Phoenix lander may have uncovered ice on Mars! From Foxnews…
TUCSON, Ariz. — Sharp new images received Saturday from the Phoenix lander largely convinced scientists that the spacecraft’s thrusters had uncovered a large patch of ice just below the Martian surface, team members said.
That bodes well for the mission’s main goal of digging for ice that can be tested for evidence of organic compounds that are the chemical building blocks of life.
I just finished watching Oliver Hirschbiegel’s outstanding film ‘Downfall‘ which is based on last 12 days of Adolf Hitler’s life in the bunker where he killed himself, narrated through the eyes of Traudl Junge, his secretary. The film portrays the human side of the ‘Third Reich’ (which created much controversy), and the events surrounding the death of some of the key supporters of Hitler.
However, apart from the outstanding narrative, the film had some superb techniques that helped recreate the drama and intensity of a war-torn nation with minimal depiction of battle sequences.
Claustrophobic setting: through complete lack of natural light, extreme use of ‘white’ light, contrast and shadows, it creates a feeling of suffocating claustrophobia in the viewer’s mind. The long shots go only as far as a section of a bunker would allow, and the camera shake that follows shells dropping overground (almost like an earthquake), create an atmosphere of captivity, where every single and rare outdoor shot almost comes as a relief. Seen through the POV of the characters, the bunker is safe, and the outside dangerous (due to constant shells dropping from an invisible aggressor). Yet, the moment a character steps outside the bunker door, it gives a fleeting sense of relief from the oppressive interiors, but one that can only last a few seconds due to the constant danger of sudden death from a bullet or a shell.
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