Hollywood Science & Disaster Cinema Essay Example for Free

Hollywood Science Disaster Cinema Essay To some extent, all fiction attempts to bend factual truths in the service of the narrative. In some cases, this is done for purposes of pure function, such as heightening the stakes of narrative or preventing the dramatic momentum from grinding to a complete halt. In other cases, it is done to express a particular authorial viewpoint – perhaps a political perspective or an observation about society – which is more often than not, contingent on the thematic integrity of the narrative. In the case of cinematic fiction, Hollywood has always had a special affinity for a liberal interpretation of the truth. In the 90s disaster classic, Armageddon, screenwriters Jonathan Hensleigh and J. J. Abrams presuppose that it is impossible to communicate drilling experience to well-trained astronauts in order to justify sending up an oil rig crew with no astronautical experience to save the world by dropping hydrogen bombs into a geologic mass the size of Texas – which is roughly analogous to trying to split an apple with a needle. The 2003 film, The Core operates from a complete non-premise in which an inactive magnetic field puts Earth at risk from incineration by space-based microwaves – which more accurately, pose no threat and are affected little by magnetic forces let alone the Earth’s magnetic field. One could say that Hollywood does not merely bend the truth. Rather, truth is made to stretch, contort and mold itself into incredulous shapes as if it were so much Play-Doh. The film The Day After Tomorrow, which had been marketed heavily as an ostensibly cautionary tale about the potential perils of climate change, is certainly no exception to this Hollywood tradition. Directed by German-born Roland Emmerich, the apocalypse porn auteur of such films as Independence Day and Godzilla decides to unleash his cathartic urges on a larger, planetary scale (with New York remaining his primary canvas of destruction). The Day After Tomorrow focuses on one paleoclimatologist – an eight-syllable term for ‘guy who studies prehistoric weather conditions’ – and his futile attempts to convince world leaders of the disastrous implications of climate change. While many of the scientific premises he puts forth are true, it is when they reach their tipping point and send the Earth into an Ice Age far sooner than he had predicted that the film enters the realm of fantasy. At the very least, The Day After Tomorrow does the honorable thing to scientists and tries not to make them look like idiots to viewers who know a thing or two about science. Jack Hall, the aforementioned paleoclimatologist played by Dennis Quaid, maintains a coherent view of science that is above par for most Hollywood scientists. He articulates the film’s core premise, which is that melting polar ice will have a negative effect on the Gulf Stream that will severely disrupt the natural thermal flows causing severe weather changes. However, he projects that this will happen over the course of decades or centuries. Therefore, the mechanics of climate change articulated by Hall are sound. (Duke University, 2004; McKibben, 2004) It is the rate at which climate change occurs within the film that is unrealistic, as well as the near-mystical forecasting abilities of Hall’s computer simulations. The notion that no one other than Hall can transplant present day meteorological data, as gathered by his colleague Terry Rapson, played by Ian Holm, and his co-workers at the Hedland Climate Center, into a paleoclimatological scenario is utterly discombobulating, as if to suggest they are the only experts who could foresee this. To screenwriters’ Jerry Rachmanoff and Roland Emmerich credit, they remain fully aware of the level to which they have exaggerated these matters. The climate tipping point sends the Global North into a series of weather disasters: Tornados wreak havoc on the Hollywood sign (as if to foreshadow the film’s ultimate rejection of a Hollywood ending solution), hurricanes sending automobiles flying all over Los Angeles, and sub-zero temperatures freezing airborne helicopters over Scotland. All the while, the hero-scientists, such as hurricane specialist Janet Tokada, point out plainly how nigh-impossible this accelerated pace of disaster is. It’s almost as if their secondary role was to remind viewers that these are all the exaggerations of fictional conceit. Unlike The Core, The Day After Tomorrow does not disrespect the professional integrity of the science professions by presenting a fabricated non-problem. Furthermore, The Day After Tomorrow does not propose that blue-collar derring do, when equipped with enough magical high technology can combine to form the â€Å"silver bullet† solutions which undo everything. However, by presenting the climate change problem on such incredulous terms, The Day After Tomorrow risks undermining the very message it is attempting to get across, despite the fact that it has the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration director telling a dismissive Vice President who vaguely resembles Dick Cheney, that if policy makers â€Å"had listened to the scientists, you would have had a different policy to begin with! † While popular culture may have a limited influence on policy making, it most definitely affects popular perceptions of key issues such as nuclear weaponry and bioterrorism. (Schollmeyer, 2005) The filmmakers of The Day After Tomorrow have often stated that one of their goals to draw increased attention and spur greater action towards addressing the threats of climate change. However, because many scientists on both sides of the climate change debate have taken issue with the scientific accuracy of the events depicted in the film, it risks muddying this goal further. This means that The Day After Tomorrow’s lack of scientific accuracy makes it easier for climate change skeptics to continue to dismiss the threat of climate change by suggesting that the film is built on the foundations of propagandist and alarmist science, while the climate change Cassandras will remains Cassandras as they become forced to debunk a film that represents their own concerns. REFERENCES McKibben, B. (2004, May 4) â€Å"The Big Picture. † Grist. Retrieved online on December 6, 2008 from: http://www. grist. org/comments/soapbox/2004/05/04/mckibben-climate/ Duke University (2004, May 13). â€Å"Disaster Flick Exaggerates Speed Of Ice Age. † ScienceDaily. Retrieved online on December 6, 2008, from: http://www. sciencedaily. com ¬ /releases/2004/05/040512044611. htm Schollmeyer, J. (2005, May-June) â€Å"Lights, camera, Armageddon. † Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, volume 61. Retrieved online on December 6, 2008 from: http://www. illinoiswaters. net/heartland/phpBB2/viewtopic. php? t=9007

