black teasers. Plus the first plot details for Continuum season 3. Spoilers now!

X-Men

Even though Hugh Jackman's still mulling over doing another Wolverine movie, he's aware that a recasting will have to come one day:

Look, that's inevitable, man. Anyone who thinks they're indispensable in this business is fooling themselves. But I feel unbelievably blessed to have this part. I never thought in a million years I'd get to play him seven times. Every day I walk on the set with the claws and the hair, I thank my lucky stars. I don't take any of it for granted. To think that in a second version we'd have this cast and this director, and you guys don't know the script, but I would say probably the best script of all of them, is pretty amazing. I think that's why I'm still here. I'm sure by the way, that it won't always be my decision to always be here. At some point, someone will close the door on me… [Laughs]

[Slashfilm]

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Amazing Spider-Man 2

The viral site the Daily Bugle has provided another huge hint about the movie's villains — this time providing some clues as to why Harry Osborn might be willing to subject himself to dangerous tests. It could be because OsCorp has abandoned human subjects testing, and Harry has no other subjects available. The Bugle writes:

Oscorp Industries announced today that it has destroyed any and all research it has done in the horrifying field of cross-genetics. This news comes in the wake of the recent sentencing of former Oscorp geneticist turned terrifying lizard creature Dr. Curt Connors. Once a pioneer in the field of cross-genetics, Connors's work transformed him into a literal monster who rampaged across Manhattan.

[via ComicBook.com]

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Avengers: Age of Ultron

Following the news that Scarlett Johansson is pregnant came the news that Black Widow's scenes in Avengers: Age of Ultron have been fast-tracked. Although it hasn't been confirmed by Marvel, E!'s reporting that she'll report to the set on April 5th, right after finishing the press rounds for Captain America: The Winter Soldier. [Coming Soon]

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Captain America: The Winter Soldier

Speaking of the Captain America sequel, here's a new TV spot. [Comic Book Resources]

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Divergent

And here's a TV spot for Divergent. [Coming Soon]

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Transfomers 4: Age of Extinction

In advance of the trailer that premiered yesterday, the movie's title sequence was also released. [Transformer World]

And here are two more character posters, featuring Jack Reynor's Shane and Nicola Peltz's Tessa Yeager. [Coming Soon]

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The Tomorrow People

Leven Rambin (The Hunger Games) has been cast as Natalie, "troublemaking paranormal who has no love for humans." Natalie and Russell will apparently turn into a "homosuperior version of Bonnie and Clyde." Natalie's threat to join Ultra will start a mutiny. Rambin will appear as Natalie in the final three episodes of the season. [TV Guide]

And here's a clip from tonight's new episode:

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Orphan Black

Here are five little teases for season 2. [TV Equals]

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Robot Chicken

Here's a description of April 6's second DC special:

The Robot Chicken DC Comics Special II: Villains in Paradise returns the DC Comics universe of characters back into the twisted talons of the Emmy Award(R)-winning Robot Chicken. This time around, the villains take charge of the narrative, and their unpredictable tale takes them from the swamps to the sky to the beach, where they finally face a mind-boggling threat to their very existence! The all-star cast includes Seth Green as Batman and Robin, Zac Efron as Superboy, Alfred Molina as Lex Luthor, Sarah Hyland as Lex Luthor's daughter Lena, Nathan Fillion as the Green Lantern, Alex Borstein as Wonder Woman, Clancy Brown as Gorilla Grodd, Giovanni Ribisi as the Joker, Tara Strong as Harley Quinn, Breckin Meyer as Superman, plus Hugh Davidson, Matthew Senreich, Clare Grant, Zeb Wells, and Kevin Shinick as the narrator.

[Comic Book Resources]

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Arrow

Here's a clip from tonight's new episode, "The Promise":

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Person of Interest

Here's the synopsis for episode 3.17, "/":

FINCH AND ROOT CLASH WHEN THE MACHINE SENDS THEM AFTER THE SAME PERSON, ON "PERSON OF INTEREST," TUESDAY, MARCH 18

" / " – The Machine assigns Root to seek out a janitor with a mysterious past, but when her very presence puts his life in danger, Finch also receives his number, on PERSON OF INTEREST, Tuesday, March 18 (10:01 – 11:00 PM, ET/PT) on the CBS Television Network.

