Latest news with #outerspace
Daily Mail
8 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
A-List Hollywood heartthrob is unrecognizable in long beard and wig in Project Hail Mary trailer
The trailer for Amazon MGM's Project Hail Mary has dropped and its A-List star looks unrecognizable. Ryan Gosling plays bookish school-teacher turned astronaut Ryland Grace in forthcoming science fiction film adapted from author Andy Weir's 2021 novel of the same name. He looks completely different in a long haired wig and long, scruffy beard. Fans of this actor may be able to suss out his identity through his soulful blue eyes that give away his true identity, no matter how different he looks from his everyday style. In the trailer, Ryan wakes up in this disheveled state, confused and wondering where he is. He has no memory of his past or how he ended up on the spaceship. His character states that he just woke up from a coma in outer space and is 'several light-years' away from his apartment. 'I'm not an astronaut,' he declares multiple times, as the trailer reveals the event leading up to him going to space. Ryland is a middle school teacher with a PhD in molecular biology and is recruited by a space force to figure out why the stars, including the sun, are dying out. As the trailer goes on it is revealed the stars were infected with something deadly and it is Ryland's job to find out why. Ryland's mission to space is a 'Hail Mary,' last ditch effort to stop the stars from dying and save all life forms. He expresses hesitancy at being tasked to save all life, saying, 'I understand the stakes, I do. But my place is in the classroom.' He did not want to go to space but when he was told he'd die along with everyone else, he changed his mind. As the trailer goes on, we see Ryland shave his tangled beard off and break down in tears at the enormity of the mission he's been tasked with. At the end of the trailer, Ryland declares that he's met an alien and he tries to teach it Hacky Sack and how to do a thumbs-up. It is revealed that the alien has been tasked with the same job as Ryland. He needs to figure out how to save his species. The trailer features Harry Styles' Sign of the Times as it follows Ryland's attempts to save, essentially, the universe. The film is directed by Phil Lord and Christopher Miller and hits theaters on March 20, 2026. The first footage of the film debuted at CinemaCon in Las Vegas. Sandra Hüller's character ominously says, 'The sun is not the only star dying. If we do nothing, everything on this planet will go extinct.' At CinemaCon, Gosling took a playful swipe at his directors, saying of Lord and Miller, 'They are only happy if they make you do the very rare and coveted laugh-cry.' 'It's an insanely ambitious story that's massive in scope, and it seemed really hard to make, and that's kind of our bag,' Gosling said about the film at CinemaCon, per Variety. He continued: 'This is why we go to the movies. And I'm not just saying it because I'm in it. I'm also saying it because I'm a producer on the film.' Project Hail Mary also features Sandra Hüller, known for 2023's The Zone of Interest" and Anatomy of a Fall. The screenplay was written by Drew Goddard.
Yahoo
14 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
The Project Hail Mary trailer has dropped. It's perfect
Fans will have to wait until March 20, 2026 to see the final product, but the first trailer for Project Hail Mary dropped on Monday on the TODAY show. Based on the book written by Andy Weir -- who also authored The Martian -- Project Hail Mary is a story of survival, humanity and friendship as middle school science teacher Ryland Grace goes on an adventure he never could have expected. Phil Lord and Christopher Miller (Into the Spider-Verse) are at the helm as directors for the project. Ryan Gosling stars as Grace, who opens the trailer waking up from a coma and finding himself in outer space. Over the course of the trailer, we find out that Grace has to go on a mission in an attempt to find out why the sun (and all the stars in the solar system) are dying. Check out the full trailer here: It's just shy of three minutes of perfection, utilizing Harry Styles' song "Sign of the Times" as Eva (played by Anatomy of a Fall's Sandra Hüller) tries to convince Grace he's the only man for the job. The trailer also breaks down Project Hail Mary's relatively complicated plot well, explaining that if they can't complete this mission, the entire world will die. Oh, and we get our first glimpse of Rocky, the alien Grace meets on his journey. All-in-all, lovers of the book should be excited based on what we've seen so far. "I'm several light years from my apartment," Gosling says to open the clip. "And I'm not an astronaut." March 2026 can't get here fast enough. This article originally appeared on For The Win: Project Hail Mary trailer is here and it's perfect
Yahoo
21-06-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Space law doesn't protect historical sites, mining operations and bases on the moon – a space lawyer describes a framework that could
