The Force is strong with Nucleus as we present one of our biggest tribute exhibitions yet in honor of one of the largest franchises in entertainment history. Star Wars first took the world by storm in 1977 with its modern special effects and spellbinding costumes and set designs. More than 3 decades later, the saga remains close to the hearts of Star Wars devotees, while captivating an entirely new generation of fans.
Nucleus welcomes a diverse group of talent to celebrate their favorite Star Wars characters and moments. Join us as our gallery is transformed into a galaxy far, far away with a collection of original works inspired by this saga in the stars.
List of featured artists:
Adam Matano, Alberto Cerriteño, Allen Williams, Ana Bagayan, Andy J. Miller, Annie Stegg, Anthony Francisco, Ben Butcher, Caitlin Hackett, Caroline Hadilaksono, Chris Murray, Christopher Lee, Cuddly Rigor Mortis, Cynthia Sheppard, Dan Matutina, Dan Santat, Dave Dorman, David Au, Dean Reeves, Edward Kinsella, Eric Diaz, Eric Velhagen, Glenn Kim, Hermann Mejia, Jackie Huang (Woolbuddy), Jake Parker, Jeff Victor, Jeremy Costello, Jeremy Wilson, Jessica Fortner, John Hendrix, John Malloy, John Wu, Joy Ang, Justin Gerard, Kassandra Heller, Kelly McKernan, Kristian Huitula, Liam Brazier, Liana Hee, Luke Pearson, Marcus Napuri, Mark Sperber, Mattias Adolfsson, Michal Wright-Ward, Michelle Romo, Nimit Malavia, Oliver Akuin, Patrick Awa, Paul Wee, Phil McAndrew, Robert Romanowicz, Shag, Stephan Martiniere, Stephanie Law, TADO and Victo Ngai.
Lamar Smith (R-TX) is the goon who brought SOPA to the nation. Now he's in charge of science funding in the House, and he's got some spectacularly stupid ideas for science as a whole.
Stuart sez, "The new chair of the House of Representatives science committee has drafted a bill that, in effect, would replace peer review at the National Science Foundation (NSF) with a set of funding criteria chosen by Congress. For good measure, it would also set in motion a process to determine whether the same criteria should be adopted by every other federal science agency."
Smith's request to NSF didn't sit well with the top Democrat on the science committee, Representative Eddie Bernice Johnson (D-TX). On Friday, she sent a blistering missive to Smith questioning his judgment and his motives.
"In the history of this committee, no chairman has ever put themselves forward as an expert in the science that underlies specific grant proposals funded by NSF," Johnson wrote in a letter obtained by ScienceInsider. "I have never seen a chairman decide to go after specific grants simply because the chairman does not believe them to be of high value."
In her letter, Johnson warns Smith that "the moment you compromise both the merit review process and the basic research mission of NSF is the moment you undo everything that has enabled NSF to contribute so profoundly to our national health, prosperity, and welfare." She asks him to "withdraw" his letter and offers to work with him "to identify a less destructive, but more effective, effort" to make sure NSF is meeting that mission.
KaleidoPope is an interactive site by Michael Silber that creates colorful kaleidoscopic papal images. Silber describes it as a “visual pun that’s compelling to engage with.”
In this video from 2012, Max (a cat who loves to ride Roomba vacuums) sits on top of one while wearing a shark costume and chases a duckling around the room. Look for a cameo by Sharky, a pit bull in a hammerhead shark costume. We’re pretty sure that this is why the internet was invented.
Some patients taking antiretroviral medications for HIV/AIDS receive the efavirenz, marketed under the commercial names Sustiva and Stocrin. According to a report in the LA Times by Melissa Healy, it has an "LSD-like interaction" with brain receptors governing serotonin activity.
That may explain why roughly half of patients taking efavirenz at the prescribed dose have reported neuropsychiatric side effects that include suicidal depression, night terrors, hallucinations, paranoia, psychosis and delusions. And it may also explain why efavirenz tablets are reportedly being ground up and smoked by drug abusers looking for a hallucinogenic high
In the 1930s journalists from publications like the New York Times and Time magazine would regularly visit Nikola Tesla at his home on the 20th floor of the Hotel Governor Clinton in Manhattan. There the elderly Tesla would regale them with stories of his early days as an inventor and often opined about what was in store for the future.
Last year we looked at Tesla’s prediction that eugenics and the forced sterilization of criminals and other supposed undesirables would somehow purify the human race by the year 2100. Today we have more from that particular article which appeared in the February 9, 1935, issue of Liberty magazine. The article is unique because it wasn’t conducted as a simple interview like so many of Tesla’s other media appearances from this time, but rather is credited as “by Nikola Tesla, as told to George Sylvester Viereck.”
It’s not clear where this particular article was written, but Tesla’s friendly relationship with Viereck leads me to believe it may not have been at his Manhattan hotel home. Interviews with Tesla at this time would usually occur at the Hotel, but Tesla would sometimes dine with Viereck and his family at Viereck’s home on Riverside Drive, meaning that it’s possible they could have written it there.
