[The Next Side via Super Punch]

The worms aboard the current Atlantis mission, which launched on Monday, hail from Britain's University of Nottingham, where biologists hope to use their tiny lab subjects to gain insight into the ways that muscles develop and atrophy. Though the worm-testing will take place in zero gravity, it has applications here on the homeworld: people who are bedridden, or who have muscular dystrophy or diabetes, are among those who stand to benefit from this week's research.

The batch of worms currently orbiting Earth started life in a Bristol garbage dump. Given such humble origins, you'd never guess their prominence in modern science. The worms are Caenorhabditis elegans nematodes, a species prized for its archetypal genetic structure and often used in far-reaching experiments. In 1998, for example, C. elegans became the first multicellular organism to have its genome fully sequenced.

Part of the reason C. elegans was included in the current mission is its impressive NASA resume. In 2003, the shuttle Columbia broke apart during re-entry after a sixteen-day expedition, resulting in the deaths of all seven crew members. Some time later, a colony of C. elegans that had been on board was found in the crashed wreckage, alive and well.

The worms are just one part of a busy biology week at the International Space Station, where Atlantis is currently docked. A "Butterflies in Space" program will follow the development of a group of caterpillars that went up on the latest flight, and another set of experiments on the cambium tissue in a sampling of Canadian willows will explore how trees grow in microgravity. It's all important work, although you could argue that until we figure out whether ants can be trained to sort tiny screws in space, we haven't really learned anything.

To celebrate the final passing of SGA the Sci Fi Channel is running a week long marathon.

Monday:

The Stargate Atlantis marathon takes flight on Monday, beginning with Season 2 from 8 AM until 4 PM on the Sci Fi Channel.

Movies:
Fox FX has a great selection o' scifi tonight. Watch urinary tracts get healed with the mere wave of an inmate's hand in The Green Mile at 4:30 PM, followed with the rather unfortunate The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen at 8 PM. To top it all off, there is an 11 PM showing of Spawn.

Tuesday:

Stargate Atlantis Season 2 and 3 Marathon on the Sci Fi Channel from 8 AM until 6 PM.

The Universe -

Find out your chances for getting crushed by a world-ending asteroid here on Earth, in this week's The Universe on The History Channel at 9 PM.

Movies:

A three-and-a-half-hour version of Superman Returns is on FX in HD, at 6:30 PM

Wednesday:

Stargate Atlantis Season 3 Marathon on the Sci Fi Channel from 8 AM until 6 PM

Thursday:

Stargate Atlantis Season 3 and 5 Marathon on the Sci Fi Channel from 8 AM until 8 PM.

Movies:

The sexiest video game vixen, Lara Croft, comes to life via Angelina Jolie in Lara Croft Tomb Raider: The Cradle Of Life on TBS at 10 PM. How insanely hot would it be to have a Resident Evil Alice-versus-Lara Croft fight, and who would win? (It would have to be Alice from the first movie to keep it interesting.)

Friday:

Stargate Atlantis Season 5 is on the Sci Fi Channel from 8 AM until 6 PM.

Stargate Atlantis -
The final episode of Stargate Atlantis "Enemy At The Gate" brings a lot of old faces back to Atlantis to try and stop an invading Wraith Hive from getting into the Milky Way Galaxy and taking over Earth. Team up, SGA and make us proud, this is your last episode ever...until the made for TV movies sometime in the future.

Clips From The Final Episode Of Stargate Atlantis:














SGA Promo:





Batman The Brave And The Bold -
"Enter The Outsiders" pits Batman against a bunch of punk kids, and Wildcat comes along for the ride. The cartoon is on 8 PM on the Cartoon Network

Star Wars Clone Wars -
"The Gungan General" is a Jar Jar Binks-centric episode, mixed with a little chain gang runaway action. Hey, at least Obi-Wan is as unhappy about being around Jar Jar as I am. The next episode is on 9 PM on the Cartoon Network.

Clone Wars Promo





Sanctuary -

This week on the Amanda Tapping-and-monsters show, it's the second part of the "Revelations" two-parter, where Henry and Ashley are held captive by the evil Cabal. Find out if they make it out alive at 9 PM on the Sci Fi Channel.

