Showing posts with label Geeky Stuff. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Geeky Stuff. Show all posts

7 September 2018

SPYSCAPE Announces Launch Of Content Division At Toronto International Film Festival

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Screengrab from the Spyscape's "Content Division" page
Screengrab from the Spyscape's "Content Division" page
SPYSCAPE, the innovative consumer brand that's fast becoming the home of the secret intelligence genre, today announced the launch of its Content Division, and the appointment of former Miramax Films, Focus Features and FilmNation executive, Allison Silver, as Chief Content Officer.
SPYSCAPE's new division will have a unique focus on a single genre across multiple platforms including film, television and video-games. It will develop and produce its own content and partner on high quality productions with others.
In addition to providing finance and great secret intelligence stories, SPYSCAPE offers major added-value to its production and distribution partners through four unique advantages:
  • A passionate, fast growing audience of 'superfans' of the spy genre
  • An unrivaled expert network of spies, hackers and investigative journalists
  • State of the art galleries and experiences to bring spy stories to life
  • Glamorous spy-themed locations for premieres, parties and press events
With 75 staff across offices in Los AngelesNew York and London, SPYSCAPE's creative, commercial and technology teams have unrivaled knowledge of the spy genre, including special relationships across the secret intelligence world - from station chiefs and former heads of major international spy agencies, to top investigative journalists and renowned hackers and activists.
Additionally, SPYSCAPE will continue to build upon its existing investments in high-quality, spy-themed productions (including three John Le Carre stories: A Most Wanted ManThe Night Manager; and Our Kind of Traitor) through equity investments in Ink Factory Films and others.
SPYSCAPE announces the launch of its Content Division, and the appointment of former Miramax Films, Focus Features and FilmNation executive, Allison Silver, as Chief Content Officer
SPYSCAPE announces the launch of its Content Division, and the appointment of former Miramax Films, Focus Features and FilmNation executive, Allison Silver, as Chief Content Officer.
Chief Content Officer, Allison Silver brings over 20 years experience on high-quality feature films including: Academy Award and Golden Globes winner "Brokeback Mountain", Cannes Grand Prix winner "Broken Flowers" and four Pedro Almodovar films including "Talk to Her" (winner of an Academy Award and a Golden Globe for Best Foreign Film) and "Volver". 
Most recently, Silver was EVP, Worldwide Production for FilmNation in New York City working on Academy Award winner "The King's Speech" and Academy Award nominees "The Imitation Game", "Nebraska", "The Bling Ring" and "Room" plus Pedro Almodovar's "The Skin I Live in", winner of the BAFTA for Best Foreign Language Film.

About SPYSCAPE:
SPYSCAPE is an innovative consumer brand which creates education, entertainment, products and experiences that help you see the world and yourself more clearly, through the lens of spying.

SPYSCAPE was created by top architects, authors, curators, designers, developers, gamers, hackers, imagineers, investigative journalists, psychologists, spies and storytellers.

SPYSCAPE's HQ in New York City is the world's most high-tech museum, described by the New York Times as the "headquarters of our cultural fascination with the art of deception".

SOURCE: SPYSCAPE

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Related Pictures:
SPYSCAPE
SPYSCAPE (Credit: Scott Frances) 
SPYSCAPE Credit: Scott Frances
SPYSCAPE (Credit: Scott Frances) 
SPYSCAPE
SPYSCAPE (Credit: Scott Frances) 
SPYSCAPE
SPYSCAPE (Credit: Scott Frances)

18 June 2018

Astronaut Sally K. Ride's Legacy – Encouraging Young Women To Embrace Science And Engineering

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Mission specialist Sally Ride became the first American woman to fly in space.
Mission specialist Sally Ride became the first American woman to fly in space. (NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center)
On June 18, 1983, 35 years ago, Sally Ride became the first American woman to launch into space, riding the Space Shuttle STS-7 flight with four other crew members. Only five years earlier, in 1978, she had been selected to the first class of 35 astronauts – including six women – who would fly on the Space Shuttle.