[SpoilerTV]

And here's the one from episode 3.18, "Allegiance"

FINCH AND REESE MUST PLAY POLITICS WHEN THE LATEST POI IS HUNTING A UNITED NATIONS DIPLOMAT, ON "PERSON OF INTEREST," TUESDAY, MARCH 25

"Allegiance" – Finch and Reese must delve into the murky waters of international politics when they are given the number of a former government contractor who is stalking a UN diplomat. Also, an enemy attempts to gain an upper hand on Root, on PERSON OF INTEREST, Tuesday, March 25 (10:01 – 11:00 PM, ET/PT) on the CBS Television Network.

[SpoilerTV]

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Agents of SHIELD

Here's a new promo for the show, with a bunch of shots from upcoming episodes. [Coming Soon]

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Being Human

Go here for more photos from 4.09, "Too Far, Fast Forward!" [SpoilerTV]

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Continuum

Here are the titles and short descriptions of the first three episodes of season three:

Episode 3.01 - Minute by Minute

Kiera risks everything to stop Alec from altering history in his quest to save Emily, but can the mysterious group Kiera aligned herself with be trusted?

Episode 3.02 - Minute Man

While Kiera investigates two Alecs in one timeline, the mayor is kidnapped by a reunited Liber8. Carlos struggles with the reality shattering truth of Kiera's predicament.

Episode 3.03 - Minute to Win It

Kiera has to solve a series of Liber8 connected bank heists and discovers the robbers are controlled by a recently escaped Lucas. Carlos' new and unwanted knowledge about time travel begins to affect his work.

And go here for character photos.

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Penny Dreadful

IGN has a bunch of character descriptions for the new show (and you can see a bunch of photos here):

Vanessa Ives (Eva Green): Poised, mysterious and utterly composed, Vanessa is a seductive and formidable beauty full of secrets and danger. She is keenly observant — clairvoyant even — as well as an expert medium. Her supernatural gifts are powerful and useful to those around her, particularly Sir Malcolm, but they are also a heavy burden. Her inner demons are very real to her and everyone around her, and they threaten to destroy her relationships, her sanity, and her very life.

Sir Malcolm Murray (Timothy Dalton): A hardened African explorer on a deeply personal quest, Sir Malcolm has nonetheless paid a heavy price for his exciting career. Although his stately home is filled with marvelous souvenirs of his travels, it is devoid of family and loved ones. With Vanessa's help, he is determined to right the wrongs of his past, but his toughest journey lies ahead.

Ethan Chandler (Josh Hartnett): A charming American who finds himself trapped in the darkest corners of Victorian London, Ethan's charm and brash ways are catnip to the ladies. When Sir Malcolm enlists him to help in a personal quest, Ethan meets Brona Croft, a beautiful local with a mysterious past. But behind Ethan's bright eyes lurk dark secrets. He is running from something, and his troubling past threatens to overtake him at every turn.

Brona Croft (Billie Piper): Brona is a poor Irish immigrant to Victorian London trying to escape a dark and sordid past. The Gaelic meaning of her name is "sadness," yet she remains lovely, spirited, and erotically alive. She forms a bond with Ethan Chandler, who will do anything for her.

Sembene (Danny Sapani): Sembene is an African man with ritual face scarring who serves as Sir Malcolm's sentry and confidant. He has an air of mystery about him and his heroic efforts will prove invaluable to Sir Malcolm in his personal quest.

Go to the link to see this show's take on Dr. Frankenstein and Dorian Gray. [IGN via Den of Geek]

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The Vampire Diaries

Here's the description for tomorrow's episode, "Gone Girl":

FLASHBACKS TO NADIA'S SEARCH FOR KATHERINE — While Nadia (guest star Olga Fonda) remembers her centuries-long search for her mother, Stefan (Paul Wesley), Caroline (Candice Accola) and Matt (Zach Roerig) come up with a desperate new plan to save Elena's (Nina Dobrev) life. For the second time, Bonnie (Kat Graham) and Jeremy (Steven R. McQueen) must turn to Liv (guest star Penelope Mitchell) for help. Damon baits Tyler (Michael Trevino) into a nasty confrontation, then takes off to seek revenge on Dr. Wes (guest star Rick Cosnett). Caroline and Tyler come to a new understanding. Finally, Bonnie learns of a terrifying secret that will threaten the lives of all her friends. Lance Anderson directed the episode written by Melinda Hsu Taylor (#515).