Saturday:

Movies:

Adam Sandler in a gimmick movie — say what? Click the movie where Christopher Walken hands Sandler a remote control to his LIFE, which of course teaches us all a valuable lesson about something or another. Click is on Fox FX at 5:30 PM.

Here's A Trailer With Kate Beckinsale In Tiny Shorts:





But if that's not heartstringy enough for you. ABC family is showing Practical Magic at 8:30 PM. It's full of midnight all-girl margarita table dancing madness, and witch women Sandra Bullock and Nicole Kidman. I think it's like a rule from the 90s that if you made a movie with a predominantly female cast, you had to have a scene where they all danced around a table.





Sunday:

Movies: Let Wesley Snipes show you how it's possible for vampires to walk in the daylight and get hideous hair cuts. Blade II and Blade Trinity is on TNT at 3:30 and 5:30 PM.

If there is a scifi god/overlord looking out for us all it will let The Sopranos' Frank Vincent and Steve Schirripa unleash lots of fists and fury on the Wraith in this episode. In this murder mystery, Sheppard is sent to Vegas as a detective and apparently has to play a card game with Todd Brunson (pro card player and Doyle Brunson's son), Stargate composer Joel Goldsmith, and some execs.

But more importantly, Vegas is going to have some Sopranos stars in this episode. So when the Wraith starts feeding on the Vegas masses, does this mean that Leotardo can order a hit on the white haired aliens? I really hope so — SGA needs a taste of incredibly brutal violence.

"Vegas" airs January 2, 2009 on the Sci Fi Channel.

DC Executive Editor Dan Didio explained what he sees as "the Aquaman problem" to the LA Times' Geoff Boucher:

There have been so many twists and turns [in how we portray the character]. It's left the character confused; we try to build a strong foundation for the characters and Aquaman does not have that right now. We have to get him back to a core conceit so we can build him back up again. We need to build on what is recognizable and draw people back in. And everybody wants to try to take on the character. I have a running joke: In all my dinners with the talent at conventions, I get three or four writers who will lean into me and say, 'I know how to fix Aquaman.' Everybody says that. It's become a cause célèbre. It's a running joke but, really, it's not a joke because I know people do love the character. We're going to be very cautious from this point forward because I want to make sure it's perfect. I don't want to add to the confusion when we take another pass at him.

It's true; depending on how old you are, Aquaman is either Arthur Curry, son of a lighthouse keeper and a mermaid who likes to wear an orange sweater and green tights, or he's Orin, son of the Queen of Atlantis and a mysterious wizard who may or may not be the god of the sea, who happens to be missing a hand but has a scary-ass hook there instead... or, perhaps, he's Arthur Joseph Curry, the premature son of two humans who - because of a freak accident - can breathe water and happens to have some of Orin's soul attached to him, magically. Or something.

You may be beginning to see DiDio's problem. And, yet, I don't think that that's really "the Aquaman problem," but a symptom of it. The real Aquaman problem is that... well, everyone thinks that he sucks.

Admittedly, that whole "He talks to fish and can swim really fast" thing doesn't help his case; we all dig Michael Phelps - who, interestingly enough, can also talk to fish, although he likes to keep that quiet - but no-one really wants to see him in tights fighting crime, you know? The potential of Aquaman is entirely lost on his potential audience, leaving him open to be the butt of jokes on Entourage and having his show cancelled out from underneath him before it was even broadcast on the CW. But here's the thing: Aquaman should be awesome.

No, really; no matter what version of Aquaman you want to look at - and, to be honest, my personal preference is that Atlantean Royalty one with the hook - there's all kinds of potential there. You could go all-out mystical with the "lost civilizations under the sea" angle, you could go scientific exploration considering how little we know what's going on in 70% of the planet. You could point out that, in order to be able to swim in the depths of the oceans, Aquaman has to be pretty strong, and that his sight must also be pretty keen to be able to make out things in all that murk. Add that to his telepathy, and he's a one-man X-Men... one that could, if you so choose, be at the very least a Prince of Atlantis. There's so much potential in the Aquaman concept, whichever one you choose, that it should be impossible to fail. There's just one thing that you'd have to do to make it work; one essential thing: Lose the name.

