PhD position in high redshift galaxy evolution Dark Cosmology Centre, Niels Bohr Institute, University of Copenhagen The Dark Cosmology Centre (DARK) is offering a paid PhD student fellowship for an outstanding, highly motivated …

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PhD position in high redshift galaxy evolution Dark Cosmology Centre, Niels Bohr Institute, University of Copenhagen The Dark Cosmology Centre (DARK) is.

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Hugo Award-winning SF author Elizabeth Bear told us that her latest novel, All the Windwracked Stars, is something she’s been working on since time immemorial–or what feels like it, anyway.
“Basically, it’s the conjunction of a lot of different things: my love for post-apocalyptic science fantasy and my desire to do something slightly different with it are probably the most deep-seated motives, however,” Bear said in an interview. “I also wanted to build a world where the cultural foundation was a bit different than our own–something a little divorced from Romano-Christian ideals and emotional logic. .”
In the novel, in the last city on a dying world, the last Valkyrie encounters the ancient enemy she blames for the destruction of her society . and then “wackiness ensues,” Bear said.. “The book’s main protagonist is Muire, a historian and sculptor who happens to be 2300 years old, and a supernatural being,” she said. “Actually, the book was easy to write, although it took me many, many drafts to get it right,” she said.
Bear said that a ton of research went into the book, but added that she hopes it’s not immediately apparent. I like this place and these people and their story. “But writing it was an awful lot of fun, as I was very engaged with the characters and the world the entire time. “The bit I think is amazingly cool, and which soaked up most of the research, was integrating traditional Norse magic and religion into a technological society and trying to make them seem as if they had grown up together, inseparable,” Bear said.”
The book is science fantasy, so the science deals mostly with well-established tropes. “The setting is also very fun. “The setting is also very fun. She’s also writing for the ongoing collaborative Web fiction project , which is gearing up for season two.”
Other recent projects of Bear’s include the recent novels Ink and Steel and Hell and Earth, which she describes as Elizabethan fantasies featuring poets, spies, devils and faerie queens. –John Joseph Adams

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At the San Diego Comic-Con last July, writer/producer Joss Whedon raised the possiblity of a sequel to his hit Internet musical Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog, which is available on DVD today. To which we say: Heck yeah!
The three-part musical/comedy/drama came together during last year’s writers’ strike and hit the Web with much fanfare. Horrible’s efforts to woo the laundromat girl, Penny (Felicia Day) to defeat his archnemesis, Captain Hammer (Nathan Fillion) and to qualify for membership in the Evil League of Evil. Centering on a wannabe supervillain played by Neil Patrick Harris, the show chonicled Dr. With a crashing economy, crippling ice storms and the unfortunate return of short-brimmed hats as a male fashion statement, the nation needs Dr.
By turns silly, heartwarming and heartbreaking, the webisodes practically cried out for follow-up. Horrible more than ever.
Dr. Here’s why. After Penny’s unfortunate encounter with the freeze ray, Dr. Horrible is ready for a new adventure. He’s got a fancy new red costume, and he’s been accepted into the Evil League of Evil. H goes full evil. Captain Hammer is in therapy, and our favorite bad guy has every reason to seek revenge. Captain Hammer is in therapy, and our favorite bad guy has every reason to seek revenge. in horribleness can think of fantastically evil ways to exact it.D.

Captain Hammer could become something even crazier.
This story continues below the image. Just imagine the weirdness that could come out of the brain of someone who saves damsels in distress by throwing them into a pile of garbage. Aside from the fact that Fillion is just plain pretty to look at, he pulls off smarmy superhero like nobody’s business. Everyone loved Day as sweet, doomed Penny. And the questions: What special muscles has he been working on?
Penny is gone. Now that Dr. But she was all wrong for the doc. Of course, Penny could always come back–Whedon’s brought characters back from the dead before. Of course, Penny could always come back–Whedon’s brought characters back from the dead before. In fact, he’s brought them all back from the dead, come to think of it …
The Evil League of Evil. The head of the league is called Bad Horse, and he’s an actual horse, accompanied by a retinue of singing cowboys. . Still to be heard from: Professor Normal, Fake Thomas Jefferson and Dead Bowie.
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Because the fans demand it! Do a search for Dr. Horrible fan fiction and prepare to be amazed. The Facebook fan site has 89,608 members the series has been nominated for a People’s Choice Award and Time Magazine gave it the number 15 spot in its Top 50 Innovations of 2008. Show us it’s not just a fluke.

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What with the presidential election, Dancing With the Stars finale and other pressing matters, one signature anniversary may have escaped your notice this year.
The 30th anniversary of the Star Wars Holiday Special. 17, 1978.
It aired–once–on Nov.
But its absence, while not making the heart grow fonder, has also failed to diminish the scars inflicted on the collective psyche of Star Wars fans and science fiction aficionados over the decades, and its legend has grown such that even the Empire itself, Lucasfilm and the official , cannot ignore this year’s anniversary. .
For that, you may have to strike your own bargain with the dark forces of evil.
And so, with uncharacteristic self-effacement, the Lucas people are celebrating the Star Wars Holiday Special in all its gaudy horror with a week’s worth of interviews, articles, images and features–everything, it seems, but the cursed thing itself.

