'Fire of Love' and 'All That Breathes' — two Oscar-nominated documentaries I'm recommending to my students

I have been recommending two documentaries to my students since the Academy Awards nominations came out, "Fire of Love" and "All That Breathes," the first to my geology classes and the second to my environmental science classes.* That's a good enough reason to share my thoughts about them for today's Sunday entertainment feature. I begin with National Geographic's Fire of Love Trailer.

From National Geographic Documentary Films comes the extraordinary love story of intrepid French scientists Katia and Maurice Krafft, who died just as explosively as they lived — capturing the most spectacular imagery ever recorded of their greatest passion: volcanoes.

I'm a paleontologist, not a volcanologist, but I'm still a geologist, so I'm thrilled to see an award-winning documentary about geology being recognized at the Academy Awards and happy to recommend my students watch a tragic love story about scientists and their subject. It helps that the documentary is streaming on Disney+, so they don't even have to leave home or spend extra money on to see it.

Next, All That Breathes | Official Trailer | HBO.

“We’re all a community of air.”

Oscar-nominated film #AllThatBreathes, an exploration of humankind’s connection to wildlife and climate change, premieres February 7 on @HBOMax.

I'm also sharing the description from Dogwoof's upload of this trailer.

As legions of birds fall from New Delhi’s darkening skies, and the city smoulders with social unrest, two brothers race to save a casualty of the turbulent times: the black kite, a majestic bird of prey essential to their city's ecosystem.

As the first video description notes, my students can stream this film at home on HBO Max, although I think fewer of them have the Warner Brothers-Discovery streaming service than Disney's. It still looks like a documentary they will find both enjoyable and educational.

Before I move on, the trailer's claim that this is "the most awarded documentary of the year" may or may not have been true at the time of the trailer's release, but it certainly isn't true now. IMDB lists 19 wins and 39 nominations for "All That Breathes" but 27 wins and 65 nominations for "Fire of Love." One of those is the DGA Awards, where "Fire of Love" won Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Documentary, beating "All That Breathes," two other Oscar nominees, "Navalny" and "All the Beauty and the Bloodshed," and "Retrograde," which substitutes for the Oscar-nominated "A House Made of Splinters." According to IMDB, "All the Beauty and the Bloodshed" ties "Fire of Love" with 27 wins but lags behind with 47 nominations, while "Navalny" has 11 wins and 28 nominations and "A House Made of Splinters" has 8 wins and 14 nominations. All that places "All That Breathes" in third, not first.

Follow over the jump for Gold Derby's interviews of the directors for both "Fire of Love" and "All That Breathes."

SciShow asks 'What Is Monkeypox?'

There is another viral disease outbreak making news besides COVID-19. SciShow explains as it asks and answers What Is Monkeypox?

While cases of Monkeypox are being found worldwide, the nature of the disease and the science we currently have available keeps concerns from growing.

I found this video both concerning and reassuring — concerning in that monkeypox is the kind of disease that "The Hot Zone" warned about, a tropical zoonotic illness spread by modern travel, reassuring because it, unlike COVID-19 or Ebola, is neither that dangerous nor an unknown quantity. As I wrote last month about nuclear weapons, "learning about it made me less anxious, as I could use my knowledge as a source of power over my fears." I hope the same is true for my readers.

Stay tuned for the Sunday entertainment feature.

Vaccine scientists are Time Magazine's Heroes of the Year

I closed Elon Musk is Time Magazine's Person of the Year with a preview of coming attractions.

I think Time Magazine's choices for Heroes of the Year, Athlete of the Year, and Entertainer of the Year are all worthy of attention. Now that Time has uploaded the video for Heroes of the Year, I plan on sharing that next as a pandemic update. Stay tuned.

Without any further ado, I'm sharing Doctor Mike Reveals TIME Heroes of the Year 2021: Vaccine Scientists.

For those of us lucky enough to live in wealthy countries with access to these top-shelf vaccines, it has made all the difference. The miracle workers behind the COVID-19 vaccines are the TIME Heroes of the Year not only because they gave the world a defense against a pathogen, but also because the manner of that astonishing achievement guards more than our health: they channeled their ambitions to the common good, talked to one another and trusted in facts.

I like Heroes of the Year better than Guardians of the Year, which Frontline health workers, Dr. Fauci, Porche Bennett-Bey and racial-justice organizers won last year. Too bad they couldn't have won people of the year, like The Ebola Fighters did in 2014, but I think this is still appropriate recognition. Congratulations!

Stay tuned for posts about the Athlete and Entertainer of the Year. In the meantime, here is the cover featuring the vaccine scientists, heroes of the year.