Viereck attached himself to many important people of his time, conducting interviews with such notable figures as Albert Einstein, Teddy Roosevelt and even Adolf Hitler. As a German-American living in New York, Viereck was a rather notorious propagandist for the Nazi regime and was tried and imprisoned in 1942 for failing to register with the U.S. government as such. He was released from prison in 1947, a few years after Tesla’s death in 1943. It’s not clear if they had remained friends after the government started to become concerned about Viereck’s activities in the late 1930s and early 1940s.
Tesla had interesting theories on religion, science and the nature of humanity which we’ll look at in a future post, but for the time being I’ve pulled some of the more interesting (and often accurate) predictions Tesla had for the future of the world.
Creation of the EPA
The creation of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) was still 35 years away, but Tesla predicted a similar agency’s creation within a hundred years.
Hygiene, physical culture will be recognized branches of education and government. The Secretary of Hygiene or Physical Culture will be far more important in the cabinet of the President of the United States who holds office in the year 2035 than the Secretary of War. The pollution of our beaches such as exists today around New York City will seem as unthinkable to our children and grandchildren as life without plumbing seems to us. Our water supply will be far more carefully supervised, and only a lunatic will drink unsterilized water.
Education, War and the Newspapers of Tomorrow
Tesla imagined a world where new scientific discoveries, rather than war, would become a priority for humanity.
Today the most civilized countries of the world spend a maximum of their income on war and a minimum on education. The twenty-first century will reverse this order. It will be more glorious to fight against ignorance than to die on the field of battle. The discovery of a new scientific truth will be more important than the squabbles of diplomats. Even the newspapers of our own day are beginning to treat scientific discoveries and the creation of fresh philosophical concepts as news. The newspapers of the twenty-first century will give a mere ” stick ” in the back pages to accounts of crime or political controversies, but will headline on the front pages the proclamation of a new scientific hypothesis.
Health and Diet
Toward the end of Tesla’s life he had developed strange theories about the optimal human diet. He dined on little more than milk and honey in his final days, believing that this was the purest form of food. Tesla lost an enormous amount of weight and was looking quite ghastly by the early 1940s. This meager diet and his gaunt appearance contributed to the common misconception that he was penniless at the end of his life.
More people die or grow sick from polluted water than from coffee, tea, tobacco, and other stimulants. I myself eschew all stimulants. I also practically abstain from meat. I am convinced that within a century coffee, tea, and tobacco will be no longer in vogue. Alcohol, however, will still be used. It is not a stimulant but a veritable elixir of life. The abolition of stimulants will not come about forcibly. It will simply be no longer fashionable to poison the system with harmful ingredients. Bernarr Macfadden has shown how it is possible to provide palatable food based upon natural products such as milk, honey, and wheat. I believe that the food which is served today in his penny restaurants will be the basis of epicurean meals in the smartest banquet halls of the twenty-first century.
There will be enough wheat and wheat products to feed the entire world, including the teeming millions of China and India, now chronically on the verge of starvation. The earth is bountiful, and where her bounty fails, nitrogen drawn from the air will refertilize her womb. I developed a process for this purpose in 1900. It was perfected fourteen years later under the stress of war by German chemists.
Robots
Tesla’s work in robotics began in the late 1890s when he patented his remote-controlled boat, an invention that absolutely stunned onlookers at the 1898 Electrical Exhibition at Madison Square Garden.
At present we suffer from the derangement of our civilization because we have not yet completely adjusted ourselves to the machine age. The solution of our problems does not lie in destroying but in mastering the machine.
Innumerable activities still performed by human hands today will be performed by automatons. At this very moment scientists working in the laboratories of American universities are attempting to create what has been described as a ” thinking machine.” I anticipated this development.
I actually constructed ” robots.” Today the robot is an accepted fact, but the principle has not been pushed far enough. In the twenty-first century the robot will take the place which slave labor occupied in ancient civilization. There is no reason at all why most of this should not come to pass in less than a century, freeing mankind to pursue its higher aspirations.
Cheap Energy and the Management of Natural Resources
Long before the next century dawns, systematic reforestation and the scientific management of natural resources will have made an end of all devastating droughts, forest fires, and floods. The universal utilization of water power and its long-distance transmission will supply every household with cheap power and will dispense with the necessity of burning fuel. The struggle for existence being lessened, there should be development along ideal rather than material lines.
Tesla was a visionary whose many contributions to the world are being celebrated today more than ever. And while his idea of the perfect diet may have been a bit strange, he clearly understood many of the things that 21st century Americans would value (like clean air, clean food, and our “thinking machines”) as we stumble into the future.
Bunnie Huang paid a visit to Shenzhen's Mingtong Digital Mall and found a $12 mobile phone, with Bluetooth, an MP3 player, an OLED display and quad-band GSM. For $12.
Bunnie's teardown shows a little bit about how this $12 piece of electronics can possibly be profitable, but far more tantalizing are his notes about Gongkai, "a network of ideas, spread peer-to-peer, with certain rules to enforce sharing and to prevent leeching." It's the Pearl River Delta's answer to the open source hardware movement, and Bunnie promises to write more about it soon.