When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. This article was originally published at The Conversation. The publication contributed the article to Expert Voices: Op-Ed & Insights. April 2025 was a busy month for space. Pop icon Katy Perry joined five other civilian women on a quick jaunt to the edge of space, making headlines. Meanwhile, another group of people at the United Nations was contemplating a critical issue for the future of space exploration: the discovery, extraction and utilization of natural resources on the moon. At the end of April, a dedicated Working Group of the United Nations Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space released a draft set of recommended principles for space resource activities. Essentially, these are rules to govern mining on the moon, asteroids and elsewhere in space for elements that are rare here on Earth. As a space lawyer and co-founder of For All Moonkind, a nonprofit dedicated to protecting human heritage in outer space, I know that the moon could be the proving ground for humanity's evolution into a species that lives and thrives on more than one planet. However, this new frontier raises complex legal questions. Outer space – including the moon – from a legal perspective, is a unique domain without direct terrestrial equivalent. It is not, like the high seas, the 'common heritage of humankind,' nor is it an area, like Antarctica, where commercial mining is prohibited. Instead, the 1967 Outer Space Treaty – signed by more than 115 nations, including China, Russia and the United States – establishes that the exploration and use of space are the 'province of all humankind.' That means no country may claim territory in outer space, and all have the right to access all areas of the moon and other celestial bodies freely. The fact that, pursuant to Article II of the treaty, a country cannot claim territory in outer space, known as the nonappropriation principle, suggests to some that property ownership in space is forbidden. Can this be true? If your grandchildren move to Mars, will they never own a home? How can a company protect its investment in a lunar mine if it must be freely accessible by all? What happens, as it inevitably will, when two rovers race to a particular area on the lunar surface known to host valuable water ice? Does the winner take all? As it turns out, the Outer Space Treaty does offer some wiggle room. Article IX requires countries to show 'due regard' for the corresponding interests of others. It is a legally vague standard, although the Permanent Court of Arbitration has suggested that due regard means simply paying attention to what's reasonable under the circumstances. The treaty's broad language encourages a race to the moon. The first entity to any spot will have a unilateral opportunity to determine what's legally 'reasonable.' For example, creating an overly large buffer zone around equipment might be justified to mitigate potential damage from lunar dust. On top of that, Article XII of the Outer Space Treaty assumes that there will be installations, like bases or mining operations, on the moon. Contrary to the free access principle, the treaty suggests that access to these may be blocked unless the owner grants permission to enter. Both of these paths within the treaty would allow the first person to make it to their desired spot on the moon to keep others out. The U.N. principles in their current form don't address these loopholes. The draft U.N. principles released in April mirror, and are confined by, the language of the Outer Space Treaty. This tension between free access and the need to protect – most easily by forbidding access – remains unresolved. And the clock is ticking. The U.S. Artemis program aims to return humans to the moon by 2028, China has plans for human return by 2030, and in the intervening years, more than 100 robotic missions are planned by countries and private industry alike. For the most part, these missions are all headed to the same sweet spot: the lunar south pole. Here, peaks of eternal light and deep craters containing water ice promise the best mining, science and research opportunities. In this excitement, it's easy to forget that humans already have a deep history of lunar exploration. Scattered on the lunar surface are artifacts displaying humanity's technological progress. After centuries of gazing at our closest celestial neighbor with fascination, in 1959 the Soviet spacecraft, Luna 2, became the first human-made object to impact another celestial body. Ten years later, two humans, Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin, became the first ever to set foot upon another celestial body. More recently, in 2019, China's Chang'e 4 achieved the first soft landing on the moon's far side. And in 2023, India's Chandrayaan-3 became the first to land successfully near the lunar south pole. These sites memorialize humanity's baby steps off our home planet and easily meet the United Nations definition of terrestrial heritage, as they are so 'exceptional as to transcend national boundaries and to be of common importance for present and future generations of all humanity.' The international community works to protect such sites on Earth, but those protection protocols do not extend to outer space. The more than 115 other sites on the Moon that bear evidence of human activity are frozen in time without degradation from weather, animal or human activity. But this could change. A single errant spacecraft or rover could kick up abrasive lunar dust, erasing bootprints or damaging artifacts. RELATED ARTICLES — Property and sovereignty in space: Countries and companies face potential clashes as they take to the stars — The 