Joe Biden and Kamala Harris named Time Magazine's Person of the Year for 2020

One year ago today, I posted Time names Greta Thunberg Person of the Year for 2019. Today, it's this year's honoree's turn. Watch Time Magazine present TIME Person Of The Year: Joe Biden And Kamala Harris.

The Biden-Harris ticket represents something historic.
Person of the Year is not just about the year that was, but about where we’re headed.

Congratulations to Biden and Harris, but their being named came as a bit of a surprise after watching TIME Magazine Person Of The Year Shortlist Revealed Exclusively On TODAY yesterday morning.

Edward Felsenthal, editor-in-chief of TIME, joins TODAY with an exclusive look at the magazine’s shortlist for its Person of the Year: President-elect Joe Biden, President Trump, the movement for racial justice, and Dr. Anthony Fauci and the frontline health workers. “It’s been a really challenging year to make this call,” Felsenthal says.

Out of all the candidates, I would have picked Dr. Anthony Fauci and the frontline health workers for 2020's people of the year. Time itself set the precedent when the magazine named The Ebola Fighters as The Person of the Year for 2014. Frontline health care workers didn't come away empty-handed, as they were just named Guardians of the Year, which I think is appropriate. I guess they couldn't be both Person and Guardian. I'll have more on them along with Athlete of the Year and Entertainer of the Year over the weekend. Congratulations to all the honorees and stay tuned to all my readers.

PBS Digital's Storied examines pandemics in literature and entertainment

When I told my readers to "stay tuned for the Sunday entertainment feature" at the end of Marching music for the Kansas Primary, I had only the vaguest idea of what I would write about other than it would have some relationship to the pandemic.  Then I saw YouTube recommend How Fictional Pandemics Reflect the Real Thing (Feat. Lindsay Ellis and Dr. Z) on PBS Digital's Storied, the channel shared by Monstrum and It's Lit!*  I watched it and decided it would be the subject of today's entry.  As I remarked in the footnote to Pandemic effects from and on space, an April asteroid flyby, and NASA at Home for Apophis Day on Monday the 13th, "Behold the power of the YouTube algorithm!"

Although we are currently living through a pandemic that has disrupted our lives and will shape the course of humanity, pandemics have been around since the dawn of civilization, as have stories about fictional pandemics. So now seems like as good a time as any to explore how fictional pandemics have evolved over time, and what they say about their own time.

Long-time readers of my blog will recognize some of the more recent works, as I have written about them.  While I've mentioned Edgar Allan Poe only once here, I've referenced his creation, The Red Death, several times, usually in conjuction with Ebola.  That's because the Opera Ghost appears in costume as The Red Death in "Phantom of the Opera" and I thought it made for a good personification of the disease.


No Ebola-chan on this blog!

In addition, there are all the references to zombies as pandemic metaphors, something I mentioned first in Discovery News on World War Z: "Who needs a imaginary zombie plague when a very real flu pandemic combined with mass riots against a background of crumbling infrastructure could produce the same response, if not much the same result?"  As for other zombie works mentioned, I have an entire entry dedicated to Warm Bodies and a series of posts about "The Walking Dead.  As for "I Am Legend," I've mentioned it several times in passing, but only did the book justice in a response to a comment by Infidel753 on Entertainment for the sixth year of Crazy Eddie's Motie News.

"It's rare that movies do justice to really good science fiction or fantasy books. There have been three movie adaptations of I Am Legend (that I know of) and they made a mess of it each time."
...
As for your gripe about Hollywood screwing up film adaptations of science fiction, I blame that on star power and the executives idea of the kinds of endings that movies need to get box office. The original ending of "I Am Legend" is not one that is a happy one for the original form of humanity, so more palatable ones had to be devised. Also, the past two leads have both been action heroes, Charlton Heston and Will Smith, which may bring in viewers for box office but leads to emphasizing action over thought. In addition, the movie adaptations have made things progressively worse for themselves, as the original work was intended as a scientific explanation for vampires, but ended up becoming the basis for the modern science fiction zombie. Therefore, all the zombie apocalypse tropes became incorporated in the most recent movie version. I suspect that a more faithful adaptation would have to be on television, where the economic and artistic pressures are different. See the SyFy Channel version of "Dune" and Fox's "Wayward Pines" for examples of how that might turn out.

It was about time I recycled those comments into a post.

Finally, while I've mentioned Stephen King on this blog before, usually in the context of either ebola or the Saturn Awards, I don't think I've ever mentioned his pandemic novel "The Stand" here.  Other than quipping that if the biological weapon in that book is Captain Trips, then the novel coronavirus is Private Trips, I won't write more about it.  Instead, I'm going to conclude my commentary on the above video by sharing the following musical moment that I've had open in a tab for several weeks, just waiting for an opportunity to embed it.  Now is that opportunity.