Alena Naff shows us what it would be like if humans crossed the street like animals in this hilarious video. The deer is particularly spot on. We previously wrote about two similar videos
Dr. Ben Carson said Wednesday he is withdrawing as Johns Hopkins School of Medicine commencement speaker after speaking to the national media about gay marriage. (Photo By Douglas Graham/CQ Roll Call) 0001Get Politics Alerts:
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Dr. Ben Carson, a Johns Hopkins neurosurgeon, said Wednesday evening that he would step down as commencement speaker for the School of Medicine after his incendiary comments opposing gay marriage drew outrage from students and faculty.
"Given all the national media surrounding my statements as to my belief in traditional marriage, I believe it would be in the best interest of the students for me to voluntarily withdraw as your commencement speaker this year," he wrote in an email to Dean Paul Rothman shared with the school.
Carson compared gay marriage to bestiality and pedophilia in a recent Fox News appearance. "My thoughts are that marriage is between a man and a woman," he said. "It’s a well-established, fundamental pillar of society, and no group, be they gays, be they NAMBLA, be they people who believe in bestiality -- it doesn’t matter what they are -- they don’t get to change the definition."
After Carson made his comments, a majority of graduating students signed a petition stating that he was an inappropriate choice for speaker.
Carson apologized last week for the fallout from his comments in an email sent to the Hopkins community. "As you know, I have been in the national news quite a bit recently and my 36-year association with Johns Hopkins has unfortunately dragged our institution into the spotlight as well," he wrote. "I am sorry for any embarrassment this has caused." Rothman sent an email affirming Carson's right to speak as a private citizen but noting that his recent comments were inconsistent with school values.
A celebrated neurosurgeon and recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom, Carson recently became a conservative hero for criticizing President Barack Obama to his face at the National Prayer Breakfast in February
Russell Brand's obituary for Margaret Thatcher is a beautiful and incisive piece of writing, and a good example of why he's not just another actor:
When I was a kid, Thatcher was the headmistress of our country. Her voice, a bellicose yawn, somehow both boring and boring – I could ignore the content but the intent drilled its way in. She became leader of the Conservatives the year I was born and prime minister when I was four. She remained in power till I was 15. I am, it's safe to say, one of Thatcher's children. How then do I feel on the day of this matriarchal mourning?
I grew up in Essex with a single mum and a go-getter Dagenham dad. I don't know if they ever voted for her, I don't know if they liked her. My dad, I suspect, did. He had enough Del Boy about him to admire her coiffured virility – but in a way Thatcher was so omnipotent; so omnipresent, so omni-everything that all opinion was redundant.
As I scan the statements of my memory bank for early deposits (it'd be a kid's memory bank account at a neurological NatWest where you're encouraged to become a greedy little capitalist with an escalating family of porcelain pigs), I see her in her hairy helmet, condescending on Nationwide, eviscerating eunuch MPs and baffled BBC fuddy duddies with her General Zodd stare and coldly condemning the IRA. And the miners. And the single mums. The dockers. The poll-tax rioters. The Brixton rioters, the Argentinians, teachers; everyone actually.
Thinking about it now, when I was a child she was just a strict woman telling everyone off and selling everything off. I didn't know what to think of this fearsome woman.
UD Replicas, a company known for creating officially licensed outfits and leather motorcycle suits based on films, has released a kickass leather Batman Backpack inspired by the Dark Knight films. It is available to purchase online.
First used by Batman on the rooftop of the Hong Kong skyscraper in ‘The Dark Knight’ (2008), and most recently featured in ‘The Dark Knight Rises‘ (2012), this gorgeous Batman accessory – universally referred to as ‘Batman’s Backpack’ – has now been brought to life as a fully functional, everyday usable leather backpack.
During a talk at Oxford University back in February, scientist Richard Dawkins was asked to justify his belief in the scientific method. In his brief but pointed response, Dawkins explained that he believes in science because it works, or as he put it: “It works, bitches.” His quote appears to be a reference to a classic
VICE is an upcoming news magazine series on HBO that will feature “startling, groundbreaking stories from around the world.” The show is executive produced by Bill Maher, journalist Shane Smith and VICE’s chief creative officer Eddy Moretti and Fareed Zakaria of CNN will serve as its consultant. It premieres April 5, 2013 (trailer). Vice Media was recently featured in The New Yorker.
The USS Thresher is pictured at its launch on July 9, 1960. (Courtesy Arlington National Cemetery)
The upper rudder of the USS Thresher is seen as photographed by the U.S. Navy in 1964. (Courtesy of Naval History and Heritage)
PORTSMOUTH - Fifty years have
passed since the attack submarine USS Thresher sank in the Atlantic with
a crew of 129, but the organizer of this year's historic memorial
service says lessons continue to be learned from the tragedy.
"In
terms of safety, anyone who has served on a sub owes so much to the
crew of the Thresher," said Kevin Galeaz, commander of USSVI Thresher
Base in Portsmouth and chairman of the committee planning the 50th
annual USS Thresher Memorial Service, to be held April 6. " . We haven't
lost a SUBSAFE-certified submarine in an accident since 1963, and it's
because of what was learned from the Thresher. The men lost that day,
their deaths had meaning, and the families appreciate that."