And go here for more photos from the episode.

And here's a clip:

Additional reporting by Charlie Jane Anders and Emily Stamm

onlinecollegedegreee.blogspot.com Major Hints for X-Men, Avengers: Age of Ultron, and Orphan Black!

UFO-Pics found in Snowden-Leaks onlinecollegedegreee.blogspot.com

onlinecollegedegreee.blogspot.com UFO-Pics found in Snowden-Leaks

In den Snowden-Docs hat man ein paar Slides voller UFO-Bilder gefunden. Die Meldung ergibt erst dann wirklich Sinn, wenn man bedenkt, dass die Slides Teil des „Art of Deception“-Leaks vor einer Woche waren, die jetzt aus dem Kontext gerissen von Kretins wie der Daily Mail rumgereicht werden. Das wirklich interessante an der Meldung sind also nicht ein paar fliegende Untertassen oder „a seagull having a poo“, sondern dass der GCHQ den Inhalt eines Leaks über Täuschung auf den Leak selbst anwendet. Recursive Snowden-Leak, sozusagen. Snowception, all the way down.

A mysterious set of slides showing alien spacecraft have cropped up amid the trove of documents released by NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden – and ignited a frenzy of debate among internet UFO fans.

The set of slides are part of a Powerpoint presentation created by British spy agency GCHQ – Government Communications Headquarters – and, among 50 uncaptioned images are three which seem to show flying saucers. Alien-hunters and UFOlogists are now poring over the images – although one of the ‘UFOs’ has been dismissed as an “out of focus picture of a seagull having a poo.”

UFO SLIDES FOUND IN FILES LEAKED BY EDWARD SNOWDEN

Gulli: GCHQ-Präsentationen zu UFOs in Snowden-Archiv gefunden

onlinecollegedegreee.blogspot.com UFO-Pics found in Snowden-Leaks

Science: Lazy Asses live longer onlinecollegedegreee.blogspot.com

onlinecollegedegreee.blogspot.com Science: Lazy Asses live longer

Gute Nachrichten, Fellow Faule Säcke (FFS): „Longer working hours seem to lead to higher premature mortality.“

onlinecollegedegreee.blogspot.com Science: Lazy Asses live longer

Tauntaun Guts Hoodie onlinecollegedegreee.blogspot.com

onlinecollegedegreee.blogspot.com Tauntaun Guts Hoodie

Ich glaube nicht, dass ein Hoodie mit Tauntaun-Augen, -Ohren, -Hörnern und -Innereien angemessene Kleidung für einen 40jährigen darstellt. Andererseits: I don’t give a fuck. Grade bestellt: Tauntaun Costume Hoodie. Auch toll und mitgeordert: Das Heavy Metal Heavy Metal-Logo Shirt (Bild rechts).

MORE: Hoodie, StarWars · Mrz 5, 2014 @ 12:57 · Comments loading…

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onlinecollegedegreee.blogspot.com Tauntaun Guts Hoodie

How To encode Data in Playing Cards onlinecollegedegreee.blogspot.com

onlinecollegedegreee.blogspot.com How To encode Data in Playing Cards

Tim Warriner hat sich ‘ne Methode überlegt, um Daten in ‘nem Stapel Spielkarten abzulegen, inklusive Encyption und der Schlüssel ist die Reihenfolge der Karten. Clever!

Data, codes and messages can be hidden in the seemingly random order of a pack of playing cards. Here I explain my method of encoding binary bits into a pack of cards that will result in more bits of data being stored than there are cards. I have no idea if this method already exists, but I haven’t seen it anywhere else yet. The method can also be used to encode letters of the alphabet (English or otherwise) in a way that, on average, fewer than two cards are needed to represent one letter.

In more straightforward methods these would be impossible. My method also lends itself to encrypting the data held within the cards to the security level of a one-time pad. The concept lends itself to other media outside of the world of cards in a way that allows for carefully chosen, already existing rows of objects to represent newly encoded messages.