There is, sadly, no way to get around it. "Aquaman" not only has such a weight of bad expectations and failure around it, but it's also, let's face it, a kind of shitty name. It doesn't have the iconic effect of "Superman" or "Batman," it's missing the descriptive qualities of a "Spider-Man," and the pizzaz of "The Flash." Who'd call himself "Aquaman" in this day and age? Someone who's sponsored by Aquafina? It just doesn't work anymore, so ditch it. Keep everything else - the backstory (or backstories), the powers, even the costume if you have to - the same, but give it another name, and just you wait; he'll be swimming to success in no time.

And if you can get Michael Phelps to play him in the movie, that wouldn't hurt, either.

Monday:

Riley and John take a not-so-joyful ride to Mexico, — and Sarah gets some much needed face time with James Ellison. Will we finally get from Ellison answers? Plus the promos are promising that tonight will be one character's "last stand." Who will it be? SCC is on Fox at 8 PM.

Sarah Connor Chronicles Promo:

And here's a clip with commentary:

Find out why everyone hates Arthur Petrelli, and what's the deal with the whole Pinehearst nonsense. Hiro travels back in time hopefully to tie some of our lose over at NBC's Heroes at 9 PM.

Heroes Promos:

Heroes Clips:

What happens when you've got split personalities due to a government implanted brain chip that switches you from murderous secret agent to suburban dad right in the middle of gunfire? Sounds like just another silly, yet predictable, predicament for My Own Worst Enemy's Christian Slater on NBC at 10 PM.

My Own Worst Enemy Promo:

NBC's mop headed hero, Chuck, has to fight off his old demons aka, the ex. Watch as hot spy lady gets all sorts of pissed this week at 8 PM.

Chuck Promo:

Preview clips:

Get your end of the world hottie anime lady fix over at the Sci Fi Channel with three back-to-back episodes of Gurren Lagann starting at 11PM.

Movies:

Who you gonna call...again? Ghostbusters 2 on Bravo and 10 and later at 12:30 PM tonight.

Tuesday:

Hooray, Fringe is back on Fox at 9 PM. This week, a parasite is taking over the bodies of FBI agents, Olivia has to go to Germany (hopefully she'll pick up a little personality while overseas) and Walter Bishop and his boy Peter try to jump start a dead guy's brain.

Fringe Promo:

Tonight is the premiere of the Sci Fi Channel "science fiction reality TV show," Cha$e where the contestants travel across a giant board game ad are constantly hunted down by hunters. The new game show airs at 10 PM.

Movies:

Enjoy our favorite web slinger's adventures, before they were ruined with bad hair and equally bad dancing techniques. Spider-Man 2 is on over at FX at 4 PM.

Wednesday:

Still no new Pushing Daisies this week.

No Knight Rider this week, either.

Thursday:

Poor Chloe — Brainiac erased all her memories, and now the only person she remembers is dreamy Sam Witwer who is also Doomsday. Why does everyone pick on Chloe? Is it because it's fun to torture her? Smallville's "The Abyss" is on the CW at 8 PM

Smallville Promo:

Smallville Clip:

This week, our favorite hot brothers who follow scary stuff, Dean and Sam, find a girl who talks to angels and they have to protect her from a demon. Catch Supernatural over at the CW at 9 PM.

Supernatural Clips:

A hostage situation pins time-traveling cop Sam Tyler against a crazed gunman. Plus, Sam's starting to get phone calls from 2008, but he's still stuck in the past. Life On Mars is on 10 PM at ABC.

Life On Mars Promo:

Hood finds a frozen body on a warm beach and it won't thaw, no matter what. Will wonders never cease on the Eleventh Hour? The science-investigation series is on CBS at 10 PM.

Friday:

Over at Cartoon Network, the conclusion of the two part droid-centric Clone Wars storyline comes to a close. Will Anakin and Ahsoka rescue R2 from the clutches of General Grievous? The Clone Wars is on at 9 PM.