The opening to the mini series The Stand
"I've got a fever, and the only cure is — more cowbell!"  Looks like the cowbell got there too late.

Enough horror.  Tomorrow is a science fiction holiday, Star Wars Day.  May the Fourth be with you!

*Both presenters first appeared on my blog last year, Ellis in PBS Digital's Hot Mess asks if climate fiction can save the planet and Dr. Zarka in Halloween science: Cyclops and other monsters inspired by fossils.  I'm glad to have had another opportunity to use one of their videos.

CNBC's 'Why Coronavirus May Change How Americans Vote' updates pandemics and outbreaks for the ninth year of Crazy Eddie's Motie News

Happy Flashback Friday!  For today's retrospective, the topic is the coronavirus pandemic, as if nearly all the posts here for the past four weeks haven't been on that topic in one way or another.  I'll review the top posts on the subject during the ninth year of this blog over the jump.  Above the fold, I'm going to focus on yet another aspect of American life the pandemic may change when it's over, elections.  Watch CNBC explain Why Coronavirus May Change How Americans Vote.

As states and jurisdictions move elections later in the calendar and call for voters to request absentee ballots, the country faces the possibility of holding a presidential election in the middle of a pandemic. As states and jurisdictions move elections later in the calendar and call for voters to request absentee ballots, the country faces the possibility of holding a presidential election in the middle of a pandemic. Recently, Governors from both parties have attempted to postpone primary elections, but courts have upheld election dates.

In Ohio, a judge rejected a lawsuit backed by Republican Governor Mike DeWine to extend the state’s presidential primary elections scheduled for April 9 to June 2. DeWine said he made the recommendation following guidance from public health officials, but claimed that he lacked the legal authority to suspend the election.

Ohio Democratic Party Chairman David Pepper said he supported the recommendation to do away with Tuesday’s in-person voting, but added that the party was considering other ways of extending the election, including switching entirely to vote-by-mail with a “much earlier” deadline than June 2.
...
In the case of Wisconsin, the United States Supreme Court voted 5-4 on Monday to reverse an order extending the absentee ballot deadline for voting in the elections scheduled for Tuesday, stepping into a back-and-forth between Tony Evers, the state’s Democratic governor and the GOP-controlled state legislature.

The Supreme Court, which was considering a case brought before Evers issued his executive order, was not considering whether voting would take place on Tuesday, but only whether to keep in place an order that extended the deadline for absentee ballots to be postmarked.

In an unsigned order from which the court’s four liberal justices dissented, the court did away with the extension. The top court’s five Republican-appointees, none of whom attached their name to the court’s order, reasoned that extending the date by which voters could mail absentee ballots “fundamentally alters the nature of the election.”

Democrats and voting rights groups had gone to court to push for an extended deadline, warning that coronavirus fears could keep voters from the polls. On Friday, a federal appeals court upheld a one-week extension for absentee ballots.

Michigan to mail ballots and $400 million for elections in coronavirus stimulus bill update the election news and views for the ninth year of Crazy Eddie's Motie News wasn't enough, especially when I saw that CNBC had uploaded a video on the subject.  CNBC explores why coronavirus is more dangerous for diabetics convinced me that they were a good source of videos about the wide-ranging effects of COVID-19.

Follow over the jump for the most read entries about the pandemic from the ninth year of this blog.

'The Daily Show' and others review movies and series to watch while staying at home during a pandemic

For this week's Sunday entertainment feature, I'm looking at movies to watch while staying at home during the coronavirus pandemic.  I begin with a video that confronts the crisis directly from The Daily Show with Trevor Noah, Roy Wood Jr. Reviews Pandemic Movies.

Contagion. Outbreak. 28 Days Later. Roy Wood, Jr. reviews the top pandemic movies of our time.

Roy Wood, Jr., is right about "Contagion."  It hits way too close to home, as it accurately predicted what has happened so far.  That's a point Grace Randolph made in Beyond The Trailer's Apple to Buy Disney? What to Watch on Netflix, Disney Plus, calling it "scarily accurate."

What to Watch today! Beyond The Trailer host Grace Randolph's reaction and breakdown of the top ten on Apple TV aka iTunes, Disney Plus and Netflix! Plus could Apple really buy Disney? Plus what new streaming movies & tv shows are coming up, from Birds of Prey to Bloodshot to Ozark Season 3! Share your own reaction and be sure to make Beyond The Trailer your first stop for movie and entertainment news here on YouTube today!