The Implied Card Method for Encoding Data Into Playing Cards

Vorher auf Nerdcore:

Magic The Gathering Turing Machine

onlinecollegedegreee.blogspot.com How To encode Data in Playing Cards

Human Centipede 3 will feature a "XXL Human Centipede" onlinecollegedegreee.blogspot.com

onlinecollegedegreee.blogspot.com Human Centipede 3 will feature a "XXL Human Centipede"

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A few thoughts about this first teaser image for Human Centipede 3: 1) They're making Human Centipede 3, because of course they are. 2) Dieter Laser was fantastic in the first film and sorely missed in the second. 3) I just like writing the name "Dieter Laser."

This image comes via Entertainment Weekly, which also obtained a quote from writer/director Tom Six:

THC Part 3 will be totally different from Parts 1 and 2 and certainly not as gross. But it will be the most controversial one politically-wise. It will have a lot of self-mockery and will be the most darkly comical of the three. Parts 1 and 2 have a very European feel. Part 3 is very American with the highest budget, a big movie score, widescreen, and an XXL human centipede. It's set in an American maximum security prison in the middle of the desert. Plot-wise I won't share details yet but if you let your imagination run wild you might get ideas.

Feel free to start speculating about what an "XXL Human Centipede" would look like. Also, I kind of wonder if this is going to be some kind of satire on American for-profit prisons and our dehumanizing treatment of prisoners. Along those lines, Six explained that Eric Roberts is starring in this film playing "an a–hole governor." And it sounds as though Roberts is getting to play a "malicious" character to the fullest extent.

In any case, maybe this prison satire will redeem the series from the godawful disgrace of the second movie? Probably not, but we can hope, right? [EW]

onlinecollegedegreee.blogspot.com Human Centipede 3 will feature a "XXL Human Centipede"

Explore More Than 3,000 Miles of Tunnels Beneath Montreal onlinecollegedegreee.blogspot.com

onlinecollegedegreee.blogspot.com Explore More Than 3,000 Miles of Tunnels Beneath Montreal

Andrew Emond, a Montreal-based photographer, amateur geographer, and DIY gonzo spelunker of the city's sewers and lost rivers, has just re-launched his excellent website, Under Montreal. The revamped site now comes complete with a fascinating, interactive map of the city's subterranean streams, documenting Montreal's invisible rivers for all to see.

"Beneath Montreal, Canada," Emond's site explains, "lies a sewer system encompassing a combined distance of over 5,000 kilometers. With some sections dating back to 1832, this network offers a unique framework through which one can explore a city and its history." These buried waterways—and the infrastructure that holds them—are thus a history lesson in spatial form, Emond suggets.

Luckily for us, they are also spectacular.

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The Cote St. Paul Collector, for example, is a like a sewer from another world.

Emond describes its extraordinary geological formations as a kind of quasi-natural cave in the making: "I've encountered calcite deposits inside sewers in the past. Stalactites, stalagmites, 'soda straws' and flowstones are all to be found in just about any sewer or storm drain that is more than a decade or so old. Caused partially by the limestone in cement, these formations can help turn a run-of-the-mill system into something quite wonderful."

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But the Cote St. Paul system takes it to another level: "In fact," Emond adds, "I've never seen anything else like it... For roughly 100 meters, the walls of this century-old sewer make for a breathtaking spectacle. Nature has completely taken over to the point where you're easily tricked into believing you're not inside a man-made structure anymore. Instead, you are in a cave deep beneath the surface of the earth in some exotic country."

In fact, I'm reminded of an amazing description in Peter Ackroyd's recommended (and refreshingly short) book, Under London, where he describes the tunnels beneath the city as kind of tropical wonderland, a Borneo of the subcity.

Referring to the humid sewers and overgrown streams of London, Ackroyd suggests that any attempt to describe the city's underside, its shadow self, "might be a narrative from the swamps of Borneo rather than the City of London."

