Evolutionary Biology on Mars - TEDx Talk By Scott Solomon

As society slowly progresses in establishing themselves outside planet Earth, Professor Solomon takes a look at what would happen to humans from an evolution standpoint if we were to start residing permanently on Mars.

Taking a look at all the adaptations that we would go through, the question then arises, would we even be humans then?

Scott Solomon teaches ecology, evolutionary biology and scientific communication as a Professor in the Practice in the Department of BioSciences at Rice University. He received a doctorate in Ecology, Evolution and Behavior from UT Austin where his research examined the evolutionary basis of biological diversity in the Amazon Basin. This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community.

Alien - Covenant (2017)

After the risible disappointment of Prometheus and the underwhelming reviews that Alien: Covenant garnered upon its cinema release, I approached the DVD with a great deal of scepticism and low expectations.

And was completely taken aback by how enjoyable it was.

Although a sequel to Prometheus, and yet more backfilling of the xenomorph origin story, the weaknesses of the earlier movie are soon forgotten as we are reminded of how great - on a good day - director Ridley Scott can be at atmospheric world-building.

The crew of the deep space transport ship Covenant are guiding a cargo of 2,000 settlers on the long voyage to potential new home in the stars, when a series of accidents leads them to a 'ghost signal' from a previously unknown planet.

They investigate and discover the remains of a crashed alien spaceship and the soul survivor: the synthetic lifeform David (Michael Fassbender).

To be honest, the Covenant's crew aren't exactly memorable characters - even the wannabe 'last girl', Daniels (Katherine Waterston), is no hard ass Ellen Ripley - but this was a return to the franchise's horror roots, meaning we should be more tolerant of an abundance of chum to seed the water for the sharks to feed upon.

That said, given that they're blue collar working stiffs you have to question the level of training the crew received for such a crucial mission when their default reaction to most problems seems to be immediate panic.

The real stand-out (unsurprisingly) is Fassbender, on whose mighty shoulders the entire enterprise rests.

He is superb as the identical synthetics, the protective Walter of the Covenant's crew and the deranged David, whose programming had allowed him to transform into a terrifying Prospero or Dr Moreau, cultivating his crop of genetically-engineered xenomorphs.

Alien: Covenant isn't quite the Gothic haunted house horror of the original but more the good old fashioned shipwrecked-sailors-trapped-on-an-island-with-a-monster yarn, with a dash of slasher flick mixed in for seasoning.

If it wasn't so beautifully crafted, the film would probably have felt a lot pulpier than it actually does, but it still skates a fine line between serious and gonzo.

The film really comes alive once the stranded crew are rescued from their first encounter with albino xenomorphs by David, and then gradually we learn what he has been up to.

All the elements that initially had me asking 'why has Ridley changed that?' are all gradually explained as David's apocalyptic machinations are made manifest.

I guess, post-Prometheus, I was second-guessing too much and expecting the worst, when in truth the core plot is very tightly scripted.

A worthy addition to the Alien franchise, this has reignited my enthusiasm for more Ridley Scott-helmed Alien movies... something I never thought I'd say again.

Life (2017)

In the near future, astronauts on the International Space Station retrieve soil samples from Mars and discover a single-cell organism, the first definitive proof of extraterrestrial life.

Once exposed to a fertile atmosphere within the space station, the creature rapidly grows into a gelatinous form that's part star fish, part squid, and all ick.

And, of course, it wants to kill us all.

Life is Gravity with a murderous ET, The Thing in space, and Alien in Earth orbit.

At its core, despite its big name cast (led by Jake Gyllenhaal and Ryan Reynold), it's a cheesy '50s sci-fi B-movie creature feature, just on a much bigger budget... and I think it knows that and embraces the fact.

As well as a "drowning" that hearkens back to James Cameron's The Abyss, there's even a resuscitation scene that homages the infamous sequence from The Thing, but with a cleverly different denouement.

Wholly absorbing from start-to-finish, Life begins in media res and keeps up the rapid pacing for most of its 95-minute duration, only easing off slightly as it heads into the final act - possibly to build tension.

However, despite a couple of unexpected twists along the way and a wonderfully nihilistic Twilight Zone-style ending, there's very little original here plot and story-wise.

The human protagonists, despite a handful of character tics and backstory flags, are largely two-dimensional, there to be sacrificed on the altar of story for the audience's entertainment.

That said, the monster - named Calvin by schoolkids back on Earth - is deliciously Lovecraftian, not because of its tentacles but because of its inhuman alienness and intellect.

A small film, in TV parlance it's like a 'bottle episode', with all the action - until the very end - taking place within the claustrophobic confines of the ISS, but it's also what Joe Bob Briggs would call a "spam-in-a-cabin" horror flick, where everyone is potential meat for the killer.