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Damon Lindelof, co-creator and co-executive producer of ABC’s Lost, told reporters that there will not be a feature film based on the show. Or, he hastened to add, it won’t happen on his watch. 2 online roundtable with journalists while promoting the upcoming season-four DVD set and year five of the hit ABC show.
“The answer is no,” Lindelof said in a Dec. . “At least not by us…”
A film, Lindelof argued, would be unfair to those devoted viewers expecting to see story threads–What’s up with that island? What is the fate of the Oceanic Six? And everyone else?–resolved by the time the series ends in 2010, following the last episode of its sixth season. on television. Buy some popcorn, and we’ll give you the rest!’ [That] would pretty much be the worst thing ever.
“To bring our characters to some sort of cliffhanger,” Lindelof explained, “where the audience gets none of the answers that they really care about, and then say, ‘Now give us 10 bucks. 21, 2009, at 8 p.”
Lost returns for its fifth season on Jan. ET/PT.m. –

.While Australia and its stars Nicole Kidman and Hugh Jackman steal the spotlight, the year’s most successful homegrown film, The Black Balloon, will open quietly in the US next week.
The family comedy/drama starring Toni Collette, Gemma Ward and Rhys Wakefield is Australia’s highest grossing film of 2008 so far, with box office takings of $2.
The Black Balloon also leads the Australian Film Institute (AFI) award nominations with 11 nods, including best film.3 million.
“It opens on December 5 which is sort of great timing because that’s the same time as the AFI awards, so hopefully there’s a good planet alignment or something and it bodes well for the film,” director Elissa Down said. The winners will be announced next weekend, at the same time as the film’s US release. .
Down has just returned from Los Angeles where she was promoting the film, which is a coming-of-age story about a family dealing with an autistic son.
“This season, if you want to see a movie about teen romance and mentally challenged characters, go see Twilight.com is recommending The Black Balloon over the number one film in the US, teen smash hit Twilight.”
Down said it was too early to tell whether hype surrounding Baz Luhrmann’s epic would drum up interest in other Aussie movies, but she is pleased with how the film has been received so far. Or you can decide you want to see a good film, and check out The Black Balloon instead.
“So far the reviews that have been coming out have been great.
“We had our US release at the Hamptons Film Festival, and we had this film symposium in New Jersey, so there’s been a lot of screenings to get an awareness out about the film,” Down said.
With that in mind, Down said she did feel pressure ahead of the AFIs.”
The Black Balloon was nominated for 10 awards at the Inside Film (IF) awards earlier this month, but picked up just one – for box office achievement.
“Like at the IF Awards, you’ve got everyone there and you’ve got your family there, you get excited and then you feel a bit deflated like, ‘oh what did we do?’
“But we’ve had a great run – I think we’ve won like 17 or 18 awards at the moment, so we’re doing ok.
“There is a bit of a pressure because when you’re the leading contender and then you don’t come with the goods, everyone’s like ‘oh no!’,” she said.
Eric Bana, Guy Pearce, Hugo Weaving, Damian Walshe-Howling, Chris Lilley, Gyton Grantley and Rebecca Gibney are just some of the stars who will walk the red carpet.”
The AFIs will be held over two nights on December 5 and 6 at Melbourne’s iconic Princess Theatre, hosted by Stephen Curry and Julia Zemiro.
– AAP

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Oscar-winning special-effects master Howard Berger told us that he turned down doing the film version of Where the Wild Things Are–which he called his favorite book as a child–and that he anticipated the problems that director Spike Jonze is reportedly having adapting the classic book to film.
In his bio–and speaking backstage after winning an Oscar for The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe–Berger said that his fascination with special effects started with his mother, a teacher, as she read him Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak.
So was he disappointed not to work on the film version of his favorite book? “No, I’m not,” Berger said with a laugh. “That’s what started this for me,” Berger said. [We turned it down] because I’m in love with it so much. “We were approached four times, and we turned it down four times. What is happening is what I thought would happen. I respect it too much.H.”
There were rumors earlier, reported on C.D.U. The movie is expected to be released in October 2009. and elsewhere, that Warner was not happy with Jonze’s footage and that it was even considering reshooting the entire film. It was potentially a catastrophe.
Whether those reports are true or not, Berger said: “The direction that they were taking in the movie was certainly not the direction that I would have taken. I didn’t want to get myself in it. I had a sinking feeling about it.”
Berger and his partner, Greg Nicotero of KNB EFX Group, in Van Nuys, Calif. It’s a horrible idea. Berger worked on Star Wars: Episode III–Revenge of the Sith, Land of the Dead and Transformers, as well as The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian, which comes out on DVD on Dec., met with Jonze, who is helming the movie for Warner Brothers.
“Even when I heard about it I thought, ‘I don’t want to do it,’” Berger said. 2.”
The film is going to be a mix of computer-generated animation and animatronics, with some of the characters in giant suits made of foam.”
The film is going to be a mix of computer-generated animation and animatronics, with some of the characters in giant suits made of foam. The cast includes Forest Whitaker, Michelle Williams, Catherine O’Hara and James Gandolfini.
Berger said that he still has a life-sized beast in his office like one of the Wild Things. –