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Ackroyd's own depiction of this urban netherworld is worth re-reading, describing underground cathedrals and titanic architectural forms that, in the shadows and grime, resemble "a subterranean monastery":

The underground chambers are compared to cathedrals, complete with pillars and buttresses, arches and crypts. One visitor, discovering an archway through which a cataract tumbled, remarked that it was as fantastic a scene as "a dream of a subterranean monastery." The travelers walk along tunnels that may reach a height of 17 feet, the cool tainted water lapping at about knee-height around their waders. Many are disconcerted by the pull of the water, and feel disoriented; they lose their equilibrium. They feel the sediment beneath their feet, as if they were walking on a beach at low tide. Great iron doors loom up at intervals, actings as valves. The noise of roaring water, somewhere in the distance, can generally be heard. It is the sound of cataracts and waterfalls.

This rush—both of adrenalin and of distant water cascading down artificial waterfalls—is something Andrew Emond is quite familiar with, having stood amidst these intersections of rivers and cataracts armed only with a flashlight, boots, and digital camera.

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Emond, of course, is already widely known for his work. He was featured in the recent film, Lost Rivers, for example, which was very recently released on DVD by Catbird Productions (and is worth seeking out).

That film, a long look at attempts around the world to "daylight" lost urban rivers—that is, to rescue and uncover them from beneath the pavement—spends several scenes exploring Montreal alongside Emond, making it abundantly clear how a city's history can be found in this, least likely of places.

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After all, Emond's work is motivated not just by the thrill of it all, but by a deep interest in the city's historical geography.

Like his compatriot, Toronto's Michael Cook, author of Vanishing Point, who also treats his long journeys underground as a kind of cartographic ground-truthing of the city's riverine past, Emond is literally casting light on the forgotten, buried landscapes of the city, from its earliest colonial days to its industrial heyday.

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His multi-part exploration of the Rivière St. Pierre is a good example of this.

We begin, for instance, with some historical context and old maps of the city, before progressing horizontally up the drainage pipes, passing beneath the landscape into Emond's own speleology of the caves and tunnels beneath the streets.

In fact, the Rivière St. Pierre actually passes underneath another canal, turning it into a delirious, M.C. Escher-like knot of waterways passing beneath waterways, more topology than municipal infrastructure.

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"In a golf course to the west of downtown Montreal," he writes, "you'll find the last remaining portion of Rivière Saint-Pierre that still exists above ground. 200 meters are all that are left of a river system that once flowed freely over the landscape. The rest of it's been retrofitted into the city's sewer system or lost entirely."

Lost, that is, yet Emond has made it a point to help uncover this dimension of the city for us to see.

And what he shows us is extraordinary, like some shining and mysterious portal to another world.

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Divorced of their historic context, Emond's photos quickly take on the narrative feel of an unreleased Andrei Tarkovsky film.

Seen purely as urban sci-fi, these photos suggest a gang of anonymous urban explorers marching ahead through the crossing streams, a light-free zone of reservoirs and tombs.

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We watch as human beings—almost always in the same Caspar David Friedrich-like pose, seen from behind as so-called Rückenfiguren looking out at some beautifully strange and intimidating landscape—wander through this maze of strangely compressed spaces, following echoes, ducking beneath monumental overhangs and arched entryways.

Always pressing forward, they wander on, further and further up toward the source of these underground waters.

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Turning corners, taking photographs, unsure of what they'll find.

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In any case, Emond's revamped site is worth a long look, especially for the detailed historical context supplied for each river and stream; go check it out, and drop any of your own underground photos in the comments, below. [Under Montreal]

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All photos courtesy Andrew Emond.

onlinecollegedegreee.blogspot.com Explore More Than 3,000 Miles of Tunnels Beneath Montreal

Fan-made Game of Thrones opening sequence honors the Houses of Westeros onlinecollegedegreee.blogspot.com

onlinecollegedegreee.blogspot.com Fan-made Game of Thrones opening sequence honors the Houses of Westeros

While it's not as grand as the animated map that opens each episode Game of Thrones, this fan-made title sequence is a fun romp through the strongholds of Westeros and Essos, accompanied by each house's sigil.

Mathilde Loubes, Jory Bertrand, and Alison Dulou, students at Atelier de Sèvres, put together this sequence, and it's neat to see the details they highlighted with motion: the cargo traveling up the Wall, the bridges of Pyke, and the petals floating off the Tyrell rose.