The
invitation-only memorial service will take place at 1 p.m. in the
Portsmouth High School Auditorium. Galeaz said about 1,200 are expected
to attend, including 612 relatives of crew members killed when the
submarine sank April 10, 1963, during a sea trial about 225 miles off
the New England coast. U.S. Sens. Kelly Ayotte and Jeanne Shaheen will
speak at the ceremony; Vice Admiral Michael J. Connor, commander of the
U.S. Navy Submarine Forces, has been invited to be the keynote speaker;
and Blake Billings, son of the late John Hilary Billings, lieutenant
commander of the Thresher, will perform "In Memory of You," which he
composed.
Victoria Sallade of Sicklerville, N.J., whose
grandfather Charles Wiggins served as a fire control technician aboard
the Thresher, will also attend the event.
"This is the first year
I'll be making the trip without my mother, who passed away last year,"
said Sallade. "She always told us how our grandfather died a hero for
our country. An event like this is so meaningful for the families
involved. It's a lot like a reunion because everyone shares a bond that
most people will never understand. My mother would want me there for her
and for my grandfather."
"The families are a very close group," said Galeaz.
Galeaz
said members of Thresher Base, a group of submarine veterans chartered
in 1989 to preserve the memory of those who perished on the Thresher and
other subs, have been scrambling in recent weeks to relocate the
service, after officials at the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard informed him
they would no longer be able to host the event due to Department of
Defense spending cuts.
"We were almost a victim of
sequestration," said Galeaz. "Now they've told me they don't have
approval to print the programs either, so I'm on the way to get those
taken care of."
The Thresher, one of the newest and most modern
subs in the U.S. fleet in 1963, was on a training dive when the Navy
lost all contact with it. At first, the Navy reported the Thresher was
overdue and presumed missing, but changed the report to "appears to be
lost" after an oil slick was sighted. The $45 million Thresher, built at
the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard, had been commissioned less than two
years earlier.
A report generated by a Navy inquiry into the
accident said that while the exact sequence of events that sank the
Thresher will never be known, the loss "in all probability" started with
a seawater leak into the engine room from a faulty silver-braze pipe.
The seawater then shorted electrical circuits, triggering an automatic
shutdown of the reactor. When the captain attempted to release seawater
from ballast tanks with blasts of compressed air, that system failed, as
well, leaving the sub slowly sinking into the Atlantic.
When it reached a depth where the pressure was too great for its hull to withstand, it was crushed.
The
Navy ordered changes and improvements in quality control at its
shipyards after the accident. Submarine design and operating procedures
for the vessels also changed.
The loss of Thresher was the genesis of the SUBSAFE Program, according to the Thresher Base website.
Galeaz said the memorial service will be filmed live and streamed over the Defense Vide
Michael Procopio of Food for the Thoughtless adapted Saveur magazine’s corn dog recipe for his Crucifixion Corn Dogs, his Easter-themed fare-on-a-stick(s). He says to serve, “decorate with mustard. You do not have to put the image of Christ on every corn dog. If you have any martyrs in your family, feel free to squirt on their likeness and share it with them to show that you know how much they themselves have suffered, which will give them great comfort.” Procopio shares the recipe and shows how to make them at his site.
If I were a seven year-old today and attending Easter mass, I know what I would like to see served at an Easter Service buffet. Naturally, everything would conform to a Jesus/Easter theme: Hot cross buns, hollow chocolate bunnies, and cereal in the shape of crosses and halos on one end; a deacon with a big knife to carve up the Lamb of God on the other. Or the Ham of God, since I wasn’t a fan of eating lamb back then.
And in the middle of everything would be a treat which would really bring home the drama of Christ’s Passion in edible form. Something delicious and filling, but would still remind us of Christ’s suffering with each and every mouthful: corn dogs on a cross.
They’re more substantial than a communion wafer, and more delicious, too. And, given the nature of hot dogs, you still won’t be certain from which part of the body they came.
“I know what you’re thinking. Why did we wait this long to make Bacon Condoms? And you’re right – we’re sorry.”
In 2011, the bacon-flavoring experts at J & D’s Foods released Baconlube, a bacon-flavored water-based personal lubricant. Today they announced Bacon Condoms, a box of Baconlube-lubricated prophylactics said to “make your meat, look like meat.” Heeb notes that the condoms are 100% certified kosher. With April Fool’s Day around the corner, I wouldn’t be surprised if they were pulling a prank, however they arelisted for sale at their site BaconCondoms.com. They are apparently also working on a Sriracha Lube.
Made in America of the highest quality latex. Every Bacon Condom has been rigorously tested to help ensure reliability and the utmost safety for when you’re makin’ Bacon. As an added bonus, J&D’s baconlube™ ultra premium water based meat flavored personal lubricant has been generously applied inside and out for an even more hot pork experience.
In its riveting second season, Game of Thrones—based on George R.R. Martin’s behemoth A Song of Ice and Fire series and adapted by executive producers David Benioff and D.B. Weiss—brought the war for the Iron Throne to a staggering climax with the amazing Battle of the Blackwater, a hugely dramatic set piece that found the naval forces of Stannis Baratheon (Stephen Dillane) attacking King’s Landing, only to be cast back into the sea, thanks to some ingenuity from Tyrion Lannister (Peter Dinklage).
