RIPs

[Batman's Superior Cousin]

Hugh Keays-Byrne, who portrayed Toecutter, the central antagonist of 1979's MAD MAX *and* Immortan Joe, the central antagonist 2015's MAD MAX: FURY ROAD, has passed away at age 73.

[TordelBack]

Ah that's sad. He gave us two of the most memorable bad guys in cinema, in the same franchise.

[JayzusB.Christ]

Ah man. I only rewatched Fury Road last week. That's sad.

[IAMTHESYSTEM]

Ah that's sad. He gave us two of the most memorable bad guys in cinema, in the same franchise.

Yes, he played them both as monsters with little if any redeeming features. Very sad news I'll watch Mad Max again with a heavy heart.

[Dandontdare]

hell, I never knew it was the same guy

[Colin YNWA]

Oh that is sad. First we lose David Prowse, now Hugh Keays-Byrne. The great movie villains depart.

[von Boom]

Sad news about Keays-Byrne.

[rogue69]

Valéry Giscard d'Estaing, 'modernist' French president 1974 to 1981, died aged 94

https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/world/valery-giscard-destaing-death-former-french-president-dies-aged-94/ar-BB1bzEXF?ocid=U452DHP&li=BBoPWjQ

[Professor Bear]

Star of Contact and Goldeneye, The Arecibo Observatory has collapsed and effectively been destroyed, scuppering any lingering hopes that it might have escaped being decommissioned.
I saw some vid from a boffin who thought it had to be shut down anyway, as it wasn't actually that great for stargazing and seemed to have been designed more to monitor activity in Earth's atmosphere - and before anyone goes thinking "for aliens!", the scuttlebutt was that it was simply better-suited to tracking ICBMs (which over time have became less of a security concern) and the observatory stuff was more of a side-hustle.  If nothing else, it's nice that it leaves behind this conspiracy theory so we can continue to speculate.  And sure the billionaires own space now anyway.
Footage of the collapse.

[Tiplodocus]

Collapsed my ass! It was one of the few receivers that could show how 5G was distributing coronavirus.

I'm amazed it took Soros and Clinton so long to destroy it. Wake up sheeple! Do your own research!

[TordelBack]

Look,  no Arecibo increases the chances that we'll have no notice of the One That Finally Gets Us, so that's fine by me. The only thing worse than being wiped out in a cosmic collision would be the preceding months of reading the Fake-Meteor truthers on Twitter while Elon Musk is on every channel boasting about his (doomed) Self-drive Intercept mission, even as he secretly fills his Mars Getaway Dragon with supermodels.

If the series finale has to be fiery death, at least now there'll be No Spoilers.

[sheridan]

We know from a few stories that have run in 2000AD that if something is heading towards us which will cause our certain destruction (be it a sov-cit missile or a meteor) then humanity will have no other choice than to form a conga line and do a song and dance (witness the Apocalypso and that bit from the Strontium Dog time travel story). 

[Dandontdare]

Well they were debating whether to fund a refurbishment or close it ... sounds like all those listed buildings bought by developers that mysteriously go on fire when people start campaigning to restore them. Has anyone checked their insurance?

the scuttlebutt was that it was simply better-suited to tracking ICBMs (which over time have became less of a security concern) and the observatory stuff was more of a side-hustle. [/url]

Saw a talk about history of Jodrell Bank at Blue Dot festival last year - apparently radio astronomy was sneered at by 'proper' astronomers, while the military/engineering types thought using the tech to look at distant galaxies was frivolous, and Lovell just couldn't get the funding. Then the Russians launched Sputnik and he casually mentioned to a govt minister "oh yes we'd be able to track that. Or anything else someone puts in orbit" ... wallets opened and Jodrell Bank was built.

[rogue69]

Actor Hugh Keays-Byrne aged 73 Toe Cutter in the original Mad Max film and Immortan Joe in Mad Max Fury Road

[Professor Bear]

Saw a talk about history of Jodrell Bank at Blue Dot festival last year - apparently radio astronomy was sneered at by 'proper' astronomers, while the military/engineering types thought using the tech to look at distant galaxies was frivolous, and Lovell just couldn't get the funding. Then the Russians launched Sputnik and he casually mentioned to a govt minister "oh yes we'd be able to track that. Or anything else someone puts in orbit" ... wallets opened and Jodrell Bank was built.

Professor Simon Holland seems to know his science onions pretty good, but his more detailed explanation for the Arecibo Observatory's primary cold war-era function* sounds like bampottery of the first order.  Of course, given what we know about the daft shit that the superpowers were bankrolling back then, this doesn't actually mean he's wrong.

* TLDR version: an attempt to create a radioactive belt above the Earth, on the offchance it disrupted vehicle and/or missile traffic.