[via Design Taxi]

onlinecollegedegreee.blogspot.com Fan-made Game of Thrones opening sequence honors the Houses of Westeros

The horror of what Marty Hart saw on the last True Detective revealed onlinecollegedegreee.blogspot.com

onlinecollegedegreee.blogspot.com The horror of what Marty Hart saw on the last True Detective revealed

If you've been watching True Detective, you know that in this past Sunday's episode, ex-detective Marty Hart (played by Woody Harrelson) saw a video so upsetting that he completely freaked out. Thanks to Rifftrax's Conor Lastowka, we can now reveal the horrible truth of what Hart saw.

onlinecollegedegreee.blogspot.com The horror of what Marty Hart saw on the last True Detective revealed

Being Human just rebooted the whole series. Here's why that's great. onlinecollegedegreee.blogspot.com

onlinecollegedegreee.blogspot.com Being Human just rebooted the whole series. Here's why that's great.

I loved last night's episode of Being Human. Itwas super duper bold, ridiculously fan servicey, and a lot of fun. So much fun. Seriously, this show found the fun and brought it back. Thank goodness.

Up until now, I was resigned to finish out the fourth and final Being Human season with a few more vampire flashbacks, a couple more scantily clad dead girls, and a shot of Josh walking around holding his man parts. Good news, we got all of that in this one episode AND a whole new twisty plot.

Last week, Sally revealed that she was stuck in a time warp limbo, which is a thing the writers spent most of this season building up. And now we know why. Because they wanted to reboot the entire series and play around with your beloved characters — but not really damage the core plot line. OR ARE THEY?

Sally jumps into her past self a few moments before she's about to be murdered by her ex-fiance. And instead of falling down the stairs and becoming the cutest ghost to ever haunt the most ridiculously underpriced FULL home in Boston, she lives! And now Sally is getting another shot at life. What's the first thing Sally does after she kicks out her no-good murderous boy? Burn her sweater. You guys, I love this show.

Moving on. So of course things don't all go as planned. Sally's best friend since third grade starts dating her ex. No offense, Sally — but if your best bud starts sleeping with your ex-fiance (that you accused of hurting you) you have a bad friend. And no surprise there, he murders her friend. Meanwhile, Sally doesn't have time to feel too terribly bad about the switcheroo, because she's alive!

And after a bit of stalking, she gets Aidan and Josh back into her life. After spilling the beans that she's (sort of) from the future, Sally, Josh and Aidan wind up all living together again. And wooooo — Sally and Aidan start having movie-tent-sheet-sex that is not only impossible, but WAY TOO WARM.

Sally and Aidan are doing the nasty, and the only thing left is Josh. Sally the "guardian angel" meddles some more, and now things really start to spiral out to hell. Josh meets Nora, falls for Nora, but werewolfs it all up. Sally gets scratched in the crosshairs, and now she's a werewolf too. And things continue to get worse.

You see, because Sally interjected into Aidan and Josh's lives neither of them got to learn things the hard way. Aidan didn't kill a ton of girls, but he also didn't have to face his fears with Bishop. Josh never learned that not all werewolves can be trusted. Tons of life lessons were sidestepped, because Sally "helped out."

All of a sudden, our little ghost girl is realizing she traded her own happiness for that of her friends. When Aidan turns his back on Josh, she realizes that this isn't the vampire she loves.

Here is my question: Can Sally love this version of Aidan, but not the actual real life Sally-is-dead version? Or did she make another Aidan that she thinks she loves like a lover, but doesn't really? She does love Aidan, just not like this. Does that mean she really DOESN'T love the original Aidan sexually? Or is that swapped? I'm confused.

But it's a good confused! This was fun, and what about all the returning characters! So many faces from the first season — good characters, good times. Ray and that red-headed guy, and the girl that Aidan had to stab to death because he turned her into a blood sucker. AH! Good times, this was fun to revisit and mess around with.

Looks like the next episode will continue to be set in the past, and that's OK for now. I like watching a bottomed out Josh lose his shit all over. As for Aidan... well, he's a little more bitchy than I would like but maybe Sally's second death will snap him out of it. Probably not, though. I forsee Josh and Aidan kicking each other's future (past) asses. The showdown begins!

onlinecollegedegreee.blogspot.com Being Human just rebooted the whole series. Here's why that's great.