HBO
The highly anticipated third season of HBO’s Game ofThrones begins on Sunday at 9 p.m., kicking off another season of treachery, romance, conspiracies, dragons and, um, snowy blue-eyed zombie creatures. If you haven’t read Martin’s hefty novels, the world that the show inhabits can be an intimidating place without the maps, family trees and lineages contained within the novels’ vast appendices. And Season 3 of Game of Thrones is no exception, introducing a slew of new characters, settings and plots, each requiring a whole new knowledge base.
As we did for Season 1 and Season 2, The Daily Beast delves deep into the first four episodes of Game of Thrones Season 3, Martin’s third novel (A Storm of Swords) and beyond to bring you up to speed on everything you need to know, from Astapor to Winterfell. Consider it both a refresher on events from the second season and a constant source of information and background to come back to as you watch the third season.
Get caught up on ‘Game of Thrones’ in three minutes!
WARNING: A note on spoilers: I discuss many plot details from Season 2 below. But I do not spoil specifics from Season 3, unless you count knowing settings and themes and characters as spoilers. In which case, spoiler alerts!
Astapor: A city set upon Slaver’s Bay, and a nexus for a thriving slave trade and a huge economic gap between the masters and their servants. It is home to the training grounds for a rare breed of slave-warriors. (See: Unsullied, The.)
“Bear and the Maiden Fair, The”: A traditional, if exceedingly ribald, song that is quite popular throughout Westeros. One of its verses: “A bear there was, a bear, a bear!/All black and brown, and covered with hair!/The bear! The bear!/Oh, come, they said, oh come to the fair!/The fair? Said he, but I'm a bear!/All black, and brown, and covered with hair!” (It is also reportedly the title of the seventh episode of Season 3 of Game of Thrones.)
Blackfish, The: The nickname of Ser Brynden Tully (Clive Russell), the uncle of Lady Catelyn Stark (Michelle Fairley) and Lady Lysa Arryn (Kate Dickie). A Tully by birth, he has taken a black fish as his personal sigil, an inside joke that plays upon the Tully’s fish sigil.
Brotherhood Without Banners, The: A motley group of rebels and outlaws who were once part of a team sent by Eddard Stark (Sean Bean) to capture Gregor Clegane (Ian Whyte), a.k.a. The Mountain. But after the deaths of Ned and Robert Baratheon (Mark Addy), they found themselves adrift without someone to whom they could pledge their loyalty. (Hence, no banners.) Now, they claim allegiance to no individual faction in the War of Five Kings, instead keeping the peace by their own vigilante methods. (Can also refer to real-life fans of George R.R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire novel series.)
Casterly Rock: The ancestral home and seat of the Lannister clan, led by Lord Tywin Lannister (Charles Dance), who currently serves as Hand (see: Hand of the King, The) to King Joffrey (Jack Gleeson).
Castle Black: One of the last few surviving castles occupied by the Night’s Watch, located in the very center of The Wall. (Eastwatch-by-the-Sea and The Shadow Tower are the only two others still standing.) It is here that Jon Snow (Kit Harington) trained to be a member of the order, and is the main military fortress of the Night’s Watch.
Children of the Forest, The: An ancient race of magical non-human beings who inhabited Westeros before the arrival of mankind. They have not been seen in thousands of years, though their exploits are now considered legends or old wives’ tales. It is they who used dragonglass weapons in battle, and who carved the faces into the weirwood trees. Among their many abilities was that of greensight.
Crannogmen: The inhabitants of Westeros’s swamplands who use nets and spears to fight. The people of Westeros often look down on these tough, resourceful folk for their so-called primitiveness, though they remain closer to the old ways—and perhaps their connection to the Children of the Forest and their abilities—than some might suspect. Jojen Reed (Thomas Sangster) and Meera Reed (Ellie Kendrick) are among these people. While the brother and sister duo were introduced in Martin’s second novel, A Clash of Kings, they will make their first appearance in Season 3 of Game of Thrones.
Craster’s Keep: A wildling home beyond The Wall that is home to Craster (Robert Pugh) and his daughters/wives. It’s here that the brothers of the Night’s Watch stay during their forays north of The Wall, as Craster has been known to be an ally of the Night’s Watch. In Season 2 of Game of Thrones, Jon Snow discovered that Craster has been offering his sons, products of his incestuous nature, to the White Walkers as a means of keeping him and his wives safe.
Crow: A nickname for a member of the black-clad Night’s Watch, given by the wildlings.
“Dracarys”: A verbal command, in High Valyrian, given by Daenerys Targaryen (Emilia Clarke) to her dragons, signifying her desire that they breathe fire. It means literally, “dragonfire.”
Dragons: Supernatural fire-breathing creatures who died out hundreds of years ago in Westeros, until Daenerys (see: Mother of Dragons, The) hatched three baby dragons—Drogon, Rhaegal, and Viserion—who are now growing to adulthood.
Dragonglass: The name accorded to volcanic glass or obsidian. In Season 2 of Game of Thrones, members of the Night’s Watch discover a hidden cache of weapons made from the substance buried beneath the snow at the Fist of the First Men, an ancient encampment beyond The Wall. It is said that, in ancient times, the Children of the Forest used to make dragonglass weaponry and would every year give obsidian daggers to the Night’s Watch.