What a Society Prepares Itself For :: Personal Narrative Racing Death Papers

What a Society Prepares Itself For I'm from Texas. And when I lived in Texas, which was before I lived in New York, my friends were Texans. I don't mean to say they were the all-got-up-in cowboy hats, tight jeans, bit belt buckles, and snakeskin boots kind of Texans a lot of people tend to think about. But I do mean to say they were the beer drinking, football playing, pick-up driving, bar brawling kind of good 'ol Texas boys that don't really exist anywhere else but where I spent the first eighteen years of my life. And, although you might never be able to tell from my long hair, baggy pants, lack of shoes, and the random book I'm usually reading, I was one of them. We'd go to Mexico on school breaks and hop keg parties on the weekend. And on one Saturday night, I went and watched some drag races with my friends at this little speedway in a town called Ennis, which is outside of Dallas. We drove out in two trucks, the seven of us, drinking beer on the way. When we got there it wasn't quite as nice a place as the Texa s Motor Speedway (I've been to the Texas Motor Speedway also, you see), or the Indianapolis Speedway, but it is a similar atmosphere. It was dusty, loud, and smelled like tire rubber and motor oil. A majority of the crowd seemed to be either drinking beer, betting on the races, or both. But it wasn't just an "overweight, sweaty, wasted, smelling-of-beer-and-marijuana, American, middle-aged man" gala weekend attraction either. There were plenty of hard working middle class men (mostly men) that had nice houses in the suburbs of Dallas who worked hard all week long, maybe even owned their own business, with their kids going to college at Texas A&M, or Texas Tech, or the University of Texas, or maybe even Rice. And as the night went on, I began to notice something. The first thing was that my friends knew a hell of a lot about racecars. That was odd because nine out of ten of my friends barely went to school half the time, much less studied, and yet they knew the intricate details of the speed, weight, torque, and horsepower of the cars. My second observation, more subtle yet more striking than my first, was that ever yone was getting along impeccably. What a Society Prepares Itself For :: Personal Narrative Racing Death Papers What a Society Prepares Itself For I'm from Texas. And when I lived in Texas, which was before I lived in New York, my friends were Texans. I don't mean to say they were the all-got-up-in cowboy hats, tight jeans, bit belt buckles, and snakeskin boots kind of Texans a lot of people tend to think about. But I do mean to say they were the beer drinking, football playing, pick-up driving, bar brawling kind of good 'ol Texas boys that don't really exist anywhere else but where I spent the first eighteen years of my life. And, although you might never be able to tell from my long hair, baggy pants, lack of shoes, and the random book I'm usually reading, I was one of them. We'd go to Mexico on school breaks and hop keg parties on the weekend. And on one Saturday night, I went and watched some drag races with my friends at this little speedway in a town called Ennis, which is outside of Dallas. We drove out in two trucks, the seven of us, drinking beer on the way. When we got there it wasn't quite as nice a place as the Texa s Motor Speedway (I've been to the Texas Motor Speedway also, you see), or the Indianapolis Speedway, but it is a similar atmosphere. It was dusty, loud, and smelled like tire rubber and motor oil. A majority of the crowd seemed to be either drinking beer, betting on the races, or both. But it wasn't just an "overweight, sweaty, wasted, smelling-of-beer-and-marijuana, American, middle-aged man" gala weekend attraction either. There were plenty of hard working middle class men (mostly men) that had nice houses in the suburbs of Dallas who worked hard all week long, maybe even owned their own business, with their kids going to college at Texas A&M, or Texas Tech, or the University of Texas, or maybe even Rice. And as the night went on, I began to notice something. The first thing was that my friends knew a hell of a lot about racecars. That was odd because nine out of ten of my friends barely went to school half the time, much less studied, and yet they knew the intricate details of the speed, weight, torque, and horsepower of the cars. My second observation, more subtle yet more striking than my first, was that ever yone was getting along impeccably.

