Flickr user Nevada Tumbleweed has been posting dozens of pics from the 1953 nuclear cannon test, and they're as notable for the beautifully clunky 1950s hardware as for the actual devastation of the nuclear shell, detonated just 500 feet above the ground. And I feel really bad for the soldiers crouching in the trench nearby — I don't think that trench turned out to be all that helpful. More at the link. [Nevada Test Site - Operation Upshot-Knothole - 1953 on Flickr]

The cannon itself
That fireball
Soldier standing guard to make sure nobody wanders into the blast zone
More security
The weather service tracks the toxic clouds to see where they go
A pilot-less "drone" aircraft
Soldiers "duck and cover" in a trench
A WB29 aircraft being checked for radioactivity. Planes that had radioactive contamination were washed with a solution of "gunk," plus grease solvent and water, then returned to duty 24 hours later.
A B45 tornado.

Today's drone aircraft can stay in the air for 18 hours and be controlled from a base miles away.

Top image: Israeli-made drone plane that Israel has started supplying to Germany for surveillance missions in Afghanistan.

All photos by AP.

NASA's version of the Air Force's drone aircraft, for use in scientific studies — it'll sample greenhouse gases in the atmosphere.

NASA's version of the Air Force's drone aircraft, for use in scientific studies — it'll sample greenhouse gases in the atmosphere.

A target drone made by Abu Dhabi company ATS, on display at a Paris air show.

An MQ-9 Reaper drone plane, of the type most likely being used to scout for Somali pirates in the Seychelles right now.

The ominously named Predator B, which the U.S. is using to scout along the U.S./Canadian border, looking for drug and cigarette smuggling. So don't try and sneak any ciggies in from Vancouver, or you'll meet... Predator B!

Another picture of Predator B. It should really be a hip-hop star.

On August 22, 1924, the Earth was 55,777,566 km from the Red Planet during the Mars opposition, offering ideal conditions for receiving radio signals from Mars — if anyone happened to be sending them. Amherst College professor David Todd persuaded both the US Army and Navy to listen for messages from Mars. In the telegram above, Edward W. Eberle, the Chief of US Naval Operations, informs Naval stations of the possibility of Martian communications, and instructs them to report any unusual phenomena. For three days, the stations listened for unusual transmissions, but came up empty handed.

[Letters of Note]

Ruth's letter says it all:

Please forward this to the proper channels. I have read Stephen Hawking's latest remarks on space travel and the importance of it to human survival. The problem is, NASA is going about it all the wrong way.

Here is an idea: Send battle-hardened, strong-minded soldiers and marines on the long trips into space. We are conditioned to live with the bare minimal (of) life's necessities and are trained to be prepared for ... the worst conditions that any environment could throw at us.

Hell, me and my men will go, set up a colony somewhere and await colonists to arrive.

Me and most of my men are on our 3rd or 4th deployment into a combat area. We are scouts, reconnaissance specialists. We go before everyone else and spend time living off the land. Sounds just like the type of men needed for a long colonization journey.

Please pass this message on to anyone you know in the space program. (T)here are many men already trained and prepared to make the ultimate sacrifice for their country and the human race.

Thank you for you time.