Free folk: A name by which the wildlings sometimes refer to themselves. Unlike the kneelers, they do not bow and scape to any man, not even the King-Beyond-the-Wall.
Frogeaters: A pejorative term for Crannogmen. Another would be “mud men.”
Giant: An enormously tall supernatural being. Their like has not been seen south of The Wall for countless centuries, though they are said to still survive beyond The Wall.
Greenseer: See Greensight.
Greensight: A psychic ability—thought to be held by some members of the ancient race known as The Children of the Forest and an even fewer number of humans—that results in prophetic dreams (or “green dreams”). Some members of the modern-day Crannogmen are said to have this ability, and often have green eyes. Those who are gifted in this way are known as a greenseer, though it is an ability that may also be held by a warg.
Greyscale: Also known as “The Grey Plague,” it is a debilitating and disfiguring disease that causes extreme atrophy to the flesh, leaving the victim’s skin gray and hardened, almost like stone.
Hand of the King, The. An adviser to the ruler of the Seven Kingdoms of Westeros and member of the King’s small council. While immensely powerful in terms of the day-to-day running of the kingdom, the position carries a rather steep body count: Jon Arryn, the husband of Lysa Arryn (the sister of Catelyn Stark), was poisoned. Eddard Stark, his successor, was beheaded. Tyrion Lannister (Peter Dinklage) fulfilled the role and managed to save King’s Landing from Stannis Baratheon’s forces, though he was nearly killed in battle. The position is now occupied by Tyrion’s father, Tywin. (See also: Casterly Rock.)
Halfhand, The: The nickname for Qhorin Halfhand (Simon Armstrong), a ranger and member of the Night’s Watch, who sacrifices himself so that Jon Snow can infiltrate the wildlings. He was slain by Jon Snow last season as part of a ruse that makes it appear as if Jon had betrayed the order. (His final words to Jon: "We are the watchers on the Wall,” part of the oath of the Night’s Watch.) By killing Qhorin, Jon is released from his bonds by the wildlings and seen as one of them.
Harrenhal: Reputed to be haunted, this black-stoned castle—whose walls were destroyed centuries ago by Aegon the Conqueror and his fire-breathing dragons—has changed hands many, many times, particularly as its owners are said to be cursed. Last season, the Lannisters controlled the fortress under the aegis of Tywin; Arya Stark (Maisie Williams), Gendry (Joe Dempsie), and Hot Pie (Ben Hawkey) escaped from here, with the help of the mysterious Jaqen H'ghar (Tom Wlaschiha). The title of Lord of Harrenhal was recently accorded to Lord Petyr Baelish (see: Littlefinger), but whether he will ever take up residence remains to be seen.
Highgarden: The ancestral home of the wealthy Tyrell clan, which counts among its members Lady Margaery (Natalie Dormer), Ser Loras (Finn Jones) (see: Knight of Flowers, The), and Lady Olenna (Dame Diana Rigg) (see: Queen of Thorns, The). Margaery—previously married to the doomed self-made King Renly (Gethin Anthony)—is currently engaged to wed King Joffrey, who sits atop the Iron Throne.
HBO
High Valyrian: An ancient tongue that was spoken for thousands of years on the continent of Essos until “The Doom”—some type of cataclysm—destroyed the Valyrian Freehold. While the language has died out, some still speak it, particularly the Targaryens. (See also: “Dracarys.”)
Hound, The: A nickname for Sandor Clegane (Rory McCann), the brother of The Mountain, who is as much known for his prowess in battle as he is for the burns that scar his face. A former vassal of the Lannisters, he served as the personal guard for King Joffrey until the Battle of the Blackwater, when he deserted his post for parts unknown. Before leaving, he attempted to convince Sansa Stark to accompany him, but she refused, believing that Stannis Baratheon (see: King of the Narrow Sea, The) was going to rescue her.
Khaleesi: A Dothraki word for the wife of a khal, or warlord. Here, it’s used as almost a term of reverence for Daenerys Targaryen (Emilia Clarke) among her khalassar. (See also: Mother of Dragons, The.)
King-Beyond-the-Wall, The: A sobriquet for Mance Rayder (Ciarán Hinds), a former member of the Night’s Watch (see also: Crow) who betrayed his brothers to start a new life with the wildlings. He has organized the various factions of those who live beyond the Wall, including several giants.
King in the North, The: The self-styled title of Robb Stark (Richard Madden), who leads the rebellion against King Joffrey. Last season, he took a bride (Oona Chaplin) against the wishes of his mother, Catelyn Stark, though the two have had a major rift: she is now being held as Robb’s prisoner, after she freed Jaime Lannister (Nikolaj Coster-Waldau).
King of the Narrow Sea, The: The title accorded to Stannis Baratheon (Stephen Dillane), who sees himself as the rightful heir to the Iron Throne. While the title has yet to be used within HBO’s Game of Thrones (at least yet), it’s used to distinguish Stannis as one of the monarchs enmeshed in The War of Five Kings depicted within the series. His younger brother, Renly, was killed by a shadow created by Stannis’s lover and confidante, Melisandre (Carice van Houten). (See also: Red Woman, The.) His naval force was destroyed in the Battle of the Blackwater.