Grace stopped her comments about Netflix's top ten last week with "2012," which I have the same opinion of as "San Andreas," "bad science in the service of action and special effects."  Too bad, as I recommend number 8 in the top ten, the documentary series "Pandemic," which focuses on influenza, measles, and ebola as it was shot before the COVID-19 pandemic began.  I found the science both credible and scary.

By the way, the true-crime series "Tiger King" seems to be finding its audience because of people staying home during the pandemic.  I've seen tweet after tweet praising it for its entertainment value.  So far, I've resisted, as I tweeted "I think my wife would have a problem with the animal cruelty. Instead, we're watching McMillion$ on HBO for our true-crime fix."

Finally, Infidel753 recommended Movies to Social Isolate With so you don't watch trash (Best of 2019) from Amanda The Jedi.


That's an interesting list that includes some of the movies I plan on including in this year's edition of the Golden Coffee Cups for movies, including "1917," "Jojo Rabbit," and "The Report" for the best movies about politics and government from 2019.  That reminds me that it's time to start working on compiling the eligible movie list — after I work on my remote learning lessons for my classes.  Priorities.  As I also tweeted last week, "working from home is still work."

Vox explains why every election seems to have an 'October Surprise'

I have been ignoring "the caravan" this year, just as I only mentioned Clinton's emails only once two years ago.  That could only last so long, especially given Vos uploading Why every election gets its own crisis yesterday.

Trump’s fear mongering about a migrant caravan is a perfect example of how politicians’ exploit last-minute news stories to try to distract voters before a big election.
...
October is a tense month in American in politics. The closer a political campaign gets to election day, the more vulnerable it is to an “October Surprise” -- a late-breaking scandal or controversy that influences voters in the final days of an election.

“October Surprises” are typically thought of as unexpected events that surprise both sides of an election -- natural disasters, terrorist attacks, etc.. But more recently, it's come to describe an intentional campaign strategy, wherein political operatives exploit late-breaking news stories to try to damage their opponents at the last-minute.

Trump’s fixation on the migrant caravan traveling to the United States is a clear example of that strategy -- an attempt to shift the media’s attention away from issues like health care by fear mongering about immigrants.

It’s a cheap political ploy, and many news networks have recognized it as such. The problem is: there’s no great way to fight it.

Sigh.  I have to admit, I played into the fear in 2014, when I was all over Ebola.  At least I started in August, kept going after the election, and followed up in 2016 and 2017.  Besides, I have an excuse; I am a doomer blogger who covers pandemics.  I would have been derelict if I hadn't.  Speaking of which, there is an Ebola outbreak in Congo going on now.  I promise I'll get to it after I cover the election results.  In the meantime, here is the Phantom of the Opera as the Red Death, which I use as the personification of Ebola.

'Beyond a Year in Space': Looking forward to next year's Emmys 2

Today, I'm continuing looking forward to next year's Emmys with the follow up to A Year in Space, "Beyond a Year in Space."  Here is the Official Teaser Trailer for the program from PBS.

Beyond a Year in Space picks up where the first film left off: Scott Kelly’s last day in space and return to Earth. The final installment also introduces viewers to the next generation of astronauts training to leave Earth’s orbit and travel into deep space.

The central project of the mission, which I first blogged about in Twins on Earth and Space, was and still is The Twin Study.

While Scott Kelly spent a year on the International Space Station, his twin brother Mark spent a year on earth. By analyzing the differences between the two men, NASA researchers hope to gain insight into the effects of spaceflight on the human body.

As I wrote in Space, Ebola, volcanoes, stroke, and human expansion the topics of Science and Technology Documentary nominees, "Here's to it being nominated for an Emmy next year.  If so, I'm looking forward to blogging about it."  It just aired on November 15 and I'm blogging about it already!

'Body Team 12' wins Outstanding Short Documentary and Outstanding Editing: Documentary

I concluded 'The End of AIDS?' wins Outstanding Science, Medical and Environmental Report with "Next up, Ebola and 'Body Team 12.'"  From one pandemic to the next.

Katty Kay presented both awards.  First, she announced the winner for Outstanding Editing: Documentary.


I found the story about how the film had plenty of time to be edited because its director/producer was in Ebola quarantine darkly funny, just like the audience.

Next, Kay presented the statue for Outstanding Short Documentary.


I guess there was only one clip of each nominee to show.

I'm pleasantly surprised that "Body Team 12" won.  I thought "A Girl in the River: The Price of Forgiveness" would be the more likely victor with "Extremis" the next most likely winner.  That written, I think it fully deserved both honors.

Before I finish, I'm sharing this interview from the Today Show, Olivia Wilde Talks Ebola-Focused Film ‘Body Team 12’, that includes more clips from the documentary.

