Hitting the Books: What exactly did Jodi Foster hear in 'Contact'?

Art may imitate life but it rarely does so with realistic fidelity. As Naomi Pequette, Space Science Programs Specialist at the Denver Museum of Nature and Science, argues in her essay "The Sounds of Contact" as part of The Science if Sci-Fi Cinema: Essays on the Art and Principles of Ten Films, being "based on a true story" doesn't exactly mean we're getting the whole story. McFarlandFrom The Science of Sci-Fi Cinema: Essays on the Art and Principles of Ten Films © 2021 Edited by Vincent Piturro by permission of McFarland & Company, Inc., Box 611, Jefferson NC 28640.How would you react if you found out we aren’t alone in the universe? Imagine the moment you discover a radio signal from another civilization had traveled billions of miles through interstellar space, had been detected by some of the most powerful radio telescopes in the world, and decoded by scientists. Would it matter if it was first detected by scientists from your home country? Would the content of the signal matter? Would you want the chance to be able to meet the alien civilization that sent the signal? These are all questions that the movie Contact explores.The opening sequence of Contact sets the scientific basis for the rest of the film. As the camera travels away from Earth, the audience hears a cacophony of sounds. These sounds, which are radio and television signals traveling out into space, get older and older as we zoom past planets and asteroids. Eventually there is silence as the audience... Continue reading at 'Engadget'

[ Engadget | 2021-09-04 15:30:43 UTC ]
News tagged with: #central theme #literally millions #science fiction

Other Publishing stories related to: 'Hitting the Books: What exactly did Jodi Foster hear in 'Contact'?'


Hitting the Books: What exactly did Jodi Foster hear in 'Contact'?

Art may imitate life but it rarely does so with realistic fidelity. As Naomi Pequette, Space Science Programs Specialist at the Denver Museum of Nature and Science, argues in her essay "The Sounds of Contact" as part of The Science if Sci-Fi Cinema: Essays on the Art and Principles of Ten Films,... Continue reading at Engadget

[ Engadget | 2021-09-04 15:30:43 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #central theme #literally millions #science fiction


iBooks Bestsellers: A Book Editor's Book Hits #1

Audiences have moved toward fun fiction and away from furious facts as Michael Wolff's 'Fire and Fury' takes a tumble to #3 on the iBooks list, while 'The Woman in the Window' by A.J. Finn—a book editor who now writes thrillers under a pen name—takes the #1 slot. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2018-01-25 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #ibooks bestsellers #book editor #michael wolff #ibooks list ##1 slot


London Book Fair 2017: Bigger Crowds, Optimism as London Book Fair Hits Its Stride

Surging visitor numbers and a weaker pound have buoyed spirits at a busy 2017 London Book Fair. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2017-03-15 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #weaker pound


‘We didn’t expect this phenomenon to last’: France’s comic-book tradition is hitting new heights

The market for bédé visual storytelling almost doubled over the course of the pandemic, but can the birthplace of Asterix continue to nurture creators?Like thousands of French people, Sylvie Pinault discovered comic books during the pandemic. Though bandes dessinées – literally meaning “drawn... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2024-02-06 14:00:36 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #big publishers #graphic novel


After Hearing, Court Set to Decide Fate of Iowa LGBTQ Book Banning Law

A federal judge is set to rule before the end of the year on two lawsuits seeking to block a controversial new Iowa law, SF 496, that would ban books with sexual content from Iowa classrooms and school libraries. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2023-12-22 05:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #federal judge #iowa law #ban books #sexual content #school libraries


Fifth Circuit Hears Appeal of Texas Book Rating Law

At a 45-minute hearing on November 29, lawyers for a coalition of plaintiff booksellers and publishing industry groups urged the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans to immediately lift an administrative stay that has allowed Texas's controversial book rating law to take effect despite... Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2023-11-29 05:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #circuit court #administrative stay #found unconstitutional #district court #publishing industry


Book Review: ‘Critical Hits,’ edited by J. Robert Lennon and Carmen Maria Machado

In the anthology “Critical Hits,” gamers like Hanif Abdurraqib, Alexander Chee and Larissa Pham explain what the medium means to them. Continue reading at The New York Times

[ The New York Times | 2023-11-20 10:00:28 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #book review #robert lennon #hanif abdurraqib #alexander chee #anthology


Hitting the Books: Voice-controlled AI copilots could lead to safer flights

Siri and Alexa were only the beginning. As voice recognition and speech synthesis technologies continue to mature, the days of typing on keyboards to interact with the digital world around us could be coming to an end — and sooner than many of us anticipated. Where... Continue reading at Engadget

[ Engadget | 2023-10-15 14:30:20 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #short supply