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Forget turkey and stuffing and holiday shopping. “It’s Coming”–and I’m not talking about the Nov. 11 episode of NBC’s Heroes! Nope …” The end is indeed near. there’s just four episodes left ’til the end of “Volume Three: Villains.
So far, Hiro (Masi Oka) thinks he’s 10 years old the sparks flew when Sylar (Zachary Quinto) and Elle (Kristen Bell) got together Matt (Greg Grunberg) got inside Angela’s (Cristine Rose) head and nearly got killed by her big bad hubby, Arthur Petrelli (Robert Forster) and Mohinder (Sendhil Ramamurthy) got even creepier.. Remember when we liked Mohinder? Oh well . there’s time for him to be redeemed and for some world-saving to ensue.. By the end, “it leaves the Petrelli brothers at real loggerheads with one another, completely on opposite sides.
The last four episodes of the season build to “a real showdown,” said creator and executive producer Tim Kring in an interview with us.”

Coming up on Nov.”

Coming up on Nov.. 1 will be “Eclipse,” “a true two-part episode . where we explore the idea of what would happen to our characters if they lost their powers, which is really fun to see how our characters cope when they lose their powers,” Kring said.. 15, we’ll get a Heroes present to warm us up over the holidays.
And then, on the big finale on Dec. “There’s a finite number of episodes here, and you know it going in. “If you stick with it, you will be rewarded, because you’re not going to get put into a situation where answers never come,” Kring promised. . We’ve announced that ‘Villains’ will be 13 episodes long, and so you know by the end of episode 13 you’re going to have seen the beginning, middle and end, . like reading a novel. like reading a novel. These same characters are in another novel that starts six weeks later.”
That new Heroes “novel” is a new volume called “Fugitives,” which will include 12 episodes. Heroes airs on Mondays at 9 p.m. ET/PT. (NBC is owned by NBC Universal, which also owns SCIFI.COM.) –Kathie Huddleston

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Look for big changes–and literal fireworks–as ABC’s fantasy-tinged dramedy Eli Stone enters midseason.
“I think in many ways we’re following the model of blowing the show up every other week and constantly raising the stakes,” said Marc Guggenheim, co-creator and executive producer, in an interview with us. This season has been rocked with series-changing events as Eli (Jonny Lee Miller) has traded places with his brother as God’s prophet, leading to the return of his aneurysm.
So true. And then we found out that Taylor (Natasha Henstridge) was pregnant, and Matt (Sam Jaeger) and Maggie (Julie Gonzalo) decided to leave Jordan’s new law firm. Meanwhile, Jordan (Victor Garber) decided that Wethersby, Posner & Klein should get rid of all its unsavory clients, leading to a split in the law firm.
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Get ready for more explosions as Seal guest-stars, Patti’s (Loretta Devine) daughter stops by to make some trouble, and Jordan finds himself in the middle of some impressive pyrotechnics, Guggenheim said. “How can we make the musical numbers bigger? How can we make the visual-effects sequences more cinematic? How can we expand and deepen the relationships among all of our characters? The show is going to bigger and bigger and bigger places.

“The name of the game here is just how can we expand the show in every conceivable way,” Guggenheim said. .”
In the Nov. “What we’ve seen of Patti’s private life, we were very interested in moving Patti a little bit more into the spotlight. “Coming into this year, one of our mission statements at the beginning of the season was to open up what Patti does on the show,” Guggenheim said.”
And we’ll get some song and dance from Garber’s character, Jordan, as well. Giving her a storyline that didn’t revolve exclusively around Eli. “It’s really, really cool. “He performs ‘Don’t Mess Around With Jim’ amidst a lot of pyrotechnics,” Guggenheim said. But it really looks amazing. Some of them we did practically, and others we’ve done with visual effects, because they were a little too dangerous.
Then look for Seal to guest-star in episode seven, “Help.” The episode explores issues with medical marijuana and also guest-stars The West Wing’s Steven Culp..” “We’ve got some cool visual effects happening in episode 207, . where we literally put Eli in the middle of a movie,” Guggenheim said. where we literally put Eli in the middle of a movie,” Guggenheim said. “We do it in a way that you’ve never seen on the show before, where we’re trying to push the envelope in terms of the way Eli has his visions.” And look for Devine to bring down the house as she sings the Beatles’ “Help.”
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British actor Jonny Lee Miller plays the title character in ABC’s Eli Stone.
“I think it’s all a part of being true to the concept of the show, because the concept of the show is about changing the world,” Guggenheim said. “In the first season, we did a flash-forward to the future, where Eli’s talking to thousands of people in Times Square in New York, and we’re always keeping that in the back of our minds as we plot out these stories. Like knowing that’s ultimately where we’d like to go,” Guggenheim said. Eli Stone airs Tuesdays at 10 p.m. ET/PT. –Kathie Huddleston