Hiatus

So things are getting really busy as I need to finish my dissertation, wrap up things in my graduate school lab, and start up in my postdoc lab. I'll try and write a little bit when I get a free weekend, but things will generally be pretty slow until July.

Prometheus (2012) Part III - "They Engineered Us"

Spoiler Level – High

Prometheus (2012) Part II - "How Long's It Been Dead?"

Spoiler Level – Moderate

Prometheus (2012) Part I - "It's What I Choose to Believe"

Spoiler Level – Moderate

Spider-Man (2002) - "Genetically Designed Super Spiders"

Spoiler Level – Low

Fringe S2E14 (2010) Part III - "Show and Tell"

Spoiler Level – Low (series); moderate (episode)

Fringe S2E14 (2010) Part II - "This is Our Toxin"

Spoiler Level – Low (series); moderate (episode)

Fringe S2E14 (2010) Part I - "He Can Program the Toxin to Target Whatever Group He Likes"

Spoiler Level – Low (series); moderate (episode)

Battlestar Galactica S4E21 (2009) -"Their DNA is Compatible with Ours"

Spoiler Level – Very high

Evolution (2001) Part III - Lightning Round!

Spoiler Level – High

Pokémon

So back when I first started this blog, I said I might eventually branch out into bad science in video games. One game I was thinking about was Pokémon and its terrible misuse of evolution. However, Jen McCreight just covered the topic in a much better manner than I ever would, so I'm just going to link to her. I may still cover bad science in video games later, but when I do, I will not go into Pokémon evolution. I just don't have anything to add. Her post is the start of a whole series called Pokébiology 101, which looks like it will be very entertaining and informative.

Evolution (2001) Part II - "Selenium Could Be as Lethal to Them as Arsenic Is to Us"

Spoiler Level – Moderate-to-high

Evolution (2001) Part I- "They've Evolved into Primates."

Spoiler Level – Low-to-moderate

Contagion (2011) - "We Have a New R0"

Spoiler Level – Low-to-moderate

The Walking Dead S1E6 (2010) - "No Clinical Progress to Report"

Spoiler Level – Low

A Note on Zombies

My feelings on zombies are pretty much the same as my feelings on superheroes. Later, I'll probably explain why I want these same rules to apply to vampire, werewolves, and anything else that's supernatural.

Zombies, as they are traditionally conceived, are not scientifically possible. The dead cannot walk around and attack the living. When the heart is no longer beating and blood is no longer pumping, the muscles won't get the oxygen they need to produce the energy for movement. The brain won't have the energy to tell the muscles to move. Dead is dead. No plague or radiation source or anything else can change that.

Gattaca (1997) - "You Could Go Anywhere with This Guy's Helix Tucked Under Your Arm"

Spoiler Level – Moderate