Questions to ask in the Midnight Sunshine

Land of the Midnight Sun
My boyfriend, Bull, is somewhere up above the Arctic Circle right now, guiding a tour a high rollers around nature and protecting them from the arctic elements, mosquitoes and bears. If you have never been north of the Arctic Circle during summer (or south of the Antarctic Circle in the S. Hemi-summer) it is a tripped out experience. Compelling and hypnotic, the sun itself appears strangely disk-like as it hovers low in the evening horizon. Especially if you stick to a pretty regular sleeping schedule (either always sleeping when it is dark or the opposite) you will find it strangely disorienting. But even if you manage to sleep in a thick-curtained room, once you step outside, your body is able to sense that the sun has been out for "too long" and that your part of the earth has not retreated into the familiar darkness of night.

Sunshine
Now in the mild Seattle summer, I once again find myself unable to stop thinking about the sun. I saw the film "Sunshine" over the weekend. Filmed in East London studios in the UK and directed by Danny Boyle, "Sunshine" opened here in the US on Friday 7/27. Boyle also did "Trainspotting" and "28 Days Later." As part of my obsession, I have been closely following the reviews of the film, which seem mixed. But I will tell you my own opinion as a romantic and non-scientist: this film is one of the most entertaining I've seen.

On the Left: A shot of the oxygen garden onboard Icarus II.


Synopsis
In 2057, our sun is dying -- having its energy sucked out by a physics phenomenon known as a Q-ball. The world's scientists unite for a rescue attempt in the form of a dark matter bomb with the mass of Manhattan Island, which will attempt to re-ignite the sun via a "mini Big Bang." In order to successfully launch such a bomb, a team of 8 scientists/astronauts (mostly from the US & China space programs) must travel to a designated launch point in a specially designed ship named Icarus II. Yes, they seriously named Earth's last hope after a Greek mythological character who plummeted to his death in a naive attempt to fly to the sun. Anyway, we meet the crew as they have just slipped out of Earth's communications transmission range and are approaching Mercury's orbit, approximately 1.5 years into their journey. They hear the distress beacon of Icarus I, their predecessor which disappeared 7 years before, after slipping beyond their final transmission point. Now let me mention the whole suicide mission thing. The crew of Icarus II do not consider themselves to "for sure" be on a suicide mission, although you get that it's on everyone's minds as they close in on the freaking sun. Drama envelops the rest of the film -- trajectory miscalculations, fiery accidents, freaky questions about the fate of Icarus I -- all while they get closer to the sun with a giant bomb! A lot happens in the film -- it is visually spectacular, frightening and exciting.
More Info
If you would like more information about the film, you can visit the very cool official web site: http://www.sunshinedna.com/
Among the web site's goodies: a computer graphic illustration of the construction of Icarus; cutie Dr. Brian Cox, the Manchester physicist who consulted on the film (and is also a musician). Okay, so if you think Cillian Murphy is too hot and cute to be believable as a physicist just have a look at Dr. Cox. He has a web site here: http://www.apolloschildren.com/brian/

SEPARATED AT BIRTH PHOTO COMPARISON

First Pic: Dr. Brian Cox, University of Manchester physicist and hottie musician that consulted on "Sunshine"

Second Pic: Cillian Murphy, hottie Irish actor who played physicist Robert Capa in "Sunshine"

A Ballsy Film
It takes guts to do a film like this, especially for someone who is new to the science fiction genre. Danny Boyle does a damn fine job. I understand that "Sunshine's" science is not real. That's okay with a non-science buff like me because I like watching the shows on the Discovery Channel that debunk Hollywood science, and "Sunshine" should give them enough ammunition for a good 2-hour special.

Questions
So although I am no science buff and neither are most film critics, if you are knowledgeable about science, could you please respond with what you think of some of the most implausible parts of "Sunshine" and also, what is it in the film that is plausible? Below are some questions to get you started:

1. Q-BALLS: Could a Q-ball or other type of solition possibly enter the sun causing it to quickly lose energy?
2. THE BOMB: How plausible is it that a dark matter bomb (of any size) could fix such a problem?
3. DEATH OF THE SUN: Are there any favored theories on when the sun will die or start to lose energy so fast that Earth cannot sustain life? I have heard 5 billion years.
4. ICARUS: What about this cool ship they had? Could there really be a ship that could get that close to the sun with a powerful enough shield to deflect the heat? How close could something get to the sun without burning up?
5. SHADOWS: I have read that the shadows in this film were not realistic. Meaning that if you were that close to the sun, there would not be such dramatic shadows behind the heat shield. Does this mean that the sunlight would counteract the darkness of space from that close? Does space look brighter when you very close to the sun?
6. UNPROTECTED IN SPACE: The part where the dudes shoot themselves through the airlock into free space for a few seconds wearing nothing but old ship insulation and leaving their skin exposed. Could you really do that? I've always thought you would instantly shatter into tiny little pieces from the rapid depressurization.

7. WHATEVER ELSE you can think of worth commenting on -- please send it my way...








--Redbird