The Painted Caverns sat deep in the bowels of the icy moon onlinecollegedegreee.blogspot.com

onlinecollegedegreee.blogspot.com The Painted Caverns sat deep in the bowels of the icy moon

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When the flare lit up, filling the cavern with a thousand shades of purple and green, a brief, mad thought passed Jun's brain. An alien intelligence must have passed through here, he decided, and directed the ice to flow like streaks of oil paint smudged into the darkness. Just as suddenly, the idea vanished, replaced by excitement at the rich geological history he would get to uncover.

Artist Kuldar Leement has prints of "Curiosity" available at Society6 and ARTFLAKES.

Curiosity [Kuldar Leement on deviantART via r/ImaginaryStarscapes]

onlinecollegedegreee.blogspot.com The Painted Caverns sat deep in the bowels of the icy moon

Transformers 4 trailer UNLEASHES THE DINOBOTS onlinecollegedegreee.blogspot.com

onlinecollegedegreee.blogspot.com Transformers 4 trailer UNLEASHES THE DINOBOTS

In this thundering Transformers: Extinction trailer, Stanley Tucci and all the humans tell the Transformers "we don't need you any more." And then guess what happens next? BLAMMO: Dinobots! Watch the first real Dinobot-on-Autobot fight.

This movie is ridiculous. But it also has robot dinosaurs, and Mark Wahlberg playing a protagonist we might actually root for.

Also if you call that number on the "REMEMBER CHICAGO" bulletin board (855)363-8392 it tells you to go to the website transformersaredangerous.com website where you can download this handsome beast:

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Transformers: Age of Extinction hits theaters on June 27th, 2014.

onlinecollegedegreee.blogspot.com Transformers 4 trailer UNLEASHES THE DINOBOTS

​David Weber's best-selling Honor Harrington series comes to comics! onlinecollegedegreee.blogspot.com

onlinecollegedegreee.blogspot.com ​David Weber's best-selling Honor Harrington series comes to comics!

Honor Harrington: Officer in the Royal Manticoran Navy of the 401st century, tactical genius, and star of 13 best-selling scifi/military books by David Weber. Now Honor comes to conquer comics with help from Image and Top Cow. (Read our exclusive interview with Weber.) But Honor's tale isn't the only scifi epic in this week's comics…

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New Issues

S Dark Horse:

• The Veil #1: A beautiful girl wakes up in a New York City subway station naked, alone, without her memory, and the ability to kill anyone who tries to harm her.

• Other releases: Bad Blood #3, Catalyst Comix #9, Grindhouse: Doors Open at Midnight #6, Juice Squeezers #3, Lobster Johnson: Get Lobster #2, Terminator Salvation: the Final Battle #4, Victories #4.

DC:

• Forever Evil: Arkham War #6: Scarecrow unleashed the mutated ex-prisoners of Arkham upon Gotham City.

• Batman/Superman Annual #1: The Batman and Superman families fight for control of Mongul's flying fortress.

• Other releases: Action Comics #29, , Batwing #29, Detective Comics #29, Earth 2 #21, Forever Evil #6, Green Arrow #6, Green Lantern #29, Hinterkind #6, The Movement #10, The Phantom Stranger #17, Scooby Doo Team-Up #3, Stormwatch #29, Swamp Thing #29, Trillium #17, The Vampire Diaries #3.

IDW:

• Rogue Trooper #1: On a world devastated by chemical warfare, the last genetically engineered solider stands watch.

• Other releases: Gate Way #3, Sinister Dexter #4, Wild Blue Yonder #4.

Image:

• Tales of Honor #1: On the eve of her execution, Honor Harrington recalls her epic, galaxy-spanning adventures.

• Starlight #1: Mark Millar starts his own comics universe beginning with this story about a cosmic superhero who must come out of retirement to save it.

• The Darkness: Vicious Traditions #1: A barbarian leader whose tribe was killed a Roman legion rises for vengeance in this one-shot.

• Other releases: Apocalypse Al #2, Burn the Orphanage: Born to Lose #3, Clone #15, Drumhellar #5, Invincible Universe #11, Jupiter's Legacy #4, Revival #18, Saviors #3, Secret #6, Velvet #4.

S Marvel:

• Magneto #1: Having lost everything, Magneto decides to protect mutant-kind by finding threats to them… and eliminating them one by one.

