The Week in Review

This week we learn that science is explosively awesome, Double Fine can make a lot of money just by asking politely, and George Lucas really needs to stop talking.

10-Year-Old Accidentally Discovers New Explosive Molecule

There are many ways to discover new molecules and their properties, but I doubt many are more delightful or endearing than a ten-year-old fumbling some balls and sticks together before innocently asking her science teacher, “is this real?” … and being right. And that’s exactly what happened in Kenneth Boehr’s fifth-grade science classroom when 10-year-old Clara Lazen approached his desk with a fully constructed tetranitratoxycarbon molecule. (Link)

Valve’s Portal 2 Mod Crashes Down on Skyrim

In celebration of both the Skyrim Creation Kit and its new Steam Workshop, Valve and Bethesda have teamed up to create a very special mod for the award-winning RPG. Titled Fall of the Space Core, Vol. 1, the mod stars Portal 2’s galaxy-obsessed Space Core crashing down into the realm of Skyrim. (Link)

Hello Kitty Meets Hooters

That image on the right? That’s an official Hello Kitty design, not one of those ‘ironic’ knock-offs desperate-to-be-cool types get tattooed on their midriffs. Sanrio has teamed up with Hooters for a Valentine’s day promotion. I’m really not surprised, since her inception in 1974, ‘Kitty White’ has been used to shill just about anything you can think of, from purses, clothes and jewelry to cars, planes, teeth, massagers (both internal and external) and guns. When modern civilization is reduced to ash, and our irradiated descendants are left to sift through the ruins of our culture they’ll probably assume we worshiped the dress-wearing, albino feline as some kind of god, and they will laugh. When they’re not busy fending off giant scorpions and squabbling over the last remaining cans of Hello Kitty-themed spaghetti hoops, that is.(Link)

Tim Schafer Raises $1.3 Million

Tim Schafer has made some of the most loved adventure games in the last twenty years. From contributing to the Monkey Island series to being lead designer on Full Throttle and Day of the Tentacle, Schafer’s time at LucasArts in the 90s would be enough to garner him high praise. Add all that to the list of quirky games the studio he founded, Double Fine, has made (Brutal Legend, Stacking, Costume Quest and Once Upon a Monster to name a few), and Schafer’s resume starts to veer into legendary status. Even with all that credibility, the games Double Fine makes still must pass muster from publishers willing to bankroll production. Witness the story of trying to fund Psychonauts 2 and how it might take an angel investor named Notch to make that game possible. Schafer decided to take matters into his own hands, and give it to his loyal fans, by allowing them to fund his next adventure game project through Kickstarter. The “Double Fine Adventure” pledge started yesterday with a goal of $400,000, and in just one night raised more than $500,000 from nearly 13 thousand backers. Link)

George Lucas Says Greedo Always Shot First

It’s no secret that Star Wars creator George Lucas has a powerful penchant for messing with his movies. One of the most obvious and egregious examples of his inability to leave things alone [and thereby make them worse] is the transformation of Han Solo, through one single, small action, from bad-ass space pirate to innocent practitioner of self-defense. And since that day, among a certain subset of sci-fi nerds who refuse to drink the Kool-Aid, the call has gone out: “Solo shot first!”(Link)