Kingsguard: The highly organized and efficient protectorate of the King, who take a pledge to not marry nor inherit titles or lands. They wear white cloaks, a symbol of their office, a sort of Secret Service for the Seven Kingdoms. Jaime Lannister (see: Kingslayer, The) is a member of the order, though he broke his oath when he slew the Mad King, Aerys Targaryen.
Kingslayer, The: A mocking nickname for Jaime Lannister, who stabbed the Mad King in the back, breaking his sacred oath to protect the life of the king. After being taken prisoner by Robb Stark (see: King in the North, The), Jaime was freed by Catelyn Stark and placed in the custody of Brienne of Tarth (Gwendoline Christie), Renly’s former sworn knight who now serves Lady Catelyn. With Jaime in chains, Brienne heads for King’s Landing, in the hopes of trading him to the Lannisters in exchange for Sansa (Sophie Turner) and Arya Stark, the latter of which—unbeknownst to Brienne or Catelyn—is nowhere near King’s Landing.
Kneelers: The wildling nickname for the people south of the Wall. Beyond the Wall, the free folk do not kneel to anyone, unlike their supposedly more civilized neighbors.
Knight of Flowers, The: A nickname for Ser Loras Tyrell (Finn Jones) of Highgarden, a member of the Kingsguard, the rose being the sigil for House Tyrell.
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Lemon cakes: A popular confection beloved by many, and particularly by Lady Sansa Stark of Winterfell, currently the hostage of King Joffrey.
Littlefinger: The nickname of Lord Petyr Baelish (Aidan Gillen), the Master of Coin, who was recently granted Harrenhal and its title.
Lord of Light, The: Another name for the red deity R’hllor, whose worship is common in the continent of Essos, the neighboring landmass to Westeros. (See also: Red God, The.)
“Mhysa”: A Low Valyrian word meaning “mother.” It is also reportedly the title of the tenth and final episode of Season 3 of HBO’s Game of Thrones.
Manticore: A supernatural creature that has a scorpion’s tail and a human face among its many chimerical parts. Its venom is highly poisonous and typically fatal.
Master of Whisperers, The: See Spider, The.
Mother of Dragons, The: A name given to Daenerys “Stormborn” Targaryen, who hatched three dragons by placing them on the funeral pyre of her husband, Khal Drogo, the first seen in hundreds of years.
Mountain, The: The nickname accorded to the very tall and broad knight Ser Gregor Clegane, a notoriously sadistic and cruel killer in the employ of the Lannisters. He is sometimes also referred to as “The Mountain Who Rides.”
Obisidian: See Dragonglass.
Poison Water, The: What the Dothraki call the sea. They believe that such water is poisonous.
Queen of Thorns, The: A nickname of Lady Olenna Tyrell of Highgarden, the grandmother of Lady Margaery. As the sigil of House Tyrell is a rose, the sobriquet is a play on her cunning and prickliness.
“Rains of Castamere, The”: A folk song written about the triumph of the Lannisters—led by Tywin (see: Hand of the King, The)—when they quashed a rebellion. The lyrics are: “And who are you, the proud lord said,/that I must bow so low?/Only a cat of a different coat,/that's all the truth I know./In a coat of gold or a coat of red,/a lion still has claws,/And mine are long and sharp, my lord,/as long and sharp as yours./And so he spoke, and so he spoke,/that lord of Castamere,/But now the rains weep o'er his hall,/with no one there to hear./Yes now the rains weep o'er his hall,/and not a soul to hear.” The National performed the song in the Season 2 episode entitled “Blackwater.” It is also the title of the ninth episode of Season 3 of Game of Thrones.
Reach, The: An exceptionally fertile section of Westeros that is ruled by the Tyrell clan from their castle at Highgarden. Think of it as sort of the breadbasket of America, lush with fruits and grains. The oldest city on the continent, Oldtown, is also located here, as well as the Arbor, the source of the best wine in all of Westeros.
Red God, The: Another nickname for the deity R’hllor.
Red Woman, The: A name given to the red priestess Melisandre, who holds sway over Stannis Baratheon (see: King of the Narrow Sea, The). Among her favored sayings is, “For the night is dark and full of terrors.” She has been known to perform various magical acts, among them birthing a shadowy assassin that killed Renly Baratheon.
R’hllor: The fiery god (see also: Lord of Light, The) who is worshipped by the red priests and residents of Essos. While those connected with the deity were once seen as hailing from exotic and far-flung places, the religion’s influence is quickly spreading in Westeros, particularly due to the conversion of Stannis Baratheon and his council. (See: Red Woman, The.) It is said that when the last of the dragons died, R’hllor’s power was said to wane considerably. But now that the dragons have returned…
Riverrun: The ancestral home of House Tully, located in the Riverlands. The house’s sigil is, fittingly, a fish. Sisters Catelyn Stark and Lysa Arryn grew up here, as did Lord Petyr Baelish. (See also: Littlefinger.)
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Skinchanger: According to old legends, a person who can transfer their consciousness into the mind of an animal and see through their eyes and control their bodies. If untrained, such a person might enter into the minds of animals while they themselves are unconscious or asleep. Bran Stark (Isaac Hempstead-Wright) may be one such person, given the level of rapport he has with his direwolf, Summer. (See also: Warg.)
