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Carl Sagan Appreciation Thread
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| midtskogen | Date: Monday, 24.03.2014, 17:48 | Message # 136 |
 Star Engineer
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| I just watched the second episode. I found it ok, but pretty shallow. I missed something specifically on the first 85% of the history of life on Earth, before the Cambrian explosion. Explaining what happened after seems to me more as a no-brainer once life had got that far. I find the trigger of the Cambrian explosion perhaps a greater achievement of evolution than the evolution from that to human intelligence. It might not be a coincidence that it took more time to get that trigger. What if life is somewhat common in the universe (it didn't take much time on Earth to establish itself) and Cambrian explosions are extremely rare... If life can exist pretty anonymously for 3 billion years, it's not a stretch to imagine extraterrestial life two or three times as old yet no more advanced than on Earth a billion years ago.
The suggestion that life might exist in Titan's lakes is speculative. And so was the speculation on multiverses in the first episode. While these things certainly are conceivable, I think they belong to science fiction. These ideas strike me as things that we can say more because of lack of knowledge than because of firm knowledge.
NIL DIFFICILE VOLENTI
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| Solaris | Date: Saturday, 19.04.2014, 00:48 | Message # 137 |
 World Builder
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France
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| I've recently read a article of Sasha Sagan about her father where I learned the existence of the Seth MacFarlane Collection of Carl Sagan and Ann Druyan Archive.
Photos, videos (home movies of childhood), Audio Recordings, notes, several essays and papers, letters (correspondance with Neil degrasse Tyson), SF novels drafts, Full manuscript draft of Contact, Idea for Contact video game, draft script for Cosmos episodes, Birthday letter to Chuck Berry, and so on.
All that in the Library of Congress website : http://www.loc.gov/search/?q=carl+sagan
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| midtskogen | Date: Saturday, 19.04.2014, 06:44 | Message # 138 |
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Star Engineer
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Norway
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| What do people think of the most recent episodes of Cosmos? I think they cover good topics and I like the historical references which are in the spirit of the original series. What I don't like is that I think the history is too simplified bordering to inaccurate, and too much time is spent on speculation in the borderlands of metaphysics.
NIL DIFFICILE VOLENTI
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| Rhysy27 | Date: Friday, 16.05.2014, 13:41 | Message # 139 |
 Space Tourist
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| I really love this quote of his! Has a strong message.
"It is far better to grasp the universe as it really is than to persist in delusion, however satisfying and reassuring." - Carl Sagan
Edited by Rhysy27 - Saturday, 31.05.2014, 20:13 |
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| HarbingerDawn | Date: Thursday, 05.06.2014, 21:31 | Message # 140 |
 Cosmic Curator
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United States
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| ...season finale?
All forum users, please read this!
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| DoctorOfSpace | Date: Thursday, 05.06.2014, 21:51 | Message # 141 |
 Galaxy Architect
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| Cosmos season/part 3 will obviously be in the 2040s.
Unless Fox saw how much money they could make off of it, then we will probably get a recurring series.
This is unlikely
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| Destructor1701 | Date: Friday, 06.06.2014, 03:01 | Message # 142 |
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Pioneer
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| I've enjoyed the series, but I feel like there's been a distinct lack of space stuff - most of the episodes have covered universal phenomena principally on Earth.
I understand the reasoning - reaching out to the fundies and the uneducated necessitates reaching out from familiar surroundings.
It's just a little disappointing that when they take a foray into space, it's usually to illustrate some point about the Earth-bound science history they're explaining. Often times, they gloss over the awesome nitty gritty and focus on misleading or vapid visuals.
In particular, I felt the black hole and FTL Motorcycle sequences suffered from too much art and not enough science - as if the CG artists didn't understand/research the brief.
Edited by Destructor1701 - Friday, 06.06.2014, 03:02 |
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| midtskogen | Date: Friday, 06.06.2014, 10:49 | Message # 143 |
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Star Engineer
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Norway
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| I think it's been a fair balance space and earth. The series never intended to concentrate on space, but rather on broader science.