Sally’s first ride, with her STS-7 crewmates. In addition to launching America’s first female astronaut, it was also the first mission with a five-member crew.
Sally’s first ride, with her STS-7 crewmates. In addition to launching America’s first female astronaut, it was also the first mission with a five-member crew. Front row, left to right: Ride, commander Bob Crippen, pilot Frederick Hauck. Back row, left to right: John Fabian, Norm Thagard. (NASA)
Much has happened in the intervening years. During the span of three decades, the shuttles flew 135 times carrying hundreds of American and international astronauts into space before they were retired in 2011. The International Space Station began to fly in 1998 and has been continuously occupied since 2001, orbiting the Earth once every 90 minutes. More than 50 women have now flown into space, most of them Americans. One of these women, Dr. Peggy Whitson, became chief of the Astronaut Office and holds the American record for number of hours in space.

The Space Shuttle democratized spaceflight

The Space Shuttle was an amazing flight vehicle: It launched like a rocket into Low Earth Orbit in only eight minutes, and landed softly like a glider after its mission. What is not well known is that the Space Shuttle was an equalizer and enabler, opening up space exploration to a wider population of people from planet Earth.


STS-50 Crew photo with commander Richard N. Richards and pilot Kenneth D. Bowersox, mission specialists Bonnie J. Dunbar, Ellen S. Baker and Carl J. Meade, and payload specialists Lawrence J. DeLucas and Eugene H. Trinh
STS-50 Crew photo with commander Richard N. Richards and pilot Kenneth D. Bowersox, mission specialists Bonnie J. Dunbar, Ellen S. Baker and Carl J. Meade, and payload specialists Lawrence J. DeLucas and Eugene H. Trinh. The photo was taken in front of the Columbia Shuttle, which Dunbar helped to build.(NASA)
This inclusive approach began in 1972 when Congress and the president approved the Space Shuttle budget and contract. Spacesuits, seats and all crew equipment were initially designed for a larger range of sizes to fit all body types, and the waste management system was modified for females. Unlike earlier vehicles, the Space Shuttle could carry up to eight astronauts at a time. It had a design more similar to an airplane than a small capsule, with two decks, sleeping berths, large laboratories and a galley. It also provided privacy.

I graduated with an engineering degree from the University of Washington in 1971 and, by 1976, I was a young engineer working on the first Space Shuttle, Columbia, with Rockwell International at Edwards Air Force Base, in California. I helped to design and produce the thermal protection system – those heat resistant ceramic tiles – which allowed the shuttle to re-enter the Earth’s atmosphere for up to 100 flights.



Mike Anderson and Bonnie Dunbar flew together on STS-89 in 1998. They both graduated from University of Washington. Anderson was killed in the Columbia accident, in 2003.
Mike Anderson and Bonnie Dunbar flew together on STS-89 in 1998. They both graduated from University of Washington. Anderson was killed in the Columbia accident, in 2003. (NASA)
It was a heady time; a new space vehicle could carry large crews and “cargo,” including space laboratories and the Hubble Space Telescope. The Shuttle also had a robotic arm, which was critical for the assembly of the International Space Station, and an “airlock” for space walks, and enabled us to build the International Space Station.

I knew from my first day at Rockwell that this vehicle had been designed for both men and women. A NASA engineer at the Langley Research Center gave me a very early “heads up” in 1973 that they would eventually select women astronauts for the Space Shuttle. In the 1970s there were visionary men and women in NASA, government and in the general public, who saw a future for more women in science and engineering, and for flying into space. Women were not beating down the door to be included in the Space Shuttle program, we were being invited to be an integral part of a larger grand design for exploring space.


1978: Becoming an astronaut

The selection process for the first class of Space Shuttle astronauts, to include women, opened in 1977. NASA approached the recruitment process with a large and innovative publicity campaign encouraging men and women of all ethnic backgrounds to apply. One of NASA’s recruiters was actress Nichelle Nichols who played Lt. Ohura on the “Star Trek” series, which was popular at the time. Sally learned about NASA’s astronaut recruitment drive through an announcement, possibly on a job bulletin board, somewhere at Stanford University. Sally had been a talented nationally ranked tennis player, but her passion was physics. The opportunity to fly into space intrigued her and looked like a challenge and rewarding career she could embrace.