Slaver’s Bay: A body of water north of the Gulf of Grief which is centered around several slave trading cities, including Astapor, Yunkai and Meereen.
Spearwife: A female wildling who is also a warrior of the free folk. Beyond the Wall, Jon Snow has made the acquaintance of Ygritte (Rose Leslie), one such woman warrior, and has been taken prisoner by her.
Spider, The: The nickname for spymaster Lord Varys (Conleth Hill) the eunuch, who always knows everything going on in King’s Landing. He is also known as the Master of Whisperers.
Storm of Swords, A: The third book in George R.R. Martin’s multiple-volume novel series A Song of Ice and Fire, and the basis for Season 3 of HBO’s A Game of Thrones. It clocks in at just under 1,000 pages, not including appendices, depending on the edition.
Three-Eyed Raven: A recurring motif in the dreams of Bran Stark that seems to point him towards an as-yet-undetermined path. The third eye would seem to symbolize a hidden inner knowledge or the subconscious.
Unsullied, The: A group of slave soldiers who are ruthlessly trained in Astapor and their sense of free will removed entirely. Fetching a high price in the slave trade of Essos (see: Slaver’s Bay), they can remain standing for days on end without water, food or rest. Their initiation is to slay an infant in front of itsmother in order to remove any semblance of humanity or emotion.
“Valar Dohaeris”: A popular saying—meaning “all men must serve”—in High Valyrian, which is the traditional answer to “Valar Morghulis.” It is also the title of the Season 3 premiere episode of HBO’s Game of Thrones.
“Valar Morghulis”: Translated from High Valyrian, it means “all men must die.”
Warg: A person with the innate ability to slip inside the mind of an animal or animals. (See also: Skinchanger.)
White Walkers: A race of ancient evil beings (known in the novels as “The Others”) who slumbered dormant for millennia, but who now once again threaten humanity. Currently, they are contained beyond the Wall, but their attacks upon the wildlings may point towards a desire to retake the lands south of the Wall. Some (see: Craster’s Keep) have formed arrangements with these beings in order to remain safe from them.
Wights: The zombie-like minions of The White Walkers who are reanimated corpses of the slain. They are identifiable by their coldness, pale skin, and ice-blue eyes. They can be destroyed by fire, as discovered by Jon Snow in Season 1 of Game of Thrones.
Wildlings: The name given to the ragtag barbarians (see: free folk)who live north of the Wall. Unified by Mance Rayder (see: King-Beyond-the-Wall), they appear to be grouping together for some unknown purpose, and may have their sights upon The Wall itself. Their raiding parties are often stopped by the Night’s Watch, but lately the wildlings have been quiet and their villages emptied. Jon Snow’s uncle Benjen (Joseph Mawle), a ranger with the Night’s Watch, went beyond The Wall to discover why… and hasn’t been seen since. A search party—which included Jon, Samwell Tarly (John Bradley), and Lord Commander Jeor Mormont (James Cosmo)—ventured after Benjen, but were attacked at the end of Season 2, and are no closer to discovering what happened to the ranger. Could he have left the stash of dragonglass weapons discovered last season?
“Winter Is Coming”: The official motto of House Stark (see: Hand of the King, The), who believe that dark days are always ahead, no matter how long the seemingly endless summer can last. It harkens back to a time 8,000 years earlier, when the White Walkers invaded Westeros.
Winterfell: The ancestral seat of House Stark. After Theon Greyjoy (Alfie Allen) lay siege to Winterfell in Season 2, he was betrayed by his own men and Winterfell was burned. The last remaining Starks in Winterfell, Bran and Rickon (Art Parkinson), are believed to have been murdered, though Theon substituted two local boys, sons of a farmer, in their place
“Floyd” is a fully-functioning white porcelain honey bear-shaped art bong by New York-based artist Glen Baldridge that gives a nod to Brad Pitt’s stoner character in the 1993 romantic crime film True Romance. It is available to purchase at Artware Editions.
Here’s a clip from the film where Floyd (Pitt) is shown using a bong made from a honey bear dispenser:
In the newest international TV ad for Iron Man 3, Pepper Potts comes to Tony Stark’s rescue while wearing an Iron Man suit. Iron Man will take on the Mandarin on May 3rd when the film hits theaters
“Strange Oaks” is a twisted tourism commercial parody that invites witches to enjoy the benefits of small town life. The animation was created by Barcelona-based
Smith's request to NSF didn't sit well with the top Democrat on the science committee, Representative Eddie Bernice Johnson (D-TX). On Friday, she sent a blistering missive to Smith questioning his judgment and his motives.
"In the history of this committee, no chairman has ever put themselves forward as an expert in the science that underlies specific grant proposals funded by NSF," Johnson wrote in a letter obtained by ScienceInsider. "I have never seen a chairman decide to go after specific grants simply because the chairman does not believe them to be of high value."
In her letter, Johnson warns Smith that "the moment you compromise both the merit review process and the basic research mission of NSF is the moment you undo everything that has enabled NSF to contribute so profoundly to our national health, prosperity, and welfare." She asks him to "withdraw" his letter and offers to work with him "to identify a less destructive, but more effective, effort" to make sure NSF is meeting that mission. 