• Moon Knight #1: All three of Moon Knight's personalities prowl the streets of New York City at night, trying to solve the Marvel universe's weirdest mysteries.

• Wolverine and the X-Men #1: New faculty, new students, and new threats for the Jean Grey School of Higher Learning.

• Other releases: Avengers AI #10, Captain America #18, Iron Man #22, Loki: Agent of Asgard #2, New Warriors #2, Night of the Living Deadpool #4, Nova #14, The Punisher #3, She-Hulk #2, Uncanny X-Men #18.

Other:

• Adventure Time: Flip Side #3, Afterlife with Archie #4, Archer & Armstrong #18, Auteur #1, Day Men #3, Evil Empire #1, Grimm Fairy Tales: Code Red #4, GFT #95, GRT: Tales from Oz #3, God Is Dead #8, The Green Hornet #10, Hit List #5, Lady Rawhide #4, Miss Fury #9, Noir #5, Quantum & Woody: The Goat #0, Rover Red Charlie #4, The Shadow Now #5, Suicide Risk #11, Turok: Dinosaur Hunter #2, Twilight Zone #3, Warlord of Mars #34, Westward #6.

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Trade Paperbacks and Hardcovers

Dark Horse:

• Buffy Season 9 Vol. 5: The Core: When the only thing that can cure Dawn is the magic she banished from the world, Buffy and crew take a visit to Illyria's home dimension.

• Other releases: Avatar: The Last Airbender Vol. 7: The Rift Part One, Captain Midnight Archives Vol. 2: Saves the World, Dream Thief Vol. 1, Gasoline Alley Vol. 1: The Complete Sundays 1920-22.

DC:

• Harley Quinn: Welcome to Metropolis: Harley Poison Ivy and Bizarro visit the big city.

• Other releases: Animal Man Vol. 4: Splinter Species, Hawkworld, Hellblazer: Shoot, The Phantom Stranger Vol. 2: Breach of Faith.

IDW:

• TMNT Villains Vol. 2: Featuring Shredder, Bebop, Rocksteady and more.

• Other releases: GI joe: Cobra Files Vol. 2, Michael Recycle Meets Bootleg Peg, Powerpuff Girls Classic Vol. 3.

Image:

• Satellite Sam Vol. 1: A son tries to sober up long enough to solve his father's murder in the shockingly sleazy world of '50s children's TV shows.

• Other releases: Bedlam Vol. 2, Fatale: Deluxe Edition Vol. 1, the Walking Dead Vol. 20: All Out War Part One.

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Marvel:

• The Muppets Omnibus: All of Roger Langridge's award-winning, gag-filled adventures of Kermit and the gang.

• Uncanny X-Force by Rick Remender Omnibus: Wolverine, Psylocke, Deadpool, Fantomex and Archangel join forces as mutant-kind's secret assassins.

• Other releases: Avengers: Falcon, Nova Vol. 2: Rookie Season, Oz: Emerald City of Oz, Uncanny X-Men Vol. 1: Revolution, X-Men: Days of Future Past.

Other:

• 07 Ghost Vol. 9, Adventure Time Vol. 3: Seeing Red, Black Bird Vol. 18, Black Coat: Blackest Dye, Blighted Eye, Blue Exorcist Vol. 11, Dumbest Idea Ever, From the New World Vol. 3, GFT: Oz, Henry Speaks for Himself, Lords of Mars Vol. 1, Midnight Secretary Vol. 1, Nijigahara Holograph, Nisekoi: False Love Vol. 2, One Piece Vol. 70, Oresama Teacher Vol. 16, Phantom Thief Jeanne Vol. 1, Psyren Vol. 15, Quantum & Woody Vol. 2: In Security, Rin-Ne Vol. 14, Rubicon, The Shadow/Green Hornet Vol. 1: Dark Nights, The Simon & Kirby Library: Horror, Strobe Edge Vol. 9, Tegami Bachi Vol. 16, Thermae Romae Vol. 3, Walt Kelly's Pogo: the Complete Dell Comics Vol. 1, White Cube, Will Eisner's Minor Miracles.

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As usual, here's the list of everything being released to comic stores tomorrow, and you can find your nearest comic retailer here.

onlinecollegedegreee.blogspot.com ​David Weber's best-selling Honor Harrington series comes to comics!