The Solar Dynamics Observatory hit one year on mission yesterday, in honor of which NASA has released a video of some of the more visually interesting observations it has made. Hard to believe something this spectacular was made with no special effects. Also, Wired has posted their Best Sun Images collection from the first year of the orbital telescopes output.
But silly fun, and it is from Marvel…
As we all know, the new season of Doctor Who starts this Saturday on BBC America, just a few hours after it airs on the BBC UK. And today, BBC America has announced it is getting two more new shows as well as another season of Being Human for its Supernatural Saturday lineup. The Outcasts is a colonization story on another planet, where humanity gets a shot of starting over (more details on the UK official site). Bedlam is the story of people living in an apartment complex that was an insane asylum a century ago, and the interesting ghosts who haunt them. This one is from Sky TV rather than the BBC, which I find promising. Perhaps they will bring more Sky programs over, such as the Terry Pratchett specials they do each year; coming up next is Going Postal, besides Going Postal previous outings have given us Hogfather and The Color Of Magic.
Sadly the reports have come in today that Elisabeth Sladen, the actress who played Sarah Jane Smith, has died at the age of 63. She was without a doubt the longest running companion, working with Jon Pertwee and Tom Baker in the 1970s and 1980s, then returning several years ago to partner up with David Tennant, and finally getting her own series, the Sarah Jane Adventures. There is one more season of that in the can ready to be broadcast, so there are still new adventures waiting. The most moving tribute I have seen so far came from Russell T. Davies, although another really nice one came from Airlock Alpha. It is fitting that the BBC announcement was a part of the Doctor Who News segment of the site, and includes Steven Moffat’s reaction. And BBC Worldwide put together this YouTube collection of some of Sarah Jane’s finest moments.
Not much new around this weekend, and the only interesting looking ones are in limited release. Legend of the Fist: the Return of Chen Zhen has Donnie Yen as a masked vigilante, Batman style, in 1920s Shanghai. At that point in history the city was torn in half, with segments controlled by the Japanese and the British, with neither power block caring about the fate of the Chinese who lived there. Playboy by day, masked warrior by night, Zhen works to undermine the Japanese invasion.