Sally and I arrived at NASA at the same time in 1978 – she as part of the “TFNG” (“Thirty-Five New Guys”) astronaut class and I as a newly minted mission controller, training to support the Space Shuttle. I had already been in the aerospace industry for several years and had made my choice for “space” at the age of 9 on a cattle ranch in Washington state. I also applied for the 1978 astronaut class, but was not selected until 1980.


Sally and I connected on the Flight Crew Operations co-ed softball team. We both played softball from an early age and were both private pilots, flying our small planes together around southeast Texas. We also often discussed our perspectives on career selection, and how fortunate we were to have teachers and parents and other mentors who encouraged us to study math and science in school – the enabling subjects for becoming an astronaut.


STS-7: June 18 1983



In January 1978, NASA selected six women into the class of 35 new astronauts to fly on the Space Shuttle.
In January 1978, NASA selected six women into the class of 35 new astronauts to fly on the Space Shuttle. From left to right are Shannon W. Lucid, Ph.D., Margaret Rhea Seddon, M.D., Kathryn D. Sullivan, Ph.D., Judith A. Resnik, Ph.D., Anna L. Fisher, M.D., and Sally K. Ride, Ph.D. (NASA)
Although Sally was one of six women in the 1978 class, she preferred to be considered one of 35 new astronauts – and to be judged by merit, not gender. It was important to all the women that the bar be as high as it was for the men. From an operational and safety point of view, that was also equally important. In an emergency, there are no special allowances for gender or ethnicity: Everyone had to pull their own weight. In fact, it has been said that those first six women were not just qualified, they were more than qualified.

While Sally was honored to be picked as the first woman from her class to fly, she shied away from the limelight. She believed that she flew for all Americans, regardless of gender, but she also understood the expectations on her for being selected “first.” As she flew on STS-7, she paid tribute to those who made it possible for her to be there: to her family and teachers, to those who made and operated the Space Shuttle, to her crewmates, and to all of her astronaut classmates including Dr. Kathy Sullivan, Dr. Rhea Seddon, Dr. Anna Fisher, Dr. Shannon Lucid, and Dr. Judy Resnick (who lost her life on Challenger). With all of the attention, Sally was a gracious “first.” And the launch of STS-7 had a unique celebratory flair. Signs around Kennedy Space Center said “Fly Sally Fly,” and John Denver gave a special concert the night before the launch, not far from the launch pad.


Continuing the momentum

One of the topics that Sally and I discussed frequently was why so few young girls were entering into math, technology, science and engineering – which became known as STEM careers in the late 1990s. Both of us had been encouraged and pushed by male and female mentors and “cheerleaders.” By 1972, companies with federal contracts were actively recruiting women engineers. NASA had opened up spaceflight to women in 1978, and was proud of the fact that they were recruiting and training women as astronauts and employing them in engineering and the sciences.

National needs for STEM talent and supportive employment laws were creating an environment such that if a young woman wished to become an aerospace engineer, a physicist, a chemist, a medical doctor, an astronomer or an astrophysicist, they could. One might have thought that Sally’s legendary flight, and those of other women astronauts over the last 35 years might have inspired a wave of young women (and men) into STEM careers. For example, when Sally flew into space in 1983, a 12-year-old middle school girl back then would now be 47. If she had a daughter, that daughter might be 25. After two generations, we might have expected that there would be large bow wave of young energized women entering into the STEM careers. But this hasn’t happened.


Rather, we have a growing national shortage of engineers and research scientists in this nation, which threatens our prosperity and national security. The numbers of women graduating in engineering grew from 1 percent in 1971 to about 20 percent in 35 years. But women make up 50 percent of the population, so there is room for growth. So what are the “root causes” for this lack of growth?

K-12 STEM education

Many reports have cited deficient K-12 math and science education as contributing to the relatively stagnant graduation rates in STEM careers.

Completing four years of math in high school, as well as physics, chemistry and biology is correlated with later success in science, mathematics and engineering in college. Without this preparation, career options are reduced significantly. Even though I graduated from a small school in rural Washington state, I was able to study algebra, geometry, trigonometry, math analysis, biology, chemistry and physics by the time I graduated. Those were all prerequisites for entry into the University of Washington College of Engineering. Sally had the same preparation before she entered into physics.


