The Daily Flash -Eco, Space, Tech (8/21)

New SciFi movie Avatar Images Show Airships, Sigourney Weaver, And Weird Head Accidents

Futuristic airships streak across an alien sky, in a newly released image from James Cameron's Avatar. The studio also released five others, ahead of today's teaser trailer — including Sigourney Weaver, Michelle Rodriguez and a weird head injury. Gallery below. Seriously, what do you think is going on with Stephen Lang's head? Did the wildlife of Pandora get to him?

Are Plastics Leaching Toxins Into Oceans?

Although plastic has long been considered indestructible, some scientists say toxic chemicals from decomposing plastics may be leaching into the sea and harming marine ecosystems.Contrary to the commonly held belief that plastic takes 500 to 1,000 years to decompose, researchers now report that the hard plastic polystyrene begins to break down in the ocean within one year, releasing potentially toxic bisphenol A (BPA) and other chemicals into the water.

Best Science Visualization Videos of 2009

Some of the most impressive images in science are produced when researchers take numerical data and represent it visually through modeling and computer graphics. The Department of Energy honored 10 of this year’s best scientific visualizations with its annual SciDAC Vis Night awards, at the Scientific Discovery through Advanced Computing conference (SciDAC) in June. Researchers submitted visualizations to the contest, and program participants voted on the best of the best. From earthquakes to jet flames, this gallery of videos and images show how beautiful (and descriptive) visual data can be.

Is Hollywood Afraid of Twitter's Real-Time Review Effect?

There's a new phenomenon of Web-connected smartphone users Twittering their approval or disapproval of a movie very soon after seeing it. Twitter's obviously a powerful information broadcasting medium, and the way that re-Tweets can spread virally among networks of friends is becoming a useful news-gathering tool. But it's also a remarkably efficient way of spreading a message like "Movie X was terrible, don't waste your money"

The First Avatar Trailer Is Big, Blue, Hyperreal Bliss

Here's the very first trailer of James Cameron's much-hyped 3D film Avatar. It's a highly aggressive blend of live action and CGI, science fiction and fantasy: Watch the trailer in high rez (links below) and it's apparent that many of the visual effects (like the mechs in the early shots) are made to look intentionally artificial, blending the real and artificial worlds in hyperreality. And I really don't know what else to say other than, my interest is certainly piqued.

Astronomers spot new type of 'death star'

A team of astronomers have found the 'missing link' of stellar death, revealing what our Sun might look like at the end of its life. The group of Australian and US astronomers, led by Associate Professor Miroslav Filipovic of the University of Western Sydney, call the new class of object 'super planetary nebulae'.