Monthly Archives: April 2016
Interstellar Project Aims to Send Spacecraft to Nearest Star System
At the One World Observatory in New York City earlier today, Physicist Stephen Hawking and Russian billionaire Yuri Milner announced Breakthrough Starshot, a new $100 million dollar program that hopes to lay the groundwork for interstellar travel.
The first step in the program involves researching and developing “light-propelled nanocrafts” that, while no bigger than a computer chip, would be capable of moving at 20 percent the speed of light.
The craft would come equipped with a “StarChip,” a gram-scale wafer carrying cameras, photon thrusters, power supply, navigation, and communication equipment.A Lightsail, a meter-scale sail no more than a few hundred atoms thick, would move the ship forward after an array of lasers back on Earth are used to accelerate it.
Batman Tops the Comic Book Sales Charts
Diamond Comics has released its sales figures for March 2016. Batman #50 was the best-selling comic of the month, with an estimated 163,406 copies sold. Boom Studios' new Mighty Morphin Power Rangers series followed in second place, with the first issue selling an estimated 119,536 copies.
Superman #50 also managed to crack the top ten. However, the remaining seven spots were all claimed by Marvel, with multiple Star Wars comics, Deadpool #8 and International Iron Man #1 all selling well. DC's recent Loot Crate-exclusive Harley Quinn comic didn't appear on the charts, which suggests it wasn't sold through Diamond like previous Loot Crate-exclusive comics have been.
Kingsman 2: Elton John in Talks to Join Cast
Grammy-winning pop star Elton John is currently in talks to join the cast of Kingsman: The Golden Circle.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, there's no word yet on what his role might be, though it's possible he will appear as himself.
Elton John performing at Madison Square Garden (Photo credit: Mike Lawrie/Getty Images)
Underworld 5’s New Title Revealed
The fifth film in Lakeshore Entertainment and Screen Gem's Underworld series is officially titled Underworld Blood Wars, the companies announced today.
Kate Beckinsale and Theo James will both return to reprise their roles as Selene and David, respectively. Other cast members include Tobias Menzies (Outlander), Lara Pulver (Sherlock), and Charles Dance (Game of Thrones).
Image via Underworld on Facebook
Anna Foerster (Outlander) will direct with a script from Cory Goodman (The Last Witch Hunter).
Mega Man Cartoon in the Works
Capcom and Dentsu Entertainment are bringing an animated Mega Man show in 2017.
While the Mega Man series was initially revealed in 2015, an updated landing page on Denstu Entertainment's website confirmed the cartoon series is still in the works.
New Mega Man show logo? via Dentsu Entertainment
Blizzard Hosting the Last Overwatch Closed Beta Test This Weekend
Blizzard is hosting a short closed beta test for Overwatch from Friday, April 15 at 9:00am PTD to Saturday, April 16 at 9:00pm PTD.
This test is intended to prepare Blizzard's hardware for Overwatch's May release. The test weekend runs in conjunction with the ongoing closed beta that started back in February.
Players will have access to all 21 heroes and the Hanamura, Route 66, and Nepal maps. Weekly Brawl and competitive play will not be available during this test, and any progress made during the stress test will not carry over to the final game. The ongoing closed beta will be taken offline following the weekend stress test for a short scheduled maintenance.
Star Wars Original Trilogy Heading Back to Theaters
The original Star Wars trilogy is heading back to the big screen for the first time in over a decade.
EW reports that Alamo Drafthouse is bringing A New Hope, The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi to movie theaters in the United States this August.
Called Return of the Trilogy, the screening event is coming to over 20 different cities, such as Los Angeles, New York and Austin. Alamo Drafthouse is promising special videos and contests between each film. The 1997 re-release versions of the Star Wars films will be shown.
New Girl Renewed for Season 6 by FOX
FOX comedy New Girl has been renewed for its sixth season, David Madden, president of entertainment at Fox Broadcasting Company announced today.
"The series is as creatively strong today as it ever was," Madden said in a statement. He also congratulated the show on its "milestone 100th episode," and said Fox is looking forward to "the next subversive and hilarious chapter of these characters' lives."
Hannah Simone, Jake Johnson, Zooey Deschanel, Max Greenfield and Lamorne Morris in New Girl.
Oculus Explains Shipment Delays
Oculus has addressed the Oculus Rift shipment delays, confirming that it’s due to an unexpected component shortage.
In a statement given to TechCrunch, Oculus explains that the shortage had a bigger effect on their shipment quantity than expected. Delivery dates were changed as a result of this, with many people now waiting until May to receive their Rifts.
“We’ve taken steps to address the component shortage, and we’ll continue shipping in higher volumes each week,” said Oculus. “We’ve also increased our manufacturing capacity to allow us to deliver in higher quantities, faster. Many Rifts will ship less than four weeks from original estimates, and we hope to beat the new estimates we’ve provided.”
Wrestling Wrap Up: Roman Reigns Teams With Bray Wyatt
Greetings.
May I present to you the single greatest thing Roman Reigns has ever done...
Granted, keep this in mind, Roman, while being the one to perform the move, wasn't the reason that was cool. Not at all. It was Bray. Pointing at Roman. As if to say "LOOK AT THE GUY DO THE THING!"
Or even, if you want to take this further, "LOOK AT THE POWER I POSSES! I COMMAND THEE TO SPEAR!"