Olivia Wilde, David Darg, and Bryn Mooser join TODAY to talk about producing “Body Team 12,” a new documentary about the impact of the Ebola virus in Liberia.

Congratulations to all involved in documenting the work to stop Ebola.  "Body Team 12" can now join Emmy winner 'Outbreak' from Frontline on PBS as worthy examinations of the disease I call "The Red Death."

I'll continue my series on the News and Documentary Emmy winners after I celebrate Friday the 13th.  Stay tuned!

'The End of AIDS?' wins Outstanding Science, Medical and Environmental Report

I plan on returning with the winner of Outstanding Science, Medical and Environmental Report tomorrow and "Body Team 12" and other science, health, and environment winners the rest of the week.  Stay tuned.

That was the program note I used to conclude Three winners about space from the News and Documentary Emmy Awards.  It's time to reward my readers for their patience.

I was rooting for "Vanishing: The Earth's Sixth Mass Extinction" from CNN Digital to win.  It didn't, but I wasn't disappointed as all the nominees were worthy, including "The End of AIDS?" from PBS NewsHour.  Watch Byron Pitts present the award for Outstanding Science, Medical and Environmental Report.


This is good news, even if it only means keeping the pandemic under control and saving lives.  That's not all.  PBS NewsHour has a playlist with all six segments, but YouTube user Jason Kane has compiled all of them plus the promo I was looking for but couldn't find into PBS NewsHour -- End of AIDS -- Full Series.


Congratulations to PBS NewsHour and to the researchers and public health professionals the show profiled.

Next up, Ebola and "Body Team 12."

Three winners about space from the News and Documentary Emmy Awards

I will return to the winners of the News and Documentary Emmy Awards next week after I wish my readers a Happy Wester tomorrow.  Stay tuned.

That was my promise at the end of 'Nature: Super Hummingbirds' wins Outstanding Cinematography: Documentary.  I had to delay fulfilling it because I forgot yesterday was Canadian Thanksgiving, Leif Erikson Day, and Native American Day.  So, here I am, a day late.  It's not as if this hasn't happened before.

To make up for it, I'm featuring three Emmy winners about space, beginning with the documentary that headlined Space, Ebola, volcanoes, stroke, and human expansion the topics of Science and Technology Documentary nominees, "A Year in Space."  From the National Television Academy, here is Clarissa Ward presenting the Emmy for Outstanding Science & Technology Documentary.


I am glad they brought Scott Kelly up there.  Most of the acceptance speeches have the crew up there, not the stars.  Kelly is the star of this show and he deserved the recognition.  Also, I'm glad this show won; it's the nominee that was most about science and technology.  I was afraid the star power of Werner Herzog and David Lynch would drive their projects to victory instead.

Follow over the jump for the other two winners.

'Body Team 12' and 'Extremis' both nominated for Outstanding Short Documentary plus other science, health, and environment nominees

That's it for the nominees in the categories devoted to science, space, medicine, nature, and the environment.  I'll return tomorrow with the final installment on the nominees, when I plan on collecting all the leftovers in these topics in one place.  Stay tuned.

So I ended Extinction, water, astronomy, and HIV among 2017 Emmy nominees for Outstanding Science, Medical and Environmental Report and so I begin today's entry.  I begin my examination with this passage from Space, Ebola, volcanoes, stroke, and human expansion the topics of Science and Technology Documentary nominees.

I made an observation and a promise yesterday.

There are three programs about Ebola nominated this year.  I could have made an entire post about The Red Death!  Instead, I promise I'll get to all of them before the winners are announced.

I was wrong; there really are four, as all three episodes of HBO's "Ebola Trilogy" were nominated separately.  Added to "Spillover--Zika, Ebola & Beyond" and that makes four.  Here is the trailer for all of the "Ebola Trilogy" from HBO.

A special presentation of three films on one night.  “Ebola: The Doctors’ Story,” “Body Team 12,” and “Orphans of Ebola” premiere March 14 on HBO.

This trailer won't have to serve as the video introduction to all three episodes; “Body Team 12,” which was nominated for an Academy Award, has its own.  “Orphans of Ebola” doesn't seem to have one on YouTube.

Here is the trailer for "Body Team 12."

Body Team 12 follows a team of Liberian Red Cross workers tasked with collecting the dead during the height of the Ebola outbreak. The story is told on the ground in Monrovia, Liberia, through the eyes of the only female member of the team, who reveals the lifesaving work of removing bodies from family and loved ones in order to halt transmission of the disease.