It's been enjoyable to watch. I like the historical aspect, though I think the series has been a bit too eager digging up early ideas of later discoveries more or less stumbled upon, before there was much scientific evidence. I also liked the approach of taking time to address irrational belief, though somewhat too extensively at times, but it missed a big opportunity in the AGW episode not promoting the possibilities of nuclear power and dealing with the irrational beliefs attached to it. The series then had itself become victim of being trapped in the contemporary mindset, which it frequently had used to explain why the obvious (in hindsight) previously through history was slow to catch on.
I think it could have spent more time on the human caused extinction and evolution now taking place, which likely will rank among the major ones in Earth's geological history. Discussing the effects of how humans have populated and transformed the planet. This stuff gets too overshadowed by concerns about relatively minute changes in the climate, in my opinion.
NIL DIFFICILE VOLENTI
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| DoctorOfSpace | Date: Monday, 09.06.2014, 03:00 | Message # 144 |
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Galaxy Architect
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| Cosmos series 2 had a pretty nice ending. Now to wait another 30+ years.
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| Rhysy27 | Date: Tuesday, 10.06.2014, 21:14 | Message # 145 |
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Space Tourist
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| So I finally caught up with the last 2 episodes of Cosmos! That finale! I've enjoyed this new series so much and it's a great look back at the legacy that is Carl Sagan. When I heard Sagan's voice convey his Pale Blue Dot speech I had emotions rush through me :') Overall I have been extremely happy with it! A great, touching ending that puts across an awesome message!
"It is far better to grasp the universe as it really is than to persist in delusion, however satisfying and reassuring." - Carl Sagan
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| Destructor1701 | Date: Thursday, 12.06.2014, 00:42 | Message # 146 |
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Pioneer
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| I know what you mean. This show has put tears on my cheeks in strange new ways (usually through sheer power of mind-blowing), but that Pale Blue Dot speech - so crisp and clear it was like he was sitting beside me! - that slayed me in a very normal, very traditional way - nostalgia and overwhelming sentiment.
I would have loved to have seen Carl's dandelion seed Spaceship Of The Imagination, but alas it never happened.
So I threw this image together:
I modeled the Spaceship Of the Imagination (very roughly) in 3DS Max, and took screenshots in Space Engine for the background and reflection images. I included HarbingerDawn's Spaceship Of The Imagination - the Carl Sagan original SSOTI - in the reflection map.
Then I took the rendered image into Photoshop to add grain, vignette, chromatic aberration, and lens effects. I also used photoshop to add a barely-visible Neil DeGrasse Tyson behind the glass, gazing out at the return of his mentor's vessel.
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| HarbingerDawn | Date: Thursday, 12.06.2014, 11:11 | Message # 147 |
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Cosmic Curator
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| I like it a lot. It has good emotional presence in addition to the nice visuals. Good job.
All forum users, please read this!
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| Destructor1701 | Date: Friday, 13.06.2014, 06:12 | Message # 148 |
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Pioneer
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| Thanks, man!
It is the best thing I have yet modelled in 3dsMAX. That's not saying much, though - and it's a pretty poor facsimile of the ship from the show, but it gets the job done.
Your Sagan ship lends the picture a lot of authenticity - that was a stroke of genius to release that!
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| DoctorOfSpace | Date: Friday, 13.06.2014, 08:39 | Message # 149 |
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Galaxy Architect
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| I think you did a nice job with the model. If only SE actually supported reflections you could release it 
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| Destructor1701 | Date: Wednesday, 18.06.2014, 00:10 | Message # 150 |
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Pioneer
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| Cheers, dude - if only...
Actually, it's very poorly modeled, and very inncaccurate. I masked a lot of its shortcomings with the meshsmooth modifier, lens effects, and a little Photoshop tweaking.
I have a much more accurate version in the works now, but I keep getting frustrated with Max - it's so damn complicated, and all the names for things are completely unintuitive!
Edited by Destructor1701 - Wednesday, 18.06.2014, 00:11 |
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