There are some critics and superhero fans who will tell you there’s not a lot of action in “Wonder Woman 1984,” as if that’s a bad thing.
If action is what you’re worried about, you can relax: There is plenty of it in this “Wonder Woman” sequel. Maybe it’s not wall-to-wall explosions (looking at you, Marvel), but it has car chases and foot races and battles in the sky.
But remember, Wonder Woman is a character whose fans extend far beyond the DC Universe and comic book fandom.
She also appeals to young kids who look up to this fierce warrior who can turn jets invisible, and to those who may ordinarily not like superhero films, but can relate to a character who has both strength and compassion.
The deep sea discoveries of 2020 are stunning
Perhaps the longest animal ever recorded: An estimated 150-foot-long siphonophore.
Image: Schmidt Ocean Institute
2020-12-23 15:18:27 UTC
This spring, over 2,000 feet down in the Indian Ocean, a robot exploring a canyon happened upon a fantastical, loosely coiled creature. The siphonophore, found suspended in the water, might be the longest animal ever discovered. It s well over 150 feet in length.
The discovery, made by scientists aboard the R/V Falkor, a vessel operated by the marine research organization the Schmidt Ocean Institute, was one of many unique sightings in, or newly published research about, the deep sea this year. The worst pandemic in a century may have canceled many marine expeditions, but discoveries in the ocean deep â abetted by robotic explorers â continued apace in 2020.Â
December 21st, 2020, 6:00AM / BY Abigail Eisenstadt
The original photos from late 1800s by famous snowflake photographer Wilson “Snowflake” Bentley, are stored in the Smithsonian Archives. His pictures were instrumental in helping scientists examine snow’s crystalline properties. (Erin Malsbury, Smithsonian Open Access, Wilson A. Bentley)
Winter officially begins today, and cold weather fanatics are hoping for snow. But snowfall brings more than wintry fun. This beautiful weather event gives scientists the chance to examine a fascinating substance with unique properties.
“Snowflakes are single crystals of ice and ice is basically a mineral that melts at a lower temperature than other minerals do,” said Dr. Jeffrey Post, Curator-in-Charge of Gems and Minerals at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History.
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First partially domesticated from teosinte, a wild grass, maize has only reluctantly given up the secrets of its long development. Genetic research, Kennett said, has been challenging because a scarcity of suitable cobs in an environment not kind to organic material. Researchers, however, caught a break in Honduras.
“Well-preserved maize is extremely rare in the Americas, but the El Gigante rock shelter has over 10,000 specimens to work with,” he said. “Most of these fragmentary remains date later than 2,500 years ago, and locating earlier material in the assemblage was challenging and required directly radiocarbon dating large numbers of maize cobs.
The mall is the setting for an early heist scene, where Wonder Woman – whose day job is now at the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History in nearby Washington, D.C. – swings up and around three levels to take down a crew of jewelry-store robbers (whose plunder is no ordinary gem) and save a little girl.
“It’s just such a perfect location,” director Patty Jenkins says of Landmark, built in 1965 and operational until 2017. “And the fact that it was empty and we wouldn t be negotiating shutting down for hours, etc., we were blown away that we found it.”
Walking into the ground floor of what used to be a Macy’s, one soon encountered extras in teased hair and off-the-shoulder sweatshirts making their way into the mall proper for the big action scene.