Yes, another Oscar nominee for Best Documentary Short Subject is getting another shot at recognition at the News and Documentary Emmy Awards.*  Here, it is nominated for Outstanding Short Documentary and Outstanding Editing: Documentary.  In the latter category, it is competing with the third part of HBO's "Ebola Trilogy," "Orphans of Ebola."  In both categories, "Body Team 12" is also competing against the end-of-life medical documentary "Extremis," another nominee for Best Documentary Short Subject.  Here is its trailer from Netflix.

Witness the wrenching emotions that accompany end-of-life decisions as doctors, patients and families in a hospital ICU face harrowing choices.

This last film makes a point about medicine that it is not purely a science; it is an art as well.  I make that same point to my students every semester.  As for which one I think will win, it depends on the category.  I'd say "Extremis" would have a better shot at both, but I have my doubts either will win Outstanding Short Documentary.   "A Girl in the River: The Price of Forgiveness" is also nominated (and was a former Academy Award nominee), so it offers stiff competition.  For Outstanding Editing: Documentary, the chances for the health documentaries are better.

Follow over the jump for the rest of the nominees in science, health, and the environment.

Extinction, water, astronomy, and HIV among 2017 Emmy nominees for Outstanding Science, Medical and Environmental Report

"Stay tuned for the nominees in Outstanding Science, Medical and Environmental Report tomorrow" was my closing for Space, Ebola, volcanoes, stroke, and human expansion the topics of Science and Technology Documentary nominees.  It's tomorrow, so it's time to review the nominees in this category.

The first one listed at the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences website is "Vanishing: The Earth's Sixth Mass Extinction" from CNN Digital.

We're entering the Earth's sixth era of extinction -- and it's the first time humans are to blame. CNN introduces you to the species that are already going.

As I've written before, the sixth mass extinction is likely underway with humans as the asteroid.  While that's depressing news, I'm glad that CNN is covering it and being recognized for doing so.

Follow over the jump for the rest of the nominees.

Space, Ebola, volcanoes, stroke, and human expansion the topics of Science and Technology Documentary nominees

"Stay tuned for Science and Technology Documentary nominees tomorrow" was my closing for 'Sonic Sea,' a triple nominee, and its competitors.  It's tomorrow, so it's time to examine the competitors in this category.

In alphabetical order, the first nominee is "A Year in Space" from PBS.

On March 27, 2015, astronaut Scott Kelly began a historic year in space. Follow Scott and his identical twin Mark Kelly as the two-part program tells the story of what it takes, mentally and physically, to spend a year in space.

I blogged about Scott and Mark Kelly's twin experiment in Twins on Earth and Space.  That was three years ago.  It's about time I followed up!

Speaking of following up, Time Magazine, which co-produced this documentary, announced that a "second installment, Beyond a Year in Space, will air this fall on PBS.  Here's to it being nominated for an Emmy next year.  If so, I'm looking forward to blogging about it.

Follow over the jump for the other four nominees.

'Sonic Sea,' a triple nominee, and its competitors

"There is one nominee for Outstanding Nature Documentary left, 'Sonic Sea.'  That one deserves a post of its own.  Stay tuned."  That was the program note I left near the end of Nature documentary nominees are well photographed at the 2017 News and Documentary Emmy Awards.  Here is that entry, in which I give "Sonic Sea" top billing so it doesn't mind sharing it with its fellow nominees in two categories.

Here is the trailer from the Natural Resources Defense Council.

Sonic Sea ( http://www.sonicsea.org ) is a 60-minute documentary about the impact of industrial and military ocean noise on whales and other marine life. It tells the story of a former U.S. Navy officer who solved a tragic mystery and changed forever the way we understand our impact on the ocean.

The film is narrated by Rachel McAdams and features Sting, in addition to the renowned ocean experts Dr. Sylvia Earle, Dr. Paul Spong, Dr. Christopher Clark and Jean-Michel Cousteau.

Sonic Sea was produced by the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) and Imaginary Forces in association with the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW) and Diamond Docs.

Unlike the other nominees for Outstanding Nature Documentary, in particular "Nature: Super Hummingbirds" and "David Attenborough's Light on Earth," the best parts of "Sonic Sea" are auditory, not visual.  It won Best Sound & Music Editing: Television; Documentary Short Form at the Golden Reel Awards.  World Animal News covered the event in Sonic Sea -Winner Of The Golden Reel Award For Best Sound.


I made a nuisance of myself in the comments.

Congratulations to Discovery Channel and to Trevor Gates, Ryan Briley, Ron Aston, and Christopher Bonis for their win in the category of BEST SOUND & MUSIC EDITING: TELEVISION DOCUMENTARY SHORT FORM.  You deserved it.