Clone Wars Promo:

The Stargate Atlantis crew has to rally around Woolsey, or lose their "play by the rules" boss forever. It's performance evaluation time, people — look busy. The latest SGA airs on the Sci Fi Channel at 9 PM.

Stargate Atlantis Promo:

Genius kiddies are being kidnapped on Ben 10: Alien Force. It's up to Ben to stop them from building their mystery arch. The new episode airs on Cartoon Network at 9:30 PM.

Sanctuary field trip! Mangus goes to Rome to attend a top secret abnormals meeting. The monster goodness starts at 10 PM on the Sci Fi Channel.

Movies:

Hum along with your favorite aliens, and watch Close Encounters Of The Third Kind on AMC at 5 PM.

Don't like aliens? Fine, right afterwards is the badass demon-killer Constantine and his super awesome tattoo powers at 8 PM on AMC.

Saturday:

Movies:

It's a long Andromeda Strain fest over at A&E at 8 and 10 PM then later at 12 AM.

But if the strain doesn't tickle your fancy, Cartoon Network has the direct-to-DVD movie Superman/Doomsday at 9 PM.

Sunday:

Vampire justice is dealt on this weeks True Blood. Now that Bill is in big trouble for his Sookie obsession (and killing another vamp) it's his turn for a beating. Oh, and of course Sookie is being all sorts of ridiculous because she just can't handle not being the center of attention for more than five seconds.

Tonight is the night! We've been waiting for the Robot Chicken Star Wars spoof forever, and finally tonight we'll get our fix of ridiculous stop animation humor loaded with geek-only humor. Robot Chicken: Star Wars Episode II is on the Cartoon Network at 11:30 PM, here's a clip that aired on Joel McHale's equally as funny show The Soup, (oh and yes that's Seth MacFarlane as Emperor Palpatine).

Movies:

Get double the dose of Christopher Lloyd — first, as a zany alien with Jeff Daniels on WGN at 3 PM in My Favorite Martian, and later, as the mad scientist who builds a time traveling DeLorean in Back To The Future on Encore at 8 PM.

The history of ocean civilizations isn't particularly bright, but it is remarkable just how many ways people can think of building on the ocean.

What and Where?: Sealand, a platform off Suffolk, England.
What Was The Inspiration? A small abandoned military base after WWII, Sealand was situated in international waters. Former English major Paddy Roy Bates occupied the island and won the resulting legal case in a British court. He named himself King and his son Prince, and the nation-state went on from there. An independent company, HavenCo, invested in Sealand but pulled out shortly thereafter, citing fraud. Their business plan currently consists of trying to get bought by a major tech company.
Why Did It Fail?: Constitutional monarchy may not be the worst form of government, but this micronation was doomed by its size: it is so tiny as to be dependent on the goodwill of other nations. Still, Sealand was certainly the most successful of these projects at establishing sovereignty.

What and Where? The Minerva Reefs, an artificial island south of Tonga
What Was The Inspiration?: Las Vegas real estate magnate Michael Oliver tried building an artificial island in the early seventies by building up sand on a reef as part of a micronation that would be a libertarian paradise. The reefs were submerged at high tide, but it was thought if properly built up they would remain above sea-level.
Why Did It Fail?: Like other sea mounts, the Minerva Reefs came under the jurisdiction of neighboring nations, including hostiles from Tonga. Unwilling to fight, the project was abandoned. In 2003 a new movement of Minervans arose with...a website. As of 2005, Tonga and Fiji were still squabbling over the area.

What and Where? Oceania, an independent horseshore-shaped harbor in the Carribbean.
What Was The Reason? A hopeful libertarian Eric Klien and architect Jim Albea conceived of Oceania in early 1993 after a botched election in Nevada soured them on the U.S. The proposed images inspired the Seasteading Institute's co-founder Wayne Gramlich.
Why Did It Fail? Their website admits "the project ended due to lack of interest in April of 1994," and with an anarcho-capitalist focus, it was only likely to attract a certain type of person – a problem the Seastanding Institute will also be dealing with. Oceania founder Klien is onto a new project called The Lifeboat Foundation that looks to build a nanoshield and otherwise preserve the existence of humanity.