1st private moon landing just happened. Is it time for lunar law? — Space pirates already have their sights set on the 'high seas' of Earth orbit. Can we stop them? In 2011, NASA recommended establishing buffer, or safety zones, of up to 1.2 miles (2 kilometers) to protect certain sites with U.S. artifacts. Because it understood that outright exclusion violates the Outer Space Treaty, NASA issued these recommendations as voluntary guidelines. Nevertheless, the safety zone concept, essentially managing access to and activities around specific areas, could be a practical tool for protecting heritage sites. They could act as a starting point to find a balance between protection and access. One hundred and ninety-six nations have agreed, through the 1972 World Heritage Convention, on the importance of recognizing and protecting cultural heritage of universal value found here on Earth. Building on this agreement, the international community could require specific access protocols — such as a permitting process, activity restrictions, shared access rules, monitoring and other controls — for heritage sites on the Moon. If accepted, these protective measures for heritage sites could also work as a template for scientific and operational sites. This would create a consistent framework that avoids the perception of claiming territory. At this time, the draft U.N. principles released in April 2025 do not directly address the opposing concepts of access and protection. Instead, they defer to Article I of the Outer Space Treaty and reaffirm that everyone has free access to all areas of the Moon and other celestial bodies. As more countries and companies compete to reach the Moon, a clear lunar legal framework can guide them to avoid conflicts and preserve historical sites. The draft U.N. principles show that the international community is ready to explore what this framework could look like. This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
News.com.au
18-06-2025
- Entertainment
- News.com.au
Moving new film Elio is Pixar's best in years
Animation studio Pixar has had a somewhat spotty track record in recent years, with films like Lightyear, Onward and Turning Red failing to connect with audiences. Let's hope the same fate doesn't befall its latest offering, Elio – it's arguably the best Pixar film since 2017's acclaimed smash hit Coco. Elio (Yonas Kibreab) is the film's titular hero, a young boy now living with his aunt Olga (Zoe Saldana) after his parents met a tragic end. The movie gets us up to speed with efficiency: Elio is parentless and friendless, has a deep obsession with outer space – and an intense yearning to be abducted by aliens. He spends his nights on the roof of his house, trying to commune with anyone in space who'll listen, begging them to beam him up. Elio's aunt works on an army base with an astronaut program and space-monitoring satellites – which means Elio gets his wish relatively early in the piece when aliens pick up on his messages and beam him up. This is where the film comes alive, as Elio is beamed directly to the 'Communiverse,' a sort of UN gathering of peaceful aliens from across the galaxies. Pixar have done an incredible job bringing the various aliens to life, with inventive and at times genuinely jaw-dropping animation (wide shots of the Communiverse bring to mind the beauty of Coco 's 'marigold bridge' scenes). But it's not all happy up in space: The aliens are under the assumption Elio is the leader of earth, and soon he's thrust forward to negotiate with a fearsome, violent warlord named Lord Grigon (Brad Garrett, playing a character responsible for the film's few scenes that may frighten young children – or at least, did in my screening). There are shades of Mickey 17 to the young alien Elio befriends, a slug-like creature named Glordon (Remy Edgerly) who's much less fearsome than he appears. It's genuinely moving to watch Elio make a friend for the first time, as the pair's epic adventure unfolds towards one of those classic Pixar endings that will keep children satisfied - and will have adults wiping away tears as the credits roll.
South China Morning Post
17-06-2025
- Entertainment
- South China Morning Post
Elio movie review: Pixar's take on E.T. is a rare misfire from the animation studio
2.5/5 stars In an industry where originality is becoming an increasing rarity, Pixar is one company that prides itself on carving out unique stories. But not every story lands perfectly, a thought that strikes when it comes to the animation giant's latest feature, Elio. The tale of an orphaned boy who desperately wants to discover life in outer space, it's maybe the closest we've come to seeing Steven Spielberg's E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial rendered in cartoon form – despite having far less of an impact. When we join Elio (voiced by Yonas Kibreab), he is hiding under a canteen table. We never find out what happened to his parents, but he is now the responsibility of his aunt Olga (Zoe Saldaña), who works on a military base. Play Olga is kindly but unable to connect with her traumatised nephew. Instead, all he wants is to encounter interplanetary life forms. 'Aliens abduct me,' he scrawls in the sand on the beach near the base. Then, as he is being bullied by some local kids, his wish comes true. He is spirited away to meet an array of colourful aliens – the so-called Communiverse.