On the other hand, the host/interviewer, while well-meaning, deserved the chuckles from the sound editors when she said that the film deserved an Academy Award.  If she meant the Motion Picture Academy, that's not happening, as "Sonic Sea" is not a movie, so it wasn't nominated.  If she meant the Television Academy, which awards the Emmys, that ship sailed in September.  "Sonic Sea" was not nominated for Outstanding Music and Sound at the News and Documentary Emmy Awards for the 2015-2016 season, when it aired on Discovery.  That trophy went to "The Last Orangutan Eden."

Next time, do your research on the awards for which a show is eligible before reporting on it.

I then realized I could be wrong.

Actually, I take that back about the Emmy Awards.  While "Sonic Sea" missed the deadline for the prime time Emmys, which had a cut-off date of May 31st, it may still be eligible for the News & Documentary Emmys, which have an earlier deadline.  This year, it will be April 20th.  While the documentary was released as a film on January 15, 2016, its initial air date on Discovery was May 19th.  Assuming the same deadline last year as this year, it would then be eligible for consideration for this year's awards.  In that case, I apologize for being so snotty about the Emmy Awards.  My criticism about the interviewer imploring the Oscars to recognize a film that the Motion Picture Academy didn't nominate still stands.

When "Sonic Sea" actually was nominated, I acknowledged it.

The Television Academy did recognize "Sonic Sea."  It was nominated today for three News and Documentary Emmy Awards, Outstanding Nature Documentary, Outstanding Graphic Design and Art Direction, and Outstanding Music and Sound.  Congratulations and good luck.  The awards will be given on October 5th.

If the show wins any of the three awards, I'll go back and leave another comment.

Follow over the jump for the other nominees for Outstanding Graphic Design and Art Direction and Outstanding Music and Sound.

'The Mystery of Matter: Search for the Elements' Emmy winner for Outstanding Lighting Direction and Scenic Design

So far in my review of the science, health, and nature honorees among the News and Documentary Emmy Awards, I've looked at the evolution of vertebrates in Emmy Award winner 'Rise of Animals', the 2014 Ebola epidemic in Emmy winner 'Outbreak' from Frontline on PBS, and great ape conservation in 'The Last Orangutan Eden'--Emmy winner for sound and music in a documentary.  Today, I'm looking at chemistry with "The Mystery of Matter: Search for the Elements," the Emmy winner for Outstanding Lighting Direction and Scenic Design.  Two clips from the first episode will serve to demonstrate how the series earned that award.

First, A Momentous Encounter.

While holding a variety of jobs as a minister, teacher, lecturer and tutor, Joseph Priestley wrote prolifically on subjects ranging from education and theology to politics and science. Biographer Steven Johnson explains how Priestley’s idea for a book about electricity led to his warm friendship with Benjamin Franklin – and inspired him to become a scientist in his own right.

Priestly shows up again in the next clip, Lavoisier's Better Half.

Antoine Lavoisier worked six days a week as a tax administrator for the king of France, but his passion was chemistry. Before and after work each day, he spent hours in his private laboratory, and one day a week he welcomed others to take part in his ambitious experiments. But his most important collaborator was his wife, Marie Anne, who brought her own extraordinary talents to their partnership.

Those are just the segments about chemistry in the 1700s.  The show continues the story through the next two centuries.  There is a playlist of all seven clips for my readers who are interested in watching highlights of the rest of the history.

Stay tuned for the final entry of the month, which I plan to be about the Science and Technology Programming winner, "Twice Born: Stories From The Special Delivery Unit."

Emmy winner 'Outbreak' from Frontline on PBS

I wrote that I'd post more about other Emmy News and Documentary winners at the end of Emmy Award winner 'Rise of Animals'.  After giving my readers a rain check at the start of How 'Star Trek' shaped the present and future, it's time to redeem it.

Today, I'm looking at Frontline's "Outbreak," which won the award for Outstanding Coverage of a Current News Story – Long Form, one of seven awards earned by Frontline last week.  It covered the Ebola epidemic of 2014 in west Africa, which I wrote about extensively at the time.  I begin with the trailer.

The vivid, inside story of how the recent Ebola outbreak began and why it wasn’t stopped before it was too late. FRONTLINE's upcoming documentary "Outbreak" exposes tragic missteps in the response to the epidemic.

Follow over the jump for clips from each of the most affected countries, Guinea, Sierra Leone, and Liberia.

'The Last Ship' returns and other summer TV fare

If my readers have been counting, I promised three times that I would blog about the season premiere of "The Last Ship" tonight.  I'm making good on that promise, which I first made in the footnote to Razzies and Robocop this past February.