Television Is Bad for Children

It has been suggested that watching television may do more harm than good to a child's developmental skills. But a new study says that it all depends on what children watch — some educational programs on TV can actually enhance children's intellectual development. Until now, television viewing has been blamed consistently for having a negative effect on children's developmental skills. But the authors of a new study, which was published in the September/October issue of Child Development, argue that not all television programs are created equal. All TV is not alike,† says co-author Aletha Huston, PhD, professor of child development at the University of Texas at Austin. â€Å"Educational television can have a very positive impact on young children. † For the study, researchers recruited more than 200 children in the Kansas City area who were from low- to moderate-income families. About 40% of the children were African-Americans, and the rest were Hispanic and Cauca sian Americans. During the 3-year study, which followed children from ages 2 to 4 years, researchers tested the children and visited their homes every year.The tests included reading, vocabulary, math, and school readiness. â€Å"Children who watched educational programming — particularly at age 2 and 3 — performed better on tests of school-related skills than children who did not watch educational television,† says Huston. â€Å"Watching a lot of general audience programming was related to poor skills. † After controlling for the family environment, which included parents' education and family income, researchers found that watching educational programs on television may indeed translate to better skills.Daniel Anderson, PhD, professor of psychology at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, says that the findings highlight the importance of the type of content that is viewed. â€Å"What children watch on television is the key,† says Anderson. â€Å"When the television programs are designed to teach, children learn good things. If they are not designed to teach, and especially if they include violence, children learn things that end up being bad for their behavior. Anderson points out that for children from low- to moderate-income families, such educational programming is filling in parts of their childhood experience that they might not otherwise get. â€Å"These children very often don't have other educational resources available in their homes, such as age-appropriate books, and parents often don't understand the importance of reading to their children and encouraging their children to read,† says Anderson. Researchers say that it is heartening to see that educational programming has become a regular, if small, part of broadcast offerings.Children can learn cognitive and social skills from such programs if parents supervise what they watch. â€Å"Television is a powerful tool to teach things good or bad,† says John Murray, PhD, professor in the school of family studies and human services at Kansas State University. null But he cautions that too much television for school-aged children may have the opposite effect. â€Å"The rule of thumb is two hours per day,† says Murray. â€Å"Watching too much television takes away time children spend on exercise and other school-related activities. A related study, released this week in the September issue of Ambulatory Pediatrics, found that easy access to television, such as having a TV in a child's room, leads to more time spent in front of the tube. The study author, Jean Wiecha, PhD, says her study backs up that 2-hour rule. â€Å"Parents should limit the time children spend watching television,† says Wiecha, deputy director of the prevention research center on nutrition and physical activity at the Harvard School of Public Health in Boston. â€Å"More than 2 hours of viewing time may have health consequences for children, such as obesity. Technology runs in the veins of society. It is the fuel that drives our lives. It is an integral part of daily life. It has definitely benefited society. It has brought luxury in the life of every common man. Automation brought about by technology has saved human effort and time to a large extent. It has brought distant places closer and simplified information access. It has made the world a smaller place to live in. Let us look at some of the important areas, where technology has brought a positive change.Automation of Processes in the Industry and the Household: Technology has automated many of the critical processes in the industry as well as the household. Imagine the amount of labor that must have been involved in industrial processes when the concept of automation did not exist. Electronic gadgets have entered homes of the common man to rescue him from the boredom of daily chores. Imagine the amount of time people must be spending doing household chores durin g the time there were no machines and household appliances. It's better not imagined.Today's is the age of robotics. Machines can learn, adopt new things and perform tasks with near-human efficiency. Changed Modes of Transport: The automobile industry and technology are interwoven. Time has witnessed this industry evolve from mechanical scooters to automated aircraft. Animals were the only modes of transport in the olden days. Technology was the driving force behind the creation and design of the modern-day automobiles. Bicycles evolved into scooters and sports bikes. The idea of having four-wheeled modes of transport gave rise to the creation of cars.Modes of air and water transport came up, thanks to technology. Reduced Risk to Human Life: Machines have automated many crucial industrial processes. Machines are now taking up mundane jobs that were once done by human workers. Technology has evolved to an extent where machines can perform tasks that are not feasible for man, either b ecause they are risky or life-threatening or because they are beyond human capacity. The use of advanced technologies like robotics and artificial intelligence has proven to be helpful in life-risking endeavors like mining and space exploration.Data Management and Information Retrieval: Computer technology, needless to say, has changed the face of the world. Computers can store, organize and manage huge amounts of data. They can process large amounts of information. Computers have given rise to the software industry, one of the most progressive industries of the world. The Internet that seeded from computer networking concepts is the most effective communication platform and the largest information base existing today. Impact on the Entertainment and Advertising Industries: The Internet has brought a positive change to the entertainment and advertising industries.Over the Internet, advertisements can reach the masses within seconds. Internet advertisements have changed equations of the advertising industry. Branding on the Internet is much more effective that other forms of product promotion. The entertainment media has progressed because of advancements in technology. Movies, songs, games are a few clicks away. People have begun using the Internet to watch and download movies, listen to music, play games and entertain themselves. Thanks to handy, mobile and user-friendly devices, all this has become really easy.Onset of the Digital Age: There's hardly anything analog now, we live in a digital world, a digital age. Talk pixels and bytes. The digitization of information has made it possible for us to store it in a compact form. Ever wondered how gigabytes of data can be stored on a small chip? Digitization it is! Also, digitization enriches the quality of data storage. Digital voice and digital images are of a higher quality. Digital cameras and digital TVs provide users with an enriched picture quality, thus bettering user experience with technology.Communicat ion Redefined: Cellular communication has revolutionized the communication industry. The conventional telephone, also a piece of technology, was one of the earliest technological developments in communication. Mobile phones have broadened the horizons of communication by enabling convenient long-distance calling and mobile use. Letters have taken a backseat and emails and cell phone messages have become the easiest means to connect. Owing to developments in technology, communication is wireless.Social networking is another defining factor here. It has given an all new dimension to communication, entertainment and recreation. Satellite Technology: Satellite communication is an important facet of technology. Satellite TV and satellite radio have eased the broadcasting of events across the globe. How else do you think could matches and concerts be broadcasted live? Not just TV and radio, even communication to ships and airplanes wouldn't have been possible if not for satellite communic ation.Even your hand-held devices wouldn't be of use, if not for radio communication. These were still a few fields influenced by technology. It is almost impossible to enlist all the positive effects of technology on society. The fast-advancing technology on the whole, has given impetus to developments in various fields and improved the quality of human life. There's less risk, less effort, less mess. There's more leisure, more ease and more speed – all because of that ten-letter word – not a word, a phenomenon – technology.