What and Where?: New Utopia, a chain of proposed 'islands' on concrete platforms near the Caymans.
What Was The Inspiration?: The concept's inventor is Howard Turney, who identified himself as Prince Lazarus Long and was prosecuted by the SEC for selling national bonds for $1500 each. Prince Lazarus also attempted to sue one of the people he had worked with for $10 billion, and it's really not a good idea to burn bridges when you're on a seafaring utopia.
Why Did It Fail?: New Utopia has a functioning website and per Prince Lazarus Long is still open for donations, but detailed illustrations of what might have been are about all this project has left. Yes, this project has no chance of being realized, but Friedman summarizes the larger problem presented by New Utopia and the Minerva Reef, saying, "We are very doubtful that any sea mount raised above surface level will remain unclaimed by the existing sovereign nations for very long."

What and Where?: Freedom Ship would circle the globe and stop at international ports of call.
What Was The Inspiration?: CEO Norman Nixon started the project in the late 1990s with the idea of it housing 30,000 people. Visions of a massive population that would make it a full-time cruise ship abound, and appear to have no basis in reality. At one point Nixon openly suggested the project would cost over $10 billion.
Why Did It Fail?: It hasn't entirely flopped yet, but come on. With unrealistic expectations of a casino, a hotel and a full-on commercial district, the Freedom Ship is simply too massive a plan to sustain itself. They have, on the other hand, built a 400 pound model.

In Patri Friedman's proposal for the Ephemerisle, he hopes to learn from the stalled and non-existent projects of the past:

I think that these projects all suffered from too much ambition. They attempted to tackle a difficult problem all at once, rather than dividing it into realistically small pieces. Realistically small, for a country, may not merely mean space, it may also mean time. Rather than attempting to solve the paradox of finding good land that no government wants, or the thorny engineering problems of building economical barge-cities or floating platforms, I propose the Ephemerisle: a temporary, autonomous, anarcho-capitalist community in international waters.

How to Build Your Own Sea-Based Country for Fun and Profit [Gizmodo]

So it was no huge surprise that Dr. Jennifer Keller and Dr. Rodney McKay were going to start taking their flirting to a whole new level this season, I just didn't know it would break my heart to see them flirt so. Take care of him Keller, McKay is a jewel. Producer Joseph Malozzi included some pictures from the set of "Brain Storm" where Keller and McKay flirt and mingle amongst the brainiest of science minds including one Bill Nye the Science Guy and Neil deGrasse Tyson, very cool Atlantis.

Also it appears as if Kids In The Hall alum Dave Foley will have a little cameo in the "Brain Storm" episode. Classic. If this is what happens when Atlantis lets Gero direct, I say let's put him in the director's chair more often.

[Joseph Mallozzi]

Speaking at World Environment Day last week in Wellington, New Zealand, Tong issued the most stark plea yet that humanity figure out a way to stop global warming, arguing that it may be too late to save his country, whose highest point is only 2 meters above sea level.

"I am not a scientist but what I know is that things are happening we did not experience in the past," Tong said.

"We may be beyond redemption, we may be at the point of no return where the emissions in the atmosphere will carry on to contribute to climate change to produce a sea-level change that in time our small low-lying islands will be submerged," he said.

"Villages that have been there over the decades, maybe a century, and now they have to be relocated.

"Where they have been living over the past few decades is no longer there, it is being eroded."

He said at international meetings others had argued that measures to combat climate change would hurt their countries' economic development.

"In frustration, I said, 'No, it's not an issue of economic growth, it's an issue of human survival.'"

When a hurricane strikes, it's easy to say "oh, well we're not sure if global warming made that disaster worse, or what," and then go back to arguing over whether or not cutting carbon emissions is good for the economy. But when the president of a country says "my country is dying, and my people are condemned to become refugees because of this planetary disease," it might be time to stop worrying about making a buck.

Source: AFP