My wife and I are watching "The Last Ship." When I heard it was a Michael Bay show, I knew to expect a lot of action and things being blown up. I have not [been] disappointed.

Some Sunday this summer, I'm going to have to write about "The Last Ship," which is an OK post-apocalyptic drama that probably will seem more relevant and urgent after last year's Ebola epidemic.  For example, in a case of life imitating art, one of the Ebola treatments looked very similar to a treatment for the disease in the TV show.  That's not something I expect out of a Michael Bay production.

In the TV show, the ship's doctor transfuses blood from an immune person picked up during the voyage to the ship's crew who were infected in hopes of transferring her immunity to them.  That's what Scientific American described last summer in Blood Transfusions from Survivors Best Way to Fight Ebola.

Treating Ebola patients with blood transfusions from survivors of the disease should be the immediate priority among all the experimental therapies under consideration for this outbreak, World Health Organization (WHO) experts said Friday after reviewing the status of all the potential experimental therapies and vaccines. “We agreed that whole-blood therapies and convalescent serum may be used to treat Ebola virus disease and that all efforts must be invested into helping affected countries use them safely,” Marie-Paule Kieny, assistant director general for health systems and innovation at WHO told reporters. “This is something that would be ready near term.” None of the considered Ebola regimes have yet been adequately tested in humans.

Because survivors of an Ebola infection would typically have produced effective antibodies against the virus (otherwise they wouldn't have survived), transfusions of their blood into a newly infected individual may help that person survive the often fatal disease. Such blood preparations, drawn from volunteers, could be ready before the end of 2014, according to preliminary WHO estimates put out earlier this week. “We have to change the sense that there is no hope in this situation to a realistic hope,” Kieny said during a press conference Friday. She has called for other countries to help affected west African nations to build their capacity to safely do the blood drawing and preparation for what needs to be reinfused into the patients.

A Google search found that this treatment had been proposed back in 1999.  In that case, it looks less like a case of life imitating art, which it would seem to the uninformed, and more an example of a scriptwriter doing his or her homework.  Given how many examples TV Tropes lists of the show's various kinds of artistic license, I'm pleasantly surprised.  Here's to the show providing more victories of sense over sensation, although given that Michael Bay prefers sensation, I'm only guardedly optimistic.  Given the two trailers below, that's probably the right expectation to have.

When a global pandemic wipes out eighty percent of the planet's population, the crew of a lone naval destroyer must find a way to pull humanity from the brink of extinction.

Follow over the jump for more on this show and the rest of this summer's post-apocalyptic TV offerings, including the surprising addition of "Wayward Pines" to the genre.

Monthly meta for May 2015

It's long past time for the monthly meta.  Let's begin by reviewing my goals for May 2015.

The blog received 11,820 page views during May 2014.  To beat that, I've set a minimum goal of 382 page views per day for 11,842 page views during May.  I've also set a medium goal of 387 views per day to get to 12,000 and 400 per day for a five percent increase over last year.

I exceeded all my goals for last month, as May 2015 had 13,752 page views.  Not only was this a record for May. It's also the highest number of page views for a 31-day month and the second highest page views for any month behind only April 2015, which saw 14,278.  That translated into 443.61 page views per day.  I managed to achieve the high number of page views while posting 39 entries, less than my self-imposed goal of 44.  That translated into 352.62 page views per entry.  While down from April's 374.74 page views per entry, it's still a lot more than the average of 276.28 page views per post during the fourth year of this blog.  The pace of readership is still up over last year.

Speaking of which, the blog passed 450,000 total page views on May 29, 2015.  This means it's been 116 days since it passed 400,000 page views on February 2, 2015.  If the rate of page views maintains this pace, the blog will pass 500,000 by the last week of September.  That's a month ahead of my prediction that this milestone would be reached by the last week of October.  I'm not betting on the earlier date, but at least I'm more confident I won't overshoot the expected time frame of no later than the week after Halloween.

On another note, the previous monthly meta entry attracted a comment mocking me for both not mentioning comments as part of my monthly summary and not getting a lot of comments in the first place.  Ironically enough, last month had the most comments per month this year so far with 24.  That was the most since last November, which had 32.  I'll celebrate by posting the two entries with the most comments last month.  The first was "Grilling over lava for Memorial Day," which earned 4 comments with only 79 page views.  The second was "'Tomorrowland'--optimism isn't selling as well as dystopia at the box office," also with 4 comments.  It briefly popped into the default top ten for the month with 107 page views, 109 according to the raw counter.

Follow over the jump for the top fifteen, which consists of the top ten for the month as of 11:59 PM EDT on May 31st plus five honorable mentions, as well as my goals for June.