SFC Ruth, 101st Airborne Division. Afghanistan

Source: LiveScience.com

• Major Alan "Dutch" Schaefer from Predator: As the only surviving member of a squad who encountered a Predator, Dutch isn't afraid to take risks and do what he needs to do to survive. He might not be the best at keeping everyone around him alive, but he'll make sure the objective is taken out no matter what the cost. Plus he's handy to have around for catchphrases and one-liners.
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• Second Lieutenant Juan "Johnny" Rico from Starship Troopers: Sure, he may have joined up for a girl, and he almost washed himself out after he got a squadmate killed, but when the going got tough he decided to man up for the job. Heck, he was even reported dead and survived a giant claw through his thigh.
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• Sergeant Todd from Soldier: As a genetically engineered soldier who has been trained since birth, Todd won't break down and start wishing he was back home during a skirmish in the rings of Saturn. He's a cold, calculating, killing machine, and he's there to get the job done. Just don't expect him to show any emotion.
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• Sergeant Andrew Scott from Universal Soldier: You'd need two sergeants to keep a group like this in line, so why not balance out Sgt. Todd's emotionless stare with the over the top insanity from Sgt. Scott? He'd be crazy enough to put the fear of god in you, and you probably wouldn't question his orders.
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• Master Chief from Halo: As another genetically engineered super soldier, Master Chief is already tough under his hardened battle armor, and he'd be the perfect man to throw at groups of invading aliens for some brute force action. Plus he seems to have an endless supply of lives on-hand, which could come in handy.
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• Mandalorian Supercommando Jango Fett from Star Wars: Jango Fett was so tough and feared that they eventually engineered an entire clone army of soldiers from his DNA. He could go toe to toe with Jedi Knights and survive (for the most part), although his clones didn't seem to be able to shoot that straight. He's handy to have around to serve as every member of the squad in case you lose someone.
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• Pvt. First Class Jenette Vasquez from Aliens: Vasquez was tougher than every man on her squad in Aliens, proving that she could trade bullets with the best of them. She lugged around a giant M56 Smart Gun, and she wasn't afraid to get down, dirty, and up close with a pistol. Plus, women in uniform who kick as much ass as she does are just hot.
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• Colonial Fleet Ensign Samuel Anders from Battlestar Galactica: As a former star Pyramid player for the Caprica Buccaneers, Anders has the moves and the stamina to pull off flanking maneuvers and keep going when the going gets tough. He's also just found out he's a Cylon, and I'm sure that means he has other capabilities as well. Of course, he might murder you in your sleep too.
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• Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart from Doctor Who: As the leader of U.N.I.T. (United Nations Intelligence Taskforce), he's used to handling strange situations and issuing commands under pressure. From his dealings with the Doctor, he's also used to seeing a lot of really strange shit, so he'd be cool and calm while time-traveling wraiths try to invade. Also, he probably makes a darn good cup of tea.

• Thanks to Finite_Elephant for suggesting this triviagasm. Got other ideas? Let us have 'em!

The Mist marks the fourth time that director Frank Darabont has turned one of prolific horror writer Stephen King's short stories into a film, and you think he'd have it down to an art form after directing The Shawshank Redemption and The Green Mile. However The Mist represents a rare misstep for the Darabont/King moviemaking machine, though it does make for good grossout eye candy.

The film centers around David Drayton (Thomas Jane), who lives with his wife Stephanie and 11-year-old son Billy in a small Maine town and makes his living painting movie posters for Hollywood. During the opening scene, there's a self-referential nod as Drayton appears to be painting a poster for King's series The Dark Towers, complete with Clint Eastwood as Roland of Gilead. When Stephen King movies start having in-joke nods to other Stephen King books, we hear the faint revving sounds of a motorcycle preparing to jump a shark somewhere.

A storm hits that night, smashing through David's studio window and wreaking general havoc. Just before he and some neighbors head into town to get supplies, they notice a thick white mist spilling over the lake from the direction of the nearby Army base. And as they drive to town, they encounter several Army vehicles leaving at high speed in the opposite direction. After getting trapped in a mist-surrounded grocery store with all the phones out and hazy giant things bashing on the doors, the guys start to get the idea that maybe something's gone wrong over at the old Army base.

The film (just like the novella) then devolves into a fire and brimstone battle in the grocery store, with Mrs. Carmody (Marcia Gay Harden) calling this the "end of days" and telling everyone that god is raining down his retribution upon them. True, she sounds like a nutjob at first, but that first night enormous bugs begin landing on the glass windows, and it isn't much longer before giant pterodactyl-like creatures smash their way in and people start getting picked off left and right.

After they fight off this invasion, more and more people start believing Mrs. Carmody, and soon she is running the whole show, except for David and his lone band of holdouts. For a moment, the film hovers between fantasy and science fiction — will it turn out that this is a Satanic invasion, like in that forgettable movie with Hilary Swank? Finally, we discover that this isn't a supernatural occurrence after all. A bawling army private (Sam Witwer) confesses to Mrs. Carmody that the scientists at the army base were building a window into other dimensions, and that something must have gone wrong. Score one for science.

In an interesting move, Garabont makes us believe that Mrs. Carmody and her bible-beating are more dangerous than whatever awaits our heroes outside in the mist. Trapped between an evangelical and a bunch of Cthulhu creatures, David chooses monsters. We won't spoil the ending here, but it is very different than the one in the novella.

The main problem with the film is that the it is very clumsy and heavy-handed at times, clunking you over the head with an onslaught of stereotypes: the religious woman, the country bumpkins, the young lover, the "good father" and so on. Readers of King's fiction will already be familiar with these characters, but the introduction of multiple characters all in the same setting jumbles everything together. Plus the film's claustrophobic setting inside the store requires more complex characters to keep us watching. You soon find yourself longing for anyone to run outside and get eaten, just for a change of scenery.

Very Important Monster Rating: The larger monsters aren't displayed in very much detail, although there are plenty of closeups with the smaller ones. We would have loved a couple of solid looks at some of those big suckers.