Ridley Scott’s Alien Prequel Shelved!

In a shocking development for Hollywood,  a studio has opted for originality over franchise.  What?!?  Tell us it isn’t true.  Well, we can’t, because they have.

Ridley Scott has shelved his plans to make a prequel to Alien in favor of directing an original sci-fi film entitled Prometheus.  Here’s the skinny from EW:

“The Alien Prequel” has morphed into something else entirely — a film called Prometheus, slated for release March 9, 2012. The script, written by Scott and Damon Lindelof, will tell a completely different science fiction tale. “While Alien was indeed the jumping off point for this project, out of the creative process evolved a new, grand mythology and universe in which this original story takes place,” Scott explains in the press release. “The keen fan will recognize strands of Alien’s DNA, so to speak, but the ideas tackled in this film are unique, large and provocative.” Swedish actress Noomi Rapace (The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo) is already attached to star in one of the film’s five major roles, a “scientist” named Elizabeth Shaw.

We’re excited that Scott is doing sci-fi.  And even more excited that it’s ORIGINAL sci-fi.  And with “Lost” scribe Damon Lindelof handling the writing chores, we bet it will genuinely be original.

Video: Brand New GAME OF THRONES Teaser Trailer!

Yup, it’s here!   Another thrilling teaser trailer for HBO’s production of George R. R. Martin’s A Game of Thrones.  It seems they’ve dropped the “A” from the title, calling it just Game of Thrones.   Nice change.  Stronger.  Bolder.  In fact, bold enough to live up to this new teaser:

If that didn’t excite you then you’ve got something other than blood running through your veins.

Mammoths Return in Four Years!

Yup, we could have one of those woolly creatures walking among us that soon.  The major hurdle, how to extract genetic material from long frozen tissue, has been overcome thanks to the pioneering research of Dr. Teruhiko Wakayama, of the Riken Centre for Developmental Biology.

So now Akira Iritani, a professor at Kyoto University, has reactivated his plans to clone a mammoth; a proposal he abandoned several years ago when attempts to extract mammoth DNA proved fruitless.   But with that technique seemingly now his grasp, Iritani is full of enthusiasm:

Now the technical problems have been overcome, all we need is a good sample of soft tissue from a frozen mammoth.

Iritani plans a trip to Siberia to hunt for such tissue in the permafrost of that region.  Once the tissue is found, and genetic material is recovered,  it will be need to be placed in the nucleus of an elephant egg.  An elephant will then be impregnated with this egg, and carry the mammoth to term.

Iritani believes the recovery and successful implantation will take approximately two years.  And elephants have a gestation period of about 600 days.  And Iritani believes this means:

[ A] healthy mammoth could be born in four or five years.

Very exciting.  Will there be a Mammoth Park?  Would you pay good money to see one in the flesh?  And, most importantly, will there be running and screaming?

Share y0ur thoughts with us about this scientific breakthrough in out comments section.