As part of NASA’s commitment to the next generation of explorers, NASA Ames collaborated with Sally Ride Science to sponsor and host the Sally Ride Science Festival at the NASA Research Park
As part of NASA’s commitment to the next generation of explorers, NASA Ames collaborated with Sally Ride Science to sponsor and host the Sally Ride Science Festival at the NASA Research Park. Hundreds of San Francisco Bay Area girls, their teachers and parents enjoy a fun-filled interactive exploration of science, technology, engineering and mathematics on Sept. 27, 2008. (NASA Ames Research Center / Dominic Hart)
Although we have many great K-12 schools in the nation, too many schools now struggle to find qualified mathematics and physics teachers. Inspiring an interest in these topics is also key to retention and success. Being excited about a particular subject matter can keep a student engaged even through the tough times. Participation in “informal science education” at museums and camps is becoming instrumental for recruiting students into STEM careers, especially as teachers struggle to find the time in a cramped curriculum to teach math and science.

Research has shown that middle school is a critical period for young boys and girls to establish their attitudes toward math and science, to acquire fundamental skills that form the basis for progression into algebra, geometry and trigonometry, and to develop positive attitudes toward the pursuit of STEM careers. When Dr. Sally Ride retired from NASA, she understood this, and founded Imaginary Lines and, later, Sally Ride Science, to influence career aspirations for middle school girls. She hosted science camps throughout the nation, exposing young women and their parents to a variety of STEM career options. Sally Ride Science continues its outreach through the University of California at San Diego.


Challenging old stereotypes and honoring Sally’s legacy



Sally Ride and Bonnie Dunbar are fighting outdated stereotypes that women are not good at STEM subjects
Sally Ride and Bonnie Dunbar are fighting outdated stereotypes that women are not good at STEM subjects. (Creativa Images/shutterstock.com)
However, there are still challenges, especially in this social media-steeped society. I and other practicing women engineers have observed that young girls are often influenced by what they perceive “society thinks” of them.

In a recent discussion with an all-girl robotics team competing at NASA, I asked the high school girls if they had support from teachers and parents, and they all said “yes.” But then, they asked, “Why doesn’t society support us?” I was puzzled and asked them what they meant. They then directed me to the internet where searches on engineering careers returned a story after story of describing “hostile work environments.


Sadly, most of these stories are very old and are often from studies with very small populations. The positive news, from companies, government, universities and such organizations as the National Academy of Engineers, Physics Girl and Society of Women Engineers, rarely rises to the top of the search results. Currently, companies and laboratories in the U.S. are desperate to employ STEM qualified and inspired women. But many of our young women continue to “opt out.”


Young women are influenced by the media images they see every day. We continue to see decades-old negative stereotypes and poor images of engineers and scientists on television programs and in the movies.


Popular TV celebrities continue to boast on air that they either didn’t like math or struggled with it. Sally Ride Science helps to combat misconceptions and dispel myths by bringing practicing scientists and engineers directly to the students. However, in order to make a more substantial difference, this program and others like it require help from the media organizations. The nation depends upon the technology and science produced by our scientists and engineers, but social media, TV hosts, writers and movie script developers rarely reflect this reality. So it may be, that in addition to K-12 challenges in our educational system, the “outdated stererotypes” portrayed in the media are also discouraging our young women from entering science and engineering careers.


Unlimited opportunities in science and engineering

The reality? More companies than ever are creating family-friendly work environments and competing for female talent. In fact, there is a higher demand from business, government and graduate schools in the U.S. for women engineers and scientists than can be met by the universities.

Both Sally and I had wonderful careers supported by both men and women. NASA was a great work environment and continues to be – the last two astronaut classes have been about 50 percent female.


The ConversationI think that Sally would be proud of how far the nation has come with respect to women in space, but would also want us to focus on the future challenges for recruiting more women into science and engineering, and to reignite the passion for exploring space.


