Giant Freakin Robot

Few shows out there in TV land are like Doctor Who. There are of course the wibbly wobbly obvious wobvious reasons, such as its long legacy and zany plotlines, but I’m talking more about its lead character’s regeneration, allowing a multitude of different actors to take on the role over the years. Sure, sitcoms and dramas have swapped out leads in the past, but the real-life drama behind those changes usually overshadows the non-organic way in which they’re taken out of the plotlines. Who fans always know a change is lurking just around the corner.

Still, it was quite a surprise when the eleventh Doctor Matt Smith announced his departure a week ago. And the Internet has been ablaze with talk about possible replacements ever since. The trades recently reported that there is a good chance a female could be in line to control the TARDIS, and that Oscar winner Helen Mirren’s past interest in the role makes her a candidate. Of course, they also speculate that Rupert Grint (Harry Potter) and Russell Tovey (Being Human) are also favorites for the part.

With his next big explosive summer flick White House Down releasing in just three weeks, director Roland Emmerich is hard at work on his next project. The thing is, he’s got quite a few already in different stages of development, and he just added another one. Hey, Roland, save some of that Earth destruction for other directors, will ya? There’s only so much to go around.

Emmerich’s Centropolis Entertainment just purchased a potential tentpole feature called Emergence from screenwriter Nic Kelman, and the director fully intends on making it. While no details for the script are available, it’s said to be an original take on a modern alien invasion story. Sure, it’s subject matter that has been tackled a thousand times before, but 985 of those 1,000 tries was unmemorable.

The wildcard here is screenwriter/novelist Kelman, who graduated from MIT with a Bachelor of Science in Brain and Cognitive Studies, and then got his Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing – Fiction from Brown University. The script is likened to Christopher Nolan’s Interstellar, inasmuch as both are firmly based on actual scientific theories rather than just pure speculation. He’s currently writing a film called Outpost for Transformer franchise producer Lorenzo di Bonaventura.

Say you’re on the International Space Station and you manage to break every single coffee cup on board. No one is mad at you for practical reasons, since drinking from a cup in space is more difficult than it seems. But one of the cups was for your fellow astronaut’s favorite sports team, and he’s been giving you the stinkeye all day. What are you going to do, call NASA and tell them to ship one up, ASAP? Nope.

You just print one out, that’s all. NASA teamed up with Made In Space Inc. out of Mountain View, California to bring 3D printing into outer space. They’re calling it the 3D Printing in Zero G Experiment, or 3D Print for short. It’s already been tested here on Earth in simulated microgravity, and now they’re getting ready to send the equipment to the International Space Station, which should happen at some point after certification next year.

NASA, already a government leader in engineering-based 3D printing, hopes for a future where entire spacecraft can be manufactured off-planet, saving on transportation and shipping. For smaller projects, they foresee a merge with robotics to allow for the construction of recyclable tools and temporary habitats for manned missions to the Moon, to Mars, or even asteroids.

Guillermo del Toro’s Pacific Rim is still more than a month away. I know, I know, it seems like it’s been almost here for months. And if you think you’ve seen an excessive amount of promotion, you haven’t seen anything yet. We’re going to spend the month of July up to our eyeballs in merchandising, marketing, and, perhaps most importantly, toys, toys, toys. If you’ve been paying attention, you’ve probably seen the big Knifehead Kaiju, one of the giant monsters from the movie. Now toy manufacturer NECA has unveiled a miniaturized version of the terrifying creature you can claim as your own.

This figurine is seven inches tall, and is part of their first series of Pacific Rim toys, a set that also includes Jaegers Gipsy Danger and Crimson Typhoon. Now you, and all your nerdy little buddies, can get together and stage scale-model reenactments of the film. I’m not much of a toy collector, but these do look pretty damn awesome. If nothing else, the level of detail and that nasty, snarling mouth should make you even more excited for the movie to open on July 12.