Entomologist sets Hollywood straight about insects

November 21, 2008 By Robert Mitchum

University of Illinois entomologist May Berenbaum is used to seeing Hollywood take creative license with insects. After 25 years of screening films about giant bugs and killer swarms at an annual film festival she organizes, Berenbaum can only laugh when she sees yet more improbable science.



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  • Seto - Nov 21, 2008
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    The question is whether we really want realism. Movies are after all a form of escapism... Look at Star Wars for example, and imagine how the galactic battles would look like if there was no sound in space and if the beams traveled at the speed of light. I appreciate realistic approach to things in my sci-fi, but it's not really a requirement now, is it. They can't all be as faithful as Jurassic Park..
  • drel - Nov 21, 2008
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    Seto you forgot my favorite... Dogfighting in space. Star Wars, Battlestar Galactica, Wing Commander to name just a few. Exactly how does one execute an Immelmann turn in a microgravity vacuum?
  • Doug_Huffman - Nov 21, 2008
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    Takes screaming for Gees-sus to a whole new level.
  • Quantum_Conundrum - Nov 22, 2008
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    All fiction is unrealistic.

    Even "Realistic Fiction" is ultimately nothing more than Fantasy.

November 21, 2008 all stories

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