Appeals Court Lets Texas Book Rating Law Take Effect, Orders Expedited Hearing

The Fifth Circuit ordered an administrative stay to remain in place while an "expedited" appeals process plays out, effectively allowing Texas to enforce HB 900, the state's controversial book rating law, despite a district court finding it to be “a web of unconstitutionally vague requirements." Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2023-10-06 04:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #administrative stay


Hitting the Books: Meet Richard Arkwright, the world's first tech titan

You didn't actually believe all those founder's myths about tech billionaires like Bezos, Jobs and Musk pulling themselves up by their bootstraps from some suburban American garage, did you? In reality, our corporate kings have been running the same playbook since the 18th century when... Continue reading at Engadget

[ Engadget | 2023-09-11 20:50:45 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #company insists #independent contractors #endemic culture #automating cloth-making #founders aim #artificial intelligence


Hitting the Books: Meet Richard Akrwright, the world's first tech titan

You didn't actually believe all those founder's myths about tech billionaires like Bezos, Jobs and Musk pulling themselves up by their bootstraps from some suburban American garage, did you? In reality, our corporate kings have been running the same playbook since the 18th century when... Continue reading at Engadget

[ Engadget | 2023-09-10 14:30:56 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #company insists #independent contractors #endemic culture #automating cloth-making #founders aim #artificial intelligence


Judge Sets Second Hearing on Motion to Block Texas Book Rating Law

In the initial round of oral arguments over whether to block Texas's controversial book rating law, federal judge Alan D. Albright primarily challenged the state's position, and said he would issue a ruling before the law's September 1 effective date. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2023-08-21 04:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #oral arguments #block texas


Stakes Are High as Judge Hears Motion to Block Texas Book Rating Law

A federal judge in Texas is hearing oral arguments on a high stakes motion filed by a coalition of booksellers and book industry advocates to block the state’s controversial new book rating law from taking effect on September 1. Attorneys for the state of Texas are asking the court to dismiss... Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2023-08-18 04:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #federal judge #taking effect #book industry


Hitting the Books: Why AI won't be taking our cosmology jobs

The problem with studying the universe around us is that it is simply too big. The stars overhead remain too far away to interact with directly, so we are relegated to testing our theories on the formation of the galaxies based on observable data. Simulating these celestial bodies on computers... Continue reading at Engadget

[ Engadget | 2023-06-18 15:30:05 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #existing laws #bear fruit #quantum mechanics #penguin random house


Hitting the books: Why you shouldn't blog about asking a cop to go shopping for you

You get free stuff, you get free travel, you get the nifty cool title of "brand ambassador," what's not to love about being an internet influencer? There's the consequences, for one. Not even just the warranted consequences of your actual actions, mind you, but also those arriving unbidden based... Continue reading at Engadget

[ Engadget | 2023-06-11 14:30:57 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #ten minutes #devastating impact #penguin random house


Hitting the Books: Why we like bigger things better

We Americans love to have ourselves a big old time. It's not just our waistlines that have exploded outward since the post-WWII era. Our houses have grown larger, as have the appliances within them, the vehicles in their driveways, the income inequalities between ourselves and our neighbors, and... Continue reading at Engadget

[ Engadget | 2023-06-04 14:30:20 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #harpercollins


Hitting the Books: Renee Descartes had his best revelations while baked in an oven

Some of us do our best thinking in the shower, others do it while on the toilet. Renee Descartes, he pondered most deeply while ensconced in a baker's oven. The man simply needed to be convinced of the oven's existence before climbing in. Such are the quirks of the most monumental minds humanity... Continue reading at Engadget

[ Engadget | 2023-05-28 14:30:30 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #final act #great book


Hitting the Books: The abrupt and ignoble downfall of Sam Bankman-Fried

Seemingly overnight, Sam Bankman-Fried, the founder of FTX, went from cryptocurrency wunderkind to wanted for questioning by the FBI. After years of unfettered success, the walls of SBF's blockchain empire came crumbling down around him as his tricky financial feats failed and his generalized... Continue reading at Engadget

[ Engadget | 2023-05-14 14:30:33 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #dire straits #york magazine #ebooks


Illustrated children’s biography of King Charles hits No 1 on UK book chart

Maria Isabel Sánchez Vegara’s book, illustrated by Matt Hunt, is the first of the Little People, Big Dreams series to top the standingsA children’s biography of King Charles III has topped the UK book chart before the coronation on 6 May.Maria Isabel Sánchez Vegara’s King Charles is part of the... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2023-05-05 09:57:25 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #illustrated children #king charles #stephen hawking #michelle obama #uk book


Hitting the Books: Sputnik's radio tech launched a revolution in bird migration research

"Birds fly South for the winter and North for the summer," has historically proven to be only slightly less reliable a maxim than the sun always rising in the East and setting in the West. Humanity has been fascinated by the comings and goings of our avian neighbors for millennia, but the why's... Continue reading at Engadget

[ Engadget | 2023-04-02 14:30:53 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #balancing act #spare room #harpercollins