What Caught the Editor’s Eye

[Leigh Fergus, Space Research Today Executive Editor]

Afilm that caught my eye recently was the latest Wes Anderson: "Asteroid City", released this year. A far cry from the CGI-saturated and special effects-laden blockbusters that regularly hit the cinemas these days, this is a nostalgic vision of the US mid-west, set in a lost half-finished town in the desert inV the 1950s, complete with pastel-coloured diner, motel and petrol station. Oh, and the occasional atomic test booming, unthreateningly, in the distance. The town was the site of a meteorite impact 5,000 years ago, a ludicrous simple fenced-off path leads to the crater, presumably for paid visits. The film is a story within a story, one plotline being the town hosting a competition for gifted children and their scientific inventions (including a death ray, a jet pack, and a device to project images onto the surface of the moon), a sort of mini space cadet convention. We see the children—and their parents—as they come to receive their awards and take part in the annual celebration of the asteroid impact, and how this particular event is interrupted. The other parallel storyline is the backstage writing and production of this story, and the people involved.

I won’t spoil the intrigue, but what I enjoyed, apart from references to a number of classic films (The Misfits, Bad Day at Black Rock, etc) were the cheeky nods to the fields covered by our COSPAR Scientific Commissions and Panels, particularly PE, PPP, PoIS, CIR, PSSH and Commissions B and F. The characters show a yearning throughout to understand—life, the universe, other people—and to be understood. Recurring phrases are “It’s for an experiment” and “I understand” and although some admit to feeling more at home outside the Earth’s atmosphere, there is still an attempt to find meaning and connection with others, a universal quest. A pity there was little diversity in the largely white “star-studded” cast (can you spot Tilda Swinton? Jarvis Cocker?), but nevertheless this is a fun, stylised film, unmistakeably a Wes Anderson—and the three little girls, Pandora, Andromeda and Cassiopeia, steal the show.

As AI has hit the headlines and looks set to feature increasingly large in our lives now as the likes of ChatGPT take off, it was refreshing to read about the musician Grimes’ take on AI. She has released her own voice software, Elf.tech, a royalty-free source of inspiration that musicians can dip into and use however they wish. In an interview in the New York Times (24 May 2023), the cyber-pop artiste talks about her passion for AI and all things space-related. While many artists are opposed to AI, citing an end to creative input, Grimes is eager to see more developments in this field and seems to be trailblazing. A couple of hits incorporating her voice have already been released by other artists with whom she plans to cooperate on future creative projects.

An unexpected benefit for someone who struggles with software such as PhotoShop and InDesign is the AI application of Text to Canva.

I don’t mean to advertise, but this recently discovered type of software is a game-changer for anyone looking to illustrate their publications without having to check copyright issues or without the time to trawl through the infinity of royalty-free images available online.

I’ll always prefer ‘real’ photographs if I can get them, but now I have an alternative for simple illustrations.

I was also intrigued to read about another use for 3D printing, this time for food produced in space. An article in the Lunar and Planetary Institute’s Planetary News https://www.lpi.usra.edu/ planetary_news/2023/06/06/printing-space-cake-with-software-based-laser-cooking/ informs us that “This food-making method can utilize in-situ-produced food as raw materials for the bioink fed into a 3D printer. The versatility of the ink composition used to print foods will facilitate adjusting nutrients based on real-time data on astronauts’ physical conditions and metabolic requirements.” While there may be limitations in the variety of food that can be rustled up in the confines of deep space exploration missions (number of ingredients, different heat required for cooking each ingredient, according to the article), it does seem an excellent use of resources. Will chefs on Earth soon be bringing out not just new cookery books, but printing their own ingredients?