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This controversial sci-fi blockbuster about climate change still polarizes scientists today

At the start of the third act of the 2004 sci-fi disaster flick “The Day After Tomorrow,” teenager and academic decathlon participant Laura Chapman shares her deep feelings of despair with her boyfriend Sam Hall.

“Everything I’ve ever cared about, everything I’ve worked for… has all been preparation for a future that no longer exists,” Laura (Emmy Rossum) tells Sam (Jake Gyllenhaal) as she shivers due to combo of a recent blood infection and an apocalyptic snowstorm....

Originally posted on salon.com

When Hitchcockian horror came true: The 1960s killer bird swarm that inspired “The Birds”

Sixty years ago in March 1963, Alfred Hitchcock’s classic horror movie “The Birds” introduced viewers to a small seaside town in California that is suddenly and inexplicably attacked by ferocious feathered fiends. Ostensibly based on a 1952 short story by Daphne du Maurier, “The Birds” features seagulls, crows and a range of other bird species as they ruthlessly slash at terrified humans with razor-sharp beaks and talons....

Originally posted on salon.com

How this laughable sci-fi flick embarrassed Hollywood into doing better science

No matter how much you might hate a movie, it is doubtful you loathe it as much as scientists despise this one infamous flick.

There is a motion picture so scientifically irresponsible that merely mentioning its title instantly arouses ire in countless otherwise stolid academic personalities. When first released in 2003, it badly bombed at the box office, prompting one physicist to speculate that the public stayed away because it could smell garbage....

Originally posted on salon.com

How this laughable sci-fi flick embarrassed Hollywood into doing better science

No matter how much you might hate a movie, it is doubtful you loathe it as much as scientists despise this one infamous flick.

There is a motion picture so scientifically irresponsible that merely mentioning its title instantly arouses ire in countless otherwise stolid academic personalities. When first released in 2003, it badly bombed at the box office, prompting one physicist to speculate that the public stayed away because it could smell garbage....

Originally posted on salon.com