NASA Finds Further Evidence That Ancient Mars Was Habitable for Life
NASA's Curiosity rover has found further evidence that ancient Mars was habitable for life with the first detection of a biologically friendly form of nitrogen on its surface.
The science team used Curiosity’s Sample Analysis at Mars (SAM) instrument suite to detect the release of nitrogen compounds and nitric oxide gas by heating up soil samples taken from various sites. These include "Rocknest," along with "John Klein" and "Cumberland" Yellowknife Bay drill sites in Gale Crater.
The discovery adds to previous evidence that the crater and potential former lake site, Yellowknife Bay, may have hosted an ancient habitable environment containing the building blocks needed for life: fresh water, carbon and energy sources.
Comic Book Reviews for April 1, 2015
It's another huge week of comics as DC launched the prologue to their bigger summer event, Convergence, and Marvel to Uncanny Inhumans.
On the indie side of things, we got the next, long-awaited chapter of Squarriors, another issue of Black Science, and the cap to the second arc of Southern Bastards, which earned a rare near-perfect score.
Check out our reviews, then let us know your thoughts in the comments.
DC COMICS
Dirt 3 Complete Edition Hits Steam; All Dirt 3 PC Owners Get Free Upgrade
Codemasters has announced that Dirt 3 is finally headed to Steamworks and that all current Dirt 3 PC owners will get a free upgrade to the Complete Edition, which comes with all the post-release DLC.
DiRT 3 Complete Edition is now available on Steam & all DiRT 3 PC owners get a free upgrade! http://t.co/OM8EHifSF1 http://t.co/01CpQdp5sd
— DiRT (@dirtgame) April 1, 2015
“First up I want to say sorry for just how long it has taken to move Dirt 3 to Steamworks,” wrote Codemasters community manager Lee Williams on Steam.
Poltergeist Reboot Director Reports Disturbing Occurrences on Set
The director of the upcoming Poltergeist reboot is keeping the infamous 'Poltergeist curse' alive and well.
During a Reddit AMA (on, er, April 1), Gil Kenan said he and his crew experienced strange phenomena during shooting.
"The location for the house, during shooting, I chose because it had a strange and unnecessary field that the houses of this particular community were built around", wrote Kenan. "And we found - throughout production - that we had persistent and repeatable equipment field only on that strange plot of land.
"For instance, lights that could turn on anywhere else in the neighborhood would blow out the second you'd try to light them on this plot."
Hot Toys Nails A Killer Iron Man Figure
Hot Toys has done it again, unveiling an incredibly detailed 20-inch Iron Man figure.
The intricate design is based on Tony Stark's Mark XLIII suit, which will be all over the screen in Avengers: Age of Ultron.
Bucking the usual 1/6th scale trend, Hot Toys has built this Iron Man collectible at 1/4th scale, meaning it stands at a hulking 20 inches (49 centimetres).
That's assuming you don't pose him in any number of available heroic stances, thanks to the 40 points of articulation.
The movie-accurate figure features LED lights on the armour, removable parts, a fallen Ultron Sentry diorama base, and an interchangeable head, for your choice of Robert Downey Jr. or stoic Iron Man face.
NXT: Sasha Banks on the Women’s Division’s Popularity
With the city filled with wrestling fans from across the world, in town for WrestleMania, over 5000 people packed the Event Center at San Jose University on Friday night to see a special NXT live show - and to say the response was positive would be a huge understatement. Despite the late hour (the show began at 10pm and ended at 1am), the crowd was incredibly excited and engaged through the entire event and one of many chants throughout the night was “Better than Mania!” But arguably the match with the best and most enthusiastic feedback was the one between NXT women’s champion Sasha Banks and her current rival, Charlotte, as the two delivered a terrific performance, filled with exciting and impressive spots.
Here’s When You Can See the BvS Trailer
Holding out to see the Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice trailer? Be sure to catch a screening of Mad Max: Fury Road.
Collider is reporting that the trailer will premiere before Warner Bros.' upcoming dystopian action flick, due to hit theaters May 15. According to the publication, Warner is looking to distance the trailer from Marvel's The Avengers: Age of Ultron, which will be dominating the conversation at the beginning of the month.
The Batman v Superman trailer will mark the first time general audiences get a proper look at Zack Snyder's next Superman movie, besides the shaky cam footage briefly uploaded after last year's Comic-Con.
GDT Gives Justice League Dark Update
Guillermo del Toro has offered an update on his possible Justice League Dark movie.
"We turned in our
revision, and it all depends on the calendar, you know?" del Toro told IGN during a press event for his TV show The Strain today. "If I can do it, I would love to do it. And I think the screenplay and the characters are very solid."
Del Toro went on to say that if his calendar simply doesn't line up, "somebody will do it." Considering the huge amount of commitment it takes to make a film in a shared universe, del Toro says it's not that easy to commit to directing.
"You cannot say, ‘Yeah, I’ll do it after I do this,’ or ‘I have the first season of The Strain,'" said the filmmaker. "
Daredevil Producer Wants “Hard R” Punisher Series
Earlier today, Ryan Reynolds and Twentieth Century Fox confirmed that the Deadpool movie will be rated R. But could Marvel's The Punisher get the same treatment down the line?
Speaking with ScifFiNow, Daredevil producer and showrunner Steven DeKnight explained how he'd love to see a Marvel/Netflix series featuring a "hard R" version of Frank Castle.
"I've been a huge fan of the Punisher comics for years," he said. "I'd love to see him get his due on a platform like this. Nothing would delight me more than to see the Punisher get his own show, and maybe we could convince Marvel to go hard R rating. If any character deserves an R rating, it's the Punisher."
Here’s All the News From April’s Nintendo Direct
The April Nintendo Direct of 2015 lifted the veil on the company’s immediate plans. Now, there’s a few things to be excited about from today’s announcements, but keep your expectations in check! Nothing in this presentation comes close to curing the heartbreak of Zelda Wii U’s recent delay. Alas, we have to wait for E3 2015 to (hopefully) cure that wound.
But there are some great updates coming to Super Smash Bros. and Mario Kart 8. And Nintendo 64 and DS games finally come to Wii U Virtual Console. With so much news, however, we thought it best to wrap-up everything that happened in one helpful place.