The Drug And Therapy During The U.s. Withdrawal Treatment

High dosages of benzodiazepines creates a massive clinical concern as patients can be easily dependent. Benzodiazepines are an incredibly abused drug in the U.S. Withdrawal treatment is recommended; however, it is sometimes unsuccessful for a large portion of patients. While ceasing the administration the drug all at once can be incredibly difficult for the patient and often times detrimental to the patient’s health, tapering is recommended by most doctors for allowing patients to successfully be independent from the drug and therapy during the tapering process is widely recommended and incredibly successful. Issues of Benzodiazepine Dependence As the Rolling Stones called them in their hit song released in 1966, â€Å"Mother’s†¦show more content†¦1). So the problem is not only found in patients who take large dosages, but in patients who also abuse the drug, combine multiple types of benzodiazepines and other drugs, and purchase them illegally in order to be under the influence of a benzodiazepine. This is why, for the last decade, less and less prescriptions of benzodiazepines have been dispensed in the United States. However, â€Å"over the last 20 years the quantity of benzodiazepines on each prescription has increased† (Brett, 2015, p. 152). Benzodiazepines are defined by Merriam Webster as â€Å"any of a group of aromatic lipophilic amines (as diazepam and chlordiazepoxide) used especially as tranquilizers.† Benzodiazepines are anxiolytic tranquilizers used for medical conditions such as anxiety, alcohol withdrawal, insomnia, and muscle relaxation. Generalized anxiety disorder, or GAD is one of the most common mental illnesses benzodiazepines are responsible for combating. GAD is a disorder in which a person experiences constant, low-level anxiety (Wesely, 2014, p. 244). They act on the central nervous system as they produce sedation and lower anxiety levels (eMedicine Health). As stated by Yakugaku Zasshi in his journal article, â€Å"Benzodiazepines (BZs) work by agonising gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) receptor complex and