About Today's Contributor:

Bonnie J. Dunbar, NASA astronaut (Ret) and TEES Distinguished Research Professor, Aerospace Engineering, Texas A&M University


This article was originally published on The Conversation


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24 May 2018

Versions Of Han Solo's Blaster Exist – And They're Way More Powerful Than Real Lightsabers Would Be

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Harrison Ford as Han Solo with his blaster in the old Star Wars triology.
Harrison Ford as Han Solo with his blaster in the old Star Wars triology.(BagoGamesFlickr, CC BY-SA)
People who think physics is boring couldn’t be more wrong. It can explain everything from spooky interactions on the tiny scale of atoms and particles to how the entire universe behaves. As if that wasn’t enough, it can also be used to assess how realistic futuristic technology in science fiction is. My area of expertise – plasma physics – can explain many aspects of both lightsabers and the Death Star within Star Wars lore, for example.

I’ve now worked out how feasible the blaster weapons used by, among others, the Star Wars character Han Solo are – and how they compare with lightsabers. In fact, real life versions of these weapons have already been developed. So with the prequel film Solo: A Star Wars Story being released, it seemed fitting to share this “research”.

The key to understanding Star Wars technology is plasmas – a so-called “fourth state of matter” (in addition to solids, liquids and gases). This comprises freely flowing electrically charged particles which naturally interact with electric and magnetic fields. Plasmas are common in space but they rarely exist naturally on Earth. However, it is possible to produce them in laboratories.

Powerful plasmoids
A common misconception about blasters is that they are laser weapons. But within the Star Wars canon, people realised that this wouldn’t make sense. Instead writers stated that a blaster wasany type of ranged weapon that fired bolts of intense plasma energy, often mistaken as lasers” and that it “converted energy rich gas to a glowing particle beam that could melt through targets”. This means that blaster bolts (glowing projectiles) are simply blobs of plasma – similar to a lightsaber flying through the air.


Han Solo’s BlasTech DL-44 heavy blaster pistol on display at Star Wars Launch Bay at Disney’s Hollywood Studios.
Han Solo’s BlasTech DL-44 heavy blaster pistol on display at Star Wars Launch Bay at Disney’s Hollywood Studios. (Quarax/wikipedia, CC BY-SA)

Coherent masses of plasma and their associated magnetic fields are known as plasmoids. Within the Earth’s protective shield in space – the magnetosphere – plasmoids are commonly generated by a poorly understood process called magnetic reconnection. This is an explosive reconfiguration of magnetic field lines that can take place wherever there is plasma present, in particular when plasmas are forced together. When this happens in our magnetosphere, charged particles are accelerated into the top of the atmosphere – causing the aurora, or northern lights. A huge amount of material is also ejected away from the Earth as plasmoids.

However, it isn’t easy to create plasmoids on Earth. Many of the demonstrations that we can do (unlike the ones in space) produce structures which quickly expand and dissipate in the air. The solution to this problem is to use magnets – their fields can contain the hot plasma.



However, blaster bolts are projectiles so it’s not possible to have an externally powered magnet present at all times during their rapid journey. Thankfully, though, there is a solution. As plasmas are highly conductive, it is possible to set up electrical currents within the plasmoid itself. These currents, like all currents, generate magnetic fields that can confine the plasma. Such arrangements are known as spheromaks and they have received renewed interest in plasma physics experiments over the last 20 years.

Real versions
One way to create a spheromak is to use a “plasma railgun”, a device which uses an external magnet to induce currents in the plasma as well accelerate it up to high speeds. In fact, speeds of 200 km/s have been achieved with these spheromaks lasting some hundreds of microseconds. This is very impressive and certainly within the realms of use as a weapon.

Indeed, from the 1970s onward, the SHIVA Star programme (named after the multi-limbed Hindu god) at the Air Force Research Laboratory in Albuquerque, New Mexico, conducted various “arms” of research into this kind of plasma physics. One of these, known as MARAUDER (magnetically accelerated ring to achieve ultrahigh directed energy and radiation), was one of several US government efforts to develop projectiles based on plasmas.

The weapon was able to produce doughnut-shaped rings of plasma and balls of lightning that exploded with devastating thermal and mechanical effects when hitting their target and produced a pulse of electromagnetic radiation that could scramble electronics. However, its status as of 1993 remains classified.

The temperatures achieved in such devices so far are up to a thousand times hotter than the surface of the sun. With enough plasma in each bolt these would cause huge amounts of damage, so the blaster as presented in the Star Wars films looks to be quite feasible indeed.



But how would these real life blaster weapons fare against the other iconic Star Wars weapon, the lightsaber? A blaster bolt is essentially equivalent to a lightsaber blade, just without the hilt. But as I’ve mentioned before, magnetic reconnection is unavoidable when two magnetically confined plasmas meet. This is the case when two lightsabers collide, causing explosive destruction of both the weapons and the people holding them. However, with a blaster you are far away from that explosion – leaving you totally unscathed.

So it turns out that Han Solo was right when he said “Hokey religions and ancient weapons are no match for a good blaster at your side.”

About Today's Contributor:
Martin Archer, Space Plasma Physicist, Queen Mary University of London


This article was originally published on The Conversation


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25 April 2018

Holy Freebies, Batman!: National Free Comic Book Day Comes to Comic Book Specialty Shops on Saturday, May 5th

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Free Comic Book Day
Free Comic Book Day (PRNewsfoto/Diamond Comic Distributors)
On Saturday, May 5, over 2,300 comic book specialty shops across North America and around the world will give away over 5 million comic books free of charge on Free Comic Book Day (FCBD). 
The annual event is one of the most anticipated comic book celebrations of the year, as retailers prepare to welcome curious, first-time comic book readers and devout comic book fans into their stores for free comics and exciting events.
"Free Comic Book Day is a great event for everyone, from newcomers to long-time comic book fans. With the wide selection available this year, there's something for everyone to get excited about! This event is the perfect opportunity to discover a giant community of like-minded pop culture fans," said Free Comic Book Day spokesperson, Ashton Greenwood.

Free Comic Book Day: DC's Superhero Girls
Free Comic Book Day: DC's Superhero Girls
The 50 free comic book titles available this year are designed to appeal to a broad range of tastes. This year's diverse selection includes superhero stories, like Marvel's Avengers and Amazing Spider-Man as well as DC Super Hero Girls; popular kids titles such as SpongeBob SquarePants, Star Wars Adventures,and PokĆ©mon, and TV tie-ins featuring series like RiverdaleDoctor Who, and Bob's Burgers
Free Comic Book Day: The Avengers + Captain America
Free Comic Book Day: The Avengers + Captain America
Every major comic book publisher including BOOM!, Dark Horse, DC, Dynamite, IDW, Image, and Marvel Comics participates in the event.
"On May 5th, we encourage fans to use Free Comic Book Day as an opportunity to explore their local comic shop, and discover all it has to offer," said Greenwood. "Our hope is that everyone will walk away with comics they can't wait to read and share, and then return to their local shop to find more stories and adventures!
Free Comic Book Day: The Amazing Spider-Man
Free Comic Book Day: The Amazing Spider-Man
Along with giving out free comics, many comic shops host community events throughout the day, such as creator signings, character appearances, costume contests, plus great sales and deals on exclusive items.
To view all 50 Free Comic Book Day titles, and to find a participating comic shop, visit freecomicbookday.com.

Free Comic Book Day: 2000 AD
Free Comic Book Day: 2000 AD
About Free Comic Book Day: 
Free Comic Book Day is the comic book specialty market's annual event where participating comic book shops across North America and around the world give away comic books absolutely free to anyone who comes into their shops. 

The event is held the first Saturday in May every year and is founded on the belief that there's a comic out there for everyone!

Free Comic Book Day: Malika - Creed & Fury
Free Comic Book Day: Malika - Creed & Fury

SOURCE: Diamond Comic Distributors

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Free Comic Book Day: Shadowman
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Free Comic Book Day: Riverdale
Free Comic Book Day: Transformers Unicron
Free Comic Book Day: Transformers Unicron


Free Comic Book Day: Disney's Princess Ariel
Free Comic Book Day: Disney's Princess Ariel
Free Comic Book Day: Doctor Who
Free Comic Book Day: Doctor Who
Free Comic Book Day: Pokemon
Free Comic Book Day: Pokemon
Free Comic Book Day: Howard Lovecraft
Free Comic Book Day: Howard Lovecraft
Free Comic Book Day: James Bond 007
Free Comic Book Day: James Bond 007


14 November 2017

World's First And Most Extensive Exhibition Celebrating Marvel's Visual And Cultural Impact To Premiere At Seattle's Museum Of Pop Culture In April 2018

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Michael Allred’s interpretation shows Spider-Man swinging from the Space Needle
MoPOP and SC Exhibitions commissioned several renowned Marvel artists to create a series of posters for the Seattle show which will be released over the months to come. Michael Allred’s interpretation shows Spider-Man swinging from the Space Needle
Marvel: Universe of Super Heroes will feature more than 300 original artifacts, including some of Marvel's most iconic and sought-after pages, costumes and props, many of which have never-before been seen by the public. These will be displayed in a major retrospective at the Museum of Pop Culture (MoPOP) in Seattle, opening on April 21, 2018.

  • The exhibition will tell the Marvel story through comics, film and other media, taking place as it celebrates 10 years of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and ahead of the 80th anniversary in 2019.
Marvel Comics Exhibition
Rare artifacts and interactive set design creates a multifaceted and vivid experience for visitors. (Concept artwork by Studio TK)
"Our show takes us from the origins of the Marvel Universe to the present, providing a chance to see some of the rarest and most precious objects to have survived from the past 80 years of pop culture history," says curator Ben Saunders about the exhibition, which is being produced by MoPOP, SC Exhibitions and Marvel Entertainment.
Selfies with Spider-Man
Marvel statues invite visitors to interact and become part of the scenery with great photo opportunities throughout the exhibition. (Concept artwork by Studio TK.)
The exhibition will trace the story of the company and its influence on visual culture – including how it's responded to historical events and addressed wider issues such as gender, race and mental illness – as well as uncovering the narratives of individual characters such as Captain America, Spider-Man, Black Panther and Doctor Strange. It will honor the so-called "imaginauts" such as Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, who have made the Marvel saga one of the most expansive fictional universes ever created.
"Marvel transformed the idea of the Super Hero in the 1960s—and beyond—by ratcheting up the visual spectacle, emotional dynamism and philosophical sophistication of the action-adventure comics genre," says Brian Crosby, head of Marvel Themed Entertainment. "Marvel has always been a reflection of the world outside your own window and one of its most compelling messages has always been, that anyone—regardless of race, religion or gender—can be a Super Hero."
Immersive set pieces will bring the comic book world to life, and the exhibition will be accompanied by an immersive soundscape created by acclaimed composers Lorne Balfe and Hans Zimmer.

Visitors can stroll through the streets of New York City, catching a glimpse into artists’ studios to learn about the creators behind the comics and gaze at original props from Jessica Jones, Luke Cage, and more.
Visitors can stroll through the streets of New York City, catching a glimpse into artists’ studios to learn about the creators behind the comics and gaze at original props from Jessica Jones, Luke Cage, and more. (Concept artwork by Studio TK.)

The exhibition has been curated by an outstanding team that includes three scholars of comics – Benjamin Saunders, Matthew J. Smith and Randy Duncan, all of whom are university professors and experts in their field. MoPOP curators Brooks Peck and Jacob McMurray, as well as renowned comics writers and editors Ann Nocenti and Danny Fingeroth, have also contributed.
Tony Stark’s Lab is one of many different settings in which visitors can immerse themselves and interact with their favorite characters.
Tony Stark’s Lab is one of many different settings in which visitors can immerse themselves and interact with their favorite characters. (Concept artwork by Studio TK.)
"This is the largest exhibition ever staged at the Museum of Pop Culture," says Brooks Peck, curator, MoPOP. "We're thrilled to present more than 300 original artworks, props, costumes, and genuine relics of pop culture history, from the earliest incarnations of super heroes in comics to ground breaking movie moments reflecting the timeless appeal of the Marvel universe."
Marvel: Universe of Super Heroes - Logo
Marvel: Universe of Super Heroes - Logo (PRNewsfoto/Museum of Pop Culture)





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